#zach does design

[thezachariassmithexperience]

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[jokerislandgirl32]

So I Just Realized Something About Zach’s Character Design…

Zach’s physical form is made up of triangles (we know this by his head and his goatee) AND Vs!

I never realized the Vs until I was looking at screenshots from the Amazing Creature Race last night, and they were all I could see!

In the following images I traced or drew the triangles and Vs next to where they appeared (not my best work, but you can see them lol, sorry if I missed any!), you can click for better quality 😊, and I put them under the cut because this post got out of hand, lol:

And this was only from one episode, I checked out a few of the other episodes he is in (Gila Monster Under My House, Animals Who Live To Be 100 Years Old, Falcon City, Choose Your Swordfish), and you still see the triangles and Vs:

Which leads me to wonder if this was intentionally done for Zach’s character.

We all know how obsessed Zach is with his last initial, V for Varmitech, so maybe it was decided that Zach’s character should have Vs everywhere too. Possibly a way to tie into his name/ his fixation of his surname.

Another reason for this may be it’s to showcase the fact that Zach is a villain.

@antebellumbitch pointed out in the amazing post below that the Wild Kratts Villains have unconventional face shapes. As argued in this post, the head shapes help the audience know who the good guys and bad guys are.

So, extending that thought, maybe it is reasonable to say that the animators took things a step further to differentiate him from the good guys. Not only does he have the triangular head and goatee, but his form is composed of many sharp angles resembling the V shape.

Which leads to….The triangles and Vs, then, work in conjunction to show the audience that Zach is a villain.

Maybe? Maybe not? Feel free to comment or reblog with your thoughts!

[claire-starsword]

Shining Soul 2 - Prologue and Character Bios translation

While to my knowledge the game’s story is the same for all the characters, they all actually have their own backstory behind the scenes, and it’s a shame that nothing gets brought up, especially since one of them seems linked to the main antagonist, if we can even call Gillespie that.

All the info here is taken from the official guide book, which is sadly kinda poor, and from the old official website. Everyone say thank you Internet Archive real quick, because while I’ve seen a backup from sega around it already had broken pages.

Prologue [this one is the same in both the book and the website]

The time when the warriors of light defeated the forces of darkness is now in the very distant past.

The world was at peace.

However, an incident slowly inched closer.

Sometimes the sun's light would be blocked by thick clouds, while at others there'd be continuous drought, and water supplies would dry out, making the people suffer.

Finally, monsters began to appear, and the world fell in despair...

King Marcel of the Klantol Kingdom felt how dire the situation was and, besides building a fortress and strengthening the country's defenses, declared open a fighting tournament in the Colosseum, in order to find heroes powerful enough to exterminate the monsters.

"...Heroes who have inherited the light, you’ll save this world covered in darkness!"

Characters

Warrior Alex [Eric in the english version]

Guide book:

A descendant of the Legendary Warrior always aiming to be strongest

A descendant of the warrior that defeated Dark Dragon long ago. While traveling throughout the world as he practiced his sword skills, he decided to take part in the fighting tournament.

Website:

Alex descends from the warrior who defeated Dark Dragon in the distant past, although he doesn't know that.

He's still growing up and thus has a huge appetite. A mischievous boy going through puberty. He wants to travel the whole world as a warrior one day.

A specialist in close combat - His balance of offense and defense is exceptionally good

A warrior who uses strong melee weapons. He balances that well with great defensive equipment and is thus an easy to use character.

___

Magician Pamela [Premiera in the english version]

Guide book:

A heroine of legendary blood hiding magical power behind that beauty

A descendant of the magician who fought Dark Dragon. Contrary to what you might assume from her looks, she's a hard worker who doesn't hold back in her efforts. Sensing the incident in the island, she took part in the fighting tournament.

Website:

A girl a little (two or three years) older than Alex.

While her magic skills are still getting there, she's descendant of a legendary magician. She aims to become the greatest magician in the kingdom, and trains day and night with no skipping.

A specialist in offensive magic who can use a variety of spells

She can attack enemies from a distance with many types of magic. Of course, since she has no physical strength, her physical attacks and defensive equipment are not very great.

Archer Rwinn

Guide book:

A kind forest guardian of flawless skill with the bow

One hailing from the elven race that lives traveling throughout the forests of the whole world. After a certain event he became good friends with the family that runs the item shop. Feeling the unusual incident impacting the forest's creatures, he came to the fighting tournament.

Website:

It is unknown if he's a descendant of the archer who defeated Dark Dragon.

In the past years, he noticed that the forest has been restless and unusual incidents have been happening to the creatures there, and thus felt that the balance between light and darkness was crumbling.

Skilled in long distance attacks with bows and throwing spears

He is skilled at long distance attacks but, in counterpoint to that, is exceptionally bad at close combat. He can also attack borrowing the strength of the animals that live in the forest.

Dragon Warrior Tyroth

Guide book:

Number one in destructive power! A brave beast warrior

A young dragonewt of strong body and mind. Has a troublesome but inseparable relationship with the drunkards of the tavern. Sensing the incident in the island, he decided to take part in the tournament.

Website:

Originally, the dragonewt race used to live in regions of the continent with lava, but as this peaceful era went on, plenty of young dragonewts began wanting to know more of society and be active throughout the world. Tyroth is one of these young people.

This heavy soldier has plenty of openings but his attack power is number one

Using heavy weapons like axes and flails, he deals strong blows to his opponents. Naturally, his weak spots are the time he takes to attack and his slow movement.

Priest Prim

Guide book:

A novice priestess who wields the light and banishes evil

She's a girl of the race known as cantaul, and both her parents are priests of light famous throughout the world. Having a sharp sixth sense, she felt evil energies and came to the island.

Website:

A girl of the cantaul race, which is few in numbers nowadays.

She descends from preachers of the light doctrine skilled in light magic.

Her skills as a priest are still developing, but she has excellent control of her spiritual aspect, and her sixth sense is far better than that of a human.

She saves the party with healing and support magic

Despite being able to equip flails, her attacking capability is still shaky. However, her real strength is in helping the party with skills like healing and support magic

Brawler Zachs

Guide book:

A solitary grappler who shreds his enemies with swift attacks

A wolfling man skilled at hand-to-hand combat. He usually never misses a day of his training. And in order to put his skills in service of the people, he joined the tournament.

Website:

The wolfling Zachs was an orphan.

In his youth, Zachs learned a special form of hand-to-hand combat from someone, and was then raised by a martial artist who had mastered the spiritual power of sensing the flow of ki.

He has no defense but attack and speed are outstanding

With superior speed and high attack he can defeat monsters in an instant. However, in order to preserve that speed, he has limitations on what he can equip, so his defense is a bit worrisome.

Dark Wizard Bradster [Armand in the english version]

Guide book:

A mixed race of human and vampire blood who bends dark magic to his will

A half human half vampire man skilled at dark magic. Due to his mixed blood, he's weak to light. He came to the tournament looking for his missing twin brother.

Website:

Bradster was born from a human and a vampire. His magic is tied to the darkness. He is very skilled in this dark magic.

He has a twin brother, and seems to be following after his last whereabouts.

A half human half vampire skilled in magic

A character skilled at magic that uses the powers of darkness to transform into monsters, spew poison and so on. He can also fight summoning special swords.

Ninja Raizen

Guide book:

An assassin swift as the wind, from the land of the rising sun

He uses the arts known as "ninjutsu" from a small island country to the far east. Following the duty written in the Prophetic Scrolls passed down by his ancestors, he joined the tournament.

Website:

Raizen was born and raised in a small country to the far east.

He belongs to a class known as ninja who utilize arts called ninjutsu.

Right from the moment of his birth he has undergone harsh training away from people's eyes, and his arts are on a level any magician can respect and admire.

He makes full use of swift attacks and special arts

He makes a fool of the enemies with fast attacks and ninjutsu tricks. He is also notable for having the fastest movement among all characters.

___

Notes:

I talked about it only in the tags but it might be worth noting it here, the conflict against Dark Dragon mentioned here is that of the first Shining Soul game, not Shining Force. Shining Soul does attempt to have some connections to the classic games but those are shaky at best.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the dark wizard’s missing twin is Gillespie, the game’s main antagonist which has basically zero lore or even much relevancy in game, something that boggles me to this day.

[extraliga-related]

With everything that's been going on lately, here's a short non-comprehensive accumulation of things that could be called progress regarding relations between men's hockey and being queer:

The 🇦🇺 AIHL's Melbourne Mustangs, advocating for trans rights in sports since 2017, and the same team in 2023, donning pride jerseys designed by former goalie (and twin sister of Ty) Tia Wishart who is part of the LGBTQ community.

Jase Polglase of the AIHL's Central Coast Rhinos who puts pride tape on his stick every single game.

Robert Dowd and Marc-Olivier Vallerand having a dance after a win with the Sheffield Steelers.

Starting off with individual efforts, the 🇬🇧 EIHL has since extended their pride event to the duration of a full weekend following a conjoint initiative by the teams' fanbases in 2019.

Zach Sullivan, one of the few out queer athletes in the sport, felt supported enough by his team to come out as bisexual ahead of the Manchester Storm's pride game in 2020.

Danish goalie Jon Lee-Olsen came out as gay a year prior and was reportedly supported by his teammates.

The 🇸🇪 SHL lead the way, awarding the cause a full week since 2019 with elaborate campaigns and getting refs as well as coaches involved. It's a colorful sight.

While Pride Games are at present not an official part of the schedule, several 🇩🇪 DEL teams are joining in. Augsburg and Köln do their part, Berlin has one of the dedicated queer fanclubs and visibly stands against homophobia since at least 2016.

As of 2022 the entire league, as well as a growing number of clubs in the tiers below, cooperate with Hockey is Diversity e.V.. So does the Para Ice Hockey National Team, including Jörg Wedde, who also keeps pride tape on his equipment.

