#ps there were little to almost no special effects in this which makes it even more jay's style

[jaydenbennett]

#my homegirls know i've been dying to make jay bird to direct a music video #he's worked on lots of mvs before but he hasn't directed anything tHIS BIG #he's gd proud and i'm gd proud because vISUALS #bYE #insp: projects #and no he doesn't listen to kpop #but work is work and homeboy legit loves his works #ps there were little to almost no special effects in this which makes it even more jay's style #i did a good job #*pats self on back*

[twstarchives]

Hello! There used to be a list about which characters have mentioned to have siblings/be only childs but I can't find it anymore ;; do you still have it or was I imagining it? If so, do you know what is there so far about each student's family life?

Riddle

Parents

Riddle lives with his mom, the status of his father is unknown. He has implied that his parents don’t get along.¹ Both parents are magic doctors, but his mother seems to be more well-known. To Riddle, she is extremely overbearing and planned out nearly every second of his life: controlled his education, his schedule, his diet, his clothing, the supplies he used, and which friends he could have. She put a heavy emphasis on studying and always being the best.²

1. Riddle Ghost Marriage voice lines 2. Main Story 1-19

Ace

Parents

Older brother

Grandmother

His brother is 7 years older than him and a Heartslabyul alumni.¹ He seems to have often messed around with Ace & make him angry on purpose, but it was all in good nature; they are very close. Apparently his brother was even more excited than their parents when they found out Ace got into NRC.² Ace has also mentioned his grandma a few times; she taught him about the Ghost Camera³ and warned him about magic blotting.⁴

1. Ace School Uniform PS 2. Ace Ceremony Robes voice lines 3. Main Story 0-19 4. Main Story 2-4

Deuce

Mother

Grandmother

He is an only child¹ and loves his mom very much. The entire reason he’s trying so hard to be an honors student is so that he can become a son she can be proud of. He once cried when she called him to tell him just that.²

The only time his grandma was mentioned was when he told a story of his mom crying to her on the phone, thinking she’d failed as a parent (during Deuce’s delinquent days).³

1. Jack Dorm Uniform PS 2. Wish Upon A Star 12 3. Main Story 1-13

Trey

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

His family runs a bakery. As the oldest child, he often had to take care of his little siblings (ie. ensuring they all brushed their teeth at night)¹. They all would pester him to bake them desserts,² but he cared for them a lot—one time his little brother really wanted to go to a live magift game so Trey spent his whole allowance to get him a ticket.³

1. Trey School Uniform PS 2. Ace School Uniform PS 3. Trey Wish Upon A Star voice lines

Cater

Parents

Two older sisters

Because of his dad’s work as a banker, their family had to move about once every two years, all over the world.¹ Cater hadn’t had any long-lasting friends because of this.

He has described his sisters as “unreasonable,” his dislikes in his profile are listed as “having to suck up to his sisters,” and when everyone was going home for winter holiday, he said he’d rather stay with Trey’s family.² In his voice lines, he mentioned that he can’t relate to Yuu feeling homesick because his sisters would just be waiting for him at home. His sisters rated everything by how cute it was, and if something “wasn’t cute” to them then Cater would have to redo it.³

They would get more excited about his birthday than he would, and buy him all kinds of presents he didn’t particularly like (such as stuffed animals, dolls, perfumes, soaps, etc). But they weren’t trying to be intentionally mean, and recently have started paying attention to what he really wants.⁴

When he was about 10 years old, his mom and sisters were always baking sweets. Cater was excited about this at first because it meant he could get lots of treats, but his sisters would make him eat everything. If he refused, they’d look so disheartened, and Cater couldn’t say no to that, so he kept forcing himself to eat. Because of this, he now hates sweets.⁴

1. Cater Scary Dress PS 2. Main Story 4-3 3. Cater Lab Coat PS 4. Cater Birthday PS

Leona

Falena (older brother)

Cheka (nephew)

Sister-in-law

Leona is a member of Afterglow Savannah’s royal family. His brother and his sister-in-law are the current rulers, and Cheka is next in line to the throne. Leona has constantly felt inferior and bitter that he and Falena are treated so differently based off nothing but birth order.¹ But he greatly respects his sister-in-law; she’s one of the only people he would never talk back to.² Cheka is very affectionate and clingy towards him.

1. Main Story 2-27 2. Ruggie’s Chat w/ Jack

Jack

Parents

Younger brother

Younger sister

Grandparents

Jack is the oldest in his family with an 11yo brother and a 7yo sister. He and his siblings are all very athletic; they used to play tag with each other for 6 hours on end.¹ Jack has said that wolf beastmen pick one soulmate to spend their whole life with, and his parents + grandparents are always at each others’ side, when they wake up, go on walks, eat, and go to sleep.²

1. Jack Happy Beans Day PS 2. Ace Ghost Marriage PS

Ruggie

Mother (deceased)

Father (unknown)

Grandmother

Ruggie's mother "became a star up in the sky" shortly after giving birth to him. His father went away for work and never came back, and to this day Ruggie doesn't know what happened to him.¹

He lives with his grandma in the slums of Afterglow Savannah. They were poor and struggled to find food to eat, but his grandma could make delicious food out of any ingredients they could find. Ruggie learned to cook from her.² He described her as very kind but also tough.

Ruggie seemed to have taken care of the other kids in the neighborhood too-- when everyone went home over winter break, he brought home leftovers from the cafeteria to feed his grandma and the kids.³

1. Ruggie Birthday PS 2. Ruggie School Uniform PS 3. Main Story 4-3

Azul

Mother

Stepfather

Grandmother

His mom fell in love with her divorce lawyer while separating from Azul’s biological father. She’s also the owner of the Ashengrottoes’ famous ristorante in the Coral Sea.¹ Because of their business, Azul grew up a foodie and was exposed to a lot of different foods from a young age.²

His stepfather is kind and honest, and very clever when it comes to his work. Azul respects him and they seem to have a good relationship. He taught him about law and contracts.¹

Everyone in the Ashengrotto family is a mage, but Azul’s grandmother is said to be especially powerful. She was known for helping those in need, and very “merciful,” just like Azul.¹

1. Azul Birthday PS 2. Azul Dorm Uniform PS

Jade & Floyd

Parents

Their parents started teaching them self-defense since they were little.¹ We don’t know many details of their childhood, but there was an interesting exchange between them—Jade once said “he made the right choice choosing Floyd as his partner,” and Floyd replied that “he’s glad Jade is the one that survived with him, too.”²

In Floyd’s Wish story, he brought up how their father told him to buy a nice pair of shoes when he went on land because “men who don’t pay attention to the small details get patronized” so your appearance is very important. Hearing this gave Idia and Ortho an uneasy feeling about Mr. Leech.

1. Jade PE Uniform voice lines 2. Floyd Dorm Uniform PS

Kalim

Parents

30-40 younger siblings

Kalim’s father comes from a long line of merchants and is supposedly the greatest one in the family. But despite how busy he is, he’s always wearing a smile. Kalim’s mother is the only one in the family who can use magic. She’s described as very kind, is always praising Kalim, and almost never gets angry.¹

Kalim doesn’t know the exact number of siblings he has, but he can put names to faces for all of them, and he often plays hide and seek with them in their house. He doesn’t come from a royal family (they’re just extremely rich), but some of his distant relatives are actual royalty.² One of his distant cousins apparently owns a tiger.³ His family has about 100 servants along with specialists like a personal doctor⁴ and a beast tamer.

1. Kalim Birthday PS 2. Main Story 4-8 3. Silver Lab Coat PS 4. Main Story 4-17

Jamil

Parents

Najma (younger sister)

His family has served the Asims for generations. His parents knew Jamil was a very bright child, but they insisted that he must always let Kalim be better than him, and would reprimand him for talking too casually to his young master.¹ Jamil seems to share a typical sibling relationship with his sister Najma. They often bicker with each other, but they’re on good terms. Najma used to bake him cookies for his birthday² and they would also get into fights because she’d tell him his cooking looked too plain.³ Jamil gave his VDC plus-one ticket to her during Episode 5.

Najma made her first in-game appearance during the Aleab Naria event. Their father had sent her to deliver a message in-person to Jamil, since he isn’t versed in technology likes PCs and phones and didn’t trust that a text would suffice.⁴

Najma claims that she and Jamil look nothing alike, but they tend to make near-identical expressions. She was relieved to see that he has a few friends at NRC because he never talks about them whenever he comes home.⁴ In one scene, Jamil reminds her to wipe her hands before eating and gives her a wet wipe, and she huffs at him to not treat her like a child. Trey notes how well Jamil looks after her, but Cater thinks he is a little bit overprotective.

1. Main Story 4-36 2. Jamil Birthday PS 3. Jamil Dorm Uniform PS 4. Aleab Naria 3-4, 3-5, 3-7

Vil

Eric (father)

Vil’s father is an extremely famous actor and goes by the stage name Eric Venue. Even the Leeches’ father is a fan of some of his movies.¹ Vil has mentioned that his dad would come home dressed in special effects makeup & costumes every Halloween,² and also used to read him stories about the Beautiful Queen.³

1. Vil Scary Dress PS 2. Vil Scary Dress voice lines 3. Scary Monsters 3-2

Epel

Parents

Grandparents

Aunt & Uncle (uncle is biological)

Male Cousin

Epel’s family lives on an apple farm that’s been around for generations. They all live in the same house. His village is also made up of farmers, and they often help each other out during the busy season and have big barbecues together. It feels like they’re one big family.¹

His relatives often send him apples from home since they have such an abundance of them. They seem to have some business struggles; Epel taught himself how to beautifully carve apples when he was young because many were blemished and wouldn’t otherwise sell.² He has also mentioned wanting to make a potion that strengthens weak apple trees to make his grandpa happy.³

Besides Epel, his grandma and great-grandma are the only ones in the family who can use magic.⁴ They ride brooms to pick apples that are too high to reach on foot. Epel wanted to help them when he was little so everyday he would get on a broom and try hopping up and down, and then one day it worked! Ever since then he’s helped with that task as well.

1. Epel Birthday PS 2. Epel School Uniform PS 3. Epel Lab Coat voice lines 4. Epel Ceremony Robes voice lines / Birthday PS

Idia & Ortho

???

The Shrouds are a noble family and famous for some reason, but Idia has said that being from a noble family isn’t all that great.¹ When he was worrying about being seen at the entrance ceremony, he expected people might gossip about how he’s from “the cursed Shroud family,” and that he’ll “spread misfortune to them.”² At another time, he mentioned that the audience would be apprehensive about what kind of “weird research” he did if he had to present his research on stage.³

1. Idia PE Uniform PS 2. Idia Ceremony Robes PS 3. Main Story 5-3

Lilia, Malleus, Silver

Malleus’ grandmother

Lilia was one of the Queen of the Valley of Thorns’ most trusted soldiers when he used to fight for the royal family.¹ In Cater’s Lab Coat story, they created mandrakes that reflected parts of themselves, and Lilia’s was said to “carry the cry of a tragic hero.”

He has watched over Malleus “ever since he had an eggshell over his head.” An infant Malleus once singed Lilia’s bangs by breathing fire and Lilia was so proud that he raised a glass of tomato juice to him.²

Malleus is the heir to the Valley of Thorns, a descendant of the king “who rules over all creatures of the night,” and his only living relative is his grandmother, the current Queen of the Valley. He spent much of his childhood alone in the castle. He used this time to learn how to play all kinds of stringed instruments. His grandmother is so busy that she shouldn’t even have spare time to write him letters, but every year on his birthday, she sends him one without fail, along with rose seeds from the garden by their castle.³

Long after Malleus had grown up, both he and Lilia took in baby Silver for an unknown reason. Silver thought he was his biological dad when he was little, and continues to refer to him as “Father.” They lived deep in the forest in the Valley of Thorns before coming to NRC. Apparently Silver was very easy to take care of; he would fall right to sleep after eating Lilia’s homemade food.⁴

At one point, Sebek also became one of Lilia’s pupils. He and Silver are the only two from their generation living in the Valley.⁵ When they were little, Lilia would have them undergo training like soldiers, but then he realized he should raise them more like kids, and started making their training more fun. He had them play tag in forests crawling with beasts, hide and seek in vast deserts, and “the floor is lava” in the mountains of needles.⁶

1. Silver Ceremony Robes 2. Lilia PE Uniform PS 3. Malleus Birthday PS 4. Lilia Lab Coat voice lines 5. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 6. Lilia Birthday PS

Sebek

Parents

Older brother

Older sister

Grandfather

Sebek’s mother is a nocturnal faerie and his father is a human who works as a dentist. They met when his mother had an appointment at his clinic. She was immediately charmed and courted him despite her surroundings being against her marrying a human. Now, she works at the clinic as his assistant.¹

Sebek greatly respects his mother and raves about how she’s extremely gifted with magic and has a strong sense of justice. His opinion of his dad, on the other hand, is much different—his dad seems very loving and often showers his children in praises, sweets, and gifts, but it drives Sebek crazy. He doesn’t understand how his mother saw any appeal in him.¹

Since his parents were often busy with their clinic, Sebek spent his childhood running off to visit his grandpa, or fishing and playing in the water with his siblings. Based on the fact that Sebek and Silver were said to be the only ones in their generation living in the Valley,² his siblings are most likely considerably older than him.

All we know about his grandpa is that Malleus also knew him, and mentioned that Sebek shares his hot-blooded temper.³

1. Sebek Birthday PS 2. Sebek School Uniform voice lines 3. Scary Monsters event story

No current info: Rook

Last updated: July 27, 2021

#twst notes #misc lists

[silverthetheorist]

The end of L’manburg was disappointing (and why rollercoasters and fun)

I really wanted to like this war. I really did. And I did like many things (Which I will go through don't worry) but... Look, the event was not bad by any means. But this is the first big event that I can say was mediocre at worst and good at best. A solid 6/10 maybe (All other story arcs and events are from a 8/10 to 10/10), specially after the marvelous festival from yesterday. So let’s see first the things that worked: 

- FUNDY AND NICKY POPPED OFF. Them destroying the provisions before the start was great because it did not only made sense for their (Very tired of being sidelined and very tired of L’manberg’s bullshit) but it also had plot repercussion. In a story, for an action to be significant it has to have two things going for it: An emotional repercussion and a plot repercussion. This had both: Two og L’manburgian giving up on their nation and causing the L’maburg forces to be under-and I can’t stress this enough- very under prepared. In Eret’s case it is a lot harder to justify because her arc was never very consistent as I have said before. 

-The villains were very smart and intimidating. First the chose to attack L’manberg the day after the festival giving them little to no time to prepare. Second, they attacked earlier and devised a plan to cause the most destruction possible. Dream and Techno are many times smarter than many movie villains. 

-Tommy exposed Techno for the hypocrite and selfish pig he is. Good for him.

-Anything Ranboo does is gold of course. But, I think joining Phil is a bit of an iffy decision. For someone who doesn’t choose sides he surely chose the one that caused the most destruction and pain for all of his other friends. He is probably one of the most exciting people to watch in the future

-Tubbo jumping in front of Techno’s blast to protect Tommy (I do not want Tubbo to die because he is probs my favorite but that would have been a cool canon death). Tommy asking about Tubbo every 5 seconds. Both apologizing to each other and reuniting finally. Tubbo looking at everything he had built being destroyed, completely speechless. Tommy and Tubbo meeting Dream in the obsidian thing over L’manber. It had a weird final boss feel to it. I wish something had happened between the three there. Maybe a short fight or something. It was still cool.

So, yeah. There is a lot to like about the event. Now I have three main problems with this event: 

My first problem is that it all felt a bit... pointless. This reminded me a lot of the movie Captain America: Civil War. It was a great movie, but it did not have almost any consequences. In today’s event L’MANBURG WAS DESTROYED FOR GOOD THIS TIME and... it doesn’t feel like anything has changed at all. Tommy is still on about the disks even after everything he’s been through. Quackity is still... honestly I never know what is going on with him. Techno and Phil are still assholes and have all the power along with Dream. The badlands still haven’t done a thing (A shame). You can say that Wilbur is going to be revived, and yes that is pretty big, but he has been alive before (I actually love that he is being resurrected surprisingly, I’ll talk about it later). You can also say that L’manburg is gone now but... was it really there ever since Tommy was exiled considering everyone basically left?

It feels like we could have skipped everything after Wilbur blew L’manberg and everything would be the same. Like everything in between did not matter. Think of it, is there any major differences (Besides minor character changes) between the end of the Manberg vs Pogtopia war and now? Probably not many. This goes back to what I said in my first post: History is repeating itself a little to much. Another exile, another festival, another execution, another time L’manburg is destroyed. At least there is not going to be another election anytime soon. 

I think Tommy’s line to Techno that “You are repeating history but worse” is very ironic. The idea that history repeat itself is tempting and, when done efficiently can be amazing, but this was not the case. I cannot blame theme though, a “history repeats itself” story is very hard to write without feeling like you are repeating yourself. But they were so close. The Schlatt/Wilbur and Tommy/Tubbo parallels are a great example of it because it had the two things that a “History Repeats itself” plot needs: A new emotional background (The Tubbo/Tommy friendship breaking) and a final change (When both decide not to become like their predecessor). That’s right. You can argue that this war had a different emotional background but the end result was the seem. This type of stories are only satisfying if we see the change at the end, imagine how great it would have been if they managed to resolve their differences and truly unite against Dream and stop L’manburg from blowing up. 

