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nicoforlifetrue · 18 days

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I need to get the gangs designs out of my head like, right now so here we go! Au characters first then cannon guys spoilers below

Anyone the color crew considers a friend gets a matching jacket that green made with something representing them embroidered onto the old jackets, chosen has one and has it tied around his waist most of the time, everyone else wears it near 24/7

Victim: gray dead anime mom hair, scene kid from Spencer's in the 12s looking clothes, long sleeves striped under shirt with a t shirt on top, ripped up skinny jeans, has broken shackles around his wrists that act like the lasso tool but he doesn't use very often, a fire fox icon often sleeping on his shoulders he has three that act as attack dogs, soft rainy day blue eyes that are normally kept in that same dead anime mom half lidded state, he looks calm and approachable and loving after all that's how he gets you.

Chosen: black hair to his shoulders that he keeps in a bun, dyes red streaks into it, combat jacket three sizes too big, ripped up t shirt and jeans he never bothers to fix, wears a face mask when hiding his identity because his mouth is abnormally long and it freaks people out, has a locket with a family picture in it (it's a picture of Alan's face and cupped hands, the hollows are in his hands waving at the camera, Alan took his picture made it the computer background then took a screenshot of the boys, it was Alan's phone screen lock picture) everything he owns is burned at the hems because of his anger issues triggering his powers. Eyes glow red and are set into a permanent scowl, he has worry lines.

Dark: wild red hair he's never brushed in his life, he dyes black streaks in it, has one of those slutty leotard things that show the hips? You know what I mean, and combat pants, he has five virabands one of each limb, he made the first one just to give chosen a challenge but after seconds powers awakened he made more for when the kid has nightmares and needs to be held down so he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else with his powers going haywire, it only really works because the powers not concentrated, also has a locket with the family picture, he says it's for chosens sake but he stays up at night sometimes staring at it. Has black eyes but his pupils glow such a bright red their mistaken for red, all the hollows have sharp teeth but darks are especially sharp and he keeps them in a lazy grin, he has pronounced crows feet.

Second: orange wavy hair in a low short pony with it down it only reach's his shoulders, basic orange hoodie and well he does have his own clothes he more often then not is wearing some eclectic mess of stolen goods from his brothers, he likes Vic's shirts and darks pants the most and will try to get away with chosens jacket at any given opportunity, chosen trades his hair bands to get it back. Eyes glow a radioactive green, his lip is always busted from him chewing it, as are his cuticles from picking at them, is always a little wide eyed and sad looking even if he's over joyed just because his face has kind of settled like that, real case of "resting depression face"

Cannons turn!

Cannon second! Same hair as au, wearing the groups jacket and has is closed most of the time because he gets cold easy but takes it off to sleep, wears paint pants and shirt near always and there always covered in new color splash each day, convinced chosen to perce his ears and has a industrial one that he puts a spare pencil tool in after the box episode so he's never really disarmed, the other side has a little curser on a chain because he felt bad that Alan couldn't get a jacket. His eyes are still nuke green but they don't glow and his hands have calusus but he doesn't pick them like au infact he has them painted, heavy eye bags because he actually has to get up in the morning when the crew decides to have late night party's.

Red: fluffy red mop that he just cuts when ever it gets into his eyes, has the fellow headband to keep it off his scalp when exercising, cat ears, no really he has actual working cat ears and not normal ones, his jacket is hanging on for dear life and Is always at least a little off his shoulders even keeps it on when he sleeps, gym clothes even in the snow, bandages and gaze patches everywhere, his jacket hides the fact that he's fucking ripped because after the "blue punching obsidian" incident he got competitive and started working harder, he's up to diamond now. Eyes are whiskey colored have slits like a cats and he's sensitive to air changes just like cats are.

Blue: ties the group jacket like a cardigan around their neck when working in their garden or making potions so it doesn't get ruined, overalls are a farmers best friend, has the longest hair out of everyone reaching his knees, ties it into a bun for fights, braids it for potion making and sleep, and puts it in a ponytail the rest of the time, keeps it down when they plan on just hanging out with the guys. Has excessive nerve damage from the lava and can't feel if they've been cut or injured below their chest. Eyes are a very rich mahogany that gained purple flecks after a while of messing with potions, red asked Herobrine about it and it turns out to just be his body gaining immunity to most of the bad side affects potion making gives you (turns out his neather wart addiction is actually fairly common among potion makers because it helps build and keep those immunities which are important when experimenting)

Yellow: blond typical trans boy hair cut, meaning under shave with a quiff, has the jackets sleeves perpetually shrugged up his arms, only closes it when working on a more advanced machine, under shirt is stained red and he doesn't own a single pair of clean cargo jeans all of them have at least one mend in them. The bridge of his nose is stained red from rubbing there when he had redstone on his fingers, his fingers themselves are also permanently red, where's glasses near identical to Alan's, his eyes are a washed out pinkish rose, almost gray.

Green: for the longest time had an an uncontrolled frizzy mess of hair I'm talking untamable never seen coconut oil 3c, but after they sticks where introduced to dj, he managed to wrangle them into locks, DJ helps him braid them best he can if he ever wants to clean up but it's either dreads or spending hours everyday calming them. Only one who wares the crew jacket like a normal person, also the only one with a normal clean and sensible wardrobe in general, likes skirts but considering it's a bitch to fight in them only wears them when going out and knowing the others won't start a group bonding brawl, always has both head phones and earbuds on his person and is the only one too keep his phone intact and not broken. Eyes are hazel mixing green and gold with flecks of blue around the center, has audio processing issues and it helps him understand people if there's a background noise of some sort also fights better with a beat. Also has really bad tinnitus and always has, it's been made worse by recent fights though.

Purple: curly hair more of a 3b or 3a, keeps it in a single braid so it's easier to keep track of and care for, mango helps them with it in the mornings, the most recent one to get a jacket after the king stuff went down. Likes fancy and just nicer clothes like button ups and poets shirts and leggings, has bird wings because there mother was made for a stick flight animation test, but there weak and they can't fly like there mom can, they can hover and glide but they need an elytra to act as basically a sort of brace if they want to propel them selves, and even then they can't get to high speeds without rockets. Has orangy red autumn colored eyes like there mother.

#plot swap au #avm #ava #animation vs animator #animation vs minecraft

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collisvng · 8 months

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COTTON CANDY KISSES ♡¸.•*

Pairing ♡ Choi Yeonjun x Fem Reader 🩷

Synopsis ♡ You stumbled upon a random carnaval after the guys had just finished filming a music video nearby. During filming you spotted what looked like a ferris wheel in the far off distance. After one brief mention of it, that was all the boys could talk about. And Yeonjun made it a point to make you his ride buddy. 🩷

Word Count ♡ 2,719 + 3 sm screenshots 🩷

YOUR HEART WAS RACING.

Breaths of air entered and exited your body as you were being forced to run.

You were hand in hand with your best friend Yeonjun, rushing through crowds of people to try and be the first in line at a ride he so desperately wanted to get on. His eyes were full of excitement, giggling at your exhausted groans as you trailed behind him.

He was taller, his legs were longer, and you… were struggling.

The two of you stumbled upon this random carnaval after Yeonjun had just finished filming a music video nearby. The staff let you sit in on shoots sometimes upon the guys’ request, and today you were especially lucky.

During filming you spotted what looked like a ferris wheel in the far off distance. After one brief mention of it, that was all the boys could talk about. The staff found their excitement so enamoring that they simply couldn’t say no.

So now you were here; standing in line with your pink-haired bestie as he shifted from foot to foot in excitement while staff stood at an unnotable distance.

The guys were off on other rides, purposely leaving you and Yeonjun alone.You knew what they were doing, and you wanted to fight them because of it. They knew you liked him—the subtle wink from Soobin followed by the thumbs-up they all gave you as Yeonjun yanked you away was more than enough confirmation.

With each new ride you got on, your heart continued to lose control. Whether it came from the carnival adrenaline or simply because Yeonjun wasn’t letting go of your hand was a whole other topic.

You were also both wearing facemasks to blend in, just as the rest of the boys and staff were. Every once in a while his mask would slightly fall down his face during rides, leading you quickly panic and fix it for him once each ride was over.

He’d wink at you each time you helped him, gaining a shy eyeroll from you in response. The way you’d frantically pull the fabric over his nose while checking around to see if anyone noticed was amusing to him.

You thought he was a dork—he thought you were the cutest thing ever.

After going on what felt like the hundredth spinning ride of the afternoon, you took a deep breath.

“I think I need a break,” you said as you untwinded your fingers from his. “You are crazy. This is crazy. How the hell do you just get on rides and keep going? Where are the breaks?”

He shrugged. “You know I don’t like taking breaks baby.”

Wiggling his torso, he walked up to you. His little dance granted you free range to playfully punch his side before bending over and resting your hands on your knees.

“If my heart wasn’t revving so hard right now, I’d fight you,” you huffed as he let out a loud laugh.

It took you a moment to catch your breath, which he took considerable notice too. He hadn’t realized that you were actually suffering from the constant ride hopping. He started to feel bad and decided it was best to just take a moment to yourselves. You thanked him, then the both of you just continued to walk around.

It was a lovely day. The blue sky looked like a beautiful backdrop to the chaotic plethora of people skedaddling from one destination to another in front of you. You looked up at the ferriss wheel in the distance yet again, taking in its charm. Yeonjun noticed as he spared a glace at you, smiling.

“Hey,” his tone came out more cheery then normal, “do you know what sounds really good right now?”

“An inhaler?” You coughed.

“Nope!”

He skipped ahead, making the jeans jacket he was wearing flutter a bit with each hop. You slowly followed behind, only stopping when you both came up to a small concession stand in the middle of the crowd.

The small booth had an array of snacks lined up: churros, corn dogs, popcorn, and even those little Minute-Maid gelato cups. But Yeonjun’s gaze fell on the beautiful bags of cotton candy that cascaded along the side of the stand like a beautiful rainbow.

As he picked a pink bag out of the bunch, you heard a small PING! coming from your pocket. You took out your phone rolled your eyes.

Of course it was Soobin.

“Who ya texting?”

“GOSH!” You instantly shuttered at the sudden voice whispering in your ear.

As you turned to face your friend, you immediately locked your phone and slid it into your back pocket. Yeonjun stood there with a mixture of satisfaction and confusion on his face as he watched your screen disappear from his peripheral view. He opened his small, clear bag filled to the brim with strawberry flavored clouds and began pulling out individual pieces.

“Geez,” he pulled down his mask and put some of the pink fluff into his mouth, “if I had known you were going to react like that I would have just let you stand there until you were done.”

The cotton candy was a hue somewhere between baby and bubblegum pink. It was wooly, flocculent, and only a few shades lighter than Yeonjun’s lips—which you found yourself staring at as he fed himself. The pout on his face left you in a trance that you so desperately needed to get out of before he noticed. You shook your head, blinking a few times, before focusing on the cotton candy bag yourself.

“You know what,” you snatched the bag away and began walking off, “just for that, I’m stealing this!”

