#buff daisy is wonderful

[mooneyedmoth]

tall lady make Daisy's brain go BRRRRRRRR

#something about buff tiny gremlin daisy and her tall elegant eldrich space wife rosalina #daisylina #artwork #character design #concept art #my art #digital art #digital drawing #sketch #doodle #daisy x rosalina #princess rosalina #princess daisy #super mario bros #mario bros #super mario wonder #lesbians

[flowerandblood]

Sweet kiss, sweet blood (11) (End)

[ dark vampire! • Aemond x female ]

[ warnings: sex content, smut, angst, drinking blood, violence ]

[description: A centuries-old vampire lives in Victorian England, bored and discouraged. His old friend sends him a letter, inviting him to his new country house. Aemond arrives there to rest. Next to the property, there is a small chapel, visited by the faithful. It turns out that at night, a young lady prays in it. Slow burn, sexual tension, profanation, murder, blood drinking.]

I owe the idea for this wonderful series to: @qyburnsghost

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

_____

Their nuptials in a small church in London were modest and without many witnesses, only in the presence of Criston and her parents. Mr Whaterfield was not thrilled about this, he had hoped that with the kind of fortune he owned the arranged ceremony would be held with pomp so that he could later boast about it to his friends in Mantfield.

Aemond knew, however, that even such an amount of people around was frightening to his future wife.

Her mother thought she was pale from stress and fear, but they both knew that the reason was different. He felt a kind of pride when he looked at her, pride that she had fought so bravely against herself and her desire. She had a stronger will than him, he when he was going through the same thing as her murdered anyone who stood in his way.

She looked beautiful, dressed in a bright Victorian gown with buff sleeves, her hair pinned back in a tight bun with braids either side of her head, daisies tucked into her curls. She wasn't looking at him, just at some point in front of her, absent-minded and thoughtful.

He suffered looking at her, suffered knowing that this was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, that she was supposed to be a mother and a wife, she was supposed to be able to grow old and pass away in peace, and she was condemned to an eternity filled with an everlasting, monstrous, never-quenching desire.

She was condemned to it because of him.

Nevertheless, she spoke the words of her vow. She looked into his eyes then, and he saw pain, suffering, regret in her gaze. He understood each of these feelings and took them in, hoping in the back of his mind that perhaps in a few hundred years she would forgive him.

After a short wedding dinner they went upstairs together, but their wedding night had been a bloody one, after a day in which his, now Mrs Targaryen, had had to clench her teeth to avoid killing anyone, she had literally thrown herself at him as soon as the door closed behind them, pressing him to the ground, digging into his neck so brutally that he hissed in pain.

He squeezed his eyelids shut, stroking her hair, her neck, whispering that it was all right now, that she was so brave, that she had done so well. He could feel her tears on his skin, could feel her sobbing between raspy, loud gulps. When she finally released him and rose on her knees, looking up at him, her entire chin and her white gown were in blood.

It was a truly gruesome sight, but one that for some reason aroused his desire.

She felt it as she sat on top of him, felt his manhood pulsate beneath her hungrily, clamouring for weeks to get closer to her, yearning for her touch.

He drew in a loud breath and groaned throatily as he felt her hips begin to press against him, massaging him with back and forth movements, slow, deliberate, her mouth slightly open.

"I need this." She whispered helplessly, her cheeks wet with tears.

Their rapprochement was a mixture of their wetness and blood, biting each other and then drinking their blood from each other's mouths, licking and sucking their lips together, her thighs in his hands responding to each of his aggressive thrusts that stretched her fleshy, throbbing walls. They were both panting, aroused by this macabre act, her hands clenched in his hair drawing him close.

"− I want to drink only you − cum only in you −" He breathed out into her throat between the dance of their tongues and teeth, licking a trickle of his own blood from the corner of her mouth.

She moaned loudly at his words, felt her walls clench tighter against him and he made an almost animalistic, low sound, rising up on his knees, fucking her with all the strength he had in his hips with a loud click of their shared moisture.

"− husband should care about his wife − about her fulfillment − don't you agree, Mrs Targaryen? −" He hissed accelerating, her body arched backwards in front of him, the old wooden bed creaking loudly with each of his thrusts.

"− yes −" She mewled, even if she wanted to hate him, right now, at this moment, she couldn't do it, she longed for him and the pleasure he was giving her, her insides clenching tighter and tighter against his length.

"− fuck −" He growled, feeling her sudden, intense fulfilment, she cried so loudly that he had to cover her mouth not wanting it to be heard by her parents sleeping a few rooms away.

Although it was their wedding night, he wasn't sure if they had ever experienced anything similar to what he had just endured with his wife.

"− god − yes −" He exhaled as if relieved, letting go at last and coming inside her, his thrusts messy and sloppy from their shared juices running down her buttocks onto their sheets.

When he finally stopped moving he looked up at her, breathing deeply. She stared at him, her lips parted, her gaze impenetrable.

"Tell me what you're thinking about." He whispered, and she pressed her lips together, swallowing quietly.

Her trembling hand reached up uncertainly and touched his cheek, he hummed with delight, closing his healthy eye.

"That I can't." She said quietly and he opened his eyelid immediately, feeling a squeeze in his heart and an uncertainty filling him, his heart began to pound like mad in his chest.

"You can't what?" He asked lowly, her bottom lip trembling before she spoke the words.

"Hate you." She whispered and he felt a dryness in his throat, his eyebrows twisted in pain, he felt his eye turn burning and red. "I can't."

He kissed her greedily, tenderly, passionately, the taste of their shared blood melting over his tongue. He felt fulfilled at last, her blood quenching his thirst, he felt that now his mind was clear and sharp as crystal, that he had never been more human than now, with her.

"Don't be in a hurry. Give yourself time. I'll be waiting for you."

They both decided to stay in London. Criston left them after a few months when her condition had improved enough that she could even go out with him for walks among the crowds now. Admittedly, she had to drink his blood before going out, but this gave her a few hours of peace from thirst.

It seemed to him that the better she controlled herself the more often she smiled, joy and contentment returning to her face again. Although she was uncomfortable in the sun and they walked more at night, she tried not to fall into despair.

What comforted her most was the fact that she had not killed any man.

Apart from his blood, she only drank the blood of animals and those that were already dead.

She had come to terms with the thought that they would have no children, that they would spend eternity only with each other, but there was something reassuring in that thought.

It felt as if they both slowed down, enjoying the small things, focusing on the beauty of details and moments, enjoying every second spent with each other. They read together, played chess together, practised fencing.

When her condition was good enough for her to travel somewhere, they visited her parents, causing a huge fuss. They also paid a visit to Criston, who had to admit that she was coping very bravely with what had happened to her.

They went together at night to the chapel where she prayed every night, just as then she took a candle with her even though neither of them needed it anymore to see everything clearly. They sat down next to each other in one of the pews and began to pray together, he taking from his coat pocket the tiny Bible his mother had given him.

He felt his wife lay her head on his shoulder, thoughtful, after a while. He slipped a ribbon into the place where he had finished reading and closed the book, glancing at it out of the corner of his eye. His cold hand touched her skin and she hugged him tighter.

"I knew from the moment I saw you here that you would change my life." She whispered, and he murmured under his breath and kissed her hair, her pleasant scent filling his nostrils.

"I thought the same thing when I saw you, when I smelled you. I nearly killed you then, when you approached me with your candle, that's how great my desire was." He said quietly, playing with her curls, and she lifted her bright eyes to his and smiled. He ran his thumb over her lower lip, parting it slightly, looking at its soft, fleshy texture.

"Your kisses are as sweet as your blood."

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn’t tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess 

#aemond fic #aemond fanfiction #aemond targaryen #aemond x oc #hotd aemond #aemond x fem!reader #ewan mitchell #ewan mitchell fanfic #dark aemond smut #dark aemond #dark aemond targaryen #hotd smut #aemond smut #aemond targaryen smut #ewan mitchell smut #aemond targeryen angst #aemond targaryen angst #aemond angst #hotd angst #hotd fanfic #aemond fanfic #modern aemond angst #dark modern aemond #modern aemond smut #modern aemond #vampire aemond #aemond kinslayer #prince aemond #aemond #aemond one eye

[bonefall]

Better Bones Hollyleaf

For @m3ow124 who asked for info about BB!Hollyleaf and I provide.

[ID: BB!Hollyleaf. She is a buff black cat with spiky bits all over her body, including a holly-shaped tail tuft. She has a spiky 'mane' that is still growing in.]

I'm a butch Hollyleaf truther. She's big like her mom, the body type is inherited from Runningwind.

BB!Po3 is a relaxed, slice-of-life kind of series with 'episodes' focusing on different events around the Lake as the Clans settle into their new territory.

Though the POV is still split, Hollyleaf is now the "central" character. She drives the wider narrative.

Examples of some episodes that will happen: The Shinewater Plague, Poppypaw's Undeath, Ripwater the River Monster, The Tunnels, the Reduxed Tribe Journey, Cinderpaw's broken leg retooled into an episode about her BPD, ShadowClan's Lichen ReBog Project, Sol working some chaos (but Blackstar doesn't loose faith until OotS), the Battle of the False Eclipse. I really will add just about anything that sounds fun.

She is a lesbian and her relationships with Willowshine, Heathertail, and Cinderheart are all given focus.

HOLLYLEAF AND FALLEN LEAVES ARE THE SAME CHARACTER. This story contains Time Travel Shenanigans.

She changes her name to Fallenleaf after returning from a century spent in the tunnels... and traps the God of Autumn inside of her lmao.

I haven't worked out her physical changes after becoming Fallenleaf, so feel free to suggest. I'm thinking of a kind of "ginger vitiligo," like orange-and-white patches resembling leaves creeping up her body making her look like Sol.

More art and relevant summaries I've done: Jayfeather and Longtail Cinderheart Leafpool Firestar

Below the cut: A full guide to Hollyleaf through Po3, Cruel Season, and Hollyleaf's Century, ending with closing notes about what she's up to in OotS and Beyond. She doesn't die in the Great Battle, she's got much more interesting things to do!

!!IT IS LONG!!

BB!Power of Three

Iceheart, once known as Scourge, is an important uncle-figure in her life. Mousefur, Firestar, Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Daisy, all cats she has opinions on during the various episodes.

Like canon, she is a cleric apprentice for a while. About a month or so.

In that time she became almost traitorously close with Willowpaw, and had to let her down gently.

It doesn't pan out as a cleric-- but she doesn't swap places with Jaypaw yet. He undergoes full Warrior training before choosing the path.

Firestar tasks his deputy, Brackenfur, with training Hollypaw in the hopes of bringing her up to snuff with her siblings.

Bracken and Holly get super close, and she's brought along on a lot of the diplomatic meetings with other Clans. She's being taught about Fire Alone, the ideology of her grandfather, Firestar.

She does have to reckon with it though-- as it exists as a challenge to parts of the Warrior Code. She is taught that she's an upcoming prodigy, and that she walks in the pawsteps of greatness. She has to be a hero-- but what does that mean?

She was meeting with Heatherpaw in the tunnels, not Lionblaze. Like canon, this ends after they're trapped and have to find their way out with young kittens, Sedgekit and Thistlekit.

As time goes on, she meets a lot of betrayal. Sedgepaw reveals the tunnels to Onestar, Willowpaw does nothing to stop Mistystar from joining the battle to attack ThunderClan in spite of all its help, and even ShadowClan does nothing to save Brackenfur during the Battle of the False Eclipse.

