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milesluna · 4 months

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My Favorite Games of 2023.

Hi. Hello. Thanks ever so much for clicking on this page. Happy to have you.

First thing's first: I'm a little freak when it comes to video games. I don't feel the need to beat most games I play. From Software is one of my favorite studios in the industry and I've never finished a single one of their games. This means, fortunately, that I get to play a LOT more games than the average bear.

I've written up some blurbs about my top ten favorite games from 2023, but before that here's the list of every game I remember playing this year that left any sort of lasting impact on me (in no particular order):

Dead Space Remake Resident Evil 4 Remake F-Zero 99 Humanity Dredge Metroid Prime Remastered Anemoiaplois Alan Wake 2 Baldur’s Gate 3 LoZ Tears of the Kingdom Counter Strike 2 Hunt Showdown El Paso Elsewhere Jusant Slay the Princess| Remnant II The Finals Street FIghter 6 Lethal Company BattleBit Remastered Don’t Scream Homebody The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Pizza Tower World of Horror Super Mario Wonder Mr. Sun’s Hatbox Fifa 23 Sea of Stars (Demo) Half-Life (25th Anniversary Update)

And the games I played that were NOT released in 2023:

Unpacking Persona 4 Golden Picross 7 The Order 1886 Shovel Knight Dig Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Spider-Man: Miles Morales Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Project Zomboid Quake LoZ The Minish Cap Drill Dozer Wario Land 4 Pokemon Pinball Resident Evil Revelations Summer of ‘58 Trackmania TwinCop We Were Here Visage Cursed Halo CE Half-Life 2 (I probably play this once per year) Witch Hunt Red Dead Redemption 2 Cyberpunk 2077 Borderlands 3 Brutal Legend Cultic Slay the Spire PUBG Rez Infinite Batman Arkham City Alan Wake Alan Wake: American Nightmare Max Payne LoZ: Majora’s Mask 3DS Metroid Prime Metroid Prime 2 Tunic Everhood Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII Remake GOODBYE WORLD Yakuza: Like a Dragon Critters for Sale Dome Keeper Phasmophobia Hades Nintendo Switch Sports

Now that you understand the kind of freak you're dealing with…

Let's dive into my top ten favorite games from this objectively fucked up year.

10. El Paso Elsewhere Developed by Texas indie studio Strange Scaffold, El Paso Elsewhere is a Max Payne-clone with vampires, an opinionated narrator, and lots and lots of bullet time. As a small studio punching well above their weight class, Strange Scaffold leans into abstract, PlayStation 1 minimalism when it comes to visuals and pairs them with a soundtrack that will make your hands sweat. The vibes are here and they're ready for the end of the world. I'm personally also a big fan of everything this studio stands for.

9. Mr. Sun's Hatbox I want you to imagine Metal Gear Solid V. Now I want you to imagine that game as a 2D, level-based, slapstick platformer you can play with up to three friends. If you think that sounds stupid, you'd be right. And it's beautiful. As you build up a secret army of soldiers with various skills (and disorders), you'll start to develop *favorites*. This game constantly asks if you're willing to send those favorites on a harrowing mission and risk losing them forever… or if you'd rather send an idiot you recently captured who blinks constantly and can't kill anyone without fainting.

8. Dredge Every year I feel like I find one game that falls into the “just one more round” category, and baby… Dredge was it for 2023. As a weary fisherman in strange waters, you'll make the most out of your 12 measly hours of sunlight only for your daily voyages to inevitably pull you into the darkness of night, and night is when things get weird. Rocks emerge from the fog that you swear weren't there before, your equipment malfunctions, and you're pretty sure you just saw something in the water… something big. Despite only containing a small collection of islands, the world of Dredge manages to feel vast - perhaps vast enough to swallow you whole.

7. Resident Evil 4 Remake I was curious to see what sort of changes would be made to the timeless classic and father of modern 3rd person shooters, Resident Evil 4. I wasn't let down. RE4 Remake takes all the things that didn't age well about the original, tossed them out, and replaced them with only good things. And MORE things! It's campy, fun, and better than a game of bingo.

6. Jusant I really feel like this one didn't get the recognition it deserves. Jusant is a rock climbing game that combines the quiet contemplation of Journey with the mechanical specificity of Death Stranding. Unlike Death Standing, though, there is very little story to interrupt your flow. There are plenty of collectible bits to find for those curious to learn more about what happened before the events of the game, but the environmental storytelling does most of the heavy lifting. For me, the joy of the game comes from how it feels. Right trigger controls your right hand grip, and left trigger controls left hand grip. Plan your route, manage your stamina, and climb high above the clouds in search of answers.

5. F-Zero 99 This. Shit. Slaps. I've never been a big F-Zero guy, but this MADE me one. The “battle royale”, 99 player format is the perfect fit for the ruthless, high octane world of the game. Races last about three minutes, and friend, they are the most intense, white-knuckled three minutes of your life. The decision to make your boost meter the same as your health meter started in F-Zero 64 (I believe), and it is so much more HARROWING in this game when another player could side-swipe you mere meters from the finish line and blow you to bits. Sadly it's only playable via Switch Online, but it made me cheer, laugh, and scream enough this year to earn a spot in my top 5.

4. Alan Wake 2 Remedy makes weird games that also manage to exist in the AAA space and for that I will forever love them. Although Alan Wake 2 resembles a 3rd person shooter survival horror, I'd honestly say it's more of a narrative game than anything else. There's sidequests, there's puzzles, there's upgradeable skills, but at the end of the day the characters, world, and story are what kept me playing. If you haven't checked them out recently, you should definitely watch a story recap of the original games before diving into this sequel, but the wild swings for the fences this game takes are well worth that small price of admission. There's a god damn musical number, for Christ's sake.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom I've really got nothing to say about this game that most people don't already know. It's incredible. The fact that Nintendo made a game that redefined an entire genre and then made a SEQUEL to it that ups the ante is remarkable. To be honest, I've only cleared the Rito, Zora, and Goron cities. I got a bit tired of exploring the depths and guiding Koroks to their friends, but I can't deny the sheer level of complexity and polish on display here. I saw someone on TikTok build a functioning Mecha Godzilla in this game. Good God. I've heard that the ending of this game is one of the best in the franchise, and if I'd seen it this year then it may have wound up higher on my list, but for the time being I'll continue picking up this masterpiece from time to time, chipping away at it until the day comes that I can finally smack the tits off thicc Ganondorf.

2. Half-Life (25th Anniversary Update) I know I'm gonna get shit for this, but I don't care. This year was the 25th anniversary of Half-Life and Valve released an update that made playing it (and it's online Death Match) much more accessible. I threw it on my Steam Deck out of curiosity, expecting to play for 20 minutes. I could not put it down. It is unbelievable how modern this game still feels. I simply had so much fun sprinting through the corridors of Black Mesa with a dozen weapons strapped to my back, blasting aliens and military Spec-Op chumps as a 24(?!) year old theoretical physicist.

1. Baldur's Gate III This game is fucked up, man. The sheer amount of writing in this game scares me. We can all talk about how BIG this game is, it deserves it, but the thing BG3 does better than any other role playing game I have ever experienced is actually encourage roleplaying. I've played through Act I four times now, with four different groups of friends, and it has felt fresh every time. I have seen the same events play out in so many different ways that it boggles the mind, but in every one of those play sessions I see players asking themselves “What would my lil guy do here?” rather than "what is the best thing to do here?" The game rewards players constantly for just trying shit and the D&D 5e rule set means playing like the character you said you were from the start leads to frequent Points of Inspiration. Maybe one day I'll see the end of this story (probably not), but I don't have to in order to feel a connection with BG3's world, characters, and most impressively, the characters I made myself.

Honorable Mentions for 2023

5. Dave the Diver 4. Homebody 3. Sea of Stars 2. Humanity 1. Super Mario Wonder

Top 5 Favorites NOT from 2023

5. Metroid Prime 4. Final Fantasy VII Remake 3. Cursed Halo (Halo CE Mod) 2. Red Dead Redemption 2 1. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3DS)

Games I didn't have a chance to play from 2023 but still want to when I find more time...

Viewfinder Venba Chants of Sennaar Thirsty Suitors Hi-Fi Rush Moonring Armored Core VI Laika Aged Through Blood Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

OKAY THANKS BYE!

#video games #2023 #GOTY

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7grandmel · 23 days

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Todays rip: 05/04/2024

Hey there everyone it's Chaotic Beans! Hell yeah! We're a little angle girl and THERES A BEAN! Oh well hello there Mr bean! Thank you for welcoming me! So we're in the planet of the beans and we gots to find all the beans and explore the beans to find the planet!!!!!

Season 7 Featured on: RIPBLOX

Ripped by The Green Spy, Grambam36

youtube

Requested by airy! (Request Form)

Remember just two weeks ago back in March where I was making several posts in a row about rips containing jokes I had little to no knowledge of? Y'know, Poké Village, Viva La LOWAS, Luna, mi Amor - all rips that struck a beautiful emotional chord with me, even though I lacked the full knowledge of what it was in tribute to. In a way, Hey there everyone it's Chaotic Beans! Hell yeah! We're a little angle girl and THERES A BEAN! Oh well hello there Mr bean! Thank you for welcoming me! So we're in the planet of the beans and we gots to find all the beans and explore the beans to find the planet!!!!! is also part of that lineup - only here, its a cacophany of sources I had no clue about making me laugh way harder than they should.

Now, this is the first rip I've covered so far from Season 7's ROBLOX day, an event celebrating the game's 17th anniversary with rips of all sorts made in honor of the game. And as someone who both didn't grow up with it, and has no idea what the platform is like nowadays (other than the concerning monetization), I spent pretty much the entire event as clueless as can be. But even before I had this rip requested to me, it showed up from time to time in my recommendations - something about the ridiculous game title and cover artwork grabbed my attention, so I decided to take a peek.

To put it simply, Hey there everyone it's Chaotic Beans! Hell yeah! We're a little angle girl and THERES A BEAN! Oh well hello there Mr bean! Thank you for welcoming me! So we're in the planet of the beans and we gots to find all the beans and explore the beans to find the planet!!!!! feels like some sort of sensory overload. The original chaotic beans theme by SkyTheFloof is already a high-energy silliness overload song, bringing back memories of rips like :D or Wario's Hampster Mine - its energy is positively infectious, and it's a great touch that the visuals of Hey there everyone it's Chaotic Beans! Hell yeah! We're a little angle girl and THERES A BEAN! Oh well hello there Mr bean! Thank you for welcoming me! So we're in the planet of the beans and we gots to find all the beans and explore the beans to find the planet!!!!! are intentionally made to resemble its YouTube upload. What could then amplify that silliness more than - as The Green Spy and Grambam36 both are best at doing - a good ol' YTPMV?

On the complete opposite side of online silliness, 14 years ago, we saw the upload of the video "cat planet", by the fascinating internet personality raocow. I truly do wish I knew more about this specimen - he's been making "Let's Play" content on YouTube since near its very beginnings in 2009, and has since uploaded new videos almost daily with an unmistakeable goofiness to his commentary, a rhythm and bounce, the kind of voice that just sounds as if he's smiling the whole way through. His playthrough of cat planet sits as his most viewed video for good reason, its such an interesting time capsule of what online content once was, silly, unfiltered, improvised, made entirely for fun - an energy that, I suppose, ROBLOX creators just like SkyTheFloof are continuing to champion today? Either way, the legends behind SUNGORE and Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny, some of SiIvaGunner's greatest YTPMV rips in its entire run, join forces to unite these two pillars of pure, distilled :3-energy. Its the chaotic beans theme with raocow's cat planet commentary melodically added to the song's backing and melody, a duet of two sillies - a shot of pure sugar that I cannot get enough of.

Through just this one rip, I learned a lot about ROBLOX, a lot about raocow, a little bit about internet history in general - and I learned how to have an absolutely :3 time. Hey there everyone it's Chaotic Beans! Hell yeah! We're a little angle girl and THERES A BEAN! Oh well hello there Mr bean! Thank you for welcoming me! So we're in the planet of the beans and we gots to find all the beans and explore the beans to find the planet!!!!! is just such a lovely time, such a cracked idea for a rip yet one I'm glad its two rippers pursued to the end, to give us such true sillycore music for ROBLOX's anniversary. I can never get it out of my head for too long, the two sources are just so infectious and endearing in isolation alone, but hearing raocow's rambles about the lovely cat planet to the tune of chaotic beans just amplifies it to a whole new level, the perfect merger of old and new.

So- congratulations, ROBLOX Day - You got one out of me. Maybe one day I'll take another plunge to see what else you have in store...

#todays siivagunner #season 7 #siivagunner #siiva #The Green Spy #Grambam36 #rip visuals #chaotic beans #roblox #roblox simulator #chaotic beans simulator #cat planet #raocow #old youtube #roblox games #ytpmv #Youtube #Bandcamp

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s-creations · 9 months

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Snapshot #1 (Yellow, Purple, Red, Green Short Stories Series)

Small moments collected together to share more of their story.

(Short stories involving all the characters that are just here to add more to the series.)

Fandom: Super Mario & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Relationships: Luigi & Mario (Nintendo), Waluigi & Wario (Nintendo) Warnings/Additional Tags: Short stories involving more day to day lives, trying not to make anything to serious, if you have ideas you can message me!

1. The Sleepover (Anonymous)

Mario choked on his breath as he was ripped from his dreams. The dark images he’d just seen still dancing around in his head. His throat felt swollen, the scream stuck in there as fear held a tight grip around his heart. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Mind clearing up, Mario’s wide eyes darted around the darkened ceiling. Slowly releasing the death grip he had on his sheets. Trying to steady his breathing as he sat up. Still trying to peer into the darkness, swearing there was something hiding there.

But it was quiet.

Which somehow made everything so much worse.

Because his mind filled the void with shimmering, shifting forms moving through the darkness. A chilling laugh that echoed through his head.

