#its tricky but its one of those themes that i like being hidden

[punksocks]

To Tame The Untamable: Lilith & Obsession Pt.2- The Placements

*Just based on my experiences, please only take what resonates

Ok my whole preamble can be found here. That’s all my philosophical reasoning, and my breakdown of the why of what makes people obsessed with Lilith energy. now here’s the placements.

-Natal Placements that can make others obsessed with you:

-Lilith in 1st/conjunct Asc: you’re divisive by accident. People always love you or hate you, but everyone has an opinion on you whether they actually know you or not. You embody Lilith’s dark, rebellious, and sensual femininity without even trying. You probably have a figure that turns heads as well. You come off as fiery and intimidating. Others get enamored and fixated on you. The tricky part can come with invoking such strong reactions in others, a fan can easily turn into an enemy. This can happen just as easily in reverse as well.

-Lilith in 10th/conjunct MC: You come off as controversial as you are powerful. You walk into a room and everyone feels the weight of your presence before you even say a word. Truly the embodiment of boss b*tch energy and you don’t have to try. Your presence demands respect and can easily intimidate others, even potential suitors. Even when you’re at your least confident you’re formidable, at your most confident you’re untouchable.

-Lilith in 7th: You’re a charmer by nature. You may find yourself at the center of controversial attention and scandal in relationships. It’s easy for you to persuade others into doing what you want them to. People may always want to be the one to tame you and to get you to settle down with them but you’re hard to get a hold of.

-Lilith in 4th: You grew up with adults viewing you as competition (which was like super inappropriate for them to do). You may have learned about using your looks/energy as a weapon for survival from an early age. A lot of people are fascinated with the way you handle your home life. You probably give a lot of people fantasies about settling down with you, but they get afraid/intimidated by what that could mean and how that could impact their families (the ones they already have and the ones they hope to have in the future)

-Lilith in 8th: Scorponic themes here. Lilith triggers obsession easily in this house, for both the native and others. Here deep aspects of taboo/shadow desires can be revealed by Lilith’s exposing energy. I feel like this is one of those house placements for Lilith that makes the native have a lot of scandalous experiences in their connections. This is the energy that draws people into you and compels them to do whatever they can to stay with you.

-Lilith in 12th: This points to being on a lot of people’s subconscious minds. Fulfilling a lot of fantasies with the neptunean themes of the house combined with Lilith’s ability to draw out the shadow side of people’s desires. This is also a house that keeps a lot of its energy hidden and tends to hide a lot of people’s reactions to the native, so this is a strong indicator of having secret admirers. Being the girl of their dreams but being relegated to their fantasies.

-Lilith opposition/square Asc: The tension here between the native’s ascendant and Lilith placement creates this energy that’s impactful, too hot to handle even. Many feel intimidated and exposed by your presence alone. You come off as someone that can’t control their own s*x appeal. Untamable in the truest sense, because you can’t even control the energy. When you try to downplay it, it leaks out and makes people suspicious, they assume you must be hiding something and they’re compelled to find out. When you embrace it, you become a force of nature. Like combustion sustained. Many want to compete with you and be the ones to subdue your energy. To be the ones to best you. But they can’t. Not even you can. And it can quickly drive others over the edge. (Sidenote: I feel like this is also the hardest Lilith energy to romanticize, with this placement self awareness becomes one of your most pertinent tools. If you are unaware of yourself this energy can set you in fire, make you outcast yourself or turn manipulative to others due to what you’ve gone through. If you are unaware of others, this can put you in danger because they react in the strongest of ways- instinctively they feel disgust or obsession towards you. It’s a harrowing energy to carry)

-Lilith in fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): This is just a theory of mine, but I’ve noticed that for fixed Lilith signs they often have to find balance to avoid getting obsessed with expressing or repressing their fixed Lilith energy. When others come into play, I feel as though they too get fixated. Fixated with how you present yourself when they know you, fixated on how your energy effects them, stuck on you/how they perceive you in general. This is strongest/most obsessive with Lilith in Scorpio imo.

-Lilith in water signs (cancer, scorpio, pisces): I’ve come to interpret Lilith in water signs as having this emotional/subconscious effect. It’s not as explosive as other elements, but it ends up being more permeating. Still waters run deep. The type of connection that leaves you either so emotionally affected or emotionally devastated that you feel it forever. This one never leaves you.

-Lilith in fire signs (aries, leo, sagittarius): Nearly the opposite as above, Lilith in fire signs is the effect of that spark- pure heat- and it rarely lasts, that’s the maddening part. If water signs impress upon your subconscious because they’re so emotionally permeating, then fire signs hit you with a huge burst of energy then you’re left chasing that high for ages. It’s the sultry woman you never see again, or the adventurer who ran off before you could tether yourself to them. It’s a burst of that heat and then it’s gone. Or you’re afraid it’ll leave you. The idea is devastating and then you’re even more hooked than you were before.

-Synastry that can kick off obsession:

-Lilith conjunct their sun/moon/asc: The feeling of meeting someone that illuminates this hidden side of you. Freeing but terrifying. Knowing someone that holds all of this power to draw out the unseen. And how this will play out tends to depend on the maturity of both parties. For Ascendant when it’s positive, the ascendant person feel empowered by the Lilith person to act and react from a place they were too afraid to before, like they could pursue what they desire without shame through this connection. The Lilith person will feel like they have room to take up space and express parts of their expression they couldn't before, they’ll feel more seen and understood. When it’s negative, the ascendant person will resent how the Lilith person expresses themselves, the Asc person will feel envious of the Lilith person’s up front nature and/or the Lilith person will embody traits they deeply resent but are attracted to. The ascendant person can become obsessed with traits the Lilith person has that repels and attracts them. For Sun, when it’s positive the Lilith person will illuminate the Sun person’s hidden drive, the things that motivate them to express their personality in a way that we’re afraid to before, and the Lilith person will feel lighter and brighter in the sun person’s presence and may become more forgiving/less ashamed of their own shadow side. When it’s negative, the sun person will resent the Lilith person’s drive and personality and the sun person will feel the need to compete with and shame the Lilith person. The Lilith person may feel exposed and will become resentful and belittling to the sun person. The sun person can become obsessed with outdoing the Lilith person and attracting more praise/attention than they do. For moon, when it’s positive the moon person can feel like an emotional freedom with the Lilith person, even if there’s an intensity there the moon person can reveal a side of their deepest selves that only really makes sense between them and the Lilith person. The Lilith person can feel nurtured and the rare chance to feel safe while being vulnerable, they’ll feel deeply emotionally at home with moon person. When it’s negative, the moon person can grow codependent and use the Lilith person as an emotional crutch for their shadow side/insecurities, they can feel like the Lilith person expressing themselves is a personal/emotional attack on the moon person and their vulnerabilities. The Lilith person can feel trapped, emotionally appeasing the moon person. The Lilith person can become manipulative and play on this hidden side of the moon person as well. Maybe the most unhealthy out of all of these when it’s an underdeveloped connection. The moon person can become controlling and obsessive over the emotional solace they feel for the Lilith person and they can easily become possessive.

-Lilith harsh aspects (square/opposition/conjunct) to their Venus: The Venus person never imagined they would fall for the Lilith person, the Lilith person is everything they’re ashamed to be romantically attracted to (some sort of taboo like race, age, social class, etc). The Lilith person has embodied temptation for the Venus person and now the Venus person is hooked, not that they’d ever admit it. The whole connection can have this taboo/forbidden feeling to it whether it’s scandalous or not. The Venus person often has some sort of conflict with who they pictured settling down with and who the Lilith person actually is. The Venus person tends to get obsessed when they can’t find that Lilith person in any other romantic options. They still may resist settling down but they’ll keep coming back. (Pro tip: don’t let them use you- but that’s just an -opinion-)

-Lilith harsh aspects to their Mars: Very similar to above but it’s more likely that the connection is more motivated by s*xual chemistry. The mars person clicks on a level of intimacy that they are unable to with almost anyone else with the Lilith person. The Lilith person can feel deeply desired by the mars person, in turn. The mars person will feel exposed by the darker sides of what they crave intimately being brought to light in their connection to the Lilith person. The mars person may feel especially challenged by the Lilith person, in terms of dominance/power/control. No matter the actual dynamics at hand, the mars person may never feel like they have enough control over the connection and this may make them more agitated/competitive with the Lilith person. The mars person can become obsessive over the strength of the connection and feeling powerless over it.

-Lilith harsh aspects to the Moon: Similar to the Venus and Mars aspects, this would have the most emotional motivation out of all of the connections. The Moon person would have an emotional side of themselves exposed by the Lilith person. If they’re the type to never get emotionally attached then suddenly they’re in their feelings about the Lilith person. If they’re trying not to do anything long term, then they’re considering a life with the Lilith person (the inverse could occur too, with Lilith’s tendency to attract scandal). The Lilith person would find their emotions and vulnerability challenged but may express some unseen side of themselves with the moon person. Could lead to a manipulative and codependent connection if both parties are underdeveloped. The moon person may become obsessive over how much depth they had in their connection with the Lilith person, especially if they can’t get that feeling again.

-Lilith squaring/opposing the angles (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th): The Lilith person will challenge the ways the house person lives and perceives the world/operates throughout their lives. Like how they interpret their experiences and perceive things (1st). How they consider their family and their home, and what feels like home (4th). Their attitudes and actions in relationships and partnerships (7th). How their public image is and what their reputation is, and their career and what it means to them (10th). The obsession usually comes from the “you can never go back to how things used to be” feeling that the Lilith person leaves the house person with. Could be expressed as resentment or being bewildered by this new way of seeing/experiencing things.

-Lilith conjunct their 8th house: The Lilith person can quite easily make the house person feel exposed. They can learn what digs deep at the house person and what triggers them. What darkness they’re hiding. What the house person is obsessed with. Easy aspect for a relationship/connection with a lot of power plays.

[canmom]

booksbooksbooks{1} - clones, parrots, and high stakes poetry

one of the things I wanna do in the wake of worldcon is read more sff books and write about them. in that spirit, going to try and catch up on writing about some books, starting with...

Clone, Priya Sarukkai Chabria

This is a book that is maybe decently well known in India, but I'm not sure it's caught a lot of attention in the West. Which is a shame, because it's an absolute banger of a book.

It's tricky to know where to begin with Clone. You could approach it as a dystopian science fiction story, in which a clone in a hypocritical and cruel society stops taking her memory-suppressing drugs and starts channeling the past life of a controversial poet. Or, you could view that as a frame story and the real substance as something more like a short story anthology: a long slice through history from unlikely angles, coloured in shades of cruelty and religion. Of course, it's both those things.

Clone has been cooking for a while, it seems; an older version was published way back in 2009 as Generation Fourteen. I'm not sure the differences between that version and the version I read.

The story follows Clone 14/54/G, mostly just referred to by the title Clone by characters. She belongs to a society calling itself the Global Community, rigidly stratified and populated by various engineered posthumans: the abundant Clones, the dumb and violent Superior Zombies, the poetic Firehearts and so on. Almost all of them are essentially disposable slaves to the ultra-privileged Originals, from whom each generation of Clones is derived.

As such, the book is full of interesting contortions of language used to dress up this cruel, repressive society in a positive light. Capital letters ('The Drug', 'The Celebrations') and euphemisms abound. Clones aren't killed, they are 'withdrawn' after their 'actuality' runs out - there is another different word for each other category of being. Their lives are heavily regimented, both work and what passes for free time. It's always ready to proffer an explanation for a certain practice: here's why it's a good thing the flamethrowers use regular napalm. Make sure to thank the person punishing you.

Of all the various species of posthuman we encounter, besides the clone, the ones the story most seems to enjoy writing are the Fireharts - all named after elements of poetry like 'Quatrain' and 'Stanza', they are mercurial, energetic bug creatures who exist to obey a poetic function (and of course they're hooked on drugs and as controlled as every other element of the society). The rest of the society seems to view them with an attitude of mild exasperation, but as strange as the Firehearts are to our protagonist, they are some of the only genuine connections she's able to form across the book. But they are very much captive creatures: whatever liberal ideology they espouse, they are no more separate from this dystopia than the clones.

So, the inciting incident: 14/54/G, our eponymous Clone, ends up 'mutating', starting with dreams of past times - glimpses of the stories that will be told in full later in the book. Many of these stories are from the perspective of animals: a dog thought to have divination powers in the service of a prehistoric warlord at the foot of the Himalayas; a devoutly religious fish with a condescending attitude swimming in the Ganges flood waters; a lesbian parrot deeply infatuated with its owner one of the wives of a monarch Khan-Sahib (a title used in British India, though I am not sure of the time period of this story). Others are humans in mostly dire situations: a soldier awaiting execution, a low-ranking acolyte of a hidden Buddhist monastery complex; a mother of a boy killed in battle for the sake of Emperor Ashoka.

These stories - eventually dubbed 'the Visitations' - vary impressively in tone and style. What is the unifying theme? The blurb declares 'compassion and memory in the midst of all that is grotesque', and that's not a terrible start, but I think it leaves out a lot. Many of the characters in the stories are defined by devotion, often to people who do not reciprocate it, or view them as toys at best. The parrot's story is equally the story of 'My Love', life in the court, the affair she has - and also of casual, indifferent cruelty, such as when the parrot's tongue is peeled to make her sing prettier on Khan-Sahib's suggestion. (I assume this is an actual historical practice...)

Sarukkai Chabria has a fantastic command of narrative voice, which works extremely well when she's sketching the contours of living through all these different partial perspectives. I am reminded, strongly, of the different stories in Rachel Pollack's novel Unquenchable Fire, and what Pollack had to say about suffering and ecstasy. The story of Dhammapada, the 'flying monk', is a great example of how the stories immerse you in the worldviews of each character: full of earnest passion, we can read a bit between the lines to learn a bit about the harshness of the monastery and the power structures within it, but at the same time it's difficult not to be pulled in to share that same fascination with life. The arrogant fish, who believes it has solely seen through the illusion and understood the world and casts disdain on its fellow fish, is another fantastically entertaining character.

As good as these stories are, the dystopian setting is also a pretty fascinating creation. It's a society defined by weird calcified hypocrisies. Anyone is free to access information, but doing so may call suspicion down on you, which could be lethal. 'Free-Time' is ritualised and timed down to the minute. It assigns her a cyborg dog to monitor her, but the dog is so affected by the ambient violence of the gladitorial games that it tears itself to pieces; the Clone is helpless to stop this but still punished, a recurring pattern. It's a well observed depiction of the caprice of such a system of power.

The final arc of Clone sees 14/54/G imprisoned in luxurious but harshly controlled circumstances as various factions within the Global Community try to pry out the final poem of her original, the subversive poet 'Aa-aa'. She's caught up in a somewhat convoluted power game: 'Leader', an Original who turns out to be related to Aa-aa, wishes to take this opportunity to stage a rebellion; all, however, hinges on the Clone sufficiently recreating the life of Aa-aa to be able to conjure up her final words.

As with all affairs of the "Global Community", their approach is haphazard, almost cargo-cult attitude towards the way humans work. As soon as they give up on one approach, like putting her in Aa-aa's quarters and trying to get her to roleplay as the Original, they switch to another, like drugging her. At one point our protagonist is taken on a trip to see the horrible conditions at a factory that had a severe effect on Aa-aa, but there's a Guide Clone and a Superior Zombie along for the ride to make sure she reacts in the proper way. The tension builds and builds, as our protagonist desperately struggles to think of something to say to demonstrate her usefulness, or support the rebellion, and somehow survive.

The ending when it comes is quite abrupt, and I feel like this is the only part (aside from biological quibbles) where I felt like I didn't quite get it anymore. Spoilers, then:

Unable to divine what Aa-aa was going to say, the Clone ends up making an appeal to common humanity in front of all of the Originals at The Celebrations. It felt like an odd moment to me, because the entire book up to that point seemed to be demolishing the idea that anyone has ever given a shit about common humanity. To be fair, the words don't seem to have much effect on anyone else either: the Clone manages to escape with her life in the chaos of the palace drama within a few pages, but there is little sign that her words will have much effect beyond the immediate disruption.

So what's it all about? We have this unsparing cross-section through all types of human cruelty; we've seen all sorts of people contemplating the nature of existence through religion and interpersonal devotion; in the present we've seen a privileged intellectual become aware of the horrors of her society and minutely observed the hypocritical ways she reacts, which have become calcified into a ritual designed to extract one final missing piece of information from a disposable being. For all the strange turns her life takes, the Clone almost never has any power; she's tossed around on the wake of events that preceded her. But the forces acting on her are in their own way painfully ignorant and stupid.

We can read parallels to all sorts of societies. Given the very specifically Indian references in this book, we could think of British India, or equally the modern fascism of Modi's government - but I think it would be too reductive to read it as being about just one specific political regime when it takes this especially broad view.

I feel like part of the reason the Clone's statement feels like it falls short is that there is no way to sum up everything we've seen. It's too broad and too full of contradictions. Individual stories have overt themes: the arrogance of the intellectual fish, the freedom of political power to be capricious in the mother's address to Emperor Ashoka, and so on and so on - and many of these ideas have reflection in the present-day story. But any attempt to just turn them all into one pithy statement feels doomed to be pat.

Perhaps it is because I finished the game around the same time, but I am kind of reminded of the stories of NieR Reincarnation, which takes a similar anthology approach to the follies and tragedies of human history. In that case, the preservation of the archive taken as a whole is the subject of the story; here the stories all belong to one person's body of work, and we are witnessing a mad effort to try to find where they all point, with the futility of this project all concentrated on our Clone.

