#we make high quality memes here

[levemetal]

NEW FATALIS PLUSH YEAAAAH

Had to draw this meme with it... adorable lil devastation droggo. Alts under the cut!

[ruvigapo]

Run boy run!! The sex monsters eat salmon!!

In which i arrive Fashionably Late to the fishssek party

[greenunoreversecard]

HEYYEYHEY CAN I REQUEST LLOYD (ninjago) HEADCANONS PLEASEEEE (ty :3)

A/N: Ofc!I'll do general character ones, as well as x reader ones :) hope ye likey likey:pp

Lloyd, The Greenest and Geekest mf.

General character headcanons:

Half Japanese half Chinese

His hair is box blonde dye and you cannot change my mind.

Left handed

Severely dyslexic and hands off all scroll reading and just reading oriented tasks to kai.

Def gen z vibes. Like, the others give off more inbetween z and millenial, so they dont always get his humor. And sometimes he uses that to his advantage and "Speaks in code" (uses as much slang as possible)

Has LED lights in his room set to forest green.

Has given himself a smiley face tattoo.

Cried over a dead goose once.

OK, just to preface i see cole as a stoner of Sorts and uses the excuse "it gets me closer to my element"

With that in mind cole let lloyd try it and now sometimes when he is told to unwind, of feels like he needs to take a chill pill he and Cole spark up

in the beginning of his leader ship role, he used to Say;"kick ass and take names" and if things went wrong he had the fuck it we ball mindset, but got better with time. There are still times they wing it, though.

if he isnt in his gi he almost exclusively wears his pajamas (aka a Hoodie, tshirt and sweats)

Vv tired, and now has a raging addiction to energy drinks due to his lack of Sleep.

He used to eat worms as a kid bc he Thought he it was evil.

Has a eyebrow piercing, and wants a tongue piercing.

Wears "reading" glasses, that he should technically wear all the time because he can't see up close and has a astigmatism,, but he says yolo. Zane then make him contacts after he almost ran into a moving blade and got his head severed.

Adhd and OCD, as well as the normal line up (anxiety, depression, cptsd)

Lloyd in a relationship:

Hes very distant in the beginning, it'll take time to warm up to you.

He tends to be orage cat vibes.

On the cat trend, he gets close for a bit Before becoming distant. Going through waves of affection, kinda.

He hasn't had like, any good relationships in his life so he tries to "protect" himself when he feels he gets to close to you, and so he pulls away.

He does the fuckboy face when your sad bc it makes you laugh, as well as That weird dice roll

He actually does the face/dice roll combo whenever he Sees you as he walks over, it's an inside joke now

primary giving love language: acts of service and quality time

Primary receiving love language: gifts and words of affirmation. But physical touch is also high up there.

Also, not expensive gifts. He hates those. Give him a stick you saw on a walk that made you think of him. He'll cherish it forever. And maybe cry.

He will cry.

will make noises at you and expects a noise in response or he'll be sad.

Also randomly bites you. He's a nommer

also sends you memes throughout the day.

As well as random pictures with the caption;"BABY LOK THIS IS S. US IF WE WHERE *insert whatever item here*

Called you babe, baby, love, shitface, asshole.

Expect kind and loving gentle bullying.

Doesnt know how to express his emotions to just expect him to come up to you, lightly shake your shoulders and aggressively say;"I love you bitch.i ain't Evea gon stop lovin you. Bitchhhhhhh" (vine reference)

Sends you .5 of everyone, himself included. He's addicted to Taking them. You will not get out of it.

Also sometimes just walks around in nyas stilettos for fun.

You two have fashion shows.

You also take over the Living room sometimes and build giant ass forts to watch shitty reality tv in and make fun oF The people

Overall, once he realizes you won't leave he's the most funniest loving chaotic guy.

But expect it to take a hot minute for him to realsie this

give him time,, but also have some deep talks..

Let him vent

and for the love of God don't hurt the baby's heart.

Expect inside jokes

[ofswordsandpens]

Finale Thoughts

The show stuck the ending far better than I thought it would and when compared to the preceding episodes it knocks it out of the park. That being said, I think because the bar was so low going in, that it makes this episode feel spectacular when really every episode should have done this well, at minimum.

Solo Lessons and Ares Battle

I'm so happy they included the one-on-one training sessions with Luke since its so essential to foreshadowing. I also liked the setting in the woods but why was it like autumn/fall in the flashback lol? However, I think that did unintentionally add a dreamlike quality to the scene which I did really like so whatever I'm here for it.

That being said I do wish these scenes were in episode 2/3 alongside the other chb stuff instead of being a flashback in the finale because it makes it just so on the nose that Luke's the traitor. However, the shot panning from Luke's extended sword to Percy's on the beach ate I can't lie.

Honestly it may have been interesting if they had established some of the solo lessons early on in episode 3 and then done periodic flashbacks to expand on them throughout the series. That way, its not so obvious that Luke's the traitor in the final hour and we also get cool transition shots and establishing that Percy is thinking about what he's learned from his lessons with Luke.

#Relieved that the Ares and Percy fight was not a single sword strike and then cut to black. Glad we had some action. Still think we should've pushed the limits much harder tho.

Oh but Percy's wave did go hard. They actually made the wave much bigger than what happened in the book and now I'm just sitting here wondering why we couldn't see some more of this instead of 10,000 cut to black scenes every time Percy uses his powers.

I wish we had gotten this Ares's reaction from the book when he lost: "The roar that followed made Hades’s earthquake look like a minor event. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide." Show Ares's reaction seemed so anticlimactic in comparison.

And no curse???? huh??

I know Ares was like "we're enemies 4 life now" but the curse and dialogue from the book goes so unbelievably hard: “You have made an enemy, godling. You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware.”

Why couldn't show Ares say that??

Olympus, Zeus, & Poseidon

[Insert aw, she's ugly John Mulaney Meme]

sorry Olympus could've should've been prettier.

Like Olympus in the book felt a lot more wondrous and lush and colorful. But in the show it seemed so dull. Idk if its cause the "war's happening" or whatever it was just bland. a wash of dull-looking cgi and then an instant cut to the Big Palace.

Lance Reddick's Zeus was amazing tho. He had that godly presence I've been waiting for.

And Toby Stephens's Poseidon? oh I loved it.

I especially loved their conversation in greek.

I still wish however they would have done effects on the gods' eyes. Like glowing with energy or something when they get emotional. I felt like I was waiting to see electricity burst from Zeus when he was yelling at Percy.

And so it turns out that the reason why they changed it to Percy missing the deadline in the show was to create a situation in which Poseidon surrenders a war for his son.

And listen, if this scene existed in a vacuum I'd be so here for it. I guess a part of me can't fathom the solstice being anything other than a hard deadline. I enjoy the scene without context, within context I have mixed feelings about it.

But the "do you dream?" convo between Percy and Poseidon. Oh my god no notes. I loved it.

Some more book dialogue that I wish made it: “You did well, Perseus. Do not misunderstand me. Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God.”

Luke's Betrayal

Okay here's where we get some high highs and low lows.

Some things I sincerely liked:

The setting. Fireworks going off in the background. The lantern illuminating the side of Luke's face with the scar. So visually nice.

Luke actively trying to recruit Percy! I've always joked that if Luke was just a little smarter he would have tried to persuade Percy to join his side rather than immediately kill him. And I do like that the show went this direction.

While I do mourn the loss of the scorpion them battling via swords is a great subversion of the sword mentor/mentee dynamic they share. It makes the scene tense and fast pace.

And its all of the above that makes me wonder why we didn't have more of this throughout the show: talking while battling, visually appealing and dynamic settings, unique visuals, etc.

I love how triggered Luke was at Percy's mention of meeting Hermes. I still hate how much Hermes introduction bogged down the show but damn if it didn't lead to one singular funny moment.

