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respectthepetty · 1 year

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This isn't a Bed Friend post. This is a King post because he is the sexiest fictional character in these BL streets right now.

#1 - He knows the importance of LOCKING THE DOOR! This is the second time he has done this. My man gets it! Lock the damn door and close the blinds!

#2 - He picks Uea up and goes with him to get tested. He even opens the door for Uea. He isn't ashamed of having sex, and basically told that doctor "I had sex seven days, four hours, and thirty-two minutes ago. I wrote it in my diary because it was a 10/10, and I'm desperately trying to get it again, so can we move this absolutely necessary test along?"

#3 - He comforts Uea and reassures him that having sex isn't bad. He also removes Uea's shame mask. Okay, Gameboy!

#3b - King does this several times with Uea. He doesn't allow Uea to resent their encounter or blame himself for it.

#4 - He owns up to having and enjoying sex but is quick to squash the cheating and breaking hearts claim because being a slut does not equate to being reckless. I see you, boo boo!

#5 - He keeps asking Uea for his consent but also doesn't allow Uea to avoid him or make excuses.

#6 - The way he looks at Uea when Uea isn't paying attention shows he cares for Uea.

#7 - And the way he looks at Uea when Uea is paying attention shows he will devour him if allowed. *look at that manspread!*

#8 - He is already in love with Uea. I don't care what the show says. It's canon to me! King is deep in the red.

And the way the colors switch when Uea gives him the okay was ridiculously satisfying .

I know this was literally and figuratively the green light for King, but I see some blue, which brings me to the colors:

I'm sticking to my wild theory that King is a Blue Boy who is hiding something.

I'm sticking to my even wilder theory that what King is hiding is having been in love with Uea for a long time, perhaps since they were kids. *Don't look at me like that! It makes sense in my head!*

Because his love for Uea keeps showing up in the blue.

King, stay gold blue.

#Bed Friend #King is the sexiest fictional character in these BL streets #Stay blue baby #Uea x King #color coded boys in love #the colors mean things #and so does locking doors

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negrowhat · 4 months

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what are your top ten fav bl's of all time?

Hey Anon! I had to take some time to think about this. It's hard for me to choose things like this! You're really putting me on the spot lol. Here we go tho...I might cheat a little.

To My Star. Both 1 and 2. I love Seo Joon's and Ji Woo's story. I love their relationship dynamic. I loved how protective they were of each other. Both Ji Woo and Seo Joon are complex characters with layers that you can really bite into and analyze many ways. I know a lot of people were not fans of s2 but that was one series where I truly ate up the angst. Ji Woo is a hard character to understand unless you really take the time to watch the series and focus on his behaviors. You'll never, ever catch me talking bad about TMS.

Gameboys the Series. Both the seasons and the movie. CaiReel have such a modern and relatable love story. I think it being a series about finding relationships in the middle of a global pandemic while we were ALL sharing the same plight really stood out. I felt like I made new friends while watching that series. Also for s1 to be shot completely on an iPhone and for most of the actors to not actually be filming their scenes at the same time, I was BLOWN away by the quality AND chemistry. That series made me SOB and that is also something I consider impressive. If it can make me cry then it's certified gold.

Utsukushii Kare. Both seasons and the movie. This is another series with complex main characters. Hira deals with his general uninterest in damn near everything EXCEPT Kiyoi and photography. And Kiyoi deals with his need for attention even if he generally doesn't like people because they always disappoint him. It's interesting to see how they handle their seemingly unbalanced relationship. Hira is willing to give Kiyoi all the love he requires and not get close (which is normally what Kiyoi wants) and Kiyoi learns that with Hira he wants a real true love and relationship and that's quite a task when the man you love doesn't value himself. It's just interesting seeing the growth between them.

Color Rush S1. I love the way they tackle the soulmates trope, and explore the darker side to the obsession that could happen once you find your perfect match ESPECIALLY when that match can help you see a full picture. Yeon Woo struggles with a myriad of thoughts and fears as he does his best not to get close to Yoo Han even though Yoo Han is serving up himself on a silver platter with tantalizing promises of helping him learn the colors he craves to see. Yeon Woo becomes obsessed, but little does he know that Yoo Han is also obsessed because Yeon Woo also helps Yoo Han see a clearer picture. But maybe that obsession is really just them falling in love and not knowing what to call it.

Moonlight Chicken. Messy and relatable to a person like me who is smack dab in the middle of the age groups involved. This series really showcases how messy romances can be. It shows how hard it can be to close the door to a chapter you thought would end happily. This series shows how hard it can be to move on when a normally open door shuts in your face suddenly and forever. It shows how a chapter that starts off terrible can lead you into the most thrilling moment of your life. It shows that the last chapter you finished might have you TERRIFIED to move on to the next one. Stuck. This was a series I found difficult to dislike any of the characters even if they were being terrible. Emotions were high and reactions were warranted. This was a series where I felt like people were allowed to feel the way they were feeling.

We Best Love. Yes, both seasons. Shu Yi and Shi De had such an up and down ship. Shi De went through such a roundabout way to get close to Shu Yi and I really enjoyed watching them become friends. I enjoyed watching Shu Yi come to realize he was in love. I wanted to beat Shi De up in s2 for ghosting Shu Yi and I was enjoying watching Shu Yi get his lick back, but really he was just looking for answers so he can decide if he was stupid for wanting to forgive Shi De the moment he saw him again. It's another fun and messy series.

Lovely Writer. I LOVE Gene ok. He really made me love the series because he was such a bomb ass character. I also found Nubsib's psycho/stalkerish tendencies quite entertaining because he was so polite about it. I love that the series took stabs at all the things wrong with the BL community while simultaneously having the main character be an actor in one of the most toxic fake BLs I've ever seen. Just meta on top of meta. Satire in the form of a trendy BL within a BL.

History 3: MODC. Salt run aside, I just really loved this series. Can't believe a series about the shy kid falling in love with his bully is a fave. That sentence alone would make it problematic af...not to mention the questionable age gap between the 2nd couple. But it was beautifully constructed. Hao Ting found the best version of himself in Xi Gu and Xi Gu found a brighter side to life with Hao Ting. And they were WAYYYYY into each other and Hao Ting did put in his work to be forgiven. I do my best not to overthink Zhi Gang's age difference from Sun Bo because it's such a norm in Taiwanese BL. It's kind of interesting to see their relationship play out. Zhi Gang definitely has his hangups with the age gap and Sun Bo just doesn't care.

Blueming. Such a laid back series. Si Won is just a sweetheart dealing with self-esteem issues trying to make his presence known in life so he can get the best out of his university experience. And Da Un is just that effortlessly cool guy Si Won strives to be like. He can't even fathom the idea of such a cool guy having a crush on him that he takes the flirting as arrogance lmao. I think it's sweet that Da Un helps uplift Si Won and I think it's sweet that Si On showed Da Un the attention he never got at home.

Ingredients the Series. Just a sweet lil slice of life miniseries. It fills me with joy to watch Tops and Win pine after each other as Win works on his music and Tops works on his cooking and they live together symbiotically. There's not too much to this series. It relies heavily on food and chemistry and that's perfectly perfect for me.

