#tho it's given some FANTASTIC art

[foxilayde]

Taking a break from Thanksgiving thots to ask how you envision OTTR Leto meeting reader?? I haven’t given it much thought before this moment and now I’m desperate to hear your thoughts on the beginning of their relationship

I think about this one all the time.

You met Leto in Venice. Ocean Front Walk Venice, CA.

It gets hot in the Valley.

So hot that when you’re getting off your shift one blazing afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, the prospect of sitting in dead stop traffic on the 60 to Jurupa Valley, in your busted Honda Civic, only to go home to a stifling house with no AC…. Is anything but appealing.

So you do something unexpected. You are going to cool down, and you’re going to treat yourself while you do it. You’re going to pretend your life is ab-fab (absolutely fabulous) if only for one evening.

You take off from the parking lot of your job and instead of heading east, you go west. You stop at Neiman Marcus and you buy a dress. One that is too expensive to actually keep. So you wear it out and tuck the tags with every intention to return the next day. The dress looks amazing tho, it’ll be a shame to say farewell. It’s a classy little black cocktail thing that goes well with your plain black work shoes.

You get a little touch-up at the makeup counter to refresh your lipstick and spray on some Diptyque, and you head back to your car. You google, “open houses ocean view near me” and you take off to the coast.

You park your car a few blocks away from the listing. If the agent sees that heap, they probably won’t let you step inside. I mean this house is listed for nearly 15 million dollars. You shouldn’t even be walking down this block. You feel almost guilty for parking anywhere near this neighborhood.

There’s about 5 or six other people in the house looking around. The agent smiles at you and hands you a brochure when you enter. A glossy embossed thing listing the amenities as well as her contact information. You feel a little overdressed. The men are in tommy Bahama shirts and the women are in Lulu Lemon leggings.

You get a glass of free champagne and you help yourself to the charcuterie tray, looking around the house with appraising eyes, trying to nod your head at the bannisters and balconies like “hmm yes, maybe this will do.” Truthfully the house is beyond gorgeous. It’s ocean adjacent and has it’s own deck, pool, hot tub rooftop lounge, bedroom balcony… the kitchen is a thing of ART. The whole open concept and glass everything makes you feel so utterly out of place.

But its not like buying it was ever in the cards or the intention. the AC works, that’s all you care about, and you step outside the living room patio balcony, the ocean breeze hits your face in the most cooling fantastic sort of way. You audibly sigh and close your eyes breathing in the air. A voice from behind you startles you.

“Refreshing, isn’t it?” You nearly drop your glass, surprised by the man’s proximity.

God. He is handsome. Slick backed hair, mirrored aviators, a thousand watt smile, movie star jaw, and a dark navy suit cut, sewn, and ironed by Giorgio Armani himself. He looks like a magazine advert for Ray Bans. Now this, this is the type of man who buys a 15 million dollar home. Not you. The way he’s smiling at you now seems like… like joke or something. Like he’s laughing at you. He can smell the Honda Civic on you, can clock your shoes as Margiela knock-offs… heat creeps up your face despite the cooling breeze.

You look down at the floor and smile politely. “Excuse me” you mutter and go inside to investigate another part of the house.

You run into him again in the closet. Literally, you bump into him in the grand walk in. He’s probably going to need a closet this big for his collection of fine Italian sartorials. “Sorry” you mumble, ducking out. God he smells good.

You head back down to the kitchen to grab more cheese and crackers. Another bonus of open house crashing along with the free AC and free sparkling wine. Free food.

You’re midway through shoving another Brie covered cracker into your mouth when you see him again, in the kitchen, examining something attached to the marble countertop. His glasses are hanging from the center of his undone silk shirt. Those eyes.

You cover your cracker-full mouth and gulp. He’s so fucking cute furrowing his brow at the contraption and he spins the lever of it with one hand and smiles. He looks up at you.

“Pasta maker.” He points to it before shoving his hand back in his pocket. “You ever use one like this? It’s old school.”

You shake your head, still swallowing cracker.

“Wonder if it comes with the house…” He muses, looking up at the recessed lighting. He points up. “They all come with this now, you notice that?”

You shake your head again.

He tsks and continues, “Can’t stand it. I like something softer, y’know. These are harsh. You get up at 3 in the morning to get a glass of water and you want to kill yourself.”

You shrug and take a sip of sparkling wine. You wish you could talk to him but you can’t. You can feel yourself on the verge of saying something fucking stupid and it’s best to just not speak at all. So you look up at the recessed lighting with a curious face, trying to see the harshness, as he put it.

“Something hanging, like right over here,” he indicates over the island. “Something with yellow light. Soft, capiche?”

You smile at the word. It makes you more comfortable for some reason. “What? Like the Tiffany lampshades in the pool hall?” You offer with a smile.

He grins the most dazzling smile at you, stepping a foot closer and nodding. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but keep talking.”

“I was thinking more Venini myself.” You offer, taking another sip. He nods at you with appreciation.

“Tasteful. And soft. I’m listening.”

Your cheeks hurt from smiling at this point and you take a few steps to the living room gesturing near the sofa.

“An Arco floor lamp in the corner right here.” You submit to him, looking back over your shoulder with a wink. He chuckles.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“And for the foyer,” you stride over to the front entrance, “A Sputnik. Right in the middle.”

“Gold or silver?” He asks.

“Bronze of course.” You reply with an affected air.

“How silly of me, dear.” He puts his hand over his heart.

The real estate agent makes a remark on what a gorgeous couple you are and how you just “fit the house”.

You start to protest but the man puts his arm around your shoulders and thanks the agent saying, “whatever baby wants, baby gets.” Winking at the woman and KISSING the side of your head. Which makes your face turn hot instantly.

He is… good at playing along, isn’t he. Well isn’t that what you were doing already? cosplaying as someone who could afford the house, and now you’re cosplaying a couple with this man whom you don’t even know the name of? Jesus—Just go with it, you suppose. Enjoy the pretending before you have to go back to the heat of Jurupa Valley…

“Now what about the dining room?” He asks into your ear in a deep voice, arm still over your shoulder.

“Hmmm,” You’re slowly running out of lamp styles, but you can’t let on. “How do you feel about Venetian glass, darling?”

“Inspired. Really,” he squints his eyes at the recessed lighting over the dining table. “We are in Venice after all.” He laughs with a toothy smile. “You have fine taste…” he leads.

You give him your name. He repeats it before telling you his. “Leto”

“I should have known you would have fine taste by the dress you’re wearing.” He compliments, picking up a glass of sparkling wine on the marble counter and gesturing your dress up and down.

“Thank you.” You blush. It’s not even yours. It’s on loan. You’re returning it tomorrow and you feel like a fraud.

Leto bites his bottom lip in contemplation then takes a step towards you, his hand making its way towards the nape of your neck with stern concentration on his lips. Oh fuck he’s about to kiss you. You make the split second decision to let him, closing your eyes gently, puckering your lips, holding your breath, and leaning in slightly.

But he doesn’t kiss you. You feel the slide of glossy paper down the back of your neck and the settling of it under your dress. He was tucking in the price tag of the dress for you. Jesus fucking Christ. You step back, embarrassed. He pats your arm. You cover your your brow, feeling your face get hot once again. So much for searching for that cool breeze by the coast!

Leto chuckles pleasantly. “Hey, hey, don’t be embarrassed. Happens to the best of us.”

God he’s probably giving you the benefit of the doubt. Probably thinks you just have so many new designer dresses that you innocently forgot to take the tag off… but if he had, would he have tucked it back in like he did? Or would he have just plucked it off?

“You like the house?” He asks, still jovial like the most embarrassing thing in the world didn’t just happen to you 5 seconds ago.

“It’s amazing. Perfect, really. The location, the style. It’s a dream. I have always wanted to live in Venice… the energy here is unbelievable.” You look around at the pristine grandiosity. The sun is close to setting now over the ocean and you sigh wistfully at the stunning view. “Whoever gets it is a lucky duck, I’ll tell you that.” You say, cheersing the sun itself before knocking back a sip of wine.

Leto watches you watch the lapping waves. “Let me buy it for you?”

You nearly choke on your drink. “Leto?! The house??”

Leto nearly doubles over in laughter, holding up his hand in apology, “No. No. I’m sorry, I— I meant the dress.”

Your face goes hot again. He knows! He knows you’re planning on returning it. Shit, he probably saw you pull up in your Civic!

“Please let me buy it for you. It suits you perfectly and it’d be a shame for anyone else to own it.” His eyes are so soft and kind and pretty and you almost want to cry.