Percy getting a hit in on Luke and then immediately apologizing

"I didn't think you'd give the shoes to Grover." Oh that was cold.

Walker and Charlie deserve their flowers and more they were fantastic and carried.

Now things I DIDN'T like:

I don't like how Percy pieced it together with the information he did have... which honestly isn't a lot in the show? If he was going to figure out that Luke was the traitor I would've have had Luke show more of his bitterness like he did in the book. Like the fact the show never even mentioned Luke's failed his quest loses the entire element of Percy succeeding an "impossible" quest and being celebrated while Luke only got a scar and a chip on his shoulder from his failed one.

Luke's scar shoulda been worse idc.

Percy should have been mortally wounded. That's where we run into an issue with there being no scorpion because yeah, a fatal sword injury probably would've been a bit much to depict. I also 10000% think that Luke is enough of a baby to get his daddy issues triggered and then try to off Percy for it even if his original intention was to recruit him.

Also the fact that you see Luke raise his sword for a damning blow and then the very next day you have Percy like "I don't think Luke was trying to kill me." and Chiron agreeing? asdlkfjsdlkf WRONG.

Also, sorry, I don't like that Annabeth was there.

But if you're gonna have Annabeth there, her reaction to Luke betraying her and trying to hurt Percy should've been way more severe than a solemn "I heard everything."

She shoulda been crying, questioning, yelling even if she had suspected him. It's one thing to suspect it, it's another to see the person you consider your family to actually prove it true.

(And this isn't on Leah! It's 100% on the directors cause what was the thought process here? Her brother figure betrays her and she's like :/)

And sure, in the book Annabeth isn't actually all that surprised by Luke's betrayal when Percy tells her about it... but we also never got to see her initial reaction to it. Percy was out for 2 days.

Just, if book Annabeth had been there, she would've been so emotional and that's okay!! let Leah show off her chops!

Sally

I mourn book Sally. I mourn her arc. I mourn the power of Sally unapologetically petrifying Gabe with Medusa's head.

One of the most iconic storylines from the book and it was sanitized in the show to the point that it lost all sense and meaning.

Honestly one of the biggest disappointments of the show for me.

Other

I love the fact that a flower is the searcher's license for satyrs its just so silly and sweet.

I love Annabeth sincerely hugging Percy but also using it for strategizing purposes it feels very on point for her.

Also her braids at the end!! so sweet!

I am very very bitter that Percy didn't see the fates. This + the changes made to Sally's characterization and arc... the show truly doesn't get it.

[toomanywatchers]

My Thoughts on WatcherTV

Hi, I am here to put away my meme-making skills to express my genuine thoughts on Watcher’s announcement; WatcherTV. Before I get into it, this is for any of those at Team Watcher who might be seeing this message: Just know we love and support everything you do for us. Y’all truly do not get the credit you rightfully deserve. I hope with this change to a separate streaming platform you guys can create the content you want to make, pull in creators that you’ve always wanted to work with, and share voices/topics that may have not had the chance to shine because of YouTube’s heinous algorithm. I know myself, and many others, are excited to see what WatcherTV brings. For instance, I already watched Road Files and the trailer for Travel Season on the new platform. And guess what? I love it! I just love BTS-centric shows and seeing the vibes established on Travel Season. Along with more Lizzie/possibly-more-sightings-of-other-Team-Watcher-peeps content?!? If this is what holds for the future of WatcherTV- oh boy, do you already have me more on board than I already was.

I also send my sincerest regards too. We all know that the internet can be a negative space with many sharing their uncensored thoughts, and I hope none of you take the hate to heart. I also hope you can take the weekend to breathe, drink some water, spend time with loved ones, and celebrate this huge step you all are embarking on. I am truly excited to see what is to come on WatcherTV will be there with each step to support.

Now to my fellow fans of Watcher. I understand the concern and it is okay to have concerns. It shows that you truly care for Watcher as a company and don’t want anything negative to come about with this decision. BUT on the other hand, spreading hateful messages? Not. Fucking. Cool. It is quite simple to express concern in an appropriate/respectful manner. Remember, this is a company full of living and breathing human beings. Trying to justify “who is to blame” and pointing fingers is just childish. Guess what? No one is to blame, it was a company-wide decision that they all made and spent months upon months to create.

Yes, it does suck to see content that was free for years be moved to a paywall, but remember they are independent artists that have to pay employees, freelancers, locations, and themselves! Have we not been advocating for fair pay among creative individuals when it comes to WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes and then AI art taking jobs away from artists? If this is what the company needs to do to survive while not sacrificing the high-quality content they make for us, then we should give it a shot! Plus with the current discount available, the subscription is not that pricey for the amount of shows they produce! Literally for January and a bit of February, they were uploading 2 podcasts and 2 separate shows… that’s a lot of content! If you have never sat down to produce, direct, write, perform, edit, and all other aspects it takes to make a fine-polished YouTube video, it takes a lot of work!

To add to this, Watcher already makes content that far expands past what is recognized as normal for YouTube. They build individual sets for each show that is produced, and they travel all over the place for Ghost Files and soon-to-be Travel Season. It costs money to produce content and YouTube?- It’s just not how it was years and years ago. Views on long-form content have been dipping and with the over-saturation of sponsorships, I am assuming they are not making enough profit to sustain the business on the current platform. Also, monetization on YouTube has been a killer for many channels because of vulgar language issues and just being demonetized for no rhyme or reason. By moving over to a streaming platform of their own they can continue to create what they want to create, and make it without any restrictions or rules holding them back. Too pricey? Find some friends who also like the content and split the pricing evenly. Only want to watch certain shows? Then make a monthly subscription for the time that show airs. There are many solutions that you guys see as a huge problem, and don’t get me wrong I have my concerns. I shared those concerns briefly in my theory post about them still being a young channel, but I’m also unaware of the actual analytics and revenue that is currently being brought in currently to the company from YouTube alone. 

It’s a huge step that has garnered negative feedback from those spreading hateful messages about the company and to other individuals for supporting the boys *cough cough I see your messages and comments cough cough* is truly uncalled for. I will be taking a bit of a break from my socials as I wait out the storm though if I have the energy, I might stream on Twitch again and talk through this with y’all if you can sit down and have a civil discussion. As for now, it’s your choice if you continue to support. My goal is to continue to make funny little memes, and if I am allowed to I will be working on a crack video pt.2 after Travel Season premieres. Remember to be kind and to put yourselves in their shows. Just the boys even though they are receiving the brunt of the hate, but for everyone at the company.

Your local memester watcherina - Fritz.

[m-arkmywords]

weekly food shopping

pairing: mark x fem!reader

genre: fluff, smut, mentions stoner mark x reader, established relationship, kitchen sex not suitable for minors

word count: 1,555

Summary: Friday evening spent grocery shopping and then cooking that leads to... other things as your boyfriend comes to spend the weekend.

"Yooooo let's get some ice cream!" your boyfriend exclaimed, walking through the grocery store like an excited puppy.

"Oh my god! Do you see these frozen waffles?! Let's get these too babe."

"Mark. Focus." You tried to hold back a smile at his cuteness, trying to stick to the list of what you actually need. "They say you should never go shopping on your period or high" you shake your head.

"Dude do we look high?" he stopped suddenly and turned to you, examining your eyes and you examined his.

"Nah, nah we good.. we good" You sniffed him, clearing your throat, as tried to look normal and serious. You both burst into a laughing fit at the situation. "Yo we're lowkey a meme right now." You said in between your chuckles, struggling to get the words out. "You know.. the Scooby and Shaggy one."

"ARF?!" Mark did his best Scooby expression, causing you to fall to the floor laughing and him following right after. Laughing with him was your favourite way to spend time on this planet. Every time you both joked around, the whole world disappeared and it was just you and him in the entire existence. In your own little world, created by you both.

"Ok.. ok.. babe, be serious. We're here for groceries." You said, as you both got up off the floor and tried to blend in with everyone else.

