#suprisingly not the art itself

[crsinclair]

My Lunar New Year Piece is finally done! Based on my (self indulgent) HC that Aizawa Shouta is half Chinese and celebrates LNY when China does as opposed to when Japan does (Jan 1st) Happy Lunar New Year!

[nazrigar]

Personal Halloween Character Design Challenge - Slashertown

Time to reveal what I've been doing for Halloween/Spooktober!

Basically a personal character design challenge, inspired by my Tiger vs Slasher Villain post!

The gist is that it's set in a town that's basically a magnet for various kinds of horror villain archetypes, ESPECIALLY Slashers... hence its Name.

The Leads: The main protags of the challenge/setting.

Linda Rivera - A young woman of Spanish-American descent, known equally for both her stubborness and her empathy, and a strong, strong survival instinct. She's the been the "Final Girl" for most of her life, be it as a survivor of a literal cult war when she was a kid to Prom night when she was a teen. She cosplays and paints minis for a living, and is genuinely curious about what's REALLY going on in Slashertown.

Rodney "The Ripper" Rackham. Filling in for the unstoppable masked slasher villain ala Jason and Michael Myers, Rodney was once just a humble shop student with an interest in metallurgy and blacksmithing, until one day a trip to the woods went terribly wrong. For years he was the town's most famous slasher, targeting repairshops and others indiscriminately... nowadays he's more famous for another thing -killing other slashers.

Animal Companions: Filling in for the Animal guide/voice of wisdom, ala Coraline

Peggy Thirteen is Linda's cat. A crafty and wiley critter than seems to know just about every nook and cranny in town. Unusually intelligent for a cat, and remarkably obedient when Linda says to "stay put". There's more to her than meets the eye, as shown with her smug face.

Maharaja is the town celebrity Tiger, having been the one to save Linda from a slasher known as "Henry the Hatchet" a few years ago. Unbelievably strong, and much like Peggy, seems to be far more intelligent than what a big cat should be. Linda certainly suspects something.

Cannibal Archetypes: Self explanatory

Marlowe Magritte: Filling in for the Hannibal Lecter side of the cannibal villain, with a dash of Slowik from The Menu, he's the owner of the most famous restaurant in town. His food is to die for, as certain patrons disappeared in his business, just infrequent enough that no one suspects anything. Sure, while having liver with a nice chianti is nice, what he's REALLY after are memories and experiences. THAT to him, is what makes a true experience.

Merle "The Man Ogre" Mason: The Hills have Eyes meets Leatherface, Merle was a man exposed to chemicals during the end of World War 2 and became a mutant... THEN the magics of the town turned him into a cannibalistic monster, lurking about the hills just outside of town. Suprisingly articulate despite his looks!

Lethal Ladies: Because one can never go wrong with more female slasher villains!

Heather Berry lost her mind when she couldn't be Queen of High School Land, and thus took it out on some students, before mysteriously dissapearing after a fight with eternal Final Girl Linda. Now she's back, as Haley Babbit, successful business women with great PR... but beneath the facade, is still the same bloodthirsty Heather!

Liv Malone - SHE FOLLOWS. Slowly. Very slowly. Sure, she's completely unrelenting in her need to dispatch someone, but man oh-man is she SLOW. A simple shove is usually all that's needed to stop her from following you.

Killer Clowns: And this time, they're a family!

Marco the Clown and Minnie the Mime are a brother sister team that only wants to entertain you with their (occasionally lethal) shows! Please laugh at Marco's jokes and take Minnie's Art seriously, they get uspet if you don't!

Jethro the Jester is their grandfather, and leader of the group, simply known as The Troupe. One of the most powerful entities in town, his shows and acts seem to defy physics itself, and he'll always make sure that you leave the show a new person!

Terrible Toys: Three different flavors of violent toy!

Tricky the Ragdoll - Guardian of all children in town, much like Gamera, just one that's VERY open to lethal force when he sees a kid in trouble. Is actually quite helpful to them, no strings (ha!) attatched, offering blankets, food and subtly guiding kids to reunite with their parents if they ever get lost.

Mrs. Olivia - An overpossessive ghost of a woman from the 40s stuck in a porcelain doll. She'll do ANYTHING to protect her "poppets". ANYTHING. She is awoken whenever someone cleans up her toy body.

The Immolator - The most overtly Chucky-like of the bunch, with a dash of Small Soldiers. A psychotic, misanthropic inmate that winded up possessing the toy of a 90s action figure, he'll be more than happy to murder any meatbags in his sights... so long as he has batteries. The REAL danger is that, when dormant, he can imitate ANY voice possible, subtly suggesting you to really, REALLY give him those batteries!

Oceanic Killers: Because you gotta have a Jaws reference!

Big Bertha and Finn are a Great White Shark and Dolphin duo, that work together to un-alive silly and stupid hairless apes. Big Bertha LOVES the taste of humans, and would go out of her way to find 'em, but usually it's Finn that calls the shots. Any human that bothers him or makes fun of him, either gets a taste of his rostrum, or he sends Bertha to do the dirty work.

Primeval Horrors: Because everything's better with dinosaurs!

The Great One and his Flock: Combining both Jurassic Park and Hitchcock's the Birds, the Great One is a colossal, fifteen ton Tyrannosaurus rex, and is the oldest entity in town, and by far one of the most powerful. So powerful, that no slasher dares to enter his territory (which is the Slashertown Museum of Natural History). The birds of Slashertown are his eyes and ears, agents of his will, and those that mess with 'em don't tend to live to see the next sunrise. It's also a foolish thing to lay a hand on his skeleton, as the paleontologists who worship him like a god like to remind visitors. All those that have done so, either disappear (with the only remains being bloodied claw marks) or become skeletons stripped down to the bone.

[hannahlikeso741]

HL Boys smelling female MC's perfume Part 2

Y'all really like the perfume posts, so I grace you with Part 2, a continuation of the little blurbs previously written with MC as their lover now. Perfumes listed for each character and credits to @cranberryletters and @hogwartslegacyreactions.

Boys Edition : Part 1

Girl's edition : Part 1, Part 2

Sebastian Sallow : (Penhaligon's Lavandula)

The Undercroft was cold and dim. Sebastian needed time to get away from people, overwhelmed by it all. He was so tired, stressed and... defeated. The events that happened from his 5th year is now weighing on him, leaving him haunted as he slumped into the wall, his legs giving out as Sebastian stared at the ceiling. He didn't expect MC coming into the Undercroft, a worried look written on her face. MC asked him if he was all right. Does he even look all right? He snorted sarcastically at this question, looking back at her with indifference. MC sighed, going to his side as she sat next to him, giving Sebastian a big hug. At first Sebastian didn't feel indifferent to MC's hug, but his arms found itself wrapped around her waist tight, catching that smell again. Oh he missed that scent, that lavender scent she wears so well, blended with a slight hint of vanilla and spicy notes. It came in like a comforting voice, a lover's embrace to calm Sebastian's pain. Unashamedly so that he buried his nose onto the crook of MC's neck, taking in deep breaths to smell her scent again. So much so Sebastian didn't notice MC's gasp, her eyelids fluttering at the intensity of his hold on her. In the sheer hunger of needing comfort, Sebastian kissed MC on the lips passionately. Neither of them broke from the kiss, finding themselves wrapped in a passionate embrace. After needing some air, Sebastian asked if MC would come and stay with him in Feldcroft for the summer. He smirked when she said yes.

Ominis Gaunt: (Chanel's No 5)

He couldn't get enough of that scent and it frustrated him so. MC decided to play coy when Ominis finally asked about her perfume, saying that she will tell him if he willingly would go to the upcoming school ball with her. Reluctantly, Ominis agreed. Ominis found himself wearing his dress robes as he waits for MC in the Great Hall during that night, nervous as it all could be a trick and he was stood up. Ominis heard the gasps and murmurs, wondering who that could be. But upon catching that scent, he smiled as MC held his hand, leading him to the dancefloor when the music started to play. Sighing, he held MC in a waltz position, praying that he didn't step on her toes. Suprisingly she caught up to him in speed and steps, the two moving in sync. Upon smelling her close up, Ominis could finally note the iris, musk, vanilla and other things... but it was incomplete as it was missing one more note. As MC got tired of dancing and wanted to take a breather, Ominis followed suit, sitting down in the moonlit garden. Ominis now didn't find the scent annoying or bothersome, rather it greets him like an elegant work of art that was put on display. He and MC admitted their feelings towards on another, leading to a chaste kiss and a warm embrace. Ominis found the missing note on that perfume. Her.

Garreth Weasley: (Replica's Lazy Sunday Morning)

He watches MC sleeping peacefully next to him after they made love yesterday night. Garreth let his fingers dance around MC's hair, slowly moving towards the skin on her back. The Sunday morning peeked through the window, giving MC a sort of halo. Garreth felt blessed to witness a rare beautiful sight. MC woke up, stretching slightly with the white linen bedsheets. She turned to her side, greeting him with a sleepy smile as she snuggled up to him. Garreth gave MC a kiss on her lips, taking in that scent he smelt from her handkerchief from that potions incident. Oh, how that scent charmed him so, with it's musky yet clean notes blending together with that light touch of pear and florals. Garreth sighed as he held MC tight, continuously giving her small kisses and whispering sweet nothings while she held him tight, giving him small moans that was music to his ears. They spent the whole morning in that bed, the conversation going from pillow talk to dreams of the future. Garreth chuckled and supported her ambitions, while she can't wait to see him become a master potioneer. They both smiled at each other, looking forward to what came next. The impression from that scent that first hit Garreth did came true in the end. It was better than Garreth could ever dream of. Maybe now it is a good time to pull out that ring he kept hidden in the bedside table.

Amit Thakkar: (Diptyque's Tam Dao)

MC wanted to explore the rest of the magical world after graduation. Amit willingly obliged, wanting to go with her to see the spots where it is just perfect to set up a telescope to view the stars above. Upon landing in his homeland of India during their travels, Amit asked if she was willing to visit his homestate of Bombay, or as he calls it, Gujarat. MC said yes, and Amit felt his heart over soared with joy. He also actually bought the train tickets ahead of time so he felt relief when she said yes otherwise those tickets would have gone to waste. The tropical heat and hearing the familiar Gujarati language cured Amit's homesickness once the train stopped at his hometown. He had to admit, he had been away for too long. He showed MC the temples and their gods and goddesses, explaining their roles in Hinduism. MC listened with a curious mind, a keen pupil as she always was when Amit studies with her about Astronomy. Amit gulped when they arrived at his childhood home, awaiting the flurry of questions from his parents regarding MC. MC knew how to charm her way through, answering each and every question while sprinkling some good things about their son. As MC played the charming guest, Amit couldn't help but to catch her scent again. Oh that sandal and cedar wood that reminded him of his childhood worn by her gave him such a yearning for his home that he fell for her since, wondering how he landed MC. Now that she is here, it just felt right. He stared at MC as she politely excuses herself to freshen up, giving Amit a kiss on the forehead as she goes to another room. And that is when Amit wanted to bury himself in shame as his parents nag him on when he is going to marry her.

Leander Prewett: (Goutal's Petite Cherie)

She can't be beat. He has tried everything but somehow MC always got better. On the last Summoner Court's match he lost by 70 points, leading Leander to admit defeat and walk away in shame. he didn't even care that MC was calling out to him until he felt a jolt, her hand grasping on his robes. MC asked why he was always challenging her in everything. Sighing, Leander admitted for once he just wanted to be good in something, perhaps something that can prove he was worthy of the house of Gryffindor. MC gave him a pat on the back, offering to teach him. In fact, she even offered to be his dueling partner so he can learn a thing or two. Slowly, Leander had to admit he wanted to be in MC's company. He began to join her in exploring caves or some quiet study time, relishing in what she had to share with him. She always had that pull about her, down to her scent. Oh how that grassy notes of pear and peach settle down to a bouquet of roses and lilac on her skin and clothes. She doesn't know about how magnetic she was, was she? It was one of those days that MC asked him to meet her at the black lake, something about buried treasure. Leander took a deep breath as he held to those roses tight, waiting for her. He was going to prove his bravery to her by asking her out right now.