“I… I can’t let you do that. It’s already on my card. I promise I won’t return it though, after that compliment, how could I?”

Leto nods. “At least let me take you out to dinner? Give you an excuse to show it off?”

Your heart nearly sinks. He’s probably the type to insist on picking you up. And he’s going to, what? Drive to the IE to do that?

“I live kind of far away…” you trail off, cringing slightly.

“I can send a car for you.”

“Leto, No, I—“

“Do you live father than a car ride? I can send a plane for you if you’d prefer?”

You laugh, but the returning stare isn’t a joking one. He’s fucking serious.

“I promise I won’t try anything funny. I just… want to pick your brain for more design ideas.” He grins and scratches the back of his neck, “It doesn’t have to be a date. Could be a business dinner? You would be my consultant…”

“Oh really? Consultant?” You cringe.

“Or it can be a date. A proper one. The best meal of your life. The Barber of Seville at the LA Operahouse, dancing, desert, a starlit walk on the beach outside my brand new house.” He grins. God what a fantastic smile.

“Sound like a 5 hour date.” You assess.

“What? You want longer? Because I will have a hot tub by the time this date rolls around and that can add up to 2 hours.”

“Two hours? Ambitious.”

“Agreed. But if done properly…” he winks and hands you a business card with his number on it. “Just think about it. I’ll be around.” He takes a deep breath, surveying the house and you, “I could stay and play house with you all day but I have a sudden urge to get ahold of my broker.” He takes your hand and kisses it.

“Nice meeting you Leto… Atreides.” You read off of his card.

“The pleasure was mine, gorgeous.”

Once he leaves, you have to go out to the balcony again for a breath of fresh air.

#oh my god this completely got away from me #but i literally have been thinking about the meet cute for like a year and a half no joke #Leto Atreides x you #Scout tag

[arminreindl]

Fossil Crocs of 2022

For what its worth, its been a great year for fossil Pseudosuchians, many of which didn't get a lot of attention because people always assume its just "another crocodile". We'll go through them by the order of appearance in the fossil record, or in other words oldest to youngest. Better grab some popcorn and the drink of your choice, cause this is going to be a long one.

Mambawakale

Starting off is Mambawakale ruhuhu (Ruhuhu Basin Crocodile Ancestor in Kiswahili) from the middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania. The fossils for this guy had been known since at least the 1960s, after which it was named Pallisteria angustimentum, a name that was never officially published however. It was a large animal, its skull 75 centimeters long attached to what was likely an animal similar in build to what we think of for "rauisuchians", given that it sits at the base of Paracrocodylomorpha. The below life reconstructoin was done by the fantastic Gabriel Ugueto with Steve Irwin inserted in post by me, tho its not rigorously scaled it gives a general idea of the animal's size.

We can then skip over the Jurassic (no new crocs from that period) and straight into the Cretaceous, specifically the Albian some 100 million years ago.

Yanjisuchus

Yanjisuchus longshanensis (Yanji City Crocodile from the Longshan Hill) was a paralligatorid, a group of Neosuchians I fully admitt I'm not too well aquainted with. Its fossils, which include a partial skull, vertebrae osteoderms, ribs, parts of the shoulder girdle and front limbs, were discovered in the Longjing Formation in what is now north-eastern China.

Confractosuchus

One I can decidedly talk more about is Confractosuchus sauroktonos (Lizard Eating Broken Crocodile) from the Australian Winton Formation, home to animals such as Isisfordia, Australovenator and Diamantinasaurus. The genus name refers to the fact that the skull is squashed to hell and back, but its the species name thats interesting. "Lizard eating" in this case refers to the fact that this 2.5 meter long basal Eusuchian was found with preserved stomach contents. Said stomach contents being the bones of a small ornithopod dinosaur as the press release art by Julius Csotonyi enthusiastically shows. The other image here not from the paper was drawn by Joschua Knüppe (@knuppitalism-with-ue ) showing a definitely more relaxed individual.

Eptalofosuchus

We did know about this guy for a bit longer as the pre-proof has been out since 2021, but lets include it anyways because I wasn't on Tumblr last year. Eptalofosuchus viridi (Green Seven Hills Crocodile) is not a crocodile in the strict sense but a Notosuchian, a cousin to the more typical Neosuchians. This animal is known from a single distinct lower jaw that belonged to a rather small creature. Among Notosuchians, Eptalofosuchus is most closely related to "advanced Notosuchians", specifically Sphagesauridae. We also know that it wasn't alone, as described alongside it are fossils of an unnamed baurusuchid (a large carnivore) and a peirosaurid, a more basal Notosuchian. Finally, both parts of the scientific name allude to the Uberaba Formation, specifically the nickname of Uberaba being “the city of the seven hills” and the green color of the sediments there. Life reconstruction of the little guy was done by the always incredible Júlia d'Oliveira.

Titanochampsa

Sticking to South America we have Titanochampsa iorii (Ior's Titan Crocodile). A significant find no doubt tho with an estimated size between 2.98–5.88 m (sizable I admitt) based on very scant remains perhaps a little bit hasty. Alas we only have the skull table of this animal, so the precise size can still vary as you can see. But it is still a fascinating one due to the fact that its the ONLY non-Notosuchian from the Bauru Group. Cretaceous South America is almost synonymous with these mostly terrestrial crocodyliforms but surprisingly lacking a diverse semi-aquatic croc fauna. Being at the very least a Neosuchian, possibly Eusuchian, Titanochampsa seems to have filled this niche. Given that the big terrestrial Baurusuchids had relatively weak bites and reached a length of at most 4 meters, this presents an interesting contrast with the strong bite force of the potentially larger semi-aquatic Titanochampsa. And would you look at that, press release art by Júlia once again.

Eurycephalosuchus

One final croc for the Mesozoic, Eurycephalosuchus gannanensis is an animal I covered very recently so I'll keep things brief. Stemming from the Maastrichtian Hekou Formation in south eastern China, Eurycephalosuchus was a very small species of orientalosuchine. Orientalosuchina is recovered as a group of early alligatoroids in the paper, tho talking to Adam Yates (who's croc phylogeny is my go-to) there is a chance they might be closer to crocodiloids. Regardless, Eurycephalosuchus was a small animal with large teeth towards the front of the skull, blunt teeth in the back and an overall very short face (tho there is slight compression so its not 1:1 like the fossil). Over on twitter people started comparing it to DnD Kobolds, leading to the below artwork by Manusuchus (@ mmujicam2000; full body of course highly speculative lmao)

Qianshanosuchus

Following the cataclysm that was KPG, crocs held on and in China we next meet Qianshanosuchus youngi (Young's Qianshan Basin Crocodile). It's another tricky one. While important as being the first crocodyloid from Paleocene China, the material, as you could guess based on the tiny size, is that of a juvenile (I now realize this being kinda ironic given the small but adult croc above). So the phylogeny is hard to nail down and gave different results. Still it could hold significance in our understanding how crocodyloids spread around the world and entered Europe after KPG. Below a quick comparison of the material with my hand.

Coming up a duo of two new species but not new genera, I also didn't really go deep into their publication as with some of the others so I'll try to stay brief

Maomingosuchus acutirostris

Maomingosuchus acutirostris (Acute Snouted Maoming Crocodile) is a new species of the already established genus Maomingosuchus from China. This new species however, differentiated amongst other things by having a pointed, not rounded, premaxilla stems from the Eocene of northern Vietnam. The skull is about 55 cm long giving us a medium sized tomistomines. Like Qianshanosuchus, M. acutirostris could have implications for the dispersal of crocodilians, in this case the spread of tomistomines from Europe to Asia, which the authors suggest happened thrice. That being said it should be noted that, between the two main ideas of what tomistomines are, the paper goes with them being a sister group to crocs and unrelated to modern gharials as Lee and Yates suggest (the later idea like I said I am more drawn towards).

Diplocynodon kochi

Another new species in a familiar genus, Diplocynodon kochi (Koch's Double Dog Tooth) is the latest in a long list of Diplocynodon species, a genus of alligatoroid very prominent in the Paleogene of Europe. This newest species from Transylvania is known from some well preserved skull material and was recovered as being one of the most derived members of its genus. With a size of 1.76 meters it was a medium sized Diplocynodon species and small by our modern standards. What is interesting is that the fossilw as recovered from shallow marine sediments. This is unusual in so far that alligatoroids are not especially known for their salt tolerance. Tho there's exceptions like Deinosuchus, alligators usually don't venture into salt water unlike crocodiles. Still, given the shallow water and the ability of large adult Mississippie Alligators to tolerate brackish water, it might have occasionally entered coastal waters. It is noted that the skull is in such good condition that it couldn't have been transported for a very long time.