He was up before he could really think about what he was doing or where he was supposed to be going. Feet moving toward the bedroom door, which was opened forcefully the next moment. Mario wincing as it bounced off the wall. The bang sounded louder in the quiet night.

The next sound came from Luigi’s room. A familiar yelp of surprise sprung Mario further into action. Only taking a few more steps until he was entering into his brother’s room.

The younger twin was rubbing sleep from his eyes quickly. Clearly trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. Bleary eyes eventually landed on Mario, who was frozen in the doorway.

“Mario? …Bro, what’s wro-” Luigi flinched when his brother suddenly stalked forward. Letting out a muffled ‘Oomph!’ as Mario collided into him. Arms wrapped tight around him. “B-Bro? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“Bad dream.” Mario mumbled back weakly.

“...Do you want to talk about it?” Luigi frowned softly, feeling his brother shake his head, “Okay…do you want to stay?”

“Please.”

“Okay…”

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, on the edge of his bed. Mario desperately clinging to Luigi, who could only raise his own arms up to wrap about his brother. But he eventually felt Mario slowly fall limp. Breathing evening out.

Luigi let out a slow sigh as he moved them around. Both laying down as comfortably as he could get them. Feeling far more awake than before. Unable to fall back asleep for the rest of the night, listening to Mario’s breathing.

_____________________________

Wario grumbled hearing the kitchen phone ringing, pulling him from his rather deep sleep. He knew it wasn’t a client, he’d caught up with all of his side jobs. It couldn’t be something with Waluigi. His brother would at least have the decency to tell him if something was going to be happening. And the idiot was still in his bed…at least he should be. Wario’s ears twitched hearing the familiar snoring when the phone wasn’t ringing.

So that meant…

“Who’s possibly dying this time.” Wario grumbled out as he pressed the receiver to his ear.

“Mario’s lying to me again. I mean, kind of? But, he’s not talking to me at the moment and it’s freaking me out.”

Well, at least no one was dying. But hearing how close Luigi was to breaking down woke Wario up immediately. “Okay, take a deep breath. Explain to me what’s happening.”

“Mario’s not had a full night's sleep in a week! He just tells me he’s having nightmares but won’t say anything else! I try talking to him during the day. But he just pushed it off. I think…I think it’s about King Boo.”

Wario felt his insides turn to ice. He really shouldn’t be so surprised everyone was still negatively affected. He didn’t even feel that he was that deep into the situation. He didn’t see King Boo. But that name still made him freeze. Waluigi had even commented how pale he had looked the following days.

(Which, Waluigi had not been pleased with hearing about what had happened when he was back in New Donk City. Showing his worry by sooking Wario some of his favorite meals.)

“I don’t want to push because I don’t want to make everything worse. But I want to help. But I don’t think talking will help because I know what’s wrong and I don’t know what could be said to make this better. Wario, I’m panicking, I don’t know what to do!”

On his part, Wario moved away from the receiver to let out a heavy sigh.

It was way too early for this.

“Okay, Luigi… Luigi?”

“Mhm…”

Alright, Luigi sounded even closer to his breakdown.

“Hey, we’re going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay. What are you two doing today?”

“N-Nothing, I m-mean, we’re going to be home all day.”

“Okay, listen to me. You two…just relax this morning, alright? Don’t worry about this, don’t think about it, I’m already working on some kind of solution. Okay?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Luigi, take another deep breath, okay? Don’t worry, we’ll be over soon.”

“W-We? Over?”

“Go have your breakfast.”

Waluigi was rudely pulled from his sleep when his bedroom door was kicked open. Letting out a yelp as he fell off his bed. Tangled in the worn bed sheet. Once he’d freed his head from said sheet, wide eyes turned to glare at his brother, who was standing in the doorway. Hands on his hip with a wide smile on his face.

“Do you have a death wish.” Waluigi growled out.

“We’re not going to look to far into that comment,” Wario said, “Pack a bag! We’ve got a job to do!”

The twins were the next victims of getting their door kicked in. Both had been dozing on the couch, clearly exhausted. Not really taking anything in on the flashing television screen.

Only broken from their stupor when their front door was violently opened. Frantically scrambled to get back up, thinking Bowser had sent minions to take them down. Only to find Wario, beaming from the doorway, while Waluigi was behind carrying some heavy looking bags.

“Who… What are you two doing here?” Mario asked weakly, hands still up in defense.

“We’re having a sleepover! Whether you like it or not! Plus, we’ve never been to your house and you’ve seen ours at least twice now.”

Mario was clearly confused and only broke from it when Wario walked further in. “W-Wait, don’t we get a say in this?”

“Well sure. You get to decide where we’re going to order dinner from.”

“Wario-”

“Calm down Mini-Me.”

As the two fell into a familiar bickering, Luigi turned to Waluigi. Who had finally walked in to drop the bags onto the floor.

“This was his idea?”

Waluigi huffed, “I suppose so. Took me forever to stop him from saying this was a ‘Slumber Party’.”

“And you’re just…going along with this?” Luigi let out an annoyed grunt as his hair was ruffled.

“Is it still sinking into your brain that you’re stuck with us?”

Wario’s version of a sleepover consisted of a parade of different foods, drinks and forms of entertainment. With the beginning being numerous board games the older brothers had brought over. Then, when it was clear the twins weren’t able to properly focus, all moved to the surprisingly large couch. The television turned back on and turned into a channel that showed nothing but movies.

While Luigi was enjoying himself, he was also slightly confused. What was the point of it? Normally for this situation, there would be some kind of discussion. A breakdown of what was happening. All of this was somehow…worrying, but oddly comforting. Because it was nice to just relax. Leaning against Mario as they all watched the movies.

But Luigi was just waiting for something to happen

Was there something deeper behind this?

Weren’t they supposed to talk about this?

Mario woke with a quick start. Slightly disoriented as he knew this wasn’t his bedroom, but it was his house. Was he in the living room? Why was he there? Why was he so warm?

Something shifted on his chest, causing Mario to jerk once more in surprise. Only to relax when he realized it was just Luigi. The younger brother using him as a pillow, arms weakly wrapped around Mario.

The television was still on, the volume low. Offering the only light and steady noise for the room. Curtains were slightly pulled back, showing the darkened sky and the easily seen moon hanging high in it.

A loud snore sounding startled Mario. Turning back as best he could, finding Wario and Waluigi also resting on the couch. Waluigi’s head was tilted back, mouth agape, snoring loudly. Wario was sandwiched between everyone, seeming uncaring that he was squished, sleeping soundly as well.

Mario rubbed his eyes before lying back down against Wario, letting out a slow sigh. The feeling of the nightmare was still hanging around. But it didn't seem to be as heavy as it had been the previous nights. Somehow, even with how nervous he felt, Mario seemed to feel better immediately seeing everyone there.

The numb stupor he’d fallen into was broken when a heavy arm was wrapped around him. The area where Luigi wasn’t taking up. Mario was a little startled when he was basically hugged.

“You need to relax.” Wario grumbled softly.

“...I’m trying.”

“M’kay… How are you feeling?”

Mario shifted weakly as he settled closer. “...I don’t know. I know that I’m tired, that I keep having nightmares and why.”

“King Boo?” Wario didn’t miss the way Mario shivered.

“Yeah…”

“I think we’re all going to be recovering from this for a while.”

“I wasn’t even awake for it,” Mario weakly argued back.

“I didn’t even see the Boo, but I’m freaked out too. It’s okay to feel like this. I think your brain’s just scrambled from what happened to you. I figured waking up in a room with everyone already here would help.”

“...Was this entire thing an excuse to check on how bad I was doing?”

“More of Luigi didn’t know how to help and called me.”

“Lu…”

“Do you think you want to talk about it?”

“I mean…I don’t know. There’s really nothing much to tell. I don’t really remember anything about my dreams. Just bad feelings. Bad memories. Purple eyes…”

“Will you at least work out a plan with Luigi about this? We’re not going to be over here every night, we can’t.”

“...I just don’t want to put more on him. He had to face so much,” Mario let out a slow sigh, “It’s unfair.”

“You’re an idiot,” Waluigi’s groggy voice sounded from the other side of the couch, “Your brother can handle a lot more than you think. You’re still babying him.”

“Though, I suppose Luigi is the baby of the group.” Wario stated.

Mario tried to hold back his laughter so as to not wake Luigi, “He will not be happy if he hears that. What are you even doing awake Waluigi? You sounded dead asleep a few seconds ago.”

“Could be asking you two the same thing.”

“Nightmare.”

“I gathered.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“To annoy you.”

“Alright you two, enough. How about we try getting some more sleep.”

“Who died and made you the big brother?”

“No one. I’m just older than all of you, that simple.”

“So it’s a listen to your elders moment.”

“Waluigi, I will throttle you.”

Mario laughed softly as he listened to the interaction between the other brothers. Slowly moving Luigi up so Wario’s arm could wrap around the both of them easily. Mario tucked his brother’s head under his chin as he held Luigi closer.

The issue wasn’t resolved. Not even close.

But at least Mario could fall back asleep. Without fear gripping at him. Listening to Wario and Waluigi whisper argue at each other.

+_+_+_+_+_+

2. Royal Duties

While Peach loved her kingdom, loved her people, there were times when she wished she could just sleep for days on end. A full day of blissful unconsciousness. She was a princess though, she had her daily expectations.

That didn’t mean she didn’t let out a sigh of relief when the meeting was finally dismissed. Already waving her guards and Toadsworth away. Knowing her personal entourage was already waiting for her.

Peach wasn’t sure when it started happening. But in more recent months her days ended with one of the brother’s staying with her. Either all together or just a single brother. Each setting offering a different experience.

The first time Peach was met by them in the Great Hall, it was an eruption of laughter when the doors opened. She was a little surprised to see Wario and Mario ‘fighting’.

Or as Toadsworth gruffly mumbled, “Unnecessary rough housing.”

Waluigi and Luigi were nearby, just in case. But were relaxed as they watched their respected brother. Luigi was the one to notice Peach entering first. Still very shy around the princess, the twin in green had turned to poke at Waluigi’s arm. Jerking his head to Peach instead of verbally telling that she had arrived. This in turn caused Waluigi to walk forward and pull at the other two’s ears. Wario and Mario immediately crying out in pain.

“You’re ripping my ear off, you ass!” Wario called out. While Mario was rescued when Luigi broke the grip around his ear.

“Then stop being an idiot. Peach is here.”

With that announcement, all focus was put onto the princess. All asking if she would be interested in joining them. Acting as escort away from the castle and to enjoy some time in the city the twins were still getting used to.

Even with Toadsworth’s vocal apprehension, Peach was absolutely thrilled. Eagerly agreeing. Asking for a few minutes to change into something more comfortable before they all left.

It was quickly established that when it was all five of them together, it was quite an affair. A homemade meal out by the large lake, underneath a large tree that brought Peach back to her childhood. Or enjoying a stroll through the small shopping district. The brother’s (mainly Mario and Wario) offered the most commentary over what they found.

No doubt the citizens would think this was a rather dull outing. Something relatively simple. But Peach found it charming and overall calming. Being away from the castle walls and expectations melting away as she could just be around some of her favorite people. The first time this happened, she was unaware of how much she really needed it until she was in the midst of it.

It was honestly her first outing since her parents had passed…

After a while, the group outings were spread out. Dotted between the individual meetings she would eventually start having with each brother.

Wario was the first to offer time to, as he casually put it, ‘hang out’.

“You know, like when we were kids.”

Their time together was hiding away in the areas, both in the castle and in the town below, that they’d discovered when they were much younger. There wasn’t as much room for them to share as before. Both haven grown a little since then.

But it didn’t dampen Peach’s mood. Who was just thrilled to be able to swap childhood stories with someone she’d been so close to once before. About the mischief they’d gotten into. How wonderful her parents were. Making sure to give a wide berth on discussing Wario’s parents. Instead, eagerly chatting about current affairs, not royal focused, but about things that just made them happy.

“I’d hate to say it,” Wario said, “but I don’t think we’d be here if not for Mini-Me.”

“You make it sound like a bad thing.” Peach teased. Laughing softly as she was playfully shoved. “What do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t go out of our way to talk to each other if there wasn’t something to make us talk.”

“You kicked down my door when you found out I had been captured.”

“True, but I only stuck around because we decided to take care of our new friend.”

“...Suppose you’re right…”

Waluigi was a rare visit. On days when he didn’t have business and his garden was well cared for, he would appear at the castle. Peach would greet him with a warm smile, to which he would merely offer a small nod back.

Their time was spent in the library. Sharing a pot of tea while reading from the wide offering of novels. Occasionally discussing what they’d read about. But more often than not, they would just sit and enjoy the silence.

Peach believed Waluigi arrived here specifically for that quiet. For a break away from everyone.

When the group outings slowed down, it was mostly replaced with time being around Mario. Especially after he’d asked to allow him to take Peach out. Peach could tell he was nervous every time they were together. Even now, after so many outings, Mario seemed to tiptoe around her. As if fearful he could do or say something wrong. But that didn’t stop him from being a gentleman around her.

In full honesty, Peach had been smitten with the red-dressed human for a while. Long before Mario first asked her out. Because even if Mario didn’t fall for her right away, Peach found him charming and sincere. Peach had had plenty of royal suitors before, trying to win her hand and heart. Believing their title would be enough.

There were numerous times where Peach had to keep Daisy back.

Mario was very different. Soft spoken, focused on making sure Peach was comfortable around him, that she was enjoying herself when they were together. He was quick witted, able to carry a conversion if needed. But the quiet calm between them was a comfort Peach wasn’t aware that it was something she needed.

Even with how long they would spend time together, Peach could tell that Mario still felt nervous around her. If any contact was initiated, it was Peach who took the lead. Kisses placed on the human’s forehead and cheeks. Peach pretty sure any further would cause Mario to fully combust.

Toadsworth was already unhappy with how many burnt marks the castle now held.

