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spookyhalloweennights · 4 years ago

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Fearsome Appearances (Silakeil: SFW)

You had heard the rumors and felt the stares. After all, Silakeil was not a creature that was seen often, and even when he was, rumors had flown around about the manticore’s personality, but you knew better. Many would claim that he is something to be feared, and that a single sting from his scorpion tail could end a person’s life. The fire that he could breath would be used to burn down the houses of those around him so that he’d have a bigger territory to live in.

When you walked on the streets, mothers moved their young children out of the way for the fear of their kids being his next meal, when you knew better. Silakeil was nothing more than a kitten who wanted to be loved, and you had given that to him. You had bonded over your shared experiences, you having been bullied in your younger years for your appearance which had caused self-esteem issues to arise that seemed to last a lifetime. Until you had met Silakeil. He had been your rock and you were his when it came to bad days where the thoughts just seemed to embed themselves in the crevices of your mind.

Today was no different than any other day, Silakeil had insisted on going out to get some ice cream with you. A short but quick date, something that you had been accustomed to since Silakeil didn’t like going out much because of his appearance. His fingers were threaded through yours and the sun reflected off of his darkly colored lion’s mane. Dragon wings sprouted from his back and the scorpion tail that many had seemed to fear was wrapped around his waist as though it was a belt.

“Sorry, we don’t serve your kind here.” The salesman, a frost giant, had told Silakeil when the pair of you had approached the ice cream stand. Silakeil visibly deflated at the statement.

“Come on… Let’s go…” He murmured in response to the statement, going to tug your hand away but anger rushed through you in the worst of forms.

“What exactly do you mean by his kind?” You questioned, your words dripping venom worse than what Silakeil’s tail would.

“We. Do. Not. Serve. His. Kind.” The frost giant reiterated as if you were nothing more than a dumb human, which had only made you grow angier.

“That’s pretty rotten of you, basing it off of looks and what he is rather than the fact that he’s an actual paying customer.” You growled in response. The frost giant merely blinked at you in response before turning his gaze away. “If I were to base it off of your looks, I’d say you’d do exactly as your legend tells, you’d freeze over any town you came across rather than making snow cones for children.”

Silakeil had flushed with embarrassment. He wasn’t the confrontational type. Unless it came to you, he had merely accepted the way that others had treated him and you weren’t about to deal with that. “We can take our business elsewhere.” You stated before dragging Silakeil off, he was happy to match your pace so that he no longer had to be out where others could judge him so harshly.

“Can we go home? I think we have some left over ice cream there… We can make sundaes.” He offered, his mood dampened by the experience.

“Sure, but I’m going to leave them a nasty review for the way that they had treated you.” You simply responded, the walk back home being quick as the ice cream stand wasn’t too far from your place. Once inside, you had pulled up the stand on your phone and quickly left a one star review. Still seething from earlier but not wanting to embarrass Silakeil anymore than what already happened.

Silakeil had made a beeline for the kitchen, swiftly pulling out the leftover ice cream from the freezer and various toppings he had found shoved in the back of cupboards. It wasn’t long before a sundae was handed to you just the way you liked it, Silakeil had taken the spot right across from you at the kitchen table. His tail wrapping around your ankle as a sense of security, a darkened expression on his face as he poked at the ice cream in his dish, no longer feeling up for it but not wanting to disappoint or dampen your mood.

“Hey.” You caught his attention with the simplest statements. “You are amazing just the way you are, screw what anyone else has to say.” You stated simply.

The tears that had begun to form in his eyes were obvious as you made it known how you felt, you stood and walked over. Pulling him into a tight hug against you as a quiet sob came from him.

“I feel so stupid getting upset over such a thing, I should be used to it by now.” He muttered bitterly from where he had his face buried against your neck.

“The thing is Silakeil, you shouldn’t have to get used to it. You are a beautiful soul, inside and out, and I’m sorry that people treat you the way they do.” You brushed the stray tears from his cheeks as he pulled away to look at you. “I know how it feels to be treated as an outcast, I want to make sure that you know everyday how wonderful you are and that you are loved… Because you are, I haven’t ever met anyone with a heart of gold like you.” You said softly as you pressed a kiss to his forehead, a quiet purr beginning to come from him at the attention.

“You are everything I’ve ever needed and more. I can only hope to be the same rock that you’ve been for me.” Silakeil responded softly, tugging you to sit on his lap so you could eat your ice cream together like that.

#exophilia #monster #monster lover #monster boyfriend #monster x reader #manticore x reader #monster x f!reader #manticore boyfriend #Spooky'sWriting #sfw #spookyhalloweennights

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red-the-dragon-writes · 4 years ago

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Today's post is not on the usual "writer blog fare" side. Instead I am going to introduce you to several fun facts about various animals on our planet and then talk about worldbuilding.

1. Lampreys are a kind of "living fossil"- a not-really-so-scientific term for a creature that has lived unchanged for a very long time, so long that we have fossils of them looking the same way they do now. They don't have proper jaws, just a circular sucking mouth with teeth set into it and a tongue designed to strip flesh off of what it touches. They're finless fish, look quite a bit like eels, and have this really alien, uncanny vibe to them.

[id: a long, slender bluish-silver lamprey sitting among rocks. It has a long snout, an eye, and then six small perforations in its side arranged at an even interval sitting behind the eye. The environment it is sitting in is very yellow and green in comparison. end id]

[id: an image of a lamprey from below. The snout ends in a round, flat mouth which is studded with teeth in four concentric circles. The teeth are smallest near the outer edge and largest in the middle, and look like very sharp round points. In the center of this ring is another, smaller circle, where the pointed, tooth-like tongue can be seen, as well as a hole for the lamprey to actually ingest food with. Its eye is visible, as are some of the perforations on its side. This one is a more mottled gray than the first one was, and less shiny. end id]

Sea lampreys, which are the kind i've sort of not really kinda researched, are a major pest in the Great Lakes, where they regularly attack fish. They can get up to two feet in length. Despite this, they are not particularly dangerous towards humans.

2. Horseshoe crabs are also "living fossils." They've been around and virtually unchanged for millions of years. They're not true crabs, and are more closely related to chelicerata species, like spiders and scorpions (and many more). There are a lot of cool features of horseshoe crabs, but one of their most extremely cool, to me, is their blood.

I'm not going to post any images of what I consider to be animal cruelty, so you'll have to take me at my word here, but this is a bottle of horseshoe crab blood. If you're sensitive to images of animal cruelty, I don't recommend looking for proof, but if you aren't, there are plenty of images of the blood coming out of the creature for you to verify this with.

E[id: a bottle of slightly frothy, opaque blue liquid. It is sitting in a row with several other bottles of the same material. end id]

I am a sucker for blue blood, I just think it's neat, so that's all I'd need as an excuse to slam some horseshoe-crab-inspired nonsense in my exceptionally gory and fucked up wips, and if you've been reading along with WiB you may have noticed that blue blood does come into play at some point! But that's not all that's neat about horseshoe crab blood. Unfortunately for the horseshoe crabs, but fortunately for us, their blood is literally the only source of an important compound used for detecting the presence of dangerous bacteria in certain pharmaceutical drugs. (Fortunately, there are replacements that will hopefully become more popular in coming years.)

Now that we've gone over all that, onto the worldbuilding!

I worldbuild by Rule of Cool. Let's just get that out of the way. Every so often people will ask me how my worlds get so expansive (not WiB, WiB i made up on the fly by cribbing from fanfic and like... BBC Merlin. Assume very little of this holds true for WiB) and the answer is largely that I take every interest I have ever had in anything and smash it all together and throw it at my wip to see what sticks. and then I just... like... reasonably attempt to figure out what the natural conclusions will be.

So: we have lampreys. We have blue-blooded ancient sea creatures with spectacularly important and valueable blood. We are writing this into a story that takes place on land, somehow.

- The first option, and the one I'm going to talk about most because I did it, is just to rule-of-cool it into a character. (Or a place, or an item, or whatever, but largely I do rule-of-cool on living creatures and think harder about the world around them.) If you've been keeping up with WiB, you may have noticed that (spoilers) Zero Point is some kind of fucked up magician with a lamprey mouth in their hand who shapeshifts and bleeds blue. This is where I got those inspirations from (along with, like, some other stuff. I promise there are no lamprey assassins, but- continuing in the trend of stealing from sea creatures- the bobbin worm is a spectacularly beautiful, spectacularly deadly creature if you're within its weight range. which is like, goldfish size, but. And cuttlefish are known to disguise themselves as other animals, and can change sexes if the male:female ratio where they are isn't ideal.)

So you can take the elements you like, and just kind of slam them together haphazardly, which is what I did with Zero Point. The trick to this kind of worldbuilding is just to avoid looking too closely at it. The magical assassin has a fucked up mouth in their hand? Yeah, okay, that seems kind of fucked up and creepy. What do they do at all times? They hide it under a glove. So the protags Just Straight Up Never Ask. And voila; it never gets explained, and it never has to.

Same with the blue blood. It shows up, it functions as a plot device because only Zero Point has blue blood; it is never explained or even delved into with much detail. And if it were, it would fall apart instantly, because the justification is literally just "i thought it was neat. No, no one else is like that. I don't even know why they are. i just felt like it"

- The second option is to consider the effects of the things that you're working with, and then work off of that.

Let's take Zero Point again. Strip them of their context (weird assassin with magical powers) and just like, consider the fact that this is a creature with blood that regularly retails for over $10,000 USD, is intelligent as fuck, shapeshifts, has a mouth in their hand that may or may not be their actual mouth, and can exist on land so long as they have suitable access to water. What does that mean for our setting? Surely they're not the only person like that; so you have a whole species of people who are sort of but not really amphibious, shapeshift, and maybe have magical powers, who knows. They can't shapeshift their fucked up lamprey mouths, maybe. That seems like a reasonable limit. So their blood is highly valuable- what does that mean for their relations with other people, or their culture? What kind of foods do they eat? How do they create a sense of culture as shapeshifters; is there even a way that they represent themselves in art? How do they interact with the world? Do they have a "true form" or not? Every one of these questions will spawn new questions. If you answer all of them you'll lose your mind, but if you answer at least ten you'll spawn a much more background-heavy world that can help to shape your story much more effectively than trying to just craft a narrative will. Sometimes it works very well for a story. Sometimes it gets you lost in the weeds.

