#But the original is pretty badass too

[thedemonscrawler]

Desperation (Hope)

I have no excuses, @sinistershepherd / @bitterkarmaa wrote a non-canon oneshot for their Karma is Bitter series (which y’all should read) and then I got brainworms and wrote this in like 12 hours instead of working on chapter 10 yaaay -6am cheer-

---

A stranger. 

There is a stranger in the library.

A stranger who wears the face of his master, a face that Sun hasn’t seen in so, so long but still glimpses in the pristine polish of marble tile and in glass window panes overlooking a darkened kingdom because it is his own face, a pale reflection of something grander. This stranger is a reflection, too; burnt orange and charcoal, silvery scars and soldered rays boasting proudly of conflict survived and surpassed. A slender frame draped in clothes nicer than any Sun has ever worn.

One of his eyes is dark, blinded, while the glowing orange pupil in the other is barely more than a pinprick, reflecting alarm that nearly matches Sun’s own. He does not belong here, and he knows it.

“Don’t say. A word.”

The harsh rasp of the stranger’s voice, barely louder than a whisper, spurs Sun into action. The voice is even more familiar than the face, bored drawl sped up by a fear and urgency that he’s never heard before, yet it strikes deep into a lifetime of conditioning. 

He sympathizes, he really, truly does– but the fear his master inspires outweighs any sympathy. The stranger realizes this too, launches himself forward to cover Sun’s mouth before he can make a sound. The servant immediately cringes back, going still, trying not to provoke– but the expected pain never comes, just the press of careless clawtips into his cheek from the force of the other’s panic.

“Sun? What did you find?” 

That was the drawl he recognized; irritated, impatient. Dull and lifeless like the building around them, a promise of punishment lurking just under the surface. A battered hand twitches at his side, unsure if he should try to pry the hand from his mouth, but the stranger makes the decision for him by releasing his grip. Sun doesn’t question it, only whirls on his heel with the intent to get away, and almost immediately runs right into his master. 

He doesn’t bother trying to catch himself, an action trained out of him after one too many books knocked from the shelves by his uncoordinated flailing. Get away is still thrumming in his circuits but his frame is frozen, pinned under his master’s bored disdain.

“I-I was surprised, sir! You h-have to understand, I-“ he begins, and the disdain sharpens into a glare that severs his words, cutting off his frantic babbling. His master’s attention shifts, moving off of his servant and onto the intruder, and Sun knows that’s as good of a dismissal as he’s going to get. He scrambles away without bothering to climb to his feet, yet knows that he’s actually about as safe as it’s possible for him to get. 

His master has something far more interesting to torment right now.

Tucked down next to a nearby shelf where he can observe without drawing attention, Sun follows the exchange between god and mortal with curiosity smothered by dull resignation and the fear that being in his master’s presence always sparks. It is interesting only in how it brings a little variety to the otherwise unchanging days, and soon the stranger will become nothing more than a memory– until his master decides to rip it from his head. He cannot imagine that even a scrap of someone who wore his master’s face would be allowed to continue existing.

Especially not someone who was going to talk back. Sun’s hands clench, fingers digging thoughtlessly between the spines of identical books, and he doesn’t know if he should feel pity or fear or faded appreciation as the glint in the stranger’s eye shifts from utter terror to anger, injured pride apparently overriding sense.

The look of dark satisfaction on his master’s face is expected.

The glow that emanates from the center of the stranger’s chest isn’t.

Sun’s eyes widen. He stops trying to meld himself with the countless books that line the shelves, stops trying to make himself even smaller and less important, and raises up on his knees so that he can see better. Damaged rays scrape and catch as they try to move, an instinct that has yet to fade completely despite only bringing tears of pain to his eyes.

He recognizes that light. 

A white-hot glow, branching out from the center of the stranger’s chest, snaking up his throat and face, crossing his darkened eye. Cracks that do not bleed, causing no pain that Sun can discern. The brands of something much greater than the vessel that bore it.

The star.

Sun sucks in a hissing breath, and his gaze cuts to his master’s face. He expects to see recognition as well, perhaps irritation or intrigue– and yet all that he can make out is confusion. His master peers at the machine in his too-tight grip as if the stranger was the volume of a book incorrectly shelved, nothing more.

Does he not recognize it, too? Was he so blinded by the light of his own star that he could not recognize its glow in another?

The crack of metal on metal makes him flinch, drawing Sun from his thoughts, and the servant watches as the stranger is hurled into a wall, hitting it with bone-jarring force. He winces, tucking himself back down against the books, hands brought up to clutch his own arms and pulling them tight to his frame in dull sympathy. He knows all too well how much his master’s ire can hurt.

Perhaps he’d been mistaken, perhaps he’d been wrong like he so often is wrong. Stupid, stupid, how could the stranger have a star? Of course his master hadn’t reacted, of course Sun had been wrong–

Scraping, claws against a solid surface. The stranger pushes himself to his feet, single pupil a furious ember, and he launches himself at the master of this world with deadly intent. They hit the floor together, hard enough to splinter wooden boards.

Sun… cannot recall ever seeing anyone attempt to challenge his master like this. 

Something sparks; a tiny sliver digging into his core, frightening in its unfamiliarity. For a moment he fears that this is it, that he’s drawn his master’s ire one too many times and this is the first pinprick that heralds his unmaking, but grasping at his chest reveals no wounds, no new damage. 

Sun’s eyes drift over the white-hot cracks twisting over the stranger’s dark frame, glowing faintly under fine clothes now torn and streaked with dust, and he inhales sharply as that light resonates with the feeling struggling to ignite in his otherwise empty chest.

Hope?

His battered hand twists in the fabric of his shirt, scratching roughly against the equally battered casing underneath. No, no, he dare not name this feeling something as fragile as hope. Any hope he had was crushed by his master's hand a long time ago, scraped out and discarded, leaving him hollow. All that he has now is fear and boredom and aching loneliness. Whatever this feeling is, it's not that. 

The painful scrape as his rays try to move is barely acknowledged, and he grits his teeth on his permanently manic grin. Sun thinks about the hard glint in the stranger's single eye, fear and fury melting together. Something familiar, something he recognizes.

Desperation.

Sun has nothing to live for except the tired routine of life itself. A body of metal that rusts but never breaks, a mind of circuit boards and files that corrupt and fragment but never enough to stop him from functioning. He lives by his master’s hand, and he’s long since wearied of the leash that ties him to this world of empty halls and dusty volumes, lacking the strength or willpower to snap his bonds.

This stranger wearing a familiar face has the anger needed to fight back. This stranger has the power of the star needed to succeed.

When his master acts, an armored hand gripping his attacker by the back of his two-toned vest and tossing him aside as if he were nothing more than garbage, Sun is already scrambling to his feet. Too fast ventilations almost stop as he tracks the other’s trajectory, he does not hope he can only despair, please don’t take away the opportunity he has only just recognized. A heart he doesn’t have catches in his throat as golden claws reach out, snag the wooden banister, arresting the stranger’s fall. 

Desperation, a last chance. If he does not seize it now it will slip through his shaking fingers, and he will have nothing but his own inaction to blame. 

Sun has never moved so fast in his life. 

The stranger’s claws slip and skitter, losing purchase on the polished wood just as Sun reaches him, reaches out to grasp a black and gold hand as tightly as he can. The weight nearly drags him over the side of the bridge, his shoulder screaming at the sudden abuse, but he digs in with grim determination, fighting back against gravity’s embrace. 

He looks down, into a softly glowing pupil swimming in confusion, and the explanation spills breathlessly from him. “You have one.”

“What?”

