#moreso now that. rex is.

[perdidit-vulpes]

lays on the floor. stares up at the ceiling.

[robotsandramblings]

i agree Echo should get the handprint back on his armor

but what if... what if.........hear me out?...........

he doesn't get Rex's handprint, but Omega's

whaddya think TBB fam? 😏👉👈 (explanation in my tags)

[neopuff]

i just discovered that youtube took this video down. its from 2011 or 2012 and its stupid as hell but it still makes me laugh so now yall have to endure

[fallout-mountains]

Thoughts on Fallout 4 companions after playing the game for a bit and reading a whole lot of headcanons and fanfic and reactions:

- Hancock said he didn’t want to look at this face in the mirror and decides to do a drug instead of surgery. That’s some real self-hate there.

- There’s so much self-flagellation

- One the same note, ghouls can’t go under surgery?

- Someone mentioned that quests for the minuteman could have been handed out by the Freedom radio, instead of Preston, so that more backstory could be given to Preston.

- Nick and Deacon we’re probably thought to be too old and they didn’t want it to be creepy of hooking up with an older guy…(sigh)

- That it’s easy to write Sole to be compatible with everyone, since the game allows you to role play that character in many ways.

- MacCready’s backstory is both endearing and weird (because of him not going to see his son). I think the people who made the game didn’t want to bother with coding him leaving for a bit and then coming back, but… really? Should have changed the background story a bit to at least add that he needs to stay in case the medication didn’t work (or something like that)

- Deacon since he changes his face and has seemingly traveled could be in another Fallout game, any of them…

- Since Deacon changes his appearance, you get more attached to his voice. (He also has some very interesting things to say.)

- That when Deacon changes his face, Dezdemona is there the whole to verify it’s still him.

- Nick rolls with the punches, and has a very good emotional IQ, moreso than any of the other companions. He’s so even keel emotionally, that the Far harbor expansion hits a bit harder, because that’s where you see more of His emotion.

- Piper would be the best to adapt to our world

- Majority of the ways people can become your companions is weird why they even offer. (Like why would Hancock travel with Sole and not another person who wasn’t part of quest to raid their warehouse? Doesn’t Piper have other stories to investigate? Doesn’t Deacon have missions to do? Why isn’t Strong following Rex Goodman around? Nick has plenty of other cases to just run around randomly)

- Paladin Danse says that he wasn’t sure about Sole but also highly recommends you join the Brotherhood. So which is it? Also, I only did like one big quest for them and I am given a power armor.

- Is the reason they complain about picking up stuff is that eventually they have to carry some of it?

- Ada is a good companion, but doesn’t offer a perk, hence the reason probably not talked about a lot because no reason to travel with her

- I don’t know why the institute is doing what they are doing

- I really wish they could mark the clothes that can go under a person’s armor.

- Why are people wearing scarves? Is it cold there because it never seems to snow.

- I find it interesting that the companions all generally know each other or at least the have swapping dialogs that make it seem that way. (Curie has literally been locked away for 200 years.)

- They have veritbirds but no land vehicles. There’s supposedly caravans, but no wagons? Would it be too dangerous to have that?

I probably have more, but that’s for now

[disgruntledexplainer]

Invincible and saving people

something to really appreciate about Invincible is that it really brought back something that is missing from a lot of the superhero media out there right now. being a superhero isn’t just about “beating the bad guy”. it’s about saving people.

pretty much every time Mark is on screen as Invincible, he’s trying to save people. the show is an endless cascade of collateral damage, but rather than pretend the damage doesn’t exist it focuses in on it and shows the heroes doing their best to save the people they can. so much attention is spent showing how each hero approaches saving people, it can only be intentional. they even lampshade it with black samson lecturing rex-splode about how badly he and the rest of the team fumbled the saving people part of a mission that occurred OFF SCREEN. the last battle pretty much consists entirely of Invincible desperately trying and failing to save people.

this isn’t unique to Invincible, but it certainly feels unique due to the effort put into it. it feels like a call-back to shows from 1990 to 2015, like batman the animated series and generator rex, were the heroes actually seemed to care about the people they were protecting, and would take time out of the episode to show them actively saving people. but somehow even MORESO than those.

what I’m trying to say here is I think the writers of Invincible had a point they were trying to make, a commentary about modern superhero media, and I think they did a good job presenting it.

[udretlnea]

The Exciting Chronicles of The Shapeshifter & The Eccentric Gentleman

I / II (You're here) / III / IV / V

As a child, you would wait And watch from far away But you always knew that you'd be the one That work while they all play

In youth, you'd lay Awake at night and scheme Of all the things that you would change But it was just a dream

(Warriors, Imagine Dragons)

Words: 2.2k

Weeks would pass since that day. The shapeshifter, who would later be named Mercy, was trained rigorously to utilize their powers constructively; simultaneously, their abilities would grow stronger with some exercises from Numbers Four, Five, and Seven. 