Kinyang

Back to new genera we got Kinyang (derived from various Nilotic terms for crocodile), a genus of "giant" dwarf crocodile from the Miocene of Kenya. Now this guy doesn't just introduce one new species but two: Kinyang mabokoensis (Maboko Island Crocodile) and Kinyang tchernovi (Tchernov's Crocodile). Occuring in western and northern Kenya, Kinyang was a prime example over the prominence osteolaemines (dwarf crocodiles) had in the early Cenozoic prior to the takeover of crocodylines. Kinyang was surprisingly large and had a robust, blunt skull with several traits clearly setting it apart from any modern species. Still there is some clues that could be taken. Given the robust nature and more widened skull rather than V-shaped, its likely that it went after prey as big or even bigger than itself. They appear to have inhabited the shores of lakes located in open forests and woodlands. Alas this might have been their doom too. Osteolaemines are known to build nests made of foliage and with Africa growing increasingly dryer around this point in earths history, both change in prey and environment could have been factors that drove the dwarf crocodiles into the rainforests they inhabit today while the more dry resistant Crocodylus took over their rolle in the grasslands. The first image shows all three known skulls, the second is a quick composite of the cranium and mandible of K. mabokoensis I put together before the third image was published (ironic) by Christopher Brochu.

Almost done, only two more to go.

Sacacosuchus

On the other side of the world, specifically the Sacaco locality of Peru's Pisco Formation (among others) we have Sacacosuchus cordovai (Córdova's Sacaco Crocodile). A medium sized and longirostrine "tomistomine" gharial, here is where we come in conflict between the crocodylid and gavialoid model of what these guys are. Earlier with Maomingosuchus you had the idea that tomistomines were related to crocodylids, well here we have tomistomines being a paraphyletic group leading up to derived gharials. There is some significance to Sacacosuchus for seemingly showing that gharials entered South America on two separate occassions, but imo that's not the coolest thing about it. No instead I prefer to talk about the fact that its not just a marine gharial, living in the coastal waters of the Pacific, but that it coexisted with a second gharial showing perfectly how they specialise in different things. While the contemporary Piscogavialis was notably larger (about 7 meters) it had a very narrow and long snout, better adapted at catching fish. Sacacosuchus meanwhile was only 4.3 meters long, but with much more robust jaws, showing that it was much more of a generalist than its relative. This is well shown in the reconstruction by Javier "Canelita" Herbozo, tho it doesn't show the immense size difference. The third iamge shows Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi with the material and the fourth illustration by Gabriel Ugueto does not feature Sacaco, but the much more gracile Piscogavialis.

Hanyusuchus

The final one, Hanyusuchus sinensis (Han Yu's Crocodile from China) is the youngest crocodile described this year. How young? Well the OLDEST records of the species date to the Chinese Bronze Age, 4.000 BC, while the most recent records indicate that it went extinct in the 15th century. Hanyusuchus is a large tomistomine with a length between 5.43–6.19 meters and, if historical reports are to be believed, a big appetite. Stories tell of large crocodiles in Southern China attacking livestock, deer, boats and even killing humans while other reports suggest that these animals were used to fill moats and fed with prisoners. Despite appearing relatively narrow snouted, people often underestimate just how dangerous such animals could be. Even the modern false gharial has reports of it attacking and eating humans. Unsurprisingly, in addition to spawning some unique folklore (like crocodiles turning into tigers during autumn), this lead to humans attacking and killing these animals in retaliation. Fossils from the Bronze Age bear the clear marks of human attacks with cut marks focused around the animals head and the neck. Given the age of this material humans likely used bronze axes to kill and decapitate Hanyusuchus, drying their heads afterwards. Things didn't get better later in history. Han Yu, poet and politician and namesake of the genus, once demanded that the crocodiles leave the Han River delta before threatening to kill them. Later in history soldiers were sent to kill them in masses to avenge the death of a child. Eventually all of this, coupled with habitat loss, lead to the extinction of Hanyusuchus a mere 600 years ago. The below reconstructions were done by Hikaru Amemiya and Joschua Knüppe respectively.

And that is basically every crocodile officially published in 2022 (I think). Personally, I think its been a fantastic year for Pseudosuchian taxa, with some unique and fascinating additions.

#crocodiles #palaeoblr #mambawakale #hanyusuchus #sacacosuchus #kinyang #qianshanosuchus #eurycephalosuchus #diplocynodon kochi #maomingosuchus acutirostris #titanochampsa #confractosuchus #eptalofosuchus #yanjisuchus #prehistory #paleontology #pseudosuchia #steve irwin for scale #2022

[scatterbrainedbot]

Rat Sons AU: Character Introductions

Hamato Sho aka The Ancient One

more rambling & sketches:

(Had a bit of fun merging 03's Ancient One with bits of Rise's Splinter and Grandpa Sho, then started working on his origin story and was like fuck it! Guardians from 03! But for the Council of Heads from rise! but who are actually kinda more like the Ninja Tribunal from 03!! if they oversaw the world like the Guardians/Utroms! but were also kinda corrupt and uncaring of the lives of mortals and

the good news is now theres world building lore happening i guess, not just character lore??? is that good news??)

anywho, this is Grandpappy Sho!!

He's a little bit of a gremlin. Kinda rude, kinda sarcastic, kinda feral, and kinda very much had it with catering to the rules of 'polite society.' Basically, dudes survived some shit and has now decided that he will make that everyone elses problem too (/affectionate)

He lowkey resents his lineage and how he was raised, in the sense that he often wonders what life he could have lived if his youth was not fully devoted to "becoming someone worthy of the Hamato name." But he's actively trying to let go of all that and focus on being whoever he wishes in the present. Hence, gremlin.

A gremlin that is also, however, a freakin fantastic father figure (he swore to himself that his girl will literally never have to think about 'earning' any name, Hamato or otherwise; if she wants it, it is already hers, and wether she choses to keep it is entirely her own choice)

lol a lot of that was in present tense wasnt it? but yall know that aint quite true.....

tho, it might not quite be wrong exactly either...

[rat sons au masterpost]

(easier to read/separated contents below the cut! (super long))

—————————

HAMATO SHO aka THE ANCIENT ONE

Page 1:

Pronouns: He/Him

Age:???

Color Motif: ~desaturated sea foam green~

Last heir of the Hamato Clan lineage (by blood, at least)

As a young man, he spent decades training tirelessly to become a master of ninjutsu, molding himself into a perfect soldier, fully dedicated to maintaining his family's status as one of the most powerful names in Japan

Was selected to become a Guardian — an elite warrior chosen by the immortal Council of Heads to serve as an agent of their will. He served them for several years, increasingly resentful of their corruption and disregard for mortal lives

Abandoned his post after the death of a fellow Guardian (Tang Shen's biological father)

Disillusioned with both the Council of Heads and the world at large, Sho shifted his priorities from serving a 'Greater Good,' to serving his own needs and desires (and those of the people he cares about). He became very openly sarcastic, cynical and crass (he also found the way this horrified the neighbors to be freaking hilarious)

Did not think he would be well suited for caring for a child and really only expected to serve as a temporary shelter for Tang Shen until a proper family could be found for her, like maybe a few months or so at most?

Jokes on u, old man. Guiding a young Tang Shen through the routines of their daily life, watching her interact with the animals of the farm, teaching her how to do tasks so mundane he'd long since stopped thinking about them, Sho found he enjoyed the role of a parent more than anything else he'd ever done

Given his own experiences with abusive powers, Sho raised Tang Shen to be a very independent thinker, encouraging her to pursue her own sense of right and wrong, and to always be wary of those in power.

Though he trained her in both ninjutsu and the mystic arts (the good kind), Sho's greatest hope was to raise Tang Shen to make her own choices, and enjoy a life free of ancestral burdens or any ghosts from his past

Page 2:

As a Guardian, Sho underwent what he would later call an 'involuntary spiritual awakening.'

