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mattmurdock42 · 6 months

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Henry dressed as a vampire. ( Henry as Husband)

Henry Cavill X female reader./ Henry X Wife / Henry as a dad.

Smutt, overstimulating, beging, p in v, Henry dom, vampire kinks.

+-3.3k

It was the birthday of your son, Tomás. A few days ago, you and your husband, Henry, asked if he wanted a party and he happily said yes, with a halloween theme, as it was close to it. You had asked all your son´s friend´s mothers if they could came and they all said yes, so, now, you´d have twelve 6 years old boys and girls, plus one of their parents at your house for a party. Your son was so ecxited that he couldn´t stop talkig about it. Your husband was encharged of your costumes. He got a mummy one for Tomás, a vampire for him and a pirate one for you. The day of the party came. Henry had to shoot a scene from his series until 3 pm, so, you´d have to welcome the guests alone until he came. You woke up and he was already gone. You made breakfast for you and Tomás and then you two started to prepare the backyard for the party. You two went out for lunch and then came back to make your costumes. You left him watching tv while you got ready, then you went to get him ready. 2pm came, his friends started to arrive. You were friend to most of the mothers, actually. Three of then were very close to you since college days. When all the guests arrived you saw how many different costumes had: witches, pirates, fairies, robots, vampires, super heroes, skeletons and more. Most parents were as pirates or witches. While the kids played, you all sat under a told and started to talk about the children. All of them said that their kids were really ecxited for this themed party, and they all complimented the idea. You said it was Tomás idea and he also was ecxited for it. After a while Henry arrived, he was already with his costume- he had taken it to work and putted it when he finished the shooting. He was wearing a black trouser with a social black shirt. His hair was put behind with gel, he had eyeliner and fangs on his canine teeth. Your breath stopped when you saw him. He greeted everyone and he and the other mens went to another place to talk and watch things. You and the other mothers talked about children, career, marriege and hobies. The talk was amazing, but it was time for cake. You all reunited around a big garden table and Tomás got on a stool- since he didn´t let Henry lift him in front of his friends- to be on the same high as the candles. The rest of the party was perfect, everyone ate and had fun. You and henry said goodbye to everyone and thanked then for coming. You said to Tomás to get inside and take the vegetables he wanted for dinner. As he did that, you and Henry cleaned the garden. When it was over, you got inside and gave Tomás a bath while henry cooked. You finished his bath, dressed him, and then went to your bath. Henry finished the dinner and you three had grilled vegetables for dinner. After, you did the dishes and henry went to take a shower, since he was still dressed as a vampire, except his fangs.

A couple of days passed since the party. One day, you recieve a message from your cousin saying that it will be a family lunch next weekend, and her dauther gave the idea of children going in costumes, since it would be halloween, so she had the idea of everyone going dressed in costumes. You confirmed your family presence. You loved the idea of seeing your cousins again, you all were really close.

You three went with your costumes from the last party. There, children were running, men were around the barbecue taking care of the meat, women were talking and were around the drinks and the desserts. You had brought a sweet pie that you made. Everyone was dressed as well. Your aunts and you were talking and they commented how pretty Henry was in that costume. You got embareced and blushed for him. At lunch time, when all of you were around the table, one little niece of your, dauther of your cousin, came to Henry and asked.

Little niece: uncle, why you didn´t dressed as Superman? since you are superman!

Everyone at the table laughed.

Henry: sorry little one, but the costume store didn´t have any superman costume when i went, it was sold out.

Little niece: but you didn´t get the superman costume when you finished the movie?

Henry: i tried to get it, but they wouldn´t let me, they would have to keep it for a while longer. But as soon as it is finished, i´ll get it.

In the afternoon, one of your cousins had the idea of making fun shots of everyone. You tried to hide, since you didn´t like photos, but one of your cousins pulled you to it. You tried to hide behind Henry but the stepped aside, saing it was a good idea to take the photos. You looked at him, with mad eyes. You all took several pictures: you and your cousins, all the girls, all the man, just children, each families (grandma make sure of that one being taken, she wanted everyone in her album). Iin yours with Henry, he stood behind you with Tomás in his shoulders and pretended to bite your neck, while you were secretly cointaining yourself to not moan with him sucking your neck dresssed like that. Of course he noticed, since he knew you well. In the end of the family lunch, your little niece asked Tomás if he wanted to sleep over and play with her the next day. They were the same age and get along so well that you and Henry couldn´t say no. Beside, Henry had plans for the night that he would prefer his son wouldn´t be home.

You went home and got back to leave some things for Tomás, like, toothbrush and clothes.

You and Henry was getting back home, he was driving and you were zoning out with the music you had putted. Then, out of nowhere, you feel something grabbing your thigh roughly. You look down and see Henry´s hand. You get home and, before you could put one foot inside the house, he lifts you, throwing you on his shoulders and going to your room. Arriving there, you already knew that he noticed the repreended moan and wanted to hear you scream that same one. He putted you on the bed and lighted the room with candles. He gently took of your pirate costume.

Herny: you shouldn´t repress a groan, pretty girl, but i understand why you did it.

You looked at him. You were feeling exposed being the only one naked, he didnt even let your panties.

Henry: tell me, you wanted to moan because you wanted sex tonight, you were needy, or you were horny because of the costume?

He already knew the answer, it was not the first time you were horny with him in a costume, it happened before when his make up was not fully gone from the witcher, and when you visited him on the set of mission impossible. But he would make you say it, he wanted to hear how you were.

y/n: i-i´m horny.

You say blushing and looking down. He gets your entire jaw with one hand and pull it up, so you can look to him.

Henry: you should have said it before. You know i don´t like that you keep this kind of secrets from me.

y/n: i´m sorry.

Henry: what do you like more about it?

y/n: i think the fangs, maybe.

You say in a whisper.

Henry: why maybe?

This conversation were making you mad.

y/n: i´m not sure because you aready have big canines, this protesis just made them a little bigger, not much, so i don´t know if it made a difference or not.

He takes it of and smiles.

Henry: so? was the fangs that made you horny?

y/n: no, maybe it was your hair in place?

Henry: maybe?

y/n: stop asking this.

You say, tired of this talk.

Henry: my delicate girl, i just wanna know. So i can do it more times.

y/n: no, looking better at it, it´s not your hair, i like it messed, natural curled. It is the eyeliner with the groomed hair. The combination itself.

Henry: see? it wasn´t so hard. With a little talk and patience, you got there.

He says grinning.

y/n: congrats, socrates would be proud of you.

You say with a sarcastic tone. He hated when you were desrespectful, and you knew that. Sometimes, when you wanted to tease your dom, you would be bratty.

He rushes to you, brutally pushing you to lay down and getting on top of you. You really knew how to get on his nerves. He took his strap and chained your hands to the bed. He took some lubricant and barely passed on your vulva, quickly inserting four fingers inside of you, making you scream loud with pain. His other hand started to dance on your clit, making your back twist. After some time you cum. He keeps doing it until you do it again, and one more time. Your vagina were sensible. He goes up to your neck and starts to suck it hard, making sure to leave bruises, while his hands played with your tits. He stopped and sat beside you, running his hands along your waist and your thighs. If you wanted something more from him, you´d have to ask, beg. He was passing his hands through your body, stopping and looking it from every angle, you were feeling to much exposed.

y/n: please, take your clothes of too. please.

Henry: i´m not sure about it.

y/n: please, be naked too.

After five minutes he decided to take his clothes also.

He gets on top of you and started to kiss you until you lost your breath for a long time. When he stopped you were weak. He unchained you and turned you to lay on your stomach. He pulled you to bend. One arm wrapped around your waist, not letting you go, and the other, slowly going in and out of you. You were done with his hands. You wanted to ride him while looking at his face as a vampire.

y/n: Henry, stop it. I wanna ride you. Let me top you, for once.

He stopped the hand inside you. But the other was still holding tight your waist.

Henry: i don´t know, i don´t think you deserve it. Hiding secret kinks from me and being arrogant.

You knew he would let you, but you´d have to barg more.

y/n: i know i was not good. But i´ll redime myself making you feel good.

Henry: i´m already feeling good now, darling.

y/n: please, Henry, let me. I wanna ride you while i see you like this. I´ll be a good top. i promise.

He let go of your waist and lays on his back.

Henry: go on, i´m all yours.

You leave the bed and go to get his fangs on the desk.

y/n: open your mouth, please.

He obeys and you put his fangs on place. You get op top of him, each thigh on one side of him. You lean for a kiss, noticing his difficulty to do it because of the fangs. You put his dick on your vagina and starts to move your hips, slowly increasing the speed. His hands grip your hips. You support you weight on your hands, which were on his waist. After some time, you hear a soft groan leave his throat. You smile at your acomplishment. You keep thrusting yourself until he cums, followed by you.

y/n: have i redemed myself?

Henry: a little.

You get out of him, taking his condom off and licking the point of his dick. After, you give him and a exeptional oral sex, always looking at his face, seeing his mouth open; the combination of the make up with the hair and fangs driving you crazy.

y/n: am i a good girl now?

Henry: i think you are pardoned.

You smile and goes up to him. You take his fangs of and messed his hair. It was straightened, but you didn´t mind. You two started to make out, with you on top. After some minutes he says:

Henry: let´s take a shower, then go to sleep, it´s almost 2 am.

You agreed and you both go to the shower. Of course you had sex there too. You came back to bed and slept cuddling.

The next day you two enjoyed each other and, at night, went to get Tomás.

#henry cavill #superman #dc universe #henry cavill fanfiction #fanfiction #geralt of rivia #henry cavil husband #henry cavill canon #witcher geralt #fluff #Henry Cavill dad #Henry Cavill dom #Henry Cavill fanfiction dom #Henry Cavill vampire #Vampire #fangs #The witcher #walter marshall #henry cavill imagine

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twistedtummies2 · 6 months

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Top 15 Skeleton Characters

Happy Dia de los Muertos, everybody! Anybody who knows about the Day of the Dead knows it is really a celebration of life…and they also know that a major part of this holiday’s iconography is the imagery of skeletons and skulls. The human skeleton, in fact, is quite the ubiquitous visual: skeletons unsettle many people, on a fundamental level. Everybody has one, but if you’re actually SEEING one, that’s not a good sign: bones are the last vestiges of something long dead, and so there is always this automatic gut reaction of perturbation that comes with them. Of course, there’s also a recognition that life was present, which can, in its own odd way, be heartwarming. Skeleton characters - or even characters who are simply skulls or have skull faces - are thus a major part of many fictional worlds. They can be used to mock death, or celebrate life, or they can be used to represent fear and destruction. Regardless, they are always interesting to see, as commonplace as some may claim them to be. So, I decided, if today is a day about celebrating life through the imagery of death, it was only fitting to do something to celebrate the many characters who, effectively, do the same thing, one way or another. Now, I’m only going to be counting ACTUAL skeletal characters here, so to speak; characters like the Phantom of the Opera, Red Skull from Marvel, or Skull Face from “Metal Gear Solid V,” will not count. They evoke the imagery of a skull, but they’re really just deformed human beings, not actual collections of living bones. Also, I won’t be counting gatherings of skeletons (with one exception), such as the various skeleton-themed enemies you’ll find in video games, or the famous Harryhausen skeletons from “Jason and the Argonauts.” They aren’t really “characters” so much as “creatures,” so I don’t think they fit the bill. With that said, let’s waste no more time! Here are my Top 15 Skeleton Characters!