Mercy would quit trying to romance Number One. Reading his mind after assuming his form the second time made them realize he didn’t desire romance in general. As someone who became him, naturally Mercy would understand and respect his reasons.

After a month and a half of routine, Mercy became skilled and powerful enough to not only shapeshift into beings of unfathomable power, but also act as them too. To a normal person, they wouldn’t be able to tell the real from fake. Ordinarily, this would take at least a year, but thanks to their intervention it accelerated.

Now, Mercy found themselves sitting in a dark room in front of a screen; Number One finished setting up the projector, turned it on and manifested a pointer stick.

One pointed at an image of a red X. “So here’s the situation.”

Mercy nodded. One clicked and the image changed to a colored sketch for a hulking, green figure. It had a horned skull for a head and three eyes with yellow glowing pupils. Its ‘cloak’ was made out of grass, decorated with various flowers they couldn’t be bothered to try to name. The number next to it told them it was 9 feet tall. Compared to it, they were a measly 5 foot 5 inches.

One poked the screen at it. “I need to get an audience with them.”

Mercy vaguely felt their jaw drop. This…this creature-no, entity was surreal; it looked like it leapt out of someone’s amazing imagination and uprooted an entire garden for its cloak. No, cape…? In any case it looked fantastical. Mercy found it pleasant to look at.

(Art from this fic by the_moon_archives on ao3)

“This is Creator #AQ-120, but refer to them as Eldritch for simplicity. Eldy for short.” One retracted the pointer stick and chucked it behind him. “They’ve been at the ‘game’ for long enough that they know enough about the big picture that their knowledge is critical to my objective.”

Mercy raised their hand. “And what is the big picture?”

One grinned. “I’m glad you asked.”

The slide changed to show the words “SAGAU PHENOMENON” in bold black letters. General questions asking about it were scattered throughout. One pointed to the title. “Finding out what is causing this-this anomaly and putting a stop to it once and for all! I’m confident Eldy already knows what’s happening and I suspect something or other is preventing them from acting on it. So I thought I’d gently ask to take the reins from them.”

One summoned the pointer stick back in his hand. “The problem is Eldy is heavily guarded by cultists and priests. Especially this one lunatic: Rex Lapis. He’s not only a highly dedicated and religious god, but also the oldest and most experienced.”

The slide changed to show a tall, handsome man in white robes and a hood; despite that, two branch-like horns tipped with amber hues poked out of it. His face was immaculately sculpted with a nice jawbone and his captivating eyes with amber irises. He looked like a combination of a dragon and a human, the latter moreso.

Mercy stared into those hypnotic eyes. It was almost a crime how handsome he looked. Fortunately, One changed slides and tapped on an image of an elaborate temple. “This is where Eldy is living, or rather staying. The Temple of the Omnipotent Emperor is usually highly guarded 24/7. Only acolytes are allowed to enter, and the place is crawling with guards.” 

Number One sighed. “It would be ideal if we could simply schedule a meeting face-to-face with them, but to them we’ll be perceived as complete strangers with no social standing or power. Furthermore, their guest log is practically full all the time. Scheduling anything with them is an impossibility; we’ll be put on the waitlist if we even try. 

And then One smiled like a devious tactician who already thought of contingencies for their master plan. “Which is why we have to resort to more clever methods to set up a meeting. I present to you: Operation: Masked Fools. You’re the mask and I’m the fool, just to clarify.”

Mercy arched an eyebrow. “What an interesting thing to call it.”

“I know! Sometimes my naming sense is genius,” One laughed lightly. Mercy rolled their eyes with an easy smile. “It’ll be simple. We’ll be pulling a Spiderman: into the spiderverse nigh-end scene; in other words we’ll disguise ourselves as one of the acolytes, avoid unnecessary characters, acquire an audience in private, and leave before anyone notices.”

“You’re missing an awful lot of details. Like, what happens if we run into someone like Rex anyway? Or-or what if Eldy isn’t even there in the first place?” asked Mercy.

“Then we hide our presence, or act natural! And if Eldy isn’t there then we ask around, get our answer, and then teleport to them!” One said without missing a beat.

Mercy frowned. They still weren’t satisfied. “What happens if there’s like, an object that cancels my ability to shapeshift?”

“Then you hide while I find it and shut it down.”

“Well, what if Eldy calls us out while we’re disguised?”

“I…teleport us into a private room, put on my charm, and reassure them we mean no harm!”

“Right, like you have charm in the first place,” snarked Mercy.

One put a hand on his chest and spoke in mock hurt. “How dare you! I’m practically oozing with charm, thank you very much!”

“Ha! Liar! I’ve been in your mind. Would you like me to recount the first time you tried to flirt with a woman?” Mercy cheekily said.

One puffed out his cheeks. He didn’t dare say anything to dignify that statement. Mercy smirked with the energy of a cat that had found the bag of cat food all by itself.

“Let’s just move on,” One said, slightly disgruntled. The slide showed what looked like a throne room. “This is where Eldy is during the day. Normally, there’s a translator by their side to translate what Eldy says; they speak in a different language apparently, but it would be better if we were alone.”

