#EXTREME GRAVEYARD TORNADO

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔅𝔦𝔯𝔡𝔣𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔥 - 𝔄𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔄𝔤𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫

[onlyhurtforaminute]

BIRDFLESH-ACCUSED OF SUICIDE

[themetalwanderlust]

Album Review: Extreme Graveyard Tornado - Birdflesh

Album Review: Extreme Graveyard Tornado – Birdflesh

“He’s mad, they’d say.  He’s insane.  He’s dangerous.  Well I’ll show them.  I’ll show them all!”

Thanks for the appropriate introduction, Mister Bernard Black.  Although these menacing maniacs aren’t Heading Towards Insanity – they’ve already visited, left, and moved on to crazier things.  What’s that you say?  You don’t know who Birdflesh is?  What the hell is wrong with you!  Birdfleshis a…

[caelestimortem-a]

       Azrael’s entrance often are a bit on the extra side. As , there are only two choices you get with her. Either it be a severe  storm that produces a tornado or utter darkness that has extreme fog that is unbearable to see in. When summoning her, a loud clap of thunder tends to happen and all lights go out, leaving the place completely dark.  God gave her those dark abilities due to her personality. She’s more on the dark side and isn’t meant to trap or be summon as summoning tends to come with a price with her. Trapping her angers her greatly. She hates it. It’s her biggest fear aside from Leviathans. 

Summoning the archangel of death and destruction; Like demons, angels can be summoned. Unlike most angel summoning spells, Azrael’s is a bit more tricky and has more than the typical Leaves, herbs or petals that need to be used.  To summon Azrael you will need: an certain sigil that is referred to as Archangel Azrael’s very own sigil, a bowl which will hold these ingredients: dead oak tree leaves, basil, graveyard dirt, three drops of blood  and  must be chanting in enochian  “Spirits of air, earth, water and fire. Converge to set the Angel free. In the air I send this rhyme , Bring death before me before my time. " Unlike her brother’s when she is summoned, she brings forth before appearing: total darkness, fog and coolness.  

[sparenonearchived]

Azrael’s entrance often are a bit on the extra side. As , there are only two choices you get with her. Either it be a severe  storm that produces a tornado or utter darkness that has extreme fog that is unbearable to see in. When summoning her, a loud clap of thunder tends to happen and all lights go out, leaving the place completely dark.  God gave her those dark abilities due to her personality. She’s more on the dark side and isn’t meant to trap or be summon as summoning tends to come with a price with her. Trapping her angers her greatly. She hates it. It’s her biggest fear aside from Leviathans.

SUMMONING THE ARCHANGEL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION; Like demons, angels can be summoned. Unlike most angel summoning spells, Azrael’s is a bit more tricky and has more than the typical Leaves, herbs or petals that need to be used.  To summon Azrael you will need: an certain sigil that is referred to as Archangel Azrael’s very own sigil, a bowl which will hold these ingredients: dead oak tree leaves, basil, graveyard dirt, three drops of blood  and  must be chanting in enochian  “spirits of air, earth, water and fire. converge to set the angel free. in the air i send this rhyme , bring death before me before my time. “ Unlike her brother’s when she is summoned, she brings forth before appearing: total darkness, fog and coolness.  

[blackosprey]

I wanna fix the KH3 ending

[ @derekscorner  @kirabook @echo-from-the-void I told y’all I was gonna do this and I finally did. Spoilers ahead i guess]

Analysis: The finale of KH3 has a lot of pacing issues and a lot of nonsensical events that don’t make a lot of sense even within the context of the story. These odd choices tend to be so jarring that I fail to feel much emotion over any sad scenes.

Proposal: tweak and rewrite.

Let’s establish a few things to set the context: first of all, the X-Blade is forged via conflict. Aka, people fighting eachother. Xehanort’s goal is to get everyone to duke it out until his weapon is complete. Second, Xehanort is an egomaniac and wants to ensure it will be HIMSELF who will control the X-Blade and... do whatever with it. (I’m still not 100% sure what THAT is even now)

Boss Rush I

- Get rid of the entire weird fake-out with everyone dying and rewinding time and Union X advertisement nonsense. (That whole thing was a ripoff of Ending E and UX has not earned that in the slightest.) 

- Jump straight to Xehanort raising up that labyrinth and separating everyone so they can all duke it out. He needs those shards of conflict to forge the X-Blade after all. Scattering everyone ensures the Lights won’t overpower them before the weapon is forged.

- Things play out more or less like they did in the game at this point. Sora runs through, helps everyone defeat their opponents. The hypest moments like Terra and Roxas remain intact. Folks get reunited and it’s really nice. Oh yeah KAIRI DOES NOT GET KIDNAPPED. 

Oh No

- Sora and co. manage to defeat all the Norts before the X-Blade is finished. They plan to do the “push Xehanort out of the world” thing. Now it’s as simple as 7+ vs 1 old man right? 

- Wrong

- THIS is the part where Everyone Dies. Heartless tornado, whirlwind of Keyblades, point is they don’t manage to fight him directly before they all get destroyed. 

- Everyone, of course, except for Sora. Who is extremely upset for understandable reasons. 

- Why Sora? Well, Xehanort’s a sucker for fate, destiny, and all that grandeur, what could be a more fitting way to complete the blade than defeating what appears to the the universe’s answer to him? This kid who’s appeared at every turn to complicate his plans. 

- That, and he knows for a fact that he’s not the strongest of all his friends, and he’s very emotionally vulnerable. Meaning, isolating Sora would lead to a fight he could very easily win. It’d pose no risk to his plan.

- He’s right. Saying that Sora’s distraught and out for blood is an understatement. He doesn’t scream and drop to the ground in surrender, he screams with FURY. It harms his ability to fight. Xehanort easily wins.

- Sora falls to the ground after taking a Goatblade to the chest. The last thing he sees is the X-Blade materialize in Xehanort’s hands as the true KH appears before the darkness starts devouring it like in game. 

I Hear Dead People

- The Final World. This bit plays out more or less the same way it did in-game at first, Chirithy and all, bc I don’t really mind that bundle of sass. Sora pieces himself back together and is only able to do so because Kairi’s just barely holding him back from crossing into death entirely. 

- Here, you could take a moment for Sora to actually process what just happened. He’s less vengefully pissed now and reality of everyone being gone is setting in. He might even be paralyzed by it. And, to top it all off, he died, easily too. Failure’s a hell of a drug. 

- He doesn’t mope too long. Of course eventually he realizes Kairi’s just barely managed to give him a second chance, and he starts putting himself back together. Figuratively and literally. 

- Once he’s done with fixing himself he needs to get back to the real world. Yes, he does want to use the Power of Waking to find his friends but there’s no time to do that and it’s much too risky- it has dire consequences whether or not he actually succeeds in reviving his friends and while time’s going by much more slowly here, it’s still flowing and Xehanort reeeeally needs to be stopped. 

- Sora knows he needs to shove Xehanort out of the Graveyard. Wonders if he can do this alone. The voices of his friends resonate within. Think of typical “you are not alone, bonds transcend, etc” motivational corn. You’ll know what to do, may ur heart be ur guiding keyyyy. Staple KH Narm. 