But Peach didn’t mind. She merely saw them as reminders. Mario’s non-verbal confirmation for his full emotion towards her.

Luigi was the last person who visited Peach on his own. She wasn’t offended with how long it had taken. If anything, she was more surprised when he did arrive at the castle on his own. She’d always seen the younger twin as a very quiet and very nervous individual.

She was wrong, to a point.

When Luigi first arrived, he wasn’t able to explain what he was there for. Looking like he’d accidentally appeared. Eyes darting around, unable to stay focused on one area for more than a few seconds.

Peach broke the silence by offering Luigi a seat in the quiet library with a pot of her favorite tea to share between them. To which he quietly nodded in agreement. It took a few minutes of Peach discussing every topic she could think of before Luigi spoke.

A quiet voice asking about the royal gardens. About the variety of flowers and vegetation that grew near the castle. Peach was absolutely thrilled to discuss this. Even asking if the green dressed twin wanted to take a walk around said garden. To which the answer was another nod. A more exciting one.

It was as they entered said area that Luigi began to fully open up. Cheerfully commenting as he discussed what was growing, specifically the colors that they were seeing. Asking as many questions as he could think of with Peach providing her best answers.

“I’m sorry,” Luigi suddenly said, laughing weakly. They’d just started their third walk around.

“What for?”

“I’m sure you have more important things to do than answer my questions. I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.”

“No no, I’m enjoying myself,” Peach comforted, “This has been fun, promise.”

Luigi looked…stunned by this. Wide eyes seeming to shine as he weakly voiced a, “Really?”

“Of course. I hope you can stop by more often to talk.”

While she felt a quiet worry about Luigi’s reactions, Peach didn’t comment on it. Because no one should be that happy to just be heard. To be listened to. So what could have possibly happened to make the human act like this?

She couldn’t worry about that now. Instead, doubling down on focusing on Luigi’s words once more. Locking arms together and giving a gentle squeeze, smiling as the human looked back at her in surprise.

Luigi became the most frequent visitor to the castle behind Mario. The more he dropped by, the further he relaxed around Peach. Who in turn learned that Luigi allowed himself to open up more when he felt relaxed. When he felt safe.

More than a few brief moments hitting Peach in wondering if this is how Luigi was around Mario. When it was just the two of them. Something about that made her heart warm in happiness, in hoping that the human felt that comfortable around the princess.

She wondered if Mario would be too upset if she could also call Luigi her ‘younger brother’.

But that was a discussion for another time.

For that day, as Peach arrived at the Great Hall, she was greeted by all four of her boys. All beaming back as she offered her own smile. Happy to know she was going to spend this warm and pleasant afternoon with her growing family.

+_+_+_+_+_+

3. The Brief Parent Discussion (vine-should-comeback)

“...What were your parents like?” Luigi’s question seemed to echo loudly through the large hall. Walls lined with the portraits of past royals. The green-dressed human’s focused on the one depicting Peach’s parents. A human and a differently built, tall Toad.

Wario was closest to Luigi to address him first, “What do you want to know?”

“Hold up,” Waluigi frowned, “How much are we spilling here?”

Luigi shrugged weakly, “Whatever you feel comfortable with.”

“We could share too, if that makes you feel better.” Mario offered.

“Our mom looked a little like Peach,” Wario started off slowly, “Or, well, a bit more like us. I mean, duh, she was our mom. Pointed ears, pale skin, looks relatively human, but she had some red patches on her jawline and neck. We think that was part of her Toad heritage. She didn’t have a cap, but she had small spots. She was…kind…”

“She was easily swayed,” Waluigi sighed as he sat on the other end of the bench, “She fell in love with our dad very quickly, had us, then was heartbroken when he just…left us. Gave up on life.”

“She passed away a few months after he disappeared…”

“Do you…know what happened to him?” Mario asked.

Wario shook his head. “We don’t know. We really don’t know a lot about him. He was human-”

“Wait, really?” Luigi leaned forward with interest at that.

“Yes, annoyingly so.” Waluigi huffed.

“Was the reason our mom fell in love with him, by her own admission. He claimed he was an explorer, a ‘treasure hunter’. Said he found amazing things when he was on Earth. Like some golden chest that he called an Ark and a special cup belonging to this other guy that walked on water,” Wario shrugged, “Don’t know, said a lot of weird words. But he was excited to be here. Claimed he was going to discover so much here.”

“All he did was sit on the couch and drink,” Waluigi leaned slightly onto Mario to look at Luigi, “When he disappeared, I thought he’d gone back home. Back to Earth.”

Luigi’s eyes widened at the comment. “Is that why you thought Mario and I had been able to finish business on Earth? That we had a way back?”

“Don’t know where else he would have gone. Thought he’d found a way back and out of the ‘horrid relationship’ as he called it when mom was asleep. He never left the couch unless he absolutely had to.”

“Maybe he was doing a job?” Luigi asked with a sheepish smile.

“Doubt it. We never saw him work a day in our lives when he was around. We don’t know what happened to him and we don’t care.”

Mario, with the tallest brother leaning on him, peered over to Wario. Who held a tight lip and downcasted eyes. He wasn’t given long to question that look before he was gently shaken by Waluigi.

“So, what about you two? Greenie said you didn’t have any family relations back on Earth.”

“Well, he’s right,” Mario answered, “We’re…what, third-generation of our family? Grandma and Grandpa moved from Italy to the States. They wanted a really big family, but…it didn’t really work. Dad was the only surviving family member when we were born.”

“How many were there supposed to be?”

“Our dad and two uncles. Grandparents died of old age and health complications. Dad had just graduated from trade school when they passed. One uncle died on the job. Dad wouldn’t really talk about it, just said his brother was an adrenaline person and his job reflected it. The other uncle hung out with the wrong people. Passed when he was in college.”

“Well damn, these ‘states’ didn’t treat your family well.” Wario commented. Earning a flick to the ear from his own brother.

Waluigi in turn continued the conversation by asking, “What was your dad like?”

“Very hard working,” said Luigi, “He claimed his best days were during power outages. We wouldn’t see him for days. Arriving back with a huge smile and some kind of treat.”

“He was…very much a man who made his way,” Mario continued, “He was tough but fair. He expected you to work your issues out and if you couldn’t, you find another soulution.”

“Wait, he was an electrician, but you two went into plumbing?”

“Mom says it was because we liked what they got to work with. Loved to tell this story of when we were babies and a plumber stopped by to fix the bathroom sink. She found us right outside, each holding a pipe. Giggling as we held them up to look through them. She swore we were looking for something specific.” Luigi smiled fondly at the memories.

“It's just something that stuck with us. We liked how everything worked, how the inner workings functioned and how to fix them. It was…strange. But yeah, we were more interested in plumbing than wiring.”

“Well, we’ve heard plenty about your dad,” Waluigi said, “What about your mom?”

“She stayed at home. School days ended with her giving us some kind of treat with a hushed promise to not tell dad. She was really nice, always talking to the neighbors, giving out food and help to whoever needed it. Said she was building her own family…”

“Mom wouldn’t really talk about her family a lot,” Mario took over, “We don’t know what happened, just she’s been on her own for awhile before meeting dad.”

Luigi laughed softly at that, “They literally ran into each other at the store.”

“Oh yeah, and they were surprised that they were looking for the same thing!”

“They then had an argument as mom liked the name brand and dad swore the generic was just as good.”

“If not better since he could save a few bucks.”

“He was such a penny pincher.”

“Oh, remember when we tried to help mom in the kitchen and just ended up making a huge mess?”

“And dad came home, clearly exhausted, and was met with two screaming kids drenched in butter and seasoning. While mom was just staring at the tower of dirty dishes with nothing actually made.”

“Because we put the temperature on the wrong setting! Ugh, I thought dad was going to burst with rage when he took everything in. But he just laughed and said ‘Now would be a good time for pizza’.”

“Was that the first time we had Punch Out Pizza?”

“...You know what, I think you’re right. We didn’t eat out a lot, did we?”

“Well, that’s because dad wanted to save money if possible.”

“True. But that pizza place did become a second home.”

“I think Ms. Miranda would have some words for you if she heard you say that.”

The twins dissolved into light laughter, leaning against each other as they no doubt thought back on their childhood. Wario and Waluigi allowed them the time to reminisce before they fell silent. Neither missing when the emotions turned sour. Luigi pressed his forehead against Mario’s as their smiles slipped to small frowns.

“What happened to them?” Waroi asked gently.

Mario immediately wrapped an arm around Luigi, who moved his head to lay it on Mario’s shoulder. “It was a car accident, head on collision… The other person was drunk. They got out just fine somehow. We were told dad was gone first, was…was hit first. Mom…she passed being transported to the hospital.”

The twins didn’t complain when they were suddenly squished on the bench. Wario and Waluigi wrapped an arm around the other two as best they could.

“How old were you two?”

“A few months shy of 18,” Mario replied, “It was a bit of a fight to make sure we weren’t separated.”

“Mario yelled at a judge.” Luigi whispered with a small smile.

“We were able to rent out a small apartment and enter trade school. Got our degree and busted our butts to keep ourselves afloat… But we were able to stay together, and that’s all that mattered.”

Wario and Waluigi shared a quiet look of worry.

Unsaid concern, each no doubt flashing back to their own broken relationship. The silent conversation ended when they turned their attention to the numerous paintings before them.

“Yeah… That’s all that matters.”

+_+_+_+_+_+

4. Training (fishtale88)

The kingdom barely began to stir as the morning arrived. Citizens took their time as they dressed and ate their breakfast. Even the sun seemed sluggish as it rose into the sky. It was an all around calm and quiet morning as the Toads started their day.

Businesses opening first, their patrons arriving soon enough. Mainly those who didn’t want to make their own breakfast at home.

One bakery was unaware of the upcoming destruction. Customers enjoy their drink and pastries while enjoying the cool morning. Owners stocking their displays while also preparing their next order. Quiet conversations being held as they all began to wake…

It was all broken by a round of loud barking. A few screams followed this as tables on the outer edge were suddenly knocked over. Patrons and cafe items scattering on the ground as a spectral pup jumped onto one table still standing. Clear eyes darting around from treat to treat, seeming unbothered by the disturbance they were causing. Instead, chopping down on one of the closest pastries before rushing off once more.

There was only a few seconds to try and collect their thoughts over what happened when a voice desperately called out.

“Polterpup, no! Bad puppy, bet back here!”

Luigi paused by the same toppled over tables. Hands on his knees, one even holding a Golden Bone, as he gasped for air. Looking up to give a weak wave and sheepish grin to the numerous Toads watching him.

“S-Sorry, I’m really sorry! I-I’ll come back to h-help clean up, promise!”

All just watched in quiet fascination as Luigi raced off. Calling out the pup’s name once more.

_____________________________

Toadsworth hummed softly as he left the castle to begin his afternoon stroll through the gardens. The warm sun felt wonderful on his old bones. Heading straight for his favorite spot first. The numerous colors no doubt going to lighten his mood. The fragrance a wonderful change after-

“Polterpup, no! No, get out of there!”

Toadsworth was pulled from his musing hearing a familiar frantic voice. Turning the corner to find the same flowers he’d been looking to see not torn to shreds. The ground nothing more than mounds of dirt, the grass torn away into clumps.

Among it all was Luigi who was frantically holding up a wiggling Polterpup. Who was covered with dirt and happily transferring it onto the human. Seeming absolutely pleased with themselves and the damage they’ve done.

Luigi, unaware that anyone else was around, jumped hearing Toadsworth’s cry of despair. “O-Oh, Toadsworth! H-How are you today?”

“What happened to the garden!” The old Toad asked in distress.

“Um, well, Polterpup was, um, very excited to s-see what was growing here.”

“Out! Leave!” Toadsworth shouted while pointing his cane, “You best start keeping that beast on a short leash until you can train them properly!”

Luigi didn’t answer as he ran off, Polterpup tucked under his arm.

_____________________________

“No, no, don’t you dare-” Luigi let out a sputtering cry and Polterpup shook themselves off. Water and mud splattering everywhere in the bathroom. The human only able to cover their face with the towel meant to dry Polterpup. Letting out a sigh as the pup stopped. “Really? You couldn’t…just not?”

He looks up hearing a gentle knock on the bathroom door. Finding a clearly amused Mario standing in the doorway, eyes looking around the destroyed area. “So…did you two have fun today?”

“Sure, we’ll call it that.” Luigi huffed as he finally wrapped Polterpup in the towel. Drying off said pup even more. Trying to determine how long it was going to clean the bathroom, again. “I’m guessing Peach told you?”

“Mmm, more of we hear Toadswroth’s rantings over that happened. Sort of figured it out from there. Polterpup seemed to have had a full day.”

“They terrorized so many Toads, tore up more than just the castle’s garden, ate things that were and were not food, and now I have myself and my bathroom to clean.”

“How about you focus on the shower and yourself. I can handle the rest.”

Luigi looked over with wide eyes of relief, “Really?”

“Yeah, we’ll have this place cleaned in no time. Just let me get the supplies and this pup on the bed so they don’t bother us.”

In no time Luigi and the bathroom were completely clean. The younger twin dressed in his best sleep wear and he collapsed onto the bed. Just avoiding Polterpup. Who trotted over and laid happily across Luigi’s back. Who let out a whine. “Why can’t they just listen to me?”

Mario laughed softly, reaching out to pat Polterpup’s head. “Well, we didn’t ask how well they’d been trained by the professor before he left. Plus, they’re just excited! New people, new places, and they get to stay with us? It’s all so exciting.”

“Still…I feel like they’re taunting me in some way.”

“No, they like you.”

As if to prove the point, Polterpup let out a small yip before wiggling off Luigi’s back. Only to push their way into the human’s hold. Luigi laughed softly as Polterpup licked his face.

“We just need to get them used to everything.” Mario commented.

“Yeah, I guess…”

The brother’s swapped their ‘goodnights’ as Mario left, closing the bedroom door behind him. Luigi turned to properly lay on his side to hold Polterpup closer. Soon enough falling asleep, snoring softly as the late evening turned into proper night.