“You’re saying…you know how to speak their language.”

“Yes. Next, we need to make sure that nobody interrupts us. To accomplish that, I’ll set up a mid-level perception filter around the room so that nobody will even think of entering. Think of it as a censor for the mind, one that reassures it that everything is ordinary,” explained One. 

He tapped his forehead with the stick. “Finally, after I get the answers I need, we teleport out, get back home, and review what we learned. Okay! Briefing over.”

One clapped twice and the lights turned on; the projector turned off as well. One stretched his arms. “I suggest you get a nap and catch some sleep while you can, Mercy. We’ll be deploying early in a couple days.”

“Understood.”

///

That night, Mercy laid in bed awake. They stared up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. Memories of today’s briefing stuck with them like a fly caught in a tape trap. It just refused to settle down. They tossed and turned yet nothing seemed to help. Not even counting sheep.

Ugh. Fine. With a defeated groan, they got up and out of their room but not before grabbing a white and black hoodie. Mercy quietly crept down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the door. They shut it silently, then examined the nightly scene before them.

Before them was a place that was still in its early stages; when Noraa (Number Four’s name, given after earning his trust) offered to shelter them, they accepted with a promise to assist him however they could. Thus, they’d move and attach bricks, turn boulders into rubble, and generally clear the way. A dozen buildings, including a moderately sized castle, served as the homes for those who lived here. 

This was the Kingdom of Delusion and while Noraa could call it home, Mercy…had a ways to go until they felt settled.

With that in mind, they started trekking along the beaten path. Hopefully all of this excess energy will just go away as I walk…

It would have to be a short walk as they didn’t want to stay up too long. A glance upwards showed the moon nearing its peak in the sky. That and the stars shining above made for a rather beautiful sight. Their chest felt light like a balloon as they let their feet guide them towards a circular clearing in the middle.

This was the site for the future town square. Although only hollow shells for buildings were here, at the very least there was a simple fountain. Mercy sat on the smoothened stone. They looked down at the water below. It was as clear as a mirror.

The shapeshifter (Mercy took to calling themselves that after hearing it countless times from them all) examined their appearance. After several days of experimenting with it, they were satisfied with their current form: A round head with a flat chin, light gray medium hair with bangs short enough that a pair of heterochromatic eyes peeked out; the right was orange and the other was blue. 

They had a build that was well-built yet had the right amount of fat (plump was what Number Six described it). Thanks to their head shape they looked androgynous. Overall it felt pleasing to look at.

Mercy shivered. They rubbed their hands to try to warm themselves-

-only to have a coat get wrapped around their shoulders.

Startled, they swiftly turned around to discover a tall young man with short, jade green hair, slightly tanned skin, and light green eyes in his nightwear. He wore a neutral expression as he opened his mouth. “Couldn’t sleep?”

Mercy withdrew into the coat. “...No.”

“Mm,” was all he said. He opened his right hand and a metallic staff manifested. Noraa casually pointed the tip to his left palm and a dotted white beam fired. A cup of milk appeared in his grasp. “Warm milk?”

Mercy stared at it briefly what the f- before moving to take it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” replied Noraa. He made himself another one and sat down right next to them. 

The duo silently drank their cups of warm milk. They savored its warmth and taste as much as they could. Once finished, Noraa took both empty cups and made them disappear via staff. Mercy found themself staring at it. 

It looked ordinary enough with a long jade green handle, but near the tip was where it started looking interesting. Inserted into a slot was an orange cube with a diamond gray panel that had five glowing square lights; the cube was big enough like a decently sized watermelon. There was a small barrel at the top where the beam came out of “Where’d you get that?”

The edges of Noraa’s lips pulled up. “Mm. Built it myself. I was inspired after I saw someone else’s.”

“I see. So you basically wanted a cool magic staff.”

Noraa nodded. “Don’t we all, at some point, want to pick up a stick and pretend to cast spells with it?”

“I guess. It sounds fun.”

“It is…” Noraa agreed. They both looked up at the starry sky. Neither said a word for what felt like hours. Mercy felt as calm and clear as a tranquil pond of water completely untouched, unsoiled. It was a nice moment, one they'd treasure.

They inhaled, savoring the pureness of the air when Noraa said something that caught her off guard.

“Mercy,” he licked his dry lips. “If you don’t mind me asking, what will you do after this?”

Blank. That was their mind. Nothing came up immediately so they said that. Mercy looked at Noraa who was still looking up. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just…I thought I’d bother asking since we know this is a one-time thing. This operation will benefit us, but I realize that it doesn’t benefit you at all. I mean, at least in the long run,” he explained. He looked at them with a face that screamed ‘worry’. It was something he did often; it was how he showed he cared. Mercy teased him by calling him dad. That made him stop doing it, at least for a while.

But back to the topic at hand. “I’m content with helping One at the moment. Once I fulfilled my end of the deal, I figured I’d just go out there and find myself. Do it the tried and true way.”