#to my star #to my star 2 #blueming #gameboys #gameboys the series #gameboys the movie #we best love #we best love: no 1 for you #we best love: fighting mr. 2nd #utsukushii kare #utsukushii kare: eternal #ingredients the series #lovely writer #lovely writer the series #history 3: modc #history 3: make our days count #moonlight chicken #color rush

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smash-64 · 5 months

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2023 Game of the Year Countdown #5 Pokemon Trading Card Game (and also the Pokemon Trading Card Game Neo! romhack by Cataclyptic that added Gen 2 Pokes) Nintendo GameBoy Color, 1998

This entry will include two games, but one is simply a romhack by a fan. However, that romhack is probably the best romhack I’ve ever played. First, the original.

Pokemon Trading Card Game came with the addition of GameBoy games to the Switch online subscription, and for many, it was their first experience with the TCG. My best friend and I taught ourselves to play back in the day, but we were poor kids with little allowance to spend on cards and never had any good decks. I used to read about really expensive decks filled with holographics and rares that won tournaments and always wished I could make one of my own. The pinnacle was always the Haymaker deck: a deck built around a few Pokemon with high HP and cheap attacks that could KO opponents before they could do anything about it.

The thing is, the Haymaker deck is so hilariously powerful, you can essentially stomp the CPU without even putting together a complete version of the deck. The best versions rely on Energy Removals and Super Energy Removals to hamstring opponents, and Gusts of Wind to force your opponent into switching to suit favorable matchups. I never pulled a single Super Energy Removal at all, and was lacking full sets of numerous Pokemon that were staples in the Haymaker deck, yet I was still able to absolutely blast the CPU. It was easy, but it was also fun.

However, the true experience came from the romhack created by Cataclyptic. The romhack creates a full set of new cards, removing most of the old ones from Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil. Instead, we get all the Johto Pokemon, as well as a few returning cards that have been balanced. I found the balanced cards to be wonderfully tailored to be good, but never TOO good. It was surprising to see that almost every card felt useful. Many were based on other cards, and I fell into a Meganium and Bellossom deck. There were two Meganiums, with one able to heal status conditions and the other able to shuffle energy cards among your Pokemon. Meanwhile, Bellossom was clearly based on the Do the Wave Wigglytuff of Jungle lore. However, this Bellossom felt more balanced since it was a stage 2 evolution, and the attack required grass energies, not colorless. As a result, it took longer to both fully evolve, and power up your Pokemon, since you couldn’t utilize the Double Colorless Energy.

I was also a fan of Jumpluff, as the entire evolutionary line only required a single grass energy for every attack. As a result, you had a whole line of Pokemon that felt true to their original design of being lightweight, quick Pokemon. I loved the attention to detail on this sort of thing.

Additionally, the cards themselves were created in the same GBC sprites that the original game had. Some look better than others, but I think almost all look better than their original counterparts. Clearly crafted with love by Cataclyptic.

Finally, before I get inundated with messages and comments telling me about the official TCG sequel that was only released in Japan, I did also try the fan translation of that game. However, I didn’t enjoy it much at all because they severely restricted so many things. Part of what was fun about the game to begin with was being able to get booster packs at a rate significantly above what my poor childhood self could afford. However, the very premise of Invasion of Team GR! is that they’ve taken all the Pokemon cards, making them very scarce. As a result, you can’t get cards nearly as easily. And with the extra sets added to the game, you can’t get the ones you want very easily, either.

Additionally, the entire strategy behind most of the Team Rocket cards is to disrupt play, and while that might be similar in one way to the Haymaker strategy I previously praised, the Pokemon themselves are all pretty weak. It feels like you’re just playing Trainer cards and nothing else. I’ve seen some strategies that make people discard most of their deck instead of KOing their Pokemon. It very much fits the MO of Team Rocket, but it just isn’t quite for me. However, if you like blue decks in Magic the Gathering, you might enjoy this one.

If you like the TCG or the original game, play Cataclyptic’s romhack! I’d buy a physical cart of it, if I could.

#game of the year #goty #countdown #pokemon #trading card game #gameboy color #nintendo

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soyouareandrewdobson · 5 months

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Nintendo-vember Level 4 (Part 2): Because this one had way too many pictures to make a point...

Continuation of the following post

Okay, so in addition to Dobson's own Link not really looking very familiar to the actual Nnintendo designs, I also decided to do the following. Getting a bit into hair sperging, I pulled out this little chart for hair color.

Now, to compare it with the Link designs predominant before OoT came out.

So we got Link from the first Zelda being somewhere between light blond and blond, Zelda 2 Link being dark blond and SNES and Gameboy era Link (who are the same and as such the favorite incarnation of Link gamewise according to Dobson) at Light Blond.

Where could dark brown haired Link come from?

Oh, right! The Douchebag of Time.

It is just weird to me, that the hair color is something Dobson has taken such a grief with when it comes to Link. Cause in all honesty, I am not certain how such a minor design detail can affect ones enjoyment of the Zelda games that much. Anyway, to the last point

?????

Yeah okay, I admit I am not quite certain what the last panel is even supposed to be about. I think Dobson wants to criticize the fact that now multiple Links exist, instead of the Legend of Zelda series being kinda like Mario. You know, one character all the time fighting the same villain over and over, instead of there being different incarnation of the character (and others such as Zelda and Ganondorf). I should admit, that aside of the OoT/Majora’s Mask Link, I kinda assumed actually till the release of Four Swords/Wind Waker, that the Game Boy and the SNES games followed only one Link. Which even nowadays in the branched timeline continuity they still do

Which btw proves my point from earlier, that it was only post OoT the execs kinda screwed the timeline up in such a manner, we would need the TVA to fix it. Anyway, till Four Swords came out, I thought Link was really just going to be the same hero in all games, just with a different design each depending on whatever console’s technical abilities. Then the multiple incarnatins and timeline thing became the norm and… well, I don’t get what is bad about multiple Links or making it that the games are kinda their own thing/continuity in a certain manner.

For example, I can still play Wind Waker also as something of a solo game if I take the backstory of how Hyrule ended up under the sea just as a backstory on its own, instead of thinking about its context in a bigger narrative. Plus it allows programmers and people in the story development department to kinda go crazy/creative with designs for characters and locations, because they aren’t “bond” to capture the style of a previous game to the point that even slight variations would feel out of place. Like imagine doing Breath of the Wild style Ritos in Wind Waker or adapting the 2D Zelda environment of A Link to the Past without much variety into 3D. Plus I think that if we only followed one Link time and time again, his adventures would pretty much become less special over time, because him fighting Ganon then becomes more of an average Tuesday chore.

So…That was Dobson’s comic venting about what he hates about OoT. And I have to say, a lot of these complains (as I tried to explain here) are arbitrary as hell to me. Dobson essentially complaind about aesthetical choices the game made, that all things considered were kinda necessary for this franchise to make the jump not only into the 3D era of gaming, but also in the storydriven era of gaming itself.

See, I like the Zelda series, but as a fantasy series up to this point, I wouldn’t really call it the most “challenging” game storywise. Defeat an evil pig demon, save the princess, explore dungeons. That was it and kinda is still the base line appeal of those games. But even just compared to some stories we got by comparison for example on the SNES (Breath of the Wild 2, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6) Zelda was not really that deep. This game may not have even been the first Zelda game with a bit more “depth” to it (Link’s Awakening was that for me with the island being revealed to cease exisisting once the Widfish awoke), but it certainly was one that fleshed the world of Hyrule out a lot and in doing so introduced multiple technical, story relevant and aesthetical aspects to the franchise, that went beyond what A Link to the Past already had done in 1991. And that game in my opinion, while great, mostly just improved on the aesthetical aspects by assuring the game looked better in 16-bits than anything on the 8-bit NES.

