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the1975attheirverybest · 7 months

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Being Funny In A Foreign Language

Chapter 1- Never Gonna Love Again…

Warnings: smut.

read all aditional chapters here.

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“So, where is it, then?” Amelia’s eyes darted between Patricia and Matty, both of whom looked puzzled.

“Where’s what?” Patricia frowned.

“The- the naked Matty. The body double! Matty, The Second? You know, the better Matty.”

Matty rolled his eyes. “Are you finished?”

“Ummm,” Amelia looked into the distance, pretending to think. “The One True Matty? Eh. That's lame. Okay, guess I am finished.” She gave him a charming smile, batting her eyelashes at him, jokingly. Matty tried to ignore the beating in his chest and play along, but his love for her was like second nature by now. He couldn’t help it.

“Seriously, where do you guys keep him?”

Matty started to respond, “Oh, not here. we don’t-“ but Patricia had already spoken over him.

“Right this way, he’s in the storage room.” She gestured.

Both ladies gave Matty a quizzical look. They made their way down the hall, Matty trailing behind them, dreading the inevitable.

“You’ve literally just landed. Haven’t even been to the hotel yet, and this is what you want to see?” He attempted to distract her.

“What? You think I flew all this way just to see you?… well I guess I kinda did.” Amelia giggled to herself, “but like….to see the better you.”

Patricia flicked the lightswitch on in the storage room, waiting a moment for lights to flicker.

“How’s he the ‘better me’?”

“He’s naked. And he doesn’t speak.” She grinned, throwing him off.

“Here he is.” Patricia pointer to a box in the middle of the room, surrounded by clutter, and labeled, “peanut. EXTREMELY FRAGILE.”

Matty watched Amelia’s eyes scan over the text, and turned around, looking away timidly.

“Awwww, are you fuckin kidding me?! That’s so sweet.” She chuckled, a hand on her heart.

Patrician unclasped the lid, dragging it to the side and opening the box. “Here he is. Amelia, meet Peanut.”

Amelia took small, hesitant steps towards the box. “Gosh I’m a little nervous. I think starstruck.” She stood over the box, peering down, as if at a treasure chest.

Matty rolled his eyes.

“Awww” she smiled, melting Matty’s heart. Then her expression changed as she leaned over to get a closer look. “Oh. Would you look at that. He’s got your penis. Surprisingly, anatomically accurate.”

Patricia was startled. “Okay. That’s my cue to leave. Have fun you two.”

Amelia smiled at Patricia as she walked out the door, turning to Matty once they were alone. “How’d you get it to be so life-like? Did you have to show your dick to the sculptor?”

He retrieved the box cover, shutting it closed. “Wanna join me for dinner? Took about the show?”

***

As they rushed into the room, Matty couldnt help but recall his conversation with Ross earlier that day.

“Please tell me you did not hire her to come along on tour just so you could sleep with her….” Ross had tossed the rash guard into the designated hamper, eying the gym showers for an available one.

Matty had scuffed at the mere suggestion. “‘Course not. That’s despicable!”

Despicable though it may have been, Matty found himself in a compromising position, a bulge forming in his pants as Amelia’s hot breath tickled his neck. He almost allowed himself to think about how much he’s missed her, her body, pressed up against his, her fingers, tugging at his hair with just enough urgency to send a sting through his— fuck! No, he can’t repeat the same cycle of events all over again. He must choose character growth.

“Erm…..Amelia,” he sighed out, the feeling of her kisses all over his skin almost melting him. “We- should…listen, Amelia-“ would it really be so bad, he wondered, If he let them both have this?

He finally mustered enough self-restraint to pull their bodies apart, “Amelia, slow down.” He flashed her a smile. “You’ve only just landed.” His voice shook in his throat as he spoke. “We- uhh- we should get some drinks or something?”

“Oh, I’m not thirsty.” Amelia brushed off his suggestion. “The beauty of a Dirty Hit funded, all-Expenses-paid, first class ticket is that the meals on the flight tasted nothing like airplane food came with drinks too. Nice drinks. If the flight attendant had walked up to me with a plate of Caviar, I wouldn’t have been surprised.”

Matty smiled.

“So, if this is what it’s like to work for your label….I might like it.”

“It’s not my label,” Matty eagerly corrected her.“Well….a small portion of it is. But- Jamie’s in charge, so-“

He lost his train of thought when he felt her finger tracing patterns in the skin of his hand, softly, but deliberately.

“Anyway,” her lips, were, once more, by his ear, whispering, “not in need of any drinking. But I do have a craving for something else.” Her soft, seductive voice was making his knees buckle. He leaned against the wall, his head pushed back.

This wasn’t how he’d envisioned his do-over going. The romcom-esque arc that he’d planned in his head. He was going to spend time with her. Show her that he cares about her for more than just sex. Earn her time and attention by being worthy. Not because she was in love with him and found it difficult to stay apart.

“Been thinking about your hands around my neck since I got into that car that you sent for me.” Amelia’s voice pulling him in again. “Have I said thank you for that yet? Eh. why say it, when I could,” she sank to her knees, “just show it,” undoing his belt.

Shit, he’s in trouble. He tried talking himself out of it but, instead, he found himself looking down into her eyes, his hand gently cupping her face. “Fuck me, I’m the worst.”

Matty felt like the devil, conjuring up sinful fantasies as he looked down at Amelia, who somehow, looked just like an Angel kneeling between his legs.

His belt-studded jeans hit the floor with a thud, Amelia cupping his clothed crotch and delighting in his hissing.

“How long has it been?” She asked, grinning and looking up at him through her lashes.

“Wh-wha- what?”

“How long has it been since the last time that you’ve had sex?” She repeated, nonchalant, rubbing the fabric of his briefs.

Matty swallowed harshly, “no- not since- not since you and me.” He blushed and closed his eyes, not baring to look at her as he confessed.

If Amelia was thrilled about this news, she made no show of it. By the way that she carried on her teasing without a hitch, Matty wasn’t even sure she’d heard him.

She sighed, after a long silence, “that’s ages ago.” So, she did hear him. “Why?” She looked him directly in the eyes as she waited for his answer.

In the heat of the moment, Matty considered simply blurting out, “because I’m in love with you.” But that’s not how he wanted to tell her. He’d been fantasizing about it for a long time. He wanted the moment to be perfect. “Just doesn’t- doesn’t feel right anymore”

Amelia hooked a finger into the waistband of his underwear pulling it as far away from his body as possible, then releasing it to snap against his skin.

“Ah- shit!” Matty cursed. “Not interested in chasing something that- erm…disappears as soon as you finally get it. Don’t wanna do that.”

“Oh, so you want me to stop, then?”

The coyness in her voice lit a fire within him, like an old, stale matchbox lighting up a cold room. He repressed the urge to whine and beg her not to move an inch. A smile across his lips, he chuckled, amused, his thumb delicately brushing her lower lip. “Open up, Amelia.”

Her mouth open, tongue out, just like he’d taught her months ago. Matty grinned, pleased with her responsiveness.

Amelia’s hands reached for his briefs to rid him of them, but a sharp tug of her hair fixed her in place. “Who said you could move?” His voice was sharp, admonishing, but his smile gentle. She knew she’d be a sticky, wet mess between her legs if he kept this up. “Sorry, I- just eager, I guess. Missed you in my mouth.”

Fuck. He was done for.

Ignoring the shaking of his knees, Matty remembered his aim. “Hands behind your back, c’mon.” He nodded, “good girl.”

His briefs slid down his legs; he pushed her head down on his hard cock. “Breathe, deep breaths, Amelia. Remember what I’ve taught you.”

***

“So…what happened after dinner?” Ross smiled, amused, “the two of you-“

“We fucked. Yes.”

Ross held back a giggle as his bicep relaxed, setting the weights back down. He sat up on the bench, gradually getting off it, and dabbing the sweat off his forehead with a towel. He nodded for Matty to take his place, patting his shoulder as his friend walked by him. “Mate,” he shook his head in disbelief. “You are so-“

“I know.”

Matty laid on his back, where Ross had been moments ago, staring up at the high ceiling.

“You ready?” Ross hovered by Matty’s head, ready to spot him.

“Let’s fuckin go.”

Deep breath in as his arms pulled down. His mind taking him back to the night before, as he laid there, breathing deeply, by her side.

“Cig?”

Amelia shrugged. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Ever the gentleman, Matty lit her cigarette first, then his.

Amelia looked into his eyes, not saying anything. He blushed, turning away. “What?” The cigarette dangled from his lips as he spoke. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“You look… tired.” She cupped cheek in her hand, caressing it slowly.

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He was surprised to feel his emotions bubble to the surface. The urge to cry lingered for a moment before he repressed it again and put on a smile.

“I haven’t really slept since….2022.”

Amelia’s hand let go of his face. He felt the loss of her touch keenly.

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” She sat back against her pillow.

“What’s that mean?”

“I mean if my name were in the tabloids as often as yours has been….I’d have trouble sleeping, too.”

“Oh, that? I don’t care about that.”

Amelia giggled. “Yeah, that’s why you’re making a whole show about it.”

Matty tried to spit out a quick retort but stuttered instead. “ that-

Is- it’s not- You know me…”

“Yes, I do know you.” She kissed his cheek, “you’re sensitive. You care so much about a lot of things. You’re somewhat of an idealist. which is why I know that you pretend not to care. But deep down? It bothers you” she spoke in between kisses inching closer and closer to him until she was back on top of him, kissing his face and neck.

“A-Amelia?”

She took the cigarette out of his mouth, setting it down next to hers. She kissed his lips. “Wanna go again?”

“Amelia, I-“

“A second round? Please?”

Matty felt himself melt into the mattress at her small, gentle plea. His arms wrapped around her, rubbing her bare back.

“Need to talk, first.” He whispered against her lips at after a breathless kiss.

She opened her eyes, looking at him to assess his seriousness. He looked genuine. “Okay,” she got off of him. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Well- erm. I think we need to set some ground rules. F-for….I mean, we’re friends. We’ll be working together. I don’t know if- we should be having sex.”

Amelia frowned, “why not?”

“‘Fraid it’ll get too complicated.”

“We’ve done it before….” She shrugged.

“Yes. We have. And it went well for a while. You know, until…”

He let his sentence trail off, not quite finding the right words for ‘you told me you loved me following a particularly emotional

fuck and I never said it back.’

“Oh, that!” Amelia seemed to pick up on what he meant. “If that’s what you’re worried about.” She chuckled, “then worry no more. I’m over it.”

“You’re over it?”

“Yeah, I mean- we’re friends above all else, right?”

“R-right.”

“Yeah, good. So, I’m over the whole thing.” She watched his face shift into an unreadable expression. “Sorry, I’m confused. So are you saying we’re having sex or no?”

Matty stumbled over his words, “I- erm- I don’t- know.”

