#holy cheese the colours??

[yuki2sksksk]

Spider-Man Across the Spider verse left me jaw dropped and at the edge of my seat.

[theunlikelycassiopeia]

The Gift

When: Act 3

“Hey soldier,” grinned Karlach, “Happy Birthday!”

Cass’s cheeks glowed in happy embarrassment as she opened the small paper parcel. Enclosed was a small leather sheath with a belt, made for a dagger. The subtle leather felt buttery under her fingers. It was a rich burgundy colour and featured the small sigil of a bear- the symbol of Cass’s barbarian heart.

“Oh Karlach…” beamed Cass, “I would kiss you if I could!”

“One day, mate.” Karlach winked. “But I’m not sure Pointy would approved.”

“On the contrary...” Astarion was stretched out on a sofa with a book resting in his lap. “Also, please stop calling me Pointy. I have a name.”

“Sorry, Fangs.” Karlach laughed and rolled her eyes “Anyway, I’m heading downstairs to see where the others are.”

Karlach winked at Astarion once more before disappearing through the door. The others were getting dinner and wine for Cass’s birthday dinner. No one had ever celebrated Cass’s birthday before. It had been forgotten. It was just another bleak day, like the rest. Until now. At 35 years old, she finally had friends to celebrate with. Receiving gifts was new and alien to her.

She looked down at the dagger sheath in her hand.

“I think I’m going buy myself a nice dagger to go with this. I love it.” She pressed it to her chest.

Astarion hopped up from the sofa.

“Let me see.” Astarion inspected the sheath. “Ah yes, I like the belt. You can strap this to your thigh. A good little hiding spot.”

Cass turned the sheath over in her hands again and again. “I feel so lucky.” She sighed. A warmth sat in her chest. Another unfamiliar feeling.

“I have something for you too, darling. Just a moment.” Astarion opened up the cabinet next to the sofa and pulled out a very large wheel of mature cheese.

“Holy shit!” Cass practically yanked the cheese from his hands. “Gods, this is amazing. Thank you so much!”

Astarion watched her with amusement as Cass began to dig her fingers into the wax case.

“Gods, woman. At least cut it open. Here, use this.”

Astarion handed Cass a dagger.

It took Cass a moment to realise her real gift. The weight of the dagger he handed her was different from his normal dagger.

“Wha-?”

“Happy Birthday, Cassiopeia.”

Time was still for a moment as she held the dagger in one hand. She hadn’t realised that Astarion had taken the cheese from her and set it down on the cabinet.

“Is this… for me?” She uttered, staring at the dagger.

“Of course it is.”

She balanced it in her hand. The hilt was woven with the same soft burgundy leather as the sheath. One side of the blade had an engraving of a small star. The other side had an elvish inscription. Cass had practiced her reading so much that she was now fluent. The inscription read:

“Carve your own destiny”

There was a small smith mark. This blade was made by Dammon.

“Astarion, I…” Cass was simply stunned by the gift.

“Yes, yes. I know.” Astarion waved a hand, walking away. “Thank you and all that. You’re very welcome. Now let’s go find the others.”

“Astarion…” Cass caught him by the wrist. “I love it.” Cass leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cold cheek.

Astarion cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, well. Good. I’m glad. Now let’s go before I die of embarrassment.” He flashed her a shy smile.

“Hang on. Before we go…” Astarion watched Cass as she sheathed her new dagger and strapped it to her thigh.

“Perfect, my sweet.”

[louloulemons-posts]

Oil At The Coffee Shop VIII

Eddie X Fem!Reader

Summary : Eddie and Reader go on a date.

Word Count : 1.9k

Warnings : Not proof read, little bit spicy, no actual smut, love bites, kisses, mini angst at the end, eddie and reader are just nervous and cute, rambly.

Fic Masterlist

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Waking up your head was sore, you’re never letting Robin make you a drink again. Sitting up you rubbed your face, trying to wake yourself more.

Pushing back the blankets, your feet met the chilly floor beneath you. Trying to remember last night, you remembered Steve, Robin, Eddie.

Wait. Eddie.

He was here. He brought you home. You’d kissed him. Holy shit you’d kissed him. And now you had to face him.

Leaning down he pressed his lips against your forehead. “If you wake up and you want to kiss me, you’re more than welcome too.”

Holy shit. Did I want to kiss him? Of course you did. But you also didn’t want to mess us up. He means so much to you, one of your best friends, one of your favourite people.

He told you if you wanted to kiss him, you could. And you really really wanted to.

It was decided then. Heading out of your room, you were about to walk to the lounge when you remembered, your teeth, you need to brush your teeth.

Running to the bathroom, you did so. Okay now you were ready. Were you? Yes, yes you were.

Finally heading to find the boy, you left the bathroom. On the sofa lay Eddie, fast asleep, curls spread out all over the pillow.

He looked beautiful. His leather jacket was hung up by your coats, his arms clad in tattoos were on show as his costume meant he was wearing a vest. His eyes were dark, from where he’d smudged the eyeliner in his sleep.

You felt bad disturbing him, but your heart pulled you in his direction. Sitting down next to him, softly bringing your hand up to his face and hair.

His face leaned into your palm, stirring slightly. “Good morning Sweetheart,” his said, voice thick with sleep. It sounded … well the sound of his voice did something to you.

“Hi,” you spoke quietly.

“How’s your head feeling?” he asked, eyes fluttering open, the most beautiful dark coffee colour. “It’s okay, thank you for taking care of me.”

“Anytime.”

“So um … about last night.” He reached up to touch your face, “Yeah, what do you remember?”

“Considering Robin put about half a bottle of vodka in my drinks, quite a lot.”

“So um you remember-“

“Kissing you? Yeah and what you said to me after, I also remember that.”

“Right,” he said, pushing himself up, so you were sat face to face, “And how are you feeling about that?”

You didn’t say anything, putting your hand in his curls, pressing your mouth to his. His hands went to your face, pulling you as close to him as physically possible. Opening your mouth slightly, he tongue slid in, softly caressing yours.

Moaning slightly, you tugged his hair, his hands slid down your to your neck and then one on your side. He pulled you onto his lap, pulling away. Pecking your lips softly. One. Two. Three times.

You smiled, giggling softly, feeling his own against you. “I take it you’re feeling good?” he teased. “What on earth gave you that idea?” you grinned at him.

“Just came to me is all,” he spoke against your lips, kissing them again. “I like you Eddie,” you spoke.

“I like you too Sweetheart,” he pecked your mouth.

“Maybe um … we could you know go on a date? Get late breakfast?” you said to him, nervous. “I’d really like that, but I have a better idea. It’s a surprise though,”he offered.

“Yeah that sounds good.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” you kissed his cheek.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Eddie left a little while after, he didn’t want to leave, he kept kissing you, pulling you close to him. Not wanting to let you go.

You were going on a date, you were glad you’d prepped and made so many cakes and baked goods. Your hot food would have to be something simple, a soup and grilled cheese?

You showered, cleaning off the drunken feeling from the night before. You now stood in front of your clothes, wrapped in a towel unsure of what to wear.

Something cute, but not trying too hard - Eddie would know if you were. Jeans, a tee and a cardigan. Converse. Great, let’s do that.

Eddie said he’d be back around 4, and it was now 1. Plenty of time. You dried your hair and made a start of your makeup. Just lightly doing it, nothing too bold just the everyday face you’d been doing for years.

As soon as you were done, you did your hair. Once again in one of the styles you did in your day to day life. You knew Eddie and he knew you, you didn’t have to do the awkward small talk nice to meet you thing. You could just be you and Eddie.

Once your hair and face were done, you put your outfit on. Looking at yourself in front of the mirror, you looked cute. Your shoes could wait for a minute, you tidied up the lounge from where Eddie had slept, put clothes back in the wardrobe.

The kitchen was nice and clean, and the shop downstairs was ready to go for the week. After your tidying, you slid your shoes on, fighting with the laces.

You don’t know why you were so nervous, it was just Eddie.

There was a knock on the door which made you jump, the two staircase thing was always something that scared you. One straight from the alley beside your home, where your car was parked, and the other straight up from the shop.

Pulling the door open you smiled when you saw Eddie, “Hi,” you said.

“Hi. You look … you look beautiful.”

“Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself.”

“I brought you these,” he said, handing you a bouquet of Dahlias. “Oh Eddie they’re stunning, come in, I’ll put them in some water.”