To be fair though, I may also just be a bit biased here, because Ocarina of Time was an important game in my childhood I have very fond memories of. Both in context of the game, but also outside of it. But considering I am not the only one who likes it, I think it is safe to say that it is a good game. Is it the best Zelda game ever? Well, we have Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom now, so likely no. But it is certainly within the top four Zelda games and will likely stay there even the next few decades. And acting like it is total shit and its fans are “lesser” being for enjoying it, is not just contrarian, it is outright insulting. So in that regard: Fuck you Andy. May Octorocks ejaculate upon you, while the rest of the world finds enjoyment in that game.

And on that note... Happy anniversary to the Ocarina of Time. The best wishes from me for Impa, Ruto, Darunia, the Twinorvas, Ganondorf, Epona, Sheik, Zelda, Link, Navi, Sarina and all the other characters and the people behind Ocarina of Time for giving us one of the best games on the N64 and within one of the most beloved Nintendo game series ever.

May your melody be heard for 25 more years at least.

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#so you are a cartoonist #andrew dobson #syac #adobsonartwork #webcomic #tom preston #adobsonsartwork #so you are andrew dobson #legend of zelda #ocarina of time #link #nintendo vember #nintendo #Youtube

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fae-iii · 4 months

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Vaporeon Timelapse (Sort of)

I saved what I had of my Vaporeon timelapse from the recycle bin and I managed to get it to work! I gave up on using the script at some point because it didn't seem like it was working and I didn't have much faith that I could get it to work, so instead of "Vaporeon Postmortem" this is more "Vaporeon Autopsy." (synonyms, but a little more visceral sounding, imo).

So, what happened?:

my palette is always 4 colors with no transparent because the Gameboy could not do transparency and we're being ✨authentic✨ and ✨professional✨.

white is treated as the "transparent" color.

no layer can have that color.

except the background.

the aseprite-record script flattens all layers to a single layer for export.

there is no longer a background layer.

everything that should be white appears transparent.

I just had to add back that background layer and it automatically applies to all existing animation cells. Also, white was removed from the palette all together, so I just had to switch back to my normal palettes that use white as transparent.

also any other palettes used in the timelapse had to be changed to one of my normal palettes (automatically changing all cells in that palette) and any cells that used other palettes also had to be changed (which would have fixed my Mienfoo animation, I might go back and fix that, maybe)

So there's some things I think are cool in this timelapse:

The head took forever to get done and I remember the body (except for the spine) came together much faster, so you're not really missing much here. I usually spend the longest on the head (or some small detail that's difficult to get right) cuz that's da moneymaker :3, imo.

Example: I draw the tail here and it looks so good that it keeps that shape even when the entire pose changed course.

Man, I wish I had the patience to figure this out earlier. It would've been cool to see my stuff from Vaporeon forward come together after this esp. the Halloween piece. Oh well, best time to plant a tree was yesterday and such.

The pose was originally standing. I didn't have a strong vision, but I knew I wanted to be able to swap it out for the Dissy alt head, so somewhat sleepy, but not asleep for the default Vaporeon so I ultimately settled on a sitting pose. That was my logic at least, I think maybe any pose would've worked, lol.

You kinda see the head pop in after I try to get it right and that's cuz I started working on it in a different file and then cut/pasted it into the main piece cuz I wasn't comfortable focusing on a piece at a time and it didn't occur to me that you can just turn off certain layers (like you see me doing in the Mienfoo timelapse).

Here's me workshopping the neck ruff and spine on a couple "scratchsheets" and you can see I was too sentimental to get rid of the rotated head fin that was ultimately scrapped in the final piece:

Actually, the head popping in might just be some steps I forgot to record because I think it's missing a lot of stuff from making the head fins as well and I remember forgetting to record some stuff, but idk where.

Idk, is this interesting to anybody, lol, or is this just kinda rambly? Maybe both! It's interesting stuff to me, but I really oughta be working on my next piece for Wednesday and sorting out… other stuff. So goodbye for now!

#Vaporeon #pixel art #timelapse #art timelapse

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tokiro07 · 10 months

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Something I never quite understood is what it is with people and Daisy from the Mario games. Why is there always so much talk about wanting her in the games and hype when she actually is? What exactly is so special about her that gets people like this? I don't think this is a bad thing or anything like that, It is just something that confuses me.

Are you a fan of Dragon Ball? If so, you've surely noticed that the power creep has rendered a majority of the cast irrelevant, with Goku and Vegeta being tantamount to the only ones that really matter in most scenarios, with characters like Yamcha literally not being allowed to participate in fate-deciding battles anymore

You may also have noticed that Dragon Ball Super has more recently been trying to remedy this. Super Hero hardly had Goku or Vegeta in it at all, focusing on how to bring Gohan and Piccolo up to speed, while there was a mini-arc in the manga tying into Super Hero establishing Goten and Trunks as more relevant characters

Fans love that. They love seeing characters who either exist entirely on or who have been pushed to the fringe being brought to the centerstage. There are all kinds of reasons for this, but in the case of Dragon Ball, I think it's a matter of variety vs. stagnation. "Looks like Goku got another power-up that'll serve to elevate him above the rest of the cast and render them useless again"

Daisy is in a pretty similar boat. She's appeared in dozens of Mario titles, but how many of them are the Kart, Party or Sports titles? How many times has Daisy appeared in an actual Mario game?

Once

Daisy first appeared in Super Mario Land for the GameBoy, a spinoff not even made by Shigeru Miyamoto, and even there she was the damsel in distress who didn't actually appear until the end of the game. A very common event for video game characters, especially at the time, but the point is that her involvement in the main Mario franchise is as minimal as it gets

Since then, though, her appearances in the non-platformers have given her a lot of opportunity to flesh out her personality, most notably with how energetic and tomboyish she is in Mario Strikers compared to the more bubbly and girlish Peach

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With their differences highlighted, it was natural that some fans would gravitate more to one side than the other, but Peach is still the main heroine of the franchise. She appears in most if not all mainline Mario games in some capacity, either as the damsel or a playable character, and now has two games to call her own

Aside from Mario and Peach, who else has gotten to be playable alongside Mario? Obviously Luigi as the original player 2, three colors of Toad across Mario 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii and U, Captain Toad in the 3D World minigames, Yoshi and Wario in 64 DS, Toadette and Nabbit in U Deluxe, Rosalina in 3D World, and most recently Bowser Jr. in Bowser's Fury

That's 13 playable characters (9 if you count all of the Toads together and don't count Captain Toad since he's in a minigame), with Daisy notably absent despite being a fan favorite. Toadette being playable was especially egregious because they gave her a power-up that effectively just turned her into Peach with a different outfit. Rosalina was also "just another Princess" same as Daisy, but introduced much more recently, so it felt like they were acknowledging they could bring in any character they wanted, but who would want boring old Daisy when there's a shiny new Princess right here? Not knocking on Rosalina, I love her too, but I've wanted to see more Daisy content since I was a child

Do you remember how excited people were about Pauline showing up in Odyssey? Sure she'd shown up in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games, but again, those were spinoffs that most people didn't play. This was direct acknowledgment of her character in the main story, and now she's showing up in the Sports titles! Further awareness of the character means more opportunities for something new!

