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news4usonline · 1 month

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Aaron Donald leaves a legacy of greatness

What can you say that hasn’t already been said about Aaron Donald? Defensive Rookie of the Year. Pro Bowler. All-Pro. Team leader. Super Bowl champion. With Donald, one superlative triumphs another. That’s how great he was as a player in the National Football League (NFL). With his announcement that came via the social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter), that he has decided to hang up his cleats for good, Donald leaves behind some big shoes for the Los Angeles Rams to fill.

Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald (99) chased down Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rondale Moore (4) during an NFL game played at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 15, 2023. Photo credit: Sammy Saludo/News4usonline Rams head coach Sean McVay will no doubt miss Donald’s presence. “The great players in our league elevate the people around them and Aaron has modeled the way for our team as long as I’ve been with the Rams,” McVay said in a statement. “He’s an elite competitor, someone who leads by example in a way that’s authentic to him, and an exceptional teammate who inspires everyone around him to be the best version of themselves. “As great of a player he is, he’s an even better person. He is truly one of one and epitomizes everything that’s right about sports. I will forever cherish the memories we’ve made and will always be grateful for how he poured everything into this game and into our team. He’s meant a lot to me personally and to my family,” McVay added. Donald started his career with the Rams when the team was known as the St. Louis Rams. That lasted two years before the former Orange County-based franchise relocated to Southern California and became the Los Angeles Rams. It didn’t matter where the Rams played, No. 99 was always going to be present, always going to be the dominant force that has made him a future Hall of Famer. When Donald played, you knew that he was giving every ounce of dripping sweat to try to win a football game.

Family time. Aaron Donald with his family. File Photo/Mark Hammond/News4usonline In his case, the best way Donald could do that was to sew a lot of chaos in the opposing team’s offensive backfield and track down the quarterback. Donald did much of that during his amazing 10-year career in the NFL. During a decade-long career of playing grit and grind football, Donald became enemy No. 1 for opposing quarterbacks. At the time he announced his retirement, Donald wrapped up his career with 111 sacks. Considering the number of times that he was often doubled-teamed and triple-teamed throughout his career, Donald became football’s version of “The Equalizer.” Whenever the Rams' defense encountered some difficulty, Donald was always the solution. Just ask Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. It was Donald who sealed the deal for the Rams to win Super Bowl LVI when he brought the heat to Burrow and forced the Cincinnati quarterback into a harmless incomplete throw on 4th-and-1 with seconds remaining in the game. “We are so grateful for Aaron’s dedication to greatness and for leading our franchise on and off the field for the past decade,” said Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke. “He has left his mark on generations of football fans and his accomplishments, coupled with his work ethic and passion, continue to inspire his teammates, coaches and athletes across the globe. It is a privilege to have witnessed one of the greatest players of all time and we are proud that Aaron Donald will forever be part of NFL history as a member of the Rams,” Kroenke added. The moment was never too big for Donald. Perhaps more impressive than Donald’s ferocity in which he played is the fact he was there. Despite the relentless physical punishment he absorbed over the years by just being in the trenches, Donald was almost always present and ready to go on game day.

Aaron Donald (99) played his entire career with the Rams organization. A three-time Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, Donald retired from the NFL with 111 quarterback sacks. Photo credit: Mark Hammond/News4usonline In that regard, Donald proved to be a true Ironman. He played in 16 regular season games in eight of the 10 years he played in the NFL. During that period, Donald became the chief disruptor, claiming double-digits in sacks in six seasons, including registering 20.5 quarterback takedowns in 2018. Hyperbole and numbers don’t fully tell the impact of Donald in the middle of the Rams defensive front over the years. He was voted All-Pro eight times. He was named to the Pro Bowl 10 times. And there is the matter of Donald being tapped to win the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year award three times (2017, 2018, 2020). You just don’t replace Aaron Donald. But the Rams are now tasked to do just that as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL season. That’s one gaping hole to fill. At 6-foot-1 and 280 pounds, Donald was the embodiment of a physical warrior. And if this is possible, Donald’s relentless motor came with a desire to be the best at what he does. “There will never be another Aaron Donald,” said Rams general manager Les Snead. Read the full article

#AaronDonald #Rams #RamsHouse

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xaracosmia · 2 months

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ꕥ — WELCOME TO CATA COSMIA, ZENIRITH ALDEIR. 🌕

ꕥ — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: payton age: 23 pronouns: they/them ooc contact: bethjohanssen (tumblr) or cospayton (twitter) other characters in xc: parker davis, jimmy smith, abby schmidt, tiger

ꕥ — IC INFORMATION;

name: Zenirith Aldeir age: 23 pronouns: she/her series: oc canon point: mid-romance festival app triggers: a minor allusion to parental death.

personality: Zenirith Aldeir is perfect to a T. Massive curly hair always styled perfectly, makeup done, nails sharp, outfit pressed, and chest hiked to high heavens. She lights up any room she’s in, not one to shy away from making friends (Never enemies, how could you hate a sweet thing like her?). She’s bubbly, heartwarming, and sweet. Southern hospitality at it’s finest (Or… her equivalent of Southern, she’s from the West.)

something your muse struggles with: That personality section? All fake. All of it. Zenirith is a pathological liar so caught up in her own delusions that the real Zenirith doesn’t exist anymore. Buried so deep down that even Zeni doesn’t quite know what she’d find… And the real kicker is she doesn't want to.

your muse’s greatest strength: Charisma. Zenirith’s motive operandi is charm your way out of any situation and god does she. Everyone usually feels close to Zenirith since she is just so warm, but they’re never really THAT close. If they stepped back and thought, they’d wonder what they really even knew about her other than superficial facts.

history/background: Born and raised in western Troye, Zenirith’s upbringing is quite a mystery. If prodded enough, she’ll say something about it… But what she says never quite matches up.

“I was raised by two loving mothers, I have an older sister”

“My mother died when I was five, it was just my dad and me”

And so on. It’s never the same story twice.

Nobody quite knows where Zenirith came from or what brought her to who she is today, it’s something she claims is irrelevant to the conversation and hand. Besides, she’d much rather get to know all about the cutie standin’ in front of her than her borin’ ol’ life!

In the current day, Zenirith is known as a jack of all trades. She never stays in one town for long, constantly moving from place to place and doing odd jobs for gold. The plus of a picture-perfect facade is people are more than happy to offer you food, drink, and lodging simply for being so drop-dead gorgeous. Zenirith herself would call it a pretty plum life.

After departing on assignment to protect the princess at a masquerade, she goes missing. Zenirith and her party are sent to the East, towards the heavily guarded kingdom of Frostholde. She acts all pleased, but Zenirith would rather be anywhere else. The sooner she can get away from this group of idiots the better, they’re prying far too much for her liking.

On their journey, they reach a small outpost holding a Romance Festival… How perfect for Zenirith, a chronic flirter and charmer. She outdrinks, outtalks, and outdances all day and at the end of the night, she’s ready to call it. Get back on the beta-horse-drawn carriage and drive these bastards out of town. However, when a familiar face from her past suddenly appears, what’s Zenirith to do? What will happen when her past catches up to her and knows exactly what game she’s been playing for years…?

We won’t find out, right? …After all, she’s ending up in Xara Cosmia. Far away from any lingering past… right?

powers/abilities:

Speak with Dead

Zenirith can do just as the label says, speak with the dead! The dead can only speak a limited amount of words and the magic is completely based on Zenirith’s own concentration. It’s finicky and easily broken at will.

Reflected Disguise

Zenirith can take on the appearance or attributes of anyone from her past. The accuracy is based on her own memory, so those she has visual reference for (photo, painting, or in person) will be easier to replicate than say, someone she hasn’t seen in decades.

Can apply to small attributes as well such as an eye colour change.

This is lower-level magic for Zenirith, so she can stay in these forms for multiple hours on end without much fatigue.

Fire Magic

The ability to spawn and cast purple and blue-tinted fire spells. It appears from the tips of her fingers almost like the flame of a lighter, but by butting fingers together Zenirith can make the flame grow into a baseball-sized fireball. This ball is able to be thrown like a baseball without any burn damage to Zenirith herself.

inherent abilities:

Darkvision

Self-explanatory, she can see in the dark

Hellish Resistance

TL;DR it’s species-based fire resistance. She can stand in the middle of a housefire and feel nothing.

items/weapons:

Amethyst Ring

Functions like a fashionable backpack. She’s able to open the hinge where the gem is and retrieve items stored inside at will. Almost limitless space inside that relatively small gem.

Family Portrait

A 3-foot by 4-foot painted portrait of a family. Two older women, blue and pink in complexion. They are smiling wide, arms around two smaller, purple children. A boy, maybe four in age, and a girl, around 10. None of them look like Zenirith… Interesting.

starting ability: Reflected Disguise starting item: N/A

extra:

Return of the purple bitch named breakfast

Did you know I also used to/sometimes still do vtube as her, fun fact

Inspired by Dolly Parton

She’s had plastic surgery on a good 50% of her visible features. It looks good, but the average person can tell she’s not a natural beauty.

discord id: zenirithonline

#xc application #mun: payton #cata cosmia

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yurigalactica · 9 months

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For the ask game: 15, 20, 31, 63, 70, 88, 99

jinx hi!!! :D

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

honestly, i've never minded either. it always seems like i end up behind the camera though, or the only one of my friends with a camera out. i guess the reason i always have a camera out is because i really want to capture as many of the good memories as i can so i don't forget them. and i know that sometimes it makes me seem weird, but honestly, nothing brings me more joy than watching five-year-old videos of my friends fucking around and laughing in the backseat of our parents' cars. and especially lately it's strange to watch videos of my friends and i back when we were thirteen, since we're all eighteen now and we're so much different than we used to be. it really puts into perspective just how much we've all grown up. on another note, i got a polaroid camera for my 18th birthday about six months ago, and i've been burning so much of my money on film for it (like literally hundreds. film is so fucking expensive it hurts) but honestly i think it's worth it because now i have a massive wall of polaroid photos that are a little bit washed out, a little unfocused, and a short caption and the date written in my own hasty scrawl on the bottom. all of these memories, imperfect as they are, put up in a place where i can see them all the time, really reminds me that i'm not as alone as i think. and i can't wait to take more once i start college.

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

my greatest weakness is my crippling anxiety. my greatest strength is my zoloft prescription. Get Owned dopamine imbalance

but in reality, my greatest weakness is definitely my anxiety. it's genuinely fucked me up in more ways than i can count, and looking back now, i'm shocked that i didn't realize that i was a severely anxious kid. my worst fear at age nine was dying slowly and painfully of heart disease, which i was fully convinced was going to happen to me. at age NINE. and i didn't even get officially diagnosed until i was sixteen??? what the fuck?????????? that's not a concern a normal nine year old should be having at all

my greatest strength, though, has gotta be my empathy. my experiences regarding my mental health struggles has been helpful in the sense that i know what it's like to feel really fucking awful. and i know it's something that i wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. so when someone talks to me about feeling like that, i feel like i can relate to them. and thus i feel like i can help them a little better. i'm in no way perfect, but i'm trying my best to be there for my friends when they need it, and that's gotta count for something.

31. Smell the air. What do you smell?

funnily enough i went to smell the air and i smelled smoke so i had to run around my house and apparently my father left the stove on before he left the house and the kitchen was filling with gas. fun times!

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

probably just listening to people talk about what they like. i love it when people listen to me rant on and on and on about stuff i'm passionate about, so i've always assumed it's the same for other people. so far it's worked pretty well.