Your strides only became more rapid as you rushed away in the other direction. A loud “HEY!” left Yeonjun’s mouth as he hurried towards you, once again skipping a little along the way. It made you smile, maybe a little bit too much, which only made you walk faster.

Eventually he caught up with you, reaching for the bag of spun sugar. You playfully held it away from him, leading him to lean over you for it. His face was only millimeters away from yours; eyes fixated on the bag and a bright grin spread across his face.

He was so endearing, it sent you into a small spiral that you tried to defer from. Grabbing a piece of the cotton candy, you held it up to his hair and stepped away. The pink was almost an exact match to his hair, which made a great excuse for a joke. Surely that would break the tension in your mind… right?

“Oh look,” you pretended to pull a piece of fluff from his head. “Who needs a bag when I could just eat you.”

“In your dreams,” he took the bag back from you in one swoop. “I like the sentiment tho.”

He winked.

You groaned.

“Ew.” You wanted to hit him. “You wish.”

You were completely enamored with him.

“Fine,” he held up the bag as high as he could with his right arm, staring down at you. Shoving his face very close to yours, a smirk tattooed itself on his lips yet again. It was something he always did before he challenged you, and you loved challenges.

You pulled your mask down and stuffed the cotton candy in your hand into your mouth before standing up to him. When you reached for the bag, he leaned his face lower as if to kiss you.

It was a trick he used on his band members, which you were well aware of. Nine out of ten times they would shy away, giving into Yeonjun’s manipulation tactic.

But you were different—never backing down when he pulled that kind of thing with you. Which is why when you stood on tip-toes in order to kiss back, he pulled back immediately.

“Aye!” His eyes widened as he gritted his teeth. “Damnit. I forgot you’re not like the guys.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I dunno,” he handed the bag back to you and shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.”

*•.¸♡¸.•*

The day quickly turned to night.

You and Yeonjun had practically gone on every ride you possibly could.

There was a brief intermission where you both met up with the guys for a bit to eat and go on a few rides together as a group. But after about the third ride, the group seemed to disband once again. Yeonjun appeared to be completely oblivious to his friends’ schemes, but you were on your last limb.

You could only get flustered so much for so long; it was getting to the point where you wanted the day to just end so you could relieve yourself from the torture. And luckily for you, it was about to.

As the sky began to darken, one of the managers signaled that it was almost time to start heading out. Yeonjun pouted and pleaded to at least go on one more ride before leaving—which staff gave into (again).

Straight away, your hand was grabbed yet again and you were being dragged along to whatever destination that was on your friend’s agenda. It wasn’t until you both approached the ferris wheel that you were taken aback.

You cocked your head to the side, looking at him without a word.

“What? You kept staring at it,” Yeonjun stated as if it were the most obvious thing ever. “Plus this was the whole reason why we came here in the first place.”

The two of you stood in line while Yeonjun shifted his weight from side to side, tip-toeing forward. You couldn’t comprehend why he was getting so anxious; he literally loved heights. In the end, you figured it was just the excitement of it being the last ride of the night and let it go.

When you guys got to the front, Yeonjun held the cabin door open for you then followed suit as the two of you sat down. The both of you sat across from one another; his side facing more towards the fair while yours had more of a view of the fair parking lot than anything else.

Your face masks were pulled down and forgotten yet again at this point as you stared straight ahead; seeing the lights grow smaller and smaller.

“Wah…” Yeonjun’s astonishment for the sight came out in just one simple breath as he looked down.

Aside from the lit up beams of the ferris wheel holding the carts in place blocking a fraction of his view, he could see everything. The crowded spaces on the ground were dark, but the rides surrounding the people were filled with light.

Various greens, reds, yellows, and pinks glowed amongst the people with brief white lights here and there from different street lamps. As the rides moved in different directions the lights blurred and re-focused in his vision.

“You can see everything from up here,” he turned to face you. “Look, you can see the ride that we—”

It was in that moment he realized that you couldn’t really see much on your end. The parking lot behind you was a gray contrast to colors that shined from behind his silhouette. You were leaned over, stretching your neck out to see the view that he was seeing instead. And to him, that just wouldn’t do.

“You should come sit over here,” he stated as nodded towards the fairgrounds behind him.

You shook your head. Not because you didn't want to, but because the thought of sitting next to him made your heart rev all over again. “I’m okay… really.”

An eye roll from him ensued as he began to playfully whine. He was urging you to move so you could enjoy the ride, but you weren’t budging. Or at least, weren’t until he discovered your weakness.

He briefly stood up and reached over to grab your hand, causing the cart to sway. You let out a scream and grabbed hold of your seat. Pleading words telling him to stop shaking the cabin due to fear spilled out of you, yet he wasn’t stopping.

You could tell he was also afraid of what his shaking might do, but you also knew it wasn’t going to end until you did what he wanted.

So you stood, pressing your palms to the side of the cart to hold yourself up as you slowly inched forward.

“There you go,” Yeonjun winked, followed by you quickly replying, “I hate you.”

As you made it to the other side, the ride stopped and you stumbled forward. In a state of panic, Yeonjun let out a swear and reached out to catch you. There was a brief moment of pause before the both of you realized you were now only centimeters away from his face, leaned over with your hands firmly gripping his shoulders to hold yourself in place.

Your body became tense as the air filled with sudden tension. Yeonjun had his hands around your waist, and the most panicked look in his eyes. Before he could speak though, you glanced up at the view behind him.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled, taking in your new distraction. “I think we’re actually at the top now.”

Your breath was taken away as you could finally see the beautiful view Yeonjun had seen. The lights, the sounds—everything was wonderful.

The only difference now was that the people below were so far away at this point that they looked like ants to you. You chuckled at the thought, causing Yeonjun to snap out of his flustered state and spare a glance at you.

“What is it?”

“They look so tiny,” you laughed. “It’s like I’m watching a bunch of sims walking around from a sky view.”

“That’s a strange sentiment,” Yeonjun stated.

You glanced up at him for a moment before looking out to the world again. “Strange, but pretty.”

A smirk appeared on your friend’s face, but you were too entertained to notice. And while you were seeing the view, Yeonjun was seeing you.

The way your eyes sparkled in astonishment. How the altering colorful lights bounced off your skin, changing it to different colorful hues with each second. And realizing that your smile was unmatched to any other smile he had ever seen in the past.

You were his best friend… How could he have missed this before?

“You’re pretty,” were the only words he could manage to get out. His voice was quiet, yet soft. But not enough for you not to hear.

Your smile dropped and your heart immediately felt like it was going to leap out of your chest.

Frozen by the sudden statement, you slowly turned to face him. His eyes were narrowed, and he searched your face. It was like he was trying to look at any other part of it to avoid looking at your lips.

His body was suddenly leaning forward, and by instinct yours was too.

“What is happening?” You breathily questioned as your faces were once again only inches from each other’s.

Without a second thought he replied, “Can I kiss you?”

“Will you actually let me kiss you this time?” You were so close your noses were touching.

“I’ll let it slide just this once.”

Grabbing your chin with his thumb and index finger, he pulled your face downward to completely close the gap between you. Your lips met for a moment before the both of you pulled back to look at each other. There were no words. There was no questioning.

The both of you knew this was probably going to be an awkward conversion that you had to have once the ride ended. But that didn’t matter to you—you were finally kissing your best friend who you’ve had a crush on for years.

You were on cloud nine. And by the way he ran his finger down your cheek and lifted your chin to kiss you again, you could tell he felt the same way.

The second kiss was more passionate and lasted longer than the first. When it ended, Yeonjun rested his forehead against yours and sighed.

“The guys are gonna give us such shit for this.”

You shrugged. “Oh trust me, I already know.”

Notes ♡ Ayeeeeee! Hope you guys liked this small drabble... 🫶🏼 I wanted to post it on Yeonjun’s birthday, but unfortunately didn't get to finish it in time. I am working on part 2 of Walk of Shame to post as a late Jisung birthday present! And there might be something for Felix being posted in the future as well. 🫣 Thank you guys for reading! Hope you look forward to what else is coming soon. 🩶 — collisvng✨️

#➴collisvng writes #txt drabbles #txt smau #yeonjun drabbles #yeonjun fanfic #yeonjun txt #yeonjun smau #yeonjun x reader #yeonjun fluff #choi yeonjun #yeonjun #txt #tomorrow x together #drabbles #smau #kpop drabbles #kpop smau

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call-me-copycat · 6 months

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Do you have any tips for drawing?

Tips for drawing? Hmmm..

I'm still learning myself, so forgive me if this list isn't very long or detailed (ㅎ.ㅎ )

Normally I start a drawing with a reference, so I can get the anatomy correct (a real life reference alongside a character reference of the character/s I want to draw)

I normally go into Pinterest for this, there's lots of good photos to choose from

I then go into IBIS Paint and set up a canvas (the size changes depending on the picture)

I then try to mimick that reference as much as I can (since I can't really draw clothes and stuff on my own yet). This first layer is normally in red so I can separate the layers

Extra stuff I put in blue, just to help differentiate between them

I'm messing around with line thickness, and I've realized it makes the picture pop out more if you have the area where light isn't hitting thicker and the lightened up areas thinner. I also do this to the edges, I don't know how to describe it:

After the line art is done (and cleaned up!), then I draw my character on top of this in another layer in another color (typically a shade of orange or purple). I try to keep the lines thick on the outside and thinner on the inside

I start off coloring by doing everything one at at time, and I normally use a bucket for a base color and then add shadows in areas the reference has (if the reference doesn't have any then I try to estimate where the shadows would go)

Same thing goes for the character, and I take colors directly off of a screenshot

Because I keep forgetting to color the whites of the eyes and teeth, I make my entire background a light shade of gray so I can see the white when I do color it in

When coloring the shading on clothes I try to follow the folds

Sorry these pictures are so big, I forgot how to make them smaller.. (⁠;⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

I've had some really good drawings, and others that I've thought were really bad. I suppose it depends on my energy and how familiar I am with what/who it is that I'm drawing

I don't draw very much on paper (mainly just for projects and friends), but I do know that if you're drawing something over in marker then moving at a constant pace will keep it from looking odd (and causing it to bleed more in place)

♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡♡ ••┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈•• ♡

Sorry if that wasn't very specific, I'm still trying my best to learn what I can! I hope I can be greater help in the future!

It's also a little different for me because I have only my phone to draw on and I have to use my fingers since I don't have a stylus, so I'd say zooming in a great deal with a large canvas can help if you're in the same predicament ✍️(з_з)

Thank you for the question! I'll let you know if I remember anything else! Please have a lovely day! ٩(｡•ω•｡)و

#Drawing advice #drawing #copycat draws #ask answered #✏️#❔#💬

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blue-grama · 9 months

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Episode 3 is another win for the lighting team. How pretty is this scene in Tankhun's room?!

Product Placement Works: I Watched Bad & Crazy Because of This Scene in KinnPorsche (The Blue-Grama Story). It was okay.

No one has ever been as over Tankhun's bullshit as Kinn is over Tankhun's bullshit. Straight porn?? In MY house??

I feel you, Khun.

Yok and Tankhun being immediately "WTF" about each other is the best. You know they're each used to being the biggest personality in the room. They should have a sitcom.

