#like crazy awesome machines but is it worth it

[radiance1]

Amity Park is an unusual place. Home to the ghost crazed inventors Jack and Maddie Fenton and their two children, Jasmine and Daniel Fenton.

It is a peaceful town, if only when the Fenton's aren't up to their shenanigans, besides that it was a town were nothing to significant happened.

Which is why it was so weird how the town was built right next to a magical leyline.

(His parents are actually weirdly connected now that he thinks of it.)

Now you see, Danny never cared about his parents' obsession with ghosts, nor their apparent 'portal to hell' that's a work in progress.

(Danny is 12 here AGAIN because I'm just built like that)

He did like to invent small versions of the Chaos Emeralds from the sonic comics he asked his parents for. He was honestly completely surprised they managed to get him actual real-life copies of the comics, considering they ceased productions years before he was born.

He isn't even going to ask any questions about the where and how.

So, he read through the books, told his two friends about it and they came over then they read together. Sam was a bit surprised, since even her parents didn't know where to source them from.

So, you give a twelve-year-old access to discontinued comics about a hedgehog who can run faster than the speed of soun and he sees these super powerful gems and has access to highly advanced tech made his parents (mostly ghost centered but eh) and you expect him not to do anything?

So, he, Tucker and Sam came together and sketched out a design for what they wanted this machine to look like to (hopefully) make their own versions of the Chaos Emeralds.

It wouldn't be the real thing, but they just want something close enough that they can look at.

So, they drew the machine, trying to see which parts would be needed in the actual building part of it. To which they kinda grew to a stump at, Tucker is insanely good with computers, Danny is insanely good at building things and Sam has extensive knowledge of the occult and money.

But they weren't good with the actual designing part. The drawing was pretty crude, not as good as his parents' blueprints, but it was good enough. They just couldn't figure out what materials would go where and which they would even need.

Then his parents caught a glance at what they were working on and extended their help, surprising all three of them since this wasn't anything ghost related. With their help the actual parts for the machine came together, and sure the design had to be changed a bit here and there, but it was worth it!

They didn't know where exactly to build said machine though. Until Sam mentioned the nearby forest, and really, it just went on from there.

So there they were, walking through the forest, looking for the perfect spot to build their machine. Finally coming to at a small hill, Danny decided to build the machine here!

It was the perfect spot for a replica of a super powerful, mega awesome giant emerald!

The spot did however feel really weird, like there was something living in the area. Not that Danny minded though, he wouldn't be a Fenton if he didn't ignore something crazy like this!

Sam was honestly just there for the vibe to be honest.

Tucker was persuaded to be here with the newest PDA that came out and practically unlimited data (He was going to be there anyways but who could pass up that.)

So it took a while, having to carry the materials out there (or carrying them in a cart, for the bigger pieces) and then having Danny putting it all together with his friends handing him some pieces here and there, and then Sam and Tucker having to goddamn drag Danny away from the unfinished machine to take a break and play a game.

Most of the time, Sam would distract herself with reading some occult books, while Tucker would surf the internet while Danny built his machine.

After about a week Danny finally managed to bring the machine to life, a giant mold in the middle of it in the shape of the Master Emerald when it came together and 21 smaller molds.

Coincidently, that was also the time his parents finished their 'portal to hell'.

So, Danny closed the machine, pouring the resin for the master emerald into the machine while his friend poured in resin of different colors into the other molds.

White for Danny.

Black for Sam.

Red for Tucker.

And green for the Master Emerald.

After that, well. All that was left was to turn it on, so they did.

At the exact moment the Fenton's turned on their ghost portal.

The magical energies of the leyline flooded into the molds of the gems, it was extremely chaotic and unfocused, its magical energies unable to be controlled.

For there to then be what is basically the perfect vessels for its excess power?

Well, safe to say it took the opportunity as it was.

At the exact same time Ectoplasm flooded into the world from the portal, and the door to the other side was opened.

The world, tilted off the combined events of the portal opening and the leyline finding a vessel for its power.

Shifted.

Then it and another world became one, a relatively smooth transition as barely anyone noticed.

Barely.

But that isn't what we're going to focus on right now. ;)

The entirety of Amity Park experienced city-wide electronic mayhem. Basic household appliances started going wack, as did their phones or anything electronic. Then the power went out as an earthquake ran through the city.

It stopped as suddenly as it began, everything was normal. So the Amity parkers went on about their day as normal too.

Danny, Sam and Tucker were knocked unconscious by the event, to which they then awoke about an hour later and saw the sight of their machine broken beyond repair. Danny ran forward and cried over the loss of his hard work, then Sam and Tucker got him to look up a bit higher to see it.

The Master Emerald in all of its beautiful, rainbow glory, and floating around was 21 gems made alongside it.

At first, Danny was stunned, unable to figure out how the hell the gem replicas are floating when they were made to be just that, replicas and not anything else.

They then floated down to each of them, the reds circling Tucker, the blacks circling Sam and the whites circling Danny.

And Danny, being 12 years old forgot all about that and went fuck it.

They stayed there for a while, playing with their new gems. They tried to be responsible, they swear! But they just couldn't help but test what they could do...

They found out that, while they aren't as powerful as the originals in the comics. They were still pretty damn strong, so then Sam had the great idea to train themselves in the usage of the gems like responsible people would.

(Which is basically just an excuse to run over to her books and try out each and every spell she could see.)

Which is how they also found out that the Master Emerald replica also had the ability to render their own gems inert like in the comics after they went a bit overboard with them.

Then they came back home and apparently ghosts are a thing now. They politely kept their new gems and the existence of the giant one a secret.

And like that, two years passed by. All of them now 14 and having very good control over the gems, with the help of the Master Emerald that somehow became semi-sentient and finding out that the reason why it happened is because they literally built the machine on top of a magical leyline.

They took on the role of guarding the gem, just like Knuckles the Echidna. Which also doubles as their hangout spot too, so there's that.

They had super-secret personas and totally cool outfits for when they're guarding it too. Which isn't really necessary since nothing happens, but they don't really care about that too be honest.

Amity Park is a relatively closed off town, new faces only being there in the ways of tourists. It is a peaceful town, minus all the ghosts and the Fenton's in their battles, it is a nice town where nothing too big happens.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker thought so as well. Thought that nobody would find out about their little secret.

They were not pleased when they found some old British guy was walking around the Master Emerald.

The Fenton parents were very pleased when three of earth's greatest heroes, batguy, supersomething and Wondergirl pulled up at their doorstep asking to see their inventions. (They swear they could never quite remember those three's names, what with all the ghost fighting, realizing they weren't quite right in their research and renouncing everything they ever said about ghosts as a whole while also trying to reconnect with their kids after realizing how neglectful they've been over the years.)

[found-family-tournament]

Found Family Tournament Round 1 Part 9 Group 42

Propaganda and further pictures under the cut

Because You Made Me Smile (or Extended Tenma Household): Tsukasa Tenma, Toya Aoyagi (& Saki Tenma)

Aurinko Crime Family: Juno Steel, Buddy Aurinko, Vespa Ilkay, Peter Nureyev, Rita, Jet Sequliac & the Ruby 7

Submissions are still open!

