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prettyinpwn · 1 month

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I know I'm gonna sound like a crazy old broken record... but hear me out. Lots of speculation as to the true purpose of the thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com thing beneath the cut.

So... does anyone else feel like the ARG website is... odd? Like it's leading to something more coming? And before anyone screams, "Well, ackshully, Hirsch said he doesn't want to do a Season 3-"

YES. I KNOW. He said no Season 3 a million times. I was there when he told us Season 2 was it for the first time. But what he didn't say, however, was, "No more Gravity Falls anything... EVER.". Hence why we've gotten Journal 3, Lost Legends, and now The Book of Bill. Hirsch is veeerrrrry comfortable making more GF stuff.

And as someone that studied programming in college, I can tell you, this website does not seem like it was easy or cheap to make. It's effectively a single screen point and click game in a browser. Looking at the code, it seems they did use a framework called Bridgetown, lacing in looped animated MP4 files with clickable assets on top that make up the interactive elements (e.g the computer), with a lot of content made for the website itself from image files and text for each prompt a user might type. Sure, it's not the most difficult thing to program, but it's a lot more complex than, say, the searchfortheblindeye site back in the day.

That, and as someone who has worked in the corporate world, I'm sorry, but you don't pour this much effort/money into something that is just "lol cool things after product for funsies". If this was just for The Book of Bill, the smart marketing decision would have been to make the lofi album and the website, tease fans with both of them, and let them lead to an announcement of the book itself to tempt them into buying it, not the other way around. Like... Disney ain't gonna do that just out of love for fans. It's Disney, come on. They do things for money.

It's possible that Hirsch paid for it himself just for the fans, but I doubt it. Wanna know why? Because of the website's security certificate and ownership. Let's take a gander at this:

There are two odd things here. One, the range of the expiration. Most security certs last 1-2 years, at least they did at one of my previous places of employment (and we had like 50+ of them). This one expires November 7th, 2024. Odd, but maybe they only want the website up for a few months? Anyways, as an aside, everyone keep an eye out for November 7th, 2024. Could be nothing, could be something.

The other weird thing is the domain holder. Looking it up on ICANN, it gives this address:

Look that up on Google Maps, and it takes you to a company called Dun and Bradstreet. Long story short, the company does a bazillion things, but the main thing we're talking about here is:

Oh gee, Sales and Marketing. And their Sales and Marketing tools? Basically, they use data to tell companies who their audience is, so that they can market to them. Now, why would Disney care about this for a fandom for a show that's been done for almost a decade, just for a book that was released before said website (so we know they're not gathering marketing data for the book)?

Well, if I were to guess... long story short, all this stuff is a tactic to gauge who the Gravity Falls audience is now. Release the book, make some dough and fans happy, tie in a secret marketing data collection gimmick (AKA the website) using D&B as a vendor to hook the data into your CRM, send fans to a website to collect marketing data, and shabam. Now you know who the target market is all this time after.

And why in the hell would a company care about that? You tell me. Why care about who a target market is if you're not planning on marketing something to them later?

It could be that Disney is planning something similar to Gravity Falls and wants to gauge if there'd still be a market for that kind of show. Or... it could mean that Disney is planning on something more substantial related to Gravity Falls or Hirsch pitched it, and they were like, "Well, wait, let's collect data on this, first, so we'd know if it'd be a good business decision.". Not sure.

I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but doesn't this seem fishy to anyone else? If anyone else has any hypotheses as to why Hirsch and Disney have a Gravity Falls website owned by D&B, let me know, but to me... this smells... very... marketing oriented. And Hirsch doesn't seem like the guy to pour his own money into hiring an outside company to gather marketing data, that seems more up Disney's alley.

#gravity falls #thisisnotawebsitedotcom #just tell me if I'm nuts because like... maybe this is standard procedure but it's odd #I hate that I know this much about the corporate world lol

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saiscribbles · 6 months

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What are your future plans for your channel btw? Although I like your content criticizing Lily, I think it’s best for you to move away from her because her time on the internet is a huge trash fire that never leads to anything good.

I’d personally really like to see you talk more about Hazbin Hotel or Steven Universe! Your streams are really fun and I love having them on the side while I work. :)

BOLD OF YOU TO ASSUME I HAVE A PLAN!

Much like I never actually intended to start a Steven Universe AU series I never actually intended to become a YouTuber in the first place.

Here's the story:

For years now I've been doing a stream weekly on Twitch where I just talk with chat while drawing. One day Hiding in Public/Private released a couple of great videos on old SU hate videos, including Lily's infamous "Steven Universe is Garbage and Here's Why".

Not too long after that Lily released "Was I Wrong About Steven Universe?" as a nakedly obvious response. I thought hey, wouldn't it be funny if one stream I just react to this video? Just for funsies? To see if Lily has actually changed her mind on anything?

What I didn't expect was I'd end up spending like half an hour explaining Shoujo Kakumei Utena of all things during that video reaction.

I was kinda impressed with my own recall of Utena despite not having watched it in full in over a decade. So I thought eh for funsies lemme cut down that part and slap it on my account. Which is the same account I've had since 2006. I've put videos up there just for my friends and small number of fans before, as you can see from this Minecraft video from 11 years ago I filmed and edited for my friend for her birthday.

And then that Utena video got 5k views. On my completely unestablished YouTube channel. And I was like... huh. I knew people are annoyed by Lily Orchard but damn.

By that point I had also already decided to react to Lily's video on the Steven Universe Movie the next stream. Cause obviously the SU movie is something pretty near and dear to me that I know very well. And Lily's video was SO BAD and had so many OUTRIGHT LIES in it I thought well hell, let's cut down the two SU reacts into a video too!

It'll probably get like 10k views tops.

And then I'll just fuck off back into the shadows whence I came.

And I suddenly found myself with 3,000 followers.

And I suddenly found myself monetized.

And that video just passed 200k views now. In 3 months.

So I was like... well shit. Now I have this new audience over here on YouTube. I should probably actually give them something. I mean the added revenue stream is nice but I'm not looking to become a career tuber. Mostly I felt like I owed it to this new audience I now have.

So I started doing my art stream on YouTube as well! And I also have been game streaming, if you haven't checked my Lives recently. I've been streaming I Wani Hug That Gator, of all things, while doing silly voices and we're all having a blast. I already wanted to get back into game steaming this year even before this giant explosion in attention.

So for now that's the only thing resembling a plan! I'm gonna keep art and game streaming and cutting videos from those streams. I'm not a video essayist. I can't write and perform a script, I'm just not good at it. But I am very good off the cuff which is why I'm a streamer. I can explain things when prompted. So hey, come to my Wednesday art streams (2pm EST) and poke me for art and writing advice! Or to pick my brain about Steven Universe and Hazbin. I thrive on chat interaction! And then those can be shorts and videos too.

I do plan to do at least 3 or 4 more Lily reacts in the future just because they're videos I think would be funny to react to. But after that? Who knows!

#Sai-chan #YouTube #Ask Answers

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cellarspider · 8 months

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Since I’ve been thinking about it all morning: here. A partial introduction to my favorite villain.

In the days of yore, when I was a teenager and video game hype was almost exclusively magazine-based, I saw a kid reading a copy of Game Informer.

“Hey,” said I, “could I see that for a second?”

The kid, not knowing what they were about to unleash, handed me the magazine.

I had seen this on the cover:

I had no idea what this was, but I knew that I wanted whatever it was selling.

I found out that this was an advertisement for City of Villains, an expansion to the previously-released MMO City of Heroes. I’d never played WoW with its Alliance and Horde split, so the idea was new to me. WoW also failed to present me with anything like the vibes of the newly-introduced lead villain, Lord Recluse.

Yes, they liked this art so much they did it twice, and I’m glad they did. More below the fold on why he was so appealing for a young queer kid, for those who are intrigued.

I’ll keep this focused on a single topic for now: The intensely queer vibes that Recluse acquired over the course of the game’s plot. Keep in mind that this game came out in 2004, so the actual amount of openly queer content was very minimal. However, CoH/CoV developed a reputation as an extremely queer-friendly space, with a community Pride event becoming a semi-official yearly celebration, complete with the devs showing up as major NPCs, custom assets, and spawning in unique raids that tanked everybody’s framerate. Equivalents of this have carried over past the game's tragic shutdown in 2012, with community-run servers still staging their own Pride events.

If the art above doesn’t make it clear, Recluse had a much-beloathèd archnemesis, Statesman. If the art above doesn’t make it abundantly clear, this was always an extremely fraught relationship, with a complicated backstory that became more and more tragic the deeper you got into the game lore, eventually bordering on cosmic horror. But one thing was for certain, this was Hark A Vagrant levels of obsession over a nemesis.

The game at first seemed to backstep on that: oh, it turned out, Recluse had once been villainous life partners with a woman who went by the villain name Red Widow. She died decades ago in the collateral damage of one of Recluse’s nigh apocalyptic confrontations with Statesman, and her death left him with nothing but his obsession. So sad.

And then when Statesman died in the course of the game’s plot, Recluse spiraled into depression and nihilism that was only halted when someone managed to dig Red Widow’s soul out of storage and resurrected her.

It was always deniably presented, but the implication was very much that the two were functionally equivalent emotional anchors to his psyche, and losing both of them was something he couldn’t survive.

Also, there was that one time that the game’s Valentine’s Day event was advertised with a heart split down the middle, half Statesman’s iconography and half Recluse’s, topped with a banner that read “AMOR OMNIA VINCIT”, meaning “LOVE CONQUERS ALL”.

And that’s without getting into the first tie-in book. A prequel starting at the end of the 1920s, it was a delightfully and deliberately pulpy book, which… centered around a complicated man slowly dying of lingering health problems after his exposure to mustard gas in WWI, and his very good friend, estranged from his family for unknown reasons, who’d devoted the last ten years to caring for the protagonist, and helping him seek a cure. This has carried on year after year, even though the man’s illness has made him unresponsive to the emotional needs of others, something they both know is going to culminate one day in the two parting ways.

…And then they get superpowers, and their relationship does not get any healthier from there. But what it does gain is a surprising trans metaphor as our now-antagonist slowly metamorphoses into the spidery villain I know and love.

I completely missed this back in the day. I have no idea if it was intentional. But there’s a scene where this man looks in the mirror and sees the first signs of his oncoming physical transformation, and he likes what he sees. He has no idea where he’s going, but he’s excited for it.

…And he’s started killing people who refer to him by his former name, in the most literal case of “dead naming” I’ve ever seen.

Throughout the rest of the series, Recluse is unapologetically who he is, putting him in that category of queercoded villain that doubles as a power fantasy. He’s grown physically monstrous and loves it. He has respect from everyone around him, either legitimately for his capabilities or out of fear of what he can do to those who don’t give him his due. A new demigod who is only matched by the man he’s never stopped obsessing over. He wins just as often as he loses, and often salvages something from his defeats in ways that nobody expected.

He is terrible. And he is wonderful.

#city of villains #lord recluse #I have so many more thoughts #and the canon is so wild and engages on metatextual themes so thoroughly that it really deserves more analysis #just in general #but for now #this will do

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staplersalad · 4 months

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I did it all backwards.

I listened to "Now and Then" a couple of days after it was released because I saw the channel "The Beatles" posted it- hey isn't this that old famous band? I vaguely remember back when those "guess the logo" games were all the rage, an illustration of the abbey road album cover was shown for The Beatles on a "guess the artist" version.

I was so blown away by the song, it was beautiful. I listened to it for days. I read about john's death because a lot of the comments talked about him. I'd definitely read about his death in the past because reading the wikipedia article gave me deja vu, but it must have been just another drop in the ocean of content I consumed.

