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worldbeyondtheworld · 1 year

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Some thoughts on some of Mystery Skulls Animated’s narrative flaws and what I think could’ve been done better when it comes to Vivi.

- Vivi’s only started to get a proper presence in the story with the Future, so she has less development than either Lewis, Arthur, or even Mystery.

It makes sense since she isn’t in direct conflict with any of the others or being hunted by someone, unlike Lewis and Arthur, or Shiromori and Mystery.

There might not’ve been a good point earlier to involve her, either because of the story’s flow or because of restrictions (time, staff, money, etc.) the team was under while making the videos. Not to mention that they covered the story in Freaking Out while the music was playing.

Still, she’s intrinsically tied to both conflicts. She’s close friends with the former two people - even if she can’t remember Lewis - and would be devastated about the Cave and everything that happened after.

And she’s tied to the latter two because of family history, not to mention that Mystery is also a close friend who’s hunted by that yokai.

And yet, Vivi feels late to the scene. She spends a large amount of time in Freaking Out and Hellbent asleep or unconscious. She also has no moment where she experiences a moment of dread of the things to come.

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- Let’s say that the team could’ve done a pre-music part with Freaking Out like they did with Hellbent or adapted the story beats and flow. A what-if.

One way I would involve Vivi more is that she wakes up and stays awake when Arthur falls out of the van. (And also because just napping on the van’s floor is uncomfortable, no matter how late it is and how tired she is, so she bends her back and makes a grimace.)

She helps him get up and picks up his laptop, her gaze landing on Arthur’s search map. Some keys were pressed, which has narrowed down the map to show only the icon for the ghost they met a few days ago.

Just as she’s about to point at the ghost icon and show Arthur to ask him about it in her excitement, she looks back on the screen and sees the desktop picture. Lewis’ image is still blotted out in magenta - her eyes flash in magenta. The same color you just saw in the scene before when Lewis fought Shiromori.

Vivi gets dizzy, then hands Arthur back the desktop, not looking again on the screen. As if she never had a question. Arthur is sad. Mystery is worried but hides it as she opens a book to read. Then his focus veers into a different direction when the red petal floats in and he senses Shiromori when he touches it.

It’s clearer that Vivi doesn’t, can’t remember Lewis and that it has something to do with Lewis’ magic. It shows that the others know that she doesn’t, can’t remember him.

Another thing is that you show more of their bond. Vivi worries for Arthur because he fall out of the van. She’s excited to talk with him about ghosts. He and Mystery worry about Vivi.

It’s also a moment where you could pack some backstory or information on Vivi into.

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- I’m doing the same thing with Hellbent, imagining a what-if.

Here, it makes most sense to me to include Vivi more in the part without music. But it’s also more difficult for me to imagine what she could be doing proactively because there’s no base like with Freaking Out.

Maybe she’s still reading her book, using her pointer to move along the paragraphs. Arthur picks his tools and leaves the van. Vivi tries to stop him but he just waves with a tired smile.

After that, her finger returns to the beginning again and again, reading the same passage until she snaps the pages shut in frustration. Mystery jumps in surprise and across the seats to the front, drawing her attention. He gives her a shrug and a smile. (You could argue that she begins hating these kind of smiles.)

She rolls out her futon and listens to Arthur work on the van while she’s falling asleep. She imagines him looking exhausted, which makes her clutch her turtle plushy tighter.

Just as she’s about to slip into sleep, she glimpses a purple figure that flickers away into magenta, wreathing around a sapling. (Because Vivi deserves having some foreshadowing feelings and visions, too.)

I’m not satisfied with this scenario yet. It’s a beginning I can expland on and / or change to something else.

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Not quite related to the narrative. Just! - It feels to me like we have the the least amount of information about Vivi’s family compared to the others. We don’t even know where her parents and grandmother live!

#vivi yukino #mystery skulls animated #msa vivi

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not-krys · 11 months

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Bittersweet

Rating: Teen Pairing: Lucifer x Miriam (OC) Summary: Miri brings Lucifer some coffee Notes: Nightbringer-flavored Obey Me but nothing really spoilery here aside from the premise of MC being brought back to the past; based loosely on the Devilgram story in the 'Healing Lucifer' card and the chat Bittersweet with Lucifer in the original game; angst-flavored; emotional hurt and comfort; guess it could technically count as unrequited love? Or its unrequited love that used to be requited but isn't right now because of Nightbringer's timey-wimey shenanigans? Requited that becomes unrequited and then requited again? Idk. WC: 1977

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to add @loptyrs for beta-ing for me!

Also on ao3!

Check out my masterlist!

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Miri knew better than to directly say no to Lucifer when he all but commanded her to come to his room. Had they been in their proper time and selves, maybe Lucifer would have been softer on her and she could placate him with some coffee and an apology, but this time's Lucifer… He was younger, fresh from the Celestial Realm and the pain that came from his fall.

And she was a stranger to him. Memories that filled her heart didn't exist in his yet. Days filled with happiness and with tears, all nestled within her, now she held onto these precious moments alone.

Reminiscing while making some coffee for him as an apology for refusing orders, she remembered how she had made him a cup with different beans than usual and how he teased her about how much she must love him, to give him something so unpleasant to the tongue. When she had tried to apologize, he only laughed, telling her that the beans were Hell Coffee Beans. They were supposed to taste bitter because when one prepares them for someone they're fond of, it brings out the bitterness of the bean, thus why he could guess that she cared a lot about him because of how biting his coffee tasted. He then made a point to drink every last drop in the cup, drinking up all of her feelings, he said. Her cheeks warmed at the memory.

Now, however, she had to contend with him barely knowing her or how much she cared for him and his brothers. Plus she had blatantly ignored his order to see him by going and playing video games with Mammon and Levi, so she didn't have a lot of points in her favor.

Thankfully, there were no magical coffee beans in the pantry this time, so she wouldn't have to deal with embarrassment of another accidental confession, or possibly more of his wrath if he didn't know about the amorous Hell Coffee Beans yet.

Instead, she made a regular coffee, black, nothing sweet or creamy, just the way he liked it. At least, how she knew he liked it from her time. Would this time's Lucifer still like his coffee black as his new (to him) wings?

Just in case, she brought along some creamer and sugar set aside, in case he wanted it. Just in case, just in case, she told herself.

She walked on eggshells towards the familiar door, the carpeted path just as she remembered it. She knocked softly, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth, waiting for that old booming voice to yell or scold her, as it had so many times since she had come here, both here in the past and in her present.

Instead, there was no response. No 'come in, attendant' or even a grunt to acknowledge he'd heard her.

"…Lucifer?" she tried, her voice soft and timid, an apology ready on her tongue.

No response.

She took in a calming breath, steadying herself in case he did want to yell at her, and pushed the door open, the familiar sight of looming bookshelves and a roaring fire almost bringing tears to her eyes.

The long hours she had spent in this room, listening to music with Lucifer, talking the night away, sometimes falling asleep on his shoulder if she had been tired enough, and even the rare occasion where he would nap on her shoulder instead. She bit her lip, pushing down the heartache that was surfacing against her will.

Deep breaths, she told herself, deep breaths. Might have been a bad idea as she still had hot coffee in her hands, the bitter smell tickling her nose and making her wince.

Miri looked around the room, finally spying the eldest of the demon brothers, sitting in a chair with his red gloved hand cradling his face, eyes closed in slumber. The scowl was still present on his face, yet it was softened in his rest, the corners of his mouth just turning up to give him the softest of smiles.

She then saw the piles of papers at the table in front of him, all having to do with the future building of RAD, the one she and all of them loved so much in the future. There was a sort of energy and excitement flowing through her, seeing the very beginnings of what would change her life forever. Something that she wouldn't have seen in her natural lifetime.

Still, the old familiar bitterness settled over her as she was reminded of her situation. She wasn't one of the founders of RAD. She probably shouldn't be seeing any of this. She shouldn't even be interfering with this time. She shouldn't even be here at all.

Yet despite what her head told her, she couldn't stay away from her brothers, from Lord Diavolo and Barbatos. She loved them too much to stay away. Couldn't stand not helping them.

Instead, she set the coffee cup down, taking in deep breaths again. She refused to start crying again. She had already cried enough for a few lifetimes here, wiping at her eyes just to be sure there wasn't any dampness on her cheeks.

That moment, she heard the familiar rumble of the Avatar of Pride, his deep crimson and black eyes zeroing on her, the sleep heavy in his voice.

"You're late."

She kept her back to him, making a show of straightening up the papers.

"Sorry, I was busy."

"You were playing video games with Mammon and Leviathan."

"I had already promised them that I would. And I don't like breaking promises already made."

Lucifer grumbled and rubbed his forehead, letting out a deep sigh.

"No matter."

He stood, towering over her, and raised an eyebrow.

"You brought coffee?"

"As an apology. I did blatant ignore you to play video games with the others. I figured you'd be less angry if I had something to make up for my transgression."

"Hmph." Lucifer smirked, reaching for the steaming mug. "You didn't add any sugars or creams?"