(This Eclipse is fake, it is Sol previewing what will come on the night of the Great Battle.)

We end Po3 with Holly deeply shaken, doubting what she's been taught and clinging even harder to the only thing she has left; that she is, by definition, a hero.

Seeing each grandkit grappling with their own arc, that Jayfeather feels StarClan hates him, Lionblaze with the fact he couldn't protect his Clan all alone, and Hollyleaf wondering if everything she's ever done has been worth it, he shares a prophecy he received long ago;

"There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws. All three of you, you will work this out. I know this because I love you, and StarClan is capable of making mistakes."

That's the last big conversation they have with him, because he soon dies in...

BB!Cruel Season

(A book between Po3 and OotS, bridging the lighthearted tone of the former with the serious, plot-driven one of the latter. This is reposted and fluffed from another post, you'll recognize it if you've seen it)

The prophecy is revealed at the end of Po3, Ashfur overhears Firestar's words, and Cruel Season opens up with the three grappling with its meaning.

This sets the stage for the following;

Hollyleaf worrying about what her purpose is if everything she's done has been for naught and StarClan is terrified of her.

Lionblaze concerned for what this means in terms of how he will protect ThunderClan if he is so powerful he could destroy it.

Jayfeather confirming to himself that StarClan is full of assholes, telling his siblings that he fought Molefall to save Hazeltail.

In addition, Ashfur is doing some prophecy math; Fire and Tiger + Kin of your Kin = Disaster

The death of Brackenfur, the prophecy, the fact Jayfeather has been fighting StarClan and Grandpaw Firestar just decided to do nothing about it..... it's got Holly isolating herself.

WHY does StarClan hate them? ...is it just Jayfeather? Is it because he's been defying them?

Cracks are starting to form, but that's still her brother. She loves him. This is when Sol pops up again, offering to be someone to talk to.

(Reminder: Harry is the vessel. Sol is the god inhabiting him.)

Harry is thinking this is for more manipulation, Sol itself is taking an interest in a possible new vessel as he grows bored.

But we're overdue for the fire scene.

This time, the Fire is NOT random. Unknown to the Three, this is a Dark Forest plot.

Thornclaw (knows the territory), Whiskernose (established as knowing how to manage fires in TNP), and Breezepelt (breezepelt) are creating a diversion so they can murder Firestar

Regardless, the Three are caught in it.

While helping to evacuate the camp, Jayfeather's senses are overwhelmed. He can't get out of the fire, Holly and Lion run back for him and the blaze surrounds them.

Squirrelflight is at the lip of the quarry on the far side, trying to kick down a weak tree they can run up

Ashfur makes his infamous move, kicking her to the side

"I CANT LET YOU DO THAT, SQUIRRELFLIGHT"

They have a fight, Ashfur shouting about the prophecy, Fire and Tiger + Kin of your Kin = they are fated to destroy the clans, if Squilf had chosen him this never would have happened

Squilf is pinned, but reveals with passion, "BRAMBLECLAW'S KITTENS ARE DEAD, THESE AREN'T MINE"

Ashfur is confused just enough that she's able to muster a massive kick, sending him flying into the weak tree, knocking it over

Lionblaze races across this tree to help Squilf, smacking Ashfur across the face

It's a Moment, Lionblaze seeing his mentor both furious and terrified of him, blood on his claws

Ashfur absconds, leaving the Three with Squilf

Now this next part is important and contains a big change of motivation from canon; I want it to be clear that Holly killing Ashfur is 100% her REVENGE. It's not about safety, nor about keeping the secret. So here's how it goes;

The blood on Lionblaze's paw, Squirrelflight’s wounds, and the absence of Ashfur is DEFINITIVE PROOF he tried to murder them

Brambleclaw, the deputy and defacto leader because Firestar is missing, is furious and declares that if Ashfur is seen on ThunderClan territory, he is to be considered a rogue and to be brought to justice.

Ferncloud, Cloudtail, and the rest of Ashfur's associates are shocked.

Birchfall, Ash's nephew, tries to ask "are you SURE?" But immediately regrets it, seeing the haunted look in their eyes.

Especially Lionblaze, Ashfur's apprentice. He's devastated.

When Hollyleaf hunts Ashfur down later, she is IGNORING the order to bring him to justice.

But before that happens... they discover the body of Firestar.

His throat is torn out. It's immediately assumed that Ashfur did it.

Ferncloud is choked up, "He wanted to hurt Squirrelflight so badly he settled for her father..."

Hollyleaf alone realizes that he had black fur in his claws during his vigil later...

And she removes it.

She speaks to Sol about this and he tells her that it was surely an omen.

It means SHE is responsible in some way.

She agrees and adds,

"I'll do what has to be done, I will prove I'm worthy! I'll exact justice on everyone who needs it, this black-furred killer, Ashfur, and the one who broke the code and set these events into motion with my birth"

Sol: "this woman is crazy im in so much love i need to possess her right now"

An aside; How are her sibs feeling right now?

Lionblaze remains very close with Squirrelflight, getting more of the truth from her.

He's confused and upset, but, accepts that she did it to protect them and Leafpool... even though he doesn't Get It yet.

He will Get It soon though. That's a secret tool that will help us later. Just for now remember Lionblaze Doesn't Get It.

(Squilf is always his mom and he has no doubt about this)

Jayfeather really doesn't want to hear it, having independently worked out that the only other parent they could have is Leafpool.

(since this wouldn't be a Federal Fucking Issue if it was Cloudtail)

That evokes a lot of negative emotions. Mostly resentment and bitterness.

All this time his questions about why StarClan hates him could have made sense and they just didn't.

The Queen's Rights are an important part of their culture but... there's so many lies here.

It doesn't matter if he can logically "Understand" or whatever, he hates that response, "Oh it makes sense" no shut your stupid mouths this all sucks. "We were lied to and I've been fighting my whole life for reasons that were kept from me"

All this turmoil makes him start leaning on Poppyfrost, for comfort, for the rightness of their relationship.

He leans on her too hard and she got pregnant. OOPSIE JayFUMBLE.

But anyway back to the Hollyleaf

A few weeks later Ashfur tries to drag himself to justice.

He's been living on his own, missing his family, hoping to find mercy for being unsuccessful.

It wasn't a fight. It was a murder.

(This is important for TBC later, as Ashfur is allowed into Silverpelt over this while also making sure that StarClan isn't accidentally incompetent like canon)

BB!Ashfur is characterized as being a truly "loyal" warrior. He did care about his Clan above all else and that is why StarClan accepts him.

Though he DID carry extra anger in his heart for Squilf rejecting him for Brambleclaw, the theme of BB is that these elements of Clan Culture, the commitment to the code and the willingness to do anything to protect it, are destructive.

Note: In TBC many arcs later, BB!Ashfur does actually care about enforcing a strict interpretation of the Code, AND ALSO he wants to have Squilf. It's both.

Next on Hollyleaf's list; Leafpool.

SECRET REVEAL TIME

She does the big Gathering Reveal

Bramblestar IMMEDIATELY demotes Squirrelflight from her deputy role for covering this up, breaks up with her, and disowns his children.

Assures the gathering that there will be consequences for Leafpool, and promotes Thornclaw to deputyship on the spot.

Jayfeather is now the only Cleric of ThunderClan.

Breezepelt, who was tense but friendly with the Three, has declared them his enemies because Crowfeather CAVED IMMEDIATELY and admitted he loved Leafpool, embarrassing him in public AGAIN by making it clear he was not wanted

"They're the reason he treats me like this! They're disgusting! They shouldn't have been born! I thought they were my friends but they were actually part of my torment!"

ThunderClan IMMEDIATELY starts treating the Three differently, because they are halfclan and cleric children

Lionblaze suddenly understands what Squilf meant by, "I did it to protect my sister, but also to protect the three of you"

Remember that thing from before? He Gets It Now.

"Sometimes keeping secrets is Good Actually," concludes Lionblaze

Opinions are split about Squilf and Leafpool,

"Squilf was protected by the Queen’s Rights"

"Leafpool still broke the code tho"

"That should have stayed between her and StarClan, she did the right thing"

"That law is stupid anyway!"

"Uhhh no it's not? Brokenstar? Ripplestar? Leopardstar? Helloo??"

"Are you saying Squilf's kids are tyrants? What is wrong with you?"

"I'm saying you don't respect the code you heathen!"

"She still lied to Bramblestar and needs consequences!"

"A halfclan cat is a halfclan cat! It was revealed and we must deal with it!"

ThunderClan is fighting, basically.

Holly has her scene later of trying to get Leafpool to eat deathberries, like canon Leaf is a queen who's like, "...girl you can't hurt me more than I already am"

And this is the point where Poppyfrost realizes she is pregnant. They're Jayfeather's. He is the only Cleric in ThunderClan, Poppyfrost does not want to be a single mother, it's a mess.

So they contact Cinderheart and Lionblaze and ask for help. They agree-- but preparing for the arrival of the kittens means they'd need to start saying they're mates.

Cinderheart, the cat that Holly is actively interested in: "hey uh Hollyleaf I'm, uh, mates with your brother now?"

Hollyleaf:

"Youre McFuckinf What?"

Cindy, unable to keep a secret and not really being in love with Lionblaze, admits there are kits she needs to adopt. Hollyleaf does more deduction and jumps to the correct conclusion, Poppyfrost is pregnant because Jayfeather has violated his vow.

And she's going to do something about this.

Sol offers his services. Friendship ENDED with Harry; now HOLLYLEAF is my best friend.

Hollyleaf decides Jayfeather needs to be dealt with. He has disobeyed StarClan for the last time

As he slips into the Tunnels to communicate with Rock, she follows him, planning to kill him quietly

Lionblaze intercepts this, defending Jay.

"What happened to my sister?! Hollyleaf, this isn't you!"

"A black cat killed Firestar, and I've killed that black cat! Soon I will put an end to all enemies of the Warrior Code!"

"What does that MEAN"

The fighting destabilizes the tunnel, Lionblaze is able to push Jayfeather out just in time before the rockslide

Sol saves Hollyleaf's life by teleporting her 100 years into the past, so that she isn't killed by the collapse.

Lionblaze is a tank and rocks can't kill him, when the Clan digs him out, he's just bruised and unconscious

They never find Hollyleaf's body, or any remains at all. Not even blood.

The book ends with the birth of Ivykit and Dovekit, tension settling over the entire family, pain and mourning all at once.

Cinderheart admits she still loves her, and misses her with her whole heart. Lionblaze can't understand why it happened. Jayfeather is expressing his pain through anger. Poppyfrost wants to put this behind her as soon as possible.

UNBEKNOWNST TO THEM, Hollyleaf is with them right now! Here's how Hollyleaf BECOMES Fallen Leaves, causes the collapse of LionClan, LeopardClan, and TigerClan, and sets the events of DOTC into motion;

Hollyleaf's Century

I will state my intentions though, so you can see what I'm trying to do here;

The downfall of the three kinships MUST go back to Hollyleaf preventing them from mounting resistance by being focused on pointless bullshit. It must be her fault that they lost, by trying to rigidly force the code onto a completely different society.

Sol is the God of Autumn, of change, of rules, and of games.

Story opens up with the cave-in. Hollyleaf is going to be crushed.

So, instead, Sol changes the time around them. Holly does not know this, but he has dragged her over 100 years into the past.

She's found by a cat named Broken Shadow.

