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dumbkid4ever · 5 months ago

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Drunken Acts, Silent Truths

Mualani x reader! In which:

You and Mualani have fun and get wasted at a party. In the end, you both did things you never would've if you were sober.

Contains a bit of lemon.

Alternative title: In the Back of Kinich's Car

3,017 words 16,597 characters

"Hey [Name]! Over here!" you heard your best friend yell from across the street. She stood beside Kinich's dark green SUV, swinging her arm fervently to get your attention. From the passenger seat you could see Kachina waving at you, smiling cutely like she always does.

Mirroring the little girl's expression, although yours is more like a grin, you ran towards your friends. Once there, Mualani engulfed you in a tight hug, surprising you.

"[Name]!"

Her hugging you is not a rare occasion, but you seemed to be unable to get used to this. A gentle heat graced your cheeks.

"Hey ya, Lani!"

"You ready to have the best time of your life? The party's going to be so lit! Come on, come on, get in," Mualani gushed as she urged you to get in the car, clearly very excited for what's to come. Her voice easily overpowered the quiet music that was playing. California girls, quite befitting of the occasion.

You greeted the others as you put on your seatbelt, including Ajaw, Kinich's pet lizard, which was currently resting on Kachina's lap.

"Hell yeah I am, we're gonna drink so much and play so many games, it'll be one hell of a time!" you chuckled, trying to match her energy and force down the butterflies in your stomach. Although his face wore the same blank expression, Kinich sighed upon hearing that.

"That sounds like so much fun," Kachina on the other hand giggled at your words. "I can't wait to be 18, then you can take me with you as well!"

"Of course! We can't wait for you to be 18 as well, then we can have girl nights and do lots and lots of fun stuff! But for now, you'll have to patient. On the bright side, today you get to hang out with Kinich, you don't know how many people would envy you for that!"

Indeed, Kinich was very popular. Back in highschool his locker always had one or two confession letters and Mualani, who already knew him at that time, even got some letters as well. They were all some kind of threat telling her to back off from Kinich, though. It got to a point where she even made a bingo with the most frequent contents she found in those letter, like a death threat or slut-shaming, and for every row of five he got in one single letter Kinich would have to buy her a small treat as compensation for "being too handsome." The way she worded it had always rubbed you the wrong way.

"I'm sure they wouldn't be if they actually got to know me. It would probably destroy whatever... Romantic lense they have projected onto me. I'm no prince charming," Kinich insisted as he steered the wheel with his right arm. His other was propped on the frame of the open window.

"No way man, I think they'd only fall harder. With how nice you are, whatever you do will be misinterpreted and feed into their handsome, mysterious, cold guy with a soft spot for them fantasies. It's all just confirmation bias and a bit of delusion, really," you snickered. It's not the first time you and the others have teased him about it, but even then, seeing him in denial about his situation will never stop being amusing. Especially Mualani likes to pick on him for that.

"You know, you could just get a significant other or at least pretend to have one, maybe then they'll stop trying to get with you. With that face of yours it wouldn't be surprising for you to have one too," the latter suggested, this time not even as a joke. And she wasn't really wrong, however the victim of popularity still dismissed the offer.

"They'd just start pestering me with questions about my supposed partner, not worth it."

"Well if you say so."

That's how the conversation ended and there was nothing awkward about the silence that ensued. Then Kachina pointed out the song just started to play.

"Mualani, [name]! Listen!"

It took the two of you a second, but when you realized you instantly turned to each other with the same stupid grin on your faces.

"Crank it up, pretty boy!" Mualani demanded, earning herself a laugh from Kachina and, although she didnt notice, a complicated look from you. As always, Kinich was the only one to notice. You saw him looking at you from the rear view mirror as he turned up the volume. You shook your head softly, indicating that you're fine. The probability that he knows about your crush is at about 85%, according to your calculations.

You were still contemplating, for the thousandth time, if she likes him that way, but you were interrupted by the reason why you were even sulking in the first place. She pulled you towards her by the waist and held an imaginary microphone to your mouth. With a small smile, you had the honour of starting the song.

"You, change your mind~"

"Like a girl, changes clothes~" Mualani followed up, pointing the microphone towards herself.

"Yeah you, PMS~"

"Like a bitch!" the youngest chimed in, causing Kinich to stare at you through the mirror once more, since you were the one who introduced her to the song. If you didn't know him so well, you wouldn't have known that he was glaring at you, hard.

"I would know~" you carried on anyways, averting your eyes and pretending you didn't see.

"That you're no good for me!~" the other two girls sang in unison, getting louder as they approach the last notes of the line.

For the rest of the ride the three of you continued singing. It was as if the party had already started, but then again, it's always like a party when you're with your friends. Eventually, you did arrive at the actual destination though, a bit to your disappointment. You were just getting to the good parts of Call Me Maybe.

"Bye Kachina, bye Kinich!" Mualani, already out of the car, kissed Kachina on the forehead and waved goodbye.

"Have fun hanging out you two!" you bid your goodbyes as well. Kachina got a head rub from you and Kinich a fist bump.

"You too, Mualani and [name]!"

"Keep your drinks within eye sight and always stick together. I'll pick you up at nine."

"We will! Besides, Mavuika will be sober, so don't worry."

Kinich hummed at that, comforted by that and drove off with the SUV, leaving the two of you at the entrance of a big mansion from which bright lights emitted. It was barely 5pm and the sun hadn't set yet, how bright would it be later? Putting the question aside, you went up the stairs to the front door and ringed the doorbell.

Not long after the host of the party Mavuika, she's kind of a local celebrity, opened the door and greeted you with great passion.

"Ah, Mualani, you're here! Very punctual, the party hasn't even started." She looked at you with her blindingly bright eyes and you were a bit entranced. Although they were all red, Mualani's were darker, more desaturated and the upper half of her eyes were this calming blue. Ironically, while picturing her eyes in your head you failed to notice her eyes in the present, looking at you with a peculiar glint in them.

"Is she your plus one?" she asked, looking at you.

"Yeah! This is [name], my best friend!" she introduced you, grabbing and trapping your arm between her own and the side of her body. Your forearm touched her exposed stomach. The skin there was warmer than your arm's, but it can't be warmer than your cheeks in that moment, that you were sure of.

Mavuika suddenly seemed to understand something, causing a smirk to appear on her face. She nodded at you and extended her hand for you to shake.

"Nice to meet you [name]. You have a fine friend here, do make sure to keep her close, yes?"

Naturally, you were puzzled by her advice as you shook her hand, even more so when she winked at Mualani and got a look of what seemed like gratitude in return. What's going on between them? No matter though, because you were already being dragged into the house by your crush. One look was enough to confirm how rich the radiant woman was, but not in a stereotypical rich person way.

The entrance hall was half the size of your apartment, with walls decorated by colorful grafittis and precious looking relics. There's no doubt that they must be worth quite a lot, but no one ever stole any of them, as easy as it would be. They all respected her too much to do so, in fact, it's harder to not respect her.

"So, what do you want to do first? We could play beer pong, hit the dance floor, ooh you wanna wipe the food court clean?" your best friend asked, her gaze directed towards yours.

"How about Mario Kart? Let's play to our heart's content before the others come and hog it," looking right back, you answered. Having reached a mutual conclusion, you followed Mualani upstairs to the gaming room where the video games are. All the while she let go of your arm and shifted to hold your hand instead, intertwined your fingers. "So that you won't get lost," she explained, even though you only walked past six of the only other thirty something people in this gigantic house.

Once you got to the gaming room, this time twice the size of your living room, Mualani officially let go of your hand, to your disappointment. But you didn't dwell on that for long, as your thoughts were soon occupied with strategy, frustration and when to throw the shell. Preferably it should be at a point in time where receiving such an attack would be the most devastating and spirit breaking for the enemy. Such is the cruel nature of Mario Kart, where any personal connections and sense of fun doesn't matter anymore.

Over time, the party started to increase in people and you had to give up the consol. However you took a pack of uno from Mavuika's board games collection, wanting to play it now because you probably won't be sober enough to do so later. Speaking of being drunk, you both got a cup of the alcoholic punch that was being served.

Mualani easily managed to rope in three more players and the games began. Like Mario Kart, although not as brutal, Uno brought out quite a lot of rage and dispair from the depths of your hearts, for you were playing with the "pulling until you have a usable card" rule, which has led to one or two breakdowns. That's less than you expected.

"HA! UNO, LOSERS! YEAH SUCK ON THAT," one of the players hollered, giving you all the one finger salute and doing what seemed to be a victory dance.

"NO THE FUCK YOH DIDN'T, YOU PLAYED A SIX BUT THE CARD BELOW WAS A NINE, FUCKING CRETIN!" another player yelled. It was clear they both had too much to drink.

"AGAIN, NO ONE WON THIS ROUND, WE'LL GO AGAIN!" you protested at the top of your lungs. That would make three drunk people. Next to you, Mualani was laughing hysterically at the state you were in. It's her third cup already and she's only a bit tipsy, but you already had 5 cups and well, the results were evident.

And it went on like this for the next three hours. You played all sorts of things, such as partner beer pong, where Mualani displayed her excellent fine motor skills despite her by then half drunken state. In the end your team won and you very platonically kissed her on the mouth to express your happiness at the victory.

Next up was never have I ever, played in a circle on the ground. That day, some of your more embarrassing secrets became known to many more people other than the only three who knew it before. At some point some guy also started hitting on you, but thankfully Mualani fended him off. After that incident she's been walking even closer to you, like some sort of bodyguard.

When Kinich eventually came to pick you up he found you on a couch, tangled together and only halfway conscious, much to his concern.

"Don't worry, I made sure that everyone was safe. They only had harmless fun the whole evening," Mavuika assured him as she walked up to you three.

"Thank you, and sorry for any trouble they might've caused," your chauffeur dipped his head in gratitude.

"Nonsense, this is my responsibility as the party host."

She then helped Kinich to bring the two of you inside the car, each with one arm slung around their neck, respectively. You all said your goodbyes, well the drunk ones tried but only managed to get out jibberish, and parted ways. Kinich turned off the music so you would sleep soundly on the way home. However the two of you didn't plan on sleeping.

Throughout the day, no, throughout the majority of the time you've known her, you've always been restricting yourself. All of the repressed desires were getting harder to control with the alcohol in your system.

At first you were just staring into her pretty red eyes, but then her put a hand onto your thigh and clicked off both your seatbelts.

"Put on your seatbelts," Kinich ordered, briefly glancing at the backseat. None of you complied. Instead, you slipped your hands up her shirt, roaming around, getting a feel of her skin. She rubbed your thigh a little, her hand slipping further upwards and the other pushed you down to lay on the cushioned seats.

