#toy robot tails 1 star

[sonicreferencephotos]

Toy Robot Tails, 1 star; Sonic Speed Simulator

[whitecompri]

Here is a list of my work so far and what's coming up in the next few weeks, if you want to make a request too, check my profile for the rules.

In progress, coming soon

1 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader at the birth of their daughter (Daddy Scenario)

2 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader helping their daughter with her homework (Daddy Scenario)

3 - Shadow x Reaeder Storytelling

4 - Shadow x Fem!Hedgehog!Reader With Rouge trying to bring the two together

5 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader Their daughter sneaking out

6 - infinite x Tails' Older Sister!Reader (NSFW)

7 - Triple S x Black Forest Cookie!Fem!Reader

8 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader Their Daughters doing Stunts (Daddy Scenario)

9 - Robian!Sonic x Yo-Kai!Reader (Crossover) Beyond the Metal Heart Part 2

10 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader (Daddy Scenario) Special Thank You Story

11 - Triple S x Human!Reader Height Difference

12 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader (Daddy Scenario) Special Thank You 2

13 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader - propose to their future wife

14 - Triple S + Scourge + Tails x Reader (Daddy Scenarions) - Discovering pregnancy

15 - Father!Triple S + Father!Scourge x Child!Reader - Trying to be like daddy

16 - Infinite x gn!Reader - Prohibited love

17 - Shadow x Fem!Mobian!Reader (NSFW) Take out the Inhibitor Rings

18 - Scourge x Reader - Zone Cop visit

19 - Knuckles x Mobian!Hedgehog!Reader - Protecting his family

20 - Movie!Knuckles x Hedgehog!Reader - First Time

21 - Shadow + Scourge x Reader - Respecting limits

22 - Neo Metal Sonic x Human!Reader - Dating in secret

23 - Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Taking care of pregnant wife

24 - Werefox!Tails x Reader - Werefox Troubles

25 - Movie!Shadow x Human!Reader - Looks just like Maria

26 - Movie!Team Sonic + Movie!Shadow x Reader - Dating

27 - Scourge x Reader - Battle Bruises

28 - Silver x Half Robot!Fem!Hedgehog! Reader

29 - Sonic Boys (All of them) x Human!Reader - being treated like a plush toy

30 - Tails x Human!Reader - Cute moment

31 - Tails, Knuckles, Jet and Infinite x Human!Reader - First Kiss

32 - Sonic x Reader - Meeting the in-laws

33 - Scourge x Neutral!Human!Reader - Living With Trouble Part 2

34 - Triple S + Scourge x Fem!Human!Reader - Bodyswap

35 - Shadow x Fem!Mobian!Reader - Romeo and Juliet

36 - Neo Metal Sonic x Reader - Choices

37 - Shadow x Latina!Reader

38 - Sub!Triple S x Human!Reader (NSFW)

Requests Completed

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Like Father Like Son Here

Shadow x Hedgehog Mobian!Reader (NSFW) - Night of Passion Here

Triple S x Pure Vanilla!Reader - Purest Heart Here

Sonic x Lloyd's Sister!Reader (Crossover) - Colission of Destinies Here

Sonic x Precure!Reader (Crossover)- Radiant Love Here

Triple S x Human!Reader - First Time Kissing Your Hedgie Here

Scourge x Neutral!Human!Reader - Living With Trouble Here

Tails, Knuckles, Jet and Infinite x Human!Reader - Picnic Date Here

Werehog!Triple S + Werehog!Scourge x Reader Here

Shadow, Scourge x Reader - After the Silence Here

Movie!Shadow x Fem Human! Reader (NSFW) - Softer Edge Here

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Too Cute for Daddy Here

Tails, Knuckles, Jet, Infinite, Espio and Vector x Reader - Daddy Daycare Part 2 Here

Shadow x Reader - A Father's Wrath Here

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Daddy Jealously Here

Sonic x Reader - Cooking With Love Here

Robian!Sonic x Yo-Kai!Reader (Crossover) - Beyond The Metal Heart Part 1

Silver x Fox Mobian!Reader - Timeless Bonds Part 1 Part 2

Triple S + Scourge x Human!Reader - Going on a Picnic with your Hedgie Here

Grown Up!Tails x Reader (NSFW) - Stormy Distractions Part 1 Part 2

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Daddy Playtime Here

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Hedgies Going Roller Skating Here

Shadow x Chaotic!Reader - Controlled Chaos Part 1 Part 2

Jet x Sonic's Twin Sister!Reader - High-Speed Romance Part 1 Part 2

Sonic x Lawful!Reader - Chaotic Boyfriend Part 1 Part 2

Not Requested

Sir Galahad x Reader - Light of The Stars Here

Scourge x Female!Reader - Kissing Your Hedgie Here

Metal Sonic x Fem!Human!Reader - Love Circuits Here

Infinite x Reader - Meltdown Here

Boom!Sonic x Reader - Shortcut to Your Heart Here

Lancelot (Shadow) x Reader - Night's Solace Here

Sonic x Fem!Human!Reader (NSFW) - Speed of Desire Here

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Going To Market With Your Hedgie Here

Triple S + Scourge x Reader - Daddy Daycare Here

Scourge x Reader - Purring Hog Here

[rip-headphones-users]

Lampert Headcannons I Have

: )))))) i liek thinkung ab out himme : )))))))

(Long post sorry)

Lampert is Swedish-American (due to type of tail plug + the lamp itself being Swiss in design)

He speaks in a fairly flat toned voice, in a Boston (Massachusetts/New England) accent

This is for the fact that I believe he could pull off a killer Scout TF2 impression, and it would be really funny.

He wont do it in front of anyone though, he’s too shy.

(Alternatively, I will accept a Southern US accent.)

Lampert loves to give compliments to people, but he is too judgy/critical to find anything worth complimenting, and by the time he does its usually at an awkward point where it would be weird to compliment them.

Lampert prefers residing in lamps because he’s scared of the dark, as well as utility.

Lampert will typically sleep standing up underneath a plastic furniture protector

If invited to a group sleepover, lampert will either transform into/shift his consciousness into a nightlight in order to light the room the others are sleeping in

He doesn’t play videogames often, but he prefers playing single player rpgs, his favorite games are OneShot, ChibiRobo, as well as the Mother series and anything from the Sonic franchise.

He once agreed to a days long infinite rokea-wide game of prop hunt with paintball guns and several friends where he was the “prop”. It’s probably his favorite memory but he has sworn off ever doing it again due to the mess it caused. (He has agreed to smaller games though)

Lampert genuinely enjoys cleaning things whenever it’s unrelated to himself/rokea, and will stop on random floors of the regretevator to clean them when he is in a bad mood in order to calm himself.

His goal one day is to become an interior designer, and he is currently studying to become one.

His tail behaves more like a cat’s rather than a dog’s, but will still occasionally wag when he’s happy.

Cannot get sick, but the concept of something being able to get sick is so mortifying to him that he is a germaphobe anyway

He can, however, catch a computer virus. He is not nearly as scared of this cause he knows how it works (like a regular virus)

Lampert “touches” things by sensing the vibration of them when he makes contact. He cannot feel texture, but will immediately be able to tell you the temperature of an object in Celsius, Kelvin, and Fahrenheit.

He makes a faint purring noise because his “heart” is a motor.

His favorite artists/bands are Mitski, Autoheart, and Roar.

Prefers dressing in nice clothes, but usually just wears sweatpants and sweaters/t-shirts for convenience (doesn’t want to get the nice clothes dirty)

Will never admit it, but he gets very happy when people say he looks good/cute/pretty/handsome because it means to him that he picked a good lamp to reside in. Lamp gender euphoria.

Has a glowing rubber duck water toy that he resides in whenever there is a situation where he needs to be in water. It is abstract enough for him to not know what it is/that its a bird

He would lose in a 1 v 1 with an ostrich.

Has a modified windex bottle in his fort that he smokes out of like a bong.

NThe other robots take his almost compulsive need to use cleaning chemicals hand sanitizer as lampert being a stoner, when he actually is just that worried about germs. (No wonder hes friends with that infected guy)

While he doesn’t try to be overtly mean, lampert finds himself accidentally insulting people he doesn’t like. He will insult his friends on purpose though.

Likes pulling spur of the moment pranks on friends

Found an insect crawling around inside of his body cavity while doing maintenance on himself. He still has not recovered mentally.

Creation/physical properties:

Lampert is sorta like a sapient star, just less “powerful”. Technically though he’d be a solar flare, (this is a slightly niche reference but sorta like how the solar bodies in Dogsbody by Diana Jones are sapient/anthropomorphic)

Actually I think you should just read the first chapter of dogsbody so you kinda get what i mean here. You wont understand whats going on at first but that’s ok you aren’t supposed to.

Outside of his body, he is an abstract glowing form of pure light. He is perfectly see through, and the only indication of his presence is the light cast on the world around him.

When viewed through an infrared camera, he is vaguely shaped like a humanoid entity standing at roughly 6 feet tall (at current day), but is incredibly blurry. No further details can be made out.

Images and live footage of Lampert in his “purest form” are known to cause mild nausea, as he is not meant to be viewed this way.

Passing through Lampert will warm the object slightly. Objects do not overheat, but passing through him is known to give a warm, comforting feeling, much like laying in a sunbeam.

Lampert’s possession of objects will slowly alter the shape and size over time to slowly become more humanoid. The time it takes from an objects initial possession to become full anthro is between six months to two years.

Because lampert has to “grow” into himself, He has had several models of lamp that he has possessed over the course of his lifetime. He just finds that he tends to keep going back to lamps (beyond his fear of the dark) his first forms are more childlike to reflect his age. One he looks back on fondly has a fish pattern on the lampshade.

Lampert cannot possess what is already “possessed” (aka: living.)

Lampert doesn’t technically have biological parents. Technically the “parent” he has is whatever star shot the flare his consciousness was spawned into. He doesn’t remember this event, just the fact that it happened (do you remember YOUR birth??? I hope not.)

He was found and adopted by Mannequin Mark (Pops) and Wallter (Dad).

