#also in love with the just casual insane lore drops in some parts of this

[drrandombear]

So I just read through all of Immortal Hulk (2018) like a normal person would and I’m not okay and can’t properly express how much I adore Bruce and his brain gang

BUT really this has made me devastated that we’re not getting Joe’s fuck off shitty Hawaii shirt look for when he’s in Bruce mode in Marvel Rivals

It’s so bad I love it

[andyoullhearitagain]

Top Ten Least Bad Outfits in TNG

I'm gonna be honest and say that the non-uniform outfits in TNG are not my favorite costume design in the world, but there are some looks that stick with me:

10. That Girl Who Kissed Data That One Time's Outfit:

I can never decide if I like this look or I think it's ugly, but I love the pants and tall boots combo. Her blouse is bad and the bouclé jacket is both too heavy and too fussy for this outfit, but I love the belt and suspenders combo, and the chevron embossing on the suspenders. This costume and all the others except #9 is a Robert Blackman design.

9. This Jumpsuit On That Girl From "The Dauphin":

This is the only William Ware Theiss design on this list. I love his TOS stuff but most of his TNG designs leave me cold 🤷‍♀️. But I love this is extremely 80s jumpsuit. Love the pretty drape, love the ruching on the sleeves, love the harem pants silhouette. Only note is that the whole bodice should be a structured corset bodice instead of the kind of odd structured panel it has now.

8. Picard's Shorty Pyjama Set:

TNG is absolutely full of the strangest pyjama choices you can imagine and Picard is no exception but I love this bold look. Would kill for this pyjama set. He also takes a work zoom wearing this one time which is insane.

7. Data's 1890's Looks But Specifically This One With The Shirtsleeves And The Blue Shirt:

The best part of "Time's Arrow" is that Data isn't a fish out of water in the 1890s, he's absolutely killing it, and I love that the only real Casual Data look we get is this one. I prefer the blue shirt to the pink because Data should really wear more blue, it's a nice contrast with yellow. Please also note his emerald watch fob, which was 0% necessary to blend in, he's just having fun with it.

6. 12 Year Old Keiko's Linen Overalls:

The paperbag waist! The bow! The little bows at the shirt cuffs! I can understand why she replicated a miniature copy of this outfit.

5. Beverly and Guinan's Dixon Hill Holodeck Costumes:

I'm counting these as one because they're essentially the same design in different color pallets but what color paletts! Bev is pulling off the very difficult pink+red+red hair and the mint green on Guinan is 🤌. I particularly love how Guinan's hat is so 1940s yet also echos the silhouette of her usual costume.

4. Deanna's Teal Dress:

Like all of you I prefer Deanna in the uniform, but this dress slays, ok? The space age asymmetrical neckline. The drop waist. The structured bodice. The slit almost all the way to the hip. And of course the matching tights and shoes CANNOT BE BEATEN. Also one time I saw a dude on a Star Trek forum call this a "ballgown" which baffles me to this day, this is clearly a slightly fancy day dress.

3. Picard's 1890s Look:

You'd think Picard would go full posh in the 1890s but instead he gives us this working-class Shakespearean director look and he 👏 looks 👏 incredible 👏. Way to mix textures, Jean-Luc.

2. Lore's Turtleneck and Giant Vest:

You and I know that Lore stole these clothes from the Pakleds because we pay a lot of attention to Star Trek costumes, but to a normal viewer Lore shows up and this is just his outfit!! It's giving, like, space-age goblincore and it's incredible. I want wear this oufit every day. I want to make a little doll Lore wearing this outfit to express my love for it. It's only not #1 because the pants are too orange and a strange weave.

Deanna's Ancient West Holodeck Outfit:

Deanna!!! The pants! The hat! The calico! She looks 10/10 hot in this outfit. For sure the superior version of this is before she gives her neckerchief to Worf (it really benefits from that cool highlight) but either way this is the best anyone's ever looked on that holodeck.

[matchakatt]

OH WOW, THAT EPISODE MIGHT BE MY NEW FAVORITE NOW!! STRAP IN GUYS, THIS MIGHT BE A BIT LONG AND ALL OVER THE PLACE

Before I mention any of the ship stuff, I just wanna say that this was INCREDIBLY SATISFYING for being the Gangle episode. She was completely unhinged the entire time with the new mask on and I was loving it. I liked the deranged expressions the new mask was able to make.

Gangle nearly abstracting and her little cracks whenever she was insulted did actually scare me a little bit, but I'm glad that Pomni managed to stop it before anything actually happened. Her being hit by a truck when she ran into the road was quite unexpected, though.

The casual lore drops are insane, Gangle with her previous job being shift manager and Ragatha being a horse girl :3

Gangle assigning Jax lots of work and suggesting the employee score to Caine was amazing and completely deserved (I still love him).

I love how Jax went from his normal cocky self to a depressed minimum wage worker in the span of a few minutes

The part where Jax was taken to the dark room with the VHS video of Gangle really reminded me of the scene with the Carehound in DHMIS episode 1. Like- I can't be the only one who didn't notice that, right??

Speaking of references, the No Girl's Toy reference literally almost made me squeal when I heard it.

This episode did A LOT for abstragedy, and as a shipper of it I really enjoyed their scenes together.

First of all, Gangle getting the mask from Zooble originally was great, I adore their dynamic and how caring Zooble is.

The scene at the end where they comforted Gangle and told her that they wanted to see her drawings was so cute!

I'm just really happy that Abstragedy ended up actually having some basis other than that one Christmas image that Glitch posted last year :3

Onto Ragapom/Buttonblossom/Jesterdoll/Harlequilt/Digital Yuri- okay you get the point.

Not Ragatha being jealous of Gummigoo and saying that she wished someone would flirt with her. We get it, you're gay /j

We also finally got the Pomni and Gummigoo angst, which didn't actually affect me as much as I thought it would because of Pomni crawling on the floor and Ragatha talking about her flirting with him.

Little side note, on the wacky watch website one of the items being an abstracted member of the circus was crazy.

Anyways, art should be on the way for this episode next week because of how much work I have to do over the weekend!

[realtapiocafan]

Top 5 Joe’Marr pics and / or moments ??! I just got into the fandoms and you have been one of my go blogs for them love your tags by the way 😭😁

ok, first of all TYSM 🫶🫶🫶 this made my weekend actually! 'go-to blogs for joemarr' highest form of compliment right there! and ik i yap a lot in my tags so thanks for that too!

ALSO! before i start! welcome to the fandom! we live purely on delusion here (both for a sb and for more joemarr crumbs)

so, *cracks fingers* top 5 joemarr moments!

1. joe wearing ja'marr's jersey. GAME-WORN jersey, mind you. actually. like this is THEEEE joemarr moment imo. i can never put into words just how insane this makes me feel, because it was in their old stadium and everyone was watching and he was wearing the jersey and just arghhhhhh

look at this man. he knows what he's doing.

and this is practically the same moment so i'll just add the very fond postgame interview here where joe gushes on about ja'marr and ja'marr is looking very giddy about it

2. THE LAKERS-SUNS GAME!!!! ja'marr with the oh-so-casual arm around the shoulder and joe's face not even changing (BC YEA THIS IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR SURE- I FELT LIKE I WAS BEING GASLIT WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS) (and ja'marr you are a fake idgaf! i can see you gaf!)

3. postgame donuts! it's literally EVERYTHING TO ME

first of all, the game itself... when i say i was on my knees, like the stresssss (although this was not as stressful as the broncos one -THAT one took years off my life) but! we finally had some luck swing our way and we won in the best possible way with that freaking insane touchdown (which is one of the best examples of joemarr's connection all by itself imo) (and i'm not forgetting that hug too!)

referring to this video in particular -> it has everything! ja'marr SMEARING that donut across joe's face! ja'marr flinching (which we've all took it as confirmation that joe does practice ufc moves on ja'marr)! 'ja'marr with the 'get me with one back' and joe already with the donut in his hand LMAOOO!!! and ofc you can't forget joe with the (very) quiet 'bitch'!