"You alright back there?" Kinich asked somewhat worriedly, not noticing your arm that disappeared behind the soft fabric of Mualani's top. Ajaw, now on Kinich's shoulder as usual, blinked slowly and looked away, turning into the color of Kinich's shirt and hair, camouflaging himself.

You didn't even notice Kinich's voice. In fact, you couldn't hear anything but the rhythmic throbbing in your veins, see anything but her beautiful face, feel anything but her gentle touch, getting shocked by a tiny wave of electricity every time her finger tips connected with your skin.

She too seemed too engrossed in you to take note of the boy at the front who's getting more anxious by the second.

"Mualani? [Name]?" he tried again, but to no avail. That's when he noticed it though. The sight of you exploring each other. For a few seconds he was speechless, but it quickly became slight annoyance.

"Cut it out you two, you can make out when you get back home," he chided with a slight glare, but you still hear nothing. Quietly, he muttered something under his breath about being glad he sent Kachina home first. At this point he has accepted that you won't respond to him no matter what, so instead he opted to turn the music up to at least not hear... Well, you know. Very fittingly though, the song playing then was Knee Socks by Arctic Monkeys.

While Kinich was despairing in the front, the two in the back were enjoying the ride more and more. You were now kissing like there's no tomorrow. Mualani's tongue slips into your mouth and you let it, pressing against it with your own. She's got her hand in your shorts, kneading the flesh of your behind, you've got you hand under her bra, fondling with her breast.

You both pulled away to get some air and stared at each other deeply. There was a weird taste in your mouth, but that too you didn't register. Instead you were focused on the half blue half red sapphires just a couple of centimeters before you.

Futilely, you tried to say a simple "pretty," but all that came out was an incoherent babble. You were... Amazed by how beautiful she was, even with her messy hair, smeared lipstick and almost no light for you too see her.

Fueled with a new animalistic desire, you pulled her down against your lips again. This time you were the one to visit her mouth and she complied. She tasted like alcohol. Like your own mouth, actually. You tasted the same.

"Mm-!" you moaned into the kiss. She had just found your most private parts.

Hearing that, she chuckled breathily, parting your lips once more. She played a bit more with the same spot, eliciting an erotic and pretty vocal reaction. Not feeling satisfied yet, she hooked her pointer fingers at the waistband of your shorts.

"Alright, that's enoug, my car is not a motel," Kinich hastily said, already opening the door on Mualani's side of the car. Despite her weak protests, he dragged her towards your house, actually half piggybacking her, and opened the door with the keys he got from you beforehand. The muscles he had built up from all the sports he did finally got put to good use.

He even carried her, and later you, all the way to the bedroom, thinking it would be more comfortable no matter if you two decide to sleep or fuck. Leaving your drunk and horny friends alone in a house, on the same bed even, might seem like an irresponsible action, but really, he had no idea what else he could do. The two of you have always looked at each other funnily anyways.

Before he went home himself, he poured two glasses of water and put it on the nightstand but when brought the glasses from the kitchen you were already back at it, hence why he left as soon as possible.

That's how you woke up next morning, naked and pressed up against Mualani's warm, also naked body. It seemed like you really needed to have a serious talk about your friendship. Oddly enough though, you were looking forward to it.

#mualani x reader #genshin impact #mualani #smut #friends to lovers #kinich #kachina

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valsnonsense · 11 months ago

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Oh my god drawing group photos fuxking SUCKS

So many LIMBS-

But KISMEEEEET

I've seen so many fun iterations of Kismet's relationship to each other. As found family, some being relatives, as just friends, but my favorite is them being one big ole polecule!

I love the idea that trolls are a naturally polyamorous species and will often form "packs" if you will with the ones they love. Kismet is one of the largest packs in Pop Village, and they will gush about their partners to anyone who will listen.

Kismet being a thing has always been weird timeline wise, so I like to think they got together right after the first movie began or even ended, and that's how Branch joined them. They heard him sing to Poppy and all unanimously agreed they NEEDED him for their band.

They actually offered for Branch to join not just their band, but their relationship at one point. They all thought he was cute and loved how despite how sarcastic and deadpanned he was, he was loving and caring towards his friends. But Branch politely declined, telling them he already eyes for someone else.

So they went from potential boyfriend's to the most obnoxious wingmen ever. Cuz if we can't date u then we're gonna make sure someone else does!!

I love the headcanon that Ablaze is actually a rock troll, so that's why I drew him with the extra pointy ears and lizard tail (tho as I'm typing this I realize I forgot his claws FUK)

Kismet is the cheeziest polycule you'll ever fucking see in your life. No sense of pda, they'll give each other smooches and nose nuzzles right there on stage for all the world to see.

Plz ignore how Hype and Boom dont look remotely glittery I'm still tryna figure out how to express that on paper lol

#dreamworks trolls #trolls band together #trolls kismet #kismet polycule #trolls ablaze #trolls hype #trolls boom #trolls trickee #myart #traditional art #god group shots are hard #this is them right after a show #all cuddly and smoochy with each other #not pictured is branch to the side rolling his eyes (but silently waiting for Poppy to get backstage so he can get HIS kisses)

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fountainpenguin · 6 months ago

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Riddle watches New Wish - Post #14

Lost and Founder's Day

I do really like how the theme song flows, especially at the end where Cosmo and Wanda jump from their human disguises into fairy form.

Ooh, Founder's Day came back from "A New Dev-elopment." Continuity! I like how the title card shows us the hat that Dev and Hazel saw during their treasure hunt.

I'm gonna throw my money down on the Dimmadomes founding Dimmadelphia (or an ancestor).

skdfj, Hazel's so cute when she steals her teacher's hat.

-> Yes, it was the Dimmadomes.

I like how Dev's shades are still gone, but he's still got that smug tone of voice. But today, he has a good reason to be a bit smug for a festival his family is hosting (that his dad had to work over the weekend to pull together). This is gonna be interesting.

I don't trust any of this tech to be good (in the moral sense). Dale literally tried to promote pollution a few episodes ago.

LKSDJFSD, Dev giving out watches that do a bunch of cool technical things and this is the face he makes when he's asked if the watches tell time:

(They do not).

This is the first time Hazel's shown interest in anything related to Dimmadomes' tech (She has a phone case covering any logo and didn't know how to do the dance they apparently made) and now she's gushing over the gift Dev gave her so I'm... hm. Where ya going with this, Hazel?

Okay, so... what the HECK is going on with Dimmadelphia? I'm sure we'll get to learn the real founder soon, but all I can assume right now is that it was Doug himself, hence the hat logo. If that's true, he was BUSY during the 50 years of frozen time.

-> That WOULD justify my Buxaplenty overlap seeing as the train lines would've been crucial for this.

It's gotta be a different ancestor. There's no way Doug would be in Dimmsdale if he'd founded another city. This city's huge. I'll be watching for any indications of "established X year."

Aww, Hazel adores Dev now and is blatantly gushing over him. That's really cute. Local #1 Dev fan:

[cnt'd under the cut - #long post]

I can't believe we didn't get a "Hazel has a bone in her hair" gag when she got shocked by the tech.

omfg, Dev is so desperate to interact with his dad that he's begging to "organize merchandise by tossing boxes back and forth to each other." He's smart. Goober.

Diagnosed child who would play Catch with active TNT minecarts in Limited Life SMP. He would just do it...

Dale, you shouldn't tell your son to "Eat a lizard." That's mean.

Oh noooo, are we about to get "My dreams were crushed many years ago... How old are you?" version 2.0?

-> Note to self, Dev's birthday is 9 years, 7 months, and 14 days before Founder's Day (give or take since he says "pretty much exactly my birthday to the day, which I think implies he's doing math and decides it's the day).

Dev is 9? Lol. Didn't we already have end of the year tests in like, Episode 2? And our implied end of school year dance? Baby.

-> I double-checked and Sadie Hawkins is in November. There were Sneezy Hawkins Dance posters in Episode 1 when Hazel walked in. Those posters hung in school for multiple episodes (I'll keep my eyes out for them in future episodes), which would imply she started school in September or October (Probably not August since she was specially introduced to the class as a new student).

-> If we keep seeing the posters throughout the whole year, I'm willing to wave them off, but while planning the timeline, it's worth noting they exist, we know we're post-2019, but probably not too many years later since that was the most recent date on the gym's championship banner for a school that clearly wins sports games often ("Fearless"), and we've seen multiple waning crescent moons.

-> No snow, but not unreasonable since Dimmsdale was in California.

... I gotta say, I'm really enjoying these recent episodes, but D: Where was this early in the series when I was confused in Post #10 as to where all the underlying trauma vibes were?

We've absolutely shifted vibes from where we were when I wrote that post. Which is fantastic, but I'm surprised we didn't get this earlier. THIS is FOP vibes. THIS is what I wanted and why I was super confused by this show's tone earlier. Yeah, of course I like Dev now... He's shifting the tone back to the OG show's vibes.

I'm wary, but I've approached to eat out of the hand.

Oh no, we scene shifted before Dale could reveal the statue under the cloth. Either he's broken and we're going to see the aftereffects (following Hazel's POV where she's confused as to why he's gone off the rails and turned snappy) or he's gonna find out during the event and he'll break down in front of the crowd. Uh-oh...

...... Okay, now they're just taunting me with the moon. It can't always be a waning crescent!!

The stage looks like Doug Dimmadome.

Please tell me Dale didn't forget to add Dev's info to the ID-scanning robot.

Every time Angela is onscreen she has a new therapy book and I support her.

Wanda: Parenting never gets easier.

-> Please tell me Hazel's parents are about to ask about that and they're going to have to either backpedal or they're going to imply they've raised like 100 kids.

sdlkfj, they only cite Poof. BRUTAL.

-> Cosmo one again giving me "First fairy baby born in 1000 years." Yeah yeah, Westley Periwinkle held the title first, we all know him (/fanfic joke).

Seriously though, it's very funny to me that Poof is never, ever referred to as "first baby born after Cosmo" or "first baby born in tens of thousands of years, or hundreds of thousands." Only first in hundreds OR first in thousands. I can't believe that DANG KID is still haunting me in the new show.

-> Cosmo still confirmed to have been the pregnant parent. I'm glad that wasn't retconned (despite Cosmo's best efforts to scramble and cover up what he said by claiming Wanda was the pregnant one).

Cracking up. Cosmo, I think the neighbors think you're trans but not out about it.

Angela: Where's your son now? :) Wanda: Eh, we don't know. I mean, we forget because we were on vacation for 10k years.