[headmateelevator]

hello!! can we request a lvl 2 creator's choice headmate from fnaf with a typing quirk? anyone from fnaf would be cool! :D

order up!

name(s) - Mangle , Camellia , Cassie , Deirdre , Dianthe , Estella , Heather , Jamie , Kit , Madison , Kitt , Skipper , Valentine , Rose(anne) , Dollie , Striker , Adore , Glory , Lovesick , Blanc(he) , Bonnibelle , Camellia , Kipp , Maple , Marrow , Mink , Maeve , Mallory , Marion , Marlowe , Marrow , Martie , Mink , Manon , Morrigan , Persephone , Roseanne , Syd , Vixen.

pronouns - any / it / they / she / he / ra / radio / err / errors / toy / toys / tech / techs / bite / bites / wire / wires / ro / robots / lunge / lunges / jump / jumpscares / des / destroyed / party / partys / eat / eats / fun / funs / broken / brokens / party / parties / blood / bloods / dis / distorts / hide / hiding / active / actives / glitch / glitches / pizza / pizzas / play / plays / rock / star / <3 / <3s / :3 / :3s / ♡ / ♡s / ☆ / ☆s / sh♡ / h♡r / h♡ / h♡m / th♡y / th♡m.

gender(s) - Manglepangender , Folpine , Chigen , Raporidae, Foxtronian , Boncharic , Fnaf4rine , Fnafweirdo , Chicaweirdgirlic , Fnafbootmerchic , Fnafmesta , Oldfnartic , Fnaf2vibic , Fnaf3vibic, Fnaf4vibic , Fnaf4gender , Springlocksuitgender , Mangleplushic , Cherishfated , Fnafplushyic , Manglecieve , Manglemaxxing , Mechanicmasc.

orientations - demiaroace pansexual , mangledqueer.

role(s) - avenger , protector , mood booster , emotional funnel.

species - animatronic.

source(s) - Mangle , FNAF.

emoji(s) - 🦾 , 🔩 , ⚙️ , 🦿 , 🦊 , 🎀 , 🫀, ❤️‍🩹 , ⛓️ , ⛓️‍💥.

likes - loud music , the color pink , fnaf 2 sourcemates , playing games , stars , parties , repeating patterns , plushies , dolphins , seafood.

dislikes - pain , being alone , large crowds , sickness , corn , being itchy , sudden noises , yelling.

front triggers - source , sourcemates , parties , potential to get a new plushie (bite is DEFINITELY a plush hoarder.) , the body being hurt , any situation she could help with.

personality description - a usually very quiet but generally friendly animatronic, she enjoys speaking to friends from time to time, but likes to take time to herself and focus on things it'd like to get done. when with others she likes to play games often and likes to tell jokes to pass the time. she may often wait for others to start conversations with him, not liking to approach people, but blood will do so if alone too often.

typing quirk - (multiple suggestions , can be combined!!) (all but the first example say "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.) types in third person (ex: The mangle thinks this is a wonderful idea.) leetspeak (ex: 7h3 qu1ck 820wn f0x jump5 0v32 7h3 142y d09.) o=0 (ex: the quick br0wn f0x jump 0ver the lazy d0g.) o=☆ (ex: the quick br☆wn f☆x jumps ☆ver the lazy d☆g.) [tumblr only] pink text (ex: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.)

faceclaims -

( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 )

name(s) - Susie , Park , Denver , Owen , Milo , Miles , Scruff , Rudy , Ruby , Charlie , Bud(dy) , Duke , Rocky , Pebble , Scout , Luna , Lucy , Cooper , Spot , Sadie , Cailean , Catellus , Conan , Lycus , Kaleb , Mob , Mace , Morland , Haldir , Thistle , Rymuth , Pike , Foggle , Marigold , Beesbeth , Holly , Elowind , Daisy , Hazelnut.

pronouns - she / her / they / them / pup / pups / paw / paws / yip / yips / bark / barks / fluff / fluffs / friend / friends / fur / furs / soft / softs / ruff / ruffs / tail / tails / wag / wags / bite / bites / bone / bones / berry / berries / fruit / fruits/

gender(s) - girl , dognipic , pupgender , dolfem , dogbonegender , doggen , doglexic , fangic , cannix , Yarnpuppic , Cyberpup, Pupsleepyic , Dogthing , Pupenby , Zomdoggender , Pupboyflux , Herdpupic , Sportpupic , Workpupic , Terrierpupic , Housepupic , Houndpupic , Dogtailwagic , Dogboygender , Canimougirl , Girlyboypup , Mascpupnightic , Cutepupboygender , Girlmutt , Phantompuptailic , Thingmutt , Traumamutt , Yellowdogplushic , Muttdollic.

orientations - unlabeled.

role(s) - mood booster , playmate , frijōn , paichmate , ògregulator , scout.

species - human , ghost.

source(s) - Susie , FNAF.

emoji(s) - 🐕 , 🐾 , 🦴 , 🎀 , 🎁.

likes - dogs , playing games , playing dress-up , talking to friends , drawing / coloring , sourcemates of the missing kids or animatronics , parties , crowds of people , fantasy books , alice in wonderland.

dislikes - most source stuff , being alone , getting dirty , the darkness , being stuck or trapped.

front triggers - good sourcemates , any pets or animals (especially dogs!) , parties , mentions of her , stress , overwhelming anger.

personality description - a very energetic girl , who loves meeting with friends and drawing pictures in her free time. she has a big interest and love for dogs. fur also enjoys fantasy books , such as alice in wonderland and things like that. fluff is always open to meeting new people and often seeks them out in headspace to say hello.

typing quirk - o=❤️ (ex: the quick br❤️wn f❤️x jumps ❤️ver the lazy d❤️g.) quotation marks (ex: "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.") [tumblr only] pink text (ex: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.) dog sounds (ex: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, woof! , the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, yip!)

faceclaims -

( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 )

[steel-nemesis]

I'm sorry, but this needs to be done. Got inspired by @sonknuxadow !

My personal disability headcanons for Metal Sonic! Part 1(?), Autistic.

I personally headcanon Metal Sonic with being autistic! Of course, this is natural for just about all of the Sonic cast. But what makes his robot autism stand out from all of those meat bags? Well, the headcanons below will show you. :]

First of all, his stims. Oh, he's got a good variety of stims that he'll do. Some of his auditory and vocal stims include ( but aren't limited to! ) beeping repeatedly at a very fast pace, repeating the sounds of objects ( ESPECIALLY car alarms and lasers. ), imitating the way people talk ( often trying to repeat catchphrases from them. Especially Eggman and Sonic. ), chirping, purring, and trilling! He's got that echolalia. :]

They have a couple of vestibular stims! Which include hand flaps, wagging their tail, rocking, twitching their leg, and cracking their joints!

They have plenty of tactile stims! Which include touching/making biscuits on soft fabrics or blankets, running their claws through someone's hair/fur/mustache ( don't let him get access to tangled fur/hair though. He'll end up pulling the tangles out, and it'll HURT. ), scratching certain textures, as well as fidgeting with different types of stim toys.

They LOVE pressure stims! Often times if they're not nesting in a hoard of stolen weighted blankets, they'll sometimes squeeze themselves into tight spaces. Such as behind and under furniture, inside of ventilation systems, and even in driers ( warm, cozy, full of clean clothes. ) when he gets the chance to!

Metal has a special interest in stars! Mostly because when seeing something that has a star pattern on it or is star related, it reminds him of one of his favourite places. Stardust Speedway, his home away from home. He not only has fond memories of the place, but he finds the place to be his perfect enviorment. Large and spacious enough for speed and flight, not too loud or too bright, and the stars look beautiful in the sky. They love the stars. :]

He's an autism creature, I tell ya.

If you have any questions involving autism headcanons for him, feel free to send an ask in my askbox!

[iknowthegammer]

the horror’s of mario (fnaf and mario 64 based game)

mario (as Freddy)

toad (as Bonnie)

princess peach (as chica)

sonic and Luigi (as foxy and toy Bonnie)

tails (as another toy Bonnie)

pikachu and sprigatito (as mangle)

vaporeon (as toy chica)

sonic.exe (as shadow Bonnie)

bulbasaur (as withered Freddy)

snorlax (as withered foxy)

sonic.exe (as springtrap)

catnap and dogday (as endo 1 and endo 2 because why not 🙂)

yoshi (as withered Bonnie)

unikitty (as another withered freddy)

puppycorn (as another withered Bonnie)

dr fox and hawkodile (they both are withered foxies don’t get me why)

big the cat (as withered fredbear)

blaze the cat (as withered springbonnie)

shadow (as another another another withered foxy)

the supposed character that weirdly fit in The Horrors Of Mario are

Isabell, villager, minecraft steve and Alex, knuckles the echidna, Amy rose, rouge the bat and sliver, doom slayer and master chief, tails doll, metal sonic and bowser, eggman (who is withered fredbear), cream the rabbit and cheese, whisper and tangle, infinite, golden sonic for no reason, somehow SMB 3 Mario, raichu and pichu, sonic from sonic boom!?!!, the rest of the smile critters, Huggy wuggy and kissy missy, some few poppy playtime characters (included the prototype), while also having hog and sunky as 2 balloon boys, catbee, banban!?!??, jumbo josh, opila bird, banbaleena, piggy, green face from geometry dash (I have no idea 😃), medic and the rest of his team, bittergiggle, toadster and toaster, plankton and SpongeBob, mommy long legs and her family, peter griffin and fortnite characters, GRAND DAD, waluigi and wario, helly the bird?!??, tv woman and brown camera man, mika kit and Sam, ai robot (yes), Garfield and odie, stephen hillenburg!?!!, Lin- wait no all the links and Zeldas, DASH spider, BFDI to TPOT characters, movie sonic, tails and knuckles, GPTchat, Walter white and his sidekick (idk his name), Patrick, squidward and the rest of SpongeBob, nectar flies, jon arbuckle, Georgie, phglfilms, Matpat, markiplier, jacksepticeye, DANTDM, most importantly.. the rest of Minecraft YouTubers, Roblox, among us, lethal company, street fighters and mortal combat, the simpsons, palworld (they have guns), smash brothers, gnarpy, doors, player (why is everyone clapping.. what is going on..), Star Wars, you can’t beat us, Minecraft creeper, Choo Choo Charles, Lego, Ronald McDonald, needlemouse, Luther and the rest, nerf, party noob, HL characters, left 4 dead, overwatch, stoppy, murder drones, vizie pops work, BF from fnf (included GF and Pico but not boombox), rainbow friends and all the people I missed or whatever else, DDLC, mlp, ya mama joke Brody Foxx, slender man, tattle tail, CN, Nickelodeon, ant, riggy, Rick and Morty characters, mecha sonic and Godzilla, metal helly the bird, Andy apple farm characters, Pokemon characters and Stacy bacy, Amanda the adventure, A man has fallen in the river in Lego city!, II s1, s2 and s3, disney, most of the fandoms (including all of them if not fnaf series) and characters, brawl stars, troll face and etc, saxton hale and the last 2 are nightmare fredbear and springtrap..

and that it I think I got most of the characters no one will never know when facing the most fear of them all.. now main adjective is to get the security guard which somehow he is the most powerful entity that you can’t defeat or defend yourself.. enjoy..

[theubb]

Part 2 is done! i could have done more but there is not alot of time left so i want to get a move on and im quite tired. Besides its good enough!

