#if it ain't broke don't fix it etc etc

[one-starry-knight]

I really really like the way I drew Dedede, esp the one that has color, bc I'm a huge fan of the more classic look in general. I just really don't like the newer squashed face Club Penguin looking redesign, its really.. not at all as charming. like sorry to be that guy but

[ma1dmer]

Call of Duty - Phillip Graves NSFW

I need him pregnant,,,,ASAP

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex): he needs a second to unwind, pulls you to him and breathes against your skin, lips pressed against the top of your head as he closes his eyes, big on praise in general so even in those moments he's telling you how good you were for or to him, he'll help you clean up in a bit, like the gentleman he can be, but for a moment let him catch his breath

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s): like the good ol' american boy he is, he loves tits, small or big, it does not matter, he just loves them, loves a pretty bra with bows ,and straps he can snap back on your skin like a school boy teasing his crush, definitely a lingerie guy, feels like he's unwrapping a present

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically): riding off of what I said above, loves a pearl necklace, has you push your tits up prettily for him so he has a good target as he works his cock quickly above you, muttering to himself as he concetrates on how pretty you look beneath him, one hand always on your tits, touching, cupping, pinching

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs): this man loves to show you off, loves the attention you get from others and knowing that at the end of the day you are coming back home to him ,he never lets things get too far but he gets such a thrill from watching other men fawn over you, he'll swoop in once he gets bored and firmly redirect the other man away from you while pulling you in for a kiss, if you ask him what took him so long he'll lie about not noticing

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?): he always says he is looking for someone to settle down with as a joke, and then turns around and has another no strings attached hookup with some pretty stranger ,he didn't choose the man whore life, it chose him, he has his fair share of experience ,and he truly is too cocky for his own good about it

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying): the standard missionary, if it ain't broke don't fix it, he puts a pillow under your hips and holds himself up so he doesn't miss any detail, from his cock disappearing inside you to your body moving with every thrust, easier access to the goods as well, he's just all over you

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.): he is quite playful when he wants to be, enjoys purposefully riling you up just so he can do the whole act of asking you to forgive him, just tell me how to make it better, he'll ask in fake apology as he kisses your stomach, eyes glinting with mischief knowing he's getting what he wants

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.): not particularly hairy, and everything he has is fine and blonde, lets it natural, he also always seems to smell of a very specific brand of soap

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect): he loves a good traditional chase, let this man do his thing, flirt with you, try to woo you, take you out in his car, open doors, likes if you play a bit hard to get for him, even if you've been dating for years, just so he can promise you the moon and the stars as he slides his hand up your thigh, it's not easy to be casual with him when he acts like that

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon): he enjoys taking his time when he is by himself ,one of the reasons he'd bother upgrading his phone to something a bit better, a bit more modern, with a better camera feature, is purely for those lonely nights when he has the free time to sit back for a bit, but can't leave base yet, he'll shoot you a text, and have his pants off as he waits for you to reply

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks): edging, dirty talk, praise/degradation etc

L = Location (favorite places to do the do): in the heat of it he always suggests you two take it somewhere more public, his office, in front of his shadows ,maybe a bar, asking you to paint an image for him, telling you how pretty you are and how much he wishes others could see you like this, would you stop him if he tried to do something outside of your bedroom? ,how naughty and loud you are ,how you definitely want to be seen and heard by others, but at the end of the day he doesn't actually do anything, he knows the risks

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going): he loves dirty talk, especially when you do it, he enjoys when you know and tell him what you want, will be grinning cockily as he listens to you, encouraging you to add more details, helping you add to whatever filthy fantasy you confess to him

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs): I don't see him venturing to the more extreme side of anything ,he knows his limits and as willing as he is to entertain your whims he likes things a bit more vanilla personally

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.): this man loves to give head, eats it loudly, non stop talking as he pleasures you, it's sloppy and he isn't very focused, you'll have to beg for him to take it seriously, but oh boy when he does, he buries his whole face between your legs

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.): he alternates, will start off faster for you mostly and then slows down the closer he gets to his orgasm, holding you close as he methodically chases his own pleasure

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.): loves the idea of them but he never truly commits, there is always some excuse he has about why he can't at that specific moment

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.): he'll try toys, he'll try impact play, he'll try the occasional sub/dom dynamic, he'll pull rank, he'll role play , he'll try switching, he enjoys all of it honestly, but only occasionally ,and never taken too far

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?): one long round with plenty of foreplay and messing around

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?): doesn't feel strong either way about them, he prefers things a bit more traditionally but won't say no to spicing up things every now and then if you ask him nicely

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease): he is a tease, through and through, but he doesn't hold his ground that well, feed into his ego, beg a bit and he always relents, you have to play into his game

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.): he is not loud, but he isn't quiet either, he just doesn't shut up, he talks a lot under his breath, he praises you in that soft southern drawl of his and encourages you with a chain of little yes' and deep moans, he isnt hiding the fact he's enjoying himself

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character): has a big oral fixation, he loves using his mouth, put your hands anywhere near his face and he's gonna turn to kiss your palm, your wrist ,or in the heat of the moment pull your fingers in his mouth

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes): average size, with a slight tilt to the side, surprisingly pretty and much paler than the rest of him

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?): he can often get lost in his head with all the work he has, and as along as he's kept busy he doesn't quite think of anything else but his missions and his orders ,but once he sits down, once he gets a chance to take a breath ,then he realises how much he truly misses you and how much he'd rather be spending his time with you

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards): once you guys start pillow talking he closes his eyes and insists he's listening, you might think he's not but if you try to move away or stop talking, he grumbles for you to keep going, he is a very light sleeper

[selfishmachinez]

About time I found someone who writes for mammon !! With that being said, I’d like to ask for him with a service top/dom reader? N maybe near the end once we’ve pleased him he returns the favor via oral ? ^^’

MAMMON WITH SERVICE TOP!READER

notes: HIIIHII THIS IS LITERALLY PERFECT??? GIGGLING AND KICKING MY FEET RN I LOVE THIS LITTLE THING SM☺️☺️ also im so sorry about the wait i got sick and didnt have inspo for like a day😔

warnings: not writing mammon's accent sorry💔 idk how to write accents properly just imagine it in ur mind idk; mammon being an asshole (hey, its mammon.); afab reader; insults like cunt/whore/bitch etc are still used in a gn way tho; my gf proofread like 80% of this if theres any typos blame her not me /j

word count: 1,510 (not including a/n)

NSFW UNDER CUT

okay lets get this straight

this man can NOT be a good dom

he's literally the single of greed what do you expect

our little pillow princess /hj

okay imagine this: after fizz quit, he's obviously PISSED OFF, so u do a little favor for him (wink wink)

Normally, during his Clown Pageants, you'd just sit next to him and the fizzbots on his web, watching the contestants try to win the crowd over, just to miserably fail, and watch Fizzarolli win... again.

This one had to be the most interesting one so far. Fizzarolli quit. And insulted Mammon too. He was pissed, to say the least.

You left the web a while before he "exploded" the Theatre and entered his office.

"That little bitch!" He shouted, bursting inside the office, not in full demon form anymore.

"Mam, the door." You warned him. But yeah, he pretty much already broke the door. Whatever. He's got the money, he'll get it fixed later.

He sat down on his bean bag next to you. "Can you believe it? I made that cunt! And he just walks out the scene like that!" He bitched, sitting down next to you. "That ungrateful, useless, little-" You shushed him before he could finish his sentence. "WHAT?" He growled at you.

"I think you need to, y'know, relax a little. You know what I mean?" You said, giving him the look. His eyes widened a little at the statement. "Just sit back and enjoy yourself, okay?" You said, running a hand under his motley.

"Fuck." He groaned. He was trying his hardest not to just rip his clothes off. He had a tough day. He needed this. He needed you. Your touch.

You run your hand down his pants, pulling his cock out. He was so painfully hard already. "You're this hard already? All because of me huh? You just love the attention, don't you?"

"Just- fuck, don't make me beg, you cunt." He moaned out, leaning back against the bean bag.

