#mineshaft generation

[edwardos]

Working on Prerelease 7 Dev today.

[silvr-skreen]

*takes long drag on cigar* *hacks coughs and dies*

[argothiathedreamer]

Playing around in the Minecraft snapshot, I'm absolutely loving the Firefly Bushes.

[deepdreamnights]

Wrong Tunnel

The fight music just started.

The image in this post was made using an autogenerated prompt and/or has not been modified/iterated extensively. As such, it does not meet the minimum expression threshold, and is in the public domain.

Prompt: a large green robotic figure inside a tunnel, in the style of mecha anime, photorealistic accuracy, lively action poses, rudolf ernst, flash photography, commission for, layered translucency

[gallusrostromegalus]

You understand my vision perfectly.

Pool Kelpie

@gallusrostromegalus was talking about variations on the water hazard horse myth and mentioned the idea of a "Pool Kelpie" I just had to draw it.

[mcyt-hc-writing]

The Artificial Structures of Minecraft: An Attempted Chronology

Artificial structures in Minecraft range from the modern to the ancient. What structures are newer and which are older? It's hard to say. But here are my thoughts:

Modern - These structures are in use and new ones are likely being actively created

Villages: Actively inhabited by villagers

Woodland mansions: Actively inhabited by illagers

Pillager outposts: Actively inhabited by pillagers

Witch huts: Actively inhabited by witches

Igloos: No indication of owners, but the captive villager is still alive

Player-made structures: Self-explanatory

*Abandoned villages: Not actively in use, but new ones are likely being created

Recent - Not known to be in use, but have few signs of decay or geological changes

Abandoned villages: Explained above

Mineshafts: No signs of decay, despite wooden structures decaying easily

Desert wells: Cannot be proved to be in use, but have no signs of decay

Ocean monuments: No signs of decay, built after change in water levels (ref. ocean ruins)

End cities: No signs of decay, though in the end this may be hard to determine

*Shipwrecks: Some shipwrecks have few signs of decay or burial, indicating they are likely recent, especially given how fast wood can decay in water

*Ancient city illager structures: Structures in ancient cities made of dark oak wood and blue wool, appearing to be made by illagers. Illagers are active in the world, so it is likely that the structures are recent

Old - Structure shows signs of overgrowth or being partially buried, but no significant structural decay or changes in local geography

Jungle temples: Overgrown but structure and redstone intact

Desert pyramids: May be buried, and the secret room is entirely buried, but they are still near the surface and show little signs of decay

Dungeons/monster rooms: Cobblestone is overgrown bu structure is otherwise intact

*Shipwrecks: More decayed or buried shipwrecks likely belong in this category

Decayed - Structure has decayed or been damaged, but intact segments maintain integrity. Unclear if these are actually older than the previous category or if they were simply more prone to damage due to being larger

Strongholds: Have some cracked and overgrown bricks, and structures may have gaps. However, other than the gaps, rooms retain their shape and may even contain intact furnishings

Nether fortresses: Some bridges may be broken, but the rest of the structures have no obvious rubble or even cracks

Ancient - Structure is entirely decayed. Massive structural damage. Indications of geographic shifts since construction

Bastion remnants: Despite active habitation, they are in ruins. Some parts of the structures resemble natural caves more than artificial construction

Ruined portals: Wrecked and broken structures, often buried or flooded. Crying obsidian appears to be in an advanced stage of decay

Ancient cities: A majority of structures are in ruins. It is unclear if cities are supposed to be buried deep underground with little to no connection to the surface

Ocean ruins: In ruins. Some contain eggs of extinct animals. Evidently built before a sea level rise

Trail ruins: Likely the oldest artificial structures in the game. Almost entirely buried, with no structural integrity remaining

Conclusions:

Piglin civilization was ancient. Considering how ruined bastion remnants are, in comparison with nether fortresses, it seems unlikely that they competed with the fortress builders at the height of their civilization. It is likely that the fortress builders arrived in the nether only after the piglins had regressed to tribalism. If we assume Minecraft Legends to be canon, this likely means that fortresses (and strongholds, by extension) did not exist in the time period of Minecraft Legends

The advanced decay of ruined portals seems to indicate their extreme antiquity. Combined with their peculiar generation (generating nether terrain in the overworld, but not vice-versa) it seems likely that they are also from the Minecraft Legends time period - this makes a great deal of sense in my opinion, considering how they work in that game

Trail ruins indicate that villager civilization is likely just as old, if not older, than piglin civilization. This is consistent with Minecraft Legends, but the difference in architecture indicates that villagers may have been responsible for a lot of different kinds of structures

Nether fortresses and strongholds have similar levels of decay, indicating they may be from the same time period. This makes sense considering the ender eye crafting recipe

It is likely that the treasure maps in shipwrecks were obtained from ocean ruins

Igloos are likely owned by illagers

Abandoned mineshafts were likely made by villagers - badlands mineshafts may have been made by illagers, as they share their wood type with other illager structures

It is likely that the magic of totems of undying is related to the magic of golden apples. They have similar colours, illagers are the most likely to be responsible for igloos (where they experiment with golden apples and reversing death), they likely have mineshafts in badlands (where they find lots of gold), and they seem to have an interest in ancient cities (the best place in the game to find enchanted golden apples)

[salemoleander]

BigB brings a pickaxe down against the soft limestone. It's not dirt, or loam, or even sand, but it makes him think of a burrow. Something safe to hide in.