It was a good thing that holding the stranger aloft requires him to engage nearly his whole frame, because it leaves almost nothing relaxed enough to flinch at the question in stereo. His master stands just a few feet away, and he can only imagine the expression that lurks on his face, the anger surely bubbling to the surface. Sun has been loyal for his entire life, a loyalty bought with fear and cruel conditioning, and this act of betrayal will not be well received.

A last chance, then. There will not be enough left of him for another, after this.

“You have one!” A response for the stranger only, twisted up with desperation and urgency as Sun pulls, trying to drag the other back up onto the bridge. He isn’t very strong, and the damage he’s incurred over the years has chipped away at his strength even further, but he can at least get the stranger far enough to pull himself up the rest of the way. 

Confusion still reflects in the stranger’s– in Eclipse’s good eye, a confusion that isn’t dispelled when Sun presses a finger to his chest, to the center of that gentle white glow. He can feel unevenness to the casing underneath, a scar of hastily repaired metal.

He cannot understand how the stranger doesn’t realize what he’s talking about, how someone can be a vessel for such power and yet apparently unaware of its conspicuous marks, but they do not have time for lengthy explanations. His gaze flicks along shimmering cracks before returning to Eclipse’s eyes, one a burning amber, the other the barest hint of orange. “Use it.”

The tap of metal on wood, the click of metal against metal. Eclipse’s gaze refocuses over Sun’s shoulder, confusion replaced by wary anger. Out of time, they were out of time.

Sun does not know anything about this stranger that wears a familiar face, burnt orange and charcoal, silvery scars and gunmetal grey. He does not know what this Eclipse is like, if he is kind or if he is cruel. He knows that he could very well be trading one kind of hell for another.

But…

Eclipse had been afraid, as only those who still remembered what it was like to feel pain and loss could be afraid. The fear of a mortal who has trespassed against their will, the fear of someone who has suffered and would like to avoid more suffering.

Eclipse had been angry, fueled by his own fury and the gentle light of a star. Angry enough to pick a fight that he had no hope of winning, too proud to simply bow his head for the sake of his own life.

And with the god of this world bearing down on them both, Eclipse stands, steps forward to put himself between servant and master. An intent to protect, and it didn’t matter if it was motivated by pity or gratitude, only that Eclipse intended to bear the brunt of whatever punishment was coming.

So Sun tucks himself behind his savior, trembling hands clutching the soft fabric of a goldenrod sleeve. His damaged rays scrape and tug, trying to retract, and he buries a whimper of both pain and fear in Eclipse’s shoulder. He is not brave, he cannot bear to watch as death approaches.

Desperation and hope. Two emotions of such similar color, a gentle white glow that could either warm or scorch. In hands like Sun’s the power of the star would be useless, the servant lacking the willpower and the intent needed to take that final step.

However, Sun isn’t the one with the star.

“USE IT!” 

[wabblebees]

.....WHAT

so uh. today i learned the origin of the quote "i survived bc the fire inside of me burned brighter than the fire around me"

when i stumbled into it (smacked me upside the head more like) while playing fucking. fallout new vegas ??

...........................WHAT

[nerdby]

Lisbeth Salander not getting the respect she deserves, I see.

Hey, OP, go check out Steig Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy. I recommend going with the audio book if you decide to read the books -- which you must -- because the first half is a bit of a slog, and then all hell breaks loose after that. The above clip was taken from the English remake of the Swedish film trilogy. You can the find the first movie in the trilogy on the free streaming app Plex or watch the trilogy on Amazon Prime.

Don't worry, there are subtitles.

"we need more angry, traumatized female characters" you guys could barely handle katara

[venusjaynie]

baby names ~ blurb

chris sturniolo x fem!reader

summary: a cute little scenario about discussing possible baby names with your husband chris.

cw: pregnancy, a lot of dialogue

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

"what about... chris junior?" your husband turns to you with a smirk.

"we've been over this. he is not having your name." you say with an exasperated eye roll, though you don't fight the smile that graces your lips.

"i know, baby, i'm just teasin'. and bernard is definitely out?" you stare at him blankly in response.

"i know you aren't even serious about that." he just laughs at you. his laughter dies down and the two of you sit in a comfortable silence, with chris slowly rubbing your bump. you're around the 5 month mark now, and you couldn't be more excited, however the discussion of a name has been long winded, and hasn't just included you and chris. "what was nick's suggestion again?"

"nick originally said jimmy, which i vetoed. i love my dad but c'mon. then he said william." chris' reaction to the name didn't show much interest.

"that's nice but he just doesn't feel like a william, y'know?" you say to chris.

"i agree. matt suggested jonathan, which i didn't really like. mom still thinks he's actually a girl 'cause she says sometimes the scans can pick things up wrong." he says while looking at you, and you hum in acknowledgement.

"maybe she's right? sometimes they are wrong. it might be worth having a few girl options just incase, right?" he nods in agreement.

"what about... christina?"

"chris!"

"kidding, kidding. i like isabella." he says seriously.

"isabella... that's pretty. i like that one. that can be an option." he smiles in satisfaction that one of his suggestions has been received well. "i really like daisy, too." chris hums thoughtfully.

"me too." he says, pressing a kiss to your temple. "hey, if we do have a boy, what about theo?" a smile graces your face.

"i like theo, but can his full name be theodore so we can call him teddy?" you ask sweetly, and chris chuckles quietly.

"sure thing, babe. teddy sturniolo. he sounds like a fuckin' badass." his seriousness makes you giggle.

the two of you fall into that comfortable silence again, and chris runs his hand up and down your thigh gently.

"hey, i'm really happy i got you pregnant."

"that's an strangely romantic sentiment, where did that come from?" you ask teasingly, to which he shrugs.

"i don't know, it's just that, i never thought i'd have kids this young 'cause i'm immature as fuck, y'know? but you make me think i can be a really good dad." your heart practically melt at his answer, until he says "and obviously you look hot as fuck with my baby in you." and your smile drops, unamused. he doesn't even redact his words as you know that he means well, and as much as he's crass and crude, he is genuinely glad that the two of you are starting a little family. you reach up to press a swift kiss to his cheek as matt enters the room.

"did you guys decide on a name yet?" he asks, walking over to the two of you.

"yeah, i think we're gonna go with bernard." you say, deadly stone-faced, and you receive a death glare in response from matt, followed by a burst of laughter from your husband.

"tell me you're kidding." he says.

"of course, matthew, we are not calling our child bernard." he breathes what can only be called a sigh of relief.

"what did you pick then?"

"as of right now, we're pretty set on theodore." you tell him, running your hand over your stomach, and matt's eyebrows raise slightly in surprise.

"theodore, huh? never heard either of you mention that one before."

"yeah, we just thought of it." chris chimes in. "y/n says we can call him teddy, and i said we can call him theo, so there's plenty of nickname potential there."

"that's really cool, guys. i can't wait to meet my nephew. or niece, according to mom." matt says with a laugh. "hey, maybe it's twins and you guys just don't know yet. y'know how sometimes they can't see it on the scan? imagine if that happened to you guys. that would be insane."

matt's words make you freeze up a little. you hadn't even thought of that possibility, and while having twins would be fun, you're nervous enough for one, never mind two.

"i never even thought of that." you say with wide eyes, and matt can clearly sense the nervousness his words brought you.

"it's probably not twins, uh, they can almost always tell. you'll be fine!" he says quickly. feeling uncomfortable in the situation he created, matt awkwardly mutters out a 'sorry' and steps out of the room.

"and, babe, even if it is twins, we're gonna be amazing parents, yeah? and you're so strong so carrying those kids is gonna be light work for you, right?" chris says comfortingly. you nod, and relax again into chris' side.

you have to admit, the thought of having twins is exciting.