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

not to sound cocky, but absolutely. part of the reason is probably because my love language is physical touch and...none of my irl friends are the same way. i have never platonically cuddled with the homies and that gives me the Big Sad™. i want a platonic bestie who i can cuddle with in bed and discuss my existential fears with. is that too much to ask for

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

a certain floridian politican that i shall not refer to by name. what the fuck did the trans kids do to you to make you hate them so damn much my dude

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

hating people who are different than you is never going to bring you any fulfilment. not everyone is going to adhere to your way of life, and you should stop expecting them to. the world is so much more beautiful with it's diversity, with all its people of different races, genders, sexualities, beliefs, religions, all of it. think of it as a field of wildflowers in a mountain valley. sure, a field of poppies is alright, but it's so much more breathtaking when it's also got cornflowers, asters, daisies, violets, alliums, and yarrows—when there's all different kinds of flowers growing in harmony together. when it's like that, it's got the whole rainbow spectrum. it feels like art. it feels complete. there's no reason to be afraid of people who are different than you, because we're all still people, with dreams and aspirations and hopes and fears and passions. we're all doing our best to be happy. it will never be worth it to try to take that away from someone. go live your life. let them live theirs.

#ask game #jinx-blackout-84

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qwertishy · 2 years

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My whole childhood was filled with undiagnosed, untreated, unacknowledged conditions that amplified my perception of an already terrible situation or two. I look back on it now, in what others are calling some middle aged newfound wisdom, whatever that means... and I'm wondering, truly wondering, how much of it was real?

Growing up, I unknowingly suffered from borderline personality disorder, dissociation, hallucinations, ADD, and a crippling amount of depression and anxiety. Everything was fast paced and either the best day of my life or seemingly the last. I never knew what tomorrow would bring, let alone if I would even see it at all. Despite that, I wasn't scared of my own mortality, in fact, I reveled in it. I valued it. It was a constant reminder on my darker days that there was a way out, my only calming solace. My silver lining.

By the time I realized there was something wrong with me.. specifically, and not just the dangers I had been subjected to... my perception of reality was so twisted and distorted that I honestly couldn't tell reality from fantasy. I couldn't piece together what really happened and what didn't happen, who was real and who wasn't real. What words were said and what words only imagined.

Through the mess and confusion, I hurt a lot of people. I lost a lot of people. Some relationships ended because of it, and the worst part is... I will never know why. I will never know what I did. Yet, I do it again and again. How do I explain that whatever happened, whatever I did.. wasn't me? Does it matter? I've had some of the world's greatest people by my side, and somewhere along the lines I did something to fuck it all up and lost all of them forever.

My father died spring of last year. Initially, there were a lot of mixed feelings. I've been working on building a relationship with him for a long time. I've been working on healing and forgiveness. I've been working on it a lot. I wasn't done healing. I hadn't yet forgave. I feel like him leaving had robbed me of the goal I had been working so hard towards for so long. I was angry. Backtracking in all my progress and all my successes. Then, almost without warning, I forgive him. Something I could never do in life. Again, I was angry. Upset that I couldn't achieve this at a time we could both enjoy together.

I think about him everyday, now. Before, he was lucky if I thought of him more than once a season. Now I crave his company all the time, miss him every morning. Cry... every time. I have no photos of him, no adult memories, no anything. I feel constantly robbed each time I think of him. It feels like he's been gone forever and like it was yesterday all at the same time. I can't explain it. And with all this grief and confusion... I feel a new me emerging. A new sense of clarity I never had before. Suddenly I feel alone.

You see, my father knew he did me wrong as a child. He knew I was scared of him, scarred by him, haunted by him. He tried, he really tried to get me to forgive him. He did everything but acknowledge what he did, everything but apologize. I often wondered if the gift buying cleared his conscience. If he thought that he was buying my forgiveness, my affection, my love. In my adult life, he was kind and gentle, sweet and caring. All the things I had wanted as a child. But by then, my perception of reality was already set in stone. It kills me that I was not able to change that in time.

I pushed everyone away. Everyone was a threat or an enemy. And now, I'm alone. And it hurts, and I'm scared. I'm too old to be alone. I always hear young people griping on and on about "how old" they are, like it's some sort of psychological game... I've never truly felt old until this year. It's not a flattering emotion. I want to say something dramatic and played out like, "I've never been alone before" or something of the like, but I'm sure that's not true... I just can't emphasize enough how lonely I've been feeling since my latest losses.

I'm having a really hard time, lately.

#words #thoughts #qwertishy

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nanamisflowerfield · 3 years

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︵✿︵︵✿︵︵✿︵︵✿︵︵✿︵︵✿︵︵✿︵

It was a big day, well at least for Idia. After all it was his crush’s birthday! Scared and excited, he tried to prepare a gift for his beloved crush in secret.

︶✿︶︶✿︶︶✿︶︶✿︶︶✿︶︶✿︶︶✿︶

@teashopwritingzz I know I don’t have to do it, but I really really really wanted to give at least one small present to you! Because you totally deserve it!🥺❤️ Happy belated Birthday! I know that yesterday was your birthday, but I wasn‘t online yesterday due the post+ demonstration! D: I still hope that you had a wonderful day yesterday and today and the whole week! Stay safe and healthy too!!

Idia took a deep breath, staring at the list of gift ideas that you might like, but a small voice back in his head kept telling him, that you would never like any of those gifts. “I’m sure that (Y/N) (L/N) will like it!” His younger brother always said, but the tall dorm leader of Ignihyde was still pouting at his thoughts. If you would reject any of those, you would also reject his feelings. It would be like a critical hit, getting it from the most greatest SSR character ever. “If you are still unsure, you can watch them. Maybe you will figure out what (Y/N) (L/N) will like.” Ortho advised his big bro, who glanced over his shoulder to the only person he might listen to at this very important situation. “Maybe you are right…” Idia’s gaze wandered from his brother to the list he had on his phone. Headphones, phonecases, games, books and more were listed on it, but would you liked them?

“Owww! My paw!” Grim cursed the ground, after he fell down from the bed, being accidentally pushed down by you. “Sorry, Grim.” Apologizing by petting him on the head and promising to give him a can of tuna later, he halfheartly accepted your apology, walking with you to school for another mayhap exciting school day. “I will only accept it, because it’s your birthday.” The cat-like friend of yours, fummed, watching the Heartslabyul duo walk into your direction to greet you and wish you a happy birthday. “Trey-senpai even baked a cake.” Deuce told you, getting elbowed by Ace, who groaned at him that the birthday party should be a surprise, only to spoil it himself. “A surprise party…? I’m probably not invited…” Idia watched the screen, his eyes never leaving you, hopeful to get any informations of what you might wish for, while his fingers tipped on his keyboard, coding something he always had on mind.

As you wrote on paper everything important professor Crewel told the class, Ace drummed with his finger on the table, while Grim was half sleeping next to you and Deuce tried his best to be a perfect student. “Hey, can you read the list of invited students later on? Did we invite every friend of yours?” Deuce whispered to you, getting harsh words of the professor for interrupting the lesson. But every time Crewel watched away, you read all names of your friends on it, only noticing that one name was missing. The person you wanted to see not only through screen. Idia Shroud. But maybe he couldn’t come over or doesn’t want to for being such a shy and yet adorable being.

Surprisingly the day went on like every other day. You laughed, had fun, talked to your friends and went to the Heartslabyul garden, while wearing shiny bright white clothes to show the whole school that it was indeed your birthday, like many other students had to wear on theirs. It was a bit embarrassing to talk with plenty of students about your birthday, but it still made you happy nonetheless, even when you still hoped to talk on specific student of NRC on this very day. But he didn’t came, so maybe you should get your little present from him by visiting Idia. “That’s a great party, guys. Thank you all so much, but I will be gone for a short time.” You smiled at your friends, watching them having fun, eating delicious food and talking to each other.

Idia yelped as he heard a knock on the door. Wasn’t everyone gone and having fun right now? Who was knocking on the door? Arguing with Ortho with mere stares, the younger Shroud walked to the door, opening it to your delight and Idia’s dismay, as he stared at the door opening more and more and then- oh no, by the great seven, was it truly you?! You were supposed to be at your party, having the time of your life with your dear friends and not be here! Why were you here?!

Like a good child, Ortho greeted you, standing next to the door to give you some space to walk through the door to Idia’s room. While you were smiling at the Shroud brothers, Idia was sitting on his chair, turning around to hide his blushing face that got warmer by every second you stood there and talked to Ortho. The tips of his hair and ears were dusted cheek and he was sure, that some might compare to him to fresh cherries!

“Sorry to disturb you-“ You started, getting interrupted by Ortho, who dragged you into the room, telling you that you would never disturb any of those two. “Oh… Uhm… Alright.” With the same smile that Idia fell for, your eyes stared at his back. Oh, how much you had wishes to hold the introverted boy in your embrace, pat him and give him the love and affection he deserved. “I-I-It’s… alright…” Idia sputtered and stuttered, trying to avoid your gaze in fear that you might tease him for having a crush on you. He just couldn’t help himself. You were such a lovely person. So nice, helpful and that smile. He could babble around, what a great person you were in his boring shut-in life. That you were like the light in his dark life. A total ultra super duper rare card in the gacha games he keeps playing, being frustrated that he couldn’t get those cards, but at least could look at them on photos. “Am I creepy…?” Idia mumbled to himself, forgetting your presence for a second until you asked him to repeat it, after not able to hear it. “N-Nothing!”

Fortunately or mayhap even unfortunately, Ortho knew of Idia’s feelings and how much he had took a liking towards you, which is why he had asked you, why you were in the Ignihyde dorm. “Oh… I wanted to get my present.” The blue-haired tall student turned around, nearly shrieking in fear that you figured out, that he wanted to give you a gift as well like plenty of your friends, who unfortunately had gifted you many presents he had listed a couple weeks ago. “My present would be… to spend more time with you, Idia.” Your gaze wandered to the ground as your cheeks got warmer by your mere words and wish you had, not realizing that Idia’s face was mirroring yours at the same time your words had left your mouth.

That was a gift that he would love to give you every day as long as you wanted to have him by his side. His mouth opened slightly, wanting to talk, before you had asked him what he was programming right now as you took a look at the codes, ignoring the fact that a humming Ortho left the room, so he might not disturb you two love birds. “A g-game… I’m trying to make a small game I had in mind for quite some time.” He answered, staring at it once again.

“Have you finished it already?“ The bluehead nodded. “May I play it?” Mumbling a few words here and there, Idia hoped that his hair hide his flustered face, but he nonetheless let you sit next to him and play his selfmade game, even though he feared that you would reach the end of it and find out about his big secret he never wanted to reveal to you.

“Another level up. Great!~” You cheered, playing the rpg of Idia’s even though your friends might miss you during your birthday party. You should get back, but you couldn’t stop playing the game, after all you has nearly reach the endboss! “Is that a giant cat? He reminds me of Grim.” You chuckled, trying to defeat the endboss with the spells of the protagonist named Hadia. It was a cute game.

The plot of it was like plenty of other rpgs. The protagonist Hadia, a royal guy fell in love with Readi, a sweet princess who got kidnapped by the evil cat-monster Grimopy. Grimopy tried to be the strongest wizard and king and had plenty of henchmen like Dice and Acepo, which were quite strong enemies. Hadia had to train a lot and even gained the help of different wizards like Lio, a sleepy lion, Otto, a cute robot. Then there were Ralice, Tri, Phone-Addicted Rabbit, who still had no name, because Idia couldn’t find a good fitting name for the character. Marteus, Kala, Azure and many other characters and all of them reminded you of your friends. That meant that Hadis was probably Idia and the lovely princess Readi was… you. “Cute game.” You whispered to yourself, using the last spell to defeat the boss, watching the end scene of the rpg.

Hadis was rushing through the castle until he found his beloved princess. When he leaned down to kiss her awake with the kiss of true love, she woke up and they confessed their loves, swearing to each other to be together forever until they lives will end.

