#and a split version of will makes total sense here

[strange-anni]

The lights are flickering. The alarm is on.

Why?

MIKE: A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here. WILL: What is it? DUSTIN: What if it's the Demogorgon? Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon.

There is a threat looming on the horizon. The Demogorgeon (Deep Father) could enter Mikes basement. If this happens they're screwed as Dustin informs us.

MIKE: An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber! DUSTIN: Troglodytes? LUCAS: Told ya.

Luckily for our party, it's not the Demogorgeon. So we can all take a breath now, can we?

A relieved smile. No imminent danger

Or is there?

It's the Demogorgeon!

DUSTIN: We're in deep shit. MIKE: Will, your action! WILL: I don't know! LUCAS: Fireball him! WILL: I'd have to roll a 13 or higher! DUSTIN: Too risky. Cast a protection spell. LUCAS: Don't be a pussy. Fireball him! DUSTIN: Cast Protection.

Oh no, it's the Demogorgeon after all. This should've never happened. What is Will supposed to do? Should he protect himself or attack?

WILL: Fireball!

Will has made a decision. He's going to attack! Yet he's losing his dice. Chaos ensures. Will he be successful in fighting of the Demogorgeon? Will he roll a 13 or higher?

WILL: Oh, I got it! Does the seven count? LUCAS: It was a seven? Did Mike see it? (Will shakes his head.) Then it doesn't count.

It doesn't work. The attack didn't work. It's only 7. BUT as long as Mike doesn't know, it doesn't count that he couldn't fight off the Demogorgeon. There is still a chance left. Will could lie. He could tell Mike that he rolled a 13 and landed the attack and defeated the Demogorgeon and everything would be fine!

Yet ...

WILL: It was a seven. MIKE: Huh? WILL: The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See you tomorrow.

Will decides against it. He's made a decision to tell Mike. He's made a decision to tell Mike that he couldn't fight off the Demogorgeon! Now Mike knows and that's BAD. Will has exposed the secret. It's the secret of the a*use he suffered by his father.

It does not matter that Mike doesn't get it. Now everything is different. Things can never go back to the way they were before

The lights are flickering on the Wheelers garage. What was once contained inside is now affecting the outside. The alarm is full on.

... and Will needs to be thought a lessen. He can never act that way ever again!

So

The Demogorgeon attacks to remind Will of what the (deep) father is capable of doing. To remind him of the a*use he suffered.

Now look above at what happens next.

But there is still one more thing I want to shed some light on. It's a scene which happens a bit later shortly before Hopper investigates the cabin. It's got to do with Chester and his behavior.

Look at this dog

Chester is flicking his ears meaning he's listening to his surroundings as well as wagging his tail. That's a happy gesture. It means that whatever is in the woods in not dangerous. This dog is not afraid at all.

Why?

Because there is nothing dangerous in the woods. No Demogorgeon. Nothing. Just Will hiding and Chester knows/ senses this.

It's so anticlimactic and yet I believe all of this exactly what happened. Will did not get abducted on the November the 6th 1983. Lonnie did not come back to get him (although he's still responsible in the end). What happened was that Will disclosed the secret of the a*use he faced when he shouldn't have done that. (not my opinion) So he had to be scared into submission. This can happen through many means and one of them is visions. What Will saw that night was a vision of the Demogorgen (deep father) h(a)unting him as has happened in the past and can happen again.

The only way to prevent it is to behave aka to shut his mouth and never tell anyone of what had happened. A rule Will did not follow and so he had to be reminded.

What really happened to Will when he vanished...

I don't have all the details here but... a lot of this is starting to connect.

Will enters the U.S. Department of Energy.

He falls off his bike. Wheel stops turning (indicating time coming to a halt).

He rushes through a spooky forest (creepy trees... I'll touch on that topic later) into his home. Mom and Jonathan aren't there. He tries to call the police but the Demogorgon scares him into doing so.

He rushes toward the shed.

(The association between a shed and a bomb for context).

This "Little Boy" loads a gun.

Little Boy was a gun-type atomic bomb that was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare.

He comes face to face with a light (the truth). It begins shining brighter and brighter...

Likely an explosion occurred right at that moment.

As Will is compared to "Little Boy" here... there's a nuclear fission reaction. This means splitting in two.

Kind of like...

A boy being split into two. Two what you say? Two... personalities?

Perhaps this little girl appeared to take over. To help protect Little Boy from his trauma. She came into the light while he vanished into the darkness. She's the gatekeeper alter (an actual DID alter term...). The one who controls the gate and access to memories...

Thus, he remains in the dark with only "vague" memories.

This bomb going off caused time to stop at exactly 8:15, just like "Little Boy" the atomic bomb did. That atomic bomb caused time pieces to be stuck at 8:15 essentially leaving the city of Hiroshima frozen in time.

It's no wonder Brenner and co wear hazmat suits when investigating the shed. Nuclear fission leaves behind toxic nuclear waste, after all.

More on this topic...

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

part iii (part i + part ii)

(due to sims doing everything but what i wanted them to, this extended into night and the screencaps were terrible - i apologise)

“Avery, I feel like our potential isn’t necessarily reflected by your score, and much of that was my doing. You just seemed to catch me when I was in the middle of a Moment and was not exactly feeling receptive towards anyone. And among those who did… less well, you were one of the few who actually initiated flirting with me and who seemed to really try. So let’s take this as an opportunity to refresh and maybe have a second shot at things. I’ll be seeing you very soon.”

“Jayla, you’re clearly having a ball and I enjoyed being in a household with you. But so far you haven’t seemed all that drawn to me, and I feel that at least in terms of romance, I’m the one putting in all the work. You are one of eighteen, and it seems like you’re not sure why you’re here. Let me know whether you want this - or not - but let me know. See you for Round Two.”

the final four...

“You know how it goes. I have only one of my strawberries left, and I am not splitting it four - just who the plum comes up with these things…”

“Forest - considering your strong start, this is a long way to fall. We have potential and you’ve shown hints of sweetness, but you keep on pushing me away - and your autonomous mean interactions? Not okay. It wasn’t cute when boys did that in grade school, and it’s far from cute now. If your aim is to sabotage yourself, then you’re succeeding spectacularly.” (Forest: nervously sweating...)

“Lee - much like Forest, yet worse. While I get the sense that Forest has the potential - and maybe even the want - to be something better than his past behaviour, you on the other hand seem perfectly happy with just how you present yourself. Well, I’m not. I like the version of you who is friends with Tiago and who has some moments of vulnerability, not whatever this is.” (Lee: unbothered, totally convinced this is all a ruse...)

(Araminta: hoping to the old Watchers and the new that Forest is going home...)

“Piper - if only we had even a little romance, my dear. But at least with me - or perhaps even with life in general - that just doesn’t seem to be what you’re looking for, and that’s okay. You stepped out of your comfort zone to try something that doesn’t come naturally to you, and for that you’ll have my eternal admiration. But I’m afraid that this chapter of your story ends here.”

“Aubrey - you’re here for a good time, but sadly not a long time. One of the most gorgeous sims I’ve ever laid eyes upon, and I really enjoyed your sense of fun, your mischief and your creativity. As there’s no spark between us, however, let’s just say it’s been real and move on. You were a delight to get to know - I hope we can catch up again after the show.”

“Forest, something is telling me not to let you go just yet. And if I’m wrong, then more fool me. This is a second chance for… whatever you need it to be, I guess. Those don’t come around often, or at all. Make the most of it. And if there’s any more mean behaviour - I may no longer be a werewolf but I’m not completely without bite. Man up and grow up, or get out.”

“Lee, here’s your fifteen minutes. Best of luck in building on them. And as the autonomy settings are driving the Watcher crazy - Araminta, you absolutely don’t need to talk to your horse Every Five Seconds - we’ll say our proper farewells tomorrow.  Sorry for the lack of decent screencaps, everyone, but you only have your pixel selves to blame.”

“Hey beautiful, so I totally know this is all a stunt. You have to leave the audience on a cliffhanger, right? Don’t worry, I’ll play along. I am a supremely talented actor after all - I can even cry on command!” “Mhmm…” (reflects on how that’s only a Level 2 interaction in the ACTING skill)

how scores were calculated

Ooof, I really wanted to take more of the bottom three in particular, but I was also this close to ejecting my EA folder into the sun. They will however each get a proper farewell from Lilac (and a thank you from me to their watchers) and their very own shiny post in broad daylight when hopefully the in-game lighting is better cooperating.

Also now we know just what Forest was up to that very last day. That little so-and-so realised that he was on thin ice and thus was skillbuilding like there was no tomorrow - which for him was almost the case! I will be including Aubrey's, Piper's and Lee's score details in their farewell posts and you will see just how close it all was.

@x-digitaldollhouse-x @tipsy-clouds @riverofjazzsims

@plasmafruittree @sleepyselkiesims @fl0pera

[foxcantswim]

FNAF Movie / / Vanessa x F!Reader [Ṱ̷͋Ō̵̻Ț̴̊Ả̵̯L̵̺̈́ ̸͉͊I̷̩͋N̸̘͘S̵̹̏E̴͓̍Č̶̡Ṳ̸̈́R̶̺͠I̸̢͑T̴̬́Y̵͇͆]

(gif by me)

[Total Insecurity] Vanessa succumbs to William's influence and control, she tries her hardest not to hurt the person that matters most to her. Contents: Slight Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss Warnings: Implied Murder, Blood, Knife Usage, Split Personality WC: 2,634

(Title is based on my fav FNAF:SB song: Total Insecurity by Rockit Music) (The RUIN version is also insanely good, definitely recommend)

T̶̼̤̏͘o̶̹̯̅ť̴̼̭͝a̴̡̟̍̌ĺ̷͙̓ ̴͓̞͒̂I̸͇͛̿n̷̤̎̈s̶̹̈̽ȇ̴̩ͅc̵̦̈́u̴̦͎͂́r̸͙̥̓͘ȋ̶̠͚̈t̷̗̣̚ỳ̸̨ ̸̗͘W̴̛̞̥ḩ̵͗́ͅe̶̥͍͛̿n̶͇̆͜ ̶̼͂T̴̬͊̓h̶̩̍̔e̴̘͛͊ỳ̴̜ ̵͍̑C̸̭̈́ọ̴͝m̸̛͇ĕ̸̞͗ ̷̰̭̉̾Ä̴̭̼f̴̡̳͊͐t̶͉̃ẽ̴̯͝r̶̦͛ ̷͍͋Ḿ̸̺e̸̦͐̕

Her hand tightened around the handle of the knife, her chest heaved as she breathed heavily. She looked down at the victim lying motionlessly on the floor. Just some pathetic overnight security guard that couldn't do what her controller wanted , someone who couldn't provide to William Afton's needs.

Her senses had slowly come flooding back to her piece by piece as the minutes ticked on, the knife ever so slightly loosening in her hand. She felt like she couldn't breath, her head being encased within the rabbit mask. She never liked the thing, it was just some sick and sadistic element that her father loved... And who was she to deny him? She literally couldn't, after all.

The loud bang of the knife hitting the floor finally completely snapped her out of it. She looked down in horror, tears filling her eyes, as she saw the body mangled on the floor. Blood pooled out from multiple wounds and stained the office room's floor.

The sound of metal clanking caused her to turn, and there she saw the other culprits. The animatronics. Now she was certain that Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and herself had made sure the security guard's death was a slow and painful one. Blood covered the animatronics' hands and feet, as well as her own. The only part she liked about wearing the rabbit suit was that she never got blood on her skin, she didn't know how she would cope if that ever happened.

Slowly, the red eyes of the animatronics turned to normal... Vanessa knew that they hated being controlled like this, she knew they would feel guilty for what they had done.

The tears in her eyes didn't last long, this was normal for her... The monthly kills to please her father. It was only a matter of time until the next one.

