#but the original post format was hideous

[pieandhotdogs]

Kauai artist Troy Carney

Carney has been developing this gold leafing style since 2005

[doesnotloveyou]

Don Johnson Filmography - Free Links!

Instead of you spending countless joyful hours trawling the web for grainy old '70s flicks, I did it for you! Here's a list of FREE places to watch DJ's stuff.

This list will be in reverse chronological order as they appear on IMDb. Some are just placeholders until (if) better links can be found, and some are bootlegs from other countries. I'm excluding music videos since those aren't hard to find.

And if you want to skip boring/annoying plot but don't want to miss him, I've made a key:

MC (main character) - much of the story involves his character and he is onscreen often

SC (side character) - only part of the story involves his character, so he's onscreen far less often than other characters

C (cameo) - he's got one or two scenes and they're small, in which case I'll mark his appearances in 0:00:00 format

I'm leaving most content warnings to viewer discretion, but some I don't feel comfortable ignoring. Also, some of the YouTube vids may get taken down at any moment :( If you like something, back it up! I'm using KMPlayer to download my faves, but I've heard you can also use VLC.

>> Links below cut! <<

First, check out my list from Tubi which has the most high quality versions of his work and TV appearances. If it's on Tubi, it won't be on this post!

Home Movie: The Princess Bride - (C, 0:41:30) the entire film is hilarious, especially if you've seen the original; made by a bunch of celebs during quarantine.

Knives Out - (SC) ok, there's no link, but i'm begging you to go buy this movie on DVD it's like $5-$10 tops in stores these days.

Moondance Alexander - (SC, 0:18:20)

Just Legal - (MC, eight episodes)

Word of Honor - (MC) this vid has "helium" audio and other insufferable flaws.

Goodbye Lover - (SC, login req)

In Pursuit of Honor - (MC) WARNING: animal death/abuse

G.I. Joe: The Movie - (SC, voice only, 0:30:35...) spare yourself, skip this movie that he probably did for his kid.

Tales of the Unexpected - (SC; one episode)

Matt Houston - (SC; one episode)

Melanie - (SC)

Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. - (SC; German dub) clips of his character.

Elvis and the Beauty Queen - (MC; Portuguese subtitles)

Revenge of the Stepford Wives - (SC, 0:12:40, 0:25:15...) he has multiple scenes including one at the end, but these movies stress me out.

Beulah Land - (SC) only in part 1, but his character is replaced by a young Jonathan Frakes in part 2. WARNING: non-graphic rape

From Here to Eternity - (C, one episode, 0:07:10, 0:36:00)

The Rebels (MC, two-parts)

Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill - (SC, 0:13:39...)

First, You Cry - (SC, first scene, 0:24:20, 0:44:20, 0:57:07, 1:15:38, 1:32:16)

Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold - (C, 0:19:48, 0:32:19, 0:44:03...) can't stomach this film to find the rest of his scenes, he's a very minor character.

The American Girls - he's not in this! the main male character is played by the lovely Charles Haid from Hillstreet Blues, but it isn't listed on Haid's IMDb. Also, the character he plays does not go by the name DJ is listed under for that episode, so maybe DJ's in a different one? Regardless, I only found two episodes and DJ is in neither.

Ski Lift to Death - (SC) he shows up in the second video...don't make me watch this.

What Really Happened to the Class of '65? - TV spot w/ the only footage of him that I can find.

Cover Girls - (SC, 0:27:21, 0:40:40, 01:01:15...)

The City - (MC) costarring Mark Hamil

Barnaby Jones - (SC, one episode) I watched this and now it's missing...it sucked anyway. DJ plays an amateur arms dealer with a sickly son, a wife in jail, and a hideous mustache. He loses.

The Streets of San Francisco - (SC, one episode)

Law of the Land - (MC)

Return to Macon County - (MC) login to YT req but there is also a Spanish dub that doesn't req login. costarring Nick Nolte

A Boy and His Dog - (MC) this version has the nude scenes edited out, sign in to YT for the full cut; much higher quality than Tubi. WARNING: rape, etc.

The Rookies - (SC, one episode) costarring Nick Nolte

Kung Fu - making an executive decision here uhhh skip this one

The Harrad Experiment - (MC; two-parter w/ odd in-video ads that you can easily fast forward) WARNING: they all get naked

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors - (MC, one episode)

Lollipops, Roses and Talangka - (SC; some scenes in Tagalog) can't find the 1975 sequel or much information on English sites, but one Filipino fanblog implies the film may no longer exist.

Zachariah (MC)

Endlessly impressed by how much has been preserved and curated over the years. Even if a ton of it was junk, it's nice to save people's hard work and memories :)

........................................................................................................................

[paperanddice]

Another of the Janus creatures, this noble looking knight is not human. Its armor is its skin, or is so tightly bonded that it's impossible to remove one without the other. Any attempt to remove or destroy the armor of a knight of strife and joy just reveals raw, bloody muscle and inhuman organs below. Beyond that, the creature is driven to bring both strife and joy to all around it, magically compelling such events if it must.

The creature's shield is no mundane object, instead being an extension of the knight's mind and will. The faces upon it see and have wills of their own, and so long as the knight carries the shield it benefits from their presence. Stealing or destroying the shield greatly weakens the knight, leaving it near helpless, but if it can survive it can craft another out of its own body while the old one is destroyed.

Outside of my dream monster setting, the knight of strife and joy is most likely a celestial or fiend, depending on what morality you want to assign it. Despite looking humanoid, it is not well suited to that type without some adaptation or a very intriguing explanation for the bond to the shield. In combat it's intended as a front line disruptor, using its high defenses to tank attacks and its magic to shatter enemy formations and strength.

Originally from the Dreamblade Base Set. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I'm working on, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

Knight of Strife and Joy Medium aberration (janus), unaligned Armor Class 20 (plate, shield) Hit Points 105 (10d8 + 60) Speed 30 ft. Str 15 (+2) Dex 9 (-1) Con 22 (+6) Int 10 (+0) Wis 10 (+0) Cha 16 (+3) Skills Perception +6 Senses passive Perception 16 Languages any two languages Challenge 5 (1800 XP) Face Shield. While holding its shield the knight has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, and knocked unconscious. If it is not holding its shield, it instead has disadvantage on any of those checks or saves and cannot cast spells. The knight can create a shield whenever it completes a short or long rest. It's previous shield dissolves into powder when it creates a new shield. Strife And Joy. Creatures of the knight's choice within 30 feet of it have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. Each time a creature enters that area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn in that area, the knight can choose to force the creature to make a DC 14 Charisma saving throw; on a failure, it has disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. If the target is immune to being charmed or frightened, it instead loses that immunity but does not have disadvantage on saves against that effect. This lasts until the knight is incapacitated, or the creature is no longer within 30 feet of the knight. Actions Multiattack. The knight makes one melee attack and casts one spell with its Spellcasting, or makes two Slam attacks. Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) bludgeoning damage. Spellcasting. The knight casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14): At will: bless, command, hideous laughter 1/day each: compulsion, confusion, dissonant whispers, fear Reactions Defender. When a creature the knight can see attacks a target other than the knight within 5 feet of the knight, the knight can make itself the target of the attack instead.

13th Age

Knight of Strife and Joy  4th level spoiler [aberration]  Initiative: +6 Slam +8 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 5 damage Shield Bash +8 vs. AC - 5 damage plus 5 psychic damage Natural 16+: The target also takes a -4 penalty to MD (save ends). C: Bringer of Strife and Joy +7 vs. MD (1d4 nearby enemies) - 5 psychic damage Natural Even Hit: The target is also confused (save ends). Natural Odd Hit: The target is also weakened with laughter (save ends). Limited Use: The knight can only use this attack when the escalation die is even. Face Shield: As long as it is holding its shield, the knight has a +5 bonus to saves against being confused, dazed, or stunned. If it loses its shield (due to a clever maneuver, ritual, or other act), it has a -5 penalty instead and can’t use bringer of strife and joy or shield bash. AC 22 PD 18 MD 16 HP 44

[twisted-nox-sidus]

Hello there, I’ve just read your headcannon of Strix trolling the Octavinelle trio. LOL. Thank you for the laughs. Since April fool’s day is coming. If you have the time, can you do a scenario where Strix trolls the other dorms with the help of her dream eaters. If you can include Malleus, it’s okay. If not, I understand. Thank you and stay safe.

Anon continued: Hi there, during my previous post, I was asking whether or not Malleus would join Strix’s trolling in trolling the other dorms since April Fools is coming. Oh! I almost forgot, can Grim and Lilia join with Strix in trolling. Thank you and have a good day or night.

Oof, doing six other dorms is a lot in one post, so I’ll keep things condensed, hence the headcanon format (sorry if you really wanted a scenario version!). I see Malleus and Lilia as types to watch for entertainment than directly take part in it. Strix left Grim out of her plans since he himself is chaotic already. It was time for her to assume the lead and let it out, at least for the day.

It’s come to my attention that I like doing headcanons of Strix and her dream eaters, so I plan on doing more headcanons/scenarios involving the pesky but cute spirits. They don’t stop here so look forward to it! Happy April Fool’s~

Heartslabyul

Heartslabyul could handle strange things more so than any other dorms. Just not anything against the crimson tyrant’s 810 rules.

“WHO PAINTED THE ROSE MAZE BLUE?!!!”

Riddle’s face fumes as red as his hair. Not a single trace of red is found! There was only blue as far as the eye can see.

Deuce, Trey, and Cater were rendered speechless by the sight. Just...wow. They’re not even dreading the culprit’s fate at Riddle’s mercy; instead they’re impressed with the feat. Such commitment!

Meanwhile Ace was resisting from bursting in a fit of laughter. That madwoman actually did it! She even casually remarked about doing such a feat but no one had paid her words seriously. Bravo! Bra-freaking-vo!

Ah, speaking of...

“You have a lot of nerve showing your face, Strix! You must be begging for your head to roll! This is defying the Queen of Hearts herself! Repaint every single rose -by yourself- until all is red!”

“Sheesh, let’s not get a rage stroke. You’re still so young...” Strix nonchalantly yawns. “I wanted to surprise you so I spent the whole night painting every rose blue. Of course, I had a helping hand with me.”

She vaguely gestured to the dream spirit hiding behind her leg. Me Me Bunny’s ears act as another pair of hands, and this cutie is quite dextrous; it also knows “bun fu”.

“Oh you surprised me all right. [Surprise] is only an understatement!”

A sigh. “You don’t get it, Riddle. Think of it this way. Blue makes the red stand out. Then the only red rose we’ll see...is you, my queen.”

She leans forward to slip a strand of Riddle’s velvet red locks between her fingers and graze her lips on them. Her half-lidded bright blue eyes gaze into his steel gray pair. Perhaps she was still under the drowsy spell to comprehend what she was doing, though a part of her was knowingly teasing.

Riddle stared wide-eyed. His cheeks flushed in a different meaning this time.

She pulls back to give space and turns the other way.

“Plus, contrary to your words, I think you actually like my surprise. It’s certainly not boring. And it’ll only be for today.”

Strix flashed a lazy grin his way.

“Happy April Fool’s~”

Savanaclaw

Strix’s dream eaters are quirky, adorable, and colorful spirits. Jack often questions their capabilities. What can little prey do to the brawny hotheads of Savanaclaw?

A lot.

One day Strix was on patrol. Jack had been keeping an eye as she works part-time as the “cleaner” of Savanaclaw. Just how much power can she draw from these familiars? It was a test for Strix to see if she can meet the standards of a respectable magician in this academy.

Meanwhile Ruggie anticipates something interesting will happen. Strix’s dream eaters are an enigmatic force to reckon with. He himself certainly doesn’t plan on confronting them since that’s not what he signed up for as vice dorm leader.

The hyena snickered his trademark laugh. What mayhem will the prefect student do?