“I think I have a new ship.” You giggled, pointing at the protagonists, while you looked at Idia, the blushing mess. “I’m really glad that they are together. They are perfect and cute together. So sweet. I hope that my Hadis likes me as much as he does…” You commented, shutting his computer down, while Idia clenched his fists, knowing that you finally know about his feelings. “Come. We have to go to a party, Idia.” You smiled at the marveled dorm leader. “P-Party?!” Faster than he could expect it, you grabbed his hand in yours, pulling him away from his room towards the garden of the Heartslabyul dorm. “Oh, I like you too, my Hadis.” - “I-I like you too… my Readi.” With the other hand of his, he tried to hide his red face as you chuckled at him, happy that you finally can call him yours.

#HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!#twst #twst imagine #twst imagines #twst x reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland imagine #twisted wonderland x reader #shroud idia imagines #shroud idia imagine #idia shroud imagines #idia shroud imagine #shroud idia x reader #idia shroud x reader #shroud idia #idia shroud

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s1utspeare · 3 years

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Hi darling

You write such an awesome metas on fictional character so I wanted you to ask that what's your thought on Huo Dao Fu.

😊

AH OMG!!! Your ask could not have come at a better time, cause I have a feeling this man’s gonna be an important part of my next fic, so I really should start figuring him out. He’s SUCH A LIL WEIRDO??? honestly i love him, even though he’s a total Bitch 97% of the time, but I think at heart he’s just Looking For Something, as are all the characters in this show.

What really interests me about Huo Daofu are his character parallels with Wu Xie, and I think that’s where most of the conflict between them comes in. Wu Xie, whether he means to be or not, is the Focus of Jiumen a good seventy-five percent of the time. Not always in a positive manner, because in Sha Hai they were all about ready to kick his ass, and in Reboot he pisses them off pretty good with his Warehouse Eleven stunts, but there’s a level of attention on him that other members of the families don’t receive, and I think Huo Daofu notices that, and is like “hey wait a minute why is he getting all the spotlight I want some spotlight >:( He’s not even doing a good job why is everyone paying attention to him”

Cause this bitch. THIS BITCH. He tried to be that bitch. He TRIED SO HARD. He went to EUROPE. He went to EUROPE and got a fucking like??? medical degree???? Like he went to GERMANY??? who does that?? not fucking wu xie, that’s who. Wu Xie went and got like a history degree or some shit which was just par for the course. But HUO DAOFU. He was DIFFERENT. He was gonna be THE SHIT. He was gonna be the unabomber of Jiumen, was gonna blow all that shit up and then say “fuck u” and all the future generations of Jiumen children were gonna hear horror stories about how Unique and Wild Huo Daofu was and he was never gonna have to deal with any of them ever again.

BUT THEN WU XIE DECIDED TO BE PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE AND HE DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING OFF THE BEATEN PATH. HE LITERALLY JUST FOLLOWED WU SANXING AROUND FOR LIKE. A YEAR. AND EVERYONE LOST THEIR MINDS. Like if I had been Huo Daofu and tried SO HARD to be different from everyone else in my generation and then this Dumb Little History Twink kissed a Zhang and found some wild swamp treasure and everyone went nuts about it, I would have been pissed off too.

Cause Jiumen is like. Annoying as hell, and everyone has a different way to deal with the fact that they’re a part of a treasure hunting org that has been around for hundreds of years and features immortals and weird-ass dudes with unbelievable martial arts skills and also Wu Sanxing. Xiaoge deals with them by Fucking Off Forever. Zhang Rishan deals with them by being The Most Competent Person In Any Given Room, and Huo Daofu deals with them by being The Biggest Bitch He Can Be, which isn’t even that much of a bitch, because there is always going to be a bigger bitch in Jiumen, and his name is Wu Xie. So it just backfires on him, because NO ONE GIVES A SINGLE FUCK.

We’re introduced to him at Xiao Hua’s fake funeral (which lmao i love that) when he’s making some Evil Plans with the rest of Jiumen, but not for the same reasons, cause when they actually get to the desert, Huo Daofu does not care about the treasure pits. He doesn’t even go down into Gutongjing (I’m pretty sure), he just hangs out in the camps because he doesn’t CARE about the treasure, he just wants to keep Wu Xie from succeeding, wants to say, see, look, I can do things too, I can be clever and cunning, I can take them all down from the inside out and I don’t even need friends to do it.

Huo Daofu is jealous of Wu Xie, I think, because Wu Xie is free of the confines of Jiumen, and Wu Xie has friends, and Wu Xie didn’t have to go to another country where he knew no one and didn’t even speak the language and work so hard and be fucking brilliant in ways that no one knows about and doesn’t always, always get overlooked in favor of someone who disregards everyone’s favor, but receives it anyway.

So when Pangzi shows up with Wu Xie, half-dead, on Huo Daofu’s doorstep, I think a little vindictive part of him goes serves him right.

But Huo Daofu is not a part of Jiumen in the ways that matter, and he’s a doctor, first and foremost. He took oaths because he wants to help people, he wants to save them, and even if he hates Wu Xie down in the pits of his stomach, he’s not just going to let him die. And so he follows Wu Xie to thunder city because, as he says, “I want to be there when you die.” He’s not going to kill him, he can’t do that, he’s a doctor, but that small, mean part of him wants to watch Wu Xie fall.

(Also I love @kholran’s headcanon that Huo Daofu is Wu Xie’s bitchy ex, bc like YES??? OF COURSE???? like they had an on-again, off-again thing cause they were like “we’re not doing this with the Jiumen women” but they’re WAY TOO ALIKE and just ended up fighting all the time.)

Reboot loves the Rule of Threes, which is where an idea is repeated three times in order to create a pleasing pattern. Human brains love patterns, and so when we see the Iron Triangle, when we see the three pills that mark the stages of Wu Xie’s illness, when we see the three missing people from Sanshu’s journey, our brains go oh that’s important (and Reboot ALMOST kills the game, ALMOST knocks it out of the park, but then they have FOUR story arcs instead of THREE, and it drives me ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INSANE. WHY DID THEY DO THIS. WHY).

And Huo Daofu is a FANTASTIC tri-tier replica of Wu Xie’s Greatest Hits, which are:

Being a sort of outcast/family runaway (Wu Xie has very clearly said Fuck Everyone Who Isn’t Sanshu, and Huo Daofu has aligned himself with the Chen clan, because the Huo’s are like Fuck Men (which honestly good for them but pLEASE love ur special doctor boy he’s getting a Complex))

Acting based almost Solely on Emotions when in the Heat of the Moment (i.e. dropping his entire life to go play doctor with a man who will not calm down for any length of time in order to actual REST)

Solving problems that no person should be able to solve because he’s smart as shit

Narratively, he’s a FANTASTIC foil for Wu Xie, because not only does he essentially hold this man’s life in his hands, but because he is what Wu Xie could have been if he hadn’t met Pangzi or Xiaoge, if he hadn’t had support from other people. And I don’t think that’s Huo Daofu’s fault, because he and Wu Xie are so, so similar. He just never got the people he needed, and its so clear that he’s achingly alone all of the time, so no wonder he’s jealous of Wu Xie and wants to become part of this little group so damn badly, even as he’s protesting and saying, “no, no, I want you to die, literally nothing would give me more pleasure, please die right now, I’m waiting.”

Sure, he’s a flipper-flopper ass bitch, but he’s trying his best with what he’s got, and shit, that’s not a lot. He’s got zero support system. I mean why the fuck is he making street churros? Even Zhang Rishan, who has NO culinary expertise or connections whatsover, gets to live in a restaurant, while Huo Daofu has to make fried dough in an alley and then keep people from choking on their own lungs on his damn kitchen table. Someone please help this man.

this is SO LONG i’m sorry but essentially I think that Huo Daofu is Like That because he’s trying so hard to be someone, and no one is paying any attention, and the person he would most relate to, Wu Xie, is off doing God knows what with his polycule of friends and Huo Daofu’s all by himself and like??? i would be SO FRUSTRATED??? please give this man a break and also give him Love??? like, this screenshot speaks VOLUMES (photo credit to @hey-its-wei)

LOOK AT HIM!!!!! LOOK AT HOW FUCKING HAPPY HE LOOKS!!!! JUST TO BE THERE!!!! WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE!!!!! WHO HAVE SEEN HIM AND LISTENED AND SAID “hey, you can come with us, we’ll take you, you don’t have to be alone anymore.”

I said earlier that Huo Daofu, like everyone else in this series, was Looking For Something. And like many of our beloved Wu Crew, he was looking for a family. And look! He found them :)

#thank you so much for this ask???#i literally cried when i got it it made me so so happy #i love u nonny!!#dmbj #the lost tomb #the lost tomb reboot #huo daofu #huo dao fu #sha hai #tlt #tltr #meta #character meta

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freddiekluger · 3 years

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Do you think that if the ghosts sees period dramas set in their time, it will reignite memories of their life?

i think it definitely depends on the accuracy and style of the drama- if they're too poorly researched, any attempts at reverie would be totally disrupted by the historical and visual inaccuracies (think: thomas yelling about the 'roccoco legs' during the byron shoot). of course the other big thing is setting: it's all well and good to watch to a movie set in your time period, but if it's based in a country you've never been to (especially for the older/less privileged ghosts like mary and robin, who probably didn't have much knowledge of the world outside of their continent when they were alive), it's not going to feel particularly familiar.

working on the assumption that we have at least partial historical and geographical accuracy, here's how i think each of the ghosts would respond to

robin: considering how little we actually know about early human history, i don't think robin would be that fussed by any attempt to put that on film- he'd still appreciate a good caveman joke, although he's not a big fan of how stupid every movie assumes they would have been (it's not like they had omega-3 tablets back then!). robin's unspeakably old, and for the most part he seems to have processed through all the parts of his past that he possibly can, and is now committed to enjoying his time at button house as much as he can (a big part of this is his prankster spirit and frankly underrated friendliness), so it would have to take a lot more than a stone age movie to rake up serious conflict.

mary: given her incredibly traumatic death, mary avoids virtually anything that hints of fire or witchcraft which is where things become difficult. i think mary could really enjoy a film set in her time if it follows a working family not dissimilar to her own- it could help her remember some of the positive things from her life, and probably help her feel a lot more seen as she often ends up misunderstood or ignored by the other ghosts (pat initially dismissing mary's advice about the camera work because he didn't think she properly understood what was happening; the ghosts focusing on correcting her speech more than what she actually says). the problem is, almost all movies set in mary's time that follow people from her class end up focusing on the witch trials, which is a BIG no no for her.

humphrey: i think humphrey could really enjoy watching some tudor set films. like mary, he often gets ignored (and straight up left behind), so watching a period film absolutely gives him the opportunity to feel a bit more seen and stew on those long forgotten memories like post-meal games of cards with friends, or the occasional hunting trip when the king came to visit (the trips themselves were more stressful than anything, but mouthing off about them with the king's entourage after he went to bed was always a highlight). humphrey would definitely have a keen eye for inaccuracies, but i don't think they'd bother him. it's just nice to have things be about him for a change (if by him, we mean having all the ghosts watching something that is vaguely related to his alive-period and actually looking to him with questions instead of just using his head as their personal football/security camera/magic 8ball).

