#is it just me?! like they’re absurdly well done

[shitposting4squares]

half life theory

So I saw this conversation between two people on discord, “You know, I realised something In Half Life 1, Gordon, a physicist, is the most dangerous thing for the army that came to kill the scientists (edited) Not the aliens, not the tentacles coming out of the ground that gibs everything No Gordon fucking Freeman is the biggest threat there” “i mean only because hes supposed to approach combat in a methodical/scientific way, as apposed to the monsters and military, the whole tagline for the first game was "run think shoot live", the combat and environments are presented like a puzzle so in that way of course a scientist is goin to dominate” And it got me thinking, you know what actually makes Gordon so unstoppable? Cus i dont think it’s the whole being a scientist thing. For one, he's outfitted with super science gear like the hev suit and experimental weapons. But more importantly, he’s got a massive supply of miracle cures from another dimension. Gordon wouldn't matter for jack shit if black mesa hadn't set up medical centers full of xen healing goop every 20 feet that let him learn from his mistakes in ways no other human soldier had the opportunity to do up until that point. I mean in the regular military, you generally don't get the chance to learn from the mistake of being shot. You just get shot once or twice and you're done for. And as for the theory I developed from this... This healing goo situation could actually be a great reason why g-man would have had to wait a few years to release Gordon again. He'd have to wait until the ant lion healing goop became ubiquitous across locations Gordon would have to travel through, so Gordon could effectively use his skills to speedily rip through locations like a human bullet. Maybe even poke at the threads of fate to ensure Gordon would have recovery tools when needed. Essentially gman and his associates being a level design game developer making sure Gordon has suit chargers and healing goop whenever things get hairy. And with him encouraging the development of the black mesa action protagonist format that was potentially refined not just through Gordon, but with Adrian Shepard, Colette Green, Gina Cross, and Barney Calhoun as well.

Like Black Mesa coulda been an outstanding experiment and proof of concept for a somewhat omnipotent being of how to create human torpedoes if ya really think about it. Learning what sort of conditions lead to humans becoming absurdly lethal super soldiers within the span of just a few days, and how to optimize this process. Not just in the sense of the real life developers of half life learning and growing from the franchise. But g-man and his mysterious benefactors, canonically, in universe, using the events at black mesa and all it’s expansions and spin offs, as practice for the events of half life 2, alyx, and eventually someday half life 3. Just the typical videogame format of having a power and skill progression could take on a new meaning if ya look at it from an in universe context rather than just a pretext for fun gameplay. Instead consider it as a semi-omnipotent being, learning that if you put a human far enough from something you want destroyed, manage their increase of skill and power by putting them through progressively more difficult situations one after the other, with liberal access to resources and fast recovery tools. Then within 2-4 days you’ll be able to hit your enemy with a powerhouse super soldier that seemed to come out of nowhere and they had little opportunity to prepare against because of just how quickly these humans are able to go from zero to hero in optimal conditions. And even though not all of the black mesa event protagonists have been guaranteed to have have survived, so long as they're able to achieve a otherwise impossible goal before their death, they would still count as data towards refining the black mesa action hero method and being able to replicate it to use against the combine. Like if you think about it, each of the half life 1 protagonists could fit in nicely as tests/proof of concepts for different tasks, and different kinds of optimizations for these so called hero types. Like Gordon is solo act/jack of all trades, Collett and Gina are a co-op duo (potentially helpful data for when gordon and alyx would have to work together in the future), Barney is specialized for escort quests of non-combatants, Adrian is a squad leader of more combat focused types, and Alyx is a backup jack of all trades and test to make sure that the system of having a human run a gauntlet of challenges optimized for their growth still works effectively in a post combine world. Could probably even measure when these environmental conditions of having frequent healing and the opportunity for rapid skill progression that comes along with it really came together in the post combine earth, by how and when Alyx was able to become a near unstoppable human badass in her own spin off game.

#half life #gman #Gordon Freeman #Alyx vance #adrian shephard #barney calhoun #theory

[toweroftickles]

Hi I'm so embarrassed- I know I'm like one of two-ish people who would want this but like I was wondering if you heard of a game called Solatorobo: Red The Hunter- and are willing to share some t-word thoughts GOODBYE AAAHHH

Well, guess what? You are lucky, because you just so happened to have found the other half of the two-ish people who would want this!! Solatorobo t-word thoughts are the elixir that gives me life and I am so excited that somebody requested them BUCKLE UP BABY

Tickle Headcanons

Red Savarin

Ticklishness Rating: 10/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Balls and Arches of Feet, Sides, Tummy

Absurdly ticklish, everywhere, but especially on his gigantic feet. The tiniest little poke can cripple him.

He's proud and cocky, and flustered by how sensitive he is.

Giggles like an angry little boy, always fighting to hold in his laughter. Tons of intense snickers in the roof of his mouth and through his teeth...he makes a lot of staticky noises when he's squirming.

Red's a struggler. Will never hold still and has to be wrestled down to get tickled.

He's constantly surrounded by girls...Caninu and Felineko alike...who think he's cute and love to tease & flirt with him. Pretty much every gal he meets tries to tickle him to death eventually!

The Dahak's (his robo) giant mecha fingers can operate with a surprisingly fine touch...very effective for tickling...and he's done this in battle before.

Chocolat Gelato

Ticklishness Rating: 7/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Belly Button, Armpits, Feet

More huffy and stern than Red, she sometimes gets fed up with her big brother's antics and feels the urge to punish him.

She can make Red do basically anything she wants (“Don’t make me tickle you”), and relishes the hold she has over him. Her bossy-but-demure nature belies a mean streak and sharp claws that she isn't afraid to use.

Her tickles are rough and squeezy.

Surprisingly, even though she's ticklish too, Red doesn't get her back very often, because it's always a fight he ends up losing.

Tickling really annoys her….unless Quebec does it. Then it’s a serotonin boost!

Forced to be the mature one, Chocolat rarely has the opportunity to act like a kid her age. Getting bear hugs and tickles from Quebec fills her with butterflies and lets her feel safe, loved, and smol. :3

Her cackling laughter isn't very ladylike, and this bothers her.

Ehl Melizee

Ticklishness Rating: 9/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Neck, Small of Back, Ankles

Some people, when they’re tickled, flail around wildly. Some curl into a defensive fetal position. And some feel their entire bodies contract like a tightly-coiled spring and freeze solid. Ehl is the latter.

She'll fervently insist that she's not ticklish, but acting is not one of her talents.

Ehl does not laugh. She shrieks in petrified agony.

Opera Kranz

Ticklishness Rating: 9/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Between Toes, Ribs, Inner Thighs

A predator in the purest sense, who loves to play with her food both literally and metaphorically. Domineering.

This feline pirate is a ravenous tickler who shows no pity. If a prisoner is in her clutches, she'll tickle-torture them to the point of capitulation without a second thought. It's her absolute favorite method of punishment, persuasion, and info extraction, and she knows just how to drill your weak spots. >:)

Calua and Gren always get nervous and excuse themselves from the room whenever she does this. They know not to get on her bad side.

In true cat fashion, Opera is haughty and treats everyone as beneath her. Constantly infantilizes her opponents, mocking, teasing, calling them “cute” or “sweetheart”….just imagine how bad it gets when she’s got them pinned down and won’t stop running her nails all over them.

When that sense of superiority breaks, she goes full Hulk mode.

No tolerance for what she dishes out. None. Howls and screams and threatens gory vengeance when given a taste of her own medicine.

Calua Napage

Ticklishness Rating: 7/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Belly Button, Feet

Too laid-back to really hate or be angered by tickling, but too defensive to really enjoy it either.

Extremely wiggly and squirmy, like a fish.

He always gets revenge, so watch out! But it’s all in good fun.

A teensy bit fearful of provoking Opera’s tickle wrath.

Several people have pointed out to him that they can't help but tickle his tummy; it's too tempting a target! He's thought about equipping a less-revealing wardrobe, but truth be told, he wants to flaunt his abs.

Quebec

Ticklishness Rating: 5/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Ribs, Belly

Surprisingly jovial for an ex-soldier, with a husky, bellowing roar that lets his heart of gold shine. Loves to laugh.

His voice isn’t deep; it’s in subterranean catacombs.

Guards Chocolat like an adopted daughter. He’s highly protective of her and the two are very close and affectionate.

Those paws might be massive & scary, but they’re just big fluffy tickle mittens.

When she was little, Chocolat's favorite pastime was getting picked up and carried around on Quebec's back. Whenever she wanted him to go faster, she'd kick him in the side with her foot or reach down and tickle his ribs, both of which made him chuckle.

As a result of his battlefield injury, his right leg no longer works, but his left does, so he has the unique distinction of being ticklish on only one foot.

He's extremely fuzzy, which makes him fun to touch...ladies tend to get very cuddly and physically affectionate with him, which can be a little awkward when they brush against a tickle spot.

Flo

Ticklishness Rating: 7/10

Most Ticklish Spots: Balls of Feet, Tummy

The French maid outfit isn't just for show, or for business. She loves wearing it, and she also loves getting flirty with feather dusters. ;)

Her sunny, chirpy laughter can brighten anyone's day! Flo yips like a little puppy.

She'll tell you to stop, but won't really mean it.

If anyone wants some more Little Tail Bronx research for tickle HCs, speak up…this whole franchise has such a cool aesthetic & cute characters that need to be exploited. XP

#solatorobo #little tail bronx #red the hunter #red savarin #tail concerto #tickling #tickle blog #tickle #tickling community #tickling headcanons #sfw tickles #headcanon #sfw tickling community #tk headcanons #tk content #tickle content #sfw tk community #sfw tk blog #tickle fluff

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Kaguya-Sama: The First Kiss That Never Ends

I have never quite understood the hype behind Kaguya-sama.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great show. Actually, strike that; it's a fantastic show. It's one of the most consistently funny comedies of the past few years, and its clever character work and outrageous animation are more than deserving of their high praise. But whenever I hear people calling it the best rom com of all time, all I can think is, "Wow, y'all really are so young that you've never heard of Toradora, huh?" Never mind Kimi ni Todoke, Ore Monogatari, and countless other spectacular shoujo rom coms that people are all too quick to forget even exist. I love Kaguya-sama dearly, but I've never quite felt comfortable ranking it among the best of the best like so many others do.

At least, not until I watched this movie.

Now, though? I understand completely.

See, the reason I never rated this show as highly as other people is because to me, Kaguya and Shirogane's romance is the least interesting part of it all. Even after season 3 finally made me give a damn about them officially hooking up as a couple, Kaguya-sama is always at its most interesting to me when it's focused on anything other than its title character. Chika's insane wild card antics, Hayasaka's perfectly deadpan straight man routine, Ishigami's bizarrely endearing blend of misanthropy and sincerity... Kaguya's supporting cast has always been its biggest draw for me. Kaguya and Shirogane aren't bad by any means, and they've had plenty of great moments between them. But most of the time when Kaguya-sama is playing at being a straight romance, it just doesn't connect with me as strongly as it's trying to.

And that's why The First Kiss That Never Ends is so phenomenal. Because after four years of show, it finally, finally made me fall in love with the main romance of Kaguya-sama. After all this time, I get why these two crazy kids are so special to so many people. I get why countless adoring fans consider this their favorite rom com, even if it's still not my personal best. No longer am I standing on the sidelines in mild confusion; I am officially a full throated Kaguya-sama stan at last. And in accomplishing this feat, this movie finally helped me understand why these two weren't clicking for me before... and how I may not have been giving this show as much credit as it deserved.

You see, one of the central tropes in Kaguya-sama's romance is a trope that I have more bad experiences with than I can count: the Ice Queen. Kaguya is a frigid, closed-off girl who must learn to open her heart and be honest about her feelings over the course of the show. It's a character type I've seen a lot, and it's a character type that is dangerously easy to fuck up. Because if you don't treat this kind of story with care, it can very easily come off like the story sees her as a haughty bitch who needs to learn her place, stop being so stuck up, and let a man sweep her into his arms. And considering how many hang-ups a lot of male anime writers clearly have about writing female characters... yeah, let's just say I have enough nightmares of this trope being done wrong to last a lifetime.

