#i still feel iffy on the mane but i need this thing out of my head

[scarycatter]

Yippee after like a week of picking away at this i have something I'm happy with

Dont mind how long this took there's no particular reason for that haha :)

shoves away several scrapped drawings

For some reason my mind was gripped with the unshakeable need to draw warriors from @deadlygronkle's fic.

He looks a bit sky-ish but ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[keefwho]

September 04 - 2023 Monday

7:17am

Yesterday taught me that something drastic needs to change in my life. I knew that already, thats why I'm trying to "improve" whatever that even means. But I mean I need to take more aggressive action because I've basically caught myself thinking a lot more than doing. I need to try more action I can take that will encourage positive changes in my life/mentality. I don't know what kinds of things yet so it's about trying lots of things until I find what works. I will try to use my schedule so I can actually stay on top of anything I decide.

8:40am

I'm having the thought that I can't achieve my goals. I'm having the thought that I'm going to tire myself out and inevitably fail. I'm having the thought that I'm an obsessive person and cannot stop. I'm having the thought that I won't be able to get all my work done today and be proud of myself. I'm having the thought that I can't respect myself. I'm having the thought that people are always judging my flaws. I'm having the thought that trying is pointless.

2:29pm

My heart pushes back against me so much. As soon as I start feeling like maybe I can feel good about my life, it feels CRINGEY. Deep down I'm rejecting it very strongly to the point where it feels like it's just a temporary feeling I'm experiencing on the surface and eventually it'll go away so I can feel like shit again. Its all rooted so very deep. It really feels like at the very center of myself is a cynical, self destructive being, thats what my core is made out of. I don't know how to change that if it's true. Or maybe I'm exaggerating and this is a temporary assessment.

The book I'm reading that is based on ACT is good but has been employing some concepts and techniques that don't really work for me. A lot of it is more abstract mental exercises than I'd like, it probably works for some people but it's not my thing. I'm still following the book anyways but trying not to do it as religiously as before. Right now I'm supposed to schedule 3 events for the next week that will directly challenge some of the thoughts/feelings that hold me back. To me this means figuring out things to do that I wish I could. Basically I'm going to roleplay a 'better' version of myself that can do these things I want to try. Or something I already do but in a different mindset.

10:56pm

This morning I made eggs with corned beef hash and toast. I watched some Chris Chan before stream.

The warmup went well and I mostly finished up the commission I was working on. ('Mostly' because the guy had a bunch of changes to make later, really stupid ones too.) With my spare time I started a new YCH and worked on a goofy drawing drawing intended to be for business growth. That basically means it's an idea utilizing a popular character from media as opposed to mine or someone else's OC. I could have ended early and I wanted to but my main goal is to stick to my work schedule so thats what I did. I also worked on a YCH because instead of having dedicated YCH time 2 days a week like I did, I'll just use spare commission time to do it since I have enough of it.

After stream I replaced my iffy extension cable I use for my heater, I cleaned up the toilet with one of those scrubbing stones, disposed of a mouse I caught, and vacuumed. I also used Pine Sol for the first time to clean the windowsill. I figure bleach based cleaner is not good for it, I know it's not but that's all I had before. I'm doing it properly now. Lunch was tuna spaghetti while watching more Chris Chan, which is always a bad idea. He's gross.

I was a little bit late with getting afternoon work done but I did do it all. The request went well and I finished my friend's birthday gift finally. Also worked on a real old sketch finally of the mane six travelling through a snowscape.

I played some HOI4 today and made more progress in my interesting campaign. This evening I streamed that and some Mother 3 with my bestie and had some really good conversation before bedtime. We also peaked at BOTW and how simplistic it is compared to TOTK. Crazy how we can always talk about Zelda and it's fun. Tbh we can talk about anything and it's fun but especially Zelda.

Tomorrow I'm not looking forward to the commission because it's by someone who I historically have a hard time drawing but it'll get done and be fine I'm sure. I'm also trying to change my mindset from "what will I lose if I don't do X" to "what will I gain if I do X". I think it's a more positive way to view things.

[fortheloveoffanfic]

The Reveal

Keanu Reeves x Reader (A/n- Written in the The One That Stays universe, because I love it, and those characters so much. This is about 3 years post the last chapter, and I was really iffy about posting it, but here we are anyway.) 

Warnings- Nothing really, just pregnancy and fluff. 

“And I thought I loved you then.” -Then, Brad Paisley 

Warm yellow rays from the barely cloudy sky cast a picturesque gleam on the surface of cool, blue water. That day, thankfully, hadn't been as sweltering as the ones in the weeks gone by, and the forecast predicted for that weekend had been one conducive to recreational boating, which was why they'd decided to rent a yacht for the weekend. Joining them had been Keanu's side of the family, his sister, her husband and his mother, along with Julie, her husband Eric and their two year old Lucas.

It was their second day out on the water, anchored off the coast of Los Angeles and by late afternoon, everyone had gathered on deck, around the small pool to hang out. Eric had taken to the pool to humor Lucas, as had Keanu's brother in law, while everyone else had kicked back on lounge chairs. Y/n was laid back on Keanu's chest, his worn shirt soft and comforting against her exposure arms as his legs spread slightly to accommodate her bare one. One of his large hands were splayed on her stomach, while the other absently twirled the ends of her hair, something he'd taken to doing after she'd let her tresses grow out a bit longer, all while Y/n toyed with her wedding band. The diamonds shone proudly in the sunlight, and though the ring hand made its home on her finger almost two years ago, Y/n couldn't help but smile faintly. She was Mrs. Y/n Reeves. 

"You okay?" Keanu broke her thoughts, gently rubbing her rounded stomach. They were just under four months shy of welcoming their first child. They’d been discussing having a baby even before they married, in a small ceremony at Keanu’s favorite hotel, but hadn’t gotten down to actually trying until about a year earlier, when he had decided to cut back on the amount of roles he took and Y/n’s work schedule cleared up. Thankfully, though their road to pregnancy hadn’t been a trying one, they were both fairly healthy and it greatly helped that they were usually all over each other, and within about three months of being off her birth control, they had taken a home test, which had confirmed that Y/n was indeed pregnant. Since then, Keanu’s protectiveness had nearly quadrupled; the woman he loved was carrying their child, and he’d be damned if anything remotely bad happened to either of his favorite people.

Shifting a bit in his embrace, she laid one of her smaller hands next to his, feeling the light kicks of their baby, like butterflies fluttering in her stomach. According to Julie, those were only going to get stronger, and apparently a little painful, but Y/n didn’t care, she’d endure it any day if the reward was having their child in her arms afterwards. “Yeah,” Y/n smiled softly, nuzzling his chest with her cheek, “I’m good, we both are.”

“Good,” Keanu bent to kiss the top of her head, reassured for the time being. He’d been a little skeptical when Y/n and his sister had conjured up the idea of taking a boat out for the weekend; out on the water, if anything happened to her, getting to her doctor or the hospital would take longer than he preferred, and there had already some difficulties that had him almost constantly on edge. But, alas, Y/n was extremely persuasive and eventually convinced him that she was fine to get away for the long weekend, “And-”

A gasp from his mother, Patrica from her own chair as she set her cocktail down cut off Keanu’s words, and everyone turned to her, “I just remembered,” she sat up, eyes fixed on them both, “You two had an appointment this week, did Dr. Shaw tell you the sex?”

Boy or girl, it had recently become a hot topic in the Reeves family. Every time they all met, it somehow came up; what family names would work if it were a boy, how cute they’d dress up a little girl and Y/n was even sure that their was a bet going on between her sister-in-law and Julie, “We didn’t,” Keanu chuckled, “This little one was turned away from us; shy like their mommy.”

“And their daddy!” Y/n playfully slapped his thigh, giggling when he tucked her closer. When their laughter died down, Y/n elaborated, “I promise, you’ll be the first call when we find out.”

“Call?” Patrica repeated incredulously, as if the word were a capital crime in itself. How dare they simply call?

“We’ll take you to dinner?” Keanu scrunched his nose, trying to appease her. He knew it was a big deal, almost every family member had made sure to remind them of it, but surely, it couldn’t be that big. 

“Dinner- ugh,” she put a long, manicured finger to her temple, her entire, though possibly exasperated expression, was hidden by her dark sunglasses, though, her words were enough to tell them just how much a their options had not sufficed, “I’ve waited twenty years for my only son to get married to a nice girl. And now, they’re having a baby, and all I get, after all this waiting, is a phone call? My grand-baby is worth more than a phone call, you need to have a reveal.”

Julie squealed in agreement, “Oh! That would be perfect! You could do it where we had ours, at that cute little pastry shop in the city.” Y/n remembered that party well, especially since she’d nearly planned the entire thing. Julie had gone the perhaps, more old fashioned route, with a cake reveal. They’d rented out her favorite shop for an afternoon and gathered their closest friends and family for the vintage style soiree, where everyone was encouraged to wear a color that matched their suspicions; pastel blues and greens for a boy and light pinks and purples for a girl. Y/n, who’d been sure that she was going to have a godson from the very beginning, had opted for a cute blue dress with white lace trimming, claiming victory over Keanu who’d opted for a pink, which he dubbed salmon, shirt. 