Amelia took that as her cue to get off the bed. “Well,” she spoke with her back towards him, collecting her discarded clothes off the floor. “Figure out what you want, and then let me know.”

Exhale….

“It’s never happening again.” Matty pushed his arms upward, grunting at the weights.

“whatever you say, Matty.”

“ I mean it.” His breathing quickened. “She said she’s over it. Like- like I’m a horrendous case of the flu or something.”

Ross rolled his eyes. “Oh here comes George.” They spotted him walking through the door. “George- I’ve got a quick fire question for you: should Matty tell Amelia that he loves her?”

George’s brows shot up. “You mean he still hasn’t told her? Matty, bro..”

“It’s- complicated!” Matty reached for his water bottle, taking a quick sip.

“No it isn’t. It’s quite simple actually.” George insisted. “Find a time and a place when the two of you are alone, look her in the eyes and say ‘Amelia, I love you. I want to be your boyfriend. If you’ll have me’ and just like that….it’s done. You’ve done it.”

“But I’m not ready yet. I- haven’t shown her that I’m different now. I’m not ready.”

George turned to Ross as he spoke, hoping for backup. “There’s no such thing as ‘ready,’ Matty. You’re never going to achieve perfection. No human is ever perfect. What’re you waiting for?”

“For her to get a boyfriend? A husband? The birth of her second child?” Ross added, then whispered something to George about having taken it too far.

“Relationships aren’t songs, Matty.” George placed a gentle, firm hand on his shoulder. “You can’t control and edit every single moment to achieve a flawless result. If you wait for things to be just right, you’re gonna find yourself waiting forever.”

***

Matty felt his heart skip a beat every time that the elevator beeped, indicating that it had passed another floor. He checked his hair in the mirror and straightened his leather jacket, fiddling nervously with the collar. By the time that he’d stepped off the elevator and onto Amelia’s floor, he was practically giddy, floating on the ground. He smiled, excitedly, as he stared at the room number on her door. He knocked on her door as his heart knocked against his chest.

“Oh, hey, Matty.” Amelia opened the door wider once she’d realized who it was. “Come in.”

“You look nice.” He smiled, Watching her walk over to the hotel safe and take out her jewelry bag.

“Thanks, Matty.” She struggled to hook the necklace around her neck, feeling blindly for the edges of the clasp.

“Oh- here- let me.” Matty rushed over to help. Unable to resist running his finger along the curve of her neck and watching the hairs on the back of her head stand.

“Thank you.” She turned around to face him. “Did you- need something?”

“Oh, right. I actually- well, I….had wondered if you’d like to watch a film or something. Maybe get some dinner?”

“I’d love to, Matty. I really would. But I can’t tonight. I have a date.”

The blood drained from Matty’s face. His heart dropping into his stomach. “A date?”

“Yeah, in an hour actually. Hence the…” she gestured at her outfit.

Matty felt his mouth run dry. He stared at her, wide-eyed, for a long moment. “I- erm- I thought you’d said that…you didn’t know anyone in this part of the country. That…you’ve never been here before.”

“Yeah, I haven’t.” She stood in front of the mirror with an eyeliner pen in her hand. “And what better way to explore a new place than with a local handsome boy who’s lived here for ages.”

Matty stood there, tongue-tied and frozen watching her apply her makeup.

“Rain check on the film?” Her eyes met his through the mirror.

“Uhh-yeah. Yes. Yes, of course.” Matty felt his mind spiral in circles, not a single discernible thought. “Well…I guess I should leave you to it, then.” He waited for his body to muster up the strength to walk away. It took him a moment, but eventually, he managed to step towards the door. “Have fun, Amelia.”

Her attention remained focused on the task at hand, but she mumbled an expression of thanks as he walked out of the room.

Outside of her room, Matty leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair. He was already too late.

#matty healy fanfiction #matty healy fanfic #matty healy smut #matty healy fluff #matty healy angst #matty healy x oc #matty healy writing #matty healy oneshot #matty healy one shot #matty healy imagine #matty healy fic

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aesterblaster · 1 year

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Hedonism and Heavy Spending

Summary: Headcannons about how the Blue Lock characters would pamper their s/o or show love through gift giving :} , no warnings, gender neutral , askjendieufbiuebd can you tell my love language is gift giving TT

Characters: Isagi, Chris, Aryu, Rin, Reo, Niko

Songs: Putting on the Ritz - Mel Torme , I've Got A Crush On You - In The Mood , Sh-Boom - The Chords

Aryu would be a pathetic pile of a man if it wasn't for your weekly spa day. Of course he loves quality time more than anything and genuinely cherishes the moments he can spend with you instead of training or on the field. Aryu shows his love through small gestures as much as big ones, applying different spa masks with you while watching some painfully bad romance movie you two can giggle at. Sometimes you swear that he doesn't actually enjoy these types of movies and just turns them on because he likes listening to you laugh. (Which...true..)

When it comes to big gestures, expect your closet to be full with every piece of clothing you've ever had the impulse to buy. Hulls are common with him. Why not make sure that his beloved looks just as good as him? He studies your wardrobe, makes note of every style you enjoy, and matches it effortlessly. Aryu knows it's cheesy, but he loves seeing your face light up at the packages stacked against the doorway from all your favorite brands. And yes, he insists on wearing matching outfits.

Isagi is a very modest and down to earth person from a middle class background. He never really needed to save, but he never needed to spend either, type of deal. So when he gains fame and wealth from his soccer career he doesn't really know what to do with the money left over after he donates piles of it to various charities and future Blue Lock projects. A considerable amount ends up going to you. Why not enjoy traveling if he has to do it so often anyway? Or get a vacation home for when you two want to get away for a while?

Honestly, he enjoys seeing what life has to offer and being in new situations where he can really flex his brain. So expect to be brought to a ton of puzzle rooms and different types of niche resturants. If you see an experience that piques your interest just tell him about it and he'll make sure to make time in his busy schedule. After all what's the point to life if you two just stay cooped up and stop going out? Isagi relishes the feeling of solving a puzzle with you or even the drive there, resting a hand on your leg as he asks you for directions.

Chris of course gets brand deal upon brand deal, but surprisingly enough he keeps all those products away from you. As much as he puts on an act for cameras, he knows the difference between quality and something designed to work only twice. The only piece of work he brings home with him is Prince Water (which actually does taste really good). But, he is extravagant what can I say, the smallest gift you'll be getting from him is probably jewlery.

He genuinely loves you and prides himself on being able to make your life a nice and easy one. Although his ego does come into play, with many of his gifts having small reminders that they were from him, they're always catered to you. A car modified to your needs, a specific book case that fits perfectly into the corner of your office, anything really. He's usually a bit aloof, but as long as you adore him he'll adore you and pay extra attention to what he gives you instead of just throwing brand names at you.

Rin would rather die than admit this to you, but he actually appreciates it a lot when you give him gifts. He only really realizes that that's a thing he can do after you give him something for your "when we met" anniversary. Then he's head over heels for gift giving. A form of showing his love that can be exchanged wordlessly? Yes please. While he struggles to fully grasp it at first, not knowing what to get you to fully show his appreciation, he eventually finds his groove.

He enjoys just existing around you, so most of the gifts he gives you are extremely practical and can be used around the house. Rin isn't one for flaunting or hitting the town and most of the time the two of you need a staycation to rest after all the travelling to matches and interviews. The biggest gift he'd ever gotten you was a pet animal of your choice (as long as it's not something too exotic/dangerous lol) for your birthday. Albeit, only after months of you begging him.

Reo gives you big gifts without even thinking, to him an upscale vacation or getting new brand-name clothes for you is just a common courtesy. Honestly, if anything, you need to tell him to tune it down before people think that you're just with him for his money. Trust me, it's hard to start dating Reo Mikage but once you are you're guaranteed a level of luxury that you were previously blind to. He isn't the type to flaunt persay, he just doesn't think what he does is flaunting since he's grown up with it.

So what's really special, to you at least, is when he starts giving you smaller gifts. Things that might not even register as gifts. A doodle of you looking out the window or a small keychain that refrences some inside joke between the two of you. Something that only you would really understand, handed to you in passing before Reo turns to smile at you and watch your reaction. Don't bother thanking him, he'll just say not to worry about it.

Niko is honestly a huge nerd at heart. Expect a lot of books and novelty items from him. He will totally go to stores for audiences you didn't even know existed with you. Stores that sell strange mashes of anime merch and art supplies and food that have you stretching your budget. World markets are also a big place to visit for the two of you. He will beg you to take him similar places in whatever country you live in in turn.

A lot of his bigger gifts are for special occasions, Niko worries that if he gives you gifts too often they'll start to lose meaning. They're always extremely well planned out and usually take a lot of time. Like the time he brought you on a cross country roadtrip for your birthday. He adores freaking out with you over whatever obsession you're currently going through and spending time with you whenever he can.

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sugarywishes · 5 months

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My stupid thoughts on Help Wanted 2 (obvious spoilers below lmao)

ffffFFFFINEEE I like the game, and I don't mind GGY being POSSIBLY canon now. I love the fact that my boy GLITCHTRAP IS BACK!! (Still uncertain if he is Mimic, speaking of which...)

I still REALLY HATE THAT BITCHASS STUPID ASS ROBOT, but...I've reluctantly accepted as canon as well. I don't like it, I think it's still lame as an antagonistic force, and I'd much prefer it'd stay as Burntrap ONLY. If it ends up actually being Glitchtrap GODDD 💔💔 the AUs I'd have to rewrite...my personal canon ruined...Anyways, let's talk about GGY!

Uh! I guess I'm not disappointed! I have the many wonderful fnaf artists I follow (YALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE 🔥🔥) to thank for my newfound like in GGY (the concept, and surprisingly the story/other characters! I know I usually shit talk the books, but Tony and Ellis are super cool characters from what I know, maybe this'll mean I'll actually read the book eventually...maybe...👀) I'm still kind of sad that it is probably canon, now it gives people an excuse to hate on my boy more, which will totally suck (and I still think it makes him overly, well, overpowered. But hey what can I do huh??) (And I'm a little annoyed that he might canonical be patient 46) (or 47 I'm forgetting fnaf canon what is wrong w me)

ALSO VANESSA AND VANNY !! okay. I'm happy they're being used in something at least! Let's hope they appear more in stuff soon)

And also, Cassie's new model! Uh, it's nice. I think it just kind of resembles a generic 3d animated character from some b-side studio tryna knock off Disney and be used as a babysitting film. (Specific I know) and it kind of matches Gregory's a little bit more now (BUT I'M HOPING THEY CHANGE THE OTHER HUMAN MODELS, not by a lot but enough to not look uncanny like their usual designs do)

Anyways gameplay wise, frightening (as is per usual from the fnaf vr games 😭😭) love helpy's and roxy's level. And also El Chip's, the Papa Louie energy of it definitely brings me back to my undying rage against my least favorite customers...fuck you X Twins (speaking of Flipline IM GONNA SEE IF I CAN GET PAPA'S PALETERIA I HAVE TO GET IT TO SUPPORT MY QUEEN LIEZEL and Zak too ofc)

Did we play as Mapbot?? Is this a thing now??? What???? (Time to watch the billions upon billions of theory videos that explain that it's actually some obscure loser from the books) (or Cassie's dad, speaking of which I'M ALMOST DONE WITH THE FNAF 2 KCI KIDS including Charlie, which will then leave the male fnaf characters, the afton kids, and other miscellaneous characters/ocs which includes my design of her dad)

Anyways, that's it for now, I'll add more in the reblogs around the new few days if I remember lol)

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf help wanted #fnaf help wanted 2 #fnaf help wanted 2 review #fnaf review #fnaf ggy #fnaf hw #fnaf hw2 #five nights at freddys

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roselightfairy · 2 months

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Also, I suspect I know what this title is for, so I'm hoping for some fun juicy additional tidbits from:

Mod FAV snippets

Hahahahahahaha so this one is a pure vanity project, maybe the most navel gaze-y thing I've done.

