#30 day watcher challenge

[animusrox]

MY LETTERBOXD

TOP 10

1.    Dune: Part Two 2.    The Substance 3.    Hundreds of Beavers 4.    Anora 5.    Dìdi 6.    Nosferatu 7.    Nickel Boys 8.    The First Omen 9.    Sing Sing 10.    Civil War

GRADE A 

11.    No Other Land 12.    Robot Dreams 13.    The Peasants 14.    Conclave 15.    Smile 2 16.    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 17.    We Grown Now 18.    Memoir of a Snail 19.    The Last Stop in Yuma County 20.    A Real Pain 21.    It’s What’s Inside 22.    Red Rooms 23.    Sometimes I Think About Dying 24.    A Different Man 25.    Better Man 26.    The Brutalist 27.    Heretic 28.    His Three Daughters 29.    Hard Truths 30.    Evil Does Not Exist 31.    Late Night with the Devil 32.    Alien: Romulus 33.    MadS 34.    Rebel Ridge 35.    Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person 36.    Challengers 37.    Strange Darling 38.    Flow 39.    All We Imagine as Light 40.    Longlegs 41.    Saturday Night 42.    The Apprentice 43.    Terrifier 3 44.    The Seed of the Sacred Fig 45.    A Complete Unknown 46.    A Quiet Place: Day One 47.    Juror #2 48.    Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 49.    Oddity 50.    Kneecap 51.    Touch 52.    Mayhem! 53.    The Order 54.    In a Violent Nature 55.    Small Things Like These 56.    Twisters 57.    Hit Man 58.    Woman of the Hour 59.    Stopmotion 60.    The Wild Robot 61.    Deadpool & Wolverine

[Tap 'Keep Reading' For My Full Graded List]

GRADE B

62.    The Devil’s Bath 63.    The Bikeriders 64.    Sasquatch Sunset 65.    The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim 66.    Monkey Man 67.    Last Straw 68.    Abigail 69.    Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 70.    Tiger Stripes 71.    The Book of Clarence 72.    The Instigators 73.    I’m Still Here 74.    The Coffee Table 75.    The Return 76.    Problemista 77.    Trap 78.    MaXXXine 79.    Love Lies Bleeding 80.    You’ll Never Find Me 81.    Between the Temples 82.    Marmalade 83.    Blitz 84.    Speak No Evil 85.    Asphalt City 86.    Piece By Piece 87.    Wicked Little Letters 88.    We Live in Time 89.    Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story 90.    V/H/S/Beyond 91.    The Dead Don’t Hurt 92.    Suncoast 93.    Maria 94.    My Old Ass 95.    Immaculate 96.    The Truth vs. Alex Jones 97.    Cuckoo 98.    Daddio 99.    We Were Dangerous 100.    The Outrun 101.    Infested 102.    Monolith 103.    Azrael 104.    The Last Showgirl 105.    Babes 106.    The Fire Inside 107.    Lisa Frankenstein 108.    Here 109.    Thelma 110.    Queer 111.    Out of Darkness 112.    Y2K 113.    Handling the Undead 114.    Bad Boys: Ride or Die 115.    I Saw the TV Glow 116.    Arcadian 117.    Transformers One 118.    Never Let Go 119.    The Piano Lesson 120.    Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F 121.    Wicked 122.    Gladiator II 123.    Carry-On 124.    Blink Twice 125.    Self Reliance 126.    Fly Me to the Moon 127.    Boy Kills World 128.    Kinds of Kindness 129.    Nutcrackers 130.    Skincare 131.    Ezra 132.    The Front Room 133.    Mothers’ Instinct 134.    Inside Out 2 135.    Omni Loop 136.    Girls State 137.    Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 138.    Your Monster 139.    Babygirl 140.    Mufasa: The Lion King 141.    The Greatest Hits 142.    Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 143.    Magpie

GRADE C 

144.    The People’s Joker 145.    Nightbitch 146.    Road House 147.    Young Woman and the Sea 148.    Am I OK? 149.    Music by John Williams 150.    The Killer’s Game 151.    Oh, Canada 152.    Wolfs 153.    Sting 154.    The Idea of You 155.    Don’t Move 156.    1992 157.    Werewolves 158.    The Killer 159.    The Shadow Strays 160.    Rez Ball 161.    MoviePass, MovieCrash 162.    The Fall Guy 163.    Lee 164.    The End 165.    Godzilla × Kong: The New Empire 166.    The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 167.    Madame Web 168.    Caddo Lake 169.    Watchmen: Chapter II 170.    Watchmen: Chapter I 171.    Salem’s Lot 172.    The Exorcism 173.    The Watchers 174.    Kill 175.    Jackpot! 176.    Rumours 177.    Damsel 178.    My Spy: The Eternal City 179.    Drive-Away Dolls 180.    IF 181.    Spaceman 182.    Joy 183.    Joker: Folie à Deux 184.    Megalopolis 185.    Monster Summer 186.    Lovely, Dark, and Deep 187.    Bob Marley: One Love 188.    Kraven the Hunter 189.    Moana 2 190.    I Used to Be Funny 191.    Goodrich 192.    September 5 193.    Hold Your Breath 194.    Apartment 7A