“A gender reveal?” Y/n shifted again, scooting upwards, aided by Keanu and subsequently tucking her head in his neck after turning on her side. Quite recently, finding comfortable positions had started becoming quite a daunting task, but somehow, being cuddled to, or rather on top of,  Keanu had remained Y/n’s favorite. “We didn’t really think of doing one of those, my mom already wants to do a baby shower, we just feel like it's too much.”

“Yeah,” Keanu chimed in, trying to be another voice of reason, “Besides, that’s a lot of work, and we’re supposed to be keeping an eye on her blood pressure-”

“Well then let me plan it,” his mother protested, determined to have a reveal, “I’m sure Julie and Karina will help, and we can have it at her place too.”

Perking up, Karina joined their conversation, “Oh! That would be perfect,” she clapped her hands excitedly, no doubt on board with the idea. She’d been bursting with excitement since they’d announced that they were expecting, teasing that having a baby in the family this time around would be more fun considering she wasn’t the one who’d have to wake up at four am feedings. She was however, down to babysit whenever her niece or nephew started sleeping through the night. Yeah, their family thought of it all. “I’d love to help!”

“Count me in too,” Julie beamed, taking her son in her arms just as Eric came out from the pool, handing him over so he could go get Lucas a towel. 

And then, before Y/n and Keanu knew it, the three women were all involved in planning a party that they hadn’t even signed off on, though, at that point, it was clear that they didn’t have a choice anyway. “Perfect, all you two will have to do is show up,” she smiled triumphantly.

Three weeks later Y/n was a the snack table, surveying its contents and deciding if she wanted something, when Keanu came up behind her, causing her to jump with he placed  gentle hands on her shoulders, pecking the crown of Y/n’s hair, “It’s just me sweetheart,” he chuckled, his baritone warm and familiar.

“You startled me,” Y/n pressed one hand to her chest over the neckline of her white flowing dress, while the other cradled her bump. The little, unofficial planning committee had instructed guests to wear white, though, the decor had entailed a charming mix of baby blue and a light pink, beautifully mixed to compliment each other. The deserts; everything from inviting cupcakes to cute cake pops and elegant looking macaroons, and party favors, mostly made of little pouches filled with jelly beans along with fuzzy topped pens along with several other little trinkets, were also color coordinated. The ladies had really gone out, though arguably, simple wasn’t exactly their MO. “This is supposed to be a gender reveal, not a baby reveal,” she joked, turning to face Keanu.

“You’re right,” his lips brushed her forehead, one of his hands on her waist sliding to her stomach, “Wouldn’t want our bun popping out too soon,” he crouched down, so he could ‘talk to the baby,’ something he’d been doing for months now, “As excited as we are to meet you, you still gotta keep mommy company in there for a few more months.”

Threading her delicate hand through his dark mane a fond sorire upturned Y/n’s pink stained lips. She absolutely adored those little moments that Keanu would spend chatting with their baby, at first, he’d started with brief sentences, ‘I love you’s and ‘can’t wait to meet you’s, but as months drew on, and it the reality set in, Keanu had started reading to her belly, and sometimes at night, when he’d join her in bed, he could spend well over an hour talking about all the things he’d teach them as they grew up. Already, he was proving to be an exceptional father; extremely loving and always ready to put his wife and child first, and Y/n knew that things would only get better when they met their baby. 

She was so lost in her own thoughts, that Y/n had barely heard a thing of what Keanu had said, only returning to the moment when he pressed a chaste kiss to her tummy, offering one final declaration of love before standing again and heading to another end of the table after kissing Y/n one last time. "What are you doing?" She giggled as he picked up a pen and a little blank card out of a stack next to two decorative wooden boxes. The entire set up was for one of the many games being run that day, where their guests could vote on their options. Before the reveal later that evening, someone was supposed to count them and the reward would be satisfaction at the end. 

"I'm placing my bet," Keanu defended, scribbling on the white surface as he spoke.

"It's not a bet," Y/n placed a hand at the top of her growing bump as she made her way over to him, standing on her toes to peer over the loose shield he'd made with his hand, "You're going with girl again, huh?"

"Hey, Julie and Eric's baby was one thing, but I think I know our kid," folding the card in half, creasing it for emphasis, Keanu slipped it into the box with the word "girl” carved in cursive at the front, "This baby," he palmed her stomach with both hands, "Is definitely a girl."

Rolling her eyes, Y/n decided that she'd get in on it too, plucking on of the cards from its spot, swiping the pen from off the table and using Keanu's chest to press on, "Well, you must like being wrong," she chewed on her lower lip as she wrote, dramatically showing Keanu what she'd written before slipping it into the matching box labeled boy, "I was right then, and I'm right now."

"And how are you so sure of that?" The giddy smile of both their faces didn't show any signs of fading as Keanu reeled Y/n back in, "Why don't we bet on it?"

“Because I’m carrying the baby, duh,” she rolled her eyes playfully. Throwing her arms around his neck, Y/n twirled the ends of Keanu's hair in her fingers, leaning into his chest as far as she could, "And yeah,”  his arms circled Y/n's waist, toying with the lace on her flowing maxi dress, "Let's do it. What does the winner get?"

Keanu scrunched up his face, looking up thoughtfully, "The winner gets….." he thought on it some more, "Whatever they want."

Y/n eyed her husband suspiciously for a minute, a little curious about what he could possibly want, if by some miracle, he won. "Okay," she finally said, “Winner gets whatever they want,” Y/n smiled mischievously, almost certain that she would be triumphant. 

Hours later, just before noon had turned to evening and when the brightness had gone hazy as the sun journeyed to the horizon, everyone had gathered in the backyard, on the lawn for the long awaited moment. It was time for the reveal. They’d gone with a balloon reveal, and when it was time, Y/n and Keanu were positioned near the fence, just a few feet in front of their family and friends, all ready with phone and cameras. Keanu held on to the string of the large, shiny black balloon, one with a silver question mark painted on at the front, while Y/n had been armed with a metal skewer from Karina’s kitchen.

Just about an hour earlier, the contents of both boxes had been counted, and the team banking on Baby Reeves being a boy had come in strong, outnumbering the other side by a landslide. The small victory, though it couldn’t be considered a real prediction, had only built Y/n’s faith in her own suspicions, almost everyone, even down to her own parents, were convinced that she and Keanu would be greeting a son in the coming months. 

“Ready?” Keanu’s eyes met hers, the nerves shared between them, along with bright, excited grins plastered on both their faces. They both knew that in the end; boy or girl, daughter or son, it wouldn’t matter. None of it would matter as long as their baby was healthy and safe.

Y/n nodded vigorously, using her free hand to tuck some hair behind her ear, positioning the skewer near the opaque balloon, “Yeah.” Somewhere in the crowd, she heard her mother anxiously prompt her to “just do it already,” while someone else interjected that their camera was ready, “Okay, okay,” Y/n laughed, ready to get on with the moment of truth.

Taking a deep breath, Y/n didn’t even try to steady her shaking hand as she finally pressed the tip of the stick to the balloon, wincing and shutting her eyes tightly at the loud popping sound. The crowd cheered loudly, jubilance igniting a celebration and when Y/n opened her eyes, her jaw hung slack with shock. Rendered speechless, she just stood there, rooted to the floor, dropping the skewer and placing her hands on her stomach, barely smiling breathlessly at the patter of kicks beneath her palms. “Oh my god…..” Tears of joy welled up in her eyes as she raised her head to meet Keanu’s equally glistening gaze, “I…..”

For a second, he too seemed shocked, and the jeers of congratulations faded in the background as everything moved in slow motion. She could have sworn that there had never been so much love in his eyes, and Keanu thought that he’d never been that happy, though, their wedding day came in at a very close second. Suddenly, the prospect of parenthood seemed a thousand times realer. After that evening, so much would change, they would finally choose a name. 

Without another moment of hesitation, Keanu took her into his strong arms, lifting Y/n off the ground and spinning her in a circle and planting a passionate on her ready lips. In turn, she hugged him tightly, forgetting everything and everyone else as they basked in their joy. “So,” he began when he set her down, brushing some pink confetti off her shoulders and picking a couple similar pieces out of her hair, “I guess you were wrong,” he chortled, still holding her close. 

Nodding, Y/n looked at the ground around them; the healthy green grass was now freckled with bits of fuchsia pink, “I guess I was, we’re having a little girl,” she kissed him again, that time quicker, not even caring that everyone was still taking pictures of them, “You win.”

“I do,” Keanu pressed their forehead together, the tip of his nose brushing hers. By then, they both looked equally rosy, the sheer joy of the matter seeping through their skin, “And I know just what I want to cash in my win for.”

“What’s that?” Y/n giggled.