But anyways ya this AU that Nine finds himself in is one where Eggman & co are the good guys and Sonic & Friends are the bad guys! In my notes i have just refered to it as "The Anti-Verse AU" or just "Anti-Verse" & such and i think Thats a good enough name.

The basic Idea of the AU is as follows:

The Evil Tyrant Maximillian Acorn, King of Moebius seeks to conquer the world in his own name for only He has the vision for a perfect world, it's his destiny! or so he believes.

Sonic and friends are his loyal followers and lackeys. They might have their own reasons for helping King Acorn’s conquest of the world but help him they shall.

But on the forefront to oppose him, from humble beginnings as a simple toy maker is the Brilliant Dr Ovi Kintobor and his friends! They seek the freedom of all and schtuff, essentially mainline Sonic’s deal y'know?

So far the only design i have done is Anti-Verse Eggy but for the AU i changed his name to Ovi Kintobor! I obviosly used Fleetway Kintobor and IDW's Mr Tinker as an inspiration but i have not yet decided if i want to use that alias in the same way Ivo Robotnik is Dr Eggman.

A comparison of my designs.

Whilst its not 110% done i am still very happy and proud of the Mech i built for Kintobor. I decided to make it green to contrast against how most Eggman Mechs are red. And again to contrast against Eggman Kintobor only has the 1 mech as opposed to Eggy's absurd amount. Eggman makes Mecha for specific purposes whilst Kintobor has more of a swiss army knife approach with 1 modular all purpose mech.

Which is why im fine with leaving it this unarmed for now. In the context of the scene Kintobor doesnt want to look threatening to Nine. Going back to the scene; whats hip happening is Kintobor and Nine meeting and Kintobor trying to convince Nine he is the good guy here (which he 100% is) and to come with him.

To add some extra context i decided to make use of @donelywell 's Loose rule of Sonic & Tails meeting Nine quite quickly after arrival and with that in mind; Sonic and Tails be bad guys in this AU and with Kintobor & Crew noticing Nine's arrival first he naturally wants to get Nine out of there before Sonk and Tails get him. And rember that ship from part 1? that was Kintobors.

So to Recap and add some more: Kintobor and Crew notice Nine quite quickly after his arrival. Luckily They were already about to disembark so they could desend via the ships elevators quite quickly. Plan is for Kintobor to make a B-Line to get Nine and convince him to come with Kintobor whilst Anti-Verse Metal Sonic and Shadow are to be lookout and give a heads up when they see Sonic & Tails as Kintobor & crew knew it would only be a matter of time before they got there.

And with that lets get back to talking more about the AU itself!

Mainline Eggy obviously has no qualms about using lethal force but obviously that doesnt feel right for a Good Guy Eggman and yet he needs some way to combat the fastest thing alive and his companions. So eventually i landed on the idea Kintobor stunning his opponents, just like how Stun works in Star Wars; Zap em and they go to sleep/are knocked out and with tougher individuals requiring more zaps.

but what would be the method of Kintobor's zapping? I figiured a gun of some kind, that kind eventually becoming the Retro-SciFi Ray Gun you see before you now.

And the Mech got such zappers in its palms, like Iron Man y'know? Speaking of the Mech, as you can see here i did give it a sword. My idea again being a very vercitile machine its gotta account for many scenarious, like for instance bad guy robots and mechs; and so a Sword! I have plans for even more weapons and different arms and other pieces since as said; i wish it to be quite modular.

Wow this long wasnt it? I will try to not say as much for parts 3 & 4 (no promises) whilst part 5 will be all cards on the table meaning probably as long as this one if not longer, we shall see.

But hopefully next week part 3 and introducing this AUs Shadow, See you then!

[yonker-tonker]

Of Nightbird was in Beast Wars what do you think she’d be up to? (Or, alternatively, what do you want to see for her in the future if she ever shows up again?)

4 question 1! im going to be boring w my answer: a bird. specifically a common black bird or a raven. it fits too much w her name tbh and fits in w the cast. she would have a gimmicky af toy, prob one of those air pressure arm guns but for quills/feathers or a detachable tail (x2).

question 2! I would love nightbird to have a starring role. Something about her autonomy and being a truly robot character in a cast of other robots is a juicy narrative bone to chew on. Maybe a mix between an antagonist role and a heroic one (wildcard-ish nature; she doesnt like either the bots nor cons). I also want her to escape her current narrative loop of being stuck under someone else's thumb lol. give her a story where she finds herself and then dips

[miloscat]

[Review] Starlink: Battle for Atlas (NS)

An Ubisoft open world... in space! Also Star Fox is there!

Lylat Wars is one of my childhood favs, so I'll play anything if they put Star Fox in it. It just so happens that the Switch version of this open world toys-to-life game included a bunch of Star Fox side content as an extra, so here we are. Now it's taken me a few years to recover from Star Fox Zero, but the characters are handled very well here, enough for me to open my heart to them again.

At the very tail end of the Skylanders/Lego Dimensions/Disney Infinity craze, when shops were cutting back on the shelf space they had reserved for plastic figure after plastic figure of dubious usefulness, Ubisoft decided to launch their own entry in this space... for some reason. This being a customisable space ship game, their implementation involves large ship models that attach to a controller mount. The ships then have slots where different weapons and pilots can be attached, and each component can be swapped on the fly depending on the situation. In practice this is clunky and cumbersome, but luckily the physical models are entirely optional. Instead you can buy the components digitally and switch them around in a menu, and I was pleased to score a version off the eShop that included all wave 1 components at a good discount.

Locking weapons that have situational usefulness, or suit your playstyle, behind a purchase feels a bit scummy; especially when I stuck to just four of the 27 available (double gatlings and double missile volleys). Ships are helpful to have a handful of, as they essentially act as extra lives. The pilots are more understandable as optional DLC, but you do need ones from certain factions to unlock global upgrades and I think questlines. So there's a big FOMO component that feels exploitative, but it does make extra purchases feel helpful in-game. Beyond the "digital deluxe" set I also got the Star Fox team pack that adds Falco, Slippy, and Peppy to the base game's Fox (plus a new questline), and the monkey-like pilot Startail because she looked cool... sadly she had an annoying voice (she's not alone), but I still used her and Falco for most of the game thanks to their abilities.

But how does Starlink actually play? Funnily enough it feels a lot like a follow-up to Star Fox 2, Argonaut's SNES sequel that Nintendo cancelled then finally released 22 years later. You have a big star system map with various planets, where the baddies spread to over time. Strategy elements are present but light, where most of the progress comes from the player's direct action. Most of your time is spent ranging over planet surfaces, doing tasks and activities that get you resources and push back the army of robots. These build towards climactic battles with space battleships which you fly inside to destroy (again, very like Star Fox 2). Then follows much rinsing and repeating: this is an open world game, after all.

On the surfaces your ship becomes a sort of hover-speeder. I had more fun with the planet-bound sections than the space stuff, mainly because there's a much greater density of things to do there, and movement and combat is also more manageable when it's constrained by gravity and dimensions. Special mention must be made of how almost seamless it is to transition between ground and space by simply flying up; especially impressive on the Switch which handled the whole thing remarkably well, only chugging when there was an abundance of enemies on screen. The other platforms probably have better overall performance, frame rate, etc., but Star Fox is the winning draw (the other platforms don't have any equivalent extra content of this sort either).

Anyway, in the first few hours you'll get an idea of the loop: zipping around, building up outposts to get map information and resources, and fighting enemies to capture points of interest. All of this builds up a planetwide meter that represents your control vs. the evil alien robot whatevers. I settled into this groove and found it quite fun, never getting too bored of it, although this may vary with your tolerance for repetition. A scant few sidequests can give you some different things to do (and let you hear more voice lines from the actors other than the very oft-repeated expositionary chatter) but a lot of the time it's the ol' open world grind.

The plot is your standard YA sci-fi stuff, not much to write home about. The main team, a set of largely unlikable human schmoes, have uplifted themselves with alien technology to help an alien buddy, and in medias res arrive in the Atlas system. There's some uncomfortably heavy colonial vibes here, as the planets are all some variety of wilderness teeming with settlers, explorers, prospectors, and bandits, and your role as outsiders is uniting these folk under your banner—ostensibly to fight some monster guy and his robot army—and make big decisions about how the system is run before presumably jetting off again after the credits roll. Hmm.

The personal stories of the characters, especially the alien friends you make in Atlas, were the highlight for me, although I feel like they aren't always introduced effectively. As both a game where characters can be spawned in any time from the start and one with some open-ended elements, developments can feel abrupt and the pacing uneven. The Star Fox team and their story is actually integrated very well, although Wolf as the antagonist of this sidestory was, I feel, acting quite out of character from what I would expect. I see him as an amoral mercenary, while here he's set up as a would-be galactic conqueror. Ah well.

Otherwise the Star Fox stuff is excellent: you get a spiffy Starlink version of the Arwing, there's some nice covers of classic music tracks, and the team chatter is top-notch (again, when it's not just open world exposition). The voice actors have mostly carried over either from their original Lylat Wars appearances in a few cases, or the recasts that have stuck since the 3DS remake, and they nail it, especially because they're not just doing weird alternate takes on a reheated script (Zero still hurts my soul so much...). The team are integrated into prerendered cutscenes and there's unique events and missions, plus having them as an addition only makes the overall roster stronger. It's not a full new Star Fox game, but it's pretty much the next best thing. My only complaint is having the characters still trapped in this Lylat Wars/Zero-era setting, continuing the writing-out of Krystal, Sauria, Panther, the Aparoids, everything that Command introduced, etc... but I guess that wasn't really Ubisoft's decision. It's better than nothing, I suppose.

Anyway, Starlink was a pretty good time. As long as you resign yourself to spending more than the normal cost of a game to get a full experience. And you don't think too hard about the themes of the setting. And you don't mind a bit of open world repetition, or the uneven weapon balance, or that obnoxious influencer kid who's on the team for some reason. But let's not focus on the negative; there's a lot to like here. It's a cool sci-fi space game that integrates planet surfaces well, the core gameplay loop is solid and satisfying, and it has a very good crossover with my favourite rail shooter series. I wouldn't get my hopes up for a sequel though, as the retail toys underperformed and five years later the developer is now making Watch Dogs and Far Cry games (as if Ubisoft didn't have enough of those) or assisting on every other Ubisoft release.