4. 'i thought he was dropping everything' (i can only have one video sadddd 😔💔) but! the protective vibes! the sassy and even bitchy tone! the pinky shake! it's everything you could ever ask for!

5. the last one was SOOOO hard bc all of the rest just immediately came to mind, but in the end, i chose the GQ Bowl! I'll never forget my awe when i saw this pic, bc everything about this is INSANEEEE. both of them looking at each other like nothing else exists, ja'marr with that SMILE and joe with his squinted eyes... very special, never forget. entire fucking essays (by yours truly) have been written about this photo 🙂

HMs: (bc i might as well take the chance to keep all my favorite joemarr posts in one place so i can find them again instead of hunting through tumblr)

championship ball lore (if this was a top six it would be in there, but the gq pic is very near and dear to me so i had to make a few cuts)

compilation of all the insane MY QUARTERBACK quotes + he's like a god to me

you're such a good girl bro (and part 2) (VERY crucial parts of the tumblr fandom)

you see that big blue thing

hugging after clinching the afc north -> hugging after Signing Day

the only thing that happened in the chiefs game (aka what drew me to this orange and black team in the first place)

uno standing patiently for the helmet bonk (the first win that i watched as a bengals fan! i was scared shitless that we were going to go down 0-4 and i'd never ever watch my baby team win)

joe not cursing much feat. their usual mind-reading bs (i hope to GOD ja'marr's press conferences continue next season!)

joe doing the griddy! (+ this amazing amazing edit)

ja'marr apparently seeing joe everywhere (it's the quiet moments that really get it for me)

2023 lsu spring game (i adore this one actually)

mini-fridge teasing

the utterly insane clothing saga (which technically does not fall under one moment but it's too special to NOT mention) (also feat. the bottega bag)

'no, dad, i’m staying with joe. i’m not going nowhere else' (everything with their parents screams in-laws btw)

me noticing some shit at the nfl honor, which could mean nothing

and honestly you could probably just watch this compilation that the Official Bengals TM account posted

[blood-injections]

Playing with the idea of the phoenix witch being like.. this wandering knight. A saint but not a diety. Very much a killjoy very much a living person as opposed to more how she is in canon but mysterious enough and like. Devoted to the desert enough that even if she was to die like. She wouldn’t really. Whether that be through how the stories and tall tales of her won’t die or whether that be though yeah she dies but like. Bro I swear I saw her behind tommy chow mein’s a couple days ago sure she like was gone when I blinked but she’s always done that it’s nothing new.

Like she’s just a killjoy and everyone has seen or met her at some point she’s literally just a dude but she’s always seen so in passing she’s become more of an urban legend than anything. Part of it is because she’s been around for so long she’s dr d’s age which most younger killjoys equates to old as dirt. Dr D is kind of a cryptid too but in the sense of how the fuck does he know everything that happens what the heck dude he’s like creepy if you think about it. But he’s just like the zones collective dad and everyone knows him bc of the radio the Witch meanwhile is That One Person you always see at the grocery store that you think is super cool because they always have different hair and fancy ass outfits but then you look at their cart and see they’ve bought out the stores entire supply of butter or something and it kind of scares you. And you like make a comment to your cashier when you check out and they casually drop some insane lore like yeah she does that a lot I hear she’s like the top axe thrower on the world?? yeah idk what the butter has to do with that tho. Like I said. The community cryptid.

Anyway. Wandering knight. Like literally she wanders and looks like a knight. A postapocalyptic joan of arc. She has this dark dragging cloak made of vulture feathers. Im thinking of giving her a crested helmet or a gas mask(cause also playing with the idea of mashing her design up with mother war’s) or some strange looking mix of the two. She has combat boots and then like. A spear. I love her.

[kerubimcrepin]

Wakfu Manga - Tome 3, Part 1

[looks at the cover art where he's doing literally nothing] I'm insane. I',m insane.

He likes to stay in the shadows but didn't hesitate to help.....

He likes the brotherhood of tofu so much that it overpowers his rational thought and social anxiety.

Not Joris being drawn with Shojo Sparkles around him. I bet he thinks he looks so cool. LOSER!

The sad thing is that,,,, he does look cool. His cringe charm works on me.

He looks so tense-yet-chill... fgjdfg.

The thing about Joris is that he is 600 and there's very little in this world that actually makes him feel afraid for his life. Though intellectually, he knows that he probably should be scared shitless.

Don't worry though, he is about to feel some capital-letter-f Fear.

I do think that when it's not just him that's in danger, he gets a bit more anxious.

HE LOOKS LIKE A BUG. @dullard anyway hey your pfp.

Pictured: pack of wild animals.

Joris trying to comfort Ruel by putting a hand on his shoulder and saying, "No, let Yugo cook with this one. I think he has a point. We should cross the ravine."

He's so emotionally constipated.

DFGSDFGAKSLDGDIFJAOISDFJSADLKGHSA;LGASDFGHSJFGHSDFUGSHDFJGVHSDNFGJSHRDGJVLKDFHGSUFGHDFJKGHSDJFG

"Very nice flight, Ruel." said with a blank expression of terror.

They keep asking him this stuff and he keeps not knowing anythinggg. And it's funny every single time.

"Ruel, try dodging the rocks."

I don't know why he's so funny. He's so fucking unemotional it's actually insane.

The way Joris stammers here...

He went from knowing shitfuck about cracklers, mostly being useless during the fight save for one moment, holding onto the train somewhere offscreen for his dear life, saying "CAN YOU TRY DODGING THE ROCKS", to still being alive.

He's probably,, dissociating by now. fsjdkgdf

LEGENDARY Joris moment.

He's so cute... So excited to fish together with Yugo... And the way he casually calls him "Master".

Some important things to know about Joris is that he is petty and hypocritical. YES I believe he's known Eva and Amalia since they were kids, YES I think he cares about them in some way... but I think he likes Yugo more.

Simply because Yugo won't die that fast. He's worth spending time on. He can be a mentor to him ("do as I say, not as I do"), he remembers what it was like — living, spending time together with Lilotte and Simone, and knowing that he was going to outlive them. Knowing that he was going to have to outlive everyone else. And, his childhood ended at 10, while Yugo's ended at 12.

He can't help but look at him and think these things.

I think Joris doesn't exactly look down on mortals, but instead has something much more mentally ill going on there. He can't allow himself to care about people like Amalia and Eva.

The way he looks at Ruel's fishing rod... fjgsfg.

It's so difficult to have relationships with people who aren't childhood friends or his uncle and dad. He can barely talk, or come up with any way to get closer together. So the best way he knows is gift-giving.

A very brief moment of vulnerability, and then —

A casual lil shrug. He's insane. He wants them (especially Yugo) to ask questions so bad. dfgjdkgsfd

And also, OF COURSE Amalia and Ruel know of Khan Karkass! Nerds...

He dropped this lore so, so casually, and then did not elaborate. The true Joris Jurgen approach to building friendships.

Ruel can't count </3 it's 600.

[puts on tinfoil hat] I think Joris is feeling mixed emotions. On one hand, this is Yugo, and Yugo loves his gift. On another hand, he just gave away one of the remaining pieces of his friend. Was it the right choice? Is this worth it?

casually sticks his pinky out like a princess, looking like he is going to have some sort of violent episode.

THEY'RE SO CUTE... THE FRIENDS.

Begging him to stop talking and acting like a beautiful damsel from a castle.

[goldom]

HI3 Pt 5 Ch V let's go

Aaannd I'm immediately lost. Didn't we leave off in the middle of an apocalypse with an Evil Me floating in the sky? Why am I just on a spaceship hanging out?

No really, am I in the right chapter?

After a bit of searching it seems I'm missing seeing a whole first section of story dialogue. Watched it on YouTube. I'm still confused but I think I'm in the right place?