This granted Sho use of the Council’s powerful mystic techniques through the manipulation of his own spirit and will. These teachings were a highly coveted secret, granted only to those in the final stage of becoming a Guardian, and they were often deadly to learn

The Council taught that a human could only access the mystic arts if granted the ability through Their own will, that the technique was one of faith, a sort of forfeiting one's own spirit in exchange for power

Sho, along with Tang Shen's bio dad (oomph he needs a name), discovered a way to refine the techniques of the Council, to create their own source of mystic power without the Council’s influence, pulling from their own faith, emotions, and spiritual connections

Naively, the two told the Council of their findings. They believed that this new method of accessing the mystic arts would be a great benefit to both current and future Guardians, as it was far less damaging to the human body and mind

The Council disagreed.

Weapons that do not depend on you for ammunition are weapons that can turn against you, after all.

#my art #rat sons #rat sons lore #tmnt au #'oh ill queue up the first character sheet to post tomorrow morning!' #posts it immediately #look at this stinky old man #hes so fun #im really excited to share moments of him and lil tang shen via splinters flashbacks later #theyre so sweet #hes a really good papa <3 #ill queue up her info sheet to post either tomorrow or wednesday i think #probably round noon ish

[milflewis]

hey i was wondering if you could do a blog rec list maybe? no pressure though! you just have good taste in drivers and shows and stuff imo and seem to know a lot of cool people here!

ah ofc! not really sure how to do these tho so sorry if it’s shit lol or if i forget anyone!

writer blogs

@hungerpunch valewis. dantteri. valtteri blog. lo’s writing has literally made me sit and stare at a wall before. @husbono sewis. smick. posts seb, lewis, mick, alex etc. i live for whatever genius edit idea natasha will bless us with next. @vettelsbitch maxiel. sewis. seb blog. every other month c comes into the gc like. guys. i had this idea for a fic and now i’ve slipped and accidentally written 10k. pls help. and it’s always the best thing ever. @rosyjuly smick. sewis. posts seb, lewis and mick. whenever i see that rosy has answered some fic prompt or smth and there’s a little readmore under the cut! pure delight i’m telling you. @thelittlebirdthatkeptsomanywarm sewis and slagclaren (will forever be grateful to a for writing a fic based on one of The lewis/jenson commercials). @traincoded also has written a slagclaren fic that filled the void of Another batshit insane commercial. @lewishamil10n valewis and sewis writer. always has the Correct Takes. @effervescentdragon sewis. brocedes. sebchal. charlos. pretty much whatever is poking at akira’s brain at that moment is what she is writing. @azzy421 mainly sewis. the writer of the lucky thirteen au! @trailsofpaper also mainly sewis. the writer of The sewis Knight au. @tinytauris and @yukierres are both doing god’s work filling the yukierre ao3 tag. @collarboen sewis and is also a miles/lewis truther! every single one of these writers have knocked me the fuck out with their writing. just saying.

artist blogs

@andreagrimes writer. also a valtteri blog and v v funny. their style of drawing is one of my fav. @russilton writer. george/lewis blog. mark also bullies kyle on main so like. follow him even just for that lol. @ilikecarsandlike4people and @storm3326 they both do v different kinds of doodles and art styles and i love them both

gifmakers

@ferrawri this is fran. if i loved her less i could talk about it more. posts daniel, lewis and motogp. mostly fabio and marc. @userhamilton posts seb, lewis, mick and lance mainly. has only one wrong opinion but that’s about the sebstache and i’ve given up trying to get ppl to see that light on that. @mickschumachergf posts v cool gifs of lewis and seb and mick etc. and is into fe! (also v funny and sometimes does these cool gif sets with subtitles or smth different and funky with them and they’re fantastic everytime). @formulaonedirection posts mainly lewis and lando. (her tags? genius and comical). @eliotheeangelis posts old f1. a godsend truly

editors/graphic makers

@queerbenched the funkiest graphics. @brawn-gp v v cool edits. @ivettel the most insane gif-editor i know. like half the time i’m like literally HOW are you doing this. fairly sure pure magic (and sooo much skill) is the answer. and writer and seb main. @yukierree v cool and colourful graphics and edits.

lewis blogs

@teamroscoes and @l8tof1 are The lewis blogs. @localoptimist and @lewishcmilton are v funny and have the best takes on things. @4405x sewis main. @sweetaswithscottymac also into fe! @vvettell also posts about seb and alex and fe! (also v funny and nice and i love seeing her takes on stuff)

seb blogs

@wdcseb also a writer! of the sebchal agenda. @unhinged-vettel v funny and really cool edits. @seblicha also v funny and chill

mick blogs

@princemick if you follow me you should definitely follow kyle lmao. at least just for context. they also make cool gifs and graphics too ig. @acrosstobear The Mick Blog . @mickbetsch the coolest gif-edits fr.

yuki blogs

@tsuchansworld and @tsu22 are both yuki blogs and are always correct. @lewki The yuki and lewis blog.

valtteri blogs

@eleyhsa and @garnetaldebaran are The valtteri blogs.

alex blogs

@raceweek her text posts never fail to make me laugh. @alxalb the funniest tags.

fe blogs

@sweetaswithscottymac also posts about lewis and indycar. @mickstart also has the Best michael schumacher takes and just takes in general. @andrelottering also a writer and i think into indycar too? (pls i’m so sorry if i’m wrong)

#did i take this blog rec format from kyle? yes leave me alone #anon pls idk what exactly kind of blogs you wanted recced but i hope this helped? #kinda went for the general who i follow (need to follow more lmao) by scrolling the dash and seeing who came up lol #i know a lot of cool ppl here but there IS a lot of cool ppl #here ! and they’re not all listed here ofc (i only have so much tag space agsjssksk) but i hope u like these #blog rec #anon tag #niamh.asks

[sharonisthebettercarter]

Idk nor care who tf shitlander nor bitcher is, but I do know and care for spiderdads/spiderparents (pbmj X Miguel). I'd rather read a fanfic where Peter B. is a figure skater and Miguel a hockey player. Peter is an ice skater who despises the hockey players whom practice right after him. Particularly given the one that makes an effort to dominate him both on and off the ice (Miguel).

OOH~!

valid, valid, valid, SO fucking VALID~<3<3<3! i LOVE this idea<3<3<3!

can i expand ooh i hope you don't mind<3

okay... okay. gah i'm excited OKAY

i wanna add a layered element here in which miguel is actually just trying to help peter get better because there's a grace element to figure skating that i wouldn't quite picture peter to... well? let's just say if he's a gem, he's in need of some polishing~<3 and maybe miguel is *actually* like honest to gawd familiar with said polishing/techniques~<3/etc.

i could see it tho<3 i still want them kinda maybe sorta to be spooderpeoples on the side, and i LOVE that miguel is a vampire and i can't live without that so of course i'ma make the boi struggle with that too<3 don't mind my dumbass throwing in mpreg (because OF COURSE i fucking always do)

BUTT~<3

what if~<3 peter is a fantastic skater with a TON of potential, but a little rough in the art of his craft~<3

miguel~<3 maybe a bit of grumpy dick forever on the surface LIKES peter and really SEES a ton of potential he actually wants to see flourish and bloom~<3 but he's totally inept when it comes to emotionally expressing this in a healthy way and comes off.

as horribly constipated as he fricken' is. OOH~! so OF COURSE it comes off that way~<3 maybe with a little bit of the buzzy little feeling because peter boo's just so CUTE to him<3

what if it's worse when they're busy being spooderpeoples~<3

so what happens~<3? well i could picture a very ROUGH start with miguel correcting peter's form at every turn, but who knows, maybe the boi has a bit of a background with figure skating himself ~<3 or even speed skating, and moved on to hockey post vampirism (or some other reason lol). either way, he means well, probably likes~<3 peter, but pisses him the fuck off<3<3<3 and then there's certainly carnal and pheromone attraction~<3<3<3

OOH~<3 i can see LOTSA things happening<3 ;))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

but mostly and certainly a love story~<3 maybe where miguel actually *helps* peter win his competition~! and who knows, maybe peter even knows a thing or two about hockey~<3 and he ends up helping miguel win a game or two~<3<3<3 because i LOVE when couples help bring the best out in each other and i could DEF see that here<3<3<3

as far as mpreg goes maybe peter boo hits a little sitch that makes him want to take a lil break from his career~<3 miguel could possibly be an absolute butt about it or encourage him to finish out the competition at least or peter finds out just after the competition~<3<3<3

;)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

#spiderdads #miguel o'hara #peter b parker #fic ideas #fic prompt #brilliant #l love it #thanks for the ask! #precious anon #mpreg #because of course with me #lol

[waheelawhisperer]

Ask thingy for Indra, mainly 'cause your AO3 fic really struck some chords: 1, 6, 7, 8, 15, 17.