"yeah, it'll be fun." you say with a small smile. "we could get them little matching-but-not-matching outfits!"

"alright, sweetheart, don't get ahead of yourself, we don't even know if we're having twins yet." chris replies with a laugh.

"i know, i know. i'm just excited. and anyways, i've got another scan in a couple of weeks, so we'll know by then." he nods in response.

"imagine two mini versions of us running around." he says, secretly ecstatic at the thought of having twins.

"daisy and theo."

"fuckin' coolest duo in boston."

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this sucks ass :)

[plutojester]

actually let me include my tags too

Fragile multidimensional characters >>> badass bland characters. Yes even if they're fragile in ways other than "is sad a lot." Yes even if they get unpalatable because of their insecurities or mess up a mission because of their emotional distress/lack of prowess. Especially then even. Softness is more than sweetness

[beababoobies]

Hey there you said you needed a Hazbin Hotel request? I got just the thing. Is it okay you do a Alastor x witch reader? Like reader was a witch before she died and is basically pretty powerful especially in magic? I like to think she covers up her body because she’s covered in tattoos that look like magic ruins or ritual symbols. Idk i just thought it would be cute of Alastor falling in love with a classy yet a badass witch who can put him in his place.

Heya Anon! Yes, Absolutely! I love my witchy friends (shoutout to Tatianna because she follows my blog.) I wasn’t sure exactly on which type of Witch you were referring to, so I decided on a random mix of diff witch cultures! Please shoot me a request if that’s not what you had in mind and I can re-write this for you. Thanks a ton for the request!

From Experience

Alastor x Fem!Witch!Reader

words : 1k , no warnings!

You let out a sigh as you started the spell you had been planning for weeks now. You had to go to Lust to get aphrodisiac rose powder, cannibal town to get the dried blood (and have a coffee and chat with Rosie, of course.) you even attended to Blood Moon festival very shortly to get some black tree root straight from the source from your friend Sally Mae. The candles had been lit - your spirit guides told you it was ready. You closed your eyes softly as you started to read out the incantation in your head.

You sighed softly through your nose as you felt yourself slowly start to float, the bone-marrow candles you had bought starting to glow a blood red colour as you felt the power of the spell start to wash over you, the magical ruins carved into your body lighting up, making you glow softly, and it was all coming together nicely, perfectly one might say - 

“Hello, Darling!” 

You let out a small scream and opened your eyes, falling to the floor with a small thud, groaning as you open your eyes to the familiar face smiling back at you, chuckling softly as you rub your head gently, rolling your eyes. Not an evil spirit. Okay, an evil spirit. But a very familiar one. “Alastor, what a surprise.” You said as he walked over to you, offering you his hand and you took it, hoisting yourself up and letting out a soft sigh as you saw the spilt wax across the floor. 

“How rude of me to interrupt you! Allow me.” He hums softly, and you watch as the candles are returned back to their original state, turning back to him with a smile, brushing your now messed hair back into place, tilting your head. “Back again so soon?” You said with a chuckle, walking into your kitchen to get a cup of tea, him following quickly behind.

Now that you thought about it - he was back very, very soon. You had last seen him yesterday for lunch, and just two days before that for an evening stroll. After seven years of absence, you could’ve sworn you hadn’t even seen him this much before he disappeared. This meant he either needed something, or he was playing you in a big plan.

“Oh, well you just make the best steaming cup of chamomile, my dear.” He compliments, sitting at your small window-side table. You chuckled, taking a spoonful of the mix you had taken years to perfect, crushing the leaves, adding in just a bit of cinnamon. You had even figured out the best tea bags. Possibly your best spell ever. You dismissed your worries as your own overthinking, sighing as you poured the boiling water into the mugs.

“No sugar for you again?” You say, eyes not looking back at him as you pull the cane sugar out from your cabinet, spooning a couple helpings into your mug. “You know me too well, darling.” He says and you blush softly, putting the cane sugar back, bringing both the mugs to the table, placing one in front of him, and one in front of yourself.

“So, why are you back so quickly, hmm?” You said teasingly, leaning back in your chair, mixing the tea in your mug lazily, toying with the spoon as you watching him dip the boiling liquid - always uncanny, how he could do that - before looking back up at you. 

“One could say I’ve taken a bit of a liking to you, my love.” He says with a smile, and you feel your face get hot - from more than just the steam from your tea. He chuckles softly at your reaction, taking another sip from his mug, leaning back in his chair and watching you try to find the right words. Platonically? It’s hard to decipher a man who’s walked out of a couple decades before your time. 

“One might even say you… like me?” You say, testing the waters as you discard your cup back onto the table, crossing your arms over your chest, skepticism all over your expression causing Alastor to let out another chuckle. “One could say that. But I hate that way of saying it.” He responds flatly, putting his mug down as well, tilting his head at you. Trying to read a man who’s face was always carved into that sharp-toothed grin was hard.

“While we are speaking of taking a liking to things.” He says, holding out his hand, a small jar of black sand from the burning desert - one of a kind, unbelievably expensive, and your eyes widened. You swallowed thickly as you eyes the small vial, looking up at him with a small grin. 

“I’m not giving you my soul for this. Tempting, though.” You said with a playful smile, watching him place it delicately on the table. “Oh, no, darling, it is yours for the price of this cup of tea. A friend gave it to me in exchange for a… favor.” He says with a small chuckle, watching you pick up the vial cautiously and inspect it, turning it upside down and watching the pitch black sand move around in the glass. 

Oh, the things you could do with this. 

“And why should I take your murder sand?” You say with a smile, looking back up at him as you toyed with vial carefully, raising your eyebrows, watching his eyes trail down to the vial and then back up to you. 

“Well, I’ve heard it’s good for love spells.” He hums softly, taking another nonchalant sip of his tea, watching you nearly cough on your own spit over the statement, collecting yourself before piercing your lips together, eyes going from him to the vial over and over. 

“And how would you know this, hmm? You some sort of ritual expert now?” You said with a playful smile and tone, clutching the vial in your hand and leaning forward, chin resting on your palm. 

“Let’s just say I can speak from experience.” 

[spookierdeer]

OL EUA YUGQ G XGOYOT OT MXGVK PAOIK, OZ ZAXTY OTZU G MXGVK. NGVVE NGRRUCKKT! 🎃⚠️

(costume talk and yapping under the cut)

starting from back to the front:

stan and ford are handing out candy this year, stan dressed in his vampire costume and planning to scare kids and ford is wearing a mabel (turtleneck!) pumpkin sweater, about as festive as he's willing to dress up this year. ford was originally planning to hole himself up in his lab and work on data analysis or whatever nerd shit he has going on but stan invites him to help scare the hell out of kids. ford declines initially, better things to do, but after checking to see how stan's doing (badly), ford decides to help by bursting out of the bushes with a glowing laser gun, face cloaked in shadow. it's more fun than he expects or admits and he eventually fully joins stan.

soos and melody are trick or treating in a couple costume, soos as zelda and melody as link. melody wanted to cosplay link for awhile and you cannot convince me soos wouldn't jump at the chance to dress up as a badass anime elf princess who can fire lasers.

mabel, pacifica, and waddles are dressed as utena, anthy, and chu chu respectively. i have a headcanon that post working at the diner and slowly getting used to normal kid things, pacifica discovers anime. specifically shojo princess anime. she finds utena and loses her mind over it in private, with mabel eventually breaking down her walls and getting her to admit to the sin of liking anime. mabel gets pacifica to show her her favorites and mabel immediately insists they need to cosplay as utena and anthy for halloween, pacifica is a princess after all! (said in jest, but baby gay panic ensues on pacifica's end. mabel is pretty oblivious to her plight and doesn't realize why being pacifica's knight makes her feel so giddy until later on.)