It was the beginning of the weekend and Mark had come to stay over like he did most weekends. It had been a long week between classes and working part time. Some quality time with your boyfriend is just what you needed to unwind.

As you scanned your items at the til, Mark ran to get a box of cereal and added it to the shopping. "This too, thanks" he placed a kiss on your cheek. Busy, putting stuff in the bags. You didn't notice Mark pull out his card and pay for everything.

"Hey! Wha-" He took your hand and squeezed it before you could finish your sentence. "It's okay, baby. I got it."

Between classes, work and studio time. Mark has been working extra hard to create the life that he wants. That included, being able to take care of you and he voiced this at every chance he got. "If I can't cook then at least I can contribute this way, right?" He plays it off as a joke and you don't protest any further.

________________________________________

Back in your kitchen, you put on some rice and a veggie curry to cook. Mark played a song he had been working on through the speakers. The acoustics of your kitchen gave it a reverb sound. You sat on the kitchen counter and focused on the song as Mark came to stand between your legs. "So... whatchu think?" He rested his head into your chest and caressed the sides of your thighs.

"So good babe. I'm super proud of you for always working so hard." You kissed the top of his head. He glanced up at you with doe eyes, completely melted into your frame. "I mean it. All this hard work won't ever go in vain, I promise." You gave him a warm smile.

"You promise?" he held out his pinky.

"I promise." you intertwined your pinky into his, leading into your secret handshake that's followed by a kiss. And of course. You both couldn't go an hour without kissing. You ran your nails across his neck, sending goosebumps down his body as you deepened the kiss. His body reacted by pulling you closer with a tightened grip on your thighs. Mark was obsessed with your thighs. He always had to be touching them, caressing them, kissing them at all times.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, feeling him poke into your thigh. "Mmm, don't make me fuck you on this kitchen top right now." His breath, now shaky. You ignored his comment, pulling his bottom lip between your teeth as you pull away. Making him move in towards you in a trance.

"No can do sir! I've gotta finish cooking." You slid across the counter to go to the stove to check on the food. Mark followed.

Standing behind you, he kissed your neck. His hands rubbed your tummy under your t-shirt to slowly finding their way to your nipples. "Mark.." You let out a heavy sigh, and leaned some weight into his frame, grappling to hold yourself up.

"Continue. I'll just be here." He whispered into your neck and then sucked on it, leaving a mark. His hands, moved painfully slow pinching your nipples before moving into your sweats. He lightly stroked your clit through the fabric of your underwear. Making you press your ass into his crotch. His hands traveled further down as he felt you soak through your underwear. "i'Ve goTtA fInIsH cOoKing" he laughed softly, mocking you.

"Stooooop man" Your face now hot and cheeks flushed from embarrassment, before you gather yourself swiftly.

"Shhh" you slowly snaked your free hand behind your back, to feel him hard. His cockiness melted away, soon as your hand came in contact with his dick. You palmed him over the fabric and he did the same for you. You turned the stove off, knowing there is not turning back now.

"Ugh!" he groaned into your ear, desperate to be inside you now. "Man fuck this food!" he spun you around by your waist and carried you to the kitchen island. He ripped your sweats and underwear off you in anguish. Diving right between your legs, he slipped his fingers inside you, eagerly wanting you stretch you out ready for him. Your fingers ran through his hair as you tried to catch your breath. Desperate to feel him too.

"Mark"

"Yeah?"

"Just fuck me."

And you didn't have to tell him twice. Mark threw his sweats off and your eyes met his hard dick. Tip, glistening with pre cum. He stroked himself against your slit until he was covered in your wet. Teasing you painfully slow. Your body jolting, every time his head met with your swollen clit. You felt yourself tearing up. "Please." You begged.

His eyes moved up to meet yours as he aligned himself with your entrance. "So... pretty... when.. you.. beg.." Burying himself deeper inside you with each word. He let out a groan as he bottomed out and leaned down to kiss you again. His movements painfully slow and his tongue exploring your mouth. His hands cup the top of your head as you moved into his hands with each thrust. Your arms around his shoulders, holding him in an embrace.

"You feel so good" You closed your eyes, letting yourself get lost into him. He perfectly fit inside you and found his rhythm. You both drifted off into ecstasy, moaning into each other's mouth. You grabbed at the bottom of his t-shirt. "Take this off" You commanded and he pulled back to do as he was asked. He pulled you onto your feet, taking off your t-shirt in exchange for his, before turning you around. He bent you over the island.

"Good girl, baby bend for me.." he smacked your ass as he entered you from behind. Unable to wait for you to adjust to the new position. He grabbed your waist and rammed into you with a grunt. You gasped, trying to find the air in your lungs. "Love when you gasp baby" he grabbed your jaw and pulled you to him to kiss you again. Your mascara now ran down your cheeks and he kissed your tears. "You feel so good baby, so wet for me.. so tight." He let go of your jaw and gave you another smack. His words made you clench around him, making him whimper in return. As you found your balance, you started to meet his rhythm and throw it back at him. It was now his turn to have his head empty, as curse words and loud moans roll off his tongue. "wa.. wait, wait wa-" "you're gonna make cum like this" he whimpered, a mess. Taking this as encouragement, you carried on as you felt him throb inside you. His movements now getting messy and his legs weak.

"Baby.. i'm gonna cum" you felt the heat build up in your core as he twitched and released inside you. You both moaned loudly, incoherently, reaching climax together.

You kept going though. Mark now a moaning, drooling mess, fell onto your back. His nails digging into your waist as he holds himself up with your support.

"Baby.. i-" his eyes scrunched shut and mouth pouted, trying to hold his moans in. "Sto... I can't.. I can-" the air leaving his lungs, he released once more as his entire body twitched.

Finally, taking himself out of you. You turned around to pull him into another kiss as you felt him trickle down your thighs. Ah! You loved this feeling. The mixture of both of your fluids, oozing out of you, comforting the soreness slightly on it's way out. Shocks still flying through your mind but you giggle at his fucked out state.

"So.. dinner?" You asked, as you start to dress yourself.

"I love you" all he could muster out with no thoughts remaining in his mind.

[yaekiss]

#MailroomOpen! hi hi my darling qi this is the promised letter to my Special Little Guy!! letter delivery for yandere tartaglia with a nsfw reply back and also a meme reference for number 25 if it's alright? pet names are a-ok, encouraged even. ok here goes, thank you so much for doing this!!! i am cringe but i am free ♡

(The letter that arrives is black with gold borders and purple ink, with a purple lipstick kiss mark on the back of it. There are doodles of stars, moons, skulls, and hearts in the margins. The penmanship is neat and playful, every i and j dotted with either stars or hearts, depending on the subject matter. A small box of the same color as the letter comes with it, inside is an ocean-blue collar with a tag that says "My Ajax". It looks expensive.)

My lovely Ajax,

It's only been a few weeks since you left, but in my opinion, any time away from you is too long. I miss your presence, your conversation, your cooking, and some more...intimate things. I'm sure you feel the same. I really wish you didn't have to leave so often, sometimes I think you might care for your Tsaritsa more than me~ Hehe, I'm only joking, of course. I know you're very loyal, and love me very much... (There's a furious scribble over the next words, but you can just barely make out that it says "maybe more than you should") Anyway, moving on, this letter should arrive with a collar. I picked them out special just for you; blue like your eyes! There's a matching leash, but I kept it with me so we can use it when you get back, hehe ♡. Make sure to show me how pretty you look with it on, okay puppy~? ...And come back safe. I'll be patiently awaiting your return, hopefully soon.