Even if Wonder just took place in Sarasaland and Daisy was a background character, that would have been shocking because it would have been her first time back in 34 years! But no! They skipped straight to her being playable!! This means that she has a much greater chance of coming back to be playable in future mainline games or even spinoffs like the new Peach game or the more story-driven RPGs

Even better, though? This sets a precedent. Who knows who could be playable next?? We could see Pauline be playable for the first time in a mainline game! We could see Wario come back as a Wario Land crossover! We could even see Waluigi actually be acknowledged by the canon for once!!!

Daisy is beloved because of her personality and was wanted as a playable character because of her absence. Her inclusion is a huge deal because it means that Nintendo has actually been listening to us and knows how to give us what we want. It shows growth on Nintendo's part, and serves as a sign that they will continue to give us more of it going forward

#super mario #super mario bros wonder #princess daisy #long post

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late-to-the-magnus-archives · 1 year

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Martin, meet Arthur. Arthur, meet Martin.

Everyone is confused!

---------

Arthur can hear the voices as he approaches, muffled but clearer. Whoever this man is, he doesn’t seem to like Kayne very much.

The man: “Look, I appreciate the… attention after a week of silence, but does it have to be right now? I… I just got here, and I - “

Kayne: “'I just got here,’ ‘my lover was taken by a god,’ ‘my foot hurts,’ wah, wah, wah. You’re getting dull, my little bundt cake. That’s your warning.”

Arthur stops. He knows, without question, that the last example was aimed at him.

What is going on in there?

“We’re about to find out,” Arthur whispers, reaching to find the door.

“Drum roll, please!” announces Kayne, and opens the door so fast that Arthur’s balance is thrown off.

Kayne grabs him by the sheet before he can fall and hurls him bodily into the cottage.

Son of a bitch! John yells, and Arthur throws up his hands, trying to protect himself from whatever they hit.

What they hit is a man.

There’s an oof as they collide, but this man is as big as John said, and clearly just as strong, because he catches, stabilizes, and has them both steadied in a single heartbeat.

And he is, to Arthur’s relief, just as confused as Arthur is.

“Wha - what the hell is this? Who are you?” says the man shoving Arthur away slightly.

“Martin, Arthur. Arthur, Martin. You two get acquainted now, come on, chop chop, no time to waste,” says Kayne, and claps his hands.

Then there’s weird music.

It’s a Russian folk song, he knows that, but It’s not like anything Arthur has ever heard before. No instrument he can identify, sort of an artificial beeping sound, accompanied by oddly plastic tapping.

“Is that a Gameboy?” blurts Martin nonsensically.

“Get acquainting,” says Kayne.

“What’s going on?” says Arthur.

He’s… Kayne is holding a sort of light gray rectangle. He’s tapping it with his thumbs, for some reason, and it’s making that music.

“Is it a radio?”

“A radio?” Martin repeats, confused.

No. I don’t know what it is.

“Why is it playing Korobeiniki?” says Arthur.

“You know the name of the Tetris song?” says Martin in a sort of yearning, heart-broken voice.

He’s staring at you now, Arthur. All kinds of expressions are sliding across his face. It’s a good face - he has kind eyes, a gentle mouth. The only lines are around his eyes, like he smiles a lot. He’s freckled; his hair’s red with hints of gold in it, like he spends a lot of time in the sun. And he looks like he’s ready to start crying.

“What’s Tetris?” says Arthur. “I mean, I had a Russian piano teacher as a child. She taught me this. It’s a folk song, that’s all.”

“Oh,” says Martin, audibly deflating. “I see. Jon would have just known.”

“John?” says Arthur, startled.

What the hell?

“Sorry. I…” Martin’s voice breaks, then suddenly returns with vigor and such light cheer that he seems like a different person. “Okay, all of this is weird, so how about some tea? Would you like some tea? I’ve been on a wagon for a week, and I could personally really use a cuppa before I even think about a shower. Sound good? Right.” And his footsteps take him away.

He… he’s gone into a kitchen area. Look around for me.

Obediently, Arthur does.

Arthur, this cottage is basically two rooms - one large, including this living area and a kitchen, and a smaller one that I think is a bedroom. There’s also a small alcove with a - oh. Oh.

“What?”

Arthur, there’s… blood. A lot of it. It looks old, dried; coming out of that alcove, spilled along the floor, and then it just stops. Like maybe someone was badly wounded, and then staunched.

“Oh, fuck,” says Arthur.

John takes a deep breath. It’s all old in here, Arthur, but it’s well cared-for. There are oil lamps on the walls. The furniture is worn, but clean. There are dried flowers and herbs, little colorful and personal touches on almost every surface. This man - and whoever else lives here - really tried to make it a home.

“Someone else lives here?”” says Arthur quietly.

Judging by the two different sizes of shoes by the door, yes.

“Lives… or lived?” Arthur guesses.

I don’t know, but this man’s unhappiness might be tied to it.

“I don’t think this tea has a name?” says Martin from the kitchen. “I’ve been calling it Not-Earl-Grey, just to call it something, you know, but it’s good enough for what it is. Do you want some honey in it? I’m afraid we have no milk.”

“However you take it works for me,” says Arthur, because this is all surreal, and then hears a sound that takes him back to his childhood - the faint, growing whistle of a tea-kettle, just reaching boiling peak.

It makes him feel things. A lot of things.

Lonely things.

Everyone will always leave you -

He shudders from head to toe, chilled to his core.

The music stops.

“Well, that’s interesting,” says Kayne.

Kayne is looking at us now, Arthur, and I wish he wasn’t, says John, sounding leery. It’s not a good look. There’s no smile. It’s keen, penetrating; considering, like maybe he wants to cut us open.

“Oh, I do, buttercup I do, but that’s not what this is about,” says Kayne. “Experiment time!”

There’s a gasp.

Arthur! He moved so fast! He’s grabbed the man from the kitchen, and -

Kayne’s fists Arthur’s toga from behind, and he pushes them together like trying to make dolls kiss.

That horrible Lonely mist washes up and through Arthur so fast he cannot breathe.

Fills his lungs, freezes his brain, breaks his heart in a terrible, sideways crunch, because even though he vaguely hears John shouting and vaguely feels Martin’s arms, he knows that he is alone.

Is that cry his? It sounds so far away, so lost, so utterly without recourse - a shattered sound, a hopeless sound, and his legs cannot hold him up.

“Enough!” Martin’s voice cuts through it all, and -

Arthur wasn’t thrown again. He’s aware, on some level, that his mummified feet have not moved, that he’s still standing there, pressed against this stranger, yet he would swear to a judge that he’d just been pulled out of some other world and brought back to this one.

He gasps, falling to his knees, slipping to the floor.

Everything is too hot and too loud.

Arthur! Arthur!

Arthur hugs himself, clutching John’s arm, gasping.

Kayne cackles, and it is a horrible sound, flames licking inside his skull, knife-tips sliding beneath his skin. “Fantastic! Oh, my little croissant, you constantly surprise me!”

“What… what did… why did you do that?” Martin cries, and he sounds distraught, he sounds horrified, he sounds sick.

“I wanted to see if you could, honey-pie. Can you guess why?”