"I wasn't sure what you liked," Miri said after a pause, holding up the creamer and sugar, "so I brought some with me."

"You didn't bring any coffee for yourself?"

"N-not a big fan." Instead, Miri had a small cup of water. She didn't live at the House of Lamentation currently, and it was getting on in the night. She didn't want to be bouncing off the walls around Solomon. Definitely not.

To her surprise, Lucifer threw his head back and drank the coffee, adding no sugar or cream, shaking his head as he swallowed. Miri gasped.

"Y-you could have added in the-"

"Don't need it." he coughed, taking some measured sips now.

Miri sighed in relief, taking some sips of her water.

"Does it… taste alright?"

"It tastes like coffee." he said bluntly, though his lip turned up slightly. "For someone who claims to not 'be a big fan,' you sure know how to make a strong cup."

"I made it like that for…for someone who liked it that way." Miri explained, "he… he liked it strong and bitter."

"He, huh." His lip corner lifted higher. "He must care a lot for you, to be able to take something so acidic and not complain about it."

Miri froze, lowering her head, looking at her shoes, a gift from him ages ago. Her pink bangs hid her eyes, her lip taken between her teeth.

"He… he loved bitter coffee, especially when I made it. Always complimented it."

Lucifer blinked, his eyebrows raising in confusion as Miri's came closer together.

"A strange thing to be complimented on."

"He was a strange one." Miri almost choked on her words. "But… that's…that's neither here nor there."

She raised her head, swallowing hard, putting on the bravest smile she could manage.

"But, you seem to like it that way too. I'm glad."

Lucifer started, watching as a sliver of dampness slid down her brown cheek. He frowned.

"You may not realize it, but you always have the saddest look on your face whenever you look at my brothers… especially when you think no one is looking."

He reached across to her, his gloved hand soaking up her solitary tear.

"Is looking after them that painful to you? I can do something if-"

"No, they just…" she swallowed, "they remind me of… of my family."

Lucifer's eyes widened.

"We… got separated. They're somewhere far… far away. Somewhere I can't reach them. I don’t know when… or if, I can see them again."

More of her tears started falling, the glow of the nearby fire making them like falling amber gems. Lucifer kept his hand on her cheek, rubbing it gently with his thumb.

"I miss them so much, Lucifer," she choked out, taking a tight hold of his wrist, "And they're… they're so far away and I can't… I can't…"

She hid her face against his chest. Lucifer breathed in sharply, relaxing only after a few of her sobs escaped.

"I'm sure they miss you too." he said quietly, "losing one's family is never easy, especially with the possibility of never seeing them again."

Her tears fell faster, making her bury her face further into him. Lucifer rubbed her back, trying to calm her sobs.

"I'll talk to Lord Diavolo tomorrow. About searching for your lost family. It distresses my brothers whenever they see you miserable and anxious. And myself as well."

Miri sobbed harder, glad that he was willing to help, but she knew it would be a fruitless endeavor. All Lucifer could do was hold her and rub her back affectionately.

"She was a crybaby too," he muttered to himself, "and a big troublemaker, just like you. Do you cry this much for your 'him'?"

He pulled her onto the nearby couch, letting her curl in his lap, keeping her face in his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair, the pink strands catching on his gloves.

He didn't know how long he held the small creature in his arms (and most certainly didn't think how comfortably she fit in his arms), just that her sobs eventually did calm down to soft hiccups, still refusing to face him however. He rubbed her hair again.

"Stay tonight." he commanded softly. "you're in no shape to go out on your own. I'll inform Solomon you're staying here tonight."

He glanced at his D.D.D on the far table.

"You'll have to get up so I can reach my D.D.D."

He received no answer aside from soft snores. Lucifer chuckled.

"You're refusing direct orders again, attendant."

She still gave him no answer, only cuddling closer to him in response.

"You're being astonishingly affectionate towards me in spite of loving someone else, I hope you're aware. You would be making your strange coffee lover jealous, I'm sure."

He pulled her closer, moving her head so it rested more comfortably on his shoulder.

"I say that, yet I can't help but feel jealous myself, that someone else holds your heart so tightly instead of me. It's a strange feeling, attendant."

He looked at the blazing fire, lost in thought.

"Why do you evoke these feelings inside of me? Is there something I'm missing here? Some secret I'm not privy to?"

The fire crackled loudly, the amber glow reflecting in his eyes. He sighed, defeated.

"You will reveal your secrets to me, Miriam," he rested his cheek on her head, finding her hair pleasantly soft to his touch, "One way or another, I'll find a way. To get you to talk. To tell me all your secrets. To stop that pitifully depressed look on your face. To see your true smile. To see you happy again."

He closed his eyes once more, letting out a soft sigh.

#krys's adventures in fanfiction #obey me #shall we date: obey me #lucifer (obey me)#obey me oc #miriam (oc)#nightbringer obey me flavored #cw: emotional hurt and comfort #angst with a somewhat happy ending #also happy bday lucifer #I seem to have a bad habit of doing angst-flavored stories for certain favs of mine #whoops

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venominmypizza · 2 months

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So what kind of world/setting is your ocs from like? Is there a story to them or are you working that out?

Tysm for the question!! SO UHM. It's complicated because I still didn't think about the location or city names but it's very likely that the main events are occurring in America

The "present year" is 2037 but it's like they're living in our late 2010s (it previously was set in 2017 but it didn't fit with the 1900s events), for example the 2020s for them were like our 2000s with fashion pop colture and "basic technology" and the 2010s were like the 90s and so on

All of this because in the 1920s there was a world war (the only one for them) where one side of the conflict(?) developed military weapons that were too advanced for the time, in particular they were able to build a giant robot, after the war some scientists bought the material that the military used to build the robot and began to study it and from that they created robots that at the present day live in the cities like people

There are 3 main "cities", the main one that is a classic technologic advanced metropolis, almost all of the main characters live there and are from there

the second one is the one I was talking about in one of my previous posts, that city serves like a "garbage" of people that didn't make it life or have too many debts, the city is very monotone and doesn't have much color or personality and it's also behind in technology, this city is situates in the desert near a military base so it's not that easy to escape

The third one is not just a city but a cave system where people went for motives similar to the second city but in that case they chose to do so, there is something in this cave that the other cities don't have, that being shrimp aliens, this shrimp-like alien species mysteriously appeared on earth and no one knows when but in the beginning of the 90s people starting to live with them and never came back

I WISH I had the capacity of writing a full book or story but I can't write for my life so I think I'll just keep posting parts of the lore (as much and as better as I can) and idk maybe one day I'll be able to write a proper story

I also wanted to make a comic or music videos but my knowledge of perspective and anatomy is ass

#lore #ocs #cyberpunk #i got too excited and forgot how to formulate phrases and how words work so sorry if something's unclear lmao

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mauesartetc · 2 years

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High Guardian Spice Redesigns: Mermaid Edition

I just couldn’t stay away. Let’s dive back in (pun very much intended) to some High Guardian seas.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series covered the show’s general issues and the thought process behind my redesigns in depth, but as a quick recap:

I’ve styled the new art direction after 17th-century woodcuts depicting witchcraft (what with the magic in the story and all)

The master palette is reduced to six base colors, all taken from spices

Everyone’s pupils are now drawn like Snapdragon’s for the sake of consistency and making the art style look more unique

Now let’s look at the results of the mermaid transformation sequence and see what needs improvement:

(Screenshot from this video, and I must say the music and sound effects add some much-needed excitement to the scene, even with the sluggish pacing that holds the animation back.)

For starters, the tail colors seem a bit random. They don’t echo the girls’ hair, skin, eyes, or the clothes they wore on land - with one exception. Parsley’s tail matches her hair, giving me an idea as to how to make the tails more consistent across the board.

Also, the tailfins look pretty generic, like the first thing someone would doodle when they were bored without doing any research. What if the tails were inspired by fish that match each girl’s personality?

Plus, the weight of Parsley’s hammer would make it difficult for her to swim upward, while the water would significantly slow down Thyme’s arrows. And yet they get to keep their weapons while Caraway takes Rosemary’s sword? Yeah, it’d make more sense for them to leave all their usual weapons on land (except maybe Sage’s terrasphere-?) and take light, water-friendly knives for self defense during their mission.

Bit of a nitpick, BUT: I get why Rosemary and Sage’s hair is loose now, since the free-flowing look jives better with the whole mermaid aesthetic. Okay, cool. But if their hair had already been held in pigtails and braids for hours that day, you’d think it’d have more waves in it rather than coming out perfectly straight in the transformation sequence.

(And this is more of a continuity error on the animation side than a design thing, but holy shit I just realized how much longer Rose’s tail is in the final shot compared to seconds earlier in the transformation.)

Enough yammerin’. Let’s get to the redesigns.