- Sora returns, much to Xehanort’s surprise but not necessarily his dismay, and proceeds to slam them both into Scala ad Caelum.

- (If you reeeeeally wanted some UX advertisement time, Ephemera and the other Dandelions could be the power that helps Sora yeet Xehanort right into Scala ad Caelum. Or something.)

Boss Rush II Final Mix+

- Scala ad Caelum plays out very much like it does in-game, with all the boss rushes. However, instead of having just Donald and Goofy in your party the whole time, your party changes with each “stage” of the fight. Members consist mainly of the “friendship trios” of all the games. 

- I’m thinking BBS trio, Days trio, then Riku and Kairi plus Mickey.

- They’re very obviously not all there. They look kinda spectral and appear and vanish suddenly with each beginning and end of a fight stage. You get some opportunities for team attacks with everyone. 

- Culminates with Sora, Goofy, and Donald in the very last battle as they are in canon. Complete with that last bit where it seems like Sora is KOd and gets shouted back to life by everyone. 

We’ll Go Together

- Xehanort is defeated. I’m not sure how I’d want to alter that bit, I’m not even sure if I want to get into that, so if you didn’t like how he died, just replace it with however you wanted to see it. The important part is, Sora still ends up in possession of the X-Blade. 

- He uses the X-Blade to return to the Final World and attempts to rescue everyone. 

- If you want the story to end with KH2 levels of happy closure, you can say the X-Blade allowed him to mess with life and death without consequences. Everyone is happy, the end.

- If you’re ok with it not going that way, then meddling in god’s realm still has a pretty heavy toll. Sora rescues everyone but his tether to life is about to snap before he can get to Kairi. Whether he goes for it or leaves her, he can’t get her out.

- He promised he wouldn’t leave her, right?

- Sora follows Kairi. They embrace as they dissolve into sparks of light and vanish together.

- (Setting up the sequel where Kairi plays the Reapers’ Game to get her life and her boyfriend back dammit)

Sooooo yeah! That’s kind of how I’d fix things up while keeping the badass moments and main concepts introduced intact, while adding some logical character motivation and emotional weight.

[sinners-paradiseme]

GRAVEYARDS ARE ONLY FOR THE DEAD || SELF PARA FOR JAYDEN & JOCELYN

TRIGGERS: NEGATIVE THINKING, SUICIDAL HINTS, SELF HARM MENTIONS, SURVIVOR'S GUILT

MENTIONS: RUBY, MARCUS, MICAH, XAVIER

Jocelyn knew that Jayden wouldn’t have left her daughter’s grave without flowers, especially during the holiday season, but she never thought that Jayden would be the one placing them herself. She clenched her jaw as Jocelyn as Jayden’s security guards dragged her from her hiding place. She wasn’t sure how she was gonna face on of the many people she lied to because she didn’t think she was gonna live. She never thought in a million years that Julian would purposely OD to safe her live just a few moments before she went into complete heart failure.  Jocelyn had made her peace with death, but she knew Julian wouldn’t have let her go so easily. God, things would have been so much easier if she had fallen in love with Julian instead of Micah. She groaned as she landed next to the dirt by her daughter’s grave. “What happened to not hurting girls?” She asked as she sighed softly looking up at Jayden.

Jayden ran her fingers through her hair, there is nothing she hated more than people disrespecting her and her family. She was trying to pay respects to Jocelyn and her niece, when her bodyguards told her there had been someone lurking in the shadows and watching her. She had to teach said person that mourning wasn’t something to be interrupted. She never expected to see her. Jocelyn in all her flesh and glory. She clenched her jaw as emotions rattled through her body. She didn’t know which one to focus on first but like always anger was her go too, before she could react her hand stung and the resounding sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard. Her eyes widen as she realized her handprint was now a shining red against Jocelyn skin. “I should feel sorry for that asshole, but I fucken buried you.” Jayden said through a choked sob, as she gathered Jocelyn in her arms. She hugged her tightly.

Jocelyn was honestly shocked to feel the sting and hurt and stung in her cheek, she didn’t expect any less from Jayden though. The female had always been a hurricane lead by emotions, anger always leading the charge when she felt vulnerable. She took a deep breath, “Okay, so I see that only applies to the ones you didn’t bury?” She whispered softly in her ever present sarcastic tone. She ran her fingers through her hair, “What did you want me to do, Jayden? Comeback? Say oh sorry, I didn’t fucken die like I had worked everything around for? That I couldn’t do the one thing I was supposed to do.” Jocelyn’s own eye had gotten watery because just like her true self. She had run away from all her emotions and thoughts since the day she woke up after they told her she wouldn’t make it. She kept running and she hadn’t planned on stopping. “I left my son…” She whispered softly as she buried her face into Jayden’s hair as the other woman gripped her tightly. 

Jayden couldn’t help but let the let out a dry chuckle at Jocelyn’s reply. She knew they were good from dealing with their feelings, that’s why they had gotten along so well when she was brought around. She was so much closer to Jocelyn’s age than she was to Aaden’s. They had become like sisters before she had gotten pregnant with Gabrielle. Before she suffered her first heartbreak at the hands of Aaden. “I swear, if I didn’t miss your ass as much as I have I would have given you another slap for that reply.” She honestly thought that after living with the Coldburn’s she would have gotten used to the snappy replies since they seemed to fly off Micah when he decided to speak but nothing was like Jocelyn’s personality. Even Aaden had been surprised at her decision to go towards Regina instead of Jocelyn. She clenched her jaw as she listened to her friend. She kissed her forehead, “Do you honestly think we would be upset if you are still here, dummy.” She whispered softly. She rubbed her friend’s back softly as she tried to get her to breathe and calm down. “He is okay, he is happy and safe. He is everything you wanted him to be.” Jayden told her softly as sat both on the piece of grass next to Jocelyn’s and Micakayla’s tombstones. “You aren’t coming back are you?” Jayden whispered softly as she looked out into the distance. 

Jocelyn couldn’t help but let out a soft grin, she was happy that her two best friends had found happiness in each other at the end of things. She was happy that she had been there to witness it for a little while. She cleaned her tears as she sat with Jayden on the grass, she let out a shaky sigh. “Tell me that me being gone has made a difference? You can’t really can you?” She shrugged softly, “Other than you, marcus and my sisters, who can really miss me?” She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about her pretty boy. He was the only perfect thing she ever made. She missed him so much, but she knew one day she would see him again. She hoped her son would understand her decision. “I hope Micah doesn’t lose him.” She joked softly knowing that even in his worse state Micah would look after his son. She licked her lips as she shrugged softly, “I don’t know, I’m not ready… I don’t know if I will ever be.” Jocelyn had to much survivor's guilt to deal with anything right now. She lot Julian and had been her own rock since she woke up across the world alone. Jocelyn got up and kissed Jayden’s forehead. “Te amo, Amada. If you ever want to find me, come alone. I’ll be where your heart lies.” She whispered softly before giving her friend a soft hand squeeze before squeezing her eyes softly as she walked away once again.