Noraa tilted his head as he processed that. “Yeah…okay. Valid.”

He covered a yawn. “Well, I’m gonna tell ya this right now: If you ever feel yourself in need of a safe space whenever your journey starts to wear ya down, my door’s always open.”

Mercy blinked. “That’s…actually very sweet of you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Noraa clicked his tongue. He stood up and stretched. “Mm, on that pleasant note, I think I’m gonna hit the hay. The milk’s kicking in. Want a lift?”

“Sure.” Mercy hopped off their seat. Noraa put a hand on their shoulder. Thanks to his staff, they disappeared and reappeared inside his house. As Mercy climbed the stairs they called out one final time. “Good night, grass head.”

“Good night to you too, dingus.”

“Snake eyes.”

“Vegetable.”

“That one didn’t make sense.”

“Good night.” Noraa marched off to bed.

Mercy chuckled quietly before doing the same.

///////////

A/N: @idkfitememate

This is mostly a set-up chapter plus some filler. A part of me thought it was a good idea to give a glimpse into Mercy’s bonds with two of the people who helped them adjust to life outside the mirror; after a month and a half of hands-on training it’s only logical for one to forge such a tight-knit bond.

I hope you enjoyed that slice-of-life bit because next is the exciting part. And I have enough action sequences stockpiled to draw upon. ;)

I've been wanting to write more on SAGAU somehow. This was my plan. The SAGAU Phenomenon is an ongoing anomaly where "countless human souls are prevented from passing peacefully; they are instead reincarnated or transported into Teyvat, totally unprepared for any trials. Depending on what kind of universe they're in, they will either thrive or perish." This is an original thing I came up with.

I wanted to make Mercy have an androgynous appearance since they can literally become anyone, any gender, etc. It makes sense from a design standpoint. As the first character I’ve ever written to hold that status, it felt easier since I had sources to draw upon (looking at you Pidge Voltron & Double Trouble She-ra). For their name, I spun a wheel with four choices: Halcyon, Mercy, Mica, and Blake. No guesses as to which one won.

Reblogs, questions, comments, and critiques are welcome (don’t be shy y’all!)

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I don’t currently own a cat but in the future it’s a goal of mine. Despite not having one right now, I still try to prepare myself for being a parent sometimes by reading about cat care and such lol. Anyways, I know there are some cats that will chew on or even eat things that are definitely not food and I’m so worried my future cat will have this problem since it would likely be one of the more “dog like” breeds that exhibit strange behaviors. I’ve read about Devon Rexes eating weird shit they shouldn’t… the point is, got any advice on how to train them not to do that stuff from a young age? I want to make sure for their safety they won’t do that (ykno even tho the cat is hypothetical atm) Thanks!

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or whatever the real saying is.

Basically: if you're worried about them chewing on things, set up your space proactively so they can't chew on things that are major health hazards. Remove any toxic plants from the house entirely, secure electrical cords where they can't be reached or put them inside of something that can't be bitten through.

After you've done as much prevention as you can, you really basically just have to work with the cat in front of you. Notice that they like chewing on things? Give them plenty of appropriate options in the form of toys or other enrichment, and make the specific thing you don't want them to chew available.

Kittens, moreso than adults, are going to investigate things with their mouths. And the biggest thing with babies is to not let them practice behaviors you don't want them to do is adults. So if you're getting littles (since you said from a young age), monitor them closely, remove inappropriate items before they can even learn they're fun to chew, and provide appropriate things to gnaw on if they seem to want to chew things. One good thing you can do with a new cat, if you're worried, is keep them confined to one safe room while you learn their behavior, and then allow them more access to the house once you know them better.

There are deterrent sprays like bitter apple that you can put on stuff they're trying to chew, but that should really be something you only try after everything else. If you have to resort to deterrent sprays, you're in a situation where you have to be hyper-vigilant to make sure it's on everything, and there's a lot of room for error (and some animals don't care!).

But here's the thing: at the end of the day, you have to work with the cat in front of you. You can discourage certain actions, but for something self-reinforcing like chewing, you're not necessarily going to be able to train any animal completely out of the behavior. It's natural for them! So I'd suggest maybe reframing the question as "how do I plan to manage this behavior if/when it occurs" not "how do I prevent this from ever happening."

[xanderomeister]

@nnicknnelsonn here with a request: Have you ever tried turning your favorite characters into dinosaur or dragon caricatures? I saw your Q about @narlieweek and now all I can think about is

What kind of dinosaurs would Nick and Charlie be?

And Elle. And Tau. And and and.

Oh my god. Brainsploding.

(Obviously Harry would be the 🦖 )

Possibly too long of a reply:

I actually gave a crack at this with Heartstopper already, though I am considering major tweaks. I've settled on a few though.

Tao is Quetzalcoatlus. Not a dinosaur by technicality, but closely associated.

(I'm likely to repeat the slap-on hairstyles to varying degrees because I think it can look funny)

The larger and smaller species of Quetzalcoatlus also fit the eldritch height shift I heard about...