At some point, Polterpup had fallen asleep as well. More than content to be situated in Luigi’s arms. Happily listening to the human’s steady heartbeat as they slept on.

But as the clock rolled over to 3AM, their eyes snapped open.

Head lifting up as they sniffed the air. Nose twitching constantly, pulling out from Luigi’s hold, slowly circling the room as they searched for something. Eventually plopping themselves down under the desk. Panting softly as they waited, knowing what they were expecting to see.

Because they knew this game, they were used to this game.

Soon enough, the top portion of a Greenie Ecto-Ghost popped up from the floor. Right before Polterpup. Both staring at each other down the Ecto-Ghost became visibly tense.

When neither moved, Greenie huffed and floated further up. Blowing a raspberry before turning to Luigi and-

Polterpup suddenly arched their back, growling darkly with a dangerous aura enveloping him. The bravado the Greenie held before immediately disappeared as they inched away. Another low growl sent the Ecto-Ghost fleeing. A small shriek sounding as they phased through the floor.

Only when the scent completely disappeared did Polterpup relax. Happily panting as they made their way back to the bed. Wiggling into Luigi’s hold once more, who let out a yawn and tightened his hold around the spectral pup. Still sleeping soundly. Polterpup let out a contented hum as they relaxed further into the hold, eyes closing.

#yellow purple red green #mario #luigi #wario #waluigi #s-creations #mario and luigi #princess peach #story stories #smb #super mario bros #season 2 starting!

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freakattack · 6 months

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i just realized that you're the person that makes those warioware comics that i like! idk how it took me so long haha but i really enjoy your art and i appreciate even more the fact that you like my mike playlist :)

AW THANK U!! Im so flattered you like my comics i love makin them so im always happy when others enjoy them too. I didnt even realize the connection at first i just saw johnny b goode and was like wow this guy gets it....WAIT A MINUTE! But in a good way. I appreciate how mnay daft punk songs you gave him because its so true. he is doin it right. I also saw your orbulon playlist and am so happy that you also gave him the songs i did too because they make me GO INSANE not just because i like them or because i think everyone should listen to kraftwerk and YMO for ghe rest of their lives but also because farewell + the gonzo song particularly make me feel orbulon emotions. My favorite song you gave him is "we're finally landing" because it gives me similar emotions and also because ive never heard it before now but it is very good. "Bright lights in silent rooms" is also a great song i dont know if this was intentional but the title reminds me of "empty house" from his records in diy. Also "puzzle" by the same artist LOL........he does love his puzzles

EDIT: I just saw your tags LOL im so glad my playlist was inspiring because i made it in a lab i am so picky and uptight about PLAYLISTS so im happy that it passed the "vibe check" as it were. Mike loves rock and roll. Also you know whats so funny is i found U.F.Orb via searching for the word "orb" i dont know how or why the universe decided to allow these stars to fall into place but it did and its beautiful becayse now The Orb is one of my favorite bands. I love weird ambient computer sounds. The magic and the mystwry of looking up your favorite character in spotify search

WARIO MUSICERS UNITE💪‼️

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blazehedgehog · 3 months

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Twitch Stuff

Oh yeah I posted about this on my discord, but whenever I stream next (this Friday?), we have some new emotes! Twitch changed some rules around so a bunch of people got way more emote slots, and seeing everyone add cool emotes got me in the mood to figure out more of what I wanted.

Doing emotes for my twitch channel has been surprisingly hard. A lot of streamers seem to have some kind of mascot to base emotes around, or they collect them like souvenirs from games they've played recently. I stream about once a month (at best) and have no dedicated stream mascot, so I was never sure what to add, and still not sure. But I think we got some good ones now.

Dancing DK and Diddy are tier 1 subscriber emotes. I feel like every streamer I watch has a dedicated dance emote, sometimes multiple, and these guys are from when you beat a level in Donkey Kong Country. I still have 2-3 more animated slots, but we'll figure those out later.

Toot, Unimpressed, Funniest, Worried and Crouch are all brand new follower emotes, so you get them for free just by following me on Twitch.

The rest of the emotes are the ones we've had.

We also have three (!) new sound alert buttons.

Two of them are channel-points based and if you've been around online their functions should be self-explanatory. The third button is somewhere else, because soundalerts.com is a multi-million dollar company that operates a website that sucks to use and is held together by chewing gum and duct tape.

Essentially, soundalerts.com allows you to have a "randomized sound" button that will play one sound out of a collection you have organized. Unfortunately, the current "add button" interface is broken for channel points buttons, so I can't add a new randomized sound button using channel points. Instead, I had to make it use bits, the twitch paid currency.

The good news is: they actually let you set the price to 0 bits. So now there's a button on the sound alerts panel below the stream that will pick a random "Long Time No See!" voice clip from five or six different Sonic games. Except, because soundalerts.com is a great well made website, there's a 1 in 10 chance it will get confused and play a Wario sound for free.

Anyway, shoutouts to Rudie Radio Waves in the discord for helping me track down some (most) of the "Long Time No See!" voice clips when I floated the idea but confessed I was too lazy. I wanted to rip everything by hand, and they found a bunch pre-ripped on The Sounds Resource.

Honestly at this point I know enough about Twitch redemption stuff that I could just build my own sound alerts stuff for free. But that would take effort. If this becomes a bigger problem we'll see.

Anyway! This stuff will be there the next time I stream, so stay tuned.

#twitch #stream #sound alerts #emotes

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magicalgirlagency · 1 month

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I know this is magical girl blog, but i wanna ask, what's your opinion on pizza tower game?

You're only asking me this because of the The Noise Update that came out just recently, aren't you? Come on, be honest.

Anyways, I absolutely adore the aesthetics of that game. It's just so absolutely bonkers and it oozes lots and lots of passion. Those five years of hard work were worth it. I haven't played it yet, but once I get myself a potent and faster PC, I'll try it! So, I'll just talk about the aesthetics!

I like how Peppino is a Wario-expy, but not in personality. Sure, he is fat and ugly like that greedy garlic-munching goon, but his personality and life are totally different: He's a stressed middle-aged man, who struggles financially and constantly oscillates in anger or anxiety. Totally the opposite of Wario, who's absolutely confident in his brute strength and will take stuff without any awareness or care of the consequences that'll soon follow.

Also, did you know that "Peppino" is a legit real life name? It's a nickname of "Giuseppe" (an italian version of the name "Joseph"). And the person behind Funiculi, Funiculá (the funny pizza meme music) was named Peppino. Giuseppe "Peppino" Turco.

While the gameplay is obviously inspired by Wario Land 4, its visuals take cues from those Gross Out medias from the 90's/00's (Earthworm Jim, Cow & Chicken, Ren & Stimpy, etc.), which it really helps in the shaping of the game's identity. Not to mention how the game was projected to give major priority to speed mechanics, hence why the reason why it was firstly showcased at Sonic Amateur Games Expo.

Another interesting thing about it, is that this game almost became a Horror game! It almost became a FNaF copycat! But for some reason, Tour de Pizza felt the need to change the concept into a Wario-like midway, BUT! The Horror elements still remained with Don't Make a Sound and Fake Peppino (the game is one year old already; everyone already knows of Fake Peppino by now).

One interesting thing about FP, is back when the game has made its official debut, people made vows of not spoiling his Boss Fight, as TdP would keep him under the shadows in the development vlogging/lives. An addendum: This happened at the same time Hogwarts Legacy came out, and people were spoiling its ending on purpose! Meanwhile the froggy abomination (affectionate) was carefully kept a secret until the time was right.

...even though FP was already spoiled in WAR, but that's just me...

And the MUSIC. Oh my God, the music. It's so divine. Some of them feel severely out of place with the goofy aesthetics of the game, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The use of leitmotifs is clever and adds a lot of charm to the player character. They didn't have to go hard on the Ha Ha Funny Pizza Man Game, but they did it.

Also, the Final Boss has given me the adrenaline rush and catharsis that no modern-era Shounen has managed to do for me. No items, no power-ups, just pure, raw, and italian strength and blood-boiling rage (and the occasional tag-teaming of good ol' Gustavo).

As for The Noise Update, it's still pretty fresh, so I won't spoil anything major about it. However, I'll say that he is different than Peppino in every single way, not just in gameplay. While Peppino functions on Fight-or-Flight mode and is only concerned about getting things done and over with, The Noise does stuff for the shits 'n giggles, and WILL shamelessly gaslight you into getting the highest rank. And also with violence. Lots 'n lots of violence.

Also, The Noise's full name is "Theodore Noise" (yes the "The" in the name is not a definite article, it's short for his birth name). But I guess everyone already knows that, too. Just felt like remembering it, just in case.

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analog-noises · 3 months

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Revisiting Wario Land 4

Last month I was looking for my Gameboy Advance since I've been watching a lot of content from modders of retro consoles, after finding it I saw that Wario Land 4 was plugged on the Gameboy

My first encounter to the game

This was my first videogame ever on 2002 and I cannot explain all the feelings that this game made me experience 22 years ago, this was an experience of overcoming my fears and discovering that I had an anxious personality since I was 5; the first time that I played the game (and the second, third and so on) I couldn't pass the tutorial level, this was my first experience with a videogame and I wasn't able to think of the only way that I could escape the level

The dilemma

First I might need to introduce a couple concepts from the videogame mechanics itself.

The whole game revolves in the mechanic of time limits, at the end of every level you can find a Frog Switch

After hitting the Frogswitch a timer appears on the screen and you need to get exactly to the starting point of the level to get back to the pyramid, but remember that to be able to fight the boss you need 4 pieces from the chests:

and a Keyzer to be able to open the door for the next level

...Getting back at my experience Since the whole point of the videogame was to achive a really quick and frenetic gameplay my 5 year old mind was way too stimulated and I just started to cry, and was not able to pass the tutorial level in over a year

The Redemption

It was 2003 when by accident my father saw the Gameboy Advance boy on the nightstand, he sounded very upset telling me that he bought the console for nothing because I didn't want to play with it, but everytime I tried to pass the first level I had a panic attack. Well long story short he decided to turn the Gameboy on, try to play the first level and he was succesful on the first try, there was no trick whatsoever, you just needed to pay attention to the tutorial, after that I spend the next weeks playing on my vacation until I finally finished the game I couldn't be happier in that moment, after that I've finished the game countless times, on all the different difficulties and trying to do not so well so I could see all the different endings depending on the size of the treasure. This game started as a nightmare and ended being my favorite platformer ever, I just hope there is people that have been as inspired as me by this incredible game. And there's a lot moreto talk about it, the level design is incredible, the music is probably one of the best assets this game has (I still have no idea how they were able to put vocals on a GBA Cartridge), the artwork is awesome (I played the game again on an emulator on 1080p and it lookes incredible) and it's just a game with so much soul inside that makes you miss it on modern times, sometimes less is more and Wario Land 4 is the living proof of it.

This is not a review or something like that, but I've always wanted to write some appreciation about the game, there are multiple video essays about it so I will link them too

I like Wario Land 4

Wario Land 4 Music

I'll leave one of my favorite songs from the game here ;)

Wario Land 4 Main Theme

#retro gaming #video games #wario land #wario

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ivory-toothpaste · 4 months

Text

Another review of five albums! Under the cut like last time!

Stephen Cornford - Empty Reels

When I was a kid I was obsessed with the heater on the second floor of the house. There was only one vent to heat all of upstairs so I spent a long time on it and around it, I would dry off after walking home in the rain with it, I would put a blanket over it and sit under it when it inflated with hot air, and I loved to put my ear up to the vent and listen. You could hear a lot, and the tubing made things sound a bit alien, sometimes I would try and listen in to what my parents were talking about but the fact they were talking about adult stuff like finances and the vent filtering made it mean nothing to me. Unfortunately the vent doesn't quite sound the same anymore, maybe things sound different when your smaller. The close recordings of these reels are so relaxing, I can really get lost in them.

ማህሙድ አህመድ ከሮሃ ባንድ ጋር - ማህሙድ አህመድ ከሮሃ ባንድ ጋር

Very very nice album, the vocals on this are superb and the instrumentation is really great, I don't have a whole lot to say about it honestly other than I love Ethiopian music and hope to listen to more. Amharic is such a beautiful language, I wish I knew what was being sung.

七尾旅人 - ヘヴンリィ・パンク :アダージョ (Heavenly Punk Adagio)

You know when your a kid and an hour car ride or a movie feels like it takes days to finish, and you have no way of telling how much time has passed or how much longer it will be. I put this on in the background while doing some boring tasks, and completely lost track of time, the album is about 2 hours long, and has a decent amount of filler. I don't think I would listen to it as one whole unit again but there are some very high highs on here.

Gino Robair - Solo Drums With Ebow

Another find just looking at the tag "snare drum" on Bandcamp. Look I have nothing insightful to say this shit just makes my autism go crazy, I love these minimal free improv pretentious ass albums.

V/A - Goodbye Wi-Fi DIY

A cute little album made to say good bye to the ds wifi service, the Bandcamp includes the ds friend codes of the artists involved, and was originally going to be distributed solely through friend codes. My only complaint is I wish the songs were longer, but i wouldn't be surprised if that was a limitation inherent to making music on wario ware diy

#🐟 blogging #music #sorry this is long.... i just love music

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weirdmarioenemies · 3 years

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Name: Nabbit

Debut: New Super Mario Bros. U

Nabbit! You all know him, you love him, you asked for him! By which I mean we got an Ask asking to cover Nabbit, and I had previously no intention of doing so but it made me think, hey, I WOULD like to talk about Nabbit! Thanks @oddity-txt!

Nabbit! Like. Nab it. Cause he’s a rab-a thief, he’s a rabbit thief you get it yeah. This guy is a real piece of work, let me tell you! He steals items from Toad Houses and runs off with them! Those are for Mario! Can you believe not everyone in this economy agrees with hoarding power-ups to give them away to Mario in wacky chance-based minigames? So its up to you to chase him down. And chase him down you do!