- The third option is to reference something else, and build off that. Again, let's use Zero Point as the example.

In the original story that the WiB ensemble is from, Closerverse, which may have some mentions on this blog but honestly I have no idea, there is a city that I've done quite a bit of worldbuilding on. This city is called Hudson, and one of the major important features of it is that it is partially underground. (This is a reference to the DFZ of Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers series). Hudson is intentionally run to be the worst, most unpleasant city in the world, and one of its features are its wildly intelligent, dangerous forms of aquatic life. The lowest level of this city is partially submerged, and all of these creatures plague the people who live down there.

Closerverse was also set during a period of early industrialization, and Hudson heavily referenced US history, especially 1900s-1920s labor history. Tenements, pollution, zero protections for workers, et cetera. Hudson is a nasty, miserable place, and everyone who lives there can feel the jaws closing in on them.

Anyway, in Closerverse you got these fucked up massive eel-like creatures (lampreys, but with extra features) that due to some rather significant meddling wound up growing legs and then got really massive and started eating people. They have blue blood, glow in the dark, and make fairly decent eating as long as they aren't eating you. And they're intelligent. Given the whole "mutual eating each other" thing, the eels and the people of Hudson have some pretty major animosity going on.

Most of Zero Point's stuff is really just me referencing the Hudson Eels, because I fucking love those. They're some of my favorite worldbuilding elements ever. But given that no one else in WiB has ever seen a Hudson Eel, let alone seen their blood get dry on things, or whatever, everything about Zero Point is wildly out of context. And that almost makes it better, because the whole deal with them is that they're mysterious and weird, and having them be a mysterious and weird reference to something no one but I know about most likely is like, fun and neat.

There are, of course, other modes of worldbuilding as well, but I typically aim to stick to the first two as much as possible. The cooler you make something, the more possible questions it raises; the more questions something raises, the deeper your world gets.

Although, a word of advice: sometimes animals just do things. Sometimes bodies just have features. Who would invent fingernails? But having them is mighty convenient, isn't it? For that matter, who would come up with a deeply logical and reasoned explanation for eyebrows- but not having those would be very strange, to us. You can get away with doing a lot by just having that be how it is, and not having the characters comment on it.

Also, the more "shaped" a thing should be, the more you'll want to take the second approach. For house design, something intentionally built, you'll want to know why it was built, and what purpose is this and that room, and why is it painted such and such colors. But if you're talking about adding a second moon, like... fuck dude, who needs to know why there's a second moon? Maybe if you have sailors you have to know what it'll do to your oceans, but that's the kind of thing you can kind of just say exists and move on. You'll figure it out; it gets pretty intuitive.

Anyway, happy worldbuilding!

#writing advice #long post #worldbuilding

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evolutionsvoid · 5 years ago

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A powerful carnivore that stalks rocky landscapes and arid environments, the Clubtail is another deadly member of the Manticore family. This beast stakes its territory in drier and rockier habitats, often found in canyons, on mountains or patrolling the fringes of deserts. Their exposed hide is tougher and not as slick as the skin of their brethren. This is to help lock in moisture and lessen the toll taken by the dry air and hot sun. With this, they can travel during the day without fearing dehydration, though they do take shelter during the hottest parts. While they do still enjoy a refreshing dip in pools or other water bodies, they know that these sources are few and far between. When water is found, they are quick to drink their fill and get what relief they can. Once that is done, they will seek out a nice hidden spot to lie, hopefully one with plenty of shade. While this serves as a nice moment of rest, it isn't about relaxation. Hanging around this water source means that it has a quick access to moisture and one of the best baits around. The Clubtail isn't the only creature that is looking for a drink, and that is what this beast is counting on. Like the rest of its family, the Clubtail is a voracious predator and a skilled killer. While it possesses spines and hardy scales like the rest, it has changed its technique to better suit its environment. One of the most notable things about the Clubtail is that it is incapable of launching its spikes, meaning it cannot perform the famous ranged attacks its family is known for. Closer inspection of their tail (on a restrained or preserved specimen, I hope!) will show you that these spikes are stubbier and are firmly anchored to their flesh. Even if they could detach, they would be poor projectiles. Now some may wonder why this ability was lost. Why would this species abandon such a powerful and deadly weapon? Well, study and observation has shown that this tool may not be so useful in the environments that Clubtails call home. As I talked about before, the Clubtail's hide is tougher, thicker and all around stronger to help protect it from the harsh conditions it lives in. This is not an adaptation that is unique to this beast, as every creature that dwells in these habitats have turned to hardening their bodies. Scales, plates, shells and leathery hides are very common in these parts, and each one of these serves as decent armor. The rain of spines that are unleashed from a manticore's tail would have a hard time piercing these things, and thus would not be able to deliver their venomous payload. It is believed that the Clubtail lost their ranged prowess because it cannot take down prey in an efficient and reliable manner. Even then, they have not lost a bit of their deadliness. While we say that they "lost" this ability, it is more that they traded it in for something more useful. Though they are no good at long range, they are absolute monsters when it comes to close quarter combat. Clubtail Manticores are beasts of brute strength and unrelenting savagery. Their bodies and limbs are packed with muscles, every inch of them radiating raw power. The perfect symbol of this adaptation is their tail. What was once a slender, whipping appendage is now bulbous and dense. The majority of it is covered in short spines, ending in an armored stinger that would make a scorpion envious. A bit of flexibility and mobility is lost in this change, but such finesse is unnecessary for a barbaric weapon like this. This new tool is where the Clubtail got its name, as it now wields a bludgeon that can crack stone and shatter armor. No exoskeleton or shell will protect you when this thing makes impact! When this manticore hunts, it does so with brutal force. They shall either stalk or ambush their prey, often using watering holes as a lure. They will sneak up as close as they can, but they will not give up if they are spotted. Clubtails will charge prey that has spotted them, as they cannot afford to let a meal escape. Once in range, they will swing their tails about and beat their victims to a pulp. The short spines still secrete venom, but it is much weaker. The real nasty stuff is located in their club-like stinger, and the manticore aims to impale prey with it. No armor will stop this weapon, as it strikes with the force of a war pick. Once the cruel barb punches through the victim, it will pump in the paralytic venom. Even if the creature is able to escape or ward of the Clubtail, the poison shall freeze their muscles and shutdown their body. After that, the manticore can swallow the poor soul at its leisure, slinking back to the shade for a nice nap. While their bludgeoning tail is by far the most noteworthy weapon, it is not the only tool in their arsenal. The forelimbs of a Clubtail are much stronger and more developed than that of other Manticores. In a brawl, these can actually serve as punching arms, and you don't want to get a haymaker from one of these! Their feet end in lobed suction cups, which can fold together to form a fist-like structure. This is then partially retracted into their forelimb shells, turning this appendage into a nasty gauntlet. By rearing up on their hind legs, they can deliver stunning blows and devastating punches to those who oppose them. These are mainly used when the Clubtail is stuck in tight quarters, where its tail cannot swing freely. Those who think they have bested a Clubtail by severing their stinger are in for a surprise and a rather brutal beat down. With all this combined, the Clubtail is a brawler who will not give up or accept failure. Even the feistiest prey will be hard pressed to scare them off, as they will continue their assault ruthlessly. Hiding behind armor is also no escape, as their weapons can puncture pretty much anything, and anything they can't pierce will be seen as a challenge. One researcher tried to test the determination of a Clubtail by sealing meat in a chest of iron and lead. The aromatic bait succeeded in attracting one of these beasts, and the impenetrable trunk succeeded in withstanding every blow and punch. In the end, the Clubtail did indeed give up, but not before chucking the whole thing off a nearby cliff. So in the end, you may be able to wear out its patience, but you probably won't be around to gloat about it.

With their brutal weapons and savage nature, Clubtails are widely feared in the regions they inhabit. Since prey can be rare in their habitat, they will target any food source they come across and pursue it with unstoppable determination. The nightmare of every local farmer is a Clubtail discovering their herd, as they will be a constant terror until the beast is slain or the entire farm is devoured. Deterrents and barriers may stall them or keep them out for a bit, but once they know food is there, they will keep coming back for it. Only through death or severe injury will the Clubtail cease its attempts, and doing this is no easy feat. They are heavily armored and have very few weak points. They can also heal from practically any non-lethal injury, even regrowing chunks of lost flesh. So when a bounty is put out for a troublesome Clubtail, very few will go for it. Only the greatest or dumbest of warriors will attempt a fight with one of these beasts, and it can quickly go bad if you make the slightest error. Any attempt to slay one of these creatures should be done at long range, as you cannot, and I mean cannot, withstand a close range fight with them. Unless you have poisoned or weakened it, or you are capable of killing it in a few strikes, the Clubtail will overpower you and beat you to a pulp. This nature has given it quite a bit of infamy. Clubtails are preferred symbols for those who enjoy a more barbaric way of fighting, and quite a few warriors have bore its likeness. There is a style of pugilism that captures the Clubtail's brutality, though quite a few rings have banned such techniques. Other arenas, however, welcome the Clubtail with open arms. Since it lacks the flying shards of its brethren, they can be placed in coliseums and arenas without fear of collateral damage. Bloodthirsty patrons go wild whenever once of these beasts make an appearance, as it guarantees a brutal and bloody show. In some cases, the owners will sever the tail and oral stingers, forcing the creature to fight with its fists. This is done so that opponents last a bit longer and so the crowd can watch the slow and painful beat down. I think this is absolutely horrible! Not only do you make these poor creatures fight to the death, but now you mangle them for your own amusement! How sickening! I cannot stand such a cruel and barbaric sport! I would like to chuck some of those fiends into the arena and see how they like it! Well, I say that, but I kinda already did that once. In my defense it was kind of on accident, as it wasn't my intention for him to go over the railing. He was getting all shouty and stabby over the whole "revolution" thing (which isn't my fault you guys are jerks and the people don't like you), and so I tried to ward him off. A good sock to the jaw later, and he goes head over heels into the pit below. I didn't see what happened to him (what with the whole revolution thing going on around me) but his screaming filled in the blanks. I am pretty sure he turned out to be the first of many meals for The Pit King that day. Man, politics are rough, that is why I stick to science... Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another Manticore, but now in orange creamsicle flavor! Mmmmmm!