Strix had to break up a fight for the nth time this week. Things happened, and one of the students said something that forced Strix to deal her hand.

Instead of commanding her eagle and hawk to attack, she summoned a single chubby cat/dog hybrid with stubby legs. It doesn’t look like a clever beast.

Aww, look at it roll around and paw at air for affection while its pink tongue stuck out. They’re going to die of cuteness.

Strix blankly stared ahead. “Meow Wow... Balloon.”

Said spirit stood on all four legs and stopped wagging. Every onlooker watched as it inflated in size. It continued to grow and grow until no one could see the light of day. It was then everyone thought it’d be wise to run from immediate vicinity.

However it was too late when Meow Wow deflated in puffy smoke and sparkles, drowning its victims along with the plume of clouds.

Jack and Ruggie watched from a platform above where they could see the area in action.

“Magic familiar tamers have unique strengths...” Was what Jack concluded. A hawk and eagle’s cries pierce the sky.

Ruggie rubbed the back of his head. “Let’s be real; in this world, birds are a real hassle. As long as you don’t make an enemy of them...”

Strix was already gone by the time Meow Wow inflated. Her eagle dream spirit now willingly massive in size acted as her glider and transporter. Strix’s body dangled as she clung tightly to her Eaglider’s talons until it settled her on the balcony of a dorm room. Eaglider flew to patrol elsewhere alongside Halbird, the hawk dream eater.

Sitting on a chair was Leona playing with a chess piece in his hand. A chessboard was already set up on the table, the black side facing him.

“Enjoying your job, aren’t you.”

Strix allowed a sheepish smirk. She’s not exactly proud to engage in cleaning up people’s messes, but there’s the thrill she finds in it. “To be honest, yeah. I think I might be a sadist at this point...” She mumbled under her breath and continued, “Sorry for the wait. Let’s start.”

Scarabia

“Jamil, a rainbow fish is swimming through the skies!”

“Nonsense. There are no aquatic animals in Scarabia. You probably just saw a magic carpet.”

“Then how come no one told me magic carpets can shoot lasers??”

Before Jamil can decipher whatever the hell Kalim meant by that, the sapphire blue skies turned murky. No, that wasn’t the work of clouds.

To everyone’s bewilderment, they bared witness to a school of colorful fish roaming freely through the air and above the whole dormitory aimlessly.

Lasers shoot from their mouths and make contact with the other to cause sparks to erupt in colorful fireworks. So that’s the laser part...

Kalim’s eyes sparkled. “It’s like the aquariums at Octavinelle, but airborne! *gasp* I just got a great idea for the next party!”

“For the nth time Kalim no more parties this month!”

*whistle* “Fin Fatale’s actually enjoying this. Who’d knew?”

The two boys turn to see Strix approaching them causally.

Strix grinned. “Bet you don’t see this in Scarabia often.”

Pomefiore

Pomefiore students have a tendency to look into a mirror at almost any given opportunity. They recognize every detail of their their highly bestowed beauty, lest they would fail to maintain perfection.

Imagine their surprise when a carbon copy of themselves suddenly replaces their reflection, except in a horrendous eye-burning color palette that screams “clown”

Turns out the copy really is a clown creature with a large tongue. Jestabocky simply loves to prank people at the expense of their reactions, and it took a liking to Pomefiore students.

Strix giggled in amusement, much to Vil’s chagrin. Standing next to the man was a Vil duplicate, except in that hideous orange carrot and lemon yellow palette that made his eyes want to bleed. Of course no one could ever compare to the original, especially a circus mimic at that.

Rook was examining his blood red and ice blue carbon copy. What a refreshing change of pace! “Your dream eaters never cease to amaze, little owl.” “Don’t hunt them for sport though!”

Epel was staring at his clone awkwardly. Cotton candy hair and yellow eyes are an odd combination. And would it stop grinning uncharacteristically like that? It’s freaky.

Strix looks beside her. Teal green hair, violet eyes, and an orange to yellow uniform color scheme. It’s horrendous, but that’s where the fun lies. Her dream eaters don’t know the meaning of color coordination.

Ignihyde

Strix thinks a surprise here and there in the shut-in dorm leader’s life ought to keep him on his toes. She knows how much Ortho wants him to come out his room, and so she’ll deliver just that.

Idia recieved an alert message as he was browsing the net. A window pops up displaying the security camera footage across the entire Ignihyde dorm.

To his horror, rainbows invaded the cameras everywhere he looked. In each one there was a massive bipedal colorful panda doing something to the students behind the screen. One was lifting a student to the air, another swinging and cradling, and others generally giving bear hugs to any soul -dead or living- that enter their vision.

Though the pandas are harmless and students are unharmed (some seem to enjoy it while others are bewildered in shock), Idia was quaking in his chair. If he walks out the room he’ll be crushed by the pandas’ mercy! (And by rainbows and cuteness!)

He zoomed in one of the footages. A Kooma Panda held a sign directly to the camera.

[YOU’RE NEXT]

This is nightmare fuel! Nightmares, he tells you!

Just as he spun around to hide and cower in the safety of his blankets, he had failed to notice the looming shadow over his flaming head prior to this very moment.

There was the same panda. In his bedroom. Staring right into his soul.

It smiled. (I reread this part and lowkey I realized I was writing a FNaF fanfic for a moment wut)

Idia wheezed. How did it get here?! Was it capable of teleporting?!

The shut-in had never ran for the door to the outside world with such eagerness in his life up to now. He slammed the door open and was about to hit the breeze when suddenly he recognized Strix standing right in front of him.

He practically tackled the poor girl (oof). Just when he dreads the contact with the floor, he felt something bouncy push them off. And then the same bouncing source came from behind. Now he’s squeezed between something.

The world spun in his eyes. Light-hearted laughter snapped him out of his trance. His soul actually came close to leaving him the moment Strix’s face registered in his vision. So close!

Two Kooma Pandas were hugging and nuzzling the two in a human-dream eater sandwich. Awww.

From the sidelines, Ortho watched in awe. That’s one way to bring his big bro out of the room. He eagerly joins in the hug fest with Strix and an all-too drained Idia.

Strix giggled and wrapped her arms around Idia and the panda behind him. She was clearly enjoying this. “Happy April Fools~”

Diasomnia

First things first: Strix can’t fool two all mighty and powerful faeries. Instead, she’ll entertain them like she and her dream eaters have always done. After all, boredom is their kind’s biggest enemy.

One day, Diasomnia students were walking down the halls when they notice a colorful bat creature hanging upside down from the ceiling, innocently watching people pass by.

There was one Komory Bat. The next door over there are two. The door after that door appeared three. In front of the dorm gate there may or may not be a bat perched to greet students in and out.

In the library, students are surprised when they’re greeted by the librarian aid...who was working upside down and levitating with gravity magic.

Strix casually acts as though it was natural. When she had to move away from the counter she continued walking upside down on the ceiling. If the ceiling was too high she’d float over just above people’s heads, and address when needed.

Strix likes to mess with Sebek by doing a “handstand” on his broad shoulders while talking to Silver. Sebek would shoo her off and when he does, Strix still pesters him by floating with a mocking haughtiness behind the way she rocks back and forth while grinning mischievously. The sight is hilarious, much to Sebek’s chagrin.

She can see why Lilia likes doing this. By the end of the day though, that’s enough walking on ceilings for the year.

Strix greets Malleus at eye level. “How’d you like it? Not boring, right?”

The horned fae chuckled. The glimmer of accomplishment in her stunning blue eyes amuses him the most. Like a child who proudly boasts their little achievements to appeal to their parents. It was adorable. “Certainly.”

[mannatea]

But a Breath, a Rose of Versailles ‘fic

Words: 301 Summary: The End. Pairing/Character: Oscar/André Extra Info: This was originally posted in March 2009. It’s been rewritten and reformatted!  Rating: G, honestly. Genre: Peace. Poetry?

Notes are below!

I’m not sure what kind of ‘story’ this is, really. Poetry? Prose-poetry?

Anyway, this was a “farewell to the fandom” ‘fic because I was suffering major burnout at the time. I did come back in 2010 to write one final short story, but it’s not worth mentioning, and by then most of my audience had moved on to other things. I think I’ll always feel like this story was my “swan song” for RoV. 

Upon re-reading the original, I was surprised to find how...solid it actually was? You’d think because of the burnout that this story would have been...I don’t know, a pathetic sloppy mess or something? But it wasn’t. There were lines I didn’t like anymore, and I had fresh ideas to add, but the general structure was still...pretty good.

Similar to my rewrite of Graves (a Fire Emblem: Awakening ‘fic), I was pretty conflicted over...formatting. Graves was originally written as a poem, I think, but the rewrite ended up a mix of freeform poetry and prose. I remember wanting to do something with the formatting to help the “poetry” lines stick out more, but everything I attempted had the unfortunate side effect of looking Absolutely Hideous. So it had to stay left-aligned.

With But a Breath I couldn’t do that. It just didn’t give me the...look? feeling? I was going for. So I tried to mimic the mirrored aspect of the writing in the visual appearance of the text. It’s meant to be read on a desktop, and was specifically formatted to look good on my own screen, so it should look like this:

That said, if you’re mobile it’s probably horrible to read, and for that...I do apologize.

[skwishyat]

Things to know about this blog:

I don't want to put this in my description so here's a full list of the things I might do on this blog:

-art stuff

-D&D stuff

-writer stuff (I mainly write fanfiction but occasionally I write some original stuff) (this is my most recent story I'm working on: https://www.wattpad.com/story/239955420?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create_story_details&wp_uname=ShipperOfManyShipsXL&wp_originator=ospczDXUUBaeVvTPRyDxem254moacScfyQYHZLkcMOKxLPWHVxwyi7VJ7PepkSdcvHP9mYwNex%2FGnDfECX0pzhOFlTAuGjZR8hHn8KQ2pWBkPZQN7Z7Pwt7oOY3bEIp%2B)

-mcyt stuff (mostly wilbursoot, tommyinnit, dreamteam, and captainsparklezandhisfriends)

-funny stuff

-mental health stuff (diagnosed with depression and almost certain there's some anxiety and ADHD issues in there if not more issues)

-mbti stuff (I'm an INFP ;) and desperately want to know more about the different types)

-lgbtqia+ stuff (speaking of which I'm non-binary, sapphic, and asexual; if you're not okay with any of that your bigotry can get right off my page)

-music stuff

-specifically AJR stuff (OKO IS SO GOOD)

-she-ra stuff

-Disney's The Owl House stuff

-witchcraft/pagan stuff

-type one diabetes stuff (diagnosed in 2016 and still going strong)

If you're not interested in any of that, then stick around, maybe I'll introduce you to something new! Or if you just don't really care to see any of that, then move along, you can find what you're looking for somewhere else.

I'll add more later if there's other hobbies I develop (and there definitely will be more to come)

---

Other stuff to know any this blog:

Rants will be tagged with #kat rants and #rant

Me talking will be tagged with #kat rambles

If you would like me to tw or cw something please let me know. I'll always try to add any tw or cw that I think apply to a post but if there's something I didn't cover I'd love to be able to fix that!

DNI:

If you:

Are any sort of lgbtqia+ phobic. I will not tolerate you.

Are sexist, racist, ableist, etc. I also will not tolerate you.

Think you know me IRL (this includes if we talk on discord or smthn. If you think you know me go away unless I tell you that you can follow this blog)

Are a porn bot. Just fuck off

---

18+ are allowed to be here, but please remember I'm a minor, if you make me uncomfy I won't hesitate to yeet you off this page.

Also as I am new to Tumblr, if anyone wants, I will graciously accept any tips for Tumblr edicacy and such! You could send this in a message or an ask.

I'm always super willing/excited to receive asks and there's a 99% chance if you submit an ask I will very excitedly respond to it whenever I see it

That's all, thanks. Sorry my formatting on this is hideous, I'm too lazy to fix it rn (or probably ever)

[perpetuallylocked]

Hi!! Can I ask you how you make your aesthetics? And how do you find the photos? Yours are so good they give me inspiration to want to try!