kitty: kitty is one of the ghosts who accesses her memories pretty easily- she has no problem with thinking about her life, even when the anecdotes are screamingly sad to anyone listening. so a period film would naturally bring some memories, but i don't know if they'd be anything radical or new- kitty's real growth and drama would come from her leaving behind the rationalisations of what clearly was severe neglect. actually on that note, while not quite kitty's environment, i think she might get a lot out of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. something about the themes of the loneliness that comes with growing up in high society and only being valued for what your status and your biology can give to your family and your husband (who you likely didn't choose), along with feeling like an outsider and being visibly othered, even by those you outrank, no matter how friendly and approachable and like them you make yourself (while not necessarily linked to the broader themes of familial neglect kitty's character touches on, i think her experiences as a georgian noblewoman of colour would have to have impacted her growing up and also socially- i'd love to hear any thoughts on this from fans of colour, as i'm white and so any theories i could come up with would likely be a poor approximation). and she'd definitely like the pretty dresses and stunning rooms of versailles, and for that i can't blame her.

thomas: most of thomas we sort of got to see in Free Pass- the detail nitpicking, the excitement until a specific trigger from his life (in this case, lord byron, the man thomas considers his greatest enemy, although i’d be curious to know whether byron acually had any idea of thomas thorne’s existence) causes him to go into a full thomas hissy-fit. sure, the emotion is real to him, but he absolutely plays it up, even trying to get humphrey’s body to fetch alison so she can see how ‘upset’ he is (thomas reminds me of a child in this respect). there’d probably be less of the tantruming for a movie that had already been made, although i’m not so sure about the memory point. The Thomas Thorne Affair sort of brought out thomas’s big Unresolved Life Mystery, and now i think all that’s left for him to work through has got to be a lot more internal. sure, he’d be reminded of a few good old parties, and maybe any romance scenes might trigger some of the sad isabelle/general lost love emotions, but i don’t think they’d be anything particularly spectacular.

fanny: now fanny would be a real stickler for accuracy. she would be calling out every makeup, decorative, hair, wardrobe, architectural, and lingual failure with the classic lady button judgement in her voice. this is probably half because she can't help herself, but half a measure to distract herself from actually having to pay proper attention and relive her life. i think fanny struggles a lot with no longer running her own household (along with the shifting morals, and fashions, of the modern world), and so to be reminded of everything she can no longer have would be tough. i'm not saying she would long for a time when women didn't have a lot of rights, but she went from a wealthy society woman who held a lot of power in her own sphere to a ghost, unable to touch anything or even be seen by the living (save for the photo glitch), and stuck spending her days with a motley crew of equally frustrating ghosts whom she doesn't always feel respected by (noting that 'respect' to fanny is much the same as deference). she could have it a lot worse, but i think fanny would much prefer to not have to think about her old life.

the captain: the captain is an interesting one. he's one of the few ghosts who actively seeks out media related to his time, although that's within the impersonal war documentary which focuses on facts and mechanics as opposed to day to day realities and feelings. on the one hand, any war film for the captain would be sure to rake up memories of wartime (even if he never made the front- that remains unconfirmed), and the immense grief that comes with watching the people around you slowly stop returning home. the captain is a war fanatic, and has no problem talking about the great battles, victories, and tactics, so i think the heightened emotional states that a film presents would be the key to unlocking the captain's inevitable wartime trauma and going beyond the surface level facts. for that reason, i'd really like the captain to see Peter Weir's Gallipoli. i know it's the wrong war and the wrong country (although the australian's were technically part of the British forces), but i think the overarching themes of the idolisation of the military, the deconstruction of the glory of war, and the intense (bordering on the homoerotic) although never quite realised relationship between Archy and Frank (which, spoiler alert, ends in tragedy), could give the captain a lot in terms of food for thought and unlocking some of those deeper experiences. on the other hand, the captain watching a period film set in the years before his war could be equally interesting- i think they'd play on some his is insecurities and general issues surrounding the difficulty he may have had fitting in with day-to-day life (not just due to his homosexuel répression, but due to his broader issues with fitting in socially which we see through his interactions with both the ghosts and his own forces- some particularly valid fans have used these to headcanon cap as autistic). in short, films would unlock a fair few memories for cap, but even more EMOTIONS.

pat: with pat and julian it gets interesting because while yes, technically any movie set in a non-current time period is a ‘period piece’, you also have to deal with the fact that they’re going to have less impact on their respective ghosts because you also have actual movies from those periods floating around. for this reason, my answers for pat and julian are relatively similar: they wouldnt have any more memories appear than for any film coming from while they were alive. for pat, this means he’d get pretty excited about ones that came from his childhood (pat would be a giant sci fi fan don’t @ me he loves technology), but i think anything that came with too strong a family attachmet, or that he watched in the weeks/months/year leading up to his death might bring out the angry pat we saw in Happy Death Day and Perfect Day. anger is how his inherent death trauma (and the additional loss that comes from the world moving on without you) manifests, so i definitely think that would come out here, even if he isn’t quite able to put his finger on why specific movies make him so angry/irritated. for pat, childhood memories would abound, but the closer we get to his death, there’s less memories but definitely more unresolved emotion.

julian: see my point above about the whole period-film-vs-regular-film thing. julian doesn’t really strike me as a movie person, and i definitely think he wouldn’t give much care to the influx of 80s/90s set british political media (think The Iron Lady etc). in his words, “i don’t really care for politics, and they’re all too busy trying to push their labor propaganda”. he just makes a captain-inspired noise when alison reminds him that he WAS a politician. julian is another character who accesses his memories pretty easily (although they’re usually either horny or at least slightly morally bankrupt), and i honestly find it hard to give a tory emotions so i’m very excited to see how the christmas special manages. julian is a self-centred bloke though, so i think only things that are directly about him could have the power to rake up buried memories and feelings. now i really want to see julian watching a documentary on himself and just getting outraged.

thanks for this one, sorry for the delay!!

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

Ducktales Final Four!: The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!

Hello You Happy People. SPIN IT! OHOHOHOHOHOHO LETS’ BEGIN IT!

After 10,000 years we’re finally at the motherducking Talespin episode! And only 8000 of those years were the last 14 months as Ducktales 2017 has been working toward this for a while with Cape Suzette being prominently mentioned in both the first episode and the season 1 finale, and Don Karnage being a regular part of the rouges gallery, voiced by the wonderous Jamie Camil. So this episode was less a matter of “If”, since Don’s presence meant Disney wasn’t really against it happening, and more a matter of “When and How.” The how, to a point was settled at the big NYCC panel for Ducktales that revealed Daisy and Goofy... as it also revealed aged up versions of Kit and Molly, meaning a proper tailspin episode was on the way. I could not have been more pumped. While I didn’t remember the cartoon well, i’d always loved Talespin since I was a kid and as an adult my curosity only grew. Still need to watch way more of it mind you, I really have slept on most of the Disney Plus Libarary and that’s dumb of me, but what i’ve seen is impressive. The story of an irresponsible bear forced to work with a buisnesswoman bear after she buys his seaplane, his loveable kid sidekick and said buisness bear’s daughter whose cute as a button but suprisingly tolerable for a little kid character. Opposing them were masterful buisnessman Shere Kahn, who sadly does not show up here and could be friend , foe or neutral depending on the episode, and Don Karnage, a kooky sky pirate who as mentioned is already in this series and was Balloo’s arch enemy. The series was colorful, creative, had a great premise and cast and in general was just awesome and out of the Disney Afternoon shows is honestly my faviorite, though Darkwing is getting close. I even recently finally got the Shere Kahn funko, which is starring into my soul as I type this review! Hurrah!

So I waited impatiently like I did for Daisy and Goofy, both also things I’d wanted in the series since the start. Thing was.. Goofy showed up in the second episode of the season, that was part of the premiere, and while the wait for Daisy was agonizing, she still showed up pretty early into the season at episode five. Gosalyn showed up at episode 12. This is episode 20.

I do get it: This season was built to be the last just in case.. and ended up being the last so good job there. There was a LOT to wrap up in one season and on top of that they had a double and TRIPLE length episode taking up 5 episodes of the season, AND two holiday episodes. So that gave them only 18 normal episodes they had to place very carefully. So likely, given that they had some episodes important to the finale that couldn’t wait for the last minute in “The First Adventure” and “The Battle for Castle McDuck!”, as I highly doubt pepper was given such a build up to not be important in the finale, still think she’s webby’s mom, we’ll see soon enough. And New Gods on the Block, while not as important was probably not swapped with this one because they wanted a lighter episode after three plot important episodes in a row, two of which are fairly intense and had lasting consequences and one of which, while a bit of a breather, was still indulging in the new FOWL status quo. This one ended up crammed into the last block.. because they likely really wanted to do this one, wanted it to tie into FOWL... and had nowhere else to put it, with Life and Crimes likely serving as one last break from FOWL, if it doesn’t end up tying into it, before the finale movie. Doesn’t make waiting forever for it any less grating, but hey it’s finally here. So how was it? Was it worth the hype? And how do the Wuzzles factor into this? Join me under the cut and spin it with me to find out and count down to 3!

So we open with an adult Kid Cloudkicker at work, voiced by Adam Pally!

If you haven’t heard of him, and one of my Patreons had not, he was on Happy Endings and the Mindy Project, and has a very distinct voice and is very funny, so it was a pleasant surprise to have him pop up here as Kit and given aforementioned roles were messes in some way shape or form, especially Max from happy endings whose essentially Oscar the Grouch, just as gay only not living in a trash can. Though if he had to he would.

Since he was a kid KIt’s picked up the old family business, and is now running hire for hire.. and has also picked up his Dad’s old enemies as Don Karnage chases after Kit, his second greatest nemesis, who freely mocks him. It’s a lovely sequence but shows Kit isn’t the best pilot, and his fancy flying, while beating Don, also opens both crates, freeing the livestock he’s carrying.. and the other cargo, a mysterious stone that was in a F.O.W.L. crate that merges the chicken with a goat, and scares kit, and he ends up causing his cargo to drop out of the plane. Cue titles.

Back with our heroes for this series, Della is recroding Dewey as he flies solo the first time!

That is so precious. Huey is along for the ride and is taking having his reckless brother with the attention span of a coked up ferret at the helm exactly how you’d expect.

Of course his helmet says safety boy and of course he has a helmet on over his hat. Awww. Dewey, while good at it, he’s a 12 year old flying a rather sizeable plane with no difficulty that’s pretty impressive.. he’s also Dewey so just flying a plane normally isn’t enough and he wants to Dewey it instead and do all the fancy stuff. He wants to be special as is usual for him, not realizing this is how you get to being good as his mom or Launchpad. And he’s 12 so that makes sense just on the basic level.. but it also makes sense on a comparison level: Dewey’s done a LOT of impressive stuff over the course of the series: rattling it off because why not, and this is just things he acomplished himself: he found the Lost Jewel of Atlantis (Getting it home was still a team effort but he is the one who identified it), is a golf pro better than his uncle whose played the game for centuries at this point, defeated Don Karnage in a sword fight with little to no sword training, was crucial in beating Magica during the Shadow War, travled through time, by accident or not, consulted on a major motion picture, defeated a Gandra, even if she was going easy on him, BLIND, and biggest of all defeated the World Serpent Jormunngandr, by himself, a GOD that’s fought Scrooge evenly for decades. AND FINISHED HIM WITH A PILEDRIVER. To reitirate this was ONLY the stuff he did himself. So I get why he’d think just flying a plane when his mom and best friend have done so much more with it is boring and that being a pilot when two people he looks up to are already one is just.. boring. I’ts not special or unique and given his family name is built on the two, I can see why he’d chafe under this.

Della for her part isn’t doing things wrong entirely, she wants him to start with the basics, the fact he can DO those basics at such a young age with minimal training shows he has a true knack for it, and it takes experince to pull off death defying stunts. The First Adventure backs this up as while Della was so talented as a kid she could land a plane herself.. that was all she did. And it’s still incredibly impressive a ten year old landed a seaplane with no real world training or hours in a full on flight simulator. The issue that’s never really adressed is while she’s mostly doing it right she dosen’t get that despite his talent, Dewey just dosen’t find this INTRESTING or get how impressive he is, and that dressing it up a bit migh’tve helped. It’s an understandable mistake though, teaching someone something in any context is hard. It’s one of many, MANY reasons like currently horribly hazzarodus conditions, long hours, having to buy their own suplies at times, that teachers are badly underpayed.