In the end I decided to merge the mermaid tails with the skin on their upper bodies, making them the same color. The first three girls’ skin color matches their eyes, though Sage was trickier. Her reddish eye color just made her skin look sunburnt, so I went with a green similar to the one used for the leaf design on her dress. Everyone has the same hair color they did on land (keeping them recognizable despite the major appearance changes), and the transformation now includes gills. Leaning into the fish elements helped me move away from the overdone Disney princess mold.

Speaking of fish, each character’s tailfin is now inspired by specific species.

Parsley- Pufferfish Small and unassuming at first glance, but not one to be trifled with.

Thyme- Barracuda This arrow-shaped fish reminded me of Thyme’s weapon of choice.

Rosemary- Great White Shark Based more on general vibes, really. I think Rose would freak out with glee if she had a tail inspired by one of these badass chonkers.

Sage- Swordfish An allusion to the sharpness of Sage’s mind. (Alleged sharpness, anyway; apparently some of the choices she makes in the show aren’t consistent with this characterization.)

Also, each girl now sports a pair of gloves with gems on them. These are terraspheres customized specifically to make blades appear in the user’s hands (and store themselves again) when she concentrates and performs the proper motions (shown below).

This way, the crew will always have access to weapons when they need them, but said weapons will be much more portable and useful for underwater fights.

As for the original accessories like decorative shells, earrings, tiaras and such... Ehh. They seemed superfluous to me, as they served no purpose other than looking pretty. The whole point of turning into mermaids was to help the undersea folk deal with a dangerous creature, not play dress-up. If a character design element is only present because “it looks cool” rather than serving the story or the character, toss it.

That’s all for now, though in the last High Guardian Spice post, I did mention possibly redesigning the dragons... Hmm.

#high guardian spice #character design #redesign #mermaid #mermaids #magical girl transformation #critique #criticism #anime #art direction #hgs

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chaoticgeminate · 1 year

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Black Vultures (iii)

Summary: When your plane to a beach resort vacation crashes, nowhere near your destination, you have to depend on a stranger to protect you from horrors you never could have imagined.

Pairing: Pero Tovar x f!Reader

Rating: Explicit (Chapters with smut will be marked)

Notes/Warnings: Series involves general survival, cannibals, violence, and gore with body horror elements. This is based loosely off 'The Forest' and while I may have used a picture of Pero in armor we are working with a modernized Pero here.

**ILLNESS AND FAIRLY GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING**

Written for @yearofcreation2023

Series Masterlist | Year of Video Game AUs Masterlist

i am the eye of the storm (3.7k)

He didn’t know what the hell to do, the sheen of sweat on your skin -which was already hot to the touch- told him what he needed to know, but not how to fix it. Your hands were still pink and inflamed around the injuries from the glass, it was only sheer luck -or maybe you were just that damn determined- that he could rouse you enough to drink water and eat the vegetation he managed to forage and clean. It had been two terrifying days of waking up at the slightest change of your breathing, of waking up when you fell too silent, and Pero was exhausted but he was also scared.

The cannibals -what else was he supposed to call them?- had been edging closer and closer to the stand and only the litany of new traps he kept setting each day seemed to deter them. It was not a great thing for him to be back in this place mentally, taking lives so… carelessly. He didn’t even have the blanket reasoning that he was doing it for the sake of his country or at someone else’s command, this was killing for the sake of survival but it was still killing. Taking the lives of native people to this area for the sake of survival, as if he had more of a right to live than they did when he’d invaded their home even if it wasn’t intentional, and he knew that he was going to need a lot more therapy following this venture.

If he made it out of this alive.

Pero looked across the field, his binoculars offering him a better range and a better chance at spotting trouble sooner, and he was only mildly relieved that the people seemed to be willing to ignore your presence for now. What worried him was the fact that he was seeing more of those monsters around, the horrific ones with hooked feet and no faces as well as hulking deformed ones with stunted arms and shambling walks due to their bloated bodies. Some even had four pairs of legs, were just a hunk of body with legs, like someone had been ripping humans apart and putting them back together.

He had only ever seen anything remotely close to this once, when his squadron had been tasked to assist the Chinese military in an investigation of an underground cave system, and even then it was animals that they’d discovered and not people. His fidgeting stilled and Pero wondered if the two countries had begun experimenting with what they’d managed to bring back, whispering curses as he began to fiddle with his satellite phone again, and he glanced at you once more.

Still sleeping, breathing labored, still feverish; each moment that you went without medicine, without proper care, was another moment that increased the likelihood you weren’t going to make it. He grabbed the journal from his grandfather, with survival tips and recreated pictures of things like edible plants, and searched through the pages to see if he could at least forage something to help you. He stopped on cleavers, or galium aparine as his grandfather so helpfully included, and whispered a soft promise to your unconscious form as he began to descend from the stand to start hunting in the immediate area.

Pero ignored the ringing in his ears, the way his heart was racing as horrific memories of what he’d experienced before started to resurface in the face of… this. The gun he’d found was a comforting weight against his lower back, a promising and guaranteed kill on the human threats at the bare minimum, and Pero began to hastily search the various weeds and plants while praying to whatever God could hear him that they showed mercy on you.

He spent hours looking, until he had no light, finding only a few small sprigs of the plant and hurrying up to where you were shivering and terrified. You startled badly when he pulled himself up, likely thinking he was a threat, and Pero captured your hands when you tried to shove him away. He watched your half-lidded eyes blink rapidly in the dim twilight as you began to recognize him.

“Pero?”

“Por favor, bonita, I need you to rest.” He boiled the plants down in water, uncaring how low his mini-propane tank was starting to run at this point, and carefully supported the cup when it had steeped long enough so you could drink. He could feel himself shaking, hating that he couldn’t get his body to remain calm anymore now that you were in such bad shape, and Pero made sure you drank all of the tea before feeding you some of the beef jerky and trail mix he had left in his pack. If you were going to survive you needed protein, more than what foraged plants would offer, and he wasn’t going to let you go out without trying his hardest to do something.

Your breathing evened out after another few minutes with him lightly carding his fingers along your scalp and he began singing you a soft lullaby, not remembering the name or the English words, and you fell asleep to the soft Spanish tune. Pero looked over the edge of the stand into the dark, seeing the eyes of the people shining back in the darkness when he used his flashlight to inspect the empty space, and he watched one of the idiots step right into the spiked pitfall. The wet sound of wood tearing through skin and bone, the loud scream of pain, echoed in the dark and Pero watched as most of the others left after retrieving the body carefully.

But there were more of those mutant things lingering around and he only managed to get a few hours of rest, waking up whenever the sound of cracking sticks or the flutter of wings of birds fleeing their perch broke the noise of the insects that had become a constant background noise. His hope for survival was starting to fade as your fever evened out, as your breathing sounded worse, as another day passed by and his inability to get long hours of rest began to take its toll on him.

“Can anyone… found remnants… survivors?”

His satellite phone crackled in the early morning, rousing Pero enough from his first deep rest in a week, and he quickly snatched the device up to try and get a better signal while looking over the edge of the stand for any signs of danger.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” The grip he had on his sat phone was so tight he was worried he might break it, carefully checking your temperature again, and you blinked up at him with a little bit more clarity on your face today. A small blessing, even if you were still burning all your calories shivering, the cold combined with your illness was delaying your potential recovery. He was certain that if the weather was a little bit better you would have started to recover by now.

“Pero? I don’t feel good. I think my cuts got too bad.” He had hoped you weren’t the type to have the knowledge of how long an infection could go untreated before it got risky, that you’d be blissfully unaware, but he should have known better than that. Even if you weren’t an outdoorsy camping type, or if you were you hadn’t been prepared for anything this extreme, you probably knew as well as he did how short the fuse was in situations like yours.

“You’re going to be okay, bonita, I promise.”

“Copy, we’ve adjusted our signal, can you hear me sir?”

“Yes, I can. Please, I have someone who is suffering from an infection and needs medical help as soon as possible.”

“We’ve got your location signal, dispatching a team now, please comply upon meeting to avoid unnecessary aggression.”

“Understood, please hurry.”

He understood the reason for the request, everything here was an unknown, even if he didn’t like the idea that they would potentially be aggressive with you in your condition, so Pero began cleaning and packing up everything he could to make it that much easier to get out of here. He hoped that they had either seen the cannibals or mutants, so that they didn’t think the two of you had lost your minds, but he also hoped they didn’t. It was terrifying, the truth of what could exist in the wilds, and he was torn between wanting it to be known and wanting as few people as possible to be scarred by the horrors of knowledge.

Thunderous sounds were the warning, Pero looked down to see one of the shambling things charging toward the base of the stand; the entire structure rocked dangerously as it collided with one of the thick base legs, somehow missing all the traps he’d set in the process. His curse was loud as he pulled out the gun, aiming down and shooting where the base of the neck was supposed to be, the creature made a sound similar to an angry bull and began backing away due to the shot.

This time it hit the edge of a spiked pitfall, dropping into the pit and impaling itself on the sharpened wooden spikes, and Pero was about to radio back to whoever was supposed to rescue them when he heard the sound of helicopter blades over the screaming as what looked like a horde of blood covered cannibals ran across the field from inside the woods. The chopper was mowing them down with its gun, while two soldiers were on either side of the open doors to fire their own weapons, and the chopper began to hover when the pilot noticed him waving.

