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melonteee · 8 months

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I'm really enjoying the live-action show. It's different, but I think some changes are improvements, some changes are neutral, and some changes are for the worse. Overall, I'd say it's about as good of an adaptation as the East Blue anime is (factoring in the changes the anime made).

Syrup Village is a great example, they cut Jango (though you do see his Bounty poster, so he still exists in canon), but they also made Kaya's illness be the result of Butchie poisoning her and part of Kuro's plan. Luffy drinks the poison soup and that replaces the scene of him unconscious from hypnosis. Zoro has to climb out of a well, and that replaces him climbing up an oil-covered hill and also sets up for Mihawk saying he's a frog in a well. They also change the setting for the battle from a beach to inside the mansion, introducing a horror theme to the story which rachets up the tension a lot more. Sham is also gender-bent and super cute.

And it's not wrong to say the showrunners understand and love the characters and the world. All of the bottles of alcohol are brands in One Piece, the barrel Luffy gets into has the name of the fishmonger from his village, Garp mentions that he's turned down multiple promotions, Nami reads Noland the Liar to Zoro while he's unconscious after his fight with Mihawk, Arlong introduces Fishman discrimination.

I think it's best experienced from the perspective of "it's going to be different, and that's okay". The characters are written a little differently, but not in a bad way. They still feel like the characters at their core, Inaki's Luffy and Taz's Sanji are two stand-outs, they're fantastic.

I understand if it's just not for you, and you did watch one episode, so I can't say you didn't give it a chance at all. I just feel like you and the others are being too harsh on it. It's way better than any other live-action anime adaptation I've ever seen.

I appreciate this anon and I do think the poison change works, but there's certainly a 1 good thing for 9 bad things ratio going on. Because in all fairness, I am going to be extremely critical of a 20 year old series that's making an adaptation with a 17 million dollar budget per episode - especially from Netflix. If I'm being approached by friends who were actually excited for this series and they came out of it disappointed, somehow I don't think I'm gonna have a good time myself. I'm watching One Piece for One Piece, I don't think I should go into an adaptation thinking this is gonna be different in STORY and CHARACTER. I can accept changes for medium, of course, but there are so many absolutely bizarre changes that literally do nothing. You don't go from the manga to the anime and think "Well if I just disconnect these characters from their original selves, I can soak this in fine" because in all honesty, that probably means it's a bad adaptation if you need to work to see what you want to see.

Also the 'frog in the well' thing is exactly my point of this script just slamming you in the face with what it's trying to do, we are not meant to take that literally. The well is the east blue that Zoro lives in, not a literal well lmao. It's a nice cheeky idea to have, but the goofiness of Zoro's character is removed from the scene where he's trying to run up a greased hill like an idiot. Because yes, even THAT scene served a purpose for Zoro's character and how we view him. It's definitely subjective to say the characters are written differently but not in a bad way, because ripping away parts of a character to leave them as this Frankenstein version of themselves is personally not something I want? Why would I WANT all the goofiness and stupidness taken out of Zoro? It might be good for some, but it just feels like a total downgrade and misunderstanding of his character to me. Same goes for Sanji just being this artsy guy who's complaining cause he can't make the dishes he wants, with his over dramatic, angry, violent flare completely gone. Those changes being good or bad are completely up to you, but I am personally just made to see a hollowed out, dumbed down version of them because I liked these characters as I originally met them and that's what made them stand out.

I appreciate the time they put into the sets, I do think the visual world was made well (although it could've used a bit more style), but the little physical details mean absolutely nothing if I can't even FEEL the magic the original gave me. A set does not make a series, 1000 strawhats will not make me see Luffy unless he is written to be Luffy, and that's the problem. I don't want to watch an adaptation that removes the most emotional and impactful moments of my favourite character just to replace it with a fight or to focus on ANOTHER character they've deemed more important. I am going to be critical because these characters mean a lot to me, and I am expecting to feel from an adaptation what I felt from the original with such characters. An adaptation does not mean making things different just for differences sake. I am glad you enjoyed it anon, as many people have, but if I'm watching something that's literally called One Piece and have been told this is an adaptation of One Piece - with the producers even saying they want to put the manga on the screen, mind you - I am going to go in there expecting One Piece, from the characters to the story. I shouldn't have to do the work in my own head and go "Well, they did their best!", especially at a million dollar Netflix production...sigh

#ask #sorry that was long winded and I am not trying to be mean here but we gotta remember this was not a fun arthouse project made by fandom #this a corporate made project looked over by netflix. we are allowed to be critical about it and want better of it

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crystallizedkingdoms · 6 months

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TAZ NC: Plant

Merle Highchurch’s soulwood arm reflects on its purpose. No one else seems to be willing to do so, anyway.

wc: 777

you can also read this on ao3 <3

hello!! second fic for the @taznovembercelebration! I got the prompt Plant, and of course it had to be Merle-centric. but! I wanted to actually explore Merle’s arm rather than the man himself! I love Merle a lot, I think I’ve come to accept him as my favourite of the THB, and I think viewing him from the pov of his Arm was really fun! so, enjoy :3

Hello there. You know me. No, really, I assure you that you know me. Although I have no name, I have no mouth, nor any eyes, you know me. I have no limbs, and I never will. I live to be one.

See, you know me. For I am the soulwood granted to a dwarf who trusted too much. I am the familiar, dark wood that twists and bends itself into the shape of a limb removed long ago. The hands of my owner’s loved ones have settled upon my wood more times than any creature will ever bother counting. Soft hands, rough hands, small, and large. I have felt them all, and in turn, my owner has felt it because of me.

It’s a service I have come to enjoy. Where I once was only prodded by gloved, studying hands, stuffed in a pot hardly tended to, I now explore. I explore unique fingerprints along my wood and weapons wielded with me. I explore adventuring children’s soft hair and legs of older adventurers too tall for my owner. I explore Bottlenose Cove, and I aid in building it.

Yes, I am scratched, I am weathered, I am used. So, so incredibly used. But who could possibly say that this grand adventure of life isn’t worth it? If this work isn’t better than sitting, unused, unloved, then I am unsure what is.