[animationstarlover1983]

Fnaf system reboot au

Main characters: good guys, info/descriptions (canon)

1. Cassie Martinez: a 10 year old girl and a main character in the au story. Cassie is a young girl and the first kid friend gregory makes while in the pizzaplex, she also becomes a victim of the villainous mastermind who has taken over the pizzaplex, however Cassie much like Gregory is more then what she seems. Species: human/reborn soul. Soul: Cassidy jones (vengeful spirit). Age: 10. Date of birth: December - 16th - 20xx. Appearance: Cassie has jet black hair and puts in low pigtails and amber/hazel eyes, she wears a red sweater and Jean shorts with purple leggings and light up sketchers. Personality: Cassie is smart, friendly, energetic, passionate, curious, creative, stubborn, responsible, somewhat short tempered, caring, helpful. Facts/info: Cassie has a weird obsession with collecting old fredbear/golden Freddy things, in this au she and gregory are friends and not siblings. Powers: peak human condition, spiritual awareness, golden Freddy power (not unlocked yet). Skills: high intelligence, raw cunning, strategic planning, adept learning, stealth, survival instincts, self defense. Likes: family/friends, reading/writing, outdoor activities, sports, animals, plushies/toys, video games. Dislikes: William afton, fazbear entertainment.

2. Luis Cabrera: A 24 year old man and a important character in the au story. Luis is a childhood friend of Vanessa’s and a top tier employee at fazbear entertainment, Luis like Vanessa is a prodigy and he is a computer/electronics expert, Luis usually visits the pizzaplex frequently but is soon caught up in a evil masterminds plan, strangely Luis is somehow immune to the glitchtrap virus. Species: human. Age: 24. Date of birth: may - 29th - 20xx. Appearance: Luis has ginger/orange hair and amber eyes, he’s quite tall and fit, he often wears a blue/yellow polo shirt under a pizzaplex jacket, when at work he wears a standard employee uniform. Personality: Luis is intelligent, friendly, stubborn, curious, creative, energetic, fun loving, humorous. Facts/info: Luis has had a major crush on Vanessa and vice versa, Luis is also Vanessa’s childhood/best friend. Powers: peak human condition, spiritual awareness. Skills: genius level intelligence, raw cunning, adept learning, intuition, computer expertise, electronics expertise, creativity, self defense. Likes: family/friends, chocolate, outside, exercise/yoga, soccer, reading, computer science, collecting trinkets, karate/self defense classes. Dislikes: scary things. Job/career: computer scientist, IT department (formerly), marketing department (recently), robotics/electronics technician.

3. Glamrock chica henny: a animatronic chicken and a main character to the au story. Chica is a mascot at Freddy fazbears mega pizzaplex and band member of the glamrocks who plays the electric guitar , she is the star attraction of mazercize where she trains and helps people workout while encouraging them to eat healthy and drink sports/energy drinks, chica like her fellow animatronic band members also acts more human than machine. Species: animatronic chicken/reborn soul. Soul: Penelope Grayson. Date of creation: august - 21 - 20xx early. Appearance: chicas appearance is similar to that of her game counterpart except she’s been given a feather tail to add to her chicken heritage. Personality: chica is friendly, caring, helpful, energetic, passionate, quirky. Corrupted personality: when infected with the g-t virus chica is gluttonous, sadistic, deceptive, reckless, aggressive, single minded. Facts/info: chica has a habit of clucking like a actual chicken. Powers/features: animatronic physiology (strength/agility/durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), audio/sound features (audio speaker/voice mimicry/sound translation), candy dispenser, sweet scent release, spiritual awareness, ghost haunting. Skills: keen intellect, adept learning, empathy/sympathy, caretaking expertise, cooking/baking expertise. Likes: friends/family, cooking/baking, cute things, exercise/yoga, learning new things. Dislikes: violence, scary things.

4. Roxanne wolf: a animatronic wolf and a main character in the story. Roxanne is a new animatronic added to Freddy fazbears mega pizzaplex and a member of the glamrock band who plays the keytar, roxxane is the head mascot of her attraction Roxanne raceway where she teaches and challenges guest to go kart races, just like her other animatronics Roxanne acts more human then machine. Species: animatronic wolf/reborn soul. Soul: zoey wolf. Date of creation: July - 29th - 20xx. Appearance: Roxanne’s appearance is the same as her game counterpart. Personality: Roxanne is smart, head strong, level headed, confident, friendly, competitive, somewhat insecure, stubborn, diligent, responsible. Corrupted personality: when infected with the g-t virus Roxanne becomes aggressive, vain, self centered, rude, competitive, narcissistic. Facts/info: Roxanne had a small crush on Freddy but is bad at hiding it sometimes. Powers/features: animatronic physiology (strength/immense speed/immense agility/durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), special vision features (night vision/x-ray vision/infrared thermal vision/ultraviolet vision/telescopic vision/microscopic vision), spiritual awareness, ghost haunting. Skills: keen intellect, raw cunning, strategic planning, adept learning, leadership, vehicle expertise, mechanic engineering expertise, self defense. Likes: friends/family, vehicles, fashion, self care, racing. Dislikes: getting messy/dirty, selfish/immature people.

5. Montgomery alligator: a animatronic alligator and a main character to the au story. Montgomery is a new animatronic added to Freddy fazbears mega pizzaplex and a member of the glamrock band who plays the drums, Montgomery is the head mascot of Montgomery gator golf where he teaches and challenges guest to different golf courses, Montgomery just like his bandmates also acts more human than machine. Species: animatronic alligator/reborn soul. Soul: Reginald colson. Date of creation: august - 2nd - 20xx. Appearance: Montgomerys appearance is the same as his game counterpart. Personality: Montgomery is passionate, confident, stubborn, friendly, short tempered, competitive, energetic, helpful. Corrupted personality: when infected by the g-t virus Montgomery is aggressive, somewhat violent, egotistical, reckless, rude. Facts/info: in the au Montgomery favorite animatronic to hang out with is Bonnie because he’s always been interested in Bonnie’s bass guitar. Powers/features: animatronic physiology (immense strength/speed/immense durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), water gun mouth, spiritual awareness, ghost haunting. Skills: keen intellect, leadership, charisma, intimidation, self defense, golf expertise, caretaking expertise. Likes: friends/family, golf, swamps, music, boxing bags, pools, sunglasses. Dislikes: immature/selfish people, people assuming he’s always angry.

6. The blob/tangle/cluster: a giant animatronic/amalgamation and a important character to the au story. The blob in this au will also be referred to as cluster, blob/cluster lives underneath the pizzaplex within the ruins of the old Freddy fazbears pizza place, the blob rules over all the other amalgamations in the ruins and wishes not to be disturbed by anyone, cluster also wishes to find and get revenge on William afton due to it being fueled by the agony of all of Williams past victims. Species: animatronic/amalgamation/agony fueled monster. Date of creation: unknown. Appearance: the blob/cluster upper half looks like a fixed but old and rusty combinatorial of Funtime Freddy and Molten Freddy, his color scheme is gray/black/white, his left eye is blue and his right eye is red, his lower half is like a snake tail put together by large wires/cables, his left arm is a machine claw with 3 finger/hooks, on his inside is a bunch of wires/cables and animatronic eyeballs with past animatronics. Personality: the blob/cluster acts like a wild animal wild/feral but still holds enough intelligence to think and stuff, the blob is angry, sad and confused by its existence, it also seems to have multiple personalities. Facts/info: the blob will only attack those it deems a threat to its life, the blob also goes around collecting anything to add to its body. Powers/features: animatronic physiology (immense strength/immense speed/immense agility/immense flexibility/immense durability/advance ai/robotic perception), Funtime animatronics features, faceplate split, wire/cable control, light/sound frequency control, technology/machinery fusion, spiritual awareness, negative emotion empowerment/augmentation. Skills: keen intellect, raw cunning, adept learning, stealth. Likes: friends/family, sleeping, collecting, music, being alone. Dislikes: William afton, fazbear entertainment, afton robotics.

Next: returning redesigned characters.

[technomaestro]

Oh? Tell us about the characters on that list then

*slaps character sheet* this bad boy can fit so much of my own repressed trauma in it

This one could be fuckin *all* of them, but it's probably Kelarvia Arana, aka Kel. Poor dwarven fighter exile from Orzamar who turned to the Qun, was trained wrong as a spy, failed her family, failed the qun, failed her friends, and kept trying to do right. She was... not bright. She took a face full of acid breath for her troubles, got repeatedly stabbed by everyone around her, and still kept fucking trying. She was not in a great place by the end of that campaign.

Closeted Trans Person Gender Envy Character™

So, while I'm very much cis, I did toy around with the idea of genderfluidity and transness at one point. And the closest character to that would have been a major NPC that I had in my pokemon game, Claire deVire. She was a literal illusionist / Fairy Type mage, and honestly one of my favorite NPCs to use in the game. I played her as a confident and experienced trainer who had an air of mystery, was clever and flirtatious, and who had a very accomplished team including trans icon Sylveon. She is/was one of the main *villains* of the campaign, but that's besides the point. If I was a girl, she's who I'd want to be - but I'm pretty solid in my gender at this point.

sexy

That would be Lucas Maignard, the Silver Lion. Not just your average silver fox, but a nobleman who absolutely could rock it. Think Rollo from Vikings except salt and pepper hair. He was power hungry, a staunch revanchist of his family's ancestral title and he would go to every length it took to reclaim it, including trying to seduce the King's consort. He, notably, caused at least one if not more international incidents by insulting the soccer abilities of a neighboring kingdom.

He may have had the highest charisma of any character I've played.

idealized version of myself

Allow me to introduce you to Broderic Gullet, a 6'6 tall constantly drunken scotsman Barbarian with a hammer who was unkillable. Literally - he actually died at one point and came back to life because he was too damn stubborn to leave before his friends had gotten to safety, and some passing spirit possessed him and turned him into an abomination. He was jovial, friendly, could talk to his cat Mr. Pickles, and wonderfully buff enough he could hug all his friends at once. Plus he was a trained chef.

As Fruity And Extra As Possible

Oh this is easy. The Satyr Diplomat Cheldric delWolpertinger, a man who *honestly* should have read the recommended reading before being sent to deliver very important documents (these were actually talking frogs!). He was supposed to board a new train on the mountainous passage to Westport, but forgot his ticket. When the train left, he literally jumped (and I mean I cast "jump" and specifically was a Satyr for their Mirthful Leaps feature which adds 1d8 to my jump distance) onto the back of the train. Unfortunately, the murder of the conductor was a bit of an issue, but Cheldric and some other passengers put their heads together to solve the mystery.

furry

So, allow me to set the stage for Albie, Traitor to Crowkind. A Kenku that was as much benefit to the party as he was walking, curse triggering hazard, this absolute buffoon would do what he could to simultaneously help the party while also doing his best not to piss of Strahd too much. A lighting bolt cast into the middle of melee that hit everyone totally gives him plausible deniability for who survives.

I think my favorite memory though is when one of the other party members just opened his beak and he started reciting the Book of Strahd like Stitch plays that record in Lilo & Stitch

A good runner up here would also be Nilbo, a Kobold Druid who only became a druid because it let him wild shape into progressively bigger lizards and dinosaurs. No other animals, just scales.