Everett Clopton: (Loewe's 001)

Whoa! Those new broom upgrades was worth every galleon spent. Everett swished around the Southern course, with MC just right behind him. The two merely only wanted to test it out, leading to them doing a broom race. Honestly, Imelda might be foaming at the mouth seeing those two beating her score halfway. Everett looked back, ensuring MC wasn't too far behind. Unfortunately, he went too fast that for a split second, he found himself going flat on a tree. MC screamed in shock , then yelling Arresto Momentum to prevent him from falling down faster. That was some good timing, he thought as he landed on the ground gently with MC landing on her broom, looking frantic. He is okay, he faced worse broom accidents. MC isn't having it and shoves him a bottle of Wiggenweld. Fine, fine, he will drink one. As he drank, he caught a wiff of himself. Thank Merlin that he actually wore some cologne this time with MC so close to him. He gave her a kiss of reassurance on her forehead, seeing that she really was worried. Leaning his head on the crook of her neck, he gave a little laugh as he basked into that familiar scent of tangerine and bergamot that gave way to the jasmine, amber and linen. MC's body heat was the finishing touch to that scent as Everett looked up at her, giving a child like smirk. Upon seeing MC rolled her eyes and giving him a kiss in return, Everett knew he won, more ways than one.

[undasura]

hi!! i love your art + ocs they are so cool i know you have an art FAQ but i was wondering if u had one for your dollies? i actually have been getting into them recently bc of you :D i was kinda just wondering about like models you have/where you got them from/where you get clothes for them from etc. im more interested in smaller scale ones generally but still if u wanna share anything that would be cool :3 thank you!! p.s. i love the 3d sculpts/prints you do for them its so cool....

thank you!!! i didnt think i'd get anyone into dolls actually lmfao

zephyr doll is an imomodoll 75, with jointed hands from DF-H

rali doll is a wip but she has an obitsu 50 skeleton/shins/feet/arms/hands, angel philia thighs, dollfie dream dynamite hips, and a dollfie dream flat L bust... shes a piece of fuckin work

their heads are sculpted by me with luv... hehe

anywho i usually get my clothes from luts! they carry a lot of nice stuff for zephyr's size (a whopping 2 feet tall...) i havent looked around for much stuff for rali yet. they also make dolls themselves as well

i actually ordered directly from imomodoll's tao bao shop via a proxy (super buy) to get zephyr's doll body which idk. i dont really recommend it's scary as fuck navigating that site. as for rali, i ordered the original obitsu 50 cm from parabox.jp and hybrided/modified the dollfie dream parts (ordered from the volks usa site) onto the skeleton. I got the AP thigh parts from faithz

if you're interested in smaller scale bjds I reccomend 1/6 scale lil guys. they're about 30cm tall usually (around barbie doll height) but typically, from what i know about, have more chibi/child-like proportions!

i've heard good things about tinyfox's 1/6 line and also imomodoll's 1/6 line - they're both vinyl bjds and have an internal skeleton as opposed to a resin bjd which are strung tightly with elastic. also i will say imomodoll and tinyfox have some suprisingly cheapo prices (around 200 iirc???) for their fullsets which include a faceup/wig/clothes/eyes/etc along with the doll itself.

i'm anti recast (which everyone should be btw. dont steal people's art. jesus) so i dont reccommend anyone shop for dolls themselves (like heads/bodies/etc) on aliexpress, temu, ebay or etsy--- they're usually stolen from the artists.

sites i can reccomend for buying legit doll stuff is alice's collection, jane's doll land, clover singing, and i think i've heard good things about stacy's pink ocean but i can't remember lol. those sites i just linked carry all sorts of stuff from official dolls to clothes and accessories to maintenance items.

if you're interested in getting vinyl dolls i recommend starting with an obitsu parabox like i did! they're cheaper than dollfie dreams and if you dont like their head sculpts for their dolls it's mega easy to mod a DD head onto one.

thank you!! ill probs make a doll faq soon so this doesnt get lost.

[spinning-feeling]

"A Spinning Feeling: Part 1 - The first meeting"

Selfship Story - Starring Maxim, and Spinel

Story under the Cut

Exactly 6 weeks have passed since Maxim bled into this world, and it admittedly felt somewhat odd to him, living like a human again. All his life has he wished for such mortal suffering and routine to end, and yet now - as a God - he found himself going back into this way of existance.

Though, it was going to be diffirent. He had control now, Control over his life, his actions, over aspects of the world - though he stops himself from going further, he could control this world and make it answer his every wish and whim… but sometimes, there is fun in unpredictability… though, it is also a double-bladed sword. Unpredictability in this case could also end him, emotionally of course, if he wasn't careful.

Maxim shook his head to not overthink too much, instead choosing to focus on his new home, which he was standing in front of. He was admittedly still rather impressed with Bismuth's craftsgemship - She actually managed to complete his request to the T, though it most likely was she had help from Pearls, or other 'classy' gems with the matter to make it in the style of Art Deco… Either way, its beyond impressive.

Obviously, he could have just made one himself at a flick of his wrist, but actually choosing to do it some customary way seemed to make a bit more sense. He only hoped the whole "bluff" of having always just enough currency would work out still.

"…Hm, speaking of Funds, i should propably spend them on some activities, shouldn't i?"

Maxim murmured to himself, thinking out loud, as he places a hand on his chin, tapping it with his index finger, before shrugging, turning around and going off into beach city.

"To be fair, i never properly went into a proper park or carnival, other than those at the eye… Hm. Guess Funland will be a first-time experiance of such things for me!"

He continued monologuing to himself, finding an odd comfort it speaking to himself, a habit from his previous life.

So he went towards Funland, rather fascinated, more so by the second as he hummed to himself, feeling a shard of child-like excitement over the whole situation as he practically waltzed into funland, suprisingly managing to get through a quick interaction with Mr. Smiley to get into the park itself, as he goes around the whole park, beyond fascinated with everything around him. It was a whole new experiance! A whole new Real experiance at that! He had been in countless carnivals in games or in the stories he read or imagined, but being in one for real was something else! He had to just try every single game he could find!

"It's beyond Fascinating, so many colors, treats, such-and-such, na ozyrysa i apisa, if only i could be everywhere at once!"

He lightly joked to himself, though still very much wanting to try everything - well, except the sweet popcorn, that seems like sacreligious blasphemy - choosing to go try a couple of games first, already hopping over to it to try it. From shooting down targets with a toy gun, to ring tossing, he has played many games already, choosing to return to one he has played over remembering there being a plushie he wanted to get before he could go to any other games or start going to the rides, humming to himself with a bright confidence as he went over to the booth of the beanbag-toss game, stopping when he noticed a familiar figure.

They, or rather, She, had long pigtails, sporting a dark shirt with small shoulderpads, puffy shorts, white leggins, or is it socks? he couldnt tell, as well as pointy boots, all of her form in diffirent shades of pink. He blinked, as he realised that it was Her. Not only was she from his vision, but he recognised her from his previous human life… he never met her in person, though he knew she was more than important to him. Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind, gentle whispers appearing around him, that one could hear if they were close enough, before ceasing as he shook his head, clearing his throat as he looked at her once more.

She appeared to be playing the game he was about to play himself, though not doing too well. It took him a moment to compose himself and gather enough confidence anew, before he stepped over to the beanbag-toss booth, basically next to her now as he noticed her focused expression, trying her best to hit the bags in the right spots, but seemingly not managing to hit them at the rainbow spot. He hummed as he looked at her, then at the way she threw. The more Maxim saw her play, the more he felt nostalgic, remembering playing something simmilar in his human life, before gently clearning his throat once more.

"Excuse me,"

he said, trying to sound as poilte as possible, first impressions matter!

"May i have a turn?"

She turned to look at him, blinking in suprise over not noticing him earlier, gently moving her hand in his direction,

"Oh, Sure!"

She said with a smile, as he hummed softly, finding himself gently smiling back at her smile, lightly hesitantly taking some of the bags into his hand as he hummed softly in focus, his expression changing to fit his concentration, earning her to gently tilt her head in intrigue. He started off fine, managing to hit some of the bigger spots, earning him a fair amount of points before nearly hitting the rainbow spot. Obviously he tried again, humming still as he managed to hit more and more spots without much problem, accept for the rainbow one.

He thought the silence was a bit.. Uncomfy, to say the least, as he looked at her and tried to spark some conversation.

"What brought you here? I-if you dont mind me asking."

He hummed.

"Ah, nothin' much, this game looked fun so i decided to try it out, though…"

She lightly trailed off as she looked at what appeared to be one of the prizes, a big teddy bear with a pink heart at its tummy.

"Ever since i saw that prize, i've been trying to get it… Progress has been, eheh… slow."

She chuckled softly as she looked at him, him looking at her back, before looking back at the game in front of him. Ah, to hell with the other plush, he could try to craft one himself, mayhaps, as he now thought that a kind gesture would be in order.

"Hm… Check this."

He hummed to himself with a chuckle, before throwing each of his bags. Blue, green, yellow, red, each of them hit! The two seemed focused, as Maxim threw the last bag, it hitting the rainbow spot, finally, as Maxim laughed to himself,

"Yes! Oh, Golly what fun!"

"Congratulations! Please pick a prize."

The Employee said, as Max looked over the vast array of plushies availible. For a moment, he pondered the plush octopus, before pointing to another one.

"i'd like the teddy bear, please."

He asked politely, as She hummed softly, her expression gently souring, though not enough to be noticed, as he picked up the bear from the employee, before turning to Her, a happy smile on his face, as he gave his prize to her, as her expression brightened up to pure suprise.

"For you, Miss!"

He chuckled softly. He… Knew, her name, though it would be best to ask her for it first before he can call her by name, as he smiled at her more softly. She was in a small state of shock as she reached out for the offered gift, gently pushing it to her chest as she smiled at him back, a small blush on her face.

"…T-thanks, Pal, Though it is your prize, dont ya think its best ya keep it..?"

She shrugged, as he smiled more,

"No, it's more than fine, it's yours! You did want it, did you not?"

He chuckled softly, making her blush even more, hugging the plush closer to her.

He admittedly found her cute, seeing her somewhat shy and hugging the plush close to her like such, as he gently sighed to himself, holding his hands, before blinking back into focus as he looks at her still,

"A-ah, right, Almost forgot to ask, What is your name, Miss?"

He asked, Polite as ever, as she looked back up at him, a soft smile on her face a she chuckles at his formality,

"Hey, no need to be so formal, pal! Call me Spinel!"

She chuckled softly as she smiled brightly at him, making him blush a bit more, as he chuckles back,

"F-fair enough, guess i can't help it, t'heheheh…"

He rubbed the back of his head, not really able to be any less formal to someone he sees as higher than him, as he smiles at her shyly, though happily.

"My name's Maxim, it's a pleasure!"

He hesitantly took his hand out, not expecting anything, his eyes gently widening and his blush gently growing once seeing that Spinel has taken his hand, as he hums softly. Feels truly Odd, to be honest. This is the first time he shook someone's hand in… Lifetimes. It felt… Kind. He gently tightened the hold on her hand as they shook hands, before he had to let go when she did, as to not make it awkward, gently humming as they look at eachother, both of them sporting a tiny blush at the whole situation, before she hums in thought.

"…Wanna join me for some other games, Max?"

She asked, seeming to enjoy his company, as he looked at her, blinking in slight suprise as he smiles anew,

"i'd… Like to, Spinel. If its alrighty with you, of course…"

He muttered lightly shyly.

"'Course it'd be fine, that's why i asked!"

