#i’m wondering what this combo means but cool

[vampirerings]

i know why your name is marshall im looking at you

-🍒🐟

i know i’m not exactly subtle 💀 i was actually assigned the name marshall by friends because i happen to look like said marshall already

[boydepartment]

⊹ ࣪ ˖🍩₊˚⊹♡ so what do you recommend? nishimura riki x gn! reader

250ish words- riki being a loser- engene reader working at a donut shop - masterlist

you stood at the counter waiting for your name to either be called to the back or for someone to come in. the chain you work at was supposed to be closed today but your manager asked if you could come in for this specific store as you guys decided to be open

to be honest you didn’t mind, you liked your job and it’d keep you distracted from the fact you couldn’t make it to a concert you desperately wanted to go to. you had the money to attend just not the means to get there, who seriously has a concert mid week? and in a place where they already go to every tour? it wasn’t that far but just the hassle of getting there and work. ugh it was just a mess. you really wanted to go too… you loved k-pop and concerts. especially hybe groups and especially enhypen.

unfortunately the cards just aren’t in your favor this leg of the tour.

you sighed as you watched out the window as people walked by the store, wondering who was going to walk in and ask for a donut. you looked down for a split second picking at the bandaids that covered your fingers from earlier in the day.

when the little ding came up you perked up. smiling at the two boys who walked in.

“hi welcome in! how can i help you?” you leaned against the donut case in front of you. the two boys looked at you and then at eachother. you took a quick note of the apparel

one was shorter than the other, denim vest, chain, a backwards hat that looked oddly familiar. when you took note of the taller one your heart stopped for a moment.

there was no way this was happening to you at work…

the taller one wore the absolute ugliest jacket and jean combo you have ever seen in your life, and he wore the ugliest baseball cap to accompany it. the unfortunate part was, you’d recognize that ugly outfit combo anywhere.

“um hi sorry about that- can i get-“

AUSTRALIAN 🫵

okay y/n play it cool.

the taller one who you assumed you knew to be none other than nishimura riki, hit the shorter one and stood closer to you.

“i’m sorry he’s dumb-“ the taller one spoke, “we have never been here before actually-“

“I LITERALLY HAV-“

the taller one waved him off and kept his attention on you. the closer he got to the case display, the more you could see the little mole under his eye.

“ignore him.” he said quickly, you couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped you. he leaned against the counter next to the case display and looked at you.

“so what do you recommend..?”

was he trying to hit on you?

you put your hand under your chin and looked at him, throughly enjoying this and thanking the universe if this was real and not just delusion, “definitely anything with crème but you cannot go wrong with a strawberry donut.” you smiled at him. you heard riki giggle under his mask and his friend(who you guessed was jake) groaned, probably embarrassed.

“i love strawberries actually. i’ll get both though.” he said and you started to bag them up, you looked up at his friend.

“anything for you?”

jake walked closer to the counter and apologized quietly, “can we just get two dozen of the signature donuts too..?”

you nodded and grabbed the ready to go boxes behind you.

“actually can i pick the-“ riki spoke big jake interrupted him.

“MAN STOP MAKING THE WORKERS JOB HARDER JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK THEYRE CUTE!” he shoved him and got shoved back. you started to giggle again and gave them their total.

jake paying and trying to apologize for his friend’s behavior.

they quickly grabbed their donuts and headed out, riki wishing you a good day before running into the door and getting laughed at by jake.

you felt yourself look down smiling.

part of you felt like you were being delusional until you saw a little piece of paper near your sticky notes that you used to remember restock…

‘be back tomorrow by MYSELF- hope ur working-

my name is riki :)’

your jaw dropped slightly before you pocketed the note and was called back by your manager to help in the back. you quickly scurried to the back of the house and tried to hide your smile.

[chaoticladyfire]

Things I screamed about in ATSV (spoilers)

-Got to rewatch the film so I’m just going to add the colours changing to warmer tones when Gwen hugs her father. Not even ten minutes in and I was already crying.

-Realised that we missed the Gwen-Vulture fight BUT got to see Jessica Drew enter the scene like a bad ass in her bad ass bike and hearing the audience collectively say ‘me too’ when Gwen asked if Jessica could adopt her. 

-Screaming OSCAR ISAAC when Miguel spoke

-Lyla. Just Lyla.

- ‘Do you say anything other than no?’ ‘No-YES!’ more of miguel and jessica pls

-The Spot’s introduction. I didn’t see any promotional stuff, teasers or even trailers before watching this film so I had no idea who or what the The Spot was which was great because he really went from villain of the week to villain of the movie. And they clearly had a great time choreographing the fight scenes with him

-Miles’ heating up the beef patty while the spot and the convenience store man argue

-Miles patting the spot’s with a ‘good cow’ text

-Gwen and Miles both having to deepen their voices to avoid being recognised by their respective cop dads

-Miles saying that he can get two cakes when the counsellor says you can’t have your cake and eat it too and then bringing two cakes for his father’s party and neither of them saying what he wanted to convey. 

-Rio and Jeff scolding an annoyed miles but instantly smiling when a relative hugs them what an universal experience 

-Gwen teasing Miles for drawing her in his notebook almost obsessively but also breaking the biggest rule to spend time with him knowing the consequences. 

-As they went to talk, my friend leaned over and said ‘yeah I bet they will talk’ and when they only talked he groaned very loudly at which point I had to remind him Miles was only 15 

-Watching Jeff talk to Spiderman about his son not knowing his son is spiderman

-The DJ increasing the volume when Miles’ parents started scolding him in the middle of the party (the real mvp of the movie actually) 

-JK Simmons cameo that no one seems to be talking about??? Embarrassingly enough I had to literally scream into my friend’s ear for most of the people to realise it was indeed JK Simmons

-Just the entire Mumbattan scene. It was so exciting to see my city be represented like that, still a bit cliched in my opinion but not like Slumdog so obviously they have updated their views. Everything from the traffic gag to Pav’s rant about chai tea had the theatre howling. Also the detail of the thought boxes (?) and sounds being written in Hindi 

-Screaming DANIEL KALUUYA

-My friend and I are huge fans of the UK punk scene (her for the ideologies and myself for the music and fashion) so Hobie was a dream come true. He was already super cool with his guitar and mohawk costume but when he revealed his face it was just so amazing

-Gayatri is every indian’s dream girl with her modern shirt-flannel and jeans combo mixed with bangles and piercings I really wish we get to see more of her in the next movie. Anyway there was a lot of wolf-whistling and hooting for her and Pav

-Also Pavitr literally means pure I don’t know if they did that on purpose or not but I love it

-His pet name being Pav cured my soul

-’This is the most emotional I have seen him’ and Captain Singh has no emotions at all

-I want to see how they came up with so many spider designs because each was so unique and immediately endearing. My friend who is also a big dinosaur fan screamed DINOSAUR 

-Kind of obsessed with how detailed Ben Reilly’s arms are they did not need to go that hard with it

-Tom Holland’s Spider-Man being referred to as ‘the little nerd’ by Miguel

-When everyone was making puns about the Spot my friend leaned over and said ‘i wonder which hole the spot prefers’ it is a miracle we are still friends actually

-The Donald Grover cameo!!!

-Peter B Parker having a cute little baby with the love of his life is what he deserves

-Miguel O Hara is one step away from becoming a Batman-Spiderman 

-Hobie’s admiration for Mayday being the avatar of chaos Spider-baby

-Screaming ANDY SAMBERG

-I think they saw the appreciation for the art style in the previous film and then trebled it for this film and I cannot thank them enough for it

-Peter complaining about how Miguel breaks the Spiderman tradition of being funny and witty and Miguel being the first anomaly 

-Every scene with the Spot is very unnerving because as I said, you watch him transform from this joker to a literal void of vengeance and it is every bit of terrifying

-Miguel is a man suffering from the destruction of an entire universe because of his selfish actions and forcing that anomaly narrative on a fifteen year old boy who became a spiderman on accident and doesn’t want his father to die because of that. Unlike the Spot, who isn’t even human anymore, Miguel is drowning in grief and guilt and trying to ignore it by holding the weight of the spider-verse on his shoulder. I hated him so much for making a boy go through that but then I just couldn’t in the end. 

-Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire cameo!!! Hopefully we’ll get a fun Tom Holland one too in the next movie.

-’Let me guess, he died?’ being a therapist for Spider Men must be a fairly boring job after a few patients.

-I just loved the absolute of wrongness of the scene where Miles returns ‘home’. The rain and darkness. I didn’t really think about Rio asking Miles what happened to his hair because I thought she was referring to the rain (although of course she wouldn’t ask him why his hair was wet when it was obviously raining outside) but realised something was wrong when he didn’t know about comic con but she did because in the first film there’s a joke about Peter B Parker explaining the concept to Miles. 

- This movie is not good for my father related issues

-The glaring neon welcome sign when the gang end up in Earth 42

-How did Uncle Aaron get even scarier? 

-Miles being the Prowler is honestly a great twist I saw it coming but still felt the shock of the reveal

-Prowler Miles having an accented voice meaning his father probably died when he was young and he only had his mom growing up

-Can’t wait for the original spider team to return for the third film seeing as they brought back Spider-Man Noir and Spider Ham and Peni Parker

-Screaming WHAT when the ‘to be continued’ appeared because that cliffhanger is absolutely destructive. All that adrenaline and excitement just popped. I’m still oscillating between being impressed and being disappointed. 

I probably skipped over a lot of other scenes because these were the most memorable and I only watched the film once (unfortunate) but I can’t wait for the movie to hit streaming services and watch it again and again for all the other details I missed. Ill probably keep adding things as I remember

[minmin-vs-physics]

Hey! I’m gonna be a physics major next year, and I was wondering if the Mac and iPad combo have worked well for you, or if there’s something else you recommend tech wise?

short answer: yes.

but, im gonna use this has an opportunity to yap about my current study set up. this goes without saying, but what worked for me may not work for you, and my set up evolved over the years as i found what was best for me.

i use an iPad for lecture notes and homework. i think its the most organized you can get them to be without straight up LaTeXing the shit out of them (and i know people who do exactly that, more power to them)

i just write faster than i type, and an ipad allows me to copy paste equations and add photos and stuff which is helpful for diagrams. i use goodnotes 5, and i will sing its praises till the end of time.

i think it pays to develop a clear style for your homework and lecture notes, bc your work will be easier to navigate. here's an example of my lecture notes and my homework.

[hehe general relativity moment]

HOWEVER, you will mostly be having paper exams as a physics student so i recommend you don't get too reliant on your iPad. i tend to do all my studying in notebooks, or loose sheets that i can refer to. practice problems are always on paper.

[stat mech studying i did last week]

i started using legal pads for this from the end of junior year bc they're so convenient! im also incentivized by the stock our dept keeps in the mail room.

i have to do a lot of calculations for research and i prefer to do them on paper or a blackboard if it's something im reasoning out. idk it's so much easier to be stupid on paper than on goodnotes. ofc my research log is kept digitally, but i keep a binder with all my old calculations (both correct, and incorrect) along with my main reference papers.

[i was flipping through this just now and realised how much bs is in it.]

LaTeX is a good skill to have which i didn't realise until too late. if you have to write any paper that's remotely scientific, LaTeX is the way to go. none of that google docs bs.

i use both vscode and Overleaf for editing. i mainly just LaTeX my finalized research calculations into one big doc. it's much easier to show my advisor. also it looks cool.

i got a monitor when my laptop screen broke sophomore spring (something inside me broke as well that semester it was so fun). and if you have the option, i would totally recommend getting one. it's useful having a second/bigger screen.

i use mine for a bunch of things: coding, reading textbooks, genshin impact, Netflix, grading.

on the topic of textbooks, i use digital bc im cheap. but i do buy secondhand physical copies that i rarely reference, but keep around bc it doesn't hurt to start your hypothetical professor office bookshelf early. i only buy the ones i actually respect, like Peskin's Intro to QFT. but the digital copies are usually much handier. i keep an extensive digital collection of books and papers i might never need.

don't be like me keep your digital library more organized!

and yeah circling back to electronics! i use a Macbook Pro rn which has served me well. i guess things are different if you need to run solidworks or other specialized software, but you can always use the lab computers, so that was never a problem. i have an apple ecosystem bc im a slut for capitalism.. i mean i was already halfway there and now im just really used to it, so i like all my devices being friends with each other. my tip is always get more RAM than you thought you needed, and double the storage. but maybe that's bc im mean to my laptop and love hoarding files.

i also keep all my previous notes and printouts so may be i have an academic hoarding problem in general.

in the end, a mix of old school and new age technology bs works best for me!

thank you for your question! i hope this helps :)

[overlysour]

Hi there!! For your event, may I ask for Xiao w/ ghost reader? Like, I’m pretty sure he can see ghosts (since he saw that girl that traveler saw?..) so it’d be cool to see!

Xiao with a ghost s/o

-Xiao & ghosts are an interesting combo, I at first wondered if he had anything to do with them (like exorcising) but from a bit of research, i can say no.

-Now, for Xiao, he will immediately know you’re a ghost. You don’t need some dramatic thing to catch his attention because he’ll sense you’re there (that or Verr informed him you’d be around).

-I’d imagine he ignores you whether you try to socialise with him or not, seeing as he spends a lot of time fighting demons.

-If you follow him around, he won’t really say anything, he might spare a few judging looks but will eventually get used to a ghost not far behind him on most days.

-May eventually answer a question of yours, something along the lines of ‘what’s your name’ then very slowly open up to you.

-You may be a ghost, meaning you cannot die again, but that doesn’t mean he’s jumping at the chance to be friends.

-He will come to appreciate you over time though, subtly engaging in small talk over time.

-Now, I’m not entirely sure if you can touch ghosts but I have seen people say they have felt ghosts touch them or bumped into ghosts. I myself have mixed feelings on the idea of ghosts so I’m not an expert, bare with me!!

-So, going on the idea that ghosts can touch/be touched, he may not mind if you place a hand on his back whilst he’s gazing up at the sky during nighttime.

-If you tell him you like flowers or nature in general, he may just take a trip to a lovely field and sit on a nice rock with you, you never know..

-Actually doesn’t really mind that you’re not human, seeing as he too isn’t and there’s a bunch of things that you can bond over.

-Will avoid Hu Tao at all costs if you’re with him, he isn’t looking for her to tease him about having a soft-spot for a certain undead or to offer to take you into the afterlife.

-He isn’t trying to be selfish or anything by not wanting you to accept the other, he’s quite sure you would’ve gone to the afterlife already if you wished to.. But he grows to like you, not exactly stating so but showing it by engaging in chats and paying more attention to you.

-Pretty unsociable so whether you are too or not, you’ll probably find yourself gazing at nothing in a comfortable silence.

-Isn’t thinking about relationships nor does he notice whether he grows romantic feelings for you, seeing as he’s never experienced such feelings to know of them for himself.

-He does eventually get it, much like a child in the way he discovers the feelings.

-He has observed married couples over the years for a few seconds, checking over Liyue and silently wondering if that was a silly thing to do, devote your life to another who has done so little for you.

-But he slowly gets it, wondering if it’s a possibility for him to ask you about these feelings or whether they’re just silly emotions.

-Eventually goes to Zhongli privately, asking about these feelings and what to do.

-It confuses Xiao, in all honesty, the revelation of how it works and the fact it’s natural for any species giving him comfort despite the confusion.

-He’s awkward, if you’re flirty or teasing he will go bright red before huffing and putting his mask back on.

-If you’re awkward too then… well, you’re probably both gonna dance around the subject until you can no longer.