The gun was powerful and Pero hunched over you with his ears covered, your hands on your own ears, as the weapon kept firing; he heard the softest whimper escape you and kissed your forehead, promising you over and over under the hail of gunfire that you were okay and it was almost over.

When only the sound of the helicopter blades and the feeling of the wind remained Pero dared look, seeing the vehicle landing among the piles of bodies and the sea of blood, soldiers in hazmat suits jumping out of the side doors. After confirming the rescue on his SAT phone he scaled down with his bag first, dropping it on the ground and going up to fetch you next. You were clinging to him, draped over his shoulders, and when he touched down the soldiers that had begun traversing over stopped. Pausing just at the line of trees upon seeing the spiked pitfalls that had been walked through already, he hoped to hell they didn’t take that as a reason to hurt you, the soldiers raised their guns and Pero stayed as still as he could with you on his shoulders.

“Are there more traps, sir?”

“Yes, I had to keep us safe-“

“Understood, please come to us and move slowly. Keep your hands where we can see them.”

Pero kept his grip on you, using the toe of his boot to make sure he didn’t accidentally trip one of his own traps, and as he began to set you down where it was safe your legs just refused to work; you sat down gracelessly, leaning against his legs and wheezing softly, with your arms weakly up in the air and the two hazmat clad soldiers approached slowly.

“We’re going to cuff you, a precaution only until we know what we’re dealing with, and bring the two of you back to base camp where you’ll be given health checks and nutrients.” He knew why it was necessary, any safety precautions were going to seem extreme, since there was no telling if it was a sickness that caused those things or what even if Pero was pretty sure that wasn’t possible.

He nodded and you looked up at him, brows pulled together in fear, but you didn’t have the energy to fight even if you tried and Pero didn’t want to risk you getting hurt because he refused to comply; one of the soldiers helped you up, allowing you to lean on them as they walked you back to the helicopter and Pero was asked to hold his bag as he was escorted back with the other one who kept his gun raised. The sight of the bodies on the ground, the blood staining the bottom of your sneakers, made him think of the nightmare he endured in China but Pero shoved that down.

It was a short ride to base camp and Pero’s brows shot up when he saw a uniform clad man talking with a petite woman in blue, both of which he recognized, and William’s surprise turned into a smile. One that was both apologetic and amused, it was naturally some sort of crazy bullshit that would put them in his path again.

“Pero, I never thought- we’ll get you both taken care of and then we can catch up.”

“Indeed, you’re safe now, Pero.”

With Lin and William here, Pero knew that he had to be dealing with something like the tao tei, his best friend had stayed with Lin and taken up the role of a specialist in matters like this while Pero had signed multiple NDAs and gotten out. You were taken to a different tent and he couldn’t help the way his throat tightened or his body went rigid now that you were out of sight, he trusted William but not anyone else here.

Not with you at least.

You weren’t in the best shape, your head hurt and everything was still very fuzzy, but you did as the medical professionals requested as best you could with your wrists cuffed. It hurt and though you felt slightly better it wasn’t great at all.

“Did any of them bite you?”

“No, I- I stabbed one of them with broken glass from the plane window though. The glass cut my hands, even though I’d wrapped it in a shirt.”

“Okay, thank you.”

As much as you wanted to know what they were testing you for… you also didn’t want to know. Each little blood vial, each skin scraping, each saliva swab were run through a litany of machines as they hooked you up to an IV. After what felt like eons, but was more reasonably only an hour, they undid the cuffs on your wrists and began using a wet rag and warm -clean- water to get the dirt and grime off your skin.

“It looks like you got lucky, we’re giving you a high dose of antibiotics via IV to blanket treat your infection and we’ll have you under monitoring for a week before attempting to move you. Let’s get you cleaned up, comfortable, and we’ll get some food in you.” The relief you felt at being okay made you nod, tears forming in your eyes, and once you were brought to the main treatment tent where Pero was talking with a man and woman as he washed himself off the tears fell faster as your body shook from relief.

“¡Bonita! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Pero’s tone was sharp as he glared at the woman wheeling you over to where they were, more than ready to rise to your defense, so you hurried to reassure him before he got himself hurt.

“Okay, ‘m okay, just happy that its over.” He nodded and tapped his forehead to yours once you were settled, looking equally relieved and yet not offering an apology to the medic, and he finished cleaning up before taking the MRE that was handed to him as well as yours to prepare them. It felt good to just cry, to know that you were safe and that you could go home, that while you were forever going to question what was real and what was fake you weren’t alone in that position.

Once you managed to get yourself under control Pero began feeding you, promising that he’d taken the worst of the two menu choices, and you listened as he talked to you the entire time. His friends were still there, sitting quietly on another cot, and you felt safe for the first time in a week.

“I was a soldier, joined the Marines right out of high school to get out of my small town, I wanted to see the world and that seemed like the best way. To see mi mama’s home city in Spain, to go to Greece, it was fulfilling even if it was shit conditions and leadership that didn’t care about us. I signed for ten years, the wars led to me being kept on of course, but then William and I were sent to China.” He had a very steady cadence, with you not interrupting as he fed you the tasteless elbow macaroni in tomato sauce, his ‘cheese tortellini’ looked worse so you were more than okay with what he’d picked for you.

“It was a show of good faith to work with the Chinese soldiers, to quell the rumors of war that people were spreading all over the internet, and we found cave systems filled with monsters. Nothing like this but not entirely different either, I was given the choice to walk away and I took it, we’re both going to have to sign a litany of NDAs. We’ll have to negotiate therapy, unfortunately.” You nodded, unsurprised that the military was going to be stingy with allowing you mental health assistance after this, and Pero chuckled ruefully as he began preparing some of the snacks and sides from the MRE.

“Pero was a hell of a friend to have out there, facing the tao tei, but there are times I wonder if I should have done the same as him. I’m William Garin, by the way, and this is Lin Méi. We’re part of a special task force that… handles things like this. When the first rescue chopper was brought down it was decided to dispatch our team.” You nodded at the two others and noticed that Pero seemed less relaxed than he should have been, you were safe so you didn’t quite understand the reason he looked so tense.

His eye had been treated, the butterfly bandages replaced now that the area had been cleaned properly, but it didn’t look infected so that couldn’t be what was bothering him.

“Bonita, you will be safe here. I am… I am going to be joining William and Lin Méi to investigate a potential cause of those monsters. Promise me that you’ll listen to what you’re told, unless it is something entirely out of line, and that you will be here when I get back.” His voice was soft and pained, like he didn’t want to go, and that nervous energy under your skin got worse even as he fed you the strange crackers and cheese.

“I don’t like it, I want you safe Pero. You don’t have to leave, you’re not active service anymore.” The idea of him not being here was terrifying, he’d been the only reason you even made it this far, and you didn’t know any of these other soldiers at all or if they were decent people. You also knew that it wasn’t supposed to be protocol that he went with them, which meant he volunteered for whatever reason and his friends were indulging his demand. Even the thought of being away from him had your panic rising, you knew it was just trauma causing you to feel safer with him around, you couldn’t get your body to calm down.

“Bonita, listen to me. While you’ve been ill all I could do was observe those creatures, I know more about their habits and their behaviors and will be an asset to William and Lin. It will help guarantee that we all make it out of this okay and potential shut down whatever has led to this happening. I do not want to leave you but I want to ensure that you, and everyone else, is safe from this nightmare.” He gripped your hands and kissed your newly bandaged palms, watching your face carefully, and you found yourself looking away from him and nodding. You knew he was right, you knew it made sense, but you still didn’t like it.

“I will come back to you, I will come back for you, I promise.”

Pero didn’t stay long after that, long enough to make sure you’d eaten your entire meal and downing his, but after that he disappeared to get changed into a spare uniform and stopped by without Lin or William following him. The medical tent was mostly quiet and Pero cupped your chin, his touch was gentle, and his cocoa eyes softened before he drew closer to you.

“I promise, Bonita, I will return.”

“You had better, Pero. I’ll never forgive you if you don’t.”

Watching his lashes flutter slightly, feeling his breath against your lips, you closed the gap yourself between his lips and yours, with what was out there you had no idea if he would come back and you weren’t going to risk not knowing what his kisses were like. Pero’s lips were chapped and rough but you didn’t care, he made a sound against your mouth before overwhelming you as he cupped the back of your head to angle you the way he wanted you and deepen the kiss. It was like an all out attack and you found yourself unable to do anything but surrender to the intensity of his mouth on yours.

His eyes were hooded when he parted, not too far from your mouth like he couldn’t stand to be too far away from you for even a second, but he pressed a chaste kiss to your lips and stood up before squeezing your hand.

“Wait for me.”

“Don’t make me wait long.”