I'm not the first to screenshot it and I won't be the last.

Ok, let's put a pin in Kinn's growing concern for Porsche's well-being here...

... because look at Porsche so annoyed at himself that he's about to display concern for Kinn's well-being, too! I feel like I kind of underappreciated the first time round how much caring was creeping in for Porsche already.

Ok just gotta backtrack to the beginning of that scene for ... scientific reasons. Hiiii, phoenix tattoo.

You ever go out with that friend who is just hellbent on ending their evening puking in the shower?

I love this little dance-off so much.

Again! With! The! Lighting!

Aww, this is so remniscent of them resting in the truck in the forest episode. 🥺

I remember being surprised they went with a kiss so early in the series when I first watched this! (This may have been a side effect of too many kdramas, where you're typically gonna get your first kiss halfway through at best, usually because the leads are hiding from the authorities, disguised as a married couple, or otherwise forced into it by the narrative.) But it worked for me. Clearly Kinn had been feeling it since the watch stealing (who wouldn't) and I love that this comes after the heart-to-heart about what it means to be in their line of work. Kinn has a desperate need to be seen, of course, but I'm thinking that Porsche really does, too -- who could he talk to about everything he's done for Chay for all these years? I think Jom and Tem know a lot of it, but Porsche is the type to keep as much as possible to himself so as not to burden anyone. He really drops the cool-guy facade with Kinn, just as much as Kinn drops his badass mafia boss facade with him, and I love that.

#kinnporsche #kprewatch2023 #kinnporsche episode 3

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shinygemstone · 1 year

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This is my toh trailer analysis. I am making this WITHOUT watching for the future. Please don't post spoilers under this.

So, first of all- Luz's palisman. It doesn't show up in this specific trailer, but I want to cover it very briefly. It's gonna be a snake. Judging by the color of the egg, it'll be somewhere between green and blue.

ANYWAYS, the trailer: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZIurNjdV-X0&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

The trailer starts with The Collector asking King to read them a bedtime story from a very tall book. It seems that King knocks it over and just starts reading.

It then cuts to a Lilith with short, curly hair, worrying about Hooty.

This does not paint a pretty picture. The moon sigil between Hooty's eyes implies that it is The Collector who did this to him, and his body looks like one of those puppets you'd put your hand through. Lilith lets a tear fall on him- I hope Hooty isn't dead, but it implies that for the time being, he functionally is.

Cut to the coven heads seeming to attack Eda. Eda also has short hair now, fun. King is just... watching. He's probably unable to help. But he has Hooty, which isn't very reassuring considering he's already been got.

At first glance, they look normal. Then you look a bit closer, realize that the sun on the healing coven head's, uh, horns, is a sun, that all of their jaws look strangely puppetlike, and realize that clearly the collector did something to them. Also the collector has no sense of style, just look at Eberwolf and Raine's hair 💀

The glowing eyes, at this point, to me, seem to symbolize that The Collector is actively using his puppets. There's clearly a puppet/doll motif here, which makes sense. The coven heads then proceed to raise spell circles against Eda, showing that even as puppets, they can still use their magic.

Enter Bump, who is actively casting a spell when he gets got. The other hexside teachers are around him, and the expected colorful magic moon, flicked by The Collector, his him. He gets turned into a cutesy puppet, too. Rest in peace, Bump. You're the greatest principal ever.

But yeah, there's a definite puppet/doll motif. Bump just stands there, implying that he is unable to move. This kinda contrasts the last clip, where Raine's movements seem very in character for them.

It's also very interesting that this clip corresponds with the line "seal them up, so that they never fade."

Perhaps that's an insight to the Collector's motivations?

The next clip is one I couldn't get a good screenshot of, but there's graffiti on the Owl House. Camila is (rightfully) worried, and the Owl House is empty.

It's followed up by Amity being surprised, and likely horrified by what's happening, and Belos triggering a glyph. Fun. It opens a secret door.

Hunter pulls Willow out of the way of an explosion, Luz and Amity are using their respective magic against something, and then there's this.

Good news- Scara, Barcus and Matthomule are okay!! We don't know what they're showing our protagonists, but judging from the smug look on Matt's face, it's something good. Perhaps the hideout of the people the Collector hasn't gotten yet?

There's more of Amity chosing violence, and then a surprised look on the faces of Luz and Matt. Maybe this is the point where the Collector finds the hideout?

They look scared. Also, I have a bad feeling about the spider behind Matt. Glowy, ominous, in the middle of the screen? And it might have the Collector's moon symbol on it. Not good. I don't like that spider.

Then there's this. I'll let it speak for itself.

King and the Collector look somewhere between surprised and angry. The puppets around them look scared. I don't really have any major theories on this one, maybe they found out about the hideaway?

There's another clip I can't catch of Camila throwing the baseball bat. Good on Camila. Nail that fucker.

And in this unhinged clip, the Collector says "You look fun. Want to play?"

I think he's talking to the viewer. Yes. Yes I do want to play. I want to play Minecraft. C'mon iPad kid, let's get you a less destructive hobby.

Except it's immediately followed by a clip of Harpy Eda with the Owl Beast taking control and hissing. Oh, Owl Beast is pissed. It lunges for the Collector. Get them. He needs an ego check.

So, yeah. I think that the main cast will only reunite with Eda at the end of the episode, if she isn't a puppet. I think Camila will be having regrets. I suspect that the Collector either keeps all of their puppets close to them or he just makes sure they're inanimate when he's not around/when he doesn't want them "on".

This is a freaky fucking turn of events and I love it.

#king clawthorne #the collecter toh #for the future #not spoilers #thanks to them spoilers #technically #but no for the future spoilers #theories #trailer analysis #toh speculation #toh thoughts

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hauntedtotem · 1 year

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Do you have any drawing tips?

•When it comes to digital art, if you struggle making lines clean or sharp enough, using a textured brush erases that struggle because the whole point is not being clean or sharp.

^left is obvious where mistakes were made and had to be erased, looks choppy and needs cleaned up. right does not need cleaned up much. saves time and energy!

•if a drawing looks a little too bland or unfinished, but you don't know what else to do about it, adding a texture overlay does a lot, especially for solid backgrounds

•For both traditional and digital artists, do👏art👏studies👏. No, this doesn't mean sign up for expensive art classes, it means spend a page in a sketchbook just practicing one thing. So instead of drawing say, a character portrait like usual, have a page that's just full of hands in different poses (use references! Very important for studies!)

2016 example, but you can tell which ones had references (hint: only 3 of them did,but they're way better than the rest)

the only recent example I had was an unfinished page of bird skulls :/

Which brings me toooo

Learning to draw realistic skeletons can also really help with anatomy, if your character looks wonky, think "could a skeleton fit in there?"

Thinking abt how their skeleton looks can help notice things like the eyes being too high up or the mouth being too low, or having no room for a brain

*this is not a dig at people with this style! It's okay to have more exaggerated features and you don't need to draw realism! The skeleton rule does not apply to cartoony characters obviously. Just some advice from someone that used to put the mouth too low all the time

•if you get stuck where you feel like you aren't improving, try different art styles out.

•If you have art block and don't know what to draw, try the 'dtiys' or 'draw this in your style' tags and pick something there, or do screenshot redraws from games or shows

•If you usually listen to music when you draw but it's just not doing it atm, switch to something like long YouTube commentary videos or documentaries, and vise versa. Sometimes the brain wants music, sometimes it wants information or gossip. When you get burned out from one go to the other

•this applies to traditional and digital art too! If you have art block on one medium, switch to another! If digital isn't working, grab a pencil or paintbrush, or play with some clay! Sometimes the brain isn't bored of art, it's just bored of the medium.

•If you're trying realism and struggling, break it down to simple rules.

And I don't mean the shape thing everyone suggests, I mean things like "the inner corner of the eye lines up with the mouth, the outer corner of the eyes lines up with the ears, your nose bridge leans into your eyebrows, feet are the same length as your elbow to your wrist, use the collar bone to guide the shoulder position, the armpit curves into the breast, etc.

*this doesn't apply to everyone or every expression! Remember the mouth moves around and comes in all shapes, it's a very loose "rule", and people's eyes aren't always the same distance or angle, just keep the ear around that general eye area

Glasses test: can your character wear glasses?

carlos passes glasses test- a better rule for mouths is to imagine smile lines, even if whoever youre drawing doesnt have wrinkles, theyre a good guide for mouth placement

•doing color palette challenges can help practice composition and shading with abnormal colors, and helps understand color theory

•for digital, you can overlay colors over a drawing to make the palette more uniform. Don't be shy abt messing around with it

•Watch speedpaints! Watch pencil animation clips! It helps

•don't be afraid to use your art supplies. Ik the struggle of "but I don't wanna waste it", but that paint will go bad if you keep it on a shelf for years! Use it already! Doodle in the "fancy" sketchbook! Yolo!!

•use cyan and magenta for mixing paint, not blue and red. The "primary colors" rule doesn't always apply to all mediums.

•keep your old art! Do not tear it up or throw it out just because you're not proud of it, it's cool to reflect or even redraw it years down the line (backup your digital art somewhere, even the ones not posted online because your computer could just die one day for no reason and take everything with it. It sucks)

•IF you sketch on paper and then digitalize it later, you can draw the pieces seperately and photoshop them together. So dont worry if you drew a really good hand but it's at the slightly wrong angle, or too far away from the body. You can put it where it needs to be without having to erase and redraw it

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blazingphantom · 2 years

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BACK AGAIN FOR MORE WENDELL AND WILDD Behold Buffalo Belzer stuff I found very interesting/overall just a lot of shit

1.If you haven't figured by now, mans a 300t foot giant. Like how- Is he a special kind of demon? Was he born normal sized but had a huge growth spurt? But before the trailer came out I already had a feeling he'd be tall- but not like TITAN SIZE. 2. Belzer's large, rotund gut houses the Scream Fair and from two separate articles I've read. It's strapped onto him physically and I figured and such because initially I was like 'how tf does he do daily stuff'.

Here you can visibly see red/brown straps going across his belly, so does that mean he can /stand/ up with Scream Fair still attached to him? 3. He's blue! I had no idea he was blue, only found out from an article. You can clearly see he is from when his horns emerge from the graveyard, before electricity(?) dances around his gigantic horns. (Blue matches him better, originally thought he was dark purple for some reason)

4. Belzer EATS souls. Like the homie full on chows down on em. Again, found this from an article. I think it was from a person interviewing Henry Selick. And when I read it I was like 'oh WHAT?' but looking back at this part of the trailer

The surroundings walls clearly move and are red colored and now with this info. So, yup. It isn't a moving hallway- but Belzer's digestive track. (Does this mean we'll get an inside sequence of him?) I feel bad for the souls, they do be eternally screaming. Another fun lil thing' apparently it was Henry's favorite thing to try and animate the insides of it! And his stomach was so big 3 people sat inside it for laughs. Not 'puppets' but 'people', like HUH 5. There were large scaled models built. I assume buildings ect. So Belzer in the movie could be this gargantuan titan when filming compared to the small scaled characters. 6. Also read from the same article, that the crew took pointers from King Kong and made massive animatable hands for him, that featured a lot in the film. I imagine scenes for in hell and in the land of the living. (Idk bout you but I'd die if I saw his massive grabbers coming for me) 7. We all know this by now but. Buffalo Belzer saw the bros suggestion/offer to change Scream Fair into Dream fair 'treasonous' from an article I read, which the guy had actually seen 30 mins of the film (lucky mf). I assume since he's been doing it 5,000 years he'd get pretty peed off at his own children suggesting it should be changed. 8. Belzer has elvis styled sunglasses. (I have a feeling he'll wear them in the first part of the movie where we're introduced to the demon bros and him. PS; I found it weirdly adorable) 9. In the Underworld, or the Scream Fair. Belzer lays in a massive boiling lake, sort of like a hot tub. Mans is chilling, I respect that. 10. So, I was rewatching the trailer before Belzer emerges from the ground.

