#but it was neat to try to get similar vibes but better

[minnarr]

doctor who 3.10 — "blink"

"It was raining when we met." "It's the same rain."

remake of x

[anthurak]

One of the things I love about the Lucifer and Alastor scene/rivalry is how these two come off so similar yet clearly seem to be approaching from two completely directions.

Like Lucifer is kind of the embodiment of the whole ‘massively ancient and powerful and does not take himself seriously one bit’ vibe we’ve seen from the likes of Ozzie, Bee and Mammon. This is ostensibly THE top dog in Hell, yet he gets into a musical pissing match with some rando who was talking shit about his parenting and seemed to be trying to be a better dad then him. He’s at the absolute top of the chain in terms of power and status yet clearly cares nothing for any of that and seems to only care about his family, his ducks and his crippling depression.

Then on the flipside we have Alastor who is clearly this tightly wound bundle of nerves and hangups who keeps ALL of it carefully repressed and beneath the surface, who also clearly has MAJOR issues and beef with Lucifer and is trying very, VERY hard to not let that slip out. What exactly those issues are isn’t ENTIRELY clear yet, but we can certainly make some pretty safe guesses. Like I personally imagine that Alastor kind of hates Luci but also knows he CAN’T actually do anything directly to him, owing to both Lucifer simply being MASSSIVELY more power and more likely the fact that his wife is almost certainly the one holding Alastor’s proverbial leash. Which of course could itself help explain Alastor’s beef with Lucifer. So Alastor has to content himself with simply fucking with the fallen angel however he can while trying VERY HARD not to let his composure slip.

Which of course, he fails at.

(As an aside, I do love Lucifer’s grin here. He KNOWS he just got a genuine rise out of Alastor so he makes that petty little ‘I won’ grin.)

It really makes these two really neat and interesting foils as characters. Both come out with a big, flashy, whimsical and playful showman shtick. But for Lucifer it all seems to come from a genuine ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’ earnestness and passion for performance, while Alastor is largely using it to hide a tightly wound bundle of repressed feelings.

[stemmmm]

Stem's Thoughts on Harvest Moon 64

(that other title's too long so i'm cutting it down now)

Harvest Moon 64 opens on a scene of your character walking around the street, speaking to everyone in the village who’s come to the event. You quickly piece together that this event in question is actually your grandfather’s funeral, the same grandfather who’s farm you’re about to take over. This little scene beautifully sets up both the tone of the game, and immediately shows the player that this iteration is far more focused on the story and characters. HM64 tells a story about the lives of many people in a small, dying town. It is a story about life, and it is a story about death.

A short disclaimer before we dig in: I played this game before the idea to write these essays cropped up, and have not replayed it since then, so this will be mostly vibes. I will try to do my research to make sure I’m not straight up lying though. (Also all of the images in this one are from google because I don't have a means of getting images from my N64 other than photographing the tv screen and I'm not doing that.)

What’s new!

HM64, also called Harvest Moon 2 by HMGB2 and nothing else I’ve ever seen, is the direct sequel to HM SNES. It’s not a sequel in the usual way sequels are, where you’re continuing where you left off with the same character, but in that every main character is the descendant of their equivalent in the previous game. It’s not important to the story, in fact if you don’t already know this, you probably wouldn’t notice anything past some similarities. I played this game before I tried out SNES and it still took me a minute, plus having it directly pointed out to me to get it. Maybe I’m oblivious, who knows. 

Gameplay-wise, this iteration is home of a few series firsts: For one, your house can be upgraded to have a kitchen! You can't cook though, only collect recipes. You can also get a greenhouse where you can grow crops year-round. Sheep are introduced as barn animals that produce wool. You receive a fishing rod you can use whenever you want, but as far as I understand, the timing is nigh impossible unless you’re playing on a CRT (I am not, and never managed to catch a single fish). There’s a mine you can access in winter for something to do while you can’t grow crops (there are fall crops, but not winter) where you can find about two key items and garbage otherwise. Tool upgrades are no longer done by magic, but by leveling them up through use! Which I think is very neat and feels very natural, like you’ve just become more proficient with them as a farmer through practice. Characters can now come to visit you on the farm at random times, for either special story events or just to say hi! Your farmer can get sick from working too hard in bad weather, just like your animals, and there’s now medicine for that, just like your animals. And there’s inventory menus that I'll discuss at better length later.

What’s the same is… Most things in a basic sense. You’re on a farm with a dog, planting crops, raising livestock. You can make friends with folks in town by talking to them and giving them gifts. The livestock mechanics, as far as I could see and as far as I’ve been able to understand from online forums, are exactly the same as they were in SNES, the exception being there’s no wild beasts that can kill your animals but they’ll still get sick if they aren’t fenced overnight– and they’re not going to eat any grass unless they’re out overnight anyways.

As for your farm, you’re set up with the usual: a small house, a barn, coop, and fodder silo, a wood bin to store debris cleared off your farm, and a big messy field that you have to clean up before you can properly use it. It starts with three new additions though; a doghouse, a bowl that you can feed your dog with by putting edible items in there, and a mailbox that you’ll occasionally receive letters and notices in! They’re small additions, but very, very charming. The one thing that’s been removed is the toolshed, now replaced by a tiny toolbox by your house.

The world outside your farm is like an enhanced version of the SNES map. Imagine the town and forest now have one or two extra sections tacked onto them, one in the town for some extra housing, and a couple in the forest to let you explore the mountain more and get you deeper into the woods. The mountain still has a cave in it (this time with Harvest Sprites, who have been removed from your farm) and a summit you can climb to for certain events, but it has been upgraded with little wild animals that wander around and can be picked up and shown to people for a few friendship points, if they like the animal. (This applies to your dog too, there’s a well known exploit to max out Karen’s friendship in one day by repeatedly showing it to her in the bar where time is stopped.) The crossroads zone is also expanded by having three new areas you can travel to– the ranch that you buy animals at, a vineyard that’s more of a story-area, and a beach that mostly comes into play for a couple of summer festivals! 

On the visual side, this game is the series’ first venture into the new frontier of 3d graphics… kind of. The artstyle is made of isometric 3D models that are rendered into flat sprites and then projected onto the TV as if that’s not what’s happening. The game even lets you turn your farm around in 3D to face different directions, but it’s locked to only let you play in specific angles. Changing the direction made me forget where everything was and get lost on my own tiny farm, so I never touched that mechanic.

Due to the dramatic artstyle shift– not only being in 3D but also presented at a 45 degree angle, the game becomes a fair bit harder to play than either of its 2D predecessors. The controls are just a little clunky, and the bizarre shape of the N64 controller really doesn’t help. This makes the tedium of farming a little irritating to do, since it requires pretty precise inputs done over and over for every extra thing you’re trying to grow. Fortunately, you're not on the hook to ship everything before 5PM comes around like in SNES, so you get to move a little bit slower. The fickle farming experience also gets a little help from the new inventory menu that can be accessed anywhere and any time. It has multiple inventory slots for both tools and items, each type having a dedicated section so there’s no need to prioritize carrying tools versus turnips. Unfortunately, this actually ends up being a little more cumbersome than useful, as the menu takes a little longer than is comfortable to open and is pretty clunky to use. I mostly avoided it unless I was bringing gifts to people. But the addition of an inventory opens up the opportunity for something else which defines this entire game...

