#lake worth graphic designer

[purity-town]

Been a little while since I last answered some asks, so -- replies below the cut!

Here ya go! Also tossed it in my sta.sh in case Tumblr crunches it.

Aha, don't worry, Chris! You'll get to experience plenty of horrors soon that'll validate your weird dreams!

All things considered, Chris is handling things pretty well right now, but I think he'd still accept a hug!

I whipped out my extensive comic collection (four of The Adventure Zone graphic novels) to get some inspiration for this! Those books tend to have a pretty basic back cover with a couple of the main/supporting characters tossed onto it, and I can see something similar working for Purity Town considering how many NPCs there are overall in the game (even though the number we've actually seen in the comic up to this point is much lower)!

:D Thanks for reading! I can't always manage to finish pages on time, but I do my best and I'm glad y'all're enjoying updates.

My first experience learning about the whole Guide/WoF thing was...I think a Stampy Cat video years before I even knew what Terraria really was. I assumed it was the scary final boss of the game, and didn't think anything more on it for half a decade. And then 1.4 came along and I got incredibly attached to the character. That's just how it goes!

For what it's worth, I will make the disclaimer: while I find it interesting to push characters and write how they react as they crack, at the end of the day, I do write happy endings. And there's plenty of room for more happy one-shots in the AO3 fic!

I kept the monsters in a sketch/low-detail/silhouetted style mostly to emphasize that Chris' dreams were strange and imprecise, but it was still cool to play around with monster designs a bit! Translating designs from the game version to comic characters can be weird because you need to account for the game expecting you to always see them from a particular angle -- the Wall of Flesh is the most extreme/obvious example of this. When we get to seeing more of Plantera proper I'll definitely have to brush up on my flower-drawing skills, haha.

I haven't actually built it out in a Terraria world proper! The world used in the blog header is a screenshot from the world I first beat the game in.

As far as a general description goes, the main town is located in a forest biome with the snowy-mountains-and-lake background. In the main area of town is the tavern and the nurse's clinic, plus the (now abandoned) clothier's store. Andrew also lives in the forest town, though slightly up-hill from it, so that he has to walk through some trees before he gets into the town square itself.

For the most part I imagine characters living in the biome they prefer in-game (with exceptions for those who like the Hallow), though the bulk of folks live in the Purity Town. The settlements in the other biomes are smaller, since having the pylons means you can go wherever you need to go for business quite easily.

Thanks! Terraria has some crazy lore once you start digging into it -- I think it'd be really cool to see "Zullie the Witch"-style lore deep dives just going ham on the minutiae of NPC interactions and Bestiary entries.

But in any case, getting to take all of that and work it into the comic here and there is good fun :D

Thank you!! I had a lot of fun with this chapter's cover, especially with the lighting and the border around the top. The Aether/shimmer stuff and the more glowy critters like faelings and prismatic lacewings are just such a delight to draw, haha.

[kao-tika]

I’m finally doing fic recs!! I’m splitting it into five categories on a future masterpost , but this post only has the first one. Although some of the fics will have my own appreciations in addition to the author's description, it will not be applied in all of them (I have read so many that there are several that I don't remember in detail lol) feel free to message me for the links or have a chat 💌

🌷All time favorites/classics🌷

☆ Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can't Lose by dolce_piccante

American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).

Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football.

A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?

notes: this is a fic that I constantly come back to, although the plot can be a little cliche (guilty pleasure) it doesn’t fall onto one dimensional characters and as it develops you can feel the depth of the story, the laughs and the sexual tension are UNMATCHED

☆ Unbelievers by isthatyoularry

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

notes: BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE FIRST LINES OF THIS FIC other than that, i really enjoyed this story. A classic enemies to lovers and super funny. The story is told by Louis pov, but the author also later released the fic from Harry’s pov (bloodsport) and I’m still waiting for the epilogue :(

☆ Relief Next To Me by dolce_piccante

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

notes: a very wholesome (and spicy) fic. If you want to read something with no angst and just enjoy your time I definitely recommend

☆ Flightless Bird by audreyhheart

AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited. During the company's production of Swan Lake the secret that doomed their love is finally revealed, but will it be too late?

notes: I did enjoy this fic but read with caution because it has MAYOR TW (grooming, rape, assault) if you want to read some angst I recommend

☆ Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore

As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter.

notes: a famous non famous AU that I really love, all of the story just irradiates cozy and soft <3

☆ Young & Beauitful by Velvetoscar

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

notes: if you want dark academia old money vibes y&b is for you, definitely NOT a light read but definitely worth it

☆ One More Time Again by orphan_account

Harry looks down to where Louis is cradling his hand between his own. Louis' hands are slender, the bones delicate, the nails bitten short. The 2-8 on the backs of his fingers is gone, but the faded scar from a skateboarding mishap in Year 7 is still there.

Harry's hand is awkward, knobby-boned and naked, no rings, no tattoos. It's too big for his wrist and his wrist too big for his arm. Yet it still somehow fits in Louis' in the painfully perfect way it always did.

He blinks back the sting in his eyes.

On the morning of his second sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden, Harry wakes up to find that he's sixteen years old, on The X Factor, and that he has a chance to make things right.

notes: a canon compliant time travel fic. SOO well written I’ve read this fic a dozen times and don’t get sick of it. you got your fluff, your soft, your friends to lovers, your angst and with a plot twist so good in the middle of the fic, cannot recommend it enough PLEASE READ IT SO WE CAN SUFFER TOGETHER

☆ For as long as I can remember ( it's been December) by green_feelings

After recovering from a severe accident that causes Harry to lose his memory of three years, he moves to London to start his life over as a star chef. Little does he know that when he falls in love with Louis at first sight, it’s not the first time they meet.

Featuring an unintentional game of hot and cold, Harry chasing memories that won’t come back, Louis burying himself in work to try and forget what he can’t forget, Liam being torn between two of his best friends, Zayn as a moral compass and Niall saving the day with good music and brutal honesty.

notes: an angst with a happy ending, really wholesome overall, prepare to shed some tears.

☆ Escapade by dolce_piccante

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

notes: BIG ROMCOM VIBES love the work of this author and once again she doesn’t disappoint. As funny as it is spicy, a lot of tension between the main characters

──⋆˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆˚｡⋆──

[b1rdcatchers]

currently obsessed with olympic pictograms so i'm rating them

simplified images of different sporting events/locations helped athletes and tourists navigate the country even if they didn't speak the language, resulting in a win for accessibility and graphic design everywhere. below are a few notable sets.

^1. London, 1948: 5/10. aggressively old-timey, but i like the figure drawings

^2. Mexico City, 1968: 10/10 love the color choice, love the waves, love the weightlifing

^3. Grenoble (winter), 1968: 9/10 a mild headache is worth it for the slay

^4. Munich, 1972: 4/10 not my favorite but set the precedent for future pictograms. the group shots are fun

^5. Moscow, 1980: 6/10 munich plus wiggles :)

^6. Los Angeles, 1984: 4/10 they look like crash test dummies but points for good posture

^7. Sarajevo (winter), 1984: 9/10 the additional lines give dynamism but don't distract from the central figures!!

^8. Barcelona, 1992: 7/10 i like the calligraphic influence

^9. Lillehammer (winter), 1994: 10000000/10 absolutely perfect little guys. actually it's one guy and he does all the sports

look at this shit it's delightful why did they keep changing pictograms after this when they obviously struck gold

^10. Atlanta, 1996: 3/10 boring but points for being caked up

^11. Nagano (winter), 1998: 6/10 interesting paint-like strokes, deduction for luge which is actually a seeker of hermaeus mora come to kill me

^12. Sydney, 2000: 10/10 theyve all got little boomerangs :')

^13. Salt Lake City (winter), 2002: 5/10 based off cattle branding icons apparently? not my favorite but i have to respect the new direction

^14. Athens, 2004: 9/10 horrible cropping as to exclude their horrendous mascot but i love love LOVE when they take inspiration from the cultural history of a location!! in this case, cycladic figurines (pictured below)

^15. Turin (winter), 2006: 10/10 no notes i love it

^16. Beijing, 2008: 10/10 historical reference goes HARD

pictured: seal script, a predecessor to modern chinese lettering. you may recognize it from its use in avatar: the last airbender!

^17. Sochi (winter), 2014: 12/10 i love him he's just a fella. like that's my guy there he goes

^18. Beijing (winter), 2022: 8/10 i do like the calligraphic strokes but not as much as previous examples

HONORABLE MENTIONS

^equestrian events and kayaking at rio, 2016

^cycling at berlin, 1936 (all others were superimposed over the circle while this one fully incorporates it)

^biathlon at vancouver (winter), 2010: so fucking badass it's like a cartoon villain

Thank you for indulging my autism event :)

Links: Summer, Winter

[cmrosens]

Best cosmic horror / eldritch horror movies??

ANNIHILATION (2018) was so good, I loved the Shimmer and the concept and the vibe, so interesting - a much better Colour Out Of Space film than COLOUR OUT OF SPACE (Nick Cage). But the body horror did get to me in COOS, I was eating my lunch while watching.

Error.

THE THING is obvs great, and IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS and PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Love the John Carpenter trilogy. I can't decide which of the 3 I like best.

Some others that I keep thinking about:

JUG FACE - you never see the monster but it lives in a pit, cw for graphic miscarriage and incest among other things

THE CALL GIRL OF CTHULHU - I did laugh, I'm easily pleased

THE RITUAL - I wasn't sure about the Sami-coded cult (was it?? That felt ...off to me) but I loved the creature design and the atmosphere

SATOR - slowburn and more demonic entity, I wasn't sure about this film or if I liked it, but I keep thinking about it.

THE HALLOW - Irish eco-horror, so much parasitic fungi body horror and the fae creature design was great. Yes, I'm counting the fae as eldritch, that's where the word comes from! Not humans, not angels or fallen angels, but a secret third thing...

THE LURKING FEAR - 90s creature feature based on a HP Lovecraft short story, similar themes of heredity and concealed monstrosity as The Shadow Over Innsmouth, but this is about underground things.