-Asks you out rather formally either way, a tint of red on hai cheeks as he speaks, crossing his arms as if he didn’t care of your answer.

-You saying yes almost knocks the life out of him (well, you can be ghosts together..?).

-Not one for physical touch but will indulge you if you wish for some, since you’ve probably not touched anyone or had any touch you in ages, being a ghost and all..

-Enjoys knowing there’s someone close to him that’s immortal too, unlike the many hundred years he spent alone.

-Is rather sweet, won’t have arguments with you for multiple reasons, one of which being that he’s had enough violence in his life & only wishes for you to be okay.

-These hcs honestly aren’t very Halloween-like but yea that’s it 😭

Halloween masterlist

[twstmagica]

Magical Girl Yuu's First Day pt 2

It doesn't look like Fire Dude (Idia?) is gonna speak first

“So what did he mean by orientation?”

Muttering: “WTF are you stupid, how do you not know?”

“What was that”

“Ahhh, nothing”

Yuu gets the sneaking suspicion that this guy isn't going to be super helpful.

Fire Dude hunches further in on himself.

So orientation. That's like an introduction event for group stuff.

But what's with the robes?

Oh geez, is this a cult thing!?

Okay Yuu, gotta stay sharp. Play cool. Don't let him know you're onto them.

“Soooo will the leader be at orientation?”

Nailed it

“Huh?”

Did not nail it

Muttering: “what's with this weirdo.”

“Umm the headmaster will be there.”

bluff check passed

“Oki-doki, then I'll just save my questions for them. Please lead the way.”

Muttering: “I thought it couldn't get any worse than Malleus, but now I’m stuck with an escort quest for this newb.”

Well sorry Fire Dude. I didn't want to be kidnapped by your cult but sometimes these things happen.

They do eventually make it to a giant room with heck-ton of people in robes

Actually all these people seem to be guys.

Huh. That probably means something.

Yuu doesn't get a chance to ponder this mystery before a tall figure captures her attention.

Dressed differently from the others, this man has a snazzy tophat and bird mask hiding his identity, and wears a fancy suit and feathered jacket combo.

But the sleeves are hanging off his shoulders? Why not just wear a cape??

Uh oh. Bird-mask-top-hat man is heading straight for them.

Crowley is *!!!* at sight of the missing new student while Idia absconds the fuck out.

Fire Guy nooooo! We grew so close, why would you abandon me!?!

Birdman is gesticulating wildly as he talks.

“The nerve of kids these days!”

Ugh. This Birdman is squawking at Yuu about impatient students and she can't get a word in edgewise.

“I wasn't the one who-”

“Really, it seems each year students get worse!”

“No listen, there was this flaming raccoon-”

“Despite my hard work there's always something!”

“Bruh”

The child keeps trying to make excuses, but Crowley won't have any of it.

Fortunately the Headmaster of Night Raven is so generous, and only sends the delinquent to the back of the sorting line as punishment.

At this point Yuu is just going with the flow. Surely if the strange cult meant her harm they would be more menacing?

Yeah the birdman is super rude but he isn't actually hurting anyone. 

And if Yuu was listening right this is apparently some kind of school, so there should be staff or teachers around who can actually help.

Yuu figures she can just wait until another, less wacky adult, shows up.

Oh hey! Horn Guy from earlier is standing with Fire Dude and a few other fancier cultists (students?).

They make eye contact and Yuu smiles and gives a little wave

Horn Guy nods back with a slight smile.

Smile plus a nod means we’re basically allies now.

Yuu is pretty sure that's how this works. If this is a school then the same technique used for choosing a worksheet partner should apply here as well.

Meanwhile the other dorm leaders are wondering why tf this freshie is waving at The Malleus Draconia 

[basmathgirl]

You reblogged a Gif set of the first episode of the fourth season of DW „Partners in Crime“. One of your tags reads “filed under: things they often did to Donna” in regards to the unflattering lighting. And now I’m wondering what do you mean by that or what are other examples of “things” they did to Donna in your opinion?

Hello kind Anon

I started collecting examples to show you, but it qucikly became like a school homework project, so I won't write an essay about it.

Basically, Donna was not meant to be seen as glamorous, sexy, the love interest, or cool; just some middle-age woman close to the Doctor's visible age. And and we all know how the media has long dictated that only women under 25 (or under 30, at a push) can be seen as a romantic co-star. Good grief, CT was in the film "Starter For 10" in 2006, where she plays the mother to an 18 year-old lad, played by James McAvoy who is only 10 years younger than her, and she was paired with an actor almost 20 years older than her!

Anyway, I've picked three examples to get you thinking.

Watching S4 makes you realise that several bad lighting, unflattering costumes, and dodgy makeup decisions were made. I'm going to start with the way Donna was introduced to us in the trailer at the end of Doomsday as opposed to The Runaway Bride episode.

Trailer:

Episode:

Not exactly flattering in comparison - if you ignore being lit like a character from Wicked. You'e never think these were filmed only a couple of months apart. And there was the whole disappearing cleavage shenanigans to take into consideration:

One minute it's allowed to be there; the next it isn't. Why? It's as if busty women aren't allowed to exist. DT certainly enjoyed the view but that's a whole other post..

They often put Donna in clothing I'd bought for my mum. Take for instance the outfit she wears at the beginning of Fires of Pompeii.

Very middle age-to-early pensioner in design, you must admit. Yes, tunics were the fashion at the time the programme was made but this is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Rose's 'little girl' pinafore combo or Martha's leather jacket. It's practical clothing that's not meant to be attractive but comfortable. Except all that nylon would have had her sweating like a pig in the Italian heat. Oh well. It's not as though they intended for her to look pretty. The dress Evelina gives her is a definite step up, but it is still very 'mumsy'.

Our last view of Donna was originally her wedding to Shaun Temple.

What could have been a pretty dress becomes a hideous outfit for Donna. They must have chosen the most unflattering hairstyle for her ever possible. But never mind, eh? She gets handed a winning lottery ticket so it doesn't matter if she doesn't look beautiful on her wedding day. At least she could look at the photos later and acknowledge Nerys managed to be pretty in a peach dress. The money should more than make up for it *chokes on my own spital*

Yes, I have many problems with the whole wedding scene in The End of Time where Donna gets her 'dream' of being married to a man who doesn't even stand next to her in most of the photos. Not that she seems to mind. We're supposed to believe she gets a huge pay cheque a happy ever after to fulfil the dream.

In case you were wondering, I'm much happier with the 60th anniversary specials.

[danime25]

Mistletoe Kiss

ao3 // normal masterlist // christmas masterlist

*Summary: Holly has official called her father uncool. And now he needs to buy some new clothes for his holiday party.

*Rating: E for Everyone

*Content/Tags: Fluff

*Status: Oneshot/Complete

Holland turned up the volume of the song in his car. Up until then he hadn’t been in a very festive mood. He sang along with John Lennon’s bits in the song, leaving Yoko Ono’s scratchy voice alone. He honked his horn as some idiot stole his parking spot from right out under him and he made a loop around the mall parking lot one more time. He ended up finding a spot closer to the door, thank Nixon for that. He got out of his car and strolled into the mall. He did a lap around the mall without an idea where to go clothes shopping. Holly had told him that he needed to get “cool clothes” that made him look more professional. He decided to roll the dice on one of the anchor stores of the mall and went to the men’s section. He looked through a couple of jackets and didn’t see much of a difference between what he wore on the regular and what was on the racks

“Excuse me, sir?”

“What?” Holland turned around quickly at the sound of a woman’s voice behind him. He leaned up against the coats before realizing that the clothes were not solid and he stumbled to the side

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” She apologized and helped Holland back up onto his feet

“You’re fine. What did you need?” He brushed himself off and tried to act cool

“Well, I was going to ask if you needed some help.”

“And now?”

“... And now I’m still wondering if you need some help with picking some clothes out.” She laughed a little bit, hiding her smile behind the back of her hand. Holland’s body eased up and he got to laughing too

“Um, I think I’m ok…” He started to reply automatically but stopped himself. “Actually I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I can tell. The 60’s called. They want their floral print back.”