~Your darling

꩜ Letter Content: Dom! GN! Reader x Yan! Sub! Tartaglia, no gendered terms for reader, Tartaglia calls you "dearest exalted", mentions of blood, unhealthy and obsessive relationship from Tartaglia, worshipping (reader receiving), collar and leash (used on Tartaglia), masochistic Tartaglia, mentions of mirror sex, Tartaglia calls himself puppy once, lmk if I missed out anything ! ꩜ Delivery Notes: Weird, as soon as he handed his parcel to me, he started booking it to your address, like damn it's not a race?! ꩜ Wanna write a love letter yourself? Check out it out here!

A medium-sized parcel finds its way into your possession, placed in front of your doorstep. The box is made of smooth varnished timber and the intricate details are inlaid with gems and shards that match the stunning shade of your eyes. Judging by all the elaborate carvings and the overall quality of the trunk, it must have cost him a pretty penny, especially if it was commissioned just for you. 

Flipping the lid of the box open at its hinge, your eyes are greeted by the sight of the sheer amount of items he sent to you. Ajax is nothing but a generous lover and it's definitely evident with all the gifts he prepared for you this time. Starting out, there are a few neatly packed food containers imbued with a charm that helped to preserve their contents perfectly over the lengthy delivery trip. Each one is labelled with the name of the dish it holds and after looking through the various containers, you realise they’re all your favourite dishes, lovingly made from scratch by Ajax.

To a side, there’s a hefty drawstring pouch. Tugging the bag open, a large pile of mora shimmers back at you. You should’ve known he would spoil you like this even if he were away. Tucked underneath the bag of mora, is his letter.

The envelope is a version of the one typically used for fatui matters, except this one is a lot gaudier than usual. …It’s the kind used for letters addressed exclusively to Her Royal Highness, the Tsaritsa. Just the look of it is expensive: A frosted gold border lines the front of the envelope and his wax stamp seals the letter shut at the back, away from prying eyes. Surely using an envelope reserved for the Tsaritsa for you is more than a bit… blasphemous. Nonetheless, you try not to think too much about it and gingerly open the letter up to read his reply.

His handwriting is scrawling and slightly messy as always but you know that it’s just from the eagerness that he seems to constantly have while around you, like some sort of oversized puppy. Present is a tangible tenderness in all his words and you can just about picture the silly little smile he had on his face while he wrote this letter to you. Additionally, there are hearts blotchily drawn in a rusty red around in the margins to match your love letter sent to him. His response reads:

“To my highest divinity, my owner,

It’s so so so good to hear from you, dearest exalted! Ah, I can’t believe you’d miss me, I’m swooning, at least now I know I’m not the only one left longing. I saw you mention that you missed my cooking so to remedy that, I prepared some of your favourite dishes, I didn’t quite know which one would be the best to send to you, so I just sent all of them, haha. Please let me know if they’re to your liking, dearest exalted. Regarding missing my presence… there’s only 1 solution for that which you’ll see soon enough!

I saw your scribbled-out words. ‘Maybe more than you should.’ My reverence for you must not be enough, and that’s why you still doubt me, doubt my love for you, right, dearest exalted? Although the Tsaritsa may be important to me, however, even the loyalty I have for her cannot hold a candle to the utmost adoration that I have for you. Far, far, far from it. What you see right now is but a mere glimpse of my endless devotion and love for you, dearest exalted. There is so much more that I would do for you. Just say the word, that’s all you’ll ever need to do, and I’ll carry out any of your orders till the end of my days. Even in death, I’d still be yours to command. Beyond the grave, that’s how much you deserved to be loved, dearest exalted. (His paragraph drips with festering lovesickness in the way the ink looks to be redder than the one in his inkwell.)

Ahem, moving on! Thank you for the collar, it sits wonderfully around my neck and fits like a glove. Really brings out my eyes too, was that intentional? And the tag… oh, the tag. I must confess, I’ve imagined what it would be like, to have you attach the leash to it and tug me in front of the mirror, making me watch through the reflection as you have your way with me. I would let out all the sounds you said you liked hearing from me, my moans or whines or screams, I’d give you anything you want. You could be as rough as you’d like to too, pulling harshly on the leash as you take your frustrations out on me, you know I love whatever you grace me with, dearest exalted.

I’ll end my letter here, my remaining words can be relayed when I’m back soonest, I promise! Remember to tell me if anyone has wronged you, I’ll gladly rid you of them, dearest exalted. Can’t wait to be under you again! 

Your most devoted puppy,

- Your Ajax -”

That’s certainly… a reply worthy of your contemplation, to say the least. Inserting his reply back into the envelope, you wonder what else he could’ve left unsaid in a letter that’s already chock full of the rawest form of veneration towards you. Sitting in pensive silence, your mind reels. Fortunately for you (or perhaps it’s the contrary), your answer arrives frighteningly fast, disrupting the stillness. 

There’s a knock at your door, a familiar keening whine bleeding through the wood.

Thanks for reading! Consider supporting me on kofi if you enjoyed this or check out my other works hehe ♡

[cinyemina]

Popularity does matter and helps measure a characters worth. If they are written well then they generally will be the most popular. Also you should care about popularity seeing how that keeps a conversation going and keeps that character relevant and keeps the fanarts and fandom works coming.

Levi is no longer popular and that just goes to show that he fell off as a character. He had potential to be something great but just left many disappointed. This is why he's no longer the face of aot or the most popular in his show. (Eren took that shit back!!!) This is why he's losing polls to characters like Gojo. He's just not relevant anymore. You're more likely to see Eren and other characters on anime fan creator pages than Levi now. Levi barely pulls in the interactions and likes on twitter whereas Eren and Mikasa are bringing in the numbers. You see Levi used to be the talk of the town and the anime IT boy. He used to be everywhere and if you spoke against him you'd be swarmed. Now that doesn't happen. People just don't care. If you have a character that was that popular and now they're barely talked about, you know something went wrong. You know they fell off and disappointed people because their writing was lacking. So yes I do actually think popularity measures the worth of a character.

Hey, keyboard warrior.

Here is the thing about throwing shade from the anonymity – it takes about as much courage as a moldy banana peel challenging a hurricane. If your opinions are so earth-shattering, why hide behind anon messages like a frightened internet ghost?

I find it hilarious that you are saying Levi is the one who "had potential to be something great but just left many disappointed" when in reality it is Gojo who has left many disappointed. (Not hate)

Let's talk popularity. You act like it's some holy grail of character worth, this infallible judge of quality.

Newsflash: popularity is fickle. It's a vapid internet windsock, blowing whichever way the latest meme dictates.

Sure, a well-written character with depth can grab attention, but sometimes pure entertainment value steals the show.

The goofy dumb hero with a tragic backstory might not win a Pulitzer, but they keep the popcorn tubs overflowing, right?

Trends shift faster than Kardashians change their hairstyles.

Characters dominating discussions today are yesterday's news tomorrow.

Guts is one of the most well written character of all times, but we rarely see him dominating popularity polls. Because popularity is a snapshot in time, not a mark of quality.

Are Kaneki and Light still relevant online? Maybe, but probably not the first name that pops into someone's head when they think "hottest anime character." Why? Because Tokyo Ghoul and Death Note are not the shiny new toy everyone's playing with anymore.

That doesn't make them bad characters now, does it? Just means Jujutsu Kaisen is the new kid on the block.

Popularity reflects the current hype, not some objective measure of quality.

Now, about that "Levi isn't popular anymore" claim.

Here's a little fact for you: Levi is declared the most popular anime character of all time. Still riding high on My Anime List at number 2, with Eren trailing behind at 13th and your precious Gojo at a respectable 16th.

Funny how you cherry-picked one popularity poll to fit your narrative (Anime Corner 2023), isn't it?

Bet that pinches a bit in your anonymous little corner.

I don't use Twitter (X) now, because that platform lowers the IQ of the entire internet by several notches. Who cares who's trending there? It's a chaotic mess of fleeting opinions and manufactured outrage.

Attack on Titan season four took a sharp turn, shoving Eren into the villain spotlight. His descent into darkness was undeniably intriguing, and I can see why it grabbed people's attention (and mine too). Let's not forget Eren is the protagonist. The entire story revolves around him. Of course his character development and tragic romance with Mikasa would be a focus!