She softly laughed, moving away into a direction of another game, as he tips his cap to the employee and hops over to match her walking speed,

"Heh, you're kinda weird."

She softly muttered herself, him picking up at her word, feeling a shard of unsurety grip his heart as she smiles on, happy still,

"i like that."

He was admittedly confused on how she found him being 'Weird' to be something to like, but he chose not to dwell on the thought, choosing instead to enjoy his time with her as they went around the park, playing diffirent games and managing to win diffirent prizes, Spinel winning for Maxim a big plush as well as to 'settle the score', both of them enjoying eachother's time greatly as they went around the park and exchanged stories. For the second time after he became a God, Maxim found himself feeling genuinely happy, occasionally lightly messing with his hands as a stim, finding himself even snickering for, seemingly, no reason. Eventually, the two choose to go get some Treats and Drinks, Spinel getting the former while Maxim ordered the latter, He of course asking her politely on what she wished for, her snickering and telling him to suprise her, leading to now; The two just sitting on a bench, enjoying the atmosphere and the ocean in front of them.

"What took ya so long?"

Spinel asked with a chuckle, Maxim chuckling with a shrug and a small blush,

"I was trying to figure out what kind of drink You'd like… Went with a strawberry milkshake."

He smiled, offering her the beverage as she took it with an nod,

"And what'cha got for yaself, Maxie?"

She asked with intrigue, the nickname making him blush more as he chuckles to himself,

"…t'heheh, Only some ice tea, nothing too crazy."

He shrugged anew,

"…Though, what did ya get for us in terms o' snacks?"

He inquired as he sat down next to her, before looking at the box on her lap,

"Ah, i didnt know what you'd like as well so i trusted my gut!"

She shrugged with a chuckle, opening the box to reveal donuts, in many diffirent hues and with diffirent sprinkled toppings. He had to admit, they looked pretty damn good… though what did catch his eye is the donut that was a wee bit deformed, more triangle-like than circular, and with his hues to match - White, Purple, and Green. Spinel hummed as she gently tilted her head as she watched Maxim's focused expression,

"…Ya ok there, pal?"

At hearing her voice he shook his head, blinking,

"Y-yeah i am, just was intrigued that you got my favourite kind, is all."

He chuckled softly, pointing to the chocolate covered donut, as she hums, smiling as she let him take it.

They enjoyed the treats and drinks, as well as eachother's time as they looked into the vast ocean before them, soon enough the park quieting down as they sat side by side, Maxim softly humming a melody from time to time, seemingly trying to catch on to a specific melody but changing it always to make it seem diffirent, Not that Spinel exactly noticed, she admittedly just found listening to his humming to be rather calming, no matter how odd or intriguing the melody could sound. Soon enough, she found herself feeling somewhat tired, the day was rather eventful after all so it was only fair, as she softly yawned, stretching out, as Maxim looked at her in intrigue.

"You feeling ok, Spinel?"

He asked softly, noticing Spinel's sleepy state,

"..Yeah, peachy, just kinda tired."

Spinel muttered, stretching out again,

"Today was super fun, but i think it's time to hit the hay."

He looked at her, honestly not feeling tired one bit, as he hums,

"Yeah, think it's time indeed… Yet, will we meet eachother again soon?"

He inquired, polite and curious as ever,

"Pff, of course you dork! Let's meet up right here, tommorow. Sound good?"

She chuckled, to which Maxim smiled,

"Yeah, sounds good."

He watched as Spinel waved him goodbye, going away to where he presumed would be her home, as he hummed, today's whole events re-playing in his mind as he looked on blankly, stuck in his thoughts,and before he knew it, t'was nightfall.

"…Hm. Think i might get used to this."

He muttered, moving his head around to stretch out his neck, as he stood up, and marched away to the exit, a soft smile on his face as he thought of his new friend, and the fun times he spent with her at day.

[official-nina-hopkins]

So i have been thinking about eldritch being whump, okay that sounds weird and it's like 4 am but let me present this scenario to you.

So, caretaker! A sort of ""hermit"", they (or she idk i imagine caretaker to be pretty fem) live in the woods working some sort of job that allows them to work from home, maybe art i dunno, apart from the hermit part they are pretty normal, likes nature, are very empathetic and quiet, that sort of stuff.

And now, whumpee... The eldritch god/being, of something very basic like the darkness or the shadows, they are suprisingly, harmless? Like they don't see humans as playthings, vermin or anything like that humans are literally just like bugs to them, still though, they got some cults and worshippers and they find them endearing in a "oh, you" sort of way and they indulge them in whatever they request, now, you are wondering how are they whumpee? Okay so these cults? Yeah they don't really know shit about whumpee and think they are some sort of evil god that wants to bring about the apocalypse and that they need a human vessel to do that or whatever, so they do just that and it does not go well! In short, the cult is now dead, the eldritch god is stuck trapped inside a body that is both barely keeping itself together but also not somehow not allowing the god to get out from it and they also don't know how to get out

The story i have in mind for them is that the whumpee is just found by the caretaker in the woods in a coma one day and caretaker being a hermit and the nearest hospital being hours away, caretaker decides to nurse them to health in their own house, and this is the part where shit gets freaky, as whumpee is basically in a coma they cannot control their own powers which causes caretaker to straight up not have a good time, like caretaker is stuck sometimes in nights that just go on for too long or parts of their own house just being, completely engulfed in shadows despite it being day and all the lights being on, stuff like that but in a way that escalates like at the start is just stuff that can dismissed as a trick of the light and it ends with caretaker being stuck In a endless night and having to take a risk and free the eldritch being from its human prison by killing it and hoping that it is not mad at them and suffering a fate worse than death.

(dw the eldritch being is super grateful to caretaker, caretaker is super on edge towards whumpee but they do become pals despite the eldritch horror being able to destroy their mind with just a thought)

Note: now that i read this i realize it's not really whumpy, still tho i hope ya like it

[fandomeldersintheirthirties]

just kinda want to vent. I like a side character in a show but all their fans are either very young and \ or are antis and I feel anxious posting art of the character because I had to leave a fandom before. I blocked some people so I think i'm safe. I've yet to find fans of that character who are closer to my age, though. It's a lonely place and this situation just seems to keep repeating itself lmao.

I think you're safe if you post sfw posts about the character and don't have "proship" in your bio.

But I get you there, Anon. I barely interact with my own fandoms that are overrun by antis (suprisingly the most chill proship people are in a kids show fandom whereas fandoms for very moraly-ambigious games are an anti mess here).

[wsajaydn]

Week 2 Suplemental Development

Board Game Club Wednesday:

In this week we played Dominion, Cockroach Poker, Cosmic Encounter, and Blood on The Clocktower.

The first game was Dominion, a deckbuilding medival card game where up to four players take turns going through various action, buying, and clean up turns. While the deck building gameplay doesnt directly relate to my project, the art and style does. The various icons and symbols did give me a chance to think about the affordances behind resources and actions in rustic styles of games.

Cockroach Poker is a facinatingly simple bluffing card game, where players pass cards around to each other making claims on the kind of animal it is. What I took away from it was its hidden layers of complexity, things that arnt imeddiatly apparent, like the likleyhood of lies based on your own hand and prvious cards played, and the multi layered bluffs that develop as the game progresses. All of this from a rulebook so simple it fits on a post it note.

Cosmic Encounter is a very interesting case study for ballencing in games in that it takes the very unique stance of giving every player a hidden power for their chosen character, all of which are seemingly game breakingly overpowered at first view, but are all as overpowered as each other, creating a suprisingly balanced game, where each player's presence itself hugley shifts the flow of the game.

Terraria:

Recently I have been playing alot of terraria again, putting in around 40 hours in a shared world over the last 2 weeks. The NPCs in Terraria have a very simple system for their happiness being that it is effected by proximity to other NPCs that they like and dislike, the biome that they are housed in, and how many other NPCs are in close proximity to them. This is a very simple system, but has impacts both emotionally and mechanically. Emotionally the NPCs dialouge will adjust depending on their state, displaying more of their own personalities and encouraging players to work to keep their favourite NPCs happy. Mechanically the game rewards players by offering both various exclusive items that are only sold by NPCs who are happy, and offering discounts for purchasing items, on top increased payment for items sold to them.

The interplay of these mechanics works incredbibly eficiently to create well rounded personalities and an extra level of depth to a objectivley quite simple NPC system. I had already been planning to add wants to my NPCs in my project, by having them request certain things when being picked up, but playing terraria has built on this idea. Firstly I want NPC happyness to effect you in a tangible way, such as reduced speed and efficency of their actions and movement, as well as emtionally, maybe using a slower, sadder looking set of animations for walking etc.

Additionally, looking at my old research on Kurt Vanagon, having each NPC assigned specific wants, likes and dislikes, like in terraria, is an imediate way to create a personality in the eyes of the player, which is already a huge priority for me, as it has informed the use of augmented reality from the start.

Blender project development:

This was some work I did in blender this week to try and actualize my frist sketches into 3D. I was very happy with these, and although they're still untextured, with some clean up of their topology and more variations, I plan to use these models in an animation in my future GDD.

[randomminty]

Thanks i love them

[world-of-puppets]

Puppetry Lost Media

In honour of reaching 50 followers last week (now 55 followers, as of writing this) I decided to cover two subjects of great interest to me: puppetry (of course) and lost media.

Everybody online loves a good old bit of lost media. Whether it be being a part of the many searches for the media in question, or watching documentaries about them on sites like YouTube. I’ve been mildly addicted to the latter kind of content for a while. From what I’ve seen, though, there aren’t many videos or articles out there specifically covering lost puppetry. So, in no particular order, here are a couple of pieces of lost puppetry I found while scrolling through the lost media wiki.

銀河少年隊 - Ginga shounen-tai AKA Galaxy Boy Troop (1963 - 1965)

Osamu Tezuka is one of the most pioneering figures in Japanese art and animation. Starting as a manga artist in the 1940s inspired by the animated works of American studios such as Walt Disney and the Fliecer Brothers, he adapted and simplified many of the stylistic techniques of both artists to create his own signature style of big shiny eyes, physics defying hair and limited animation. A style that would go on to heavily influence the world of anime and manga as a whole.

But animation and graphic art were not the only mediums Tezuka would dabble in. Ginga Shounen-Tai, or Galaxy Boy Troop in english, was a television series that aired on the public broadcast channel NHK from April 7th, 1963 to April 1st, 1965. Running for 2 seasons with a total of 92 episodes.

The series was a mixture of marionette characters that utilised the Supermarionation marionette technique, popularised by Jerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds, and limited traditional animation. The story revolves around a child genius named Roy who leads a rag-tag group of heros around the galaxy in a rocket ship in order to revive the earth’s sun and later protect it from alien invaders.

Out of the 92 episodes that aired, only episode 67 still exists in its entirety with French subtitles, and the full episode can be found on YouTube with English subtitles uploaded by user Rare TezukaVids. According to user F-Man on the Tezuka in English forums, footage of episode 28 exists but with no audio, and episode 87’s animated segments exist without the marionette segments. F-Man also claims the reason for Galaxy Boy Troop’s disappearance is due to Tezuka not being proud of the series and having all episodes of it destroyed.

Personally, I think it’s a shame that pretty much all of this series is gone. From what I’ve seen in episode 67, it looks really charming. Tezuka’s signature character design style was adapted suprisingly well to marionettes, and the puppetry itself isn’t that bad either. I love the little face mechanisms like the blinking eyes, flapping mouths and others. It gives the puppets a lot of personality and charm. Like, just look at this old mans eyebrow mechanism and tell me you wouldn’t want to watch 92 episodes of this show;

Tinseltown (2007)

Tinseltown was a 15 minute sitcom pilot created by the Jim Henson company under thier Henson Alternative banner. The pilot was commissioned by the Logo Network and aired as part of the Alien Boot Camp programming block in 2007.