15. Skelly, from I Spy: Spooky Mansion.

Here’s a more obscure option to start things off. How many of you had I Spy books or played the I Spy PC games when you were younger? I know I did. This picture-puzzle series could be surprisingly challenging, and I was always fascinated by the way they organized the photos in the books, not to mention the animation in the PC titles. “Spooky Mansion” was always my favorite game and book, mostly because…well…I like Spooky Mansions! (Even did a list about them, go and take a look at that, tis the season.) Skelly was essentially our Tour Guide for the game: a mischievous but not malicious skeleton who loved to play games with people and spook them silly. She traps us inside her haunted house and challenges us to find various pieces of a puzzle in order to escape; none of this is done with evil intent, she simply wants to play! I always found Skelly a wonderful mix of creepy and sweet, almost like an Addams Family character; that’s always a great blend.

14. Skeleton King, from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force GO!

Imagine Skeletor on a REALLY bad day. That would basically be this monstrosity in a nutshell. The main antagonist of this (incredibly weirdly named) superhero series, the Skeleton King was once a good-hearted scientist, who wished to help the world; it was he who created the titular Monkey Team. However, things changed when the man began to study the dark forces of the Netherworld; assured in his safety from them, he later paid the price of his hubris, as the dark spirits were released, and ending up possessing and corrupting the scientist, body and soul. He thus became the Skeleton King: a cyborganic ghoul who plots to destroy the entire universe. The King was a deliciously creepy villain, and much of his menace can be owed to his voice actor: none other than the Joker himself, Mark Hamill. Honestly, if that name alone doesn’t interest you in this character right away from the start, there’s not much more I can say that will convince you to give him a look.

13. Sir Daniel Fortesque, from MediEvil.

Sir Daniel is a tragically comic case: for ages after his death, this knight was hailed as a hero, believed to have been a mythical and powerful figure who died nobly for a righteous cause. In truth, he was a bungling coward who was killed in the very first seconds of battle, and never really did anything grand at all; somewhere along the line, the facts of his life got all twisted up. When the evil he once fought (or, at least, wanted to fight) rears its ugly head again many years later, Sir Daniel Fortesque is brought back from the grave to do battle once more...but, of course, not being a hero at all, he now has to prove himself. “MediEvil” becomes a typical quest of an unlikely hero; someone trying to live up to the reputation he garnered over time, trying to earn respect from those who know the truth. It’s a classic kind of setup, only enhanced by the unique, Tim-Burton-esque visual styling of the game…not to mention Sir Daniel’s absolutely hilarious running cycle. I guess he went to the Ministry of Silly Walks before his demise.

12. Bob, from The Dresden Files.

So far, I’ve only finished the first six books of “The Dresden Files,” but it’s already a favorite series of mine. (Also, if you’re only familiar with the TV series…that doesn’t count here, since their version of Bob is rather different.) The series details the many adventures of “consulting wizard,” Harry Dresden, and blends elements of noir-style detective mystery storytelling with doses of dark fantasy and Gothic horror. One of my favorite characters is undeniably Bob: an eccentric ghost who inhabits a skull in Harry’s home. Bob is intended to be a sort of living encyclopedia for Harry to consult when on a case; he has been around for centuries, and helped many wizards in his time, making him an extremely valuable source of information. However, Bob is also…well…freaking hilarious. He’s always got his mind in the gutter, and he’s always filled with snark and a ready-to-whip-out insult or quip, leading to some pretty funny dialogue any time he’s featured. Generally, whenever Harry consults Bob, that’s when things are about to get truly serious…but it’s hard to remember that past all the pure, glorious silliness he provides. The only reason Bob doesn’t rank higher is that he is literally JUST a skull, and on top of that, the skull probably isn’t even his own: it’s just his way of communicating with Dresden in the world of the living, sort of like a crystal ball or other conduit of knowledge. Still, I feel he counts enough.

11. Captain Bones, from Crashbox.

Made for HBO, this series was one of my favorite shows EVER when I was a kid. “Crashbox” was a show that really went outside the box with how an educational program could also be entertaining! It used various styles of animation in numerous scenarios and skits to showcase all kinds of different skills. Basic stuff like math, history, sciences, social studies, and so on were featured, but you’d also have things that challenged your critical thinking or problem solving skills, with puzzles and riddles that weren’t necessarily things you’d be taught at school, but were still important things to learn. It was all done with this irreverent tone; the series was utterly bonkers, so it was always a joy to watch even as it taught you all the skills it tried to push. Captain Bones was one of the most frequent skits in the series, and also one of my favorites. “The Incredibly Dead Captain Bones” was a skeletal ghost pirate cursed to Sail the Seven Seas for an eternity. “And I’ll tell ya,” the Captain would sigh, “I’m a Bored Stiff.” (Har Har.) To keep himself from dying of boredom (…presumably a second time…), the old pirate would use his own bones to create math and picture puzzles, which the viewer would be challenged to try and figure out before he showed them the answer. What made Captain Bones hilarious…were his insults. This guy was the KING of Insult Comedy, able to come up with all kinds of incredible, colorful phrases without ever getting dirty or lewd, given the fact this WAS made for kids. If you don’t agree…“THEN YER NOT FIT TO WALK THE DECK OF ME GHOST SHIP, ye crustacean-sucking, knock-kneed, squid-faced, plank-walking sack of soiled, sea-salted, unwashed fish buckets of barnacles for brains!”

10. Lord Ainz, from Overlord.

I haven’t seen a whole lot of “Overlord” yet, which is the primary reason Ainz only BARELY crosses the threshold into the Top 10. Trust me, if I’d seen more, he’d probably be WAY higher. “Overlord” is a classic Isekai anime series: the plot focus on a young man who ends up zapped into a video game world, which he had once been a player of. He finds that he has been transformed into the character he created: a hyper-powerful dark skeleton warlord, known as Ainz Ooal Gown (or “Lord Ainz” for short). The interesting thing about this isekai is the way Ainz is played, and how he evolves over the course of the series; as time goes on, he loses more and more of his humanity, as his personality, morality, and ethical viewpoints start to merge and become less like his own back on Earth, and more like those of the character he created. This leads to a lot of gray area in the morality of Ainz, as he seeks to conquer the world - the typical goal of many a great dark lord - but has surprisingly understandable motivations for doing so. From what I’ve seen so far, the series is quite interesting, and Ainz is an equally interesting character…but I’ve only scratched the surface of this show, so I don’t think it’s fair to give him TOO high a rank JUST yet. But still, Top 10 ain't bad, right?

9. Bonejangles, from Corpse Bride.

There’s really not a whole lot to say about this guy, I just really love him. Though a fairly small part on the whole, Bonejangles is arguably one of the most recognizable characters in the Tim Burton animated picture “Corpse Bride.” A hollow skeleton with a single eyeball, which he rolls back and forth between his sockets, this limber, jazzy fellow appears to be pretty close to the titular character, Emily - the ghost of a bride-to-be who died mysteriously. It is he who tells the story of the Corpse Bride to our protagonist, Victor Van Dort, via the song “Remains of the Day,” easily the best song in the film’s soundtrack. While his time onscreen is small, he makes an immediate impression, and Danny Elfman’s gravelly, raspy vocals only add to the clattering, rambunctious skeleton’s fun personality. In short, Bonejangles is proof that big characters can come in small packages.

8. The Horned King, from The Black Cauldron.

This movie was HATED when it came out - notoriously, “The Black Cauldron” lost to the CARE BEARS when it premiered. (I wish I was joking about that.) However, over time, the movie has garnered something of a cult following, mostly for its dark and often rather brutal atmosphere (which is still rather pale compared to the Lloyd Alexander novels the film is loosely based upon). One thing almost everybody loves about the film is the villain: the lich-like Horned King, voiced impeccably by John Hurt. A cross between the character of the same name from the first book, “The Book of Three,” and the evil Lord Arawn, the main antagonist of the series, Disney’s incarnation of the character is easily one of the most mysterious and frightening of their animated baddies. Essentially a living corpse (who has horns growing out of his head, for some reason), the Horned King is a powerful sorcerer who wishes to destroy all of mankind. (Why? Probably because he’s tired of everyone around him having noses.) To this end, he and his goblin-like assistant, Creeper, seek out Hen-Wen, a pig who somehow has gained oracular abilities, allowing her to find the hiding place of the titular Black Cauldron. The Cauldron is an ancient piece of crockery possessed by the spirit of a long-dead king, which can create an army of living dead brutes, “The Cauldron Born.” In the end, the King is thwarted by Taran, a young farm boy who has been thrust into a quest to stop him, and is sucked into the Cauldron itself. In arguably the goriest death scene in a Disney movie, the King is stripped of his soul, and his FLESH (what little he has), as his life force is sucked into the Cauldron’s hellish depths, before EXPLODING in a flash of light and dust. A fittingly gruesome end for this bony fiend.

7. Arc, from Skeleton Knight in Another World.

Much like Overlord, this is another fantasy isekai anime series, in which the main character is transformed into a character they played in a video game. And, just like then, said main character is an extremely powerful skelly-dude. HOWEVER, that’s about where the similarities between this show and “Overlord” stop. In “Skeleton Knight in Another World,” Arc is not a villain who plays the hero of his own story…but instead just a hero, period. In fact, a big part of the series is that he worries about people seeing his true bone face, as he knows the sight of a giant living skeleton will probably be seen as a bad sign by many. Arc is a wonderfully fun protagonist: like many characters in this sort of scenario, he is equal parts bold and admirably strong…and sort of a total dork. The human life he left behind clashes constantly with the uber-heroic facade he tries to put on (complete with a bold and daring laugh, which is absolutely glorious), leading to a great deal of humor. While Ainz is probably the more popular character between these two, I’ve actually finished all of “Skeleton Knight” (at least with what’s available thus far), and I generally prefer Arc a little bit more, based on what I’ve seen. Therefore, he gets higher marks on the list. Also, on a side note…the theme song to this show is absolutely freaking GLORIOUS, seriously, go take a listen to it.

6. Basically the Entire Cast of “Coco.”

This is the exception to the "no groups of characters" rule I made. I know it’s cheating to include a whole bunch of skeletons, instead of just one, but I felt that, in this case, it was warranted. It’s fitting I’m posting this on the Day of the Dead, because that’s what this film is actually inspired by and based around. This Pixar movie tells the story of a young boy named Miguel, who loves music. However, due to personal tragedy, his family has banned any member from being a musician. Believing his great-grandfather to be a legendary musician, Miguel goes on a quest to rekindle the love of music in his family…and, in the process, ends up in the Land of the Dead, which is populated by a whole world of Dia de los Muertos-inspired skeletons. Ranging from friendly sorts, like the eccentric Hector, and multiple late members of Miguel’s family, to the more villainous Ernesto de la Cruz, choosing just one character to represent an entire film of colorful, whimsical bunches of bones seemed next to impossible. So, yeah, I’m just counting the entire movie here. My list, my choice. So sue me. :P

5. Ghost Rider, from Marvel.

A prominent anti-hero of the Marvel universe, the Ghost Rider has gone through many incarnations. One early interpretation, later re-named the Phantom Rider (big difference, I know), isn’t a skeleton at all, nor a supernatural entity of any kind. Instead, the first Ghost Rider was a Wild Western hero and horseman, who used his ghostly costume and magic tricks to frighten his enemies - think of a cross between the Lone Ranger and Batman. Later interpretations, however, took a different path. The most famous Ghost Rider is Johnny Blaze: a stunt daredevil who was tutored largely by his adoptive father, Crash Simpson. (Good lord, these names sound like video game characters from Nintendo…) When Crash developed an inoperable cancer, a grief-stricken Johnny made a deal with the Devil himself to try and save him. Needless to say, it didn’t go so well. Now, Blaze - and others who would share his curse - must roam the land hunting down evildoers, fighting both mortal and supernatural villainy in an endless quest to avenge the innocent. The Ghost Riders all share common visual elements: fiery skeletal bodies, leather clothes, chain-based weapons, and of course, AWESOME motorcycles to ride upon. Their power over the fires of Hell itself are their primary weapons, however, with a variety of different attacks and powers available to Blaze and his later compatriots in the war to seek out the evil and punish them for their sins...hopefully while avoiding ending up in terrible Nicolas Cage outings. No promises on that one.