Key items– a set of unique, unsellable items –are most frequently found in random, secret places around the farm and town, and they give you a reason to scour every inch of the place. They can also be given to you by NPCs when you gain relationships with them, which is convenient because their entire purpose is to help you get even better relationships with each of them, and maybe even unlock little stories with characters. For example, there’s a music box you can dig up in your field that can be given to any of the girls for a decently sized relationship bump. There’s also an old weathervane in the shape of a chicken that you can find in the little mine. If you give it to Rick, he’ll tell you that it was a precious thing that belonged to his grandmother as a cute scene to deepen the town’s lore and connect it to the first game. Key items quickly become the most important and sought after things in the game because they act as a vessel to deliver that which the game is all about: stories.

Lots of people in a little town

The narrative premise is exceedingly simple: you need to fix up your grandfather’s ruined farm and make a new life for yourself in this town within a certain amount of time, just like its predecessors. Except, this game is a lot bigger than either of them, and it didn’t fill all the extra space with new things to grow on your farm. In my entry on the SNES game, I mentioned that the introspective style of writing turned the repetitive farming gameplay into something more like meditation on things going on in the town. This game takes that idea and runs with it! The town in this game may only be slightly bigger than it was before, but it has a lot more people in it, and every single one of them has a lot more to say, more to do, more festivals to go to, and more story events to take part in. There's even a new photo album that fills in with images for reaching special events or succeeding at certain festivals! Your given goal may be to successfully revitalize your farm, but that rapidly stops being the reason why you want to play. Farming is only a means to further the narrative of the town.

Story events are no longer a reward for reaching the highest heart level with a girl, but instead something that happens naturally in the world as you make better friends with people, or if you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. The world doesn’t only consist of you living it and things happening to you. Instead, you end up being a fly on the wall to other people’s conversations and life events, and you get to see how those events change the people around you. People will begin to say different things, go different places, live different lives without your input at all– often much better lives, as everyone in the town is pretty deeply troubled, whether they seem like it or not.

There’s an added depth, too. While the characters in this series have always been defined by their conflicts (in the first game, every big cutscene with each girl was exclusively about their major life conflicts), this game takes it further in multiple ways. Characters have conflicts with their families: you as the player have a conflict with your parents who can take you home if you fail to farm well, Lillia and Basil have conflict over their marriage and the fact that Basil leaves for half the year, and Karen’s family situation is…. A lot. Then, there are characters at conflict with things much more nebulous, like the Mayor who tells you that the town is going to die out but he can’t find any way to save it, or like the young boy Kent who wants to be a farmer just like you, but through a series of events is forced to learn that life isn’t so simple, people can’t just do whatever they would like, and it takes very hard work to get to do the things you dream of. And then there are conflicts that aren’t even necessarily conflicts unless they run into your long-term plans.

Instead of only having a bunch of girls in town who exist only as your prospective marriage candidates, there are also five boys in the town who will marry those girls instead of you, if given the chance. Like in SNES, there are 5 levels of hearts that the girls can have for you. Unlike SNES, each one of these hearts has a corresponding event you can have with the girl where there’s a chance of her liking you more afterwards, if you say the right things. In addition to that though, there are just as many events coming from the other side of the story, rival events that trigger if you happen to be good friends with the boys.

My favorite story by far is that of Harris the mailman who falls in love with the librarian, Maria, from just seeing her handwriting on the outside of all the letters that she would write. I frequently saw him in the bar at the end of the day and he would tell me the woes of his love, saying that he just needed to work up the courage to finally speak to her. Then one day, I happened to be outside of the library when he and Maria met face to face and she handed over a letter addressed to him. No longer did he sit in the bar forlorn every night, instead all he would do was excitedly tell me about Maria, and then when I visited the library, Maria would tell me about Harris!

While I’m on the subject of these characters, I think it’s worth going in a little more depth on who these people are past the grandchildren of the characters from the last game. See, you may be familiar with names like Karen and Kai and Gray, etc., etc. from a little recently remade game called Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, which is a modern version of Friends of Mineral Town on the GameBoy Advance, which is a port of Back to Nature on the PlayStation. These are not those characters. At all. While the basic elements of these characters are intact– Popuri is cute and childish, Ann is a workaholic, Maria is shy and a little oblivious –nothing else is the same. They all work different jobs and marry different people than they are paired with in later entries, and in my humble opinion, it all works WAY better in this game, probably because of the fact that these characters were designed for this specific context!

As an example, Popuri’s exasperated mother, Lillia, runs the flower shop and Popuri was named by her father, Basil, who loves plants. She’s childish and sweet and loves flowers, but can also be a complete brat. She eventually marries Gray, Ann’s brother, who lives on the ranch run by his father, Doug, who struggles to understand his children. Gray is an angry young man who seems to have a particular dislike for you, but you don’t learn why until you discover he was a promising young jockey until he got a bad injury and had to give up the sport.

Am I gushing a bit and letting the game design part fall to the wayside? Sure probably, but I can only gush because the game does a brilliant job of making a cast of characters who, while simple on their own, have interconnected lives that come together to give every one of them so much more depth than they would have otherwise. It all builds a narrative, and while narrative design is definitely something different than game design on its own, this game is far more about the narrative so it’s impossible to not focus on.

The problems

The trouble with these events is that I nearly missed the chance to see that letter be exchanged. You have some control over the progression of the events, because you have to be decent friends with the boys in order for them to trigger at all, but unlike the girls who have a handy visual signal of how much they like you, the boys have no such thing, so you can’t really know if a new event is ready to fire off. There’s no way of knowing where or when they’ll happen either unless you look it up, and even then you have to get lucky because sometimes they just don’t trigger when you want them to. I had a lovely moment in my game where I managed to accidentally catch a cold from working too hard in the snow and lost a day to being bedridden, followed by the New Years celebration which takes a day away from you, then followed by Kai and Karen’s wedding– something that I had missed multiple events for and therefore had no idea was coming, which also took a day from me. After that three day chain of no work, I think I was extremely lucky my animals didn’t get sick and die. 

This chain of events led directly to me never speaking to Gray again, even though he was the boy I was most interested in, because I wanted to marry Popuri and there was too much risk of him getting to her before I could. The reason why I didn’t go into more detail about the relationship between those two when I was talking about them earlier is because I straight up don’t know it, I couldn’t risk giving them a chance to get together.

The thing is, even if I hadn’t forced Gray and Popuri’s cutscenes to stop, I still wouldn’t actually know what their relationship is like, because I have not beaten this game. I know what the ending entails and I can reasonably expect I probably would not have gotten an excellent one, but I’m sure it still would have been fine. I stopped playing the game entirely before I even managed to get married. Why? Because I couldn’t get any of Popuri’s heart events to trigger. I had her hearts maxed out and had a blue feather ready to go in my pocket, so I could turn on the game and marry her right away anytime I wanted to. But I wanted to trigger the little events, even if they’re just a couple seconds of some pixels talking to me on a screen. They’re cute. And it made me sad that I couldn’t see them for some imperceptible reason. So I stopped playing and didn’t pick the game back up.

I don’t remember how close I was to the end of the game, I know I was at least in year 2, but I don’t even remember how much longer the game is after that. Probably a good amount. I had definitely gotten most of the events you could get at this point, since multiple other characters had gotten married, and the farming wasn’t something I really enjoyed so I can’t say I wasn’t at least a little bored by this point, but I wasn’t frustrated with the general mechanics of the game. The days were long enough, but not too long, that I had just enough time to go anywhere I wanted and do what I needed before night came. I could still talk to characters and go to festivals and play minigames. But I didn’t want to, because the game wasn’t doing what it seemed like it was supposed to for some arbitrary reason and that frustrated me enough to make me stop. When the fun of a game is found more in experiencing special events rather than anything else, the player feels cheated out of their good time when those events are too hard to find or can be missed outright, and that’s exactly what I experienced.