And yet, any awe I have once inspired has long fizzled out for those around me. My existence is a simple fact of life. A fact of my owner. The days of party tricks are coming to an end, though I will never stop fetching and stealing items across the room from unsuspecting loved ones. My owner never gets enough of that. But even those little moments have become commonplace. That is why you know me, but do not recognize me or my work. I am not recognized or appreciated. I do not shock. I only work.

Not that I have ever cared to shock. From the moment my soul intertwined with my owner’s, locked together in a way that transcends most mortal connections, I exist only to work. Who cares for shocking, who cares for party points, when the owner I adorn takes care of me, and I of him? For every day he moves me an inch on his armrest to bathe in soft sunbeams, every afternoon he gives me a drink I don’t always need, I am loved. Though he gives me no name, rarely thanks me outside of making some grand moves, I am loved.

In turn, I work for him.

The lifetimes I will live nestled under the remainder of my owner’s arm will be lifetimes of work. Lifetimes of children’s hair to rustle and lifetimes of people to steal from. I will dip inside of salty beach waves and be buried within soft sand until the grains become part of me. I will watch as loved ones disappear, off to another world, and my owner will use me to wipe his saltwater tears. I shall cling to him tighter, grow my leaves twice as green, and strengthen my bark tenfold. I will have lifetimes of work and love ahead, and I must help my owner bear the brunt of it less.

Do not see me as a burden. I was a gift to a dying man. I am now a tool for a proudly living man. I may not be as intricately dexterous as his old flesh must have been, and I may be a reminder for a terrible mistake, but I am a gift. I am a gift strengthened with each passing year, I am a gift that takes work. I am the Peacemaker’s Right Hand, and I lay on the wounded and I lay on the dying, and I am part of their healing.

Pan knows it is not easy work. My owner is no easy man. He is hard and he is stubborn, always working on so many things. I will, without a doubt, continue to work for lifetimes, even when my owner is retired. Who else will fetch him tea, or throw him baths, or tend to the other plants in his life? It’s no one-handed job. This is what I must do. However, just as much as I am no burden, neither is my owner. Merle Hitower Highchurch, the Peacemaker, Earl of Bottlenose Cove, is worth it all. There is no man on any plane of existence that I would rather be attached to, in mortal body and soul.

My owner, my Merle, works me down to the bark… but oh, what an honour.

#taz #taz balance #taz nc #taz november challenge #taz merle #merle highchurch #merle highchurch’s arm #my writing

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epersonae · 7 months

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fic etc (new version!)

[update March 21, 2024]

These days I'm writing fic for Our Flag Means Death.

Longfic

I have three finished long pieces, in order of connectedness to canon:

Hungry for love, ready to drown (T, 33K) - a Stede POV retelling of season one starting with episode four, lots of missing scenes (so much with clothing but also wound care! dream sequence!). My love letter to canon; I watched those episodes so many times in little bursts to really absorb the writing and acting, and I'm very proud of the results. Goes well with S2 prep, if I may say so. Will probably definitely most likely get a sequel, but it's taking me a while to figure out how to approach it.

the devil's threeway (E, 30K) - Ed POV, starts with a pre-canon encounter with Jack and (non-canonical) Anne Bonney, follows up with a post-S1 meet-up with Anne and (also non-canonical) Mark Read, and then a somewhat unusual reunion with Stede. Includes the fic where Ed would not. Stop. Crying. There is a reasonably likelihood that I will write something similar or equivalent with the canon versions of Anne and Mary, but it's still marinating.

for the benefit of all the broken hearts (E, 62K) - the not RPF but not not RPF that is maybe the best thing I've ever written in any medium for any reason: a fix-it fic for the gorgeous and weird Water Flowing Underground, told from the perspective of the unnamed second wife. My exploration of the aftermath of tragedy, the possibility of repair, and varieties of love. Read the tags, read the author's note, read WFU first (or don't, I'm not the boss of you, and I do know someone who read them out of order and still enjoyed it), but please give it a shot. Posts tagged #carlita coded content are related to this work, sometimes very obliquely. There is also a follow-up fic of missing scenes, end up several worlds away, that still has one chapter remaining (I SWEAR I'm going to finish it), and a short sort of non-linear AU, back on my beat, that explores some alternate endings.

Some favorite shorter pieces

I have begun to long for you, a "mutiny against Izzy succeeds" canon-divergence AU

nice either way, my contribution to the Beard Discourse

Commit to the Bit, modern AU blackbonnet engagement and wedding

Season 2 and post-S2 fic

I spit on your grave - post-S2, Stede and Ed have a serious conversation, starting with how Ed didn't "happen" upon Stede being gut-stabbed, and going some tough places from there

lost and found - post-S2, featuring beach comber Stede and those cake toppers

Through the storm - the crew of the Revenge between episodes 2 and 3. slow and creepy!

in case I never make it through to where you are - bad ending AU set at the end of 3. MIND THE TAGS, it's a rough one.

Other stuff

Occasionally I post OFMD fic recommendations, which started as a weekly thing but, you know. They are still posted in sets of five on Fridays, when I do them, and tagged #five fic friday. (There's no particular system to my listings, just stuff I like that's not PWP.)

Not fic: I am doing a little project where I make/recreate recipes that I have written down but haven't made in a long time (or ever) - that can be found under the tag #food as play. Includes my rewrite of the 40 Orange Cake Recipe!

I have also written a lot of fic for The Adventure Zone, my favorite being The Reckoning Arrives, a 77k fic in which Lucretia, Taako, Merle, and Carey go looking for Kalen.

I wrote quite a bit of my TAZ fic with my late spouse Ryn (@taakovapes). Ryn died in September 2021; here's the post I wrote the week they died. I often post/tag about them and death and grief. (See tags #not all exits are made equal, #[grief dab], and #posts I wish I could send to Ryn in particular.)