Broken Shadow nurses her back to health and adopts her, introducing her to the Shadow Family, teaching her the language, and introducing her to society, as a parent does.

She's with them for a few months, enough to learn Lakemew and become accepted.

The Lake Cats find her name strange, Hollyleaf, and start calling her Hollyleaf Shadow, but she insists instead it is Holly Leaves.

"Ah, we see we see :)"

The Lake at this point was almost completely forested, Holly used to think the Ancient Oak was special but... now she wonders if that's how big all trees are supposed to be.

There are three societies around the Lake. The Shadow Family belongs to the Tiger Kinship, there's also a Lion Kinship and a Leopard Kinship.

She gets introduced to Jay's Wing and Dove's Wing, twins from the Leopard Kinship, and their cousin Lion's Roar, who is the leader of the Lion Kinship.

Holly is uncomfortable about loyalty being split between borders.

However, these groups largely interact peacefully.

Jay's Wing is some sort of student of the tunnels, he worships an ancient god.

Holly Leaves is disturbed that they do not have a StarClan and have these... entities. Yes she has Sol but she doesn't WORSHIP him.

Everything Changed When the Victorians Attacked

Environmental destruction I'm still working out, you know what, I'm gonna mark this

(MIDDLE SECTION IS STILL UNDER A LOT OF CONSTRUCTION, THIS SECTION IS THE MOST SUBJECT TO CHANGE, THE POLITICS ARE FUZZY.)

First things first; the Lake is shrinking. The Leopard Kinship seeks help because they have less fishing territory.

Why? The river beyond what-is-now RiverClan territory is being forcefully tamed, straightened to flow fast through the town and for conversion into farmland.

This makes the water flow faster and spend less time in the Lake, both making the river itself more dangerous, damaging the northern wetland, and shrinking the Lake.

Leopard Kinship weakens but becomes more reliant on the other Kinships. This is normal for them.

Holly Leaves uses this moment to start gathering power. At first it's simple magic tricks, doing little bits of aid, using Sol's power.

She knows what the humans did to the Old... New... The Forest of her Forefathers. She knows she needs these cats to trust her.

It's for their own good, she says.

The quarry is set up in what is now ThunderClan's camp, in what was Tiger Kinship territory. It's likely a sandstone quarry specifically.

Slurry was dumped into the river between what-is-now ThunderClan and WindClan territory. This is before that gorge dried up.

Lake is slowly poisoned. Dust from the quarry degrades the nearby forest.

When the logging begins, Holly Leaves grabs authority, leading the Shadow Family and many cats of the Tiger Kinship into battle to take the Leopard Kinship.

They don't put up much of a fight, Jay and Dove try to calm their family down, assuring them that Holly is a vessel for a deity and likely has ancient knowledge.

"There needs to be some changes around here. This is all because you have no one in the Stars to protect you. But I'm here now-- I will save you."

At first it's battle training, but she starts making hard roles. Borders must be defended. There must be healers.

Lion Kinship can join them or be gone. That's the only territory not destroyed and they need the land.

Using the power vested in her by Sol, she starts leading attacks to bring all cats under her power so they can fight the humans.

To oppose her, Lion's Roar becomes quite vicious. He reminds her that he needs 13 sacrifices, and she's feeding them to him.

3 heroes; Three Seasonal Gods. Jay's Wing eventually undergoes a Tunnel Trial to earn Rock's Favor, and his twin Dove's Wing appeals to the benevolent god of Spring, Midnight.

(Insert political drama I'm still teasing out)

The important thing about this drama is that it MUST go back to Holly Leaves being obsessed with control and punishment, dedication to her code of ethics that don't matter to this society, devolving the Three Kinships into infighting.

Leopard Kinship probably makes some kind of break for freedom, which is when Jay and Dove eventually break with Holly

This infighting eventually leads to Jay's Wing's death.

Holly killed him in a fit of rage, somehow, this I know but I am still working out

She looks down at the cat who was her brother and becomes sick, realizing what she's done, what she tried to do in the past, and how she's gotten what she wanted

His god, Rock, is in absolute despair over this.

He takes the body and buries it outside of the tunnel where Jay's Wing completed his trial; the only patch of Old Forest left in the modern Lake Territories.

Dove's Wing is distraught. Lion's Roar is enraged. Holly Leaves' political power dissipates.

They insult her by calling her Folly Leaves. "Great job saving us all, Folly Leaves."

The Lake is destroyed, the forest is gone, except the patch where Jay's Wing was buried. Humans pass right by it, like they can't even see it.

There's nothing left.

Holly keeps trying to demand they stay, trying to force them to remain... and Dove Wing has to put her down, to save the survivors.

(AND NOW WE'RE BACK TO SOLID GROUND)

After this, Dove Wing renames herself to Half Moon. A broken half of a pair, to signify how she will never be whole again.

Half Moon goes on to found the tribe, and Folly Leaves is alone.

"At least I still have my god"

"I'm bored now Holly lmao have fun byee"

Sol kicks her spirit out of her own body, and returns to the future, expecting her to fade away over the course of the following century. He leaves her for dead, essentially.

Alone, in despair, and overwhelmed by guilt, Hollyleaf can only imagine her family for comfort.

Over the decades, she begins to forget her own name. Hollyleaf, Holly Leaves, Folly Leaves, Fallen Leaves... she can't remember which one was correct. Are any of them right?

She watches the Lake wither, to the point where even the humans can't live there.

And then... she watches it recover too. Slowly becoming the home of her childhood.

The whole time, she's waiting for her family to come home.

One day, with no warning, a young Squirrelpaw, Brambleclaw, and Crowfoot tumble into her hole.

She remembers an old story her mother taught her once, of a StarClan Warrior who passed on a prophecy that reunited them after they had been scattered.

"When the great storm brews, meet together where the dusk begins and the sun drowns."

She begins to remember things. And she remembers, SOL NEEDS TO BLEED.

Years later she FINALLY gets her chance. She sees her own body guiding a couple of apprentices into the tunnels, and leaps out of the shadows, catching her neck in her teeth.

Sol can't believe she's STILL HERE he expected her to DIE

TIME LOOP COMPLETE, Fallen Leaves has her body back.

After this, she declares that her name is Fallenleaf!

...probably because she doesn't remember it was actually Hollyleaf and she guessed wrong. But it stuck.

Aaaand one last segment!

OotS and Beyond

She has to re-acclimate to society after 100 years in a tunnel.

And... she has a lot of guilt looking at Jayfeather. Her brother, her ally, her enemy, her victim.

He wants his sister back, it's been a long and hard time without her. She can't unsee his dying eyes.

Cinderheart missed her more than anything, and Fallen missed her too. She reminds her of good times and simple lessons.

Fallen takes part in the Great Battle, but has to balance the angry, trapped god inside of her the whole time, preventing her from taking risks.

After the Great Battle and a near death, she gets with Cinderheart almost immediately.

Ivypool and Dovewing are IFFY about this-- their parents were never romantically involved but they've never seen their mother so happy.

That's pretty difficult, both for Dovewing who's filled with rage about Life In General and Ivypool who's, deep down, a huge people-pleaser.

(They are still not aware that Jayfeather and Poppyfrost are their bioparents, that's revealed in TBC.)

Cinder and Fallen raise a kitten together, Hollylark.

The kit was created when Fallenleaf's magic misfired during a sneeze, magically making Cinderheart pregnant. OOPS.

After the events of AVoS, Fallenleaf starts realizing how... out of place she is, here. She is loved, but she can't be a normal warrior responsibly with how strong she is.

Now that she realizes how small the politics of Clans are... these feel like games. Like something Sol would do. Is that true? Or is she just insecure

She knows nothing about herself, so she can't answer these questions.

The catalyst for her leaving is Hollylark's horrible, young death. She doesn't know if there's anything she could have done to prevent this.

So... she has to find out.

Fallenleaf leaves to go learn more about herself from Midnight. Cinderheart goes with her. Wherever she goes, she will follow.

#Hollyleaf's Century #BB!Hollyleaf #Bonefall Po3 #Bonefall OotS #Fallenleaf #Better Bones AU #Character Summary

[peachlolitasevillacourtstuff]

Finally I bring the official designs of the new ninja masters, or rather the first generation of ninja turtles, with Raphael, Donatello, Mikey and Mona. The reason why this Leonardo is not is still a mystery. And you might wonder why they are over 160 years old, that's because after the mutagen catastrophe, the turtles got an age extension buff, including Mona.

Mona; She is Raphael's wife and rock grandmother, she is also a martial arts master and the voice of reason for the entire group. She had a total of 3 children, Spiker, Lars and Miyoko. She is usually a great mother figure to all the young turtles and occasionally prepares food for all of them.

Raphael; He is the wisest and strongest, master of his rock grandson, Toba, Gneis, and Quarzo. He was left blind in his right eye after a battle where he almost died and his son spiked his. Throughout these years he had to abandon his rebellious attitude for the future of justice after the world's mutant catastrophe; he is the head of a village of mutants who managed to take refuge in those lands. However, even though he appears to have a quiet life, he still resents Leonardo for abandoning Cloude with Mikey.

Donnie; He is much wiser than Raphael, and still retains his astute nerd intelligence from his youth. He lost his arm in an explosion which caused him to become depressed, but that didn't stop him from moving forward and forming his own group of ninja turtles. He is the teacher of Delfinio, Daisy, Gardenia and sakura. Which he considers his daughters. Like Raphael, he resents Leonardo after his disappearance.

Mikey; He doesn't change much, but he did mature in those years. Although he appears to be very weak, he still has that energy of his youth, and often makes his turtles do household chores. He is a fun and very strong teacher. He was in charge of raising Leonardo's son Cloude, unlike his other brothers, he does not have as much resentment for Leonardo. He does have hope that he will return and fix things.

#fanart #fan art #lindo #my art #tmnt #teenage ninja mutant turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles #illlustration

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

Hey I really like your creepypasta stuff and I was wondering about general headcannons for Jane and clockwork ? Thank you!

I haven't gotten any clockwork requests yet! And i get very few Jane requests! Super excited for this one...