You couldn't help but laugh at the joke Vanessa had just said, some corny dad joke in her attempt to impress you.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," the blonde said, throwing her hands up in defence.

You had met Vanessa a couple months ago, she had greeted you at the door to the pizzeria on your first night shift and you immediately fell for her. She was sweet and understanding and you couldn't thank her enough for the help and advice she had given you regarding the job. She had started dropping by on your shifts quite often to spend time with you, and make sure you were doing okay.

Of course there had been flirtations between the two of you here and there, but nothing ever really came of it. You always felt as if Vanessa was being held back by something.

Eventually, Vanessa stood up from her chair, "Unfortunately, I can't stay all night. I have my own overnight shift to get to."

You whined, "Nooo, staaay," you clung onto her arm as she passed by you.

"Get off, Y/N!" she laughed, trying to pry away from your grip, "It's already one am, I'm gonna be late!"

"You're mean," you pouted.

"Yes. I'm so mean for leaving you to get back to my job that I am required to do."

You slumped down in your chair before releasing her, you threw your arm over your eyes, "Go on! Get out of here! Leave me!"

"You are so dramatic," Vanessa rolled her eyes. She patted your head, "There there, Y/N. You'll be fine."

Both you and Vanessa walked towards the exit, the blonde waved at the animatronics on her way out. She pulled her hood up over head, preparing to go out into the rain.

"Will you be back later?" you asked, hopefully.

She sighed, "I'm not sure, depends on how the night goes. I'll see you tomorrow night regardless."

You nodded, "Yeah, no worries. Good luck out there."

"Good luck in here," Vanessa smiled, "Have a good night, Y/N."

"You too, Ness."

And with that Vanessa left, heading towards her patrol car.

She sat in her car, flicking through her notepad and checking on her patrol areas for the night. She really hoped it would be a quick shift, definitely not because she wanted to see you as soon as possible again...

There had been countless times where she'd wanted to just open up to you and confess how she was feeling, but the underlying problem of her doing unspeakable things to people was stopping her. She didn't want you to know about that side of her. She didn't want you to hate her.

She shook her head, sticking the key in the ignition. She placed her hands on the wheel.

And that's when she froze.

Her eyes locked onto the rear view mirror, and there she could clearly see the backseat of her car.

The familiar white rabbit mask stared right back at her.

That was when a tear fell down her cheek, "No... Please..." her body shook as she realised what was about to happen.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, her foot moved to the pedals trying to get away from the pizzeria. All she could hear was the echoing laughter from her father within her head.

Leave Vanessa. Leave. Now.

She couldn't.

Her frown slowly turned into a smile. She slowly turned around and grabbed the rabbit suit, her fingers slowly smoothing over the rough fabric. Her smile grew wider as she saw the stained blood still there from her last victim.

She threw the mask on and stepped out of the car, she didn't care about the rain as she put the rest of the suit on. She stepped around to the back of the car and opened the trunk, she reached inside to grab the small black bag and retrieved its contents. The sharp knife that she had used oh so many times.

Her focus returned on the pizzeria, the bright sign drawing her in.

William was simply helping Vanessa out by letting her see you again, much sooner than expected. He was a good father.

Vanessa knew he was a g̵̥̋o̵��͇o̵͙̊ď̸̪ ̵̧̑f̷̪̍â̶͖t̶̘̀h̵̡̏e̶̤͛r̷͙̍.

Yet another yawn left you as you stretched in your seat. You were currently sitting in the office, doing your job... Looking at the stupid monitors. And of course, night after night nothing ever happened. The animatronics were comfortably standing on the stage, none of them moving. Absolutely nothing was happening.

You almost decided to sleep, but...

The monitors started to flicker, static covering a number of the screens.

"Stupid thing..." you groaned before smacking the side of the monitors. With one final bang, the screens came back to life. A sigh of relief escaped you.

The relief in you was soon washed away by panic. You leaned in closer to get a better look. You couldn't help but freeze upon seeing the animatronics. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica had all turned their heads to look directly into the camera, their eyes were a glowing red. You could feel your heartbeat increase as the lights in the office started to flicker on and off.

Maybe the generators were on the fritz? Yeah... That's it. Just some faulty electricity.

That was when you heard a loud bang coming from the room nearby. You immediately checked the monitors again, the animatronics were still looking into the camera.

With a harsh gulp, you grabbed a flashlight and stood up - heading to leave the room to investigate. It was probably just some animal that got in and was tearing up the kitchen... You hoped it was just some animal at least.

You slowly walked down the hall towards the kitchen, taking careful steps. The pizzeria was definitely eerie with flickering lights and no noise apart from your echoing footsteps. Oh, and also that voice you keep on hearing.

Wait... Voice? You stopped in your tracks.

"Y̴̛̼̙̺͎̤͎̲̑̈́͜/̴̢͗̾̋͛̓̈́͠Ń̵̖͍̞̪͔̜̺͖̖̆~" a long, drawled out voice filled your ears - your name making your whole body shake.

"W-Who's there?" you asked, stepping into the kitchen.

The voice simply repeated your name once again.

"Come on, now! Stop messing around. Now get out of here before I call the cops."

They giggled in response. The voice was feminine, and it somehow had a glitchy overlay to it.

You frantically pointed your flashlight around in different areas of the kitchen, your breathing was laboured as fear settled in.

"Awwww. Is little Y/N s̷̞̠̗̊c̵͇̥̮̤̗͛̓a̴̼͒̑̌̓̋͗̚͠r̴̫̜̤͕͔͍̖̉́͂̀́͐͐̐͝e̶̡̛̟̤̳̞̤̮͓͈̅ḑ̵͙̓̆?"

Scared was an understatement.

The door to the kitchen slammed close, causing you to jump. The room was plunged into darkness.

"Don't be frightened. We're going to have a little fun."

You turned around and dropped the flashlight as a pair of arms grabbed you and threw you against a wall, your vision blurred upon impact as you slumped to the floor. You rubbed your aching head before cracking your eyes open. You were immediately met by bright red glowing eyes.

"Aren't you a pretty thing~ No wonder she likes you so much."

It was a white rabbit. Your voice caught in your throat as they moved in closer towards you.

"Speak up, little one. I haven't got a lot of patience."

"Wh-Who are you? What do you want?"

"Aww!" they exclaimed, "She never told you about me? She's no fun."

"Who-?"

You immediately stopped talking once the rabbit pointed a knife at your face, the sharp tip centimetres away from your nose, "You sure do ask a lot of questions..." she looked you up and down, examining you...

You felt tears pool in your eyes.

"Don't be sad, little one... I promise I'll make this quick... Well, I won't... But..." a glitchy laugh escaped the rabbit as she dragged the flat side of the knife against your cheek, "She likes you, you know? She will be so devastated when she realises you're gone."

You desperately wanted to know who this was, and who on Earth they were referring to. But you didn't dare speak.

Their ears perked as they cocked their head, "I can smell your fear, you know?" another laugh... "Come on, can't you recognise my voice?"

You shook your head. The voice was so glitchy, and so unrecognisable.

"I want you to know who kills you, Y/N..."

"P-Please..." you managed to squeak out. You wished Vanessa left now. You wished she were here.

You couldn't stop yourself from looking at the stained blood across the rabbit suit.

"Hmm..." they drawled, "I can see why she loves you, Y/N. So... p̷͇̈́ř̶̜e̷̛͈ṱ̴̿t̷͇͐y̵͍͛..." they leaned in closer, red eyes burning into yours.

"Who?" you decided to ask.

"That little police officer you have become so fond of."

"Vanessa?" a whisper escaped you, your heart started to beat out of your chest.

The rabbit seemed to falter upon hearing that name. Their hand which held the knife shook before they finally retracted away from you. You could tell they were angry behind the mask, but you also sensed something else. It was almost as if they were scared.

"Y̵̡̻̅́͊͐͝/̷̳̑̅́͜Ņ̶̡̖͇͊͘... Y/N..." their voice glitched in and out. They threw the knife away, hitting the ground. The metal bang caused you to flinch as you stayed on the floor with your back pressed against the wall.

They started to grasp at the rabbit mask on their head, "No no no..." they shook their head.

"Nessy?" you called out, not really believing what was going on right now.

"D̵̩͊o̴͐̀ͅn̵͇͍͠'̷̱̀̕t̴̬̣͘ ̴̯͂ḉ̸á̷͓l̴̙̈͝l̴̪̀̚ ̶̹̌͆͜m̸̯̓̈́ẹ̶͎̿ ̵̩̤̈̐ẗ̴̢̞́̋h̵͝ͅa̴̢̓̆t̸͚̄̕!̸̯͌" the rabbit stormed over to you, crouching down, their face right in front of yours, "I'm V̵̩̈́̚a̵͖͆̌͆̏̌n̶̡͎̲̩͑͜n̸͖͎̝͈͘y̵̻̺̰̰̟͛. There is no Vanessa."

"Vanessa, please..." you whispered. Vanny faltered once more, their head hung low. She snapped her vision back up towards you, her fabric-covered hands gripped each side of your face.

Vanny wasn't sure whether she wanted to squeeze your head or hold it gently, the conflicting feelings within her were becoming more prominent by the second.

"Vanessa."

Vanny scrambled back away from you, she leaned against a wall as she panted heavily.

"Y/N... Help me..."

You could clearly hear Vanessa's own voice.

Your hands shook as you crawled over to the rabbit, panic still washed over you... But you knew Vanessa would never hurt you. Something was definitely wrong here. You kneeled in front of her, scared yet worried.

"V-Vanessa? What's wrong? I-"

Vanny reached out and gripped your wrist harshly.

"I-I'm sorry, Y/N. I can't-I can't stop it. I don't want to hurt you."

You believed her. You 100% believed her.

She released your hand, you grabbed the rabbit mask and pulled it off her head - throwing it to the side. Inside the suit, there sat a dishevelled Vanessa with tears in her eyes. You carefully cupped the blonde's cheeks in your hands.

"It's okay," you whispered, trying to comfort her.

"Y-You need to get out of here, Y/N. And never come back. I can't control myself."

"I want to help you, Nessy," the tears in your eyes matched hers.

"They're coming, Y/N. The animatronics. They'll hurt you. Just as much as I will."

You shook your head, "Vanessa-"

One of her hands came up to rest on your cheek, the rough fabric of the suit scraped against your skin, "I don't want to hurt you. Please, Y/N..." she felt her body shake slightly, Vanny desperately wanting to come back out.

You put one of your hands on top of hers, "What will happen to you?"

"I don't know. But as long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

"I... I can't-"

"Y/N," her voice was stern, "Please. I can't keep them back for much longer."

You still ignored her, "They-Vanny... Vanny told me you loved me. Please, Vanessa, I can't leave you here like this-"

Vanessa surprised you, leaning forward to capture your lips with hers. You happily returned the kiss as so many different emotions flowed through you. You felt Vanessa comfortably rubbing your cheek with her thumb, you just wished it was her actual skin and not the fabric of the suit - but you certainly weren't going to complain.

You suddenly pulled away in confusion. The first thing that hit you was the metallic taste that had settled across your tongue. You searched Vanessa's eyes for answers, you certainly weren't expecting a smirk to be plastered across her face.

"I guess I did promise I would make it q̵͔̎ṷ̵́i̵̲͠c̵͍̈k̷̭͗ after all."

Your hand slowly ran down to your stomach, you flinched at the feeling. You lifted your hand to get a better look, shaking as you went. Your fingers were completely red. You looked down and saw Vanessa's free hand wrapped around the handle of the knife that was currently piercing your skin.

Vanessa-Vanny quickly pulled the knife out, causing a choked scream to escape you.

You fell to your hands and knees as Vanny stood up, "N-Nessy-" you managed to breathe out before you hit the floor.