#about me #my fic #my writing #ofmd #ofmd fic #taz balance #hiding this in the tags: it's 'carlita' because she is an amalgam of CRJ and Rita (and tbh neither)#and I learned as little about the latter as possible while I was writing #as I said at a party 'everything I know about Rita Ora I learned against my will'#there's a reason the unnamed wife is tagged Original Female Character

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baladric · 1 year

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the beach episode of taz balance honestly makes me so emotional, like it's goof goof boner and then you get "You've got all the time in the world, my man" and lucretia's painting and the fade out to the crashing of the waves, and i'm just...... one hundred years of fighting and dying and what surely has to feel like a brutal futility of effort, and they get this one year of uninterrupted peace in which to be people and be gentle and take a fuckin walk on the beach—and then they leave and start anew, and i am just. so very sad and in love with them all.

#taz #taz balance #stolen century

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termiteterraceclub · 7 months

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Termite Terrace Club - September 14th

1935 - A Cartoonist’s Nightmare - Dir. Jack King

1940 - Malibu Beach Party - Dir. Friz Freleng

1946 - Racketeer Rabbit - Dir. Friz Freleng

1957 - Zoom and Bored - Dir. Chuck Jones

1968 - Flying Circus - Dir. Alex Lovy

1979 - The Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Movie - Dir. Chuck Jones

1990 - Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1: “The Looney Beginning”

1991 - Taz-Mania - “”Like Father, Like Son”” / “Frights of Passage”” (406-402)

1992 - Tiny Toon Adventures Season 3: - “Thirteensomething”

1993 - Animaniacs Season 1 - “Yakko’s World” / “Cookies for Einstein” / “Win Big”

1994 - Taz-Mania - “Taz-Manian Theatre” / “The Bushrats Must Be Crazy”

1996 - Animaniacs Season 4 - “Jokahontas” / “Boids on the Hood” / “Mighty Wakko at the Bat”

1996 - Pinky & the Brain Season 2 - “Collect ‘Em All” / “Pinkasso

1996 - The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Season 2- “Catch as Catch Cannes” / “Yodel Recall”

1998 - Pinky and the Brain Season 4: - “Brainwashed: Part 1 - Brain, Brain, Go Away”

#looney tunes #looneytwt #wb100 #wb #warner bros #bugs bunny #tiny toon adventures #road runner #wile e coyote

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tceesgamingworld · 2 months

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youtube

Discover TCee's New World: The Save File - Sulani

Greetings, fellow Simmers! Today, we embark on a captivating journey through the enchanting realm of Sulani in my Family Playstyle Save File for The Sims 4.

Sulani, with its breathtaking island chain, beckons all with its azure oceans and amiable neighbors.

Our first destination is the serene Mua Pel'am. Nature reigns supreme here, from the lively volcano to the cascading waterfall and into the depths of the secluded cave. This remote retreat within the Sulani archipelago is a haven for nature enthusiasts. Key Point Beach offers a family-friendly haven embraced by crystalline waters. Caldera Camp, nestled at the foot of an active volcano, provides a cozy familial abode. Meanwhile, Admiral's Wreckage tells a mysterious tale of an old trawler transformed into a captivating underground dwelling.

Moving on, we arrive at Ohan'ali Town, once a quaint fishing hamlet nestled amidst tropical jungles and serene lagoon waters. Now, a vibrant hub within Sulani, it retains its strong sense of community and deep-rooted island traditions. Among its attractions are The Heart of Sulani Spa, Ohan'ali Beach, and The Sand Bar. Residences such as Lagoon Look, Kin-Ship, and Chieftain's Villa dot the landscape, embodying the island's essence.

Our final stop is the picturesque Lani St. Taz, a tropical paradise where ivory sands meet warm, vibrant waters. The lush jungle surroundings evoke a timeless island charm. Sandy Paws Beach welcomes furry companions, offering a family-friendly retreat. Homes like Reef Finery and Pier Perfection line the beachfront, while the opulent beachfront Sapphire Shores estate and the secluded Journey's End perch majestically, completing the island's allure.

#tcee's world #sims #sims 4 #sims4 #tceesworld #youtube #tceesnewworld #showusyoursims #showusyourbuilds #TCee's New World #Youtube

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toxics-sims-adventures · 7 months

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I made a tier list for what I think are the best worlds to reasonably start a horse ranch. The criteria took forever to test, so I limited myself to a central lot in each neighborhood of each world (to test if the horse will go to the farthest, out of the way lot on it's own or not) and only tested the "Go for an energetic Ride" interaction instead of clicking the ground everywhere to "Trot Here". I'm also cheating my horse's and sim's needs to full because tired horses will cancel the interaction faster. The criteria judged: Automatic pathing from going on an energetic ride, the world's theme and my capability to suspend my disbelief that someone would start a horse ranch in a suburb, and any glitches from my horse phasing through decor and lots during the "Go for a Ride" interaction. I spent three days on this for some reason. This is a cry for help.

Best in Show - Good pathing and thematically on point when it comes to horse ranching, even if it's not western themed. Henford-On-Bagley: Cottage style ranch is a yes. Finchwick's village isn't very big and the houses are blocked by stairs but I didn't expect the village center to be a good location for a horse ranch anyway. Old New Henford and the Bramblewood have a lot of dirt trails and the horse will go down many of them, even to some of the set dressing sheds. The Isle of Volpe Park is landlocked though, despite having numerous footpath bridges that lead away from the park. Moonwood Mills: (Forest, dirt paths, lots of room to run? Sounds perfect but now I have to test it.) STUNNING FLAWLESS IMMACULATE (why do i have post apocalyptic vibes, like a cross between silent hill and the last of us?) The horse will do a full circuit around Moonwood Mill and because it's designed with pathing for the werewolves to feral run, the horse has plenty of space and nature to do the same. Even with the grungy warehouse setdressing, the horse doesn't feel out of place. Post apocalyptic or workhorse ranches would fit in well here. Chestnut Ridge: literally made for the horses and thematically perfect for horse rides. I actually think (due to how the Sims 4 is structured to be so empty) that while this world also has a lot of set dressing, it's fitting for the wide stretches of fuckall to actually see or do when it's a horse trail.

