#i think i got a good blend of random while still being unique and interesting enough throughout the month post futz

[coolgoodandfine]

day one and i'm already so busy with other things i don't even know if i'm going to be finished with the drawing before the day is over lol.

[routeunlocked]

Mobile Otome Recommendations

Hi, everyone! I've gotten into otome in the recent years. I got my start with mobile games, so I thought it'd be fun to talk about some of my favorites as my first recommendations post on this blog. If you have questions or other recommendations, let me know.

MYSTIC MESSENGER

Mystic Messenger has a chatroom setting with many beloved characters of the RFA (Rika's Fundraising Association). MC finds a phone with the RFA app installed, ultimately leading to MC's position as party coordinator. There's more than meets the eye with the organization and the founder's history, however.

Unsurprisingly, this is the game that sparked my interest in otome. I felt the chatroom playstyle was very unique and a relatable way of getting to know the characters. It's fun to get calls from them occasionally too. The characterization and plot are so enjoyable, it's almost heartbreaking each route ends after 11 days. I could easily spend months on each of these character's routes.

As much as I love that it works in real time, it can be difficult to play with a busy schedule. It's also heavy with the triggering/dark content the more you play, so make sure that's something you're comfortable with before picking it up.

Features: Chatroom, routes, calls, real time, dark content.

WANNABE CHALLENGE

MC is a model who has always faced misfortune in her life. She never expects anything good to happen. Some of her memories are also missing, including her history with the goblins, but they're there to protect her. Will her luck turn around as she suddenly finds herself living with four men and competing in the Wannabe Challenge?

I started playing this one more recently and I am in love with it. My only regret is not starting sooner. The blend of historical, modern, and fantasy is well done. The characters are so lovable, I'm not sure I can pick a favorite. The MC is pretty sassy too, which I'm fond of. The Wannabe Challenge itself is based on Instagram, so it's cool to see what characters post while having the opportunity to respond and make your own posts. There's also a dress up and gacha aspect to the game, if you're a fan of that.

The only downside I think is the difficulty of the photoshoot challenges, requiring you to have specific stats. You'll want to upgrade your cameras and cards wisely. On the bright side, the game is generous with free gems and occasionally allowing you to use a random SSR to help succeed.

Features: Instagram, text messaging, gacha, optional ads for free resources, dress up, challenges, affection levels, unlockable stories.

ARCANA TWILIGHT

The Summoner enters an unfamiliar world, filled with sorcery. Their presence seems to bring more chaos and mystery than ever expected. Why do they have a special ability? What is it they see in their mind's eye? What about them attracts danger?

I feel like Arcana Twilight is a very underrated game. I've thoroughly enjoyed the story and getting to know the cast of characters. Their dynamics never fail to entertain. I also appreciate that the cast is 19+ despite this being a magic school setting. Constellations, magic, and monsters are all my taste.

The challenges can be difficult in this game as well. You have to battle between chapters which gets increasingly challenging as you go. Pay attention to elements and leveling your cards.

Features: Gacha, challenges, affection levels, ads for resources, text messaging, unlockable stories.

LOVEBRUSH CHRONICLES

The MC is an artist during her first year at a university. She has special skills, resulting in her finding herself in different worlds. There are some familiar faces there too...

I was very excited to hear about an English release for this game. I thought the art was gorgeous when I first stumbled across it, and I still feel that way. They have an amazing voice cast too. I like the idea of being able to explore different worlds/universes and seeing the roles each of the love interests play. I'm looking forward to diving deeper and seeing what other worlds get released.

Much like the others listed above, there is a combat feature in the game requiring you to focus on your cards/leveling. Thankfully, you can bring support from other players into battle which may be the difference between success and failure.

Features: Routes, social media posts, affection points, gacha, combat, alternate universes, friend support.

THE SSUM

MC uses a dating app to find their "special someone." Based on initial answers, MC is paired with one of the love interests on the app. A relationship is built up over a long period of time. But is there more to the app than meets the eye?

I feel like it comes full circle to have a Cheritz game on my phone again. I'm a sucker for their games (Dandelion and Nameless included), so I had to check this one out too. I've only done June's route at the moment, but I adored every moment of it. I like that I can set it up based on my real life schedule and there aren't consequences for missing chats. I also like the ties to Mystic Messenger. If you're missing the charm of Mystic Messenger, you may want to check this one out to satisfy the nostalgia.

There are some other features on the app, but I'm mostly focused on the story. It is still fun to check out planets and posts by other players though. This game will require a lot of patience as the other routes span 200+ days. Parts of spoken conversations and some photos will also be hidden unless you pay a monthly fee, but it will not prevent you from enjoying the story if you choose to play for free.

Features: Chatroom, dating app profiles, planet exploration, community posts, optional monthly fees, real time, calls, routes (that can all be played at the same time).

[adobe-outdesign]

What dyou think rolycoly line? Im still upset coalossal isnt a damm train :”(

Rolycoly (perfect name) is honestly just great all around; just a giant hunk of coal with a single eye and wheel that it uses to move around. We don't actually have a lot of wheeled Pokemon (in fact, I don't think we have any others? unless Whirlipede counts), so this is a fun way to approach things.

Visually speaking, it also looks quite nice, with a two-color palette and a simple design. The orange eye pops really nicely against the grey body as well.

Really, the only complaint I have visually is that I feel like the wheel could've been just a hair lower down, as it's easy to miss and kind of blends into the rest of the body. That's a nitpick, however. Overall, it's a really solid start.

I can't decide if I love Carkol's face or hate it. On the one hand, it's got an almost deranged expression that kind of endears me to it; but on the other hand, it's weirdly distorted, like someone took the smudge tool to it in Photoshop. I also question it gaining two eyes; it feels like it should've kept the singular one, both because it's unique but also because that would make it look more like a mine cart (with the eye being the headlight). And if you really wanted to give it regular eyes, at least make them orange like the mouth.

Face aside, Carkol is decent for what it is. I like how the legs can function as both wheels and legs depending on what it chooses to do with them, and the mine cart idea isn't bad.

However, I do feel like the coat is integrated a bit oddly. It's just kind of stacked on top of the body and partially encapsulates the head in a way that just doesn't feel natural. Maybe if the body had more of a dip in the middle or even if the coals weren't piled as high as they are it would work a bit better.

I think Coalossal's proof that people only think so many Gen 1 designs are good because of nostalgia, because Coalossal is textbook Gen 1 and yet still gets a lot of criticism. Kaiju-esq bipedal thing? Check. Triangle Sugimori-style eyes? Check. Random third evolution that doesn't quite feel like it matches the rest of the line? Check. All it's missing is cat ears and/or a horn.

And that's kind of the thing. Like, on the one hand I like it because it is a classic kaiju-mon, and I really like those designs. And it's not a bad design in that respect, with some huge shoulder spikes and a massive, chunky body.

But on the other hand, it's really, really generic. The wheels are completely gone at this point and the singular eye has been gone, and those were Rolycoly's two most unique features. The only ting that really connects it back to its pre-evos is the lump of coals on the back, which looks... well, rather tacked on. As in, you could remove that lump and not loose anything (in fact, it would look better without it), which isn't good when it's the central theme of the design.

While I hear a lot of people wishing it was a train, I don't think it going in a less linear direction and being a kaiju is inherently bad either. It's just more that it doesn't do anything interesting. Have black smoke rising from those shoulder spikes, have ventilation marks on the stomach, have the stomach be a partially-open hatch full of coals, keep the wheels (a wheeled kaiju sounds awesome tbh), just something! And if you're not going to do something that interesting, at least give us a train instead.

While I have some issues with the g-max form that I'll get to in a minute, I gotta say that honestly? This looks a lot better than the actual final evo, at least in the sense that it's way more connected to the coal theme and has a more interesting design, being based off a furnace and even having the stomach vents like I suggested above. I kind of wish this was just the final evo, especially considering it'll go away in future gens when the g-maxes are inevitably scapped and we're left with only the original line.

With that said though, it's not perfect. First, those super spiky, crystalline (???) shoulders look out of place and are bizarrely thin and spiky in an otherwise chunky design.

Secondly, there are all these random plates and greebling (yes that is a real word, look it up) all over the body that just distract from the furnace thing and make it busier than it needs to be.

And thirdly, it took me a while to place what looked wrong about this thing's body to me, but I think it's the head. The coal obscures it, but the head is ridiculously tiny compared to the body, and the way the coal rises so far above it and over it creates the illusion that the head is in the middle of the body instead of the top, making it look even sillier.

So as a whole, Rolycoly's a wonderful design and Carkol's not bad, but Coalossal's just kind of generic and the g-max ist oo busy and has some wonky anatomy. With some retooling this could've been a fantastic line, but as is it's a strong start with an underwhelming finish.

[oneboxofmatches]

Hi!!! May I request a HP romantic and friendship matchup on both eras? (Preferably male), thanks in advance! 💞

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦 + 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

19, Libra, Neutral Good, enneagram is 4w5, Ravenclaw, and my patronus spirit is swan. Bi Pan Genderfluid girl using pronouns of She/Her or He/Him. A friend of mine told me that I (kinda) look like Marinette from 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆𝗯𝘂𝗴, Musa from 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘅 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯, and Alexandra Trese from 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲 (a Netflix animated series), but the exception is I'm short (5'1.2") plus sized Southeast Asian woman with Spanish descent that has messy/wavy brunette medium hair, chocolate brown eyes, oriental skin and a small beauty mark on the forehead. My sense of fashion is in between emo and boyish plus korean glam.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬

Distant and shy at first cause' I dunno how to initiate a conversation, but a total opposite if I open up---friendly, ambivert, witty, laughing loudly on a daily basis, talkative, awkward, daydreamer (I got embarrassed from knocking at the door even I'm inside the classroom 😂), EXTREMELY clumsy, secretly likes affection, easily overwhelmed, prone to melt over any wholesomeness, flusters on compliments, lightly blushes on cheesy banters, sarcastic person with a lowkey crackhead energy citing meme references, and talented girl who can be your no. 1 supporter and unashamed to be true to myself. In terms of leadership, I only educate and guide than being a prefect (I might take the role seriously), and will lift my group when there's lacking/incompleteness. About doing projects in school, I become too extra and prepared for efforts, but I'll forget the process in the end.

People thought I'm a demure self-effacing woman that looks "idealistic" or "one of a kind," (due to my protective parents, a reason why I've never been in a relationship) but the truth is, I'm eloquent, warm-hearted, willig to help, kind, intelligent, supportive, nice, creative, enthusiastic, determined, tough, competitive, and feisty outside, but a real softie that can be childish and dramatic crybaby filled with doubts, frustrations, and insecurities with fear of failure that pushes off the limits to to please everyone, yet I still managed to be stronger than ever, even it's a slow burn process. I can be intimidating, sassy, and a douchebag if I receive ends. Immature, headstrong, perfectionist, demanding, hesitant, jumpy, very indecisive, overthinker, quick-tempered, sensitive, and anxious (no joke, my nervousness makes me think worse scenario will arrive or I might break a belonging due to my carelessness). Though can be procrastinator and arrogant, I raised as a religious 𝖺𝗇𝖽 diplomatic person, willing to fight what I believe (including my dreams) 𝖺𝗇𝖽 what is right. In addition, I have a habit of staying up late and doing sign of the cross to ease nervousness.

Blunt but the loudest idiotic feeling-brokenhearted and bitter friend in the group who fangirl a lot, swears like sailor, will act like a silent backstabber on people that we loathe, will crack up over your stupid antics before helping, and bring gossips, but a hopeless romantic who tends to banter with sarcasms or pick up lines as an endearment (but gets grumpy if I received sappy or offensive one), still generous and concerned in a subtle way.

𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗜𝗘𝗦

My hobbies are singing, drawing, roleplaying, listening to music, chatting/browsing on social media, conceptualizing, writing, and reading some stuffs. 𝖨'𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇𝖼𝗅𝗎𝖽𝖾 making corniest jokes/puns, 𝗌𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀, and dancing when nobody's around or walking like a model if I feel so bold (even I'm terrible at both xD).

𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Loves kittens, eating a lot, cartoons, watching YouTube videos (mostly pageants, ASMR, edit audios, and mukbangs), also enjoys playing games on my sister's PSP. Sucker for arts, choir, night sky, makeup, fun/deep/dumb conversations, Christianity, documentaries (about saints, real crime stories, and inspirational people), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and writings, chilling both indoors and outdoors. Beside that, my music taste are like late 90s-2000s songs (mostly rock, pop, and country) sometimes kpop and ppop, chocoholic, and a sweetooth as well.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦

Things that I hate are stereotyping, HUGE creepy crawlies (spiders, toads, snakes, and cockroaches), firecracker sounds, being left out, loneliness, heart break, blackout, and judgemental people. One random fact about me is, I 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 vent out EVERYTHING I despise in my entire existence---from bad soap operas to toxicity and worse scenarios in real life, because it's a big deal for me, and I consider forcing me to do what I'm not into and manipulating me as my major pet peeves.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

In terms of triggers...I only have two which are ta𝖨king about divorce/annullment/separation because I came from a generational broken family and religion/beliefs discrimination, cause' there are reasonings that doesn't makes sense because some are too hypocritical.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗔

My best assets are smile, eyes, personality, singing voice, artistic skills, writings, intelligence, and oratorical skills...so I can consider myself as a singer, artist, orator, and a top student who's a former active campus ministry member with three roles (choir leader, psalm singer, and reader). Currently an incoming college freshman, learning how to cook and have so many interests, to the point I don't know what I'm into because of my dreams to become a popular Filipino YouTuber, a novelist, and being part of a successful chorale competing internationally...I also consider joining pageants at school too once the pandemic ends, but maybe.

Thank you so, so much for requesting! I had a lot of fun with this one (as you can tell by some of the really long answers lol) and I hope you enjoy!!

In the Golden Trio era, I romantically pair you with…

CEDRIC DIGGORY

One of the most beautiful things about Cedric is that although he may show some introverted tendencies, he still manages to have a natural gift for connecting to others and allowing them to feel comfortable enough to open up. Really, your initial distance and shyness don't last nearly as long towards Cedric as they would with most other people.

Hearing your laughter brings the widest, cheesiest grin to Cedric’s face. Not only does he adore seeing you happy, but he also recognizes that your anxiety, insecurities, and strong emotions can sometimes cloud up your demeanor. Therefore, it brings him comfort knowing that (for the moment) you’re finding joy. He thrives when you thrive!

However, as much as he loves seeing your more energetic and happier self, it goes without saying that he’s the best comfort for when you’re not having the best day.

Cedric is an excellent listener, so he’ll most likely let you talk without interruption for as long as you need before even saying a word. He wants to make sure he truly understands your current state before acting. He may take a few seconds to process everything after you finish speaking, but then he’ll help you tackle whatever problems you’re facing. He’s especially talented at giving words of affirmation.

Cedric’s listening also comes in handy whenever you talk about your interests! He genuinely loves hearing about the things you’re interested in solely for the fact that you’re interested in them. Side note: you can count on him to be at any music performances, pageants, etc. you may have -- this guy is truly your #1 supporter.

Cedric’s a very good student (though I suspect he’s somewhat of a procrastinator himself), so I can also see you two supporting each other through schoolwork and celebrating each other’s successes.

Like you, Cedric has a strong urge to do the right thing. Talking to him about social issues stirs up a need to help, and I could see you two doing volunteer work together in your spare time.

I like to believe one of Cedric’s biggest love languages is quality time. Don’t get me wrong, this guy loves staying involved and busy. But taking a couple hours to be with you in small ways (even if that means just being in the same room while you scroll through social media) gives him a nice balance.

Overall, this kind boy will be there unwaveringly through the bad times and will laugh just as loud as you through the good!

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

LUNA LOVEGOOD

You wanna talk about the best conversations, relentless support, and overall the most wholesome friendship you could ask for? Luna’s your girl.

Being unashamed to be true to yourself is one of the biggest reasons why Luna is so drawn to you. While she’s very friendly and insightful towards everyone she meets, it can get a bit repetitive for her to constantly interact with people who try to shelter their unique characteristics from the world. In her mind, these unique characteristics are what make people so fascinating! Why should anyone hide who they are?

Luna’s creativity is endless, and I can see it blending well with yours. Collaborating on a personal project outside of school (ex: novel, blog, etc.) together is definitely something I could see you two doing.

Speaking of creativity, finding creative solutions to everyday problems (both in school and in life) is your specialty as friends.

Admittedly, Luna isn’t usually drawn to louder individuals. However, the complexity behind your personality makes it easier for her to know you are much more than what meets the eye.

Speaking of, Luna has a difficult time standing up for herself -- whether it’s because she doesn’t feel a need to or she just doesn’t recognize the meaning behind certain phrases. She NEEDS a friend like you to stand up for her sometimes, and I know you wouldn’t hesitate!