He knows he's acting strangely, knows the others didn't all beeline to complete their tasks. But the second he opened that letter anxiety wound up his spine, like seaweed ready to pull him under. So, y'know. Might as well deal with it now? He keeps digging.

Digging and saying hi to Scar and being mean to Scar so he leaves and digging and digging. The prickling fear under his skin only abates once he's well underground, in the coolness. Not 'all the way down' yet, but the tension in chest eases.

Finally, some measure of peace. BigB supposes the 'and quiet' has been there the whole time, and he laughs quietly at his own joke. Leans against the wall at the bottom of the pit to rest. He's tired and achy and a tiny bit mad. Of course his task would make him miss out on the chance for allies. Well, maybe if he keeps–

A ghostly hand swats past his head, nails sharp and flesh see-through.

BigB whips to the side, looks around, again, again, and sees nothing. Just faint dust motes and occasional grains of sand falling from above.

It's not even cold? Or whatever ghosts are supposed to make happen, he's not sure.

Sighing, BigB says, "If you're here to kill me, can you at least make it entertaining, man? This task sucks."

His voice bounces and echoes strangely off the stone around him. Nothing responds.

He gives a forced laugh, lowers his head, and keeps digging.

His peace is interrupted not too many minutes later, after he's clambered back to the top to gather more wood for picks. BigB hears footsteps, and then Grian slides the last few blocks down an incline of sand into the cave.

Grian grins at him. BigB smiles back, slow and easy. Last game they'd ended allies, and that has helped a lot to loosen tensions. Still not interested in a day 1 alliance, though. Doubt submerged in friendliness, he greets Grian and asks what he's up to.

"Just bouncing around! Day 1, you know how it is." Grian seems energized, a bit furtive– normal Grian stuff. He looks past BigB, and an indent appears between his eyebrows. "Uh, what's with the hole, B?"

He has a defensive answer lined up, something circuitous and confusing about Jimmy and broken mineshaft generation and new stripmining techniques. Can't let anyone know your secret, after all; even if Grian's sly smile indicates he's probably just going to joke a bit and let it go.

Instead, BigB opens his mouth, and the words that crawl out are, "I don't know, G, where do the tasks come from?"

It's not a question that makes sense, not really. The tasks don't have to come from anywhere! BigB may just be overthinking it, or underthinking it, or something. And he shouldn't have even said that, because it might be giving away his task. Why did he say that?

There's a fire behind the words, anger that scrapes and burns on its way out. He's not sure why that's there either.

Color high on his cheeks, Grian says, "I'm not sure, er– not sure, yeah."

BigB knows he's lying. To be fair, he thinks most people could tell Grian was lying– he's not very good at doing it on the spot.

The smells of acrid smoke and dirt and sea-salt are there and then gone. His hand tremors; he tucks it through a belt loop.

Tasks don't have to come from anywhere, except these aren't just tasks: they're secrets. This game would be called Task Life, or Goal Life, or something, if that was the important thing. He knows how careful Grian is with his words (words like safe and soulmate and mine, all used to very particular definitions).

BigB is familiar with what being one of Grian's secrets feels like. The letter in his pocket feels like a friend. He decides not to ask any more questions, because he's not sure what will come out.

"Okay, just gonna cook some fish, and then I'll be out of your hair." Grian steps past him and hunkers down in front of the furnace. BigB feels a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck. He looks away.

When he looks back, he startles. Scar is right next to Grian, looming by his side.

Except this isn't Scar as he'd seen him earlier, standing around in a circle. BigB locks eyes with this other Scar, his eyes beady-bright crimson and set into a face wrapped in bandages. His hooded cloak is purple and embroidered, threads hanging ragged at the edges. The fabric around his neck is dark.

Slowly, movements jerky, Scar holds up a single bony finger in front of his mouth.

BigB's eyes flick down to Grian's back- does he not notice, in his periphery? Is he just ignoring this? Should he say something?

When he looks back up, the spectre is gone.

Standing in uncharacteristic silence, he awkwardly waits for Grian to collect the rest of his fish. Grian, happy to cause problems on purpose but allergic to tension he isn't the cause of, quickly folds and grabs the remaining fish with an "I'll get out of your hair, then."

They shuffle together to the entrance of the cave; he really needs to get some doors going in here.

Grian turns and fixes a stare just to his side, for a moment. BigB ignores it, and finally manages to shoo Grian off. He doesn't want to know who's haunting him.

Sighing, he shifts a pick into his hand and gets back to work. BigB finishes the task quickly after that, because when he pays attention the fear guides him. This task isn't about digging deep - it's about being hunted, about burrowing, tunneling.

He finishes it and turns in the quest book, receives his rewards. Resolutely, he does not look at the spectres trailing after his friends. It's fine if he just doesn't look, right? Yeah.