Indra! I love her!

1: Why I love them, like them or hate them.

Fantastic aesthetic (I love punk girls), great voice in both English and Japanese, lovely personality... I have a huge weakness for characters that seem rough and lowbrow but ultimately display a hidden nobility... Her kit and playstyle would be fun if you didn't have to give Brawler Guards absolutely broken playstyles to make them work. I love her devotion to Siege and the rest of the Glasgow, I have a huge thing for badass bloodthirsty women, especially when they also have the sort of sweet exuberant goofy affectionate side we see Indra display in some of her files and talk lines, she gets to wear a suit... what's not to love?

6: The scene that I think shows just how awesome they really are.

Everyone in charge of this game is allergic to letting the Glasgow Gang shine in any way, much to my continual frustration, but the line in her files about Indra understanding the ideals of chivalry better than many of the actual belted knights of Kazimierz despite being essentially a street thug lives rent-free in my head.

7: The scene that I think adds depth to their character or the relationship this character has with someone

I think it's gotta be the scene in Chapter 10 where she instructs Dagda in the art of delivering proper one-liners, along with her giving Doc a hug. It's really interesting to me the way the Glasgow Gang as a whole seems to be pretty close with the Doctor (IIRC Doc is on a first name basis with at least two of them, and all of them are quite friendly with the Doc in their talk lines, allowing for Siege'ssomewhat aloof personality), and I would've liked to see that explored more.

8: A headcanon I have about this character.

Given that Indra is hinted to be a bit of a big eater, I like to imagine that she's eager to try all the various world cuisines that can be found in Rhodes Island. The company has a multinational workforce, and with that comes a lot of food for her to try. She personally can't cook for shit tho

15: What I think their role in the story is versus what I think it should be.

The answer to the first half of this question is "fuck if I know. Accessory to Siege, who is herself a plot device at this point? Muscle? She's just there to look hot?"

I've made no secret of my frustration about the way the Victoria arc treated the Glasgow Gang. Indra is supposed to be a badass, but she doesn't get to fight anyone more dangerous than mooks to show it off. She's supposed to be Siege's second-in-command, but Siege herself doesn't get to do much or have a ton of agency, so not much is left for Indra. We don't even explore her relationship with Siege or her other comrades outside of operator records, so it mostly feels like she's tagging along to hit things without even getting to hit anything important.

Giving her the role in the story requires a significant restructuring of the Victoria arc, because the Sarkaz plot cancer means all the fucking focus goes to Kal/Amiya/Doc and the Kazdel lore while we waste time chasing a bunch of literal who characters around Londinium and fucking Stainless plays a more important role in the plot than the launch characters it supposedly centers around. I'd trim it way the hell down, make the Sarkaz plot something separate, and focus on Rhodes Island helping Siege rally the people of Londinium to regain her throne while leaning on Indra and Morgan's connection to the common people and Dagda's status as a noble to gain support or something, idfk. It's kind of hard to fuck up a by-the-numbers rightful king returns story, but Arknights managed it.

17: how well they'd do if they got dropped in a horror movie.

Depends on the horror movie. Indra would eat your average slasher for breakfast because she's not a dumb horny teenager completely lacking in training or equipment and could handle some horror monsters just fine, but supernatural/psychological horror would be a bit harder for her to deal with.

Bloodborne's not a horror movie, but it's a good example of what I'm talking about: she could deal with most of the enemies without issue, but her bloodthirsty nature means she'd be at risk of succumbing to beasthood and she's too normal to take the cosmic horror revelations about the nature of the world all that well, although she could probably convince herself that it was just the product of a truly epic bender.

Actually, now that I think about it, Bloodborne probably isn't the best example I could've used, given that at least 50% of the game is just a simulation of an average evening in London immediately following a soccer match.

#ask game #arknights #indra

[dualityvn]

So being able to not go back and see all the art I couldn't before is FANTASTIC, thank you. Anyways, some notes

Cat Keith and Ten look adorable, somehow tho given Ten is the one more prone to bad decisions (no offense but its true) Keith looks like the more mischievous one

❤️❤️❤️❤️Keith❤️❤️❤️❤️covered❤️❤️❤️❤️in❤️❤️❤️❤️blood❤️❤️❤️❤️

Also Keith with the sadistic smile ❤️❤️❤️ if this were an anime I'd have a freaking nose bleed right now too cute, absolutely adorable ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hehe, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

#duality game #yandere #dating sim #visual novel

[nako-doodles]

i need your thesis on all the songs in the album i'm being so serious rn 😭 i'll rb it once a day for months and months don't deprive me like this of things i didn't even know i needed

ioaefjerjgioajo ill try my best aiofjoerjgiojao i was so annoying to my friends over my first impressions over all the songs so im gonna try my best to summarize my thoughts on these songs

joonie said this entire album was a recollection of everything hes done in his 20s aka the transformative years of his life and you can ABSOLUTELY hear the member influences (at first i heard the sope influences bc they have the biggest body of work so their style is most distinct but upon relistens its really a love album to his younger self (you can really tell its an evolution from rm and mono) and his members. ALSO i love how he modulates and changes his style and timbre to fit the style and quirks of his featuring artist? hes so fucking cool????? oh my GOD?????? anyways heres the impressions by song:

track one: yun ft. erykah badu very hot of him to start the entire album w 'FUCK THE TRENDSETTERS' the bassline the restraint of a laidback soundscape the reverb set to max the lines 'I wanna be a human / ‘Fore I do some art / It’s a cruel world / But there’s gon’ be my part' is so fucking insane? fuck. this song lyrically is all about uncertainty and the soundscape has a lot of space for growth and white space for art to be exhibited dare i say, its like the debut group's first stage? full of promises and expectations and uncertainty, but you march ahead regardless......what a sexy first song on the track track two: still life ft. anderson paak

BRING IN THE FUNK HELLS YEA VHOPE IS VIBING SO HARD RN I JUST KNOW IT now the empty space and reverb bassline is given some direction and happiness here. still life is a form of art and thus begins rm's first piece of art here in his lil art collection and joon accepting that things will come as they are and ppl will try to reduce him down to one thing, but hes still a fully realized human moving forwards like us all

track three: all day ft. tablo

ok this bassline and instrumental SCREAMS yoongi to me. the lil kick between verses the beats w the bassline the high melody line the bridge that sick transition from verse to chorus like no wonder tablo is here. i know yoongi draws lots of inspiration from epik high so it makes sense. sonically speaking this song takes the funky sounds of the previous track and condenses it and brings a hint of melancholy just in time for our next track. speaking on less fun notes, tablo is really the only other person who survived such vicious tonguelashing and emerged more powerful and a better person and im just glad joonie has someone to look up to.

track four: forgetful ft. kim sawol oh our queen of folk here to deliver some nice kindie chill vibes thank you i need it for our coming song mwah. here we slowly start to hear the funky bright poppy merge to a chill sound this song was for tae i just know it!!! sonically theres some fun stuff going on but it feels like a cooldown piece for the rest of the album. joonie really said i can pull off ALLLLLLLL genres.

track five: closer ft. paul blanco mahalia

the rnb influences the syncopation the pop beats i bet jk is having the time of his life singing to the chorus. the guitar and the beat and the piano makes me an immediate fan. also they modulated the message beep to be in the same key??? as the song?????? AND it gives us a diving board into the electronica of the next song and then the sound expands when joonie comes in???? i love it.

track six: change pt. 2

OOF KIM NAMJOON DID SUM NASTY WORK ON THIS SONG ITS SO GOOD ok ok ok so this sudden electronica synthpop isnt jarring bc joonie did a fantastic job ordering this album BUT you know whats the fucking kicker???? the way he arranged this song. on paper this song should NOT fucking work but it does bc they used the same chord from the synths as the piano that comes in later even tho it turns to double time half way thru the song and it would be amazing at there BUT(dont quote me on this) change and change pt 2 are either in the same key or are on relative keys AND if you listen to change ft wale which starts on the piano and goes to electronica, he does the exact opposite here???? fuck and the lyrics mirror each other as well????? fuckK

track seven: lonely

this is the love song to mono the reverb on that guitar the upbeat melancholy the tokyo forever rain vibes are THERE BUTTTTT hes added more complex transitions and layering? like even in this short amount of time hes grown exponentially fuck kim namjoon ur so sexy track eight: hectic ft colde