Also even as someone coming here from HSR, I do not love how it is suddenly being shoehorned into HI3. Sparkle crossover sillies, sure whatever, but making stuff like aeons part of the lore feels like a mistake. I guess not a financial mistake tho given the two games' relative income...

okay thank you story for taking pity on me

So the pt 1 girls and Vita aren't responsible for Dreamy? She was put there by Evil Dreamy Leylah who is a god? This is a lot to drop casually in a "since last time..." segment. This is exactly what I mean when I say mihoyo cannot write endings to save their lives, with rare exception. Just cliffhanger then skip ahead past the resolution.

Also I still don't actually get what a shadow calamity is (outside the simulation) but I'm willing to accept that part is due to me skipping past pt 1.5 for now.

10 shus? That's too many shus!

me.jpg

oh. goodie. another hoyoverse story about immortality. just what i wanted.

oh ffs is Dreamy obsessed with Sena because Leylah is using this whole simulation thing to try to undo something bad that happened to her Real!Sena in the past and it will in the end be a moral lesson about letting go of the dead I swear to god hoyo if I have already predicted where you're going with this and it's That Again, I am going to be so mad.

I'm starting to think hoyo does not know what jade looks like

Coralie is totes in love with Helia right, I'm not just imagining that?

oh god damn it it's called Amber Street because it's been preserved in time how did it take me this long to realize AGAIN just like with the Amber Lord?

Am I crazy or is Vita in plain white gown a way better look than her insanely elaborate normal outfit?

Big Herta energy

hey. hey. But wasn't this the patch before Sparkle?

Sure, I'll ship it.

...Looks like hoyo does too.

Current time frame: 100 years ago + 2 hours later + the next day - 3 years ago

Yknow the first time I met Baiji I had to go check if he shared a VA with Genshin's Baizhu to see if they were intended to be the same guy, because they seemed so similar. Though they weren't, I'm feeling that even more now.

You cannot tell me this is not Baizhu.

Sure that's a normal thing to say about your battle partner who you totally aren't in love with

lol ok

...I don't get to hear them before I pick one, huh?

oh shit it's Kiana

oh shit it's a Memokeeper. Man I feel bad for HI3 peeps suddenly having HSR shoved down their throats if they weren't interested before. And I'm still not happy that they switched out (at least the assumption of) "HSR is a separate branch universe on the tree" to "actually HI3 is within HSR's branch, just walled off from everyone else." It makes things like having another Himeko over there feel less acceptable, storytelling-wise. Similarly, the fact that Honkai hates Earth so so so much but the rest of the universe with its thousands of inhabited worlds are totally okay and left alone by it... that feels way dumber if they're supposed to be in the same universe.

It also opens the possibility of what would be some really bad ways they could merge the two. Like if Kiana suddenly bursts into HSR and goes "Hi, I'm the Aeon of Finality now" to save the day at some point, I'm preemptively calling that bad writing.

Oh that was the whole chapter, I did it. I was expecting 5-7 to be enormous the way 1-3 were, but that wasn't too bad. No new boss though, that sucks. I've really liked part 2's story bosses.

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

Anyway, I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard just over 85 hours for the whole thing (definitely missed some puzzles and a bit of loot here and there), but here are a collection of my thoughts before going to bed.

Spoilers below!

Genuinely, I think it was a solid game. The writing and themes throughout are really potent. I think the dialogue in some places was a little 80s cheesy or a BIT out of place in the DA setting but I definitely laughed at a lot of it.

I think the companions were great, though I found myself not really caring for Lucanis (and I'm not torn up that I accidentally got him killed in the endgame).

Neve, on the other hand, was a sniper shot directly at my forehead; she is carrying out the legacy of the Emotionally Distant Usuallly Hetero BioWare Brunette™ that I have always fallen for, but thankfully not straight this time (bless).

I think the environments were amazing and had so much depth even if the maps were more 'linear' in terms of areas to explore but I loved not having fetch quests. I loved being able to use companion abilities to unlock more parts of the map as we went along.

I do think there was a lot of content - which is good - but it did feel like a bit of a slow go to start.

I felt that the romance wasn't necssarily lacking in terms of BioWare's standard style of romances with casual flirting -> serious flirting -> kiss scene -> romance scene just prior to endgame, BUT because there was so much to do in Act 2, it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere fast and so spacing it out that way felt like there could've been a few more little things in between (e.g. kiss animations like BG3, or something) to hold us over.

In terms of story, I think for the most part it really fit into the series well enough; I don't think the lack of worldstate mattered too much in order to tell the story they wanted to tell with Solas. A few mentioned and call backs are all we would've gotten and I'm okay with that (e.g. like who you picked for Divine or who is ruling Fereldan, etc).

I like that we got to explore more Dwarf lore again, I think this fandom needs to be more into dwarves because holy shit.... the whole reason they can't dream???????? insane.

Also in terms of gameplay, the combat was fun and refreshing, and very mass effect-y and I loved it. I was a warrior and just had fun smashing the shit out of everything. I do wish we had more loot / options to work with (lowkey missed the crafting system in DAI to make our own stuff) but I get why they did it like that.

I loved Rook, and I know that you can't be a super aggressive asshole but tbh this doesn't call for it. They were brought in as someone who could help the team and work together.

As someone on tiktok said, they are friends with fully developed prefrontal cortexes and act like it; DA2 companions are not found family, they are only friends with Hawke and only tolerate each other because of that mutual friendship. Inquisitor is like the manager of a bunch of coworkers.

ANYWAY, I think Rook was a fine protag, and I LOVED the CC aside from a few things like why do some of the more detailed complexions get a 5 o clock shadow embedded into it? No age slider??? no grey hair slider???

Fat slider good but should've had more. Also the boob/ass slider lacking like I get it that it helps keep armours intact but they should've let the sliders go more for better shapes.

All in all, I'm giving it a solid 8.5/10, and well worth the 10 year wait.

I just hope that they get to make a DA5 with that hint they dropped on us in the post-credit scene. I was really hoping for DA Absolution to have a tie in because what the fuck has Meredith Stannard been doing beefing w tevinter to get a circlet to bring someone back from the dead, and what plot point is that gonna be????? but anyway I guess I can hope for a season 2 of DA Absolution next

[sayakxmi]

[Magi rewatch] Episode 5: Dungeon Capturer [Part 2]

Back to these two. I hope they'll use that screentime wisely, because they sure af won't be getting much in the future.

I recognize the OST, but don't remember the name, F.

Hm.

Lmao.

Wheee.

That looks damn cool.

Lovely in general. It makes sense outside of the universe, as they wanted to show off the funky magic system and the power of a djinn better etc, but, in universe, it makes Hakuei look incredibly bad at the whole "having a djinn" thing. Like I've said, Ryosai ends up beating her very fast, and while in the manga, too, she was a bit of show-offy, at least we could've easily blame it on her conquering the dungeon recently, and just not fully understanding how to use it. She overuses her magoi, because she doesn't know yet how to manage it. Here, though? She comes off as having the experience and skill, and still losing. This is the Full-Body Djinn Equip! It's supposed to be insanely powerful! How do you lose so easily? Where's your Extreme Magic? You can still go with her being that new to this, but it's much easier to assume she's just weak. F.

(They were being attacked by arrows). I will give the credit where it's due, though. Clearly she isn't using Extreme Magic, because she has no intention of actually harming her people. It's all for show. If nothing else, this does show that Hakuei is a person that really means well. Not to mention, it kinda gives the perspective to WHY they manage to stall her & her Djinn Equip - she has no intention to actually fight.

Like. It's smart, but also ASDFGHJKL HakuRocket.

Stil ended up using some spell, though it's not the same as her Extreme Magic, unless she has, like, two. But, again, how the fuck these people actually survive that?

Aaand there goes the magoi.

How the fuck did Ryosai even get so many people on board with his 'murder the first imperial princess' plan.

Ouchie.