“Ouch.” He stumbled back with purpose this time, acting as if he’d been shot by her comment. She rolled her eyes at him, “Not a humorous person?”

“Oh no, I’ll laugh when I think something’s funny.” She replied, “Now how can I help you with your clothes?”

“Well my daughter said I needed something ‘cool but professional’.”

“I see.” She looked him up and down. He thought his current ensemble was okay with his white suit jacket combo and light blue shirt. He had a floral print handkerchief in his coat pocket, but she couldn’t have noticed that small a detail on his person. “Follow me, if you will.”

“Okay.” Holland followed her to a different section within the men’s department

“How do you prefer your fit?”

“What?”

“Do you prefer shirts that are loose on you, or more form-fitting?” She asked him, holding up different styles of shirts to emphasize her point

“I mean I tend to tuck all my shirts in anyways…” He hummed

“Form fitting.” She talked over his musing and handed him a pile of clothes that she thought would fit him, “And now pants.”

“What about shorts?” He joked. She did not find this nearly as funny as he did. She took him across the hallway and into the men’s pants, grabbing only three pairs this time. Then she dragged him over to the accessories.

“Give me your wrist really quick.” She held her hand out before him. He dropped the clothes onto the ground and put an arm for her. She held up two watches, one band that was silver and one that was gold. “Warm undertones…”

“So that means?” Holland looked at her as she touched his hand

“It means that gold complements your skin better. No wonder you looked so dull when you walked in. There’s silver in your suit jacket buttons.”

“Oh.” He responded and looked at her, “Should I go try this on?”

“Here.” She picked up the heap between the two of them. “Try… these two together first.”

“Have a little fashion show?” He smiled at her

“I should really help some other customers…” She sighed, as promising as that sounded

“Okay, I’ll be quick then.” He smiled at her and hopped into a dressing room nearby. He put on the outfit she arranged and looked at himself in the mirror. Not too bad, but it didn’t feel quite like Holland. He walked out in it and she could sense his trepidation about the outfit. 

“Next one.” She replied. He turned back around and into the dressing room, putting on the next outfit for her. He walks out and she gives him a quick thumbs up. Someone approaches behind her and points her in the other direction, probably her boss.

“So sorry sir, I can help you if you’d like.” He offered

“I can just wait.” Holland replied

“She has to go help other customers, sir.” He huffed

“Okay.” Holland sighed back and got into the clothes he wore into the store. He brought the set up to the register and saw her handling a return with a difficult customer. The lady threw her sweater at the employee and stormed off. The other cashier offered to take him at least 3 times before she got the hint that he wanted to talk with her coworker. When he strolled up she gave him a soft half smile as she rang the items up. “So listen, my company is going to have a holiday party in a couple of days and I was wondering if you’d like to come along as my date.”

“Oh.” She smiled, “Well I’d like for us to have a real date first. If you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine with me.” He shot back with a quick wink

“Okay.” She smiled and grabbed a business card the boss kept around behind the counter. She quickly scribbled down her phone number for him.

“Are you free tonight?” He asked her, twirling the card in between his fingers

“Yes, I get off at 6.”

“Alright I’ll see you then. Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled at him

---

He waited outside the mall and leaned against his car. He parked in the lot that was closest to the department store and waited for her. He had managed to find a place to run quick and get his car cleaned off while he waited for her. He saw her walk out of the entrance and pulled his car up to the curb. He got out and held the door open for her before she got in.

“What are we doing?” She asked him

“I don’t know.” He admitted, “Are you hungry?”

“I could go for some food.” She replied

“Alright. Let me take you somewhere nice.” He started the car back up and headed into downtown Los Angeles. He brought her to an Italian restaurant that was pretty nice and they talked until the owner had to hint with the bill that they stayed longer than they should have. On their way out she pointed out that there was a little mistletoe leaf hanging above the entrance way.

“Well it’s only in the spirit of Christmas, right?”

“Yes.” He nodded along with her and waited as her lips met with his for a brief second. He pulled her gently out onto the street and kissed her with more passion the second time they made contact with each other. He opened his eyes and looked at her to see how she was feeling about it. She took his bum arm and used it to wrap around her shoulders as they started walking back to Holland’s car.

[minijenn]

You know I was wondering, in each arc of UF, which chapter did you not like the most?

Ok lemme see…

Arc 1: The Cool Kids bc it adapts two episodes from each show that I’m not particularly fond of and also is just pretty weak overall

Arc 2: Summerween. I literally remember nothing significant about this chapter which must mean it’s pretty damn weak

Arc 3: The Deep End, kind of an all over the place mess tbh

Arc 4: Alone Together: love the original ep but god you could tell I had no ideas on how to adapt it and was saving all my creative juices for Maven and Steppers debuts right after

Arc 5: We Need to Talk: again I adore the original ep but I didn’t really change much at all and the chapter suffers for it

Arc 6: Evergreen Inn; a messy combo of eps here that doesn’t hold on it’s own very well

Arc 7: The Answer: again ADORE the original ep but in UF is a haphazard combo of two SU eps that have no business being together

Arc 8: Hit the Diamond: it has its moments but it’s fairly lackluster compared to what else this arc has to offer

What I actually wrote of arc 9: Greg the Babysitter, pretty good chapter but pales to the others I wrote in that arc

And of course I didn’t get past arc 9 so lol

[cheiyunn]

Kimisute main story [１部 ] Part 1

Side: ST//RAYRIDE

Ryuusuke: This program’s presented to you by the handsome duo ST//RAYRIDE, Sutosuto for short~!

Ryuusuke: I’m Tennoji Ryuusuke, in charge of MC-ing

Rintaro: Yodagawa Rintaro, in charge of vocals

Ryuusuke: With that we’ve started, ST//RAYRIDE’s nightride! Get comfy and listen in to your late night companions*

Rintaro: What do you mean by late night companion. What are we, beer?

Ryuusuke: Beer! Sounds good~! Ah, you guys can all go chug one down if you want~?

Ryuusuke: Gasha– Pshh– (Imitating beer can opening noises)

Rintaro: Ryuusuke. Getting intoxicated on radio is probably not the best… hold it in until we get home

Ryuusuke: Woah why’re you playing the straight man!! I’m right in front of you so y’know it's an air beer right!

Ryuusuke: Ah man… we keep talking about beer, now I wanna chug one down now. For the record its Rintaro’s fault kay!

Rintaro: I thought about it for a bit but, aren’t we kind of like beer?

Ryuusuke: Ah– I’m the beer’s liquid body and Rin-chan’s the foam!

Rintaro: Yup

Ryuusuke: But foam disappears after a while so hell no, rejected! If I had to choose, we’re more like beer and a frozen beer mug yeah?

Ryuusuke: Hold up, why’re we talking about something stupid like this!

Rintaro: I’m sure that a bunch of listeners that thought this was boring have already tuned us out

Ryuusuke: Well who’s fault is that huh!

Rintaro: Who’s I wonder…?

Ryuusuke: Yo don’t you give me the ‘guess who’ look, you ain’t pinning this one on me!

Rintaro: To our listeners out there, if it’s gotten too boring, feel free to cut us off and head to bed okay

Ryuusuke: Don’t shoo away the audience! If anything, forward this to your friends so they can listen too!

Rintaro: The first letter for today is from 「A Strong Sutosuto Fan」

Ryuusuke: You straight up sliced the convo flow in half !

Rintaro: 「Is there something you 2 have found interesting recently?」

Rintaro: Something interesting…? You got anything Ryuusuke?

Ryuusuke: Can you at least gimme something to butt in Rin-chan..!

Ryuusuke: Eh whatever. As for interesting, there’s alot of stuff in our daily lives right?