The pilot (and likely the series, had it been picked up by the logo network) features a cast of both puppets and live actors as characters. The premise revolves around Samson Kight, an anthropomorphic bull preformed by Brian Henson and drew Massey, and his partner Bobby Vegan, an anthropomorphic pig prefomed by Bill Barretta and Michelan Sisti, as they attempt to balance thier lives working in Hollywood with life as parents to thier sullen 12-year-old foster son, Foster, played by Paul Butcher. Other human characters included Mia Sara as Samson’s ex-wife Lena and Francesco Quinn as the family’s manservant Arturo.

The Tinseltown pilot used to be available on the Logo Network’s YouTube channel, but was later removed for unknown reason. Since then, the pilot has not been made available online. However the characters Samson and Bobby have made appearances in other Henson related works, such as the improv stage show Stuffed and Unstrung, where they played the role as the shows producers, and in a 2011 video on the Jim Henson Company YouTube channel celebrating Jim Hensons 75th birthday.

I find Tinseltown pretty interesting as I feel like it should be more noateable or known, considering that this is (as far as my knowledge goes) the first Jim Henson Company project featureing openly lgbtq characters as its leads, and would have been the first Henson show to do so had it been picked up. As someone who’s interested in lgbtq+ representation in creative media such as animation, I realised that there’s not many examples of canon lgbt characters in puppetry. The only ones aside from Samson and Bobby I could think off the top of my head would be Deet’s Dads from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Rod from Avenue Q. Though, obviously, there could be more I’m not currently aware of. I don’t think the Tinseltown pilot was a masterpiece or anything. After all, there’s probably a couple of good reasons Logo didn’t pick it up for a full series. But I think it be cool if either Henson co. or Logo made this available online again, if just so we could appericate it as an interesting little footnote in the history of lgbtq rep in puppetry.

With that said, considering the pilot’s obscurity and the fact that it’s main couple haven’t been used in any Henson Related projects in almost ten years, as well as the possibility that there may be legalities preventing the Henson company from releasing it such as Logo still owning the rights, it’s unlikely we’ll see the Tinseltown pilot anytime soon.

Sonic Live in Sydney (1997 - 2000)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a fictional character no stranger to multiple interpretations of him and his universe across a diverse range of media. From the more light-hearted and comedic stylings of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Cartoon Networks Sonic Boom cartoon series, to more serious faire such as the Sonic SatAM cartoon and the Sonic Adventure videogame duology. One of the more obscure and stranger adaptations of the character came in the form of Sonic Live in Sydney, a one an a half hour live show hosted at the former Sega World Sydney amusement park in Darling Harbor, Sydney, Australia. Originally beginning as a live show with actors in meet-and-greet style costumes, the show eventually was replaced with a puppet show during its last two years.

The shows plot was set in an alternate timeline whos continuity was a mix of the SatAM cartoon and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where Doctor Robotnik’s Death Egg crash lands in Sydney, Australia instead of Angel Island and attempts to take over before being foiled by sonic and friends. According to Phillip Einfeld of Phillip Einfeld Puppetoons, the company that made the puppets, Sega felt the costumed actor version of the show wasn’t dynamic enough, and wished to replace it with a version featuring live puppets with animatronics. Both versions of the shows plot are identical.

While Sonic Live in Sydney’s soundtrack is available on YouTube, and some photos of the show are available on the Lost Media Wiki, no footage of either the costumed actors version or the puppet show version have resurfaced. The show was closed down in 1999, possibly due to cost, shortly before the Sega World park as a whole in 2000. So unless there is someone out there who viseted the show between 1998 or 1999 who recorded the show via a handheld camera, footage of both incarnations of the show are likely forever lost to time.

On a personal note, I don’t have much to say on this one other than how gloriously peek gaudy 90s Sonic the set/puppet design is. I have no doubt finding footage of these puppets in action would truly be a silly delight to behold...

Legend of Mary (year unknown)

This one is a little different from the other entries on this list as while the film itself in its entiraty is available on YouTube for anyone to view, the information surrounding Legend of Mary, specifically its year of release, remains a mystery as of writing this.

I have mentioned the film before on this blog so I’ll keep it brief here: in summary, Legend of Mary is a short film retelling of the Nativity featuring the Rod puppets of Austrian puppeteer Richard Teschner. the video was uploaded to YouTube by user canada 150 archive. I looked up the people credited in the film and was able to find most of them, but didn’t find Legend of Mary listed in thier credits, and was unable to find the film on sites like IMDB, tMDB or Letterboxd. I reached out to Canada 150 archive asking if they had any info regarding the Legend of Mary’s release date, and after a coupe of months, they replied saying they didn’t know.

And that’s as far as I got on my search for answers, if anyone of you guys has any information regarding Legend of Mary, then it be of huge help in finding the release date.

Sam and friends (1955 - 1961)

Sam and friends was the very first puppetry television series created by Jim Henson alongside his colabarator and future wife Jane Nebel. filmed in Washington, D.C. and airing twice daily on WRC-TV and the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. from May 9, 1955, to December 15, Sam and Friends would mark the first apperence of Kermit (though not yet as a frog) and paved the way for Henson’s iconic and revered legacy in the realm of puppetry on film and television.

With the impact this show had in mind, it may come as a shock to some that almost half of Sam and Friends, specifically, 42 of the 86 episodes, are considered lost. With 16 existing, 8 documented, 9 known from memory, plus 8 existing Esskay commercials and 1 memory-known Esskay commercial. Some taped episodes have been shown at venues such as the museum of the moving image while others have been erased. It’s unknown if copies of these erased episodes still exist.

This post would become far to long if I were too list every episode missing from Sam and Freinds, but if your curious, the lost media wiki article has a comprehensive list of all lost episodes.

Annnd that about it for this post. This type of content is pretty different from the stuff I usually post. So I’m egar to see what you guys think about it. If you enjoyed this article, want to see more like it or have ideas for what puppetry-related topics I should cover in the future. And again, thank you all so much for helping me reach 55 followers. Your support really does mean a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed this as a follower milestone gift.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this dip into lost puppetry, and have a happy holiday season!

[popculturebuffet]

Sparkshortstravaganza! (Commissioned by WeirdKev27)

Well this was a needed kick in the pants. When I first heard of the Sparkshorts program I was excited. As a kid I loved PIxar, as an adult I love pixar and as an old man dealing with the loss of his partner floating away in my balloon house, i’ll still love pixar. So the idea of a program focused on giving new fresh talent the room to do whatever they wanted and make content that would be on Disney Plus, a platform BADLY bereft of original animation? It was a dream come true and the first one I saw Kitbull is easily a masterpiece and something that I can vividly recall every part of to this day, which for my terrible short term memory recalling EVERYTHING is a rare feat few works have achived.  But given I have a REALLY bad habit of letting things I want to watch sit there if I don’t jump on them immediately.. I let it sit there and didn’t touch any of the shorts and mostly forgot about the program until now. Until Kev, my patron and the only person paying for reviews at the moment, though others are more than welcome wink wonk, just decided what the heck and to test out comissioning shorts picked these ones because why not. And given I had been dragging my feet and reading the descriptions found creative and suprisingly heavy premises... I was fully on board And better late than never because along with Soul this program has EASILY restored my faith in the company after Onward really disapointed. Granted they’ve done worse, while there are pixar films I haven’t seen I need to like Coco or Cars 3, I’ve vowed NEVER to watch Cars 2 unless I have to and that vow has served me well so far. The shorts here are as a whole beautifully animated, have a ton of wonderful concepts and even the two weaker ones are still gorgeous to look at and a decent watch regardless and both come from a very well meaning place with a very well meant message. So yeah i’m thankful for this comission and to show you why let’s go through every Sparkshorts so far and see why their so awesome.. after some background of course. 

Sparkshorts, for the uniniated, is a program by pixar where animators are given six months and a limited budget to create a film based on personal experince. The program was designed to test out new ways of animating, directing and creating and to find a creative “spark” in it’s employees. Thus each film feels unique, has it’s own style.. and is utterly charming. I’ll be looking at them chronologically as while this wasn’t my watch order, I feel it’s a bit neater that way. I’ve already taken long enough to get to watching these, let’s open these films up and see what makes them tick shall we?

Purl: An Adorable Yarn Ball Vs Toxic Masculinity  Purl.. was better the more I thought about it. The first short released, it DOES have a good message and killer animation. The film takes place at B.R.O., a dude broey brockerage firm that’s painfully relasitic both in how broey it is and in how it looks. That’s to contrast our heroine: Purl, an adorable ball of yarn who just wants to be accepted but is instead ignored by the rest of the company till she changes herself up, donning a suit like her co workers she badly wants to fit in with and adopting their wolf of wallstreet esque douchebaggery. She finally gets accepted.. but ends up shedding her new self to help another Yarn Ball starting up.  Director Kristen Lester drew from personal experince, starting work at animation in a mostly male dominated workplace and thus having to adapt and only letting the femine side she’d repressed out when she moved to working at pixar, which had more female employees. The film DOES have a good message about toxic workplaces and toxic masulinty and learning the personal story did raise it a few notches as it made it clear to me that what SEEMED like an over exageration.. was probably just a light exageration given the kind of bro antics we’ve heard about at companies like Ubisoft. So while I didn’t like the film much at first honestly.. it’s over the top because it NEEDS to be because even though it’s 2021.. some idiots STILL don’t get it and kids are better off learning it now so it’ll hopefully stick when their entering the workforce. So we’ll get more people like perl willing to make a change and stick up for those like her and less dude bros. Still a decent and clever short with Perl’s bro form looking really neat and the animation on her in general is really fucking gorgeous. All in all not the best of these but still pretty good and while a bit thick on the message.. it kinda has to be. 

Smash And Grab: A Jaunty Ride to Freedom

This was a really fun one. Directed by Brian Larson and inspried by his need for a break from routine this follows two robots, the titular smash and grab who are designed to well.. smash and grab coal-like energy things for a train and have for years and years. The two long to high five, but can’t because their hooked to tubes so they can’t escape. But one day Smash looks out the window and not only sees fellow robots living a better life.. but a way to power him and his buddy/love intrest? I mean bromance or romance, either way it works. Point is our heroes escape, and have to fight security.  It’s just a really damn fun and creative movie. While robots wanting a better life isn’t new, the crisp art deco animation, breakneck pace, fun gags and heartwearming relationship between the two bots is just charming as hell. It’s just a fun ride the whole way through with a lot of heart and creativity with the two’s way they throw coal to one another used to take out the guards, and all together just some really good set pieces. Easily one of my faviorites here and that’s a high water mark to pass. 

Kitbull: Tiny Orphan Kitty + Big Abused Doggo = Best Friends

As I said this is the only one of these I saw before today and as I said it’s stuck with me. I love dogs. I have one of my own named Yoshi whose just a sweet boy. So i’ve always loved ALL DOGS.. and was thus horrified years ago when I learned about the stigma Bulldogs get. Seen as “agressive’ and “Mean’ and victious.. when really a lot of them, including my grandpa’s own pitbull when I was little, are just loveable as any other dogs. And having also known a former fighting dog my friend owned, if a much smaller min pin rather than a pitbull, who by the time I met him had become the sweetest dog you’d ever meet.. yeah.. don’t mistreat a dog just because some assholes force it to fight to the death because their sick, horrible, ghastly human beings.. if they can even be CALLED human beings after doing that to these poor animals.  My point is it’s nice to have a short about such a needed subject. Director Rosana Sullivan actually had the idea for the short for years and intended to do it as a side project, but when the program cropped up she moved it to pixar and the result is one of the most popular and easily one of the best of an already bright bunch, brought on by her love of animals and working in a shelter. It’s also one of Pixar’s first 2d animated projects and proves their just as good at that as cgi.  It’s the touching story of a kitty whose alone in the world and initally mistrustful and hissy at a big dog she finds and is naturally scared of.. until she grows to bond with the dog, realizing much like a LOT of fucking people need to that pitbulls.. are just dogs and often victims of circumstance and the poor, sweet pooch who just wants his owner to love him.. is instead thrown into a fighting pit, nearly killed and forced to make a daring escape with their new forever friends help. It’s through this wonderful, heartrending friendship that the dog finds freedom and the cat.. finds them both a home, no longer running from people but instead making sure they both get a person. It’s often brutal at times, with the scene of the dog being forced to fight being one of the most striking: while we thankfully don’t see the action, we HEAR IT, as does the poor kitty, and we see the aftermath: a friendly harmless dog thrown out into the cold just because it dosen’t WANT to fight. It’s just really heartrending stuff that makes the happy ending all the better. It’s also gorgeiously animated which I mentioned but i’ll say it again; the animation here is GOREGOUS, unqiue and stunning. Go watch this if you haven’t. 