Hi dear anon! You’ve taken the first step in any creative endeavor, which is deciding to try! I know how you feel because I’ve been in your shoes. Here on tumblr and in our general internet world, we get to view so much beautiful content and it can feel like we’ll never measure up. I certainly feel that way sometimes and I still have a lot to learn about design and aesthetic making. I definitely have improved since I first began! You can see those early posts here.

What can we learn by comparing those posts from 2013 (!) to posts from 2020? Well, back in 2013, I didn’t care about searching for high-quality images. Literally, all of those are from a Google search. Back then, I was more focused on finding almost-exact matches of what we see in the game versus color palettes and creating the whole feel of a game. Nowadays, almost all of my images are found on Pinterest. I wholeheartedly recommend creating a separate Pinterest account for finding images. Your boards can be all aesthetic pictures, and your “feed” will become all aesthetic pictures too.

On my Nancy Drew Pinterest, I try and focus on high-quality images or images that I can crop to just get the part I want. If you look through my boards, you’ll notice I save a lot of similar pictures within each game, but the colors may be slightly different, or the angle may be slightly different. There are some pretty hideous images I’ve found that may be almost exact to the game, but I haven’t saved them because I want a higher quality of image. Now, some of those images can be cropped or edited, but they still usually stick out in a bad way. Take a look at my recent VEN aesthetic - the picture of the bobby pins sticks out, and not in a good way. I recolored that picture, but the original quality of the image wasn’t great, so any edits I made to it were essentially putting a band-aid on a big gash.

Creating a cohesive color scheme is probably the most important thing I’ve focused on when making aesthetics. I try not to use more than 3 or 4 main colors in a graphic set. Your eye will be drawn to those brighter, bolder colors, so I try and make them uniform as best as I can. Take a look at my ASH set from the other day - this is probably one of my very favorite aesthetics I’ve made and it’s because of the uniform color scheme! Looking at it, there’s a lot of cream/white, light pink, and light blue, with a few pops of light brown. The general colors within each picture are cohesive. The lightness/brightness of the photos are similar too.

I do all my editing in PowerPoint - yes, PowerPoint. I don’t do anything fancy, I promise! I copy and paste my images into the program, and then use their very basic formatting tools for cropping and changing the saturation and brightness of pictures. Then, once I’ve arranged them how I want them, I copy and paste the individual images into Paint, match up the edges of the individual photos, and crop the whole aesthetic board to get rid of any excess white space on the edges. Finally, I post the boards on tumblr for viewers like you to enjoy!

I hope this helped answer your questions and I am always, always, always happy to answer any more you may have or clarify anything I said above. Please remember as you enter this creative endeavor that comparison is the thief of joy. As I said, I’m still learning and growing and you will always be learning and growing, too. If making aesthetics brings YOU joy, that’s what matters. You may not get many notes at the start, and that’s okay. If you feel happy and proud of what you’ve created, that’s the ultimate goal.

[duamuteffe]

So @rzrcrst​ tagged me to post five facts about myself, and then tag others. I’m going to skip the tagging others part because at this point I’ve either known you all for ten years, we’re new acquaintances but she’s already tagged you, or we’re getting to know each other in Discord :)

1) I have been writing fan fiction since I was 14, although at the time the term hadn’t been coined so far as I am aware of. I fell extremely hard for a character in what’s now known as the Old World of Darkness (previously just the World of Darkness, an RPG setting) and that plus a very difficult time in high school meant my self-insert fics were one of the major things that kept me aboveground and sane. I still have all the originals, which have changed formats several times (I originally started writing on a Tandy 1000 with no internal hard drive that required three disk changes to save- thank the gods for rtf) and man, if there’s an illustration of how writing more means you get better it’s those fics. I can see where my style came from, but lord did I not get pacing, plotting, or basic setting design :) Anyway, a couple of years after that I fell hard again for a character from a show, integrated that into the WoD, and started to get serious. I kept writing and never stopped. Now I mostly post things on Ao3 for other people (I’m Hanako_Cinnamon over there, by the way- when I started you couldn’t transition to mainstream publishing contracts if you’d done fan fiction, though now no one gives a fuck) and keep my self-indulgent stuff for myself, and interested friends. I still write it, though, and you should too. There is nothing wrong with giving yourself a fictional escape.

2) Horses are one of the reasons I’m still aboveground. I wanted them my entire life, but my family didn’t have the money for it, so I made due with magazines (Horse Illustrated and Practical Horseman and Hunter And Sporthorse FTW) and Breyers until I was 19, when I managed to get a job apprenticing myself to a family-owned eventing barn with a thirtyish year history when I got there (in 1998. So they’re hitting that fifty year mark soon, gods love them.) They ran Pony Club, taught me everything about the business of barn management, handling, riding, first-aid, teaching, training, et all from the ground up. I did chores and tacked and groomed six days a week, lived in the house with the family, rode every day, and busted my ass working the hardest I have ever worked. It was glorious. I often wish I’d stayed longer than the few years I did, but I think my then-undiagnosed depression finally managed to talk me out of it :/ But I have a set of skills I can use anywhere in the world, and a hobby/art/spiritual practice that gives me great joy and peace. And I have a mare who I love more than nearly anything. (Incidentally, you don’t have to be rich to own a horse, you just have to accept never having any money :)

3) I’m in an RPG. No, really:

This is honestly the coolest thing about me so far as I’m concerned, lol. I have a character in the tabletop RPG Trouble For Hire, which is very cool and very inexpensive, considering, and available on DriveThruRPG if you and your gaming group are in the mood to basically cooperatively make a post-Western action movie starring a lone courier with a cool car and morals he tries to keep hidden in his coat. (And if you do, tell me if Alex is involved. I am so curious as to what people are doing with my character :)

4) My ideal life would involve living in the middle of nowhere (particularly the middle of nowhere I grew up in, Forest County PA) living that solar punk life and farming, hunting, and fishing. And playing boardgames. Lots of boardgames. I like cities as a place to visit- they seem to keep all the museums, libraries, conservatories, aviaries, zoos, big cemetaries, and whatnot in them- but when it comes down to it I want to go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are more than a mile away and the Milky Way is shining overhead. We’ll still need broadband, though. I have to keep up with what you guys are up to ^_^

5) I am very in favor of body mods, but don’t have the money to pursue the tattoos I want. Yet. Ask me about my eventual designs, though! I would like some more holes in my ears, as I’ve found through a reputable and amazing piercer that I’m not actually allergic to earrings, I just never healed right after having my lobes done at a mall kiosk with a piercing gun that causes crush damage. Go figure. I also favor distinctive outfits, when I can find what I want and also afford it. It’s a relatively new thing for me to embrace my inner clothes-horse; I struggled with my self-image for a long time (remember I mentioned high school being shitty? Yeah. Struggled with self image = thought I was hideous. Seriously.) but in the last few years, and especially getting on medication for that aforementioned depression (and anxiety) I’m starting to look in the mirror and like what I see. Not every time, not every day, and some weeks not at all. But it happens. And I wear plaid miniskirts in public, waiscoats and ties, knee-high boots with buckles and straps (sometimes all in the same outfit) and fuckin’ love it, something that would have made my younger self just *recoil* in astonishment. I regret all the time I hid in shapeless jeans and beat up t-shirts, too afraid to express myself, but I’m making up for it now. And if I can do it, anyone can. Let me know if you need a pep talk on it.

[stormofblue-blog]

submit | storm of blue press

We want every unsent text you wish you were brave enough to send. Consider this an open phone plan.

Below is a snippet from our editor-in-chief; it includes a list of things we're always interested in reading more about, primarily feelings and ideas that excite & break us like waves against the shore.

GIRLS, electric loss, pink + blue + neon colors, unsent text messages + sent ones that blink back as read, vodka, dancing in the street at night, sloppy mouths, the day after, regret, plastic flamingo lights, 4:17 am, ruined cuticles, murmuring both ends of a conversation because I find myself talking to you through every orgasm, bathroom sinks, whole foods green hair, rewriting texts 6 different times bc I can’t bear to mess this up, pink drinks, glow in the dark stars, taking hours to fall asleep because it’s so easy to picture you sprawled out against this warm body, crying over “Someone Great” on Netflix, blaming everything on astrology, or timing, or me over you, sunsets, drinking just for an excuse to spill my guts, when a heart breaks does it echo, Boston accents, smiling into a kiss, New York, the state almost touching it just as much as I’m never touching you, empty spaces that make me choke, bright, half hideous stuffed animals won from claw machines, that moment when someone smiles + they put their hand over the camera lens, wishing I could make out with my phone and somehow transfer it like a Venmo, throwing dumb shit across my room to feel in control, eating Cheetos and nothing else all day, more alcohol, not remembering anything about that dream except knowing you were in it, pining, standing in the pool for hours and not moving, music videos in my head spilling out onto pavement, colored smoke, hazy boundaries, lines that slip like Crayola chalk in the rain, touching myself and wishing it was you instead, screaming sounds instead of words bc what do I even say, begging for a release bc this body can’t hold it all in, every single “I love you” + “I’m sorry” + “do you think we will ever be able to work” + all the in-betweens, a compilation of snapchat messages + insta DMs + texts + Spotify songs played right when you log on just in case you’re still watching me + the day we first met, digitalized 4ever, heartbeats sent through iMessage, voice memos recorded at 3 am & never sent to you but sometimes played back to myself years later to remind these fangs that there was a time I still fucking cared about something [anything], fisticuffs, friends to enemies to lovers to emotional tag as an Olympic sport, concentrated want like orange juice but it hurts more when I swallow, unobtainable vulnerability, balloons after a party when they fall really slowly and it’s like watching you leave all over again but in slow motion [funny bc you’re always running], birthday cake, 6 years of cards, candles which remind me of fire, remind me of your hands, remind me of that Buffy episode where she & Spike fuck & the whole goddamn house falls to the ground, absence, missing flights, missing chances, + missing you

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[maxinegrove3-blog]