2 months passed, I listened to the song sometimes, discovering new scenes in the music video because I never actually sat down to watch it, I'd just play it in the background. I remember reading a comment about how John said that Ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles- what a dick! anyway who's Ringo? [john never said that btw, one of many false Beatles stories]

In February, somewhere between the 22nd and 26th- I had the brilliant idea of going to their yt channel and looking at their other songs. I came across the music video for "Only Sleeping", god what a great song! And after finding out about Em's painstaking work- what an incredible piece of art! I'd listen to the song for days, this time with my eyes glued to the music video in mesmerization.

Then it's all a blur. I first listened to all their popular songs on the channel, then the less popular ones [relatively obviously], then each album, each song, each interview, suddenly my pinterest was flooded with their pictures, I fell in love with each of them: John, Paul, George and Ringo. I was fascinated with John and Paul's dynamic. I was fascinated with the group. I suddenly sympathized with all the One Direction and BTS fans. I'd never felt this way for an artist before.

The funny thing is, the Beatles being so big meant that their music probably reached your ears before you even knew them. I remember recognizing "Blackbird" from "Boss Baby" and "Beautiful Boy" [john solo] from "Mr. Peabody and Sherman". I remember singing "and I will sing a lullaby" in the same tune as "Golden Slumbers" when I was younger.

I remember hearing "Yesterday" for the first time, my lips parted in recognition, some part of my brain recognized this as a famous song. It was like if someone played you an extremely famous classical piece, you wouldn't know know it but you'd recognize that it was famous. I was absolutely floored by Paul's work.

Then I'd re-read about john's death, this time it felt so different. I'd almost forgotten about it all really. I'd watch the get back documentary, I'd read more about events from 1970 to 1980, I'd get into their solo work, I'd fall in love with even more music, I'd read about their families. I'd learn to adore them but not put them on a pedestal because they were imperfect human beings [perfect musicians however].

Now john and george's death hit twice as hard. John's death angered me tremendously. I'd look at paul and ringo's recent interviews and pictures, finding it crazy how all this media I'd consumed at lightning speed all happened decades before I was even born. I'd learnt of 4 people, grew infatuated with them, learnt of their flaws, the fights, the breakup, the love, the friendship, the music and mourned their death- all in weeks. And I still have so much to listen, watch and read-it's brilliant really.

I remember listening to "Now and Then" much later, I'd avoided the song like the plague. I remember my eyes welling up, taking in john's voice, the lyrics, the four of them on my screen jumping ages. Just a couple of weeks changed the entire meaning and love I had for a song I just happened to stumble upon.

#the beatles #beatlemania #ringo starr #paul mccartney #george harrison #john lennon #music #fan #fanatic #my beatles journey #now and then #fandom

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becquerel · 1 month

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ive been thinking a lot about rwby and the way the fndm is and how the internet at large behaves about it and i think something ive begun to notice big time is many people only watched those first three seasons at the time they came out. a lot of people lost interest in that hiatus between 3 & 4 (me included!) that many never watched those later seasons. and like to be fair 4 is kinda... honestly not Bad but it isnt the same kind of stakes that were introduced in 3. 5 & 6 are actively bad (5 being so bad its good, great drinking game season; 6 being generally just boring sans Major Lore Content in like episode. one or two.)

but in never revisiting those seasons and never watching past there's this concept (that i think was heavily reinforced by the hbomberguy video) that the first three seasons are the Only Good Seasons and that everything after is just terrible because of the death of monty & him no longer being part of the animation team. and like do not get me wrong, monty was a master class animator, id be insane to deny that, his animation is definitely missed past season 3. (that being said i don't know how i feel about the way people talk about him being almost akin to kurt cobain or john lennon ala genius artist taken too soon & the denial of flaws about their persons or works or in this case their contributions to works) but like seasons 1-3 are not good. they're honestly quite bad in terms of writing and pacing. there is very, very little set up for most concepts introduced. jaune is at his all time worst in the first three seasons. (i do argue he gets better past season 4, once the show stops focusing on him and lets him be a supporting character instead of a main one, he can honestly have his moments in the writing.) the white fang arc is so heavily present through all three of these seasons. the only one that passes in terms of feeling like a story with stakes is season 3, when everything goes to hell. like the longer i think about rwby the less i would want it to be a generic battle high school anime, there's a whole world built out there with genuinely interesting concepts. why would i want to focus on beacon? atlas was fun as hell, the last pieces of rwby released all seem to point toward the refugee crisis in vacuo & the fact it was so heavily colonized by atlas. society if mistral & haven got written well...

anyway this is all to say if you used to like rwby back in s1-3 at their releases its a very fun show to pick apart and discuss its flaws & how it starts doing characters right. and for the love of god stop relying on that hbomberguy essay from half a decade ago, that thing really reinforced the lennonization of monty.

#grace post #what if i become a media review blog. that would be fun.

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fanstuffrantings · 2 months

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I have a theory that there was a lot more planed with Raven Tail, but it was cut. It was like hyped up so much to end up being nothing. Also can we talk about how Ivan wasn't arrest. I mean all he did was break rules in a silly little game. That isn't a thing someone would be arrested for. Right? So really Ivan can just show up when ever. I also have the opinion that after the tower of heaven to the S-class trails a lot of things weren't planned out well. The series was supposed to end at the town of heaven. I mean you see this with Lisanna randomly coming back and just nothing being done with her. We don't even see her and Nastu like being besties or bonding again. I have always seen the 7 year time skip as a soft reboot/reset for the series. That's when things were planned out better, but he had Raven Tail built up already. He had to do something with it.

I fully agree on so much, though I think Mashima did have bare bones of early arcs figured out (battle of fairy tail feels like it was intended) but the execution was figured out he wrote it.

Even with tower of heaven I feel like he threw things out there only knowing the ending he wanted. "That was the last time I saw erza smile for a while" is a foreboding line that really has no proper pay of and has always bothered me because the implication (to me) is that erza is badly effected by the event for arcs to come. But by the very next arc she's fine.

I said before that timeskips are one of my favorite part of shounen series. I love seeing how people change with the passage of time. The hype of seeing your favorite characters reappear years later always hits. But fairy tail manages to royally screw it up by not giving us any characters left behind to be properly invested in, and the status quo being pretty much unchanged despite almost an entire decade passing. It also happens so early into the series that Mashima finds time to cram yet another pointless time skip in before the series ends.

I have always felt that he writes based on what interests him and that his interest and change quickly. I say this as someone who has a similar issue of often losing interests in the things I'm working on. His writing style feels familiar. So I'd fully be willing to believe he got overexcited about doing a timeskip even if he hadn't set it up properly and rearranged things to make it work.

I think ultimately though, his flaws with rushing are not as noticeable until we get to post tartaros where you can tell not only does he not know where to go, but he also has lost his drive for the series. I remember when Alvarez/post 1 year time skip was releasing weekly I just didn't actually care about what happened. If memory serves around this same time he was releasing Fairy tail Zero chapters and the stark difference in general vibe between them was so noticeable. It felt like he was excited to write zero and had passion for it that was very much lacking in the core series.

At least in the pretartaros content you could point to some moments of foreshadowing (like tartaros actually being mentioned pre timeskip as one of the guilds in league with Grimoire Heart and Oracion Seis) but Alvarez came out of nowhere at the speed of light to end fairy tail because Mashima needed an end but didn't want to actually go through setting things up since it would take time.

Edit: honestly everything done with raventail was baffling. How exactly does a dark guild get approved to be made official just because they ask nicely????? Like maybe I could believe it if it had been something they'd been working towards for years but the implication being they only joined because makarov and Laxus were there to explain lumen histoire makes me doubt that. Mashima really didn't want to actually deal with them 😭. Arrested for cheating in the gmg is so lame man.

#ask #fairy tail #fairy tail critical #onethiccbird #molternambles

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doamarierose-honoka · 1 year

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In 2010, Rayman was dead. After two popular minigame collections with his then-co-stars, the Rabbids, Rayman was usurped from his throne as Ubisoft’s mascot and relegated to cameo appearances in games like Academy of Champions: Soccer. Sam Fisher has suffered a similar fate recently.

Then, a miracle - Ubisoft released Rayman Origins, a gorgeous 2D platformer with excellent movement, incredible music, and enough charm to make you forget all about the limbless wonder getting kicked out of his own series. Not a Rabbid in sight.

Origins was an incredible new beginning for Rayman, but it was only the beginning. Two years later, Ubisoft Montpellier did it again with Rayman Legends. Not content to simply be an improvement on the first game, Legends was one of the best 2D platforming games of all time. It looked like things were only going to get better.

Unfortunately, despite massive critical success, Rayman faded into the background once more, with only a few minor mobile games since then. Now, his long decade of silence is finally over thanks to Ubisoft Milan who, ironically enough, have brought Rayman back in a game that stars the very creatures who originally kicked him out.

“I would say that I started thinking about the DLC as soon as I saw the work on Sparks of Hope going in the right direction,” Sparks of Hope’s creative director Davide Solani tells me. “I loved the idea of closing this fantastic journey of Sparks of Hope with Rayman, as Rabbids were originally introduced in a Rayman game. I felt it was the correct thing to do”.

Rayman in the Phantom Show marks Rayman’s first appearance in a game in some time, which gave Ubisoft Milan the opportunity to redesign the character for his reintroduction, which also marks the first time he’s been in 3D since his Super Smash Bros. Trophy model in 2014.

Solani tells me that extensive work went into designing Rayman’s new look for the game, with the idea being to aim for something “new, current, and fitting for our universe”. Specific effort went into Rayman’s facial expressions and the body and shoes, for which the team challenged themselves to “dare a little” by introducing pockets and a larger hood to give the limbless wonder more comfort and a sense of identity outside of adventuring.

Of course, one of the most important elements of Rayman’s design is his hair which, beyond the whole lack of limbs thing he’s got going on, is one of the key parts of the character’s identity. Rayman’s hair is used both to fly and to look fly, and it’s a core part of this look.

“[It’s] one of the most 'representative' parts of the character,” Solani says. “We wanted to avoid just an indistinct mass, but also not to go overboard with details. We therefore focused on creating this balance between volume and details. A fully animatable tuft that would help to underline the character's charisma and emotions.”

Rayman may have a new design this time around, but Sparks of Hope isn’t above referencing the hero’s past. The Phantom Show is stuffed with nods to Rayman’s history, including reworked versions of his combat fatigues from Hoodlum Havoc, a cutout of Globox and some plum juice from the same game, a cardboard recreation of the first level from the adventure that started it all, and even some shoutouts to the pirates from Rayman 2.

Another Easter Egg Solani points out is Rayman’s weapon in the game, which resembles the plunger gun that he used in Raving Rabbids. You’d think that Rayman would want to avoid memories of that particular encounter considering everything that happened after, but he’s rocking a brand-new one in the Phantom Show.

“I loved the idea of paying a tribute to the plunger, in a way,” Solani tells me. “With my team, we’ve imagined how a new plunger could look like years later, and how this new basic weapon could be transformed through the various costume transformations, and what special ability could result from each. It was a fun process for us.”

It’s not just Rayman himself who returns for the Phantom Show, as the DLC also sees the return of David Gasman, the voice of the limbless wonder for nearly all of the games in the series before Douglas Rand took over the role for Origins, Legends, and the mobile spin-offs.

“Like many players, for me, David Gasman is Rayman’s voice. Also, we did use David as Rabbid Mario in Sparks of Hope, and it was a tremendously fun experience working with him. The idea of having him going crazy to voice both Rayman and Rabbid Mario was too good to miss. “

One of the most interesting things about the DLC is that it’s not just a reunion between Rayman and the player, it’s a reunion between Rayman and the Rabbids as well. The limbless wonder hasn’t been on-screen with them properly since TV Party, with only a small cameo from the screaming nuisances in Rayman Adventures between then and now.