Following you back into your apartment, Eddie stood at the counter watching you fill up an old vase. Deciding on cutting them later on, they’d look pretty either way. “Thank you Eddie.”

“It’s okay Sweetheart, you ready to go?”

“Almost,” you said, grabbing your bag from the hook, “Ready.” The man held out his hand for you, linking your fingers together.

Grabbing your keys as you walked passed the bowl they were in, you locked up and were on your way.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Okay Halloween may have been yesterday, but there was one final drive in horror movie. Halloween itself was playing, Eddie had reversed into a spot, opening up the back of his van.

Inside lay a picnic blanket, thick woolly ones and soft pillows. Eddie took your hand, helping you climb into the back, following after. “I brought snacks and some drinks too,” he spoke quietly, but loud enough for you to hear.

The opening credits for the movie began to play on the huge screen in front of the cars.

“Come on let’s sit,” you said to him, taking his hand and pulling him down with you.

Sat next to each other, you rested your head on Eddies shoulder, his arm wrapping around you. Getting comfortable with one another. “Thank you for taking me home last night,” you said to him.

“Course Sweetheart, no trouble at all.”

“Thank you for doing this too.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, now looking at your face, “Never have to thank me, and this is for both of us. Something nice for us to do together, like when we went to the diner.”

“I like spending time with you Eddie.”

“I like it too. You’re like my favourite person.”

You gasp lightly, “Oh my, I’m so telling Dustin.”

“Christ,” he sighed, “Please don’t,” he joked.

“Can’t take it back now,” you smiled at him, teasingly.

His eyes scanned your face, finally landing on your lips. Looking at you, he pulled as face, as if asking if he could. You wanted nothing more, nodding.

Leaning down he pressed his lips to yours, his hands finding your face as your own held his shirt, tangling your hands in it. His lips were intoxicating, if you didn’t have to breathe you’d do this forever.

Tugging him closer, your hands came to rest in the curls at the nape of his neck - maybe your favourite place to touch. Tugging lightly, Eddie moaned into your mouth.

Eddies hands moved from your face to under your thighs, pulling you onto his lap. Legs resting on either side of his so you were straddling him.

The kisses became more passionate, tongues tangling, lips bruising. His hands rested on your back as your fingers continued to pull his curls. The sounds he made were beautiful.

It went straight through you, sending shivers everywhere. Your hips ground down against him, making you let out a soft sigh. Eddie pulled back, eyes dark with lust.

Touching his face gently, you peck his lips. Completely different from the seconds before, you pressed your lips to his cheeks, forehead, nose, then slowly and softly down his neck.

Kissing softly, you began to bite down, sucking his neck. Low enough so he could keep them hidden, but high enough he’d have to be aware of where his shirt sat.

Pulling you closer, he couldn’t help bucking his hips. Moaning and groaning, running his fingers down to the bottom of your shirt under your cardigan.

Dragging your lips lower, you kissed his collar bones, making him gasp, You felt the difference between the scars and untouched skin. What happened to him?

Grinding down on him again, he spoke, “Sweetheart,” he sighed, “Baby we have to stop.” He pulled you back gently, his lips were kiss bitten, and cheeks flushed, light bruises forming on his neck.

“S-sorry,” you said softly, brushing your fingers over his new forming love bites. “It’s okay, I just … Sweetheart I don’t want our first time to be together to be in a field, in my crummy van with loads of people around.”

“Maybe the second time?” you asked, teasing smile on his lips. “Sure thing,” he gave you a crooked smile. “Okay,” you laughed.

“Okay. Now you gorgeous girl, let’s watch this movie,” he said, pulling you off of his lap, keeping you cuddled to him. He pressed his lips to your head.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

After the movie ended people started filtering out of the large field, you and Eddie had climbed back up to the front of the van.

You had stayed cuddled up during the whole movie, only innocent touches.

Now driving you home, Eddies hand was on your thigh, fingers entwined with your own. “I had fun tonight,” you smiled.

“Me too.”

“Would you um … maybe want to stay tonight? You can say no, just an offer.”

Eddie sighed, you knew what was coming. “Sweetheart there’s a lot I need to tell you before we can go any further than this. I should have told you before.”

“Tell me.”

“When we get back. It’s gonna take a while and it’s not just my story to tell.”

“Okay,” that’s all you could say. You had no idea what he needed to tell you. You could only worry.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

A/N : ooooooohhhhh 🥵

Thank you so much for reading 🤍

taglist : @corrodedseraphine @flawiette @witchwolflea @emxxblog @plk-18 @vintagehellfire @lma1986 @squidscottjeans @eddiesguitarskills @nanas-lasagna

let me know if you want to be added 🤍

[steakout-05]

OK SO THE TRAILER FOR THE NEW GARF MOVIE CAME OUT (and of course youtube didnt tell me about it until now) AND!!! ITS SO CUTE!!!!!! so here's me yelling and screaming and fanboying about how much i love how this movie looks so far :D

ok first off, BABY GARF!!! HE IS A TINY BALL!!! LITTOL GUY!!!! :D

he's so miniscule! so microscopic! an atom! he's tiny!!! but he's just living in a box who would abandon such a little guy :( (his dad probably. yeah he's in this movie and i hope Garfield's mum is also in here because she appeared in a classic Garfield special and she's so lovely)

after this scene we see our first look at Jon (my beloved) eating alone at an Italian restaurant, and like, this means so much to me. look at these shots:

i'm not sure if they're in order or not but like. look at the way he watches the family! he has a look of bittersweet love and sadness in his eyes and i'm just,,, 🥺 he just wants to be a dad.... i love how Jon has always kinda been portrayed as a father figure to his pets, in classic shows and specials he calls Garf and Odie his boys, in Garfield Gets Real he calls them his kids and now here, he wants to be a father so bad i'm going to burst into tears i love this man

the garf appears!! the littol baby has arrived!! the tiny little miniscule microscopic molecule atom of a cat has approached the window!!!

the way Jon puts his finger to the window, the way he cuddles baby Garf with so much tender loving care and adoration..... he's so sweet i love him!! how can people hate this man?? look at him!!! look this sweet and loving father figure in the eyes and tell him you hate him. you cannot. he's too pure for this world

also i haven't mentioned this yet, but it's commonly accepted in the Garfield fandom that Garfield was born in a pizza shop and then was transferred to a pet shop where Jon then adopted Garfield in 1978, but to be honest, i didn't really like the pet shop part of that backstory. the pizza place part was great but i dunno, Jon just going to a pet shop and buying Garfield isn't as heartfelt to me. this backstory though? i LOVE. two lonely creatures meeting each other and forming a family is so adorable and sweet, especially for modern Garfield. i feel like we need less cynicism in modern Garfield and more stuff like this i love it so much,,, also this movie looks fucking beautiful holy shit

i really like this part because like, Garfield didn't develop his bizarrely huge diet over time. dude was BORN with it. and like look at that look on Jon's face, he looks like he hasn't even finished processing what just happened yet and is just staring into the mist wondering what and how and why that happened. beautiful. also that second image is really funny to me it should have a silly ominous text post caption on it

also this shot, i didn't notice it the first time but holy shit the look of absolute HORROR on Jon's face!! he is witnessing the TRUE extent of Garfield's powers and he is NOT ready for it man i love this shot so much

okok so what i REALLY LOVE about this specific shot is that it reminds me of a classic Garfield strip where Jon is attempting to give Garfield a bath!! here's the strip it reminds me of:

Jon doesn't actually wear anything but like. the fact that he has to go through so much preparation to give Garfield a bath so he doesn't claw him up in the movie, it just has to be a reference to this strip it's gotta be man i'm betting money on it. also hiii Lyman :)

this scene is so fucking pretty!!! look at the warm colours! it feels so homely and it's exactly how i feel reading my dad's old Garfield comic books! all the warm bright colours and gentle lighting, all the freshly baked lasagna that i really wanna eat because it's so delicious looking.... how can people say that Jon doesn't feed Garfield when he is RIGHT THERE grating extra cheese for him because he knows Garfield likes extra everything in his lasagna. such a sweet adorable man :') i'd like to see ihatejonarbuckle make a good rebuttal to THIS

there's some other neat little references in this movie too, like the Stuck On You plushies made by Dakin being referenced with Garfield smacking into a car after his dad throws him out of a train,

and a reference to the giant Garfield balloon at a Macy's Thanksgiving parade that makes me think that 'Garfield' the comic is canon in this movie, it's created by Jon (cause y'know he's supposed to be a cartoonist) and it's based off his own stories with Garfield and it is now an international phenomenon like in our world. neat!