I Saw One Of The Extra Fantasy Races That Aren’t In The Player’s Handbook And Almost Had A Stroke

Listen. Listen to me. I fucking love Warforged. I will *always* go to bat for magical robots. They're amazing and I've played so many, from psions to storm domain clerics to the most recent one, Hymn, a gender-neutral Celestial Pact Warlock Warforged who got his abilities because he was a socialist. No, I'm not joking - he was made for usage by the Church of the Sovereign Host, but when a wandering heretical priest came by wondering why the church didn't do more, Hymn started going out at night to perform direct action and mutual aid. Being not that smart, he accidentally wandered into a cult's base and released a captive celestial, who gifted him the power to help more.

a race + class that typically would not go together

I'm of a tossup here - the Halfling Artificer Posco Harfoot, who was a member of the Justicars and in order to even the playing field, built himself a goddamn magitek mech in order to go toe to toe with the other peacekeepers, or of Tiberius Vanderwhinn, an elven Path of the Zealot barbarian who was *extremely* keen on getting his libraries late fees sorted, and gods help you if you dared shout in his library.

sexy criminal

Very few things are sexier than a tiefling, and that would be Boreo Lieran, the Tiefling Bard. Boreo was a staunch contender for the "As fruity as possible" but this pansexual beast is much more in line here because the man seduced half the party prior to or during session 1. Having a prehensile tail and the ability to pick up the gnome lass in the party by it for him to tease probably helped.

Of course, such a man was hilariously illegal, because not only did he smuggle and steal like, 90% of his luxury goods that he used to pamper himself with, he would absolutely flaunt a total disregard for property rights and find himself making grand entrances into peoples homes and lives as part of his wayward caravan, leaving a trail of chaos in his wake.

himbo

One of the more recent characters I've played. Cadmus, Son of Abraxes! A "human" wizard on the plane of Theros, this man is the half-divine son of the literal personification of the pride of a polis that was wiped off the face of the world by the gods for their Hubris. So, an active devotee of the god of victory, and actively blaspheming the goddess of destiny at every turn (As he would put it, we hold the pen in our hands, she merely hoards the ink), his goal was to perform deeds good enough to earn a place as a constellation under the stars. He would only *ever* sleep outside at night, even in cities, because he wanted to rest with them as he knew one day he would for eternity.

[sonicreferencephotos]

Holiday Toy Robot Tails, 1 star; Sonic Speed Simulator

[gumnut-logic]

Chuckles (Part Two)

Part 1 - 2035 | Part Two - 2036

This is the next chapter of my @tagsecretsanta​ fic for @angelofbenignmalevolence​ There is more to come....lots more (though most of it isn’t written yet). Many thanks to @scribbles97​ and @tsarinatorment​ for the reading and support ::hugs::

Warnings: None other than wee!Tracys :D

I hope you enjoy it :D

-o-o-o-

2036

Christmas in the Tracy household was a big family affair. The house itself was a big one. Big enough to house extended family and the bustle and noise that involved.

Scott loved it. Loved everyone being together, the hugs, the jokes, the fact that Uncle Lee always called him ‘Little Jeff’ and told the best stories about planes and rockets. Aunt Val always brought the best Christmas cookies with various aircraft drawn on them with icing. Grandma Taylor had different coloured hair every year and this year was bright blue and included glitter. Grandpa Taylor invented toys for a living so he was always welcome. Though Virgil tended to hoard his attention and Scott wasn’t really sure why because Virgil pulled apart everything Grandpa Taylor gave him anyway.

But the best part of Christmas this year was that Daddy was home.

Daddy spent a lot of time away. Scott understood why, but that didn’t stop him from missing him. Dad had stories much like Uncle Lee and often they starred in each other’s tales, but there was something about his father that Scott just looked up to even more.

It didn’t hurt that Uncle Lee made a point of placing Scott’s father in the spotlight in all his stories.

Dad was an amazing person. A hero.

Dad was also very tall and strong and always had the answers Scott needed. While Mom looked after him and his two little brothers and he loved her very much, Dad was…Dad.

And Scott wanted more than anything to grow up and be just like him.

It certainly didn’t hurt that his father had the same colour hair and everyone said Scott looked a lot like him. Scott bore those comments proudly and made a point of doing his best to emulate what his father might do in any situation.

Scott was going to grow up, join the Air Force and do his father proud.

A clatter in the hallway and Virgil barrelled into the room. Uncle Lee, who had been retelling the Mars landing, stopped mid-word and frowned.

His biggest little brother’s eyes widened as he skidded to a halt and straightened himself up. “Uh, excuse me, Uncle Lee.” A blink, and he looked fit to burst. “Could I please speak to Scott?”

“Sure….squirt.”

That caused Virgil to frown. Scott thought it was funny. Uncle Lee never seemed to be able to remember Virgil’s name.

And besides, Virgil had a thing about being smaller than Scott and didn’t like it being pointed out.

However, Virgil hurried over anyway. “Scotty, can I borrow Chuckles?”

Blink “His name’s not ‘Chuckles’, it’s Chuck.”

“Oh, okay.” Virgil bit his lip. “But can I anyway?”

“Why?”

“Johnny won’t leave me alone.”

“He’ll eat his goggles.”

“Better than him eating my nuts.”

Uncle Lee made an odd sound that dissolved into a cough when Scott and Virgil looked at him.

Scott sighed. “Virgil, it’s Christmas. We’re supposed to share.”

Virgil dragged Scott part way across the room, away from Uncle Lee and lowered his voice.

“I tried, but the kit contains small bits. Mom said Johnny wasn’t allowed to play with small things. She said he was too young.” It was almost hissed under Virgil’s breath. “I don’t want him to get hurt or to get into trouble. Chuckles always distracts him.”

His name wasn’t ‘Chuckles’, it was ‘Chuck’ after Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. But Virgil had called the bear ‘Chuckles’ once as a joke, Johnny had picked it up and now it was all about Chuckles. It was annoying.

“Well, give him the nuts and tell him to go eat them somewhere else.”

Virgil stared at him aghast, but then his eyes widened. “Nuts. As in ‘nuts and bolts’, Scott! I’m building the robot Grandpa Taylor brought me. Johnny keeps trying to eat bits of metal.”

Oh.

Uncle Taylor had picked up his tablet, but was now staring at them, a question on his face. “You boys okay?”

Scott nodded. “Yes, Uncle Lee. Virgil just needs some help with his kit. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Blue eyes gauged him, but Scott was more worried about his littlest brother and dragged Virgil out the door.

“Where is Johnny?”

“On the floor outside my room.”

“You didn’t leave the door open, did you?”

“No.”

Scott hurried down the hall. “Why didn’t you call Mom?”

“I tried. Mom is talking to Aunt Val and she sounded sad. I didn’t want to interrupt and I didn’t want Johnny to get into trouble. Chuckles will fix it.”

“His name is not Chuckles!”

Scott rounded the corner and to his horror, Virgil’s door was wide open.

He didn’t bother to acknowledge Virgil’s gasp of horror, but instead barrelled on through the door terrified he would find his little brother choking on the floor.

But Virgil’s desk was empty except for the scattered pieces of his project. A quick glance around the room and Scott quickly found Johnny.

He was no more than a tuft of red hair wrapped around Scott’s pilot bear, half buried in Virgil’s bed covers.

Two wide eyes popped up over the top of those goggles. “Scotty!”

Scott hurried over to the bed. “Johnny, are you okay?”

“Chuckles!” Johnny held up the bear and grinned.

Scott sighed and sat down on the bed next to his littlest brother. His heart was beating fast - he had been so scared.

Virgil stood in the centre of his room staring at Johnny, his lip trembling. It was obvious he realised what could have happened when he left to get help.

Tears welled in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Scotty. I thought he couldn’t get in. I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

“Virg, he’s okay.” The fright in Virgil’s eyes had the eldest hurrying off the bed from one brother to another. “C’mon, Johnny’s fine. He went and got Chuckles, didn’t you, Johnny?”

The three-year-old’s eyes peered up at Virgil registering his distress and soaking it in like a sponge. His grin vanished and his brow crumpled. “Virgil?” Johnny clambered out of the bed and scampered over to his next eldest brother. “Chuckles? Chuckles make it better?” He offered Virgil the bear.

Virgil stared at Chuckles for a moment before reaching out and taking the fluffy toy. He poked at it gently before hugging it to his chest.

John threw himself at his brother with a huge hug almost knocking Virgil over. Scott reached out and steadied him before adding his own arm to the mix and hugging both his brothers at once. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”

Scott had to scrub snot off Chuckles’ ear later that night.

-o-o-o-

Christmas Eve was family relaxing time before the busy of the next day. Mom, who had been in the kitchen with Onaha since just after breakfast, called a halt to everything at six in the evening and they sat down for a light buffet of a meal. Every family member donated time or a dish which was mostly warm finger foods like pie and things on sticks.

Scott always looked forward to dessert on Christmas Eve because there were all sorts of interesting things to be had. Aunt Val’s Christmas cookies was one of them.

He stood staring at the different planes so artistically drawn on each of them. They were good enough to be recognisable and none of that generic kiddy stuff kids’ books tried to throw at him. Some were historical, some more modern.

“Trying to decide which plane to eat this year, honey?” Grandma Tracy crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. Her long blonde hair flopped over his shoulder as she leant in to kiss him on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Scotty.”

“Merry Christmas, Grandma.” But he was still frowning at the cookies. “I can’t see Dad’s plane.”

“Your dad has flown several of those.”

“Yeah, but I want the Sparrowhawk Anderson ZX3.”

Grandma snorted. “Then you’ll have to chase up your father. I saw him nab it earlier.”

Scott turned to his grandmother. “Really?”

“Really.” And it was his father’s deep, smiling voice as Scott was suddenly scooped up in strong laughing arms. “C’mon, ‘Little Jeff’, I’ve saved you your favourite cookie.”

Scott giggled and squirmed, but ultimately clung to his dad, resting his head on his shoulder for just a moment as he was carried across the room to his father’s chair and plomped down on his lap as the man sat down. The longed-for cookie was produced and Scott grabbed it. “Thanks, Dad.”

A big hand on his back, another on his knee, Scott was held close.

“So, what have you and your brothers been up to this week?”

Scott stared at the cookie with the grey, blue and red jet iced on top. “Virgil, did a good drawing of a plane. He didn’t get the tail quite right, but I helped him with that. Johnny learnt some new words.” He couldn’t hold back any longer and bit into the cookie.

It was the best.

Dad snorted. “I heard. I suspected it was you who taught Johnny to say ‘extra-orbital’.”

Scott grinned, his mouth full of biscuit crumbs.

“Swallow before you talk, son.” But his father was smirking.

Scott downed the remains of the cookie, caught between enjoying it and the opportunity to sit and talk with his dad. “He knows all the planets, too.”

“Really?” His father frowned. “He’s only three years old, Scotty.”