Before we get into why their headed to Cape Suzette at long last, there is one notiacble absence in this episode I can’t really ignore: Launchpad. While he has been absent in every episode since Let’s Get Dangerous, not counting “How Santa Stole Christmas!” as the two holiday episodes were made to fit in anywhere story wise and timeline and production wise take place before the rest of Season 3 , which takes place during Spring given both the March note on Boyd and Huey’s photos in Astro BOYD, and Forbidden Fountain taking place during spring break. At most it’s currently running into Summer. I put too much thought into this with someone i’ve lost contact with.

My point, I had one trust me, is that Launchpad has just been gone for the second half of the season . And up till now it wasn’t necesarily a bad thing: He was a major part of Let’s Get Dangerous and wasn’t really needed for any of the episodes so far: The Manor side of things in ImpossiBin was purposfully intense and while he would’ve had some thoughts on Beakly’s actions, it just worked better with him gone and the only other adult in the house at the moment busy doing other stuff for their protection till the climax. Split Sword was kid focused, New Gods didn’t really involve him at all, though I am sad he and Storkules never met as far as I can tell, The First Adventure was a flashback, Fight for CastleMcDuck was about the family unit more, and Beaks in the Shell is the only one so far I think he could’ve been included in at all and again shoving him in would’ve just cluttered things up. Like a lot of character ballance issues of the series, there’s a good enough reason.. this is just the one exception in the last batch I think would’ve been improved by having him. He’s Dewey’s best friend, he’s been there for him, he would’ve been a good counterpoint as a teacher and it could’ve been intersting having both he and della have constrasting styles but valuable things to teach and I would’ve loved to see him interact with Kit. It also just feels really weird to be down a pilot in the episode about the franchise about a pilot. \

The fact Dewey ends up crashing while landing after Huey applauds him on his safe normal landing, which ticks him off because he dosen’t want to be normal, hammers in it in a bit as he missed his buddy’s first crash. I get leaving him out as Kit is just as irresponsible and the episodes just as much about Kit if not more so as it is about Dewey, so I understand it but it dosne’t make it feel like any less of a lost opportunity.

As for why their in the cape at last, it’s unsuprsingly another missing mystery, the stone of what is which can combine two things, the stone seen in the intro. Kit loosing it turns out to be a good thing as it meant FOWL didn’t get it, and they can find it, and are in town to find him. They pass the hire for hire offices which have a ton of notices on the door, and Dewey is entranced by the idea of cloud kicking, aka sky surfing, aka that thing kit did in the original. We also get to see updated versions of Baloo, Kit and Molly. Sadly no Rebecca. Can’t win em all.

Our trio find Kit whose asleep, clearly having no customers and trying to pass it off like he does. It turns out he knows Della, as they went to flight school together, though she only vaugely remembers him at best. She does remember Molly though, wouldn’t be suprised if that’s another ex of hers either, and wonders what happen to her.. and not just because htere’s always room in Della’s harem. Kit dodges.. and it’s likely in large part because it’s clear to anyone looking despite his statments he’s kinda stalled as an adult. It’s very clear from his surroudings, him being a pilot for hire, and him eagerly taking Dewey on as a sidekick when Dewey shows intresting in Cloud Kicking, that he’s trying to be Baloo. This idea was, according to Frank, the brainchild of the episode’s director, and one of it’s writers and storyboarders, Tanner Johnson. Tanner pitched “What if Kit never outgrew his Baloo fanboying?”.

It’s an intresting idea: while it is sad we don’t get to see the old boy at any point and I do wonder where he is now and what he’s up to in his retirment, probably just flying about free as a bird would be my guess given how he never liked working to begin with, I applaud them for doing something unique with the Tailspin cast that fits into the themes of the season rather than just have them show up. By making it Kit instead of Baloo cargoing them, it gives us more of an arc to work with character wise as Kit has become so obessed with becoming his dad, he never stopped to consider if he was even good at it or enjoyed it.

Using Della is part of what makes this work as she too grew up with a larger than life mentor and adopted dad.. but unlike Kit, she grew up a bit and saw the flaws in her dad. His greed, his selfishness, his tendency to hog the glory, his ego.. she stopped putting him on a pedestal. She still loves him, still wants his respect and admiration to this day, but she gets he’s not perfect and not who she wants to be. Kit clearly never got this message. He never grew out of putting Baloo on a pedsteal and wanting ot literally be him instead of his own man. So he ignored the many flaws in how Baloo lived: Baloo started Talespin having lost his plane because he was so obessed with freedom and doing what he wanted, he didn’t bother actually paying on it and chafed under actually doing work half the time. He’s talented, fun to be around and a hell of pilot bar none, he honestly outclasses Della, but he was entirely irresponsible. Kit’s found himself in the same position Baloo was in: living alone, having not a lot going on, and on the verge of loosing his plane. Not only that he’s worse off because Baloo at least, while lazy, had enough talent. Kit.. isn’t a good pilot as we’ve seen and will see again, and clearly not only dosen’t have a knack for it, but is only doing it because Baloo did. He’s so obsessed with being who he THINKS baloo would want him to be, he never stopped to think that the actual Baloo would just want him to be happy and has probably told him this, or was probably too proud of what Kit was doing to realize what he was doing to his life.

But Della dosen’t have time to get him a therapist, they need to find that stone before FOWL, and Kit offers to take them.. if they hire him. Della scoffs at this and insults the Sea Duck

Yeah Della your fantastic.. but you do NOT insult the Sea Duck and your very, VERY lucky it’s not Baloo you were dealing with as he would’ve turned you down out of principal. The Sea Duck is fucking awesome, and a national treasure. Thankfully Kit instead points out the Sunchaser isn’t in a better place after Dewey Dewed what he dew, so they really don’t have a choice.

Della does draw the line at letting Kit fly as she eventually realizes he’s not good at this, mostly letting Crowby his crowbar do all the work, and finds he has a map to where he dropped the stone, so he dosen’t even have that leg to stand on and throws him out of his own cockpit before he gets them all killed. Okay that time on her side. Kit takes this time to try and train Dewey on cloudkicking... but despite being encaustic at the idea of it the reality leaves Dewford scared shitless.. and doubles up on bad things as Don Karnage and his crew are closing in on the island. FOWL hired them to get it for them, though why FOWL didn’t do so themselves I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong i’m happy to have Jamie back and it really wouldn’t feel right ot have a Tailspin ep without Don Karnage, I just find it odd Bradford would hire outside contractors for this given he has a full staff and not at least send Heron or Steelbeak along to supervise. Regardless, Don puts pleasure before buisness spotting Kit.. and fully commits after finding out Dewey is ALSO involved. I also find it hilarous DEWEY outranks Kit on Don Karnage’s enemy list. So naturally he goes after him, int he personal plane he used in the series which also showed up in the cold open, and with Dewey not having the skill to take Don on, Kit is forced ot step in. He also calls him “Little briches” which while another sign of how much he wants to be his own dad.. is still too awesome not to apricate. Don cuts the line but thanks to Kit’s fancy footwork, they make it out alive and wash up on an island. Della soon joins them, thanks kit for saving her kid then rightfully slaps him for putting him in danger in the first place. Dewey also has to stop her from punching him when he explains he had no idea the stone ended up on this island, which granted she is justified in but Dewey , of all people, rightly saw this means they don’t have to drag a unconcious bear around who probably hasn’t showered in a while. I mean the smell will be there either way but there’s less chance of accidnetlly inhaling too much while he’s conconcious. They also find out what the Stone’s been doing: combining the wildlife leading to rhino monkey hybrid trying to murder them. So at the last minute Frank also squeezed in another disney aftenroon show but one tha’ts not streaming and most don’t care about: the wuzzles, a bunch of hybrids of various animals... Frank couldn’t do much with that as is and just decided to rightfully play it for horror.

Our heroes find Don, whose found the stone.. and is simply throwing most of hi crew at it rather than doing anything productive, with them turning into just.. utterly horrifying combinations. Hands for heads and everything, bug legs, a non-anthro parrot head. it’s pretty tough to watch and I question why the episode did this as Don’s crew did not deserve this and this episode is mostly lightearted before and after this. A tailspin tribute episode episode should not pair well with the song no spill blood.. seroiusly you paid for all I do is win, and rightfully but you couldn’t get this?

youtube

Regardless the kids and manchild are told to stay put while the slightly more functional womanchild takes care of Don. Dewey and Kit naturally don’t, which is fair: what did della expect, the sugared up rabbit in a small duck’s body and the incompitent but charming manchild she’s insulted repedadtly to listen? Naturally they both beef it as Dewey can’t board and while Kit does get Don’s plane, he ends up crashing it instead of doing anything productive. I mean even Launchpad would’ve at least got back to the seaduck.. he would’ve crashed into it but still. Look when you make Launchpad look compietnet you really need to rethink your life. Della has bigger problems though as it turns out the thing they were on.. was a coocoon.. for a butterbear. Oh no. Thankfully this goes better than you’d expect as she’s able to ride the thing and it tangles up some rope, taking the stone of what was with it and Don takes off after it with what pirates he has left.

Our remaining heros return to the Sea Duck. Dewey and Kit plan to do the same thing again and expect diffrent results but Huey.. has some words for them.

He’s fed up with this and points out they need to swap jobs. Dewey CAN fly, and Kit really is good at cloudkicking, it’s in the name, and he needs to return to it. While Dewey balks again stating anyone can be a pilot.. Kit finally admits that’s not true and he’s just not good at it and Huey finally snaps them out o fthier neurosis, Kit a bit late but better late than never given the state of his life, and points out the episode’s aseop: YOU make something special just by doing what you like to do and are good at well. I’ts been hard making these reviews, but I feel i’m getting the hang at it and it’s what I was meant to do, I just had to find it. It’s not always easy to find your calling but when you got it, go for it instead of some version of you you think you should be. So we get pured distilled awesome for the climax. Besides Della again riding a bear that’s also a butterfly, Kit, also a bear I did not miss that gag, proceeds to finally spin it and begin again it as he tears through them with Crowby and easily deispatches the planes finally earning Della’s respect and finally back in his element, using his newfound size and strength combined with his still inherent acrobatics to easily take them out and land on Carnage’s plane and beat him.

So the day is saved: The stone lands on the plane and our heroes properly secure it. Della releases her bear fly but it’ll find it’s way home i’m sure... so majestic. Or it’ll eat all the world’s seagulls. Good news either way.

Back at the bay Kit packs up the stone safetly and gives them the bill. Which Della grumbles at but whiel he didn’t fly he did save their asses.. after endagenring them but still and does have a buisness to run. Plus he has to save his plane.

But it turns out someone’s already bought it. And you can probably guess who.

No not you sweetie.. though he is an investor for the person who DID buy it: Molly, whose taken being danger woman from a 4 year old’s play time to her career running an air stunt show. This is the other thing that cemented the whole aged up versions of these guys working for me: HIstory Repeating itself. Once again an enterprising young woman with a lot of ideas has bought the seaduck from it’s incompitent owner and hires the former owner to work for her. But things are warmer this time: Kit wasn’t happy doing what he was doing, and it’s clear unlike Rebecca, who just bought the first plane she could get and hired baloo because he was who she could afford, they became friends with time and patience if not more but that’s still vauge... Molly did this out of love. She knew Kit was struggling and probably has as many fond memories of the sea duck and baloo as he does and didn’t want someone else to get the old girl. Her air show seems to be going fine, she apparently has a full crew, fans and enough money to purchase another plane on a whim from the bank to expand the show.. she wanted her old plane back and her old brother back. And wheras again Rebecca offered Baloo the job because he wanted to keep his baby safe from some half assed pilot she could afford and she knew it and thus could manipulate him with that. Plus he worked cheap so there. Here Molly just admires her brothers skills and hires them on it and he’s frankly more comfortable being a sidekick than the main star anyway.