He… he’s next to us on the floor now, looking down. He’s gone so pale his freckles are like burns.

“I can’t! I… oh, gods, what did I do?” Martin moans.

“That’s as good an intro as any,” says Kayne. “So, in other news, wanna see what happens when I fuck up?”

And suddenly, Arthur can see.

Sort of. It’s not through his eyes. It’s being pushed into his mind, somehow, and whatever is doing the pushing is also keeping him down.

He sees a man he doesn’t know - a man with dark skin and long gray-black hair, covered in scars and wearing some sort of weird yellow dancer’s outfit.

A man kneeling before the King in Yellow.

But nothing about this man’s posture is penitent. Nothing about it is worshipful.

The man’s teeth are clenched, and his eyes are… strange. He is looking down, at the ground, as though he could burn it away with his gaze.

Somehow, Arthur feels like he could.

And then…

Strange things happen.

Things he has no context for, things he cannot define.

Powerful things, and life-changing things (and never mind that this man’s eyes gone glassy, reflecting stars, is the most beautiful and terrible sight he has ever known), and then -

For several strange, terrible seconds, Arthur is not himself.

He is a woman. A woman called Adra, a woman who lived three hundred years ago, and he makes her choices, and he takes her steps, and he laughs with her voice and struggles with her worries and dies with her regrets -

And comes to on the floor, gasping, unable to see again, briefly freaked out because he’s blind (Adra was not), every cell aching, his very skin screaming in torment.

“And that,” says Kayne from outer space, “is what happens when I fuck up.”

“Jon,” says Martin, and begins to ugly-cry.

It takes Arthur more than a minute to come back to himself.

John helps. Shouting at him, declaring all manner of threat and promise, anchoring him with pure stubbornness and oddly childish pride.

And possessiveness. And that, in the wake of feeling so alone, means more than anything else.

I’m going to kill him! John declares with unlikely but well-meant fervor. How dare he do this to you! He has no right! No one has that right!

Arthur’s not even sure what Kayne did. He can’t speak. He can barely exist in his own skin, echoing with his own grief and this alien life of Adra’s.

Martin is… still crying. Whatever they just saw, whatever they went through, affected him differently than it did Arthur.

Arthur thinks that strange man with the spooky eyes might also be named John.

Arthur’s memories keep replacing pieces of themselves with Adra’s, like pieces of a puzzle shaped the same but put in the wrong image.

His mother’s face, overlaid by Adra’s mother.

His hands, smaller than they were, darker, with long, shiny nails she (he) kept buffed with leather and lanolin.

They didn’t erase his memory. Not quite.

But it came close.

Arthur has to concentrate to retrieve his own, as if they were all buried beneath too many quilts to find their shape.

“Jon,” whispers Martin, not for the first time.

Motherfucker! I’ll destroy you! I’ll find a way!

“Well, that’s all for intermission,” says Kayne, all casually. “Ready for act two?”

“What… just happened?” Arthur manages, and though he knows who he is and has his memories back, it feels strange to hear his voice coming from his mouth, and not Adra’s.

“A miscalculation regarding the effect of the Dreamlands on such a specifically mental and spiritual power as the Archivist’s,” says Kayne. “Eat it up, children. I make mistakes once every dozen eons or so, and this one’s a doozy.”

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #malevolent fic #fic in progress #wip #snippet #the magnus archives fic #tma fic #crossover #tma crossover #malevolent crossover

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zoeythebee · 9 months

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MY NEXT GAME

Hi, so I'm postponing my previous platformer because I'm tired of thinking about physics.

So I want to make a farming game.

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, I dont like Stardew Valley. It's not a bad game, but when it comes to farming games, it's not my cup of tea.

I feel like what most people are looking for in their farming games is more of a life sim type game, which to be fair Harvest Moon has been since the start.

But my favorite farming sim game is Harvest Moon for the Gameboy Color. I played it via the virtual console on the 3ds and I loved it.

First off the limited hardware meant they had to cut a lot of stuff. They managed to still include marriage and children, but I never worked out how to interact with those mechanics. And I didnt need to because I was too busy FARMIIIIING.

Harvest Moon for the GBC was the fundamental farming mechanics distilled down, and it's all you did.

Also in this harvest moon game, the shipping guy who buys your stuff showes up at 5pm. About 3/4ths the way through the day.

Meaning when your crops were done growing you had to HUSTLE to get them put into the shipping box inorder to maximize your profit, and the ammount of crops you can grow the next day.

And that rush of getting your crops put away was incredible fun. Fast paced action to cap off a long stretch of repetitive, yet satisfying, gameplay

So many farming games try to make the planting and growing process easier, by making you able to walk on plants or with sprinklers and stuff. But I want the opposite. I want my game to be all about space and time management.

First off I am thinking of having the delivery guy pickup crops twice or maybe once a week. Forcing you to plan ahead, or store them somewhere.

I also want everything to be done one at a time. Harvesting, watering, etc. In HM GBC you could only hold one item at a time, causing you to run back and forth between your crops and the shipping box. I kinda liked this because it meant you had to layout your farm in such a way that allowed you to move through it efficiently.

Something I want to introduce is CRATES which can hold 8 items of the same type. And they have to be pushed around, kinda like sokoban boxes. I might toy with this a little, maybe allow you to pull them as well. This will make it so you have to be clever with your farm and storage layouts. And to minimize you running back and forward between the farm and the shipping box.

And instead of a shipping box I want an area you can place down crates. And possibly stack them? Again I want to force the player to be clever with how they store their goods. My biggest issue with this is I dont want to limit the ammount of produce you can sell. If you get your shit to the delivery spot in time you get your money.

On top of that I have ideas for crops that require certain configurations inorder to grow. Special soil types that promote the growth of certain crops and harms others. Machines that process crops into higher value products, but take up a lot of space. Maybe special orders to challenge you to grow a certain amount of crops in a period of time.

I gots ideas basically. Right now I've got a video in the works breaking down my progress so far. Super early technical stuff. Expect it soon!

All in all I'm excited to dive into this project. And we'll see what happens, if things go well I may finish it. If not I'll postpone it and work on ThreeEye again.

And as for the tech I'm using, I'm working in C again. Currently I'm using SDL but I may swap the graphics out with Sokol or BGFX in the future.

#codeblr #programming #gamedev #indiedev #game development

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gunsatthaphan · 2 years

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~ Monthly BL Breakdown: July 2022 ~

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Dailymotion and Youtube. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green tick = seen or currently watching)

🌟 Rainbow Lagoon (short film) - July 4th (Thailand)

🌟 Stranger’s Love - July 4th (Philippines)

🌟 Oh! My Sunshine Night - July 4th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Gameboys: The Movie - July 6th (Philippines)

🌟 Merry Queer - July 8th (reality tv show, South Korea)

🌟 Gameboys 2 (international release) - July 14th (Philippines)

🌟 His Man - July 15th (reality tv show, South Korea)

🌟 Vice Versa - July 16th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Coffee Melody - July 18th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Kumusta Bro? - July 30th (Philippines)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Vice Versa - ugh. it’s so good so far. Like an actual masterpiece. I just love that the story + setup is different. It’s abstract without being cheesy and it has me glued to the screen at all times. The cast is superb, Jimmy and Sea are absolutely killing it, also I’m living for all the Bad Buddy references lol. It’s also nice to see ohmnanon again in this different setting and overall it’s just so much better than I anticipated. I hope it stays at this level. Oh and also the cinematography?? And all the color references?? fck me up. 10/10.

