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joe-spookyy · 19 days

Note

Any tips on how to cosplay Undead Jack Goodman

( context plan on going to a Halloween party as him )

actually yes!!! i’ve gone through a fair bit of trial and error on this one so let me give you some tips!!

here’s how i did it.

so. first. the makeup.

you will need

- cotton balls/pads

- liquid latex

- scar wax (optional)

- paper towel tube

- tissues

- red base makeup

- eyeliner pencil of some sort

- fake blood

- black/brown/yellow/purple makeup

so, first, you’re going to want to block out the shape of the injury. i usually just draw it out with the eyeliner pencil (using a reference of course). you’re going to want to go all the way down your neck to the collar of your shirt and as far back to where your hair falls on your neck. if your hair doesn’t hit your neck well. then follow your heart. then, you’ll follow the guidelines you’ve put down with cotton and liquid latex to make it raised. you’ll want to tear up the cotton balls/pads and roll them into thin strips with your fingers. you can make them as long or as short as you want. i usually make them pretty short though, so it’s easier to make sure they follow the lines. once you’ve rolled them, you can place liquid latex over your guideline, and then stick the strip on. if that doesn’t make sense, check out my video tutorial and also the one i attached at the end. then, once you have that, you can start adding texture. i usually put one piece of scar wax on the side of my cheek like here. it should look somewhat like this (but with stuff on your neck too.) this is also the stage where i start attaching little pieces of tissue in shreds to my face with liquid latex to simulate the little floppy pieces of skin that hang off.

next, you can add the fake windpipe! for this, i cut a toilet paper tube in half and then adjust the size until it fits comfortably over my throat. you can attach it with liquid latex, then cover it with another piece of tissue to make it a little more seamless and use liquid latex again to hold it down.

now, you have to go in with the color. start with a red base, then add yellow and black highlights, with a little bit of purple if you’re feeling bold. but don’t use too much purple. then, go absolutely insane with the fake blood. the most important thing is to respect the lines you made before, cause in the movie all the wounds are isolated to one side of his face.

to modify this for the later stages of decay you’d want to use a green base for the rest of your face and use less red and more of the darker colors in the wounds. you could create texture on the rest of your face with liquid latex i think to sort of simulate the shriveled look but i’m not super sure - i haven’t tried anything past the initial fresh hospital look. i’d look up a few zombie makeup tutorials and see if you can figure anything else out!

i based all of mine off of this tutorial, so it might be a helpful watch if you’re confused at all.

youtube

next, the coat. i really wanted the blood to look fresh, so i had kind of a hard time finding fake blood that would work. most of it dries and soaks into fabric, and since the green coat is dark, it just ends up kinda looking like it’s been stained with an unidentified liquid. so i decided to make my own. i mixed gelatin powder, water, and corn syrup with food coloring - mostly red, but a few drops of blue to get a darker more bloody nasty look. in terms of amount, you just kind of have to follow your heart. then, i poured a little over the shoulder, let it drip, then laid it down and did some spot treatment and made sure the coverage was even and there was enough. i’d recommend doing this maybe two nights before you’re going to need the costume - it takes a while to dry but if you let it dry for too long it’ll start to crack when you move. however, it’s the only way i’ve figured out to keep the blood looking fresh. if you want, you can also cut holes in the coat in some places to match how it is in the movie, but i’ve found it honestly doesn’t need it.

then you’re pretty much set! get some dark jeans and hiking boots and boom. you’re jack. would love to see how your costume turns out!

#matty answers #aawil #an american werewolf in london #jack goodman #vfx #sfx #sfx makeup #horror #horror movie #horror makeup #vfx makeup #sfx tutorial #sfxgore #makeup tutorial

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artemistorm · 2 years

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One word prompt: licked

This one is a fun one--it reminded me of a thing I used to do as a kid--lick my hand and hold it up to ward off my siblings.

(1301 words)

******

"Let go of the rupee," Legend urged. "You can't get your hand out of the hole unless you let go of the rupee. Your fist is too big."

"NO!" Wind hissed, his hand trapped in a hole in the wall, his fist wrapped around a glowing golden rupee. "My rupee!" His eyes were red and crazed and his entire arm was tensed and stiff as if electrified. It didn't take a genius to tell that the rupee-in-the-hole was clearly cursed and intended to be a trap, one that the strapped-for-cash little pirate fell for.

"If you let go for just a second, I can use my whip to get it out of the hole for you," Sky pleaded.

"And take it for yourself? I don't think so!" Wind lashed out with his free hand, fingers bared like claws when Sky got too close for his liking. "This is my money. I found it first! Its all mine!"

"Don't touch him and don't let him touch you," Four warned.

"What can we do?" Twilight asked. "We can't reason with him in this state."

"You shouldn't have let him open that cursed chest full of rupoors earlier," Warriors nudged Legend. "Maybe he wouldn't have fallen for the trap if he still had any money."

"I warned him not to!" Legend spluttered. "Maybe you should have been quicker to stop him before he reached his hand into a random hole!"

"Wiiind!" Hyrule sang holding up a silver rupee just out of his reach. "Do you want more rupees?"

"Careful," Time put a hand on Hyrule's arm.

Wind surged forward as much as he could with his arm still trapped in the wall. Hyrule leapt back and dangling the rupee just out of reach.

"Give it to me! I want it now!" Wind made grabby hands and strained to reach the silver rupee. "More rupees!"

"Let go of the other rupee and you can have this rupee," Hyrule said.

"NO! I want both rupees! Gimme!"

"Wind! Let go! You're going to break your arm!" Twilight cried. "Hyrule! Give it to him so he doesn't hurt himself!"

"Yes! Give it to me!" Wind growled.

Hyrule panicked and flung it at Wind who caught it faster than the eye could follow with his free hand. He laughed maniacally and dropped the rupee in his pocket.

“Great that didn’t work. Now what do we do?” Warriors sighed.

“You look rich! Give me all your rupees!” Wind demanded of Warriors. “They belong to me!”

At the back of the group there was a sound of lips smacking and Twilight turned to find Wild idly licking off each of his fingers.

“Eww! Cub! What are you eating?” Twilight grabbed Wild’s hand. His hand and his mouth were covered in green gelatinous substance. “Ugh! Spit that out! How could you be eating at a time like this?! What even is that nasty—”

“Hmph. No’ bad.” Wild said then swallowed. “Tastes like cuckoo.”

“What even is this?” Twilight wiped some of the green gunk off his hand and on his pants. Wild shrugged.

“Dunno. I bought some off a guy in Wind’s Hyrule. He called it a jellyfish, said it was something you didn’t want to eat unless you were in a desperate situation—and we’ve been stuck in this dungeon for three hours and I’m pretty desperately hungry.”

“Seriously?”

“Do you have any more?” Time asked.

“Yeah! You want some?” Wild held up another green glob with long thin tentacles hanging down. Time made a face and accepted the disgusting offering.

“Old Man, what are you—” Twilight trailed off.

“Ahhh—” Time inhaled sharply. “Ahhh—!”

“You good, old man?” Four asked, turning away from Wind.

“AAAAHHH CHOOO!” Time sneezed mightily with such volume that the sound echoed down the stony corridor. Everyone flinched and jumped, even Wind, who had a fistful of Warriors’ scarf.

Time looked down at his hands where the crushed green remains of the jellyfish dripped from his hands.

“Augh!” Sky gagged and covered his eyes, trying not to heave.

“That’s disgusting!” Legend stepped away from their elder

“Did that just seriously come out of you?!” Four gasped.

“What the hell? Do you have the plague??” Warriors jumped back, yanking his scarf from a startled wide-eyed Wind’s grasp.

Time sniffed the green goop in his hands.

“Hmm.”

Time touched his tongue the green goop. He made a show of taking a long slow lick the length of his right hand.

“No! No! Don’t do that!” Sky squealed and waved his hands. “Ahhh!”

“OHH! That’s just gross!” Warriors looked away and covered his mouth with a gag.

“Is this really happening?” Four asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle.

Hyrule watched simultaneously appalled and perplexed and Wind stared in horrified silence.

“Mm. Salty,” Time said licking his lips.

In the back of the group, Wild stifled a laugh and Twilight covered his mouth with his hand his eyes wide with glee.

Time cocked his head at Wind.

“Are you stuck, young friend?” Time asked. He casually approached Wind, the others jumping out of his way.

Wind didn’t answer but bared his teeth.

“Let me help you!” Time reached out a green slimy hand toward Wind’s stuck arm. Wind squirmed and pulled away from Time.

“Don’t touch me!” Wind scowled. “You smell poor.” Wind strained to lean away from Time.

“It’ll just take a moment to get you unstuck!” Time’s hand stopped just short of grasping Wind’s arm. “Oh! There’s something on your face!” He reached for Wind’s face with his green gloopy hand.

Wind screeched and jerked backward, arm suddenly free of the trap. He fell onto his behind then scrabbled away on all fours hissing at Time, who watched him with cool amusement. Wind’s face went blank for a moment, then he blinked confused up at all the other staring heroes.

“What’s going on?” He said, then winced and curled around his arm. “Ow.”

“Here, let me see,” Legend pushed past the agape Hyrule and knelt by Wind.

Time held up his hands for the others to see.

“This is jellyfish,” he said. “It’s not snot.”

“Hehehe I get it. It’s-not snot.” Wild snorted.

“And you’re right. It does taste like cuckoo.”

“I can’t believe it. You really got me, Old Man!” Warriors laughed.

“Wow. I’m so glad that’s not real.” Four shivered.

“Wahaha that’s so funny!” Hyrule burst out in laughter. “I didn’t know you had it in you!”

“I know you said that it’s not real, but… I think I’m going to throw up anyways!” Sky pushed past Wild and Twilight and threw up on the ground at the edge of the corridor.

“Hey Wind, how’re you feeling?” Twilight called edging away from Sky.

“He’ll be fine,” Legend said helping Wind stand up. “His arm isn’t broken and there’s no residual damage from the curse.”

“It’s just bruised and sore,” Wind said, inspecting the red marks on his skin where it had rubbed on the rim of the hole.

“I hope you learned your lesson,” Legend crossed his arms.

“I bet you won’t go sticking your hand into any more holes, will you?” Warriors said.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Wind said patting his pocket. “I’m a hundred rupees richer!”

“Wait! No! That’s mine! Give it back!” Hyrule reached for Wind’s pocket.

“Buzz off, slacker. It’s mine! I deserve it for my troubles!”

“That’s not supposed to be the lesson that you took away from this little experience!” Twilight groaned.

“If I help you get it back, will you give me half the money?” Wild asked Hyrule.

Time stepped away up the hall a little ways and poured a trickle of water from his canteen to clean off his hands and he laughed and laughed quietly to himself.

#linked universe #dungeon crawl shenanigans #time being a chaotic gremlin #wind being a little shit #wild also being a little shit but to a lesser degree #this one is gross #but funny #tw vomiting #around the campfire #lu time #lu wind

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biolizardboils · 1 year

Text

heres a semi-liveblog i did while playing The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog! spoilers under the cut (both for this game and Frontiers!)