And Kaguya's not even a bad example of the trope! She's always been a very well handled character, even as far back as season 1. But one always had this uncertainty in the back of my mind: how aware is this show of the gendered nature of the tropes it's playing with? There are countless times where either the narrator or the characters will make some sweeping statement about what girls are like, or what boys are like, or how relationships between men and women are "supposed" to work. And while they're always presented so absurdly that no rational person could take them seriously, it's never quite clear how unseriously we're supposed to take them. Cause, like... there's a lot of these moments for them to not be indicative of something.

So that's where I've been at with Kaguya the Ice Queen. A very loaded, very gendered trope in a series that has a very unclear stance of loaded, gendered tropes. Was it trying to say something? Did it have some grand thesis about the harmful nature of gendered expectations waiting in the wings? Or like so many anime before it, was it just uncritically parroting the same old tired expectations for good little boys and girls? Looking back, this was the sword of Damacles hanging over my head as I've watched and enjoyed Kaguya-sama, the uncertainty that kept me from opening my heart to it fully. Whether I could fully put it into words or not, I couldn't get past that question: is this show yet another victim of sexist stereotypes it doesn't fully understand?

Thank god, then, that The First Kiss Never Ends had finally proven the answer to be no.

Yes, if you thought the aftermath of Kaguya and Shirogane's first kiss was going to be smooth sailing for these two neurotic messes, you clearly don't know what show you're watching. They've taken the biggest step forward imaginable and brought their relationship right to the precipice of being official. Victory is so close they can taste it, but with that comes a terror the likes of which they've never felt before. Suddenly the reality of what their lives are about to become crashes up against their long standing hang-ups about love and self worth, and their mutual fear over thinking they aren't yet living up to the standard of what a Person In A Relationship is supposed to be leads to the biggest rift in their relationship yet. Neither understands what the other wants from them- hell, they don't even understand what they want from themselves. Which means after so many mental battles and false starts, it's time for Shirogane and Kaguya to rip off their masks and face each other's true selves once and for all, even if they can't bear the answers they think are waiting in the other's gaze.

And yes, in exposing themselves so completely, it makes clear just how inexorably their issues are bound up in gender. Kaguya's so obsessed with playing out the script of the submissive lady who lets the man make all the first moves that her spiraling self-loathing ends up hurting everyone who tries to get close to her. Miyuki's so wrapped up in the need to prove himself manly enough to be worthy of Kaguya that he loses the ability to connect with her on her own terms. And when these two deeply flawed approaches to romance collide with the heightened tension of two dumb kids desperate not to fuck everything up, they feed into each other in the worst way.

In other words, what this movie proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that Kaguya-sama fully understands the importance of leaving gender roles behind. The final boss of this show isn't just the inescapable fear of knowing and being known; it's also, explicitly, how that fear is made worse by gendered expectations that leave lost kids flailing in an attempt to live up to unhealthy notions of love and companionship. It's the kind of misunderstanding plot that actually makes sense and leaves you agonized because of how well it understands why their wires are getting crossed, as opposed to agonized because the writers are clearly dragging things out tortuously to avoid progressing the plot an inch further. For Kaguya and Shirogane to truly overcome their issues, they must leave behind their notions of who they're supposed to be, how they're supposed to act, and see each other as the people they are. Not a girl and guy following a pre-written script, but two complex human beings who make each other's lives that much brighter for being in them.

And in retrospect, that's always been what Kaguya-sama is about, hasn't it? All of this show's best non-comedic moments have been when it takes an ax to a restrictive gendered trope and lets the character behind it fly free. Miko's introductory arc was all about Shirogane realizing that this girl most people dismissed as a naggy bitch in need of an ego check was in fact one of the most passionate, dedicated people in the school, and doing his damndest to give her a chance to speak her truth. And hey, remember how Ishigami's rise from Reddit-pilled loner to someone who can embrace his place in the world without feeling like an incel involved him dressing in drag and feeling happy doing so? When you look back at the whole picture, Kaguya-sama has always been about breaking free of gendered expectations, in ways both big and small. And now that we've reached the climax of Kaguya and Shirogane's arc, it's finally time for them to break free just the same.

And my god, it is spectacular. It's an emotional payoff to years of slow-burn character work that makes look back and realize just how fucking good it’s been at laying the foundation for this moment. It bares Kaguya and Shirogane’s souls like never before, and it took me from being nominally interested in their antics to openly weeping over their attempts to understand each other. This isn't just a beautiful finale that washes away all my concerns, it's made me appreciate everything this show was doing so wonderfully before that I was too uncertain to pick up on. At last, I can see that Kaguya-sama is as incredible as everyone says. It is genuinely a masterpiece of rom com storytelling. It's an uproarious, beautiful tale about the importance of living true to yourself, even when you feel like yourself is something to run away from. And if this movie is the last part of the manga to be adapted, then it's as perfect a conclusion as I could hope for.

It's not a perfect movie overall, to be fair. It pretty much skips over an Ishigami/Miko subplot it starts building up, and there are points in the middle where the lighting is so dark it's almost impossible to see what's going on. Which is a weird misstep for a series that's always had such a strong visual identity. But as a climax to this war of hearts and minds that finally made me care about those hearts and minds, it's an unimpeachable triumph. The First Kiss That Never Ends made me believe the hype at last, and I can't wait to join the rest of the world in preaching the glories of the series it caps off so wonderfully. And I give it a score of:

9/10

Thank you all for reading. Here's holding out hope for season 4!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #kaguya-sama: love is war #kaguya-sama #kaguya-sama wa kokurasetai #kaguya sama

[bloodyshadow1]

gushing about Pokemon scarlet and Violet pt 1. ( scarlet playthrough)

I really loved the game, it made me feel things that sword and shield just didn’t.  I think the writing has really improved in this game.

I loved the open world of the game, I know previous games have tried it before, there was a bit of it in sw/sh and I heard good things about legend: Arceus, but haven’t played it to personally confirm.

I loved the 3 storylines that you could play at any time that you were given at the beginning of the game.  I think operation starfall was my favorite out of the three, followed by path of titans and then the classic champion path.  The champion storyline was fine, it was just the normal pokemon experience, not much new.  The other 2 just added more to the game and their characters that the classic mode playthrough didn’t. 

Speaking of I loved Penny and Arven as your rivals, Nemona was fine, just a bit underdeveloped but still a good addition. I just wanted more of her and for her to be developed into something more than just a blood knight.  She kind of felt like Leon without the flaws other than being a bit battle obsessed.  That being said I think how they put her into the story was very well done, as a champion level pokemon trainer she decides to basically start over as a newby to keep pace with you as your rival.  It felt nice to see since in other games your rival would always be ahead of you for no reason other than that’s how the game is played no matter how many times you beat them.  With Nemona, it makes sense that she is ahead of you since this is her second go around and is still technically champion even if she’s starting over, she’s been to every city before

I also like how your rivals are given flaws, even though those flaws don’t really hold up to gameplay, it is still neat and helps flesh them as characters. Nemona being a genius at battling pokemon, but not actually great at catching them. Arven being a knowledgeable adventurer since he’s been to Area Zero before, but supposedly not being good at battling.  You can actually see this since he has the type advantages down for most of the titan battles, you do end up carrying him through them though.  even if they’re absurdly high levels when he wants to battle you to test if the two of you are ready to go to area zero.  Penny is shy, a computer wise, but introverted, but loves eevees having a probably homemade eevee plushy she carries around and having a team of eevlutions. 

#pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon scarlet and violet spoilers #pokemon scarlet #pokemon sv #nemona #arven #penny #bloodyshadow plays pokemon

[deancasbigbang]

Title: Do You Know What That's Worth?

Author: norahastuff

Artist: sidewinder

Rating: Mature

Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Brief non-explicit Cas/OFC, Brief non-explicit Cas/OMC

Length: 75000

Warnings: undefined

Tags: Cas POV Canon divergent from 9x06 Cas is pretty damn competent Slow burn Late night drinking (and subsequent revelatory conversations) Let's finally address the ingredients of the angel fall spell Copious references to Howl and The Pina Colada Song

Posting Date: November 4, 2022

Summary: After Dean leaves him at the Gas N' Sip in Rexford, Castiel realises that he needs to get back in the game. However, that's easier said than done, and instead he finds himself working in a superstore in Boulder as he tries to figure out his new human life. He makes friends, starts hunting, even has a couple of hook-ups. But then Dean unexpectedly crashes back into his life, and Castiel has to re-evaluate where Dean fits in, and what it is they need from each other. And while Castiel may have had his grace stripped from him, he still possesses certain angelic sensibilities that may be the key to fixing some of the damage Metatron has wrought. With some creativity, teamwork, and a dash of hope, maybe he can discover just how much he's really capable of.

Excerpt: He looked over the file he'd taken from Dean. “She was single, had a good job, and lived alone. Are the others similar?” Dean didn’t respond. Castiel glanced down to find him frozen in place, staring at the small black ring box. “It’s your birthday present,” Castiel told him, somewhat unnecessarily. He’d thought it was obvious. He’d even put a gold bow on it.  “Uh, right. Sure.” Dean gingerly opened the box to reveal the heavy, dark ring inside.  “I know you’re not one for jewellery these days,” Castiel said, picking up one of the other files from the pile beside Dean. “But I thought you might like this. It’s iron. Hand-forged.”  Dean looked up at him wordlessly. Castiel shrugged. “You have repeatedly expressed your desire to punch a ghost in the face. This should assist you in that.” “Shit, Cas.” Dean slid the ring onto his finger, expression inscrutable, until his eyes flickered back over to Castiel and his face broke into an absurdly dazzling grin. “You get me.”  Castiel swallowed, his throat feeling inexplicably dry. “Past events would indicate so,” he said when he felt comfortable speaking again.  Dean didn’t seem to notice his hesitation. He curled his hand up into a fist and examined the ring from several different angles. “What are these etchings?” he asked, holding his hand up to his face and squinting at it. “Enochian protection runes. I didn’t know if they would work on such an uneven surface, but the artist I commissioned to engrave it did a remarkable job.” She hadn’t even blinked when he had shown her the pattern, nor had she had any intrusive follow-up questions, which Castiel had greatly appreciated. He still wasn’t particularly good at improvising cover stories.  “Huh.” “There’s also…” he trailed off, and Dean looked up sharply.  “What?” “Well, the sigils. They’re similar to the ones I carved into your ribs.”  Dean grinned, which was not the response Castiel had expected. “Thought I recognised this one,” he said, tapping delicately at a sigil with the nail of his pinky finger, and yes, of course he would pick that one.  “That’s my name,” Castiel said, and Dean went still. “My true, angelic name. Don’t worry, it works even if I don’t have my grace,” Castiel added hurriedly. “Besides, even if it was dependent on that, that wouldn’t be a problem for you.”  “That’s not what I –” Dean frowned. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘for me'?” “You still have some of my grace within you.” Dean’s jaw dropped. “I reconstructed your body, Dean, knitted it back together, molecule to molecule, before infusing your soul back into each new cell I had created. You had to have known I did that using my grace?” Castiel tried to suppress his smile. The look on Dean’s face was rather amusing, but he suspected Dean wouldn’t like it if he started laughing at it.

DCBB 2022 Posting Schedule

#dcbb 2022 #fic preview #2022 promo #deancas #destiel

[marylikesstuff]

Hi, I’d like to gush about my new favorite character. Have a very long winded essay about why I love Hunter de Vil under the cut. 

Warning: Spoilers for 101 Dalmatian Street (especially the season one finale) as well as discussion of abuse.

Hunter de Vil is an antagonist on 101 Dalmatian Street. In early episodes of the show he lurks around ominously in the background.

Eventually he’s revealed to be the grandnephew of Cruella de Vil, and is helping her in trying to catch the decedents of the original dalmatian family from the 1960s. All so Cruella can finally get the coat she’s wanted for literal decades now.

Ok, so characters who start off as villains but deflect to the good side over the course of the story are everywhere nowadays. And though I’ll always be a sucker for this trope personally, I can understand why others might be sick of it due to over-saturation.