That is my second problem. I am not against the idea of L’manburg ending for good. But it happened at a very random part of the story. L’manburg, the place that started it all perished because a pig felt betrayed by a friend and Dream was being his usual self. Compare this to the last time it blew up: A fallen hero destroying what he built because he wouldn’t let anyone else have it. It just doesn’t compare. And honestly, we are mostly sad that it is gone because of the first war, the election and the manberg vs pogtopia arcs. If the end goal of three months of storytelling is to destroy L’manburg, why did they spend three months showing how shitty it has become and how everyone left? This last point sections nicely to my last problem

My third and final problem is that it all seems a little samey. Now listen to me on this one. Do you know why the Deadpool movies are so effective at making you laugh? Because it mixes dramatic moments with comedy very well, each dramatic moment elevates the next joke and vice versa. It is also why Tommy’s lore streams are so good, when you juxtapose both drama and comedy it works very well. Like a rollercoaster, the fun comes from all the ups and downs. But can you truly say there were any up moments since the manberg vs pogtopia war. Not really, maybe some but nowhere new as good as the up moments in previous arcs and nowhere near as present. That is why this past three months feel very samey. It has been just constant dread and sadness with very few good moments storywise. Compare this to before when Wilbur was the main writer: Eret betrayed everyone and Dream blew up some of L’manberg, but they won the war and got their independence. Pog 2020 lost the election but Techno joined them and most people were secretly helping from the shadows. They got back L’manburg from Schlatt but Wilbur and Techno betrayed them. See how it has a great mixtures of ups and downs? Today’s event would have benefited from at least one ray of sunshine at the end, maybe a new piece of information returns, or Tommy and Tubbo have a final talk and resolver everything, or something nice for a change. (Wilbur being resurrected does not count, he traumatised everyone, I would not say that is a very happy thing, more of a mixed bag) 

But I don’t want come off as too negative. But now I am being cautious of the storyline. I think the next couple of stream are going to be key. There is still hope that some of these problems will be addressed. Even if they are not, the story will have suffered it’s first big dud (Which is a testament to how good and capable everyone is of telling a great story). 

PS: English not my first language. You know the drill. I am once again not sending hate to anyone ever. There is nothing wrong with criticizing what you love, I think it is kind of necessary in a weird way.

PS2: I also have hope because I believe that Wilbur is coming back as a writer. On a stream (When he saw Matpat’s theory) he said the was “not currently writing the story” which I found as very suspicious wording. That and Alivebur returning I think makes a pretty compelling case for his return as a writer, I don’t see him as the type of guy that would just return so that someone else would write his character. On another note I hope the current writer don’t feel pressured to follow Matpat’s theory just because he is a big youtuber. While not a bad theory by all means (As soon as Ghostbur said he wanted to be alive my first thought was Quackity and Schlatt) but I would prefer it if they were not manipulated by outside sources to make the story a certain way. 

PS3: I have other things I would like to cover. Mainly, I have three ideas for future essays: an analysis of the medium the smp storyline is being made and why it is harmful to it’s story (Specifically it’s eventual ending), a study of how Ranboo’s philosophy causes more harm than good and a “What if” essay of how many road the smp could have taken with it’s story after the manberg vs pogtopia war. I will probably do all three of them eventually but if anyone wants a specific one I can do it no problem. Also, if anyone wants to interact or give their opinions or criticize my ideas you are more than welcome to. I have no friends who are into mcyt and I love the back and forward of different opinions and ideas.   

#tommyinnit #tubbo #ranboo #quackity #wilbur soot #wilbur #dream smp #dream #fundy #nicky #nihachu #philza #techno #technoblade #mcyt #eret #ghostbur #l'manberg #l'manburg #SapNap

[outbythehighwind]

Tifa’s Fighting Style

One of the things that impressed me most about FF7R is Tifa Lockhart’s combat. Her mechanics were dazzling. Her combos left me awed. Her style was so realistic, but... what was it? Naturally, I did some digging, and happened to stumble across a blog where most of the work had already been done. So this post is courtesy of Flowerslightning, with thoughts and elaboration on my part. THANKS AND CREDIT TO THIS WONDERFULLY INSIGHTFUL BLOGGER (do check out her tumblr for more fantastic content).

First, let’s note that Tifa’s combat design is very much in the field of fighting games. To some degree at least, developers take inspiration from real-life arts. The style of Tekken’s Lei Wulong, for instance, is based on the Drunken First. Street Fighter’s Chun Li uses the model of Chinese Kenpo.

The FFVII devs - to my knowledge - have revealed nothing on Tifa’s inspired martial arts background. She adopted the monk style (the fisticuffs of FF-verse) from a traveler named Zangan. That’s all we know. She trained (obviously very hard) as his pupil for the 2 years between Cloud leaving Nibelheim and Sephiroth burning the town. Zangan then brought her to Midgar and continued his travels. The only path for discerning real-arts inspiration is through observing Tifa’s fights - though even such attempt is limited. Her style is not as straightforward as Lei’s or Chun Li’s. She seems to employ a mix of martial arts, specializing in the offense and using speed and dexterity to her advantage.

Here are the main styles that Flowerslightning deduced, supported by some of Tifa’s abilities.

1. Muay Thai [demonstrated by Somersault].

This is the known as the “Art of Eight Limbs” and is commonly referred to as “Thai boxing”. It differs from traditional kickboxing (which has its roots in Japan) most notably in being an 8-point instead of 4-point striking system. In other words, Muay Thai employs elbow and shin strikes in addition to kicks and punches. Tifa’s kicks, I would say, are actually more akin to kickboxing, for Muay Thai places emphasis on heavy kicks involving the shin bone. Yet her acrobatic style is very akin to the latter.

In addition to the key boxing techniques of both the Thai and Japanese art, Tifa’s elbow maneuvers provide further evidence for the former. This is most evident during her fight with Loz, where she uses her elbows for offense and defense. One could say she expanded her Thai-based skills during in the 2 years that followed saving the world.

Running a new bar and raising two under-10-year-olds would have left at least a... smidgen of free time, right?

2. Muay Thai [demonstrated by Refocus].

Some may suggest this move of Tifa’s is a Taekwondo technique (we’ll get to that lovable sport soon, don’t you worry), but I agree with Flowerslightning in that her jumping style is more Muay Thai. Almost all Muay Thai techniques use movement of the entire body, rotating the hip with each kick, punch, elbow and block. This to me is the obvious discerning factor. Tifa exquisitely throws her whole body into the majority of her combos and limit breaks, ground and aerial alike. Specifically through that neat hip rotation. Refocus is but one example of many.

PS. Don’t you just love her boots? The gloves are really something but, those red boots... Just look at them.

3. Taekwondo [shown in Overpower].

Literally the “Way of the Hand and Foot”, this is a Korean martial art set apart by its emphasis on kicks. Head-height kicks, jump spin kicks, swift kicks, the list goes on. (But of course, there’s plenty of hand blocking and take-downs too.) Did you know that Taekwondo is part of South Korea’s military training program as well as their national sport? Its skillset is heavy in self-defense.

Tifa is mostly an offensive attacker (and wow, do her strikes deal devastating damage). Yet her aerial maneuvers and acrobatic footwork certainly have elements of Taekwondo. What makes the Taekwondo kick-style unique is its elaborate, advanced forms. Xtreme 720s, for instance, are underpinned by precise technical soundness and accuracy.

Yes, these are literal 720° mid-air turns with a SERIES of kicks timed in utmost precision. They require extraordinary strength. Something Tifa deceptively pulls off with ease, no?

4. Hēi-Hǔ-Quán [displayed in Starshower].

Flowerslightning deduces this ATB ability to be a Boxing combo. Though to me it looks more like Hēi-Hǔ-Quán (lit. ‘Black Tiger Fist’, a Shaolin striking art from China). Watch her hands closely: the thumbs are curled like the fingers rather than wrapped around them to form a fist. Tifa’s wide stances and acrostic kicks are a little less tiger-esque than Hēi-Hǔ-Quán, but there is definitely resemblance of the style there too.

All in all, she seems to employ a mixture of Shaolin arts and Boxing. Her finger-positions for fast jabs (as in Starshower and the Loz fight) are predominantly of the Tiger Fist. Her more powerful strikes, meanwhile, include Boxing crosses, hooks and uppercuts. The sewer cutscene demonstrates this clearly, when Tifa & Cloud encounter the Sahagin.

And damn, do we love the back-to-back Cloti in that scene. Surely I’m not just speaking for myself here.

5. Boxing [displayed in Unbridled Strength].

Tifa’s aforementioned fist moves and powerful finishing punches are no doubt reminiscent of boxing. Also, she always enters a fight with her fists closed in a boxing stance (whether she will employ Shaolin or other hand techniques is irrelevant). Take her cutscene against the Whispers where she, Cloud and Aerith arrive at Sector 7. She begins with a cross and follows with a rotated hook - one of the most basic boxing combos.

BONUS FACT: Rather than orthodox, Tifa always employs a southpaw stance (right hand and right foot forward). This is the preferred stance of a left-hand fighter. Is Tifa left-handed? Considering her fighting alone, yes is the plausible assumption. Here are a few examples:

     - Unbridled Strength has her delivering a finishing blow with her left hand. We would expect such a move to be done with the power hand.

     - Her single strike that hurls Loz across the church is also with the left hand. This punch is not part of a combo; she could have used either hand.

     - In guard position, her left is the rear hand, to both attack and protect herself.

     - And of course, in southpaw stance, she always begins with a left-hand strike.

However, all of Tifa’s general actions (to my observance) - like bartending, catching Aerith in the sewer, carrying the Buster Sword into Corneo’s quarters, etc. - suggest that she is right-handed. So why use the left, the weaker, as her dominant hand in fighting? Could she actually be ambidextrous? That is a possibility. But weighing up the evidence in addition to Tifa's ingenuity, this could well be out of fighting strategy.

Southpaw can give Tifa a strategic advantage, you see, because of the tactical and cognitive difficulties her enemies would have of coping with a fighter who moves in a mirror-reverse of the norm. In other words, she takes advantage of the fact that most fighters lack experience against lefties. Doing this:

     - opens up chance for a variety of surprise combos;

     - puts her human enemies in danger of KOs by what would otherwise be ordinary strikes; and

     - enables her to trick her opponents should she unexpectedly convert to orthodox during fights.

Pretty damn awesome, huh?

6. Gymnastics [dodging maneuvers].

Gymnastics, like fighting arts, enhances balance, strength, flexibility and agility - the four areas Tifa excels at. Now, we’ve talked a lot about her strong points. But what of her weaknesses? Players will have noticed immediately that Tifa has a major setback. She can accurately be described as a glass cannon, due to her low HP and defenses that counter-balance her speed and dexterity. That is precisely what makes playing as her so compelling; you get that sense of life or death intensity. The fight feels REAL. She is the least OP character in the party, in addition to by far being the most difficult to master. Utilized properly, she can be the strongest of them all. And wow, is that rewarding or what?

Because of her weak defenses, Tifa must constantly remain on the move, and gymnastics is the quintessential means in doing so. Hand springs, aerial cartwheels - you name it, she’s got it. As if those kicks and uppercuts don’t scream epic enough already. Doesn’t it just make her even MORE amazing?

So I’ve added Hēi-Hǔ-Quán to Flowerslightning’s conclusion: that Tifa’s combat is Mixed Martial Arts, with her dominant skills as Kickboxing, Taekwondo and Muay Thai. And of course, the interweaving of Gymnastics, which adds an elegance to her epic kickassery.

Tifa lost her teacher after just two years, and spent the last five managing & running a bar, serving as AVALANCHE’s funder & treasurer, and effectively solo-raising Barret’s little daughter. Add two more years, and we have a completely absent Barret, a very sick child in addition to the one she is (now permanently) raising, and a depressed, distant Cloud who has left her to struggle as a solo barkeep, full-time nurse and single mother. How on earth did she find the time and will to master her fighting techniques?

Yes, we are talking about fiction, but this woman is nothing short of incredible. Not simply as a fighter - that isn’t even the start of it. Tifa is, to me, the character who has had it the hardest. Yet she perseveres. And not only that, but she gives. She gives and gives, and doesn’t give up, even when everyone else around her has. In addition, she is the only ‘ordinary’ member of the party: Cloud, on top of military training, had his senses enhanced with Mako & Jenova cells; Barret literally has a gun for an arm; and Aerith as the last Cetra possesses exceedingly strong magic. Tifa, like with everything she does, worked hard to hone her skills. And that, to me, is incontestably admirable.

As Flowerslightning put it, she was “ready to go through hell and yet still remain soft”. And those virtues she held to, where most people would have quit. Compassion and perseverance to the end, the two traits that uphold her - to me - as the most inspiring hero of fiction.

#my analyses #tifa lockhart #combat #ff7 remake #ff7 advent children

[thegame-r-boy]

A New World Awaits: A Short Review Of The Commercial Success, Called PlayStation Virtual Reality (or PSVR)

As many as you know, Virtual Reality (or VR in short) had it’s hayday in the middle of the 90’s of the previous century. It was tried out by many companies, but it failed very miserable - I’m talking about you, Virtual Boy! It gave you serious headaches and nausea when you were using your VR for a longer time. Hence, therefore came the saying “Don’t play too long or you will strain your eyes!” Yeah, right ...

It took us almost more than two decades to wait before companies tried it for a second time with VR. Occulus, Microsoft and Sony. These three companies are the first that come to my mind when I’m talking about something that is not real. The Sony PS VR came out in 2016 and was sold for about 400 $. It wasn’t cheap for the time, nor it is today, in 2021, but in the store where I got mine (it’s the same store I’ve got my Nintendo Switch in 2017!) it was selled for roughly 300 €. That’s almost as much as my PS4 Pro costed me in 2020. I’m going to tell you how I got this device and review it for you, so you get a feeling of if it’s worth it or not.

So on Saturday, the 24th of April 2021, my and my GF @aquamoon33 went from here living place in southern part of Slovenia to our capital, Ljubljana or specifacally the industrial zone, near BTC. First, we went to IKEA, were there was a lot of things to see, and then we went further to the Big Bang store.

We first got our eyes on the new PlayStation 5. It looked absolutely massive! But unfortunately, we had no clue on how to use this kind of device. We were playing the new Astro Robot game on it, and after almost 10 minutes found out, that you have use your motion skills to actually move your character! Can you believe it?! I felt so ashamed, almost like a boomer or such. But after that, we went further to the PS4 stand, where there was a VR machine on it.

My gf was brave enough to use it first. There was a game, called Drive Club VR and the game was quite fast. You have to make fast turns from left to right. Before there was a huge right turn, she did not only used here hands, BUT also her body, which would’ve meant she would have to fall directly down, on the floor - if it wasn’t for me, who stood directly by her side, so I could block her fall before she even touched the ground.

She looks like a movie prop from a music spot, where Daft Punk is playing xD

After she was finished, I’ve put the glasses on. And OH MY GOD - WHAT A RELIEF! First, I was a bit “woody” while playing Drive Club VR, but after a while, when I got the hang of it, I was quite good. Indeed good! Okay, I wasn’t first, but still, I felt WIDELY awake from that moment on. In contrast to my girlfriend @aquamoon33 , I had no headaches, nausea or other akward feelings. Keep in mind that a night before our trip, I had a hard time falling asleep, just because the matress had a big hole in it (her brother, who was quite fat for thath time period, made it’s tool I guess). Because of that sensation, I was immidiately so impressed, that I just had to buy it! I know, It was an impulse buy, which doesn’t happen often in my life, but still, it was definetely worth it!

Fast forward to two/three days later, and I’m telling you, how this system looks like. I’ve bought it in separated cash, costed me almost as much as my PS4 Pro, but still, every cent was definitely worth it. When I got home at the end of the weekend, I wanted to connect it to my PS4 Pro and TV. And that was the time I wasn’t thinking so much about. There are exactly 12 cables around my devices. That’s is A LOT! But on the other hand you have to understand that this device was made in 2016, when cables were something more common than by todays standards. Here’s what I got:

The whole package

Picture taken from top (it was from a dusty warehouse, therefor don’t mind the scuffs and dust)

What the headset looked like

And how it looked like from the front.

This is how I managed to stick that little device for the VR set onto my PS4 Pro. Great, isn’t it?

And this is the bill I had to make - luckily I’ve bought it in times of Spring Sale - in order to get the 6 games for this device (Superhot VR, Gran Turismo VR, Dirt Rally VR, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Tetris Effect and Job Simulator). I’ve also got a PlayStation VR Worlds digital bundle included, but apart from the game London Heist, there is really nothing special to it. That’s how less of a price I’ve paid:

This is all I had to pay. Quite cheap, ain’t it?

The first game I started on my PS4 Pro was Farpoint, which I got for free on a Playstation Now subscription service and - OH MY GOD, IT BLEW ME AWAY!! It didn’t take that long, but after about 5 minutes while I was playing, my hands started to sweat. Really sweat! Now I know exactly how @aquamoon33 must’ve felt when she’s nervous while gaming. The graphics are really impressive. And the planet you are onto is just gorgeous!

In fact, I got a bit carried away - and inspectively ANALysed too much! xD

But when it came to combat, there was no time for having fun! In fact, I shrieked a bit when the first “headcrab” got onto me! :S

And then I’ve played some London Heist and had some fun with my brothers, who are not gay or they just don’t like my cigarrette! xD

I’ve also played with some Dirt Rally VR, which is BY MY FAVOURITE GAME OF THIS YEAR SO FAR!