#manticore #monster #creature #fantasy #art #drawing #snail #mollusk

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bisexual-in-every-gender · 4 years ago

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survey

Alphabetti Spaghetti (1/3)

And we will fall in love with shooting stars. - A

Have you ever seen an Aardvark? Yes, in the zoo.

Were you ever abandoned in a public place as a child? Where? By accident. My parents were swimming and I got stuck in a public toilet and they had so much fun they didn’t notice me missing. xD

What accent do you have? A German one. Because, well, I am German. A slight Berliner dialect in German.

Is there someone in your family addicted to something? What is it? My dad stopped smoking, so no, I don’t think so.

Have you ever been under general anaesthetic? What were you having done? Yes, I had a surgery on my ears.

How do you show the ones you love affection? Words of affirmation and LOADS of cuddles. Also gifts.

Are you more passive or aggressive? Passive.

Do you like the band Aha!? No, not really

Do you know anyone called Aidan? What are they like? Nope.

Ever heard of the band Ajax? Nope.

Do you know anyone called Akash? No.

Do the sound of fire alarms scare you? They don’t scare me but they’re super loud and it hurts my ears.

Do you live in America? If so, which state? If visited, where’d you go? No, I live in China. I’d love to go to Miami one day. And L.A.

Have you ever had an ant infestation in your house? No, nothing that serious.

Aora - did I spell that correctly? Aorta?

Do you have a preference in Apple? What type do you prefer? Erm, the fruit? I do like red apples best.

Are you an Aquarian? Is anyone in your family/your partner/best friend? I am not but both my nan and my wife are

Have you ever worn any type of armor? Which type? No.

Do you use the word ass a lot? No.

Have you or your family had an attorney? What for? Nope.

Is your car/family’s car an automatic gear or manual? My dad has a manual.

Are you interested in aviation, piloting and aircrafts? Nope.

What was the last award you recieved for? English, methinks.

Axl Rose - like or dislike? I don’t have an opinion as I never smelled it.

Do you like air being spelt ayre or ayer in rap or hiphop or is it nasty? I have no idea what we’re talking about.

Is the sky outside Azure? If not, what shade is it? It’s sort of grayish.

Belle amour (we’ve been here before). - B Do you call anyone baby? Is it sweet or an overrated name for affection? I call my wife “babe”. Don’t think it’s overrated.

Bby - does this shortened version bug you? It doesn’t bug me, but I wouldn’t use it. --> same

Do you know what BC in terms of time stands for? Not... really?

BDf - For or against? What is that???

Do you prefer beach breaks, city breaks or winter breaks? Why? I like the beach, so I guess.. that?

Do you spell out boyfriend properly or put bf in texts/online? I spell it out.

Do you know what bg is short for? nope

Do you know anyone with the last name Bhays? No.

Have you ever been bird watching? What did you see? Nah.

Do you like Bjork? I like exactly one song of her (”Army of me”), aside from that, I find her quite tedious

What does this read: bk 2moz miss u lyk fk. I don’t care.

Do you like BMWs? No idea what they look like. I’m useless when it comes to cars.

What is the nearest book to you called? How many times have you read it? It’s a law book as I’m at work. I never read it.

BnQ - gone there? What did you buy? What’s with all the weird shorthand/abbreviations?? ---> seriously!

Are you more brainy or brave? Brainy I’d say

Did you like the BSBs (Backstreet Boys) as a kid? How about now? No and no.

Burgers, Hot Dogs or Salads at a Barbecue? Burgers.

Do you have a Byro? Yes

Cold eyes and filthy lies all leave me petrified. - C Do you have a Cactus (Cacti)? Nope. We had one called Karl-Heinz but we killed him by overwatering him.

Do you know what a CCTV is? Yes.

How many CDs are in the room you are currently in? Zero.

What’s your favourite cereal brand? Rice Krispies

Do you like children’s TV shows still? Which one(s)? I like what I grew up with, especially Sponge Bob Squarepants

Cinnamon - Yum or Yuck? Yum.

Do you know anyone with the initials and or name CJ? YES! Colleen Jean.

Have you ever met a self professed clairvoyant? What did they do/say? Nah.

Do you watch CNN News? What’s your prefered news channel/show? No. I actually just read “The Guardian”

How many cousins do you have? 2

Do you still draw with crayons? When was the last time you did? Drew what? No.

Do you know what a CSS feed is? What is it? Can’t be bothered to look it up.

Do you like cycling/biking? What type of bike do you have? I have a bike but never learned how to ride it. My wife wants to teach me soon.

Do you really like it, is it is it wicked. - D What is the most dangerous animal you’ve petted/held? A scorpion.

Do you like Death Metal? If so, which band(s)? I like some metal but I don’t think I like Death Metal much.

Did you ever keep a diary/journal? I had a diary when I was younger.

Do you prefer small, medium, large or no dogs? LARGE!

Do you know what DP stands for in porn? Yes, haha

Have you ever dressed up as a celebrity for a party/Halloween? No.

DS or Wii? Why? DS.

Does dust make you sneeze or cough? sneeze

How many DVDs do you have all together? Over 40

Do you dye your hair regularly, sometimes or never? I sometimes dye it. Like to give it some time to breathe inbetween.

Every love lies sometimes … - E What’s something you refuse to eat? Peas, gerkins

Don’t you think the word ebb is so pretty? No.

Do you like Chocolate Eclairs? YES!

Ever tried edible paper? As a kid. Never quite got the appeal.

Eevee - pretty name or too Pokemon-y? I just think Pokemon.

Do you sometimes mix up the spellings/meanings of affection and defection? No...

Do you have a big ego, low self esteem or somewhere in between? Low self-esteem for the most part.

What Element does your starsign fall under? Air apparently

Do you show your emotions easily and freely or hide them? I wish I could hide them more but I’m terrible at it.

What is your favourite form of entertainment? reading, swimming, theatre, musicals, Netflix, languages

What will they write on your epitaph? Hopefully only good things.

Estimate/guess what number we are on now? Nah.

Do you know basic social etiquette? Yes.

Does your country use the Euro, Great British Pound, Dollar or other? "My” country as in where I’m from: Euro. The country I currently reside in: “other”

Do you still get excited on Christmas Eve? Aww, yeah.

What animal/creature that is extinct do you wish wasn’t? Giant sloths!

What colour eyes do your parents have? My mom has green eyes, my dad has blue eyes.

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nefilasun · 4 years ago

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|——⋆⋅☆⋅⋆——|

Toska Valan

|——-⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ——|

“I am nothing to do with you”

»»————-　★　————-««

》Name: Toska Valan

》Nickname: T

》Sexual Orientation: bisexual

》Gender: male

》Race: white

》Age: 25

》Species: (if available)

》Place of birth: Romania

》Date of birth: May 13

》Languages: English, Romanian

》Zodiac Sign: Taurus

》Relationship status single

★.*｡･ﾟ✫* Appearance.✫ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ

》Height: 6’3

》Weight: 165

》Hair color: black

》Hairstyle: short, tousled

》Skin: olive brown

》Eye color: brown

》Distinguishing marks: none

》Body build: athletic

》Scars: none

》Tattoos/piercings: none

》Clothing: dark/light academia

》Accessories:

»»————-　★　————-««

｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫* Personality.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ

》Personality :Toska was a asshole. He had a nasty attitude and always used foul language. Bitter and angry at the whole world. He was sarcastic and abrasive but also understood what empathy and sympathy was. Even though he was a dick to almost everyone, people were still drawn to him. He never stayed in one place too long so no one could really connect with him. He was only truly nice to animals,as before he was bitten he was studying to be a vet. He loved animals and he loved to read, spending most of his time in libraries. He dressed very elegantly in a dark/light academia aesthetic,which made his sharp features look even more beautiful.He didn’t sleep much, even during the day when he typically would. He suffered from night terrors so bad that he would wake up and scratch at the scars that littered his arm. But he had a side very very few people will ever get to see. One where he’s softer than the glass edge he usually is. When his eyes don’t feel like empty pools of darkness,but rather warm pools of milk chocolate being waited to fill a heart shaped mold. His voice didn’t hold scorpion venom that burned people when he spoke but instead was like a silk sheet flowing on a fist of wind. Only 2 people have ever experienced that side of him. His brother and His creator

》Temperament: hot headed and mean

》Hobbies: reading,going to museums

》Habits(mannerisms,addictions): biting his fingers

》Quirks/eccentricities:

》Likes:.animals,music,museums and art

》Dislikes: people,werewolves,loud noises,the dark, his father ,the counsel

》Fears:

》Strengths:

》Weaknesses:

》Occupation (if available): Vet

》Skills: speed, intelligent

»»————-　★　————-««

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫* Ratings✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*

(rate 1-10 cannot exceed a total of 60)

》Psychological strength : 8

》Physical strength:10

》Combat skills:7

》Intelligence :9

》Endurance:8

》Confidence :7

»»————-　★　————-««

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫* Relationships✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*