When I started working with @deheerkonijn, I absolutely loved playing around in modverse and I've continued to love it. But it's an interesting balance, working with a specific set of characterizations and situations! Our depictions of Legolas in our own work often appear on the surface to be completely, completely different. While working together, we've found a ton of points of connection and similarity, and have realized that we have a very similar view of him as a character after all, but the way that looks outwardly is - uh, quite different. Influencer!Legolas is about as opposite of FAV!Legolas as you could possibly come, you know? So just for fun, just for myself, I started playing around with what my specific characterizations and OCs would look like in a similar fusion universe. It was only for me and DHK, but it was a ton of fun (and turned into, like, a Legolas Family Drama TV Show haha).

Probably the crowning jewel of anything I wrote in there, though, was a made-up magazine profile of Gimli the architect, and since I haven't given you any snippets, I'll include a bit in here:

But if he’s been collaborating with Éomer of Rohan, does that mean we can expect to see more of his work outside the country? “I’m not saying anything about that yet!” he deflects again. “Nothing is set in stone – if you’ll forgive my pun.” No amount of gentle prodding will get another word out of him, so I return to the subject of his life. What has the transition been like – between Erebor and Minas Tirith, moving outside of dwarf-only circles, and rising so quickly to prominence? “It’s been . . . surprisingly easier than I expected, actually.” He smiles fondly. “I was lucky that I made some really wonderful friends right away, and having them has helped me both with the emotional transition and with even the finer aspects of design. I might have loved Lady Galadriel when I was younger, but having an elf as an idol doesn’t mean I really knew anything about elvish design. But since I met Legolas, I’ve been introduced to a whole new world. I find I love trying to integrate all these different inspirations and sensibilities – it’s a refreshing challenge.” Ah, yes, Legolas. The elusive elvish husband who has somehow remained such an enigma to the public eye. What about him? I can’t help asking. What’s it like being a dwarf married to an elf – especially that one? Are the rumors true? Is he really that Legolas? But Glóinul refuses to tell me anything. “That’s personal,” he says. “We like to keep our private life as private as possible.” If the rumors are true, I can’t blame him. It’s been whispered that Glóinul’s husband is Legolas Thranduilion – yes, son of that Thranduil, longtime prime minister of Eryn Lasgalen and generator of the most rumor and controversy since Thingol himself. Legolas has been much farther removed from the spotlight than his sister Laerwen Thranduiliel, former Lasgalen Secretary of State and center of a fair amount of spectacle herself – but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t step forward and claim some fame himself if he asked for it. So far he’s never granted an interview, and even Glóinul has never explicitly confirmed his identity, but my eyes keep straying back to that gorgeous antique desk in his studio. If that isn’t Lasgalen design, I don’t know what is. “Legolas is my husband,” is all Glóinul will say when I point this out. “All that’s important for you to know is that he’s my most fervent supporter, my biggest inspiration, and he makes me happier than anyone I’ve ever known. He’s been with me since before all this started, and honestly I admire him more than anyone I’ve ever met.” His fond smile says it all, but I can’t help teasing a little. Even the Lady Galadriel? “Even her.” Glóinul smiles. “But I don’t think she’d hold it against me.”

Thanks for asking! These will probably never see the light of day, so it was fun to get to share a little bit of it!

#my wips #my fic #gimli #ask #adventures in cowriting

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cyberdragoninfinity · 11 months

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oh! iii/trey/michael for the character meme!

TREEEEYYY MY LITTLE STARBUCKS PINK DRINK

First impression: when he first showed up in Duel Links in like. i think like late 2021?? I was like "oh ok so that puppet freak from earlier has a little brother, INTERESTING" <--*ominous thunder as i think about How Bad Yugioh Siblings Get Me* didnt think too much of him beyond that except maybe "oh i dont. know how i feel about. his deck archetype"

Impression now: OUGHH....TREY....TREY MICHAEL III MY LITTLE GUY. i didnt expect him to be my favorite Arclight brother but he's just. So good. He's 15 and he wants his family to be alright and he wants to be useful and he wants to have friends and his design is adorable and he has a SWORD. Sobbing crying pounding my fists on the pavement. He's like the embodiment of 🙃 as a person. Smiling but barely keeping it together. I would kill for him.

Favorite moment: HIS WHOLE DUEL WITH YUMA. IS PROBABLY MY TOP FAVORITE ZEXAL DUEL STILL but especially when he's just like "if i do this maybe I can be of some use to my father and my family *literally attempts a murder-suicide that almost ends the world*. It blasted my brain clear into the stratosphere. ALSO the moment in Zexal II when he throws a sword at Mr. Heartland. HOT PINK BITCH NAMED BREAKFAST.... ATTACK!

Idea for a story: I think a post-canon Zexal story where Yuma invites both Trey and Vector over for some kind of hang out would be, really really funny. They're gonna get into a fight about who's closer to Yuma and it's only gonna dissolve when Trey realizes Vector has Fuckign Biblical Times Era Memories and can ask him about 400 B.C. era art and architecture. They're talking about Persepolitan columns now. Yuma just wants to play duel monsters.

Unpopular opinion: IDK IF IT'S UNPOPULAR OR NOT BUT I STILL. DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT CHRONOMALIES. ive said it before the concept is cool but WHY. DID THEY GIVE A DECK FULL OF INDIGENOUS ARTWORK TO A LITTLE WHITE BOY. AND MAKE IT ALL ~MYSTICAL.~ ERM. WELL !

Favorite relationship: I do absolutely adore his friendship with Yuma and how that's progressed over the course of the show, but his bond with his family makes me especially absolutely beastmode Hooting Hollering Crying. This kid is loyal almost to a fucking fault and he just loves the people he's close to SO much. HE JUST WANTED TO BE USEFUL FOR HIS DAD. HE JUST WANTED HIS FAMILY TO GO BACK TO NORMAL. GOD. shoutout also to his dynamic with Quattro, which I love. guy going freak mode and his baby brother watching the carnage like <:)

Favorite headcanon: autistic with the Ancient Civilization special interest Of All Time. In a few years time this kid's gonna come out as nonbinary and start messing around with neopronouns we can only dream of. Surprisingly ruthless board game player. Picks up slang from Yuma and can't stop. Likes fizzy bubbly drinks.

#THANK YOU I LOVE TREY. TOP FAV ZEXAL KIDDOS FOR CERTAIN #ygo posting #asks #blackfeatherdragon

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curiositythecryptid · 8 days

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Hello, back again another fic promo post!

It just took breaking a Dancy Pants machine, elemental merging and stopping the apocalypse for the nth time. Are all engagements this eventful? or, Diversity win! Nya gets a serving of the trauma salad. Cole is surprisingly experienced in the particular field.

This one is vaguely a sequel to four truths of the disembodied, if you've ever read that one! It took me a while to get around to posting this one on Tumblr bc I have some things I wanted to say about it.

Author's notes below the cut!

One very common Nya take I've seen in my year of fandom experience is that Nya still has the facial markings from her time as the Endless Sea, usually blue or glowing blue at some point, or that her hair is still water or turns into water when she uses her powers.

Those headcanons and fanart are really cool, I have to admit they lend themselves to excellent visuals, but the mechanics of them (as well as the mechanics of [shudders] Crystallized in general) always bugged me just enough to keep me thinking.

Let's start with Crystallized. To defeat Wojira, Nya merged with the ocean, opened herself up completely to her powers. In order to bring her back, they had to take her powers away, but they did so in a way that we already know (from Kai's experience) is not permanent. So, she does, and awfully quickly, get her powers back.

But wait. Isn't that separation from her powers is what brought her back to life to begin with? I like to give the show the benefit of the doubt, but still... Crystallized writing, amiright?

So anyway. I'm all for, after such a sudden burst of power being essentially fixed with some duct-tape and hardy faith, Nya having some kind of permanent mark and consequence from it all. It's just that, I think the situation was too dire and too powerfully magical for the consequence to only be a change in design. I need the functionality of her powers to be affected too, or, as I present in this fic, for her power to affect and represent her mental state in an actually risky way.

This isn't a jab at anyone who does otherwise, neither is this supposed to say no one has ever done this, I just really liked my concept and needed to ramble a little about it.

The other thing is: We have a lot of fics about Ninjago characters dealing with trauma from past seasons, and especially, a lot of fics about Jay dealing with Skybound trauma. Sometimes supported by Nya, or Cole, to deal with it. And I do love me some angst.

But while there seems to be a general, vague acknowledgement of how Nya died in a wedding gown, so I see Jaya art that banks on her not wearing a wedding gown if she gets married, but still... I feel like Nya's Skybound trauma is under-explored sometimes, especially compared to Jay's. And she went through a lot that season.

She was ignored, dehumanized, reduced to a face, forced into an outfit she didn't want, had to play into that role to appease to her kidnapper, forced to marry someone creepy, got possessed, used as a human shield and then died.

So yea. I don't think she's like. Fully Okay and Healthy about all that.

Sure, having a cool, strong woman character is fun, but a woman feeling hurt and needing a support network and showing any of the traits women have been associated with and shamed for throughout history shouldn't reduce how seriously she deserves to be taken.

I think we mostly get the idea! We're on a pretty smart website full of pretty smart writers and artists. But there might be someone in the fandom who hasn't yet, so I'm putting this out there anyway.

Thank you if you stuck around this far on this blatant ramble post, and I hope you liked the fic!

#ninjago #ninjago seabound #ninjago nya #ninjago cole #ninjago tsunamiduo #my fic #ninjago fanfiction

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standardquip · 1 month

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Heat Guy J Live Reacts

While watching Gungrave I remembered this show existed. Here are a compilation of discord messages I sent while watching the show over the course of ~2 weeks.