🇫🇮 Liiga's TPS added these stunning jerseys to the mix.

While all the aforementioned teams already wear the jerseys for at least one full game, IF Kiruna of the Swedish 3rd league stepped it up several notches. In 2014 they've decided to wear rainbow jerseys for a full season in support of the LGBTQ community. Since then they've made the rainbow a permanent fixture in their logo and club identity.

___

Plenty of clubs out there hosting events where queer people are given a platform and shown support in a multitude of ways that aren't merely empty words.

And even if it's not part of general discussions within a league, you've got voices who are willing to speak up.

[pinksturniolo]

Biggest Hater - Part Two

Matt Sturniolo x Fem Reader

Part 2 of 2

Alternate version of my Chris fic: Biggest Fan

Requested by the baddest! @muwapsturniolo

Summary: You just don’t get the hype of the Sturniolo Triplets like almost every girl your age does. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that you went to high school with them and Matt Sturniolo particularly, got on your nerves more than anyone you thought ever could. In fact, it has everything to do with that. And when you run into him a couple years later, at the peak of their fame, your feelings haven’t changed one bit. No matter how attractive you find him.

Content warnings: smut, oral, angry sex, teasing, pettiness, manipulation, mean!matt (even tho he's an angel irl), ANGST AF, enemies to lovers trope (somewhat?), slightly toxic, use of alcohol, a lil fluff at the end to make up for all the madness lol

word count: 3,887

You never breathed a word to anyone about what happened that night. Losing your virginity to Matt in the back of his minivan on prom night while stoned out of your mind was not something you could exactly go about announcing around the hallways of school. As much as you wanted to let what happened possibly turn into something more between you two, you simply couldn't let one night of passion make you forget the years of anger Matt caused you.

And your feelings were only solidified when you returned to school the next week, and he pretended like you didn’t even exist. He avoided you even more than he would before, and to be fair, you didn’t call or text him over the whole weekend out of sheer embarrassment. But you figured he would at least acknowledge you.

You started to feel incredibly stupid for letting your desires cloud your judgment and wished you could take back everything you did with him. You two never spoke again, as if that night never happened. And it hurt you for a while, until you eventually decided he wasn’t worth the trouble.

But that was two years ago, and this was now.

Now you were taking shots of tito’s back to back like they were water. Zach, the mutual friend that you and Matt shared from school was passing the bottle around, more people coming in and out of the house as the night wore on, the party getting bigger.

You danced in the middle of the living room along with the crowd of bodies, your body moving to the music freely as you tried to let the invasion of memories from prom night out of your mind. The alcohol coursed through your blood, your shyness leaving. You were starting to have a good time and were happy that you hadn’t seen Matt around since he disappeared down the hallway.

Zach comes up to you, leaning down to talk into your ear. He asks how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to since high school. You’re not one for small talk but you don’t want to be rude and start to engage in conversation with him when you hear a voice over the music interrupt you.

“Mind if I steal her from you?”

You turn to see Matt standing there, his eyes briefly travelling up and down your body before greeting Zach.

“Matt! What’s up, where you been? You want a shot?” he says, grabbing his hand in a handshake.

Matt shakes his head and motions to the keys attached to the belt loop of his jeans. “I’m the designated driver tonight.”

You give Matt a dirty look before you allow yourself to check him out. His appearance has changed so much since the last time you saw him. He’s wearing black jeans and a plain t shirt, a backwards hat on his head. He has light stubble on his face, making him look a little bit older. He looked really good.

But you weren’t drunk enough to acknowledge him further, turning back to Zach. “I think I’m gonna go get some fresh air.” You tell him and he barely lets you finish your sentence, grabbing both you and Matt by the shoulder.

“Hey, remember when you guys used to be at each other’s throats every day? It was hilarious.” He slurred, a drunken smile on his face.

You give him a deadpan look, avoiding looking at Matt to see his reaction. You could seriously strangle Zach right now for what he was doing.

“You know what’s hilarious Zach? She was pretending the whole time. I think she was just secretly in love with me.” Matt says and your jaw almost drops to the ground from shock.

 Zach laughs loudly, throwing his head back. “I knew it! Practically everyone in our senior class said the same thing.”

The audacity these men had. You’re absolutely fuming, staring daggers at Matt, a stupid fucking smirk on his face. He knows you’re pissed, and he likes it. Loves it in fact. It satisfies him to no end that he can still get a reaction out of you after all this time. Not to mention, he thought you were incredibly attractive when you were mad.

Before you can fire a good comeback at him, a genius idea pops into your head. The music currently blasting through the large house now switches to an upbeat reggaeton sound, something directly in your element.

The furrow in your brows from the sour look on your face relaxes as it’s replaced with a smile, your eyes lighting up. Matt is a little caught off guard by the way your expression switched up suddenly but tries not to let it show. His arms are crossed, and he raises an eyebrow in curiosity as you speak to him.

“I love this song. Wanna dance?”

“Wait-what? -“ He starts, utterly confused now but you walk past him before he can protest, the fabric of your skirt brushing against his body. He grits his teeth, his heart skipping a beat as he inhales the scent of your perfume. You look back at him over your shoulder, a mischievous look in your eyes.

“Later, Zach.” Matt says, immediately following behind you. Your hips sway as you walk, closer to the dark corner of the room. Your short skirt is skintight, your lace top not leaving much to the imagination. You have on a pair of strappy heels and Matt can’t help but let his eyes linger on the smoothness of your legs and the curve of your ass as he walks behind you.

But he feels as though he’s walking into a trap, your sudden change in behavior a mystery to him. He hasn’t seen you in two years and you seem more mature, more confident in yourself. And given the way you both left things, he’s not sure why you would even give him the time of day.

You reach the corner of the room where it’s a little more private, starting to move your hips in small circles, swaying to the beat of the song. There’s a sultry look in your eyes as you lock eyes with Matt who’s slowly moving towards you. He’s drawn dangerously close to you, a few inches separating you from him. He’s hesitant but watches your body move sensually, your hair falling around your face as you run your hands through it. You look him in the eyes again, grabbing his hands to put them on your waist.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. And your only intention tonight is to make sure Matt knows exactly who he’s fucked with. There was just no way he was going to show up in your life again and try to make a fool out of you for the second time. You were going to remind him that yes, there’s an unspoken connection between you two, and an electric storm that is created when your bodies mesh with another. But then, you were going to rip it from him, the way that he did to you.

The music vibrates through your body as you guide Matt’s hands across your waist and hips, his lips parted as you have him in a trance. His eyes can’t choose between focusing on your breasts spilling out of your shirt, the sliver of skin peeking out from the hem, showing the curves of your hips or your bare thighs now brushing against him as you move even closer.

Then, you turn around and wrap your arm behind you, across the back of his neck. Your other hand keeps his on the side of your waist. You grind your ass lightly over his crotch, his chest pressed into your back. His head is leaned down by the side of your neck, his warm breathing fanning across your skin.

He moves with you for a minute, immersed in the music and the way your body grinds against him. He feels like its just you and him in this party, addicted to the feeling of you on him like he was the night he had you all to himself in the backseat of his van.

His lips brush lightly over the skin of your neck, and he takes a deep breath in to try and steady himself before things escalate further. “What are you doing, Y/N.” He mumbles into your ear. His fingers press into your hips, his pants tightening from the way your ass is rubbing onto him.

Fuck. It’s taking everything in him right now not to drag you to one of the empty bedrooms and bend you over the mattress so he can fuck your brains out.

You feel him grow hard in his jeans and smile to yourself, your plan going exactly how you wanted it to. You turn around suddenly and wrap your arms around his neck, your lips feathering over his. “I need you…”

It takes him all of thirty seconds to grab your hand and lead you out of the living room, and to the secluded hallway at the other side of the house. He pushes you softly against the wall, placing his arms on either side of your head. There’s a look of desperation on his face that you haven’t seen before.

“Y/N. Listen to me. I know this sounds crazy, but I think about you all the fucking time. I swear, I’ve tried so hard to get you off my mind since that night and I can’t. I- “

“Matt, please. I don’t want to talk about that right now. Just kiss me.” You interrupted and smashed your lips onto his, his shirt fisted in your hands.

What you really want to say is, you’re a liar. If you really meant that, you would’ve talked to me at school. You would’ve let me know how you felt instead of cutting me off. You would’ve acted like a grown man and reached out to me a long time ago.

But that isn’t part of your master plan to manipulate him. You needed him to think you wanted him, to make him feel the way he made you feel for months after you last saw him. You know it’s wrong and petty, but you don’t care. And you couldn’t help the fact that you also secretly enjoyed having his hands on your body again, his lips on yours like they belonged there.

Matt is completely sober but he’s getting lust drunk off the taste of your mouth, your wandering hands over his chest, his abdomen, his hair. Pushing and pulling him into you, and he can feel your pulse pounding a million miles a minute. He could breathe your air forever, could steal your kisses like it’s his favorite crime.

The desire between you two grows and grows, until Matt is convinced he could fuck you against the wall in this hallway right now and not care one bit who saw. But he knows that’s not the right way to do this. He wants you on the bed, so he can lay your body down, and devour you in the way he’s been craving all this time.

He grabs your hips, breaking the kiss and leads you to the nearest closed door, praying that it’s an empty bedroom. The chances are in his favor when he sees no one in the room, a large king-sized bed in the middle. He locks the door behind him, and you throw your arms around his neck again, entrapping his lips on yours once more. He bends down slightly and grabs your ass, lifting you up in the air. Your legs wrap around his waist as he carries you over to the bed.

Once he feels the mattress against his legs, he climbs on top, laying you down, his body on yours. He trails soft kisses from your cheek to your neck, his tongue on your hot skin, teeth grazing, leaving goosebumps all over you.

You sigh in pleasure, letting him take over your body like its his. Your determination has been crumbling since he pressed you against that wall, but you fight to keep your head on straight, his mouth now ghosting across your chest as his head dips lower. He tugs your shirt and bra down, revealing your tits to him, nipples hardened from the cool air. He looks up at you, blue eyes burning with fire as he circles his warm tongue around one of them, making you gasp.