❣️ The Eclipse - I’m just gonna put this on here even though it hasn’t aired yet because how could I not 🥺😩 it looks so good. I know some people disagree but I liked this trailer so much better than the first one. I know it could be misleading but I’m really hoping for a 50/50 balance between the curse- and the love story. But we shall see. Either way I’m so ready for F&K to own my ass for the next 3 months. 11/10 can’t wait.

👎🏻 Unforgotten Night - I honestly still don’t know if I love it or hate it djgkfdf I wouldn’t say I had high hopes but somehow I had faith that it could maybe be good... I was wrong lol. It’s so bad. I love Ton as Kim, he’s adorable and very likeable, same with Baiboon - but Yoon?? heck. He’s by far the worst pick for this kind of role. You would think he has improved his performance by now after being in so many shows but nah. He’s giving me nothing. However despite all, it is quite entertaining - just because of how ridiculous it is. So I guess I’m having a good time. But it’s abysmal. 0.5/10.

New series announcements

🎥 Love Tractor - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Wish Me Luck (starring Fiat Pattadon and Na Naphat) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Egoist (novel adaption) - Coming 2023 (Japan)

🎥 Mystery of Love - Date TBA (Philippines)

🎥 Happy Merry Ending - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Liquor - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Make a Wish (starring Fluke Natouch) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 End Love (starring Game Orarig & Boom Jiratpisit) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Tie the Not - Date TBA (Philippines)

🎥 Cheat 2 - Date TBA (Philippines)

🎥 Kabe Koji - Coming October 2022 (Japan)

🎥 Jump The Series - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 My Tempo (Musical) - September 22nd (Thailand)

🎥 Roommate The Series - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Wish You Luck (starring Tonnam Piamchon (Triage) and Title Teshin (The Yearbook)) - Coming 2023 (Thailand)

🎥 The Luminous Solution (starring Gun Napat and Mig Teerapat) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Self, We See You - Coming September 2022 (Thailand)

🎥 Fool Love In Pilok - Date TBA (Thailand)

Other news from the BL world

❗️Choi Si Hoon (from Netflix's “Single's Inferno”) will take the role of Yoo Seong in the upcoming Korean BL “The New Employee”.

❗️The Korean BL “Blueming” is getting a second season.

❗️Fluke Natouch will star in the upcoming Thai BL Make a Wish, along with Judo Tantachj, Pon Thanapon and Nike Nitidol.

❗️Filming for the upcoming Thai BL “Between Us” has started. The show will premiere on November 18th.

❗️Bright Vachirawit, Win Metawin, Zee Pruk, Nunew Chawarin, Ohm Pawat, Nanon Korapat and Mew Suppasit were winners at this year’s KAZZ Awards, amongst a few others.

❗️Table reads for the upcoming Thai BL “Absolute Zero” have started. The series will premiere in 2023.

❗️MileApo (KinnPorsche) will star in a historical BL movie that is scheduled to air in 2023. The title, as well as further details, have yet to be announced.

❗️Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih (MODC) will be in a theatrical play called "Felicita Wedding Office” which will premiere on December 23-25 in Taipei.

Upcoming series & movies for August

☝🏻 P.S. I Hate You (bl sideplot) - August 1st (Thailand)

☝🏻 War of Y - August 2nd (Thailand)

☝🏻 On Cloud Nine - August 6th (Thailand)

☝🏻 21 Days Theory - August 7th (Thailand)

☝🏻 Papa & Daddy 2 - August 8th (Taiwan)

☝🏻 The Eclipse - August 12th (Thailand)

☝🏻 My Only 12% - August 12th (Thailand)

☝🏻 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - August 14th (Thailand)

☝🏻 Love in the Air - August 18th (Thailand)

☝🏻 Takara-kun to Amagi-kun - August 18th (Japan)

☝🏻 About Youth - August 29th (Taiwan)

☝🏻 Semantic Error: The Movie - August 31st (South Korea, theaters)

☝🏻 Ghost House, Ghost House - August TBA (part-bl, Thailand)

#doreens monthly bl breakdown #monthly bl breakdown #thai bl #korean bl #japanese bl #bl drama #upcoming bl #update #that blueming sequel.........................why.#have they not learned #also its the same director as tms i believe? fcking hell.#keep that shit in the drafts istg #please #anyway is it august 12th yet jdkhkgfd #so excited #🥺

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miss--river · 1 year

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✨️TELL ME ABOUT YOUR OCS✨️ by @vincentmatthews

wanted to do this for my newest babe who im hyperfixating on! thank you so much for the fun template! it gave me the chance to flesh her out just a little more!

---

♡Name Phoenix Blake

♡Nicknames Phi, Finn, Nix

♡Age 26

♡Pronouns She/Her

♡Sexuality Bisexual

♡Hair Color and style Red, usually up with braids (but lately ive been obsessing over her with her hair down.

♡Eye Color Yellow

♡Height 5'5"

♡Body Type Average

♡Personality She smiles and laughs a lot, loves making other people laugh and smile, extroverted, loves meeting people.

♡Tattoos She has a sleeve of tattoos on both arms.

♡Piercings She has a nose ring, her eyebrow pierced, and her left ear pierced.

♡Any definable features such as: Birthmarks, Scars, Freckles, Beauty Marks, Accent when they talk, Lisp, Natural slurring of words, Walk with a subtle limp, ect. She doesn't have anything yet but I'm planning on giving her some body scars as I plan her story!

♡Hobbies She's a gamer girl lmao! She has an N64, a classic gameboy, a Switch, and a PC she plays on. Also loves playing her guitar occasionally and listening to music, going on walks at sunset, and sometimes will get up to jog before the sun comes up.

♡Gang/Occupation {Mox, Max Tac, etc} Merc with the exception that no one gets killed.

♡Do they smoke? No.

♡Do they drink? Is so, what's their poison of choice? Yes, her favorite thing to drink is whiskey.

♡What do they usually wear on a normal day? The current outfit ive been loving her in is a burgundy tank top, black pants, black boots, black driving gloves, black and white studded bracelets, a necklace with a red pendant, and a black choker, sometimes a jacket, and sometimes yellow round sunglasses.

♡What do they wear when they "Get dressed up"? And what would be considered a "special occasion" to them {such as an "Oh they're gonna be there so I have to look my best." Or an "It's our anniversary".} I haven't dressed her up in anything fancy yet but she'd probably wear a dress. Nothing too eye catching since thats not really her style but something cute for sure!

♡What do they smell like? {For example: they smell like cinnamon flavored liquor, cigarettes, leather, and motor oil.} Cherry scented lotion, she's not really into perfumes or anything like that.

♡How do they walk? Do they sway their hips? Do they walk with a sense of determination? Do they bounce as they walk? Etc. I've always imagined her swaying her hips as she walks but I've also imagined her with a bit of a bounce if she's listening to her music.

♡Are they more of an early bird or a night owl? Kinda both? She loves waking up to go on jogs but sometimes she's just way too tired and will sleep in which leads her to staying up late. Then it's a struggle to get a proper sleep schedule again lmao. She does love staying up late though because she has no obligations at night and she can be cozy in her apartment and play video games!