Key points: - This just might be an escaflowne AU - werewolves heck yes - better women than gungrave - surprise "tomatoes in anime" research

do I watch Heat Guy J (26 eps, similar to gungrave) or do I watch Black lagoon (29 eps, sexy guns starring a lady) I'm leaning toward Heat Guy J for my grey haired man quota I'm playing Heat Guy J ep 1 now so far the music is good lol kill bill inspired or kill bill was inspired bythis? I don't remember when either of those came out wow the voices are so much cooler sounding in japanese they just sound lame in english but english uses less brain power so I'll deal I'm gonna play all these at 1.5x speed because I'm on a strict schedule wow the cgi in this anime did not age well

I think this show shares a character designer with escaflowne … I might have to get this soundtrack damn this ost is all over the place but in a good way I'm only 12min into the first ep this is crazy ok alan schezar

hey look, it's Chid Freid all grown up

shut up, emo dildandau

also, they call the don of their mafia "vampire" (that's the title of the position) That's pretty neat

I'm pretty sure that's just a simplified bra design but this is the 2nd time she's shown up and all I can think of when I see her is "furry boobs"

this dude [Claire] seriously is dilandau straight up psychotic

werewolf or werecat? Hmmmmm

WHAT prisoners have their dna altered so when/if they escape prison, their faces are altered to look like beasts That is such an INSANE policy who puts sunflowers on a grave wtf

I started Heat Guy J I'm just starting ep 3 Here's my thoughts so far:

Surprisingly way more interesting than I thought it would be

The OST is god tier imo

Character design is very similar to vision of escaflowne

the android design is unique and cool bonus: at least one werewolf

ep4 it is a werewolf hecc yeah

"Have you seen my bunny?" I think I found Van

oh If we take personality into account This guy is actually folken

hot

this irish jig thing they have for the fight scenes is really entertaining

the russian roulette guy is the werewolf And I'm going back on the folken thing He's definitely Van ep5 I think this will be the last one for me tonight

fun times

[someone else says: Heat Guy J episode 1: October 1, 2002. Kill Bill Vol 1 premiere: October 30, 2003 ]

gonna try and get the next 5 eps of heat guy j done starting with ep 6 alright what's with the tomato symbolism in anime this didn't just come out of nowhere in new anime and now it's in heat guy j

[someone says: So Google has no idea why tomatoes I thought there would be like some sort of analysis on tomatoes as a symbolic device in anime ]

No it's probably not that direct like maybe japan exports a ton of tomatoes or something?

like if potatoes show up in some irish show There's a lot of history behind that (because of the potato famine) regardless of how they are actually used in the show There is a reason Just like how english is always saying "oh my god" or why they say "bless you" when you sneeze That seems benign but the reason for it is because english speakers are/were predominantly christian

Nobody's going to write an essay about why english speakers use "oh my god" or "bless you" in mass media It's something ingrained in the culture, so you'd have to look in a different context (different from its connection to why it shows up in tv shows a lot) to find the answer you're looking for

I guess ep 6 is "the stock market episode" oh boy they're really hamfisting the lessons in this one already oh boy they just explained the difference between stocks and commodities they also explained shorts (without calling them shorts)

J just caught a bullet with his BARE HANDS and it wasn't even a special scene or anything IT JUST HAPPENED

WHAT dilandau is like "I don't want you around anymore" to his butler so the butler is like "ok" AND THEN PUTS A GUN TO HIS HEAD FOR SUICIDE that's fucking crazy just leave the organization It was a free pass

ep7

cool he's got a scar now also it was just confirmed that THIS ONE is a cat

Back to tomatoes in anime: https://tasteofculture.com/2023/07/17/tomatoes-in-japan/ not as in-depth as I was hoping for

but my armchair guess is it symbolizes a gaijin making a big change to the culture and succeeding maybe an underdog story that also happens to look pretty

I wonder if this is why the tomato is getting spotlight in new anime https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/Japan-approves-gene-edited-super-tomato.-But-will-anyone-eat-it

why do japanese love the tomato so much? :skeptical fry.jpg: https://www.bbcspirits.com/gb/other-alcohols/729-liqueur-japan-la-tomato.html

ok so [person] might be onto something with the "it's just pretty" thing https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/100_10 this abstract makes it more clear that tomatoes were grown primarily because they were pretty. They didn't start eating them until the 1920s!

starting ep 10 now

alright Let's see if I can get to ep 15 I want to start a different series

ep11 was about mind control You know, it's been awhile since we saw the werewolf guy I wonder if he'll be in ep12

Heat Guy J is way more entertaining than the trailer made it seem but there's no real over-arching plot so I'm kind of bored of it now But not bored enough of it that I am ok abandoning it without finishing HELL YEAH WEREWOLF GUY IS IN THIS ONE oh lame they reused the animation from the other episode 😔

ep13 (yay) if I could finish this series today, that would be cool idk if I can keep focused on it much longer though I actually kind of want to go to bed… :reigensweat: (it's only 6pm here)

Starting ep15 The last one for today oh damn they legit destroyed heat guy j they just gave the main character super lsd

… j will make a full recovery damn plot armor

damn MC's (Daisuke) got plot armor from the super lsd too what a letdown

well ep15 is over and nothing has fundamentally changed I'm going to bed I guess And by "Bed" i mean laying down and browsing reddit on my phone til I fall asleep

ok let's see if I can get through 16 - 20 of heat guy j tonight

ep16 MC's brother, alan with glasses, was shot and is in the hospital. I guess he doesn't have plot armor. Meanwhile, dildandau's organization tries to overthrow him because he's too psychotic I wasn't paying much attention, I'm not sure if it succeeded or not

ep17 continues this plot MC & J leave the city and MC smells clean air and grass for the first time He doesn't like nature smells one random side character is the voice of those toonami music video narrator's (outlaw star narrator?) and it's sooo weird

hell yeah werewolf is back werewolf guy aka van is actually just a deus ex He only appeared for 5 seconds to make plot armor for MC 😩 ep18 MC got fired from the special unit. So he and J are now no longer partners alan is out of the hospital I think MC is going after the gang organization that dildandau used to be head of. is currently head of? It's still confusing

ok looks like dildandau is uhhh not present mentally and is maybe on the run So I guess the coup succeeded lol dildandau's character name is claire rival crime gangs are all after claire because they need his eyes to defeat some retinal scanner to access a ton of gold

J has been re-activated to be the plot armor for MC, who happens to be in the same room as clair currently while this gang war is going on yadda yadda somehow MC got the special unit formed again ep19 MC trying to recruit werewolf to the new special unit oh werewolf history episode yay

werewolf joined them yay ep20 Probably the last one before bed tonight There's 26 eps total, so maybe I can finish it tomorrow ep20 today we learn lightsabers just casually exist in this universe oh There's also an evil clone of J apparently

the evil J is trying to kill the MCs but normal J is nowhere to be found I wonder why that is oh there he is finally J vs J battle has commenced J is so OP evil J is dead now ehhhh let's watch ep 21, then call it some random side character has lost his black cat, named juliet aaaand now he's dead

juliet sees it And with his dying breath, he reaches for the cat "I have to make sure that you get home" Sad surprisingly powerful for random side character who has never shown up before oh wait He has shown up before lmao his name is romeo of course he'd name his cat juliet poor juliet

ok ep21 done bed now finish heat guy j tomorrow hopefully

alright let's see if we can watch the last 5 eps of heat guy j today beginning ep 22 this time the killer machine is A WOMAN! you know, this show has more women than the last one (Gungrave), which is good, but so far every single "evil" woman has been mind controlled meaning apparently women don't have the power to be bad of their own accord So that's kind of weird that it's happened twice now

the mechanic for J is very obviously in love with him I mean it was obvious from the first ep she was introduced but now it's even more obvious This looks like it's going to turn into "the beach episode"

oh shit, the island's owned by sephiroth! 😂

ep 23 There's a reoccuring small girl photographer character. She sells photos from a carriage on the street with a mule. So we start this ep with her carriage (which is also her house) burning to the ground girl is stoic, mom is crying and sobbing Girl says "Darn. I forgot my camera. I bet I could've sold a photo of this to the news for some money"

monica (the girl) now lives with the special squad and she is spitting some straight facts J has agreed to pretend to be monica's dad She is using him as a stage performer so she can get money LOL Now she's using him to gamble haha

so you're telling me that in all the years MC has been carrying this bullet pendant around his neck, he never once tried to open it? give me a break Monica opened it and found a memory card inside which is a thing MC needed to solve a crime anyway, ep24 time woman assassin! is she acting of her own accord though? Let's find out

Turns out MC's brother, Alan (actually named Shun) was the evil one all along! Oh Female assassin is actually J's technician! womp womp and shun just killed her sad trombone.mp3 and now he's controlling J!

oh no.jpg

ep25 begins (second to last episode) claire/dildandau makes a triumphant return, to tell MC his brother is the one behind this! Because MC was too dumb to figure it out himself for some reason rather than MC fighting J, beautiful werewolf deus ex appears out of nowhere and forces J into sleep mode

something weird is happening with alan's voice I'm predicting he is actually an android as well Let's see if this bet pays off dildandau got his organization back

same face syndrome killed me the assassin was shun/alan's assistant, not J's technician time to start the final ep, ep26

this is dumb the anime is too episodic now what do I want to watch next? (even though ep26 is still going on in the background) - High Card - Link Click season 2 - Blood Blockade Battlefront - Grenadier - Noein - Black Lagoon

Currently I am interested in lots of guns and gray haired men idk which is more important so maybe a good 50/50 ratio is perfect 🤔 well if we go in download date order, I should do Black Lagoon next… MC to evil brother: "The only think I'm here to kill… Is your anger" 😂

plot armor is in full effect in this episode now there's fireworks because some random deus ex kills everyone that mattered to the coup evil brother tries to kill himself nothing matters evil brother is not an android sad evil brother does not die and decides to not be evil anymore they gave him amnesty This has less stakes than an MCU movie MC goes on a kino's journey without J series ends super lame I am going to make a very nonsensical decision and start High Card next oh no its japanese with subs only! 😩 I don't want to deal with that right now Guess I'll go with Black Lagoon

I finished Heat Guy J It's too episodic for my tastes Also the plot armor was super thick I have started Black Lagoon I'm on ep9 currently It's much better (Heat Guy J OST was still amazing though) the only thing black lagoon is missing is a silver haired guy

well there's 29 eps... More than enough time for one to show up

#heat guy j #sqreacts #live reacts #heat guy j live reacts #escaflowne au #werewolves #tomatoes in anime

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benis-chillin · 2 months

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Backlog Reviews 2024: Metroid Dread

Platform: Switch

March 9th, 2024-April 4th, 2024

This has been the big one for me for a while. Back in late 2022, I binged through Zero Mission, Samus Returns, Super Metroid, and Fusion, and have had a craving for this final 2D Metroid since. Not many game series have clicked with me in the same way Metroid has, so this is a case where I HAVE to play every game in at least SOME form.