Because You Made Me Smile (or Extended Tenma Household):

I would put saki here too but she's not as relevant to toya and tsukasa's relationship. Basically Toya's dad is a huge BITCH (his name is literally harumichi. who carries a child around in their womb for 9 months only to name it harumichi. I'd cry.) who has forced Toya to play classical music for since he was old enough to reach the piano i guess a d toya HATE classical music and he meets tsukasa at school and they become friends and toyer tells stew caca about his dad and kasa's like "well actually u should do what you want. fuck what he says." toya then latches onto him as if he were his big brother

let me explain a little thing real quick before i say this next thing; project sekai has 3 sets of 2 biological siblings, those are the Shinonomes, the Hinomoris, and the Tenmas. Each family got events exploring their dynamic with their siblings.

I think it's worth mentioning that in the Hinomoris' and Shinonomes' events, any other characters that weren't virtual singers got 3* or 2* cards, while in the Tenmas' event, Toya also got a 4* just like Tsukasa and Saki.

okay so there's this boy named tsukasa tenma right. worlds #1 big brother and also universal big brother this guy cannot stop gaining siblings it's crazy he's a wonderful funny loud and optimistic guy. and there's also his little sister saki tenma. very cheerful and always tries to smile and wants to live her life to the fullest bc she was hospitalized for most of her younger years. they both love each other very much. then there's this boy named toya aoyagi who the siblings meet sometime as children and they all connect due to all three of their connections to playing piano. toya's very polite and serious and kind of oblivious but very kind. toya grows to despise classical music and playing piano & violin due to his father's very strict and harsh nature. at some point tsukasa tells toya that it's okay for him to do what he wants even if others disapprove. this gives toya the courage to quit doing classical music and do something for himself and due to this he is able to meet his partner and start doing street music which he ACTUALLY enjoys doing. toya looks up to tsukasa very much and tsukasa canonically thinks of him as a little brother. he also lends saki the plushies he wins from claw machines and worries and cares about her condition very much and while they're not as close as toya is with tsukasa due to how often she was hospitalized as a child they still care about each other deeply.

basically tsukasa and saki are a better family for toya than his actual family and. and. i'm inconsolable about them <//3

Aurinko Crime Family:

Queer! Space! Pirates!! It's kinda your typical "it started as a heist but along the way we became family" story, but in space. And not a single person is cishet. An ex private investigator and sharpshooter with only one eye, his very cool and smart hacker assistant and ex lover thief who he ran away from, because he has problems basically get adopted by a cool crimeboss lady with a metal stomach, her wife, who is a doctor and also generally pro stabbing people, and a big dude, who gives great, but often cryptic advice. Oh, also a car that isn't a car. All of their dynamics are awesome. Buddy definitely has mom vibes. Juno and Vespa definitely have a sibling dynamic. The movie nights. Aaaaaaaahhh!

[bye-bye-firefly]

Hii there!! So, as you already know, you are a lovely time loop fan who has wonderful opinions such as liking Higurashi, liking the Time Loop Nihilism video and disliking 12 minutes. So I was wondering, do you have other time loop media that you have opinions on??

making this a rec list because these all make me go crazy but you have to see them otherwise its just me going OMG THIS SHIT IS SOOOO WELL DONE OH MYYYY OGGGEDDDDGHAGHWGHARGJKL

the girl who leapt through time (the book or the movie)

the time machine by hg wells

erased (AWESOME ANIME TERRY SHOWED ME)

kagepro is a MESS but worth getting into for the vibe

scp 2265

and i think this is all for right now this is literally all i can think of .

[missingn000]

hi chi i hope youre doing well♡ i just wanted to pop by to say i'm finally catching back up on tpg after a while of my brain not working enough to read lol but anyway! i just got to the retrial in ch34, and when nanami's defense culminates in this moment:

“You don’t have to stop caring,” Nanami reassures. “Humanity would cease to exist if we did that. But if all you do is count the reasons why you shouldn't be here, you’re going to miss out on every little joy that makes it worth being here anyway.”

Nanami whips his head towards Judgeman. He’s decided how to plead.

“You’re right. I nearly killed Nara along with every last member of the Inumaki clan. But I didn’t, because someone in the courtyard needed me and I saw meaning in giving him a home.”

Judgeman’s jail bars of teeth bare themselves one final time.

“Innocent,” it declares. “Restoration.”

hhhh oh my god. i got chills sitting here in between sets on the leg curl machine ahsjhwksbd. i've been so engrossed in this chapter i havent been able to put it down, the fight has been awesome and i've been having so much fun visualizing it. and ive been soooo stressed about nanami's technique being confiscated just desperately hoping all his words could get through to higurama... AUGH the clash of ideals is just as juicy as the physical violence.

but like. nanami choosing toge over the vengeance, finding meaning in the small happinesses that happen in daily life... it's such a beautiful arc to his character that he's changed from the man who views adulthood the accumulation of small despairs into who he is now. and i'm just so excited for higurama to go through his own journey. but yeah ! i just wanted to take a moment to fanboy about it in your inbox because i don't think i have yet and i needed to rectify that Immediately!! i love tpg soooo so much 💕 anywhoo i'm gonna keep reading now haha ^_^

YOU READ TPG?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?????????????? WHAT OH MY GOD I HAD NO IDEA

but damn i am so so happy you like it!! GOD ch34 fucked me up too...fight scenes are my favorite thing to write and i love striking that balance of physical vs emotional impact. it's awesome to hear you think i succeeded with this fight!! i've always thought it would be interesting if nanami and higuruma interacted, but i actually think they wouldn't get along, at least not at first. after all, higuruma went straight to murder and apathy upon realizing the cruelty of the world, while nanami decided to bear that emotional weight and use his power to help people anyway.

omgggg the character development for nanami was SO satisfying to write. that journey of him believing little despairs making someone an adult to little joys making life worth living...auughgrtghfggahj i love him so much!! higuruma's about to go down a crazy journey of his own for sure, and i hope you enjoy it. thanks for this message im literally BEAMING

[silent-partner-412]

I feel like people hating on Jack Antonoff need to check his production credits again, because this man has possibly the most impressive body of work of any current pop producer.

Like, even just going through the songs that stood out to me:

- Out Of The Woods, I Wish You Would, and You Are In Love by Taylor Swift (three of the best tracks on 1989)

- HEAVEN by Troye Sivan (probably Troye’s best song to date)

- ALL of Melodrama by Lorde except for Homemade Dynamite (it should go without saying that this is awesome)

- New York, Masseduction, Sugarboy, and Happy Birthday Johnny by St. Vincent (four great songs on Masseduction)

- Look What You Made Me Do, Getaway Car, Dress, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Call It What You Want, and New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift (I know a couple of these songs are contentious but surely we can all agree Getaway Car, Call It What You Want, and New Year’s Day are all terrific, right?)

- Want You In My Room by Carly Rae Jepsen (The best song on Dedicated easily and one of her best songs ever)

- 11 songs on Lover by Taylor Swift (one of these include Cruel Summer which is universally agreed to be one of the best and most underutilized songs in the entire Taylor Swift canon, and the rest add up to an album’s worth of music that would be a better album than what we actually got)

- This Love Isn’t Crazy and Comeback by Carly Rae Jepsen (more Carly bangers. He’s 3/3 so far when working with her)

- More amazing songs on Folklore and Evermore, including 2 all time Taylor bests with August and This Is Me Trying)

- All of Daddy’s Home by St. Vincent (a weird and great album in its entirety)

- The All Too Well 10 Minute Version (which is really great for what it is as well as a cultural moment even if the 5 minute version is still superior imo)

- Most of Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine (aka one of the best albums of 2022)

- All of Being Funny In A Foreign Language by The 1975 (aka the best 1975 album in like six years)

- and of course Midnights by Taylor which is what seems to have spawned this new wave of Jack hate

This doesn’t even include other beloved albums that I’m not a huge fan of like Norman Fucking Rockwell, and all his work with his own bands. This man has a stacked fucking resume, the only really extremely notable miss I saw on his Wikipedia page was Solar Power, which even then that album isn’t awful just not particularly memorable. Even assuming you think Midnights has shitty production (which I wholeheartedly disagree with), I have a hard time believing anybody could hate every single one of these projects I just listed here.