the question is though, does Garfield know he's a worldwide sensation or does he have absolutely no idea? it'd be funny if it was the latter option honestly cause he'd be extremely confused yet flattered as to why there's a random giant balloon dedicated to him in the city

so the big dude on the left is Garfield's dad, but also, this reminds me of this other Garfield comic where Garfield meets his former self from 1978 and they proceed to eat all the food in the fridge together. thought that was cool :D

(it'd be really funny if this was Garfield's dad and he was messing with Garfield by telling him they are one in the same haha)

oh yeah and here's the two of them eating everything in Jon's fridge from the movie:

see what i mean? there's a similarity there and i think it's really funny. also Jon's probably thinking "wtf there's two of them now???" like Garfield got so fat that he just split into two cats or something lol

so! does it look like a good movie? abso-fucking-lutely yes!!! i am SO excited to go see this one! i think this is the best Garfield media we've gotten in YEARS! i love the colours and the shots, i love the slight modern redesign they gave Jon, Odie looks a little weird but he's still super fun and adorable, and while i do find it odd that the Garfield balloon looks more like Garfield than he does, i do like how expressive the characters' eyes are and it's miles better than the previous 3D Garfs we got! i really wanna see this movie and boy am i going to be RAVING about it for WEEKS this blog will be FILLED with Garfield for the next few weeks when this goes digital!! super jazzed to see it!!

and with that, here's one more comparison that i think is extremely funny:

[dr-spectre]

Sonic x Shadow Gens Review.

(MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

So, gamers, i have played and finished Sonic x Shadow Generations, both campaigns, and i just wanna say.... GOD. DAMN.

I cannot believe that Sega released a Sonic "remaster" and it actually TURNED OUT GOOD!?!? WITHOUT ANY BUGS!!? NO GRAPHICAL GLITCHES FROM MY KNOWLEDGE!!?!? WHAT HAPPENED!??!

I will quickly go over Sonic Generations before we talk about... the big boy.

So, how is Sonic Generations? Welp. It's.... it's the same game!! And as someone who played it on PC for years, it looks identical to the original release! Maybe the colours are tweaked? The UI looks way nicer with the resolution boost and the chao rescue stuff is really cute.

Uh, i will say though. i do like MOST of the rewriting that they did. But here's the thing, Sonic Generations' story is like eating a McDonalds cheeseburger, but it's only the patty and buns. The rewrite just adds some cheese and a dab of tomato sauce. It's better, but you're still eating a damn McDonalds cheeseburger. And to add on to this, the VAs didn't sound... good, this time around... Idk, something seems very off about their performances? Mike Pollock especially, bro lost ALL OF HIS ENERGY in his Eggman performance. Tails' VA sounds kinda... bleh too, i dont know what happened here. Roger Craig Smith sounds bored playing Sonic, and i feel bad for him because Ian Flynn's writing can be pretty damn wordy. He's a skilled voice actor FOR SURE, but i never clicked with his Sonic, ever. (Jason Griffith, i miss you every day, my sweet prince... They took you away too soon... At least i still have the definitive Sonic voice in the Japanese version...)

The story also continues the trend of turning Amy into a boring side character with zero personality or spice because GOD FORBID A CARTOON CHARACTER ACTS CARTOONY AND A LITTLE CRAZY! SHE IS NOT AN ABUSIVE STALKER WHO WANTS TO FORCE SONIC INTO THINGS HE ISN'T COMFORTABLE WITH! SHE IS A FUCKING FANGIRL OF SONIC WHO WANTS TO HANG OUT WITH HIM AND SHE LOVES HIM AS A PERSON!!!! IF YOU PLAY THE OLD 3D GAMES WITH RETRANSLATED MODS YOU WILL SEE!!!!!!!! GOD!!!

But i could make a whole post about Amy man... I really could...

Okay enough about Sonic Generations, it's time to talk about Shadow Generations and what do I think of it?

First, I'll brush over the story, NO SPOILERS DON'T WORRY!! I will say this, there were plenty of moments that easily got tears out of me and the stuff involving Maria and Shadow? Oh.... oh baby... PEAK!!!! Black Doom is really dope too, Shadow was pretty well written in this, too, and his VA knocked it out of the park!!! Kirk Thornton, I'm sorry that i doubted you... And Maria's VA too? Love the performance!!

However... This story feels... underdeveloped? Undercooked? it feels like there needed to be MORE! I think that the pacing felt a litttleeeee too fast and i kinda wished there was just more to chew on! It's like eating some damn good chocolate ice cream, but the ice cream is just one scoop. LIKE I WANT MORE!!! I WANT TWO SCOOPS!! I WANT SOME CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN THE ICE CREAM!!! UGH!! It's good, BUT I WANT MORE!!!! There needed to be more on it's bones, more screentime with Maria and Gerald, more time fleshing out stuff and properly explaining Black Doom's return instead of it being optional dialogue in the white world or prologue animaton on YouTube that you could skip. There's all this cool optional shit that is well... OPTIONAL!!!! And it actually enhances the characters, BUT I DIDN'T SEE IT UNTIL I LITERALLY BEAT THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DIDN'T READ GERALD'S DIARY UNTIL AFTER I BEAT THE STORY!!! THE LAST TWO PAGES ARE LITERALLY AT THE FINAL SECTION OF THE GAME!!!!

There is this one moment with Maria and Shadow and like.... it gave me the biggest damn smile on my face. And the ending too man, my god.

ALSO THE CUTSCENES ARE FILMED REALLY WELL?!? HOLY SHIT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOOD?!?!? It makes Frontiers look like a PS1 game in terms of quality like holy mother of god, the cutscenes and animations have improved so MUCH in the span of one game... It makes me so so excited for what's to come....

NOW! GAMEPLAY TIME! How does Shadow control? How does this black and red alien hedgehog play?

I'll put it like this... Imagine Sonic Forces, BUT!!! The air control is better, platforming feels smoother, the homing attack is better and more satisfying and 2D control feels actually good. it's just like Forces but everything feels a lot better, it's WAYYY BETTER THAN VANILLA CYBERSPACE FROM FRONTIERS!

Good controls don't mean much if the levels aren't good, BUT THANKFULLY Shadow Generations level design is actually pretty damn solid, and each level made me feel satisfied and wanting to go again!! There's plenty of optional pathways but the pathways don't really go to brand new exclusive areas. It's not on the same tier as Sonic Generations, BUT! It's close.

My favourite level is either Sunset Heights or Radical Highway. YES! THE SONIC FORCES LEVEL IS MY FAVOURITE! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!!? THEY TURNED MID TO GOOD!!!

I also love how the collectables are placed on the harder pathways and reward you for skillful play, unlike in Sonic Generations where most of the red rings ARE ON THE BOTTOM PATHWAYS!!!!! WHY?!!? THAT'S THE PLACE MOST PLAYERS WON'T GO TO!!!! Ugh. I hate collecting red rings in Sonic Generations but thank god the collectables are actually fun to grab in Shadow Generations.

Now i wanna brush on the white space because i have some words to say on that too.

White space was really fun to explore and unlike Frontiers, you could see things in the distance and platforms don't just pop in!!!!!!!!!! I loved doom surfing around, finding chests, bolts and just running around. It's really fun. It's not as in-depth as Frontiers, but i want the next Open Zone game to take a lot of inspiration from this white space. Also, seeing Omega and other characters in the hub and talking to them is really cute stuff.

Finding ALL the chests and bolts tho makes me wanna wish a thousand year torment onto someone.

And speaking of Doom Surf... The Doom powers and Chaos Control, i.... LOVE THEM! They are the perfect way to make Shadow more unique from Sonic and give the levels that extra level of flavour. Doom Spears add some spice to the standard homing attack chains you do in 3D Sonic levels, Doom Blast is really fun to use and opens up new pathways, Chaos Control is AWESOME!!! I LOVE HOW IF YOU USE IT AT THE RIGHT TIME IT OPENS UP COOL PATHS!! MY JAW DROPPED MULTIPLE TIMES SEEING THE PATHWAYS THAT I FOUND FOR MYSELF WITH CHAOS CONTROL!!! Doom Surf is fun to use and it spices up Kingdom Valley a lot, but... Doom Morph? The squid? THAT ONE SUCKKKSSSS!!! Awful turning, awful speed control, awful jump arc that makes Super Mario Bros. from the NES look like a top tier platformer, they don't properly explain the grappling mechanic which left me feeling so frustrated at certain points.