He continues, taking extra time and attention to suck, kiss and lick on each of your breasts, his eyes still on yours, leaving your now soaked panties ruined. You can feel his erection pressing into you and when he starts moving his head further south, you wrap your legs around him and grab onto his shoulders so you can flip your bodies around on the bed, this time with you on top of him.

It was time for you to regain control. You pull the top of your shirt back up and he starts to sit up, but you push him down firmly by his shoulders. You grab the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head as he allows you to undress him. He doesn’t protest and watches as you move down the bed, to settle between his legs. Your hands unbutton his jeans and yank his pants down and off of him. Now he’s only left in his boxers, and you’re still completely dressed.

You lay down on the bed, bringing your face to his crotch and exhaling on his hardness. His abdomen flexes and he clenches his jaw as he watches you tease him, breathing your warm breath onto him and then letting your tongue run over him through the fabric of his boxers.

You press a kiss onto him, your lashes fluttering as you look up at him. “Y/N…” He groans, his hands tangling in your hair. “Don’t fucking tease me.”

You let a sly smile appear on your lips and rub your hands on his thighs. Your fingers curl around the band of his boxers, finally pulling them down so his cock springs out, long, hard, and begging to be taken care of.

He twitches as you press your lips to the tip, saliva leaking out of your mouth and coating him. Then you finally move your head down, taking as much of him as you can into your mouth and your soft hand curling around the base. He moans, holding your hair back as you bob your head up and down, his breathing becoming shallow.

You keep the pace, letting him brush the back of your throat and look at him, his head thrown back against the mattress in ecstasy, knowing he won’t last long at which the rate you’re going.

“Fuck…” He whimpers, letting you push him to that release, your actions feeling way too good to stop you.

You pull your mouth from him, gasping for air and letting your hand continue the motions, squeezing around him with every intention to get him to finish.

“I know baby, let go. It’s okay.” You say, urging him to cum.

But once you speak the words, Matt snaps out of his pleasure, the sentence sounding all too familiar.

“Matt…” You whine, and he presses his forehead to yours, his hands on your lower back, helping you ride him. “I know baby, let go. Its okay.” He says softly and the coil that’s been building for the past 20 minutes since he kissed you, finally releases and warmth floods your body. You moan loudly and feel yourself leaking on his thigh, your hips slowing down.

He grabs your jaw, the expression on his face now hardened. “What do you think you’re doing?” He says, finally catching onto your little plan.

Shit. You really fucked up now. You didn’t think he would recognize the same words, you thought it would be an inside joke only to yourself in your twisted mind. But Matt was smarter than you realized.

You try to play it off though, not wanting to give in. “What do you mean?” You say innocently, batting your eyelashes at him.

He chuckles darkly and snaps his boxers back on, grabbing you by your arms and pulling you up, flipping around so you lay on the bed, on your back again.

Matt had a feeling something was off the moment you asked him to dance but he let his attraction take over and his desire cloud his judgement. And now that he’d figured out what you were trying to do, he was furious. He was mad that you felt the need to mock him, to get back at him. He was mad that he let his stubbornness prevent him from acting like a mature adult and block you out of his mind, of his life.

But most of all, he was mad and at the same time obsessed with the control you had over him, over his body, over his thoughts. He never let anyone dictate his emotions but somehow you had, and right now he wanted to show you who was really in control here. He wanted to show just exactly how much he had missed you.

“Who do you think you’re trying to play with, hm?” He says as he roughly tugs your skirt down your body and off your legs, leaving your heels on. He removes your shirt and bra right after, leaving you shocked in the way he’s managed to get you naked in less than a minute.

You don’t say a word as he pushes your legs open, his thumbs digging into your skin so hard, it hurts. He slots his shoulders in between as he places his wet lips on your stomach, kissing his way down, over your pelvis, and moving to your inner thighs, licking and sucking at the crevices.

It was insane the way Matt could control you with his dominance, the touch of his hands and the feeling of his tongue on your skin. You’ve basically lost your whole course of action in revenge, allowing him to have his way with you.

He’s everywhere except the spot you need him the most, leaving you whimpering and on edge, your hips uncontrollably moving. He smacks your inner thigh, making you cry out from the sting.

“Stop fucking moving. You wanted to play this game, right? Well, let Daddy show you who’s really in control here.” He practically growls and the tone of his voice has your pussy throbbing with need but your heart pounding with anger.

“Fuck you, Matt.” You respond, glaring down at him in between your legs.

He raises his eyebrows in surprise at your defiance, his eyes almost completely black from the way his pupils are blown. His fingertips dig harshly into your skin as he pulls you down even closer to his mouth, and your breath picks up as he traces his lips over your folds, not touching all the way but barely brushing.

He places a gentle kiss to the spot right above your clit, his eyes the complete opposite of soft as he looks up at you. He kisses once more and then dips down to lick one swipe through you only to move away, his tongue on your inner thigh again.

The teasing is almost too much, making you whine and squirm under him. He smirks at your reaction, satisfied with the way he’s gotten you worked up. He licks through you again, his tongue strong and warm and circles around your hole before pulling away once more, kissing the side of your lips.

“Say you want me.” He breathes against your skin, looking at you again.

You don’t answer him and he runs one finger through your folds, massaging lightly before pulling away seconds later.

“Say you want me. And I’ll give you what you need baby.” He’s looking at you with expectancy, hoping you’ll give in because as much as he’s enjoying teasing you, he wants nothing more than to please you.

You could almost cry from how mean he’s being, and grit your teeth, your eyes continuing to give him dirty looks. No fucking way you’re giving in this easily.

“I said… Fuck. You.”

There’s a brief moment of silence and heated looks exchanged before he suddenly gets up, standing at the end of the bed and then reaches up to drag you by your ankles to the edge where he is, wrapping your legs around his waist.

He would’ve had you cumming on his tongue, thighs around his face as you shook, swallowing every last drop.

“You’re gonna regret that.” He simply says and pulls his dick out only to push it into you with no warning, bottoming out as his hips connect with yours.

You cry aloud from the feeling, and you’re seeing stars as Matt drives himself into you over and over, hard. You’re moaning along with him, your head thrown back against the mattress. He watches as he slips in and out of you, the blissful look of pleasure on your face, a sight he could replay in his head for the rest of his life.

He wraps one hand around your neck, squeezing a little, making you clench around him from the feeling of arousal it gives you. The anger pours out of both of you, mixing with pleasure until it turns into something else, something you two have been holding back for a long time. This is nothing like the last time. In the van, it was sweet, innocent and new. But now it was dirty, hot and desperate.

The sounds of your bodies against each other fill the room, the wetness you make as he thrusts into you like music to his ears. He tells you how sexy you are, how good you take him, how much he loves to have you like this. Dripping down his cock, body quivering and throat raw from screaming out his name.

You both claim to hate each other but somehow ended up in this position for the second time. As you reach your release together, he lays closer over the top of you, burying his face in your neck. You hold him, nails scratching down his back as you cum around him, and you feel the throbbing of his cock as he finishes inside you. He stays there for a minute as you both calm down and he’s whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Matt drove you home that night, after taking his brothers home first of course. Everyone assumed what you two were doing when you disappeared from the party and Chris and Nick giggled in the car, making fun of you two, much to Matt’s annoyance.

He kissed you good night. He called the next day, and the next, and the next. He checked up on you, sent flowers to your house when you weren’t expecting, he even brought you lunch to your job when you were having a particularly rough day. He made up for all the lost time.

You both had many discussions about the past. You forgave him for what happened, and it made you happy to finally say you didn’t hate Matthew Sturniolo after all. You were actually deeply, head over heels, in love with him.

taglist <3: (if you want to be added/taken off, reply to this post or comment on my masterlist. and if you weren't mentioned, it wouldnt let me tag u :/)

@sturniolopepsi @tillies33ssss @whicked-hazlatwhore @riasturns @christhopersturniolo @junnniiieee07 @sturnsjtop @seahorsie11 @inveigledvex @honestlyjb @mattslolita @certifiednatelover @glassesmattsbae @eryismum @sturncakez @sturnioloco @wh0resstuff @ribread03 @sturniololoco @75sturn

[littlecrittereli]

Krattnapped au? Krattnapped au? Evil chris against his will?? Oh hoho I am INTRIGUED

I am sitting in front of you staring directly into your eyes with the chin resting on my hands and I desire more information if you have it 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

I FINALLY HAVE A NAME....

REPROGRAMMED AU!!! (because he... reprograms the cps) (im super creative I know)

So I'm kind of using a couple headcanons in order to make the logistics of this AU work. So I'll explain them real quick!

The CPS were made specifically to the biometrics of Martin and Chris and are too unstable to be used by anyone else. We see Koki and Aviva wear the bro's suits a couple times in the show, but it's usually only for emergencies and for only a few minutes. Aviva refers to the suits as prototypes, and Martin and Chris are kinda the test dummies. They are programmed this way to help the suit work better, and also to keep them out of evil hands. Martin and Chris also had to undergo some serious tests and special training in order to be able to operate the suits. (Kinda like how Astronauts have to go through special courses before they go to space!)

The CPS are not meant to be operated for long periods of time. The suits are practically transforming their bodies, giving them new senses, and changing their instincts. This process becomes physically taxing on the body. It's not enough to be noticable from a standard creature adventure, but if the suit is activated for 12+ hours it can start to have negative consequences on the operator. Rapidly activating the suit, or reactivating it numerous times in one day can have the same effect. It's dangerous to not take breaks in-between usages.

The way this reprogrammed CPS will operate is a tad different from Aviva's design (as it was altered by Zach), which makes it extra unstable, and prone to malfunctions. The Villain doesn't really care that much because he's not the one wearing the suit, and just wants it to function more conveniently for his schemes, not Chris' wellbeing.