“This,” and before she knew it, Keanu was dipping her, one hand holding Y/n steady at the center of her back, while the other cradled her head. Her loose tresses hung in a waterfall, disturbed only by Keanu’s stocky fingers, just as he captured her lips again, in a breath stealing bout of sweet endearment. 

******

Taglist- @harrisongslimited @magnificentclodpiebanana   @keandrews @greenmanalishi  @rdjloverxxx​  @danceoftwowolves​  

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Haunted Castle Chapter Six: Dungeon

After freeing Kamek, they had no more leads on where to go and thus went back to going through and methodically clearing out rooms until Luigi got another call from E. Gadd. Intel from the boo squad pointed them in the direction of another portrait. It was just some goombas that weren’t even super well-guarded but it was conveniently close by and they still needed saving even if doing so wouldn’t lead to finding King Boo.

Eventually, after a few more portraits, intel from the boos as well as that just being the direction, they were going anyway lead them to the dining hall. Where even with E. Gadd’s warning about how much ghost activity was going on inside, Luigi was surprised by the sheer number of ghosts that greeted him when he opened the doors. It was like a party in there and unfortunately, they noticed Luigi’s entrance right away, meaning he had little time to prepare before the fight started.

Things got a little dicey but ultimately thanks to Gooigi, he made it out on the other side only a little battered. Bowser Jr. ended up helping too via being a distraction and stunning ghosts with his flashlight either to defend himself or to help in taking them out. It was reckless and dumb, he should’ve run but he handled himself well. Enough so that once all the ghosts were cleared out, Luigi refrained from scolding him, thanking him for the help instead.

In the portraits, five of them, hung up along the walls, were an assortment of all the various kinds of minions Bowser employed. None of them were boos, though the dry bones were a bit iffy and scary because they were undead but as long as they weren’t ghosts it was probably fine.

Once they were all free, Bowser Jr. addressed them, telling them what was up and where to go and stuff. Luigi didn’t pay much attention, instead focusing on playing fetch with Polterpup for a bit. It was a welcome break that was unfortunately over all too soon because…

“I have good news and bad news,” E. Gadd reported over the communicator as soon as Luigi answered its ring. “Which do you want to hear first?”

“Uh… bad news?” Best to get that out of the way first.

“Most of our boo friends seem to have been caught and recaptured. Only the Captain and one other remain, though considering how long it’s been, the latter might’ve been captured too.” Surprisingly that wasn’t too bad, not good, they were helpful even if they were scary – and not totally trustworthy as far as Luigi was concerned – but not the end of the world either.

“And the good news?”

“While you were dealing with the dining hall ghosts, the Koopalings’ portraits were spotted being brought down to the dungeon. However, trying to investigate further is what lost us most of our boo friends so we don’t know what’s down there. It’s big though, I can tell you that based of the scanner’s reading. Both that and losing most of the boo squad when they went down there is what leads me and Kamek here to suspect it may be a trap.”

“How is that good news then?”

“If it’s a trap, that means it might be King Boo himself down there. Capturing him again should make the rest of the ghosts surrender or at least damage to moral enough to make capturing them easy.”

“But… it’s a trap!”

“Yes, but you’ve beaten him three times before so I’m sure you’ll be fine… probably anyway, there’s always a first time for everything, including losing. I’m rooting for you though sonny, you got Gooigi with you and you two are a fantastic ghost busting team. So, go and investigate, if nothing else you’ll at least save some kids.” With that he hung up, leaving Luigi floundering.

Going willing into a trap was not his idea of a smart move even if there was a good chance he’d be able to get out of it. There was always the chance that King Boo might finally best him either through a mistake he’d made or just being outsmarted. But… he didn’t have much choice; he’d come here to save everyone in general but the fact that they were kids made saving them even more important. And if King Boo was in the dungeon, he’d have to go down there eventually no matter what because the problem wouldn’t be solved until King Boo was taken care of. So what should he do? …

“What did E. Gadd have to say?”

He looked up to see Bowser Jr. and Gooigi had approached. The minions were gone now, presumably ordered to go somewhere safe for now.

After taking a deep breath to clear his mind, Luigi relayed to them what E. Gadd had told him, including the fact that it might be a trap.

“Hmm… a potential trap is worrying,” Bowser Jr. said when he was finished. “I don’t know if we have much choice though, we have to save them. But uh…” he glanced around the room before leaning in a bit more, his voice lowering to a near whisper, “still no sign of my dad?”

“No, sorry. He’ll be fine though, I promise. We’ll save him.” Luigi could almost guarantee that, right? Because Mario had always ultimately ended up fine every time he’d been taken by King Boo. He understood the worry though because there was always that ‘what if?’ in the back of one’s mind when a loved one was in danger.

Bowser Jr. shifted nervously but seemed to take some comfort in the promise as he nodded. “Yeah, we’ll save him eventually, I’m not worried. Let’s go save my siblings now. They’re going to be so jealous I got to help hunt ghosts with the pros and that I got to befriend a real-life goo person.” With a good facsimile of excitement, he took off towards the dining room’s exit.

Gooigi made a pleased sound as they followed. Feeling quite pleased as well that being allowed to help hunt ghosts with him was apparently something to be jealous of, Luigi stood up and hurried to catch up. Before deciding to head into a potential trap, they had to go back to E. Gadd and empty the Poltergust first anyway so he had some time to think about it. … He would probably end up going though, wouldn’t he? Because he wouldn’t be allowed to say ‘no’, he never was in these ghost hunting ‘adventures’.

~

The dungeons were of course in the basement, further down past Kamek’s lab. Unfortunately, there weren’t any secret passages heading to them, allowing entrance from an unexpected avenue, so they just had to make do. Polterpup had shown up again at least, trotting along only a short distance ahead, he’d warn them if he sensed anything too dangerous ahead of them… hopefully anyway.

As their little group made their way down the hall, the air seemed to get colder and tighter with each step forward. Luigi was shivering but he soldiered on anyway because he’d said he would and because Bowser Jr. trailed after him, depending on and expecting him to save his family. Gosh, babysitting really was the worst, wasn’t it?

Soon, up ahead, Polterpup slowed to a stop, raising his hackles to growl at something, allowing Luigi and company to catch up to him. The narrow hallway ended, opening up into a room, lined with jail cells. It was dark and their flashlights couldn’t penetrate far but of all the cells that were visible, they all appeared empty. There was no way they were though. Luigi and Gooigi would have to check every single one to root out the ghosts and whatever Polterpup was upset enough to growl at. And to make matters worse, Luigi’s flashlight was vibrating, indicating the presence of a hidden boo nearby. Which was just great because now he had to hunt down the boo’s hiding spot and get jump scared by it when it inevitably popped out at him.

How could he have possibly ended up in this situation? The only thing scarier than a haunted castle or mansion was a haunted dungeon deep underground – it wasn’t really that deep underground but it sure felt like there were miles of earth above them with how heavy the air seemed.

“What are we waiting for?” Bowser Jr. whispered, his voice barely audible but still enough to make Luigi startle. “My siblings are down here somewhere, we have to save them so let’s go.” He sounded scared too though and doing a poor job of hiding it.

“Let’s a-go,” Gooigi agreed in a whisper as they pointed into the room, eager to get going. At least they weren’t scared, they just wanted to hunt ghosts. And that was what they were here for so… with a sigh, Luigi took the lead again, silently gesturing Bowser Jr. to stay back at the entrance.

Maybe it was the jail cells and the strange shadows their flashlights cast into them through their bars but despite being more open, the room felt just as claustrophobic if not more so than the narrow hall had. It combined with the heavy atmosphere and knowing at least one boo hid somewhere within the darkness made Luigi wish more than ever he were almost anywhere else in the world right now. But that was pretty standard with these ghost hunting ‘adventures’. This was the last time though, after this he was going to make sure E. Gadd kept King Boo contained permanently. All he had to do was capture King Boo one last time.

Before he and Gooigi could take more than a few steps into the room, Polterpup barked and rushed forward to stand in front of them. He growled at something ahead of them a little way and to the left. There wasn’t anything visible there which could only mean one thing. Before Luigi or Gooigi could switch on their dark lights…

“Stupid traitorous dog, shut up,” a voice growled accompanied by a large thud as if someone with heavy shoes stomped the ground, “You ruined everything.” The spirit orbs dispersed, revealing what they’d been hiding. It was…

“Bowser?” Luigi asked, taking a step back. But no, actually there was something wrong with him.

“Papa! You’re okay.”

Luigi looked back to see Bowser Jr. rushing over. He barely managed to catch him as he passed by, grabbing him by the back of the shell and pulling him back.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Bowser Jr. struggled as Luigi desperately tried to hold him back.  

‘Bowser’ chuckled, his laugh strange and wrong but confirming Luigi’s fears. His mane, normally red was bleached white, his eyes glowing purple matched the glow of the crystal crown on his head. A less dramatic transformation than the last time Luigi had seen him possessed by a ghost but still just as unmistakable.