But here's the thing – Levi's popularity doesn't magically disappear because Eren's on the rise. They're both compelling characters in their own right.

In fact "Bad Boy" manga that is going to be released is revolved around Levi.

So, instead of anonymously whining about a perceived decline, why not ditch the negativity and have a real conversation? What makes a character truly tick for you? Is it the emotional depth, the badassery, the hilarious quirks? Let's dissect what truly makes a character shine, instead of resorting to schoolyard taunts about a fictional character.

In the end, Levi's legacy in Attack on Titan is undeniable. He's a fan favorite, a symbol of unwavering strength, and a character who continues to inspire cosplay, fanart, and endless debates. Maybe the hype has shifted a bit, but his impact and popularity on the anime world remains. So, take your anonymous complaints and channel them into something constructive. The internet could use a little less negativity and a lot more genuine discussion about the characters we love, flaws and all.

[netherworldpost]

Hi! I followed you for a long time with alot of "jeez someday I hope that can be me some day" fervor and now I am starting my own small goth shop. Do you have any tips on reaching the alternative audience? or tips on general about running a shop I'm nervous.

1a. Protect your cash flow

This is to say constantly question "does this shiny envelope packaging pack in make people love my shop more or is it a money drain?" This is not a simple answer.

It is an answer you'll ask yourself all the time.

The answer is going to shift. Fun unboxing videos? Great for social media posts. Great to get attention. Great fun. Expensive to produce. Worth it? Constantly check.

I really want to stress this: I am not saying "do not do it" -- I am saying "do what makes sense."

In the business-to-business world (you're a business, other businesses are going to sell to you), one of the most effective/common sales tactics is "take this thing you do and make it fun."

Your product is fun.

Your product is quality.

Your packaging etc.'s primary task is to get your product to your customer efficiently (easy to read address labels) and safely (stuff does not break).

1b. Protect your cash flow part two

Evil Supply Co. was the original shop. It experimented with everything -- color changing cereal spoons (launched), temporary tattoos (launched), umbrellas (did not launch), plates and bowls and towels and toothbrushes and shower curtains (did not launch). So much more.

It was primarily a stationery company.

The experimenting was incredibly fun, I regret nothing, and it cost me giant truck loads of cash. That's why Netherworld Post is focusing far more tightly.

2. Can't meet budget? Reduce scope.

When you're talking to designers or web hosts or whatever, and they say "We want $$$" and you say "I have $," reduce your scope down. This fits into the above, you're noticing a theme maybe.

This is a business. It has to make money to continue, it has to make profit to pay you to continue, it has to compensate you for your time to continue.

OR

It is a hobby.

And it doesn't have to do any of those things, it just has to scratch that itch that made you pursue it. It can still sell stuff, it can be a shop, it can be open when you want and closed when you want.

There is no moral, ethical, social value difference between a business and a hobby.

Do what fits into your goals, and if your goals shift, change your shop to accommodate.

3. Have fun

Your biggest competitor by a factor of 1:100 is other shops:folks posting your work without attribution or links.

You've seen the videos where someone is saying "Oh you're so pretty, you're so cute? No, YOU are so pretty, YOU are so cute." That's small business life.

There is enough for us all. Just have fun.

4a. Reaching people

Post stuff. Works in progress, memes, rambles, whatever makes you "you". Pepper in shop links and email sign up links occasionally.

Just be you.

If you don't know who you are, well, that's what you should post.

There is this idea that there is a "brand" that you have to build, and you're going to get (if you aren't getting them already) a million targeted ads to help you build this brand.

"I sell stuff. It has a price range of $X. It is high quality! Or it is cheap quality and priced accordingly! It can be found at xyz dot com. It will get to you in Z days/weeks." = 99% of branding.

The other 1% is "when you think of me, you think of X." Such as, when you think of Netherworld Post, you think of atty's antics and Fang's amused exasperation and Halloween and spooky things and mail and ghosts and mermaids, etc.

4b. Decide your social media bandwith and stick to it

There are ten billion social networks.

It's common to feel like you have to be on them all 24/7. Attempting to reach this is going to burn you out and use up limited resources, it is far more effective to have an email list (this is independent of all networks) + the networks you, as a person, enjoy using and focusing there.

See #3 above. Fits here too.

5. Keep going when things are hard or convert this into a hobby You're making this shop for a reason.

That reason is more important than money, otherwise you wouldn't be doing it.

Building a shop is infinitely harder than playing video games and reading books and watching movies and dancing -- every hour you are working on your shop is an hour you're not playing video games about dancing books.

If you say "this sucks," convert it to a hobby. See #2.

The reason I'm building Netherworld Post instead of doing other business things that would make much more money is because I love it. It feeds a part of me. It makes me more "me" to run this shop than to not run this shop.

The minute that changes, I'm converting it to a hobby. Keep the door open when I want to play, close the door it when I'm tired, re-open after I rest.

If you want more money in your life, get a second job.

If you want money doing THIS -- take every problem as it lunges at your heart, take that tender in your black painted talons, look at the problem carefully, then tear it apart until you have the answers.

You are going to be doing this constantly.

It should be part of the fun.

If it's not, make this a hobby.

There is no inherent value in having it as a business.

The value is this project is it should make you more you.

Every single problem you are going to face -- every single question you are going to ask -- every single opportunity, every issue -- listen to me, everything -- has at LEAST one industry built on solving it.

Not company. Industry.

Keep going until you find someone or something that fixes it for your budget and scope.

6. You do not work for other people

You mention you've been around for awhile following me, so maybe you've seen my...

...occasional ...lack... of delicacy...

...when dealing with people who have a confusion about who is running this blog (them vs. me)

People are going to say "you should lower your prices, you should post more X, you should post less Y, you shouldn't post about Z person/ business/ entity/ thing because of Reasons."

Critiques and criticism can be valid.

They are not directives that need be followed.

There are consequences for not following them (people may leave).

There are consequences for following them when you disagree with them (your shop may feel less like your shop and more like someone else's).

This is not license to be a jerk.

It means that this is your shop and it has to make you more "you" and if it doesn't then it isn't your shop it is a pain in the ass job that pays you far less than you should be paid.

It's like dating as the most confident person in the world.

"This is who I am. Am I compatible with you? IF SO we will drink root beer and dance badly to old cartoons and dress up in silly costumes and be absurd. IF NOT then I wish you well, and the instant you are gone, I will never think of you again."

I ask no one to change who they are when they follow my blog or read my rambles or shop in my stores.

I do not change who I am for the people who follow my blog or read my rambles or shop in my stores.

You must adopt this attitude too.

Or it's not your shop.

It belongs to people you don't know who make you uncomfortable.

Which is the exact description of the world's worst paying job or second job. Which is the exact opposite of why you are building your shop.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 11/04/2024

I will Never be a Redneck

Season 7 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Sapphire

Ripped by Madinstance

Requested by Corb and uwustepanne! (Discord, Request Form) (@uwustepanne)

"I'm just kidding, this isn't a blue balls rip. However, you're going to wish it was. I warned you."

Can you IMAGINE being 601billionlazer and getting this rip for Secret SiIva 5?? You hear the silly blue balls and go oh, haha what fun, what a great little bit Madinstance, you always outdo yourself so its fun to see you've taken a funny step back here - only for the truth to be revealed and all hell to break loose? You hear the backing change and think, I swear I recognize that, there's no way he actually did it - the banjo comes in with a gleefully sinister pluck and reaffirms your suspicions. Madinstance fucking did it. The first proper rip uploaded as part of Season 7 introduced the year with a fucking bomb. I will Never be a Redneck.