The rest of the session passes in a blur. At the end, trying to hang back and keep his eyes on the middle of the statue rather than any ghosts that may or may not exist, he hears Grian share his task.

Jokes no one would laugh at. Of course.

He idly considers a task based on his experiences in the last series. Something furtive and spy-based would be fun. Maybe something frog themed?

He does not think about what secrets his lives in the other games would want to share. Those seem like a late-game thing, anyways.

[intheholler]

what do you think of all of the people being scared of appalachia? i don't know if this is recent or not, but currently i've been seeing a ton of shit online like "never go to the appalachian mountains, it's so dangerous", and i just don't understand it. my family's lived in appalachia for forever, and none of us have experienced anything paranormal or endangering to us. you're one of my favorite blogs on here and i'd just like to hear your thoughts on it

first off, it means a lot that i'm one of your favorite blogs and im really happy i can contribute something to your experience here :') thanks so much for being here <333

but ok so.

my thoughts on it are many. it's been bothering me a long time and i've been meaning to get it off my chest. this will be long and probably ranty, so it won't hurt my feelings if anyone skims lol

lemme preface this little diatribe by saying the obvious: folklore is an integral part of any culture. the mythos of a place/people is tied directly to their histories and unique experiences and struggles and they are enriching. this is true of appalachia too.

oral folk traditions especially are incredibly historically appalachian.

i mentioned in a post i made yesterday about murder ballads, how the purpose of these was to warn kids away from doing dumb shit and getting lost in the hollers--falling down cliffs n mineshafts and shit at night. gettin got by wildlife.

it spooked us safe. they served a purpose, and once you got old enough to realize they're as real as the tooth fairy, they just become enjoyable and nostalgic. because they're you're culture.

probably every mountain kid has stories about haints n boogers that were told to them by their grandparents, and they grow up to tell them to their own kids, and so on. some of it stuck with me because i grew up with the folklore.

by that i mean, i'm a whole 31 year old woman and i still avoid looking out a dark window at night cause it gives me the shivers. i still get spooked when i hear a big cat yowling in the woods. but the difference is i know there's not really haints out there crying--it's just a product of my childhood. ghost stories are fun.

the problem comes in when someone outside the culture gets their hands on appalachian oral folk traditions. then, it becomes a familiar problem: outsiders cherry picking appalachia and harming us with the mess they make rifling through it all.

it's all about the surface level and the visuals. they all love a good aesthetic blog, run by some local from out west or some shit who's never stepped foot here.

but as soon as the spooky photo filters come off and the real life marginalized person is left standing there just out of frame, we go back to being disgusting examples of what not to be. decrepit churches n buildings are aesthetic and quirky until they stop being on a pinterest board, and then they just become damning images of an impoverished region who deserves to be laughed at.

now, not to holler 'splain you--this is more for anyone not from here who might read this: it's been a systemic issue for decades; there were literal government campaigns to demonize us to the rest of the nation so they could garner support to cut into our mountains and exploit our labor and resources.

well, they were fuckin successful, and we have been falsely made out to be this homogenous nightmare of a place--"welfare exploiting" maga country who deserves everything we get, and nothing we don't.

by going so far as to take appalachian folklore that we tell each other and picking out the "aesthetic" stuff--the haints and general paranormal--they are pruning what they like from our culture--the safe things, like ghost stories--for their own aesthetic use.

but not only that, they are using it to demonize us… yet again.

'appalachia is scary. it's full of things that will kill you. don't look out the window at night cause a booger will get you.' only they don't call them boogers cause they ain't even from here. ask them what a haint is and they'll ask if u mispelled 'haunt.'

it gets even worse when you consider that so much of it has roots in native american culture, and how that continues to be exploited and misrepresented.

i'm not even innocent of that. a while back i had to check myself because i made a comment on here about ~spooky appalachia~ ignorant to the fact that what i was commenting on was actually a deeply important cultural and spiritual element to local indigenous tribes. my comments were harmful by my failure to educate myself and know better, thereby saying things carelessly.

my point being--i'm from the area. i should have known better.

when outsiders start saying the kind of shit they say about what they think they hear in the woods without even knowing where such an idea comes from, they're disrespecting a displaced, abused and exploited people, harming real cultures just for clicks without even knowing. that's on top of the damage they're doing to greater appalachia.

it's fuckin gross.

i think my favorite one i ever seen was this middle aged white lady going through her pristine mcmansion somewhere in suburbia, pulling the million curtains and locking the million doors, going "nighttime routine in appalachia!! 🤪🤪"

i could be wrong about this particular person--i didn't check their other tiktoks because im sick of them accounts and tired of giving them the benefit of the doubt--but it immediately came off as a transplant because:

1) mcmansion, 2) i dont know nobody here that locks their shit down like that (not locking up could even be argued as a part of my local culture, a reflection of our deep sense of community and trust in our neighbors).

and then the comments was all like "i don't know how you guys live there" and it actually broke my heart and pissed me off because even if--especially if--you're one of us, why the fuck are you harming us for likes? why are you turning people against us in a brand new way?

and to the transplants that do this--why?

you're not even from here, you moved here to this place you hate and made it worse just so your front porch would have a nice view, and are now benefiting socially from perpetuating bullshit about us?

you buy up all the land, land we often had no choice but to sell in the first place to survive instead of passing it on to our families, land we originally took from the indigenous peoples your content comes from.

you overdevelop it and turn it unrecognizable to make it more like the comfortable cities you come from. you gut a mountain town of its local businesses and cultures, you price people out of their homes...