“We designed the difficulty of the THINK levels for experienced Sonic fans [...]” finally...a worthy opponent

look at this cute little new employee!! im naming them Barry like in the trailer. them and the Forces Avatar just need one more member and they can form Team Self-Insert!

the Conductor is a big doggy!! oh hes retiring aww,

The Mirage Express, huh? i thought i saw a place that looked like Mirage Saloon in the traileSPAGONIA MENTION!!

okay im not gonna say the menu’s instant ramen is absolutely a reference to the 06 fandub, but i struggle to imagine what else it could be

so they eat Pickies, but eating Cluckies is apparently too far? filing this under Important Lore Implications /j

everyone’s outfits aaaaa;;;;

IT’S AMY’S BIRTHDAY!!! CONGRATS GIRL I LOVE YOUR CAKE HEADBAND AND FUR BOA

“(Why can’t I be normal for one second...)” Barry calm down, your unorthodox yet charming response got you a wink and thumbs up from Sonic the fucking Hedgehog! id be over the moon if i was you

someone already left their ticket in a napkin holder, can’t have shit on my first day

Important notes on Barry: is intimidated by Knuckles, Espio, and Shadow, is Sparkle Gelatin Buddies with Tails, somehow cannot recognize Sonic in the flesh, and bows for royalty like Blaze

Wait... the train's robot arms look like something Eggman would make... Mr. Conductor sir...?

Why is Butcher!Vector stationed in the library and not like, the kitchen lol. And also why’d he and Espio leave Charmy at home

Amy proceeds to explain the rules of Among Us

Tails is disqualified from being the murderer, for he is both Detective and Babey

At long last... the token evil Flicky

uhh why’s the train shaking

DID WE CRASH??

Amy refusing a chance to use her hammer...?

the stick behind her was def her hammer’s handle, wonder how it broke

how on earth can a Crack on A Shelf fit in someone’s inventory

how did that minigame help Barry think of an argument dfghj

oh the hammer she broke was a Great Value backup, thank god

the dead Sonic illustration still sends me hwoling sdfghj

i muted the game to play this real quick and now im laughing even harder

wait sonic can talk but he’s numb and can’t move. no longer laughing

he’s got wounds?? and NO PULSE??? oh my god theyre actually fucking doing it

TITLE DROP?? YOURE TELLING ME THE GAME DIDNT START UNTIL JUST NOW??

what did Omochao do to warrant a wanted poster

Not Knuckles using Ye Olde English for his Sherriff rolefghjk

Omochao is wanted for medical malpractice??? sure why not

okay im gonna stop logging everything and just play for a bit. will type again if something REALLY funny or shocking happens

ooh the bg changed in the Think minigame! reminds me of Earthbound

everybody’s leaving they gotdam post, can’t have shit with this group

id let Barry tell me all about caves

all the options to get rid of the bomb gdsffhgjhkj thank god it wasn’t ACTUALLY a bomb

got caught up in the game but aaaa i hope Amy and Shadow have fun at the Hot Honey concerttt

the blowdart in the conductor’s car... what is it filled with, i wonder... a paralyzing agent... or poison

HE’S STILL PARALYZED/DEAD OH NO... the game didnt give me the option to tell anyone about him but i still feel like an asshole aaaa

aaand now im laughing again SFDGHJ Amy what do you MEAN by that????

wow, im actually not sure who did it! the robot arm was specifically sliced through, so i imagine it was someone who could do that without a weapon. Vector could’ve bitten it, and Shadow could’ve used Chaos Spear... neither of those culprits seem right to me, but it’s all i got

ESPIO. idk how he did the slicing cus his shurikens wouldve been confiscated but he can camouflage why didnt i think of that

okay the camouflage didnt even come up in the accusation but still

SONIC’S ALIVE YAY

can you imagine if he’d said this when Mephiles killed him bhkvads

I FUCKING KNEW IT. TRAIN’S HAUNTED

wait the token evil Flicky is real AND relevant to the narrative??

oh thats legitimately creepy

oh thats even worse (even tho i still think hes eggman in disguise)

okay ngl id have followed these instructions to the letter too. its an autism thing, your honor

TRAIN’S GONNA KILL US OKAY

I’M BACK IN THE DINING CAR WITH SONIC, HI SONIC!!! WE’RE GONNA DIE BUT ILU

holy cow i can’t believe there’s STILL more to do?? the production values....

SONIC NEVER GOT TO SEE THE PRETTY VIEWS NOOOO;;

E G G

eggman has no tolerance for self-insert oc’s :pensive:

it’s canon now that Badniks have competitive wages sdfghj

oh no Barry... your self-deprecating dialogue options are worrying me buddy...

!!!PEP TALK??? SET TO IT DOESN’T MATTER V2???

Sonic my best friend Sonic.....you’re right. we can do this

so between this and Frontiers i think this decade’s gimmick is gonna be “silly minigame actually prepares you for the final challenge”

“Don’t teleport us to the future!” Barry how did you correctly guess an event that happened in a destroyed timeline

Ohhh the Train’s mad that the Conductor’s retiring isn’t it?? lemme just plug a video real quick kjhgfdsa

IM FIGHTING THE ACTUAL TRAIN NOW OH MY GOD

this is fucking TOUGH HELP

THAT LAST PART TOOK ME LIKE 20 TRIES AAAAACK

“Your happiness comes at the expense of others. Last I checked, that’s called being selfish.” Tell ‘em, Sonic

100 rings??? have mercy

FINALLY HOLY SHIT

ESPIO SAVES THE FLICKY TO ATONE FOR HIS CRIMES

WAIT DID AMY BLOW THE TRAIN UP WITH EVERYONE INSIDE??

awww;;

oh no Train......

AAAWWW;;

god Barry’s been flabbergasted by this group the whole game dfghjk. is that how civilians tend to think of them? cus its hilarious

nobody even ate?? Barry didnt even get to do his ONE job mndbhksa

SONIC FINALLY BOUGHT THE CAKE YAYYY

“To the confident, unshakable, and radiant Amy Rose!” WAAAAAUGHG;;

WAIT WHAT ,BVJKSFHL??

“...And that’s the story of how I met Sonic and his friends. Entangled in their lives for a fleeting moment, and then back to things as they were.” Living the dream, huh, Barry? I mean, besides being jobless again

oh wait we can choose their epilogue!! i made them stick with the job, practice their singing, and manage to fly to space. as a treat

holy shit that was WAY longer than i was expecting!! every aspect of this was exquisite--scenario, art, characterization, jokes, gameplay challenge?? holy shit

oh hey i guess some people got that Sonic Lore job after all!! congrats to them too!!

I think the moral of this is that sometimes the best April Fools’ jokes are the ones played completely straight, with much more than a simple lie behind them. and also don’t trust trains

#sonic the hedgehog #the murder of sonic the hedgehog #sth #the murder of #tmosth #april fools #me talking #boils plays #the murder of sonic the hedgehog spoilers #tmosth spoilers #barry #the conductor #sonic frontiers spoilers #frontiers spoilers #caps tw

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mattydemise · 1 year

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I've never been a weekend person but recently I'm finding the most purpose on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. When the bar is alive and it’s just me and a near endless list of drink orders, I feel vital. Talking to patrons, flirting, and being engaged in good conversation. I push my body before work. The workouts are gruelling and I either start or end a workout with close to an hour of boxing. My back and shoulders in particular are transforming, getting thicker and tighter. The muscle is hard earned. It still feels as though I need to do more though, find new limits to push for. Generally, putting size on a tall frame isn’t easy and anyone tall that lifts will tell you the same thing. I have fitness goals in mind though, I have a certain physique that appeals to me above all else, and most importantly, my strength and conditioning must be functional. There’s no point being absolutely fucking massive if you have terrible cardio and can’t run around your block without facing death itself. I think back to the centuries upon centuries of warriors that trained and honed their bodies even without optimal nutrition and “poor living conditions”. In reality were their living conditions that bad though or is it simply the fact that these cultures lived so differently to the modern Western man that it’s difficult for us to imagine living that way? I know it’s the latter. Society has softened and weakened us. I know this. I think back to that old anarcho adage, “You want to improve society and yet you still participate in it?” It’s easy to critique that mindset, after all are we expected to drop out of society and govern ourselves? I say yes. I say fuck the hierarchies of institutionalised power. I say fuck those that seek out power like moths to the flame. I don’t seek power, I seek total freedom. I wish to live as I please and be only accountable to myself and my own sense of honour and integrity. I’m tired of living according to the wills and whims of gelatinous, overbearing, weak men. Men in cheap ill-fitting suits that lounge around and treat other human beings like pawns on the global chessboard. I’m not just some figure on a spreadsheet or a statistic to be brought out and used to illustrate a point. I’m flesh and blood and I’ve more drive and will, than in the entirety of Parliament. I’m clearheaded and completely lucid. I’m not beholden to anyone and I’m not rendered useless and docile by some disgusting fucking habit. Moreover, I don’t need a fucking gun to prove how much of a threat I am to these established ideals. I’m charismatic and intelligent, capable and strong, in other words, I represent the converse of virtually every elected official in this country. You should fear the amount of burden I can carry, the weight I can hold on my ever strengthening shoulders. I’m no politician nor am I a boy, I’m a man. Fear the men that have the will to seize the world within their hands and cradle it like a newborn. Let’s lay siege to the institutions that wreak havoc on this planet, let’s become the sworn enemies of the human blobs in power, and hold a vendetta against the foundations and fundamentals, that’ve corrupted our cultures and societies. The time for change is now, and change doesn’t come when men and women wearing symbols of peace join hands and sing about revolution, change comes when threat is imminent, violence is swift, blood is shed, and the weak men that hijacked this world are brought to their knees and forced to submit. The age of weakness is over, and the age of strength is here once again.

#marcelmidnight #writing #words #philosophy #politics

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mellowquint · 1 year

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The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Liveblog!

Part 1; the Dining Car

OKAY WE'RE FINALLY DOING THIS READY, SET, LEGO (wait wrong fandom–)

So insert character is first time working for the train huh, okay cool cool

Oh god now i have to name them uhh (yes i will be referring to they/them, non-binary characters ftw)

… I went with Trainee (get it cuz uh train and yeah I'll see myself out)

Darling your scribbles are fine, better than mine actually

Trainee is a nervous train wreck *ba dum tss* yeah ok I'll stop making train jokes

Oh dang here comes the conductor. Apparently todays the conductor's last day after thirty two years.

OOHH THE TRAIN IS CALLED MIRAGE EXPRESS

I like how the sonic crew didn't forget about spagonia Jejdkddlfkkdkfk thought that was a one time thing

The menu only has 3 things, Why? lmao

Wait they're ALL MICROWAVE MEALS?? Can't they afford a chef? This is someone's speaking who has not gone onto these fancy train cars yet so forgive me

Oh fun tidbit the trains actually used for event's only.