Jayden wanted to scream and make Jocelyn sit and listen to her, but she knew neither of them responded well to being cornered. Plus even if she did all that, there was a slight chance that she might push Jocelyn right over an edge they both loved to linger on. The reason why they were so quick to throw themselves in front of danger and not care what happened to them as long as the people they care about they were safe. “Well all four of us are a couple shit show, if that makes you feel any better. Jesus, Jos. I can’t even tell you how much I wish you were there, when Marcus lost it completely. I gave birth to another baby alone, just like I did with the girls. Who I almost lost.” She said with a soft whisper, knowing she couldn’t beg her friend to stay because that would be extremely hurtful to many not just Jocelyn. Jayden chuckled softly as she shook her head, “If I can trust Bentley with a part of my heart, I think it’s safe to say your baby boy is going to be just fine. I’ll make sure of it.” She took a deep breath as she nodded as she squeezed Jocelyn’s hand in return. “Te amo, Jos. Cuidate, Hermana.” She whispered softly, knowing she had to let her go. She cleaned her cheeks as she watched Jocelyn leave.

Jocelyn took a deep breath as she watched Jayden, she knew she was battling the same tornado of emotions that Jocelyn knew far too well. It was why their bound had always been so strong because of it. They knew what emotions ravaged their minds stronger than everything did at times. She clenched her jaw softly as she was told about Marcus, her golden retriever of best friend. Who had the darkest place to hide. She brushed her tears clean, “Amada, I wish I could have been there but… Even if I hadn’t gone through all the plans. I still a fucken mess from losing, Julian. I’m not good for anyone right now. I’m not even good for my son.” She smiled softly, “So I have another niece.” Jocelyn handed her phone over to Jayden. “I’ll text you when I get settled. Send me pictures when I do of them.” She smirked softly as she licked her lips, “Green eyes were always your weak spot love, I’m not surprised.” She said with a soft grin as she nodded taking in a deep breath. “Don’t ever let him forget I love him. Either of them.” She whispered softly and nodded before disappearing into a dark car. 

[gbhbl]

Album Review: Birdflesh - Extreme Graveyard Tornado (Everlasting Spew Records)

Album Review: Birdflesh – Extreme Graveyard Tornado (Everlasting Spew Records)

Sweden masters of thrashing grindcore are finally back with the first album in over a decade!

Formed in Växjö in 1992, Birdflesh is one of the craziest and long lasting grindcore acts around. Their take on grindcore is filled with strong thrashy influences, wacky lyrics and a funny atmosphere overall.

Over the years the band released a huge amount of music, consisting in 4 full length albums and…

[bluerosesburnblue]

This very nearly became a Kingdom Key Only run because I like challenge runs like that but honestly I never felt like sticking to the Kingdom Key was ever really a hindrance

...so let’s talk about that ending, from the start of the Keyblade Graveyard to the credits, yeah?

I cannot BELIEVE that Nomura gave us the Beach Party Ending we were all hoping for just to rip Sora away at the last second. Good GOD, man, who spit in your coffee?

So I guess we should get the elephant in the room out of the way, first. I’m actually not... that upset by the ending? Like, yes, I find it extremely ironic that the game that made me love Sora more than any other character in the game would essentially kill him off, but... okay, when Nomura said that the ending would be “hard to swallow” I had two worst case scenarios in mind. And I mean “worst case” in the “Nonononono he’d better not do that if he does I’m done” way

Scenario 1: Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. Either he’s stopped or he succeeds, but either way the damage is done and he’s too far along to stop and the universe is reset. All of the heroes are alright, they survive the ending, but the world of the game is changed irreversibly, forever. It’s all one World again, the Disney worlds are gone, or they’re there but they’ve been forced together in a weird jigsaw-puzzle way. The details don’t really matter, I just didn’t want a status-quo shakeup like that that gets passed off as a happy/bittersweet ending because the heroes survived

Scenario 2: Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. Either he’s defeated but whatever he started can’t be stopped, or Kingdom Hearts is the only thing that can defeat him. Either way, Sora has to use the power of Kingdom Hearts. He keeps the world exactly as it was, but has to give up his own physical existence to do so. After all, he who opens the door will become a god in the next world. Maybe he persists as a “force” that watches over his friends, but Sora is gone for good

What we ended up getting was... very similar to that second scenario, but it differs just enough to save it for me. At the very least, knowing that Sora and Kairi are connected and that Sora’s in Shibuya in the Secret Movie gives me enough hope that he can and will come back. Which, when compared to what I was afraid we were gonna get, leaves me weirdly optimistic. I still cried a lot (NOMURA I AM TAKING CUSTODY OF YOUR SON THAT’S MY SWEET BABY BROTHER NOW FIGHT ME) but I’m nowhere near as emotionally devastated as I could’ve been

And here’s the big thing, I liked most of the scenes in the Final Battle sequence. As scenes they were (mostly) fine. The reunions were heartwrenching (even if Sora is just kind of... there for most of them), the KHUx stuff was incredible (Ephemeeeeeer <3<3<3), the locales and concepts were all interesting. My problem was actually the order events happen in

So, first off, everyone dies way too fast. WAY too fast. It’s one of the two scenes I have a problem with. Everyone arrives at the Graveyard and fights a swarm of Heartless. They walk down a crevice and see Terra. A surprising amount of people get knocked out or injured trying to take care of just Terra-Xehanort? Then another big wave of Heartless shows up and everyone just... dies? Like, the second big scene in what is a very long finale and everyone dies? Hell, Aqua just gives up!

They also blew the KHUx Union X attack WAY too early. A set piece like that (it’s SUCH A GOOD CONCEPT AND THE SCENE WAS BEAUTIFUL) and you waste it on a big cloud of Heartless at the start of the final battle? Guys... guys that’s some last minute “all hope is lost, so here’s unexpected help” stuff, you shouldn’t just have that happen that soon

And the thing is... both of those scenes would be so much more impactful if they had happened later in the finale. Ideally, picture this:

The team takes care of the first swarm of Heartless. (You could have moments in that fight where you get a different guest Keyblade wielder, one at a time, in a callback to the KH2 Battle of 1000 Heartless with the FF characters). They’re feeling pretty good about it. They just all worked as a team for the first time together and they did alright. Maybe a little shaky. After all, most of them don’t really know each other that well. They can’t know each other’s styles or predict each others’ moves. Their teamwork is shaky, but they managed and that gives them some confidence. Maybe they can do this if they work together