Float: This is Why Krakoa Exists

This.. has easily been the hardest to review of the bunch. While ALL of these stories are very personal, very inclusive and very intresting, this one.. is a bit rougher than most of them and hits REALLY close to home. See this one was built out of director Bobby Rubio’s experinces raising his son who has autisim. 

It’s about a dad who discovers his infant son can float... and thus gets stares of fear or judgment from eveyrone around him slowly getting broken down by this. So he makes a HORRIBLE judgment call and rather than just accept some people are assholes, weighs his son’s backpack down with stones despite him hating it then drags him away when he ends up floating off, before screaming at the poor kid WHY CAN’T YOU BE DIFFRENT.. He DOES instantly regret this and the ending is genuinely touching as the father finally accepts his son is different and throws him into the air while on a swing, letting his son soar as he always should’ve. It is a beautifully animated and well meant film and the filipino representation is truly great: Rubio originally was going to have the characters as white but his fellow animators convinced him to go for represntation and be true to himself and honestly in a time when disney itself has had to be fought to get queer representation most of the time, it’s nice that pixar at least is a part of it that throughly encourages representation and will gladly put diversity and representation over any bullshit “risk factors”.  That being said.. while this was a decent short with a very well intentioned message and it clearly connected with a lot of people.. it wasn’t for me and I say this as someone who has autisim. As someone who has worn down people’s patince and been starred at by a freak for something I was way too young to properly deal with.  I’ve been in this Kid’s shoes. 

And that’s the problem: The metaphor dosen’t really work for me. While auitism CAN have some benifits and I wouldn’t be any other way i’d be lying if I said it was easy having trouble commuincating, constnatly misreading people, constnatly worrying if someone’s going to like you, and hyperfocusing on a problem instead of being able to set it and forget it for a bit to my own detriment. There’s other problems and not ALL of my issues come from anxiety disorder: I also have anxiety and depression. They just bleed badly INTO said autisim sometimes, as it’s hard to effectively combat anxiety sometimes when your mind won’t let you. 

What i’m saying is... there aren’t any FAULTS in his powers. See i’m a fan of x-men, so I can only see this boy as a mutant, and yes I know they usually manfifest at puberty but there have been exceptions so don’t at me.. and one of them who has no real downsides other than the unfair stigma of being a mutant. He’s more like storm, who can control the elements and whose power only enhances her life nad lesss like say Rogue, who looks normal.. but can’t touch anyone without knocking them out at best or horribly abosrbing them into her head at worst. There’s no downside other than the fact people judge him and his dad is a dick about it.  And the dad part is hard because I get what Rubio is going for: parents make mistakes, parents mess up and their only human even if they should embrace their kids anyway. That’s a good message and one I support.. I just think Rubio was way TOO hard on himself and thus made his stand in into an unlikeable asshole, one whose more concerned with how everyone ELSE thinks and does the horribly abusive action of basically tying his son’s wings down so he can’t fly. He mans well, it’s so his son dosen’t float off.. but instead of finding a way to help him and work with him on it.. he just stuffs rocks in his back and forces the kid to be miserable so other people can be happy. It just goes way too far in the other direction to work. As I said I think it’s the guy being too hard on himself, manifesting his worst moments with his kids and his biggest regrets and making himself into a very hard to like character because he has trouble forgviing himself for how he acted. So I want to say if you ever read this bobby while I wasn’t hte biggest fan of your film.. I do wholly support you and your son.. and the fact you made an entire FILM just to show your sturggle and show people there not alone was a beautiful act. You are not a bad person , we all make mistakes and we’re all just human. You are a good man Bobby Rubio. I may of not liked your metaphor... but your message is beautiful. 

Wind: Immigration by Way of Rocket Science

Thankfully moving on.. this one is tied with Kitbull for my faviorite. It has a truly intriguing premise, a great metaphor, stunning animation, and is just really moving, gripping and fun to watch. This one was by Edwin Chang, and as is usualy by now, it was built on personal experince.. but not his. It was built on the fact his father was an immigrant who had to leave his mother, Chang’s grandmother, behind to a better life. She rejoined them eventually but it left an impact on his father and thus serves as the core of this story. And honestly knowing that only STRENGTHENS an already impresssive sci fi short.  It’s the story of a boy, apparently named Ellis so i’ll use that, and his grandmother who live in a bizzare, hauntingly beautifuly stygian sinkhole that has floating rocks and debris. The two spend their day farming potatoes and grabbing whatever they can to hopefully make their way out. But it becomes clear to young Ellis after they find a plane his grandmother wants HIM to go alone and escape and is willing to sacrifice herself.. and ends up having to trick the boy into thinking sh’es going along in order to get him to do what he needs to surivive and thrive. It’s a truly gut wrenching story as even when she seems to have found a way for them both to leave.. it’s very clear she’s simply training him with all the welding tools and what not so he has skills to make it out there on his own in the unknown. So he can live without her.. but more importantly.. so he CAN LIVE. Away from the darkness, not having to scrape and to surivive and hopefully find something better out there. While the old parental figure sacrifciing thsmelves so the youngun can start hteir journey isn’t new.. it’s the unique, beautiful and haunting setting and the emotoin, conveyed only through the utterly beautiful animation that make this story feel fresh, along with it’s great metaphor. This short is just haunting, beauitful and really damn sad, and I only dont’ have all that much to say because it’s all in the visuals. The only thing I have left is like all of these really, watch it. But especailly this one. 

Loop: Enough Said

This is part of the reason I didn’t like Float all that much. Loop is just.. way better at conveying the experinces of having auitism. While Renee is a more severe case than me I can relate to what kicks off the film: Renee, usually paired with an adult at the camp she at, is forcibley paired with a chatty boy named Marcus. While Marcus is eager to go home and has no idea how to interact with the two the two genuinely bond, with Marcus slowly getting into Renee’s world. The key scene for this and the one that clinches the film is Renee waving her hands over the reeeds in the water, throughly enjoying it with marcus not getting it.. till he tries himself. Director Erica Milsom, whose worked with autistic children and picked this medium entriely because i’ts perfect for a non verbal character and is one that can tackle heavy issues like this in a way to help people understan, really wanted to counter most depections of severe autisim, paticuarlly sensory issues. While we see the good in them instead of JUST her freaking out or being overwhelemed: how her sounds and the things she feels truly relax her and how she really DOES enjoy nature and is perfectly at home there. It’s just a beautiful way to show this disablility is not ALL bad, as many works tend to focus soley on the drawbacks. While I had my issues with Float part of it was it had too much good.. but Loop is superior at this simply because it shows both with unflinching honesty: The beauty of something that calms and relaxes your brain or a touch or sensation that just FEEELS really good, things that while again i’m not on the same level as Renee.. I can still fully relate to.  But what puts it over float besides not having a messy metaphor is it DOES show the issues that come with it.. but does so WELL and with nuance. It shows how isolating autisim can be, especially for someone like Renee who can’t talk, how people are sometimes freaked out by you and don’t know how to interact with you and how adults can MEAN WELL, and the counsler setting them off was a good idea in the end... but can also be misguided and not fully know how to handle you without overwhelming you. It shows just how bad a panic attack can be, how you can just.. shut down and drive away. It was easily the sequence that hit the hartest and resonated the most as I’ve had those, and i’ve just shut down with no one able to reach me.. and it makes it all the more touching as Marcus eventually realizes how to handle things, and gives her space despite the setting son and the peril of being stranded.. because he realizes she needs it and offers to simply be there when she’s ready. It’s a touching, wonderful gesture, capped by him giving her a reed.. and the two heading home finally udnerstanding one another.This one is very close to wind in my heart and I think I found even more love for it writing this review and realizing just how much it hit me. And that ain’t bad. 

Out: Be Proud of Who You Are.. with the help of a gay cosmic space cat 

Speaking of hitting close to home and really resonating with me, we have Pixar’s first short with a gay main character, with his sexuality being the center of this. And as a bi person who had struggle accepting his sexuality let alone telling anyone, even when you know someoen will likely accept you.. this naturally hit hard. I took some time to realize I was bi, and when I did I was terrified of telling my mom, despite her being loving, supportive and just wonderful, same with my brother. Both fully accepted me as I figured and had no issue with it, esepcially sine my romantic history is nearly non existant anyways, but I related to our hero Greg’s fears of coming out to his parents despite them being utterly wonderful, well meaning people. It’s hard to come out, it’s hard to admit that about yourself, and it’s hard knowing you may not be accepted or things may change. I had an even harder time coming out to my dad, who I fully expected being a trump supporter and having said “if gay marriage is leagal I should be able to marry my cat”, to not support me and to loose him.. and was proud and suprised when nope, he was utterly supportive and happy for me.. if a bit awkward with the “be careful with sex” advice.. to someone whose had none and may never will due to being awkward as shit. But he meant well and the point is I really related to this, and it’s easily one of the best coming out stories of this kind, tied handily with Schitt’s Creek’s episode about Patrick coming out to his parents that dealt with the same theme.  And naturally given the nature of these shorts it was a story close to Stephen Clay Hunter’s heart, as he group up a gay nerd in the 80′s a time when homophobia was even worse and representation was near non-existent. So when given the shot he wanted to make something for a young him, something they can look at and point to and tha’ts me. And the behind the scenes short for this one sold just how... big this felt for him. To draw two men in love and embrcing, to see guys mo capping that. To see someone LIKE him on screen. It shows just how important representation is and how dumb it is it took 20 goddamn years at pixar for them to get gay. 

The short itsel is delightful as we open with a gay space cat and dog appearing in a rainbow. The Cat and Dog are watching Greg, a nice young man whose moving out of his small town with his boyfriend Manuel.. only to panic when his parents who he hasn’t come out to show up to help move and try and hide the one photo he has of them. And despite Manuel seeing it as a very easy thing to do to come out.. it’s not for Greg. He knows it’s hard and a scene of him practicing shows the poor guy breaking down at the thought of telling them despite getting every indicatio their nice people.  It’s then the whole Space Cat thing comes in as the cat enchanted Greg’s dog’s collar, so when greg puts it on as  a jest, it’s a body swap! So naturally we get tons of REALLY well animated shenanigans as Greg has to get his body back. Seriously the animation here is gorgeous with director Hunter choosing the painted on , impercet style to give it a storybook feel which fits the story perfectly.. seriously if Disney hasn’t made a story book of this do so.. and if they won’t someone on etsy do it because Etsy is apparently where the merch companies should be making happens.

The point is it’s fun, furious and leads to some great gags.. and then we get the emotional punch to the godnand as Greg bites his mom’s hand in order to prevent her finding a photo of him and his boyfriend. He instnatly regrets it, and breaking the photo in the process and goes to comfort her.. and we get easily the most emotinal, most beautiful part of it as Greg finds out his mom is hurt as she can clearly tell he’s keeping her at arms length and dosen’t want to loose him.. and she’s known all along he was gay.. just like the Schitts Creek example it’s clear she’s hurt a bit her son is scared to tell her but just wants him to be happy. So with a brilliant use of a squeaky toy greg switches back.. and comes out, with his dad warmly hugging miguel when he introduces himn and the space dog crying. Just a beautiful, charming, fun, and gorgeously animated short with some badly needed representation.