dipper sees pacifica joining mabel as an excuse to flake out on trick or treating without being a total jerk, especially since they'll be joined by candy and grenda later. i know he's working on not trying to grow up too fast by the end of the series, but kids and teens are full of anxiety and doubts and i figure he would be pretty awkward about a lot of things still, even after learning otherwise. wirt doesn't want to dress up since the previous halloween ended with him in the unknown then waking up in the hospital, but greg still wants to go trick or treating. dipper tags along to help babysit greg despite it not really being necessary, wirt's just glad to have someone to chat with while he takes greg, especially someone who doesn't leap to finding him strange. greg is going as a ghost elephant and wirt assumes it's just the weird kid tradition of layering costumes over the years, but greg's logic is that he "died" as an elephant last year so now the elephant is a ghost. if wirt heard this he would probably end up freaked out, but kids are often more aware of things than expected. dipper is wearing wendy's hat since she traded with him at the end of the series.

putting wirt and greg in there could feel a little random, but these are my two favorite shows to watch during autumn and i associate them with each other. plus, it's otgw's ten year anniversary and it's so perfectly halloween, i think it makes enough sense to put them together. idk i love joy and whimsy, i am cringe and i am free.

i initally wanted to include other characters, candy, grenda, and wendy for sure but i was also considering coraline, wybie, and norman. felt way too complicated so maybe i'll draw something with those characters some other time.

[blluespirit]

Overall NATLA Thoughts

Okay, now that I've watched the series, I can give my thoughts.

Overall, I thought it was good!!! I had fun watching it! I'd rate it a solid 6.5/10. It's nowhere as good as the original, but it was definitely enjoyable and made some nice changes here and there that I liked. There were also some things I was also Not a fan of too.

I said in another post that it's best to treat this like an AU of the original. There will things that are great and things that are bad. That's the nature of adapting something.

Having said that, I need to get my initial thoughts off my chest... here we go.

Things I thought were good:

Sokka's characterisation - I really enjoyed him! I thought Ian did a good job! He played the funny moments well and retained the underlying seriousness/cautiousness. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed the changes a lot and think it was overall a solid performance.

Zuko's characterisation - Like Sokka, I do think I was most satisfied with their performances. A lot of Zuko's moments from the cartoon are sometimes... well, cartoonish and definitely wouldn't translate to live action, but I think Dallas did a nice job at balancing Zuko's desperate anger and that occasional sassiness well.

Zuko and Iroh moments were great. Had me on the floor crying. As it should have.

The bending looks a trillion times better than the movie - I understand it would not have been easy for the actors but, overall, I was very happy about it.

The scenery was stunning. It just looked so beautiful. I loved it so much.

Absolutely ADORE that they made Zuko a good calligrapher and artist. I read a fic about a million years ago where Zuko is a fantastic calligrapher and I thought it was perfect and made so much sense, and now I can say it's canon. This is perfect for me.

S U K I

The Freedom Fighters were ✨ perfect

They were so real for making Oma and Shu lesbians

Koh, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai looked fantastic, but I have more to say about all of them below, unfortunately.

I actually like the change they made that Katara is Aang's sole waterbending teacher.

Aang is not perfect, and needed more goofy scenes HOWEVER, I did like how they've had Aang's guilt more prominent in the story. The original didn't do a very good job with that, imo.

Zuko entering is breaking and entering era by breaking into an impenetrable Earth Kingdom prison is just perfect.

In Masks, I like how Aang and Zuko got a longer conversation - that was pretty cute.

I liked how they changed Yue a bit and got her out of the arranged marriage... how Yue saw Sokka in the Spirit World before meeting him in the real world.

Things I didn't like:

Far too much info-dumping/exposition. So much spelling things out. It was not as egregious as the movie, and I get there's a lot of information that needs to be conveyed well and quickly... but sometimes it really took me out of the show.

Why are Mai and Ty Lee here.... I was hoping the live action would give them a bit more depth (and they might as it goes forward!), but why put them in season 1 at all if they're just going to stand around???

Some odd changes - putting this as one point, but there are some bizarre changes that didn't make sense to me, as they did not benefit the story or deepen the characters. I have two main examples: a) making it so Aang didn't run away from home, and b) making it so Zuko actually fights Ozai in the Agni Kai.

Characterisation of Katara was Not Great. I don't think I got many hints of the reckless, compassionate, badass Katara until the end when she fights Pakku and rallies all the women together to fight (which happens off-screen). She was sweet and kind, but she just lacked the fire that OG Katara has.

Azula's characterisation - Azula is desperate to impress Ozai and so her character is just…. brewing with anger, frustration, desperation. I was SO excited to see the Azula we are introduced too… perpetually and irritatingly calm, calculating and ruthless. She's perfect, she's terrifying! She's literally the character of all time. But this Azula had more Zuko vibes? I don't think there's anything wrong with giving Azula more concrete motivation by wanting to impress Ozai and establishing that Ozai is abusive to both his kids, but I do think trying to do that right off the bat is a mistake.

WHY is Wan Shi Tong here. I love Wan Shi Tong, but like I said: Why Is He Here? Why could we not have his iconic, ominous as fuck introduction from The Library, and instead he's introduced in a random season 1 episode giving Aang Information(tm) about the Spirit World.

When Aang gave Koh the statue, and then he just takes it and immediately lets all the villages go, and neither of them even say anything, I actually laughed out loud. Like, I am so sorry, but what in the jesus fuck was that.

Speaking of Koh - I think Koh is better the less we know about him. Roku saying ~all Koh wants is a family like the rest of us~ just pissed me off?? I like my Koh the Face Stealer Terrifying and Unknowable, thank you.

NOTHING EVER REALLY HAPPENS WITH HEI BAI!!?? where's my precious spirit bear?? Like Aang never really does anything with him and the replacement Koh story is boring and it sucks.

Bumi.... sorry I just didn't vibe with him at all.

Things I can't decide on:

Fancy spirit knife to kill the moon spirit annoyed me a bit, but I guess they wanted to Kuruk something to work with and a little bit more interaction with Aang which I get but idk. I really flip/flop on this one.

I've been very on the fence about having Azula (and Ozai) being in the show in season 1 in general. I'm not sure if it benefited either of their characters.

Azula & Ozai's dynamic - Okay, so, I think they're trying to give Azula more depth, right? They're trying to establish what it was like for Azula to live with Ozai and that she's also (like Zuko) trying to desperately prove herself to him, but Ozai using Zuko's... achievements to do that just felt so weird. I get he's doing it to manipulate her, but that just felt so wrong when in canon it's very obvious that Ozai just didn't give a single fuck about Zuko. Ozai pits Azula against Zuko by saying he's a failure, he's a bad bender etc. Azula is born lucky, Zuko is lucky to be born - like, Ozai says that to Zuko's face. I don't know if I am communicating this point very well, but it just didn't seem right to me??

Zuko vs Zhao in the Siege of the North... I genuinely do not know how to feel about it! I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't know how to feel about Zhao telling Zuko that his mission is a sham and that Azula is the prized one... It feels like it's saying the quiet part out loud? In the OG we all know that Ozai sending Zuko on that mission was an excuse to get rid of him, but we can work that out, no one actually says it. And then Iroh just fucking killing him/mortally wounding him instead of the Iconic scene where Zuko reaches out to save him despite everything Zhao has done to him, but Zhao's own pride gets in the way from letting him accept help from Zuko.