But why does Nabbit want these items? Does he just enjoy the thrill of the chase? Or is he just trying to provide for his family? Can he sell them on the item black market? Why would there be an item black market when you can find this stuff anywhere on the street? Mario doesn’t care. Mario wants to attack the symptom of the problem rather than addressing the systemic cause.

Still, I feel like we need to have a good talk about what Nabbit is... other than a hooligan, obviously! Earlier I called him a rabbit but taking a look at him, it’s fairly clear he’s wearing some kind of rubbery rabbit suit, with only the black arms and feets sticking out... So of course we need to speculate all the possibilities! Possibility A is that he is a human or some other known character in disguise, which isn’t fun. Next! Possibility B is that he’s an actual rabbit wearing a rabbit-shaped bodysuit, which I quite like because it is absurd. Possibility 3 is none of the above and he is some mystery creature, which I’ll leave up to YOU to imagine because I’m not entirely sure what that would be.

Point number 2 about Nabbit’s ambiguous identity: the bandanna! It has a similar (but not identical) design to Bowser Jr.’s bandanna, and even though he does not work for Bowser, it just feels like a strangely specific design choice! I can get why Junior wants to look ferocious, but Nabbit is more of the stealthy type right? Because of this I’ve always envisioned Nabbit as having actual fangs under the bandanna, like the Impostor from Amongus, which you can’t disprove because he’s never been seen without it.

Or maybe it’s just fashion. It’s probably just fashionable.

This isn’t the last we’ll see of Nabbit of course! The developers of New Super Mario Bros. U had precisely three (3) new ideas, and damn if they weren’t gonna milk them for all they’re worth! I could get upset that characters from the New Super series get this treatment when other more beloved characters from spin-offs don’t, but also, come on... look at the guy! I can’t stay mad at him! He’s purple!

So in Nabbit’s next ever appearance, New Super Luigi U... he became playable! Wow, that was quick! With Mario gone, they scrambled around the office for anyone they could find to fill his place, and they settled on Nabbit! They’re not paying Nabbit extra though, so he kind of had to phone it in.

In this game, Nabbit is totally invincible! Why? Maybe he is like Wario and simply does not care enough to get hit. He can’t use power-ups because they didn’t have the budget to design new costumes for him and he can’t pick up items or ride Yoshis. The game frames this as an “easy mode”, but what kind of easy mode forces one player to always use it? Let’s be honest, it’s because they didn’t want to make a brand new character. The Year of Luigi was a tough time for Nintendo!

So rather then collect power-ups he just puts them in his bag, and they get converted into 1-Ups at the end of the level. Is THIS what he was stealing those items for? Is Nabbit’s ultimate goal to reach immortality through illegally trading 1-Up mushrooms? Maybe something like that probably. It’s kinda fun that he’s a ‘bad guy’ but Luigi and friends don’t really mind keeping him around.

Nabbit also appears in spin-offs of course. Enough spin-offs that he feels like a proper modern Mario character, but sparsely enough that you think “wow, they put Nabbit in this game?” when they put Nabbit in the game. Here he is in the Rio Olympics, and you could make a very easy joke about him being a thief in Rio de Janeiro, which I won’t. Instead I will ask: why the heck is he carrying his sack in a marathon! Just let go dude! Don’t they have changing room lockers in the Olympics?

Here he is in Golf! As DLC, for all the six people out there who loved Mario Golf World Tour so much they simply had to get new characters for it. This picture labels him as an Eagle but I’m pretty sure he isn’t one, though I might be wrong.

Here is Nabbit, well known thief, outlaw, and general ne'er-do-well as a doctor! I mean, I know the healthcare system is a scam but this is a little on the nose don’t you think? He just put a pill sticker on his thief sack and called it a day! Can we even be sure there are pills in there? What if he is prescribing patients with stolen Super Acorns from Acorn Plains 5 - Rise of the Piranha Plants? Oh no!

Nabbit Mario Kart? It is more likely than you think! Of course only in the mobile game with a gacha. They could’ve done it in Mario Kart 8 but they know people will pay good money for Nabbit! Well jokes on them because I got him in the gacha for free. Nyeeh.

Nabbit is also in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam! Did you know this? I didn’t play Paper Jam, so I didn’t. I’m sorry. You need to catch him in order to get Bros. Attack items. At one later point, you even fight him! Or rather, fight enemies he kept in his bag, while he naps in the background. Is that legal? He can also pop out behind you and steal your hammers to whack you with. Yeouch!

However, he also fights ALONGSIDE you for some fights against Bowser’s minions, acting basically like a fourth party member, except you can’t control him or anything. He gives the Bros. healing items from his bag or will occasionally bonk an enemy himself. Hooray for morally ambiguous characters! I guess he’s cool with anything as long as he gets what he wants.

Finally, I would like to talk about Nabbit in Super Smash Bros.! As one of the few original things to NSMBU, he of course appears in the Mushroom Kingdom U, alongside equally iconic characters like Beanstalk and Water Geyser! In this game he’ll grab people and stuff them in his bag, and then proceed to just... fly away, so they are killed. Wait a minute. A thief who kidnaps characters only to kill them and himself...? That sounds familiar!

I knew it! This wasn’t really Nabbit at all, but rather Tac from Kirby Super Star sneakily disguised as Nabbit! Sakurai thought he could sneak you into this stage to satiate his never-ending lust for Kirby Super Star references in Smash... He wasn’t even content just having you in Smash Run and Smash Tour!

Well, mystery solved everyone! I think we can go ahead and end this post while we arrest Tac for his crimes of identity theft, and not regular theft, which isn’t really an actual crime after all.

#mario #mario enemies #mario allies?#nabbit #new super mario bros u #mod f boy #this post is very long but i will not add a read more because i am feeling evil muahahah

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softspideys · 3 years

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The Perfect Date

summary: tom makes it his mission to take you on the perfect first date. the only problem is, you have no idea.

warnings: none

word count: 3.6k

pairings: tom holland x reader

a/n: this was supposed to be a valentine’s day fic but then I forgot about it. oops. plz enjoy anyway

Tom had just started the last lap of Wario’s Gold Mine when he heard Zendaya ask, “Got any plans for Valentine’s Day?”

He tried not to pay attention to your answer, focusing on keeping his lead, but he couldn’t help it. His eyes flickered over to where you were sitting at the kitchen table, absently circling your finger around the rim of your wine glass.

You straightened up at her question, scoffing. “Are you kidding? When’s the last time you saw me date anybody, Z?”

“Hey,” she said, pointing at you accusingly. “Don’t even start with me. I set you up with people all the time, it’s not my fault you’re so picky.”

“It’s called having standards,” you fired back. “Sorry I’m not interested in pretentious jerks who insist on mansplaining Tarantino films to me over their venti-soy-no-foam latte with a triple shot of espresso.”

Zendaya cackled, and though he couldn’t see your face, Tom could tell you were smiling too; your words had no real bite to them.

“Seriously though,” you continued with a sigh. “I think I might just give up dating for a while. Lately it feels like my only options are either crappy blind dates or going through a sleazy hookup app for some mediocre sex. I can’t remember the last time I got properly asked out and went on, like, a nice date.”

As soon as you said that, the gears started turning in Tom’s head. And then he got an idea so good he almost forgot about the race entirely, until Harrison hit him with a red shell and passed him, sailing over the finish line in first place.

“Yes!” Harrison cheered, causing you and Zendaya to look over, startled. “Finally, I won!”

“Wow,” Zendaya said, amused. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever lost in Mario Kart, Holland.”

“Yeah, what’s gotten into you?” you asked teasingly as Harrison got up and did a victory dance.

Tom normally hated losing, but he was too preoccupied at the moment to care. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Just . . . a little rusty, I guess.”

You raised your eyebrows, but then Zendaya challenged Harrison to a rematch, and the two of them immediately started a new grand prix while you called dibs on the winner. With the distraction in place, Tom had plenty of time to come up with a plan.

The four of you had been friends for years, but he’d always harbored something of a crush on you. He’d never tried to push the boundaries or pursue you because he liked your relationship as it was already, and didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. But this would be different. This was harmless. He was simply going to show you how you deserved to be treated, give you a good date to remember among the bad ones.

Nothing else. Right?

* * *

You eyed the huge bouquet of roses your coworker had on her desk and tried not to feel too envious. She’d made a big show of bringing them in this morning and inviting everyone who walked by to smell them, going on and on about how her girlfriend had surprised her for Valentine’s Day yesterday.

So what, you thought to yourself. I can get myself flowers whenever I want; I don’t need a holiday to have an excuse to do it. It really didn’t make you feel better though.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said, making you jump a mile. You looked up. Tom was peering over the wall of your cubicle, which was . . . unexpected. He hardly ever visited you at work.

“Oh, hi,” you said. “I didn’t even see you come in.”

“Yeah, you were totally zoned out,” Tom said. “Good thing I brought caffeine.” He placed a to-go cup from your favorite coffee shop on your desk. You saw the order written on the side; he’d gotten it exactly right.

“Wow,” you said, surprised but grateful. “Thanks.” You’d already had coffee this morning, but clearly it was shaping up to be a two-cup type of day. You took a careful sip and felt better already.

“No problem.” Tom followed your line of vision to your coworker’s desk. “Pretty flowers.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, a little quietly. You cleared your throat. “So, what’s up? Did we have plans today or something?”

“Oh, no,” he said, shifting from foot to foot, “but that’s actually kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” He seemed nervous, which in turn made you nervous.

“Okay,” you said, giving him your full attention.

“So . . . are you doing anything this Friday night?”

It was only Monday. You thought for a second before shaking your head. “I don’t think so.”

“Would you like to have dinner? With me?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. That was it? “Oh. Sure.”

You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes widen the slightest bit. “Really? I mean, great. Cool.” He scratched his nose. “So, Friday at six o’clock, then? I’ll text you the name of the place?”

“Sounds good,” you said. He seemed excited, though you couldn’t figure out why. You got dinner with him, Harrison, and Zendaya at least once a week.

“Alrighty,” Tom said, swinging his arms a little and nodding. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. See you Friday.”

“See you,” you said. Did he really come all the way to your office to ask you this in person instead of just texting you like he normally would? Maybe he’d been nearby or something. You watched him leave, mostly confused but also kind of endeared.

“Was that your boyfriend?” your coworker asked, subtly adjusting her flowers again.

You quickly shook your head, turning back to your computer and taking another sip of your coffee. “Oh, no. Just a friend.”

As Tom left your office, he allowed himself to do a small fist-pump. Getting you to agree was the hardest part. Now came the slightly-easier-but-still-hard part: making sure he gave you the best first date ever.

* * *

Something strange was going on with Tom. You first realized it when you brought up the dinner on Friday to Zendaya and she had no clue what you were talking about.

“Tom didn’t invite you?”

“Nope.” She popped the “p.”

“Huh.” You chewed your lip. “That’s . . . weird. Maybe he figured I’d just tell you about it. And I guess you don’t really need an invitation anyway . . . do you think he invited Harrison?”

“I don’t know.” You were on the phone, so you couldn’t see Zendaya’s face, but it kind of sounded like she was trying not to laugh. “Maybe he wants it to be just the two of you.”

“Maybe.” It was rare, but it wasn’t like you never spent time with just Tom or Harrison. You couldn’t remember the last time you had dinner with either of them one-on-one, though. This seemed . . . different. “But I’m sure he won’t mind if you guys show up,” you said with a shrug.

Now Zendaya did laugh. “No, no, it’s fine,” she said. “I think I’m supposed to babysit my niece and nephew anyway. You guys have fun.”

Then there was Tom himself. You hadn’t seen him in person since Monday, but he’d been texting you random questions all week:

Do you prefer a casual or an elegant ambiance?

How many candles on a table is too many? Or do you think overhead lamps are better?

Oyster bars . . . yes/no?

You answered all of them with increasing bemusement, but any time you asked why he would mysteriously change the subject. You couldn’t help but feel like there was something you were missing here.

Finally, he sent you the name of the restaurant on Friday morning: Soul & Persona.

You’d never heard of it, so you decided to look it up. One glance at their website told you this place wasn’t like the casual restaurant-and-bars you and your friends usually frequented. This was fancy. Clicking over to the menu, you inhaled sharply at the prices written next to the items. Luckily, today was payday.

You arrived at the restaurant shortly before six. Another person was already standing outside, and as you got closer you realized it was Tom. Two things about that were already weird: one, he was normally notoriously late to everything; and two, he was holding a bouquet of roses in one hand that were so big they nearly obstructed his face.

He didn’t notice you approaching, busy frowning at something on his phone. “Hey,” you said at last, making him jump.

“Oh! Hey!” He cleared his throat, shoving his phone in his pocket. “I mean—good evening.” He did a strange little bow before thrusting the flowers at you. “These are for you.”

“Wow,” you said, taking them carefully. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You look really nice.”

You were glad you researched the restaurant in advance, because the jeans and t-shirt combo you’d originally planned on wearing would definitely not have been appropriate here.

“So do you,” you said. He did: he was wearing slacks and a nice dress shirt under a jacket, his hair neatly combed.

“Thanks. Should we go in?” he asked. You nodded, and he hurried to open the door, ushering you inside. It was crowded, which made you a little worried. How long would the wait time be?

But Tom went right up to the hostess stand. “Hi,” he said, “we have a reservation for two at six; the name is Tom?”

She looked at her book and nodded. “You can follow me right this way.” She led you to a quiet corner of the restaurant and seated you at a table by the window. “Enjoy your meal.”

“Here,” Tom said, pulling your chair out before you could sit down. Again, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“This place is crazy nice,” you said, looking around as the hostess placed a wine list on the table.

“Yeah,” Tom agreed, a little distractedly. “Um. So. Do you prefer to work in a team or alone?”

You blinked. “What? Where’d that come from?”