Also... one last note. This isn’t related to the short.. but Disney, who once again proves they can’t be progressive without stabbing themselves in the foot and no I will not stop giving out about this. This time’s especailly bad as while Out was heavily promoted.. the descripton DOSEN’T mention it having Pixar’s first gay lead and goes out of it’s way to hide Greg being gay despite the fact the short dosen’t and his being in the closet is the whole conflict of the short. And the not mnentiong the first gay lead thing is noticable because Loop DID rightly point out it was their first non verbal proganist. You can’t.. brag about being progressive about one thing and then try to hide your being progressive about another you idiots. Plus the “pleasing the bible belt” ship has sailed and left port. Ducktales is gay as hell with Penny being gay, even if Disney won’t let her just come out and say it, the crew still had her say it as much as they could, Violet’s dad’s being gay, Della being bi and Webby and Lena being as close to a couple you can get without disney screaming at them no. Andi Mack is fully avaliable on D+ as well.. well okay not fully because the dad turned out to be a pedophile, but still a series with a fully gay character is out there. And finally Owl House got TONS of press for having a bi progatanist and having her love intrest be a girl. Even if Dana Terrance had to FIGHT for that, and rightly so good on her, the point is you have queer characters already. The groups that hate you for that aren’t going to magically stop hating you because you hide the fact a short anyone can see from minute one is very , beautifully gay, I mean it starts with a very swishy space cat emerging from a rainbow atop a pink dog. COME ON. I only have a few words left for disney..

Okay whew, one more and we’re out of here. 

Burrow: It’s Okay to Ask for Help and To Bang a Willing Salamander This was the first one I watched today. In hindsight had I properly researched the shorts and realized how heavy they were I probably would’ve saved this one for later to help balance out the deep feels of some of these. While Burrow is VERY VERY good, as all these shorts have been even Float, it’s subject matter is a lot lighter. I mean so far we’ve had stories about toxic masculinity, animal abuse, issues accepting your child is diffrent, sacrficing yourself so your loved one can have a better life, autisim and coming out of the closet. Even Smash and Grab which is light and breezy.. still has a disney death, and is still about a heroic rush to freedom from slavery whenyou think about it. This one.. is about an insecure bunny whose afraid to ask for help and ends up learning to get it while ending up plumiting through a bunch of comedic set pieces. It’s basically if Winnie the Pooh and Bugs Bunny had a baby comedy wise, it has the warm feeling of pooh art wise, a storybook quality tha’ts utterly adoring.. but director Madeline Sharafan specifccally wanted the animators to take after chuck jones, using lots of great expressions and reactions. It has a real classic theatrical screwball comedy vibe and given The Looney Tunes, Droopy, and Tom and Jerry mean the world to me and i’m glad nto reocnnect with 2/3 thanks to HBO Max.. I fucking loved it. 

Burrow is still a personal story and is based on Sharifan’s experinces having trouble colaberating, wanting something to be fully baked before showing it off, something I agian relate to. She often hid from the others and refused to show her work until it was done while everyone else was happy to help. And as the previously used to slam disney hard with something they own Hickman Era of X-men has shown.. colaboration is just better and more freeing. By having friends and colleuge s to bounce off of you refine ideas, see how people react to them and grow a bit and that’s what the shorts about. 

The plot is easily the simpliest of these: A young bunny wants to build her dream burrow but gets self concious when she runs into a friendly mole and rat living next door to where she wants to build and keeps digging to find both privacy and her own place.. and instead ends up digging into various shenangians and other burrows from frogs, to hedgehogs to most memorably some Salmanders taking a sauna.. and in the best and most ‘how the fuck did they get away with this bit of it”, one of the salamanders ends up .. gladly removing his town and being liike “You wanna do this? I mean I got an hour free” And i’m just saying while now wasn’t the time and the offer was a little awkward i’d go for it if I was her. I mean at least ask him out for coffee later. He seems nice enough if low on boundries. Then ride him until the morning light girl, ride it. She also finds the Demon Bear from New Mutants at one point.. so that’s where he retried to after danny kicked his ass again. Neat. 

But eventually our heroione digs herself too deep and ends up hitting water before finding a 

Who sees her crumpled plans and then does the stygian call of the badger to call all the other animals to help and after they escape the flood, the bunny finally realizes their good people and lets them see the plans. So we end on our heroine and her new friends and possible salamander lover helping her settle in as she finallyg ets the home she wanted, complete with disco. I mean every home should have a disco. If I didn’t have a ceeling fan i’d have a disco ball.. and I still want one just to set somewhere or hang away from the fan . Let me dream dammit. Overally a fun, hilarious, mad dash short with a good message and a good note to go out on.

Final Thoughts: Overall.. the Sparkshorts program is fucking spectacular, a great way to let some of Pixar’s staff get into the directors chair and really shine, and a way to tackle issues that they may not be able to get greenlit into a full film. Lushily animated, well produced, Pixar has announced MORE are coming and I cannot wait. Thank you kev for comissioning this, and thank you all for reading. If your new and liked this review, follow this blog as I talk disney all the time: when they come back i’ll be doing regular coverage of Amphibia, Ducktales and the Owl House as new episodes come out every week, and i’m currently doing a retropsective on the three cablleros kev also paid for, with the finale of it, an episode by episode look at the legend of the three cablleros, starting this week. I’m also covering LIfe and times of scrooge mcduck (though infrequently for a bit), and finishing up a look at darkwing duck’s just us justice ducks, started with looks at all the players involved and finshing next week with the episode itself.  So if any of that sounds good to you, check out the archives, but goodbye, goodbye, goodbye for now. 

[prunerquit78]

Hacking Your Subconscious Opinions

Critiques have found a wonderful amount of mind frequency we're capable of determine structured largely on their regularity. By way of the suprisingly lessened varies of activity recorded in deep sleeping , for your better frequencies captured right through conscious concepts . Being a outcome of proof examined previously mentioned, nevertheless, there now seems to get a answer to the specific issue. There undoubtedly would appear to be to get no shortage of suggestions from the unconscious when it comes to what exactly to complete in almost any provided circumstance. In an introduction to 25 several yrs of baby fake research, Meltzoff determined that vibrant children discover considerably regarding precisely how you could possibly act by sheer indirect imitation of fellow young children also as their grown-up caretakers. Newborns in particular are wide reachable to these kinds of imitative tendencies, acquiring not really developed cognitive take care of constructions to restrain or slow down them. 20-a single operates by the following 13 musicians from eight says have been determined by means of a sightless jury process for business presentation from the art gallery also as being the Express Exhibition Yearly newsletter. For this particular show 110 designers submitted 399 executes from 34 claims, Washington D.C., as well as about three countries, which usually contains Canada, Britain, as well as america. 14 works by these 13 musicians from 10 says plus even the nations of Canada, and The united kingdom were selected from the blind jury technique for demonstration in the collection as well as the Manifest Convention Annual publication. The EPA launched the dangerous waste digital show itself (e-Occur) method on June 30, 2018, that at this time could possibly serve as the us government harmful waste materials occur database. E-occur facts is openly obtainable atRCRAInfo Internet, with releases of new manifests happening on a every week schedule. Inside of the situation of of papers manifest purchased, manifests details will be electronically transmitted to EPA as acquiring a data data file by having an image publish. EPA has calculated show itself deal charge for this kind of submittal will possibly be linked to $7 for every occur. Last but not least, you happen to be able to tap a lot more into the effectiveness of your subconscious mind ideas must you need to do workouts that concentrate on adjusting in. Even a handful of from the easy methods pointed out previously mentioned could possibly help - for instance, deep breathing in, deliberate sleep and also guaranteeing that you've received quiet several hours and also stamina to your self.

Does The Shambala Secret Really Works? Although I have identified which normally is without doubt not the factors i want from existence or my livelihood, I have got purchased fallen simply because rut in very last situations. Now as soon as i make a assurance to personally, there is out there even today some amount of resistance due to that. I was able to genuinely suggest that this times is numerous simply because We've obtained greater understanding and in addition solutions. Also I am just far more dedicated to directing free from individuals circumstances from I understand firsthand how they are absolutely not superb for me. Actually, I am just visiting learn whenever I'm penalizing or pressing personally it truly is really a red flag, while being soft too as on ‘on my own personal side’ is a signal of an option/great case. My own mommy endured depressive disorders plus fought for existence and also dying within a healthcare facility bed. It transpires to be the simplest strategy to identify the subconscious. If meditation the initial time, remember to continue to keep the relaxation period for just 5-twenty minutes. Different psychoanalytical techniques can restore these recollections or can bring about making use of a particular event . The vital subject to remember is that by decision, we are unable to remember anything without our understanding of an exclusive occasion or technique. Now it could be as easy and changeable what a person thinks in the second, in addition to our overall life span will modify. This approach, also known as “e-Express,” will modernize the nation’s cradle-to-severe harmful waste materials checking process though saving time, assets, and money for business along with says. Numerous guys and in addition females have properly manifested making utilization of the To Expand being Magnetic technique. Whether or not your emphasis is manifesting plethora or you want to determine the most effective means to fix express take pleasure in, I have developed workshops to get rid of unfavorable thinking, reprogram your subconscious mind feelings, and in addition show itself your ambitions. The truth is, 90Percent of our own local community demonstrated something on their own listing soon after they managed the present great outcomes each week! To obtain started off all by on your own manifestation quest, join our membership process, the Pathway.

[norcani]

I watched a bunch of losers best games of 2020 videos and decided I can do that too

except I don’t play recent releases so only a few of these are 2020 releases and out of those all of them are vns.....I did play these in 2020 though..I think... 

10. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Miotsukushi-hen

I also read  Yoigoshi and Tokihogushi but they fucking sucked! The rest of the console arcs I had played beforehand. What to say about this? It’s been a real mixed bag and by this I mean its been a pile of shit but in the middle of a shit there is this puzzle piece that you needed for a puzzle you completed the rest of 10 years ago and you grab the shit covered piece and go “holy shit! look at this! I’ve been looking for this all along!” but of course it’s still covered in shit and you’re not even sure it’s quite the right piece, it’s not made by the original puzzle maker but with some cleaning wiggling it fits into the puzzle perfectly and you can finally rest assured that the stupid puzzle you thought would never work out is completed. (And then the puzzle maker is like, hey here are a bunch of new pieces and drops gou on you but irrelevant) . Anyway this got translated this year so I say it counts as a 2020 game. 

9. Witcher 3

wow i played this game this year apparently! Or at least, steam tells me so. Honestly I never had any intention of playing this game because people are annoying about it but I somehow ended up playing it anyway....and it was...fine? I liked it, especially the blood and wine dlc. I like geralt as a protag a lot. And I somehow spend 100 hours on this thing. So you know, I liked it. People are still annoying about it though. The best part of finishing it is that I can now call it overrated with the confidence of someone who played and even enjoyed it! 

8. oneshot I got this one from the bundle of racial justice though it was on my radar for quite a while. In this one, you are god, and there is a cute cat child that talks to you directly, which rules. 

fuck yeah!!!!!  (there is also a huge light bulb in this, for the moths in the audience)

7. the ghost of you

This is a text based vn with minimal visuals. A uh.. lesbian horror survival romance story? Is that too many genres. I was utterly obsessed with this for a short while. The gore and body horror stuff in this were top notch but towards the end it got a bit too over the top campy and silly for me, though still enjoyable I mainly wasn’t expecting it to go that route. I also thought ironically the romance was by far the weakest part. The villains were super fun though I still think about them...