Here is a glimpse of my second, more serious playthrough:

Overall, I’m quite happy with the PS VR that I’ve bought. Nevertheless, the PS4 (Pro’s) aren’t current gen anymore, so to find peripherals that’s aren’t as common as they were in the time when this system was current gen (this is the PS5 by now). I was literally over-the-roof- excited to try this thing out. And my expectations were met. Some, at least. Okay, the graphics aren’s as sharp as they are with the Occulus Rift, there are quite a bit of cables laying around, the headset could be tirring at time. But the fact that you feel like you are directly in the game, the quite reasonable price and the ammount of fun you get by playing a huge selection of games you have on offer (they’re still making games for this system, today!) are worth IMO.

Virtual Reality is a good thing to get to know better. It’s a gateway of finding your true inner feelings and conceptions. And for a long time, I’m just really greatful to be a part of it.

9.0 / 10

The Good:

- Reasonable price

- A huge selection of games to play

- Some exclusives (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Astro Bot, etc.)

- If you are like me and don’t feel any nausea, headaches, etc.

- A new way of playing your favourite games

- A good device to expand and forfill your driving skills

The Bad:

- Quite a lot (twelve, to be exactly!) of cables laying around your PS4 (Pro)

- Isn’t that cheap as it could be

- Not so great graphics

- Get’s kind of sweaty after some playing time

#thegamerboysays #gaming #console #slovenian #VR #PlayStationVR #PlayStation4 #PlayStation4Pro #Feedback #Review

[mr--clown]

"Don't lose your head!"

Request: Arthur/Joker with a reader who suffers from frequent migraines.

For you, @tsukiakarinobara

A/N: Man, I don’t know what the hell I did, I promise I was trying to do something here.

I’m so sorry about this, I don’t think this is what you were expecting, but I had to try lol. You are such a sweet person and always support my shitty posts, so I wanted to try and do something special for you…. ♥️Hope you like it 😆😅😝🤗 (PS: I can’t call it a “fan fic”, nor headcanons; it is like a Frankenstein ☹️)

Also, English is not my first language, so sorry if this looks like it was written by a 5 y/o dummy 💩

I thought you’d like something fluffy, so I tried to keep it all cool, but I ended up adding some obscenities because you know, “sexy jokes alwaze funny”

Arthur:

Words: 530

The first time you had a migraine in front of Arthur, he thought you were about to die. 

So, he came over and asked a million times what was going on; feeling nervous to see you grimacing so hard.

You told him that you were okay, and asked him to please turn down the volume of the TV.

"What else do I do, Y/N?!?" He asked in dismay, afraid of making a mistake that could take your life away.

You explained to him that all you needed was a more "quiet" environment:

"We just have to wait for it to pass, Artie. And soon all th... Fuck! Fuck!.....I'm sorry, it's just ... Fuck, I feel like my head is going to explode."

You complained, unable to contain your screams, almost crying from the pain.

Arthur got incredibly nervous and stood in a corner, looking at you and hugging a pillow to comfort himself.

"Do you feel better, Y/N?"

He muttered every five minutes, scared, which only made your headache scream with a little more intensity.

Anyway, after a few days, Arthur would investigate all the things he can do to make you feel better during migraines; he would look in the newspapers and ask his counselor; writing down every detail in his journal under the title:

"Helpful indicashins to rileeve her mygrain migraine"

The next time he sees you rubbing your temples, he kicks off without thinking:

"Y/N, you have to lie down and breath deeply"

He says authoritatively, making sure you lie flat on the couch.

Then, he turns off every light that dares to be on in the house, and closes the curtains in a hurry as if he were Nicole Kidman in "The Others".

The panic he feels makes him forget half the indications, so he checks his journal several times.

"Wait, wait for me here! Don't panic, honey! I won’t let your head explode!"

He "soothes" you as he goes to the fridge.

You stare at him in surprise, laughing slightly at his exaggerated anguish:

"Arthur, what are you doing, baby?

"Cold compresses are good to ease your pain, I read it in the newspaper"

He assures as he places an icy bag of peas on top of your head, with his noticeably trembling hands.

Putting your hand on his, you lower the bag a little to place it on your forehead:

"Thanks, Artie"

You smile at him tenderly, making him sigh, relieved and proud of himself.

He keeps looking at you and smiling peacefully, sitting on the couch, next to your legs; stroking your hair with his clumsy but caring fingers.

The place is so dark and quiet thanks to him; your pulsating head is infinitely grateful for the complete silence that exists at that moment until Arthur shatters it without intention:

"I don't speak because I must remain silent, Y/N"

He explains with a straight face, fully believing what he says.

"Thanks, Artie, that helps me a lot."

You mutter, stroking his arm and immersing yourself in the quiet peace that begins to reign the place again.

"I can't ask you how you feel either, I have to wait until you tell me" He states.

Internally, he’s dying to know if you’re better and he won't stop until he's sure about it.

"Very well, I'll keep you informed, my love"

You say, closing your eyes, trying to enjoy the silence that floods the room after those last words, wishing the world could stay like this for a good while longer, but no:

"That's what my counselor said"

He breaks the peace and continues between laughter, imitating his counselor's voice with a screeching 'amazingly disturbing' tone:

"And please try not to disturb her by talking too much, Arthur."

Art is certainly not the best doctor, but he would do anything just to see you smile.

With Joker all this would be less complex.

Joker:

Words: 450

He has spent a lot of time in Arkham, so he knows perfectly well what a migraine is.

"Lie down here, honey"

He orders you with his slightly hoarse voice, while with his arm, he helps you put your head against his chest.

You don't know if what you hear is his heartbeat or just the annoying pangs in your head.

When he touches your cheek, he realizes how hot you are, so he runs to the freezer and, to your surprise, he brings an ice pop.

"My poor angel, you must be running a fever, cause you're so fucking hot"

He smiles like a depraved as he acts like he's taking your temperature by tenderly rubbing his cheek against yours.

"Is it because of your migraine?... Or is it because of me?........ Don't lie, doll, you know punishment is always painful when you lie"

He whispers in your ear with such an impish tone, that it makes you shiver instinctively.

He removes the wrapper of the icy pop with his teeth and licks every inch of the frozen snack with his eyes closed, making sweet moans just to provoke you.

His closed eyes allow you to see Joker’s long half-white eyelashes in full detail, flickering slightly due to how focused he is on the task at hand.

And the movements of his tongue inevitably remind you of other things Joker is adept at.

He opens his eyes to see you and tilts his face like a puppy:

"What? You want a lick of my lolly, don't you? My huge red lolly?"

He teases and starts scrubbing the sticky ice pop on your forehead, on your cheeks, on your chin and slides it uncontrollably down your neck; "Joker, what are you..."

"Ah-ah!...You said you needed silence during migraines. Don't you remember, my little rose?..."

He scolds, placing his thin index finger nimbly on your splattered lips:

"What is this? Are you dripping for me, filthy girl?"

Carefully, he takes your head in his hands and begins to sweep your entire face with his tongue, gently and slowly, he does it in such a gratifying way that it makes you feel a strange relief due to the pressure of his fresh papillae against your warm skin.

He sucks on your cheeks like a vacuum cleaner and even bites them a little, leaving his crooked smile marked on you.

The whole feeling is glorious, your pain is slowly overcome by the endorphins that his refreshing strawberry flavored breath forces you to produce.

Joker is more effective than any pill and knowing it, makes his ego throb with joy... Well, his ego and something bigger.

#someone like teach me please sksks #arthur fleck x you #arthur fleck #arthur fleck x yn #arthur x reader #arthur fleck fanfic #arthur fleck/reader #joker #carnival #joker fandom #joker movie #joaquin pheonix joker #joaquin phoenix #headcanon #fanfic #clownfuckers #clown daddy #joker imagine #joker x reader #request #migraine #honk honk #funny #mr clown

[mercieshana]

Viagra Prank pt.2 (Jungkook x Reader)

Writer’s note: Hey y’all. I know it’s been a minute. Your girl has been mad busy, but I’m back with my first ever pt.2 to a story! I hope it’s to y’alls liking cause I had you guys waiting for quite some time. If you guys have any more requests or whatever lemme know, cause I might need some inspiration!! Lemme know if you liked it! Toodles and enjoy!! Ps. Check out pt.1 on my blog and I also have a masterlist (link in my description)

Word count: around 2600 words

Summary: Jungkook goes from being just your best friend you had never viewed as a dude to a “sex god” and continues his pursuit on your body, after you mixed some viagra into his smoothie! (issa smut btw lol, I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that didn’t end up turning into a smut lol) 

There you were, trapped against the wall, yet again, with Jungkook’s peering eyes looking down at you from above. You glanced up to meet his gaze and encountered yet another expression that you had never seen before.

“I said, we aren’t done with you yet,” he repeated, ripping you out of your trance.

“What more do you want?” you folded your arms over your chest, trying your best to hold on to the little self control you had left.

“I want all of you, (Y/N),” he looked you up and down and then licked his lips in an animalistic manner.

Your face heated up and you turned your face away, so he wasn’t able to see the effect he was still having on you. You hated that he had you in the palm of his hands.

“What if I say no?” you asked, knowing damn well you wanted him right there between your legs.

“No isn’t an answer I’ll accept,” he smirked, “especially when I know that your panties are soaked, (Y/N).”

One of his hands crept down to your upper thigh and both of your hands immediately moved to stop him.

“You don’t want me to see how wet you are?” he licked his lips and oh my god did he look sinful. His raven hair dangling in front of his eyes, contrasting the milky white skin of his completely exposed body.

“I’m not wet!” you stated.

“Then why can’t I see?” he asked, “it’s cause you know I’m right.”

“Fuck you! You don’t have an effect on my body at all! You don’t make me wet and you sure as hell cant make me cum!” you shouted and something made Jungkook’s face light up with excitement.

“Come with me,” he grabbed your arm and even though you were letting out a string of protests, he dragged you into his bedroom and tossed you onto the bed roughly.

Your skirt had hiked up all the way, exposing your innocent, white panties that had a blue bow attached to them.

“Cute panties, babygirl,” Jungkook replied, mocking you and your taste in underwear, after he locked the door.

“Why are you locking the door?” you asked nervously, inching away from him and further towards the headboard, as he began to eye and corner you like a predator does it’s prey.

“Cause you’re not going anywhere after challenging me like that,” he walked over to his dresser, dick still standing tall and proud as he began searching for something. You took this time to quickly scan your best friend’s bedroom that you had been in countless times, but now it seemed almost unfamiliar, just like your best friend that was showing you a completely different side of himself.

“Give me your hands,” he commanded, ripping you out of your train of thought. You glanced over at him and he was holding a pair of handcuffs. Shocked you began to move away further and further, with him following closely behind you. You jumped off the bed and made a run for the door. Maybe he didn’t lock it right and maybe it would somehow open if you yanked it strong enough, but no matter how many times you pulled on the door handle, the door wouldn’t budge.

“Give it up, (Y/N),” his voice echoed in your ears, he was standing right behind you. You wanted to run to another corner of his room, but just as your feet were beginning to take off you heard something tare. Surprised you looked down and you realized that Jungkook had been holding on to your skirt, so when you started to run it ripped off, leaving you with less armor against this hungry beast.

Your hands instinctively covered your panties and Jungkook laughed, “I’ve already touched your pussy and seen your panties, no need to hide.”

You felt so embarrassed, but all of this was turning you on so much, you didn’t know what to do with yourself. Before you could make another run for it Jungkook grabbed you and cuffed you to the headboard of his bed. He saw you struggle and he was nothing less than amused by it.

“Let me go,” you demanded and Jungkook smiled.

“What did I tell you about making demands, baby?” his fingers began to undo your blouse and you couldn’t do anything to fight him, the handcuffs clanking loudly. He unbuttoned your white blouse completely and then pushed up your white bra.

“(Y/N), you’re so cute and innocent with your white clothing and your small tits,” he chuckled and you felt like he was making fun of you.

“I’m not,” you countered, blushing when he ran a hand over your nipples.

“So you said I couldn’t get you wet or make you cum, huh? We will see about that,” he smirked at you before lowering his head and attacking your breasts with his mouth. 

First, he let his tongue dance around the sensitive skin of your nipples before sucking one into his mouth, while rolling the other sensitive bud between his index finger and thumb. Your head flew back and hit one of the many pillows. What was this sensation you were feeling? You had never ever felt like this before. You had been with another guy in the past, but he didn’t even care about satisfying you; he had you give him oral and then he fucked you roughly, before discarding you later on, but what Jungkook was doing felt good - different. You could hardly hold back your moans and he was only playing with your boobs. He smirked up at you when he realized you were slowly beginning to struggle with concealing the obvious pleasure you were experiencing. He began to kiss his way down your body while still palming your right breast. He started by peppering kisses from your nipples down to your ribcage, along the smooth skin of your stomach and down your abdomen. You pressed your legs together when he was approaching the spot you needed him at the most. The handcuffs started clanking loudly when he met your watchful gaze with his hungry eyes and slowly, but surely spread your legs. Your teeth sunk even further down into your bottom lip, when his lips met the inner flesh of your thighs, teasing the area close to your center, leaving purple and pink marks behind on his journey to your sex. You were soaking wet and you hated it, but he was making you feel so good. How was your best friend doing this to you? Your mind couldn’t comprehend a single thing, the pleasure he was gifting unto you was nearly too much to handle. No guy had ever made you feel this good. Suddenly, you realized he had hooked his fingers on either side of your panties and was about to pull them down.

“N-no,” you let out almost inaudibly. You didn’t even have the strength to fight him anymore. Your resolve was withering and pleasure, want and desire were starting to take over your body.

“Are you already giving up? Where is your string determination from before?” he liked toying with you and he made you want to punch him, but the cuffs were holding you back.

“Shut up-,”your words were interrupted by his.

“It’s alright, we don’t have to take them off right now,” you heard him say before pulling your panties, the last bit of fabric that was separating you and him, to the side and licked a stripe up your drenched core. A string of loud moans escaped your lips and you had completely given up fighting these feelings that were threatening to take over. Jungkook stopped to take a look at you and was he was met with was a lustful and lewd expression he had never seen on his best friend before and he wished he could take a picture of it, so he could hold on to this moment forever.

“You’ve given up?” he smirked, biting his bottom lip.

“Just shut up and and make me cum,” you commanded.

This time Jungkook didn’t say anything smart back and just went back to work. He dragged his tongue up and down your slit, paying special attention to your clit, before dipping his tongue inside of you teasingly. Your body was reacting to his every touch and you were unable to hold back your moans and squirms, but you also had no intention of concealing how good he was making you feel any longer. His tongue was giving you so much pleasure and you couldn’t help but move your hips against his tongue, begging him for more. He didn’t hesitate to push one and then later two of his fingers inside of you while still pleasuring you with his tongue and he was inching you closer and closer to your high, which he knew and could feel. He pulled his fingers out and removed his tongue, earning a string of complaints from you.

“Wait baby. I’ll give you something better than my tongue and my fingers,” he promised, leaving the bed to go find a condom which he rolled onto himself before returning to the bed. You were laying there waiting in anticipation and you didn’t know how to feel about Jungkook. He was your best friend and always had been, but you never really had viewed him as a guy and thought of him strictly as a friend. Now the image that you had of Jungkook was completely destroyed. He was no longer the innocent cute best friend of yours that watched you from the sidelines - no - he was now the sexy mature and assertive sex God that you wanted to know way more about. Your time to think was cut short when you felt him rub against you. You guys were about to take it to the next level and there was surely no going back after everything that had and was going to happen. Your image of Jungkook would forever be changed. 

He slipped inside of you with ease and immediately began to stretch out your sweet walls. It was a sensation you really had never felt before. A painful one at first, as he was quite large and you had a bit of expanding to do, but once you were able to really accommodate him, the pain as swiftly substituted by pleasure. His hands were digging into your thighs, as he was steadily fucking into you and you couldn’t help, but moan loudly, egging him on. Your eyes were on him for a second, but when his fiery, lusty and dark gaze met yours it was nearly electric and as if you had been shocked you averted our eyes, the energy between the stares you two were exchanging would have been powerful enough to send you over the edge if your eyes had rested on his a moment longer. His dick was rubbing right against your sweet spot and that feeling in combination with his intense, longing gaze and grunts was driving you insane. But you were not the only one that was being plagued with this passionate desire and pleasure, you could feel his body heat up even more and hear his low grunts. A strong hand wrapped itself around your throat and you jumped a bit when it started to squeeze a bit, limiting your air intake. 

“Look into my fucking eyes, (Y/N). Look at how much i want you and look at what you are doing to me,” he growled and you took a peek at him. 

“You’re turning me into this animal that only craves you,” he stated, strands of his raven hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, as he was devouring you with his eyes.

“Your pussy is so tight and it feels so great,” he exclaimed, “(Y/N), you don’t know how long I’ve been wanting- longing for this.”

You felt him change up the position a bit, lifting your legs up a bit more, so your knees were around the same height as your shoulders, your hands still bound to the bed by the handcuffs he put on you earlier. He pushed into you again and both of you let out a loud moan. He was reaching so deep inside of you now, you felt like his dick was far enough inside of you to tickle your heart. 