HP LOVECRAFT'S THE DARK SLEEP - not great, actually pretty bad, but again the concept is something I keep thinking about.

THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) - I haven't seen the 90s one, but I didn't mind the 1970 one. You can always trust the 70s to sex things up for no reason, and I quite liked it.

THE VOID - I do like this, it's got a lot of things going on in a besieged hospital

SACRIFICE - Norwegian cult and pregnancy horror, heredity and gods in the fjords etc, gave me big Ramsey Campbell The Inhabitant of the Lake vibes

I quite liked the Full Moon mini series THE RESONATOR even though ep 5 is missing and I'm not the biggest fan of The Reanimator as a story as I hate zombies and brain stuff. I have seen THE REANIMATOR though and it was fine.

UNDERWATER - loved this one, it starts off very The Shadow over Innsmouth and then segues into The Call of Cthulhu. Plus Kristen Stewart was good in it, I thought! I enjoyed it a lot.

HELLRAISER - I'm counting the whole franchise and the new film in this. All of it.

THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - Yeah, I do think this counts, so little is explained (good) and it's a cultish conspiracy in NYC. Vinnie Jones has the best role. I liked the short story too!

STRANGER THINGS - yeah, I'd say this counts? Kinda?

NOBODY SLEEPS IN THE WOODS TONIGHT 1+2 - The sequel took me places I didn't want to go, but this is a solid Polish body horror concept. It's body horror and mutations caused by a meteor thing. I wouldn't rewatch them, I don't think, but it kept me on my toes.

MONSTERS (2010) - survival romcom? It was cute and I liked the alien thingys. I don't know if it really counts, it's dispassionate aliens invading accidentally creating an 'infected zone', which was similar to ANNIHILATION. I haven't seen the sequel yet.

APOSTLE - I might include this as there's some unexplained stuff going on with this island, and the whole 'prisoner of the landscape' thing that appears in Welsh Gothic fiction as a trope. In this case, if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm referring to.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS - loved this the second time around. Saw it in the cinema and due to circumstances wasn't into it. Saw it again and realised it was more my thing than I remembered.

BLACK SPOT - This is a French series, folk horror, eldritch weird stuff in the forest, eco-horror, slowburn. Worth it, I thought.

REQUIEM - I think this does count, also a series, Welsh Gothic themes abound, it's classed as supernatural but it's much, much weirder than ghosts. Plus a lot of the Welsh Gothic themes - prisoner of the landscape (which also contains the haunted history and secrets relevant to the present), cultural disinheritance, music as language, etc, all pull through to create that folk horror/eldritch horror atmosphere. It also has weird cult playing with forces beyond their control.

SOCIETY - No idea where else to put this, but even though it's a cosy 80s teen body horror shocker, the themes are reminiscent of THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (same basic concept in fact in terms of conspiracy and cult and so on) but with added overt class discourse. I do love this film.

LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM - based on the Bram Stoker story but has Lovecraftian overtones, and then goes full on Hammer Horror THE REPTILE which doesn't belong in this list. LAIR is - not good. Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi carry the film and are so young, and it's not their best work ever. I made it 1min 30secs in twice and turned it off, but third time lucky. Now I can say I've seen it to the end. There was no prize.

THE STRANGENESS - abandoned gold mine and mysterious, people-eating slime creature that dwells within. Kind of "In The Mountains of Madness" but ... not.

THE WRONG HOUSE - This is weird, timey-wimey but not, inexplicable nightmare that's a lot more than a haunted or sentient house. It's the horror of being stuck somewhere that won't let you leave, and there are no rules, no explanations, and no way to figure it out.

DON'T BLINK - an extinction event that also goes completely unexplained, very weird, very unsettling concept. Life forms of all kinds just... stop existing when you stop looking at them.

THE CIRCLE (2017) - a stone circle on a remote Scottish island, a monster thousands of years old, a mystery that a group of archaeologist students try and solve (it doesn't end well).

I haven't seen a load of obvious ones, but would like some recs on which are worth watching? Anything with the above vibes (including the comedies) welcome!

[kicksaddictny]

Adidas x IVY PARK “PARK TRAIL” collection

According to Adidas

Adidas and Beyoncé’s IVY PARK announce their latest collaborative collection called PARK TRAIL; a new rule-breaking, trail-blazing expression of performance wear from adidas x IVY PARK . PARK TRAIL is inspired by the resilience of the outdoors, the spirit of the streets, and the possibilities of the future.

As with the previous adidas x IVY PARK offerings, this latest drop features distinctive looks with inclusive and gender-neutral sizing in fashion styles, performance gear, footwear and accessories. The line is available in adidas stores andonline at adidas.com/ivypark on February 9th and February 10th in selectpartnerstores, globally. PARK TRAIL is a destination you want to explore no matter the setting . Whether scaling that summit you’ve been training for or exploring inward to reach a peaceful state of mind, it’s clear that the path down the PARK TRAIL is an expedition worth taking. PARK TRAIL celebrates the great outdoors as well as an urban adventure. The Trail will lead you through the concrete jungle or the mountains in style. With the new PARK TRAIL collection from adidas x IVY PARK , both the journey and the destination are celebrated with looks that function equally as fashion and performance.

The Campaign The campaign is centered around embracing exploration and adventure to the fullest and guides us to a place of wonder and revelation through time, space and self-transformation. This experience depicts both the natural and the metaphysical, which can be as literal as an exhilarating walk down a nature path or a city sidewalk or more abstract, exploring inward and discovering new dimensions.

Cast members are depicted in a contrasting urban environment that features natural and unnatural elements infused with inspiration from hip-hop 90’s culture. Images from the campaign are realized with enhanced lighting, bold production design and elevated styling aesthetics. The brand utilizes this narrative to convey the idea of getting lost, then discovering yourself through your own PARK TRAIL.

The campaign stars entertainer and global superstar, Offset and his son, Kodi, supermodel and actress Devon Aoki and rising star rapper/singer Ice Spice. Japanese Instagram star and fashion icon/model, Coco Princess, American NFL Football sensation Jordan Fuller, NCAA artistic gymnast Nia Dennis and professional American soccer player Dani Weatherholt, and professional skateboarder, Diego Nájera round out the diverse cast who bring this amazing campaign to life.

The Collection The PARK TRAIL apparel collection serves as inspiration for how to create your own journey and find your park. As gritty as they are glamorous, these versatile apparel looks re-think classic outdoor styles and interpret them through elevated fabrics, powerful iconography, prints, sequins, camouflage, incorporating utilitarian convertibility. Layering and on-body storage are emphasized throughout the collection, which is conceived for function and fashion. PARK TRAIL will empower you to feel elegant yet equipped for any trek. The palette excites with colors that include Sol Ange (solar orange), Mojave (focus orange), Lake-Her (legacy indigo), Denali Green (wild pine), Yosemite (purple), White Sands (cream white), Pynes (pulse lime) along with a signature Canyon print (camo print).

PARK TRAIL’s footwear elevates well-known IVY PARK classics while adding distinct newness. Taking cues from iconic styles from the adidas archives, PARK TRAIL footwear is thoughtfully transformed through the IVY PARK lens. The IVY PARK TT2000 basketball shoe makes its debut in this collection and is available in two exciting colorways. PARK TRAIL’s footwear is locked down by modern textures, exclusive prints, graphic modular accents, and vibrant colorways, ensuring you’re ready for the formidable journey ahead.

Accompanying accessories for the PARK TRAIL collection are elevated to a new level with transformative, stylish, and versatile pieces. Fully convertible backpacks, bags and hats are all beautifully crafted with utilitarian accents, including carabiners and fastenings that channel the great outdoors. A mixture of colors, prints, and finishes merge these statement pieces together, so you’ll stand out on the trail. Taking cues from the line’s signature adult styles, the IVY PARK kid’s collection features stylish and versatile sportwear, outerwear and accessories – all thoughtfully transformed through the IVY PARK lens.

Notes to Editors

The adidas x IVY PARK “PARK TRAIL” collection consists of:

Fashion highlights including the Camo Sequin Jacket, Camo Fur Coat, Camo Canvas Track Suit

Active highlights including the Circular Knit Camo Crop, Tight, Zip Hoodie

Foundation highlights including the Knit Camo Jacquard Sweater, Camo Hidden Pocket Crew Neck Sweatshirt

Footwear highlights including the IVP Top Ten 2000 (TT2000)

Accessory highlights including the Camo Reversible Bucket Hat, Camo Convertible backpack

Fabrics including camo cotton canvas and cotton twill, camo sequin, camo faux fur, nylon + stretch woven

56 apparel styles (including Inclusive Sizing), 12 accessories, 3 footwear styles (with one tyle, the TT 2000, in two colors)

Unisex Regular and Oversized fits

Men’s Regular and Tight fits

Women’s Tight, Regular and Oversized fits

Sizes from XXXS-XXXXL

Prices from $30 US to $600 US

KID’S COLLECTON

12 apparel styles, 4 kid’s accessories styles, 1 footwear style

[thinkythirdthursday]

Thinky Third Thursday - October 2023

Welcome to the first ever Thinky Third Thursday, curated by Alan Hazelden of Draknek & Friends - a monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught my eye.

I really love thinky games. Obviously I’ve been designing them for over a decade now, but more than that it’s the only genre where you'll find deep systems, surprising interactions, and that eureka moment where you're in the shower and realise the solution to the puzzle you've been stuck on.

It’s such a great time for the space right now - there’s so many games coming out it feels hard to keep up! I hope my recommendations will be useful to you, whether you’re someone who tries to play everything thinky or you just dabble occasionally.

I’m not being paid by any of these developers to promote their games, I just want to advocate for talented people making great work. All games were purchased by myself.

Here’s what I’ve been playing:

Headlong Hunt, by Toombler Chase easily-spooked creatures to herd them into the perfect location. This may initially look simple, but it features some really great puzzle design while remaining very approachable!

COCOON, by Geometric Interactive and Annapurna Interactive The vibes on this game are off the charts. The puzzles seem very streamlined for a mainstream audience, but that doesn’t stop every moment being intensely satisfying.