And... of course... The Doom Wings...

THE DOOM WINGS.... THE STUFF YOU COULD BREAK WITH THEM AND THE LEVEL DESIGN ACCOMINDATES FOR THEM TOO?!?!? SO IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE YOUR GLITCHING THE GAME?!?!? SONIC TEAM DID SUCH A GOOD JOB OH MY GOD!!!!

Now, let's talk about the bosses...

Bosses are pretty fun!! They feel very satisfying to beat down and have some awesome dialogue. Although they are kind of one note, like the strategy to beat them doesn't REALLYYY change but hey, It's Sonic bosses, they've never been that amazing since the beginning of the franchise. But i would rather take this kind of boss design OVER SONIC SUPERSTARS!! BLEHHH!!!

Also I'm not gonna go too much into it but what they did with Mephiles, story wise for his boss fight? Oh man, I LOVE IT!! THEY DID SUCH A GOOD JOB! (the new VA for him, Robbie Daymond was kinda.... okayyy. Needed to sound deeper and it would been damn great. I know he played Akechi from Persona 5, he just needed better direction.)

Alright.. Let's discuss arguably the most important part of any Sonic game, the music, and um, I'm gonna be for real, it's kind of a mixed bag? DON'T GET ME WRONG!! There are some bangers, some top tier tracks that will get that blood pumping! But for every banger, there's a Space Colony Ark Act 2 and a Chaos Island Act 1....

The music can be summed up with this handy chart!

I wanna quickly brush upon the challenge acts too, i liked most of them but having to complete 4 OF THEM FOR EACH ZONE TO ADVANCE THE STORY IS SOME MASSIVE PADDING!!!

And.. I think that is it!! Overall, Shadow Generations is great!! The story has some cool moments but it felt VERY underbaked, the level design has improved a lot from previous games, i like the white space and the simple enjoyment of going around and collecting things.

It is a good to great game but it definitely has some flaws and i wouldn't give it a 9/10 and say it's PEAK overall like what some are saying online. Yeah it's good, but, it has flaws. It isn't perfect, however it is VERYYY fun!

Shadow Generations really does give me hope, this isn't yet another "step in the right direction" no. This is a LEAP!

[h-worksrambles]

I have a real bug bear with this strange assumption I see in a lot of online discussion of Engage. That if you didn’t like Engage’s story you must be some Three Houses newbie who doesn’t know what Fire Emblem is.

My dude, this ain’t my first rodeo. I’ve played a pretty good chunk of the series at this point. I played Blazing Blade and Sacred Stones. I played Awakening and Shadows of Valentia. More recently I finished both Tellius games and Genealogy of the Holy War. I know Fire Emblem writing can and has been far better than whatever the hell they were doing with Engage. Hell, I like Three Houses but I don’t think it’s the best Fire Emblem story by a long shot. I could write a whole other piece on my complicated relationship with that game’s writing.

Playing the other games just better highlights to me how Engage is definitely trying to tell a story that harkens back to those games, but routinely comes up short. It wants to be breezy and colourful like the GBA games, but its aesthetic and character design is far less cohesive than any of those three games. It wants to cleverly marry gameplay with story like the SNES Jugdral games but is too scared to let its player punches last longer than a chapter. It wants to key into Awakening’s simple yet heartfelt nostalgic template but fails to clear even that middling bar due to an inability to set up any of its big emotional moments. It repurposes multiple plot points and story concepts from Fates, but doesn’t really improve on any of its shortcomings in setup and character writing.

Most of all, it’s at war with itself, unable to decide whether to be a campy romp that is pure self indulgent fanservice, or a more heartfelt story with genuine dramatic moments. It opens with a wonderfully cheesy tokusatsu esque transformation sequence and never reaches that level of camp again until near the very end. Meanwhile, there are rare moments of genuinely good character stuff. But they’re the exception to the rule as most of the story’s big emotional moments are utterly lacking in buildup. The writers just had a cool scene in mind and didn’t bother to put the work in to earn any of them. What we get is an uncanny valley that ends up simply being boring. It’s too dry and self serious to embrace its naive camp. And it’s too phoned in and sloppily written to really be earnest. There’s a burgeoning theme of family and self identity that’s begging to be explored more but never goes anywhere. Between Alear’s past and hints of a character arc, the clumsy half integration of the Emblems, and other half formed concepts and characters like Veyle, Lumera and Sombron, Engage is a story with a finger in several pies at once, but never placing more than the tip on any of them.

It’s not ‘just a simple story’. Shadows of Valentia and Sacred Stones are simple stories. Engage is honestly one of the more out there and wild plots in the series. Nor is it ‘not taking itself seriously’. It’s absolutely trying to make you feel something. But it rushes through and fumbles every good idea it has. Engage reminds me more of modern Pokémon than anything. It wants to play at being a big RPG. It wants to make you sit through hours and hours of cutscenes, give you a huge colourful cast of characters, and end on a big anime-esque finale. But its dialogue and cutscenes are flat, the characters never hit their full potential, and the big hype moments are totally unearned and out of left field.

If Engage’s story really was just safe and simple, I wouldn’t even mind. If it had more respect for the player’s time, and trimmed down its cutscene length, acknowledging that it’s not doing anything ambitious and just letting you get to the gameplay quicker, that would be fine. Conversely, if it actually did go all the way with any of its half formed themes and characters, it could be genuinely interesting. Hell, it could even have a been a totally bat shit, campy spectacle thar leaned utterly into the cheese and I’d probably have loved it. But it’s none of those things. It’s just incompetently put together. Sloppy, irritating and painfully dry.

The unending Three Houses Vs Engage discourse just misses the forest for the trees. That not only has Fire Emblem not fixed it’s worst writing habits in over 10 years, they’ve actually gotten worse.

It’s apparently too much to ask for a story that can walk the line between falling apart under the weight of its own ambition, or doing the bare minimum and relying on melodramatic spectacle to hide its own shallowness.

It’s too much to ask for a game that is able to give its main character real depth and flaws to grapple with because that would get in the way of the player’s power fantasy, letting them feel like the world’s most special little chosen one who everyone loves unconditionally.

It’s too much to ask for a 50 hour RPG with over 7 hours of cutscenes to reach even the standard level of acceptable-to-good generic fantasy writing that most of its franchise’s predecessors reached.

Engage’s story isn’t a ‘return to form’ because it’s ‘simple.’ It’s not ‘prioritising gameplay over story’. They were trying to tell a story and failed, nothing more to it. It’s an anniversary game that tries to harken back to the series’ past but only repeats its worst qualities with none of the strengths.

[karahalloway]

Sleepless in New York: Sparks Fly Comic

I commissed this comic a few months ago -- from Chapter 2 of Sleepless in New York, capturing the moment that Drake lays eyes on Harper for the first time -- hoping that I'd have Sleepless in New York finished, and I could post this artwork to celebrate. Unfortunately, my summer ended up being quite busy and I've done basically no writing since the end of June 😢

So, I've decided that instead of sitting on this amazing work by @blueberryarts18 for an indeterminate amount of time, I'll just post it now so you can enjoy it while you wait for the next chapter of Sleepless (it started it a while ago and it's about half done, but no ETA on getting it finished atm, unfortunately...)

Thanks for bearing with me!

Extract of accompanying scene below the cut.

Extract from Chapter 2: Sparks Fly

Sliding into the booth, I drop my blazer next to me on the cracked and faded red faux-leather before pulling the laminated menu out of the metal holder that held the condiments and toothpicks.

Giving it a quick once-over, I home in on the burger options. There are three choices: Regular, Cheese or Deluxe. While the Deluxe – with its two patties, double cheese, and onion rings – did look promising, I wasn't feeling the bacon right now and I'd already psyched myself up for a plain ol' cheeseburger.

Maybe next time... If I ever found myself in this part of town again.

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see that it's a text from Bast, asking for an update. The guy really never slept...

I'm halfway through typing up a reply when I feel a presence next to me.