...and then once you settle in all cozy like, you go tell everyone else how scary it is? how you can't trust the hills? like it's a cool paranormal bravery badge to wear? fuck off entirely.

so idk, in short my personal thoughts are: i personally enjoy a little myth as a treat, because the folklore is a part of the gothic, a part of our culture and a part of my childhood. i don't (intentionally) wield it as a weapon or use it as a pedestal to get the weird brand of attention that people like them are after.

and those who do this can get got by them haints for all i care.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain: Mölbitur, the Undermiser

The boogyman of many a mining village up in the Talrrun Hills, it's said that this greedy giant lurks in abandoned mineshafts and snaps up the unwarry to toil for him forever beneath the earth. Mölbitur's abductions are often used to explain to small children why their parent(s) are never coming home after the all too common tragedy of a tunnel collapse.

The undermiser dwells not in any one depleted pit, but in the feywild, specifically a dizzying labyrinth of cavernous tunnels and collapsing supports known as the Bled Vein. Here the giant and his victims dig endlessly deeper, endlessly filling in the tunnels behind them with worthless rock and bodies of the exahusted. They seek a vast fortune that they will never uncover, and anything shiny they find in the meantime goes to fill Mölbitur's coffers.

Adventure Hooks:

The party are called to the Talrrun hills after sightings of strange creatures skulking through the night, rummaging through homes, pilfering supplies, and carrying off animals. The culprits turn out to be a band of Knackers, sent by the hill giant to return something that was stolen from him and maybe pressgang a few more workers along the way.

The people of the hills are suspicious of outsiders, but after the party prove themselves by ousting the mischevious mine fey and returning a few of the purloined people and possessions, they'll have more than earned the trust of Talrrun's folk. As the rumors go, some weeks back a youth appeared in one of the nearby villages, dirty and confused and carrying an emerald larger than her head. The girl said her name was Merita Hind, the same name as the eldest daughter of the Hind family who went missing almost two generations back. Before anyone could sort out the truth of the matter, the local count's men and sheriff appeared in town and whisked the girl ( and her riches) away.

Merita is the sort of brave and clever child you'd expect out of a fable, one who figured out a way to slip into fairyland for the explicit puproses of robbing a wealth hoarding giant all so that she could feed her impoverished family. Though she managed to acomplish this heroic and selfless task, what Merita failed to account for was the time and memory distortion that vexes so many feywild travlers. Robed of her own acomplishments by a whim of fate, she returns to a world where her parents are dead and her siblings have either moved away or become parents themselves, leaving the poor girl is in a state of utter confusion. This is not helped by the enterprising count, who has retained Merita as his "guest" in the hopes that she will get over her hysterics trust him enough to reveal the source of the treasures she carried. This is a girl in need of a heroic rescue, luckily there are some fellow heroes around.

While he is all too used to letting others search for riches on his behalf, Mölbitur cannot abide a thief, so when his minions return empty handed (or don't return at all) he'll have to settle things personally. It's shortly after the party rescue Merita that a rumble will shake the ground (or if you're feeling extra spicy, have this mini earthquake occur just as the party is mid way through making their escape) as the giant claws his way out of a nearby hill and begings rampaging through villages demanding the return of his treasures.

Defeating the undermiser is easier said than done, especially with a magical pickax in hand capable of rending the earth or ripping down a castle's battlements. When the party do eventually winnow down his health to 0, Mölbitur will go mythic, cracking open the earth benith them and dragging himself, the party, and all their surroundings into the feywild. Awakening in the dreadful depths of the Bled Vein, the heroes will need to navigate its twisting halls to finish off their quarry, then find a way out that won't have them meeting the same fate as poor Merita

There are many treasures of the earth in Mölbitur's horde, but perhaps most perplexingly is a pair of genasi siblings kept in an iron cage to act as the undermiser's eternal hearth, one of the few sources of true warmpth in the chilling depths. They've been poorly treated in their time, but know many of the giant's secrets, such as the convoluted path he uses to pass to and from the mortal plane. They're willing to share it if the party helps them get home, some distant place called the Ashmourn where tides of fire wash the land.

Artists

[edwardos]

[this-is-fox-speaking]

ANALYZING HELLUVA HORSES FOR MY OWN HC THEORIZING/REWRITING!!!

(i also just really like analyizing creatures to make sense of their traits, why they evolved them, how they use them, etc)

BOMBPROOF:

- Thick lower legs, with possibly a hard-shell, boot-like cover that doesn't reach over the hooves

- Overall very thick body with an extremely large height. Safe to assume she's an EXTREMELY strong mare.

- Skull-like face. Thin skin on face? Generally very boney structure in the head? Would make sense with the other bone-like structure on her body like the rib-like covers over-under the sides of her torso. Does it make it easier for her body to breathe in oxygen for her ever burning body?