I kind of wonder what ending could have worked better than 'I am human, I claim my birthright' as the Clone's final statement - after spending the whole story dismantling the construct of the human, inviting us to inhabit animals and clones and so on, it feels off to reaffirm 'we are all human' as the basis of a path out. And, to be fair it's not quite her final statement - she goes away carrying memories of those who died, contemplating the 'cocoons' of memories, carrying a child (biological), and contemplating perhaps one day continuing to write down the Visitations. The final words of the story return to the death-witnessing dog Trichaisma, as Trichaisma's owner, the warlord Vrikama, finally dies. It ends in a dog's prayer. That's pretty cool!

I don't know that I have a final definitive reading of all that happens in Clone. That's exactly what makes it compelling! It's a book that doesn't pull its punches and is content to face ambiguity. That's good shit.

So, I was well impressed with Clone. I definitely feel like I'd love to see more recognition of this book in Western SFF fandom (I don't wanna say English-language, because it seems like a lot of the newspapers that covered it are in English). I feel like I'm only scratching the surface here, and I lack the cultural background to appreciate some of the historical or religious allusions, which I'd love to see elaborated on!

I definitely wanna read more Indian SFF! Next on the docket on that front is Kaiyeki by Vaishnavi Patel. Hopefully it will take me fewer months to get around to writing about this one ^^'

[tagapagsalaysay]

genuine suggestions: Id like to see your takes on more mythology! I remember a mananaggal some time back. also really like the pieces with extreme differences in contrasts, whether in terms of saturation or brightness (but you already do plenty of these!) , and the more horror-like pieces (like your body horror, but environmental horror would be interesting to see)

environmental horror is a difficult subject because some of my ideas are way too real sometimes im ngl, but im planning to do it anyway

as for mythology, i have a particular self boundary for it that i never really said publicly yet so here we go... i don't do any thing that relates to precolonial ph mythology out of respect for IP, which can tell that story better than i do. id like to take this as a chance to explicitly note that my works are pretty much post colonial as a backing theme or whatever the term is. i dont have any direct connection or even a good primary source to show you atm. i also dont like the idea of generic filipino deities and stuff

to make up with mostly avoiding idols despite being like, the worlds most detached animist ever, i do have something vaguely related. i wanted to make a specific narrative related to biringan, but all that is in ways unrelated to old mythology, and more of urban horror that youd find esp in thay ph ghost stories book. so. yeah i couldve just said, ill do urban horror instead. more of the 2nd gen type, because its involving insane pretentious western (ew) shiet

as for everything else U KNO ME..... i do this on a tuesday 😄

[honklore]

is nothing sacred? | quackity

(4.6k+ word count, prince!alex, augur/seer!reader, gn!reader, angst, alex has a sucky dad, reader has a sucky family, karl appears as a time traveler ofc, neg and pos religious themes, deification is the belief that when a monarch dies they will become a god, the rapids is a kingdom in this but it isn’t an smp au)

listen to: evermore by taylor swift, foreigner’s god by hozier, (the end) by levi weaver, exile by taylor swift

There’s a warm spring just outside the monastery. It’s hidden in the mountain, a few miles away from the castle walls and yet you find that it’s too close for comfort.

Every bright and loud fanfare that announces the prince’s coming and leaving echoes off of the hills and pours through your peaceful respite. It’s just enough to make you grumpy.

It’s one of those mornings again, and you find yourself floating in the hot spring, eyes open towards the sun, wishing you had more patience with the dear prince you call your best friend.

Your robe is heavy across your torso, floating around your bare legs as you ponder your plans for today. That is, if the prince doesn’t come visit you.

That would be wishful thinking, though. You don’t have to close your eyes to know that someone has blocked the sun. With a sigh, you sink your body beneath the warm water and submerge, blinking the water off of your lashes. “Alex, this is sacred ground.”

“I know,” the prince replies, squatting down to see you. “I tied my boots around my neck, see?”

You stare at the boot he’s proudly holding up, then shift your eyes to his bare feet. “Why are you here? This is my day off.”

“Excuse me for wanting to see my best friend,” Alex sneers mockingly, rolling his eyes. “Listen, are you coming back to the castle tomorrow?”

“We literally have an augury lesson at one in the morning,” you say. “So, yes.”

“Good, I’m going to disprove all of your theories.”

“They aren’t theories, Alex. I read patterns for a living, alright? I know what I’m talking about.”

“It’s not science.”

“Neither is your father deifying your grandfather,” this time you mock him.

He holds a steady gaze, lips quirked into a cheeky smile. “You’ll tell me about the night of my coronation again, right?”

“Because it warned of extreme change,” you say, voice level. “Yet I can’t figure out what’s going to happen. There’s something the stars aren’t telling me, and I have to figure it out to protect you and the kingdom.”

Alex’s eyes are a deep brown that you could probably get lost in, if he wasn’t such a little shit. “Protect me, you say?” He’s flirting now, eyes alight with the thought of annoying you, and if this spring wasn’t so important to you, you would’ve yanked him in already. “Didn’t know you cared that much about me, Y/n.”

Your robes are clinging uncomfortably to your body, accentuating the lines and curves — or lack thereof. “Hand me my towel and look away please.”

Alex closes his eyes and turns his face away, holding out the towel. “Learn anything divine from your swimming trip?”

Alex holds the towel out like a makeshift screen, and averts his eyes while you dry off and change into the clean robe he brought you. As annoying as he is, the prince is thoughtful, and he fills in the places where you lack.

“I was reflecting,” you say, buttoning the front of the robe. “It’s good for you; clears out your soul.”

Alex tosses the towel over your head and ruffles your hair. He chuckles at your protests; taunts you with warmth in his eyes. “You’re so spiritual.”

You glare at him. “I’m an augur.”

“Right,” Alex says, holding the now-wet towel close to his chest. “But you take it so seriously, sometimes.”

“I hate you,” you say, no venom in your words.

“I love you, too,” Alex says. He leans forward, almost as if to kiss your forehead, and then remembers that you’re on sacred ground, and kissing is forbidden.

Still, the very thought of what he might’ve done sends an unwanted flutter throughout your chest.

Wax drips onto the closed letter. You dip the silver stamp into the dark purple puddle, leaving the royal seal behind.

Inside is a letter to your family. It’s a prophecy you’ve received just for them. Despite them disowning you for your gift, you still find it important to warn them of upcoming woe. Like now, for instance, when you wish to warn them about the upcoming rainstorm that could ruin their crops if they don’t take precautions.

You rub your temples and blow out the candle, leaving you in silent darkness.

Your room is on the highest tower of the castle. The turret is small; a circular room with a circular bed and a circular desk and a glass, circular ceiling that showcases the stars to you each night. There’s a telescope standing against the window, a chest for your clothes, and the writing desk you’re seated upon. However, your bathroom is a few stories down, near the bottom of the tower and closer to accessible plumbing.

The door behind you bursts open, and you know it’s the young prince and his lack of basic manners when it comes to privacy. Your privacy, anyway. “What is it, Alex?”

“I’ve been waiting for you in the tower for an hour now, silly,” Alex’s words get softer as the light from the corridor pours in, and he can see what you’ve been up to. He stills, smile faltering. “You had another vision of them.”

“I wish they would stop,” you mutter. If you clench your eyes tightly enough, you can will any tears to suck back into your head. Then you can suffer through a headache, like you always do. You’ve had this “gift” since you were a little kid; you know the ups and downs of using it.

Not that it gives you much choice sometimes.

“Are you drinking the–“

“No,” you snap at Alex. “Look, suppressing them only makes it worse. Prophecies become... darker. I see things I can’t unsee. I have to allow them through.”

Alex has a hurt look on his face, but you can’t tell if it’s because you snapped at him or because he doesn’t want to see you in pain. You selfishly hope it’s the latter.

“We can talk about something less harsh on the mind.” Alex sits on your chest, avoiding your bed. It’s another sacred place for you, same as the monastery grounds. Alex knows the rules of being a seer; the ancient laws you practice. He’s read the same books as you — if just to understand you better. He’s the most loyal friend you can think of: the only person in the entire kingdom who has never questioned your beliefs.

“I can’t stand the thought of them getting hurt,” you admit. “And with the vision about your coronation... I’m so scared this kingdom is going to crumble and it’s going to be because I couldn’t prevent it.”

Alex fiddles with his necklace. It’s a rune, one for protection. You used to wear a similar one beneath your robes, but with your fear of something happening, you’ve made Alex promise to wear it.

“It’s not your job to keep the kingdom from crumbling,” Alex relays. “All you need to do is tell me what you see. Then I hint to my father ways to change the kingdom. After that, it’s up to fate.”

You bite your lip. “Fate has a tricky way of playing its own hand.”

“Then it was never in your hands in the first place, yes?” Alex speaks honestly, but there’s a bit of cheek to his voice that eases your nerves.

You smile sadly. “Your father is too prideful, Alex. I can see it; the ravens, they flock the castle whenever he makes a speech. He wants to become a god. He wants something that’s impossible.”

“He deified Grandfather,” Alex quips, no emotion backing his voice. “Like you said earlier. It’s just to start the tradition, so that when he dies he’ll become holy, too.”

“I told him it was wrong. I told him that the stars foresee ruin if he stays on this trail of pride.” You cast your eyes down to your family’s letter. “No one believes me.”

“I believe you,” Alex’s soft voice urges you to look at him.

He’s quiet. The rune is resting on his outstretched palm and he’s looking at you. “Do you think I’d take these lessons and wear these trinkets if I thought you were wrong?”

“Maybe you do it because we’re friends,” you say. You're well aware of the fact that the prince is the only person in the entire kingdom who advocates for your beliefs. But with the rest of the realm against you, you can't help but think that deep down, he's making fun of you, too.

"You sure do worry a lot for someone who can foresee the future."

You choke out a laugh and run your hands down your face. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry. I just– I feel like if I can't prevent every bad thing I predict, then it's my fault when they happen. I wish I was ignorant to omens."

Alex tuts. He pouts at you, dragging his lower lip between his teeth and holding it there for just a beat too long. “Let’s skip lessons today. You should rest.”

“Alex—“

“Ah!” Alex stands up. He begins to unclip his cufflinks from the hem of his sleeve before he passes you a coy glance. “That’s Prince Alexis to you, and if I say you should rest, then you should rest.”

You grumble, but inwardly you’re thankful.

There’s an altar, rectified in the middle of the castle courtyard. Though it was once a place of healing — a place seers would go to cleanse their minds — it is now standing in ruins.

You lay down your offerings anyway. Dried rose petals, and a few copper coins saved up. You wait with the objects until a few crows come to diligently take them away. To where? You don’t know. You’ve never asked.

Alex’s father plans to take down the altar and replace it with a shrine of himself. The knowledge of change reeks the air with a foul scent only you can smell.

It’s as if the entire kingdom is rotting and you’re the only one who knows.

You lift your hood off of your face and continue your walk throughout the court. Those you pass politely ignore you, though some choose to sneer at your mannerisms. The king has them wrapped in his prideful rule, and your heart aches for them.

There is no freedom in serving man. This much, you know.

You find yourself in the tower, waiting for the prince to come in time for his lessons.

“Father says he wants me to study more practical subjects,” Alex relates to you.

He’s lying across the balcony floor, and you are perpendicular, with your head on his stomach. You feel every breath he takes, and something about the closeness comforts you in a way you refuse to analyze.

“I’m not sure what else you could learn,” you say. Your eyes are stuck on a chip in the balcony railing. Stone that hardly cracks, and of course your foundation is crumbling quicker than your resolve. “You have lessons from dawn till dusk.”

“And you’re the only tutor I care for,” he says with a flippant sort of tone. “I don’t know what I’d do if I saw you less. I already wish I had more time with you.”

You’ve spoken to nuns and monks and those who swear off love in servitude to the one they worship. Most admit that it’s a lonely existence, and a torture to make up for their sins. You understand that true love must be as sacred as an old god, and to worship another person would be the greatest act of devotion. For how else do you serve a creator than by worshiping the created?

You don’t think kings are meant to be worshipped. No one with that much power should be revered with such ignorance.

But a prince is different. To worship a prince alone, in secret, for just yourself... perhaps that is the most spiritual devotion of all. Perhaps it is the most torturous.

Hearing Alex’s words makes your heart yearn for a future that can never be. You don’t need a vision to tell you that his father will soon grow tired of you. Of course you will soon be sent out of the kingdom, and Alex will forget about you in time.

You know this without a doubt in your heart, and yet Alex still clings to these moments with you.

You’d do anything to keep him safe.

“Where will I go?” You ask. “Where will I be accepted?”

Alex’s breath hitches; you feel it. And you know what he wants to say — you know what lingers at the tip of his tongue.

With me.

Your family sends back the letter, unopened. You try not to cry about it, but the truth is that you feel more alone than ever. Surely you are the last of your kind, and no one cares in the least about what you have to say.

Except maybe Alex. Lovely, beautiful Alexis. He could no sooner harm a butterfly’s wing than deny you your beliefs.

But Alex is not king. He is merely a prince, and the king does not like you. It’s a miracle you’ve lasted this long.

“You fill my son’s head with nonsense,” the king paces back and forth in front of his empty thrown.

You hide your hands in the sleeves of your robe. “Your Majesty, I only relay what I see. I fear your kingdom is in danger.”

“And you think it my fault? Tell me, what if the stars told me to deify my father? What if I am following my own visions?” The royal cackles. “You have no sensible argument. All you have are silly dreams and lies to propel your own agenda. I will not have you spoiling my son’s brain.”

“Your Majesty—“

“I forbid you to speak on anything of the sort from hence forth. The altar will be torn down, and any peep from you regarding these readings will result in instant banishment.”

The sentence hurts more than it should, considering you aren’t being willed to die. You’re quite lucky in this sentence, considering you can still see Alex. Though, a part of you cracks and splinters to think of suppressing your visions.

The vision of Alex’s coronation still remains. You fear for the prince’s life. You fear the king will have something to do with it.

How do you tell the boy you adore that his father may be his downfall?

How do you get him to believe you?

The warm spring only gets hotter as the seasons change. You sink your head under, and the heat of the water burns your closed eyelids. Your head is killing you; pounding from holding back your emotions: your tears.

The monks don’t even worship the same as you. They lend you their springs and advice, but they aren’t the same. There are no other augurs in The Rapids, so no one else really knows how taxing the job is.

More visions come to you when you’re stressed, so you try your hardest to calm yourself. The water scalds your skin, but it distracts your mind enough to keep the visions away.

It’s all the same. All the visions are the same — Alex gets crowned king and overturns the deifying decree. And only days later, he’s assassinated, and the regent — his father — takes back the throne.

As the old proverb goes: pride cometh before a fall, and the king certainly has enough pride. You just don’t want Alex to get caught in the fall.

“You’re so predictable.” Alex’s voice is warbled.

It takes a minute for the water to release from your ears.

Surfaced, you can see Alex crouched by the bank, careful not to fall in. He’s got that same gentle smile — thin, rouge lips and eyes that seem to shine when they look at you. Alex never judges. He never makes fun of your methods. He’s simply there for you, and your heart longs to be there for him as well.

“This place is sacred,” you blurt. Seeing Alex’s face in the light of the sunset just makes you think of your visions. What would a world without Alex even look like? You aren’t sure you want to find out.

You start to cry, and Alex holds a hand out silently.

He helps you out — holds out the robe for you. His boots are around his neck, and you focus on the thinness of his ankles while you clothe yourself.

“You can’t hold me.” You say plainly.

“I know,” Alex’s voice is watery. “Let’s get you back to the palace, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you sniff. “Okay.”

“I’m not dead.” Alex lightly scratches your arm. Up and down. Up and down. “I’m not going to die.”

Your shoulders are braced against his side. You keep your gaze on the white smoke rising off of his incense cone.

This is his room, and his bed, because those aren’t sacred. His bed can be slept in and snuggled in and kissed in and loved in. He has scratchy cotton sheets and incense that is too old to really smell like anything.

He’s a prince with messy documents surrounding his desk and curtains that haven’t been dusted in days. Some days you wonder if the entire castle has forgotten about him. You don’t want to bring it up — don’t want to ask — but it flummoxes you.

You reach for his hand and stop its motions. “I’m sorry I bring you into all of this.”

“I want you to bring me into everything,” Alex slurs. He’s staying awake for you, and you know it. He rests his temple against your head. “I don’t want you to keep anything from me.”

You hum. His body is warm against yours. Too warm, to the extent where you know you’ll wake up in the uncomfortable sort of sweat that comes when a child falls asleep on you, or when you fall asleep without the window open.

Something heavy squeezes your chest. It feels like your ribcage is sentient — hugging and pressing into your lungs until it’s nearly impossible to breathe without an uncomfortable stutter.

Alex falls asleep quick, so you don’t worry about him noticing.

You settle against him and breathe through your nose. The feeling will pass — it always does. You feel this way whenever Alex reveals something so vulnerable to you. You reckon it’s something to do with the tenderness of his voice, or the earnest squeeze of his hand.

There’s a need to protect him. You want to be there for him, more than anything else in the world.

Stripped of your job — the altar torn down — you resort back to your first and foremost activity: Alex’s best friend and (unofficial) advisor.

In this position, you’re confident in your abilities. You know just as well as anyone that you’d rather die than see the prince harmed in any way.

You’re kicked out of the tower, and your telescopes are left to dust. The king locks the door personally, ardent in his attempt to keep you away from any visions that might harm his reign.

You stay in Alex’s room, on a spare bed mat near the fireplace.