》Mother: dead

》Father: dead

》Siblings:dead

》Other relatives : n/a

》Friends: n/a

》Enemies:n/a

》Best friend: n/a

》Love interest :n/a

》 Children:n/a

》Pets :n/a

»»————-　★　————-««

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫* History ✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*

》Background:He was born in Romania to politician father and a housewife mother. He had a little brother who is 2 years younger than him. He hated his father and he resented his mother. His father was violent and angry with a heavy drinking problem. No one ever knew what his father did to his family because they saved face in the public. He was always littered with bruising but never in visible places. His father was the first taste of evil he ever experienced. His brother and him were pretty close up until high school. His brother had become just like their father, violent and aggressive. He’d taken his anger out in sports and used women for their bodies.He spent more and more time away from home and less time with his brother or in his father’s presence . Which left Toska to be his father’s sole punching bag. His mother had fallen deathly ill, dying 8 months after being diagnosed with cancer. Toska went away after his senior year, moved out and never seen his father or his brother for years. He had went to college to study to become a veterinarian. While in college he met his first love. A woman with ghost white hair and almost seemed unreal. He had moved in with her a few months after dating while they both continued school. She was the first vampire he had ever met and he was madly in love with her and she used him. She made him her blood bag, and as their relationship continued Toska slowly lost himself. Soon enough she had convinced him that she was the only thing he was alive for, slowly distancing him from everything else in the world. Dropping out of college,Quitting his job. His sole purpose became her. Being her blood bag. She kept him for 3 years as his blood bag. She was very particular on where she bit him as she was OCD only making sure to bite only his left upper body. He was convinced that this was love. She treated him as if he was the most beautiful creature she ever layed eyes on as she drained him of everything he was. She had come home from schooling one day,stressed out of her mind and immediately attacked him.She Was frantic when she realized she had almost drained him completely,the only way she was going to save him was by turning him. So that’s what she did. He was 25 when she turned him. Once he was turned she taught him everything he needed to know to be a vampire. As she taught him she finally started to love him, she started to understand what his love felt like and she wanted more. Wanted nothing but to be with him even if he couldn’t feed her anymore. That was until the counsel found out. It was forbidden to turn humans who weren’t approved of by the counsel and it was punishable by death. Toska watched as they ripped her apart. Limb by limb and burning her body in front of him. After that he had never been the same

»»————-　★　————-«

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫* Extra✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*

★Personal theme song: Devilish by chase Atlantic

★Relationship theme song:

★Face claim : Ezra Miller

★Voice claim : Ezra Miller

★Favorite smell: old books

★Favorite color : emerald green

★Favorite weather: winter

★Photos (outfits,face,etc.)

0 notes

tyrantisterror · 7 years ago

Text

TT Blathers About Monster Hunter Stories

For thousands of years, people have come to my altar, desperately begging that I play Monster Hunter games, and for thousands of years I let my heart be hardened to their pleas. Then this year Yaweh released the 11th plague: a Monster Hunter game that was also a Mons game, which is to say a game where you collect and raise various monsters to be your friends and allies, i.e. my favorite type of game ever conceived. In that moment, I was doomed – I cannot resist a good Mons game, and god help me, this game was good. I played the free demo four different times before the game finally came out, so thirsty I was to play it. I had a fever, and the cure was Monster Hunter Stories.

From a story standpoint, it’s just kind of ok – fairly standard JRPG plot of saving the world from a vaguely supernatural ecological destruction, standard JRPG characters (Here’s your perky female childhood friend! Here’s your angsty male childhood friend turned rival! Here are the silly comedic villains! Here’s the quirky sidekick! Etc.), very formulaic across the board. To its credit, the story DID manage to sell me on the whole setting of Monster Hunter in general – it helps that the titular hunters have a lot more sympathy for the titular monsters than you usually get in a “Heroes kill monsters” game, and that the storytelling really does want you to love these creatures even when you have to fight them. Still, it ain’t no Persona 4 by a long shot.

But that’s fine, because the real appeal was raising all those lovely monsters, and oh, how fucking good that was. Great gameplay goes a long way in this game, and while the story is by the numbers, the fights and monsters were ABOVE AND BEYOND. Which is why I’ve decided to talk about EVERY SINGLE Monstie (i.e. catchable monster) in the game, even the ones I haven’t gotten to meet yet because Capcom hasn’t released their DLC yet.

So come with me as I spiral into madness and gush about some goddamn monsters.

Velocidrome (Goggle)

Redecos: Gendrome (Chopstix)

Goggle was the first monstie the game gave me, and as such has a special place in my heart even though he was quickly outclassed by everything around him. A sweet, innocent creature, Goggle shepherded me around as I first discovered the world of Monster Hunter Stories. His species is also a good introduction to the Caveman meets JRPG European Fantasy (with a dash of Sci-fi) aesthetics of the Monster Hunter games. Like, yeah, on the surface he’s a dinosaur, but he’s also a brightly colored dragony dinosaur. A dragonosaur. Goggle is a treasure.

Later in the game you can get Gendromes, which are a slight retooling of the Velocidrome model. I named mine Chopstix.

Aptonoth (Steakbone)

A big gnarly looking hadrosaur/ankylosaur hybrid, Aptonoths look far stronger than they actually are, being the rattatas of the Monster Hunter World. There’s a lot of them, they go down in one hit, and after a point you just kind of avoid them because fighting them is mostly pointless. And you know what, that’s fine. I’m fine with letting these sweet creatures just wander and graze to their hearts’ content, safe from the attacks of my darling murder lizards. Of course, sometimes the wild murder lizards eat them, but that’s just nature being a pre-programmed A.I. interacting with itself.

Steakbone was on my team for a long while because I had five open slots and not much to put them in. She never saw combat.

Arzuros (Poobah)

A great big nasty bear, Poobah illustrates what I really came to love about Monster Hunter’s approach to monster design: almost everything in this world is part lizard. Even the fuckin’ bears. You look at this guy from a distance and think “That’s a bear,” but up close? Up close to see all sorts of lizardy scales and other reptilian elements. It’s a world of monsters where Lizard is the apex of evolution – like the Kanto region in Pokemon! I love it. I absolutely love it.

Poobah was a beefy boy and I brought him into battle a couple of times, but he was quickly overshadowed by…

Yian Kut-Ku (Skittle)

Redecos: Blue Yian Kut-Ku (Sherbet)

Skittle and Sherbet are beautiful creatures of grace and goofiness, their bright colors reminding you of the radical 1990’s. They look the way Capri Sun tastes. Both were heavy hitters early in my game, quickly illustrating how poor Goggle would have a hard time later on when all their stats exceeded his while they were only half his level. Sherbet in particular stuck on my team a long time, and I regard her quite fondly for the fights she put up in the hellish snow-encrusted hills before I finally got that de-frosting perfume or whatever the fuck it is you need to keep from freezing on that map.

Popo (Mutton)

Popos look like a sentient hairwad chewing on a wishbone. So, y’know, pretty good for the Bidoofs of Monster Hunter.

Lagombi (Harvey)

You’re basically forced to have this fucking rabbit bear for the snow map, because he’s the only species you can get that can break rocks and is also involved in a cut scene that shows you how gene hybridization works. It’s a goofy ass thing and one of the few monsters that doesn’t have much lizard in it, so points for fun and variety. Harvey wasn’t my favorite and, unlike the movie/play character for whom he was named, didn’t really endear me to him as the game went on, but he is a giant rabbit with, like, a beak or something, so there’s that for you.

Bulldrome (Hamhock)

There’s some good bacon on this critter. Mmm hmm.

Zamtrios (Belushi)

A giant shark-frog that can suddenly expand to the delight of fetishists everywhere, I felt there was no better name for this lovely creature than that of beloved 1980’s comedian John Belushi. Belushi stuck around on my team for a while, and while he didn’t accomplish a lot during that time, I could always depend on him in a pinch if my stronger monsters got too roughed up. His hopping animation was really fun despite being the opposite of helpful from a gameplay perspective.

Khezu (Akroyd)

Redecos: Red Khezu (Snausage)

These guys have to get the people who want nontraditional dragons, like, rock hard, right? Giant phallus headed lamprey wyverns? That’s what people like these days, right? I like these guys just fine. Akroyd was my stone wall for a while, having great HP and defense that allowed him to weather the nastiest of shit relatively unscathed. Snausage never quite came into his own, but to be fair, did he need to? His name is SNAUSAGE. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Apceros (Turtz)

I’m sincerely disappointed these guys weren’t viable fighters, because an ankylosaurus/turtle hybrid is a badass concept, and this design is a badass execution of it. I would have been really tempted to use Turtz for the whole game if he didn’t have the survivability of a wet paper towel.

Royal Ludroth (Spengbab)

Redecos: Purple Ludroth (Koolaid)

I love most of the Ludroth family’s design, but that spongey neck just looks infected. Every time I look at them I worry about whether or not I should take them to a clinic. There’s gotta be, like, pus and shit in there, right? Oh god. Oh my poor sick lizards. Oh no.

Gypceros (Plunger)

Redecos: Purple Gypceros (Grapekun)

Y’know, much has been made of the phallic nature of Khezu’s head/neck, but I honestly feel the horrible fleshy ovipositors on these guys is way more obscene. They’re pretty fun monsters in their own right. Not my favorite – they don’t hit my aesthetic sweet spots like some of the other monsters do – but they bring a wonderful variety to things. However they’re also cheating fucks who use poison and blindness like cowards, and for that I bear a grudge.

Nerscylla (Vriska)

Redecos: Shrouded Nerscylla (Frosti)

I love these spiders and their adorable blankets. I was sorely tempted to keep Vriska on my team, benching her only because she started getting roughed up too much about 2/3rds of the way through the game. Not only does she have a lovely and endearing design, but her ability to put fuckers to sleep was so useful. She and Frosti knit sweaters in my monster stables and regale the young monsters with stories of daring do.