- Fire hair and tail. Not much to say- this makes sense if we assume she's from the hotter, volcanic part of the Wrath ring.

- Lava underlaying is interesting. Is it an outer layer? A fully liquid substance, reaching into the inside? Is it like a large weak spot? Would make sense with the rib coverings.

- Spikes and horns all over. Spines along the base of the the tail, large sharp horns alongside her ears, rib like covers over the front and back of her legs, other small spikes that blend into her main coat on some spots of her body, and rib covers over the back of her neck with a base line over the middle of it.

- Spikes seem to be covering all bases that could be sensitive or prone to being attacked by other wild animals. Bombproof seems to be a horse that evolved heavily for the wild, yet Striker has one? Makes sense since he lives in a dried out volcano with an abandoned mineshaft inside, but it's interesting all the same! Bombproof is insanely well trained for a horse that seems entirely made for the fights of the wild. Did Striker have her since childhood, since her foalhood?

- Four eyes and random circular spots are very aesthetic based. I can't make up shit for those.

- Very sharp teeth, with four long overbites. Definitely a carnivore- we've seen it in canon, if the teeth don't convince you!

- How would caretips go for these majestic, fiery beasts... horse knowers tell me about it

CARNIVAL HORSES:

- Take this section with a large grain of salt, obviously. This is moreso writing down the traits we can see and hypothesing how they would work if they truly exist and aren't just for the carousel's aesthetic.

- Fire hair and tail. Still on brand. But there's also a horse with an imp tail at the end and only some fire on the base spikes?

- Speaking of- spikes and horns still seem to be the basis, still seemingly being in the same spots- hind rear, legs, neck, etc.

- Two nimble-legged horses and two thick-legged horses. Some don't have these, though. All the horses definitely don't have them as extremely as Bombproof does, proving further my wild horse idea.

- Horns are ALWAYS a constant. This time, though, we can see curly, ram-like horns as well. Variety!

- Still skull-like faces. Either fully skull-like with a white face, or just seemingly thin skin.

- Sharp teeth! But no large teeth like Bombproof's... interesting.

- Wings?? Pegasi demon horses??? That'd be so fucking sick. I hope they're real. I'm realizing now it seems to be a saddle but I pray for pegasi demon horse nonetheless.

- Covered ENTIRELY with eyes. I fully think this one Does Not Truly Exist because of an eye even being on the literal saddle. Fully aesthetic horse. Highly unethical design as well.

- Triceratops. The coolest horse, as we all know. /j

SHOW HORSES:

- Diamond patterns on neck and rear.

- Fully skull-like face.

- Overbite teeth, just like Bombproof!

- No horns?

- Spine-like spikes over tail bwse and neck.

- Nimble, bone-like legs.

- Multicolored flames.

- Not much to say, surprisingly. Their phyiscal details are hard to find past the color themed saddles and costumes.

[kara-knight]

Syku fluff <3

Mines monday, smashed this out just before going to bed, im about as coherent as sifo right now have i proofread it? no. but ill do that when i post to ao3 but im dropping it down the mineshaft right now cause why not.

---

“A bit of fluff a day keeps the doctor away,” Sifo-Dyas singsonged from his place in a sprawl of limbs on the lounge.

Dooku hummed in question, regarding what in the galaxy Sifo was on about. Even as fluent in Sifo-Dyas speak as he was, sometime the seer’s post-vision mumblings took a little deciphering. The visions took their toll and words were difficult beasts on the best of days, that Dooku knew for certain from handling twisted Senate dealings. 

“Fluff. Thing. Over there.” Sifo flapped his hand in the vague direction of his bedroom.

Dooku obediently placed down the data-pad from which he was reading aloud one of Sifo’s steamy holonovels. Sifo’s headache made it too painful to decipher the print himself, and for some reason unbenownst to Dooku, he preferred Dooku’s voice, pauses at interesting turns of phrase, interjections, raised eye brows and commentary about logistical feasibility and all, to the one generated by the screenreader on the datapad.

He stepped over the various piles on Sifo’s floor to peer into the dim room. Fluff and thing did not narrow down the options when it came to scouring the nest of blankets, pillows, throws and even a shawl arranged on Sifo-Dyas’ mattress. 

There was even what seemed to be one of his own cloaks within the nest, the distinct shine of quality Serennian fabric catching his eye. He absently brushed his hand over it while debating whether Sifo wished him to bring the neon pink, fluffy, heartshaped pillow with some lanky bird that Sifo had once said reminded him of Dooku sunburnt, of all things.

The cloak had been sent to him years ago by Jenza; he had a newer one that accounted for his present height but this one had lasted though he hadn’t missed it with Sifo’s acquisition. It was for winter wear, tailored from a dense outer fabric, capable of sheltering from the rain and drafts of snow while riding in Serreno’s forests, though not the most comfortable to sleep with, surely.

And yet… Dooku pulled it out of the nest to inspect its full form. The inside was lined with fur, soft when he brushed over it and deep enough for his hand to sink into… 

He returned to the lounge, cloak bundled over his arm. He could be wrong, Sifo could be asking for something different entirely which he would then fetch, excusing the cloak as taking it for laundry. Not that one would simply toss it down a chute for the droids to handle into the mechanical washers with the rest of the Temple’s tunics. But Sifo would likely let him be for this slip up in graces. The Force however told him that something in the course of action was right. 