The biggest alter that was made to the suit is Chris does not need power discs or a DNA sample to activate the suit. The programming is relying on ghost activations of animals he has already collected DNA samples of. (meaning he can't access any new suits, only ones that he's already used before). Pairing Zach's alterations with Donita's pose-beam technology, gives this new Villain complete control of the suit's actions. Since the suit is more unstable, animal instinct kinda takes over whenever it's activated so Chris can't always remember what's happened while he was operating the suit.

[sepublic]

Writers’ Post-Hoot!

            As the title suggests, we just had a Post-Hoot with multiple writers from the show! Those present included John Bailey Owen, Cissy Jones (Lilith), Sarah Nicole-Robles (Luz), Rebecca Bozza (ItsRebeccaRose), Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zarch Marcus, Avi Roque (Raine), with Zelda Black as our cameraman! I took notes, including on some cancelled storylines involving characters such as Vee, Odalia, Edric, Eda, and Hooty!

         Firstly, Zach Marcus has been writing on the show since the developmental pilot. It was confirmed Barcus was not based on him (unlike Jerbo for JBO), but he did say Barcus was ‘his’ character. I believe it was confirmed that Kikimora’s alias Miki was a reference to writer Mikki Crisostomo, and we also learned that The First Day had to be rewritten within a day! Mikki revealed she got hired for the show because she wrote a violent sample script in which someone had their rib cage kicked out, which convinced Dana she had to be on TOH!

         The development pilot is very different from the show according to Zach; It had the classic blood smear moment (in which Luz draws herself and Amity together, gets a paper cut, and uses her blood to simulate a blush as improv), and alas will never be released. JBO also said there are three poems in the show that the fandom hasn’t found yet…?!

         Dana was watching and commented a few times, such as when Avi, Cissy, and Sarah were doing the classic “Then why were you so easy to curse?!” line, commenting “Legendary Cissy line”.

         In regards to cut Season 3 storylines, Zach mentioned that there are so many versions of Thanks to Them that they went through (Dana gave a comment giving approval for them to speak on concepts). He revealed there was a version where the kids would’ve piloted Abomaton mechs in the desert…?!

         (I wonder if this is related to Kikimora, who pilots an Abomaton herself and comes from the desert of Palm Stings. Would Amity have helped in the creation?)

         Mikki also revealed Hooty was a Big Bad at one point in the writing process?! He’d have had as many legs as rib bones, poking through, as well as smoke.

         Huntlow was acknowledged as a major goal by Mikki and Madeleine (who kept asking why can’t they be happy???), and Zach joked that Huntlow wasn’t canon but c’mon. We can thank Mikki for writing the haircut that Willow gave Hunter!!!

         Dana was glad to keep the Star Trek reference, since so many crew members are Trekkies. Emmy also alluded to a ‘bog setting’ where the kids fought ‘bog bodies’… Unfortunately, her internet connection wasn’t so great so she cut out a bit and I couldn’t make out everything. But does this mean Belos would’ve reanimated corpses in the graveyard for the kids to fight?! Or the Grimwalkers?!

         JBO liked doing Luz in the human realm, as it was a different vibe than usual; More melancholy but also creepy. He wanted to explore the idea of what if a kid DID go to Narnia, and how that would affect them afterwards, and he’s happy with how it turned out… Same JBO, same.

         Emmy revealed there was also going to be a storyline where Vee was uncomfortable with having Hunter in the house!!!

         Sarah mentioned a question in the chat about the other coven heads, which could’ve been my question actually… JBO says that there was a lot they wanted to do with them, he really likes Hettie in particular. He considered exploring what Darius did to achieve his Abomination transform, speculating it’d probably take a dark sacrifice to do that. In general they wanted to see the coven heads plot with and try to kill each other; Lots of intercoven drama according to Zach.

         Zach also praised those who designed the coven heads; He lamented how designers often visualize concepts submitted by writers as so much cooler than the writers think they can do justice when writing, once they receive them back.

         Zach Marcus was described as the pun man of the writers, and when asked about what Darius’ Penstagram, they all agreed upon Goo Daddy. He was torn between Darius being a luddite, or nonstop posting what he eats, with a reflection of him in something. The writers discussed stuff like a Darius skincare routine, and him getting up every morning like a Disney Princess with animals, except they’re Abominations (fanartists were encouraged to depict this).

         JBO said he would’ve liked to see more of young Terra, Zach wanted to see more of her and Faust! As a reminder, a previous Post-Hoot had him put forth the idea that they were exes until they messily broke up and Terra tore off Faust’s lips and kicked him out, hence him living at Hexside and being so strict as a means of regaining a sense of control in his life.

         Zach also joked about everyone dying in the original Season 3 plans, but they allegedly changed it to a happy ending because the pandemic meant people needed something uplifting! They were barely in the exploration for S3 when they received news of the shortening.

         They joked about Barcus episodes, and also made a point about limitations actually being pretty good for writing, as it encourages writers to cut out the fat and leave the most essential bits. They said it was fun seeing Dana write on spite, and she thinks about a lot of the stuff they do for the story as the mastermind.

         Zach revealed him and Dana disagree on Mattholomule’s name, with Zach insisting it’s Mattholomule; His only compromise is saying his last name is also Tholomule… So Mattholomule Tholomule canon??? Zach also wanted a character named Corvus.

         Eda was a ‘horn dog’ in OG scripts for TOH, breaking hearts and all that. There was an episode with a B-plot in which Eda went on a date with playboy merchant, just so she could get a deal on crow heads, but Disney didn’t want a ‘horny old lady’. Dana commented that it was jut Eda on a date, but Disney was being weird about it.

         The writers also mentioned that they considered ‘Mom Tholomule’ and ‘Dad Tholomule’ in what they called the racing episode (I presume Eda’s Requiem’s B-plot), and they planned Steve and Mattholomule being brothers from S1! Zach joked that if the Tholomule parents showed up, they’d have taken attention from everything, with fans losing interest for Lumity, Raeda, and Huntlow in favor of them.

         They brought up their weirdest failed episodes, such as a race (which might be what they meant regarding the Tholomule parents) as well as an episode where Eda and Odalia had beef. It’d have been based on the Rats! musical poster –the one that gave Raine stage fright- and would’ve had musical elements, but alas Dana doesn’t like musicals herself due to her own experiences with them (which might be the Doylist source for Raine’s own trauma as well now that I think of it).

         Odalia would’ve been one of those obsessive parents, entering an Abomination disguised as a child for the role. Edric would’ve been angry and formed a rivalry with this fake child, wanting to be Momma’s Boy, and it’d end with the fake child getting decapitated and their head sliding off as the big reveal.

         When asked about doing ‘Blaine’ (Belos-possessed Raine), Avi explained they didn’t need to watch Rhys to copy Belos’ inflections, having watched the show plenty. They were surprised about the Blaine development when they went in to voice Raine that day and were told about it!

         When asked about favorite characters to write, Zach said he loved Eda because he didn’t need to go into anyone’s headspace when writing her, it was basically just him talking. Madeleine brought up how Matthew Rhys would charm the entire zoom call with his recording, and Emmy mentioned how twice she wrote for a bloodcurdling scream only for a VA to give more of an Ahhhhh.

         Specifically, Edric would’ve had a more bloodcurdling scream when he broke through his body cast to hug Amity (Zach wrote that, Emmy did the art for it), with everyone agreeing he should be in pain. A ‘piercing scream’ was specified, though Sarah joked about how hard VAs worked, and said a bloodcurdling scream might be done for an Oscar nomination (doing such a scream is taxing due to multiple takes).

         Mikki loves writing Lilith, calling her a big dweeb; Madeline loves Hooty the most, as he’s a wild card and she loves writing those. One example she brought up was in Hollow Mind, when Hooty shut down the Owl House. Madeleine loves it when Hooty goes from zero to sixty in either direction, fully insane.

         JBO also liked Hooty best, as well as King! They referenced the B-plot from Adventures in the Elements, in which Hooty negotiates a drawn body for himself from King, which Emmy and JBO wrote. The actual sketch used in the episode was straight-up one of their drawings, I didn’t catch whose though. Hooty’s dialogue in Eda’s conversation with him (from Something Ventured, Someone Framed) was also written by JBO, with Emmy drawing the bit where his tongue reaches for a fly!

        In regards to writing advice, JBO said to just do stuff, it’s better than nothing; Emmy concurred, it’s still worth it to write it, even if nobody pays you for it. Zach added that for writers, one of their goals is to be more of a tool; Get what they’ve made into the hands of someone who can take it further, it’s collaborative storytelling and writers need to see it from that perspective. Likewise, they mentioned having people read what you’ve written, as they can notice stuff that’s missing that you hadn’t thought of/remembered. Zach hoped for a TOH art book, as he liked a lot of Emmy Cicierga’s visual jokes and hoped people could enjoy them! IIRC Emmy did that one meme of Ariel combining her fish tail with two legs as a solution, so that tracks.

         On a final note, there was a HUGE wave of people commenting about Gustholomule throughout the entire stream. It went unacknowledged alas, but the group also mentioned they couldn’t answer spoiler questions so...

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Black Sails: 13 Facts About The Starz Hit Worth More Than Stolen Treasure

BY ERICH B. ANDERSON/DEC. 31, 2022 1:15 PM EST

With contemporary series like "Vikings" and "Game of Thrones," "Black Sails" may often be overlooked when compared to other epic dramas of the 2010s, which makes it one of the most underrated shows of the decade. Not only is the scale of the pirate adventure immense with many scenes taking place upon impressive naval vessels, but the political intrigue and intimate interactions of the characters make it an entertaining watch for several different audiences.