"Alright, boss," you said, your voice dripping with lust. You knew how much of a whore he was for that type of nickname.

brief interruption☝️ i hc his dick is about 10" (HAVE YOU SEEN HOW BIG HE IS ofc hes gonna have a huge cock) and has the same colors as his tongue (purple/periwinkle with dark yellow stripes) AND HELLA GIRTHY TOO HELLO????? CONTINUING,

You gently grip his cock, tracing circles on his tip with your thumb, causing the tiniest drop of pre-cum to leak out. "You like this already? Gosh, you ain't gonna last a second like this." You teased, beginning to stroke his dick at painfully slow rate.

"Doll, please," he panted out, in the most ridiculous fashion ever.

"Don't be greedy, Mam." You chuckled, he was so cute begging like this. "I thought you said you wouldn't beg."

"Maybe if you did a better job at this, bitch." He grunted.

"Do you want me to stop?" You said, softening your grip around his member, causing him to panic a bit. "No! Don't!" He begged, tugging at your sleeves with his bottom pair of arms. "Doll, c'mon. Don't leave me hanging."

"Hm," you wrapped another hand around his dick. "Fine, since you're being such a good boy." You'd have some work to do now. Giving him handjobs was always such a handful, no pun intended. Since he's big, a single hand was never enough. You thought about it for a while, forgetting what you were doing in the first place. "So?"

"Right. My bad." You got back to it quickly though; moving your hand up and down his member at a quicker pace, making him pant and whimper under your touch.

You wanted to give him a blowjob. Should you, though? Yes. Definitely. Even though the back of your throat would hurt horribly afterwards.

Your hands are quick to let go of him, making him tilt his head in confusion. "Whatcha doin'?" His confusion died down swiftly after he saw you kneel in front of him, pulling his pants down. "Don't." He said, grinning as he just ripped them off himself, spreading his legs. "Good boy." You mumbled, kissing his length.

While one of your hands rested on his inner thigh, rubbing gentle circles on it with your index finger, your tongue went from his base to his tip, feeling every little vein on the way up there.

"Fuck, pumpkin." He moaned, grabbing the back of your head. "Please." He lifted your head up to make you look at him. He gave you the most pathetic grin ever, sweating his ass off.

"Don't be a baby." You kissed his tip, making him moan, covering his mouth with his hand.

After teasing and edging him for a good 5 minutes, he had enough of that. "Just- ugh, please." He groaned, tugging at your hair. "Do it already. Ya teasing me too much."

"Stop being a brat, whore." You shut him up with that. "Good." Finally, you got to work. Though you only swallowed his tip at first, he was already a mess. But you had to keep going; you force yourself down his length as best as you could, licking and sucking on him. That was definitely not enough though, so you grab the part you couldnt get down your throat with your hand, caressing his base.

"Close. 'M so fucking-" He groaned, sending down little electric shocks. Oh, yeah, he does that sometimes.

another interruption, i hc him an being a ballooning/joro spider, since he kinda looks like one and they use electricity like him‼️ okay CONTINUING ONCE MOREEEE,,,,,

You took your mouth off him for a bit, gasping for air. "You're being so greedy, you know that?" You grinned at him. He looked like such a mess right now. Panting and sweating. But by god, did he look adorable like that. You go back to just gently licking down at his member, looking him in the eyes.

"Pumpkin, please, 'm so close- fuck..."

"Is that so? Hm?" You mumbled, kissing his base gently, going back to patting his tip with your palm. He greedily humped your palm, eager to cum.

He kept on buckling against your palm until he moaned loudly against his hand. "I'm gonna..." You pulled your hand away from his tip, letting him cum all over your face. He slumped down on the bean bag, gasping for air louder than he had to.

You sigh, getting up to grab some tissues to get you both cleaned. He calls you, "Yes?" You reply.

"Y'know, I could 'pay you back'." He grinned, getting up and grabbing you by the waist. "Ya just calmed me down, guess I owe you a little favor." Without warning you, he grabs you and throws you (as gently as he could) back on the bean bag, leaning on top of you, licking his own cum off your face.

"Cleaning the mess you made with your tongue like that? You slut." You fiddle with his jester hat. "What are you gonna do, huh?"

"Just trust me, sweet cheeks." He mumbled, taking your pants/skirt/shorts off. Oh. Was he gonna..? Normally, he wouldn't really pay you back, not that you wanted him to. You were perfectly fine with just pleasuring him. "You don't have to."

"I want to. Are you gonna let me do my thing, yeah?." He grumbled, taking your underwear off with his teeth. God.

"Mhm, yes sir." He kissed down at your v-line, making you tremble slightly.

a/n, i tried to hard to write an amab version but god im horrid at this

also holy shit have you seen his tongue

he def knows how to use it for good

im wet i mean who said that whaaaatttt🤯

He gently licked down at your clit. Once, twice. Then stopped. "Why'd you..?" But he shushed you by shoving a finger inside you. "Ya like this?" You answer with a weak moan, which he took as a "yes".

So, he put another finger in, scissoring them inside you. He sucked on your clit, making you moan and squirm. "Use... your tongue."

"Hm? What?" He pulled out, looking up at you, a wide grin spread across his face.

"You know what I mean." He looked back down at your cunt. You squished his face between your thighs. He took his fingers out, licking them before replacing them with his much longer and thicker tongue, making you whimper. Loudly. He moved his tongue inside you. Up and down, left and right, in and out.

It was rare for him to give you oral, but when he did, it felt like heaven. He pulled out, panting. But you shoved his face back there. He couldn't stop. Not now.

He quickly went back to eating you out, needily thrusting his tongue in and out your pussy.

"Good fucking God, Mammon-" And there he goes again, pulling his tongue out. "Why'd you stopp..." You whined. He looked down at your puffy and wet cunt. "Shouldn't have teased me earlier."

"What, but- but you know you like it!" Your tone dripped with desperation. You needed to cum so badly. Would he give you the satisfaction that early though? Obviously not. Not out of selfishness, he just had to give you a good orgasm. Like the one you gave him. "Mhm..." He huffed against your entrance, gently shoving a finger in while licking your clit in a circular motion.

He did so for a good 5 minutes, before adding a finger, then another one. You couldn't take it anymore. He was overstimulating you so much. You aggressively tugged at his hat, forcing him onto you even more. He took two fingers out, replacing the latter with his tongue.

You definitely couldn't take it anymore. "Mammon, I'm gonna..." Finally, he let you cum. Not that you let go of him for a good 10 seconds though. You gripped at his hat, still riding out your high.

"See, told ya I'd pay you back."

[confiscatedpeaches]

This might be too much, but are you familiar with the NSFW alphabet? I’d love to see your take on that with William~

Oooh, I love a good challenge.

A = Aftercare Surprisingly good at this, you'd think for a psychotic child murderer he'd be fairly bad at aftercare. Not the case, he is super kind, making sure you drink water and making sure you're okay and you know that he loves you after a rough scene.

B = Body part On himself: his eyes. He likes their unique blue-grey color and loves how his eyes alone he can melt you into a puddle of horny goo. On others: Breasts. He loves to watch them bounce when his partner is on top. Plus they're soft, squishy, and ready to be cummed on.

C = Cum Absolutely loves to cum inside you. He flat-out refuses to masturbate on his own because he feels the cum would be wasted otherwise. It has to go in you or on you, nothing else is possible.

D = Dirty secret He has a thing for much younger women. Not that he'd like to take advantage of them, more so that he wants to pamper and care for them. Big daddy kink.

E = Experience Decently experienced. Not a complete manwhore (no shame to complete manwhores), but definitely knows his way around the BDSM kink scene.

F = Favorite position Classic missionary. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. He loves slapping into you while holding tightly onto you. He loves being able to look deep into your eyes as you fully submit to him and cum. Also a big fan of oral, both giving and receiving.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.) He can be both honestly. Sometimes he's in a wacky silly weirdo mood. He can be very playful with y/n, but sometimes he's there to dominate and make you submit.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.) He could see some improvement in this department. The man is from the 70s, so he's no stranger to pubic hair.