Ranting to Luna is therapeutic to say the least. While her aloofness at times may make it seem as if she isn’t fully paying attention, that couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s actually catching every word, and once you’re done she’ll leave you with a philosophical solution that may seem borderline insane/irrelevant when you first hear it, but it strangely makes sense.

Overall, the lack of judgment from either of you is what draws you together. As a result, you build a unique bond that couldn’t be broken even if either of you wanted it to.

In the Marauders era, I romantically pair you with…

REMUS LUPIN

Let’s be honest, it would take you two so long to ask each other out. You were probably already really close friends, but the insecurities and “what if?” questions from both of you delayed an actual relationship.

When you finally started dating, you were both so relieved. You still share a laugh at how almost nothing changed in the way you interacted with each other.

While with mutual friends, Remus sometimes likes to sit back and just watch you, especially when you get really talkative because this is when you become the most expressive. He has the softest smile when you’re actively cracking jokes, discussing something you’re passionate about, or even calling someone out. Sometimes you may be too distracted to notice, but other times you’ll catch him.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.” (While that same soft smile never leaves his face.)

You both hold really high standards for yourself in terms of school, so expect late-night study/work sessions to be your best bet for quality time.

Though the occasional instance of walking through/lying on the grounds becomes a favorite for both of you.

Remus listens when you’re particularly struggling through anxiety or strong emotions, but he has to consciously stop himself from interrupting because he can’t stand how he feels knowing you’re going through a tough time.

All he wants to do is soothe you during these moments. If you’re comfortable, he’ll hold you while speaking to you in a soft voice. Remus, the intellectual that he is, is also your best chance at finding a reasonable solution. So if you're not in the mood for calming words, he's also a great person to turn to for answers.

As for your ambitions, no matter what you choose to pursue, you already know Remus is going to be your biggest source of support every step of the way. He’s more than happy to help in any way he can!

Overall, Remus appreciates you, and he’s always going to make sure you know it.

As a friend, I think you’d best be matched with…

LILY EVANS

Lily especially connects to you because you manage to be determined, competitive, and intelligent without sacrificing your kindness, which is something she can relate to.

You and Lily are the C.E.O.s of doing the right thing. Neither of you hesitates to back the other up when it comes to confronting someone because you know it’s justified.

As perceptive as Lily is, you never need to tell her when something is bothering you. All it takes is a quick glance before she puts whatever she’s doing on hold to check in with you.

The reverse works as well. Typically, Lily really doesn’t internally struggle too much, and when she does she tries to hide it. You’re one of the only people who can see right through whatever she tries to pull.

The constant banter between you two is unmatched, but you both know it's because you really care about each other.

Overall, you and Lily have each other’s backs through anything, even when the other isn’t actively asking for help.

[shananigans402]

1-65 will do, please. Thanks fuck face :)

I knew exactly who this was and I was so tempted to not reply, but your punishment is having to read through all my answers and remember them forever or you fail the friend test. To everyone else, please do not click unless you want to be very bored, my answers are not interesting lol

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you? Nope

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you? Assuming 5 is the most, 1. Maybe 2. 

3. The person you would never want to meet? The person who sent me this (jk I’m excited for our eventual meet up where we hit up a strip club first thing 🙏)

4. What is your favorite word? I answered with ‘conniption’ the other day and still have not found a word I like more.

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be? Already answered this, fruit tree! I also like palm trees, maple trees, and willow trees. I know that’s not the question, I’m just saying random shit now.

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought? It took me a long while to remember where I was this morning. I honestly don’t remember, I was rushing to get ready for an early morning meeting.

7. What shirt are you wearing? My Orlando Strong shirt 

8. What do you label yourself as? Lesbian

9. Bright room or dark room? Bright room

10. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping? Possibly checking on a feverish little beeb who was going through it with her second dose of the vaccine.

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far? No idea. I like various ages for different reasons, but this age so far is not bad. 

12. Who told you they loved you last? Probably my sister 🤷‍♀️

13. Your worst enemy? The person who sent this ask.

14. What is your current desktop picture? The apple pic of Catalina island that changes based on time of day (yes it’s the default, don’t judge me)

15. Do you like someone? Lol yeah I hope so 😂

16. The last song you listened to? Pretty Girl by Hayley Kiyoko 

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? Definitely @raginage

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? I feel like I can only attack Raginage so many times. Can I pick a fictional character? This week I was real mad at Dave in The Darkness. BaBe!​

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do? Lol no one, you’re talking to a person who feels very uncomfortable with anyone doing anything nice for them.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional) Not this again. Last time I said eyes? Still no pics, sorry

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do? What would I look like? Do I get to design myself like a sim? I honestly don’t know what I’d do because I doubt the world needs another clueless white man walking around, so maybe just stay at home. 

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it? Nope. And my last answer to this was awful. I do think I have a fantastic ability to annoy my friends but in a way that’s just amusing/endearing enough to make them still want to talk to me 😌

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of? Unique? Uhm well my two big fears are confined spaces and deep water so a submarine is like my worst nightmare.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. Oh this is going to sound so odd. To be clear, I’ve had better sandwiches, but my go-to is provolone, turkey, roast beef, and spicy brown mustard or whole grain mustard. Please don’t judge me.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it? Travel budget for future trips to visit my buds and get into trouble and eat food. I know $100 won’t go far, but it’s something.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go? Well, after my last answer I want to visit my friends! But there are too many people to visit and I only have one ticket. So change of plans. I’m going on a solo trip to Greece. Or Argentina. Or Iceland. Or Bali. Damn, I’m indecisive. 

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be? Rabble red blend. Just a solid red wine. Also because @viola-lloyds stole my answer the other day (Juneshine; to be fair I asked her this question but whatever) and I don’t want to copy her.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? Oh I answered this one, something about respecting others. Yeah, a nice rule like that. Want to establish some healthy communication on this island.

29. What is your favorite expletive? It’s still fuck

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno? But what about my PLANTS. Can they count as loved ones? Probably my laptop, I know that’s lame but like...I have a lot of stuff on here. Or the collection of cards I have that my granddad drew little drawings in, I want to get them all framed.

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? To be honest, I don’t know if I’d change big life events in case it altered the trajectory of where I ended up. So idk maybe the ending of Bly, let’s give those lesbians have a happy ending!

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! Italy! But wait, let’s get back to this sleeping with celebrities and super-powers bit...

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? Oh that’s a really tough question. I always wanted to meet my great-grandma Olga because she seemed like a really awesome lady. 

34. What was your last dream about? I can’t remember, this is bothering me because I wish I could! I’m sorry. My gf recently had a dream where I kissed a dude right in front of her. It made us both very uncomfy lol

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]? I hate this question because I can only think of one thing.

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? For surgery, yeah

37. Have you ever built a snowman? But of course!

38. What is the color of your socks? Not wearing any? I was wearing blue ones earlier. Jfc my answers are so boring.

39. What type of music do you like? Lots! I tend to listen to indie, classic rock, and some pop

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Sunsets!

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? Chocolate or a variant (chocolate peanut butter, chocolate caramel)

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer) LA Rams or Seattle Seahawks. I know they’re in the same division. It’s tough. (Please don’t ask me why these teams)

43. Do you have any scars? Yep, mostly from burning myself on ovens. I simply get too excited for my food.

44. What do you want to be when you graduate? I...have graduated? 

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Well bestie recently said I have “lesbian hands” and I think that’s code for man hands so maybe that hahaha

46. Are you reliable? I try to be!

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be? How many more times will I watch The Darkness before I learn my lesson? (Related: When does other bestie finally admit to her fetish?)

48. Do you hold grudges? Not typically, no

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create? A dog and an otter? Can we domesticate otters? No, a horse and a large bird, create a pegasus and then free travel.

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had? Oh god. I don’t even know where to start today tbh. Damie and pokemon and cosycon and looming and feet and [redacted] and developing apps for VP. So many fantastic conversations. 

In real life, probably the time I was at a laundromat in Italy and this guy wandered in with a beer, sat next to me and my male roommate, assumed we were a couple, and proceeded to give us bizarre life advice. I wish I could remember more of it, but it was so odd.

51. Are you a good liar? Hmm I’m okay at it I think, that is, I can convince people I’m serious when I’m actually joking. But I don’t like actually lying if it’s not just teasing someone. 

52. How long could you go without talking? Probably a few days if I had to.

53. What has been you worst haircut/style? The haircut I got before studying abroad! It was too short and I was so sad.

54. Have you ever baked your own cake? For a birthday? No. For fun? Absolutely.

55. Can you do any accents other than your own? Not well, no

56. What do you like on your toast? Butter and/or honey and/or jam

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of? My beautiful depiction of a scene of chapter one of Private Dancer. 

58. What would be you dream car? An electric car of some sort. I don’t know enough about cars tbh

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain. Nope but sometimes I’ll play music and dance and maybe softly sing.

60. Do you believe in aliens? Yep! Definitely 

61. Do you often read your horoscope? Almost never unless someone sends it to me.

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? Already answered, A

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? Dinosaurs! 🦕

64. What do you think about babies? What do I think about them? They’re pretty cool. Just tiny little humans. 

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of. I was very nice and let you correct your mistake and submit one after the fact:

In your opinion what is the best thing you can cook, like your speciality? My favorite thing to make is pasta, I started making my own sauce and I’d love to make pasta from scratch sometime.

[grayhouse3]

SJTR is my villain origin story

So I finished Stalking Jack the Ripper.

Originally I told myself that I was going to just stick it out and read the next one (“Oh, it’s about vampires and Dracula. It’s probably more fun. You can forget all about the pain this one inflicted on you"). No. I got 12% of the way through and had to DNF. So here are my messily compiled thoughts on the book, basically expanded from the last post. Honestly, kind of feel free knowing I won’t be writing more about this series. (Also I am adding some TWs down below but don't know if I am doing them right!)

More on the exoticism, weirdness with Audrey Rose's Indian mother, and the British Empire:

In chapter 14, we read, "Dark strands of hair were piled atop my head, my eyes more mysterious somehow with the dark liner, and my lips were the bright crimson of freshly spilled blood … I thought of my mother and the saris she’d brought me to wear from Grandmama’s homeland. I felt just as stunning now as I did then, and the memory warmed me.” I am still trying to figure out why Maniscalco made Audrey Rose mixed race. Why is Audrey Rose’s grandmother from India? Literally, what did it add to the story? Was it nothing more than just a cute lil quirky fun character trait to her? I don’t think I missed any key moments where there were important conversations about race, imperialism, British occupation, etc., mostly because Audrey Rose’s father (a big fancy rich lord) is a white man and because Audrey Rose is white-passing. I can’t recall any moments in the book where she faces the realities/consequences of being a socially mobile POC WOMAN in LONDON IN THE 1880s. Honestly, if someone else can point out a passage I glossed over or explain some nuance I missed I would actually really appreciate it, because this drove me CRAZY.

(Audrey Rose and her brother also go visit a circus in town in chapter 15; of course these events existed purely for England/colonizing countries to exercise and display their power and to exoticize/exploit the communities/cultures that they came into contact with. Audrey Rose sees silks, beads, etc. that remind her of her grandmother’s saris, smells the foods of her family’s “homeland,” etc. Also in the same chapter there’s this great scene where her brother is describing their mother and father’s marriage: “Grandmama told me she’d refused him twenty times just for fun,” Nathaniel replied. “Said he squirmed like a cobra in a basket. That’s how she knew he was in love.” Uhhh … Is that supposed to be romantic?)

On the feminism stuff:

I am too *gestures vaguely* to write much more on this. Yeah, it’s heavy-handed. Yeah, it’s cringey. But at the end of the day, it’s not really that harmful, I guess. Here’s just a fun sampling of some of my favorite lines from the book:A few of my favorite bites from the book:

***“close-minded society” (chapter 21) Okay

***"Why turn a murderer of women into front-page news?” (chapter 15) Bro do you know how the media works

***"But what of her [mother’s] insistence that I could be both strong and beautiful? Surely Father had to be wrong.” (chapter 21) Yes girl you are strong and beautiful!

***"There would be no skirts or bustles to wrangle with anymore. I was through with things confining me” (chapter 22) Ugh down with corsets just another tool of the patriarchy amirite

On the violence against women, weird classism, and stuff about prostitution:

I was bound to be uncomfortable about a lot of this because I have weird feelings about true crime stuff, and this is historical fiction set around the Jack the Ripper murders. It was going to go sour somewhere.

Consistently Audrey Rose wants to be sympathetic, but is unable to connect all the parts of this situation together: she struggles to imagine the women (very real-life victims) beyond their lives of prostitution, poverty, squalor. When she does, we see something like this: "The women he murdered did matter ... They were daughters and wives and mothers and sisters” (chapter 28). Oftentimes she wishes she could continue to cut cadavers open in peace (women in science!) without having to think about how those cadavers came to be on her examination table: “I needed to get away from those women and their tragic lives before my emotions got the better of me” (chapter 25). Perhaps Maniscalco deserves more credit here, and perhaps I’m just being a bitch, because Audrey Rose is a very privileged girl and her actions and thoughts make that clear. It’s just that the conclusions she comes to in the name of feminism, justice, etc. weren’t at all satisfying to me.

Also: OH MY GOD. Oh my god. There is this one moment that is BRANDED AGAINST THE GRAY MATTER OF MY BRAIN FOREVER and I will never forget it. At one point, Audrey Rose and love interest Thomas decide the best thing they can do is go out and—yes—stalk Jack the Ripper. To do this, they know they need to “blend in” with the crowds in East End. So … like … cosplaying as poor people? Audrey Rose manages to find and wear the dress of ONE OF THE MURDER VICTIMS (long story short her medical doctor uncle was in a relationship with this woman and when she died he acquired her worldly possessions). It’s like, so fucked up, I can’t even describe my reaction when I read it. In chapter 25 we read, "The dress was a little too old, a little too ragged, a bit too big. If I were to wear this ghastly dress out, I’d look as if I belonged in the East End, begging for work to feed my addictions … It was absolutely perfect.” Oh my god. And THAT’S NOT EVEN THE WORST PART. While they’re “stalking Jack the Ripper” on this incredibly stupid mission, the two main characters just … make out in an alley. Like, okay. People are being murdered and you’re wearing a dead woman’s dress and you suspect your father of being guilty, but yeah, that kind of stuff makes us all a little horny. Super relatable. Absolutely no concept of reality or consequences or anything at all.

Another random note on class: I noticed the only time Maniscalco writes in dialects/accents, she’s writing seedy/working-class characters. Not saying this is a problem unique to Maniscalco’s writing by a longshot, but ... something to think on. (I think it’s ingrained in a lot of author’s writing habits/minds at this point.)

Weird stuff about the dad, the brother, and what justice means to Audrey Rose:

I had to add a whole new highlighting color for this stuff!

Any growth Audrey Rose might’ve shown over the course of the novel—anything about how these women mattered, and how they deserved justice as any “highborn” individual might, simply by dint of being humans—goes away when she and Thomas come to the conclusion that the Ripper murders must have been committed by Audrey Rose’s father. She realizes her moral dilemma when she contends with the harsh reality: if her father is the Ripper, can she turn him into the authorities? Audrey Rose worries how that might impact her own moral virtue: "They’d hang Father. Given who he was, they’d make it as public and brutal as possible. Just because blood might stain his hands did not mean I wanted his on mine. No matter if it was right or wrong” (chapter 24). First of all, BITCH. You have to. You have to report this kind of thing. No ifs, ands, or buts. I HAVE to imagine Maniscalco’s intended audience would feel the same? It’s? Serial murder? Second: Audrey Rose, baby, sweetie, honey. This is just a reminder that ACAB. I actually don’t know a whole lot about how the late Victorian criminal justice system functioned, but something tells me her family's public outlook would’ve been less bleak than she imagines here.

Lucky for Audrey Rose, her dad isn’t guilty in the end—but her brother sure is. He’s a mad scientist, using the brutalized bodies and souvenirs of his victims for Frankenstein-style experiments. Ultimately, he wants to reanimate the corpse of his and Audrey Rose’s long-dead mother, and he believes he can achieve this by transplanting fresh organs into ? Her dead and decomposed body? The thing is that, this moral dilemma persists for Audrey Rose—and her dad, too. He pressures her not to bring the little matter of Nathaniel’s issue—you know, his casual murder of a number of local women—to Scotland Yard: “They’ll have your brother hanged,” he said quietly. “Could you honestly watch that happen? As a family, have we not suffered enough?” (chapter 29). Nathaniel electrocutes himself to evade capture by the authorities, and Audrey Rose and her father feel relief. The book ends by confirming that "Lord Edmund covered up Nathaniel’s involvement, I didn’t ask how. One day I’d let everyone know the truth, but the pain was too raw now” (chapter 30).