Magicube, by nebu soku The puzzle design in this game is really fantastic! It might take a little perseverance to get into - it's a hard game - but if you stick with it, it will be incredibly rewarding.

Golden Idol Mysteries: The Lemurian Vampire, by Color Gray Games and Playstack The second and final DLC for The Case of the Golden Idol. I don’t think it lived up to the main game + first DLC, and found the cases pretty frustrating, but the new gameplay variation is a nice twist on the formula.

Chants of Sennaar, by Rundisc and Focus Entertainment An intriguing language-learning game. I don’t love the unnecessary / uninteresting stealth sections or that I had to do a Rush Hour puzzle in the first hour, but overall I think it’s worth checking out. I’ve seen several people recommend playing without using the journal that confirms your word guesses - if you want to lean into the concept and increase the thinkiness, that seems like a good choice.

More recent thinky releases:

Underground Blossom, by Rusty Lake

Escape From Mystwood Mansion, by Lost Sock Studio

Bilkins' Folly, by Webbysoft and Armor Games Studios

A Tiny Sticker Tale, by Ogre Pixel

Submachine: Legacy, by Mateusz Skutnik

Mosa Lina, by Stuffed Wombat

Sandy's Great Escape, by Mocha Moose Games

Upcoming games to watch for:

Crossroad OS, by Daisy Games (Demo available now) Martin of Daisy Games has been making quietly competent puzzle games at a pretty impressive pace, but this one is a real step up. The demo that just came out has some solid puzzles and great vibes - I highly recommend giving it a go, especially since it’s pretty short.

Plungeroo, by Little Crown Games (Demo available now) This is a delightful pinball-themed puzzle game, and the graphics/audio really lean into that theme. I wasn’t expecting much when I checked out the demo during Steam Next Fest, but it really grabbed me with its level of polish. The puzzles are pretty light, but still satisfying, so I’m looking forward to playing more of it when it comes out in a little over a week on Oct 27.

Puzzmo, by Zach Gage and Orta Therox (Early access signups start today) Announced today, Puzzmo is a hub for small games that want to be part of your daily routine - think Wordle or the NYT crossword. During their prelaunch period they’re opening the doors to 500 new players every day, or if you can’t wait to get let in there’s some coverage on Digital Trends that has more info.

The Talos Principle 2, by Croteam and Devolver Digital (Demo available now) The first game is one of the best-selling puzzle games of all time, so there’s a high bar for the sequel. We’ll find out soon how it’s turned out - it’s releasing on Nov 2.

Sokobond Express, by José Hernández and Draknek and Friends (Demo available now) I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the next game I’m publishing. We’re putting the final touches on it now and will have more news to share soon - in the meanwhile, please add it to your wishlist on Steam!

[bulletproof-prints-llc]

Poster Design For The Queers And The Jasons Lake Worth And Orlando Shows - These Will Be Hand Screen Printed On 18x24 White Card Stock And Will Be Available For Purchase At The Show

- @thequeersofficial

- @the_jasons

- @billydoomisdead

- @straightjacketband

- @radio_buzzkills

- @sickdogslamf

- @propagandalakeworth

- @soundbar.orl

- @level13ec

- @purehoneymagazine

- @norsekoreapresents

- Design And Illustration By MECIII Graphics And Design

- Hand Screen Printed By @bulletproof_prints

[longlistshort]

The 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition in Creative Pinellas’ gallery space highlights work from the ten Pinellas County artists chosen by the organization for this year’s Emerging Artist Grant.

Above are sculptures by Amy Wolf. She has written several articles for the Creative Pinellas website which give some insight into her work and are worth a read.

According to artist Kimberly Engel, the paintings above “explore vibrant color interaction while inviting viewers to meditate on an illusive horizon line where sky meets water.”

From the Creative Pinellas website-

Kimberly Engel is a contemporary abstract painter who lives and works in Clearwater, Florida. Her distinct gestural style combines a love for color interaction with spontaneous mark making. Engel’s paintings explore levels of transparency, evoking depth and light. She is inspired by the constant presence and changing states of large bodies of water. She has lived on the shore of Lake Erie in Euclid, Ohio prior to moving to the Gulf Coast. Engel describes her process as an exploration of herself and ultimately the dissolving of herself mirrored in the process of making and deconstructing works. Her gestural marks have been described as both compulsive and somewhat calligraphic. They undulate and disappear under thin veils of color.

Also check out her Instagram.

Denis DeBon created the unique glass works seen above.

His biography from the gallery website-

Dennis DeBon is the creator of EnergyWebs, which are one-of-a-kind works of modern glass art. He is often been compared to artist Jackson Pollock. Like Pollack, Dennis uses simple artistic techniques and has combined reverse painting on glass with spin art and taken both to a whole new level. Each EnergyWeb is cut from a large sheet of plate glass, then free-style hand-cut into shape, scalloped, polished then spun. Dennis uses a multitude of application techniques and color combinations when creating each piece before firing and hand-signing them. Every EnergyWeb is a unique, one-of-a-kind work of modern glass art and he is the only artist in the world creating them. In addition to selling his artwork at fine art festivals across the country, Dennis was commissioned as the artist to create the Richard Dawkins Awards. In addition, his past creations have been presented to James “The Amazing” Randi, Carl Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan,  and the Zora Neale Hurston and the Koi Society of America award winners. Dennis was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and attended the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where he studied photography and graphic design. He now lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida and when he isn’t creating art, you might find him writing screenplays or in the boxing ring . . . working as a professional boxing referee.

For Kate Cummins’ installation, gallery visitors can see different sections of her work by pulling the cords to the side- creating new combinations of the three large scrolls.

From the gallery website-

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing, painting or fabricating something out of something else” says artist Kate Cummins of her work. “I come from a creative household where the arts had a natural hierarchy”. After completing an Honors Bachelor’s of Fine Art degree from the University of Western Ontario, Kate travelled extensively and now lives with her family in St. Petersburg, Florida. Kate works in the film industry and has a busy studio practice where her focus has been creating work that responds to social issues. She says of her artistic career, “I am grateful to have a creative and challenging work life and look forward to concentrating exclusively on my artwork”.

The need to connect with others is the purpose and motivation for my art making. In my large scale abstract paintings I call attention to recurrent symbols: icons, motifs and totems. This personal iconography has become my language. Through it I am able to process and communicate perspectives regarding the effects of important societal influences, primarily; climate crisis, social conflict, and women’s rights. I rely on form and color to distill an internal commentary I cannot put into words. I see the work conveying my sense of optimism and confidence on a vibrant, color filled surface yet there’s an insinuated disorder and disguised unease. I am whisper-yelling “do you feel that everything’s ok-not really?” The artwork is reciprocal, a gateway in which I strive for a connection with others, I’m reaching an outstretched hand through painting and trying to say I want to make things better.

Also check out her Instagram to keep up with her work.

Jenipher Chandley says of her paintings (pictured above)- “My art is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit”.

From the gallery website-

Jenipher Chandley is a representational artist working in her hometown of St. Petersburg Fl. Where she has raised her 4 children and is a proud new grandmother. She has earned degrees in Interior, and Graphic Design, from IADT Tampa. Jenipher is currently lead curator for Bar@548, She also has co-curated and exhibited in 100’s of shows throughout the Tampa Bay Area.

The story of love is the overarching theme in her work—the journey to find it, revel, cherish and protect it, the pain of losing it. She finds common ground where we are all connected, through nature, the human condition, and the energy all around us that drives us forward. Her artwork is real, sometimes raw, and emotionally charged, expressed through symbolism and poetic gestures. Jenipher brings her emotions and the entirety of her subconscious to the work, and through complete vulnerability uncover the strength to forge healing. She returns often to the divine feminine, to rediscover the beauty of inner power and resilience that conquers all. The work is vast in concept and style, while always human and relatable because our art should be as complex and ever-changing as we are.

Check out her website and Instagram for more.

Above are Marie Cummings colorful multimedia paintings. Check out her website and Instagram for more.

Her bio from the gallery’s website-

Marie Cummings was born in Detroit, Michigan. There she studied psychology and business at Wayne State University. She moved to Clearwater, Florida with her three daughters, where she embarked on a career as a Realtor. When her last daughter entered college, Marie decided to seek a new direction in her life: she wanted to explore the world of visual art. While studying Experimental Watermedia at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center (Dunedin, Florida), she also ventured into Creative Writing at St. Petersburg College (St. Petersburg, Florida). This dual experience served as a launching pad for a serious embrace of fine art from an outside-the-box viewpoint.

Since that time, Marie has focused on the creative potential of Watermedia. She finds deep, rich, bold hues intensely exciting. Marie thinks of her palette, brushes and paper as tools for play. Water and paint dance together in her studio, making forms that spark the imagination and speak to the heart. Her work is a form of meditation, an expression of her soul.

Marie recently taught Experimental Watermedia at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center—the same course that first inspired her to take the leap into the world of art. She also enjoys teaching beginning watercolor classes for adults who are beginning to dip their toes in the wellspring of their own creative resources. She takes a relaxed yet encouraging approach to instruction, giving her students the time, space and gentle guidance necessary to grow as artists.

Aimee Jones uses her background in feminist theory to create paintings that incorporate the human figure in domestic and botanical landscapes. Check out her website and Instagram for more.

Agueda Zabisky describes her abstract ceramic sculptures as “a reflection on who we are as human beings, how we deal with challenges, and our quest for rhythm and harmony at all times”.

From the gallery website-

I have been working with ceramic since 2005. It all starts with a block of clay that transforms until it takes shape. Understanding that each phase has its right time made me learn not only to model clay but also model my anxiety and opened new paths for me.

The continuous quest to understand who I am as an individual and the mystery of that internal strength that humans have, which makes them move forward, is what inspires me as an artist.

I seek to create visual narratives that can inspire and instigate the observer’s thinking.