Of course, Alex has offered his bed, but you refuse to bother him any more than you have to. And now, with your rituals forbidden, you need a place to privately gather your thoughts.

The flames lick the stone furnace and you lie still. You watch them dance and close your eyes, hoping to rest without any visions or nightmares.

But the nightmares come, and they’re always the same.

When you wake in a fervent sweat, you know that only one thing will keep you from fearing Alex’s death. So, you crawl beneath his scratchy sheets.

You don’t snuggle into him or bother his slumber. All you need to do is know that he’s here. You rest your smallest finger against his bare arm and fall asleep to the sound of an owl hooting outside the window.

On the morning of Alex’s coronation, fog rises from the earth. You see it as a sign: this day will be confusing and blurred.

Alex is just excited to have cooler weather. The blistering heat has been plaguing the kingdom for days, so to have a day of fog and hollow wind sounds like heaven to the prince.

You wear your runes beneath your robe, and the weight of them is less than the weight of knowing you’re dead if you’re caught. But you need them; need this day to come and go without blood and tears.

Alex cannot see you. He’s far too busy with final rehearsals and receiving guests from far and wide.

You stray beyond the castle, into the square, where traders and travelers have set up shop in the hopes of making a profit.

There’s a sign. Fortunes Read Here. It’s tacked over a purple curtain, and you can see amber light shining through a thin slit. Like maybe someone is in there. Like maybe you aren’t alone.

You walk in.

Disappointment smacks against your ribs like a heavy wave against jagged rocks. It’s a scam. A boy no younger than yourself is sitting behind a table, with a green sash tied over his forehead. There’s a mystical rune of some kind that looks like a portal, and it’s tacked to nearly every surface you can see with dripping green paint. The place looks like that of a madman, and you fear you’re about to be mocked.

“Hello,” he says. He doesn’t offer a name. The blues of his eyes flicker from time to time with a shimmery purple, and you think it’s a trick of the light.

“Are you going to laugh at me?” You sit across from him. “Once I leave, are you going to think of me as just another gullible customer?”

“Can you not tell the future?” He says, and he grabs the crystal ball and tucks it under the table. “I can sense it. You want answers, genuine answers, not some promise of success.”

“Who are you?”

“Karl,” he says. “I’m from the village of The Rapids, but you know, magic is looked down upon. I doubt anyone would believe me if I told them what I know.”

You trace the lines of the rune. Your brain fogs, but as you repeat the motion, it clears up, and you suddenly see Karl, clear as day, standing in a crowd and watching Alex make a speech. “You’ve been there? You’ve been to the future?”

“Look closer,” Karl mumbles.

So you focus on the details, and you can see the black banners of mourning, and the redness of Alex’s eyes. “Oh. This is his grandfather’s funeral. This is the year before I became Alex’s tutor.”

“Walk closer.”

Unsure what he means, you continue to trace the rune, and imagine yourself walking through the crowd. Only Karl moves instead, so you pause your tracing and look at Karl.

He’s got his eyes closed, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Why did you come here? What did you want to see?”

You brought me here, you think of saying, but you wonder if this is what Karl can do. If he can travel to the past and show people what he sees. “I- I suppose I want to know why he was deified. Was it a plot?”

You trace the rune again, and Karl walks over to the king, where he stands apart from the podium. Even though his son is giving a heartfelt speech, he’s not listening at all. Instead, he’s talking to one of his trusted advisors.

“I will make a wonderful god.”

“Prince Alexis hates the new creed,” the advisor observes. “Surely he’ll overrule it once he is king.”

“Yes,” the king says. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

You gasp, and even Karl seems winded as you stop tracing the rune.

He places his palms on the table. “So that’s what you wanted to find out. A regicide plot.”

“I have to find Alex,” you mutter. You stand and rip one of your runes off of your neck. Intuition. “Here, take it. You should go.”

“I can’t go into the future,” Karl warns. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“No,” you think of Alex’s words. “None of us can predict fate. I have to go.”

You run out of the tent, and when you look back, it’s gone, left with nothing but a dirty sign labeled Fortunes Read Here.

Perhaps it’s past tense now.

Your purple robe billows behind you as you rush into the castle in search of the prince.

The staff says they haven’t seen him, the lords are already drunk off of mulled wine. His own tailors are running around, fearing they won’t be able to dress him in time.

So he’s gone, and that means you’re too late.

Or rather, maybe Alex is smarter than you give him credit for, and he’s gone to the one place his father won’t go.

You head up to the tower.

He’s there. Of course he’s there. And he’s in only part of his ceremonial clothes, leather pants and a cream-white collared shirt. He’s leaning his palms against the stone railing and staring out against the wind, like he’s waiting for it to speak to him. Tears slip down his cheeks and drop into the air.

“Alex…” You wrap your arms around his soft waist, squeezing tight to try and convey how thankful you are that he knew to get away. “Your father… He’s—”

“He poisoned my breakfast,” Alex whimpers. He grabs blindly for your arms, and at the touch of your skin, he folds in on himself; shifts around to face you, and buries his face into your neck. “My taster… He thought my taster was out. But he wasn’t. Now he’s dead, and the counsel are trying to figure out what to do with my father.”

“Alex, I’m so sorry.”

He cries harder, and you think your hug must feel weak compared to the comfort he so clearly needs right now. “I have to go tell the lords and the staff. We have to postpone the coronation until everyone involved is apprehended.”

You think of what he does when you feel alone. He visits your spring, and he takes off his shoes. He takes you to his bed and scratches your arm. He kisses your head and hums old lullabies from his childhood until you fall asleep.

So you grab his hand, and you pull him down the few stairs where your old bedroom lies. And you bring him toward your bed, but he stops you.

“It’s sacred to you,” he hiccups.

“You’re sacred to me,” you finally decide, and you let him crawl under your sheets.

You untie his boots and pull them off of his feet, along with his socks. Then you take the blanket and pull it up to his chin. You kiss his forehead and crawl in next to him. And you scratch his arm, up and down, and you hum old lullabies from your own childhood until he falls asleep.

While he’s asleep, you trace the moles across his cheeks and close your eyes. Suddenly, it’s like Karl’s tent, only you can see into the future, not the past. And you aren’t Karl, you’re Y/n.

The sun is bright on Alex’s back, skin tanned and warm. You’re swimming with him in the spring, and all that is sacred to you is him. All that matters is him, so he can float in the spring, and he can kiss you on holy ground, and if he can’t be deified in the kingdom, he can be deified in your soul.

And when you stop your motions, you’re back in your bed. Alex is there, sweet Alex, snoring softly and snuggling into your warmth, like you keep him safe. Like your visions aren’t the ones he believed in at all.

He has always believed solely in you.

[plutoswrath]

hi! what do you think about harsh aspects with saturn in a synastry? i have a few harsh aspects with my crush and i got a little bit worried because some websites talk about these aspects in such a negative way that it scared me... could you give your opinion about those and other harsh aspects in synastry? thank you. 🥺💓

Hello! Short disclaimer: I can understand your worries, but in astrology we always need to consider that eventually we choose what to make out of the potential presented to us. Saturn, no matter if it’s positive, neutral or negative can bring growth and thus has the potential to lead to longevity. And this absolutely counts for every harsh aspect! Also, in general people should not be afraif of seeing a at least a few harsh aspects to Satun in synastry. I know there are charts with less/completely unaspected planets, but it should be considered normal to have harsh aspects in synastry and not always indicated as a sign of doom.

With harsh Saturn aspects (I have written a similar post about harsh natal aspects with Saturn, you can look it up if you want to! x) it is always a lesson for eahc own, individual life path. The lesson here is for both, but the person that is Saturn will be the judge, the one limitating, while the otehr planet person will feel somehow restricted and unaccepted/judged maybe. The planet person often times will either see it as a wake up call of realizing the self and growing more into them, overcoming limits and giving own boundaries, and/or they will use Saturn criticism to realize their own weak points and define and polihs themself, especially in order to become more practical. That being said, Saturn will become more conscious of their set in stone world views, fears and at best, will allow themself to grow and consider the otehr side of the coin. This doesn’t mean they will lose their individuality, but will discover more room to grow inside their own individuality. I think this is something that is very profound in harsh Saturn aspects. It’s about me/us and an itruder, an external force that threatens us aka the hardship/fear that minfested in Saturn and thus can also show up physically. Saturn involves profound karmic lessons. 

Harsh aspects with Sun deal with the ego, our foundation we base everything on, something we can not get rid of, even if we wanted to. The Sun person usually feels rejected and the problem is that it’s hard for them to change because how can you change/deny yourself in order to make something work? Shouldn’t they like you for who you truly are? The other planet person usually aims for compromise, for the sun person to make an exception in certain situations (this would be the themes of the planet involved). Depending on the other planet involved, it can be easier to adjust or not, but Sun usually has to rethink their sense of self. But again, this isn’t hopless either, it just affords a willingness to be openminded for change without losing face.

Harsh aspects with Moon can be tricky as it’s one of the most important planets to consider in snyastry. Everything is important in synastry(!), but there are planets I would focus on more first when makinga  quick, basic rundown, and this  defenitely includes Moon. If Moon is malnourished it wil show most of the time quickly in the dynamic. Moon can quickly feel unloved, scared to open up because of feeling misunderstood, or even worse it can trigger some sort of hidden painful memories/trauma that caused Moon to prioritize in life/a relationship exactly what they crave for now. Planet person usually can not (easily) provide for Moon on this (planets theme) level and can feel easily burdened. But this can also count for Moon, depending on how Moon decided to deal with the neglect (look at sign here and natal aspects with moon). This calls for a deep emotional understanding of how both function and getting behind it. Here we have to look at the bigger picture of Moon and planet person. This calls for depth, honesty and understanding. 

Harsh aspects with Venus usually indicates a difference in love languages and ideals. Venus shows us how we live out ur relations of any kind, not only romantic. If Venus is neglected or feels misunderstood, creating romantic feelings in a relationship is hard. The difference to Moon here is, that Moon is also responsible for romantic feelings, but Moon can take on a more practical side on order to function in general, while Venus specifically give the magic that romance is. Venus also connects to individuality, this is something we need to manifest in our world and in our lives in order to live peacefully. Whenever Venus is in harsh aspect it can manifest in immediate ‘turn offs’, something that just makes you believe you could never ‘click’ - but oppositions and squares nutoriously known for creating attraction as well, so both is possible. What you want to manifest in order to feel comfortable, and what others need to give you manifest your Venus and live out your individuality is challenged here and the way you love or the other ones loves feels wrong or unfulfilling. Both need to become familiar with each others love language/individuality and need to decide of compromise is possible or if the differences are too big, leaving Venus dissatisfied and neglected, unappreciated. 

Harsh aspects with Mars can lead to attraction or competition. Mars is direct sexual energy, meaning it’s the force that keeps us moving. Mars can enjoy a challenge because the planet Mars is assertive in it’s nature, but if Mars needs are neglected or challenged this can turn one away from teh other. Mars needs to be given what it naturally chases after (look at sign here) in order for Mars to keep that energy going, still being intrested, still searching for ways to make things work, etc. Whenever Mars is challenged, it can try to force its will or just give up. When Mars energy is repressed by another planet, the Mars person can easily lose a sense of direction and become directionless. Mars needs to be able to follow their instincts, because Mars can not change it’s sense of direction. You can not make a Leo out of a Pisces Mars, because the sense of direction, the way the person takes action would change completely, meaning they’d become someone intirely different. And that’s not really possible. 

[sonicasura]

Balan Wonderworld Review: Favorite Costumes Part 2

Before we get started, I like to say something. I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE TIM TRAPS. If you don't know, there is a specific plant that tends to appear in certain levels called Tim Traps. A carnivorous orange flower that's favorite meal is TIMS. If you kick the plants, you can free your Trapped Tim or prevent one from getting trapped for a short period of time. Problem is if the Tim is trapped for too long, your baby is gone for good. Chapter 3 and Chapter 5's Act 3 are loaded with these annoying plants. To the point if I can't find the trapped Tims, I exit out of the game just to save my poor fluffballs. Ain't sacrificing my little birds for Drops and Trophies! Mini rant over.

Rules are the same as before. I'd be ranking both a Common Costume and Rare Costume. Common Costumes are easily to find whether it be in multiple levels and Rare Costumes are those that rarely appear or are difficult to get.

I'll be doing my favorite Secret Costume after playing all Act 3s for each chapter. Now let's begin.

Chapter 7

Common Costume- Floaty Flower

The Flower Fairy and greatest glider found in the main story. Floaty Flower is a costume that can be found in the Act 1, 2 and the Boss Act, it offers a slower descent but faster movement than the hover for Soaring Sheep.

I love this costume not for its aesthetic but a cute Easter Egg I found in Chapter 7 Act 1. On rare occasions, this costume is an NPC that actually flirts with you! Some NPCs in certain chapters act differently from their standard counterpart. They often try to disguise themselves or runaway. Catching them grants you a free costume of the one you caught.

Floaty Flower will appear and follow you, similar to a shy school girl with a crush. If you go to her, she will run which is a similar action to any shy person getting approached by their crush. Also... I think there is some lore hidden in this one that might be quite sad if it's directly linked to Cal, the human whose heart created this particular world. If so then... OOF.

Rare Costume - Paladin Puncher

A knight fights with his fists than a sword. This costume can be found in Act 2 and is a stronger version of the Pumpkin Puncher that can break iron or ice blocks. He's a bit slower than his Chapter 6 counterpart but perfect breaking the more blocks and defeating spiky enemies.

I also love the fact this costume goes against the traditional tools of a knight. Knights often fight using swords, shields, lances and rare occasions bows or axes. If you give me one who PUNCHES or straight uses martial arts to fight then you got my vote in seconds.

Chapter 8

Common Costume - Snow Fairy

Elegant dancer of ice and snow. The Snow Fairy costume allows the wearer to walk on air for a short period of time and can in found in Act 1 and Act 2. This costume does have a shorter usage time than Air Cat but makes up for it with the added elevation.

I absolutely adore how elegant and beautiful this particular costume is. You can compare the Snow Fairy to myths often related to fae or hidden in the freezing mountains. An otherworldly beauty that makes any hardship worth seeing just a being before your eyes. Being a reindeer type Faun just adds to the mystique and creating snowflakes to walk on is a perfect extra touch.

Rare Costume - Amadeus

Sophisticated pianist. A costume that can only be found in Act 1 and is a performing costume. Now I am a big fan of piano covers, whether it be covers of game osts or actual songs, there is rarely any piano music I don't like.

I love the fact he's wearing piano keys as a collar and even has a tutu made out of those very keys. A very creative take to a normally grounded instrument. And the big white wig is a nice touch since it's often portrayed with pianists in various media.

Chapter 9

Common Costume- Iron Panda

Adorable crusher. Iron Panda is a costume found in Act 1 and Act 2 with the ability to break iron blocks using both its jump and weight. This costume is surprisingly fast for a rather large and heavy form, perfect for fast stomps on enemies or quick getaways if you have rare costumes you don't want to lose.

This costume reminds of a rolling Russian Doll with a panda theme. Very adorable, the bluish purple color suits the white very nicely and I love that sleepy look on its face. The large blue dots on its sides are actually the arms too, they mimic panels! Only thing that unnerves me is when the costume turns their head by a 90 degree angle. Super creepy when using it.

Rare Costume- Merry Ghost

Cute and Spooky! The Merry Ghost is a costume that can be found in Act 2 and gives the ability to constantly float. It's main purpose is to avoid ground hazards like poison swamps and has a larger slightly floaty jump. The only downside is that you can't harm enemies with this, it's only for quick mobility.

Very adorable especially with the stitched rag cloak covering the body. It has this Mimikyu sort of vibe but also a Casper the Friendly Ghost aura too. Friendly spirits are often tossed aside for more vicious or antagonistic ones in a lot of media. Getting an adorable friendly one just adds points in my book and a good pal for Casper.

Chapter 10

Common Costume - Inky Blaster

Yuji Naka's take on a squid kid. This costume can be found in Act 1, Act 2 and the Boss Act. She allows the wearer to throw fast globs of rainbow paint at opponents or targets and is decently agile.

Love that her hands are paintbrushes and is based on the octopus. Tentacles mimicking the frills of a dress and used for hair and feet? A very creative take and splattering rainbow paint on the annoying types of Negati (looking at you ya divebomb happy Pelican and destroyer of most of my good costumes) is very therapeutic.

Rare Costume- Air Unicorn

The first unicorn I like?! This costume can only be found in Act 1 and allows the user to walk on air farther than Air Cat. The practical godfather of mobility, and recovery. You won't believe how many times this costume has gotten me to very difficult areas and saved me from death via falling into the abyss.

It is a very tricky costume to find but if you turn around, there's a large paintbrush on the wall. You need the Double Jumper to get on top but you'll be able to see a hidden mirror. That is where the Air Unicorn is located.

I won't lie that unicorns are not my preferred mythological creature. I live in America where unicorns tend to be oversaturated to oblivion and don't get me started on My Little Pony. The show isn't my cup of tea but I do have some followers and friends who are fans. People have their own opinions and it's rude to question them about it.

I honestly love the elegant but cute design, the purple, pale pink and cyan just fit well with the white, I also love that the mane mimics a paintbrush tip and the large light purple collar of fur is a perfect touch to this fine design.

Chapter 11

Common Costume - Bulldozer

A man's punny best friend! This costume can be in Act 1, Act 2 (?), and the Boss Act. It lets you push special construction blocks and you can boost the push speed by button mashing.