Pretty Good - Good pathing and acceptable to see a horse trotting through the landscape Forgotten Hollow: Immaculate vibes for a headless horseman. And aside from Straud's graveyard and the coffin courtyard, the lots are entirely customizable without debug setdressing houses to shame you for style deviation. The world is very small but the pathing goes through the town square and a bit into the woods. Unless your starting point is Straud's mansion, your horse will mainly use the coffin road and the dirt paths through the trees before coming back. Brindleton Bay: Whiskerman's wharf has a route to let the horse wander from Catarina Lynx's house to Tail's End (which has a backdrop of old wooden fencing that feels very appropriate for a ranch) to Club Calico and back again, ignoring the Salty Paws Saloon and Ragdoll Refurb lots. Since the saloon is even farther on the pier and the Ragdoll Refurb is in a much more suburbia city like area, it felt fitting that a ranch wouldn't be in such places and the horse wouldn't go there. Sable Square has very wide brick roads in front of the vet/park and residential lots connected by a wide bridge. The pathing doesn't go through the dirt paths tho. Cavalier Cove has a decently long path through the beach areas but won't go to the Hound's Head lot unless you start there. Deadgrass Isle has good routing, not just pacing in front of the museum, the horse actually walks around on the dirt path to the lighthouse and goes into the cemetery. Sulani: Surprisingly good pathing (no attempts to go horse swimming) that goes throughout the Lani St. Taz island, and the lack of paved roads (and my increasingly beloathed sidewalks) feels more natural. Tropical horse ranch, anyone? The horse does avoid the northernmost lot because of the skinny stretch of sand linking it to the island but that would put the horse a bit too close to the water and possibly make it try to swim. Ohan'ali Town has a coastside path that is surprisingly long but the horse won't go up to the lot near the waterfalls. Mua Pel'am pathing goes from the volcanic lot to the little beach past the mystery cave and back again, which wasn't very surprising, Mua Pel'am is not a large neighborhood and one of the three lots is an empty island. (Honestly thought this entire world was going to be completely awful.) Copperdale: As an old refurbished Mining town it looks fitting for a horse to come through for decades challenges. The horse will go all the way around Copperdale High and up to the front of the auditorium, but it won't go to the track in the football field behind the high school. Around Prescott Square, the horse will go all around town, visitng all the lots including the Prescott household. Plumbite Cove is one part the Pier, one part cannery row, and most parts forested dirt roads. The pathing leads from the rental lot all the way to Totter Park, completely ignoring the LaSuli Point starter lot.

Okay - Pathing is acceptable but the theme isn't particularly welcoming in most of the world. Windenburg: Half of the map is city area and the horse does get around well but does not look thematically appropriate when trotting around the cafe and bars. All of the single lot neighborhoods don't allow great pathing, but for the Ruins and the Von Haunt Estate it's a little bit better than the horse pacing back and forth in front of one mansion. The Crumbling Isle and the Windslar neighborhoods are better placements for a horse ranch and have decent pathing through the area, though the Windslar's path has a very 'cottage roads' theme to it, it's not a sidewalk but a brick path leading from lot to lot. San Sequoia: The world feels a lot more like certain places in Monterey County than the inspiration of San Francisco, if considerably emptier, and I remember horses being rode through town the few times we went to those places as a kid. The world is HUGE and the horse trotting through Anchorpoint Wharf feels like a novel sight someone WOULD see in my experience, but not a great place to build a ranch. In Hopewell Hills, the horse will go through the park on automatic pathing.

Less than Ideal - Pathing isn't fabulous but it's got enough room to visit on horseback, the theme probably does not fit. Del Sol Valley: The theme is atrocious for a ranch. The pathing in Mirage Park is mostly the sidewalks but also surprisingly went behind the two lots across the street from Venessa Jeong's house but not behind hers. Starlight Boulevard is a city center that is not welcoming to a horse trotting around, the pathing is surprising as the horse actually walks in the street rather than the sidewalks though it does avoid walking near Studio BP and the stars walk. The Pinnacles has lots that are certainly big enough for some kind of Hollywood Ranch but the neighborhood pathing is stuck to the sidewalks despite the roads available, unless the horse is cutting through a street to reach another sidewalk or through the grass 'island' in front of Judith Ward's house. No pathing to the overlook behind her house either despite it having ramps instead of stairs. Glimmerbrook: I am not taking the horse to the magic realm. There's no sidewalks! :D But the horse only takes the paved road and ignores the dirt paths and all the lots unless it's the one you started from. A good place aesthetically for a horse ranch but not for gameplay. Evergreen Harbor: I can't suspend my disbelief that a suburb is a place for a ranch. Horse paths follow human sim paths. Won't go over the bridge in Port Promise unless you start at the Sterling household. Will walk all the way over to the Greenburg household. Grimms Quarry, the pathing is almost all sidewalks, the horse won't go near the apartments but will go to the quarry building. In Connifer Station the horse won't use the 'car' roads but will walk all around. Tartosa: Laurent Mansion is landlocked. Anything with stairs isn't pathable to a horse. I had hopes, Tartosa has long extinguished them. (Okay, Melancholy over.) I restarted at the Baia Dell'amore beach lot. There's a lot of area the horse WILL cover that isn't the Laurent mansion. Including the island linked by a stone bridge. It's a little weird looking because it's a Mediterranean city, so I don't think a ranch will fit in. In the Terra Amarosa Neighborhood, the horse would path from Via Romanza to the Markovic household and back, completely ignoring half the neighborhood, the waterfalls, and the Rifugio dei Pirati lot. No waterfall horse rides for us :(