The DLC plays into this time gap, with Rayman holding a grudge against the Rabbids when he first runs into them. Solani says that this was one of the ideas that the team worked with and that they loved seeing Rayman and the Rabbids bickering, but that they start to work together across the expansion, as Rayman quickly gets over his grudges in the name of being a hero.

Rayman in the Phantom Show closes the door on Rayman’s past while being brutally honest about the hero’s long absence. It has fans wondering if the DLC opens another door for his future, one that many want Ubisoft Milan to be involved with.

“We don’t know yet what we’ll do in the future,” Solani says. “But I can assure you that working on Rayman was a true honour for all of us.”

#ubisoft #rayman #rabbids #mario + rabbids #mario + rabbids sparks of hope #rayman in the phantom show

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mfporky · 2 months

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I feel like people forget just how many Nintendo IPs got proper revives on the Switch, so I made a big fat thread about some

The biggest one in my eyes, a series that holds strong importance to me, is Pikmin. After getting a pretty damn good game on the Wii U back in 2013 the series was propelled into a limbo-like state with Pikmin 4 being "On My Way!" for a decade straight. Mainline wise, nothing, we don't talk about Hey Pikmin. Absolute crickets for awhile and then almost overnight it became THE system for Pikmin games. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which is way more than just a port, with a bucket full of new content and an alternative campaign, released October 30th 2020. Back to crickets for a few years until all of a sudden, Pikmin 4 and ports of Pikmin 1 and 2 released on the same day of July 21st 2023. All incredible games in their own right, the supreme ports of all, insanely proud Nintendo treats their small fish franchise with such delicate care; if you're using this list as a game suggestions list, check out Pikmin you will NOT regret it.

Famicom Detective Club, which was one damned to eternal obscure Nintendo fanatic knowledge hell, has arose from its grave and is unironically making strong waves. The last original game being made in 1989 and then having "Super Famicom Satellaview Remasters" in the mid 90s, which are damn hard to find proper info on. Other than that, tombstone. Only real thing of note being that it was the first project Yoshio Sakamoto sunk his pen into, other than that it was doomed to niche oddity and a footnote in gaming history. The Switch changed all that, with remakes of the first two games being bundled together and released May 14th 2021. That's not all, a brand new game in the series, "Emio - The Smiling Man", is currently set to release August 29th 2024 as of writing

F-Zero, technically got a new game! It's pennies compared to everyone else's quarters and dollars, but after a 20+ year hiatus its worth a mention. With the last game in the series, ironically called F-Zero Climax, released on the GBA there were crickets after that. Gone but not forgotten, it got the occasional rerelease onto the latest system's virtual console, and it still had a spot in Smash Brothers. Granted if you were me growing up you'd figure that Captain Falcon was just some wack original character, but shit the representation matters. It was like that until September 14th, 2023, when a brand new game in the series with online got announced and released later in a Nintendo direct! Sure it was just a battle royale game, another drop in the bucket with the 99 subtitle, but it counts for this list.

Metroid, the series infamous for its dry spells, has been an oasis of new content recently. The last chronological game in the 2D Metroid series was Fusion, released in 2002, with the Metroid Prime game getting its third installment in 2007. In terms of original games, that was it. There was a remake of Metroid 1 on the GBA, and a remake of Metroid 2 on the 3DS, and there were spinoffs here and there (Metroid Prime Pinball is my GOAT baby); other than that, nothing. That is until the Switch came along, with Metroid Prime 4 being announced within the same year of the Switch's release. It took literally 7 years to get more info about Prime 4 but its with confidence to say that the game is coming out, sometime in 2025. 2D Metroid, long dormant and stagnant and almost two decades without a game got a surprise announcement in a Nintendo Direct; the highly anticipated and teased Metroid Dread, long thought to be a cancelled DS game but emerging in the flesh brazen as ever. Released October 8th, 2021, Metroid is officially back after what felt like centuries of wait.

2D Mario has been stuck in a rut of unoriginality for a decade and a half now. Since the release of New Super Mario Bros for the DS in May 2006, 2D Mario was stuck in a loop of distilling the same damn game over and over, with it getting stripped more and more of what once was in such a short time. It hit a boiling point in November 2012, with the release of "New Super Mario Bros U", the second New Super game to release that year. After that, nothing. People were sick of what felt like the same damn game, sure they were passable but it felt emblematic of everything 2D Mario shouldn't be. Then, almost like an angel from the heavens, came Super Mario Bros Wonder; the antithesis of New Super, it had original concepts in boatloads and felt like a proper evolution of 2D Mario. New concepts in spades, so much extra content, brilliant new artstyle in a new kingdom. It feels like going from store bought freezer pancakes from Walmart to a French chef from a 5 michelien star restaurant making you your breakfast.

The Mario & Luigi series, although a cult classic series, never quite got the mainstream attention it deserved. Even with classics like Bowser's Inside Story, Dream Team, Superstar Saga, the financial backing from the public and internal was just never quite there. After Dream Team (sleeper hit, if you're interested check it out!), it was the beginning of the end with the release of Paper Jam. Reused assets, real basic baby story, padding aplenty, dialogue that hits the senses like pulling teeth (fuckin leave Luigi alone), there's no way this was anything other than a cash grab. A collaboration with Paper Mario too, another cult classic series, it was insulting to both Paper Mario fans and M&L fans. After that, no new original games. Alphadream pumped out two remakes, which are pretty alright, and them they went bankrupt. God bless Alphadream, but the writing was on the wall when they kept making 3DS games long after the Switch came out. It was a dark time, felt clear as light that the M&L series will remain to be past tense and just a footnote in the large conglomerate that is Mario now. Until recently, with the announcement of Brothership; a new spanking game in the M&L series releasing in November of this year.

Genuine generational run Nintendo is going on right now. List could've droned on for easily triple the length, and I might make a sequel to this one day. Could've been even more if i talked about new Nintendo's new IPs or just how much better everything's gotten. It rules we live in this time now, especially after the dark ages of the Wii U.

#nintendo switch #nintendo #mario #super mario #metroid #f zero #mario and luigi

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incorrectpuyotris · 1 year

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Feli’s VA: just recorded for Puyo Puyo!

The day before yesterday, Yukie Maeda, Feli’s VA, tweeted this:

I’ve been to the first Puyo Puyo recording in a while 🎵 [...] And every time the script is hilarious and I crack up!! It’s too fun to act it out lol

[translation source]

What could this mean? In order from least disappointing to most disappointing, here’s a list of things the recording session could have been for:

A-tier: new, fully-original Puyo game

If it’s for a new Puyo game, this is huge news! The last Puyo game that had a story mode and wasn’t an anniversary edition was Puyo Puyo 7, which came out in 2009, just weeks after Michael Jackson died. That’s 14 years ago!

C-tier: new Drama CD

Sure, Puyo Puyo Drama CDs are a source of lore, but there’s no chance an English dub is coming out for it, so non-Japanese fans would all be missing out. Besides, you can’t play Puyo on a Drama CD...

D-tier: new anniversary Puyo game or Puyo Puyo Tetris 3

I get it, a new game’s a new game, but I’m starting to get tired of the Puyo Puyo series only being game mode compilations and Puyo Puyo Tetris.

F-tier: new storyline in Puyo Puyo Quest

If it’s exclusive to the cursed gacha app, it would confirm to me that Sonic Team has transitioned fully to focus on churning out more mobile content and messing around with yet another ARS they’ll probably underdevelop, instead of releasing a new game and developing the existing vibrant lore.

Only time will tell, but I’m still holding out the thin hope that, someday, after decades, the Puyo Puyo of the past will rise from its smoldering ashes once again.

#not incorrect quotes #puyo puyo #puyo puyo tetris #feli puyo puyo #mod klug

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starrysilvalley · 4 days

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🌟Spectrum Book 1: Onward🌟

✨Chapter 1 | Familiar (Full Text Below Line)✨

Word Count: 2,553

As said previously, I’ll try and post the chapters on both Tumblr and Ao3. On Ao3 the story is restricted to members only as of right now, but I may open it to all as time goes on. I try to update on Ao3 on Wednesdays, and I will post on Tumblr sometime afterwards (I currently have no specified date for Tumblr releases, so times may vary).

Series Note: This series was planned and written in the summer of 2024 based on the context of the Pokémon In-Game Universe at the time. This series includes spoilers for Pokémon games including Black & White, Black & White II, Legends Arceus, and Scarlet & Violet. Any changes to the overarching storyline or characters that occur within any following Pokémon game releases (i.e. Pokémon Legends ZA and beyond) are considered non-canon within the context of this series.

This series was written out of my love for Generation V and as if it is its game plot, but with a few small twists. I wanted to simply try and write my own alternative storyline for a hypothetical Unova Legends game. My attempt at a Legends plotline became a passion project I wanted to share with those who may be interested in such a story. While it is written to have a darker tone due to its inspirations, I try to keep the series at a PG13 rating for fantasy violence. There is no sexual or NSFW content. Pokémon was ultimately made for young viewers, and I wish to carry on a similar openness in my writing.

After around seven years of being dragged along by Fajra, Emmet learned two big don’ts— don’t let Fajra drive and don’t let Fajra handle negotiations solo as people. It wasn't like he did much better when it came to socializing. Most often a discussion would— unintentionally — end with a passive-aggressive remark. His blunt remarks weren’t good for business. Yet it was one thing for Emmet to provoke their clients, it was another for the clients to provoke Fajra.

“You know the drill, just let me do the talkin’ here,” Fajra reminded her partner while her hand rested on the old battered door handle. “No weird greetings, don't point out whatever weird lil’ tattoo or mark you see on the guys’ face, or the ugly picture that's probably his mam or someon’— better yet, how about say nothin’ at all?”

She had shot him a look as if inviting him to protest, but instead he simply replied with a sly smile, “As you wish.”

“Nuh-uh, don’t smile like that. I’m serious, Em. We have an agreement, but you…”

Fajra held up her hand to Emmet’s face as if trying to grasp something with all her might before spitting out, “Keep your inside thoughts inside, that’s all I’m saying.”

That was all well and good— if only Fajra could do the same. Fajra excelled at misdirecting from her motives, but misdirecting her feelings was another. Now as the two stood before the grizzled manager of the dimly lit antique store, Emmet could already see Fajra’s facade slipping away as she tapped her fingers with great annoyance on the countertop. The manager glanced at her every so often as he inspected the items presented, but didn’t break under her pressure.

“I’ll give ya… about a thousand for this one.”

The store manager tapped one of the TMs, only for Fajra to scoff and push Emmet aside from the counter. She slammed both hands on the table as she leered at the manager, “A thousand? Don’ get smart with me, I know you sold this for five thousand last week! At least pretend to play fair. Suppose you’ll say these ones are worth even less now?”

Fajra gestured to the other TMs they managed to collect. They weren’t exactly mint condition. Dusty and scratched, he suspected they hadn’t been touched in many decades.

“We tested these ourselves,” Emmet offered, placing a firm hand on Fajra’s shoulder as if to pull her back. “They still work, if that’s your concern. They may not have the aesthetic appeal, but ultimately it's about their function.”

The manager still had a frown on his face. His eyes seemed to linger around the old store filled with second-hand items. It was a dark and dreary store, as if all the memories that the items once left held haunted the place with a gloomy presence. Emmet noted that his gaze steadied on an only television set placed toward the door.