GRADE F

195.    The Platform 2 196.    Arthur the King 197.    Shirley 198.    Back to Black 199.    Land of Bad 200.    Poolman 201.    Emilia Pérez 202.    The Room Next Door 203.    I.S.S. 204.    Brothers 205.    Knox Goes Away 206.    Mean Girls 207.    Krazy House 208.    Slingshot 209.    Mr. Crocket 210.    Argylle 211.    Sonic the Hedgehog 3 212.    Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 213.    Afraid 214.    Tuesday 215.    Spellbound 216.    Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three 217.    Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two 218.    Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One 219.    The American Society of Magical Negroes 220.    Subservience 221.    Time Cut 222.    Night Swim 223.    Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 224.    Red One 225.    This Is Me…Now 226.    Despicable Me 4 227.    The Union 228.    Ricky Stanicky 229.    The Beekeeper 230.    Honeymoonish 231.    Hot Frosty 232.    The Deliverance 233.    The Garfield Movie 234.    Lift 235.    Atlas 236.    Trigger Warning 237.    House of Spoils 238.    Borderlands 239.    Tarot 240.    Venom: The Last Dance

Bottom 10

241.    Imaginary 242.    Unfrosted 243.    It Ends With Us 244.    Dear Santa 245.    The Crow 246.    The Strangers: Chapter 1 247.    Harold and the Purple Crayon 248.    Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver 249.    Dirty Angels 250.    Miller’s Girl

[burgerrat]

" All it takes is two bad races, and you're out. " - NASCAR: Full Speed

I think it's time we talk about IRL racing a little bit. Because if you know how real racers are like on tracks, Turbo's behaviour is nothing short of common. And another thing that makes me believe that Felix misread the situation since he and Turbo were neighbours and there's a chance he knew what Turbo's ego was like.

In Wreck-It Ralph, when we get a timeskip of the 30 years in the beginning, you don't really see any other racing games. TurboTime was the only racing game in the Arcade.

Do you know what any racecar driver is like? Competitive, EXTREMELY so, and they are extremely pressured- because they have fans, they have watchers, they have their team who believe that they are going to win this race. There's racecar drivers who are so competitive they don't even try to make friends with their competitors, they attack them. They're not there to make friends, they're there to win. And that is what Turbo was made for, to be controlled by a player and to win.

It's not unheard of racecars crashing into eachother because a driver purposefully bumped hard into them. Or getting into fist fights and needing to be separated by their team after a race. And if you're a BIG name in the game and you lose? That pressure I mentioned earlier grows tenfold for the next race, if the racecar driver stays in line and manages to get more wins than losses, otherwise, you're out of the picture in racing.

The Twins being Turbo's competitors in game was alright: they're what challenges the main character, Turbo, in the race, making his game all the more intriguing for players and keeping them interested. Turbo loses because of a bad player? Well that's no issue, it could make the player become more competitive since they will want to practice again, and again.

That competition was fine for Turbo because it never truly affected him. He still had everything, fans, attention, and at the end of the day he'd still win even if he crossed the finish line in 2nd place because he had many players.

But...

What happens when there's another racing game? Another competitor, this one an actual threat, outside of your control? Outside your game?

If Roadblasters remained, the new racing game out of two in the whole arcade, it would've absolutely become the next popular racing game because it's just as competitive, with better graphics, and what of the old school, 8-bit racer in white and red? How many in the arcade would've joked about him being in second place? How many in the Arcade would try to ridicule him, do you think? And what of the competitors themselves? They were racers, same as him. Of course they wouldn't be friends.

The image of a racecar driver is everything to them. The expectation of that person their fans, their watchers, their team, see them as.

If players used Roadblasters, who looked better, than TurboTime, soon they wouldn't see that game in the same light they did before. You can't look at Pokemon Red and tell me it's the same as Pokemon Legends Arceus. New things that look better and have different mechanics can be more appealing to people. And Turbo knew that.

Might I mention again both of these games are about racecar drivers? They would have never become friends. They would've become enemies. A lot of racers that have won on multiple tracks don't go there to make friends.

They race to win. And a lot of them will stop at nothing, even if it costs their life.

[oneshot-minus-niko]

OMN's Freeware Challenge - June 2024

[Something is coming soon. Something known as 'OneShot Freeware's 10 year anniversary'...]

[The first versions of OneShot are turning 10 years old on June 30, 2024.]

[To celebrate, we will be hosting a challenge.]

[Below, you will find a list of 30 prompts—one for each day of the month of June. With these prompts, we would like to encourage the creation of OneShot-related fanworks.]

[Be wary of the corruption known as Pressure. There are no requirements and no deadlines. However, we encourage you to use image descriptions to ensure your work can be enjoyed by everyone.]

[To help us reach you, you can signal your posts with the "#OMN Freeware Challenge" tag.]

[Find a plain text version of the prompt list below the cut.]

Prompt list:

The Old World

Maize's Rebirth

Lamplighter gets a break

Watcher leaves her post

Kelvin and his cats

Robots in the Barrens

AU - Bodyswap

Rowbot adventures

Celebrating Solstice day

How do object-heads work?

A day at Ling's cafe

Dark alley shenanigans

The Author's final days

AU - Someone else is the messiah

Original Character

Silver and the Incident

A day in Kip's labs

Magpie negotiating

Prophet duty

The Entity's first words

AU - Flash-forward into the future

Silver plays chess with someone else

Calamus and Alula fishing

George meets other Georges

Taming a robot

Inverted personality

Break the fourth wall

AU - There is no messiah

Crossover of your choice

Freeware with a returned sun.

[srbachchan]

DAY 5796 दिन ५७९६

Jalsa, Mumbai Dec 30/31, 2023 Sat/Sun 1:21 AM

Birthday - EF Nandita Kao .. Pankaj Purohit .. Manish Sevalal Tiwari .. Sunday, 31 December ..

Birthday - Ef Shrikant Deshmukh Sunday, 31 December ..

all the wishes for this day and may all ever remain well and in prosperity .. from the Family Ef ..

❤️

🌹

Finally a reprieve from the routine of the lethargic constituent to one that has tried to keep consistency .. and here in its manifestation we are .. true to the age old post postponed postage ..