Qurupeco (Honker)

Redecos: Crimson Qurupeco (Barry)

If you distilled the essence of, like, EVERY weird ass bird – not all birds, just the weird ass ones like toucans and pelicans and shit – and then mixed it with a wyvern, you’d get these guys. They’re goofy as shit and really endearing even if they make battles take way longer than necessary by calling in reinforcements. Plus Honker helped me get one of my best monsties in the end, so he’s alright. You’re alright Honker.

Rathian (Clarent)

Redecos: Pink Rathian (Hrunting), Gold Rathian (Caliburn)

So early in the game, you escape the dreaded Ice Hell Wasteland Snow Zone into a beautiful green path of serene trees and flowers. Sleeping on that path, surrounded by harmless Aptonoths, is a Sharkleberry Fin-pink ass dragon. And deep down you know this is a trap. It’s fucking sleeping. You have to choose to fight it. The game is setting you up.

“Fuck it,” you say, “I saved recently. Let’s poke the bear.”

These fuckers were Monster Hunter Stories’ first taste of power, the first monster to make you realize that you are a puny ape made of meat and bone in a land of prehistoric dragonosauruses that would love to eat your goddamn guts. God I love this heinous she-dragon, this haw-nosed viper-faced scorpion-tailed flying allosaurus. The game foreshadows pretty heavily that you’ll get one of your own at, like, the VERY beginning, so I didn’t bother putting Hrunting (my pink Rathian – I didn’t find the normal one until much later) on my team when I got her. I mean, I actually couldn’t because the game was like “Yeah you got this egg but uhhhhh you are NOT ready for this responsibility” my man, but even though I knew it’d be alright, I still felt a twinge of regret. There aren’t enough spaces on my team for TWO Raths, but Rathians, please know that Silver medals are high honors.

Also I’ll probably level you up for funsies once all my other monsties get to level 100 while I wait for the DLC.

Barroth (Caramel)

Redecos: Jade Barroth (Marzipan)

Caramel was the first monster I got who would stay all the way to the end of the story mode, and likewise became the first monster I raised to level 99. Even just focusing on aesthetics, Caramel is wonderful. Her design has the bonkers creativity and personality of an Ultra Man monster, with her giant pipe organ head and pangolin dorsal scutes. And she likes mud baths! What a lovely creature. Caramel’s full name is Salted Caramel, because her ice genes make her look a little frosted, and because she’s the experienced veteran on my core team of monsters.

Diablos (Moloch)

Redecos: Black Diablos (Asmodeus)

A triceratops/therapod/pterosaur/Satan hybrid, Diablos is pretty fucking rad, and while it took me forever to get one of their fucking eggs, I still seriously considered raising one for my endgame. I ultimately didn’t, but this is another monster that kinda neatly summarizes the basic rules of Monster Hunter’s monster design: take dinosaur parts, cobble together a dragon, and voila, you’ve got a pretty standard MH monster.

Tigrex (Nublar)

Redecos: Brute Tigrex (Sorna), Molten Tigrex (Winston)

Look, at the end of the day, I’m a pretty boring person when it comes to my personal tastes. I like hamburgers with just ketchup on them – anything more and you can’t focus on the meat. So when I say that Tigrex is my favorite monster in the game, please, please understand that I’m aware how boring that makes me. I mean, I get it – it’s JUST a dragon with a T.rex head. But… but that’s so cool! And it’s such a nice dragon with SUCH a NICE T.rex head! And it has this adorable animation when it wins where it snaps its jaws twice like “YEAH FUCK YOU YOU WANNA GO AGAIN GUESS NOT FUCKER I’M A T.REX AND A DRAGON WHAT ARE YOU YOU AIN’T SHIT IS WHAT YOU ARE CHOMP CHOMP MOTHERFUCKER CHOMP CHOMPITY CHOMP!”

Anyway I raised the three different Tigrexes all to a high level and used them all substantially throughout the game because they’re beautiful and adorable and badass and just my favorite ok? Yes I know it’s one of the least creative designs in the bunch but goooooooooddddd it just works for me ok it just works.

1000/10 would raise more would raise entire team of tigrexes try and fucking stop me I’ll do it I’ll goddamn do it just try to stop me CHOMP CHOMP motherfuckers

Iodrome (Nedry)

I did a lot of level grinding in the volcano, and discovered that some of my monsters could send these fuckers running at the sight of me just by roaring. It was delightful.

Basarios (Pebble)

Redecos: Ruby Basarios (Poprox)

These burly fellows look like they’d be a lot tougher than they are. I mean, they can endure a lot of punishment, but their fights were never hardfought – just long. They’re pretty neat for giant rock dragons.

Gravios (Nugget)

Redecos: Black Gravios (Licorice)

A bit tougher than Basarios (and apparently related to them? ), I still have trouble telling these two apart most of the time. They’re nice. Decent geodudes.

Uragaan (Roundboy)

Y’know, everyone remembers the Ghost with the Most and Lydia, but Otho brings a lot of comedy to Beetlejuice too. Like, he’s even more inexplicable and weird than all the dead people in that movie. Otho should be more fondly remembered.

Like Caramel, Roundboy has a really fun design that once again has a distinctly Ultra Man-ish feel to me. He also looks sort of like a hairbrush, but, like, a terrible one where the tines are too fat to properly help your hair. I like him.

Great Jaggi (Newman)

Redecos: Great Baggi (Elvis)

I feel like the game knew these two were basically a waste of time because there’s, like, no promotional renders for them at all. It’s kind of a shame because they’ve got lovely wicked raptor designs, but yeah they’re basically like Velocidromes in that they’re kind of useless, but unlike velocidromes you don’t get them until a point in the game where there is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT they will always be useless. I feel bad for them.

Kecha Wacha (Seylmer)

Redeco: Ash Kecha Wacha (Vendor)

So… I’m not the only one who thinks this is the lovechild of Elmer and Seymore, right? It wants to sell me sands and fruit.

Yian Garuga (Gothrox)

The goth cousin of the Yian Kut Kus, this creature manages to look kinda badass despite being derived from such goofy stock. I can respect that.

Congala (Garbage)

Redecos: Emerald Congala (Dumpster)

From a design point, these punk rock hippo-gorillas are really cool, mixing a lot of disparate elements into a single creature. On the other hand, every time I fought one they farted on me a lot, which did not endear me to them one bit. I did not appreciate their south park humor.

Zinogre (Balto)

Redecos: Stygian Zinogre (Baskervill)

In recent Pokemon generations I’ve just been clinging to the few reptilian designs we get, no matter how far they are from y actual preferences for reptile monster designs, because more and more they are crowded out by goddamn mammals. I imagine Zinogre here must be that for MH fans who also prefer mammal monsters to reptile ones – in a sea of lizards, here is a lizard that looks very much like a wolf! It’s still a lizard though – like, it’s got a big long tail, and scales everywhere, and even a squatter stance than most mammals have – but dammit, it’s a wolf-ish lizard.

I think wolves are kinda neat, so if there had to be a super strong mammal-ish monster, they could do a lot worse than this one.

Nargacuga (Bagheera)

Redecos: Green Nargacuga (Swampcat)

Basically a panther dragon, Nargacuga is another strong more-mammal-y-than-normal monster from the later part of the game, and it’s a pretty fucking rad one. It was hard not to have a grudge against them at first because of the, uh, opening cutscenes of the game, but since the game hammers in the idea that we can’t blame these wild animals for their actions, I grew to love my sweet panther dragons. They’re frail as fuck though, so sadly I didn’t get much use out of them, but I love them nonetheless.

Rathalos (Ratha)

Redecos: Azure Rathalos (Durendal), Silver Rathalos (Excalibur)

Ok, so, you automatically get a Rathalos about halfway through the story, and the story really rides upon you making the Rathalos your favorite. Which, in turn, kinda inspires a bit of rebelliousness on your part – especially when other monsters have been with you longer (Caramel) or endeared themselves to you more (Nublar/Sorna/Winston). Also they don’t let you nickname your Rathalos yourself – your stuck with the shitty nickname one of the NPCs gave him instead. Ratha? Ratha? I know I could do better than that.

Like Rathian, Rathalos is a badass theropod bodied, scorpion tailed, hawk/viper faced wyvern, all of which gets blended seamlessly into a really unique and expressive design. This is basically the mascot monster of the series, right? A good choice. Definitely more creative than a simple dragon with a T.rex head. A good choice. I’m sure some might argue the better choice.

…

Anyway I love the various Rathaloses I’ve raised, and like Tigrexes I raised one of each subspecies up to pretty high levels. They’re great monsters. Probably in my top ten of the ones listed here. Maybe even top five. Just… just not my favorite. I’m sorry Ratha, but you should have let me name you.

Lagiacrus (Ogopogo)

Redecos: Ivory Lagiacrus (Inverness)

It’s a crocodile… and a cobra… and a sea serpent… I love it. I love this design. Of all the monsters I planned to put on my team, I was most excited for Ogopogo here. Like, if I had to pick a favorite monster on design alone, it would be this guy. Ogopogo struggled to make her mark in combat though, being kind of middle of the road – not super hard hitting, not super durable, just kind of alright everywhere. She wasn’t as quirky as the others either. I still love her though, and I’ve been toying with her genes to see if I can help her make her mark. She’s probably just a late bloomer – it’ll be her time to shine soon, you’ll see.

Deviljho (Corncob)

I have heard tales of the Deviljho for as long as I have heard people telling me I should play Monster Hunter games – which is to say a long ass time. Feared by all, the mighty deviljho is an unstoppable murder beast that arrives when you least expect it.

At least, that’s what the legends say. In Monster Hunter Stories I had to seek out this son of a bitch. SEVERAL TIMES. Me and Honker spent an entire fucking night just farming these bastards, beating up Jho after Jho in a desperate attempt to get its precious egg. Eventually our efforts bore fruit, and sweet Corncob was born.