Parting Thoughts

The ending, according to what I've read, is very similar to the SNES endings, in that you’ll get different results based on all of the different things you’ve done. Whether you’re married, how many crops you shipped, how many animals you have, how well liked you are by the town… I imagine it’s not quite the victory lap that SNES’s ending was with its little cutscenes, since apparently all you get are comments on how well you performed by various people in the town, but it still seems nice and rewarding! At least like more of a reward than whatever the hell GB1 was trying to do. It seems like a perfectly good ending that it would be nice to see myself someday.

Despite all my troubles with this game, I believe HM64 is still the best one out there– at least that I’ve played yet. The events are plentiful and the content is meaty. The repetitive day to day dialogue still has the simple breath of life that SNES did, that manages to make the most out of a small amount. Don’t get me wrong, this game came out in 1999, I’m giving it a lot of praise but the characters still repeat the same line to you every day, and they still freeze in place until you leave the room. It’s revolutionary, but this is comparing it to a game on the literal Super Nintendo. Absolutely pick up this game to try it out, but keep those expectations tempered. That said, I never picked up this game nor knew a thing about it until I was well into my 20’s, but the moment I started playing, it hit me with a wave of nostalgia as if I’d known this game my whole life. At least to me, the look and feel of the game were like coming home to a childhood I never had.

 Will I pick up this game again with the intent to beat it? Maybe! Hard to say for sure when I’m trying to play decades worth of games and write about them at a comprehensive level. What I do know is that this is exactly what I want more farming games to be. It’s a game that has thoughts about life, and about death, both good and bad. And I think this is the perfect context to share those thoughts.

[marchiekana]

Human heater anon here, I'll just call myself Anon H,I know you're not back from your camping which I really hope you're enjoying, camping is amazing if done right. Kinda makes me wanna do it. Anyways ! I'll leave this idea here, take it or leave it ! I just need to get this out to someone.

Ahem, I had the sudden thought of a reader who's just the most chill, laid back and nonchalant person. Someone is being annoying ? Reader doesn't care and and just keeps going. Alone ? Just Vibing. Someone disagrees with them intensely ? It's cool mate. Though it sometimes attracts people to diminish the reader because they know the reader won't care so they lash out their pent up frustration. They also annoy the characters (I'll mention them after), as in they're just TOO laid back it can be a pain. I think Silver Wolf, Serval and Kafka could be neat for that. Thanks for reading my little rant.

I'm back ehehe

But anyways this prompt made me kick my legs and giggle 🤭

Also there might be some grammer or spelling mistakes cause I typed this in like half an hour

I feel like kafka would share a similar energy too but hers is more... calculated? She'd definitely try to mess with you and make bets with the other members to see who makes you angry first(which she miserably failed at ).

Oh but she loves how you are sometimes( she loves u all the time). Your laid back attitude when someone is angry with you and seeing your nonchalant answers anger the person in front of you is free entertainment for her and the best thing is the snarky comments you give each other when you're having an argument. She'd purposefully try making you angry (which she'd, again, fail to do so)

But! Sometimes, just sometimes, she doesn't really like how you don't take things very serious. Especially when you've come back hurt from a mission or fighting with someone. or if you just fell down on the stairs. She hates how you don't take your injuries seriously and that annoys her a lot. Would subtly scold you in a soft tone but even after you shrug it off and tell her that you're fine or remark on how funny it was that this happened to you, she would raise her voice and tell you how she feels about what you're doing. But no worries after a little fight she'd apologize and tell you to take care of yourself and makes sure you do so.

But if someone really tried to hurt you both physically or with their words, that person better pray for themselves.

Now for Silver Wolf, she'd.....do nothing. She doesn't care much honestly. She likes how calm and friendly you are. Loves how you don't disturb her during her gaming sessions and will be ready to teach you any game you want. And the thing is, you're the only one who doesn't make her angry while she's teaching you cause you're pretty fast learner. Unlike a certain few.

And the way you fight is quite amusing too her. You're both very similar in that. A smug, expression and taunting words. Would definitely enjoy seeing you fight while she's on the sidelines.

Serval is an absolute tease about it. No intentions of making you angry, she just thinks it's cute.

But if, by any chance you get hurt while fighting or you happened to break one of her precious games, you better get ready cause you're in for a little ride around tantrum town. She doesn't like that you just say that you'll buy her a new one or tell her that she's overreacting with that stupid smug smile of yours. Its like You're not really sorry when you really are. Your expressions just don't match Your feeling and that causes a misunderstanding and then you're gonna get silent treatment for about three days and few death glares here and there. And maybe a few petty fights....but that's ok cause she'll forgive you in the end and tell you to atleast care about her feelings.

She absolutely loves your nonchalant smile/smug! You just look so good! She likes how cool headed you are and how well you handle situations, it could be an angry customer at her shop or anyone to say the least. Its not like she can't handle the customer herself, she wants to watch you do it, with that pretty little smug on your.

But just imagine, one day you broke her favourite trinkets given to her by her brother and she was already having a bad and then sees the condition of the trinket and an awkward smile on your face as you apologize to her. On that day, you saw a Serval that was a whole different person. She scolded you, you got angry and again, with that smug, taunting smile of yours, say something to piss her off more and she leaves. You better go ask her sorry after this and buy her some flower.

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Idk buf Kafka seems a bit too ooc in the end, honestly all of them do but oh well. thanks for listening to my rant too lol 😆

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© marchiekana do not repost, copy, translate or plagiarize my work!

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[wh0re-in-the0ry]

Types of animals I think the Chuckle/Sorry Boys would be

Note: I don't want to be too obvious, so Schlatt isn't a ram and Phil isn't a crow.

Schlatt-

Schlatt is a bear not the San Fransico kind specifically a grizzly bear. I mean it is pretty obvious when you think about it. Grizzlys are fucking huge, they avoid human interaction whenever possible, they mate maybe once every four years, and they enjoy taking long naps (hibernation). If that isn't Schlatt, I don't know what is.

Ted Nivison-

Ted is a pitbull/labrador mix. These types of dogs are kinda smart, energetic, very playful according to google. Also speaking from experience, these types of dogs are a tad bit silly, a wee bit funny, maybe even goofy if I do say so myself. Just looking at these two and my brain just think they are one in the same.

Slimecicle-

Slimecicle is an octopus. It's mainly because if I didn't know what either of them were and someone was to describe them to me, I would not believe them. I would also like to mention their ability to change appearances in a whim. Octopi have the ability to camouflage as many know, and Charlie's face becomes near unrecognizable without his glasses, also this might just be a me thing, but I feel like his face slightly changes in every photo he's in and it kinda scares me.

Tommy and Wilbur-

Tommy and Wilbur are ferrets. They are long creatures with a lot of energy and are very social animals. Those traits just fit really nicely with them, especially Tommy. The reason I made them both the same animal is 1) I am a sucker for the crime boys and 2) when getting a pet ferret, its highly recommended to get a second one for companionship so having only one ferret on the list wouldn't be right.

Also mildly hot take: I don't think Tommy is a racoon, idk why the fandom collectively agreed he was one. To be fair idk why I think he isn't one besides "the vibes don't fit" but I have a personal theory that the internet had a hyper fixation on racoons and Tommy at the same time, mashed them together, and it just stuck.