😂

So postponement .. in the minds and words of the AI literate world :

Postponement, a temporal pause echoing life’s unpredictability, offers respite or anxiety. It yields opportunity for reflection, reevaluation, or preparation amid shifting circumstances. Sometimes a strategic maneuver, postponement grants a chance to refine plans or adapt to unforeseen hurdles. Yet, it can also breed uncertainty, delaying progress and instigating doubts. Embraced wisely, it nurtures patience, unveiling unforeseen possibilities or enhancing outcomes. However, frequent deferral risks inertia, challenging momentum and commitment. Postponement’s impact resonates beyond mere delay, influencing decisions, altering paths, and shaping the course of events, exemplifying the delicate balance between seizing the moment and yielding to time's sway.

'unpredictability' was the only catch word in this assessed assessment .. for, are all not in the same shooting range, of unpredictable dictions .. !??

consternation .. each effort is now an exercise to how to decorate the store, so it sells its stuff amicably and with commercial gain .. the usual game has lost its bearings .. foul upon yellow red card and all in the sundry .. penalties successful too .. and the ball boy has left the job to be at the doors of individual chapter games .. more time more remunerative .. the seeking is at its prime , in the alternate way ..

It was from us to them .. now from them to us .. the mill blades rotate furiously and with utter modesty and speed strike up a conversation that , in all honesty is completely one sided .. jai ho !

the Ogre has lost its heads - once a terror of fear and anxiety, now a mild foppish listless snail of existence ..

the heads no longer heads .. nor tails .. the coin has just refused to drop back to the ground of tossed gamesmanship .. no side decisions, no hand shake with the watchers , no exchange of momento flags .. nothing .. it's just that kneel prior, against the common victim, of humiliation and authority ..

game on .. and there are no keepers to the squared brackets of resulting scores , loaded by nets of networking results .. play on and hope that the goals are indeed scored .. else the 5th non exists ..

Amitabh Bachchan

[gwaaaaar]

another MazM update

so! Two things: mazm romeo and juliet has been released! I think the approach they take where theres different actions/dialouge choices you can branch into is super interesting! But i wouldnt know cause they paywalled it . Like idk paywalling the new features youre trying out wont get a turnout to a wider audience that can give feedback on it and shoots the game in the foot.

I don't think the paywalling option is the worst they still need the income, but... to permanently get all of the game w/o the membership, it is SIXTY DOLLARS. 59.99. The membership is 5.99, meaning to permanently own the game is equivalent to a membership of 10 months.

Thy Creature is on steam for 30 dollars, going even lower during sales. YOURE TELLING ME THIS IS WORTH MORE THAN THY CREATURE??? A CHALLENGING BULLET HELL WITH BEAUTIFUL ART AND MUSIC???? CAP CAP CAP. this is ridiculous.

last year when shane, ryan, and steven of watcher claimed that they made a subscription thats only 6 dollars a month because its affordable for everyone, EVERYONE FUCKING RIOTED. cause not only was it a tone deaf sentiment, it was blatantly false in this economy + in some countries 6 dollars is too much.

MazMs audience is primarily younger children/adults that play cause the content is free in the first place. 6 dollars may genuinely be too much for a lot of people. But its not as egregious as the 60 dollars thing. I truly dont think the game is worth that much. Maybe 10 dollars at most. It doesnt even take 10 months to play im already halfway done with it and its been just a day.

I get it, mazm is a company that needs money to give us free content so we dont have to pay. Thats why im not against paywalling the options cause the game is still playable... but the wait between watching ads to continue to the next episode is incredibly unnecessary, its an artifical issue created to push the audience to buy.

And the second thing... mazms removed the credits tab from phantom of the opera and pechka. You can still see the credits but theyre at the very end.

This is really concerning and i cant understand why theyd do this. Maybe to try to hide their old workers because theres only 7 employees now but this is still crazy ass behavior and downright shady. I hate to assume the worst but idk.

Mazm... really needs another source of income. Ffs start a patreon or a kickstarter or something so that way people can donate as much as they are able to ranging from 1 dollar to like. 25+. Mazm has done kickstarters for projects multiple times and theyve always reached their goals. Thy creature for example. But the mishandling of the money they have is what causes them to go broke in the first place. Thy creature went through 3 art style changes, overhauls on gameplay mechanics, a FUCKING MILI SONG AND 3 VTUBER SPONSORSHIPS. the mili song was good but after that they were on thin ice. The worst part is the vtuber sponsorships did nothing cause viewers want to watch the streamer play games not go out and play the games themselves.

And comparing to other indie projects that have like. 1-2 people working on the team, theres a lot of free games with original music, art, and rich stories that dont need fancy whistles and bells but are still engaging enough for the audience. My personal citation here will be Project Investigrave, who've made games such as dead plate and married in red. Dead Plate i think has become their most popular project and it includes: an original soundtrack, a restaurant simulator section where you move around a restaurant and take orders, chibi sprites, and a good as hell storyline with multiple endings. While these aspects are a bit limited like the maps you move around in being small and the gameplay only taking 1 hour, it still works.

Mazm used to use unity for their games but I have a feeling the way unity has been recently (something something making devs pay them everytime a game made on unity is opened) wasn't working out so they shifted to another engine to make these visual novelish games now, but rpgmaker is a program that goes on sale like all the time + is apparently easy to use as a programmer. The appeal of rpgmaker games is very similar to the appeal mazm games had in the first place like ive been saying thy creature shouldve taken more horror jrpgmaker elements. So like. Just saying. There are alternatives, there can be a way.

Again, im not against mazm charging money for certain things, but if theyre gonna prioritize quantity over quality by pumping a game out every 3 months, they should price their products accordingly. Romeo and juliet isnt worth 60 dollars. I acknowledge the effort and time it took to write the story, program the game, make the art and music. But i acknowledge that more work and effort went into thy creature, and that work and effort has much more quality than romeo and juliets.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

15 Day BL Challenge - Part 2

Day 17 - What's your most returned-to / comfort BL show?