I can’t think of a reason other than overexposure why people seem to vehemently hate him so much, he seems like a nice guy and has made a lot of great music. I honestly feel like people need to chill out lmao

[drewandareview]

Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

Originally published May 30th, 2013

Dr. Seuss does this awesome thing where he combines imagination with depth.  His stories are essentially allegories, being fun to read while profound on a whole other level.  I'm definitely an admirer.

While I can't say I've read all his books, I think my favorite would have to be "Horton Hears a Who!".  It's a very moving story about an elephant trying to save a tiny world of people that nobody else believes in, but it also has incredible depth.  Just the fact that our world could be miniature or enormous compared to another is enough to take in, but the purporting that "a person's a person no matter how small" has a lot of spiritual significance.  It digs into the human psyche and what we define as worthwhile enough to save.  It's deep, guys.  Real deep.

I don't think ANY of Dr. Seuss's books should be adapted into a feature-length movie because they function much better as shorter stories, but if I had to pick one, it'd be Horton Hears a Who!.  There's a lot to work with.  The CGI adaptation of the book has been consistently referred to as "the best Dr. Seuss Hollywood adaptation out there".  "Best" isn't saying much considering its competition, but I thought I'd give it a watch.

Where do I fucking begin.

How it should have been: The characters should have been rooted in the world Dr. Seuss created for them, set apart from any specific time period.

How it was fucked: Hollywood slapped "modern" on it to make it more accessible.  Characters were constantly making pop culture references and using hip lingo.

How it should have been: Horton should have been the noble, courageous creature who has trouble fitting in that he was in the original book.

How it was fucked: They cast Jim Carrey as Horton who went full Jim Carrey for his performance and captured absolutely none of Horton's heroism or sincerity.

How it should have been: If it had to be feature length, they should have expanded on the world and the depth Dr. Seuss created.  Perhaps other world's could be introduced, or there could be an arc featuring the psychology of what makes a life worth saving.

How it was fucked: Hollywood at least showed how Horton's actions impacted the world, which wasn't quite in the book, but every other extra arc or character they added did NOTHING to expand on the book.

How it should have been: It shouldn't have needed to have jokes because the world and concept is already amusing enough.

How it was fucked: It had jokes, but some of the weakest and most painful jokes you could hope from a hack screenwriter trying to make a buck.

How it should have been: The movie should have captured all the subtlties of the book, showing things without explaining them.  It should have treated its audience as if it could be anybody and taken it seriously.

How it was fucked: There was way, WAY too much dialogue in this movie.  And the absolute worst part was that it pandered to children.  It treated the movie like "a kid's movie" and made sure to exaggerate and emphasize everything.  It added crazy movement that wasn't necessary or zany expressions that also weren't necessary.  It farted sparkles onto the legacy of Dr. Seuss by turning a resonating story into a money machine.

It at least had the good grace to follow the book fairly well and employ Seuss's signature animation, but honestly, that's hardly effort on their part.  All of that is obvious necessities of a Seuss adaptation and I won't give them any pats on the back for it.  This movie may be "the best", but it's worlds away from being good.  I'm ashamed that Dr. Seuss movies have been so bad that people have been conditioned to think THIS is the standard for a good Dr. Seuss movie.  You know what a good Dr. Seuss movie is?  A biopic of Dr. Seuss's life.  And THAT'S IT.

...but all of that said, I have to admit, things had looked up when the climax had hit.  For seven short minutes of Seuss-laden bliss, the movie had aimed and the shot didn't miss.  For that fleeting moment, I started to see how great a smart Seuss adaptation could be.

But then came the ending and things got shitty again.  REALLY shitty.  It managed to be the absolute worst part of the movie.  It was so bad that I literally had to pause the movie just to comprehend the shit I was watching.  You know, maybe there is a way to make a feature-length Dr. Seuss movie.  I certainly don't want to rule it out.  But Hollywood has to learn that a story's a story, no matter how small.

(And yes, the second to last paragraph was written in rhyme.  Shut up.)

[willtoledoicedchai]

i'm iris (he/she, 20) and this is my music sideblog. main is @guppybycharlybliss i never use it though. i made this account because i exist to share love and joy and because my brain is a well oiled machine producing deranged things to say about songs&lyrics. favorite artists are. charly bliss sidney gish the mountain goats tyler the creator. underscores. a lot more but those are my top five guys right now. url is based off a joke i have with my friend about what will toledo would order at the coffee shop i work at. the iced chai would be a large and it would have oat milk and no flavor shots. here's ⬇️ a chart of my favorite albums ever in no particular order. hi :)

(open readmore for a list of shows i've seen ^_^)

computerwife, tv girl (08/whatever/2022): bad. i don't even like tv girl that much but it was the birthday of a friend who did so i got us tickets. the speakers and sound mixing were soooo shitty live and without the buffer of admittedly really pretty ethereal instrumentation the sad guy incel type misogyny of tv girl's lyrics is a LOT harder to ignore. also my friend passed out from dehydration so we had to leave early. that experience made me think i don't like live music but nah. i just don't like tv girl. computerwife was good though. shoutout computerwife

people planet, feeble little horse, sidney gish (12/30/2022): kicked so much ass. people planet was good not super my thing though. feeble little horse RULED best band name ever also. sidney gish was like indescribably amazing. my birthday is on new years eve so seeing her live was the last thing i did as an eighteen year old and im so glad it was. she has crazy stage presence and the crowd's energy was great and i ran into my childhood best friend there. all around awesome show. kumo 99, lustsickpuppy, cowgirl clue (03/11/2023): so so so so good. all the acts were amazing but i think lustsickpuppy was my favorite just cause of how insane and captivating their energy was. there was a part where they instructed the whole audience to bark for them and we all started woofing with UNRESTRAINED energy. my friend who i was with broke his glasses in the mosh pit but said it was worth it. three super talented artists and none of them disappointed. fuck yes.

raffaela, charly bliss (04/25/2023): raffaela ruled so extremely hard live and then me and my friend went home and looked them up on spotify and they were just kinda mid. i do have to respect the stage presence required to make mid songs sound straight up transcendent live. this isn't about them though. charly bliss was (guy with a charly bliss special interest voice) nothing short of incredible. i talked to eva hendricks briefly right before she went on and she was so nice and the music sounded so good and the venue was so cool and i was going so crazy. thank you charly bliss.

john-allison weiss, mal blum (07/13/2023): awesome. mal blum is an artist that meant a lot to me growing up and i was right up front like straight up making eye contact with them throughout the whole show and the venue was pretty small and it all just felt like really welcoming and warm and important. they're a great performer. john-allison weiss is also really great i keep meaning to check out their stuff more. the two have been friends for a while and kept exchanging jokes and anecdotes during the set it was really cute. when mal blum introduced a song as "this is about ocd" i cheered REALLY hard and i think i saw them look at me like ...?. sorry mal.

slothrust, the front bottoms (11/11/2023): charly bliss was supposed to be another opener but ended up not being able to make it. how sad. it's okay though because slothrust ripped. i had only heard like two songs by them before but now i'm thinking i need to check out more they were really excellent. the front bottoms were alright! they had good energy i think i just like them more on recordings than i do live. they did a little costume contest bit and the band played the ghostbusters theme which was cute. a good time all around.

peach fuzz, charly bliss (11/21/2023): UPCOMING >:D

[maximuswolf]

Should I repair an old Saeco Exprelia Evo?