But Hunter de Vil struck a chord with me, and I think it’s because the show didn’t try to sugarcoat his abuse.

A lot of time (not always, but a lot of the time) when I see abuse victims in fiction, the negative side effects are hardly (if ever) shown in order to keep the character sympathetic in the eyes of the audience.

With Hunter though, the show equally paints him as both villain and victim. It’s a level of nuance I greatly appreciate.

Plus I was honest-to-god taken aback by what ends up happening to the kid. It’s so absurdly overkill.

This boy, who has been used and manipulated his whole life to do his great aunt’s bidding (all in a hopeless attempt to gain familial love) gets locked in a metal box for SIX MONTHS for his trouble.

The isolation literally drives this kid insane. Not only does he come out unhinged, he also has episodes where he blacks out and thinks he’s a dog. It’s deeply unsettling.

But does great aunt Cruella care? Ha, of course not. She tells him point blank that she didn’t even notice he was missing. All she cares about is her end goal of finally getting that damn coat, and if Hunter can’t get it for her, she’ll disown him from the de Vil family completely.

Hunter doesn’t realize how pointless his efforts are. Nothing he does will ever please his only living family member, but desperate and at rock bottom, he continues to try.

It’s both frightening and tragic to watch. His anger and violent lashing out are not painted in a softer, more palatable light. They’re brutally real.

And like I said, they do not sugarcoat that this kid has been abused. It’s made chillingly clear in the way he breaks down into frightened tears whenever Cruella raises her voice, even during a phone call. And when he’s actually in her presence, he flinches back and cowers in fear.

But you wanna know what the most screwed up part is? He still wants to please his abuser. He still strives for praise. Any tiny scrap of something that even vaguely resembles affection. It’s scary because it’s so realistic to real life abuse victims.

Thanks to his efforts, Hunter and his great aunt actually succeed in capturing the dalmatian family during the season one finale. It’s a near villain victory, until the horrible truth finally comes out and paints everything Hunter has done so far into a new light.

Apparently, this whole time, Hunter was under the impression that Cruella was merely going to have the dogs shaved to get her coat. That they’d be grumpy and bald, but otherwise fine.

Given how young Hunter is, and how he has a pet cat who is also completely hairless but otherwise healthy, I can understand where the ignorant misunderstanding came from.

Hunter reveled in being a bad kid, but he’s still got a moral line.

So he is rightly horrified when he learns the truth. That these dogs are absolutely going to DIE.

And not just die. DIE GRUESOMELY.

It’s wild just how dark this finale is. Cruella has an honest to god Death Machine built, and not only plans to have each cute puppy go through it individually, but she also ties up the pups’ parents in the same the room so they can watch.

Disney cartoon finales don’t play around. Goddamn.

Hunter objects to killing the dogs, which Cruella merely shrugs off. After all, she already got what she wanted. Her grandnephew did his job and is no longer useful to her, so she has him locked up with the dogs.

This is the most nightmarish scenario possible for Hunter. Remember, he was trapped in this same crate alone for six damn months, and now he’s back there again with an army of puppies who are very justifiably angry at him.

It had to be a living hell. Trapped and having no choice but to face his biggest fear, as well as his own overwhelming guilt. All Hunter can do is pathetically try to explain himself. But even then, he can only crumble into tears.

And here it is. The part that gutted me. Like dang it, puppy show. I went into you expecting cute shenanigans. I didn’t sign up for THIS.

“I just want to belong to someone. I’m all alone in the world. You all have each other. You’re a... family.”

It kills me how he words it. Instead of saying he wants to be loved, he says he wants to “belong” to someone. Like he values himself so little.

The puppies, being good dogs and all, take pity on the kid. They’re just kids themselves, and it had to be sobering to see their once most hated enemy at his most vulnerable.

Hunter and the puppies are soon placed elsewhere, so that Cruella can start feeding them into her death machine. And just to add to Hunter’s trauma, he’s placed in a dog crate.

Cruella was going to force him to watch as well. I’m sure that wouldn’t have destroyed what’s left of the kid’s already fragile, diminishing sanity.

Luckily, this being a kid’s show, things turn out all right in the end. Hunter and the dalmatians escape and fight back, but Hunter has one last showdown with his great aunt.

This is my favorite scene in the whole show. It’s the expressions that make it for me. The artists did such a great job making us feel Hunter’s fear and anguish.

And I love that Dorothy (the youngest pup) is the one he happens to end up protecting. She was the one he’d first kidnapped episodes beforehand, so it’s great to see the contrast in who he was back then to who he is now. 

It’s nothing short of gratifying when he finally stands up to his abuser. It had to be the hardest thing he’s ever done.

Not only because he’s been deathly afraid of her his entire life, but also fiercely loyal. He did everything for this woman because all he ever wanted was to be loved back.

Those pained tears speak more than any words ever could.

Cruella is arrested and the dalmatian family goes home. It’s a happy ending.

But things are left kind of ambiguous for Hunter. On the one hand, he’s free. But on the other hand, since his only family is now in prison, what’s going to happen to him?

The kid is still very much traumatized, and he still often blacks out and thinks he’s a dog. It’s a twisted fate, honestly. And since the show has been cancelled due to Disney not advertising it and letting it die on a channel almost nobody has, it looks like there’s not going to be any real resolution for this kid.

Breaks my heart, but I at least appreciate what I got: the story of an abuse victim who, even though he managed to somewhat overcome his situation, was still left scarred by it.

And that’s why I love Hunter de Vil.

He’s tragically what surviving abuse looks like (albeit minus the dog quirk). It’s rare to come out of a bad situation as the perfect victim. The sad truth is that you’re gonna come out of it with messy, negative aspects too.

But that doesn’t make you less worthy of sympathy and help.

TLDR: I like Hunter because he is a good tragic villain. He’s simultaneously gremlin AND baby.

#101 dalmatian street #hunter de vil

[kjack89]

Getting Old

For @themiserablesmonth Day 28: Reflection.

Modern AU, E/R, established relationship.

Read on AO3.

Maybe it was the absurdly early hour, since Enjolras had purposefully set the alarm on his phone for an hour earlier than usual in hopes of getting some work done, but judging by his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Enjolras was finally beginning to look his age. He leaned forward to examine his reflection more closely, prodding the bags underneath his eyes and looking unhappily at the laugh lines that no longer disappeared when his expression relaxed.

He sighed heavily and leaned in closer to the mirror, searching his hairline for any gray hairs that might’ve cropped up since the last time he’d checked, scowling at his reflection. He might’ve carried on like that all morning, completely defeating the purpose of getting up as early as he did, if it wasn’t for the pair of arms that snaked around his waist from behind and the pair of lips and accompanying stubble that pressed against his cheek. “Good morning,” Grantaire said, his chest rumbling against Enjolras’s back as he dipped to press a kiss to his shoulder. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“Work,” Enjolras said shortly.

Grantaire rested his chin on Enjolras’s shoulder. “Funny,” he said. “I don’t seem to see much work being done.”

Enjolras scowled again before sighing and turning to face Grantaire. “I got sidetracked by a little existential angst,” he said reluctantly.

“Luckily, existential angst is my speciality,” Grantaire said evenly, reaching out to tangle his fingers with Enjolras’s. “Dare I ask what this particular existential crisis is about?”

Enjolras sighed again. “You’re going to think it’s stupid,” he said, and when Grantaire just gave him a look, he amended, “Fine, you’re going to think it’s vain.”

“You’re so vain…” Grantaire hummed, stopping when he saw the look on Enjolras’s face. “Ok, so what part of your gorgeous body are you obsessing over this morning?”

Enjolras’s scowl returned in full force. “See, that’s the problem right there,” he snapped, and Grantaire blinked.

“If you’re upset at my use of the word obsessing, I’ll remind you I haven’t had my coffee yet, so my word choice is maybe not as precise—”

“No, not that,” Enjolras said impatiently. “You called me gorgeous.”

Grantaire stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “Because you are,” he said. “A stunner, a knockout, the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, let alone fuc—”

“And what happens when I’m not?” Enjolras interrupted, his voice tight.

Grantaire’s expression shifted slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what happens when I’m old?” Enjolras asked sharply. “What happens when my hair turns gray and my face is full of wrinkles and you can no longer call me Apollo, the embodiment of youth, with a straight face?”

“Honey, if you think this face has ever been straight—”

“I’m serious,” Enjolras said.

Grantaire took a moment to respond. “Well, firstly, I think you’re forgetting the fact that I already have some gray hairs, not to mention wrinkles.”

“That’s different,” Enjolras said, rolling his eyes even as he reached out automatically to run his fingers through Grantaire’s curls, which were sticking out in every direction from both sleep and sex the night before. “Especially your wrinkles, because they’re laugh lines and they look…” He shrugged. “Honestly, kind of sexy.”

Grantaire barked a laugh, though it was punctuated by a wide yawn. “Nuh-uh,” he managed through the yawn, and Enjolras rolled his eyes affectionately. 

“I see you’re as articulate as usual this morning,” he said.

Grantaire just made a face before leaning in and kissing him. “Not awake enough yet to be articulate,” he murmured, his lips ghosting against Enjolras’s.

Enjolras pushed him gently away. “If you’re not awake enough to be articulate, then the last thing you need is to be forced to deal with my ennui this fine morning.” Grantaire stubbornly stood his ground and Enjolras crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’m serious. Go back to bed. Just because I’m up this early doesn’t mean you have to be.”

“Right, because I’m going to leave you in the midst of your despair just to get a few more hours of sleep,” Grantaire said dryly. “Because I’m so caring and thoughtful that way.”

Enjolras sighed. “You know what I meant—”

“No, I don’t,” Grantaire said, all traces of sleepiness gone. “I especially don’t know what you meant by ‘what happens when I’m old’.”

Enjolras shrugged and looked away. “Nothing,” he muttered. “Just…you always talk about how attractive I am, and I appreciate the compliments, even if you go overboard a little. I just thought…” He trailed off, unable to meet Grantaire’s eyes. “Will you still want me when I’m not as attractive?”

“Will I—” Grantaire broke off and Enjolras chanced a glance at him. “Wow, forget vain, you really think I’m that fucking shallow?”

Enjolras rolled his eyes. “Of course not—”

“I know they say you grow up to marry your father, but even though your father traded your mother in for a younger model, I sort of thought you would think more of me,” Grantaire said, a muscle working in his jaw.

“I do,” Enjolras said quietly. “I think the world of you.”

“Then maybe give me some fucking credit,” Grantaire said bluntly. “Because I’m not with you just because I think you’re hot. In fact, it barely would make the top five reasons.”

Enjolras took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said, meeting Grantaire’s eyes. “Truly. I didn’t mean to imply any of that. Especially not that you’re shallow.”

“Good,” Grantaire said. “Because I’ve been accused of a lot of shit, but I didn’t think I would have to defend the fact that I love you regardless of your appearance this early in the morning.”

Enjolras sighed. “I did tell you to go back to bed,” he reminded Grantaire, a weak attempt at a joke. “But now I think we could both use some coffee.”

He made as if to slip past Grantaire to head to the kitchen, but instead, Grantaire grabbed him by the waist and crowded him against the wall, kissing him deeply and licking into his mouth as his hands traced up the planes of Enjolras’s chest. Enjolras’s head tipped back as Grantaire moved his mouth to his neck, kissing and biting at the taut flesh. “Grantaire,” he managed breathlessly, regretting it immediately as Grantaire stilled.

But Grantaire didn’t pull away. “I love you,” he said, his eyes dark. “I love every single thing about you, even the things that drive me absolutely nuts. You’re going to get older, but all that means is that I will have a whole new set of things to love about you.”

“Do you mean it?” Enjolras asked softly.

“Without a doubt,” Grantaire told him. “Because every wrinkle you get, every gray hair that shows up, those all will be a part of our life together. How can you think that I will look at that and do anything but fall more in love with you?” Enjolras just shook his head and Grantaire leaned in to kiss Enjolras once more before turning to press a kiss to his temple, “I love you,” he whispered in Enjolras’s ear. “Even when you’re actually old, even when your hair goes gray, even when you have wrinkles and aching joints and whatever else – I will still love you.”