Sadly, I have so little time these days to keep up with either new shows or go back and visit old favorites. But when I can sneak in a little comfort watch, I tend to go to:

History 3: Trapped

This was the one that got me hooked, and started me on the BL obsession path, which led to me watching so many amazing shows and also joining Tumblr, so I will always have some deep love for it. I like revisiting those initial "ooooooh" feelings, of what it felt like to discover a whole new world for myself. (Also where is our special episode with Tang Yi getting out of prison, where is it Taiwan?!?!)

Love in the Air

There's something about the Phayu/Rain dynamic that really speaks to me. Probably says a few things about my own proclivities, but regardless, there's something comforting in seeing two people so quickly realize "this is that rare precious person who is going to be perfect for me".

Old Fashion Cupcake

As a BL watcher above the age of 40, it can be a little tiring to see so much focus on queer youth. I still enjoy a lot of it, but I don't necessarily always relate to it. Our society loves to pretend life ends at 30, but the reality is that figuring out one's identity is a lifelong journey. And I love how OFC taps into that. It's also just so relatable with regards to how life can become very mundane at times, and it helps to have someone encouraging you to try new things. Also Togawa is fucking hot.

[asp1diske-art]

Your technical skill with lineart and shading is amazing in itself, but it's your ability to convey emotion and atmosphere in your work that is trademark to me :) its incredible how you can show through gesture and body language just what these masked, expressionless characters are feeling, and how the environment itself conveys that. Your lurien comics, especially the one that ends in something along the lines of "I return to the kingdom you abandoned" are I think the spark that made Lurien go from Some Guy to Deeply Interesting for me, and your use of color pop and shaky line contributed so much to the feeling in those comics. You are one of the artists whose skill at evoking emotions I aspire to <3

Oh wow, I've been reading and re-reading this for the last 20 minutes this is amazing.

So, emotions!

If there is one thing I'm proud to have accomplished during my time in Hollow Knight, it's the skill of expressing tone. Because here's the thing, facial expressions are just one of the many components of tone. (I even wrote about this in another ask some time ago.) Colors, gestures, camera angle, lighting, paneling, lines and narration - all of these come together to convey the mood of the scene.

Check out these wips from the Watcher and the Watched comic, for example.

You can see that color played a huge role in setting the atmosphere in the comic. It shows that this comic is taking place in the Watcher's Spire, but it also gives a dark, subdued feeling that wouldn't come from idk, a yellow background. The backlight emphasizes the ominous tone of the last page. As does Lurien's pose - coupled with the butler looking up and Lurien looking down, it makes it look like Lurien is looming over his butler (and the reader). All this builds up to deliver Lurien's lines with maximum impact.

So yeah, a lot goes into conveying tone in comics, and I'm very happy to hear that it was recieved well!!

The Lurien, Dreamer comic. It's almost 2 years old now but it's still one of the favorite comics I drew about him. Together with the City of Tears comic, it's the epitome of my interpretation of Lurien. My characterization of Lurien's relationship with the Pale King was quite different from the usual fanon at the time (I don't know how it is now, I haven't gone into the tags in years haha) and I wasn't really sure how people would take it. So I'm glad to hear that it got you interested in Lurien!

It's the one that took the longest too lol. Usually I draw comics in a single setting, but that one took 3 days. Besides Two Ghosts (which was an 18 chapter+@ comic that was over 50p and took about 2 months), no other comic has broken this record. I put in a lot of care into it, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Honestly half the reason I use messy, sketchy lines is that I suck at drawing clean lines lmao. But I like to think that I've made the best of it and utilized it as an art style. In that comic especially, because the whole thing takes place in the dream realm and I wanted to give a rough, unreal feel to it.

I'd show breakdowns of this one too but the file is so big it keeps crashing lol. (Pro tip - draw your comic pages in separate files. Don't be like me and draw 300dpi 10p comics with 30 layers in each page in a single canvas. It will crash and you will be sad.) But drawing the White Palace was a interesting challenge because I usually draw in highly saturated colors whereas the Palace is, well, white. So I had to work out a way to color this without making everything looking grey, while also making it recognizable as the palace. iirc I used a lot of overlay & burn & dodge layers along with a few difference & subtract layers to give the white a slight yellow tint to stand out from the dark blue. (I'm pretty sure they're the culprits crashing the file.)

Sorry this got long, I really took this as an invitation to ramble about my art hkfsldjkflj

Thank you for all the compliments! It's an honor to hear that my art could be someone's aspiration, and I'm very happy that all my Lurien art got someone else into Lurien. I hope you have a nice day :D

[theflagscene]

15 Day BL Challenge (part 2)

Day 30: Top 3 shows to introduce people to BL?

1) Bad Buddy - I think it is one of the best BLs to ease someone into the genre that has never really watched any QLs or queer media in general. Bad Buddy is a very familiar story that anyone can follow, it’s Romeo and Juliet, plain and simple. Thankfully it has a happier ending, but because of the intrinsic societal familiarity of a Shakespeare story, Bad Buddy is the perfect BL for first time watchers. It’s a basic Romeo and Romeo story with real heart and fantastic acting from OhmNanon, also no hardcore NC scenes to make anyone possibly squeamish. It’s a fun sweet series that feels like you’ve kinda watched it before, even if you haven’t.

2) Semantic Error - KBLs can be pretty dramatic, whilst also beautifully shot, with a great soundtrack and fantastic acting. Semantic Error is one of the few KBLs that lacks the big drama—death, destruction, forced separation, etc—but still keeps everything else that makes KBLs uniquely beautiful. It’s a very simple love story with cute moments, funny characters and some fantastic tropes. Plus who wouldn’t adore that height difference?