Flicking my eyes up, I'm expecting it to be the Slav again. But what I see instead makes me do an involuntary double take.

...holy shit!

The first thing I notice is her hair. It cascades down her shoulders in lose, honey and caramel waves, framing her delicate neck and heart-shaped face, stopping just above the swell of her breasts. Even in the dim light of the bar, it seemed to shine... like a nimbus of gold around her.

But what draw me in are her eyes. They are wide-set and almond-shaped, sitting beneath curved brows. In the low light, I can't tell what colour they are exactly... some kind of green or hazel. They meet mine with all the focused intensity of a laser sight, and I swear she sees right through me.

I have no clue how long I sit there, staring at her like an idiot.

Eye-catching girls were a dime a dozen in my world. Moving in the circles that I did with Chris, it was pretty much impossible to walk into any kind of room that wasn't filled to the brim with beautiful, well-dressed and self-assured women.

So, it wasn't so much the fact that she was stunning that had caught me off guard.

But it sure as hell added to the overall effect! Because... damn.

I've always had a thing for cherry bomb blondes. And this one...? Straight up eight. Maybe even a nine. The unflattering waitress uniform she had on didn't reveal much in the way of her body, so it was a bit of a hard call to make. But there was no question about it — she was hotter than the Fourth of July and way too goddamn fine to be working at a dive like this.

But beyond all that... There was a carefree genuineness to her that grabbed me instantly. It was the way her hip cocked slightly to the side as she rested her weight on one foot. The way the corner of her lips quirked up in a small, almost playful half-smile. The way her left brow arched inquisitively upwards. There were no masks or feigned emotions with this one – everything she thought, everything she felt, it was out there on full display. And she couldn't care less who saw it, much less what they thought of it.

In short? She was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.

After what seems like a lifetime – which I damn well hope is merely a second or two, for the sake of my sanity — I see her smile falter slightly as she breaks the time stop by reaching up to brush her hair behind an ear.

"You...umm...ready to order?"

Fuck.

Even her voice was doing a number on me. It was warm and slightly husky, but still rang clear as a bell. She had some kind of Yankee accent — which region or state, though, I had no clue. The only times I really came Stateside was to go down to the ranch, so I couldn't differentiate between the various American accents as easily as I could the European ones. But it wasn't offensive by any means. If anything, it only added to her down-to-earth allure.

"Erm, yeah." I clear my throat. "Sure."

Permatags

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[footemoji]

cheese is the worst. who does that piss anon colour wannabe think it is? there's holes in the cheese and there's obviously holes in it's brain as well. cheese definintely needs the lobotomy anon in it's life more than the ferocious trout because it needs to fix that gap between its frontal cortex and the rest of it's brain - shoe anon (was told to say mean stuff about cheese)

😨

holy moly

[stesierra]

ROYGBIV Tag! @starbuds-and-rosedust tagged me!

Tagging @dyrewrites and @alnaperera and anyone else who's interested!

Rules: Search your your writing for the colours of the rainbow and post the excerpt.

I pulled from Cast Out.

red

The sky glowed red. Red, as the sun set and winked in and out of the clouds like the twitching of a nervous eye. It caught the plumes of smoke that rose from the desert. From the cities. From the mountains. It carried the caramel sweet scent of meat cooking, although I'd rarely smelled it – only once, when a farm elp had died of old age and the whole city had split its flesh among themselves, so it wouldn't go to waste. My parents had brought home a whole pound, and baked it with our lentils and goat-cheese.

I tried to look down, to find the fire, and was swept into the sky like a dizzy bird. I think I threw up, somewhere over the highest peak in the world.

orange

Sefi reared up and nipped her nose.

Thesil jumped, her mouth opening in a startled o. Sefi tumbled from her arms to the ground, achieving a half-graceful landing. The pleased goose pottered about my ankles, preening her wings and tail. My scolding did nothing to dissuade her.

"It's all right," Thesil signed once she stopped holding her nose. "My ducks did that sometimes."

I remembered, then, our discussion when we first met. "Three ducks."

Thesil went back to talking, as if she didn't know the signs for what she wanted to say. "I raised them from ducklings. They were gold and blue when they grew up, with brown bellies. Fat little things, always begging for scraps."

Lira had paused to wait for us. I started walking again, Sefi trailing at my heels. "Did they live in the house with you?"

"The garden. We had a marble pond filled with orange box-minnows and tiny golden crabs, and the ducks swam out there. Father was always annoyed when they shed feathers all over the grounds."

"We always diapered Sefi. We didn't have anywhere to keep her but inside."

"She must've missed swimming."

I smiled. "She would join me in the bath."

yellow

I reached the wagon at the same time as Abursa. She nodded to me and turned to say something to the perfecta man. He pulled the tarpaulin off the wagon bed with a flourish.

A wooden donkey lay on its side in the wagon, its legs longer and more graceful than any real beast's, its ears feather-plumes, its eyes balls of swirling glass. Its torso shattered by some massive impact that had smashed wood and cut a hole as long as my arm.

I caught a glimpse of the exposed core, glowing a subdued ugly yellow, before the scent of the oracle ore hit me. I staggered forward, visions creeping in at the edge of my sight, and fell to my knees beside the wagon.

green

The door opened under the woman's unblemished hand. Holy Efra vanished into its darkness. Her attendants followed. I hung outside, like a moth floating in her wake. A fragrance filled the air. Oracle ore. I forced myself forward and followed Holy Efra in.

She sat on a low wooden couch, her boots folded under her thighs, the lamp on the wood next to her. The attendants stood to either side of her couch. The room had no windows, no skylight, no other doors. The walls were stacked with cedar boxes. They smelled like sap and earth. They smelled like ore. I wanted to stay forever.

Holy Efra leaned out and picked one up. The lid slid away under her fingers. The box was velvet-lined, and empty.

One of the men pulled a great chest from underneath her couch and slid it in front of her. It was metal, big and solid enough to be a casket. It took both men to lift the lid. It tipped off, and when it landed the stack of cedar boxes trembled. Powder, green and glowing and fine as flour, filled the casket to its brim. It lit the ceiling and the chins of the shaking attendants with a green aura. Holy Efra did not shake. She reached out and ran her fingers through it. Her eyes looked into the distance, like she could see through the wall. Like she could see me.

The ore smelled so strongly I felt as though someone had pulled me apart and rebuilt me out of the scent. It was heady, empowering, irresistible. I should have fallen into visions within visions. But I didn't.

blue

When I woke, I was upside down.

The blood rushed to my head, making my face throb. But only parts of it. My cheek pressed into the weave of a net, which left numb squares across my skin. I tried to lift my head, but my weight twisted my neck and jammed my skull against my shoulder. I couldn't move, not even to free the pinched hair that pulled at my scalp. From the way I swayed when I attempted to wriggle, and the breeze that stirred against my skin, I guessed that Amaz had strung me from a tree.

All I could see was a patch of cracked earth below me and a beetle crawling on a single dead plant stem. It was speckled blue, except for its long black legs.

indigo

Couldn't find it.

violet

Couldn't find it .

[purplesurveys]

1749

How old were you 10 years ago? I was 15.

The last time you went out to eat, where did you go? I already talked about it in detail in a previous survey but my workmates and I went to a wine bar for Trina's despedida. We went to a nearby bar after for more filling bar chow cos all they had in the first place were light finger food meant to be paired with wine.

What did you order? For the wine bar, we got a few bottles of wine, clams, a cheese plate, and fries; for the bar, we had chips, sisig, and mac and cheese balls.

Think of the last film you watched. Who was your favourite character? I can't remember the last movie I saw because I rarely watch any anymore; but the last anything I watched was Prison Playbook. I'm only one episode in, but my favorite has been the sweet dude who was part of the same inmate batch as the main character. Least suspicious character so far, and it helps to know that his reason for getting incarcerated was merely because he didn't pay back the loan for his mom's surgery.

Do you use Twitter? How about Tumblr? I do use both, although I'm much more active on Twitter because all I do here is take surveys on weekends and the occasional weeknight.

What colour are the walls of the room you’re in? They're white.

What would you like to say to the last person that hurt you? I have not felt hurt by my loved ones for a very long time now. That feels pretty great to realize!