Wanda, WHAT did I say in Post 11 about how you cannot leave that clingy child alone immediately after tearing him away from Timmy?? If Poof shows up and he has abandonment issues and/or clingy vibes, I'm gonna shake you both so hard.

-> Why is Marcus not calling them out for being paranormal creatures? ... That's kind of funny since Crocker would've lost his mind.

I like how Cosmo and Wanda turned their wands into lollipops for the carnival. That's cute.

Uh-oh, the statue's not been revealed yet. I hope Dev isn't onstage when this happens. (I want him to be onstage and suffer).

-> I should note that "Stanky Danky" and "Lost and Founder" are the episodes Dale lists the companies he's in charge of, and I'm pretty sure they're different. I want to make a coherent list throughout the series.

Marcus is reading his wife's book at the party, aww. They're so cute.

OH MY GOSH, their ancestor IS surnamed Dimm! I am once again thinking this implies Dale Dimm from "Which Witch Is Which?" - who founded Dimmsdale - is probably also in this family tree.

Wanda's glowing wand is adorable. They're both cute.

So, Hazel has been here long enough she agrees she hasn't "just" moved here anymore, so I'll allow the waning crescents.

Doug Dimmadome struck gold in 1953? I'll be making a note of that. I know that's after both Dimmsdale and Dimmsdale Flats were founded. This doesn't do much for me right now, but it's good to note.

-> This implies he was a teen or adult in 1953, so he's definitely not close to the age of Timmy's parents, who were 10 in the '70s. This checks out; he's got the white hair.

-> Let's say this is 2020 for the purpose of "We know we're after 2019." (2020 - 1953) is 67, and the youngest I'd be okay letting him strike gold is 10, since 10-year-olds do a lot in this show. So, he's at minimum 77 years old during this show, and could very easily be 87 or more years older (87 if he struck gold at 20), if I'm doing my math right.

And again, that's off the assumption it's 2020, which is a little earlier than I'd been brainstorming. I'm okay with this since he had white hair in the OG series, but I'm gonna have to plot out a timeline for Dale's age at some point.

Dale: /evil monologues about his plan to monitor kids' heartrates to figure out exactly what a child want. Me: Dale, have you tried... talking to a kid? Maybe YOUR kid? Standing behind you? Dev, clearly uneasy: Dad, that's so great! You get to help kids right away!! Dale: ... Help kids?

^ Me

Wait, so the drones can waste products and not get yelled at? Dale, maybe you should focus your attention in that area of your business- I think you're losing product.

Why do the drones sound so sad? They're talking like all their friends just ditched them. They're so cute.

I love how he's still wearing the big boots:

Oh no, Dev's on stage and Dale's talking about how the statue "isn't just him" under the tarp and "he can remember when this bundle of joy arrived." Yeah, Dev's about to shatter.

Okay, Wanda's clearly startled that the statue doesn't depict Dev and even Cosmo's starting to sense that something's going on in that family. You two are going to report this, right?

Aww, Cosmo misses his son.

The contrast of Dev crashing and burning while Hazel is enjoying her new hat is very funny to me. Like, we get this sequence of how happy she is and you just know Dev's having the worst day.

Dev: It's Hazel! Of course... Her well-known love of hats! /said not long after Wanda was like "Hazel, I've literally never seen you wear a hat before yesterday, what do you mean you like hats?

That's actually very funny. And cute? When did Hazel and Dev talk about liking hats? Logically, that must've been while they were montaging on the treasure hunt and posing next to those hat-shaped objects for photos.

With Dev talking about the Dimmadomes running a family business, I'd really like to see what Dev's relationship with his grandfather is. Doug was also careless about destroying childhood memories and I don't trust him to be a good dad either, but I'm curious.

-> I actually have no proof Doug Dimmadome is still alive. I wonder if he's out of the picture and if that had a negative effect on Dale, which may be why he's throwing everything into the business right now, and why he loves his boots.

-> I should check if those boots are similar to his dad's. Like, what if he saw his dad die on the day Dev was born and the boots were left to him, so that's why the boots are so important to him that he dedicated a statue to them?

POV, the dad who (presumably) pampered you for life after you'd spent 7 years of torment underground - and you don't seem to have a mother in your life so this is your only parent and only known connection to a world that isn't full of suffering - is dying on the same day your wife is in labor. What do you do?

Aww, Hazel knows Dev well enough to sense that something's up and ask if he's okay, implying they seem to have grown closer from "A New Dev-elopment" when she saw his father scoff at him and opted to change the subject instead of asking about his feelings. They seem to be doing well as friends and I like that.

-> All these crescent moons make me wonder how long it's been since that episode, though since Dale was working on the Founder's Day event on the weekend, I assume we're still in that range of time.

Dev, holding his arm when Hazel asks if he's okay: I... don't have time to get into it.

They're so cute. I love them.

-> I love the focus on Dev right now, but I hope we don't go full steam ahead into Hazel's friendship with him and she sidelines Jasmine and Winn for her new buddy and/or potential crush.

She hasn't seen her friends this whole carnival, which surprises me. Don't do it, Hazel.

What, where did Dev get those shades. He didn't have those .4 seconds ago.

Dev's going to complete his task and give Hazel's hat back to his dad and still get rejected.

OH NO, Dev is trying to lure the scanner drones away from Hazel, but he didn't tell her that so she thinks he just called her a name, mugged her, and ran off. That's hilarious. #You tried.

Dev, you have to talk to people. You can't just assume she knows what's going on. Fool.

I like how Dale also has special eyewear (VR glasses).

I like how Cosmo inexplicably thinks all the Dimmadomes have "Pickle" as a middle name. I think he said that to Dev in an earlier episode, right?

I like how Hazel saved the day by "doing what Cosmo would do" and pressing all the buttons randomly. That's hilarious.

Barry the dinosaur was at the carnival... That's great.

HAZEL'S MAD!!

As she deserves to be- that's the second time Dev regressed to calling her names. She thought they went through this, but now she's like "He's not changing and also I literally just caught his dad in an evil plot of shocking children's brains with electricity. And Dev seems to have been helping."

Yeah... This is gonna go great. Also, his cute little poses:

Oh thank goodness... We are SO BACK, baby! The fluffy episodes were fine, but NOW we're gettin' somewhere!! Time to break some hearts.

"I would hug you, but I do not have human arms or warmth." I love them.

Aww, he likes her so much. Best buddies...

I didn't know this was his phone, I thought it was a retro video game console.

Oh, it's an iPad parallel. It's got a stand and that's why it's big.

I like how my extremely specific "Ed Leadly as Dev's other grandpa" situation just keeps getting worse the more I think about it.

Little Dev: Grandpa Leadly, I learned to write my name! :) Leadly sitting among his pencils as Dev hands him a tablet he typed on instead of pencil and paper: Buddy, rising star, apple of my eye, my little angel... I will pay you 17 million dollars to never do this in front of me again.

Dad who likes flashy and long-lasting things to remind himself how far he's come vs. grandpa who's willing to massively overpay for anything he took interest in for 5 seconds; what arguments will they endure?

OHHH BOY, it's fairy assignment time! LET'S FREAKIN' GO!

It's Poof!! That is not the voice I expected out of him, but maybe I should've because he did love deep voices back in "Certifiable Super Sitter." I accept it.

Aw, he's so ready to play! This makes me so happy... That's exactly what a fairy godparent is here for- Finding miserable kids and turning that around so they get happier memories of their childhoods. That's exciting!

-> Oh, NOW I see why you guys were all messaging me about my "Poof adores his hero Westley Periwinkle and likes naming things after him" lore, sdkjfl. Ahahaha... I'm in danger.

-> "Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Pixies" Poof-Westley interactions looming on the horizon

Interesting choice to change his name? I wonder if that was done for stylistic reasons like the script. I seem to remember the OG show's scripts would say POOF in them for special effects, and I can see how that would be confusing.

Is... is this because he's trying to lie low so he can dodge the attention he was always getting as a celebrity kid? That feels right, seeing as if it was a true deadname to him, he probably wouldn't have introduced himself as Poof before saying "I changed it to Peri, like Periwinkle."

Either that or he's unclear if Dev's heard anything about him from Cosmo, Wanda, or Hazel and he wanted to clarify who he is, though that doesn't seem likely.

Huh. I'm kinda surprised Poof showed up. I know in the past, he was a controversial addition to the show and I half-expected him to be swept under the rug, though I did wonder about it when Cosmo and Wanda were talking about him earlier.

I've always loved him though and I'm excited to have him back. Return of my other OTHER son.

I'm really excited to hear him talk since his talking was limited to "School of Crock" (only at the end), "Fairly Odd Fairy Tales" (which he mostly slept through), and "Certifiable Super Sitter" (which is... unique). I've had to make up his entire personality for 'fics based on what limited understanding we had of his interests. I look forward to learning more about this version of him!

My established version of him in 'fics will take priority over new information. I'm currently still on the line of "Do I want to ignore New Wish in my canon or try to incorporate what I can?"

That said, I'm leaning a little towards incorporating, since I think I can work with most of it so far, especially if we're throwing in "Fairywinkle-Cosma family aren't strangers to time travel right now."

-> I'm not committing by any means, so don't hold me to that, and even if I do, it'll be cherry-picky.

-> One of my canons for Cloudlands AU Poof is that he's a fanfic writer, mainly for a series called Ninja Cowboy (which he chronically leaves unfinished, to Foop's distress since as Poof's opposite, he's addicted to finding out their endings). He also writes Anti-Cosmo x H.P. fanfics because it's the only thing that makes them back off when they show up to bother him.

Point being, I hope he gets to engage in Prime Meridian with Dev. I feel like they'd enjoy writing 'fics together and it would be funny to me :)

-> I'm wheezing on the floor. Poof's early concept name was Dusty. Even though the writers wouldn't have reason to know that was his concept name, it's funny to me that his name was changed to something that's also not that. The man of as many names as voices he can mimic...

That works really well for me since I named his younger brother Dusty, so that would've caused me problems.

I also gave Poof a mullet / ponytail in my teen design, so that makes me laugh. Lemme see if I have his ref sheet...

I do! Plus a bunch more from my files:

Looks like I gave him a tuft kinda close to his extra hair strand! That's fun. I wonder if New Wish Poof also likes sports. Hmm...

I'm gonna have to look up what era suspenders were popular. I specifically designed my teen/adult Poof with a late 60s / early 70s vibe since Cosmo was said to have been designed for the 50s, which is the time period parallel I was treating Fairy World in during that era too (hence Poof's blog tag being #purple hippie dragonfly, which I'm not planning to change because it's for me).

Exciting! I like Poof's staff. I've seen people do adulthood designs for Foop with a staff, but Poof's a new one. That's fun.