"So I'll need you to do everything in your power to make sure our paying guests are well taken care of, understood?" Sir yes sir

AAAHHHHH AMYYYY SHE LOOKS SO ADORABLE WITH THE BIRTHDAY CAKE HEADBAND AND THE DRESS

HELP TAILS IN HIS DETECTIVE OUTFIT HE'S SO CUTEE

oh so it's Amy's birthday party!! Murder mystery theme eh? Someone's an Agatha Christie fan~~

ROUGE AND KNUCKLES YES also Rouge girl you just got on the train don't go stealing gift shop pens just yet lmao

"What cast of characters am i stuck with" OH SHOOT HE KNOWS 🤣

"Why can't i be normal for one second" you and me both Trainee

Also Sonic immediately bolting to get chilli dogs lmao, never change blue gumball dork

WHOOOO LOOKIT ALL OF THEM, ALSO HOLY MOLY BLAZE IS HERE TOO???? COOL COOL COOL

EHH okay so now i collect the tickets, like a normal person, this wont be an embarrassing trip

"well the birthday discount certainly helped!" You and me both Amy

OH NEW LORE DROPPED, AMY'S A FAN OF TRUE CRIME PODCASTS!!! (I wonder if she would like the Magnus Archives…)

"Here's the key that unlocks any door in the train" hmm seems kinda sus, but oh well birthday girl gets the birthday key

and Blaze is here to grace us with her presence and elegance, reminding why I love her. Love how she just casually tells us that she's visiting from a separate dimension like it's nothing lmao

Sooo Blaze has sweet tooth cannon? Yes.

LMAO TRAINEE NO "Why can't i win in this group"

Rouge darling please give the conductor his money back it's to early to steal anyones lunch money

Y'know it's a bit awkward knowing that Trainee just realised he's talking t The Sonic The Hedgehog, like my dude did you not know what he looks like? Either way Sonic's pretty chill

"I brought my own sparkle gelatin. It's a jelly that can melt away even the most jaded hearts" Tails imma need you stop being so cute and wholesome for ONE SECOND OKAY I CAN'T TAKE IT ✨🥺

Awww Trainee and Tails are jelly buddies!!!

"Thank goodness someone on this train is normal" buddy wait till you see the kid fly an airplane and can fly with his two tails lmao

Espio why you holding that rose who is it for 👀

DID ESPIO SERIOUSLY READ TRAINEES MIND?? (Edit he did in fact, something about his Ninjutsu or something)

"Can you cling into walls" "i most certainly can" okay just tell the conductor that, I'll now know where to find you then. In the air vents.

"Do you sell gift bags here" ….. shadow you didn't forget to bring Amy a present her birthday party right?

"Robot arm reminding me that one AI from Wall–E, hopefully we're not going to that route

"Actually, uh Train, the conductor wants me to have the whole plate" lmao you ain't slick Trainee

Okayyy last but not least we have Vector, who does not in fact have his ticket, aanddd now we're supposed to find it

"I wonder what cake topper Sonic picked out for me" "...shoot, i was supposed to give Amy a cake… what am i supposed to do?" Ya done goofed you blue gumball dork

"You don't need to bow everytime you see me" sure Blaze it's not like i was stress responding. definitely.(seriously tho i love her dialogues)

Okay imma take a gamble and ask shadow if he sees any tickets

"Only three items on the menu..? You don't even have drinks listed" THAT'S WHAT I WAS SAYING!!! Also we only have like three drinks too, water, coffee, and chaos cola

"I'll have to take you up on the coffee soon. Just the beans and A spoon, though" …… shadow um what??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BEANS AND A SPOON ONLY YOU HOT TOPIC WANNABE??? NOT EVEN WATER OR MILK???

I spent 5 minute hitting every random object where's the ticket – OH WAIT LEFT ARROW

NAPKIN IT'S IN THE NAPKIN

"Lost ticket added to you inventory" YES BUD LET'S GOO

Poor trainee has to double shift on being the microwave expert AND security guard smh, Trainee better has a good paycheck

I'm hoping up on here saying to PLEASE TELL ME WHO DID ALL THE SPRITES IN THE GAME THEY'RE ALL SO WONDERFUL AND EXPRESSIVE MY GOD

…. Oh. OH!! SO THAT'S WHY THEY'RE ALL WEARING SPECIFIC CLOTHES. Amy's you nerd she even got them all lore cards i love this girl

So Sonic's role is to be the ship captain. I do wonder why a ship captain of all roles since their in a train setting but ill take

AJDHKJHFKJSLKJFLKJFFKJLA I LOVE THIS SCENE

Oh shadows supposed to be a locksmith?.... I wasn't the only one who thought he was gonna be a barista stationed at the cafe right? My guy might have to dress a little bit more specific for a locksmith

and of course we;ve got our birthday girl as the journalist!

Sweet got a map of the train baby!! Alsooo the lounge looks suspiciously close to the conductor's car…

Well with that out of the way let's get started!!!

Oooohhhh ok cool cool cool got i

"This way there's always a neutral party" yes tails you go you smart cookie

Y'know it's very sweet of all of them to play along with the murder mystery roleplay. Everyone wish they have friends like that

Tails you adorable smart nugget how come you keep getting cuter and adorable by the minute 🥺✨

"My lore is that I'm a nosey person turned journalist" aww c'mon birthday girl don't bring yourself down lol

SUDDEN MYSTERIOUS SHAKE

Oh wait it's just the train moving

Why is it even shaking THAT much???

Anndd screen goes dark, welp i guess that's it for the dining car scene for now

Aanndd that's all for part 1 hope you guys enjoy and see you guys around part 2!!

#the amount of times i have to switch back between two devices just to edit this one postvis unbelievable #part 2 will probably come a bit late as i try to wrestle the Tumblr app post editing #anyways hope this entertains you guys in a way #I may have spent the majority of the game just gasping for air that i keep forgetting too screenshot scenes lmao #and if there's any inconsistencies throughout the whole post no you didn't see that #eh whatever im having fun #sonic the hedgehog #sth #the murder of sonic the hedgehog #tags to add later #sonic

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yandere-chocolate · 2 years

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!! hi! im the anon from the previous ask you answered. i think it'd be best if i dropped all of the questions at once so you can choose which ones you want to answer. who knows? the questions i ask might give you inspiration...

you dont have to answer all of the questions btw!! though, if you want to make separate posts for some of your answers, then feel free to do it~

papilios:

— what are the emotions that make his wings flutter/quiver?

— does the way it flutter have something to do with the emotion he's feeling or the intensity of it?

— are his wings always still (until he does/feel something that makes it move)... or does it slowly wave/sway a bit when he isnt really doing anything?

lus:

— you mentioned that lus' eye is surrounded by some sort of solid gelatin. if we touch his eye... can he feel it or not?

— also, what is the texture of it... im curious

solian:

— i love him but i dont have any questions </3 for now...

pulchra:

— how would she react if we were to snuggle beside her lips... since. yknow... lips are soft... and im pretty sure her lips are too...

(Sorry! I didn’t get a notification that you asked something! Anyway, I can answer your questions!^^)

🦋 Papilíos:

-It’s most extreme emotions, but what makes his wings flap the most is happiness or anger. Though, oddly enough, if he is seething, his wing go stiff, almost sharp.

-Somewhat? His wings flutter more & are erratic when he’s really happy.

-Typical, yes. They are still with a few small sways due to the breeze.

👁️ Lus:

-you can feel the outer shell. Otherwise, no, you can’t feel his actual eye.

-you know those cheap bouncy balls?

Feels near exactly like one. Just don’t try to bounce around Lus’ head, she’ll get annoyed.

(Btw, never mentioned this before, but Lus uses They/he/she pronouns.)

🌻 Solian:

-He loves you too

👄 Pulchra:

-To be honest, Pulchra probably wouldn’t catch that her lips were soft & warm to you, so you would leave that cuddle session with giant dark red lipstick marks all over your face. & body. Somehow.

Sorry I keep making Lus boring but keep asking questions! I enjoy answering answering things about my dreamcore world/ocs!^^

#yanderecore #yandere #yandere blog #yandere x reader #yandere oc #yandere monster #dreamcore #yandere man #yandere woman #lus oc #papilíos oc #solian oc #pulchra oc #dreamcore ocs

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twistedtummies2 · 1 year

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Bad Dreams for Billy

This is a little short snippet I wrote based on a suggestion from @clouddreamer101. It’s a tiny, slightly dark and slightly fluffy ship-fic for my Twisted Wonderland OC, Billy Geant, and his OC, Harmonia A’Capella - based on Willie the Giant and the Singing Harp, respectively. I WAS planning to save major ship writing for these two for some later, larger works, buuut this idea was too nice for me to pass up. XD WARNING: This story gets a liiiiittle bit darker in at least one place than most of my TW pieces do. Just a tiny bit. Nightmares aren’t meant to be pleasant.

It’s mostly cute though, I think. :) Hopefully at least some of you enjoy!

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WUBBLE-WUBBLE. Harmonia A’Capella’s eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times and scrubbed at his eyes…then let out a soft “eeping” noise as he felt the surface beneath him ripple and quake, as if he were laying upon a bed of gelatin. The Royal Sword student sat up, with a very slight blush. He was resting, dressed in blue and white pajamas, atop a bare belly bigger than any bed. The blonde adjusted his hearing aid and looked up towards the source of the quaking, as well as his host. It was a Friday night, and ever since the pair had gotten into a relationship, Friday nights were always spent in the same place for Harmonia. That place was Billy Geant’s house in the Kingdom Above the Clouds. Sometimes, Billy’s expression when sleeping was a peaceful one, a blissful little smile that spoke of sweet dreams. On frequent nights, the topless giant drooled into his pillow, snoring till the whole room shook. These sights would typically bring a smile, perhaps even a giggle, out of Harmonia. In that moment, however, there was nothing like that. Concern shone in the harp-singer’s eyes, which shimmered like gold coins beneath a wishing well’s translucent pool. The overweight titan’s slumbering face was twisted and contorted into a most unpleasant expression; even with his eyes closed, various emotions, all of them negative, could be detected. Anger, sorrow…but most alarmingly, and most evidently, fear. The fear was accompanied by increasingly violent shuddering, which was the cause of the wobbling of his bare gut. Harmonia quickly pressed down the blush that came from the jiggling beneath his hands and knees. Worry flooded his whole soul. Billy was muttering under his breath…no. Not muttering. Whimpering. Perhaps even pleading. “Billy?” whispered Harmonia. Billy keened and shook his head in his sleep, still trapped in whatever bad dream plagued his brain. “Billy!” Harmonia called out more loudly, and thumped the giant belly beneath him to try and get the ogre’s attention. “Billy, wake up!”