A plucky, chunky pickle skinned child, Corncob worried me at first – she seemed frailer than my Tigrexes and didn’t hit as hard, and I feared she might have to be benched for her own sake. After finishing story mode, though, she really came into her own. With the help of some gene re-arranging and some level grinding, Corncob has become a juggernaut – beefier than Caramel and harder hitting than all save Winston the Molten Tigrex. Corncob isn’t the average monster warrior – she has become the legend, the legend that you fear. She is the legendary super monster – the Deviljho!

Anyway, Corncob may be my second favorite monstie. She’s just the sweetest little murdersaurus.

Barioth (Varney)

Redecos: Sand Barioth (Carmilla)

The third mammal-ish reptile, Barioth looks pretty cool. I mean, it’s a sabre tooth cat’s head on a standard MH style wyvern body, you can’t fuck that up really. If MH didn’t offer so many other monsters that were far more lizard-y, I’d probably use it. It’s right there in that later-gen Pokemon category of “I guess this will do” monster design. If I were dying of thirst, Barioth, you would be my water in the desert. But there’s fresh water aplenty here, soooooo yeah.

Brachydios (Bajablast)

Originally I had no intention of using Bajablast, since the design seemed a little overdone to me – like it was trying to hard to be EVEN MORE badass than other monsters. But goddamn did Bajablast win me over! Not only does she have the best kinship attack animation in the game, but she’s a durable, hard hitting worker – not the best fighter on my team, but a consistently reliable one. After giving her water genes that complement her fire resistant nature, Bajablast is both a thirst quencher AND an explosive attacker – she truly does the Dew.

Kirin (Amalthea)

Redecos: Oroshi Kirin (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

While on the outside Kirin looks like just a horse with a horn, on closer inspection you’ll find it also has a weird old man face, and that’s creepy in a fun way. A perfectly acceptable horse monster. Kirin is an “Elder Dragon,” which research tells me is MH code for “Boss Monster” or “Legendary Pokemon,” so I guess that’s why you have to wait until the postgame to get one.

Monoblos (Belphegor)

Redecos: White Monoblos (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

Monoblos is like Diablos but with a less cool looking head. So there’s that for you. It feels kind of underwhelming to get this guy in the postgame, to be honest – it’s just Diablos with a less cool head. But it gives you something to do, and I’d rather wait for this than, say, sweet, dear Corncob.

Seregios (Pinecone)

Like Monoblos, this monster felt kind of underwhelming as a post-game critter – it’s another wyvern, neat – but at least it’s a cool and unique design, with its backwards scales and pissed off rooster face. Sir Reggie O’s is ok in my book.

Great Poogie (Baconbit)

If you find 100 pigs in the game you get a really big pig that you can ride and it’s kind of a joke on you for working so hard to find a bunch of useless fucking pigs, but on the other hand you can ride on a pig and it’s hilarious. Just… just imagining a person choosing to ride on a pig instead of dragons and bears and shit is hilarious.

Epona (un-nickname-able, but I would have called him Bojack)

There’s a DLC tournament you can fight in to get a fucking horse. Just… just a horse. Just a normal goddamn horse. You don’t even get to name the horse because fuckin’ Zelda beat you to it. Excuse me, princess, I wanted to name this horse off an alcoholic sitcom star with clinical depression! Fuckin’ dream killing horse.

THE UNRELEASED DLC MONSTERS

Rajang (Unreleased – thinkin’ of calling it Vegeta)

Every time I’ve fought one of these apes has been a fuckin’ nightmare. I am terrified of them. I am scared of these goddamn dirty pawed apes. I want to raise one just so I can get over my fear.

Kushala Daora (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

The closest the game comes to, like, the iconic European dragon – I mean, let’s be honest, if you think “Dragon,” you think “lizard with four legs and two wings”, right? If we’re being honest here? Right?

Oddly, I’m less enthused by this guy than I felt I would be. It actually makes me understand where all the “reptilian dragons are boring!” people are coming from. It could use just a bit more weirdness.

Teostra (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

So here’s a dragon that is also a lion. Neat.

Glavenus (Unreleased, but will be named Razzlberri)

Every week I hope and pray that the game gets the DLC that lets me have my sweet, dear, beautiful Razzlberri. As of this writing, my prayers remain unanswered.

TT’s Top Ten Favorite Monsties So Far (in no particular order)

Nublar/Sorna/Winston (Tigrex and its variants)

Corncob (Deviljho)

Caramel (Barroth and its variants)

Ogopogo (Lagiacrus and its variants)

Bajablast (Brachydios)

Ratha/Durendal/Excalibur (Rathalos and its variants)

Clarent/Hrunting/Caliburn (Rathian and its variants)

Razzlberri (Glavenus - yeah I know it hasn’t been released yet but look at it)

Vriska/Frosti (Nerscylla and its variants

Moloch/Asmodeus (Diablos and its variants)

#Monster Hunter Stories #Monster Hunter #Tigrex #Lagiacrus #Barroth #Glavenus #Deviljho #and the rest

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Mortal Kombat Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

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It’s taken 24 years, but we’re finally getting a new live-action Mortal Kombat movie. The R-rated reboot is set to come out in April, but outside of some casting news, a few recent stills, and a very brief appearance in a HBO Max ad, and some character posters, Warner Bros. has kept a lid on the movie.

Fortunately, we finally have a trailer to dissect, and it’s quite the ride. Action-packed, dark as hell, and seemingly very faithful to the original games, the Simon McQuoid-directed movie seems on the right track..

Give the trailer a look below:

Watch Sub-Zero literally (cold)snap Jax’s arms off in the first official trailer for Mortal Kombat. pic.twitter.com/x8cnrptYgT

— IGN (@IGN) February 18, 2021

There are quite a few story hints, easter eggs, and nods to the games in this short trailer. Before we share our findings and try to figure out what it might all mean, we need to start with the big question…

WHO IS COLE YOUNG?

Lewis Tan plays Cole Young, who appears to be the protagonist of this movie. At the very least, he appears to be our POV character, as opposed to Liu Kang or Sonya. So what does this trailer tell us about him? Cole apparently has a birthmark shaped like the Mortal Kombat dragon logo. He also has a younger sister named Emily (Matilda Kimber).

But really, who is he?

There’s always the chance that Cole is really just a new character, but it’s just as likely that he’s a familiar Mortal Kombat character. Kind of like how Agents of SHIELD had the character Skye around for a season and a half before revealing her to be the existing comic character Quake.

One of the popular theories is that he’s Johnny Cage. Since this movie is most heavily inspired by the first game, Johnny Cage’s absence in this movie is notable. He’s the only guy on the first game’s roster that the movie seems to be ignoring. With Cole Young, the movie could be forgoing the comedic aspects of Cage’s quest and getting rid of the nonsensical “gain public notoriety by winning a super secret tournament that nobody’s ever heard of” storyline, which seems like a smart move.

Besides, Cole’s tattoo seems to suggest that he’s a “chosen one,” and the most recent games have doubled down on Cage being special, too. Turns out his ancestors were Mediterranean warriors bred and trained to kill gods.

The other big possibility is that Cole is actually Kuai Liang, the younger brother of Sub-Zero, who is featured heavily in this trailer. In Mortal Kombat lore, there are two Sub-Zeros, the villain Bi-Han and the hero Kuai Liang. After Bi-Han dies in the first game, Kuai Liang takes his place.

Revealing that Cole is in fact Sub-Zero’s good guy brother and can perform all of his awesome ice attacks would be a fun third act reveal.

Plus it would explain why he appears to be haunted by Scorpion’s demonic visage.

Then again, maybe Cole is someone lame like Taven. It would almost make sense if he were Rain. Almost.

SUB-ZERO

Joe Taslim is Bi-Han, the first Sub-Zero. The trailer puts a ton of emphasis on him despite Sub-Zero being more of a henchman villain when he isn’t being depicted as an antihero. What’s great about this movie is that it’s using bits from the modern games for inspirations. Instead of just throwing ice balls and making frozen puddles, this Sub-Zero is able to weaponize his surroundings. Just look at the way he’s able to create a wall of frozen ice and throw Scorpion through it, or the way he freezes Scorpion’s blood and turns it into a dagger.

There’s an interesting shot in the trailer of Sub-Zero walking out of a dark, smoky portal. At first I thought this was supposed to be Smoke, but it’s very possible that it’s Bi-Han’s post-death form, Noob Saibot.

SCORPION

Hiroyuki Sanada is Hanzo Hasashi, the ninja warrior fated to die and return as the specter Scorpion. Prior to becoming an undead warrior, we do get to see him wiping out a bunch of idiot invaders with his trademark kunai.

We see more of him later, wearing an outfit closely resembling his Mortal Kombat 11 look, complete with an aura of Hellfire. More importantly, it appears we’ll finally get that cinematic Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero fight we’ve been wanting for decades.

“Slaves under my control,” my ass.

LIU KANG

Ludi Lin is Liu Kang, the hero of Mortal Kombat. At some point, the people behind the games realized that Liu Kang had become a pretty bland protagonist and shunted him to the sidelines. Even the recent Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge made a big deal about him being the chosen one, but also kept him in Scorpion’s shadow.

That leaves us wondering how much he’ll get to do in this movie. He was fine in the original film, but if Cole Young is the main character, what does that mean for Liu? Who is going to watch who save the world?

Regardless, we get to see Liu show off his fire powers. This includes summoning a giant, flaming dragon. Definitely a step up from the awful CGI of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

KANO

Josh Lawson is Kano, playing up Trevor Goddard’s previous take on the character as much as humanly possible. Kano has his cybernetic eye, including the laser, but it’s less overt, hidden by a bit of skin grafting.

Movies

How the Mortal Kombat Movie’s Main Character Renews the Franchise

By Joseph Baxter

Games

Mortal Kombat Characters Ranked

By Gavin Jasper

Kano’s appearance overall is interesting. Based on what we see in the trailer, it seems very likely that he’s an ally who betrays the rest of the heroes. He travels around with them, but we also see Sonya take him down and Kung Lao deflect the eye laser, so the timeline of events is unclear.