He shrugged, fidgeting with his collar like he was nervous. “I—I dunno. Just making conversation.”

“Oo-kay,” you said with a laugh. “Well, I haven’t seen you since you blessed my office with your presence on Monday. How was your week? Didn’t you have to give a presentation yesterday?”

“Yes, and one of the board members literally fell asleep during it,” Tom said, wrinkling his nose.

He seemed to loosen up after that, and the conversation flowed naturally from then on as you talked about your plans for the weekend, your friends, your families, and any other random thoughts that occurred to you.

For dinner you tried a pasta dish while Tom got steak, and you each had the soup of the day for an appetizer. Your knowledge of wine was limited to whatever was cheapest when you went to the liquor store, but Tom had apparently become an expert overnight: he asked the waiter all kinds of questions about their reds vs. their whites before finally ordering a bottle for the two of you to share.

All in all, it was an enjoyable dinner. You always had fun with Tom, of course, but you rarely got to spend time with just him. And though you normally stayed away from expensive places like this one, you had to admit the food was delicious and the ambiance made you feel very sophisticated.

“Can I get either of you some coffee or dessert?” the waiter asked as he cleared your plates. You’d never been one to say no to that, but Tom jumped in before you could open your mouth.

“No thank you,” he said quickly. “Just the check please.” Then he looked at you. “I thought maybe we could walk to that bookstore you like? The one with the bakery in it? We could—we could get dessert there and browse.”

“Oh,” you said, surprised. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Cool.” He sounded relieved.

The waiter brought out the bill and Tom grabbed it as soon as he set it on the table. “What are you doing?” you protested. There was normally an agreement among your friends that everyone paid for their own meals when you went out to dinner.

“I’m paying,” he insisted, waving you off as you fruitlessly tried to put your own debit card down.

“At least let me Venmo you for my half.”

“Nope.”

“Tom!”

“Seriously, it’s fine.” He wouldn’t even let you see how much the meal cost.

You could tell he wasn’t going to budge for whatever reason, so you had no choice but to relent. “If you’re sure,” you said, watching him smugly sign the receipt. You made sure to grab your flowers before you got up and followed him out of the restaurant.

The bookstore you liked was a few blocks away, but you didn’t mind the walk. The air was warm but balmy, refreshing on your face. “That was amazing,” Tom said.

“It was,” you agreed. “I’m convinced they put actual crack in that pasta sauce. It was otherworldly.”

He laughed before he asked, a little hesitantly, “So are you . . . having a nice time?”

You looked over at him questioningly. “Of course I am. But I always have a nice time with you.”

“Good,” he said quietly, nodding. “Good.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Tom said immediately. “I just wanted to make sure. So, what are some of your pet peeves?”

“What is it with you and these questions?” Thankfully, you arrived at the bookstore and were spared from answering.

One of your favorite things about hanging out with Tom was that you didn’t necessarily need to be attached at the hip or in constant conversation in order to have fun. As soon as you entered he made a beeline for the True Crime section while you went to look at the new releases.

It was nice to just browse on your own for a while, and you ended up buying a book you’d been wanting to read ever since it came out. Tom was still perusing the shelves after you checked out, so you sneakily went up to the bakery counter and bought some dessert.

He found you sitting at a table in the cafe, reading your new book. “What’s this?” He gestured to the two pieces of cake and cups of decaf coffee on the table in front of you. “You should’ve let me pay!”

You’d been anticipating this, so you merely rolled your eyes. “Cry about it. You paid for dinner; it was the least I could do.”

“That’s not how this works,” Tom objected, but he reluctantly sat down and pulled his cake towards him anyway. The two of you discussed your books while you ate, and you tried not to act like you were eyeing his slice the entire time.

He noticed, of course. “You wanna try?”

You nodded sheepishly. You expected him to push the plate towards you, but instead he scooped a piece up onto his fork and held it out. “Here.” A little surprised, you opened your mouth and allowed him to feed it to you. For some reason it felt oddly intimate.

He was watching you expectantly as you chewed. “Good?”

“Yeah,” you managed to say, swallowing. “Really good.”

It was getting late and the store was closing soon, so you left after finishing your coffees. Usually this was when you’d call it a night and go home, but this time you felt no strong desire to. So when Tom started walking along the river instead of heading back towards the restaurant, you didn’t mind at all, falling into step beside him.

The night sky was clear, giving you a breathtaking view of dozens of stars. Hardly anyone else was around, and the river below was quiet and calm. It was like you were suspended in time. You couldn’t remember ever feeling so peaceful.

Tom’s hand bumped yours as you walked. You didn’t think anything of it at first, but then it happened again, and this time he laced his fingers through yours.

For some reason that was what made everything suddenly fall into place, for you to finally put two and two together and realize what was going on.

Oh my God.

“Tom,” you said hesitantly, shattering the comfortable silence between you.

“Yeah?”

“Is this . . . a date?”

He stopped walking, forcing you to do the same. Under the soft glow of the streetlights you could see he was staring at you. “Wait,” he said slowly. “This whole time . . . you didn’t know?”

Now that he’d basically just confirmed it, everything started to make sense: coming all the way to your office just to ask you to dinner, bringing you coffee, making reservations at a fancy restaurant, paying for the meal—

You were on a date and you hadn’t even realized.

“Oh, God,” was all you could say. You almost wanted to laugh, though nothing about this was even remotely funny. It was like you’d been hit over the head with a brick.

How could you not have known? It should’ve been obvious when he paid for the meal; no, when you realized you’d be eating at such a fancy place; no, when he showed up randomly on Monday, brought you coffee, and fucking asked you to dinner.

You both seemed to realize at the same time that you were still holding hands, and he quickly dropped it and stepped back. For the first time since you’d met, the air between the two of you was awkward. “I—I’m so sorry. I thought you knew.”

“I should’ve known,” you said, shaking your head. “I’m so stupid, I just didn’t think—” You didn’t finish your sentence. You honestly couldn’t figure out why you didn’t realize it sooner.

Because he’s your friend, a voice in the back of your head reminded you. He’s your friend and he’s never expressed any interest in you before, not like this.

That was true. You’d always thought Tom was handsome, and maybe early on in your friendship you’d fantasized about him once or twice. But he always treated you normally, never outwardly showing any sign of wanting more.

“You’re not stupid,” he said immediately. “I should’ve made it more clear.”

“I’m just confused, I guess,” you said carefully. “I mean . . . why now? And why . . . me?”

He exhaled. “I overheard you the other day when you and Z were talking, and you were saying something like . . . you hadn’t been properly asked out and taken on a nice date in a while. So I guess I just wanted to do that for you. Make you happy.”

Your brain felt like it was short-circuiting. You didn’t know what to say to that, but he seemed to take your silence as a cue to keep going.

“That’s why I came to your office, to ask you in person instead of doing it over text or whatever. And I saw you looking at those flowers your coworker had, so I bought you some. And I picked this restaurant because it was nice but also because it was near the bookstore. And I memorized some first-date questions in case our conversation got boring, but I think that probably wasn’t necessary.” He sucked in a deep breath. “And now that I’m saying all of this I realize how weird it sounds. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Oh,” you said dumbly. His previous words were still echoing in your head. I guess I just wanted to do that for you. Make you happy.

He’d taken the time to think about all the things you liked and used that knowledge to plan the Perfect Date. You couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done something so kind, so thoughtful, so . . . romantic. Did this mean what you thought it meant?

Of course, the only way you were able to translate all of this was with, “Wow.”

But then he added, “And—and I didn’t do all of this because I thought it would lead to a second date or anything like that. I only—”

“Wait,” you interrupted, your stomach plummeting. This conversation was giving you whiplash. “So you . . . don’t like me?”

“Huh?”

“You did all of this . . . just because? You don’t actually want to go on a date with me?” Now you were more confused than ever, and a little hurt beneath that.

Tom’s eyes widened. “No! Well yes, but . . . no. Wait.” He took a deep breath. Now or never, right? “I do like you, but this was separate from all that. I only meant that I wasn’t expecting anything from this. I just wanted you to have a good time.”

You nodded slowly, exhaling. “Okay. So . . . what if I told you that I did have a good time, that I like you too, and I want go out with you again?”

Tom blinked at you owlishly for a second before his face split into a huge grin, one you were sure your own was mirroring. “Then . . . I’d say . . . same. To all of it.”

“Good,” you said, stepping closer. “In fact, I think this has almost been the perfect first date.”

He paused. “Wait, almost? What would make it perfect?” He furrowed his eyebrows, looking a little panicked. You laughed, reaching up and cupping his jaw.

“It has to end with a good-night kiss, doesn’t it?”

Tom relaxed, his hands finding their way to your waist. “Oh. Yes, you’re absolutely right.”

The two of you were still smiling as you kissed, and Tom lifted one of his hands to do a silent, sneaky fist-pump.

Mission: success.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fic #tom holland oneshot #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x you #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fluff

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factual-fantasy · 2 months

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26 ASKS! :DD THANK YOU! :}} 🥓

I mean, knowing me I'll come back around to it someday. I love Octonauts and tend to loop back around to that show every so often.. Its just that I've had a lot of uncomfortable experiences in the Octonauts fandom. Especially recently..

I don't really wanna go into detail, but I will say that I've encountered more upsetting situations in the Octonauts fandom, than I have in nearly every other fandom combined. Which is rather surprising considering its a kids show. And also unfortunate, since I don't really feel free to have fun in the Octonauts fandom the way I want to..

I'm hoping that at some point I can get my confidence back and find my way around that fandom and have the fun I want. But for now I'm just kind'a keeping my distance and thinking about it. I don't need any extra stress rn-

@unpopularartist14

I use FireAlpaca! :D As for how to draw injuries and bruises.. hmm.. well.. injuries are different from drawing to drawing and hard to explain.. but bruises? aaa how do I explain it--

Well, for character with pale skin. Like Wario and Waluigi.. I find I just airbrush some deep purples and reds in one spot on their face and put some dark purple/red scratches on top.. and how much purple or red you use depends on the freshness/severity of the bruise. If that makes sense..??

Like- Using this post with the Wario "bros" as an example, the bruise on Waluigi's chin/cheek is a muddy purple and has dark purple scratches on it. I feel like using purple makes the bruise look little older and likes its healed some.

Meanwhile on Wario's chin the bruise is pink/red-ish. Making it look "bloody" and fresh. I think so at least--

AGHHG- sorry, I'm not the best at explaining things. I hope you can look to that post as a reference and draw some bruises. I used the airbrush and pencil tool to draw them if that helps! <:D

@untitled-7613 (Comic in question)

Hmm.. my favorite Disney character.. I know that Disney bought Pixar and now owns all the characters. So I'm trying to think of characters that Disney made, not bought.. and I'm having some trouble remembering the older movies..

I think I liked Tarzan! Though I wouldn't say he's my favorite.. hmm.. I like Mufasa from the Lion King and I like the Genie from Aladdin! I also liked John Silver from treasure planet! (That was Disney right?) But idk if I'd say they're my favorite Disney characters.. hmm..

Now, if you're asking what my favorite Disney/Pixar character is? Well that's easy 👇

@tallchest13-blog

XDD Thank you so much! :DD I'm glad you like it! :}}}}

:x I have not seen the welcome home update-- all my info comes from MatPat/his channels. I'm way too lazy to actually go look into any welcome home stuff myself <XDD

ALTHOUGH!- I have heard that Julie has monster paws! :DD No doubt she has them for different reasons than my Julie, but still! it felt like an Apollos dodgeball moment for me! XDD

I'm not sure why you're telling me all this.. but I suppose I'll put in my 2 cents while you're here-

While some of this is true, this sounds like a rather 1 sided view of Alphys' character. I know most of the Undertale characters are beautifully complex and thought out, Alphys included. And I don't think this view is accurate to who she really is.

For example, as far as I remember she wasn't watching anime to "slack off". I'm sure she was severely depressed and extremely overwhelmed with everything going on in her life atm.

I think it would be a good idea for you to watch some character analysis videos on Alphys. Since I don't remember her very clearly, I cannot defend her very well. But I recall seeing a lot of posts/videos in defense of Alphys and explaining why she did the things she did.

Basically, I think its worth your while to actually look into Alphys and give her a chance! Who knows, after gaining some more understanding of her, you might just like her! :}

WAAAHAAG THANK YOU SO MUCH!! THAT MEANS A LOT TO MEEE!!😭💖💖😭💖

And hey, I get where you're coming from about the whole art theft thing. :( That is my biggest struggle being here on Tumblr. The constant art theft is so disheartening. In fact there were several times in the past where I almost threw in the towel and quit Tumblr all together over it.

But what's kept me around is people like you! :D There's some folks out there that really care about what I make. And are excited to see what I make next! The nice comments they leave me and the engagement with my work has really stuck with me. And it's what keeps me coming back! Maybe someday if you decide to take that first step and post some artwork, you'll find a lotta nice folks that make the art theft seem not so bad :}

Also giant watermarks. Giaaant watermarks that are just annoying to look at. That might discourage art theft <XDD

As for Jevil and Grillby.. In my AU, Jevil has this power to create mirrors and jump from timeline to timeline through them.

At some point when it was just him and Seam traveling together, they wound up in this Snowdin at night. Grillby was about to close his bar but he saw these too tired and hungry people so he let them in.

At some point while they were sitting at the counter and talking to Grillby.. Jevil could feel in his soul that this timeline they were in was about to collapse. Killing everyone in it. Jevil reacted on instinct and grabbed Seam and Grillby's arm and pulled the three of them through a mirror. The timeline was destroyed as soon as they disaapered.

What this meant is Jevil had saved Grillby's life!.. But his AU/timeline no longer existed. All of Grillby's friends and family were gone.. his home was gone.. He was now a homeless wandering traveler just like Seam and Jevil.

Deep down, Grillby doesn't really hate Jevil. He just took the grief of it all really hard and blamed it all on Jevil in response. He wished that Jevil hadn't saved him so he could have just died with the rest of his family.. and not have to experience this grief today..