Magi has so many weird animation/style moments, but here it actually looks damn good.

The fact that she freed herself & even took away that sword on the way when that guy threatened her brother is still damn cool. Wrong family to mess with, Ryosai.

Also, I still fucking need Ryosai meeting Fallen!Hakuryuu.

F.

The SPELL? ALREADY?

Aladdin's just casually committing murder, apparently.

I need a herooo~

Get wrecked, bitch.

Gdi, anime!Aladdin. You're weirdly murderous.

Face of a child that's just committed a mass murder.

"Boy, who are you?" He's a murderer.

"I'm a Magi." You're a murderer. Like, I'm still kinda processing that. Like, one murder here and there I can sorta see, but gdi, he went and annihilated all these guys. You can still see the destruction behind him.

On a different note, it's also cool as shit. Aladdin going a bit more Sinbad-like, a shining person leaving trails of blood in their wake. HM.

Because, seriously, this shot of him smiling with all that destruction behind him is actually pretty darn ominous. And cool. As if saying that there's some darkness deep within him, and foreshadowing that we'll get to see it at some point. We won't, ofc, but still damn cool concept.

I feel like the scariest thing is that he doesn't seem to realize what he'd done. To him it just didn't matter. He saved Hakuei, because Hakuei is nice and a good person, and he likes her.

This is still so fucking funny. And for the love of god, Ugo, why can't you wear some goddamn clothes. Imagine later Ugo meeting ppl in the Final Arc & half of the cast saw him in his goddamn underwear.

Hakuei/Paimon is one of the most sensible femslash in Magi, next to Morgiana/Toto. Like, fr, Paimon just went "I'll only help Hakuei, Candidate for a King, whom I fell in love with."

Look at him.

Lmao. Judar, the fuck are you doing, seriously. Hakuryuu's probably planning your funeral in his head rn.

Man, I was like, Paimon's voice sounds really familiar, and FUCKING KNEW IT. SHE SHARES JAP VA WITH NIGGUANG FROM GENSHIN IMPACT XDDDD

Some lore drop that happened in the manga, too, and a small note I can add is that whenever Aladdin thinks about Alibaba by the end, Rukh start to fly. Nice.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[mkstrigidae]

This might be a lot since there’s so many characters in APWH, but could you share something secret about each character that no one else knows or maybe just a fun fact?

I am so sorry I’m answering this so late- I try not to be a human disaster, but inevitably end up being one most days.

Oooooooh this one is very interesting- they might not all be secrets, because for some characters, that would be giving away major plot points, but fun facts I can do! Let’s see what I’ve got (below the cut):

Robb: Has definitely licked a bone on a dare before, is actually a decent artist (much like Sansa) and does a fair amount of sketching in the field, and has an engagement ring for Tal in his work locker that no one knows about yet :) Inherited Catelyn’s ability for leadership, and is really good at dealing with Logistics, management, and the bureaucracy involved in his job. Hangs out with the experimental archeology students a lot (he’s like the accidental older brother for half the department) and would definitely wear handmade linen armor from someone’s project and let an undergrad shoot arrows at him to test it. (For those of you unaware, linen armor is next to impossible to cut without an extremely specific and sharp type of electric saw). Is good friends with Sarella, who’s going through grad school in Oldtown as well. Has been reluctantly dragged into the feud between the archaeology/anthropology and paleontology departments.

Aegon: is a fairly talented piano player, has always liked to cook, but got really good at it when he was dating an adjunct professor in grad school (none of his family knows about the relationship, but Theon does). Has been taking night classes recently to try and learn the Old Tongue bc he and Lyanna are particularly close. Dates casually, and volunteers at a community center for at-risk kids in Kings Landing on weekends. Is the only Targ sibling emotionally aware enough to spend time with Viserys, and is his grandmother Rhaella’s favorite.  

Rhae: Actually really likes listening to heavy metal, especially when she’s working, and is really into the Westerosi equivalent of late night comedy. Will get really invested in hobbies for like, a few months and then move on to something completely different. Is her grandfather Aerys’ favorite, and has him wrapped around her finger. Makes a game of antagonizing Viserys at Targ family functions, and has been inseparable from Margaery since they met in college. Thought her cousin Obara was the coolest person in the world when she was a kid. Most likely of all the characters to do a triathlon without breaking a nail.

Bran: Might be one sociology class away from identifying as an anarchist. Kind of wants to be a professor and will probably write novels someday. Is really into flea markets and will go antiquing with Ned and Elia and sometimes Cat. Loves kayaking and decorates his wheelchair elaborately for holidays. He’s won several costume contests at school for it. Very snarky. If Sansa had been raised by the starks, they would have had a standing Saturday lunch date to snark and gossip about the rest of the fam.

Jon: wanted to be a forest ranger for the longest time and then a writer, but felt like he had to choose a more reputable career, and is kind of jealous that Robb decided to say ‘fuck it’ and become an archaeologist. Really wants to travel, although he picked law after His Valyrian is passable (the targ sibs spoke it anytime they were with Rhaegar and fam), but he speaks Rhoynish fluently and is close to his cousins on the Martell side of the family. Really likes hiking and will often go with Cat, who is also fairly outdoorsy. Likes epic high fantasy novels and would really love LOTR.

Mya: is weirdly into dream interpretation, is bisexual, and has fallen into one of the canals in Braavos before on a school field trip. She was born in the Vale, and her mom moved to Braavos when she was five. Would definitely eat a bug on a dare. More tomboy than anything, but really enjoys getting dressed up and being feminine. Likes painting her nails fun colors. Who gives a shit about gender expectations? Not Mya.

Sansa: the first person she kisses in APWH isn’t going to be Jon…;) If she’d been raised by the Starks, she might have gone to school for journalism or become a novelist. Hates math, but is a passable accountant because of what Baelish taught her to help him with the books for his restaurants. Doesn’t like to ever wear her hair down, and has a collection of decorative bobby pins for updos that she’s acquired from flea markets in Braavos. Really loves to swim. Pushed the boy who knocked Mya into the canal in after her, but none of the teachers believe him when he accuses her, because it’s sweet, kind, well-behaved Sansa.

Robin: Secretly likes to listen to musicals and is a fairly good singer. In a group chat with Doree and Loree who are drastically improving his social skills and the three of them are parent-trap level plotting. Really dislikes doctors and hospitals. Used to ask Sansa to draw birds for him a lot when he was younger and still has most of them.

Rickon: is actually better with computers and smarter than anyone realizes, because he’s such a jock on the surface. Very used to going with the flow and adapting to change. His favorite classes are chemistry and bio, but he doesn’t really like writing. Is really popular and well-liked among his classmates, but can have a temper when he thinks an injustice is occurring. Is generally just good with animals.

Catelyn: Grew up going hunting with her uncle and always had a stronger stomach for it than Lysa and Edmure did. Is half-estranged from her father because of a disagreement they had regarding Catelyn’s inability to move on after the kidnapping, and a tense relationship with her brother after he married Roslyn Frey (The Freys were vocal supporters of Roose Bolton’s politics and had a hand in publicizing the rumors about the Starks being responsible for Sansa’s disappearance- Walder Frey owns several prominent southern newspapers), but they’re working on mending fences. Takes fairly long walks outside regularly, and would be a bruce springsteen fan. The most intimidating of the entire family.

Arya: Went through a true crime phase. Really enjoys learning languages, her favorite classes this past semester were her Ancient Ghiscari course and her global politics seminar, because they got to debate current issues every week. Like Sansa, she really likes people-watching. Will probably end up at the Olympics for fencing at some point, but was also a sprinter in high school on the track team.