Alas, no freckles... but that's not gonna change in his Cloudlands AU design. We are "biological queen bee" all the way here.

Hmm. Foop has freckles, but... we'll see if he ever shows up in this series. I do not expect the artists to remember his freckles since they only showed up when he puffed his cheeks or flushed, but... if Foop shows up without his mustache and goatee, I'mma have questions.

Actually, this is perfectly fine because I always draw gyne fairies with pale freckles unless they're at their peak, and I already set Finley up as more dominant than Poof at school (with Finley suppressing his pheromones so Poof's "locked down" anyway). It looks like they're pretty faint in his ref sheet too. I'm satisfied with this.

No promises I'll work the Peri arc into my canon. I think I have room for it to exist and I don't think I've seen anything in New Wish that directly conflicts with Cloudlands AU in a way I can't work around, but I'm not likely to write 'fics for New Wish right now.

-> I'm not opposed to incorporating New Wish prompts into the 130 Prompts series IF I find any old drafts I end up not liking, but I did a deep clean in early 2023 and got rid of ones I didn't like, so I'm not sure.

I did sketch Hazel for a potential arc cover though, so I can use that if I have reason to.

So far, as long as I can find a satisfying way for Poof to age, I think I can swing New Wish around to fit with Cloudlands AU... unless we get something super specific like Poof-Peri already graduating high school or Cosmo and Wanda confirming they won't have godkids after Hazel, in which case I'll have to ignore that.

I can even work things around if Peri's not with Goldie, because their whole thing in Cloudlands AU is celebrity drama and dating life struggles anyway (iirc, Foop even told readers that Poof and Goldie keep splitting up and getting back together).

-> I've always suspected Poof would get special advance godkid permissions seeing as, y'know... Jorgen literally made him trial test Crocker's Mom as his "godperson assignment" in "Fairly Old Parent," plus Poof was getting on-the-job training his whole life. It's neat to see him!

I hope Poof's better at not burning himself out now. He looks like he's doing okay. He's grown out of his shell!

-> According to my timeline, Erg was Cosmo and Wanda's trial kid while they were still in high school, so it would totally work for me if Dev is Poof's high school assignment.

I'm not expecting that to be stated, but I can work with it.

Thanks for joining me in this liveblog! Looking forward to more episodes :)

#Riddle watches FOP #New Wish spoilers #Pending Dev tag #Pending Hazel tag #Dragonfly parents #FAIRIES!#Lost and Founder #Long post #screenshots #Ed Leadly #Purple hippie dragonfly #Nerdy blue bat son

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youlikefanficdontyousquidward · 2 years ago

Text

Recom!Lopez x Human!Reader

Summary: Lopez doesn't get jealous...

One thing about Lopez was that he never got jealous. He was secure in his relationship with you. Trusting that as long as you were together with him you'd never stray.

He was right to trust you. God knows you weren't looking at anyone with him to come home to. No it wasn't you that he was worried about, it was everyone else.

You were just so sweet. Everyone who spoke to you got your undivided attention. You were always the one pulling folk into conversation. Leaning in and listening to someone folk had talked over. It wasn't your fault that all your colleagues were charmed.

You were just too trusting. Never assuming the worst in others like Lopez did. Not noticing when your colleagues leered down your shirt or brushed just a little too close in passing. Lopez could smell their touch coming off you when you came to him. He'd spend extra time replacing it with his own. Priding himself of the quivering mess you became under his touch. Angry that no one else could smell his scent on you, claiming you as his.

Lopez stewed in his chair now. His friends had gone quiet, ears twitching to listen to your conversation. He wasn't eavesdropping, he kept telling himself. He was just listening out for you, in case you needed him.

The creep was one of your colleagues working in the lab. Lopez recognized him, he hovered about your desk often when he came to grab you. His stench always clung the hardest to your skin. Little weasel was your superior, head lab coat or something.

So that's why you were being polite. Entertaining a little chat with your boss in the lunch queue. You didn't like him, of course not. Still Lopez didn't like the way he stared at your smile. The way his eyes flicked to your plump lips. Lopez's tail flicked behind him watching the mans hand usher your forward, just barely touching the small of your back.

Lopez stood up, chair squealing and almost toppling as he barrelled away from the table. Ja and Lyle watched eagerly as he stormed his way towards you. Lopez could feel the growl vibrating at the back of his throat. He had tunnel vision trained on you, other bodies practically leapt out of his path.

Still he slowed his approach, plastering a big smile as your head swiveled to his.

"Lopez!" you beamed. He could never get over how delighted you were to see him. Whether he'd been gone a day or an hour your bright smile always greeted him.

He wrapped an arm around your shoulder shifting you into his side. Lopez preened at the way your colleague bristled, clearly he'd interrupted him and he loved that. Your hand shifted up to hold a couple of his fingers, enemy briefly forgotten he turned his head down to you.

"I thought you were gone till tomorrow?" You pouted before gasping turning fully to him now. "Does this mean your free tonight!?" You exclaimed, tapping from one foot to another.

Lopez caught the other mans flinch at your remark, shrinking in on himself. Lopez smirked leaning down to kiss your hairline.

"Of course sweetcheeks." He chuckled. He moved you ahead of him, shooting a glare back at your boss. The man had went pale and didn't meet his gaze, staring at the floor and sweating. The queue kept moving, Lopez carrying your tray for you as you gushed about a lizard you'd been studying.

All the while Lopez listened but kept his gaze fixed around the room. One by one he noted all the broken dreams and shattered hearts. Men and women alike sizing themselves up against their competition and not liking the odds. He preened, chest jutting out a little as he lead you over to his table.

He was sure he'd have to fend off more humans again but his little show today would buy him time. Maybe they'd remember their fanged 9ft rival next time they thought to put their hands on you.

"Ah so this is Y/n?" Lyle smirked. Lopez felt his stomach sink. Lyle grinning took your hand, kissing your knuckles. "So nice for Lopez to finally introduce us all."

Lopez peered down the line of Cheshire grins feeling a cold sweat run down his spine. Sets of golden eyes locked onto your pretty smile as you introduced yourself sweetly.

Oh shit.

#my fics #lopez #recoms #avatar imagine #lopez x reader #recom x reader #human reader

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bluecatwriter · 7 months ago

Note

⭐

Thank you, dear anon! I decided on "Angels Unawares" because I want to gush about my OCs. ;) "Five times people helped Jonathan Harker reach safety between Castle Dracula and Buda-Pesth."

(Major spoilers, discussion of Christianity)

-I was inspired to write this fic based on the gigantic gap between Jonathan lizard-fashioning down Castle Dracula's walls and showing up in Buda-Pesth, and began to think about who might have encountered him along the way. From my days backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail, I am very aware of how difficult it is to travel large distances without good supplies (just finding enough water is a huge headache!), and I kept thinking that he had to have people helping him along the way.

-This fic was very inspired by my solo travels around the U.S. (and a bit in Europe) when I was in my early 20s— I was never in dire circumstances, but the way that people went far out of their way to help me made a huge impact on me. I wanted to explore the themes of the kindness of strangers, and how doing one little useful thing can help set things in motion for bigger good to be done.

-The title is a reference to a verse in the New Testament book of Hebrews, which one of the characters quotes in the first chapter: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." This verse was used in my immediate and extended family quite often, to encourage us to be kind to strangers and do what we could to help (my paternal grandmother swore that her family gave food and shelter to a pair of angels who showed up at their farm in Iowa when she was a kid). Someone in the comments show that in some sense Jonathan is an angel— an avenging angel who will return to destroy the foe who is haunting this part of the world.

-In each of the chapters, Jonathan encounters a different person or group of people who help him get a little closer to his destination, told from the outsider's perspective. I didn't have any strong themes or motifs in mind when I started out, but after a couple chapters, I noticed some running threads emerging: 1) Jonathan receiving a gift from each of the strangers, such as shoes or a handkerchief, and 2) the viewpoint characters helping him because they were able to see someone they already knew/loved in Jonathan. After I noticed it emerging I emphasized it intentionally, and I think it gives the story a good kind of structure.

-Chapter 1, set in Romania fairly close to Castle Dracula, is told from the viewpoint of Pavel, who lives with his son and his grandma and is grieving the death of his wife from a vampire. This one was one of the most difficult to write, because of a language barrier (it didn't make sense for them to speak English, and I decided that Jonathan was in no state to remember much of the German he knows) and because of the overwhelming fear that the characters are facing: at first thinking Jonathan is a vampire, then learning he's a victim instead.

-This chapter features some herbal remedies that I pulled from a book my brother got for me called "Russian Folk Remedies." Grandma uses herbs for dressing wounds and treating rabies (and in a rare burst of doing actual research, I made sure the herbs would be able to grow that far south).

-Jonathan reminds Pavel of the wife he lost, and Jonathan is sent on his way with shoes, a pack, and food.

-In Chapter 2, we meet Cristian, an old man with an estranged son. I actually made myself pretty emotional writing this chapter, drawing from my parents' stories about how difficult it is to let go of the childhood stage and accept your children as adults.

-It was important to me that Cristian is kind of a grumpy guy, and was initially going to chase Jonathan away. I didn't want everyone to be sunshine and rainbows— just ordinary people of various personality types who learn to have empathy, anyway.

-Jonathan reminds Cristian of his son, and is given Cristian's coat.

-Chapter 3 introduces Nicolae, the station-master at Klausenburg. I decided to make him young for some contrast to Cristian, and eager to do his job correctly. Meanwhile, I had to figure out how to show Jonathan's "violent demeanor" in a believable way.

-I decided to give Nicolae a seizure disorder to make him sympathetic to Jonathan having a meltdown in public. One of my family members has seizures, and even in the modern day, handling people's reactions when a seizure happens in a crowd is… not fun. There would have been even more social stigma back then, so I thought it was a good way to show that Nicolae is more open to Jonathan than other people might be because he knows what it's like to have people be afraid of him.

-I looked up some pictures of the Klausenburg station, but few of those details made it into the story.

-Nicolae gives Jonathan a sandwich with pickled garlic paste on it (yum!) and Jonathan can barely eat it; at this point it becomes a bit clearer that Jonathan is just a lil vamped right now.

-Jonathan reminds Nicolae of himself, and takes Nicolae's handkerchief with him.

-Chapter 4 introduces a retired nurse from the Romanian War of Independence, Maria. She's my favorite character! I based her no-nonsense personality on one of my sibling's in-laws, who was an ICU nurse for many years.

-Originally Maria was traveling with her niece, who translated for her, but the logistics got ridiculously complicated, so I left out the niece and just made Maria fluent in English.