What Is FLAC? The High

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(mp3Tag Pro) I have simply downloaded and put in model 9.2. It is a great piece of software program and you provide among the finest buyer providers I have ever come to! Congratulations on such a terrific enterprise, and thanks once more on your help. The FLAC format can be error resistant in order that even when an error occurs in one body, it would not destroy the remainder of the stream like some audio codecs but as an alternative just that one frame, which could solely amount to just a fraction of the entire file. Convert movies to audio codecs like AAC, AC3, ALAC, and flac2mp3 more. No matter format you like to take heed to, from FLAC to MP3 to WAV, keep in mind - THERE IS A DISTINCTION. It's simply impossible to tell this difference in case you have a mix of FLAC with a pair of hideous headphones, or even worse - a built-in stereo speaker. 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FLAC to MP3 Converter can take any variety of flac audio information in any supported formats, and produce files in a format, bitrate and compression of your choice. You'll be able to convertFLAC information to MP3's, or turn a bunch of WAV files into OGG, or carry out any other conversion depending on what your goal machine accepts. FLAC to MP3 Converter not only converts any FLAC audio file to the very popular MP3 format, but additionally convert WMV, MKV, AVI, 3GP, FLV, SWF, www.audio-transcoder.com F4V to your need audio format like FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AC3, AIFF, AMR, AU, MP3, MP2, M4A, MKA, OGG. Totally free FLAC to MP3 converter straight converts massive FLAC to MP3 as a way to take extra music on the identical media. 3After that, click on "Convert" to begin to change FLAC to MP3 in your Mac. 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Here you may see MP3 is customary quality, WAV CD quality, iPhone ringtone good quality. test it out if in case you have any curiosity in maintaining your FLAC recordsdata the best way that they're while nonetheless being able to play them in your telephone. Works with iOS and Android.Obtain AudioConverter Studio setup package to a recognized location. After obtain is complete, launch the program and comply with instructions. WMA information could also be encapsulated inside an ASF, or Advanced Programs Format, container file. ASF offers metadata, much like ID3 tags in MP3 recordsdata, and should embrace digital rights management to limit your capacity to play your music. Step 3 - Select the Profile" menu button and click the MP3" output choice. Then, click on the Browse" menu button to pick the vacation spot folder to avoid wasting converted recordsdata.iSkysoft iMedia Converter Deluxe can perform superb duties beyond easy audio conversions. It could actually easily play FLAC audio files in its in-constructed Media Player, enhance the audio file after which convert it into MP3 file format with ease. You can even document any audio file after which convert it into MP3. Audio or Music files could be downloaded from the Internet and then you can convert it into any suitable audio file format like MP3. It is without doubt one of the greatest and dependable audio converters which converts with 90 times faster pace with no compromise in Audio quality. You too can convert any lengthy FLAC audio file into MP3 inside seconds. It's endorsed by many professionals as it might probably provide quickest conversions with original high quality (macOS 10.14 Mojave supported).Once you've got added the tracks you want to convert to the listing, you need to use the buttons on the bottom of the display to decide on which file sort you want to convert to. On this case, we're keen on MP3. I've seen a number of posts right here concerning the wonderful quality of FLAC information vs. mp3. I have a large collection of old mp3 recordsdata that I ripped from CDs. I used to be planning on loading them onto a flash drive for use in the MS with the USB ports. BTW soundconverter uses the LAME codec to transform to mp3, and I don't suppose you're going to find a better codec anywhere.In the MP3 dialog box, select the format settings for the ultimate MP3 recordsdata. Freemore FLAC to MP3 Converter is a straightforward, efficient, fast but free FLAC to MP3 Converter program, fully optimized for the mainstream multi-core CPUs. With its construct-in newest & superior FLAC codec and Lame MP3 encoder, the sound quality of the encoded MP3 information is nicely maintained and superior to its counterparts. FLAC to MP3 Converter supports batch mode converting and this can be very easy to function.

[thefredricus]

New Year Surprise (☆▽☆)

I hope you’re all having a lovely New Year’s eve! I have something special for you all tonight: My very first Ripto fanfic! (<-- Link!)

This is the daruma doll that I made a promise to at the beginning of 2018. The promise was to write and publish a fanfiction before New Year’s. I originally planned to write for another fandom, but things happened, yet I decided that I didn’t want to break the promise I made to myself and burn the daruma doll.

However, I decided to split the story in two chapters. The first one was just published and ready for some reading! The second one is on its way and will be posted later this week. I’m so excited to share this with you all! <3 

You can either read it below the cut, or go to AO3 and read it there!

Year of the Dinosaur

The sun scorched the cloudless azure sky. Waves were seen lapping against a non-existent shore along the horizon, as non-existent trees reflected in the mirage. But the heat was real. The sand that stung their eyes and nostrils was real. The hunger, thirst and fatigue -- they were all real. The outskirts of Skelos Badlands at solar zenith showed no mercy to the broken duo. Ripto ran a sleeve over his brow to wipe off a disgusting lump of sweat and dust. He wasn’t accustomed to the feel of a new set of scars and still open wounds that ran across his face. Not only did they ache, but they made him feel hideous, even though he hadn’t dared to look at his own reflection since that night. That fateful night… He quickly shook himself out of his stupor.

“Gulp! Is that mountains I see over there? Or is it just another hallucination, like the time you tried to drink from that oasis and ended up with a mouthful of dry sand,” Ripto spat between chapped lips.

The massive quadruped grunted guiltily under Ripto’s frame as he walked and looked away, embarrassed.

“Well, it’d better be! I mean, how far could that bonehead have gone? Crush can’t go more than five minutes without food, we’d have found him dead by now-”

Ripto’s last words echoed out in rough coughs that left the small, wounded dinosaur gasp for air. He clenched his chest with both arms and bent forward in a sickly bark. Reflexively, he reached for one of Gulp’s horns for support, but he crabbed nothing but air and fell forward, rolling off his companion’s muzzle and into the sand below. He felt panic build in his stomach, climbing up his chest, oozing in his throat like acid that ate away everything.

Is this where it was all going to end? Did he escape one hell just to get flung into another?

Ripto’s thoughts were caught short when he felt a tender touch against his forehead and a breeze of warm air that brushed his skin, leaving him with momentary comfort. Gulp hummed softly and kept nuzzling his master, ever so gently. Ripto exhaled slowly, lifting his hands to his companion's face, pressing his forehead against the gentle giant.

“At least I can count on you,” he whispered, more to himself than anyone.

Struggling to get out from the molten lava and grasp whatever debris he could find was an ordeal in itself. Feeling every part of his being burn like a thousand suns on top of that would have been too much, if he wouldn’t have been so excruciatingly headstrong -- and if he wouldn’t have had some help from a certain green dinosaur who pulled him out from the burning inferno and who stayed at his side to nurture him back to as close as what health could be, given the circumstances. After Avalar was reclaimed, with the help of a filthy dragon no less, all dinosaurs were banned to the deserts and crags of Skelos. Whatever vapor Ripto ended up in there and then, finding Crush seemed like a good idea at the time. Better to reunite the trio, he thought. Better wallow in each others’ company, he though. But right now he was not sure if he could even think at all. His head was spinning, his mouth was as arid as the endless dunes surrounding him and his delusions blended seamlessly into reality.

“Are those mountains real, Gulp?” Ripto persuaded, even though they seemed to be miles away.

He could feel the big dinosaur’s snout lifting him up. Slump, the fallen king lay across his servant’s face. The weight of his heavy head and his agonies left him incapable of sitting up. His vision blurred as he faded away.

“Gulp... Take us there.”

***

Ripto’s consciousness returned along with a throbbing headache against his temples. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was seeing double when he opened his eyes, his pupils nothing but sharp slits in the brightness. The sun stood seemingly lower on the sky now, however, and with the sinking sun a cold night would follow. The thought of him staying alive for that long gave him a little bit of comfort. Just then, Gulp stopped abruptly and nodded a gesture, Ripto nearly getting flung off in the process.

“Gah! W-what are you doing, you-”

The irate dinosaur locked eyes with his servant, who now gestured enthusiastically with eyes and eyebrows for his master to turn his head. Having no choice, unless he wanted to get shook off again, he spun his horned head around, the rest of his body still laying flat on Gulp’s snout. Ripto’s eyes grew big in surprise, as his gaze met a large cavern protruding from a vertical crag in the sandy dunes. Partly because the crag was indeed not a mirage but a real, hard mineral formation, and partly because it was coated in a much familiar scent. Ripto sniffed the air. Ungraciously he slumped off Gulp’s wide muzzle and continued sleuthing, ignoring the grains of sand that got stuck in his nostrils and mouth. It smelled stale. It smelled of dinosaur. It smelled of flesh and blood. Ripto wobbled forward.

“Crush? No more hiding, we crossed this god-forsaken desert only to-”

Stale. Crush wasn’t famous for smelling of roses, that was for sure, but… this smelled wrong. It smelled of death. And when a dinosaur of Ripto’s size scented death, it ran. But there was nowhere for him to flee.

It all happened very fast when the lava lizard attacked.

All Ripto could see was a blur of sharp teeth plunging towards him, like an extension of the gaping maw in the rock itself. He wasn’t sure if it was deeply rooted survival instinct or sheer luck that made his body move on its own, throwing itself to the side and dodging his assaulter’s deadly strike. Stuck face-down in the sand, all Ripto could hear was a bone-chilling snarl that sent shivers down his thin frame. The noise eventually died out and a minute of silence followed. Or perhaps it was less than a second. Ripto couldn’t tell. Maybe it was an hour. Just as he was about to get up and shake it off as another hallucination, a heavy foot dug itself into the back of his head, forcing him harder down into the ground. One of the predator’s curved claws clicked against Ripto’s horn, once, twice. The helpless dinosaur felt the grip tighten around him. And then--

The pressure lifted in the fraction of a second, followed by a guttural roar and a blow that shook the earth around him. Yanking his head from the ground, Ripto realized that Gulp had rammed into the lava lizard head first, making use of his body mass and sharp horns to force their attacker off balance. The lava lizard scrambled back onto its feet as quickly as it had fallen, and it wasn’t quite until now that Ripto realized how massive this creature was; a monstrous biped standing a good three meters over the ground, with rough scales draped in a deep burgundy making it look like it just climbed out from the depths of hell. From its forehead grew a twisted horn, much like Ripto’s own. To complete the nightmarish image, its long jaws housed a jumbled mess of fangs and tusks. Ripto could only imagine how much of him there would have been left had the attack succeeded. Seeing Gulp and the lava lizard at a standoff was truly like witnessing a clash of giants. Ripto couldn’t help but feeling very small and insignificant. More so than usual.

Empty handed with his magic scepter long lost, he was helpless against this adversary. So he resorted to doing the only thing he was good at.

“Gulp! Finish it off! Kill it! KILL IT!”

Gulp didn’t need any second command to motivate him further. He swung his horned head into the side of the lava lizard once more, except this time the creature came prepared for his onslaught. With nimble hands, it grasped Gulp by the jaws and bit down his neck, more to catch the quadruped off guard than to do lethal harm. Gulp roared and shook his head frantically, foam flying from the edges of his mouth.

“Behind you, BEHI--!”

Ripto’s cries were in vain, as the massive red lizard shifted and chomped down on Gulp’s back, away from his victim’s reach, and sunk his hellish teeth deep into the green dinosaur’s rind. Gulp’s roars turned into howls that shattered the dead silence of the desert. Using all of its strength, the predatory dinosaur took advantage of the moment and pushed Gulp onto his side. Gulp flailed with his clumsy legs in the air, kicking someone who was out of reach, his mouth foaming and eyes tearing. The lava lizard slowly released his bite with a shrilling wheeze, fresh blood running between tusks and fangs, dripping down on Gulp’s leafy green skin.

Ripto couldn’t look away. Being a predatory dinosaur himself, he knew what was coming next. His companion’s vulnerable underbelly was dangerously exposed for the lava lizard and it would only take moments before a chunk of flesh would be pulled from his chest. Gulp would be eaten alive and Ripto would stand there and watch. Until the lava lizard wanted dessert.

There was really nothing but one option at this point. Ripto inhaled through his nose, puffing himself up like a bird ready to fend off a much bigger rival, and let out the loudest and most fearsome war cry he could ever muster. Then he leapt forward as nimbly and fast as he could, ignoring the tough resistance of sand and grain under his feet, dashing towards Gulp, up over his fallen body and jumped -- claws out, fangs bared -- against his enemy.

When Ripto fell into the pool of lava in Winter Tundra, he remembered that the impact had hurt a bit. But the actual sinking had strangely enough not been that intensely painful as one would imagine. That said, it wasn’t by any means a pleasant experience. His whole body was assaulted with what felt like a million needles that pricked him just at the surface, never truly going under the skin but still causing him plenty of discomfort. The suffocating, however, felt oddly… nice. Relieving, in a way. It felt like a warm hug that embraced him from the inside. He didn’t panic. His mind just slowly wandered off. He didn’t think of the dragon that did this to him. Nor did he think about how small and insignificant he was. Sinking into the lava, he felt bigger, somehow. Maybe even stronger. He couldn’t remember for how long he drifted, lost in oblivion, until all those millions of needles all at once decided to

PIERCE HIS SKIN.

Ripto gasped and filled his lungs with the dusty desert air. But it felt like his lungs never filled up completely. The lava lizard had seen the small dinosaur’s attack miles away, and simply snapped at Ripto, locking him shut in his jaws. Pointed teeth chewed Ripto’s skin and that warm, familiar feeling bubbled up inside of him. But that was only for a second. The lava lizard spun around and flung Ripto effortlessly, but with great force, into the crag horn first. Ripto’s mind went black the moment his head hit the rock.