4. Sans & Papyrus, from Undertale.

Oh, God, I LOVE Undertale. And more than that, perhaps, I LOOOOVE Sans and Papyrus! The Skeleton Brothers are easily my favorite characters in the game, and the most identifiable for me, in many ways. Sans is, in some ways, Undertale’s equivalent to the Doctor from “Doctor Who”: he is a comedic, laid-back, somewhat eccentric character who uses his unassuming appearance and “dopey” personality as a facade. As many a player quickly learns, Sans is far more powerful, far more DANGEROUS than he looks or seems, able to go from cracking a terrible pun to threatening you with painful death in a split second. If you get on his bad side, “you’re gonna have a bad time.” His brother, Papyrus, on the other hand, is sort of the reverse: at first glance, Papyrus seems like your typical “over-the-top villain.” His signature laugh, twisted design, and sense of self-importance all make him about as fiendish as can be...all he’s missing is a top hat or a moustache to twirl! But it quickly becomes clear that Papyrus is neither as evil, nor as clever, as he likes to seem: in reality, he’s really a rather harmless sort of bony fellow, and would much rather befriend you than murder you with his incredibly elaborate, Wile-E.-Coyote-esque death traps. (Much like with Wile E., the traps never work the way they should.) Dealing with these brothers is a BIG part of figuring out the events of Undertale, and the path your adventure will take in the game. Whether you love them as much as I do or not, I advise you to decide wisely.

3. Skeletor, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

There have been several different takes on Eternia’s greatest villain over the years (my favorite will always be the original, but I do like many, if not all, of the other interpretations out there). No matter which one you look at, Skeletor is a very fun villain, and is easily one of the most iconic skull-faced scoundrels out there. A dark wizard who longs to take over Castle Grayskull, and learn all its secrets for his own evil ends, Skeletor’s evil ranges from cartoonish to truly cruel, depending on which version you look at, but there’s always a wonderful blend of both creepiness and genuine menace that accompanies him. It’s hard to not make references to this guy when looking at other bony characters, and he’s given rise to more memes than you can shake a sorcerer’s scepter at. Really, what more can I say? It’s Skeletor: by virtue of his recognition alone, he’s more than earned a spot in the Top Three.

2. The Grim Reaper.

Arguably the single most iconic skeletal figure in history, the Grim Reaper - the embodiment of death itself - could really take up an entire list of his own. (And he probably will, one day.) There are so many versions of the Reaper out there, it’s kind of amazing: when people imagine what death’s avatar looks like, it’s likely that the typical imagery of a skeletal figure, garbed in a dark cloak and carrying a scythe, is the first thing they will imagine. Sometimes the Reaper is depicted as a humorous and comical figure, such as the version found in “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.” On many occasions he is depicted as an evil monster, such as the version of Death found in the “Castlevania” franchise. Other times, he is something of a neutral force, as death is neither truly good nor evil when you think about it; probably my favorite example of this is the one found in Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” universe. Bottom line, I think the fact that skeletons so often represent death, to the point where the very embodiment of the Angel of Death is depicted AS a skeleton, speaks for itself as to why this ranks so highly. Honestly, I was tempted to make this choice number one, but I decided against it for several reasons. Still, iconic as the concept of the Grim Reaper is, the character - in pretty much all his forms - has more than earned high praise here.

1. Jack Skellington, from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“Nightmare” is one of my favorite films of all time, if not my absolute favorite. It’s not a complex movie, really, but its simplicity is part of what makes it so wonderful! Jack is, by extension, one of my favorite characters of all time: hailed as “The Pumpkin King With the Skeleton Grin,” this dapper, noble, gentlemanly bonehead is the ruler of Halloween Town, a world of ghosts, goblins, and ghouls (oh, my!) whose only job is to make Halloween as frightening as possible. But, despite his undead state, and wicked sense of humor, there is no malice in Jack’s mischief; he just sees it as a job. A job he’s apparently very, VERY good at, from the few examples the film and other spin-offs give us. Jack’s really a very good sort; charming and debonair, but also rather naive. A cockeyed optimist in his own way, and a bit of a prima donna, Jack’s over-the-top antics and spirit of adventure are what often get him into trouble; he has a problem with thinking things through. However, when things go wrong, Jack is ready for action, and quick to take responsibility, take charge, and take chances. His heart is in the right place at all times, even if his brain doesn’t always get there right away. Mixing intelligence and charisma with a childlike simplicty - much like the movie he hails from, in fact - Jack Skellington is an endearing and interesting character who deserves every bit of love he gets from myself and the world over. He’s just as iconic as the Grim Reaper, Skeletor, and others on this list, if not more so! And for all these reasons and more, I happily (albeit pointlessly) name Jack Skellington my Favorite Skeletal Character!

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Captain Barbossa, from Pirates of the Caribbean. (He really only counts for the first film, which is why I didn’t include him on the main list.)

The Speaking Skull, from The Last Unicorn.

Manolo Sanchez, from The Book of Life.

Spinal, from Killer Instinct.

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leareadsheresy · 2 months

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What is the Horus Heresy as a fictional construct (to me) and why is it interesting (to me)?

It's a series of ads for toy soldiers that the toy soldier manufacturer figured out how to monetize, so people will pay to be advertised to. Whew, that was easy. That sounds like a blithe dismissal but actually it's a foundational assumption we need to establish so we can move past it. Assume for the rest of this essay that no matter what else I'm typing, I never forget that the Horus Heresy is first and foremost monetized advertising for a commercial product, and that I hate myself at least a little bit for finding it stimulating.

Disclaimer over. Anyway, I'm writing this at least in part because I know there's at least one person reading this Tumblr who doesn't know anything about the Horus Heresy. I thought maybe I could expand that into something worth writing (and maybe even worth reading!). This is really long so I'm putting it behind a cut.

"The Horus Heresy" is a fictional period of history in the setting of the Games Workshop tabletop-war-game-slash-multimedia-empire Warhammer 40,000, taking place about ten thousand years prior to the "present" of the setting, during the founding of the Imperium, the human faction and arguable protagonists (or at least best-seller) of the property. The Heresy is therefore sometimes referred to as Warhammer 30k. (It's also occasionally called HH, but I won't be using that abbreviation; you can probably guess why.) It is the story of a nine year civil war that occurred when Horus, then the favored "son" of the Emperor of Mankind, recently appointed Warmaster of the (at the time) eighteen Space Marine Legions, turned traitor and lead half of the Imperium's armies against the other half, trashing the nascent Imperium and dooming it to a ten thousand year slide into stagnation and decay that resulted in the current 40k setting. Before the Heresy there was a two century period in the setting called the Great Crusade, in which the Emperor of Mankind (who'd recently conquered and unified Earth just in time for hyperspace storms to clear up, enabling large-scale FTL travel in the Milky Way for the first time in five thousand years) struck out into space with a unified Earth's armies to conquer the galaxy for humanity (before anybody else could take advantage of the suddenly-available-again FTL and do it first), and after the Heresy is an undefined period called the Scouring in which the "victorious" loyalist clean up the remains of the traitors and chase them into exile. So it's a bounded period, nine years between the Great Crusade and the Scouring, with a known narrative and timeline of events and battles, beginning just before the Istvaan III Atrocity and ending with the duel between the Emperor and Horus at the end of the Siege of Terra that left Horus dead and the Emperor an invalid.

As "the founding myth of Warhammer 40,000," Games Workshop has been talking about the Horus Heresy since pretty much 40k has been around, and it has its shape because that shape is useful to a company whose business model is spending huge amounts of money on very durable stainless steel injection moulds it can then operate pretty much indefinitely to sell small amounts of cheap plastic at tremendous markup. Specifically, Warhammer 40,000 is a game about science fiction versions of knights, soldiers, orks, elves, skeletons, demons, and monsters all fighting each other, and each of those armies has different model kits and needs a different set of expensive moulds, but in a civil war game, both sides can use the same models manufactured with the same moulds. In 1988, just a year after publishing the first edition of 40k, GW launched the first edition of Adeptus Titanicus, a game set during the Heresy in which both sides fought with the same giant robots, because GW wanted to do a giant robot game but it would have been expensive to do a 40k-era game where they'd have needed to sculpt and manufacture a different set of giant robots for each faction. In Adeptus Titanicus, both sides played with the same robots and players would differentiate faction with color schemes.

More recently than that, the Heresy as a fictional construct acquired an aesthetic distinct from normal 40k. Games Workshop has, in the past, been structured oddly, with the main studio being treated separately from a secondary studio called ForgeWorld who manufactured more niche models, mainly from resin, a modeling material that can (in theory and when everything is working) hold more and crisper detail than plastic. ForgeWorld has now been folded into Games Workshop proper, but in the past it was, though still profit-driven, headed by artists and sculptors more so than the main studio, and was strongly influenced by military modelers. I've seen it jokingly described as "That group of Games Workshop sculptors who split off because they wanted to do a bunch of historically inspired sci-fi tanks." When ForgeWorld spun the Horus Heresy off into its own variant of (at the time) 40k 6th edition in 2012, with its own dedicated sets of expensive resin models, those models were sculpted (and painted, in promotional materials) in styles inspired by World War I and World War II historical wargaming, in contrast to the more gonzo heavy-metal-airbrushed-on-the-side-of-a-van style of 40k.

In short, the Horus Heresy is a pseudo-history, a nine-year conflict in which the broad course of events was largely known from the start, presented with the aesthetics of historical recreation. Tonally, it's "more serious" than 40k, less gonzo and more elegiac. It is a fictional construct that attempts to evoke the momentousness of "real" war, presented by fictional historians. The Horus Heresy 1st edition game books are written as pastiches of Osprey Publishing military history books, complete with color plates of the uniforms and heraldry of the various forces who participated in it, written in the style of historical documentaries walking the reader through various specific military campaigns during the nine years of the larger war.

The Horus Heresy is also an attempt at Milton's Paradise Lost; I don't really engage with it on that level but I want to mention it. Space Marines are sometimes called the Emperor's Angels in 40k and it's the story of how Lucifer fell and took a third of the host of angels with him. In fact, it's been Paradise Lost for a lot longer than it's been Osprey military history; it arguably started as Milton in 1987 and only became Osprey pastiche in 2012. But I engage with it as Osprey pastiche first.

So why is a po-faced pseudo-historical spinoff of gonzo space fantasy, presented in muted colors with everyone playing variations on the same two or three armies, interesting?

For that, first I'm going to have to talk about superheroes and pirates.

Superhero comics go on forever. There are stories where Spider-Man gets old, but in mainline Spider-Man comics, he does not (unless the issue is about a mad scientist hitting him with an aging ray or something). He's aged a bit between his introduction in 1962 from a highschooler to his current vaguely twentysomething-to-thirtysomething incarnation, but from here on out he's doomed to vascillate between twentysomething to thirtysomething and back again according to the needs of the current arc, like Green Lantern Hal Jordan gaining grey hair at his temples to indicate that he's getting old, only for it to later be revealed that he was going grey early because of an alien parasite, which, once it was expelled, caused all his hair to turn brown again. Until the death of Marvel and DC as comic book publishers, these characters will proceed through an eternal adulthood that never approaches old age. Because Spider-Man stories shy away from openly acknowledging that Peter Parker has aged only ten to twenty years during the 62 year period between 1962 to 2024, stories about him tend to be set in an indefinite now designed to last forever, and even if a particular story did something to set itself in a specific time and place, we understand when it gets referenced thirty years later in real time as something that only happened five years ago in comics time, we the reader are supposed to interpret it through a filter of "Okay something like that happened, but not literally tied to the historical events of thirty years ago, because Peter's not that old." He did not meet John Belushi on the set of Saturday Night Live, because now, John Belushi died before Peter Parker was born, never mind the cover of the comic literally having Spider-Man and John Belushi on it. In the flashbacks to the events of that issue decades later, it'll be some other, more recent SNL performer that he met instead. (They used Chris Farley, although that would have to be changed again if they ever did more flashbacks now.)