And look, I've covered some One-Winged Angel rips on here already, One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop and Hen'yoku no Piraman - the latter even being made by Madinstance as well - but I feel like it needs to be stressed how thoroughly deranged this rip in particular is. We ALL know Cotton-Eye Joe, if not the original American country song then ABSOLUTELY the world-famous 1994 Eurodance version - one that, funny enough, was recorded by a Swedish band. Indeeds, its oddly befitting: A culture clash between my homeland, and the nation where a majority of SiIvaGunner's own audience and contributors live - the result is that ALL of us knew well what Cotton-Eye Joe was, a piece of our childhoods for some, or at least for me. Yet its prevalence on SiIvaGunner had been comparatively tame in comparison to that popularity, only appearing in some modest mashups and melodyswaps in Season 1 - seven whole years before Madinstance deployed the nuclear option. Realizing that this overplayed icon of a song even had the ability to be remixed in such a fashion positively blew my mind - I won't sugarcoat it, I will Never be a Redneck completely floored me.

And like, in some ways its to be expected, right? Madinstance is incredible, he continues to show up on here with rips like Initial Deluxe (I've Just Raced on this Course Before) and Fell From a High Place (Reprise) for a reason - his prowess for these large-scale projects feels like it shouldn't even be humanly possible. I remarked back in Hen'yoku no Piraman just how much the recent trend of One Winged Angel rips impresses me, how each one feels as if the ripper is truly showcasing their worth whilst dedicating it all to the glory of a single meme. That still stands, yes, but to apply it to a song that otherwise had near-no prevalence on SiIvaGunner, no standard set for how remixing it ought to go: To have my FIRST ever time hearing Cotton-Eye Joe pitch shifted be in this absolute behemoth feels downright criminal. And its even crazier how it WORKS the whole way through.

The amount of touches present to make this feel as cohesive as it does is staggering. The chorus' titular line of "Cotton-Eye Joe" replaces the use of "Sephiroth!" in the base track perfectly, the original song's violin instrumental breaks between the chorus and verses are pitch shifted into the ominous tone of One Winged Angel's equivalent instrumental breaks, the banjo going off the shits in the longer break from the main melody midway through the track...really, its incredible how much of the original track's excitement and danceable fun suddenly sound so ominous, with changes so deliberate, substantial yet conservative enough to not lose the Cotton-Eye Joe feel - this ALWAYS sounds like the right amount of both tracks in balance. I love how the song's chanting "Hey-hey-hey-heyys" suddenly sound akin to One Winged Angel's latin choir song, how the vocals of the chorus repeat in a somewhat staggered, haunting way near the rip's end - like Beautiful Dreamer or My Dr. Eggman Can't Be This Evil!, its remarkable just how drastic the change of tone becomes through rips like this.

Most of all though, it is that gradual realization of what you're listening to that has made I will Never be a Redneck such a classic for me - NOBODY could've anticipated it based on the channel's past history, and nobody would've expected THIS would be the way that Season 7 would officially "start". Yet its the kind of rip you can send to anyone - both songs are immediately recognizable, and the effort put in to making the two work in tandem is unmistakably impressive. uwustepanne, who wrote in to request this be covered, included a short anecdote with her write-in, about how this rip showing up in her YouTube feed was what made her realize the channel hadn't ended with Season 6's finale, that I will Never be a Redneck in a way represents everything she loves about the channel, the impact its had on her. And yeah - isn't it crazy how a rip as cracked as this one, still wound up facing incredibly stiff competition for rip of the Season?? 2023 was one of SiIvaGunner's greatest-ever years, and seeing a rip like I will Never be a Redneck uploaded at its very start felt almost like they'd set the bar far too high for the rest of the team. Yet somehow, someway, everyone else was up to the challenge and continued making absolutely incredible rips throughout the entire year. Madinstance continues to raise the bar of quality on the channel at almost every turn, and having him do it at the Season's very start - with a rip as out-of-this-world as I will Never be a Redneck to boot - remains as an absolute power move.

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ DISCO ELYSIUM / Part 3 always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

'lovers is such an emotional word.'

'he was out of his fucking mind. you have no idea!'

'i am at the end of my *goddamn* rope with you.'

'keep it -- maybe you'll need a reminder of human ugliness one day.'

'this is gonna be really bad for my health, isn't it?'

'whooh, this shit is strong. this shit is disco.'

'it's nothing, just got to cut back on coffee.'

'i wish you hadn't told me that. i'm gonna lose *sleep* over the subject.'

'honestly, i'm just relieved you didn't get a hernia. a man of your age...'

'sometimes it's necessary to resort to extreme measures.'

'the wards... the door... it's all gone now. dark psychic energy, leeching in...'

'i hope you're happy now, happy that you've ruined everything.'

'cursed? but i thought the curse wasn't real.'

'i'm not going to grade a human being. i don't do that.'

'yeah, actually it's super all right for kids to chew their hands off. forget i said anything.'

'i've heard the stories, but i don't think those stories are true.'

'she's convinced that the place is swarming with malicious energies.'

'employing sulky teenage girls is a widespread practice.'

'i'm sure the bear was doing its best.'

'it's an imaginary beast that guides you through life. by telling you to do more drugs, mostly.'

'rest assured, no psychic attacks will reach you here.'

'no one's ever really safe from the failure.'

'there's something inherently violent even about dice rolls.'

'it's mostly drunks and degenerates who come here.'

'drunks and degenerates -- that's my crew!'

'i think i might be a drunk. or a degenerate.'

'nobody's perfect. i'm sure even you've been tempted to drink.'

'no need for the histrionics.'

'i see you're a connoisseur of high-quality combat gear.'

'this arouses no special feelings in me.'

'you won't get me and you won't get my money!'

'everyone knows drugs make you invulnerable to cold.'

'i mean: we get drinks, come back here, sit on the frozen sea ice and drink until we start talking about fucked-up emotional stuff. the *worst*.'

'i mean: we get drinks -- and we also get drugs.'

'it's *the* coolest place in this whole drug-addled shithole.'

'i get down.'

'i grind.'

'no man, fuck that, i'm cool... i'm sorry i said that. i'm sorry about the *fuck*.'

'you know, drinking, getting into fights. the ugly stuff that happens when you move out of your parents' place at thirteen.'

'i'm major party animal myself. MAJOR.'

'i'm sorry you have to sit here on the ice with the drugs wearing off. at your age -- or ay age -- in this weather.. waiting for it to get dark.'

[levemetal]

You know what, time for me to post random memery I drew while I was on travels. Characters are all my silly OCs from one my own concepts.

[wulkwulk]

Challenge for Sonic fic writers

Here is a challenge for yall sonic fanfic writers. Can anyone write a proper Chao In Space: The Search for Tikal? By proper, I mean the one that has the whole cast we see on the official Sonic Gen poster.

And I mean everyone! Including the babylon rogues crew! Bonus points if you make it a story about how this "film" was made and directed by Sonic. Like, go full meta. Interviews with actors, production hell, drama around Rouge and Wave and their lesbian romance behind the scenes. Do they resurrect Tikal or just paint Knuckles in orange, then put him in a dress? What kind of movie director is Sonic? Is he like Michael Bay and just wants a movie full of explosions, chases and epic set pieces? Or what if we subvert the expectations and make him more akin to David Lynch, trying to make a slow paced, symbolic and deep story full of mystery and hidden meaning? Anyway, someone, please make it. I want it. Sega had a meme movie franchise all this time and when it came to make an actual movie we got... whatever we got. If you take this post seriously, message me and let's make something incredibly cursed as a fandom. (this is the only high quality pic of the poster from generations I found online, I just noticed that it has typos in it, lol)

[lowpolynpixelated]

Nightmare Kart: Multi-Track Dreaming

LW Media have done it again. After making one of the best fanworks on the web with “Bloodborne PSX” star developer Lilith Walther has returned to the realm of nightmares to go a little faster this time. How much faster? Somewhere around 200cc or so. Nightmare Kart made its debut on itch.io on June 3rd 2024 and has already become yet another banger from the dev that keeps on giving. First imagined as “Bloodborne Kart” the game hit a minor legal snag and ended up having to scrub any overt references to the Fromsoftware game entirely, leading to its rebranding into the much more original “Nightmare Kart”. But what is Nightmare Kart? And why should you play it? In this article/review I’d like to go over my personal favourite elements as well as some not-so polished ones that all in all make Nightmare Kart an easy sell to anyone looking to have some new fun in an old school way.