My project: “Journey to Equilibrium” We are made of pieces (symbolized by geometric blocks) that we collect along the way. We are born with nothing and are given love, knowledge, intelligence, strength and courage. At the same time, we also acquire selfishness, fear, anger and much more. Sometimes, we manage to make connections and a few pieces find their way to complete themselves, generating states of euphoria and happiness. Other times, our blocks move away, we make mistakes, we feel lost, full of doubts and we think that nothing fits, and this causes us anguish, anxiety and sadness. Surprisingly, even confused, we may have fun but not joy. But deep down, there is something we can’t explain and that keeps us going. It is as if we knew that all our pieces need to come into harmony, and that’s our challenge. No one has the same blocks as each one of us, and no one can arrange them for us. Obstacles happen all the time, but they are nothing more than pieces that we have to organize and balance. We also learn it is not possible to do this all at once. There is a lot to be done and no instructions manual on how to do it. We are discovering along the way and building our life every moment. It is a continuous balance of everything we are adding to what we want to accomplish. Something enduring over time. And, if at any point of our journey, we manage to have many of our pieces organized and better connected, we will realize that we are getting wiser and more complete.

Also check out her Instagram.

This year the exhibition also included writer Troy Bernardo and creative multi-hyphenate Patrick Arthur Jackson who both created interactive pieces for the gallery.

For Bernardo’s piece (pictured above) he attached QR codes to several of the items seen above that bring you to his written work.

Jackson created a board for visitors to contribute post-it notes with five words describing their relationship with their fathers.

This exhibition will close this Sunday (7/16/23). This weekend is also Third Saturdays at Pinewood– a free event with activities at all three spaces- Creative Pinellas, Florida Botanical Gardens, and Heritage Village.

[glassvines]

Thoughts On 2022 Favorites

TV Shows 1. Severance: My absolute favorite new live series in years. Great premise with a unique (and ironic) visual look that perfectly matches the tone of the series. The opening credits are just. So!! *chef kiss* 2. Wednesday: This was a lot more fun than I was expecting. While I felt so-so on some aspects of the show (the cgi and the teenage drama especially), the style of the series and Jenna Ortega's portrayal of Wednesday was fantastic. 3. Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: New Halloween favorite! The overall series is a combo of spooky and pretty. Particularly enjoyed The Viewing and The Outside. 4. 1899: Enjoyed the heck out of this show, which is weird considering I didn't like Dark. It's Lost but actually coherent. All I could ever want out of a character-driven sci-fi series.

Animation (TV & Films) 1. Amphibia: Perfect series, with a perfect (and surprisingly bittersweet) ending. A new Disney favorite. Hope it gets a bluray release like Gravity Falls did. 2. Lego Monkie Kid: The animation blew me away in this series but it's also great story and character-wise despite being so short in length. 3. Rise of the TMNT Movie & TV series: The Rise movie proved I'll never be fully over comic book/superhero genre films despite feeling very burnt out on them overall. It’s a fairly old franchise, but it hasn't grown cynical over time. I think this is key to keeping franchises going indefinitely. It still has so much heart to it, and the Rise movie was my favorite new film released this year. Made sure to watch the series in it’s entirety as well and now wish I had checked it out earlier. 4. Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio: This story has never really connected with me (even when I watched the Disney film as a child), so I was a little surprised at how much I liked this one. (Which I should not have been - this is Guillermo del Toro after all!) Gorgeous animation and very unique compared to all the other various versions of the story that seem to be released every freaking year (I'm looking at you Disney). 5. Wendell & Wild: While I wasn't super enthused with the (kind of bloated) story, I adored the animation and character designs. Always nice to see something new from Henry Selick.

Anime (TV & Films) 1. Demon Slayer: Was curious to see if the hype was real and am pleased to say it's worth watching. Incredible animation and a likable main cast. 2. Spy x Family: The premise is what hooks you, but the character moments (paired with great music) is the heart of this series. Just a super solid comedy/action anime series. 3. Shadows House: Still need to finish the second season, but I'm enjoying this one a lot! An intriguing, underrated mystery series. 4. Perfect Blue: I believe this is the final Satoshi Kon film I had not watched up until this point, and I'm more sad than ever that he died so young. It was a prophetic, horrifying film.

Video Games 1. Cozy Grove: Probably the game I played the most this year? I'm finding that I love this kind of gameplay a lot (Animal Crossing-esque), so I'll probably look for more games like it in the future. 2. Little Witch in the Woods: Fantastic pixel-art aesthetic in this one. 3. Machinarium: Ever since playing Samorost 3 Amanita Design has become one of my favorite indie game companies. This one's an oldie but goodie. 4. Genshin Impact: I don't plan on ever dropping any money on this game but I do like the graphics and gameplay. I can see why it's so popular now that I've played it a bit.

Live Films 1. Under the Silver Lake: Unexpected new favorite. I just have a deep love for surreal movies that shit on Hollywood culture. Hoping to see more from David Robert Mitchell. 2. Nope: I don't know man; I just think Jordon Peele gets me lmao. I have loved all his movies thus far, and this was no exception. Creepy, atmospheric and thoughtful commentary on humanity’s relationship with both nature and fame. 3. Mandy: I need to watch this movie a few more times to fully absorb the visuals/plot/message, but on a first-watch basis it dazzled me.

Honorable Mentions 1. Cursed Princess Club 2. Inside Job 3. Barbarian 4. The Legend of Hell House: this movie was on my Halloween watch list and I loved it so much. The conclusion was fucking bonkers.

Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2023 1. I might actually (willing) watch a few Marvel/DC movies next year. 2. Clone High Reboot: Not sure if I'd say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm very curious to see how the new series turns out. 3. Second season of Good Omens! 4. Nier Automata anime series!! 5. Movies: Barbie, the new Seth Rogan TMNT movie, John Wick 4, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Disappointment Blvd. if it's actually released next year.

Some Creative & General Goals for 2023 I would just like to get back into the grove of drawing regularly again. These days I only have time for photography, but I really want to get back into a headspace where I can prioritize drawing again. Maybe take up painting and nature sketching too.

[miirshroom]

Interesting thought that the Erdtree seems reassembled from shattered pieces. And I have also thought that the Shattering and burning could be the same event.

In my observation, there are a few reasons why a graphics glitch or rendering error seem false. 1) I have seen the tree smoothly transition from solid to translucent accompanied by other changes in the skybox/weather. 2) The transparent tree lacks the usual signs of error (flickering, awkward rectangular or pixillated sections of glitched graphic, etc) and 3) The tree is typically appearing fully solid in rainy conditions or other particle-heavy times that I would think to be more graphically intense than the calm weather where transparency occurs.

I do think it is worth examining why the in-game creator of the spyglass would have a bias towards creating a telescope lens that makes the tree seem solid.

Telescope:

Astrology tool used by members of the Carian royal family. A stolen part of a larger instrument. Allows the viewer to better see faraway things. During the age of the Erdtree, Carian astrology withered on the vine. The fate once writ in the night skies had been fettered by the Golden Order.

It is interesting to note that this telescope sold by Kalé is the stolen part of a larger instrument. As described by the McDonald Observatory in Texas "A telescope gathers and focuses light so that it can be fed into an instrument that will do specific things to that light. What happens to the light once it enters the instrument depends on what types of cosmic questions the instrument was designed to study." The nature of the instrument varies - could be a camera or could be something like the McDonald observatory's Argos (named for the many-eyed monster of Greek Myth) which measures the intensity of light.

Additionally, the telescope is used by members of the Carian family and yet references the downfall of Carian Astrology and the influence of the Golden Order. It should be recalled that "members of the Carian royal family" could refer to any subset of Rennala, Ranni, Rykard, Radahn or Radagon. Of particular note is Radagon, as his return to Marika revealed that his loyalty to the Golden Order is stronger than any other tie.

One specialized type of telescope is the solar telescope that allows closer observation of the sun. The visual design of the Elden Ring telescope offers further evidence that it is a tool specifically used to concentrate the light of the Erdtree - and not for observing the stars in general. Most prominent is the metalwork sunflower motif just behind the lens. Sunflowers in real life turn their heads to face the direction of the sun, but in Elden Ring their heads are pointed in the direction of the Erdtree. The Erdtree is equated to the sun - and the second motif of note hiding in the shadow near the viewing end of the telescope is itself a 12-rayed sun (see visual similarity to the 12 sided sun on the coat of arms for Sankt Gilgen on Lake Wolfgang, or the 12-armed sunstar).

Altogether, the implication is that the telescope makes the Erdtree seem solid because it was made for the purpose of envisioning the Golden illusory form of the Erdtree back in the days when it was still a withering tree of the traditional organic kind. Calling it a "spyglass" is an appropriate name due to Radagon's role as a spy stealing the techniques of the Carians for the benefit of the Erdtree while also undermining their astrology.

The Unreality of the Erdtree

It seems quite intentional that the Erdtree in the present is a phantom, and the physical tree burned long ago. This can be seen most clearly from Liurnia when the moon shines through the tree, as seen from the Four Belfries. Recent investigations on the utter darkness that occurs during the late night fog in Liurnia (also at the Four Belfries) has revealed that despite its bright appearance the tree is not acting as a radiant light source. If it was, then the light would have diffused through the fog. And this is confirmed by people who have examined the game files.

Some other places that I have observed the Erdrtree as transparent are on the Bellum Highway bridge into Raya Lucaria, at the location where Yura can be encountered (cloudy morning at time of observation):

In Limgrave, slight transparency seen at the back side of the Artist's Shack (standing on top of the mushroom there):

And in Caelid from the vantage point of the Nomadic Merchant (Caelid South) who sells the Champion set:

An even more radical proposal is that as an object of faith not even the gold phantom tree is visible to anyone but us, the Tarnished who can see the Guidance of Grace.

One piece of evidence for this is that Boc is excited to see the tree upon reaching Leyndell, which is an odd thing to say considering that we've always seen the tree (this point raised by the Tarnished Archaeologist on YouTube, who also goes over the evidence for the first burning of the Erdtree in his video "The 3 Creeds of the Erdtree").