***

When Ripto woke up again, the air was quite cool. So was the cavern floor he found himself laying on. The contrast from the searing heat was relieving and the air felt much easier to breathe. Ripto’s mind begun wandering back, but his body was still paralyzed, spread out in the darkness of wherever he was. After a minute or so of doing nothing, Ripto had found himself to have let out a monotonous moan ever since he woke, which he ended with a masked cough. Self-aware, but still laying flat on his back with limbs spread out, he scanned what parts he could of his surroundings with half-closed eyes. All he could see was naked rock hidden in the faint light. He slowly turned himself over in an attempt to sit, but vertigo got him immediately and the tiny dinosaur slumped back on the ground nose first. Ow. Something stung him. He opened his eyes and gently raised his head. Some sort of sticky twig was stuck to his delicate snout. He shook his head fast, but that only made him dizzier and the little branch only seemed only to attach more.

“Argh, what the-!”

Furiously, he clawed at his own face in an attempt to free himself of the nuisance. That’s when he noticed that the twig was covered in -- what he assumed to be -- tiny thorns. More enraged than his energy levels should allow, he grabbed the twig from his face with both hands and ripped it off like an old, glued up band aid. Ripto grunted out loud and grinned in anguish, his eyes tearing up. He threw the prickly branch as long as he could muster, only to notice that it was still attached to his hand after the throw.

“Oh, come ON!”

After shaking his hand frantically up and down and back and forth, the little piece of plant finally let go and soundlessly hit the cavern floor. Ripto used his free hand to rub his eyes while cussing under his breath. Blinking back his focus, still a bit wobbly, he tried to regain his balance. It was when he scanned his new home once more that he noticed something odd at the center of the room, a faint shimmer and a very familiar fragrance. Spreading his eyes wider, slit pupils dilating, he had to stare for a good moment to make sure his senses didn’t betray him. There was a smooth depression in the rock which almost looked like it was handmade, and it seemed to be filled with clear, fresh--

“Water!”

Ripto waited no longer. Endless days of thirst with nothing to quench himself but dry, rough sand caught up with him and before he knew it, he plunged himself at the water source, stuffing his whole face into the craggy bowl, not drinking but rather devouring the water inside. He even swallowed gulps through his nose, but he didn’t care, he wasn’t going to stop until every last drop was gone. He would soon find out, however, that the container was somehow refilling itself from the bottom through a pipe-like tunnel that went through the stone, where it must have originated in a freshwater spring, like an oasis. Grabbing the rocky water bowl with both hands, he pulled his head up from the much needed drink and gasped for air, as he caught up in the moment and forgot that dinosaurs can’t breathe underwater. Then he just stood there, silently staring at the water surface, watching as the liquid slowly filled up the small basin. That was the first time in a very long time he had seen his own reflection. He couldn’t tell if the reflected image looking back at him was distorted because of the bubbling water gurgling up from within the depths of the cave. Every part of him seemed to boil, bubbles rising up from under the surface, as if they tried to break free from inside of his skin. A part of his jawline had ripped open, revealing his red gum and sharp teeth beneath. His eyes looked more like dull, scratched up glass beads than real organs. The crooked tip of his horn was missing. The point where it had broken cried brown tears of dried blood.

As the water came flowing back, so did Ripto’s senses and his body woke anew, piece by piece. With it returned the aching of his head, torso and limbs, and the painful memories that accompanied every part. He could feel a distinct stabbing in his chest and with it came the memory of almost being bitten in half by a giant monster. Ripto clenched his small chest with his hand. And noticed-- that it was sticky. Blood? No, this wasn’t it. Looking at his fingers, sniffing, then carefully licking the alien substance with the tip of his forked tongue, he figured it must be some sort of sap. Gasping, he took another look into the water mirror. The tip of his horn was also clogged with the brownish glue, different from the streaks of dried blood that ran down along it. It was almost as if it had been applied there deliberately. Ripto turned around, touching all over his small frame with quick, clawed fingers. There, another lump of sap on his right shoulder, and, oh, it was even on his back too, at the place where the lava lizard’s teeth had pierced his skin. There was even some on his kneecaps and elbows, easily noticeable through his torn attires. Dancing around the room in this curious manner, Ripto misplaced his foot on something that made a cracking noise.

“Ow! What on- YEAGH!”

He had stepped on the prickly twig that was stuck in his face just before he had found the water. Skipping up and down on one foot while swearing excessively, he tried to pull off the unrelenting plant now attached to the underside of one of his feet. While doing so, he noticed that the surface of the cavern floor wasn’t all cold stone. There were leaves. Plenty of them. A pile of it was arranged as bedding, which Ripto must have woken up on. After having forced off the prickly brush and sent it flying a good few meters, Ripto brought one of the leaves up close to his nose and sniffed it. Its scent had a distinguished familiarity to the twig and sap. Could this be-

“Catbat claw?”

Ripto raised an eyebrow. He was indeed familiar with this plant. Dinosaurs, critters and humans alike had used this brushy desert plant as a medical complement since the beginning of time. It grew sparse and only in inhabitable places, but he remember that they always kept some at home when he was a child. It was named after those pesky animals because the thorns were needle sharp and slightly curved and once they got hold of you, they wouldn’t let go. The thorns of course didn’t possess any medical properties, but the leaves did wonders as pain relievers, and the sap could be used to help stop bleeding and speed up the coagulation process. Furthermore, it covered up the smell of blood which could attract other, bigger monsters.

The handmade water basin and leaf bed, the roomy cavern, the Catbat claw -- Someone had saved Ripto and brought him here. Someone was nursing him back to health. But who? Had Crush found him? Ripto looked up. The cavern was dark, but he could still make out a rugged ceiling. Had his horn not be broken off at the top, he would have barely been able to stand straight in the innermost corner of the cavity where he woke up. Past the water bowl in the center of the room, the cave widened as well as the ceiling got higher, but it was still much to small for Crush, or Gulp for that matter, to fit. Besides, Ripto though, Crush was dumb as a doornail. He would never know about the Catbat claw, or be able to apply it as delicately with those huge hands of his. Crush was good at crushing, not nursing, or cooking, or anything at all for that matter.

“And it’s all because of him I’m in this awful mess,” Ripto whispered to himself through clenched teeth.

The thought escaped him immediately as a scraping noise could be heard from the cave’s entrance. Ripto flinched and quickly looked in the sound’s direction. The light outside was dim and cold, and whatever source illuminated the outside world just barely made it possible to distinguish the outlines of the cavern mouth. He stood still for a good few moments. Then the noise stopped. Ripto’s heart pounded fast against his tiny ribcage, and despite trying to stay unnoticable with teeth tightly pressed together, heavy breathing from his nose would betray him. But silence had laid a blanket over the cave and that perked Ripto’s curiosity. Slowly, he tiptoed towards the entrance gap of the cave. He stuck his nose out first, then carefully the rest of his face, eyes deadly focused forward, as if balancing on a tightrope over a canyon. The air against his face hit him as chilly, but not freezing. He cautiously examined his surroundings. Instead of seeing desert sand or dusty, empty plains ahead and around him like he thought he would, he saw more vertical rocks to each side. His gaze climbed down the rock’s surface. There were even more rocks, and it went on for as far as his vision could reach. The air lay completely still and the silence bounced between the high cliff walls. Was he truly up in the mountains, the very mountains he thought he had seen before while on Gulp’s back? Then he looked up. It was night. He didn’t see the moon. But he saw a vast sea of stars. Ripto had always enjoyed nighttime with the twinkling and sparkling of millions and billions little stars. But this was something else entirely. The stars here were drowning the black vastness of the universe, illuminating the sky with whites and yellows, blues and reds. He could hardly even make out any common constellations, because between every zodiac there were countless tiny specks merging into one another, making the ocean of stars more like one enormous celestial body. It was mesmerizing. He may have felt very small that night, but he also felt very alive.

[written-in-light-blog1]

“LET US SPEAK OF THE TERRIBLE BEAUTY OF BECOMING OURSELVES”

Illustrating Destiny’s Books of Sorrow with community artist Francine Bridge

One of the most impressive Destiny fan-projects we’ve seen to date has been Francine Bridge’s incredible illustrated rendering of Destiny’s Books of Sorrow. Francine, otherwise known as Witnesstheabsurd, agreed to take some time to answer a few of our questions about her work, its impetus, and what the project means to her.

Written by Seth Dickinson, the Books of Sorrow tell the story of the Hive - and by extension Oryx and his siblings - and give deep, rich background to one of the game’s largest and most important conflicts. Lyric and evocative, the books offer insight into both the Hive themselves and the universe they inhabit, and remain Destiny’s most impressive and most in-depth piece of lore-building. For those who may have joined the community in Destiny 2, or never had the chance to read the original books, they can be read in their entirety here. Francine’s project shows the same impressive attention to detail, and most importantly, the same level of empathy as the works that inspired it. We’re ecstatic to be able to share this conversation with the Destiny community, and we hope you’ll take the time to admire the full project.

You can find Francine on Artstation, as well as on Twitter and Tumblr.

Written in Light: To get things started, tell us a bit about yourself. What you're studying, what field you work in, what you like to do for fun - give us a brief summary of who you are and what's important to you!

Francine Bridge: HI! I'm Francine, although I'm better known online as Witnesstheabsurd. I work as a freelance illustrator and concept artist in the UK - you might have seen some of my work in the game Hiveswap or at labels like Killstar. I do album covers, shirt designs, character/monster etc design work for games, comics, private clients. I'm currently in my 4th and final (I took an extra sandwich year to do a supplemental diploma in professional studies) year of my Illustration and Visual Media BA degree in London, after which I'm probably going to look for more permanent studio/contract work rather than the one-off freelance stuff I've been pursuing while I've been in school.

A couple of years ago, prior to starting the degree, I came out as a trans woman, which is probably an important detail, and it's informed a lot of my  work. However, my driving impulse has always been monsters - my preoccupation with Destiny started entirely because a friend of mine showed me screencaps of Oryx after the The Taken King release and I was smitten. Pretty much all of the media I consume, the games I play, the art I create is in pursuit of ever greater or more unique creature and monster design, and they're very dear to my heart.

As far as what I do for fun  - my day is 90% working at the tablet, but I find time to play some games and build "gunpla" model kits as well as paw through my artbook collection. Almost everything I do is informed by my profession, so I use my hobbies as a means to access and process more referential or inspirational visual material or  techniques. I only recently started sincerely learning how to actually "paint," rather than just do some basic rendering under lineart, so that's been a major part of my work lately.

WiL: Was there anything in particular about Oryx that really drew you to him? Did Oryx come across as particularly great and/or unique to you, or is there something else that struck you with his character or design?

FB: Well, as I said, I'm transgender. In the ‘pitch’ my friend made to me about Oryx as a character,  the most interesting aspect to me was that he's a transgender man (although I'm a trans woman, the experience has some shared parallels obviously).

In media, it's incredibly difficult to find trans characters not wholly defined by that aspect of their identity, or who aren't constantly wallowing in the Misery and Tragedy of being trans. I want trans characters who occupy all roles - villain, hero, supporting and main - and it's rare to find anyone who's more than a token or like, tragedy porn. Oryx super resonated with me because he was this figure who acquired power and immediately transitioned, asserting his identity in a way that couldn't be defied - Oryx's story is very much one about self-definition and the value of existence under your own terms, which are very important concepts to me.

When I decided to start work on illustrating the Books I actually reached out to Seth Dickinson, the author Bungie contracted to write them (and the Cabal Booklet/odd flavour text, by the way) to get some specific questions answered and he was kind enough to respond and was very cooperative and supportive. Among the things I asked about I wanted to know  if Oryx was consciously written as transgender character or if it was just a coincidental "weird alien race" flourish. I was very happy to learn Seth had purposefully written Oryx that way, and that he was happy people took strength from it.