Thank you so much for requesting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane

Very much into trad goth and romantic goth subcultures

Lesbian, she/her, 24 years old

5'8"

Her favorite band is She Wants Revenge

She lives in the manor, but she and jeff are kept far away from each other due to constant fights breaking out between the two

For a while, liu tried to help them work out their differences as a mediator, but that obviously didnt work

Jane, however, is actually good friends with Liu

She has a huge crush on nurse ann

I mean, who doesn't

Shes a very quiet person, generally

Very logical, ordered, scheduled

She is one of Sally's primary caretakers, along with Liu and EJ

Her ultimate fantasy is to have a date with her soulmate in a graveyard

Shes very interested in fashion, even designing some of her own fashion lines, but they are nothing more than sketches as she hasn't taken the time to learn how to sew yet

She's one of the very few creeps that keeps her distance from everyone else

She has a few close friends, namely, Ej and Liu, but other than that she doesn't really talk to anyone

She is polite and civil, but she doesn't go out of her way to be overly friendly

She is African American

Her proxy tattoo is on her thigh

I like to imagine her voice sounds like a deeper version of Amy Lee's

She likes having her nails done, and especially likes having acrylics with charms on them

Her favorite set (and the one she gets done over and over again) are black nails with silver crosses, pearls and chains

I feel like she has very intense PTSD from everything with Jeff, and refuses to be anywhere near fire, or men that she doesn't know for too long

And sure, it makes her work harder, but she's slaying so its not all that bad

As far as her work goes, she is normally used for spying and recon missions, as she is very stealthy, and even if she does get caught she can be very persuasive and manipulative

I feel like she would be the type of person to have very few tattoos and piercings

The tattoos she does have, they have meaning

For example, she has a rose on her left arm, and a daisy on her right arm, as these were her parents favorite flowers

I feel like she would use very high quality perfumes, like gucci and dior stuff

The best way to explain her signature scent is "expensive"

She is absolutely a boss bitch <333

Clockwork

Lesbian, she/her, 23 years old

5'6"

She's very butch <333

The best way i can explain her personality is Applejack from mlp

She's very extroverted and enjoys hanging out with people around the mansion

She wears so many flannels

Seriously. Someone needs to stop her from buying them

Flannels and blue jeans are her jam

I imagine that she smells like old spice, because she thinks all "female" deoderants smell too weak

Also, old spice fits her aesthetic better

Shes so gay for Jane

I feel like Jane would know at least a little about Nat's feelings

She wholeheartedly denies having said feelings though

She loves physical sport, and can often be found wrestling or sparring with another creep

As a result, she is tanned and buff

She has a septum ring, an eyebrow ring and has contemplated getting small gauges

Her proxy tattoo is on her shoulder

Other than that, i don't think she would have many other tattoos

I can see her having something like a star on her shoulderblade, or maybe a dolphin on her ankle, but thats about it

I would think that she's really close with Toby, Jane and maaaaybe Liu

Her proxy work normally consists of fast paced missions

If you need someone beat up quick, shes your girl

I feel like she would try really hard to be a plant person, but she just can't figure it out

She can also play the acoustic guitar

She only really plays it when Sally asks her too, though

When Sally first got in the mansion, Nat would help lull Sally to sleep by playing a song and singing softly by her bed

It really helped Sally warm up to the manor, and get comfortable living there

Ever since then, Sally and Nat have gotten really close, making Nat one of the first people she asks to play dolls with, asks to watch tv with, asks to dance with, etc

I feel like she would smoke every now and then, but its only to help calm her anxiety and she only does it when she knows there aren't any small children that could potentially be watching her

I feel like she would have BPD and maybe some OCD

#creepypasta #creepypasta x y/n #creepypasta x you #slender mansion #creepypasta x female reader #clockwork #clockwork creepypasta #jane the killer x reader #jane the killer creepypasta #jane arkensaw #jane the killer

[terra-drone]

My gripes with Rift Apart

Consider this a review of Rift Apart (PC ver). After playing this game twice on Renegade Legend, I have... opinions. Being a fan of the franchise since Going Command/Locked & Loaded, I admittedly have some strong biases for both the PS2 saga and the Future Trilogy for various reasons. But before I go lambasting this entry into the franchise, a TLDR summary;

Pros:

The game is pretty and well executed on a technical level (for the most part).

The platforming and movement is refined and a step up from previous titles.

Cons:

Quite literally almost everything else.

Also has a propensity for crashing (both freezing and blue screen of death).

Movement & Platforming

One of the core aspects of RaC that I am happy RA got right. The movement is buttery smooth and chain daisying from one platform to the next using wall runs, dashes and rift pulls is excellently designed. The addition of the dash function adds an extra dodge ability that was absent in previous entries although granted we can still use the age-old side jumping while aiming/shooting.

I do wish however that the hoverboots were more integrated into the platforming since most of the time you only ever need it for super long leaps or the timed step puzzles. Something like the jump pads from ACIT would be nice to see paired with the new wall run and dash mechanic. You hardly need to use it outside of Savali and Torren IV and the last part of the Nef Mech fight.

What I wished they truncated however was the glide mechanic the hoverboots had. Given that the hoverboots could both glide and make you go fast, it makes this better than whatever Clank could possibly offer. @erablisme has done a wonderful breakdown on this matter (see here), but essentially having the hoverboots be an upgrade of both the charge boots and fulfilling Clank’s contribution to Ratchet’s mobility (gliding) renders Clank, from a gameplay standpoint, moot. It renders Clank into nothing more than a glorified backpack/exposition device, which beats the entire purpose of the franchise’s own title.

Gameplay

Weapons

The arsenal, while fun to use, is too bloated. A lot of the guns overlap in functionality:

Shotguns: Enforcer, Pixelizer, Void Repulser

Seeker/Turret weapons: Agents of Doom, Bombardier, Mr Fungi

Crowd Control: Topiary Sprinkler, Cold Snap

Grenades: Shatterbomb, Bouncer

Rapid fire: Burst Pistol, Blackhole Storm

Lock-on weapons: Drillhound, Richochet, Buzzsaw, Lightning Rod

Heavy hitter: RYNO, Negatron Collider, Warmonger

Do we really need multiple weapons that do the same thing just with different particle effects?

The level up mechanic, while a staple of RaC games, is frankly outdated by this point and actively hinders the game. If anything, it punishes players for sticking to guns they enjoy once they hit max level. It makes the motivator for using weapons not be its function but rather to chase that arbitrary level cap. Plus, there’s no telling what the level up actually did for a weapon aside from damage buffs.

It’s not like they couldn’t do away with this feature, Deadlocked made the guns increase so many levels it frankly deemphasises them in favour of choosing the best weapon for any given scenario, ItN decreased the max level to 3 (6 on challenge) in favour of more meaningful weapon upgrades, and ACiT had the Constructo weapons and mods (which Deadlocked also had called Omega Mods) that incentivises experimentation on what combos worked best while allowing you to spice things up post max level. Why not tie weapon upgrades to collectibles? They already had the Raritanium collection, sprinkling effect mods for weapons throughout the locations shouldn’t be too difficult. They already did this for the armour system, so why not do it for the weapons too? Heck, why not make all the weapons customisable like the Constructo weapons? It would solve the bloated arsenal problem.

Enemy Design

The enemy design in this game just isn’t great. While it makes sense considering you’re fighting an army so it’s obvious they’re gonna have standardised units, you would think they would spice up their combat stratagem when they know they couldn’t beat our protagonists by throwing the same old shtick over and over. Instead, we keep having to fight the same miniboss Juggernaut over and over and over again. Sometimes there’s two of them! Make it three during the Juice fight!

It’s not a problem with just the Nefarious troopers, it’s an issue across multiple factions too. Across all three factions (Space Pirates, Goons & Nef’s army), they all follow the same formula; 

the one with the gun: Pirate Corsair, Goon, Nef Lasertrooper

the one that does melee: Space Pirate & Shield Pirate, Goon Rusher & Undead Goon, Nef Slugger

the tiny short range/melee swarmer: Cutlassies, Robomutt, Nef Trooper

the vehicle one: Goon Dropship, Nef Dropship

the flying one: Zoom Goon, Nef Sniperbot & Blitztrooper & Sniperbot

the heavy flying one: Vroom Goon, Nef Peacekeeper

the rinse repeat miniboss: Pirate Marauder, Nef Juggernaut

While stylistically different, they don’t differ much from how they shoot/do damage at you. It would have been great if they did some things different from one another. Some really simple fixes;

While I think giving shields to pirates makes little sense, it is some variety at least. Expand on that. Maybe make the Goon Rusher actually rush towards you faster than the others, or make the Nefarious Slugger can do 360 attacks or have more range since it’s a) a robot, and b) basically has the Scorpion Flail for arms. 

Make the Vroom Goons try to ram you instead of just having to avoid the taser things it shoots cuz that’s the exact same thing that the Nefarious Sniperbot does since all you need to do to avoid both attacks is sidestepping it.

Make the Pirate Corsair shoot high damage while the standard Goon does horizontal strafing rapid fire compared to the Nef Trooper’s vertical one

Make the Zoom Goons dodge your attacks, maybe give it a ground pound that opens it up to attack so it's at least somewhat different from the Nef Peacekeeper other than being a slightly squishier variant.

For a game so pretty it is bizarre they couldn’t put more effort into gameplay itself. The repeating minibosses get stale very quickly since once you’ve figured out a tactic that worked, it is rinse and repeat across the whole game.

Two Protagonists, Same Shtick

The gameplay doesn’t differentiate itself between Ratchet and Rivet. They play the exact same way, with the exact same arsenal, and the exact same progression. What is the point of having separate playable protagonists if they’re just gonna end up the same? You could replace Rivet with Ratchet and vice versa for 90% of the game and nothing would change. It would be something if they had separate weapons or separate movement gimmicks that make them distinct, but we didn’t get that for some reason.

Character Issues

The character writing is just abysmal, even when compared to the Future trilogy. While the Future trilogy (and by extension A4O, FFA and ItN) had plenty, and I mean plenty, of plotholes from a worldbuilding standpoint, the character writing was solid and fairly consistent. I cannot say the same for RA. Some examples;

Ratchet(?) & Clank(?)

I can hardly recognise Ratchet as the same character we had over the PS2 and PS3 instalments. He feels more like the 2016 reboot version just haphazardly retconned as the ItN version that RA was supposedly a continuation of. Being afraid of being a washed-up hero was Qwark’s thing, not Ratchet’s. Why would he even care? The man was downright tired of being a hero come ItN. And why is he even worried about meeting the Lombaxes? He saved Polaris multiple times and beat Tachyon, y’know, the reason why they left in the first place? The reason he gave up searching for the Lombaxes was because he had more going on with Talwyn and was assured the Lombaxes would do just fine without him. Why the sudden change of reason? What, is acknowledging Talwyn one too many female characters for Insomniac?

And why would Clank, despite knowing Ratchet not wanting to pursue the Lombaxes, go out of his way to make a whole ass parade about the Dimensionator? If he was just trying to cheer Ratchet up from his fear of being a washed-up hero (which, again, made no sense for his character) he would have just done the parade and given him the Dimensionator in private. The entire premise of Rift Apart hinges on the fact that Clank decides to give Ratchet what can be considered as a WMD since the Lombaxes used the Dimensionator to get rid of the Cragmites in an open public setting. Had he not done this, had he not told Qwark he wanted to surprise Ratchet, Nefarious probably wouldn’t have found out about the new Dimensionator, and the entire game wouldn’t have happened.

Another gripe I have with how Clank was handled was that his Zoni heritage was conveniently forgotten about. They could have tied the Zoni more deeply into the mysticism of the RaC universe and be the reason why he was able to fix the dimensional anomalies, but instead it was tied to Gary and... the Lombaxes. Huh.

Rivet, or as I like to call her, “Furbait”

There is so much missed potential with Rivet. Where to start? Instead of a grizzled, closed-off survivor of a robot dystopia, we just get miss middle-of-the-road, clearly made for pandering, furbait. Design wise, she would have been perfectly serviceable had this NOT been a robot dystopia. The only physical giveaway to show that she was a survivor/rebel fighter was her arm. It is the only thing that shows she’s a rebel fighter survivor. Her suit is well made, her eyelashes are on fleek, her hair is silky smooth, her tail is all fluffy and clean. Nothing about her says she was a survivor. No scars, no dirt, nothing other than the obvious robot arm. It is lazy. Lazy and stupid.

Her personality doesn’t make sense for the universe she supposedly inhabits either. Heck, no one in this franchise fits well in this robot dystopia, tbh. She distrusts robots due to past experience, yet  is chummy with both Clank and Kit (and by some extension, the Zurkons & Pierre) relatively quickly. For someone who should have gone through a lot of adversity, she hardly acts like it. She’s confident, has a lot of friends, and whatever negative aspect she does have (which is just distrust instead of the obvious robot racist she should have been) that would have given her an opportunity to grow as a character is watered down and conveniently forgotten, so she hardly grows as a character, if any.