Tears slipped into the corner’s of the giant’s scrunched up eyes. Harmonia made out two words. Just two words, barely comprehensible through the whines and rattling teeth… “Please…don’t…” Harmonia’s expression now took on a hint of fear of its own, and he took a steeling breath. He closed his eyes…and when he opened them, the optic orbs were glowing. Then, a hum…just a hum…flowed from the young music master’s lips. He rubbed the belly beneath him in a soothing manner, as the music thrummed in his chest and whistled through his nostrils. The melody was gentle, but rousing, sort of the opposite of a lullaby. Steadily, the giant’s quaking stilled…then, the whimpers stopped. After a few moments, Harmonia let his eyes return to normal…and at the same time, Billy’s own baby blue eyes opened up. They were brimming with tears as he lifted his head. “My…my treasure?” he peeped, in a voice remarkably small for somebody currently the size of a barge. “Yes. I’m here,” promised Harmonia, with a tender smile. Billy let out a sigh, and then let his head drop back onto the pillow. The sound was shaky, deeply unsettled. He lifted one huge hand to his head, rubbing his scalp as if his skull ached. “Nightmare,” he mumbled. “I guessed that,” Harmonia nodded. “It felt so real,” Billy murmured, and shivered again, the memories still quite fresh. “They usually do,” whispered Harmonia, in a tone that indicated many years of vivid experience. Billy just grunted, and sighed through his nose. A sad look was on his round face as he carefully sat up a bit in bed, using a hand to steady Harmonia and make sure the little one wouldn’t tumble off his belly. “I’m sorry I woke you, Harmonia,” he said, quietly. “It’s no problem, big guy,” the harp assured him, and sat on the stomach of the colossus, cross-legged. He tilted his head and urged gently, “Want to talk about it?” Billy bit his lip…then took a breath. He let it out heavily; Harmonia decided NOT to comment on the smell as it washed over him. There were more important things to worry about now. “I…I woke up. In the dream. And…you weren’t there,” Billy said, in an unusually tiny voice. Harmonia just stared back, evenly. “Is that all?” he asked, in a tone not unlike a doctor consulting their patient. Billy shook his heavy head. “Nuh-uh,” he confirmed, mournfully. “I got out of bed to go look for you. And…and I was s-searching all over my home, I-I even went down into the basement! B-But…but n-no matter where I looked, no matter how loudly I called your name, you weren’t there! You weren’t anywhere!” Harmonia lay down on his own stomach, hugging Billy’s gut as much as he could. “I’m here now,” he said, reassuringly. Billy offered a small, gap-toothed smile, but it only lasted a second or two. “Y-Yeah, but…it got worse…” “How?” “Well…when I realized you weren’t anywhere, I went to find the portal downstairs. To…to where all you little guys live, right? And…and the portal wasn’t anywhere! I scrambled around, I-I even asked other giants if they knew a way down, and none of them would answer me! They wouldnt’t LOOK at me! It was…it was like they didn’t even know I was there. And the more I looked, the smaller I felt…it…it felt like…like everything was GROWING around me. I’ve…I’ve never felt so…so…” He paused, searching for a word. “Insignificant?” suggested Harmonia. “...I was gonna say ‘little,’” Billy said, with a wry little giggle. The humor soon evaporated as he continued: “Finally, I spotted a beanstalk. I was so excited, I nearly knocked it down trying to climb back down to the world below! A-And I didn’t even know where I’d end up, I just had to try and find you! I had to find a way down! I got so excited, because I-I saw that Sage’s Island was j-just below! I was gonna see you again! I was gonna see all my little friends!” A haunted sort of look came to Billy’s eyes. His gaze shifted. He wasn’t looking at Harmonia anymore, and the harp boy could tell. He said nothing. Simply listened and embraced. “Then I got to the bottom,” Billy said, his voice going cold and dead. “And…I saw…footprints. Giant footprints. Everywhere. And I mean…everywhere. Trees were wrecked. There were no animals to be heard or seen or smelled anywhere. It was like another ogre had just gone on a rampage down there. I got worried all over again. I went…I went to my school, hoping I could ask my little friends what happened, a-and maybe get some help finding you.” Billy went very quiet. Harmonia let him be silent for a few moments, before using one hand to stroke the stomach’s curve up and down. “What did you find?” he asked. “Nothing. No one,,” Billy answered, ominously. “Not a sign of life. I couldn’t see or smell anybody. The castle was in ruins. Like it had been hit with a wrecking ball seven times. The statues were rubble. The track field was a barren plain.” “Barren plain?” smirked Harmonia. “Vil’s rubbing off on you again, isn’t he?” His smirk faded as Billy continued, as if Geant had not heard Harmonia. The giant was lost in his own disturbed memory. “I called out every name I could think of, all the students and teachers I knew. No one answered. Not even the Prefect, or Ace, or Deuce, or little Grimmy…I…I started screaming. Just screaming. Just desperate for somebody, ANYBODY, to hear me. I asked where you had all gone…” Billy whimpered louder than ever. The shivering began again, and the tears began to dribble down his cheeks. “Then…then I f-found some water, and…and I looked in…and…and my…m-my…my reflection…my teeth…oh, Gods, there was so much blood…” Billy sobbed and covered his face, breaking down into tears. Harmonia’s face changed to one of pity and deepest concern. He remained silent as Billy cried to himself. He didn’t speak, just let Billy cry. After several moments, Harmonia piped up again. “Billy?” The giant sniffled and uncovered his face. His cheeks were stained with tears, and his eyes were still misty. “Billy…I’m still here,” he vowed. “And I’m not going anywhere. I’d never abandon you. And I’d never think you were ‘little.’ I mean…kind of hard to do that with a super big guy like you, isn’t it?” Billy gave only the tiniest smile a giant could offer in reply. Harmonia smiled back and patted the ogre’s tummy. “I also know you. You wouldn’t hurt me. You wouldn’t hurt any of your friends.” “I could,” Billy responded, then gave a look askance. “I…very nearly have…a couple of times…” “Nearly,” reminded Harmonia. “And all those times were when you weren’t fully in control of your actions, or genuinely just didn’t intend it. Can YOU think of any reason you’d hurt any of us, willingly, now?” Billy bit his lip…then slowly shook his head. “I…I guess not,” he said, sniffling a second time. Harmonia smiled his most encouraging smile, and pressed on Billy’s upper stomach. Somehow, the giant interpreted the action…and lay back, carefully and slowly, resting once more on the bed. With the giant laying down once again, Harmonia slid down the curve of the stomach, and crawled across the big boy’s diaphragm. He rested upon the firm, tough pectorals of the burly big’un, where he could feel Billy’s heartbeat pounding beneath his hands. It was rather rapid. Harmonia rubbed one hand over the giant’s powerful chest, and then lay down, giving a chaste kiss to the crevice between the pectorals. He smirked as he heard Billy peep at the intimate little action; he knew the giant was blushing even without looking up at him. “You’re not a monster, Billy,” he said. “And none of us are leaving. Certainly not me. You’re stuck with me, you big baby. And that’s final.” “You promise?” the giant childishly checked. “Cross my heart, hope to cry, slap your belly ‘cause it’s fine,” twittered the harp, with a wink. Billy let out a soft, wet-sounding giggle…then tenderly cupped a hand over his chest. Over Harmonia. His heartbeat began to steady. “Thank you, my little treasure,” he said, gratefully. “No need for thanks, big boy.” “Still gonna,” Billy insisted. “Eh. Guess I’ve gotta live with it then,” shrugged Harmonia. Another giggle, a bit louder, left Billy’s mouth. There was a pause. Then… “Um…Harmonia?” “Mm-hm?” “Could…could you please…sing for me? I…I think…maybe a lullaby will help me sleep without any more bad dreams?” Harmonia smiled with pure love in his eyes. He snuggled against Billy’s chest, eyes closed as he refocused his power. “My pleasure, Billy,” he said. His eyes regained their golden glow…and soon, Billy Geant found himself slipping into a world of much more beautiful thoughts, as the familiar lullaby wound its way into his mind. No giant could ever have a bad dream when graced by the voice of the magic harp. “In my favorite dream, everyone is so delightful…”

#ship fic #fanfic #ocs #oc fic #disney #twisted wonderland #billy #billy geant #my oc #not my oc #harmonia #harmonia a'cappella #clouddreamer101 #bad dreams #nightmare #macro/micro #billy is a big baby #poor giant

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yungvenuz · 2 years

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Game of the Year: 2022 Edition

How do I do readmores, again? I haven’t used tumblr in ages.

Oh yeah:

10. Jabroni Brawl Episode 3

Jabroni Brawl Episode 3 is something I've been missing lately: a PvP shooter with absolutely no emphasis on (or seemingly any interest in) balance. Most game modes spawn players in with totally random weapons, letting some people run rampant with instant kill rocket launchers and black hole trip mines while other people are stuck with the gun that makes you fart (which can also instantly kill players, because this is that sort of game). I can't overstate how nice it is to have a pvp game to play with no ranking leaderboard to climb and no marginally improved weapons or cosmetics to grind. The goal is to have fun, and Jabroni Brawl Episode 3′s fun is in its pure chaos.

9. Bean and Nothingness

Bean and Nothingness is a 2019 puzzle game. You have a wand that can be used to zap beans on the ground, and if the beans match one of the recipes in the book you carry with you, a monster is created. Different monsters have vastly different properties: some charge and attack, some explode, some carry, some freeze, some grab, and so on.

When one monster recipe is present in a puzzle, the rules are fairly straightforward. When two, or three, or more are present, the number of mechanical interactions that must be kept in mind quickly grow dizzyingly complex. What happens when a grabber monster grabs a bomb monster? what happens when the bomb monster grabbed by a grabber monster is frozen by a freezy monster before the grabber can finish pulling it in? It's up to you to experiment and find out.

This emphasis on experimentation is what I think sets Bean and Nothingness apart from other puzzle games. The game states explicitly early on that it won't hold your hand through every relevant interaction every monster has. And while games like Stephen's Sausage Roll or Patrick's Parabox depend on discovery of puzzle mechanics that intuitively derive from the world and physics they exist in, Bean and Nothingness is deliberately unintuitive by virtue of all its points of interaction being fanciful imaginary monsters. This makes every new monster discovered in the game a fresh slate from which to build a brand new foundation of knowledge.

8. Boneraiser Minions

Boneraiser Minions is an entry in the very rapidly expanding "Vampire Survivors-like", or "Bullet Heaven" genre, and it's my favorite of the bunch. Instead of wielding weapons yourself, you play as a necromancer who raises various skeletal or demonic peons to do your screen clearing for you, with the usual rapid scaling up to ridiculous hordes of undead smashing everything in a mile radius that the genre is known for.

I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of the bullet heaven genre, but I'm including this entry here anyway because I'm pleased to no end to see Caiysware, the developer of Boneraiser Minions, finally starting to get his due. I've been following their work since 2018's Skelly Selest, and I was immediately charmed by the gothic horror pixel art, inventive design, and deliberately incorrect ye-olde english. Boneraiser is by far their most popular game to date, and I'm hoping that success will carry through to future titles.