When he nodded and turned around, leaving through the tent flap, your eyes started to water and your hands shook when you heard the various commands being given about who was going where. Until the ATV he was assigned to took off, leaving you at the camp with only soldiers you had never met and a fear that he wasn’t going to come back.

All Fics Taglist: @haylzcyon @wordsnwhiskey @pagannightwitch @radiowallet @tauralmie @amneris21 @trickstersp8 @practicalghost @rominaszh @alwaysdjarin @alexxavicry @all-the-way-down-here

Just Pedro Taglist: @maievdenoir @beecastle @littlemisspascal @writeforfandoms @aynsleywalker @lovesbiggerthanpride @mswarriorbabe80 @emiemiemiii

Alt Taglist: @imtryingmybeskar @fan-of-encouragement @grogusmum @sizzlingcloudmentality @deadhumourist @prostitute-robot-from-the-future

#year of creation #year of video game aus #the great wall fanfic #the forest fanfic #pero x f!reader #pero tovar x f!reader #cw cannibals #cw cannibalism #year of themed creation #cw body horror #chaoticwrites

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ravenwolfie97 · 3 months

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okay i have to talk about this because it's been really bothering me lately and i need to say something before i explode

so lately i've been noticing on many videos, shortform or otherwise, that they include subtitles! awesome! super helpful and cool

but idk if it's always been a problem and i'm only noticing it now, or if it's gotten particularly bad lately, but... recently a lot of those subtitles are really really bad

slight tangential anecdote: i used to do some freelance captioning work in between real job hunting, and it was a good experience. i was already interested in doing it, obviously, but i was coached on proper captioning etiquette and guidelines to make it look as nice and readable as possible while also transcribing the audio as best as i could before my superiors would touch it up. so i do know a thing or two about proper subtitling, but even if you didn't you would Know that there are some serious problems right now

i'll give a few non-specific examples (bc i'm too lazy to hunt them down to show you). there is a pretty popular (i think) youtube shorts personality who mostly does reaction-based videos, like i think it's actually mostly tiktok stitches reuploaded to yt shorts. but anyway this person, along with most other tiktok people who have subtitles for their lil internet rambles, are probably only basing off of their voice, like there's some kind of auto-caption that gets most of the words right, save for a couple small ones. i can understand that especially for the reaction/vlog crowd who are just trying to pump out videos, but like. i also follow john and hank green. they also reupload their tiktok stitches to yt shorts and have subtitles. and guess what? they're flawless. immaculate. you Can change them. or maybe they just talk better idk my point still stands that there is issue here stemming from having the computer do it with minimal to no touch-up. which leads me to my next example

one of the first nails in the coffin recently was this one pokemon youtube shorts guy i kept getting where he'd look into old game saves. all of the videos are subtitled, but similar to the tiktoks, it appears to be transcribing the voice on its own. what's worse and the most important here is that - remember - this is a series of pokemon videos. saying a pokemon name and expecting an AI to understand what that is out the gate is insane. and it doesn't. any time a pokemon's name is said, it just spews out words that are vaguely similar-sounding standard english words. and it's never the same each time too, which is fun. this is where taking the time to edit or even give a smidge of a damn to the craft of your video really would mean a lot, because for as many as i've seen it turns me even more off every time i see those shitty subtitles. but unfortunately that's not the worst i've seen in the last few days

the one that hurt me so much i physically could not stand it, to the point that i left a Comment on how bad it was, was an edit of a streamer's twitch VOD. normally, this streamer uploads snippets of their streams to yt shorts and has really good and well-edited captions there! i usually have nothing to complain about from this guy. but this one particular video... i don't know if it's because it's an older VOD and someone's just been holding on to it for months, or if it was a huge rush job, or What. but this video had literally the worst captions i had ever seen. they were just slapped down in chunks, not even lining up with the people who were talking, a negligible amount of punctuation, literally the barest minimum of effort. but that's not all! let's not forget that this is an edited clipshow, and there are Effects and Transitions for not only the video itself but the text as well! so SOME amount of effort was put into this because it got actually edited into a decent-sized video instead of just being a small clip. it's literally makes me sick i am so unhappy about it

main point, TL;DR, moral of the story: for the love of all that is holy, please remember that captioning is literally an accessibility feature. some people cannot hear or are unable to listen to videos sometimes, and i can't imagine what a hearing-impaired person who relies on subtitles to engage with videos would think watching either of my last two examples. what makes it worse, too, is that i can't even tell these people to hire someone to do it for them, because oftentimes they DO have people to do that work for them. and they still fuck it up. and then they continue on, to churn out more content. ugh just take a moment to remember that captions are not just for engagement. they're a tool, and some people can use only those as their guide through your video. don't make it impossible to parse. the purpose of them is to be read and understood. and you can't do that if the sentences are in overlapping chunks or if your words are too non-standard to be translated by a computer

#they at least all do a better job at captioning than youtube's built-in auto feature #it's okay in a pinch but it's really. really not good #but man do y'all remember when they Came Out with closed captioning and how incredibly and genuinely awful it was?#as well as unintentionally hilarious?#i must be one of the only people as obsessed with rhett and link's multi-layered cc translation series of videos today as from eons ago #a many charisma wrist to you and to all a good night

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bosskie · 11 months

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Molluck sculpt stuff and rambling

I have been working on my Molluck sculpt recently and it looks quite different than the previous WIP I shared, so I felt like sharing you some progress again. I still gotta refine and fix some stuff but now, Molluck looks more like himself. But here's some 'old vs new' stuff:

I basically redid all his details and fixed his anatomy and shapes.

This was the first WIP I shared about him, and you can see how different he was even earlier:

He was much more bulky back then... This sculpt has changed a lot during the progress and it's not done in a correct way, meaning that this has an awful topology. So, I have to redo the sculpt at some point. But I have decided to finish this sculpt since it will help me a lot with the proper model too. Doing stuff in a wrong way is also a way to learn! I know what to do next time since I got some good materials to help me with 3D stuff now. So, this will be 'Molluck model version 1.0'. I still have so much to learn about 3D stuff and this is a totally amateur sculpt. So, this sculpt won't have the clothing but the proper one.

Molluck ain't still the easiest thing to draw/sculpt/create but doing this sculpt has also helped me to understand more how his anatomy and all those shapes work. I have been studying his Soulstorm model so many times, using those cutscenes, all their frames, using a video editing software for such, but that art book of Soulstorm has helped me a lot too.

All this time I have drawn him, I have wanted to try to capture him as much as I can like he is in Soulstorm. But when it comes to his naked body, New 'n' Tasty model has been the way to go and Molluck's Soulstorm model is based on that and it can be seen on the art book since he has exactly same shoulders than in NnT for example. Yes, when I'm into something, I do really am into it... But even I love Molluck in such a way, I barely wanna change him. I wanna keep his body as close to the NnT model as I can but his hands are from the original concept art since I love those hands... So, basically the only thing I have changed about him is his 'ding-dong situation', like you all thirsty for him, I assume (I have seen stuff)... Don't ask me why I even wanted to do this model in the first place... I just want him, so much, okay...

I think that I understand his whole character more and more over time. Recently, I learned more about cigars and got more ideas for Molluck stuff, thanks to that. And I, um, even own a big cigar now! It's totally Molluck's fault... It's gonna dry but it doesn't matter; I just wanna retain one cigar, even if I starter such a 'hobby'. I laugh at myself when I look at it... I just truly love this Gluk and wanna understand his character as much as I can. And don't get me wrong, I have had this interest before, Molluck just 'boosted' it.

I'll write more Molluck stuff after the poll has ended. I do understand his flaws and negative sides but when it comes to imagination/fiction/fantasy, I care less about the moral stuff. Maybe it was better that his farm got destroyed but my heart still wishes all the best for him... I didn't choose this love, he just feels so much like made for me... He just makes me feel so good and has helped me in life... I have heard from a professional that I'm 'left behind in the development' when I have never had any realistic partner candidate but I haven't chosen it. I love to be like this and am barely into relationships, so this is ideal for me. So yes, I 'ship' myself with Molluck every day but I don't wanna share such stuff since it's private stuff for me but I can talk about what I feel toward him, like I have been doing now.

I think that I love him too much to be objective enough about him... But I'm trying my best to see him like he truly is but somehow, I just see that he has a heart and can be a lovely Gluk but only if he truly likes/loves you. I just got such a feeling from those Soulstorm cutscenes... But I think that this was enough for now.

~ I just love this Gluk!

#art like a bosskie

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emotionalcadaver · 1 year

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WIP Whenever

Thank you for the tag @eclecticwildflowers!

Tagging @areyenotfondofmelobster @scaryscarecrows @roofgeese @confidentandgood @emilynightshade89 @shelbydelrey @moral-terpitude and anyone else interested!

Until Time Stops Chapter 2: Keep Time

(Raymond Leon x OC)

“Ray. They’ve got something.”

He jumped lightly as her fingers curled around his shoulder, head snapping up from where he’d been sitting with his hands clasped in front of him, pressed to his lips in contemplation as he stared at his computer screen. In a flash he was locking his computer and standing, following her over to where Kors and Jaeger were.