Ned: Probably dropped acid at least once in college. Really enjoys skiing. Learned how to play the guitar as a part of his midlife crisis. Met Cat after she went on two dates with his brother Brandon and they decided they were better as friends. Brandon brought her to a party, and Ned ended up giving her a ride home after his brother found another girl to chat up. They quickly found out that they had a lot in common, and she got along famously with his mother, who Ned was extremely close to. Has a serious sweet tooth

Elia: Likes to paint, but doesn’t think she’s very good at it. Grew up speaking Rhoynish with her family, and taught it to the kids. Has forgotten more about art than most people will ever know, and is extremely efficient when set loose in a flea market. Really likes theater and ballet, and took ballet classes through college.

Lyanna: is working on a book about money in Westerosi politics that’s tied into her current investigation of the Boltons, but only Elia knows about it. Grew up far north, and her first language was the Old tongue rather than Andali, but didn’t want her kids picking it up, because the accent is stigmatized. Keeps notes for her articles in the Old Tongue to keep her nosy kids from reading them.

Theon: Is doing a psychiatry residency in King’s Landing currently. Does a fair amount of biking, and 100% does a polar bear swim in the ocean every winter (Aegon always shows up to cheer him on and they go out for drinks afterwards- his girlfriend, Jeyne, thinks this is insane). Refuses to eat blue foods and was actually a decent French horn player in high school.

Thank you- this was a fun one!! :)

[ranger-report]

Review: SPELUNKY 2 (2020)

Few things in the Year of the Apocalypse have brought us joy; once upon a time back in February, there was something about a Sonic the Hedgehog movie that people actually liked, and then we went full-on deep into madness. From there it was disappointment after disappointment; even an unstoppable giant with hype, The Last of Us: Part II fell apart under fan scrutiny despite huge critical success.

But then, there was light: Fall Guys, a true underdog of a game, released and swept the internet and gaming as a whole with excitement. Joyous, colorful, wild, aggravating, Fall Guys single-handed brought catharsis to a series of unfortunate events, followed by a masterpiece of deception, Among Us. Also capturing colorful characters in the most unlikely of situations, Among Us is the game of Secret Hitler that nobody knew they wanted, ruining friendships along the way -- a game I plan to do a write-up on soon. And yet, we still have another gem to consider now, one which is seven years in the making, and against all odds is just as good -- if not better -- than it’s predecessor: Spelunky 2.

Once upon a time, a developer named Derek Yu released a pixellated exploration game that was a love letter to Pitfall and Indiana Jones. Dubbed Spelunky, it followed the trials and tribulations of the Spelunky Guy as he dove headfirst into a series of ever-changing caverns as he explored mines, jungles, icy caves, and Egyptian ruins to discover the City of Gold. It was released free online, and was well-received enough for Yu to work on an upgraded version, Spelunky HD. Gone were the retro pixels, replaced with detailed cartoon art and vibrant atmosphere. Telling the same story with the same levels, only now realized in higher quality and deeper secrets, Spelunky HD helped create the roguelike genre, in which players start at the beginning of a game with nothing, slowly make their way through the game amassing items and weapons to assist them, but death takes them all the way back to the beginning pockets empty. Then, the game randomly generates a new series of levels for the player to try again, ensuring no two runs are ever the same. For some this is frustrating, for others an endearing challenge. Many have spent hours diving deep into the game, searching over and over for its most hidden secrets, discovering hidden paths and endings only achieved through insanely difficult methods. With that game cemented as a bona fide masterpiece, it seemed daunting to even consider a follow up, but Yu and development team Mossmouth have done it once more with Spelunky 2, a game that feels tighter, plays looser, and somehow holds even more secrets than the first game, partially due in part to the sequel having actual lore to follow and a story that literally is out of this world. Here the protagonist is Ana Spelunky, daughter of Guy Spelunky (the titular Spelunky Guy....the game is full of dad jokes like these), as she followers her adventurous father and mother to the moon as they have disappeared there. Turns out the Olmec guardian defeated in the first game also has a presence on Earth’s satellite, and the Spelunkys have vanished in their quest to research this. So Ana, full of spunk and vigor and dog Monty in tow, steps into the spotlight on a completely new adventure, along with completely new friends.

Where the first game gave players options to discover and unlock new characters during the course of the game, Spelunky 2 treats these side characters as actual companions. A base camp at the start shows life and livelihood where everyone beds down and preps for the next expedition, where shortcuts to different stages can be traversed (once properly unlocked) and dialogue can be had. There’s a simple joy just to stand around and see everyone you’ve unlocked hanging out, walking around, as more and more beds occupy the camp. It’s a very subtle way of showing player progress that is both incredibly rewarding and relieving. And for the most part, it’s the same essence of gameplay. Explore levels filled with creatures out to kill you, while collecting gold and rescuing animals. Gold can buy resources from the shops located in the levels, animals give you a kiss for extra health, but only if they make it to the end alive. Meanwhile, the areas are loaded with traps, bombs, hidden monsters, jars filled with any number of surprises, and bonus areas that can be unlocked with the proper use of a rope or a bomb. But tarry too long and the ghost that haunts this world will reveal itself, slowly stalking you until either you reach the end of the level or there’s nowhere else to run.

Differences with the new game come in gentle shocks: for starters, where the first game had a linear progression this one has multiple pathways that can be taken to get to the end. And minibosses! Journeying through the opening caves, divided into four sections, leads to a confrontation against a giant caveman named Quillback in World 1-4, which leads to a pair of doors, one on either side of the level. First time playing through might lead to discovering one of the doors due to the way they’re split apart, but casual exploration to the opposite side reveals the truth: a whole new world. One door leads to Volcana, the underground mining operation in a volcano, the other leads to the Jungle, which has received deadly upgrades from it’s previous life. Spelunky 2 is littered with these gentle shocks as I mentioned above: golden idols still set off traps when picked up, but the traps now vary from falling pillars to explosive lava to spiked walls. Beyond the Jungle and Volcana lies a boss fight with Olmec, making a surprise appearance early in the game. And from here the game moves ever onward, revealing new areas, new characters to unlock, new surprises. And the surprises are telegraphed even better than they were in the first game. For example: unlock a special box with a golden key in the Caves to gather the Eye of Udjat, which lets you see through the floor. But the Eye can also be used to start up the Drill in Volcana, the only way to power it. What happens when you use the drill? Gentle shocks, indeed. New ideas also include mounts to ride (once tamed, which can leave you vulnerable for a moment while you wait for the ride to settle), each one having a different attack or special ability, and brand new shops which can let you into their back rooms to loot...unless you have a skeleton key and you want to risk pissing them off by breaking and entering. But pissing off a shopkeeper usually results in guns blazing your direction, and the imminent threat of death.

Death is in abundance. The game knows it, you know it, the characters know it. With a premise around the idea that death is impermanent while inside the tunnels of the moon, it becomes eventual that the characters get in on the act. Turning the page in Ana’s journal on the game over screen reveals little thoughts of hers on this leg of the journey: from base facts such as when she first took damage, to giggly details like “I was vegan” (referring to the fact that she didn’t eat any turkeys or -- god help us -- cavemen for extra health), the game brims over with character aplenty. Even certain guardians refer to Ana as “Reborn” nodding to the endless cycle. And, in fact, it is endless: it keeps going and going and going until eventually there is the final level and the escape from the moon. But how long will it take to get there? What sacrifices must be made to make it that far? How many loops, deaths, rebirths? As always with Spelunky, there is gold both figurative and literal to be mined from the ruthless exploration. Secrets are deep and wide, surprises await around every corner (was that a LEPRECHAUN and did it drop a FOUR LEAF CLOVER??? And did that ghost just sPLIT into FOUr???), and all of it is rewarding.