Scott sat a bit straighter. I taught him all the names and showed him Mars where you and Uncle Lee went.”

The smile that appeared on his dad’s face only encouraged him. “Virgil drew him pictures of each of them and we stuck them on the wall in his room.”

“That was very kind of the two of you.”

“It made Johnny happy.” Scott didn’t want to mention that Johnny was sometimes sad and always serious. “I want to help him.”

“It sounds like you are doing an excellent job.”

“I’m the eldest.” And Scott knew what Dad was going to say.

“Yes, you are, and that means you have to look after your little brothers. They look up to you and they are your responsibility.”

Scott stared up at those serious grey eyes and for just a second Dad looked like Johnny. “Yes, Dad. I will, I promise.”

His father’s big hand patted his back. “I know you will.”

Scott smiled.

-o-o-o-

End Part Two

[darlingsdevil]

Of The Valley (Joel x Reader)

Chapter 9: I Sense There’s Something in The Wind (Part 1)

Summary: Life in Jackson is never easy. Consoling angsty teenagers, wading through the mysterious waters of Joel’s romance language and with a child of your own on the way? Life is about to get a lot harder.

Masterlist

RDR2 Masterlist

Tag list (comment to be added): @sidepuff @joelsheartache @fangirl-inthe-us @scarletpines @mikah-writes @sleepylunarwolf @mr-robot-x @shybookdragon @heughan @writer-jamie @nelliecraine

A/N: *sigh* so much has happened since I last updated. School royally beat me up, I’m constantly tired and have no motivation to write, left a toxic boyfriend! Life has not been kind to me recently but I am trying my best to live it up and learn, but at least I am doing well in school. Sacrifice your sanity to do well in school I guess. I got a guitar too.. okay now I’m just rambling. Updates will be slower as time continues. Constantly fatigued and getting four hours of sleep a night doesn’t work well.

Happy spooky season

This chapter will be in two parts since I couldn’t find the motivation to write the rest of the chapter on Halloween.

•••

Life was quiet until the festival and party, like it had been for months prior. Decorations were put up, apples were picked from the orchards just outside town, costumes were made, pumpkins carved, ghost stories told. The festival was only two days, the first day being the children’s night and day activities, the second being the Halloween party.

Maria gave everyone who’s job wasn’t totally necessary the day off. Which meant the bar closed. You were more than happy to have two days of rest. You purchased two pumpkins this year, carving a ghost into one and a goofy face into another, you were going to light them the night of the party. The first day of the festival — children’s night, where the kids threw a mini parade around town in their costumes and carved pumpkins and got a free bar of candy from the confectionar. They played games, ghost in the graveyard being a popular one when it got dark outside, of course however, Maria limited their playing field. You watched the parade during the day and then you went home. The kids made makeshift noise makers and adults lined the streets as the kids walked by, laughing, smiling, shouting, it was all good fun.

You weren’t sure whether you were going to dress up or not, no ideas came to mind. Last year you went as an angel and a devil with Mark, hence his nickname Devil Boy, his birthday was October 30th, the first day of the celebration.

Today was his birthday. You hadn’t spotted Joel or Ellie at the parade, you briefly said hi to Maria and Tommy, as well as Dina. You were sure Ellie and Cat were dreading cleanup, as well as the other teenagers. You wondered if Ellie and Dina had made up yet, or had her and Cat.

After the parade, there wasn’t much to do. You took down the flowers on your porch, you trimmed the bushes outside, cut the grass, washed the windows, dusted the house, scrubbed the floors. Your house was beginning to feel lively again, like a brand new fresh start. It took a few hours to complete all your tasks, taking short breaks in between. By the time you were finished, night had fallen. You were nervous about tomorrow, were things going to end up like the last night you had spent with Joel? Mark was gone.. you didn’t need to worry about him. Were you ready for that? Sure, you had asked for him to take you.. but were you ready to go that far? There was uneasiness between both of you, feelings wouldn’t change that. You would have to talk, have him listen, pray he would understand. Was now a good time to tell him everything?

You rested your hand over your bump as you sat on the couch, watching an old soap opera you had on DVD. The baby was definitely getting bigger. It was hard to think about it, but a small part of you was excited. There was the thought of names, baby clothes, toys. You wondered if it was a girl or boy. It was strange to think of a baby who looked like Mark.. it would be hard to look at the baby and not see him in his final moments. You already occasionally thought you saw him for a fleeting moment, down the corner of the street, in the crowd of the filled bar, a passerby holding themself the same way he did.

How would you even tell Joel? There was so much you needed to say, there was time, there was just too much that needed to be said. Joel had enough on his plate, maybe you wouldn’t tell him at all and continue on for the rest of your life blissfully ignoring him. That was too cruel though. Your relationship with Joel was.. complicated. You left things off for three months on an unfinished note, at least he was open to going on a date with you.

There were other people to tell too. If you gave birth, people would begin asking around for Mark. The truth would come out eventually. You always knew it would. Perhaps you will have thought of a lie by then. Perhaps he left to join a group of free spirited clicker killing hippies. That seemed like a good enough lie as any.

But for now, you wanted to rest. You wanted to sit back and watch the tide roll in, without a worry in your mind.

•••

“Welcome miss..?” The man began.

“Y/N,” You replied, reaching out your hand to shake his.

“Tommy. Welcome,” He smiled warmly. You had finally found the esteemed settlement after weeks of travel.

“Mark,” Mark said, shaking Tommy’s hand, marveling at the sight of the town. Tommy had stopped you while you checked in and got acquainted with the town, already having a talk with Maria.

“Where you guys coming from? Always good to see some new faces round here.”

“I’m from Denver,” Mark told him.

Tommy’s face paled very slightly, not even you or Mark noticed.

“How are things there? Heard some stuff went down a while back.”

“Not too sure, I left right when things got messy.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“And you?” Tommy looked towards you, waiting for your response.

“Oh, all over. Living on my own last few years, besides Mark here of course.” You beamed at Mark.

“How did you two meet?” This was starting to sound more like an interrogation, but you pushed it to the side, they were only being cautious. Maria already heard your and Mark’s story, others would want to as well.

“I found her a few months ago, passing through a town when I saw a group get overrun by a horde. I was trying to hide in an apartment building when I fell right into her camp. Almost blew my head off, but hey, gotta stay sharp,” Mark chuckled.

“He told me about a settlement up in Wyoming, I decided it was worth a shot so we ended up here, had nowhere else to go,” You finished.

“Well glad you two made it safe and sound, welcome to Jackson.”

You woke up in a coldsweat, dazed from sleep. Your hand on your bump, you realized, you must have done it in your sleep.

Mark. His baby. You glanced over at your clock. 11:34 PM. Technically still his birthday.

Last year, you managed to find vintage band posters for him for his birthday. You made him cake too, then you snuck out and went to the lake and watched the stars. They looked different than what you remembered, even though you lived under them, there was something serene about being there. Silence, waters reflecting the moonlight, and stars, the only thing you could see for miles. It was peaceful, quiet, yet it was full of life.

And so when you found yourself climbing the steps into his loft, sitting on his dusty bed with his dog tags resting on your neck, the moonlight streaming in from the curtains, just a sliver open, far enough to see a star. Perhaps they looked the same, maybe they were the same. Maybe you were the one who had changed.

“I’m pregnant,” You whispered into the silence.

“I’m pregnant and it’s yours, Mark.”

No echo, no cabinet slamming shut down stairs, no creaking footsteps. Silence.

“Happy birthday,” You said out loud as you closed the door.

•••

The night of the party, you lit your pumpkins when it got dark and headed to Joel’s house. You hadn’t seen much of him since he had been over, you talked to him briefly one morning, but your schedules were always conflicting. You were nervous about seeing him. Being close to him again.

You found an old cat costume from years ago. A cat headband, a clip on tail, all black clothes. It was simple enough. Since you had been wearing Mark’s dogtags so much, you decided to opt with them, not wearing them felt like you were missing some part of yourself. You doubted Joel would dress up, he wouldn’t be out of place if he didn’t, and you wouldn’t be out of place in your costume either. It was 50/50.

You were surprised to see pumpkins out by Ellie’s house as you entered through the gate, your heart strumming loudly. It looked like she had carved some strange face into a pumpkin, you would have to ask her what it was supposed to be later.

You knocked on Joel’s door, starting down at your shoes, the cold air nipping at your skin. He answered almost immediately.

“How do I look?” You said smugly, turning so he could see your tail, doing a little twirl as you did. He wasn’t wearing a costume — like you expected.

“Dashing. You ready to go?” He smiled.

“Of course. Let’s go.”

It was an exceptionally short walk to the church and bonfire. Jackson was a small city, especially considering Joel lived right next to Main Street. They had decorated the streets quite nicely, pumpkins, hay bales, corn stalks, squash, a warm glow seemingly in every window. The leaves twirling around like fire.

The church came into view, the bonfire in the backyard of the church. Groups of people walked in, you could hear the music from here. Joel walked close to you, which you noticed. Close enough, but far enough to not be super suspicious.

He held the door open for you, the music becoming loud as he did. Mark told you once that he loved the rhythms of music, that he could feel the pulse in him, that’s why he liked music so much. Perhaps you could get the person in charge of music to play Bill Withers..

Shit. What if someone asked about Mark? Would they notice? What would you even say? That he was sick? How long until someone would really go looking for him?

Would Joel notice your small bump? You tried to wear baggy clothes. You didn’t have to worry about Maria spilling your secrets — she was trustworthy.

Inside of the church, the party was booming. It smelt of cinnamon and leaves, whiskey and good times. It seemed like all of Jackson was there. People in simple costumes, others dressing normally. You spotted Maria and Tommy, Tommy nodded at you two when you entered.

The song they played was very folksy and upbeat. A crowd had already started dancing, you couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on your face. No sign of Ellie, but you did spot Cat, as well as Jessie and Dina. On opposite sides of the room of course.

“So, what do you want to do? Drinks?” Joel asked as he led you to the side of the room.

“Oh no, I’m good for now, but don’t stop yourself from getting one.” .

“Sure thing,” Joel replied, setting off to the makeshift bar table that was set up.

You watched the people dance, remembering how Mark used to pull you into the circle.

“Come on Y/N! It’ll be fun!” Mark laughed, trying to pull you over to the circle.

“Nope. I’m not doing it.”

“Well you’re going to. I don’t care, you have to.” He yanked you forward, pulling you to the dancefloor.

You stood stiffly as a rock. You felt like every eye in the room was on you, even though you really knew they could care less, caring more about nursing a drink or trying to hear the latest gossip.

The music was upbeat and fast, good dancing music. He slowly began to dance, one eyebrow cocked to invite you to join him. The room was orange and bright, it seemed like it was glowing.

“Come on,” He said with a singsong tone. Grabbing your arm and shaking it to the beat.