Yes, Quetzalcoatlus northropi is indeed one of the largest flying animals to exist. It's tied with various close relatives in wingspan, though Hatzegopteryx is heavier.

Either way, it's kinda silly, but it works. And this is the largest flying animal of all time we're talking about, that's a cool claim to have.

Onto Tyrannosaurus rex. Harry is not T. rex, Isaac is. Why? Prehistoric Planet. The T. rex in some scenes really captures his vibe, I feel.

(I strongly suggest watching Prehistoric Planet btw)

Big, calm and approachable are the main things that come to mind here. Maybe a bit quiet, too, though not unfriendly.

To complete the circle, going with other well-known dinosaurs would be a good idea. I think Deinonychus is fitting for Charlie. I am considering Spinosaurus for Elle. I'm not sure if it has too strong of a metaphorical angle though.

Nick is... probably a largeish UK theropod. Neovenator is a present top pick. I'm thinking of these more typical dinosaurs as a contrast to the more unusual/derived ones.

I am unsure about what Tara and Darcy would be. I thought of Iguanodon or Cetiosaurus for Imogen, but these are moreso suggestions. Many of the other characters I am completely clueless on.

Onto Harry: I think Altispinax suits him because its named from a small chunk of its spine. It's like his personality (near nonexistent).

Final words on design: Dinosaurs in general are an odd bunch, mostly due general unfamiliarity. Many are simply weird to look at, but I think it has to be embraced. Their differentness is a major part of their appeal.

Because of this I find find nailing the right degree of anthropomorphism a little difficuly. Dinosaurs can have pretty distinct sillhouettes and various details which I do want to keep, but this also makes interactions with items, esp. clothing, clunkier. This is stuff I am likely to tweak about with.

[dream-bandit]

THANK YOU GUYS . Cringe culture is so dead but the demons get to me sometimes i get scared 😢

OKAY. Warrior cats au Anyone h ave name suggestions bc since it alters from WCs world building a bit i dont know if i should use the name. I am breaking so many wc rules here and idc

Okay so here, each clan is a lot bigger than the ones in the books. Like a whole city population with a lot of forest ground.

Mr oz (dont have a name for him) Is a warrior whos been around for a good while. He mentored both hannah, a somali cat (NAME REC PLEASE) and beau, Nightpaw but maybe his warrior name becomes Nightcatcher, maybe also a black Cornish Rex? hed also have blue eyes and hannah would have yellow.

Lunia was a sort of leader-medicine cat thing, new role i came up with , being really connected with starclan or stuff. dreamclan.? Not the exact leader, Abraham is, but is kinda moreso the spiritual leader and despite not fighting TOO MUCH everyone holds her in high respect across all clans

Migo wasnt an apprentince really but just a helper for her, maybe she can be a little mouse or something that lunia conjured/tamed with magic (yes magic will exist here because Im not restricting myself to wc rules IM BEING SILLY AND HAVING FUN) But because of her duties she didnt have time to hang out like they used to before lunia got into her role. Migo wants to remove her magic so she can just stay with her forever as a normal medicine cat and not have to go out and risk her single life in the most dangerous battles. Because she has magic shes really strong but also it makes her a huge target for cats against the clans, if she dies then it could risk the entire multiple clans relationship since they no longer have a common leader

Migos attempt at stealing her magic kindaa work out bc she has really fucked up magic powers now that require sacrifices to work or something❤️, perhaps all the power is in a special item... like maybe a bone/tooth from lunia on a collar , but in their final battle Lunia seals her SOMEWHERE and she disappears in the process. Lunia wanted to forgive Migo and go back so she never told anyone that the Nightmare king and her were the same person, she only said that something captured the little mouse.

So the Nightmare King is a sort of rodent/canine/monster thing trapped somewhere in the dark forest or something (idk i never read the arcs that focus on the dark forest and i dont plan to!this is my au i get to make my own logic no one correct me okay !!)

The loss of Lunia hit mr ozs team hard (hannah and beau were already warriors by this point) and they go try to destory a remnant of the nightmare kings weapon or something (since lunias tooth would be the hourglass equivalent. mr oz has it hidden somewhere because he doesnt trust the clans leader with it) Oh also mr oz turned down an offer to be deputy of all the clans .