7. Elden Ring

My only sop to AAA gaming in this year's list comes from the only place it could have. It's fun, it's beautiful, it's challenging in just the right way.

I do wish it had more plot. I enjoyed the plotlines that had character interactions (volcano manor, Radahn festival), but they were few and far between, and I don't particularly like Fromsoft's archeological approach to worldbuilding. My jaw did genuinely drop as I took the mistwood elevator into the depths and saw just how much more there would be to do, though, so on the list it goes.

6. Streets of Rogue

My favorite roguelike experiences all have to do with moments of cascading failure. Things like running face first into a hydra, so you try to teleport away, but you land on three gelatinous cubes, so you cast a spell of mass confusion, but the confusion affects a nearby wyvern and the wyvern shoots a blast of fire which causes the gelatinous cubes to explode and blows away all your cover and what started as routine dungeon exploration has turned into quaffing every unidentified potion in your inventory on the distant off-chance that one of them is secretly a Potion of Get Me The Fuck Out Of Here Please. That sort of thing.

Streets of Rogue is the first game I've played to bundle that experience into co-op multiplayer. Each player picks a class with unique skillsets and bonus missions on each floor of the game's campaign, and then you're all cut loose to wreak havoc. The end result is extremely chaotic and extremely fun. I didn't even play that much of Streets of Rogue this year, but what I did stood out among the rest of the multiplayer games I've played with friends this year.

PS: Insanely good soundtrack.

5. Tactical Nexus

After two years of completely rewiring my mental state, Tactical Nexus has finally loosened its grip on me enough to let me focus on other games when I want to. It's still my first pick for game to play while listening to podcasts, but I'm only playing one or two hours of it a day instead of four or five.

This year saw a flurry of major updates, including the release of the much anticipated Legacy and Magic systems. These systems provide oblique benefits that allow the completion of the simultaneously released Mystic Gate, which soups up existing towers to much higher level difficulties (and much higher potential score rewards). The game's already nigh infinite replayability has now been brought to an exponentially more complex level, with block tunneling, teleportation gates, and temporary stat boosts changing the calculus for completing levels that were once thought completely solved. I may only have about half the sunstones (score-based permanent resource) of the best players of Tactical Nexus, but I'm still enjoying trying to solve its mysteries each time a new stage is released.

4. Last Call BBS

An anthology collection of games created for a fictional computer operating system by the legendary puzzle game designer Zachtronics. It's no wonder to me that his intended retirement from videogame development didn't stick, because he was clearly having too much fun with it.

20th Century Food Court was my personal favorite as a more traditional programming optimization game, but i also particularly enjoyed Dungeons and Diagrams, a sudoku-like with lots of tricky rules for solving puzzles, and The Forbidden Path, which was even less scrutable than most of Zachtronics' work.

My favorite thing about Last Call BBS is the layers of verisimilitude present in 20th Century Food Court. You play the game through the interface of a fictional old computer operating system similar to a macintosh (layer 1). 20th Century Food Court is a factory programming game about a utopian far flung future society (layer 2) that's attempting to build authentic recreations of 20th century mall food based on their fuzzy memories (layer 3). The layers all slot together perfectly somehow, and the end result is really funny anachronisms, like the burger and fries combo meal that ends up being a fairly accurate burger along with a single giant fry in a cup, or the customers all being annoyed by the coffee and cigarettes chain because the cigarettes aren't pleasant to eat.

3. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

I could cite a lot of reasons for putting Great Ace Attorney here, like the writing, or the characters, or the chemistry between the characters, or the lateral thinking needed to solve some of the cases, or the themes, or the humor, which are all excellent. The actual reason it's going to live on in my memory is simple: Barok van Zieks is easily one of the hottest characters in video game history.

2. Last Command

Last Command is a shmup with aesthetic and thematic inspirations from Undertale and Nier Automata, about a society of robots that have long outlasted humanity but still labor under their "last commands", the objectives programmed into them with their creation.

The story is pretty good, but what puts this game on the list is its shmup design, which is fantastic. Last Command is self described as a "Bullet Hell x Snake" game. The bullet hell part is self explanatory: bosses send waves of bullets over the screen that need to be dodged. The snake elements are much more intriguing, in two ways:

1) your character moves on Snake rules with a segmented tail, which means constant orthogonal movement and a variable hitbox. 2) defeating bosses requires picking up ammunition pellets in the form of data files, which further increases the size of your hitbox and requires you to be constantly moving around the screen to actually progress fights.

These two details add a huge amount of nuance to the usual bullet hell dynamic, making patterns that would be fairly simple to dodge under typical bullet hell rules much more interesting.

The boss fights are incredibly well designed, too. Each boss includes a large number of phases (always at least five but usually ten or more) that steadily expand on one or a few specific design themes. The difficulty ramps up satisfyingly, not just inside bosses as new elements are introduced to the fights, but between fights as the game is progressed. The overall experience is really, really fun and intense.

1. Crystal Project

Crystal Project is a job-based team rpg similar to Final Fantasy 3, set in a minecrafty world with extremely open-ended exploration and evolving movement upgrades similar to a metroidvania.

I love everything about this game. Exploring it is just so satisfying, with every nook or cranny you could possibly think to check having something interesting to find. There's piles of secret items, bosses, and quests to find, and even some sequence breaks that can change the order of your progression through the game if you're clever enough.

Environments are highly vertical to take full advantage of the isometric camera, and they look great despite being so blocky. There's a genuine sense of accomplishment to making it to the top of mountain cliffs or across icy ravines that's amplified as you unlock new mounts to explore with. In the end stages of the game, you get to fly directly over

You have a team of four characters for combat, with access to a list of combat jobs that expands as the game progresses, which can be swapped at any time. Only two jobs can be equipped at a time, which allows for inventive synergies without completely breaking the games balance, and each boss has different powers which necessitate different job combos to address properly.

I even found the story and writing charming, even though it definitely wasn't the primary focus. the primary theme of the game is the question of how exactly an adventure is supposed to be appreciated, and the various answers provided by characters throughout are interesting. There's a scene between two supporting characters in the rafters high above a partially constructed city that I found particularly touching.

It's difficult to believe that this is a solo development project, but the vast effort Andrew put into Crystal Project shows. I think everyone should play this game.

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lancely-blog · 1 month

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Destiny’s Twin—A Multidimensional Fantasy [Excerpt]

All text copyrighted ©️ 2007 by Lancer Gareth Bailey

Snipwiddle and Tips (part 1)

“Up to your prankins again, I bet! Prankins is all your kind’s got a lot o’ mind for. Bother me! Why, I’d have had more sense to send the cat to fetch spores than the likes of a dusty little crumbubble like you, Tips!” She flailed her arms, continuing her tirade. “Prolly stoppin’ to tie up the shoelaces of every child on their way to school, weren’t ya? Maybe tripped up a few old ladies on their way home from market with their baskets full of eggs and apples!”

Tips shot across the dim room, dropping a bundle of dirty black weeds onto the table near the burbling cauldron, narrowly avoiding a wild swing of Snipwiddle’s broom. She cast a venomous glance at the crusty old hag, then swooped around the room again, landing on the sill of the cracked window above the sink.

“Ungrateful old bag! Next time, dig in the muckety guck yourself for your precious black daffodil spores, though I doubt you’d find any! That’s the last of it.” Tips waggled her left hand toward the bundle she’d dropped on the stout wooden table at the center of the moldy old cabin. “It doesn’t grow anymore. Spider says it’s ’cause there aren’t enough of us to pollinate it. There are only nine of us left.” She sighed heavily, her eyes dropping to her lap, her face taking on a sad, hopeless look.

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure this batch counts, won’t we?” Snipwiddle’s voice softened for a moment, then quickly returned to its usual sharpness. “Besides, don’t go believin’ everything that no-good numbskull brother of yours says! He’s so full of hot air, I might mistake him for a dragon fartin’ on me when he starts talkin’ his nonsense!” She spun around and picked up the bundle of black weeds, heaving a breathy sigh. “Yes, we’ll just have to make sure this batch counts.”

“Is it enough?” Tips asked, slowly floating closer to the center of the room where the old crone stood hunched over the giant cauldron. The enormous iron pot was filled with a gelatinous grey sludge that barely boiled, even though it was no longer over a fire. The odor emanating from the pot reminded Tips of a dead rabbit left in the sun for days, mixed with the smell of earwax. It was nauseating. She couldn’t imagine drinking such a vile concoction. She counted her blessings that she hadn’t been one of the chosen.

“It will be enough for this batch.” Snipwiddle looked a bit distressed as she shuffled over to the shelf just above and to the right of the sink, where her mortar and pestle sat. She grabbed both and began crushing the tips of the dirty black weeds into the little stone bowl, not bothering to clean off the dirt or the dust that had accumulated. Her blank expression betrayed her thoughts.

“You’re worried that we’re out of ingredients,” Tips observed rather than asked. “How many will this batch allow to travel?”

“Hard to say.” Snipwiddle replied bleakly as she dumped the black powdery substance into the cauldron and set the mortar down on the old wooden table. She reached across the table, grabbed a long iron staff, and thrust it into the pot, stirring slowly clockwise. “The potion takes different amounts for different folks. No way to tell until we’re at it how many we can send with this batch. Five, maybe seven. This liquid has to boil down to this level,” she pointed at a line on the inside of the iron bowl, “and then it will be ready. It’ll take the rest of the afternoon.”

“One of them will find him, I know it.” Tips offered, though not quite convincingly.

“We can only hope,” came the reply as Snipwiddle’s back was turned to her. Then the old woman spun around again and threw her right arm out, pointing at Tips. “Inform the elders that the last of the witch’s brew is beginning to steep. They must prepare the travelers and be ready by tonight. This is our last chance. Now scram and leave me to my business!”

Tips leapt into the air, twisting through the crack in the window, and darted off into the steadily brightening morning sky.

Snipwiddle turned away from the dusty window and walked around the far side of the bubbling brew to sit in her rocking chair. The chair was covered with a brightly colored patchwork quilt that appeared to be incomplete. The top portion of the quilt was done, meaning all the colored scraps of cloth had been sewn together, but underneath it was unfinished. There was no cushioning or covering to hide the scrap ends or threadwork. Nonetheless, the quilt was a beautiful piece of work and gleamed brightly in contrast to the dark, monochromatic moldy old cabin.

The old wooden rocker gave a squeak and a groan as she sat her weight into it, pulling the quilt over her shoulders. She took in a long, deep breath and began shallowly rocking forwards and back, giving a slow, methodic beat to the room.

“Out of ingredients indeed,” Snipwiddle mumbled to herself as she swiped away a tear rolling down her cheek, “in more ways than one.”

As the beat of her rocking reverberated through the floor planks and off the walls, she closed her eyes and began a soft, breathy chant that was barely audible even to herself.

“Butterfly wings and baby’s breath, poison from a bee,

I suck the tonic out like syrup from a tree.

It sucks from me my life force. It exacts its toll from me.

I give it force for potency when taken internally.

It opens up the doorway through which the mind flows free.”