I apologize for my shitty screenshots. NOW, when I saw this I thought it was the catholic school. But.. IT'S THE BRO'S HEARSE CARRIAGE- and if you look in the distance, you see shapes. But,, if you really think about it

THE WALLS look very similar to this image ^. Both are snow covered rocky structures. The hearse carriage is chilling right by the staircase that Wendell and Wild are at. And from there, the camera pans down to reveal Belzer's horn coming up to the surface. This could allude to the possibility; Belzer senses his sons are in danger. But then it changes to, oh is he saying ''im coming for you'' to the priest/Father Bests? Who knows. I think this could be a possibility again, since the separate scenes could all add up, the hearse carriage, snow covered stairs, ect. I have a feeling Belzer is either coming for the priest or his sons. Another lil thing when he says. Again about the 'I'm coming for you' Too me, he doesn't even sound pissed off. Maybe he is, maybe he's just the calm angry type. But trailers like to lap over voice-lines, right? But I wouldn't be surprised if it was voice lapped. It flows really well. So it could belong to that specific scene, maybe before he comes from the ground. But why is Belzer coming from the ground? Either A. He senses something off, suddenly realizes Wendell and Wild aren't with him in the Underworld. Probably loses his shit. (In the negative way aka utterly fuming) Or B. He senses they're in danger and goes to rescue/aid them. (Not so sure bout the last one, but could be likely? Mainly because it's night- and where the bros are mind-controlled(?) it's also night!) 11. He's described as vain, bombastic and bellicose. Now, it's no surprise to me. But I wonder how he'll actually act in the film- I imagine despite being having these traits- he could still be, somewhat nice?? But who knows! Bombastic marked by or given to speech or writing that is given exaggerated importance by artificial or empty means (from a post on twitter) Bellicose having an aggressive or fighting attitude (from an article review) Vain having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements (Henry describes Belzer as this) Yet despite these 'negative personality traits, he actually has a giant soft spot. Meaning it probably alludes to the fact Belzer probably isn't as bad as I think. I'm excited to see how his 'soft spot' plays out in the film. That's enough from me for now! Might do more later cos my brain likes to be funny and makes me suddenly remember a lot more after a while.

#Wendell and Wild #Buffalo Belzer #im fixating on this so much yall #very hyped for the film #i'll never shut up abt this movie #yall can't stop me #i'll keep editing this fr

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pashminalamb · 1 year

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hi belle !!! i felt like i had to come in and clear things up since the lil discourse started in my ask box lol and now i feel bad :,( in no way do i feel like there was any sort of even the slightest inspiration taken from the asks on my acc ! we've even talked abt it a bit here on ur blog lol (and i still need to reply 2 u, too 😭) so i'd also be thankful if the discourse stopped altogether cuz i strongly believe coincidents happen and i do not even feel like the idea was mine in any way so !

i hope what i said makes sense :// even i myself dont see any issue with this situation and i am absolutely frothing at the mouth to read interrupted lol SO with that being said, i hope the whole discussion dies down <3 im so sorry it ruined ur mood, sending u the biggest hugs rn ! :(

Thanks for dropping in and clearing the air, Zari

And yes, it does make sense. There are so many times when i see people literally paraphrasing my work and making plot lines with a similar synopsis as mine; like the other day i was going to call this author out in the bllk fandom and i spoke to my friend about it with screenshots and everything. And after thinking about it realized that erotica and romance are not unique genres and that includes dark content as well so themes can overlap and at the end of the day- it is not literally published work.

I'm not a fan of discourse myself tbh. and i don't understand why most people don't take it with a sense of rationality?

I've been on tumblr for over 4 years now, yes I started here when i was 16 and began posting last year. When i was at 250 followers, i released a fic and the idea was stolen by an author who had over 10,000 follows+ than me (who i had interacted with) and it went at a very fast pace of gaining over 170 likes in two hours or maybe less. I know what it feels like to have your work taken away from you and used by someone else for the purpose of their content. Why would i wish that on anyone else? Most of my followers follow blogs apart from mine that have blue lock content. so if i did copy someone's idea, they would notify me about it; and even if i knew that you had an idea like this in your blog i would have never used it as we're both writers for the same fandom. It would literally give me nothing but backlash from readers and ruin a reputation i've spent time building here -causing me emotional instability which is the last thing i want for myself (since i have already got a lot going irl) given the fact that hate spreads more faster than being liked; speaking from experience since i have seen enough number of discourses take place here and also on how bad it can get.

And even late last year, i had a whole wip list out for different fandoms including haikyuu and other animes that i watched, explaining what the fic was about and everything. But even that got taken away from me (one of the anons dropped a word for word title in the inbox of a famous author/ writer here + it turned up in the 'x reader' tags) so i rarely discuss what fic i'm going to write next and just decide to keep it a secret and release it when its done.

Thanks again for dropping in Zari (hope you enjoy reading 0^^0 *sending hugs back*); and since the discourse has been settled by both of us, on further notice any ask regarding 'interrupted' will be deleted.

#Belle.☏#.lost sheep : Zari

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team-heavenly · 2 years

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Chapter 12

This is just- waaait a minute

We had this chapter title already!! WTH randomizer! I’ve seen how long your title generator is, this ain’t fair!

Alright, I hereby dub thee by a new, specially chosen title picked from our list:

STOP POSTING ABOUT TIME GEARS! IM TIRED OF SEEING THEM!

(Honestly the list of options are so freaking funny, maybe at the end of the playthrough I’ll post the whole list?? 👀)

Anyway. Between the dialogue after Underground Lake Gigantic Lavafields and the confrontation at Crystal Lake... there are so. many. plot-relevant screenshots. Even after I consolidated multiple lines of text (from the same speaker) into one dialogue box. So this chapter has three parts!!

Remember when I said I’d stop taking plot relevant pics? Ah... good times. :’)

Click here for Part 2!

Click here for Part 3!

Seeing the text I edited onto these screenshots is a glaring visual reminder of my camera’s poor visual quality sdkdshsdhjsd. How do you guys stand reading it? (Alright, I’ll be quiet now.)

And now, the part where Gulpin doesn’t know when to shut up:

(My fandom brain is ITCHING to correct these blatantly incorrect facts, even as I know they’re supposed to be wrong.)

Qwilfish is Azelf?? Innnnteresting.

See? He talks FOREVER!

Now, I’m a pretty fast reader. I usually set the text speed to fast in video games. And it doesn’t feel extensive when you’re thumbing through it, eagerly devouring the story line.

But when you’re taking a pic for every new line of dialogue... and you have 20 pics for this exchange alone... it feels like a lot xD

Ooooh, okay this answers my question from the last post. Eastern Forest is totally untouched, presumably because you never go there.

*Kronk voice* “Ohhh, right, the crystal. The crystal for Beedrill. The crystal chosen specially to be a deus ex-machina. Beedrill’s crystal. That crystal?” (YES, that crystal!)

...Oh yeah. No one else in the guild knows Teresa is secretly a psychic. This must have been a real WTF moment.

It takes a few moments... Everyone’s staring at Teresa and making the poor girl nervous. She has no control over the visions, and an audience certainly doesn’t help.

Oh that was Qwilfish alright. The poor guy was wriggling like a fish out of water. I’m not sure how Togetic roughed him up so bad when his spikes are so venomous...

(Ah, yeah. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a bit of a Star Wars junkie.)

“I have a question for you, Teresa...”

It’s not clear to YOU. I know what’s going on though. We get the tinted filters to tip us off. (Visions or flashbacks to the past always have an orange or sunset tint, while visions of the future tend to have a deep blue tint.)

Way to assume the worst, Magby. That’s great for morale!

Gotta hand it to Gulpin, he knows how to whip up a crowd and turn around the tide.

And then no one shows up until you’re gravely injured. Those dang StaryuBucks baristas.

Anyway! Now that we’re finally past that large wall of dialogue... some miscellaneous updates during our quick visit to Nautical Cottage.

(I just thought this was funny xD Toothy Carvanha grin.)

Er... well, actually, it wasn’t a quick visit. I’ve had a problem for a while now. At the Silver Rank, your storage capacity is only 200 items. And these dungeons have been so overloaded with goodies that, frankly, I ran out of storage space during the last chapter. So you know how they won’t let you deposit anything if the storage is full? Well, what do you do when your bag is full, too?

I tell you what: you sell or toss one item, take one out, sell it, rinse and repeat several times... Even after selling all the duplicates, I kept getting pushed to the limit. Prize ticket exchanges only did so much. I couldn’t go on like this.

So I glanced at how many points I needed for the Gold Rank. It was something like 960.

I took a deep breath. And decided to power through requests for the next several in-game days. What follows is a brief collection of highlights.

(...Also I guess I look like a hypocrite now for scolding the guild about being late 😅)

The Manaphy Egg?! HELLO?!

I picked it up for novelty’s sake. But it can’t be put into storage. It can’t be sold. You can give it to someone, but it doesn’t do anything. There’s no way to use it. All it does is take up a slot in your bag. So with a heavy heart, I ended up tossing it.

OOOOOOOO!! Our first Egg!

So when an Egg hatches, it draws from the pool of enemy Pokémon in the last dungeon you visited. In the base game, this gives you a rough idea of what to expect. In the randomizer though? Every floors has a completely different pool of Pokémon. So the possibilities are much more varied. It could be literally anything (that was in the dungeon, anyway).

It didn’t hatch before we finally left for Questionable Causeway though... stay tuned for updates!

Team Heavenly received their first recruit from the juice bar! We already have Barboach, but I said yes anyway.

And then somewhere along the way, I received an... interesting request.

First off: TOGETIC?! Bro should be out there stealing a Time Gear and instead he’s chilling at the cafe like:

Second: I’m going to be honest... Out of all my years playing this game, I have never received a job request like this before. I don’t know what dungeon the “Cold Earthworks” is supposed to be. I didn’t even know the Dragonite Scale was an obtainable item until recently. (For those wondering, it’s basically a Heal Seed.) I was super tempted to go just to see what this was all about. But it’s only a C Rank job and I didn’t want to waste any more time than I had to ranking up. I might do it after the trap is set at Crystal Lake though.