“Look, I’ll shoot straight with ya,” the manager began at last with a heavy sigh, “One of my other suppliers brought me TMs and it turned out they were stolen from private League property. The authorities came knocking and I'm fortunate they didn't shut my whole business down. Haven’t seen the guy since then. I can give you a little money for the trouble, but unless you can prove these were legally acquired, I’m just going to treat them as damaged goods.”

Before Fajra opened her mouth, Emmet quickly intervened, “Understandable— we’ll need a minute to discuss. Apologies for the delay.”

“It’s a load of Bouffalant crap!” Fajra spat immediately once Emmet pulled her away from the counter. “He’s trying to cheat us out of our items! I’ve seen it before, you can’t possibly think—“

“I can’t take that track with you, Fajra. What if he’s telling the truth? You and I both knowwhere those TMs came from. You know full well if we get caught, we will be in serious trouble. Una and I would be in serious trouble. Take the hush money.”

He knew he screwed up when Fajra’s face became about as red as her flame colored hair. “I am not leaving with a measly thousand. Those blasted discs took too long to get to have such little reward! We need the money to fix that stupid handcar we busted just getting the loot here!”

“You busted the handcar. I’m a lot of things, but I’m at least a good driver.”

The front door jingled as someone entered the store, and both Emmet and Fajra immediately fell quiet. A young man and woman strided inside and their own eyes landed on the two other customers before heading to the counter. Their clothes were relatively ordinary of the scrawny Pokémon trainers in the area, although he noted that each wore a gold band around one of their ankles. Emmet tipped his head a little farther down over his face while Fajra shot a nasty glare back at the newcomers before whispering underneath her breath, “Great, just what we needed, an audience.”

The store manager pushed aside the TMs and other trinkets Fajra provided while greeting the couple with a weary smile. “Ah, come to collect your purchase, I see? I’ve been holding it for some time—“

“Yes, yes,” the man began with a wave of his hand. “We appreciate you holding onto it. Mr. Stotle would’ve come to take it himself, but he couldn’t find the time.”

Something bumped against Emmet’s leg, and upon peering down he found Liepard brushing up beside him. Liepard often wandered around the establishment while Emmet and Fajra conducted business, watching for any signs of a threat. Her glowing eyes were now fixed on the woman, who immediately turned her stare away upon Liepard’s appearance. A light growl began to vibrate from the Pokémon’s throat.

“Fajra, I don't think you can win this,” Emmet whispered while placing a hand on Liepard’s head. “We’ll find another buyer, please—”

His voice was drowned as the store manager pulled out a small box and opened it for the couple while saying skeptically, “Here you are! Hopefully this will be sufficient for Mr. Sto—“

“It’s perfectly fine, sir,” the man interrupted as the manager hurriedly closed the box and pushed it under the counter. He was not fast enough, for Emmet caught a glimpse of a polished, spherical stone the color of obsidian. He managed to see the three indents pressed in the shape of a triangle before the box clamped shut.

He couldn’t quite explain what happened next. His heart began to hammer against his chest at the sight of it. His surroundings became blurred, but his eyes could only focus on the stone. A numbing sensation of white noise engulfed his ears, leaving a ringing echoing to his very soul. Something stirred within him, dislodging images that had long since passed and buried. One stood out among the rest— a man adorning a black coat so similar to his own, his back facing Emmet. It wasn’t until the man turned that Emmet felt an ice pick stick through his heart.

The man had his face.

Before he could even begin to comprehend the sight, it was as if the world zoomed in beyond the man in black, revealing nothing but void— lonely and abyssal. Yet from the darkness shone two red lights, slowly dimming before a flash of electric blue light burst like a dying star.

“Em!”

A punch to the arm swiftly broke through his thoughts, causing him to recoil and jerk his hand to the spot Fajra hit. While Fajra still had her eyes narrowed in frustration, her lips formed a frown he had not seen in awhile.

“You… you alrigh?” Fajra asked, the usual sharp edge in her voice dulled. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you sick or… somethin’?”

His heart beat rapidly against his chest before turning swiftly to Fajra and whispering, “What I’m about to ask you is a one time occurrence. No questions asked— not until afterwards.”

Fajra’s eyes widened, but her disapproving frown churned upward into a sly smile. “Consider my interest piqued.”

“I want to initiate Protocol Thirty-Eight.”

Any frustration Fajra had with her partner seemed to vanish, replaced with an unnatural grittiness. Her smile broadened as told Emmet with a slight flick of his shoulder, “Protocol thirty-eight? The Protocol Thirty-Eight? Does this, perhaps, mean that you’ve changed your mind about… unlawful acquisition?”

“No, but—“

“Never mind— you can spill the deets later. Let’s get the wheels moving.”

Fajra didn't miss a beat as she strolled back to the counter, a disapproving scowl reappearing on her face as she laid eyes on the manager. The pair with the stone had opened up a case to hold the box securely when Fajra spoke loudly, “You know what? Fine. We won't be doing business with you today. We’ll take our goods elsewhere. It's about time, really— you hike up your prices just so you can get rid of the crappy rip-offs for some sort of profit.”

She then turned to the woman and remarked snidely, “Might want to rethink shopping here. The guy will do anything to make a quick buck.”

The manager’s face grew red at Fajra’s words, giving the other customers a quick glance before remarking hurriedly, “Ma’am, I know you're frustrated and I hear ya, but—”

Fajra had already done her part. The seeds of doubt sank into their targets as the woman glanced down at the box within the case. Her partner didn’t seem as convinced by Fajra’s claims, but merely stopped to watch the spectacle.

Emmet made a quick gesture to Liepard with his hands, signing to her in motions that only she would understand. Liepard gave a curt nod before brushing past her trainer and dipping behind the counter while the owner was distracted.

Seizing his chance, Emmet moved to the side of the other customers and remarked in a cheery air, “She is right— best be careful what you get from the Thievul’s hole.”

He leaned in a little closer to the man and continued in a low voice, “Ever think where he gets these items? Just last week one of his sellers was arrested for selling League property. I would be verrrry cautious with your purchase.”

His eyes met with the man’s, and he seemed to falter under Emmet’s knowing smile. He could almost see the gears in his head turning while his gaze narrowed suspiciously. It didn't last as the manager slammed his hands on the counter and retorted with frustration. “That’s enough! Get out of my shop before I call security! And don't bother coming back here, you scavengers!”

Neither of them needed to be told a second time. Fajra exchanged a dirty look with the manager as she threw her arms around their items before storming to the door with an obnoxious whip of her fiery orange hair. Emmet waited for Liepard to slink back into view, brushing against his side with a low purr.

The manager’s apologies were cut off as the door swung shut behind the two. Neither looked back as they were greeted by the streets of New Straiton City. There was no dark corner as the streets were ambushed with light from every screen, window, and billboard. It was late in the afternoon, and now the streets were swarming with men and women returning from work.

“Sooo, don’ hold out on me,” Fajra began as Emmet withdrew the small withered box from his coat pocket. “What is it that made you throw away seven years worth of integrity?”

Emmet glanced around to make sure none of the passer-by or the kiosks’s Minccino mascot was within listening range, he opened it enough for Fajra to peer inside. The obsidian sphere that lay within proved true to Liepard’s skills at thievery. His heart began to pound faster at the sight of it and his hand shook as he took a hand and pressed his finger to one of the indents. He didn't have the same visions as before, but his body trembled now that he was so close.

“This better be some rock because if we just lost revenue for a cheap— Em?”

Fajra’s criticism faltered as she noticed his shaking hand. She snatched his hand away from the rock, and without warning, jerked his glove off. Her eyes widened at the touch.

“You really are sick, aren't you?” She questioned, but her voice turned soft and concerned. “How long have you felt off? My gosh, what if this is radioactive—”

“Get back!” Emmet snapped as Fajra reached out to take the box away. She immediately recoiled, but a new expression replaced her concern. He had never seen her look at him with such fear. Even Liepard backed up, pushing against Fajra as if trying to shield her from him. Even now, the trembling ceased as soon as she clamped the box shut. All his symptoms, even his rage, had snapped away like the stone from his sight.

Emmet stepped back, still gripping the box in his hand as if it were his lifeline.

“I… am sorry,” he spoke earnestly. “I don't… I don't know why I did that. I don't know how to explain it…”

Fajra didn't speak. Her shoulders relaxed slightly as she took a step closer to Emmet. “Em, did you remember something?”

The question hadn’t been asked in years. Life had simply gone on, but now that his friend watched him with worry, he realized he had returned to the horrible darkness he had found himself in years before. Only this time, he had something to lose.

“This may sound silly,” he admitted truthfully. “But… I know this stone. When I'm around it, I realize there has been something missing. A part of me that's gone… and with this stone, it’s in reach, but I can't…”

His words faltered as Fajra reached to take his hand again. She kept him in between hers and told him with a small, but truly genuine smile, “You, my friend, are silly… but just because you're silly doesn't mean your feelings are too. Your situation is odd, and I understand that.”

He looked back at Fajra. “Thank you… I just can’t let him be separated from me again.”

Him. Even Emmet couldn't quite understand why he chose to include that one simple word. Fajra’s eyebrow raised skeptically at the inclusion of the pronoun. It didn't seem to matter though as she pried her gaze from his to glance around at their surroundings. It was getting busier, and based on the overhead announcements flooding the street, a celebration was about to take place.

“We can talk more later,” Fajra insisted, now pushing his hand back to his side. “Better to talk this out in a place that lacks a lotta ears. If you won't let me take the box, at least don’t open it again… for now. Whatever the rock is, your body is reacting to it, and I'm not ruling out radiation.”

She paused. “Do you need to go back to the handcar right away or—”

“No,” he replied promptly as he stuffed the box back in his pocket. “I’ll be fine. But I… I can acquire Una while you go on ahead. Where did you leave her again?”

#cyberpunk dystopia #dystopian #pokémon au #pokémon black and white #pokémon dystopian au #unova #pokemon #pokemon project spectrum #liepard #submas #subway boss emmet #kudari #subway master emmet #fanfic #Pokémon descendants #fajra #my writing

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dilf-rights-activist · 1 year

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Another Life: part 2

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x gender neutral reader, Platonic Hobie Brown & reader

Summary: A sad Miguel O’Hara returns to run his company with slumped shoulders and a cloud over his head. In a somewhat lame attempt to lift his spirits, his assistant, Lyla, runs to a local cafe to get the office some drinks, where she meets a kind barista with a stained apron and tired eyes. Or, the one where you drag your exhausted corpse to your second job to meet Lyla, only to find out her boss had recently been dumped. After work, you settle into the floor of your cozy apartment with your eccentric roommate: one Hobie Brown.

Word count: 3.7k

Content: eventual sugar daddy AU, coffee shop au, no use of (y/n), the slowest of burns (we’re not even gathering fire wood yet), sfw, Hobie being cool, descriptions of financial hardship, swearing, aged up Hobie

AO3 part 1 part 3 part 4

Miguel’s office chair creaked dangerously when he leaned back and breathed out a large sigh. The conference call had been done for ten minutes now, and he was still feeling a little drowsy from his early morning. He looked out his office window just in time to see Jessica scrub a hand over her face, eyes droopy and tired looking. He watched as she stood up and stretched her lower back to release the tension that’s been building there. She sighed and rested a delicate hand on her round belly, rubbing soothing circles before sitting back down again. Miguel has been urging her to take her maternity leave early, but she refuses him every time, stating that he could never survive without her. This wasn’t entirely true but still. Miguel frowned to himself before straightening up at the knock at his door.

“Miguel?” came a high-pitched voice on the other side of the wood.

“Yes?”

The door opened slowly to reveal a young, freckled face smiling brightly at him. “Hey, Miguel! I have the reports you wanted.”