The show as a whole does a brilliant job of mixing fiction with historical figures like the notorious pirate captains Blackbeard (Ray Stevenson) and Charles Vane (Zach McGowan) whose lives were so legendary that they verge on fantasy. But at its core, the story centers on the complicated friendship between its two main characters, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his deviously clever quartermaster, Long John Silver, in the years before their sagas are continued in the later tale of "Treasure Island." For a series devoted to such larger-than-life individuals, the making of it also had its fair share of epic details and moments as well, which you can enjoy reading below.

The series is an unofficial prequel to Treasure Island

Although "Black Sails" is its own story for the most part, from the very beginning it was always meant to show the events building up to the classic work of fiction "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. More than anything, the creators of the series wanted to tie up loose ends to the famous tale and give their explanation to who the characters were up to in the years before, as showrunner Jonathan Steinberg explained to Entertainment Weekly: "At the end of the book, it's recounted by other people that Captain Flint died in Savannah alone, which begs a lot of questions."

Flint's origin is certainly not the only one covered with both Long John Silver's and Billy Bones' backstories explained thoroughly as well. For Billy especially, his situation in the finale of the series gives all new meaning to what happens to him later in the novel. Steinberg added: "It is clear we are suggesting he is on 'Treasure Island,' which I think has a number of implications if you go back and read the book."

After four seasons, it is clear the showrunner was pleased with how the series handled the continuity, saying: "It felt like we had finished the argument a little bit, in terms of connecting it not just to 'Treasure Island,' but to our contemporary understanding of what piracy was, about what Caribbean piracy was."

2. The opening credits features the hurdy-gurdy

Several aspects of "Black Sails" make it stand out as a particularly fascinating TV series, with one of the top being its unique theme music in the opening credits. Not only is the memorable tune composed by the talented Bear McCreary who is well known for his work on "The Walking Dead" and "Battlestar Galactica," but it also features quite an unusual instrument known as a hurdy-gurdy, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Also known as a wheel fiddle, the hurdy-gurdy is a folk instrument that has existed for around 1,000 years and is played to this day all over Western Europe, from Italy to England. In a 2010 TED Talk, musician Caroline Phillips explained that the complex and bulky device originally required two people to operate it until the design was improved a few centuries later, so it could be used by a single performer. Although a fundamental part of the instrument is the strings, akin to a violin, the sound produced can also be compared to bagpipes.

3. The show was filmed in South Africa

While "Black Sails" takes place predominantly in the Caribbean, that was not the place chosen to film the epic pirate drama. Instead, the Starz network went with the fairly new Cape Town Studios for the production, and needless to say that the South African-based company was ecstatic over the decision. Ahead of filming Season 1, Film Afrika producer Vlokkie Gordon said: "We are delighted to have been awarded ['Black Sails'] and it is further proof of South Africa's international reputation for outstanding production skill and expertise" (via The Location Guide). Gordon continued: "A production of this scope provides not only employment for South Africans, but also skills transfer which is in line with Film Afrika's policy of supporting growth and development of the South African film and television industry."

The swashbuckling series was then added to the growing list of productions shot out of Cape Town, including "Safe House," "Chronicle," and "Mad Max: Fury Road," as per the Cape Town Film Studios website. Plus, another Starz series benefited greatly from the elaborate ship sets built there, with "Outlander" using the Jamaican landscapes in its third season, according to Entertainment Weekly.

4. 300 people worked on the pirate ship

The impressive sailing vessels featured in "Black Sails" are almost as important to the story as the characters themselves. Therefore, a ton of work was put into the construction of the sets in order to make the maritime setting feel real for the cast, and more importantly, the audience. In a behind-the-scenes clip shared by Starz, senior rigger Joel Yates explained: "The carpenters building the boat it took them, I think, four or five months. They want it to look as authentic as possible because what we've built is a very accurate replica of a sailing ship."

The end product, called The Walrus in the show, was massive as well, as Yates revealed that the full ship is approximately 140 feet long. And to pull off such an incredible feat, it took a gigantic crew with various skill sets, as construction coordinator Clive Pollack shared: "There are 300 people working on the boat. There are carpenters, sculptors, painters, riggers, sailmakers."

5. There were no bathrooms for cast and crew on the ship

For as grand as the prominent pirate ship is in "Black Sails," it does have its faults as it also serves as the set of a modern TV production. In a 2016 interview with Den of Geek, actor Zach McGowan revealed the biggest problem for the cast and crew on set: "The hardest thing about the ships, most people don't realize, is just when you're on the ship at the top of the deck somewhere, it's very far to the nearest bathroom. There's no bathroom on the ships."

Even with that minor complaint, McGowan went on to stress that being on the deck of the ship at sea was such a great experience that the actor wished he had more of those scenes. It's also his opinion that most of the cast felt the same way, except possibly the ones who spent the most time on board, such as Toby Stephens.

6. The actors went through pirate boot camp

Like most epic dramas featured on premium channels, "Black Sails" is filled with massive battle sequences, in this case often between rival pirate clans, or against the relentless forces of the British and Spanish empires. While the nature of naval warfare means that a good amount of these conflicts are long distance, yet devastating, as cannonballs attempt to rip enemy vessels apart, much of the brutal combat is at close quarters.

All of the fight scenes in the series are quite impressive, so it makes sense that many cast members received special training. In a Q&A with a few of the main actors, shared by Starz in 2015, Luke Arnold revealed: "We all went through a three-week pirate boot camp. Well, the pirates of the crew did at the beginning of shooting." And it was a good thing that they did because when asked if they could survive the rough conditions of the time period, the general consensus was an adamant no. Toby Stephens then elaborated with a laugh: "The real trouble, I'd be ok on Nasau, it was as soon as I'd get on a boat and I had to sail anywhere."

7. Clara Paget came up with Anne Bonny's distinctive look

From Charles Vane, Edward Teach, and Jack Rackham to Captain Flint, Long John Silver, and Billy Bones, "Black Sails" has all sorts of characters based on either historic people or from the famous fictional tale, "Treasure Island." Therefore, both the writers of the show and the actors who portrayed these popular figures had to work with what was already known about them. But at the same time, there was a lot of creative freedom as well.

A somewhat minor, though fascinating aspect of another one of these real characters in the series, Anne Bonny, was thought up by actress Clara Paget. In a 2016 interview with Den of Geek, when asked what she contributed to the role, the actress replied: "I suppose the hat. That came completely organically. I tried on this hat and then I was pulling it down in an almost jokey way, like an old-school Western. Then it became who she is, hiding behind this hat. It really works for the character because, as I said, it shows this vulnerable side at the same time as being a badass through one side or the other. Like schizophrenic, bipolar."

8. Zack McGowan broke a stuntman's jaw by accident

A major reason that the fight scenes in "Black Sails" are so good is because of the enthusiasm of the cast and crew when filming, yet there was one time that may have gone a little too far. When a stuntman on set named Daryl was to be hit with the butt of a rifle by Zach McGowan, the dedicated performer showed no fear and encouraged the actor to strike him square in the face. The veteran stuntman figured it was no big deal since the thing was only made of rubber. Since Daryl seemed more than fine with the idea, McGowan went along with the idea.

In a 2017 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Toby Stephens recalled the disastrous, though somewhat funny result: "Zach, who's brilliant at this kind of thing, whacked him straight in the jaw, as the guy asked, and totally broke his jaw. It looks fantastic, it actually made the cut, and it looked absolutely brilliant. At the end of it, I just remember Daryl going, 'No, it's fine. It's okay, don't worry about it.'" Fortunately, the stuntman was not seriously harmed, so they were able to joke about it a bit.

9. Zack McGowan climbed the balconies of a building to get rum

"Black Sails" is filled with many incredible exploits of pirate warriors as they battle on the high seas, but a behind-the-scenes achievement by one of the actors was almost as impressive as what was shown on screen. During a break in filming, the cast was having a good time together but needed some rum, so Zach McGowan went to rather extreme lengths to remedy the situation.   

In order to gain access to the prized liquor in a room several floors up, the actor literally scaled the side of the building all on his own. When talking with Rotten Tomatoes, cast member Hannah New described the amazing sight, saying: "He did this like Spider-Man kind of thing where he climbed up these balconies … it's incredible, he does like, God knows how many chin-ups every day. So, he can just chin up these balconies."

After McGowan successfully got the rum and then made the way back down with it in his front pocket, the cast waiting down below were too awestruck to do anything but tensely watch. Fellow actress Jessica Parker Kennedy added: "And none of us videotaped it. I think we were all in such shock, it was so scary, I thought he was going to fall and break his neck and we would have to explain it to our producers the next day."

10. It took all season to film Luke Arnold's underwater scene

In the fourth season of "Black Sails," Long John Silver nearly perishes in the sea as he struggles to escape his sinking ship. Actor Luke Arnold must have been pleased that his character ultimately survived the harrowing experience, but filming the scenes was definitely not easy for the actor. Even though he was confident in the comprehensive training he received beforehand, Arnold still had to overcome a major fear of performing in those conditions.

When asked specifically about those tense underwater moments, he told Collider in a 2017 interview: "That was the beginning of hell that kept getting crazier as it went along. That took all season to shoot. We were in the water tank, from the beginning of the season, stuck underwater, all day." To his dismay, Arnold was right when he assumed it would take longer to finish than the filmmakers first thought, yet it was all worth it, as he added: "Right until the last couple of weeks, I was doing bits of the underwater stuff to make that whole sequence as spectacular as it is."

11. Luke Arnold received a special gift from a producer

Luke Arnold was one of several major cast members of "Black Sails" who was in the show from the very beginning all the way through to the climactic finale. The actor very much enjoyed his time filming the series, so when he found a cherished memento from the early days, it was a big deal. In the same interview with Collider, he revealed: "We were shooting a scene in Season 4 that was back in Eleanor's office, and I found the piece of paper that I was writing the directions to find the Urca de Lima on, which was the very first scene we shot in Episode 103. Nina Jack, who was one of our producers on Season 4, got it framed and gave it to me as a gift, so I've gone away with that. That was amazing!"