3) Old Fashion Cupcake - JBLs can be weird, and also on occasion dark as hell. Unless you’re used to the type of over the top humour that can be found in Japanese media, it could seem like a lot to a newcomer. Add a queer storyline and it might be overwhelming, which is why I think Old Fashion Cupcake is one of the best JBLs to show someone new to the genre. It also has the nice addition of the characters being fully grown adults and not in university or high school, which is rare but what can ya do? This is a great and short series with one of the most passionate confession scenes ever, that thumb!? Iykyk… and I know you know!

[negrowhat]

15 Day BL Challenge - The Sequel

Day 30: Top 3 shows to introduce people to BL?

LAST DAY!!!!!!!!! This has been so much fun! Thanks @slonekaru

Cherry Magic. I just feel like Cherry Maho is the perfect series. It's funny, romantic, and it has depth. The characters are all likeable and the series showcases a healthy relationship filled with growth and love. Also it's easy to watch; no sudden character deaths, low-heat but still romantic, and good dialogue. A rookie could get overwhelmed when there is too much of one thing and I think the OG Cherry Maho is calm and level enough to get a person's foot in the door. Kurosawa is the ultimate green flag character in my opinion and Adachi is the type of character you love to love because he's so clumsy and adorable. Also who doesn't love a lil virgin magic with their romance?

Moonlight Chicken. Another perfect series to me. It's the perfect amount of mess and drama and sex for a rookie to dip their toe into, nothing too crazy or outrageous. I think this series showcases love in so many different forms and how sometimes love just isn't enough to fix things between two people. MC also shows how new love can be beautiful and push people to want to make a change or maybe start anew. It shows how love for a person can weigh you down and take the people around you down too. It shows how love can make you angry or irrational.

This series focuses on so many relationships and how they all connect. And we get to see so many characters at different stages in life. I think a rookie BL watcher would find MC relatable if anything else. They may not relate to (or even like) all the characters but I guarantee you they'll find themselves in at least one of them. This is a series that's more about emotion than anything else and a rookie will find themselves laughing, crying, yelling, and squealing throughout. MC is such a great ride, like watching a soap opera. ALSO WHAT A FUCKING TALENTED CAST OF ACTORS!

We Best Love: No. 1 For You. WBL is such a fun series. I think it's so fun but so frustrating to watch. It's one of those series that will have you seated because you already know how all the characters feel in the beginning so you just HAVE to see how things play out. Also because the series is set in Uni we get to see a little immaturity amongst the characters that make for bad decisions and good comedy. It's fun watching that unrequited love turn into to real love, it's great seeing Shu Yi and Shi De have their 'OH' moments. People will fall in love with Shi De because his crush is so obvious and he would do anything to be near Shu Yi. And People will fall in love with Shu Yi because he is so honest and direct with his feelings and he wears his heart on his sleeve. People will see that he needs someone like Shi De, who is good at hiding his feelings, to protect his heart.

SN: Just to cover the main 4 countries releasing BLs. If I had to choose a Korean BL to rec to someone it would either be To My Star or The New Employee.

[p1325]

-Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Civil War, Dune: Part 2, Alienoid: Return to the Future, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Mickey's Mouse Trap, In a Violent Nature, Robot Dreams,Am I Ok?, Drive-Away Dolls, OVERLORD: The Sacred Kingdom, Utopia, The Last Showgirl, The Girl with the Needle, Armand, The Gutter,Clickbait: Unfollowed, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Subservience, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim -The Order, Conclave, Midas Man, All We Imagine as Light, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point, Aftermath, Anora, In Flight -Kung Fu Panda 4, IF, Night Swim, The Beekeeper, Mean Girls:The Musical, Miller's Girl, The Fall Guy, The Bikeriders, Argylle, The Garfield Movie, Madame Web, Bagman, Moana 2, Challengers, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Hit Man, I Used To Be Funny, The Watchers, THE 4:30, Dead Sea, Boot Camp, Queer, The Wild Robot, Transformers One -Ghostlight, Treasure, Tuesday, Green Border, Janet Planet, Kinds of Kindness, Thelma, Kneecap,We Live in Time, Monster Summer -Inside Out 2, Jules (I swapped it to Lisa Frankestein instead), Arthur the King, The Bricklayer,Bob Marley: One Love, Imaginary, Love Lies Bleeding, Back To Black, Trigger Warning, Daddio, Horizon Chapter 1, A Quiet Place: Day One, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, MaxXxine, Fly Me to the Moon, Longlegs, Sing Sing, Touch, Twisters, Gladiator 2, Greedy People, The Clean Up Crew, Slingshot, The Silent Hour, Rob Peace, It's What's Inside, Carry-On, The Return -The American Society of Magical Negroes, The Painter, Kraven the Hunter, The Underdoggs, Terrifier 3, Race for Glory, The Book of Clarence, Which Brings Me to You, Mickey 17, Didi, Cuckoo, Borderlands, Good One, Space Cadet, The Killer, Clear Cut -Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One, Deadpool & Wolverine, Joker: Folie a Deux, Return to Silent Hill, Trap, Oddity, Alien: Romulus, Close to You, Blink Twice, The Crow, The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, They Listen, My Spy: The Eternal City, It Ends with Us, Despicable Me: 4, Descendants: The Rise of Red, I Saw the TV Glow, Mother of the Bride, Unfrosted, Find Me Falling, The Tiger's Apprentice, Kill, The Fabulous Four, Tarot, Baby, Babygirl, Better Man, Jack in Time for Christmas, The Effects of Lying, Nutcrackers, Mary, The Penguin Lessons