Ranboo-

I had the hardest time with Ranboo. A part of me wants to say a cat but specifically the cat in the All My Fellas meme because they are both so silly, but that kind of feels like cheating. After some thinking I settled for something. This one is a little shallow because its purely based on aesthetics but the jellyfish from Finding Nemo (which according to Reddit are the Sanderia malayensis). There's something about it's vibrant shade of pink and floaty-ness that suit R800 in my opinion. They are just neat to look at and pretty cool.

Philza-

Remember how I said Ranboo was the hardest to figure out? Well I lied. Crows are such a key part of Phil's brand, I would even argue that crows are more integral to Phil's brand then Rammie is to Schlatt's brand. I know that's a big claim, but Rammie is its own thing, is it iconic, yes but it can easily be separated from Schlatt. But with Phil it becomes much harder, C!Phil is always depicted as a bird/crow hybrid, in the majority of fanworks he's given crow features, his chat are crows. No matter how hard we try we can't escape the crows.

So, the next best thing was to replace the crow with an animal similar to it. And no, it won't be a raven or another bird because that feels like cheating.

I think rats can replace Phil's crows. Both are very smart animals that are very playful and are also quite social. Rats can symbolize death and plague similar to crows which is in line for the angel of death. They can also be stylized/drawn all cute for marketable plushies. Then there's the fact that rat features are easy to spot and draw, fanartist can easily slap on a couple ears, a tail, and those buck teeth rats have and there we have it: Ratza. Also for the Dadza/found family fans: rats are known to have big families and live in packs. Honestly in another tine line, I can see Ratza working just as well, if not better than Crowza.

. If y'all have any hypotheticals/ideas you guys want me to explore I am open to suggestions :]

-S

.

[adobe-outdesign]

Review of raging bolt?

(This is a special review to commemorate the new Pokemon Presents. Reviews will go back to being in the order in which they were sent after this.)

My coworker watched the presents before I had a chance to and showed me Raging Bolt, and my exact response was to laugh and go "hmm. no, I can't ever take that seriously"

Now, having looked at its official art (which looks remarkably better than the in-game model, due to the mane being up and the general pose being clearer), I can safely say... it's still goofy as hell. HOWEVER, despite that, I do find myself liking it in a silly, over-the-top way.

In fact—and this is gonna be a hot take—I like this better than Walking Wake. I think the reason is that Walking Wake felt like a dinosaur with Suicine elements slapped onto it, while this feels a lot more like Raikou despite being a brontosaurus (mostly because its still quadrupedal with a similar shape to the base of the body).

But I also like it a bit more because it's got a pretty cool concept going for it, with the mane forming a spiral of storm clouds, the body looking like a bolt of lightning coming from said clouds, and Raikou's tail forming dinosaur-like spines (compared to Walking Wake, which was just kind of there). The disc-like shape to the head combined with the long neck is actually a pretty neat monster design, and gives it a distinctive silhouette. Also, brontosaurus literally means "thunder lizard", so bonus points for that.

That said, it does have a few weird quirks. For example, it looks even sillier than normal when the mane moves away from the face like this, which was at least part of the reason I didn't vibe with it initially.

The colors are also pretty messy. The orange is actually very pretty and striking, and it goes great with the tiger striping (which, in turn, works really well with how it's patterned on the neck). However, this gives it four separate colors in the design, plus black and white. I feel like either the blue parts should've been orange, or all of the orange parts should've been blue (the later might've made more sense, as they were probably trying to keep the same blue from Raikou's palette, even if I like the pop of the orange).

Raikou's checks also look weird as heck on a body like this; another benefit of keeping the mane around the head. On the plus side, they did fix Raikou's terrible butt tufts or whatever was going on back there originally.

Anyway, overall, it's kind of a neat design and is at least fun with an interesting concept, even if it looks absolutely ridiculous. I don't necessarily love it, but I can't bring myself to hate it either.

(Also, quick side note: some people are speculating this means we'll get the designs in the journal, which would be amazing, but the design there has absolutely none of the paradox attributes. We'll have to wait and see.)

[i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones]

OFMD Season 2 Finale Spoilers

That was THE MOST DISSATISFYING ENDING

Now granted, I'm usually dissatisfied with endings that wrap everything up in a neat little bow, because some stories just work better with an open-ended ending.

For example, one of my favorites will always be Labyrinth. Sarah goes back home, but the goblin king keeps his kingdom and power.

Let's talk about WHY I'm so disatisfied (and honestly, maybe that's the point, it sort of seems like they want the fandom to be like that in order to fix it later one, but idk) 1. Stede Fucking Bonnet STEDE DID NOT BECOME A PIRATE FOR ED

This ending is unsatisfying because why would Stede give this up?! Stede LOVES being a pirate, it's Ed who's disatisfied with that life. Stede CHOSE this life, Stede loves this life, for him to leave it for Ed is fucking ridiculous.

STEDE BONNET IS MORE THAN EDWARD'S BOYFRIEND HE'S HIS OWN GODDAMN CHARACTER AND HE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER FOR FUCK'S SAKE

His pirating is what attracted Edward to him in the first place! You can't take that away from him! It makes him a shell of what he is! Stede never wanted the good peaceful life- he had that. He hated it. Now he just has it with Edward. And sure, he loves Ed, but that's not gonna fix his disatisfaction.

-Now granted, this does seem intentional. It could very well be that this inn ending is intentionally there to show both Ed and Stede, that a part of them really does love the seafaring life, and that they want to return to it.

-You know, like a callback to when Stede returned to Mary and realized what he really wanted was Ed. Instead Stede and Ed are going to try the quiet life and realize what they always wanted was the sea. It was just that they wanted the sea with each other.

-If that's the route they take in Season 3 (or a similar one), I can totally get behind it, and I think it'll fix the Stede Bonnet Problem. [For the record, I think they handed Edward's arc CRAZY well]

2. Izzy Fucking Hands

-. . . Guys. . . One the one hand, the monologue he gave when he died NEEDED to be given.

-Izzy does things more with actions than words, and Ed needed to say how much Izzy meant to him, along with Izzy needing to say how much he loves this crew.

On the other hand- way to kill your guys. Way to immediately fall into old tropes and make us hate ya, Dave. Granted, in the past he has played with tropes intentionally, so this COULD be that (in which case he's sitting back and laughing maniacally like the BASTARD that he is-) Where he's making us believe Izzy is gone for good only to bring him back. [I HAVE HOPE DAMN IT]

-There seems to be this idea that Izzy was the last remaining bit of Blackbeard, but Izzy is his own person and he got to grow into his own person during this season.

Of course, now that he has no thematic relevance, to kill him off is fucking pathetic. NOW we kill him, he's of no use to us. Why keep the disabeled gay? We don't need him anymore. THAT is the vibe that we've been given. Now that he's grown, we're done with him. (as if anyone truly stops growing at any point-)

-Buuut, on the one leg that Izzy has remaining,

-This could be a really good way to tie into Edward's story that he is and always has been Blackbeard. That Blackbeard was never Izzy's creation, but rather a part of himself. And he gets to choose what to do with it.

BUT EVEN IF THAT HAPPENS IZZY JUST DIED FOR EDWARD (Sure, what the character always wanted- but not what he deserved)

-If Izzy comes back from the gravy basket (Maybe with Buttons? lmfao-) with a newfound sense of independence and growth (maybe he learns to love again, idk.), this could be beautiful. A beautiful way to fuck with tropes and to show other shows how people SHOULD be handled. Bury your gays, then bring them back fuckers.

If he doesn't, this fandom will never be the same. Nor will it ever forgive it's writers. We deserve better, man.