On the other hand, there were parts of the series that Arnold did not remember so fondly, mostly from the difficulties that arose in pretending to have lost a leg. In this endeavor, he was able to use a crutch on screen, but the prop caused him so much discomfort that he grew to despise it.

12. Luke Arnold had a legless stunt double

Once Long John Silver tragically loses his leg in "Black Sails," Luke Arnold had some difficulty filming scenes as the character, so he was grateful to have help from a stuntman named Ben de Jager who is also missing the limb. The actor told Collider: "It was great to have somebody who's gone through the experience of losing a leg. He did step in for a lot of stuff, mainly because it was so much easier to have him there. If you're shooting from behind or you're focusing on the foot, it's easier to have someone in who's missing the leg than to do it with me and spend a fortune on visual effects to change things."

Though Arnold certainly got along with de Jager, there also seemed to have been a little jealousy in sharing screen time for the role. The actor admitted that a downside for him was his absence in some major Long John Silver moments of the show.

13. The writers gradually decided to bring back Flint's lover, Thomas

For as dark as "Black Sails" can be throughout the series, it ended on a fairly happy note as the main character, Captain Flint, is finally reunited with the love of his life, Thomas Hamilton (Rupert Penry-Jones). Both men are sentenced to imprisonment on a plantation, yet all that matters to the pair is that they are together again. Viewers may have been somewhat surprised that Thomas had returned to the show given the fact that he was thought to be dead, but over time the writers decided that was not going to be his fate.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, Jonathan Steinberg explained: "We had a sense in Season 2 when he died off-screen, that any character who dies off-screen, you're taking the word of the messenger as to whether or not it actually happened. We knew we weren't finished with him. And then at some point in Season 3, we realized it would be reasonably late in the series when he came back, so in Season 4 it felt right."

Source: Looper

[errantnight]

Angeal Genesis and Zach. One of them wants a perfect relationship. Love, friendship, romance, dates...everything BUT sex. Which one and how do they go about it?

Oh it's absolutely Genesis if it has to be one of the three of them.

Everyone speculates on the First's love lives, they're public figures by design and their images are carefully curated by Shinra and their fan clubs. Genesis especially has very weird and rabid fans because of his parents weirdness, neither of them being very good at being parents in the first place and having no problem letting their publicist invent romances for him.

He doesn't know how to explain that he's asexual, it's the late 90s and that just isn't floating around as something even resembling normal. He does want romance - he deeply wishes someone would quote poetry at him for once instead of comforting himself with it.

Genesis doesn't have many friends, aside from the many parasocial relationships his fans have with him. He's had more than one stalker, he's been sexually harassed on the train at least once and no one did anything to help him - they actually took pictures because they thought it was a PR stunt.

He never does manage to find someone who wants him for him, obsessions with Loveless and Materia and all, until maybe after DOC when the world has changed so much and most people have forgotten he ever existed.

He finds himself freed of public scrutiny as he tries to look himself up online, finding only a brief mention on a history of agriculture website about him basically inventing pasteurization as a child. That's nice actually, being known for creating something that changed the world in a good way.

Now maybe he can find someone to love with no expectations of him, letting him finally be himself.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

Vertical styled posting form code

[jokerislandgirl32]

thoughts on concept art for zach?

Hello Anon!

Thank you so much for the ask, and for your patience in my answering this ask. To be fair, I was a bit confused by it at first, but after looking at it, and looking at it, and looking at it….I had a revelation last night, and I understood exactly what you meant. Kind of a slapping my palm against my forehead type reaction, if you know what I mean, lol!

My answer to the ask is below the break :).

But to answer your ask…I have conflicting feelings about the concept art for Zach. I will say, wholeheartedly, I much prefer the final version we have in the series now. But! The concept art versions, in my opinion, showcase him as more of a serious villain than we currently have in the show. And that, that… I am intrigued by. He looks harsh, older, batter, and not about to cave like the Zach we are used to.

Below I have a screenshot of Zach’s concept @be-the-creature-fan found on Instagram and shared on their blog. The post can also be found below. I hope you don't mind that I am using this post as a reference @be-the-creature-fan. I could not find the initial post myself.

All rights for the concept art go to benbalistreri!!!! And here is the post by @be-the-creature-fan:

In looking at the two concepts art versions and Pilot Zach (my beloved). The one thing that sticks out to me the most is that they truly toned down his wardrobe. Which….yeah, I am disappointed by. I feel like this entitled bastard would rock some sassy outfits like this, and instead we usually only see him in the same black sweater and gray slacks. Not that I don’t love them, but I love the aesthetic of the concept art outfits much more.

As I am fairly new to this fandom, I am unsure if anyone has made this conclusion yet…. But…. looking at the outfits of the concept art alone, I am led to wonder if the show’s creators originally planned for Zach to be a different type of villain.

Okay, hear me out, was he supposed to be like Donita? Was he supposed to be an evil fashion designer too? The inclusion of the cheetah print in the outfits, on the scarf and ascot, truly makes me wonder if this was the intended role for him.

And that thought thrills me, we know he is such a freak about how things look, that I just imagine him being this badass fashion designer, ahhh. I am fangirling over here. I started writing a fanfic exploring this idea, a while back. So, I am already interested in him being an evil fashion designer. But, seriously y’all, if you have any information on whether this was a different avenue the creators had in mind for Zach, please let me know.

Back to the ask…

Although this next point will diverge away from the discussion of the concept art ask, I feel the need to include it. My favorite part of the concept design outfits, without a doubt, is the addition of the Z belt. We are so used to seeing Zach emphasize the V for Varmitech, that seeing the Z for his first name is like a breath of fresh air. It makes me think of all the possibilities that could have been included in the show had the creators decided to focus upon the Z for Zach instead of the V for Varmitech.

Next, we turn to the subject of his face and hair. And I am not being mean here, but I do not like the concept designs of his face and hair that much. Do not hate me, please. But I am just so used to his triangular, babyish looking face that the concept art kind of throws me for a loop.

Do I like the face for the fact that it makes him look like a harsher villain? Yes, absolutely. Do I think his face design in the concept art matches his personality as we see in the show? No. Zach’s personality in the show is of a much younger soul, if he was portrayed as an older, gruffer person, then I think the concept art faces would work better for him.

And the hair, well. I don’t like the concept art hair. I will be blunt about that, and I am sorry if that offends anyone. But I need that swish of the lose lock of hair across his forehead. That swish is one of the factors that keeps my heart beating, lol. And I like that in the regular show, the hair comes to his ears. I think his face shape in the regular series and the concept art requires that.

Finally, I will point out that I really like the inclusion of the glasses in one of the concept art pics. I headcanon Zach as having terrible eyesight, and I have been imagining him as a glasses wearer for so long. And seeing him bespectacled steals my heart.

Well, that was a long-winded discussion of my opinions of the concept art for Zach. I hope that answers your question anon. And for those of you who stuck with me to the end of this post, thank you. You are amazing.

[frownyalfred]

regarding a coral room et al: ive never seen BvS so please know this is a genuine question and not some idiot going hrMmMmm yOu ForgOt SomEOne-

where's dick? does he just not exist in this universe? i see b doing his whole miserable mama with-a-lost-puppy schtick and i keep thinking, bro didn't you have two of those? whered the first one go? you could call him over for a cuddle sesh, or at least tell him he's got siblings on the way, you're gonna get so shouted at. honestly

for the record i am neutral about whether dick does exist in this fic setting or not, just wanted to make sure i had the story straight

thank you for writing such a good piece, i'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out!!

Hi anon!

The answer is a little complicated, and I apologize in advance if I've explained it poorly. Essentially, there's an in-universe reason and an external reason.

In-universe: Dick will appear later in this fic, but he won't be as close to Bruce as Jason was. There's a very good reason for this, and it hopefully explains why Bruce doesn't think about him often.

External: I, the silly fanfiction author, watched BVS and thought the Robin who died in the movie had to be Jason Todd. After I'd written a coral room, Zach Snyder then clarified that the Robin who died in the movie was actually Dick Grayson, not Jason Todd.

So I was writing under the impression that BVS' Robin was, and would only ever be, Jason. Now that I'm writing the sequel to a coral room, I've realized I would like to bring Dick in as a character, but I was trying to find a way to do so without making the last fic seem strange, since he is not mentioned in it even once.

My solution is (SPOILERS for future chapters of a sky of honey) to make Dick Bruce's first Robin, but for them to never grow close as pack members due to Bruce's suppression and dislike of Alphas. When Dick presents as alpha and clearly wants to win Bruce's approval as his packmate, Bruce responds poorly and Dick takes that as a signal of Bruce's dislike for him, as opposed to some poorly-concealed internalized omegaphobia. Their professional relationship, short as it was, crumbles apart, and Dick flees to Bludhaven to start his own pack and be an alpha on his own.

Hence, Bruce doesn't think of Dick as his pup, and rarely thinks about their time together at all since it's so painful. And Jason's loss absolutely swallowed Dick's memory up, because Jason was his pup -- was Bruce's gradual thawing toward his designation, where Dick was around while he was abusing suppressants and pheromones.

I hope this made sense! This was the best way I could come up with to balance the points you and others have brought up. I imagine when Dick finds out exactly how Bruce has moved on, and struggled with his own identity, there will be lots of shouting. But also a truly beautiful resolution for such a painful experience for both of them.

[lattedusks-mochadawns]

Wild Kratts Villain OC

(Info Below ⬇️)

Name: Josey Archer Jennifer Vivian Vixen

Occupation: Solo Theatre Performer - Specifically using animals

Age: 27

Height: 5’4

MBTI: ENFP

Sexuality: Lesbian

Birthday: March 13th

Pronouns: She/her

MTF

Constantly craving for attention, fame and praise, Vivian Vixen specialises in delivering all sorts of performances around the world, ranging from personal playwrights to daring, dangerous circus stunts with rings of fire. One thing all these performances have in common are kidnapped animals taken from their homes, unfortunate unpaid performers for Viv’s shows. Her acts are always extravagant and eccentric, aiming for bigger and flashier, no matter how ridiculous it is.