And while I just found Prime to be a bit "eh" last year, I'm still going to give any of the other games a fair shake. Cause like with Sonic before it, I HAVE to know for myself. Even Other M will get that treatment someday.

And so, after a year of waffling that was terrible, I finally nabbed a cartridge on EBay and got to playing what may be one of my favorites in the series, if not THE favorite. If I were to describe how this game plays, it would be like if Samus had continued to get 2D games on the DS and 3DS after Fusion, and we're just at the next step of THAT evolution. It's insane how much of a progression this is from even Samus Returns, with new moves and weapons that I would've NEVER thought of for Metroid, but feel like, "Of course, why WOULDN'T you?" after you're introduced to the concept. They also keep the morph ball from you for a WHILE, which was surprisingly bold. After seeing my other favorite video game character regress so much in his 2D game design for his past decade of games, this was nice to see.

The world can become a bit unwieldy at times, but this is a fairly easy world to navigate once you've got the hang of it. While I didn't mind the more linear progression of Fusion and Samus Returns, I'm glad that they did cut back on Adam outright telling you where to go. He doesn't really have THAT much dialogue, and it's more just telling you what to avoid and what to look out for in terms of upgrades.

As for the story, it is REALLY good…Save for one thing I'll talk about later. It's fairly simple, but the stakes are high personally for Samus, and it ties her adopted heritage with the Chozo into the grander plot very naturally. This story could've gone really badly if not done right, and it warms my heart to see it executed so beautifully. And yes, when THAT moment happened at the end, I DID shed a single, sexy tear.

So that's a fair summary of the good stuff, so I'm gonna whine and complain a bit before we wrap up.

For one thing, bosses. Even on Rookie Mode, they're long, spammy, and kinda repetitive. The strategy for all of them is "don't get hit, and spam them with missiles." The only ones that break this up are Kraid when you sequence break for early bombs, and the twin Chozo warriors when they want you to learn how to use Storm Missiles. Everybody else was the same exact strategy, even the final boss against Raven Beak. And this problem wouldn't be so bad if there weren't SO MANY OF THEM, especially towards the end. It started to slow my progress, cause I'd wake up some days just NOT wanting to deal with any random boss encounter they'd throw my way.

They at least wait until the very end to throw the cheapest boss at you, unlike the latest offering by a certain blue rat that I played recently, but I'd definitely say the bosses were more of a negative than a positive.

E.M.M.I.s were also inconsistent. Sometimes, they'd work right and be this terrifying encounter that you just BARELY scraped past, other times they'd be a cheap kill that sets you back with no real consequences since there's not THAT much space between the E.M.M.I. doors in any given area. And then most of the time, they were just laughable clowns that you can just Scooby Doo around until you get to the next door. You can have some cool encounters with them, but even early on these guys are total posers.

And while I praised all of the moves we got earlier, there is a part of me that thinks MAYBE we got too many of them? Maybe it was my developing case of carpal tunnerl syndrome, or the Switch Lite's underscaled buttons for these kind of games, but the stronger I got, the harder it was to manage all of my weapons in a boss battle. Plus, there were upgrades I barely even used, like the Speed Booster, that maybe could've been cut. I know people are gonna be mad at me for saying the Speed Booster sucks, but you can accomplish most of what it does through normal movement and the Screw Attack, so I don't see the point of it. Samus Returns managed just fine without it.

And now for the spoiler rant, so if you don't want to be spoiled, just don't read the section between the big text, m'kay?

SPOILER ZONE

So at the end of the game, we find out that the events of the game have drawn out Samus' Metroid DNA she got back in Fusion. She is becoming more Metroid-like as time goes on, which makes sense given all of the X that are now out and about.

HOWEVER, the game explains this as her Thoha DNA she got as a child keeping it at bay until she met Raven Beak at the beginning, because he is a Mawkin. The Thoha were the ones who made the Metroids, so Adam reasons out that this is why the Metroid DNA kept things quiet until meeting the Mawkin, who slaughtered the Thoha on SR388.

SO HER METROID DNA WAS SCARED OF HER THOHA DNA!?

THAT MAKES NO DAMN SENSE!

Samus' Metroid DNA comes from the baby Metroid she spared during Metroid 2/Samus Returns, who descended from the Metroids who evolved out of the Thoha's control due to Aeion energy. This DNA is from a set of Metroids who have no loyalty to the Thoha, and would thus not CARE.

Additionally, if Raven Beak's Mawkin DNA triggered it in the beginning, HOW WAS SAMUS ALREADY NOT IN THIS STATE? This game establishes that she HAS Mawkin DNA inside of her! RAVEN BEAK'S MAWKIN DNA, no less! Did it just conviniently ignore that?

Not to mention that Other M established that the Baby Metroid was, in fact, a Queen Metroid larva, which is why it protected Samus at the end of Super and such. I think such special DNA would get past these boundaries regardless.

(And yes, I'm aware of the implication that Samus is a Queen because of this. We all already knew that, so it's irrelevant)

And finally, DNA DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

Okay, spoilers over.

So yeah, my problems with it would bump it down to a 9/10 normally, but I'm going to restore a point because Samus looks damn sexy in her armor in this game. Every one of her main suits is hot af, so basically, in the merits of being oddly attracted to a woman in a robot suit:

10/10

Next…Idk. I'm gonna take a break to nurse my carpal tunnel for a bit. So…See you next mission, I guess.

#metroid #metroid dread #gaming backlog

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crying-pan420 · 2 years

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Ride the cyclone horror au (Murky waters?? Or something) Prologue

Ride the cyclone horror au

(Murky waters?? Or something)

Prologue

November 14th, Constance's 18th birthday. Her parents had agreed to let her celebrate however she wished (within reason of course) so she decided to rent the cabin down by the lake in Uranium to spend the weekend with her friends. It wasn’t the biggest place in the world but it would do, she had brought air mattresses to make sure no one slept on the floor. She was also the first to arrive and got to take in her beautiful surroundings without the ruckus that was the rest of the choir, though that peaceful silence was short-lived as Ocean arrived second. In her hand she carried the most perfectly wrapped gift ever, it would almost feel like a crime to tear it open, almost.

“Constance!” her sickly sweet voice rang out as she approached, and as much as Constance loved her best friend her voice seemed to shattered the tranquillity.

“Hi Ocean! So glad you could make it.”

“Of course I could make it! You’re my best friend and I helped you organise it, dummy!” Ocean smiled as she handed over the perfect present. “I hope you like it!” her grin widened as she spoke before turning on the spot to try to figure out what Constance was looking at before she arrived. And surprisingly they carried on like that in silence. Ocean wasn’t one to leave time where her voice could very easily fill the air but she seemed content with the peace the two sat in.

The next to arrive was Noel and that really broke the silence. He handed over his present and he and Ocean immediately started staring each other down which was shortly turned into an argument about god knows what, to be completely honest Constance completely zoned out only checking back into reality as she heard the sound of a large car approaching.

The van parked up and out came Mischa, penny, ricky and three differently wrapped presents.

They had some idle chat before heading inside for whatever chaos to unfold.

“So I may or may not have almost forgotten to pick these two up… But! I was recording my new music video “Cracking eggs!!”.” The tallest spoke before flopping down onto the old but comfy couch.

Eventually they all got settled after fighting over who was sitting where.

“Mischa you can’t have the whole couch! That's so unfair!”

“Budge up would you! I don’t have any room”

“Guys can we please stop slapping each other”

“OH MY GOD!”

“Crisis averted, I found a bean bag.”

However now was the hard part, what were they going to do first?

“Oh, we could have a look around,” The ginger spoke first making sure no one could get a word in, “It’s apparently supposed to be beautiful around the lake, especially at night!”

“Not so sure a midnight stroll around a lake near a forest past sunset is the best idea, Ocean.”

“I hate to agree with Ocean but I think I’d like the vibe of that.” Replied Noel.

“Ok! Scrap that plan now!”

“Oh, I hope you choke on your own ego.”

“I hope you-”

“Nope not having this again! Any other ideas?” Constance shot in, hoping to end another argument before it had even begun.

“We could play some games! I brought my switch so maybe a Mario Kart tournament?” Ricky signed while opening his bag.

The choir all hummed in agreement for once and started the most competitive game of Mario Kart ever.

Neither Ocean or Noel could even play the game properly but insisted they were better than the other. Penny Was surprising good, Mischa more interested in picking a cool character and designing the car then skills but he was still pretty good, Constance just really enjoyed playing (and beating Ocean at something) but none of them were as good as Ricky. He was absolutely phenomenal. Coming first literally every game.

“Did you just suggest this so you could win every round?” Ocean asked

“Yes.” Ricky signed back.

“That's just cheating!”

“It's not cheating you're just a sore loser Ocean! Because I beat you last round, making me better!”

“You didn’t win last round Noel! You cheated and you know it!” “Oh please enlighten me on how I cheated Ed sheeran!” To that Mischa burst out with laughter and once again it turned to pure utter chaos!

“I should’ve bought popcorn, this is getting good.” Penny leaned back into her bean bag (the one she rightfully stole from Mischa). “I have some…for the bean bag back.”

“I am not giving you my precious bean bag! Go get your own!”

“Then I guess this bag of toffee popcorn is all mine.” Mischa shrugged and began to open the bag

“NO!” Penny jumps onto Mischa and begins to wrestle him for the popcorn that is now dropped onto the floor.

“Guys please…” Constance stands up sounding close to tears, of joy or sadness no one knows.

However Penny and Mischa are wrestling, Ocean and Noel are arguing but are so close to another slapping match, Constance is about to sob and Ricky has now stolen the toffee popcorn and is enjoying the show.

Quickly everything dissolves into laughter. Penny starts weakly slapping Mischa as he can’t move beneath her. It has now become a laughing match to see who will stop first. Constance did start crying, tears of laughter, and Ricky has abandoned the bag of toffee popcorn, it now belongs to the floor.

When the Choir can all breathe again they climb back into their designated seats to decide what now.

“Well we could play more video games-”

“So you could beat us again, no thank you!”

“Aww Oceans a sore loser!”

“SO ARE YOU?!?!?”

“Nope stop, not this again>”

“We could bake a cake?”

“Yeah our popcorn kinda… fell?” Mischa gazed upon his lost popcorn, wiping away a fake tear.

“Our poor popcorn, may you never be forgotten…” Ricky signed, patting Mischa on the back.

“Baking it is! Can any of you other than me bake?”

“...” the room was silent.

“Well this should be worse than Mario Kart.”

The six of them all made their ways to the kitchen and began what could only be described as anarchy.

“Alright so, how do you make a cake?” Mischa looked out upon the many ingredients Constance had laid out in front of them along with bowls and utensils.

“You put it all together and mix obviously!” The ginger said proudly like it was an achievement.

“I’ll get an online recipe…” Constance groaned out, as much as she loved them all, they were all pains in her backsides and they knew it. She opened up her phone looking for a cake recipe that would work with the ingredients, surprisingly enough they could make red velvet cake though I doubt it was the best idea for the choir.