It can be difficult to review a game that I haven’t finished. A lot of Spelunky players have never finished the game. There’s a certain finesse to it, watching speedrunners bounce through levels undaunted, gathering miracle items to assist them. Then there’s players like me, that bumble and stumble their way into lucky runs and slowly earn shortcuts to different worlds. It’s a gamble every single time, and sometimes I wonder why I do it, but the charm and the fun and the fist-pumping feeling of success against all odds is what makes this game so much fun. And to think that Mossmouth not only captured the feeling of the first game, the majesty of it, and renewed all of that magic with the second. Someone made a blood sacrifice to craft this game, that much is for sure. As of this writing, the Playstation 4 version has been out for a few weeks, and the PC version for only a few days. After playing both I can confirm that they are precise, concise, and play exactly the same, although I do feel I had slightly better control response times on the PC. That said, online co-op is not yet available for PC, as Mossmouth is going over that aspect with a fine toothed comb. Having playing online day one for the PS4, I can say that the hiccups experienced then will be best served through Mossmouth’s attention first. Online play has become much smoother since, but players deserve the best experience off the jump.

Spelunky 2 is mana from heaven in these trying times, and I’m gobbling as much of it as I can. And when a game like this is is this deep and wide, there’s a lot to gobble...and all of it is tasty.

Final Score: 9/10

[pehters]

anonymous asked :  I love Rulie friendship and how they are basically like adoptive siblings. I hope we can see more of their friendship in Season 2. What are your Rulie friendship head canons?

               OFFSTAGE. || I love Rulie, too! I agree that it has platonic energy primarily; I have one single AU which is like some very specific divergences with a friend where Rulie becomes a ship, but it’s, like, very very specific, lol. Otherwise, I do love the energy they have. I don’t know if I would specifically call them adoptive siblings — I know that there’s some fanon about “Reggie Molina” but I personally don’t take it quite as far as that — but their relationship definitely is more than mere friendship. There is something unconditional and profound surrounding Reggie and Julie, and I love them. Here are a couple of general / not specific to one Julie headcanons that I have for them!

Reggie is the hardest of the guys for Julie to pin down. Because he is so enthusiastic about gassing up others around him, Reggie often forgets to talk about himself. Which means while Julie knows that he is a genuine and kindhearted person, it takes some time and some Accidental Reggie Lore Drops™ for her to know quite as much about him specifically as she learns about the other guys. 

Reggie was the first of the guys for Julie to spend a significant amount of time with. While Luke gave Julie Bright to sing, Reggie is the one who did the piano arrangement and arranged it from a four-part male vocals to a female solo. So he’s the one who then has to teach it to Julie in a matter of a few hours and make sure that the piano accompaniment fits her style and comfort. This is why Reggie looks the most nervous before she starts playing, why Luke is comforting and encouraging Reggie, and why Reggie is the ghost standing front and center amongst the guys: he’s the one who helped Julie get the performance together. 

Reggie is very much the emotional navigator amongst the guys, and Julie picks up on this. There are times she’ll go to him first when there is something with a significant emotional weight happening.

Reggie often acts as an emotional mirror for what’s happening around him, and him being with Julie is no exception. That’s another reason why it’s a little difficult to get a read on him sometimes: he bounces back the energy he’s given. Julie has to learn to read through him bouncing back what she’s feeling in order to start reading Reggie as well as the other guys do, but when she does, she feels like she put another piece of the puzzle together. 

The last headcanon is one of the silliest and one of my favorites: Reggie plays a stupid number of instruments, and Julie never knows exactly how many. She tried to ask the guys, but they didn’t give her a straight answer ( mostly because they’re not 100% sure and also they find it really funny ). He doesn’t play all of them at an insanely high level — some are just casual instruments for him — but he can pull a comical and unreasonable number of instruments out of thin air, and sometimes when he’s working on an arrangement, or bored, or needing to do something with his hands, Julie will find him surrounded by instruments, and not just his bass.

One last one of specifically Reggie to Julie: all of the guys believe in Julie really, really quickly in the show, but Reggie is markedly quick to seem to fully internalize Julie as part of the band. Part of them. I think that comes with my other HC of him being the first to spend like a really good chunk of time with her, but also, I think they really are a special kind of soul mate. And since he doesn’t have anything distracting him like Alex, and since they’re not feeling the ~scary~ kind of love like Julie and Luke are, Reggie is able to lean in and accept his love really quickly. 

                                                    I love them so dang much !

[jq37]

May we have a recap, please? :)

**spoilers for panic at the art show and home for the holidays**

OK people. I actually don’t have a ton of commentary on these two so I’m gonna try and keep it (relatively) short and sweet [Edit from Future Me: Failed Step 1].

Also, iirc, this is the week Dropout starts streaming new Fantasy High eps on Wednesdays which is very dope and I am very excited for. I probably won’t do full on recaps like I do for normal eps because, lbr, I don’t strictly have the time to be recapping these eps at all and it’s pure stubbornness that keeps me from making wiser time management decisions. But, rest assured, if I have an Opinion, you will hear it whether you want to or not. 

Anyway, on with the show. 

Last recap, I mentioned that this ep was giving me Aelwen house party vibes and now it reminds me of that ep in another way: Everyone rolled like TRASH almost the entire ep. It was so frustrating! They barely got any hits in until like halfway through the ep.

(Aw man, I just realized I’m gonna have to remember which spelling of Aelwen is correct again now that FH is coming back.)

I love how Murph is immediately like, “I need to make sure my wife doesn’t die during this fight avenging her fictional husband.”

Isabella also has Aelwen’s trick of poofing around the battlefield which is annoying as hell (ha) for the group.

Siobhan hilariously casts fear on Priya just to be spiteful. I thought she was doing it to help the evac process but no. It was a purely spiteful action. Bless. 

When Kug turns into an ape he, of course, turns into *the* NY ape, King Kong. 

“I roll a nat 20 on an epic shit.”

When Brennan was describing Kingston’s spectral New Yorker Guardians I was already thinking about that one part of Spiderman 2 (the OG Toby Mac version) and then he straight up said, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” and I lost it.

“Deny the stairs the pleasure of my feet.” Emily is a poet.

I want to know what makes a pigeon spicy more than anything. 

The fact that Brennan killed Ox AGAIN and then immediately looked into the camera and let the audience know the dog was fine because he clearly Oracle stared into the future between eps and saw the entire internet sharpening their pitchforks  was so funny. 

About midway through the ep, Pete tries and fails to send Isabella back to hell and Isabella starts monologing about her plans and connection with Robert Moses (she stole the list from Santa and is/was gonna marry Moses apparently). I wonder if Brennan was like, “These players are for sure gonna murder her without getting any useful info out of her unless she goes full Bond Villain right now.”

And, proving my point, Emily immediately does 56 points of damage, royally f-ing Isabella up. 

This is a really civilian heavy fight which feels weird in a way the FH fights never did. Like, these aren’t even civilians who live in an adventuring town in a fantasy world. These are just normal ass civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Pete fails a wild magic roll after failing to teleport into the building and then gets a choice of getting really strong (which prob would have let him bust down the door) or to teleport in (which is what he does and exactly what he wanted). Very clutch when the dice rolls play into the story like that.

Kingston lightning bolts Isabella’s hair off which is just malicious but also totally called for.

On her next turn, Sophie gets hurt on purpose to get low enough to activate her ring, lets her hair burn for long enough to shorten it to a cute bob, insults Isabella, then knocks her tf out. 

I love that Emily took one of her teeth (a seemingly crazy move) and when called out by Lou was like, “It’s a link to Robert Moses” (a completely reasonable answer). That’s the Axford one-two punch.  

I didn’t mention it before but, Willie the golem is here, first immobile but then brought back by Misty. Post fight, he says he was somehow brought here by one of the evil factions of the city and says they’ll talk about it later. Also, Misty makes out with him (DON’T KINKSHAME HER).

With a high insight roll, Kingston is able to deduce that the group was ambushed (though not by Priya) and that their victory was a really important one for the fate of the city. 

(Sidenote: The amount that Pete is Over Priya in this ep is so funny.)

Back at Wally’s (which is where Kug is now staying) Wally has gotten Kug a dog bed to sleep in and fancy charcuterie cheese because he and Ricky are the only pure-hearted people in NYC. 