[paperanddice]

Eye Golem

These constructs are quite disconcerting to most, not actually formed out of their constituent parts quite the way most are. Unlike stone, iron, or clay figures, eye golems (or watchers) are ritually crafted, hundreds of preserved eyeballs placed within a circle and formed over days of magical incantations into a giant-like figure with smooth, marble skin and dozens of eyes and eye-like sigils studding its skin. Originated from a hidden group of followers of an obscure sun god, most of these watchers stand guard over sacred places of this god, though others travel to help bring their word to others. Unlike many constructs, watchers have rudimentary intelligence, though are still unable to speak on their own, instead occasionally issuing forth the words of the sun god itself to bring terror to those who do not believe. When the construct's eyes open, they shine a bright light out, with enough eyes being able to outright blind. Even looking at one is comparable to looking into the sun, leaving spots in one's vision and making it challenging to take shots at the construct.

When a watcher is destroyed, its body glows with a bright light that obscures vision of it, leaving behind a pile of all the eyes used to craft it, still perfectly preserved and even slightly warm as if freshly plucked. Those with the right attunement to magic can detect thin strands of energy that lead each eye back to the person it was originally taken from, if they still live, and it is even possible to restore the taken eyes.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Identifying the energy that connects the eyes with their "donors" requires a DC 28 Arcana, Occultism, or Religion check, and the eyes can be restored by performing the Treat Wounds action at a minimum of the Master DC, using the eye as an additional requirement. On a success the eye is restored, while on a critical failure the eye is destroyed in addition to the normal result.

Watcher Creature 11 Large Construct Perception +23; truesight Skills Athletics +23 Str +6, Dex -1, Con +5, Int -3, Wis +0, Cha -5 AC 30; Fort +24, Ref +18, Will +19 HP 160; Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, emotion, fatigued, fear, healing, mental, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, sickened, spirit, unconscious, vitality, void; Resistances physical 10 (except adamantine), spells 10 (except darkness, light, or sonic) Speed 30 feet Melee fist +23 (agile, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 2d8+10 bludgeoning Spells DC 27 ; Constant truesight Gaze of Ancient Light [2 actions] (incapacitation, light, occult, visual) The watcher emits a burst of light in a 30 foot emanation. Each creature in that area must attempt a DC 30 Fortitude save. The watcher can't use Gaze of Ancient Light again for 1d6 rounds. Critical Success The creature is unaffected and temporarily immune for 1 hour. Success The creature is stunned 1. Failure The creature is blinded for 1 minute and stunned 3. Critical Failure The creature is permanently blinded and stunned 6. Primal Voice of Doom [1 action] (auditory, emotion, fear, mental, occult); Frequency once per day; Effect The watcher intones a disturbing invocation. Each creature in a 30-foot emanation must succeed at a DC 27 Will save or become frightened 2 (or frightened 4 on a critical failure). Shoot into the Sun [1 action] (light, occult, visual); Frequency once per day; Effect The watcher opens all its eyes, emitting flashing lights for one minute. All creatures that look at the watcher must succeed on a DC 30 Fortitude save or become dazzled for 1 minute.

13th Age

Eye Golem Double-strength 8th level spoiler [construct] Initiative: +10 Eye Covered Fists +12 vs. AC (2 attacks) – 35 damage. C: Gaze of Ancient Light +12 vs. PD (1d4 nearby enemies) – The target is weakened (hard save ends, 16+). Natural 16+: The target is also stunned until the end of their next turn. Natural Even Miss: The target is dazed until the end of their next turn. Limited Use: 1/battle. C: Primal Voice of Doom +12 vs. MD (all nearby enemies) – When the target has 48 or fewer hp, they’re dazed and don’t add the escalation die to their attacks (hard save ends, 16+). Limited Use: 1/battle. Shoot Into the Sun: Ranged attacks against the eye golem miss 20% of the time. True Seeing: The golem is immune to invisibility and ignores illusions. AC 24 PD 21 MD 19 HP 260

[she-walks-on-starlight]

I'm trying to write more when I have free time so I'm pushing myself to do a writing challenge in March - credit goes to @creativepromptsforwriting which is where I found the 30 day writing challenge and an extra prompt for 31st ☺️ I also completely randomised which pairings I allocated to each day just for some extra fun, hopefully I produce some good stuff! As always requests are still open, and any comments are appreciated, list of upcoming works under the cut (I'll link the works as they come out so find this post for the up to date list) - ✨

Day 1: Kiss of Death (Lae'zel x Fem!Reader)

Day 2: Negotiations (Ambessa Medarda x Fem!Reader

Day 3: Sweet Like Candy (Jinx x Fem!Reader)

Day 4: Style (Abby Anderson)

Day 5: Watcher (Ruby x Weiss)

Day 6: Our Love is Bound by Shadow (Lae'zel x Shadowheart)

Day 7: A Place Like This (Adora x Catra)

Day 8: Idle Hands (Sevika x Fem!Reader)

Day 9: Bare Your Fangs (Sevika x Fem!Reader)

Day 10: Promises Made, Promises Kept (Jinx x Fem!Reader)

Day 11: Hold Me Close (Caitlyn x Vi)

Day 12: Freedom (Karlach Cliffgate)

Day 13: Impulse (Blake x Yang)

Day 14: I'm Not That Girl Anymore (Jinx x Fem!Reader)

Day 15: I Will Not Share You (Lae'zel x Shadowheart)

Day 16: Firelight Embers (Lae'zel x Shadowheart)

Day 17: Burning Rubber (Caitlyn x Vi)

Day 18: Mirrors (Ellie x Abby)

Day 19: The Poet of Avernus (Karlach x Fem!Reader)

Day 20: The Warrior Queen (Ambessa Medarda)

Day 21: Hard to Love (Ellie x Dina)

Day 22: Breathe Me In (Ellie x Fem!Reader)

Day 23: Wait For Me (Ruby x Penny)

Day 24: Heroic (Lae'zel x Shadowheart)

Day 25: Justice (Grayson)

Day 26: Like Waves in the Ocean (Ruby x Weiss)

Day 27: Cabin in the Woods (Blake x Yang)

Day 28: Shall We Dance? (Cassandra Kiramman x Fem!Reader)

Day 29: Call Me By My Name (Abby Anderson)

Day 30: Sing Me a Song of the Past (Ellie x Abby)

Day 31: Cat Got Your Tongue? (Adora x Catra)

[dd-wyd]

Imma challenge myself to post The Gay Boys every day, for the entire month of June.