Enjolras turned his head to capture Grantaire’s lips once more. “And I love you,” he said honestly. “Always and forever. And I’m sorry that I ever doubted you.”

Grantaire leaned in so close that Enjolras could feel his breath ghost over Enjolras’s lips. “There’s one way you can make it up to me,” he murmured.

“Anything,” Enjolras said instantly.

Grantaire grinned, his eyes crinkling. “I think you mentioned something about making coffee.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes, pushing Grantaire away. “Ass,” he said, but he was laughing.

“Yeah, but you know you love it,” Grantaire said, kissing Enjolras once more before ducking out of the bathroom.

“Unfortunately, I do,” Enjolras said, but he was smiling, and he left the bathroom to go make coffee without giving his reflection a second glance.

#exr #enjolras x grantaire #enjoltaire #enjolras #grantaire #fanfiction #les miserables #modern au #established relationship #insecurity #aging #the miserables month 2022

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Usually wait until I have two chapters but who cares? Break week upcoming and I have feelings about this chapter. Starting with the easiest, nonspoilery one. Not a huge deal, but said something about it last time. The idea that Egghead might be the same island Oden met Toki, which has a lot of cool potential implications. It’s not the signature spotted rafflesia flowers that’d make it obvious, but this shot does show the similar trees we already noted this time with the right type of coconut-looking fruit. So one more point.

There’s some amazing stuff going on in this chapter from the angle we’ve been looking at. Luffy straight-up taunting Lucci so blatantly Zoro’s spelling it out. A certain redhead knocking around with less cool alternate versions of Luffy & Makino. That whole segment offers a lot obviously, but let’s go ahead and wait for 1077 to do em in pairs like we have been. I want to think on it and see our next step, but this chapter pulled the neat little trick of dangling something I was juuuust starting to seriously wonder about. This time, I only want to offer a plausible answer on the table to that finicky question; isn’t it past time to give it up? What on Earth could justify a newbie hanging out in the ship this whole time?

Aww, Shanks has a doofy Grand Fleet who decided they were his underlings too...

This was honestly on the short list of ideas from the start, hell I might have even mentioned the base logic before Wano ended, it’s a layup if you’re pitching an opening for a Quartermaster. Either way, at least back when we were just saying hey...arc could theoretically fit this rough sketch and build around a twist. We’ve done well sticking to that even if it was kinda vague. Vegapunk got the lore dump out of the way early and now this is devolving into chaos all while we’re keeping some of those big cards like X Drake back and still nailing the right themes.

Drifting away though, our goal at the moment is to lay out a hypothetical for how where we’re at on Egghead could be resolved through a quiet new addition working behind the scenes unbeknownst to us the readers. It’s the Fleet. Got 100 Marine ships in bound? Scary, sounds like a good use for Luffy’s ~70 backup ships. You just have to get Kizaru away from them, and him leaping into the fray on Egghead early is the perfect moment to turn the tables. Unfavorable, but not insurmountable odds at a perfect rate to justify the upset through smart command. Especially when you have guys like Orlumbus and Sai who can be your seasoned field marshals familiar with naval combat, it’s really a perfect stage for a Quartermaster who’s bringing social/speech skills. Less naval tactics, more balancing the egos. “Now Cabbage-kun...I’d expect a star to know the value of waiting a little to build tension.”

We have this big Chekov’s Gun loaded, look at what’s possible. Think taking a Gorosei hostage would count as historic proportions? The beauty is how it all just...flows. Luffy’s vivre card probably was going haywire over the past few weeks. Say they trusted Luffy and let it smolder from being thrown in Udon, but when it snuffed out and popped back for the Awakening or whatever decided they should probably move in. That’d give almost two weeks to get in the area, especially with the three days post-Wano. What if they’ve been trying to constantly call for a while now? Snails pick it up as they’re leaving Wano...there you go, that’s a perfectly fine excuse for someone new who gets the value of numbers spending a lot of time for a few days in the hold coordinating. It’s a great way to rapidly get up to speed on the wider world and could end up keeping a bit of mystery on the enemy end. You could even spin it into a killer Tokyo Rose-type vibe.

I feel like that type of propagandist, something like Gen in Dr. Stone, plays absurdly nice with what we’re seeing floating around this story. Don’t tell me it wouldn’t suit that little drama queen more than swinging a sword.

#one piece #chapter 1076 #post-wano musings

[iworshipsappho]

c!tommy for the headcanon ask game :DDD

🧸👻🎭🥇📚💔👽😶😭

(you dont have to answer all/more than one of them, idc I´m just really curious lol)

OOOOH this is gonna be funnnn >:333 strap right in!!!

🧸 A headcanon about their childhood mmm so ykn choomy was just 9 during the whole first war right? well uh imma take his childhood to be before everything went down. He was a summer child, bright vibes, all toothy grins and scraped up muddy knees. c!wilbur was a damn worrier, every time he saw c!toms all bloodied up mans would get anxious as fuck despite the obvious joy on tommy's face. and so when will wud bandage tommy up, tommy too would take a couple bandaids and stick them all over will's face and colour them in. so like when they're done wilbur wud just be a mess of awkwardly stuck bandaids covering his face while tommy would be haphazardly patched up :')

👻 A headcanon about what scares them mmm well, we all know about the tnt. im not too sure if the phantoms are canon or not, but to me ctoms is definitely terrified of them. and dont even get me started on bodies of water. both remind him of sleepless nights during exile and just utter helplesssness. im sure we all remember him waking up drowing every single fucking day. so yeah...

🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about oooh he's such a fucking liar man. he lies about almost everything, but not in a ooh im a teenage boy who's an idiot way. he just doesnt think that anyone would actually be interested in what he has to say. the only person he didnt lie to after exile was revivedbur, even with tubbo sometimes he wouldnt know whether or not to tell him how fucked up he actually was and wud lie that he was fine all the fucking time. another person he never lied to was probably cjack, he just didnt care what jack thought of him. oh he also probably lied about all the times shroud inadvertently hurt him, to chommy thats just how the spider shows affection and acknowledgement

🥇 A headcanon about what they’re best at he's the bestest boy ever. period. uhhh but liek if i had to specify smth uhhh my boy loves to crochet and he's ace at it. i personally dunno much about crochet but like i know we as a fandom widely headcanon the blue sweater knitting thing but like, imagine crocheting man. he'd just go full brrrr mode with it. like, someone wants smth? boom he fucking crochets it for them, in my mind, c!beeduo have a bunch of crocheted alliums that chommy made. (alliumduo my beloved, id give my life for them)

💔 An angsty headcanon ooofff my boy is the embodiment of angst man ffffffff. mmm so ykn how ctom's limbo was just utter darkness? well what if it wasnt. what it instead of darkness, he had every single "mistake" he ever made replayed over and over like a dream sequence? what id he spent months just unable to escape from visions of his life on the dsmp. the community house, cgeorge's house, the foirstever time lmanberg blew up, nov 16th, doomsday, techno killing tubo, etc etc. all things that tommy think he couldve stopped, all the things he blames himself for. what if his limbo was both complete isolation, but being hounded by his past. what if

👽 A headcanon about a weird quirk of there mmmm c!tommy with braids my belovedddddd. i do it, so he does it to. whenever he gets anxious or fidgety, he just plucks out the front few strands of his hair and just starts teisting or braiding them. over and over, undoing and doing htem again, just to keep himself grounded and his hands occupied. he also adresses every bee he meets as if htey're ctubbo's messenger, calling them a big man and trying to leash them. oh and when he picks flowers, he comes up with whole backstories for each one :333

😶 A random headcanon! oooh he was sooooo a loom band kid man istg. he would be obsessed with them!!!!! like henry's horns would be completely covered in like absurdly coloured sets of loom band bracelets even his own hands would be coveredddddd in them up till his elbows. at least. and like he even managed to drag ranboo into it and to tubbo's absolute chagrine they both would just sit for hours on end making bracelts. c!techno was also roped into it during exile, and phil would just look at them amused. ooooh if only c!phil had a camera, he would have soooooo many pictures of techno's supposedly "deadly" base littered with torn pieces of loom bands

💜

#ooh this was so fun i love thinking about chommy!!!!!!! :DDDDD #asks. #ask game #idcwhatmyusernameisblorp #tommyinnit #c!tommyinnit #c!tommy #dsmp #dsmp headcanon #c!tommy hc #methinks mesays. #holy fuck just realised this has just been sitting in my drafts ogmggg

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 143 Rundown

Spy X Family: So despite being Bluey-level involved parents, apparently the neighbors are now suspicious of Loid because he’s out working late every night on Spy shit which it’s kinda funny because the show never shows us Loid or Yor doing their jobs all that much and somehow neither really gets in the way of their family façade but apparently Loid’s been out doing Spy shit this whole time and it’s one of those Fairly Oddparents retcons of ‘oh yeah it’s always been this way because that’s how it has to be for the plot/joke to work’. So yeah, despite being a walking zombie Loid plans an Aquarium trip for some fatherly-enforced family fun, honestly planning a trip and putting a lot of pressure on the family to ‘have fun or else’ is probably the most normal dad thing Loid’s done so far. I mean not that Loid can’t be a cheating husband with a double life AND take his family to the aquarium but people seem stupid so it’s probably fine. Loid gets another mission while at the aquarium and he has to… get info out of a penguin, that seems like the dumbest way to exchange info like can’t you just stick it in one of the statues or tanks or something holy shit why stick it inside an animal? Apparently Anya can read penguin minds too so that’s fucking dope but because they’re penguins it’s not much to read. Still Loid’s able to break in and get to the penguin she finds that looks suspicious and is it just me or does the Forger family seem kinda like Team Rocket in that they feel like they have an excellent set of skills to do several other jobs than the one they’re doing, like Loid could definitely retire and become a penguin wrangler. Anyway after some hiccups, Loid gets the penguin and Anya reverse-kidnaps herself to have Yor beat the shit out of the enemy spy so mission accomplished. There’s also a little skit of Anya giving her review of the house before being stopped before going in Loid or Yor’s rooms which is pretty cute, nice way to end off the first half of the season.