The Golden Age of Piracy was a seventy year period, shaped by material circumstances that incentivized plunder of naval trade, circumstances that arose, changed, and ultimately ended. Stories about pirates are implicitly or explicitly dependent on those historical circumstances, and have trouble existing without them. Unlike the indefinite adulthood of a superhero, the Golden Age of Piracy is not an indefinite now that can last forever. I first noticed this while working in tabletop roleplaying setting design, while learning from some of the many, many failures of the first edition of a tabletop roleplaying game called 7th Sea. 7th Sea was supposed to be a game about playing pirates having adventures on the high seas, but the setting and history had not been written to highlight any of the factors that incentivized real piracy during the real Golden Age of Piracy. There was only one continent, and there was nothing like the triangle trade or mass quantities of colonial plunder being shipped back to imperial seats of power, or a recent major naval war that left huge quantities of trained sailors unemployed, or a geopolitical system that left nations plausibly and currently ill-equipped to effectively police their sea-lanes. Looking at the setting it was difficult to understand what all these pirates were plundering, or who they were plundering it from, or why. And you can certainly say "The pirates are plundering treasure and they're doing it because that's the premise of the game," but a well-written setting in an interactive medium like tabletop roleplaying games or fictional war games is deliberately constructed to support and make compelling the conflicts it pitches.

So for starters, mostly because of my own examination of the failures of 7th Sea, I find a limited-duration, bounded-context setting like the Horus Heresy, with a beginning, middle, and end interesting. And it's not that I dislike "eternal now" contexts (I'm enough of a nerd to know about both the Hal Jordan grey hair thing and Spider-Man and the Not Ready for Prime Time Players), but eternal nows have so much become the standard in pop fiction that I find a bounded context refreshing, especially if it makes use of the advantages it affords. To keep audiences interested in an eternal now, every new twist and turn of the plot has to be presented on some level as the most important thing that has happened yet, with the previous twists and turns -- regardless of having been presented in their time as the most important things that had happened yet when they were new -- fading into an eternal plot churn, and this becomes difficult to maintain as a property continues over the decades. In a bounded context like a pseudo-historical war or the biography of a character whose birth and death are known from the start, the eternal plot churn is less inevitable.

Second, I like to watch artists play with compatible variations on a theme, and I like to navigate fictional semantic systems where a story imbues novel symbols with meaning, and for that reason I fuckin' love Heresy-era Space Marine armor. (You may want to skip the next paragraph.)

Okay so check this out. During the early years of the Great Crusade, Space Marines mostly used what's called Mark II "Crusade" armor, an early armor characterized by banded segments around the legs, visible power cabling, and a grilled helmet with a single visor instead of separate eye slits. Over the course of the Great Crusade, a specific field modification of Crusade armor that incorporated heavier armor along the front plates of the chest and legs and a heavier grill on the helmet became so popular that it became standardized as Mark III "Iron" armor -- Iron armor was a side-grade rather than an upgrade, less maneuverable but more effective in heavy fighting in confined spaces like boarding assaults. Later, the Imperial suppliers developed and began distributing the more high-tech-looking Mark IV "Maximus" armor and continued development and field testing of what was, at the time, meant to be designated Mark V armor (as yet nameless). Horus as the Warmaster during the buildup to the Heresy diverted most shipments of new, better Maximus armor to the Legions he expected to side with him, giving them a slight technological and logistical advantage. After the fighting of the Heresy broke out, supply lines were fractured and the Space Marine legions were all forced to cobble together makeshift armor from spare parts and whatever they could reliably manufacture with limited resources, resulting in the creation of what would later be designated Mark V "Heresy" armor in non-production (ad hoc designs using any spare parts that were available) and production (a standardized design using plentiful spare parts and locally manufactured replacements that had been found easy to produce under most circumstances) models, while the armor originally intended to be released as Mark V was re-numbered to Mark VI and named "Corvus" armor after the accomplishments of a specific loyalist general, and also because its helmet looks like a beak. (But even before its distribution to the loyalists, the traitors had stolen the designs and were manufacturing them to distribute among their own side.) Finally, during the Siege of Terra, loyalists on Terra were issued a brand new Mark VII "Aquilla" armor design. That's six armor designs -- Crusade, Iron, Maximus, Heresy, Corvus, and Aquilla (that's a different set of links, BTW) -- all visually distinct but compatible with each other, and all imbued with meaning by the circumstances of their manufacture and distribution (to say nothing of variations like Mantilla-pattern facial grills or Anvilus backpacks). So, for example, Crusade-era Raven Guard would mostly have stuck to Crusade armor instead of switching to Iron because they're all about stealth and maneuvers instead of close-quarters brutality, meaning once the Heresy broke out they'd mostly have old Crusade armor in reserve, and they were the first Legion to be given Corvus armor when that was available… so if I model a Raven Guard character in Iron armor with Heresy gauntlets, that's imbued with meaning, because it's a soldier from the stealthy chapter wearing the most brutal and least stealthy armor mark with armored gauntlets that are makeshift and easy to repair, i.e. he is probably big and angry and likes to punch things above and beyond other space marines, and in contrast to the culture of his Legion.

I typed that awful paragraph nearly off the top of my head; I didn't need to look up any of it except for what Anvilus backpacks are called. I find it semantically satisfying to engage with Horus Heresy model design. Also physically satisfying, because all of these armor marks are little toys I can stick together like Legos and then paint up to look cool. (Or will be, once GW puts out more upgraded kits; currently Crusade is unavailable, Maximus and Aquilla are older kits and too short, and Heresy is older and a bit too short and also only available in expensive resin; they seem to be doing one updated armor mark per year.) Current 40k models are much more varied across all the different 40k armies, but nothing there is as artistically or semantically as interesting to me within a single army as 30k space marines are.

Third… I don't want to say I love trash. I'm honestly not the sort of person to watch and laugh at bad movies because they're bad. But I am interested in observing the success or failure of execution on a promising concept. 7th Sea is, at least, instructive, and its failings informed my work on Exalted. I feel like I have made a good case here for why the Horus Heresy has the potential to be very cool. A lot of visual artists have put a lot of work into appealing art for it, illustrations and modeling and painting; and its bounded pseudo-historical context is unusual and has specific strengths that can make it an interesting change of pace from the forever-now context of most pop storytelling. And yet, in discussion of the Horus Heresy novel series, what often comes up is how nobody, under any circumstances, should read all of the books, because there are 64+ of them and a lot of them are awful. And to some extent this is because some of them are extruded ad copy barely disguised as prose but in other cases they're bad because specific authors with more enthusiasm than skill staked out specific bits of the Heresy as their territory and really enjoyed writing the hell out those corners without being, you know, good at it. I find looking at that sort of thing interesting like a pirate game with a setting where there's no reason for pirates to pirate. The gap between potential and execution is a learning tool.

I don't really have a conclusion paragraph here. These are my current thoughts on what the Horus Heresy is to me and why it interests me. (Currently reading Flight of the Eisenstein, and by "reading Flight of the Eisenstein" I mean "I've gotten back into Elden Ring.")

#horus heresy #warhammer 30k #lea reads heresy

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cowboysandunicorns · 2 years

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Well, since my last post blew up a bit, I figured it’s time for the long-awaited sequel, in a series I like to call:

Why The Lion King 2019′s Realism Sucks Too, Actually

Such Realism. Wow

Now, when it comes to The Lion King 2019′s visual flaws, there is a lot to talk about. From it’s overly-sanitized greenscreen scenery, to the uncanny locomotion, to the positively nightmarish expressions:

hELLo mOtHER

But today, I wanted to focus on one specific area. And that is TLK19′s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Feet.

Now, when it comes to trying to create something that looks “realistic”, I find it helps to reference well... Reality. So before we begin, I want you to first acquaint yourself with this tasteful handmade collection of lion feet:

Its not weird unless you make it weird

Seriously, don’t just scroll past this to get to the next image. I want you to take at least 2-5 minutes just to look at this picture, and remind yourself of what a real lion looks like. Put on your favorite song, close your eyes, and imagine a blissful reality where The Lion King 2019 does not exist.

Now regrettably, we must exit this imaginary world and return to the hyper-realistic nature documentary known as the Lion King 2019:

oh no

oh dear

I know, right?

Now, what exactly is wrong with these pictures?

1.) The toes are too bony and overly-defined

At best, they look like dog or wolf feet. At worst, they look like fingers, skeletons, sausages, or dinosaurs.

You can see the difference in the comparison down below, between a wolf (left), the remake (middle), and a real lion (right).

The lack of fur and connecting tissue on the feet only contributes to this issue - making the anatomy flaws more noticeable, and overall looks very creepy.

TL;DR:

2.) The legs are too skinny and oddly proportioned, often making them appear bowlegged or off-balance.

This combined with the small, bony feet makes them look more like hyenas or pit bulls than an actual lion. Seriously, if you just looked at the bodies alone, would you even be able to recognize them as lions?

Answer: No. (But feel free to use this Wolf’s Rain base free of charge)

3.) The limbs (particularly the front legs) are robotic and weightless, and do not move in a natural way

His foot is supposed to be off the ground in this shot, for the record.

It’s like they animated the body, legs, and paws completely independently from one another, with no regard for how the different muscles would actually interact with one another in real life.

Here is a real lion for comparison:

Notice how the toes are already turned and outstretched, before they even touch the ground. See how the weight falls onto his other shoulder, and the muscles tensing in it’s back leg as it prepares for takeoff? The paws should be leading the motion, not just added as an afterthought.

Now, let’s return to the remake again:

His legs don’t even look connected to his body, much less the ground.

Thanks, I hate it.

TL;DR:

4. The limbs lack bones, and bend in the wrong places.

help I think his leg is broken call an ambulance

It hurts just looking at this.

I must re-iterate: lions are not dogs.

While I suppose a lion could theoretically walk on their tippy-toes like that, lions tend to weigh an average of 300-700 pounds, as opposed to a wolf’s 70-120. And unless they’re trained ballerinas, putting their full weight on their toes like that would likely be very painful.

The weight distribution should rest closer to where the “ball” of your hand or foot would be - not the actual toe bones themselves.

I wasn’t sure if what I was saying made a lick of sense, so here’s an attempt to illustrate:

At the same time, friendly reminder that lions are not bipedal, and the “heel” should not be touching the ground when standing.

TL;DR:

5.) The claws are always visibly protruding, and look way too small and delicate

It looks like they’re wearing SoftPaws. Thanks, I hate it.

6.) The legs bend, twist, and distort in confusing and unnatural ways.

This is the part I find particularly infuriating. Mr. Jon “ooh, we can’t have pretty skies or expressions or eyebrows or red fruit or a monkey holding a stick because it’s too ~unrealistic~ uwu” Favreau over here.

But then he has the lions constantly do shit like this:

Or this:

And this:

This might be the worst shot in the whole movie. it looks like Sarabi got possessed by a vengeful ghost and is about to use her weirdly human hands to tear Simba apart like a KFC drumstick

but no, obviously I am the fool, and I just don’t “get it”. i love realism that comes at the expense of art. i love corporate nostalgia. i love the lion king 2019, my favorite part is when the motion lines turn into a FUCKING ASTERIX

Such realism. Wow.

Anyways, that about wraps this up, thanks for listening, and I...

Wait a second.

What.

the fuck

Is THAT

Well I need some time to emotionally recover from this, so see you next century for part three - where I’ll be covering either the lighting, the cubs, or the stampede sequence. Whichever I can finish first.

