#in an attempt to make it less boring looking and bland

[punkeropercyjackson]

Hot take but Percy Jackson actually isn't anything like Harry Potter and the reason they're popularly compared is due to the mass mischaracterization and misenterpretation that leads to sanatization of Percy to turn him into a more standard protagonist despite the whole point his character being that he's NOT normal while Harry's is that he IS and that made him into a very bland and lowkey passive aggressive bigot that's an awful example for kids while Percy is the perfect role model.Like let's look them over.Percy:

Was born poor and never becomes rich

Is a child abuse victim with consistent trauma responses and unhealthy coping mechanisms all the way starting at The Lightning Thief

Beat up bullies as a kid,was targeted by them to begin with because he's neurodivergent and his teachers picked on him too

Has nothing but love and respect for his fellow minorities,women especially thanks to being a mama's boy with no positive older male figures in his life except Beckendorf

Is pessimistic,sardonic,anger issued,bad at socializing and gets embarrased to be overly open with his emotions but none of this turns him into a bad person but instead makes him realistic and relatable

And he's also kind,gentle,nurturing to the point of basically adopting younger demigods as his found siblings and pseudo-kids if they don't have positive adult figures in their lives already,encouraging,loyal to a literal fatal fault and has a distinctive and iconic sense of humor that never dosen't land

Didn't like Annabeth or Rachel for shallow reasons and instead for their personalities and only wasn't into Reyna because he was taken at the time and treats all three of them very nicely

Is an instigator who's driving point as our hero is taking down corrupted figures but also does activism for the lesser treated people in his world by helping out every time he gets a chance to,has one of his core trait's being that he's COMPLETELY devoid in power hunger and pretty arguably counts as an anarchist because of this

Relating to the sense of humor thing again,his whole PERSONALITY is distinctive-He's not just some fantasy protagonist,he's PERCY JACKSON.The name alone gives everybody who's read the books flashbacks to all his crazy ass shit(affectionate)and that's how you know you've got a well-written protagonist

And Percy is legitimately transfem-coded,because i've met so many trans women in the Pjo fandom and every single one of them without exception have said that she's a femme trans woman egg.This also applies to black/afrolatino folks and autistics in the fandom like me to a less near universal extent

While Harry:

Grew up middle class and then got riches out the ass when the series started

Is a very poor attempt at positive abuse survivor rep because he uses his mental health as an excuse to a huge dick with no consequences given to him afterward

Had no tormenters other than the Dursleys

A 'dosen't know better and refuses to learn' typa bigot with tons of passive aggressive remarks about girls and ableism and fatphobia thrown in too,not to mention racist moments like hating Dean for dating Ginny

Is the quintessential young male fantasy protagonist and this is exactly his problem because it makes him boring asf and we're dealing with so much fucking damage in the kids fantasy genre thanks to his musty ass

All his crushes were shallow(Only liked Cho for a pretty girljock and only noticed Ginny when she became one too and prioritizes looks and society's idea of 'coolness' on the other girls his age too like damn i wonder why he only ever saw Hermione as a sister,surely it can't be connected /s)

Never does actual justice fighting unless he's required to and don't tell me he shouldn't have needed to because this wasn't real life,it was a magics series so he should've fought evil on purpose like Percy did and so did Katniss Everdeen and the Pevensie Siblings and all the other actual good kids books protags.This genre is supposed to be a power fantasy for kids that they can be heroes too and Harry failed big time at his job just like he did at everything else

Again,he is VERY mediocre as a character but mediocrity sells and now we have a million clones of him instead of real mcs

Is part of exactly zero minorities,neither intentionally or accidentally,and that made him grow up to be a cop.Douchebag ass white straight boy Harry vs Autistic afrolatina transfemme slay Percy.No competition,Percy's punk so she'd kill Harry to earn her blue laces

And before Maraturds and Luke/gods stans get bold,you're literally him irl but worse besties♡

#percy jackson #anti harry potter #perseo jackson #persephone jackson #black percy #latino percy #autistic percy jackson #transfem percy jackson #bigender percy jackson #punk!percy #team parent percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #leah is our annabeth #rachel elizabeth dare #perachel #pjo #hoo #tods #the anomalies #nigerian rachel dare #nico di angelo #hazel levesque #black nico di angelo #pastel punk tag #💌 #summerposting

[possessionisamyth]

can’t read even 1/4 of the het ships in this tag because people put all the women into such tradwife roles it makes me want to vomit, so here are my headcanons when it comes to cooking abilities

Jill Valentine- Military rationing because it’s less time consuming. She cooks once and makes enough food to eat on for two weeks. She will eat that soup/beans&rice/chili for every other meal until she runs out. All her recipes are “throw everything in a pot and let it simmer overnight” style. Anything that has her sauteing, baking, or frying will get burned since she gets distracted doing other more important stuff.

Rebecca Chambers- Does not cook. Can not cook. Has not figured out how to cook. Take-out Queen. She can find a good restaurant or cafe in any area and this skill was honed on purpose. Hates long wait times for food though, so if she can she’ll send someone else to get her food/drinks.

Claire Redfield- Cooking level is tolerable as in she can follow easy recipes when there’s a video to watch, but may get an ingredient or measurement wrong and wonder why the dish tastes off. Anything more complicated than meatloaf or country fried steak is her nemesis.

Ada Wong- Fucking hates cooking. Can cook something decent with the littlest variety of ingredients, but hates it so much. She hates the mess during prep time, the mess during cooking, and the clean up afterwards. Hires a personal chef where she can or goes out to eat. (Before anyone disagrees saying she doesn’t trust strangers this much, consider she has a lot of money from her jobs and most people do not actually know who the fuck she is.)

Sherry Birkin- Substitution Queen. Loves to cook, and loves to experiment with food even more. If she starts cooking and finds she’s missing an ingredient, she’ll look at other recipes to see if she can replace it with something else. Will finish eating her food experiments or new recipe attempts even if they’re a little bland while constructing ideas on how to make it better next time.

Ashley Graham- Cooks college student food even into adulthood. Lactose intolerant but ignores it.  Her mom couldn’t cook, and no longer having a personal chef left her in the wild to figure things out. She will put together any strange combination of food for the taste and calories. She mixes cereals together. She mixes plain yogurt into her ramen. She will lovingly add a slice of cheese on top of the most white looking piece of baked chicken before adding hot sauce and sandwiching it between 9-grain wheat bread for the sake of getting some kind of fiber in her body.

Ingrid Hunnigan- The planner. She can follow almost any recipe without too much difficulty, and always makes sure she has all the ingredients before she starts. She cannot improv or substitute ingredients to save her life.

Sheva Alomar- Teaches herself how to cook a new recipe or better a current recipe when she has the time. Has 5 go-to recipes she’s mastered which everyone loves, but no consistent recipe book. Will default to military rationing where she’ll make a big pot of something and eat on it for a few days until she gets bored of it and goes out to eat. Forgets about ingredients she purchased and only used a little of, and they go bad making her feel guilty.

Helena Harper- Frozen meals or box meals where she adds a “secret ingredient” into whatever she cooks. The secret ingredient is always cayenne pepper or bouillon powder.

Mia Winters- Can cook only the most white american food possible, but thankfully is not afraid of spices or spicy food. Hamburgers, steak, casseroles, tuna salad, and so on, she can manage pretty well. Any “foreign” food is lost on her. The first time Ethan brought home an avocado with plans to make guacamole, he caught her using a potato peeler on it.

Let me know if you’d like a similar list with the men of RE.

#resident evil #re #headcanons #might make that list of the men anyway #jill vallentine #rebecca chambers #claire redfield #ada wong #sherry birkin #sheva alomar #ingrid hunnigan #ashley graham #helena harper #mia winters

[dreamerwitches]

I have mixed feelings on the witches, I'm gonna go through them all.

Renata and Ren: It just doesn't feel like the minor bits match up. There's too many bits that are just slightly too different. Like the screen shape and the bone colour and style. Am I being nitpicky? It just doesn't feel like the witch and doppel are linked. Or that they wanted to make this design for the witch and didn't really care that it didn't look like her doppel. I suppose I like how the witch is more organised than the doppel cause my gripe with it is that it feels a little like the parts don't mesh well. Like, what is going on with that pink bit it does not work. On its own, the witch is good. Fine, pretty, but a little bland and simple. As a design taking from the doppel, I think it kinda fails. Too much was changed.

Cyan and Hinano: Ehhhhhhhhhh I think they just made her worse?? Like, there's so little changed cause the doppel is so witch-like anyway but the changes they did do make her look worse XT the bright tubes are ugly and I dont understand the moth-ear-thing additions. Also the skirt is worse too lol. I miss the gas mask though I understand if that was added for Hinano but you can keep it on the witch c'mon! It's just like they removed all the best parts...

Don Rocinante and Sasara: Ehhhhhhhh here we go again. It looks stupid. C'mon she looks so stupid. Not in an uncanny, scary way, she looks so dumb. I included the doppel attack where she does get legs and that was silly but not as much as this one. Otherwise so little is changed mehhhhh. I liked the doppel so you kinda ruined her for me, thanksssss

Shalimar and Emiri: This is one I'm on the fence on. Design on its own, I really like. She's spooky and weird and the colours are great. I have to main issues. 1) does a 13 year old need such a sexual feeling witch and 2) does she link to her doppel well. The thing with curvaceous or sexualised witches is ones like Roberta I know are okay cause she was in her 30s when she became a witch. You could say some like Candeloro are sexualised cause she's got the booba and stick thin waist, it's kinda hard to deal with... I'm also finding it hard to judge cause I don't know if it suits Emiri, I don't know her character very well. So we'll just move on. If I drew it I would make her less adult-looking My other thought when looking at her beside her doppel was 'if this doppel came from this witch I would hate the fact it uses so little of the witch'. So switching it around, im a little mad they used so little of the doppel. It's like they had the idea for the body and wanted to use it and were like 'oh yeah! the doppel!' so stuck it on as a tail... Also the flower things on the doppel arent in the witch at all ughh. If she was just a new witch on her own id love her...

Vayu and Shizuku: Wow! One I actually finally like now! I think she looks super beautiful, the additions work! But she's not perfect... Just like Emiri and Shalimar, I don't see the doppel working if the witch came first. Why is her handbag now the head? It feels like the teapot(?) head on the witch came out of nowhere. But it's nowhere near as bad as Shalimar. She might be my favourite. I've always been 50/50 on Vayu and she improves that score.

Aodamo and Natsuki: This one's a bit boring... it just feels like they stuck on some additions and called it a day. I think if she was stood up straight I'd like her more... Love the teeth on the horn thing. Skirt is fine. Legs look awkward. Sad they removed her puffy sleeves, doesn't make sense as why the doppel would add that aspect.

Overall, it is a little annoying how clearly some of these are just super easy asset copies of the doppels with no effort put in... I think that's fine for say, Vayu as I think the doppel incorporation makes sense. She's a four legged beast so Shizuku is now riding her. But ones like Don Rocinante, Cyan and Aodamo seem like 5 minute attempts. I'm disappointed. Happy to see witches though, I'm only critical because I care about witches being good

#doppel #magia record #don rocinante #cyan #vayu #aodamo #shamilar #renata

[gay-dorito-dust]

I read like all your werewolf by night stuff and they were amazing. I need more jack Russell and just fell in love with him instantly. Okay enough with me rambling but if you dont mind can you write Jack with reader. And could be reader be thinking about #24 to Jack and think jack deserves better than them?

A/n: I’m very humbled that you like my werewolf by night stuff. I saw the lack of fics and decided to do something about it cuz that’s a crime to Jack Russell. So if anything I’m blessed with the ability to get to write for this character. He deserves it.🦦

Prompt list

Prompt 24- you deserve so much better then me.

‘He’s so beautiful it physically hurts.’ You thought to yourself as you looked down at Jack’s sleeping face, running your fingers through his hair as per your morning ritual, watching adoringly as his features were bathed in the soft golden glow of morning. You felt unworthy of a love as pure as Jack’s. You felt like a fraud, a fake, a deceiver of his trust even when you’ve kept his secret tightly to your chest as though it was your own.

You couldn’t pinpoint where these feelings came about but you were stuck with them either way and you had to deal with it. Never had you ever been given reason to doubt your relationship with Jack; He has been nothing less then kind, caring, attentive and overall the standard of what a romantic partner should be. You, on the other hand, only believed yourself to being selfish and taking advantage of the kindness given to you. Out of everyone Jack could’ve possibly chosen, he chose you and every day since then you’ve asked yourself why?