Not Great - The pathing is stagnant or the world is too small. Willow Creek: The horse will just pace in front of the houses and look extremely out of place in almost all of the neighborhoods. The only place with decent pathing that doesn't look like a wayward cowboy is stalking your suburb is the park and it has decent pathing but little else. The sylvan glade has zero pathing for horses, my horse took two steps and the interaction cancelled. Good for screenshots, bad for gameplay. San Myshuno: Horses are not allowed inside of the apartment buildings, let alone the apartments themselves, limiting almost all residential options in the world. Makes sense, putting a horse in an elevator sounds like chaos. Limited pathing that isn't sidewalk and clip clop clipping on the paths in Uptown. The horse would go into some odd places further than expected but the world's neighborhoods are mostly too small for a decent run. The only exception is the San Myshuno park, which has a decently long trail for a horse. Changing the park's lot type to a residential would make this an okay place to build a ranch but thematically clash with all the little history signs littered through the landscape and set dressing garden. Strangerville: (God help me.) I'm not bothering to take the horse to the secret lab. The world is Western themed, but it is not Wild Western Country themed despite the cowboy hat and boots. Rusty Canyon is mostly desert cityscape and the pathing is strictly sidewalk bound, though it does go farther than I expected. The horse did not approach the crashed plane lot, so unless you start a ranch there, your horse will not automatically travel the dirt roads in that desert section. (The centralmost lot was the starter home across from the Sigworth household.) Shady Acres has TINY sidewalks and the horse will constantly swivel to avoid 'collision' with npcs and also plant decor, which at higher speeds looks like your horse is glitching out but isn't, and is primarily sidewalk bound despite the dirt paths other sims will travel along behind the houses. The only pathing off the sidewalk was the driveway up to the Roswell household.

Absolutely not - The pathing is awful. Oasis Springs: The automatic pathing is strictly stuck to the sidewalks and the horse mostly just paces in front of two or three homes going back and forth despite there being other areas that other sims will walk along. You can force the horse to go somewhere else but the world's neighborhoods also aren't big enough or detailed enough for better places to force the horse to go just to take screenshots. The park does not have a path to follow, the horse will just pace the front of the park and cross the street before turning right back around to pace in front of the park again. Newcrest: Same issues as Oasis Springs. Magnolia Promenade: The horse will only pace on the sidewalk along the sides of The Roadstead and JF&S Clothier shops, continuing down the sidewalk next to the set dressing garden, completely ignoring actually going into the park areas. Again, you can force the horse to go through the set dressing garden or over to the bistro tables for screenshots but it absolutely does not fit horses appropriately. Brightchester: No. Just. No. The town is all townhouses and university dorms. The pathing is all sidewalks. Don't build a ranch here. Mt Komorebi: Most of the hiking trails are inaccessible to horses due to being blocked by stairs as an entry. The horse is very out of place in the city areas. At the actual mountain the pathing won't go past the rental houses despite most of the hiking trails not being blocked by stairs as an entry.

Why did I willingly choose to do this

#ts4 #sims 4 #the sims 4 #ts4 horse ranch #the sims 4 horse ranch

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soysaucevictim · 10 months

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“it feels like my brain (was floating in a fishtank)”

(See warnings/summary on Ao3.)

[ Prologue/Start ] [ Previous ]

Chapter 6: The Nebbish Route

A couple weeks after Remus’s discharge, Remus seemed back to his old self.

But that only lasted another week or so, before he had grown distant again. When Roman tried to ask about it, “You’re making more of them, aren’t you?”

Remus snapped at him, “Don’t you have anything better to do? Like stealing mouse hats from babies?”

Roman matched him in frustration, “Look! That was just one time!"

He then softened his tone, "Taz, please, you know you can ask us for help?”

Remus looked to respond for a second, but stormed off without another word.

Roman noticed how his brother trembled as he lost line of sight. He was getting less sure about hiding things from the brood, but he feared he was pushing Remus away enough as it was.

Roman had committed to doing Janus’s job, despite his worries for his brother.

The target was in one of the richest parts of Newport Beach, much closer to the coast than Janus’s estate, but technically in the same community.

Janus told him one of the sources of information was one of the help staff, who had the misfortune of learning a little too much about their employer. Janus wanted Roman to find anything questionable about the homeowner’s character.

The informant told them when the help was dismissed and the next time the family was expected to leave for Disneyland again. Janus seemed to trust this person, saying, “They were risking a lot to tell me what they did. They’re under my protection, in case of the likely fallout. There is a small chance that this information isn’t bulletproof. Please, do be cautious.”

Roman probably should have had second thoughts, but he was itching for a good haul. Steve came from a rich family, but this was going to be another world entirely, if Janus’s place was any indication. “You will find the treasures you desire there, that’s guaranteed.”

Roman fidgeted nervously as he approached, he was starting to wish he asked Remus to join him. But Remus was still acting strange and Janus pressed that the operation needed far more discretion than Remus could provide. Roman swallowed down his thoughts of getting caught by the police. He’d fantasized about great heists before this, but this was getting all too real.

Roman scouted around for the best spot to enter, carefully listening to that intuition he had for blind spots in the security systems the place had. Physical barriers, cameras, keypads, all of it. It scared him, when he and Remus infiltrated Steve’s place. He knew what he did there wasn't a human thing. It was like his soul did a flyover, casing the joint a few steps ahead of him. It was thrilling and unnerving in equal measure.

He was hoping his atavisms would carry him through most of it in a pinch.

It was far more fortified than Steve’s place. He had his mp3 player on in one ear, set to loop the entire “Aladdin” and some of the “Indiana Jones” soundtrack at him, for morale. He had a backpack carrying a couple duffel bags, he wasn’t yet sure if he’d be able to carry them full, but it couldn’t hurt. He wore some loudly on-brand sneakers, but otherwise dressed darkly and put on a ski mask.

The place was well-lit and the landscaping was immaculate. It made it easier on Roman to see potential sensors, but it wasn’t easy weaving between those obstacles. It didn’t help when he swore he saw stuff moving in his peripheral, a few times. He wasn’t sure if his mind was playing tricks or if it was an actual threat.

He shook his head, deciding where and how he was going to break in. He had to stay focused and alert. There were trees hiding the walls around the back of the property. There was a pool in there, too. He honed in on the balconies to the top floors.

The adrenaline was kicking in as he found his way to another blind spot along the property’s walls. He saw into the fancy marble grand kitchen and dining space, the doors out into the back patio area. He swung around to the wall the oven was along, square between the two small kitchen windows there.

He glanced back up to the balcony, the side wall of the railing upward and toward his left. He looked down at his claws superimposing themselves into the real world and twitching with excitement. He could either go straight to the roof from where he stood and drop down. Or zigzag between all the windows and climb into it from the side. He grinned underneath the mask, picking the route most bound to confuse anyone investigating this mess afterwards.