Rintaro: Yeah. Like how in the morning Ryuusuke-

Ryuusuke: Woah hold it! Hold it for a moment Rintaro-kun! Isn’t that one the one I asked for you to keep off the record !?

Ryuusuke: Why're you trying to blurt it out before 24 hours have even passed !?

Rintaro: Then, I’ll just talk about it next time then

Ryuusuke: Keep it off the record! I’m begging you to never mention it !

Rintaro: Was it really something that ruffle your feathers so much…?

Ryuusuke: Ain’t I the handsome Naniwa rapper. I’m not about to just crush my cool image now, you get it?

Rintaro: Handsome is maybe… a little obsolete in wording I’d say. Considering you left the house with mismatched coloured socks after all

Ryuusuke: And you said it anyways!! You’re too much of a little devil aintcha Rin-chan!

Rintaro: You’ve been combo calling me Rin-chan, Rin-chan for a while but who’s Rin-chan huh

Ryuusuke: Oops, that's the actual serious tone… hold up!! We’ve only read one letter so far but time is actually flying us by!

Rintaro: And thats mainly Ryuusuke’s fault. Okay now apologize.

Ryuusuke: My deepest apologies–!

Ryuusuke: –Hey wait why only me !?

.

--[Time passes]--

Ryuusuke: Um, I know we spent most of the time a mess and chit-chatting but it seems that our time is almost up

Rintaro: Truly. I’m not even sure why this radio is so popular. Thank you for listening

Rintaro: Today we’ve gotten a request from the staff to do this at the end of the radio program so…

Ryuusuke: Woah! Something appeared… hm? Whats this…

Ryuusuke: 「Nightride 2nd anniversary activity suggestions」...wait, has this program been going on for that long already?

Rintaro: Oh, the staff member is holding up a board…

Rintaro: 「A message in regards to your upcoming anniversary」is whats written

Ryuusuke: You didn’t need to mention the board part…

Ryuusuke: But still, 2 years with Nightride huh! This’ the newest program on the list so it didn't feel that long ago…

Rintaro: Yeah. Programs that let us be the main hosts, including this one would count up to 3 now.

Ryuusuke: Maybe there’s some people that only listen to this one but to put it on the air, we took the other programs seriously kay !?

Ryuusuke: They first told us to chill, relax and talk like we’re laying around at home y’know!

Rintaro: They did first tell us that they wanted to make a program that would make listeners laugh with our dumb antics and fall asleep to us

Ryuusuke: Yeah that! So we’ve been doing as we see fit, and the response was bigger than we ever expected so we just continued airing. Thanks a lot!

Ryuusuke: Oh by the way. We’ve been confirmed regulars on a variety show! And we also have a upcoming live announcement so ya better be there!

Rintaro: You suck at announcements… oh well–

Ryuusuke: Passing it to Rin-chan!

Rintaro: …ugh, don’t be calling me Rin-chan again..

—----

*Not 100% sure on this one but similar I hope?

[aquaquadrant]

Deep Breath in.... Deep Breath out....SCREAMING

Thank you for this amazing update it was so so good. I will probably end up sending multiple asks (apologies in advance) because there is so much to process. This was such an amazing chapter! Your ability to capture these strong emotions and display what I feel is accurate characterizations is truly captivating. I've been so pumped for this chapter and I was just so blown away by it.

God first off Impulse. IMPULSE!!! My man literally carried Tango to a safe place, helped the ranchers feel safe, and just went full Dad mode. I flipped when he went full demon mode after finding out what happened to Tango. Man was ready to enter Hels and destroy Hels Tek block by block.

Jimmy getting hints about Watcher stuff as well was *chef kisses*. Kinda curious can Martyn and Scott hear what the Watchers are saying to Jimmy? Martyn seemed to step in just when they were getting extra hurtful.

God you fed us with Ranchers too. I was so happy that Tango may slowly be starting to get that he is loved. The way Jimmy didn't back down. uggggg perfection

Also Tango associating quartz with Hels was so painful. My man went through every trauma response this chapter and probably will still hit like 30 more.

Small questions you might not be able to answer yet but will ask anyways. When Tango went through the portal, is it still open on Double Life or did Jimmy get in at the last second? If Tango did break the portal would he or Bravo be able to get back to the rest of the universe? You mentioned that Bravo's sense of superiority shows up differently in Tango, is that Tango enjoys watching other suffers. That he enjoys the power it gives him or is that more of a trauma response due to strong need to be in control and by killing others he feels like he is strong enough to protect himself? Or I guess a combo of both hahaha. Ummmm last question for now can I like stab Atlas for like everything? Especially the collar? That cool ya awesome I'm gunna assume that's a yes

HEY NOVA always great to hear from my readers, no apologies needed ^^ i’m glad u enjoyed it!

loved getting to give impulse a bigger role in this update- as tango’s oldest friend on hc, it just made sense that he’d be front and center. and getting to show demon mode was the cherry on top 👌

martyn and scott CAN indeed hear jimmy’s watchers if they’re close enough, scott just tries his best to pretend they don’t exist out of spite while martyn is more sympathetic to being the brunt of their jokes. neither of them want to talk to jimmy abt it tho bc they think he’s better off not knowing abt the watchers, even tho the alternative is him thinking his own thoughts are super mean ;(

(but neither of them were close enough to catch grian’s brief slip into watcher state, in case anyone was wondering)

GLAD U ENJOYED THE RANCHER MEAL 💃 there’s a lot of interesting hels dynamics and worldbuilding and angst to explore in this au but at the end of the day, this is a rancher’s au for a reason 🙏😤

obvi u sent this in before i answered other asks abt it but JUST in case u didn’t catch those, tango was interrupted before he could break the portal, and if it were broken, they would still be able to open a portal out of hels using another player’s data.

as for ur other question, it’s def a bit of both. tango’s always had a bit of sadism in him as an amplification of bravo’s superiority complex. one of his favorite pastimes pre-hels tek was to set traps outside of the cities and wait for players to stumble into them and perish terribly, while he watched with delight. but after hels tek, he fixated more on mob farms as a way of trying to reclaim that trauma, while ALSO being a more socially-acceptable way to scratch that itch.

and last but not least, u can TRY to stab atlas but ur gonna have to wait at the end of a very long line.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Today’s replies! One about SnK, one about SPTO, a bunch about TWST.

6ubble-gum asked:

Every so often I'll find ur tiny founding titan arts again and spend a good long few minutes gushing over it lmao. snk is dead to me but tiny founder is alive and well (espec the fleas art)

Ahh it’s so sweet that you remember and look at it from time to time! I’ll repeat myself, but wow it is truly surprising that our SnK stuff isn’t totally forgotten. I feel like even I don’t remember the majority of it…

I’m very glad our teeny tiny Founder (with his little fleas) makes you happy~ God I remember when we drew it and these were the newest chapters…  wild times.

Anonymous asked:

Speaking of Yandere Todd, I can already imagine him being extremely jealous of Mobile. Mobile would have to fight Wallace’s ‘evil ex’. They would have a fight to see who’s the better psychic for Wallace. And then Wallace watched all of this with a drink in his hand while he cheers his boyfriend on. And then he might call for a restraining order on Todd. That’s what I can imagine

OH NOOO I love how absolutely devastatingly one-sided this is. Wallace cheering Mobile on, Mobile winning…  At least Todd got his participation prize… which is a restraining order 😔

Jokes aside, I find it endlessly amusing that Wallace just keeps hooking up with psychic guys. I don’t necessarily think it’s intentional, but I do think Wallace benefits from it very nicely. In a lot of ways…

And it does make the psychic vs psychic scenarios very possible, I would honestly love to watch them fight. Or to draw them fighting... For some reason though (lol) I get a feeling that Mobile is more powerful than Todd. Gotta train more! For Wallace Wells! 💪

Anonymous asked:

I found your art on pinterest, here's the link: [I edited out the link]

Thank you for letting us know, Anon! Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is anything I can do to take it down… But we still appreciate you letting us know. Pinterest doesn’t respond to the request promptly.