As she repeated the lines of the incantation over and over, a faint smoky swirl enveloped her, spinning around her like an infant tornado, lifting her hair in the current and whipping it around, yet without enough force to disturb her rocking. The quilt in her lap whipped as the force of the wind increased and rose upward toward the rafters, leaving her hair to fall haphazardly back onto her hunched shoulders. Her eyes remained closed, and her chanting continued.

The force drove outward toward the walls of the cabin, smashing into them, sending books flying off shelves and window panes rattling, struggling to hold to their mounts. Ricocheting off the walls, the smoky wind began to move about the cabin, spinning into a larger circle, leaving Snipwiddle in the calm eye of the storm. The air began to crackle as if supercharged with electricity and about to ignite in a firestorm.

The air itself seemed alive and sentient. It collected power as it spun around and around. It howled in fury as it searched for a vent, an exit, some way out of the cramped confines of the cabin to continue its escalating violence but found none.

Suddenly, the smoky current swirled and dove down into the giant cauldron with enough force to send it swaying from side to side. It teetered there for a moment as the rest of the room fell into a dense silence. The winds had all subsided. The creak of the rocking chair had ceased. Snipwiddle’s chant had ended. She sat there in her chair, silent and still, her eyes closed, her beautiful, multicolored quilt covering her lifeless body from chin to toe.

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thegongoozlerreacts · 4 months

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Welcome Home: Homewarming Update

ok so. yes i KNOW its been like several weeks already since this has been first updated and im very much late to the party (thankfully not late enough to have missed everything) but i was soooo freaking busy since the update dropped, and now i finally have the time to check it out!!!! lets GOOO!!!

spoilers under the cut

so number one thing i noticed: new link and in fact, new site domain (is that what its called?? well my point is that it's no longer being hosted by wix which yeah, that makes sense)

another thing i noticed is there are no more bug videos and doodle audio (aww)

i havent checked if the askew letter links still work but i will check now

ok just checked and nope! does not work, which means most of the secret links prior to this website change are no longer working (unsure if they'll be added back later on, but i hope they will) it's not too bothersome that they're gone, since im sure they've all been uploaded somewhere on YouTube, but it's more fun going to the actual links myself hehe

anyways! moving on to the actual update

Christmas!! or, as they call it, Homewarming

the little doodles are cute, however I am a bit suspicious of the star with its red eye (but the ham is most suspicious, what's it doing there in a tree?!?!?)

interesting placement for this tree, since it is boxing in a letter

i wonder if that means there's some new secret links? i'll take note of it

now, let's head over to the News page

he is presenting jello to me

so the post regarding the actual update is dated as December 25 2023, followed by a correction where the person says they're unsure how they made that mistake

lolol nice we got Christmas in spring

anyways, it says that there are toys, more cookbook pages, AND more vinyl records!! excited to check these out!!

let's head on over to the Merchandise page

??? CIGARETTES????

bro 😭😭 who thought it was a good idea to sell child-friendly tobacco pipes,,, thats crazy,,, also another brand mention: Hooplah cigarettes

ok so among the website changes, there's also some changes to old stuff, such as the telephone (the layout for the audio is different, and it seems Wally's audio is no longer there (not even hidden, like before)

new cookbook pages!

the first ten pages are of various hotdogs with one-sentence puns about them,, incredible

this one is my favorite LMFAOOO

DD: OH NO !!!

the crispy sweets pancakes look like they'll give me diabetes

the single pea in gelatin recipe is singlehandedly the funniest recipe i've ever seen because like,,, you made a whole gelatin, and you put just a single pea in the center of it,, just one.. LMFAOOOO

Julie's gelatin just. makes you put in a whole MUG in the gelatin?!??!?!? a mug full of hot cocoa??!? at least Frank's gelatin is edible all throughout?!?!?!

bye i saw 'Poppy Partridge' and the picture of a turkey and i was like '?? yOU COOKED HER???' but then i read the full title and it says it's a bird-free birdseed turkey LMFAO

perfect. the best recipe in this whole cookbook, im sure

there's a cigarette here?? even tho this isnt the smoking merch?? its a book??

so the book is a catalogue for toys and merch they were selling during the holidays, very cool

hELP THEY LOOK SO SILLY

what did they do to my boys 😭😭 his forehead is MASSIVE

lowkey tho i want that Julie Build-Your-Own-Game Kit cuz like wow, that is a bunch of toys in that one kit n its really cheap????

oh my god i just realized. the Marlo logo looks like a swirly eye inside a house what the hell

anywyas now its time for the radio advertisement ft. Santa himself

hmm interesting how the ad ends in glitchy noises upon saying Eddie's name, the only one who was not mentioned with a specific set unlike the others (tho that may not be that important of a detail)

next up is another storybook record! featuring Wally singing a song??!? awesoem

sorry im laughing at the absolute difference in tone and energy between the Narrator and Wally

Narrator's got a boisterous loud voice and then cut to Wally in his little low-energy voice LMFAO

Barnaby and Wally are so cute together <333

FRANK: How I would say what? JULIE: What who would the huh?

LMFAO the way Julie said her line was way too funny

FRANK: (Frank greets Wally Warmly, but is cold with Barnaby.) Hello, Wally. Barnaby. BARNABY: (Said in a similar tone mockingly.) Hiya Jewels! Frank.

Frank and Barnaby fighting is honestly one of the funniest dynamics in the whole Neighborhood to me

Julie goes into hibernation?? legit ??? nice

HELP ME WALLY JUST DEADPAN SAYING 'Shush.' TO BARNABY'S LOUD ASS VOICE LMFAOOAOA

i dont think the 'Caninus Coccinellidae' is a real bug that exists, since i tried searching it up and only got coccinellidae in general i wonder what exactly this insect is, since the word 'caninus' means it relates to canines or dogs a dog ladybug sounds like a very interesting creature

help did Howdy somehow sneak an advertisement for his store in the narrator's script 😭😭 incredible

i really like Howdy's voice, its really fitting for him

SALLY IS CLIMBING THE TREE?????

she's climbing it to stay the biggest star in town LMFAO

is she just gonna be there the whole season or something??? at least her outfit slays???

i love how dramatic Sally is but like girlie dont fall off the tree??!??!?!

oh Santa Claus mention

this talk about food is making me hungry LOL

wait did the narrator just say that all the neighborhood's been accounted for?? but what about Eddie??? he hasnt shown up??

what the hell?? what's that weird noise in the back of Wally saying 'How can that be?' is it a voice? it kinda sounds like its saying something

well this was a very cute story (still wondering where Eddie is)

after this is audio of Wally singing!! more Wally singing!! very cool

and now we've got an album of (almost) everyone else singing too!

interestingly, there's a drawing of an envelope on the audio tab thing i wonder if thats important

Sally's really good at singing actually all their singing voices are really good

SALLY: Juliette, I fell from the sky, you fell from a house... LMFAO they're so silly

next up is a track featuring Howdy's family? oooh

i cant believe his mom and dad are named 'Hiya' and 'Biya' respectively,,, amazing,, is the rest of the family gonna be named with words used for greetings and farewells??

his brother is named Latter tho oh,, Latter like 'later' like 'see ya later' because his sister and brother are named Seeya and Latter and wow,,,, amazing

also Howdy's clear favorites LMFAO

ok i kinda feel bad for Latter that Howdy likes his brother-in-law more than his own brother 😭

also?? Seeya and Beeya's kids being named Howdo and Youdo??? amazing lmao

also its interesting how on the album cover you can see how Howdy's parents and his sister have wings but theyre still caterpillars???

i think its really funny that there's just some random person there named 'Sue' who isnt even part of the family LMFAOO

also the grandma being named Sally Tations is really clever i think

Barnaby showing up at the end only adds fuel to the fire of my Barnaby x Howdy ship

and now its the tobacco pipe merch that absolutely baffles me

the ad audio features Barnaby and Howdy advertising it to Howdy's nephews,,,,, at least theyre not letting them smoke for real?????

now we got a Frank solo album where he sings a song about hibernation, cute

Even if I might not be able to see you, I know it’s for the best, I can’t keep you,

OUCH? this song is kinda sad what the fuck 😭😭 aww Frank :(((

more merchandise after this is some greeting cards for homewarming that are very cute, but not much to see other than a hibernating Julie and Barnaby and Wally being besties

after that is a crispy sweets frosted cereal, that apparently has a holiday-themed decoder ring?? with Eddie?? hmmm interesting

OH MY GOD. THE LITTLE DRAWINGS ALL OVER THE SITE ARE FOR THIS DECODER RING???

but whats the key?? is it just this as it is on the box? is there another clue on the site?

ok i think first i will finish checking all the pages before going around and looking for the symbols

checking the guestbook, and while you still cant submit anything new, it seems there also is just... no more guestbook?? thats too bad

theres new Homewarming stickers!! i love them theyre so cute!! everyone in a snowglobe doing things that we've heard them doing in the storybook audios! nice nice

nothing new in media, the 'whats welcome home' page, and the about us page (besides the Homewarming symbols)

oh actually something notable about the About Us page is that there is no longer any of the glitchy overlayed text, which makes sense since they mention in the News page that the website is free of bugs and glitches

aww everyone's homes in The Neighborhood page are all Homewarming-themed now! hmm except for Home and Eddie's post office

well, you can see a decorated Home when you enter the page but the Post Office being the only not decorated even a bit is interesting,,, Eddie also wasnt in the Homewarming Storybook Record,,, hmmmm

i dont know if it means anything but it is interesting

the staff only version of The Playfellow Exhibition is no longer on the site (or if it is i cant find it)

well it seems like i've gone through every new thing besides the secret code, which i think might be a link, since on the guestbook page there were 3 symbols that looked like a genie's lamp, which translates to 'w' so its probably a link

actually, now that im looking at it closer its probably like. a cup like the one that pours out gravy in the dinner scene in Coraline

ok im pretty sure i've got all the symbols scattered over the site, but i have NO idea what order they should be in

i, o, m, a, a, r, e, t, y, g, y, e, r, f, s, n, e, w, n, w, w, w, y

maybe instead of a link its a scrambled message?

ok i honestly have no idea where to go from here so,,, searching the internet it is !!