They definitely took a lot of creative for costumes in Chapter 11 amongst the other ones in my opinion. Fire Stations tend to have some animal companions with dogs being the most common but instead of a Dalmatian for the design they used a Bulldog! 😍

Like the aforementioned machine, this good boy is bulky, has the appropriate color scheme and even the hands turn into bulldozer's shovel when using the ability! I love the fact his tail is wagging when you push a block and it wags faster if ya button mash!

Also the name is a pun!

Rare Costume - Fiery Blaster

Pyromancer of Lions. The Fiery Blaster costume can only be found in Act 2. It gives the wearer that ability to throw large fireballs alongside fire and lava immunity. If you hate lava levels or have difficulty with this Chapter's boss then I recommend getting this Costume.

First thing I like to say about this particular design is how they use the colors. Looking at the mane, you can see how the red and darker red are patterned in a way to mimic flames. The dark red fur on the feet are even in fire like a pattern. The outfit such as the yellow and brownish kilt alongside the gloves spewing fire around the wrists just reminds me of a fire dancer.

I can see this fella wielding one of the torches a fire dancer uses and just put on a spectacular show.

Chapter 12

Another loveable version of a beloved icon. The Invisible Man costume can be found in Act 1, Act 2 and the Boss Act. It has the power to turn the wearer invisible for a period of time and become undetected to enemies that aren't bosses.

Agile and perfect to deal with enemies who are very annoying or are difficult snipers. You don't know how satisfying it is to give the more aggravating Negati an invisible middle finger by sneak attacking them. I have lost many costumes whenever enemies got the drop on me so it's fair to dish out payback.

I love how this design takes aspect from the popular icon but also have it relate to their human counterpart. Bandages were used by the original Invisible Man to cover skin his normal clothing couldn't cover in public and made it easier for him to disappear when needed.

The shoes and arms being covered in bandages and some of the bandages being used as bangs for the hair is a nice touch.

Rare Costume - Jolt Tiger

Immovable Taser. This costume can only be found in Act 2. It grants electricity immunity and create a barrier when you stand still. One of the better costumes for baiting particular enemies. You do have to be careful because a single itch will stop the barrier.

If you don't know, the Tiger is my Chinese Zodiac and electricity is one of my favorite elements. Love the yellow lightning bolt flairs and even the black stripes mimic lightning too! I also like the will o' wisp pattern on the stomach and the large tuft of grayish fur around the chest. The design puts it above the Sun Walker.

And that is it! The next thing I will cover is the level design and it's music. The bosses will be done last since it's good to save the best for last!

Until next time folks, see you back in Wonderworld.

[snippychicke]

Swedish Shorts--Three

Theme: Enemies

Warnings: None! 

Part One | Previous 

--Axel--

The Swedes. 

You knew your mark was risky. Knew this was a high-profile hit. But you had not expected the Temp Commission to send other agents after the same target. You watched as the brothers dispersed into the crowd before you shot back your drink and followed the oldest, Axel, if you remembered right. 

You slipped between the innocent party-goers, your eyes on the pale blonde hair that contrasted with the midnight black suit. The man could somehow both blend in yet stand apart with that graceful stalk of his. 

Why was the man so damn attractive? It made your stomach turn, and you blamed it on the glass of champagne you had stolen. 

You snagged his hand once you were close enough, and pulled him into the swirling mass of dancers. Something was satisfying about watching the emotions cross his face- surprise, anger, recognization, before settling on mild annoyance. You could see his body react instinctively, preparing to fight only for him to yank those instincts back the same time you dragged him closer, twisting your fingers with his as your other arm wrapped around his back.  His own arm settled along the small of your back as if it belonged there.

"Hello, sweetie," you greeted with a smile as you led him in the simple waltz. "We really do need to stop meeting like this." 

Instead of answering (as if he would) his grey-blue eyes took their time studying you (you wanted to say he was undressing you with his eyes alone but more than likely he was trying to figure out where your weapons were hidden). You forced the self-consciousness away as you smirked once his gaze met yours. "Don't worry; I think you're just as handsome." 

His hand shifted from your waist to your hips, pulling you closer with a faint smirk of his own. You were pretty sure the delighted surprise you felt was evident on your face as his hips grazed yours, his lips brushing your ear. 

"One dance. That's all." 

It was probably a ruse, a feint to allow his brothers more time to find the target. Yet as you gazed back in his eyes and that devious little smile on his lips, you decided if losing the mission was the cost of a dance with the devil, then so be it. 

"Shall we then?" 

It wasn't the dance of competing assassins, but felt like the slow tender moment between old lovers. His hold was gentle yet confident, and you gave into the urge to rest your head against his shoulder, taking in his musk mixed with gunpowder. 

--- Oscar--

The hotel room was in shambles. The lamps were overturned, the mirror cracked from where you had crashed into it, and the curtain ripped from its pole, allowing the morning light to shine in. 

You shouldn't feel this peaceful, you supposed, as you laid on a mass of blankets and pillows on the floor. (The mattress overturned and had bullet holes from Oscar's buckshot. You had given him a hurt look at the time, to which he smirked and shrugged before running at you, ready to use the shotgun as a sledgehammer.) But you did. Achy, in both good and bad ways, but feeling completely at peace with everything.

The white satin of the bed sheet that covered your naked body almost blended perfectly with Oscar's hair as he rested his head on your chest, still fast asleep. Your fingers strayed through the fine blonde strands, careful of the bruise forming on his forehead. (That was an accident; you had thought he would dodge when you had thrown the old heavy phone at him.) 

Slowly he started to stir, trying to bury his face in your chest with a groan that announced that yes, he was as sore as you, before he lifted his head. And oh, he looked so cute with that sleepy pout, his grey-blue eyes barely open as he blinked owlishly at you. "Morning," you greeted, smiling softly as you brushed his hair from his face.

He only grunted before dropping his head back down, his arms curling tighter around your bare hips. You smiled wider, pressing a kiss to his head. "We should leave before our handlers figure out where we are."

Another protesting grunt was your only answer. Maybe another hour (or two) wouldn't put you in too much risk of being caught. Granted, his brothers likely already knew what was going on, but your respective bosses did not.

You'd both be dead if they did. 

--Otto--

You were sure Otto was cursing you out in Swedish as he pulled you down the darkened tunnel, the pair of handcuffs chaining you to him yanking against your wrist. 

Gunshots broke the silence, and you yanked him back just as he stumbled to a stop, pulling him back in the safety of the shadows. It was your turn to lead as you backtracked the twisting corridors, both of you silent as you tried to listen for the shouting Russians. 

A door appeared, this one thankfully unlocked when you tried it. Except it was nothing more than a tiny broom closet. Still, you could hear the approaching boots grow louder and louder. Otto decided for you as he shoved you in and followed close behind. The room was pitch black leaving it impossible to see anything. But it made you hyper-aware of everywhere your body pressed against his, which did not help your pounding heart. 

"You couldn't just let me go?" You protested, trying to ignore the way his legs threaded between yours, revealing exactly how thick his thighs were.

"Shh," he hushed. And yeah, there were KGB agents who wanted both of you dead right outside. Him for just being there. You for sneaking in and assassinating their General…. Which was why Otto was there, you supposed. 

Technically, the General shouldn't have died today. You had gone rouge and decided that yes, today was his last. 

However, you wondered where the other two brothers of the Swedish trio were. They were never far from each other, and they never worked alone.

There were voices right outside, their speech too quick for you to understand. To your surprise, Otto's hand that wasn't joined to yours pressed your head against his chest protectively, his fingers threading in your hair. You could hear his heart slow heavy beat through his chest, and without thinking your other hand came up to clutch his shirt. 

His breath hitched, and you heard that slow, steady beat quicken its pace from the simple action. 

"The Commission has prices on all their heads," you heard a new voice announce, slow enough for you to understand. "Find the brothers, and find the assassin! Why they decided to side with the rouge is beyond me...."

Oh. Oh. Tears stung your eyes as you realized the brothers weren't here to capture you

They were here to save you.

Otto was here for you. You had teased and flirted with the man during your short moments together, loving to fluster him because he generally so stoic. You thought he barely tolerated your behavior, but now…

Your free hand reached up, feeling for his strong jaw. You felt him shift, looking down in your general direction. Once you were sure you had an idea about where his lips were, you leaned up to kiss him.

It wasn't quite on the mark, and being handcuffed made it a little tricky, but his lips adjusted against yours. 

Next 

[vg-sanctuary]

Kururin series

Eighting/Raizing - Game Boy Advance, Gamecube - 2001-2004

[images from nintendolife, perfectly-nintendo and gamefaqs]

Kururin is a forgotten Nintendo IP that my one of my friends immediately compared to Super Monkey Ball, since you navigate mostly brief obstacle courses with tricky controls and it can become very frustrating very fast, although it isn't nearly as punishing as Super Monkey Ball's main mode. Kururin, though, doesn't have a monkey in a ball, it has a bird in a long rotating ship called the Helirin that constantly spins whether you want it to or not. and it's 2D instead of 3D. it's very cute and colorful and only came to America on Wii U VC in 2014. the others never came, which is a shame because the aesthetics and gameplay are different than any other Nintendo property (co-developed with Eighting-Raizing, who notably also helped with Pikmin 3) and that bird is really cute. I've also never bothered to beat any of the three games because they get extremely hard toward the end, but I did enjoy the parts I played. notably, this is also my first post specifically about a series.

if you vaguely know about Kururin, it's probably because it had a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl or because you got curious while browsing the Wii U eShop. I first learned about this series a long time ago through a YouTube video about an XBLA game called Hyphen, which is basically a spiritual successor to the Kururin games. I like the Kururin games better, though, because they have cute birds and more colors and don't get hard quite as fast. more recently, someone suggested Kuru Kuru Kururin as a good, cheap GBA import, which I figured it was, so I bought it along with two dozen other games from Japan. another friend eventually told me that Kururin looks an awful lot like Roundabout, an indie game that leans way into the 70s visual theme of Kururin Paradise and adds some goofy B movie flair. it's an open world, mission-based spiritual successor to the Kururin series that includes the artistic liberty of jumping over obstacles, but this blog post isn't about those, it's about Kururin.

the gameplay, more specifically, involves navigating the Helirin through mazes and occasionally through moving obstacles like enemies. if your Helirin touches a wall three times before you reach the goal, it's destroyed and you have to start over, but some levels have healing pads that fully restore your hits. stages progressively become longer and more difficult, with the last handful being hard enough to call boss levels. Kururin's cousins (and various cosmetics) are hidden out of the way in certain stages, except in Squash where you do proper boss fights for them. after collecting the cousins you can let them ride on the wings of the Helirin and look cute, which I love. Kururin Squash includes abilities for the Helirin in certain levels, like fists on either end that allow you to destroy enemies.

Kururin went for a solid three games, all of which have different levels and so are all worth playing, though if I had to single one out as "worse," I'd choose the first one, since the second adds the ability to make the Helirin rotate faster for slightly less waiting, and to use a smaller Helirin as an easy mode. Kuru Kuru Kururin also has the least visual style in the series, but these are small differences. Kururin Squash, the third game and the only one on Gamecube, adds a cute puppet style to the brief dialogues, a multiplayer race mode, Helirin abilities, and overall more stuff. Squash is the best, then, but it's about the same difference between the first two Super Monkey Ball games or between the first two Katamari games. while the newer game is objectively better in at least one way, the gameplay is approximately the same, just with different content, so they're all worth playing if you enjoy the series.

the Kururin games get hard and can be frustrating, so they aren't for everyone, but I still think it's worth celebrating its existence as another long dead Nintendo IP and an import oddity. if it sounds interesting and enjoyable to you, it probably will be, and the first game is on the Wii U eShop for cheap. the other two games aren't especially expensive imports and the spiritual successor Roundabout is on Steam for $10.

[amimons]

Miraculous Sweet-ember (Sept. 24th)

September 24th: Backwarder, Gamer 2.0, & Weredad

Backwarder went deeper into Master Fu’s past by introducing an old love interest who has some involvement with the miracle box. Marianne was back in Paris after years apart from Fu due to the sensitive nature of Fu’s position as guardian. Unable to meet in person Fu gave Marinette a request to give Marianne a letter. A simple request made not so simple when Marinette also has a letter of her own she wishes to give Adrien on top of picking up Fu’s prescription at a pharmacy with a Doctors note. Its a classic situation of switching the papers up but it turned distarious when Marianne took Marinette’s note to Adrien as Fu’s note. She turned into Backwarder giving her the ability to reverse things. 

Marianne is used as an example as to why having secret identifies is a positive thing. Since she knew the guardian of the miracle box she was able to inform Hawkmoth. It’s nice seeing the what could go wrong with sharing too much information about the miraculous which gives all the secretiveness a purpose. Backwarder was a tricky akuma to battle. Her defeat called for Ladybug’s most complicated lucky charm. I love seeing how Ladybug’s mind work. She is able to plan out solutions in her head by taking in her surroundings and getting the timing just right. She always has to be one step ahead of the curve. Which makes it interesting when her plan is all about goin backwards to get the result she needs. Ladybug has a brilliant mind and I love seeing it highlighted. 

Gamer 2.0 explores the heavy toll that Marinette’s life takes as she works balances school, projects, and being a super hero. Giving her little to no time on doing activities for fun like playing video games. Because she has a jam pack schedule she lacks the patience to focus more energy on an akuma battle and wants to just quickly finishes things. This effects her performance in the battle which Chat Noir picks up on. Chat is having fun playing along with this akuma video game battle. He is someone who likes to live in the moment not feel stuck in it. He understands Ladybug’s perspective but knows that offering his own can help her get out of the funk she boxed herself in. This is one of the things that we constantly see Chat do over and over in their partnership. He is able to communicate with Ladybug in a way that can reach her and pull her out of a negative mental space. 

This is a big reason why I love them as partners. Chat was just extremely fun to watch this episode. He was not only performing well in battle but having a good time along the way. And as him and Ladybug work their way up to completely the video game battle they are forced to face off against each other. Chat Noir heroically sacrifices himself knowing he can fully trust Ladybug to bring him back and save the day. Another grand gesture of trust shown by Chat Noir. After the battle Chat Noir leaves Ladybug with a sweet sentiment. He tells her that his favorite moments are when he is just with her and he would give up everything for just those moments with her. Not only is this very sweet of him to say especially since Ladybug was having a hard time struggling with sacrifices but because we know what Adrien’s home life is like. He is forced to strict schedules and not allowed enough quality times with his friends. So being with Ladybug gives him that chance to feel free and have fun. 

Weredad puts Marinette’s acting skills to the test. After fearing that her identity was almost exposed to Chat Noir after he went after Ladybug only to find a detransformed Marinette on her balcony she does what any reasonable person will do in her situation. Proclaim her love for Chat Noir. Little did she know she also had an audience, her parents heard her proclamation of love and invited Chat over the apartment to join them in a meal. The whole situation called for some hilariously awkward moments and some really intense irony. Marinette does her best to act like she is hopelessly in love after Chat Noir respectfully decline her stating that he is in love with Ladybug. She pretends she is devastated by the news aiming to be as convincing as possible. Which actually worked a little too well because after seeing his daughter in such a distraught state, Tom gets akumatized into Weredad. 

Weredad traps Marinette in a thorn tower to protect her from getting her heart broken again. This means Chat Noir is temporally going to have to take on the akuma alone. Chat’s determination to save Marinette is so strong. Even though he does not yet understand his romantic feelings for Marinette that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deeply care about her. Not only was this situation confusing for him but it was extremely difficult for him as well. It was hard for Chat to reject Marinette because her friendship means a lot to him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Marinette but he needed to be honest with his feelings. Even when Weredad had Chat bested, Chat refused to lose. Ultimately Marinette was the one who was able to deakumatize her father because she found the hidden rose. I’m glad she was still able to rescue herself from this situation while Chat was willing to fight for Marinette’s safety. 

About Sweet-ember:

For the month of September I wanted to spread some positivity and praise Miraculous Ladybug on the things I’ve appreciated/enjoyed from the show.

Everyday I’m going to select one particular moment, event, theme, etc. from an episode of Miraculous and shared what I liked from that episode. Each post will discuss 2-3 episodes (from season 1-3; 78 episodes in total).

Whether its something big or small there is something positive that I can take away from every single episode of Miraculous.

Please feel free to add a moment from these particular episodes that you loved to this post as well!

Salt towards the show, characters, ships will not be tolerated!

Sweet-ember posts

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

[18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]

[fuse2dx]

December ‘20

Bugsnax

Bugsnax is an odd little title, landing somewhere between Pokémon Snap and Ape Escape. There’s a bit less of a frantic pace though, instead telling a tale of a remote island where the titular part-animal, part-snack race roam about, with a series of characters each having their own relationship to them that... typically involves eating them. The disappearance of one key villager has been the catalyst to everything heading into a state of confusion though, and as the new person in town, it becomes your job to pull everything back together, all while trying to piece together a better understanding of just what Bugsnax are in the first place.

The game’s main cast are loud, colourful, and full of personality, with some decent queer representation going on too. It’s regularly quite charming, but the story runs parallel to a pretty simple gameplay loop of going out to a new area, meeting an estranged villager, getting a new tool that allows you to catch some new ‘snax in service of a given task for said villager, that inevitably fuels their return to the village. While catching a good chunk of the 100-strong Bugsnax portfolio follows a fairly repeatable mould of trap-setting and capture, some require some slightly more creative thinking, and final smattering lean more on good fortune as you try and juggle a few different elements in a way that sets up the perfect snaring. 