Ultimately, Rivet boils down to being “What if Ratchet, but a girl?”. There’s work put into trying to make her her own thing, but there’s also the narrative yanking her by the collar to be Ratchet’s other self. She’s the last Lombax in her dimension, she also wonders where the Lombaxes went, and she’s trying to be a hero. At that point, how is she any different than Ratchet? They don’t even differ much personality wise for a version of Ratchet who never met her Clank, so to speak. One would think she would be the spunky RaC1 Ratchet since it was meeting Clank that got Ratchet to grow as a person. Instead she’s just your lovely neighbourhood Rivet, friend to all except robots except the ones she meets I guess. What is the point of having two main characters if they are just gonna end up the same?

Kit

While arguably the better other of the new duo, she has issues as well in the writing department. She had the most growth out of our titular cast, however how she got there is ramshackled at best. 

In comparison to Clank, he was a defective warbot, which made sense why he was small. Kit on the other hand was tailor made by the supposedly competent Emperor Nefarious, so why does she have a cutesy mode? Why does she even have a character crisis from hurting Rivet, for that matter? Stopping rebels was what she was designed to do, and she suddenly gained a conscience from doing her job? If Kit is so effective at what she did, why did Emp Nef stop at making just one of her? Shouldn’t there be multiple Kit models roaming about? She could mow down hordes of newer Nefarious Troopers and Juggernauts, so why didn’t Emp Nef expand on that?

These inconsistencies make Kit as a character start falling apart as soon as you give it more scrutiny than a surface level glance. The writers could have easily solved these issues by just alluding that she might have been an outdated model, or was damaged and abandoned on Savali where Gary and the monks fixed her up and gave her a new purpose — protecting the Archives. Instead of an exterminator, she became a guardian. They could have taught her how to be more “human” as it were, too,  which would tie up nicely to why she regrets her actions in her previous line of work. Instead, they went with the “Oh no, what have I done, I did my job and injured a trespasser, now I’m gonna be a recluse on Savali” route.

She doesn’t gel well with Rivet either because the only one actively having something to overcome was Kit. Had Rivet been written better (having to overcome her prejudices, letting go of her past trauma, solving her trust issues) it could work with Kit growing out of her self doubt and regrets, but it just isn’t there. Plus, there weren't enough scenes of them together to build towards that conflict resolution that would make their friendship more believable. She has more of a relationship with Ratchet than Rivet.

“EmPeRoR” Nefarious

He is boring. Simple as. There is no driving motivation to him other than “conquer everything”. We could have gotten an Ultron (which would make a perfectly sensible callback to the Biobliterator shtick our Nef pulled from UYA) but we just end up with a sassy English bastard with the personality of wet bread. There was no fun interplay between him and our Neffy, anything to make both their personalities shine as they work together or grind against each other, it just sucks.

The Plot(holes)

Imma just list it down.

How does a helmet clearly designed to fit a Lombax head is supposedly “one size fits all”?

How did the fish kid Rivet saved in the intro made it around Nef City in the first place if this was supposedly a robot dystopia that eradicated all squishies? What, was he just having a stroll, taking some fresh dystopian air? Could have made it that this was a fellow rebel she was tasked to save cuz he had some intel that he swiped and Rivet decided to use herself as bait to draw attention away from him so he could get the intel out of there, but no.

On that matter, why do planets like Savali and Torren IV still have organic inhabitants?

What was Skidd trying to achieve by hacking the propaganda blimp? This served no purpose at all narratively since it didn't even turn any robots against the Neffies.

Why was Skidd even in Nef City, for that matter? What was his original mission that he was going undercover for? Busting Rivet out of prison? Couldn’t be, since he made no mention of it.

Why did none of Emp Nef's cronies question our Nef just popping in despite looking clearly different? He’s a whole head shorter and the wrong colour. What, do they not have colour vision?

How did Emp Nef know about the existence of the dimensional map? He barely knew about the Dimensionator so how does that make sense?

If Ratchet already has hoverboots, why couldn’t he dash/sprint with it until he gets to Savali?

Where and when did Rivet get a rift tether?

Where and when did Rivet get a pair of hoverboots?

Wasn’t the Space Pirates/Decadroids designed by Tachyon? Why do they exist in this dimension? Why aren’t they allied with Emp Nef since they too are robots? None of this is explained.

Where did the Lombaxes of Rivet’s dimension disappear to? Did they have a Tachyon-like threat in this dimension too? Did Emp Nef wipe them out? Don’t know, and the game doesn’t bother explaining it cuz Rivet is supposed to be girl Ratchet and nothing beyond that.

Why would Emperor Nefarious announce for the whole galaxy to see where he was going during the finale? Did he lose that much intelligence in the short timeframe we’ve known him? This is the guy who conquered the galaxy?

Why would he leave a portal for our protagonists to conveniently follow him through? 

Where did that telekinetic abilities of him suddenly disappear to?

Where was this dimension’s Lawrence counterpart? That stupid little secretary is so dumb as to not recognise her own boss she couldn’t possibly be the Lawrence replacement.

Environmental Storytelling & Worldbuilding

Environmental storytelling & worldbuilding has never really been Insomniac’s strong suit. RA is pretty and all, but aside from Blizar Prime, none of the other locales did anything different from Ratchet’s dimension. If this was supposed to be a galaxy where Emp Nef has conquered it all, you would think that there’d be more neon, more cyberpunk, more Emp Nef aesthetic, more robots flying about. Instead, we just got the same thing we had from Ratchet’s dimension, just in prettier graphics. It is set dressing with no story to tell. It's a puddle pretending it was an ocean. While I appreciate seeing the graphical glow up the locations got, it’s a missed opportunity to actually show the impact Emp Nef had. 

Take Nefarious City for example;

How was Ratchet able to move around Nef City without raising alarms? This negates the entire point of Rivet needing a robot disguise in the first place.

Why does a static statue in the middle of a city have a terminal that activates a platform that leads to Emp Nef's office in the first place?

On that note, why is an EMPEROR working from an office? Where’s the throne? The grand palace and palisades? The royal guards? If he’s an authoritarian that likes to take control, where’s the giant screen with a hundred monitors that watch every inch of Nef City?

Why does Emp Nef have a tiny four seater shuttle? If he needed to commute planet-side, wouldn’t he have something more posh? More grand? A Rolls Royce of shuttles instead of what can be considered a slightly pricier but still shitty Tesla model? They could have made Ratchet or Rivet have to steal a fighter jet and that would make infinitely more sense than what we got.

The same can be said with the inhabitants of this universe. They only exist to serve as plot devices or to point the protagonists to the next goal rather than actual people. There is no culture, no differing beliefs, nothing to tell you about what they are about or what they do. If all they exist to do is to be exposition devices/mission pointers, what was the point of even making distinct characters? Then again, the Future trilogy suffered the same problem with environmental characters being practically stand-in cardboards so points for consistency, I guess.

Verdict

Essentially, Rift Apart is a creatively bankrupt, designed-by-committee tech demo for Sony Playstation. What used to be a franchise that does satirical commentary on capitalism that later tried to delve into narrative/character driven sci-fi story, has ended up being the most capitalistic-designed entry imaginable. Which is unfortunate because I want to like this game. God, do I want to like it.

Did I enjoy playing it? When it works and doesn't crash on me, sure.

Do I like it enough as an entry to the franchise though? No, no I don't. The gameplay hardly expanded on the RaC formula, and the narrative just killed it for me.

But of course, that's just me. If you enjoyed RA, more power to ya. If you told me to play it again, I'll probably do it. It's just not for me for the long run.

#terra rambles #ratchet and clank #rift apart

[radix-outpost]

I don't discuss it all that often, but I have a fondness for Mario; unlike stuff like Sonic or Megaman, though, I don't think I had any coherent AU ideas ("coherent" doing a lot of heavy lifting there). Time to fix that.

The basic conceit is "another adaptation the likes of which Nintendo would never sign off on today", influenced by SMB '93 (note Mario's, Luigi's, and Daisy's outfits) with some "The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach" thrown in (Haru's presence, the basis for the Toads).

Notes below:

Mario: the hero, as per usual. Worked as a freelance plumber alongside his brother Luigi in New Donk City until circumstances brought the two and Pauline to the Mushroom Kingdom. A jovial, compassionate guy who is also way too good at combat acrobatics for someone who claims that he was "just" a plumber.

Luigi: the lancer. As shaken as he is by this sudden turn of events, Luigi is doing his best to face everything head-on; unlike Mario, he prefers outmaneuvering his enemies over fighting them directly. Boyfriend of Pauline.

Peach: the runaway royal. Peach heads to the Metro Kingdom to try and get away from her wicked aunt, Queen Lena, only to dive right back into the Mushroom Kingdom to set things right. She attempts to pass herself off as a civilian to the Mario Bros., with limited success.

Prince Haru: the other runaway royal. After failing to reel in his mother Lena, Haru tracks down Peach and accidentally blows her cover. He's a skilled diplomat, but too fragile to provide anything out on the field except buffs. Takes a shine to Mario after the plumber rescues him from Bowser's forces.

Toadette: a Mushroomian and Peach's best buddy. She joins up with the heroes not long after they arrive in the Mushroom Kingdom, helping them to navigate the place after they (sans Haru) end up on Queen Lena's "wanted" list.

Daisy: the last descendant of the long-gone Sarasaland royal family. Daisy works as an archaeologist; her findings place her in Bowser's crosshairs, though he swiftly comes to regret sending minions after a woman who can punch Koopas into next week. Infatuated with Peach.

Pauline: a down-on-her-luck singer who was rooming with the Mario Bros. Just when it seemed like things couldn't get worse, this gorilla in a jaunty tie grabs her and legs it out of the Metro Kingdom--though not to kidnap her, as it turns out. Pauline is still a bit sore about that, though.

Yoshi: a member of the self-named species; this Yoshi may or may not be one of the Yoshis that the Mario Bros. faintly recall being surrounded by as very young children. He's on the runty side and thus too small for anyone but Toadette to ride, but he helps out where he can.

--

Other stuff:

As you might've noticed, I'm not going with the canon pairings here, because I like making things harder on myself doing things different. This AU concept has Mario/Haru, Peach/Daisy, and Luigi/Pauline.

Haru's design changed a lot between OVA and AU; my main concern was figuring out a colour palette that worked. The skirt was influenced by some art of CrystalCrowned. Story-wise, Haru's no longer the prince of the Flower Kingdom (especially not when Wonder introduced its own take), nor betrothed to Peach.

Peach's mother here was a nun, Sister Hildy; the King outlived her by about ten years before succumbing to illness. The Mushroom Kingdom's weird succession laws allowed Lena to take the throne before Peach or Haru.

Yes, that's Lena from SMB '93.

I like modern Yoshi well enough, but trying to figure out how their sphere-snouts work is an exercise best left to someone else. This Yoshi is based on older artwork.