Should I repair an old Saeco Exprelia Evo? Lately I've been interested in adding a beginner friendly espresso brewer to my basic home brewing lineup and I was recently gifted a Saeco machine in need of repair, with a maintenance bill of ~$350. Upon research, it looks like this machine lists for about $5-700 used and the current Gaggia version is listing for $1,800 new.My questions for the community are how decent are the espresso drinks that come from these machines, on a scale from "decent" to "absolute butt"? Is it worth spending the money to repair it or should I just part it out and make a little cash to put towards something like a Flair Pro 2 or Gaggia classic? I'm not expecting anything crazy awesome out of a one touch system, but I can't really suss out if these things serviceable, or strictly for convenience at an almost $2000 price point. I quite like the idea of having control over my shots and being able to play around with flavor profiles, but I am definitely working on a low budget so I can't afford to explore both options simultaneously.How would you folks go about this?If it offers any reference, I'm currently brewing with a no name french press, 8 cup Chemex, and a Timemore C2. Submitted March 25, 2023 at 10:51AM by ari_ecchi https://ift.tt/UCMcHDp via /r/Coffee

[00stupid]

Ward MKIII

omg I had the scare of my LIFE like right before I met Khutulan, I never posted this bc I got distracted but listen up. So I was kinda floating mentally bc the crew was meeting up in the hangar to unbox Khutulan? I was getting back from Tombra with Anu, Amber, Kailani, and Shinsei and we rounded the corner and saw A HORRIBLE EVIL MESSED UP CORPSE-LOOKING ROBOT WITH NO HEAD JUST STANDING THERE IN THE PRINTING BAY

Literally the moment I started screaming, Kailani and Anu had guns drawn and braced over my shoulder and at my elbow. Kailani said it was Horus tech, so it might actually start moving(?!). Amber straight up thought she was tripping til she saw the guns and backed off, we all just kinda. Stared. It was so hypnotically gross, I was almost glad it didn't have a head bc I don't know if I'd wanna see it.

“Uhh...please don’t shoot it? Ward’s in there” Rasa's voice came from behind us and Kailani almost took my ear off my head whipping her gun around so quick, but luckily she didn't shoot. Rasa had all their hands up but one, which had a broom.

“Is that. Yours.” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Mmmmmmmmyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. We’re going with yes.” Rasa was kinda lurking the way they do, but they had a staticbroom full of shrapnel. I recognized the paint, and all of a sudden realized where the new (awful) mech was standing. Did...it print itself onto the Yonngan?! Where was Rasa's old mech, it had been standing right there!

"Did that thing eat your- oh shit, Ward!! Yoooo WARD you in there buddy??”

“I’m actually doing alright” his voice answered me through the chassis speakers pretty quick, I was so relived. “I may sound a little different. This seems to be an improvement, in some ways.” I thought that was really weird but told him to do his thing, I guess. He assured us that he felt really good, so we stood down and relaxed a little. Anu only lowered her gun just then. So I guess that's Ward's next new body. I liked the crab.

[warverse]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WARVERSE :D 4 years! I really want to thank those who have been around for this shit show for god knows how long- some since the concept came up, some before. It's crazy to know how long it's been and how many awesome people I've got to meet through this undying fandom- Undertale :D

Characters: Dream- @jokublog Defiance- @testpithverse / @doloshroom Hypergade- @lonertale / @blvdcharms Warverse: @toxictoxicities / @warverse Song: You Can't Hide - CK9c (little ramble that goes on, it's worth a read, at least the last bit anyways)

Ayo- Warverse has finally hit it's 4 year anniversary! Have I done a lot? KINDA, most of creating Warverse hasn't been about it but more into me discovering what I'm putting my life towards-art.

Making this comic game thing has helped me find so many more doors in art and developing my work to a standard that's at least visually appealing! I finally feel more ready to start executing some more serious stuff than just those shitty pieces I use to do when I was trying to understand (still fucken am XD) "hOW shADinG woRk?"

So even if there isn't much comic or anything big, the development is something I want to acknowledge and be proud of because I worry I've accidently wasted 4 years without taking into account I dove into this with little to no prior skill building other than random sketches. When I only thought graphic design and illustrator was the only jobs I could do as an artist XD!

In 2021 I was worried I did nothing for Feed The Machine because I had no final product, but when making the power point for the year (because I needed to put something together) there was so much shit to put in, concepts, character design, rough animations, storyboards, buildings and the plans. I felt happy and frightened on how much I work i did and that it didn't go down the drain, I just couldn't see it, and learning that I think a lot of us need to really do a year over all thing and see how much we really have done rather than not look and feel like shit that "we wasted time".

[pushpinsheep]

What French cities would be better to visit as a tourist than Paris?

If you're after cities specifically then: Strasbourg Heart of the Alsatian region. The cathedral has an impressive astronomical clock and its accompanying automatons are in a museum across the street. Lots of half-timber buildings! Not as hot as the south and the 3rd largest city. Not too big, not too small, and you can actually afford it! x) There's also plenty to see within a short travel distance via trams and regional trains! Totally biased, but there’s a museum in Bouxwiller on Jewish history in the region if anyone is interested. If you want to plan a holiday trip Strasbourg has the oldest Christmas market in France and one of the largest in Europe too!

Lyon 2nd largest city. Still affordable. I lived here for 4 years and loved it. (still bummed we moved sometimes) The gastronomic capital of the world since 1935 so if you like food/cooking this the place to be! Plenty to do and surprisingly LGBTQ+ friendly too. The Musée Cinéma et Miniature is a must! They've got costumes, sets, and props from a lot of famous movies! It also fairly quiet at night compared to other cities I've been in. If you’re there during the winter The Fête des Lumières happens on the 8th of Dec and is pretty fun. It’s a chill night out. You can also extend your trip out to places like Grenoble and Vienne, Isère. Vienne my spouse and I can personally attest to. It's not expensive and there's a whole litany of Roman ruins to see! Montpellier Coastal town in the French Catalan region! It's not as crazy as Marseille, Toulouse, or Nice and there's a ton you can do. The city has huge Aquarium and a really nice Zoological Park if you like critters! You can also go diving or boating. If you don't mind traveling to places nearby you can extend your trip to places like Carcassonne, an extremely tourist friendly medieval fortified city. I went a few summers ago and it was incredible. I had an absolute blast!

Dijon (yes like the mustard) If you like nature, sight-seeing, and/or wine then this is the place for you! They offer a ton of bike tours around the city and the local vineyards. There is wine everywhere. I would recommend trying to visit Guédelon if you're in the region and love medieval history! It's a medieval castle that's currently being constructed using only period accurate tools and materials. Very cool. Brest or Nantes Both are large cities in the Brittany region of France. I'm not sure if you'll find a lot of the Breton language around these places (I've been told you can), but there's still plenty to do. Brest has a naval history museum and an awesome aquarium. Nantes has a lot of museums including Machines de l'Île which is more like smashing a museum with a theme park.