Then Xehanort shows up. We can’t be having any of this “friendship” and “teamwork” nonsense. He throws up the labyrinth to try and separate everybody and pair off the Darknesses each to 1-2 Lights so that they clash, but the Darknesses are at a clear advantage. Unlike in the actual game, the labyrinth is crawling with Heartless to break up the tedium of the boss rush a bit. (I liked the idea of having to choose who to rescue first in the actual game, but it didn’t actually effect anything except which order you took the fights in.) While running through the Labyrinth you encounter different friends in different sections to help you fight off Heartless, and their boss fight is at the end of their section. That would give everyone just a bit more time to bond with each other. Maybe put in a few puzzles or something that make use of them creatively, like Ven and Aqua using wind and barriers to traverse their section of the Labyrinth. Just... everyone needs more time together. Some things about the fights and reunions would need to be changed, though. I wouldn’t be adverse to changing it up just slightly so that Lingering Will shows up as a guest for the Terranort + Vanitas fight, and it takes both Lingering Will and The Guardian to wrest Terra’s body back (instead of having Lingering Will only show up for Attempt 2 of the Terranort and Heartless Tornado Kill Everyone scene and then fuck off somewhere? Never seen again?) The Saix and Xion fight is also changed up. Roxas doesn’t just... appear from nowhere, and while this seems to be Xion... something’s off. It’s not really Xion, just a puppet made to look like her using data from the finale of 358/2 Days that had, miraculously, survived. This Xion is like the second Replica Riku (and can I just say thank GOD it’s not the “Riku from the past when he was controlled by Ansem” like they thought for the longest time because that was SILLY. Though I’m slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Data-Riku’s digital heart shoved into a Replica body like I’d theorized based on the trailers). This Replica gets purged, too, leaving two Replica bodies conveniently wearing Organization coats behind at the Keyblade Graveyard. We’ll get back to that

(Also, and this is just me, but I actually like how unrepentant Vanitas is. I think a lot of people forget that his sympathetic traits and background of abuse were novel-only things and the novel canon isn’t game canon in the same way that the Harry Potter movies aren’t book canon. Game!Vanitas has never been anything other than a completely unrepentant jackass, and Sora and Ven still gave him a chance to redeem himself. He just refused to take it, and I like that. It’s refreshing to have a character in KH not even try to justify their evil. He’s evil because he wants to be. It’s as simple as that.)

So, anyway, we have the labyrinth stuff. The team is worn down. NOW is where you place everyone dying. I don’t care if you keep it the same, or the Heartless Tornado is controlled by Ansem, or even just Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Nort pick everyone off because they’re all the same person, so of course their teamwork is stronger. You all weren’t good enough friends. You couldn’t have won, because none of you had fought together before, so your friendship was a detriment as you stumbled over each other and just assumed you’d be okay. Sora is left alone. And then he’s gone, too.

And here’s where you place the Final World. I think there was a big opportunity missed here. We get Namine separated from Kairi here. So here’s what I propose: remember all the talk throughout the game about the hearts within Sora’s melding with his, but they might be able to be saved if their memories and the parts of themselves were placed in the right boxes? Fffffffuckingggg... HAVE NAMINE AS A GUEST HERE and have it be just as much about putting Sora back together as it is separating the pieces of Roxas and Xion from him. Once you meet up with Namine’s star (or just have her have a physical form, too, since she’d be tethered to Kairi, too?) she helps out because now that Sora’s in pieces, it’s just a simple matter of sorting those pieces. Putting the scattered links in the chains of memories in different chains, back where they belong. Two hearts are released, now to find everyone else’s. Chirithy is still there, just give Nami some more time

(Also, add a colored tint to the stars or something that goes away after talking to them they were so hard to see)

Anyway. Dives. Lich. I don’t hate this section, I just think the Lich fights could’ve been a little more interesting? Also uhh... maybe have the characters hearts be found in worlds that actually, like... mean something to the character thematically? I guess Aqua in the Caribbean makes sense because water but it would make more sense to have her in Arendelle because ice is also water and she’s basically Ven’s big sis and there are quite a few parallels between the two relationships? The hell does Axel have to do with San Fransokyo? And since Terra would theoretically be there in the rewrite, we’ll need an extra world so place Axel in Twilight Town. Then I dunno. Donald in the Caribbean because he’s canonically a sailor. Ven in Corona because his isolation by Eraqus has parallels to Rapunzel only a bit less evil in intent. Terra in Olympus because that was the world he learned he could be a true hero and beat the darkness. Goofy in Monstropolis because out of all the characters he’s the funniest and they use laugh energy. Mickey in Toy Box because he’s the face of a major franchise and has so many toys based off of him you have no idea. That would place Riku in San Fransokyo where his Norted Replica counterpart was and also poetically make him and Kairi the last ones saved

SO EVERYONE’S ALIVE. We return to the land of the living. There’s no weird... like, time repeats or anything. The last four Norts are... kind of shocked! But also laughing it up because Sora just abused the Power of Waking to hell and back and they know what that means. Also, the lights are still at exactly the same disadvantage they were before they got revived. Or so they think until two bright lights emerge from the labyrinth behind them. That’s right, Roxas and Xion are here, having had their hearts freed from Sora’s in The Final World and taking the abandoned Replica bodies from the Labyrinth. Now we have the Sea-Salt reunion, sans the stuff with Isa because why the hell should Roxas and Xion just be sympathetic to Saix? Save that for a scene in the finale. Doesn’t even have to be spoken, just make it seem like Saix, Roxas, and Xion are trying to come to an understanding but still awkward around each other

After that I’m a little shakier, admittedly. I know you leave Ephemer’s appearance to summon the ancient Keyblades until the very end. I’d also have given him some line like “You remind me of an old friend” or something. Just... slight reference to Player

I have no idea how to work around the Kairi getting killed stuff and still get the ending Nomura wants! That’s the second scene I have a problem with. Sora doesn’t “need” motivation, he’s already prepped to bash the old man’s face in. I dunno... maybe opening Kingdom Hearts messes up Kairi’s light or something and that’s why she disappears? I dunno, there were better ways to do that if you HAD to kill Kairi, and better scenes if you didn’t, tbh

So in summary, I like the pieces of the ending, just not how they were put together. There was a lot of cool stuff in theory, it just wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve been for a more satisfying and emotional finale. The ending’s fine, and I honestly expected it to be a bit rushed considering how much they had to wrap up in this game, but I think it was a low point in what was otherwise a really fun and enjoyable finale to the story arc

I mean... I think that’s all I have to say about the ending, so here’s some assorted thoughts:

I think it was a missed opportunity to not have a Max Goof cameo at the end when the Disney trio is reunited with their loved ones and Goofy just stands there with Jiminy. Max wouldn’t even have been voiced. Just let him show up

I’m torn as to characters’ outfits in the Final Battle. On the one hand, I like how in the end all of the trios are wearing outfits that match the other members of their respective trios. On the other hand, I would’ve killed for EVERYONE to have had a new outfit with the black and plaid/gingham theme to show that they’re not just disjointed trios that happened to come together, but a big group of companions. Everyone is a Team, it’s not just a Team made of Everyone. They made excuses for Mickey’s shirt and Lingering Will’s cape. They could totally have done some “oh weird I guess getting brought back from the dead changed our clothes isn’t that convenient” thing

Why did they “break” Lea’s Keyblade only to have it be just fine when they needed to lock Kingdom Hearts? Why was that there?