At the same time, Pete and Kingston have a very sweet heart to heart and then settle down at Kingston’s place to chill and listen to jazz. Idk how else we expected this to resolve, considering this is a Brennan Lee Mulligan DM’d show where the sacred pillars are Teamwork, Friendship, Communication, and Making up an NPC on the Fly Because One of Your PC’s Decided to do an Insane Thing. 

Next up is the Christmas ep and Brennan, Emily, and Zac are in sweaters for the occasion. 

Well,actually it’s the 21st and Emily immediately clocks that that’s the solstice. 

Are cookies the good carb?/Absolutely not. But have fun with your life. (I love Ricky’s soft jock energy.)

“I run deliveries,” Pete says to Kingston’s parents, not technically lying but also not being completely truthful. Misty would be proud. 

Going over to Misty, it seems pretty clear at this point (and it’s confirmed in the promo for next ep) that Misty’s fairy business is some kind of de-aging/reincarnation for herself. I wonder how many of these she’s done so far. She said she’s been around for, what? 200, 300 years? Assuming she’s been doing then reincarnations at about 65-70 years old and she reincarnates to around 25? Maybe 6 times? Idk. Just spitballing. 

Saucer of milk to keep the faeries from stealing her (non-existing) children. Faerie lore is wild y'all. 

Did you take another level of warlock?/Yeah bitch.

The fact that since Sophie has joined a monastery, she’s only taken Warlock levels and no Monk levels is very funny from a story perspective. It’s like, she finally comes to this sacred place to be trained to her full potential and she’s just spending what should be her sparring time playing with her cat in exchange for spells. Wild. 

Emily’s cat-like, self-satisfied grin when Brennan is like, “So you just jerry-rigged yourself clairvoyance powers, huh?” is so good. 

And she did it on the fly because Emily Axford is winning D&D. There are no points but she’s winning.

So, uh, Emily does, two things, very in character right after the other:

Thing number one: She send her unseen servant to spy on her family. Her dad seems hardline, “F, Dale. Whatever. Family first. She needs to get over it.” On the other side of the spectrum is her mom who is very upset about the whole affair with her siblings falling in the middle. 

The second thing she does, very casually I might add, is have her unseen servant BURN DOWN HER HOUSE SO SHE CAN COMMIT INSURANCE FRAUD.

EMILY

Everyone loses their minds and rightfully so. What a wild-ass swing that no one could have seen coming. I love it. 

“I look in my backpack which is now my home[…]" 

I almost forgot that Ricky was a fire fighter who would not abide that nonsense until Brennan decided to cut to him. 

Ricky just dolphin swims across the Hudson in 2.5 mins to go put out the fire that Sophie set. Amazing. 

Ally mocking Emily/Sophie: Truthfully, I don’t know what happened.

"I love John McClane, because he loves his wife.” WALLY

Wally: Oh we’re gonna tell a lie on Christmas.

“This is what winning looks like.”

I would really like to know what trace stuff what on the drugs Pete got from 7 but Ally rolled too low to figure it out.

“I disassociate fully." 

Well it took him a long ass time but glad to have Pete on the selling drugs to kids is bad train. Choo-choo, dude. 

7 saying you can hack in real life in reference to his AK-47 has the same energy as Hardison using the word hack in literally any semi-weird episode of Leverage. 

SOCIAL MEDIA IS VOLUNTARY PANOPTICON

So Kug goes with Wally to David’s house disguised as a dog and, despite that, blurts out that he’s his dad immediately. Well, he tries to. The Umbral Arcana stops him, unfortunately. 

"I lick my son’s face.” KUUUUG. 

Sophie showing up with a raw goose and hellish rebuking it is so metal and it’s a shame no one got to appreciate it. 

Me when Sophie’s Mom changes into black top in solidarity for Sophie’s mourning: F EVERY OTHER NON-SOPHIE BICICLETA. I RESPECT YOU. 

Kingston is hustling very hard to get his man Pete a job which is a very Kingston move. That’s how guys like that show affection. 

Didn’t mention it before but Kingston’s parents and Mom specifically adopting Pete is very cute. 

Sidenote: Idk what 7 was talking about Pete trying to stay low profile. He wears a cowboy hat (now a ZEBRA STRIPED one, courtesy of Kingston). I think the subtlety train has sailed my guy. 

Esther shows up at the firehouse, carrying presents for her mom and grandma and looking for Ricky. The says that she’s kinda dealing with something and it feels good to be around him (beat) magically speaking. Sure. I’m gonna keep my Hercules soundtrack on hand just in case anyway. 

I think Ricky is the only person who, with no pretense, could give his crush a sexy calendar featuring him.

Anyway, turns out Esther’s mom and grandma are the furies of Tompkins Square and she’s fated to join them or something. 

Esther causally: I defy you, I defy the prophecy.

The fury thing would explain why Esther’s mom would have cursed Kug. They are famously magical punishers.  

Ricky is a magically certified Good Boy but we been knew.

Zac’s restraint to respect Esther’s personal boundaries in lieu of getting a lore drop to stay true to Ricky’s character is amazing. Mad props.

So we slide over to Misty’s Christmas party which Stephen Sondhein is attending and him having a character card kinda killed me. 

There’s a post on tumblr somewhere about playing faerie  incapability for impoliteness against a vampires need to be invited in and that’s what I thought about when Moses and his vamp friends showed up at Misty’s house.

Robert tries to talk Misty into striking a deal with him for protection from Titania. She’s very much not having it.  

“You know Robert, I love a comedy and I love a farce. I’d like to remind you of who it is that started this and it’s not me and it’s not my friends but I can assure you Robert Moses that we will be the ones to end it if you do not. Do you understand me?” Damn. That’s a mic drop from Misty. 

[As I’m editing this, I’m realizing I somehow lost a BIG chunk of text. I’m not gonna write it all up again but the Cliffnotes are as follows:

Between the Solstice and Christmas, the gang goes Grand Central Station to see the clockwork gnomes that live there because trouble is apparently afoot. Some size changing nonsense happens and Pete shoots a dog (with mini bullets, the dog is fine). Lou is enchanted even though Kingston is not (a common theme with him). Ally and Emily are on the same nonsense wavelength (as usual). 

There are dope magical dragon trains under Grand Central Station that go to the shadow realm which is a place I’d like to know about. Kingston has never seen these trains before even though you’d really think he would have.  

Murph says Gnome Rights which is wild if you know what Naddpod is like. 

Anyway, the high priestess of the gnomes passed out the other day and they figure out it was due to pixie magic which is suspicious. They also know they pixies have access to a “time stone” which leads me to believe that it’s Brennan and not Aguefort who thinks that Chronomancy is the most powerful magic of all. 

Sophie and Jackson go to Dale’s grave on Christmas. Jackson explains that the Order of the Concrete Fist is basically a literal school of hard knocks. A counterbalance to all the reach for the stars dreaminess that comes with NYC.

Dale was their chosen one who was supposed to stop the monastery from falling when some unspecified badness crossed over to this side, but when he went to the place where he was supposed to get guidance, there was no one there (clearly tying in to what Dale said to Sophie last time they talked. I wonder what she needs to get to the top of? Empire State maybe?).

Watching Murph watching Emily, his real life spouse, play at grief for her fictional husband and do some truly insane things is so funny because you can clearly see him thinking, “I am married to this woman,” which, in fairness, is probably the main thing he’s thinking when he’s playing D&D with Emily.

I’m probably missing something but that’s all I remember. Back to post-Christmas!]

So it’s opening night at Misty’s show and, somehow, Ricky’s first show ever. 

I love that Don Confetti is there because of Siobhan’s offhanded comment for a handful of eps ago about him being a supporter of the arts.

Anyway, everything is going great until the second act when Titania busts in through the mirror which is *not* is storage as Misty requested but on stage. It’s a theater fight, y'all! And not the West Side Story kind although if that doesn’t come up I will be very surprised. 

“Let’s kill Titania!” –Misty in the promo

Just going straight to 11, huh Misty?

See y'all then!