[fairytail-whathesays]

I love your headcanons! could I request some Stingtsu (Natsu x Sting) headcanons? SFW and NSFW, whichever you want, or both

🤍🤍🤍

Sting's magic, holy and purifying in nature, is particularly devastating to Natsu, who is technically an Etherious demon. Before having the book of E.N.D.'s connection to him severed, even being near him hurt. This has lessened as his body has started to reconstruct itself along human morphology lines once both seeds were destroyed. Trying to love Sting is kind of like being Icarus, burned by the sun, and still flying towards it instead of retreating.

Sting is similar to Natsu in many ways, but only on the surface level. Sting is more prone to doubts, has a more centralized pride in himself, and is constantly measuring himself for weakness, as opposed to Natsu who constantly measures himself for strength. In a way, being together brings out traits in themselves that they actually identify with each other--around Natsu, Sting becomes boisterous and childishly high-energy, while around Sting, Natsu becomes calmer and more thoughtful.

Natsu, short of attention span as he is, takes a dumbfounding amount of time to realize Sting is down bad. Everyone else can see Sting's general raging rainbow, bisexual king vibes, emanating from a country away. Natsu is the only one who doesn't pick up on it. Sting once ran into him covered in glitter, hickeys, and smudged glow-in-the-dark body paint, and was stammering defenses and alibis, and Natsu was like 'neat'.

Lector and Happy actually get along really well! It's the major catalyst that pushes Sting to ask Natsu out, realizing oh hey, maybe that's not such a far-fetched fantasy after all...! Happy, after Lector loses some of his bad attitude, actually becomes sort of a mentor for what little magic he knows to Lector.

As out of pocket as Sting often is, Natsu simply has him beat for spontaneity and short attention span. Keeping up with him and his emotions can be a challenge, and Sting has on occasion sought out Lucy's help for trying to translate Natsu's latest hare-brained venture into sense. Somehow, they became the pair of down-to-earth blondes trying to reign in the ball of pink hair and fire that is Natsu.

Secret special headcanon: Lucy/Loke and Natsu/Sting double date frequently.

NS.FW:

I'm gonna be real with you--I think these two have more sex overall than possibly any other Fairy Tail relationship. They both have a high libido, actively enjoy sex, are committed to the other's pleasure, and are verse kings.

Sting is very flexible physically and in bed and Natsu very quickly learns to exploit this.

Natsu is natural talent; Sting is experience and skill. Sex is the one thing Natsu might be good at, but Sting is definitively better at and can actually teach his hero something about it. Natsu discovers a lot about himself and his desires when naked in the sheets with Sting.

Sting looks ridiculously good naked. Even Natsu, whose focus on sex rarely controls him, has difficulty not getting distracted if Sting starts shedding clothes.

Jealousy? A little. More playful than anything, they love each other too much to be threatened by outside forces. They just like the attention their lovers spend on them and pout if it's on someone else. One threatens to withhold sex if the other is caught looking at another guy--and the other laughs out loud.

[mooncaps]

Watching and Crying

I don’t know how this show can top the impact of everything it’s already done and I’m sure there will be a lot more I wish they could’ve done, but let’s go!

Okay, just straight in, picking up immediately where it left off. Kind of jarring.

Okay, I guess this is the Titan from the in between.

Ooh, the heart. I was wondering if there was something more to be done with that.

Um, what? Is she the Emperor? The Golden Guard? To quote Hooty from last episode: What’s happening?!

That’s different stained glass, right? I feel like they’re trying to tell me something significant, but it’s not clicking.

Thanks, I hate it.

Ominous vibes from Amity. I don’t think I’m ready for this.

I’m definitely not ready for this!

Okay, so it’s everyone’s worst nightmare. I’m catching up.

Eyyy, callbacks. It’s like an inversion of Covention.

Okay, they keep knocking that hat off and putting it back on. I feel like they’re trying to set up something, but I’m not quite sure what.

Let’s go, Amity!

Yes! More of the certified bop that is The Collector’s Theme. ♫ ♪

Okay, more callbacks.

I can dig it.

Well, uh, mad respect for the attempt, little dude, but I will be shocked if that works.

That’s probably not good.

And there goes the hat again. Tell me your secrets, hat!

Now we’re doing callbacks to Agony of a Witch. I see you.

Okay, but like, they’re not actually killing off the main character at the end of a Disney Channel show. I’m sad for the characters presumably thinking it, but I can’t pull myself out of the meta perspective.

Oh, whoa, it’s a Hooty eye. I didn’t even spot that before.

Oh, that is a look!

Yes! This is a callback I was fully expecting and I’m thrilled to see it.

Bookends in finales are one of my favorite tropes.

Yooo! Titan Luz looks sick!

Loving the new remix of the theme. ♪ ♫

Ooh! Okay, that rings a bell.

Y’all know I’ve been thinking about the hat. Ever since Camila picked it up in 3x01 it’s been on my mind. And when I was passing the time between 3x02 and 3x03, I watched reactors do 1x01 and the thought occurred to me that if the writers wanted to do a full circle moment, then maybe they’d throw back to...

And so this isn’t exactly what I was thinking and doesn’t really involve the hat like I thought it would, but I’m noticing the visual similarity.

(Hang on, let me from the next morning grab a better screencap and...)

Bookending with Titans getting their crowns. What they deserve.

Eeeee! These baby gays always give me life.

Awww, Hooty, you’re adorable!

Her.

Oh my heart’s not ready for this.

Of course she chose all of them. Oh, and she’s wearing Amity’s necklace!

Ooh, new door. Finally accomplished what Luz wanted when she tried to find The Collector in the first place.

Ahhhh! There he is carving palismen! I’m so happy for him!

And Dell gets to teach the trade to someone new. Oh, and Hunter’s got a new palisman.

Whoa. Alright, Amity. Get it, queen.

Eyyyy, Harpy Lilith. I was wondering if we’d ever get to see this.

Rainestorm looking fabulous.

Am I sensing chemistry? (And I’m not just talking about abominations.)

This looks neat, but it’s hard to get a good screenshot with the credits going.

Eda, also looking fabulous.

That’s a good shot. Even Boscha showed up. And I’m glad to see Tiny Nose survived the thorny situation she was in when Belos was taking over.

Also...

Same energy.

Oh, I’m just noticing Bat Queen’s kids growing up. Such precious little monsters.

Ooh, a new glyph.

Woop, Youtube shrunk the final image off to the corner. Me from the next morning has to step in again with a better screencap.

And there we have it.

So, yeah, I’ve watched this twice now. Remind me not to stay up til after midnight waiting for an episode of a show in the future. The second time hit way better when I was well-rested. Er, well, rested anyway.

There were definitely some spots where it felt kind of rushed, and I understand why they had to pack as much as they could into a short space of time, but it still leaves me wishing for more. The nightmares alone could’ve been an episode or two if we’d had a full season 3. But I suppose we can’t dwell too much on what could’ve been.

They did a lot with what they had and made something very meaningful and impactful in my life and I’m sure in the lives of many others. There’s also definitely plenty of room for them to expand into comics or spinoffs, should those opportunities ever arise.

I kind of wish The Collector hadn’t left. For one thing, that last screenshot will always be lacking one character that I would want in a full group shot. And I guess it’s implied that they helped build the new portal door at some point, but I would’ve like too see more of The Collector helping out with the rebuilding efforts. And now I’m quite curious about the Archivists and whatever else is going on in the stars. More potential left open for the future, I suppose.