Oh and for added hilarity (see last item):

*Y E E T*

I’m shocked Tumblr hasn’t yelled at me about the image limit yet, but we’re no doubt nearly there so click here to read on in Part 2!

#pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd explorers #randomizer #chapter 12

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ethotv-archived · 2 years

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Would love to hear about the playlist

i love you. im going to put this under a cut bc it will get VERY LONG so. here it is. ultimate ethubs playlist autism (and heres a link to the playlist if you want to listen to it :3)

fair warning a lot of these songs are. love songs. which leads to a more romantic leaning interpretation but you can ignore those parts if you want, i didnt make this playlist with a platonic OR romantic version in mind i just picked songs

OBVIOUS BLASÉ: yeah this song is in the playlist twice FOR GOOD REASON. its the life series etho song of all time you will never find another one like it (it even fits dl but i wont mention that here. sorry). its first in the playlist bc its about ethos feelings on 3rd life because the entire song is about fire and literally playing with matches. i wont go on a 3l etho rant but yeah its very important. the playlist title comes from it! im not gonna bring up specific lyrics here bc they have more impact LATER in the playlist

THE LIGHTHOUSE: bringing back the fire lyrics YAYYYY ^_^ i think this might be the least connected song in the entire playlist but i had to include it bc i love it. just read the lyrics here i dont have a lot to say on them but i really needed to put a song in before bdubs turns red so this one is about them not knowing if this alliance will work out but going for it anyway <3

PARADISE LOST: oh my god ethubs song soooo so so mcuh i have to go through this with specific lyrics because i have to go indepth. this one is right after bdubs goes red for reference

obvious connections here - theyve knwon each other for so long they end up teaming and running in circles around eachother they cant stay away. also "yellow fades to blue" is a reference to a different song but to me if you replace blue with red its about them having the same dynamic as always until bdubs going red messes with it

do i have to. explain this. "cant bring myself to cut ties i know you better than anyone" i cant say anything more. themcore. they cant escape eachother no matter what and they DONT WANT TO

ok almost done with this song but THIS is about how etho is the boogeyman when bdubs goes red. also "will i survive its so hard to tell" screams and cries forever. etho keeping bdubs in the snow fort was "selfish" int hat he SHOULD kick bdubs out but he desperately doesnt want to but also it helps protect him from reds AND gave him a way to get a boogey kill

CLEAN CUT HEALS: im sorry for putting so many songs from one album in a row like this it just. worked out so well? another song about the snowfort split yeah yeah im predictable

they both KNOW they need to split but they dont want to even if it hurts more like this. i dont really have much more for this song EXCEPT the bridge. because while this song is etho pov the BRUDGE.

^ bdubs pov. right in the middle. im too reckless baby..... not much to say. but i had to bring it up so everyone knows

WITH ME TONIGHT: BDUBS SONG. BDUBS SONG. hes trying to win etho over to the red side hes wants it so badly but it isnt working. ignore the parts about it being unrequited it IS ok it is but not every song is perfect. i think it could be taken as bdubs exaggerating to make etho feel bad though

i wish they had killed eachother at least once so i could make this fit even more but.. well im glad they didnt also. + foreshadowing in that last line about how wanting to be with etho will kill him. i would just put screenshots of more lyrics here too but i dont want to reach image cap by adding things just to look at. listen to the song

EMPTY WITH YOU: [dies][dies][dies]

bdubs song begging etho to go red with him. hes bargaining so much by appealing to how much fun they can have as long as theyre TOGETHER. they could take down the whole server! soooo them so so so them. have cried listening to this one

COME UNDONE: "skeppy this is the third song about bdubs wanting etho to go red" ok and. they fit. theyre good. this one ESPECIALLY because it has ties to 3rd life (on yellow, i couldnt do anything. but now thats im red- im a weapon). also connects to etho being boogey

he wnats etho to go red but hes constantly turned down despite being able to TELL etho wants it too. also fire motifs. endless fire motifs. youll be seeing a lot of songs from this album bc its the most redlife bdubs album ever written

GREENER WITH THE SCENERY: cycles and loops and endlessly going through the same situations without seeing an end.... this song is etho after bdubs goes red for the 3rd time.

etho is frustrated that no matter how hard he tries to get bdubs back on yellow he isnt able to stop him going red again and again but he knows he'll keep trying. also do you know how much i would kill for an ethubs lifeswap that couldve made this so much more impactful but WHATEVER. its still good

BLOODY NOSE: bdubs is back!!! we've reached the river confrontation and life exchange deal.. yeah theres a lot of songs about this too because i feel a lot about it. bdubs knows he isnt going to survive this mission but he also knows its his only chance and he cant back out now because he will NEVER get etho down to red with him, even if he'd prefer being red together than yellow

he LIKES being red and how it feels to have that, even if hes going to die. also the dancing reference to fuel my personal insanity that i might go into some other day. + this song has "even on my worst nights i never stop the sunrise" which i take as a little nod to his sleep thing on hc

MEN ARE ALL THE SAME: oh my god. oh my god. bdubs after coming to terms with the fact he'll die here is bitter towards etho but also doesnt want him to be mad that he couldnt make it back. im going in depth on the lyrics here bc i REALLY LIKE THIS SONG AS A BDUBS ONE

obviously we start with the 3rd life reference because who am i if not a 3l etho insanitybot. hes reminiscing on their weird relationship in 3l and their weird fighting but not fighting thing they had. hes asking etho not to question why he likes being red so much and why he couldnt stay yellow for him and THEN the ultimate hit of the last 4 lines - if you love it then let it go (let bdubs prove himself and win a life back) but he knows etho likely wont be able to find out the full circumstances behind his death. (also a meta reference to how bdubs footage got corrupted. lol). but dont blame him for not being good enough... this song is so much. so much. hes bitter but hes scared and hes resigned

bdubs knows etho isnt going to win this on his own despite being known for his isolation. its easier to leave on a suicide mission than to continue trying to win etho over knowing itll never work

sorry i said some of the songs are explicitly romantic but you can take it figuratively - he never gets to say a true goodbye, forced to pretend he'll come back (isnt it a trope that people who leave on dangerous journeys wont say goodbye because "theyre coming back"? yeah. that)

TAKE IT AWAY: etho doesnt want bdubs to die he DOESNT. he wants to get him back no matter what but he isnt willingly to risk his own safety for it, because he hasnt fully processed that if he doesnt help bdubs hes out forever (i thought we would be together and everything would be ok again). FIRE MOTIFS ARE BACK!

i dont have coherent thoughts on this. take my hand take my life.. also unrelated but even the little intro sample thing fits because to me its etho questioning what he'll do without bdubs

MEANT TO DIE: [bursts into tears] bdubs... song..........

hes dead and hes out forever and he DIDNT WANT THIS he knew he was going off to die but he still tried his best his last words were crying out to etho. yes he made bad decisions as a red and bit off more than he could chew but he TRIED.

OBVIOUS BLASÉ (AGAIN): so. how do you feel now.

it is so hard for me to put how i feel about this song into words. while after 3l its his regret at not winnign and all that hes lost by this point it has entirely new meaning. "ghost, tell me that youll stay" is AGONISING bc bdubs DOES stay as a ghost, the only person in the series to do that. etho knows bdubs would prefer him with that bloodlust. and he knows its HIS FAULT that bdubs is dead, for not just giving him the life right there

they both knew it couldnt end well and they did it anyway. while in 3l etho was LITERALLY playing with fire and got burned in turn, this time merely pairing with bdubs was enough to doom him since they would never stay together forever and now he has to try get over that while still winning. bittersweet... (i didnt win it for you but you didnt win it for me either). yeah take this song away from me

ALL THAT IVE GOT: just. just. look at this. please ignore the gay sex implications the song isnt even about gay sex

i dont. i dont know what to add here really. etho struggling after bdubs dies and not knwoing what to do without him.. he forgets bdubs isnt with him and he just. doesnt know how to cope. this song is a lot but i cant even articulate it just LOOK AT IT. oh my god. its all that he can do

WATERED DOWN: we made it. finally. this took so much of my time. i actually dont have a lot of specific lyrics for this one because its just. more vibes than anything? just finishing off the playlist with more etho not knwoing how to live in ll without bdubs and then. like dying i guess. at this point im very tired listen to the playlist. how are you this far without listening to it please do

#mailing list #ITS DONE. THIS HURT ME MENTALLY. everyone tell me im cool now this is literally me crying about ethubs for however many words #imgoing to lie down now this took. an hour and a half #well no i elft for half an hour. so it took about an hour total

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merlinband-archive · 9 months

Text

70s Invasion: Merlin Reviews & Fan Accounts

Page updated as of January 27, 2010. Fan accounts are dated as April 2006 and January 2010. Album review & information is undated.

Text and website screenshots are preserved below in case the link goes dead.

MERLIN photo from their lp

( scroll over to see more of the band ) > > >

updated as of Jan 27th '2010

recieved a writeup on MERLIN sent in by a music fan making some corrections to our reviews on Merlin here, we posted it below the other writeup sent in in 2006,

MERLIN

GREAT lp this band put out in '74, lots of variety and allthough it's along the lines of SLADE, and SWEET, the 1st 3 songs are different from the rest of the lp......

'SPACE RAIDER'

offbeat synth rocker , sci-fi prog element up front, listening closely it reminded us of the same beat of DEVO's 'SPEED RACER' that came out yrs later in '82, for a few seconds u can hear the background singers in MERLIN going 'ha, ha, ha , ha'.....very similiar to DEVO's 'PEEK-A-BOO' from that same lp.......i wonder if DEVO ever heard this song cause listening at first you'll notice this, however the band were not at all like DEVO in any way we just wanted to make this apparent....some lyrics; 'I SAID I MADE TRACKS IN HIS FACE, NEEDED SPACE TO FILL A HOLE I HOPED THAT I WOULD, FIND A PLACE, A PLACE TO CALL MY HOME'

' TAKING PART '

again this too is different from the rest of the lp, sounds like a cross between the MOODY BLUES and RUSH...guitar melody begins ' LIKE A CEASAR BALL, BUT THEY SEEM MORE HERE THAN ME, FOR ALL THE WORLD AND ALL IT's UNEXPECTED COMPANY', and 'TAKING PART, TAKING PART OF THE UNIVERSE, MAKE A START , AS TIME GETS CLOSE TO US, WE RUN OUT OF SIGHT......

'GETTING INVOLVED'

this one is gentle folk-pysch similiar to what maybe PINK FLOYD did in the late 60's.........'WERE GETTING INVOLVED LIKE A MYSTREY UNSOLVED , HOW'D YOU THINK IT WOULD END, BUT QUITE OF THE TIME I BEEN SEEING THE SIGNS, YOUR MORE TO ME THAN JUST A FRIEND

'GYPSY'

GOOD strong hard glam number, along the lines of SLADE or GEORDIE, they're trying for the 'so bad it's good sound'........elec guitar solo in the middle.....' I NEVER KNOWN A CHICK LIKE THIS SHE GOES WILD FOR JUST 1 KISS, NEVER KNOWN YOUR KIND BEFORE WHEN IT COMES TO LOVE SHE WANTS MORE, MORE, MORE, GYPSY, GYPSY WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO' ?