Why out of every possible suitor did his heart chose you? What made you special in comparison because each time you looked in a reflective surface of that a mirror or a river, you only saw boring, bland, you staring back. Your eyes didn’t hold stars within them, your smile didn’t beam brightly and you neither lighten up a whole room upon arrival nor made heads turn in your direction. You didn’t understand how Jack could look at you with unconditional love within his eyes and proudly hold your hand in his own without any ounce of shame of being seen with you. It didn’t make sense to you that someone like him could find you remotely attractive never less attractive.

Sensing that your hand had stopped stroking his hair, Jack opened a bleary eye, groaning softly, as he looked to see that your eyes were afar from reality as you were deeply lost in thought. Naturally he was less to believe something has been troubling you for awhile as he slept and he sat himself up against the headboard. “Y/n?” He said softly, knowing that by this time of day Ted was potentially making a mess out of your kitchen in an attempt of making you all tea. Another reasoning behind his choice in tone was that Jack didn’t want to alert his friend by raising his voice by raising his voice above a certain volume.Ted’s intentions towards many things were pure but due to his hulking mass of foliage and fungi, Ted was susceptible to causing accidental damage of his surroundings.

“Y/n.” Jack tired once again, this time making his voice loud enough to draw you back to the reality of your shared bedroom. “Nice to see that sleeping beauty has finally awakened.” You joked, going into press a kiss to his forehead only for him to move away, causing a twinge of pain in your chest. “Jack?” You asked, pulling away, rummaging through your head of what you had done in recent memory to earn that type of reaction. “What’s wrong?” You were worried that Jack had finally came to his sense and realised that you weren’t compatible with him and that he was going to admit in falling out of love with you. “I think I should be asking you that question,” Jack reached a hand to hold your cheek, stroking his thumb against the skin there almost reassuringly, “what’s wrong, you seem to be getting more and more lost in your thoughts nowadays. Let me help, you trust me right?”

“Of course I trust you Jack!” You cried, “I just…” your voice quietened gradually, “it’s…it’s stupid. Nothing worth you loosing sleep over.” Hurt by your hesitance to open up about your issues, Jack felt as though he wasn’t doing right by you as your partner in tackling your problems together and genuinely believed for the briefest of moments that you were falling out of love with him. “If it’s hurting you then it isn’t stupid, I’d rather lose all the sleep I could possibly get if it meant lifting the burden from your shoulders.” He says, resting his forehead against your own, closing his eyes, “when we entered a relationship together we agreed that whatever adversity we face, we face together. So let me fight by your side and rid you of your inner demons. For seeing you suffering in silence breaks my heart.” You brought your hands to hold his face, pushing your forehead against his own as you felt tears well behind your eyes.

“You deserve so much better then me Jack.” You finally admitted, not looking at him in fear of gauging his reaction, “I’m unworthy of being your friend never less your lover; Your soul is so full of light that I fear that one day I would only dampens it into extinction. I fear that one day you’d wake up and realise truth within my words and start looking elsewhere for someone who would look perfect right by your side, realise that in the end I wasn’t anything special.” Jack’s eyes seemed to shine with hurt and disbelief at your words that it only made you hate yourself even more if that was even possible. How could you dump your troubles onto the most genuine man you’ve been met, what gave you the privilege to do that to Jack? God you were so fucking selfish that you were borderline crying for reassurance that you didn’t fully deserve.

Jack didn’t want to believe what he was hearing. It felt wrong hearing such venom come from your mouth and aimed at yourself because to Jack every single word was absolutely false. The demons within your head was plaguing you and he couldn’t do anything about it. Jack knew it was near impossible for him to convey his every emotion through words, seeing as they’d only get him so far without gradually starting to sound repetitive and insincere. It frustrates him greatly that he didn’t take the signs he was seeing and piecing them together to see the full picture. How could he see so clearly yet after so blindsided.

“I don’t like it when you say things like that. To me,” Jack removed his hand from your cheek to lift your chin so that you were staring him in the eye, “you’re perfect. You truly don’t understand the extent of my feelings for you and I don’t think I do either as I find it difficult to even find the words to describe how you make me feel. In my eyes, you brighten up every room you’ve walked into, your eyes shine as though god plucked two of the brightest stars in the sky and placed them there. In my eyes, no one has a laugh as beautiful or as infectious as yours, no one has a heart as unique.” Jack placed a kiss to your cheeks, wiping away the tears there in the process as he smiled lovingly at you when he pulls away. “You wanna know why?” “Why?” You asked, desperate to know his innermost thoughts about you. However instead of words, Jack pressed a chaste kiss against your lips, pulling away just as you were about to reciprocate, “I love you so very much.”

Lost within your little moment, neither of you noticed Ted standing on the doorway of your room with two cutesy cups of tea within his significantly larger hands, not wanting to interrupt the scene before him but also not sure how to inform either of you that the tea was going to go cold.

#wbn fic #wbn fanfic #wbn x reader #wbn imagines #wbn x you #wbn imagine #werewolf by night x reader #werewolf by night x you #werewolf by night imagine #werewolf by night imagines #mcu fic #mcu fanfic #mcu x you #mcu x reader #mcu imagine #mcu imagines #marvel fanfic #marvel x you #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #marvel fanfiction #marvel fic #jack russell fanfic #jack russell x you #jack russell imagine #jack russell imagines #jack russell x reader

[caddeter]

Skimming through the RWDE tag after the Volume 9 final aired reminds me of how the FNDM will defend the show by saying ‘people make mistakes’ and ‘the writers are only human’ because now the show seems to be sending that message.  It also reminded me that I wrote over 1000 words explaining why I think that’s terrible.

‘People make mistakes’ is the absolute worst argument in defense of something that I have every heard. I find it even more insulting than the infamous ‘don’t like, don’t watch,’ because it implies that putting effort into your craft is optional.  What this argument says is that I am in the wrong for expecting anything more than garbage. You are legitimately saying, ‘It could have been better, but you’re wrong for saying so.’  Yes, I realize that nobody is perfect and that they are going to screw up every now and again.  That’s why I’m criticizing it.  I mean, when was the last time you heard people get criticized for doing something right.

This argument of ‘people make mistakes so you can’t complain’ also ignores the moment after, where they look back on what they did wrong and learn from it.  That’s why we make mistakes, so that we can grow as people.   Why should we try to improve ourselves if we’re already ‘good enough.’ ‘People make mistakes,’ is a fact of life, but that does not mean we should throw up our hands and give up all attempts to get better and it certainly doesn’t mean we should accepting bad stories.

But enough about my philosophy on mistakes, let’s talk about this one, specifically how situational it is:

Twilight is recognized across the globe as one of the worst books ever written.  Even ignoring the way it bastardizes the concept of Vampires, it’s a story that reads less like a romance and more like a drug addiction. The lead characters have all the chemistry of a brick and a dead rat.  The relationship it tries to push as beautiful and grand is downright abusive at points.  And this isn’t even getting into all the misogyny and racism and pedophilia in those books.  But people make mistakes, so I guess we shouldn’t hold it against Myers.

Sword Art Online is one of the most infamous anime there is.  Despite its large following, whenever someone looks over it with a critical lens, they come to the conclusion that it’s utter crap.  The plot and worldbuilding are inconsistent. The characters (Kirito especially) exist more to fill out roles in a fantasy than as actual people.  It’s all about making Kirito look good and ensuring he comes out better than when he came in, no matter what.  It goes out of its way to include some kind of sexual assault of the lead female character in a given arc with no respect for the subject matter, to the point where it’s hard to tell if Reki Kawahara thinks rape is the worst crime a man could commit or if he has a fetish for it.  But people make mistakes, so the critics are more in the wrong for making videos on it.

In spite of (Or rather, because of) its troubled production, Sonic 06 is one of the worst video games in existence.  It’s so glitchy, it borders on unplayable.  The story is bland at best, flat out terrible at worst.  The new characters it introduced were all unlikable for one reason or another.  Level design was horrendous and boring.  People have made numerous videos and blogposts explaining why it is one of Sonic’s worst games, if not one of the worst games period.  But people make mistakes, so we should stop complaining.

Post season 4, Spongebob Squarepants took a downward dive.  Characters became little more than one unlikable trait.  It crossed the line from mischief to malice, so good characters suffered while the bad ones triumphed.  It was extremely evident that they had already run out of ideas, because they kept rehashing the same episode plot over and over again and needed to pad out some episodes.  But people make mistakes, so they should never have tried to fix this.

Lucy is the most boring movie I ever sat through.  It’s just ‘This girl gains reality altering powers, be amazed at how easy everything is for her.’ There is never any point where she is in any sort of real danger or anything actually threatens her.  She loses all empathy for her fellow man and has no problem throwing them away like broken toys (In an Asian country when our main character is white, mind you), yet it expects you to see her as the good guy throughout. Instead of being terrified by her rampage, it expects you to be amazed.  And maybe that would have worked if it used said reality altering powers in more creative ways.  But people make mistakes, so I guess it’s a good movie.

I could go on for ages and never run out of examples for any given form of media.  And this is all ignoring examples that are actively malicious, like stories that are intentionally sexist, racist, or homophobic.

And then there’s that other group of people this argument conveniently doesn’t apply to:  The critics.  If people make mistakes and you think we should just ignore that, then you can’t challenge the critics on any ground, because they made a mistake by talking about the writer’s mistakes.  If we are not allowed to judge your writer, then why are you allowed to judge ours?

Not to mention how this logic is almost self-refuting. When you say this, what you are saying is that the only thing wrong with the criticism is that it is criticism.

Furthermore, this argument also somewhat undermines the effort other artists and writers will put into their craft in order to make something as best as they possibly could. If we should all just accept when someone fails to make something good, then why should we recognize how Fictional Games ensured that Amnesia The Dark Descent had an atmosphere which on its own could leave you terrified rather than relying on cheap jumpscares?  Why should we praise Tatsuya Endo’s writing for blending heartfelt, humorous, and action-packed when he wrote SpyXFamily? Why should we celebrate Avatar the Last Airbender not just for its amazing story of multiple cultures coming together and strengthening one another, but also for its fully realized and fantastical world?

By saying that we should accept mistakes and that it’s wrong to criticize bad writing, you wind up saying that all of their effort was pointless.  Why bother trying to make something as best you can when people will accept anything?  If we’re not going to pay attention to what a story or writer did wrong, why should we pay attention to what a story or writer did right?

‘People make mistakes,’ means just that, that people make mistakes.  So how about we treat those mistakes as mistakes and hold people accountable for them, rather than act like everyone and everything is perfect and infallible?

#rwde-ish #does this count as rwde #like #accepting yourself is a good message #but there's a difference between loving yourself while recognizing your flaws #and loving yourself because you REFUSE to recognize your flaws #people strive to get better #in multiple senses of the word #and from what I've heard #it sounds like rw/by is trying to say 'you don't need to'

[governesssanguine]

We'd decided on a nature walk, something we could pace ourselves on. It'd been years since we'd seen one another. I'd been missing you terribly. Flashes of your smile and soft, dark eyes lingered in my memory. How could I have not known you were the person I had wanted all this time?

Countless nights spent with women I had no care for, no urge to control, no need to have them submit to me. Just meaningless, boring sex followed by the usual platitudes. "I'll call you again", "tonight was lovely". None of them meant anything to me. I wanted you. On your knees and begging for me.

I shook my head to release the thoughts I felt boiling over and tried to get myself out of bed. It was fairly early, 6 am to be exact. Probably too early for me to be up but my body was restless. I toyed with the idea of cumming before starting the morning routine. My clit sore and swollen behind the tight fabric of my panties. I pushed two fingers over her. Feeling over the soft silk, my clit a noticeable bump at this point. It felt like all of my blood had pooled into the concentrated area of my cunt. "Fuck, alright, just quickly" I muttered under my breath. Pushing in harder with my two fingers, circling my bundle of nerves slowly. Tantalizingly slow. Soaking in the sensations filling my chest and stomach. A slow build up as I began to work my hips. My hand slipped into my wetness and I was shocked with how much had accumulated already. Little movements were intense as I tried hard not to cum. I wanted to think of you as I did, maybe you'd let me pin you up against a tree today. While I fucked you senseless.

Just the idea brought me to climax. Yellow and orange dancing behind my eyelids as I let the small moans escape my lips for you. It was already 7. "How had an hour passed already?" I pondered to myself. Releasing my hand from the sticky mess that was my pussy, I tasted myself. Cherishing the sweetness I was always able to produce, letting it linger on my tongue like a fine wine. You'd enjoy the taste of me.