His dancing became more loose and free, smiling the entire time, a twinkle in his eye. He took your arm and twirled you and leaned you into his arms.

“It’s pretty easy.”

“Not for me,” You grumbled as the music ended.

A slower song came on and Mark groaned, his devil horns tilted slightly on his head. “Alright, looks like we have to slow dance now.” He grabbed your arms and locked them around his neck, then placed his hands on your waist. His hands were like tiny firecrackers on you, every touch sparking as his fingertips gently rubbed against your hips. He was passion.

“You know it’s easier if you just give in.”

“Never,” You hissed playfully.

“Well then just sway with me. That’s all we gotta do, sway,” He told you softly. You rolled your eyes, but you gave in.

The music channeled through him. You liked watching it overcome him, his eyes becoming distant like the music was speaking to him.

“Do you think everyone is looking at us?” You asked, glancing around the room.

Mark gently returned to the surface, “Why would they be looking? Only you and me and the music right now.”

You fought the urge to kiss him. You didn’t want people looking. You had kissed him so many times before, but there was that nagging feeling in you. Like a shadow that trailed you. A thought pushed to the back of your mind.

As if on cue, Mark’s eyes trailed lower to your lips, he leaned in gently to you, as if he were to break under your touch. His lips met yours and a heavy feeling underneath a spark set in. An undercurrent of rapid waters that threatened to pull you under.

Who was watching you?

Joel came back with his drink, a glass of whiskey.

You glanced over at the drink, humor in your voice, “Heavy hitters so soon?”

Joel chuckled lightly, taking a sip from his drink.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” He asked you. You shook your head.

“Alright well a few more drinks and I’ll be out there on the dancefloor in no time.”

“Didn’t take you as much of a dancer, cowboy.”

“Oh, I’m not. More like a dying chicken with its head cut off,” He laughed, shaking his head. Couples bounced to the music. You couldn’t remember ever having seen Joel dance, then again at parties you were almost always preoccupied.

“Do you want to head outside to the bonfire?” You asked him, seeing the glow through the windows.

“Yeah.”

You led him to the backyard where the more mellow crowd was. It was crisp outside, and awfully cold, you wished you would had brought a better jacket.

The sky was crystal clear and the stars were brilliant. The only truly good thing you could think of that came out of the apocalypse was no more light pollution. The stars were true and had looked that way for years.

The fire was large and powerful, it crackled and hissed but the warmth was inviting. Groups of people chatted around the fire, Joel led you to a fallen log by the fire where you could sit.

The party chatter and the muffled sound of the music could still be heard from outside, the looming walls right next the church wasn’t the best view, but the stars were all you needed.

“Nice night, huh?” Joel asked, looking up to the sky.

“Yeah,” You said, your teeth chattering slightly. You rubbed your hands together and aimed them towards the fire. Joel had brought a jacket at least.

“Do you want my jacket?”

You blinked. “No, no, it’s fine, I’ll just uh..” You trailed off, you wanted his jacket.

Joel chuckled quietly, shaking his head. He shrugged off his leather jacket and placed it around you. You felt your cheeks grow warm, and it wasn’t just because of the fire, you turned your head away and looked down briefly.

You looked back up at the stars, receiving courage from those little stamps of light. You leaned your head against his shoulder. He was warm, he felt safe, like a blanket wrapped around you. It was a natural feeling. You pulled his jacket up so it covered your neck. You wanted to stay like this forever.

God, you wanted to kiss him. You wanted to tilt your head up and place a gentle kiss on his lips. You wanted to kiss him in front of the stars, you wanted to kiss him in front of the fire, you wanted to kiss him on the dancefloor. You wanted to kiss him, you wanted to feel the way he felt against you, you wanted to share that sacred feeling like you’re the only two people in the world again.

But no, you couldn’t. Three months and you ghosted him. He was rightly upset with you. There were things you had to say. But he was here now, going on a date with you, giving you his jacket. The feelings were still there it seemed. A part of you was relieved.

You let yourself fully relax, he placed an arm around your shoulder.

You stayed like that for awhile, simply watching the fire crackle and the stars twinkle. Time was no foe anymore.

In a way it felt like Mark was there too, maybe it was the fact that it was Halloween, maybe it was the strange imbalance of practically everything in your life. It felt like he was there and he was smiling at you.

Joel was smiling too.

•••

[thesilkenlair]

(Casey Here!)

As much D&D as I play, you'd imagine I would eventually get around to illustrating some of their most iconic monsters! Which is to say, the ones that I personally find the most iconic. Which is to say, the ones I memorized when I was reading my dad's monster manual at age nine. Purple worm - Sandworms never go out of style. I've seen a lot of rad designs for this bugger over the editions, but I favor the slightly less reptilian older takes for this particular critter. It's kinda basic, but sometimes that's what you want. It's like a shark or a crocodile: Just flat out unchanged across the ages. Hook horror - I've heard it rumored that Gygax used a small Gigan figure to represent this monster. I can't verify that, but it definitely sounds right. Hook horrors are one of the very first things you meet when you play around in the caves, and they kind of remind me of the Father Deep monsters of the Hork Bajir homeworld that way. Mind flayer - Mind flayers! Basically, take all of your Dracula conventions and dip them in a fresh coat of Lovecraft. There's that old "decadent aristocratic upper caste system who literally eats the poor, but still somehow comes across as less evil than the actual real life 1%" setup that will never stop being relevant. Though personally, I see mind flayers as the first alternative for folks who want to play that monster-who-feels-the-urge-to-eat-their-friends-but-refuses-to-do-it shtick but don't want to deal with vampire baggage. You know, the furry option! ... Slimy? Rubbery? Do we have a word for anthro-cephalopods? I'm only a casual furry. Gelatinous cube - I'm not apologizing for giving this one a slot. Froghemoth - So, back when I participated in my very first long-term campaign, I played a druid. You've met Talia before. Naturally, I was chomping at the bit for the day I finally got to turn her into a froghemoth, and celebrated the day my wish was finally granted and she was allowed to chug human-supremacist-cultists like popcorn. Yeah, okay, the froghemoth is one of the classic vore-monsters. But it's a charming design in its own right. Kind of a freaky Hanna Barbara critter, like you'd see Space Ghost fighting. No matter how many artists draw it, they can never shake that inherent goofiness that third edition tried so hard to purge. I would probably cram them somewhere onto Fronterra if I was sure they were public domain. As is, I'm 99% certain that this is what Visser Three turned into when he ate Elfangor. Tarrasque - D&D's original kaiju! Kind of just takes the name and nothing else when it comes to its mythological origins, but I don't mind. The Tarrasque is that endgame "let's test the players" final boss monster... Or at least it's supposed to be. My DM reskinned it for our final Pathfinder session, and one of the PCs still nearly killed it in a single turn. Also, he let Talia turn into one, so maybe Pathfinder is just bullshit? Regardless, the Tarrasque has one of those simple, iconic designs. I've heard rumors it was based on the concept art for Fallout's deathclaws, and like the Gigan-figure, I can't verify this in any way. With its reptilian features, twin horns, spiny carapace and grabby fingies, it has an undeniable lizardlike quality that I can't help but find charming. Kinda feels like a more refined version of Zilla? Though for an insatiable eating machine, I notice a lot of artists give it very little belly to work with. Come on, this guy eats entire cities! Give him somewhere to put it! Rust monster - An icon of icons, the rust monster! Drawing its origin from a bizarre Chinese "dinosaur" toy, later designs have made it more insectoid in appearance, but never feeling QUITE like anything Earthly. It's the four limbs. Between the four limbs and the tail, it's hard to tell if it's an arthropod mimicking a vertebrate or the other way around. I'm pretty sure this is part of what inspired my ossaderm creatures for Fronterra. Also, Ryla can turn into one in our campaign. I have no shortage of havoc to wreak when the opportunity comes. Behir - Dragons in D&D are kind of... extra. Godlike beings, paragons of whatever personality trait they represent. Whenever there's something uber powerful in D&D, it gets compared to dragons. It makes them kind of unapproachable. Behirs provide all the essentials of a dragon - Serpentine body, scaly skin, horns, sapience, breath weapon, taste for human flesh - wrapped up in a smaller, weirder, IMO cooler package. You know, your Lambton Worms. A lot easier to port in and out of adventures, a lot less of an event when they show up, but still a formidable force in their own right. I like the behir. The behir knows how to taunt me just the right amount. Bulette - Another Chinese "dinosaur" figure monster, the bulette is actually another one I associate with Talia. Whenever we faced a problem that didn't have a glaringly and immediately obvious solution, she would turn into a bulette, whether it was for beating up robots, digging through obstacles, trampling smurfs, navigating labyrinths, distracting slashers with cute dog tricks... it was kind of her signature form. But shenanigans aside, the bulette is just an excellent monster. While the "land shark" shtick may be common, there's a lot more going on with the bulette's design. It's rumored to be a mad wizard's creation, as he combined a snapping turtle with an armadillo and mixed in a helping of demon blood to taste. Personally, I always considered that to be a neat little rumor to flesh out the world, but never assumed it to be true. The bulette just feels too naturalistic for that. Like some kind of protomammal or crocodylomorph, or weird triassic monstrosity. Magic and demons and dragons and so on DO affect the ecosystem. I always figured the bulette was just something that evolved to compete in this new biosphere. Owlbear - This one, on the other hand, I fully believe the "mad wizard was bored" explanation. Another chinasaur critter, the owlbear is frequently made fun of. What makes it scarier than a regular bear? It can't fly, so why have owl parts at all? Why trade fangs for a beak in what is at best a latural move? Well, first of all, fuck you, owls are creepy motherfuckers, and that alone is enough to justify it. But secondly, that's part of its charm. Besides some improved vision, the owl DOESN'T make it more dangerous. What makes the owlbear dangerous is that it's an insane, Frankensteinian monstrosity roaming uncontrolled through the wilderness! It doesn't need weaponry, its sheer temperament is enough to make it a worthy opponent. Sure, the practical threat might not be hugely above that of a bear, but storytelling isn't about numbers. Any asshole can go outside and get eaten by a bear. The owlbear is part of this world. The owlbear is a reminder of what magic can do. Someone somewhere actually made this thing, for whatever reason, and now the world is irrevocably changed because of it. Owlbears go beyond practicality. They bring the lore! Also, bears don't have very good eyesight, so the big owl eyes probably make them better hunters. Flumph - Is that a Japanese-style martian? Do we just have aliens in D&D? Dear lord, I love them! Okay, the flumph has got a sizable hatedom. And that hatedom can eat my ass, because the flumph is precious and perfect just the way it is! Flumphs are designed as a sort of sidekick-type creature. They're not very good fighters, but they bring knowledge and lore to the table. Whether they're aliens from some far off star, seeking your aid to prevent catastrophe, or psionic natives of the Underdark eager to bask in your positivity and hopefully stick it to the tyrants they're forced to share real estate with. My group generally treats them as straight up aliens, benevolent but strange. Course, we're all pretty strange, so we get along just fine. Otyugh - Okay so, the aberration creature type implies that this is something from another world that doesn't belong. And yet otyughs, which are aberrations, are an essential part of this world's ecosystem? Okay, I can buy the idea that an alien organism adapted to our world and is now a key part of it. Fronterra's got a TON of that. It just feels like after a point, the otyugh would be considered a beast? Otyughs are great. Every ecosystem needs a decomposer, and every fantasy story needs at least one dive into the sewers. Otyughs provide both, and are intelligent enough to keep the plot moving if it hits a snag. There's always going to be garbage, refuse, carrion, decay, things that need to be broken down and processed. Carrion crawler - The carrion crawler is pretty similar to the otyugh in that it's technically not considered a beast, and therefor must have its origins elsewhere, but feels so integrated into the ecosystem that it just feels like it belongs. They usually can't talk, so they're not just reskinned otyughs, but I still consider them pretty essential. Otyughs find a singular spot where waste is dumped and shovel it down at their leisure, while carrion crawlers skulk through the tunnels, actively seeking their food. The crawler got one of the most radical redesigns on the transition from second to third edition, but I can't really choose a single favorite. The oldschool tentacle-faced cutworm looks like it could be a real animal, while the googly-eyed Halloween decoration feels like it could be from another world, merely having set up shop here. Could there name apply to two wholly different creatures? If so, then I'm not sure which one mine would be considered. I kinda mashed them together into something that doesn't quite feel like either. But I like it for what it is. Maybe I'll sneak it onto Fronterra. Aboleth - Tentacled, telepathic sea creatures who turn humans into slimy minions, who remember everything their race has ever seen, and who are always plotting something behind the scenes. Yeah, the aboleths really crank up the Lovecraft elements. Actually, between the mind flayers, the flumphs and the aboleths, even the most oldschool D&D covered quite a few essential Lovecraftian bases. The flayers are your corrupt yet still recognizable humanoids who can be considered truly evil, the flumphs are benevolent-yet-bizarre guardians who know more than you, and the aboleths are the truly unknowable, sinister intellects. The fact that they can barely function on land honestly only adds to that, IMO. They're inherently difficult for a party to reach, and they offer some nice underwater adventure seeds. Not enough adventures go underwater. There's this perception that the ocean is bad for storytelling because so many writers lack the creativity to make it work. I wanna run an underwater adventure now. Beholder - Icon of icons! THE D&D monster! The beholder! Paranoid, jumpy, always five steps ahead and twenty steps perpendicular! Beholds are fun in just about every way. Between their wacky, diverse designs, their elaborate lairs, their eccentric personalities, their bizarre powers, you're never gonna run out of fun with beholders. Remorhaz - It's always been a thing that bothered me with environment-based monsters. Why does the ice monster who lives in the cold use ice as a weapon? Aren't most of the things it encounters going to be resistant to the cold? Sure, a cone of cold will still kill a polar bear, but a lot of the monsters in the tundra are outright immune to cold. A while dragon's not going to get much use out of its breath weapon fighting frost worms and frost giants. That's one reason the remorhaz sticks out to be. We have an icy tundra beast whose insides are a scorching furnace, which it can intensify and weaponize as it sees fit. Which also conveniently explains why its design - a sort of cobra-esque centipede - invokes warm-weather creatures, despite its icy environment. It's a nice subversion of the usual tropes, plus it's just a memorable, cool looking critter to begin with. On a smaller note, the remorhaz feels like a good loophole for Ryla's "no cold weather morphs" rule. Turning into something elementally affiliated with ice is no good, but a non-magical monster that survives the cold by superheating its insides? That seems perfectly viable to me!