I = Intimacy He definitely knows how to set the mood. He understands that it might take some time before you both actually go at it. Loves calling you pet names, "love" "doll" "darling" "lovey" "sweetheart" etc.

J = Jack off Really enjoys masturbating in front of you. Especially if he gets to cum on you or inside you. He likes it when y/n sits with their mouth open, ready to receive his load.

K = Kink Breeding kink, there's a reason he ended up with three kids. Also massive daddy kink, see: D = Dirty secret.

L = Location Man's classic. He prefers doing it with you on a towel on the bed, but honestly he'll do you anywhere he can if you get him horny enough.

M = Motivation Very into mind games and powerplay. Likes to be worshipped and seeks complete and utter devotion to him.

N = No No scat or piss play. Not a big foot guy either.

O = Oral Not the best at giving, but he tries. Loves receiving. He especially loves it when y/n strokes his cock while sucking on the tip.

P = Pace He will try to be slow if that's what y/n wants, but he struggles against his animalistic urge to fuck their brains out. Prefers a faster / more intense pace.

Q = Quickie He tries to last as long as he can, as he'd prefer it when the reader cums as well. But he definitely wouldn't turn down a quickie, especially if it involves taking care of his morning wood.

R = Risk Definitely down to experiment. Very open-minded about sex for his age. He will always discuss new kinks / ideas thoroughly before trying them, just to make sure y/n is comfortable.

S = Stamina He'll go for one round, rest, and then do another, but 2 is his limit.

T = Toys He prefers his hand for himself, but doesn't mind if reader has a ton of toys. He enjoys using them on y/n. If he came too quick, he'll use a toy until the reader orgasms (sometimes multiple times!)

U = Unfair Loves, loves, LOVES to tease. Bullying is his love language. He loves a quite a bit of banter. Prefers a back and forth dialogue with y/n. He enjoys being teased back, but has to pretend he hates it. Definite brat lover.

V = Volume Medium loud, but usually quiet. He'll make little grunts and deep animalistic moans. He likes to talk during sex, it turns him on.

W = Wild card He knows y/n is easily turned on by his voice. Leaning close into the reader's ear he'll whisper filthy little things. Things such as:

A drawn out "Good girl/boy/little one"

"God, you take me so well love."

"You were made to be fucked by me"

"I'm going to mold you to my body."

"Such a good little bunny for me, just like that.. yess..."

X = X-ray He has scars covering his entire body from the springlocks. He secretly thinks this makes him hotter (it does). His cock is slightly bigger than average when erect, but not unreasonably so.

Y = Yearning This man can get into such a horny mood so easily. He's obsessive over y/n and would gladly make love to them any chance he gets. This boy can be such a horndog.

Z = Zzz At night he passes out very quickly after aftercare. Dude goes out like a god damned light. During the day he needs a short break afterwards, but then he's right as rain.

[papatundespainknife]

based on the backstory and personalities of the Mikalesons, do you have any headcannons about Mikaelsons + religion?

oh HECKIE YEAH

i think it's honestly SUCH an interesting topic and concept seeing as how their all you know immortals n shit and magics real and etc etc. unlike say, btvs where Willow literally invokes Osiris, tvd doesn't really make any solid references or claims about the whole Deity Situation until apparently legacies but I haven't watched it yet and sounds Kinda Dumb so I'm ignoring that lol. But the rule of thumb with shows like these seems to be that once you say draculas and witches are Super Real then it's open season for Zeus enter stage right like it's an episode of Xena. Which when you look at the Mikaelsons....... Wild.

I think that Freya, Finn and Rebekah are the most unironically straight-forwardly religious and I think they've stuck to the norse/scandinavian beliefs they grew up with. Freya both because of the 1,000 years of Napping Nonsense but also because she's a witch and that's the school she was taught in so she's sticking with it. Finn for similar naptime reasons and also because he doesn't see a reason to change and didn't even when they were in France and hanging out with christians. For Rebekah it's like pure sentimentality. She likes a lot of the aesthetics of mainly catholicism (the swagiest of sects) but at the end of the day she's still out here making offerings to Freya (the goddess not the sister fdjkgdfsdfs) because she's a sappy little sentimental bitch and that's what brings her comfort. I don't think she's particularly religious which I think Freya and Finn are but she enjoys the celebrations and finds comfort in the actions/words/rituals/prayers/etc.

Kol and Elijah are more wiggly in their beliefs. Kol still calls back to his roots a LOT but he's also expanded out over the years since he's still a witch at heart and a curious cat. He's less interested in following any one religion and more in what resonates with him. So his believe system is very eclectic. What he believes in he believes in 10000% and is dead serious about. He's also experimented and educated himself about world religions the most out of all of them. Dude could probably teach a clss tbh.

Elijah is the one who's actually been the closest you can be to an atheist in a world like this. He's had periods of like, religious nihilism and periods were he's a little more hopeful about it. He's just spent so much of his life trying to be the Good Reliable Son and like Niklaus praying for divine intervention both with their father and with Niklaus only to get shit in return that it broke him and he just stopped and abandoned all religion/spirituality and focused only on the tangible. Hope's birth fucking shakes him to the core lol. Generally tho even after her he's still more in the like, "not my scene but i do love a good festivity" camp.

Niklaus is an evangelical's idea of an atheist where it's not "i don't believe in god" but instead "i feel god personally slighted me at my bday party so now i'll hurl rocks at him for the rest of my life out of pure spite". his sense of abandonment, unwantedness and paranoia doesn't stop at the threshold of religion. Ofc, he's old as dirt and literally has his own coven that bitches KEEP FORGETTING HE HAS so he's not in doubt that the divine exists. But Thor didn't protect him from his father's abuse so fuck that guy and jesus didn't fix SHIT for him so equally fuck him.

Wouldn't be shocked tho to see him "ironically" do rites/sacrifices to Odin via shit like the death of an enemy/creatively using old school practices for physical/psychological torture bc he's Like That. Does he also end up carving a mjolnir into Hope's crib and giving her a little one on a necklace? yes but this ain't about that hush.

Kol and Niklaus are also the most likely to have an affinity for gods like Loki and his children for reasons I feel are obvious lol. The holiday arguments this creates between them and Finn are unhinged.

[watermelonsloth]

The Boruto Designs for the Rookie 9 Make No Sense

(Note: I'm not mentioning the blank period designs because that's a post all on it's own.)

A lot of people have complained about the designs of Naruto's generation in Boruto and I can't blame them(I actually agree with most of the criticisms made), but the number one problem I have with them I haven't found voiced. That problem is that they have no rhyme or reason behind them.

I don't think that Naruto was the pinnacle of character design or fashion in anime or anything, but I did like it for one big reason. All of the designs made sense for the characters. To me all of the Naruto character designs come across as in-character because, not only do they fit the personalities of the characters, the changes in the designs(specifically between Part 1 and Shippuden) feel like the natural progression of their designs.

The designs fall into one of two categories: more mature versions of their last designs(for the characters that have changed during the time-skip outside of getting more mature) and significant changes(for the characters who did change during the time-skip, usually in response to the Sasuke Retrieval arc).

The more mature ones include Naruto(he got longer pants, a new headband, and shoes, and started wearing black), Hinata(she lost the fur, got more color and new shoes, and grew her hair), Shino(got more jackets and color), Shikamaru(continued to look more like a chunin), Ino(lost most of the bandages and arm things, and got elbow and knee protection), TenTen(getting longer sleeves and new shoes, and simplifying her color pallet), Rock Lee(got a chunin vest and lost his headband), and, I'd argue, Neji(swapped the color beige for white, got longer sleeves and a skirt, and lost all of the bandages). Every aspect of their designs can be chalked up to Kishimoto's art style simplifying or adjustments that make the characters look more mature or protected. When you put their old and new designs next to each other, they're the natural progression of their last outfit(and a beautiful example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"). Hell, if you know the characters well enough, you can probably imagine their thought process while they were out shopping(Hinata being embarrassed to still wear fur lining as a chunin, Shikamaru being tired of fighting to get his chunin vest over his jacket, etc.).