You'll probably recognize this guy from videos online. Yes, you can ride it and yes it sprays water so bring a poncho if you wanna stay dry! There's a ton of cool things here to see. If you love robots or animatronics this one is a must! Mont Saint-Michel Not exactly a city in the traditional sense, but it's worth it. Access literally changes with the tides and high tide is probably the most gorgeous time to visit. It's a lot like Carcassonne. There's plenty to do within the city itself and it tends to be very tourist friendly. When the tide is low enough you can go outside the city and walk around on the sand, but if you do keep and eye out for quicksand.

Hope this helps! :)

[ceterisparibus116]

have you watched the batman? i feel like coming out after binging 3 seasons of daredevil kind of waters down the experience but it was great though! i enjoyed it but not cRaZy gOoD because i kept nitpicking like 'ooh daredevil had this too!' but idk 🥲

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE BATMAN

Dear Anon, are you me?

Daredevil and Batman already have a lot in common. Street-level dudes, not really powered, regular human guys who get beat up, dress as their own worst fear in order to scare others, etc.

But this movie also landed hard on some of Daredevil’s themes. We’ve got:

Corruption (okay that’s not super unique, but still)

Corruption in the DA’s office specifically

That One Good Cop who’s actually awesome (…and Black…)

A hero who is depressed

Explicit discussion of the hero’s abandonment issues

The hero’s belief in the city and refusal to see it only for the crime

The sexy and slightly-more-morally-ambiguous-but-secretly-sort-of-a-good-person romantic interest who says something along the lines of “Your mission will kill you,” to which the hero responds, “I can’t stop until the city is saved,” to which she responds, “Which is never” and reiterates that the city will kill him

So yeah, those were the things that stood out to me. The problem is: with literally every single one, Daredevil did it BETTER.

Between Fisk manipulating people’s weaknesses and dirty laundry and Reyes’ politically-inspired ruthlessness and Tower’s politically-inspired cowardice, we got to see THREE different causes of corruption (instead of just greed and dirty laundry)

Gordon is awesome and him letting Batman wander around crime scenes was hilarious, but I find it more realistic and admirable that Brett keeps a professional distance from vigilantes

Depression. Um...Bruce's depression (if he has it? I think he does?) is a lot more like a caricature. Depression isn't just locking yourself in your room and wearing black and not really talking to people. Daredevil delves deeper into how depression actually worms its way into your thought process, turns your own brain against you. To be fair, this is an advantage to telling a story via 13-hour episodes rather than one 3-hour movie.

Sure, Daredevil had some explicit discussion of Matt’s abandonment issues, but those issues were “shown” long before we were “told.” Again, that's an advantage to telling a story as a show rather than as a movie.

I’ve gotta expand on this abandonment issue bit. Personally, I think the Batman would’ve been stronger if it had refrained from having Bruce explicitly talk about his fear that everyone will leave him. Although he was talking to Alfred, with whom he can be more himself and so it was believable that he would be honest about that, what I found unbelievable was that Bruce would be honest with HIMSELF about it (which is a prerequisite to having the words to be honest with someone else.) Bruce is too busy chasing crime and rewatching footage from his contact lenses to have time for introspection, and that’s assuming he would have any desire to do it in the first place, which I don’t see at all? Like, this is a man who wants to turn himself into a crime-fighting machine; he has zero interest in dealing with something so petty and human as personal trauma.

(For reference, Matt doesn't start talking about his abandonment issues until other people tell him he has abandonment issues. After all, he's simply too busy with cases and crime and emotional repression to stop and evaluate himself. So...does this movie expect me to believe that this Bruce Wayne is more introspective than Matt Murdock? I am absolutely not buying it.)

ANYWAY.

What about Gotham was actually…worth saving? It’s evil from its corrupt leaders all the way down to your average criminals. The opening sequence showed us two people who are arguably worth saving: the young man who clearly was in over his head with his gang and the victim of the gang. But after that scene was over…did we see anyone in the city who is actually a good person?

I guess there was the politician lady. I liked her. But she was a politician, not, like, an average citizen. What inspired her to stay in Gotham and try to make it better, instead of washing her hands and going somewhere else, to a place with worthier citizens?

I’m sorry I’m so hung up on this ordinary citizen thing. But Daredevil did that so well by both: A) establishing why Matt believes anyone and everyone is worth saving; and B) also showing us sympathetic average citizens. Like the kid in S1E2 and Elena. Even someone like Jasper Evans who at least desires to be a better person for his son (or so he says). Even other Important Characters like Karen and Claire start as average citizens, vs the Important Characters in the Batman who are...Gordon, the politician lady, Selina, and Alfred: aka people who are very much not average.

Or maybe the philosophy is that the city is worth saving because even bad people are worth saving. Personally, I tend to agree with that philosophy. But I don’t believe that randomly; I, like Matt, believe that because of my faith. Not that someone needs religion to think that way, but they need SOMETHING. Especially if they continually confront evil. Otherwise, they risk coming off as naïve. Which…Bruce sort of came across that way in that he was a very young Batman, but I don’t think the movie meant to imply that his belief that the city really could be “renewed” was born of naiveté. So…where did that belief come from?

Okay, so I didn’t ACTUALLY mind the conversation between Bruce and Selina about whether the city would kill him. I’m not quite sure why she liked him enough to bother having that conversation with him, though? But that’s standard for me with romances; I usually don’t know why the characters like each other because they never know each other enough for me, if I were in that situation, to like the other one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That said, I absolutely love Bruce and Selina on motorcycles and trying to race each other. Adorable.

Other miscellaneous Opinions:

Another thing Daredevil did WAY better was the fight scenes. I know we make fun of Daredevil’s lighting, but at least the fight scenes are lit enough (ha) that you can actually see what’s happening. Between the cape and the editing and the darkness, I didn’t get a sense of Bruce’s fighting style at all.

Also, I was hit in the face with how used I am to a hero being able to sense what’s around him that I kept waiting for Bruce to block something without looking. Since he couldn’t do that, we ended up with some of those awkward moments where bad guys are hanging around and waiting their turn. *sigh*

ALSO, THE MUSIC. Ugh. The music killed me. It was so…boring? It felt like there were only three tracks, max. Daredevil’s music is AMAZING. So yeah.

I also noticed the slow pacing, although tbh I’m not sure I’d say the pacing in The Batman is much worse than Daredevil, since Daredevil also has slow pacing.

The whump. What the heck. Where was the whump? Why have a non-super-powered vigilante if you’re not going to give us whump? Not even a teeny tiny bit? WHERE IS THE WHUMP

Speaking of that. His suit is bullet-proof? Except when it’s a shotgun at close range? Except even then it just kinda winds him a little? ??? I don’t understand? And it was hard to feel real stakes in the fight scenes because not even guns could hurt him, apparently. *sigh*

You know who was awesome, though? Alfred. Alfred is awesome. But the closest analogy to Alfred is Father Lantom…and Father Lantom is 10,000x better than Alfred.

Ooh, something that’s not necessarily better or worse, imo, is the villain. I loved what they did with the Riddler. He was creepy, he was understandable, and he felt like a real threat. So often comics-inspired stories lose my interest because the villain isn’t credible, but the Riddler was. He accomplished so much. Also, the Riddler felt like something that could happen in the real life. So that was freaky. I would’ve liked more time with the Riddler, honestly.