Um more world building. because im coming up with stuff as i write this post. Theres like a main head leader for all the clans(branches) which is Royce, its just the deputy-leader system but it applies to all clans instead of just one.i guess

ALSO !! Astrid is Royces apprentince, its rare for the main leader to be a mentor so it means royce sees a lot of potential in her. i think she built her own little wheel thing to get around easier because she still wants to be a warrior cat / be able to participate in battles. Royce sees her as 'the next Lunia' and astrid isnt totalllyyyy on board with that but still she doesnt want to miss the chance to prove herself

OH ALSO ! Hannah lore.. I think she was a barn cat before Nightpawfound her one day when he was sneaking out of camp. They both hit it off and become really good friends and nightpaw wants to invite her to the clan and hannah agrees because she wants to be with him and it seems cool to her. Nightpaw confesses to oz about meeting her and while hes mad, he agrees to mentor her because no one else wants to mentor a random barn cat

Okay so then after nightcatcher and the others go to the gnorfs to try and destroy the nightmare kings weapon (the gnorfs can be beavers....) Nightcatcher gets a bit corrupted and over time it corrupts him fullly, it. makes him bitter and hateful. He tries to stay through it but a bit after hannah getes pregnant he leaves her and then the entire clans in general, he becomes a rouge and he wanders into the dark forest because he feels the nightmare king calling him from there. mr oz is really upset with it and checks in constantly with hannah to make sure shes doing alright and to be able to comfort each other.. Mr oz never had a mate so he saw them both as his own children kind of

one day hannah just cant take it anymore and she goes out by herself to try and find nightcatcher and they eventually come across eachother but she sees how he got corrupted and he fights her to go back, but doesnt touch her physically because he doesnt want to hurt her he just wants her to get away from him and the path he chose

hannah runs off but before going back to the clan area she gets found by some humans and they take her in and care for her. Shes kinda trapped there now but she tries to make the most of it there

She gives birth to zoey and theyre really close but then hannah dies due to illness around the time zoey is old enough to be an apprentince. Hannah never told her about the clans and all that but occasionally some warrior cats came to the farm theyre on to nab some herbs and stuff so theyve encountered them.

then one day the night hunter comes to where her and her owners are and maybe he attacks them or something, taking quite a bit of the livestock there. MAYBE Hm.. Okay so then zoey tries fighting him off and it doesnt go to well for the night hunter because he realizes thats his child and he doesnt want to hurt her and then he merges with the shadows and leaves quickly when the humans come running out. NOW EITHER zoey is upset that he killed a lot of the livestock and just wants to go out and do something else so she becomes a rouge before getting adopted into a clan, OR orrr her owners see the claw marks on the livestock and the blood on zoey and assume shes the one who attacked them and that shes too feral and agressive to be a pet for them so they throw her out </3 Forcing her to have to go out and hunt for herself. Eventually she saves the main kids while theyre. just barely apprentice age becase they snuck out to save cooper from something and since they were still kits they coudlnt defend themselves all too well so zoey saves them yahhh OKAY. Thats enough for this post i think/ OH BUT ALSO YEAh zoey wants revenge on the night hunter for taking away the only sembelance of family she had left yipeeee

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Brothers of the Broken Horn”

Hooooooondoooooooooooooo! :D

When we open we see that Phoenix Cell has temporarily taken to port at Garel.

Which is looking as lovely as ever.

We pan down with a pleasant musical cue to see that Rex has set Ezra up with some blaster training, enlisting Chopper as a moving target.

Ezra’s already clearly frustrated and grows moreso when Kanan shows up and tells him he’s missing a Jedi training session.  His discouraged, “What if I don’t want to be either [a soldier or a Jedi]?” surprises Rex but alarms Kanan, who knows how desperately Ezra wants to be a Jedi in normal circumstances.

Neither man can figure out the reason why Ezra’s upset though (really guys? y’all be dense), and they’re interrupted by Sabine calling them in for a briefing.

The mission is honestly a little bit incidental to the plot, only really there to establish the MacGuffin that people will be wrestling over trying to possess this episode.  Ezra doesn’t get to participate as now Hera is on him also, to scrub the Phantom.

So many “teenager whines about chores to parents” vibes in this scene, especially when Hera chides Chopper for laughing about it and makes him help too lol.

Ezra is understandably feeling overwhelmed by the myriad pressures that are colliding over him right now, complaining to Chopper about it.  Kanan and Rex are pulling him in opposite directions and fighting with each other over it every step of the way, and this has made him discouraged, unsure of his path forward, and missing the simplicity of his life before the Ghost, as rough as it was.

So of course he jumps at the opportunity to distract himself from everything when Chopper picks up a distress signal from Vizago’s ship.

Borrowing Mom’s van to make a wellness check on your old criminal fencing friends lol.

Yes, this is super irresponsible and dangerous but also Ezra really needed this little day trip to clear his head and remind himself how much he’s changed from the kind of person who would’ve jumped at Hondo’s offer.

So this episode is mostly character building/character renewal for Ezra and also a Friendship Fetch Quest that nets us Hondo Ohnaka.  After Rex, he’s one of the most important allies we gain this season.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.  Back to Ezra doing things that absolutely got him grounded after this episode. XD

(Lol at Ezra’s defensive little, “I know how to fly.” towards Chopper, immediately belied by him scraping the Phantom on its hooks.)

Garel be pretty, what can I say?

Hilarious that the ship got stuck in Garel airspace, I have to assume Hondo and Vizago met with their, ah, “disagreement” literally almost as soon as they took off lolol.

Fyrnock cue coming back here, I guess we’re using it as shorthand for uncertain perilous situations now.