The morning was quick and robotic. Coffee, work out, shower, lunch and dress. Casual was the name of the game for me, but I always failed to be so with you. "You gotta keep it cool" I whispered to myself as I hovered over my lunch. Cereal, oat and cheerios. It was bland enough to quench my desire for a little bit. The milk still ice cold, helped dampen my mind. I ate in big bites. Anxious to meet up with you. Checking my phone had become a habit today. Only 11 am and an hour to go before I headed out to meet you. I needed to kill time outside of day dreaming. Mayne a few rounds of my favorite game would suffice.

I turned on the TV and sat back to play. Controller in hand. Time passed fast as I played. Happy to be distracted I almost missed the window to leave.

A quick mental check. "Backpack, water, some snacks and my rope just in case. I knew you had always wanted to fuck in the woods. I wanted to fulfill this for you...if you'd let me. Out the door I ran, I didn't want to be late.

Loud music on the drive kept me occupied and less anxious. My poor pussy still quivering in my pants. Every bump I hit seemed like agony to me. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand the pressure.

Finally arriving, I pulled in and parked next to you. Seeing you again was unbelievable. I couldn't have dreamed you'd look so good after all this time. You'd always been so attractive to me, making me feel things I couldn't quite describe outside of animal lust.

You rolled down your window and waved. "HI babe!" You exclaimed cheerfully. I returned the wave and exited my car. Grabbing my backpack out of the passenger seat and trotting over to you. I couldn't hide how excited I was, albeit my attempt. We hugged and the same electric shockwave shuddered through me. I pulled away and met your eyes. Deep, dark and amber. Just like I'd remembered. I could tell you'd felt it too. "L..L..Let's get going love" I stuttered out. My anxiety clear and present in my demeanor. You chuckled a little and led us forward. The trails here were always quiet. Not a soul in sight besides us. I observed your figure walking away. You were so fit, tall and lithe. I loved your figure, your ass. Your fucking legs. It was all so lovely to me.

We walked for a while, the trees rustling in the wind above us, almost chattering. A language only they could understand. You filled me in on how life had been and your recent breakup. I feigned sadness for you but was happy to hear you were single again. He'd never deserved you anyways. I wouldn't tell you this, it would only seem like a platitude. But I meant it. You were an angel to me.

A certain knotted tree caught your eye as we passed it. It laid a bit of the ways off the path of the trail but you insisted on checking it out. The sounds of the leaves and twigs crunching under our feet made unseen critters scatter as we made our way towards the tree.

It's age was apparent. Strong lower limbs and a sturdy base. I couldn't help but think about roping you to it. Letting you beg me here in this trail, filled with solitude, for your orgasm.

You ran up to it as we approached, excitement in your eyes, you looked back to make sure I was there still. "Only for a minute" I yelled up to you, making my way over.  You were running your hands over the bark, letting the ridges and valleys of its rough edges trail over your fingertips. I longed for my fingers to do the same to you. So at ease, you looked serene in this moment. I sat down on the ground, back against the old oak and watched the clouds float over us. Hands behind my head, I closed my eyes and stretched out my legs. It was a good tree. A sudden pressure on my hips made me jolt up. It was you, straddled over me giggling. My hands found your hips as I smirked back. "Are you going to just tease me then or what?" I taunted you. My northeastern drawl accentuating the sharp t on the what. "I am a tease, according to you." You retorted. Beginning to circle your hips over my already swollen pussy. I could feel your warmth and it was too much. A low moan rolled off my tongue. My eyes widened in shock as you continued your tease. It didn't seem to phase you at all. You kept your eyes locked on mine. I reached up to pull your face close, gripping your chin in between my fingers. We locked lips and kissed deeply. The passion we'd both felt finally teetering over into unbearable. Slipping my tongue into your mouth, we explored each other for a bit. Moaning in between heavy breathes and slow kisses.

Pulling away from you and composing myself. "Would you like to live out a fantasy with me darling?" I half whispered to you. "I have some rope with me and I'd be happy to do what I know you need." I'd said need, because I knew you were a slut for this. Needy and desperate. Rope and me were your weakness and we both knew it. "Please, oh fuck please" You begged me. Already begging was a good sign in my eyes. " I motioned for you to get up off of my lap and let me onto my feet. You did as directed, and sat down where I was previously sitting. I dug around in my backpack in front of you. Purposefully taking my time. Letting the situation sink in, whatever fantasies you had roil around in your mind.

I pulled put the rope and stood straight. Setting the pack off to the side against the tree. "Kneel for me and beg some more."

Of course you followed direction, the good little whore you were. Kneeling before me, eyes wide and expectant. I dropped my pants and grabbed the back of your head. Winding your hair around in my hand and pushing your head into my sore wetness. I rubbed it back and forth. Letting your face please me like this for a bit. I spread my legs a little for you to further explore. Pressing your open mouth and face further into my cunt. "Beg with your mouthful for me." I purred down to you seductively. You tried, only able to mumble incoherently into me. Driving me into pulsating ecstasy. Your mouth open and pushed against the fabric of my panties was warm and familiar. I could feel your spit mixing with my cum. Your horny, dumb brain trying to make words with your mouth full of cunt. My special, eager slut.

I pulled you back by your hair and up to meet my gaze. You stumbled to your feet a bit, surprised at the sudden interruption in pace. Although stumbling, you obediently met my eyes. I let go of your hair and pulled you in close to me. Rubbing up your sides through your shirt. Letting you quiver as I explored you. "Let me help you get these clothes off" I muttered to you. Entranced by your figure, the outline of your tits through your shirt. What an exquisite woman. I slipped one hand under your shirt and then the next, gently pulling it off of you. Then your bra, reaching around to undo the clasp slowly. I loved leaving you in anticipation. Our own lovely form of edging before the fun even began. You let it fall to the leaf scattered ground, as i stepped back to admire you half undressed. Exposed and vulnerable here for me. You looked awkward, like you weren't sure what to do with your hands. It only made me want you more. The sun glistened behind you, piercing violently through the tree cover. As if, it couldn't help but admire you as well. The tone of your skin, the way your breasts hung so slightly. Your stomach, toned but not muscular. "Now the pants beautiful" I wanted you to do this step. Show me your obedience. You complied, dropping them to the ground as well. Leaving them in a pile around your ankles. "Panties too and then against the tree for me, facing it" I eloquently directed you. Enjoying the control.

You stepped out of your pants and folded them neatly, placing them beside the pile of clothes on the ground. Your panties came sliding off gracefully. Over your thighs and down past your knees as you bent. "Put them in your mouth for me first love. Wouldn't want you making too much noise would we?" I watched you shove your soaked panties in between your lovely lips and I felt my pussy clench in anticipation. You turned to face the old, knotted tree and placed both hands against it. Ass poking out, like my own little puppet. Walking over with the rope in hand, I could see your breathing pick up. One hand ran its way up your thigh and over your asscheek, the other hand teased you with the rope. Letting you feel the roughness of the cord, your mind remembering the way it felt to be restrained but safe. You shuddered and I chuckled out loud. "Relax baby, it's coming" I whispered into your ear. Letting the hand that was previously firmly planted on your ass, smack you. Once and then twice. Hard and fast. You bit down on the panties in your mouth and whimpered audibly. I spanked you again. Harder this time, letting you squirm in anticipation for the next one. It never came though. As quickly as your brain could process the stinging pain, I was knelt down. Tying your legs to the tree. Knotting around your ankles and then anchoring you to some exposed roots on either side of you. You struggled a little, which was only more fun for me. Overpowering you wasn't hard, and I knew it's what you wanted. You loved to fight my discipline until I wore you down. Turning you into a mumbling, cum hungry mess. Taking my time with you wasn't an issue either, and we both knew it.

Finally getting you tied to my satisfaction, I stood to work on the top half. Guiding your arms behind your back and resting your head against the bark for a moment. Letting you soak in the texture of it. "Is that too tight dear?" I asked. You shook your head no, as I secured your hands together. Leading the rope around your hips and around your thighs. I anchored your hands to the waist harness I'd created. Fuck, I had missed your body. The way the cord bit into your skin. Puckering it slightly, leaving indents that were made just for me. The pulse of my clit was at a roar now.

I pulled my shirt off, and let you use it to rest your head against. Using two fingers to probe your swollen, wet pussy. Circling your clit with your own wetness then letting my fingers slip into your tight hole, only to never fully enter you. Your legs shook and you moaned loudly. I used my free hand to grip your tits in. Groping them, feeling the soft skin on the palm of my hands. Your nipples hardening as I touched you.

I pushed two long fingers into you, running them with pressure along your top wall until I found the small dip of your g spot. I wiggled my fingers rapidly once I'd found her, you shook hard. Your body beginning to lose control. Only the rope and your head holding you in place. "Is it so hard to focus on standing right now gorgeous?" I mocked you. I let my other hand wander down to your clit and fucked you hard while I circled your swollen heat. Stroking in and out slowly at first, letting you quiver as I explored every inch of you I could find.

Soon the slow strokes turned into frenzied ones, the sound of your wet cunt loud and clear. Stark even, against the backdrop of silence. Your still gagged mouth making incoherent words. Like you'd been overtaken by the holy spirit. I brought you as close to climax as I could and then stopped. Giggling cruelly behind you. "OH no, did you actually want to cum sweetness?" You nodded yes, even trying to mouth it. "Spit it out" I mocked you again, still inside you. One finger pushing into your clit as well, the throb of your want was immense.

I released you, pulling my fingers out and leaving you a writhing mess. I snatched the panties out of your mouth and turned your head to look me in the eyes. "Fuck K, please let me finish." You begged desperately. Obscenities dripping from your lips like venom. The anger turning to desperation, and back to anger. "You're a bitch" you wailed like a lost dog. I watched in fascination as you tried to bargain with me. Promising me things we both knew you couldn't give right now. I wouldn't hold you to them, your need was enough for me. I started fucking you again, hard and fast. Your legs shook with the force of the thrusts, struggling to keep your footing on the slick ground. It only made me want to fuck you harder. My fingers previously pushing your pathetic clit in, now circling her confidently. I knew you were close and wanted you to know how much I'd wanted this. I leaned over you. Our skin sticking together from the sweat and evening dew now forming on us. " Cum for me baby. Good girls always get to cum for me" I praised you in a hushed tone. "My sweet girl, so good for me." The cum rushed out of you, squirting on me and my arm and hand. Dripping down your taut legs and onto the ground like rain. "Jesus christ don't stop please" you yelled out, letting me fuck you to completion. Your clit twitching and your pussy tightening around me. I kissed your back and told you how good you were. My precious girl. Kneeling to untie you and letting you drop to your knees from the strain of holding yourself up. I pulled you closer to me, intertwining myself with you. Allowing your head to rest against my chest for a moment. The sun was starting to peek low in the leaf cover. Golden rays emanating through it like messages from higher beings. We basked in it for a while, the warm air on our naked bodies.You held tight to me. The experience washing over you, the tightness leaving your limbs and neck. I felt you relax in to me.  I let my fingers trail over you. Admiring your own grooves, ridges and curves. Languishing in the thought I'd have to let you get dressed and we would have to leave this magical spot. The tree stood tall above us, a guardian and secret keeper. We wouldn't tell a soul of this, but we both knew, if the we ever passed the tree again. This day would ring loud in our minds. Burned in like good memories should be.

#sapphic #bdsmkink #bdsmblog #lgbtq #domme mommy #fem domme #domme/sub #erotizm #Spotify

[meekmedea]

conversations over tea (IV)

previous

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

“I tried to bake,” she tells him during one of their teas. 

There’s a genuine look of bafflement at her words. “Why?”

“I was bored.”

A second or two passes before he speaks again, his curiosity apparent. “How did it go?”

Clemensia took a sip from her tea, choosing not to say a word. 

“How did it go?” he pressed. 

“It came out hard as a rock,” she admits reluctantly when it was clear that Coriolanus wouldn’t drop the matter till she confessed. 

The corners of his mouth twitched. 

“Oh like you could do any better.”

“Is that a challenge?”

She grins. 

Although they are no longer the same children they once were, it was almost heartening to find that he was still as competitive as ever. It made him seem … human instead of the cool, aloof mask he put on nowadays. 

This is how they end up standing in his private kitchen one morning. His cooks sent out, as well as any nosy staff that might be lingering about. 

“How hard can it be?”

Famous last words. If anything, Coriolanus fares even worse than she had. 

Even presidents weren’t exempt from burning bread. 

“Not a word to anyone else,” he insists when hours later, it comes out blacker than coal. 

