#distant skies

[justalawschoolgirl]

game night 🃏

[birdievibes]

more progress but documented this time!

So, these are what I will describe as insects even though they evolved separately! If anyone remembers my old foundational clade chart, these are part of clade D1A and D1B (I think)!

here are their working names (I am nooot good at nomenclature lol)

A: Polyterapoda- this is slightly under clade d1a (I think), but I also use it to refer to modern descendants who keep the same body plan.

B: Haemoclepid- a branch of Polyterapoda which evolved to suck fluids out of the stelatmosids (fungal photosynthesizing organisms), and I also believe under this clade would be stick-bug-y dudes. I'm not modeling them though im too lazy.

C: Unnamed- Under Haemoclepidia, these were pillar reef hunters but quickly expanded to trees and bushes during the last biotic interchange. They do not spin webs even though that would be very cool.

D: unnamed- also under haemoclepidia, these are more similar to termites or ants, with enormous hives. Their hives tend to be in roots, ring pillar reefs, or helix pillar reefs but are not exclusive to these locations. Importantly, they pick things up with their hind legs!

1: Kentauratera- This is slightly under clade d1b (probably), and almost all offshoots have gone extinct as of the mid convergic ice age (~320 mya). Remaining clades with the original body plan are uncommon and tend to eat eggs and larvae.

2: Platohasta- under Kentauratera, Platohastans are the only surviving terrestrial insects from clade d1b other than the aformentioned clade of egg eaters. Despite their appearance they are quick and vicious.

Also! I should have mentioned earlier but these are very rough models just to help me keep track of things, in reality they have much much more complex structure.

[finalfantasymusicdaily]

Distant Skies Arranged by Shotaro Shima

[lovekia]

[akirakirxaa]

[ day 23 - dearest ]

"Persephone...who I was...I'm not that man anymore. Whatever it takes, I can't give up on everyone we lost."

"And I'm not giving up on you. I know my dear husband is still in here somewhere, and I'm going to find him. No matter how long it takes."

[ masterpost ]

[wildsaltair]

Maximus is the constellation, and I am but a humble astronomer spending my life studying him

[sevenyeargap]

i am in pain i am tired of everything and most of all i am tired of being nice and just want to go apeshit

[smash-64]

2024 Game of the Year 2024 Countdown #5: Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies Sony PlayStation 2, 2001

This was my first foray back into the Ace Combat franchise for years, and it had been entirely too long since I had replayed it. Upon discovering that my PS2 has a digital optical audio port that I can route to my surround sound system, I decided it was definitely time to try it out. Luckily, while AC04 lacks the Dolby Pro Logic II support that AC5 and Zero have, the audio was far from inadequate and I was able to experience the game anew.

For an early PS2 game, the graphics are really impressive. I’ve actually always thought that the render for your plane looks the best in this game when compared to the later games in the series, even if the rest of the graphics are comparably worse. But hey, it came out only a year into the PS2 lifespan and holds up well.

Sound effects are perhaps a bit muted, and sound less bombastic than you might expect. Jet noise and explosions are there, but they sound more distant in-game. Maybe this was an attempt at realism since many explosions will be at a distance? I can’t say for sure, although sometimes the sound effects are so loud in cutscenes that I was grateful for the subtitles. However, the music set the tone for what we’d expect from Ace Combat. AC2 had a few standout tracks on the PS1, but this was a whole new level. “Comona” is possibly my all time favorite level to play and has a great theme to match the heart-pounding aerial battle to defend a rocket launch. “Emancipation” is surprisingly chill for a city rising up to kick out its occupiers. “Blockade” is an early track that stands out and returns in subsequent games as a favorite. I can’t leave out the “Megalith” theme, either, which marks the grand finale and was my first introduction to the Latin choir trope in gaming. I heard someone play this at an air show once and I was glad whoever was in charge knew what they were doing. I also can’t forget to mention the potentially cheesy, easy-listening, soft jam of “Wide Blue Skies,” either.

AC04 is probably easier than the other games in the PS2 Holy Trinity, but I love the lore that the game introduced: the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid that made planetfall a few years before the game’s story takes place. The simple concept of an asteroid threatening life in Strangereal, the official fan term for the Earth-like world in-game, is something that is still going on to this day. As a result of the asteroid, weapons were created to destroy it. Some succeeded and some failed, but one of them was used to rule the skies over the continent and that is as straightforward as it gets. I appreciate the simple story because it doesn’t trip over itself.

AC04 is my favorite of the holy AC trinity, even if it might not be the objective best, and I was overdue to play it again.

[yinyinggie]

the inherent beauty of being alive! there is much to be thankful for

[vaultsixtynine]

idk why but i am so scared of winter/general snow sports. smthn about dying in the cold is so much worse to me than i think any death other than drowning. the risk of falling into a crevasse or hitting a tree or getting lost and dying of hypothermia is So Slim when ur on the literal bunny slopes but still I Fear.

[blue-skiesand-silverlinings]

This took waaaaaaaay long than I had originally intended. Nux, my beautiful boy, why did I make you so complex! *distant ugly sobbing*

Somebody, please enjoy this, my hand hurts and I just want validation that this is good 😭🫠😭

Nux is, by far, the most polite Gyarados ever. He can be sassy because, well…who is going to sass right back at a giant death noodle of doom? But beware: he can get mean and angry, and it’s a humble reminder that he is still a GIANT DEATH NOODLE OF DOOM. Also, his teeth are bigger than your face, seriously, don’t get him mad.

[dreadwyrmcaller]

☘ !

☘ : My muse’s relation with their family. (If they speak with each other and how much, if they are close or estranged, e.t.c.).

Mimiette is very close with her family! She's got three older brothers (triplets) and a twin younger sister, so things were very chaotic in that household sometimes. She's been writing them a ton of letters ever since she left for Eorzea, and was really excited to finally get back home- though that reunion would've been more than a little chaotic, considering how she didn't really redact even the wilder details.

In particular, Mimiette and her sister Loloette are really close. They've always been able to know what the other is thinking, and will use that to help each other out and tease in equal measure. The cain instinct is strong in this family sometimes.

[birdievibes]

Wowowowow a comic page... hmm I wonder what it's for!

[vivid-endlessskies]

Opinion On Drifting Skies

Overall, Drifting Skies is somewhat of a friend or an acquaintance.

[thespiritualsolarsystem]

.

[akirakirxaa]

[ day 16 : travel ]

Having spent so long being so disappointed in the Sundered world, Hades had wondered if Hythlodaeus would come to regret the choice to remain behind, no matter how much they both loved Persephone.

He quickly realized he needn't have worried. Though Hythlodaeus had never had the wanderlust Persephone did, he was enchanted by all the places she brought him to, showing him all the things she herself had been delighted by on her journeys.

And maybe through their joy, it would seem a little less gray for Hades too.

[ masterpost ]