Inuyasha: With last week’s revelation that the literal last jewel shard is at Inuyasha’s dad’s grave we spend a good portion of the episode going ‘wait how did that work again?’ given it was like, episode five we’re over a hundred episodes in at this point and unlike Naruto, Inuyasha doesn’t flash back to the same few key scenes every couple episodes despite being as absurdly long and filler-ridden. Inuyasha goes to find Myoga and Totosai to get him to yank the death portal out of his eye but they’re like ‘sorry bro, one way trip, gotta take it up with the guy who made it’ and it’s really funny because they really abuse the pearl in Yashahime and kinda plaster over it by throwing New Hosenki from this episode in there to be like ‘yeah I fixed it and made it better’ despite him saying in this episode it’d take him a hundred years to do it but I also vaguely recall Riku having some shenanigans on that front. Anyway Hakudoshi’s basically stringing Inuyasha along this whole episode and making it clear he has no fucking clue how to get into the afterlife and is teasing Inuyasha so he can do it first and Hakudoshi can pull an Ocarina of Time and be like ‘well since you opened the door for me’ and it’s really silly because Hakudoshi appears to Inuyasha and ONLY Inuyasha just to ‘neener neener neener, I’ll get to the grave first’ and then like two hours later sends Kagura to deliver a message about how to actually get there so Inuyasha does all the life-risking grunt work but like BITCH YOU JUST TALKED TO HIM AN HOUR AGO AND SAID NOTHING OF VALUE, YOU COULDN’T HAVE TOLD HIM THEN!? Like they don’t even play it smart and make it look like Kagura’s rebelling again and telling them something they shouldn’t know, she straight up says Hakudoshi told her to tell them this, so Hakudoshi’s just being an extra little albino bitch but he’s like eight days old at this point so I guess I have to cut him some slack.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Well Yusuke is definitely 100% dead forever and Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara immediately power up to follow Sensui through the tunnel. Hiei blasts a Dragon of the Darkness Flame and it really just pushes Sensui into demon world but it does fucking obliterate every minor demon that was on its way so the tunnel is clear for the moment, also Kurama is apparently able to turn into Yoko as like a Super Saiyan form while keeping his own personality now so it just goes to show those two have not been taking a single fight in this arc seriously up until now. Meanwhile we catch up with the Koenmas, our usual Koenma basically spelling out Sensui’s plan to enrage everyone to chase him into demon world and have Kuwabara slice through the mosquito net barrier stopping the eldritch demons from coming out meanwhile King Yamma is mobilizing the Law & Order Special Demons Unit to go take care of some shit but he’s vague about what he means exactly. Meanwhile in the limbo world that proves Bleach really did steal everything from YYH, Kuwabara jokes about the grid pattern basically being a video game and Hiei who was just literally in a video game where they had to murder a child to get out tells him to shut the fuck up. They get to the big barrier and Sensui’s not a demon so he can run right through but because Hiei and Kurama are now Super Saiyan demons they got blocked, now Kuwbara either has to fight Sensui alone or slice up the barrier to let them through. Now there’s a couple things I like about this exchange: 1. They absolutely don’t have to continue the fight, they can actually just fucking walk away right now and Sensui’s kinda screwed like he can’t chase them or cut the barrier on his own, but nobody’s willing to just let Sensui go after he killed Yusuke. 2. When Kuwabara does cut through the barrier, unlike usual when he does something stupid, no one tells him to stop and I like to think that Hiei and especially Kurama are smart enough to know Sensui’s playing them but they’re not willing to back down at this point, even if it means making things on Earth a whole lot worse. 3. Kuwabara does have the option of being headstrong and self-sacrificing as usual and throw himself at Sensui and die senselessly while claiming he doesn’t need anybody’s help but he admits he can’t beat Sensui on his own and needs help from his friends and does the (relatively) more level-headed thing. So yeah, Sensui gets through to Demon World and checks ‘see the world of the creatures you thoughtlessly murdered’ off his bucket list and goes into his super ultimate armor form which is basically just ‘no’ the ability, you can’t be stronger than it, can’t break through it, just no. Like Hiei swallows the dragon and does his DBZ shit, Kurama does some kinda hell plant thing, notably Sensui does still have to dodge Kuwabara’s dimension sword so if they were able to pin him down and force that to hit him that might have worked but yeah everyone’s just kinda fucked at this point.

Jujutsu Kaisen: We get brief flashbacks of the adults making vague attempts to stop Yuji from charging in and of Junpei getting his Jellyfish Shikikami powers and then the fight is on. Yuji’s double punch shit does about as much to the jellyfish as Flats punching Spongebob but he’s able to maneuver around enough to be able to hit Junpei directly and for some reason the jellyfish’s poison doesn’t seem to affect him at all. After a round of beating the shit out of each other, Yuji gets Junpei calm enough to just fucking tell him what happened with his mom and shit and how Junpei’s basically like ‘people don’t have feelings because the alternative is the people who killed my mom are sociopaths and that’s harder to reconcile’ and Yuji gets the idea to recruit Junpei to be the late stage starter pack but before we can change the opening song too much Mahito jumps in and turns Junpei into a soul gremlin like a few seconds after he has the revelation that MAYBE the dude doing soul experiments in the sewer might be a bad guy. Yuji asks Sukuna to heal Junpei and Sukuna either can’t or won’t, he plays it off as a ‘oh watching you beg is a lot more fun than helping even for power’ but it’s most likely either he can’t heal other people or making a second pact would override the one he already made with Yuji which kinda flies in the face of Mahito’s plan and the plan further falls apart when Junpei apparently dies and Yuji gets SO fucking pissed that he PUNCHES MAHITO’S SOUL like I don’t quite understand the lingo of this show yet but getting so pissed you punch out someone’s soul is badass no matter how you slice it, it has something to do with the Yami Yugi thing Yuji and Sukuna have going but apparently Yuji can punch you so hard it literally hits your very soul and that’s freaking cool as hell. They fight for a while and it’s pretty neat because Yuji’s pissed/dumb enough to just facetank all of Mahito’s chimera shit and Mahito’s basically human silly putty so any damage doesn’t last too long. He tries to turn Yuji into a soul gremlin so he’ll have to ask Sukuna to reverse it but Sukuna stops him like ‘What the fuck you think you’re doing bro, get your dirty ass hands off my soul you franekstein motherfucker before I ram your soul so far up your ass…’ and before Mahito can properly counterattack Kento shows up and realizes Yuji has soul-punching powers so they’re gonna team up to fight this guy and that’ll be fun.

Chainsaw Man: It’s the finale and this one kinda caught me by surprise, like I thought I had two episodes left but apparently I lost count and this is it. After last week and the Ghost Devil nearly killing Aki, this time it’s decided it wants to play nice and gives him the cigarette Himeno told him he could have when he grew up and because he has no fear of the ghost devil anymore it legit can’t see him (though he also walks on it and presumably it can feel him so maybe it just wanted to die instead of being controlled by snake girl idk) He beheads it and before Snake Girl can get her snake on, Kobeni pops out of nowhere using her Sloppy Blowjob Devil powers and captures her. Denji and Power come up against a room full of zombies and Power charges right in and Denji’s just like ‘nope’ and steps back into the elevator which is probably good because the next floor has Katana Man on it. Katana Fucker is still pissed about Denji killing his grandpa which is like one of the few things Denji was NOT in the wrong about like not only did he not kill him till he was already a zombie but the dude blackmailed him all his life into indentured servitude, we’ve established that Denji’s a heartless asshole and Katana Man not wanting to even kill zombies confirms that’s not part of the Devil Man process but something innate to Denji’s character, but he was well within his rights to fucking murder that guy long before he did. Anyway the two fight and do their Spider-Man 2 train sequence and it’s cool and shit but Denji gets both his arms cut off when Katana Man starts doing his anime katana move because he has the power of god and anime on his side. They do the super awesome run past each other and slash deal where Denji says he’s gonna cut him down with his head blade but since Denji’s a lying sack of shit he pulls out his secret move, LEG CHAINSAWS and completely subverts the whole clash which is fun. Katana Boi wakes up chained to the train and I’m not entirely sure why he can’t just transform again but I guess he ran out of blood like Denji does and Denji and Aki take turns kicking him in the balls for killing Himeno which is insanely satisfying like there’s this weird kind of fusion between the ‘we won’t kill you, justice will be served’ and the sure juvenile joy of the nutshots that makes it very fun like it’s not even severe enough torture to be an ethical dilemma it’s just like ‘eh, it’ll make us feel a bit better’ and it is a nice bonding moment between Aki and Denji, even almost makes me forget that Katana Dude didn’t actually kill Himeno at all and they should be mad at Snake girl since she was the one that ate the Ghost Devil and invalidated the sacrifice in the first place (also did we ever get a reason for why Katana Man wouldn’t stay dead even under Aki’s ‘definitely kill you’ sword or was that just chalked up to ‘Devil Men basically can’t die, do not pass go do not collect $200’?). But yeah, everyone’s good, Makima says that the Gun Devil jewel shards they got from the bust gave them enough to track the Gun Devil, Snake Girl dies horrifically in front of Kobeni for maximum trauma and we get a cool montage of Denji, Power and Aki just enjoying running errands to close off the season. Also Denji has the dream he had from the beginning of the season about talking to Pochita from through a doorway which I’m guessing is his Naruto/Kurama seal place and if he opens it Pochita will take back over and drive Denji out.

So yeah, that’s the end of Season 1 for Chainsaw Man and I had a lot of fun and I want more but that’s it for now, dunno if I’ll figure out a new anime to watch for next week or just cut the block a little shorter, I’ll see how I feel when it gets closer.

Ranking of Kings: So we get a new opening and this opening song is actually how I first heard of this series and it does fucking slap so that’s cool. Bojji and Kage are still on their way to the castle and apparently Despa is on his way too but is a ways behind because, and I shit you not, his horse got too fat. Meanwhile Hilling is assaulting the gate and Sword Guy has trained Kirito Guard to become Crossbow Guy and help him infiltrate the castle to destroy the gate to the Underworld. Meanwhile Miranjo’s busted the Underworld Criminals out of prison and is just like ‘yeah go nuts I don’t give a fuck’ and they just like immediately kill her puppets but luckily she has Koro-sensei’s absolute defense mode so no one can smash her mirror. The majority of the episode is getting a feel for these criminal dudes and there are some that are just generic tough guys, one that seems to be more of a schemer and one that’s a fucking Dark Souls dude who cuts into Big Strong Guy #3 Kingbo’s tendons so he can’t hold his sword or stand and just acupunctures his back a bunch and lets him bleed out. This guy is Ouken and my working theory is that he has the same kind of training Bojji does where his fighting style targets vital points for disabling rather than crushing with strength only he went the dark murdery ‘disable and let your enemies bleed out’ route on his skill tree. They just kinda yeet Kingbo out of the castle and schemer guy takes over, Snake Guy tells the snakes to bury Kingbo but turns out he’s still alive which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone because I don’t think anyone who’s died during this series has actually stayed dead.

Vinland Saga: Askeladd runs his men fucking ragged to try and outrun Thorkell’s advancing army that outnumbers him five to one, sending for reinforcements while heading up the river with them hot on their trails. Bjorn confronts Askeladd about his uneasiness and Askeladd admits Canute’s kind of a downer considering if they win he’s supposed to be the King of England. However they’re able to get away from Thorkell using the English’s one eternal weakness: forgetting other countries exist. They escape to Wales, the red-headed stepchild of the United Kingdom where Askeladd has some contacts that are willing to escort Canute on the chance that when he becomes King of England he’ll stay the fuck out of their country. Like Canute seems like he’d keep his word but would it really be England if they minded their own business? Negotiations do not go well because Canute is, in clinical terms, a fucking pussy. Still they set off with Thorfinn acting as Canute’s personal bodyguard as they work to reunite with the rest of the army in the nearest fort. On the way Askeladd admits that despite claiming to be a great judge of character, having faith in people like Thors hasn’t really worked out for him so maybe someone he has absolutely no faith in like Canute is the change of pace the world needs. Before they can get too deep into navelgazing they’re immediately ambushed in the next town, some deity out there heard Askeladd reminiscing about Thors and fucking trapped him in the same archer high ground bullshit he used on him.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Spy X Family #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Jujutsu Kaisen #Chainsaw Man #Ranking of Kings #Vinland Saga

[thatone-churro]

still thinking about how i was told to “consider something more practical” for an occupation at my high school’s reality day.

to put that in context: reality day is a thing my high school does for seniors where they are given a certain amount of money based on the career they plan to pursue (given from the counselors likely from the first google search result) and are given various expenses and random events to determine if you would basically survive or not.

of course, i intend to be an author, so i chose that.

cue an agonizing 30 minutes of trying to figure out how to survive on an absurdly low amount of money (even for the job itself) and ultimately finishing with like $13 dollars a month to spend for myself. without life insurance. or a car. or my own house with no roommates. or college. or literally any non-necessity expense.

i was doing this with a friend of mine, who plans to become a tattoo artist, was having the exact same struggles with the exact same choices as me (but she knew they were lowballing her SEVERELY because obviously she’s done her own research).

and the advice from the counselors and teachers who were there to help? the both of us were told to “consider going into a more practical profession.”

and i know i’m probably lingering on it far more than i need to be, and i’m definitely taking it more personally than i should be, but something about that response irks me.

i mean, i’ve been getting stuff like that ever since i decided that’s what i wanted to do. i’ve been told that i should reconsider, that i should try going into the medical field instead (yes, they got that specific once), that i had better be damn good if i expect to earn a living, that i should think about doing something else and write as a hobby.

obviously, that’s not gonna stop me (i won’t be going into my personal motives right now, because that’s an essay on its own), but god is it daunting sometimes.

and honestly, i don’t know what the point of this post is because everything i have to say about this has already been said in every other essay post about the subject. y’know, the ones that go on about how creative occupations are incredibly important, yet go unnoticed, but would be dearly missed if and only if they vanished (because they’re right, you know).

maybe i’m looking to make the same point. maybe i’m wishing the adults in my life (as well as my peers!) were the slightest bit more supportive. maybe i’m looking for others to relate to, idk.