THIS IS THE HOBI SONG OF THE ALBUM YES KING GIVE ME THAT BOUNCY BASS AND HIGH AIRY SYNTH CITYPOP VIBES YES KING i NEEDD someone to give me a just dance x seesaw x hectic remix asap it would sound SO good. also as someone who listens to a lot of colde/offonoff, this collab is SO FUCKING good bc you can hear coldes influences as well? its so good my god the sax the lil touches the production FUCK. ANNNDDDDD they switched to double time again for this outro so the next song doesnt come in too jarring??? mr kim how did you fit so many genres into this album and yet they all belong together????? im in so much fucking awe man!!!!!

track nine: wildflower ft. youjeen

ive told you pretty much everything i wanted but fuck the production on this song is just so fucking good. the details. the expert control of the soundscape. the arrangement. i cant wait to hear vocal line sing youjeen's lines. i also love that he put his title song at the end bc hes at the end of his 20s. this is him currently. hes still growing and growing roots and stretching to the sun fuck man i cant believe this song took over my most played joonie song forever rain in a week.

track ten: no 2 ft. park jiyoon

and here we are returned to the starting spot but slightly to the left, like when you've walked thru the museum exhibition and am spat out the exit right where you started, but w the new insights and experiences that the you from an hour ago didnt have. joonie is a masterful curator and this song ouroboroses us right back to listen to this album again. the tongue in cheek of ending w 'no looking back' when im ready to replay this album again like you literally inviting me to replay this album youve made it a point to end like this?????? lmfao kim namjoon who do you take me for hmmm?????

if youve made it to the end here i love you nothing makes sense anymore i only know that i love kim namjoon and that ive had this album on loop and i STILL hear new things in it i have no words for how much respect and awe and love i have for this man. and when he said 'fuck the trendsetters' he really did it. he dabbled in ALL of the most popular sounds and genres you hear in the music industry, pulled it off w aplomb, and moved on. anyways i love kim namjoon.

#im sorry i ranted at you this is a nightmare to read 😔 i hope this makes sense #anna i hope youre ready for th moost rambly thing to have ever existed im not proofreading any of this im sorry #ans #muwutuals #i just noticed i didnt mention jinmin but in my defense neither of them have had.....a style to them yet? #theyre both musical chameleons bc everything works for them but they havent had the time to explore their specific sound if that makes sens #theyre both still developing their own vibes and musical quirks but i cant wait to hear how they grow

[somecrustypunk]

hey man, thanks for reblogging my crust pant pictures!! having them tagged as inspo is real neat especially compared to how good your shit looks. very "the youth think im cool???" moment lmao. your blog is fantastically curated tho and id love to follow and watch your projects develop, but i try to be mindful about interacting with minors given im generally known on the internet for smutty fanfic. i am however big on supporting the next generation of weirdos and remember what it was like being a lone queer punk as a teen so heres some dadly finger guns ur gonna go far kid

This is acc one of the nicest things to hear, especially since this blog is more or less the first time I've ever really interacted w ppl online. I wasn't really sure how people would react to my patches and art and stuff if even at all so tysm

#queer punk #patches #diy #art #punk pants #punk vest #diy or die #punk art

[mysteryman-17]

* I miss that old life, darlin'. * The glitz and glamour, the fame and fortune! * The... birdbrain I used to feud with. * And your death is JUST THE TICKET to getting that back. * So ready or not... * LIGHTS. CAMERA. * ACTION!!

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The incredible art in the thumbnail + DJ Grooves’ new design were both done by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! Also, this track was commissioned from the insanely talented musician Nahg (also on Twitter.) Be sure to check out his work, he did a fantastic job, especially given the equipment he had to work with!

Motifs:

The Big Parade

Picture Perfect (B-Side Remix)

Battle of Award 42

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here! The rest of the description (including the character blurb) is underneath the Read More.

DJ Grooves takes the role of Papyrus. Even in spite of his forced exile from Dead Bird Studios, he seems to have a very happy life in the Alpine Skyline... at first. But as the story progresses, Bow Kid notices more and more strange breadcrumbs (Hat Kid's up-and-down friendship with him being only one of em,) and by the time Bow reaches the end of Alpine Skyline, Grooves fully lets the cat out of the bag. He's been biding his time for years, waiting for an opportunity to attempt seizing Mustache Girl's Time Pieces, and he's realized... killing Bow Kid would give him just such an opportunity.

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR Y'ALL, BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THIS HUH? Anyhow, the first of several tracks in what I'll call a "commission backlog" (for simplicity's sake) has finally come to fruition: the Bonetrousle for the AU! I ALWAYS wanted to completely and utterly wreck the formula with this pair of tracks from the moment I cooked up Time's End, but I wasn't entirely sure of HOW for the longest time (even to the point of me attempting to start... and even scrapping one or two shit ideas.) It was only relatively recently that I realized "hey. LEAN INTO THE DISCO VIBE THAT GROOVES HAS, DUMBASS! also fuckin uhhhh spend some kromer and support an awesome musician to boot." And Nahg did a FANTASTIC job bringing this life; we'd be here all day if I tried to go in depth bout what I like, but just for a small thing, the fakeout at the very start with the Nyeh was a very nice touch on his part. Y'all should DEFO commission him if you get the opportunity to, he was awesome to work with and it's more than worth it! Without further ado tho, I hope you all enjoy! (P.S. It'll take some time for me to put everything together, but I figured that I'd let you guys in on what the "proper" 100 follower special for the AU SoundCloud is going to be: a release of MIDIs and applicable FLPs of tracks that have been done for the AU, both by other people and myself. Am working on other projects in between my short off time from work, but I'll keep y'all posted on this!)

#a hat in time au #ahit au #ahit dj grooves #dj grooves #deltarune #undertale #undertale au #ahit time's end au #time's end au #AHIT:TE!AU #a hat in time music #ahit music #music #audio #Bonetrousle

[nefastum]

Hi there! I've noticed there's not a lot of Griffith x Casca stuff out there and most of it is made by you XD Do you prefer that ship best since a lot of your recent art has been for them? Or is there an order of preference for your pairings? It's cool you want to make stuff either way. I'm sure some people hate you for it, but keep vibing.

Hello there, love~

Aha I might sort of have the market cornered on GriffCas, I think ^ ^; I understand why it is a rare pairing tho, so I don't mind so much being one of the few. (Thank you to the other brave souls)

As for order of preference? Hmm, my main ship/throuple will always be my ot3 GriffGutsCa ♡ I love them dearly. And rest assured, no matter what I am working on, they reign supreme haha

Regarding separating them into duos, ahh I have to say I don't really have a preference of one over the other. I suppose it might look that way, given I focus in on GriffCas a lot (at least recently), but really, that is just a matter of supply and demand on my part. There are some phenomenal writers and artist who make fantastic works for both GriffGuts and Gutsca, and most of my plot itches get scratched by them. I can usually find cute/sexy/dark content for either of those ships. For GriffCas, just by its nature, there is less. Like I said before, I understand why that is, but it doesn't stop me from craving it. So, where there is a demand (me) there will be supply (also me) It's its own weird little feedback loop.

I adore all of my favourite pairings/ships, I just get stuck in trends of needing a craving filled and with GriffCas I have by and large had to fill it on my own ^ ^; Though, that is not to say there are not brave individuals who are like minded and want to make stuffs too! I am so happy whenever someone new joins the cult mwahahaha 🙏😈

As for ppl hating me for it; they couldn't possibly hate me more than I do lmao. So it is really not such a big deal, most of the time. They can block me or filter me if they need ^ ^;

__

Thank you for the curiosity! ♡ I hope my rambling made any sense at all~

#berserk #griffgutsca #Nefas rambling again #thank you anon ♡

[tharizdun-03]

Arcane Watchthrough

Episode 1: Welcome to the Playground

EP 1 was very good! It's not an unusual premise, but it's the execution that really stands out here. Aesthetically, it's wonderful, very stylized, strong artwork, and lots of small character acting. I see it setting up plenty thematics and character stuff too. Impressed.

I'll say tho, it's a fair criticism towards Powder. I'm all about making people feel included and realizing their full potential, but if she screws things up every time during your missions, maybe don't bring her with you? Or at least give her a lesser role, like keeping watch.

Probably my favourite little moment from the episode tbh, got a laugh out of me. Very expressive. I like Vi.

Episode 2: Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved

Arcane keeps up the solid work with EP 2!

Episode 3: The Base Violence Necessary for Change

That was SO GOOD.

Episode 4: Happy Progress Day!

Ooh, timeskip. Jinx, huh. Wow, her guilt of having accidentally killed everyone, and the trauma from Vi "betraying" her, has messed her up so much, and Silco makes her actually feel important, as her little inventions finally succeed, for example.