((Side note: Listen. I knew Nathaniel had something sinister going on from the GET-GO (I’m not trying to be obnoxious) because he basically started some nighttime vigilante group called the Whitechapel Knights of Justice or whatever bullshit, I don’t know. All I know is that my red flags IMMEDIATELY started going off because that sounds exactly like the terrible and awful Crusader cosplay clubs from my (bad) Catholic childhood, where everyone thinks they’re a knight for Good but really they’re the bad guy.))

Overall, kind of ...

I think one of my biggest issues with this ending was … You have already stepped into a realm of fantastical revisionist history here in writing such a fictionalized version of these real-life events. (I know Maniscalco is far from the first to do it.) That means that the rules you are playing by are essentially your own—evidenced by the liberties she points out in her Author’s/Historical note (dates changed for convenience or storytelling purposes, real-life individuals changed for narrative purposes, etc.). So WHY would you not conclude this fantasy retelling of the Jack the Ripper murders by meting out some form of justice? I hear the counterargument: "Well, because we still don’t know the culprit today. This book would ring hollow if it named someone since historians, forensic scientists, etc. still don’t know who committed these crimes." My question: is that really a problem though? This is a work of fiction. Nothing in history happened the way it is written here. Is it crueler to the women who were murdered and who remain spectacles for true crime junkies and authors like this, less satisfying to readers who want some more concrete kind of closure, to not offer that up? I am asking this in earnest here, because I don’t know. Maybe it is insensitive to make up a murderer, to fill in the gaps in order to make sense of the violence that happened. But in my brain it feels almost like a responsibility at this point, since these murders served as the backdrop for the romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas, for the background to Audrey Rose’s empty feminist diatribes, and as inspiration for a book that went on far longer than it needed to. To me it kind of feels like the least an author could do, but I have no clue.

Anyways, I'm just glad I get to put this series to bed. No more.I truly lost sleep over it this weekend. Onto something better, please, for the love of god.

[moved-attre]

Here is my review of Cyberpunk 2077! It is a bullet point list of what I liked, and did not like about the game. I mean no offense in my writing, and am, of course, willing to be educated if I am wrong about anything! But please do not send me anonymous hate. I know many fans and haters of this game can be very, uh... So take it all with a grain of salt, and form your own opinions.

This is very long and likely boring so if you manage to make it to the end, I will be very impressed! Also, I may ramble or repeat myself, sorry. There’s more bad points than good, since the game is very glitchy and I couldn’t not mention the glitches I have experienced.

Obviously, this contains major spoilers! 👁👄👁

I’ll start off by saying, this is a game where you will likely not get what you expected. If you expected Cyberpunk 2077 to be a game filled with features that were never before seen, to revolutionise the gaming industry as we know it and become the most iconic video game ever made... You will not get that. If you expected it to be the worst, most irredeemable video game ever created that you’ll hate... You will not get that, either. If you expected a game that is a fairly standard RPG with some impressive graphics when played on a high spec PC, albeit with some bad glitches and a wonky story with lots of potential, then you’ve got it!

Pros:

The majority of the voice acting, such as in V, Johnny and Viktor, was very good and emotional. Viktor in particular made me tear up! And the way V manages to sound almost like Johnny with the subtle accent change was amazing!

The character’s such as Takemura, Jackie, the LIs, Johnny, Viktor, Misty (I could go on) and even many random NPCs were interesting! I wanted to know them and loved their relevant missions. The best ones were unromanceable, of course, but that’s what imagination is for.

THE ALDECALDOS! I love them! A found family, and I wish there was more to do with them other than Panam’s missions and a few side missions. I love found family, and I’m disappointed V couldn’t form their own, so I’ll take what I can get and love the Aldecaldos, even if V can’t join them until the very end. Panam had the best missions of all the LI’s, even if the last one felt very abrupt. (At least, on her friendship route.)

Night City felt alive. There was always plenty going on, it felt like a real city, and it could be beautiful.

Jackie and Corpo V’s friendship was lovely. I loved their “To this!” inside joke, and I loved how Jackie roasted V but would jump to their defence in a second. It didn’t feel forced at all.

There’s lots of environmental storytelling. The atmosphere of a city choking to death under it’s own pollution/corruption was very apparent in the areas not lived in by the rich. Lots of homeless characters, violence, drugs, absolute poverty, trash (The dump! I felt sick just looking at it, and I couldn’t even smell it! Poor V, though.) and general apathy from a lot of the residents really sold the concept.

Johnny and V’s dynamic was the best part of the story! I hated him at first, but slowly came to enjoy his commentary and advice. His interactions with V were very funny at times, and thoughtful at other times. He was an interesting perspective for the player to consider, while still being an asshole you could dislike for much of the story. He has some really emotional scenes and I played a V that viewed him as a friend, so it was really nice hearing him call V the closest person he’d ever had. They became so devoted to each other! CDPR did good with this element, but I can’t help wishing for more. The dynamic had so much more to give, and a romance/happy ending could have worked.

And to add on, the mission where Johnny takes over V’s body to go on a bender was great! I loved all the moments to play as Johnny in V’s body. All the symbolism between them was so good. Every mission matters, and you can replay to look closer at details! He also comments on other side missions with no personal relevance to him, which was neat.

All the enemies had unique names. A minor detail, but it made me feel some guilt over killing them. 🤣 I think all character’s had unique names, which is such a nice detail.

The soundtrack was incredible, I loved every original piece and radio song. I have several saved on Spotify, which is big praise coming from me! I very rarely listen to video game soundtracks.

V can adopt a cat! 🐈‍⬛ It was adorable, and Johnny’s interaction with it made me tear up!

The size of the map was good, not too big or too small. I got about 100 hours of play in by exploring, which is pretty good to me! I got lost a few times, but always found something interesting to do in the meanwhile. I loved the Badlands especially. 

Some of the side missions, particularly the more mysterious ones involving investigating deaths and the cyberpsychos, were very enjoyable! I’m a big slut for mystery, and there were some interesting cases to figure out. I wish we could’ve done missions like that with River, though, especially once he becomes a PI.

I was complaining about the lack of aliens in CP2077, but I suppose we did get a couple space themed missions which was pretty fun. I still want to go experience going into orbit, though. 👽 Or the moon!

Separating voice and body in the CC was a good idea, even if it was handled a little strangely. I’ll talk about this more in the ‘Cons’ section below!

Act 2 was my favorite part of the game, but it blended weirdly with Act 3 and that put me off. I am nostalgic for Act 1, but not eager to replay it because it felt so slow... I’m not sure on this point! I liked Act 2 because the story picked up and I was excited for more, but the more I got wasn’t as I expected. So, yes, Act 2 was good.

The scenery is very beautiful, and sometimes the outside lighting is absolutely perfect. The Arasaka parade mission was lovely to look at. I always stop the car and watch the sunrise/sunset, and I like going out to the Badlands to look at the stars!

An addition to that, is the lighting in some main quest missions. Very noir! It made for some beautiful screenshots. (Of which I sadly can’t share because my game doesn’t record well on medium settings. 😳)

The motorcycles are fun to drive! Mainly because I can zoom in between cars and Jackie’s motorcycle has a lot of sentimental value, as well as other vehicles like Johnny’s Porsche and Jake’s car. You can open the trunk to dump bodies in, which was a cool detail., and each one drives differently!

There could be amazing attention to detail, such as making Jackie look like his mother. I expected his mother to be a randomly generated NPC, but she was completely unique. It’s the minor things like that which stood out to me the most.

The scanner was a fun tool and very useful! I liked being able to find alternative ways to do a mission, it felt more realistic than the standard “massacre everybody, pick up an item and get out” fetch quests normally seen in RPGs. I could sneak in a tunnel or a side door! Perhaps irritating and unnecessary to some, but I liked it. I love utilising every possible option.

The interface color changes if you have Johnny controlling V’s body. Another small but good detail! The game is good with the minor details.

The sex scenes were not... awful. I expected much, much worse! I expected fully animated first person porn. Instead, I thought they were fairly realistic and intended to be romantic. Still very awkward, though, and unnecessary.

When they didn’t glitch, the animations were very good. Not as impressive as I hoped, probably because of glitches, but in line with other AAA games like Horizon Zero Dawn, I suppose? I noticed Judy’s animations in particular as being good, and Johnny had lots of unique ones too!

The clothing options are very fun, I like the holographic items and “Bitch” clothes, hehe. Also including Hijabs! 🧕 Great idea, and more games should do that.

The diversity of the NPCs was welcome. I enjoyed seeing Native American, Asian, Black and Latinx NPCs who weren’t there just to suffer! They would occupy important roles in the story, such as Fixers or friends/romance options for V, so they were pretty much unavoidable! It felt very natural, and they helped Night City feel more realistic.

Adding to that, the different cultures included were interesting too! I liked the Haitian characters in Pacifica.

The photo mode is pretty good. Not as good as I expected, the camera angle presets were useful but the filters weren’t very good. I liked that the photo mode could be used in cutscenes, though! It was standard, and I hope more bits will be added in for it.

A lot of the glitches are hilarious, but I recognise not all will share that opinion so I’m just adding this down here. The T-Posing NPCs are a highlight for me. Call that the Skyrim effect.

Cons:

No NB gender options/No pronoun options. Would they/them have been so difficult to implement?

No body or height sliders. There’s so many fat character’s in the game! Why can I not make my V fat? Or muscular?

Gender restrictive hairstyles and clothes. Come on, guys, it’s 2020/2077! Aren’t we beyond gender restrictive appearance options?

No tattoo parlours, no plastic surgeons and no hairstylists for V to change their appearance. I don’t understand why a CC was included at all, since we spent the majority of the game in first person. It reminded me of Far Cry.

The main story started off strong, albeit slow, picked up in Act 2, then felt very rushed in Act 3. The point of no return was very abrupt! 

The celebrity cameos felt very gimmicky. The one exception to this is Keanu Reeves, who did a very good job as Johnny. Genuinely brought tears to my eyes at times... but Grimes was just embarrassing! Why was she there! A talented VA could have done Lizzy Wizzy much better, giving her actual emotions instead of just monotone “boredom”.

I don’t know what the point of owning apartments is. You can only sleep in V’s bed, what is the point of looking in the mirror? V has no use for their terminal in their apartment, they never get any messages after the first time they meet Johnny. It was so unnecessary, especially when there’s several across the map. I can access the stash of weapons and clothes from my car! Why would I ever need to go home? Judy gives me her apartment and I’m like, girl, I’m never visiting unless you have a mission to give me.

Also, there are no penalties for not showering or sleeping. I wanted character’s to comment on that! Call me stinky or tell me I look exhausted!

V doing side missions makes no sense, and no explanation is given for why we can do them. Why would V, who is dying and has precious few days left to live, be driving for hours on end to deliver packages and shoot random criminals? When they could be figuring out how to survive the biochip! Who the hell would care about a some extra money or buying every available car for sale, when they’re dying of something that could be preventable?

Some side missions were either very poorly done or obviously majorly glitched, since it felt like they skipped important parts and I was often very confused at the end of them! For example, the Corpo V side mission was so short! I expected to be able to hunt down Abernathy and get revenge for V and Jenkins, but instead, I shoot some random assistant I don’t even remember? And that’s it? Done in 2 minutes! If that! What is the point of that? I didn’t even have fun! Also, what happened to Garry? I wanted to save him but V just never follows up on it.

And, I wish we got closure with T-Bug. The fact that V never bothers to find her body and give her a proper burial was just poor form. 

The endings were not... good. There are technically 6 different endings, all wrapped up into 3 parts. In my opinion, the best ending is the one where V kills themselves and has a very “Arthur Morgan watching his last sunset” vibe. It made me cry. Another good ending is having Johnny take over V’s body forever, as you can really see how much Johnny has changed as a person thanks to V’s influence. But they still felt very... eh and the story just never got that boost it needed, ending before it could take off. In the “best” ending, the Nomand ending with Panam, V ”survives” but has only another few months to live. So they die off screen. Satisfying? Uh, no. Not at all. There’s no possible ending where V has any hope of survival, but I much preferred being there with V until the very end. I disagree with the people calling Johnny’s ending the “bad” ending, because it really isn’t! I ignore all of this of course, and my V is living happily ever after.

I kind of hate that CP2077 has this illusion of options when some are clearly intended to be chosen more than others. Judy and Panam have the best endings in term of romance. Why bother with River and Kerry? Kerry is more of a fling than an actual romance, and is met very late in the game at a point where you can ignore him completely and just end the game, and River’s romance is so glitched that many people can’t even do it fully, and in every ending he dumps you, so it feels like none of it mattered to him despite him being the most “domestic” of the possible LI’s...

Takemura’s ending! He died in my playthrough, because the game didn’t tell me I could save him. That really annoyed me. Also, I recognise that V is in no place to lecture him, and there is some wisdom to his quote: “You speak against corporations yet offer no valid alternative.” But, Goro, bro... anything is better than fascist mega corporations keeping most of the city in absolute poverty, while waging devastating wars against other mega corporations? I wish we could have opened his eyes a little. There’s a good, even ground between Takemura believing Corps to be doing the best for humanity and Johnny being willing to kill 12k people for a revolution. This game went a little “capitalism is bad, but the alternative is worse!” at times, in my opinion. I wish more could have been done against the corporations, instead they just kind of... exist... in the background. And I know, “Realism! “ because we live with massive corporations like Amazon in our lives and can do fuck all about them but we’re not V. V is an absolute unit who survives death multiple times... I wish there had been two paths, like do Johnny’s path and work against the system or do Takemura’s path and work with the system? Sort of like The Witcher 2?

You know how in Saints Row, The Boss has homies they can call on for help? I wanted V to have homies to help them out in fights. It felt pointless building trust with the Fixers only to not have them help out at all with fights against the NCPD/Militech/Arasaka in their territories. 

The stealth mechanics are not good. They are funny! But not very good. Often, It’s better to just attack and save yourself the trouble of sneaking only to get caught by a guard who can see through the back of his head.

The fact that you cannot get arrested and have someone bust you out of jail. Maybe RDR2 set my expectations too high, but I thought this would have been included.

I’ve read about the cut content, and I’m really disappointed they weren’t included in the game. Wall running would have been amazing! And the police hiring mercs to hunt V down? I would have loved to see it! 😔

Driving cars is terrible. Just awful. Sometimes, you crash. Other times you’re flung up into the air and break through the sky into the void, spinning for all eternity.

River’s glitched romance deserves a special mention. The relationship just drops off suddenly and you cannot interact with him properly again. It does not affect the main story at all, so you wonder, what was the point? The text messages also glitch and V will sent messages that you can’t control, leading to disappointing dialogue, like with Joss.

The romances in general were just not all that impressive. I was expecting something great, considering there was only 4 and thought they’d really affect the main story, but I’d only recommend Panam and Judy. I would have played the game just as well without romances, and they felt very unnecessary but I wanted to do one to get the most possible story content. I think we should all leave romances in RPG’s as the exception, not the norm. Some studio’s can do them well, other’s cannot. CDPR cannot, in my opinion...

Obviously the many glitches and bugs, several of which are game breaking. I usually have to reload a save at least once an hour, because an NPC won’t talk to me or I can’t move the mouse to select different dialogue options! Or my gun won’t equip, so I die.

The AI in general is very bad. Sometimes cars will stop in the middle of junctions for no reason, causing you to crash or mount the sidewalk to get past, meaning you’ll likely run someone down and get a police warrant. NPCs just walk from one end of the road and back again, over and over on a loop. It’s very creepy!

The lighting, mostly inside buildings. Everything is pitch black! Why does V not own a flashlight? The amount of enemies I’ve barrelled into and alerted because I couldn’t see is too much.

The lack of dialogue choice, it was less interactive than what I’d been told to expect. There was only two or three options, with one only ever rarely being unique to one of V’s three possible background choices and most will yield the same results with a few exceptions, like avoiding combat.

V’s personality is already decided by the game, and is not really customisable. Do not expect full control over your V’s personality, as they are very much a canon character and exist outside of your (limited) choices. I didn’t expect Baldur's Gate 3 levels of customisation, but I did expect something more like Dragon Age 2’s dialogue wheel? Nice, Sarcasm and Angry? You know?

Obviously, the seizure inducing scenes were very dangerous. I get a headache whenever I have to do a braindance, and I wish it was skippable!

Accessibility as a whole is very much an afterthought in this game, I think. The subtitles are in “speaking English”, so instead of: Hey, how are you? It’s: Heyyy, how’re ya? It is often difficult to understand, and sometimes I just couldn’t work out what was being said.