Okay, that’s all for real now, goodbye everyone I’ll remember you all in therapy

#the lion king #the lion king 2019 #rants #body horror #tlk2019 #lion #anatomy #live action lion king #review #cowboysandunicorns #2022

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mushedupzclay · 2 months

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I think it’s about time that I talk about him💙

AHHHHHHHHHH OK OK OK I’ve been hiding this little guy for a while!!! but I think it’s finally time to start talking about him-

His name is Retro

I’ve been drawing him for a hot minute and working on his lore/backstory!

I’m super excited to finally talk about him, and I really wanna know what people think about him!! I have so much art of him. I got to put it somewhere-

I’m thinking about posting a few more artworks of him and then maybe I could do like a Q&A series to get more in depth of who he truly is!

To drop some lore right now, because how else am I supposed to get you hooked

Hiding away in an AU were somehow no one can reach, lies of robotic body, staring into what seems like an endless void. What seems like blue floating rectangular circling around him as he seems to be typing on them. it’s clear to see that his world fell apart along time ago…but he looks fine. Actually, he’s intact. Usually when a world falls apart and what’s left of a living creature is usually glitched or even unstable, but he looks just fine. But you noticed that most of the skeleton is not even there he’s covered in metal talk to bottom the only bone that you see is through his hands, and what’s left of his head. What looks like to be a visor covering his face glows with a blue, vibrant light, the same thing with his earpieces that just float near his head. You could see on his screens several words flash, you could see artwork you could see stories so much information all around him he seems like he knows everything he knows where he is. He knows what’s out there.

But how come no one knows who he is? when there’s several AU flying high above, it’s hard to notice when one has fallen when one has been ripped. it seems so sad when eventually you do realize, but sometimes sometimes people forget, even in the smallest parts of a paper beauties of art can still be shown.

Surviving the cracks that’s where he hides.

Undisturbed, hidden away, watching from a far. Able to leave but not willing. There he stay safe from the rest of the AU.

But you see him soon. within your screen.

I love him :}

#art #undertale #oc art #utau #Retro AU #retro AU Undertale #I love my OC

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wordsandrobots · 10 months

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IBO reference notes on . . . the aesthetics of the mobile frame

I'm having a rough time writing this week (I just need to torture Gaelio some more, why is this so haaaard?!) so here's something to keep my hand in regardless. I had a couple of posts planned on the mobile suits of the Post Disaster setting, one about the meanings applied to Gundams – which I shall complete at some point because it's interesting – and one ranking the various 'suits using criteria such as 'excellent round boy, no notes' – which I'm likely to ditch because it's quite boring. But thinking about that got me considering the reasons I clicked hard with IBO's art direction in the first place. So let's look into why it causes my brain to make so many pleasing whirring noises.

A distinction that makes a difference

To start with, this is in contrast to other Gundam series' aesthetics. While I have a certain fondness for the Gundam Wing designs and I enjoy the way the Dauntless, Valiant, etc. reimagine the Universal Century stalwarts for Gundam X, most iterations' mobile suits are firmly 'OK' for me. Neither very interesting, nor something I find anything in to especially dislike.

Iron-Blooded Orphans, however, introduces a concept that sets it apart: the mobile frame. That is, each mecha is built around a base skeleton that is the 'true' machine; everything else is modular and interchangeable. As far as I can tell, this is the only series in the franchise to do this. Other Gundam shows expose inner workings from time to time, but these are usually unique to a particular model of 'suit. Whereas in IBO, multiple different types of 'suit can share the same kind of frame.

Moreover, the fact they are built around an inner frame is made explicit in the art, so the 'suits look – slightly daft as it may sound – much more mechanical than, say, your average UC mecha. These are things approximating the human form, not something you can replicate with a guy in a costume, and that makes them appear somewhat less fanciful and slightly more like actual military hardware.

Which is a cheat, obviously. It's tweaking a genre convention to fit a particular tone: this is not a show in which 'suits are going to start magically bending time and space; it's the one in which they beat seven shades of brick-dust out of each other with giant lumps of metal. Fundamentally, these are no less silly than the more 'filled in' designs that came before. It just appeals to me to see the illusion being given extra depth.

But there's more to it than that.

Atoms of design

Several different types of mobile frame appear in IBO – eight, to be exact: Rodi, Hexa, Gundam, Valkyrja, Geirail, Graze, Teiwaz/Io, and Reginlaze (I count the Teiwaz and Io frames as one since they are functionally identical). These are all visually distinct and easy to distinguish when placed in the finished mobile suits. Yet they also share a common root element: the Ahab reactor.

Most Gundam shows have some sort of wibble-physics black-box to explain why giant humanoid robots are a sensible means of warfare. In the P.D. timeline, this takes the form of 'Ahab particles' that are generated by some form of quantum nonsense inside a drum-shaped reactor. The particles create pseudo-gravity and EM waves that interfere with communications and tracking, and the reactors are effectively infinite batteries, so we get artificial gravity and inertial control, comms black-outs and stealth in space, and the necessary wattage to power a mecha, all for the price of one.

That's the technobabble, anyway. Practically speaking, the Ahab reactor is a design element that must be integrated into each of the mobile frames. And I love this. I love setting arbitrary little rules and using them to create a coherent aesthetic. Because now each frame needs to have a big drum shape in it somewhere (or two, to create the Gundam frame's unique silhouette). A unifying commonality that still permits wide variation.

It's not always necessary to have designs reflect a concept of shared technology. That depends on what the story is doing. Witch From Mercury, for example, explicitly has multiple branches of mobile suit design on display at once, to delineate between 'suits produced by different companies. However, I enjoy the way IBO emphasises that the various mecha are all applications of the same base technology, especially as it gets at something easy to overlook about how the world is set up.

You see, while the Gundams get the reputation as these massively powerful weapons from a lost past, that is true of the majority of non-Gjallarhorn mobile suits. Rodis and Hexas are the most common frames and both predate the Gundam frame's development. Everyone who isn't Gjallarhorn or Teiwaz is using machinery at least 300 years old, never mind that it might be covered in brand new armour.

Those space pirates raiding ships in the Jupiter-sphere? The colonists trying to seize control of their living conditions? That country hurriedly upgrading its military for a modern challenge? They're all recycling the same frames that fought the war out of which the systems they're currently struggling to live with extend. It's incredibly thematically resonant, not to mention pretty close to the truth of the things IBO is assaying in its fiction.

Visceral shorthand

However, I think the most clever thing about the mobile frame model is the way it lends itself to in-the-moment storytelling. Having established the skeletons underlying each mecha, the show can freely expose them as required to demonstrate exactly how badly a fight is going.

IBO abandons the lightsabers and laser-guns of its predecessor shows in favour of a more grounded and brutal approach to combat. That is to say: thanks to additional technobabble, breaking through the armour of a mobile suit requires either something very sharp, going very fast, or something very heavy, also going very fast. Swords, clubs, maces, and heavy-gauge bullets are the order of the day, leading to a lot of crumpling and crushing, and more specifically, bits of armour being ripped off the frame.

It's a great shorthand for 'oh that was a hit', applied generously to all sides, to emphasise the damage being done while also making it clear the machines can technically still function in such a state. Barbatos actively starts out extra-skeletal, while 'suits like the Reginlaze Julia keep going when stripped of their surface layer. Even the unfortunate Graze Ritter on the back of which Mikazuki surf-boards down from orbit is visibly coming apart around its frame, underlining how tough the cores of these things are.

Furthermore, it increases the sense that the human component of a mobile suit is extremely frail by comparison. When you a have weapons structured around extremely durable inner workings, it draws attention to the vulnerability of the cockpit. Because in most of the frames, that's part of what goes on top. Rodi and Io frames have integrated control cabins, but the rest do not. On most of them, the pilot sits at what is nominally the most heavily protected section (the chest), but in fact, they are a little way in front of the piece that can be actively relied on not to break (the reactor).

Or to put it another way: a mobile suit pilot is visibly more likely to die in battle before the war machine they are strapped to does. Skewering the cockpit with something pointy is a deeply feasible strategy, and that vulnerability stems from design limitations imposed by the chosen structure of the mecha. The reactor has to go somewhere central. The mobile suit is built around a set frame. The armour will detach before the limbs break. So on and so forth, ad drill-knees, underscoring how cheap life is next to the hardware of war.

Making it about bones

To sum up, it's a neat concept, well executed. Mobile frames allow for visual coherence while permitting design variation and customisation. They are used to underscore the brutality of the combat, adding weight to blow-by-blow animation and to the general sense of danger for the cast. And they make IBO's mecha stand out from the pack, which to me is a big mark in their favour.

There's another point that delights me too, one I can best illustrate with some images. If you look at the at the Calamity War era frames, you'll see that the Rodi (left) and Hexa (centre) are both heavily robotic in outline. They have complex hands but are otherwise quite blocky, with very inhuman heads. The Gundam frame (right), however, has a more organic design, its points of movement more closely corresponding to the human body, and (uniquely) two eyes placed about where you'd expect.

Now clearly the Gundam is inheriting franchise design considerations (the 'man in a suit' look of the '79 cartoon) but within the fiction, it works brilliantly with the conceit of Gundams perfecting the man/machine interface. Of course it looks closer to a person; it's meant to be a more natural extension of the pilot than the frames that came earlier, to enable the split-second timing and instinctive movement required to beat the mobile armours.

We also see this running in the opposite direction. The Valkyrja (far left) is actually closer to the Gundam's sensibilities than its other contemporaries (it was developed at the same time), but its successors, the Geirail and then Graze, are even more robotic than the Rodi and Hexa, with considerably simplified structures. Even the hands are much more chunky and functional.

The narrative is both of a technological decline and of the requirements of mass-production. In the post-War society, mobile suit combat is less of an issue, so the 'suits don't need to be as complex. It's only when Gjallarhorn's position as top-dog in the solar system is threatened that they invest in something closer to the Valkyrja, with the Reginlaze (far right) being designed to allow a non-augmented pilot to compete with things like Gundam Barbatos.

I really like that degree of thought and detail in something that isn't especially relevant to the story, but adds to it once you know about it.

Other reference posts include:

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 1)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 2)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (corrigendum) [mainly covering my inability to recognise mythical wolves]

IBO reference notes on … three key Yamagi scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Shino scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Eugene scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Ride scenes

IBO reference notes on … the tone of the setting

IBO reference notes on … character parallels and counterpoints

IBO reference notes on … a perfect villain

IBO reference notes on … Iron-Blooded Orphans: Gekko

IBO reference notes on … an act of unspeakable cruelty

IBO reference notes on … original(ish) characters [this one is mainly fanfic]

IBO reference notes on … Kudelia’s decisions

IBO reference notes on … assorted head-canons

IBO reference notes on … actual, proper original characters [explicit fanfic -- as in, actually fanfic. None of them have turned up in the smut yet]

#GUNDAM #Gundam Iron-blooded Orphans #gundam ibo #Tekketsu no Orphans #g tekketsu #reference #notes #mobile frames #mobile suits #design

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jergojackpot · 11 months

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It's funny in retrospect thinking of how Foxy in the first fnaf game was theorized to be a "good guy" when it was practically the most malicious one out of all the animatronics. Bonnie and Chica just wandered the halls throughout the nights, they weren't technically looking for anything and just happened to stumble upon your office, where they saw a naked robot skeleton not following the rules (idk if later on in the series this was changed to they ARE actually looking to kill the guard I'm not caught up on fnaf lore. The first game had rly simple lore so I'm basing this textpost off of what the first game introduced) Even Freddy, which eventually starts to walk back and forth through the right hall until there was an opening into the office could just be interpreted as pacing

Foxy though? Foxy doesn't pace or wander or any of that. It immediately beelines for the office if you don't keep an eye on it. Foxy KNOWS you're in there, and wants to kill you as soon as it can.