Zuko’s crew being the 41st is not necessarily a bad thing at all!!! But I do just want to say that in the original, the attack goes ahead, and presumably, those soldiers die. It’s horrible. Zuko’s sacrifice is in vain, and it was always going to be in vain because the Fire Nation as it stands would not allow Zuko's compassion to win. Ozai would not allow it. While not necessarily a bad choice (all the soldiers bowing to Zuko on the boat was so sweet I loved it!) but I think it does take away some of the horror of Zuko’s story (same as it does with making Zuko fight back in my opinion) because the whole point is that Zuko did the right thing - and he was punished for it, and those soldiers died anyway.

anyway...

Okay!! got that off my chest. I know I just had a big whine here, but I still had a lot of fun watching this show. I think some of the backlash is a bit over the top and unwarranted. It was never going to stand up to the original - and that's okay.

Enjoy it for what it is!

[listofwhyyouloveher]

Greasers with a crush that's super laid back and honestly never bothered but surprisingly can kick ass? Like full on martial arts acrobatics kicking ass. And it's just like the last thing you'd ever expect from them.

Summary: The gang with a badass!reader

Warnings: none

Author's Note: none

PONYBOY has had a crush on you since 3rd grade when you knocked a boy's front teeth out during recess because he tried to look up your skirt. He's always got kind of giggly and happy whenever you were around or being talked about. If there's ever a fight in school he'll only watch it if its you. He loves your carefree, relaxed personality, he thinks it makes it even more chilling when you kick ass.

JOHNNY doesn't like to get involved with people who fight, and everything he's heard about you had been about how you rocked someone last night for screwing you over. It made a pretty bad impression on him to be honest He always tried to steer away from you, but he saw some socs following you and tried to warn you. He was blown away by your fighting, it was almost like a movie. Johnny's totally into how you're so relaxed, trying to avoid fighting but still kicking ass.

SODAPOP loves watching fights, but he says "watching chicks fight" made him feel immoral. That's why he's never heard about you and your ever stretching reputation. He only met you when you helped him ward off some socs. It was almost as if you merely looked their way and they were gone. He was shocked and totally infatuated. He made it known by talking about you in the same giggly voice that Ponyboy would use.

STEVE met you at Buck's. You were sipping on straight alcohol as if it was juice. He was immediately interested but kept his distance. Until, some girl came up to you looking for a fight and you clocked her in a simple sentence. He laughed so loud that you gave him a quizzical look. He takes you out on several dates but he's still and will forever be in love with you personality.

TWO BIT knows all about you, he is just one of those guys who knows everybody. He originally met you at a party. You instantly hit it off and you two had such fun and friendly banter that he always smiles when he thinks of those interactions. He's always trying to take you places you might like, a show, a party whatever. As much as he loves watching your almost show like fighting moves, he really doesn't like the fact that you actually fight, he sees it as something that can only catch up to you in a bad way.

DARRY also doesn't really appreciate you getting in fights, but he still has a big crush on you. If he sees you after or walking home from a fight he'll get all fussy and take care of you with first-aid and drive you home. He loves your laidback personality, how you can still laugh but you also have a stern personality too which he thinks would be a perfect personality to be around Pony and Soda.

DALLAS thinks you're such a badass. He's secretly such a fan girl of you. He tries to get into every party that you go to, just so he can see you. Dally knows that dating you can skyrocket his reputation, but he feels a little odd trying to date you, it feels like he's got a crush on a popular celebrity he'll never achieve. This actually makes him a little insecure, he used to think he could get every girl he wanted some way or another, but now you kind of killed his ego.

[nqmonarch]

Like this man is so sad I just wanna hug him and hold him and tell him everything will be okay but I can't because he's not real. Therefore fanfiction.

Minor spoilers for Jing Liu quest

Comforting Jing Yuan through the screen

To feel lonely, is a common feeling. One that nearly everyone has experienced in their life. So of course, when it was one of those nights you find yourself more than ever sympathizing with Jing Yuan. For a character in a video game, that reminds you too much of yourself.

Originally the only thing that drew your attention to him was his looks. The constant relaxed grin and posture showcasing his confidence, his clothes fit him well showing his competency and also highly attractive body, and he had a badass lion by his side in the splash art. He was just plain pretty. And lightning lord was badass to use in combat. Even if he didn't do much damage it felt like he did damage, at least he did damage to your heart.

Then the lore-- oh my gosh the lore. The only one of his friend group to remember them completely and have to bare the brunt of the pain all while fearlessly and confidently leading however many people were on the Xianzhou. He was lonely. Terribly so. Maybe not in the same way you were lonely but the two of you could be lonely, together.

Whenever he appeared on your screen during a TrailBlaze or Companion quest, your fingers embarrassingly drifted to his hair touching the screen gently. Feeling nothing but cool plastic against your fingers.

Jing Yuan, on the other hand, felt a very strange sensation. Jing Yuan and his three friends were reunited again, yet they never fully could be. Dan Heng was not Dan Feng, as much as it hurt to remember. Yingxing held no memory of the past. Jing Liu left to fight against mara. Blade and Jing Liu had engaged in combat again, air rushing around the two of them at alarming speeds and all Jing Yuan could do is watch. It was all he could ever do.

Then even as the air grew colder and picked up with each clang of the blades, Jing Yuan felt warmth surround him, a hand resting on his head in an attempt to comfort him. He wasn't alone. He wasn't quite sure what kept causing all these strange occurrences, the sudden bursts of warmth when he ran into old friends and felt alone.

Then there was the sudden burst of strength he had, he'd always been strong but each swing of the blade felt effortless now and came faster, more precise, more accurate. But lastly was the strange feeling of comfort, sometimes while he was indulged in that feeling a cut or two would appear on his body only to be healed. His body felt no pain. There'd been a few times when he'd passed out, astounded as blood appeared before him, and he'd wake up moments later perfectly fine.

He wasn't sure exactly what the cause of it all was but he didn't feel quite as alone anymore.

And for some reason, neither did you.

You felt discomfort slink up your spine and rest in your shoulders. It felt like someone was watching you but, no one was around. You turned your attention back to Honkai Star Rail, as you watched lightning lord crash down and hit the enemies.

[hypnoneghoul]

absolution live 2017/2023

here I am with my over 1,5k word autistic ramble about the differences between absolution live from 2017 and 2023. at the end there is an audio file of both versions put together, if anyone would be interested in that. it sound very cool heh

also tags for people who showed interest in this: @forest-rot @ghuleh-recs @counting-eyerolls @ngnt-writes @ghnosis @rain-ghoul-appreciator @sister-rosemary-marie

anyway, under the cut

I will start with an analysis of instruments and players separately, one by one, and then I’ll talk about the whole thing a little bit. Also I’m using only ghoul names in there, but when I’m talking about styles and skills I obviously mean the unmasked folks.

Both in 2017 and 2023 we have Mountain on drums, which gives us a very fun comparison opportunity. In 2017 he goes heavy on the cymbals—according to the original version of the song—but it makes the whole thing a bit too crashy and too clogged. The drums are very widely mixed and set—slightly focused on the left side following the stage layout from then—but I think the cymbals could be a bit quieter in comparison to the actual drums, especially the floor tom. In general we can hear how smaller Mountain’s kit was in 2017. In 2023 the entire drum part is sharper and deeper, more bassy and it’s focused more in the middle. The way it feels to me, in 2017 the drums are the background and in 2023 they are the core. Mountain has better fills in 2023, he obviously got more comfortable just jamming in there and having fun over the years.