Clemensia mimicked zipping her mouth shut. 

~~~~~

Their conversations over tea have become a little less one-sided, and she no longer purposefully finds the most bland things to talk about. With his participation, the conversation falls to more casual topics. Politics and anything that might be of importance are things they steer clear of. 

In a way, it’s a game. Coriolanus is after whatever it is he gets out of their weekly teas, while Clemensia continues searching for whatever his motive might be. 

Of course, there are times when his duties as President of Panem come first. There are weeks where she’ll have arrived on time and he’ll be stuck in some meeting that’s gone overtime or have something last minute to take care of. 

In the warmer months, sometimes a maid or an assistant will suggest she wander the gardens as she waits. Or if they’ll offer up the drawing room with the piano if she’d prefer to stay indoors. And when the leaves begin to change their colours, Clemensia prefers the latter. 

For a man who cannot play any musical instrument, the piano is kept in surprisingly good condition. Then again, Clemensia supposed that it wasn’t a good look for the president to have a less than perfect image, in his own home nonetheless. 

Behind closed doors, the piano is hers to play as she likes. Sheet music is provided underneath the bench – some of the pieces she recognizes as ones she’d played back then; others are new, but not impossible to play. 

She can’t help but wonder if he picks them out himself or has someone on his staff do so. 

The maid always makes her a cup of tea while she waits for him to join her – Clemensia only ever takes a sip or two, more so focused on the piano instead. Besides when he arrives, a fresh pot of tea is made anyway. 

~~~~~~

Is this a test of sorts? To test if she’d flaunt their newly re-established ‘friendship’? 

Suffice to say, this is what first comes to mind when the maid that leads her to the drawing room purposefully strays from their usual route, causing her to frequently pass by ministers of various departments in the hallways. 

None of these politicians ever stop to make conversation with her, nor does she attempt to do so. But even if there isn’t any conversation, she can sometimes feel the occasional stare as she walks past. 

So if Coriolanus expects her to flaunt their connection, he’d be sorely disappointed to learn that Clemensia doesn’t talk of their teas to anyone else.

Because while she is well aware of the social benefits that’d come with being closely associated with the President, she’s also aware that the higher one rises, the harder the fall. 

Avarice is dangerous to indulge in, especially in these circumstances. 

Conversation with his other guests is kept to zero until one day, the newly instated Minister of Energy mistakes her for a staff member under the employ of the President. 

A rude man, she recalls her father having described him once, nothing more than a spoiled brat. One who looked down on all he deemed beneath him. 

In a way, perhaps it is her fault, as she doesn’t dress to the nines for these occasions. There’s no point to it – since when does one purposefully dress nicer to call on a friend? But maybe this is why he thinks of her as nothing more than an assistant to order about. 

Regardless, Midas is an unpleasant man. One could tell much about an individual based on how they treated service workers and such. And if this is how he acted, then she was anything but impressed.  

~~~~~~

It isn’t the last of him though, for once their tea has been poured, Coriolanus mentions him. “Midas is rather…” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. 

Behind her teacup, Clemensia tried not to smile. 

“I heard there was an incident with him earlier?”

“Hardly an incident worth mentioning.” Just a rude and arrogant man. Though it had been funny when he demanded to know who she was as she walked away. She could only put up with so much before it became boring.  

But her answer is hardly satisfactory, because he continues to needle her about it. “You’ve got my permission to be as blunt as you need to, so long as you're honest about it,” Coriolanus says eventually. 

If they’d been children, she would have immediately caved. But alas, they were not, rather, he was this strange mix of the childhood friend she recognized and the President that she did not know very well. 

“Well?”

Clemensia made a face at the memory of Midas, displeasure visible – after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

“That bad?”

“Worse than Niobe’s bragging,” she admits after a second passes. If she had thought Livia stuck-up and unbearable during their childhood, then the older girl had been far, far worse. 

That triggers a laugh out of him. “I remember her far too well. Yet you call earlier hardly an incident?”

“I was being polite,” she protests.  

“You were being too kind,” he corrects as he refills his cup with more tea. “More than what he deserved.”

“Is that so?”

Though he laughingly agrees, Clemensia had a feeling that he was serious. 

And when Clemensia pays a visit to her parents next week, she learns over tea that Midas has been released from his position. 

Father is a little too pleased as he recounts the hand that Midas has been dealt. The man must have made a great number of enemies, for he’s been sent to be the Capitol’s representative in District 5. 

~~~~~~

“Your father declined the position,” Coriolanus tells her that Saturday. 

Clemensia can see it in the way his brows furrowed, like he couldn’t fathom why her father would decline the promotion as minister. “I know,” she says, taking a sip from her tea. 

“Why?” His mouth frowns ever so slightly. 

Stars… a frown now. It felt as if she was slowly unlocking more emotions in him, as comical as that thought was. “Father’s getting on in his years.” Her father’s words, not hers. “He’s been considering retirement.”

He looked puzzled now. “Is his health–”

“No, no, not like that,” she says hastily. “He simply doesn’t want to work till the end of his days.” Clemensia didn’t know what possessed her to teasingly add, “Not everyone is a workaholic like you, Coryo.” 

Startled, he looked like a deer in headlights by her casual use of the nickname.

Idiot! What had made her decide to use such familiarity? After all, these days, they were more ‘Coriolanus and Clemensia’ than ‘Coryo and Clemmie’. “I–” 

He held up a hand to interrupt. “It’s fine,” he says, the shock disappearing into his usual expression. “I just haven’t been called that in a long time.”

first part

next part

#clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #blurbs #conversations over tea #platonic #snowcote

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023: #31-30

31. SWITZERLAND

Remo Forrer - “Watergun”

20th place

Decade Ranking: 100/116

[Above Subwoolfer, below Mata Hari]

Bleerrghhhhhh, I don’t wanna talk about Shitzerland, man. Talk about a country whose entries are almost never exciting, that sends too many men, always engages in shameful jury pandering and is constantly overrated by fans. Everything people say about Sweden, Switzerland is.

This year is no different to their usual snoreways since they again provided a very play-by-numbers Voice Winner’s First Release ballad. 🙄 You can imagine how the rest of  “Watergun” will play out after the intro and then it does. It is so uninspired. What’s the USP supposed to be here? That Switz found a bartone twink? What else makes it stand out over every other bland pop ballad the radio people want us to like for commercial reasons?

Also what are these ugly rags, count your lucky stars BDex isn’t a thing anymore. (lol jk Remo is too boring to win any award, and also BDex 100% would have went to Iceland had it still been around.)

Ironically, the unseasoned blandness of “Watergun” makes it come away with a few things. It’s not so much that we are willing to forgive a Watergun, but moreso that songs such as these are prone to getting tuned out. "Watergun” is formulaic een ugh that you’re almost willing to toss it in the borewhore slaughter without further notice.

There is ONE thing that makes it stand out though.

Obviously NOT the basic “artistique” dance that follows the Azerbaijan line of coming across as too rehearsed and inorganic to be deemed compelling. Much like the composition, it was put together on autopilot while SJB was putting in THE WORKS into making the Kelmendi’s Eurovision ready.

A dull essence, feigning truths

What did make “Watergun” stand out, in a negative manner for me, is its subject matter and intent.  Switz weren’t even hiding it, they ACTUALLY INCLUDED A SEGMENT SIMULATING THE FALLING OF BOMBS

Further compounded by lyrics that are painfully on the nose. Like, Remo sings about “not wanting to be a soldier” and longing to the time he played with waterguns and didn’t have to contend with real guns and bodybags.

YOU’RE FROM FUCKING SWITZERLAND!!!

Singing about  the war is already grimy in itself (it’s a wonder both Ukraine AND Czechia pulled it off without being obnoxious!), and there’s zero subtlety in this naff attempt at benefiting from other people’s misery to make yourself appear morally righteous AND rake in jury points. I believe the official intention was to send a message of “look guys, even *we the Swiss* are worried about violence and we are never at war  #DramaInTheEast” but it just comes across as cowering at best, and as rotten opportunism at worst. 

So in a sense, thank FUCK “Watergun” was too insipid to do anything other than lull unsuspecting viewers to sleep, so that we can mostly ignore Remo’s ventriloquist’s dummy-looking ass. Rest assured that if Switz had done well, they would have received a very, VERY low placement on this ranking. 🙂

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30. IRELAND

Wild Youth - “We are one”

31st place

Decade ranking: 97/116

[Above Jérémie, below The Rasmus]

This has not been a great year for Ireland, huh? 😬

What is there to say about Wild Youth that hasn’t already been said already? Like Switzerland the composition is of the same mundane, paint-by-numbers bog-standard tripe you might expect from themy, replace insipid Voice Ballad with a lame U2 B-side and you’re set. 

Also like Switzerland, Ireland suffer from some misguided messaging that drag it down for me. This is less about political exploitation but more about the reiteration of every Build Me Up cliché’s in the book. Cool, you’re all about inclusivity, try to be a bit less obvious about it? ,🙄 Nobody likes a soapbox preacher. 

Overall though, Wild Youth don’t really offend me and are only a mild nuissance at best. 

At least so I thought, until the semi performance came in.

Look, I’m not fully heartless and I appreciate that Connor’s ESC journey has been amongst the most miserable ever experienced by any artist. 

 I also understand that Wild Youth had to improvize their staging after RTÉ assigned them a transphobic stage director to visualize, you know, their song’s woke and inclusive message (how on EARTH is Michael Kealy still alive, as both a person AND a HoD?).

“We Are One” looked and sounded  like shit though. 

Connor was at his most crestfallen, actively letting his bandmates sing the brunt of he chorus, barely putting in effort to appear cheerful. For the most part he shuffled around aimlessly like an unexpectedly sentient camel toe. 

The staging, aside from that ONE cool floordrop moment was a wash of aggro camera cuts that sadly FAILED to cut away from the many times Connor wasn’t singing.

It’s deflating when you realize Connor really wanted to do ESC and convinced his bandmates to apply for Eurosong, taking on the position of the frontman for the contest, only for all this messed-up fuckery to go down, reach a breaking point during rehearsals, and give up. It almost tragic enough enough to bump Ireland up to yellow. Isn’t it a pity they were representing a shit country in desperate need for a wake-up call, huh?

THE RANKING

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #ESC #ESC 2023 #Eurovision 2023 #Ireland #Wild Youth #We Are One #Switzerland #Remo Forrer #Watergun #Youtube

[insane-mane]

what is your favorite and LEAST favorite element of each era? (OG, UAF, OV, and the reboot). if you don't care to do them all, feel free to just choose a specific era.

Favorite:

OS- Of course the vast alien/creature designs made by Dave Johnson and Tom Perkins. The eerie, weird vibe the show has with odd things always going on in the background, something that makes you feel like the world is more expanded. Always something bubbling under the surface. Fun villains, arcs, and finale that just blew me away as a kid.

UAF- Pretty strong start, wanting to introduce "darker" elements to the world around (both figuratively and literally) and inject different perspectives both on the characters and the story as a whole, asking what would happen to these characters when they're older and how they've changed (for better or worse). Very neat work done by Glenn Murakami and Glen Wong. Undeniably gave the franchise as a whole its mark.

OV- A fun return to form that also isn't afraid to go weird, both in terms of writing and art. Genuinely funny at times. Lots of great character designs from Derrick J. Wyatt. Appreciative of bringing back tons of old characters/aliens when they were allowed to. really great Voice Acting as well!

Reboot- More tolerable version of Ben and Gwen. Neat design choices here and there. Honestly has a really great interpretation of Vilgax! Honestly happy that a younger generation got to experience anything Ben 10 related despite it not being the version I grew up with.

Least Favorite:

OS- Needless bickering between Ben and Gwen. Small things that don't exactly add up story-wise unless you look into pop up trivia that are partially just lost to time or crew statements after the fact. Very dated dialogue/insults.

UAF- Setting is WAY too dark or way too bland. Too many humanoid aliens that should DEFINIETLY be clothed to some degree. Completely bizarre character rewrites or "expansions" that either didn't need them or were just presented poorly for arcs that abruptly end. Weird, wooden acting and odd voice direction. Some lien abilities that are just total ass-pulls. Clunky gimmick that they don't even use that much. Fluctuating regression of the main protagonist awful to deal with at best or borderlines character assassination at worst.

OV- Too reliant on comedy that either runs too long, undercuts emotional moments, or just isn't that funny. Attempts to rectify their past mistakes from previous show but unfortunately makes a larger mess than need be. Certain character designs sacrifice too many original details in favor of references to other media, which can be fun but almost too distracting at times. Much like the other shows, introduces neat concepts that could be very deep and earnest but either don't follow through or just aren't executed well.