Something else that’s not better or worse, it’s just different and very interesting to me, is Bruce’s…utter ignorance (even innocence?) about women. Selina is flirting with him, and he’s just focused on the mission. The bit where he tenderly lifts her chin and tells her to look at him—but it’s just so he can see if the contact lenses are fitted right? Amazing. The bit where he tells her in the bar to look at people longer so he can do facial recognition, and he seems to have NO CLUE what a beautiful young woman in a bar like that looking at men like that will lead to? I love it. The guy just doesn’t get it.

Obviously, that’s, like, the polar opposite of Matt, but I don’t think one is better than the other. It’s just different.

Similarly, his arc is very different. He comes to realize that he can’t ONLY be vengeance. I think Matt has already learned this lesson (if he ever had to learn it) (that’s why Matt isn’t just Daredevil; he’s Matt Murdock—defense attorney—too), but it was nice to see Bruce make that journey.

And it makes me wanna write a crossover where Matt mentors Bruce on how to be more than just vengeance. Cue Matt’s shock at Bruce’s sheer amount of wealth. Cue Matt’s horror and disdain at the fact that Bruce can’t be bothered to use his wealth. Cue Bruce scrambling to put the wealth to good use.

Anyway.

At the end of all of this, one thing I LOVE about the Batman—and maybe it was too on-the-nose but I DON’T CARE, it was beautiful—is how it starts with his broody narration (in his diary, no less), saying something along the lines of, “They think I live in the shadows, but I AM the shadows” and tbh initially I was kinda “meh” (like, that’s so melodramatic, is it supposed to be funny?) BUT THEN! But then the end of the climax is him literally holding a flare and leading desperate and scared people to safety. HE BECAME THE LIGHT. Gosh. I cry.

Everyone else, what did you think? And can anyone point me to some good crossovers with Matt and this specific Bruce, or do I need to write it myself?

[trulyinspiringmovies]

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines

“The Mitchells Vs. The Machines” has a super strong emotional core with great visuals, but bogs itself down with random dated internet humor.

Katie Mitchell has always been sort of an outcast. Movies have always been there for her and sparked a passion for filmmaking at a very young age. She works hard to get accepted into a film school in California and actually gets in. Her father, Rick, just doesn’t understand Katie’s hobbies and passions. He’s somewhat against technology and wants Katie to have a backup plan in case her dreams fail. After a heated argument, Rick decides to cancel Katie’s plane ticket to drive to her new college as a family. The only problem is, a robot uprising happens during their road trip.

I had one crazy rollercoaster ride with this movie. Right off the bat, the character of Katie wins me over by being a movie fan. I know it’s a bit biased to say that, but this is one of the few times where I related to a character so much that it was hard not to get attached. If anything, it’s a testament to how authentic they portrayed Katie as a movie fan because the writers didn’t make her feel like a superficial movie fan. There are deep-cut references in her short films, in her room, and even on her clothes. The dynamic she has with her family is something I believe to be universally relatable, so this movie was speaking to me on a more personal level. I love the art style used in this movie because it breathes personality, specifically from Katie herself. It’s awesome to see Sony Animation be able to push the animation medium with works like this and “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”. These films are not only visually innovative, but also have stories that compliment the visuals perfectly. I love the understanding that Katie and her father reach by the end of the movie because it’s genuinely heartwarming. While Rick started off as almost an irredeemable antagonist, he earns back his goodwill by not doubling down on his actions and actually starts being receptive to change. Trust me, I was ready to not like this movie just because of how dense Rick was acting in the first half of the movie. I think the only problem that I had with this movie was the random internet humor that just popped out of nowhere throughout. It just feels like a cringe attempt at the filmmakers characterizing a generation of people they don’t understand fully. Still, the actual attempts at jokes were really strong and still deliver the much-needed comedy. All in all, I think this is still a movie that’s worth watching. It has its heart in the right place and is super strong with its themes and messages.

★★★★

Watched on May 14th, 2022

[ifyouwereamelodymeg]

Rec List Saturday

Alright alright alright, I know I said I was done for ZFAW, but I lied because it’s REC LIST SATURDAY.

I honestly think this final day of the week embodies what the whole thing is about -- with only so many hours in the day to actually create fanwork inspired content, it’s our chance to pull together lists of all the works/creators that we didn’t have the opportunity to pay tribute to across the rest of the week and show them some love. So with that in mind I’m actually going to be reccing people rather than individual works, because so many folk have contributed loads of wonderful pieces. @rideboldlyride - my first friend in the fandom, and a double/triple/quadruple threat with awesome contributions across multiple media (writer, artist, tech whizz, and podcast host), is there anything this gal can’t do?? @formerlygoldilocks - coming in hot with a newly-made fandom blog but active on AO3 for a number of months now with a mixture of angst and fluff, one-shots and long-form, and one truly hilarious and bizarrely heartwarming crack piece under her belt.

@all-thewaydown - someone else who’s nailing both the long- and short-form work on AO3! In particular I have to recommend her Zutara Fluff Exchange piece, ‘of rules and traditions’

@cablesscutie - a brilliant writer with truly fantastic comedic skill chops who literally never fails to impress me no matter what she writes (if you’re 18+ and okay with reading E-rated material, please check out her Katara Has a Cat series, you won’t regret it).

@theadamantdaughter - my first bookmark on AO3 was Adamant’s collab with @atomicpen, Perfect Places. I believe it’s been discontinued now, and Adamant is not currently active on AO3, but there is an absolute stack of ATLA fanfiction on her profile as it is. Even aside from writing, her tumblr account is full of Zutara content and it’s one of the things that fed me when I was first coming into the fandom last year, so I owe her a lot.

@my-bated-breath - not only is this seventeen-year-old writing well beyond her years, but she has so much incredible analysis and insight to give in her amazing ATLA/Zutara metas. 100% worth both reading and following.

@antarcticasx - another even younger person at sixteen (oh my god, just make me feel old, why don’t you), here we have a total writing machine whose AO3 is packed with Zutara content. Her blog is also super active so if ATLA/Zutara chat is what you’re looking for then look no further.

@doodleladi - a wonderful, wonderful artist who has tackled both in-universe and AU artworks alike (this is a particular favourite of mine). Another member of the @jdteahour crew along with Ride and @bulletproofteacup!

@amourinette - another beautiful artist who created one of my favourite ATLA artworks (steamy, so beware if you’re full of youth). Like seriously I have this picture bookmarked on my laptop ‘cause I love it so much.

@hayleynfoster - I mean, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tag her, but if you don’t know who she is and the incredible stuff that she produces then where have you been?? Get your butt over to her profile and educate yourself in the ways of Zutara art and animatics.

@iwritevictuuri - known as LittleLostStar on AO3, offers incredible characterisation and storytelling prowess, although beware that almost all her work for ATLA is either M- or E-rated!

Finally, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge someone whose writing pushes me to be better myself and never fails to amaze me. If you want exquisite description and insanely beautiful world-building/-expanding, your search begins and ends with @fictionissocialinquiry. My idol, my dream, my mad Aussie fandom-wife, this woman has so much talent it’s crazy and please just read her work (again, beware multiple mature-rated fics, check ratings before reading). She’s gonna be a best-selling author one day, so check her out now so you can say you liked her work before she was famous.

And that’s me done. Hope everyone has enjoyed this week, and thank you so much to @hinaoyamas/ @zkfanworkweek for putting it together!

Love to all!

[crusherthedoctor]

Out all the eggman boys he pilots for battle and what not like the egg dragoon or death egg robot, what are some of your favorites? And do you have any ideas you wish he would employ in the future?