The similarities to the previous episode in the creepy seemingly abandoned nature of the ship I’m going to assume were deliberate in order to catch us off guard when it was all subverted and Hondo was introduced, instead of some horrible danger.

And yeah, Hondo is a bit “defanged” from his Clone Wars incarnation but I think it kinda fits, you know, the all-consuming overwhelming evil of the Empire is such that mundane run-of-the-mill pirates and criminal overlords are simply just not as frightening or dangerous anymore.  The Empire ruins everything, even the lives of outliers who used to just fly under the radar.

Ezra keeps darting glances at Hondo’s arm around his shoulder like he’s not entirely comfortable with it being there, lol.

I mentioned that Ezra’s mechanical skills sort of fall by the wayside as he grows into his role as Jedi so it’s nice that he gets to use them here.

“This was such a bad idea, Hera’s going to kill me when if I get back.”

Ah man, Ezra continues to have just such a look of regretting all of the decisions that led him to this point, poor bby.

He slips pretty naturally back into his street orphan trickster/swindler/pickpocket persona though, smoothly bargaining with Hondo to distract from his swiping the sentry droid control.

Frynock cue transmuted to strings instead of brass as we descend.

Nice to see a moon that looks like an actual moon.  This is a pretty unique location and I’m glad we get to visit it again later in the season.

Ezra planning ahead for trouble because he remembers how this kind of thing can easily go down, kind of a subtle hint at how familiar he is with the workings of the criminal underground.

And it’s a good thing he did because it’s Azmorigan that we’re meeting.  Love Ezra’s immediate look of, “Ah hell.” and hiding his face.

“I don’t deal with washed-up old relics!” “Come now, let’s leave your wife out of this.” PFFFKJHGKH HONDO PLZ.

This brief comedic exchange actually kind of gives some insight into Hondo’s changed circumstances.  The current criminal overlords consider him outdated, washed up, from a bygone era, an old fool desperately clinging to relevance.  It fits because Hondo is a bit of a classic romantic at heart, fond of what we would call “swashbuckling adventure”.  It’s the reason he loves the Jedi and thinks back on them wistfully and nostalgically, they represent the kind of dramatic tales and bold feats of a golden era full of opportunity for reward and glory.  But there’s no more room for that kind of frivolous excitement under the iron oppressive hand of the Empire, you adapt or you die out, and Hondo refuses to do either.

...Right, now that I’ve given myself feels over a comedic side character let’s move on.

The light woodwind ditties in the soundtrack belie the actual tension of this scene, especially when Ezra has his helmet pulled off.  (The cadet helmet he had Sabine paint for him, which he keeps retreating into when he feels unsafe in this episode, the biased shipper in me would like to point out.)

You can practically hear the string of curses inside his head as he tries to hide his face here.

No dice, Azmorigan recognizes him, cue Big Damn Heroes moment from the orange tin can murderhobo himself and a decent little action setpiece.  What I’m most impressed with/interested in in this sequence is Ezra himself, how he moves with such skill and finesse.

Also catch me crying remembering when he was tiny enough to hop over his own bound hands like a jumprope.  I don’t think that trick would work as well post growth spurt.

An impulsive and genuinely selfless move from Hondo as he pushes Ezra out of the way of the cargo ladder Azmorigan sent rolling at him.  And this is before he knows Ezra’s a Jedi so Hondo really basically just took one look at this kid and decided he’d die for him.  Which, you know, valid.

This droid is a menace lol.

Ezra takes a risk by using his Force abilities.  Fortunately Azmorigan is too busy fleeing for his life from Chopper to see, and Hondo loves Jedi.  (See again: classic romanticist at heart.)

“You must have many responsibilities.”  “Yeah.  Too many at the moment.”

This kid. :((((  He’s under such pressure.

Ezra’s little “Wait a minute.” side look here lol.

And he continues not to enjoy Hondo’s affection ha ha.

It’s cute but also my brain is wandering to the fridge on this one because:

A) Ezra is now comfortable with all the casual touches and gestures of physical affection from the Ghost crew, which mirrors how he’s found a new home with them and no longer belongs in Hondo’s world.

And B) given the events of last episode it’s not surprising Ezra is a bit touchy about weird strangers violating his personal boundaries.

“Maybe I would make a pretty good pirate.  Inquisitors don’t hunt them do they?”  Honey you are Force Sensitive and already on their radar, hanging out with Hondo would only hide you for so long.

(Yet another thing that’s apparently been on his mind and adding to his anxieties.  In light of that his initial refusal to help Vizago makes more sense, the kid has so much on his plate already and just does not want to deal with anything else.)

Lol Ezra talking to Vizago like Vizago’s a problem child he’s babysitting.

Right, this whole scene right here is why I don’t do stories with casts of morally gray protagonists, the constant backstabbing and side-switching are exhausting.

Look, even Ezra’s exhausted.  Poor kid needs a nap he looks so tired.