It's very novel to have, like, a "trans power fantasy"... a character who acquires absolute power over the self and instantly rewrites the contract between themselves and their body that so many of us spend our entire lives making adjustments to and renegotiating for some measure of peace. It was satisfying, refreshing.

Oryx is super cool to me on multiple visual levels obviously as well, being a mineral-encrusted deep space insect mummy warlord, but that element specifically sets him apart for me, and always will. It's cool to know that a trans character in Destiny can also be a hideous monster from beyond the stars.

WiL: Nice! I've wondered if Oryx was intentionally written to reflect a transgender person. I'm glad to hear a positive answer to that question, and I'm glad you found strength in it!

My next question is, why did you decide to take on this project? I mean, it's very clear that you love Oryx, so that factor is a given, but you mentioned in your original post that this was something you did for your degree. Care to elaborate on that?

FB: So, the structure of my illustration degree is such that while we’re given specific "briefs," such as topics or techniques, the final year gives us significantly more free rein. We're obligated to  complete three "projects" and author a thesis over the course of the final year, but the subject matter, material, everything about those projects is our call. The outcomes are judged based solely on technical and professional development rather than adherence to a specific brief.

This left the field wide open for me to kill two birds with one stone and bring in a project I had intended to do anyhow, but hadn't had the time or space for; something that I was sincerely passionate about rather than an edict handed down by a tutor. Illustrating the Books of Sorrow was something i'd wanted to do ever since I first read them back in The Taken King, and I jumped at  the chance. In addition, while i've produced and formatted artbooks before (My first published work, The Occult Supergiant Primer, can be found here ), I've been able to recoup the time invested away from client work in sales and funding. The Books are obviously material belonging to Bungie and I can't justify selling copies, digital or otherwise, of my illustrated version, so I had to find some other reason to make this investment of time and unpaid work worthwhile as well as enjoyable.

Being able to use the work produced to further my degree was the perfect "excuse.” That said, I've received so much attention from the Destiny community at large, including commissioned work from several new clients, that it would have easily been worth it regardless.

WiL: Your work definitely deserves the attention, you clearly have a strong sense of design! Would you be willing to tell us a little bit about the process you went through to make the Books of Sorrow? Do you have any early versions or storyboards that you'd like to share? Or did any of the illustrations go through any major changes from start to finish, and would you be willing/able to show us that process and talk a bit about why you made the changes you made?

FB: The greater part of the Books came together incredibly smoothly and naturally, with very little iteration required on specific pieces. The images had been stewing in my mind ever since I read the original verses a few years ago and they were more than ready to be rendered. What did require a lot of research, development and false starts were the designs for the sisters, Savathûn and Xivu Arath. Both of them have yet to appear ingame in any major capacity (although it's looking likely Savathûn is going to be a Year 2 DLC), so it was up to me to create designs for them that:

Satisfied the descriptions appended to them in the verses, as light as they were, and also matched the info Seth gave me

Satisfied my own personal expectations and interpretation

Conformed to the lore and the existing known morphology of the Hive in a way that would make them recognizable to a player with no prior familiarity with the Books

Balancing these principles lead to a lot of internal back and forth - Savathûn was easier because we had already seen her brood in D2 on Titan, so I knew to emphasize ornate crests, bonelike texture and a slightly less mineral, more biological look by comparison to Oryx's brood, the hive we exclusively encountered in D1. She was tough at first but ultimately fell into line with something satisfying for me, which actually drew a lot from the Xenomorph Queen in Aliens.

Xivu Arath was a little trickier because she had to be distinct from Oryx, who kind of already occupies the "big mineral/bone-encrusted bruiser" archetype visually, so I had to take her even further. I spent a lot of time wondering whether she would have any ornamentation like some of  the bigger Knights (Alak-Hul comes to mind), given that she represents the "ultimate" Knight morph, but I eventually eschewed all decoration in favour of something reflecting her nature in the narrative: blunt, implacable, spartan. She dispenses with the ritual and hierarchical trappings the other siblings indulge in - notably she decides that all battlefields are her Court, rather than entertaining a court herself, and she tends to default to just brutally bludgeoning whatever stands in her way rather than making an appeal to the Deep or engaging in trickery. I was very satisfied with how she turned out, and the piece featuring her is easily one of my favourites.

WiL: I was going to ask which piece is your favorite! Do you have a Top 3 that you're most proud of?

Is there anything about the Books that you wish were different, or is there something you wish you had the opportunity to draw for this project but couldn't justify including it?

FB: I have a strong tendency to favour whichever the last piece I completed was, because by default I'm always proudest of my most recent work and very rapidly lose favour with pieces even like, a week old. That said, I think overall the strongest piece for me personally would be Oryx slaying Akka, alongside the final Wormfood painting and the Savathun piece, although honorable mentions go to Xivu Arath and Quria, Blade Transform.

I can't say there's anything about the Books specifically I wish was different. The part of me that's purely consuming it as a narrative wishes that they had found Taox, that there had been some confrontation there. I feel like there's a very strong "childhood vengeance" element to the Taox subplot, like when you're put down by an adult for drawing in class and you fantasize about coming back to the school years later as a wildly successful artist and making them admit they were wrong to have stopped you. A key part of that fantasy is recognizing it as a remnant of childhood, this impulse born out of a narrower perspective and inflated self-worth, and realizing you can move past that shit (Although if/when I do become a wildly successful artist there might be a few teachers I'll look up).

Ultimately, I think the arc of the books and what the story is trying to say about distortion of intent and self makes Taox disappearing a much more emotionally resonant and interesting turn. It would be neat if Taox turned up somewhere in-game, and became the focal point of a new Hive offensive.  An entire species/culture with such a specific individual grudge is a fascinating concept.

With about a month and a half of time allotted for the project and 50 verses, there was a lot of stuff I had to cut despite how much it hurt - in a complete version I would have wanted a painting for every verse, but specifically I would have liked to draw Akka in full, the Dakaua War Angels, the Harmony/Gift Mast,  the Qugu; basically I would have given form to the many species and cultures Seth conjures up with a few phrases and a loose description but still manages to make incredibly evocative.

WiL: Do you think you'll ever return to the project and draw those images, either as standalone pieces or as an update to the PDF you've already made?

FB: An update to the .pdf itself is unlikely. I tend to consider projects released to be complete, and usually by the time I revisit a subject I'm not obligated to work on it will have been a few years at the very least. I tend to have developed my technique and approach enough that new pieces inserted retroactively would look somewhat disjointed in terms of quality and style. The chance of releasing standalone paintings - especially of points of specific interest for me like say, Akka in his entirety, the Dakaua war angels, the Qugu, etc. -  is significantly higher. Whether that happens sooner or later depends entirely on what my current workload looks like, and aside from the incredibly generous and supportive response to the project from the larger community the Books are very much a passion project and have to be weighed against, say, contract or school work going forwards.

WiL: That makes sense. What other projects do you have going on right now, if any?

FB: Just this morning I decided on the subject of my final degree project, which I'm also planning to run as my second artbook with an accompanying Kickstarter and print run - something I can actually sell as well as being material that excites me! It's entirely too early to disclose any specific details about it though.

Other than that, I continue to produce odd pieces of fanart in between a regular flow of client work both from private individuals and studios. I guess I can safely say I'll be doing more work on the second Homestuck game after contributing to the first, as well as doing some designs for a music video I was contracted for, and also finishing my thesis for the aforementioned degree.

The key thing, I think, is to keep moving - I get very anxious when I'm spinning my wheels between projects, and the temptation to linger on the threshold a while longer is incredibly strong, especially when there's always the fear your new work will fail to surpass what's come before. Reaching a personal peak like some of the paintings I did for the Books of Sorrow is a double-edged sword, and it can signify both a great accomplishment and a raising of the bar that can be daunting to follow. I'm confident that whatever you see from me next will manage it, though!

WiL: Believe me, after talking with you for a while, I'm confident your next project will meet your expectations. You are a very talented and very ambitious artist, and we can’t wait to see where your career takes you! It’s been a pleasure to talk to you, and we’re looking forward to your next Destiny passion project.

//

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

All images courtesy Francine Bridge

[amethystfaery-blog1]

Faery Folk Wicca

Just about every witch knows about them, but they remain to be some of the most mysterious parts of witchcraft and paganism.  They faye (fay, fae, or however you may spell it) are a range of beings that, while they aren’t human, do have an effect on the lives of humans, be it benevolent, neutral, or occasionally malevolent. They take many forms, from the house brownie of Scotland to the Dryads of the Greek woods.  I’ll be focusing on house and garden fae, which are the one’s I’ve had the most experience with.  

Note:  This is by no means a definitive list, and the fae in your realm may behave differently from those described here.  Be mindful of the fae folk as they are quite powerful, and in many cases, to anger one is to anger all, so please treat them with respect.  It is also important to note that fae are not to be confused with spirits, that is, the presence of a person who has died.  They are entirely separate, and I may do a blog on them later.

Brownies-  A personal favorite of mine, brownies are small humanoids that reside in the unused parts of a house, often closets, attics, crawl spaces, or holes in the wall.  They help about the house with tidying and general upkeep, generally in exchange for small gifts of food.  They are said to enjoy honey and porridge the most.  They are a skittish lot, and work almost exclusively at night.  If the humans of a house misuse the brownie’s work, trying to get them to do more than the brownie is willing, or if they refer to the food left for the brownie as payments, this will generally cause the brownie to leave.  They were generally treated as small, absent family members, with wealthy houses even leaven a small seat for them open next to the hearth.

Hobs- Hobs are similar to brownies in that they do help with work, but they do gardening as well as housekeeping.  More powerful hobs are said to make plants grow faster, and some could cure illnesses such as whooping cough.  Another difference from the brownie is that they tend to move about, from one area to another, as they please.  If a hob proved a nuisance, as they would occasionally, a set of new clothes as a gift could usually cause them to move on.  Hobs, along with brownies, were the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s house elves as well.

Goblins- a wide range of fae that are generally malevolent without being dangerously so.  They are many different kinds, including boogeymen, ghouls, bugbears, and wirry-cows.  They all share in the delight in frightening humans, as well as a general propensity towards vice, such as a goblin’s notorious greed. What sets them apart from other malevolent fae is that other than fear, and rarely theft of objects, they have little to no effect on the lives of humans.

Banshees- Banshee’s are different.  A Banshee is a generally female fae that begins to wail as she senses that someone is dying. Originating in Ireland, far off heard shrieks were, and by some still are, seen as auguries of death.  There is some dispute as to whether a banshee is a fae or spirit, I’ve put her here for now.

Changelings- Changelings are said to be fae that spirit away human children, generally infants, and replace them with a changeling child.  These children are supposed to grow and develop differently from a ‘real’ child, often in unpleasant or disturbing ways.  Dismissed by many people in the modern world as an ancient explanation for disabilities and mental handicaps, some people in the aforementioned communities have begun to identify with changelings, feeling that they are of a separate species, raised away from their true people.  Children were believed to be vulnerable to changelings until they were baptized, or at least blessed.The existence of changelings is still a hotly debated topic among neo-pagan communities, just as they were once great fears of new families.

Hobgoblins- Aptly named, these fae contain the helpfulness of a hob, and yet also have a much wider trickster streak like a goblin.  They appreciate gifts like brownies, but will leave if offered clothes like a hob.  The most famous hobgoblin perhaps is Puck of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, who perfectly captured the balance of mischief and aid a hobgoblin tends to offer.  They are often described as small, hairy men.

Domovoi- A Slavic fae that stood as protector of the house.  It may live inside of the stove, under the threshold, or with livestock.  It’s said to be masculine, and resemble the master of the house, but almost always having a grey beard, and sometimes small horns or tails.  The Domovoi keeps guard over the house and may help with gardening, and like the brownie, takes joy in small gifts, though the Domovoi enjoys tobacco, bread, salt, and oil as well as milk, honey, and porridge.  He also acts as an augur, if he’s dancing, singing, or laughing, it is said that good times are ahead, but if he wails, especially in the night, or worse, makes himself deliberately visible to a member of the family, death or misfortune is on its way.