#mario #nintendo #video games #fanart #radix art

[justletmereadmycomics]

CW for descriptive speaking about body horror, blood, and overall lack of grammar tl;dr the average painful-turning-into-a-monster-transformation-sequence media isn't whumpy enough and people need to dive more into shit like turning into merfolk and mutating into weird hybrids that are in the uncanny valley of "feels like my body but not" also please note that this is all just my opinion and experience in media consumption and you are free enjoy what you like; im just bored and felt like rambling with 0 grammar or punctuation today.

hey guys I like seeing people go through intense painful physical transformations with an affect on their mental state that either makes them scared of them selves or forces them to do horrible things that also scare them and can I just say that werewolves are so underwhelming like yeah sure you get taller and turn into a buff ass furry boo hoo go cry about it like most of the time you're not even aware and it only lasts for a fucking night

give me shit like turning into a siren/merperson where they have to feel themself molting and their skin squeezing on their body as scales start to grow and they start mindlessly scratching every where from the pain when uh oh your legs are failing but you can't think about that now until whoopsie daisy your lower limbs are melting together and your pants are magically whooshed away once you're past the nakey parts also did I mention the wonderful possibility of growing fins everywhere and experiencing those tear through your muscles and skin whilst they grow on your back and arms and already painful and foreign feeling tail and also your vocal cords changing to be able to produce siren song shit in a way that makes your throat feel like its being mauled from the inside out oh yeah and also having your eyes fall out and regrown wouldn't that be a fun idea anyways vampires are about the same except a little better than werewolves bc they at least have the possibility of dealing with "the hunger" tm and way more weaknesses that can make them miserable like not being able to be in the sun or eat food anymore bc your body can't handle it one of the better examples ive seen is the one in ROTTMNT: The Movie, where (be warned of spoilers) characters are "possessed", so to speak, and this shit goes on

its a very good movie, highly recommend it (the sereis has two seasons, and I haven't found the movie off of Netflix) also blood and struggling to adjust to a now permanent mental impairment/disadvantage/damage in a sense of "you're not human anymore and so you now have to deal with [blank] thought processes" (eg. someone gaining dragon shit would grow an affinity to hoarding things, not noticing such until their home is incredibly cluttered with piles of shiny items and hating themself for doing something so "inhuman")

things that ive seen that fall in the good transformation category are: demons* birds work most of the time, but you have to give them a beak and shit. also the wings can't just grow out of them painlessly.** most fantasy based anthros, really.*** most mutations seen in TMNT shows (that shits known to be painful bc it alters your DNA mostly through science rather than the normal mystics) bugs *only horns and a tail? weak. give 'em goofy legs and a snout or some shit, spin in a few animal traits just for fun. mental side effects that are nice for these guys tend to be a sudden lust for darkness (or just a sudden intense lust) **I recommend something like their arms falling off, OR something similar to the process in Haibane Renmei (tw for blood and minor body horror). An alternate option that I haven't seen would be to have the arms morph into wings themselves, but none of that grow feathers and get little longer bullshit. Character should feel their bones changing, the flesh forming to create a new limb and feathers piercing their skin like needles. Yes feathers are regularly soft, but imagine having a hundreds of tiny pinprick like things poking out of you and getting longer.

***this does not include fairies and unicorns. The only acceptation for these is character having weird magic fluxes and this becoming an effect of such. for example, if character is becoming a fairy, they will feel themself being compressed as wings either grow from their back or are summoned in a blast of magic that basically cuts them open where the wings "attach" so to speak.

#justletmetalk #if y'all have something to say to defend werewolves being cool or something come at me #you can't say anything about having ears and a tail in daytime and shit that's just fucking annoying #you can hide that easy as fuck all you have to do is worry about like super strength and even then plenty of superheroes deal with that fin #so why shouldn't you #werewolves #vampires #monsters #merfolk #mythical creatures #siren #sirens #whump #transformation whump #tw mentions of body horror #cw mentions of body horror #cw body horror #cw body modification #body mods are a whole other rabbit hole but I love those too

[somedaysstaygoldforever]

Have you ever had a bucket list of places you would love to travel to, but never thought you'd have the chance? That was me right before my trip to Hawai'i. When I think about my last vacation I couldn't be more appreciative or thankful for the experience I had. Let's get into it!

November 5th my group of twelve all boarded into a few cabs and headed to Pearson Airport. We were flying from Toronto to Honolulu and heading to Disney's Aulani in Oahu. 

The first thing I did once we were settled in our room was head out to Costco (you thought I’d say the beach didn't you?). Nope. Costco. I had never been to an American Costco before but always heard about how great they were! Spoiler alert, when you go to Costco on an island, it’s really not cheaper than at home. (Except for the bottle of 600 tablet Benadryl for $6.99 and the vast alcohol selection).

BUT, I’m getting off-topic here. Once I got back from Costco I headed to my first booked activity - Family Fun Animation. We learned how to draw Pua from Moana (Did you know Moana is the first Disney movie to be dubbed in the Hawaiian language? Auli'i Cravalho who does the voice of Moana also voiced the Hawaiian dub!)

After being awake almost a full 24 hours I couldn’t wait for my head to hit the pillow.

Once the sun decided to rise the next day, I was on my way to the beach. Looking out to the line the sky meets the sea you could see some of the Naval ships patrolling the waters and a brief look into the sky would reveal Army jets flying overhead. It was only then that I remembered we were in a US State with a Naval Base nearby. As a bit of a history buff, I appreciated the chance to see the vessels in real life, even if my ears didn’t appreciate the sound of the jets. 

I treated myself to a Stitch Dole Whip and spent by day by the water while the rest of the group went out and explored the Island.

Day Three was a water/pool day and a few laps on the Lazy River. I enjoyed a Mickey Shaved Ice and even paid extra for the Mickey Ears. It was delicious.

This was also the day I discovered the delicious mozzarella sticks! I explored the resort and learned a lot about the history of the Island. We got to experience a real Ukulele lesson from an Island local and it was an experience I’ll never forget!

Did you know Maui is a huge part of Hawaiian Culture? His story is told everywhere throughout the Island. 

Thursday marked the halfway point through our week, but was the day I was looking forward to most. That evening we were going to a real Disney Hawaiian Luau!

The day was wonderful and I made it my mission to meet as many Disney characters as possible. Goofy, Minnie, Stitch, Mickey, Chip and Dale and Moana were on the list for the day. Moana asked if Toronto was like Elsa cold and I laughed at the comparison - yes Moana, yes it is. 

Yes, I am 38 years old. Yes, I met the characters alone. No, I did not regret it at all! What I did regret was my inability to not yell “ITS MICKEY” out loud. 

The Luau was incredible. We were able to get Hawaiian “tattoos”, try Tarro, and get lei’d before the show began. There was a full Hawaiian buffet dinner with Hawaiian drinks and a Luau. The food was delicious and I even ventured away from my normal picky eater menu items. We experienced an amazing performance and storytelling all in the styling of Disney. 

I legitimately sat at the table, felt the breeze, heard the sounds, tasted the food, and just took in the full Hawaiian experience.

On the list for the next day were, Daisy and Donald Duck, Angel, Pluto, and Max (and yes I asked him about the “Leaning Tower of cheeza”).

I also was so looking forward to seeing the sunset that evening… I don’t know about you, but there’s something about seeing the sunset over the horizon and all the colours dancing in the sky that makes me so happy. I took 100+ pictures of the view and helped myself to a pizza with Hawaiian Pineapple on it. This is the ONLY time pineapple is acceptable on pizza by the way.

My final full day on the island was filled with more sand, sun and water… plus a few more Dole Whips and Shaved Ice. It was also the day I realized my sunburn was way worse than I originally thought.

A beautiful sunset and poolside show tied the day, and the week together nicely. With that, I prepared myself for the long haul home.

I thought my fun vacation was over until we had our ten-hour layover in Vancouver. While the rest of the group rested, I explored the airport a little. I was looking for directions when I heard a familiar voice behind me - it was KallMeKris! (click her name if you're not sure who she is!) We had an awesome conversation and I was elated. I couldn’t believe my luck. 

Once we boarded our flight the reality set in that I was going home. But I was going home to my dog, my animals, and my bed and I was so grateful that. 

Have you ever gotten to travel somewhere you never thought you’d see? Where? Let me know in the comments!

#Youtube #hawaii #aulani #kallmekris #wanderlust #disney

[womanexile]

Lol, I was watching the ‘17 HS carpool karaoke segment and the bit about how he gets away with fashion (kinda like Daylight mv ref bit) & his knowledge/dialogue depth of romcoms (Notebook, Titanic, Notting Hill) was funny (female influence growing up perhaps). I guess he digs that type of “Cinema”. Even Nicholas Sparks wants to book him. The duet of Endless Love “Two heart beating as one” reminded me of his Two Ghosts song. (Shania Twain also did duet with Lionel Ritchie for EL- LOML also has that 80s love ballad vibe). Hopeless romantic? He even added “I will always love you” in Keep driving. TS did karaoke with the WH version.

TS also uses a lot of romcom tropes. Examples love triangle, best friends to lovers, forbidden love, historical romance, older, bad boy, doomed, unrequited, etc. Both are known readers & TV/film buffs- theatrical too. His music is a little more abstract while hers is built more like a book or script at times- but visually, lyrically & musically they hook people in- especially the videos. Their curiosity about details of others is noted- shakes hands, personal introductions, gifts. I think in his audition he mentioned possibly wanting to study sociology, business & law. Her scholar interests were English, history, finance & marketing- but she did learn a bit of Latin in HS too. Another thing, sometimes I feel like they’ve referenced Dirty Dancing (Time of my Life, She’s like the wind). Lol, even Ed Sheeran’s mv had that dance ref. Shivers? It’s just a pop culture thing to draw from the past and spin it to recreate a new story- just something done in music & media- TV, books & film. Sidenote, I was watching TS’s CMT skits & vlogs. Lol, Thelma & Louise (w/ Shania) & “Dreams” segments -Star Trek (JJ Abrams film), NFL, Thug story (w/ T-Pain). I kinda think the TS’s CMT & HS LLN bits and their music video performances worked better than the SNL ones & films. Both are funny- but I guess critics would say both may not always deliver. I wonder how they would have done with Screwball romcom films? Superhero films kinda fill that space now.

Lol, sometimes the Haylor narrative fits the Friends-to-Lover trope. Like When Harry MET Sally (it even has a New Year’s day bit). Especially the catalogue. Cornelia Street, You are in Love, Cruel Summer, New Year’s Day, Glitch, Maroon, Keep Driving, Little Freak, Meet me in the Hallway, Two Ghosts, Long Story Short, Illicit Affairs, Cowboy like me, Kiwi, Night Changes, You & I and so on… so many pieces- and that doesn’t even mention covers, collaborators or influences (playlist). Just the other day I mentioned to someone that Jackson Wang’s recent stuff made me think of them.

Even in a way Begin Again fits ”But you start to talk about the movies/That your family watches every single Christmas”. Both have mentioned Love Actually- includes Joni Mitchell song. Also one of Niall’s team auditioned with it. He’s another mutual link between them. Lol, both of them are so embedded in pop culture lately- media brings up TS music or news and even HS gets brought up (by Prince Harry, the president, etc.). Their story is Stranger (or Sweeter) than Fiction. Soap opera w/ plot twist & cliffhangers.

Yea you can tell they both have the same influences. I love that Harry loves rom coms. Not many guys will enjoy watching a rom com with you. I was reading Beach Read last week and I thought Harry and Taylor could play these characters in a movie. I would love to see them in something like Daisy Jones & the Six. And yea they are the music industry right now.

[hyenahunt]

Saga: Rivals - 5

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Characters: Hiyori, Jun

Proofreading: moricchiichan (JP) & hyenahunt (ENG)

Translation: kotofucius

Jun: And y'know, it makes me wonder... is it really okay for me to be so lucky?