-This is definitely the most gory chapter as we see the full extent of Jonathan's wounds. Fortunately he has someone to patch him up…

-Jonathan reminds Maria of the soldiers she tended during the war, and she gives him one of her spare shirts to replace his raggedy one.

-In Chapter 5 we finally get to Sister Agatha! I decided to make her one of the younger nuns working at the hospital, thinking that she probably wrote the letter not because she was the person in charge but because she was the one who spoke/wrote English most fluently.

-At the time I wrote this, my spouse and I were watching the show Call the Midwife, and that vibe informed the way I wrote the nuns.

-Once I figured out that each viewpoint character would see someone they loved/knew in Jonathan, I was champing at the bit to get to this chapter, because I knew Sister Agatha would looked at bedraggled Jonathan and be like, "Yeah, that's Jesus." She also gives him a rosary, which burns his hand, but he doesn't want to relinquish.

-I liked the little epilogue with Jonathan, still disoriented, waking up and taking stock of all the gifts he's been given along his journey, even if he can't really remember what is happening. Although the story doesn't necessarily "resolve" in that he hasn't found Mina yet, he's left with a feeling that people will continue to help him along his journey… and they do!

Well, this got a bit rambly, but thanks for the opportunity to gush. :D

(Ask game here)

#ask games #answered #director's cut game #dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #my writing #jonathan harker #sister agatha

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womanofwords · 2 years ago

Text

Training Simulation

Summary: the spider-gang end up in a training simulator with Doctor Octopus as their nemesis. But when the training AI discovers a weakness that all the spideys share, the AI goes a little haywire. TW: swearing, British slang and a spoiler for ITSV.

“I’m just so bored,” Miles groaned. “Nothing to do.”

“It’s because of capitalism. Boredom is supposed to drive you to want a job,” Hobie theorized.

“I would literally rather fight Doctor Octopus again than be this bored,” Gwen whined. Pavitr just nodded.

“Oh, really?” Miguel stalked over to where the teens were sitting, slouched in their seats. “You guys are bored?”

“How did you hear that?” Pavitr whispered, terrified.

“I hear everything,” Miguel hissed. “Lyla, are there any training rooms for them to use up their energy in?”

“One just opened up,” Lyla chirped. “It’s in Sector 5. Margo’s over there.”

“You’re going to love the training simulation rooms,” Margo said, showing them to an empty room.

“What sort of training is this?” Gwen asked.

“Well, being Spiderman means you deal with a wide range of villains, which look different depending on which dimension you’re in. They look different, act different, have different identities behind their own villain identities.”

You don’t have to remind me, Gwen thought, thinking of her Peter becoming the Lizard.

“I’m personally really proud of it because I did the AI programming myself,” Margo said, her tone sounding proud. “I programmed it to search for weaknesses and use them in the same way the villain would if they found out.”

“Which villain are we fightin’, then?” Hobie asked.

“Doctor Octopus,” Margo said. “The villains are on rotation. Last week, it was Mysterio. And the week before that, it was Scorpion.”

“Oh,” Miles said. Margo wasn’t walking with them any more; she had herded them into the training simulation room and was on the outside of the room plugging instructions in.

“Have fun!” she smiled as she closed the door on them. Doctor Octopus spawned in, a male version with a bowl cut and a German accent.

“Hello, little spiders,” he purred.

“Who’s this twat callin’ little?” Hobie asked, gesturing to his lanky frame. “That’s it!” Hobie ran towards the scientist supervillain, guitar raised to hit him on the head like he did to the president.

“What are you doing?” Gwen snapped.

“He got on my nerves,” Hobie yelled, leaping into the air to attack him from above. He was suspended in the air by a tentacle.

“That’s an interesting weapon,” the supervillain said, taking Hobie’s guitar and throwing it at the wall. It shattered into long wooden splinters.

“My friend gave me that guitar, you fuckin’ wanker!” Hobie yelled, angrily trying to pry himself out of the tentacle’s grip. A second tentacle ended up underneath his arm to pull it away, squeezing at his armpit.

They weren’t expecting to hear a snort of laughter.

“Get your nasty little tentacles away from mehehehehe!” Hobie giggled.

“Oh, does the little spider have a weakness?” Doctor Octopus taunted, more tentacles latching onto more ticklish spots.

“What is happening?” Miles asked.

“Hobie’s secretly really ticklish,” Gwen explained, teasing.

“And it’s adorable!” Pavitr gushed.

“IHIHIHIT’S NOT ADORABLE!” Hobie yelled through his laughter.

“I wonder if the other spiders have the same weakness,” Doc Ock said, as more versions of the same villain came in. Miles recognized the one from his own dimension. Pavitr’s one looked terrifying, a demonic entity with six arms and shoulder armour. Gwen’s universe didn’t have a Doctor Octopus, so they borrowed one from another universe. The first thing they saw was Hobie laughing himself silly with tentacles squeezing at every available ticklish spot. And, since every version of Doctor Octopus was incredibly clever and vindictive, they got the hint fast.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this ages ago! A chance to find out more about Spiderman’s nervous system right in the palm of my hands!” 1610 Doc Ock laughed, as a robot arm restrained Miles’ wrist and human arms traced Miles’ ribcage. The other three robot arms squeezed at his tummy.

“I thought you got hit by a truck!” he giggled.

“What truck?” she asked.

“THA-THA-THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Miles dissolved into laughter.

“Honestly, I didn’t think our little arachnid foes were so easily defeated,” 50101 Doctor Octopus said. Pavitr was in fits of laughter in his many arms, the laughter ranging from fits of giggles to full-on belly laughs. Gwen wasn’t having much luck, either. Her uniform was thin and didn’t protect her at all.

“Hey, is it - OH MY GOD!” Margo gasped as she saw the previous confident and bored spider variants in the throes of laughter.

“HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHELP!” Miles yelled.

“On it!” Margo made copies of herself to turn off the simulation, letting the giggling teens relax. “I’m so sorry! There was only supposed to be one! I don’t know what happened!”

“It’s fine, lemme . . .” Hobie got up and collapsed.

“That took a lot out of you,” Margo observed. “Come on.” More copies appeared, picking up the exhausted kids and taking them away.

“We do not need to go to some dumb medical centre,” Miles groaned.

“You’re not. You’re going to the cosy room. It’s a room full of blankets, pillows, sofas, and beds. You’ll love it so much.” Margo kept walking, dragging the others away.

The room was a paradise. Soft blankets, a huge bed right in the middle of a sea of sofas and giant pillows. They were placed into the large bed side by side, the biggest blue blanket draped over them. Then, she backed out of the room slowly, not wanting to disturb their slumber. Once she was out of earshot, she raced back to the training simulation room and called Lyla.

“Lyla, are the training sessions recorded?”

“Yes!” the bubbly AI’s voice replied.

“Good. Send a copy of the training session by Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Pavitr Prabhakar and Hobie Brown directly to me,” Margo said conspiratorially.

“Done it.”

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thevideogameshutterbug · 1 year ago

Text

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5) Thoughts - Beginning At The End

No photos this time (I might add a few later). But I've got a lot of thoughts (and photos) about this game now that I'm finishing it up, but I just got finished my last sidequest in the postgame and I wanted to gush about it.

Spoilers, by the by. Quite a few of them.

----

The Mysteriums were a lopsided a pain the ass but man am I glad I saved this quest for last.

I've been thinking a lot about how much this game seeks to embody why Peter's beliefs in having empathy for the people he fights and getting to know who these villains are as people matters, and this quest - as well as Quentin Beck's final words to cap off the story - are such a perfect capper to that.

Nothing is as it seems, especially when you look at heroes and villains. Anything can change for anybody faster than you could ever realize it. When you take the masks off, it's all people making decisions. A good person can go down a dark path, a bad person can decide they no longer want to be that person any more. Not everyone is going to, but it's important to know that such a thing is always possible.

Heck, this game has an almost ''unprecedented'' number of reformed villains for a superhero franchise: Sandman, Mysterio, Tombstone, Mr. Negative, Prowler technically Lizard, all people who understand they did wrong and whose only motivation now is trying to make their way in the world going forward.

Jonah has a podcast early in the game where he insists that people never really change (about either Sandman or Lizard, iirc), advocating for criminals to be just kept in prison in perpetuity (which, I like this version of Jonah, but goddamn is he hard to like sometimes). Wraith advocates just killing these guys because naturally they're never going to change and they might as well be removed from the equation. And naturally, Symbiote Peter eventually starts considering the idea that maybe the best way forward is just to kill everybody who could be a threat.

But this game doesn't just counterpoint that by having its ultimate evolution be monstrous like most superhero works: instead, this game makes a strong point of why that mentality doesn't work - this is a fantasy story, but it's also a good point for real life.

Coming from a law family where I had a lot of interaction with formerly incarcerated people, and living in an inner city relationship where - again - anything can happen to skew a person's life in ways nobody thought they would go, it's not just a more realistic point - it's an essential point: people always change, and any belief otherwise is just an excuse not to examine the world around oneself. They can change for the worse, they can change for the better, or just kind of laterally shift, but they always change. A failure to recognize it is a failure of the self, not the other.

There's a strong trend of former villains in this game being taken advantage of by other villains, with the new villains doing so with the expectation that nobody will come to the former villains' aid, trust them, or aid them in any way (Mysterio's partners try to frame him, Tombstone and Negative get abducted by people who were sure no one would come for them, Sandman gets driven mad and dumped onto the city to be tossed into prison). And it's absolutely amazing to be Spider-Man in this game and be the one who fights tirelessly for everybody, even the people who have spurned their chances before, because that's who Spider-Man is.

Even if their stories still don't always end positively. Because it's still the right thing to do it, and it's a worse crime to stop.

Man, I love Spider-Man.

As a final note, I especially like that none of the former villains really expect to be forgiven and several never are. This might be the philosopher in me talking, but it's not in forgiveness that one finds redemption, but in the capacity of change in and of itself.

#the video game shutterbug #spider man ps5 #marvels spider man 2 #playstation 5 #insomniac games #heroes and villains #mysterio #sandman #tombstone #prowler #the lizard #mister negative #people always change #rehabilitative justice #philosophical thoughts #heroism #no photos in a photo focused blog #lots of spoilers though

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quinloki · 3 days ago

Note

Gonna take minute to gush about my self-insert/isekai victim, Ruth (as featured above) and also my selfships (Smoker and Drake, separate or together, I am not picky lol).