It makes sense, basically, that she's the way she is now. The janky flashbacks are great, with Jinx's demonification of her past and the people in it, being literally represented in the visuals, painting over her memories, to cope with the past.

Just also taking the opportunity to gush about how good the show looks. Background art, for example, beautiful.

Episode 5: Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy

What stood out to me about Arcane's 5th episode the most was the directing! The overall storyboarding, imagery, and editing, were all significantly better in this episode (and it was already fantastic). Wonder if there's a specific reason in staff for this. Best episode so far.

I think you really notice the storyboarding right from the get-go, I thought this perspective was really cool, for example.

I like her voice a lot.

Silco got the drip.

Cool transition.

Look at that. 

As this is the same place she used to practice, this is probably a reference to that shooting practice? I'm thinking beyond the point of the scene just showing how different she is now. Would've been cool if the practice targets were like fake tree birds or something. 

Just top-notch editing for this scene, and the fact that Jinx still can't beat Vi's score, one she did years ago, when she was her age, just feeds into Jinx's insecurities even further.

Sick transition (also love the 2D effects work).

First of all, very cool with the horn built into the violin, but just a fantastic scene overall. The violin is my favourite instrument, you know, so any scene is elevated with violin music. Also, sick stage work, I'd attend that.

Very abstract presentation for the sex scene, keeping it tasteful and also allowing them to tie it into Victor fainting in some visually interesting ways.

Another sick transition from the previous scene.

I wasn't sure if Jinx and Silco's relationship was paternal or romantic, and I think it was intentionally ambiguous but to what purpose other than to keep us guessing I don't know, but I know now that it's paternal. Baptism-like scene here, to get rid of "Powder."

I think these are the band members for Imagine Dragons? If so, that is very cool. Also, playing the opening in an episode is always awesome.

Look at how the camera turns 90 degrees here as she throws Vi to the ground, that's so cool.

Lots of character and story goodies too, it's just fairly straight-forward so I don't have too much to comment on that, but it's all fantastic, and it's a bummer I only really have time for the series on Sundays (as I'm watching with my Dad) cause I'm loving it.

Episode 6: When These Walls Come Tumbling Down

Oh God, I'm gonna cry.

Episode 7: The Boy Savior

Holy shit

Episode 8: Oil and Water

This show is so good. I'm consistently impressed by how every single character is given relevance and focus, always contributing to the bigger picture. EP 8 managed to do so much for all of them.

Vi and Caitlyn goodness, Viktor finally outrunning the boat, some continuingly appreciated Medarda characterization, haunting hallucination scene with Jinx, Jayce having to make increasingly more difficult choices, Heimerdinger still being active, etc.

The fight scene had me giddy as fuck, and for some reason made me tear up a bit (cause it's just that awesome I guess lol), and it ofc being intentionally set up as really fucking cool so they could bring us right back down to face the actual real life consequences too.

Episode 9: The Monster You Created

Wow. What a finale. The whole dinner set-piece was such a brilliant idea for the climax that when I first realized it was happening I cursed myself for not realizing how perfect this would be. Honestly tho, this episode did the most for Silco imo.

“Don’t cry. You’re perfect.” 

There's so much to unpack here. Of course, on an obvious level, Silco chose his daughter over his dream. He is the only one that completely sees Jinx, all of her, and loves her unconditionally, and accepts her for everything.

Vi, of course, loves Powder too, but it's not "open and unconditional" in the same way as it is with Silco. She screams at Jinx to remember her past, in order to force Powder to reawaken, but that just makes her paranoia and hallucinations worse.

Silco shoots at Vi, not just so Powder won't awaken and he can get what he wants, but also because he knows that this hurts Jinx and genuinely empathizes with her, with that pain, and realizes Vi is hurting her, by doing this, and by being at all, and he intends to protect her.

Silco accepts Jinx, mental issues and all, doesn't even blame her for killing him, and tells her that she doesn't need to change, which seals Jinx's decision to stay as Jinx. After all, she's already perfect.

The best part tho, is that Silco's love isn't just open and unconditional, it's still rooted in selfishness as well. He genuinely loves her as a daughter, and empathizes with her, as he sees himself in her, but she also embodies what he loves about the undercity.

Silco chose both Zaun AND Jinx. He doesn't want a Zaun that has to deal with Piltover, he knows that won't work out. He loves the chaos in the undercity, that brings out the monsters within the people, I mean, under his rule, the undercity got worse, and intentionally so.

By choosing Jinx, he not only chooses his daughter (and still allows her to choose who she should be), but he chooses the idea of Zaun that he wants to preserve, that chaos, that city that forces people to rise and grow powerful through conflict, which Jinx embodies and fulfills.

This really ties into why Silco chose to take Jinx in which should seem a bit out of character but in combination with empathizing with her being betrayed as he once was, he also sees Zaun as he envisions it within her and how she embodies that idea more than anyone else.

It just, it would've been so easy to fall into the trap of making him get attached to this child for no real strong reason, but Jinx explicitly ties into his fundamental principles of being, so his actions stay totally in character and only richen him further.

Of course, I'm not trying to glorify Jinx's and Silco's relationship at all. It may have been open and loving, but that isn't enough to properly raise a child. 

Man, that you're perfect scene tho, I've rewatched it multiple times, and I tear up every time lol. Of course, this episode did wonders for the other characters as well, with that wonderful callback as Jayce stops Viktor from suicide this time, for example. Just fantastic all around. Very excited to see what season 2 has in store.

Overall Thoughts:

Arcane was so good I genuinely can't come up with a single flaw or anything I would've changed lol. Wonderfully written story just elevated tenfold by some of the best presentation ever. Silco is an all-time favourite antagonist but top-notch cast overall. Unmatched insert songs.

#arcane #league of legends #watchthrough

[maranull]

Hey, hi, hello! ❣️❣️

This is mostly just a 'I got your letter & I will reply but brain is not doing the word thing so jsyk I am not ignoring you!' note. XD

But also--this was gonna wait till I wrote the letter, but-

!!! You started playing Hades!!! I require your thoughts!! What you like, what you hate, how far you've gotten, your favorite/least favorite characters -- *everything.*

I started playing it again & I forgot how much I love the game. Artemis, Eurydice, & Demeter are definitely my faves & I still can't stand Than lol. & the art!!! It's so !!!!!! (I am nowhere near the 'completed' mark but I am so psyched for the second game already, omg)

Okay I have not slept in like 36 hours & this got long, whoops ... I'm gonna make myself go to bed now. XP

<3 <3 <3 okay good night. 😴😴

Slowly bud! Hi! Hello!

Take your time with the letter, I've also been really out of it lately, I get it.

Yep! I got it around a week ago, I think... Like a day(?) before sending you the letter. Hadn't even started it yet, so I didn't mention it.

BUT IT'S SO GOOD!

The art is great! The gameplay is fantastic. The music is godlike! I've only reached Hades (the bossfight) once, and I only have around 20 runs, so I am far from having a fully formed opinion.

Having said that... Artemis is by far my favourite. I always loved her in the myths. I wanted to join her followers, even before I realized I was trans. I love her so much in this game, and have given her the most gifts. Eurydice is my second fav as well! I always stay at her room for a few minutes, just listening to her song. Her "hair" is also amazing. Looks a bit like broccoli, I want to eat it. :P

Some of my other fav characters are Aphrodite (she's a mess), Chaos (they are cool looking), Nyx (best mom), Cerberus (best boi) and also Meg is slowly growing on me.

Most of the others I'm neutral about. (Demeter and Than fall in this category for me, like, they're cool, but I don't really care for them as strong as I do for the aforementioned (although I've only met Demeter in one run so far))

Zeus can fuck right off tho. Athena is giving me weird vibes too, which I didn't expect. Poseidon seems to be alright, which I also didn't expect, but still a bit wary of him. Hades can choke. I'd also add Theseus here, but the dude is a complete joke, so I don't take him seriously.

Weapon wise, my fav is by far the Bow, and I have already upgraded it once (the Zag, crit upgrade). I also like the Fists, although I've only done a single run with them.

Overall, one of the best games I've played. My only regret is that I didn't get it earlier. Really exited for the 2nd game as well. Melinoë (I hate, hate, hate the anglicization of her name) looks cool as hell.

Have a good sleep!