Reboot- Shorter runtime makes it feel too rushed and makes their overarching stories suffer. Toy mandates making needless gimmicks part of the story to sell action figures makes for boring character designs and less engaging stories (not blaming the crew itself for that). Attempts to separate itself from old continuity yet still tries to satiate older fans by loosely putting in references/specific characters for making a crossover special that the younger generation wouldn't know about. Inconsistent character design choices by ripping from old model sheets rather than making new designs that fit within the show's style. Not the best take on Grandpa Max. Overall just not my cup of tea, but hey it's not meant for me so Eh

[doorbloggr]

The "Stiff Pose" Valley

Monday 26/12/22

So although I didn't do a lot of art this year, I wanna take a chance to congratulate myself on improving my artistic abilities this year. 2022 marks the third year I've been playing D&D. As discussed in an earlier post on this blog, the beginning of my D&D hobby coincided with/resulted in a increased frequency of drawing.

And when I started posting my own art online, I also started regularly following other artists online, and over the years, I've noticed them grow. I've noticed a pattern, particularly in character artists, where different aspects of their art will improve at different rates. This is most noticeable in artist's ability to pose characters. I don't wanna attack other artists by drawing attention to art they may not be as fond of anymore, so I'll use my own art as an example.

Beginner artists may not be great at faces or anatomy, but the first thing they attempt to improve on is posing. The anatomy may not have been fantastic, but the characters are not as stiff. But then there comes a phase when the artist improves on the fundamentals of art, improving on facial features and actual body proportions. But at this stage, the poses become... more bland? There comes a stiffness to their characters. The focus on making the characters looked like better proportioned means the artist mellows on posing. I can't pose these arms and legs until I know how to draw arms and legs.

In a similar trend to the uncanny valley, I will declare The "Stiff Pose" Valley. Artists will reach a point in the artistic journey where the art may be technically and visually more impressive than their old art, but less... fun? I found this easy to study in my artwork of one of first D&D characters, Nevaeh.

You can see in the above collage, in arts 1, 2, and 3, I was doing quite boring poses, almost default/t-posing. But when you get to arts 4 and 5, the character may not actually be more visually impressive, but the poses are more dynamic and "fun". At the point of artworks 7 and 8, my art "quality" had improved, the lineart was cleaner, the faces were more pleasant. But more recently, I feel like I've been a bit better with posing.

Artwork 9 was based on and inspired by this chapter art from the One Punch Man manga, but I do wanna say it was more fun than many of my chapter arts previously.

Artwork 10 was less of a direct copying of a pose, and more of an inspiration. At this point, I'd established that Nevaeh was a villain aiming for lichdom, so drew inspiration from the D&D lich Acererak. And I feel like although I haven't reached the fun-ness of the poses in the above 4 and 5 artworks, I feel like I could get there again soon.

The revelation of this process was brought to my attention in my own art recently when I posted my 2022 end of year D&D artwork, where I feel, not only does my art look higher quality than the 2021 art, but the poses were also significantly more fun. And then I looked back and discovered the poses were also more fun in the 2020 art.

In Conclusion

So the point of this post is twofold. I have noticed that other artists I've followed who have gained artistic highs have gone through this journey. And this is also a sign to myself that I've started to crawl out of the Stiff-Pose Valley. I'm on an upward trend, and I can only keep improving.

If you're going through your own artistic struggle and blocks, just keep practising! You might reach your own Stiff-Pose Valley or other specific walls where you think you're not improving, but keep at it. You'll claw your way out of those holes and come out of it a better artist.

#blog #blogpost #art #art process #artists on tumblr #d&d #d&d art

[mistystarshine]

Send me CSM ficlet requests! If the prompt catches my eye and I have a free moment, I’ll write something quick (an hour or less) and post it. This was a prompt for Lou. Happy birthday!

**

It was a rest day. It was a rest day and it was raining. That meant that it was a bland, boring, annoying day, the sort that could only be improved by the great and glorious Nyako.

Okay, Denji was pretty entertaining on days like these, but right now he was busy laying on the couch staring up at a filthy magazine. Sometimes Aki was good too, but he was out shopping for "household supplies" and other stupid junk.

Useless humans.

That left Power laying on her stomach in the middle of the living room, wiggling a string in front of Nyako. Her cat didn't disappoint her even though she was in a lazy mood of her own. Every now and then, she would reach out a fuzzy paw to bat at the string, causing Power to let out a rousing laugh. When she was done laughing, she glanced over at Denji, just in case her infectious laughter had inspired him to start being interesting.

No such luck.

Power had just about accepted that today was going to come dangerously close to sucking when, out of the blue, Denji declared, "We should try cooking for Aki again."

"Why?" Power asked. A puzzled frown crossed her face as she dropped the string, sat up, and turned to face Denji. "Do you want to make him puke again?" She paused, then grinned as she reconsidered the question. "Although, I suppose that would be quite funny!"

Denji scoffed. "No, you gremlin!" He dropped his magazine on his stomach and threw an arm over the back of the couch to pull himself up. "I'm just thinkin', he does a lot for us, and we didn't do a very good job the first time, so we should probably... try again?"

Power squinted. "Tis an act of altruism?"

"Yeah?"

Power erupted into laughter. Nyako and Denji both jumped to their feet at the sound, the precious feline to scurry into the other room and the pitiable human to point at her.

"Hey! I can be thoughtful and stuff!" Danji cried.

Power laughed harder.

"Stop laughing!"

"No! It's funny!"

"Listen, you..." Denji gave a few ineffective waves of his finger before crossing his arms. He let out a pouty huff that a lesser being might have declared cute or endearing. Power declared it silly. It made her want to hug him. Too bad Denji didn't get hugs when he was being sulky or lying about his motivations.

Fortunately, he was a human who was capable of learning. After a few moments of grumbling under his breath, he said, "Look, just... Let's just give it another shot. That's it. We try one more time, and I'll drop it."

"Aah, I see, I see." A sharp grin crawled across Power's face as she rose to her feet. "Your fragile ego has been hurt, so you feel the urge to prove your capabilities."

Denji uncrossed his arms with a scowl. "Don't pretend that you aren't in the same boat!" he exclaimed. "You messed up just as bad as me!"

Power's grin faltered as she remembered the ferocity with which she had smashed the eggs against the rim of the bowl during their last attempt at cooking. Throwing the pan on a burner that was glowing red-hot and leaving it there for what was maybe, possibly, longer than she should have. The horrid stench that had arisen as her efforts to improve the situation all proved to be for naught.

"Nah, I did great! But!" She raced across the room to fling an arm around Denji's shoulder. He looked like he was done pouting now, so she would award him with some contact. "I see that you have need of me, so I shall offer my assistance for this endeavor!"

"Gee, thanks," Denji said. "So... what do you think we should make?"

"Uh..." Power frowned, wrinkling her nose, then exclaimed, "Oh! Oh! A three-course meal! Soup and steak and cake!"

"Yeah!" Denji exclaimed, stepping out of her grasp so that he could face her. He reached out his fist and Power ferociously bumped her own against it. "Go big or go home!"

"We'll show him! We're the best cooks in the world!"

"He'll beg us to cook for him again!"

"But we shan't, for we aren't his maids!"

"Yeah! It'll be great!"

*

Aki stepped into the apartment and was greeted by a cloud of smoke and the stench of something burning.

"Do not come in!" Power screeched.

"Yeah!" Denji added. "Everything's... Uh... Everything's fine! Just... go buy more soap and... stuff."

Aki lowered his bags to the floor and slowly raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. At that moment, Denji's suggestion of walking away was more tempting than he would like to admit. Unfortunately, he knew that he would only come home to a greater mess if he let himself leave.

The kitchen was an unmitigated disaster. A pot emanating a foul stench sat on top of the stove. Beside it sat a burnt pan filled with something that had been rendered down to charcoal. The oven was open and emanating smoke. Thick, viscous, off-yellow liquid of an unidentifiable nature covered the counters. In the midst of it all stood Power and Denji, both covered head to toe in a combination of soot and the mystery substance.

“Uhh…” Power shifted from one foot to another, shared a shameful look with Denji, then held her fists up by her side and exclaimed, “T’was a devil attack!”

“Yeah!” Denji exclaimed. “We fought it off, but not before it could…” He wavered, eyes flitting around the kitchen.

“Destroy our kitchen trying to cook with no experience?” Aki supplied.

Power and Denji exchanged another look. 

“...Yes?” he croaked.

“T’was a foul thing,” Power added with a solemn nod.

Aki resisted the urge to facepalm. “Then it’s a good thing I got more bleach and enough gloves for all of us.”

Denji grimaced. “When you say all of us…”

“How ungrateful!” Power cried. “You should-”

“-If you help, we can order in,” Aki offered.

The pair fell silent and snapped to attention. He was helpless to stop the faint smile that twitched across his lips. As he turned to walk out of the kitchen, he added, “You know, if a devil ever breaks into our kitchen to cook again, you can tell it that I’d be happy to help it.”

Denji coughed into his fist. “I’ll take it into consideration. If that. Ever happens.”

#chainsaw man #csm #csm fic #power #denji #aki hayakawa #my fic #my writing #ficlet #unbeta'd #Long post

[roughentumble]

A Comprehensive List of Henry Cavill's Movies And TV Shows, And Whether I Personally Think They're Worth Watching

**Updated and current**

as requested by the oh so lovely @fangirleaconmigo

obviously take this list with a grain of salt, as im just one man, and i certainly have my biases. and even if something is in the "not worth it" section, if something about it intrigues you, feel free to totally ignore my advice! sometimes the best evenings come from watching reportedly terrible films, and one of my favorite Henry Cavill movies was summarily panned by critics and audiences alike. that being said, let's start with the stuff i didnt like.

NOT WORTH IT:

Red Riding Hood

----> Available for free on youtube, and yet still not worth your time. Poorly made, often unsettling, with bad music (in a musical of all things) and children forced into racist caricatures. Very funny if you want to watch Henry Cavill suck on a lollipop and get punched by a farting werewolf, however.

Vendetta (A.K.A. Laguna, A.K.A. Hotel Laguna)

----> Technically semi-competent... I suppose it's a mob movie? Also his film debut! But it's largely boring, and the entire film hinges on a sexual relationship between teenage Cavill and an older woman. Genuinely and deeply uncomfortable when she fondles his bare chest, and it's inescapable how much he LOOKS like a child in this film. If I never see a teen that young kiss an adult again, it'll be far too soon. *shivers in disgust*

Sand Castle

----> A war movie, and not a very good one. While I commend it for its attempts at an anti-war message (a very "why are we even over there" vibe), that doesn't make the movie less boring or more watchable. Those who love war movies didn't like it, and it wasn't anti-war enough to seduce the likes of me.

The Tudors (TV)

----> I think my mom summed it up perfectly when she said, in reference to her attempts to sit through season 1 and questions of why she bothered, "there was less on TV back then." (She never made it into season 2, by the way.) It's like the other historical dramas of it's ilk, so if you go crazy for those feel free to give it a shot, but even among its peers it's kind of not great. From the era where showtime really was putting an eye-rolling amount of sex in their shows, so get ready to be accused of watching soft-core porno on the family television like I was.

That being said, a lot of the sex scenes are Cavill's, so if that's your poison, this show'll keep you well fed.

Night Hunter (A.K.A. Nomis)

----> Apocalyptically terrible writing and editing. The performances the cast gave weren't bad, and the camera work itself looked plenty nice, but anything good to be said about the film is dragged down by the foundation itself being utterly rotted. Maybe good to put on to mock... when you aren't confused or bored to tears.

Hellraiser: Hellworld

----> It breaks my heart to say it, because I did find joy in this odd little film, but it's so genuinely bad that I would be a liar to place it anywhere else on the list. Campy and fun in places, but largely just boring, slow, confusing, and BAD. Not a real Hellraiser movie, not enough gore to appease horror fans, not meta enough to be meaningful while still being so meta it drags you out of the story. Genuinely the ending doesn't make sense.

If you're wildly in love with Henry Cavill, you'll love Mike. I love when he gets hooked in the chest and dies, the "sweet cheeks?" line is iconic, his zombie look is adorable. I'm getting a tattoo of the meat hook from this movie.

Do not watch it.

.

MAYBE? I GUESS? I'M NOT YOUR DAD, I CAN'T CONTROL YOU:

Immortals

----> Some technically interesting work here, some nice fight choreography, and a unique visual style to the film. And yet it has such a blandness of performance across the board for all its actors, and such a confused and thoroughly Christian approach to what was supposed to be a story about greek myth, I could never recommend it to anyone. (Since when does Zeus "not interfere" in the lives of humans???) Just enough style points to eek it's way out of the "no" pile.

Whatever Works

----> Whatever Works is a Woody Allen film. This is enough to make it a controversial choice on its own. Certainly one of his lower quality works as well. Henry Cavill as Randy was a delight, however, so give it a chance if you watch Woody Allen movies! Not as bad as I thought it would honestly be, and again Cavill was really good as Randy, but I can't really in good concious put it in the recommend section.