He also gets to take out what appears to be Reptile with his classic heart rip Fatality.

JAX

Mehcad Brooks is Jackson “Jax” Briggs, who unfortunately ran into Sub-Zero during a mission years before the events of the movie. Jax got his arms shattered in that fight, but he tends to lose his arms quite often so no biggie.

As expected, he gets cool metal arms as replacements. He’s shown later in the trailer preparing for his head-clap Fatality against some goon in armor. I give you fifty/fifty odds it’s an established character that nobody likes like Hotaru or Dairou.

SONYA BLADE

Jessica McNamee is Sonya Blade, and while she’s seen guiding Cole a bit early on, she doesn’t appear to do too much else in the trailer. We do see her very briefly fight with Mileena in the final moments in the trailer. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cut, she appears to blow off a huge chunk of Mileena’s midsection using her laser gauntlets. Nasty.

KUNG LAO

Finally, Kung Lao makes his movie debut and is played by Max Huang. All he does in the trailer is identify himself and deflect Kano’s laser with his hat, and that’s about it.

In the games, Kung Lao is the descendant and reincarnation of the Great Kung Lao who defended Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat until being killed by Goro. He’s Liu Kang’s best friend, but is also jealous that Liu is the hero when the glory really should go to the original hero’s descendant.

GORO

Goro only appears for a second, leaping at an unknown opponent wearing what appears to be gold armor for a shirt. Goro was the initial selling point of Mortal Kombat as the returning champion and penultimate boss. Hopefully, this shot pertains to a real fight in the movie and not, say, a flashback to a tournament from centuries earlier.

MILEENA

Sisi Stringer appears as Mileena, Shao Kahn’s beloved daughter figure, personal assassin, and the deranged clone of Kitana. What’s interesting about her appearance in the trailer is that there’s been no mention of Kitana nor Baraka in this movie. Mileena is a spinoff/hybrid of the two, so seeing her appear on her own is surprising.

Her design is pretty reined in here. Gone is the character’s usual giant piranha mouth.

RAIDEN

Tadanobu Asano is Raiden, who doesn’t do anything other than stand around and look cool. At least we see him staring down Shang Tsung, suggesting that his role isn’t to compete in the tournament,but to mentor the heroes and keep Shang from abusing his authority.

SHANG TSUNG

Chin Han is Shang Tsung, who doesn’t have much going on here either, but we do get confirmation that Sub-Zero and Mileena work for him.

SHAO KAHN

Much like the first Mortal Kombat game, Shao Kahn, the emperor of Outworld, seems to be off the table in this movie. He’ll likely be mentioned or referenced at some point, but it’ll likely be in the form of the statue we see in the trailer.

The statue very closely resembles his Mortal Kombat 11 look. In fact, it’s like he walked straight out of the game…or off the side of your cool uncle’s van.

REPTILE

There are a couple of shots of what appears to be Reptile. Instead of going with the ninja version of the character, the movie depicts him as the two-legged lizard creature from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Not only does he get his heart torn out by Kano, but he’s also turning invisible at one point. Better than the CGI mess from the ’90s at least.

TOURNAMENT LORE

The movie seems to be connecting the wacky birthmark with the existence of the Mortal Kombat tournament, which is odd. What is cool is this painting, which appears to depict the Great Kung Lao after kicking Shang Tsung’s magical ass in the tournament finals.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

They should totally make a live-action TV show about that era, and kill off all the good guys in the final episode before getting cancelled. That would be cool.

Mortal Kombat is out on April 16 on HBO Max.

The post Mortal Kombat Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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jouissezduprintemps · 7 years ago

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Something to Prove, Chapter Three: Who Invited Him

Rating: T Warnings: Swearing Words: 3105 Fandom: Naruto Summary: As Suna prepares for its first independently-held chunin exam since Gaara became kazekage, the sand siblings must make sure that everything goes off without a hitch.

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Ino sat down on the edge of the spring, letting her feet dangle into the hot water. Her pale skin made her overheat more easily, and she’d learned her lesson the hard way several years ago. She secured her towel around her torso before placing her hands on the ground on either side of her hips, leaning back into the sun. When Shikamaru had invited her, she was surprised, and even more so when she heard that it was Temari’s idea. The sand kunoichi had always seemed annoyed by her. Sure, Ino knew she was rather feminine. She liked talking about boys and arranging flowers in her family shop. But Temari was… intense. Not intense in the way Naruto was, but in a serious way. Maybe that’s what happened to women in a kage bloodline; Lady Tsunade could be the same.

Well, there were certainly a few perks to spending time with royalty. When the kazekage introduced himself to the owner of the springs, they’d been given the rest of the day to themselves, at her insistence. It was clear that Gaara was uncomfortable with the treatment, but Naruto’s elation had drowned him out. Ino took a moment to appreciate the quiet; it looked like the guys weren’t done showering. She was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Sakura had waded into the water until it reached mid-calf. She leaned against the edge of the spring, close enough to talk to Ino. “This is nice,” she commented, referring both to the spring and their solitude.

“Yeah, it is.” Ino agreed. “Must be great to have these perks, huh, Temari?”

She was interrupted by shouting from the other side of the fence. So much for the serenity.

Temari turned to look at her new friend, puzzled. “No, this doesn’t happen too often,” she admitted. “I’m treated much better here than at home. I think that goes for all three of us.”

“Huh,” Sakura mused. “That’s surprising.”

“Not really. When your brother is a jinchuuriki, things can be pretty biased.” Temari stripped herself of her towel unabashedly and waded waist-deep.

Difference in villages, Ino mused, surprised at how comfortable the sand ninja seemed to be. She caught herself staring at Temari, having noticed a long scar that ran down her left side, from just below her breast to her natural waistline.

Temari knew what Ino had been looking at. She’d had it so long that she forgot it was there. She lifted her left arm slightly, taking a glance at the discolored stripe of skin.

Ino received a sharp elbow to the ribs from Sakura, who glared at her before turning to Temari, ashamed. “Sorry about her. She didn’t mean anything by it, really.”

Ino was about to retort that she didn’t need Sakura to apologize for her, but Temari spoke first.

“It’s fine. I know it’s hard to miss.” Temari waved her hand dismissively, refusing to take it personally.

“Do you… mind if I ask?” Sakura questioned. “It’s just that I’m training to be a medical ninja, and-”

“You don’t need a reason. When my brothers and I were still genin, before we met all of you, we were training for the chunin exams in the demon desert. I ended up on the wrong side of a giant scorpion.”

“A scorpion did that?” Sakura asked in surprise.

“What? No.” Temari turned a quarter rotation, baring her right shoulder. A faint mark lingered on her skin. “It caught me here. Really nasty poison, though.”

Both Sakura and Ino nodded, recalling the creatures from their brief time in Suna’s wilderness.

“No, this,” Temari gestured at her side, “was Gaara.”

Ino was taken aback. Everyone in the Leaf knew that the kazekage was the one tails’ jinchuuriki, after what had happened at the chunin exam several years ago. “Gaara?”

“He couldn’t stop the one tails. He flew into one of his rages. I’m almost positive he was trying to protect me. But I got caught in the crossfire… The poison was bad enough, but I almost bled out in the desert. Thankfully, Baki knew better than to leave us unsupervised.” Temari hesitated. “I don’t mention it to Gaara. Our father was furious. That… was not a good night.”

Ino and Sakura looked at her in silence, unsure of how to respond. Temari’s life experiences were so different from their own. Sakura felt immensely guilty for asking. “Temari, I-”

“It’s fine,” she insisted. “That was a long time ago, before he learned how to control the demon. Besides,” she glanced at the fence that separated the springs, “he’s still my baby brother.”

Gaara sank down into the hot water, enjoying how it helped loosen the tight muscles in his back and neck. His insomnia had gone on for so long that it was easy to forget what it was like not to be in pain.

“Yaaaaaaa-hooooo!”

Gaara’s arms flew up to cover his face as Naruto threw himself into the water, creating a splash large enough to hit everyone in the spring.

“Damn it, Naruto,” Shikamaru complained, wringing out his now-damp towel.

“Calm down,” Kankuro scolded, narrowing his eyes at the knuckleheaded ninja. “We’re here to relax, remember?”

“Aww, you’re no fun.” Naruto complained as he resurfaced.

“You call that a splash?!” Lee called from the doorway.

“No!” Shikamaru shouted, whipping around and pointing at Lee.

His fellow ninja seemed crestfallen, but he did as he was told and simply walked into the spring. Shikamaru let out a breath, and he heard Kankuro chuckling to himself. “Why did you two have to tag along?” he groaned, looking at Naruto and Lee. With those two, he never had to worry about coming across as rude.

“Why would I miss a day with good friends?” Lee countered. He’d bounced back quickly, in the way that only he could manage.

“Right!” Naruto agreed. “And besides,” he grinned evilly. “Sakura’s on the other side of the fence.”

“You’re one creepy kid, you know that?” Kankuro eyed Naruto warily. “And don’t even try it. My sister’s over there, and I will kick your ass.”

“Who’re you calling creepy, puppet boy?” Naruto challenged, stepping up to a fight that he wasn’t prepared for.

“Naruto,” Gaara rasped, breaking his friend’s attention away from his older brother.

“Yeah, yeah.” Naruto grumbled, allowing himself to sink down into the water. He glanced mischievously at the hole in the fence, tempted. Damn it, why wasn’t there anyone here who would back him up on this? He was stuck with a group of losers and goodie-two-shoes.

As Shikamaru expected, Naruto and Lee stuck close enough to Gaara to be his shadows. It was funny to watch, if only because he wasn’t a part of it. The kazekage didn’t seem to mind, but Shikamaru didn’t know if that was patience or a complete lack of understanding. At the very least, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Shikamaru sat down in the water, using an outcropping in the rock as a seat. He looked over at Kankuro, who was leaning against the wall and looking up at the sky. “You know, you look a lot different without your face paint.”