Location: Reimei Academy Dormitory

Time: That evening, the same day

Hiyori: Jun-kun, I'm home!

Would you just listen to this~! Goodness knows when, but at some point they set a rule that residents are to wear standardised roomwear while in our dorms!

I took all that trouble to dress up and everything, but they forced me to change!

Those high-and-mighty bigshots certainly love enforcing such pointless rules, don't they~ Perhaps they can’t quite relax unless they have us children bound up in their regulations.

Hiyori: ...Whoopsy-daisy! Ahaha, hello to you too, Bloody Mary ☆

Come, come, come to me! What a spoiled little pup you are, my sweet, blood-stained Mary!

Fufufu~ Jun-kun, perhaps you should learn a thing or two about being loveable from her!

Jun: ......

Hiyori: What's this, have you nothing to say?

Any other time, you'd be all, "Don't call her name so loudly, she's supposed to be a secret!" or like, "Just where have you been off to until this time of night?" So on and so forth.

It's starting to make you sound rather like a possessive husband, you know?

Jun: ......

Hiyori: Whoa, what’s the matter, Mary? You won't find a scrap of food inside this paper bag, so don’t go poking your nose in!

Jun-kuuun, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten to present our dearest Queen with her most scrumptious feast?

What an absolute goose you are! Oh, my poor, poor Mary! I’ll fill your bowl to the brim right away~♪

Jun: ... I just fed her 'bout an hour ago, so please don’t give her any more food, ‘kay~?

Dogs will eat every last crumb they're fed, so we’ve gotta take care of just how much food we give ‘em.

Hiyori: Ah, alive, were you? Then you should have at least said something — It isn't as though I'm asking you to wag your tail ♪

Jun: ... Sorry. As you can see, it's a lil' hard to talk in this state.

Hiyori: Nn? I had no idea as my eyes were on our lovely little Mary this entire time, but what are you doing, Jun-kun? A new religious ritual of sorts?

Jun: ... Sit-ups.

Hiyori: Whatever for? Jun-kun, you’re almost excessively buff the way you are already. Wouldn’t gaining any more muscle only work against you by slowing your movements?

People tend to expect femininity out of us as Eve, so I do believe it’s undesirable to bulk out our bodies too much.

Don’t you agree, Mary~? Kiss, kiss ♪

Jun: ... Couldja brush your teeth before kissing her? Mary's gonna catch something from you.

Hiyori: Ah, that's the most hurtful comment of the century! I’ve already taken care of my teeth and all other cleanliness matters before I got here, so I'd rather you refrain from any statements implying I'm dirty, yes?

But well, Mary is indeed rather frail... We truly must treat her with care.

Yes, yes, how it delights me so to know you cherish her in your own way, Jun-kun.

Jun: Well, I gotta fulfill my duties as one of her owners, yeah~? And we've got a little bond going on by being in the care of the same dumbass... Whew.

Huff. I tripled my workout routine just ‘cause today’s a day-off, but that might’ve been a kinda dumbass move.

I've strained my muscles and now I'm sore all over~ Well, I've got no one to blame but myself.

Hiyori: You've got that right. I do wish you’d stop training inside our room — you stink it right up with your sweat.

Jun: And you keep filling the room up with fragrances without asking me, so we're even.

On that note, didn’t we agree to not complain 'bout any inevitable sounds or smells from each other?

Hiyori: True, but you ought to let me complain, at the very least. That’s the secret to stress-free room-sharing.

There is nothing good about letting frustrations grow pent-up, really.

Jun: You've got a comeback for everything, huh... Geez, I just can’t win any argument with you.

Hiyori: Ahaha. In fact, is there anything in which you can win against me?

Jun: Um, whuh~? How much muscle I've got, I guess...?

Hiyori: Is there nothing else you have to be proud of? Wait, don't tell me... did you spend our long-awaited day-off just shutting yourself in, Jun-kun?

Hiyori: No, no, that simply won't do! You must soak up a little more sunshine! I mean, you’ve been so gloomy lately, Jun-kun — at this rate, you’ll wake up being covered in moss one day!

Jun: Hmph. I can’t run around grinning my head off all day long the way you can, y’know~?

Hiyori: Anyone and everyone can still put on a smile at any time, no? That's the strength of humanity, and precisely what makes it so precious.

Well, I can certainly understand why you’d be frowning, of course.

After all, you're soon to finally realize your greatest wish, of facing off against your arch-nemesis... Sagami-sensei.

But that being said, it's not like you're out to kill each other, either — if you don't soften your features a little you'll scare our fans, you see! Everything depends on your pretty smile when you're an idol... ☆

Jun: ... that’s actually not the reason I’m looking glum. In fact, I’m feeling more happy and refreshed than anything else over getting to fight Sagami Jin.

But things’ve been looking pretty dark around CosPro recently, y’know?

Some of my old peers have quit, and they're the ones who strived together with me back when I was at the bottom of the barrel with them.

Yet I'm the only one who gets to grasp glory in comfort as a member of Eden — and now, I'm even getting the chance to face off against the target of my revenge...

Jun: And y'know, it makes me wonder... is it really okay for me to be so lucky?

Hiyori: Fufu. There’s no need to feel guilty over the blessings and happiness you have.

In fact, if you've come to realize what a fortunate position you're in, you ought to offer a loving hand of kindness to those in trouble and hardships.

Jun: Seriously? Is that the noblesse oblige thing you love going on about~?

Hiyori: It is indeed. Love and happiness are the sweetest of fruits that one can never get enough of, but if you feel you’ve been bestowed with too many, then you can share them with others.

We can’t do anything about those who've lost hope and quit, but there are still people suffering a living hell, unable to escape from CosPro no matter how much they may wish for it.

And as Eden, there must be something we can do for them.

After all, Ibara has been replacing the executives as he steadily comes to power, and we’re becoming the face of CosPro both in name and reality.

If our people are tormented and struggling through such painful hardships, then it is the duty of us nobles to show them compassion and guide them to salvation. No — we have the duty to protect them...

It is for that reason they pay the taxes that allow us our comfortable lives, after all.

If exploiting the people is all we’re good for then, why, our heads ought to roll. But being idols is our life's calling... so we can’t just let things end here, can we?

No, it is far too soon for us to ascend to Heaven where our God resides ♪

✦✦✦✦✦

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#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #s: saga #hyenahunttl #jun sazanami. #hiyori tomoe

[anhed-nia]

And now that I've been positive about something that didn't demand it, I'm gonna be MEAN for no reason just to restore balance to the universe. I fucking hate this movie. Never has a tagline been so accurate. TRICK OR TREATS is one of these things that has remained in circulation long enough for me to wonder, like, do people LIKE this, and there's just something good about it that I don't get? Or is it just anomalous that it's still available enough to be on Shudder 40 years after its accursed birth? I'm not just irked that it's "bad", which it is, but because I have no idea what the fucking point of it is supposed to be. What form of pleasure am I supposed to receive from it? This is a movie that's loaded with sluts and blowjob jokes, but it's completely devoid of graphic nudity or violence or even proper swearing. You might point out that it's more of a comedy, as horror-comedies go, but it's also not at all funny. It features a (not scary) escaped homicidal lunatic, but most of that plays out as a long gag about how, if a big ugly dude puts on a frumpy dress and a stuffed bra, absolutely no one can tell the difference and randos will start trying to fuck him immediately. Ha Ha Ha. It's a movie that seems to be aimed at horror buffs, but the "special effects" basically amount to Halloween decorations and cheap prefab magic tricks for children, which gives you that suspicious feeling that the filmmakers actually kind of hate horror movies and think that you can put any stupid thing in front of a genre fan and get their unqualified, brain dead approval.

Also like, maybe this is a personal thing, but I'd say MOST pranks are pretty unfunny, and movies that prominently feature pranksters are almost unbearable. If you're going to anchor your movie to the idea of tricks and pranks, it really better be as outrageous as the setup of TERROR TRAIN (a movie that also isn't very good, but at least there was an idea in there somewhere); you really cannot ask me to pay rapt attention to, for instance, an endless scene of a snot-nosed brat duping his babysitter into thinking there's somebody at the door. Oh wow, the little boy uses a string to pull on the door knocker, oh boy, the babysitter answers the door, oh no, there's no one there. Lather, rinse, repeat. Ha Ha Ha. By the way, why is this frustrated woman running around in like a Joan Collins type of nightgown while she's both managing this unruly child and having to answer the door for trick-or-treaters every ten minutes? Who fucking knows. How much time can we kill by putting the babysitter on the phone with her inconsequential boyfriend so he can report in about his awful-sounding Shakespeare performance? You'll find out if you watch this piece of shit! (FYI the occasional appearance of cult favorite actors only makes you wish you were watching something better)

There's a lot more to be perplexed about behind the scenes, like the fact that the writer-director-etc also shot movies for Orson Welles, and great horror movies like THE TOOLBOX MURDERS (where's the horror in this movie?), and also a huge amount of porn (where's the damn sex appeal in this movie?). I vaguely worry that TRICK OR TREATS was just made as a simple excuse to create a starring role for the filmmaker's young son, which makes it seem innocent and like something I shouldn't spend so much energy bagging on, but it's just so un-fun, and vaguely insulting, that it's hard for me to just turn a blind eye. AND ANOTHER THING I really hate that the title is pluralized. You can DO trick-or-treating, you can BE a trick-or-treater, but there's no such thing as "trick or treats". It reminds me of when I watched NOTTING HILL a couple years ago (*John Waters voice* What was I thinking about?) and among other sticking points, I could not get over Hugh Grant repeatedly saying "whoopsies-daisies". I mean. What the fuck, guy? Why are you, an adult, saying that, but also it's NOT PLURAL. It's just "whoopsy-daisy"; sure, you'll find a few variations in an idiomatic dictionary, but not one that pluralizes both words. "Whoopsies-daisies" isn't even easy to say. How the fuck did you come up with that? I think I've finally drained my poison gland for this morning, so to leave on a bright note, here's my favorite part of NOTTING HILL. Just Hugh Grant's roommate's implausible shirt. I kinda want one.

PS I posted that NOTTING HILL review on Facebook a few years ago, because I thought it was fun and like one of the more publicly acceptable/accessible things I'd written, and indeed, a bunch of people found it pretty funny. But then within a day or so, I had to go to a friend-of-a-friend's birthday party where I was quietly informed that I was nearly dis-invited because it was the adult birthday girl's favorite movie and she just, like, didn't want to see my face after she found out what I had to say. So, never let it be said that my opinions are not powerful and of consequence for others!

#blogtober ramp-up i guess! #trick or treats

[underthestarlitsk-y]

20,22,23 (idk if you’re still doing this, feel free to ignore if not)

hiiii!!! sorry, this was just languishing in my inbox bc im a lazy daisy these days ♡ thanks for the ask!