You frantically looked up, searching Vanessa's tear-filled eyes as she firmly placed the rabbit mask back onto her head. Your own tears dripped against the floor, mixing with the sheer amount of blood that had already began to form.

"I'm n̵̗͌o̶̙͂t̷̩́ sorry."

The last thing you saw was Vanny opening the kitchen door to reveal the animatronics waiting on the other side. You couldn't stop yourself from closing your eyes.

(Taglist is available for future Vanessa fics)

A̷͕̳̦͓͉͍̦̾̆̓̍R̸̛̟̺̘̅̀́̓̉̕Ē̵͚̦̬͙̮̆̆̄͗̈́ ̵̟͉̍̓̽͒̎͝Y̴̟̮͍̻̜̜̋̊̈̽̚Ǒ̴̰̞̤̺̭̏̉Ư̵̡̩̤̔͐̍̚ ̷̡̩͈͈̰̰͇̋͂̋̏̔͑͋Ḧ̵̘̻͎͔̥͙̣́͑͆̽͑̿̚A̸̰͓̖͔͒̚V̵̰̪͇͚͙͊̓̏͆̈́̔̿I̴̺̞̼̲̾̀̆͌̌̂͜Ń̶͚͖̪̯͂͋̎̌͘G̷̠͖̞͚̚ ̸͇͖͔̊̒̅̄̚͜͝͝F̴͖͍͇̔́̑͑̇U̷͓̲̘͛͆̌͊N̵̳͕͆̆̋͝ ̵̡̓̌Y̸̳͛̃̎̓E̶̬̰̥̭̝̫̐͗́̔ͅŢ̴́͛̑̔͂?̸̠̝̻̺̣̹̆

[prettyoddfever]

Hey, sorry if you've already done a post on this but do we know why Ryan ross stopped wearing stage makeup /makeup in general? I haven't seen any pics of him during pretty odd with any makeup on xx

Ryan only wore stage makeup from June – December 2006. It was just a short phase and then he was totally over it.

The Pretty. Odd. era started in 2008. Ryan and Jon talked a lot that year about how they wanted to make music that was more “honest” and authentic. At that point they viewed all of the Fever-era performers, costumes, makeup, and elaborate sets as “distractions” that weren’t necessary if the music was good enough to speak for itself. There were times that year when Ryan would almost look down on the Fever-era’s dramatic stage shows in a condescending way, as though those things were totally beneath him now. He certainly wanted to distance himself from all of that. He also made comments like “I think we’d be silly if we were wearing the circus outfits again. I don’t even know how we got on that kick.” He also told Cosmogirl in spring 2008 that “I think we’re playing a lot better than we used to... I guess you could say we’re more about sounding good than looking good.” Even his comments that weren’t dismissive of the Fever era still made it sound like the previous version of the band was inferior.

I loved that Ryan had found a direction he was happier with! But he didn’t seem to care that a lot of us were kind of hurt over how he was treating the Fever era. He had moved on. Ryan was more focused on establishing & defending the new version of the band in 2008 (and making it clear that fans didn’t own P!ATD; the band members controlled it and could take it in whatever direction they wanted). A lot of us were definitely interested in the new era, but we were loyal to the old familiar one. I wanted to be able to like both, but many of Ryan’s comments sometimes made me feel silly for ever thinking the Fever era was cool. 

Ryan changed so much every year. He also seemed to like to shake things up and make changes to the band so he could feel a stronger sense of ownership & control in something that was more authentic to who he was at each point. Like we had seen many other times, Ryan wasn’t interested in doing something for approval and he didn’t care what other people thought (which could be a strength). He was just going to move ahead with what he liked. Ryan told NME in 2008 that “Fever was a moment in time and it’s not who we are anymore.” Basically, his interests & focus had changed by 2007 and he wasn’t interested in looking back. Here’s something Ryan told Alt Press in 2010 when they asked him if he regretted any decisions from his years in P!ATD:

“At the time, I wouldn’t have changed anything, whether it be the weird makeup or whatever. Now would I do that? No. But at the time, that’s what I felt like I should do, so I did.”

I’ve seen some people these days make comments about how they wish the modern P!ATD had the Fever-era makeup/aesthetic and that its absence is somehow connected to Ryan’s absence? I have no idea how that conclusion works. Any hint of theatricality that the band had after the split was because Ryan was no longer there. Take a Vacation by TYV is basically what Ryan & Jon had in mind in 2008 for PATD’s third album... and that’s a far cry from AFYCSO. 

Basically, people change as they grow up nbd.

[slowcatsworld]

Julian Loki acts like an older sibling. PART 3

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Last part where it all makes sense I swear. Headcanons at the end!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Maturity, responsibility, politeness, adaptability, flexibility, patience, restraint, and confidence.

Julian has exhibited these characteristics each time we see him in the manga. All of this makes me believe that he’s an older sibling. It makes so much sense, from the way he handle’s Charles’ interesting personality to how he experimented to create two distinct PXGs with Shidou’s play style and Rin’s play style.

(Now onto the actual headcanon and not analysis part hehehehehe)

I think due to his calm personality I see him having a younger sister. However, he’s still a competitive teenager that I could see totally dominating his little brother in a video game or a friendly match of soccer. (Not that he couldn’t do this with a sister)

Older brother! Loki is someone his little siblings turn to whenever they have a bad day. They know that he’ll listen quietly to their words and assess the situation accordingly. He knows how to cheer them up; whether that be with a sweet that he’ll buy them without telling their mother, talking them through their feelings so they feel more at peace with themselves, or offering an assuring shoulder squeeze to let them know their older brother is here for them.

Older brother! Loki is someone who travels a lot because of soccer. Sure, he rather enjoyed the different quality of independence he got being away from home, but he grows to miss it when the nights drag on a little too long and the air is a little bit more crisp than it ever has been. His little sibling would miss him too, pushing their head into their mama’s stomach and mumbling a small, “I miss Julian.” Their mother can only stroke their head while they wait for the elder boy to finish practice so that the three of them can reunite on call.

Older brother! Loki who is actually very good at cooking. He doesn’t do it as often now, when he’s away from home he tends to buy French foods in foreign countries rather than make it himself. Besides, with all the money he has been able to make for him and his family, he doubts that they would ever have to cook with their own hands again. Not that his parents would ever agree to the thought of a personal chef or maid, the couple probably every bit as humble and kind as their son. He would often cook breakfast for his little sibling before walking the two of them to school.

Older brother! Loki that would play soccer with his little sibling when he found the time. Even though it wasn’t that intense, at least to him, the shrieks of laughter and face splitting grin that adored his little sibling were far more precious than some extra practice. After all, it is healthy to know when to take it easy and have some fun.

Older brother! Loki that tries his best to teach his little sibling about the importance of patience. Of course, little kids generally don’t have much of that, which is why Loki isn’t surprised to feel the tug of his sleeve when his little sibling decides they want to play with their big brother instead of letting him study for his upcoming exam. Loki can’t bring himself to be that annoyed though, looking into the same brown eyes as his own, he feels a strong sense of love flourishing from those stubborn and impatient pools of brown.

Older brother! Loki that helps his mother out with chores when he finishes practice and she finishes work. It gives the two of them time to rekindle and catch up on life.

Older brother! Loki that was always so happy to spend the holidays goofing off with his sibling. The sweet days off of school and soccer practice were made to be spent with his mini me beside him.

Older brother! Loki that was filled with shock when he saw his little sibling wearing a smaller version of his France national team jersey. His heart fluttered and soared out of his chest as a chuckle escaped from his smile. It suited them, of course it did. Because it was his little sibling. The bond between them was ever so strong, even if he would be on the field and his smaller version of himself would be either in the stands or watching through the television screen at home.

[roo-bastmoon]

With 17 versions to buy and 8 versions combined for 160 streams per Spotify account, plus Melon and FLO streams now counting, of course Jungkook’s Seven is charting high and sweeping awards. Firstly because it’s Jungkook of course, and secondly because it’s been given every possible advantage.

My (perhaps controversial) opinions about that are below the cut.

Honestly? I really can’t feel good about any “first” or “most” or “fastest” records achieved by this single—catchy as it is—which wasn’t written or conceived by Jungkook and has nothing much personal or deeply meaningful about it. It’s a fun feel-good summer pop song, for sure, but no more groundbreaking than, say, Bad Decisions (in my opinion… I have no musical expertise.)

But I can’t feel super great about all the records and awards because this many versions immediately restocked and shipped and auto play and promoted to radio and ads and leadership hyping only this while Jungkook says he wants to be the one and only artist to conquer kpop and pop for the next thousand years… it all just doesn’t really sit right with me.

When compared to the 10 months Jimin forewent sleep, food, and showers to have a hand in every aspect of his first (and deeply personal and symbolic) album, which was never sent to radio or restocked, got split tracks and delayed playlisting and shady articles, plus not one kudos or congratulations from leadership even after he made history for South Korea and stocks soared…

Forgive me, but it all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It is ruining the song for me.

Some things like culled streams and sales are out of the company’s control. But the things I mentioned above were all possible for Jimin’s Hot 100 #1. Even if every Tannie has total say in their projects' sales and marketing, and everyone was on board with only Jungkook getting the Hybe America "red carpet" treatment, I can’t lie and say the stark difference feels fine. It doesn't, and I confess I leave the headphones in every time Seven comes up in the playlists now.

I’m not jealous. If anything, I have a warped sense of pride that Jimin has done so fantastically well despite so many, many obstacles stacked against him. I love to champion an underdog and I’m glad I never need to doubt his success was organic. I actually feel extra admiration for how humble and hardworking he continues to be—no resting on any laurels for the It Boy. I'm so glad he is my ult-bias.

*sigh*

Listen to me.

I know Jungkook and Jimin are both genuinely good people. I know they are sincerely talented and hard working. I know they truly love each other. I know all members are legitimately happy for each others' success.

I know what’s important to me may not be important to them, nor what they want for their careers. And even if I feel their company’s making shitty decisions, I know my place as a fan.

So I trust them. And I simply hang in. I hope lessons were learned for smoother, fairer future releases. Because neglecting assets makes zero business sense, and perceived favoritism can erode the group’s bonds and tear ARMY apart. It is, frankly, just plain stupid.

So I may dislike things about their solo era rollouts and I can't bring myself to sugar-coat it; but I mostly try to keep my negative thoughts to myself and find things I CAN celebrate with other fans on an open timeline.

I never want another Tannie to feel anguished and misunderstood the way Hobi did about JitB’s physicals.

Watching Jungkook’s face here on his London live when he talks about people hating him just haunts me. It guts me. I can't stand it. That kid was going through it and I don't believe he has a malicious bone in his body, so it just really upsets me seeing him like that.

There’s so, so much about this company, this industry, this culture that I just don’t understand. But I trust Park Jimin completely. As long as Park Jimin loves and supports his members, God knows, I will too.

So!! On that note...

We have Jungkook’s birthday to celebrate next week and Taehyung’s album to support the week after that. I’m going to do my best to rest up and gather some good energy for these things!

And of course, we must congratulate our Jimin, who made history again today, and no matter what, will always set the standard. I just know he's cooking up something else for us with all these weeks of silence, and I cannot wait to go BERSERK for it whenever it drops.

I’m not really sure I had a point to this post. It’s just that I have been mulling all this over for a long time, and finally felt well enough to sit up long enough to come online and type up my thoughts.

I guess what I mostly wanted to share with my friends here is that it’s okay to feel really disappointed and even enraged at the way some things play out over the (hopefully life-long) careers of BTS members. Don't let folks gaslight you. Call it like you see it. (Maybe keep sensitive things behind a cut or in the DMs--and of course, please change your mind if you get better insight. In the end, only the Tannies really know what's going on with the Tannies.)