When was the last time you felt disappointed? Who/what cheered you up? I was soooo bummed last Friday – I had booked a visit to a museum, but I didn't expect the traffic to be absolutely awful (it was mid-afternoon, when roads would be relatively more relaxed) that I got to my destination 40 minutes after my reserved slot. It was also the last timeslot for the day, so it wasn't like I could just join the next batch of visitors.

I figured it'd be stupid of me to even show up lol, so I just went to the food hall next door, which also ended up sucking because there was no cell signal inside; I couldn't even use my data. At least I got a delicious spicy tuna poke from my visit.

Do you have a friend whose name starts with ‘L’? Describe him/her. There's Lea and Leigh. Lea is SUPER friendly, I love love love having conversations with her so it's a shame we see each other so rarely; I also see her as headstrong, ambitious, and intelligent. Leigh is creative, gentle, and a really talented singer.

When you opened your eyes this morning, what were your first thoughts? Holy shit I suck at waking up, I must have missed Jungkook's set at the Global Citizen Festival and I hate myself. Then I checked my Twitter (it was 7 AM by that point; they advertised the set as starting at 4 AM, Manila time) and apparently he was still in the middle of doing Seven LOL. Man did his set three hours late so I got to still hang out with him for a few minutes AND see the teaser for 3D!!!

Have you received any compliments today? Nah.

Describe one of your favourite items of clothing. Where did you get it? My brown sleeveless maxi dress - just Shopee, haha.

Name one of your favourite foods that starts with the letter A. Arancini.

Is there anyone from your past that you sometimes miss? Tell me about them. Only people I can think are Sofie and my grandpa. Sofie was my best friend in high school and we were each other's biggest confidantes. She was born overseas but since her parents were incapable of raising her and were separated, she was sent back here from childhood, and that's how she ended up in my school by around Grade 7. She had hair as thick as mine, loved makeup, and got me into Audrey Hepburn. We grew apart in college and saw each other a grand time of Once before she migrated to the UK this time last year. Our relationship post-drifting-apart has been wholesome and there's been absolutely no grudge or bad blood or whatever. I was raised around my grandpa routinely telling me random trivia and general knowledge, and I think I got my love from learning from him. He is a gifted writer and he apparently used to write my grandmother poems when they were younger, and is into history. If there is one thing he can't handle well, it's alcohol, and I have my fair share of trauma from what I've seen of him when he has had too much to drink. Nevertheless I think of him fondly, especially for the person he was without his brandy. He died in 2015 from a sudden heart attack when he was visiting family from our province.

How long have you known the last person you text messaged? Since 2020.

Do you know what the person you miss is doing at this moment? Probably on his lunch break.

Has anyone told you that they love you today? Yes.

In the last week, what’s the kindest thing that someone has done for you? My sister making me instant noodles when I asked her.

Is there a song that makes you cry every time you hear it? We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal has been a little rougher to listen to these days. So has Love Letters.

If someone read your mind right now, what would they hear? They would hear remnants of Le Sserafim's Fire In the Belly because I can't stop thinking about it lmao.

Do you have any favourite jewellery that you wear every day? Yes, my purple heart charm necklace that Reena gave me.

What colour are the eyes of the last male you talked to? Dark brown.

Are you wearing anything orange or red? Yes.

Who was the last person you said “hello” to? Idk, I think my sister.

I like to think there is always something to smile about…so, tell me, what’s your reason to smile right now? News about my potential resignation has apparently spread at work so I'm just happy that I'm not bearing it on my own anymore. They know I have plans to leave and they know I'm not too thrilled with my promotion, so at least I don't have to worry about violent reactions when the timing is finally right to step back and step out.

Also, Jungkook new single on Friday.

[h0useofw0lves]

tagged by q @angstics !! <3

a get to know me tag ->

relationship status: married to z <3 (but single so very painfully single)

favorite color: yellow!!! but i love any colour as long as it’s in a combination with other colours i loveeeee colour palettes and such

three favorite foods: hmm. sushi cheese the shitty cookies i get from the drugstore near my apartment but only when they’re at the precisely correct level of stale

song stuck in my head: atm it’s if there is something by roxy music bc i was looking at my own blog and that’s the title 😭 but other than that i’ve had like every song from dig me out playing at the same time in my head nonstop for like 3 days is so fucking loud in there omg

last song you listened to: getting down the germs! bc z told me that it’s me coded

dream trip: ooo maybe backpacking in ireland. camp out in the ruins in the fields with the cows

last thing i googled: “talking words factory” those LeapFrog dvds do u guys remember those

anything i want: i want this semester to be overrrrr holy shit especially the next two weeks they’re gonna be hell. teehee

idk who to tag but this was a fun procrastination tool so do this if u want to procrastinate<3

[slyfire]

FE: Engage - Chapter 6

hiya papaya.

Okay, starting out w/ some supports. I unlocked... - Framme & Clanne C - Framme & Vander C - Framme & Boucheron C

100% would read. back to the somniel.

mycen!

hisame, is that you?

Okay, first paralogue time.

Suddenly, british accents

[BATTLE START]

For the last few turns, I ended up just obstructing the final archer from entering the clinic area, so I could walk Alear from the bottom left house to Jean. I was worried that if I didn't talk to him, i couldn't recruit him.

[POST BATTLE]

"But with monsters running rampant, I might die before I can [become a doctor]." kinda sad for a kid to be saying...

Sean was right, why tf would you let the kid join.

New character Jean has joined. I'm pretty sure he's the villager character here, which means I'm prob not going to use him much.

Enage!Orange guy x SoV!Cheese man?

back at the somniel; the dog is following me now.

Some Supports now.

Alear & Etie C Starting out with Alear laughing while staring at Etie 😀 HE KEEPS LAUGHING AT HER.

Alfred & Céline C you're DIGGING a WELL?? He's actually a himbo?? And here I thought I couldn't love a character more. I know he as Amber supports, and I'm sooo ready for those

Céline & Chloé "When this war ends, I'll take you wherever you like, as often as you like." I ship them so much.

that's all for now.

The DLC single earring accessory is just perfect. I didn't like the DLC male outfit at first...but the colours make it work on M!Alear. not putting it on anyone else though.

I can do skirmishes now, so time for that.

Nothing to say for the fight, apart from giving alfred boots + sigurd is a hell of a drug.

Back to some supports.

Alfred & Etie C ...special workout teacups?

Céline & Etie C Etie's hand trembling? I wonder if that's going to be important later on, or just something related to this support

Clanne & Etie C oh god, he really is like Hisame. "I also slept with them under my pillow. Kind of like how hens take care of their eggs." 💀💀

Clanne & Louis C It feels so strange when Louis opens his eyes.

finally equipped some bond rings. trying to get Alm's S for windsweep. Also I was kinda worried that we might only have 12 at most deploy slot, but with bond rings, it makes sense that we will have more later on (I hope - too many characters i want to use!)

Anyway, another skirmish before I do the chapter map.

Oki, time for the chapter map.

YUNAKA!! HIYA PAPAYA!

Holy Brocc-oly! Woe is me...sniffle sniffle.

fog of war 😔😔😔😔

[BATTLE START]

Alear's right. It was a pretty good impression.

[POST BATTLE]

Seems like Micaiah attracts all the thieves to her side.

beautiful.

Oh, hello Veyle again.

"My sibling" Okay, that's either Alear, Lumera, or Sombron. Alear would be the most obvious, and the whole laying it on that Alear is Lumera's only child would make sense for it to be a plot twist later. Lumera or Sombron though could also make for some drama, and would honestly be much more interesting than Alear.

Onto the bridge chapter next!

[wscgamescourse]

Examples of Collectable Items in Games

In Dead Cells, all pickups, whether they be new equipment or consumables, show a pop-up box explaining everything you can do with them. From top to bottom:

The item's icon, name, and cooldown time (if it has one) are displayed largely at the top. The cooldown timer is represented by a golden hourglass, which the player can associate with its meaning. The item also has its rank displayed next to it in Roman numerals, followed by any bonuses it may have. If the item has limited ammunition, the ammo remaining is displayed in a number on the bottom left of the icon.

The pop-up box is colored red, purple, or green, representing which of the three classes it is linked to. In the case of dual-class items (e.g. the Holy Water), whichever stat is dominant will influence the colour. Colourless items (where the highest-levelled class applies) have a grey icon, while legendary items have a gold pop-up box. Other items have a plain grey box and icon. The colours of the three classes can be adjusted in settings.