Unlike other villains, she will give her captives names, excitedly dressing them up in tight, ridiculous, personalised outfits and pep-talking them like their human, saying they’ll be a star. She does treat them as performers, assuming all creatures to have their own personality and placing her trust in them. Of course, the creatures couldn’t care less for this, they just wanna be free. Sometimes, Viv’s schemes are very ridiculous, such as kidnapping a sperm whale, budging it into her stupid little clown car. She usually isn’t afraid of the animals, rather facing them head on. However, sometimes Viv’s desperate need for attention goes too high, as she will sometimes make her animal performers battle for her shows (usually the bigger animals). Other than that, she does show a form of care for the animals she kidnaps, though she is still very in the wrong.

The way she battles the Kratts is always different each time, being creative, zany and sometimes downright ridiculous ways. In the first encounter, Viv’s battle method was encouraging her captive animal performers to attack the Kratts by pointing at the bros and shouting “Get them my darlings!”, really placing too much faith in her captives. It had no effect as the bros picked up the creatures straight from her side and walked away in awkward silence. But the next times after that, Viv has come with more creative ways, such as turning their encounters into dance battles where she uses her acrobatics against the bros or (surprisingly sneakily) making use of film techniques used in horror movies to play with the bros emotions.

One thing to note, she will not team up with the existing Wild Kratts villains: Zach, Donita, Gourmand or Paisley. She already comes off as eccentric to passerbyers, so the villains find her an especially obnoxious nuisance. Even if they decided to offer teaming up themselves, Vivian has no interest in joining them, she does things her own way and proclaims she is a solo performer. (She will however, occasionally team up with some other WK Villain OCs I have prepared for later). Also, she thinks Zach is pathetic, especially having a teasing rivalry with him.

Traits:

Eccentric

Charming

Creative + Passionate

Chaotic

Loud + Obnoxious

Stupidly determined and Brave

Dramatic

Athletic and acrobatic

Easily Excited + Annoyed

Impatient

Emotional

Not afraid to get her hands dirty

Fun Facts:

Good with technology and computers too, though tries to use as little as possible in her performances

Her favourite animal are foxes (obviously) and rabbits too. Hence why she changed her name.

In addition, she will take any chance she can to snatch a fox in the area she’s in to use for her performance. She loves obviously foxes for their cunning.

She usually moves around via her trust clown car. However, she will get the chance to stowaway on planes or boats overseas if she can.

She has a whole wardrobe of all sorts of animal themed outfit just for her shows and can sew

She does not have the best relationship with her family.

She has a very powerful singing voice and hold notes for a ridiculously long time

Not doing the best financially

You can see a lot of the Furina inspiration in her design

Vivian specialise a lot in poetry, playwriting and prop making.

Her signature colours are orange and blue

[tortugatalks]

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲-𝗟𝗶𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗞 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀|ᴴᶜˢ

a.n. wine and dine? wine and dine! paisley paver and rex will be exempt from these hcs ahahem... i have yet to fully watch their eps, but they'll be here soon! trust 🤝

𓆉 gender neutral reader

𓆉 established romantic relationship

𓆉 no warnings!

Zach Varmitech

━ wild rats, wild varmints—ugh! it's enough to drive any evil genius insane! what better way to rid yourself of these burdens than to have a nice candle-lit dinner with your love? and you know what...? that actually sounds like a feasible idea! that settles it. he'll call in his zachbots and have them prepare the table and food for you and him. up in the city sky within his skyscraper, that's where! this is a night truly well deserved after all. your host? him of course!

━ type of guy that thinks he has it all planned out, but in execution? mmm, perhaps not. ever seen those really long tables in the movies? where two people sit opposite of one another and there's this entire space left in between? yeah, you both will be seated at one of those. it looks formidable and exquisite, sure, but when you two actually talk to each other? mans is just yelling out 'WHAT?'s whenever you speak and it's really not that efficient. he ultimately, and rather begrudgingly, has a zachbot seat you closer to him. does it kill the vibe? for him, probably, but for you? not so much!

━ his zachbots will be your waiters for tonight ooh la la, but like, c'mon, they're not entirely the best at double meanings and social cues. can't read the room! you'll have zach call them over to "fetch" him a bottle of wine and the bots take it a little too literally. it's chaos, but honestly? you'd be lying if you said you weren't having the time of your life.

━ little romantic moments with the self proclaimed genius inventor are few and far between, but in this moment, he likes to indulge in the fact that he's the one in control. no distractions, no green boy or blue boy to be seen; just you two. tries to be sauvé, and it works out for him at the start, but there's bound to be a few slip ups here and there. i.e. when he mistakenly initiates a flower protocol that instantly has his bots waltzing in with bouquets. they're decorated in pretty black wraps and ribbons, and for a second his face is crimson. he panics and yells that now wasn't the time and he tries ever so hard to get you to think that the flowers that just so happened to be your favorites "weren't" for you.

Donita Donata

━ she's worked terribly hard. fashion designing, evil schemes, organizing runway shows; it's an exhaustion that has her extremely burned out! so... why not plan a dinner date just for her? yes!! tell her about it and there's already sparkles in her eyes. she talks a lot about the kind of scented candles you'll have, the luxury wine, the appetizers—oh, she just has to call in dabio! and it must be in her glamorous mansion too! she gets so into it and completely forgets that you were the one who was supposed to be planning the night, but oh well!

━ dresses up nicely in luxurious clothes she knows you'll like! she's quick to put together something for you too, and without a doubt, its definitely matching. even dabio gets his own little fancy suit! (he'll be your lovely waiter for the night, of course!)

━ all lights are dimmed to a light pink once the clock strikes night time. if you're to pull out her chair and get her cozy in her seat, she'll let out a low but a loving hum. consider her impressed! bonus points if you compliment her, but c'mon, she already knows she owns the look! through it all, the mood is relaxing. conversations consist of casual flirtatious comments, plans for the future and so on and so forth. loves maintaining eye contact with you, so when you speak, you'll typically see her resting her chin on the palm of her hand with her elbow resting on the table, eyes trained on your face. if you're one to fluster easily, she'll have herself a fond laugh <3

━ would absolutely love to slow dance with you. stand up from your seat, offer her your hand and she'll be pleasantly surprised! she'll rock with you in your arms and give you tiny squeezes here and there. she loves toeing with the line of propriety and can be a bit of a tease every now and then!

Dabio

━ the sweetest ever! he hardly has any time for himself considering that he's always assisting donita with her fashion work. you gotta convince her to lay him off work for a bit, if just for one day! much to your surprise, she gives in to your wishes. just one day, though, but that's all you need before you're off planning a relaxing homemade date night for the both of you. tell dabio about it and he's just as happy, if not more than you! very excited and can't wait to spend the evening with you. he insists that he helps you cook, and you just can't say no to him <3

━ the dinner date isn't as fancy as the former two, but it holds a lot of love. despite not being on the job, dabio is ever the gentleman! he's fully decked out in the clothes donita made for him, he pulls out your chair for you, gifts you flowers, compliments you—the works! but of course, the dinner date is meant for him as much as he treats it like it's for you. if you happen to have a gift for him, he'll be on cloud nine! rest assured, whatever it is, he'll cherish it forever (or for as much as he possibly can!)

━ dinner talk is filled to the brim with laughter and conversations about practically anything you two can think of! he, however, loves to listen to you talk. whether it's about your day or your interests, dabio patiently and intently listens to everything you have to say while he eats and chimes in with a few comments of his own.

━ serve him some wine or offer to get up and get him a second serving and this guy has got hearts in his eyes! he absolutely adores your kindness and is very much appreciative, but don't think for a second that he won't do the same for you. he treats you like royalty and c'mon, to him it's only fair!

Gaston Gourmand

━ prepare to have yourself the most delicious and exquisite dinner you've ever had. having a dinner date was his idea and he takes it as an opportunity to woo you with his killer culinary skills and romantic gestures. the location he chooses isn't the most grandiose, but it's sweet with you in mind. he opts to dine somewhere familiar: out in the open (preferably next to a lake or river) in the foldout cafe area of his camper—string lights galore! surprise, surprise, he doesn't tell you what he has planned, but you know he's up to something with the way his tone dances as he speaks. all he does manage to tell you is for you to dress in comfortable clothes come night time! doesn't have to be anything particularly fancy—you'll look great in anything!

━ doesn't take long before he gets started on the cooking. everything will be made a la gourmand! he would like for you to feast on a rare dish, but it seems that whenever he does try to go and hunt something, green grape and blueberry are always there. he mulls over the thought a bit and ultimately decides that he doesn't want to go through all that for tonight at all. besides, he has exceptional cooking skills! whatever he makes will be jaw dropping and drool inducing either way.

━ very cheesy in execution. he does that thing where he covers your eyes with his hands as he leads you to his makeshift café. he pays close attention to your reactions and his heart swells with pride once you catch a whiff of a dish that smells particularly tasty! once he takes his hands off your face, he puffs out his chest with every compliment you throw at him. he may not look the part, but gourmand is determined to impress you!

━ as your dearly devoted partner, he takes full responsibility in serving you and making you feel content through and through. doesn't expect you to eat all proper, rather, he enjoys seeing you scarf down your dinner plate. he loves to talk big, his ego blinding, but he does like hearing you talk. he lets you get your own way in everything you do, not expecting anything other than the same from you in return <3

[maleyanderecafe]

Don't Look (Visual Novel)

Created by: CrypticFingers

Genre: Horror

This game actually does have a kickstarter now, and the premise is very sinister. It might include polyamory in the future considering how the kidnapper's mind works. The demo itself is mostly dependent on the voice acting, which I think works very well. There is now character designs for at least two of the characters you meet, though there will be a total of three when the game comes out. You can get more information on it here on @dontlookvn if you are interested.