He presented the cloak to Sifo, held out for inspection. Sifo grinned, tiredly, loopily, with a hint of prophetic madness, hands grasping for it haphazardly but in undeniable pleasure at the sensation of softness against skin.

“Mmmm, fluffyyy.”

“It is that, indeed.”

Dooku allowed himself to smile back, and gently lay the cloak over Sifo-Dyas, fur side down to envelop him in it. 

He meant to return to his armchair close by Sifo’s side but Sifo caught his hand, entwining their fingers and tugged at it the same as he did their Force bond.

“Doo, Doo, Doo, Doooo,” he sang, raising his head half from the sofa. 

Dooku did not need anything more to understand that. With a bit of manoeuvring, he slipped in underneath Sifo, so Sifo could drape his upper body in Dooku’s lap.

He stroked Sifo’s hair back from his face, the dark strands, slightly greasy and knotted into snarls he begun to carefully work apart with his fingers better than the finest Serenno furs in all the galaxy.

[phightingheadcanons]

Biograft stuff because iono:

I think I've said this before but Biografts get personality with age and trauma, so much so the first ever test models may or may not have become sentient

Now I may or may not have stolen this from an artist on tumblr I can't remember the name of rn but Subspace also programmed 5 bios for at least partial sentience(the goofy goobers we play as), while also experimenting with materials. The five annoy the living s*** out of him but a robot programmed to be sentient is pretty goddamn impressive so they're kept for showcases, presentations and psychological experiments.

Cocoagraft is made of a special type of wood in the inpherno that can withstand a lot of heat and is practically as hard as metal and Carvedgraft is made of well, pumpkins(that were dried and drenched in epoxy reson).

Floatiegraft has a waterproof coating to not get rust. There is a biograft model in the works that's meant for underwater exploration but for now it's the only thing Blackrock relies on for exploring the massive ocean around the continent

The Zeta and Beta bios we play as have the serial numbers Z-314 and B-728 respectively. The rest of the sentient gang don't have serial numbers as they're exclusives to their submodel

Chigrafts glow brighter than any other model because the insides of walls and factories in general are pretty dark(as they're almost completely automated). You could just give them night vision but that's too expensive. They're also often modified and used to explore caves and abandoned mineshafts.

- Star wars anon

My brain is still at Subspace using the sentient Biografts for psychological experiments/moral dilemmas. I can just imagine him putting them through some torturous moral experiment/forcing one of them to go existential crisis and then just wipe their memory of it when he’s done, as if nothing happened.

And for it to be done over again once he’s bored.

Holy crap maybe I did consume too much bioangst yesterday my bad (falls down the stairs with metal pipe sfx)

[kozykricket]

Yet Another Phantom Rework Idea: Ominous Nights

So, now that we have ominous events in Minecraft, and the devs have even talked about the idea of adding more ominous events... as basically the catch all for opt-in harder challenges in the game...

Why not throw phantoms into the generic undead enemies grouping in the game? I kid. I jest. but... hear me out:

Put them in an Ominous Event for night time. Not structure based: Just based around night. Specifically, if you drink an ominous bottle, thereby opting in with the bad omen effect, and try to sleep while you have bad omen that hasnt been cleared or converted into a trial omen / raid omen... Well, you don't skip the night. Instead... you're told that "No amount of rest can pass this night" and a little popup happens with a phantom noise, similar to the raid popup in bedrock edition. Now, you have Nightmare Omen. maybe a little advancement called Ins-omen-ia (ha get it) so what does nightmare omen do? As you may have guessed, it makes the night harder, specifically by making the mobs spawn with potion effects, making them spawn more armored, and changing up the spawning pool, to mostly comprise of the undead. This would include phantoms which would be the signature mob of Nightmare Nights. Of course, as with any ominous event, milk could cancel this, or prevent it entirely... which is a nice nod to having a nice warm glass of milk before bed to sleep better! But anyways, yeah, the whole night would be unskippable, and the effect would last around the length of a whole night. as a failsafe, it'd clear itself if it became day through... someone else sleeping if one player sleep is enabled, etc. and no, it wouldn't effect mob spawns for everyone: just mob spawns for you. Heck, I've seen a mod that makes phantoms grab mobs from the ground and drop them to kill them... and that got me thinking, what if some phantoms had AI goals that made them help out their undead friends, by delivering them right to your face! Some phantoms would just do the usual "fly around, bite you, be a nuisance" and some would be airdropping zombies or flying skeletons around. maaaybe it'd just be a type of jockey lol and as the reward for this? Well, for one, you get to grind more EXP so long as you don't die and lose the effect... but also, what if they just... dropped more rare loot? Or maybe... heck, maybe this is a suitable replacement for Looting if you were to nerf it honestly. I'd do this just for the XP and bones alone... if only zombies had good drops :P ...as for creepers, spiders, witches, and endermen? I have a feeling they'd be exempt from being buffed... I think they deserve their own little things, as they arent undead. Especially endermen (and witches already have raids) So yeah, Ins-omen-iac. If I make it a mod someday, I wanna call it that. I think it'd be cool to just lean into phantoms as being The Hard Mode Undead Enemy ...if theres stuff i left out of this, questions of how it might work, then let me know! or if you have ideas on how ominous / nightmare nights could be improved, you are very welcome to comment/reblog! ty for reading either way! BONUS: You got this far, so I might as well tell you a short, alternative idea I had for phantoms last week before this idea. What if... you know how phantoms circle around in the air, almost like how vultures circle around dead things? Like. i literally saw a vulture irl the other day and i was like "oh, huh, theres probably something dead there" well what if phantoms just... only spawned in specific locations that would basically act as markers for "oh, theres something underground here" whether it be a mineshaft, a monster room, or a whole buncha trial chambers!! it'd be cool, because then you'd be encouraged to explore the surface at night time; to walk into the danger of the night... and see if you can find any phantoms, because if you DO, then you know theres gotta be an underground structure... somewhere nearby. the logic is that, as the undead, they sense the presence of Souls. and ... well, old ancient civilization stuff tends to leave a large imprint of soul-vibes on the world.