It’s nitpicky but I wanted to do a pacifist route and I realised you can’t, you need to kill certain character’s... 

The main “villains” such as Yorinobu and Adam Smasher were very forgettable, and V had no personal stake in taking them out. I honestly forgot all about them. Takemura was talking about revenge and I’m like, who? Who are you talking about? Why are we kidnapping Hanako Arasaka, again? Johnny, why would I bother killing Adam Smasher? If they’d personally murdered Jackie, then yeah, I’d understand! But all V needs is to remove the chip and I don’t know... I just didn’t feel anything.

So, to summarise: I think CDPR were out of their depth. The long, very long, troubled development process was an indication of this before the game was even released, and the story I’ve experienced in the game is proof enough. I don’t think they knew what they wanted from this game, and as a result, we have a game that is honestly very confusing and frustrating with a story that always got close to gripping, but never quite makes it. All in all, I found this game to be pretty average. When the bugs are ironed out, I will think better of it. But as it stands, if I had to score it, I would give it a 6.5/10 or maybe 7/10. Good concept, somewhat misguided execution. The best part of the game was the Johnny/V dynamic, but I wasn’t satisfied with how it ended. They needed more time together! Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens next. 

[ericmhe]

Godzilla Singular Point

I'm not much of a “binger” for the most part but I got the whole series Godzilla: Singular Point watched in about 4 days I think. Let's start positive: I think the 3D models for the monsters work a lot better than most anime 3D models, they're still fairly apparent but it seems like they blend with the rest of the art alright. The designs are mostly fairly good too, there's some ugly ones in there but I kind of don't mind them? Monsters can be ugly sometimes and not just cool looking, a few here and there in the cast doesn't hurt anything. It's nice to see some nods to the more obscure kaiju too, there's a lot of interesting and fun monsters from Toho's old movies and it gets a little tiring to be hit with nonstop Godzilla-Mothra-Ghidorah-MechaGodzilla incarnations every single time there's a new take on Godzilla. I like a lot about the premise, the apocalyptic rise of kaiju around the world as they bring their habitat/environment with them into our world, terraforming it into a world of monsters. It's not new by any means, but it's usually not the approach taken witht the Toho monsters and it's a good excuse to fit a lot of them into a setting quickly. The end credit sequence is pretty great, I hit 'watch credits' every time on my watch. Heck, the whole series might be better if it was more like its own end credits.

I think Godzilla: Singular Point could have been better, but we've also seen worse recently. I've only dabbled in storytelling but I suspect a lot of its problems come from overcompensating, specifically: “Godzilla movies/media are dumb” being met with “Oh yeah, well how about one based on theoretical quantum physics” just didn't work out. I actually think what they use in the series is a fine technobabble excuse for the monsters having powers and durability beyond science, but I also don't feel like kaiju media really needs that excuse. It's fine though, I think the sheer quantity of the technobabble is the biggest problem with it. I've been listening to discussions of theoretical multi-dimensional physics for a while now, so I think I might have been better prepared than average but it's still a chore to get my head around so I know it's going to lose a majority of the general population. One big question I have is why did they give the main characters the wrong interests? Yun, who is into future predictions deals with the monsters, and Mei who is studying theoretical impossible animals deals with the future predicting technology end of the plot... I could get that if the idea was to raise tension by making the wrong people have to work outside their field of expertise, but that's not what happens, they're both pretty good “omnidisciplinary scientist” sorts who don't have much problem learning a whole new field. Honestly they really should have been assigned the other interests though, Yun studying fantastical creature ideas and Mei the future stuff.

While I like the premise and some of the stuff they do with the monsters, there's also a lot that's disappointing – The Kumonga-Megalon-Hedorah hybrids really need some explaining. Why are there three monsters in one species? Just to reference as much old material as possible at once? As far as I'm concerned Anguirus is the stand out star of the series and they kill him far too quickly. The series could also be called a fairly cozy catastrophe too, for the most part the worst thing happening for most people is losing their internet connection, kind of seems like a monster apocalypse should have a bit more than that going on. That said it's not nearly the disappointment that the Polygon Pictures trilogy is, which managed to take the most interesting and unique premise the Godzilla franchise has ever had and do basically nothing with it.

I might give Singular Point something like 6 out of 10, and I think a second season might have enough room for improvement that I'm not against it.

For the heck of it:

Shin Godzilla: The most common criticisms are right (dull, Godzilla has no personality, the humans are more random bureaucrats than characters), but so are most the common praise (topical in its way, punchy with its political critique, holy hell that weapons upgrade on Godzilla). Which one outweighs the other is a simple matter of personal preference. I don't have super strong feelings about it and it will be one of my least re-watched Godzilla movies ever, up with  Godzilla's Revenge.

Polygon Trilogy: AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRG. The only things worth watching are Godzilla Earth avenging Godzilla filius and Ghidorah's destruction of the spaceship (wasn't it Atrium or something? I'm feeling too lazy to look it up) but unfortunately there's an awful lot of crap around those bits. Ok, I exaggerate a little but not much. I kind of appreciate how they tried to subvert the classic “your life goals or your love interest” kind of scenario, but she wasn't much of a character so it didn't have much impact to kill her off and the main character is an unlikable jerk too.

Legendary's Monsterverse: Godzilla 2014: Too much of its run time is boring for me to recommend it but the monster stuff is too well done for me to ever dismiss it outright.

Godzilla King of the Monsters: I get why people have a problem with it, but I appreciate the story between Godzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra enough to forgive it and it's my favorite of the Monsterverse. I don't have as much problem seeing the monsters through the weather effects as some people seem to, the only one I really can't follow is when Godzilla drags Ghidorah into the Gulf of Mexico. It does cut to the humans too much during the monster fights, but it's also trying to connect the stories. The goal of the human characters lines up with Godzilla's well enough that they can be considered to be on the same side, and that's why we see things like Godzilla charge Ghidorah, then cut away to humans where Ghidorah's heads slam into the earth somewhere in the background. It's fairly flawed, but...

Godzilla vs Kong: Holy shit over-correction much? I think it might actually work better as a stand alone movie than a continuation of King of the Monsters, yet it actually can't because of some elements like the Ghidorah heads. Notice how they say one skull holds the pilot, there's another skull in Mecha Godzilla? - clearly supposed to be the side heads incinerated by Burning Godzilla not the one Godzilla tore off in the Gulf of Mexico – not sure why everyone misses that. ANYWAY, it's a fun movie that gets to the main event as fast as it feels like it can and the monster action is solid. With the one exception that I really hate Godzilla being portrayed as defenseless against Mecha Godzilla – outmatched and needing help is fine, but utterly unable to do anything but get stomped is just not enjoyable to me. As soon as Kong comes to help double team Mecha G it gets a lot better though. - Quick note, why did “Team Kong” see any reason to sic Kong on Mecha G? We the audience know that since the robot is possessed by Ghidorah that once it kills Godzilla it'll go on to wipe out all humanity and anything else it comes across, but does “Team Kong” know it? If Kong knows it, would he care beyond Jia? I mean, it doesn't matter but it does nag me a little bit.

I honestly thing the basic story teased at the end of King of the Monsters in the news reel stuff sounds like a better movie than Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be but I'm fine with what we got for the most part. Except why did they dump all the other monsters? They've come up with all these interesting new monsters and they have Rodan and what-not and they just say they all haven't been seen? It's the most disappointing part of the Monsterverse so far if you ask me.

[emilx311]

Madara was concerned about how much time the pretty white-haired girl spent in the library studying so she decided to do something about it (No Izuna, it's not because she has a crush-shut up!) 

So this is my entry for @madatobigiftexchange. I was given @delightfulbouquettidalwaveposts here on tumblr with the prompt of fem!MadaTobi. I have never written male characters as females ones before, but I decided to take the prompt anyways as a challenge. And a challenge it was XP This fic really, really did not want to get written. I looked at other prompt lists for plot inspirations and built this off one I saw that went "I work in the library and I'm a little concerned for your health because you never stop studying" (which made me think of Tobi right away). This was an interesting experince, but don't expect me to be doing anymore fem!stories anytime in the near future XP Enjoy and let me know how I managed.

Read on ao3 or here below the cut

Madara glared at the white head almost obscured by textbooks from where she was leaning on the check-out counter. She’d taken the job at the library because it was on campus and the only place, apart from the coffee shop, that was hiring and she’d desperately needed the cash. The Uchiha had known from the start she wouldn’t love it, but she hadn’t counted on this particular annoyance when she’d taken it. Over all the job wasn’t the worst, re-shelving books was boring but kept her away from people and even check-outs were usually fast and efficient since the other students just wanted to get their books and get out of there to finish their projects. She was allowed, even expected, to snap at anyone being loud, annoying, or goofing off. She could even give herself priority access to any books she might need for her classes, and if things were slow her bosses were fine with her reading and doing homework behind the desk during her shift. Really, the job itself was pretty fine-except for one particular thing, or well, one particular person.

That person was the white-haired girl currently camped out at her usual table near the front desk, almost invisible, lost as she was in a sea of textbooks and papers. As always. There was also a large number of used coffee cups scattered around her. As always. She was the first one there in the mornings and was the last to leave at the end of the day. Every day, or at least, every day Madara was there. Madara was pretty sure that if the library was open 24/7 the other girl would have moved in. She wasn’t even completely certain the white-haired girl left to attend the classes she studied so furiously for. It was concerning.

Madara knew, knew, that it wasn’t really any of her business, but she couldn’t help but worry about the other girl. No, she wasn’t a friend or even an acquaintance. Hell, Madara didn’t even know her name, but she knew that living like that couldn’t be healthy. Constantly either reading or working on her next project, or paper, it exhausted Madara just watching her. The other never even seemed to talk to anyone! In fact, Madara had never seen anyone else so much as wave at the white-haired girl, let alone actually say hi or sit with her. It didn’t sit right with Madara. Izuna would say it was Madara’s intense mother-hen instincts coming out, not that her little brother had any room to talk, she thought with a scowl.

In any case, it had been bothering her for months, the sad state of the other girl’s life, and she had finally had enough! Clearly no one else had any plans of intervening in this slow death by school work so Madara would have to do it herself. The white-haired girl was just too pretty to be left to such an end. Not that Madara thought she was particularly pretty or anything, but well, the Uchiha had eyes and so could therefore see fine the girl’s features were. Nodding to herself at her own impeccable logic, Madara went back to work sorting books and trying to think out a plan to save the girl from herself.

Ultimately Madara decided to start small, because even she knew that telling off a stranger about their life choices would come across and creepy and kind of stalkerish. Also, and more importantly, her boss would fire her for bugging library patrons who weren’t breaking any of the rules and Madara did need this job. So, yes, starting small was likely the best approach. Plus, if she was lucky the small disturbances would be enough to startle the girl into reality and taking stock of her life style and improving it without Madara having to ever actually talk to her. Which would be fantastic, and not disappointing at all-shut up Izuna!

Plan, or some semblance there of, in place she saw no reason to delay in implementing it so the next day she slipped a granola bar onto the table by the girl’s coffee while the other looked particularly preoccupied with one of her many books. She does so as she walks by with a load of books to re-shelve, and a quick glance once she returns from doing so shows that the other girl is actually eating it. It’s one of the few brands of such products that Madara actually likes. The only one to, in her opinion, have managed the near-impossible feat of being both healthy and tasty. So, overall, she counts her first step as a in, even after she’s forced to duck quickly into the back so no one will notice her laughing over the face the white-haired girl had made once she finally registered she was eating something and had no idea where it came from. It had been a perfect blend of shock, confusion, and overall befuddlement. Madara would even go so far as to say it was adorable (no she didn’t think the girl was cute, shut up Izuna!).

Madara continued to slip granola bars to the girl on an utterly random schedule. After a couple weeks of that, when the other continued to maintain her ridiculous study patterns, she decided to step it up a bit. She began to alternate between leaving the bars and various types of fresh fruit, keeping an eye out for any preferences or allergies (not because she cared or anything-shut up Izuna!). Thus far though, the puzzled white-haired girl had seemed equally happy with all her offerings. The speed at which they were eaten both amused her and made her worry even more, but as she reminded herself often, she was already doing something about it.

Her next escalation was to add a bottle of water to go along with whatever snack she had brought the other. This made sneaking them onto the table without being seen slightly harder, but Madara was nothing if not determined. The white-haired girl did take occasional breaks, usually to return some of her books, find new ones, or to go get more coffee, and Madara used these breaks to her advantage. Soon this escalated even more to slipping the other more substantial snacks. Before Madara knew it, it had been almost three months and she was practically giving the other girl full lunches several times a week. (She was not overly invested in this-Shut up Izuna!) And, though she would never admit it (especially to her brother), the smile her offerings got, small and always clearly delighted, made butterflies flitter around in her stomach. Those smiles quickly became her favourite, and most looked forward to, part of the day. She’s aware that she won’t be able to keep this up forever, but for now…for now it was good.

It was the other girl who changed things up next, somewhere in the middle of month four, teaching Madara her name in the process. It was a Tuesday and the white-haired girl had left her table, heading in the direction of the coffee shop which was Madara’s cue to sneak over and leave her gift as usual. Except, in the spot she usually left them (a spot which was now almost always clear of debris and waiting for her offering) was a small note.

To My Gift-giver,

      I just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the food, though you really don’t need to trouble yourself every day for my sake.

                                              ~Senju Tobirama

Madara ended up taking the note with her after leaving the food and kept glancing at it periodically all day when no one was looking. Tobirama’s writing was small and simple, but neat. It was legible and pretty without wasting time on any sort of fancy flourishes. From what she had observed of the other Madara felt it suited her perfectly, as did her name. Unusual, unique, and really quite beautiful-just like the girl herself (okay, so maybe she had a small crush-Shut. Up Izuna!). Madara wrestled with herself for the next day or so, but ultimately decided to leave her own note in reply the next time she left food.

Tobirama,

     Considering I’ve never seen you eat anything except for what I give you I really do. Wouldn’t want you to end up fainting in the middle of the library.

                                         -A Concerned Citizen

The note was perhaps a bit…caustic, but then so was Madara herself, and she had no intention of changing who she was for anyone-no matter how cute their smile. If Tobirama couldn’t deal with a bit of attitude then it was better to find that out now before she got even more invested (so you admit you’re invested! Shut up Izuna!). It would be a disappointment, but still better than the inevitable blow-up that would occur otherwise. Still, Madara spent the rest of the day restless and trying to convince herself she wasn’t on edge because she was worried about how Tobirama would react. She took the first chance she saw the next day to slip Tobirama her food, hoping to find another note-and couldn’t help the ecstatic smile she gave upon seeing there was one waiting.

Dear Concerned Citizen,

      How sweet, but given I managed to survive just fine until you came along, I would say that your concern lacks merit. If anything, accepting food from someone whose name and identity I still don’t know seems more likely to end up causing me harm.

                                              ~Tobirama

Madara’s (slightly besotted) smiled turned into a true grin once she got the chance to actually read Tobirama’s note. Not only did the other girl not seemed turned off by her attitude but she was showing one to match, not seeming cowed in the slightest. It wasn’t a guarantee that this, that they, would work, but is was a start and a pretty good one at that. Madara didn’t quite feel ready to reveal herself and give up the game yet, but she was more than happy to keep the exchange going.

Tobirama,

     You may have a point, but if you are so concerned about the potential harm I could do to you with my offerings then why do you keep eating them? As far as you know they may have been safe so far only because I’ve been working on luring you into a false sense of security. A ploy, which if such were my intention, seems to have been working nicely I might add. Which only gives me more reason to be concerned about your health.

                                         -Your Lunch Maker

Dear Lunch Maker,

      It’s a public space and I have samples of your handwriting in notes admitting to giving me the food, you can’t harm me without bringing yourself down as well. Unless this is all a complicated scheme to get yourself some jail time it seems a rather flawed plan. If it is your way of getting yourself sent to jail, I would like to remind you that there are many more straightforward ways of doing so and would request you leave me out of it.

                                              ~Tobirama

Tobirama,

     You need not worry too much on that account. I am far too busy to go to jail right now. Not as busy as you always seem to be, of course, but that hardly means I have nothing to do! Besides, if I were to ever wind up in jail it would be for something far more dramatic and impressive than poisoning one person’s lunch!

                                         -Irritated at your Assumptions

Dear Irritated,

      I’m not as busy as all that, not really. I’ve been far more occupied many times in the past, though my brother often tells me I have a tendency to commit myself to too much. Still, I am not finding the load to be too onerous. I would, however, like to hear more about this “dramatic and impressive” crime you would be arrested for. To be so specific you must have a plan in mind and I find myself curious.