Tristan + Isolde (2006)

----> Billing itself as an alternative to Romeo and Juliet, I mostly found the film to be boring, and I thought James Franco was a bland, boring lead. Other performances in the film were good (especially Rufus Sewell as Marke and Sophia Myles as Isolde), the movie looked fine, it just... was boring. Watch if you're an absolute sucker for this kind of period drama, otherwise skip it.

I Capture the Castle

----> I was deeply unkind to this film when I watched it. I didn't exactly go into it expecting to have a good time or with much of an open mind, which potentially colored my experience. I... didn't have a good time watching it, to be frank. But perhaps if you go into it with a kinder outlook, you'd enjoy it more. A film about love's many forms, how it often hurts us, and it's utterly illogical nature. If you bother watching it, I hope it's kinder to you than it was to me. Perhaps you'll even agree to walk with it through the bluebells, who knows?

.

DEFINITELY WORTH IT:

Stardust

----> Not really "a Henry Cavill movie", as he's only in it for a few minutes, but the film is an exceedingly fun fantasy romp that's well worth your time. It's something of a cult classic for a reason.

Count of Monte Cristo

----> Excellent adaptation of an old classic, delightful watch. Cavill as Albert was wonderful, Jim Caviezel as Edmond was fantastic, and the ending made me genuinely gasp and sit on the edge of my seat. I didn't expect to love it, and yet I absolutely do!

Argylle

----> You don't get a whole lot of henry cavill for your buck, but it's a fun goofy spy film that you could easily watch with the family! Sam Rockwell is also there, as well as Bryce Dallas Howard, and theyre both fun to watch. Ignore the fact the special effects look like they spent $12 on them, and allow it to just be a fun time, and it'll treat you right!

The Cold Light of Day

----> Nothing mindblowing, and Sigourney Weaver + Bruce Willis give shamefully bad performances. And yet, Cavill is a charismatic lead, the chase sequences appropriately thrilling, and it's overall a perfectly servicable action movie. Grab some popcorn and make a movie night of it, IMO.

Blood Creek

----> Another perfectly servicable film. Not blowing any minds, but fun while it's on. Unfortunately, the plot relies heavily on Nazi mysticism (a personal pet peeve of mine), and some of the CGI leaves something to be desired. But still, at its heart it manages to be a very fun horror flick, if you're into cheap horror like me.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

----> This is... a flawed movie. And it's extremely hard to recommend when Armie Hammer is so unintentionally frightening in his role as Illya. And yet, the intro sequence is so FUN, Cavill as a thief is so delightful, I'd be remiss not to recommend it. Fun little spy romp!

Mission Impossible: Fallout

----> It is a Mission Impossible movie. Not much more to say, you either love them or hate them, but they know EXACTLY what they're doing, and they have it down to a science.

Enola Holmes

----> A great time all around! Go into it expecting it to skew for younger audiences, and you'll have an absolute blast. 13 year old me would kill to watch this movie. Millie Bobby Brown was great as Enola, and her relationship with Cavill's Sherlock genuinely tugged at my heart, because I am deep down a huge sap.

Enola Holmes 2

----> Ditto! Same as the first, just as worth your time!

Lynley Mysteries & Midsomer Murders (TV)

----> Lumping these two together, as they're both one-off episodes of long-running, competently made, british police procedurals. The episodes are definitely worth a watch, though I can't speak to either series as a whole.

The Witcher (TV)

----> Obviously divisive among long standing fans of the series, and not without its flaws (S2E2, jfc), but ultimately for all my bitching, I'm a TWN stan, and Henry Cavill's Geralt owns my heart. Also probably the reason you're reading this list, so I don't feel the need to expand all that much.

.

YES, THE DC MOVIES GET THEIR OWN HEADING:

-> *long, beleaguered sigh*

-> ok so, like. ok. how much do you like superhero movies? how much of your life are you willing to devote to a zack snyder production that spent half the time setting up plot threads for a large expanded universe that the execs very suddenly pulled the plug on? how little do you love yourself.

-> jokes aside there are redeeming qualities in these films, and if you really love the characters i'm certain you'll find value in some of them.

Man of Steel

----> Despite my very real and present complaints about odd tone, too much illogical lip service paid to the armed forces, a runtime that makes me want to start throwing punches (Just skip the first 20 minutes exactly. They do not matter. They do not add anything), a sterility to the script, and lack of care or acknowledgement given to civilian lives (something at the heart of superman and present in THE AVENGERS, so to do worse than the avengers is pretty egregious)... IT'S STILL a decently fun and entirely servicable (apologies to Mr. Cavill for how many times I use that word in reference to his films) superhero movie. I like Cavill's Clark Kent! I like his little bouncy curls, and I like how much he loves his momma. Superman is fun! He's my friend. MoS worth it, if you can find it in your heart to spare 2 and a half hours for it.

----> VERDICT: WORTH IT

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition

----> Don't bother watching anything other than the Ultimate Edition. It's the only one you'll find half the time you're looking for the film, anyway. This film, to me, is the sink or swim moment. Tooth-grindingly long, and more of what you got in Man of Steel. It's-- ok, I didn't like the Christ allegory, but that's also blatantly Zack Snyder's entire thing wrt Superman, so I can't blame the movie for being exactly what it said it was. If you can get through this movie and enjoy it, then the rest of the DCEU films will be a breeze, and you're now officially A Fan. If this movie is a slog that makes you wanna die, do not bother with any other DCEU films, this is the point where they're officially Not Your Thing (said with affection, not derision). Despite all my complaints, Superman is my best friend and I think about this movie constantly. Wonder Woman is the best. Clark STILL loves his mom(yay!!!). The fact they decided to tackle doomsday+the death of superman as their plotline for this movie is so fascinating to me that I'm giving them points for sheer audacity.

----> VERDICT: WORTH IT, KIND OF, BUT FEEL FREE TO TURN IT OFF AND NEVER WATCH A DCEU MOVIE AGAIN

Justice League (Joss Whedon's Cut)

----> *rubbing my temples* Everything within me screams to tell you not to watch this abomination of a film, because of Joss Whedon's obvious and blatant racism and sexism, but it is admittedly much shorter and a bit easier to follow if you're not a fan of Snyder's style or you're not a big comic book person. Whedon made reshoot decisions that removed the black character Victor Stone, A.K.A. Cyborg, from prominence in the plot. He was arguably the(or at least a) main character in Snyder's version, and Whedon cut his scenes extensively, and then added extra scenes to make Batman the protagonist instead. Not to mention adding in scenes of a slightly sexual nature that Gal Gadot(Wonder Woman's actress) refused to film, which he then got a body double for and digitally added her face in post. BUT!!! But. I must admit. 2 and a half hours versus 4 and a half hours is an appealing cut-back in length, and some people find it difficult to follow Snyder's exposition-heavy style. Plus there are a few added scenes of Superman which are genuinely adorable, if very short. If you're a fanatic, watch both. If you just want to watch one version... Well, I would recommend Snyder's, but weigh the pros and cons for yourself.

----> VERDICT: WATCH IT IF YOU 1) LIKE DC FILMS BUT 2) AREN'T THAT INVESTED, AND 3) ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SHORTER OR PERHAPS EASIER TO FOLLOW. IF NONE OF THOSE CONDITIONS APPLY, DON'T WATCH.

Justice League (Zack Snyder's Cut. Also knows as "Zack Snyder's Justice League")

----> Genuinely unforgivably long. Zack Snyder, I don't forgive you for the length of this movie. AND YET I personally had a total blast with it. Coming hot off the heels of Whedon's cut, seeing Cyborg more fully fleshed out was like a dream come true, and some of Whedon's trademark 'humor'(which these days I find grating) is thankfully lacking. I personally find it to be a better movie, a better showcase of the characters, and all around more fun, but I had also innoculated myself against the strain of long Zack Snyder superhero movies by doing marathons of his other DC films before diving into this one. Also the film has a lot of references to future plotlines which will never fully make sense, because they were sequel set-ups for movies that never got made. Those parts are... hard to sit through, whether because of confusion/boredom or the heartbreak of knowing you'll never get to see that movie which doesn't exist(depending on your emotional investment). For some reason this film is split up into like 5 or more different "chapters", and I theorize that you could watch one chapter a day like it's an episode of television if you need to not watch it all in one sitting, and you might get a better experience out of it that way. Superman is here and he's still my friend! He still loves his ma soooo much! There's a super fun scene with his heat vision!! Wonder Woman and Cyborg and The Flash and Aquaman are here!

----> VERDICT: THIS IS THE VERSION I RECOMMEND IF YOU'RE SOLD ON WATCHING THE JUSTICE LEAGUE, BUT I WOULDN'T BEGRUDGE YOU IF THE RUNTIME SCARED YOU AWAY. WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS BETWEEN THIS AND WHEDON'S CUT, AND WATCH WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE DC MOVIES PLEASE DON'T MAKE YOURSELF WATCH THIS.

Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice Is Gray

----> Literally just Zack Snyder's cut of the Justice League, but in black and white.

----> VERDICT: PLEASE DEAR GOD DON'T WATCH THIS IF YOU'VE ALREADY WATCHED THE OTHER ONE. IT ISN'T WORTH IT. DON'T SPEND FOUR HOURS OF YOUR PRECIOUS LIFE ON "THE SAME MOVIE BUT IT'S BLACK AND WHITE NOW"

.

CHEAT FILM:

I must admit that, despite saying I've watched "everything" Cavill's ever made, I've only seen clips of his performance for the following film.

In Goodbye, Mr. Chips, he only has a 5 minute apperance. It seems a good enough movie, I suppose, but I couldn't bring myself to sit through hours of TV movie for 5 minutes of Cavill, especially not when his scene has been politely uploaded to youtube. His scene was moving, despite the fact I experienced it completely disconnected from the rest of the film, so make of that what you will.

..............

..........

......

...phew! ok, that's everything, i think.

feel free to disagree on any of my placements. also feel free to watch night hunter and then come yell in my inbox about how it sucked, because i am constantly shouting into the ether about it and no one understands my pain.

i hope this is helpful for anyone interested in watching some hcav movies but not sure where to start... i suppose i am now some sort of authority on the matter, though i didnt intend to become one lmao.

im very excited for his upcoming roles, both in the romance The Rosie Project, and in the rumored Highlander film. not to mention an Enola Holmes sequel (!!!) and..... Argylle, which i will make myself watch because i am now committed. hopefully i can find some way to distract myself from his truly terrible hair... though i never would've started my marathon if i hadn't been disgusted by his haircut in Argylle, and then immediately wanted to see him as a spy with GOOD hair. so i suppose i have to thank it, which i will do by sitting through the whole movie. thank you and you're welcome, mr. cavill (EDIT: it turned out great 10/10, yay!)

if anyone likes this enough or cares, i can update it to include more henry cavill movies as they come out! <3

#long post tag #writing tag #if yall would prefer this go under a read more instead of a long post tag hmu and i'll do that instead! :)

[here-there-were-dragons]

after reserving judgement and giving some time to sit on it and see how it goes in practice, i have to say undertides might be the single most bland breed added to date.

in theory, a race of gigantic sea serpent lionfish-eel amphipteres that have lived at the bottom of the ocean in self-imposed estrangement for feeling abandoned by their deity alongside a lost race of abyssal merfolk since the dawn of time sounds like it should be pretty awesome. in theory, they feel like i should like them, they look like i should like them.

but that’s kind of it. that’s.... all, there is to them. you’re not missing anything about them by reading that sentence. if anything you’re more likely to imagine something with far more to it than there really is from reading that sentence. flight rising has this astoundingly unmatched ability to take theoretically interesting ideas and good designs and somehow execute them in the exact single absolute most boring and/or actively, bewilderingly bad way every single time. ridgebacks, for example-nearly every single fanart i have seen of the male ridgeback design is absolutely gorgeous, a wonderful design for a dragon. it’s just the onsite art that has somehow managed to draw the exact same design with the exact single worst looking combination of angle, pose issues, proportional issues, part placement, and tiny details of shape in general to possibly draw that design in. coatls COULD have been a good design if they weren’t for some reason drawn as hideous ribcageless smooth sausages with disproportionate toothpick legs, torn up sheets of rubber for wings, and limb placement that feels nearly random and just slapped on in relation to eachother. veilspun suck but could have at least been made pretty if they were drawn in like.... almost any way other than tiny-armed shapeless tubes with disproportionately gigantic back legs and play-doh barbershop-ass hair that look like they couldn’t possibly walk and would pitch upwards instantly if they tried to fly. the arm placement and weird truncated body stiffness on male obelisks still makes me shudder.