...and of course theres also my old post about a phantom rework that boils down to "Stay in the dark long, and you gain insomnia. Be in the light, and it clears up. Phantoms are afraid of light. Deep tragic lore"

I'm proud of all of these ideas on how to make one of my favorite mob designs that I see has huge potential... into an actually INTERESTING and FUN mob! I can totally see Mojang going with involving them in something Ominous related

[freyholland]

Until Dawn Movie Review

This started as a shitpost and then got suuuper long, lmao.

tl;dr the Until Dawn movie was absolutely insane and ridiculous and definitely doesn't need to exist. but I actually liked it more than I thought I would lol

Full review (SPOILER WARNING) under the cut:

Let me start by saying that I’m someone who was fixated on Until Dawn for about a year when it first came out. I don’t consider myself one of its “biggest fans ever”, but I have published over 100k words of fanfiction about it, in addition to countless hours spent crafting edits, metas, playlists, etc - so I think that gives my opinion on the franchise at least Some weight.

Until Dawn is a game that’s basically a movie already. My opinion right along has been that a direct adaptation of UD would have been completely redundant. When this movie was announced, I felt that way. Then we learned that the plot would be different - and suddenly, I was interested. They weren’t taking the easiest and most obvious route. They were trying something new. For better or worse, I was intrigued.

As a writer, changing ANYTHING in a story creates a huge fucking, well, butterfly effect, so naturally things in the movie turn out very different. And yes, I do question some of the decisions, like taking it out of the snowy mountain setting. I assume that was done to differentiate the two stories but then there are so many similarities that it’s impossible not to compare the plots, lol. I do applaud their attempt at creativity instead of mindless translation, even though I don’t think all of it worked. The end product is, at the very least, entertaining, which is really all you can ask of a B-movie horror flick shot on a $15m budget.

The original game, on paper, is cluttered as FUCK. When I first played it back in 2015, I recall turning to my brother at one point and saying “So you’re telling me there just so happens to be a cabin in the woods next to an abandoned mineshaft next to a fucking sanitarium?!” The fact that the movie managed to weave in SO many of these things from that crowded-ass setting while still producing something new and different was really impressive to me. Yes, not all of it was done well - some (like “the masked murderer”) felt like they were just there to tick a box. But a time loop plot allowed for a lot of exploration of these multitudes of different things. And there are so many tiny references! It was fun to spot them all.

I didn’t expect them to work in stuff from the other Supermassive games (notably Little Hope and The Quarry). Oh my god, the way the theater ERUPTED [negative] during the fucking. The fucking. SPONTANEOUS EXPLOSION scenes. I THINK THEY WERE REFERENCING THE QUARRY TRANSFORMATIONS SINCE THEY SHOWED WEREWOLF SKETCHES SHORTLY BEFORE…. BUT LIKE. OF ALL THE THINGS TO USE FROM THAT GAME MFJDKDKDA

And the bear trap with chain thing was from Little Hope, wasn’t it? Or was that from The Quarry, too? I know I remember it from one of the games. Anyway, I was surprised to see that stuff sneak in. Also, them making Dr. Hill the villain was…an interesting choice. Not sure how I feel about it tbh - especially since he seemed like a totally normal guy outside of Josh’s hallucinations (and his explanation for what was happening in the film made no gd sense lmao - how was he able to keep bringing people back to life like that…he outright says it’s real and not in Clover’s mind, so…wtf, is Dr. Hill a necromancer or something). Peter Stormare did an excellent job, though, and he’s probably the closest UD has to a “mascot” character, so I’m willing to be a bit lenient with his inclusion.

I’ll be honest, my working theory prior to seeing the film was that they were making so many changes because they were getting rid of the you-know-whats, or at least changing them into Generic Nameless Creatures, since they look so little like you-know-whats to begin with. Was very disappointed that they not only used the name, but went even farther in stripping them of any cultural connection or significance. The game belly flopped with their handling of Indigenous folklore, but at least they acknowledged it was Indigenous folklore. This was just pure “they’re movie monsters”. Did not like, the movie lost probably a whole grade in my book for pulling that.