I’ve seen some talk of folks who found the last sections of the game a little out of character, but having gone through all of the side missions before heading for the finish line, nothing came as too much of a surprise for myself. As a PS5 launch game it might lack the flair and experimentation that one might expect, but in better handling one’s expectations and seeing ‘just’ a game with extraordinary timing, it’s a pleasant and sufficiently entertaining romp - just nothing particularly out of the ordinary.   

Demon’s Souls

I was in two minds coming into this. I’ve played the opening few hours of Demon’s Souls about 5 times now, with each attempt before this one stalling at different points for a variety of petty and frustrating reasons. So this, a fresh chance to try again, newly polished and smoothed out, with active servers, and a revitalised community? Excellent! Yet on the other hand, how much of the magic is Bluepoint likely to have been able to recreate? Even as a shot-for-shot remake, what if they had diluted the experience? 

While I can’t speak with any particular authority here, very little seems to have changed outside of the visual overhaul. Some areas might be a bit easier to navigate owing to their new lick of paint, but enemies still pose the same threat, and everything is still where it should be, as are the obtuse, woefully under-discussed karmic swings that underpin its tendency system. Let’s not pull punches; it’s most notably a mean platform to build a game upon that makes suffering players suffer more, and is likely not one that you’ll even be aware of it before near irreversible damage is already done. From have undoubtably done similar concepts much better since, and while I might bemoan it, there’s also something to be said for allowing it to still exist just as it did at the series’ outset. It’s likely a wise choice on Bluepoint’s part to have left it untouched, albeit a slightly cruel one.

While the lack of a single, interconnected world was not yet on the cards for this particular Souls outing, there’s still plenty of great level design, with each of the game’s archstones providing a theme that’s adhered to brilliantly. A few exceptions aside, boss battles are typically less about flexing combat chops too, proving more of a challenge in solving how to approach them in the first place. In doing so, it creates some truly memorable moments alongside those that are purely frantic and rewarding thereafter. The same can be said for the game at large too; while its punishment of new players might be its most infamous quality, it does do a remarkable job in having you learn its every inch, and how best to deal with everything it cares to throw at you. While the chase of 1:1 replication might mean some of its jankiness remains, its visual overhaul and silky smooth frame rate certainly do a good job in helping you overlook it all and in embracing the still best-in-class world building. One of the years’ best, and by far the most compelling reason to date for next-gen ownership. 

Grindstone

Grindstone was front and centre right as the doors opened on Apple Arcade, and it’s a pretty easy to see why it’d be pegged for such honours. It’s bright, colourful, charming, and very easy to pick up. Some of Capy’s other noteworthy titles might fall more into the realm of the arthouse, but this is them at full power, exhibiting that ultimate strength of knowing just how to capture any given audience. Most of the game is spent planning out your turn, and it looks great even in this calm stillness - but as you unleash the mighty Jorj on each of his rampages, there is a satisfying spring into action that gives the same kind of satisfactory twang you might get from an elastic band, or a coiled slinky about to bound down a flight of stairs.

Within a few short stages almost all of the base mechanics are laid bare, with each turn asking you to plot a course through colour-matched enemies, and landing you far enough away from any enraged enemies that’d seek to do you harm. Chain for long enough and you’ll spawn a grindstone that’ll let you switch colours mid-combo, and building up enough hits can then allow you to expend that strength on monsters with higher health pools. The range of enemy types grows as you progress, as does the array of new tools you can build that allow you new ways of dealing with them all, but ultimately the balance that needs addressing is knowing just when to walk away. There’s typically three goals to each level - opening the exit being just the first of these - and while in some cases you might have a handle on things when the exit does open up, it’s often not the case, and hanging around too long carries the risk of losing all of your progress on the stage if you lose a clear path to your escape.

Some of its later mechanics and the level arrangements can be quite taxing, and while never completely unfair, it can definitely... grind... on your patience. For something that could easily be taken as a casual little puzzle game, it’s quite lengthy too - the path unbroken leads you through a whopping 180 stages, but without extensive draining of resources from each of these, you’ll likely need to try some of the side dungeons to help make your way to the end too. Very likely more than your bargained for then, and yet still plenty compelling to boot.

Necrobarista

Some neatly constructed character models and a snappy trailer might attempt to tell you otherwise, but let us be clear with one another that Necrobarista is very much a visual novel. A shock to the system this may be, but anyone reading this likely knows by now this is far from a bad thing around these parts, so let us look a little closer.

It’s quite a melancholic thing, set in a less than conventional, somewhat Purgatorial coffee shop, where the newly departed stop in for a brief spell and a brew before taking the next step into the great unknown. While there’s a setup here for lots of stories to be told, it really draws in on a small cast of characters who look after the shop, and how a few key visitors change the world built up around them. Between each of the game’s chapters there’s the opportunity to unlock new side stories dependent on which of the phrases you chose to identify with from the chapter just gone, and although short, these do some good work fleshing out some characters and breaking up the main tale. As the title would suggest, the particulars of coffee do come up as a point of conversation, but there’s no drink-making side shows here - just a lot of talking, scheming about how to cheat death, and the more chin-scratching topic of a more accepting approach to this great inevitability.

It’s fairly short - comfortably under 10 hours - but crucially gets plenty of character development from each of its cast given the tight focus. Rather than the still portraits that you might come to expect of the genre, characters are given a real depth with 3D models that convey just as much as their words, which also helps this effort. Perhaps most crucially, and whether it’s in spite of all of the death, or instead because of it, there’s plenty of quite thoughtful and heartfelt sentiment hidden inside it. Comes recommended.

Tangle Tower

I picked this up for Switch based on a recommendation, not knowing that I’d unknowingly be closing out an Apple Arcade hat trick for the month. So yes, it’s another more story-driven game, not too heavy on the input requirements, but instead good for getting you thinking.

It’s immediately very easy on the eye, with each and every character drawn in large format and animated with buckets of quirk and charm that runneth over. Every single one is brilliantly voiced too, with varying degrees of charisma, bluster, dry wit, and numerous other characteristics that shine through in brilliant harmony with the art. It’s a murder mystery, see, and while you’re putting together what everyone says has happened, looking out for who’s fancying who and the like, you’re also doing so with the critical expectation that at least one person is likely spinning you some tall tales. Luckily you’ll find clues that help you get closer to the truth and help deconstruct some of these falsehoods, whether they’re in plain sight or hidden behind one of many puzzles. These are exemplary in just how well-pitched they come, each being self-contained and just tricky enough to have you pause to really think about them, but without ever being too irksome or troubling to stop you enjoying yourself. Once you do start to get to the point of unmasking some secrets, there’s also a neat little interface the game rolls out for you to drop in and then verify these revelations; pairing numerous characters, items and statements to help demonstrate to it that you’re keeping up with it all, and things are clear enough to move on. There’s subtle little prods in the right direction just when they seem to be needed, further cementing the game’s solid grasp of when it’s best to say something, and when it can let you just stumble about and get on with it.

It’s a fantastic little game. I lost a day or so to this, and had a wonderful time doing so. I hope that it’s not too far away that I forget all of the details, so that I might do it all over again.

[alltingfinns]

The Hounds of the Baskerville

Holding a phallic object, splattered with a body fluid and breathing heavily.

“Well that was tedious!”

And as if that was too subtle, he keeps playing with the harpoon even after it and him has been cleaned off and he’s switched to one of his robes.

John taking just two seconds to pretend considering to give in, just to be a little shit.

Also I am pretty sure that John has a secret scrapbook just for pictures of Sherlock in the hat.

Oh look, begging for mercy. Twice.

I just really love this scene, the manic energy of Sherlock and the calm sass of John gives us some of the funniest moments of the entire show. Also Ben needs to do more physical comedy.

Here he mentions a blog entry on perfume identification which plays out in HLV, so I’m a bit disappointed that the blogging on textile tensile strength in TEH didn’t feature in s4. Maybe some shirts get ripped in s5?

It’s so mean, but my favorite bit really is the mocking of the little girl asking for help finding her rabbit.

The wagging from side to side “please please please can you help?”

“Like a fairy!” with accompanying high pitch and hand motions.

Followed by a look from John that suggests he doesn’t think a lack of substance is Sherlock’s present issue.

And then suddenly he’s like “wait this actually does sound better than nothing”

And Cluedo. “It was the only possible solution”

Trivia note: the Swedish name for the game is also Cluedo, except we pronounce each vowel seperately. Clu-e-do.

It’s so domestic how they say “client” together. Apparently there’s a certain way frequent callers would ring the doorbell that differentiates clients.

Sherlock’s mainly looking at Henry looking at the video, don’t think I’ve noticed that before.

John’s irritated already when Sherlock begins listing things he noticed. Maybe he feels it is a bit too similar to when they first met, meaning he might be jealous that Sherlock does it with others or irritated at his past self for being as mesmerized as Henry is.

Sherlock inventing aggressive passive smoking.

Sherlock is so annoyed that Henry keeps thinking he’s in a horror story rather than a detective story.

I wonder what kind of poetry John wrote. He probably tried to use his feelings for Sherlock to simulate the romance his girlfriends wanted, which is why it is extra exasperating that Sherlock found it “funny”. Although that might be because he’d find the poetry mismatched to the girlfriends and/or the emotional investment John showed them.

“Childhood trauma masked by an invented memory. Boring!”

The parallel has been pointed out before but it bears repeating. Even if they hadn’t planned ahead by the time this episode was written, why go ahead and use an already discarded plot device they themselves called boring?

Interestingly the plot of the episode does more or less lead to this being the solution but not quite. The memory was invented and masking the real events, but it wasn’t Henry’s childhood brain doing it (at least not without aid). Might be worth comparing these plots. If only for the meta moment of it wasn’t you who imagined what you saw, someone made you see it. And then they tried to drive you into fear and doubt to keep secrets hidden.

“The vanishing glow-in-the-dark rabbit! NATO is in an uproar.”

That :( face is so funny every time.

Hound is a bit tricky in Swedish as the Swedish word for dog is hund. So the subtitles just go with spökhund. (Ghost dog)

“It’s cold.” John doesn’t even say anything but he still makes Sherlock self conscious.

Wonder why they showed us the therapy session?

John standing by the counter looking at Sherlock just looking very soft.

Doesn’t even complete his denial. And was that a single key, or were two keys just so closely held together? I’ve never been fully sure if they shared a single room or had one each. John’s incomplete denial would suggest separate rooms (it’s okay because they’re not actually a couple).

John showing his detective skills. And for once it won’t play out like the cats in TGG. It’s an important reminder that John is a smart man overshadowed by a genius, instead of the common enough Everyman and/or bumbling oaf that some believe of Watson.

“And the ruddy prisoner” probably the full extent of the subplot from the novel.

“Is yours a snorer?” “Got any crisps?” Pretty high pitch there, John.

There is sort of a running theme of characters waxing poetically in vague spookiness and Sherlock just scoffing at it. Reminder that the novel is a horror story starring a detective outside of his normal trappings.

“We’ll get caught.” “No, we won’t. Well not right away.”

More exact words from John as he pulls rank and activates Sherlock’s military kink.

The timer doesn’t start ticking at the gate but at the building itself, wonder why. Or maybe it has been ticking, but now there’s atten paid to it?

“Enjoy it?” Just something to file away in the John wing of his mind palace.

I halfway expected one of the elevator buttons to be key activated for the really tippy top secret secrets.

I see one monkey has seen Raiders of the Lost Arc. That or it’s still upset that it didn’t get the part.

“Stapleton?” He may have mocked little Kirsty, but he still remembered her name.

“People say there’s no such thing as coincidences. What dull lives they must lead.” But the universe is rarely so lazy? Of course rarely does not mean never, and looking at the forebears website Stapleton is a 1 in 3600 name in Devon. So the only question is if Kirsty listed her whereabouts on the forum. Not in her message but maybe in the profile she made.

The dramatic reveal of BLUEBELL.

Sherlock deducing the inside job while John just repeats “the rabbit?” is as good a summary of the show as anything, honestly.

Mycroft’s exasperated “goodammit, Sherlock!” look is almost too loud for the Diogenes club.

I think I read on tvtropes that the Major’s beard isn’t regulatory. Acceptable breaks of reality for the sake of original reference.

“It wasn’t my hat.” I love how the hat is used as a summary of the artifacts attached to the character. The trappings that come from adaptations and parodies and whatnot. Like Igor, who apparently wasn’t even in the original Universal Horror film but its sequel.

Exactly how does John expect Sherlock to turn off his cheekbones? Also the idea that Sherlock is turning up his collar to “play cool” as they’re leaving Baskerville kind of shows that it’s mainly for John’s benefit. Like his later choices to wear the hat. Sherlock starts off wanting to impress John, and by s3 it is about playing a specific Sherlock Holmes role. And again, John betrays his real thought by mentioning the cheekbones. “Stop being so attractive, dammit!”

“Has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?” “To be fair, that is quite a wide field.” Cue the killer rabbit jokes.

John’s awkward “are you... rich?”

In the original story the wealth was far more plot relevant, here it’s just a bit of dialogue fodder.

Not spelling out “in” this time?

Pretty sure those are IKEA mugs.

The plan sounds bad, but it is perfectly sound. They have done as much preliminary research as they can at the moment, and by going all three of them they do stand a decent chance should the beast be real. Of course Sherlock still doubts it’s real, which is the main plot for his character.

With the exception of this episode and episodes of Midsumer Murders I hadn’t really heard fox screams before. Imagine not knowing that’s what it is and just hearing this almost ghostly screech specifically when watching English mystery shows.

John just wandering away from the others without alerting them, and then he’s surprised that Sherlock and Henry has continued on without him. If he has a survival instinct it is in a coma.

Umqra. John knows Morse, which I honestly have found tricky trying to learn.

Taking a break here.

[theliterarywolf]

2019′s Animation Hidden Gems

So, another year has come and gone. And, in regards to animated content, we had a sizable smorgasboard of offerings both on the mainstream end and the Indie scene. 

I figured I would go over some of the ones that caught my eye that I don’t see many people talking about or, if they are talking about them, they’re focusing on shitty e-drama rather than the content in of itself. 

So, let’s begin!

... Just going to use a ‘Read More’ break due to the length of this post as well as spoilers for certain things within.

Tuca and Bertie

So, we’re just going to acknowledge the fact that Netflix’s cancellation of this show before it even had the chance to hit its stride (which coincidentally timed in with the team behind it, the same team behind Bojack Horseman, getting the rights to unionize -- but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence~) was one of the shittiest things they did this year, right? Right. 

Anyway, Tuca and Bertie was one of those shows that, while it took me a good few days to finally watch it (due mostly to Netflix burying this show underneath those damn Ted Bundy movies and that fucking Beyonce concert/documentary/what-the-fuck-ever), was definitely a front-runner for adult-centered animation this year. 

While the wacky animation styles can sometimes throw initial viewers off, by the time the series is halfway through you’re fully engrossed in how it helps to tell the stories this show wants to focus on. 

While, yes, the show was a little heavy-handed in one of the early episodes about women in the workplace (that whole scene of Tuca screaming obnoxiously in the board-meeting to signal that no woman had spoken in 30 minutes was kind of grating even though the message is sound), the series as a whole is a great change of pace in regards to having adult animation centered on/aimed towards women. The characters work great together, the sound design works wonders, and Netflix cancelling this show despite they themselves not promoting it is such a damn crime. 

My personal favorite part/episode: While the episode “The Jelly Lakes” was a great, poignant display of showing Bertie opening up about her past trauma and sexual abuse, the episode that I always resonate with during rewatches of this series is “Plumage”. The way that it tackles not only reconciling with addiction but emotional/psychological abuse and how it often comes from sources that are on the outside beneficial hits so close to home. The fact that it was handled with tact and respect while still being in this wacky world of talking bird-people was amazing. 

Sound and Fury

I... am just going to come out and admit it, my brain still hasn’t 100% wrapped around the ‘what does it MEAN?!?!’ aspect of this animated album but, damn it all, is it a feast for the ears and eyes. 

I honestly can’t talk about it too much because half the enjoyment comes from watching it for yourself.

My personal favorite part/episode: I can’t quite remember what the song’s name was, but visually it was the section that focused on the homeless veteran basically being left outside to die while the city is about to be decimated by a nuclear bomb. The fact that the segment shows everything, right down to how the cat he tries to rescue agonizingly burns to death when the bomb hits, has stuck with me.

Love, Death + Robots

Well, you guys didn’t think I was going to let 2019 pass without me gushing about one of my favorite animation anthologies of the year, did you? 

Seriously, I am so glad that Netflix has greenlit a second volume for this project because it really is the type of stuff I like to see: collections of vastly different stories using different mediums and styles. 

While two of the entries aren’t as strong as the others (”The Witness” and “Ice Age” freaking suck, don’t @ me), the bulk of the anthology is immensely strong and well-executed and no amount of people whinging about ‘myeh, it’s too sex-filled and violent~’ is going to ruin that. 

My personal favorite part/episode: The segment “Suits” still takes my award for best in show, but I still like the series potential of “Shapeshifters” and the attempt at cosmic horror in “Beyond the Aquila Rift”. 

Satellite City

I hate, hate, HATE that my initial exposure to Sam Fennah’s creative world, much like other people’s first exposure, was via that DAMN Nostalgia Critic review for The Wall!

But, in all seriousness, Fennah’s web-series as well as the book that he’s been working on are so excellently crafted. 

The character design: I’ve gushed so much about the character design that doing so again here would be a crime. But it really is wonderful seeing monster designs that think ‘monstrous’ first and ‘marketability’ second. 