This raises the question that if the Erdtree was burned long ago and the existing form is known to be an illusion, then why does no-one say anything about it - not even the non-believers? Or at least, no one starts a direct conversation about it - there are some subtle hints that we see something that no-one else does. And there are a few possible reasons why no-one talks about the Erdtree having burned before:

None of the Tarnished directly witnessed the burning. This would actually be a very good timeline marker because it would mean that the Tarnished were all sent off before it happened. When they return they see and accept the Golden Tree at first like we do, but probably at some point through the journey they one by one loose that ability and turn to disbelief. The Tarnished who survived long enough that we meet them are the ones savvy enough to realize that this is an Emperor's New Clothes situation - all of the general inhabitants of the world who remain loyal to the Erdtree are pretending that all is well with the object of their faith.

The finger-readers are blind. Were they blind before the tree was burned, or did they blind themselves so that they would not need to acknowledge that the Erdtree was burned a long time ago? Unclear. They are very insistent that burning the Erdtree is the First Cardinal sin which is either premonition or based on past events. (The finger reader at Leyndell asks "surely you see it too? The gold that enshrouds the heavens. The great tree which begets the pillars of light. " with regards to the tree. An odd statement to make if there was no doubt of the tree's existence)

The Commoners no longer have their wits (see Commoner's Headband). They would need to be witless to deceive themselves that the great glowing tree is real as if the burning never happened.

Morgott...I think he knows that the Erdtree burned and only a stump remains. I think maybe he envies the Tarnished - another being who was discarded as unworthy but is still granted grace to see the Golden Tree. He's the Emperor for whom the Commoners go through the motions of still having faith, but rather than being merely gullible like the Emperor of the story he is a ruthless tyrant who assassinates and imprisons dissidents.

As I'm familiar with the way that illusions are handled in Pathfinder 2e, disbelieving an illusion and dispelling an illusion are different actions. A perfect illusion will appear and perhaps even feel like a solid object depending on the strength of the spell, but disbelieving this illusion does not make the visual aspect disappear. It may cause the image to appear fuzzy or indistinct similar to the partial transparency of the Erdtree.

It seems to me that the Erdtree may be an illusion for the benefit of the Tarnished player that is believed or disbelieved by consensus. The stronger the faith of the people surrounding any given vantage point, the more solid it appears, but the illusion will never disappear completely for anyone as long as the Elden Ring exists. Melina "burning" the Erdtree is less of a burning of a physical object than it is of modifying the illusion or replacing it with a new one - after all the burning never progresses and consumes the tree no matter how long a player takes to defeat Radagon. It's the same for the Elden Lord endings, with each simply choosing the nature of their illusion.

[i-libertetech-blog]

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[rotworld]

27: Strictly Business

what do hitmen get up to when they aren't on the job? you know. you wish you didn't.

->explicit. contains noncon, organized crime, gore, implied murder, graphic descriptions of corpses, workplace harassment, emotional sadism.

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“BODY IN SUITCASE IDENTIFIED AS POLICE INFORMANT,” screams the biggest, boldest font on the Tuesday front page spread. The photo is quietly unnerving, an artsy still life shot of waterlogged, conspicuously stained softside luggage sitting on a pier, sunset sparkling on the metal zippers. Hazel’s fingers are blocking the juiciest bit of the story as she ignores it entirely to scoff at the opinion column, her gray hair twisted into a bun and her flour-dusted apron crumpled on her lap. You drift by with a washrag to tidy up the crumb and spilled pop remnants of an eight year old’s birthday party. The evening news plays at an inaudible level above the bar. 

“It’s nothing to worry about, hon,” she says. She’s been watching you scrub at the same spotless corner of the table for a minute straight. There’s a reporter on TV gesturing at a dock blocked off with yellow tape, and a blue-striped police boat cruising through the harbor.

“That’s close to here,” you say. 

“Anything worth talking about happens close to here. The Waterfront District’s a busy place.” 

“Busy,” you scoff. Busy is standstill traffic and half-hour restaurant waits, not corpses that have to be fished out of a lake or blood and brain matter on public restroom mirrors. You wipe down the bar counter in front of her, glancing at the newspaper with a tight frown. “I don’t know how that stuff doesn’t scare you.” 

“If I got scared by every old thing, I would’ve died of heart failure by now,” she says. She folds the paper so you stop looking at it, fishing another candy-wrapped wad of gum from her pocket. She’s trying to quit smoking, gradually replacing the ashy tobacco scent of her clothes with Dubble Bubble. “You a narc?” 

“What? No,” you sputter. 

“Then don’t worry so much.”

Easy for her to say. She grew up here. Her face is smiling in the faded photographs along the back wall with the original waitstaff from the 70s. You just got here a couple years ago for school and it feels like somebody’s getting killed in new, gruesome ways every time you look up. Things go in cycles. It’ll be uneventful for months at a time and then it’s like the city gets restless, churning out half a dozen bodies in just a few days. Last month, your biggest concern was finals, and now four bodies have turned up in the Waterfront District in a little under a week. 

“It’s business, I’ll bet,” Hazel says absently, glancing at the TV. “That’s why it always picks up around the same time of year. Their version of downsizing or something.” Her response isn’t all that unusual. Most people are either completely numb to it or relishing in it like the shock jocks on the local radio shows. A few weeks ago, it turned out that some abandoned shack on the north side had been converted into a torture chamber, complete with drawerfuls of surgical equipment, chains and shackles affixed to the walls, and something so unspeakably bad in the bathroom that even the crime scene photodumps that ended up online came pre-censored. 

You came into work a little jumpy and sleep-deprived Hazel had been sitting at the bar with her pile of empty gum wrappers, glancing over the story in the paper with no more perturbation than someone who’d smelled something mildly unpleasant. 

“Customers,” Hazel tells you. She calls it five whole seconds before the bells over the door jingle. 

You smooth out your apron and march to the front with your best customer service smile, happy to have a distraction. “Welcome to the Goldilocks Tavern! Are we dining in toni—?” Your voice catches behind a lump in your throat that refuses to budge. 

The man is a regular. He looks absurd standing in a family restaurant wearing a tailored designer suit that belongs in a board meeting, slipping off his sunglasses and glancing at the TV in the corner. Mid-length wavy hair tickles the base of his neck, slightly tousled from the wind outside. He smiles at you and that blinding enthusiasm, the cheerful little wink, makes your stomach twist. “Evening,” he says. “Table for three, please.” 

It’s Valerio fucking Burke and he brought friends. 

“Mr. Burke! Where’ve you been lately?” Hazel calls. She sees you floundering and swoops in to the rescue, ambling over to make conversation as you collect yourself. You collect three menus with numb, shaking hands, completely on autopilot. You’re not ready for Valerio on a good day, let alone a day when the news cycle has been nothing but mob atrocities. The problem isn’t that he’s a bad customer, because he’s not. He’s perfect. He’s patient, he’s polite, he tips great, he’s all smiles the whole night, and it bothers the fuck out of you because you know. You know and you have to pretend you don’t.

“Oh, you know. Always a little hectic this time of year,” Valerio says mildly. “You’d be surprised how cutthroat it gets. Hard to find company loyalty these days. Lots of employee overturn, lots of new hires. I’ve been putting in a lot of overtime.”

Yeah, you fucking bet he has.

Hazel keeps him talking while you fumble for the silverware and napkin sets, and you sneak a few glances. You’ve never seen the other two before. The guy on his left is massive, taller, wider, eyeing the tavern with a nasty scowl like the place owes him money, dark hair tied in a low ponytail. The guy on his right is shorter and the only one dressed remotely appropriately in sneakers and a striped jacket and pants from mismatched tracksuits. Sandy bangs hang in his face and there are freckles on his cheek and across the bridge of his nose. He’s got a round, boyish face, admiring the kitschy tavern decor with a small smile. 

You’re completely unprepared for his gaze to flick to yours with magnetic speed, like he knew you were staring all along. He stares blankly for a minute, sizing you up. His eyes move down and back up again, a smirk slowly creeping across his face. 

Hazel’s stalled as long as she can and she’s jabbing her elbow into your side as subtly as possible. “Right this way,” you tell the men. Valerio smiles. The big guy looks at you with something you can’t quite call a glare, but it’s intense and uncomfortable and makes you feel threatened. The other one flashes you a grin. The same instinct that would warn you not to turn your back on a snarling wolf kicks in hard but you make yourself walk, leading them to a quiet table in the back. You’d love to get through this as quickly as possible without a lot of chit chat, but when you get to the table, Valerio’s got that look that tells you it’s not going to work that way.

“I don’t think you’ve met my coworkers,” he says as he slides into his seat. He’s graceful like a trained dancer, dextrous fingers quickly unrolling the napkin and arranging his silverware in a few blurred movements. “This is Ezra Doroshenko. We’ve been in the same department for—has it been a decade now?”

“A long, long decade,” Ezra mutters. He’s still almost-glaring as he studies the menu. He cracks his neck so loud that it makes you flinch. He lets out an amused huff while skimming the specials. “Could never get Miguel in here. He’d have an aneurysm over the pizza.”

“Miguel can suck a dick, they’ve got Neapolitan on every fucking corner around here,” the other guy snaps. He flashes a smile that is, admittedly, disarmingly cute and rests his chin against the back of his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he says, his eyes flicking down to your nametag. He purrs your name in a way that makes your face feel as hot as the sun. “Val’s been holding out on us. I woulda been here months ago if I knew the waiters were cute.” 

“Brooks Macbride,” Valerio introduces him with fond exasperation. “He’s new. Apologies in advance, he’s mouthy.” 

“Shut the fuck up, I am not.” 

You inch away from the table just slightly and freeze like a deer in headlights when all three of them pin you in place with their eyes. “How’ve you been?” Valerio asks smoothly. “How’s school? You’re almost done now, aren’t you?” 

“Oh, uh.” You glance from him to Ezra, who seems to be making an active effort to ignore you, and Brooks, who’s way too interested and watching your every move. You’d rather they know as little about you as possible. “Um…well, it’s going alright…”

“Hazel, can you turn it up?” Ezra calls across the restaurant. You’re surprised to see her at the bar still. Normally, she’d be in the kitchen already, but she’s fussing with the counter that you just cleaned, watching you with muted worry. Your heart skips a beat. You’re not in danger, are you? Valerio’s never done anything particularly threatening, but you don’t know the other two from a hole in the wall. Hazel nods and grabs the remote from under the bar, cranking up the TV volume until you can hear the matter-of-fact tone of the newsroom anchors. 