The significant changes match the characters who most needed a jump in practicality and probably went through character arcs related to taking their career more seriously. Sakura's outfit in Part 1 was cute but it was fashion over function. In Shippuden, she kept her hair short to avoid it being grabbed again, shortened her skirt for better mobility, changed her color pallet to look more mature, and got boots(with a heel, but it's low enough to be passable), elbow pads, and gloves for better protection. She's planning to seriously help Naruto find Sasuke and fight off the Akatsuki and her outfit reflects that. Sasuke has a very different outfit in Shippuden to reflect both his drastically different fighting style and his connection to Orochimaru. Kiba(changing into a more protective leather outfit) and Choji(wearing straight up armor and growing his hair out to better match his teammates) also fall under here and it's most likely in response to nearly dying on the Sasuke retrieval mission.

I'm not going over them, but the other members of the cast(if they even got a new look) also follow this trend.

The Boruto designs break this trend and give us worse designs because of it. At least that's the case for the rookie nine. Outside of the rookie nine, the trend continues and any complaints I have come down to personal preference. This time, their designs fall into three categories: salvageable, time moves forward and their clothes move back, and what the fuck?

The salvageable ones are Naruto and Ino. I can understand giving Naruto more black and shortening his hair to make him look older, I just think it could've been better and needs a second draft. Ino is fine just plain(something made worse by her being the most fashionista-like member of the Konoha 12). I'd say it also needs a second draft, but it doesn't. The anime just needs to start using her design in the Boruto manga(I know it's kind of hard to see since we don't get any panels showing it off, but it looks good from what I can tell).

The time moves forward and their clothes move back ones I have an easy to guess problem with. Kiba and Choji's outfits resemble their Part 1 designs much more than their Shippuden designs. Kiba lost the leather and Choji lost the armor despite both of them still being active shinobi. Instead of progressing, they regressed for some reason. Choji also cut his hair shorter. If they really wanted to give him a different haircut(because they insist on much of the cast having different hair), why not tie his hair into a ponytail to better match his teammates?

(I'm gonna give Sakura her own section since I have a lot to say.)

Remember when I explained how Sakura's more practical outfit in Shippuden denoted character growth? Well, that all went out the window. First, I have two nitpicks that I think add to the problem, but would probably be fine otherwise. 1. She's now wearing heels that not only remind me more of Tsunade than herself, but they also look bad for working in a hospital, let alone going on missions. 2. She chose to start parting her hair differently because... of reasons. This was literally the first thing I noticed about her design. I know this sounds super minor, but changes like these do impact character design and recognizability. However, the main problem is how many awkward call backs there are to her first design. The attaching part of her top is curved, the tail of her top(I don't know what else to call it) falls to her knees again, the Chinese elements of her top, and the white lining. In some ways, her design is actually worse. Not only is she wearing loose looking heels, but she's also wearing tight-fitting, non elastic pants. Why doesn't she dress like a ninja anymore??? What possible reason could there be for any of this??? I'd also like to bring your attention to her wearing make-up and jewelry. I like hyper-feminine characters. I especially like hyper-feminine characters that are also badasses. I don't think it's good character design to add hyper-feminine elements to the design of a character that has an entire moment dedicated to how their insecurity and resulting focus on their ability to live up to female expectations distracts them from their job and goals.

The what the fuck designs I have the most problems with. I'll do my best to keep my complaints to a reasonable length because I could do a full rant on all of them.

Shino is the easiest to explain. He lost the layers of jackets associated with his clan, he completely changed his hair, and he replaced his sunglasses with a weird thing around his head(I don't know what to call it). At first I was gonna say he more resembles his Part 1 design, but it doesn't resemble any of his designs. He looks like an entirely different character and I have no idea why Kishimoto changed him so much, let alone Shino's motivation in-story. Did they think he looked more like a teacher this way?

I don't even know what to say for Shikamaru. I can only assume that they said "We should give him a goatee like his dad" and then they gave up. He's wearing a black jumpsuit with a beige-ish green-ish jacket and brown gloves. I couldn't tell you why and I doubt Kishimoto could either. Why are his colors completely different from all his other designs? Why is he suddenly interested in wearing jumpsuits every day? Why is he wearing a necklace with a circle hanging from it(it's too big to be a wedding ring and Temari isn't wearing one(or any ring for that matter))? Why is he wearing gloves if he never goes on missions?

Technically, Hinata has three designs(one for the epilogue, one for the anime, and one for the Boruto manga), but all of my complaints are for the one used in the anime so that's what I'm gonna talk about. First, why is her design so busy? The art style used for the Naruto series has been getting progressively simple throughout its run time, so why does her design have so many unnecessary elements? Her hooded sweater is lined, she has three layers, her outfit consists of five different colors, and there's a little thing hanging off of her sweater. I know these all sound minor, but none of the other adults get this detailed. If anything, the others have designs that are too simple. The only exception, kind of, is Sasuke, but Sasuke is always covering his layers with a plain black cloak. Also, keep in mind, Hinata only has this problem with her anime design, her other designs are much more simple. Wouldn't it make more sense for the anime to use one of the simpler and better looking designs? Second, was there any thought put into her design elements? Her design looks so different from her Shippuden one that I feel like it would be a waste of time to list those differences. Just look at the two, they look completely different. If I had to guess, the only thought that went into her design was "how do we make Hinata look like a mom?" Which is a shame, because they should've been asking "how do we make Hinata look like an older Hinata?"

Last, we have Sasuke. Where do I even begin with Sasuke? Why is he suddenly wearing what looks like a button-up shirt and vest into battle? Why is there so much detail in his design if it's all gonna be covered by a cloak anyways? Why does he have two belts? Why is his hair brushed downwards? But, most importantly, why doesn't he look like Sasuke? It's not like the Shino situation where he looks so different he might as well be a different character, I can tell it's Sasuke, but he doesn't dress like he used to at all. He's the one character that it would've made sense to dress him like a more mature version of his Part 1 outfit and then they chose the worst characters for that instead. He doesn't even resemble his parents or Itachi at all. He doesn't resemble his clan at all. Nothing's really "wrong" with the design. It's not infuriatingly impractical or ugly and it only needs a few tweaks at worst. But it's probably one of my, if not my number one, least favorite Boruto design. It doesn't look anything like the character it's for and there's no in-story reason why that is.

[yuurivoice]

Are there any of your main boys (alphonse, Seth, Charlie, Finn etc.) that you have thought about re-designing?

Not particularly any sort of thing I'd call a redesign. Attire changes, hair variations, etc. but that's not a redesign.

I've got way too much to worry about to think about reinventing the wheel. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[cptapathy]

Do you feel your theatre experience impacts your d&d experience and vice versa? If so how?

An intricate one

I think poem first then full answer under the cut. It's long and indepth.

Does a shoe influence a dance?

Will the thread effect the weave?

Do I age with time?

Or does it age with me?

So, to try and determine how theatre has influenced anything in my life is incredibly difficult. But the biggest thing is helping to sus out when audiences may lose focus.

I have been in professional theatre since I was 7/8 I think, amateur theatre since I was about 6 maybe it's real hard to remember. So naturally everything I do is influenced by it.

My background varies from acting to dircting and lighting design so how theatre impacts is more identifiable.

Part 1 acting

So I was a good actor but not a great one and I think if a great actor were to play a ttrpg they wouldn't do well at it if they approached it how they approach acting.

When I would perform a role I would be thinking constantly about what my character would do right now, how I'm meant to move to this position, the next thing is a big moment so I need to prepare for it etc.

A great actor doesn't do that, they just do the stuff they don't think about it. It does mean that great actors can be terrible fits if the character I too different from them but if it's the right character it's seamless.

However the tendency to think in depth about each action is incredibly useful in ttrpgs especially combat focused ones like dnd or PF as the alienation of the mechanics fits nicely with the alienation of thinking though each action and intention.