But while I’m still side-eyeing the company so hard right now, I’ve decided to love and support the boys as people and artists. I'm trying to believe the best in everyone. I’m still an OT7 Jikooker.

You don’t have to agree with me, and if you need to unfollow, I understand. But I figured I should just tell you guys (especially the new followers) where I am at with all this.

Love, Roo

[randomvarious]

Now listening:

Pacific by 808 State (1989)

Alright, if you've ever wondered where the whole concept of stacking up 12-inch singles and maxi-CDs with lots and lots of remixes of the same song originally came from, you can thank a UK label called ZTT for that, which was co-founded by Trevor Horn from the Art of Noise, the guy who is often referred to as 'the man who invented the 80s,' because his approach to creating music is inextricably linked to what you generally think of when you hear the term '80s music.'

And so it only makes sense then that the first release on ZTT from the then-recently expanded Mancunian dance quartet of 808 State would be a single that came with a bunch of remixes of the most iconic track that they would ever themselves release, "Pacific State," on it, which, prior to its appearance here, made its official debut on their mini-album, Quadrastate, in July of '89.

But this big Balearic ambient house club classic of theirs has a little bit of controversy surrounding it, namely, who was actually responsible for making it in the first place. Prior to this Pacific single, 808 State's lineup was significantly different. The original members were Graham Massey, Martin Price, and Gerald Simpson aka A Guy Called Gerald, and sometime after the release of the group's spellbindingly gnarly and acid-drenched 1988 debut LP, Newbuild, Gerald split, with one of the last things he ever worked on for the group being "Pacific State." And after his departure, a young DJ/keyboardist duo of Andy Barker and Darren Partington was added to the ranks.

But while Graham Massey has publicly claimed that the original version of "Pacific State" was the result of a collaborative effort between he, Price, and Simpson, Simpson has alleged that he actually wrote the entire thing himself. And what's more is that Simpson received writing and co-production credit for the song on Quadrastate, but in subsequent releases like this one, he wasn't credited at all. And I do think that it is kinda crazy that this group's signature hit—the one that would help to cement them as electronic and dance music legends, and one that they've always had to perform because of it—is a song that was originally made before that seismic lineup change actually took place. Thankfully, though, however big this rift between Simpson and his former group actually was, it appears to more or less be water under the bridge at this point, because Massey and Simpson have gone on to collaborate since 🙏.

OK, but how did this song get, like, really big in the first place? Well, "Pacific State" had been a constant closer at the famed Haçienda nightclub in Manchester for six months before breaking containment and then landing in the ears of BBC Radio DJ Gary Davies while he was in Ibiza. And once he'd heard it, he then brought it to his own daytime radio program, and then the group landed on ZTT, with this single lasting on the UK singles chart for 11 weeks and peaking at #10.

But as mentioned before, this single came with a whole bunch of variations on the original, and the version of the single that's available on Spotify—which appears to compile a bunch of the songs that were included on all the different 1989 issues of the single itself, between its 7-inch, 12-inch, CD, and cassette versions—has 7 of them on it. And apparently, over the years, this song has actually amassed a whopping total of at least 42 different versions of itself! 😲

Here's 808 State performing the "707" version of it live on Top of the Pops in 1989, by the way. Absolutely electric stuff 🤩:

Now, one other thing that I think deserves mentioning here is what inspired 808 State to make this song in the first place, and the specific tune that they apparently chalk it all up to is Chicago house legend Marshall Jefferson's own "Open Your Eyes," a song that itself comes with a liberal amount of new age-indigenous 'fourth world' kind of flute on it.

It seems that plenty of synthesizers that were en vogue at that time had some sort of flute preset on them that vaguely evoked a mythical, mystical vibe from an idyllic Southeast Asian / Polynesian / Oceanian part of the world, and as such, a bunch of dance music decided to then incorporate it too. But in addition to that, the Spanish isle of Ibiza was naturally big into the whole sound as well, which had been exemplified by a very popular spot like Club Ku, which among other things, once threw a birthday bash for Freddie Mercury that was so legendary that Ibiza celebrates the anniversary of that very party itself—apparently one of its features was bowls of cocaine 😲. And with a name like "Pacific State" and a single called Pacific, whose only other non-"Pacific State"-related track on here is called "Cobra Bora," which is a reference to the tropical snake and most likely the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora too, you can see how all of this exotic stuff meshes together, especially with Ibiza leaving its mark on Manchester and the Haçienda itself.

So, anyway, time for me to figure out which of these slightly different versions of "Pacific State" here is my favorite. I'm pretty deeply familiar with this song in general already, with its lush sax that serves as a dancefloor equivalent of a call to prayer (and a great phone alarm too, now that I think about it), as well as its famed use of soothing loon birdsong too, but I definitely don't know how all the different versions go and how they actually differ from one another in the first place.

And I was forced to put together my own Spotify playlist for it too, because I think I saw that one of the Pacific releases had a full version of "Cobra Bora" on it, and the single supplied by Spotify doesn't, so here you go:

Plus, here's a very neat tutorial from musician Ski Oakenfull in which he deconstructs "Pacific 707" and builds it back from scratch with Ableton:

After this, we're on to the group's next release, 808:90, which, despite its title, was actually released in December of '89.

More in-depth 808 State posts for those just joining this lengthy excursion too:

Newbuild Let Yourself Go / Deepville Quadrastate

[swampbrick]

Okay so my biggest point of confusion with S4 is the whole concept of the Marigold needing to be destroyed for the timeline to be restored to its apparent single track.

Maybe I just need to rewatch, or maybe this actually didn’t make sense. I would not know because I haven’t read anybody else’s thoughts on this specific portion of the plot fuckery. Read at your own discretion because I am not being articulate right now and I ran in SO MANY CIRCLES while typing this up.

The Hargreeves siblings + Lila weren’t the only people created via Marigold. There were so many more! Per timeline AND overall. So why were they the only ones who had to die for it to work? To me that seems like they were working more on an “enough Marigold to cancel the Durango” concept, versus a “total destruction of all Marigold” one. Which doesn’t add up to what we’re being told is happening in the show.

Are we supposed to context-clue our way to the fact that the S1 Hargreeves siblings were THE original Hargreeves siblings, and that the timeline only split into all of those branches at the end of S1? And that it just so happened that the only way to fix everything was for them to die, specifically them and NOT any of the others—? Because now we’ve wrapped around to a point of contention for me which is that all of the marigold in the universe wasn’t destroyed, just 8 people’s worth in a single branch of the timeline.

It feels like the implication here is that fixing “the original timeline” and destroying all of the Marigold that existed at any given point in that one was the solution, even if it didn’t happen in that timeline— which would be accomplished by the ending of S4 (since the world ended in their original timeline canonically, and everybody died including the other folks with Marigold).

But this also implies that all of the other timelines that exist aren’t ‘as real’ as the other ones, which doesn’t really make sense to me in the established canon. They didn’t explain WHY the original 7 + Lila dying would fix things— why did it undo actions that had already occurred, across multiple timelines?

I would think that with the way things were explained, them dying would just kill the versions of themselves in that timeline, and the other timelines containing ample Marigold would continue to trek on as they are until whatever version of the Umbrella/Sparrow/Phoenix/etc Academy that existed there ended the world. And THIS is supported by the fact that we are shown that there are so many other timelines where OUR Hargreeves didn’t ever step foot- and yet we are shown and told via the photos & dialogue during Five’s conversation with himself that they ended as well because of the Marigold’s existence, not because of these specific versions of the siblings being there.

✨Anyways✨ I feel like I’m running in circles, and will continue to do so, but this is just where my brain is at trying to make peace with that ending.

[llamagoddessofficial]

How do the boyos react to a breakup? :3c

Not... great.

I've answered this before, but it doesn't hurt to do it again, does it?

Sans: There's a split second, after she breaks the news, where he stares at her with no expression on his face. It looks lost, perhaps... blank? Totally unreadable. But to someone who knows him very well, like Papyrus, Sans just did his version of breaking down in hysterical tears and begging her not to leave him.

... Just like that, he defaults to what he always does when faced with a deep emotional wound- the mask comes back up. He doesn't even try to resist the breakup. He perfectly plays the part of the understanding, emotionally mature ex, he agrees that they 'just aren't compatible that way'. He doesn't ask how he can change, he doesn't try to come up with ways to make things work. He just rolls over. Of course he's happy to stay close friends. Of course she's still welcome at their place. Of course she should still come over for spaghetti and videogames on Friday evening. Anything to get her out the door as soon as possible.

He seems completely unaffected. They continue being friends... but part of him is now permanently closed off to her. He never gives casual touch, he doesn't text her jokes that made him think of her. Their texts become a repeating pattern of her longer messages, his simple 'ok 👍' replies, then the little grey timestamp of several days passing. Outside of the usual Friday, he never asks to come over, he never invites her anywhere. Even if she can't read him, she'll definitely see how massively their dynamic has shifted- she'll realise just how important she used to be to him.

... And suddenly... she gets the sting of realisation that she'll never see that side of him again.

Red: It depends on how far they are into the relationship. If it's early, he does what Sans pretends to do- he cuts off the romance but remains completely chill with her. Her breaking up with him is the sign his hyper-vulnerable subconscious was looking for to pull his budding feelings for her right out by the roots; now he has the concrete proof he needed that he shouldn't invest his Soul into this. He remains an easygoing, casual friend who's eager to be one with benefits.

If it's later in the relationship... after a long time with one another... if flat out denial that she wants to break up doesn't work, he tries bargaining. He tries promising he'll change, promising everything under the sun in the hopes that she'll stay. He tries begging her not to go. His last-ditch is trying to explain that he loves her, and he doesn't know if he can love anyone else. He can't be alone after he thought he'd never be alone again.

... If all else fails, he pivots to his old friend anger. He thought they were going to be together forever, buy a house, have kids. He genuinely can't handle watching that all slip away from him. He feels like it's all his fault, he fumbled the love of his life; so now she never loved him, now she's a liar, now she's been planning this for months and dragging him along out of pity. Now she's probably cheating- anything he can get his hands on to make it make sense. Nothing can calm him down, not even her, he storms out and gets into vicious fights and spitefully watches the missed texts and calls rack up. He immediately falls back into old addictions- when Papyrus finds him two days later, the stench of whiskey is almost too much.

If we're looking for a silver lining here, it at least brings the brothers closer. Papyrus misses his sister, but he firmly takes Red's side (as he's done his whole life) and wants nothing to do with her anymore. It hurts to watch Red unravel again.

Skull: Skull's concept of a 'relationship' is slightly skewed. He doesn't really understand it, he never has... his mind doesn't work like that, and neither does his idea of love. If he loves her, he loves her, that's all there is to it. Because of that, ironically, there's a chance that Skull would take the breakup the best out of all of them, because to him love is just as sweet regardless of whether they can or can't kiss. He really doesn't care what label is on what they have- if he can still see her, still cuddle her and touch her hair, he doesn't mind. Romantic, platonic, sure, whatever sweetheart says. If she doesn't want to be romantic anymore that's fine. So long as she'll still hold his hand. So long as he can still turn to her when the nightmares are too loud; so long as he can still watch the corners of her eyes crinkle when she smiles.

... There won't, however, be any new lovers.

The thing about Skull is being with him comes with the unspoken agreement that there'll never be anyone else. He's completely attached to her; and now that the affection as gone as deep as it has, no matter what Mc says or how much they talk about it, the sight of anyone else being with her fills him with so much instinctive rage and hatred it just isn't safe. There will be blood.

She can break up with him, sure. That's fine. Whatever sweetheart wants.

But nobody will ever take his place.

[almighty-letu]

Day 4 Aleheather Week 2024

Day four, November 14th- AU

Create a version of Aleheather in another universe.