“Wow, you really are babysitting the brat, how cute?” King Boo said, smirking with Bowser’s face. “You’re even softer than I thought. Whatever though, you’ve saved me the trouble of having to hunt him down on my own. Your dumb dog ruined my surprise but I don’t even need it.”

“What?” Bowser Jr. said as he thankfully gave up on trying to reach his father. “What do you mean? What’s going on? Papa?”

Luigi’s heart bled for him but now wasn’t the time to for condolences or explanations. King Boo’s crown atop Bowser’s head flashed, tendrils of light yanked the still growling Polterpup out of the way as he took a deep breath. That meant fire!

Luigi reached over to grab Gooigi’s wrist to yank both them and Bowser Jr. back just in time to avoid it. It came far too close for comfort, seemingly almost signing the tips of his mustache. If he’d been even a few seconds slower to respond… Whatever though, he turned and ran, pushing Bowser Jr. ahead of him and pulling Gooigi along as well. How the hell was he supposed to fight King Boo when he was possessing Bowser?

[11thstreetgirl]

Sparks (Nasty x male reader)

Summary: The Hanoi boys show up at your usual haunt and make the place buzz. There’s unexpected sparks between you and Nasty. Flirty banter and things ensue...

Requested? Yesss by @thespacecowboyyy thank you!

AN: Sooooo this turned out weird. I’m not happy at all with it and Nasty feels very out of character and the dance scene is like the shittiest thing I’ve ever written, but this was so fun to write! It’s been years since I got a text out of my head this easily! So thank you! Also this turned out longer than I planned so I decided to post it in two parts if you guys like it. More notes at the end. To be continued... ps I suck at titles, please bear with me

The music was loud, so loud I almost didn’t hear myself think. Not that I was thinking straight anyways, beer always made me feel funny. On a second thought, I didn’t know if coming here just to check out some guys counted as thinking straight, beer or not. I snorted at my own joke as I made my way towards the bar. I could feel the looks on my back, there was something in the air tonight, something that this place usually didn’t have. I was actually getting interested in my surroundings. I snorted again to myself. Oh wow, this shabby joint really was rubbing on me.

I ordered another beer. Mark was behind the bar as usual and padded my shoulder as he walked past. His hands were full with work, the place was packed. I sat at the end of the bar and sipped the cold drink. So, what was it about today that had the place buzzing? I scanned the dancefloor and some of the booths but didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary. People dancing, people drinking, people making out, all of the underground queer heroes coming together.

- Hey Mark! How come this place is suddenly so popular? I chaffed at the old bartender. He rolled his eyes at me and leaned on the bar.

- Dunno. Could be the band that played down the road tonight. Heard they sold out the place. They popped up here with such an entourage it would’ve put the queen herself to shame. I’ve seen them around here before too.

- Where are they?

The older man pointed to a dark corner. There was so much people it was hard to see, but there clearly was something going on. Young guys and girls swarming and seeking attention from whoever were sat in the middle.

And then the crowd shifted and I saw them. Five guys, or at least I thought they were guys, sat in a booth that was surrounded with people. They were clearly life of the party, downing drinks, laughing, flirting and keeping court. Because that was definitely what they were doing. All of the people around seemed to hold them to a high status. They had a dangerous haze around them, and it pulled me like a moth to a flame. Finally something interesting was going on in this god forbidden place.

I was pretty sure I guessed which one was the lead singer. Huge blond mane framed his face, he sparkled in the dim lights with every movement and he looked like he was about to start climbing on the walls. He was very different from the rest. They all had dark hair and somewhat mysterious feel to them. At first i couldn’t tell them apart, then i started to notice differences. The one in striped jacket seemed to be having a genuinely good time, he was laughing a lot and drinking even more. He talked to everyone around him and everyone wanted to talk to him. Next to him sat a skinny young-looking guy with hair so wild I had no idea how he saw where he was going. He had a goofy, shy smile and talked to one person at a time. Then there was the artistic guy. I could almost hear all of his rings and bracelets tinkle together as he gestured wildly when he spoke. I doubted he even cared if anyone was actually listening as he partially hid under his hat. The last guy had a different feel to him, I could tell even from this far. He was more calm but had a dangerous charm. Like someone I definitely wanted to get to know but most definitely shouldn’t. He was handsome, too. Like, really really handsome. Stupid hot to be honest. Not that all of them weren’t ridiculously good-looking but he had something that made my insides twist. He too hid under his black hair and was downing beers in a supernatural rate. I’d seen my fare share of quick drinkers here but these guys were something else. The guy was having a conversation with someone, he was resting his arm on the back of the couch and had his body partially turned towards me. He seemed to be like at home in the situation.

Suddenly he turned and looked me straight in the eyes. I felt my stomach tighten. He’d probably felt my stare on him. My heart skipped a beat as I awkwardly looked around and back at him just to see he was still looking at me. A grin spread on his face and it took all of my will power not to drop my goddamn jaw on the floor. He was gorgeous and I wanted to jump him right here.

- Close that piehole of yours comrade or you’ll be eating flies for dinner. Or some of these pervs will stick their dick in. I know they’re good looking but get your shit together man.

Oh shit. I could hear the laughter in Mark’s words but he was right. Staring wouldn’t get me anywhere. Getting this starstruck wasn’t like me at all, but that kind of guys showing up here wasn’t ordinary either.

- Ha ha. I need to be a lot more drunk for my next stunt so pour me a vodka will ya.

It didn’t take long for the alcohol to kick in. Just enough for me to loosen up a bit. I usually didn’t dance, like at all, ever, but somehow I felt this was the way to go tonight. At first it felt awkward as hell, to be shaking my ass all over, but then I got the hang of it.

The music was loud and I felt intoxicated. Whether it was the booze or the looks I got I didn’t know. I didn’t get a second of peace as there was constantly someone trying to grind on me or hold my attention. I was having fun and I was damn sure I didn’t want any of these people with me. Every now and then I took a glimpse of the guys sitting in the corner, more specifically of the stupid hot one. The look of him just sitting there, all nonchalant and rockstar, made heat rise to my cheeks. I wanted to show off and hell it felt good to know that I looked good. All the attention was doing miracles on me and I got lost in the beat and the thought of him.

- Are you trying to turn me on right now? Because it’s working.

The low voice startled me. It took a few seconds for me to get a hold of reality. As I turned around I saw the gorgeous man from the band standing dangerously close to me. His straightforward approach made me forget how to speak for a moment. It should have not been hot in any way and I probably should’ve been running in the opposite direction right now, but I couldn’t help the shiver going down my spine.

- And you think that’s a good pick-up line? Straight to the point? I finally got out of my mouth.

- Dunno. Is it working?

- Have a guess, cowboy.

I had no idea where this conversation was going, but the man in front of me clearly did. He stared me down with a smirk on his face. He was so sure of himself in such a lowkey way that made everyone else seem either like assholes or iffy.

- Well I did see you staring at me earlier and then sneaking glances at me while shaking your ass on the dancefloor so I’d say you’re the one that started.

I could feel his piercing eyes on me, but i didn’t see them clearly from behind his hair. His voice was soft but somehow stern and it made my guard slip down way faster than i liked. It took a lot more concentration to keep my cool.

- Oh, that. Yeah I saw you and your gang over there. They say you guys are a band.

- Uh-huh.

- Let me guess, you’re the drummer?

- Nope. Guitarist.

All the while he was standing way too close to me. I didn’t want to take a step back because it would have meant he’d gotten the upper hand. I wasn’t gonna give it to him so easily. He took a long, deliberate look down my body and apparently he was pleased with what he saw because the one-sided satisfied smile grew on his face. It made something move in my lower stomach and I shivered again. Nope, no way I was gonna get all hot and bothered right here right now just from a hot guy standing too close. Nope nope I wasn’t a kid anymore.

- So what is mister Guitarist’s name? I needed a distraction, fast. And another beer. Or four.

- Looks like my pick-up line is working after all. Name’s Nasty.

The man cocked his head to one side and clearly waited for a reaction to such a name. I wasn’t gonna give him one. We were still standing awkwardly on the dancefloor. We definitely needed to move.

- Hmh. Does a guitarist called Nasty want a beer?

Finally he smiled properly. It was a lot sweeter than I expected and he looked absolutely beautiful. My jaw must’ve dropped because he chuckled.

- Took the words out of my mouth.

Damn it, I needed to keep my head clear. He was wrapping me around his finger as easily as he probably made playing guitar look. The thought of him with a six-string made my knees unexpectedly weak. Not good.

I felt him follow me tightly through the mass as I navigated towards the bar. I felt nervous, I suddenly felt drunk, I felt stupid and oh so turned on. Still. Not. Good.

There was just enough room for us to squeeze through. Luckily Mark saw me and handed us our beers in no time. The Nasty dude definitely was a big deal here tonight as he constantly got pats on his back, pretty open flirting and even some straight-up invitations to fuck one’s last brain cells out in the alley. Nasty had a mischievous smile on his face as he politely turned down person after person, all the while making sure I saw all of it. Gee, I couldn’t believe this guy.