The comments are hilarious though. Love it when people talk about me as if I’m a cryptid that steals people’s fingers and eats their kids.

Anonymous asked:

Do you think Idia and Lilia will ever do cosplay together and if yes, what couple are they cosplaying?

I feel like Lilia is that force in Idia’s life that could make him consider things that used to be a definite “no-no” to him, and we do know that Idia actually doesn’t mind cosplaying as long as his head is hidden… And the whole cosplay thing sounds like something Lilia would want to try at least once, so maybe that could happen. If there is a combo of a character with his face (and head: can’t show burning hair) completely hidden + someone tiny and adorable? In any way, Idia is definitely going to overthink this whole thing, only for Lilia to change his mind and tell Idia that they should switch costumes with each other at the very last moment lol

Anonymous asked:

Got Azul, Jamil, Idia, and Riddle on a loading screen today and I blame you for immediately thinking about how much of a dream come true it would be for Azul to have all three of them 😂

Haha YESSSSS YESSSSSSSSS (proud of our bad influence)

It really is a dream come true, what a wonderful harem of reluctant lovers that don’t even like Azul all that much. But it doesn’t matter, because all three of them are his and his only <3

Good for him!

Anonymous asked:

have you seen ruggie’s club outfit?? he looks so good, i can’t wait till we get to see what his bottoms—i mean leona and epel look like in their club gear

Yeah I have! It’s very cool, it suits Ruggie a lot. He really does look like he is about to go and dominate some bitches lol

It’s also cool to finally see the uniform that magift players wear… is this the first time we’re seeing it? They usually wear their PE uniform... It’s a great design, and once again, Ruggie deserves to look cool. Good for him too!

Anonymous asked:

Random thought but Riddle being both in Heartslabyul and Horseback riding club... He's really constantly surrounded by big-tiddied green men :3 Good for him

Oh god I keep forgetting that Sebek also has a constant presence in Riddle’s life… you’re so right omg, what a sick twist of fate. Widdle Widdle (little Riddle) and big-tiddied green men that just keep spawning around him AHHH

Seriously, good for him. Am I ending the third reply in a row with this phrase? Well, everyone got what they deserved…

[maddyshome]

hi! i saw your analysis on gojo’s natal chart and i loved it so much… so i wanted to know could you look at gege’s natal chart if possible?? i heard his editor said him and gojo were similar (both cheery and smart or something), so I’m just wondering are there any placements that would kinda make them similar? plus it’s interesting to know what type of person is writing this kind of story/manga based on his placements, i think it would probably explain a lot? this is a selfish request for which i’m sorry and you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, of course!!

sure, hold up im dropping his chart below. gege was born on 26th feb 1992. i do not have a birth time for him so i will read his natal chart without knowing his ascendant or planetary positions.

SO anyways GEGE IS A PISCES MAN with a sagittarius moon (LMAOOOOOO). And Gojo is a sag man with a pisces moon.

The jokes write themselves.

Yes, we can say Gojo and Gege are alike. In fact Gojo is most likely how Gege wants to be like. Flamboyant, confident, attention-grabbing. In fact, Gege is not really like that. It's just his ideal. Pisces men are hmmm very delusional and reserved. I would say Gege seems confident in his circle or close friends. His mangaka persona is. In real life he is most likely much more reserved like most pisces men.

Gege's jupiter, just like Gojo's. is pretty yucky. Meaning he doesn't have positive aspects. His pisces sun is opposite his virgo jupiter. Let's just say the god of luck is not really by his side.

When I'm reading the natal chart of artists, especially writers, I tend to look at Mercury. It's because Mercury is the planet of the mind and communication. The verbal or written one. His mercury is in pisces which gives him a very creative mind, but it is also square his moon so there is some kind of restriction when it comes to expressing his own emotions. He is bad at talking about his emotions. It's better if he writes about what he feels than talking about what he feels.

He has Saturn (restrictions) conjunct Venus (love) so frankly, I think his love life sucks. Or at least it sucked when he was younger. He tends to be attracted to older people. Or people who are more mature than him.

If I remember correctly, he has the same sun-moon combo as yuuji so he is probably a nice person.

I think Gojo is maybe what he thinks is cool so thats why he "absorbs" certain traits like most pisces do. For a pisces, life is more like theatre. There are pisces who know who they are and there are pisces who will never know who they are.

What I think happens is that he just plays the part.

My advice for him would be to focus on a character with traits like Yuuji's. This is coming from a pisces as well lol.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Bro said Isagi is too plain /j LMAOO ok but I kinda see what you mean?? Like maybe it’s because he’s got the most normal background out of everyone that unless you’re super interested in him it’s kinda hard to find something build off….like everyone at least has something unique about their background that adds a little extra depth (like injuries, medical things, bullying, etc) but he kinda just had the model life besides losing his match LMAO

Stop that ego idea Lowk…..no ok but I’m gonna read through that and imagine his bug eyes staring at me and lose it LMAOO

Ok but when you first told me you didn’t really like the itoshis I was kinda flabbergasted because I was like wait….is this the same person who wrote cherry tree????? If you hadn’t said anything I would’ve assumed you were a Rin fan because of how well it was written LMAO I was already super excited seeing the 6k wc but now after everything else I’m like oh yeah that’s on the lower side for Mira LMAOOOOO

NO FR please fill in the lore holes…..don’t let this end like jjk……I need to know…..you know they really should just hire us as oracles like we know what’s good!!!

I recently got badgered into watching haikyuu and it’s SO CHILL compared to bllk HAHAHA still enjoyable though!!!! But bllk honestly kinda reminds me of the kuroko’s basketball with the battle like aspects of it so I’m sure the hype will keep increasing!!!

Putting my trust in kaneshiro because he usually cooks!!! I’m ngl I’m kinda sick of seeing Kaiser Isagi and Rin though SHOW THE OTHERS

And THANK YOU WHAT A GOD SEND but OMGGG ITS THIS ARTIST!!! I RECOGNIZE THIS STYLE!! Pause I’ll translate this im gonna do Left to Right Top to Bottom

Karasu in Hiori’s Body:

1 - The one with his finger pointing up

Karasu: “The hell are ya lookin at?! There’s nothin to see here idiots!”

Someone else who I assume is Hiori: “Hey you shouldn’t use your middle finger…”

K: “HAH! IF YA LOOKED CLOSELY YOUD SEE IM USING MY INDEX FINGER!!! YOU SHOULD DO THINGS WITH MORE THOUGHT!!”

H: IM BEGGING YOU STOP WITH THAT FACE!!! YOURE DAMAGING MY IMAGE!!”

2 - the hair scene: He’s arranging his hair with a bunch of wax just like usual

3 - face pulling taunt image: Karasu is unsatisfied with Hiori’s stiff facial muscles and small mouth

K: This idiot’s mouth is so small he’s like a baby chick

4- With Isagi: Hiori usually assists him so when Isagi had to face him in a strength/muscle battle his brain glitched.

K: As if I’d let you move around

Hiori’s thoughts: Karasu-kun’s pretty dexterous huh, he’s already moving around.

5- smirking:

The immeasurable damage (to the heart) of a rare scene is very healing

K: As usual, when you fight on your own your feet get stuck. So mid.

H: ISAGI!! STAY COOL! THATS KARASU IN MY BODY!! I WOULD NEVER SAY THAT!! BREATHE ISAGI BREATHE!!

Hiori in Karasus body:

1- kicking: Even with a different physique, his dexterity allows him to continue playing without any problems. His only thoughts are “His legs are pretty long…I wonder if they’d break”

2- hair down:

Hiori, who doesn’t lift a finger to adjust his hair.

H: Does anyone have clippers or scissors? This hairs gettin in the way

K: Wait a damn minute ya dunce!!!

3- smiling:

H: Hahaha yer so dumb, what are ya even doing?

K: OTOYA’S FOAMIN AT THE MOUTH??!!!