There's no sugarcoating it folks. I wrote a warriors cats au because damnit I like warrior cats and I like total drama, and I will not be apologetic about it! Hope you guys enjoy it.

Heatherfrost prowled forward deeper into the undergrowth of ThunderClan territory, keeping her steps light. She had to find out what Tigerblaze was planning! Ever since she met him at the last gathering, she had a bad feeling about him. Unfortunately everyone, including her own Clanmates, saw nothing amiss with the young warrior. He was a promising, talented tom. A credit to ThunderClan. Most cats were convinced he would be made deputy someday.

She left the ShadowClan camp earlier this morning with the excuse of hunting alone, just to sneak into ThunderClan territory and see what that conniving foxheart was up to.

Heatherfrost paused at the foot of a beech tree, her ears pricked. Footsteps thundered up ahead. A patrol was coming this way. Thinking fast, Heatherfrost leaped onto the tree, snagging her claws deep into its bark and hauling herself upward until she was perched high on a branch. Crouching there, she peered down through the leaves.

The forest floor seemed empty, with not even a mouse stirring. Then Heatherfrost caught sight of a fern quivering. Moments later a dark tabby head poked out of the undergrowth. Heatherfrost drew in a breath of anticipation. It’s him! At once she recognized the red-brown tabby tom as he led a hunting party through the area. Heatherfrost tensed. He was not alone. She recognized Heavybelly’s big figure trampling through the woods, followed by Grayfeather’s wiry, lithe shape and Redfall.

“We should split up.” Tigerblaze meowed. “Grayfeather and Heavybelly, you head toward RiverClan; see what you can find near the river. Redfall, you go that way. I’ll try my luck around here. I think I smell a mouse closeby.”

The warriors split up, disappearing into the undergrowth. Only Tigerblaze remained. His tail twitched.

“I know you’re there.” Tigerblaze rumbled. “You can come out now.”

Heatherfrost hesitated. He’s bluffing!

“My Clanmates will be back soon. Would you rather face me or a whole patrol by yourself?” Tigerblaze pointed out impatiently. “Better come out now. I give you my word, I won’t let anything happen to you while I’m around.”

Begrudgingly, Heatherfrost climbed down from her hiding place.

Tigerblaze stared at her, his whiskers twitching with amusement. “Well what do we have here?” He drawled. “Doing a little spying, are we?”

“I was hunting and my prey strayed over here.” Heatherfrost explained lamely, painfully aware she was in enemy territory conversing with a cat from another Clan. “I didn’t realize I crossed the border until it was too late.”

Tigerblaze flicked his ears disbelievingly. “You made it this far away from the border without noticing?” He reasoned. He glanced upwards. “Did you have any luck finding your prey from up there?”

Heatherfrost narrowed her eyes. “I think it’s just common sense to hide when you are severely outnumbered in enemy territory.”

His whiskers twitched again. “And yet you came out of hiding when I called for you. Why?”

“If you wanted for me to get caught you wouldn’t have hesitated to expose me to your little Clanmates.” Heatherfrost reminded sharply. “Why didn’t you?”

“There’s only one of you. I figured you wouldn’t pose too much of a threat on your own.” Tigerblaze meowed breezily.

Heatherfrost bristled. The arrogant rat!

“Keep your fur on.” Tigerblaze purred. “I mean no disrespect. I am sure you are a formidable warrior, but I figured it best to solve this with words rather than claws. For our sake if nothing else.”

“Our sake?” She echoed.

He stepped closer, his warm breath fanning over her face. His scent washed over her. “I know you want to be the leader of ShadowClan someday. And I think you got what it takes to make it.” He meowed. “With that said, I, too, plan to become leader of my own Clan one day. With that in mind I think it’s best we start our future leadership on a good first pawstep.”

“And what makes you think I’d want to be allied with you?” Heatherfrost retorted icily, tail lashing.

“We’re more alike than you think.” Tigerblaze went on. “I see great potential in you. I’d want to have a cat like you by my side. And if you’ll permit me, I could be a great ally to you in return.”

Heatherfrost froze. She could detect the veiled threat in his silky voice plain as day. But she felt strangely thrilled by the prospect of a challenge.

His paw placed softly on top of hers. "We could be the most powerful warriors in the forest."

Her whiskers quivered, tempted by the promise of ruling ShadowClan some day. It wouldn't hurt to have a powerful, respectful warrior leading a rival Clan for a change...

“You must leave. Now!” Tigerblaze suddenly tensed, pulling away.

Heatherfrost’s ears twitched. She was also aware of cats approaching. She could hear their soft paw-fall on the leaf litter and the sound of fur swishing through branches. She smelled the wind brushing against their coats. Foreign smells. These were ThunderClan warriors, confident enough in their own territory not to care about the noise they made.

Her fur stood on end.

“Quick!” Hissed Tigerblaze again. “Run!”

Heatherfrost hesitated too long. Just as she was prepared to spring into the bushes and make a dash for the Thunderpath, silent shadows slipped out of the trees, and in a heartbeat the ThunderClan patrol had encircled Heatherfrost and Tigerblaze.

“What’s going on here?” A small and long furred gray tabby tom demanded. His voice was cool and measured. “Well well, Tigerblaze, it seems you caught a trespasser in our territory. Good job!”

“Yes, Stonestar. But she is no threat to us.” Tigerblaze dipped his head. “I was just about to escort her back to ShadowClan.”

“Not so fast, Tigerblaze. This is a valuable opportunity we have here.” Stonestar purred slyly. His attention turned to Heatherfrost. “What are you doing in ThunderClan land?”

“Like I told this mouse-brain already, I was looking for prey.” Heatherfrost retorted, flicking her tail in Tigerblaze’s direction.

“On our territory?” Stonestar challenged.

“I was in hot pursuit of a squirrel. I didn’t realize I crossed the border until too late.”

“Typical ShadowClan cats - always thinking you own the entire forest.” The deputy, Mudpelt, snarled. “We should chase her out with a few good scratches to remember us by.”

“Keep your claws in, Mudpelt.” Stonestar purred. “Let’s take her back to camp for further questioning. In the meantime, she will be ThunderClan’s prisoner until ShadowClan exchanges a few herbs for her freedom.” With a flick of his tail, the other warriors in the patrol took up positions on either side of Heatherfrost, and the patrol moved off.

Tigerblaze fell in beside her but did not speak or look at her.

-

A plump mouse was placed in front of Heatherfrost’s paws. “Eat this.”

She looked up at the red-brown tabby in front of her. His green eyes held no malice toward her. Since she was brought to ThunderClan camp, Heatherfrost has been confined to a small den shielded by a bramble screen on the far edge of the camp, isolated from the others. The ThunderClan warriors hissed and threatened her, but she paid them no mind.

She bent forward and sniffed the mouse. “Thanks.” She gulped down the offered prey in quick clean bites.

Tigerblaze’s whiskers twitched. “It won’t be long before you’re back in your own camp. Stonestar already sent out a patrol over there to request a bargain in exchange for your freedom. Once your Clanmates realize where you are they will do anything to rescue you.”

“Will they? One lousy warrior in exchange for a few herbs? They might consider being better off without me.” Heatherfrost scoffed. “Even if they do take me back, this incident will definitely put a strain on my reputation. Thanks a lot!”

His eyes seemed to glow. Was he amused? “You’re the one who snuck over here, remember? And you are a valuable warrior of your Clan. Popular or not they won’t abandon you to the lion’s den; and your reputation will survive. Nothing a few dawn patrols won’t solve.” He scanned the corner she’d been held in, glancing down at the half-eaten mouse at her paws. “Sorry to keep you like this. Have you had enough to eat?”

“I don’t expect hospitality from the likes of you.” Heatherfrost muttered. Reluctantly, she added, “But given the circumstances, I can’t say I have a place to complain. Could be worse, all things considered.”

Tigerblaze sat down, washing his face. “What’s ShadowClan like?”

“Not that different from your Clan.” Heatherfrost meowed. “A lot more reserved, perhaps. And colder. More hostile toward strangers.”

“You must miss your Clan, huh?” Tigerblaze prompted, drawing his paw over his whiskers.

“It’s the best Clan there is!” Heatherfrost swiped her tongue over her muzzle as she finished her mouse. “And someday I am going to lead it. No matter how long it takes!”

“Of course you will.” Tigerblaze purred. “You know, if for some reason ShadowClan decides you are not good enough for them anymore, I think ThunderClan would gladly take in someone like you in our midst. You are a skillful hunter and a brilliant fighter. It would be a waste to throw that away.”

“I’m flattered.” She said dryly, forcing her voice not to quiver. She swallowed against the lump rising in her throat. “Why do you want to swap me for herbs anyway?” 

“Leafbare is on its way and twolegs have trampled the usual patches in our territory.” Tigerblaze answered. “With so many mouths to feed we need to take precautions.”

“That’s all?” She echoed, confused. “Why go out of your way to keep me prisoner? Couldn’t you have just asked us like normal cats?”

“Be honest with me, would your Clanmates ever willingly share herbs with us had we asked?” Tigerblaze queried.

Heatherfrost knew the answer for that was a big fat no, and so did he.

“Don’t worry.” Tigerblaze leaned forward, his eyes round. “I’m sure your medicine cat will happily give up a few herbs on your behalf. You’ll be home in no time.” 

“Tigerblaze!”

The brambles shivered and Stonestar stuck his head through the den’s entrance. “ShadowClan has agreed to give us herbs. You can escort the prisoner back to the border, and make sure she doesn’t come back.”

Tigerblaze dipped his head. He turned to her, flicking his tail over her muzzle. “Well, looks like you get to go home after all.” He meowed. “Come on; let’s get you out of here. You must be stiff, holed up here.”

He escorted her out of the camp. ThunderClan warriors glared at her warily and hissed her way. Tigerblaze kept close to her at all times as though he could shield her from his Clanmates’ anger. They climbed the ravine outside of camp and bounded through the forest all the way to the Thunderpath.

“I meant what I said.” Tigerblaze meowed breathlessly. “Whatever happens, you will always have an ally in ThunderClan.”

Heatherfrost did not reply. Weird cat.

“Let’s meet up again sometime.” Tigerblaze offered, his mew calm and friendly.

“I’d rather not.” Heatherfrost mewed dryly. “One time was more than enough for me!” She crouched on the edge of the Thunderpath, bunching her muscles as she prepared to cross.

Tigerblaze shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll keep a lookout for you at gatherings if you ever change your mind.”

She wordlessly crossed the Thunderpath in long easy strides and made her way back to familiar land.

“Oh, and Heatherfrost?”

She drifted to a halt, stopped, and glanced back at him over her shoulder.

“Try not to get caught spying on enemy territory again, will you?” He purred teasingly.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for not telling my sister we're related?

I CAN EXPLAIN, I SWEAR.

Okay, so basically. I have this friend (??X -- look, they're around my age but I don't know my age because time is not something I'm good at keeping track of. I think I'm older? Not by much though.), we'll call them R. R's a great person -- trustworthy, reliable, friendly, willing to play good cop to my bad cop (METAPHOR!!! NOT ACTUALLY COPS!!!), one time we planted an inordinate amount of beetroots together? Maybe more than once.

R is also, like, super possessed by an evil version of himself. At least, I'm pretty sure S (???X) is evil. He's sneaky, ominous, keeps saying things that don't make any sense, have this really spooky voice, and oh yeah there's also the eyes that change color and the fact that he keeps! Bugging me! About my past! Which you'd think would not be something appropriate to ask someone with a mechanical arm and a bunch of burn scars! And yet!!

Anyway. S insists her name is also R but in this case I'm referring to her as S because otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell the difference now would you? And I've been trying to figure out what exactly is going on with S for ages. Like, don't get me wrong, terrified of her, but I also want her help. Having someone like that on my side could be really useful.