In the later nights, all the animatronics become noticeably more aggressive the longer you survive as evidenced by Freddy becoming active and Bonnie and Chicas twitching and robot mumble talk, but they still just wander the halls, occasionally looking for a chance to put the costume on the naked endoskeleton in that one room they keep getting locked out of. Foxy doesn't even SEE you until he gets into the office so it has absolutely no reason to think that there's something not following the rules

Foxy HATES the nightguards

#fnaf #foxy the fox #text post #brain dump #like people thought it was some cool loner when it probably hates the guard more than anything #fnaf 1 #five nights at freddy's #also in fnaf2 Foxy's always trying to get to the nightguard from the hallway #the guard is literally never left alone thats how bad Foxy wants to kill you

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amykirisame · 10 months

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Project Eva | The Full collection! (+Creator's comment)

1 | wastlands

The First one in the saga, the little girl is called "Eva" (Eve in portuguese) and originally was going to be the main focus, but i chose to focus more in world building instead, since it was more fun.

2 | Hope

This one took a long time to make, mainly cause i diden't knew what i was doing, the perspective is trash but i am still happy with How It came out, Just wish it was better.

3 | peace

The introduction of the actual protagonists of this story, the combat robots. Created to fight in a meaningless war over and over again, made to be cheap but still conscious enough to want it to stop. Finally finding peace with its own end.

The main reason why i used robots instead of human bodies is that (in my opinion) the imagery looks better that Just skeletons, specially on my artstyle.

4 | together

Two robots from opset sides that could not fight anymore, so they accepted their destiny, and as their batterries slowly died they awaited, in their final seconds they felt love... And then nothing.

5 | Destiny

The end of the first batch, not much to say other that it was the first time i looked for references for the gun, inspired by the m16/ar15 platform as a cheap, plasticky weapon made for mass production.

6 | Fear

The first of the second batch, this one being the First flashbacks in to what happend before the actual present, a show in the past, in to the fear of the nuclear armageddon.

7 | growth

Inspired by the game ashes afterglow and the brazilian fruit "guaraná", this is a look on How radiation affected the plants of this world, consuming the soul of the robots and almoast becoming sapient

8 | Free

This one was the direct seaquel to 6, that was delayed because of me suffering burnout. The city was evacuated, but one person stayed, a girl who was tired of everything, Just trowing her arms in to the air and embracing the New beggining. I was very depressed at that time, and this was my escapism. The girl was indeed, me.

9 | alive

Comming back at Eva's plot, this is the small shelter of the last human and her cat, not even knowing what she is, since there is no other human in the country.

10 | beauty

The natural ending of this series, a final piece inspired by autotale, my main inspiration behind this whole project, and the perfect way to show that even with out humans life still goes on.

Thank you all for reading.

#artwork #art #artists on tumblr #illustration #post apocalyptic #Project E.V.A

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mmkin · 3 months

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Forever Clockwork (Dr. Wily x Reader)

Chapter 2 is now up on my AO3 here and also provided here under the cut. Enjoy! Content Warning - none (teen safe, slight flirting)

o0o0o0o

Wily's complex of labs, refineries, and production lines is an impressive operation. Yet he's willing to do this time and time again, refusing to let Mega Man or other do-gooder robots keep him down. And there's no doubt that most if not all of this stuff is stolen or recycled. You remember something about a theft at your old company a few years back and wonder if Wily had anything to do with that.

Programming an AI was no simple task, but what was the program without hardware? And the Wily Bots were pretty damn powerful. Then there were all the helper bots scurrying around, performing routine tasks like bees in a hive. Here and there she saw a hint of a skull motif. Some things never change, eh?

“Why do you like skulls and skeletons so much anyway?” you muse as you glance at a half-constructed vehicle.

“I intend to bring about the death of the old world order? I use it to inspire fear in my enemies? That, and I've always liked it. Plus, it looks badass.” he replied with a grin. Yeah, that was a pretty damn good answer, and you smirked back.

“You've come a long way since you and Dr. Light came up with the original series..." you comment as he shows you the newest series. The two of you talk shop for a bit, but Wily's questions are also ways for him to gauge how up-to-date you are on your knowledge and research. It's something you'd do if the roles were reversed, so you answer his questions with grace. In some ways it's like how it was a decade ago with you in his classroom or lab, talking with him about this or that.

“Talking about science reminds me of the old days,” you comment. You glance at him, figuring you have the opportunity to ask him something a lot of people – including Dr. Light – likely wondered about. “I'm just curious, why do you want to take over the world, anyway?”

“To build a world for robots. Having myself as ruler is just a perk."

Well, there it is, in black and white, much like his skeleton tie. “And you think you can do a better job than anyone else?”

“Yes.” was the deadpan, completely serious tone that brooked no argument.

“Well, you sure are persistent," you reply, and he laughs at that before your stomach lets out a hungry rumble. You haven't had dinner yet, after all, and you haven't had much for lunch, either. "I've had a long day and I'm starving. Much as I enjoy catching up with you and being impressed by your work, I really could use a bite to eat."

You pause as you consider the fact that no one would be willing to deliver food to a Wily Fortress. On the other hand, at least one of his robots has to be a decent hand at cooking, at the very least. Otherwise, there’s going to be what… Ramen? TV dinners?

“Well, if you do not object, I took the liberty of having Shadow Man prepare dinner. If you have some allergies or restrictions, let me know. Otherwise, does sushi sound good?”

“It’s been too long since I had any sushi, let alone good sushi.”

“Then you will not be disappointed.”

He's right, you're not. You're offered an assortment of sushi, and though you're familiar with some of it, there are a few new things to try. There's sake flavored with plum to accompany the meal.

After you graduated, Dr. Light offered you a job in his lab. It wasn't the same without Dr. Wily though, and you left after almost two years (not without a letter of recommendation from Light, at least) before working for a private weapons company before jumping ship and putting together glorified love dolls for rich and bored people. You glance at the man seated across from you at the table, enjoying one of the morsels his faithful ninja-bot made.

You sip your sake, contemplating what is to be done next. You'll have to give your notice to your current – actually, now, former – employer and all that. You'd need your laptop and other things. And so on, but damn, you're pretty tired. You can't say that seeing Wily again was at all unpleasant despite his villainy, but it was still a bit of a surreal experience and you're still processing it all. You finish your drink.

“Shadow Man mentioned amenities to me, and I'd like to make use of them. It's been a long day and I am tired."

“I wore you out?” he teased. Your eyes widen a bit at that and you fight back the blush that you feel creeping up your neck at the unintended mental image. Or was it unintended on his part?

The rooms you're given are quite nice. A touch bland, like a hotel suite, but luxurious nonetheless with a bedroom, bathroom, and living area. It seems like there's room for personalization but you're going to wait to see how things go because this is just an employer-provided accommodation, after all. And, there are plenty of bookshelves! That's what's more important to you, after all. You're a nerd, and Wily knows that since he's one, too.

A fair amount of the color scheme is done in black and white, but you notice the bedspread and the cushions on the couch, along with a couple of other things, are in your favorite colors.

Holy shit. He remembered?

You’d been working in the lab as part of his seminar, and he’d talked about this or that with you before the subject wound its way to favorite colors, and you told him you had two because you never could decide which one you liked better, it depended on your mood. You were sure he’d forgotten that bit of trivia before the day was over, but he held onto that for years.

You turn around, looking at the room. Shadow Man, who had led you here, stands there, observing you quietly.

“I’ll need my stuff. Clothes, computer, you know…” You wave your hand through the air in a vague gesture.

“It will all be taken care of, and if you wish to have anything else obtained, I am at your disposal.”

You are left alone, and you sit on the edge of the bed, looking down at its spread. He remembered your favorite colors. Wow. Dare you hope that he brought you here for more than professional reasons?

o0o

Instead of Shadow Man, it’s another Robot Master that greets you in the morning when you finally roll out of bed after spending a bit of time the night before surfing the streaming services on the large flatscreen that was provided for you in the living area. Your phone won’t work out here, and you’re going to need the password. You’d forgotten to ask him for it last night and hadn’t been sure if it’d be a good idea to bother him. You can imagine him making a sarcastic remark about how he thought you were tired, and now you’re going to spend all night surfing the Internet. But, whatever. You’re not his prisoner, are you? All things in due time, so you fall asleep watching a show you’d heard much about.

This robot is themed like a bat, with the wings and ears and all. He’s kind of handsome, like Shadow Man. You offer him a tentative smile.

“Good morning, Dr. Lastname. I’m Shade Man. Dr. Wily asked me to bring you this, and to meet him in the main lab in half an hour.” He offers you a set of scrubs, but instead of the usual muted color one would see in the lab, this set is black with a skull print on it. You raise your eyebrow, but not in distaste. It reminds you of the nurses or health care aides you’ve seen with cute prints, like Hello Kitty or superhero-themed scrubs.

It's a comfortable fit, and he leads the way since one could easily get lost in this complex. Before you're put to work, you're given a good breakfast. This time though, you're offered a more Western-style meal, with eggs and toast among a few other things.

When you're asked if you need anything, you bring up needing a password. He sits back with a small smirk.

“I was wondering when you would ask me that, and I will give you access to the network, but before you start work, I am sure that as a professional, you know to not share anything from this place.”

You might have been insulted by this, considering his criminal status. But he's still a scientist who wants to protect his work. And that brings you to something you'd been thinking about before you fell asleep. How will he be in regard to your work? You have a few Robot Master designs of your own, though you never had the chance to build any of them. Would he steal them?

Even if he would, it’s a bit late to say no, isn’t it? You’re on some island or jungle somewhere, and if he wants to stop you from leaving, he very well can. You try to not dwell on that too much.

“Absolutely," you say with a smile. You are a professional, after all. You've dealt with these sorts of agreements before – it's standard in the industry. So you get to work, and it's been a pretty good first day. You're hardly entry-level, so after a bit, Wily leaves your side to do some work of his own, and you sit there, fiddling with wires and other parts. Some roboticists focus solely on programming and blueprints, but you have plenty enough practical experience putting together hardware and you know how extremely important that is to a well-functioning robot.

After a while, Shade Man checks on you and informs you it’s almost time for lunch. As you walk beside him.

“I suppose you like this better than working in an amusement park?” you ask, having looked him up on the network. DWN-055, one of the robots stolen and modified by Wily and now a permanent member of his retinue.

He gives you a fanged smile and nods.

o0o0o0o

(Shade Man’s POV)

DWN-055 had started his life – if it could be called that back then – as an amusement park robot. His station was the haunted house and adjoining graveyard. Being modeled after a vampire, he had been designed to amuse the visitors to his area, playfully growling and hissing at them, or welcoming them to the haunted house with an accent that was modeled after vampires in cheesy Dracula movies.

The original version of what would become DWN-055 had been considered not scary enough, so he was sent back to his manufacturer for an upgrade. Rather than merely wiping the original set of personality and behavior parameters he had been assigned, the programmer had just shuttled that data to unused space on the motherboard, uploaded the new data, and the robot was sent back.

This new personality, complained some of the patrons, was too scary. He'd made some children cry. He remembered standing at the charging station, listening to the park employers complain about him. Somewhere along the way, during his existence as a robot that was created solely for the amusement of others, a spark of consciousness had formed, and now, as he listened to the humans, he felt annoyed.

He had started with a measure of autonomy, being able to choose from a wide variety of acceptable lines and dialogue to fit in his role at the haunted house, as well as limited power to give direction to the lesser robots, like the bats and skeleton-bots. He had been told to amuse the guests, and so he did. But that had not been enough for his owner, who wanted something scary, so he had his brain filled with a new set of personality data. He modified his behavior according to this new data, and that wasn't good enough, either. He had merely followed directions, performing to the best of his abilities, and the next day, he had tried to mix the two personalities, going for a combination of scary for the adults and funny, for the little ones. That seemed to work, at least for a while.