Miguel smiled at his assistant and held out his hand to receive them. “Thanks, Lyla.”

“You got it.” Lyla was a student at Columbia that works part time as Miguel’s assistant. Her cheerful demeanor easily lifted those around her. If he was being honest, he thinks Lyla goofed off a little too much, but she was the best assistant he’s had in a decade. She was quick as a whip, and helped him with everything from managing his allergies to figuring out the best energy source for his nano tech. Plus, Lyla was the only one who could handle him when he was sleep deprived and hangry (which was all the time).

The brunette fell silent as he looked down at the reports in his hands, not really paying enough attention to process any of the words he read.

“Hey, Miguel?”

He startled and looked up at Lyla, she was still here? He must have really been out of it.

“Yeah?”

Lyla’s big brown eyes peered at him pensively before sighing through her nose “You doing okay, boss?” Her glossy pink lips were pulled into a small frown. “You look…tired. Like, way more than usual.”

Miguel huffed softly and blew a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Alright, One: I am tired. And Two:” He looked at her sternly, pointing a strong finger to emphasize his point. “I am fine.” He said a little too quickly. Lyla rolled her eyes and groaned dramatically.

“C’mon, Miguel! You can tell me!” She walked up to his heavy desk and placed both hands atop its smooth surface. “What? Did the Mets lose a game?”

“The season is over-“

“A pigeon poop on your Porsche?”

“No-“

“Did Tony call you ‘Dark Garfield’ again?”

“No!”

“You get dumped?”

Miguel’s jaw shut promptly and he pursed his lips into a tight sneer. He looked at his grinning assistant, who had clearly said that as a joke. She blinked a couple times at his silence, slowly picking up her hands from his desk as she straightened a little.

“Oh shit. Really?” She said softly, almost feeling bad for bringing it up so casually. “I’m…sorry to hear that.”

The large man let out a soft laugh and waved his hand in the air. “It’s fine, Lyla. Really, it is.” he sighed, was he trying to convince Lyla or himself?

The girl looked at her sneakers and shuffled awkwardly for a second, “Is there anything I can do for you? Cancel your appointments? Get you coffee?”

Miguel visibly perked up at that. “Yeah, that would be great, actually. There’s actually a specific place I’d like you to go to…”

---

A heavy sigh left your lips as you bent forward and leaned onto the counter in front of you, limbs going unpleasantly numb from overuse. You stayed there for a couple moments, contemplating just how you let your life get to this particularly pathetic point. Peter was right, the morning rush had been bad. Exhausted students and working class New Yorkers alike came in by the truck load, shooting order after order at you and your boss with little sympathy.

You glanced down at Peter, who was currently squatting behind the counter and wolfing down a croissant like his life depended on it.

“Slow down or you’re gonna choke, stupid.”

The brunette looked at you like a man possessed. “Shut up! I haven’t eaten anything today!”

You laughed softly and flexed your fingers, wincing as they cracked and popped. “Christ, I’m tired. And it’s only,” you glanced at your watch and held back a groan. “8 am.”

Peter looked at you and wiped the crumbs off of his frowning face. “You sleep any last night?”

“Only the usual four hours.” you grimaced and put your head down again. “Some dude came in last minute to drink last night.”

“Damn.” Peter sighed from his place on the floor. “I wish I could help somehow. I’d do anything for you, y’know.”

You smiled and peeked at him through your arms. You met Peter during your second year of college. He remembered you frequenting his cafe as a freshman to fuel up on caffeine and use his Wi-Fi. He always welcomed you with ease (and not just because you were a good tipper). Eventually, he offered you a job, and you’ve been working with him ever since. You opened your mouth to say something before the bell at the door chimed through the cafe, signifying that someone walked in.

“Customers!” Peter almost shrieked, tucking more into himself on the floor. “Don’t let them see me! I’m not here!”

So much for doing anything for you!

You shot him a look before straightening up to see a girl with a large white coat and fluffy brown hair peer up at the chalkboard menu above you.

“Hey, welcome in.” you smiled and lightly kicked Peter’s side behind the counter. The quiet “Ow!” wasn’t heard by the girl in front of you as her large eyes darted from her phone to the menu at an alarming rate.

“Hi!”

After exchanging pleasantries you nodded as she relayed her lengthy order, talking at 100 words a minute.

Her hazel eyes blinked behind her heart shaped lenses. “Sorry for the large order! These are for my office.”

“It’s no problem!” You lied through your teeth. “What’s your name?”

“Lyla.”

“Lieee-Luh.” you repeated slowly you wrote her name on the empty cups before you, making sure to draw little hearts on her’s. “Got it! I’ll have these out in a little bit.” Lyla gave you a million watt smile and nodded eagerly, making his way to the end of the bar where her drinks were to be deposited. You went through the motions of drink making with ease, humming lightly to yourself to keep you focused. You looked at Peter, who has yet to move from his position on the floor. You flipped him off quickly and capped Lyla’s drinks, ignoring the over dramatic look of hurt the musician shot you.

“Thank you so much,” Lyla looked at you from across the bar and smiled.

“It’s really no problem, it’s literally my job.”

“Yeah, but still…” she chuckled to herself. “I think this’ll really help.”

That caught your attention and you looked up from the carmel drizzle you were working on. “Yeah? With what?”

A small crease appeared between Lyla’s worried brows as she smiled sadly. “My boss got dumped yesterday.” You pulled a face, Yikes, you thought, not a good season for the lovers. Your mind immediately drifted to the heart broken man that came into the restaurant last night. His entire demeanor was depressed with loneliness, even his hair seemed to droop slightly in sadness. You didn’t know the man very well, but you could tell that he was a person who would go out of his way to help someone, someone that wouldn’t hesitate to do the right thing. You hoped he was okay.

“Oh…” you started lamely, because how the fuck were you supposed to respond? “That sucks.” Lyla’s head snapped up at your abrupt reply. You blinked, realizing that you must have been more tired than you thought because what the fuck? You can’t talk to customers like that! You pressed your lips together and quickly thought of an apology. “I’m-”

“It does suck, right?” She smiled lopsidedly and let out a laugh. You breathed out a sigh, relieved that she wasn’t going to write Aunt May a strongly worded letter or trash the cafe on Yelp. You finished the rest of the drinks with ease, handing Lyla her order in two cup holders.

“Thanks a bunch!” She took his order with a grin and began to turn towards the exit.

“Ah, wait one second!” You said before sidestepping a still squatting Peter (who had somehow gotten another croissant) to quickly shove a few pastries into two paper bags. You stood there in thought for a second before grabbing a sharpie from the cash register, scribbling something on one of them.

“Thank you for being patient with me.” you said, handing Lyla the baked goods. “One of those is for you, good luck at the office!”

If you thought the girl’s smile was blinding before it really had nothing on her expression now. “Really?”

“For sure.”

Lyla’s heart shrouded eyes blinked at you for a moment, as if studying you. Her pink lips spread into a grin before turning to you fully. “What’s your name?”

You smiled back at her and gave her your name as you dusted your hands on your apron. “The other one is for your boss, tell them to take it easy, okay?”

---

Miguel stared at the city’s activity below him from his office window. People milled about on the sidewalk below, interacting with one another throughout their day. The large man took a bite out of his scone thoughtfully, admiring the subtle vanilla flavor. Lyla came in with his coffee order not too long ago, bringing a small pastry bag as a surprise. He said that a nice barista gave it to him, ordering her to tell him to “take it easy”. Miguel accepted the treats gratefully, promising Lyla that he was fine (really, he was).

Probably.

He popped the last of the scone in his mouth and moved to toss the bag in the trash before something caught his eye. Looking at the pastry bag more carefully, he could see that the barista left him a small note.

Everything’s gonna be okay. If it’s not okay, that’s okay too.

Miguel dusted his crummy mouth as he stared at the piece of paper, chuckling softly to himself. The barista also drew him a cute little bunny giving him a thumbs up in encouragement.

The brunette’s thick brows knitted as he carefully tore his little note away from the rest of the bag. Miguel placed the note in one of his desk drawers after making sure that there were no remaining crumbs sticking to it and threw the rest away (he hated ants).

“Looks like I’ve got someone looking out for me.”

---

You tapped your pencil against the page in front of you in annoyance and took a large sip of your tea. You started doing your homework over an hour ago and barely made any progress due to its difficulty. You huffed, recalling just how little you paid attention in class due to always falling asleep.

You stared at the equations in front of you, and they glared back just as intensely. You looked up from your staring contest to glance at your roommate, Hobie, who was humming quietly to himself as he created the setlist for his next show. You met Hobie when you first moved to the city for school. He was born in Camden Town, London, and was literally the coolest person you have ever met. He came to New York to work on his music and study fashion. His time was split between that, antagonizing fascists, being a part-time runway model, and working at the bar with you. You saw him sneaking shots for both himself and some of his regulars, but never told a soul. You knew Hobie hated working there, hated being a cog in the system, but he had bills to pay (you both did). The two of you shared a cozy space nestled in the center of New York City’s ChinaTown, right below the smog covered stars, and right above Timmy Chan’s Hong Kong Style Dim Sum (a favorite lunch time spot you frequented together).

“Hey, Hobie. Could you help me a little?”

He looked up from his notes, pen cap stuck in between his lips and grinned.

”Yeah, sure. What is it?”

You smiled gratefully, picking up the page and walking over to him. You crossed your legs and sat on the floor at his side as his eyes skimmed the page, nodding as he read along.

“You daft?” Hobie elbowed your side gently. “Integral calculus? This is bright and breezy.”

You looked up at his big brown eyes and pouted. “I’ve been falling asleep in class.” you said with a huff. Hobie’s pierced brows creased with concern at this, shuffling slightly to wrap an arm around you.

“Again?”

“Again.” you sighed. You looked to the ground, idly picking at the fraying carpet you two sat on. You knew Hobie worried about you and how hard you’ve been pushing yourself. He could see how the stress from work and school were affecting your health and it was beginning to concern him.

“Y’right?”

You looked up at him wryly, bringing a hand up to flick his shoulder lightly.

“I’m alright.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Hobie squinted at you before turning back to the page in his hands, deciding to drop the subject for now. “Whatever. You’d tell me otherwise, yeah?”

You leaned on his shoulder and nuzzled his bicep playfully, yawning obnoxiously before saying, “Of course.”

He gazed upon your drooping form, pursing his lips. “You said you only hit the sack for, what? Four hours?”

“Just about, yeah.”

Hobie huffed and straightened out the piece of paper in his hands. “Right, some dick walked in right before closing and demanded to be served.”

“He wasn’t a dick he was just…” you adjusted yourself on his shoulder. “Sad.”

“A sad dick?”

“No!” you smacked him lightly and you could feel yourself shake with the rumble of Hobie’s chest as he chuckled warmly. You thought about the man that came into your life the other night, it amazed you how someone so large managed to look so small.

“He just got dumped.”

“Bliiiiimey.” He pulled a face.

“That’s what I said!”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, not that exactly!” You huffed out a sigh. “He looked like a kicked puppy. Which is hilarious, because the man is like a building with feet.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! His arms are like tree trunks! I think he could kill me with a flick of his wrist.” You shook Hobie’s lean arm lightly to illustrate your point. “He just looked so...hurt. And he just, like, accepted it, y’know? Like he’s been hurt like this before.” you blinked and lowered your eyes, hugging Hobie’s arm a little tighter. “I hope he’s okay.”

Dark eyes shifted from the paper and onto the top of your head, Hobie huffed out a small laugh. “Aw, you fancy him.”

You pulled back from your friend’s arm sharply and gaped up at him. “I do not!” Fancy him? You only just met the guy and knew nothing about him. Fancy him!