“Fuck!” he shouted and you were so drugged with pleasure that you could not even form a single sentence. All that escaped your lips were sounds of pleasure while he was buried deep inside of you, his head resting right next to yours with him whispering dirty and needy things into the shell of your ear. He was making you feel so good that everything was starting to become overwhelming, you were holding on by a thread and so was Jungkook. That thread finally ripped when Jungkook’s hand slithered from your hair down to your sensitive bud between your legs and began to attack it. You could no longer stop yourself and with an especially loud moan and shaking legs you came, spiraling out of control and falling into the abyss of pleasure. With your whole body shaking, your tightness convulsing around him and your moans, Jungkook was also no longer able to hold on and swiftly followed you into the abyss, filling the rubber with his hot seed and collapsing right on top of you. For a few moments the two of you were just laying there, trying to regain your breath and taking in what had just happened. After the two of you had recovered and somewhat digested the events that had unraveled, Jungkook got up and pulled out of you, disposing of the condom in the trash can right next to the bed. 

“So I can’t make you cum, huh?” Jungkook smiled mockingly, looking down at your small frame.

“Shut up you loser,” you rolled your eyes, wanting to punch him, but you realized you were still being restrained by the cuffs.

“Ummmmm, could you un-cuff me, Kookie?” you asked.

“Hmmm, I don’t know who you are calling Kookie... my name is Daddy”, he said, feigning innocence, when he was met by your gaze.

Your eyes nearly popped out of your head. Who did that dude think he was? Well, he was most definitely the guy that had given you the most mind-blowing orgasm you’d ever experienced, you answered your own question in your head. You scanned him up and down, had he always been this sexy?

“You better call me by my name and then we can go get something to eat..lol I already know we are gonna be here all night, cause you never wanna listen,” he started to retrieve his clothing and began getting dressed. 

Food?! Now if that wasn’t tempting.

“Please release me, Daddy,” you whispered and caught him totally off guard.

He looked at you and then at his erection in his pants. Jungkook secretly had a thing for you all along and now you were calling him DADDY?!

“Let’s get food later,” he stripped all of the clothes, he had just put on himself, off in one quick motion. 

Who was this horny beast stuck inside of your best friend? Where were things going to go from here? Were you two going to try and date? What did he want? Wait, what did you want? There were so many unanswered questions, but all you managed to say was... 

“Un-cuff me for this round, daddy.” 

Wink ;-P 

The End.

#BTS jungkook #jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook scenarios #bts #bts smut #kpop #kpop fanfiction #kpop smut #kpopsmut #kpop scenarios

[expresstheobsession]

Tokoyami x Reader ; Reality

I was slightly carried away by this one. I hope you enjoy it! Sorta tempted to do a part 2. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing how it turns out! 

ps thanks for requesting ☽

#117  “Be my fake boyfriend/girlfriend/partner!”

Word Count: 1351 | Warnings: None

You paced back and forth, dreading the conversation you knew your mom would try to have. 

It was summer and that usually meant spending time with family, which is great, but your mom was obsessed with you having a boyfriend. She didn’t want her daughter to end up alone just because your quirk was a little odd. 

So, to counteract this, you told her you did in fact have a boyfriend. You didn’t stop there. No. You made the situation much worse by saying that he was coming to visit this weekend, completely forgetting this is the weekend you planned to go to your parents. 

You knew she would ask you to bring him, saying that he came all that way to spend time with you and it was just rude to leave him at home. She would beg until you eventually gave in.

The phone rang and your heart dropped. You had to tell her that he broke your heart, make up a tragic love story. Unrequited? No, that doesn’t fit. Death? No, too harsh. Better off as friends? Common, but effective. 

“Mom,” You chirped, finally answering the call. 

“I’ve got some good news.” She stated, not giving you a chance to smash her hopes and dreams. “Your father and I have set up the guest room for your friend! I know it hasn't been used in years, but let me tell you it looks great! I finally got rid of the dust bunnies!” 

“Mom.”

“We are just so glad he is coming in on our weekend. It’s a perfect way to meet the boy you have been dating for months!” 

“Wait, Mom.” 

“I’m proud of you, Y/N. You have done so well for yourself and I just know this boy, whoever he is, will make you so happy. I was so worried about you, with that quirk, but look at you. You are amazing, baby, and I’m glad someone finally noticed.” She finished, her voice cracking from emotion. 

How were you supposed to break her heart now?

“He’s great, Mom. I plan on keeping him around for a long time,” you mumbled. You couldn’t do it. You would just have to figure out a way to fix this. You could always try dating apps. People would do anything for a bit of cash, right? 

“What’s his name, dear? You’ve been so secretive about him. I just want a little to prepare with.” She pried a little more. 

Her question sent you into a quick panic that determined how your weekend would go. “Uh, well.” You thought back to all the names you’ve heard recently, somehow coming up blank on one that would actually work. “It’s, uh, Tokoyami!” You called out, seeing him walk by the open doorway. 

Almost instantly your hand came up to cover your mouth. You were too late, both parties heard you loud and clear. 

“Tokoyami? That sounds familiar. Are you sure I haven’t met this boy before?” Your mother questioned. 

Tokoyami stood leaning against the door now, certainly intrigued about your conversation. Truth was, your mother had met Tokoyami. In fact, she’s met him several times while visiting UA. 

“Uh, yeah, about that. Mom, he goes to UA. Uh, I was just nervous to tell you?” The last bit came out like a question.

Your cheeks were a deep crimson now as you glanced up at the boy in question. Tokoyami was silent, as usual, but his eyes told of his curiosity. Could he hear both sides of the conversation? You weren’t sure how good his hearing was, but by the look on his face, he’s heard something. 

“Oh! The Jet-Black Hero!” Your mom called out, proud of herself for remembering. “He’s a sweet young man. You should have told us, Y/N. I would have hugged him a little harder last time we visited!”

You nodded your head before realizing you were still on the phone. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll see you this weekend and you can give all the hugs you want. I gotta go, I love you, bye!” With that you quickly hung up the phone. 

You turned around to face the wall, unsure of how to even approach this topic with Tokoyami. You were embarrassed beyond belief. It also didn’t help that you had a major crush on the boy. 

“Y/N? What was all that about?” His voice was deep, accusatory. 

You took a deep breath, muttering the words under your breath. Tokoyami couldn’t hear you so he asked again. This time you turned around to face him and said it a bit louder. “Be my fake boyfriend!” 

- 

The train ride was a little awkward, mainly because you were still uneasy after begging Tokoyami to tag along. Good news? Tokoyami is a sweetheart and agreed. Bad news? Your crush on Tokoyami was sure to be discovered. 

“So, how long have we been dating?” He asked, leaning back against his seat. 

The question caught you at a bad time and you instantly started to cough on the water you so desperately needed. Tokoyami patted your back, apologizing for causing such dismay. 

“Uh, a few months? I can’t remember when I first told my mom about having a boyfriend. She’s met you a few times since then I’m sure. We’ve been keeping it on the down low if she asks.” You picked at the string attached to your shirt. It’s not that you intentionally meant to be awkward. It was more of the fact that your crush had to be lovey dovey with you all weekend and you were not prepared in the slightest. 

“And how did it happen? I’m sure Mrs. L/N is going to want to know the details.” 

“My plan was to not answer any personal questions and blame it on you being antisocial,” you joked. 

Tokoyami laughed, “Well, that’s an option. If I was going to ask you out, it would be private and significant. Just our thing, ya know?”  His voice trailed off a little at the end, almost like he didn’t mean to tell you that part. 

Once arriving to the station, your nightmare began. 

“Y/N! Tokoyami! Over here!” You mother waved her hands through the air, almost resembling the inflatable man from the car shop up the street. 

The sign she held high and proud read, “prepare to be debriefed.” 

Too bad it was only Friday.

-

By the time Saturday rolled around, Tokoyami spent a lot of time with your father, often leaving on random store trips because your father ‘needed some one-on-one time.’ The thought alone was terrifying, but Tokoyami never complained.

 He held your hand throughout most of the day, not stopping when the two of you were alone. He helped your mother in the garden, plucking the dead leaves and helping her paint flower pots. Tokoyami even spent time with your younger siblings, answering all their questions about Dark Shadow.

Tokoyami wasn’t the best at social interactions, wanting more to isolate himself and stay away, but spending time with you was something he didn’t realize he wanted. Your family took him in and treated him as if he was one of them.

Maybe one day he would could be. 

-

When Sunday came, Tokoyami was determined to make your situation a reality. He was smitten and didn’t want your time together to end. He cherished the train ride home, talking to you about your hopes and dreams. It all matched up, Tokoyami could see the potential. 

“What are your plans for tonight?” Tokoyami asked, playing with the tips of your fingers. The action was pulling at your heartstrings. 

“Nothing really,” you mentioned. The thought of hanging out with Tokoyami after the fiasco this weekend was tempting. The weekend had been sweet, Tokoyami played his part as the doting boyfriend so well that you weren’t sure if it had slipped into realism along the way. 

Tokoyami spent the rest of the ride home planning something special. He had the perfect location, the perfect words to say, and the perfect partner. Tonight he would make you his, for real this time.

#maybe a pt 2? #tokoyami x reader #fumikage tokoyami #bnha tokoyami #bnha ships #bnha #bnha imagines #bnha scenarios #bnha writing blog #mha #mha tokoyami #mha ships #mha drabbles #mha imagines

[fluffynin]

I rolled my eye lights as the three humans bickered. When I had Kris tell them to explain the so-called "strengthening" system of these weapons... Well, all three came up with different answers.

Which, with thinking about Kris and I being technically the same being, but so different... Makes sense as we have confirmed all four of us Legendary Heroes come from different Japans, or worlds to be exact.

So why are they saying the other is lying?

"HEY, HEY! CALM DOWN! WE SHOULDN'T FIGHT!" Sansy floated over with Papy, both brothers pulling at the souls of Ren and Motoyasu to seperate the trio.

"yeah. we are kind of up a shit creek without... oh, wrong saying," Papy flinched as he corrected himself.

Huh? Why was... Oh, yeah. My job as the taxi of the River Maze. I wonder if I can still access that place with our current situation. At least if we can get back to the Void, we can vacate any other Gasters who have ended up in there to this world.

Not a fix, but should be way safer than the constant threat of Anomalies trying to eat whatever code they find. Plus, I rather put my trust in other versions of myself than whatever so-called "help" that lousy excuse of a king was gathering. At least if there are other scientists and doctors like Kris and me, we could look into these Waves of Catastrophe properly instead of the half-assed way these humans been doing with summoning who-knows-what and throwing the poor souls into what sounds an all out slaughter.

Which, oddly, looking at my fellow heroes, they are all so young. Sure, techinically I was once human, but I was at least around Kris's age of about 200 years or so, off a few decades since comparing his now Darkner appearance to what he properly is as a magic skeleton. These three never seen the horrors of war. Hell, with the methods they told me... It almost sounds like they never been in a real...

I clapped my hands together and everyone jumped.

"Huh? What?" I yanked on Kris's sleeve to get his attention to my hands

-I think I figured it out.- I signed and opened up the menus.

Each of the humans said they played a game with similar settings to this world. I, myself, love to play MMORPGs and even got pretty well set up in a guild that got pretty good.

Yet, if I use that as a reference, what if the enhancement methods the trio talked about was not of the games they played... But instead it was the best way of enhancement overall for how the world's operating systems worked.

I noticed glitching and a prompt came up with the question if I wanted to adjust my current and only shield: Small Shield

I confirmed and took in a calming breathe.

I was never really good at this, but I've always done it to myself to keep my LOVe at 1. Plus, I currently have a little EXP to spend from the Anomalies I took out before this mess, so it is worth a shot. All I'll lost is EXP which is a win for me either way.

I touched the gem on my shield and felt myself submerged within the depths of its inner being. A huge web of symbols and lines, almost all dulled out. I went to the one that was dimmly glowed more than the others.

I held out my hand with a spark and pushed into the light. The symbol went ablazed and the flames flickered down the lines to other symbols... And branched into new lines and new symbols. I felt a flood of warmth before my senses returned to reality.

"You okay, Iwatani-san?" Itsuki asked.

Ah, right. I always took much longer than Coordinators. A big reason I never did it to others for payment.

Yet, looking through the menus and manual...

Adjustments and transfering of EXP and LOVe to improve stats and such. As well as new branches that demand... Oh, skulls.

Just what is going on with this weird ass world.

Well, let's focus first on my discovery as Adjustments weren't the only thing added to my menu and manual.

"📖⏺" I let the text boxes float up from my mouth.

"Wha?" Motoyasu voiced the confusion on all three humans' faces. Though, even Kris had a high brow arced.

Seriously? We both speak Wingdings and he never spoke shorthand?

"n says the book records?" Papy translated. "o-kay?" The twin skulls looked at each other with worried looks.

Itsuki and Ren, however, had their eyes widened. Itsuki motioned the air and narrowed his eyes. He nearly fell when something happened on the interface only visible to himself and me.

"Oh! The manual records new stuff as we learn it!" Itsuki grinned. "None of us are wrong, but instead all right!"

"But how?" Ren grimanced at his own menus. "I don't get your methods would work to make our weapons stronger." I motioned to Kris.

"Different operating systems, one unit?" Kris asked with decipering my signs. Oh, good. Was a bit worried as our sign lanuages were a bit different with some words.

However, seemed that got the idea across for Motoyasu and Ren.

"So our weapons act like hardware that can take on various software." Ren said as he gotten a glitchy interface. " Wait... Could this be why we can't work together? Our weapons' original systems conflicts with the others?"

"It would explain why we defaulted to different set ups." Motoyasu crossed his arms. "So to make up for not able to work together, we can share our enhancement methods with each other to increase our strength."

I snapped my fingers and did jazz hands with a grin.

"But, what's your method?" I felt the ice in the trio's glares at me.

"We shared ours, yet you haven't said... Oh, right..." They flinched at my double birdie.

"My method is called Adjustment." Kris translated. "It's a bit hard to explain, so it would be easier if you let me do it. I'm not that good, but it should allow the better users of this the means to do it."

"Wait, this isn't a video game mechanic?" Itsuki asked with a raised brow.

"AH! THAT!" Sansy jumped. "YOU REALLY SURE YOU WANNA TRY ADJUSTING THEIR WEAPONS? THEY AREN'T-"

I tapped my shield's gem and signed.

"They are similar enough. I got it to work." Kris crossed his arms. "But what is this Adjustment thing, dear brother." Kris gave me the "Dad Eyes." I felt my throat tightened into a gulp.

-Explain later. Just think of it as the simple version of what turned you from skeleton to human.- Kris's grimance deepened. -I just never thought I could go in reverse. Usually can get the advance method to work with turning human souls into monster kind.-

"I see. So it enhances the soul aspects of the weapons and users." Kris caught the hint and let it go. "It's magic, so it is a little hard to express it in... Human language?" Kris let out a sigh. "At least from our world, magic is usually more expressive than logically explained. Our kind... Our race of humans are the few able to express magic much like other magical races."

"So... You're mages." Ren said with a nod. "Like how VR is common in my world. In a way, it makes since considering Shields were bad in the game I played."

"Wait, the same for you, too?" Motoyasu asked in shock.

"My game also did Shields badly," Itsuki flinched. "Which makes it worse seeing you in a wheelchair, Iwatani-san. It's like you got no straw at all instead of the short straw."

What? I just raised an eyebrow with confusion.

How was being in a wheelchair bad? Hell, these were the best wheels I had in my life! Custom-made and foldable, perfect for someone like me who uses wheels for ease of life.

"ah, right. humans aren't used to n's type." Papy rolled his eyelight.

"I don't get it." Kris huffed. "Doesn't a wheelchair help increase my brother's abilities?"

"Ah, but we will be in combat." Motoyasu gave me a loot of pity. "How can a crippled person-"

Both twins burst into laughter while Kris glared daggers at the three humans. Ah, right, monster kind is used to having to adapt all sorts of ways to help each other living Underground... Especially after the pollution turned the River into the maze twisted with time and space itself.

"What... Oh," Ren went wide eyed. "Right, a mage. When I think how magic is used in the game... Of course a Legendary Hero specializing in magic would focus on defense."

"Huh?" Motoyasu cocked his head.

"Oh, yeah! Pure mages were always weak to close combat. So, instead of having a staff, you have a means of defense as you lob spells at the enemies."

"Wha? Don't cha mean bullets?" Kris snorted. "Spells are a human thing that lack any expression. Bullets are far faster and effect in combat than chanting stupid phrases." Kris snapped his fingers for a bone bullet to appear and he balanced it on the tip of one.

"B-Bullet?" All three asked before they went pale. "Like in... a bullet hell game?"

I guess one could call my magic akin to a magic bullet hell. I sure know the Eighth Fallen probably saw our fights as such.

"Bullet hell?" The skull twins and once skeleton asked with confused dazes.

Me?

I just gave a devish smile.

"👍"

-----------

Trying to get out of the worldbuilding trap with writing linked short fics. This one came from the sketch above and just snowballed into this. Hope it is enjoyable as it was for me to write this.

PS - Correcting some mistakes.

#fellswap #sketch #undertale au #gaster #undertale #undertaleau #fanart #wd gaster #papyrus #sans #naofumi iwatani #rising of the shield hero #shield hero #crossover au #crossover fanart #fic #crossoverfic #snippet #shield

[mashitandsmashit]

America’s Got Talent: Season 15 - Auditions 1

Hello, and welcome to my reviews/countdowns for “America's Got Talent”, Season 15! I'm Mashitandsmashit, but you can call me Mash or Mashit for short...