[fanficwriter013]

A Supernaturally Stucky Halloween - Part 1

Pairing: Stucky X Reader (Eventual)

Summary: Hunters, their lives are never easy. What happens when you literally stumblre into the world of the supernatural?

Word Count: 1607

Warnings: It’s a Supernatural!AU, you don’t exactly need to watch the show to read. Minor violence, background character deaths (if you know Supernatural it’s for the backstory). This is pretty much an intro, some snark but nothing too insane.

Parts: One / two / three / four / five /

Author’s Note: Written for my boo’s Halloween challenge, Kumi @rotisserierogers . Love you, hoe. Because I’m a wordy bitch, this has been broken into bite-sized miniparts, y’all. (Currently, 4 parts, but it’ll probably be 5 by the time I finish.)

Your life as a hunter had begun with heartbreak. But don't all hunter stories start the same? Well, your story is a little different. Your mom was a junkie, your dad had been raising you on his own after she had vanished out of the fifth go at rehab. She came back, and she came back different.

You'd seen just enough, having come out of your room to get a drink. (You were really just procrastinating that homework). And caught your mother with her teeth in your father's neck. She must have left a wake of bloody bodies on her path back here because you then saw a man cut her head off. That man had been Nick Fury, who had tried to head off your inevitability of becoming a hunter by talking his neighbor, and the local sheriff Phillip Coulson into raising you for the rest of your high school career.

Of course, whenever you possibly could you were over pestering Nick about the world of the supernatural, that you had literally fallen into. He tried to shut you down, but it had been unsuccessful. Especially after you'd met Steve Rogers, a little dork who had been more than happy to share his knowledge and correct you on the misconceptions you'd found trying to research the lore on your own. Which had become your solace as you'd dealt with the loss of both of your parents at once.

Steve visited Nick with another young hunter, he'd referred to him as Bucky. To say that Bucky thought he was cool, was an understatement. He picked on Steve just about any time you saw him. Which you were sure was a sign of aggression, trying to establish his male dominance or whatever. Even if Steve assured you that that wasn't the case.

Every once in a while, Steve and Bucky's deadbeat guardian, Alexander Pierce would show up and the boys would disappear for months at a time. They refused to tell you what he did, but you could observe the changes when they came back to Nick’s. Bucky would be throwing himself hard into the charming side of his bravado, and Steve would be quieter than usual. You had to wonder why Nick would let Pierce screw up the boys like that. But it wasn't your place.

You'd lost touch with the boys around Steve's senior year of high school. The last that you had heard from them, Steve had gotten into a prestigious art school and Bucky was going into the hunting business with Pierce. You'd opted for college as well, at Nick and Phil's insistence. You had double majored in occult history, and linguistics. All useful skills for when you would finally become a hunter.

You'd graduated from college in three years with your double major. It'd be simultaneously the funniest thing you'd ever done and also the hardest. Phil had been really supportive and you think that was partly the secret behind your success. But once you'd gotten out, gotten a real day job. You were finally able to go on hunts.

They started small, nearby. Your job had been flexible, but you still needed to get the work done. Then after a year, you got a new job that allowed you to work remotely. And you could finally travel outside of the five local counties.

Of course, now that you'd really joined the hunting world you started to meet other hunters. They all seemed to have stories of a group of hunters that called themselves the Avengers. There was an immense amount of chatter about one hunter that went by Captain America, and another that went by the Winter Soldier.

The hunters that you meet all had stories to tell of the boys’ latest conquest. Which if you were perfectly honest, which you weren't with these hunters. All sounded extremely far fetched. The two boys taking down an entire nest of vampires, killing an ancient God, taking down one of the Princes of Hell. And from the way these hunters would talk about them, you were able to infer their character and you hoped you never crossed paths with them.

Of course, you didn't get what you wanted. You were on a big solo hunt, there were two vampires terrorizing a small town just a few hours away from the place you had been staying for the month. You tracked them to an abandoned farm just outside the city limits. Unfortunately, when you'd got there it was holding only the drained victims from their latest feast.

You had scanned the perimeter when you felt a presence. You tensed, preparing yourself to cut some heads off when you heard him.

“Nothing here, Buck.” It sounded like Steve, but a couple of octaves deeper than you remembered. And the only Buck that you knew had been Bucky. You peeked around the corner, eyes falling on Bucky first.

“Well, well, well. Look what the vamps dragged in.” You teased, as you stepped out from the hall you'd been hidden in. The boys had tensed before they realized it was you.

“When did you get taller?” You asked, looking up at Steve, who now towered over you. “Last I saw you, you were just a scrawny little dork.” You teased, as Steve pulled you in for a hug.

“Still a dork.” Bucky jokes as Steve releases you and Bucky spins you into him for a hug.

“And you're still over the top, I see.” You tease him. He flashes you a brilliant smile, and you can feel his rumbling laughter.

Of course, you wound up at a bar to catch up with the boys. Bucky seemed to be on the top of his game, having gotten both the waitresses and bartenders number. In less than ten minutes too.

“Don't punch me, but I'm going to ask that question now. What happened? You'd gotten into a good art school, please tell me you at least finished it.” You ask, looking at Steve. He gave you an out of character noncommittal shrug, trying to avoid the question. You stared him down, refusing to drop it until you knew.

“Alright fine, turn off the death glare.” Steve resigns. “Yes, I did finish school. Got an amazing internship too. But that one shows up, and all ‘Pierce went on a hunt and didn't come back.’ And that's why I'm back in this.” He explains to you, and you quirk an eyebrow at him.

“Did the asshole finally meet the monster that he couldn't take down?” You practically growled, and you could see the small spark of shock in Steve's eyes.

“Don't look at me like that. Just because you never told me verbally that he was abusing you, doesn't mean that you didn't through body language. I knew.” You tell the boys, grabbing Steve's hand. You knew that Steve was more openly tactile than Bucky had been.

“You know how horrible it felt to watch you guys get happy and healthy with Nick. And then have the asshole show up, whisk you away, fuck you up, and then drop you back off? I think I threatened to kill him forty-six times. And the one time Coulson literally had to hold me back so I didn't Molotov his car as he drove off. Which that's your baby now, so I guess it was a good thing.” You ramble, stroking your thumb against the back of Steve's hand.

“Knew there was a reason I liked you,” Bucky says, giving you a soft smile. “Yeah, he's gone. We're getting better. Actually, our group helps a lot with that. All have our issues, all have our strengths and fortes.” Bucky tells you, and you give him a crooked smile.

“When you'd turn into this big softie, Barnes?” You tease, and he gives you a chuckle before taking your other hand.

“There were some circumstances that lead me to realize that we're not exactly immortal. Point being, we've both faced Death. And somehow seem to keep coming up on top. Would like to keep it that way. But in case we've worn down our luck. Teaches you to live more in the moment.” Bucky says, with a smile that suggests he's up to something.

“What he’s trying to say is that things have changed. And we’d been talking about finding you recently.” Steve tells you, his cheeks dusted with a soft flush.

“We want you to join the Avengers. You've been making some buzz in the hunter world. Think your skills could help us out.” Bucky says and were it not for the explanation you would have asked why. As it stood now, your jaw had dropped.

“I've been making a buzz, literally all I hear about are you guys. How could I possibly make any sort of noise going up against that?” The words were out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. Both boys gave you a funny look.

“There's this hunter goes in, speaks fourteen different languages, knows all the occult stuff from memory. Even the more obscure beings.” Steve says, and Bucky tilts his head at you.

“How could you not generate a buzz?” He asks, stroking the back of your hand. “So, what do you say? Become an Avenger with us.” It sounds so casual just rolling off the tip of his tongue like that.

“Don't the others. Shouldn't. Shouldn't I meet them? Don't they get a say?” You finally spit out, and Bucky laughs.

“Believe me, when I say you've been making a buzz. You've crossed their radars. They had a say in this.” Bucky tells you, and you nod.

Part 2