4- With Otoya:

H: I couldn’t pass anywhere but there….sorry.

Text: A toxic looking face vs a sincere apology and behavior of someone who tries to compromise with others

Otoya: “…………..ah……..yeah……….its fine…..”

Everytime he says “I” (in a less aggressive tone) Otoya does a double take

Someone: Otoya’s got a hell of a lot of goosebumps!! And that face of rejection is insane!!!

- Karasu anon

i think a combo of that + him being too nice off field makes him a bit difficult for me in the same way yuki is but whereas yuki at least has medical trauma isagi is just chilling 😭 idk maybe one day i’ll be struck w inspiration for him 😰 but yeah out of everyone in bllk who i’ve written for i’d say he’s been the hardest character for me so far!!

NAH BECAUSE IT’S LOWKEY FIRE I CAN’T LIE…maybe young ego when he got enough sleep was fine af 🤔 imagine we get his backstory and he’s the most gorgeous man ever who literally puts yukimiya to shame HAHAHA that would crack me up…ego would be the ultimate side character to write about though because honestly i don’t even think there IS an ego nation 😭 there would be two readers fr (you and me)

LMAOO omg not the undercover itoshi non-fan 😭 pls i actually did start bllk for rin so i must give my king credit but he was a gateway drug to nagi and karasu fr…the day people stick more to his canon than fanon personality is the day i’ll wear my rin stan badge w pride ‼️ and YEAH i always forget that 6k is actually quite a lot of words…like people will post that they got carried away on a one shot and for them that’s like 1-3k words but for me getting carried away on a one shot atp means 15k+ 😩 anything between 5-10k is the normal range and anything less than 5k is quick and short!! but i’m also a wordy gal so 😰

i think i watched one ep of hq in 2020 and just couldn’t get into it!! i’ve heard good things abt it so no hate just wasn’t quite the show for me. i’ve also heard knb is good!! it’s another one i haven’t watched…tbh i’ve watched a very random assortment of animes 😭 but not that many unfortunately i’m not very good abt sitting down and watching tv it’s very rare for me to start a new show (one of my mutuals on here had to convince me to start bllk because otherwise i wouldn’t have…all because of a rin fanart i reblogged 😩)

I’M BORED OF THEM TOO maybe because none of them are my favs…i trust kaneshiro though all of the other matches have been super fun to read all at once so i’m sure it’ll be the same for bm vs pxg!!

MY TRANSLATING GOAT 😭🙏🏻 i hope it didn’t seem like i was trying to get you to do that or anything HAHA i just didn’t know if the caption was smth freaky or not…like pls don’t think i’m crazy i promise i have no idea what it says 👹

[awhitewomansinstagram]

Okay here we go

My Unreal Unearth Debrief

This is the best I have ever heard this man sing. My god. His resonance and strength. The high notes. The power and energy. I’m still fucking processing his belt and flips and range holy shit.

My absolute top songs based on combo of sound and lyrics: De Selby 1 & 2, Who We Are, To Someone From A Warm Climate, Anything But, Abstract, and First Light

Honorable mentions: Butchered Tongue, Nth, Son of Nyx, Icarian

I think the strongest song in terms of album cohesiveness goes to Who We Are, but First Light is the one that pulls everything together.

Vocally, the best songs are Anything But, De Selby (2 in particular), Abstract, First Light, and Who We Are for me but all of them were the strongest vocals I’ve ever heard from him

My favorite song was Abstract (Psychopomp). Paired with his explanation I think it’s absolutely gorgeous and I love the musical storytelling they did with vocals and production. Same praise for First Light but there’s just something about Abstract that takes the top spot for me.

I, of course, loved the pre-released tracks but genuinely think he saved the strongest stuff for release night. That may be because I’m just familiar with the pre-released stuff. I thought Francesca and All Things End worked really well within the larger album structure in particular. Eat Your Young has to be my favorite of the pre-released albums but was really jarring to hear right after I, Carrion. Which, to be fair, is a cool effect of that ordering and furthers the song’s message.

BRANDI. CARLISLE. enough said.

Butchered Tongue. Just incredible. It was carefully written and in typical Hozier style, made interesting parallels out of different colonialisms and genocides. I won’t say much more here because I think the lyrics just speak for themselves so beautifully.

Son of Nyx was not at all what I expected but the production is incredibly creative, the instrumentals were gorgeous, and between De Selby(s) and First Light, it’s one of the storytelling pillars of the album and the hell narrative

I, Carrion (Icarian) was interesting and I thought the lyrics were gorgeous. Both of the “softer” love songs on the album (Icarian and First Time) are gut-wrenching and beautiful. I also love the stripped down feel to Icarian and I think he wrote it with his girlfriend? which having heard the song has to be the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.

Anything But is some of the funniest shit I’ve ever heard

Stylistically, I’ve always liked the rock and acoustic feeling pieces but I loved that he added some of the funk influence to the album. All of the production felt different from his normal work in a cool, good way and I really think he pulled off the multi-genre concept incredibly well.

I have only one criticism of the album and it’s that I think he should’ve included Through Me. But, there’s always at least one good song that gets lost on the EP in the album cycle (rip NFWMB 🫡)

First Light and the “moral,” if I can derive one takeaway from the whole thing, which will be oversimplified because holy shit these songs, is that there is beauty in meaning in the cycle of light and dark, and that destruction and death are not something to be feared but rather something that can deepen how we understand the world. It is in turmoil that we can look to and understand our obligations to others and it is only by fully embracing all components of existence, including death and nothingness, that we can understand the art of being. We also must confront when death and destruction are objectively wrong and out of balance and reach out to each other in a work of communal preservation, which ultimately becomes our best way of self-preservation.

Favorite lyrics:

No closer could I be to God/or why he would do what he’s done

Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me

Once I had wondered/What was holding up the ground/I can see that all along, love/It was you all the way down

To hold me like water/Or Christ/Hold me like a knife

And the hardest part/Is who we are

Uiscefhuaraithe

As natural as another leg around you in the bed frame

The rains of winter seemed to never leave the walls

There are some things that no one teaches you, love/ That God in his awful wisdom just programs in

It was the place names/Singing at me as the first thing

You may never know your fortune/Until the distance has been shown between/What is lost forever/And what can still be known

In some town that just means/ ‘Home’ to them

The moment I knew/I’d no choice but to love you

Your tear caught the light/The Earth from a distance

All my love and terror/Balanced there between those eyes/See how it shines

If I had his job/You would live forever

And I am never going back again

[totemsp2blog]

2023 – Some Game of the Year

It occurs to me that a lot of games I played this year were in early access. Either way…

Sons of the forest (early access)

This is one of those games I wouldn’t have played otherwise, but now I have I don’t regret doing so.

What on the surface seems to be a horror survival game, seem to be more like a camping and off-grid living simulator, log homes, nature trekking, caving, and hiking included, now with wacky characters showing up and being uncomfortable to be around… that aren’t myself. Still, I’m they’re very fun to hit with implements.

The sequel to The Forest, now expanded with the ‘Sons of’ Prefix, my friends and I were playing the game during early access, with many plot details not complete. Not that I was paying much attention to that. Unlike my friends, I didn’t play The Forest, but from watching Mandalore’s video, I… know some things?

The plot of the game is not the point for me. Going camping in the woods, exploring the gorgeous forest, and the creepy caves to find cool new gadgets, like a zipline… or a shotgun, or a slightly better axe, working together to construct a log cabin on the lake, and then to construct a zipline system from said cabin, all the way to the top of the mountain, is absolutely the point for me. The game should be out of early access soon, so I’m looking forward to playing it again when it’s ‘feature complete’.

Pseudoregalia

If there’s one thing I was reminded of this year, is that I like 3D platformers. And there is many separate reasons why.

Enjoying the exploration of the wonderful little worlds these games take place in. Or enjoying the mechanics of scamping around a 3D space as effectively as possible.