Some Background:

If you’ve read my article on Bloodborne PSX you know that I’m a massive fan of LW Media’s previous work. BBPSX was a masterwork in bringing old fashioned clunk to a modern game and letting it thrive on the atmosphere and gameplay quirks that come with something like that. Nightmare Kart is no different. According to Lilith via our previous interview work on Nightmare Kart began not too long after BBPSX released, owing its existence largely to a popular meme used to tease a new Bloodborne game being announced at major gaming shows. Ever since the game’s inception Lilith was hard at work trying to make a kart racer that captured not only the feeling of Bloodborne’s visceral world and combat, but those old school racers we all know and love. I personally am a big fan of Mario Kart 64, and when I got to ask her questions about Nightmare Kart’s development I was delighted to hear that she was taking inspiration from the title. My previous article is linked here as well as Lilith’s tumblr blog and youtube channel where you can see more of the development process in action leading up to the debut of the game.

Nightmare Kart:

So, back to that question I asked before, what is Nightmare Kart? Inspired by kart racer classics like Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, and Crash Team Racing, alongside some rather exciting action picks like Halo, Nightmare Kart is a combination kart racer/battler. In the game you take on the role of “The good hunter”, a mysterious person who awakens in a strange world known as the Pocket Dream before taking to the streets of Miralodia, a gothic styled city beset by all sorts of creatures of the night. The game takes you through a brief singleplayer campaign consisting of several races, battle mode matches, and even boss fights showing off an impressive array of gameplay and animated cutscenes. The base gameplay of the racer is closest to those kart racers I mentioned before, with drifting and boosting being a core part of the racing experience. It does however put some unique souls-like spins on a few things, as well as introducing a brake-slide mechanic which allows you to turn on a dime at the cost of your momentum. A true feast for the senses, consisting of graphics and music to rival Bloodborne PSX in their quality, and a truly impressive feat of development prowess. The game, much like its predecessor, feels so at home in its old school roots that I could almost hear the disc whirring in the drive of my non-existent PlayStation as I played through its campaign and tore through some multiplayer battles.

Gameplay:

Let’s talk more about that gameplay for a bit. As mentioned before Nightmare Kart does a superb job at nailing the feeling of an old school kart racer with a modern twist. A large part of that is its more battle-focused gameplay, as the powerups and controls are much more suited for aggression and duking it out at high speed than just simply racing. The first mechanic to show this off is the Blood Droplets system. As you race a number of enemies will spawn on the track and wander around, some will even try to attack racers as they speed past. Running over one of these enemies or destroying them with one of the several weapons on offer nets an amount of “blood droplets”. These function identically to both Blood Echoes in Bloodborne as well as coins in the Mario Kart series. The more droplets you collect, the higher your maximum speed will increase (as indicated by a red sword shaped arrow on your in-game speedometer). There is, however, a limited number of these enemies on a given track. Once they’re all killed you’ll have to turn to alternative means to collect those speed-granting droplets. Most notably, the destruction of your fellow racers. With a small array of weapons at your disposal granted via small powerup sparks scattered throughout the tracks you’ll be able to cut, smash, shoot, or even call down the stars themselves upon your competition to take their droplets as your own. This feature is most important during races, where speed is much more of a focus, but during the battle modes is where the fighting truly shines.

Deathmatch, elimination, capture the flag, and a score mode based around having the most droplets for your team all serve as the real way to show off Nightmare Kart’s strengths. The brake-slide mentioned before serves as your way to stop and aim ranged weapons like the hunter’s pistol and lever action shotgun, or to reposition yourself for a lunging strike with one of the several melee weapons you’re able to slot in to your melee powerup slot. My personal favourite of these were the gatling gun, which straps a four-barreled monster of a gun to the front of a vehicle of your choice allowing for 40 shots of continuous rapid fire destruction, and the spark-cage, a stand in for the Bloodborne Tonitrus which sends you leaping forward in your kart to smash an electrified mace into your opponents. All of this is headed by a health and stamina system much akin to the game’s former namesake. Health dictates damage done and sustained, while stamina is used by dashing. Also consumed by dashing are “Aether Viles”, viles of blue liquid used in groups of 5 to send you careening forward with a burst of speed. Performing tricks off of jumps by tapping the jump button or simple picking them up from a powerup grants you a number of these viles which you can use to bash into enemies or get ahead in the race standings. With everything I’ve talked about here I hope it’s apparent just how fun Nightmare Kart is to play. I had such an amazing time trashing enemies in deathmatch battles and roaring my way through city streets and forbidden forests.

Graphics/Design:

Nightmare Kart boasts a sense of style rivaled only by the game that came before it. Iterating on the already delightfully dated look that BBPSX had, Nightmare Kart takes it to the next level with original characters and environments that give it that trademark PSX feel. Coming with a built in (and customizeable) CRT filter along with a slew of graphical options ranging from texture warp to pixel distortion the game has quite literally never looked better. My entire time with the game was spent marveling at the track design and style that bleeds from every low-poly crease and jittering texture. Twelve vehicles and a variety of playable characters show off the gothic horror inspirations from Bloodborne and otherwise in perfect pixelated glory. Just as with BBPSX the game shows a mastery of the concept of a “demake”, but being built from the ground up as an original concept the game shows off iconic themes and locations leftover from its Bloodborne origins now with a lovingly crafted layer of originality. Fans of PSX horror and modern retro-makes in general will find nothing but some of the best graphical styling from this game’s blood soaked streets and haunted clock towers.

The real star at the center of well crafted textures and wonderfully low-detail models is the track design. Even if it isn’t legally allowed be Bloodborne Kart, its very apparent that the tracks on offer are nothing less than love letters to a wacky concept contained within a genuine respect for the inspirations. The game’s first few tracks do a top notch job at showing off the sort of homage you’d come to expect from a game inspired by Fromsoft’s gothic masterpiece, but soon descend into the depths of creative (and sometimes seemingly sadistic) level design that sets a kart racer apart from its peers. The Forbidden Forest, for example, features a split path laden with traps and lurking enemies that culminates in an upward clime via jump pads that sends you up the decaying innards of a windmill tower. Delving further into the madness sees you drifting your way through a library maze and making daring jumps to catch up with Nicholas, one of the game’s bosses to put him down for good. The inspiration for this game shines through even the mandatory layer of original art, enhancing into a viscerally wild ride from the first look at the endless void of the Pocket Dream to the cramped quarters of the Outsider’s Mansion.

Sound design/Soundtrack:

At last we arrive at what I consider to be the true highlight of Nightmare Kart. Continuing from BBPSX’s beautifully bitcrushed audio design Nightmare Kart wastes absolutely no time showing off just how much work was put into making the nightmare sound as good as it looks. One thing in particular that stuck with me was the animated cutscenes seen throughout the singleplayer campaign. Fully voice acted and entirely animated the voices in the scenes remind me of the best of the best PlayStation VA work. Extending a massive amount of congratulations to the entire voice cast, which the game’s developer Lilith Walther also provided a performance for. Those sweet filtered voices are only the beginning though, as Nightmare Kart’s soundtrack explodes into a symphony of haunted house jams and retro bangers right from the first screen. I find myself left without a whole lot to say other than just how good the soundtrack is. Composer Evalyn Lark destroyed any doubts I could have had about the game’s soundtrack not living up to the hype that the concept drummed up. The full soundtrack is available on youtube as well as other streaming services and will also be linked in this article for your listening pleasure. A short but sweet section for a set of tunes that I truly feel need to speak for themselves.