6. iwaihime 

i really thought i would end up disliking it until about halfway through but afterwards it was really good except when it was kinda fucked up to the point of I made a cw list for the vn. This is like a shameless mishmash of half of ryukishis previous works and the worst part is it *works* and i love it. I ended up being suprisingly attached to the cast even though they seemed super generic at first glance. Also at some point someone puts the actual yugioh shisha sosei(monster reborn) card in someones coffin so yeah you know..... this one was actually released in 2020 too so goty 

5. Cyberpunk2077 Dry Drowning

another one from the bundle. This is a cyberpunk noir detective mystery / sorta political drama? One of the rare games I replayed immediately after finishing, Great setting, solid plot and cases, great art, kinda generic characters but they grew on me. My fave was a cool trans lesbian character but the circumstances surrounding her were a bit *vague hand gestures* . Definitely a shame not more people know about this one! 

4. Vampire the Masquerade: Shadows of New York

first of all incredible art and music! 2nd of all.... its just a really well written vtm story with a goth girl in a toxic lesbian relationship of course I love it. This vn also justifies coteries of new yorks existence which is a great accomplishment since that vn itself just felt like a introductory course to vtm. Also another 2020 release! No one can criticize my list now. 

3. Fire Emblem 3 houses

I’m still playing this one but I put 60 hours in already so I think I can include this here. This is the main thing I’m playing the past few weeks and  as with all my favorite games I could complain about it for ages , However its really fun and compelling in a way I can’t quite articulate and also Rhea and Sothis I love you both

2. Assassins Creed Vallhalla Expeditions: Viking

this fucking ruled!!! Solid 40 hours or so of solid story and characters that ends exactly when it should. really unique protag a lot of different ways to “win” would. Also one of the few rpgs where the evil choices make just as much sense as the good ones. Would have replayed immediately if my switch hadnt arrived just when i finished my first run. I wish the cast had more lines but at the end of the day Roskva is adorable as is.  10/10 would tell my enemies to not fucking talk to me again.  1. Demon’s Souls Dark Souls 2 

(I coudln’t find any decent screenshots I took for this so enjoy this meme. Trust me my character was really cute. )

 I’ve been playing this for 2 fucking years and i was somehow still sad that it was over....I played for around 140 hours and approximately died every 6 minutes. If you do the math you might notice I’m not very good at this game. I also don’t know what the fuck the story is even about. But hitting things is fun, and I beat fume knight twice which was great. Too bad I will never play the other games since steam never puts them on FUCKING sale. 

[one-piece-dumpster-fire]

A comforting Killer Oneshot~

A/N: This is my part of a little trade I had with my ultra-cool friend @supernova-hcs-art (check her out pls, she’s amazing)! I really hope that you enjoy it, this certainly was interesting and a lot of fun to write :D! Killer is seriously underappreciated imo

Words: ~4000

Warnings: none

'A day off' sounds like a simple concept to most people; after all it serves as a well earned reward for those who spend most of their time working hard to make a living, and gives them the opportunity to finally spend some tender moments by themselves or with their loved ones. That sounds like a nice thought, am I right? ...However, the term 'day off' holds a completely different meaning to the Kid Pirates- after all, they are pirates, wanted criminals- and you can't just take a day off from being a menace to the public now, can you? But despite the fact that they certainly take great joy in decimating whoever crosses their path and just generally enjoy ruining everything they come by; whenever the Victoria Punk pulls in or docks at a port already known to be frequented by criminals, wrecking havoc is for once not the top priority of the Kid Pirates. After days or even weeks at sea the whole crew was longing for some sort of outside entertainment which, suprisingly, didn't have anything to do with pestering the weak. And as you might have guessed, today was one of those days.

There was an uncommon atmosphere of tranquility aboard the great pirate ship, and for once not a single soul was yelling around or picking a useless fight with a fellow crewmate- in fact, not only the upper deck but the entire ship was looking completely abandoned, almost as if there was no one there....but that wasn't entirely true. Given, you would have to wander deep into the actual interior of the Victoria Punk until a sound would actually reach your ears- which would be the sound of something sizzling in a frying pan at the other side of the kitchen door, to be specific.

And there he was, Captain Kid's closest friend and basically second-in-command- Killer. The masked man was looming over the pan sitting on top of the stove, his body unmoving like a statue- except for when he was flipping the frying meat every now and then. Other than that it was completely quiet, even along the hallway leading to the cabines of the other crewmembers there wasn’t a single noise to be heard. However... there was still another person left on board aside from ‘the Massacre Soldier’.

Earlier that day, Eustass Kid left the ship with the remnants of the crew so Killer could spend some time with the sole female member of the pirate group- a newcomer, whom he had been close to for quite a long time but only recently convinced to actually join the crew. That person was you, (Y/N), a completely new addition to the steadily rising number of criminals roaming the sea. But right now there was nothing dangerous or criminal on your mind- in fact, you were simply trying on different dresses and outfits inside of your and Killer's shared cabin while humming a small tune to distract from the uncanny silence of the ship. Tonight would be special, since you and your boyfriend basically had the whole place to themselves, and Killer was quick to suggest a date night consisting of dinner and stargazing in the Crow's nest. Well, of course there was also the option of him taking you out, but since everyone else was gone the tall pirate couldn't help but look forward to spending some time with you and you alone. And knowing that his best friend would be more than enough to keep the ship safe and that his buddy was probably longing for some 'sappy romance' time with you alreaey, Kid almost instantly allowed Killer to stay behind while he went on ahead and took the rest of the crew out and into the town to finally seek some entertainment.

However, right now the smell of something burning immediately pulled the masked pirate out of his train of thoughts and back into reality, and with a quick movement he lifted the pan off of the stove to start preparing the plates for tonight’s dinner. There wasn't much to work with in the kitchen, since most of the pirates’ diet consisted of alcohol and the food they stole scavenged from their trips to different islands. And because no one really took it upon themselves to keep an eye on the pantry, a majority of said food had gone bad already, and would later be discarded into the sea like almost everytime they reached a new port. But whether it was just luck or thanks to his keen eye, Killer actually managed to salvage a few pieces of somewhat fresh looking meat alongside with his private stash of pre-cooked spaghetti noodles, and so he was able to pull a somewhat decent dinner together which consisted of- well, spaghettis and meat with a somewhat spicy vegetable sauce. The tall man now pulled out two plates which he had previously scrubbed clean (since tidiness was another foreign term on this ship) and started to add some final touches, eager to finish with all the preparations before you would be done with getting dressed. However, since he didn't want to serve you any uncooked meat, he had to take some extra time with getting everything ready, so upon hearing you knock at the kitchen door Killer let out a small sigh. As to be expected, you had beaten him to it.

A few large steps later his hand wrapped itself around the door knob, ready to see what clothes you had chosen to wear for your little ‘date’. His gaze wandered back to the finished plates once more to make sure that he didn't forget anything, before he opened the door with a loud squeak.

Even when surrounded by the people he cared about and trusted, Killer would always keep his mask on his face or within reach, and moments like these once again reminded him of just how crucial that was- the sight of your beautiful curves hugged perfectly by the smooth (d/c) dress you choose to wear, your hair styled exactly how he adored it the most, and that gentle smile grazing your beautiful lips... his face turned as red as a tomato within mere seconds.

„Ahem, all done? I was just about to finish up myself, so you can go up to the crow's nest already if you want.“ he cleared his throat and made sure to keep his voice steady while his eyes were still glued to your gorgeous form.

But the smile on your lips only seemed to widen as you walked straight past him with a small giggle and gleefully eyed the plates your boyfriend previously put on the table.

„Mh, I could do that, but the smell of something delicious kiiiiind of demanded for me to come and check on you,“ you admitted and lifted your gaze from the food to look over at the masked man still standing at the door, „...and the food don't smell too bad either.“ you added with a playful wink which caused the corners of Killer's mouth to twitch upwards under his mask.

„Come now, don't be ridiculous.“ he replied sternly and in an attempt to make it seem as if he was brushing off your teasing, but as he walked over to join you by your side a large hand immediately reached out and started to rub your shoulder affectionately.

„But if you want to help I won't stop you. The plates are rather hot so I will take care of them- but look, the silverware is right over there.“ Your smile slowly turned into a playful pout, disappointed that he didn't seem to play along with your teasing, but regardless of that you walked over to the counter and picked up the forks and spoons with a dramatic sigh. As soon as both of you were more or less loaded with what you needed for the dinner, Killer let his eyes roam around the kitchen once more to make sure that he didn't miss anything and then gave the signal to head up to the Crow's nest. 

The way back to the deck was rather quiet, neither one of you felt any desire to disrupt the unusual silence with needless conversation, especially since there were things to hold and concentrate on. But regardless, there was a definite feeling of excitement rushing through your veins as you couldn't wait to finally spend a calm and quiet night just with your boyfriend- no drunken crewmates singing offensive shanties, no Captain Kid pulling Killer away for an arm-wrestling competition, and no one going for a swim because they tried to flirt you up while being drunk, which of course lead to Killer throwing them overboard.

No, tonight it was only the sound of the waves sweeping against the ship and the crying of the seagulls that were still circling the port. By now the two of you had finally managed to climb up into your destinated spot, (which was not a simple task for Killer who carried two piping hot plates with food, if I may add) and with delight you realized that he had actually prepared everything already- a bunch of pillows were lying all over the little space you had, most likely in order to make it more comfortable and cozy to sit, and a small table was placed in the middle for you two to eat on.

„Oh Killer, it really looks lovely!“ you exclaimed in a dreamy voice as your feet carried you over to the two biggest pillows, which were undoubtly arranged as the main seating opportunity. The masked man behind you simply smiled with pride as he put the plates down onto the table and headed over to the biggest pillow, where he quickly sat down with a loud 'thud!'. His hands immediately reached behind his head as he turned away from you and carefully craned his neck to the side, so the mechanism that kept his mask in place was now exposed.

„Would you, please?“ he asked in a calm tone, although the question was rather pointless since you were already on it and fumbling around with the mask, which opened and landed in his lap a few moments later. A proud smile grazed your lips as you clapped your hands together in excitement and allowed yourself to sink back into the pillow, right next to your boyfriend.

„There! Now, do I finally get to look at that handsome face?“ you inquired with a small giggle, and Killer playfully ran a hand through his hair to brush some strands out of his face before turning around to look at you.

His gaze roamed over your body again, now to take in all the little details that he previously missed or couldn't make out from behind his mask, a hungry glimmer reflected in his eyes. And just like him your (e/c) orbs were glued to his face, more specifically to those beautiful eyes sparkling especially bright thanks the light of the moon, and that gentle smile that could melt you right there on the spot. A happy sigh escaped your lips as moments which felt like hours passed by, the two of you only focussing on taking each other's form in as if this would be the last time you'd see each other in years.

„Like what you see, (Y/N)?“ the tall man then whispered in a playful tone as he held himself back from releasing a small chuckle and handed you your plate, a wide smile now plastered on your face.

„Well I oughta get a good look until you turn unrecognizable once more,“ you giggled and pointed down at his own plate, indirectly joking about how much of a messy eater he tended to be. And indeed, the first times that you and him dined together, Killer's face did get so messy from the food that you almost thought there was a stranger sitting next to you.

But the pirate simply brushed it off as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards and instead focussed on the spaghetti before it would get cold.

A simple nod of your head was enough to signal that you were thinking the same, and so Killer quickly handed you a spoon and fork before literally... digging into the dish.

Now having dinner with him was always something special, and since he wasn't wearing his mask you could actually observe how his face would lit up as he enjoyed the taste of the food he had prepared earlier. A smile grazed your lips as you occasionally reached for a napkin to clean some sauce off of his cheek, all while cuddling up to your boyfriend in order to feel his warmth. Although the spaghetti was already doing a great job of heating you up from the inside.