' HE THINKS ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME'

SLADE-like good time pop rock........unique synths..kinda has the beat from the GRATEFUL DEAD's 'ROLL AWAY THE DOOB'...some lyrics -..'HE NEVER REALLY GOT OVER U, YOUR MEMORY STAYS ON HIS MIND, HE SAID HE'D LIKE TO SEE U JUST WON'T COME AROUND', and ' HE THINKS ABOUT U ALL THE TIME, CAUSE HE's STILL A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE'....

'LOOK AT LIFE'

GREAT BALLAD ! this lps very BEST number !!.....begins with a slow piano into a pure SPARKS pop song or to be more precise they sound a lot like MR. BIG ( see below).....'I STEPPED OUTSIDE AND A WHITE LIGHT HIT ME ON A CLEAR LOS ANGELES DAY'...and .....'WHAT A FUNNY WAY TO FALL IN LOVE'....and 'ISN'T IT STRANGE THAT NOTHING MORE THAN A SMILE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD' ??? ends with guitar wailing, this song itself is enough to buy the lp, but side 2 has many other GREAT ones too......but about this song ya know after hearing it a lot or a few yrs later in our case it reminded us of a funny kinda pop number, a really beautiful pop number with a funny guitar riff that they pick up on and carry all the way to the end and the singer is asking you to look i mean really LOOK at life.......this song is so good is could have shoulda been at the top of one of those K-TEL or Ronco 70s pop compilations......the band did have some other single releases we've been told but one wonders if they ever topped this song ?

'MARLINA'

GREAT opener ! SWEET-like rock, u notice that after the beginning vocal intro of ' HOLD MY HAND WHILE WE'LL REACH THE SKY, DON'T LET GO WHILE YOUR FEELING HIGH'......bass chugs along just like one of SWEET's classics, elsewhere they sing 'DEEP BLUE HAIRDO', and 'TAKE ME AND SHOW ME WHERE U ARE'.......

'SWEET CHEATIN' RITA'

'SHE's MY SWEET CHEATIN RITA, AND I KNOW HOW MUCH U NEED HER, MY CHEATIN' RITA' ! ........thats right the ALVIN STARDUST glitter classic is covered here surprisingly, and they do a GREAT job too !....( to see reviews of ALVIN's lps, see page 5 )......we were later told that MERLIN did the original and Alvin covered it the next year in '75....

'ALLRIGHT'

GOOD NODDY HOLDER imiatation on this number with elec guitar and elec piano, campy sounds abound........ 'ALLRIGHT YOUR DADDY DON'T MIND, YOUR MOTHER DON'T MIND, YOUR SISTER DON'T MIND, ......ALLRIGHT YOUR TEACHER DON'T DIG, YOUR PREACHER DON'T DIG', and 'ARE U READY FOR ME AND MY BIG BIRD, SHOOT EM' UP' !........plus horns in the middle along with car racing sounds, in '74 u oculd find camp on almost any glam lp...

'LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON U'

...melodic glam pop rock similiar to SLADE.......'CAN'T U FEEL THE MAGIC VIBES ELCTRIC FIRE', and ONE LITTLE SPARK LEADS TO A FIRE, COME ON COME ON U KNOW U CAN TAKE ME, LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON U .......

'WILD CAT'

....the band has a GREAT closer, solid beat, EXCELLENT STONES-like guitar work ,SLADE sound however more like T.REX glam rock style...... 'HEY BABY DRESSED IN BLACK, COME ON WILD CAT AND SCRATCH MY BACK, OVER HERE AND LET ME LOVE U', and 'CAUSE IT AIN'T RIGHT LETTING U GO'.....( fades)

WRITEUP on Merlin sent in early April '06....

Merlin included vocalist Alan Love, guitarist Jamie Moses, keyboard player Bob Webb, bassist Paul Taylor, and drummer Dave Whitwhick.

Merlin arose from a band called Madrigal in late 1973. Madrigal had been on the scene since 1967, but only drummer Dave Whitwhick remained from the original lineup. Jamie Moses and Bob Webb joined Madrigal in 1973,and singer Alan Love joined soon afterward (he was previously with the psych band Opal Butterfly).

( see page 2 for reviews of Opal Butterfly )

With mostly new members a name change was in order, so on the way to a gig Webb came up with the name Merlin.

Merlin released a self-titled album on CBS in 1974 (UK CBS 80338). The group released a handful of singles, with two reaching the top twenty:

Put My Spell On You / Just Another Fish On My Hook (UK CBS 2146) Alright / Pictures In My Mind (UK CBS 2421) Wild Cat / Only Half a Man (UK CBS 2790) What a Funny Way To Fall In Love / Rock and Roll Express (UK CBS 3021)

NOTE: There were several Merlins around at the same time, so any other Merlin singles you might see are by different bands (I've confirmed this with Jamie Moses). The first three singles are taken from the LP, but have non-LP B sides. The fourth single is non LP and is rare as hell - the A side is lame, but the B side - Rock and Roll Express - is a KILLER glam track.

Merlin supported David Essex on an extensive tour in 1974, with Gary Strange (ex-March Hare) replacing Paul Taylor on bass. The group disbanded not long afterward.

Jamie Moses and Bob Webb would go on to join Royce, a band that featuring singer Nigel Benjamin just before he joined Mott.

Jamie Moses is now a member of the Brian May Band, and is currently touring as second guitarist on the Paul Rodgers and Queen tour.

Justin Purington

2nd writeup on the band sent in Jan 2010 by a fan

Hi, I recently came across your site reviewing the self titled Merlin LP. I thought i'd send across a couple of points for addition. It is stated that Sweet Cheatin Rita was an Alvin Stardust cover. Merlin actually released this a year before Alvin Stardust. Oh and Dave Whitwhick is spelt wrong. I know it is on the LP cover as that but it was actually a miss-print. It should be Dave Wightwick Also, they split on the opening night of the tour where Nigel Benjamin (Mott) was to join Merlin replacing Alan Love. Many thanks for the reviews, is great to see people have an interest. Kind Regards,

Peter

#stories

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ariapmdeol · 11 months

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I don't think I have to sign these anymore lol but still, 8:11 anon back once more

Yeah I noticed that S was canon, considering the start of the DLC implies such. I should have been patient, my bad.

Purple? Damn it genuinely looks blue. Easy mistake to make, thank you for clarifying. And noted on the ending conditions, it's all very interesting just how much matters.

Kanou even in death and specifically after threatening Atou, still wants to help out. RIP <3 and I figured something akin to that? My running theory was that he might have been a doll at that point or something of the sorts.

I'll finish what's currently in the playlist and then see about contacting you, thank you.

UTSUGI THE WET CAT THAT REALLY NEEDS THERAPY PLEASE THIS MAN. They all suck. All these men suck and that's why they're so incredibly good characters.

Oh, do you have links to those solved ciphers, if you don't mind? They sound fun!

And oh! I completely forgot about Seodore disappearing from the picture and seemingly his entire existence. I assume that has to do with the DLC start sequence, so I won't ask but am very intrigued.

All these changes are so incredibly cool. This game is awesome. I wish I had better words but it's just so goddamn good.

I'll also reply to the music answer as well: WEEEE glad my instinct was correct!

If I may, next one for consideration because I have Hajime and Utsugi brainrot: The Good In Me by Jon Bellion. Without thinking it over twice. Yes I am going insane over these characters I love gay tragedies where both parties really need help.

And!! I am so willing to shout about 8:11 once you start playing it. So good

I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH THE DLC!! the first scene of the dlc is actually one of my favorites in the whole game (oughghgh i understand whats going on there i explode).

I'll put the solved ciphers under the cut, though be warned that they won't make sense to you yet! These show up in DLC and the DLC 2020 credits, and i'll end with the ones from the artbook (alas no images for those bc we're not supposed to share artbook things publicly BUT i think the ciphers are fine).

YEAH. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! THIS GAME IS SO GOOD. every single detail is planned out in INCREDIBLE DETAIL, there's foreshadowing for things that only show up in Interlude as early as chapter FOUR. I HIGHLY recommend a rewatch after catching up completely, as certain information completely changes the context and makes some documents stand out more sdakjdkaslj. this game is so good COE forever!!!!! like. the ending variations mean EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS, and makes it VERY difficult to get S root first try (the youtube TL showed this, but there is unique text if you get S root without getting any of the others first. Similarly, if you do S and then E root, there is bonus text (Which the youtube TL showed as well!)

ohh this is an interesting pick for hajime and utsugi! I think it's very neat :D im not as familiar with the lyrics for this one but i think its a cool choice! my personal hajime and utsugi picks are With a Billion Worldful of ᐸ3 - Mili and 神曲 - R sound design (THERES A REALLY PRETTY ANIMATIC FOR THIS ONE BUT IT'S DLC SPOILERS orz ILL SHARE WHEN YOU CATCH UP).

ciphers: some have screenshots, some don't! anything bolded was encrypted.

DLC record 4: (italics is red text)

This is a concept you shouldn't know. Dante sealed it away. What right do you have to access this place? If this information were to be disclosed, it would be unstoppable. I need to do this to the end. I hope that those who have inherited the Sephira factor share the same motive as I.

DLC 2020 Credits:

reference definition: earth execution name: line A target period: 1912-2019

the border says 'square circle'

Draft: God

ARTBOOK:

the image of the Lantern says 'Protagonist'

the image of a certain character and with a horrifically warped text box says (bold is one cipher, bold+italics was in a diff cipher, normal text was displayed normally):

Unhandled writing operation has occurred in record __. ‘saving data…’ Error: player character does not exist. 2019-05.

fukao why did you do this one in two different ciphers. FUKAO. EVERY OTHER CIPHER IS THE SAME ENCODING EXCEPT FOR THE 2019-05 FUKAO WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME (this last one stumped me for a long time. i learned a lot of random skills in order to study cell of empireo)

#aria rambles #aria answers #coe spoilers #erm.#gavi no clicky #i guess??#i dont want gavi seeing my cipher solutions #until she gets there in her own playthrough o7 #anon #8:11 anon

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butterboy69420 · 1 year

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Butterboy's Bizarre One Piece Rambles Part 2: Alabasta

Yet another saga I will tackle with one post. Well...mostly. There's one thing I want to talk about first. Again, none of these screenshots are mine, they're stolen.

WARSHIP ISLAND

I know this arc is filler, but I think Apis is cute. I thought this arc was cute and wholesome, with Apis wanting to protect her dragon. I wouldn't mind if Apis had become a canon character and had joined the gang. Also! She's a Devil Fruit user too! That's cool.

I don't have much to say about this arc, but I thought it was a solid one-off story. I definitely think this one was worth watching.