It would make for a more fun story to tell Remus. He restrained himself from laughing too loudly as he unfurled his wings to assist the climb. His claws easily dug into the pristine, traditional stucco that definitely had some cement in it, as if it was mere paper mache. The climbing gyms he frequented were paying off, too. In moments, he was already looking into the master bedroom. The security up there was very light, but then, who’d expect someone coming in from up here?

The exterior lights were all on, but it didn’t look like anyone was inside. Roman pulled out a flashlight, slipped on some gloves, and jimmied the lock with some of the tools he brought along, to get in there.

It was stunning, all the furniture was just so ritzy looking. A giant California King size bed with a velvety canopy and what he later learned to be real mahogany and ebony embellishments to it. Those woods quickly became a theme throughout the room. He kept sweeping the flashlight around for anything particularly eye-catching for his Horror to take. Nothing was calling to him yet, it was this man’s daughter that had the prizes he was most interested in.

He wasn’t even thinking about turning the room over for whatever Janus wanted him to look for here, he kept moving along.

Across from the master bedroom was a gorgeous bathroom, It looked like there were some closets sequestered away if he kept going along that path. He was going to save looking at them for later. Maybe. Maybe on his way out.

He went down the hallway toward the spiraling granite stairway in the center of the property. There were some walkways with ornate railing, peering down into the foyer and ground floor. He needed to finish exploring this floor first – he had a feeling he would find the daughter’s bedroom up there.

He wasn’t sure if he heard something going on in the lower levels, so he doubled his effort in being quiet as he went across to the other wing of the house. He was face-to-face with the most garish pink and sparkly door with “Princess Di'' brandished all over it. There were stickers of the Disney royalty on it too, there was a small part of him that wondered just how old this person was. But he was not in any place to judge.

His jaw dropped, once he opened the door. She was a true aficionado – unlike Steve. Steve only sniped ROMAN’S stuff to spite him, he swore. He was in a whole new world. He didn’t dare close his eyes. He had to resist humming that song, as he entered.

He was spoiled for choice, shelves upon shelves of tiaras, jewelry, cards, lanyards, patches, plushies – all unified in fashion to the ephemera of the House of Mouse. The only thing that really stood out as not belonging was a life-sized King Triton’s Trident - it looked and felt dangerous, heavy and sharp. He went to quick work unfolding one of the duffle bags from his backpack and grabbed pretty much anything else that wasn’t nailed down. And he had to do it fast, not just so he could get out sooner, but he didn’t want to deal with his anathema acting up if he saw any of those accursed pins.

He desperately wished he could take the wardrobe that was so lovingly modeled after Madame Armoire. There was no way in the Underworld he was going to get that thing out of here. The tragedy of it made him whimper and pout for entirely too long. He thought he heard a sigh and the brief shot of panic got him back on task.

In her closet, there were a few dresses, the most prominent being Belle’s ball gown. He grabbed all the hats, shirts, and purses stuffed inside, too. He even took all the Ariel themed toiletries from her bathroom. He was glad he was in the condition to carry that over-full bag at all, feeling electrified by the feeling of it all in his claws… hands.

He went over to the next bedroom in the wing. It wasn’t marked as obviously as the last one, but there were a few more of those stickers on the door. It was locked, but still pretty simple for Roman to crack.

Inside was also amazing. At first. There wasn’t a bed here, it was clearly being used as storage. Roman thought, “Maybe this is her spillover room?”

On multiple hangers, there were several decommissioned Character costumes. He was initially feeling the similar upset to the wardrobe – especially when he saw Mickey and Minnie’s distinct silhouette. There were some more vintage looking costumes too, maybe custom jobs. There was Robin Hood and that bear from Splash Mountain. There wasn’t enough room in the remaining duffel bag for more than one or two of these cartoon characters.

He looked closer and saw that there was something wrong here. Hidden behind the mouse couple was a Donald Duck framed vintage poster on the wall, it was for showings of “Der Fuehrer’s Face.”

Roman squirmed a bit, despite knowing that the original cartoon was technically against the Axis Powers. He hesitantly bagged it, hoping it was just some war historian stuff and not- he looked down at a desk underneath the poster. He found a book that had an angry red cover, with some kind of old-print-style picture on it. A bunch of people standing for cover with guns in hands, his guts churned, vaguely remembering learning about this book from somewhere.

Roman’s knowledge of history was heavily skewed toward Disney stuff, but he had to hit the books to beat his classmates in the honor roll. Some of that knowledge had gotten fuzzy for him, since he didn’t need it for tests anymore. That was until he looked inside. His guts churned leafing through the thing, shaking a little about the pure concentrated hatred within. Roman wanted to burn it so badly.

He looked in the inside cover to find it signed with a note, “WW, I know you lost your last copy. Hope to see you in the next cookout, after the wedding! -KM”

Roman suddenly understood a lot more about why Janus sent him here. He gulped and dug through the desk he just kept finding more books and ephemera supporting white supremacy and their ignominious ilk. Whoever this family was, Roman wanted to be nowhere near them after this.

He put all of it in the second bag – hoping that would be enough for Janus.

He buried it all under the Robin Hood and bear costume. He didn’t want to see it anymore. He didn’t want to be here anymore.

He left the room, thinking he would have to at least go down the stairs with this haul. As he approached he heard those noises again, there was a TV left on somewhere downstairs. He thought he was alone – that the family was on a retreat or something.

He tried his best to be quiet, as he tip-toed down the stairs. He stumbled a moment and without thinking let out a quick curse, trying to avoid falling down. He clasped his own mouth, froze and looked everywhere a moment, before continuing down.

He was going to take the back door out, along the way there was a spacious living room with a bar. The furnishing all still carried those mahogany/ebony features, the patriarch’s favorite look it seemed. The entertainment center and shelving took up an entire wall. There was a fancy big screen and it was tuned to the local news.