Dewdrop on bass in 2017; we can hear (or at least I can) that he is not a bassist. He scrapes his pick on the strings a lot which is connected to him being primarily a guitarist—it’s about the picking hand placement and angle. The bass is pretty quiet and it has overdrive on it. It helps conceal his buzzing a little bit, because it happens a fair amount for Dewdrop. Again—bass is not his main instrument. We can also hear exactly when he slams it, like we know he loves doing. In general sometimes he’s quieter and sometimes he’s louder and it’s mostly caused by his picking; how he angles his hand in certain moments and how much strength he puts into it. At the end he goes absolutely feral. Not surprising.

Rain in 2023 is amazing. He’s very skilled, and it’s a huge shame Ghost doesn’t have any songs that could really allow him to show off. He hit his cue a bit too fast at one point, but it might as well be intentional. He’s so much clearer and cleaner, both due to his skills and the settings. Rain has more drop, he most likely has his bass on a different pickup setup than Dewdrop, plus they used different basses—Rain’s with additional mods. One of those mods is a very heavy bridge—Badass Bass—and I bet we can thank that piece for the sustain and note definition in Rain’s playing. In general it flows more, fits into the whole image better. His changes in volume are controlled, not accidental like it happens for Dewdrop. Rain puts more slides, tiny additions and note changes into his live playing, it makes it a bit more lively to me. He’s put perfectly in the middle, nicely blended with the drums.

Unfortunately there isn’t much I can say about Ifrit, Dewdrop, Aether and Phantom mainly because “Absolution” isn’t really a guitar focused song and so it isn't the best song to compare guitar skills, either. The most interesting part—guitar wise—is the solo and little fills on the rhythm now and then.

Ifrit is very precise, I couldn’t hear any mistakes from him, but also the lead is surprisingly quiet in general. His palm muting is on spot, pull-offs and hammer-ons both in the chorus and the solo are very clean and he is simply a pro, he’s got super skills and I wish we could’ve gotten more (</3). He makes the whole song as lively as his stage personality, it sounds flowy but packed with emotions and still so precise it hurts.

Dewdrop’s sound is way better, though he and Ifrit are close skill wise. The difference between Hagstrom Fantomen and Fender Stratocaster is a big one, the main aspect that we can hear is the sharpness of the former and more grounded sound of the latter. Those two guitars also have a very different pickup arrangements—Dew’s strat has SSS (3x single-coils) pickups and he uses the bridge one (which is a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail), and the Fantomen’s has HH (two humbuckers that can be slip, but as far as I’m aware no ghoul used that feature), also with the bridge one used more frequently. In “Absolution” Dewdrop doesn’t add very much—as he does to some other songs—so it’s pretty much the same as the original version. There are small differences that inherently come with his style and that is what makes his version differ from both Ifrit’s and the album's, but it’s all very slight. Dew also makes a very good use of his pedals, mainly wah—especially at the end.

Aether is a bit off tempo in some parts. He plays well, mostly clean, but we can pick out some slight mistakes—mostly sounds that aren’t supposed to be there. His palm muting is a bit too light. He goes heavy on the pick which makes his part of the solo a bit sharp (especially that he’s playing the higher harmony) and square-ish. The sharpness is, again, something we can partially blame on the Fantomen. Only partially because both Ifrit and Phantom prove that it’s manageable. 

Phantom is very clean, he adds a lot of slides which is a feature of his personal style. Said style of his is very lively and fun, to me it sounds and feels like a slinky (don’t laugh at me it’s the autism). He’s more fluid both in the solo and the rest of the song than Aether, but makes one—barely noticeable—mistake in the solo where he misses a note.

Also Phantom and Dewdrop in 2023 are more in sync than Aether and Ifrit in 2017. For whatever reason.

Now keyboard; Zephyr goes absolutely ham on the keys, but it is a piano song so that’s not only understandable, but also desirable, I would say. Key’s are in the right ear with slight migration to the middle when it matters, again according to the stage layout. Their precision and speed and overall skill is insane, the ending when they go wild is the most impressive part, because the song itself doesn’t give many opportunities. If you haven’t seen a video of Zephyr playing that ending you gotta do it now because it really is insane (RIP to that Nord Stage 2 though). The synth fill before the solo in 2017 is played back, in 2023 it’s played live by Cirrus.

In 2023 Cirrus plays the main chorus keyboard part, it can be heard easily on the left side (so once again stage layout accordingly). It’s clean and precise, she’s also very skilled, but unfortunately doesn’t really show off at the end like Zephyr does. Cumulus plays some chords before the solo while Cirrus plays the synth fill.

Vocals are not my thing so I’m only going to say what most of us can hear; Terzo is very nasal, but cleaner, and sings a bit higher. Clear pronunciation, good flow. It’s closest to Tobias’ normal singing voice. Copia is even more nasal, more growly and raspy. They’re both, obviously, in the middle in case of mixing.

Backing vocals in 2017 are all play-back for obvious reasons—pretty simple, taken straight off of the album recording. It’s put on the left, but it could be more favorable in the middle. 2023 is way more spectacular thanks to—mainly—the backing vocals. They are 90% Aurora and Cumulus, with lower levels of Cirrus and barely anything of Swiss. He’s louder by the end. I’m still conflicted about the growls—if it is Swiss or Papa’s play-back—but it’s a great addition that was very mild in 2017’s play-back. The backing vocals are on the sides, accordingly to the stage layout. It all just adds more spice, I adore them.

Sound engineering and mixing is so much better in 2023. We can easily tie it to the budget (though I’d like to “blame” it on Hayden’s part in the engineering, he’s a mastermind, too). The sound is much clearer and fluid than in 2017, it highlights all the instruments perfectly at the same time. Mixing in 2017 is more blunt, it’s a bit duller and some changes in volumes and placements of instruments could—or even should—be made. It doesn’t mean 2017 sucks—far from it—it’s just a technical difference which actually warms my heart if we look at how far has Ghost come. So, once again, considering the budget in 2017 vs. 2023 it’s all understandable. Also the crowd sound control in 2023 is very fun; it makes a great use of all the yelling causing the whole song to sound warmer and fuller.

Both 2017 and 2023 are on the exact same tempo, they can be put over each other perfectly (which I did). They slide apart at the end and the break before the outro is longer in 2023. The 2023 outro itself is pretty boring in comparison to 2017, most likely because in 2023 it’s not a closing song. Below there’s both “Absolutions” over each other; 2023 in the left and 2017 in the right headphone.

[fatkish]

JJK Boys x Mob Psycho Esper Reader

Since you’re an extremely powerful esper, you are classified as a special grade exorcist. You were originally discovered by Gojo when you used your powers to save a child from running into the street and getting hit by a car. Since you have always seen evil spirits and curses, you’ve never really questioned what you see, since it’s just natural to you. Gojo brought you to the academy and principal Yaga, after talking to the school’s directors, decided to have you live there. (because the clan elders are terrified and suspicious of your abilities)

Principal Yaga gave you a space for a garden since you explained how the emotional buildup from stress and extreme emotions can lead to a meltdown of your psychic powers. The garden acts as a sanctuary of sorts for you. When you aren’t answering calls or exorcising curses and spirits, you spend your time taking care of the plants. Eventually you meet the others and this is what they think of you.