Nymphs- Nymphs are feminine fae that are tied to a specific natural place or formation, such as a forest, mountain, grotto, sea, river, glade, or meadow.  Though benevolent, many early peoples, and especially early Christians, feared their forward and often wanton sexual nature. Many of them were taken as wives or consorts of the Greek gods, and through these contacts bore immortal children and demigods, as well as cyclopes and other monsters. A nymph is tied to their formation/land, and will not leave, though they can die/ be transformed by a god to a hideous/evil form if they gain ill favor.  

Dobbies- Not to be confused with the famed house elf from the Harry Potter franchise, dobbies are small creatures that inhabit stables and protect horses.  Little is known about them except that they are extremely skittish and cannot bear to be seen by humans.  It it believed that if a horse is well cared for, particularly if the stall is clean, a dobbie may be attracted to sleep in the clean straw.  The name dobbie comes from an old English word for work horse, dobbin.  

Kobold- A German house-fey that is something akin to a more mischievous brownie.  If insulted, they may bring misfortune upon the house, causing broken and lost items.  They have many appearances, and may appear as a dog, cat, flame, or small child, however they are almost always invisible, and should NEVER be pursued.  They hate more than any other fae mentioned to be seen by humans, and have been told to drive insane or even murder those who seek to trick them into revealing themselves, capture them, or even track their footprints through flour or ashes.  Please be careful!

Aitvaras- A Lithuanian creatures that take the form of a white or black rooster when inside, but become a ferocious dragon when in the open air.  They are equally malevolent and benevolent, often providing grain and other goods for the house, only for the owners to find that it was stolen from a neighbor, and for the owner to get in serious trouble.  They hatch from the eggs of roosters, specifically those 9-15 years old, but some believe the only way to get one is to buy one from ‘the devil’, at the price of one’s immortal soul.  Once they inhabit a dwelling, they cannot leave.

Kitsune- Japanese for fox, these creatures may take many fox based forms, from a regular fox to a nine tailed one, or even a woman with fox features.  They live on their own, but occasionally attach themselves to  a household, in which case they may behave similarly to aitvaras, bringing ill gotten fortune to the household, since they are Yōkai, they don’t have a human sense of morality.  They may offer gifts or payments which are very different things.  A kitsune payment, usually offering money or other material items, is almost always paper, leaves, twigs, or stones under a spell, and is truly worthless.  A gift, however, is almost exclusively intangible, and may be protection, knowledge, or long life.

That’s all I have for now, but If I find any others, I’ll be sure to post!  Let me know if any of you have a house or garden spirit!  Thanks, and may blessings come to you all!

[minaminokyoko]

Deadpool 2: A Spoilertastic Review

One thing I've noticed over the years is that there's nothing like it when someone busts their ass to make a movie happen, defying all odds, and pours their sweat, blood, tears (and in Deadpool's case, probably other fluids we don't want to know about) into a film, and it turns out to reward them spectacularly. Deadpool was one of those movies. They fought for years to get that movie made after the disgraceful ruination of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and they did him justice beyond words. It was magnificently done. It damn near beat Jesus, for fuck's sake. Actual Jesus.

And that's why I think that I don't like the sequel as much.

I've seen this happen many times: a sleeper hit or an unexpected smash hit blockbuster exceeds all expectations and then puts out a sequel. Well, unfortunately, sometimes success can ruin your party. Success, accolades, and the second highest grossing Rated R film of all time had an influence on how Deadpool 2 turned out, if you ask me. When you're not starving for it, then it means that sometimes punchlines don't land as hard, writing is not as tight, and scenes aren't as memorable. When you're already fat and happy, sometimes your motivation to make the best thing ever is just servicable at best.

I think Deadpool 2 is an enjoyable movie, but I think it didn't want it as badly as the first movie did because it was already fat, happy, and satisfied from the first film. Thus, I think they didn't try as hard to make it the best movie possible. It's still a good movie, but it can't compete with the first film by any stretch, and I'll explain why. Naturally, spoiler alert.

Overall Grade: B-/C+

Pros:

-Deadpool himself is still funny, even if the change in tone puts a damper on a lot of the enjoyment.

-Domino shines like a freaking diamond. I already like Zazie Beetz from what I saw of her in FX's show Atlanta, so I was jazzed when they announced her for the role. She still blew my expectations out of the water. I had never seen her do a physical role before, and she absolutely sold me. I'd love to see her in sequels and I sure as hell would watch a spin off of her with other female heroes should the Deadpool franchise get to borrow some X-Men in what I pray will someday be a collaborative effort between Fox and Marvel Studios. She's fantastic. She's the black girl magic the world needs to know about, and I'm so happy studios are coming around realizing black women are a massive untapped source of awesome in superhero films. For the longest time, Storm was all we had and she was weaksauce due to poor writing, but we've slowly been seeing more inclusion with the women of Black Panther and Valkyrie from Ragnarok and now Domino. Keep 'em coming, superhero movies. Black women deserve to conquer the genre and usher in other women of color alongside them.

-The X-Men pulling the door shut gag was top notch. Kudos. Even though it raises some seriously weird questions timeline-wise, I howled. That was brilliantly addressed, especially since it's so painfully obvious in the first movie that Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead were all Fox's stingy ass wanted to spare for poor Mr. Pool.

-Dupinder is still fucking adorable and precious and I'm glad he got his moment of glory.

-The Juggernaut getting a second shot was absolutely fantastic. I was trying to guess who it would be and then I saw that helmet and I might as well have done a fucking T-Rex roar in my seat the theater. Juggernaut was done right. He was everything I dreamt he would be ever since that disappointing appearance in X-Men 3. Don't get me wrong--Vinnie Jones had the right attitude, but making him just regular size guy defeats the whole purpose of why he's so unstoppable and terrifying. He literally ripped Deadpool in half. That was awesome, as was his grudge match with Colossus. I loved them going toe to toe with each other. It was staged extremely well. Aside from Domino, Juggernaut vs. Colossus was by far my favorite part of the film.

-Minor point, but I loved Deadpool's reaction to Yukio. He seemed genuinely charmed by her and vice versa and it was fucking adorable.

-The second post credits scene is exactly as good as the hype made it out to be. Oh God. Deadpool shooting Barakapool several times was just...I mean, it was the cherry on top of the sundae. It was so satisfying, as was the joke about shooting himself before he could star in Green Lantern. I love that Ryan Reynolds was so self aware that he severely fucked up his career from pretty much 2011 until 2016 when he finally got Deadpool made. He knew this movie was the only way he'd ever get himself out of that ditch in his career and I think it was a worthy redemption for sure. I also am so relieved they undid Vanessa's death, because that's the second biggest con I have for this movie as you'll see below.

-The Logan reference had me in stitches. It was so wrong, but so damn funny.

-The "blink and you'll miss it" Brad Pitt cameo. Fuck, that was amazing and surprising, thank you.

-The other "blink and you'll miss it" Alan Tudyk cameo. Holy shit, does Disney really like this man. I am so happy to see Wash getting some really great roles over the years. He's doing great.

Cons:

-Stuffing Vanessa in the Fridge. Alright, so technically I shouldn't put this in here because Deadpool fixes it in the end credits, but it pisses me off that they even attempted this stupid fucking trope. I am tired of dead girlfriends and dead wives used for Mangst. Fucking. Stop. It. Women are just as valid as men as characters. Stop killing them just to make the hero turn Super Saiyan. It's possible to still motivate the male motherfuckers without killing the girl and putting them on a revenge spree or depression spiral. It's lazy writing and all of Hollywood needs to move on from this tired ass trope. Vanessa was extremely charming, funny, and likable in the first Deadpool movie and Morena Baccarin is and has always been so wonderful to enjoy on screen in her dramatic and comedic work. I am so pissed off they Fridged her to only be in five minutes of the fucking movie. They shouldn't have even bothered putting her in the damned credits because she was only there for such a short period. If she didn't have time to film the movie, fine, just find another excuse that she's not there. Morena deserved better, dammit.

-Changing the tone of the film franchise from a screwball comedy to an action "movie" with jokes in it. This is the biggest reason I didn't like this movie as much as the first Deadpool movie. The first Deadpool movie is arguably a parody of superhero films. It takes most of the tropes and pokes fun at them in a really great way, but it also still manages to be a legit, streamlined revenge love story. It strikes the exact tone we'd all been craving ever since we heard the Deadpool movie would be greenlit. So why the fuck is the sequel written like an X-Men movie, but with more jokes? I hate the serious tone. I hate Wade moping over Vanessa, I hate the whole "family" bullshit that is spoken with a straightface somehow despite being almost as unearned as that hideous one in Suicide Squad, I hate Cable moping over his dead family, and I hate the "you're not my friend" bullshit between Wade and the incredibly annoying fat kid whose name I refuse to learn because he irritated me so much. Why did they play it all straightfaced? Why was I expected to see a "real story" in a Deadpool movie? The entire reason I like this franchise and haven't seen an X-Men film (not counting Logan) in years is because the X-Men franchise has completely played itself out. It's substandard acting, substandard writing, it doesn't adapt the comics the way it should, and it's just repetitive. All the movies since First Class are the same. The prequel babies are finally going to just end the charade with Dark Phoenix and I think most of the world is relieved because they have nothing creative or new to offer any longer. Deadpool 2 reeks of that same kind of lame writing and execution. There was no reason to switch the format. I pray to God they go back to formula in X-Force or Deadpool 3. I hate this change with a passion.

-The fat kid is annoying as hell. There, I said it. Fight me if you must. He had no sense of self preservation and the movie didn't go into enough detail to make me care about him in spite of how teeth-grindingly stupid and obnoxious he was. He was written like a twelve year old boy writing fanfiction about himself and Deadpool becoming best buds and fighting crime together. No. No, stop that right now. I don't want any part of it. I get the "he's just a kid" thing but the kid is an asshole and even if he's somehow justified, he's a pain in the ass to watch from start to finish. I also think the kid needs some acting lessons, but that's not entirely his fault. I think he probably just wasn't directed all that well, so I can let that slide, but I did notice it during the film.

-I don't care about Cable. Cable and Deadpool are righteous as fuck in the comics. In this movie? No. This is why I was against Josh Brolin being cast. He has no chemistry with Ryan Reynolds. I get that Cable is the Straight Man to Deadpool's Kooky Man, but they don't gel together at all. I never sensed any bonding even though they are setting it up for franchise reasons. He's just not interesting and he plays the role as blandly as he does all his boring ass biopics and other bland roles. Brolin worked much better as Thanos than he did Cable. Thanos had weight and was threatening and even though his reasoning was utter bullshit, at least he was convicted. Brolin's Cable just felt like some stock stoic character thrown in there as the minor antagonist. I still would have much preferred Liam Neeson or Ron Perlman, and yes, I understand both of them are getting up there in years, but we've seen older actors still kick ass and be in shape, so I think they could have done it if they were offered the part. Brolin is still one of the most drab actors I've ever seen and he just doesn't pull the role off, imo.

-The bait and switch with the X-Force team. This is a minor note for me, as I don't have a background with these characters so it's more for people who know these characters elsewhere and were expecting an awesome team up movie but that's not what they got. Are the gruesome deaths kind of funny? Yeah, sure, but it's kind of rude to advertise them that way and they're not in the movie. I just frown on it. It's not a dealbreaker. It was just disappointing in the same way that the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was disappointing. I expected more and I got a farce instead.

-I don't know if it's for legal reasons, but it drives me crazy that we still didn't get a Wolverine cameo from Hugh Jackman. I mean, we finally got Deadpool--the real one--and I just want him and Ryan to share the screen again because even though Origins was trash, they were magical together.