“… was reported missing yesterday. Her father has posted the reward to find her whereabouts no less than two million dollars, paid for by the generous donations of the Newport Beach Police Department and their patrons, some of whom wish to remain anonymous. If the viewers at home have any information, they should be calling the precinct’s tip line at…”

Roman felt like he’d seen the woman pictured. Before he could connect anything, his thoughts were interrupted by a rapid series of loud noises.

A voice he recognized, “OH, SHIT.”

Quickly followed by an explosion and a bullet in the TV.

More lights came on afterwards.

Roman whirled around to the voice he knew to be Virgil’s, whom was dressed to obscure his identity. Virgil wasn’t packing, so that left a remaining party who fired that shot.

There stood the police chief himself swaying unsteadily and glaring at the two of them. He reeked of booze. Mr. White couldn’t seem to decide where to aim his pistol at. Roman and Virgil froze, trying to think of how to get out of this.

As Wayne hesitated, he glanced at one of the bags and saw his daughter’s belongings. He briefly lowered his weapon with such a look of anger and despair that hit Roman’s appetite so hard it dazed him. He then understood why Remus didn’t like this state – he couldn’t summon his claws or breathe fire to defend himself. His mind was too overwhelmed to craft a proper Nightmare either, even though he briefly tried and failed to.

Wayne was back to pointing the gun at the two of them, rapidly swiveling the barrel back and forth. Virgil inched toward a dark corner of the room, as Wayne’s aim lingered on Roman more and more often, “WHO ARE YOU!? Do YOU have ANY idea WHO YOU’RE FUCKING WITH!?”

At that, Virgil briefly glanced at Roman and stared Wayne down, “HEY. Eyes on me, pig.”

Wayne squeezed the trigger, but Virgil melted into the shadows before the click. Virgil hissed as the bullet shattered the glass back door behind him. The panic in Wayne quickened as he frantically looked around for Virgil, “Where-!?”

Virgil surfaced when the man wasn’t looking their way and webbed the gun to disarm him. He then bound him up in more webs, knocking Wayne to the floor. Wayne’s eyes became saucers, unable to see or comprehend why he could no longer move, “What the fuck ARE YOU!?”

Virgil shot another wad of thread at Wayne’s face, gagging him. Virgil went cold in his answer, “Nobody.”

Virgil tightened the binds, White's painful scream muffled by metaphysical spider webs. Roman shuddered at the sound – it was like Virgil was sharing a meal with him for a moment.

Roman also noticed the man was looking at his shoes, things that had the Mickey Mouse emblem vibrantly printed all-over on a black backdrop, from his position on the floor.

Virgil looked at Roman and nodded his head toward the exit, “Allons!”

Roman shook himself out of the daze and followed Virgil to safety.

Virgil favored one of his arms, as the two of them ran toward a shaded corner of the backyard. Roman was worried, “Are you okay?”

“Not now. Lair. Safer.”

Virgil pulled Roman into pure darkness.

As Roman was Feeding, Remus was back at the hotel again.

He was shaking and in a haze. He forgot how he got there. Nurturing and protecting Jude was intense – doubling that effort for this new term was something else.

It didn’t remember when it even entered the Lair this time, it was simply pulled in.

The chamber with its eggs had changed to feel more like their incubators. The “smell” of marketplace churros and cheap car fresheners wafted around it.

When he was back in the hotel, he heard Cass. They gently held his face to make eye contact, “These are just growing pains, it will all be worth it in the end.”

It caressed the clutch. Something else was there- formless, familiar, and wrong.

He saw Cass giving the group, their followers, HIS followers strange capsules. The same kind he saw at the yacht party.

It knew there were just a few more days before its new children would take form outside of the Dream. It was filled with glee, knowing the faster development really was a sign of its own strength as a Beast growing.

Cass was so, so gentle. He was starting to forget how long he was in his Lair or at that hotel. Whenever he expressed some worry or confusion – Cass would reel him back and praise him for his labors.

“You’re safe here, I’ll protect you.”

It was too dark and Roman hated it. Remus’s Lair had some light, at least.

It was so cramped that he felt his sides brush up against the walls of the place, his wings catching the spiderwebs that lined them. He shivered, barely able to move in any direction but forward.

There were squelching and chittering noises ahead of him. Roman’s voice rumbled, mouth hanging slightly open, “Virgil?”

The noises became words, it was a surreal experience to Roman still. In the shape of their Horrors, neither had the same expressive nor vocal abilities as humans. Yet they could still talk in some weird way while in the Primordial Dream. “I’m here.”

Roman puffed a bit of fire breath to see better. Webs clung to everything, some of it singed from his flames. As the tunnel widened into a larger chamber – Roman saw cocoons lining the walls and hanging from above. He shivered again, not wanting to think of what could be inside them, “A-are you okay?”

Another brief light and Roman beheld Virgil’s true form. It was like a spider but wrong. Too many eyes and mouth parts. There was a hodgepodge of normal spider limbs and slime-covered tendrils coming from his body. A few of those limbs were bleeding a strange blue color. “Yeah. But, can you lay off the fire, Mushu?”

Roman snorted, accidentally making another flash of light.

Virgil drooped and groaned, “I’d very much like to NOT get blinded, or incinerated, while healing up over here. Jackass.”

“… Sorry.”

Roman immediately remembered when Steve very nearly killed him and went still. If Roman wasn’t a monster – he wouldn’t have been able to survive it. But if Roman wasn’t a monster, he wouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place. His thoughts went back to Remus and other existential what ifs.

There was some quiet as Virgil rested there. Roman was unable to join in the siesta. It was too dark in there and too much Not Roman, in Virgil’s Lair. Roman really wanted to be back in his own cave and savor the haul he recovered.

It was clear Virgil wasn’t nearly as badly injured as Roman had been – it certainly wasn’t a gunshot wound to the chest. It wasn’t long before Virgil stirred again, “I have a way to Jan’s place from here, come see.”

Roman wasn’t really sure if he had just adjusted to the dark or if Virgil turned up some dimmer lights in there. He then remembered how he could breathe in Remus’s Lair – because Remus trusted him inside there.

“Why were you following me into Wayne’s place?”