OK!!! since i am so incredibly late to the party, i've found the secret code on the internet kakakka

it is this https://www.awayfrompryingeyes.net

oh that makes sense,,, its a phrase that was similar to one used in the news update about Homewarming "Don’t you feel at peace exploring these pages? Free from worry? From prying eyes?"

very very interesting! lets check it out

very very interesting indeed,, ok so basically this site is gonna be an archive for the secrets from before, and all entries are signed 'W' which is very interesting too

the person writing these seem to be the creator of the site? or at least someone who manages the site

lets check out the evidence thats been archived here so far

ok so i think these evidences are actually NEW things which is cool! presumably past secrets (such as the bug videos, doodle audios, askew letters and others) will be added onto here at some point in time

now lets listen to this phone call that 'W' has gotten from Wally himself

so Wally is singing Toyland again

i wonder if there will ever come a time where we can be able to respond or communicate with Wally

he mentions that Barnaby will be here soon hmm tbh when the site first launched i had read some theories that maybe Wally was literally physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood (something to do with the so below stuff i think?) but if Wally is being a reliable narrator (as in, he's telling the truth that Barnaby really is gonna visit him soon), then that disproves that

he seems to be left alone most of the time tho i think?? well at least now during Homewarming season since he said everyone's busy

he might not be physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood, but he probably still feels pretty lonely :((

anyways, the next evidence is under 'commercials' i wonder what this will be

omg??? animated stuff??? thats so cool :000 an animated commercial for crispy sweets, incredible

oh! a commercial for the cookbook why is there just. a ham?? under the tree ?? i think the one single pea on a plate is the funniest gag ever

Wally's ball and cup,,,, what does it say about me that even tho its not real i still want it??? its said to be made by the 'you-wont-believe-it' company, which is interesting since im pretty sure so far the only companies noted to be involved with Welcome Home is Playfellow, Marlo, and the crispy sweet cereal so now we've got another affiliation (oh and the cigarette brand, Hooplah)

commercial for the "Homewarming Harmonies for Hearth and Home" Album, featuring a duet with Frank and Poppy!! Poppy's voice sounds really good also the Homewarming tree is made of food???

A COMMERCIAL FEATURING EDDIE ?? Eddie who has been suspiciously absent from the Homewarming festivities??

ah i see... Eddie's been working during Homewarming huh? maybe thats why the Post Office isnt decorated and he wasnt in the storybook record? cuz he was working??? no but thats weird,, Wally and Barnaby were walking around so surely they wouldve at least bumped into him delivering stuff?? maybe he was in his post office then?

an ad-break card with Frank and Sally, cute cute i remember there was a similar holiday-themed 'we'll be right back' card with Frank and Julie decorating a cake, i wonder if that will appear here?

OH?? a commercial featuring Barnaby's mom?? aww ok their dynamic is cute (even if its just a commercial for eggnog)

OMG ANOTHER ANIMATED COMMERCIAL WITH HOWDY AND BARNABY its for the cigarettes LOL

EDDIE AGAIN oH NO I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM IS HE ALONE ON THE HOLIDAYS??? SO HE'S JUST BEEN IN THE POST OFFICE THIS WHOLE TIME BY HIMSELF???? PLEASE,,,, EDDIE GO OUTSIDE or someone like. go inside or call this man i cant take the idea of Eddie being alone wtf?!??!?!?

and now an ad-break card with Poppy and Julie

and now what i think is a continuation of the commercial for the Homewarming album

NOOOOOOOO EDDIE....... GO OUTSIDE JUST DONT WORK...... PLEASE..... someone give this man something to deliver GAH he's mad ?!??! Eddie Dear please go outside (SOMEONE TALK TO THIS MAN) he's played several games of tic-tac-toe by himself,,,, my guy,,,, go on that walk thank you

the fact that Eddie isnt in ANY of these commercials,, oh my god,,,,,,,

another continuation for the Homewarming album

Sally, Julie, and Poppy singing together,,, thats so cute,,

i cant. everyone hanging out together in these commercials with no Eddie in sight i feel so bad

FRANK AND SALLY FIGHTING?!??!

is this a commercial for sleeping pills????? im ??? this show is so so crazy like ?? the in-universe show i mean,, cuz what?? they got so many merchandise and records and a bunch of brand deals and its all just been wiped?!??!?! like ?? what happened???

oh no time to dwell on that we got Sally and Eddie lets go he's getting some social interaction

lets go he has a happy ending he's at the party !!!

ok i read ahead in the transcript and oh no im afraid now ?? Eddie?? hello?? Eddie are you ok?? i dont think this man is ok he needs help oh my god what is this

im scared LOL this was not a good idea to do at 3 am im really unnerved right now but mostly i think this guy needs help someone please help him

something about reality is shattering for him i think??? maybe ?? its the way the video is going back and forth between live-action scenes and a drawing of Eddie's face (and Home's eyes)

jesus that was a jumpscare with Frank's voice coming in out of the silence

ah its still all glitchy and distorted i dont know what's the correct term for what Eddie is experiencing but he is NOT having a good time

FRANK SWITCHING FROM CALLING HIM 'MR. DEAR' TO 'EDDIE' HAS ME ILL being in Eddie's perspective with static in the ears while he's looking down is so. i dont know how to explain it but its uncomfortable and unnerving (which is probably what he's feeling)

the fact that he only looks up after Frank probably shook his shoulders or something to get his attention ughdjskdhfkjdssjkjkew (cuz his arms are outstretched when the camera pans up to look at his face/when Eddie looks up at Frank)

bro that was a jumpscare with the narrator after like,, that whole segment i guess

so rewatching that last bit when Eddie seems to be like. present enough to respond/say something or be aware of whats going on i guess, the screen gets less glitchy and distorted and thats like a nice detail

so thats why Eddie’s been kinda just,, missing from the Homewarming on the actual site

i hope Eddie turns out ok :(((( PLEASE THIS STORY NEEDS TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR I WILL CRY SO HARD THAT I WILL TRANSFORM INTO AN OYSTER

interestingly W’s note after the compiled commercials says that “the show never appeared beyond clips of Eddie Dear”

so all those segments with Eddie were, i guess, the ‘holiday special’ that the commercials were interrupting and all

thats so so crazy,, im so late to the party but i honestly dont even know where to begin with all of that but like. im rooting for you Eddie !!!!!

well thats it for now, until the next update! make sure to wave up high, neighbors

#welcome home

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halfawitch-willow · 9 months

Text

She Wanna Kick Back (Kiss Me Now) ❁ Daylily

Hunter and Willow dance together as the clock runs down for the new year, and learn about mainland traditions together. The next morning they both remember they're awkward disasters and react accordingly Takes place Jan 1st @thegcldenguard

HUNTER

Hunter, overall, was glad that he had come out tonight. He'd thought about staying in -- or at least, just popping to the Acorn Drop and returning to the comfort of his dorm room in his new pajamas (a Christmas/Solstice/Birthday gift to himself) and slippers, but well, so many people he knew were going out out and as evidenced by his dancing outing with Eilonwy, going out out wasn't always bad!

So, here he was! Approaching midnight, dancing with friends, a couple of drinks in him, neck tie loose, jacket off, and just generally.... well, more relaxed than he usually was.

"They have jello shots!" Hunter said to Willow. He'd already grabbed one for her and handed it over with an enthusiastic smile. "Glittery ones!"

WILLOW

Willow was equally loosened up, her leather jacket left in a closet somewhere and her feet a little sore from dancing. She'd gone back onto the floor after the conversation with Archemedes, and with a little more alcohol in her, had been able to relax and put Luisa's dance lessons to good use.

She gasped in delight as Hunter handed her the shot, and sure enough, it was very glittery. "Yes!" she cheered, taking the little lid off. "Now, is it spinach flavored?" she joked, knowing that her Dad had tucked a pack of spinach gelatin mix in Hunter's care package per her request.

HUNTER

"I'm actually not quite sure what the flavor profile is," answered Hunter, missing the tease in Willow's question. He eyed the strange silvery glitter jello, and shook it a little so it wobbled. "Perhaps champagne? Moonlight? Well, one way to find out, I suppose!" He knocked the edge of his shot glass to Willow's. "Cheers!"

WILLOW

Willow giggled as she echoed his cheers, tapping the glass to his and knocking it back. It still had that sour sting and gloopy texture that made her think of the Isles, and she shook off the sharp taste with a laugh.

She was still swaying back and forth to the music as she contemplated the taste. "I think it's pear?" Willow said, unsure, rising onto her toes so Hunter could hear her over the music.

HUNTER

Hunter smacked his lips. He furrowed his brow, trying to decipher the flavor. All he could really think, though, was glitter, which was not a flavor. So he just nodded along to Willow's assessment.

"I think that's right! I'm not sure, though. I think I've had too many drinks!" Hunter laughed. Why didn't he do this more often? (author's note: It's because Hunter would be having a very rough morning)

There was some shuffling around them, people pointing at their phones and looking at the time. Just five or so minutes to midnight.

"D'you think we could squeeze in one more dance for the New Year?" asked Hunter. He was feeling… Fun! Carefree! Zesty! Like a lemon!

WILLOW

Willow laughed with him, feeling sort of weightless. She never thought she'd be able to do this - party and laugh with friends without fear of it all being some elaborate plot to embarrass and harm her. She felt warm, and safe, and happy; like she was in freefall with her broom in hand.

At Hunter's question, Willow nodded with a beaming grin. "Yes!" she cheered, grabbing his shot glass and placing it and her own on a nearby table. Once they were out of the way, she grabbed his hands in hers and tugged him back towards the dance floor. There was a clear spot by their friends and Willow quickly claimed it, not letting go of Hunter as she started dancing.

HUNTER

Wow! Why didn't Hunter drink more? He wasn't thinking about where he was putting his arms or legs, or the fact that Willow was holding onto his hands tightly, or the fact that she looked very pretty when she smiled and danced. Well, he was, but it wasn't making him nervous. He was just having fun!

Everyone around him was having fun. It was easy to get swept up in the revelry. And get swept up, Hunter did! He spun Willow around, and then someone knocked into him, so he stumbled a bit forward and nearly crashed into her, but in, like, a fun cool way that made him laugh again.

Hunter did not recognize the song playing, but it was fun and fast -- well, till it faded out and everyone started counting…

Oh right!

"Fifteen!" shouted Hunter, in time with the others.

WILLOW

Willow laughed as Hunter spun her around, messy curls spinning around her, then snorted as he nearly stumbled into her. One of them was always tripping over the other, it seemed. Her hands went to his hips to hold him steady, her invisible tail looping loosely around his calf.

"I got ya'," she promised, giggling. She looked out over the crowd as the music faded and the counting started.

"Fourteen!" Willow joined in, bouncing on her toes.

HUNTER

Everything was sparkly. Glitter. He was never really good at looking at reagents, but they all seemed to be coalescing in one very hazy and dreamy blend, the crowd's excitement tangible.

He looked down at Willow, looping an arm around her shoulders, as the countdown went on.

"Ten - nine - eight!"

WILLOW

When Hunter's arm went around her shoulders, Willow easily pulled him in closer so she could wrap her arms around his waist and drop her chin on his chest. She felt weightless with her happy buzz, and so safe and sound tucked away from the roiling crowd. He was so handsome up close, she noticed with a giggle, with his fluffy hair and pretty eyes. Willow beamed up at him, dimples pressed into both of her cheeks.

"Six - five - four!"

HUNTER

"Three --!"

Hunter leaned into Willow. She smelled very nice, but then again, that could just be because everything else smelled like liquor and sweat.

"Two--!"

She had nice dimples. Hunter thought about telling her this, but then he'd miss the --

"ONE!"