The next layer down displays the weapon's DPS: a white number for standard damage, followed by a yellow number for when there is a critical hit. The percentage indicates the increased damage dealt by a critical hit.

There is then a description of the weapon's main gimmick. In the Holy Water's case, we see it is a grenade that creates a pool of burning holy water on impact.

Finally, the green bullet points below explain any random modifiers that the weapon has attached to it. The Holy Water has a modifier that makes it deal increased damage against enemies who have the electric debuff.

Team Fortress 2 gives you two resources: health and ammo. Run out of health, you are kicked from your current position, put on a few seconds of timeout, and respawn at the nearest spawn point for your team, forcing you to trudge back to the line of fire and depriving your team of a player for a brief moment. And we all know what the second one does (if you've played a game that uses guns as a primary weapon).

You won't always have a friendly Engineer or Medic ready to put a dispenser here or give you a blast of Medi Gun juice - in fact, both classes are liable to tell you politely to get stuffed and stop spamming the E key.

That's where health and ammo packs both come in. These respawnable collectibles restore a percentage of the respective stat relative to their size, and vary in appearance: the small health pack is a pill bottle, while the large pack is a full-on emergency first aid kit. Similarly, the small ammo pack is a small metal box, while the large pack is overflowing with ammo, with both rockets for Soldier and minigun cartridges for Heavy sticking out of the lid.

The visual differences on the boxes are more than enough to distinguish the effectiveness of each one, and both are emblazoned with clear icons that tell you exactly what they do.

The Greek Saga of God Of War contains collectibles in the form of differently-colored orbs. From left to right, they are green (restores health), blue (fuels magic), and red (used to permanently upgrade gear).

Their colours link to the purpose they represent. Green can reflect life, rebirth, and renewal, so it makes sense for it to be linked to health. Red is a colour of action, danger, and courage, and combat in God Of War is filled with the same, so the two connect. Finally, blue can represent wisdom, imagination, inspiration, and freedom. Magic as a concept defies all physics and can create a variety of magical effects, embodying those concepts clearly. All of these can therefore be linked to their utility in gameplay just by a glance.

In Pizza Tower, while optional, earning points to increase your rank is a challenge to the player's skill. There are five main types of toppings that Peppino collects: mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, sausages, and pineapples (yes, the game respects pineapple as a choice of topping).

However, for most of the collectable toppings, the different appearances don't really matter. The small toppings give 50 points each, the rarer large toppings give 100 - their appearances are randomized when you begin the level, although an exception exists during Pizza Time - the collectables that become available during then appear as bells and alarm clocks, which reflects how Pizza Time is setting you a time limit to escape. The living Toppins that you collect in order to unlock boss doors match the collectable toppings, and are arranged in the order (see the above picture) you run into them, which helps the player get an idea of if they have missed any.

Resident Evil 4 contains a lot of weapons. One of the series' challenges has always been item management and keeping your ammunition topped up, and it can be difficult to keep track of which bullet goes in which gun. So the game helps us distinguish between the different cases by giving them all unique designs and colours.

The different designs show what they are used for. Handgun ammo, being the colour of action (red), reflects how it is the most common ammunition and the one you will be using the most. The bear on the shotgun shells symbolizes strength and brute force, which links to the stopping power of a shotgun. Submachine gun ammo bears a wolf, which uses pack tactics, linking to how the TMP is very useful for crowd control. Rifle ammo is white, a colour of purity and cleanliness, which ties to how you can quickly and cleanly kill most enemies by sniping them from afar. Finally, magnum ammo is black, a colour that reflects the sheer power and also rarity of these bullets.

[mercato-centrale]

RAMADAN ITALIAN RECIPES

A well-chosen assortment of appetisers can bring delight to mealtimes and allow you to express yourself through creative culinary endeavours.It's a wonderful blend of soft, savoury cheese filling and flaky, fried filo pastry. The filling for Puck Halloumi and Puck Cream Cheese Spread is aromatic and colourful, with flavours derived from fennel, parsley, and mint.

Making Creamy Chicken is quite easy. All you have to do is blend Puck Cream Cheese Spread, Puck Cooking Cream, Puck Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, onion, fresh coriander and mint, and seasonings to make a simple sauce. Then, pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and bake them. To make them feel like they are part of the process, have one of your family members pour the sauce over the chicken after it has been blended! Even though the sauce is rich and creamy, the Puck Shredded Mozzarella Cheese and colourful herbs give it a subtle depth of flavour that makes the dish pleasantly light.

One Pot Lasagna makes Ramadan dinners easier by combining ricotta, parmesan, and Puck Shredded Mozzarella & Cheddar Cheese Mix in one pot to create a cheesy pleasure. Busy moms will love this simple Iftar meal because it's quick and easy to prepare. During the Holy Month, embrace the simplicity and make more memories with the people you love.

From Mercato Centrale you can choose the best Iftar snacks which is best in taste and in budget. those who are busy and cant spend more time in kitchen can really order our special Italian dishes in UAE .We rae the top Italian restaurant in Mankhool you can truist.

[purpleprey]

Chapter 5: Dead Gun

I woke up to my three companions crowded around me, staring at me with wildly tired eyes.

“What are you doing?” I asked in my smooth, deep, sexy voice (due to popular demand). “Have you been standing there all night?”

“Yeah.” Venus said, deprived of his usual sexiness, just as he was deprived of his sleep.

“What was with your freak out last night?” Elysium queried, sounding both concerned and irritated. But I didn’t really know what she was talking about :/. I quirked my eyebrow in confusion and asked her huskily what she meant.

She blushed momentarily before continuing “You just started screaming to yourself, is your head ok?? I slapped you pretty hard…” she fidgeted nervously with her hands.

“Oh, my head is fine. And I wasn’t screaming to myself. I was screaming at God.” Elysium's face went blank, and so did everyone else's, including Venus though his face was usually blank.

“Y-You were speaking to … God?” Cosmic asked timidly and I glared at him.

“I know right?” I huffed, “He was all like ohhhhh thee cannot brew tea in a cold pot and the taste of cheese ripens with age and Obsidian go through the door, for the love of me and all that is holy, go through that fucking door and something about mushrooms but I’ve heard it all before,” I paraphrased mockingly. “In another life.” Elysium, Cosmic and Venus nodded in understanding.

“I’ll go get him some medicine.” Venus sighed, standing up in a fashion that suggested he assumed I was suffering from a crazed fever dream. I didn’t like being patronised so I jumped to my feet and ran to the medicine before he got the chance to administer it to me. I shoved the medicinal leaves in my gaping maw pompously (and sexily) before Venus could even say “That’s poison ivy.”

My mouth exploded in pain but I handled it. I guess I’m just built different. I clenched my chiseled jaw, looking ver hot, if I do say so myself. I began to froth lightly at the mouth, so I lifted the hem of my shirt to wipe my mouth with it, accidentally flashing my rock hard abs. I glanced sharply at the others and took note of Elly, whose face was flushed a bright red. She must be a bit jealous of my body, ripped with muscles. I gave her a wink of apology and deep platonic understanding and she fell backwards dramatically. It was just a little joke the two of us had together, I think, so I knew she was okay. Cosmic glanced down at her in concern and glanced back up at me. I winked at Cosmic to communicate what was happening but he just stared back blankly. I heard Cosmic’s thoughts race as he had an identity crisis, but I inferred it was unrelated.

With everyone’s attention on me, I decided to sing for my audience.

It went like this:

[insert song here]

I took a deep bow at the conclusion of my song as Elysium and Cosmic showered me in applause and praise. Venus tried to keep up his distracted appearance but I could tell he was impressed by my sensual ballad. The tiredness was gone from their eyes and morale was restored since I had healed them with music and love. I turned sharply and began to march to the red door I saw last night. I walked with such a sense of authority that the others couldn’t help but follow me. By the way, Venus was now holding a wooden bucket of water I presumed Cosmic had conjured with plant-based magic during the night to keep him as moist as mermanly possible.

It took us a while to reach the door and once we did, Cosmic let out a loud gasp.

“Wh-what is it!?” I asked, full of worry that something was terribly wrong, since Cosmic knows an uncomfortable amount about these sorts of places.