Don't Look starts out with the MC blindfolded and brought to the basement by a person named Zach. The MC has the option to be nice or mean and depending on the answer, will allow Zach to either treat them better or worse. Zach nicknames the MC "little moth", giving them some mac and cheese to eat and giving them time to settle in with the others. Its here where we meet Chester, another person that Zach has kidnapped. Chester talks about what Zach is like: how he's kidnapping people to figure out who will be their best partner, how disobedient people get punished or killed and how Zach will treat his captors the way he gets treated, with either respect if the MC is kind or disrespect if the MC is cruel.

During Day 2, Zach comes back to feed, hydrate and give blankets to his captors. After the meeting, the MC can go and search around the place, finding pipes to possible break their blindfold, arsenic that's hidden inside of the cabinet and talking (or cuddling) with Chester.

If the MC is nice to Zach, he will be nice in return, praising the MC and giving them things that they need. Being nice to Chester will allow the two to get closer and even kiss and gain a code. If the MC is cruel to Zach, he will strangle the MC and refuse to give them a blanket, and there is an option to attemptively break the blindfold, however, this leads to the MC being impaled in the eye.

While the game is still in it's demo state, I do think that it does a good job with the aspect of horror and uncertainty through the fact that we don't actually get to see the characters, but only hear them. (I mean, you can see what they look like on the game's home page, but not in the game itself). The concept of having someone kidnap a bunch of people to find out which one (or ones) will be their partner is pretty interesting, and it gives a good sense of what it feels like to be kidnapped in a unfamiliar situation and what you have to do to survive (or gain the good wishes of your captor). I really do like the concept of not being able to see any of the characters since it gives them an air of mystery and uncertainty, plus it's something I haven't really seen done before. Zach as a yandere seems to be conditional on the people who he chooses, though it is clear that he's not killing them for fun but rather to pick off who he thinks isn't a possible suitor. In this case, it probably would be possible to see Zach marry a bunch of different suitors, thus leading to possible polyamorous endings (assuming we are allowed to keep everyone else alive). There might also be an option to band up and get rid of him, which would be a interesting route as well.

Chester is very cute, but it does make me a bit suspicious of him. It's possible that he's the type to cry wolf if the MC attempts to hurt him or otherwise escapes (similar from Ren in the first BTD game, if you know what I'm talking about). We also aren't sure we can fully trust him either, since it's possible that Chester and Zach might be kahoots with each other or even possibly that Chester is the actual big bad of this game. There does also seem to be a third character that we have yet to see, but it's hard to tell what his personality is like since we know very little about him. Hopefully, Chester continues to be lovable and will attempt to help us out, but it's hard to know without still having some suspicion on him.

Overall, I think the game has a very interesting premise and concept so far and it did fairly well on it's kickstarter. I am curious to see how the game will go and what kind of horror type concepts it will implore.

[fand0mswithbunny]

the second golden bolt tournament premiere review/analysis 🔩

Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and gentlethems to the first of many Battlebots episode reviews and analysis. I was going to do a liveblog but I feel asleep not even half way through and I finished the episode earlier today. If you haven't seen the new episode I highly suggest you do, there's a lot of things that went down and its just a good premiere and episode, but if you haven't you might wanna scroll. (also this is going to be a long one who prepare your nuts people YES I MEANT WHAT I SAID.)

Anyhow LETS GET IT ON, *BRO*

First of, I wanna start with the changes with this show and the differences between this season and the last one. The most notable one is the removal of the matchup with the gatekeeper from the last season. I thought they were going to reveal it in the end or make it so that the final competitor standing does not know who they're fighting until near the end, but no! They don't even mention it beforehand at all in the episode and the last bot standing instantly goes to the finals. Idk why they removed it, I THOUGHT THEY WERENT BUT I GUESS NOT?? Based on the little clips they showed at the start they showed Will Bales, and I thought this was because Hypershock was going to be a gatekeeper for this season but IDK THEY REMOVED IT?? I do kinda miss that aspect of the show because its what made it more interesting for sure but it did really caught me off-guard with it. Maybe Hypershock will be in one of the brackets? Or maybe they just won't compete at all. Idk, its just something I thought was worth mentioning because I couldn't really find it being discussed anywhere. Also I love Kenny's Key and their.... interesting connotations. Aside from that there's no big changes, so let's get to the fights themselves! SHREDDIT BRO! vs Skorpios - Wow. Whoever predicted Shreddit Bro was going to come out like Minotaur on this one should be given an gold medal WHAT AN OPENING FIGHT. Idk what Evan Arias did to the robot before this but they're looking like a beast out there. The Bro™ was so dominant and all over Skorpios the full fight, if you showed this fight to someone who's never seen the show they'll think its some top tier contender for the title. NO ITS JUST SHREDDIT BRO AND THEY JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE- also I just realized Zach look kinda as his bot was being counted out UEUEUEUEUE I WANNA GIVE HIM A HUG :( YOU TRIED YOUR BEST PRODUCERS JUST REALLY FUCKED THEM OVER BY GIVING THEM A DRUM </3333333 Overall great opener, really good start for Shreddit Bro.

Rotator vs Terrortops - Idk if I have much to say about this fight as much as the last one, but Terrortops didn't do too bad here, they survived a while against Rotator which is not easy. But yeah, this was Rotator's fight to win and its pretty satisfying seeing them be so dominant again.

Switchback vs Kraken - WOAH YOU GUYS IT WENT TO THE JUDGES HOW SHOCKING! Yeahh Kraken got pretty beaten here, I realized these two are pretty similar in design but Switchback just kept delivering the hits. I don't have anything else to say except good performance from Switchback and this is Matt Spurk's TENTH loss in a row since Rusty jabbed Kraken's face out. Like that is just brutal. SOMEONE GIVE THIS MAN A HUG AND A GOOD OPPONENT PLS </333

Valkyrie vs Ominous - I'm starting to see a pattern here that all the winners had something to prove and has mostly really improved since last season. I thought Ominous would've held on a bit better because of that big plow but yk. yeah. This fight was honestly the best they've performed in a while until the next fights, like I think something simultaneously clicked for all the winning teams in the pits and they decided to POP TF OFF- and honestly?? good for them. good for them.

(okay that took a while to write but its okay. just. 3. more. fights.)

SHREDDIT BRO! vs Switchback - Okay if Minotaur and Shreddit Bro doesn't happen in season 8 I'm rioting. BUT ALSO Switchback, yk in the first 5 seconds WASNT DOING BAD and then he lost the chain. At that point The Bro™ the starting chewing away at him like he was Minotaur. SERIOUSLY HOW? BUT ALSO IM REALLY IMPRESSED. Like I love how this episode was just full of twists and turns and the fandom were collectively shocked at how out of nowhere their wins and dominance are. LIKE THAT LAST HIT WAS INSANE and usually Switchback's pretty durable and bulky. I think if they can figure out a way to protect the wheels, maybe some armor, and get their weapon to not hit the floor, they can be a force to be recon with. (also ik what I described is basically Minotaur but listen let Evan cook okay.) This was the fight I started becoming a Broliever one would say. I believe in the bro that brolieves in me. ooh yeah gottem. (im not mentally stable someone help)

Rotator vs Valkyrie - We all knew producers were going to hype up this rematch and it did not disappoint. Both robots held up really well against each other but Rotator's plow was a really good choice. I do think that Rotator would've had a chance if they'd boxrush them, but otherwise Valkyrie was winning this. Credits to Lucy for staying aggressive and if there were more time I think the plow and side armor would've been completely ripped out. I do prefer the first fight but this fight was still really good.

Okay. That was a lot of fights. But lets take a break and get on with the AWARDS!! First off, the Excellence in Sportsmanship went to Rory Mangles of Monsoon. I didn't know who he was at first but when I was looking through Reddit and seeing the stories, yeah, this guy deserves it. What an absolute chad. This did get me thinking, with this award and the Founder's Award, it got me thinking that these awards can now be awarded to an individual person and not just a full team which is really cool. Now onto the Most Destructive which NOT ONLY DIDNT GO TO SHITTIDE BUT WENT TO MY BOY HUUUUUUGE!! WOOOOOOOO YEAHHH BABY!! THATS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR, THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!! ahem Okay seriously I thought it was either going to Shittide or Copperhead 100% and I understand why ppl would be surprised at this BUT I AM NOT COMPLAINING WE TAKE THIS W. EAT SHIT ETHAN. Onto the Grant Imahara: Best Design Award goes to RIPperoni and honestly I didn't see it going anyother way, maybe except Horizon but theyre design wasn't performing well, so RIPperoni was really the only pick. And finally, the Founder's Award which goes to Martin Mason! HONESTLY REALLY DESERVED he is the spirit of the sport and overall he just seems like such a great guy. Good for him. Good for him. Now, with all that aside, its time for the finals.

SHREDDIT BRO! vs Valkyrie - Coming into this fight I wanted The Bro™ to win because of their story, but Valkyrie really did good by breaking their drum, but Evan did amazing trying to adapt and get Valkyrie to break their spinner. Just shows that even when Evan is being this cool guy character he's really smart and tactical. I'm so excited for what's to come from this bot and congrats to Evan. Good for him. Good for him.

This episode was a really good start to the season and next weeks episode is a really stacked lineup. I personally think Black Dragon, and MadCatter or Whiplash are my picks for the finals but I'm personally rooting for my boy REESE EWERT FROM FUSION LETS GOOO REESE FUCK THEM UP!! As for SHREDDIT BRO!, I think they lose against Sawblaze, a pretty good chance against Tantrum, and 50/50 against End Game. THINK ABOUT IT we live in a timeline where SHREDDIT BRO has a good chance at beating the former champions. LET THAT SINK IN THE DOOR. I do kinda think the pacing was kinda off this episode but overall this is a really good start to the season, a solid 8/10 episode for me.

ok now im going to sit down time to rest. good night tristate area.