I heard someone once say that KH3 was an “obligation.” And I can see where they’re coming from. While I loved the game overall and can feel the work and love put into it, between the sheer amount of sequel hooks and the rushed resolution, it does feel like Nomura just wanted to move on to the stuff he’d thought of in KHUx but had to wrap up the ongoing arc first. I’ve been spoiled on SOME of the Secret Reports, not all of them, but the Subject X stuff and Luxu’s true role with the box could’ve easily been put elsewhere. Maybe in a game in the next arc. That would’ve freed up some time in this game for a few more things, like giving Dark Aqua more screentime (she’s defeated in the same scene she’s introduced? Really?) and just in general spread the original plot stuff out more. As it is now, I feel the sequel hooks just distract from the current plot arc

I appreciate that they tried to give reasons for the Organization members to be in different worlds, but I don’t think it was executed that well. Yeah, we get explanations, like in some they’re performing more experiments on the heart and in others they’re searching for the New Lights, but they never do anything with what they accomplish in them. I was so sure they were going to do something with Data-Sora or Data-Riku because of the “digital heart” stuff in San Fransokyo, and NOTHING came of it. Here’s an idea: Data-Sora in Xion’s place among the Norts and Data-Riku in the Riku Replica’s place. Have Data-Sora look like Xion or act like her before the reveal. I dunno, just do SOMETHING with them. Have the Norts reference the Lights they found in the final battle or something. Just don’t drop them once the world is done

That being said, the worlds themselves were amazing, I really liked the original plots in Toy Box, Monstropolis, and San Fransokyo. The character interactions in Corona and Arendelle were delightful. I also loved the design for the Ice Labyrinth in Arendelle and Galaxy Toys in Toy Box. Would’ve loved to have seen more of the town in Corona but loved what we did get to see of it. The Caribbean was... alright, but did contain my favorite party member: a shambling pile of crabs that were gifted sapience by an ocean goddess so that Sora could free her, only for her to get freed by someone else offscreen

Funny enough I actually didn’t care much for The Caribbean and San Fransokyo, but for opposite reasons. The Caribbean was FAR too open for its own good (I am NOT an open-world person and bad at navigating, so the ship, while interesting in concept, was a nightmare) and San Fransokyo was too scripted (I felt like I was locked in Hiro’s garage). I didn’t hate them, but I also 100% completed every other world and decided that with those two, it just wasn’t worth doing before beating the game. I didn’t hate either of them, and my feelings may change when I go back for treasures and lucky emblems

I absolutely killed Davy Jones with the Pirate Ship attraction. Pass up the opportunity to summon a neon pirate ship on top of a hyper-realistic pirate ship during a climactic battle? Who do you think I am?

I love how Ephemer’s name in the journal is just “???” because that’s an accurate representation of Sora’s reaction. “Who is this guy? Why is he here? Huh???” But I know. I know who the best dandelion boy is. So typical of him to swoop in at the last minute to save you and then disappear to who knows where

I ADORE that the final battle is Sora, Donald, and Goofy together and that the final attack is Trinity Limit. Sora coming back on his own from no health just for Trinity Limit was AWESOME and such a perfect end to the series, gameplay-wise

And finally, I am a little sad that the one theory I had throughout the game was wrong. I’d thought that, since Young Xehanort and Eraqus are always shown in in Scala ad Caelum, that it wasn’t a flashback but simply their spirits playing a metaphorical chess game in the afterlife. Their dialogue after the final battle seems to indicate that that isn’t the case

Also, and this is just for me, but my final death count was 5

Once to the Tornado Titan due to having a poor grasp of Airstepping and NO grasp of Rage Form, killed myself thanks to spamming Riskcharge

TWICE to the electric arena trap in Verum Rex because I am SO BAD at shooters and ejected myself directly into the Death Pit twice

Once during the ship battle portion of the Zombie Kraken fight

Once during the Union X Keyblade summoning because I was too busy reading the list of names to notice the text on the screen that said “HEY IDIOT DODGE ATTACKS DON’T JUST SIT THERE WHAT ARE YOU DOING”

But for now, I think I’m out of stuff to say about KH3. I’m sure I’ll find more once I’ve processed everything, but for now...

now we’ve just got to wait for Sora to come home

[guylty]

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

Recap

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

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

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

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

  Cardboard Cut-outs

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

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

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

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

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

Final verdict

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

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

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

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

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔅𝔦𝔯𝔡��𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔥 - ℌ𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔒𝔣 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢

[ohnoboho]

Headcannon that Punk!Patton along with Punk!Roman can crochet?

Hey, Misty, you are such a great, glittering, glorious gem! I promise I didn’t forget about this, it just devolved so quickly from some ideas thrown together to like a half-story? Anyways, thanks for this, hope everyone enjoys it. (Also, disclaimer, I know nothing about crochet, so I had to do a little research. Hope I did okay.)

P.P.S. these punk boys are from the magnificent @asofterfan‘s punk Sander Side AU

It was Sunday morning, which could only mean one thing for Patton and Roman; crafting and Disney movies. Once Patton had learned that Roman loved crafting as much as he did and Roman learned that Patton was a fabulous baker, Sunday mornings became a bit of a tradition for them.

A sleepy Roman would show up at Patton’s front door, grumbling about the absolute curse of mornings and swearing that next week there would be no way he would get out of bed for this. Patton would coax his friend inside with the enticing smell of coffee and waffles. With each bite of food, the steampunk would slowly come to life and by his third cup of “chocoffee” (Patton’s proprietary blend of coffee and hot chocolate), he was practically vibrating with creative juice, or probably just caffeine. The two would pick a Disney movie based on the kind of crafting energy they were feeling that day and dive into their work. 

Patton tended to prefer more “traditional” types of crafting than his friend, sticking to knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, or baking. He loved to make blankets, sweaters, beanies, and scarves, almost exclusively as gifts for others, of course, and he could be quite a machine cranking them out consistently and quickly. Roman’s creative scope was wide and extensive, including everything from jewelry making to calligraphy to oil painting to leather work. His work was anything but consistent, with only about one in every twelve projects making it all the way to completion; however, any project he did complete was sure to be exquisite and one-of-a-kind. Roman secretly admired how prolific Patton was with his creations, while Patton very loudly admired Roman’s raw talent and creative vision. The two boys loved to bask in one another’s aura and the house would practically burst with a bright, bubbly energy on Sunday mornings. Patton’s mother and brother had learned that it was much easier to pop in some ear plugs or throw an extra pillow over their heads than to try to quiet the tornado downstairs.

Once, Roman almost hadn’t shown up. It had been a particularly rough week for him. No one was practicing their harmonies for the finale of the musical. He had spectacularly failed a chemistry test that he had actually tried to study for. Logan had been missing from their history class for two days, meaning Roman had to provide all the snarky commentary himself, and it wasn’t nearly as amusing. A bottle of glitter glue exploded in his bag, he tripped in front of one of the adorable football players, his favorite boots got a hole in the sole. By the time Roman got home on Friday night, he wanted to curl up under his beloved extra-soft blanket and sleep for at least three days. It was then he remembered, while wrapped up in a fit of wanted to help out around the house more, he had thrown his blanket into the washer and ruined it. The moan he made could have woken the dead in the graveyard across town. Dot and Larry tried to coax him out of his room all Saturday with promises of brownies and board games, but his door stayed firmly shut. It wasn’t until early Sunday morning that they heard the gentle creak of the floorboards in the hall. They listened to the quiet padding of their son’s feet down the stairs and the squeak of the front door, before exchanging relieved looks and snuggling back under their covers. 