TL;DR - creative occupations are just as important as “practical” ones. deterring people (kids, especially) from pursuing them, ESPECIALLY if it’s their passion, in favor of something with a bit more money in their pocket afterwards is definitely NOT a good thing to do. if you do, you don’t have a right to complain about the shitty music or books or movies you’re left with while you bash the job of making them in the first place.

#the only good thing from that day is the inside joke we got about me getting a speeding ticket. when i only rode the bus. #the implications of that were funnier than the $300 dent that and the other random event left me with. #grace being kinda serious for once #text post #personal #okay to rb

[nurseanddex]

if you're doing sentence starters, 3/27 for nursey & dex?

3. “what did you do?” and 27. “why the hell is there glitter everywhere?”

Dex was going to murder someone.

When he found out who did this, he was absolutely going to murder them.

He had returned from an absurdly stressful final exam, his very last final exam of junior year, thank fuck, fully planning to spend a few hours vegging on his bed and watching Netflix before he needed to pack up his shit for the long drive home to Maine in the morning. But someone decided he needed other plans.

Because someone had decided to set off a glitter bomb in the middle of his bungalow.

Every single surface was coated in a rainbow of ultrafine glitter. The kind that was practically impossible to ever fully get out, no matter how hard you tried. It was all over his bedding and even had managed to get into his dresser and closet and coat most of his clothing with a layer of glitter.

Great, now he had to do laundry because he couldn’t very well go home to his vaguely homophobic family with practically every piece of clothing he owned sparkling in a glitter rainbow. Sure, he was mostly out now but with his family it was very much still a keep it to himself and don’t shove it in their faces situation.

Sighing, he set to shoving the worst hit items into his laundry basket to get started on the arduous task of cleaning up. At least if he had to wash literally his entire wardrobe, he was conveniently located to the washer and didn’t have to lug everything up and down the stairs. He opened the door of the bungalow to go start the load and suddenly found himself face to face with an extremely sheepish looking Nursey.

“Surprise,” Nursey said, offering him a weak smile accompanied by some half-hearted jazz hands.

“What did you do?” Dex growled.

“Well, Chowder and I were talking and we thought it would be nice to do something to celebrate you being made captain.”

“So why the hell is there a mess of glitter everywhere??”

“There may have been a miscommunication over whether we would be getting a confetti cannon or a glitter cannon,” Nursey admitted, unable to meet Dex’s eyes.

“What have I ever done to give you the impression that either of those would be something I would enjoy?”

“Yeah, we uh, sort of realized that? About two seconds after we set it off. We were hoping we could get it cleaned up before you got back but we may have um, fried the vacuum in the process. Chowder went over to the volleyball house to ask Farms if we could borrow theirs.” Dex’s shoulders slumped as he felt the rush of anger go out of him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t stay mad at what was a misguided but well-intentioned gesture from his best friends.

“Just help me clean this up, okay?” He pressed his laundry basket into Nursey’s hands, “Can you start that load? I’ll see if I can find some brooms.”

It took what felt like an eternity, but between the two of them, they were able to get the majority of the glitter explosion cleaned up. It probably would have gone faster if Chowder had ever made it back with a vacuum, but he must’ve gotten distracted with Farmer. Exhausted, they slumped together on Dex’s bed.

“So you go home tomorrow?” Nursey asked, stretching out his tired limbs.

“Yup,” Dex sighed, “Back to lobstering and trying not to be too obviously gay so as not to bother my family with my ‘offensive lifestyle’ or whatever it is they’re calling it now.”

“Why go back if it’s going to be so shitty?”

“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go,” Dex laughed sardonically, “And really it’s not so bad if I just keep my mouth shut and don’t draw too much attention to myself.”

“You can come stay with me,” Nursey said, surprising himself.

“I can’t impose on your family like that. And I definitely can’t afford to not work this summer.”

“We have plenty of space, you wouldn’t be imposing. My mom’s company is looking for summer help, you could apply there. I don’t know how much you earn lobstering, but the minimum wage in the city is pretty high because the city is so expensive.”

“I can’t just not go home for the whole summer!”

“There will be a long weekend for the Fourth of July, you could go visit then.”

“I don’t know, Nursey,” Dex said, his voice wavering.

“Do you even want to go home? It sounds to me like it makes you miserable.” Nursey’s words caused Dex to deflate, all the fight draining from his weary bones. He couldn’t deny it any longer.

“I don’t, and it does,” he quietly admitted, “but if I don’t go back and help, and prove that I’m still useful, what if they decide there’s no reason to tolerate me anymore? What if they decide they don’t want me to go back anymore?” His voice broke as tears threatened to spill down his cheeks. Nursey wrapped him up in a fierce hug, trying to squeeze all the sadness and fear out of Dex from sheer force of will.

“If they can’t love you exactly as you are, without expecting anything in return, then they don’t deserve you.”

“Do you really mean that?” Dex said, sounding so small and scared that it made something in Nursey’s stomach twist.

“Of course, Will. You’re fucking incredible. You’re so smart, driven, and hard-working. How could anyone not love you? Trust me, I couldn’t even manage it and I spent the last few years actively trying not to.”

“What?” Dex whispered, wriggling around until Nursey relaxed his grip enough for Dex to be able to lean back and look him in the eye.

“Don’t make me say it again,” Nursey mumbled, “I’m not that brave.”

“You’re the most unapologetically yourself person I know! Being unafraid to be yourself is like the bravest.”  Nursey bit his lip and looked away, unable to meet Dex’s eyes.

“Wasn’t brave enough to tell you how I felt about you for almost three whole years.”

“Then I guess we’re lucky my drunk self is braver than the both of us,” Dex laughed, pulling Nursey into a breathtaking kiss.

_/|\_

“Sorry it took so long, Cait dist-” Chowder stopped short halfway through the door of the bungalow at the sight of Dex and Nursey wrapped up in a tangle of limbs, sleeping soundly. A halo of missed glitter sparkled around and all over them.

“Aw,” he smiled, quietly snapping a picture on his phone, “Infinite fines, bitches.”

#Anon #nurseydex #hi im back like 2 years later lmaooooo #yes this prompt got a little away from me because i did write the ending over a year later oops #please enjoy :)

[rapha-reads]

J'ai publié 3 912 fois en 2022

304 billets créés (8%)

3 608 billets reblogués (92%)

Les blogs que j'ai le plus reblogués :

@nooowestayandgetcaught

@garnetrena

@tasha-lemon

@queerofthedagger

@whetstonefires

J'ai étiqueté 3 907 billets en 2022

#eurovision - 331 billets

#esc - 305 billets

#eurovision 2022 - 298 billets

#batfam - 258 billets

#esc 2022 - 191 billets

#merlin - 167 billets

#merthur - 166 billets

#rapha talks - 149 billets

#doctor who - 141 billets

#star wars - 134 billets

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and the beauty in these endings is that they’re not. your dad doesn’t put you on his shoulders anymore but he puts everything aside to pick

Mes billets vedette en 2022 :

n°5

That jeweler seeing Kate and Anthony in the same room : YEAAAAH, I don't think I need to see more, the ring obviously is going to go on her finger, not the other girl. Duh. Is everyone else seeing that? No? Just me? Ok then. I'll just. Ship them on the side. Proceed with your drama.

77 notes - publié le 29 mars 2022

n°4

Just watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, and hey, I was not expecting to start crying and experience all the feelings at the same time.

This film is hilariously silly, absurdly emotional and intensely smart.

THIS is how you do multiverse jumping, family feels, comedy, drama and action. This film has everything and it does it perfectly well.

I'm gonna need a minute to recover.

87 notes - publié le 16 août 2022

n°3

Made the mistake of going into my tags and selecting only the "Love" and "Pining" tags to see what'd come up, and now I'm feeling very yearning and Merthur-y because of bloody course most of my love and pining works are Merthur.

Gah. I'll be 90 and grey and semi-senile and I'll still be ranting about these two.

114 notes - publié le 15 août 2022

n°2

Me two years ago:

Ryan and Shane now in 2022: doing shows DIRECTLY on Tumblr.

Oooooh, this is going to be exciting!

118 notes - publié le 19 octobre 2022

Mon billet n°1 en 2022

do you have any merthur fic recommendations that have happy endings?

Do I ever ! Strap on, I've got quite the list.

Tagged Angst With A Happy Ending :

Take A Letter, Merlin by Caledonia/@iamcaledonia (7870 words, Modern Era)

Arthur is an emotionally repressed workaholic who is unhappily married. Merlin is his loyal and competent personal assistant. One Monday, Merlin comes to work to find that, over the weekend, Arthur has dictated a letter for Merlin that is about to change both of their lives. A song fic inspired by the 1969 classic, 'Take A Letter, Maria' by R. B. Greaves.

Kiss Today Goodbye, by Cithara/@citharaposts (5337 words, Canon Era, Divergence from s02e13)

When Arthur regains consciousness in time to hear Merlin confront the dragon, his world is turned on its head by the revelations that follow.

Turning the Page, by @schweetheart and @queerofthedagger (19050 words, Canon Divergence, Epistolary)

Without intending to, Arthur pushes Merlin just one step too far. Now he's left without his manservant but a hundred questions, a world of hurt, and guilt that clings to him like a shadow. Well, and a notebook filled with drawings because apparently, Merlin can draw on top of being a sorcerer. No matter how often Arthur tells himself that he just wants to forget, he can't help but come back to the collection of sketches and notes, a chronicle of all that Merlin has done.

Maybe their story isn't quite over yet.

The Knights of the Table, by DrJackAndMissJo/@drjackandmissjo (9198 words, Modern Era, Food Critic and Chef AU)

'Can you even believe this guy?" Gwaine asked, offended and almost breathless as he popped himself on Percival’s counter. There was no need for any of the other men to ask who he was talking about. Everyone knew about the devilish creature that wrote the restaurant and food reviews on Camelot Weekly. “What makes you even think it’s a guy?” asked Lance as he took the newspaper from the Irish man, “I’m pretty sure that it is a demon sent straight from hell to torture all of us!”

Tagged Happy Ending :

Hope On A Tuesday Afternoon, by arsenicandsunshine (8985 words, Modern Era, Housemates, Idiots in Love, Getting Together)

Arthur likes his life. Why wouldn't he? Nice flat, all to himself, stable job. Friends. Yep, he's set all right. Or, he is until he ends up with an unexpected flatmate. Merlin certainly does have a knack for turning Arthur's life upside down.

a long, long day, by @oncefutureemrys (1237 words, Canon Era, Secret Relationship, baths and massages)

Merlin was beyond tired of it all. He just wanted one moment where… it could be just him. Just him and Arthur, just the two of them, without the rest of the world interfering. But alas, Merlin was no normal person and neither was Arthur, and the chances of them having a regular day were almost as likely as Uther deciding to stop hating magic. So, he walked into Arthur’s room, ready for more late night chores, a slight slump in his posture. To anyone else, it would seem as if he was perfectly fine, usual Merlin just slightly tired from a long day’s work.  But Merlin knew it was a bit more than that. And so did Arthur, apparently, because when he stumbled in, he found the idiot sitting casually behind his desk, an air of amusement and playfulness surrounding him, a teasing grin forming on his stupid, stupid (handsome) face. Or: Merlin's had a long day, so Arthur takes care of him.

Suffering in Silence, by TheCourtSorcerer/@tcs-main (3205 words, Canon Divergence, Sir Leon-The-Long-Suffering, POV Leon)

He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to say something. He couldn’t keep silent anymore. Day in, day out… The constant borderline scandalous looks, the barely concealed innuendos, the incredibly unsubtle touches, all of it! He was going to lose his mind. How could two people be so blind?! So, that’s what led him to the tavern that night, across from Gwaine, a hint of regret tugging at his mind that he steadfastly ignored. “Okay… How do we get them together?”