“This was tonight.”

They crowded around the monitor, watching the video of a car, the features of the driver clear and familiar.

“He’s only an hour ahead of us,” Raymond took off at nearly a jog towards the front doors, with Rose, Jaeger, and Kors trailing behind him.

“Follow us,” she ordered a few other Timekeepers, and they rose swiftly from their desks, all of them headed out to the parking lot to their cars. Taking her usual seat in the passenger side, she fiddled with her braid.

“You okay?” Raymond asked, throwing the car into drive and turning onto the road to New Greenwich.

“Hm? Oh. Yeah. I just hate going to those big houses that the rich people own, yanno? Makes me feel…” she searched for the correct word. “...Icky.”

Raymond hummed in agreement. “I’ll do the talking, don’t worry. We’ll be in and out. All we’ve got to do is grab Salas and get him back to base.”

“I hope that he doesn’t resist. Rich people get so pissy when their dumb fancy vases get broken.”

He huffed out a laugh. “We’ve got backup.”

“Ah yes. Jaeger and Kors can shield the vases while the rest of us chase Salas around the house. Perfect plan.”

“Actually I was thinking that we’d just blame any damaged property on Kors.”

She almost choked on her gum with her laugh. “I like your plan better.”

He chuckled, reaching one hand across, carefully entwining her fingers with his.

A Remedy for Sorrow Chapter 1: Guilt

Shivering Soldier x OC

The ladder creaked precariously under Daisy’s feet as she pulled herself up it, one hand gripping firmly to the wood while the other firmly clutched a stack of books to her chest. Getting to the top of the ladder, she ran her fingers along the spines of the books lining the shelf, carefully sliding each book she was holding into its proper place. Clamoring back down slowly, she scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, fighting off the weary heaviness that pulled at them.

She hadn’t slept well the night before. Hadn’t been sleeping well at all, as a matter of fact. No since Dunkirk.

Whenever she closed her eyes, it was to dream of planes diving down towards her from the sky, or the flash of fire as oil in the water caught ablaze. The screams of men burning alive all around her.

Heaving exhaustedly, she shook her head, wandering back to the front desk to collect another stack of books that needed to be returned to their proper place in the stacks.

“Daisy,” mumbled old Beryl Wilkins, standing at the front desk, her purse clutched in her hands and coat already half shrugged on. “Are you sure that you’re alright closing on your own, dear?” the older woman asked, blinking at her from behind a pair of thick, round glasses.

“Yes, Mrs. Wilkins, I’m sure,” Daisy said kindly.

“You have your keys?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you’ll remember to shut off all the lights?”

“Of course,” honestly. It wasn’t like she’d never closed before. Though it had admittedly been a little while. But still. She would have thought she’d been working at the library long enough for her to be trusted enough to not burn the place down.

“And you’re sure that you’ll be alright, here all on your own? Oh, goodness…maybe I should just stay…”

“No, no, ma’am, please, it’s fine. I’ll be alright. It’s just for another hour, and you know that almost no one comes in here at this time of day anyway. Go enjoy your evening.”

Beryl eyed her for a minute before nodding. “Yes, yes. Alright. Just be careful dear. Are you sure that you don’t want me to have one of the local boys walk you home?”

“I think that I can manage, Mrs. Wilkins,” Daisy said gently. “Have a good dinner with your husband.”

The little old lady looked down, suddenly bashful. Almost giddy. “Oh, I will. It’s our anniversary, you know.”

“Yes, ma’am, I remember,” she began to steer Beryl towards the door.

“Why aren’t you married yet, dear? Such a pretty young woman as you are?”

Oh, not this again. Daisy forced a smile onto her lips. “Just haven’t found the right guy, I suppose.”

“It’s too bad that you never got to meet my Harold,” Beryl said mournfully, shaking her head back and forth. “You two would have hit it off right away, I think.”

“I’m sure we would have,” Daisy said kindly, patting Beryl’s shoulder. Harold had died a few weeks into the war. She remembered. Beryl had been out for over a month, too distraught with grief to even be able to get out of bed. “You go have fun, now, okay?”

“Good-night, dear.”

“Good-night, ma’am,” she blew out a breath of quiet relief as the old woman finally hobbled out the door. She tried her best not to be too put off by Beryl’s insistent mothering. She knew that it came from a place of concern. But still, it was hard to get fully comfortable under it, having grown up with a woman who had been quite the opposite in her demeanor towards her children. Daisy prided herself on her independence and self sufficiency, and any challenges towards that just put her on edge.

Not to mention that the old woman was insistent on playing matchmaker to her younger, unmarried librarians. It had been lucky for her that Beryl had been so busy trying to find suitable matches for Ruth and Cora that she’d left her relatively alone during the time she’d been working at the library.

Apparently not anymore. Great. She would have to nip that one in the bud before it could get too far. The last thing she was interested in at the moment was Beryl shoving every last available man in town–which wasn’t actually that many anymore–at her.

It didn’t help that she was still a bit raw from Henry having never turned up.

Really, she shouldn’t have been all that surprised. The circumstances that they’d met under hadn’t exactly been the best, and it wasn’t like he owed her anything. But still, it stung.

#wip whenever #my ocs

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minuy600 · 5 months

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Atari 2600 Chronicles 1980 #3 - 3D Tic-Tac-Toe

After a load of games that had significant impact, introduced a lot of mechanics or were otherwise long lasters, this time, we're back to something very simple. Exactly as it says on the box, in fact.

Based on the 1964 Parker Brothers game Qubic, this is a spin on one of the oldest passes of time in history. Add 3 layers on top of the regular tic-tac-toe board, maybe add one row of squares, bam, that's that. You can win by just making a regular row of 4, but you can also work up/downwards and create your row that way.

I'm okay with it. I think this is another type of chess, checkers, nim, whatever, as something that is easy to learn and difficult to master. Kinda strange that it didn't take off, like, at all. Then again, writing it down on paper with an isometric perspective would be a pain in the ass and Qubic was taken off the market very quickly. I assume a lack of sales was the killer there. Shame, it had potential to me.

The Atari 2600 (and Atari 8-bit) games were made by none other than Carol Shaw, a woman. Aside from some RCA Studio II games, that's a new one, and she would go on to program River Raid as well. Bit of a trailblazer there!

The Verdict

Graphics (5): It's better than Video Chess, there's far less ugly scanlines to make the objects look recognisable. Still, this is as basic as can be. Nobody flips shit over a blue background and flickering tiles to indicate where your cursor is. It functions. That's all. And even that is sorta questionable, you have to look very closely to ensure the AI doesn't sneak a move past your eyes.

Sound (5): Basic tapping noises and beeps followed by a siren when one side has won. Eh. It doesn't hurt my ears.

Fun Factor (6): Marginally better than Video Chess. The controls are a bit more smooth and the board game itself, while not one of my favorites, can be fun for quick rounds. The AI proves a worthy opponent, I think it rivals Video Chess in terms of difficulty which is impressive for a concept as banal as tic-tac-toe with extra layers.

Longevity (8): The tried and true difficulty select is back, this time offering 8 different AI opponents to tackle. The loading times are thankfully cut down significantly to a maximum of just 20 minutes, so it's actually feasible you can take on all of them, even if it's not particularly pleasant if you're a proper expert. What makes this package complete is the addition of multiplayer. Very nice to have along when Qubic is so hard to find and the Atari 2600+ is fully compatible with the game.

In Conclusion

#retro gaming #minuy600 #review #sona #atari 2600 #atari #1980 #3d tic-tac-toe

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sparkles-and-trash · 2 years

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Canines and felines, and the friendship in between, a DabiHawks oneshot ~

note: this started out as a little drabble, but since it became almost 2K words, I crossposted it to ao3, so if you prefer to read it there, you can find it here! as always, thanks for reading, and leaving a like or letting me know what you think is always welcome, I always want to get better!

Dabi always thought of himself as a cat person.

Now, this was more of a guess than anything, as he hadn't really had the chance to interact much with any sort of animals growing up, but it seemed to make sense to him.

Cats were knows to be aloof, stubborn, quiet and sly, and that wasn't too far from the reputation Dabi had garnered for himself over the years.

Every single member of the League had even pointed it out at some point, so yeah.

Dabi did indeed think of himself as a cat person.

Which was why it was ironic that he was currently crouched out the ground, in icy rain of a dark back alley, trying his best to lure out a raggedy looking creature he was fairly sure to be a dog.

Dabi had been stalking trough the dark back alley in an attempt to find a shortcut to the League's base, being in an extra rush because of the rain, when he heard it.

A tiny whimper from an old card-box squeezed under a garbage can.

Listen, Dabi was aware of his villain status, and yes, it was based on very true facts.

But he wasn't heartless, and even though he would never admit it out loud, he had two weaknesses; children and animals.

So, naturally, he carefully crouched down to try to get a peek inside said box.

It was hard to get a proper look at whatever was inside, but based on the noises it made, Dabi was willing to bet it was some sort of dog.