I sat on a stool and took a huge swing out of my glass. Nasty didn’t take a seat, just moved closer to me again and leaned his elbows on the bar. I reeeaaally wanted to just watch him stand there, all nonchalant and disturbingly hot. As soon as the people passed, the smile wiped off his face. It had suited him, but the serious look suited him even more. It made him look more dangerous, more in his little role. Although i wasn’t sure it was a role anymore. How come it was suddenly so warm in here? In the corner of my eye i could see a few creeps eyeing us and whispering to each other.

I downed the rest of my drink in one go. Fuck me sideways till Sunday, I didn’t see a good ending for this evening no matter what happened. Either I’d leave now and spend the rest of my night, and probably the rest of my life, jacking off to the thought of this man. Or I’d drag him home, have a marvelous time with him and then what? Probably still the same outcome. Talk about fucking till Sunday… it was already Saturday night. Damn.

But my God was he gorgeous. His eyes stayed hidden behind his hair as he observed the people around us without a trace of emotion on his face. Definitely the cool guy in the band. His jawline was as sharp as they come and cheekbones high. I traced his neck with my eyes and landed on his collarbones. He had a simple tank top on and a light blue jacket over it. It was a bit too big and a little worn out, but it just added to his i-don’t-care based charm. His pants matched the jacket and he had tucked one thumb under the waist. His hands were large and strong-looking in the very way that made a guitarist’s hands such a turn on. I was probably eye-fucking the sweet Jesus out his tall, slim figure by now.

I thought i was being discreet drooling over him, but clearly he had noticed because he chuckled. A low, warm sound.

- Like what you see?

Shit. I couldn’t get my thoughts back together in the fragment of a second I had to answer, so I went for the least horny thing that crossed my mind.

- I’ve seen better, plus your rockstar attitude isn’t gonna get you anywhere.

Great. Now I sounded like an asshole. An asshole that’s been lusting over the guy half the evening. Wonderful.

- So you trying to play tough huh? Wont work on me. I can see right through you. He leaned closer and his lips almost touched my ear as he whispered:

- I’m just like that too. He squeezed my thigh so gently it would’ve almost been polite if it wasn’t for the fact that he was very much in my personal space and I could feel his breath on my skin. He straightened back up and smiled. That’s when I saw it too. He looked almost nervous and a lot more child-like than before. Then his mojo was back with full force. He hid behind his bangs again.

- Wanna go get some fresh air?

We climbed up the stairs back to street level. After the deafening music even this part of London felt quiet. We stood there for a moment, Nasty light up a cigarette.

- So what kind of name is Nasty anyway? I asked just to say something. And why would someone so gorgeous call himself Nasty, a small voice at the back of my head wondered.

He laughed a little.

- It’s not a real name silly. Just a stage name.

- Yeah I got that. But why Nasty of all things?

He was quiet for a while, then a smirk spread on his face.

- I’m just so so nasty. Want some proof? His low voice rumbled, I bet it was on purpose. I felt a shiver roll down my spine nonetheless. My lonely night of beer and man-watching was going south fast. I should’ve known better than to play along his game, but I was getting more and more curious about this Nasty-persona. I wanted to know what was real and what was created for his little rock band. I kept stealing glaces at him. He looked like the epitome of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll with his overgrown jet black hair. A creature of the night no doubt.

He put out his cigarette and i quickly turned my eyes the other way. No way in hell I was going to get caught staring at him twice tonight.

He stood quietly for a while. This timeIi felt his gaze roaming on my body. Usually I would’ve been more self-conscious but this was just gasoline to the flames. I wanted badly to see how he looked with fire in his eyes, so I turned my head back to his direction. He was just standing there and staring at me.

With a one-sided grin and a wicked look that bore it’s was straight down to my crotch he leaned closer and planted a forceful kiss on my lips. Jesus. My mind went blank and I skipped a breath. Jesus fuck.

- See? Nasty.

He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when I covered it with mine. He made a noise of  surprise. No way I was going to let him get control over me like that. In an instant he was kissing me back with such fire it made my knees dip. He tasted like cigarettes and beer and bad decisions, but honestly? I was too far gone to care. All the tension between us blew up into that blistering kiss. His hands took a strong grip from my sides and he pulled me closer. I could feel his heartbeat against my chest. I grabbed his ass and unashamedly grinded against him. A small, unexpected moan escaped this throat and I swallowed it. He definitely wanted me as much as I wanted him.

- Excuse me! An annoyed voice broke us apart. A bouncer was staring at us with a look of warning, and as soon as my head somewhat stopped spinning I realised we’d better find a more private place before we entirely devoured each other. Nasty realised the same thing seconds later.

- Come on. Let’s go, he panted and all I could do was nod.

After what felt like an eternity keeping my hands to myself in the taxi we arrived to a house in Tootin Bec. Nasty was pretty swift in his movements for someone who was so turned on. Because he was very visibly turned on. My mind on the other hand wasn’t co-operating one bit. I just stood there and drooled as he opened the door.

- Good, the others aren’t home yet. I can actually make you make some noise! I blushed at the thought and I had no doubt he was gonna get some sweet sounds out of me. Mind is strong flesh is weak and so on. As if to prove my line of thought I felt my cock twitch in my pants at the sight of Nasty taking off his jacket. So much about mind being strong…

I tried to distract myself just so I wouldn’t jump him right then and there. I made a note of how messy the house was. Clothes, empty bottles, papers and guitar equipment lying around everywhere. It was pretty clear that there was five guys living here. Such a rock n’ roll cliche. Nasty grabbed a half empty liquor bottle from the nearest shelf and took a swing. He then offered the bottle to me and I downed a good gulp too. He chuckled as he put the bottle down. With a crooked smile he took a long good look at me again and stepped close to me.

- I think it is pretty clear I want to have sex with you. I just want to make sure that you want it too, he said, his voice rough from lust and alcohol. He stared at me with his beautiful, mysterious eyes. I couldn’t get him right in my head, he was such a weird creature. A weird, ridiculously hot creature who’s words got my head spinning. Sweet too.

- Trust me, I really really want to fuck your brain out right now, I smirked and got the exact reaction I wanted as Nasty shivered. He kissed me fast, bit my lip and grabbed my wrist. Without a word he pulled me after him up the stairs. I adored his ass with every movement as he walked in front of me and almost asked if we could to the stairs again just for it. Instead I opted for the less pervy thing that my no-good brain decided to push out.

- You really aren’t a man of many words huh?

- Nope. More a man of action, Nasty said and opened a door to a small room.

- Ohhh shy are we? I teased.

- Mmhm, Nasty hummed back matter-of-factly. It was weird, the whole man was weird, one huge contradiction. I loved it. It was nicer this way, neither of us had our roles on anymore.

The room only had a bed, a small closet with clothes falling out of it and a few guitars. Nasty sat on the bed and I awkwardly stood in the middle of the room.

- Now let’s get those clothes off, he squinted playfully at me. I was dumbfounded.

- What, like now? Here?

- Yes, well sex kinda requires us to take off our pants and stuff. Off they go. His face was serious but I could hear the laughter in his voice.

- You want me to strip for you? I couldn’t believe this man. Oh he had nerve okay. He nodded as a smile spread on his face. I just stood there like an idiot, my cock painfully hard in my pants, and stared at him. I had no idea if he was serious.

- Oh come on. Let me help you then.

AN: So this is the first part. The second part is still work in progress and it’s basically just shameless porn lol. I didn’t want to add it to this one in case someone doesn’t like that kind of stuff. So please please tell me what you think of this and if you guys wanna read the nasty part ;) pun intended. I’m awful I know

[jerusalemstraycat]

Post-Finale Thoughts (very long post)

Here is a comprehensive and possibly unnecessary summary of my feelings and opinions about the SU:F finale. I’ve been procrastinating (lol what else is new) so it’s a week later than I would have liked, but at least my thoughts have had a chance to fester a bit. Anyway.

I was a bit iffy about the way it went at first, but it grew on me. There are several glaring issues, as there always are, but overall it was a great note to end on. What an amazing sendoff for one of the most iconic shows of the decade.

Part of the reason the finale felt so weird to me on my first watch-through is probably the fact that I started with Everything’s Fine, having watched Homeworld Bound when it was released early.

Homeworld Bound was a great episode overall and set things up very nicely for the rest of the finale, and not having that bookend made the last three episodes feel odd and disjointed. The power of watching a show in the way it was meant to be watched, I guess.

I am SO relieved to see that Spinel’s new living arrangements are working out, you have no idea. That was my main concern with the end of the movie.

It was neat seeing the Diamonds find new applications for their powers, but Yellow’s ability to fix shattered gems with tweezers and healing static didn’t sit right with me. It makes Jasper’s shattering seemingly irrelevant and lowers the stakes way too much. How can it be that reversing corruption is harder than literally bringing back the dead? (Pink Zombie powers notwithstanding - it’s probably different with organic creatures.)