Although apparently everyone does improv and everyone recommends improv I've never had a great experience with it and that is entirely because most aee comedic. I can't help but find it funny and feel the pressure to be funny.

However the few times I've done dramatic improv it's been brilliant and I've been able to hone that to a T in TTRPGs I've never before had the scope to perform dramatic improv like that before.

The final acting thing I can think of is my voices, I hated my voice after it broke for some reason, can't possibly imagine what would make me, a trans girl, hate her deep voice.

But because I hated my voice I inhabited a number of different voices and accents and would spend hours in the playground making weird noises just to stretch and flex my vocal skills. To this day it's really difficult for me to not slip into the accent of people talking to me.

Doing lost of different voices helped immensely with acting and has been invaluable in TTRPGs as a player and gm. Obviously no one needs to do a voice for TTRPGs but I can separate characters in my head by their voice and the wild thing is that similar characters will accidentally slip into each others voices more than similar voices do.

Part 2 Directing

This is easy, directing and GMing are almost a 121 parallel.

1. Organising a group of disorganised performers/players

2. Ensuring the table/rehearsal is safe and comfortable

3. Steering said disorganised group towards a conclusion, theme or ending that aligns with the script/adventure and each other

Like, running rpgs is how I get my theatre fix during the slow times.

There are a number of things that I have learnt from directing which I tend to apply in rpgs. A lot seem obvious but common sense ain't so common.

Dramatic irony: incredibly useful to engage the audience/player. Obviously this requires a game where secrets are a thing but if that is the case having some information that others don't can pull players in especially if they hold only a part of the puzzle and are trying to figure out the rest

I am a creative editor not dictator: in theatre there are directors who accept no challenges to their vision. I am not one of them, I believe in the inherent nature of actors/writers/designers as creative and that when we collaborate we make something better than we could have made alone. So when I GM or play I take that attitude with me. There is no right answer, most of the time I will have a number of idea of how to solve things but whatever the players suggest I am more inclined to enact that what my original plan may have been.

Part 3 theatrics/design

When I run in person games, I will narrate an opening cinematic, think game of thrones/civ 5 openings with camera cuts and transitions focusing on actions the characters have done in the last session and giving hints to what may come up in the story.

I will plot this narration to music, try my best to time it correctly, and spotlight moments from each character to make them all seem badass. Sometimes I will incorporate character backstory scenes to give background if we are going to be focusing on one characters arc over others for the session.

I think this has become my signature style as a GM and, personally, it makes for an epic opening. It also is a clear indication of "the game has begun" which is an issue I see with a lot of GMs where there isn't a hard start to the game and it can get a bit meandering and slow to start.

Another related element which is tough to enact in game is the rule of inverse (I just made up that phrase)

The rule of inverse is if you have slow slow fade to black or snap to black transitions through the entire play you maintain the one you use until THE MOMENT, the moment when everything changes, the tonal shift, the revelation, the denouement/climax etc. At that point you change how transitions happen snap transitions if you were fading or slow fades if you were snapping to black.

This highlights the "everything has changed" sense and sets the audience on edge.

In TTRPGs its very helpful to have a sudden shift in energy to let players know something has happened or changed, that we are now in another phase. This is generally changing the frequency of rolls and opportunities to act drastically.

If speeding things up it may result in limiting player agency in the moment if they are unsure of what to do but you can mitigate this by either adding an IRL timer and/or taking a moment to tell the players things are different now, (you can stop this being jarring and pulling players out of immersion by setting a key phrase to indicate that this is happening)

Anywho that's how I approach TTRPGs with a theatre background.

[darksideofparis]

DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS

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Can we agree Bi-Generation was a stupid idea? Felt like a very..cheap and anticlimactic way to introduce Ncuti as 15 and him having to spend his first few post Toymaker moments comforting and supporting "14" (*cough* 10.3 *cough*) felt like a disservice to Ncuti's start as The Doctor and a lazy way to keep David in and appease the idiots who have been making racist remarks about Ncuti.

Sidenote- Love and hate 15 acknowledging that Sarah Jane is gone

Yes, I HATE the bi-regeneration plot! To those who love the plot, please be warned a rant about this whole thing is below, in case you want to avoid it.

It has literally never been mentioned (to my knowledge, at least) in any Whoniverse material in the last sixty years, so what the hell is RTD doing just dropping it in now? The basics of regeneration have been, more or less, a constant since the very first one.

Honestly, RTD, if it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT!

I agree, this was nothing more than shameless fan-service to appease not just the racists making disparaging remarks against Ncuti (and it should be noted, that while they're vocal, it is literally a minority of people who feel that way) as well as to appease all the fans who were crying about not wanting to see David Tennant go again.

Look, I love David Tennant. He is a phenomenal actor and anything he's in is guaranteed to be good, or at least he will be amazing in it, but seriously. Enough DT. When the seventieth comes around, I don't want him in it. Let someone else have some time to shine. This whole bi-generation and letting 14 stick around defeats the entire purpose of regeneration and the show as a whole. To quote Peter Capaldi's Doctor, "Everything ends, and that's always sad. But everything begins again too, and that's always happy."

In addition, the whole thing, in my opinion, takes the attention off Ncuti. Just like Jodie Whittaker's regeneration, the whole thing is overshadowed by DT's Doctor. Ncuti absolutely shined in the scenes he was in, but we didn't get all the classic hallmarks of post-regen Doctors: the regeneration sickness, the outfit picking, seeing the TARDIS for the first time, etc. Instead, 14 sees 15's new jukebox-holding console room. We don't really get a reaction from 15. And that's really disappointing and just insulting.

I don't object to the idea of the Doctor pausing travels for a while to come to terms with everything that's happened to them, but are we really supposed to believe 14 spends the rest of his days living in the copy TARDIS in Donna's backyard? A few weeks or months would be plausible, but I can't buy the rest of his days, watching Donna and the others grow older and eventually die.

Back to the whole bi-regeneration itself. . . The whole thing is never really explained. All they say in the episode is that it was considered a myth on Gallifrey. But what specifically does it entail? Are 14 and 15 two completely separate individuals now? When 14 dies, is that it? Would he regenerate into 15? And if so, would that mean there's just now two separate Doctors running around or would he somehow merge with his future self? Is it a time loop of some kind?

Just. . .really annoying. If RTD is going to introduce a game-changing concept, the least he could do is spend five minutes explaining it to the audience, instead of leaving us to do guesswork.

This just really sucks, because I LOVED 'The Star Beast' and 'Wild Blue Yonder'. The first half of this episode was *chef's kiss*. But then the last half fell flat. Too reminiscent of the Chibnall era, in my opinion: introduce a shocking new concept but spend very little time properly explaining/having the characters reacting to it. The Toymaker wasn't as much of a threat as he was hinted to be, though Neil Patrick Harris definitely had fun with the role, lol. It would have made far more sense if he was responsible for 14's face coming back as some kind of twisted gameplay, instead of some lame "It was you coming home".

And, on a purely selfish note, how the hell am I supposed to write my OCs in this, lol?!? Do they stay with 14 or go off with 15? Lol, long time away though in my writing, so maybe we'll actually get some concrete resolution/explanation about bi-regeneration before then.

Okay, rant over. With the caveat that I, too, love/hate them acknowledging Sarah Jane is gone.

[monstersinthecosmos]

The show definitely isn't going with the Loustat route. With the way things are going there's no way anyone would want to root for them, and I think that's probably the point.

yeah tbh like, I think part of why this experience has been so discordant for me is that I sat here like a fuckin tool just inhaling every bit of news for a year and it's like, how many times they said it was a romance, how many times RJ said the characters were important to him, how many times they said the changes they made were small things that wouldn't matter, etc. It's hard to consume the show with a blank slate when you've been given that message for a year. Even the trailers strategically used tons of giffable shippy moments that, when they finally showed up on screen, turned out to not be romantic at all LOL.

So I feel like I'd have a different perception of the show maybe if I hadn't known all that. Then again, sometimes when I watch the episode and make the creative decisions make sense, RJ comes on afterwards and ruins it by undoing the grace I was willing to give him LOL.