Ruth's fully aware of the plot of One Piece and all the events that are going to occur, as well as charcter backstories, because of her unfortunate run in with good ol' Truck-kun. Depending on what I'm writing she either gets forcibly drafted into the Straw Hats by Luffy, forcibly adopted by Whitebeard, or ends up following one of her boyfriends around like a lost cat. I also gave her a (very much overpowered but I do not care) Devil Fruit, a mythical Zoan that gives her a variety of abilities in addition to turning into a Western Dragon. (All of this normally results in my fics starring her becoming Ace lives fics, and also Whitebeard Lives too.). She's 26 post-timeskip, so ten years younger than Smoker, but she doesn't really care. People tend to think she's younger cause she's got a rounder face.

IDK why I looked at Smoker and went 'oh yeah he's my favorite now' but I did. I love the idea of him being 'openly' in a relationship with a pirate (or two) and having to kind of reconsile that with his Marine morals and whatnot. (by the relationship being openly known about, I mean Tashigi knows about it.) He loves Ruth a lot, but she tends to get herself into situations(tm) and it makes him worry. she always comes back though.

The relationship with Drake is kind of weird, because I am NOT anywhere near any arc featuring him in my actual watchthrough but I know enough to be mildly obsessed with him. Which is also how Ruth feels, mildly obsessed. I like the idea of Zoan users pairing up because they can take a little more punishment from their partners. She tries outright attacking Queen and Whos-who because they hurt him, but she doesn't really get the chance to fight either of them.

in general, she loves both her husbands, and they love her. Smoker occasionally wakes up being smothered by two oversized lizards. I write angst and smut and fluff and all manner of stuff about them. (I also tend to put her into ships with whatever character I find attractive, but I always go back to these two)

I post about her (and the big bad Marine boys) on @turquoisewritermaster Thank you for letting me ramble, I have kept this Bible sized lore book in my head for like two years

\o/ I love her! I love - OMG YES GIVE YOUR OCS COOL SHIT PLEASE THANK YOU 🥰✨❤️👍

I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fully-normal-oh-gods-why-am-I-here style of OCs too, all OCs are legit, but I love when people just indulge and create that really cool thing because it makes them happy.

Rock on \o/

I love the Drake/Smoker/Ruth poly pile =3 (I'm all caught up and I think Drake is a good fit for this for what that's worth ^_^ )

Maybe because my own OC is a flavor of isekai'd into One Piece that I really love OCs that are from here. It's just fun to see everyone's take on things, and how they handle the differences between worlds, the stories, etc.

In-Universe OCs are awesome too, but I'm a sucker for the perspective of an isekai.

Thank you for sharing!

Gush to me

#quin answers #turquoisedragonmaster #one piece oc #ask me anything #ask game

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miradelletarot · 9 months ago

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Hey! Sorry to hear you’re going through it and had a rough day. Tell me about your dog! What’s Lady like? I know gushing about my pets always makes me feel a little better.

Sending you love, and hope tomorrow is a better day. ❤️

My pupper!! She's such a potato but I love the hell out of her.

I don't recall how much I have actually shared about her so forgive any repeated info.

She was born October 8th, 2014 (She's a purebred. Me and my ex had a *lot* of issues with rescues sadly. long story...) We named her lady because she sat up all prim and proper with her front paws crossed and he just looked like royalty. it was the cutest thing. I was about halfway through my pregnancy with my daughter at the time, and so when I went to meet Lady before we could officially take her, she curled up on my belly and put her wittle face between my boobs (lol) and fell asleep. If I coulda taken her home that day I would have.

She's an old Lady now, but she's got a ton of energy. She's a bit lazy, and has really bad anxiety. She's the queen of puppy eyes, and loves attention. New person? LET. ME. LOVE. YOU. DAMNIT is 100% her energy. You'll get sick of her WAY before she gets sick of you. She won't play with toys, but if she sees a squirrel, a bird, a lizard, etc. you bet your ass she's gonna try and chase it. I think she's afraid of snakes tho. Also, she sheds like CRAZY. my ex said "let's get a short haired dog! she won't shed." BULLSHIT. I was only petting her the other day, and I think I petted a whole other dog off of her. I wish I was kidding.

Thank you for asking about my little love. Lady is to me like Tara is to Gale (minus the wings and the sassy motherly talk lol).

I adore her, and I hope she's secretly immortal.

#ask mira #mira's ask box #Lady pupper!#bestest doggo #dogs of tumblr #rat terrier #Lady thru the years #Thanks so much for asking about my doggo #i love her so much #the way she is sleeping in the picture with the penguin pants #is how she fell asleep on me when i first met her #i would lie on the couch when i was pregnant and she would sleep on my side all curled up #it was the cutest thing ever #and was great at cleaning up the baby snacks my kids would drop on the floor lol

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taiblogcomics · 1 year ago

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Colour Me Sad

Hey there, crumb dumpsters. It's February now, huh? Or, wait, was it already February last week…? It all kind of runs together, doesn't it? Ah, well, let's just get into it.

Here's the cover:

Ah, good, another really nice cover. I'm glad to get to show you her red outfit, because it's pretty cool. The best covers of this series have all been the most magical-girl-focused ones, haven't they? Maybe that's a lesson other comics need to take to heart. I mean, I'd read Batman more if he was a magical girl, wouldn't you~? Anyways, cool cover, and cool outfit for someone who's essentially a magical girl track-and-fielder~

Our story so far: Real world girl Wisp used her friend Willow's security system to fight shadow monsters and got sent to the Rainbow Lands, where she took up the role of legendary hero, Rainbow Brite. The King of Shadows is stealing all colour from the world, so she has to unite the seven Color Guardians to reignite Rainbow Castle. She, her sprite friend Twinkle, and Color Guard Red Flare are in the land of Red Mesas to do exactly that: rescue another Color Guard from the dungeons. But first, they gotta fight an evil robot named Herky. Excellent!

Herky is a robot with one objective: grab the intruders. He's already got Red Flare in his grip, but Wisp is a bit more clever. Recall that Red Flare thinks his power of super speed is only good for running away. Wisp, however, is a little more clever, and able to use it offensively. She first runs deeper into the cave so she can use the tunnel to dodge an extended fist, and then loops around so she runs behind the various lizard minions, while Herky punches and knocks them all out. See how super speed can be the best power~?

Herky, frustrated now, activates his ultimate move: spin mode. Fall before the unchecked might of… the windmill! Red Flare quickly becomes ill, while Wisp just shows her skill at jumprope. Finally, Herky gives up on capturing her, and goes instead for outright attacking. He slams the ground, which causes the sands to ripple enough to knock Wisp off her feet. Herky's fist comes down, and she's knocked out. The next time we see our heroes, they're undeground, in the prison cells set below the mine. Captured…

Red Flare is depowered and Wisp is unconscious, but she's being tended to by someone off-screen. The dialogue indicates it's the green Color Guardian. While they tend to Wisp (with the help of Twinkle and the green sprite, Lucky), Red Flare gushes about Wisp's performance. Red Flare's own red Sprite, Romeo, is also here. Having seen her in action now, he's definitely convinced she's the real deal for Rainbow Brite now. Twinkle backs him up, telling Lucky all about their adventures so far. They're also preparing some bandages for the unconscious Wisp.

Wisp doesn't stay that way for long, though, since she's the main character and all. She wakes up, and almost screams. And here's where we get our first look at the green Color Guard. Now, Red Flare is just a human boy with spiky black hair. Green, on the other hand, has bark-brown skin covered in swirl patterns, and leaf-like green hair. She has two small branch-like horns just above her eyebrows, and her eyes have large black irises. She introduces herself as Patty, claiming her real name is too hard to pronounce with human mouthparts.

Yep, remember when Twinkle explained that Rainbow Land provides colour for all the other worlds? Yep, that was confirming the existence of aliens. When choosing Color Guard candidates, why not pick from the best in all the universe? Wisp is pretty stunned by the revelation, even having been in Rainbow Land with a magical Sprite for about a day or so now. However, while she's yelling about this, another voice rudely tells her to keep it down, as some folks are trying to sleep. And then from nothing, a fourth Sprite appears. I almost said "third", because Romeo has not contributed one lick to the conversation so far.

This is Gloomy, a dark-coloured Sprite, who's also called an Envy or N.V.--a Non-Visible. Colour extends beyond the spectrum of what we can see, you know! Gloomy is the Sprite for Ultraviolet. He's kind of understandably crabby because most folks can't even perceive him. It's hard to invite someone to a picnic if you don't even know if they're in attendance. Just like he's crabby now because they're interrupting his nap. Twinkle points out that he's not even locked up in a cell like they are, but he demands they be the ones to leave.

Wisp tries talking to him, but he's no less patient with her. He already knows who she is, because he knows Twinkle's own backstory. Twinkle used to get bullied because he was a white Sprite. But there's no such thing as a white Sprite. He doesn't know what land he belongs to or what his purpose is. So he poured himself into studying, and that's how he discovered the history of white Sprites and the legends of Rainbow Brite. He's been waiting all his life for Rainbow Brite to appear, so he'd finally have a purpose. And now he's found her!

Wisp calls Gloomy out for being a bully, since he doesn't see her saving anybody from that side of the cage. At least she tried! At least Twinkle tried, and he had to go all the way to another world. And Lucky and Romeo are here, too! Where's Gloomy's Color Guard, after all? Gloomy replies that it takes a certain kind of person to be the Ultraviolet Guard, and while he's listing off virtues, he catches wind of an unusual scent on Wisp. No one else can detect it, but he asks if she was wearing other clothing today. She mentions her friend Willow's jacket from earlier, and this is Gloomy's eureka moment.

Gloomy disappears, and they're not sure if he just turned invisible or not. He hasn't--we cut back to Earth. Like I said, it's been at least a day since Wisp and Twinkle met, and both Wisp's and Willow's families are at the police, trying to nail down their story of what happened to Wisp the previous night. Willow could see the shadows same as Wisp, but none of the adults could. All they know is Wisp disappeared some time after the alarm was tripped. The cops send Willow out into the hall so they can talk to her parents alone.

Frustrated, she storms out, pouting at how they don't believe her. If she'd made up the story, she'd have at least made up a better ending. But there is someone who believes her. Gloomy appears, and she recognises him as the same sort of creature accompanying Wisp when she disappeared. He tells her Wisp is in trouble, and she's the only one who can help now. But they have to hurry, or they'll miss the moment. He ushers her outside, to her confusion, and has her stand in a specific place. No time to explain! And the comic ends as a lightning bolt comes down from the heavens and strikes Willow! SHAZAM!