“…statement this afternoon said that while this is unquestionably a homicide investigation, they believe that the murder is ‘unlikely’ to be connected to organized crime. This is the second body to be recovered from Lake Michigan and the fifth found in the Waterfront District…”

“Unlikely,” Ezra snorts.

“Well, Chief Davis said there’d be fewer mob murders on his watch,” Valerio muses. “Wouldn’t look great if that wasn’t the case, now would it?”

Brooks groans. “You guys need fucking hobbies. Can we not talk shop over dinner?” 

They’re distracted. You try to make your escape as casually as possible, but you’re speedwalking by the time you get to the bar. “They’re talking about it,” you tell Hazel in a hissed whisper, “right in front of me!” 

She pours three glasses of water and pushes them across the counter. “Ignore it,” she says.

“How?!” 

There’s no time to strategize. Valerio’s waving you back over with a sickly sweet, “Excuse me!” and Hazel frowns tightly but sends you back to their table with the water. “You’ve got to try Hazel’s onion rings,” he’s telling the others when you get there. “Could we get a large to split, please?” You scramble for your notepad and pen. “Are you alright? You seem a bit frazzled.” 

“Yeah!” you say quickly. “Yeah, I’m good. Right, onions rings. Anything else to get you started?”

Say no, you plead silently.

The news has shifted to an interview with a terse police detective begrudgingly giving up a few details on the recent murders, and all you can hear is an unentused murmur of, “…broken bones, partial flaying, trauma to the groin area, and we know the victim was alive for the majority of the time…”

Valerio lets out a long, thoughtful hum, perusing the menu way too long for someone who has it memorized front to back, and finally, finally says, “That’s all for now, thank you.” 

You give Hazel the order and hide in the bathroom. You just need a minute. You take deep breaths until your pulse is back to normal and slump against the sinks. He’s toying with you, he has to be. There’s no way he can’t tell how uncomfortable you are. In all your time at the Goldilocks Tavern, Valerio’s never threatened you, pushed you around or even made thinly-veiled threats. But he loves seeing you squirm. He pushes for conversation more on nights where you’re already stressed and run ragged, and you’d assume he was trying to make you feel better if you hadn’t dealt with him so many times. He knows he isn’t helping. He doesn’t care. 

“You okay, cutie?” 

You nearly jump out of your skin. You didn’t hear anybody come in, but Brooks is standing right behind you, impish smile reflected in the mirror. You lunge for the bathroom door but he’s faster, yanking you back by the wrist. If Valerio’s a dancer, Brooks is a fucking assassin. He has you shoved up against the sink, the hard counter digging into your back, and a pocket knife right up against your throat faster than you can scream. He presses his index finger to his lips and you take that as your one and only warning to keep your mouth shut. 

“Pants off,” he orders. You swallow hard. His smile is absolutely frigid as he moves the knife right under your jaw. Trembling, you do as he says, holding his smoldering gaze as you lift one leg out, and then the other. The fabric puddles around your ankles. Brooks turns you around, shirt and apron still on, and bends you over the sink. You let out a whimper when you hear a zipper descending and the knife comes back against the side of your neck.

“Valerio gets off on it, y’know,” he murmurs. “When you look all scared and shit, he fucking loves that. But he’s not gonna touch you. He’s gotta keep up his reputation or whatever.” Brooks chuckles, grabbing your ass and squeezing so hard you’re sure it’ll bruise. “I sure as fuck don’t, though.” 

He blankets himself against your back and knocks your legs apart, grunting as he wraps his fist around his soft cock. You can’t do anything but sit there and listen to him pant and moan as he strokes himself, the knife hovering dangerously close to your flesh. You try to keep your gaze down—on the sink, on nothing, but Brooks stops jacking off just to grab your hair with his precum-slicked fingers and force you to look in the mirror. 

“Uh-uh. You’ve gotta watch,” he says, laughing at the tears pricking the corners of your eyes. He likes that, you can tell, because he starts fucking your thighs with his half-hard cock from the sight alone. “You and your big fuckin’ doe eyes. You can’t go around looking like a prime cut of meat like that! Somebody’s gonna come along and take a bite.” Inevitably, he ends up grinding against your sex and you’re hyperaware of the twitching veins along his length, how they feel rubbing on your sensitive flesh. A miserable noise that’s almost a moan slips out and you hear a cackle before he sets the knife down on the counter.

“Yeah?” he coos. “You like that? You want it in you?” He grabs your hips with both hands and you start squirming when he lines himself up. That earns you another harsh, scalp-burning tug on your hair. “I’m going easy on you,” he says. He strokes the knife handle with his index finger. “Okay? So calm down. If I did what I really wanted to do, you wouldn’t be walking out of here. But I’m gonna be nice, because Val said I have to be. I think he liiiiiikes you.” 

He sees the desperation flicker across your eyes in your reflection and the knife is in his hand again before a cry for help can slip out. You don’t doubt that he’ll stab you and leave you here to bleed out, no matter what Valerio said. Brooks seems satisfied by your soft, stifled sobs, tears gathering on the counter under your cheeks. He doesn’t prepare you. He holds you at knifepoint while he shoves his cock into your clenched entrance, forcing past your resistance with hard, violent thrusts. The slap of skin echoes in the bathroom and your nails scrape over the counter, desperate for something to hold onto and get you through the pain. 

“Fuuuuuck, you feel good,” Brooks moans. He brings his free hand down across your ass, the slap as sharp and startling as the sudden, stinging pain. It’s humiliating to see your tear-streaked face in the mirror, gasping and flinching in time with Brooks’ punishing thrusts. He’s utterly shameless, a crooked smile on his face as he pumps his hips and squeezes your ass, digging his nails into your flesh. “When Val finally works up the balls to fuck you, be sure and tell him I broke you in first. Goddamn you’re tight.” 

His pace is breakneck and absolutely merciless, no buildup, no slow easing, and he keeps changing it up without warning. Just as you start getting used to the constant pounding, he suddenly surges forward and keeps you pinned and still against the counter, his thrusts slow and deep. You can’t hold your voice back anymore but he doesn’t seem to care. The knife is just part of the experience, prodding and scraping dangerously against your throat. He stops and you’re shivering, gasping, trying to catch your breath, as he runs his hand down your back in a mock-soothing gesture. 

“Fuck yourself on my cock,” he murmurs. You don’t want to. You lie there shivering, crying silently against the counter. Brooks drapes himself against your back again, his lips hovering beside your ear. “Wasn’t me, y’know,” he says. He thrusts shallowly, making you whine. “The suitcase? Not my gig. See, ‘cuz I’m not—how the fuck does Val say it? I’m not in their department.” He snickers. 

His hand slithers between your legs and he touches you for the first time. He’s mean about it, too hard, too rough to really feel good, but a jolt of pleasure shoots up your spine all the same. You see yourself, your watery, miserable eyes, and Brooks hovering right beside you, smirking. “I work the warehouse,” he says, and your blood runs cold. He watches the expression you make through the mirror, his smirk widening. “Yeah. You get what I’m saying. So when I tell you to do something, I think you should suck it up and fucking do it. You don’t want something bad to happen to you, do you?” 

You shake your head frantically. Brooks coos and kisses your cheek. 

“You’re so fucking sexy when you’re scared,” he says huskily. “So…fuck yourself on my cock. Don’t make me ask again.”

It’s a struggle. Your body is timid, unwilling to go further than light, fleeting passes that just barely kiss his tip. Brooks makes an unimpressed sound in his throat and taps your cheek with the knife. 

“Like you mean it,” he says. Your hopes that he’s just bluffing, that he won’t risk leaving a mark, are dashed when the blade digs into your skin and blood bubbles to the surface, dribbling in thick beads down your chin. “C’mon, cutie. You’re not gonna make me do something messy, are you?” 

So you do it, burning with humiliation. You move your hips and take his cock the best you can, clumsy, shaking, spearing yourself on his length. Brooks is finally satisfied and you’re rewarded with a sensual caress up and down your side before he’s touching your sex again. This time is better. He’s actually trying to make it good and you’re ashamed that he’s succeeding, working you with his fingers in time with your movements. You’re not going to cum, but he is, and that’s all that matters. You just want it to be over. 

Brooks takes over when you start losing pace, your exhausted body drooping against the counter. “Guess I picked on you enough today,” he says. He drops the knife and suddenly he’s gripping both of your arms, tugging them behind your back. You’re dragged upright and straight into his unforgiving, jackhammering pace. You hear your bodies meeting, the rhythmic slap of his hips against you filling the bathroom. You look like a wreck and Brooks is utterly blissed out, eyes half-lidded as he bites his bottom lip to stifle a moan. He pounds you into the counter and you know there’ll be bruises all over your thighs and stomach when this is over, maybe even your ass with how hard he’s thrusting into you. 

You don’t get much of a warning when he cums. His thrusts get uneven and then he’s groaning, yanking you back against him hard and holding you there, squirming and gasping, while he fills you. You end up with your face against the counter, shoved forward with such hard, punishing movements that you’re driven onto your toes. He doesn’t stop until he’s spent everything he has, and then he staggers back, softening cock slipping out of you with a trickling ooze of cum. 

You can’t move. You can’t really think, either, except that it’s over. It’s over, and the counter is smooth and cool against your sweaty skin, and you lived through that somehow. Brooks snatches his knife and you don’t look at him, don’t want to know what the fuck he’s doing. He zips his pants up, washes his hands, and then leans against the counter. He doesn’t leave. 

“Soooooo,” he says, hands in his pockets. “What nights do you work?” 

He’s out of his goddamned mind if he thinks you’re going to tell him that. You might fucking quit. 

“Fiiiiiine, whatever,” he sighs, like you’re the one being an unreasonable brat. He unlocks the bathroom door and you hear him mutter, “Bet Val knows,” as he leaves.