He TRIES to brush it off but gladly accepts. God another possible spinoff.. please make this Disney.. and if not at least Reboot tailspin I miss it. Still it’s a very satisfying ending. But what of Don Karnage? Well he’s lost everything as a result of this, unable to get back to his carrier, his crew mostly gone, and FOWL sure to be gunning for him. This is seemingly the end for him.. until he finds a chunk of the stone. “Or the start of an encore”. Wether this was a setup for a possible part of season 4, a possible spinoff or is going to come back in the finale.. we’re just going to have to wait and see won’t we?

Final Thoughts: I really liked this one. It’s not the best of the season: Kit’s arc is kinda telegraphed and Dewey’s arc while intresting isn’t focused on enough to really be that engaging. But the ideas at the core are solid and fit into the series well, the idea to age up our kid heroes from Talespin was really clever and paid off and as usual Adam Pally is a delight and as I said at the top was pitch perfect casting. Couldn’t figure out who played molly and the credits cut out on me, so let mek now if you do but yeah I enjoyed this one> It wasn’t the series at it’s best but given the last two are liable to get pretty intense it was a nice breezy break. And it got me wanting to watch Talespin again and there’s nothing bad about that.

NEXT WEEK: In our penultimate adventure, Ducktales reinacts that one episode of Batman the Animated Series where all of Batman’s foes put him on Trial, as Scrooge’s Rogues put him on trial with Doofus as prosecuter and Louie for the defense. Well at least it’s not Lionel Hutz.

This Week: Lots of Ducks! The lena retrospective continues as we take a detour for some comix, and we begin the Della arc as we go back to the start. It’s finally time to talk about Woo-Ooo!.

If any of this sounds appealing follow my blog for more. If you like these reviews head over to my patreon, patreon.com/popculturebuffet, and become a patreon. At the 5 dollar level you get a review a month and even a dollar helps get to my stretch goals. I’m up to 15 a month so 20 is next and that means a darkwing duck review every month! And if you really like Talespin like I do, 25 nets you a tailspin review a month and a review of the pilot. Ohohohohohohoo. See you at the next rainbow.

#ducktales #talespin #the lost cargo of kit cloudkicker #della duck #dewey duck #kit cloudkicker #molly cunningham #danger woman #huey duck #don karnage #disney channel #the disney afternoon

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ninwrites · 3 years

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a memory of love's refrain

Pairing: Joe/Nicky

Summary: a snapshot of an evening spent in a small Brooklyn apartment // circa 1940's

Joe trudges up the long staircase, his boots heavy against the wrought metal. He’d bargained with Nicky about the cost of four flights of stairs against the beautiful view it awarded when they had first decided to move to Brooklyn, because Nicky had been convinced it would be better for them to stay somewhere closer to the ground, as it would award them a quicker escape. Joe had hushed him, insisting the view would be worth it, and that upon the rare chance such a getaway would be required, he’d personally carry Nicky out to save time.

Of course, no view could compare to that which greets him when he steps past the threshold, already unlacing his boots before the door has even shut behind him. Joe could spot Nicky in a sea of thousands, could find him by the guide of his soul with his eyes closed; it is not quite so difficult to see him here, bustling about their small kitchen. Nicky likes to put a record on while he prepares food, and the music is magical and mournful, the lyrics winding around the room, echoed by his low humming. The air is filled with the sharp scent of peppers and garlic, the melody punctuated by the rhythmic grind of a porcelain pestle and mortar, which Joe had made as an anniversary gift for Nicky some time before, though neither could quite remember what exactly they were celebrating.

“Take a photo, habibi, it will last longer.” .

Joe laughs softly, absentmindedly wiping any excess grease from his hands on his denim overalls as he crosses their small apartment. “No image could ever capture your ethereal beauty, tesoro mio, the camera would shatter in my very hands, struck down by divine intervention.”

Nicky turns, his back leant against the countertop. There’s a smudge of red paste across his cheek that Joe follows with his thumb, nipping at the pad even as the bright scent of chili tickles his nose. “Angelo,” he whispers, reverent. Nicky is leaning into his touch before Joe has noticed that he’d moved, hands caressing each side of Nicky’s face with a grace reserved for holy things.

“You’re making Ojja,” Joe hums, pressing warm kisses to every plane of Nicky’s face that he can reach. “Oh, angelo, it is not just your face that the heavens carved from marble, it is your very heart.”

“Incurable,” Nicky mutters, hooking his thumbs in the back pockets of Joe’s overalls. “It has been a long week. I do not know about you, but I am missing our family greatly, and this is as close as I can think to having them here with us.”

“Love is that which makes a home, and your food is almost as sweet with it as you are.” Joe rests his forehead against Nicky’s, which is good as saying ‘I miss them too’.

“I always enjoy watching Booker’s face redden as he pretends the spices do not affect his delicate French sensibilities.” Nicky says, nonchalantly. Joe barks out a laugh, rough and warm.

“Mon amour,” Joe teases. “You’ll just have to make it for them when they return.”

Booker and Andy were both in Europe anticipating the repercussions of war, and Joe and Nicky were in America, as it was groundwork which often brought the more reliable information. They had created a lovely little home in a brick apartment near a dockyard where Joe played engineer, while Nicky established a presence in the neighbourhood, occasionally taking up work bagging at the local grocers a few blocks away to maintain appearances. They were bachelors, both orphaned at a young age, living together to save money - and it was working. No one batted an eyelid. The truth didn’t matter. History taught that people never stayed discontent in their circumstances for long, and they could feel conflict upon the horizon like the electricity of an oncoming storm.

Joe pulls back, pressing a kiss to Nicky’s hairline. “I am the luckiest man in the world.” He swipes his pinky along the ridge of the mortar, touching the tip to Nicky’s tongue. “Do you taste that?”

“Tastes like harissa.” Nicky points out.

Joe shakes his head, kissing the corner of Nicky’s mouth, chasing the heat. “That is joy, vita mia, that is life and love.”

“If I had known you would have returned so hungry, I would have packed you an extra sandwich.” Nicky pulls Joe in until their hips are pressed flush. “The ojja will not take long to cook. I was hoping to have a dance before dinner but perhaps we should eat while the sun is still high.”

“I would eat your food, stone-cold and seasoned with gravel, if it meant I could share the meal with you by my side.” Joe curls his hand against the newly shaved nape of Nicky’s neck. “A dance does sound quite lovely, though.”

“Then it is agreed.” Nicky presses a quick kiss to Joe’s cheek, the skin beneath warm and flushed. “What shall we dance to first? Any preferences?”

Nicky walks over to the gramophone, his hand curled around Joe’s without thought. The gramophone stands on a small table next to the window, on the sill of which sits a pot that is filled with whichever flower Joe had most recently procured for Nicky. The other day he had brought home roses from a local florist, which had cost a few dollars and gotten him a nice ribbing from the boys down the docks for being sweet on his mystery woman. It was all worth it for the shine in Nicky’s eyes when he brought them close to his face and took in their sweet scent, for the way he had whispered thank you against Joe’s mouth and the tender care in which he watered them each morning. When the flowers crumble, Joe will make potpourri of them, and their apartment will linger with the memory of the petals even as a new flower, a dahlia perhaps if he can find one that suits, takes pride in the sunlight.

“Something romantic,” Joe says, as though there is ever any other option.

Nicky hums, his focus on the small stack of records leant against the wall. Joe slips an arm around Nicky’s waist, his chin hooked over Nicky’s shoulder, pressing an idle kiss to his collarbone. Nicky has folded the sleeves of his linen shirt up to his elbows, his forearms warmed by the August sun and dusted with golden hairs. If he weren’t so preoccupied, Joe would have kissed from his elbow down to the pulse point of his wrist and across each finger tip.

The gramophone crackles as the needle spins, and then cheerful, warm jazz fills the room, carrying the voice of Annette Hanshaw: “you have a great way, an up-to-date way, of telling me you love me, it gives me such a thrill, I know it always will.”

Joe hums, taking a step back only to offer his right hand to Nicky, his left folded behind his back as he bows his head. “Nicolò.”

Nicky smiles, a tender and private thing, for Joe’s eyes only. “Yusuf.” The curve of his palm is a perfect fit against Joe’s open hand.

Joe presses a warm kiss against the ridges of Nicky’s knuckles. “It would be the greatest honour of my life to dance with you around our kitchen on this fine evening.”

Outside the window, a pigeon coos. Nicky’s head tilts. “While I feel it necessary to point out that I did ask you first, if I recall correctly, you professed the very exact thing last night.”

Joe, undeterred, draws on Nicky’s hand to bring him closer. “Then, perhaps you would do me the honour twice? You know, they invented music for lovers.”

Nicky’s eyebrows creep up, the corner of his mouth drawn up into a sly smile. “Yusuf, I’m not sure there is anything in existence which you don’t believe was invented for lovers. Everything from the moon, to a simple loaf of bread, to the game of chess.”

Joe undoes the top two buttons of Nicky’s shirt, leaving the front of his chest exposed, his collarbone protruding like a hawk’s wing. “Everything that I am, that I do, is borne from love.” He slips his hand beneath Nicky’s shirt, palm pressed over his heart. “Who would I be without it? Who would I be if I had not fallen for my beautiful enemy?”

Joe makes a pointed noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head just enough that his curls, when he ducks his head to press a kiss against Nicky’s sternum, brush against the underside of Nicky’s chin. “Every day that I wake up next to you is a good day, for I get to live it in your shadow.”

Nicky’s hands cradle Joe’s face, as though he is holding something precious, a great treasure worth revering.

“Yusuf.” Nicky tips his forehead against Joe’s, his lips brushing against the bridge of Joe’s nose.

He’d broken it the second day of their acquaintance, swung his arm wide with a force so great it sent Joe sprawling to the floor. Joe had laughed through bloody hands, his lips and teeth stained bright red. It was the first sign of fire that he’d ever seen in Nicky, and that same spark flickers behind Nicky’s eyes now.

“You have never been in my shadow.” Nicky whispers. “You have always been my sun.”

He draws Joe in for a deep kiss, stepping back and trusting that Joe will follow, and he always does - he’d once walked to the ends of the earth across burning sand without even knowing Nicky’s name. The rest is easy.

“If music was made for lovers as you so profess, then we must dance to it.” Nicky whispers against Joe’s cheek, letting his arms rest on Joe’s shoulders, his hands hooked loosely behind his neck.

They sway, from one side to the other, and it’s less a dance and more the flow of the record rising from within them, their bodies moving in time with the echo of their hearts. Joe clutches at Nicky’s elbow, fingers caught in the linen, soft against his worn touch. His other hand slips around to press against the small of Nicky’s back, at the bottom of his spine, where Joe had once run him through with a scimitar.

The gramophone skips, Nat King Cole’s rich voice filling the room. Nicky tips his head, his eyes half-lidded. Joe hums along, soothing his hand up Nicky’s arm and around his shoulder, his fingers tapping along the ridge of Nicky’s spine. Nicky hides his smile against the cut of Joe’s jaw, pressing a kiss to his pulse point, letting the warmth of Joe’s skin radiate around him, the scent of saltwater from the docks mixing with the orange notes of his cologne, at once familiar and calming.