“Ok so here is a recipe for red velvet cake.”

“The only good cake…” Noel sighed out.

“Ewww ginger cake!”

“I change my mind, terrible cake, absolutely terrible!”

“Hey!!”

“How fast can we make the cake? I'm hungry because Mischa was so selfish!”

“I made a deal! You just didn’t accept!”

“The sooner we start the sooner the cake will be done!”

They all stopped and looked towards the phone for instructions, I guess cake really is that good.

The baking began. They brought in a chair for Ricky because standing the whole time would’ve been a massive pain. They all fought over who would crack the eggs, Mischa, Penny and Ocean winning.

“Take that, losers!”

They all took turns mixing, some more aggressive than others…

“MISCHA!!! Stop it, you're getting cake mix on EVERYONE!!!��

After that Mischa got banned from touching the mix.

The rest of the cake mix was uneventful except for some new rules put in place.

“My parents left me home alone once so I had to use the oven myself and almost burnt the house down…”

“SAME!!!”

“You’re allowed in the kitchen? I’m not allowed in the actual house most the time.”

“You guys need help…”

“Alright so, Ocean, Penny and Mischa aren’t allowed near the oven!”

“That's bullshit!”

“Language! But that's not fair!”

“I wanna touch the fire

“You guys remember to preheat the oven right?” Ricky signs as he grabs the phone with the instructions on.

“Shit…”

“Language!”

“Why do we need to preheat it? It's going to be the same temperature.”

“Can I turn the oven on, I want to use the lighter…”

“What kind of weird oven do you have that needs a lighter??”

“It's a gas oven idiot.”

“Well I’m sorry! Unlike you, I’m not an oven connoisseur, I actually have a life!”

“I have a life!”

“Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Can we please preheat the oven now?” Ricky signed, then he gestured to the still cold oven.

“I’ll do it because I don’t trust any of you with a lighter.”

“Pretty fire…”

Constance snatched the lighter before Penny could’ve grabbed it and most likely burnt the house down.

“Alright, the oven is heating and we still have a few more things to add, let’s hope this works!”

They return back to baking without anymore slip ups. Noel was trusted to place the cake in the oven and didn’t mess up or burn himself . That was the first and only time he was trusted in the kitchen.

“How long is the cake gonna take?”

“About half an hour.”

“HALF AN HOUR?!?”

“That is gonna take foreverrrrrrr!!” Noel dramatically whined, leaning back on the nearest surface which was covered in flour.

“That bitch really takes its time…”

“Language!”

“Fuck!” Ricky signs, annoying Ocean some more, “Can we decorate the cake to look like a cat, I miss mine…”

“All 14?”

“Yeah”

“Cat cake, cat cake, cat cake!” Penny repeats as she creates a little dance in the middle of the kitchen.

“So what are we going to do in half an hour?”

“Dance!”

“Already ahead of you!” Constance grabs her phone and switches to spotify. She plays one of her many good playlists and sets a timer for 30 minutes.

The choir then started dancing in the kitchen. Mischa and Noel danced together, Penny sat down next to Ricky and they bopped their heads together and made handshakes in time with the music, Ocean and Constance jumped up and down singing along to the songs.

Their dance party ends when the ringing of the timer goes off and they all rush around the kitchen looking for oven mitts.

They eventually find them and remove the cake from the oven.

“So this needs to cool down before we can- we could’ve been decorating in those 30 minutes.”

“No! The dance break was important!” They all nod in agreement and go to make the icing but it doesn’t take long for it to all go down hill.

“Don’t you dare!”

“FOOD FIGHT!!”

“AH! Noel don’t get any of that on me!”

“Why? You’ll have an allergic reaction?”

“PROBABLY!”

“REVENGE OF THE BEAN BAG!!!”

“REVENGE OF THE POPCORN!!” Penny launches herself at Mischa and the two start slapping each other with icing.

Ricky grabs the bowl and throws some at Noel and Constance is being attacked in icing by Ocean.

After a few minutes and they are all mostly covered in icing, they encounter a problem.

“We’re out of icing..”

“nOOOOOOOO!” Mischa cries out dramatically to the ceiling as Penny uses his shoulder to fake cry on.

“Shit.” Ricky signs.

“I guess we'll just have to enjoy plain cake because as much as the walk sounded good earlier it is now pitch black and I don't want icing that much.”

“Ugh!”

“Ocean, be our brave champion, retrieve the icing!” Ricky signs with Penny and Mischa aggressively nodding with him.

“No!! I don’t want to get murdered!”

“If you did, we’d all remember you…”

“No!”

At that Constance grabbed a knife and started cutting the cake into twelve slices.

“So we can all eat the cake, then get cleaned up and into pj’s. Sound good?”

They all nod while taking their two slices of cake. Mischa finishes first and rushes to get cleaned up. Noel and Ocean competed to finish first (Noel won because Ocean started choking on cake) and everyone else just enjoyed the cake though Penny kept saying it would’ve been better with icing.

Mischa was ready first so he stole the bean bag and got out his selection of horror movies.

“Oh yes, it is all coming together!”

Eventually the rest of them all trickled out and sat down, Penny glaring at Mischa, Ocean and Noel staring in fear at the stack of movies.

“So I brought with me my favourite horror movies so we could watch them-” “But halloween was like, two weeks agooooo…”

“Yeah, but we’re in a spooky, separated log cabin by a lake at night, it's still fitting.”

“Mischa. That makes it worse.”

“Oh stop being babies! You guys wanna watch horror films right?”

Penny nods aggressively but not without garling at her bean bag first, Ricky nods as well.

“Well since you brought films you really enjoy, I don’t see why we can’t watch them…”

“See! The birthday girl agrees with me! And Penny and Ricky…”

Both Ocean and Noel sigh in defeat then look at the other in pure utter disgust.

“Alright so first we are going to watch my absolute favourite, Saw V!” He pulled out the Saw V disk and put it into the DVD player. They all watched the movie and Noel gradually crept closer to Mischa on his beanbag, Ocean hid behind a blanket, Penny was mesmerised, Ricky jumped back at any jumpscares (I’ve never watched a Saw film) but to everyone's surprise Saw VI was the one playing.

“But that's Saw VI?”

“No no, Saw V.”

“What?”

“How are you all even watching the film? It's terrifying!” Ocean called out from behind her blanket of protection.

“It’s not that bad…” Ricky signs looking towards Ocean.

“Yes. It. Is. It’s like watching a car crash!”

“I mean, it’s ok…” Noel replied working harder on stealing the bean bag from Mischa, he was succeeding.

“ALRIGHT! Enough messing around! Next one!”

And the cycle repeated, they watched the movie, screamed, complained, shushed, the movie ended, they discussed it, the next movie. It carried on like that for a while until Ocean fell asleep, then Noel, Mischa, Ricky, Constance and Penny were the last two awake.

“Should we wake them and get them into proper beds?”

“No…leave them, they look comfy.” Constance looked upon her friends before heading to turn the TV and the lights off. She shuffled back into her comfy spot on the couch next to the blanket twisted Ocean. Penny fell asleep next, basically falling off of the couch and onto the floor. She'd definitely wake up on the floor in the morning. Constance probably should’ve helped her up a bit but was too tired to move. Constance drifted off to sleep looking back on the best day of her life, she slightly wished it would never end, that her and her friends could always stay here worry free, but be careful what you wish for, it might come true…

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4fterthought · 2 years

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Yes, He Man CGI season 3 has writing problems

- The snakemen are just kinda... there? The entire second season was dedicated to trying to stop Skeletor from releasing the snakemen, He releases the snakemen anyways. Oh no! the world is in danger due to all the snakes everywhere! Except no, the are dealt with mostly offscreen. Skeletor immediately switches gears to a different plan, one that has NOTHING to do with the snakes. These guys are even more pointless of a detour as they were in 200x. At least the ones in 200x had personalities.

- The story struggles to flow in an easy to follow manner. The only way I can really explain it is like when you are playing a video game but you’re just following the quest by fast travelling to the locations to advance the plot, missing the bits that connect in a seamless transition. It just feels like the characters are going from place to place but accomplish next to nothing at each location besides get into another fight scene.

- Speaking of fight scenes, there’s too many of them. Not only that, but I feel they were much sloppier this season than the last. A few were actually quite hard to follow, and that only a few had the proper amount of effort put into making them pop out like the more iconic ones from previous seasons.

- We get back to back revelations that Grayskull colonized the merfolk and that Eldress committed genocide and we get... nothing? Both of these are immediately overshadowed by Teela parentage reveal and Eldress dying so it’s just kinda left at “Well that sucks ):” and then mer man dies and the plot just kinda moves on

- Did NO ONE on the writing team think of the implications of portraying the merfolk as blindly devoted to their colonizers and portraying their genocide as “sad but probably at least somewhat justified”??? ESPECIALLY RIGHT AFTER STATING THAT WEBSTOR AND THE OTHER SPIDERS ARE IDOLIZING STRATOS IN A SIMILAR WAY?????

- Edgy He Man feels. Not so great. It feels like they weren’t so sure if the problem was that he was possessed, or evil, or just couldn’t use the sword, or just Edgy now, and I feel like it struggles with what they’re trying to portray the entirety of episode 5 until the end.

- They wanted to have this big scene where all of the people He Man helped come together to show his impact to... redeem him and bring him back to clarity or whatever. However, since the show had surprisingly little of He Man making an impact on characters who could be there for that scene, the line up for the pep talk ends up being Stratos (who He Man bullied the entire time), Mosquitara (who’s redemption had been solely Stratos’ doing offscreen), Webstor (who didn’t even MEET He Man before his own redemption), and Gary (who is Gary).

- Season 1 had an entire episode dedicated to the others embracing Ork-0 as part of their main circle. Season 3, though? They don’t even THINK about him until the next time they need him to accomplish a task. They just left him to take care of the clones and bailed. That’s kinda messed up.

- They gave the OG Orko an absolutely perfect chefs kiss design and then gave him a grand total of like. Three Minutes of screen time. I am sick and tired of this happening.

- In season 1, Eldress has a line about how the original Orko didn’t have “True Heart” or whatever. It was super interesting because it implied some sort of au where the original Orko was never humbled by his magic being scrambled, leading him to remain arrogant, which was supported by Ork-0′s initial behaviour after coming into existence. The least the show could have done was actually... acknowledge it, once they got around to revealing the original Orko? Instead, his only real flaw is running away from his problems, which is something no different than any other iteration of Orko would do. There is no hint of arrogance, and he also still screws up his magic. Wouldn’t it have worked better if we actually gotten the chance to explore this alternate version of the character to directly compare environmental influence on him? no? ok, guess he’ll just solve his character conflict offscreen, then...

- why did they reveal orko’s legs. that did not need to happen.