The voice acting: everyone in here does an exceptional job with their performances and giving life to not only the characters but the world surrounding them. Seriously, they’re all amazing and I can only hope that their talents are showcased in other projects. 

The animation: the fact that it’s all done and rigged by one person is awe-inspiring enough but the way that Fennah works to make sure that the characters don’t stick out too much from their real-world sets is incredible. 

The writing: It would be so easy for a series like this to stick to wacky hijinks, violence, and toilet-humor, but no. We have excellently crafted, mature dialogue, we have incorporated world-building that doesn’t rely on exposition dumps, we have diction that rivals some of the commercial hyper-hits of the current year.

Seriously, I wish that more people watched this series; it’s so good..!

My personal favorite part/episode: This relies on some spoilers, but I have to talk about what I think the highlight of the series. While the episode “Slice of Life” gives a good display of the core cast in a day-to-day setting with Lucy Lacemaker giving an incredible monologue about the nature of life and immortality at the end, no where else does the work behind the craft of Satellite City shine more...

Than in Episode 20 - “The Order of Things”. Satellite City centers around the Kivouachians, a species of unworldly creatures who have been around for billions of years but, due to war and betrayal, lost their homeland and have been scattered across the Earth. 

During this war, many died, many were punished, many were tortured, and many were left to deal with horrific trauma and PTSD. 

While this episode has the connecting tissue of informing others that the series’ antagonist has escaped her prison, it also centers upon the heavy issue of destructive, toxic relationships and how people can let themselves waste away and decay just because they can’t find it in themselves to let go of something that may ‘make them happy’. 

We also get a dialogue from Lucy Lacemaker about the nature of art and imitation, but it’s simply the cherry on top of the sundae that the prior themes build up. 

... Seriously, j-just go watch the show; put has-been critics out of your minds and just go appreciate this series for what it is.

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss/Holidaze

God, I can only be in awe of and respect Vivienne for getting to the point that she has gotten to. Two well-received animated pilots, an adorable holiday special, industry ties, and a portfolio that surely can fill two phone books at this point. 

Seriously, though, Hazbin Hotel is great: an adult animated show with an interesting art style, engaging characters, and a world that I really want to see more of. 

Helluva Boss is great too! That show has a more intimate cast and less insanity so if the barrage of visuals in the prior turned you off, then the latter would probably be more your cup of tea. 

Finally, Holidaze is fucking adorable. It boggles my mind that people were getting upset at this special for coming out and doing something different when most complaints against HH and HB were ‘ugh, she really can’t do anything aside from “offensive people in hell are offensive because HELL, lol”’. Well, here you go! Something wholesome and cute and heartwarming!

Some people just want to bitch and moan, I swear...

My personal favorite part/episode: See, here’s where it gets tricky. I love the feeling I get from Holidaze. I love the characters from Hazbin Hotel. I love the setting/premise of Helluva Boss. 

But I wouldn’t want all of those things crammed together. 

So, all in all, VivziePop and her colleagues have done an amazing job with these shorts and I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for them.

Dororo (2019)

Look, man! I get it, okay?! When it comes to anime where the main character in a feudal-era Japan setting goes around killing demons, everyone and their grandma was gushing over Demon Slayer. 

And, you know what? Demon Slayer is a good show; it has really good animation and Nezuko is best girl. 

... But fuck ALL OF YOU who slept on Dororo (2019), man! I get it, Amazon having the streaming rights to it made it all sorts of awful to try and keep up with, but even so this show was way too ignored by people.

Which is a damn shame because in regards to revamping classic anime IPs, this is right up there in ‘damn, they actually did a good job’ along with Casshern Sins and Devilman Crybaby.

My personal favorite part/episode:

... Have I mentioned that the theme song for this show is an absolute BANGER?!

That’s all I have for now. I still have yet to watch things like Klaus and I Lost My Body, and I was unfortunately unable to watch Promare due to not having the funds for it when it was in theaters, and -- Oh my fucking GOD, I’m just now finding out that Netflix has Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie after trying to find a way to legally watch it for ages. 

But I hope that I was able to introduce some of you to some animated pieces that got a little overshadowed this year. 

Here’s hoping for more amazing stuff to grace our eyes in 2020!

[hellreads]

Hi! Can you suggest some good immersive fics that will make me feel all the feels? Even better if they're series! Thank you I love your blog!!

hi there sweetie, thank you for loving this blog, lemme love you too!💕💖✨ hmm this is tricky, to ask me of all people for immersive fic recommendations because I always immerse (to me reading something I enjoy and immersing in it makes me feel like I’m an actress playing the part so whatever genre it is watch me get into it 100%) but I’ll try and make a list of fics one per member, where I immersed myself through and through (shit this is harder than I thought, btw WII stands for why I immersed lol ~ list under the cut) 😅 | 🍒

➴ Kim Namjoon❥ Let the Villain Win by @lemonjoonah​➴ Author/Yandere!AU | Author!Namjoon x Agent!Reader | One-Shot➴ Kim Namjoon, famous author and your childhood friend has been keeping a secret from you. His new book treads on such dark themes that he’s finding it difficult to write. Excited by the prospect of a sinister plot you offer him a piece of advice, “Let the villain win…”➴ WII: I love Misery by Stephen King plus its movie adaption and LTVW gave me reverse Misery vibes, I know most people wouldn’t want to put themselves or immerse into stories like this but the adrenaline rush of being in MC’s shoes? delicious, I felt like as soon as Namjoon’s plan came to fruition my body astral projected to see him in all his yandere glory.

➴ Kim Seokjin❥ In the Bleak Midwinter by @pcyheartgirlx​➴ Idol/Prostitution!AU | Idol!Seokjin x CEO!Reader x Idol!Chanyeol | Series➴ We’re all whores, we just sell different parts of ourselves.You own a multi-billion dollar company, servicing the biggest names in kpop, in more ways than one. Under the name “Starlight Catering”, you, your best friends, Damon and Maya, and your hundreds of workers provide stress relief for idols.You have partially retired, not because you didn’t want to, but because Chanyeol was your muse. He was all that you had time for and all you needed. Until Jin came along.So what happens when you mix fire and ice?You get smoke and all the lines are blurred.➴ WII: tbh starting this fic I never really knew what I was getting into, all I saw was Kim Seokjin and I was sold, I was never a Park Chanyeol stan before reading this but I ended up being one, there’s a lot going on in this series but to immerse and be in a love triangle between the two men and feel the push and pull plus intense passionate emotions they’re willing to shower you with will tear you apart, but don’t worry there are two doors at the end of the story you get to choose between Jin or Chanyeol. 

➴ Min Yoongi❥ Dead Leaves by wrienne➴ Detective/Infidelity!AU | Detective Inspector!Yoongi x Homicide Detective!Reader x Teacher!Jimin | Series➴ In which you (reader) are a homicide detective about to face the biggest hurdle both of your career and life.Married to probably the kindest but most boring man you’ve ever met and living in a town where nothing ever seems to happen means life for you is dull. Dull enough to drive you crazy with boredom and dissatisfaction. However, life changes abruptly when your old boss retires and a new man takes his place - a man you used to love (and sleep very regularly with) more than a decade ago. Especially when your husband comes home smelling of perfume, you’re unable to resist your more carnal urges and dead women start showing up across the city with unnerving frequency.➴ WII: I have always had a thing for working in forensics, profiling people, investigating crime scenes, and basically any investigator/detective/analyst work and this story right here helped me get that feel because there are actual cases they work on here with vivid descriptions to help that wild imagination of yours *wink* + the whole infidelity affair is a mystery you’ll have to use your deduction skills.

➴ Jung Hoseok❥ Bad Guy by @sweetbunnykook​➴ Mob/Infidelity!AU | Mob Boss!Jin x Wife!Reader x Mob!Yoongi x Mob!Hoseok | Series➴ After a brutal attack in Hong Kong, your marriage with Kim Seokjin cracks as secrets begin to surface and a series of betrayals find their way into the veins of the Hidden Tigers. Although Jin’s devotion endures, in his own definition, the reality of being a mob wife may be too much for you to bear.➴ WII: this will put you in a rollercoaster ride of emotions there are actually three members here that will make things quite hard for you, but I have to say BG Hoseok is definitely one of my favorite characterizations of him, though there will be a push and pull of emotions once you get further into the story.. also, you’ll have to go through so much because immersing in this one will hurt a lot to the point where your heart is almost numbed.

➴ Park Jimin❥ Neighbors by @jkeuphoriadreamland​➴ Neighbor/Stalker!AU | Stalker!Jimin x Neighbor!Reader | Series➴ Finally achieving your successes in life you never expected the distraction that came with your new hot neighbor. He, however, had been trying to get your attention for a much different reason.➴ WII: hey it’s ya girl danger lover (my tag line lol), seriously immersing in this one will kinda make you wonder about MC and her choices as if Jimin cast a spell on her, there is this psychological manipulation he uses on her and it will drive you to madness because you will still bend to him and find him irresistible + the kinks here = wildt.

➴ Kim Taehyung❥ Clandestine by @ditzymax​➴ Assassin!AU | Assassin!Taehyung x Assassin!Kinsoo x BF!Jungkook | Series➴ As a professional assassin, Kim Kinsoo has many shrouded secrets in her life. Some of them she shares openly with her loving boyfriend, but there are other things he must never know➴ WII: now I know you’re probably wondering if it’s possible to immerse in fics with named OC? as I said I’m an actress who plays the part when reading and to immerse into the enigma that is Kinsoo is a wonderful experience, this belongs to the list of the intense fics I immersed into and if you’re the type to go all out when immersing no matter what genre or theme (taboo) the story contains you’ll enjoy the intensity of this one because you get everyone’s POV as you go through making you understand each character better and there is actual assassin work here if you enjoy the stealth way, you’ll appreciate Taehyung and Kinsoo’s work and the people that work for them.

➴ Jeon Jungkook (I’ll list five why not? I have read way too many JJK fics lol)❥ Right of Way by fringesofsanity➴ Infidelity!AU | Cheater!Jungkook x Cheater/GF!Reader x BF!Jimin | Series➴ In theory, things were simple: your best friend was Jungkook’s girlfriend while your boyfriend, Jimin, was Jungkook’s best friend. In reality, things weren’t always that simple. And mutually exclusive.➴ WII: if there’s one story I will never shut up about? it’s this one, I always recommend this to friends, this is the perfect depiction of having a taste of your own medicine in fic form, immersing in this one will make you fall for Jungkook and hope for your own ending, but this won’t sugarcoat anything for you and that’s what I love about this story, but tbh I still think of my own ending every single night. sighhhhh.

❥ When You Least Expect It by @johobi​➴ F2L!AU | BFF!Taehyung x BFF/GF!Reader x BF!Jungkook | Series➴ You’re in love with your childhood friend, Taehyung. The problem is, you treasure your friendship with him far too much to ever risk losing it. Oh, and he’s quite the Casanova. At your wits’ end with feelings you can no longer hide as diligently as you once did, you ask him to set you up with someone, anyone, in a last ditch attempt to avoid a heartbreaking conversation.➴ WII: okay, me putting this under the list for Jungkook must expose which side I’m on but that’s not the reason why this is under his name, it’s here because I love his WYLEI characterization so much and if you’ve been reading this series too, you’re probably head over heels in love with the boy too? and immersing in this, feeling all the ways he changed MC’s life and the way he loves her? stop it i’m crying right now. T_T

❥ Only You by @sweetbunnykook​➴ Stalker/Lovers!AU | Stalker/BF!Jungkook x Noona/GF!Reader x Ex-Fiance!Namjoon x BFF!Seokjin | Series➴ Jeon Jungkook, your wedding photographer, helps you escape on your big day upon learning about a secret your groom-to-be kept hidden. You soon fall for this young, passionate photographer. However, you underestimated just how much he was willing to reciprocate that love. Maybe, you think, he’s loving you just a little too much.➴ WII: ahhhh to be Jungkook’s Noona, I love immersing in this because there’s so much intense passion here, and if you allow yourself to fall into the role you will understand the statement that Love is Blind that people will overlook anything their lover is involved in because so what if they did this or that? they only have hearts in their eyes, the manipulation here might get to you irl, like wow, seriously this was so brilliantly written, how can you not love Jungkook and give him everything right?  

❥ DNA by @btssavedmylifeblr​➴ Dystopian/Breeding!AU | Stud!Jungkook x Cow!Reader | Series➴ Jungkook’s career is in jeopardy when he begins falling for a woman he’s supposed to impregnate.➴ WII: the futuristic feels? amazing description and details? unique universe? if you’re up for those things this is one amazing read you should be immersing yourself into, I’m so in love with the way this was written, Bee and her galaxy mind will challenge you into painting all of her words in your head and you’ll have an advanced futuristic universe where babies are manufactured and modified to your liking but if you mix feelings into the process and what do you get? ugh, this is just brilliant!

❥ The Fitting by @noona-la-la-la​➴ Idol!AU | Idol!Jungkook x Stylist/Noona!Reader | Series➴ The younger Jungkook has a workplace crush on you, but you let the flattery get to you and make a proposition you can’t take back.➴ WII: who can ever say no to idol!jungkook? prepare to immerse into this tension-filled romance with Jungkook, laced with complications of keeping a secret “relationship“, so this is what happens when fire meets ice at work, and this being an idol!au will give you a glimpse of how they probably keep their affairs hidden from everyone and it can be stressful, full of jealousy, and fights.

➴ OT7 ❥ Void by @btssavedmylifeblr​➴ Space!AU | Space Crew!OT7 x Space Crew!Reader | Series➴ You are the only female crew member on a 12-year space mission with seven handsome men. The sexual tension is real, y’all.➴ WII: BEST.OT7.FIC.EVER. so why not immerse yourself and be the only girl in their universe right? this has so much sexual tension since they only have you sis, but it’s fun to get all the attention tho there will be stressful and trying times, the boys will compensate *wink*wink* 

❥ A Hundred Percent Human by wrienne➴ Hybrid/Host-Club!AU | Hybrid!OT7 x Human/Owner!Reader | Series➴ In which you (reader) are forced to take care of seven hybrids in a twist of fate.After your estranged mother passes away, you’re left with an unwanted will and the heavy burden of responsibility. Although you’re desperate not to stray from the familiar path you thought was laid out in front of you with a fully human boyfriend who loves you more than anything, your life is thrown upside down once more after another unfortunate incident (that may or may not have to do with said boyfriend) occurs.Drunk and down on life, you finally decide to deal with the house and the unsavory business your mother left behind. However, to your shock, you find that seven very different hybrids are included with both the house - and the business. Seven hybrids you never even met before - even less agreed to take care of.Set in the not too distant future where infertility has become mankind’s greatest issue. Will contain sexual content.➴ WII: what’s an ot7 fic without tension? majority of the boys are dog hybrids with certain classes and MC has no fucking clue how to deal with hybrids let alone seven of them with two of them being special classes/cases, this will be a little slow-paced as the story starts more on their background/history as hybrids and they’re still getting comfy with one another, which I think is a great way to pull readers in and grow attached to the hybrids.

❥ Moth to Flame by @bang-to-the-tan➴ Vampire!AU | Vampire!OT7 x Human!Reader | Series➴ Robbed of your memories and intended as a birthday present for a deadly creature of the night, you unwittingly become the center of a territorial dispute between two covens of vampires. Tensions are rising and the brothers are getting hungry.➴ WII: how can we pass up on vampire!ot7? this is a brilliant story that will have the same haze effect on you as the reader, I immersed hardcore on this one and I’m like who am I? it’s weird when you get affected and get all the phantom feels from reading alone you know? and this will affect you so much I swear to god it’s you literally transported and astral projected into this universe and it’s so pleasing but also frightening to be in the middle of two covens.

❥ Physcom by @teawithkpop➴ Dystopian/Sex Worker!AU | Idol!OT7 x Physical Companion!Reader | Series➴ AU where live-in Physical Companions are provided to k-pop groups so the members can relieve their sexual related stress and tension - around their busy schedules, of course. You are one such “PhysCom”. However, complications arise when the BTS members start harboring romantic feelings for you. Feelings you’re not sure you can reject with any believable amount of conviction. Such a scandal could result in getting both you and them fired and exposed, ruining any future career options for all parties involved… it turns out the “com” in PhysCom might as well stand for complications.➴ WII: this has an interesting take on being Bangtan’s “companion” and to immerse into this one and watching everyone catch feelings and defy the rules for a chance at romance will overwhelm you, you a mere “companion” now the object of their affection and they’re willing to do anything and everything for you even if it means risking it all. 

p.s. I suggest you go through my FICSHELF to view all of the stories I ever read so you get to choose the exact story you want to read, the shelf contains story links (Tumblr and ao3 if any) with summary, warnings, and more info about the fic (character role, genre, au, word count). 

[twitchesandstitches]

Dragonrezi Gets Even Bigger Comm

A commission for @alt-hammer, of the Dragonrezi from one of my earlier fic concepts of a fantasy AU that featured Vriska as a conquering giant sorceress and Terezi as a dragon monster girl she tried to wrangle into being her familiar,and Karkat as a plaything to placate Terezi; comm-er wanted to see some elaboration on it and Terezi getting even bigger! (A link to that earlier story!)

Featuring some implied JohnVris, this round!

--------

In the most magically scarred continent of the world, recent wars in the homelands of long-gone troll empires had left the whole place a chaotic mess, filled with ruins, warlords and all manner of danger. From one perspective, it was a bad situation; monsters formed from magic and taking shape from the most powerful spell-users around regularly came out of nowhere, most cities and towns didn’t last more than a few days, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to immobilize themselves by making themselves too busty to move with the wrong application of magic, which tended to have consequences for their villages.