I could see it being a grand creative challenge to see how much they can make you hate Lestat and still have you root for them in the end but idk. If that's the show some people want to watch, I hope that's fun. LOL. Like, that's kinda how it is in the books? Lestat is awful and misbehaved and selfish and abusive and we root for him anyway. If it ain't broke don't fix it, idk man. The source was already right there.

There's two things I keep coming back to, though:

Jacob & Sam said in an interview at one point (I wanna say it was SDCC weekend but I can't recall) that even when things were hard between the characters they were informed by the idea of the reunion and it helped to be awful to each other. So I worry that everyone on the production is using that as a horizon line to work towards.

It was just continuously promoted as a romance. AND LIKE THIS IS KINDA ??? idk like was it deliberately misleading marketing? Or is it a show full of like, lazy cishet tropes that doesn't realize how toxic it's coming off? (I am still pointing towards the confrontation from Daniel's soulmates comment where it's like HOW IS THAT THE IMPRESSION YOURE GETTING FROM THIS STORY LOL) ((And not to nitpick RJ harder than deserved, but in Ep6's thing afterwards he kinda brushed it off like it was normal relationship bad decision making and not like, horrifically depraved abuse LMAO.))

This is another point that isn't exactly about what we're talking about right now but SINCE I GOTCHA HERE I also wanna say there's been this really obnoxious trend that I'm seeing in some of the newer & casual fans and I even saw in some reviews, and it's the bad habit of writing off all evildoing as ~ThEY'Re VamMPIreS~~ as a blanket excuse to ignore all bad behavior and pretend that every bad thing they do is simply them "being vampires." And a lot of "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, IT'S A HORROR/VAMPIRE SHOW" and like !!!!!!! I gotta say those are absolutely ice cold takes.

The entire reason this book was groundbreaking was because it humanized the vampires. And a huge core of the books is analyzing good and evil and the meaning of their lives. The entire idea is "I want to be a good person even though I have to kill humans to survive" and each book has that conversation.

"THEY'RE VAMPIRES" completely misses the point, and some of the drama & violence on this show is so heavy-handed that I wonder if the team takes the THEYRE VAMPIRE approach where it's just carte blanche to act like a fucking asshole lol. And just, idk. I'm not sure it's fair to accuse the team of "missing the point" bc I'm sure they're all educated and understand the books, but it's very obvious to me that this was a way to cash in on a bunch of tacky vampire tropes for the money lol.

The entire point of the books, the reason they were groundbreaking, the reason we love them is that the vampires are still so human. They're capable of hurting others and being hurt. Their interpersonal relationships in the face of eternal loneliness are just as full of compassion and emotion as any other relationship. MAYBE EVEN MORESO BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL BIG VAMPIRE-BRAINED AND EXTRA EMOTIONAL. And I think this theme is REALLY strong with Lestat; obviously we spend the most time with his interiority but he struggles with his relationships and wanting to be loved and wanting to be good, even when he fucks up. And those fuckups are more human than they are vampire.

So idk I find the show very tonally imprecise; I worry that the extreme violence they used was perhaps a ~they're vampires~ decision and they're trying to tell us that to vampires maybe it's not such a big deal? (Hate that lol.) But at the same time, it feels really, idk, gross and uncomfortable to leave horror conventions to use such real world domestic violence tableaus to tell a vampire story. If it's supposed to be fantastical vampire drama we could've done with slightly fewer of the too-real bits, idk. MAYBE I'M SENSITIVE HAHA. But yeah it's just.

I'm sure I'd have a different opinion if I came in cold (and I've been trying to watch like YouTube reactions from new fans to see their impression! It's really interesting!) but it's difficult not to come in with expectations between all the marketing and even just having a foundation of the books.

[check-ur-squad]

any idea which gear suits Zora the best? I've already put a set of gear for him that i found from youtube but i wanna hear your thoughts :)

Zora is the fastest character in the game right now, and he will be for some time. You want a 4pc speed set [Secret of the Deep Sea] and then whichever set you have to provide survivability (usually DEF/[The Great Merchant's Collection], as the 2pc buff for that is fucking ridiculous). Essentially, you want as much DEF on him as you possibly can get.

Zora doesn't really need gear focused on attacking, as almost all of his damage comes from his reflection on his Skill II. For Talents, you most likely want to go for Reduce Skill II cooldown/DMG res with a SPD carved stone, and DEF 20%/DEF and CRIT RES with a DEF carved stone. It's basically just THE standard support build, pretty much identical to one that you would use for William or CA Charlotte, etc -- I wouldn't suggest using talent stones on the attack part of the tree unless you want him to do raw damage, which is. unlikely.

I imagine this isn't too different from what you heard in the YouTube video, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it lmao

Thanks for asking!

[nelithic]

acanthus :   is your muse deceptive ,   or willing to lie or deceive to achieve certain means ?   why or why not ?

▀▀ 　BOTANICAL HEADCANONS　₊　

the short answer is yes absolutely.

the long answer contains fell xenologue spoilers beneath the cut.

the long answer is gestures at all of chapter 4 of the fell xenologue. as much as i would have liked for some of the writing decisions in that chapter to be different from what they were, it's easy to see that nel has no issue keeping things from everyone else, even people she trusts, when she feels like the ends justifies the means. her decision to take out the corrupted rulers of each of the nations was one she made without consulting the winds or nil, or even letting them know that most if not all of elyos was corrupted already to begin with.

　——— ⟢　why?

her reasoning for it in canon is simply:

nel: i thought it would be best to conceal such an unpleasant truth.

to which alear pushes back that nel is always making decisions on her own judgment without consulting others ( which is true ), and while i think this is part of her reasoning for doing what she did, i don't think it's all of it. it's true that the protector side of her wanted to safeguard the people she cared about, alongside alear, who is the recipient of nel's projected desire to posthumously safeguard her own world's divine dragon, and to have any necessary ugliness be entirely her own problem to take care of — this is a habit likely originating all the way from her upbringing in fell!gradlon, where the work of killing that was necessary for survival was a rite undertaken by the strong, and strength was something possessed individually, guarded jealously, and not to be shared.

　——— ⟢　why, pt. 2

but i think what nel says out loud here is only the part of her reasoning that she knows would be forgivable to a listener. i think the other, equally deeply-ingrained rationale behind why nel tends to make independent judgment calls is because she believes in the efficiency of a singular unquestioned authority.

if she had told everyone that they were fighting corrupted, everyone might have lost crucial hope that there was ever a hope of victory to the fighting.

if she had told everyone her plan to take out the leaders of each nation, there would have been pushback, maybe even sabotage. in particular, she feels she can't trust alear, who does not come from this world and does not know how things are done in it, but who seems to push their morals into a situation to which they are an outsider and feels the need to approve every action the group takes — and because of their status as the divine dragon, nel has to take into account that there's a very real chance others would instinctively listen to them instead.

nel sees a real risk to the group's ultimate goals if she doesn't lie — or at least conceal some truths where it's needed. she knows that far-away goals often get lost and forgotten in the crossroads of individual wants, gripes, discomforts, etc. at the very least, any discord, tension, or loss of morale within the group as a result of knowing her plans would be additional things to have to navigate, and very likely jeopardize some aspect of the effort, making things a lot more difficult to accomplish effectively even if it didn't outright put a stop to anything.

given that there's no surprise or protest at all from anyone else but alear about anything she reveals as well, it could also be assumed that everyone else is very used to this being nel's way of doing things for a long time now — although the four winds answer to both her and nil, it's pretty clear that it's probably been primarily nel calling the shots and making most of the final decisions. so that aspect of being used to doing things this way and not wanting to fix it if it ain't broke is probably part of it too.