Gotta say I’m surprised they killed Belos. Not that I’m mourning for him, but I was thinking Luz would probably use the last of her Titan power to imprison him between the realms. I figured that would be a fitting punishment, but maybe killing him was more merciful. And dead to rights, he’d already lived way past his natural lifespan by stealing the lives of others. I’m a little bit surprised that he even could be killed, stubbornly as he clung to life. And I would’ve been afraid to touch that goop for fear of getting possessed, but I guess maybe Luz was still exuding enough Titan power to prevent him from doing that. Anyway, I’m rambling on a tangent now.

Definitely quite a ride. I’m sure I’ll always wish there could’ve been more, but I’m equally sure I’ll always love what we got. And we got so much. Even if we never get anything else, I know this show will continue to spark fond memories in me.

[beehindblueeyes]

Favorite Pop and candies-

I haven’t made that many headcannons before for TBP, at least I haven’t posted about them. But I wanted to make these. Just a little collection of all the candy I think the boys like best. Because I do think it can say a lot about you…also they’re kids so it makes the most sense as a headcannon.

I’m also inclined to believe they say Pop> soda based on it being Colorado however the state is sort of in the divide of the break.

Finney-

Grape crush and Reese’s pieces. He gives me peanut butter chocolate vibes, and it’s established in the short story that Grape soda is his favorite. I think he’s a simple guy when it comes to candy, he doesn’t go for the overly sweet stuff but he also doesn’t get too chocolatey.

Griffin-

Don’t ask me why but he likes the Chalky candy. Where it’s vaguely sweet, vaguely tastes like it’s supposed to but it’s mostly short of nothing. This was a popular thing back in the day. He’s a bottle caps and dot candy kid. I also see him liking RC cola (which for the record tastes like stale bubble gum never try it)

Billy/paperboy-

True all American boy™️. Has a paper route, a dog, loves sports etc so he follows the classic love of Coca-Cola and bubble gum (bazoka). He’s also a fan of Charms blow pops and Jelly beans.

Vance-

I see him as a general cola guy. Toss any of them at him and he’ll drink it. I think he’d be a bit more on the Pepsi side of things. As for candy. Candy ciggerettes and Zoltz. He once plaid a rabies prank using the suckers and it’s 100% worth it.

Bruce-

Similar to the all Americanisms of billy. He’s a fan of most classic and popular candies but I see him more as a chocolate fan then the others. Also totally a cherry soda guy. I see him as a cheerwine person (which is the best cherry soda and I’ll fight on this)

Robin-

Mountain Dew all the way. He’s into citrus. He also thinks orange fanta and Fanta in general is better than crush which gets him into fights with Finney. He likes candy ciggerettes because they give him cred. They make him look all tough and cool but the flavor isn’t for him. He likes pop rocks, fun dip etc

Gwen-

I can’t add anymore photos safely :( but, I can see her enjoying Tab soda. As for candy- literally whatever she can get her hands on. The girls young- sugar fuels her. I think her top two is Nik a lib (the wax soda candy) and Razzles.

I hope this was not only fun but a but educational! It’s cool to learn that alot of famous soda and candy are old as shit? Some of the stuff listed came to be in the 70s but other stuff is like late 1800s old. It’s just really neat. I also think a lot of older packaging is just generally nicer but idk

[askthemysterkids]

What kind of HTTYD dragons would they train?

Okay so! I had to get help from the wonderful Misty for this one! (Thank you so much!) All of the thoughts on this one is from her. She put a lot of thought behind this and it's quite impressive.

Lili: The Snaptrapper is a mystery class four headed Venus flytrap like dragon that has green scales and is one of the most plantlike dragons. It's kind of pretty but also one of the more deadly ones, seeing how it lures it's prey in with a very sweet scent. It's three-way unhinging jaws are also pretty badass. All in all, something Lili would enjoy and would take the time trying to train. Though it wouldn't be easy.

Raz: Get that guy a typhoomerang. It's large, powerful, overdramatic, fast, and breathes a cyclone of fire. Not as agile as some dragons, but it is one of the strongest, and it just fits him so much better both in style and vibes.

Wybie: Wybie would have a hotburple. It's a medium sized boulder class dragon that's similar to a gronkle in many ways, except it's larger, more bulky, and considerably lazier. It likes eating iron ore, and according to an expert dragon hunter, it's the only dragon capable of eating through dragon proof cages. It's a pretty easy going flyer and isn't good at making sharp turns or smooth landings, but that's okay since Wybie doesn't seem the type to do trick riding. It's surprisingly great in battle because it goes into some kind of frenzy mode when threatened. It's also a great partner for a blacksmith, which he would be assuming this is a question for a HTTYD au.

Coraline: Coraline gets an armorwing. They are dragons that are naturally very vulnerable, so they build an armor coating out of spare scraps of metal. I can see her adopting it when it tried to raid an armory and gave it a metallic gift to lure it out. It has a highly magnetic body, and is surprisingly agile. I just wanna give Coraline an armored dragon and it sounds really neat.

Norman: Ah, the Skrill. Or, as I like to call it, the dragon that ACTUALLY should have had the title of "the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself". It usually only comes out in lighting storms and is so epic looking, especially the lighting patterns on it's wings Very aggressive, very solitary, and very good at holding grudges Give one to Norman. Other than the lighting connecting it to Aggie, it is a very isolated dragon that is feared and lonely. He could relate to it. If he saved one and bonded with it, I can see him being the only one understanding and patient enough to earn that dragons trust.

Neil: Neil with a snafflefang. Like rain cutters they are very friendly. It's an energetic bolder class dragon that loves geodes. Very sweet dragon for a sweet guy.

Greg: Greg with a Raincutter sounds cute. They are pretty easy to train and are happy and playful dragons that love rainy cool days and eat worms. They tend to be very trusting dragons, sometimes to a fault as one of note was known to leave her eggs with any human, even dragon trappers. They aren't huge but bigger than some. They are also stated to be intelligent.

Wirt: I am so, SO tempted to give him a Hobgobbler. It's a little, very cute dragon that is known for it's big appetite and strong jaws. It can eat just about anything. He wouldn't have a whole pack of them, but I can see him having one. It's known to be mischievous and lazy, but are very strong and ferocious. A very adorable, laid back protector that causes messes from time to time. It's also known to cover itself in it's own slobber to slip through tight spots

Mabel: Mabel deserves a Hobblegrunt. It's a chameleon like dragon who's color changes based on their mood. They're considered lucky dragons because they seem to have an ability to predict things good and bad a split second before they happen. They're calm, sensitive, and quiet that love good belly rubs.

Dipper: Dipper's the one with the Stormcutter. Imagining him with a large, intelligent, curious, owl headed dragon is fun. Plus he deserves an epic dragon.

[oltammefru]

I've been playing a fuckton of IS3, I got to the point where I maxed out the Cognitive Shaping tree so I thought I'd share all my scattered miscellaneous thoughts about IS3. Warning, this is extremely long, and ramblely and not particularly coherent. Currently I've played up to the +11 difficulty.:

The story is great. The vibes are great, I really like all the writing in the collectible flavor text (the ones that were modified from the IS2 text anyway. Some of them still reference IS2 specific stuff and that feels a little off) and encounters. There's a really good combination of sad/heart-wrenching (the Irene, Lumen encounters, some of the AH related ones), unsettling (basically all the seaborny encounters), and hilarious (first Big Bob gets busted for tax fraud, then seaborn get drunk on his beer and he goes gamer mode because of it).

The symbiosis stage in floor 1 is hard as fuck. Like I think the normal version of it is harder than emergency versions of most other floor 1 stages. Like making it through floor 1 mostly feels like luck on whether I get that stage or not and it's sort of really frustrating.