When he heard that he was going to have his memory completely wiped and installed with a new program, that spark of consciousness... of identity and self-awareness burst forth. He didn't want to... die, especially for something as trivial as someone's satisfaction over how he performed a task that in retrospect seemed inconsequential.

Then he was told that he would be entered into a robot fighting tournament. He had been kidnapped by the mysterious Mr. X who soon enough revealed his true self. Though the vampire-bot was not made part of the Sixth Numbers, the time he spent in Wily's lab taught him much. Though the doctor had not created him, he was still given the chance to become part of the family. He was made stronger, his flight capability increased, and given weapons and tools with which to defend himself. But there was one thing his adoptive father had not tampered with. His mind.

His personality remained intact, further developed by the resources he had access to in the lab. He had his own identity, and his father encouraged that. How could he be anything but loyal?

Even after he had used his Noise Crush on Wily to get him away from the White Nightmare, the old man, despite the anger he had felt at first, had allowed him to keep his weapon and upgraded it with additional abilities. The scientist deserved nothing less than absolute loyalty from his sons.

He glanced down at the woman walking beside him in the scrubs Wily assigned her. It surprised the vampire-bot to hear his savior and master express a desire to bring someone here. A former student did make sense. He hadn’t been here as long as some of the other Wily Numbers, but he had known the old man long enough to be certain that he had not made this decision lightly.

o0o0o0o

For all the Robot Masters he has – and all the company they can provide him – it seems like a human can fulfill something they can’t.

Not because of a personal failure on their part. You've met a fair amount of them during your work here. You could even say you've made friends with a few of them, and you've spent leisure time with this or that robot. You've learned a thing or two about making tea from Shadow Man and even started reading one of the texts on Japanese history and philosophy he recommended.

Wily asked you to meet him outside. You've been out a few times under the watch of a Robot Master – to ensure your safety, Wily says, and you're not about to argue – so you pull on the light boots and the jacket Shadow Man offers you. You see movement out of your eye, and Wily approaches you, looking quite dapper in mostly black with a dark gray jacket and a black beret on his head. He looked like a harmless man out for a walk in the city, and it reminded you a bit of how he looked in your college days.

The waves crash along the shoreline.

“So… what are we doing out here?" you ask. It's the first time he's walked with you outside. Occasionally you'll hear the hum of machinery from some part of the building.

“Much as keeping the mind sharp is important, the body also needs maintenance.” He sets off with steady steps, and you fall in pace. It’s hard to not be a wee bit jealous of the fact that Wily has a damn island to himself and an army of bots and Robot Masters to do his bidding. Yeah, much of it was obtained illegally, but you have to admit, he set himself up a pretty sweet crib, so to speak.

“I know that my... views are not welcomed by this world.” your mentor/boss continued. “But medicine is often bitter and people must be forced to swallow it.”

That statement has proven itself in various examples in history in beneficial or horrifying ways, depending on the flip of the coin of fate, or the whims of man. Usually a combination of the two.

“History is full of the mistakes of humanity. We have the chance for something better, but humans would rather use robots to make their lives easier!”

Well, there was no arguing with that when you looked at how robotics and technology were applied in today's world. Sure, some robots kept people safe by doing dangerous jobs, but as robotics technology had advanced, so had its use spread, and for more mundane or vain uses. And of course, its potential for destruction. Your resume was a testament to that.

“Fire made the lives of humans easier, but also better.”

“There are different ways to utilize fire – or anything else. I choose to utilize my tools to their best, including this.” He tapped his temple with his index finger. For a moment you wonder what would happen if he passed. You hope there’s a plan set for his Robot Masters because damn it, you’ve come to really like some of them and wouldn’t want to see them in the hands of governments that admittedly had at least some reason to be angry with Wily.

You can't deny that in his way, Wily has done some good. There's been serious debate about robotics and free will, and the treatment of Robot Master-level bots, and such. New laws have been enacted since Wily's first criminal offense. You've worked with various levels of AI, instinctively knowing that this technology and others that go hand in hand with it will impact the future in as yet unforeseen ways.

#writing #strawberrycatbeans #villain gets the girl #fanfiction #dr. wily #albert wily #albert w wily #wily x reader #dr. wily x reader #megaman #mega man #rockman #x reader

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goodgamegaming · 10 months

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The Top 5 Most Iconic Video Game Villians

A good villain plays a crucial role in a video game, adding depth, challenge, and excitement to the overall experience. A well-crafted antagonist creates a sense of purpose for the player, driving them to overcome obstacles and engage in the game’s narrative. A compelling villain possesses memorable traits, such as a unique backstory, motivations, and formidable abilities, which make them captivating and unpredictable. They act as the primary source of conflict, challenging the player’s skills, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities. A well-designed villain can evoke emotional responses, ranging from fear and hatred to admiration and curiosity, making the game more immersive and memorable. Ultimately, a good villain elevates the storytelling and gameplay elements, leaving a lasting impression on players long after they have completed the game.

Number 5 - Doctor Robotnik

Sonic the Hedgehog

Doctor Ivo Robotnik, commonly known as Doctor Eggman, is a prominent villain in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. He was conceived and created by Naoto Ohshima, the original character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Doctor Robotnik made his first appearance in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game released by Sega in 1991. As Sonic's nemesis, he is an evil genius and mad scientist with a relentless obsession for world domination. His primary goal is to enslave the world's population of animals by transforming them into robotic minions using his technological prowess.

An interesting trivia fact about Doctor Robotnik is that his appearance was inspired by the aesthetic of the United States president, Theodore Roosevelt. This inspiration is evident in Robotnik's mustache and overall physique. The connection between the villain and the former president adds a unique twist to the character's visual portrayal.

Over the years, Doctor Robotnik has become an iconic figure in the Sonic franchise, appearing in numerous games, television series, and even comics. His role as Sonic's arch-nemesis has solidified his status as one of gaming's most recognizable villains.

Number 4 -Bowser

Super Mario Bros.

Bowser, the iconic villain from the Super Mario Bros. game franchise, was conceived and created by Shigeru Miyamoto, the renowned game designer at Nintendo. Bowser made his first appearance in the original Super Mario Bros. game, released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Initially, Bowser was portrayed as a ruthless and formidable enemy, kidnapping Princess Peach and constantly challenging Mario in his quest to rescue her. Over the years, Bowser has evolved both visually and in terms of characterization. In Super Mario Bros. 3, released in 1988, Bowser's appearance was enhanced, giving him a more menacing and imposing look. He also gained the ability to transform into various forms, such as a giant and a skeleton.

As the franchise progressed, Bowser's character expanded beyond a simple antagonist. In games like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, he was developed with a more humorous and comical side, showcasing his personality and occasional clumsiness. This evolution continued in later titles, with Bowser sometimes teaming up with Mario and his friends against even greater threats.

A notable weird fact about Bowser is that in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros., his name is actually "Koopa." The name "Bowser" was given to him when the game was localized for the Western audience. This change was made to avoid potential trademark issues with the King Koopa character from the animated TV series "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3."

Throughout the Super Mario Bros. series, Bowser has remained a constant force of opposition, always finding new ways to challenge Mario and his allies. His presence as a primary antagonist has solidified him as one of the most recognizable and iconic villains in video game history.

Also, footnote, Jack Black did an incredible job voicing him in the new movie, just saying.

Number 3 - Ganondorf (Ganon)

The Legend of Zelda

Ganondorf, the iconic villain from The Legend of Zelda series, has a fascinating history. He was conceived and brought to life, once again, by the talented video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo. First appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998, Ganondorf quickly established himself as the embodiment of evil.

Ganondorf, a Gerudo male born in the desert kingdom, possessed immense power and an insatiable desire for the Triforce, a legendary artifact capable of granting any wish. With his cunning and dark magic, Ganondorf sought to seize control of the kingdom of Hyrule and plunge it into darkness. Throughout the series, his character has undergone notable changes.

In some titles, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Ganondorf took on a more complex persona, revealing glimpses of his tragic past and inner turmoil. He became a symbol of the consequences of unchecked ambition and the corrupting influence of power. Other games, like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, portrayed him as a fearsome and imposing figure, displaying his mastery over dark magic and his determination to conquer Hyrule.

Now, regarding the Philips CDI games, Ganon's appearance in those titles was indeed unusual and widely regarded as peculiar. In games like "Link: The Faces of Evil" and "Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon," Ganon's design deviated significantly from his traditional appearance, featuring a rather exaggerated and strange-looking character model. These games, developed by Philips and not under the direct supervision of Nintendo, offered a unique and unconventional take on the Zelda universe.

Despite his absolutely bizarre portrayal in the Philips CDI games, Ganondorf remains an iconic and memorable villain in The Legend of Zelda series. His role as the ultimate antagonist, combined with his compelling backstory and evolving characterizations, has ensured his enduring presence in the hearts of gamers worldwide.

Number 2 - Sephiroth

Final Fantasy 7

Sephiroth, the iconic villain from Final Fantasy VII, has a captivating history within the realm of video games. He was conceived and brought to life by Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer and director of Final Fantasy VII, along with the creative team at Squaresoft (Soon to be Square Enix at the time). Sephiroth's journey as a character throughout the game is as complex as it is memorable.

Initially introduced as a legendary war hero, Sephiroth becomes the central antagonist as the game's plot unfolds. A former member of SOLDIER, an elite fighting force, Sephiroth learns the shocking truth about his origins and the experiments conducted on him. Consumed by a desire for revenge and driven to madness, he sets out to harness the power of the planet for his own destructive ends.

Sephiroth's character development in Final Fantasy VII is marked by a profound sense of tragedy and a descent into darkness. His presence looms over the game, creating an atmosphere of tension and mystery. Players witness his twisted worldview and his obsession with the concept of "becoming one with the planet." Sephiroth's actions and motivations, coupled with his menacing presence, make him an unforgettable adversary.

One aspect that adds to the allure of Sephiroth is his iconic musical theme, "One-Winged Angel." Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the renowned composer behind the music of the Final Fantasy series, "One-Winged Angel" has become synonymous with Sephiroth himself. The powerful and haunting composition, featuring a Latin choir and dramatic orchestration, perfectly captures the intensity and grandeur of Sephiroth's character.

Sephiroth's legacy as a video game villain is undeniable, leaving a lasting impact on fans of Final Fantasy VII and the wider gaming community. His tragic past, descent into madness, and the powerful musical theme that accompanies his every appearance have solidified Sephiroth's place as one of gaming's most iconic and memorable villains.

Number 1 - Tom Nook

Animal Crossing

From the very inception of his pixelated existence, Tom Nook emerged as the embodiment of capitalistic insanity, a creature hell-bent on squeezing every last "bell" from the pockets of unsuspecting villagers. It's as if he was born with a calculator instead of a heart, forever calculating profit margins and interest rates in his sleep.

But what's more outrageous than his insatiable greed is his employment strategy. Who does he hire to assist him in his nefarious endeavors? None other than his sweet little nephews, Timmy and Tommy! Yes, folks, he cunningly exploits their child labor to fuel his capitalist empire. The audacity! What's next? Tom Nook's School of Business for Toddlers?

Let's not forget his lust for hoarding. Tom Nook would amass more bells than a jingling sleigh, even if it means the residents of his island suffer. While they scrape together every last shell and fish to pay off their debts, he's probably lounging in a mansion built with gold-plated turnips. It's as if he bathes in bells and sleeps on stacks of rare fossils.

And speaking of his success, how does one even become a video game landlord? Did he go to a prestigious university for land-grabbing? Is there a diploma in Real Estate Exploitation 101? I can just imagine the curriculum: "Lesson 1: How to Convincingly Smile While Conning Innocent Animal Villagers."