It only took a moment for Patton to realize there was something wrong with his friend when he opened the door. The larger boy shuffled his feet at the doorstep, his hands shoved roughly in his jean pockets. His usual eclectic collection of jewelry was missing and his eyes raw and puffy. That day, Patton had made crepes and he made sure to load up Roman’s plate with plenty of powdered sugar and top his chocoffee with special rainbow mini-marshmallows. The two ate in relative silence, an extremely odd occurrence, and ended up sitting on Patton’s couch, staring blankly at the black screen of the television. It wasn’t until Patton quietly inquired what craft Roman wanted to work on that the boy finally broke. Fat tears began falling down his face as Roman detailed out his absolutely awful week, pausing between sobs to sip at the fourth mug of chocoffee Patton pushed into his hand. When he reached the end of his sad tale, the steampunk gestured dejectedly towards his empty rucksack and grumbled that he didn’t even have any ideas of what to make, he had no more creative spark left. It was then that Patton got an idea. 

Turning on the most soothing movie he could think of (Winnie the Pooh, of course), Patton pushed a skein of yellow-gold yarn and a crochet hook into Roman’s hand. The other boy protested, insisting that he didn’t know what to make, but Patton shook his head and instead confessed he needed help with a project. He had make a blanket, but it needed trim and Patton didn’t have a single clue what kind to make. A small light flickered in Roman’s eyes as he rubbed his chin, finally suggesting an arc lace edge. The smaller boy smiled, maybe a bit mischievously, as he asked Roman if he would give him a tutorial. And soon they were off, snuggled together closely on the couch, happily chatting and adding stitch after stitch to a growing trail of delicate lace.

Roman woke up and blinked sleepily at the tv, which was now well into the Atlantis movie. He was surprised that he could still sleep after practically a gallon of hot chocolate and coffee, but was quite happy that he did. As the boy sat up and stretched lazily, he felt pounds lighter and so very warm. In fact, he felt downright toasty and that was when he noticed. A magnificent, handmade afghan, deep red and gold yarn weaved into a mesmerizing half-sun pattern, lay over him. A small tag in the corner read “For Roman” in a soft, loopy script. As Roman reached his hand out and traced the golden lace they had made that day hastily sewn around the edges, the pastel boy returned from the kitchen. He barely had a moment to set aside his mug of hot chocolate before the steampunk was upon him. From somewhere inside Roman’s arm, nearly crushed in the other boys embrace, Patton explained that the blanket was originally intended as a celebration gift for the end of the musical but it seemed like he needed it right then. When he felt the larger boy’s shoulder hitch with a sob, Patton wrapped his arms around Roman and didn’t let go for a long time.

That particular Sunday morning crafting session lasted well into the night and when Roman returned home with the afghan clutched lovingly to his chest, Dot smiled sweetly and kissed his forehead. Eventually, Roman would return the favor. And, although Patton would never admit it, he knew and was extremely excited, because any gift that Roman would make was sure to be absolutely astounding. And it was.

[sanctum-of-fantasy]

@aphrodites-bloody-rose *Tosses confetti in the air* I hear today is your birthday! So here’s a little something to celebrate with, I hope you have a good birthday and enjoy this fic! :D

Placed under a read-more do to being lonngg.

Title: Card Games In...Armor? Series: Saint Seiya Characters: Pisces Aphrodite, Virgo Shaka Word Count: 2,441 Summary: Being stuck in an apartment while away on a mission was not something Shaka expected, nor did he expect to be sent with a certain Pisces Saint. The day took a even stranger turn when the man decided they should play a little known card game.

It was raining, it had been raining for the last three days in fact; dark grey clouds covered the sky and blocked out the sun. Normally Shaka would not mind such weather and retreat into his temple to meditate instead of outdoors. However, he was not in Sanctuary and was instead sitting crossed legged at a bay window, gazing out to the nearly empty streets of the city.

He was waiting for his fellow Gold Saint, Aphrodite, to return with whatever groceries the man had decided to pick up while he was out. They couldn’t do much else, not that the rain was a problem for them since they both trained in harsh conditions, it was the fact it was freezing cold and raining that was the problem.

Going about their mission in such conditions would be disastrous for their health, that was what Aphrodite had said, pointing out that Shaka would likely get sick quicker than him. He wasn’t completely wrong Shaka admitted quietly. The other man was born and raised in such cold conditions, while his homeland of India was far warmer.

The truth was proven in greater by the fact Shaka was currently dressed in several layers, a few pieces belonging to Aphrodite who had kindly given them to him. The Pisces Saint despite many things, was caring, which Shaka had not expected of him. But this was ignorant thinking he reminded himself and it was below him.

Behind him the quiet sound of the apartment door opening echoed into the kitchen and the sounds of heels against the wood floor followed before he heard the gentle voice of Aphrodite saying “I’m back!”

Slowly Shaka turned his head from the window, carefully sipping at his warm tea and heard the sound of shifting bags on the kitchen table. “How was your shopping trip?” he asked, tilting his head to one side.

“Pleasant, well as pleasant as it could be with the weather. I bought some thicker undershirts and socks for you” Aphrodite answered, taking things out of the bags and putting the food stuffs into their places.

Sweden had proved a harsher place than what Shaka’s winter clothes were designed for, so he nodded and said, “Thank you Aphrodite, I will be sure to repay you when we return to Sanctuary.”

“Think nothing of it dear Shaka, I can’t let my comrade freeze or get sick, especially not while we’re on a mission” Aphrodite spoke, still somewhere behind Shaka. He didn’t open his eyes to check, he didn’t need to now and most times he could get around just fine without using his sight.

Their mission was not of extreme importance, they just needed to check out a monastery that was being used as a Saint training location, a routine check in basically. However, the weather had slowed them down and so the two Saints were stuck in Stockholm until it passed.

Hopefully it would end soon, Shaka disliked the idea of being late or taking more time than they needed for something so mundane.

“I’ll get dinner started for us” Aphrodite said, breaking the silence between them, “I know you don’t consume meat, so I hope a vegetable stew will be pleasing?”

“That is considerate of you, thank you. I hope however, it’ll be enough for you?” Shaka asked, sliding his legs from under him and placing them on the cold floor.

“Oh, it’ll be plenty for me, now I did find something for us to do while we wait for dinner” Aphrodite answered, another bag shifting and for a moment Shaka considered against opening his eyes, but curiosity got the best of him and for once, the need for sight was apparent.

What he did see when his sight adjusted surprised him.

Two boxes, and a few packet sealed things, all with odd creatures and humanoid shapes with bold golden words displayed in the center.