There's a few really really cool new collectibles. In particular I'm a big fan of of the ones that give big boosts to an operator if they're deployed on a specific tile, and also the one that makes all your ranged operators camouflaged (although admittedly this one is also like. super fucking busted)

Some of the new enemy designs are very neat. In particular, I think that the Hermit Crabby guys are really really neat (I talk about it more extensively here). One really neat thing about the IS3 scaling difficulty is that the exact same enemy can feel extremely different to play on different floors. Early on, the hermit crabs aren't that scary to your ranged operators unless you misplay them quite hard, but lategame they can be an incredible threat to your ranged operators unless you play against them quite well.

I still haven't completed the Last Knight ending yet, but I do really like how much more interesting the encounters for it are. The task of escorting the knight to the last floor is a lot more interesting than what you had to do for the BSL ending. I also appreciate how deciding whether or not to take the Knight's Corpus is a serious, meaningful decision and not just something you try to go for every run like Blank Suicide Note was for BSL. Lastly, the fact that if you're not going for the Knight Ending, the fact that you get 2 hope instead of a tiny 1 hope is so nice.

The difficulty scaling feels done in a lot more interesting manner than IS2 hardmode. In IS2 hardmode, really the only source of additional difficulty was some negative collectible you receive at the beginning and that's it, so oftentimes if you just made safely through earlygame you'd could just take every lategame emergency fight with no consequence and snowball out of control. Meanwhile, in IS3, the difficulty scales massively with floor, meaning the game not only tests your ability to make it through early game, but also compound your initial advantages and snowball hard enough to outscale the difficulty.

In a similar vein, knowing when to take emergency operations or not feels like a far bigger deal in IS3 than IS2, both because 1. they're generally pretty important to scale into lategame, and 2. some of the later game emergency ops are hard as fuck and can extremely easily kill runs, a lot more so than in IS2.

Also in a similar vein, I like how there's a lot more in battle "minigames" that allow you to scale better, like the addition of the sad doggo detective guy and the chests being more interesting.

A lot of the tactical equipments got buffed and some of the buffs I'm pretty surprised about, especially the Mr. Boom/stun one, since it's already inherently better in IS3 (with a stunnable boss 1, and many hovering enemies) but they also decided to make the item give you two stun bombs instead of one.

The spiked treasure chests are ridiculously annoying, the damage they reflect is so incredibly much. I generally find them way worse to deal with than chest seaborn, despite them giving way worse rewards.

The fact that you get a free shield in each fight in IS2 was super useful but also made my play super sloppy in certain areas, and I didn't realize until playing IS3 how reliant I was on that free shield. There's something sort of similar in IS3, but that requires you to repeatedly get flawless runs while at least 8 life, which is far bigger of a condition than getting it for free.

The +1 Hope to all 3star and above operators from difficulty level 3 feels extremely restrictive if you're picking a squad which isn't the -1 Hope squad or one of the Tactical X squads. It means you can't start with a 6star without any additional initial hope, and it means you're often just taking reserve ops instead of 3stars. Since +1 hope punishes lower rarity units over higher rarity units (for instance, going from 2 to 3 hope for a 4star, is a +50% increase, while 6 to 7 for a 6star is only a +16.67% increase), oftentimes it feels like the best option is just to take only reserve operators and 6 stars, which is a little unfun. This image here is a good summary of this penalty as a whole. Also shoutouts to reserve operator - defender, who is ridiculously cracked and has saved so many runs.

For the collectibles exchange tile, I'm reasonably sure some basically "single-use" collectibles (like ones that give a promote on acquisition) aren't exchangeable, but the cursed ones are, which I think is hilarious. It's also incredibly funny that there seems to be no difference in terms of text/dialogue no matter if the collectible you give is a beneficial one or a cursed one.

Before unlocking the enemy summary screens of all the stages, they all seem very long and scary, but it turns out that's just because they include 4 different "probably won't actually show up" bonus enemies.

I wish there were more miniboss fights. There's technically six, but there's really only small differences between several of them so it feels a lot more like 3 to me. I also don't think I've ever really particularly struggled with any of the minibosses in any run (although the tidelinked bishop one does feel the hardest to me), in contrast, I've died on random normal stages (not even emergency) so many times.

Overall I really love IS3, I think it improves on IS2 in so many ways and while there's a few things that I dislike about it, those tend to be relatively small.

[1loer]

i watched girl interrupted because of your post and id love to hear more about the au, it sounds very neat!!

GLADLY first of all. You're Welcome. Secondly

I dont think my AU would stray very far from how things pan out in the original movie. BC Komaeda (at her worst) would be as volitile as Lisa is in the movie. I'd like to think that something that changes maybe is if I have Nanami as Jaime, it'd be her suicide that properly pushes Komaeda over the edge. I don't like to fridge Nanami like that though, but i unfortunately also think it works, esp. w/ their relationship being sort of similar in canon as to that. If Komaeda had or believed she had some sort of hand in her death too- AGGHH I think perhaps Komaeda wouldn't attempt to escape as often as Lisa does in the film. If she did, it'd just be to see if she /could/ do it rather than a genuine attempt at escape. Whereas Lisa believes that she doesnt belong there, and thats adds to why she wont get better, Komaeda would believe its safer that she is there, so wont work to get better bc she wants to stay there bc she likes the comfort in being ill.

I actually spoke about this w/ @/biteattack, and biteattack made the differentiation as where Lisa is very loud and charming, but Komaeda would be a lot quieter w/ her manipulation. Their relationship would basically pan out exactly like it did in the first chapter of SDR2, with Hajime trusting Komaeda without realising she's playing right into her hands. Much like Susanna, Hajime wouldn't believe there was anything wrong w/ her. Hajime would also have BPD in this AU, but her symptoms would be a lot more prominent than Susanna's in the film (there is a whole side argument to be had here over whether Susanna in the film actually had bpd. Many ((including the irl Susanna who wrote the book)) believe that it was a mis-diagnosis just due to the time-period it all occured in.) But while inside, Hajime would find an understanding and peace there that she never found anywhere else. ESPECIALLY from Komaeda. Hajime would attach herself to Komaeda instantly, both from Komaeda wanting that to happen and also because, just like in canon, Hajime wants to understand Komaeda so she can better understand herself. But she wouldn't realise that Komaeda's behaviour towards her is actively making her worse.

Ofc, bc its me, I can't help but add Mikan into the mix and make her relationship w/ Komaeda rocky and hateful as Fuck. Komaeda would probably help Hinata escape bc Komaeda would convince Hinata htat theres nothing wrong w/ her (<wrong) and that she SHOULD get out. Komaeda would be so jealous of Mikan bc she got out, and would be spiteful as fuck bc she'd see Mikan as someone who needed to be kept inside, and would not understand why she would be allowed to live so freely and think she was delusional, nad would (just like in the film) rile her up enough that she'd kill herself and AGH- I HATE THEM

The biggest betrayl would be when Komaeda realises that Hajime is actively trying to get better, just like in the film. Komaeda would see it as a personal slight, I think. But underneath it all would be jealousy. That'd be the centre of Komaeda's character, and hope would be the centre of Hinata's.

It's highly toxic and doomed. 0 happy endings. Hinata would visit Komaeda and paint her fingernails red, just like at the end of the movie.

That;s just me spitting off the top of my head and from what me and biteattack talked about. HONESTLY this all started just because I think Lisa and fem!Komaeda are the exact same flavour of sexy HJOAOHUROEGHOUETHOTEOHTH. I haven't watched the movie in a while, so its just from what I remember too. I think Yukizome would be Nurse Owen, and Monomi could be one of the other nurses bc i think thats cute and silly >u< It's not well thought out, its mostly vibes. I could iron out the mess and maybe one day i'll write something short for it but for now i have other projects I want to focus on.