Hobie threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “You do!”

“I don’t, I just-“ you huffed out a breath and paused to collect your thoughts. “I dunno, there was just something…about him, y’know? He seemed like someone who had a lot to offer the world, to offer someone. He looked like he had given up. Seeing him crushed like that just doesn’t sit right with me.”

He side eyed you skeptically and let out a sigh through his nose. You were always pushing yourself so hard, always putting others first (often at a detriment to yourself). Between the two (sometimes three) jobs and school, he had no idea how you were functioning. Hobie grimaced, thinking about the multiple occasions where you were so overwhelmed you sat on the floor eating (his) instant noodles while crying, too stressed to even tell him what was wrong. Other times, he’d go days without seeing you as you’d lock yourself in your apartment to focus on schoolwork, scaring him half to death with your lack of response. He physically kicked in the door of your room only to find you half dead and twitchy in your hyper-focused state. He never wanted to see you like that again.

“Yeah, well” he shrugged and you whined as the movement jostled you on his bicep. “Just don’t bugger off with your fit bev and leave me with your rent.” You laughed softly and pressed your cheek into his arm, smiling against it.

“I could never, Hobie.”

You assumed he accepted your response, as he nodded and turned his attention back to your math homework.”Right, the integral of 2xd is x squared, yeah? You plug that in here at the top and subtract the bottom.”

You breathed deeply and closed your eyes, already feeling yourself start to doze off again. You knew you should be paying attention, but you were too content with snuggling up to Hobie’s arm for some (not so) well deserved sleep.

“Thirteen squared is 169, minus ten squared is…Oi. Oi, you listenin’? Do your homework!” he jostled you gently.

“Yeah...of course…” you mumbled quietly.

Hobie looked down at you with a frown, already knowing that any attempt he made at waking you would be in vain. He sighed as he picked up his pen from its abandoned spot on the floor, deciding to finish your homework for you.

“Hopefully I can mimic your rubbish handwriting.” he sighed.

“Y’can’t do math homework in pen,” you mumbled.

“I don’t believe in conformity.” He sniffed before twirling the pen in his fingers. He tenaciously began to scribble perfect arithmetic on your page, stopping only to smile when you let out a sleepy “thanks” against his arm.

“Anytime, love.”

---

The long days turned into longer weeks as time went by. Miguel went through the motions of his position of CEO with relative ease, meticulously leading his company to further success.

That’s what he told himself, anyway.

Large shoulders sagged as Miguel sighed into the palms of his hands before peeking through his fingers to blearily peer at the clock in his desktop monitor.

8:43 pm

Jesus Christ, was it already that late? The brunette looked up through his office windows to find that yes, it really was that late, as the building’s lights had shut off and everyone had long gone home. Miguel has since changed into more comfortable clothing to ease him into his work night. The soft material of his oversized gray hoodie combined with the relaxed fit of his favorite pair of loose joggers were the perfect combination for his frequent occasional over night stays in the office. The man let out a yawn as he stretched his arms high above his head before rising from his chair, ready to call it a day. Grabbing his coat and phone, Miguel left the building, letting the automatic doors lock behind him with a soft click.

The brunette inhaled the Autumn air with a light hum before beginning his commute back to his apartment, occasionally picking up litter as he went because why not. He listened to the sounds of the bustling city; the distant sirens, the blaring music from strangers’ headphones as they walked past, the clinking of ceramic in cozy cafes.

Oh. Miguel slowed his stride to a stop in front of a small coffee shop lit warmly within, the same shop he sent Lyla on a coffee run to. Turning fully to face the entrance, the brunette spotted the same nice looking man he saw the first time he laid eyes on the shop. Miguel checked his watch to glance at the time before walking through the wooden door that led to the sweet smelling cafe.

Notes: I deadass spent over an hour learning about the English Cockney accent and have two (2) tabs open with English to Cockney translators. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make Hobie sound more in character PLEASE let me know. Part of me wants to really lean into the rhyming slang, but I’m afraid no one will be able to understand him (but that’s, like, part of his character right?), he’s in his early twenties here.

The answer to the equation Hobie was solving is 69 lol

#miguel x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o’hara fic #miguel x you #miguel spiderverse #miguel o’hara x you #across the spiderverse fanfiction #sugar daddy au #coffee shop au #bar/pub au #platonic Hobie brown #i hate tagging these like its humiliating lmao #writing

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mamthew · 2 months

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This review of Final Fantasy XV: Dawn of the Future by Jun Eishima sort of by design contains spoilers for FFXV and all of its tie-in materials.

Final Fantasy XV is a kind of fascinating game. It's a mainline Final Fantasy game that's been in a weird state of incompletion literally throughout its entire lifetime. It was announced in 2006 as Final Fantasy Vs. XIII, then was in development hell for literally a decade after its announcement, when it finally released as Final Fantasy XV in 2016, alongside a movie that filled in a pretty big chunk of its lore, an animated OVA that filled out some of the characters' backstories, and several crappy side-games. It released alongside a season pass that promised three single-player campaigns and one multiplayer campaign that all filled in missing pieces of the story that otherwise felt excised from the game's story as it was at launch.

In FFXV, Gladio leaves the party for a time and returns with a facial scar, refusing to tell the group why. Ignis is separated from the party during a battle and in the aftermath is revealed to have been blinded in the altercation, with no explanation as to how. Prompto is kidnapped and when the group rescues him, he mentions offhand some pretty mind-boggling backstory he has discovered, with no time to explain what that even means. Near the end of the game, there's a ten-year time skip, the interim of which is barely explored. Each of these missing pieces was slowly filled in over the course of 2017, and only for those who had the money to shell out for the extra content and the time to play the kind of tediously long Comrades DLC.

But even after these holes were filled in, many fans were unhappy with the final game. FFXV's entire back half feels incomplete, like it was rushed despite its at least ten-year development cycle. Its final dungeon is pretty short, and its ending is…divisive…which is a nice way to say that it's a downer and most gamers especially circa 2016 couldn't handle a game having a downer of an ending. Throughout 2017 and 2018, the developers kept patching in more story beats, more quality-of-life tweaks, and more side content, in an effort to both make the game feel more complete and cater to fans upset about the less-than-rosy story elements.

This culminated in the release of FFXV: Royal Edition in March of 2018, which packaged in all the previous patches and DLCs and completely reworked the final dungeon to be much larger, more detailed, and to present closure on several plot threads originally left ambiguous. Royal also promised the release of four more story DLCs, based on the results of a fan survey, which would combine to give the game an entire alternate happy ending. But in October of 2018, three of the four DLCs were canceled and director Hajime Tabata left the company. The first of these DLCs, Episode Ardyn, released in March of 2019, a full year after Royal Edition's release. The Episode Ardyn DLC honestly kind of makes the original ending (as in, the only ending we'd gotten) worse by making the villain, Ardyn, aware from the beginning exactly how the game's story would play out and ascribing the entire thing to a fate that no one escapes. It even presents a newer, bigger villain who never gets his comeuppance.

In July of 2020, we got this book, Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future, a novelization of the story the canceled DLCs would have told, had Tabata been allowed to cook. A friend gifted the book to me the month of its release, and I immediately started graduate school and had too much work to get to it. Four years later, I dug through all my still-packed boxes of books to find it and finally get some closure on the game that dominated three years of my life so long ago.

Dawn of the Future isn't great as a book. It's written well enough, but the pacing of a video game story is pretty different from the pacing of a novel, since so much of the pacing and so many story beats are presented through the language of combat, the primary means of interacting with a video game world. Plus, as an alternate ending to a preexisting story that exists across a game, a demo, a movie, two OVAs, four DLCs, two years of updates, and several weird side projects, the novel assumes the reader is familiar with its world and characters. I was, so it worked for me, but I can't imagine how confusing it would be to try to read this book as someone who had never played FFXV before, or even as someone who had played FFXV but hadn't seen Kingsglaive or maybe hadn't played the Royal Edition of the game. FFXV exists across too many parts for any one story to stand alone, and that's especially glaringly obvious when I'm reading a novel - a medium I usually engage with as self-contained.

Dawn of the Future is interesting, though, as an attempt at recreating a clear plan that was shut down early. It seems to take very few creative liberties with the events as they would have unfolded in the DLCs. Part of why the pacing is so weird is that it details every boss fight and tries to make each of those fights take up as much space as the fight would have taken time in the DLC itself. It takes time to describe what clearly would have been the gameplay loop of each DLC. It's trying to convey to the reader what the playing of this story would have felt like. For that reason, this attempt to bring closure to fans is also, at least for me, a reopening of the wound it's trying to heal. I would have loved to drive a motorcycle across the wastes of the Gralean Empire as Luna and Sol, setting up campsites along the darkened road. Aranea's sci-fi dragoon combat style sounds fun as hell, and chasing Diamond Weapon across the burning city of Gralea would have been up there with the fall of Altissia for spectacle. I'd love to play a boss fight against Bahamut using two different characters in two separate planes of existence - that sounds rad. I'm reading a game I don't get to play, and games generally are more satisfying to play than to read.

I'm also of two minds on the story from the perspective of a fan. Much of what it adds are either things the original game definitely needed more of or fun riffs on previously established gameplay loops. Aranea, Sol, and Luna all being important playable characters would have helped to fix the lack of female characters in the original game, for instance. That's sorely needed. Going on a Mad Max-style motorcycle ride through the post-apocalypse was an inspired twist on the low-stakes road trip that made up the first half of the main game. That's creative and much appreciated. But the ending itself is, in my opinion, weaker than the ending we got. It's a much more traditionally Final Fantasy ending, in that the characters all survive and defeat a cosmic enemy that would otherwise destroy the world, so I'm sure there are fans who see it as a much-needed alternate ending, or even maybe "the ending we should have had if the devs had made the game right the first time." But it loses so much of the ambiguity and ambivalence that the original ending holds.

Noct and his friends dying to wipe out the royal family and cleanse the world because the notion of royalty was a trap that existed only to set right a great evil his ancestors perpetrated was darkly ironic. Instead, Noct and his friends and his fiance all survive while the ancestor apologizes to those he hurt, resulting in the continuation of the royal family. That's thematically inconsistent from what the game tried to do up to that point and is also…just…limp. But I say that knowing full well that if this ending had released with the original game, I'd have no issue with it. I wouldn't have finished the game and said "well, it was all ruined at the end when all the characters didn't die." It's through the act of papering over what was messy and thematically interesting about the original that the inadequacies of this ending are made apparent.

This is a strange book that left me feeling two ways about the game it's based on; FFXV is both lesser and greater for the loss of these DLCs. But that's always been true ever since the game's initial release. FFXV has always been in a state of flux, reliant on tie-in media and promised future updates to bring it to the state where it will be what was promised. Now, with those promises broken and its director pushed out, it's a game that's been refinished just about every month for three years and will forever be unfinished despite it all. The Dawn of the Future is a reminder of a future that never will be, a testament to the ugliness of AAA game development, and a fascinating look at the refinements and setbacks that would have come from chasing fan expectations.

I enjoyed reading it. I would have enjoyed playing it more. It is not the ending we should have gotten, either in form or in contents.

#Final fantasy #final fantasy xv #ffxv

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bosskie · 4 months

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3 Years of Molluck: Art 'n' the Journey

Man, it's time to 'celebrate' me drawing this Gluk for 3 years since I have barely drawn anything else than him since then... So, this is gonna be a huge post where I have bundled the most of my Molluck stuff (2021-2024) and tell ya about my Molluck (art) journey.