So with AGT turning a decade-and-a-half old, some changes are bound to be made...I guess I'll just get them out of the way real quick...

1: Heidi Klum has officially returned to the AGT judges' desk, and yes, I will admit that after the boredom I endured from What's Her Name and That Other Chick last year, her quirkiness was sorely missed...

2: Sofia Vergara will be taking the other seat, and while she can be likable and entertaining, they probably just hired her because they wanted a chick with an even funnier accent than Mel B.

3: Due to a certain virus flying around, some of the auditions will be held remotely, like every other “live” show on TV right now...In fact, a handful of them have already been uploaded to Youtube, but I'm not sure whether or not they'll air these auditions on TV, so I'll hold off on reviewing them for now...

Anyway, it's not like we have anywhere to be these days, so let's get right down to tonight's premiere...

Here's my first act ranking for Season 15!

10: Archie Williams. The act that felt more like a Golden Buzzer than the ACTUAL Golden Buzzer, and the act most likely to win the whole season so far...And he's at the bottom of my list...Not that I don't see the value in him, his singing was very nice and all...BUT it was far from the best singing I've heard, including from old brothas like him...Indeed, when Simon said he will never forget this audition, it's pretty obvious what the reason is, and raw talent is not it...That being said...this is one case where I might be willing to throw the act a bone specifically BECAUSE of the sob story! In fact, I don't think I'm even gonna complain about this guy making it all the way to the Finals! Because you know what, as rubbish as the results on this show can be a lot of the time, even the worst results in the show's history don't even hold a candle to the injustice that this man had to suffer for all of these years! I'm at a point in my life where my mortality has hit me hard, giving me an existential crisis over not having accomplished anything significant that I would have liked to in life, and feeling trapped in my current situation, unable to improve it! I can only imagine what THIS guy went through, having the prime years of his life stripped away from him and thrown in a cage over something he didn't do! A LOT is owed to this man, not the least of which are those 37 FREAKING YEARS of his life back! But since that is a tragic impossibility, I guess the LEAST we can give him is his time in the sun on this show! And we won't let that sun go down on him! ...Even if he's by no means the best...Will he win? Probably not...But he'll probably go far either way...And maybe he can even legitimately earn some of it by improving his voice or performing an original song...Who knows...? (HOO, boy...That's a HELL of a review to open this season with!)

9: Double Dragon. I didn't know the Lee Brothers had successors! Where's the coin slot? I wanna beat up some Black Warriors with these ladies' singing and choreography! Anyway, this was entertaining, if rather gimmicky...We'll see if these ladies can pick a song choice I can take a little more seriously next time, or if they go all out on the silliness! ...Honestly, I'm kinda rooting on the latter!

8: Voices of Our City Choir. A choir getting the Golden Buzzer? STOP THE PRESSES! But seriously, I do see potential in this group...There were a few aspects to this act that we haven't seen in previous choirs, like the (very catchy and enjoyable) original song, the instruments and the choir leader actually singing with them (in a very unique singing voice, no less). I'd rather avoid another Detroit Youth Choir situation, but seeing that this IS Terry's Golden Buzzer, and the hosts' GB picks have consistently made the Top 3 AT LEAST every time...again, save for that old burlesque dancer lady...I'd say these people have the potential to keep that streak going...Then again, Angel City Chorale had similar draws to them, and they never did that well in the votes...The whole numbers factor usually only works for kids, because parents are more likely to vote than OTHER relatives...So between that and the comparisons made between this act and Archie, it's a tough one to call...We'll just see what develops as the season goes on...But if nothing else, maybe it's time to break that streak...

7: The Pork Chop Revue. We've seen dog acts, bird acts, cat acts and even a rat act, so who's to say we can't add pigs to the animal trick collective? I guess when you get down to it, it's pretty much another dog act but with pigs...And I probably wouldn't even say that pigs are the most difficult animals to train, as they're actually quite intelligent...But this was unique and different enough for the time being, and both the gigantic mother and the little baby pig stole the show...and everyone's hearts! That'll do, pigs...That'll do...

6: Ryan Tricks. I would like to take this moment to coin a new AGT term: The Shin Lim Effect! Basically, it refers to the shadow that has been cast over all magicians on this show by a certain other magician, hence the name...Because of it, all magicians that compete on this show will inevitably be compared to You-Know-Who...It's not exactly a fair comparison, but it does set the standard for what is expected of all magicians from here on out...This man, for instance, did a trick that was far from the most mesmerizing or head-scratching...BUT, he still made me wonder what made this trick possible, and as mundane as that sounds, it IS the highest of compliments you can give a magician! The only answer that could hurt his credibility is if Howie and Simon were plants...But I've long since stopped assuming that they do those things...I'm not ENTIRELY sold on him yet, but he is likable enough that I'm willing to give him a chance...

5: Broken Roots. These guys were easily the most interesting singers for me tonight! I look forward to seeing how they improve with a little more practice...

4: Muy Moi Show. Just when you thought you'd never see a more insane sideshow act than Bir Khalsa...This guy did everything short of hanging something off of his eyelids! He even put his shirt back on! That's almost a cardinal sin in the eyes of the female judges! All I have to say is, I look forward to seeing what he does with a bigger budget!

3: BAD Salsa. Is it wrong that I almost wondered if they were former V.Unbeatable members? I mean, they certainly had the acrobatic abilities! This takes the whole dance duo genre to a new level, so I guess it's no surprise that it's from India!

2: Vincent Marcus. I wish I had Eminem and Jay-Z singing my nursery rhymes back when I was little! I never watched Vine, so I'm not aware of this guy's earlier work, but he seems like a pretty funny guy! Question is, will he make good progress like Greg Morton, or will he be taken out prematurely like several other acts of this nature...? Who knows? But I hope he does well, because this was certainly one of the more memorable acts so far...

1: Malik DOPE. Looks like my dream band consisting of Tokio Myers, Brian King Joseph and Marcin Patrzalek finally has a drummer! I'm not sure if this guy blew me away to the same degree that those other guys did (yet), but I do love his moves! I see a lot of potential in this act, especially when he gets enough of a budget to add some special effects or something...(PS, I'd probably pick Courtney Hadwin to be the lead singer...I'll call them the Sounds of Chaos!)

Overall, a pretty solid opener to the season! Even the weakest acts (not counting the rejects) had something to admire, and that's always good!

Next week, Simon's apparently got the Golden Buzzer...And I figure that it's only a matter of time before his GB wins the show, so we'll see if this is the year...I just hope that WHATEVER kind of act it is, it's deserving enough to go all the way to the Finals as I'm sure it will inevitably either way...

So I guess I'll see you then...Assuming anyone else will be posting here with me, after the total silence I got at Champions a few months back...

Still looking into that podcast...

[pope-francis-quotes]

10th April >> (@RomeReports) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis Relive the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, which #PopeFrancis presided over on #GoodFriday. #EasterAtHome

Pope celebrates Passion of the Lord, as papal preacher reflects on Covid-19 pandemic

Pope Francis presides over the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, with Fr Raniero Cantalamessa reflecting on the positive fruits that God draws forth from the coronavirus pandemic.

By Vatican News

The celebration of the Passion of the Lord took place on the evening of Good Friday in a near-empty St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis presided over the liturgy, which was live-streamed to the faithful across the world through media outlets and social media.

At the moment of the Adoration of the Holy Cross, only the Pope was able to venerate the Cross with a kiss, in compliance with measures to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

The Preacher of the Papal Household, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, preached the Sermon, reminding everyone that God has plans for our welfare, and not woe, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Below please find the full text of his Sermon:

“I HAVE PLANS FOR YOUR WELFARE AND NOT FOR WOE”

Sermon for Good Friday 2020 in St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Gregory the Great said that Scripture “grows with its readers”, cum legentibus crescit.[1] It reveals meanings always new according to the questions people have in their hearts as they read it. And this year we read the account of the Passion with a question—rather with a cry—in our hearts that is rising up over the whole earth. We need to seek the answer that the word of God gives it.

The Gospel reading we have just listened to is the account of the objectively greatest evil committed on earth. We can look at it from two different angles: either from the front or from the back, that is, either from its causes or from its effects. If we stop at the historical causes of Christ’s death, we get confused and everyone will be tempted to say, as Pilate did, “I am innocent of this man’s blood” (Mt 27:24). The cross is better understood by its effects than by its causes. And what were the effects of Christ’s death? Being justified through faith in him, being reconciled and at peace with God, and being filled with the hope of eternal life! (see Rom 53:1-5).

But there is one effect that the current situation can help us to grasp in particular. The cross of Christ has changed the meaning of pain and human suffering—of every kind of suffering, physical and moral. It is no longer punishment, a curse. It was redeemed at its root when the Son of God took it upon himself. What is the surest proof that the drink someone offers you is not poisoned? It is if that person drinks from the same cup before you do. This is what God has done: on the cross he drank, in front of the whole world, the cup of pain down to its dregs. This is how he showed us it is not poisoned, but that there is a pearl at the bottom of it.

And not only the pain of those who have faith, but of every human pain. He died for all human beings: “And when I am lifted up from the earth,” he said, “I will draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32). Everyone, not just some! St. John Paul II wrote from his hospital bed after his attempted assassination, “To suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open to the working of the salvific powers of God, offered to humanity in Christ.”[2] Thanks to the cross of Christ, suffering has also become in its own way a kind of “universal sacrament of salvation” for the human race.

***

What light does all of this shed on the dramatic situation that humanity is going through now? Here too we need to look at the effects more than at the causes—not just the negative ones we hear about every day in heart-wrenching reports but also the positive ones that only a more careful observation can help us grasp.

The pandemic of Coronavirus has abruptly roused us from the greatest danger individuals and humanity have always been susceptible to: the delusion of omnipotence. A Jewish rabbi has written that we have the opportunity to celebrate a very special paschal exodus this year, that “from the exile of consciousness” [3]. It took merely the smallest and most formless element of nature, a virus, to remind us that we are mortal, that military power and technology are not sufficient to save us. As a psalm in the Bible says, “In his prime, man does not understand. / He is like the beasts—they perish” (Ps 49:21). How true that is!

While he was painting frescoes in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the artist James Thornhill became so excited at a certain point about his fresco that he stepped back to see it better and was unaware he was about to fall over the edge of the scaffolding. A horrified assistant understood that crying out to him would have only hastened the disaster. Without thinking twice, he dipped a brush in paint and hurled it at the middle of the fresco. The master, appalled, sprang forward. His work was damaged, but he was saved.

God does this with us sometimes: he disrupts our projects and our calm to save us from the abyss we don’t see. But we need to be careful not to be deceived. God is not the one who hurled the brush at the sparkling fresco of our technological society. God is our ally, not the ally of the virus! He himself says in the Bible, “I have . . . plans for your welfare and not for woe” (Jer 29:11). If these scourges were punishments of God, it would not be explained why they strike equally good and bad, and why the poor usually bear the worst consequences of them. Are they more sinners than others?

The one who cried one day for Lazarus' death cries today for the scourge that has fallen on humanity. Yes, God "suffers", like every father and every mother. When we will find out this one day, we will be ashamed of all the accusations we made against him in life. God participates in our pain to overcome it. "Being supremely good - wrote St. Augustine - God would not allow any evil in his works, unless in his omnipotence and goodness, he is able to bring forth good out of evil.”[4]

Did God the Father possibly desire the death of his Son in order to draw good out of it? No, he simply permitted human freedom to take its course, making it serve, however, his own purposes and not those of human beings. This is also the case for natural disasters like earthquakes and plagues. He does not bring them about. He has given nature a kind of freedom as well, qualitatively different of course than that of human beings, but still a form of freedom—freedom to evolve according to its own laws of development. He did not create a world as a programmed clock whose least little movement could be anticipated. It is what some call “chance” but the Bible calls instead “the wisdom of God.”

***

The other positive fruit of the present health crisis is the feeling of solidarity. When, in the memory of humanity, have the people of all nations ever felt themselves so united, so equal, so less in conflict than at this moment of pain? Never so much as now have we experienced the truth of the words of one of our great poets: “Peace, you peoples! Too deep is the mystery of the prostrate earth.”[5] We have forgotten about building walls. The virus knows no borders. In an instant it has broken down all the barriers and distinctions of race, nation, religion, wealth, and power. We should not revert to that prior time when this moment has passed. As the Holy Father has exhorted us, we should not waste this opportunity. Let us not allow so much pain, so many deaths, and so much heroic engagement on the part of health workers to have been in vain. Returning to the way things were is the “recession” we should fear the most.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks;

One nation shall not raise the sword against another,

nor shall they train for war again. (Is 2:4)

This is the moment to put into practice something of the prophecy of Isaiah whose fulfillment humanity has long been waiting for. Let us say “Enough!” to the tragic race toward arms. Say it with all your might, you young people, because it is above all your destiny that is at stake. Let us devote the unlimited resources committed to weapons to the goals that we now realize are most necessary and urgent: health, hygiene, food, the fight against poverty, stewardship of creation. Let us leave to the next generation a world poorer in goods and money, if need be, but richer in its humanity.

***

The word of God tells us the first thing we should do at times like these is to cry out to God. He himself is the one who puts on people’s lips the words to cry out to him, at times harsh words of lament and almost of accusation: “Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord? / Rise up! Do not reject us forever! . . . Rise up, help us! / Redeem us in your mercy” (Ps 44, 24, 27). “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mk 4:38).

Does God perhaps like to be petitioned so that he can grant his benefits? Can our prayer perhaps make God change his plans? No, but there are things that God has decided to grant us as the fruit both of his grace and of our prayer, almost as though sharing with his creatures the credit for the benefit received.[6] God is the one who prompts us to do it: “Seek and you will find,” Jesus said; “knock and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7).

When the Israelites were bitten by poisonous serpents in the desert, God commanded Moses to lift up a serpent of bronze on a pole, and whoever looked at it would not die. Jesus appropriated this symbol to himself when he told Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15). We too at this moment have been bitten by an invisible, poisonous “serpent.” Let us gaze upon the one who was “lifted up” for us on the cross. Let us adore him on behalf of ourselves and of the whole human race. The one who looks on him with faith does not die. And if that person dies, it will be to enter eternal life.

"After three days I will rise", Jesus had foretold (cf. Mt Mt 27:63). We too, after these days that we hope will be short, shall rise and come out of the tombs of our homes. Not however to return to the former life like Lazarus, but to a new life, like Jesus. A more fraternal, more human, more Christian life!

______________________________

Translated from Italian by Marsha Daigle-Williamson, Ph.D.

[1] Moralia in Job, XX, 1.

[2] John Paul II, Salvifici doloris [On the Meaning of Human Suffering], n. 23.

[3] https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/coronavirus-a-spiritual-message-from-brooklyn (Yaakov Yitzhak Biderman).

[4] See St. Augustine, Enchiridion 11, 3; PL 40, 236.

[5] Giovanni Pascoli, “I due fanciulli” [“The Two Children”].

[6] See St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II-IIae, q. 83, a. 2.

Topics

POPE FRANCIS

CORONAVIRUS

HOLY WEEK

LENT

LITURGY

10th April 2020, 19:03

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 127

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 29 - “Flappi and Choppi are in Dire Straits!” Date watched: 8 June 2019 Original air date: 27 August 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/9LKKaID Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

“I’ll kill you!” - Optimus Prime, 2014, colorized

I was all ready to write this episode off as more goofy filler. But then, I changed my mind. Why? Let’s set the scene.

Saki and Mai are chilling at the Mishous’ place, finishing up their summer homework. Interestingly, despite Mai being a little more academically inclined than Saki, she also hasn’t made much headway on her homework, because she’s gotten absorbed in drawing all the sights around town over the summer. This results in both of them helping each other when they gain some understanding about a concept the other is struggling with, and it’s lovely.

Unfortunately, the fairies are restless and rambunctious. They keep disrupting the girls by making lots of noise and running around them.

and through them

Saki and Mai try to distract them in various ways: television (where Moop and Foop get entranced by an ad for soap which reminds them of the Fountain of the Sky, more on this later), letting them run around in the next room, letting them run around outside, but invariably, Moop and Foop do something that sets Flappi off as he’s trying to make moves on Choppi, and he starts chasing them around.

Yeah, he’s actually the big troublemaker this go-around, not them. A little surprising, I know. Little dude has murder in his eyes (see top pic) and it takes Saki telling him to chill the fuck out before he calms down temporarily. So the lesson here is that even Moop and Foop can see that his love for Choppi is one-sided. Where does that put him on the maturity scale? Low.

Moving on, down in Dark Fall, Akudaikaan is giving Miss Shitataare crap for being inept, as usual, but she says she has a plan that will work this time, as usual. Once she leaves, Akudaikaan tells Gohyaan to go after her.