A real terrified dog.

At first Dabi tried to lure it out with words and coos, but he quickly realized his voice didn't quite have that softness it needed, and he realized he might have to be creative about this.

Goddamn it, he should just be on his way.

Go to the base, have a beer, watch some TV with Twice and Mister, maybe watch Spinner pretend to loose in a video game to Shigaraki, all under a roof, in dry clothes.

Yep.

That's what he should do.

So why was he still sitting here?

Another quiet mix between a whimper and a growl broke him out of his train of thoughts, and he decided then and there he wasn't gonna give up on this.

If only to prove himself capable of doing so.

As a cold shiver ran down his spine, the villain suddenly got an idea.

He held out his palm and conjured up a small flame, making sure to make it give off lots of heat.

Pretty soon a small nose and two huge, round black eyes were visible trough the darkness, and with a little more patience the tiny creature came creeping out of the box it was hidden in.

It was small, smaller than Dabi expected, but its giant ears made it look bigger than it really was. Its eyes were also huge, but besides that, there wasn't much to it.

The little fur it had was matted and dirty, and when Dabi finally lured the little creature close enough to touch, it basically collapsed in his hands when it felt the heat he was giving off.

It didn't weigh much, probably not much more than a small cat, and Dabi felt a strange need to hold it close, but thought the better off it as he didn't want to risk spooking the thing into biting him.

But suddenly he was faced with another problem;

Where the fuck would he take this thing?

Back to the base was out of the question, Twice and Toga would probably go into overdrive and scare the dog accidentally, and based on the way he was currently treating the League, Dabi knew Shigaraki had a habit of getting overly attached to things without meaning to, and the absolute last thing the League needed was a dog.

The vet was out of he question in fear of them just putting the creature down for not having an owner, and then there was really only one option left.

God fucking damn it.

As he stood outside the door to the big, fancy apartment, Dabi began to question himself for what felt like the millionth time that night.

The only reason he knew where the hero lived was for business reasons, and he never planned on actually going there.

But now he heard the shuffling of a person on the other side, and suddenly he had to deal with his choice.

The door opened, and if it weren't for the worry he was feeling for the thing in his arms, Dabi would have laughed out loud at shocked look on Hawks' face.

The winged hero looked the villain up and down for a quick second, before he grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.

"Dude, I know I said I wanted to be friendly with you, but-"

"Shut the fuck up, Birdie."

Dabi quickly shut down the tangent the hero was getting at, and before Hawks had the chance to say something else, the dog Dabi was holding made a small noise again.

Hawks' eyes widened, and he quietly gestured for Dabi to show him, which he reluctantly did.

"Oh..." Hawks mumbled, and shot a look at Dabi the villain didn't quite understand, but when Hawks moved to take the dog out of his arms, Dabi quickly withdrew.

"Erhm... If you want me to help I kinda need to look at him, Hotshot," Hawks said carefully, and Dabi huffed.

"Yeah, okay, just... careful," he mumbled, and Hawks nodded.

As the hero lifted the small dog out of his arms, Dabi realized this was the first time he had seen the hero out of his uniform, and the difference was... kind of shocking.

The big coat and baggy pants paired with the wings made the hero appear much bigger than he really was, but the white knitted sweater and loose sweatpants made him look... young.

And short.

The hero was really fucking short.

Huh.

Dabi's train of thoughts came to a sudden halt as he realized Hawks was trying to talk to him.

"Hello, earth to arsonist?" the hero asked, waving a hand in front of the villains face.

Dabi slapped the others hand away, and asked him to repeat his question.

"I was saying," Hawks started, while carefully petting the dogs head.

"That it looks like you both need showers. You can use the bathroom by the guest room, and I can use the tub in mine to warm this guy up."

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"Of course you got two bathrooms."

Hawks winked.

"Obviously."

When Dabi finally exited the bathroom, wearing Hawks' slightly too short sweatpants and a thankfully baggy t-shirt, he felt like a new person.

It had been a long time since he had a shower like that.

As he entered the living room again, he found that Hawks had already sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace with the now clean dog in front of him, making these strange chittering noises to the little creature, who did in turn seem to love it.

"So, what are you two talking about?" Dabi asked in a bored tone, carefully sitting down opposite of the hero.

"You," Hawks said with a small smile as he looked up at the villain.

When the hero looked up at him, he once again got that look on his face, a soft, kind of unreadable look, and Dabi felt like an unknown sort of awkwardness and had to look away.

"Only bad things, I hope?" he asked dryly, and the hero laughed out loud.

"Naturally," he answered, and Dabi smiled a little, looking down at the dog.

When he carefully reached out his hand to let the dog smell him, the dog took him by surprise and bounced over to him, eagerly trying to climb into his lap.

Dabi took the opportunity to get in some pets and scratches, and got a good look at the little guy.

It's eyes were huge, and the ears reminded him of a gremlin, but its fur was pretty decent, a dark brown with a white belly and paws, longer than a short haired dog, but not quite long, either.

It's tail was wagging like crazy and it was shaking a little, but it didn't seem to be in any distress.

It was quite ugly, but in a very endearing way.

Or whatever.

"He doesn't seem to have any injuries, but he needs a lot of food, warmth and safety," Hawks said carefully, looking at Dabi with searching eyes.

Dabi sighed.

"So you're saying I should give him, what, to a shelter? What if they put him down?!"

Hawks eyes widened a bit, but he shook his head slowly.

"Not necessarily," he said thoughtfully, but before he could continue, a strange sound came from somewhere behind the hero, who turned around with a big smile.

"Sock!" he exclaimed, and Dabi figured the hero had finally lost it.

But just as he was about to say so, he realized there was something moving around the hero, something elegant and purring; a cat.

A big, shorthaired grey cat, with huge blue eyes, a big chip in its left ear and a very long tail.

Dabi blinked.

"Cat," he said, intelligently.

Hawks huffed out a laugh.

"Yes Dabi, very good. This is a cat," he said, drawing out the final word.

Dabi shot him a look, and Hawks just grinned back at him.

The cat stayed next to Hawks as he calmly stroked along its back, and the small dog stayed in front of Dabi, eyeing the cat curiously.

"What... What am I supposed to do with this?" Dabi finally asked, looking down at the little dog in front of him, petting his head carefully, watching his tail wag happily.

Hawks looked at them both for a while.

"He could stay here," Hawks began, and Dabi raised an eyebrow.

"But!" Hawks added quickly, and Dabi gestured for him to go on.

"I obviously don't have time to take care of him full time. So, the offer only stands if you take care of him when I work long shifts."

Dabi averted his eyes.

"So you're suggesting shared custody?" Dabi asked dryly, and Hawks nodded with a grin.

"Yep!" The hero exclaimed with a quick nod, before he went on.

"And since I am often gone for more than 12 hours, you can use the guest room."

Dabi eyed the hero with a slightly confused look.

"Is this your way of asking me to movie in with you, Birdbrain?"

Hawks beamed.

"Yep! At least for the time being."

Dabi rolled his eyes, but actually stopped to think about it.

It... wasn't that bad of an idea.

He could keep an eye on the hero, get some good intel, snoop around, and keep an eye on the dog at the same time.

"Fine."

Hawks snickers.

"You don't have to sound so defeated, this is strictly voluntarily."

Dabi waved his hand.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, and looked over at the hero again.

The cat, Sock, (what an insane name, geez) had moved closer to the dog, and they were both looking at each other curiously, carefully getting close enough to sniff each other.

The noise Hawks made was somewhere between a squeal and a chirp, which was enough to get both the pets to look at him with big worried eyes, before Sock hurried over to his owner to ensure he wasn't dying, and the dog hurried over to Dabi to hide in his lap.

When he was done snickering, Dabi looked at Hawks with a thoughtful expression.

"Dogs needs names, right?" he asked, more as a statement than a question.

Hawks lit up with an idea.

"Shoe!" he all but yelled, looking like he just figured out the hardest puzzle ever.

Dabi stared at the hero for a while, waiting for him to admit to the joke.

He didn't.

"Shoe," Dabi repeated slowly.

"You want to name the dog 'Shoe'."

Hawks nodded and pointed to the cat.

"Sock and Shoe!" he grinned, and Dabi rolled his eyes so hard he almost fell backwards.

"Over my dead body," he said curtly, and Hawks shrugged with a smile.

"That can be arranged," the hero quipped, and Dabi scowled at him, before rolling his eyes again, trying not to smile.

The pair sat in silence for a while, quietly watching the dog and cat interact with each other.

When Dabi looked up at Hawks again after a while, he realized he's never seen the other look quite so happy and serene, ever.

"I didn't take you for a cat person," Dabi said, watching as the hero reached to and booped the nose of the grey cat playfully.

Hawks chuckled.

"Well, I didn't take you for a dog person, either, so I'd say we're even."

Dabi felt a small smile overtake his face before he could stop it.

"I guess we're even, then," he said.

Hawks hummed in agreement.