Full soundtrack

A sweet nightmare, and everything that comes with it

This section is a bit different from what I usually do in reviews like this. As I don’t have a second interview with Ms. Walther and I want this to be just as much a discussion about the game as well as a glowing review, I’d like to go over the less than stellar things I experienced while I sped my way through the horrors and bloodsoaked nightmare visions. I’d like to start off this section with this: This article/review is a work of opinion, not objective fact. Everything I put here is based on my own experience with the game. I also understand that in the modern video game landscape we exist in a time where games can receive updates and patches to repair and alter things that might be grinding or frustrating to players. I say all of this out of profuse respect for Ms. Walther and all of those who worked on Nightmare Kart, so that my words cannot be taken as damning evidence that this game is anything other than fun.

Nightmare Kart is above all else, an indie game in the purest meaning of the phrase. Developed by a small team on a small (by video game standards) budget and released entirely for free for anyone to enjoy. Because of this it does suffer from some standard if not frustrating bugs and glitches that made my experience with it nearly perfect, but not quite. Every game (especially today) has it’s rough edges. And with one trying to have so many on purpose (visually anyway) it was bound to have something in it that didn’t function one hundred percent of the time, or something out of place at random intervals.

Common glitches I encountered while playing:

- Hitting walls and ending up underneath the map (this has a minor fix already in the game in the form of a respawn option)

- Controls not being recognized after being hit by an enemy weapon, requiring me to either repress buttons or restart the match/race

- Powerups not actually firing off but being consumed anyway

Please keep in mind that these three things are glitches and do have the potential to be patched out. However, even if they weren’t, I think they added to the charm of the game either way. What was also a part of the charm and became somewhat grating as the game went on were some things I feel work against the games sense of flow and speed that the races would have you want to achieve. These notes are not comprehensive, and come from a place of constructive criticism only. The first frustrating element came in the form of the game’s strict adherence to a retro draw distance. Most of the tracks in the game are enveloped in a dark fog after a certain point, and the track becomes revealed to you as you ride or drive. This works wonders for the atmosphere, but tended to work against me when I was gaining speed and using my aether boosts, only to run face first into a wall because I couldn’t see the turn coming. Moving on from that but in the same vein, running into things can lead into some frustrating moments as well. Some objects and even enemies have hitboxes a fair bit larger than what it would appear. There were several times I tried to skirt past a crucified beast or stack of unbreakable boxes only for a seemingly small part of my cart to clip it, causing the entirety of my speed and momentum to be lost along with my placement. Getting stuck on one of these objects is a different beast entirely, as sometimes the objects invisible hitbox stops you from turning or accelerating altogether until you physically use the reverse button and reorient yourself. On top of all of this, and I’ve certainly seen people state this in far less kind ways, I do feel like the game’s campaign is a bit too easy. Now please keep in mind I did not go into Nightmare Kart expecting a high skill ceiling challenge that would test my mettle at every turn. I also didn’t expect to essentially go on a joyride through the nightmare’s scenic vistas and town squares while a host of NPC drivers waged war with each other far behind me, occasionally sending a volley of stars my way which did very little to actually slow me down. Combined with the fact that enemies didn’t seem to respawn once killed, I found myself with shockingly little to do other than just drive and go for style points on the jumps as I stayed well ahead of the pack. This issue, I will add, was exclusive to the campaign’s races. I found the AI was much more suited for battling it out in the boss battles and other versus modes, the elimination match at the end of the game being a particular highlight of an absolute brawl. None of these issues stand to ruin any part of Nightmare Kart’s fun. Video games are hard to make, and not a single one of them can ever claim to be perfect. These just stand as notes from a personal perspective, meant to offer a bit of a look at what someone jumping into the game and playing it start to finish might experience.

Closing Thoughts:

If you’re looking for something fun to play this summer I can’t recommend Nightmare Kart enough. It really does echo the days of playing head to head with friends in wacky kart racers and deathmatch games, going as far as to combine the two into easily one of the most fun kart games I’ve ever played. If you liked what you read here or would otherwise like to support LW Media’s endeavors, I’ve linked the official itch.io page and steam page for Nightmare Kart below, along with the LW Media patreon and (yet another) link to my previous article on Bloodborne PSX. Thank you so much for reading, now go shred those radical streets.

Links:

Nightmare Kart

Steam

itch.io

LWMedia Patreon

Bloodborne PSX Article

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Task Force 141 Photo Album : Humongous Things Edition

Some things are bigger in size than the other. In their years together as a team, Captain Price, Soap, Ghost, and Roach have found a lot of enormous objects that are not far from the word "weird". Let's take a look, shall we?

The armory building is truly an amazing place. Captain Price had already found an ancient medieval long sword here, and now he's found a giant knife. The purpose of creation of the knife is pretty... questionable.

A giant beer glass's existence is not a questionable one. It was created solely for people with exceptionally high tolerance of alcohol, like Soap, for instance. When he found this not-so-ordinary glass, he took every single brand of beer from the fridge and poured it in.

(It didn't end well he can't stand to help himself for heaven's sake)

Roach was trying to buy a spoon from a rather... sketchy online shop. What he ordered as 'Big Spoon' turned out was a 2-metre-sized spoon. He likes cereal in the morning, but he's sad that he can't use his brand new spoon to eat. Poor Roach.

Knowing Captain Price, he'd definitely use it in combat. But peaceful time calls for a good music. Price tried to play the guitar with that precious knife of his.

(All of the strings snapped and hit his face. It was a bloody night. A miracle his eyes was safe)

After that bloody night, Ghost is the one to secure Price's knife. It was hard to take the giant thing away from Price, as he's grown way too attached to it, and the only one who could take it was Ghost.

The lieutenant though, found another purpose for that knife. A... safer one.

Poor little Roach insisted that his big spoon still has a purpose in life, so on one sunny day, he went out of the base with the spoon, found a sunflower, and dug it out of the soil. When Roach got asked by his superiors about the humongous sunflower, he said looking at it makes him happy.

The big spoon finally found its purpose.

(The sun flower still lived to this day as he immediately replanted it into an empty jug of water.)

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Have a few dumb meme redraws that I've drawn for a while now. The quality isn't that good since I didn't even care about the quality I just wanna draw it. Also, connecting the stories are fucking hilarious LMFAOOO.

Anyway, hope you guys love it! ^3^

[malarkgirlypop]

ZIM ZAM SISTER MALARK 🔥

26 (hehehe), 10, 13, 7 for the ask game!!

you are such a bright light in this fandom, thank you for being so ready to fight for us 💕

ZIM ZAM OH HOLY ONE!

26 - what meme do you associate with each of your mutuals?

Ok well it's not going to be as good as @panzershrike-pretz but I'll give it a go.

KINKY RON:

It's either one or the other ahaha

@panzershrike-pretz

ahahahah makes me giggle

@next-autopsy

If we burn you burn with us

@footprintsinthesxnd

Awwww you are too Jess

@ronsparky

He's just a sweet bean! (thank you to the meme queen herself for curating this for me @panzershrike-pretz)

@sweetxvanixlla

ahahahh crying crackheads am I right

@whollyjoly

hehehe

@xxluckystrike

I can hear you all the way over here Blu ahaha

@georgieluz

Sorry J hheheh

KINKY RON again

10 - an oc that you can't get enough of?

Actually I will do a different answer to my last but Peggy! From Lanterns that @panzershrike-pretz is writing, I love that fucking dog!

13 - what inspires you to create in the fandom?

Everyone, omg the things that everyone is producing is amazing and it just makes me want to strive to do better and post things that are as high quality as everyone else's work.

7- what hbowar blogs have your favorite aesthetic?

Oh so hard to choose, I love them all, they are all so unique like the person who is running them. I would have to say everyone! I can't choose!