I started sharing my Molluck content first on Twitter but then, I moved to here since this was more fitting home for my 'Molluck love headquarters'. I have pretty much abandoned every social media but Tumblr. Right now, it just feels like I have found the right place to be but also myself. I mean, it feels like I have finally found out what actually interests me and what feels like me, so Oddworld made me find home.

I have known Oddworld for... Well, at least known about its existence for a decade or something, seen gameplay of AO and AE for multiple times, but I actually got into it only in Janurary (?) 2021 when, for some odd reason, I wanted to watch all those cutscenes from AO, AE and MO. Those cutscenes made me fall in love with Oddworld! Even I'm quite a new fan still, it's my favourite game series! It just hit me... I just love the dark humour, that darkness in general, the brutality but also that silly humour (yes, I laugh at farts)! I can understand why Lorne never really liked the fart tho' but man, I cannot let it be... I really need to draw my silly comic idea of Molluck farting... Got some proper comic paper for it; just perfect waste of paper! (Never used that paper, even it's like over a decade old pad...)

But yeah, for this reason, I got no nostalgia for the series but I got into it 'just in time', before the release of SoulStorm on the same year. So, I had time to play the previous games before playing SS, though I have never finished Stranger's Wrath... Must be the lack of Glukkons... But I'll try to continue it one day! So, from the ones I have finished, my top3 is: Abe's Exoddus, Abe's Oddysee, and SoulStorm. I have finished them all at least 3 times.

Since the beginning, Gluks and Sligs have been my favourite Oddworld species, but yes, Glukkons are my beloveds! First, I actually drew just my own Glukkons, probably because I didn't really have any favourite Gluk first, just loved them in general, but Molluck was the first 'official' Gluk I ever drew since I had started to love him. It happened after watching all those SoulStorm cutscenes; I started to see myself in him and only after that he got my attention, noticed his special appearance too. So, it wasn't love at the first sight but after I got into him, saw his personality; I just felt like he is me as a Glukkon. Man, he has felt like the love of my life and still does!

But my first ever Oddworld piece was this Abe:

Yeah, just some random Abe I felt like drawing since I got quite into Oddworld stuff! But yes, getting into Oddworld was also like starting from a new table for me since I wanted to abandon my old stuff for multiple reasons. I just wish to let that past be and focus on the present. Like I said, it just feels like I have finally found home, thanks to Oddworld! I have heard so often that I'm 'odd', so I indeed belong to there! Molluck has just made me finally comfortable with who I am and helped me to find myself. No one else has felt so right as him. Therefore I believe that I'll have lots of years with Molluck in the future!

But yes, it's time for Molluck art! I drew my first Molluck exactly 3 years ago:

I swear, I didn't draw this badly back then... You know when you just have some kind of 'skill drops' when your skills just get worse for some reason. I just had no idea how to draw him, so I ended up drawing quite horrible Molluck stuff first... But after a few months, I already started to get a lot better at drawing him. My way to draw Molluck was quite experiemental for a long time and kinda still is... I still have no idea what my style is but some randomly stylized realism... I have never even liked my own style to draw, no matter if the others liked it. Maybe it's just like food: it's better when someone else does it!

I didn't repost all my Molluck art here, just with some criteria since I have drawn Molluck so much... You can also already find on my blog almost every Molluck I have drawn, so nothing new here really but maybe two lil things. I bet that next time, when I do a post like this, I'll only post my top favourites since yeah, I do draw Molluck a lot... Cannot still draw him too much!

So yeah, welcome to my life Molluck art journey:

2021

2022

2023

[Less stuff due to worse mental health and exhaustion.]

2024

Yeah, this was like my Molluck art journey in a nutshell! I feel like redrawing some of these, at least as sketches, not really because the original looked bad but because I just love the idea I drew! There are also some WIPs I still wish to work on and finish... But maybe after I feel like doing digital paintings again. I'm just kinda tired of drawing with the mouse... Yes, all my digital stuff is done with a computer mouse; it's actually restricting me but don't feel like investing in digital art supplies, at least right now... I haven't even liked using a drawing tablet nor a touch screen, so it's what makes me hesitate... I also just enjoy doing traditional art stuff in general. The main reason why I did mainly digital stuff before was my self-hatred because I thought that I just draw some trash and therefore would waste the art supplies... Yeah, it wasn't about preference, just mental health issues... Though digital art has its advantages I miss while doing traditional stuff... So, I do still like doing digital stuff for those reasons.

Heck, what a difference:

Frankly, I feel like this year, I have finally managed to start drawing Molluck like I have wished to be able to or at least close to that since I still feel like I have a lot to learn... I more like feel like I have gotten my older skills back than actually gotten better... I mean, I haven't really improved that much. Even I have pretty much zero desire to post my old stuff, I wanna give you an example of what I mean:

This is actually a WIP still but I did it 6 years ago. Never really done any proper car drawing/painting before but I like old cars, so had to paint one! Yeah, I actually wish to draw more vehicles... I don't wonder why I actually enjoyed drawing Molluck's blimp. Gotta draw a proper 'GlukMobile' for Molluck, I guess!

I'm not here to boast, just sharing my journey, and that it can happen that one's skills kinda get worse for some reason but it doesn't mean that they are gone. I more like wish to inspire people! Like, frankly, there's one specific (SoulStorm) Molluck fan art I saw like 3 years ago, posted by OWI, that really made me wanna push harder to improve my Molluck art. I really wanted to draw Molluck like that person, it was so amazing, and still is! Just gotta give some credit to that piece, at last; it's been such a big inspiration for me! Though, I still cannot see Molluck's sinister spirit there, like OWI describes the piece... I must function somehow differently since I have never really found Molluck intimidating, no matter which Molluck it is... Oh, and I don't really wish OWI to share my Molluck stuff... I don't feel like it's good enough for such, yet... I don't really enjoy (too much) attention either. Those are also reasons why I didn't send anything to their fan art celebration thing they held recently. I'm still kinda curious to know what they would think about my doings... It was like a miracle I even felt like taking a part in that SoulStorm tattoo competition since I don't enjoy competitions, just wanna do my stuff in peace.

I still don't know how 'perfect' my way to draw Molluck is, but like I have said, I'm finally starting to feel like I draw him somewhat like I have wanted since I started drawing him. I just feel like I could still draw him better, and better... But thru telling you this, I only wish to encourage you! There has been people who have said that they wish to have my skills/talent and I have been in that same position with my Molluck stuff, wishing being able to draw like someone else. It only made me push harder, though yes, it has also made me feel like my stuff looks like crap, but I don't wish it to look like that, so gotta just keep drawing! Art is pain, got even a deep scar from making it, but I do still love creating stuff; enjoying my own results is a different story though... Like, I seriously thought that my entry to that SoulStorm tattoo competition (that realistic piece of Molluck and his Slig from 2022) looks bad and almost deleted it after submitting it, but I won... I still don't know how to really handle it...

But honestly, I never thought that someone would ever look at my stuff and think that they wish to have my talent... It's such a big compliment... I feel speechless when I think about it, especially when I'm a someone who has literally taken all his own stuff away multiple times because he has hated his own creations, saw them as mere trash... One side of me is still saying that 'What talent? Please, wish to have someone better's talent...' or 'Oh, you want it? I can give it since I'm only wasting it!' since I don't personally feel talented (and I suffer from self-hatred), even I have heard so long that I'm a multi-talent, been even called a genius... I don't know what's the reality with this... Welp, I just wanna focus on creating my Molluck crap stuff in the best way possible! I still got so much Molluck stuff to do... But I still hope that I could see the talent the others see me having... Maybe it's just too close to me, literally being me, so I just cannot see it... Or maybe I can see it but wanna deny it... I really don't know what to think of my stuff; sometimes I only see it as just some trash, feel throwing them away, and sometimes I'm even able to like my stuff but that I loved my art... Nope, just cannot say it, mostly because I don't love myself either, but I'm trying my best to learn it. I only love my subject, Molluck.

I'm sorry but I just can be honest about how I feel about my stuff... I do not wanna create any idealized picture. Also, I have suffered from self-hatred for over a decade, so I'm sick 'n' tired of it... It just makes we wanna be brutally honest. I know how it can affect people but I just cannot hide my actual feelings, I'm so exhausted... Molluck also just relates so much to my mental health, like he is keeping me together... Man, I don't know in what kind of dark 'n' deep pit I would be right now without him... That Gluk just means so much to me... I don't really wish to post my self-insert stuff because it's my personal stuff but here's one old WIP I could show, especially when I really wish I could hug Molluck right now...

Yes, there was a version of this without me earlier and it's not the only self-insert thing I posted without myself. Some of them are also cropped NSFW stuff... Sometimes, it kinda feels sad when I succeed to draw Molluck well but then, it's something I don't wish to show... Yeah, could have more stuff to show but eh, I keeping them to myself, at least for now. I already confessed that the only Molluck animations, in 2D 'n' in 3D, I have done are NSFW... I wish to do ones I can actually post...

But yes, I'm sorry but I'm not the one 'contribuiting' the rule 34, even I do create NSFW stuff about Molluck, like I have said... But I could make his 'OnlyChumps' account, like I have seen some people joking about, but it would cost an arm and leg; Molluck ain't cheap! Just joking but, yeah it's just my own self-insert stuff and it would be odd to let people kinda come to 'our bedroom'... Also yeah, I know that Molluck is asexual for a natural reason but maybe he could still enjoy it since for me, it is about sharing and giving love. I just wish to give love to his beautiful body! Frankly, I feel like I'm kinda in a minority when it comes to loving his body like it is... Like I have said earlier, haven't seen anyone like me with this, especially when it comes the way I 'want' him... I have just mainly seen people laughing at his body... Welp, maybe I just got odd taste but he is literally the most beautiful creature I know and drives me crazy... Just no one else has made me feel like this... There was always a feeling like something isn't right but not with Molluck. I only just feel so good with him! Oh, and I'm not talking about real living people here, never had such a relationship.

Oh, and yeah, I have forgotten to say that when I think about my self-insert relationship with Molluck, I feel equal with him, even though yes, he got the moolah, owns the stuff ect... But we could own the stuff together too. The thing is just that there is no boss in our relationship; there are compromises. I just feel true love toward him. I tend to think that he kinda loses his 'boss-self' with me, meaning that he can be vulnerable, show his soft side, and feel free with me. Though yes, he does still have his dominant side but at the same time, he can be submissive and vulnerable, so this is complicated to explain... But yeah, the thing is that we both prefer to be dominant, so it creates a certain dynamic to our relationship. I have also just read that some people who are in a dominant positition, like a leader, like to swap the role in private, so it has inspired me. There is still no need to really explain this stuff but just saying that I have built a complex and deep relationship with Molluck.

It took me some time to build this relationship with Molluck and figure out how I prefer/like him to be, in many ways. But I have always just seen that there's a sweet side of him, even it's barely visible, but he just feels friendly... I don't know if it's just me being like the opposite, again, but he just doesn't give me that 'sinister vibe' I often hear people saying... So yeah, my way to see him is kinda soft but just because he did make me have this image. I have tried to find all the information about Molluck but there ain't much still, so I have done my own part to fill the gaps and try to make this all make sense. I also do feel like he is actually softer now since he is different in New 'n' Tasty than he was in Abe's Oddysee; he doesn't even laugh with the other Gluks anymore when he revealed his Mudokon Pops plan! He just seemed to be happy about that the other Gluks liked his plan. I just bet that it was actually like his last hope to save his business since he did invent the other products first, like his own cigar brand and that Molluck's MouthLube... But I just bet that he did his best but his fate was unfortunate... His Mudokon Pops plan might have been like his last hope, him being desperate. I just love this Gluk so much that I feel genuinely sad for him... I don't wanna pity him and I bet that he doesn't want it either but he just has my sympathy and I don't wish him to get killed... I still laugh at that AO's good ending like every time I see it since I just love that Abe's disgust and shock when he sees naked Molluck! It's really the funniest Oddworld cutscene for me, even at the same time I feel bad for Molluck...