                                              ~Tobirama

Tobirama,

     I think your brother may have a point. I can’t say I know the specifics of your workload, but given the amount of time you spend in the library I would assume it is fairly large. Shouldn’t you be attending classes regularly anyways? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you leave for one, which does make me wonder. Have you thought of taking breaks, going outside, maybe getting some sun? I hear it’s healthy for you, though given the fact I seem to be your main source of food I still have very little in your care for your health.

     Also, I have no plans for crimes of any sort you menace! As I told you I am far too busy to end up in jail. Besides, who would feed you and remind you of your health if I were arrested? You’d miss me and these little notes, you know you would!

                                         -Not a Criminal

Dear Not a Criminal,

      Not that it matters, but I have an arrangement with my professors that allows me to attend them irregularly because of the number I’m taking. Also, I believe I have told you before that I survived just fine before you decided it was your mission to take care of me, a fact which I would like to once again remind you of. Not that I am ungrateful for your care, quite the opposite really. Your gifts remain very appreciated and you are quite correct that I would miss you if you were arrested, and as you insinuated it would not just be because of the lack of food! Also, there are plenty of supplements that can replace the need for sunlight. Despite this, I would be willing to venture out in it, for the right motivation-if you are not determined to continue to remain anonymous.

                                              ~Tobirama

Tobirama,

     I must admit that your insinuated request both thrills and terrifies me. Though I could not help but notice your beauty, I want you to know that this really did start from honest concern (no one should spend so much time studying!) and not from a hope of securing myself a date with you. I did not expect it to go on so long, or the note you left or the exchange that has followed. After all this I hope I will not disappoint compared to whatever image you have in your head of me.

                                         -Anonymous for now

Madara was forced to admit, to herself at the very least (Izuna was not to know), that she was a bit nervous. As her note to Tobirama had said, this had all started out of genuine concern for the other girl. Yes, Madara had noticed she was pretty, but so were a lot of other people who came to the library. But then, as the letters they had exchanged continued, as she’d found out Tobirama was smart, sassy, able to match Madara as very could and give as good as she got. Well, after learning all that she couldn’t help becoming a bit invested, hence the nerves-not that she was going to let that stop her!

She’d gotten to the library early, before it officially opened actually (her co-worker hadn’t minded letting her in) and had left her last note to Tobirama on the girl’s usual table, minus the food that usually accompanied it. That she had in a simple picnic basket along with a bouquet of wildflowers, because she refused to be so cliché as to ask someone out with roses. She was currently ducked behind her usual hiding shelf, just out of sight of the entrance and Tobirama’s table. All she could do now was wait for the other girl to arrive.

Thankfully the library was to open in just a minute or two and Tobirama was, of course, through the doors only moments after they were unlocked. Madara felt a sort of exasperated fondness at the sight, and the girl’s predictability. She watched as Tobirama made a beeline for her table only to pause nearby, clearly confused by the sight of the note. The white-haired girl glanced around before shrugging and picking it up. Madara watched as Tobirama read it, blushing slightly with a pleased smile that melted into a look of confusion and slight disappointment once she reached the bottom. Madara took this as her cue, and after taking a deep breath stepped out from behind the shelf.

“Hi, I’m Uchiha Madara. I work here in the library and I’m honestly a little concerned for your health because you never stop studying, so I’m hoping to convince you to take a break for once and come outside with me for some sun and food” Madara said, holding the flowers out and trying to look confident.

“Hi, I’m Senju Tobirama, over worked grad student and P.A. My health is fine, thank you, and I can take care of myself, but if you insist on making sure for yourself I won’t say no” Tobirama replied in turn, taking the flowers. The smile she had been wearing early had returned, even larger than before and Madara could feel a matching one grow on her own face and she finally got the girl out of the library, for a time at least.

[millenniumfae]

Reyes Vidal Theories And Headcanons

To start off, we’ll begin with all the canon facts we know about our favorite Kadara King, almost all thanks to his writer’s twitter;

He’s in his late twenties

He’s from Chile (born and raised?)

His first language is Spanish, but speaks English (fluently?)

After arriving to Andromeda but before the Nexus Uprising, he was a shuttle pilot assigned to Initiative callsign ‘Anubis’

He’s a dog person

Fan of alcohol??

And that’s it. Everything else about him is all speculation and random headcanons. ME:A has no further single-player DLC upcoming. No new comics, either. It’s really sad to say, but it seems likely that the canon story of Reyes Vidal ended with Mass Effect: Andromeda.

But not if I have anything to say about it! Below are my various Reyes Vidal headcanons and theories. And more to come, along with other Mass Effect characters!

1) Reyes as a ‘Shuttle Pilot’

People in the game sometimes describe flying vehicles as a ‘shuttle’, but technically, a ‘shuttle’ isn’t a type of vehicle, it’s the name for a delivery service - short routes, higher frequency, simple fare. You can shuttle passengers or objects place to place. If Reyes was a ‘shuttle pilot’, that meant he was flying things to-and-fro the Nexus on the Initiative’s orders, delivering people and goods by standardized rates.

We’ve already known a shuttle pilot in the franchise before; Steve Cortez of Mass Effect 3 was the Normandy’s shuttle pilot, because he had to deliver the ground team to-and-fro the ship regularly. Those fugly box-like skycars you see in the ME franchise seem to be Alliance/Initiative standard vehicles, described as ‘UT-47′s by Steven in 3, or a ‘Kodiak’ for similar models. Steve also takes Shepard on a skycar ride in the Citadel DLC, and talks about his piloting passion as if they were indeed on a plane and not a car (”There’s a lot about this bird you don’t know/Pilots would wear G-suits”).

Plus, Steve also trained by flying fighter jets, not ‘cars’. So when we say a character is a shuttle pilot, we really do mean pilot and not ‘flying car driver’. Reyes is a pilot in all sense of the word. Even though those boxy cars can indeed use FTL drive to fly between systems and planets, Reyes worked under the call-sign ‘Anubis’ so we can assume he flew a plane specifically. Aviation call-signs are for aircrafts and not cars. The dock manager would ask for the pilot’s verification, and the pilot would respond with the aircraft’s verification name and number - N-503 call-sign ‘Anubis’.

We never see him flying in-game. On the mission we meet Reyes’ ex Zia, we do see his plane outside the house where the supposed cargo was to be. It’s a poopy-brown, double-turbine-winged helicopter thing, and it’s also the plane he escapes onto if you save Sloane. He’s never flying it, though, it’s always him hopping in/off.

I’ve seen some fics where that’s actually where he sleeps, which I don’t think would be realistic - that plane sees a modest amount of action, not just during fights but also during ambient Kadara Port skydrops - you see it flying by sometimes. Inside isn’t big, you see like three seats and nothing else, good for five people maximum. Reyes would have to have this plane flight-ready at a moment’s notice. He’s still smuggling, after all.

It’s a very different plane from all the others you see. It’s not a boring basic Initiative box car, it’s not a bubbly green Angaran car, it’s not a green mess like the Kett’s. The only time you see a plane like that is during the Meridian final battle, where there’s two-three of those same planes, no matter if it’s Sloane or Reyes. I think it’s a plane that was created after the Nexus Uprising, crafted specifically by exiles. You find guns unique to exiles, after all, why not planes? Kadara exiles have wind turbine engineers, doctors, and not to mention the Angara who must be involved. They gotta have some people who can design and produce good planes. It’d be poetic if Reyes’ plane was a hybrid of Angaran and Milky Way engineering.

2) Reyes being Chilean, Brown, and Bi

I’ve said this before, but I was never happy with how Reyes was handled as a Latino man. I’m not Latinx myself, I’m Asian, so I speak from a different perspective of color. Reyes is a token Latinx person in the game, and he (along with his ex Zia) have thick accents and a sexualized history/personality. His accent in particular is super grating, since it’s faked by a white British actor and you can definitely hear it. As an Asian person, I am NOT a fan of seeing faked accents pasted onto a stereotyped love interest.

So when we see a character like Reyes, we make the best of it. We make him ours, and not Bioware’s very spotty writing. Canonically, Reyes is a flirty spicy Latino bi man, but he’s more than that. Romanced or not, you get to see the man behind that mask. He’s silly, insecure, and very intelligent. He’s good with guns, explosives, and planes. He can play politics to the point where he can become the driving force behind an entire planet.

But all that canon stuff still doesn’t erase the spots on Bioware’s record when it comes to making Reyes. They wanted to create a shady morally grey love interest, and Reyes is the direction they took.

Us fans, on the other hand, can actually give Reyes as a bi Chilean man some weight. We can write his Spanish as actually being specific to Chile, we can explore his sexuality the way bi people do. The Mass Effect universe takes place about 160+ years from now. It’s been more than a century. We all know that progress isn’t linear, but for the sake of our liberation, we’ll say that humanity’s ideals of sexual/racial politics have improved.

So unlike us, maybe Reyes didn’t grow up in a world that attacks brown/queer people. Today, being brown means you’re ashamed of your skin color before kindergarten, and being bi means your sexual journey is hindered by marginalization. Reyes, on the other hand, might have not faced these things at all. Humans of the Mass Effect world might see queerphobia/racism as something incredibly archaic, like oppressing redheads.

Not like Bioware’s good at portraying this type of progress. Sure, we never see anti-lgbt rhetoric in-game, nor marginalization of brown humans, but we don’t see any true evidence that the Mass Effect world has gotten rid of these things. I don’t for a second believe that there would be so many straight humans 160+ years from now. Or so many aliens that fall squarely into the human gender binary.

Headcanon; Reyes, being raised on Earth, sees himself as brown and knows the bloody history behind it. His skin color matters to him much the same way my browness matters to me - its a connection to your family, your people, and the way you look at yourself in the mirror. And he doesn’t identify as bisexual as loudly as many of us do, but not because he doesn’t like lgbt culture. He’ll checkmark the ‘bi’ box if you asked him to write out a census survey, I just think he’s one of those people who’s kinda casual about it. Especially if he doesn’t face the marginalization we do.

But being a queer man means he’s got that flamboyant side a lot of us do. He’s romantically cheesy, he likes red wine over candlelit dinners, he finds flower arrangements beautiful, he’ll go to great lengths to make sure he looks and smells nice (even on Kadara’s nasty sulfer atmosphere), he think he looks amazing in a fitted suitdress. And if he could, he’d repaint his plane to be a nicer color other than that fugly brown, like a sweet duochrome blue-purple, but unfortunately its a color that blends in well with Kadara’s landscape.

3) Reyes as the Charlatan

What’s canon about the Collective? They work from the shadows, cultivate poison, steal supplies, have torture rooms where they keep captured Outlaws, and information between them can get muddled or compromised. They’re not a pretty bunch, and the Charlatan isn’t a pretty business.

Compared to the Outcasts, they’re definitely the more gentle organization. And perhaps with the Outcasts out of the picture, they drop a lot of the shadier stuff they do, what with no one left to torture and assassinate. But their business still runs on crime, opposing the Initiative and the Angara directly at times - such as stealing supplies, illegal mining and producing of resources, and drugs. And Reyes oversees all of that.

You can also compare Reyes’ crimes to Vetra, who’s also a smuggler, but a lot less shady. Vetra does a lot of things without bloodshed or violence, and doesn’t even seem to steal things. Instead, she makes business deals that slip underneath the red tape and break regulations. Reyes, however, had to work under Sloane’s violence for many a month, and adopted immoral methods to work around her.

I truly believe Reyes isn’t supposed to be a violent man who likes bloodshed and murder. He sees it as necessary, and his goals are worth getting his hands dirty. Reyes wasn’t just scared about Ryder finding out he lied, he’s worried about the whole, you know, Collectives being a violent mob gang thing. As Kadara improves, he lets up.

When he’s not hanging out in Tatarus, out smuggling, or doing various other shady things, I headcanon Reyes as actually having multiple places to sleep and hie away. Not the Collective Base, though. No one there has ever met the Charlatan, and even the leader, Crux, only gets orders as messages. Before the big reveal, Reyes doesn’t confess any connection to the Collective. He wouldn’t show up at the base. His living spaces are probably within Kadara Port’s various shitty apartments, and also hideouts in the badlands.

Always he’ll be on call for Charlatan business. Even at the Meridian party, he’s clicking away at his omni-tool while talking to Ryder. He keeps odd hours, probably only managing minimal sleep schedules. And when he’s not available, his most trustworthy representatives take up his mantle. And if Sloane’s killed, he only gets more busy.

With an outpost settled, there’s legitimate money to make and Reyes gets right on that. I assume that, at first, establishing the outpost costs a lot more money than it makes, but having an initiative settlement eventually draws in a lot of resources and commerce. Reyes isn’t just the leader of Kadara Port, he’s the King of Kadara the planet and the outpost is part of his jurisdiction. Ditaeon may have been Ryder’s doing, but it’s Reyes’ town now.

4) Reyes and Ryder - Love And Trust

“He already lied to you once. Guys like that don’t stop lying,” - Vetra.

A romanced Ryder is obviously a big deal to Reyes. He even confesses to his right-hand woman Keema that he worried about what Ryder might think about him, and that’s something pretty personal to exclaim. He’s in deep and his self-esteem is heavily affected by what Ryder says to him. If you don’t decide to kiss him on the rooftop, you can instead say that he’s more genuine than you thought, which actually seems to hurt him.

There’s an animation difference between Scott and Sara - Reyes will slide right up against Scott’s personal space during their first meeting at Kralla’s Song, while he’ll stay a modest distance away from Sara. To our eyes, seeing an unknown, shifty man being so close to a woman at a bar is pretty creepy and scary. You, as a man, do not touch a woman you don’t know. To us, being in a place like Kadara Port and alone at a pirate bar means violence against women is a fear at the forefront of our minds.

He’s so uncomfortably close to Scott, though, probably in an effort to intimidate him slightly. But he’s not gonna pull that shit on Sara, because that would mean something completely different.

Reyes makes a big deal about being the perfect gentleman, which is something of a rhetoric joke. Because he’s not a gentleman when it comes to honesty and honor; he steals, cheats, and lies, he brought a sniper to the duel. But he is a gentleman when it comes to compassion and sympathy. He set up a soup kitchen for the slums. He donates money to the clinic. He prioritizes the Angara native to Kadara. He lifts the ‘protection fee’ nonsense and doesn’t exile people to the badlands.

He said he came to Andromeda to ‘be someone’. I think that’s supposed to be a double-meaning. He wants to be important to people, but why rule from the shadows if that’s the case? Because he wants to make a difference. He actually does want to help people and set up an Initiative outpost and dispense justice. That’s the ‘someone’ Reyes wanted to be all his life, and it grew into a passion when he finally upped and abandoned the Nexus.

Being a ‘gentleman’ is kinda old-fashioned, but Reyes seems to have a special interest in old-fashioned stuff, playing Soft Jazz while dancing quietly with Ryder. I think it’s just something he enjoys, like having actual full-blown romantic dates. Too bad he rarely has the opportunity to explore them.

About Zia; his alleged ‘ex’ is a mystery. Umi, a bartender, pinpoints her as an ex-girlfriend, but Reyes will say they merely had a few drinks and things apparently never went far. And when Zia shows up, there’s no love lost between the two of them, even though Zia apparently knows Reyes well enough. Relationships with a tail-end like that were probably never serious, but still had enough time invested to become actual, significant history.

I don’t know why Bioware wanted to write, direct, code, and implant this mission, as if it adds something to Reyes’ characterization. Zia in particular is a unique character model, which is weird because very few characters have a special face and texture. What does Zia mean to Reyes? To us?

I think Zia was an old smuggling/piloting partner of Reyes, and the two of them might have struck a connection during the first hopeless months of the Andromeda Initiative. Zia grew to know Reyes as a selfish man with no friends, split off from him and ran a competitive smuggling shtick, and even says a romanced Ryder will soon know how wrong they were to place faith in him. Its a side of Reyes we don’t hear from anyone else, and I think it’s meant to shake our confidence in Reyes as the future leader of Kadara - or as Ryder’s love interest.

After all, why would Reyes ask the Pathfinder for help in finding some random lost cargo? Because it was probably something super important. Worth not just money, but morality too. Reyes wouldn’t tell someone as unsubtle as Ryder that they were about to look for some misplaced escaped ark survivors (or whatever’s also super important, I dunno), or everyone and their mother would know they were up to something big.

Zia lured Reyes with the promise of something very big, and tried to take him down because she wanted to make more money. Reyes, on the other hand, isn’t completely money-driven. Zia represents the Charlatan we were told to fear, while Reyes is the true face behind the shadows. And after all that business rivalry, Reyes still buries her.