REVERSE MOUNTAIN

I like the little bits of worldbuilding upon establishing the Grand Line. There's the Calm Belt and the Sea Kings, which definitely add peril to the Grand Line. I just thought the different conditions of the sea was neat. That requires them to use log poses instead of regular concepts. I thought that little bit of worldbuilding was neat and really added more meat to the world. Really adds more to the adventure feel. Anyways, because this is a show that involves sailing, they have to run into the obligatory whale. And that whale is Laboon. Lemme just say, Laboon is baby. I love that whale. Poor guy just got abandoned. Luffy and his gang better come back to him at the end of the series or else I'll be sad. I think it's sweet that at the end, Laboon just has the Straw Hat symbol drawn over his scar.

I also find it so funny that Laboon just casually has a fucking island inside him and that the old flower guy is just looking after him. Like everyone mistook his insides for being at sea. Also Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday are first introduced here, which is neat. After the whole thing with Laboon, the Straw Hats take them to Whisky Peak. Speaking of which...

WHISKY PEAK

I think it was about this point where I noticed this saga had a more linear story than East Blue. So basically the Straw Hats are welcomed to this island that treats pirates like celebrities, which is way different from how previous islands treated them when they showed up. Previously in East Blue, if they went on an island, they were usually treated with disdain. But then here they're treated like celebrities. But there's a twist. This island is run by Baroque Works members, who is the group of big bads in this saga. So they get ambushed by them and they all fight.

Imma be honest, I don't remember much of this arc aside from the "Luffy, it's good to see ya buddy!" memes. It's not really that this arc is forgettable, it actually has a lot of important shit in it such as introducing Baroque Works. Anyways, they fight the guys and they defeat them. Fucking Luffy and Zoro fight each other. There's these other two guys, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, who show up. I think their abilities are really cool, although Mr. 5's fucking Snot Snot no Mi ability or whatever is...unique to say the least. Anyways, they're here because it turns out Miss Wednesday and Mr. 8 are actually spies for Baroque Works. Their real identities are Princess Vivi and Igaram, who are both from the Kingdom of Alabasta.

I liked that Mr. 9 and Miss Monday, even though they're not from the Kingdom of Alabasta, they still decided to ally themselves and fight for Vivi and Igaram. I was a bit sad that they never showed up ever again, but hey at least Vivi joined the gang. Oh yeah, there was something about Luffy destroying the log pose that Vivi gave the gang to take them to Alabasta, but I'm not sure what that was all about TBH.

Also...I have a bit of a crush on Miss Monday. I wish she did more, sob sob.

I forgot to mention that Miss All Sunday, Mr. 0's partner in crime, is also here. She cryptically shows up on the Going Merry. She's important. Keep her in the back of your mind.

God I want her to step on me.

LITTLE GARDEN ARC

The gang arrives to Little Garden, which is not so little. There's fucking dinosaurs and giants here. There's two giants here and they're in this 100 year war with each other, and that...weirdly also ties into Zoro and Sanji's weird rivalry with trying to see who can collect the most amount of dinosaur meat. I dunno, I wasn't too invested in this arc just yet. Until Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week showed up, knocked out one of the giants (because characters in One Piece don't die, sometimes to a fault, as you'll see later). I love Miss Golden Week's design, she's just a little painter girl, she's so silly.

Anyways, Mr. 3 nearly transforms Zoro, Vivi, Nami, and one of the giants into wax. And while they're being transformed into wax, Zoro just decides to fucking pose in the middle. God, Zoro is so stupid sometimes, it's great. Like you'd think he'd be some stoic badass, but he's actually just as dumb as Luffy sometimes.

I think it was silly that Usopp looked up to the giants. It reminds me of myself when I look up to fictional bara men from animes. One of which will be mentioned soon.

But yeah, where's Sanji in the meantime? He's in some random house and he poses as Mr. 3 while the real Mr. 3 is getting his ass kicked by the rest of the gang. And he's calling the real big bad of the series, Mr. 0. And I find that moment with Sanji to be the coolest thus far. He just picks up the phone and says, "Hey, this is Kuso Restaurant." HE'S LITERALLY JUST MESSING AROUND AND BEING SUCH AN INCONVENIENCE FOR BAROQUE WORKS, IT'S GREAT.

There was also a whole thing with Coby and Helmeppo from earlier which honestly redeemed Helmeppo for me. They're both chore boys in the Marines and they end up proving themselves to Garp, which is neat. Helmeppo learns to truly value Coby and their friendship, it's honestly great.

DRUM ISLAND

Oh my god, I have a lot to say about Drum Island. This is one of the most peak arcs in all of One Piece. Drum Island is basically Canada but if Canada's healthcare system wasn't free and only restricted to the King. I like Drum Island. It really cemented how gay Nami and Vivi are for each other, as well as introducing us to Tony Tony Chopper.

So Nami gets sick, unfortunately, and they need to head to an island with a doctor. Nami keeps insisting that they ditch her or something, which...NOOOO, NAMI... And Vivi keeps insisting that they go to a doctor... I dunno, Nami and Vivi's interactions with each other really hit different. As time passes, Vivi gets more and more worried about saving her country, but Nami's just always there encouraging her... GAH. They're so cute together. I'm a huge NamiVivi stan. Nami doesn't interact with anyone else the same way she does with Vivi.

Also with Zoro, we can still clearly see how Mihawk has affected him, and he's training in the cold without a shirt.

Luffy and Sanji try getting past these carnivorous bunnies to bring Nami to the one doctor in the whole country, who everyone says is a witch doctor, and then the avalanche happens, causing Sanji to pass out in the process. So Luffy, being the gigachad he is, decides to carry both Nami and Sanji all the way up with his bare fucking hands. Holy shit, that moment goes hard. You know shit's going down with Luffy, who's usually a jovial, goofy guy, is serious and determined. His hands are bleeding and shit. And then he reaches all the way to the top of the mountain after literally risking his life to save his friends, and he asks Chopper to help his friends. Not help himself. Help his friends. Luffy's a dedicated captain. He truly does care about his crew.

Anyways, onto Chopper's backstory. Chopper was just this blue-nosed reindeer who was kinda an outcast, even amongst his own species. Then he ate the Hito Hito no Mi, which made him even more isolated from his family. He tried integrating with humans, and he just gets outcasted by them as well, treated as a monster and shot at. Weirdly enough, this is somewhat relatable to me as an Asian-Canadian. Not quite Chinese enough to fit in with my Chinese family because I speak Chinese like a fucking five-year-old and barely know anything about my own culture, but I don't look white so I stand out amongst my white peers. It all changed when he met Dr. Hiriluk, one of the only doctors who's in the country still after the rest of them are either working exclusively for King Wapol or exiled, who showed Chopper that he could trust him by...taking off all his clothes? I dunno, Hiriluk as another outcast, befriended Chopper and it's really sweet and stuff. He told Chopper about how he looked up to pirates and how he wanted to create cherry blossoms on Drum Island. But then after a year, Hiriluk kicked Chopper out once he was all better and no longer had to treat him. Why? Because he didn't want Chopper to see him die. He was slowly dying of some unknown anime disease. However, how Chopper sees it is that this is the one friend he made kicking him out of his life. So Chopper does everything he can to get back with him. Injuring himself, and eventually finding a mushroom to cure his sickness. Except here's the thing. The mushroom was poisonous. Hiriluk ate it anyways cause he figured that he's gonna die anyways, why not try convincing Chopper that he's fine, right?

Anyways, Hiriluk's goal is to make the cherry blossoms to cure the country of its sickness, as well as going to cure all the doctors because he's been told they're all sick. Anyways, King Wapol fucking lied about that because he's a fucking dick. So Hiriluk essentially sacrifices himself for the country's sake. The way he went out... FUCK. I didn't cry at that, but holy shit, it went hard.

So that's why Chopper lives with Doctorine now. Chopper's so fucking cute, honestly. He has the same VA as Pikachu, so that definitely helps with that. And he's like...he's baby. Nami compliments him and he gets so giddy but he's trying to hide it but he's also so bad at hiding it! He's just a little guy! But he's also scared of getting close to people. After all, being mistreated by almost everyone he sees... IDK... It'd be hard.

Also, there's this one moment with Sanji that really shows his kindness. When Chopper sees Luffy fighting Wapol and his two lackeys, he asks Sanji what he is. And Sanji says, "He's a monster." Really showing his empathy to Chopper. It's so sweet.

Anyways, Chopper finally gets to join after some convincing, and his farewell with Doctorine is really sweet. She's really harsh on the surface, chasing him out of the castle, but then she sends him off with the very cherry blossoms that Hiriluk made. And it's honestly such a beautiful moment. Ignore the fact that this

On a side note, I love that Oda fucking draws the ugliest fucking crying expressions on everyone, man, woman, child, reindeer, with drool and snot thrown into the mix. And it'll still be an emotional fucking moment.

ALABASTA

Finally, we're at Alabasta. And oh boy, we have a lot to fucking digest because this is almost 40 episodes for this one arc.

First, we're introduced to Bon Clay, AKA Mr. 2. He's so silly goofy. He's the first canonical queer character in all of One Piece, being able to shapeshift into various different bodies. Anyways, they kinda befriend him at first? But then Vivi realizes he works for Baroque Works. They draw Xs on their arms and wrap them with bandages so that they can tell which is the real version of each other and which is Bon Clay. It's also a sign of their friendship.

Anyways, they finally arrive in Alabasta and we're introduced to Portgas D. Ace, who is Luffy's brother. I honestly don't get the naming system in One Piece. Ace and Luffy don't share a family name. The only thing they have in common is the D. So is the D their last name? If so, then why is it in the middle? Is Luffy Luffy's first name or last name? Anyways, Ace is pretty cool, ironically enough from his power. I feel like his appearance serves as foreshadowing for the time being because he's introducing us to Blackbeard and he's a member of the Whitebeard pirates. He's basically Luffy but more mature. He stays with the crew for a few episodes and then dips, so we'll definitely be seeing him in the future.

Also the Marines are in Alabasta. They followed the Straw Hats from Loguetown to Alabasta and they have an altercation with each other.

Luffy is also very silly and stupid and he eats the fucking green powder, thinking it's food. This powder is the illegal dance powder that Baroque Works has framed the King of Alabasta with to get there to be a civil uprising in the Kingdom.

We get to hear Vivi's backstory with a guy called Koza, and they were childhood friends. We learn about the situation in Alabasta and how Alabasta hasn't seen rain in at least a hot minute, and how a town called Yuba has been seeing a shitton of sandstorms. It's also revealed that Koza and Vivi are in opposition with each other because Koza is the leader of the rebel army. Koza's father gives them a thing of water so that they can travel safely, which is really sweet of him.

Also Chopper befriends a perverted camel named Lashes.

I honestly feel really bad for Vivi. She's going through so much stress and she's putting so much burden on herself. She's kinda the opposite of Nami, where she's more calm and idealistic, whereas Nami's more hotheaded and realistic. I think they're good foils for each other because when Vivi gets more stressed out about stuff, Nami's there to be calm for her. Being a princess sucks, I learned.

This is the one screenshot I took of the entire series and it's just Nami and Vivi sleeping next to each other.