The crowd erupted. Screaming! Cheering! Kissing! Hunter cheered. He screamed. He --

He glanced down at Willow again, and that floaty dizzy feeling of the alcohol started to concentrate right in his chest.

WILLOW

When the countdown hit zero, Willow threw her head back and screamed along with the crowd, grinning from ear to ear as she rocked back on her heels, anchoring herself with the arms around Hunter's waist. She rocked back, laughing, and pressed her face into his shoulder, hugging him tight. "Happy new year!" she said into his shirt.

When she turned her head to wish the rest of their friends the same, she realized that most of the people around them were kissing as confetti and glitter canons went off everywhere and the music bumped back up. Was that a mainland tradition?

Willow thought that was a really nice way to roll in the new year, with a little bit of love, so she reached up to grab Hunter gently by the jaw and brought him closer to her level. She pressed a chaste little kiss to the corner of his mouth, giggling as she nudged her nose against his.

HUNTER

It was perhaps a surprise to no one reading that Hunter had never kissed anyone before.

That is not to say he did not think about it. He had, in fact, thought about kissing people. Mostly specific people. Sometimes not. Sometimes he just watched a couple across the quad and got hit with a vague sense of loneliness that he tried to shake off.

Willow kissed him. It was soft, a quiet moment amidst all the revelry. For a second, Hunter froze. He wasn't sure what to do, where to put his hands (or his lips for that matter). But it was warm, and Willow was smiling, so he ended up cupping the side of her face with his hand, puckering his mouth in a way that he felt made sense to kiss her back.

"Well! Happy New Year!" he said, when he broke the kiss (not because it was bad, but because judging by everyone around him, the options seemed to be to start making out with tongue or to stop and giggle; and Hunter wasn't sure if he wanted to do that first thing right now). "Huzzah!"

WILLOW

Hunter kissed her back, his hand cupping her face, and Willow melted. She leaned into his hand with a happy little hum, loving how his palm fit around her cheek, and her own hand slid from his chin to cup the back of his neck.

It was nice, being held like something he wanted to keep close. That anyone wanted to keep close, really. She tucked the feeling inside herself for safe keeping.

When he broke the kiss, she grinned at him, eyes sparkling. "Huzzah!" she cheered with a laugh, punching the air with the hand that was previously around his neck. She dropped her heels back to the floor (when had she gone up on her toes?) and brought her hand back down to sit on his waist. She started moving to the music again, hips swaying back and forth, bopping her head along. All while leaning into his hand with a happy smile.

(She didn't even realize how tightly her tail had wrapped around his leg, like she wanted to cling to the moment. In the morning, the memory would mortify her. But that was hours away.)

─────────•~❉᯽❉~•─────────

HUNTER

Hunter's head was throbbing. He lay facedown on his mattress. Technically, he'd been awake for a bit, watching the narrow crack of light across the floor grow wider and wider and longer and longer. But his head hurt too much to do anything about that.

Around him, the charmed plush bird and bee bobbed in the air.

He knew what day it was, but he kept telling himself he had more time, more time, more time to drag himeslf out of bed (and maybe throw up) and look presentable. So he closed his eyes, ready to rest a little more --

There was a knock at the door.

"It's open," Hunter croaked. "Give me -- a second to sit up."

WILLOW

It'll be fine, Willow reassured herself as she stood outside Hunter's dorm room. She had a water bottle in hand and both a lesser healing potion shot and aspirin bottle in her pocket. Eilonwy said he didn't look upset. Everything is totally fine!

For Flapjack and Clover, she thought with a little nod before taking a deep breath and knocking gently.

Hunter's croaking voice came through the door and it was a bad sign that she was already a little pink. She opened the door carefully, trying not to make too much noise, and slipped inside. "Don't push yourself," she said softly as she closed the door silently behind her. "If I could still be horizontal, I would be."

HUNTER

"I don't think I've ever felt this bad," said Hunter, even though he knew that was a complete lie.

But, it was close.

He managed to turn around at least, then slowly propped himself up on his forearms. As he crawled back to consciousness, it did suddenly dawn on him that Willow kissed him last night.

Right! That happened.

Hunter wasn't sure if he should say anything about that. Or if he shouldn't. He just blinked at her, scrambling to find something to say.

Then, he grabbed the floating bee out of the air and tossed it to her.

"Here you go! It's your turn."

WILLOW

Hunter blinked at her, and Willow blinked back. Her stomach started to sink, and she was glad she'd worn her concealment stone so he couldn't see her tail lashing nervously behind her.

Then he threw Clover at her, and Willow squeaked as she caught the bee in her free hand.

"Muck, Hunter, don't take it out on Clover," she said, flustered. She still kept her voice low, because making his obvious hangover worse probably wasn't going to help her mission. She nuzzled her nose in Clover's fluffy ruff in greeting before gently pushing her back into the air, letting her spin in circles as Willow approached Hunter carefully.

"I brought peace offerings," she said, showing him the water bottle before setting it on his bedside table. She dug in her sweatshirt pocket next, pulling out the potion vial - portioned for one dose - and the aspirin bottle and setting them both down gently. "Jeremy's in the kitchen making hangover cure," she said, not looking away from the table. "Not sure what's in it, but it's very green and he swears by it, if you want some."

HUNTER

"I wasn't --!" Hunter started to defend himself, but then he just let it slide when Willow came over with water, a potion, and aspirin. Besides him, Flapjack flapped his wings, bumping into Hunter's shoulder.

The charm on the plushies wasn't good enough to account for collisions, so he plucked it from the air and turned it so it faced Willow, and soon Flapjack was back on his way.

"If I manage to get up, I'll make my way over there," groaned Hunter. "Or maybe I'll see if he delivers." He reached for the water bottle, taking a small tentative sip. "I trust you're feeling a smidge better than I am? Considering you're up and all." He glanced at Willow, and then found his gaze focusing right on her mouth so he immediately picked up the bottle of aspirin and began reading the dosage instructions instead.

WILLOW

"You missed the twenty minutes I spent trying to teach my heart vine to pick up that aspirin bottle and bring it to me in bed," Willow said with a faint grin. "And then the hour waiting for it to kick in."

Also, and Willow would not confess this under oath or hex, she'd already puked the night before, so she'd gotten most of the grossness out already. She'd been tempted to strangle Jeremy for turning on the blender while she was in the kitchen, though.

She lowered herself to the floor, sitting cross-legged between the two beds, and resisted the urge to start combing her fingers through the tuft at the tip of her tail just to vent some anxiety. She took a deep breath through her nose for four counts, then let it out. "Are you feeling too bad for me to apologize?" she said softly, staring at the floor. "Cause I can wait if yes."

HUNTER

"Apologize?" Hunter's brow furrowed. He looked up from the aspirin bottle (very insightful reading, actually!) and cocked his head at Willow. "Why… are you apologizing?"

Oh no -- did she regret the kiss? But why would she apologize then? Hunter really didn't want to talk about that right now, mostly because he didn't know what to say other than the fact it had been nice. But, also, maybe Willow was apologizing about something else? Hunter racked his brain, trying to think of something -- anything.

"I don't think there's anything you need to apologize for," said Hunter. "Is there?"

WILLOW

Well that wasn't the response she was expecting. Willow looked up at Hunter, head tilted in confusion.

And then she remembered that Hunter never really reacted to her the way that others from the Isles did, that he never had, and she felt bad for thinking of him that way. She'd been conditioned to expect anger, disgust, maybe a bit of pointing and laughing at the mudbreather who dared to want things. But that wasn't fair to Hunter, who had only ever been sweet and understanding to her.

She blushed, glancing away as she twisted her fingers together. "Well, now I'm thinking my hungover brain was overthinking things," she said shyly. Willow took a deep breath. "I was going to apologize for kissing you last night without asking first. Drunk or not, that wasn't cool of me, and I should have checked if it was okay."

(Great, now she was thinking about it again. How nice it had been, being held so close and handled so carefully. How he'd glittered with Happiness the whole time they'd danced. She'd told Eilonwy she'd had fun, and she'd meant it. She liked it.)

HUNTER

"Oh." Hunter blinked. He titled his head. On one hand, he appreciated that Willow was concerned about asking his permission. That made him feel, well, good in a way he couldn't really articulate. But on the other hand --

"Well, I'm glad you did," he said. The aspirin bottle was suddenly looking very interesting again. "Because. Well, I wanted to, but I wouldn't have. I mean. Not that I wanted to kiss you -- I mean!" He blushed, snapping his gaze back up to her and stammering. "That came out wrong! I just -- I mean, people do it. Kiss. On New Year's. I saw it last year. And I thought it might be nice. But I would've been too scared, so I'm… glad you did it first."

WILLOW

Willow watched Hunter stammer, his face red, with wide eyes, and felt a wave of relief roll over her. All of her anxious energy bubbled out as a giggle, and then she was laughing into her hands, trying to smother the sound so it wasn't too loud for his hangover. Once she calmed down, she smiled up at him brightly, her dimples making a repeat appearance. "Well I'm happy to help," she said, relieved.

"Yeah, I noticed everyone was doing it and Drunk Willow thought it was brilliant way to ring in the year, so," Willow shrugged. She leaned back on her hands, much more relaxed. Her feet happily tapped on the rug.

HUNTER

"And it was!" Hunter said quickly, because he didn't want Willow to think that he didn't enjoy kissing her. Because he did. It was nice. Very nice. Which probably was not saying much, because he did not have a lot of comparison points, but he liked it.

He also liked Willow's laugh. It was pretty. In sound, and in the way her Laugh became little bubbles in the air.

"I liked it," he said, just in case he hadn't (he couldn't remember). "And I'm glad it was you." His face felt like it was on fire right now, which did not really help his throbbing headache. "I mean. I've never done that before."

WILLOW

Willow's cheeks were also burning, and she'd decided the safest place to direct her eyes were at her own toes. She tugged on a curl shyly, twisting it around her finger to give her embarrassed energy some kind of outlet.

"… Me neither," she confessed. It felt a little easier to say now that she knew that they were in the same position together. A little safer. There was a little potted plant that had been clinging to life on the windowsill and it was positively luscious now, singing happily as it fed off of Willow's emotions. She kind of wanted to die.

"I'm glad it was you too," she said, looking up at Hunter and giving him a shy smile. "You're a really kind person, Hunter. I'm glad we're friends."

HUNTER

Hunter didn't know if he'd describe himself as kind. And honestly? For most of his life, he would say it was more important to be strong, or powerful, or smart, or skilled.

But Willow looked at him now, a shy smile on her sweet face, and she called him kind, and that was all Hunter wanted to be.

"Me too," said Hunter. He offered his own shy crooked smile, and cleared his throat a little as he ran a hand on the back of his neck. "Now, uh, what was this you said about Jeremy's magical hangover cure?"

#c. hunter belos #t. she wanna kick back kiss me now #p. daylily #//changed the name so this doesnt break containment again lmao #//but i couldnt NOT have this on the blog okay #//daylilies are gold flowers that only bloom for a day then die

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