You’re dressed and vaguely presentable in seconds, rushing back to the table to catch him before Valerio says a fucking words. But you’re too late. You know it just by looking. Ezra looks vaguely amused while Brooks and Valerio are bickering, louder and more aggressively than you’ve ever heard either of them speak. Brooks catches your gaze and winks. Valerio turns and you expect—you don’t know, maybe his usual cool, calm demeanor, a little self-satisfied smirk, maybe feigned concern.

You don’t see any of that. His lips are parted. His pupils are blown. He looks hungry. It takes him a second to collect himself and smooth his expression over with something more approachable, but there’s a sharp edge to his smile that wasn’t there before. 

“I think we know what we’d like for dinner,” he says, his voice noticeably lower than earlier.

[superchat]

deeply love how fromsoft has never been a studio that relies on fidelity and graphics to make their games look good. instead theyve always completely leaned on strong art direction and atmosphere. they always have just, the greatest and coolest concepts with their worlds. like if you looked closely that enemy has some pretty bad textures and the rocks it throws up on a ground pound does, NOT look seamless or convincing. but you usually dont, care because the enemy itself is some, fucked up 7 armed dog spider thing that hops on you. same goes for the environments, you usually dont care that its the same, 3 book models copy and pasted over and over in some grand archives when youre wandering around a giant room filled with moving staircases that hints that the place was made for something much much bigger than you. or going underground to see that, the entire world youve been walking around is actually held up by giant trees in an endless lake (the area you see that is, super small and has very little stuff in it but. despite that. its one of the coolest experiences to witness).

like people were, disappointed in some of elden rings graphics and its like, okay theres reused assets all over the place, and you can see a lot of scuff in the environment, but how cool is it that theres these giant golden trees visible to the player wherever they are? isnt it just, awesome to see a castle looming over a cliffside guarded by giants with their stomachs ripped open and covered in roots? isnt that fucken weird??? 

at this point. i would say fromsoft knows where to put their time and energy. instead of spending 4 weeks designing a brand new enemy with a completely new moveset and hitboxes, why not just, take an enemy from a previous game and use that? just change the base model but keep everything else. the trees in an area dont have to look AMAZING with bark peeling and with weeks worth of coding to give it procedural wood shattering animations or something. it just needs to have a very strong color palette that compliments the rest of the area and be able to fall over and despawn when hit by a large enemy 

[arts-and-drafts]

Nightmare (Hermit Tommy AU)

TW: Graphic description of injury and death, suicide mention, severe PTSD

(Hey folks! This one has been in the draft bucket for a while and I'm never going to stop fiddling with it, so I'm posting it now before I regret it. I'm not happy with the "final" product but it'll never get posted if I keep messing with it. Seriously, mind the TWs!! Otherwise, enjoy)

-

Tommy smells gunpowder.

He's standing in a crater, everything he's ever fought for blown to pieces in front of his eyes by the one he called once called brother.

He sees his father for the first time in 7 years, and his sword is dripping with Wilbur's blood.

He sees Technoblade from above, and at a motion of his hand and a scathing cry of "hero" from his lips, withers descend upon the smoking chasm that used to be Tommy's home.

Tommy looks down to see Tubbo in his arms, a hole blown clean through his best friend's chest. He is still and cold, and Tommy is numb.

Tubbo's corpse rises from his arms like a marionette on strings, sharp ram horns dripping crimson curving over his face. His eyes are open now, and they stare cruelly into Tommy's very soul.

"Selfish." Tubbo's corpse whispers in a raspy voice, torn to shreds from screams. Tommy can only watch in paralyzed horror as Tubbo procures a compass, Tommy's compass, and crushes it to dust in front of him.

Tommy's knees buckle, and he's falling, falling, falling off a tower made from his own hands that stretches to build height. Tommy's vision floods white with pain as his fall ends in a pit of lava, molten netherrack filling his lungs and burning him from the inside out.

A hand clasps his as he reaches for the surface, and he's pulled out of the lava lake by a figure with a smiling mask. Tommy winces as he feels a sharp pain in his abdomen, and looks down to see an arrow's tail sprouting from his flesh.

Tommy looks up, and Dream is ten paces across from him on the Prime Path, bow still raised from the fatal shot. As Tommy falls into the river, his disks spin wildly above him, caught by Dream's gloved hand out of midair.

Tommy's back hits the stone edge of the Pit, and he drops to the floor from a blow Techno landed that knocked him to his knees.

"You killed him," Tommy says desperately, choking as his own blood fills his mouth, rage and grief burning like fire through his veins.

"It stays in the pit." Techno replies coldly, and when Tommy looks up through hazing vision he sees the head of a rocket aimed right between his eyes.

Tommy jolts awake as soon as Techno pulls the trigger, disoriented and screaming. His arms are pinned, he can't escape, why can't he get out, help help help-

"--ommy! Wake up! Tommy!!" Joe's voice becomes clear, and Tommy's vision finally clears enough from his memories to see the poet's face, terrified and pale. Tommy stops screaming, though his trembling limbs and heaving chest are out of his control.

"Tommy, focus on me, look at me, okay? I'm here, I'm right here, it was a dream, it's not real, it's not real--" Joe's assurances tumble from panicked lips, shushing and comforting as best he can. Tommy blinks several times, his mind struggling to adjust to the waking realm as adrenaline continues to ravage his body.

"Hey, hey, that's it, I'm here," Joe says, and Tommy feels the man's delicate hand lightly slap his face. "Come back, Tom, it's not real, you're okay--"

Tommy gasps as if by command, and finally feels air fill his lungs. "There you go, there you go--" Joe says encouragingly, wiping Tommy's face of tears as his body's convulsing lessens. "Shh, shh--you're okay, you're safe. Come back, kid."

"Tubbo--" Tommy chokes, his mind still foggy with confusion and fear. "No," Joe says gently. "Joe Hills. You're in Hermitcraft, bud. Come back."

Tommy blinks again, and Joe can feel the tension ease in the boy's rigid limbs by a fraction.

"What--what--" Tommy whispers hoarsely, his senses gradually returning to him. His shirt is stuck to his back from being soaked in sweat, yet his skin feels cold and clammy. He blinks several times, his eyes adjusting to the dark of Joe's doghouse-turned-cabin.

"You were having a nightmare," Joe murmurs softly, and Tommy realizes the poet is rubbing soothing circles into Tommy's hand with his thumb. "It...it was a rough one, huh."

It's more of a comment than a question, but Tommy shakily nods anyways. He notices Joe seems like there's a weight on his shoulders that's crushing his posture.

"I couldn't wake you," Joe says, and he runs a tired hand through his hair as he settles to sit on the foot of Tommy's bed.

An apology sticks in Tommy's throat. He's learned to be better at that sort of thing since he came here, but Joe didn't seem to be expecting one. Tommy swallows the words and tries to focus on his breathing.

"I didn't want to bring it up," Joe says, and he doesn't look at Tommy. "I know you like your privacy, and I didn't want to pry, but...this is getting out of hand, bud." Joe's voice softens in weariness at the last of the sentence. Tommy unconsciously tenses.

"Who is Tubbo?"

Joe finally looks up with piercing blue eyes, and Tommy forgets how to breathe.

"Did they hurt you?" Joe asks, his tone gentle but demanding. "You've gotta talk about it, Tom, or the nightmares are never going to stop."

Tommy violently shakes his head until it hurts, putting his hands up. "No, no--he didn't, he--" Tommy's chest heaves with memories that rip open the scars of his heart, fresh tears slipping down his soaked cheeks.

Did he hurt him?

Tubbo exiled him. Tubbo damned him to a life 1000 blocks away that wasn't worth living. Tubbo didn't ever visit, Tubbo didn't care, Tubbo never came, even when he knew Tommy needed him.

No--no, no. He was--IS, he IS his best friend, Tubbo is his right hand man, he loves him, he'd never do that on purpose, he'd never put an empty hole of a nation above him--

But he did.

Joe sits patiently beside Tommy as he bitterly cries, keeping a hand on his back all the while. Tommy did better if he had physical contact, picked up from his past that Joe didn't know and didn't ask about.

Tommy's sobs gradually quieted. He barely notices he's leaning against Joe now, and the hermit has his arm over him in a sort of half hug. It's an act of compassion that Tommy takes for pity, but for once he doesn't care.

"...he did." Tommy croaks after what feels like an eternity. "But--h-he didn't--....i-it's complicated." The boy took a shuddering breath and closes his eyes.

"I miss him." He cries, his voice small and broken. "I miss him so fucking much, Joe," Tommy bites his tongue to suppress another pitiful sob. "H--He was my right hand man..."

Joe's chest rumbles with a sympathetic noise against Tommy's cheek. "It's...it's natural to miss what was. Letting go of the past is something that many never accomplish in their life." The poet comments solemnly.

Tommy squeezes his eyes shut tight and buries his face into Joe's shirt, a sob sticking behind a lump in his throat that refused to dissipate. Joe pulls him closer, and lets him shake in his arms.

"...It's hard to forgive. I've been there, kiddo. It's hard." Joe murmurs, and he leans his cheek against the top of Tommy's head.

The boy tenses when the hermit's hand moves to run through his hair, and his host stops abruptly at the movement.

"It's--it's okay." Tommy whispers, near imperceptibly, allowing himself this one moment of complete vulnerability when he needed it most.

Joe continued, hesitantly, but as soon as he touches Tommy's hair the kid melts into him. A look of pure serenity crosses the poor boy's face, and though it was sans a smile, he looked more at peace than Joe had ever seen him in his 7 months with them.

His expression soon fell into nothingness, and small snores filled the quiet air as Tommy went out like a light. Joe watches in slow realization as Tommy didn't twitch or whimper or cry as he usually did upon leaving consciousness; he was finally still and calm as he deserved to be in rest.

Joe presses his mouth into a thin line as he continues to run his soft fingers through the kid's yellow hair. Whatever happened to Tommy, it was worse than the poet could even comprehend, and that fact made bile rise in his throat.

Joe was not a vengeful man. His philosophy was that everything happened for a reason, that any cruel injustice that befell him or his friends was the cause of some greater force's plan far beyond his control.