But to those intent on putting some kind of order on the world, it was an opportunity. To build new empires, to uncover the mysteries of the old ones, and to grow strong.

(Terezi Pyrope felt it was best to bide your time, and steer the course of things. All of these things, she would do in time, but she would work with things first.)

Now, consider one of the more stable lands in recent times: the Cerulean Kingdoms, the Serket lands. Statues across its beaches, floating sea-cities and cliff-side realms portrayed the image of a sorceress queen, as impossibly curvaceous and busty as only the strongest of magic users were. In truth this sorceress and her friends, and rivals, were a hidden society and adventuring party when the times were right, and they all shared her distinctive figure as a consequence of sufficient magical power and expertise. Kanaya, scion of the vampires, her belly swollen with converts to vampirism… Aradia of the Megido necromancers, her own body eternally pregnant with the countless souls she gestated new bodies for in a form of resurrection. And the others, equally huge and curvy in their own unique ways, from Feferi the life-crafting witch to Jade the wolfish witch of the wilds…

And Vriska Serket, who hoped to be the biggest and most powerful to make her mark on the world, and trying so very hard to outdo her own dragon familiar, Terezi Pyrope.

The boundaries of her lands were easy enough to make out, as her magical palace flew over her lands. A grand construct of sapphire gems grown with her powers, black metal and shimmering stones imbued with raw magic, the gigantic citadel was unbelievably massive and it eclipsed some mountains as it flew over her lands and seas, though never past her boundaries, unable to move past the limits of her power. And, somehow, it was even bigger on the inside. Statues of herself stood at attention on the elaborately carved exteriors, a mirror to the ones in her towns and cities.

The statues did not quite do her justice; capturing the incredibly stylized robes, jackets and web-themed skirts of Vriska’s regal attire was a tricky enough affair, but to get across just how… buxom Vriska was? That was really not doable. You started with something shaped like a violin, made the wide bits as large as you possibly could, and then you made then even bigger than that… and by this point you gave up, because mere stone tended to crumble underneath the weight of such curves. She was thick, even by the standards of magical users.

To hear that Vriska Serket, queen of the sea-lands, might feel inadequate, was laughable. Who would she possibly feel skinny next to? And for an answer, they would point at the far, far larger statues of Terezi, which were not attached to the Citadel. They were the Citadel, at least its walls.

Within the Citadel, Vriska’s latest plan was coming to fruition.

Smirking in a way appropriate to the mightiest sorceress this side of the universities frequented by the Maryam Clan in their oasis on the other side of the known continent, she waved a hand at the twenty thousand undead soldiers carrying the artifact. She didn’t need to speak to command them, but she instinctively felt that there were some things you just had to do. “Put it down here.”

Zombies, mechanically-reinforced skeletons, the occasional feral ghost and a few enthralled mindless vampires (unrelated to the Maryam Clan, though possibly spawned from a similar process) all moved in a great mass and lowered the ancient arcane battery into a special pedestal. In a wave it clicked down, and they flowed away, their thousands of steps briefly obscuring the potent ritual patterns encircling the relic.

Here, in her floating citadel, Vriska was at her strongest. This was her place; arcane geometries channeled the power right into her, specially carved spires collected magic from the air and diverted it into the mystical foodstuffs that would be fed to her; the air itself rumbled with potential, and it discharged into her.

She smiled, fangs dimpling her thick lips, and strode off. Her undead minions (a gift from a friend, a necromancer called Damara Megido, who Vriska had helped with a serious academic question) trailed after her. It was difficult to tell if they could feel anything, but as her hourglass-shaped body moved, robes tightly conforming to her massive hips, their gazes were fixed on her. She went through a door shaped to permit her gigantic hips and breasts, and the undead followed, as did a small human all in blue.

Vriska stopped, and leaned down. Three hundred feet of troll leaned down, and her breasts hit the ground before her knees did. The human, John Egbert, stopped as a genuine valley of cleavage appeared before him and he peered up into the mightiest sorceress alive; famed for her ruthlessness, her limitless hunger for power, and so it might have been surprising for her rivals to see the indulgent look her face.

Vriska’s face softened even more as she picked him up, apparently on impulse; he didn’t seem to mind being held captive in a metallic prosthesis of magically resonant metals. Lips as wide around as a street to him pressed on him in a soft kiss, and he smooched her back as best as he could. Vriska put him down, and spoke. “John, gonna need you to stay here for a while until the ritual is complete.”

John nodded. “Okay, ma’am!” he saluted her, in the fashion he thought was expected of an apprentice to a magical teacher. “So… what do I do?”

Vriska made a grumpy noise. “Keep Terezi out of here! I just know that pain in my splendid ass is gonna show up and try to hog all the power boost for herself. So when, not if, when she shows up to, I don’t know, try to eat it or something, get her out!”

John saluted with a slightly worried expression. “I’ll… do what I can!” Vriska grinned, and left. Her building-sized heels clicked against the ground and her undead army followed. The door closed, with an appropriately satisfying bang. He had spent some hours weaving drama spells so get that sound just right!

He waited, dutifully, and marked the way the word-spells around the magical battery slowly increased. To pass the time, he tried to recall just where the thing had come from. Unfortunately history was not really his expertise; it was apparently a troll artifact from one of the bygone civilizations that hadn’t survived the sorcery wars of ancient times. He knew it stored magic (a truly horrific amount of it, and Vriska’s intentions were to deprive enemies of the chance to weaponize it, AND to also enhance her powers and beauty). And he knew that it looked a little bit like something he’d like to put on a stick and smack monsters around with. It had a cool look to it. It’d probably make a funny sound, too!

There was a small, teal lizard on the ceiling that had come there when he had been distracted. Privately, the lizard mused that maybe Vriska had a bit too much confidence in her human.

John contemplated the pros and cons of using it to make a magic hammer that would absorb magic but put some of that magic into making comedy sound effects whenever you hit something with it. The word-spell around it and all over the room were well along by this point, and they shone the liquid blue of Vriska’s magic.

He did feel the swell of enchantment, and he stepped back in surprise. The swell blurred his magical senses, and he experienced the mystical equivalent of something going ‘???’; all his more mystical senses went blank from overload, and he desperately stepped back as light flooded from the relic, briefly materializing into solidified wild magic. Fortunately, before it could erupt into any number of hazardous monsters or destructive disasters, it was grounded and safety channeled into the Citadel.

No, he thought, with a smile. Into the word-spell, and thus, into Vriska! He thought of all this power going to her… into her, and he goggled at the thought of when he’d see her next, at her full size!

She was three hundred feet now, and already such an hourglass-shaped beauty; he couldn’t imagine what she’d be like, but he did his best.

Thus distracted, he did not notice the lizard descending downwards and changing shape, expanding to a much larger form. He did hear, behind and above him, a very soft noise. He glanced up suspiciously, a faint suggestion of titanic movement drawing his attention, and saw nothing more. The walls and ceiling of the magic room vaulted high up, with many curving supports that would be ideal for strong claws to punch right into.

He paused. He didn’t recall that particular bit of ceiling looking so… leathery.

It unfurled, and the ceiling came down.

The world crashed about him, and as a looming force reached lazily for him, John squeaked as claws plucked him up. The ceiling hadn’t fallen down! Something really big, on the ceiling, just dropped down!

Or, to be specific, a really, really big someone.

The feminine form now filling up a good portion of the room was built on similar lines to Vriska but… bigger. Vriska had an hourglass body type, counterbalanced by her massive mane of hair, while the humanoid dragon, her gorgeous face a pleasing mix of troll and dragonish features, was… motherly. Girthy. A huge pair of wings swept around her, along with an enormously thick tail. Scales and golden shapes studded her body, from toe claws to horns, so that every inch of her shone, armored in her own splendor. A big belly propped up a pair of breasts even bigger than Vriska’s, and she had a lot of very solid muscles underneath the softness.

And oh yes; if Vriska was three hundred feet tall, than her dragon familiar, Terezi Pyrope, was… bigger. So much bigger, indeed. Terezi grinned at John, and around her the chamber telescoped outwards. There were potent enchanting spells to make rooms bigger to fit anyone who might be in them, but Terezi had a talent for pushing them to their limits. Her red eyes stared down at him, dull and blinded in some ancient paladin’s oath, but her smile was full of sharp teeth, and very snidely aware.

“So,” she said, as he realized too late that the little lizard in the room had been the exact same color as the teal monster girl sitting in the room right here. “You’re gonna stop me, huh?”

John wasn’t particularly scared, even in the grip of a dragon woman known to devour entire castles whole. Over five thousand feet tall from claw to horn bases, she looked very much like a troll; scales instead of chitin, her black skin tinted a vibrant shade of teal, and a thick dragonish tail sprouted from her massive backside just as a pair of huge wings furled around her so much like a fancy cloak. There were other signs; the crackling pathways of power along her throat and chest, where her breath weapons were powered up, the digitigrade legs just like a bird’s… and the big claws on her hands and feet. Bit funny to forget that, considering that he was pinched between them.

It was a bit like having some very pointy buildings hugging you into compliance. John wriggled politely. “Uh… yeah, absolutely! Let me up so we can have our fight!”

Terezi grinned at him. Leaning WAY over so he could see her. A truly buxom monster, she had to adjust herself so that her gold-studded breasts could shift out of the way, propped up on her big belly so they looked even bigger. Those boobs were huge, sticking out over five hundred feet out, the scales studded with the contents of an entire hoard to decorate her maternal body. She had to lean over just so he could see her, and his heart skipped a beat as she spoke, her enormous blue-green lips shaping so perfectly around her words. “Nah. Be a good boy and hold still so I can go do the thing.”

“Uh.” He lowered his fist. “Um. First, what are you planning on doing…?”

Terezi inclined her head at the artifact. “Guess.”

“...No way!”

She just grinned in reply, a clear ‘yes!’.

“Terezi, no!”

“Terezi yes!”

“I’ll stop you!” he cried valiantly.

Terezi smirked. “Vriska’s tiny hero rises to her defense! Honestly, I love it. You’re probably a great influence on her. Buuuuuut…. I don’t really wanna deal with that right now.”

She breathed out, and her breath was infused with the magic inherent to dragons. She cast a spell, not with lore or divine connection, but with her innate connection to the forces of magic, and her breath became a bubble. It flowed around John and he floated up into the air, yelling helplessly at her. The bubble contracted and twist as his wind magic tore at it from the inside, it bounced as he turned momentum into super speed and flight, but all his power wasn’t enough to overcome the micro-fraction of her power that she put into the bubble.

If she wished, she could have burned the continent to the bedrock without much effort. Sealing away an apprentice boy, even one in service to a living goddess-sorcerer, was hardly a challenge. But she liked to give herself something to test herself against later. “Tell ya what. As a present for standing up to me, I won’t just eat the damn thing. I’ll leave Vriska a TINY something. But all this,” and she gave one enormous hip a healthy, lusty smack, making various pats of her body jiggle enticingly. “Is a much better destination for its power than stroking Vrisky’s ego!”

“Kind of hypocritical for YOU To be talking about ego!” John said as Terezi lightly batted him with a finger that was, to him, larger than a building.

A claw bigger than a walkway smacked into him again and again, thoughtfully. “Okay that’s fair,” Terezi said, and then snorted. “But I don’t really care~!”

With a cheerful swagger, her tail smacking a few pillars around in such a way that she somehow carved her name into them like a signature, Terezi stepped right into the circle, so large that one toe filled up the whole thing. John beat and hollered at his little prison, and summoned forth the wind magic that was an expression of his fundamental tendency for powers of movement and direction both physical and abstract.

The bubble flew, at incredible force, right towards a patch of scales. Unfortunately that patch was on her butt, which was very well padded, and so he bounced off harmlessly. With such force that he impacted into the wall, cracking it, and there he was stuck. John’s powers just didn’t work if he was stuck!

Terezi’s thick, muscular tail waggled at him tauntingly, and swung up to slap her own butt. First the left side of one massive hip, and then the other, making it wobble and jiggle in hill-sized ripples; John blushed, angry and aroused at so much titanic butt. You could build a castle on all of it! And so, he was a bit too preoccupied with her dangerous flirting to realize that the blue magic lines were turning teal.

Magical colors were a personal thing. They indicated the influence of a magic user, the literal color of their soul as it entered the world. Reality WAS magic, shaped and codified into substance, concepts, forms. And color? Well, that was just light, but people saw color, and it meant things to them, and perspective was really all that counted in magic. So with magic users, the color of your soul shone forth when your power waxed mightily.

And when Terezi bothered to put even the slightest smidgen of effort, her magic made her shine like a sun.

Intricate patterns appeared on her scales and hide, mirroring the spell runes around her. (above her, Vriska on her interface throne froze up as she felt the trickle of magic being pumped into her assets dry up, and then only scraps being fed into her. Everything was teal.)

Terezi tilted her head back, a giantess big enough to destroy an army of demons with a single step or firm press of a finger’s claw, and breathed the power in. The artifact wobbled and then was violently tossed out of the magical circle as its power was promptly sucked out of it. Possibly by coincidence, it was flung right into John. It didn’t hurt him, just bounced off his bubble without any harm, but it was still loud and surprising enough that he was compelled to complain about it. He beat his hands against the bubble and yelled, but Terezi wasn’t listening.

(Upstairs, Vriska fumed as her body continued to grow, already five hundred feet tall by now, with boobs twice their original size… but she wasn’t getting as big as she expected. The power! The precious, delicious power… what had been river was now just a tiny stream, and where she should have been scraping against the clouds in her citadel’s magical environment, she was growing bigger so slowly that she could actually perceive things around her getting smaller. No! It was supposed to be bigger!

It was only through great force of will that she didn’t jump off and race downstairs to yell at Terezi. Who was absolutely, obviously behind all this! It was ALWAYS HER.)

Terezi was well aware of Vriska’s thoughts on the matter thanks to the magical link between familiar and sorceress that gave Terezi an insight into her thoughts. Unfortunately (from vriska’s perspective), this meant that Terezi could passively read her mind pretty much all the time, no doubt a reason how Terezi kept commandeering all her plans and sucking up her power gains. So Terezi ‘overheard’ Vriska’s complaints, and she gloated over Vriska’s shock at losing out on massive bust gains.

She blew a mocking kiss at John’s protests, and by sheer coincidence she started growing bigger, swelling upwards as her wiggling claws waved away the kiss. The magic flowered into her blood, bone and the core of magic at her center, and it flooded her with such power, so much that the only way to express it - was to grow!

The chamber rapidly got a lot more cramped as she expanded, slowly growing upwards. Already so large, Terezi grew right in front of John’s eyes, the magic pouring into her. Her tail slapped against the walls and cushioned her as her shoulders rose into the ceiling, despite the ceiling magically growing so you’d always fit into it; she was getting so big, so fast, she was outstripping it!

Four hundred feet, and upwards, her growth steady but very, very rapid. Her butt swelled up so that her fat tail was propped up, and several pillars were broken beneath its weight. Her butt kept swelling out, along with her hips, keeping pace with her expanding height; the expansion charms of the room were soon exhausted, and John could no longer see anything behind them but the lashing of her tail.

The magic flooded into her as she kept growing; another thousand feet piled on in a brief size burst, and by now it was plain to see that she was not funneling most of this tremendous potential into her size. Sure, she was growing larger, but… the growth was petering out surprisingly fast. As John watched, she wasn’t getting taller, her height getting more staggered. Where was it going.

The answer lay in her chest’s sudden explosive growth; her breasts swelled out faster than she was growing upwards, new scales growing to cover acres of new flesh between the patches of gilded scales. In moments, her breasts doubled in size, and she kept getting taller, her bustline not only keeping pace with her height, but surpassing its growth!

And they just kept growing; all the immense magic of the ancient battery, potentially to be used in war or some terrible misuse, now being pumped right into her bustline. Enough power to blow a country off the world was forced into her chest and milk production. Terezi cooed as her breasts hit the floor, rapidly growing so big that they were taller than she was!

The weight of her expanding bustline pushed her against the wall, her body rising up on her own bed-tier bustline. And since she was still growing physically more gigantic, this pushed her into the roof.

Terezi kept getting bigger, growing taller until she crashed into the floor, her wings and back cramped into the roof and too big to fit properly now, but she was still growing largely. Her breasts kept growing more rapidly by the second; John squeaked as a tide of teal filled up the room, a sloshing sound as if of an approaching sea getting stirred up as they smacked into place.

The walls creaked. Terezi and her boobs were still growing.

And though John could now see nothing, absolutely nothing at all but teal-tinted darkness, grow bigger she did. But now the last of the magic was greedily swallowed up by her magnificent body, her height finally stabilizing. Her breasts continued to grow in a few more shakes and wiggles, apparently hopeful for more, and at least they stopped. The room was now as good as a bra for her massive breasts, and Terezi sighed in contentment as her new body settled. Her butt pushing out behind her, her breasts big enough for her and a couple others of her to sleep on… a fitting temple to her glory.

Teal magical signs appeared all over her body, in languages no longer written anywhere in the world (so far as they knew). These two faded, and with that, the spell was done. The absorbed magic faded away, into Terezi’s rune-streaked body. She smacked her huge lips and licked a few scraps of quintessence off, patting a swell of breast bigger than some kingdoms. She kept growing, but in bits and bumps, not the smooth (if very fast!) expansion she had done before. About seventy-five hundred feet tall by now, and shrinking a bit as she willingly suppressed her power for the sake of it being really funny to spring on Vriska at the first opportunity, she cleared up some room.