It should be mentioned that, being the Eggman fanboy that I am, I love many of them, even the simplest or shittiest ones (ie: Egg Dealer), because the aesthetic of Eggman's style really appeals to me, and the way his machines can range from goofy to intimidating, or both simultaneously, can be seen as an extension of how versatile the doctor himself is.

Still, I do have my favourites. Most of them are the ones you'd expect, but here goes:

Well you gotta start with the classic, don't you? The first of Eggman's king-sized monuments to his own visage, and more than deserving of its iconic reputation.

This one's a fan favourite when it comes to his smaller scale Egg Mobile attachments, and it's easy to understand why. It's an undeniably brilliant design that doesn't have any obvious weaknesses for armchair intellectuals to point and go "Why does this video game boss have that? That's stupid, IQ of 300 my ass, I'm such a clever internet person, please give me all your praise".

The Death Egg Robot may be the one everyone knows, but the Great Eggman Robo is the one we all strive for. Both phases of the fight may be straightforward, but the scale of the behemoth cements the tense atmosphere, and it happens to be smack dab in the middle of arguably the greatest finale in a Sonic game, which is as wonderful as it is in part due to Eggman never, ever giving up.

A more unconventional choice here. There may not be much to these two fights in particular, but I just really like the general concept of Eggman taking ancient statues or other such structures, and weaponizing them. It's a nice spin on his usual motif of converting Mother Nature to his own preference, as well as defacing ancient histories and legacies for the sake of his own.

Both of Eggman's final mechs in SA1 are awesome. The Egg Viper is a really cool design and gave birth to a certain meme, and the Egg Walker marked the climax of one of Eggman's best moments and one of Tails' best moments.

Speaking of Egg Walkers, I like this one too. Yeah, it's no secret that I don't like how Eggman - the guy known for making all sorts of crazy crafts - is stuck in one tiny thing for a whole game's duration (even though I'm aware it's for gameplay's sake, but still), but on its own merits, the Walker itself is still cool in my book.

Putting them together because they're more or less the same mech. Nothing special here, I just think they're cool "modern" interpretations of the Death Egg Robot-style humanoid mech. And yes, I know Eggman technically didn't pilot the Egg Emperor in Heroes... but he did in Generations 3DS, so get it up yee.

Another one you knew was coming. Don't we all love the Egg Dragoon? So do Sonic Team, it seems. The Dragoon is one bad mothafucka, and the way Generations added to it by incoporating an Egg Viper tail and the Egg Wyvern's wings made it even more badass. Unleashed may not be one of my favourite games in the series, but I'm thankful that it gave me this winner right here.

These two don't really have much in common (aside from the colour blue), but I put them together because thanks for nothing, Tumblr image limits.

Anyway, I've always felt the Egg Wizard deserved more recognition. The design is interesting in itself and keeps to the nautical theming of Rush Adventure, but what REALLY makes it stand out is the way it uses the power of the Jeweled Scepter, and how we get to see some crazy magic that you don't often get from Eggman robots. Like giant dragon heads made of lava, for example. And the fight is plenty enjoyable too.

As for the Time Eater, it may not have gotten much if any story to its own nature, which is a shame, but at least we got a nice clockwork motif out of it, and the way it jitters gives the impression that it's trying desperately to fight back against Eggman's control, but can't. And speaking of, Eggman FINALLY controlling a monster successfully is worth celebrating... unless you forgot like Ian Flynn apparently did, since Worlds Collide claimed he lost control of it. Typical Flynnanigans, eh?

I'm absolutely in love with the idea of Eggman being crafty enough to store a second mech inside the first one in the event of the latter's defeat. It's the perfect way to cap off Eggman's consistent display of brilliance and foresight in Forces. The designs themselves are pretty sweet, with the first one taking cues from Alfred Molina Dr. Octopus, and the second one being an eerie mess of wires and tentacles, as if it were the "heart" of the first mech. And say what you want about the so-so execution of the fight itself, but the sound design that went into it is seriously overlooked.

Just a shame they're collectively known as just Death Egg Robot, seeing how they don't have anything in common with the actual Death Egg Robot. Neither of them are even fought aboard the Death Egg. They deserve a more unique name IMO, but ah well.

Other examples I really like but couldn't use images for because of Tumblr being Tumblr:

- The Final Zone/Egg Pistons from Sonic 1, cause even though it may be smaller scale than the Death Egg Robot, I like the unique scenario of the room itself being your opponent. The final bosses of Sonic 1 and 2 on Master System have a similar appeal.

- Brass Eggman from the 2013 Sonic 2, because weaponizing an organ of all things is perfect for a man of Eggman's pride and swagger.

- The Egg Totem from Advance 2. No special reason for this one, I just like the simple yet effective design.

- The Gachapandora from Mania, because it's a great way to pay tribute to some older Eggman contraptions, and it suits his manchild personality to a tee.

- The Phantom Egg from Mania (again), because even though it looks like a romper suit mixed with a Pokeball, I really dig the concept of Eggman using a suit of robo-armor to go mano a mano, which this boss comes close to doing, if not entirely.

- The Klepto Mobile from Mania (three time's the charm), because a literal rush job still being able to go toe-to-toe with Phantom King is both incredible and hilarious at the same time. Even Eggman's shittiest efforts are his best! Is there no limit to this man's brilliance???

- Metal Robotnik/Black Eggman/Brak Eggman/Bruh Eggman from the OVA and Sonic Robo Blast 2. I don't know what the doc was thinking when he decided to give a robot based on himself some dragon wings and a spiked mohawk, but I'm glad he went through with it. The final fight with Metal Sonic may be the one everyone talks about (understandably so, it's an awesome scene), but the battle with Bruh Eggman is great too.

- The Eggpod from the movie. As far as translating the doctor's style into live action goes, it's a worthy first attempt, and it's understandable that they didn't go for something bigger since they probably want to save that for the sequel, so as to organically raise the stakes (wink wink, nudge nudge). It also reminds me of the Egg Hornet from SA1. I don't know if that was intentional, but it's something I appreciate all the same.

[stellawella97]

Atelephobia: The Fear of Never Being Good Enough (Shane/Gender Neutral Farmer) - Chapter 1/3

Just posted 1/3 of my first Stardew Valley fanfic!

Read it below or over @ AO3

Summary:

Shane has got 99 problems but never did he think the entire world losing its colour would be one of them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It started off as just any other normal day in Shane’s life.

The chickens clucked noisily outside, the cows joining in their song occasionally with their loud chorus of moo’s. None of these sounds woke Shane up in the slightest - he heard them every day and he’d grown so accustomed to the noise, he figured he’d still be able to continue sleeping even if his bedroom floor caved in beneath his bed.

The slightly battered alarm clock sitting on Shane’s bedside table began its shrill ringing at 6:30am sharp. Shane tended to run by a strict ‘5 more minutes’ rule when it came to waking up in the morning however. Refusing to open his eyes till he absolutely had to, Shane managed to turn off the alarm clock by swatting aimlessly with his hand till it met with cold metal and the ringing stopped.

He tried to fall back asleep for those precious extra 5 minutes of peace before he had to leave for his soul-sucking job at JojaMart. However, memories of the night before began to flood back into his mind. Shane had been up in the mountains late at night, drinking again. He faintly remembered seeing the hermit (Linus, was it?) entering his tent, a plastic bag that was stuffed to the brim with what looked like half-eaten food grasped tightly in his hands.