Up at Mai’s place, the doorbell rings and they receive an unexpected package from Underwater Delivery Services later (lit. Mizushita something something) which is not at all suspicious. It turns out to be a set of bath soaps, which they don’t really know what to do with, but they smell nice. Flappi continues to flirt with an oblivious Choppi, only to be distracted by that most treacherous of enemies..... bubbles. The younger fairies have gotten into the soap and made soapy water that they’re using to blow bubbles. This sets him off and he gets in a shouting match with them about their intentions, trying to spoil his advances, which results in Saki and Mai having to intervene again, placate all parties, and get an understanding about what’s going on. However, someone interrupts.

raise your hand if you saw that coming

Yes, it turns out the soap was from Miss Shiitake (actually I think they make that joke in a later episode), in some ploy to capture Moop and Foop and learn the location of the Fountain of the Sun. She gloats that she has the upper hand because of the soap, which she makes her Uzainaa out of, but it’s not shown to be especially dangerous without her making it into an actual monster, and she could have used literally anything else aquatic, like the water in the pond that the soap bubbles were in, or the kitchen sink, or the toilet, or the plumbing itself, or [insert long list of water-adjacent objects in a modern household]. What I’m saying is that, as usual, her plan doesn’t make any sense and last episode was an anomaly. In fact I’m going to pause the recap here to analyze her methodology thus far, because there are particular reasons I don’t want to do it at the end.

Miss Shitataare was introduced as a bigger threat than the enemies the Cures had faced thus far (except for Gohyaan and Akudaikaan, of course). She came out swinging, attacking the girls with water sickles at point blank range before they had even transformed, and even when they did transform, she was still able to overpower their Twin Stream Splash and leave them weakened until Moop and Foop gave them the Spiral Rings, powering them up enough to win the fight. She’s seemed to have a grudge against the tiny fairies since then, because in almost every subsequent appearance she’s made it a point to hold them hostage. Her strategy is generally: Put on a disguise, get close to the girls, and then attack. The one time her disguise was useful was the last episode, where she separated the girls. In this episode, she makes a big show of presenting the soap to the girls and acts like it’s a key component to her plan to defeat them, but as far as I can tell it’s just soap. Then there’s the detail that her Uzainaa are generally not particularly more threatening than we saw the prior generals using. The eel was fast and gave the girls the runaround but that’s been about it. Without any particular signs of struggle greater than what they were able to overcome without the power boost, they always summon the Spiral Rings to finish off the monsters. Granted, this is a creative choice driven by the desire to sell toys, and there’s narrative gain by showing how their new friends contribute their power to the cause, but as far as purely needing the power boost, there hasn’t been much need for that. However, that’s an endemic problem to a toy-based franchise and I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole too far.

Back to the matter at hand. This Uzainaa’s special ability is that its bubbles are apparently explosive, and it manages to force Bloom and Egret all the way down the mountain from Mai’s house to the beach. They get tossed around a little but they trick Miss S. into momentarily letting go of Moop and Foop, who break out of their bubble and provide the Spiral Rings so that the Cures can finish off the monster with Spiral Heart Splash. With peace restored, Saki and Mai ask Moop and Foop why they were dead set on playing with the soap bubbles, and they explain that the scent reminds them of their home in the Fountain of the Sky, which everybody present is able to sympathize with. Following this exchange, the screen fades to white and the credits-

JUST KIDDING!

Remember that exchange in Dark Fall earlier? Well, since Miss S. failed, Gohyaan is here to pick up the slack, and he’s no slacker. With three minutes left in the episode, he brutally attacks the detransformed Precure and grabs Flappi and Choppi, taunting them that they’ll have plenty of time to tell him where the Fountain of the Sun is, or if they truly don’t know, divulge whatever they do know, and mocks the girls because they can’t do anything in their current states. Then he descends back into Dark Fall as the two lunge at him, but they are too late and are left grasping at sand. Thus, the episode actually ends with Saki, Mai, Moop, and Foop staring at the ground looking shocked and afraid at what just happened. They can’t transform, they don’t know how to reach Dark Fall, and their fairy friends are in serious danger. How’s that for a cliffhanger?

As I said at the start, I was ready to write this one off as goofy, inconsequential, maybe a little sentimental but not better than the emotional bonding and general fun of the last two episodes. By the end, I had almost forgotten about Gohyaan (probably a side effect of spending ~90 minutes watching a 24 minute episode to get screencaps, ps check the gallery), so when by all accounts it was looking like a textbook happy resolution, the fairies will work out their differences and everybody will get along, I was surprised when Gohyaan showed up and kidnapped Flappi and Choppi. Consider me rightfully shocked. Then I remembered what happens next episode, and realized maybe I should have seen this coming, but I’m glad I didn’t because it allowed me to be surprised. The twist ending doesn’t completely negate the wishy-washy (no pun intended) rest of the episode, but it certainly makes for a powerful subversion of expectations, and I give the show a decent amount of credit for that.

Next time, the moon shines bright on a windy night! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Zekkouchou Nari!

Miracle Drop Count: 5

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS29 #PCD127

[imaginedolanscribbles]

A heart’s journey [10/10]

Parts ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE

warnings: forced marriage, drama/angst

words: 4.534 [this is stupid long, I know, but IT’S A FINALE GUYS]

summary: a wedding...or not?

tagslist: @graydolan12 @sweet-dolans @obsessedlittleangel-deactivated @ninjadurtles @weirdshapedbawlz

TEN

What’s going on? Did Grayson not get his way? Did the Duchess manage to convince him in the end? Are my family safe after all? Do I marry him? Am I prepared to marry someone who doesn’t even like me? Whose life I ruined? How am I supposed to do this?

All the thoughts swirling in your head are making you feel dizzy and it’s a good thing you’re sitting down, because otherwise you probably would’ve fallen over. There's people pulling at your hair and scrubbing you down with scented soaps. A maid is putting up your breakfast by the window while another one is laying out your dress on the bed.

If you’d had your breakfast already, the sight of all the virgin white folds of fabric would definitely make you throw up. As it is, your stomach can only cramp up and you can’t stop staring at the dress, this entire situation somehow wholly incomprehensible to you.

You wish they had let Tatiana stay.

There’s excited chattering around you as they towel you down and when someone starts dressing you, you don’t even feel their touch. It’s like you’ve been degraded to a mere spectator in your own body and someone else is steering it. When your undergarments are on, you’re sat down in front of the food but your hand feels too heavy to lift. You stare at the food and you can’t seem to find one single reason why you should put it in your mouth. It’s not like you’re going to taste any of it anyway…

The maids are tugging on your hair, twirling it around hot irons and twisting it into perfect little curls. Out of the corner of your eye you can see yourself for a short moment. You look pretty. Your hair looks pretty. Your undergarments are pretty. There’s a fine pattern sown into the fabric, you realize. It’s hundreds and hundreds of ‘V’s. You can’t feel your hands anymore.

“Hurry up, the ceremony is starting in a few hours!”

“She hasn’t even eaten, yet.”

“Well, we weren’t ordered to start earlier. It’ll be fine.”

“The Graces have already had breakfast, Katie said so.”

“Well, the ceremony will simply have to wait for the bride. They can hardly start without her.”

“The church looked beautiful, have you seen the flowers?”

No. There is a magic word that will stop all this and you know it. You can always say ‘no’. Right? That’s probably the cruellest part in all of this. That there’s that tantalizing sliver of a chance of escaping the situation you’re stuck in. You could always just say ‘no’.

In reality, though, you cannot. The option of saying ‘no’ to things, anything really, is not one you’re given. It’s a curtesy, allowed only because nobody can physically move your mouth for you. You have to do it yourself. Which makes you into a part of the conspirators working against you. Always against you. They bred the ability of saying ‘no’ out of you, lock, stock and barrel. And they did it well. You don’t think you can remember the last time you said ‘no’ to anything. Everything is a ‘yes’ with you, which makes asking you kind of obsolete in the end. Even if Grayson – or anyone, really – had asked you to marry him, you would’ve said yes. How could you possibly say ‘no’?

The thought of standing in the church, hundreds of important people filling row after row, staring at you, and you…in front of Grayson on the steps, the pastor next to you, and everyone holding their breath to listen to your ‘yes’. You could never say ‘no’, not in that moment. You couldn’t even say ‘no’ when it was just you, the Duchess, and the twins in the room.

“Too nervous to eat, hm?”, one of the maids says with a look to your plate. She smiles and shakes her head, like you’re just being quirky. “I get it. I was nervous at my wedding, too. Men that have that effect on you are truly special.”

You don’t know how to respond to that and so you just let her lead you to stand in front of the mirror, where two other start putting your wedding dress on.

“Your mother excuses herself, but one of your sister is not feeling well”, a maid babbles while pushing glittering pins into your hair. “She sent up a package for you, though.”

“As did Miss Cameron”, the other maid says and points to the vanity. There’s a black box and a soft blue wrapper containing some sort of fabric. You nod mechanically to signal you’ve registered the maids’ words but your feet are rooted to the floor. You can’t move.

It takes two maids to pull the dress closed and it should hurt but it doesn’t. You’re too numb to feel anything by this point. Keep your head high. Back straight. Don’t let your mask slip. Don’t scream. Keep it together. If you don’t let anything in, nothing can touch you.

When you see yourself in the mirror, your literally can’t breathe. It’s pulled tight around your waist, which looks tiny. The skirts are flowing around you, so much more fabric than you remember from the fitting. Little clear stones are sown into the front into a flowing, almost flame-like pattern, glittering with every move you make. In true northern style it covers your breast and only barely clings to your shoulders with flimsy, see-through sleeves. Even though there is no closed collar, you feel like the dress is choking you, swallowing you whole, forming a bubble around you nobody can pierce – no matter how hard you scream nobody would be able to hear you anyway through all the layers of soft, perfectly white fabric.

You have never felt smaller in your life.

“M’lady?”

You take the package offered to you. There’s a card attached to it. ‘Officially: welcome to the family. We’re so glad to have you! PS: I’m gonna need that back, this is my grandma’s and I’m only allowed to borrow it’.

If you’d had any breath left in your lungs, you would’ve laughed out loud. It’s a veil. To cover up your face and hide you from the world. The girl from the disgraced family. The girl from the province that lies in pieced. The girl Grayson Dolan was forced to marry. The girl without a face.

Cameron probably thought you were too naïve to pick up on the not-so-subtle gibe, probably thought you’d think of it as a kind gift. But you can feel the words, the symbolism, dig deep into your heart while the maids gasp about the veil and discuss how to place it on your head.

The black box is from your mother. There’s a card also. ‘My dear daughter, on this important day of your life you need to know how much we all love you. We are sad to see you go, but you’re a woman now, a wife. You’re going your own way now, and we cannot follow you. However, this does not mean you will have to go all alone. We will always be with you, in your heart. To commemorate that and for you to be able to carry a part of us as a family with you, we gift you this. We coordinated with Miss Cameron and since she gave you your “something borrowed” we present to you your “something blue”. We will always love you and we wish you all the best in your new life as a Dolan!”

The box reveals a collar and earrings, crafted out of beautiful blue gemstones, and formed like drops of water cascading down your décolleté. It’s breath-taking.

One of the maids takes the collar from your hands and lays it around your neck, where it lies cool and surprisingly heavy; a cold weight pulling on your neck, like a very expensive noose. It’s quite ironic actually, you realize as you look up at yourself at the mirror. The collar looks like crystallized water dripping down from around your neck while the glittering on your dress swirls and dances around you like flames licking around your form.

…your own way…new life…we cannot follow you…a Dolan…you’re a wife now…

When the maid who’s putting on your earrings pats your shoulder, you’re surprised to feel the hot streaks of wet on your cheeks. The mirror reflects your eyes shining with tears and the shimmering traces of where they spilled over your cheeks. You can’t feel anything. Are your eyes burning? You’re not sure. They should be. The salt should be pricking in your eyes. Why can’t you feel anything?

“You are very beautiful”, the maid tells you and squeezes your shoulders. She gives you a warm smile from her position behind you, where she just fastened your earrings. “I’m sure many will cry when they lay their eyes on you.”

The laugh that breaks out of you is more of a weak croaking sound. Yeah. You’re beautiful. That’s the main thing, right? At least you’re beautiful…

It takes the maids almost fifteen minutes to get to a consensus about the veil. And you can’t stop crying. You didn’t even know you had this many tears in you, but here you are, your eyes spilling more and more. The salt will crust the gems of your collar, you should probably stop.

But you don’t know how. No matter how many times you wipe your cheeks dry with the handkerchief someone handed you, there’s still more tears coming until your cheeks are red and puffy from all the wiping but still glistening wet. You’re still staring at yourself in the mirror, trying to comprehend this…any of this. The maids’ chattering has died down to a low murmur over the last few minutes and you can hear the concern in their voices as they keep glancing at you.

You want to tell them you’re fine. Honestly. You don’t know what’s wrong with you, either. But you’re almost positive all that would come out, if you tried to open your mouth, would be a broken scream. So you pretend not to notice them looking and keep wiping away the tears streaming down your face.

One of the maids has left the room, to do God knows what, and a look at the clock tells you, you have another twenty minutes left until the ceremony. You’re supposed to be sitting in the carriage by now, on the way to the church. Where Grayson is waiting.

Grayson. Lovely, happy, sweet Grayson. Grayson, who turned bitter and angry because of you.

“Well, we won’t need any rouge at least, no?”, one of the maids says, the one who thought you were crying because of your own beauty at first. It’s a poor attempt at lightening the mood, but it makes you smile nonetheless. She’s right. Your cheeks are red and irritated, almost like you’re blushing. Well, you never had a problem with blushing around Grayson anyhow.

The door flies open and you jump at the sound of it hitting the wall hard.

“What- oh. Oh no.” It’s Cameron and for all her pretending to like you, she seems genuinely distressed at the sight of you. “Shit, what happened?”

You’re unable to reply but you still manage to evade her hand when she tries to touch you. You can’t bear the thought of contact with her, not after you heard her egging on her brother to leave you and your family in the dirt.

The thought makes you smile a bitter smile. You’re so hypocritical, aren’t you? Here you are panicking because you realized your life is literally over now – you marry this guy and you served your purpose. Done. That’s it. A pawn in the Duchess’ and your parents’ game, and you couldn’t tell who won here, but you know it’s not you. On the other hand you’re mad at Cameron for trying to stop this exact thing from happening in the first place.

You don’t even know what you want, anymore.

And that’s not true, your heart knows exactly what you want. Get away from all this. Find someone who understands. Someone who actually likes me. Someone I can trust.

But that’s not realistic, not in your world it isn’t.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”, Cameron insists, her voice soft and concerned now. She doesn’t approach you and has her hands up, like she’s trying to soothe a spooked animal. “You look like hell. Are you … I thought you liked my brother?”

Your laugh is so hard and bitter, it makes you shiver. It’s true. You like Grayson. A lot, actually. More than you should after knowing him only for a few weeks. But just because you want him to like you with all the honesty and rawness and imperfection you grew to adore in him, that doesn’t mean he has to like you back. And he doesn’t. Why would he? You ruined his life.

“Am I wrong?”, Cameron asks slowly. “Do you…you really don’t want to do this, do you?”

“I…” Your voice breaks and your cheeks are still wet from the tears continuously spilling over them. You can feel where they’re running down your neck and into the beautiful blue collar, like little streams that get lost before they can go anywhere. “I ruined everything.”

You ruined your family’s plans to marry you to Ethan. You ruined your sisters’ chance at a carefree life. You ruined your province’ chances of getting aid from the Dolans. You ruined the Duchess’ relationship with her youngest son. You ruined Grayson’s life.

“I didn’t mean to…” Your voice is barely more than a whisper and you don’t know why you’re telling Cameron this, it’s not like she cares, but you hold onto her wide-eyed look like she’s the only anchor that you can focus on. “...didn’t mean for him to hate me…I never…I just wanted…”

Before you can figure out where you’re going with this, Cameron suddenly turns around and pulls the door open again. She points a finger at the maids. “You, go get ice, she’ll need to put it on her eyes. And you make sure to comfort her. At least give her a chair to sit down or something.”

The next second she’s gone, leaving you behind feeling more lost and empty than before. The remaining maid pulls up a chair and even though sitting down feels like the last thing that’ll help you now, you do it to make her feel a little better. The clock is incessantly ticking on the wall. It’s five minutes to eleven. You’re supposed to be at the church, getting your frocks in order and touching up the positioning of the veil. Not sit here, a pathetically sobbing mess in a dress that probably costs more than your sisters’ entire wardrobe.

You’re not entirely sure what you’re waiting for exactly, but you jump up from your chair when you hear voices approaching in the hallway.

“This is not proper, he’s not supposed to see her before the – “

“I don’t care. She’s scared and lost and fucking broken, alright? Where is your empathy – no, scratch that, where is your decency? She’s a human being and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like a…a…a thing!”

“Cameron – “

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“No, Cam, I mean…what am I supposed to do? I don’t think she even wants to talk to me right now, she sounded pretty upset the way you described her.”

“For fuck sake – “ “Cameron!” “ – grow some balls and just talk to her. If you guys had talked this out when you had the chance, all this drama would never have happened in the first place.”

“Cam, I don’t – “

“I don’t want to hear it. She’s crying, Grayson, and it’s your fault.”

“First of all, that’s unfair, and second…what am I supposed to do, you said yourself she’s crying –“

“You had infinite chances to step up. Now, get over yourself and fix this.”

“How – “

“Fix it.”

Although you heard his voice, you’re not prepared when Grayson stumbles into the room. His hair is dishevelled, no traces of stubble left on his jaw to be seen, and his eyes are wide as he stares at you just as overwhelmed as you. He’s wearing a double-breasted coat in a beautiful midnight blue, a pristine white scarf is tied around his neck, and the buttons on his coat are shining in the same silver-white that encases the gemstones around your neck. His eyes flicker over your dress of a brief second, wide and almost timidly, like he’s not supposed to look. Right, the whole ‘don’t see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding’ superstition. Well, you don’t think the marriage could’ve started with any more misfortune, so it doesn’t make a difference anyhow.