And I do mean the comic ends. Not just the issue. Yes, it is my sad duty now to reveal to you that, as good as this series was, it only ever got these five issues. This one came out five years ago this very month, so the chances of it getting picked back up are pretty slim now. As I mentioned at the start, this was an experiment in some way. We've seen disappointing comics before. Mostly because the comics were awful. Here, I wanted to show you that disappointment can come from good comics too~

So, yeah! We'll never see Wisp and friends get out of that prison. We'll never see the other members of the Color Guard or find out what kind of powers and outfits Wisp could draw from them. I think the ending here was setting up Willow to become Stormy, but we'll never see that either. We'll never even see more of these gorgeous covers! Isn't that just... unfortunate? I wish this could've gone on for so many more issues. However many it took to tell its tale.

Because let's face it, the one thing this series was bad at was pacing. It's a lot of exposition. It really has a huge backstory and a load of worldbuilding it wants to share. And it's good stuff! It's very interesting and enjoyable! But it is paced for a very long and ongoing book, and probably would've worked better as a graphic novel instead of an ongoing series. It's a real shame. Everybody who's also had a show cancelled early (especially nowadays in the streaming age) shares this pain. I hope this at least puts a little more word out there that this existed, for however brief a time, so you can hold it in your hearts with me~

#comics #reviews #Rainbow Brite #Taiblog

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defira85 · 7 months ago

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4 and 13 if you want to and haven't answered em yet? For the creator one

Ask meme here (these ones are SO good, I really love your ability to get into the real meat of our Durges and their creation)

4. How did Durge come to be? Why them? Was it a vibe you tried to capture or a specific visual you wanted to represent? Did you borrow them from previous works or were they handcrafted for this story you have in mind?

OKAY SO. I really didn't vibe with the idea of Durge to begin with? I didn't understand why they were doing MORE Bhaalspawn, I didn't understand why Durge was an Origin but you couldn't have the Lizard in your camp if you were a custom Tav, the moody monologue that Durge gives in the character creator just made me roll my eyes...

But then I played my custom Tav (Carmela, the problematically pious paladin) and got all the reveals about how Durge was involved in this plot without remembering it, and THEN I met Gortash and it was all over for me

One of my favourite past OCs is a sith inquisitor from SWTOR, a deranged lesbian pureblood sith who honestly has a lot in common with Orin, and playing an evil character with her was such a hoot that I decided I would try Durge in BG3. I wanted to lean into the inherent tragedy of Durge, and for some reason I decided I wanted to make twin Durges, I think it was just because I wanted to have more characters in my roster to smooch the companions. So I went trawling through greek myth for a set of twins that appealed to me, and landed on Cassandra of Troy, the doomed oracle, cursed to never be believed, raped and assaulted while the gods looked on, taken as a prisoner of war and killed far from home. She has a lesser known twin named Helenus, who shared her oracular powers to a lesser extent, but he survived the war in Troy and went on to lead his own city. The disparity in their fates and the suffering they endured hit on something for me, and so was born Kassara and Heronus.

I also intended for them both to be more outright (cartoonishly) evil, more akin to Orin, and at least one of the earliest bits of writing I posted for them reflects that. I think Kass is still quite bleakly horrifying in a lot of the stuff I ended up writing for her, but she's far more of a Tragic character

13. Final and spiciest question. How down bad are you for your Durge. Would you hit it even though you'd probably not make it out alive?

Oh my god Kass is SO hot. She's not as fat as I am but writing even a chubby character being considered incredibly attractive and voraciously sexual has been a balm for my soul. Every time someone reblogs art of her and gushes in the tags about her being hot it heals something in me. She has the fattest tits in Baldur's Gate and the widest thighs, and yes she has choked men to death with both. I love her. I'll play the ace card and say I'd be satisfied with a hug, I'd happily die in those tits

#daemons-main #daemon-in-my-head #Defira does a meme #Kassara Bhaal #OC: Kassara #THANK YOOOOU

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jayextee · 10 months ago

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Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

(including Dragon's Curse/Adventure Island)

So, apart from the Brazilian release Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate, I believe I've played through every version of this game now. Spoilers, they're all 5/5 bangers.

In essence, one of the OG MetroidVania games before the genre was codified, in its year of release 1989 this was absolutely amazing and truly made me have no regrets growing up as a SEGA kid. I believe I've waxed lyrical in my review of the 2017 remake, so I won't gush too much. Heh. So instead, some notes about the three main versions before that.

The original Master System version needs no introduction. It's a solid romp, probably the best game for the system. Looks great, sounds great (with PSG or FM sound!), and is a nice 2-3 hour distraction when I need it. No notes.

The PC Engine version, known either as Dragon's Curse or Adventure Island (confusingly, given the series' spaghetti-ball of a lineage) is a fair enough game. Because it's the Master System version. Kinda. Apart from some changes to Lizard and Piranha Man, plus Lion Man being replaced with Tiger Man, you'd be hard-pressed to see any difference between the two outside maybe one or two recoloured skies. But I assure you, there's more shading on almost every visual element here.

This may sound like a diss, but despite it not really 'feeling' like PC Engine fare it's still good. It does run at a full 60fps though; double the other two versions here.

My initial impressions of the Game Gear version were basically to the tune of 'oh dear, oh dear me'. I wasn't impressed. Rather than redraw a whole game's worth of assets to compensate for the smaller screen real-estate, the game is instead crunched to a tiny space with simplified layouts in places. Combat is tougher as a result of the reduced visibility, but it's nothing that can't be adapted to. Oh, but I'd have killed for a camera that looks ahead in the player's facing direction. Alas.

However, as I played further, stubbornly due to my want to play all the versions of this childhood favourite, I started to notice changes that really improved things on a fundamental level.

For starters, the 'charm point' system is gone (buy what you want, when you want! As long as you've got the rubies, uh, coins), as with the 2017 remake. Unlike that version, however, the charm stones have been replaced with teleportation gems that serve to return the player to the main village on use. And there's plenty of them; perhaps a quality-of-life measure with the Game Gear's poor battery life in mind? Either way, it's welcome -- even if the lack of 'home' doors post-boss was initially sorta confusing.

But. Also. Due to the game essentially having a small-scale redesign to accommodate the crunched screen, certain areas have a particular new 'flavour' to them. It's now impossible to accidentally stumble into the lava canyon area before you've access to Piranha Man's swimming now, for example. There are a few interesting screens in the final dungeon as well, and the pyramid's key is now in the sphinx at its far side. Et cetera, and so on, and so forth.

Actually that made this version totally worth playing through, and I think it remiss to not have paid homage to some of the changes in the 2017 version. Ah well. Had it a look-ahead camera I'd actually call this tiny handheld version the definitive one of the pre-remake versions. But it's not to be.

Either way, I told ya. Three absolute banger versions of a great game.

5/5

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edgepunk · 2 years ago

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Okay, filtered MSM 2 thoughts:

We knew Kraven was gonna show up in the sequel, however, I def did not expect The Lizard/Dr. Connors and the fact that Kraven is focused on him instead of Peter or Miles is very interesting. I wonder if they're gonna sort of recreate/reference Kraven's Last Hunt 👀

Either way, I'm very excited to see these classic villains showing up. Maybe we'll see Yuri Watanabe/Wraith too??? They were building her up in one of the DLCs quite well. Also, interested to see how Peter will react since they were friends.

Gameplay!!!!!! I already loved the gameplay in the first game, and the Miles Morales game improved upon that. And they seemed to take it another step further, it's like they actually listened to the criticism that people had, and I didn't know it was possible to improve the already banger gameplay (tho yes the first one was a little clunkier but still v intuitive)

The new traversal features look so good hello?? The web wings used as a glider? Miles slingshotting himself across the city??? aoughhfg and also!!! It looks like we'll be able to explore other parts of New York like Queens and maybe Brooklyn??? tbh Manhattan became a little restrictive after a while in the first two games, so it would be cool to expand the map a bit. Y'all know I'm meh about huge maps with some exceptions, but if done right, I think it's gonna be good.

Putting this under a read more bc this game is driving me insane I'm eating drywall

So I was right that we'll be able to switch between Peter and Miles. I kinda guessed that they're gonna be mission specific, and maybe, we can switch between them in free roam like with Jacob and Evie in AC: Syndicate (this specific feature isn't confirmed, just speculation on my part)

Looks like Nuform changed Miles' abilities since his Venom (heh) powers can turn blue? I'm interested to see what it did to him and if they're going to address it. Maybe it's purely for aesthetic/gameplay reasons. Who knows, I'm still curious.

Also, love how they incorporated Ganke as their guy in the chair. I loved him in MM and the fact that he helped Miles with the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app. Just give me more Ganke please, he was really charming and they managed to differentiate him from MCU Ganke Ned that he feels like his own character.

Okay, I'm done beating around the bush and I'm going to address the elephant in the room - the symbiote. This is all we've been waiting for, we knew from the post-credits scene from the first game that Peter is gonna have the black suit. I'm glad Insomniac were like "yeah let's get this over with" and showed it to us.

And people are already calling him Bully Lowenthal 💀

Now, I was a little bit iffy about the design of the black suit, but after I watched the trailer a couple of times, it's starting to grow on me? Maybe I'm looking too much into it but the organic armor/exoskeleton design gives me xenomorph vibes, and I love the tendrils in the "exposed" exoskeleton. The texture looks gross and slimy and I love it. I was wondering if they're gonna add some subtle sci-fi horror elements to it and they delivered. I've always said that the symbiote has a lot of space/eldtrich horror potential.

Which brings me to the tendrils (I can already hear the p*rn artists working hard), jokes aside, they look so cool and they're animated so well???? The way Peter fights with them??? He straight up turns into a uhhh tentacle monster for a split second. And his fighting style is so brutal, I liked when he kept repeatedly kicking the guy as if he was a punching bag ddjhsjh

but the scene where he shows up in the sewers(???) yeah this shot legit gave me chills bro looks fr intimidating

And do I really need to gush about Yuri Lowenthal's voice acting? Ben 10 off the shits I'm gonna do it anyway bc holy shit he got the guttural growl down to a T. However, I do wish they put a very subtle filter on his voice. Doing that kind of growly voice must've hurt his throat real bad. Maybe his voice is gonna become more monstrous as the game progresses, that'd be real neat :3c

Honestly, I'm really curious to see how it will affect Peter since May is dead, the whole thing with Otto (I think they're gonna have a convo on the Raft maybe???), he's got a lot of debts to pay and he mentioned that Harry is dying. Bro's going through it fr also parksborn angst???? I'm ready for the homoerotic undertones in their cutscenes kdjkdjdkj I'll take any crumbs I can get 👀

And the way that Peter just dismissively shoved that one civilian away??? Ah?? I'm not ready for Peter to become an absolute cunt and be mean to Miles. There's a high probability we're gonna have to fight Peter in a boss fight as Miles aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ANYWAY THAT'S IT I'M LOSING MY MIND

#I'M SO SORRY IT'S SO LONG #I should tag these posts somehow for filtering purposes hmm #msm2 thoughts #yea that'll do #spider man #spiderman #spider-man #chatter

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lampmanliveblogs · 1 year ago

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The Symbolic Significance of Snakes

An Incomplete and Amateurish Exploration of the Symbolism Surrounding Snakes and its Significance to the Story of The Owl House (up to and including For the Future)

I love alliteration.