Watcher knows, I should have enough material

This post shall be my witness!

01 02 03 04 05 06

07 08 09 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (7/30/2024) Episode: Together Again

While his family was mourning his passing, Peachy found himself suddenly blinking in the bright sunlight of a familiar courtyard.

He was just getting his bearings when he was almost knocked off his feet by a big bear hug from his long-lost husband. Laughing he hugged Jack back just as tightly, whispering in his ear: “Calm down big guy – I have it on good authority this is the end of the line. I'm not going anywhere."

Jack pulled back to look at him for just a second before embracing him again. "I've missed you so much. It’s hard to believe you're really here.“

Peachy's grin widened at that. "Well believe it – I’ve arrived and you're never getting rid of me. So, how about you show me around?”

  🎶Together again, My tears have stopped falling, the long, lonely nights are now at an end🎶

Taking his husbands hand Jack led him to the portal that would take them to their new home on the island, catching him up to speed as they went.

"Luna and I are still living at Storm and Xander's in town, but I kept tabs on our place. The Watcher clearly had you in mind, it’s a peach paradise. I think you're going to love it".

“Honestly”, Peachy said "I'd love living in a cardboard box as long as you were there, but your “Watcher" has done well by me so far. I'm not worried".

Upon arrival Peachy gazed around, commenting "I can't argue with the view or the color, but I don't think I ordered up that fishing hole at the end of the lane". Jack grinned, nodding. "Good fishing too – and now that you're here I'll be expecting some of your world-famous fresh sushi".

Leaning in for a kiss Peachy fired back "your wish is my command – but first I need to see what kind of kitchen I'm going to be working with!" before turning and marching through the front door.

Peachy declared the kitchen "adequate", promising Jack “I’ll make your favorite tuna rolls for dinner if you think you can manage to catch me some fresh" Jack ran a hand gently across his cheek, responding "I'm sure that can be arranged, but sushi isn't what I'm hungry for right this second". 

He didn't have to say anymore. Peachy leaned in for another kiss, telling him "well then, lead the way. I for one have no idea where anything is yet!". 

Their destination was, of course, the bedroom. They took their time getting reacquainted, popping up all smiles when they were finally spent.

Later that evening as they sat at the dining table, a plate of sushi made from the fresh fish Jack had caught earlier that day half eaten between them, Peachy's expression grew thoughtful.

“Jack, what are we going to do when Valentina comes to join us?“ He gave his husband a worried look. “I love you, so much, but I love her too. She's my wife. How…"?.”

Jack stopped him by placing a finger on his lips before kissing them softly.  When they finally broke apart his answer was simple "we'll figure it out. I chose to leave, and she was there for you and Luigi. I don't love her the way you love her, but I love her for that. I'd never ask you to give her up."

A soft smile tugged at the corner of Jack's lips as he finished with "If there's room in your heart for both of us, I suspect we can learn to share".

Peachy gestured down at his ample frame as he replied, "I think my heart can handle it and there's certainly enough of me to go around!" Jack just chuckled at his spouse's usual levity before inviting him to the living room to relax in front of the TV before bed.  

Snuggling each other close and flipping on the sports channel, the pair of reunited lovers were warmed with the knowledge that their time together was now unlimited, and happily ever after was no longer just a phrase.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[einsteinsugly]

Friday, July 4, 1986. A Way Better Fourth of July.

*****

4:30 pm

Hot dogs, cheeseburgers, macaroni salad. American flags, Bruce Springsteen...

Hyde inevitably lowers his voice, to a jaded whisper. "The song doesn't mean what you think it means."

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary

Out by the gas fires of the refinery

I'm ten years old, burning down the road

Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go

Kitty, as sharp as a knife, anxiously nudges him. And Jackie swiftly follows suit, as they both hush the seeds of a quiet rebellion. "Shh."

Ignorance is bliss, as Red serves the main course. And Eric serves the macaroni salad.

"I made this, with my very own hands."

Kitty lovingly chuckles. "You used my recipe."

"Well..." Eric nervously laughs. "You got me there, Mom."

The two youngest, away from the gingham-clad picnic table, are happily gurgling in a large playpen. A quiet, raven-haired girl with big blue eyes, and a tiny, curious redhead. The eldest couple's grandbabies, by adoption and by blood.

The older two grandbabies, an olive-skinned boy and a sweet, adorable brunette with blue ribbons in her hair, are munching on small pieces of hot dog and are poking at macaroni salad with plastic forks.

The oldest grandbaby, a seven year old, is reluctantly in the midst of the adults. She feels like she's standing alone, though. The rest of the kids are literal babies, and she's just sort of...there.

But Betsy Kelso takes her duty as watcher very seriously. She even crafted a makeshift badge out of duct tape, just like her dad's.

Like her father, she is prone to hyperbole. "Kate's trying to eat a dandelion."

Eric and Donna nervously glance a few feet over, but are immediately relieved. Instead, Kate has simply picked a dandelion, and is turning it round, and round, and round...