THAT SCENE WITH WHITE THO. Good lord. When Fragments first aired a common complaint was that it felt jarring, like it didn’t really belong in the series. However, the possession scene somehow fit right in while still being just as terrifying. I don’t really have much to say about it in the way of interpretation that hasn’t been said already, but I do want to point out how cool it was that Zach could sound like two entirely different people in that scene. He HAS the range.

Everything’s Fine was also good, though I feel it could have been re-timed.

The first half of the episode was excruciating to watch. Not quite as bad as Together Forever, but it went on for far too long and simply belabored its point.

Maybe it’s all the half-corrupted Steven fanart I’ve become very attached to, or my low tolerance for secondhand embarrassment, but I really feel the episode would have benefited from devoting more time to the breakdown/transformation scene at the end and making it more gradual.

But hey, I’m not going to complain about what we got, because that ending was phenomenal. The slow descent into madness, the whole impostor syndrome thing that is all too real for me, the expressions??? The exploding into monster form at the end??? I loved it.

I Am My Monster is easily my least favorite episode of the finale, and probably of the second half of SU:F in general.

The only good parts were the scenes with Connie, and of course the ending (which was probably my favorite part of the finale). The rest felt so sparse and empty, which was even more of a letdown considering the potential it had. That time could have been used in so many interesting ways, but it wasn’t.

I would have loved something from Steven’s perspective, some mindscape stuff, internal monologue (or even dialogue), clarification of what the heck was going on, closure concerning Steven’s nature as a half-Diamond, something! But no, we had to settle for a lackluster kaiju fight and clumsily executed group hug.

Don’t get me wrong, everything happened that needed to happen, and strangely enough nothing felt rushed, but...I’m not satisfied with the way it went down.

As much as I grumble about this episode, I did love how Connie was the one to give him the “healing kiss” (such a sweet scene ;_; ) BUT that didn’t change the fact that the “power of love” thing they were going for was a familial love, not romantic. Infinite thanks for not going the romantic route.

The Future was what really saved the finale for me after the disappointment of IAMM.

I don’t actually mind the timeskip, though I do wonder how in the heck Steven managed to recover from everything. I’m just glad my boy’s okay, and I don’t think I could have emotionally handled seeing what happened in the intervening months.

And I love how understated everything was - he’s not dramatically turning his back on his home, he’s moving out like a normal person, keeping in touch with his loved ones. He’s in a relationship with Connie, he’s got a therapist, and Jasper’s at Little Homeschool. No need to make a big deal out of any of it.

I really feel what Rebecca said about this episode - it’s an ending where Steven, always forced into the limelight, gets to live his life with some privacy.

Parting thoughts:

I’m perfectly fine with the chest in Lion’s mane remaining a mystery, as a metaphor for the secrets of OG SU being revealed. I’m NOT fine with Rose’s portrait remaining in there forever, because it seemed to me at the end of Rose Buds that it was just continuing to repress Steven’s feelings toward Rose and putting off dealing with them.

Speaking of which, we spent all this time watching Steven trying to reconnect with his humanity but NOT reconciling it with his Diamond side. I wish we could have had some scenes where he internalizes that having the powers of a Diamond does not make him a bad person.

I do appreciate that Rose/Pink was barely brought up at all, since the main conflict was no longer related to her. That had been dealt with in the first half of the series, and bringing her in in the finale would not have been appropriate.

Zach Callison Broke Into My House And Smashed A Barrel Over My Head Killing Me Instantly. Seriously, I’ve been watching SU since season 2, and it’s been such a ride hearing him grow as an actor over the course of the series, and you can tell he really put everything into SU:F.

Of course everyone’s obsessing over Zach’s performance but I would also like to commend the whole cast, who did a superb job of bringing the characters to life (particularly Deedee Magno Hall, Shelby Rabara, and Michaela Dietz. Pearl, Peridot, and Amethyst really made the series for me).

I don’t really cry over shows (though Storm in the Room came close) but rewatching the end of CYM after finishing the finale simply ended me. Remember when it seemed like a nice happy wrapping-everything-up kind of ending? Lol.

If you read the whole thing, I applaud your tenacity. Send me your own thoughts, agree, disagree, whatever. Actually please disagree, I would love to hear other takes.

[kog0ruhn]

Denutena Review (#139281)

You have one of the most delightfully colorful lairs I’ve ever seen. Everything is so vivid and upbeat and happy, and the kind of eyeburners that I can totally get behind. It’s just all so cohesive, even the tabs for projects and storage that you told me not to pay attention to, and I don’t think I have ever seen a lair be so varied while sticking to a similar theme in my time on Flight Rising. And you have so many crystal dragons that I actually like, and I hate crystal.

Christ, I’m learning a lot about myself today.

Flutter immediately drew my eye, and despite the fact I usually dodge dragons with the April Fools eyes like the plague on my own dragons, there is just something so endearing about this fellow. It’s been a long, long time since a dragon’s got a legitimate smile out of me, but I was grinning the moment I opened him up in a tab. He’s colorful, silly, and wonderful, not to mention surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Orange and pink, for instance, are always safe colore to slap together, and the genes utilized on him make him both vivid and not-quite-burn-y. The contrast of his butterfly, for instance, makes the magenta pop, and glimmer is always a good go-to to make your brights brighter like the genetic equivalent of bleach. However, the use of crystal as his primary gives some variation that, while still neon as all hell, also has dark faceted areas that keep it from being too overwhelming.

And let’s talk about that apparel. The flowerfall matches well with his tert and, along with the butterflies floating around him, make him looks more dynamic and less static. The colors chosen for everything he wears are chosen well, especially the jester apparel, which seems tailor made for this bad boy. And, again, I actually LOVE the April Fool’s eyes on him, as they make him look jolly and lively and silly and fun.

Sterre is a remarkable Gen 2 Imp. Most of the ones I’ve seen are usually scatter-in-progress projects that I see folks pick up because of their heritage instead of their colors, but you’ve lucked out either via scrolls or breeding with this colorful lady. She oozes with hues and patterns that bring to mind the ‘90s heyday of Lisa Frank, with eye-catching leopard print and that beautiful bee secondary that’s somewhere between stained glass and jelly plastic. The whole thing just makes me warm and nostalgic, and she’s definitely one hell of a feel-good dragon (which, honestly, you have a LOT of).

I do appreciate with her, and so many of your other dragons, that you use apparel as more of an accent than as an outfit. This is especially true with Sterre who, with her gorgeous patterning, benefits from having a glove here, stockings there, and the healer’s reference as the only “large” apparel on her. It gives her personality without detracting from her inherent beauty.

Stella is a standout, and what a lovely standout she is. It was interesting to look through your lair and for her to immediately catch my eye just due to the pure contrast of the darker purples and bright, lively magenta of her primary. With how bright everything else is, those Night Sky silks and that Shadow accent do indeed clash with the neighbors, albeit in a truly wonderful way. As stated before, those more muted and darker violets do wonders to help her crystal pop and catch the eye, as well as her glimmer which would otherwise be a bit too dark for her.

And her apparel? Oh man, her apparel is A+. Nocturne females are one of the best dragons to don flowing apparel since they’re at a perfect pose to convey movement, and there is definitely a wonderful flow to her. As repeated over and over again, the colors of the silks are spot on for the rest of her, and the Starlight Cloak is the perfect middle ground to help tie together the silks and her natural colors. The accent also helps with this immensely, what with the fade it gives her wings and tail, a smoky gradient with a pleasing texture that makes her much more visually appealing to look at.

She may not have a name, but she doesn’t need one to be stunning. Bright green and purple already go really good together, being one of those underrated eyeburner combinations that I don’t see nearly as often as orange and purple, or orange and blue, or black and any neon color. It’s a shame, too, because green and purple of any shade are really kick-ass together, but now I’m off on a tangent. Back on target.

In addition to the green and purple, the touches of yellow (the complement to purple) and the cyan of her glowing accent make her less of an eyeburner and more of a vivid, spring-colored dragon that brings to mind things like Easter and April flowers. It’s comforting and invigorating and, again, unmarred by needless apparel. She has touches of flair here and there to help bring out hints of a personality and accentuate her natural gorgeousness, and that accent? It seems like it was made for her. It’s so iffy on every other dragon I’ve looked at it on, but she doesn’t seem like she would be the same without it.

Raneer. I know I said that Stella was a standout and that your pretty unnamed Imp was an underused color combination, but Raneer is all of that and thensome. I absolutely love this Imperial boy, and it wouldn’t be completely incorrect to say that he’s probably my favorite in your entire lair, due to just how he’s simultaneously unique and perfectly suiting when compared to everything else in your lair. His color combination is an absolutely wonderful new twist on a popular favorite among folks with darker, more plague-themed lair, taking the stereotypical “zombie” scheme and turning it into something bright, jovial, and fun.