I gushed a lot in my liveblog of For the Future about Luz’ newly hatched palisman Stringbean (and should this be the first post of mine you read, I have not seen Watching and Dreaming yet, so please, no spoilers) And while I pointed out some of the snake imagery that hinted at the serpentine shape of Luz’ familiar, I really didn’t go into the symbolism of snakes. So I’m gonna do that.

But first, a quick recap of the aforementioned snake imagery that hinted at. This list may be incomplete or missing things since I’m just going off of memory.

Class: Reptilia (a.k.a all the foreshadowing)

As far back as episode one, season one, Luz was paying with snakes, capturing several to use during her book presentation. It might also be worth mentioning that the Good Witch Azura’s enemy in the book she was doing her report on had a Gildersnake as an enemy. Also in episode one, Camila mentions that Luz should make some friends that aren’t made up, or reptiles. So even from the beginning, Luz has had a bit of an affinity for reptiles.

(and since birds are reptiles, it makes sense she ended up with a bird-themed witch)

We also have the recent addition to the Noceda family in Vee, a basilisk/naga/legless lizard/snake type creature. Not only is she all of those things, she is also a shapeshifter, just like Stringbean would turn out to be.

Thanks to Them had a bunch of foreshadowing. In Camila’s nightmare/falshback, we see Little Luz finding a ”snake pajamas” which she excitedly shows off to the other kids at the playground. The same snake skin is framed and displayed in Camila’s bedroom.

(the snake pajamas framed and displayed in Camila’’s bedroom form a circle. This could represent infinity or a cycle of rebirth, and indeed, snakes do represent reincarnation and healing, more on that later. Or, it could be a reference to the Lindworm, a creature from Nordic myth. The lindworm is a large snake, related to dragons that will sometimes bite its own tail and roll around like a wheel. For a funny fairy tale involving a lindworm, check out THIS video by Overly Sarcastic Productions)

Also in Thanks to Them, Luz wears a shirt with an interesting design, with what looks like a staff with a snake coiled around it. One of the doodles in her notebook when she wonders what her palisman would turn out to be was also a snake.

Order: Squamata (a.k.a Snake symbolism in religion, myth, and legend)

Now, when one considers the symbolism of snakes as it relates to Luz Noceda, the main character of The Owl House, there is one particular that likely springs to mind. Trust me, I am going to talk about that one, but I have this really big book all about symbolism and I’m gonna use it.

Speaking of which, most of the information I’m getting for this segment comes from a book called Signs & Symbols, written by Miranda Bruce-Mitford. It’s great book, I highly recommend it, it’s got information about all sorts of things. And while you’re at it, consider getting Myths & Legends by Philip Wilkinson as well. It’s made in the same style.

Of note is that I’m reading the Swedish translated version, and I’m translating that back to English. The original version likely varies considerably.

Signs & Symbols has a page dedicated to snakes (pages 66-67 in my version). Here is an excerpt:

”With its unusual appearance and unique way of moving, the snake has garnered both fascination and disgust. The snake’s simple beauty is contrasted with its complex and mighty symbolic meanings.”

”The snake’s peculiarity, mystery, and the fact that it lives in holes in the ground makes it a creature of the underground. Its twisting way of moving reminded many early cultures of winding rivers, flowing hills, scrubby roots, and even the spiraling cosmos. The result was a multifaceted symbolism which encompasses dualism, fertility, primordial power, and creation.”

”Within mythology and religion, the snake is a dual force that can have both positive and negative symbolic value. It is a guardian and a destroyer, light and darkness, good and evil. Snakes can have deadly venom and swallow animals much bigger than themselves. At the same time, them shedding their skin is associated with reincarnation and healing.”

It goes on to talk about how in Christianity, a snake in the Garden of Eden convinced the first woman Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. God cursed the snake, and thus the snake became a symbol of the devil. Meanwhile, in Buddhism, the serpent king offered the Buddha protection, and is thus viewed in a much more positive light.

Since snakes often live in dark holes, they are often connected to the underworld and the power of the dead. But at the same time, they are also often associated with gods and divine power.

Snakes are often also associated with wisdom. In ancient Egypt, the cobra represented godly and kingly wisdom. The Māori people associate the snake with earthly wisdom while other cultures consider the snake a wise and cunning mediator between heaven, earth, and the underworld.

In Chinese horoscopes, the snake is sensual, creative, careful, and responsible. It can also be secretive and suspicious.

Caduceus is a winged staff with two snakes coiled around it. It is the staff of the Greek god Hermes and has a number of symbolic meanings. In alchemy, it represents the combination of two opposites, the power of transformation and the resulting balance. While interesting, a perhaps more relevant symbolic meaning is its connection to healing, as a winged staff with two snakes entwining it has often been used to represent medicine.

Interestingly enough (and this is something I learned while skimming wikipedia) is that that while the caduceus has been used as a symbol for medicine and doctors, some argue that it’s the wrongful use of the symbol. A more appropriate symbol would be the Rod of Asclepius, a rod entwined by a single snake, and carried by Asclepius, the Greek god of healing and medicine. Many emergency medical services use the Star of Life, a blue, six-pointed star with the Rod of Asclepius in it.

Suborder: Serpentes (a.k.a What does it all mean?)

Alright, alright, but how does any of this relate to our dear protagonist girl and her adorable little familiar?

I did mention in my liveblog of the episode that Stringbean being a shapeshifter represented how Luz’ may not know exactly what her future is going to look like, but so long as she puts her mind to it, anything is possible. I didn’t use those exact words, I said that ”She is Luz’ own infinite potential given physical form,” which is pretty much the same thing. Luz is a person who does not fit into any mold and shape.

So that’s the ”shifter” part of snakeshifter. What about the first half.

While not explicitly stated it is understood that Philip ”Emperor Belos” Wittebane’s motivation is heavily influenced by his religious upbringing. He grew up in the times of the Connecticut Witch Trials (which I won’t go into right now, you can look it up if you’re). Therefore, when looking at the symbolic significance of snakes as they relate to Luz, we might want to start by looking at the snake in the Garden of Eden.

Someone more knowledgable than me could probably go in depth, but to be frank, the study of extant religions has never interested me much. The important part is this: the snake in the Garden of Eden is thought of as a symbol of the devil (or is the devil in some interpretations). The devil is an opposed force to God. What does this have to do with our plucky protagonist girl going on whacky adventures and learning to be a witch?

For one thing, witches were believed to draw their magical powers from the devil. Luz desires to become a witch, so there you have a connection. This being me, I can take it a big step further and connect the palisman with something like a spiritus or milkhare from nordic mythology; these creatures are usually created by witches for various tasks.

More importantly, at several times during my liveblog of season two, I called Belos a cult leader and a false prophet, and not to toot my own horn, but I was totally right about that. He presented himself as a prophet, the only man who could speak with the Titan and communicate his will to the people of the Isles. The Titan, whose very body makes up the Boiling Isles, and who gives shelter and power to the creatures living on it, is essentially the god of the people there.

In Christianity, the only way into the paradise of heaven is through Jesus Christ. Similarly, Belos claimed that the only way for the people of the Boiling Isles to reach a perfect utopia free of wild magic, war, and traffic accidents was through following him. Follow his every word, and the Titan shall reward you.

Cause the Titan he knows me And he knows I’m right I’ve been talking to the Titan All my life Oh yes he knows me And he knows I’m right And he’s been telling me Everything’s alright

Enter Luz ”The Human” Noceda. A being from another realm, who will do everything in her powerto get people to stray from the path Belos has laid out before them. She is the rebellious upriser leading the loyal sheep the wrong way. She is the accuser, the adversary, the opposer to his divinely inspired teachings. By now I’m sure you can see the connections.

Beyond that connection, the snake is a fascinating animal, symbolically speaking, as I went over in the previous segment.

Snakes being ”dual forces” as my book put it, could be tied into the idea of Luz being, as I call it, a child of two worlds. She might’ve been born by humans in the Human Realm, but the Demon Realm has provided much for her and indeed become a part of her. It was there she found people who accepted her for who she is and liked that person. She found a mentor and mother figure in Eda, and a little brother in King. She found friends in Willow and Gus, and an awesome girlfriend in Amity. The life, fate, and soul of Luz Noceda is very much connected with the Demon Realm, easily as much as it is with the Human Realm.

As mentioned before, symbolically, snakes have a lot of double meanings, they’ve been connected to the vast cosmos, as well as the underground, with light and dark, with good and evil. This is kinda similar to how the Human Realm and the Demon Realm mirror each other in a lot of ways. The red trees of the Demon Realm mirror the green trees of the Human Real, rain in the Human Realm is cool while Demon Realm is scalding hot, etc.

There’s also the idea of snakes representing healing and rebirth. It might be said that Stringbean’s hatching following the heart-to-hear conversation with Camila could be said to be a rebirth of some kind. And if not an outright rebirth, then it could be seen as Luz symbolically shedding an ld skin that was holding her back from growing.

There’s also the aspect of healing. As I mentioned above, the Rod of Asclepius, a staff with a snake coiled around it, represents healing. And indeed, Luz was wearing a shirt with a similar symbol in Thanks to Them. One could see Stringbean hatching as a moment of healing for Luz. It could also be symbolic of Luz as a healer that will help heal the Demon Realm of the sickening influence of Belos (who at that moment had been reduced to little more than a parasite, sucking the life out of anything he touches).

Turns out taxonomy is mad complicated and I don’t understand it all that well (a.k.a conclusion)

I was gonna take the opportunity to talk a little about some True Facts about snakes. But to be honest, with the exception of cute cartoon snakes like my beloved snake daughter Vee, I actually find snakes kinda repulsive, sooooo….. but yeah, pretty much everything I know about snakes, I’ve learned against my will. Like did you know that male snakes have two penises? Oh, you didn’t know that and you would have preferred to not know that? Well too bad! If I gotta know, then so do you! Thanks a lot, Hank Green!

Also, HERE is a video of a snake eating an egg.

But yeah, for an actual conclusion… snakes have a lot of interesting symbolism surrounding them and I found some interesting connections to this silly cartoon. I hope you learned something interesting today. I’ll see you next time. Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!

#the owl house #liveblog #the owl house liveblog #for the future #toh s3e2

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