The thing is, a while ago S and I talked and zhe showed me this... weird, old buried upside-down clocktower in the ground? I tried to talk things out with zhen and ask what zhe wanted but. Uh. Look, at some point maybe I stopped paying attention and tripped while going down one of the internal ladders or something, I still have a few healing bruises from that talk. Lost some time, too. But I do remember her mentioning I was related to R (and also something about us being time and space? Maybe? I don't want to think about that! So I'm not going to!) and that I was supposed to be zhens older brother.

The other thing is, every time I've remembered this (memory issues, you know how it is, everyone has 'em) it's been the worst possible time to go "hey, by the way, we're related" to R. Like, absolutely godawful timing. I didn't tell them immediately because S possessing R messes up their body hardcore and frankly I was scrambling to get them health potions so they wouldn't randomly die about it. I didn't tell them the next time I remembered because we were busy dealing with the person who blackmailed us who turned out to be a) a literal star and 2) basically a baby -- who then kind of told us the reason he's not, you know, in the sky, is that his brothers pushed him out of it as a prank and if there's any really bad time to tell someone you're their brother, it's when the kid in front of you is basically going "brothers suck, source: me." (Side note -- some weird combination of ESH and NAH from that situation as far as I'm concerned. We worked stuff out.)

Only, uh. Look, I am entirely not sure what happened. I randomly came to in the clock tower again one day with S glaring at me, and then next thing I know I've lost more time and R is helping me get out of the clocktower cavern with an absolutely splitting headache. He gets me up out of the place and then to my house (I saw some weird signs with my handwriting on them along the way. Sidenote: might also be possessed by an evil me.) and is acting... really weird. Keeps asking if there's anything I need to tell him or am keeping from him, eventually just reveals that S spilled the beans on us being related. I think he's a little mad about it -- I mean, I would be too -- but I really did just totally forget! I've been super busy and might've gotten a concussion at the time S told me!

Anyway. Found out someone was my sister via her evil possession twin. Forgot to tell them because the timing was always the worst timing imaginable. Am I the jerk for this specific thing. Not the other stuff. Probably was kind of a jerk during the thing with the star. Not relevant here.

[adobe-outdesign]

I know you reviewed the original Ursaluna but could you review the Bloodmoon variant as well?

Honestly, I think the last thing I or anyone else really expected from the DLC was another form for Ursaluna. Seeing as Ursaluna was just added in in PLA and was already a much-needed third stage to the Teddiursa line, it getting a new form in SV was completely out of left field. I'm not really opposed to it, but it does feel like they had tossed this idea around for PLA as a split evo and then decided to tack it onto the SV DLC because they didn't have the design finalized in time or something.

Speaking of which, it's also a bit odd because it's just its own Pokemon—it doesn't evolve from Teddiursa, it's not a form a regular Ursaluna can switch to, it's (in-universe) a lone individual that changed based on its environment in Kitakami. It's kind of shame that it's not something you can evolve, but the idea of "individualized" Pokemon like this is intriguing, and could be an interesting concept to explore with other Pokemon in future games.

With that said, conceptually, it's pretty neat. Ursaluna, if you couldn't tell from its name, is based on the idea of a full moon. Bloodmoon Ursaluna is, get this, based off a blood moon, i.e., the moon during a total lunar eclipse. That makes sense thematically, and the red does make it stand out against the original.

Visually, the two are also similar enough to feel like they're the same 'mon, but there are some major differences. The Bloodmoon varient has an angrier expression and walks on its hind legs—ironically, making it more similar to Ursaring than standard Ursaluna. Personally, I love regular Ursaluna's slightly dopey expression and the more bear-like stance, but I can definitely see the appeal here.

In addition to the change in stance, the Bloodmoon version has different mud placement (more on the face but less on the front legs) and is almost zombie-like, with cracked mud, a lighter base color, and a blackened eye. I do think the explanation for the eye is pretty weak (why would it only need night vision in one eye??) but it does look hella cool.

So overall, while this probably wasn't a form we needed at all, it is a neat concept and is well-executed, and should make fans of both Ursaluna and Ursaring happy.

[dunjays]

Ayda Aguefort Timeline/Age Speculation

(warning this is long i have many thoughts)

ok ever since i found out about ayda's reincarnation and her relative age ive been curious about how long she would be alive for (in prep for writing a fic about what notes she'd write to her next self after meeting fig), and so here's my thoughts on that, starting with what we know:

ayda is relatively over 300 years old total

current ayda is 17 years old, and knew herself to be ~175 years old total

ayda knows of 3 previous lifetimes, all of whom lived in leviathan at one point

garthy obrien raised current ayda

a previous ayda raised garthy obrien

in various sources, dnd and general, phoenixes can live to 500-1000 before immolation. by this logic/dnd standards half-phoenixes can at minimum live a little longer than humans, and at maximum probably halfway between the two so 300-600 range.

what we can speculate:

considering past lives timelines, half phoenixes here are probably not living in that higher 300-600 range each incarnation, probably much closer to a typical human lifetime range unless they're dying unexpectedly early (which tbf is possible considering leviathan, but ayda is a badass genius wizard holed up in a library so unlikely that's happening a lot).

speculated in various sources and implied in fantasy high that half phoenixes while born without memories of the past are born with some kind of prior intelligence/maturity (like the intellect of a 6-11 year old). this would make sense for how ayda was able to raise herself in the past despite having no guardian (read notes, get around, survive, etc which wouldn't be possible if she popped out a lone infant).

all 3 previous lifetimes left notes and did work building compass points, meaning likely all at least got into teen years to be leaving in depth notes and historical impact. on average over 150 years this would make each previous ayda be about 50 years old, but this seems unlikely considering some known stuff about 4th most recent version detailed below.

arthur is ~500 years old, and confirmed that ayda told him to not contact her 300 years ago, meaning ayda was likely at least a teenager/young adult by the time of making this decision. it's unclear if this was ayda's first incarnation or not, it was likely one of the earlier ones although possibly not considering this version already had an established note-taking system and plans for informing future versions (but it is implied all the aydas leave notes so again speculation). this ayda promised to leave notes for future versions, therefore it's likely they are not the same version (the 4th most recent ayda) who destroyed the previous ~125 years worth of notes. we have at least 5 confirmed versions of ayda altogether (averaging 60 years each over 300 years), possibly more.

garthy obrien is a half orc aasimar. half orcs live to roughly 75 years, human-based aasimar to no more than 160. this means the celestial blood adds roughly 60 years to a human's lifetime, so if we add that to half orc we can estimate garthy will live to 135. half orcs reach adulthood at 14, aasimar at ~18. garthy was raised when very young through to at least adulthood, and is likely at most presently in their 40s (they describe jack brakkow as distinctly older, who's in his 50s), though more likely closer to 30s considering their more youthful appearance and vibes (but again the angel blood could be a factor). so im saying 35 for splitting of difference purposes. they raised ayda her whole life, so that's at least 17, meaning previous incarnation died when garthy was ~18 (sad).

based on all this it's highly likely the most recent reincarnation prior to current ayda raised garthy obrien, and we can assume was at least an adult when doing so and lived until garthy was an adult so likely died at the earliest at ~36-40.

4th most recent ayda destroyed ~125+ years worth of notes in an effort to start over, likely did this at at least teen age (let's say ~18) and did not start taking notes again until decades later, thus starting the 150 years until current ayda. its assumed that by the time they began note taking in leviathan they were already fairly old/reflecting on past decisions/etc, likely at least 50 (considering 18ish when burning the notes and the following 'decades-later regret'). also this takes off a chunk of that previous mystery 125+ notes, meaning 4th current ayda probably reborn around 75 years after cutting off arthur contact, possibly sooner.

we dont know really anything about the 3rd most recent ayda aside from them liking the library and getting zero bitches

theories/concrete thoughts:

even with 2nd ayda dying at the earliest at 40 and 4th ayda dying at 50 (10 of which factor into the 150 years at leviathan) at the earliest (mind you these numbers are a stretch) the max age you get ayda being is 100, which is a normal human lifespan

casual possibility in all of this is ayda is roughly 300, and with 5 version on average lives to be about 60 years old. this is simple but seems unlikely considering phoenixes live much longer and so her lifetime should be longer than a human's.

it's possible the odd age timeline/low age is in part because when she's reborn she might not be born as an infant. if she comes back as essentially 5-10 already, that is potentially a good chunk of time that is chopped off at the end, making her lifespan average closer to 70 or 80. still lower than anticipated but more reasonable.

it's possible that some versions of ayda have died prematurely or self-immolated for whatever reason. though they've all seemingly lived past childhood, they live on a pirate island with frequent dangers and strife, it's totally possible that anything bad could've happened to them. i think its less likely that they just died really early because 1: ayda seemingly has always come back with access to these notes which implies some level of safety, to have been reborn in the same space as these notes and be able to process them and grow/learn while also being still that young implies some safety/protection. also ayda is a genius and a very good wizard like her father and could likely survive most typical challenges that come her way. also she has very few relationships and very few goals besides collecting knowledge and spells so likely didn't have many enemies either. to me self-immolation feels more likely as ayda clearly struggles with a lot of insecurity and loneliness and likely depression/mental illness and mentioned as much in reference to losing fig, altho i think this prolly only happened with 3rd or 4th most recent ayda. but still, premature death is possible too (something ayda referenced as a possibility as well upon returning to leviathan).

ayda being perhaps way more than 300 is possible and makes some of the timeline make a bit more sense. you could have a much older 4th most recent ayda who dies briefly into her time in leviathan, leaving two aydas in the next 150 years living well into their 70s (or perhaps one dying earlier and one living longer). you could also even speculate that there are 4 rather than 5 aydas, the 4th most current being the same one who left her father and burned the notes (this seems unlikely tho considering the promises, the desire to restart and impulsive note burning decision) but that would make that version at most around 150 before reincarnation.

also possible half-phoenixes just have shorter lifespans. maybe the tradeoff to being immortal means their human bodies aren't strong enough to handle that power/process as easily and weaken sooner/don't last as long. hence average of closer to 60s

in conclusion/TLDR:

fig is most likely outliving ayda or they're around the same age. ayda is at least living to 60, and at the very most 150 (which is a bit stretch). most likely ayda will live to an average human lifespan of around 80, and fig could potentially die at a similar time but tieflings tend to live longer on average, also at most to 150. there's a possibility for a fig-raising-ayda akin to garthy future, but it's unlikely, at least not for long. [and if fig is a full pit fiend/archdevil ofc she could end up immortal but that might be after material plane death]

[weirdmarioenemies]

I am going to rank even more of the Super Mario Galaxies and none of you can stop me

Yeah! There's a lot of these things!

Welcome to part 3/6 of me ranking all of the Super Mario Galaxies! Today we're gonna start tackling the A-tier galaxies, and since this is the biggest tier, we're splitting it into two parts, with one half this week and the other half the next! If you missed the previous posts, here's the low tiers, and here's the B-tiers!

I feel obligated to remind everyone this series is happening Every Sunday until we run out of galaxies to talk about, and also that the opinions in this post are my own and do not necessarily reflect my employer or coworkers. Spikey cried when I put Gold Leaf Galaxy in the B-tier. I'm sorry, Spikey. I didn't mean it personally, I swear!

Per usual, rankings begin below the cut!

50. Bowser's Star Reactor

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: A

This is just a really solid Bowser Galaxy, you know? I think what makes this one stand out to me is just how well I feel it takes advantage of Super Mario Galaxy's game mechanics. The beginning segment with the winding multicolor path around a Black Hole always stood out to me as a really memorable sequence, and this is actually the first Galaxy we're covering that utilizes Gravity Walls! Yippee! I like Gravity Walls a lot. Makes for memorable 2D platforming sections. Expect to see more of them in this tier.