And with the “swampy” hues of moss and spring, no less! Just the use of the proper genes to make them shine managed to take him from potential fodder to a sparkling member of the clan. And because the green is so dark and complementary to red, it makes the cherry on his mane pop in such a satisfying way. God, this boy doesn’t need any attire to dazzle, let me tell you.

I said that saying Raneer was my favorite wouldn’t be completely incorrect, and that’s because it’s a struggle choosing between him and this lovely little Fae in the back of your lair. She seems to be a newcomer, and she is most definitely a star. To have an XYZ dragon whose colors flow together so goddamn perfectly is a thing to behold, with the purple of the radioactive pinstripe moving into the fuchsia of the wings, the black accents of the noxtide lining up wonderfully with the black edges of the peacock, and then the green and cyan of the peacock tying it all right back to that primary. The inclusion of the dark black bits--the feet, the outline of the peacock, the lines on the noxtide--all work to add an extremely pleasing amount of contrast that makes her come across as all the more vivid and eye-catching.

And that’s to say nothing of the design of the gene choices, and how crisp and clean she looks. Bold lines, bright colors, smooth patterns. To top it off, she has big, beautiful Arcane eyes that are every bit as intense as the rest of her. She’s a beauty, and I cannot wait to see what you do with her!

[kieranjamesreviews-blog]

Red Dead Redemption 2 Review

FYI: I have played nearly 2 full days worth of the game, completed the mains story and 85% complete. I am not a professional review or writer, I am your average gamer, reviewing for the first time.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstars prequel to the their first highly successful game Red Dead Redemption. This game immerses you into the late 1890s of the wild wild west. However, it is not that wild anymore and people are moving past their more vicious ways and becoming more sophisticated and acceptable but, not for one group of people. The Dutch Van Der Linde gang, a bunch of misfits and outlaws still clinging to the oldways with Dutch their leader preaching and leading them. This game is an extremely enjoyable game, the best I have played in years with great, amazing story and fantastic mechanics that makes you feel like a cowboy. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece of a game and in this review I will talk about it, trying to not spoil much as this game is an experience that I recommend you play on your own first.

Story (Plot) Spoiler free

First of I have to talk about the story as this is the main aspect that people are paying for and I have to say it didn't disappoint. The game has 109 missions, 6 chapters and 2 epilogues and with this tells an enjoyable story from the viewpoint of Arthur Morgan a high ranking member in the Dutch Van Der Linde gang, you are a yes man doing dirty work without questions, but that soon changes. You start the game in a bad way, fleeing the law (the Pinkertons) who want you to hang after a heist gone wrong in Blackwater. You and the gang have nothing and are trailing your way through the snowy mountains to find shelter and warmth. Thus starts the main plot of the game, you are all wanted men, who now have no money and need to get away fast, before the law catches up with you. This is really what you are doing for the main story missions, doing certain morally unacceptable activities to get money to “help the camp” so they can flee. However, in doing so you cause unwanted trouble, deaths and general ruckus. Which lead to members of the gang being killed and captured. Losing control of the situation Dutch (the leader of the gang) starts to become reckless and to be honest pretty insane, coming up with plans that will get them in an even worse state then they already are. Your character Arthur Morgan, realises that they don't belong in this world anymore and that Dutch, this once loved father figure is unravelling and that you need to help the remaining gang members to get out. Before Dutch gets everyone killed. This sums up the plot in a quick way, I don't really want to spoil anything to important as this game is an experience. Obviously there is more to it than what I have described.

Characters

Rockstar really had to work hard to create a character that would be loved as much as John Marston which if you didn't know is the protagonist in the first Red Dead Redemption title. The main character would have to live up to the huge shadow of the previous protagonist and oh boy did he. Arthur Morgan is your typical/ stereotypical western cowboy. He has a gruff voice which never got boring, had great jokes, one liners and can hold his own in a battle. But even better than that he develops as a character and person. This game takes him on a journey from a morally iffy yes man, to a man who sees his existence and the gangs existence as unwanted in this new age. A quote he says sums it up perfectly “we’re thieves in a world that don't want us no more” He knows he is a bad person, but decides to change later in the game the best he can and keep the people who deserve a better life safe to live a better life. He is in a constant battle with morality and is full of regret, but by the end of the game is more enlightened and sees the world a lot clearer.

During this game you meet a lot of other great characters from your gang and on the road, which I can't go through all of them. Old faces appear such as John Marston, his family and even uncle. But the character that had the most impact other than Arthur was Dutch Van der Linde. Dutch the leader of these misfits and outlaws starts off as a decent man who seems to just want to help all the people in the gang get to safety. He seems caring, kind and in control. He is a fearless leader who is good with words, which in some way gets the gang to follow him, he seems to know what he is doing. However, he is such a good character because just like Arthur he changes, when things start going south he slowly loses control, his actions and ideas are being questioned. This kind man is now ruthless and reckless, giving no concern for the safety of his fellow gang members. Loyalties are questioned, ties broken between members and Dutch. If you ever think about leaving...well that won't go down too well with big ole Dutch.

Mechanics

Before the game came out Rockstar were really pushing all these mechanics that are in the game, which all added up to create a realistic world. Which I believe they have done pretty well. Lets start of by talking about character mechanics, the big one is of course beard growth, yes your beard does grow and to a pretty considerable length. Think of Gandalfs beard but a little shorter. You have to feed your character otherwise you will start becoming underweight or on the other hand if you eat too much you get fatter, these mechanics do happen, but seem to not change the game massively if you are on either side of the chart. However, food is a necessary thing to help your health gauge fill up. Other than that we have a stamina bar, health bar and dead eye bar which all increases over time by running, fighting and being shot at. A bit like GTA V.

Now we come to world mechanics, so a big thing Rockstar touched on before the games release was that you can go up to anyone and you can greet them, antagonise them etc which could lead to them getting angry and attacking you etc, depending on how far you take it. Yes this does happen, you don't have to use it, it's just there for if you want to, It's a great mechanic honestly as it makes the world feel alive, like these are real people. Another thing that links to npc mechanics is the random events that happen while riding your horse, you could be going down a road and then someone is being robbed. You can help them or leave them. This mechanic ties into the honour system as well, if you left them your honour will go down if it goes all the way down, people will hate you and if your honour is high people will like you more and less bad things will happen. These two mechanic together makes the game seem like 1. the world is thriving with people and 2. that your actions have consequences, be that good or bad. Another great mechanic is that people remember the actions that you do, an example of this is with a mission at the start of the game, where you get into a bar fight and get thrown out of the window. Next time you go to that bar, the barman will say something along the lines of, I hope you don't start any trouble. Just that little thing again makes it seem like a lived in, real world.

Now for some small mechanics, which there are many that go unnoticed such as, bodies decaying. If you kill someone and leave their body it will decay over time, vultures and other animals will come and eat them etc. Which is just a cool little thing. Another little mechanic is your saddle bag and the way you actually take the guns of the side of your horse, like you would in real life. It's the little things that matter. I have missed out other mechanics but If I wrote about them all I would be here for ages. Some of them are, actually being able to pick items you want buy up in a shop, like seriously you see them in your hand or wearing less or more layers of clothes depending on weather conditions.

Horse Mechanics

Horses, horses, horses. What can I say about the horses. The horses in this game move like an actual horse in real life, yes the males have testicles and yes they grow or shrink depending on weather conditions. It's the little things that count. The horse in this game is your pride and joy, you tame the horse, bond with the horse which unlocks new mechanic for the horse, such as drifting. It's stamina goes up over time and so does its health. You have to feed the horse and brush it to increase bonding and the general health of the animal. However, with any animal and living creature in the world, they can die and in this game it's no different. It can die by being shot, tripping over a rock or tree, or just about anything to be honest. Which is sad but creates some funny clips. You can customise your horse, changing saddles, tail shape, size, if it's braided or not. Same with the mane. Also just to make it even sadder when your horse dies you can name it. RIP Mrsflumpylocks. That was my horse BTW it died by hitting a tree. You change all these aspects of the horse by going into a stable, which reminds me exactly of GTA Vs Auto shop. It even does the same cinematic to get into the stable and or shop. Overall the mechanics for the horse are good and is a great improvement from the first game.

Hunting

Hunting is a mechanic you are introduced to pretty much in the first hour of the game. Rockstar said it will be a big part of the game. Which it is to a certain degree. At the beginning of the game you have to hunt for deers to feed the camp. You use your tracking skills to follow the animal, then once you see it use a bow to kill it. You then skin it and then put the meat on the back of your horse to give to the gangs cook Pearson. With the pelt you have you can go and sell it, if it's a high quality pelt i.e you killed it by a head shot or heart shot, the pelt would sell for more. There are also certain animals called Legendary animals which drop legendary pelts which can be used to craft sweet looking outfits for your character, which gives you another goal in the game. Now hunting is all well and good, but I feel it becomes unnecessary to hunt animals for the camp if you have most of the upgrades and keep the camp stocked, as you don't need to kill anything, the camp will survive without you doing any animal killing. So really at end game the only thing hunting is good for is getting cool outfits. Nevertheless, hunting is still pretty fun.