“Would you sing for me, Nicolò?” Joe asks, his hands tracing secrets and lines against Nicky’s back. Nicky doesn’t protest about how his voice isn’t that great, because he knows it would be a waste of time, and besides that, he doesn’t mind.

“The melody haunts my reverie and I am once again with you,” His voice is low, and it cracks on some of the words, but he can feel Joe’s smile against his ear, knows his eyes are closed. He insists it helps him hear better. “When our love was new and each kiss an inspiration.”

Joe peppers the line of Nicky’s neck with half-open kisses, peeling the collar of his shirt back as far as he can, across his shoulder and down his chest, his breath ghosting across Nicky’s skin in huffs of heated air.

“But that was long ago,” Nicky’s voice drops to a whisper. “And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song.”

The sun has already begun to sink into the horizon. Nicky pulls back, admiring the way the sunlight casts Joe’s profile in shadows, caught in his air, reflecting off the gold in his eyes.

They’ll have to eat by candlelight tonight. Joe will love it.

#the old guard #nicolo di genova #yusuf al kaysani #immortal husbands #tog #kaysanova #nicky x joe #joe x nicky #yusuf x nicolo #nicolo x yusuf #joenicky #the old guard fic #tog fanfic #tog fic #ninwrites #my writing

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metalgearkong · 4 years

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Ghost of Tsushima - Review (PS4)

9/21/20

Developed by Sucker Punch Productions, released July 2020

Let’s not beat around the bush: Ghost of Tsushima may be my favorite game of this console generation, and one of my favorite games of all time. This is a massive samurai tale crammed with unforgettable moments, characters, and environments. After finishing this game, I felt like I had been through no less than the peak samurai experience in any entertainment medium. Never before have I stood up and given a standing ovation for a video game upon the credits rolling. While feeling complete and filled to the brim, there are small technical aspects that do have room for improvement in the potential sequel. Sucker Punch came out of nowhere and knocked the world on its ass with a fantastic stylized epic feudal Japanese journey, one I can never forget.

Ghost of Tushima is open-world, easily comparable to The Witcher 3 or a modern Ubisoft title. What Ghost of Tsushima brings to the table is its incredibly realized medieval Japanese world, to the same extent Red Dead Redemption brought the mythic American Wild West to life. Authenticity can be found in every corner, and I set the game for Japanese voices and English subtitles to extend the immersion (something I can’t recommend enough). The Mongols have invaded Japan, and their first stop is Tsushima island. The samurai here are all that stops the massive army from reaching the mainland. The details themselves might not be perfectly accurate to 1274 Japan, but the world itself is consistent, which is what’s most important.

The game begins with a huge battle, as we take control of our main character Jin Sakai (Daisuke Tsuji / Kazuya Tsuji) right away. An orphan raised to be a samurai by his uncle Lord Shimura (Eric Steinberg / Akio Otsuka), Jin holds guilt and shame for not being able to save his father in battle when he was young, and strives to be the best warrior possible. The explosive intro gives us a quick intro to the open combat, and leads in to a fairly typical tutorial, adding in brief lessons on stealth, and using evasive tactics & tools. I remember how panful the combat first felt, as each strike looked like something akin to a samurai film. The main villain and leader of the Mongols Khotun Khan (Patrick Gallagher / Tsutomu Isobe) establishes himself as a despicable person, and someone totally opposite to the samurai honor-bound code of combat. He wants to conquer Tushima by any means necessary, and Jin is the only one willing to adapt his fighting style to combat this new dishonorable and overwhelming threat.

Jin Sakai is closer to a Geralt, rather than a blank slate avatar character of a Fallout or Elder Scrolls game; He has a specific personality, background, and motivation. Part of the overarching story is Jin learning to rely on tactics he would normally frown upon in order to stand a change against the Mongol forces. This is something his uncle highly detests and forbids Jin to do, leading to a secondary conflict in the story. This is useful for also explaining in the gameplay why the player can either face enemies out in the open, or scurry around and stabbing them in the neck. Of course, most players will do a bit of both, and whatever suits the situation of how you’re feeling in the moment. The best part is, it’s not an binary dilemma, as open combat and stealth can be used completely intermixed at any time.

Personally, one of my favorite parts about the game was unlocking and finding new apparel and color schemes for my outfits. This game (eventually) allows you to dress anywhere from humble peasant, to shinobi of the night, to fully armored samurai warrior. My only nit pick is I wish the game gave you more cosmetic options to buy or find earlier in the game, as I felt limited to just a few outfits and accessories at first. There’s nothing more awesome than manually sheathing your sword after slicing up a dozen grunts, all the while your cape and robes aggressively blowing in the wind. The game allows you to manually bow and play a flute as well, adding the immersion of every moment of the game. You travel the huge island via horseback, and can summon your horse at any instance with the push of the button. I also love how quickly you pick up items, by merely pushing R2. No needless animations or time spend slowing the momentum for the sake or grit or realism.

One of the most unique aspects of the game is using the wind as your guide. If you really wanted to, you’d never have to open your map to know how to get to your current quest. Simply swipe up on the touch pad, and the wind blows in the direction you need to go (the game doesn’t even feature an in-game minimap or radar). This kicks up leaves, twigs, sand, and other particles which add greatly to the visual appeal of the game, and help make you feel closer to the environment itself. Adding to this is how foxes and birds can lead you to hidden secrets, upgrades, or new gear. With so few HUD elements, focus on paying attention to the environment, and the gorgeous lighting and scenery, Ghost of Tsushima gave me to many moments where I felt spiritually uplifted in its world. Despite not having the budget of a super high end Naughty Dog or Rockstar game, Ghost of Tsushima remains one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, and much of that leans on the art style and environmental effects alone.

Missions are equally entertaining whether they come from a main character or minor character you happen upon. Most quests may involve (but aren’t limited to) tracking, fighting, sneaking, climbing, riding, and spying. I especially enjoyed quests with specific limitations, such as having to remain undetected and not to kill any guards. Eventually, however, due to the game’s long length, some of the missions do start to show their repetitiveness, and I don’t think it would have been horrible if the overall run time was 10-15% shorter. I also enjoyed the fact that so much effort was put into side activities that feel serene and peaceful, akin to the Buhddist and Shinto side of being a samurai. Composing haikus and bathing in hot springs to increase your total health felt very much in the spirit of a Bushido lifestyle; always a calm in between the storms of violence. The fact that not all side content is action oriented was a very neat and authentic detail.

Samurai duels were some of my favorite parts of the game. Occasionally Jin would come across an opponent or rival with legitimate swordsmanship skills, and has to face them in an arena. These locations where the duels would take place never failed to be more epic than the next. Duels act like boss fights in the game, and incorporate similar combat to the regular open world combat--only Jin can’t use secondary items such as kunai, his bow, or smoke bombs. These moments were ripe for the photo mode, something I used throughout this game constantly, as its packed with incredible environmental design and lighting effects to make almost every moment and location feel like a living painting. Samurai duels were usually never very difficult, including the ending boss fights, but they always looked awesome and felt damned satisfying.

The game does suffer from some minor technical glitches, but these small drawbacks mean next to nothing compared to how impressively the rest of the game was designed and executed. Frequently I would approach an enemy group and want to initiate a stand off (the samurai version of a high noon cowboy duel) but the game either didn’t give me the option or the option blinked on screen for only a moment and I was unable to do it. Something similar would happen for stealth kills, as sometimes instead of doing the assassination animation when prompted, Jin just did a regular slash attack instead, blowing my cover. Situations like this didn’t happen often, but were consistent enough to notice. I give Sucker Punch a huge pass on these small technical details, as they never ruined my experience of the game, remaining small frustrations on occasion.

Ghost of Tsushima is a greatest hits of iconic feudal Japanese visuals, sounds, tropes, settings, and themes. Countless details build upon this heightened version of Japanese history, making this game an all in one interactive Kurosawa film. Everything from the sword duel boss fights, to the multiple fighting stances, to the stealth, to the nature surrounding you, everything has been executed with extreme skill and thoughtfulness. It can have its small moments showing a lack of polish either in the visuals or mechanics, but Sucker Punch more than accomplished what they set out to do. Ghost of Tsushima is the best PlayStation 4 exclusive, and by far one of my favorite games of all time. If you have any interest in the open world genre, and love the Japanese culture and art style, Ghost of Tsushima likely won’t let you down. An amazing adventure wreathed in katanas, honor, blood, wind, and cute foxes.

9.5/10

#ghost of tsushima #ghostoftsushima #jin sakai #PS4 #exclusive #sony #Playstation #Playstation 4 #playstation4 #review #playstation exclusive #open world #feudal japan #samurai #ninja #shinobi #honor #betrayal

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camisimblr-permanent-hiatus · 4 years

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The Road Less Traveled Challenge

Originally when I set out to write this, the aim was to write up a few extra generations that could be tacked on to the end of the Not So Berry Challenge (by @lilsimsie and @alwaysimming) to add more of the game’s content to that challenge. I’ve ended up with more than a few and decided to post it as its own challenge while leaving it still set up to follow the Not So Berry Challenge if you like.

Huge thanks to my lovely friends for helping me write this challenge: Briar (@snarky-sims-witch), Hope (@homijoh, @sci-fisims), and Fiona (@spectacled-sims)

If you attempt this challenge, on it’s own or following the Not So Berry challenge, I’d love to see it! Use the hashtag #rltc or tag me @camisimblr!

Generation One: Get Famous (Platinum) You grew up in the perfect home, with a perfect childhood. What more could you want? Well, there’s fame, and money, and you’ll get both if you work hard… or marry rich.

Traits: Self-Absorbed, Insider, Materialistic Aspiration: Master Actor/Actress Career: Actor/Actress

Goals: - Become a 5-star Celebrity - Marry a celebrity (3-star or higher) - Master acting and media production skill - Have either a Pristine or Atrocious reputation - Throw 5 successful Charity Benefits or 5 successful Lampoon Parties (depending on reputation)

Generation Two: Jungle Adventure (Lilac) As the child of famous parents your entire childhood was spent in the spotlight, wishing to be anywhere else, and you couldn’t get any further from the spotlight than Selvadorada.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Outgoing, Good Aspiration: Jungle Explorer Career: Writer (Journalism)

Goals: - Marry a Selvadoradian local - Master archaeology and Selvadoradian culture skills - Collect all Ancient Omiscan Artefacts and Omiscan Treasures - Explore the temple in Selvadorada three times. - See everything Selvadorada has to offer - Befriend a skeleton

Generation Three: StrangerVille (Copper) Growing up with stories from your parent of exploring Selvadorada, you make it your mission to do some exploring of your own – by solving the mysteries of StrangerVille.

Traits: Paranoid, Noncommittal, Vegetarian Aspiration: StrangerVille Mystery Career: Military

Goals: - Become the Hero of StrangerVille - Befriend The Mother - Master fitness and charisma skills - Be enemies with at least 3 coworkers - Live underground as a Young Adult - Never have a serious relationship

Generation Four: Island Living (Turquoise) Growing up with a paranoid parent is no easy feat, and you crave an easier, cruisier lifestyle. Nothing could be better than spending every day on the beautiful beaches of Sulani.

Traits: Goofball, Child of the Islands, Bro Aspiration: Beach Life Career: Conservationist

Goals: - Move to Sulani as a Young Adult - Master Photography skill - Throw a beach party every weekend - Marry an island local - Befriend a dolphin - Complete seashells collection

Generation Five: Cats & Dogs (Red) You love animals far more than you love people, so much so that you’ve decided to dedicate your life to your critter friends.

Traits: Hates Children, Loves Cats, Loner Aspiration: Friend of the Animals Career: Vet Clinic

Goals: - Open and run a successful Vet Clinic - Master veterinarian and pet training skills - Always have at least two pets in your household - Cook your pets a weekly meal - Have only one pregnancy, leave your partner to do the parenting

Generation Six: Realm of Magic (Navy) What’s more enthralling than the pursuit of medicine? The pursuit of magic! You want to be the most spectacular Spellcaster to ever live and nothing will get in your way.