„So.... I heard Kid once again broke the arm-wrestling table Wire brought from the last port? How many times did this happen now?“ you asked with a playfully raised eyebrow, the plate with your remaining food now sitting in your lap as you felt the desire to talk with your boyfriend for a bit. Killer almost choked on his pasta at the mention of what went down the night prior- it was definitely not an evening he was keen on recalling (especially since someone spilled alcohol all over his new shirt at some point), but the memory of his captain angrily smashing his fist down on his favorite table, breaking it in the process, still brought a smirk to his face.

„Well, if I recall it correctly, then Kid actually made a comment about that just before leaving with the rest of the crew... something about 'taking a new table from the nearest bar' they would be visiting,“ he grinned and shook his head before picking up his fork again, but you suddenly got an idea which almost made you chuckle out loud.

„Hehe, then I hope he takes that table before getting drunk again, or else he might mess up and accidentally carry home a donkey instead!“ you laughed and playfully slapped your boyfriend's knee, the idea that Kid might be so wasted that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a donkey and a table sounded absolutely hilarious in your mind.

For a quick moment, silence returned to the ship once more as you waited for your partner’s reaction- mentally you were already anticipating a light chuckle or his usual playful smirk, but then a high-pitched sound suddenly tore through the air and almost startled you as you looked up at Killer with suprise.

„Faaaffaffaffaffaffa!“ said man was covering his eyes with a hand, his mouth wide open as the unusual sound of his laughter reached your eyes.

Now, seeing your boyfriend smile was one thing, but him laughing was actually still pretty foreign to you even until this very day, so to say that you were caught off-guard was quite the underestimation. Both your mouth as well as eyes were opened wide as you stared at Killer, who's laughter now began to die down just as quick as it had started. Almost as if he realized that he just made a terrible mistake, the blonde man lowered his head as his smile faded into a frown and his hand was still pressed against the upper part of his face, thus completely shielding his eyes from your view.

You could basically feel how Killer's mood immediately decreased, a look of shame and discomfort now on his handsome features as he averted his gaze even more by turning his head to the side. His hand slowly wandered down to now press itself against his mouth, seemingly to keep any further noise from escaping.

Silence returned once more, but this time it was because neither of you seemed to know how to respond to what had just happened, and you were still in awe of actually hearing your boyfriend's laugh for the first time. Of course you knew about how much he detested the sound of his own laughter, it was something he had already told you early on into the relationship, but you never really understood what could make him hate his own voice so much. And even now, you still didn't understand. Was this... was this what he was so embarrassed of? Well admittedly, it was quite an unusual laugh, but it definitely didn't sound like something to be ashamed of! In fact, now that you finally heard it for yourself, you realized that this could very well be a sound you could grow used to...

Killer however took your silence and the thoughtful expression on your face as an indirect sign of rejection, and although he was relieved that you didn't laugh, he still felt incredibly ashamed and vulnerable because of what just happened, so he decided to do what would be for the best in his eyes.

„It's okay,“ he cleared his throat and tore his glance from your face to look to the side again, before silently picking up his plate and slowly standing up, „I can... I’ll leave, if you want it.“

His voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper as he lifted his head and prepared to climb back down, but suddenly the feeling of your hand gripping his arm caused him to stop right in his tracks. Confused, and still mildly uncomfortable, Killer turned around as if he was expecting you to make a joke or some sort of comment, but instead you simply turned your head to the side and blinked up at him with slight confusion.

„Don't go! It's just... you know... I never heard you laugh before.“ you exclaimed in your usual warm and calm tone, without any trace of malice or mockery hidden underneath, which caused Killer to slightly relax from his tense state.

„As you can tell, there is a reason for that...“ he simply muttered and lowered his gaze again, which caused you to slightly loosen your grip as you furrowed your eyebrows in irritation.

„Actually... no, I can't.“ you bluntly admitted and kept on looking him in the eyes so he wouldn't continue to avert his gaze. Your sudden bluntness caught Killer off-guard for a moment as he frowned down on you as if you were kidding, but judging by your intense glare it was clear that you wouldn't let him walk off like this. At least not without a talk, so just as quick as he got up he sat back down again, his arms now crossed infront of his chest. It was clear that he didn't want this sudden 'outburst' to ruin your datenight, but deep within him there were the same insecurities that plagued him for years rising up again, mainly concerning his laugh and how others would respond to it.

„(Y/N)... I don't mean to overreact, but I'm sure you are aware that this is... a difficult topic for me...“ Killer simply sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair while his eyes were fixated on a point far away in the starry sky. Of course you knew that this wasn't easy for him, after all he did tell you about how much he always hated his own laugh and how people who dared to make fun of it would pay a devastating price for that, but now that you finally knew what it sounded liked... you were oddly relieved, to be honest.

„Yeah, I know, but Killer- you may see it as a flaw, but to me... I never heard you laugh before. Do you know how happy it makes me to finally know about this?“ his gaze slowly wandered over to your face, and although the frown on his lips was still as hard and unmoving as before, he was kind of curious now to hear what you had to say.

„...I'm... It always felt like there was something missing...“ you continued and carefully put a hand on top of his knee, „I've seen you smile, heard you cry... this is actually something I've been wondering and worrying about for a long time.“ your voice slowly began to fade out and blend in with the sound of the crashing waves as you wondered how this sudden confession would make him feel. Would he be mad? Sad? Would he leave? Part of you was almost expecting him to get up and walk away without saying another word, but instead the tall man carefully put a large hand of his own on top of yours.

„Well, if I’m being honest- I was... kind of wondering and especially worrying too. About how you might react,“ Killer admitted and closed his eyes for a moment as the painful memories of how many times he was teased for his laugh boiled up again, but he did his best to suppress those negative emotions and thoughts for your sake, „and I... misjudged you. After a while you just get used to people laughing at you, so you start assuming everyone might react the same. But you, (Y/N)-“ his head turned your way, his eyes now glued to your form as he raised an arm and gently stroke over your cheek, „-are different. I probably should have figured that much.“ he muttered and awkwardly cleared his throat before lowering his gaze as a small red hue formed on his cheeks.

It's true that talking about this had been something he was dreading, but the fact that you're willing to support him and look past this detested flaw of his once again reminded Killer just why you meant so much to him- similar to Kid, you were there and able to accept him for who he was, flaws and weird laugh included.

A large smile spread on your face as you affectionately rubbed your cheek against his hand, happy that you managed to get him in a somewhat better mood again. This topic might never be an easy one for him, but you were more than glad to have finally talked about it.

„Mhh, and know what? As a matter of fact, there are a few embarrassing secrets of my own that you don't know yet either!“ you chuckled and playfully nudged his side while reaching behind you with your free hand. Killer's ears quickly perked up at that as he felt himself relax more and more, the usual smirk now plastered on his face- he was happy to change the topic to something a bit lighter-themed.

„Oh? Is that so?“ the blonde man asked and raised an eyebrow while mustering your face up close, but your smile only widened as you suddenly pulled out a small bottle of what he presumed to be wine. Of course. There wasn't a single place on this ship that wasn't equipped with alcohol.

„Hehe, I coooould tell you- if I'm drunk enough!“ you sang loudly and shook the bottle around in front of him as a tease, to which Killer replied with grabbing the item and getting ready to uncork it, his smirk softening a bit as he wrapped an arm around you and pulled you closer while continuing to inspect the beverage.

„Well, you got my full attention- I suppose it can't be helped then...“

...and getting drunk with you on this starry night sounded just about perfect to him right now.

[romanholidaybynickiminaj]

what makes seven samurai so great?

i consider seven samurai to be the most influential film in history, alongside with citizen kane. seven samurai was the first ever “modern” action movie. george lucas has cited it as his main inspiration for his iconic star wars series. the magnificent seven is a loose remake of seven samurai, and seven samurai is taught in film school all across the globe. much like the good the bad and the ugly shaped the modern western, and we cannot escape the shadow of the good the bad and the ugly whenever we watch a modern western, we cannot escape the shadow of kurosawa’s influence on modern action movies in general, specifically seven samurai. but what makes it so good?

i believe seven samurai is a perfect encapsulation of classic cinema. it is 100% a fancy art house museum masterpiece movie but it isn’t pretentious. it doesn’t demand your full attention and respect and doesn’t make itself seem like the spectacle it is. it is cinema that is art, but is also genuinely entertaining and fun to watch in a popcorn level.

the film follows a relatively poor farming village that overheard that a group of ruthless bandits are planning to attack their town and raid their food. the farmers then go into town to find samurai they can hire to defend their village. when i first was hearing about it, i was worried if i wasn’t going to like it. with three and a half hours of runtime with such a simple sounding story, i was worried about the pacing of the movie, and it being such an influential classic loved by many, i was worried i would not like it. i was wrong. i am just another needle in a haystack that thinks this is an incredible movie. with a long runtime, you would expect a pace reminiscent of a snail. that is where you are wrong. the film suprisingly moves quick, and it still is engaging to watch. this is due to director Akira Kurosawa’s famously incredible framing. kurosawa is regarded as a great master of cinema and photography. the characters are placed beautifully, with rule of thirds and golden ratio in every shot, with the frame reaching far and wide, there is always something moving in and out of frame. there is no still shot. the editing is incredible, the camera zooming and pulling us in when there is a moment of action and it moving out when someone is having a softer moment.

seven samurai would not be what it is today without it’s characters. each character brimming with their own distinct personality and it is never boring to see them interacting with one another. Kukichio, the closest thing we have to a protagonist, is such a great character. played by the legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, it is bound to be well acted. Kukichio is just that. a scene when he is jumping down a steep hill without an ounce of fear shows his dedication to the role.

seven samurai is a film about the human condition, about morality. at first, the samurai refuse to accept the job to fight for an insignificant farming village, only to be rewarded with food alone. they are much more accustomed to fighting for great lords and emperors getting payed and rewarded handsomely with riches. the film begs the question, should we fight for the reward, or to read the room and understand the anguish people are going through and to genuinely save them. this moral question is prominent with kukichiyo. at first he hates the idea of fighting for a farming village but we see as he progresses we learn that he chooses to fight for the village, and shows his true character. he has made some great sacrifices and he has stopped running away from his true self.

[game-boy-pocket]

I don’t know how many of my followers are Dragon Quest fans, I can tell you it’s not enough though, it’s criminal that so many won’t give it a chance ( I blame Dragon Ball. In Japan Toriyama’s legacy is a lot bigger than just Dragonball but in the west, he’s only known for Dragon Ball and everyone who sees his art style they think it’s a Dragon Ball spinoff or something. ) 

Well, I just watched Dragon Quest: Your Story and I wanted to give some short thoughts on it.

It’s suprisingly faithful to the original game up to a certain point, then it re-arranges some events for the better imo. And though I think Toriyama’s art style is an essential part of Dragon Quest, I didn’t dislike the art style they went with. I recognized every character ( save for one guy who got a pretty big overhaul, one that he needed imo ), and the monsters were all unmistakable to a Dragon Quest fan... 

This is a problem that I’m sure most long time DQ fans are used to since Sugiyama’s been with the series since the beginning,, but it just feels so weird hearing completely un-remixed music taken straight from the Dragon Quest games. I didn’t hate it or anything, it’s just jarring to consume new media with the exact same musical arrangements as the source material, even Mario remixes the oft reused SMB theme.

And then the elephant in the room is the twist ending. I already knew about it going in. It was not as bad as I was expecting, but I was still not a fan of it.  It was basically a 10/10 adaptation of the game, except for that twist ending, just 10 minutes where the movie just completely slaps you in the face and kills your immersion... and it doesn’t even really feel good, it kinda feels like the Dragon Quest Brand patting itself on the back for it’s success... I don’t want to spoil anything but it gets a big thumbs down from me.

But, the awful twist at the end aside, the overall package is just good enough that I enjoy it enough to ignore the ending. I’d recommend the movie to Dragon Quest fans, old and new, even if you haven’t played the game it was based on. You’ll still recognize the monsteres and spells and a few other elements... and then if you like it, go play Dragon Quest V.