undertides look incredibly unfinished, even by flight rising breed standards. everything about them embodies the issue flight rising has had with design recently where it feels very much like they came up with one or two gimmicks, drew a more or less shapeless tube, and slapped them awkwardly onto it without making any attempt to connect them or make them look like part of the same creature whatsoever, just a mishmash of disconnected underdeveloped ideas held together by a multicolored hotdog. the bodies of flight rising dragons tend to be disappointingly shapeless and undertides exemplify that with little to serve as distraction from the issue this time, looking very much like someone took the tail from another breed and put a slightly more detailed coatl face on it. for an eel-based dragon their bodies are remarkably un-eel-like and for a serpent based dragon their bodies are remarkably unserpentine, just extremely generic long textureless... tubes. they’re just a worm. the wings barely look like they even belong on the body at all. so much more could have been done with the shape and the skin and the fins and the tail segment to make up for the lack of apparel, but the designers just can’t seem to get out of the mindset that everything has to be as smooth and generic and shapeless rounded-down undetailed as possible to let apparel fit, especially when it comes to doing literally anything at all with horns, snout shapes, or tails. it feels like more and more they’re being pushed to rush an idea to technical completion rather than developing it at all, and somehow always choosing the worst way to do it on top of that.

of all the detail that could have been put on them to make them look less undercooked that wouldn’t have compromised the tertiary genes, the weird barb leg fin things (which i’m convinced were originally also a tertiary gene) just look so.... random and bad. and they’re clearly just there for image composition so they can say it’s technically not a 4 legs 2 wings breed, while not having to think very much about how to adapt genes to them. they are legs, for all intents and purposes. they’re just there so they don’t actually have to figure out how to design one without legs. and it only serves to make the entire design look even more disjointed and 3-different-unrelated-gimmicks-slapped-on-a-hotdog-with-no-connection. and they’re not even actually big. you would expect them to be massive leviathans that dwarf every other dragon, right? that would be interesting? they’re actually smaller than gaolers.

their silhouettes are also confusing and vague, difficult to read and don’t really particularly attract your eye to anywhere, and the bizarre choice to solidify the ugly random barb leg fins of all possible things only muddles it and makes it difficult to read further. they’re somehow incredibly messy without having much of anything going on at all.

the lore isn’t much more substantial. undertides dropped out of absolutely nowhere with no foreshadowing, to date feel the least like they’re integrated into the world at all, and have next to no meaningful lore or detail to work with. they literally do not have enough information on them to write much of anything about them. we don’t even really for sure know what “left because tidelord made guardians’ precisely means, much less what exactly it entails in enough specificity to really write anything with it without it getting inevitably contradicted by something later. they really truly do feel the most out of all the breeds to date like they were kind of just dropped in to the world with no relation to anything and no meaningful connection or presence. like someone went “shit we don’t have an ancient for this year uhhhhh water tubes idk” and just scrambled something together. (largely unrelated, but how are they meant to survive in the ocean between the ice and fire flights? it’s been stated that elementally unclaimed territory is impossible for dragons to hatch in. are all oceans inherently charged with the tidelord’s magic? that would seem an incredibly broken advantage akin to if all air could hatch dragons of wind.)

it’s been how many weeks since undertides came out? a month? with nearly every other breed even when i hated them outright i still would normally have a minimum of 8-16 different scries i would consider getting by now. for undertides, i have one. undertides are easy to make look okay..... but it’s basically impossible to make them look any better than just passably good.

i can’t even hate them like i do with veilspun or coatl. there’s just not enough substance to them to hate. i feel close to absolutely nothing for undertides. they don’t even register entirely on my brain as a single coherent thing that exists, much less a full, finished, extant dragon breed. it’s a shame, because of the five ancient breeds so far, undertides are one of the only three that come even close to delivering on the breaking-the-4-legs-2-wings rule promise, and people have been clamoring for amphipteres and an abyssal sea serpent for years. the idea with ancient breeds was advertised to be being able to go wild with the detailing and anatomy to make up for being unable to fill in the detail with clothes, but if anything, the ancient breeds somehow manage to look even more naked and unfinished than their clothes-wearing counterparts. they gave us an amphiptere breed finally but it’s so substanceless it can’t even be disliked, it’s a bland yet messy tube that looks clumsily stuck together from one and a half underbaked ideas, it’s face isn’t all that different from the same sort of smooth dog-deer-blob-snout type category of face every other breed has, it has barely any detail or shape, it’s lore feels tacked on in a hurry and lacking in much of anything to hook it on to the rest of the world to, it’s a sea serpent that’s not even actually giant, it’s body is smooth an empty except for strangely-placed image-muddying finbarbs, and it basically functionally still has legs. i can barely even manage to feel much conscious disappointment. they’re just...... there. and i guess that could kind of describe a lot of the whole problem with them. they’re just kind of there. everything about them is just there.

if flight rising weren’t cowards they would canonically have pharyngeal jaws.

#flight rising #depression-induced showerthoughts #unformed thoughts i don't really know how to coalesce into something shorter and more coherent #i am possibly dying of untreated diabetes and badly dissociating right now #and have nothing to pass the time but anxiety and pain #aside from apparently thinking about how weirdly the minecraft and flight rising leadership remind me of eachother now

[miracleweaponhunt]

Miracle Weapon Hunt Chapter 29: Cameras and a Little Privacy

Everyone was annoyed by the news reporters. Not just the ones from ShiShi, but all over. Ropear, Saoloro, Vannana and Sandala all had their own news station being sure to interview as many of the rulers as they could. Most of them were used to it, giving bland answers to satiate them or going out of their way to avoid them.

“Rory. Can you answer the questions people have about-“

“Fuck off, I already said it.” Rory said. “Go talk to my people if you want an answer.”

“I’m not entirely sure what to even say, it was all so sudden.” Was Kazumi’s usual response. “And so little time into my presidency before it all happens.” Then she would leave looking dejected and leave the news staff to find someone else. Usually Zach, who was nothing but keen to attempt to put the worries of the people at ease.

“Look, I have plans in place to assure the safety of everyone. The people back in Fightston are working on training as many new recruits as soon as possible to grands that need them. Any mayors of surrounding ships are more than free to contact us in the hopes of having a few soldiers. We want nothing more than for the Skyspace to continue to prosper.” Cassandra watched as he gave that exact speech, without fail, every time, in the same tone. It was actually kind of impressive. Hopefully someone with editing skills could layer them all and it’d end up on Skyspace’s funniest videos or something. She herself was playing a one-sided game of hide and seek around them with Roxanne, and they were all relentless. One from Saoloro had already got Julian, and the two of them were stuck making sarcastic comments at each other in an infinite loop of smartass.

“You think Willow’s stuck talking to one of them?” Roxanne asked, checking the corner for another one.

“No idea.” Cassandra replied. “How long until we get to eat?”

“Let me check…about twenty minutes.”

“Awesome.”

Julian eventually joined them in avoiding cameramen after he won the battle of wits, at least according to him. The three went around the castle’s walls, avoiding anyone they could, even if it wasn’t a cameraman. Being surrounded by the most influential people in the world was actually kind of boring, in all honestly. The three snuck their way onto the roof, where nobody was waiting.

“So is this where we’re waiting until the food?” Julian asked, looking over the city surrounding the castle. Nice lavish looking houses outside the castle with some shopping streets a small bit away. Behind those were some apartment complexes in a neatly polished white.

“Nice place.” He said to himself.

“You think?” Willow asked.

Roxanne jumped at Willow casually standing behind her.

“How long were you there?” She screamed.

“About two minutes after I joined.” Julian said casually. “Honestly, I just wanted to see how long it would take you to notice.”

“Seems I’m forgettable.” Willow said with a dramatic sigh.

“Not at all!” Roxanne yelled back. Cassandra just put a hand on her shoulder.

“So Willow, if I can ask something?” Julian interjected. “Any problems with this place I can know about?”

“What you mean?” Willow asked, joining him in looking over the grand.

“I don’t know, a seedy underbelly or something? Something that would make someone…join a weird cult dedicated to destroying it or another grand, for instance.”

“Got it.” Willow said with a sigh. “Well, I think the main one would be the lack of compensation some people are getting further out.”

“Like on the subships?”

“Further out here. The islands near the edge. Most of them deal with fishing. But it has their own issues, you see. Being separate from the mainland to allow fish societies to integrate more naturally means these fishermen either have to live by themselves or make their families live in more run-down areas. And all for pretty bad pay.”

“Bad pay, huh?”

“Anyone could catch a fish; you don’t need to learn anything special to do it. That’s the reasoning behind paying them less, despite them being arguably the most important people over here.”

“And if they were promised a better life fishing in a new society by the legion, maybe they could join them and poison the fish, or turn a blind eye to their ships.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, hopefully a certain eldest daughter steps up and takes care of things while we have to fight the big battles.”

“Sure thing.” Willow said after a moment of hesitation. Julian thought it would be interesting to press her mother further, but considering his antics yesterday, that would probably had him marked for death.

“So should we get going?” Roxanne asked. “Dinner’s in five.”

Javier was already waiting for the four of them when dinner started. There were only four chairs when they got to their table from yesterday. Everyone was sitting where they were the previous day, when a servant put a calm hand on Roxanne’s shoulder.

“I’ve been told you have a meeting with Rory.” He said calmly. “He’s at the other end of the room.”

The servant pointed her over to the table Rory and Gurpreet were sitting at. The two were making casual conversation that didn’t seem to interest either of them, and she quietly inserted herself on the lone empty chair between the two of them.

Gurpreet looked at her, but didn’t pass much heed, while Rory leaned in a little to glare at her.

“And what would you be doing here?” He asked, raising a thin grey eyebrow at her.

“I was told you wish to talk to me?” Roxanne replied, leaning back while secretly praying her chair didn’t tip over.

“I didn’t wish shite!” He snapped back.

“Be nice.” His wife said flatly.

“Sorry, sorry.” He began again, calmer this time. “I didn’t ask for you. You must be thinking of someone else.”

“But Freyja told me to come here.” Roxanne said. “I thought it might be something to do with the bow?”

“Ah, your group isn’t responsible for that. Don’t worry about it too much.”

“You sure?”

“How old are you?” Gurpreet asked.

“Eighteen.”

“So the fate of the world has been trusted to an eighteen-year-old and her friends. You have enough stresses, don’t let us add to them.”

So with her effectively shut down, the food was served. Roxanne just got what she had yesterday, still tasted as good. Rory and Gurpreet continued their own conversation, with Rory’s throaty laugh erupting over what Roxanne took as a minor statement. Some kind of inside joke, probably. Gurpreet’s wife gave a relaxed smile, so the shock was shown externally.

She stayed silent throughout the meal, not having much important to stay. Eventually the food was finished, and all the leaders and heroes were moved to the dance hall. Just like it was rehearsed, the classical music started playing and people either started dancing or mingling with drinks. Julian and Cassandra started dancing well as they practiced, occasionally having to stop for a little to allow the other couples to move past them. Willow and Javier also started moving around the room together. They also had it down, even if they weren’t as graceful and started to brush against the other dancers at times. The couples danced together, fathers danced with their daughters, it was all such a lovely display of the unity the Skyspace was showing.

Willow was bored. She noticed Roxanne taking a glass of juice after being denied alcohol, standing around in her cute attempt to be casual.

“Javier, how thirsty are you?” She asked.

“A little.” Javier replied. Understatement of the century, the room was making him sweat so much anywhere he stepped probably needed a hazard sign afterward.

“Same here, I’ll go get us something.”

Willow looked around for her mom. Talking to Mia and Kazumi while taking sips from her wine glass, more sophisticated than usual. She found Roxanne, guiding her over to Freyja’s blind spot.

“Hey Roxy, wanna get out of here?” She whispered when Roxanne went over to her.

“To where?”

“To the castle we’ll have access to?”

Roxanne glanced around the room, giving a covert nod. The two tried walking out of the room as discreet as possible, but an especially lanky servant stepped in front of the door just as they were about to cross.

“May I ask what’s going on here?” He asked calmly, offering some orange juice to the two of them.

“We just need to go to the bathroom.” Willow replied quickly.

“Both of you?”

“Is that really that suspicious?”

“A little, I’ll admit.”

Willow leaned into him.

“Look, it’s kind of an emergency. The lady specific kind.”

The waiter looked a little grossed out as Roxanne gave an uneasy nod. He let them through, and Willow looked at the door as it was closing.

“Works every time.” She chuckled.

“So now what?” Roxanne whispered. She glanced around the empty hallways with not a single servant around, and not a sound from any source that wasn’t behind them.