20. a piece from this year that you're really proud of

oooh tough to say tough to say…haven’t been able to do a lot fo art this year because I’ve been real busy, but it’s a tossup between either this Heathers commission i did 

or this starfire

that i drew at the request of my best friend. love them both they were real labours of love which was a nice change of pace at the time 

22. what inspires you

easy. broken media. any story that inspires outrage over the 20 million things that could be done better about it is something im drawn to and ergo would like to draw about in order to fix it. see: my numerous drawings of stephanie brown, buff wonder woman, and dickkory (simply just DC comics as a whole ngl)

23. what's something you hope people notice when looking at your art

funny you should ask that because I have this chronic problem where I hyper focus on a detail that is almost invisible in the whole piece when you zoom out so my art ends up looking kind of bland and ordinary. but i like to hope that people can see the effort i put into my shading, the range of colors and the depth im obsessed with adding. (seriously though i cant cel shade idk how and I just end up spending hours adding depth to even like. little doodles its a problem)

#thanks for the ask! #text #art #asks

[glenngaylord]

Sister Kristen - Film Review: Love Lies Bleeding ★★★1/2

Some of my favorite films feel like pulpy fever dreams. Think of Stanley Kubrick or Brian De Palma at their best or the early 20th century dime novels and you’ll get a sense of the otherworldly, heightened tone I gravitate towards. Consider my surprise then when Rose Glass, who made a little splash in 2019 with her debut horror feature, Saint Maude, follows it up with Love Lies Bleeding, a sexy, trashy, overripe thriller. One could draw comparisons with their themes of co-dependence and some similar visceral motifs, but Glass has taken a bigger swing here.

Set in late 1980s Nowheresville, New Mexico, Kristen Stewart plays Lou, the manager of a training gym who, when we first meet her, has her hand down a filthy toilet in an effort to clear out a clog. It’s a not so subtle shorthand to indicate that she’s living in a world of crap. Like any good film noir main character, she’s more than ready for a femme fatale to shake up her world. It’s not going to be Daisy (a scene-stealing Anna Baryshnikov), a messy local who crushes a bit too hard on a clearly not interested Lou. No, it’ll take Jackie (Katy O’Brian), a gorgeous, buff bodybuilder who drifts into town with the requisite mysterious past to catch Lou’s eye. When we first meet Jackie, she’s getting railed by the sleazy, poorly-mulleted JJ (Dave Franco) in the back seat of his car. Their relationship seems transactional and a short time later, Jackie shows up at Lou’s gym. When Lou’s eyes almost burst out of her sockets, it’s love and bulging biceps at first sight.

At this point, Glass and co-writer Weronika Tofilska, in the grand tradition of the genre, add one complication after another. You see, JJ happens to be Lou’s brother-in-law and horribly abuses her sister Beth (Jena Malone). JJ also just happens to work for Lou’s scary and estranged father Lou Sr. (an even more severely mulleted Ed Harris) at the local gun range. If all of this sounds ominous, it should. In a film this lurid, you just know those guns will get used for more than target practice. Make no mistake, this story has sex, violence and a high body count. Think an early 90s B-movie classic like Red Rock West with the seductive juice of Bound and you’ll be dead on about this stakes-raising good time at the movies.

Something like this doesn’t work without having terrific performances and Love Lies Bleeding has an impressive array. Stewart gives a mesmerizing turn as a fearless, sexually voracious aggressor who can’t help put herself in the path of pain over and over again. It reminded me of her depiction of Joan Jett in 2010’s The Runaways, simultaneously feral and vulnerable. Her delayed reaction during a phone call scene actually made me laugh and applaud. She has electrifying chemistry with O’Brian, whose hair-trigger temperament gets them into one terrible situation after another. Lou should be able to read the tea leaves, but she just can’t help herself when it comes to Jackie. Harris plays a scary monster but gives him a type of twisted logic that adds a layer of complexity to a role so often deemed beyond reproach. Malone and Franco also have their moments to shine, but I took the most glee from the little details in Baryshnikov’s turn (and yes, her father is Mikhail). Just watching her use her fingers on a diner table to express excitement had me grinning.

As things spiral out of control, Glass enters surreal territory. She uses many bone-crunching close-ups of Jackie’s muscles expanding from steroid use to suggest she’s turning into the Incredible Hulk, and late in the film, she really goes off the rails with the level of such transformation. There's also one incredible shot of Lou and Jackie running towards camera as an ethereal, colorful haze twirls in the background. These moments may turn some viewers off, but I’ll counter that it makes the film unforgettable. I did wonder, however, why they used that title without including Elton John’s classic 70s song of the same name. Maybe it’s too on the nose, but I felt it would have fit in with the big, colorful 80s aesthetic.

With such recent films as Nyad, May December, and Bottoms, we’re in the Bechdel Test-passing era of cinema where female characters don’t merely exist to prop up the male leads. Love Lies Bleeding, which falls handily within those guidelines, feels like it’s built on two axioms, that love is indeed blind, and that relationships built on trauma bonding and deep sexual attraction just might be the way to go. Either way, I’ll follow Rose Glass, blindly (!), anywhere.

[alexsrandomramblings]

The bigger Daisy gets, the more I wonder if I was accidentally given a buff orpington chick. Certainly wouldn't be opposed to a second orpington.

#alex rambles

[eaterofpi]

Nintendo Direct 6-21-23 LIVE Reaction Post!!

I'm just going to put all my reactions here in this one post!! It's better then watching me live, cause I would just be like; "Pikmin 4 🙏" and make no audio responses to anything else!!

It's starting!!

Pokemon stuff?? Unexpected! Are they covering the DLC here instead of in their own thing? More details on the DLC is real.. Actual footage too!! The Teal Mask.. Lots of returning beasts... Carmine?? Poochy... Normal Wooper? Festival!! Evil Ogre... THE DOGE POKEMON... The Masked Pokemon... Blueberry Academy.. Lacey??? Minecraft Biome Dome.. Lots more returning Pokes.. What are some of these designs?? The thing.. It is nice to see footage of it at least..

Two people directing?? More details later.. Special event too.. I'm probably not getting that DLC though..

Sonic Superstars, I heard about it earlier during some other thing, it looks like they are making a goods Sonics game, after 5 billion years.. I'm still not getting it though.. too fast for my eyes..

Palia--- Free to play... Farming simulator.. FISHING!!! 🎣 I'm not going to get a free to play game, I already have enough of them..

Personas... Didn't this stuff get leaked or something? I'm not really good at any tactics games.. No way Byakko! The models seem nice

Mythforce- First Person Rougelike?? Seems interestings!! The cartoon astehetics is good! I kinda want to see more

Splatfest- I don't actually have Splatoon 3, mostly because I'm really bad at Splatoon, a bit too fast for me.. Strawberry or Mint Chip... Difficult choice.. I'm too indecisive!!

Detective Pikachu 2?? They finally made it?? Pokemon Sleep and Detective Pikachu 2 are finally released after many years... Pikachu with coffee looks funny. why is mewtwo there I guess that's the mystery they are trying to solve

Super Marios RPG!! I never played this one!! OH IT IS BEING REMADE?? THE NEW ARTSTYLE LOOKS SO DEFAULT MARIO, no way mallow, isn't the mallow plush like, super rare.. anyways, nice to see that the game is being remade.. This means so many official models too.. Although I wonder what they might change... No subtitle?

Huh?

PEACH RPG?? I wasn't expecting her to get one.. I kinda hope that Daisy appears.. Who is her compainion?

huh what on earth is happening?

ANOTHER THING?

LUIGI'S MANSION 2 DARK MOON SWITCH? So many remakes!! Next year!! Quite a year to look forward to!

Batsman- I kinda don't really-- Joker from the memes?? I hopes the "Ridders" isn't here!! Buff Joker.. What a odd design.. (Dork Knight) Oh, a trilogy

Gloomhaven- A Card and Tactical game? I really can't play it then, I'm bad with both!! I also kinda don't like this art style... so gloomy..

Just Dance- How many of these are they going to make!! I'm glad I wasn't streaming this, otherwise, I would get DMCA'd.. Streamers have to live in fear... How do these games even work? Live Service Just Dance??

Silent Hope - Finally.. an RPG without reading.. Why are they still making like, scream sounds... This sounds (Harvest Moon Cow?) there's dialouge 🤯

Fae Farm - Magical Rune Factory? Animal Crossings? Friends? Preorder Bonuses...

HOT WHEELS - The shift in voice tone!! Building your own tracks? Reminds me of Re-Volt... I miss that game

Manic Mechanics - Is this one of those Overcooked styled games? I don't have local players..

Rabbids Sparks of Hope - The Rabbids's designs are getting so out there.. KING BOMB OMB!! bunny bomb :)

Is this that Dragon Quest stuff? A Remake? Monster Wrangler? Kinda reminds me of that one.. CD game, where you like.. put in CDs and get Monsters.. seth or roth

Many announcements,, so fast.. I'm a slow typer..

PIKMIN!!!!!!!

ship sounds!! SO MANY RETURNING AND NEW STUFF MAMUTAS

WHAT DO YOU MEAN CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT??

UI??

OATCHI GETS A BAR?? TREASURE GAUGE??

DOG SNEEZE

HOUSE

OATCHI SO GOOD!!

OATCHI CAN BATTLE

GAMEBOY??????

CANNON BEATLE??????

CAVES!!!

LIKE THE PIKMIN 3 MISSIOM MODE?? 3 to life

BAD ENDING??? DANDORI?? Dandraff?? BAD ENDING IS CANON???? Olimar has become corrupted.. 30 days..

OATCHI SKILLS??

!?!?

YONNY??

THE NIGHT IS REAL?? NIGHT MAKES THEM CHAOS??

GLOW PIKMIN???

THE GHOSTS ARE REAL??? THEY HID THEM SO WELL

THEY CAN CHARGE????? PURPLES

SO MANY NEW THINGS!!!

I NEED THIS GAME

I will need to get this..

MORE PIKMINS??

HD PIMIN?????? PIKMIN 2???? >!!>!??!?!?!?!>L<#@JKNJESKNJF

HD PIKMin2???? DEMO PIKMINE 4??

HD PIKMIN 2/??

HD??? PIKMINNOW???

--- okay back to normal

metals gears

how am I supposed to be normal after "hey Pikmin2 HD download today"

The entire Pikmin game series (except Hey!) is on Switch..

I'm sorry Pikmin².. You could've never expected that...

Vampire Survivors...

bird musics (battles royale

I have no music skills

yo

I can't focus anymore..

How am I supposed to survived knowing that there's an HD remake of both original Pikmin games?

That's just like.. You can buy my favorites now

Marios carts!! Pikmin course... The bathsroom

Petey!! Double Dash!! Wiggler!! Kamek finally in Mario Karts.. it has been so long.. This summers.. I never actually bought it, I just play the tracks online..

More remakes.. There's a lot of this HD 2D stuff nowadays (I only see it in Nintendo Directs)

Now I can tell everyone to buy Pikmin 2... I can do a playthrough right before Pikmmin2..

NEW WARIO?? SMOOTH MOVES 2?? This is something I really want, Ialthough.. MARIO 64 DS?? I need to have more space.. PIKMIN!!!! Why do Wario games always use Pikmin 2 (swag) 😳

Warioware is awesome... A few more things?

Seattle? I don't think I can go there right now!!

Wait.. I wonder.. Pikmin might get more phyiscal copies..

Tears of the Kingdom.. I didn't end up buying it.. New Amiibo!!

The Finale..

NEW MARIO!! AHHH VOICE ACTING!!

New Style!! I really wish I could enjoy it, but my eyes stunk!!

Voice acting is scary!! New Flower...Woah.. Chaos....

Wonder...

luigi

peach

toat

DAISY??? DAISY MAINLINE?? YOSHY CARCTER? I'm claiming Daisy

That's somewhat soon!!

elephant marios

seriously mario why would you do that

DAISY!!

That was a VERY good Direct!!

The end

#eaterofpi-posts