- Cringer didn’t have much to do this season besides the brief bonding moment with Randor. The entire Krass subplot isolates the conflict to between Adam and Krass, and Cringer, who presumably also was involved with Krass’ life, doesn’t really get any say of opinion besides one scene where He-Man voices his own conflicted feelings about the situation and Cringer’s just kinda like. Yeah. His feelings aren’t really acknowledged until after Krass is redeemed and he’s like “Yay you’re still alive and also not evil anymore!!” and that’s really all we get. Then he goes “I’m a protector not a predator!” as if he had some sort of character arc this season or that such a statement was ever in question.

- Duncan has it even worse off. He really only spends the season being comic relief and/or commentating on various plot developments. It’s quite bizarre since season 2 clearly set up that his intended arc would be his need for a family and experiencing things he did not get the chance to before i.e. birthdays. However, this season just kinda ditches that in his arc climax in exchange for Duncan reassuring himself that he is a builder, which had not been in question since early season 1, if that.

- they gave man-e-faces the most interesting and compelling take of any man-e to exist and then promptly ditched him in this season to do nothing but flirt with evil lyn. why

- This show does not understand the concept of following through with stakes!! The whole show is just like “Oh no, we have to stop Skeletor from bringing back the snake men!!” but then the snake men arrive and are more or less taken care of within the first few episodes of 3. “Oh no! we have to stop the Eldress from dying!!” Except she dies and Teela’s just kinda ok with it now. “Oh no we have to get He-Man unhavoc’d!!” but it’s as easy as just. some guy he bullied for a few episodes giving him a pep talk about the power of friendship. “Oh no! We have to stop Skeletor from getting Grayskull’s bones!!” Except he gets the bones and it does nothing besides bring him back and i guess give him immunity from the whole havoc/light conflict, and by the time it becomes relevant again he just immediately upgrades into a bigger creature rendering the previous change underwhelming. “Oh no! We have to stop the Goop™ from spreading across the land and making everyone evil!!!” Except literally two minutes after the wall is built (the others there still reacting to the wall having been built) the Goop™ promptly Goes Away, which means Duncan’s bare effort of a character arc was entirely pointless because the Goop™ problem could have easily just have been fixed by running away for a little bit.

It’s absolutely baffling the season turned out this way, because season 2 was setting up for some great things. I had my worries about some potential slip ups I caught onto early on and braced accordingly, but I was shocked about how disappointed I was with the season anyways. It really is a shame, I wish I could have enjoyed it more.

I think it’s main problem is that, like Revelation, it just didn’t have enough episodes. I remember early on wistfully wishing we had got more of this show since I would have enjoyed more content, but now I REALLY wish we had more since the show can’t really stand without supplemental content.

But what’s absolutely wild is just how different these same sentiments vary from Revelation. With Revelation, I wish there were more episodes, because everything was Very Noticably compressed and merged and skipped over to make the plot fit into ten episodes.

But with CGI, it just feels like there ARE more episodes, and that they are simply missing.

It’s like if your friend watched a show that they really really liked, and wanted to recommend to you. However, since you don’t have time to binge a 100+ episode show, they just gather together a list of the main plot episodes, and maybe a handful of good episodes they liked that provided some content that fuled subplots and set up foreshadowing. Then you watch this collection of 26 episodes out of a 100+ episode show, and you are so, so lost. There’s callbacks you don’t understand, relationship bonds that appear out of nowhere, obvious foreshadowing that never comes back again, so much happening offscreen that you feel should have been covered, and you feel nothing when it’s over because you couldn’t bond enough with the characters.

That was my experience watching this show.

It feels like Netflix is lying to me when I check the episode list and see the amount of episodes that appear each season. It feels like Everyone in the fandom who likes this show somehow managed to access an extra hundered or so episodes and years of development that I somehow missed out on. It’s such a bizarre phenomenon. Are all the Revelation haters just in denial and unwilling to admit that the “competing” motu show could also have bad writing? Are people just too preoccupied by Hordak appearing that they just straight up forgot everything else that happened this season?

I am just. so confused and disappointed after watching this season. just sitting here sighing with my head in my hands. why

#cgi motu #he man cgi #motu #masters of the universe #he man #he man cgi spoilers

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thewipartist · 2 years

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Ya boi Nick Nack for the characters bingo

Nick my love-

OKAY WHERE TO START- Some things may include headcannons and rambles.

I really love everything about Nick Nack as a whole. From his design to his personality, he just hits different for me.

I love how ugly yet pretty he looks. Nick's eyes are surprisingly beautiful, but goddamn boy, how much make-up do you need? I do love the little detail of his lipstick being heart-shaped. Underrated detail right there, and love it when characters have that. Turtlenecks plus suits are underrated as hell too, and LOVE characters that have that in their wardrobe.

Honestly I would be both afraid yet adore Nick if he ever existed. Realistically, he would strangle me the second I show my more chaotic nature, but I do see him as being a gentlemen as well. I would love to have a little tea or coffee date with him if I could. Love how he respects coffee drinkers, being a coffee drinker myself.

I oddly see ALOT of myself in Nick, the more I find out about him. Personally, I see him having really bad self-esteem issues like I do. To the point that you call yourself horrible things if you mess up on something simple despite you practicing so many times. The difference is Nick seems to try to hide it by being narcissistic as his way to build confidence. I generally believe Nick sees himself as a disappointment at times, and Riley only adds onto those issues. Like making him break down, saying horrible things behind his back, and using Mortimer as a threat in a unused personal log. I don't think he even WANTS to hurt Owen at times, since there was old death scenes where he cried over Owen and said "What did I do?".

He is very emotional and seem to be self-conscious about his work too, kinda like me. I take things to heart, and sometimes beat myself over it. When I get a compliment, which I am not really use to in general, I get really happy, especially with people I look up to. I see that exact behavior in Nick when it comes to the performances around Owen. Nick considers Owen as a father and gets really excited when Owen vists him, goes to his performances and approves of the performance. He gets really upset if you ignore him, leave mid performance or don't show approval. Having someone you look up to ignore or treat something you worked hard on with little regards really hurts.

I just want to shake Nick around before keeping him close to me so he doesn't get hurt again. I may love Riley but I swear to god if she does something to him, I am throwing hands. The crew are literally big squishmallows size wise.

I really love the voice of Nick too, and the interview with the voice actor of Nick to get more information. So the idea of Nick swinging a knife happily as he says "FATHER!" in excitement is both really cute and funny as hell. He seems the type to be unaware of what he is holding at times if he sees someone that he highly adores. That and the vocal range he has from a nice humming tune to voice cracks.

Really wished we could've seen him more in the first game. I would love to see how he would reacted with Scout and their host, then at the tea party. It would be kinda funny if he sided a bit with Scout and Mortimer of how they weren't pests at all and there was nothing wrong with them. I am happy he's finally getting his own spotlight in the prequel!

I played the the game demos found it funny that he constantly booked it after me and didn't leave the lockers at all when I first played it. So either A. He didn't want me to leave or B. He knew I was gonna mess around with him and didn't take my bullshit lightly-

TLDR: I see a lot of myself in Nick Nack and he's the reason why he's a top comfort character for me. He's essentially an emotional wreck.

#rambles #asks #hello puppets

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fruitsofhell · 2 years

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(Just FYI this isn’t meant to be a “How You Should Write Your Kirby Headcanons” post, its just me explaining reasoning for my own and I thought it would be fun to share!!)

So the way I’ve factored KatFL into my timeline of Kirby Ancients Lore is that all the background of the Forgotten Land happened before and/or separately from any events previously explained to be connected to “the Ancients.” I’ve basically read it as the Ancients being the people of Halcandra and Jambandra, and that the people of the Forgotten Land are precursors to them - the Ancients of the Ancients. But I’ve seen a lot of stuff online where people have the time of the FL and the Halandran Ancients mingle, like Galacta and and Elfilis being meeting or sealing Void and other stuff like that. It kind of made me realize, “Wait? Do I even have a concrete reason why I interpreted it like this other than vibe?” But I realized I actually do, and its a meta thing about how these games are written.

In a couple interviews recently Kumazaki and the dev team have stated that the series is entirely designed around gameplay first, which means any world-building and lore comes after the main elements of the game are in place. Every new game is built to be self-contained for the most part with the threads of details and basic character arcs connecting them so that they don’t have to fret over story while planning a fun game. That explanation is where that infamous in my mind “There is no canon timeline” quote came from. -

- What that probably means is that the plots of each game and therefore a majority of the lore of them is not planned before hand. Kumazaki just has a blueprint for basic aspects like the existence of the Ancients on Halcandra and the magic and science stuff, and then as each game came out he played by ear and built on top of what was done last. Which is really interesting - on top of not wanting to make the games bloated and wanting things to be open to interpretation, this writing style is probably why things are so vague. And with how this quote was in response to being asked if there would be a Zelda style mess of a timeline someday, I think its cool and functional to keep things loose like this so you can prioritize the gameplay and not make overly messy lore.

Anyways, this philosophy is exactly what was used for KatFL. The idea of the Forgotten Land as a whole didn’t start with wanting to create a new place for lore, but with environment and game mechanics. -

- And specifically what I’m getting at is that the Forgotten Land as a world likely wasn't designed to interweave heavily with previously established stuff about the Ancients. It feels like this was designed to be its own kinda bubble of lore outside of a lot of pre-established stuff, but to still relate back to it to flesh things out. Like they made this whole new ancient civilization deal, and then for lore they stretched back the timeline to plop the whole of this games backstory there, make it relate to pre-established material in fun ways, and then called it there - they built ON TOP of what was there. Which works surprisingly effectively though definitely my first reaction to this was “they just added more ancients kinda out of nowhere lol?” But I mean the way RtDL kinda just came out of nowhere with a whole laundry list of details about a random new ancient people too, this will probably be built on in the background of later games a bit.

Now that’s the dev lore side of it, but I also think its really fun thematically. I talked before about how the ruins of Halcandra and the ruins of the Forgotten Land are opposites of each other despite being related, and I think that dichotomy continues if you think of the latter as being complete pre-history to what we know. Not only are the current inhabitants of the Forgotten Land blissfully ignorant to the technological and magical riches of the planet’s ruins besides what innocent enjoyment they can get out of it now, but no one searching for that even knows the place exist because it is forgotten. Halcandra is the hellish plundered planet still looked back to in legend for its secrets and valuables, but the Forgotten Land was completely untouched by that until Kirby showed up. And Kirby and the Dreamlanders aren’t ones to really bother with all that glory and gold stuff so you know it will be safe with them (until Magolor or Susie come to visit). But I think its fun to think of its isolation as being one of that worlds many bittersweet blessings and beauties. Instead of being like Halcandra where the misery of its inhabitants and the legends spread about it turned the planet into a complete wasteland, its former greatness and industry is being naturally reclaimed by the planet to be recycled for the next inheritors of the land. Instead of continuing a cycle of greed and ruination its one of wonder and discovery and all that.