Other notes: Loved the use of practical effects! The acting was also solid and I felt like most of the jokes landed. The majority of the humor came from the banter between a bunch of stupid teenagers (?), like in the game, and while the characters themselves weren't as memorable (to be expected in a movie that's about 1/5th the length of the game), I did like them well enough. I actually liked Nina a lot and wish we could have learned more about her. A canon bicon in my adaptation of an oppressively heterosexual game? More likely than you think, apparently

Changing the “final girl” to be the surviving twin also added some juicy emotional stuff we never got in the game, since we don’t get to see much of Josh processing what happened to Hannah. Reminds me of those “Beth lives” fics people used to write, where she’d help take Hannah down. I also enjoyed that they (purposely?) cast a girl who looks like Ella Lentini. (And her actress name is actually Ella, too! Ella Rubin). I liked that choice a lot.

So in the ongoing debate of “Should this film have been given the Until Dawn name?”, I’m honestly torn. Yes, parts of it do feel like they were recycled from other scripts that probably couldn’t get greenlit on their own. But there is SO much UD DNA woven throughout, it’s pretty undeniably An Until Dawn Movie. When I was discussing it with my brother afterward, his opinion was that he would have called it “Until Dawn: [some subtitle]” to differentiate it, and I found myself agreeing with that. Calling it something like Until Dawn: 13 Nights (or anything like that) might have alleviated some fan outrage - though that would have come with the tradeoff of casual horror viewers thinking it was a sequel and possibly skipping it…so I’m not sure what would have truly been the best move here. I think it was kind of a lose-lose either way, which is a risk you always run with these sorts of adaptations.

Ultimately, did Until Dawn (2025) need to exist? No. Is it better than the game? No. Is it a fun time for fans of the game who are curious about its subject matter being explored in a different way? Yeah, definitely. It's not going to win any awards, but I don't regret seeing it.

Rating: 6/10

[eclipseohno]

i'm gonna say it:

ugly sonic is better than the minecraft movie

i cannot stress enough how fucking angry the trailers make me. the only enjoyment i get from watching them is gawking at how insanely awful the whole thing is. it's uncanny, it's gross, it feel disrespectful to the entire spirit of what minecraft is supposed to be. "flint and steel" was the only thing that got a laugh out of me, not because it was genuinely funny, but more of like a "what the fuck lmao" type of moment.

every trailer has chipped away my already incredibly low faith more and more, to the point that i'm actually offended that they're pushing out into theaters.

ugly sonic may have put me into disbelief, but everything related to the minecraft movie has upset me so much. like. it's not hard to make a good movie for minecraft. even parkour civilization, as overstimulating and cheesy and ridiculous as it is, is so much better. because it embraces how cheesy it is and does it well enough. and i've yet to watch the whole thing because, as i've said, i find it slightly overstimulating. and there are so many series and videos and genuine works of art related to minecraft already out there and it baffles me that a multi BILLION dollar game has a movie that looks this bad.

hermitcraft, life series, stampy's lovely world, white pine, parkour civ, the librarian's from the fog, artimator, 100 days challenges, horror mod series, garfilled, zeemyth, horror args from andrewgaming to the one with the noodle moon anomalies to oldroot, mcc, the fallen kingdoms saga, fucking mincraft story mode. all of these and more embody the actual nature of mincraft so much better because even if modded or altered it's still minecraft. it still has that minecraft vibe that none of the trailers have been able to provide. i can't tell you what exactly the vibe is, but it's there. the movie just feels like those shitty clickbait videos that prey on children for views and money. there's none of the heart, the serenity, the feeling of possibility and beauty that this 15 year old game about building blocks has given so many people.

this game means so much to me. and this movie clearly doesn't care about anyone but the most impressionable, gullible of children. this movie isn't minecraft. it doesnt even look anything like the game.

minecraft is about surviving. struggling. spawning into a world for the first time and being scared of creepers and skeletons. it's running from ghasts, raiding mineshafts, building bigger and better houses. getting spooked by cave noises, swearing up and down to your friends that no, herobrine is real, i saw him and he killed my dog. spawning the wither for the first time, failing to kill it, and running away from everything you had ever known to escape it. discovering the world borders, building an army of dogs, sneaking the tablet late at night to follow a build tutorial. creating a world just to blow it up and cover it with lava. build a hotel out of colorful wool. typeing "deez nuts" into the seed generator to see what happens. typing your name to see what happens. running from the warden, fighting the warden, flying with an elytra for the first time, getting swarmed by phantoms because you've been sucked into a project for several hours. sitting in your room while it rains outside, panicking with your friends because your all backed into a cave, running out of torches and food while mobs close in on all sides. those 2 week long hyperfixation sessions. learning better build techniques. trying out mods for the first time, playing on public servers.

that's minecraft. not... whatever the movie has going on. like i don't even like piglins that much and i feel bad for them getting the short end of the stick in the movie like that.

and don't even get me started on the villagers. dear god.

at least they cared enough to fix sonic. minecraft couldn't give less of a fuck, and it shows.