Anyways, Nami x Vivi break aside... The gang find themselves in the casino where they're face-to-face with the big bad of the arc for the first time, Crocodile. And lemme tell ya, I love Crocodile. He's my favorite character in the series. He's just like me for realsies. His ability is just so fucking cool. Who knew that sand could have so much potential? Although I figured out his weakness pretty quickly because I thought, "Well, he can't turn into sand if he's doused with water because wet sand doesn't get blown into air." Anyways, he tries to feed the gang (minus Sanji and Chopper, and plus Smoker) to his bananagators. Sanji manages to bust their asses out and help out Vivi, taking advantage of the fact that Crocodile isn't even aware of his existence at that point. He also managed to get Mr. 3 to make a wax key to bust them out. God, I love Sanji. He's so cool.

After that, the gang starts heading towards Alubarna, but Crocodile intercepts them. Thus enter round 1 of Crocodile VS Luffy. I really like that Luffy just wants to go straight to defeating Crocodile rather than having to battle all of his remaining underlings one by one. He lets the others head to Alubarna while he himself fights Crocodile.

Anyways, it didn't go so well.

The rest of the gang are doing their own fights with the underlings they encounter around the gates of Alubarna. Which I think is neat, because everyone gets their own time to shine. My favorite fight of them all is Nami's fight against Miss Doublefinger though, because this is Nami's first real chance at fighting one-on-one against someone. And she's given her own weapon called the Clima Takt by Usopp. Which...side tangent here, I love the friendship between Nami and Usopp. They're such besties, and I mean that platonically. One Piece allows men and women to just simply be friends with each other! That's amazing! That's so good! They're usually shown sobbing and hugging each other when they get freaked out by something. It's so good. The Clima Takt really suits Nami, since she's a navigator and understands weather conditions enough to maniplate them to her will.

Vivi also runs into Bon Clay at one point and remembers that she can differentiate between him and the real versions of her friends. Which, I will also say, the fight between Sanji and Bon Clay is also peak. It's just lighthearted and fun, which is so nice compared to the other, more serious battles.

Meanwhile, Crocodile and Miss All Sunday (AKA Nico Robin) have Nefertari Cobra in hostage (I will also mention that Cobra isn't as serious and stoic as you think he is, and he's honestly such an honorable King). Vivi tries to stop the rebel army from attacking but she's completely foiled by Crocodile's fucking sand getting in the way. Crocodile's plan is to essentially take over all of Alabasta.

Crocodile may seem one-dimensional and evil for the sake of evil like previous villains. But what makes a villain like that hold up is that he is a genuine threat to the things that the protagonists care about. Because he sets up real fucking stakes. He set up a fucking revolution in a Kingdom while posing as a hero for the Kingdom, while wanting to take it over for the sake of power and thus threatening the destruction of the entire country. He's honestly really cunning. Also, there is definitely more to him because I know he shows up in the future and even ends up allying himself with the protagonists later on. He could even reappear in the current ongoing arc, which...I look forward to seeing that if it happens because he's honestly such a great villain. He says an awful lot of stuff about not trusting people, which feels like it's hinting at something. Also we barely know anything about the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and he's only the second one we've seen thus far. There's still so much we don't know about him, even after finishing Alabasta.

Anyways, Luffy's actually alive and he gets saved by Pell the bird guy...and Miss All Sunday as well. So he fights Crocodile again while the Kingdom is on the verge of being blown up. This is the part where it's revealed what Crocodile's weakness is. Water. Crocodile ends up defeating Luffy again though and if I recall correctly, he basically dries up Alubarna to the point there's cracks on the ground. Can I also just mention? There's something aesthetically pleasing about Crocodile with wet hair. Like his cool, calm exterior has just been foiled and he's losing his cool. Back to the fight, Crocodile's motivations for allying himself with Miss All Sunday/Nico Robin is because she can read poneglyphs. He believes the poneglyphs in Alabasta will reveal something about some weapon called the Pluton that can supposedly make him super powerful and shit. We don't know what that is by this point yet still. Upon figuring out that the poneglyphs don't actually contain the information to the Pluton, he stabs Nami. What is it with my favorite villains stabbing the hottest women in the show? Looking at you, Kars...

I also made a Tweet making fun of Crocodile for being named Crocodile...but also that's genuinely such a cool name.

Anyways, part 3 of the Luffy VS Croc fight. I think his fight with Crocodile is super cool and it definitely is a more strategic fight, which I super much like. It's very cool when characters use strategy against each other to exploit each others' weaknesses rather than simply using raw strength. It's nice. It's neat. Luffy ends up using his own blood to weaken Crocodile. Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to disarm the bomb and Vivi is still trying to desperately stop the fight by shouting on top of a clock tower. Again, I really do feel bad for Vivi. Crocodile eventually gets defeated, the King and Nico Robin get saved and stuff. There's also a lot of interesting foreshadowing with Nico Robin and stuff, how she was wanted as a child and stuff, stuff about her being an archaeologist, and why she lied about what the poneglyph said... Definitely looking forward to her own arc. To add to that, Smoker and Tashigi letting the Straw Hats off the hook... I love unlikely allies and antagonists helping out the heroes.

Alabasta being saved was very satisfying. The climax is over and Vivi has to make a decision between going with the Straw Hats and staying in Alabasta. She ultimately chooses the latter option, wanting to continue protecting her country.

And oh boy... Her farewell scene... It made me really sad. Because the Straw Hats couldn't shout back without attracting the Marines to them, it almost seemed as though they were gonna just leave without saying goodbye. BUT THEN THEY LIFTED THEIR ARMS UP TO REVEAL THE X ON THEIR ARMS... OH MY GOD. IT WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT. YOU GUYS. IT REALLY WENT HARD. I didn't cry but it was such a beautiful moment and I know a lot of people cried here.

Also...one final note. The way Nico Robin joins the Straw Hats is definitely different from how the others joined. She just shows up instead of having some game-changing arc. I know she has her arc later on, I'm just pointing out the fact that it changes up the formula of characters joining Luffy on his journey. Her reasoning for joining is because she's pissed off at Luffy essentially putting her on suicide watch. Again, looking forward to seeing her.

Alabasta is just. Mwah. That's it for this madman rambling. Skypiea is next and I've heard good things about it as well.

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talenlee · 1 year

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CoX: Riprap

Time to time, I write up an explication of characters I’ve played in RPGs or made for my own purpose. This is an exercise in character building and creative writing.

“Ey! Ey you! What’s your matter, eh!?”

They say that Sharkhead kids bite first. It’s a rough town with rougher industries, overseen by outsiders from St Martial and Grandville. Fact is, Sharkhead’s people have to grow up quick and grow up mean, scavengers and scroungers, trying to find some way to wind up in one of the least bad lives.

Fallon’s day job was to shift crates. And the most common thing they shifted was coral from many mining operations around Sharkhead. Do it long enough, inhale enough, and you’d wind up…

Changing.

When Fallon found they could shapeshift into a coral-armoured coralax, they did what anyone else in the Etoile would do with deniability: Go smashing their enemies, while keeping it hidden.

If you worked with Fallon it was probably while still in the Etoile. They have come out of the Etoile to do some kind of fighting, but mostly because they want to beat down people who are threats to Sharkhead. Like, Monster Island, that’s an option, maybe going offshore to take out Sky Raiders, that kinda thing. But Fallon is a real homebody of Sharkhead — someone who gets into fights in the city of steel and teeth. Fancier places look down on them, rougher places don’t respect what they can do.

Thing is, you probably don’t know you’ve worked with Fallon. When Fallon is fighting, doing hero work, they aren’t visibly themselves; chunks of coral float up over their body, growing off buds on their shoulder, and turning them into a Coralax; pale blue, and armed with huge, jagged Coral fists and protected by more coral armour. Chunks break off and they regrow, with the beastly inhuman form of Riprap’s secret identity typically only communicating in the form of strange, bestial shrieks.

Their biggest and most obvious problem they have is communication. They don’t use sign language – they tend to try and only engage with things where it’s obvious what they’re doing; raiding locations, fighting people, picking things up and leaving with them. When fighting at range, they’re out of options, and instead tend to jump into the water, swimming away, which builds on a lot of people’s opinion that they’re just a dumb monster.

They’re not, they’re just a smart enough monster to never get caught.

Mechanics

Riprap is a Stone Armour/Stone Melee tanker, and their build hits these goals:

45%+ defense to Smashing, Lethal, FIre, Cold, Energy, Negative, and Psionic damage

62% resistance to Smashing and Lethal damage

85% resistance to Fire and Cold damage

75% resistance to Toxic damage

3,000+ HP compared to a Tanker’s base line 1800

20% increased damage

Permanent Hasten, 172.5% global recharge

This build is expensive. They have Winter IO sets, a purple set, and a Tanker ATO set. These purchases are all because this is a build that I made to put under stress, so I could see what Stone/Stone could do. I almost wish that the build had room to pick up a Patron pool so they could have an additional Coralax that runs around with them.

This is a build that gets to do something I really like, though, which is invest in the Musculature Incarnate power. This adds to damage and endurance modification, a pair that works well if you don’t already have some way to hit the damage cap, and multiple powers that increase your endurance recovery. I like this, because I am very, very lazy about managing endurance.

If you’d like to look at Riprap’s build, you can check this data link here.

History

I made Riprap entirely to get some screenshots.

Two updates ago, Homecoming did an overhaul to Stone Armour and Stone Melee. I didn’t have a stone armour character to investigate it with, and I find that reading descriptions and playing in a builder program doesn’t really give me meaningful insight into how updates like this function in actual play. Rather than rely on those things, I decided instead to level a Stone/Stone character up to level 50 and explore how all the powers interacted. I built a character, used a look from my basket of costumes that were kicking around, levelled the character and that was that.

Since slots aren’t in high demand, then, I figured I’d work out a concept for the character, something that ‘worked’ and I’d get around to it. And, throwing the character into my big ole spreadsheet, I filled in some fields, just to make sure the character was different to other characters. At that point, I realised I didn’t have any ⨀ symbol gendered characters — I use that to represent a character that doesn’t use the ♀ and ♂ symbols. It’s catch-all — it includes robots that don’t have genders, or agender aliens, but also, importantly, nonbinary people.

Then last year, we got our update that gave us Prismatic Shards, and the ability to wear monster appearances as a character option, and an idea began to form. Because rock powers, sure, rock works out, that’s okay, but I feel like ‘rock’ is the most basic, simple version of the power you could do. And it’s a bit limiting. I got thinking about alternative ways to use the rock powers without just being a rock themed character. I got inspired by Sharkhead Island, a zone I’m very fond of, and decided to make a character whose powers related to the magical coral of Sharkhead, which animates big junk golems, and is tied into the power of the Coralax.

These pieces slot together nicely. Riprap’s Coralax appearance works with their powers. I had an absence of a gender, a starting location, and a gimmick: they’re a person who turns into a coral monster person. Since I didn’t delete them, I got to add another cool character concept to my roster, and made a rad nonbinary superhero who got to play in the rough, brawly space of Sharkhead, a zone I like.

Right now, Riprap doesn’t have a buncha friends or anything but it’s okay! They got a solid start! I dunno, maybe I’ll stick them in a group with Robyn Hoodie and they’ll be the tough monster character of that group of Vigilantes in the Etoile.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Games #Making #CityOfHeroes

#City of Heroes

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