Becca, a few months older and wiser, looks at her like she has two heads. "Gah."

"Aren't they adorable?" Kitty proudly gushes, hand firmly on her heart. "My grandbabies."

Red gruffly groans, but his old heart quietly melts. "You've said that a million times."

"It doesn't make it any less true, Red." Becca is now anxiously crawling around, leaving Kate at a wobbly standstill. "Look, she's exploring."

"She's the one that you need to watch," Red cautions, turning to Jackie and Hyde, "She'll eat the damn...darn dandelions."

Betsy, the fervent watcher, proudly sounds the alarm. "Pop said a bad word!"

Kelso chuckles, as the word "dumbass" is at the tip of Red's tongue. "Get used to it, Bets."

*****

5:00 pm

Dinner is officially over, but the American flags are still fluttering in the breeze. And Bruce Springsteen is still blasting.

Glory days

Well, they'll pass you by, glory days

In the wink of a young girl's eye, glory days

Glory days

Meanwhile, Red and Kitty are proudly perched in lawn chairs, happily clinking their glasses together.

The aging blonde smiles. "You know, I bought that Lee Greenwood cassette."

"God Bless the USA" is a bit corny, even for a proud veteran like him. "I can write a better song than that."

"I'd like to see you try," Kitty lovingly challenges, "I think it's profound. 'And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.'"

"I'd list all the wars." Far from a creative soul, Red concocts a simple list. "Revolutionary, 1812, Mexican-American, Civil..."

She shakes her head. "That doesn't sound like a good song."

"Lee Greenwood isn't even a damn veteran," He gruffly declares, "He's like Eric."

Kitty spies, with her little eye, an adorable little diversion. Hyde and Eric are lying in the playpen, with Hyde propelling a happily squealing Becca in the air, and with Kate lying on Eric's chest.

Then, in a split second, she's back to ground zero. The uncomfortable trenches. "There haven't been any wars for him to fight."

"You know he wouldn't join."

"Well, he'd join the most important ones," Kitty amply defends, before reluctantly acquiscing, "You know he's lippy about 'Nam."

"Don't remind me." He briefly diverts, as Eric compares Becca to the Millennium Falcon. Then, he shakes his head in disdain. "He thinks the Star Wars program is a disgrace to Star Wars."

Kitty sighs, but while happily kicking the can down the road. A tiny pebble, beneath her shoe. "He still hasn't gotten over that Luke and Leia thing."

Red's foot anxiously taps to the rhythm. "Don't remind me."

*****

5:30 pm

He doesn't know why the hell he put in that damn Lee Greenwood cassette.

If tomorrow all the things were gone

I worked for all my life

And I had to start again

With just my children and my wife

Hyde is muttering something rebellious. Eric is nervously shaking his foot to the rhythm. Laurie is...who the hell knows where.

But at least his two sons are there. He doesn't agree with a lot of their politics, or like a lot of their music, but they're good men.

They surmounted the odds. Hyde isn't dead, roaming in a motorcycle gang, or in prison. Eric is still lippy, and still loves Star Wars, but he doesn't let it define his life. He tries to be the hero of the South Side of Chicago, in his own, weird way.

And because of them, their granddaughters are proudly perched on their laps. He has Becca, and Kitty has Kate. Kitty Jr, of course.

All the while, Becca is sleeping in his arms, as the former basement dwellers lovingly coo.

And predictably, so is Kitty. "You think you're Oscar the grouch, but you're not."

He can't help but smile. "I guess my life isn't garbage, huh?"

In turn, she lovingly kisses him on the cheek. "I'd say it's pretty damn good."

*****

If you want to join the random date generator game, click here!

[tomorrowusa]

There was a special election on Tuesday to fill the vacancy in an Ohio US House district due to the resignation of Republican Bill Johnson in OH-06.

It's not a major surprise that Republican Michael Rulli won. His GOP predecessor Bill Johnson took the district in 2022 by 67.7% to 32.3% for Democrat Louis G. Lyras. Donald Trump won the district by about 29% in 2020.

But it was noteworthy to see Rulli, a state senator, win by just 9.3% over a little-known bartender named Michael Kripchak.

The Republican candidate won, and that’s no surprise. But political observers are frankly shocked that the race was far closer than expected. [ ... ] Ohio continues to surprise us. The statewide votes last year, first to prevent Republicans from raising the threshold to pass constitutional amendments to 60 percent, and second to preserve the right to abortion in the state, showed that Ohio voters are ready to draw the line when it comes to extremist religious or anti-democratic measures. [ ... ] [T]he Democratic challenger was a first-time, unknown candidate named Michael Kripchak, who quit his day job to run against GOP state senator, Michael Rulli. Kripchak is a veteran who spent only around $25K to Rulli’s $700,000, a nearly 30 to 1 cash advantage for the Republican.

Every county in this district had a swing to the Democrats. Two counties were actually carried by Democrat Kripchak; Democrats carried no counties in OH-06 in 2022.

Democrats have overperformed in almost every special House election since the start of 2023.

But we still hear the pundits and pollsters droning on about Democrats allegedly being in big trouble this year. Fox News has even dusted off a dormant conspiracy theory that Biden is going to step down and be replaced by Michelle Obama. Fox News doesn't miss a chance to juice up its racist and misogynistic viewers by hinting a white male would be replaced by a black female.

Democratic voters in OH-06 turned out thanks to Democratic volunteers spreading the word. Persistence, enthusiasm, and hard work produce results. To use a Latin phrase: Vincit qui laborat.

Anybody who is not an outright MAGA supporter is a potential swing voter and should be regarded by us as such. The stakes are too high this year to revert to the slackerism of 2016.