“Yu-gi-oh?” He spoke aloud, giving the other Saint a questioning look, who smiled back and shrugged.

“I was passing a gaming store when I was heading to pick up things, there was quite a group of people were gathered inside so I got curious. It was a tournament for this series, seemed quite fun as well. So, I figured, why not?” The Pisces said with a gentle smile.

“I don’t gamble Aphrodite” Shaka said, voice calm and neutral.

“Oh no, you don’t gamble for this game! It’s just for fun, one of the owners at the store said these ‘structure decks’ supply all we know to learn the game and play. I bought a few ‘booster packs’ for the joy of opening them as well” Aphrodite said with a light chuckle and shake of his head.

“I still don’t see the point” Shaka said, frowning slightly and crossing his arms.

“Think of it like chess then, oh now don’t give me that look. It’ll be fun I’m sure” Aphrodite smiled, stepping close to pat Shaka on a shoulder before gently pushing the cardboard boxes and packets into his hands.

“Hold these while I start on dinner, please?” He asked, fluttering his lashes in a way that Shaka is sure would affect Aphrodite’s close companions. Shaka was not one of them though but decided to go along with the Pisces request for the simple reason of manners.

And perhaps, he was bored and needed something to occupy his time. Even if it’s a card game mostly designed for the younger generations.

**

After Aphrodite chopped and prepared the stew to cook slowly they settled down in the living room. The Pisces had pulled his hair into a bun before staring at Shaka for a few moments and then doing the same to the Virgo’s hair as well.

Shaka had insisted that his hair was not in the way, but Aphrodite had gone with it and said, jokingly, that it’d help him read the card texts better and during dinner as well.

Carefully, Shaka ran his fingers lightly against the braided crown Aphrodite had twisted on his head as he read over a rule book supplied with one of the structure decks. It all seemed complex yet explained so simply. ‘If this is a game that children can understand and play, then it figures’ he thought before glancing towards Aphrodite.

“How shall we begin then?” he questioned.

“Let us decide on which deck we’ll each use then divide up the booster packs and add any that works?” Aphrodite suggested.

The decks were called ‘Fury of the Deep’ and ‘Lord of the Storm’ quietly Shaka found such names ridiculous. In the end, Aphrodite went with the first one and Shaka with the latter.

“They are much smaller than I expected” Shaka said, touching the delicate card in his fingers and reading the text under the image of a blue twister. It was a ‘trap card’ he recalled and named ‘Dust Tornado.’

“Hmm I agree but that won’t stop us from enjoying the game. Now let’s open those packs, I’m curious to see what we got” Aphrodite said, clapping his hands together and smiling brightly. Like a child in a candy shop or upon a holiday Shaka thought. While he was glad that someone was enjoying themselves, he still wasn’t sure if he’d enjoy himself enough to play multiple rounds.

“The creators seem to have based some of the cards off various mythologies. How curious though that ‘Fenrir’ is with a card called ‘Daedalus’ while ‘Icarus’ was in a different deck completely. At least, I suppose the harpy cards make sense, somewhat along with Simorgh” Shaka started, frowning as he carefully opened a pack.

“Shaka” Aphrodite said.

“Yes Aphrodite?”

“I think you’re overthinking this” Aphrodite added, smiling sweetly and chuckling slightly as Shaka made a face. “Perhaps so but they could at least make the decks fit-….” He began before falling silent as he glanced down at his first card.

“Is something the matter?” The Pisces asked, tilting his head and lifting one fine brow as Shaka showed the card.

“I believe they have made an error. This card is called ‘Mythical Beast Cerebus’ yet it only has two heads. If anything, this the beast known as Orthrus” Shaka said, shaking his head. The inaccurate mythology combinations was beginning to bother him.

“Oh, Shaka you are only proving my point. I doubt the artists really cared when they had several hundred or thousand cards to mak-…and yet they get one card correct” Aphrodite had laughed at first, before opening his own packet and going wide eyed at the first one he saw.

“Aphrodite?” Shaka questioned before the other man wordlessly handed him the card. There was a woman on it, dressed in a white dress with a spear in hand, and a helmet upon her head with long hair. The shape was clear and too familiar, he’d grown up seeing a statue of that woman behind the golden temples of Sanctuary.

‘Athena’ was the card’s name and as Aphrodite had said, it was truly accurate.

“Well that is a mildly pleasant surprise” Shaka finally said before handing Aphrodite the card back.

“I suppose, however let us just set that card aside, shall we? Seems…disrespectful” he said, gently sliding the card away from where they had set up their mats (each a cheap thing made of paper) and notepads to keep scores.

“Agreed” Shaka said with a nod.

**

Slowly the two Saints turned duelists had figured out the rhythm of playing the game, the decks while basic and largely unedited proved to be interesting enough and able to counter the other one. Shaka was the first to tribute summon a monster and defeat two of Aphrodite’s lower leveled monsters. However, the Pisces had a trick hidden in his deck, grinning as he slide a spell card on to the ‘field’. A dark, spiraling galaxy titled ‘Dark Hole’.

As Shaka removed his monster to the ‘graveyard’ he frowned and gave the Pisces a hard look, “That was a nasty card you have there, Aphrodite.”

“Perhaps, but a legal move and I only had the one” Aphrodite chuckled into a hand and slide a monster on to his side and declared an attack.

Shaka subtracted the attack points from his life points and narrowed his eyes at the fact he was now lacking half of his original amount. “We are now back on the same level then” he stated before looking through his hand.

“Maybe, maybe not” Aphrodite teased with a wink.

He had proven to be correct in the long run, winning the first of their ‘duels.’ Inside Shaka felt an emotion bubble up in him and he flexed his hands on his lap. There was one part of him that Shaka always refused to admit to himself or to others, and that was a competitive streak. It was unfitting for someone such as him, being a man dedication to enlightenment and seeking perfection.

And yet…the human side of him found joy in this simple game. More joy than when he read a good book or played a good game of chess or checkers. His mind filling with strategies or mistakes in the round that had cost him points, some that were easily avoidable.

‘This simply will not do’ he thought.

“Well, that was fun” Aphrodite said, leaning back and almost admiring his remaining life points (Much higher than his own) and field of monsters.

“Indeed” Shaka started, “This game is quite engaging, I can see why some children might enjoy it as well while honing their math, reading and complex thinking skills. Shall we have another round?” He asked.

Aphrodite grinned then, in a way that could only be called devilish and folded his hands together and leaned forward against the coffee table they sat on opposite sides of. “Why Shaka, if I didn’t know better, I would think you actually enjoyed our little game” he teased.

Shaka felt a cold feeling run down his back and coughed into his hand from waving the other in a “stop” manner. “I simply wish to pass more time before dinner is ready, this has proven to be a good way of doing that” he said.

The other man laughed “Oh of course! But tell me, you did not enjoy yourself in the slightest? You seemed quite into the game. Don’t think I didn’t notice this” he said, wiggling a finger as he pointed out what Shaka thought he hidden away.