Secrets & Lies, by LiGi/@little-ligi (13333 words, Canon Era, Divergence, Arthur Finds Out, Protective Arthur, Friends to Lovers)

Arthur had finally put his finger on it. The thing that had made Merlin stand out, the thing that had intrigued him about the boy ever since the first time he’d met him. The thing that was going to get him killed… Merlin had magic. Not only had it, but used it freely all the bloody time. It was only a matter of time before someone saw him do it, and then they’d report him to the king and Merlin would be dragged out into the courtyard and executed. Well, not if Arthur had anything to do about it.   Mid series one, Arthur, for once not being totally oblivious, discovers that Merlin has magic. The problem is, having magic gets people killed and Arthur very much prefers Merlin alive. It turns out making sure nobody sees Merlin do magic is rather a full-time job however...

A Universe Which Freely Gives, by @psychotic-fangirl369 (26455 words, Post Canon, Reincarnation, Arthur Returns, Getting Together)

Arthur returns… but because of a series of unlikely events (and perhaps a bit of morose dragging of feet because he can't bring himself to believe the signals), Merlin misses the boat. By the time he makes it to the lake, signs of Arthur abound but Arthur is nowhere to be found. Magical tracking being less reliable than one might think, when Merlin finally does manage to find him Arthur is bizarrely well-adjusted, living in a flatshare in London with roommates who think he's batty but mostly harmless, and working an improbable job. Enter: Merlin, who Arthur absolutely is not expecting to still be alive.

So Where Are My Flowers?, by @tehfanglyfish (1365 words, Canon Era, Pining, Flowers, Magic Reveal)

A question asked as a joke leads to years of fresh flowers waiting for Arthur each morning until the one day he almost screws things up.

Balancing the Scale, by sunsetmoonrise (20528 words, 5+1, Canon Era Divergence, Slow Burn, Pining)

Five times Merlin didn't realise Arthur was protecting him, and the one time he did.

Alright, that's quite a lot already! These are the latest in my bookmarks, don't hesitate to ask me again if you want more!

255 notes - publié le 27 août 2022

Obtenez votre année 2022 en revue sur Tumblr →

Well, obviously I'm still talking about Merthur, always and forever. Also, note to self, you have got to stop talking about Eurovision so much. I compared with last year's nimbers, I've been less active this year. Less posts made, less posts reblogged, and still the same tags again and again (merlin, merthur, batfam, eurovision, doctor who, last year was about six of crows, this year is about star wars)...

#tumblr2022 #année en revue #mon année tumblr 2022 en revue #votre année tumblr en revue #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #rapha talks #blog statistics

[akkivee]

hyped up 02 was a blast!!!!! here’s an absurdly long liveblog post lol:

i think the biggest thing i noticed was how much cleaner the character animations were!!!! like, there were a lot less excessive movements for the sake of making the characters move and they geared movement to actually suit the characters more!!!!

AND THE INSTRUMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS ON THE SONGS WERE REALLY COOL

something that was sending me the entire time all 18 rapping boys were on stage was how saburo had to like duck into eyesight lol he’s too short to be behind both ichiro and juto like that lmao

during hangout, we had bb and mtc on stage for their two verse ofc and bb were going hard dancing to mtc’s verses like SAME bros lol

the first group of mcs were rosho, gentaro, ichiro, rio, jakurai and hitoya and yes hitoya was grumpy for the majority of it lol

i felt so bad for rosho tho lmao!!!!! he got stuck next to gentaro and gentaro made sure to troll the everloving fck out of him!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭

rosho was feeling nervous like usual and gentaro was ramping up to give him likely terrible advice lol but rio the king interrupted him (gencha was miffed lmao) and suggested gaining hype from the crowd and the six of them had the crowd raise their lights at their call

so ichiro: alright!!! let’s see that buster bros red!!!!!

the crowd: *raises their light wands changed to red*

and each person did that for their team

EXCEPT MFING GENTARO WHO TREATED US TO A SASARA IMPERSONATION AND CALLED FOR DH ORANGE AND THEN FOR FP YELLOW

jakurai compared the changing lights to magic wands 🥺🥺🥺

CRIES AND THEN HITOYA SKIPPED OVER ROSHO SAYING THEY SAW DH ORANGE SO IT WAS HIS TURN LMAO 😭😭😭😭😭😭

hitoya’s impressed whistle afterwards 😳

lol!!!! and then rosho absolutely snapped and went into teacher mode and commanded that stage and got his dh orange 🤗

and jakurai after rosho was done: but being scolded by a teacher felt very nostalgic 🤗🤗🤗

dh’s turn was right after that and we got to see rei swoon because of rosho’s teacher mode and then he and sasara did a lame student/teacher bit using toilets as the pun and i hate the both of them

the full bodied laugh rei and sasara did was adorable btw 🥺🥺🥺

rei’s 3d model makes me mad because obviously he has a big 🍆 he’s a big man. but his model makes it very obvious lmao 😭😭😭

btw!!!! by the end of this live, rei will have scammed two people

bat were up next and jyushi and hitoya sure were ready to ignore their leader this time as well lmao

HELLA AWESOME BANQUET FCKS WITH LIVE INSTRUMENTS AND I MAY AS WELL SAY ALL OF BATS MUSIC WERE MADE FOR ACTUAL INSTRUMENTS

YALL THEY LET JYUSHI AND HITOYA ACTUALLY DANCE IN THIS 3DCG LIVE

JYUSHI NOW WITH 1000X MORE RHYTHM AND FLOW IN HIS DRAMATIC DANCING HE WAS REALLY PRETTY

THE HIP THRUSTING IN HELLA AWESOME BANQUET FROM THE CROSS A LINE LIVE RETURNED IN THE 3DCG LIVE

they sang batfs next and you know the part before the last chorus where kuukou brings in jyushi and then hitoya next??? well with jyushi, kuukou did that thing where he crouches low and slithers up like the dragon he is but he did it practically along the length of jyushi’s body and i!!!!!!!!!!!!! i!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it’s probably just older men simping hours from me rn but hitoya’s model help!!!!! his hips and butt help!!!!!!!!!!

hifumi was the first victim to a rei scam as he walks out on stage without his jacket from word by rei 😔✊

hifumi’s dancing is so much cleaner 😭😭😭 like last live his moves were visibly dated and now they’re like,,,,,, idk how to say it but the way he moves feels more like hifumi ;w;

hifumi: *magical girl transforms into his jacket*

jakurai: 😊👏👏👏

the way hifudo be moving across the stage while jakurai gracefully gestures is always just nice to watch lol

posse were cute today too 🥰

gentaro is another one whose character animations were improved 😭😭😭 he’s graceful like the jakurai parallel he is but significantly more animated with that gentaro flare of his i’m sorry i don’t have the words ever to articulate this 😭😭😭😭

idk what it was they added to torima get on the floor but whatever it was made the song even cuter lol

they did some choreographed moving for shibuya marble texture and my heart was screaming crying throwing up help

i will never stop laughing at the way juto struts with his mic out lmao

RIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥰🥰💕💕💙💙💙💙💕💕💙🥰🥰🥰💙💕💕💕🥰💙💙💕��💕🥰🥰🥰🥰💙💕💕💙💕🥰🥰💙💕💙🥰💕🥰

rio moves like an action superhero lmao i love him

the way samatoki would swipe at his bottom lip and then grin at the crowd 😭🙏

scarface was fantastic to watch btw samajuto after the first chorus were a VIBE and the way rio put his whole body into his singing verse YALL

AND THE CROWD CLAPPING AT SAMATOKIS ROACH LINE LOL

bb played iwbp and iwgp for their first set and i wasn’t okay lol that is a criminal back to back 😩👌

JIRO REMAINS AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT TO WATCH LOL

AND SABURO IS STILL AWKWARD BUT HE IS IMPROVING GOOD FOR HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he’s also still just incredibly cute in these lives he’s so happy!!!!!! happy saburo here to give us jams and jam with us!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏

it’s not weird ichiro’s the least animated out of his bros but it was an adjustment lol

do not think ichiro wasn’t getting down tho because he was lol

there was some excited jumping in iwgp and their jumping height from highest to shortest was: jiro saburo ichiro lol

there was also some synced moving from jiro and saburo when ichiro was center that was really cute i think saburo’s coming into his dancing era soon lol

the second group of mcs were jyushi, ramuda, saburo, juto, doppo, and sasara!!!! ramuda got them to play charades telephone where one does a movement and the next person has to imitate the best as they can and then the cycle repeats

sasara started them off and did this rapid waving thriller dance that doppo felt embarrassed by but did it perfectly LOL

juto: i am NOT doing that

doppo: iruma-san…….!!!!! 🥺🥺🥺

lol and after juto gets scolded by jyushi and ramuda in the front he taps saburo and does the movement very incorrectly but with gusto LMAO

saburo: wow that’s cringe how are you not dead from embarrassment rn

juto:

lol so they get the crowd to copy their individual chanting and doppo explodes after his. no i will not elaborate

songs started back up and after naniwa paradaishu, rei does another full bodied laugh at rosho’s expense that had him hopping back a few steps at its force 🥺🥺🥺

HHHHHHHHHH THE HEAVY GUITAR THEY PLAYED TO RIP HAD ME GOING FERAL

idk if was just the camera not focusing on hitoya at that exact moment or not, but because of it, it looked as tho kuukou kept drifting over to jyushi during his scared verses 🥺

kuukou after rip: 😈🙏

me: 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫👋👋👋💕💕💕💕💕💜💜💜💜💜💕💕💕💜💜💜💜💜😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫👋👋👋👋

sensei’s movements were more powerful in tomoshibi 😭😭😭

and his bow at the end 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

FCKING STELLA BENEFITTED THE MOST FROM THE IMPROVED ANIMATIONS THEY HAD RAMUDA CRUMBLING DOWN ON STAGE 😭😭😭😭😭

there were no frills no nothing they jumped straight into hunting charm and it was HYPE

re:start had the bros at their most mellow 🥺

OUR FERAL TRIO TOOK THE STAGE AND KUUKOU COMPLIMENTED JIRO BRINGING THE HYPE

lol our last set was kuukou, dice, jiro, samatoki, hifumi and rei

dice is the second person to fall to rei’s scam as he goes on about sending energy waves to the crowd

jiro was vibing hard tho and threw a wave of energy at hifumi and hifumi, like the chad he is, actually stumbled back at the force lol

kuukou was like ❓❓❓ the entire time lol

samatoki, who had been very quiet throughout dice’s thing, finally snapped at dice to shut up and calls rei out lmao

except it’s fun so hifumi sends love energy at the crowd and jiro kicks energy out like a soccer ball lmao

kuukou, despite thinking it’s kinda stupid, caves to everyone having fun and throws out energy with a bunch of flips and kicks and energy sound effects behind him lol

rei eggs samatoki on and samatoki puts his foot down and flexes he doesn’t need to do all their extra stuff and gets the crowd hype with his words alone lol

mayhaps be crying once again that rei’s resting pose is him with his hip cocked lmao

tdd legend was up next!!!!!!!!!!!!! samatoki and ichiro scoffed at each other and ramuda and jakurai focused on the crowd rather than each other lol

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THERE WAS A MOMENT WHERE TDD RAPPED TO EACH OTHER AND SENSEI BENT DOWN AND GOT SOME TWIST IN THAT LEG GET IT SIR

AND THEN!!!!!!!!! UNITED EMCEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ICHIRO AND KUUKOU WAS SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN THE OTHER PAIRS??????

AND THEY REALLY DID JUST KEEP BOUNCING UP AND DOWN AFTER EACH OTHER

AT THE END OF THEIR VERSE THEY SLID BACK TO BACK AND KUUKOU COULD GENUINELY JUST TILT HIS HEAD BACK AND REST IT ON ICHIROS SHOULDER THATS HOW CLOSE THEY GOT

AND AGAIN SIGNIFICANTLY CLOSER THAN THE OTHER TWO PAIRS??????? SENSE OF DISTANCE WHERE??????