♡If you had to use one word to define them, what word would you use? Chipper

♡What words or catchphrases do they say that's unique to that character? I based her off Vash the Stampede so her saying isn't really unique to her but she does say "Love and Peace" a lot, but usually as like a goodbye or something.

♡Favorite Season Summer.

♡Favorite type of weather {Thunderstorms, sunny, etc} She loves all types of weather! Thunderstorms and rain are soothing to her, sunny is nice because she likes to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, foggy because it reminds her of her favorite spooky video games, haha!

♡Do they have someone they're with relationship-wise? If so, who? Ok, I know I said I based off Vash but I also ship her with him too!

♡Main Ship/Pairings Phoenix x Vash

♡Side Pairings N/A

♡Favorite/Self-indulgent Pairings N/A

♡How do they show affection to their loved one? She loves buying random gifts that remind her of her loved ones, unless getting random gifts makes them uncomfortable then she'll just call or text them to see how they're doing.

♡How do they sit in a chair? She sometimes likes to slouch back like reeaaalllly far to where it almost looks like she's trying to lay down lmao.

♡How do they sit in a chair {uncomfortable version} Gotta have her feet up in the chair, sometimes she's sitting with her legs crisscrossed. She also has a footrest by her computer if she's going to be sitting there for a while so she can stretch out without standing up.

♡What do they wear to bed? Sometimes just a t-shirt and panties, and sometimes a tank top and shorts.

♡How do they usually sleep? {Side sleeper, back, fetal position, backwards, nest sleeper, blanket mountain, etc} Side and back sleeper but she doesn't sleep on her back too often because for some reason it gives her nightmares.

♡How do they sleep in a place they don't know? {Can't due to anxiety, in small bursts of sleep that are short lived, holding themselves, etc} She's actually ok with sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

♡Do they have to have a form of "white noise" in order to sleep? {The sound of a fan, the sound of rain, the sound of a city, etc} When she's in her own apartment she has turns on the little fan by her bed. It doen't always have to be facing her but she does enjoy the sound. She'll also sometimes fall asleep listening to podcasts or music.

♡What's a place they go to feel comfortable, that's their "spot" they always go when they're upset? Her bed, lmao!

♡What do they do when they're nervous? {Fidget with jewelry, pick at nails, bite nails/lips, play with knife/zippo lighter, etc} If she has something small in her pocket she'll fidget with whatever it is or she'll roll her necklace pendant between her fingers.

♡What is their "tell" for lying? She's very good at lying but if someone really knows her they can tell she's lying about something when the corner of her eye or mouth twitches. It's very subtle because she's learned to control it more but telling lies in general makes her super nervous.

♡What is their favorite color? Burgundy, red, yellow, orange, and black.

♡Favorite flower/plant Hibiscus flower

♡Favorite sweet of choice Donuts

♡Do they have any pets? If so, tell me about them She doesn't have any pets officially but sometimes she does get visited by a little kitty cat!

♡What are their triggers {If they have any}? If so, what calms them down? Currently, she has no triggers.

♡If they could visit anywhere in the world, where would they go and why? Anywhere quiet and not a busy city lmao! She needs a break!

♡What is their favorite comfort meal? Spicy ramen noodles! Sometimes she'll just buy regular spicy ramen or she'll add her own hot sauce.

♡Do they have a food they hate? Mushroom, she hates the texture.

♡What is their favorite {non-alcoholic} drink? Cold coffee loaded with sugar!

♡What are their plans for the future {if they have any}? Make enough money to just live comfortably and hopefully move away from the city.

♡What's a song that "fits" them? Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf

♡Give me 5 facts/random bits of information about them 1. Her dad taught her how to use a gun but she honed her skills herself as she grew up. 2. Her favorite ways to pass the time are reading comics and playing video games. 3. Her favorite places to chill are either in bed or at El Cojo Coyote. 4. She has a gun she wont hesitate to use but she refuses to kill anyone. 5. She absolutely cannot get through animal movies because she will cry.

♡Give me their backstory {can be long, or brief.} She's still new so I dont really have anything for her yet :((

♡Free Space! Give me any sort of extra information about them you'd like to share -Her voice claim is Moira Kelly who played Nala from The Lion King. -When she was a kid she loved making 'potions' in the bathroom sink but she'd get in trouble for it every time. -She'd also run up stairs like a dog when she was a kid and it embarrassed her parents when she did it out in public.

#Cyberpunk 2077 #Street Kid V #My V #My OC #OC: Phoenix #🐦

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mashedcontroller · 7 months

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I used to think gen 1 pokemon designs are more or less just universally suck. But after spending time looking through the sprites, but no, the designs just work in Gen 1 (and 2) but not really future generations. They often traded off visual clarity for personality, which is a decision that I really like. It just leaves so much up to the imagination because the anatomy is a bit up to interpretation. Gonna go over some Pokemon that really just hit different in Gen 1.

Fearow

I’ve never really like Fearow. Based on its current depictions, it’s very forgettable. Its colors are just brown and lame, it’s literally just a brown bird but angry. Like, I would kill for 99% of the bird pokemon, but not Fearow. It’s just too nothing.

Anyways, here is its Green sprite. I fucking love how the wings are drawn. The tufts of fur(?) on its wings are super exaggerated and really makes the design stand out as “mean bird but fluffy(?)” The pose is also super dynamic. Fearow’s most defining traits are definitely its long beak and massive wingspan, and this sprite just captures those two points and leaves the rest up to the imagination. This might be Fearow’s best look ngl.

Muk & Grimer

I really don’t care for Muk. It’s just a pile of sludge. Not helped that Grimer is just a pile of sludge but happy(?). Even in Gen 3, Muk and Grimer just looks lame.

Like, that’s a pile of purple sludge. I don’t think it looks cute, cool, intimidating, or really much of anything. I look at this character design and I feel nothing.

Anyways, here they are in Pokemon Red & Blue popping the fuck off. Grimer looks like it craves death and is also happy(?) while Muk is just has this very big and intimidating amorphus sludge abomination energy. Like, these two look fucking awesome in Gen 1 and I think they really take advantage of the Gameboy’s limited options. These two also feel really distinct from each other in Gen 1, which wasn’t really the case in future generations, and it has to do with how the sludge is rendered. Grimer has more defined outlines and the goo feels like it’s drooping downwards, while Muk feels much more gelatinous, like it isn’t falling apar at the seams.

Gengar

Gonna be honest, I didn’t like Gengar until I had a chance to use it in gen 1 and 2 OU, where it then shot up to being one of my favorite Pokemon. Modern Gengar just looks so nothing. It’s just an orb with a face and cat ears(?). Like, he’s one of the more liked Pokemon from Gen 1 and I’m just like “eh?” So, part of what made me like Gengar was that he’s super fun to use in Gen 1 and Gen 2 OU, but the other half is just that the gen 1 and 2 sprites for him are so much better than everything after.

Like, Gengar’s Gen 1 back sprite has got to be one of my favorite sprites. He just has so much “bad man” energy. Like, his ears look somewhere between cat ears and devil horns, half the sprite is taken up by his devious smile, you can only see him from the side. This is fucking fantastic.

I also love Gengar’s front sprite in Crystal. Like, he looks like a schoolyard bully. The usage of color is also really good here. Those red eyes really pop against Gengar’s dark purple body. I like how much the body is obscured in shadow.