This cutscene is the best reason to play the good ending in AO. (Y) Man, we don't even see Molluck's suit burn in NnT! I mean, it's really a worse version of this, Abe doesn't even sound disgusted there... I have also said this earlier but in NnT, Molluck's voice is awful... Just way too much pitch shift... AO one had more personality there too, and SS Molluck feels more like that AO Molluck still. I love the both Mollucks! Oh, and I would also say that I'm glad that they added a bit pitch shift to SS Molluck's final voice... I heard the trailer one later on and man, it just made me laugh! Though, when he breathes, that pitch shift sounds too artificial... When I have done my Molluck dubs, I also add a bit pitch shift to make it sound more accurate since it's a part of his voice in SS. It's just funny to me that I can imitate him quite accurately... But it's useful too since I can 'make' him say whatever I want for whatever I wanna do! I can say that I use it like every day to entertain myself... Mostly just saying silly things or quoting him...

When I create my Molluck content, I do wish to respect him, handle him with care, even I can also kinda make fun of him... I see that his personality has different shades, like that he can be an angry, bossy jerk but also such a sweet Gluk. He still cannot do much with his body but he is able to give affection, love, and pleasure, even if in a limited way. Yeah, since I did say it out loud back then, him being 'the receiver' only makes sense to me too... I mean, his body ain't really meant for physical acts... But maybe it's just my own preference and the way I see him... I love his body like it is, even it kinda happens that I make him somehow a bit more muscular... It's not my intention but well, I bet that it's not a bad thing. He does still have his arms and... Well, his mouth... Just saying that he is able to do some physical stuff with them!

This already a long ass post but since I mentioned some stuff, I feel like saying that I know some fan stories about humans being in Oddworld and I know that some people don't like humans being therem, so it's a controversial topic. But my reason to imagine myself being in Oddworld is just that I wish to be with Molluck, looking like I do IRL. I have invented my own story like how we ended up together but it's kinda still in development, especially when I just cannot really think of a single reason why anyone would start to love me or get interested in me and so on... Like, I just recently started to feel alright with that if I was an artist in Oddworld and Molluck was one of my customers and something just 'clicked' between us, but he would have also really loved the way I drew/painted/sculpted him, wishing me to be his personal artist. I had another story earlier, mostly because I just couldn't imagine myself doing art in Oddworld due to my self-hatred... That ad I drew recently just inspired me to think about this new version of the story. This version would just make much more sense but I don't really care about thinking of how I ended up in Oddworld in the first place, it's not really important. I only care about my time with Molluck!

Oh, and yes, I don't mind being his 'partner in crime' either! Love is... well, blind since I just feel like I love this Gluk, no matter what he has done. It doesn't give me anything special 'kicks', more like just see that his personality has different sides, and he is a part of the Magog Cartel, so he kinda must act that way. He has grown in that environment, got the Gluk narrative of the things, thinks that he is doing the right things. I understand him and wish to be kind to him since I just feel like there somewhere he is actually a sweet Gluk. I don't know how alone I'm with this but SoulStorm Molluck just gives me 'friendly vibes'... I bet that the fact I see myself in him affects a lot the way I see him. It's just that I associate myself the most with the Gluks... I would be a Glukkon if I was an Oddworld character! (I should redesign my Gluk-sona...) Well, Lorne also associates himself with the Gluks the most, so, heh, I'm not alone with this. Dunno if it's a good thing but Gluks have just won my heart, despite of all the crap they do... Maybe they are just way too adorable to me... Glukkons literally made me be into octopuses too! Oh, and related to this I haven't actually ever really had Molluck as my wallpaper/background... Dunno if it's a surprise but just felt like using the default stuff or octopuses... Though, I found from the files of Steam version of Abe's Oddysee some desktop icons, like the best possible trash can icon, being RuptureFarms meat barrel! Just had to use it after I discovered it by accident. So, if you got that, check out the game files! There's quite interesting sound effects too... Yeah, good stuff! (Fun fact: I got 7 copies of AO... 4 physical and 3 digital. Maybe it's my fave after all, not sure honestly... Maybe it's just my love for Molluck...)

Man, it's time to end this post... I still feel like I have only gotten started with my Molluck stuff. There is still so much to create, so many styles to explore, just so much to do! I don't even really feel like I have a certain style... It feels like I always draw somehow differently... Like, just look how varied my Molluck stuff looks! Welp, life is too short to use only one style! Just joking, I just wish to see Molluck in different styles and put him in different situations! I'm actually quite used to draw with different styles... I personally feel like I got nothing that makes people think that 'Oh, it's drawn by Bosskie/Riki!' if there was no signature nor maybe even Molluck...

I have no idea what kind of style I wish to exactly have, I just draw something in a way I feel like drawing it. I mainly do realism because it's something 'easy'... Just draw what you see and that's it. Though, I do enjoy different drawing styles, like photorealism but also cartoony style, so why only choose one? But like I have said earlier, I have never liked my cartoony style, even the others have... Though, I also like to mix different styles together, so yeah, my way to do art is kinda a mess... Don't really know what I'm doing... But that I'm trying to picture Molluck! But one style I have wished to achieve for years is to draw in a photorealistic way but like it has a filter on it, so stylized realism or something. Can't help that the style I admire the most do is realism...

I cannot really say what I think of my own art but that I feel like I don't really draw well... Just have so much to improve here and there but at least now I do draw actively, after a long time! It's just that whenever I look at how the others draw, I tend to feel I draw worse stuff... But it only makes me push myself harder, maybe even too hard, to improve my stuff, though sometimes, I also feel like I should stop doing art since my stuff just sucks... Well, I only wish to create more Molluck content, no matter how crappy it was. It's just the truth that I tend to feel depressed when I look at my stuff... I often find it that bad... They are rare moments when I can actually say I liked something I drew. This is pretty muchly the reason why I'm also drawing Molluck so much: I'm not often pleased with the result but I just love drawing Molluck. I'm sorry but I could mop the floors with my self-esteem, it's just quite low... Still trying to build it and stay positive, even I can easily think quite harsh things about myself...

Whoa, if you made this far, I really wanna thank you for your time! I hope that my stuff is enjoyable, despite of my mental health issues!

~ Much love to ya! 💛

#molluck #oddworld molluck #molluck the glukkon #oddworld #art like a bosskie

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rivkae-winters · 5 months

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For the ask game 4, 8, 12, 18 and 25 for any fandom

This is part of this ask game :3 Mostly seven with some general and one intentionally unspecified fandom

4) What was the last straw for finally blocking that annoying person?

I’m very bad at actually blocking people, I tend to cause my own problems that way, but the last time I blocked someone it was because they sent me an unsolicited DM basically trying to guilt me into commissioning them right after an artist I’d just recently commissioned posted the piece. I love getting DM’s and interaction in general even if I’m not super active myself because of anxiety so I was really upset about it when I saw the message.

On one hand I get it, I do- I’m also a commercial artist and I’m lucky enough to have a decently stable W2 Job right now. On the other hand though: maybe make your sales pitch at least more enticing than a Jehovah's Witness knocking on your door.

8) Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

This one got WELL out of hand length wise so I'll be posting my full thoughts on why later today or tomorrow.

The apple game in CC (from the Silver Elite fan club letter) is bs, and it baffles me that people trust what Hojo says as much as they do.

Honestly, most of the fan mail in the game is bs or has the truth heavily muddied but this example is especially egregious in my opinion. It's not an activity that Genesis, Angeal, or Sephiroth would actually enjoy much. Sephiroth himself would be bored to tears since he has such an unfair advantage since his sword is much slimmer than Rapier and Angeal's standard issue broadsword. There is also the issue of the fact that all of them likely have some element of food trauma (or in Angeal's case are confirmed as such) but the expanded post later today will expand on that.

Disclaimer that you can enjoy and write what you want or believe in the story of AGS playing with apples and swords. Make content you feel inspired to, consume content you enjoy, and don’t let me stop you from having fun.

12) The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I don’t know how unpopular he is anymore but Denzel is great- if you can find the ‘on the way to a smile’ anthology and read ‘episode Denzel’ or the OVA from 2010 his character gets a lot better. He’s a complex little guy with layers and plenty of regret already trying to go forward with life. Post AC he starts working with Reeve as a protege of sorts iirc after Reeve blocks him from joining the WRO’s militia. (Which would not have gone over well with anyone if it went through, Denzel is 10ish at that point.)

He wants to save people like Cloud saved him, somewhat so he can feel worthy of having been saved. There is also still a lingering of the unintentional toxic positivity his mom instilled in him and it is delightful.

The book mentioned above was finally released in English around a decade after Japan got it but it was $35 USD last I checked. I think there are some readings of it on YouTube but I can’t vouch for the quality of any since I don’t do well with audio books.

The OVA can be really hard to find because it was only on the AC complete Blu-Ray discs of a certain edition- I’m pretty sure it was the first run of them but I may be wrong. Because of this and the fact that I’ve seen take-downs happen continuously each time I went back to reference it last year it’s to the point where some people are incorrectly assuming it’s just totally lost media. Either way I have a so-so quality copy I saved, I won’t put it on the post directly just to be cautious but if you’re interested DM me or contact me through discord (rivkae) if you have that and I’ll shoot you the drive link.

18) It’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

In og CC Gillian dies with a smile on her face. In reunion it’s blocked by a vignette.

I’ve never seen it mentioned in a fic dealing with her death yet, the few that there are, so eventually I’m just going to have to do it myself.

This answer is almost pathetically short because every time I start thinking about this I get the urge to write. Since I can't really sit down to write prose right now so I'm not going to get to into it.

25) Common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing?

(Slightly dramatized for effect, I’m not saying the fandom because I’m mostly out of it writing wise right now but iykyk feel free to send me your guesses)

‘Ewww I hate y and z version of [media]!!! X version of [media] is the only good one- anyone who interacts with y and z supporting posts will be blocked!’

‘I hate this version of my favorite character from x in y and z [complaint that could be very easily interpreted as racism] anyone with art of this design will be blocked! DNI if you have [bastardized version of the characters name to show distaste] content!’

Except then they don’t block you after you DNI, they start following your blog posting stuff for y and z version of [media]

Now obviously blocking is a core part of the tumblr experience, really the entire social media experience but it’s taken more seriously other places. Here though? If they breathe annoyingly it is perfectly fine and normal to block them- encouraged even! I have no issues with a DNI, BYF, etc as concepts I just get a little irked when people don’t practice what they preach while still loudly complaining about [media].

Now obviously adaptations make a lot of people angry for good reasons sometimes, I understand that. I dislike many adaptations myself, but it’s the incessant complaining when you aren’t even following your own rules that it gets under my skin a bit. That’s not even mentioning the drama that happens in discord servers with areas about said alternate versions of [media] where most community spaces to discuss said versions die quickly due to the toxicity of comparison and the group norm to conform to being putting x version, the original version, over the other version. You can like y and z but you should like x more- you should agree that x is objectively better. Even if x is also offensive in several ways and dated in others and isn’t as easy to consume story wise- which is how y and z brought new fans to the fandom.

I’m going to cut myself off there but… Yeah. I hate adaptations too sometimes but it shouldn’t be used to backhandedly bully others into silence. Let people enjoy what makes them happy.

#ffvii #ff7 #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley #gillian hewley #denzel #denzel ff7 #denzel strife #mentions of fandom wank #crisis core #sephiroth #advent children #ff7 ac #ask game #thisteaistoosweet

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