But Zia still says Reyes is a selfish man, and she knows him much better than Ryder does. Why would a fellow amoral smuggler care if someone was selfish or not? Was Reyes selfish to her specifically? Like, in a bad lover way? That’d suck, but he probably didn’t feel that much affection towards Zia in the first place. Or did Zia have ulterior motives that Reyes didn’t agree with, and cut off contact because Zia wanted to cross lines Reyes didn’t feel comfortable with? That’d be a nicer way of looking at it. Reyes was ‘selfish’ because Zia wanted to, I dunno, hit civilians for extra cash and Reyes said no.

My headcanon; with Ryder, Reyes definitely doesn’t take things super casual like he probably did with Zia. He eventually dedicates himself to them, and invests a lot of his emotions into their relationship. It might even be something he never did before, but a hero’s love is worth so much to him. He can’t leave Kadara, and Ryder can’t stay with him (at least at first). And secrets will continue to bloom between them. But Reyes will continue to improve himself, ‘becoming someone’ to not just Kadara, but to Ryder.

5) Random and MISC

Being an exile-in-an-outlaw-town-during-a-cluster-wide-war-against-the-Kett-and-the-Scourge means shitty food. Which Reyes hates and he does his best to avoid the Jim Bakker bucket-esque MREs that the Initiative hands out. And Angaran nutrient paste doesn’t sit right with Milky Way species, so he doesn’t eat that either. Life on the frontier means adopting to local flora and fauna, which means old fashioned Angaran dishes like Adhi roast, Kaerkyn shell soup, Taurg flank steak, and Drall bits. But no, he doesn’t cook if he can help it - he’s not terrible, just not good, and he’ll instead buy food from vendors on Kadara Port, or order it from the bar. And he’ll get dessert when he can, too.

And he loves Kadara Port. It’s his own little cyberpunk neon noir city, even if it does smell vaguely of sulfur. He loves looking out the window and seeing the bright glowing signs overlapping each other, hearing the shady bustle of exiles 24/7, the patter of acidic rain. When he begins to get involved with Ryder, he begins to take extra time to gaze at the city’s horizon and be sentimental. That’s what falling in love does to a person.

He’s canonically a dog person, and by dog we do include Mass Effect’s alien dogs such as adhi. The Collective is trying to domesticate wild Adhi, which is a project Reyes started to make them into guards and weapons, but a side of him just loves the idea of having an adhi as a pet. If he could, he’d have five rescue pups of varying breeds (and species), posting those Sexy Dog Instagram Photos of all of them at the beach, or something.

Time as the Charlatan means less time to work out. So his muscles aren’t big, and he’s got enough fat to cover them, too. If he undressed, you’d see that he’s smaller than his clothing would imply, no Ripped Taint or Tight Glutes. Lotsa hair, though, all down his chest and pelvis and legs. He actually doesn’t really like it, but he only has resources to shave his jaw.

All his outfits are the typical humanwear that all colonists to Andromeda have access too, but with extra touches because he Cares about his appearance. Fancy gloves, a nifty belt with a shiny buckle. He uses the slighest amount of product to slick his hair up, gotta stretch it out until he can find an Andromeda replacement. Uses a nice deodorant, and will get expensive cologne when he has the chance.

He hates the cold, and Kadara has modest winters that won’t freeze the water but will spread a frost everywhere. That’s already too much for him, and throughout the whole season he’s more tired, grumpy, and seasonally depressed. When spring breaks through again, he gets a burst of energy and happiness from the relief.

If Ryder ever lives with him for an extended period, they’ll quickly learn the difference between a 22-year-old’s living space, and an almost-30′s living space. Perhaps with Sloane out of the picture, Reyes gets a legit place to live and invests in real furniture and interior decor, while Ryder’s still stuck in that college student trash stage. Reyes forbids scratches on the table, or bath towels crumbled up, or windows left open during the rain, etc. Ryder think its cute that Reyes is so domestic, Reyes is just trying to save his expensive couch from shoes on the cushions.

[botslayer]

Top Ten games of the 2010′s

This trend seems to be doing the rounds at the moment and seeing as I’ve been gaming for about as long as I can remember, It just feels right. So, let’s get into it. But first, worth saying: These aren't really in any specific order, it's just the games I've personally had the most fun with overall, but it's pretty hard to decide what the hard numbers on things you enjoy for different reasons are if that makes any sense. 10. The 2010's weren't exactly the best time for anyone, I think. For me they were a slog of finding myself and learning things I wish I didn't. Amid all those things I wanted some levity. The world needs something and stupid. We got a lot of it ion 2013 but I feel like we could have used it scattered around a bit more. In that spirit, allow me to show you one hell of a pick me up:

Saints Row 4

Saints Row 4 does not give a fuck. It is aggressively demonstrating that the entire time you play. It doesn't care in the slightest what you think or why, It just wants to show you cool, if juvenile, and interesting, if weird shit. It's the finer points of Ratchet and Clank's arsenal, SR3's humor, And superpowers that genuinely put Prototype and Infamous in a blender and tell you to go ape shit with them. The soundtrack isn't top shelf, it's the roof of the building the shelf is in. Saints Row Two had a better story overall but SR Four's was just plain fun and a solid enough story to still be invested.

The DLC was just as irreverent and madcap, Featuring everything from an evil Santa Clause to evil Gimps on Game of thrones chairs made of dildos Or Tropey-ass costumes and weapon reskins that I'd be genuinely surprised the game dev didn't get sued over. It has earned its place in my top 10 and I will die by that decision.

9.

2016 saw the advent of a new genre. They blended TF2 and MOBAs, and we got hero shooters in their first AAA forms, Overwatch and Battleborn. But neither of these games is on this list, much as I liked them. Partly because the whole time, I kept thinking of one simple question: "Why do I keep thinking of...?"

Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns is my favorite Platinum game. Full Stop. The Story mode is interesting and has genuinely good character moments, the characters themselves are completely mental, ranging from a mercenary with a bionic cat leg that secretly has a gun built into it to a giant cyborg bull-man with a jet-powered hammer. The soundtrack is mostly angry hip-hop, making every song a banger and fittingly speedy for things like random bombing runs from jet fighters that come from absolutely nowhere.

There are giant monsters, cars with mounted flame throwers, giant robots, and the online is still pretty sweet because even when abandoned, loading it up with bots still rules. I regularly have more fun with this than I ever did with Overwatch, and I don't care how insane that sounds.

8.

Some games want to make you feel something and fail. Some games make you feel some things accidentally, for example, a desperate need to laugh. This game made me feel like a human blender. Like a Chthonic god of mangled flesh and raw destructive power. Nyarlathotep ain't got nothing on me. I speak, of course, of...

[Prototype] 2

There's no end to the absolute destruction you feel like you're causing in this game. It feels more fluid than the first, the main character is a pinch more relatable, and all the body horror, superpowers, zombie hordes, and big old monsters make for some of the most memorable and fun moments and fights in gaming. The DLC is also pretty solid, adding new fun side challenges, and new powers and weapons that elevate you from "Flesh god" to "Screw physics, I made them" Omnipotent. Best god/monster simulation of all time.

7.

Sometimes some games are at an honest tie in your mind. Be it that you like them for essentially the same reasons, or for completely different reasons, but the overall total joy or entertainment they bring is roughly equivalent. Here, we have a case of the former:

Furi/Cuphead

Both games have a tight focus on giving players a unique, boss-centric challenge, both have interesting, somewhat minimal narratives, and both are absolute eye candy.

Furi has a more "Samurai Jack" Quality to me. A complete badass on a relatively simple quest with a somewhat minimalistic art style learning some things as he goes.

Cuphead on the other hand, nails that rubber hose animation style, and the fun levity of such animations while still making the player's ability to interact with the world damn impactful and fun.

They share a spot in my soul, games I love everything about but will never be able to finish. Hats off to both dev teams.

6.

Now here we have another tie. Mostly because the games are so close together, they need to be evaluated more or less as one product IMO, not enough changed for me to consider them separate games, fortunately, that is the furthest thing from an insult it can be in this situation. I present to you, my next pick(s).

Costume Quest 1/2

Now, This might seem pretty random considering my other picks, but honestly, I love Halloween, I love creative madness, I love subversion, I love good characters, and I love cool action, these games have all these things by the bucketload.

The first game is a wild ride through Halloween in multiple very lively locations and the second, slightly confusing as it is, is pretty awesome for the things it introduces, including time travel. Other elements, like the battle stamps, the truly epic forms of everything in the fights, The ability to customize your costumes, etc. they blur together in a pretty big way, but again, there's not a thing wrong with that when both games rock like crystal candy. 

5.

Now, if you hadn't noticed, all of the games on this list have had some hard action at their core, and while I don't HATE calmer games, a lot of the time, so many are kinda dull to me in that with the exception of easter eggs of some sort, most farming sims, for example, just have you doing normal farm stuff with very few twists, may as well start a real farm in that case. My most chill entry is a game that tosses that to one side, asks you to grab a suck cannon, and start harvesting gelatinous monster poop.

Slime Rancher

While you don't spend a lot of time actually interacting with other characters, they just talk at you, the story of the game is pretty effective, the player character of Beatrix has left Earth for a simpler life of Slime Ranching, which entails the raising of alien crops, delightfully derpy and colorful chickens, and going all around in an attempt to farm new breeds of slime for their genetic material to sell off or trade-in for the creation of gadgets while being surrounded by a cast of interesting characters. It's all very wholesome family fun.

The game looks great, has great ideas, and is genuinely the best farming game I have ever played. @ me all you want.

4.

The 80's are almost fetishized nowadays. Given all the property reboots, games that go for the vibe and aesthetic of the time, etc. It almost seems as though the eighties vibe train ain't gonna stop rolling any time soon. But we owe it to ourselves to remember the first big swipe of madcap neon-colored actiony B-movie bullshit and how mind-meltingly epic it was. Ladies, Gents, and whatever else, I present:

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Blood Dragon's story is relatively simple, you play Sargent Rex "Power" Colt (A name said in full so many times I thought his last name was "Powercolt" for the longest time), a former "Omega force" cyborg. Rex and his friend "Spider" were sent into a secret island base to investigate the supposed defection and treachery of their old commander, Ike Sloan. It turns out he has gone rogue and taken an army of "Mark 5" Omegaforce cyber-soldiers with him. What follows is a long story of betrayal, science fiction of the highest nonsensical level, comedy, and brilliantly cathartic action.

The collectibles range from data on animals, to research notes from a scientist, to literal VHS cassette tapes that have full descriptions of movies that I would legitimately watch if I could. "You may now kill the brides" is not a real film and I am angry for every day that that is true. Anyway, play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, I dunno if it's on PS4 but it's one game I'd buy a new/old console for.

3.

A lot of superhero games NEED to railroad you. Your goals MUST be to save the lives of the people and help the weak and all that. But one dev asked the simple question: "What if it didn't?" "What if the player chose how to use their power? What if the player could be as evil or as good as they damn well pleased?" One game gave you the powers of thunder and lightning and asked what you'd do with it. It's sequel asked you the same, but against more... interesting forces.

InFamous 2

InFamous 2 is a game about making choices, just like the first one, also just like the first one, it can have an effect on gameplay. That effect went from "What does this particular power do in this allignment?" To "Which new set of NEW powers would you like?" The forces of the last game went from “Three flavors of gun-toting whackos” To “Possibly an allegory for the Klan, Swamp monsters, and Ice-powered super soldiers.”

This was, and still is, the best game in the whole series, The powers felt distinct from anything else and still do, the story is solid as a rock, and the enemy types were still varied enough to be interesting, I miss the Reapers from the first game, but that's about it. Everything else was a massive step up. If you have something that can run it, play it.

2.

Action is something I think we can all appreciate on some level. We can understand when it does or does not work, we can understand when we do or do not like how it feels when we are the ones partaking in it. EX: Any schlep can tell you when the weapons in your game lack impact, or when your character moves too slow for the game to be fun. The following game is something I can't say anything of the sort about. And it's kind of like Wolfenstein, when you have enemies this bad, who the hell cares how many you kill?

Doom 2016

Y'all are lying if you say you didn't expect this one. It's DOOM 2016. This game is made of hate and fuck. AND I LOVE IT. You move so fast, you may as well be half cheetah and half sports car. You slaughter the dregs of hell by the dozens and even the biggest, baddest things this game throws at you can be beaten with the starting pistol if you have the stones for it. It looks amazing graphically, the demons all look appropriately threatening, and even the Multiplayer is a great deal of fun in my book.

Something worth noting: The story presented by default is pretty barebones, but that's where supplementary material fills in the gaps, the difference between supplementary material in most games and supplementary material here is the material is till IN THE GAME. You're free to ignore most of the plot as it happens around you, and even interesting tidbits of the lore like how certain demons function. Not only are these things missable collectibles, prompting continued play to find them, they are also pretty interesting reads. So yeah, just about everything you could want in a sequel/remake, builds the on lore and gameplay very organically. 

1.

And here we are, the last game I'd put in this category. An entire decade, and here, we end on the last game that left such an impact I'd put it in my top ten. But first, let's talk about expectations and delivery: When you say a game is coming out, there are certain expectations you have for gameplay, EX: I say "Ratchet and Clank" and you expect a TPS with platforming elements and crazy guns. I say "Gears of War" and people expect something to do with lumbering about in big armor, dismembering things with a chainsaw gun and otherwise shooting them to paste. We might also expect changes to things, better graphics, innovations in grenade variety, something as that franchise goes on.

After the last game in this series was released, there were tons of people who felt let down and disappointed by it. Then they released the still somewhat disappointing special edition of it. They were both still fun, but neither really felt like the full next step in the series. After a failed reboot, they returned to the original story and the lot of us rejoiced. And when it finally came out? It was a step up in most, if not, all regards, to its predecessors. You know what this last one is. Please, give a warm round of applause to:

Devil May Cry 5

A game that was not only a return to form, but a major escalation in gameplay for one character, and a new style of gameplay all together by way of yet another new character. It didn’t exactly hurt that the story kicked ten kinds of ass and that the game looked spectacular in both the design of everything and the actual graphical fidelity.DMC 5 is, like DOOM, Like InFamous 2, Like [PROTOTYPE] 2, everything you want in a good sequel. It built very well on already solid foundations and it was generally just a fun, slightly goofy, massively stylish, and ultra badass ride. I recommend this, and all these games, to anyone.Good night everyone, have a great 2020. And the rest of the decade, for that matter. 

[king-mera]

Alice from American mcgre

favorite thing about them

I know this is a bit shallow, but as an artist, I just love her character design! It’s what drew me into the series in the first place. She’s got a blue dress like her Disney counterpart, the physical appearance of her historical namesake, and plenty of unique elements like her omega necklace and strappy boots. All in all, a perfect blend of visuals that make her instantly recognizable as Alice, while still being an original version of the character!

least favorite thing about them

Her inconsistent characterization. Doctor Wilson describes her as having a “hero complex” fuelled by her survivor’s guilt, yet she seems preoccupied with saving herself more than saving others. She straight up abandoned the March Hare and Dormouse without even trying to help them, and is generally rude and snippy with the orphans in the second game. I understand she has good reason to be angry with people, given her shitty situation, but I do wish she had been written to be a little more compassionate as the series progressed.

favorite line

“You and my dentist’s assistant have much in common.”

brOTP

Cheshalice are ride or die best friends. I don’t care that she’s distrustful of him in AMR, since that was likely due to Dr. Bumby’s meddling. (and I’d like to think she apologized to him about it later.) Cheshire literally sacrificed himself for Alice’s sanity in the past, and he’d do so again. I truly believe Alice realizes this and cares about him a great deal.

OTP

I personally headcanon Alice as aro/ace, but if you forced me to choose a romantic pairing at gunpoint, I’d ship her with the prison guard. He admires her spunk and is one of the few people in London who actually has sympathy for her condition. From what we can gather from the beta, he was originally going to have a bigger role in the story and help Alice. Plus, we never did learn his real name… Maybe he is Reginald Hargreaves?

nOTP

Look, we’ve all been through this song and dance before. AlicexBumby is a terrible idea. The only reason Sigmund Freud’s ugly twin was shoehorned into this series was to add drama and send Alice on a wild goose chase for revenge. There’s just no chemistry there.

random headcanon

After the events of AMR, Alice helps the remaining orphans find homes, but there are two who prefer to stay with her. Their names are Charlie and Silvia.

unpopular opinion

I don’t know if this is unpopular, but I prefer Rage Mode over Hysteria Mode. Hysteria is an interesting mechanic, but I find invincibility to be a crutch, and the design makes Alice look like a generic ghost lady. Rage Mode was more fun because of how batshit insane it was. In what other game can I play as a beloved character from a classic children’s book, and turn them into a nightmare demon to rip enemies apart?

song i associate with them

Little Bit of Red by Serena Ryder

favorite picture of them

That one where she’s making the Dreamworks face:

[occultcuriosity]

* getting  to  know  the  mun :

name :  Sam nickname :  Herb or Jerky usually but that’s typically because people only know my account name. I don’t have any ‘pet names’. faceclaim :  If I ever try to draw myself in a dumb silly style, that’ll probably be it. pronouns : He/Him height :  6′3 birthday : August 10 aesthetic :  Don’t know about a ‘personal aesthetic’, but I sure do love motifs and music aesthetic. Dark Sci-Fi is one of my favourite styles. last  song  you  listened  to : Project Zomboid - "34″ favorite  muse (s)  you’ve  written : To enjoy writing, it’s probably Klauvis when he’s gone full Science. As for muse I’m more attached to, it would be Sirus. My special arson boy.