“Why do you think?”

Roman went quiet for a moment, before saying, “Thanks.”

Virgil had healed without much incident, though he clearly couldn’t hide that from Patton, when they returned. The kid really chewed Virgil out for it, embarrassing Virgil a great deal.

Roman was still digesting the heavy meal from the White family’s house. It was delicious – even though he was more than glad to hand off the hateful ephemera to Janus. He wasn’t prepared for how warmly Jan smiled at him for taking that on and for coming back in one piece.

Remus was elsewhere, physically and mentally, more and more often. Remus’s sense of time drifted before, back when he was incubating Jude, but not nearly this much. He seemed to get more and more confused when he was told what day it was.

Roman wasn’t the only one concerned about it. Vic noticed Remus wouldn’t show up at the zoo. Carrie noticed Remus missed more and more meals with the family.

Janus and Ellis were curious. Virgil and Patton seemed unsettled.

So, it was a surprise when Remus finally was back home again, in Santa Ana. He was unnervingly quiet.

Roman was there, helping Carrie get some inihaw going in the backyard. Vic was going to be a little late, but he promised he would catch the meal while it was still warm.

Things were in such a state of flux, that Carrie and Vic chose not to invite any of the extended family. They hoped they could eventually feel safe enough to join each other again, more often.

Chicken and milkfish were on the menu. Carrie had since cleaned the chicken and marinated it overnight in a banana ketchup based sauce. Roman helped clean and stuff the fish with ginger and veggies, around noon.

Roman wished he could show off, lighting the coals with his fire breath. But his Horror was still too sedate from raiding the Whites’ house for him to pull it into the real world. So he pouted, using the conventional means of striking a firelighter match into them. It was a waiting game for the grill to be ready, so he helped with other meal preparations like mixing up a fresh batch of toyomansi sauce to dip everything in and washing some rice.

Roman just loved cooking with his mom, it was a return to normalcy and comfort. The smells that swirled the kitchen and backyard made him drool a little. Remus typically occupied himself during most of this process – not much of a cook. He always declared his role was official taste tester, but today he seemed to be content lounging in front of the TV. No one there caught the way he just stared through the thing, nor his lack of movement.

Dinner was almost ready. The signal went dead on the TV, filling the living room with the sound of static. While Carrie was setting up the bench for dining outside, Roman walked over to Remus.

Remus was like a statue, not moving to do anything about the white noise in the room. Roman cautiously tapped his shoulder from behind, “Taz, are you-?”

The touch sent a full-body shiver through Roman. His brother already ran cold – ever since those nightmares started when they were small, according to their parents. Roman tended to feel that difference more starkly, constantly running hot – but this was different.

Remus was somehow a little colder to the touch than usual, and was sweating. Roman triple-glanced at the thermostat and looked at his brother – this wasn’t right. He looked ill. Roman was about to call out to their mom when Remus finally and slowly moved his head to face him.

The voice that came from Remus did not sound like him at all, “Está un poco ocupado. Would you like to leave a message?”

“N-not funny, Remus.”

Not-Remus tilted his head, “I wanted to see if he was lying to me about a few things, like…”

Remus dug into his pocket and dangled one of those blasted Disney pins. Another of that run of knock-offs with Stitch and The Tower of Terror that he just could never seem to escape from. The colors were all wrong, the enamel chipped, the metal had an unsightly patina to it. Suddenly. Roman was frozen, staring into all the details that made him so angry about it.

Roman’s Hunger was a distant echo in his over-full state – but so was the part of him screaming to move. Not-Remus got up, produced a knife, and approached him with a murderous smile. Roman couldn’t even scream – the anathema’s hold completely neutralized him like Virgil did with Mr. White.

Not-Remus took the knife and was about to mirror the scar from when Steve’s bullet grazed Remus’s face. That chase up the fire escape suddenly felt like it happened yesterday. Roman couldn’t do or say anything other than well-up, that vulnerability being trampled on hurt more than the knife biting his face. The two's history of roughhousing wasn’t anything like this.

As soon as the first drop of blood started to bead out, there was a shriek. It was their mom.

That seemed to rattle Remus enough to drop the pin and step back briefly. Roman still couldn’t move, his vision still tunneling on that pin on the ground. He was losing his awareness of what was happening around him.

Carrie had her hand on her estoc, ready to draw, fiercely staring down Remus, “Remus. Jonás. Espinoza. What. Are. You. Doing!?”

Remus blinked and looked around himself, as if realizing what he’d just done to his brother. And what his own mother could do to him. Guilt was not a face Remus wore practically ever, but it was written all over him. Guilt and confusion. He still held onto that knife with a white-knuckled grip.

He sounded so small when he asked Carrie, “Mamá, ¿q-qué me pasa? ”

Carrie shook with rage as the Bright Dream was screaming to her contradictions on what to do here. She didn’t want to hurt her own child! But then Remus’s expression changed to disinterest, “I suppose he did lie about some things.”

The instant after that, Not-Remus was charging at Roman with the blade. Roman, still frozen.

Carrie wasn’t thinking, as she took in her surroundings and commanded Remus, “Before I-we do anything I’ll regret. REMUS! You NEED to LEAVE. NOW.”

The footfalls stopped. The knife dropped.

Carrie looked at Remus again. Remus was scared of her, wearing the same look as Rich did when he fell from the overpass. The same look Roman had when she was Called. Immediately, she knew she had just cursed her own son.

Remus took off out the door, without another word.

She shoved the pin under the sofa, hoping it would knock Roman out of his trance. Instead, he instinctively jumped for it and was about to upturn the furniture. The only thought in his mind was to hold it and protect it – the reassurance that it was intact and real overriding everything else.

Immediately, Carrie went to halt him. Before he could process anything else and stop squirming in her cradling him, she simply wept. It was probably for the best that he couldn’t claw at her in the state he was in.

She was worried about Roman, whom had taken the longest time to calm down from the spell she’d ever witnessed. She was also already worrying for Remus’s safety and whether she’d see him again, after that.

The dinner was going cold.

@milktea531 @r0sethrills

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#spilled musing #begotten au #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders

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