"I guess we are."

masterpost - wip list - ao3

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mysteryman-17 · 1 year

Audio

* HE-HE LLO THERE KID. * I [[See]] THAT YOU DESIRE A [[Fight me old man!!]]. * ...WELL, I SUPPOSE THERE'S [[Nothing better to do?]] ANYWAY! * WE'LL [[DIE]] UNTIL THE [[Stars came out]]!! * AND WHO [[Nose]]? MAYBE IT'LL DISTRACT M3 FROM MY [[PAIN]]!!

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!!

Moonjumper replaces Gaster. They used to be great friends with Badge Seller... until one fateful day. MJ was always looking for power, but on that day, they went too far: they smashed the giant Time Piece in Subcon Forest in an attempt to rewrite time to their advantage. As a safety measure after this, Badge Seller trapped them in the Horizon, a prison just outside of time and space, to prevent them from ever having a prominent grasp on the world ever again. MJ did, of course, manage to get out... sort of. They're just barely holding on to their existence. Glitchy as anything, their form phasing in and out of view, distorted speech... the works. MJ desires to finally get a proper foothold in this world once more, but needs Bow Kid’s help... help that they'll never get on the Pacifist and Neutral routes, as it requires Bow to do things that she'd normally never do.

Motifs:

Oh It's You + Your Contract Has Expired (modified)

The Badge Seller

"You're not supposed to be in the game!" (6:20 - 6:28)

That's right, folks. The Moonjumper tracks have FINALLY all been updated and will be properly ported over to the OST account!! Decided I didn't like the primary "hook dialogue" - for lack of a better word - that got established in the (now-renamed) BIG SHOT replacement, so I scoured YT and Tumblr for good potential Moonjumper memes to sample in its place. And what should I stumble across that works, but an old AHIT mod showcase video from Doodrun! The moment I heard the snippet I did, I knew immediately that it would work wonders, and with a double meaning to boot, given Moonjumper's origins in AHIT's development!! (Tho I did use mvsep.com to remove the background music for the purposes of splicing and mixing.) In addition to the obvious vocal changes, I finally modified and incorporated the proper main melody in here from the BIG SHOT, and also made some slight mixing alterations. Am very happy with how this turned out, and I hope you guys enjoy! :) (Also just as a refresher, seeing as it’s been a while since I talked about ol’ string bean here: I styled them after Spamton cause I could. I axed the Betrayed Undyne ending from Time's End due it not making much sense with Empress, and I figured that since this AU will never have a Deltarune counterpart, adding a lil smth based from it as the BU ending replacement would be fun to mess around with. So uhhhhhh ye there's your answer lmao.)

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here!

#a hat in time au #ahit au #ahit moonjumper #moonjumper #deltarune #undertale #undertale au #ahit time's end au #time's end au #AHIT:TE!AU #a hat in time music #ahit music #music #audio #Gaster's Theme

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spacedinosaur2000 · 8 months

Text

Projects List

Been meaning to write a post on this but in case anyone is curious what I'm up to, I am up to a lot.

I try to make a big list/write up of a list of projects I wanna do on a given year so with 2023 Here's my progress of what I've worked on or am working on:

1.) Art:

So the big main thing that I consider it's own thing is just whatever art project I do, a sketch etc. for this year the main pieces I did Are these two pieces:

As for were most of my art is atm (I am posting stuff here and on twitter but kit's stuff I already posted on Deviant Art):

Fair warning, janky Anatomy. Still working on getting better.

2.) Videos:

So this mostly comprises my YouTube work, now I have too many uploads to post on here. So I will just post a link to my YouTube:

3.) Website:

This one is iffy at the moment, been trying to make a website for my works or just collecting all my works. I tried using Wix, I need to budget for actually buying a domain and etc but it did allow me to do like a design a base version before you publish it. Problem is it only allowed me to upload a certain amount of media and I tried to clear some things and tried to do some basic here's my portfolio thing. Unfortunately I didn't get far with it so it's on the back burner for now.

4.) Production Company:

This is more of a specific dream, I know you can like pay for some LLC or whatnot but honestly I might do that whenever I have an actual thing for it, like If I have a good enough short animated feature that I can submit for a film festival or something.

I have a couple proof of concept logos:

youtube

So We'll see what happens. Basically this isn't something that won't manifest until another project is actually finished, Like a proper project.

5.) Comics-The Buggs:

So Yeah I have a not great but serviceable webcomic (which I kinda have in a bit of a filler arc just cause I already feel sorta drained of ideas for this). Not sure How long I'll continue this, was hoping this be a good weekly webcomic thing to shill out to show I'm still making stuff.

Previously I had with a special comic strips booklet made a 14 strip comic that I posted on webtoons here:

This I posted on 2021 but was something I worked on from like 2018 to then.

6.) Essay-Godzilla and Themes:

So yeah I had some ideas for some essays I thought I would try my hand at. This one I thought would be a good introduction to my views my favourite franchise, Godzilla. Unfortunately this might have been too much of an undertaking. This was inspired by a shitpost I've always been iffy on and was an attempt to set the record straight, talking about individual movies that DO or DO NOT tackle something and the ones that do tackle a theme or message Differs from each other in drastic ways. Tho I might Can it. I dunno. Gonna do a baseline draft going through every era and see if I can produce something out of it or if I should cut my losses and move on to a different essay.

7.) Write Up-Comic Creation:

So I thought with the book I have on various how to do subjects that I would create a resource for myself but I do think I could release what I have to like pastebin or something. Kinda a weird entry in my list of projects.

8.) Books-Godzilla Unmade:

Was inspired by this book here:

Wanted to do a version of this book but with Godzilla films. However I still need to research Legalities. Honestly cause I'm a nobody, this is a book project that won't get to see the light of day until maybe later if i somehow get some book publishing clout. Still I decided to do a private research document that I could string into a first draft and if by some miracle I end up meeting up with some publisher, who knows.

9.) 2D Animation-Foodchain (Cancelled):

So this is another project that's finished but it was apart of this list I'm posting, just to catch everyone here up.

youtube

Basically an attempt at traditional animation I wanted to do before moving on to digital 2D animation. Some issues with the scanning process happened so I had to do things a different way and I got kinda sick of this so this project will remain unfinished.

10.) Stop Motion-Transit:

I just finished a script for this but I am still currently working on a stop motion short film based on a really morbid thought I had while in a skytrain that was getting more and more crowded. Gonna be a lot of work and i don't wanna screw up what otherwise could be a neat creepy short film. Hoping to submit this to horror festivals around Canada. Right now I'm just in the process of storyboarding.

This project is also a replacement for last years Stop Motion project I did as a test short:

youtube

This is not great however, I should do more editing in this but oh well, used a ton of footage from a camera I inherited with footage of my brother learning to drive various construction vehicles so uh there's that cameo. Part of the reason was I also got sick of this project and didn't wanna get more footage be it B roll or have more stop motion segments. The actual stop motion side of things actually happens like at the end of this vid.

11.) Live Action-Dog Eater (Cancelled):

Another project I ended up scrapping mostly because my hand prop which still remains unfinished was so botched, it's practically an iron maiden in glove form and I had the dumbest idea of making my principal actors being my dogs. So I just did this little video instead:

12.) Mods-Half Life:

Another project up in the air, I might can it just cause it seems like doing half Life 2 maps might be easier or at least i don't need to download separate compilers. This too was a replacement of last couple of years project attempt (that I might return to one day) which was Doom Map making:

youtube

For Half Life 1, I toyed with an idea based off a weird dream I had about some space battle happening, and than someone entering one of the damaged ships. It's empty, creepy and there seems to be graffiti everywhere and weird supernatural things seems to be happening throughout its corridors. But again was having a hard time doing anything in Gold Source. Maybe I should give it a second chance, I really just need to download a compiler and watch a video as to where I need to put it folder wise and etc.

13.) Game Engines-????:

This is another odd one. I considered seeing if I can make a simple game engine but that might be another back burner thing especially since I don't code well so uh yeah. Alternatively This entry is just a free space for me to just for a full year grab whatever game engine I bought and downloaded off of steam and actually toy around with it. Not much else to say. Right Now I'm kinda sticking to GameMaker.

14.) Game-Adventure Game-Photo Point And Click Adventure Game:

So yeah kinda a weird idea, inspired by Metropolis Software (The guys who would later break off to make Painkiller and than break off again to make The vanishing of Ethan Carter) which was instead of making original sprites or whatever, construct a point and click adventure game around a bunch of photos I have. More of a test game that I can use to jump off of and do actual Adventure games with.

15.) Multiplayer Game-Fighting Game-Test Demo Fighting Game:

Thought about a stop motion inspired fighting game (which very much is not an original idea, there's a few of those around). Was gonna do a test demo in gamemaker with stick figures before moving on to a second version using toys as stop motion sprites before moving on to an actual game with original models made for it.

And yeah that's a lot of stuff I'm working on. Probably biting of more than I can chew but oh well.

#My Projects #My Art #My Videos #My Video #Youtube

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