I think the atmosphere in this Galaxy is pretty top-notch. Something all the Bowser Galaxies have in this game that I really, really like is the crumbling staircase you have to jump up as you approach Bowser, especially with how the stairs are just a little too big to walk, and especially with the optional health upgrades you can grab at the expense of your time. Really good sequence. I think for being the first Bowser Galaxy in these games, it stands out to me a bit more in this galaxy in particular. First impressions can be important, people!

That being said, I will be upfront and say I might've overrated this one a little bit when making the list. But give me a break! There's 91 of these things! Do you think I'm gonna have an easy time putting each and every one in the exact correct place? My gut told me this belongs in A-tier, and by the time I was re-assessing it, the B-tier post was already on the blog. But I'll also say that if my gut told me this belongs in A-tier, then that probably says this galaxy is doing something right.

49. Rolling Coaster Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

You know, it's weird that for being such an Iconic Mario Location, Rainbow Road pretty much never shows up in the mainline games. There's usually some sort of Star World or Special Zone, but rarely are they actually Rainbow Road Like The One From Mario Kart.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of the rare exceptions, though, bringing us Rainbow Road in the form of a Star Ball level! Personally, I like this a bit more as a final, challenging version of the minigame more than Rolling Gizmo Galaxy, because it leans a bit harder into what makes these levels fun. Not only are you going to be building momentum, it's almost essential that you keep that momentum to make some of these really sharp turns! Plus it also offers more challenging side paths For Super Players, which happen to be where the Comet Medal goes because of course it is.

On the subject of the Comet Medal: the Purple Coin star here is BRUTAL and I'm not sure whether I like it or not, but I think it makes sense for it to be given this is one of the last galaxies in the game. You're given a little leeway, but not much, since you have to grab 100 and there's 110 coins total! It's really difficult, and sometimes frustrating because of the control scheme (there's a reason this is towards the bottom of A-tier), but I don't know if I'd say it's unfair, and otherwise this galaxy gives me a lot to like.

48. Honeybloom Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Now this is what I'm talking about! A galaxy that takes advantages of the Bee Mushroom's mechanics while also having a solid identity of its own beyond "Honeyhive but different", I like it!

I think it was a really smart idea to make a 2D platforming level with the Bee Mushroom. Its mechanics work surprisingly well in 2D, and it serves as a nice way to familiarize the player with the Bee Mushroom before letting them use it in 3D a bit later on. I do think the powerup is better suited to 3D gameplay, but Honeybloom Galaxy is a fun change of pace I can always appreciate.

Lots of fun segments here, too! I especially love the segment with all the Spindleburrs and Trapdragons at the end (both enemies I feel like this blog should cover at some point if we haven't already). Creates this fun feeling of urgency. The bits where you bounce around on the giant grapes are also pretty good, and a fun way to show off the Bee Mushroom's flight mechanics.

Shoutout to the one mission in this galaxy where you just wall jump for a minute to grab a star. I think it's one of the easiest missions in the entire series but it is funny so it's okay.

I only realized in hindsight that I never made a "Bee-Tier" joke for Honeyhop Galaxy or Gold Leaf Galaxy so uhhhh Hey, what's this Galaxy doing here? It clearly belongs in Bee-Tier!

There. Nailed it. (I stand by it being an A-Tier galaxy don't worry)

47. Throwback Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

waow... so freaken retro...

I know I've been a bit harsh on recycled content, and trust me, I'll go ahead and say that's probably why this one didn't land highter, but I also feel like a one-to-one remake of a mission from Super Mario 64 has a bit of a different vibe, you know? Feels less like filler, more like a fun homage to a previous game. Helps that Whomp's Fortress is just a really good level in general, that fits pretty well in this game. Something like Bob-omb Battlefield might have been more iconic, but Whomp's Fortress was already basically a floating planet! It fits right in!

Though that raises an important question, are Throwback Galaxy and Whomp's Fortress one and the same? People have always asked what the paintings in Super Mario 64 represent like, in-universe, if they're paintings of real locations that warp you to those places, or if the worlds only exist in the context of the paintings, which transport you to a sort of fantasy land... Is the painting of Whomp's Fortress a portal to a far-away galaxy? Or is Mario set in an infinite universe where this sort of oddity is merely inevitable? These are the questions that keep us Weird Mario Scholars up at night.

I think the new additions to Throwback are really neat too, the new-and-improved Whomp King boss fight is such a fun way to make a fight that's both familiar and fresh, and the second mission with the Silver Stars manages to create a fun new experience in this familiar location. It's not like they just ported over Whomp's Fortress and called it a day, the extra level of care put into Throwback Galaxy ends up elevating it quite a bit, to me.

46. Sky Station Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

We're halfway through the rankings! Are you enjoying this? You're probably enjoying this if you bothered to read this far. But if you're not... please find something better to do with your time! Life is better when you're doing things you actually enjoy doing! Mod Hooligon's Tip!

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, Super Mario Galaxies. This is the first galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and it's a pretty good one. It's no Good Egg Galaxy, but I still enjoy it, I think it's solid as an introduction to the game's mechanics with some memorable segments, like those asteroids with the weird gravity, the rolling stone platforms around the cylindrical planet, and the part where you get to destroy all the Banzai Bills with a star. It also has the boss fight against Peewee Piranha! Which First Boss Piranha Plant is your favorite? Petey Piranha vs. Dino Piranha vs. Peewee Piranha Splatfest, coming soon!

This galaxy's music from the first mission is like, the main theme of Super Mario Galaxy 2, but honestly I like the music in the second mission way more. Feels grander and more cohesive to me. Actually, the second mission feels more cohesive in general... Really leans into that "Sky Station" theme. I like it!

45. Spin-Dig Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Lots of the early-game galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy 2 are dedicated to introducing the game's new power-ups, and Spin-Dig Galaxy is one of such galaxies, built around the Spin Drill. Here's a Joke for you: Why did the Mario use the Spin Drill to dig through a planetoid? To get to the other side! Yeah, I don't get it either.

The Spin Drill might not be the strongest addition of Galaxy 2's new power-ups due to its limited moveset (dig hole), but it does do a pretty good job taking advantage of these games' existing gravity mechanics, which Spin-Dig Galaxy is more than happy to lean into. It makes for fun tests of your spacial awareness, building puzzles around having you figure out where you'll end up after tunneling straight through each planet's surface, (though the game usually has some well-placed dirt blocks or craters to help you figure it out). Unlike Earth, there's no water here so the answer will never be "The Ocean".

The missions here are pretty solid too. Digga-Leg is no Megaleg, but still makes for a fun boss built around using your drill at the right place with the right timing, and I like the Silver Star mission here quite a bit, where they're all buried underground on a large, rectangular planet. Consistently fun all around!

44. Yoshi Star Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Yoshi! Everyone loves Yoshi except for the people who don't. But I'm not "people who don't" so needless to say, I like his galaxy. Yoshi is one of the big New Features in Galaxy 2, so it makes sense they'd design one of the first galaxies in the game around showing him off.

And to that extent, I think they do a pretty good job! The first planet is one of the bigger planets in Galaxy 2, and it has all the stuff you need to get acquainted with Yoshi. Lots of fruits and enemies to eat, mud that slows down Mario but not Yoshi, a Smeech (so you know that there's enemies that specifically target Yoshi), etc. I feel like I'm saying Yoshi a lot in this section. Almost as much as The Dinosaur Himself. Yoshi Yoshi.

Anything not shown off in the first planet is generally explored in the rest of the galaxy, like enemies that Yoshi needs to pull back to eat, those weird flower things you lick to gain height, and enemies you can fire back as projectiles. They don't show off the Yoshi Power-ups here, but those get their own galaxies generally.

Really, I appreciate Yoshi Star for balancing being a good tutorial, while also still just being plain fun if you're already familiar with the game. It plays a really nice balancing act of showing off all the intricacies of Yoshi's moveset without being too handholdy, meaning it accomplishes all of its goals without ever feeling like a drag on replays.

43. Haunty Halls Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

There are g-g-g-ghosts in this g-g-g-galaxy, and I gotta say, I think that's g-g-g-great! I'll stop now. Haunty Halls is a galaxy that sorta ends up living in the shadow of the Cooler Ghost Galaxies, because there's a few of them and the others get really good, but it's still a pretty great time in its own right. What can I say? "Ghost" as it turns out is just a really solid theme to build a galaxy around.

Compared to the other ghost galaxies, Haunty Halls is a bit more linear, which I think knocks it down a little in my book, but it's not like the galaxy doesn't take advantage of that fact. The galaxy has some nice platforming challenges along moving floors, where you have to keep on pace with the path and avoid hitting the dark matter walls, and when you're being chased by Big Boos or Cosmic Clones, it means there's not a lot of room to hide, which lets this galaxy keep up the tension a bit.

This is also the introduction of the Bulb Berry and not the introduction of Mattermouths, both facts you would be familiar with if you read the last post. Everything I said about the Bulb Berry there still applies here, though as its introduction, this one tends to be a bit more forgiving. There's Bulb Berries all over the place in that mansion! That being said, I still appreciate the optional question mark blocks you can try and hit while worrying about the timer. Fun optional challenges like that are always appreciated here!

42. Battle Belt Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

I'm realizing how much of this post has been dedicated to Super Mario Galaxy 2. As I mentioned, this game is remarkably consistent. Most of its galaxies cluster around the A-tier. In general, compared to the first game's bigger missions, they tend to be a bit less elaborate and more linear, but as a result they also tend to get the most out of their concepts when compared to the smaller ones. Battle Belt is a really good example of this design philosophy, I think. It's simple, it's straightforward, it has an idea and is determined to COMMIT to it.

Battle Belt Galaxy serves as a tour of the game's various Weird Mario Enemies, giving each enemy their own planetoid, and leaving it to you to figure out how to defeat them. It sticks to that concept pretty much to the very end, only maybe deviating for the secret Fire Gobblegut boss fight, and even then, that's still a new spin on a familiar foe so it doesn't really feel out of place here. On one hand, you could argue that Battle Belt feels a bit repetitive because of this, and to some extent it is, but the enemies and their respective planets are varied enough that it rarely ends up feeling dull to me.

I also appreciate how this galaxy is so late in the game. It's not the hardest galaxy in Galaxy 2, but it ends up feeling a bit like a pop quiz, testing your familiarity with each enemy and if you remember how to defeat each one. And on that note, I really love that this galaxy gets a Daredevil Comet. That's usually reserved for boss fights, but using it for a fight against several small foes makes it feel a lot more unique.

41. Shiverburn Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Admittedly, this galaxy kinda always struck me as "Freezeflame Galaxy's less cool younger brother", but I don't know if that's really fair to Shiverburn. I mean, it's not an inaccurate statement of what this galaxy is, but I think it makes this galaxy sound a lot weaker than it actually is, because it certainly brings some fun new ideas to the table even with the shared theme, and unlike Freezeflame, which sort of saves the "Hot and Cold Collide" theme for the final mission, called "Hot and Cold Collide," Shiverburn gives you that theme right out the gate. I appreciate that!

It leads to some fun segments like at the beginning, where you have to carefully traverse around a lava pool before freezing it, turning the whole thing into a skating rink, or the segment where flaming meteors create pools of lava in the ice. I kinda wish the Ice Flower was in this game, I think this galaxy could make good use of it, though we do get the Cloud Flower, which I won't complain about. It gets used for maybe the toughest Green Star in the entire game.

I also really like the Prince Pikante boss fight, which does a lot better as a twist on King Kaliente's fight than the King Kaliente rematch in the first game. The icy floor makes for a unique boss arena, since you're gonna be spinning to deflect the coconuts, which puts you in Ice Skating mode, which is a bit more mobile but also more difficult to control, which makes the fact you're fighting an octopus in a speedy tank that creates lava pools all the more hectic and enjoyable.