　——— ⟢　rai fistfights intsys' easy friendship writing

because of all this, i don't personally think nel would have apologized as readily as she did to alear in that scene for her deception. it's especially difficult to match the same nel who, 2 chapters prior, says:

nel: and it is is not your choice to make, divine one. while it is true that we summoned you for help, this is not your army. whatever authority you are accustomed to in your own world does not apply here.

to the nel who now apologizes as soon as she's accused by the same person of being autocratic in how she makes decisions she sees as being in the group's collective best interest.

even if nel recognizes that she has a tendency to railroad things ( which i think she does, even if subconsciously ), i don't think she feels particularly sorry for it — its why their 6-person guerrila force been successful this long; her judgment is usually sound and born of experience, and she's making these decisions for everyone's benefit. we've also seen plenty of times throughout the xenologue by this point that nel has no issue being plain about that even when she can see that someone would be upset to hear it.

in her mind, when you're an authority in charge of everyone's wellbeing, you don't go around asking every single individual for their thoughts and worries and two cents about every little choice and consideration; that just muddies the water. you stay mindful about their needs while you weigh the factors, and then you make the decision and follow through.

[purecommemasolitude]

Thoughts on Eurovision rehearsals so far

Norway - Not sure about the hair, but other than that I love the outfit upgrade! One of my favourite parts of seeing NF choices in the actual contest is seeing upgrades like that :) Other than that it seems to be pretty much the same as the MGP staging, which is fair enough-- if it ain't broke don't fix it and whatnot

Malta - Suddenly this has shot up from "meh probably won't qualify" to "oh boy this has a good chance of qualifying". The staging looks fantastic; the Maltese delegation really outdid themselves. Excited for how the choreography seems to be more elaborate than the NF choreo 👀

Serbia - Once again not much to say on this one since it's essentially the same as the NF-- I was expecting something very different than the NF staging for some reason, but I hope they make it work and can qualify!

Latvia - Falls a little flat in the videos, but the pictures look fantastic, so I have no doubt that this is going to be elevated tenfold by the camerawork. The light work is great and I really hope they get their costumes back from their allegedly lost luggage jksdfh

Portugal - I miss the couch :( and honestly I prefer the dress from the NF way more, but I have faith that Mimicat will probably pull off a great live show regardless. It looks like the lighting is gonna be excellent also!

Ireland - It seems like nice staging! And their costumes look good too, though I'm not as sure about Conor's as I am about the others. I don't think it'll be enough to save them from NQ though :(

Croatia - An alas in the chat for them not seeming to have a real traktora 😔 Other than that though, the staging looks even more buck wild than the NF, and I'm terrified by the fact that they seemingly got the okay for the stripping and butt corks (?). Honestly I still don't think they'll qualify, but I won't be upset at all if they do (and I am very looking forward to seeing first-time reactions to them)

Switzerland - Mixed feelings on this one honestly. I love that they have contemporary dancers and also the lights, and massive props to Remo for singing so steadily while running, but I'm not sure how I feel about him dancing alongside the dancers (I was hoping for more of an elaborate choreography piece around or behind him that tells a more elaborate story), however I am reserving full judgement until the semi-final because the staging seems to evolve a lot and that makes this snippet even less of an indicator than most. Also not a huge fan of his outfit, but it's growing on me a little

Moldova - I can already tell this is going to be great. Moldova never fails with staging and this is no exception-- the lights, costumes, choreography, etc all come together to create an excellent atmosphere very fitting of the song

Sweden - Well, she's keeping the platform! I'm not sure if the Swedish delegation is going to really have to play camera angle tricks to make it look bigger/more impressive or if it really will look as cool as the Melfest one did to people who haven't seen her NF staging. Very nitpicky but I'm not as big of a fan of pattern of the. I don't even know what to call it honestly. The shell? The outer casing? of her platforms, but it'll probably become inconsequential come the live shows

interim text so I don't exceed the character limit for the lists which apparently exists 👍 also a good place to put a read more

Israel - Ohhh I can already tell this is going to be fantastic. The costumes look great, the stage setup is excellent, the choreography is tight and well-done-- I had my doubts about the dance break but it already looks like it's shaping up to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the evening. The only things that could maybe kill this are a) bad camerawork or b) if people compare her too much and too negatively to Chanel, but even then I don't think that'll make that much of a difference, especially when it comes to her qualification

Azerbaijan - Oh no :(( oh girlies no :((( This staging pretty much killed any chance I saw of it qualifying, and I really like the song-- it's very much on the left-hand side of my ranking. Actually, the more I watch it the more I do like it, and it does have good aspects-- the costumes are fun to look at and I really like the lighting-- but I don't think it'll be enough to qualify, and I'm not a fan of centring the guitars so much in their performance when everyone knows they'll just be mimed? It works for other, less common instruments, like the violin or the saxophone, or of course folk instruments, but something as generic as the acoustic guitar doesn't really add that much (okay I looked closer and one of them is actually a bass whoops. That makes it slightly better but I don't think it'll do that much in the long run)

Czechia - Ahh!!!! Czechia!!!! I never really had my doubts that much about what their staging was going to look like, but now that we've seen it will after all be dramatic like the music video I'm so so excited to see the final product. I didn't like the pink in the pictures, but it works much better on video, and if they can get their vocals well then the entire package is going to be phenomenal. I'm predicting that their full performance will probably give me child night of the semi-final

The Netherlands - The staging seems pretty similar to S10's last year, which is fitting because they're similar songs. I'm not sure on the staging, but I'm predicting camerawork will make a world of difference, as tends to be the trend, I feel, with more intimate songs + stagings like this and Latvia. I love their costumes, and I'm wishing them the most broken of legs in terms of performance

Finland - Ahh I'm excited!! Very intrigued to see the upgrades to the staging, and I think the dancers' hair being plastic as well is a nice touch. I think the music video will always be my favourite visual representation of the song, but this is shaping up to be quite nice staging, an excellent closer (but we already knew that), and I think making the stage + lights rainbow instead of just gold was a really good one

Denmark - The set looks really really cool, I'm excited to see it in motion! Still have no idea why this is opening, and that might hurt its chances a bit, but the staging seems much more exciting than I was expecting. I honestly liked his outfit today more than any other outfit he's performed the song with so far and was very disappointed to learn it's not his actual costume elemayo. I hope his final costume is something similar

Armenia - Not what I expected! I love her costume and the first part, but I was hoping she'd get off the platform at some point-- looking at it, I doubt they'll not be able to make it work, though. I wasn't too keen on the lights at first glance, wanting something more like her preparty performances, but I watched it again and it actually does look pretty nice-- if they pull the lights off well the whole song and have good camerawork, this is going to place high, I'll wager

Romania - It looks fun!! I never really had problems with either this or his NF staging, but I'm seeing it's not very popular staging still, which is a shame. The outfit is nice (obviously I love the Pikachu socks) and the only complaint I have at the moment is that having yourself be a giant background sure is a Choice. My prediction is that he'll either NQ or borderline qualify and get a low result in the final, but I'm hoping he'll do well! He's a great vocalist and an excellent performer, especially considering he's only 18

Belgium - This song has been rapidly growing on me recently, and the staging looks pretty good! I was fervently hoping for something more different than the NF staging or the music video, but it seems to work really well on the bigger screen + stage. It'll be fun to have a dancer there, and overall the whole show looks like it'll be good!

Cyprus - It's better than I expected! I'm not sure if this one needed the LED screens or if it would've been better as just lights, but I wasn't sure how they would stage it and they by far exceeded by expectations. The stage seems like it'll go through a journey following the song, his outfit looks great, and his vocals are Excellent. If this qualifies I don't think it'll do well in the final, but I'm hoping it will, because so far it looks fantastic!

[scattered-winter]

give me some jason's teen titans au thoughts???!!!! (maybe including some jaykyle??)