* getting  to  know  the  account :

what  inspired  you  to  take  on  this  muse :  I started RPing when I was 11, playing Garry’s Mod HL2RP. I wasn’t very good at it, but we’re all a bit shit in our own special ways. I’ve been doing creative writing ever since, and I’m planning on taking up a specialization in script writing when I go to University next year for a Games Design course.

I have a few muses, so I’ll list what inspired me for each.

David @collectivecasualty: David was literally spawned from a random visual concept I had in my head a long time ago when starting a thread with someone. I was too nervous to devote myself to making a full RP blog and was still an awkward little shit, so I had this weird way of RPing with people via submissions and I’m glad they put up with me, or I probably wouldn’t be RPing properly nowadays. David was basically just a vague concept for a ghost, and I literally thought up the hivemind part midway through writing a reply. He’s basically evolved from there via muse interactions once I actually made a blog. He is the definition of winging it, because I had absolutely no plans for him.

Danny @goldheartedrobotics (yes he’s still there): Danny is basically my childhood muse. I came up with him well before David when I was about 14, and WAY too into FNAF. I’m aware he’s not incredibly original - he was much less so back when I first made him. But me meant too much to me for me to scrap him once I grew out of FNAF, so I decided to try and remake him. He’s still not a perfect character and has a lot of that FNAF fan OC left in him (especially his design), but he’s still my little boy and he’s made me happy in times when very little else did.

Klauvis: Klauvis comes from an old idea for a webcomic me and a friend had. It’s about an Underworld that’s basically one giant city which is a corporatocracy, and four corporations own everything. We still develop and talk about it to this day, but Klauvis is the epicentre of the whole thing. He was originally a fusion of David and one of my friend’s characters (hence the design similarities), but we got so attached to him as a separate character that we created Klauvis, and the universe developed from there. He’s technically co-owned, as is that whole universe, but my friend doesn’t use Tumblr anymore so I just RP him on here.

Sirus @antagonistic-arsonist: Sirus basically took over my brain about a year ago. I used to DM these very hodge-podge D&D games on Roll20, and I had no idea what I was doing but I loved creating all these characters and lore and stories. Sirus is a pretty central character in the main D&D universe I have, and I basically made him one day and got extremely attached. Now, he’s almost all I draw and the only character I really have consistent motivation for. I’m not complaining though, I love him.

what  are  your  favorite  aspects  of  your  current  muse :I For ‘current muse’, I’ll answer for two because there’s both Klauvis who I reblogged this to, and Sirus who I would more consider my ‘current muse’.

Klauvis: I love how silly he is. I love writing his unique blend of ‘illogically logical’ and all the dumb stuff he does, but also how there is that underlying actually emotional aspect to him that I’m so glad I got to actually express (thank you @littlexbluexflame). Even though I may not have all the motivation for it, I can’t lie that Klauvis is my favourite muse to write.

Sirus @antagonistic-arsonist: Plain and simple, I like writing asshole characters. I love writing snark. I love roasting people. Sirus is a canvas for me to project my edge, but there is (similarly to Klauvis) a whole underlying element to Sirus in his being possessed and having his personality effectively muffled and directed by the entity inside him. I know he’s VERY edgy, and I do try to play it off as fake edge where he’s just taking himself way too seriously, but I flat out think Sirus is just cool.

what’s  your  biggest  inspiration  when  it  comes  to  writing : Hard to say right now seeing as my inspiration has kinda fallen into a big hole, but one of my biggest inspirations and joys of RPing is seeing how other characters might react to certain things, and the stories that certain scenarios or reactions might create. Obviously it’s not all about getting reactions, I am genuinely here to create fun interactions with characters, but I gotta admit I’m a DM/Games Designer at heart, I thrive on seeing what people think of my stuff, and I get a lot more joy out of reading a reply than writing one.

favorite  types  of  threads : While I don’t typically go for the big emotional, dramatic threads, I certainly still enjoy them. Personally though, I feel I’m a lot simpler in that I love writing cool sitations or scenarios. Obviously the character depths compliment that and I have no problem with two characters simply talking it out, but if I was forced to choose, I would pick an action-y, exciting thread over a slow, emotional one.

biggest  struggle  in  regards  to  your  current  muse : Same as before, gonna split it in two for the definition of ‘current muse’.

Klauvis: While I love writing all his aggressive curiosity and silly science stuff, that’s in part why I sometimes struggle with him, or thinking of plot ideas for him. He’s very singularly minded a lot of the time, and while I can certainly think of a thousand different things he could be doing, sometimes it’s hard to work those in with other characters, and in the event a character is notably ‘unique’, it’s hard to honestly justify Klauvis not just attempting to kidnap and aggressively Do Science on them out of his overwhelming curiosity. He’s obsessed with his scientific pursuits to the point it’s hard to get him to do other stuff realistically.

Sirus @antagonistic-arsonist: Sirus is an asshole. It’s literally in his blog name. He is molded to be hostile to almost anyone and everyone, and while that might open up a lot of room for snarky remarks, witty comebacks and general dickery, it also makes getting him to interact with anyone a pain because he is designed to be unlikeable in many aspects. If someone was able to actually befriend Sirus, that would probably be my FAVOURITE thread ever because it would allow me to do all the cool stuff I love doing with Sirus without the weight of him having to be so hostile to everyone. I want someone to break the mold of hostility with him and actually become the closest thing to friends someone can with him, because I think it could make for a really interesting relationship.

tagged by: @littlexbluexflame​​

tagging: Y’all (jus do it)

[comicteaparty]

May 25th-May 31st, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 25th, 2020 to May 31st, 2020.  The chat focused on Meet and Greet by 91burrow.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Meet and Greet by 91burrow~! (https://tapas.io/series/Meet-and-Greet)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until May 31st, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

First of all, this art is gorgeous! The monochrome green palette is really working for me, and it's taking my breath away. This comic has such a distinctive style and visual appeal that is very well done.

carcarchu

This comic has a lovely whimsical surrealness and the foliage all looks so lush. the shade of green chosen was really nice, it feels really calming and relaxing to read. I really love how the world building expands a little more with each subsequent chapter it makes me look forward to reading each new chapter. I think my favourite illustration is from chapter 23, those red roses juxtaposed against the green make for a really gorgeous image, though it's really hard to decide because each panel from this comic looks like it belongs in an art gallery

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

This is such a cute comic!!! My favorite character in the comic is Mister Bear. He's just such a big, lumbering doofus :p https://tapas.io/episode/776319 https://tapas.io/episode/1731912

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Ooh, yes, this is lovely.

Single favorite image: the splash panel in #35 where the thunder angel (?) appears. The lighting is so dramatic and effective, and the contrast with the usual cute soft environment makes it stand out really well.

RebelVampire

In terms of both the beginning and overall content, I just like how whimsical the story is. There's always a bit of magic mixed with a bit of a happy ending. And it's just one of those comic's that's a genuine feel good experience and is one of the rare comic's that is kind of for everyone in its own way since its so light-hearted - can work for any situation that needs such comforts. My favorite moment in the comic was probably when they helped the snake prince. Since it was the rare strip where I was like "whoa whoa wait kids this is dangerous." But then it turns out okay and the snake prince was adorable all along. My favorite character is probably Lyn. I like just kind of how brave and forward Lyn is. A good role model. As for characters interacting, rather than a specific character, I like in general seeing the kids interacting with the various human(?) magic users. Mostly just cause I like seeing kind of that adult wisdom contrasted with that kid cute kindness. Makes you want to be a kid again. For the art, I really just in general like the linework. It's got that nice blend of being polished but also sketchy since not all the lines complete. I think that's what really helps add to the whimsy. As for a theme the comic explores, I kind of just like the general theme of being kind to others and that scary things don't need to be scary - you can fight them with kindness. Last for this first question batch, I think the comic's main strength is just, again, the whimsy. There actually aren't a lot of comic's where I really think they nail whimsy, so it's hard to put yourself in the character's shoes when they're wowed by something. I didn't have an issue with this comic, and I really felt like I was seeing child wonderment through their eyes.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Very sweet story, simple and has a wholesome vibe to the themes overall. I enjoy reading each new character they are introduced to, in each chapter. I like the encounter with the nature spirit and the kids had to make 7 expressions to pass. I think the strength of the stories lies in the fantasy world build up with the nature, the character designs giving a sort of British fairytale approach to the story? Fun little story, I enjoy it(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. In what ways do you feel the comic captures the fairy tale vibe given many of the stories are inspired by fairy tales? In what ways does this comic modernize those tales for a new audience, and why is this important?

10. What aspect of the strange world John and Lyn live in is your favorite? What aspect are you hoping to learn more about? Also, in what ways do you think the world captures the feeling of “whimsy?”

11. What do you think the comic shows us in terms of the themes of communication? What moment showcases this the best for you, and how do you think this comic is unique in how it tackles them?

12. How do the protagonists being children affect how you perceive the story? Do you think you’d think differently of the comic if the characters were adults? Lastly, what about having children as the main characters enhances the stories of the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

Most fairy tales were originally created to deliver some sort of moral about living a "virtuous" life. And while what constitutes a virtuous life has evolved since most fairy tales were created (and differs by their opinion), that is still generally their function. As such, modernizing such tales really kind of helps guide a new generation into what we hope would be a better life. As for what the comic does to capture the fairy tale vibe, besides the atmosphere, for me is just kind of...the non-logic. Fairy tales don't always have strict rules in their worlds, and there's always random things happening, loop holes, etc. And that's kind of feel I got from the comic - anything can happen, and that's a good thing since that's what helps make it whimsical. I've gone on and on about whimsy. My favorite aspect of the world though is just kind of how many different kinds of creatures and people are all living in the same place. I do wish I had a better sense of geography sometimes, but that doesn't really matter since there's just so much creativity and variety. In terms of the themes of communication, I think the comic honestly just shows us its important and that without communication, life sucks. Additionally, I think the comic also shows us that we need to be kind in our communication. I can't really point to a particular moment out since I kind of think its really the whole comic that embodies the theme and each episode in it showcases that in its own way.

For me I think the fact this is children helped add kind of both to the whimsy and suspense of disbelief. When it's adult characters you expect adults to kind of be...well more logical. And to call bs when something doesn't make sense. But because the protags are children in this case, since they don't question anything, I don't question anything, since kids are a bit dreamy. And this makes it easier to get into the setting and just accept everything at face value and enjoy what's being presented.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

I most looking forward to just exploring more of the comic's world since I think the comic is largely about that experience. This is a wonderful comic, and honestly one I'd recommend to see in a library since it'd be perfect for kids.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Meet and Greet this week! Please also give a special thank you to 91burrow for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Meet and Greet, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/Meet-and-Greet

91burrow’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/91burrow

91burrow’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/A057788

91burrow’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/91burrow

[raendown]

Commission for @cassieeeeanne.

Pairing: KakashiSakura Word count: 3792 Rated: E Summary: Kakashi proposes a naughty little challenge inspired by something he read in Icha Icha and Sakura takes to this new game just a bit better than he expected.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Icha Icha Made Me Do It

It seemed like such a good idea, very sexy and very risqué in all the right ways, right up until they were both standing on the front porch in a pool of brilliant sunshine and it finally hit home that he was going to have to walk through public like this. That was about the point Kakashi started questioning his life decisions.

For instance: what in the world had possessed him to fall in love with a smart, strong-willed, deliciously attractive woman whose personality managed a uniquely perfect blend of good work ethic and flexible fun? The only thing that had gotten him – besides several years of blissful happiness, of course – was a flushed face that was probably visible even over the edge of his mask and a raging hard-on he probably could have used to give directions to one of the lost old ladies who always seemed to accost him. Not that he was going to. Even he had some boundaries when it came to this stuff.

“How did I let you talk me in to this?” he mumbled while he waited for Sakura to lock the door behind them. She sounded just as breathless as him when she answered, which was at least a small consolation.

“It was your idea.”

“Oh yeah.” Kakashi frowned. “You really need to stop letting me talk you in to things that I find in Icha Icha.”

Her single eyebrow spoke volumes when she raised it in his direction but Kakashi judiciously chose to pretend he had no idea what she was trying to get at. Instead he very carefully shifted his weight to make sure the toy buried inside of him was still in a good position, nothing that would cause any undue gasping when he started to walk. Of course, things would get a lot more difficult once Sakura set her thumb to the remote control she had in her pocket but as soon as she did the game was on and he would be wasting no time retaliating with the remote control he was carrying himself for the vibrator buried deep inside of her.

Something in him wanted to point out how unfair it was that his vibrator had a chance of getting a good run at his prostate to cause extra embarrassment while hers had no chance of going anywhere near her clit but really it was too late for that. He was already lubed and stuffed and so hard his cock probably counted as another weapon. Now was the time to live up to the challenge he himself had proposed.

“Ready?” Sakura’s cheeks were a very pretty shade of pink, as they had been since she first lay back and let him work the vibrator inside her a few minutes before they left the house. Kakashi took a moment to admire how well she was holding herself together before nodding.

“Yup. One romantic evening walk around town coming right up.”

“At least you let me talk you out of going to work like this. Can you imagine me trying to see to my patients like this?” She very carefully stepped over to his side and slid her arm in to his. “Can you imagine trying to sit through official meetings with your council like this?”

“No and also please do not make me imagine the council and sex toys in the same situation.”

Sakura laughed at him but Kakashi shuddered as they stepped out together.

In retrospect he truly was more grateful than he could say that she had talked him out of going to work like this. Only halfway down the street he was cursing himself for this latest ‘brilliant idea’. The toy inside of him was solid and warm and it rubbed in all sorts of interesting ways with every step. By the end of their street he was glad he’d thought to put on an extra pair of underwear because he was already leaking with excitement.

And then the toy began to vibrate unexpectedly.

Rather than swear like a particularly aroused pirate as he wanted to Kakashi bit his tongue and went stiff, bearing up under his wife’s laughter until the sensation stopped, then he turned his hand over in his pocket and went for his own control. He was equal parts proud and disappointed that Sakura’s reaction was as controlled as his own. A part of him had been hoping for a loud squeal.

They walked together for more than an hour, both of their fingers on and off the controls at random times and with no discernable pattern, each trying to push the other farther towards the edge while also clinging to sanity by a thread themselves. For each deserted street Kakashi chose to wander down Sakura laughingly steered them towards a busier one just to torture him for his own poor decisions. Never had he been so glad that the new model of flak vests hung low enough for the shadow to make an excellent disguise for any wetness that was sure to bleed through his clothing eventually.

After the first hour Kakashi was beginning to wonder if he might actually have to pause and bend over to lose himself in his pants in some random back alley and despite their halting attempts to keep up a steady conversation he found his mind was filled with little more than filthy desires and fantasies he hadn’t entertained in quite some time. If their game didn’t end soon he was getting dangerously close to tapping out first because clearly he was the only one struggling with this challenge.

Or he thought he was until, to his great surprise, Sakura pushed him in to an alley and buried her head against his shoulder to muffle a scream in the material of his vest.

“I think that’s all the acting skills I have in me,” she panted against his chest. Kakashi blinked down at her.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god I can’t take it anymore. I’m done.”

“But you’ve been holding it together better than I have this whole time!” He cried.

She lifted her head to glare at him and only then did he see what he had been too distracted to see until now. It made so much more sense now why she had so stubbornly kept her eyes straight ahead and ducked her chin whenever they passed someone else too closely on the street. Her cheeks were still flushed, which could have been attributed to the heat of a long summer day, but her eyes were desperate and feral in a way he only ever saw in the bedroom. She looked ready to be devoured.

“Acting skills indeed,” he said in wonder. “I never even heard your voice shake once.”

“Yeah, great, I’ll get a day job acting. Please take me home and fuck me. Kakashi, please. I need to come so bad.”

It was a rare occasion indeed when he could get a strong woman like Sakura anywhere close to begging. Kakashi wrapped both arms around his wife and brought his hands together for a body flicker.