Pseudoregalia firmly is in the latter category. It is firmly for the fans of movement and traversal.

The game is laid out in a ‘search action’ type of progression, where the items you find in the game add to your options for movement. Not long after you start the game and get past the ‘opening sequence’, and obtaining your slide, and slide jump, your options open up more than you realise at first, but once you know, you find out that sequence breaking using pure movement tech is a part of the game. You really wanna find out what you can get away with.

When I say that the game fits firmly in the ‘about traversal’ side of 3D platformers, it’s also because the exploration is kinda weak, as each area in the world is fairly simplistic and rather samey, while keeping to their theme. Getting lost is easy as there’s not a lot differentiating between most rooms, short of the odd monument. A map would be a small fix for this (and is in the works), but doesn’t solve the issue of the world design itself. Doesn’t make the world any less of a challenge to traverse, however. It’s ‘era-appropriate’ look is sort of grey-box design in a way.

There is combat, but it is easily the weakest part of the game. With how agile your character is, you’d think she’d be capable of brining the pain, but combat is basic, limited mainly to a 3 hit combo, with your other techniques usually used in solving puzzles in the environment. Not even your downward spike you use to high jump is viable, as you just take damage on impact. As a result, combat is infrequent and there’s only a couple of boss encounters.

What you have to understand is for what you get for about 5 bucks, it is actually impressive how much fun this is. I don’t mind getting lost as it means more time with the game. I would call this my top contender for favourite game this year, if only there was more. And all my criticism is because I care about more than most. I want it to do well, and thanks to the barrier of entry being so cheap, I think it has.

In short, this game’s pretty goat butt- sorry, pretty good, but it’s kind of short. Still, not bad for 5 bucks, for the one complete game on this list! And there is pants if you want, but why would you?

I’m of course not referring to the objectively superior professional outfit… yes, even better than nothing at all. So good it’ll give you Covid, yeag!

Volcanoids (early access)

This game’s premise is pretty ingenious, and technically impressive. It’s an open world survival crafting game, with a mobile base!

That said, you’re not there to live off the land and make your own, you’re there on a mission to retake the island from some robots gone wrong, that have been causing the volcano on the island to do a little trolling pretty regularly. So, its laser focused on getting you geared up to take on this threat, rather than living there.

To give you an idea of what kind of operation you’ll have in the late game, you’ll be automating not just processing of resources, but ammo, guns, health, armour, and repair equipment filling dispensers in your staging room, you’ll have mining drones going out to collect nearby ores, gun drones where you can use any of your weapons and deploy them in the field or anywhere on the map, and a really versatile support drone that has cover, health and armour regen, a tesla coil to shoot down projectiles, and a storage area you can put loot in to send back to the drill ship.

Ah yes, the drill ship. Your mobile base is mobile in the sense that you can set up in various locations. To do this, your mobile base can tunnel underground, and pop up in set locations, even into caves. You must do this to avoid the periodic eruptions of the island’s volcano. (Or if you’re out in the open, go hide in one of the many structures.) You can just sit there buried to do some basic prep, and fixes to the internals of your ship, but the modules you install into the slots of your ship require you to be deployed somewhere to function. So, there’s a difference between being safe and finding somewhere safe to get some work done… or having enough defences to protect yourself while you do.

All this comes together to make a technically, and mechanically impressive and fun game. I love pulling up next to an enemy drill ship, assaulting their position, getting inside, and stealing, and breaking everything. And all the tools given to you make taking on the robotic threat a blast!

But not for long. In its current state there is, I would say… about 12 hours of content total. But development is ongoing, and an embiggening of the island is coming in the future. Still, the 12 hours of content, is still plenty of fun, and I’ve certainly gotten multiple runs out of it. I’d call it, this year’s Signal from Tolva in that regard.

I will mention that playing with overseas friends, with all the lag that entails, makes it very hard to land shots… like, worse than I’ve experienced in most other games. But the recently added Tesla weapons do honestly remedy that. Hopefully that’ll improve over time.

Lethal company (early access)

Chances are you’ve played this one, and/or have seen enough to know what to make of it… or are not interested despite (or in spite of) the saturation.

So, I’ll forego the explanation for this one and get to my opinion.

It’s a funny game, that is very early in its days. As such, I feel after 20 hours I’ve gotten everything out of the game I can currently, and I’m not really interested in playing more until there’s a lot more to it.

Meanwhile, I’ve recently been playing Zeekerrs previous game The Upturned. Been finding it very enjoyable.

Void crew (early access)

Image source: Massively Overpowered, also how did I not take any screenshots??

Y’know, I ended last year playing a ship crewing game in PULSAR: the lost colony. Seems fitting I finish this year playing something similar.

However, this game is not as it seems on the surface. It’s not a game where a group of friends crew a ship and explore space. a game where a group of friends crew a ship, go out, do some missions, and come back and get rewards. It’s much more like Deep Rock Galactic in that sense. Each ‘pilgrimage’ has a set beginning and end.

The loop is lots of fun, crews will be all doing their own thing, and as an engineer, if I’m not helping shoot stuff, or being the only scavenger available, I can take time to wander around the ship (getting lost if we’re using the big ship), tending to the ship systems, moving items out of the scoop and into storage, or the recycler, which involves tossing them down the corridor a lot of the time.

One part of the loop I’m iffy about is at the end of every mission, in order to maximise our alloy bonus, we usually run around the ship, scuttling everything we built and collected, ship modules, ammo, upgrades, and other bits and pieces, sending it to the fabricator to get recycled one by one. I find this part of the loop to be pretty tedious and I feel like it should get a rework at some point, maybe taking account of your assets, and the value you would have if you had recycled everything. It’s not like you keep anything you find between missions. They made it easier recently with their rework of the void jump, allowing a ship to sit in ‘warp’, so that crews have time to prepare the next move, which at that stage is slowly chew through everything, and set the course for home.

Also, the loot in this game… It’s a random cosmetic lootbox system WITH DUPLICATES. At least it’s not monetized at the moment, I’m… weary, but still… just… no. And I cannot tell you how many crappy little visor gifs I’ve gotten… again, in duplicates of. Just let me purchase what I want with a form of in-game currency, and/or add items to progression.

But at any rate, this is still super technically impressive at this stage of development. After some bad habits are ironed out, I’m excited to see where this game goes.

Inkbound (early access)

I’m not normally a fan of turn based games. Inkbound sets out to take everything I dislike about turn based games, and effectively makes them fair. I suppose this makes the fight one sided in a certain way, but that doesn’t make it any less challenging.

To validate my feelings about turn based games, I have recently been playing through the Hylics series again, and I had my first game of D&D. The takeaway from all that being… preparation is key.

Inkbound allows you to prepare on the fly, as you’re making your move. While you’re doing everything you can, that your energy and availability of your abilities can permit, you know what the enemy is going to do, and you can either dodge, or get ready to take it, perhaps even influence them in some way.

One thing you cannot predict is how your adventure will go. If it plays like rouge, smells like rogue, it must be likewise… like rogue… a roguelike. ehem

The progression of your abilities, and the weird doodads you’ll find are randomised each run. You find yourself having to tend with multiple varieties of your ‘absolutely broken’ build. Oh but once you have one, it’s very funny to, say… do absurd numbers of damage concurrent to how tanky you are, like the harder you are to kill, the easier it is to kill others… which does make sense overall, but in this context… it couldn't be closer to the truth. Or how about the various ways to do DoT, and just watching the enemy die on their own. Or my personal favourite, outright removing the movement cap and literally running circles around the enemy… in a turn based game.

Also, it should be worth mentioning, in the antithesis of what Void Crew is doing, in more ways than one, the game started out having a premium currency to unlock cosmetics with, but they soon done way with that, and now you just earn the currency in game… as it should be. It’s unfortunate that it started that way, but I’m happy it’s where it’s at now. And they’re still offering paid Cosmetic DLC packages. Infinitely better than a random lootbox with dupes!