Yet, how years of war and bloodshed and betrayal was a deserving fate for a child, Joe could not understand or excuse.

He believed that the passage of events was out of his control and part of a bigger design. But he also believed in free will, and if he had anything to do with how his story was written, he would ensure that this little boy who was so broken by the world he came from would get the life he should've had from the beginning.

Joe presses a light kiss to the boy's temple before slowly standing, lifting Tommy in his arms and setting him down on his bed.

"I promise you'll have it better here, kiddo." Joe whispers softly, settling the old blanket back over the sleeping boy. "I'll give you a good life if it kills me."

END.

[wishingicouldfly]

I've been actively blogging for more than six months, even though I've had a tumblr account for ten years. I started reading One Direction (specifically Larry) fanfiction about the same time.

Originally, I read exclusively canon compliant fiction--I was hungry for industry insider, what-could-have-happened narratives. But I've slowly branched out into other genres. I find fanfic--good fanfic--super calming. When I've had too much stunting, too much noise, I grab a fanfic and immerse myself. So I thought it was time to do a post about my favorites. Keep in mind, I'm terrible at cataloging, and I have over 150 bookmarks on my A03 Account, so this is by no means an exhaustive list.

I'm not including the classics like Tired, Tired Sea and Escapade. While I do love both of those (so well written), because a lot of people know about those already.

My all time favorites are by @helloamhere

1. The Multipicity of Powers - https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580229

Maybe in another universe he isn’t different. Maybe he hadn’t been given an impossible choice. Maybe he wouldn’t have lost everything and broken everything and then fallen impossibly, irrevocably in love with the first next thing that was kind. Maybe in that universe he doesn’t feel like he’s never breathing, always pretending, teaching the kids even though they all have to learn alone, trying hard not to read the headlines, and so afraid, every day, that he won’t be a good enough teammate to the superhero he can’t live without. He knows that love isn’t supposed to feel this way, slid secret under your skin like a surgical razor, an invisible war held close over the tender vein that keeps you alive. On the other hand, Louis wonders, had he ever known how to do it any other way?

Maybe there’s a universe where he doesn’t have to keep all his secrets on the inside.

But this isn’t that universe.

//an X-Men AU.

Me: I never thought I'd love a super hero 1D cross over, but this is so well done. The backstory, the pacing, the characterization, the friendship. Read it.

2. Saving Symphony Hall and it's prequel Night Out - https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633921

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

Me: The best sex scene I've ever read is in the prequel Night Out. Sexy, but tender. I love the characterizations in this duo--ABO but not traditional. Doesn't feel out of character.

3. Just Let Me -https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695350

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

Me: I love love love this. Harry is so gentle, and Louis is so stubborn and needy. It's ABO but subtle. I'll read this one again and again. It's comforting.

@HelloAmHere is one of the best writers I know--amazing stuff. I also love their werewolf story, but it's not finished, so I won't link it here.

Other favorites:

1. Seven Up by cherrystreet - https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828539

Very loosely based on the British TV show "The Up Series" and somewhat inspired by the song “Something I Need” by Onerepublic, we follow the lives of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in an interview setting every seven years. They fall apart and come together, their lives and emotions recorded. Harry calls it a time capsule. Louis calls it a pain in the arse.

Me: Trigger Warning, major character death. I literally SOBBED through the end of this. It was lovely and devastating. So good. But be warned.

2. Light, Spark and Fire series by @greenfeelings

Life’s pretty ordinary for Harry. He lives with his best friend, got into university just like he’s planned, and manages to support himself just fine for an unbonded omega. If he sustains that lifestyle by getting paid to help alphas through their rut every now and then, that’s nothing to be hung up on. Until he’s hired by an alpha that turns everything upside down.

Or, Louis and Zayn run a music label, Liam is Britain’s up-and-coming pop star, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down until he builds his own up, and Niall holds them all together without realising he does.

Me: A nice healthy three-parter. Characters you just want to live with for a while.

3. Relief Next to Me by dolce_piccante - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117942

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

Me: This one is super long, so be prepared when you dive in. It's got a lot of lovely bits, and some great smut.

4. 2012 'Verse by ashavahishta - https://archiveofourown.org/series/27601

Me: This is a five-parter and satisfies my love of canon compliant stories. It spans most of 2012 and into 2013, and illustrates the difficulties of Harry and Louis' relationship amid the band success and management disapproval.

5. Love After the End of the World by mercurial-madhouse (writing_practice) - https://archiveofourown.org/works/31251434/chapters/77248901

Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

Me: Really unusual (as far as I can tell) end of the world story. I loved the characterizations of soul mates here at the end of the world.

6. Flightless Bird by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6401653/chapters/14656807

AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited. During the company's production of Swan Lake the secret that doomed their love is finally revealed, but will it be too late?

Me: Trigger Warning, sexual assault (by an original character to a major character). This was a little brutal because I hated to see a broken Harry, but it was well written and has a happy ending.

7. Wear It Like A Crown by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816771/chapters/3900322

AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis' teenage fantasies.

Me: I loved Louis in this one--actually they are both pretty great. Scratch that, they are ALL pretty great.

8. Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/3331958/chapters/7285322

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

Me: I don't like the self-hate here, but it was necessary for the story and H comes around. Found family vibe.

9. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar - https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090982/chapters/4550871

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did.

Me: I loved Harry in this one. Louis gets there. I don't like Liam, but I don't think you're supposed to. Zayn is great.

10. Own the Scars by crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1010796

Louis has never felt like he was good enough: for his stepdad, for his life-long best friend, for the life he's supposed to want. After an accident that nearly costs him his life, Louis' parents send him to rehab where he’s forced to face his demons. On the long and difficult road to recovery, Louis must confront the truths he’s been avoiding about his future, his relationships, and his sense of self-worth. Because before he can love anyone else, he’s got to learn how to love himself first.

Me: Harry is lovely in this one. Trigger warning, substance abuse and near death.

11. Wild Love by purpledaisy - https://archiveofourown.org/series/1030904

AU: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

Me: I loved this way more than I thought I would. It's lovely and messy and I love it.

12. Victorian Boy by audreyhheart - https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosann1986/readings?page=6

Victorian AU. Harry the virgin Duke of Somerset knows little of love, while Louis the sly Duke of Warwick knows too much. When the two dukes come together for the Bilsdale fox hunt in York, Harry finds himself drawn into Louis' bed. But when secrets from Louis' dark past come to light, Harry fears that the fox isn't the only one being hunted.

Me: Historical fiction I didn't intend to love. I LOVE Harry in this one. LOTS of smut, so be warned.

13. Keep Me Closer by zanni_scaramouche - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30752633

Louis expects Harry to react poorly, maybe even file a formal complaint and that’s gonna suck ass but Louis won’t say shit cause he knows he deserves it, so he prepares an apology before Harry’s even turned around.

What he doesn’t expect is Harry to fucking drop.

Me: lovely, protective Louis just trying to do the right thing.

14. Turning Page by purpledaisy for SockstheDog

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826345

AU: Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

Me: sweet love story. Niall owns a bar, and is pretty great.

15. Freedom Always Comes With a Price by Cyantific - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30278514/chapters/74624262

A shared dream brings them together onto the X-factor stage, but one decision changes Harry and Louis’ lives overnight. Thrust into a world of instant stardom, they're forced to live a lie to sustain their dreams, but years of living in the shadows and under strict management takes its toll.

With the bands impending hiatus, there’s no better time for change, so they think.

Desperate for a solution, they turn to an unlikely source with a radical plan. An unfortunate accident sets everything in motion, but not how they intended, leaving Louis’ memories altered, Harry broken-hearted and full of regret.

Can Harry figure out a way to fix everything? Will he even want to once he sees how Louis moved on after the hiatus? Will Louis ever find out the truth of their past and can he forgive Harry after all this time?

In the end, two friends find out that memories are elusive, trust is everything and love is the only antidote.

Me: Heartbreaking when they lose each other, but really good in the end.

16. Little Technicolor Things by scary_crow - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6025519/chapters/13821628

Louis is a poor writer and recent university graduate, depressed, anxious, and living in London when he meets Harry, an artist with a secret who likes to paint sunrises and pretty boys from California.

17. Hold You Now by solvetheminourdreams - https://archiveofourown.org/works/30253536/chapters/74556744

Three years ago, Harry Styles said goodbye to communications consultancy firm McQuiston Worldwide, leaving a life of travel and agency PR behind. When he accompanies his best friend to a family wedding across the Atlantic, he'll be forced to reopen old wounds and face his past—one that no one wants to hash out, but may just have to.

Me: Niall is great. They almost miss each other in this one, and you just want to bash them over the head. But they figure it out.

18. At Risk, I Fold by clare328 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542480

2015 is a stream of hotel rooms and whisky on the rocks, tired glances and touching hands under tables. It’s the bears and the bees under a rainbow sky, and Harry and Louis have to figure out how to grow up together, instead of apart.

Me: A canon compliant fic that feels like it could have really happened. Set in 2015. Lovely first chapter and scene where Harry writes If I Could Fly--i could read that chapter over and over.

19. Into The Blue by zarah5 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035822/chapters/2065499

AU. In which Louis is Harry's scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can't be all that difficult to convince Harry that they're on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

Me: AKA the Scuba fic.

20. Tie Your Heart by ArcadianMaggie - https://archiveofourown.org/works/546688/chapters/973236

Harry grows wings.

Me: How can you not love a fic where Harry grows wings? Trigger warning: injury of a major character.

21. I think I'll end this here. My last and probably first favorite (read it more than once) is...

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach - https://archiveofourown.org/works/934996/chapters/1820282

When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

Me: I LOVED the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I'm a huge fan of time travel, so this is right up my alley. It's really well done, weaving canon into fantasy and then going years forward in tme. I love everything about it. Great character development. Really good smut. Trigger warning, there's a little underage sex, so be aware. Anyway, LOVE this one so much.

I'll add to this but it's already longer than I meant it to be.

[voltimer]

'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

_____________________________________________________________

Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.