“Red is my favourite colour.” he answered. We all nodded in understanding. I reached out to touch the doorknob, which was burning hot, which was strange so I turned to look to the others for guidance while my hand sizzled loudly. They shrugged in unison so I simply turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

I climbed up and out of the door, which on the other side was lying horizontally on the floor of what seemed like some old dusty library. One by one, my companions crawled out of the door as I stood up to explore. It seemed like a pretty big area with lots of ugly old bookshelves and two huge wooden desks that were also icky and dusty. Ugh, I hate libraries, always so icky. I wandered over to a surprisingly clean looking book that was on the floor between the two desks. I picked up the strange, seemingly recently used book, and I was about to examine the front cover, when I remembered Mama Leviathan told me NEVER to judge a book by its cover. I flipped through the book. It was a cookbook. But what was on the menu? I began to feel really uneasy and I looked around noting that there were no kitchen appliances or anything like that, so who could've been reading this book!?

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash come from the next room over, like someone had just knocked over a pan.

I turned to my Gang slowly, fear in my eyes.

“Guys…” I said quietly, as not to cause alarm. “This ain't no library.” I had deduced, this was in fact………. A library themed restaurant. Everyone else immediately came to the same conclusion, I could taste it on their breath. I looked back down to the cookbook and was able to confirm another suspicion of mine: these recipes were for cooking humans!

“Don’t be scared,” Elly said quietly, seeing I was scared. She took out her.. Her gun?!

“WHERE DID YOU GET THAT??” I cried. Elly winked at me conspiratorially but I simply cried harder. I was lucky, since all the cooking noises drowned out my weeping for whatever cannibal was lurking. After a few hours, Venus got fed up with my tears and slapped me. I went flying in a very sexy way. The glistening water droplets from Venus’s hand framed me cinematically as I glided through the air like a brick. It took me several hours to recover but once I did, I began to lead my posse towards the door (not the red one, the one that led to the kitchen, the kitchen door).

“Elly, you go first.” I whispered harshly, pushing Elysium (with the gun) in front of me, where I nervously held onto the fabric of the back of her shirt. We ran into the kitchen at full speed, hoping that whoever was cooking would be intimidated by us. They were not. In fact. There was no one there… but something felt suspicious since a pot on the stove was still at full boil….

“Hey,” Venus said, interrupting the tension of the moment “I need more water.” He showed me his near empty bucket and I sighed. I spotted a sink in the far corner of the room and shoved Venus towards it. He stumbled a bit, since I pushed him, but he shuffled dejectedly over to the sink as I turned to Elly to do some recon. We walked over to the pot on the stove, the one that was still at full boil. Elly reached forward and took the lid of the pot. I screamed at what we saw.

Inside the pot was a human head, bobbing in the boiling water, criminally unseasoned. I had never seen such an insult. I like to consider myself a connoisseur of cooking, a regular foodie, if you will. Though a human head wouldn't be my first, or last choice of meal, I don't want to disrespect the culture of whoever’s making this human stock, but the lack of flavour is TOO much. I began to tear up once more as I moved towards the pantry to fix this.

As I took a jar of dried bay leaves off the shelf, I was interrupted by the sound of water pipes squeaking and I turned in horror to where Venus Crypt was standing (still naked, by the way) at the sink. Venus stood, frozen and gorgeous, as a figure rose from the sink. A small figure with pink dyed hair and glasses and a fishnet shirt and short black overalls. Venus stepped backwards to give the stranger room to scramble out of the sink. She landed gracefully on all fours and looked up at us in confusion. Before I could introduce myself as Obsidian Leviathan, Elysium Forging drew her gun and shot the sink stranger. The stranger fell back onto the floor, dead. I thought it was a bit harsh of Elly, but we are dealing with a cannibal.

Presently, the stranger rose from the floor, alive. She hissed at Elly and drew out a gun of her own.

“My name is Cougar Husbandry.” Announced the girl who seemed like she turned 18 on the 23rd of July, 2020. I could tell by the look in her green cat-like sight balls that she held a lot of ancient wisdom within. “And you have evoked my wrath.” This was insane!!

“What a stupid fucking name.” I said, provoking an enraged hiss in response from Cougar Husbandry. “Anyways, my name is Obsidian Leviathan. These are my pals: Elysium Forging, Cosmic Tomorrow and Venus Crypt.”

“I DO NOT CARE!” she yowled, shooting her own gun into the air, making chunks of the plaster ceiling rain down onto us. I didn’t like that.

I ran at Cougar and tackled her to the ground before she had a chance to shoot. I killed her. I stood up shakily, blood on my hands… I... I can't believe it… I didn't mean to.. I- Cougar Husbandry stood up and pounced on me, scratching at me with her painted nails. I ran away from her and hid behind my gang.

“WHY WON'T SHE DIE?” I sobbed and Cosmic gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“She has nine lives, dumbass.” Venus said. I wailed. Venus, being a merman must know about these kinds of things, whatever “these kinds of things” are. Elysium shot at Cougar again, but this time, she dodged the bullet. Cougar then aimed her gun directly at Venus’ face and pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment and I knew what I had to do. I jumped in front of the bullet sexily. The bullet lodged in the DENSE muscle of my shoulder as I moved through the air in slow motion and I fell to the ground gorgeously at Venus’s feet while simultaneously, Elysium pulled the trigger in retaliation, sending a bullet directly into Cougar Husbandry’s gun, killing it.

Cougar cried out in anguish, dropping her dead gun to the floor. She glared at us with dilated cat eyes, making a motion that told me this wasn’t over. She left, scittering away on all fours. She slipped back into the pipes.

I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes while I lay on the cool, tiled floor, waiting for death to take me. But God spoke once more.

“Thou art a fooleth. Thee has't only hath killed yond wench twice. The lady shall beest thy undoing, knave.” His voice boomed for only me to hear. “Receiveth up! Thou art not dead, tis only thy shouldst'r!”

I groaned and sat up, as per God’s request, only to find everyone crowded around me and Venus holding my limp, alive body tearily. We stared each other in the eyes for twenty-seven minutes before I gracefully scrambled to my feet, exuding sexual appeal.

“Obsidian, you.. you saved my life!” Venus informed me as he inched forward and he… HE brushed MY hair behind MY ear :O. We began to stare into each other’s eyes once again before we were rudely interrupted by Cosmic’s incredibly un-sexy voice.

“Obsidian, you are still bleeding out!” He said with genuine concern, pointing to where the bullet violated me by jabbing his thumb into the raw, bleeding entry wound “We have to fix you up!” I clenched my jaw from the pain but I managed to handle it. I guess I'm just built different. I readied myself to be carried, bridal style, into the library room like I’d seen in movies, but the most action I got was Venus holding the door open while we shuffled out of the kitchen. I went and collapsed on one of the desks and Elly brought out a first aid kit to tend to my wound. She held up a bandage but I halted her with my hand. I could handle this myself. I flexed my bicep, expelling the bullet that was lodged in the muscle. I glanced at Cosmic and Venus, the latter of which was still staring at me. When my eyes met his deep, sensual, upturned brown ones, I looked away nervously and my heart flatlined shyly >/////<.

I woke back up to a shout of “CLEAR!” I recognised the voice to belong to my lifelong best friend, Elysium Forging. As I jolted upright, I grabbed Elly by the collar of her shirt and yanked her down so my mouth was at her ear so we could have some gossip time :).

“Elysium!” I whispered so quietly and at a pitch so high only Elly could hear me (this was something we had practiced) “I.. I just realised something and I.. I don't know how to act! No one’s ever liked… little old ME before.” Before she could say anything I shoved her back up and acted casual. This was very difficult for me, as I realised my shirt was open because of the defibrillating I had just endured >////<. I glanced at Venus who was sitting just past where Elysium had collapsed on the floor (The pretending-to-faint-because-of-me joke was getting KIND of old but, it's part of her charm :) ). While everyone was still emotionally recovering from their ordeal with Cougar Husbandry, I began to formulate a plan. I found that even sitting on this desk I was quite uncomfortable, so I reached under my buttocks and found that I had stashed the jar of bay leaves in my back pocket.

“Hey, you guys >////<.” I said. “Can I interest you in a game of Spin the “Bottle”?”

[riverkidian]

“Holy shit look what they had at the store!!! They have UNICORN MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!”

Levi is now so inspired he’s going to make his own rainbow coloured pasta in unicorn and magic shapes, in a sparkly purple cheese sauce. Make UBER unicorn mac and cheese.