<3 <3 <3

#asks #sleep! #zzzzzzz! #ZZZZZZZZ!! #36 hours #my god

[libertys-lovers]

Karamatsu, Libby!! I rushed here as fast as i could becuase i must know about your Steel Type and Fire Type! Have a fantastic day, i will be back☆

SLEP!!! YOU ABSOLUTE ICON!! Thank you for the ask!!! You have a fantastic day as well, and tell the others we said hi!

🔩Steel Type🔩 ~ Have we ever made gifts for each other?

Well, if countless drawings count, then yeah! That’s actually how we ended up really interacting more, ‘cause this guy over here wanted some art of himself sent to his house! But I’ll still draw him whenever he’d like! He can be my muse anyday~

✨Heh, personally my main gift to her is the gift of song! I’m always trying to write songs about how I feel for her. I’ve dabbled in drawing her too a few times… though that’s not one of my… specialties- Oh! And of course I’ve given her some hand-designed merchandise of mine~✨

Oh YEAH! Kara found out you can get those sequined pillow-cases to have whatever you want on them, and he ended up gettin me a lil pillow with his face on it. It’s so damn good NAJWMEKD-

Also your art IS good, hush 😡🥺💖💝💘💓💗💞💕

🔥Fire Type🔥 ~ What’s something we do that immediately gets the other flustered?:

Mmmmmmm, I think just about everything I do flusters this man- I know sitting on his lap REALLY gets him tho! Or whispering in his ear while I caress his cheek~ OR when I lay on top of him while he’s reading his magazines & nuzzle my head in his chest. OR~

✨Alright, alright. I think they get the point, my honey-✨

Whatever ya say, man! All I’m saying is that you’re easy to fluster, and it’s super cute.

✨Ah, so this it it? My punishment for being a guilty man~?✨

Awe, come on! You can get your revenge if you want! I’m all ears!

✨Well… if you insist.✨

✨Liberty always gets flustered whenever I praise her, or whenever I call her by her many pet names. And sometimes… I’ll get really close to her face, and she always looks away! She ends up covering her face with her hands too. She’s so cute~💖✨

AAALLLRRIIGGHHT 💞😳😭💞- To be fair, we both get flustered whenever you get super close.

✨I… I don’t know what you’re talking about~✨

?!?!?!

Well come over here then! Or, here, sign off real quick. Then prove yourself ✋🙄😏

🌂Your Host, Liberty! | ✨Karamatsu Matsuno✨

#self ship #self shipper #self shipping #self ship ask game #f/ovember #🍂L.L. F/Ovember🍂 #romantic f/o #🕶️💥dramatics💥🕶️ #gif #gif warning

[justanothercloudinthesky]

Hi! are matchups still open? If they are, can I request an MHA matchup?

Here's my info:

Gender preference: Male

My love language: acts of service

My age: 18

Dislikes: unsolicited advice, sudden loud noises, being interrupted

Likes: art, plushies, books, nature, music, animals

Few of my hobbies: writing, reading, listening to music, playing video games

Why I like my hobbies:

• All of them are relaxing and fun to do.

• Another reason I like writing is that I can express myself freely; also, inspire others.

• Listening to music and reading gives me story ideas also, inspiration.

My appearance:

I have long, straight black hair also brown eyes. My height is 4'9" and, I have tan skin. I have a small face and thick hair.

Clothing style:

It depends on the occasion but, I usually dress casually. The colors I mostly wear are dark. Also, I sometimes wear both light and dark colors.

Personality:

I'm an ISTJ and a hopeless romantic. Strangers think I'm shy or aloof. Friends describe me as trustworthy, smart, kind.

I describe myself as patient, funny, sensitive (at times I cry when yelled at), reserved.

Sometimes I feel insecure.

I overthink too but, it happens rarely.

Few random facts about me:

• Plushies are a comfort object to me.

• I have two pets (one cat, one dog).

Hi, Thank you so much for Checking The Weather, Your forecast is...

Mezo Shoji!

I realize he isn't the most popular of characters, but please hear me out, as I think that this would be an amazing couple. Shoji is intimidating on the outside but frankly a sweetheart within. I think maybe at first he was a bit intimidated by you but was drawn in by your resourcefulness and wit during a mission. You truly inspire him, especially if your quirk is unique/hard to control (which, with your description, I think is highly likely, you go!)

I absolutely think that you and Shoji would be friends first, he'd start by asking you questions regarding the mission, and soon just love your company altogether. I also don't think that his demeanor would be a problem and he really enjoys listening to what you truly have to say. One thing I think helped turn it from a friendship to a more romantic one would be his helping to ground you after a particularly tough day.

Shoji would protect you with his life, and honestly, he thinks you being shorter is cute, but he'd never mention it unless you asked as he's so scared of offending you. piggy back rides are an absolute yes if you'd like them! I honestly think that Shoji is also a romantic at heart. I just get that vibe

I can't quite tell what his love language is, (I'm guessing quality time), but he'd be attuned to your appreciation for acts of service. Given the information on his wiki page, I'm not quite sure if he would get your plushie or music appreciation. I do however think that this wouldn't be so much of a dealbreaker as it is a place for you to teach each other new things.

Second: Tokoyami, It was super duper close, He would be your best friend I believe. Y'all would bond over music and stuff, but you might find your similarities and his lack of romantic aptitude puts a strain on a romantic relationship. I also believe that he is a deep overthinker and in the rare cases, you both got insecure/overthinking it could be difficult to pull each other out. An absolutely fantastic friendship tho!

Third: Kirishima, He was my immediate thought, and I still think he'd have a huge fricken crush on you, but I genuinely don't think that he could get far past the friendship stage as he constantly interrupts you/is yelling. It could potentially work, but not without some struggles and long, late-night talks. He would really like you as a teammate no matter what tho!

#A really wholesome couple #best friend vibes all the way tho #YourWeatherReport #Imagine him harmonizing with himself to your favorite songs tho- #I really hope you like it #mha matchups #x reader matchups #hear me out- immaculate art talents #cloudpassingby

[nyx-b-log]

another short week this week, tho in my defence i've had more to do than usual.

started and finished to be taught, if fortunate by becky chambers and it was okay...? you can tell it was her first published work and honestly i think her writing thrives better in longer books. there's still that tender feeling to it that i've loved in all her work, but everything else sort of missed for me.

i've also started the whalebone theatre by joanna quinn and i'm actually enjoying it a lot more than i thought i would! i'm not normally a historical fiction kind of person but the characters and writing in this are pulling me in! (but, it's also a ww2 book in the second half, smth i very rarely enjoy, so this may change asdfghjkl). the blurb is a bit misreading, given that it says the main character is cristabel and when you start the book one, she's three, and two, there's a loooot of other POVs.

for manga i finished vol 7(!) of mushishi which includes the first double chapter in the series, which also is a call back to a chapter in like vol 3, so that was nice. ginko continues to be The Man, and there was some more good comedy in this one. possibly my favourite volume so far. you know what i'm gonna put the rest of this under the cut cos i NEED to talk about this in more detail asdfghjkl if you've not read mushishi, please please read mushishi

it also included the only part i vividly remember from when i watched the anime (over ten years ago?), the chapter lightning's end.

seriously, the way it expresses so much generational trauma in just a few pages is incredible (cw for implied attempted suicide, on page attempted infanticide, and general sad things):

(read from right to left, i've laid it out in double page spreads as if you had the book open.)

(if this doesn't work on mobile i'm so sorry)

basically this is the internal thoughts of the mother in flashback, covering from the point her own mother marries her off to someone despite the fact she's in love with someone else, then when she gets pregnant and doesn't want the baby so tries to kill herself but has to give birth anyway, then when she attempts to kill her own child by getting him struck by lightning because she doesn't know how to love him and it's crushing her, and then that last double page spread... the look between him and her in those last two panels is just 👌 fantastic

i also liked how it resolved (spoilers, ig) in that the mother doesn't just suddenly overcome her own trauma and become able to be the mother her son needs, and the son isn't expected to just deal with it. it's not smth i'm used to seeing, and i appreciated it.

bonus shoutout to the hunting chapter, which draws on horror themes and has some god tier art in it. the page with the birds? incredible.

#books #bookblr #reading #to be taught if fortunate #becky chambers #the whalebone theatre #joanna quinn #mushishi #legitimately love mushishi #i will be on this soapbox forever #the whalebone theatre is pretty long #so i think that might be all i read next week #we'll see #please ignore my fingers #and mousemat #there was also an incredible (sfw) doujin i read on pixiv #which i have to mention cos it was so good #but also it's not available in english yet #sooooooo #not queued