Overtime he gets better.. and he understands that Jevil didn't want for any of this to happen. Eventually they talk about it a little and they end up on better terms. Maybe even becoming true friends someday. :}

@astaherussy (Recent development post on the Wario "bros") (Old Wario "bros" post) (Old King Boo/Boos post)

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like what I've made! :DD As for Wario and Waluigi.. the main changes I'm working on are visual/design changes. In their outfits especially. And I'm thinking of taking away their hats. They looked obviously very similar to Mario and Luigi's..

When it comes to their story, that is also being developed. I think I wanna keep the aspect of the Mario bros getting in some trouble and the Wario "bros" rescue them. Though with recent developments.. I don't know if the whole thing in Shy Guy woods is gonna work out-

In other news, actually no! :0 I wasn't aware that Spidercrab is so liked, but I am very glad to hear that he is! :DD

And a lot of those vibes was what I was going for! Tired, traumatized, has anxiety but is better at hiding it. Though the father figure is unexpected XD but I guess it fits! He's rather introverted and prefers quiet and space. But he is also the crews medic, and boy does he worry and care too much for his own good. He cares too much about them to spend all his time alone. He not only cares about their physical health, but he cares about them as people.

He wants to be there for his crew. He want's to be the first to notice when something is wrong or one of his crew is unwell. So he tries to participate in all their gatherings. Despite how much he'd rather just go read a book in his hammock <XDD

Though, he is still antisocial/awkward.. so there could have been many times he noticed one of the crew seemed off. But he didn't have the guts to talk to them. So he would go and tip off one of the other crew members to check up on them. Stuff like that I imagine is his way of showing he cares. :}

WAHG! I rambled a bit there didn't I? <XD Well I hope it was a fun read at least- as a thanks for taking interest in Spidercrab! It means a lot to me :}}}

Thank you so much!! And indeed he is! I'm so honored that you remembered him! :DD Though he's looking at some major re-designing and a biiiiit of lore re-structuring too <XDD 💔💔

<XD Unfortunately for many reasons I cannot/will not drink any of the things on that list. But! I can drink water! :D

@badlyblurry

<XDD I suppose so, at the very least I'm dipping my toes in and having some fun!

Hmm.. out of all the Mario games I can remember.. I think red shells from Mario kart got on my nerves the most <XDD

That, or this one very specific Zinger from Donkey Kong country. But I get that a DK game might not count XDD

📢📢SHOUT OUT TO YOU SETH!! :DD 📢📢

Thank you!! :DD

@neo-metalscottic

Ahh, I see, thank you for the info! And I'm glad you like my interpretation of them anyways! :DD

And oh yeah, his children's safety is his #1 priority. He's probably getting Kamek to create more Goomba's and rearranging his troops. Setting up a big chunk of them to just be on watch duty around his land. In case the hero's decide to come back..

He's also probably tightening the defenses around his hidden palace. (Where the Koopalings, Kamek, Kammy and the Blue paratroops all live.) Most likely by stationing more troops there and hiding out there himself. He wasn't able to beat the bros but he will still be an obstacle for them if they ever make it to the palace and try to hurt his kids. (Mario and Luigi wouldn't do that most likely but Bowser doesn't really know anything about them at this point- other than the fact they are very powerful and very scary)

I didn't think much about K rool when I made my version of DK. But that guy and his species are intended to exist and be causing problems on DK's island. Though all the details I'm unsure of.. perhaps its what you said, maybe they want the special beets and fruits that the kongs eat? Or maybe they came from another island that didn't have much to eat and now they're here to take over.?? :00

Sorry, I don't take requests! And my ability to draw rn is rather limited anyways... 😅

BUT! May I direct you to this post and point out a detail in the background? Cici only ate the frosting off her cake slice. So Bibi offered his slice so she could scrape off his cake frosting and eat that too XDD What a sweet brother he is :}

@2006-stupid-thatsme

I am not familiar with those sites.. <:0

<XD Mike was kind of a jerk though. Now don't get me wrong, his voice was killer! But I don't think he really changed as a person by the end of the movie.

If they had put him in the second movie he was gonna need a major personality change in order for me to like him <XD

@candyglumboy

I think its alright. :0 And if I have drawn one of the characters? I cant remember doing it <XD

(In relation to this post)

Aw, I'm sorry that you have to deal with all this. It doesn't sound fun that's for sure. :( But thank you for the info! :DD

@littlelightfish

XDD IM GLAD YOU LIKE HIM!! And these are all good questions! Unfortunately I haven't thought much about these things- so let me make some of it up on the fly- <XDD

I imagined he likes to mess with the crew sometimes and pull little pranks. Its all in good fun! Just a bit of goofin off. And he mostly does it to Coco XDD

Now his favorite crew member.. hmm.. I feel like that might be Ellie. Despite her cold exterior, she had a big heart and really does love her crew. Even the butthead that is Tuna <XDD I can see her getting the other crew members to lay off and give Tuna some space. She is known for cooking food to everyone's specific preference, no matter how much longer it takes to make. And she would do the same for Tuna. Cooking what ever he wants, how ever he wants it cooked.

That really means a lot to Tuna.. if he can count on anything, he can count on Ellie to cook a perfect meal just for him.

Now the crew member that understands him the most would be who ever has had similar experiences to him, right..? In that case it might be Pinwheel. Orrr Coco.. maybe Spidercrab..? Ah, I'm gonna need to do some more thinking on that one <XD

The crew member he doesn't feel so comfortable around could be Cuttlefish. She is very mysterious and some would even say untrustworthy. He is probably spooked by her and doesn't fully trust her. Though I'm also experimenting with Tuna having trouble with authority figures. So mayyybe he's less comfortable around Seafoam and Octo..?? :00

Also thank you for your enthusiasm and interest in Tuna! Its the biggest compliment to me/my OCS 🥰🥰

@raccoons-in-a-dumpster

XD Yup! Its me! And thank you! :DD

@beryl-shade

XDD Do they say that? Are there popsicles in the oceans from that game??

I'm not sure.. I'd assume so..? Keep in mind that these character were made from a game that I know next to nothing about-

Maybe? :00

@yeetmysoulintothevoid (Post in question)

No its not a sexual dimorphism thing, its all about stress, exhaustion, health,, etc.

Peach and Daisy have very thin blue markings (like their species is SUPPOSED to have) because they are well fed, well rested, and pampered as princesses.

Wario and Waluigi's blue markings are very large and puffy becuase they eat garbage, get very little to no sleep, and are fighting for their lives on the daily pretty much- if they had a saver living environment and a secure source of food, their eye bag would be much less noticeable-

Now Rosalina's blue marks are noticeable and puffy mostly due to her grief and depression. And partly because she isn't exactly.. aliiive..? Anymore..?? <:D

And yes! Everyone's ears are emotive! :}} Maybe subtly though. They can perk their ears up or droop them down, much more than a human typically can. But they cant do really fine and quick movements to improve their hearing/listen in a certain direction. Like Dogs, cats and rabbits can for example. Its all slow and mostly intentional movements.

Nope, I don't have plans to finish that comic. The writing was horrible and everyone acted super out of character all in the name of angst. 👎👎👎

If anyone wanted to know the ending, Kwazii was gonna patch Barnacle's face and the rest of the crew was gonna show up in the gups. They get him in a gup, take him to the octopod and he gets situated in the sick bay.

Then Kwazii and Peso have this stupid emotional talk about how Peso feels bad for not being there for the captain and blah blah blah. VERY out of character for Peso. The entire point of Peso's character is that he "helps any creature who is hurt or sick, no matter what." There is literally nothing on earth that could have stopped him from helping his own Captain, no, his friend in his time of need. That writing is juuuust so dumb.

Plus Kwazii was a total idiot in that comic- realistically Kwazii would have taken that situation very seriously and would have listened to anything that Peso told him to do. And even if for some reason he was being stupid and continued to approach the Captain, Peso would have stopped him.

And this is even beyond the fact that this whole comic starts with Captain Barnacles doing a series of very stupid and irresponsible things that he would not do. And then a perfect storm of "whoopsies!" happen ever so perfectly to have him wind on that island.

Over all its a veeeeery bad comic. Not my best! 0/10 would NOT draw it again! XD I don't even want to re-write it to make it good. Becuase that whole situation just wouldn't happen from the start.

Although, I am keeping the idea that Barnacles has a very sensitive nose/face. (Due to him being a polar bear with many muscles and nerves in his face) And if he ever got hit in the nose/face? It would be incredibly painful and he would be very disoriented for a time. But the rest of that comic can go down the drain XD

#my response #octonauts #undertale #deltarune #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run ocs #my ocs #super mario bros #factual fam

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moonsquaremars · 3 years

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11th house thoughts

Hi everybody.

I have an 11th house stellium, and I love it. Probably because my venus is in there, der planet of luv, as well as mars, lust et aggression, and mercury, th’ intellect.

My sun missed it shy of 1° ; had i been born just a few minutes earlier, I would have been an 11th house sun. But I’m a twelfer. Why, might you ask? My mother has an 11th house stellium afterall, so did my ex-boyfriend. Well, if you ask, my father is a twelfth house sun.

And I’m learning to live with that.

Just kidding. Anyways, I love my 11th house stellium. If you’re unfamiliar, the eleventh house is ruled by aquarius. Each of the twelve houses in astrology corelate to each of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The planet which governs both this house and sign is the planet of Uranus, which is my favorite one in our solar system :) I did a random generator a guy posted on reddit to find out which planet is dominant in your chart, and when I plugged everything in, I got Uranus. I was actually quite surprised by this, but overjoyed. I love everything uranus represents. Eccentricity, humanitarianism, chaos.

I am a cancer sun, though, and virgo moon. Cancer rules the moon, so wouldn’t that be my dominant planet? Or is it just my chart ruler? I don’t know. But the moon is so fleeting. Kind of chaotic, actually. Since the moon passes each sign every few days, that’s what makes us cancers so moody. We feel the energy of all the signs within a months time. Can you imagine how that feels? constantly knowing what other people are feeling and thinking? Or maybe I’m just imagining it. I am crazy, after all :p

I digress. The 11th house is fabulous. It rules the finer things in life. My ex-boyfriend was a dandy man, took me to fancy restaurants and hotels, the works. I need that sort of thing, I admire and crave it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very in tune with income inequality and the social issues that plague the world. But I still love dressing up in fancy clothes for a decadent night out. I suppose this is attributed to my stellium, but I’ll take it. A stellium by the way is when you have three or more planets in one house.

It’s kind of odd that my mom has an eleventh house stellium because we grew up quite poor. Nothing about her really screams fancy besides the fact that she adores drinking wine, is beautiful, and we live fancier only if you put us in to comparison with poorer people around us. We did grow up wearing nice clothes though. My mom would buy us second hand designer brand clothes like tommy hilfiger. Maybe that’s not designer, maybe that’s just brand name. I’m from Kentucky, give me a break. But we Kentucky fancy, baby.

Uranus being my dominant and favorite planet, is in my 7th house, the house of libra and relationships. Perhaps someone could pull up my chart {in the tags] and enlighten me on why it might be my dominant planet. I might also add that my draconic moon is in aquarius, which is supposely what your ‘soul’ truly is. I don’t quite believe that, because I think the soul is larger and smaller than the twelve signs of our universe. Or maybe just our solar system. At least of our conscience understanding of things at this time. Astrology is just a bunch of symbols made of our world to organize and communicate ieas n information. It’s not much more than that.

I recall being very internet savvy in middle and high school. My north node and chiron are in my third house, house of gemini and communication. All of my 11th house stellium planets are also in gemini. I see this being accurate because I am rather small in frame, standing at 5 foot 9 and weighing 125 pounds since I was thirteen years old. My mouth gets me in trouble, whether it’s from accidentally offending or just not being able to shut up! I would constantly be editing my myspace profile, using html codes, messing with the layout and how it interacted with my profile picture and song, and anything else I added to it. I loved it, and then that transitioned to my tumblr blog which I did in high school. Hopefully tumblr doesn’t die out, it’s definitely not what it used to be. Later when stumbleupon was something, I would look up things about futurism, humanism, design. I loved reading about the future. It made me so freaking excited. Like what will life be like in 2040? So cool! Or 2600? Then it made me sad once I accounted my age into the picture. I don’t wanna be 40! and that’s so far away! I hate waiting.

I’ll end this post on something interesting I noticed. My boyfriend of a year had an eleventh house stellium. After we broke up, I had two guys I was interested in. I was actually quite torn, because they were both so amazing, but so different. One was elegant and familiar with astrology and addiction issues and had money. He was like this worldly man with fantastic package hehe helped cure this mundane “what’s the point?” feeling I had about learning languages and stuff. He made me feel like there was in fact a point to all of it. He’s a scorpio just like me mum and we just had great chemistry. But I was already seeing a nother guy, who was this gentle, down the earth, all around manly man’s man. I loved him, but in a different way. He was simple, but the first time I slept over at his house, he picked me up in this kinda old but kinda new like beat up stick shift hyudai sedan. He reminded me of Wario. But he had an amazing package as well. we mostly just slept though ,and when I slept with him, I felt like I was back in bed with my father when I was like five or seven years old. I already know how that sounds, and I know the childish bunch of you or dommage who lack a healthy relationship with your father if y’ar, are going to come for me and say that’s gross or messed up or perverted or weird. It’s not. I don’t want to fuck my father, I never have, and I never will. I really don’t want to open this can of worms because I could go on about people I’ve met who have been sexually assaulted by their fathers or who have an incest fetish and I’m not trying to shame any of those people. But, I felt like I was back in bed with my father like i was when i was a kid while I was laying with him, and that was a really, really, really good feeling. I never forgot it. He had an aries sun, which I used to hate aries. It was my least favorite sign, and probably still is tbh, along with aquarius LOL. Oh and his moon was in taurus which explained everything. My dad is a taurus sun, as are my two sisters, my grandpa, and one of my good friends, Chelsea. My moon is in virgo in the second house, which is the house of taurus.