IM SO HAPPY MY STUPID POST I MADE WHEN I WAS BORED IN WORK MADE U WATCH THAT FILM THO ITS SO GOOD!!!!!! if ur further interested in it, the book is rlly easy to read too, and a lot more grounded in reality. It goes more into what Kaysen's mental illness really presented like. The film skips over a LOOTT of it. Ofc, its no where near as explosive or exciting as the movie,but they had to ramp up the stakes and characters and such to make a cohesive story out of it. But i'd still rlly recommend reading the book!

[batter-sempai]

Hey, Papyrus Anon Asks back again (yep, I was the sam person. Glad to see my awkward Vibes still going strong) Want more you say? Hehehe don't mind if I do.

The Charon

Got a bit (ok, a lot) inspired by the pap chat logs (I promise I'm not stalking you, complete coincidence) on ao3. Riverpapyrus in particular caught my eye. You see, I'm rather interested in mythology. The river person, to me, symbolised Charon. (Mysterious person in a boat, helping you cross the Underground? C'mon. A dreamer's gotta dream) A skeleton in a cloak, fulfilling an already Death-associated role? YES. I don't want to spend too long going on about it since it is just my spin off something you already know.

Side note: It'll also make both Sans and Papyrus have a role associated with gold so that's super neat.

Overtale

AU where the humans lost the war. Instead of determination, they find what they need is monster Hope. The only thing that remains after the monster dies. Here, it is not Asriel that Falls (why would he, he has a loving family at home), but a young skeleton called Wingdings (do you see where this is going?). He lives to adulthood, trying every method he can to break the barrier. Until one human, believed to be furious about the fact that a monster will likely be the one to save humanity, sabatages his lastest project to break down at a crucial moment. It dooms them both. Who would have guessed?

Things go on, a few more monsters Fall and proceed to get their dust harvested for the original Break The Barrier extravaganza since Wingding's tragic demise also spelled the end of better freedom plans. Thanks for nothing, Chara. (Hmm whatyasay). Life goes on. A new, less successful scientist is appointed, who dabbled a bit with Hope and necromancy before promptly realising just how bad of an idea that was. Everyone's starting to believe that they'd never be getting out. And then another monster Falls, one with enough Hope to break the barrier. One who looks strangely familiar. Another skeleton, one named Papyrus. 😏

Phew, this ask is getting a bit long and I STILL have more ideas ready to go. Guess I'll just send another ask when you least expect it 🙃

Hello again. :D

Sorry it took me so long to get to your comment. I really hope that you see this and haven’t given up on waiting for me to respond. ;w;

I’m glad you checked out the chatlogs. ^^ It’s very nostalgic to me to be part of those conversations. I agree that the River Person symbolizes Charon, or is sort of a reference to him. We never see who is underneath the cloak, but it would be interesting if they are also a skeleton.

Ooh, that sounds like an interesting AU. :o Humans being trapped instead of monsters but a similar event plays out. And having Papyrus as the playable character, with Gaster in the place of Chara, sounds like a lot of fun.

I hope to see you again, anon. ;w; I really do enjoy the asks you send and I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to them.

[magebastard]

it’s never work

ship: det. lane wheatley x mason

wc: 324

warnings: violence ment.

rating: t

notes: it’s them! hope this is not absolutely inscrutable! also listen to bread by clem snide for one (1) vibe

Ten years ago today, Mason was hit so hard in a fight, he remembers guessing exactly how many teeth he would have lost if he were a human man.

Run, fight, rot, anger, ache. Routine and neat little states of normalcy. Mason breathes in the soft air of the Detective’s apartment and wonders at how coping and living can look so similar when you don’t know any better.

There were claws on the hands that jabbed him, then. There were gauges, too deep into his cheek. It took only seconds for the skin to knit back together, but he hears it was unsightly as hell.

Nate and Felix hadn’t taken a single hit. The scuffle never veered out of control. Mason did his job. Adam had his back, in the end. More of the same.

It’s been months since he’s needed to hit anything. It’s been weeks since they’ve been in any danger.

Mason settles into a new routine.

It’s Sunday morning. A slow, sap-like melody croons from the record player. They’re sat up, naked in Lane’s bed with no plans and no designs on their time. This is what Sundays are for.

Lane is quietly tracing the long lines of his fingers with their own soft hands. Warm, yellow light peers in through the cracks of the blinds.

They lamented to him once, that they weren’t sure how to take care of someone so strong.

“I can’t cook for us. You’ll never get sick and soup will never be the answer. I’m not complaining, it’s just something I’ve always been happy to do. Helping.”

He’d smoothed their hair back into place.

“Make all the soup you want, sweetheart. I’m not stopping you.”

It was the easier thing to say. I can’t list the ways you take care of me. If you need me to, I’ll try.

They’d laughed. “More for me.”

Lane hums along. Mason presses his nose against their shoulder and breathes.

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Young Posse - XXL

I absolutely loved this EP, I don’t even know what else to say. I liked the sound, I was impressed by their vocals, I thought the feature was really good, the title track is obviously awesome. It’s interesting though, because the sound is kind of similar to Illit, but I think Young Posse just did it better somehow. I don’t really know how to explain the difference. Like, when Illit do it, it feels like they’re trying to be cool. When Young Posse do it, it feels like they are cool. Plus the title track gives a lot more legitimacy to the album. I do wish there was a bit more rap on the album, but then again, we got a ton of rap in Macaroni Cheese, so in terms of their discography as a whole (all two EP’s) this is a reasonable shift for an album.

Average score of 8.8, but I liked it a lot, so imma round up to 9.0.

- I’ve already seen XXL and I absolutely loved it. Very excited to hear the rest of the album. This is immediately after I heard Illit, so let’s see how it is.

Scars

Oh hey, all of the songs are over three minutes Except the title lol

Well this isn’t the Young Posse sound we’ve come to know and love

Mildly impressed by the vocals, but also the autotune is everywhere

This does actually sound kinda like the Illit album

They wouldn’t be using This excessive of autotune though

Oh her low register is pretty, alright

Why does this make me feel Sad?

Actually I kinda get Look At Me vibes from this haha

(Also I liked Look At Me before it was cool just to be clear)

DEEP VOICE MOMENT

The synth here is so good oh my god

It makes me feel like I Just, sort of

9/10

XXL

God the MV for this is just so good

See this is what I mean by Fun kpop

Like, kpop that doesn’t take itself too seriously

10/10

DND

And now we’re back to r&b

I dunno why but for some reason this feels more like proper r&b than a lot of the NewJeans style to me

Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of NewJeans’ music, but it’s impossible not to compare groups to them

Woah, BM fits this so well. I don’t know much Kard, maybe I’ll have to listen to more of him

Their singing is so Good, you never would’ve guessed it by their first album

Mmm and now we’re more upbeat

8/10

ROTY

Is this like, a statement of intent?

Oh wait it’s on their Album cover

I love that so much for them

Why does all this music make me so SAD?

Like for some reason this is crying music to me

(Not that I do much crying but still)

It’s got me dancing around the room, that’s neat

9/10 for the audacity to put it on the album cover

Skyline

I always find it a bit weird when kpop groups reference western artists in their music (Red Velvet)

But actually I think it kinda works for Young Posse, at least for me

I guess at some point I’ll have to figure out what all the Stevie Wonder is for

Hopefully someone writes up a lyrical analysis that I get to read

Ah yes, random piano outro bc why not

8/10