Traits: Self-Assured, Erratic, Ambitious Aspiration: Spellcraft & Sorcery Career: Painter

Goals: - Become a Spellcaster - Master painting, gardening, and herbalism skills - Mix every type of potion successfully - Learn every spell - Defeat all 3 Sages in a Duel

Generation Seven: Vampires (Black) As the child of a Sage you’re no stranger to the supernatural, but a chance encounter with a dark, dangerous stranger has you chasing your humanity.

Traits: Clumsy, Music Lover, Squeamish Aspiration: Good Vampire Career: Musician

Goals: - Become a Vampire as a Young Adult - Master vampiric lore, pipe organ, and guitar skills - Marry a human - Become human again before starting a family - Become a Grand Master Vampire

Generation Eight: Parenthood (Baby Blue) Your parent overcome the greatest of obstacles to start their family, and it’s always inspired you to raise the perfect child. But every Stay-At-Home parent needs some me-time.

Traits: Perfectionist, Family Oriented, Creative Aspiration: Big, Happy Family Career: None

Goals: - Raise a perfect child (Max toddler skills, max child skills, complete all childhood aspirations, have all 5 positive character values) - Marry a childhood BFF or high school sweetheart - Max painting and bowling skills - Max any skill that brings a profit - Bowl a perfect game

Generation Nine (Option 1): Discover University - UBrite (Emerald) You were the perfect child, and now you’ll be the perfect student. You’re going to excel on whichever path your academic life takes, but which path will it be?

Traits: Bookworm, Genius, Outgoing Aspiration: Academic Career: Law

Goals: - Get a full ride of scholarships - Max research & debate skill - Graduate without failing a class - Major in a Distinguished Degree - Reach the highest rank in an Organisation - Win the Debate Showdown

Generation Nine (Option 2): Discover University - Foxbury (Maroon) You were the perfect child, and now you’ll be the perfect student. You’re going to excel on whichever path your academic life takes, but which path will it be?

Traits: Bookworm, Genius, Outgoing Aspiration: Academic Career: Engineer

Goals: - Get a full ride of scholarships - Max robotics skill - Graduate without failing a class - Major in a Distinguished Degree - Reach the highest rank in an Organisation - Build a Servo

Generation Ten: Outdoor Retreat (Honey) Your parents spent their lives with their noses buried in their textbooks, but you want to live with the sun on your face and your most loyal companion by your side.

Traits: Loves Dogs, Loves the Outdoors, Good Aspiration: The Curator Career: Gardener

Goals: - Live Off The Grid as a Young Adult - Max fishing, gardening, and flower arranging skills - Take your family camping every weekend - Always have a dog in your household - Complete the Fishing and Gardening collections

Bonus Generation: City Living (Fuschia) You’ve lived most of your life in the peace of the woods, but long for the hustle and bustle of city life. You’ll find your place in the big city, and someone to share the view.

Traits: Art Lover, Foodie, Romantic Aspiration: City Native Career: Social Media

Goals: - Max charisma and comedy skills - Open a gallery to feature your photos - Accept every invitation for parties and events - Complete the City Posters collection - Marry a Sim with similar traits.

#rltc #road less traveled challenge #ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #gameplay challenge #camichallenge #nsb #not so berry challenge #nsb extended

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lbibliophile-mcu · 3 years

Text

Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020 Masterpost

@buckybarnesbingo

Thanks to very last-minute (...last 4 hours, for about 7 new works) encouragement from @rebelmeg and the discord server, I’ve now completed a full blackout!! [Mods, you might want to remove my previous masterpost from the queue. And thankyou for all your hard work!]

Details and links are below the cut (all fills Gen/Teen).

Somebody’s Been Sleeping in MY Bed - ficlet Prompt: B1 Bed sharing Fill type: fanfic (259 words) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Tags: Bodyswap Summary: First he notices that the temperature is wrong. Then he notices that the bed is wrong. Then, he notices that the problem is actually something rather more fundamental.

Heat-sensitive SHIELDRA Mug - Buy Now! Prompt: U1 Seeing red Fill type: graphic Characters: na Tags: Hydra, crack, merchandise Summary: Do you want to show off your loyalty to your organisation? Frustrated that undercover operation cramps your style? Worry no more!

BUCK-E’s Problem Prompt: C1 image of Tony working on Bucky’s arm with a cat in the background Fill type: fanart and drabble Characters: Bucky Barnes & Tony Stark Tags: DUM-E’s Drawings, Bucky Barnes’ metal arm, cats, mechanical repairs Summary: Hanging out in TON-E’s workshop, DUM-E collects the best stories. BUCK-E is not amused.

A Dead Man’s Face Prompt: K1 In memoriam Fill type: fanfic (530 words) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Tags: Winter Soldier, brainwashing, partial amnesia Summary: The Winter Soldier knows that he was once called Bucky Barnes, and had a childhood friend called Steve Rogers. The Winter Soldier knows that Captain America is his enemy and the enemy of everything Hydra stands for. The Winter Soldier now knows that Captain America is the type of man - monster - who would use the face of Bucky’s dead friend as a weapon against him. But he will not falter; he has a mission.

Ice Bound - pt 1 Prompt: Y1 image of Steve an Bucky returning from Azzano Fill type: fanfic (620 words) Characters: Steve Rogers / Bucky Barnes Tags: assumed character death, soulmate AU, cryofreeze, CA:TFA Summary: Steve and Bucky are Bonded. From the day they first meet they are inseparable – best friends and brothers – hardly a day goes past without the other’s company. People say they are lucky, finding each other so young, so close, never having to search and wonder; they say that it is a sign of the strength of their bond. They will need that strength

Rest Your Head Prompt: B2 Didn’t know they were dating Fill type: Moodboard Characters: Bucky Barnes / Thor Tags: nightmares Summary: It’s hard not to feel safe, with the god of thunder himself there to guard your sleep.

Visions of Xmas Past, Present, Future Prompt: U2 Memes Fill type: moodboard and drabble Characters: Bucky Barnes / Sam Wilson Tags: A Christmas Carol remix, blood, future relationship Summary: Christmas Eve in his shity little apartment in in Bucharest, a recovering Bucky Barnes is granted a gift: a reminder of how far he has come, and how much more he still has to gain.

“Don’t You Dare...” Prompt:C2 “You know you love me” Fill type: moodboard and drabble Characters: Bucky Barnes / Tony Stark Tags: Insomnia, Midnight baking, Flour, Dub-con hug (friendly) Summary: Bucky looks at the kitchen, covered in flour. He looks at Tony, arms open for a hug, apron rather well camouflaged with said kitchen..."Don't you dare –”

Sleeping Bucky Prompt: K2 Handle with care Fill type: moodboard and drabble Characters: Steve Rogers / Bucky Barnes Tags: fairytale au, cryofreeze, amnesia Summary: They say that true love’s kiss can break a curse. But love is too vast and complex an emotion to be encompassed by a single kiss.

Dance of the Winter Soldier Prompt: Y2 Ballet Fill type: fancraft (costume) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Morgan Stark Tags: tinsel, costume Summary: Morgan decided to dress as her favourite uncle for her ballet recital.

Line-up Prompt: B3 Movie night Fill type: moodboard Characters: Avengers team Tags: Avengers movie night Summary: The greatest challenge at Avengers movie night: not agreeing on a movie, but finding the right remote.

Equivalent Exchange Prompt: U3 Ransom note Fill type: fancraft (staged photo) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Clint Barton Tags: hostage exchange, Bucky’s chocolate addiction, Clint’s joke arrows Summary: Bucky,Tell me where you hid my new glitter arrows, And I’ll tell you where I hid your super-choc biscuits. Wait too long, and the answer will be “in my stomach”.

Armed and Ready (Winter Soldier braid] Prompt: C3 free Fill type: fancraft and drabble Characters: Bucky Barnes Tags: tablet weaving, Bucky Barnes’ metal arm, Infinity War Summary: He looks at the open case; at the dark limb with its bright tracery. He should have known this was coming. He had known.

Diva Prompt: K3 Passing Notes Fill type: fanfic (460 words) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Clint Barton Tags: derogatory language, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes Summary: When it comes down to it, the Winter Soldier is a little diva.Yes, he is Hydra’s tool, but he is a highly skilled and extremely valuable tool, and he knows it. This makes adjusting to working with the Avengers… interesting.

Bucky’s Favourite Sundae Recipe Prompt: Y3 Alcohol Fill type: Fancraft (staged photo) Characters: Bucky Barnes Tags: Bucky Barnes’ chocolate addiction, ice-cream sundae Summary: Any guesses as to his favourite flavour?

Workout Prompt: B4 Showoff Fill type: moodboard Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Tags: animal AU, dog!Steve Rogers and dog!Bucky Barnes, human!Tony Stark Summary: If there were such a thing as supersoldiers in dog form, Bucky and Steve would be it. Tony loves them, but their energy will be the death of him someday.

Trauma Bingo Prompt: U4 Occupational Hazard Fill type: fanfic (1120 words) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Avengers Team Tags: PTSD, therapy, crack, many traumatic topics touched on briefly and non-graphically - full list in AO3 tags Summary: SHIELD remembers that trauma therapy exists, and their sights are set on the Avengers. Aka. How many issues can you fit in one team, and can you also get them all in the same person. Succeeding at trauma bingo is not actually winning…

Play Nice Prompt: C4 Found family Fill type: drabble Characters: Avengers Team Tags: board games, ‘house rules’ getting out of hand Summary: Maybe board games wasn’t the best idea for a team bonding activity...

Preventative Measures Prompt: K4 Sticks and stones Fill type: moodboard/graphic Characters: Bucky Barnes Tags: self-mutilation, ear trauma, blood, Winter Soldier trigger words, CA:CW Summary: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones...’ but words turn me into a mindless killing machine. So Bucky takes matters into his own hands.

Not in Accord Prompt: Y4 Running Away Fill type: Moodboard and drabble Characters: Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes Tags: Captain America, Steve’s Bucky-centric morality Summary: He needs to remind them what Captain America truly stands for. He needs to find Bucky.

Convenient Camouflage Prompt: B5 Alpine Fill type: fanart Characters: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers, Alpine Tags: malicious compliance Summary: Steve has dragged him along to art classes. “C’mon Buck, it’ll be just like old times.” Well, he still can’t say no to Steve’s sad-eyes, but he’ll draw his white cat.

Hunters and Haunted Prompt:U5 Rescue mission Fill type: moodboard (and pre-published drabble) Characters: Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanoff Tags: nightmares, blood, guns Summary: Not all monsters can be fought with guns and steel. But a friend to guard your back is always invaluable.

Fri on the Wall Prompt: C5 Dialogue-only Fill type: Drabble sequence (600 word) Characters: Friday, Bucky Barnes / Tony Stark Tags: mutual pining, supportive Friday, 5+1 things, dialogue-only Summary: Friday watches her idiot, pining boys. Or, five times Friday tried to support their relationship, and one time she decided to take more drastic measures.

I am... Prompt: K5 Scars Fill type: image edit Characters: Bucky Barnes Tags: amnesia Summary: He tries to remember, but the details keep slipping away...

Somebody’s Been Sleeping in MY Bed - image edit Prompt: Y5 Bodysharing Fill type: image edit Characters: Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Tags: Bodyswap Summary: First he notices that the temperature is wrong. Then he notices that the bed is wrong. Then, he notices that the problem is actually something rather more fundamental.

#bbb2020 #masterpost #bucky barnes #bingo fill #blackout

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