Well, mr. fancy pants had an 11th house stellium, and my down to earth sweet S had a third house stellium. Finding these things out did nothing to absolve my confusion, only added to the ache of not knowing which to choose. Talk about love triangle though. It did make me realize why I was in this predicament though, and I suppose it worked out because I don’t really talk to either guy anymore. But The seventh and third houses are also air houses, just like the 11th.

11th house - Aquarius/uranus,

7th house - libra/venus,

3rd house - gemini/mercury

That’s all for tonight. I’m ever behind on french homework, so I oughtta go take care of that. I want to write on the twelfth house, since my sun is in there as well as my father’s, and why I don’t appreciate its doom and gloom persona. If each house correlates to a sign, then the twelfth’s would be house of pisces. Pisces is the last sign with a bad stereotype. At least from my perception, it’s one of the best. So humanistic and kind. So why is its house the house of prison and addictions and psych wards and have all this hubbub, this &thatt?

Au revoir! -K ý ll

#astronotes #11th house #astrology #aquarius #stellium #uranus #eleventh house #astro notes #uranus astrology #11th house stellium #gemini stellium #libra #Mercury in Gemini #gemini #sun in 12th #12th house #sun in cancer #7th house #3rd house

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7grandmel · 2 months

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Todays rip: 25/02/2023

BELIEBERDANSEN

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More) Caramelldansen (CA Version) - Caramellagirls

Ripped by DiamondBrickZ

youtube

With Season 8 officially in gear, it means I'm going to have to play a bit of catch-up with it in terms of coverage on here! All other prior Seasons have over 30 posts each on here - you can check for yourself on the pinned post! - but Season 8 still sits at just a single one, with Joke-Explainer™ 7000 Fusion Collab. Well, today marks the second ever Season 8 post, covering its first surprise event - BELIEBERDANSEN and the Justin Bieber takeover.

The idea of cringe culture in how it relates to SiIvaGunner's history is a really fascinating topic, and one I covered back on mlp racism anthem (comix zone arrange) in pretty good detail. To summarize, there was a time early in the channel's life where a good number of the references and jokes were made in rather poor taste - where the crux of the joke was to point and laugh at the weird and different parts of the internet, to have trolled the audience with something "cringe". The feel of internet discussion has changed a lot in the years since 2016, though, and it generally feels as if we're far more accepting, more nostalgic and intrigued by the stranger parts of the internet, rather than blatantly antagonistic. Be it with "dead" memes like in Corridors of Vine and Wario's Hampster Mine, or with phenomena that are still ongoing like with Hidden Headtoilets (skibidi toree 2), the SiIvaGunner channel and community tend to take a far more...playful stance to things nowadays. If something is to be loathed in SiIvaGunner nowadays, it has to truly earn it through its presence on the channel: the Yankin'/Astronaut in the Ocean wars of Season 5, as talked about in Aquarium in the Ocean and Knowledge of the Depths are the clearest example of that.

With all of that in mind, I don't really know why I was still surprised over how much fun the Justin Bieber event wound up being! The event, on February 19, 2024, celebrated the 14th anniversary of Justin Bieber's infamous release "Baby", a song that lit early internet ablaze with exaggerated vitriol way back when. And yeah, a bit of that resentment could still be seen in the comments section - its a fair bit more justified given how much Bieber himself has changed since the song - but overall, the rips made during the event all put a really fun spin on this otherwise overplayed song! I recommend you all give the event a listen if you haven't been keeping tabs this month, but BELIEBERDANSEN is really just one pick amidst a plethora of other excellent ones. That, and as said in Caramariodansen - any song mashed up with Caramelldansen is bound to become funny.

Honestly though, it wasn't a blind pick, and I may just be a little bit biased toward the aforementioned song in particular. Caramelldansen, if you weren't aware, is a Nightcore-ified version/remix of a Swedish pop song - and I, Mel, the writer of this blog, am Swedish. That draws me to any Caramelldansen rip on its own, and the concept of BELIEBERDANSEN alone is just very funny, a mashup of two absolute juggernauts of early "obnoxious" internet culture. Yet ripper DiamondBrickZ went the extra mile beyond just making this a mashup - at the point where the choruses of both songs begin, Bieber's Baby vocals are sentence-mixed to the original Swedish vocals of Caramelldansen. I of course have no idea what the creative process behind this was, especially due to the not knowing much about DiamondBrickZ as a person, but as a Swedish listener myself I have to say: This is SHOCKINGLY well done and still sounds wholly legible as Swedish speech. Like, the rest of the mashup is great: I love the use of the repeated "Baby's" almost acting as a choir during the instrumental break after the chorus, and the use of Ludacris' feature during the midway point of the song is perfectly placed, but like...the sentence mixing genuinely caught me completely off guard in the best way possible - memories of Season 1's double-rugpull in Be Cool, Be Wild, and Be My Girl came flowing back. It's just the cherry on top of an already fantastically creative mashup idea that was excellently done, and turned BELIEBERDANSEN into the absolute highlight of the event for me.

#todays siivagunner #season 8 #siivagunner #siiva #tentative rip name #DiamondBrickZ #Youtube #caramelldansen #caramella girls #nightcore #justin bieber #justin bieber baby #early internet #2000s internet #cringecore #cringe culture is dead

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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May I please ask where you set the boundaries when constructing a crossover? (i.e. How far are you willing to bend characterisation of the setting a character's adventures take place in and of the individual characters themselves to make this crossover work? How many settings are you actually prepared to smush together before you feel you're losing more than you gain in this mix? and so forth).

I could be off the mark here, but this question sounds like you yourself got a very big idea planned but you are unsure of how far you can, or want to, push the concept. Two words of advice upfront: 1: Stop overthinking it, and 2: Run your ideas by people whose judgment you know and trust. I run some of my biggest and stupidest ideas by friends of mine and they help me make them less stupid or at least stupider but in a better way.

I mentioned in my post about potential Shadow crossovers that "boundaries" are not the priority to fret over so much as having a good working knowledge of the characters. And part of that is because a crossover, by design, already constitutes the breaking of boundaries. That's by default what a crossover does. You don't wanna test or break boundaries, then you picked the wrong kind of story.

A crossover is still a story like any other. Two characters meeting is not a story, it's a premise. You don't start a story by defining where it can't go, before you've even decided where you want to take it. Some boundaries are important, others aren't. Some boundaries are hard-coded and unbreakable, and others HAVE to be broken for the story to work, and the process of deciding which is which is easier when you have a clearer idea of what are the characters and what is the story you want to tell, and what you can and can't do with either. You gotta understand the properties you're working with, or at least, understand WHY you want to work with them and make this crossover happen in the first place.

For example, you could, very easily, write a crossover between The Shadow and The Spider, just by going through the motions. They are urban vigilantes with fairly similar designs who live in the same time period and fight crime with their supporting casts. I'm sure most writers offered the job wouldn't think twice of putting them together. But as someone who's read their stories quite extensively and who likes and obsesses over both characters, I would not cross over the two, because their stories and characters are fundamentally incompatible with each other in a more "serious" narrative, and you could not merge the two without seriously fraying one or the other.

It's a story that doesn't work, with characters that are not supposed to function together or in each other's narrative real estate, even with a character as malleable as The Shadow. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to write a good Shadow and Spider crossover, but to me, personally, these two are hard-line incompatible. That is, if it's a crossover based specifically on these two, because that changes if said crossover expands to more characters, as I'll get into.

Regarding the question:

How far are you willing to bend characterisation of the setting a character's adventures take place in and of the individual characters themselves to make this crossover work?

By default, any crossover is already going to have to create new settings from scratch based on relevant bits and pieces from the properties in question, so you do get more leeway for bending it.

But regarding characters, it's a question that cannot have a unified answer, because it's even more so dependant on a case-by-case basis. You could argue "only as much as necessary for the story to work", sure, but that's not really a good answer, because a story can do anything it's author wants to, and sometimes the story is not good to begin with, or the characters are just not made for being in the same narrative or even partaking in a crossover to begin with.

No amount of justifications for a story or characterization can excuse an unsatisfying result. Joe Yabuki and Guts are two of my favorite manga protagonists, but there would be no point to even attempting to put them together in the same story, because you'd have to twist either their narratives or their characters past the point of recognizability, which defeats the purpose of making a crossover to begin with.

Like, yeah, we've all heard the argument that Zack Snyder's Superman makes sense in the context of his movies, doing his own thing. Sure. But there's a reason any discussion of that character in the context of Superman in general comes prefaced with "Zack Snyder's" first, and why mainstream audiences who earnestly looked forward to Batman V Superman walked away feeling cheated, because, to borrow RLM terms here, they got "MurderMan vs Captain Hypocrite", and you can't even tell which is which in that description. You gotta give audiences at least a bit of what you promised them.

How many settings are you actually prepared to smush together before you feel you're losing more than you gain in this mix?

This one actually DOES depend on the story, because most stories that aren't just short narratives require multiple settings for it's scenes. Chances are your narrative will already be combining multiple settings, because setting is a word that can refer to "Korea during the Joseon dynasty", "spaceship traveling through lost nebulas" and "the McDonalds parking lot", as if they are the same thing. And in a way, when you look at a narrative's bones, they basically are.

To an extent, I think opening yourself up for a massive crossover of multiple properties of different characters and settings can, indeed, be a better choice than just going off purely by X meets Y. You start off by making it very clear to the audience that the boundaries are thin and you will be breaking them, and you use said framework to instead tell a myriad of stories, big and small. Stories that you couldn't really tell if you stuck to an existing framework or defined strongly the boundaries you can't cross. I'm gonna use Smash Bros as an example:

Smash Bros is arguably the biggest "official" crossover of all time, and it doesn't really have a "story" other than the basic framework that the series was built on, that these were representations of Nintendo icons dueling it out, and the few details that used to define this in the older days (like the characters being trophies and copies, and not the real deal) have been basically pushed aside. The most story you get in Smash nowadays is in the form of what the trailers showThe "point" of Smash was never really to tell a big, dramatic story with these characters. And maybe you really can't tell this kind of story, or a good story, with this many characters to juggle.

But they tried it once.

I'm sure most of you who do remember Brawl, as anything other than the blistering shame of the franchise that it's treated as these days, remember it mainly because of Subspace Emissary, which was this big, dramatic storyline where the end of the world was at stake and all the characters had to pull their weight to fight it. Subspace didn't have dialogue, it didn't have much story other than characters going from scene to scene while fighting, several of the characters either got nothing to do or were written poorly (mostly Wario), and none of this mattered at all, because Subspace, I'd argue, was the one and only time Smash Bros ever really recaptured that childhood feeling of smashing toys together that the franchise was built on.

Because if you remember being a kid smashing toys together, you remember not just doing it because you wanted Max Steel to kick Cobra Commander's butt. No, you did it because you wanted to tell a story where Max Steel got trapped in a rapidly filling water tank along with He-Man's Battle Cat while Cobra Commander kidnapped Max's girlfriend April O'Neil and bombed the city, and Max Steel had to talk Battle Cat into not eating him so they could together save the city and April from evil, and so they reconciled their differences and saved the day. Those things mattered to you. They were the stories you could tell with the resources you had in hand, sagas you did for the sheer fun of it, regardless of whether they were "good", you probably didn't even think of that. Why would you? You had bigger things to do.

And that's what Subspace did. It was big and dramatic and the world was at stake and all these heroes were coming together. Ness sacrificing himself to Wario so Lucas could have a chance to run away. Diddy Kong dragging along seasoned Star Fox pilots to rescue his buddy. Samus and Pikachu forming a bond. Peach stopping a deadly battle just by offering tea. ROB's story arc culminating in actual genocide, hell, ROB having a story arc to begin with. To a lot of people who played Brawl as one of their first games, this would have been their "introduction" to a lot of these characters in any sort of narrative, and to characters like ROB or Ice Climbers, this would have been the only chance they would ever get to be part of a great big dramatic narrative. Hell, Pit sure looked like he was on the same boat at the time, until Smash brought the Kid Icarus franchise back from death, and now Smash is where characters or properties get to stay relevant or at least on life support (Captain Falcon), or make glorious comebacks (King K.Rool). Brawl was what destroyed the idea of there being boundaries as to who could get in Smash or what kind of story could be told within it.

And people don't seem to recall this nowadays, but Brawl was when Smash exploded in fan content, specifically inspired by Subspace. This was the period of the Machinima craze and the fan mods galore and fan remixes and fan art and fan headcanons and fan films, and suddenly it hit people that, just because the games couldn't accomodate the stories they could tell with the premise, didn't mean that they couldn't start telling them on their own. We even got the formerly longest piece of English fiction off of it. The devotion Melee inspired in competitive players, Brawl did for artists and creators who got their start off in Smash fan content.

And because of it, suddenly a lot more people started writing stories with ROB and Ice Climbers and Pit and Captain Falcon and so on than there would have ever been if it wasn't for Brawl and Subspace. Smash gave ROB a story the character likely would have never gotten otherwise. And if you don't grasp what I'm getting at because you still think that fan content is a long way from being "official" or at least respectable, I don't know what you're doing following someone who rants about pulp fiction all day.

The point I want to get across is, boundaries in a crossover are important, yes, they exist for a good reason, but the boundaries should be defined by the story and characters and whatnot, not the other way around. Boundaries in fiction exist to be crossed or tested, they exist to tell you where you can't go so you can try to do so anyway and either fly high or crash.

Sometimes, bending or twisting characters and settings can be both a grave sin, as well as the thing that allows them to survive. Sometimes there are rules that seem unbreakable until someone breaks them without trying. And sometimes, going big and stupid and carefree over-the-top is either the worst, or the best outcome. It's fiction, taking risks and having fun is part of it.

So I'm afraid I thankfully cannot give your question a universal answer.

#replies tag #rambles #smash bros #brawl #super smash bros #subspace emissary

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