He huffed and shook his head “Do you wish to play again or not? You were enjoying yourself as well.” And quietly Shaka swore he’d be the victor this time if the other agreed to it.

“I don’t see why not, dinner will not for another hour at the least” Aphrodite chuckled and placed his cards back into his deck before shuffling them quickly. Shaka forced himself not to smile and repeated the motion from his own cards.

**

They played several rounds, each time adding a mark under one of their names after the round was done and a winner was declared. Each time the normally reserved Virgo allowed himself to relax and speak more openly with his comrade and opponent.

Aphrodite teased back and egged him with certain combinations and cards, but at the end when the kitchen timer went off, they found themselves nearly equal with points.

“We should have one last round after dinner, to see who the true victor” Shaka suggested as they headed to the kitchen to eat.

“Maybe maybe, the might Virgo Shaka is enjoying a children’s card game! How unexpected” Aphrodite chuckled and shook his head. “But I agree, one last round to see who the best between us is.”

“I shall give it my best Aphrodite” Shaka said with a light smile.

They ate in peace before a thought popped into Shaka’s mind. “Aphrodite? This game is international correct?” he asked.

“Hm? Yes, I believe it’s been released across the global and in many countries and languages” Aphrodite answered. It made sense, as their cards were typed in another language.

“Then it is reasonable to say that these cards would be obtainable in Greece then?” Shaka added, lowering his spoon and leaning back watching as Aphrodite’s eyes lit up in understanding.

“I would say so…and hope so. I would enjoy getting more cards and continuing our little games occasionally when time allows us” Aphrodite smiled, it seemed sweet at first however it was truly deadly.

“I agree fullheartedly and may the best duelist win” Shaka said, tilting his head to one and grinning back at the other man.

“Oh, I plan to my dear Virgo” the Pisces chuckled.

[xdaisy-daisyx]

Cellophane - Alcohol Ink

The biggest frustration with alcohol ink, is fluff. its as if its actually magnetised to it. Obviously because its alcohol, it smells very strong. enough to feel high if youre in it for long enough. which means you have to open the windows. open windows = fluff tornado. closed windows = burning lungs. This one was done with the window closed (face mask on), having just hoovered and wiped down the desk with alcohol and a lint free cloth and its still a fluff graveyard, which is extremely annoying. im not sure how to get around this.

[horrorpaingoredeath]

The time has come... Show Mike presents: Top 10 Albums Of 2019 (that I didn't work on) in Alphabetical Order: Big Tray Deee - The Certified Project Birdflesh - Extreme Graveyard Tornado Fulci - Tropical Sun  Ground - Mourn Innocence Noisem - Cease To Exist Nocturnal Breed - We Only Came For The Violence Nocturnus AD - Paradox Savage Master - Myth, Magic And Steel Toxic Holocaust - Primal Future Vulture - Ghastly Waves And Battered Graves  Honorable Mentions:  Aphrodite - Lust And War  Bewitcher - Under The Witching Cross Haunt - If Icarus Could Fly E-40 - Practice Makes Paper Ram - The Throne Within #bigtraydeee #birdflesh #fulci #ground #noisem #nocturnalbreed #nocturnusad #savagemaster #toxicholocaust #vulture #aphrodite #bewitcher #haunt #e40 #ram #showmike #top10albumsof2019 #nohuss (at Horror Pain Gore Death Productions HQ) https://www.instagram.com/p/B53Ellfp1iy/?igshid=1bbaevuy5cb3y

[caramelcomics]

30 Day Advanced Background Challenge Prompts Explained

Full explanation for each prompt under the cut. Check out the image and shorter list here! x

1. Fantasy Bedroom Draw a fantasy bedroom. Is it medieval Europe high fantasy? What is the theme of the decor?  2. Fantasy Bedroom Draw a different fantasy bedroom. What do bedrooms look like in the future in space? What is your dream bedroom? 3. Room with a Fireplace Draw a room with a fireplace. Lots of rooms have fireplaces. Maybe it’s a wood-burning stove instead. Maybe an open fire pit? 4. Fantasy Bathroom Draw a fantasy bathroom. The bathroom I dream of has a huge bathtub. Maybe this one has a future tech shower. Is it outside and nature friendly? 5. Fantasy Kitchen Draw a fantasy kitchen. Is it open-concept to another room? Historical kitchen?   What does your dream kitchen look like? 6. Dining Hall (6 Person Min) Draw a dining hall. Challenge yourself to make this space big enough for at least six people. For a bonus challenge, add those people in. 7. Fancy Garden (1 Water Feature) Draw a fancy garden with at least one water feature. Is it a fountain? Maybe a waterfall? Koi pond? 8. Park (1 Water Feature) Draw a park with at least one water feature. Most parks have a pond with ducks somewhere! 9. Mountains Draw a mountain range. What season is it? Are there always snow caps? Do creatures live here? 10. Swamp Draw a swamp. Swamps are full of plants. Some are full of alligators. 11. Harbor/Ship Draw a ship harbor or a ship as a background. Are there lots of boats in the harbor? What kind of ship? 12. Savannah Draw a savannah. So many animals live in this area. Draw at least one kind. Pick one area. Make in the: 13. Past 14. Present 15. Future Pick one outdoor or indoor space. Draw it for each prompt during that time period. 16. Graveyard/Religious Place Draw a graveyard or religious space. What kind of people are resting here? Are they resting? What religion is this space for? What kind of ceremonies are held here? 17. City Street (2-point perspective) Draw a city street line using two point perspective. Try to vary the heights and widths of the buildings. Don’t forget windows! 18. City Skyline with skyscrapers Draw a city skyline with skyscrapers. Maybe try a local city, or invent your own! 19. Historic Site Draw a historic place. Draw it today, as it has survived, or draw it as you imagine it looked at the time of origin. Try an unfamiliar subject for more challenge. 20. Underground space. Draw an underground space. Why is this place underground? Try to show with details. 21. Supermarket Draw a supermarket. Think of all the mega market chains. What do they have in common? 22. Outdoor market Draw an outdoor market. Booths are usually as unique as the sellers. Give personality to the spaces. What is being sold here? 23. Carnival/Theme park Draw a carnival or a theme park. Are there rides? Animals? Clowns? What foods are being sold? 24. Sport Event Draw a sporting event. Maybe it’s a children’s league. Maybe it’s the Olympics. 25. Gym/Fitness area Draw a gymnasium or fitness area. Is this high school fitness? Are these pro-athletes? What sport is being trained for? 26. Industrial Place Draw an industrial space. Factories are intricate. Junkyards are full of surprises. 27. Ocean (No land) Draw an ocean. Try to draw it without any land. Can you see the creatures swimming in the water? 28. Extreme Weather Draw an area in extreme weather conditions. Tornadoes, hurricanes/typhoons, and blizzards all have tell-tale signs. This area might be extremely damaged. 29. Extraterrestrial Planet Draw a different planet than Earth. Draw one in our Solar System, or make up your own! Is there life there? 30. Your choice Draw any background you like. Maybe draw something you improved upon, or something you’ve never tried. What does your ideal space look like?