-Deadpool's last "death" went on way too long. I was checking my watch. They really should have pulled the trigger on that gag. It was exhausting and not very funny to begin with.

-Negasonic Teenage Warhead getting reduced to an extra pissed me off. She was so great in the first movie and she doesn't get to do anything here and it irks the hell out of me.

-Aside from The Juggernaut vs. Colossus, the fight scenes weren't nearly as creative, cinematic, or memorable as the first film. I've already forgotten everything except the JvC fight and the convoy rescue scene. That's a bummer for me.

-The movie just isn't as funny as the first film. It's not the same kind of tight writing with excellent punchlines and ridiculous phrases that made me remember them. It's been a few days and I don't recall any insults or lines that stuck with me. I'll likely be seeing it again for Memorial Day weekend, but I still don't expect I'll remember much from it.

-Nitpick: God, I still want to push T.J. Miller off a bridge. He is not funny and never has been.

-Nitpick: WHY HAS NO ONE MADE A FIREFLY JOKE ABOUT MORENA BACCARIN AFTER TWO FUCKING DEADPOOL MOVIES?! COME ON. DEADPOOL IS ALL ABOUT NERD REFERENCES. GODDAMMIT MENTION FIREFLY YOU FUCKS. (But to be fair, this could also be because Fox is the reason we only got one season and so maybe they were forbidden from doing it. Still. That pisses me the hell off. Especially since Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion (1) have both played the Green Lantern and (2) were on a sitcom with each other for years. Inexcusable.)

I'm sorry it sounds like I'm shitting on the movie. Really, it's enjoyable. I just think that maybe the first movie set the bar so high I can't help but feel frustrated by the sequel not trying as hard. Based on the online reactions, I'm on my own so...take that as you will, friends. Kyo out.

[civilcoconstruction]

A Budget Bathroom Remodel in Atlanta Goes Clean & Luxe

Hoping to spend just $5K on their Atlanta bathroom remodel, these homeowners leaned on their Black-owned contracting firm for help

“After” photos by Jaksnap Photography. Stylist: TFStyle Homes, LLC

Written in partnership with the Sweeten homeowner

Before: Deciding to remodel an uncomfortable bathroom Atlanta

We initially looked for a move-in-ready home, but hadn’t found many within our budget in our desired Atlanta suburb of Clarkston. The bathrooms in our new split-level house—built in 1982—would need to be remodeled eventually; we’d tackle those jobs as we could afford them. Three years later and with a toddler in our midst, we were ready. The master bathroom would be our first big project.

We had many problems with the original en-suite bathroom. Mainly, it was hideous. I disliked the wall color, the warped laminate vanity, and the stick-on floor tiles. Not only was the pattern terrible, but the tiles were coming unglued. The worst offender was the plastic-insert shower. It was small and claustrophobic, and no amount of scrubbing would remove its mold and mildew stains. Even just-cleaned, the bathroom felt dirty. I couldn’t stand showering in there.

The search for a compatible contractor

I’d already gotten a few estimates, but we were looking to work with a Black-owned contracting firm, and hadn’t found one with availability. The fact is, not many contractors want to take on one tiny room, not to mention on a minuscule budget. Then I stumbled on a Sweeten blog post featuring Black-owned firms. I posted my project on Sweeten and found the general contractor I wanted to work with. I felt really good about her, and she was willing to squeeze us into her schedule.

Sweeten matches home renovators with vetted general contractors, offering advice, support, and up to $50,000 in renovation financial protection— for free.

After: Finding solutions on a shoestring budget

As first-time renovators, our biggest question was, “What is this supposed to cost?” We had a limited budget and no idea what was reasonable. Our budget was $5,000, but quickly realized how many corners we’d have to cut. We couldn’t afford to change the floorplan, so we agreed on the goal of transforming the bathroom into a pleasant, relaxing space. I decided to save money by designing the bathroom myself, and doing it around an existing light fixture.

A crash course in bathroom design

I started Pinteresting and vision-boarding. We considered replacing the shower insert for thrift’s sake, but the contractor said it would just get gross again. I had no idea what went into building and tiling a shower. I found out it costs a lot more to install small subway tile than it does to lay a larger tile. In addition, I learned that a shower floor’s drainage slope requires mosaic tile, and the ones that come in sheets save the most labor-wise.

With so many types of tile out there, we were glad to have the options narrowed for us. We chose large-format ceramic tile for the shower walls and sheets of hexagonal mosaic tile for the shower floor—in marble, as I wanted just one aspect to be luxurious. Even with the thoughtful choices, the materials and labor proved costly. We gave up replastering the walls, removing the stippling from the ceiling, and installing a recessed light in the shower, all to keep costs down. We even kept the existing toilet, since it was fine.

Coaching and economy

There were moments when I felt like, “We just can’t afford to do this the right way,” but our Sweeten contractor helped us identify projects we could do ourselves (caulking holes and repairing molding). We chose cheaper floor tile for the room. An inexpensive vanity helped, and I found the mirror at a discount home store for around $30. This allowed us to save and use quality materials where they mattered.

Our Sweeten contractor provided great input and direction—including talking me out of some bad tile choices and kindly suggesting bright, simple colors and patterns. She never took over the vision. She was organized and communicative, and we appreciated her helping us stay (almost) within our revised budget, even after plumbing issues popped up.

The final budget—and excellent outcome

All told, we more than doubled the original budget (thanks to our family for the generous gift!) coming in just at the starting minimum cost for a bathroom. This included labor, materials, random plumbing parts, and a zillion trips to Home Depot for the paint and other stuff I did on my own.

The final result is the spa bathroom of my dreams. It’s so serene! My first bathroom with a glass shower door and a natural stone floor, both of which feel truly luxe. It’s so lovely to walk in there now. Everything is well-installed and of good quality. It’s exactly what we hoped for.

Thank you for sharing your dream bathroom remodel in Atlanta with us!

Materials Guide

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Alpine Frost Rigid Core Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVT) floor tile; Pearl Veincut polished ceramic shower wall tile; Blue Forest hexagon polished marble mosaic shower floor tile: Floor & Decor. PROFLO chrome towel racks: Target. Spectra-Versa 4-function complete shower system: American Standard. Glass shower doors: The Shower Door Guy. Behr Ultra paint in Brisk Blue; Behr Premium paint in Distant Star; Home Decorators Collection Sedgewood 30 1/2″ bath vanity in Dove Gray with solid surface vanity top in Arctic and white Sink: Home Depot. Ladera 4″ centerset faucet in polished chrome: Pfister. Mirror: HomeGoods. Toilet and lighting: Existing. 

—

Be prepared for these hidden costs in Atlanta and roll with a smoother renovation journey.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation with Sweeten.

Source link

from CIVICLO Construction & Interior https://civilco.construction/a-budget-bathroom-remodel-in-atlanta-goes-clean-luxe/

[mujeeburrehman]

A Budget Bathroom Remodel in Atlanta Goes Clean & Luxe

Hoping to spend just $5K on their Atlanta bathroom remodel, these homeowners leaned on their Black-owned contracting firm for help

“After” photos by Jaksnap Photography. Stylist: TFStyle Homes, LLC

Written in partnership with the Sweeten homeowner

Before: Deciding to remodel an uncomfortable bathroom Atlanta

We initially looked for a move-in-ready home, but hadn’t found many within our budget in our desired Atlanta suburb of Clarkston. The bathrooms in our new split-level house—built in 1982—would need to be remodeled eventually; we’d tackle those jobs as we could afford them. Three years later and with a toddler in our midst, we were ready. The master bathroom would be our first big project.

We had many problems with the original en-suite bathroom. Mainly, it was hideous. I disliked the wall color, the warped laminate vanity, and the stick-on floor tiles. Not only was the pattern terrible, but the tiles were coming unglued. The worst offender was the plastic-insert shower. It was small and claustrophobic, and no amount of scrubbing would remove its mold and mildew stains. Even just-cleaned, the bathroom felt dirty. I couldn’t stand showering in there.

The search for a compatible contractor

I’d already gotten a few estimates, but we were looking to work with a Black-owned contracting firm, and hadn’t found one with availability. The fact is, not many contractors want to take on one tiny room, not to mention on a minuscule budget. Then I stumbled on a Sweeten blog post featuring Black-owned firms. I posted my project on Sweeten and found the general contractor I wanted to work with. I felt really good about her, and she was willing to squeeze us into her schedule.

Sweeten matches home renovators with vetted general contractors, offering advice, support, and up to $50,000 in renovation financial protection— for free.

After: Finding solutions on a shoestring budget

As first-time renovators, our biggest question was, “What is this supposed to cost?” We had a limited budget and no idea what was reasonable. Our budget was $5,000, but quickly realized how many corners we’d have to cut. We couldn’t afford to change the floorplan, so we agreed on the goal of transforming the bathroom into a pleasant, relaxing space. I decided to save money by designing the bathroom myself, and doing it around an existing light fixture.

A crash course in bathroom design

I started Pinteresting and vision-boarding. We considered replacing the shower insert for thrift’s sake, but the contractor said it would just get gross again. I had no idea what went into building and tiling a shower. I found out it costs a lot more to install small subway tile than it does to lay a larger tile. In addition, I learned that a shower floor’s drainage slope requires mosaic tile, and the ones that come in sheets save the most labor-wise.

With so many types of tile out there, we were glad to have the options narrowed for us. We chose large-format ceramic tile for the shower walls and sheets of hexagonal mosaic tile for the shower floor—in marble, as I wanted just one aspect to be luxurious. Even with the thoughtful choices, the materials and labor proved costly. We gave up replastering the walls, removing the stippling from the ceiling, and installing a recessed light in the shower, all to keep costs down. We even kept the existing toilet, since it was fine.

Coaching and economy

There were moments when I felt like, “We just can’t afford to do this the right way,” but our Sweeten contractor helped us identify projects we could do ourselves (caulking holes and repairing molding). We chose cheaper floor tile for the room. An inexpensive vanity helped, and I found the mirror at a discount home store for around $30. This allowed us to save and use quality materials where they mattered.

Our Sweeten contractor provided great input and direction—including talking me out of some bad tile choices and kindly suggesting bright, simple colors and patterns. She never took over the vision. She was organized and communicative, and we appreciated her helping us stay (almost) within our revised budget, even after plumbing issues popped up.

The final budget—and excellent outcome

All told, we more than doubled the original budget (thanks to our family for the generous gift!) coming in just at the starting minimum cost for a bathroom. This included labor, materials, random plumbing parts, and a zillion trips to Home Depot for the paint and other stuff I did on my own.

The final result is the spa bathroom of my dreams. It’s so serene! My first bathroom with a glass shower door and a natural stone floor, both of which feel truly luxe. It’s so lovely to walk in there now. Everything is well-installed and of good quality. It’s exactly what we hoped for.

Thank you for sharing your dream bathroom remodel in Atlanta with us!

Materials Guide

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Alpine Frost Rigid Core Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVT) floor tile; Pearl Veincut polished ceramic shower wall tile; Blue Forest hexagon polished marble mosaic shower floor tile: Floor & Decor. PROFLO chrome towel racks: Target. Spectra-Versa 4-function complete shower system: American Standard. Glass shower doors: The Shower Door Guy. Behr Ultra paint in Brisk Blue; Behr Premium paint in Distant Star; Home Decorators Collection Sedgewood 30 1/2″ bath vanity in Dove Gray with solid surface vanity top in Arctic and white Sink: Home Depot. Ladera 4″ centerset faucet in polished chrome: Pfister. Mirror: HomeGoods. Toilet and lighting: Existing. 

—

Be prepared for these hidden costs in Atlanta and roll with a smoother renovation journey.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation with Sweeten.

Source link

source https://civilco.construction/a-budget-bathroom-remodel-in-atlanta-goes-clean-luxe/ from Civilco Construction & Interior https://civilcoconstruction.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-budget-bathroom-remodel-in-atlanta.html