“Um, hello”, Grayson finally speaks up and scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. He’s two strides away from you and you don’t know if you wish he was closer or farther away from you. “You look…” He gestures at you with a sort of helpless shrug. His sudden appearance stunned you enough to make the constant stream of tears stop, at least, so your vision isn’t too blurry anymore. “…beautiful.”

“Thank you”, you say and you’re almost surprised there’s no echo audible in your voice, so hollow do the words feel.

“You…um. Cameron said, uh, you were having…doubts? About the wedding?”, Grayson stammers and now he’s let go of his neck, but he starts fiddling with the tails of his coat nervously. If you weren’t feeling so utterly out of place, it would probably be cute.

“I…guess you could say that”, you mumble and it feels so wrong to say this – at all, but specifically to his face. You can’t even look directly at him as you say the words.

“Oh, um…” He sounds caught off guard, like he didn’t actually expect you to say that. “Well, then…I mean, if- if you don’t want to marry me, that’s fine. Of course. I don’t…I do not want to force you or anything, I hope you did not think of me like that.”

“I – I don’t know”, you whisper and look up, almost desperately, in search for answers. If anything his expression confuses you even more.

“Well, um, there’s kind of important people waiting for us in a church, so…you should probably decide quickly”, he mumbles and doesn’t seem to be able to decide whether or not to look at your face, his dark eyes flickering between you and the room. He looks different. Strange. You have never seen him like this, vulnerable, and you can’t tell if your heart speeds up because you’re scared or awed.

“It’s not just my decision”, you remind him quietly. “You don’t want to…marry me either.”

His head snaps up at that and there’s a crease between his eyebrows when he speaks: “What? Who said that?”

You. You did. You shrug and lower your eyes, unable to tell him what’s on your mind. There’s a shuffling noise and Grayson takes half a step towards you. His eyes seem even darker than usually as they lock onto yours intently.

“Why would you think that?”

You can’t help the incredulous snort. “Well, I took away your choice, didn’t I? That’s why you hate me.”

Grayson’s mouth opens and closes twice before he manages to get an actual word out. “I, um, no, that’s…well, I did say that, I guess, but…I didn’t mean it like that.”

You almost don’t dare ask, your heart fluttering in your chest as you try to keep your swirling thoughts in check. “How did you mean it?”

“I guess, I…” Grayson trails off and sighs deeply, his eyes never letting you go. “I wanted to choose, yeah? I wanted to be offered the choice, but that doesn’t mean…well, I would’ve chosen you if I’d gotten the chance, you know?”

He would’ve chosen me? Given an actual choice…he would’ve still chosen me?

“I had this whole plan, you see. I wanted to get to know the perfect girl and fall in love with her, but she would be smart, obviously, so she would never just fall for me like that, so I’d have to woo her. And then I’d ask her father for permission and I would’ve taken her somewhere that meant something to the both of us and I would’ve gotten down on one knee and I’d have asked her if she would have me…” Grayson takes another step towards you and you can see his chest move as he breathes quickly. “And I never got to do that and that sucks. I was angry, yeah, and I was an asshole taking it out on you. Especially since I’d been trying so hard not to be jealous when I got to know you as ‘Ethan’s fiancée’. But you…I wish we’d met differently. I could’ve blinded you with all my charm, instead of dropping all my idiot assholery on you from the beginning.” The smile playing on his lips turns sad slowly. “Maybe if I’d asked you, then you’d even have said yes.”

You’re pretty sure your entire innards have just melted into one big mush of sickly sweetness and you can’t breathe properly. “You never asked.”

Grayson stares at you, his eyes flickering over your face as though in search for something. “Uhm, well…” He clears his throat. “I don’t have a ring, either, but…would you, um…I know, I’ve been an asshole to you, when you’re the one who probably understood my situation better than anyone else. I never meant to hurt you and I truly, honestly hope you can forgive me. And, if it’s not too late…I guess what I’m asking is…even though I hurt you and made you cry, will you still have me?”

You can feel tears spring to your eyes again while he’s talking, and it doesn’t hurt this time either, but that’s because of the clouds of pure, unsuspected happiness surrounding you.  Shakily you reach out and gingerly touch his hands, which he immediately responds to by turning them around so your smaller ones rest safely in his palms. His thumbs rub slow circles into the back of your hands and you lean forward, he ducks down and meets you in the middle where he presses your foreheads together.

“Yes”, you whisper into the shared air between the two of you. He laughs breathlessly and rubs his nose alongside yours, his eyes staring directly into yours.

“Yes?”, he repeats incredulously. His smile is so wide, you can see something like dimples pressing into his cheeks, and his eyes are dancing with happiness.

“Yes”, you say again, happy tears blurring your vision and your mouth spreading into smile so wide it almost hurts. “Yes, Grayson, of course. Yes.”

 ++++

 The ceremony starts almost an hour late and people are murmuring and eyeing you but you can’t bring yourself to care. You can’t concentrate on what the priest is saying, Grayson is so bright, so vibrantly beautiful next to you as he keeps sneaking glances at you and winking mischievously when you catch him. The priest has to clear his throat twice during the procedure and when Grayson finally kisses you it’s the sweetest, softest and yet hottest thing that has ever happened to you. His lips are much softer than you imagined and he tastes sweet at first, until his hand cupping your jaw carefully slips into your nape and he buries his fingers in your hair, pulling you in. That’s when you realize how hot someone’s breath actually is when it’s breathed right into your mouth, how much hotter the tip of a tongue feels when it teases against your lips playfully.

You’re absolutely breathless when Grayson pulls away and you know your face has turned to its usual shade of red when you’re around him. People are clapping and smiling and your mother even cries a little bit.

When it’s time for your and Grayson’s dance, the Duchess’ touches his arm briefly when he walks past her. You can’t hear what she says but Grayson’s face softens and he nods at her with a small smile before he returns to lead you onto the dancefloor. Every step sits perfectly, just like you practiced and you’re almost sure you can hear Magnusson sigh dreamily and accomplished from across the room.

“What was that all about?”, you ask Grayson and nod to his mother. “All good?”

He shrugs but the proud smirk spreading over his face tells you, something is up. “Yeah, all good. Actually, it’s kind of about my wedding gift to you?”

“You didn’t have to”, you flush and shake your head. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“Well, I wanted to”, he shrugs and twirls you around perfectly. “It’s not really for you anyway, it’s just something I felt I should do. Someone should do.”

You stare at him blankly, waiting for him to explain. In the back of your mind something keeps nagging you – maybe this has something to do with what you overheard in the corridor last night? Grayson chuckles but it sounds almost nervous, like he’s not quite sure how you will react. You can feel the tension in his body where it moves against you stiffer than before.

“I…Well, I just thought…You said Lausanne needs aid, yes? Especially fresh water was a problem from what I remember. So, I just- I guess, I just thought how much fresh water we got here in Frysk, from lakes and rivers, but also from the snow, and…and I ordered Ethan’s and my battalion to distribute as much fresh water in Lausanne as possible. They’re preparing to leave right now.”

Again you feel choked up but it’s not the weight of the gemstones pressing the air from out of your lungs. “But…the Duchess…”

“She’s not a monster”, Grayson shrugs with a small smile. “She can be stubborn and proud and protective but…she’s still my, Mum. She loves us, she loves this province, and she’s not made of stone.”

“So”, you swallow with difficulty, unable to look away from Grayson’s face. “So, she allowed it?”

Grayson nods once and his smile deepens a little, his eyes softening further as he looks right back at you, openly. “She said, it’d probably be a nice idea for us to take our honeymoon in the south. Strictly, to rekindle the diplomatic relationships between our provinces, of course.”

The dance isn’t completed yet, you still have almost a full minute to go, but you don’t wait. You get up on your tip-toes, grip onto his shoulders for balance, and press your lips to his in an attempt to somehow convey your love and gratitude because words could never describe what you’re feeling for him right now.

There are chuckles and murmurs again, and the scandalized gasp is probably Magnusson’s, but you don’t care. You found a man, who turns the end of your entire purpose into the beginning of something new, something beautiful. Something you can’t wait to finally experience.

THE END

This amazing Royal!Grayson edit is from @bellaeditss, go follow her on instagram!

Thank all of you who stayed with me until now, I hope y’all liked it <3 if you got time I’d love to hear your opinions on this, I’m thinking of doing more fics like this so I wanna see if people would even be interested ;)

My Masterlist

#a hearts journey #a hearts journey part ten #ten #dolan twins #dolan twins imagine #dolan twins fanfic #fanfiction #my fic #ethan dolan #grayson dolan #cameron dolan #grayson dolan x reader #grayson dolan imagine #ethan dolan x reader #reader x twin #ethan dolan imagine #forced marriage #angst #drama #communication #end #happy end

[guylty]

Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick Into The Storm for a rewatch, had ITS not been on Irish free TV at the end of January. That already preempts my verdict to some degree.  You see, I don’t think that it is what we call “ganz großes Kino” in German [great cinema]. To stay with the metaphor, it’s probably more along the lines of “ganz großes Damentennis” [great women’s tennis]. Ok, those are in-jokes for those who can speak German. Very bad form, Guylty, very bad! What it means is: ITS is not a triumph of early 21st century cinema. And this is why:

Recap

It’s an ordinary day in Silverton, Ohio, where single-parent assistant principal Gary Fuller herds his teenage sons Trey and Donnie to school. Trey is documenting the day with his camcorder; Donnie, the elder of the two, is pissed off with his dad. Daddy Gary at the same time is distracted by the preparations for the afternoon’s graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, a motley crew of ‘storm chasers’ have come into the area because they expect a strong hurricane to landfall. And it does – but it’s the mother of all hurricanes, a monster storm that wreaks havoc in Silverton, scatters the graduation, and, worst of all, traps Donnie Fuller together with love interest Kaitlyn in a disused mill where they nearly drown – if it hadn’t been for Daddy Fuller, the quirky brother, and some unexpected help from the storm chasers. But all’s well that ends well: daddy comes to rescue, the youngsters are saved at the last minute, the nasty career-storm chaser gets his comeuppance but simultaneously redeems himself, and the Fuller lads are one happy family again.

So, we’ve got the ingredients for a regular summer blockbuster here: (natural) disaster with opportunity for big time CAD, vaguely topical issue (global warming), family dynamics (dad vs son), small little love story (Donnie & Kat, Gary & meteorologist Allison), nasty slave-driving boss getting what he deserves, single-parent mother separated from her child because of work, two country-bumpkin eejits for light relief, major, nail-biting drama and a happy ending. Maybe some of what is wrong with the film is already visible in that list: There is too much in it, and it doesn’t *quite* know what it wants to be. It takes on too many things, and instead of just being content with being a two-dimensional, silly disaster movie along the lines of Sharknado, it wants to take itself seriously, attempting “issues” in order to attract viewers. The strength of disaster movies is usually the special effects or the computer design of the catastrophe. So why obscure that silly fun with serious issues? Global warming as the cause of intense weather phenomena? Of course, we know that. But do I look to a summer movie to learn more about the effects of climate change? Eh, no! Just as much as I don’t want to get into a subtle subplot about single-parent issues and the strains of having to separate from your child in order to earn money. Just get on the with the disaster, throw around a few 10-ton-trucks and jumbo jets, and I’ll be happy.

Not sure where this gif comes from – credit to the maker

In that sense, the strongest scenes in the movie are the action/disaster sequences. When Gary runs across the street after his car is inadvertently crashed, and a pick-up truck smashes into the pavement about ten feet beside him, then that is great (disaster) cinema. Armitage clinging on to a car door for dear life – and to save met lady Allison from being sucked up into the tornado: predictable but essential ingredient to a disaster movie. And bonus: wet bum shot. Of Armitage! Not the woman! *That* would be sexist! A whole group of helpless humans, huddling in a massive drain for shelter against the storm, being thrown around by mother nature – great both in terms of providing scale as well as giving more opportunity for heroics. But all that sentimental crap about Allison not being with her daughter, Gary and Donnie’s relationship being strained, and Pete the storm chaser pressuring his underlings into risking their lives – unnecessary and not believable.

  Cardboard Cut-outs

Not least because the characters are mere cardboard cut-outs, stereotypes, and as such just a cheap trick to offer a quick n easy way to identify or engage with one of the characters. Yet I found it strangely difficult to get invested because the characters were just too stereotypical: The hard-working father who is trying his best to bring up his sons; elder son has an issue with dad being over-protective. Young son OTOH is happy-go-lucky popular kid. Met lady has small daughter who lives with grandparents because mum has to travel for work: I should’ve latched on to these people immediately because I share one massive characteristic with them – I am a parent. (Happy mother’s day, btw.) But that one facet in a person is not enough for me to connect and engage with a character. I understand that ITS is a film that is basically telling a story in real time. So there is no opportunity for massive insights or for character set-up. Or maybe there would’ve been if the film had concentrated on fewer characters. Apart from Pete the head storm chaser, did we need Allison and the other storm chasing crew? We certainly didn’t need the town eejits, and we probably could also have done without the burgeoning love story between Donnie and Kaitlyn. If Gary Fuller was the main character, then the film should’ve focussed on him – and his heroics. That would’ve done the trick.

As for Armitage in the film: No complaints as such. His performance is solid – as it always is. You can sort of tell that this is basically his first time playing an American character. The accent doesn’t sit well with him – it just doesn’t sound right imo: When he speaks, his whole voice changes. It’s deeper in tone, and not as melodious as usual. Which is a pity, because his voice (and his vocal talents) are always an asset to any show. Otherwise he gets away with portraying the great looking, fit and healthy athletic All American dad, right down to those beautifully regular white and shiny front teeth. I do buy his act as a dad – in fact more so than his act as the vice principal of a small town high school. The man just is too gorgeous for such an existence. Casting fail *grins*.

The effects in the film work well – once you suspend your disbelief, everything is possible, and the fire tornado or the monster hurricane that bounces jumbo jets around as if they were matchbox toys, look reasonably real. The climactic storm scene – with Pete’s (literal) comeuppance – OTOH is designed straight from baroque altar pieces (see right).  Towering clouds fading into white… You almost expect the eye of providence to pop up on top of the screen. And so sickly sweet with its bright clouds and shining light and predictable that it spoils the otherwise hair-raising disaster porn.

For me, the greatest regret of the film is that its concept obviously changed at some point. The initial idea of basing the majority of the film on “found footage” – was actually a great idea, both in terms of aesthetics as well as story telling. But that concept eventually is thrown out of the window even though little brother Trey, who executes the concept at the beginning of the film by shooting a ‘time capsule project’, continues to carry the camera with him. From the middle of the film found footage is not happening anymore – which makes the film strangely asymmetrical. One wonders whether the film was significantly reshot after screen testing? There definitely were reshoots, as can be seen as early as the first scene of the film when Gary’s hair is definitely shorter than a scene later…

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Miraculous hair growth. Well, RA has mentioned before that he has won prizes for growing his beard faster than anyone else… Looks as if the Armitagean follicles are stuff of legend and miracle!

Final verdict

Unfortunately, the second time ‘round, the film doesn’t improve. When I watched it in the cinema – summer evening, teenage son with me, bag of pop corn at the ready – it really did what it set out to do: It was a meaningless summer flick, more aimed at the boys than the girls, easily whiling away 89 minutes with lots of rain, thunder, assorted farm equipment flying through the air and the occasional jumbo jet twirling across the airport concourse. Four and a half years later, the film hasn’t exactly become a cult classic. And it’s easy to see why: It’s neither excruciatingly bad, nor exquisitely good. Maybe the audience wants to see even more extreme effects – or the opposite is true and in light of global warming the audience *doesn’t* want to be reminded of the havoc that the climate can play with us. And without any particularly exciting human interest story in the film, ITS has been laid to rest in the mid-week movie graveyard. That’s not what Richard Armitage deserves – who gives his best as he always does. Maybe all it was for him, was an elaborate screen test. He certainly comes across well. And at least he has ticked another genre off his list.   

What about you? What do you think about the film? Comment below or write a post on your blog and link back to me so we can discuss! 

PS: April is coming! And we need a new re-watch. Suggestions?

Re-Watching Into The Storm – Not Much of a Twist Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick…

#gary fuller #into the storm #Richard Armitage

[sangriatimes]

Nintendo Switch saves Valentines Day

Can you believe that we are almost half-way done with January? Maybe it’s just me and the countless hours I put into reviewing the latest titles for the Nintendo Switch...which is our focus point that can change the tide if you hit a hard spot this V-Day. Maybe you don’t have enough money for that dinner, movie and gift. Maybe you thought that restaurant you made a reservation at is more expensive than you though. Maybe you just started a new relationship but you still have some awkward silences that seem to kill the mood. Whatever the situation may be a Nintendo Switch can get you to second base and home plate...trust me.

So let’s look at some of the titles for switch that are great to play with that special someone. (Games are listed in no particular order; games are not based on “)sales”; Games are mainly hidden gems)

1. Monopoly | 9.5 out of 10

Hear me out. I was one that grew up playing the original board game with my family and the overall appeal of the game was astounding, but I lost interest when I got older and noticed how long it takes to make everyone go bankrupt. ...but this is something...otherworldly. The first awesome thing you will notice when you pick up this title is the use of the Joy-Con controllers to shake the dice and throw them. Though this is still the same mechanic in spirit as its predecessor but with the newly animated boards populated by Mii’s and watching a living city grow as you play and add properties adds an entirely new respect for Money Bags. Our team lost track of time having so much fun with this one and before we knew it, we had seen 5 hours pass. (No one wants to play Monopoly for that long.) 