KUUKOU WAS MOVING SO MUCH MORE IN THIS SONG FOR WHATEVER REASON LIKE METAL HEADBANGING WITH HIS BODY LMAO

ICHIRO TOO HE HAD SOME HEIGHT TO HIS JUMPS NOW LOL

OCCASIONALLY IT LOOKED LIKE ICHIRO AND KUUKOU WERE JAMMING TOGETHER TO THE OTHERS VERSES HELP

THE WAY THEY POINTED AT EACH OTHER AND THEN WENT BACK TO BACK AGAIN DSAFJKJFSDJKKGAAGJKJFHJ—

*slaps myself* lol they were really hype y’all

the pairs had some parting words for each other as they left the stage 🥺🥺🥺 ramuda and jakurai weren’t very nice lol sasara expressed how it was more fun with them all there and samatoki agreed it was fun with him in his bad boy way (sasara: 😲‼️) and ichiro and kuukou expressed how dope they thought each other’s lyrics were with enthusiastic pointing and fist pumping 🥺🥺🥺

and then the longest encore call began lmao i swear the audience was clapping for like three minutes straight

but summit happened lol

sasara was pretty close with fp in the closing comments 🥺🥺🥺 he and gentaro were playing off of each other and he was chatting away with ramuda 🥺🥺🥺

idk what the conversation was but jyushi and kuukou were chatting to each other during rio’s final speech 🥺🥺🥺 AND!!!!!!!! JYUSHI DID ONE OF HIS FLOURISHES AND KUUKOU TILTED HIS BODY ALONG WITH HIM AND!!!!!!! THEY BOTH SLOWLY SLID BACK INTO PLACE IT WAS SO CUTE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

*coughs* it was a fun time lol

#this is vee speaking #hyped up liveblog monster post 02: electric boogaloo lol #nah this is really long i’m sorry 😭😭😭 #i did a mini rewatch while typing this out but there’s still so much i wanna yell about lol like saburo bullying doppo in their talk lol #hifumi blowing a kiss to the crowd!!!!!!! ramuda cute walking after marble texture!!!!!!! #BAD ASS TEMPLE OWNING MY ENTIRE ASS!!!!!!!!!! SAMATOKI WAS COOL TODAY TOO!!!!! #but i need to stop lol this is reeeeeeeeaally long aa it is lol #c: rapping boys

[ponticle]

Happy friday / dadwc!! For a prompt, I would like to submit: Fenris/ Isabela, cyberpunk AU? With additional mood prompt if desired: delight?

Thank you SO MUCH for this cool prompt. I love a good AU. This is basically a beginning of a story and it didn't turn out delightful, more like sinister... but I hope you like it anyway.

...for @dadrunkwriting... Isabela/Fenris, Cyberpunk AU

-------------

This is just a pickup — get in and out quick, keep her head down. Isabela’s done a thousand just like it, and yet she’s nervous. 

[A series of break-in’s in the upper city have been linked to… ]

[The i-85 is congested after a three-car accident. Police are responding… ]

[…brand new implants from only 12,500.99…]

She hits the radio to turn it off and listens to the sound of the rain, falling in sheets. She grips the steering wheel with her left hand — its silver metal glints in the streetlamp and she moves to cover it with her sleeve. Even after all these years, her upgrades don’t feel like her. She shakes her head, takes a breath. They weren’t her choice; none of this was.

She moves quickly through the alley to the back entrance of the club: The Hanged Man, they called it. A quick glance up at its neon sign confirms she’s in the right place, even if the H is blinking strangely and the last N is busted. 

“Hey, you can’t come in this way.” A huge man with a cybernetic eye puts his similarly enhanced arm in her way, as she tries to cross the threshold. The rain drips into her eyes as she inclines her head to look up at him, and she tries to blink it away.

“I’m here to see somebody,” she says quietly. 

“Who?”

“Goes by the name of Fenris,” she says, leaning in. “I’m here to pick up a package.”

The man cocks his head to the side, and his eye focuses loudly, spinning in its raw metal socket.

Isabela feels the tension in the moment and wills herself not to speak. She clicks her left thumb and forefinger together, feeling the metal ping. 

“Fine. But you speak to no one else,” he says, “You got it, courrier?”

She nods and steps in past him. 

The inside is full of smoke and sweat. The smell immediately stings her nose, but she likes it. It reminds her of a place she used to visit, before all this — before everyone lived in the cities… when it was still possible to get to the ocean. Without thinking, she looks back over her shoulder at the rain outside; it’s the closest she ever gets to the water these days. 

All the usual suspects are there: a drunk at the bar is singing, while the bartender pours him another, A sad-looking man stares into his empty glass… A few women in the corner leer at her as she passes, eyes lingering over the place where her metal arm joins with her clavicle. It has never healed right, and it itches, but she won’t touch it now — not while they’re looking at her with such depraved fascination. 

It’s not as if these kinds of implants are rare — you’d see them all the time in the upper city — but down here in Lowtown… that’s another story… one that might get her dismembered… or killed… depending on the day. 

She shrugs further into her coat and scans the room with her neurals. Several people who match the description come up red, and then — there he is: in the back corner, holding an absurdly full glass of red synth-wine. 

He seems to recognize her at the same moment and he nods in her direction so she’ll approach. 

“Have you got it?” she says, quickly, once she’s within three feet of where he’s sitting.

“Sit,” he says, and gestures to the dark velvet chair on his left. 

She doesn’t want to sit; she wants to be back in her car, driving down the i-85 — even considering the multi-car pile-up.

…but she does… sit.

“How’d you get in here?” asks Fenris.

“I walked — what kind of a question is that?” Isabela snaps.

Fenris ignores her. “Do you know what you’re carrying?”  

She narrows her eyes and says nothing.

“Well?”

“No, and I like it that way,” says Isabela.

Fenris laughs, then — loud and sinister. “You’d better come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Isabela says, beginning to stand. 

Fenris grabs her arm. Realization dawns as his fingers clasp around the smooth metal of her forearm and he stands to look at her eye-to-eye. “You’re not from here…”

She clenches her jaw, refusing to answer. 

“Neither am I,” says Fenris, more quietly, this time, and winks, as the white tattoos on his neck faintly start to glow. 

Isabela’s eyes widen. “Neural bioluminescence?” 

He nods. 

“That’s a neat trick,” she breathes. “Where’d you get that done?”

“Like I said, you better come with me.”

It feels dangerous. Isabela hesitates. There’s a question that she’s had since she walked in, since she got this assignment… hell, since she arrived in this maker-forsaken city… but—

Then Fenris interrupts her train of thought, “There’s more to this than you know…”

She regards him skeptically, but in her mind she knows he’s right; she’s always known.

“...I’m not supposed to say until we’re alone,” he whispers, leaning in impossibly close. “...but… Hawke sent me.”

Isabela suppresses a gasp.

“...he’s been watching you since you came to Lowtown… and… he’s ready to meet you,” says Fenris. “So… are you ready, too?”

Isabela thinks of the rain outside, the smallness of this city, the way she has never fit on its dry land… the questions she holds inside and the way she ignores the gnawing in her gut… and just like that, she decides: 

“Take me to him.”

----------------

#fenris x isabela #isabela #fenris #dragon age 2 #dragon age #dragon age fanfic #fanfic #da drunk writing circle #cyberpunk #cyberpunk aesthetic #cyberpunk au

[tf2workbench]

I love the Cow Mangler

[charging noise]

[firing sound] [silence] [mini-crit noise] [ding-ding-ding of fire damage] [death sound]

I love the Cow Mangler. Its charged shot is so absurdly satisfying to land, whether it’s right up close or at a huge distance. But sometimes it just feels unfair, like when I launch it without looking and an enemy just walks into it at the wrong time. It’s satisfying, but I feel bad for that enemy, because there isn’t much they could have done.

My bleeding heart is one thing, but I’ve also seen people get frustrated at how powerful a charged shot can be. And, heck, I’m not super fond of walking into them either. Let’s look at it from a design perspective.

Cow Mangler 5000 (+) Does not use ammo (+) Alt-fire: Charge up a special shot that consumes your full clip to mini-crit enemies, set them on fire, and disable buildings for 4 seconds (-) Nearly immobile while charging (-) -80% damage vs buildings (-) Mini-crits when it would normally crit (-) No random critical hits

The Cow Mangler, to me, is one of those weapons that has huge upsides and huge downsides. You can’t underestimate the power of the charged shot, which is dangerous even at long range because mini-crits don’t have distance falloff. It demands attention, especially for light classes that can be cleanly taken out by the initial hit and the fire damage.

At the same time, using the charged shot is a huge risk. It takes about two seconds to fully charge, during which you’re moving painfully slowly, and you can’t cancel the charge once you start it. More than once, I’ve been picked off by Snipers while charging - if they’re quick, they can get two shots off before I’ve launched.

Moreover, once you’ve used the charged shot, you have a long, painful reload in your future. If you get ambushed, you’ll be almost defenseless. I carry a shotgun, but getting your full Mangler clip back will take over three seconds.

My best success with the Mangler comes from playing far back, launching charged shots when my sixth sense (or a friend) tells me enemies will be coming. To do this, I usually keep low and behind cover, taking advantage of the fact that you can still jump while charging your shot. It’s good to have teammates in front of me to keep the enemies away and distract them so they don’t see the big laser blast coming at them. (This works surprisingly often.)

The good news is that the Mangler still allows me to play aggressively with its regular four-shot clip, although I will admit that it’s less satisfying than landing charged shots. The bad news is that its weakness versus buildings can sometimes keep me locked down - shotguns are nice, but they don’t break sentries very well. The better news is that the disabling shot is a unique asset that allows me to work with my shotgun and my teammates, provided I can talk to them. Overall, I would say that using the Cow Mangler is really fun!

But some of the people I’ve played against have expressed, uh, frustration with my antics. You could blame this on their inattention, which is arguably true, but when someone is vaporized by a mini-crit they didn’t see coming, their first reaction is not usually “ah, I wish I had been paying attention” - it’s more like fear and frustration. We’ve established before how one-hit kills can cause a lot of frustration, as can fire and other damage-over-time effects. Although less common, Engineers don’t usually like temporarily losing their buildings, particularly since they can’t effectively deal with the charged shots without a teammate nearby.

So, if I were to revise the Cow Mangler to be a little more enemy-friendly, what would I do?

Cow Mangler 5000 Iteration 2 (+) Does not use ammo (+) Alt-fire: Consume a full clip to charge up a special shot that has a 70% smaller blast radius, but flies 80% faster and mini-crits targets (-) Nearly immobile while charging [1 second] (-) -80% damage vs buildings (-) Mini-crits when it would normally crit (-) No random critical hits

This revision mostly solves the problem of random, long-distance shots scoring kills on surprised enemies. Careful aim is the name of the game here, since the charged shot behaves somewhat like the Direct Hit (and I reduced its charge time to allow for more spontaneous use). It serves to punish enemies that move predictably, but the key is that it’s much less likely to score “random” kills.

Let’s briefly take a look at another angle:

Cow Mangler 5000 Iteration 3 (+) Does not use ammo (+) Alt-fire: Consume a full clip to charge up a special shot that deals 50% more damage (-) Nearly immobile while charging [1.5 seconds] (-) -80% damage vs buildings (-) Mini-crits when it would normally crit (-) No random critical hits

One of the reasons the Mangler is so dangerous at long range is because mini-crits don’t have damage falloff. Eliminating the mini-crit and the fire damage means that charged shots are less useful at a distance, even though they can be outright devastating in close range.

If this version has a problem, it’s probably that close-range shots are too powerful. Charged shots have a base power of 135, which can ramp up to 169 in close range. In the current Mangler, charged shots will deal about 122 damage (plus fire) on a direct hit at any range. 169 isn’t completely unreasonable, but it does allow the Mangler to one-shot Medics, a significant milestone that the current version can’t always do because fire damage is countered by the Medic’s natural regen. We’re pushing the envelope of what feels fair, is what I’m saying.

There are a couple of routes you could take it from here:

Reduce the base damage and re-introduce fire damage, but with the burn duration based on distance;

Use a fast-moving, small-radius projectile with the damage bonus, but no mini-crit; 

Give enemies a way to effectively block a Mangler shot without having to take out the Soldier outright; or

All or some of the above.

These are more specific changes that would likely be done in playtesting, which is beyond the scope of this blog. I find them very interesting, but without game experience, I can’t say which “feels” best for both the user and the opponents. I would be interested to hear what you think, though, especially about the current Cow Mangler!

#tf2workbench #tf2 #team fortress 2 #soldier #primary #cow mangler 5000