OUGHHHH YOU'VE HIT A SWEET SPOT OF MINE <33

so if I were to make an au of this, it'd be "jason never dies, and he gets his own teen titans team" etc etc because I think he deserves that in at least some universes lmao. also I would LOVE to explore how adult jason would be if he never died. what would his new superhero name be, after he outgrew robin?? what would his stance on crimefighting and morality be???? etc etc

so TEAM MEMBERS. I've seen a few other aus of this, and I'm inclined to go with the team lineup other people have chosen because. if it ain't broke don't fix it, ya know? but I really love the team including kyle, connor, rose, and eddie. I haven't read very many comics with the latter two yet, but it just feels right <3 and maybe also supergirl? I haven't read any of her comics either, but the team could use a super to balance the powersets out. idk

I would also be interested to explore the jaykyle dynamic if jason was never the jason we've all seen kyle interact with. he still has a streak of assholery, but I don't think he'd be as bad. or maybe kyle would be the One Guy who annoys jason enough that he's just as insufferable as canon. I dunno but I would loooove to explore that dynamic a bit. I definitely think they'd be....softer than what we see in canon, but I don't know to what extent yet

I would also like to study the batfam and how jason never dying would affect the timeline there. if he never died, tim wouldn't have stepped in, and that would change a lot of young justice's story. maybe tim ends up in the batfam after all, but it's much later and in a different way. bruce never loses a son. I would love to study all that and see how everything changes.

I think a possible adult hero name for jason would be flamebird, and he could collab with dick a lot. or maybe he has something different and has his own city, or something in between the two. idk

send me an au and I'll give you some thoughts!!

[stardusted-hearts]

@staff

Just. Stop it.

Literally stop. No one likes what you're doing. No one wants icons removed or hidden and no one wants the layout to look like twitter!

Brands used to take pride in being unique. Now they all try to look the same and it's MADDENING. Literally NO ONE is asking for this.

Have you heard the expression "if it ain't broke don't fix it"? Maybe think about that for a bit.

'Cause this is garbage. The dash looks like shit, it's so much more inconvenient to get to my drafts, queue, etc now, like. None of this is an improvement in the slightest.

Just put her back how she was PLEASE.

BE TUMBLR. I AM BEGGING YOU TO BE TUMBLR. I love tumblr I have been here the WHOLE time!! Never left!!

You just gonna toss everyone who's been here for like twelve+ years in a ditch in favor of "attracting" the people fleeing twitter?? When they're already coming here anyway?? And they aren't even clinging to twitter for the layout anyway??

Be unique but not in a dumb way [like removing icons, bad idea].

And if this feedback and other posts like it seem harsh it's because you literally do not listen to us and we're pissed about it. We're tired of being ignored.

EDIT: P.S. the new editor still sucks btw.

[whimsyqueen]

To Make a Fool of Death; The Vampire Rules

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to make a post about the specifics of the worldbuilding in To Make a Fool of Death, and today is Worldbuilding Wednesday, so here it is! I'm still messing around with some ideas and things, but this is where I'm at right now. I'll be tagging the Vampire Club Taglist below!

First and foremost, it's important to note that To Make a Fool of Death began as a love letter to Tim Hutchings' 1,000 Year Old Vampire. I began writing Verity's story as a series of diary entries using that format, and I will be forever grateful to indie tabletop games and solo journaling games for allowing me that. Go check it out, if you get the chance!

Because of that, and because of a lot of my own biases towards vampire lore, a lot of what you're gonna see here is... pretty basic. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! However, there are a few things that I really love about Hutchings' vampire lore that I've decided to include and extrapolate on, because it makes this whole thing just so much more interesting for me.

I'm gonna talk in terms of Verity, mostly, because she's the main vampire we experience throughout the story (though there are a few more) and kinda go basic myth-by-myth, if y'all don't mind. If there's anything I miss or anything y'all have further questions about, please feel free to just ask me! I love talking about these guys, and will take any excuse to do it!

First Myth: Vampires can shapeshift into bats

True! I like this one, and so I decided to stick with it. Yes, Verity can turn into a bat. I feel like not enough vampire media utilizes this nowadays, most of them go straight for the mind-control powers. I get it, they're cool, I heavily considered them for a while (and they're present in Verity's original diary, but I've since edited them out) but turning into a bat is just so much cooler to me?

Second: Vampires cast no reflection

Also true! Listen, I know that this is based in the idea of pure silver having been used to make mirrors in the past and in the present is entirely irrelevant and wouldn't be the case, but there's just something so interesting and sad to me about a vampire not being able to check her reflection before she goes on a date. At around 350 years or so, Verity's gotten pretty good at knowing how she looks without mirrors, but still!!!

Third: Vampires cannot cross running water

False! Verity loves to travel, and does it frequently. She can go where she wants, when she wants, as long as it's at night (for personal reasons she stays away from churches, and Massachusetts.)

Fourth: Vampires are destroyed by sunlight

True! Sorta... Direct sunlight, yeah, fuck you, you're toast (HAH) because it will burn you to pieces Buffy-The-Vampire-Slayer style. HOWEVER. Indirect sunlight is fine! A day that is cloudy and gross and you can't see the sun in the sky because the rain is so thick? As long as you've got your long sleeves, parasol, sunglasses, etc, you'll be a-okay. Just keep an eye out for those changes in weather, you wouldn't wanna get caught outside with nowhere to turn...

Fifth: Vampires must sleep in their native earth/in a coffin

False! The Fool of Death vampires simply do not sleep at all, not in a coffin, not in the earth, not anywhere. They don't need to, they're designed to be the ultimate predators. Why sleep when you can hunt?

Sixth: Vampires are "undead"

True! You have to die to become a vampire, and often, humans can be saved from the cold embrace of death by getting turned into a vampire! The process of becoming a vampire will literally kill you and then bring you back, entirely changed. Vampires do not have a heartbeat, they do not have anything that would indicate that they "live" and they heal so fast that to cut one open and try to figure out what's going on inside would be entirely pointless (trust Verity here, she's tried to figure out her own anatomy via this process MORE THAN ONCE)

Seventh: Vampires must drink blood to survive

Hm... true, to a point. While Vampires do consume blood as their main source of food, it isn't impossible to go entirely without. However, the downside to this is that if you starve yourself long enough, eventually you enter what Verity refers to as the Blood Frenzy, which is where if there's blood around? You NEED to consume it. No ifs ands or buts, and you will consume it in the messiest, most immediate way possible. It really is best to just... not starve yourself here. And don't even start with the whole "animal blood" thing, no it doesn't work, it's the same as if a vampire were to try to eat a cheeseburger. It's gotta be human or nothing, babe.

Eighth: Vampires hate garlic

False! Vampires simply don't eat. They have no need to, and can't really... digest food in the same way that a human can. The same could be said for garlic as it could for all foods. They avoid them because there's just no point.

Ninth: Vampires cannot be killed/are immortal/invincible

False! While they're ALMOST invincible, they can still super die if you really really put your mind to it. The most effective way to go about it would be to behead the vampire, and then toss the body and the head into a big ol' fire (ideally a fire that you've pre-prepared, because you truly won't have that much time before the vampire wakes up again and starts trying to fix itself...) They'll only really burn if the body is in small enough pieces, though, so feel free to get creative!

Tenth: All vampires have sharp fangs with which to suck blood

Only halfway false. Most vampires do, yes, absolutely, without question. I think they're sexy. However, what I will say is this. All vampires have some sort of "mark" that designates them as one of their kind, and they can procure more "marks" the more inhuman acts they commit. The most common first "mark" that appears upon turning is yes, fangs, for almost everyone, but it's sort of like a genetic trait. Not everyone gets them. Other examples of "marks" like this are Verity's bright red eyes (which Benevolence received when she was turned) or various sort of stains on the skin (like magical evil tattoos that don't do anything). Sometimes they also present as indications of the way you were originally killed (the two dot scars on the neck, for example, appear on some, or the faint ghosts of other scars that have remained past the change from human to vampire.)

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and have gotten some decent insight into Verity's world and how she operates! Be sure to check back here for more info, I post as often as I can (and I'm a busy bitch rn)! See below the cut for the taglist, and how to join if you wanna stay up-to-date on all the vampire news!!

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to join the taglist, you can do so here! @athenixrose @bardic-tales @drowsy-quill @thelibraryofchaos @cyparissos @kittyphoenix12-xx @destiniescollide @aeipathys @fearofahumanplanet @cactusmotif @writeblrsupport @midnights-melodiverse @ninirito @antique-symbolism-main @annetilney @athenswrites @the-void-writes @wip-nook