Graphics/Environment

From random encounter with people on the road to animals frolicking around the plains. Red Dead Redemptions environment is a beautiful but ruthless one. It feels lived in with the encounters that happen good or bad and gives a lot to take in and marvel at. Thats probably why you have a camera in your satchel. The graphics are beautiful, with an amazing and careful eye of detail, from your footsteps actually appearing in the snow or mud to your face actually getting dirty over time. On the performance side of things I was playing on a standard Xbox One and it looked great, I had no frame rate drops of any kind and I can only imagine what the game would look like on a an Xbox One X and a 4k TV.

The Bad

Honestly I have to really nitpick to find anything that I would call “bad”. So here they are. I feel like the law is wanted system is really unfair and biased against me. I could go to a town and someone starts a fight with me, but I get a wanted bounty? It doesn't make sense, also the whole witness system and how every time I kill someone there is always a witness that I can't see. It gets very frustrating. My next gripe is that the picking up of items in shops physically is pretty cool, but I feel is useless as it takes so long to buy anything. I hardly ever use the mechanic, unless i’m trying to get cigarette cards for hours on end. The last “con” is that I feel weapon customisation could be better, when I heard about the customisation of weapons I thought it would be better and I know they are old guns which wouldn't have acog scopes and stuff. But I just felt like I wanted more. Again these are tiny things that don't affect my enjoyment of the game massively

End game content

Once you have finished Red Dead Redemption 2, you have a long list of things to do. Which are as followed. Do the collectable missions, there are many collectable missions in Red Dead from dinosaur bones to cigarette cards, which you will need if you want to get 100% on the game. Hunt all the legendary animals, get some outfits. Go fishing, play poker or even go treasure hunting. There is also many a side quest to do, some very weird and some hilarious, I’m talking about that circus quest there. Lastly explore the world, Red Dead Redemption 2 has the biggest and most beautiful map out of all the Rockstar games, full of easter eggs and hidden items. The end game offers a lot to the players to keep their interest and the best thing aswell is that an online will be coming in November.

Rockstar has crafted a wonderful game, which feels realistic, lively and thriving with activity. Which immerses you so much that you do not want put down the controller and you would rather play than take on real world responsibilities. Other than that the game offers an amazing story that of a film and provides you with memorable characters and will make you question your moral compass. I would recommend anyone this game and I rate this title 9/10. Thank you for reading and I hope this helped you.

[fmlfpl]

Lineup Lamentations - GW6

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week.

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

N/A

I don't want to talk about it. Just kidding - I'd love to talk about my tormented soul. I ran through so many different scenarios but in the end I have opted to just save and do nothing. Two frees will be nice next week, and, I have a loose plan in mind on how to migrate to a dedicated 433 and shift some money around. No City has my asshole all the way up my asshole but fucking fuck it. Everyone was shitting themselves without Kane last week for the "home banker" and we see how that turned out. Blah. I don't have any of the new sexy boys that all the cool kids are jerking in but I still have good guys, right? Fuck me.

GK:

Elliot gets his first start for me over Foster. Not really a close one here looking at the fixtures and however much I have found rotating keepers an unsuccessful strategy, since they often get save points against the top teams with the odd surprise clean and hauls missed, I'm going to play the fixture here. Hughton has Brighton properly shackled so hoping for a clean for Prosciutto Face Bob

DEF:

Throwing out 4 of these fucks this weekend.

Bavies looks like he will be back in his usual spot so he's an auto. I still think he's the best defender in the game on balance.

Phil Jones another auto set and forget who looks great. Little bit shit that he wasn't going up for corners last weekend and also shit that he isn't on corners anymore (LVG we miss you) but still a bap monster although his actual bonus points have not yet come in due to them scoring 4 every game - but he's consistently top or second from defenders on clean sheet games so they are coming.

Naughton welcomes Watford at home and I'm a little bit iffy on this clean shout. I'd be surprised if it comes in but it's still an on paper good fixture so I'll roll with it. Think Clement needs to try to start opening it up a little bit more at home against sides like these and score some goals which may leave them a little bit more prone to be hit on the counter.

Finally, SWard gets another start for me with a fantastic looking home fixture against Huddy. Feeling good here. Think they'll handle them.

MID:

Salah and Eriksen are two great friends who look great. Hard to see myself losing either anytime soon barring injury. Spurs haven't looked electric but Eriksen should still just be a steady stream. I still feel he's a great hold.

Third lad to round out my midfield this weekend is Brady. Save those direct free stonkers for the Prem please lad. Feel very nice with Brady for a while. Not a tremendous goal threat but with indirect set pieces and the quality he has on direct frees should see him through as a solid fantasy asset. Thank god FPL got it right and gave him that assist last weekend. Those fuckers.

FWD:

No movement here since the WC: Kane, Rom, and Bobby go again. Need Klopp to stop fucking being dumb and play Bob centrally. Only 1 more game without Mane anyway, so I still like Firmino as a medium to longterm hold. He'll get points, he just hasn't in the last two games. It happens. Kane in a derby, go on Harold. And Rom, I just have stopped even trying to predict what he'll do. He'll do whatever and it won't matter since fuck Rom.

CAP:

Kane. Not much thought here as I do not own Kun. I'm going to stick with Kane for the next couple with the cap and hopefully it comes in. It was my intention to do so when I got him in and I want to follow through. No Obiang for the Hammers means there is a small shout that Noble comes back in. If Noble is in, they are fucked. Fucked.

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Mariappa (and my 3-4-3)

IN: Mendy (and my 4-3-3)

Finally the day has come where I get to spend my fucking money!!! I’m out here writing this the morning of another flight with the end of my vacation near. I really wasn’t sure which defender to get as I’m a bit out of the loop here but I settled on Mendy. It came down to Mendy vs. Otamendi when I was really narrowing down guys because I think City will keep ringing in cleans for fun. Their stats in the goals against department are fucked up good - by far best in the league, and their home fixtures upcoming are mental. Three out of the next four are CPL, STK, and BUR with a wba to follow. Away Chelsea makes that all a little less good but wow those four fixtures and Mendy’s attacking qualities lets fucking go get it.

Otamendi is a real dong threat and obviously much cheaper but I don’t know. I have trouble with him. He’s like a center-back version of Alby Moreno with his mental fucking challenges and fucked up moments of madness. Racks up yellow cards for fun. I don’t know. I don’t trust him... I had the money so whatever. Mendy IN!!!!! That’s all I have to say about that.

GK:

Bob Elliot at Brighton looks very good on paper. Hoping for a clean from prosciutto face Bob. Lot of people have him in now and rightly so. It’s Bob time.

DEF:

Aforementioned new love Mendy slots right on in with the home Palace fixture of dreams... Normally I’d type in some sort of, “Palace haven’t scored so of course they’ll score vs. City blah blah blah,” negative nancy self-deprecating type of dumb thing but I’m in no mood for that as I’m eating breakfast in my underwear on vacation and life is good right now... City is going to fucking massacre Palace and probably keep a clean too. Mendy to get a couple assists and max bones. Come on lad :).

Phil Jones yep. How has he only gone up 0.1 from the start of the season? Cheapest nailed guy and 4/5 matches have been cleans. Wtf??? Regardless he’s an auto-pick and any of you who don’t have him are a little fucking crazy. At Soton should be an easy clean.

Berty home United doesn’t really excite me much. Maybe Soton can dig in and keep the match a 0-0 but probably not; probably looking at a 2 pointer here from Berty. Though I still think he’s a better start then Chalobah or Tom Carroll in better fixtures.

Lastly Naughton as well. Wow Walsh and I have pretty similar teams we should start a podcast together OKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Go on Kyle. Fuck it all and go get Walsh’s first defensive attacking returns of the season!

MID:

Salah the fucking legend. He just keeps returning and as Walsh said feels like a very safe and longterm hold. He’s just fantastic.

Daveeeeeeed very much a pick that Walsh convinced me of preseason has stayed true to me. Coming through with a kinda lucky (but I’ll take it) 11 pointer last week felt unbelievably good. He is what we thought he might be which is the cheapest nailed meaningful piece of the City pie. Gimme.

And Brady still souping about. Got the assist he deserved. I hope the soup still tastes delicious through this nice little fixture run of HUD, eve, WHU. It tastes MIGHTY fine in this moment.

FWD:

Haven’t moved all year...

Kane. Check.

Rom. Check.

Bobby Firm. Check.

I do not have much to say here. I did not consider moving any of them to Kun. Even though I may or may not have had a wet-dream involving Kun..................:)

CAP:

‘Arry go forth my son. I’m actually flying into London soon (leaving for the airport an hour from writing this) and I’ll be at this match. Going to Olympic Stadium waiting for the Harry beat-off captain session. OMG go on you fucking fuck. Breathe however you want to breathe just DOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!