Shane had drunk a couple cans of beer before he decided to enter the mines nearby. It had been dark and full of strange noises neither human nor animal could make but Shane had managed to make it down several floors with a pickaxe he’d found at the mine entrance in his drunken state. As to why he’d chosen to do this, Shane had no idea whatsoever.

He didn’t remember much else except for the sound of a creature speaking in a garbled ancient language, a warm tingling sensation that filled his entire body, and finally the sharp pain that shot through his head as he finally keeled over from the amount of alcohol in his system, smashing his head against the rocky terrain. Oddly enough, his head didn’t hurt at all this morning. Doctor Harvey must’ve patched him up real good this time. Or maybe Marnie had. Who’d even brought him back to the house?

Just as he was beginning to wonder if he was actually found with trousers on this time, Shane heard the sound of the front door slamming shut. Marnie must have gone out to feed the animals. Shane was just about to roll over onto his side to continue his reminiscing when it began to dawn on him that he’d probably been in bed for more than just 5 minutes.

Shane quickly sat up in bed and grabbed the alarm clock. It was now 7:10am! He couldn’t risk Morris docking his pay again this month - he had to get to JojaMart quick. He jumped out of bed and had just put his leg through a pair of jeans when he noticed that it’d turned from blue to gray. When had that happened? He remembered wearing this exact pair of jeans just two days ago and he certainly hadn’t ever bought gray ones before.

It was then that he realized - everything had turned gray from his walls, to the cushion placed in front of the television set, to the alarm clock, and even his own skin.

I’ve finally done it, haven’t I? I died in those fucking mines last night and now, I’m in some kind of Hell?

The thought ran through Shane’s mind as he spun around, inspecting everything in his room for any sign of colour. This was to no avail. Even his favourite pair of boxers was gray with slightly darker gray hearts dotting it. In a moment of pure desperation, Shane decided to pinch himself as hard as he could on his arm in an attempt to find out if he was in fact still alive. He was.

Rubbing the sore patch of skin on his arm, Shane decided that he didn’t have time to waste standing here and waiting to see if the world around him would get its colour back. If he was still alive, he needed to get to work pronto. He quickly pulled on his ratty, old JojaMart jacket that still did its job and ran out of the house, only just remembering to shut his bedroom door behind him because he just didn’t think he could deal with Marnie yelling at him again about the mess of empty beer cans and pizza boxes in there.

Shane ran through town, almost knocking over Abigail who had just left Pierre’s General Store with a flute in her hands. It worried him to no end that even her usually bright purple of her hair (She must dye it, right?) was now a dull gray, but Shane had no time to be stressing about that now. He’d just have to wait till during his break or after work.

Once he’d arrived at JojaMart, Shane immediately went to the employees office to clock in and change into the uniform. He took a moment to glance at his reflection in the mirror and sighed as he noted that the usually bright blue uniform was just as unflattering as always in a gray shade. He walked out onto the shop floor and began stocking the shelves, determined to just get through the day now.

However, he must’ve done something to offend Yoba because Shane’s shift did not go well at all. He’d first managed to trip over his own feet and crashed straight into the display of limited edition shrimp-flavoured Joja Cola that he’d been hard at work stacking up for over an hour. As Shane was stomping angrily back onto the shop floor with a bucket of soapy water and a mop in his hands, he’d then bumped into Pam who’d screamed in rage when she discovered her brand-new jumpsuit was now soaked. Even though he’d apologized profusely to Pam, Shane still had to sit through an hour and a half of Morris’s lectures as well as had his paycheck docked for the day to reimburse Pam for the damages.

Just as he thought his day couldn’t get any worse however, Shane was just about to clock out for his lunch break when Morris asked him to help Sam unload the delivery trucks that had just arrived with a new shipment of powdered butter, gluten pucks and Carbo Cones. This meant he had to endure almost an hour’s worth of listening to Sam go on and on about how awesome some indie band in Grampleton was - which on some days, was fine. Just not today, for Yoba’s sake. Instead of putting up a fuss however (Morris wouldn’t care anyway), Shane simply gritted his teeth and headed out to the back of JojaMart.

It wasn’t till 2pm that Shane finally managed to clock out for his break. He flopped down onto a seat at a small round metal table in the employee’s break room and stared at the silently humming vending machine in the corner of the room. The vending machine sold only JojaMart products, all of them disgusting and overly sweet - Shane had tried each one. At first, he wondered to himself ‘Wasn’t that vending machine blue before?” before it dawned on him for the second time that day that he hadn’t been able to see colours all day. As crazy as it sounded, he’d just been so distracted with work that he hadn’t had time to notice.

Shane leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, biting his lower lip in concentration. How had this happened? Had something happened to him in the mines? Maybe he should pay Doctor Harvey a visit after work, he would know what to do.

“Knock knock!,” a familiar voice suddenly came from the direction of the door. Shane, who had been staring blankly at a spot on the table, looked up to see who had managed to sneak into the break room in surprise but flinched almost immediately, bringing a hand up to shield his eyes from the sudden burst of colour amongst the gray. Once his eyes had adjusted, Shane saw that the voice belonged to the new farmer that had recently moved into the farm out of the town. They were now standing by the door, their hands clasped behind their back.

He must’ve been staring at the farmer for just a moment too long because they’d then asked “Shane? Are you okay? with an eyebrow raised questioningly. Shane cleared his throat and stood up from his chair, moving to stand in front of the vending machine. It was hard to tell what he was looking at when all the cans were the same gray colour, but he pretended to be deciding which drink he was going to buy to buy himself some time. His heart was beating so fast in his chest, Shane began to wonder if he was about to pass out.

Why’s the farmer the only one who’s in colour? Why of all people has it got to be them?!

Just as he thought of something smart to say, Shane heard the sound of the break room door opening again. He spun around to find the farmer already halfway out the door. However, the farmer noticed at the last moment that Shane had finally turned around and was now looking at them. They hesitated for a moment before saying with a shy smile tracing their lips “I’ve gotta go now but...I’ll be stopping by the Stardrop Saloon tomorrow night, I hope I’ll see you there there?”

“I-I’ll see you there!,” Shane blurted out, feeling his cheeks begin to heat up. The farmer flashed him a warm smile before shutting the door behind them. Shane fell back into his seat and buried his face in his hands, mentally screaming at himself for two main reasons. One, he had sounded way too excited at the prospect of seeing the farmer again. Two, had the farmer just subtly invited him on a date? And did he just...agree to it? What was going on today?!

Not once did he stop to wonder why the farmer hadn’t turned gray like everything else, himself included.

Shane managed to breeze through the second half of his shift at JojaMart without any further mishaps, and had made it all the way back home with his head high up in the clouds. He popped a frozen pizza he’d stolen from JojaMart’s freezers into the oven and entered his bedroom, kicking his shoes off at the door.

He was just wondering if people still brought their date flowers in these modern days when he noticed a small slip of paper that was being held in place beneath a small stone that was smooth to the touch. Written on the paper in a barely legible script were the words ‘Lost your ability to see colour, huh? If you want it back, meet me at the mines tonight at 11pm’.

Shane looked around his room and decided to check the windows. They were locked. Whoever had delivered this note must’ve come in from the front door but Marnie who had been home all day would have said something to him if someone had come looking for him. She hadn’t though, so they must have snuck in without her seeing. Now he knew how they got in, there was still one question left unanswered:

Who sent me this note?

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Author Notes:

Part 2 will be up sometime later this week so stay tuned for that.

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