2. Uno | 8.5 out of 10

Uno is another one of those games I grew up playing with family. When I purchased the game, I was expecting some sort of controller mechanic similar to Monopoly’s dice...but with cards instead...but I was let down. None the less, going into this, I didn’t even know that there were so many ways to play Uno besides the normal rules. Once again, I was amazed at how much more fun this was than the physical cards themselves. Rules like “Stacking. Where Player 1 can play a “Blue Draw 2″ card and Player 2 can counter play a “Draw 2″ card as well. ...but if Player 3 doesn’t possess a “Draw 2″ card, Player 3 then has to pick all 4 cards from the previous turns” was so exciting to try and there are many other ways to customize rules and play styles. 

3. Super Smash Bros | 9.0 out of 10

I really don’t need to go into detail about this one. My only issue with the Smash series is I would really enjoy a multiplayer adventure mode or campaign. I was quite pleased with the full roster of characters though. Disclaimer: Make sure your partner isn’t a sore loser. We all know about SSB’s steep learning curve for beginners. “Don’t be a butt...”

4. Diablo 3 | 9.0 out of 10

I remember having this title on my old PS4 and being able to enjoy it on my PS Vita while I was in a relationship with someone who liked the game as much as I and we would both take our Vita’s to the restroom with us so we could keep the experience going. This title can definitely be used to understand the mindset your partner has by the way they customize their character and the actions they take in response to events. It’s a top-down action-adventure-role-playing-hack-n-slash (inhale.) It is a port of it’s original released on PS3 & 360...the price tag is still $59.99. That’s a deal breaker in my book.

5. NES Emulator | 7.5 out of 10

I honestly chose this one because of how many gamers I know and how 89% of them are males. This is something for those who don’t game to get their feet wet. The emulator is free on the eShop for a 7-day trial but comes with a subscription cost after. Pretty inexpensive for the titles they have. Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Metroid, and many more. It even comes with special versions of some of the games which gives the player the experience of playing with Game Genie cheats.

6. 99 Vidas | 7.0 out of 10

Your probably thinking, “ Why is this even listed?” Well, just in case that partner your with doesn’t dig the 8-bit look or the low-res adventures of the NES Emulator and desires a little more action and has a fetish for Streets of Rage and Beat ‘em Up’s. Simply. The available characters are cool enough to get players to find a favorite out of them. ...so...that’s good!

7. Oh Sir...The Hollywood Roast | 8.3 out of 10

After seeing the Samuel Jackson clone named “Bad MotherHugger” who’s personality is totally canon, I had to dig deeper. If you didn’t play the prequel, you don’t need to. I honestly only used the first title to learn how to play. In this installment, you and a co-star face off on a movie set where your scenario is to insult the other the worst. It plays like a fighting game, complete with health bars, special insults, tag team insults and so much more. For the price it is, I was expecting something way less entertaining. Oh, and one point or another you will joke against a Deadpool copy...a less funnier Deadpool but funny enough.

Consider this the American version of The Office.

8. Oh Sir...The Insult Simulator | 7.8 out of 10

Obviously, this is the European version of The Office. I won’t say this is better than the sequel and I can’t say it’s worse either but I will say “I am an American...” What this game does is teach you how to layer your jokes and how lay the foundation for repetition in your topics to create combo’ s. I like to let the opponent bombard me with little weak jokes and build a super mean and super long insult that grants victory for only one joke. I call it, “The Kamehameha Effect!”

9. No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Back

The third installment to the series hits the eShop and retailers in a few days and I am super excited to get my copy. If you aren’t familiar with the series, let me fill you in:

Travis Touchdown is the protagonist of all three games. In NMH1 we find Travis at his lowest moment in life. Jobless, hopeless and drunk, he runs into a mysterious woman who offers him employment with a sketchy syndicate group he knows nothing about. Luckily he had lost all his money by winning a bid at an online auction for a Beam Katana,  his main choice of weaponry. Not long after, you find out you were hired as an assassin in a shady game by her higher-ups. Travis takes the job after being promised some passionate TLC if he can take out all 10 of the already top ranking assassins all over the world. Travis is a pretty simple guy. He likes mecha anime, luchador wrestling, old school video games, porn, sex, and sleeping on the toilet.

In NMH2, Travis finds out that after becoming the #1 ranking assassin in Santa Cruise, he finds out that he actually has hundreds of more assassins in a new ranking system where Travis is the lowest ranking.

This time around, Travis is joined by the father of one the assassins he killed in NMH1, and the co-op option is something that would have been outstanding to have in NMH2 but none the less the developers always deliver great content in their titles and this one will not disappoint. Couples will enjoy the kinky nature of the series for sure. It has been proven many times.

10. Broforce | 9.5 out of 10

Every wanted to play Super Mario Bros on NES but with guns? Ever want to change Mario for, let’s say...any huge action movie star from the 80′s, 90′s, 00′s? Ever wanted it to be a co-op experience with up to 4 players with local and online co-op? As a mercenary for the USA, you are sent to 3rd world contries to liberate them from the evil control of Satan and his hell spawn. Before that, you will have to fight through waves of kamikaze soldiers, war dogs, giant helicoptors, aliens (...from the movie “Aliens”) and much more. Along the way, you will recruit an entire cast of badasses. From Rambo to Robocop, you will find Chuck Norris, Neo, Blade, Bruce Willis, Terminator, Preditor, Machette, Michelle Rodrigez, The Bride (Kill Bill) & so many more including Mortal Kombats Raiden.

Very easy to pick up, very hard to put down.

11. Nidhogg 2 | 8.0 out of 10

2D-Side Scrolling Fighter. You start of with a sword. When you die, you respawn with a dagger. When you die, you respawn with a bow and arrow. Die again and respawn with an ax. Die again and respawn with your fist. This cycle will continue until you our your opponent makes it to the opposing end of the map. Maps are relatively small and consist of about 2 to 3 different frames. Sounds easy on paper right? 

Tons of laughs to be had!

12. Tales Of Vesperia

If your looking for an in-depth RPG you both can play while she sits between your legs and you both focus on the Switch screen laying in front of you: this is for you two. The co-op system usually only functions when you enter battle. Player 1 will always be the one running around the world map but this is still fine if you keep an open-mind and communicate on decisions that impact the story and more. (Keep track of your own money.)

side-note: All Tales games are co-op in this sense, even the Super Nintendo picks.

13. Harvest Moon: Light of Hope

I’ve been a Harvest Moon fan since Super Nintendo and got my first copy on the N64. I know a lot of people see this game and hate the thought of a farming simulator but unlike it’s counterpart with the same name-sake; Harvest Moon is so much more. This can easily tame the craving for an adventure-rpg-dating sim with a very rich story and characters that actually grow on you. I have not had the chance to play this particular version yet, but I saw it was multiplayer and that sold me. If you want to try a good yet cheaper version, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature is by far, one of the best, next to Harvest Moon 64.

So there you have it, our picks of love for your love to love with their love! Honestly...I don’ t celebrate Valentines Day (poly-gang), but I love exposing partners to new things that they can enjoy together.

OUT!

#cyt magazine.tv #sangria times #sangria times publication #dreadsperado #cytmagazine.tv #@cytmagazine.tv #deangilo willis #cel-man iller #Nintendo switch #monopoly #uno #super smash bros #super Mario party #diablo 3 #nes emulator #99 vidas #oh sir #insult simulator #Hollywood roast #no more heroes #no more heroes 3 #travis strikes back #travis touchdown #goichi suda #suda51 #grasshopper manufacture #broforce #bro force #nidhogg #nidhogg 2

[taww]

Review: Furutech e-TP80 Passive Power Distributor by MGD

Furutech e-TP80 Passive Power Distributor

The Audiophile Weekend Warrior (TAWW)

TAWW Rating: 4.5 / 5

A no-compromise power strip to take your system the final mile to greatness.

PROS: Top-to-bottom purity, detail and dynamics; no discernible sins of omission or commission; superb build quality.

CONS: Won't help a mediocre system or transform bad power; look elsewhere if you want fancy features like switching or power factor correction.

It started back in the middle 80s, or so. That’s when I remember the initial stirrings about how changes to AC related components could improve the sound of a stereo system. I recall reading about power cords in Stereophile magazine for the first time. How odd that something, a mere conductor of electricity, could impact the music coming out of speakers. After all, the tiny voltages carrying the musical signal are greatly isolated from the raw energy coming out of a wall. Large transformers, and filter caps measuring many thousands of µF were there for a reason. Their job, or so I thought, was to take power generated many miles away in a plant burning coal, or plutonium or something, and turn it into my music. And between my house and the power plant there were, and still are, literally, tons of cable suspended from towering utility poles traversing pastures, forests and interstate highways. Next to the street I’m on, there is a wooden pole with a rather large transformer affixed to its top. Wires go in and wires come out; several of those wires go to my house – they power my stereo.

The trek of electrons starting so many miles away ends at my wall. Of course, those electrons also power the microwave, refrigerator, clocks, lightbulbs and any number of things populating a modern home. It’s something I take for granted until for some reason the power goes out. It’s only then that I think of ways to punish the power company for my inconvenience. Otherwise, one electron is as good as another for making sure my clock radio comes on as directed every morning. It’s a 60 Hz sine wave after all, what’s the big deal. Where I live, the voltage hovers around 122 volts with amperage sufficient to fry your eyeballs if you touch it with impunity. And while the voltage is a little high, it’s not enough to cause reliability problems or overcooked appliances. How then, could my stereo be materially and substantially changed sonically by 6 feet of cable and what amounts to a power strip? I don’t really know the answer to my self-imposed question. But I do know, and I don’t care what the uninformed, and delusional naysayers say, I can make a sound system suck or sing with the right combination of power cords and AC line conditioning. Yes, the last six feet does make a difference.

Ironically, the first power cord review I recall reading in Stereophile was negative. The writer heard a difference with the insertion of the cord, but he didn’t like it. I remember, when reading his many complaints, that the entire concept of an aftermarket power cord perplexed him. How could a cord plugged into a preamplifier make any difference good or bad? In retrospect, I’ll bet that the reviewer got a cord wired with the polarity reversed. Otherwise, it should have sounded better with something. During the over twenty years that I spent listening to power cords for Bound for Sound, only once did I come across a cord that sounded bad at everything and with every component I tried it with. I won’t name the manufacturer, he’s gone, the market took care of him, but over the years I’ve auditioned over 200 different cords, and reviewed a goodly number of those, and if I’ve learned anything it’s – never think you’ve got it all figured out… because, you don’t.

THE HARDWARE

I could cover these components together, but I choose not to. Elite Audio/Video sent me two power cords and an e-TP80 Power Distributor ($1,995), all from Furutech – I like them a lot. For some, the e-TP80 is nothing more than a glorified, and expensive, power strip. Thinking that would be a mistake. The version sent to me is filled with some nice distributor-added options such as the special production AC outlets, all eight of them. These AC outlets (GTX-NCF) are anything but ordinary. The inner workings are Rhodium over pure copper. The Rhodium is super polished for an ultra-smooth contact area for hooking up with high-end AC plugs. Stainless steel springs are used to maintain pressure at the contact points. The iec connector has pure copper tongs. The Furutech even has negative ions inside! It’s a granular material called 3M CG303. I looked up what an ion is and discovered that it’s an atom that has either gained or lost an electron. If it has lost an electron, it’s a positive ion. If the atom has gained an electron, it is a negative ion. The Director has a bunch of negative ions inside it, or so Furutech says. I don’t know where they came up with the extra electrons, and I don’t know how negative ions are good for a sound system. All I know, is that from the overall performance of this device, negative ions are a good thing. The chassis is extremely well made, and to the hand, it feels like it weighs more than it should. It has the feel of something intended to be elite.

Wiring inside of the e-TP80 is solid core Furutech. What I’ve described for you are the extras added goodies which set this Elite (Scot) modified e-TP80 above the standard Furutech Power Distributor which runs a sweet $799.00. I trust that the standard Furutech Distributor is a great product and excellent value. In my opinion, however, the Elite modified unit is in a class all of its own.

When compared to the price fetched by some things audiophile, the price of the Director at $1,995.00 isn’t that bad. More than mad money, it’s still within range for the serious music lover, plus the eight additional outlets where you need them is priceless. Nothing worse than having a single outlet with two plugs out of reach of even your longest power cords. There are power strip options, everything from cheap plastic strips for sale at Walmart to slightly upscale versions of the same sold at Menards and Lowe’s. EBay has lots of nice looking strips one can basically order direct from China… nice looking pieces that hide their internal workings and offer no domestic support in case of problems. I can assure you that everything coming from Furutech is quality made and that Elite backs it up 100%.

[Editor note: Also beware counterfeits! Apparently there are fake Furutech (and Cardas, and Nordost, etc. etc.) parts being peddled that look all but identical to the real thing. Always buy from a trusted authorized source - if it seems too good to be true, it is. -MIY]

The Power Director has an IEC connector for use with a quality power cord. On top of the Distributor are four duplex electrical outlets. To the left are the outlets for low draw items such as preamps, DACs and the like. The DAC outlets have a simple, but effective, RFI/EMI circuit. To the right are outlets for heavier draw components such as televisions, power amps and subwoofers. Eight outlets in all. It’s not terribly important regarding what outlets you plug things into, but, I wouldn’t plug a large power amp into the DAC outlet, but that’s about it. The finishing touch is unit demagnetization and deep cryo freezing.

A POWER CORD

As I indicated earlier, I’m not going to cover the power cord section of this evaluation in the here and now. There are good reasons for that. What I can say is that the Furutech power cords sent to me are superb – perfect complements to the Power Distributor. The dynamic range they impart to a system is outstanding – NO compression whatsoever (they will pin your ears back). Persons with knowledge of various AC power conditioning and filtering techniques know that the price to be paid for a sense of tonal purity and imaging is oftentimes dynamic compression or a “softening” of edges. The natural expansion of dynamics with the Distributor and the Furutech power cords is as good as I’ve heard. I can discern no lessening, softening or compression of dynamics, contours or edges. And so as not to give the readers of TAWW the old soft shoe shuffle, I’ll be specific: I am very familiar with the LessLoss Firewall, PS Audio AC regenerators, various isolation transformers, battery powered AC such as the old Mark Brassfield, Tripplite, Audience (early model) and a friend’s Furman – and I like the Furutech the best. The Furutech Power Distributor is my “go to” device when determining what clean AC should sound like. But this is not a review of the Furutech power cords, as I have a conflict of interest regarding power cords: I make my own. It would not be fair to Furutech or myself (especially myself) to evaluate the Furutech power cords when I most certainly am biased in my assessment of power cords. For that reason, as much as I really like the Furutech power cords (and am not ashamed to say so), MIY will be reviewing them. He can say whatever he wants.

BACK TO THE POWER DIRECTOR

Now, that the cat is out of the bag, allow me to tell you what the Furutech AC Distributor does, and doesn’t do, so that you can make a determination if an audition is in order. The finest AC treatment architectures do some things very well. Almost all of the finer units have some very positive strengths. And in almost all AC units, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Otherwise there would be no reason to purchase any of them. However, I have yet to hear a single conventional AC treatment unit that didn’t have some form of negative associated with its performance. I hear no negatives with use of the Furutech Power Distributor. Among all of the positives heard with the PS Audio AC regenerators, after a while a heaviness, some call it a darkness, sets in that I wasn’t crazy about. Upon extended use I observed the Firewall to be softening transient information ever so much. In other ways it is exemplary. The Monarchy isolation transformer is a superb device, and I still use one. But use it long enough and one notices a subtle compression of extreme dynamics and a small curtailment of the extreme bass. All livable things made obvious after using the Furutech Power Distributor.

I am hesitant to say, but will anyway, that the greatest strength of the Director is that it does nothing negative to the sound, the absolute glory of the music shines forth. Listening notes confirm it, the Director strips away electronic artifacts by the boatload. The music is laid bare to observation, negative artifacts which ordinarily adorn the music in sometimes subtle ways are eliminated. Bass previously scrubbed away is realistically restored to a clean replica of that recorded. Dynamic contrasts, along with ambient details are again, laid bare. The “air” and natural space around performers is not exaggerated, still, if anything, it’s more recognizable than ever. This is the kind of product that refuses to impart enormous changes upon a sound system that is otherwise in need of a major overhaul, it doesn’t do huge things. Instead it does those small things that are not available elsewhere. Instead, it acts as a finisher. It’s where you go when you think your system is finished and its performance is already the envy of your friends, audiophile and non-audiophile, alike. It will not transform something mediocre into something wonderful. If it’s a miracle you need, then I’d go PS Audio or LessLoss. The Furutech is more of a “closer” than it is a middle relief man.

CONCLUSION

The basic Power Distributor can be purchased for less than $1,995.00. But the lower priced Distributors do not have the Rhodium over copper duplex outlets (all highly polished and so perfectly fitted for your AC plugs), along with a few other refinements that seem to further heighten performance. The top-of-the-line Furutech is a high-end performer that makes no compromises in terms of parts quality and construction. It’s what you give to the audiophile that has everything.

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