TL;DR - Kirby games are written with the basic structure of the world in mind but characters, plots, and most environments aren't planned in advance, they just build on top of each other. Which means that the FL was likely not made beforehand to interweave with pre-established Ancients lore, but built to be a self contained chapter of the universe history that just leads into what we know. It works nicely if you want to parallel Halcandra and the Forgotten Land and how one being legend and one being pre-history respectively effects how you interpret them as ruins - either as plundered remains or reclaimed wonders.

#kirby #kirby and the forgotten land #kirby lore #kirby headcanon #shinya kumazaki #shut the heck up #kirby lore rambles #kirby writing rambles #really proud of this one #also you should read all those interviews #im talking only about lore but all the gameplay stuff is so cool and i love hearing how much the team cares about all the details #and making fun accessible games with depth #i respect kids media made by really passionate people SO MUCH

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why485 · 1 year

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For some reason I started reading Gotoubun. I’m about 20 chapters into it and somehow I’m liking it enough that I’m actually looking forward to reading new chapters every night. The pacing is surprisingly quick, to the point where the midterms happening less than 20 (out of ~120) chapters felt like it’d be somewhere in the latter half of a TV series.

I guess if I’m going to do this, it might be worth documenting my thoughts to see how they change (or don’t) as the series goes on. The characters are all (mostly) likeable enough that I think that’s a lot of what’s keeping me going.

As the male lead of a harem series, Fuutarou is mandated by the Japanese government to be bland and function as a self-insert, but I do like that he’s more active in the story and not really a pushover the way your typical protagonist is. I joked 3 chapters in that in order to continue checking off “trash anime cliches” Fuutarou must have an unknown/misunderstood childhood connection with the quints, and it turns out that happens at the end of volume 1.

Ichika, I don’t have many thoughts on. Despite being a slob, she actually is pretty mature and plays the part of the oldest sister really well. I’m generally a sucker for “older sibling” characters, so I’m already predisposed to liking her, but she just hasn’t done much yet.

Nino sucks, but I love her design. The butterfly twintail ribbons are a super neat and distinctive visual. She’s the only of the quints I don’t really like since she’s been underhanded, manipulative, and antagonistic every step of the way. I get that she’s doing it because in her mind she’s protecting her sisters, but she goes way too far. The only nice thing she’s done so far, and it was her big moment, was lying to her father so they could keep Fuutarou around.

Miku’s my favorite right now. So much so, that I’m actually rooting for her! She’s the first of the quints to really open up, is a total dork, and I love how she recognizes her own feelings and is doing something about it. I also really love the way she sometimes impersonates the others either for a laugh or in times of emergencies. She’s really sweet, and it’s just too funny. Her and Yotsuba are the only ones (for now at least) who see and treat Fuutarou as an equal.

Yotsuba is the character I knew about going in. She’s honest, athletic, immediately warm and friendly to people, and always cheerful. In another show, she’d be the childhood friend who can’t win because she’s too nice to everybody and it’d be too easy. I love her, she’s great. I don’t know what happens, but I do know something happens with Yotsuba, so I’m kind of expecting a Stepford smiler twist or something. The fact that there is an unknown childhood friend aspect to the series makes me wonder if it’s her.

Itsuki exudes “main character” energy. She’s definitely the Taiga to the MC’s Ryuuji and on top of that is the first girl we see him meet, so she’s basically the “designated winner”. She’s the classical tsundere archetype, and like Taiga she has a unique familial bond with Fuutarou seeing as she’s met his family already and sometimes visits. She has the most complicated relationship with the MC, so her scenes are usually pretty good. I like her!

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Itsuki is the shoe in “winner” and that rooting for Miku is totally pointless, but I guess it’s about the journey, not the destination.

#gotoubun #the quintessential quintuplets #trash is officially back on the menu

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cybermeep · 29 days

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the event was quite good, actually! [in reference to the previous production from previous ramblings]

went in, calico critter & [hue] tie, giddy. bought a ticket & some snacks. walked around to find seating, saw a guy i talk to briefly. he was alone, this time around; usual friend not available. we talked a bit mildly, me asking what he was doing there— supporting a friend, he said. i was too. i asked if i could sit with him.. an amazing idea, changed the whole course of the night. one seat left in the middle at first, purely because i don’t wish to be discomforting & also to test how i felt. discussed dark souls & elden ring, asked me what i liked. floundered. said i liked writing & sea creatures & books; i mean, yeah, thats what i like. older brother of a girl i went to religious classes with. quiet during the first act, occasional laugh or so from him. interesting character. i could catch him staring at me once in awhile in the corner of my eye; found it quite sweet.

the production in itself was way better than i anticipated, knew many of the cast. most, actually. girl who played the main character [ariel, as this was a little mermaid play..] was astonishing in her singing ability; immensely proud of her. radiant. set design was nice— at one point a shelf fell over, though. loved the costume design for ursula— dress sleeves had strings connected to some of the bottom octopus legs on the dress, to make them moved as she moved! genuinely incredible.. i loved the costumes deeply, even if some were a bit rough around the edges. always love aquatic themes..

the intermission was comprised of more video game talk, mix of bloodborne & dark souls 2. its funny, he treated me as if i knew everything he was talking about… which, although i knew a good chunk, i didn’t know everything. it was a nice change of pace, though— better than being assumed i know absolutely nothing. its like.. a little bit of respect, in a way. i don’t know, it just felt nice to talk with someone and not feel like i was being talked down to. moved to different seats, away from the constant chatter behind us both during the first act. no seat between this time around.. i wasnt nervous about it— i felt comfortable. made a few jokes once or twice during the second act, but mere whispers and only once in awhile. he laughed at.. a lot of them, surprisingly, which made me happy..

when we departed, i couldn’t find where he went. i believe he simply left first. he was nice… had, uhm, like…. doe eyes… like a deer, but not naïve like a deer… he also had braces… he looked nice.. i really do hope to converse with him again, maybe strike up a philosophical discussion. i am fond of his existence.

you know, three/four of the actors were fond of chiquitito… i found this cute. i let the ursula actor hold him, his fur faded compared to his sister. he is dear to me, and i made sure to adjust him and wiffle to be able to experience the show in a mere hypothetical they have sentience & sapience…

im not used to such events. i am glad i got to sit with someone, glad to be there. my friend was ecstatic to see i actually came… why wouldn’t i? you’re my friend, silly! what i wanted to say, anyway.

ah, i could talk much more about the play, but.. i am getting quite drowsy. might be off to slumber.. i have lost any and all paranoia from earlier in the day, simply content to live and breathe. i am glad to exist

#cyber meeps

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veebs-hates-video-games · 4 months

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I finally finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, and it only took me barely less than two years to do it. Woo.

I took a lot of extended breaks from it because I kept getting burned out on it, but the stuff I liked I liked enough to eventually make it through the rest. The game probably would've been better and I probably would've needed a lot fewer/a lot shorter breaks if it were like 20 hours shorter (it took me about 80 to do almost everything you can do on a single playthrough), which would've been really easily doable with a few QoL improvements and slightly better design decisions with stuff like combat and the dungeons, all while still keeping all the story/character stuff that I genuinely liked and never had a problem with.

The two biggest problems I had were the dungeons themselves and the lack of useful guidance/direction/tracking for a lot of the side content.

Dungeons first: they're just too long. Make more of them but have each one be smaller, or keep the same number and make them a bit shorter. I always was like "are we there yet?" by the time I got to the end of them, and they really started to drag. The unique gimmicks for navigating each of them were mostly fun the first time through, but some of them suck suck suck every time you have to go back there for a character's side quest or a request or something. If I ever have to even look at Illusory 106 again I'm going to hunt down the person who designed it and bludgeon them with a Wii U gamepad.

Quest tracking second: it's mid at best and nonexistent at worst. Doing everything through an in-game phone UI is a fun idea, and it works pretty well for some stuff. The organization of it for quest info is not the best though, and having to reread a bunch of text messages to hopefully find the info you need is not great either. The worst offender is the requests though. Hi, sorry I didn't play your game for like five months, but I have no idea what this dingus wants me to do because I can't use the notes app my phone doesn't have to write it down apparently, and they'll only repeat a single sentence to me that doesn't have any useful information for me to figure it out.

Sometimes even when they do tell you and you don't stop playing the game for months in between the information it gives is pretty vague and makes it hard to figure out where to go and what to do too. Cool, I have to get...a thing? And it's in this idolasphere...somewhere? Is it on the ground? In a chest? From an enemy? On the third floor? Near the boss? Oh, I'm just supposed to run around for an hour until I stumble on it (or look it up online)? Cool and good, fantastic way to respect my time. I don't need a glowing line on the floor or anything, but give me something to work with at least.

Anyway, I liked most other stuff about it. The combat system is fun, even if I did get a little tired of it by the end because of the overly long dungeons (also not being able to permanently learn skills and swap them in and out of your loadout whenever you want is a dick move, no one wants to spend multiple hours relearning everything just to try a different setup) and each attack takes like twice as long as it should even with quick session on.

I still think it's one of the better looking games on the Switch. It's not super technically impressive or anything, but the art style and character designs are fun and colorful, and thank you for not trying to push the hardware beyond what it's capable of. Slightly lower detail and simpler lighting but native(?) resolution and a mostly steady framerate will do wonders for image quality and let people actually enjoy all the fun stuff your artists did.

And the characters and story were all surprisingly fun for me. It definitely came out better than a lot of actual Fire Emblem stories, and they really leaned into the shonen anime in a fantasy version of the real world vibes and made it work while still incorporating a bunch of FE stuff while they were at it. I actually ended up liking pretty much all the characters and the way the developed and grew across the story and how that tied in with their FE counterparts too. And they really did just go for it and turn Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light into Shadow Dragon and the Opera of Light, because sure why not?

Kiria's probably my favorite, which isn't super surprising because I also really liked Tharja when I played Awakening (so many people seem to like her because she has female mages aren't allowed to wear clothes disease or hate her because she's a bad parent, but they're both wrong and the real most important thing about her is that she's a snarky bitch in a cast full of people trying to use the power of friendship to save the world). I actually found Itsuki pretty relatable though, which surprised me because usually generic dude main character is completely unrelatable to me in stuff like this. He's just a decent guy who learns that the thing he's best at is helping the people around him feel better about themselves and support them doing their own things, which like yeah me too buddy, if only I'd learned that when I was 18 too.

So yeah, pretty good game that I mostly had a good time with, even if there were a few moderately big issues that frustrated me more than I would've liked (see also: holy crap the amount of time I spent going through the menus just to upgrade weapons must be measured in multiple hours at this point, please streamline stuff like that). I think I liked it more than maybe half the Fire Emblem games I've played and every other MegaTen or adjacent game I've tried too, so that's something.

#tokyo mirage sessions fe encore #fire emblem series #megaten series

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