Gojo:

Constantly asks you to show off your powers

Gets a kick out of seeing you use your power to exercise curses and spirits

Loves watching you explore what all your abilities can do

Thinks it’s perfectly fine that you choose when to and when not to use your powers

Tries to get you to show more emotion

When you accidentally bend spoons and other metal objects he offers to feed you like a child. “here comes the airplane” he’ll say that as he tries to feed you

When he saw you use your powers to grow plants he was interested in how the plants would taste only to be disappointed in the gross or bland flavor

Geto:

Thinks that you’re strong and that you should be his partner

Wants to see just how limitless your power is and what all you can do

Thinks that you are badass

Doesn’t understand why you don’t want to use your psychic abilities against people

Thinks it’s sad that you’ve locked away your emotions in order to keep from hurting people with your powers

He just gives you his spoon or unbends the one you bent

Loves seeing you grow plants especially flowers

Yuta:

Pure awe

Seeing your abilities is such an amazing experience for him

He thinks you’re incredibly talented and strong

Agrees that you shouldn’t use your psychic powers against people

He understands your fear of hurting people but is sad that you have difficulty showing emotion

Will offer to get you new cutlery if you bend them too bad

Thinks it’s amazing when he watches you bend the seeds to grow into plants

Inumaki:

Thinks your powers are pretty cool

Finds it interesting to see you use your abilities

He thinks your powers are strong and loves that you can somewhat read his mind or his emotions

Your powers make communication easier between you two

Understands your self imposed rule about not using your psychic powers against people

Understands and isn’t bothered by your seeming lack of emotions

Always carries wooden or plastic cutlery on him for you to eat with

Helps you with your personal garden and brings you new succulents and such to care for

Itadori:

What is this, is it magic, are you a wizard? Was his first reaction

Thinks it’s cool and loves when you use your powers to make him fly after he begs you to

Thinks there is no limit to what you can do and is always asking new questions and tries to make you do new things with them

Somewhat understands your rule about not using your powers on people but still what’s you to make him fly and such

Is somewhat bothered by the seemingly emotionless personality you developed by accident

Unbends the spoons and forks like it’s nothing

Is amazed at first and like Gojo, tries an apple he insisted you grow entirely by psychic power only to spit it out once he tasted how flavorless it was

Megumi:

Is probably the only person who understands why the line between the spirit world and living world is blurred for you since both are natural and normal to you

Is somewhat indifferent about your powers but is still amazed by your abilities

Thinks you’re very versatile in what you can do and admires your natural psychic and mental strength

Understands and agrees with your rule about not using your psychic powers on people

Doesn’t care about your seemingly emotionless personality because he knows why you developed it

When you accidentally bend spoons and such he’ll use his shadows to summon a new spoon for you

Also helps out in your garden at the school but mostly just wants to be in the peaceful atmosphere of the garden

[kokushibosbestie]

ok so idk if u do like x reader stuff but if you do, can u do like a Sally face fic or headcannons with Sal and Larry. I wanted to request what it would be like for them to have like a very busy s/o. Like I do marching band and outside of school I do volleyball and lessons for trombone and piano. Along with that I take AP classes and student council which give me more work to do so I feel pretty drained by the end of the day

♡~ Sal and Larry w/ busy S/O HCs ~♡

A/N: Yes, I take requests and do (Character) x reader headcannons! AND I'M SO SORRY IF THIS WASN'T GOOD AND I KNOW LARRY'S PART ISN'T LONG I HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME ANON. ALSO IM SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG, I'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY WITH SCHOOL AND I HAD WRITERS BLOCK FOR LIKE 3 WEEKS 😭🙏

Warnings: None, just pure fluffiness and love. GN!reader.

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

♪ Sal Fisher ♪

· HE'S JUST A FKN SWEETHEART 😭😭 · I will say that he is going to make sure to make your life easier no matter what · like doing chores, helping you with projects and assignments, and planning out your week · I don't think many realize this, but he is not the "badass player" people portray him as. 😔 · So, he will make you sit down with him on the weekend and ask how things are going. · And this is with everything. Work, school, family life, your relationship with him, your mental health, etc. · He is serious about it too. 😅 He cares a lot and he doesn't like to see you stressed. · So when you come home tired and worn out, he will not be happy. · he knows it's not your fault and you can't help it "Love, please stop doing this to yourself. You know this isn't good." · Like I said, he loves you 🥰 · istg this man HAS and WILL beg you to take a break · so when you come home, he'll already have a bath ready for you · once you're done taking a bath, he'll make you sit down on the floor in front of the couch so he can brush / comb your hair · and I honestly think he's not the best cook, but he will cook your favorite food no he won't, it's going to be takeout because he failed · your room is already cleaned and he bought you squishmellows to add to your collection · he'll cuddle you to sleep while playing with your hair · definitely the big spoon on nights like this "Relax baby, you need to get sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up, okay?"

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

☆ Larry Johnson ☆

· I'ma be fr with you, he would NOT notice at first · Not until Ashley said something but after she brings it to his attention that you need a little bit more attention, he will do exactly that · and istg, he WILL pick you up bridal style and carry you away from whatever you were doing 👀 · If you protest, he will glare at you and ignore it. · Any kind of work you do is "overworking yourself" to him · so beware · Imma be completely honest, this man CANNOT keep up with you · Your ship dynamic is literally "busy mastermind and their assistant who worships them but can't keep up." 😭💞 · larry is the one worshiping you "Look, I know you have a lot going on, so don't try to convince me that you aren't. I might be stupid in school but I'm not stupid with you." · he will say shit that doesn't make sense WHATSOEVER. 😔 · Ofc, he won't admit that he's trying to take care of you · or keep up with you · obvi 🙄 · I have my own hc that he actually does know how to cook nicely, so I think he'd make you food you'd watch a movie together and talk · once your social battery is completely out, he'll offer you to sleep on his chest. 🥰 · and when you wake up, he's gunna make you breakfast. "Don't try to keep yourself up babe. You've had a long day, so just rest."

DISCLAIMER: THE HEADER IS MINE, THOUGH THE FANART IS NOT. THE DIVIDERS ARE NOT MINE, ONCE AGAIN, THEY ARE NOT MINE. ALL CREDITS GO TO ORIGINAL POSTERS / CREATORS!!! ALL WRITING BELONGS TO ME!!!

[egg-emperor]

All the newly shown Eggman concept sketches in SXSG are so cool, especially for how they're for Shadow 2005 💜

This goes so fucking hard my edgy black heart lives for it lol

Wish I knew what all of this said but I love this silly guy 💕

It appeared that his left brow ridge had accidentally been erased as there was some residue, so I copied and pasted the right one to restore it

I always love to see my boys togetherrr

Eggman: I COMMAND you, Shadow!

Shadow: :\

This one is neat for the concepts of inside his base in the game

Especially for this one for Eggman sitting in it in the chair that looks way too small for him in game while Shadow warps in!

I can't say for sure without the translation of what he's saying (really wish I had those for all of these) but it seems he was originally supposed to be sat there while Shadow entered, unlike the final game:

Eggman is already outside in his Egg Mobile, as we also see depicted in this concept, on the same page

It might be hard to tell because it's so small and pretty blurry (because the collection room doesn't even let you zoom in on Shadow Gens damn it) but that is Eggman in his Egg Mobile from the side outside the window lol

Just like this shot in the final game, from the same cutscene where he warps in:

So it seems this was indeed how this cutscene was originally supposed to go. Was Eggman originally going to be sat there while Shadow entered and then he tried to hop in the Egg Mobile and get away, perhaps? XD

Again, hard to tell when I don't know what the dialogue says but this is so awesome! New glimpses into Eggman in Shadow 2005, one of my favorite games and Eggman portrayals ever in 2024 is so cool :'D

And this one is REALLY interesting for how out of left field it is. It's drawn quite like a cover concept

The left side is definitely supposed to be Gerald. Note the lack of goggles and how his stache is shaped like Gerald's Shadow 2005 model that swoops downward more than Eggman's. Also lol he has white sclera just like Eggman does, checkmate :P But he appears to be somehow modified with metal with the scratches, bolts, and seams- or it's some kind of metal version of him perhaps?

Because Metal Sonic is there too, beheaded with Shadow looking badass holding it. Which is something else that's super intriguing, since Metal of course isn't in Shadow 2005 at all!