And because I feel inclined to mention them, this is the home of the Hell Valley Sky Trees. Apparently they're named after a place in Japan called Hell Valley, which has hot springs surrounded by snow. Neat!

40. Beat Block Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Now THIS is how you do an uncomplicated one-off gimmick galaxy! The first game kinda struggled with these, but I feel the sequel generally fares a lot better in this regard, with more unique gimmicks and more elaborate layouts.

Beat Blocks (also known as Beep Blocks in later installments) are such a fun level gimmick. So fun we apparently have a post on them, but don't ask me where it came from. You can ask me where Beat Blocks come from though, because they come from here! And I think they're a pretty fun gimmick! This is a galaxy that really makes you get in the groove of the music, alternating where the solid ground is every couple measures. As you'd probably expect from a galaxy like this, it slowly becomes more and more elaborate, making the non-Beat Block ground more and more sparse until you're collecting Silver Stars on a pyramid made entirely out of Beat Blocks with no other ground to stand on.

Did Beep Block Skyway in 3D World kinda eat this galaxy's lunch with a cooler take on the same gimmick? Yeah, but all great gimmicks gotta start somewhere. We needed Beat Block Galaxy to run so Beep Block Skyway could run but like, really really fast.

It kinda bothers me that the Comet mission is called "Silver Stars in Double Time" when the Beat Blocks are actually moving four times faster, with only a single beat between alternations instead of two measures. It's a good mission I'm just bothered by the name.

39. Fleet Glide Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Oh yeah this one's BAD ASS!

So much so that I had to drop a PG-rated swear to talk about it! Fleet Glide Galaxy seems to exist to fill the niche that the Trial Galaxies did in the first game, providing a difficult version of an earlier-introduced motion control minigame not for the faint of heart. It even follows the same naming convention in Japanese, being called "Challenge Glider Galaxy"! Neato!

Fleet Glide Galaxy is pretty difficult, but in a way I like, where it feels like a solid test of what you've learned earlier. Lots of narrow obstacles to weave between, enemies like Magmarrghs, Thwomps, and Undergrunt Gunners blocking your way, and much like Wild Glide Galaxy, an optional challenge of gliding through five rings to grab this galaxy's Comet Medal. The whole thing also takes place on a BATTLESTATION ROCKETSHIP, which feels like a pretty wild departure from the serene jungle scenery of the Wild Glide Galaxy.

In particular I love the bit at the end, where you have to make a mad dash for the escape before a large garage door closes in on you, all while narrowly dodging several tall pillars scattered throughout the room. Really, this one mostly made it so high on account of just how cool it feels to play through it. I can sort of give or take gliding with Fluzzard, but it's hard for me to play through Fleet Glide Galaxy without feeling a bit of an endorphin rush.

38. Fluffy Bluff Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

That's right! It's another Early-Game Super Mario Galaxy 2 Galaxy That Introduces A New Power-Up! As I said, there's a few of them. But Fluffy Bluff Galaxy gets a bit of an edge to me, since it introduces the Cloud Flower, which is such a great power-up, I think. Like I've mentioned before how much of a delight I think it is, but the mix of being able to create new platforms at will and the floatier physics makes for some really fun platforming.

Really, Fluffy Bluff Galaxy has a few things going for it. It's the first appearance of the Cloud Flowers, the first appearance of Whittles, the first appearance of The Chimp, lots of Super Mario Galaxy 2 hallmarks make their debut here. Let's be honest with ourselves: Super Mario Galaxy wouldn't be half the game it is if it didn't have a cool monkey wearing sunglasses that challenges you to... challenges.

Fluffy Bluff Galaxy, as you can probably expect, is on the easier side, but takes solid advantage of its new power-up, and is also just like, a really nice Environment. It feels a little more elaborate than a lot of places in Galaxy 2, and I'm chalking it up to the mountains. They're just a little extra set dressing that makes this place feel a lot more Robust to me.

37. Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Here we have what I consider the best of the Star Ball galaxies*, Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy! Is it worthy of the title of Masterpiece? Maybe not quite, but it's still really good. So good I moved it up like ten spots in the process of writing this post! Whenever I go to Rolling Masterpiece, I have a ball!

Rolling Masterpiece ends up feeling like the best of these missions to me, mostly in part to its fun and varied obstacles that take full advantage of the Star Ball's mechanics, and honestly it brings a lot of new things to the table too. Like, writing this made me realize this is the only Star Ball galaxy that has you rolling around a sphere. Feels weird they only did that once, given "running around spheres" is like, one of the main things Super Mario Galaxy does.

Rolling Masterpiece has a lot of fun taking mechanics from other galaxies, but recontextualizing them by using them in a Star Ball mission. Stuff like the Space Junk assembly blocks, the Flipswitches, and the wooden blocks being cut apart by saws aren't unique to this galaxy, but end up making really interesting obstacles here, and I think it helps to use mechanics the players are already familiar with so they have some idea of how to approach them. And even if you want something wholly original, you have the Silver Chomp grudge match at the end to look forward to.

*There is one more galaxy that uses the Star Ball that we haven't talked about yet, but it's not really a "Star Ball" galaxy. It'll be a while before we get to it.

36. Flip-Swap Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Wrapping up today's list, we have another relatively simple galaxy built around a really solid gimmick that would continue to make regular appearances in the 3D Place Games. The sequel's Hungry Luma galaxies generally fare much better than the first game's.

The Red-and-Blue Flip-Swap Tiles are such a cool gimmick. The spin mechanic is so integral to Super Mario Galaxy's level design, that building a level around having to be more careful about where and when you use it ends up feeling brilliant, especially with how it escalates over time. Sure, you might want to spin jump over those electric fences, but be careful, or else you'll be taking the ground out from under you!

As the galaxy goes on, it continues to get better than better, particularly towards the end, which has a memorable segment where Chomps will appear out of portals, alternating between the red and blue tiles, making you time out which path is safer at which moment, and the end sequence, where there's tiles placed far enough apart that you instinctively want to spin jump, but doing so is a bad idea. They did such a good job designing this galaxy around its central gimmick, and I love it for that.

And unlike Beat Block, I think I do generally like this one more than its successors, even if Cakewalk Flip is the absolute funniest stage to do multiplayer on in 3D World. I also like how this galaxy allows for the optional challenge of beating it with only the red or blue tiles active! I've never tried it myself, but I know both are possible, which is really cool.

In conclusion:

And that marks it for today's post! Once again feel free to give your thoughts, as to where you agree and/or disagree! Sorry to that one person that wanted me to put both gliding galaxies in F-Tier. I like Fleet Glide Galaxy too much to do that, I hope you understand.

Next week, we'll cover the rest of the A-Tiers! I'll make sure to link it here when it goes live! Prob... probably.

(EDIT: It took two weeks but here you go!)

[fourswords]

if i could make links from across time meet each other i would just make it the four sword links (hero of the minish, hero of the four sword, fs link, hero of light) because:

a) i want mc link to be the youngest so the other three look at him like "THIS pipsqueak is the one who made the four sword???" and yes he is still the only one of them who has the four sword because he still had it after his adventure ended. and he hits them with his energy beams about it

b) i want them to get in a fight over knights (fs link, fsa link) vs. non-knights (mc link & hero of the four sword). i know fs link isn't canonically said to be one or the other but i think that since his zelda called him to the four sword shrine the same way fsa zelda called fsa link to look at the four sword sanctuary, it would make sense to Assume he's a knight

c) out of the four of them, i think fs link would be the living personification of the charlie brown "i got a rock" meme. he is also the oldest out of all of them (i would think like 15 or so) and the best with teamwork after the hero of the four sword

d) i only ever see mc link & fsa link in links meet AUs and i want them ALL to meet each other (and it'd be funny because the hero of the four sword would be looking at mc link like "is this for real my ancestor" like hyrule historia teases)

e) i want the other three to look directly at fsa link and go "who's ganon?"

f) using the manga version of fsa link here it would be funny as hell if shadow was still stuck as his literal shadow and he was just being as un-shadow-like as possible

g) i think it'd be hilarious for mc link to find out how the four sword splits the other three. like damn y'all didn't change the sword the sword changed you? sounds like a skill issue.

h) i think the hero of the four sword would be the cockiest one there. according to the manual he as a young boy literally happened upon vaati wreaking havoc and said nothing but "i'm gonna kick this guy's ass" and then went and did exactly that. he's cocky because he's got mad skills (and the best control over totally splitting out of the three of them that can do it) and he knows it

i) no princess zelda is ever mentioned in the hero of the four sword's story and i also think it'd be funny if he was born into an era without a zelda (like an adventure of link situation where there's some prince in line for the throne instead) and the other links are like "wdym you don't have a zelda."

j) unsurprisingly considering his game & his independence within said game, i think mc link would be absolutely godawful at teamwork. fs link keeps trying to nicely give him tips to no avail, the hero of the four sword keeps eyeing him weirdly (the whole ancestor thing again), and fsa link is having flashbacks to himself sucking bad at teamwork. shadow is laughing at him from the ground

i could keep going with this but you see my point. i want to put them all in a room together and watch them go at it

[byakuwan]

Dying Will Flames of the Stars 2.0 wip

i think these are mostly solidified? i just have to write the descriptions lmao

the concept: dying will flames of the sky all have a 'daytime' theme. so what about modifying/varying those to have more of a 'nighttime' theme?

these aren't… especially adherent to the categorization of the normal sky set. not totally different like the earth flame set, it's more like "(Flame Type) shouldn't be able to do that?!" … but these do!

they're not related to canon Flames of Night at all, but i think they should have some relation to the bertesca famiglia from the DS games, aka the OG "snow flame" users who just modded the zero point breakthrough iirc.

but... the people who made these flames modified and/or distorted them way harder.

in any case:

Sky Star Flame: Synchronization

Somewhat like Sky's Harmony, Star Flames synchronize everything around it to work together in unison. Any type of Flame can connect to and influence other types more easily with Star Flames. Its users tend to be more powerful while used around other Flame users than they are independently.

Storm Comet Flame: Assimilation

WIP. force a thing to be something it's really not instead of destroying it outright. i think i wrote it had 'a military commander shaping up recruits in bootcamp' vibe. it's definitely not as defined as the others.

Cloud Wind Flame: Dispersion

WIP. scatter things. split things. push things apart. taking one thing and not multiplying it, but dividing it instead. mitosis, in a way. things are all identical here too. functionally like cloud's propagation, but by using a different technique to accomplish the same result, its uses may differ... if i ever come up with something more for it. lmao.

Rain Snow Flame: Preservation

Like the false "Snow Flames" of the Bertesca family, these Snow Flames can freeze other Flames in their tracks. However, these are modified versions of Rain Flames rather than modified Sky Flames, and as such, they can freeze more than other Flames.

Its focus on stopping all other aspects to anything it touches may seem powerful at first glance, but things frozen by Snow Flames will usually thaw out to be the same way they were before being frozen.

Sun Moon Flame: Hibernation

WIP. sun's activation making things work more? moon's hibernation making things slow down.

this can lead to rapid negative changes slowing down too. this is what you use when someone is suffering wounds/illnesses that will harm them greatly or kill them etc. it's also perfect for buying time.

Mist Aurora Flame: Reflection

WIP. not illusions but copying/mimicking. rather than a disguise, users have to actually, fully become what's needed of them... and sacrifice their sense of self in the process.

Lightning Plasma Flame: Amplification

Plasma, as a state of matter, is highly electrically conductive. As such, rather than hardening as a Lightning Flame could, Plasma Flames amplify preexisting effects, uses or abilities of anything it's used with.

-

alright now maybe someday calegari oc famiglia will get developed enough to use them. i still have to refine moon's guardian and come up with a snow guardian, but... the others kinda exist, just in various states of development... man i'm slow.