[daniellaux429]

Fake Movie Poster: Fantasia 3000 by me!

Here is my fourth in a series of fake movie posters for movies that I personally would LOVE to see made someday! This one also has quite the lengthy explanation....

My favorite movie of all time is Fantasia – it is a masterpiece of filmmaking, animation, music, & most importantly imagination. One aspect I really love about it is that it’s a collection of a whole bunch of different stories, with each one set to a different piece of classical music. In doing this, it creates a formula that can work for future movies that lets the storytellers at Disney unleash their imaginations. Funny enough, that was Walt Disney’s original plan; he wanted Fantasia to be an ongoing series in which new segments would be created every few years or so. But sadly, because of monetary reasons & because of WWII taking place shortly after the original Fantasia’s release, Walt had to scrap this idea…

…That is, until many years later, when the storytellers & animators of the Disney Renaissance learned of this initial plan, & they decided to help make this lost dream of Walt’s a reality. Thus, at the tail end of the Disney Renaissance, they released the follow-up titled Fantasia 2000. While it wasn’t as good as the first film, it was still a solid Disney movie & it proved that the formula I mentioned earlier works. But since Fantasia 2000, Disney hasn’t tried to continue using this formula for great cinematic art. I think they did a few of shorts intended for a future Fantasia project titled Lorenzo, Destino, & The Little Match Girl, but nothing much besides that.

Thus, I have decided that if I ever get the chance to pitch a movie idea to the people at Walt Disney Animation Studios, I would pitch to them a third entry in the Fantasia series for the independent film market. For consistency reasons (even if it is a bit gimmicky), I would call it… Fantasia 3000.

Here is my plan for the movie:

Segment 1: Les Toreadors by Georges Bizet – In keeping with tradition, the opening will be a surreal & beautiful visualization of music. It will involve a square shaped mass with triangular arms conducting an unseen orchestra, all the while the environment shows off various colors, shapes, lights, & other surreal imagery that matches the music & intensity as it plays.

Segment 2: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens – This segment, more or less, is an adaptation of the original French poem. On a Halloween midnight, the Angel of Death arrives to a graveyard on the back of a grey horse & begins to play a violin. Immediately, ghosts descend down from Heaven & skeletons rise from their graves, & they all perform their dance while the Angel of Death plays. When dawn approaches, all of the dead return to their afterlives & the Angel of Death rides off.

Segment 3: The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II – This segment is one centered on love & romance. In a very dull & colorless enchanted forest, we see a group of fairies hanging out by a pond, & a troop of brownies marching off into the forest. One of the fairies & one of the brownies stumble into each other, & right away there’s an immediate infatuation. As the two of them dance & act playfully with one another, the magic from the fairy’s wand begins bringing color back to the enchanted forest. It ends with the whole forest in bright colors, the other fairies & brownies cheering, & our two leads kissing.

Segment 4: Symphony No. 40 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Instead of bringing the original Sorcerer’s Apprentice segment from the first Fantasia back, I decided to instead tell a new story with Mickey Mouse in the lead. It will star Mickey as the keeper of messenger pigeons in a Medieval castle, & one day he finds a message from an evil wizard threatening to destroy the castle. Mickey goes to warn the king, & after showing the king the message, the queen takes Mickey to a secret room where an enchanted sword is kept, & she gives the sword to Mickey. Right on cue, the evil wizard & his giant stone warriors march through the kingdom (spotted by Donald Duck as a guard with a spyglass), & though the king sends soldiers to fight, they are easily defeated. Soon, the wizard storms into the throne room, but Mickey jumps in to save the day, as the enchanted sword deflects the wizard’s magic & destroys the stone warriors. After an intense showdown, the wizard’s staff is destroyed, he is turned to ashes, & shortly afterwards Mickey is knighted by the king & queen.

Segment 5: Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson – This is a shorter segment that illustrates a tradition that takes place in Europe every Christmas. It shows Saint Nicholas riding a sleigh pulled by a reindeer through a winter forest decorated with Christmas lights & candles, until he eventually arrives in a European village where he is greeted by the townsfolk, makes his way to the town square where a big Christmas tree is waiting for him, & he delivers toys to the children.

Segment 6: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 by George Enescu – This is a segment that’s essentially a condensed retelling of my future book The White Elephant. It tells the story of a big elephant in the jungle of India who, despite his friendly nature, is ostracized by the other snootier jungle animals. But then he comes across a clumsy crane who fell from the sky, & after reviving it, the two of them become friends & do all sorts of fun activities together like eating fruit, playing in flower petals, splashing around in a waterhole, & so on. Eventually, a small fire breaks out in the jungle, & it’s up to the elephant & crane to save the day, which they thankfully do & are hailed as heroes.

Segment 7: Bolero by Maurice Ravel – This segment, inspired by the robot artwork of Matt Dixon, tells the story of a robot who is dropped onto an alien planet, & goes around exploring all the different alien biomes & coming across various alien species along the way, until the robot eventually finds an abandoned shelter on a mountainside & makes it a new home.

Segment 8: The Scott Joplin Medley (Bethena, The Entertainer, & Maple Leaf Rag) – In this segment set during the 1920’s, we see an African American man & a beautiful Irish immigrant woman going about their morning & their jobs, until they both come across a flyer on a fence asking for vaudeville performers. The night of the show, at first they’re billed as solo performances, but soon the two of them decide to do an act together, & they succeed in winning over the crowd.

Segment 9: The New World Symphony by Antonín Dvořák – This segment, which will probably be the longest, tells the story of a little girl with a sad school life who suffers from social rejection & bullying. But then one day, she arrives home to see a present from her godmother waiting for her, & it ends up being a plush leopard. Immediately, she loves it! The next day, she imagines the leopard is alive & real, & it of course shows great love & affection for her. Then, they go outside & imagine themselves playing all sorts of grand adventures together that include time traveling to see dinosaurs, being sheriffs in the old west, being superheroes who fight bad guys, & even doing other fun things like taking pictures of each other & eating cookies together. At the very end, we see the little girl’s mother watching from the window, as she sees her daughter playing with the stuffed leopard, & she smiles. As you can see, this is based very heavily on the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson, & if I could, I would’ve made this an adaptation of the comic. But because Watterson is extremely protective of his work, the only thing I can do is make up a new story using heavy inspiration.

Segment 10: Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – For the final segment, the story starts with some mighty dragons flying above the mountains. Then it goes to a baby dragon witnessing all of this, & with its mothers help, it learns to fly in the sky, until eventually seeing a great big valley & all sorts of different dragons doing various different things.

Of course, in between every segment, we’ll have ONE celebrity master of ceremonies discussing each segment in as dignified & classy as possible, with Mickey Mouse himself showing up before & after his segment. As you can see, my poster is sort of a mish-mash - the visual aesthetic of the conductor on the podium is taken straight from the original Fantasia, while each image representing each segment is based on the design for the original poster for Fantasia 2000. The tagline is "The encore begins, the legacy continues", emphasizing its spot as part of a grander film series. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fake poster, & hopefully someday it will become a real movie!