But you know what's truly ironic about Tom Nook's insatiable hunger for wealth? Despite his madman persona, we can't help but be captivated by his presence. He's like a train wreck in a top hat, a master manipulator with a dash of charm. We hate to admit it, but deep down, we secretly admire his entrepreneurial spirit, even if it's as twisted as a pretzel on steroids.

So here's to you, Tom Nook, the infamous video game landlord who has captured our hearts while emptying our virtual wallets. May your pockets overflow with bells, and may your capitalist insanity continue to entertain us in the most absurd and amusing ways.

Hey, thanks for reading my list! I’m Jake, a content creator, streamer, and comedian. You can find me on all major platforms honestly, just look me up! I hope you have a wonderful day!

#nintendo 64 #sonic the hedgehog #the legend of zelda #super mario bros #final fantasy 7 #animal crossing #video games #villians #nintendo #playstation

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belliesandburps · 11 months

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Will HISS be your only BIG project, or will there be more? I remember you saying Aiden and whatever the name of the robot guy was will get their own series too.

Probably. HISS is the only one with a full storyline I mostly have figured out. What's left is just determining what medium I tell that story on.

If I were to make anything with Aidan and Runo, they'd be much smaller in scale.

What I know is, if I can successfully turn HISS into a video game, I'd want it to be a 2D action platformer in the same vein as Phantom 2040. If I were to make Runo's story into a game, it would be something like Steel Assault; a much more linear action platformer, and honestly, Steel Assault feels like it's a good model to take inspiration from.

Right now, I'm only working on the skeleton for HISS so I know the complete run of the story, and can decide from there what to actually do with that story.

#ask belliesandburps #non kink

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deflare · 1 year

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Ah-ha, my prediction was right! See, we started with the I Legion, the Dark Angels. The II Legion is one of the ones that went missing, and the III and IV Legions were traitors, so we had a series of successor chapters to fill their spots. But now it’s Day 5, so we get the V Legion, the White Scars!

For the Khan and the Emperor!

When they were first created, the V Legion acted as the reconnaissance specialists of the Space Marines. They were broken up into hundreds of pioneer companies, and went venturing across space, rapidly diversifying in culture. That all changed when they met their Primarch, Jaghatai Khan.

Jaghatai had landed himself on Chogoris, a world with huge sweeping planes, and was adopted by the ruler of a clan of steppe nomads. When the local sedentary empire killed his adoptive dad, Jaghatai went a little bit Genghis Khan, and conquered the planet. So when the Emperor came down and Jaghatai met his legion, he inducted them into the ways of Chogoris. The many pioneer companies were now united by the culture of the khan’s homeworld.

The White Scars are basically Mongolian space bikers. They have a strong emphasis on going real fast, and their iconic army is a horde of motorcycles backed up by fast armored vehicles; they do hit-and-run attacks, which actually makes a lot of sense for how small a Space Marine force is. Their Librarians are called ‘Stormseers’, basing their practices on the native religion of Chogoris (nevermind any ‘Imperial Truth’ nonsense); as the name suggests, they practice storm magics. The White Scars also favor cultural practices; the Khan encouraged them to learn the arts of poetry, calligraphy, and falconry. They often use cyber-falcons to get information on the battlefield, it’s cool.

During the Heresy, Jaghatai was off in the middle of nowhere. There was a period where it looked like Horus could trick them into joining the rebellion, but Shenanigans happened and they figured out what was up. The White Scars proceeded to do what they do best--run around real fast and wreck up stuff behind the traitors’ front lines. They were able to make it to Terra and were one of the three main legions to hold the line against the traitors before everything broke bad re: the Emperor. After the war, Jaghatai would learn about Chogoris being raided by Dark Eldar*, and he zipped off into an alternate dimension chasing them. He hasn’t been seen since, which means he’s ripe to come back with a fancy new model.

As you might be able to tell from this whole thing, I’m really fond of the White Scars. I think they’re really cool; a horde of Biker Marines is awesome, and I like their depth. The Khan is one of the coolest primarchs. I only have two problems with them: 1) The Mongolian theming can feel kinda racist, in an orientalist and ‘noble savage’ kind of way; and 2) painting white armor suuuuucks.

*What is an ‘Eldar’, and why are they Dark?

So the Eldar, or Aeldari if you want the fancy copyright-friendly name, are space-elves. They’re one of the oldest active species in the galaxy; they were created millions of years ago to fight against an army of undead skeleton robots (we’ll get to them at some point). After that war, the Eldar were the dominant species of the galaxy for a long, long time. They have powerful psychic abilities, which they use in all of their technology.

Unfortunately, it gets boring being an awesome immortal space-elf for millions of years, and eventually the Eldar turned to more and more wacky forms of entertainment. And by ‘wacky’, I mean ‘horrific and sadistic’. This propensity for murder-fucking grew and grew, and eventually Eldar society started to split.

One group became the Craftworld Eldar, the Asuryani. They were sticks in the mud who said “maybe murder-fucking is bad”. They forged gigantic world-ships and left the Eldar homeworlds to go nomad around space.

One group became the Exodites. They were even bigger sticks in the mud, who said “murder-fucking is definitely bad”, and went to go become hippies on various planets around the galaxy. They don’t have an army, but they ride dinosaurs and are therefore cool.

One group became the Harlequins. Their feelings on murder-fucking are unclear, but they were very down with being cool clown-people, so they worshiped the jester god of the Eldar and went around being performers. And murderers. They’re really good at murder.

The last group was down with murder-fucking, and thus stayed behind. Most of them ended up dead. See, turns out that millions of years of murder-fucking in this universe eventually creates a god of murder-fucking, Slaanesh. And when Slaanesh was born, they ate most of the Eldar. Even now, any Eldar who dies gets their soul eaten by Slaanesh, barring magitech (the Craftworld and Exodite solutions) or being a clown-worshipper. The birth of Slaanesh is also the big warp-cataclysm that caused the fall of the old human civilization, paving the way for the Emperor to reunite everything. So it’s all the elves’ fault.

The survivors of the cataclysm became the Dark Eldar, or the Drukhari. They fled into the webway (a network of safe-ish tunnels through the Warp that the Eldar use) and founded a new city. They discovered that the best way not to get eaten by the god of murder-fucking was more murder-fucking. By being the most horrible sadistic bastards they can be, the Drukhari can fill in their soul-stuff, artificially lengthen their lives, and generally avoid getting eaten by Slaanesh. Therefore, they’ve spent the last fifteen thousand years being a total pain in the ass to the galaxy, constantly popping out of the webway to raid planets for victims. In a galaxy full of bastards, they’re some of the biggest bastards around, hence why the Khan went into the webway to go fuck them up for 10,000 years. He’ll be back. Eventually.

Master post here

#warhammer 40k #space marines #advent calendar #text heavy #40k advent #lore dump #white scars #dark eldar #drukhari

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neon--nightmare · 2 years

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How can a parasite devoid of all true emotions, only capable of emitting false personas taken from culture, consider themselves any gender identity?

Just because he has been called a he, and they have been called they, it doesn't define any gender. Sure, he can mean male, but they is used to define when you're unaware of someone's gender, so you use it to be respectful; it does not denote gender.

It is actually kind of disrespectful to people who are transgender, given that a "funky colourful skeleton" suddenly meaning transgender is rather offensive.

b. bro. I’M trans. i’m literally transgender, nonbinary transmasc, and have identified as such since i was ten or eleven? i’ve been diagnosed w gender dysphoria, i’ve been on T, and i plan to get top surgery in the future! I’m trans. (ofc those things aren’t necessary to be trans, but this is for my credibility on your end)

i say fresh is trans because he’s a very personal character to me, so i project that on him, and it makes me happy. i wasn’t born yesterday, man, i know the issue w the entire ‘nonhuman = nonbinary’ thing, bc, again, i’ve IDed as nb for almost ten years, and i would have when i was even younger if i knew the label existed! i wasn’t the one that created fresh or made the decision for him to be explicitly NB/agender, but it’s very personal to me as someone with the same label, so i’m reclaiming it. putting the rest under a readmore bc its long, and this ^ was the most important part imo

to me, it’s like someone who very closely identifies with mewtwo talking abt mewtwo being nonbinary. is mewtwo completely nonhuman and divorced from the human concept of gender? yes! but actual nonbinary people can see themselves in him, even with the negative connotations (that, again, has been a big issue in media for decades,) and reclaim it for themselves. it’s different than someone who isn’t trans or nb calling an alien or robot character nb, because we have the genuine lived experience, and if it makes us happy to do so, especially with such few nb characters in non-niche media that ARE actually human/aren’t some boy/girl fusion, i, personally, don’t see much of a problem with it.

i don’t joke about fresh being nonbinary because he’s a ‘funky colorful skeleton,’ i do it because 1. he’s a character that’s been explicitly identified as agender, 2. i’m agender and 3. he’s a character that’s very, very very personal to me, and it makes me happy to project my experience on him. obviously, he’s not trans, he’s a body-hopping parasite. but it’s something that brings me comfort and makes me happy, man, and that’s why i talk abt it, not bc hes the pinnacle of agender or aroace representation. (which, im also aroace! triple a, etc.)

it’s like how i personally project a lot of my autistic experiences on him, because even though he was never designed as autistic and it would be very harmful if he WAS, i see a lot of myself and my own experiences of completely missing social cues, not being able to truly understand or guess why others react the way they do to things so you come up w 1000 scenarios in your mind to ‘prepare’ before every conversation, and how once hes able to feel it leads to immense constant anxiety, the way letting urself actually feel is so so overwhelming and even tho it’s not healthy its easier to just bottle! was it intended to be that deep? no, but i still reclaim it, bc im just some guy on the internet who likes fresh way too much.

(I’m assuming you came here from my dumb fresh iceberg post, he is actually capable of more than anger and fear after loveball, he can feel joy, love, sadness, but he crushes all of it down because 1. allowing himself to feel those things will get him killed and replaced! by someone better. 2. he has extremely negative connotations with letting himself feel after a series of extremely traumatic events, (somethin else that’s also very very personal to me, and why loveball has been so important to me for years, but that’s another story i’m not goin to go into, esp not here!) especially since it would just lead to a future of horrible breakdowns and 3. his lifestyle and sense of purpose relies on not feeling. on convincing himself he’s still a hollow shell. in his mind, it’s his purpose, it’s the reason he was created. and if he ‘falls’ to the level of all the people he mocks and manipulates for feeling, than what is he?) fresh presents himself as an empty shell, even to himself, but after loveball, he isn’t. but he needs to be, so he lies to himself and tells himself that he’s fine. fresh doesn’t believe he deserves any kind of kindness or redemption. he can’t understand any of it directed at him. hes not just an empty shell or reflection of his surroundings, but he WANTS to be. bc its easier man! it’s less painful! but he cant go back to what he was!

ironically, to me, hes a very human character, while also being so fundamentally alien, he makes sense to me. ofc im not sadistic and i dont purposefully torture people for a living, but! hopefully this makes any sense. i didn’t pull any of this out of nowhere, and i can grab receipts off the top of my head if u need them bc i have so much pointless fresh lore memorized down to the wording (like how i remembered the wording for one of the asks was agendered instead of agender, it’s that bad. i have the Burden of knowledge)

#this was definitely an ask to wake up to!#the phrase ‘disrespectful to people who are transgender’ set me off and i got carried away #because i’m openly trans! i have he/they pronouns in my desc and ive talked abt bein agender before but im assuming anon had just found my #blog n assumed the worst. which is why im choosin to believe this had good intentions behind it #i got really carried away but hopefully i articulated myself ok ive been very tired lately #idk hopefully any of it makes sense but its smth very personal to me #this post was brought to u by . Fresh himself but as just a guy now #but w the same amount of issues (JOKE JOKE JOKE JOKE JOKE JOKE /J /J)#first ask ive replied to in idk how long dude Sighs #discourse #ig #asks #anonymous

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