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lunarlegend · 1 year

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my favorite memory of Gen 1 is the Safari Zone

i was 10 when i got Pokemon Yellow for Christmas on my purple Gameboy Color, and i had never played any sort of strategy-based RPG before, so i had absolutely no idea what to do 🙃

i remember i didn't understand how to properly battle, and i got caught in that classic situation in Viridian Forest where all i had was a Metapod and the trainer i was battling only had a Metapod and we both just kept using 'Harden' until i reset 🙃🙃 (had no idea 'Struggle' existed)

and i also had Pikachu as my Starter (because Yellow Version), and type advantages didn't really click for me in the beginning, so i kept trying to beat Brock with only my Pikachu and just. losing, over and over and over 😂😅 chipping away at his Pokemon's HP with my Pikachu's Normal-type attacks, and having no clue i was supposed to catch something else

but anyway

eventually i got the hang of it (after some help from one of my cousins & a couple of older kids at school), and the game became my favorite thing

i remember i got my Pikachu up to lvl. 100 just for the hell of it, and i would spend hours in the Safari Zone looking for Kangaskhan, Pinsir, and the elusive Chansey

i had my step count down to a routine, i knew exactly which patches of grass i needed to reach, and the suspense was addicting every single time

and i used to have the radio on while i played in my room, listening to music from that 1999-2001 era, which to this day brings me back to Pokemon Yellow so vividly, it's incredible

it's such a precious memory to me

nowadays, almost any Pokemon is obtainable online; the games have become so different, and the social aspect makes obtaining what you want so much easier, what with wireless trading & whatnot

but back then you were limited to what you could catch in the game unless you had a friend with a different version & a link cable, so taking the time to really explore felt a lot more meaningful

anyway, i know i probably sound really old, but i miss when Pokemon was still Like That

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mothykins · 1 year

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You know, it really bothers me that we have this wave of would be internet historians and wanna-be gaming experts giving the "PIXEL ART WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE VIEWED LIKE THIS, YOU ALL HAVE NOSTALGIA FOR SOMETHING THAT NEVER WAS" speech from rooftops. And they'll often go on about how pixel smearing worked and looked on CRTs and show something like this:

And then they give us this speech on how we were never supposed to see the image on the left, because screen technology like that wasn't around and cheap enough for consumers until 2005, so our Nostalgia for that sort of pixel art is false, memories of something that never was. What was real was only the image on the right, and we all just decided that pixel art like the stuff on the left was a good aesthetic because of seeing the games later emulated.

There's just one Issue.

This is wrong.

"How can this be wrong, some internet smart guy and a Vice Article said it's right?" I hear you shout. Well, you see, in 1989, a very important video game console came out. It had a Dot Matrix Display. It was small, but it was one of the best selling game consoles of it's time.

The Gameboy.

See, here's the thing, This did have crisp pixel art. This did have that sharp sprite-work. And most of us who grew up between 1990-2005 can remember playing with one. If not this, then the Gameboy Advance. These handhelds are what Nintendo was most well known for in the n64 and gamecube era, when the Play Station and X-box dominated schoolyard talk for the popular console at home.

See, the other important thing about the GBA is it not only did it have backwards compatibility with the Gameboy and Gameboy Color, it started getting re-releases of NES and SNES games.

Even from this somewhat blurry cellphone shot, you can see the pixels in this version of A Link to the Past and in the Gameboy Colors Zelda Oracle game. And for a lot of people who are now in their late 20's or early 30's, this is likely how they experienced this game. This is real. this is not some imagined Nostalgia for a pixel art that never was. This is just how a ton of people experienced the game. Through small LCD displays on Nintendo handhelds.

These Internet Historians and Video Game Journalists seem to forget that the handheld consoles existed, that they were extremely popular, and that they also had a huge impact on how people remember games. They actively erase a whole subsection of gaming history, and tout their version of history as fact. They're decidedly wrong.

Your nostalgic view of old pixel art classics is correct in many cases, and that crisp, clean design was the norm for giant series such as Pokemon. It's no wonder it still captures the heart and minds of so many people.

#pixel art #game history #console history #sprite art #video game history #retro gaming #retro games #gameboy #gameboy advance #gameboy color #gba

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regallibellbright · 1 year

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The thing about me and Pokemon.

Is that I got into Pokemon almost IMMEDIATELY after it reached the United States, like, I’m PRETTY sure the first episode I ever saw was not the first airing of the SS Anne episode which was also, inexplicably, the first one aired here? (Yes. The one with the cliffhanger ending where they’re trapped on a sinking ship. I don’t know why either.) But that is one of the very first episodes I remember watching, the timing just about works out, and I can’t recall for a fact if the first episode I watched was that, Vulpix’s introduction, or like. Bulbasaur’s. But I actually remember meaningful things about the Kanto Starters arc. If it was not the first episode it was still within that first year.

And then it promptly consumed about 40% of my brain as I was immediately invested in Ash trading his Butterfree and their friendship and how they were going to escape a sinking ship, and has never given that space up since. It has been one of if not The defining special interest of my life since I was about five, and was only truly challenged for its title by Neopets at its peak. There have been others that rival it in their age and their ability to wax and wane but always come back to core special interest intensity eventually - Kingdom Hearts is probably the next in line, for example, and likewise an “it was love well before I could actually PLAY it” thing, that one because some kids at daycare spliced together a lot of gameplay and cutscenes from 1 onto a VHS they brought in, Pokemon I spent YEARS reading the original Pokemon handbook envious of the fact that my uncle would let me play Kirby sometimes but would not share his copy of Blue (and I’ve lost a save file to younger kid, that’s fair) - but since I’m only such a video game fanatic because of Pokemon, it gets to be the all-time king.

And also, because I’ve been here so long. I have played ALL OF THEM.

Like, usually only one game from each given generation, two with the third versions, but the only period we totally missed out on were Red and Blue because I got the Gameboy Color just ahead of Crystal, so the only Gen I game I’ve played on original hardware was Yellow version post-beating Crystal, pre-Gen 3, and WELL before I could play Pokemon competently. This still means I have played a Pokemon game in each central generation on original hardware. I’ve also watched people, say, exploit the ridiculous mechanics of Gen 1 in ways they never needed to know about because they aren’t even of interest to SPEEDRUNNERS but become relevant when ten thousand people are playing a single game of Pokemon Red on Twitch and they can’t switch out another Pokemon so they’re stuck trying to get Pidgeot through Lavendar Tower and enemy Pokemon never run out of PP. Or stalling out a win against Lance because of several funny quirks of enemy AI that allow him to just keep using Agility and Barrier until poison defeats his last Dragonite rather than finishing off the level 30-something Venomoth that was all they had left. And this just... lives here. In my brain. Forever.

I remember people complaining about the new Pokemon these days looking weird and ridiculous, what do you MEAN we’re getting a baby form of Chimecho that’s a jingle bell and a BALLOON POKEMON? (I remember coming to the defense of that little purple balloon Pokemon as a cute design. Little did I know.)

And that has shaped my opinions on Pokemon discourse in the, oh, seventeen years since. Like clockwork. Time after time. I have seen it all before, I will see it all again, and I expect this time next year we’ll be getting the incredible nostalgia, hype and demands for the Kalos remakes. Mark my words.

#Pokemon #long post #seriously we're looking at wall of text time

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