“And you look a lot different with your hair down.”

“Fair enough.” Shikamaru followed Kankuro’s gaze upward, and the two watched the sky in silence.

Meanwhile, Lee was talking to – or rather, at – Gaara, speaking enough for the both of them. To his benefit, Gaara seemed interested in the one-sided conversation, nodding along as Lee prattled on about his newest jutsu.

And no one, in their musings, had remembered to keep an eye on Naruto.

His face was pressed against the fence, as close as he could physically position himself. His hands braced himself on either side of his head against the wood. “Whoa, Temari’s scar is huge!”

Shikamaru’s head snapped so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. Scar? What scar? He’d never noticed a scar.

“Naruto!” Lee scolded, standing up in the water.

Kankuro was the quickest to move. He grabbed the ninja by his shaggy, blonde hair and forced him down into the water. Unceremoniously, he yanked him back up. “You little brat!” he began to shout, but he chose instead to dunk Naruto back under the water. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Naruto gasped for air, but Kankuro shoved him down once more before he could respond. “You know what? I don’t wanna hear it!”

“Kankuro!” Gaara snapped as he gripped his much larger brother’s arm. With Lee’s help, the two managed to free Naruto.

“I told him I’d kick his ass!”

“I think near-drowning counts,” Shikamaru commented, although he kept his distance. When Kankuro rounded on him, he held up his hands, palms-out. “Hey, I’m with you on this one.”

“It’s not like I was trying to spy on her!” Naruto attempted to defend himself. “She was standing in the way! There’s no way I could have missed it!”

Gaara closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His friend was an idiot. He let go of his brother, earning a confused look from Lee, who followed his lead and did the same. Even he knew better than to get into the middle of this.

“I’m going to kill that little pervert!” Sakura bellowed, clenching her fist in anger. She had jumped to her feet, and she looked as though she was considering going over the fence to make good on her word.

“Great…” Temari murmured, gritting her teeth as she wrapped herself in her towel. This was the last thing she needed. She wondered if Sakura could hit him hard enough to erase her nakedness from Naruto’s short-term memory. Otherwise, this would certainly stick around to haunt her.

“We’re so sorry, Temari. We should have known.” Ino apologized, seething in her own anger but trying to de-escalate the situation.

Temari could hear her brother shouting, unable to make out his exact words. “It’ll be fine. That’s what Kankuro and Gaara are for. And that’s before we get our say.” Her voice was dark and threatening. Ino wondered if Temari actually planned on killing him.

Temari was mostly concerned about Gaara finding out about her scar. She had done her best to keep him in the dark about it. He’d feel guilty, and Temari felt that he had enough guilt in his life already. “Well, so much for that,” she mused bitterly, wishing that she and Shikamaru had kept the excursion between the two of them. Still, she had no one to blame but herself.

It didn’t take long for the three kunoichi to clothe themselves and leave the bath, but there was no sign of their male companions. At Sakura’s suggestion, they sat down at one of the wooden tables out front. The sun was beginning to set and the air was becoming cool. Still, Temari absentmindedly fanned herself with the small, folding fan she kept on her person. She generously allowed Sakura and Ino to pass it around as well.

“So,” Ino broke the silence, “is everything ready for the chunin exam?”

“On our end, at least.” Temari confirmed. “Mine and Shikamaru’s, I mean. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Gaara or Kankuro about the rest.”

“Shikamaru?” Sakura asked.

“He’s helping proctor the first, written exam portion,” Temari explained. In a slightly annoyed tone, she added, “He refuses to show me the questions he’s made up.”

Ino arched an eyebrow. “Aaaand you’re okay with this?”

“Should I not be?”

“He kinda forgot you at the gate…”

Sakura looked at Ino in surprise; Ino signaled that she would explain later.

“I trust him,” Temari declared. She was caught off guard by the way her fellow kunoichi looked at her when she said it, and she suddenly became rather self-conscious. Her cheeks tinged a light pink in embarrassment at being examined so intensely.

Much to her relief, she caught sight of Gaara and the others. Kankuro stalked angrily over to his sister, making himself appear as large as possible in front of Naruto. Everyone else, for the most part, had seemed to calm down. Shikamaru’s face was unreadable. Naruto, on the other hand, was trying to conceal a very conspicuous black eye and bloody nose.

“Serves you right,” Sakura declared before grabbing her teammate by the ear. She dragged him off, and Naruto’s voice broke in between protests and pleads for mercy.

Lee grimaced in pity, torn because he knew it was deserved, but it was still harsh. He took it upon himself to lighten the mood. “Would anyone like to get dinner? We could go to the new curry restaurant.”

Gaara nodded. “I could eat.”

“Same.” Kankuro felt his stomach growl.

“We could stop by Choji’s and invite him. He’s been wanting to try that place,” Ino suggested.

“I think I’m going to skip tonight,” Temari declined. No one tried to press her. She’d had enough for the day.

“I’ll walk you home,” Shikamaru offered.

“Should we save you a seat?” Ino asked her teammate.

“Nah. I’ll go some other time.”

The group parted ways, and Lee was lost in conversation with Gaara and Ino, thinking of who they could invite to join them.

Temari took a moment to close her eyes, and she felt her body relax. Finally, she was alone. Well, not exactly. Wordlessly, she started off down the road, in the opposite direction of her brothers. Shikamaru kept pace beside her.

Eventually, Temari asked, “Who hit him?”

“I did,” Shikamaru admitted. He looked over at her, and she was staring at him, wide-eyed. That was a first.

“Not Kankuro?”

“No, your brother just about drowned him, though.”

“You’re telling me that you actually punched Naruto in the face. You.”

“He pissed me off. Why’s that so hard to believe?”

“Hm.” Temari shrugged her shoulders and looked ahead once more. She tried, and failed, to keep a satisfied smile from showing on her face. Well, I’ll be damned.

The two climbed up the stairs to her usual room, neither bothering to break the silence between them. Temari inserted her key into the lock and opened the front door to the small apartment. She didn’t bother to close it behind her, a signal that Shikamaru could follow her inside. He did just that and closed the door before taking off his shoes.

“What do you want to eat?” Temari asked, pulling out a stack of menus from local restaurants.

“I thought you weren’t hungry.”

“I wasn’t hungry enough to eat with my brothers,” she corrected. “If you don’t want to stay, that’s fine. I was going to buy your dinner to say thanks for sucker-punching a junchuuriki on my behalf…”

He chuckled, appreciative of the gesture. If he was honest with himself, he was happier to eat with only Temari than with a large group. Her behavior changed greatly when they had company other than themselves, even when it was her brothers. He had yet to figure that one out. “I’ll stay,” he told her, realizing only after he said it that she never doubted he would.

“Here.” Temari shoved the thick stack of menus into his hands. “You pick. I don’t care what we eat.”

Shikamaru threw himself down on the couch, making himself comfortable. He glanced at the names on each menu, trying to find something that sounded appetizing. “Ichiraku delivers,” he suggested, glancing over his shoulder.

“That’s fine,” Temari called from the next room. When she reappeared, she had changed into loose-fitting pants, much like Tenten’s. Her shirt appeared to be one of the long-sleeved ones issued with the Suna ninja gear.

“That’s new,” Shikamaru commented.

“I don’t plan on leaving,” she explained, although she knew she didn’t have to. She sat on the other end of the couch and took the menu from him, looking over her options. Her attention was pulled away when she noticed Shikamaru looking at her. It didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing. He had a puzzled look on his face, and his eyes were slightly narrowed. She waited a moment to see if he would snap out of it. “Can I help you?”

“Oh,” Shikamaru realized what he was doing and immediately shifted his gaze out the window. “Sorry.”

“No, what?” she pried, surprised by his unusual behavior.

Uncomfortable, Shikamaru coughed into his hand. “Naruto might have mentioned you have a scar.” He mentally berated himself for saying so. How rude could he possibly be?

“You want to see it.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“Well, no, I-”

Temari smirked, entertained that she had made him flustered. Shikamaru wasn’t an easy man to shake. If she was honest with herself, she enjoyed it more than she could admit. She also knew that, if they were going to get past this particular hangup any time soon, it was best to just satisfy his curiosity. She used her hands to gather the fabric at the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up, exposing her abdomen.

Shikamaru’s eyes locked onto the scar, well aware that whatever caused it was probably enough to almost kill her. To his relief, the mark wasn’t anywhere inappropriate. It occurred to him that he’d simply never seen so much of Temari’s skin before. If she dressed like Ino, it would have been obvious. He had the urge to reach out and touch it, but he had far more self-control than that.

“Now you know.” Temari straightened her shirt as she pulled it back down.

“I was rude,” Shikamaru admitted, suddenly embarrassed by how bold he had been.

“It’s not like I go out of my way to hide it.” Temari paused before shifting in her seat to face Shikamaru head-on. “Just do me a favor. Don’t mention it to Gaara.”

“Right.”

Temari noticed that his eyes were still fixed on her side. He was a genius; it wouldn’t take long for him to figure out where the scar had come from. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she leaned forward and smacked his forehead with the menu. “Now quit being a perv long enough to order our dinner.”

Shikamaru stammered, much to her amusement. Her laugh assured him that she was only joking, but he was embarrassed nonetheless. To his shame, she wasn’t too far from the truth when it came to his wandering mind at that moment. Trying to save face, he stood and walked to the telephone, which hung on the wall.

“Pork ramen for me!” Temari called, earning a wave of the menu from Shikamaru, whose back was turned to her. Damn it, she was way too troublesome.

#shikatema #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfiction #fanfiction #gaara of the sand #kankuro of the sand #temari of the sand #Shikamaru nara #rock lee #naruto uzumaki #ino yamanaka #sakura haruno

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