“Whatever we want.” Willow whispered back. “But first, I need to get out of this dress.”

The two went through the hallways while avoiding the few servants that were doing some light cleaning on the halls. After a few minutes, they were in Willow’s room.

It was extremely simple in comparison to what Roxanne thought it would be. Her bed looked exactly the same as her old one back on Miracle with a simple red blanket in contrast to the blue walls. Next to the bed was a wooden dresser. Not with any special design, just an extremely ordinary dresser and wardrobe which Willow was digging through.

“Okay, you want to borrow some clothes or something?”

“Excuse me?” Roxanne asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re my size.” Willow replied calmly without looking, handing her a shirt. It was a neon green shirt with some cartoon character she didn’t recognise on it. Willow handed her some grey sweatpants to finish the outfit.

“You can keep the shirt; some ex gave it to me.”

“Ex?”

“Yeah, she turned out to be an assassin. Shit was wacky.”

With that information given it’s nonchalant explanation, Roxanne went into the bathroom to get out of her dress. The bathroom also wasn’t anything to write home about, other than the fact it was Willow’s personal one. She quickly got into the clothes Willow gave her, heading out to see Willow already dressed in a plain blue t-shirt and black sweatpants casually laying on her bed.

“So now what?” She asked.

A couple ideas flashed in Roxanne’s mind once the question was asked. She had a TV opposite the bed, so that was definitely an option. Or just relax with some music, she definitely had a music player.

“We’re gonna kiss.”

The words left her mouth before they were in her brain. But this was her chance. Her chance to finally seal the deal and make this love adventure worth it. They’d kiss, and then perhaps do some other stuff…okay, let’s not go too crazy yet.

“Yeah, sure.” Willow said with a slow nod.

Okay, this was it. She was ready. She crawled on top of Willow as she lay flat on her bed. She put a hand to each side in an attempt to look assertive, just like in her favourite shows. She lay down and their lips connected, followed by their tongues. This was it. It wasn’t what she expected the end to look like, but she was here.

And it felt so…

…so…

…gross.

#my writing #writeblr #creative writing #writing #fantasy #webnovel #writers on tumblr

[petegrammarman]

Monthly Consumption - October 2023 Part 2: More Games

Here are the rest of the games I played in October that are considerably less scary.

Baldur’s Gate 3

I am about 7 hours in and I still feel a lot of friction from the systems. So much so that I can’t enjoy the story that I’m sure is a blast. There is just too much, an explosion of choices and options and systems that I don’t really want to bother to interact with, because when you are not handling 50 separate icons for every possible physical action a human can perform, you are in huge conversation chains with a bunch of british elves and demons or whatever. There is an issue with focus for me here, the game attempts to do EVERYTHING, and I can’t get a grasp on any of it. A tabletop roleplaying experience allows you to do ANYTHING, and trying to represent that in the form of a computer game just doesn’t make sense to me. I thought my past experience with DND 5e would give me a leg up on this but I’m still just floundering every time I play it. I’ve lowered the difficulty and watched some tutorials and I will continue to give it a chance every so often, as I still haven’t seen what people love about this game. Hopefully it’s a hurdle worth getting over, lots of games haven’t clicked with me immediately and then I end up obsessed, like Monster Hunter or Soulsborne.

Party Animals

It was a fun time and I got my fill. I like the gorilla.

Paleo Pines

Good loop, adds a little something else to the farming sim by allowing your dinosaurs to help around the farm. It’s also got a collection aspect to it, which is just enough to keep you going through the typically boring (to me) farm stuff. When you find a big dinosaur you love and then get it working with you on your farm, it’s great. Then you can personalize it by naming them and pairing them with other dinos, you get a nice little community going. I hope they keep adding stuff to this one, the main focus of the game is very strong but it is weak in the game’s actual story and characters. You really have to make your own fun, but the game allows for it.

Diablo IV

Played the trial, and only up to level 8 into the first town. I didn’t really get a sense of the main loop (I assume its more diablo) but it is a pretty game, and the attacks feel good. It just looks and feels better than any Diablo game before it, and there does seem to be a more focused story this time, with stakes that can be understood, which hasn’t been a thing since the first Diablo. The addition of cutscenes are a nice break from the click-fest, and I’m sure there are less of them outside of the intro zone. Overall it seems fun and I would like to get back to it someday. I’m glad there was a trial and I can easily wait for it to become cheaper.

Sea of Stars

Started this on the 29th, seems promising. The art and music are all really impressive, the amount of unique encounters, puzzles, and areas are pushing me to see more. You don’t see this amount of work with an indie project, so I am excited to see where the game goes. The battle system is a lot of fun too, let’s see if it sticks around too long. The only gripe I have are the two main characters, they are so bland, in both design and writing. They have been locked away in a magic school for their whole upbringing, so maybe that’s why. The story so far has been touching on that a little bit, but I feel like the game won’t acknowledge it very much more than that, but I would be pleasantly surprised if their blandness becomes a plot point. Excited to see more of this.

Super Mario Bros Wonder

I feel like companies like Nintendo and Fromsoft are just on another level at this point. Able to make entirely way too much content for a single game. There is just so much bespoke content put into this game, that no other dev could begin to compete with. Every level has a completely crazy change to it halfway through and there are just TONS of levels. It’s a blast to play through and has a lot of challenge to it. I was very surprised how much it is pulling from Super Mario World, in terms of secrets and level design. It’s fantastic and I’m glad 2d Mario is back.

COCOON

GAME OF THE YEAR BABY. Played through this twice and I almost forgot to add it on this list. WHOOPS. I’m in love with the puzzles and mechanics of this game. Forget about the art music and story, I’m just fascinated by how all the interactivity fits together. It is inspiring and something to aspire to. I can’t get over how each orb contains the levels you interact with, while also having a unique mechanic, and all those things interact with each other in new and interesting ways ALL THE TIME UNTIL THE GAME ENDS. There is a puzzle towards the end where you have to use every orb’s ability while also nesting each orb in a specific order and seeing it all come together is a feeling you could only get from a game. It is truly a masterpiece of game design and I love it. The fact that it looks and sounds amazing is just a bonus, you could probably make the same game with grey cubes and I’d love it. Anyway big recommend for anyone interested in puzzle or game design.

TABLE TOP Mork Borg

It’s a fun lightweight game, with plenty of crazy crap and violence. My character is dumb.

#myarts #monthlyconsumption

[eurofox]

Yakuza 4 review

Fatigue was starting to set in by the time I got to this game so having more characters with different styles helped it feel fresh. It also finally got around to explaining events I’d seen alluded to in 0 . While 3 felt very dated and I feel it oculd use the Kiwami treatment, this one stands up pretty well. Aside from a few goofy faces.

Spoilers:

The Good shit:

Well it looks nicer this time around, a bit anyway

Akiyama and Saejima are a nice change of pace

Kiryu is still happy.

I liked the way Hana lost weight and instead of the usual trope Akiyama immediately goes to get her something to eat

Hana in general was fun, I really thought she’d be annoying at first but no

Hamazaki get’s to return, odd since bad guys usually stop existing after each game

The hit scene is brutal and hard to watch, before you know the twist anyway. Very effective.

Another great soundtrack. The myth is a highlight, as is material delights , Rebellions and recieve and bite you

Female serial killer, bit of a twist

The yakuza pretending to be a cop was interesting

Some real tragic moments with Saejima, realising he fucked up big time, not only himself but his whole family

Akiyama is likeable, even if he has an uncomfortable darker side. An interesting character.

I don’t mind the initial rubber bullet twist. After that however...

Munakata actually acknowledges how fucking dumb that hit report was.

Less blocking enemies this time around thank Christ

Most bosses are good. Kiryu especially

Kiryu acknowledges that he left Daigo between a rock and a hard place at least

Kiryu arriving full powered

Closure for Mahima and saejima

Kiry vs akiyama and tanimura is great

Haruka making a stand about kiryu’s overly trusting nature

Helicopter Date is back!

Helping a suicidal man by tossing him off a building

Saejima having a comment about every shop and the differences between now and then

Someone actually having the sense to wear body armour

An attempt to tie events back to yakuza one

Boat chase was kind of fun

‘everybody pick an ass to kick’ was badass. Also Saejima going for Kido reminds me of Moe ending up fighting against Drederick Tatum in the Simpsons  ‘Oh geez, how did this happen’

Creepy wannabee rapist guy get’s his ass shot dead. Good.

The Bad Shit:

I do not care for Tanimura, I kind of wish they kept him as an asshole instead of the helping immigrants thing. But by now I realised you don’t actually get to play as bad people. His story was pretty bland and I never got to grips with his fightstyle. Don’t miss him tbh.

Katsuragai’s ugly, greasy mug. When he kept getting up in Daigo’s face during the meeting 🤢 

That fucking guard with the baton can go to hell. Should have been allowed to shove it up his arse in the final encounter. Fuck him. Same goes for his clone in red in the final long battle

Soon as I heard Yasuko and Saejima had a talk I knew it was curtains for her. Mission accomplished so she can die now I guess.

Saijima having to go long round about ways to avoid police got annoying fast

chase sections again...

Akiyama creeping on Yasuko cos she kind of reminded him of some girl who dumped him was weird. Glad he was called out on it.

Akiyama’s treatment of women in general. Men can get loans for cleaning up rubbish but women have to work in the red light district? Get tae fuck.

Hostess club is boring. I don’t like dress up

THAT FUCKING SCENE with Saejima and Haruka. Gross AF They did not handle that well and Kiryu’s reaction was such bullshit. He’s far too blasé about it, big F on parenting there. Soured Saejima’s whole character for me. Worst scene in the series and unnecessary.

JAPANESE POLICE CAN’T SHOOT’ The hell was this about, block the door or something at least?

Too many coincidences, everyone surviving lethal wounds only to then wash up on Kiryu’s beach? Bullshit.

Where’s the Ryudo family?

Kiryu lecturing Haruka on trust when random prisoners keep washing up on their doorstep. Including one who tried to kill him after he offered friendship. She’s not an ass-kicker like him, she’s a young girl who can’t afford to be so trusting of strange men He comes across as a real dumbass in this game.

Too many characters and too many twists. Twists upon twists. It got so convoluted that I lost track of who betrayed who.Cops who are yakuza, yakuza who are cops. Rubber bullets pinging off all over the place .

 Arai buggers off for most of the game and is one of the blandest characters in the series. Glad he never comes back.

Kido is just kind of there. Maybe if he joined the saejima family I’d care but he doesn’t. Also missed opportunity not giving him a kitsune tattoo.

Hamazaki dies off-screen, bit anti-climatic

I don’t get how akiyama makes so much money. I know he’s a banker but the amount he has is crazy. And why not get a code for that damn vault?

Why is Daigo so deferential to some low income nobody clan who have to pay the Tojo to stay relevant? Why not just tell them to either take the money or GTFO?.  Forget the equality bullshit. Does he know the police are involved by that point? His whole role in this game was a bit strange.

Kiryu acknowledges he screwed up to Daigo, but still gives him a beating. And we don’t see how he reconciles with Majima after betraying him. Also Kiryu says he’s done running but ditches Daigo again next game. OK...

Saejima say’s he’s remorsful about killing those guys but also has no regrets? Then goes on about balls a lot. Right...

JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE NOT PICKING UP GUNS. It felt like a real joke here, not a funny one. 3 times, once in the space of 5 minutes. 

You shoot a guy point blank  in his office and don’t notice it’s a rubber bullet

The fight with Munakata (or should I say, bodyguard captains) is the worst boss in the entire series. Fought with the lamest character who is not good with crowds (I admit he was underlevelled with few healing items in my playthrough as I was rushing and thought Kiryu would be facing the last boss). My PS4 could barely handle all the goons on screen. And after getting stunlocked and shot to death I gave up. Only time I ever switched to easy in any of the games. FUCK THAT CUNT. Worse than Jingu.

Ok, looks I have a lot of complaints about this game, mostly plotwise.  It just got too wacky. Had they just left it at the one instance of rubber bullets I would have been ok with it. But nooooo, they had to keep escalating and shovelling in more betrayals.  Anyway the gameplay is an improvement over 3 and aside from tanimura it was enjoyable and refreshing, kind of cool having a powerful Kiryu saved til last. I’m glad Akiyama stays on, he’s an interesting morally grey character. And while I didn’t like Katsuragai and his motivations got confusing, it was cool to see a real piece of shit villain who wasn’t as cartoonish as Jingu or Munakata, or as undeveloped as Mine, I really got to hate that snake, a good performance. I’d rank it above 3 anyway.

#yakuza #yakuza 4 #rgg #ryu no gotoku #foxgames