They were gone from the alley in an instant and as soon as they landed in their bedroom he could not have said what alley they had been in or what roads they had travelled in the time since they had left. Extended pleasure had left his brain mush and his body vibrating as surely as the toy buried within him. Both of them collapsed against each other with a gasp as soon as they were sure they had arrived somewhere private, their eyes closed and their bodies quaking together for want of the explosive orgasm dangling just out of reach.

“I don’t even care what you choose for your prize,” Sakura growled, “just let me come, I am begging you.”

“Okay…so here’s the thing.” Kakashi swallowed thickly and twitched, holding back a mewl of want when Sakura scrambled for the remote she appeared to only just realize she had left on.

“You better not have just come in your pants!”

“No, although I am man enough to admit that I had a couple close calls.” Kakashi pulled his mask down to give his wife a considering look. “I was just going to say that, ah, I know that you won but I don’t think we’ve ever talked about what I was going to ask for my prize. After all this I’ve got…a craving.”

Sakura eyed him carefully, impatience humming under her skin. “Go on.”

“Have you ever pegged anyone before?”

“Oh. Um, no I haven’t. I imagine the mechanics of it are fairly easy to figure out though and, well, you’re already all…open. Or however you say it.” To his relief she didn’t seem put off by the idea, only a little thrown by the unexpected request. It had been a while since Kakashi had given much thought to being on the receiving end of anything but a blowjob, not since the two of them started dating a few years back, and suddenly he very much regretted not bringing this up earlier.

Apparently he could have been satisfied in a whole other host of ways this entire time.

Casting his eyes over towards his half of their shared closet he murmured, “I still have the harness you would need and the straps are adjustable…”

“You’re not going to tell I can’t get myself off after, are you?” Her question made him squirm and Kakashi may have been blushing a little when he ducked his head and peeked up at her through his drooping fringe.

“No I wasn’t gonna tell you to do anything. Actually, I was sort of hoping it would be you telling me what to do.” Hopefully she got his meaning from that because while he had never been ashamed of his own tastes before that didn’t make it any easier to request his wife of two years dominate him for the first time. Change was never easy for him.

Even when that change sounded delicious and promised to end with satisfaction on both sides.

Still, Sakura looked genuinely intrigued by his suggestion. Her eyes roamed down his body and Kakashi didn’t bother hiding the shiver as his own imagination took off trying to figure out what filthy things were going on in hers. He was so distracted thinking about it he almost didn’t notice when she slipped one hand in to her pocket for the same remote control that had been driving him wild since they left the house before.

The sensation was so unexpected after he had finally allowed himself to stop anticipating it that the short burst of vibration shocked a cry out of him and folded his legs, leaving him kneeling on the floor at Sakura’s feet. When she smirked he could only swallow thickly and thank the gods he’d been smart enough to marry this amazing woman.

“Well, well. How kind of you to get in to position without being asked. If you want your own satisfaction, Mr. Hatake, I’m afraid you’ll have to earn it with mine.” She lifted that single eyebrow again and he didn’t need to follow what her hands were doing to guess what she wanted.

“Yes mistress,” he breathed.

“Mistress, huh? I think I like that. You may please your mistress now, Kakashi.” Sakura beckoned him forward with one finger but Kakashi was already reaching for the hem of her skirt.

Her clothing fell away easily enough and Kakashi had his tongue circling her clit almost the instant she was exposed to the air. Sakura gasped above him and slid her fingers in to his hair with a firm grip, though she allowed him to move as he wished and offered no other commands but a breathy, “More!”

So more is what he gave her. With his tongue already hard at work Kakashi slid both hands up the inside of her thighs to wrap his fingers around the toy he himself had worked inside her not too long ago. She was dripping wet, the underwear he had just removed for her soaked through, and that made it deliciously easier to grip the toy to slowly pull it out. Her moan of pleasure was cut off when he slid the toy back in at just the right angle, becoming a sharp cry as her hips rocked in to the motion unconsciously to grind against his face.

With how worked up she was already it was no surprise that it didn’t take very long. Kakashi moaned each time the hand in his hair tightened to bring him closer but never once did his tongue let up and his fingers refused to pause in working the toy until Sakura was shuddering and breaking, the other hand on his shoulder the only thing keeping her from falling over. She never let go of his hair, however, and Kakashi had dabbled in this kind of play enough times to know that it wasn’t for him to decide when he should stop, although he doubted that was really at the forefront of his wife’s mind in that moment.

He stopped only when Sakura pushed him away and demanded in a shaking voice that he pull the toy out of her completely, which he did with agonizing slowness for no reason other than to tease her with the fact that she hadn’t been very specific. After she had gathered herself enough to speak properly she slid one hand under his chin and lifted it to meet her gaze. Kakashi quivered under the heat in her eyes.

“Now would be a good time for you to fetch that harness, pet.”

Feet slipping and limbs suddenly clumsy in their haste, Kakashi all but flung himself towards his side of their doublewide closet and dug deep in to the back where he had shoved all the boxes from his old apartment that never got unpacked. The harness jingled merrily when he pulled it out of the box, leather supple against his skin, and already he could feel his body clenching in anticipation.

Sakura was the very vision of a dominatrix as she took a firm power stance and ordered him to put the harness on for her. In that moment Kakashi could think of nothing else he would rather do. He nearly shook with anticipation as he fitted the straps to her body and secured one of the toys he only ever used when she wasn’t home in the front. He almost expected his wife to take a moment to get used to the new addition but it only took one look for him to see he was wrong.

“Bend over the foot of the bed,” Sakura commanded. “And spread your legs for me.”

“Yes mistress!” He was there in an instant, twitching with need and more eager than he could ever remember being for any of his previous partners. A whimper escaped his lips when he felt her take a good grip on his hair again to pull his head back for a filthy kiss.

“Good boy,” she murmured against his lips.

There was no time for another whimper as a deep groan was torn from him when she took hold of the electric toy that had been driving him insane for the past hour and more. The flared base pulled at his entrance in a way had him making fists in the bedsheets and breathing hard until finally it was sliding out and he was woefully empty. Even before Sakura got her hands on his hips Kakashi was arching his back and presenting, begging to be filled again, desperate in a way he’d almost forgotten he could be.

Certainly he’d been desperate for Sakura’s touch before; their sex life was anything but boring. But there was a different kind of excitement in fucking his wife up against a wall than there was in bending over to let her fuck him instead. This was a whole new world of things for them to explore together. He only wished he’d thought to suggest these things earlier in their relationship.

At the first touch of something slick and blunt Kakashi gasped, wondering how he could have possibly let his mind wander far enough that he hadn’t noticed her grabbing the lube to apply to her new toy.

“How much can you take, hm pet? Would you like me to tease you?” Sakura rolled her hips to torment his entrance until he whined softly. “Oh, but you’re already open for me, aren’t you? I’ll bet you’d rather I just get straight to fucking you hard like you so obviously want.”

“Please fuck me, mistress,” he gasped, barely able to squeeze the words out.

“That’s what I thought. So eager.”

Sakura pet his hair a couple of times and, like a cat, Kakashi felt his body melting under the soft touch until her hips pressed forward without warning and he was arching again at the sensation of a thick head breaching him. It wasn’t quite the full thrust he might have expected from someone with more experience who understood what he could take but he understood Sakura’s hesitance and refrained from anything other than begging her to fuck him deeper, harder.

And she listened, of course. The moment she had drawn her mental boundaries was clear as Kakashi felt two tiny hands taking a firm grip on either side of his thighs and then it was all his could do to hold on tight to the bedding, riding the cock fucking him from behind, high on the voice that murmured praise and encouragement above him. All he could think – besides how incredible it felt and how close he already was to coming – was that he hoped she was enjoying this as much as he was because they needed to do this again sometime. Very soon.

That’s what he was thinking right up until the moment he realized that his wife was a medical professional, she would know better than anyone where the prostate was, and that she must have been deliberately avoiding it this whole time. She was edging him; and if he knew his wife then he could guess that she wanted him to beg before she let him finish.

Which he was not above doing. Kami but this woman was perfect for him.

“Please mistress, may I come?” Kakashi clenched around the toy as it slid in again and paused for Sakura to shiver against his back.

“Of course pet. You may come now since you’ve been so well behaved.” Her hips rolled back and Kakashi knew that when she thrust forward her aim would be true. Before she could move again he hurried to turn his head and babble out one last request.

“Wait! Could- could you pull my hair again? Please?”

“Anything you like,” she purred.

Fingers slid in to his hair and Kakashi’s eyes were already rolling back in pleasure at the pull against his roots even before she pressed him down over the end of the bed and began to fuck him in earnest, each stroke drawing out helpless cries of pleasure until finally the angle shifted ever so slightly and he saw stars, ecstasy ripping through him on the first hit. His orgasm rolled through him like wildfire, heat rushing through his veins and leaving him breathless.

Not until he was truly begging for mercy did Sakura stop fucking him, letting her hips come to rest with the toy buried deep inside and the leather of her harness pressed up against his overheated skin. It took several seconds of gulping air like a drowning man before Kakashi blinked and realized he was staring sightlessly at nothing and seeing only the white noise inside his own head. When the room came back in to focus he realized that he had actual torn the sheets with both hands. Some part of him absently mourned the loss of the expensive bedding he had only just bought a few months ago but most of him was concentrating on the feeling of Sakura’s palms skimming up and down his back.

“Thank you mistress,” he mumbled and then smiled when it startled a laugh out of his wife.

“It truly was my pleasure,” Sakura admitted. “I don’t think I would mind trying this again some time. Maybe revisit the bits where you called me mistress and follow my orders without question. That part I liked.”

Kakashi chuckled weakly. “I am not surprised.”

Getting cleaned up afterwards was interesting. After so long being filled in one way or another it was strange when Sakura pulled her hips away very slowly and he was empty once more, fidgeting while she used a few wipes to clean away the excess lube around his entrance. She laughed brightly when he called her solicitous.  

Watching Sakura struggle with the harness and fighting her way out of the straps without bothering to remove the toy from it first was more funny than sexy and by the time Kakashi was able to pull her down in to the bed for a much needed nap before dinner her found that he was in higher spirits than he could remember in the past little while. Things had been tense for both of them at work lately, part of the reason he had proposed this game as a way to relieve a bit of tension, but now he was little more than a puddle between the sheets with Sakura’s warm weight curled around his side.

“I’m glad you talk me in to weird stuff,” she told him in a thoughtful voice.

“Maa, I’m glad you let me.”

“Let’s do something else weird soon. You’ve probably got all sorts of stuff in that closet, don’t you?”

“I do,” Kakashi admitted. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss against Sakura’s hair. “And I would be very happy to show you a few new tricks. Thank you for not laughing me out of the house when I suggested this.”

After a bit of shuffling she was in a good position to push herself up and press a light kiss against his cheek. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” he said in return.

He closed his eyes, determined to get at least an hour of sleep before one of them had to get up to cook dinner. Those plans changed, however, when Sakura pressed another kiss against his cheek and he opened one eye to find her peering across the room at their closet with the bright light of adventure in her gaze.

It looked like maybe he would get to pull out his box of tricks a little earlier than expected.

[howtohero]

#251 Insignias

Superheroes are symbols of hope for humanity. They represent the very best of us. They’re all that we’ve accomplished and all that we can become. Superheroes inspire the masses; they represent the eternal battle against the forces of evil; and they look really cool. All of this means that superheroes themselves need to come up with a symbol that represents them. A shorthand that can be used to signal that you’re nearby. An icon that can be used to instantly identify your work. If superheroes are powerful symbols, then they themselves need symbols that match that power. Let’s talk about your superhero insignia. 

Let me set the scene. You’ve disappeared off the face of the Earth, because you’ve been thrown into a time vortex by what you thought was a friendly anthropomorphic turtle (it was in fact an unfriendly anthropomorphic tortoise). Your hometown quickly descends into chaos because the other 27 heroes who live in your town have decided to go on a superhero camping trip which is a thing of course. Your town is left to the devices of villains, and that tortoise (her name is Shellfire and she’ll burn you with hellfire.) But because you’ve made such a powerful impression on the populace, a small yet dedicated resistance movement has sprung up in your honor. Its members want to capitalize on the goodwill and strength that you represent. They begin leaving calling cards around town, both to show the bad guys that they can not reign unopposed, and to signal other civilians that the time has come to rise up. What can they put on these calling cards? A note, explaining who they are and what their intentions are? Of course not. In a hellish tortoise-ruled dystopia, nobody has time to read informational flyers. (Did I mention that Shellfire puts the “tort” in torture.) A drawing of you, their dear-departed superhero? That’s no good either, people can be difficult to draw and unless their’s a very talented artist already in the resistance, then you run the risk of people not getting who this index-card-sized drawing is of. They’ll use your insignia, and that’s just one of the reasons why it’s so valuable to have a good one. (Did I mention that if any of Shellfire’s goons step out of line, she’ll fire them?) 

The best insignias are the perfect blend between simplistic and unique. Like we said, it needs to be easy enough to be sketched, spray painted, carved, or drawn with oil that you will then set on fire for an awesome visual. But you don’t want it to be so generic that people will have no idea what it represents. As we mentioned years ago, popular superhero symbols include animals or weather patterns. This is a really great way for symbol to mean absolutely nothing. You can’t just decide that all lightning is a representation of you. It makes your symbol lose any meaning. I guarantee you it’s not going to make villains think you’re nearby every time they see an electrical transformer or the Living Bitning. If you choose something so ubiquitous, you’re liable to accomplish nothing except making yourself forgettable. If you truly must choose a common symbol, because you’ve got literally nothing interesting about you except for your fascination with spiders, then please try to jazz it up a little. But don’t make it too jazzy, because again, it needs to be easily replicated by the masses. That’s obviously a very difficult tightrope to walk. You never want villains to have to stand around wondering if the burning bat symbol in front of their lair is your symbol or just a generic regular old burning bat shape. Anytime villains have to debate about anything, it’s really going to suck a lot of the gravitas out of your dramatic entrance. In my experience, villain debates cannot be stopped for anything, even the dramatic appearance of a bat-themed superhero.

Other popular insignia shapes are your superhero initials. A stylized “S” or “W” or “X” or “LMNO” can be easy to draw but instantly recognizable. Of course, you still run the risk of being confused for another superhero, there are only so many letters so odds are good that there’s another superhero nearby that your insignia technically could represent. I recommend spicing up your letter with something that is unique to you. Flames if you’re a fire guy. (Or if your vehicle is decked out with cool flames because you’ve got that need for speed.) A cool snowflake if you’re an ice guy. (Snowflakes are perfect for unique insignias. Even if you’ve got 37 ice users in your neighborhood you can guarantee that all of your insignias will be unique! It’s fractually amazing!) Another value of having your insignia be your initials is that it will help other superheroes remember which one you are. Having your initials emblazoned on your chest is the closest thing superheroes can get to having name tags and while it won’t tell other superheroes your whole name if they’ve never heard of you, it can get them part of the way or help jog their memory if they’ve met you but are having trouble placing you (because you aren’t cool). 

Once you’ve settled on a cool insignia you need to make absolutely sure that people associate it with you. Slap that baby onto everything. Your costumes, your vehicles, your weapons, babies. Your insignia should be on everything you own. The holidays are coming up, why don’t you gift your mayor or police commissioner a ginormous spotlight that projects your insignia into the clouds so that people know that random clouds are under your domain and protection. (You might be wondering, “isn’t giving somebody else a giant spotlight with your insignia a terrible holiday gift?” But how about instead of wondering that you shut your stupid face and stop asking valid questions ya nerd.) Start sticking post-it notes with your insignia on it onto other superheroes’ backs so people think they’re part of your team. (Wait, couldn’t this potentially make people think that it’s their insignia and that you’re part of their team.) Hey, how about instead of wondering that you shut your stupid face and stop asking valid questions ya nerd. (Oh no, I’ve become the very thing I hate!) Cover your city and all of its populace with your beautiful new logo! Order all sorts of memorabilia with your symbol plastered on it and hand it out to people after you save them. Paint it onto government buildings and your favorite pizza store in the middle of the night. (BRAND IT ONTO THE FLESH OF CRIMINALS HAHAHAHA!!!!!) Dude, too far. Aside from the actual flesh of your enemies and right over any of your vital organs, anything is fair game. 

Having a symbol is great branding. A unique symbol will set you apart from other heroes, and it allows people to identify with you without having to go through the grueling process of tattooing your face onto their body. Your symbol should strike fear into the hearts of criminals, and a sense of security in the hearts of the innocent. Designing your own symbol can be a fun outlet for self-expression, it can help people remember you, and it can assure people that you’re still the same hero they know and love when you change your look or need to wear alternate costumes. So what are you waiting for! Logo and get yourself a cool insignia!