Thusly, John was now able to see… well, not much, still. All he could see now was one toe-claw dominating his view of the universe, but he could feel her presence. In any case she picked him up, the tips of two claws neatly pinched his bubble and wrenching out of the wall.

“Well, check me out!” Terezi said sweetly, holding him like a little marble against the ceiling so he could see all of her. “How’d I do, huh?”

John saw nothing but… a sea of such massive, scaley, huge busty goodness… he clammed up, turning red. He loved Vriska with all his fierce heart, but… not even she was that big and gorgeous. He’d never admit it, but… he couldn’t lie!

Terezi giggled, and blew him another kiss.

The door slammed open and out came Vriska. With some difficulty, and at first there was a hint of massive breasts and a shoulder trying to force their way through the doorway, and then the doorway was magically transformed to allow her through, and through it came Vriska.

She was significantly bigger, John judged at once, with love in his heart and desire in his hips. Almost… a thousand feet tall, now! More than twice her original size, but compared to her original goal of approaching Terezi’s size, she still looked distinctly puny. Though it was hard to say that, when she now had a figure with hips that left the door way a ruin, and breasts with lower hemispheres around her hips. You couldn’t even see anything of her body above the waist, just two massive bouncy globes. They swelled up as Vriska drew in breath, and wailed: “TEREZI!”

Terezi flicked John right into Vriska’s cleavage, and somehow moved. In a flash she transformed, becoming a small lizard. With a cheeky slap of her tail she scurried away into the suddenly open hallways, leaving Vriska spinning head over horns with the impact of the John-projectile. “Thanks for the snack!” Terezi said, just to be cheeky. “Hope you don’t mind staying so skinny!”

Vriska howled in fury, and Terezi’s cackles echoed throughout the citadel as she exited it, and then her shadow eclipsed it, and all the kingdoms of the Serket was in awe as her buxom glory was revealed to them.

Dragons do love to show off their hoards, and Terezi’s body was a hoard for her!

[baphomet-media]

The Real Mountain Was the Friends We Made Along the Way - A Celeste Review

Genre: Adventure

Subgenre: 2D Platformer

Developer: Matt Makes Games

Publisher: Matt Makes Games

Platform(s): PC, Switch, PS4 (Reviewed on Switch)

Release Date: January 25th, 2018

Celeste is a game that completely took me by surprise. I first saw it while idly browsing through the Switch eShop back in 2018, and after checking out the trailer and seeing a bit of mention of it online, decided to give it a try. I was distinctly impressed by its tight controls, touching story, and wealth of challenging-but-fair gameplay. Now, a little over two years later, I decided to revisit the game and see if it still holds up.

Story

Celeste focuses on the story of Madeline, a young woman who decides to climb Celeste Mountain in an act of defiant self-exploration. Along the way, she’ll have to face her insecurities and anxiety head-on in the form of a ghostly doppelganger created from her negative emotions that seems to haunt her at every turn. Despite this, she is rarely alone, as she has the company of fellow climber Theo, a selfie-loving hipster; a kooky old woman who lives on the mountain; and more. Each character has their own troubles and reasons for being on the mountain, though Theo is vastly more fleshed-out than the other side characters.

While the story is never tear-jerking at any point, it definitely hits home with a young adult such as myself who is also dealing with similar insecurities as Madeline, and has a good message about learning to rely on those around you, and to accept yourself for good and bad. I really enjoyed that the game is not afraid to touch on very real aspects of mental illness in a way that neither glorifies nor diminishes it, and treats Madeline as a real person who is just doing her best to work though her issues, making both progress and mistakes along the way.

Gameplay

At its core, Celeste is a 2D platformer that focuses on challenging-but-fair levels. Each chapter of the game is its own level, broken down into rooms that you progress through in a roughly linear format (with minor sidetracking for collectables), ultimately trying to reach the end. Madeline has a number of standard platforming moves, including jumps and wall jumping, but with expanded mechanics such as the ability to climb walls and dash in midair. While these mechanics are very powerful in theory, they’re well limited. Madeline only has so much stamina for climbing, and when it runs out, she begins to slide down the wall. The dash mechanic is also limited to one use, which is recharged upon landing, hitting a spring or other object, or touching a crystal pickup. I really liked how well-balanced these mechanics felt, as even if you’re out of stamina, you can still wall jump to attempt to save yourself, and there are plenty of ways to replenish both stamina and dashes.

Each chapter of the game also introduces its own mechanical gimmicks that interact with Madeline’s core mechanics in some way. Most of these end up being variations of moving platforms, but there’s enough variety to keep things fresh. The game is also very good at teaching you not only how these gimmicks work, but how you’re expected to synergize them with your core movement.

The game even has advanced techniques for speedrunners and other expert players, such as what I refer to as the wavedash, where you dash diagonally down into the ground and jump a split second later to preserve the forward momentum of the dash, while keeping your dash charge from being on the ground. Advanced players will find all sorts of advanced tech and applications for them that will allow them to finesse their way through the game’s levels and find hidden skips.

The game also has a few optional collectibles. First are the strawberries, which are the main collectibles. There are around 20 strawberries per chapter, and most are either located in out-of-the-way challenge rooms, tricky locations on the main path, or hidden in secret holes in the map. One thing I liked about the strawberries is that it usually isn’t enough to just get to the strawberry, you also have to make your way back to solid ground afterward. You also aren’t pressured to collect them if you don’t want to, and the game even says on a loading screen that they’re purely optional and to only go for them if you want to. I found most strawberries to be fair enough to collect, though there were the odd one or two that were frustrating to find, as they required the player to spot tiny irregularities in the level design to investigate.

Aside from strawberries, each chapter also has a hidden Cassette Tape that unlocks a more difficult B-Side chapter that remixes the themes and gimmicks into a much harder version. The B-Sides were definitely more stressful at times, but felt really good to get through. If I were to do another playthrough, I’d probably want to revisit the B-Sides after doing all the main chapters, as the alternating spikes in difficulty made the difficulty curve more on the stressful side.

Lastly, each chapter has a Crystal Heart collectible that is usually extremely hidden, but allows unlocking end-game content. Like some of the strawberries, a few of the Crystal Hearts can be frustrating to find, and a few are further hidden behind puzzles that the player has to solve based on very limited information. I enjoy puzzles like this in games, though later on in the game they can start to border on obtuse.

Celeste also comes with an extremely well-developed Assist Mode that lets the player fully customize how the game runs, including slowing down the game, allowing infinite stamina or dashes, etc. Though I never used it, it’s not only a great tool for less experienced players to get through a challenging game, but it’s also useful for those who want to fully explore everything the game has to offer and test the limits of the engine. Unlike other games that rub their assist modes in the player’s face, Celeste never nags you about it, but always has the option ready in the pause menu should you need it. This allows the player to switch in and out of the mode at will without feeling like the game is forcing them to. Nintendo could really learn a lesson from Celeste.

There’s also a plethora of end-game content that I won’t go into here, but suffice to say that there is plenty to do in the game after the credits roll, including a free update to the game that added an additional postgame chapter.

My only real criticism of the game is that levels have an obnoxious tendency to block access to previous rooms without warning. This is particularly frustrating when you notice an alternate path or potential secret just as you go through a room transition and there’s no way back into the previous room. Though to be fair, once you’ve completed a chapter, you can start from any of the chapter’s main sections. Plus, the game tells you which collectibles you’re missing in each area, and once you’ve obtained a collectible, it’s immediately saved, so if you’re only missing a few strawberries, you can easily jump into the section where you’re missing them, grab them quickly, and then exit the level. Still, I think it would be worthwhile if the game had some way of letting players know that certain doors will lock behind them, or otherwise indicate that certain paths are one-way only.

Presentation

Celeste’s visuals use a pixel art aesthetic with tons of detail, making each room of each chapter a delight to the eyes. Each chapter is also visually distinct enough that you always feel like you’re seeing something new. One interesting point is that the game seems to be using a feature that can dynamically stretch and squish sprites without requiring the developers to draw individual frames for these transformations. This is a pretty ingenious idea, though I felt at times it was a bit too obvious, as some of the results could be a bit jagged or exaggerated. Still, it’s probably not something that the average player would notice or care about.

The game’s soundtrack tends to focus on relaxing background pieces that set the mood with lots of emotional piano parts, but also knows how to build up energy during high-tension sections or make the player feel triumphant. Additionally, each B-Side chapter has a remix of the chapter’s theme, which adds additional pizzaz to the soundtrack.

Conclusion

Celeste is an amazing game that bleeds charm and love from the developers, and will leave you feeling accomplished and hopeful. It has enough challenge for platforming veterans without being unfair or inaccessible to less experienced players. There’s something to love here for everyone, and I urge everyone who is even slightly interested in the game to give it a shot.

Score: 9 / 10

[napstamuse]

My thoughts on Deltarune, what it is, and what it means for the UnderRune world

Alright so this is the condensed version of a much wordier theory I was working on. For all intents and purposes, this is part four of Goner Theory, just.. Under a different name, I guess? I’ll probably think of one later. Also, even after trimming, this post is still quite long. You have been warned.

Anyway, there are a couple of recurring things that are within Deltarune just under the surface that are very interesting and make me more excited for the continuation than I already was! Without further ado, let’s dive right in.

So when I first played Deltarune, I was slightly disappointed with just how absent Gaster was considering the fact that he more or less promoted the demo through Twitter. 

But after some digging, I was so very, very far from wrong. First of all, his motif is everywhere in the music. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to:

ANOTHER HIM (this one is very clear, probably the most obvious one)

Scarlet Forest (a little tricky to hear, but definitely there around 1:28)

The Circus (@0:14, the piano backing)

THE WORLD REVOLVING (Honestly like… Everywhere. It’s the backing for practically the entire song.)

THE HOLY (this one is probably the biggest stretch. Right around 0:30, the bells sound like his motif to me - but this could just be the same note pattern.)

Friendship (In the background, starting around 1:44)

(I think of particular interest here is Gaster’s ties to Jevil, but that’s a whole different topic for another post)

As was evidenced by Undertale, Toby very much uses leitmotif to his advantage. If a particular motif is clearly heard in a song, it is not on accident or out of laziness. I think this, combined with how often the “Don’t forget, I’m with you in the dark” motif is heard elsewhere in the soundtrack, poses a clear message - Gaster is here, and is always here, just in the background.

Other evidence of him includes:

When you use your cellphone in the Dark World, it plays the same sound as ENTRY NUMBER 17. 

The weird door in the South part of Hometown is this same sound, but slowed waaaaay down (I think about 700%?)

The track name “ANOTHER HIM” is a clear reference to the track “HIM” from Undertale, otherwise known as Gaster’s Theme.

The messages hidden in the Deltarune website, written in Wingdings and saved as “him.png”. 

Undertale and Deltarune both use a numeric code to identify who is speaking when a textbox is displayed on screen. The type code for the narration in the very beginning, when you’re creating your Vessel, is 666, which is also the typecode for when Gaster speaks in Undertale.

As previously mentioned, he was the one “connecting” to us via Twitter to download the Survey Program.

Anything having to do with the intro sequence as well as the game over screens is named in all caps in the code. Of special note is the sequence where you’re creating your Vessel where objects are named “GONERMAKER”. 

In short, Gaster is very much present. It’s just not quite as clear cut as in Undertale, in terms of the code and events that can happen in the game. So that’s part one.

Part two - Gaster and the Skelebros are Darkners. People have already gone over this in other posts with Sans and I’m very much inclined to agree (I would link some here, but with the Tumblr Purge still in effect I’d like to play it safe). To sum it up:

Darkners don’t turn to dust, they bleed. This is evidenced by some different bits of dialogue (”Buckets of blood!”, “Everybody bleeds, right?”). Sans, if you remember, bleeds when you finally slash him in a genocide run of Undertale.

Darkners can dodge in battle, much like Sans.

Darkners have to be tired out to end the battle, same as Sans.

The fast travel doors within the Dark World are the same as Sans’ bedroom door, complete with weird light. This combined with Sans’ use of “shortcuts” to teleport to different locations in Undertale is a pretty solid connection.

Darkners (especially Lancer and Rouxls) display the same blatant disregard for the laws of physics that Sans and Papyrus do. 

So there’s part two. With those two things in mind, I propose my theory on what, exactly, Deltarune is:

The world of Deltarune is a pocket universe created and maintained by a machine of Gaster’s creation. And the machine holding it all together?

This thing.

The True Lab was previously Gaster’s domain - this much is straight up canon (it is the actual royal lab, and Gaster was previously the royal scientist). I’ve theorized in the past that Gaster was also put to the task of understanding and harnessing the power of the human SOUL, and I still stand by that. And if you look in the center of that machine, that looks an awful lot like the red SOUL. 

So here’s my theorized timeline:

Gaster, within the Alpha/Delta Timeline, is appointed as Royal Scientist within the kingdom of the Darkners. He is set upon the task of investigating the power within human SOULs for one reason or another (I think likely either because humans are outside of the Darkner/Lightner society or because they have SAVE/LOAD powers)

 While investigating, with the help of some assistants, Gaster uncovers the timeline fuckery that is caused by a human SOUL with enough power. This becomes the object of his obsession.

Gaster manages to obtain a red SOUL and keep it preserved so that it won’t break.

He could have gotten this SOUL one of two ways, I think. Either:

He extracted it from a human.

He fabricated it by amassing enough Determination in one place.

I’m not sure which of these two it is, or if it’s something else entirely, but those are my guesses. Either way, he gets a SOUL with the gift of Determination.

Gaster, after thorough study, creates The Machine, unlocking the potential within the SOUL for his own use. He gains access to SAVE/LOAD/RESET powers as well as the incredible magical energy contained within. This will later become the heart of the CORE.

Gaster creates a SAVE within The Machine, a universal “backup” of the surrounding area. The ultimate fallback in case of disaster. 

Gaster continues to study and experiment, eventually making a fatal mistake which culminates in the events described in Goner Theory 1-3. Because of the way he is destroyed, he is unable to reload his SAVE. 

Gaster is caught within The Void, a place completely outside of time and space. This is where he still resides, scattered across all of the many timelines between the two universes.

The Machine is kept intact, and with it, a pocket universe created by Gaster’s SAVE. The world of Deltarune is all contained in that machine, powered by the lone human SOUL trapped within. 

The magic within The Machine proliferates through the Underground, freeing little bits and pieces of the trapped universe. This is what allows the different Goner encounters to happen - the Goners are shadows of the beings trapped within the pocket universe. 

This is where I’d like to note that this timeline is by no means complete and/or set in stone. I am quite certain on the major elements of it (the Deltarune pocket universe, the Machine holding it, etc.) but the details could flex as more information becomes clear.

So now that we have finally established all of this... What is the Deltarune demo?

If you remember, from the Deltarune site before the 24 hour mark was up, it was Gaster talking directly to us.

The site now is even in a different font and speaking style, further supporting this.

That combined with the fact that the program is actually called “SURVEY PROGRAM”, Gaster’s inquisitive nature, and the fact that he directly asked for our responses, I think that the demo is a point of contact.

It is a further opportunity for research, to see what others do when interacting with the universe he has bottled up. Moreover, it’s a point of contact with him previous to his accident. 

And how is he doing this? 

It’s through the Machine, and the red SOUL within. The SOUL and its home are an interface of sorts, and likely Gaster’s prized creation. This is further supported by how the save screen looks previous to beating the game:

It also comes with its own set of messages when copying and erasing the files:

"IT CONFORMED TO THE REFLECTION. 

 "WHAT AN INTERESTING BEHAVIOR.

 "PREPARATIONS ARE COMPLETE." 

 "IT WAS AS IF IT WAS NEVER THERE AT ALL."

"IT RETAINED ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE.”

"THEN IT WAS SPARED."

"VERY INTERESTING."

"THE DIVISION IS COMPLETE."

"IT IS IMMUNE TO ITS OWN IMAGE."

"IT IS BARREN AND CANNOT BE COPIED."

"BUT THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO COPY."

"BUT IT WAS ALREADY GONE."

"BUT THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO ERASE."

This game is an experiment. And in fact is an experiment we already know about.

That’s right. Deltarune, and our playing of it, is the experiment detailed in ENTRY NUMBER 17. Gaster’s final experiment before his accident. 

And now, one last thing.

I have firmly believed for quite some time that the real Chara, the child who fell and lived with the Dreemurrs, is NOT the same as the Chara who confronts you at the end of a Genocide run. 

The Chara who died to save the Monsters is gone, and has been for quite some time. I believe they are the narrator of Frisk’s adventures through the underground with the exception of the Genocide run.

The Chara we see in the genocide run is not angry nor vengeful, as you might expect from the Chara who sacrificed themselves to save Monsterkind. The Chara we see in the Genocide run is someone entirely different - The demon that comes when you call its name. A soulless, empty husk filled with nothing but distant curiosity for cause and effect, whose emotions are only brought forth through displays of incredible violence and awakened from a sleep between worlds by your actions alone.

...Sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it?

I think by entering the realm of Deltarune, we inadvertently erased what appears to be the only human inhabitant, replacing their soul with ours. This left us not with Kris, but Kris’ body with an artificial SOUL. Kris, and their SOUL, is nowhere to be found. And looking at the code, I think we can even see where they’ve gone:

And once the vessel gets a will of its own, and rejects us, what are we left with...? 

...I think Deltarune is setting us up for consequences. Sometimes, your actions don’t matter. The act of us participating in this experiment, of being in this world in the first place, has irrevocably brought about disaster.

We have inadvertently participated in the experiment that brought Gaster and his home world to disaster.

And we may well be helpless to stop it.