And also what's supposedly part of the same concept batch, titled "Shadow the Hedgehog stage concept", there's some metallic equivalent of the Biolizard, with Shadow's version of the fight and Finalhazard recreated

Wtf was going on in the early drafts for this game? Some type of possibly metallic Gerald, Metal Sonic, some metallic/robotic Biolizard inspired creation but it's a different creature? I'm so fucking intrigued!

I've always figured that Eggman and the androids were originally going to have a bigger role in Shadow 2005's story with how they set them up in Heroes and this heavily supports that in a completely new and different way like holy shit

Or there's the possibly that this was for a completely different game they considered before but it is listed just as "Shadow the Hedgehog concept" unlike how other concepts in the collection room art gallery have different game titles listed

Either way I'm gonna be thinking about this forever

[beartitled]

Did you play the pristine cut of STP? What do you think of Dragon, Cage and HappilyEverAfter if so?

Spoilers for STP pristine cut under read more (+ a lot of text warning)

Hehe I see STP ppl are excited and want more silly comics

Well there’s a lot of things to say tbh 👀

Overall really enjoyed new content so far

It kinda feels like a fanservice for the people who already played the game

Which is not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong ☝️

I just view the original game as a perfect instalment, which doesn’t really need a continuation

New scenarios is just a pleasant bonus

(I’m one shot/short story fan okay 👉👈)

I already saw Dragon and Happily After routes

Yet to see all the variations the Cage route has to offer (heard ppl said it’s the most diverse one)

The Princess and The Dragon

HEY REMEMBER HOW I SAID I DON’T LIKE THE IDEA OF CHANGING THE GENDERS OF THE CHARACTERS BC THAT WAY THE DYNAMIC WOULD BE UNSETTLING?

YEA SO THIS ROUTE EXPLORED THAT DYNAMIC GUYS

I enjoyed this route, bc again

It’s scary, uncomfortable, makes you feel unsafe and uneasy 👁️👁️

Awesome depiction of how scary this type of situation would be

And of course bonus points, we got to see the bird bois 🎉

(Opportunist go brush yo teeth, u spooky lookin ass)

Happily ever after

Ok

Noooow we’re talking

I love that route, it’s my favourite so far

The pain, the suffering, the absolutely devastated British crowman

Brilliant, chills

This one actually feels like a missing part of the og game to me

I wanted to go into details about my opinions on that route in the future post

But now I want to talk 😈

👏Smitten👏my boy👏how are you in your edgy villain era already omg

Can we just admit for a second how badass Smitten is for escaping protagonist’s body?

Like-💥

This was the first route I saw and was like “Ooooh that’s probably the new gimmick, every voice is doing to escape and shenanigans happen” AND NO Smitten is just that guy™️ absolute chad

Minus points for “we will give her something she doesn’t know she wants yet”

*hits Smitten with newspaper*

Bad voice 💥🗞️bad 💥🗞️ we listen to what 💥🗞️our queen 💥🗞️wants 🗞️💥🗞️💥💥

But it works okay

The atmosphere is immaculate, I was legit concerned for a moment

Ok now give me a moment to be a nerd ☝️🤓

I love how this route gives Smitten flaws

I think finally we saw that every voice has them, because voices are an isolated part of a person, a pure feeling if you will

And Smitten represents that naïve love idealisation/love obsession

The guy loves the princess, she is pure perfection to him

This feeling is blinding and honestly pretty toxic irl

During the whole og game Smitten was never conflicting?

He pretty much the comedic relief of the whole game (and least it felt like that to me)

I think he was kinda a missed potential

Yes, love is sweet

Crushes are can be funny, silly and overall just positive

But it can be so destructive, so painful and so so exhausting when it gets to the point of obsession

And that route gives you a direct illustration of it

Which is amazing

I honestly think we don’t have enough media just showcasing this feeling of obsessive love and how dangerous it is

(yandere trope doesn’t count 👿 this trope just kinda glorified the issue)

And the tragedy is SMITTEN IS TOO DELUSIONAL TO EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT HE’S DOING WRONG

My poor poor birb boy

He’s too focused on doing everything perfectly, to make princess satisfied, to make us satisfied, why isn’t it working? He does everything he can, why doesn’t it work? How doesn’t it work?

HE’S TOO LOVESTRUCK TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND REFLECT

AAAAAAAAA

God I’m insane about Happily ever after

As a person who struggles with this exact feeling of idolising and obsessing over ppl, I just really feel that route

Goth Smitten incoming *coughs*

Thanks for your question ❤️ hope you enjoyed reading my mess of thoughts💥

Share your thoughts in comments/reblogs if you want ppl

[elbdot]

Besides Latias being your favorite legendary Pokémon, what would be your SECOND favorite legendary?

Heck, what's your top FIVE favorite legendary Pokémon?

Aww man. There's WAY too many at this point, even top five is hard to pick. ALRIGHT I'll try...

Latias

Ultra Necrozma

Tapu Koko

Yveltal

Koraidon

...that's a lot of red Legendaries.

Latias I don't need to further explain, but probably Ultra Necrozma. The reason why he's THAT high up my list is because Ultra Necrozma IS A G O D. Like LEGIT, this dragon made out of PURE LIGHT is the absolute PINACLE of a Legendary to me. My other picks may be more personal than him, but in terms of what makes a Legendary a LEGENDARY Pokemon to me, THIS would be it. Heck, I'd put him above ARCEUS, make those two FIGHT FOR THE TITLE OF ULTIMATE POKE-GOD oh wait they already did

Otherwise Tapu Koko would've easily made it on second place. He's my next pick for a multitude of reasons. I think Tapu Koko absolutely BEAMS with personality. I love the Tapus all very much, but Koko is definitely my favorite. And I appreciate these Legendaries in particular because of their cultural significance for Alola. I think Alola may be the only region where Legendary deitys are not only KNOWN to exist, but play an ACTIVE role in their lives, interacting with the locals, protecting the islands, choosing ambassadors in form of the Kahunas and getting honored by the people of Alola. They're just. INCREDIBLY COMPLEX AND FLESHED OUT AND I LOVE THEM

Yveltal is my only pure nostalgia-pick I have to admit. Aside from me LOVING BIRDS and Yveltal being a KILLER BACON BIRD he was also the very first Legendary I ever caught by playing Pokemon Y. I may not hold much nostalgia for that game otherwise, but Yveltal definitely holds a special place in my heart.

Koraidon I just think is funny as heck. He looks SO STUPID when he's running. He's a cute goofy lizard throughout the game until he reaches his full energized form in the end and when he takes that stand he's just an ABSOLUTE badass and I LOVE that. While there's many other legendaries I could give the fifth place to, I wanted to give my appreciation for modern legendaries, because I do like the trend of some of them being included more in a personal quest. Getting to bond with them throughout your journey makes them feel much more special than others.

goofy ass lizard

HONORABLE MENTIONS: I have to give a shout-out to Rayquaaza, Kyogre, Dialga and death-noodle Giratina for being my old favorites. Xerneas is also pretty cool, I do appreciate magic fairy deer. I still think Mega Rayquaaza is THE ultimate dragon because I'm basic like that. I see badass Lung-like dragon I go WAOWEEEEE

Lugia used to be my absolute favorite as a kid but I HATE the way they've been anmating him as a 3D Model, he looks as goofy and unmajestic as one can get, what have they DONE to my boy... Meanwhile Ho-oh is doing SPLENDID in 3D, it's not fair 😞 Also shout-out to Ho-oh for having the prettiest shiny of all the Legendaries. And Galarian Zapdos is a huge improvement from the original one, that one also goes into honorable mentions.

Thank you for coming to my TED-Talk.