Fortunately for Ezra, Chopper has his back, having put the Phantom on autopilot beforehand.  So he winds up not losing the Phantom (this time) and actually accomplishing the mission without really trying.

I do wanna see that missing scene where the Phantom returns to the Ghost and Hera’s all ready to let Ezra have it and then this weird Weequay pops out lolol.

They look so proud, like, “Awww that’s our little gremlin child.”

Aaaaand this little heartwarming look from Hondo is getting to me a bit this time around.

He’s so fond of Ezra ajkhaksfjfh.

Hera’s taking the whole “running off with the Phantom instead of doing his chores” thing remarkably well all things considered.  I guess it helps that he lucked into finding some generators.

There is no reason for this shot to be this pretty this is just a hanger.

*sobbing forever about how Hondo functions as narrative foil for how Ezra could have turned out if not for his Found Family and how that’s acknowledged in-text*

SEE PREVIOUS OBSERVATION ABOUT HOW EZRA IS USED TO AND COMFORTABLE WITH CASUAL AFFECTIONATE TOUCHING FROM HIS FAMILY.

I caught a lot of unexpected feels rewatching this episode, I’ve always liked it for being a fun Ezra-focused episode but I’m seeing just how it fits neatly into his character journey.  Things got hairy last episode, the stressors and pressure points (Rex and Kanan’s bickering) continue to increase and he got understandably overwhelmed.

The growing pains in his self-identity, questioning whether or not he even wants to be a Jedi at this point, just to get granted a glimpse of what his life might have looked like if he had continued on that self-serving path and realizing how much he’s changed... aaaaaaah I love it!

Another successful Friendship Fetch Quest accomplished.

[thejediandthemandalorian]

WIP WEDNESDAY!!!!

I'm in a rush because I thought about doing this earlier and then completely forgot and now there's only...less than thirty minutes left of Wednesday!!! AHHHHHH!!!

Anyways here's an excerpt from my most recent work that I'm very excited to get to a point to share.

He was exhausted and the cold had long since seeped into his bones. More importantly, he had just spent a week and a half with just General Skywalker and Rex and General Kenobi were a sight for sore eyes. Moreso the General than Rex, but he wouldn’t tell his brother that.

General Kenobi looked rather relieved to see both of them, but Cody thought he could still see some concern in his soft blue gaze. He had on a large, warm looking coat that matched Skywalker’s in all but color. The hood was pulled up over his red hair that usually reflected the sun in a way that made him look regal. There was a frown on his face and Cody watched as he glanced at General Skywalker, assessing the damage his former apprentice had taken.

“Rex, would you be so kind as to help Anakin to the medbay, and make sure he doesn’t try to take any detours.” General Kenobi said in a fond voice, a small smile playing at his lips.

A small that Cody dreamed about. It was an image burned into his mind, appearing everytime he closed his eyes. He’d spent so long lying to himself, telling himself he didn’t care what the lips that made that smile felt like. The General’s smile was something he always wanted to see, feel, touch, and taste and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Cody strode forwards towards General Kenobi. There was one thing on his mind and nothing was going to get in his way. With a single motion he ripped off his helmet and tossed it on the ground. When he reached the General, he didn’t stop. Instead he crashed his lips into General Kenobi’s own, finally getting the answer to his question.

“Cody?”

“Obi-Wan?”

The voices were nothing but a whisper in the distance as Cody closed off all his senses to everything but the man before him. He was breaking countless rules right now, but he didn’t care. He was kissing General Kenobi.

The lips under his were soft and slightly chapped. Most importantly they were warm. Oh so warm. Cody could no longer feel the cold in his bones because he was kissing General Kenobi and it warmed every part of him. Fireworks went off in his stomach when unexpectedly, the General began kissing back.

Wrapping his arms around the General he pulled him closer, everything about him was warm. Moments later he felt fingers in his cursedly regulation length hair and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have those fingers pulling it to just the right side of painful. 

Those thoughts were cut off by General Kenobi tilting his head to the side and deepening the kiss even more. Cody couldn’t tell which one of them moaned but the sound escaped one of them. He felt a warm tongue barely flick against his lips and he wanted nothing more than to indulge this further, but he couldn’t right now. In fact, he needed to come up for air because somewhere along the way he must’ve stopped breathing.

Cody pulled away and inhaled deeply, staring into Kenobi’s soft blue eyes. Those eyes alone could keep him warm even on this icy planet. 

“Never leave me alone on a mission with this di’kut ever again.” Cody said before turning and picking up his helmet.

When he chanced a glance at his General and Rex he couldn’t help but smirk. General Skywalker stood there with one arm wrapped around Rex’s shoulders and his mouth agape. Rex still had his helmet on but Cody could tell his jaw was probably hitting the floor right now. He only noticed Rex’s free hand covering General Skywalker’s eyes when the General reached up and tried to move them so he could see.

What a sight they were. Cody held his helmet under one arm and saluted General Skywalker before turning back to General Kenobi. The man was bright red, though he could use the cold as an explanation. Cody took a step forward and the General, who appeared almost dazed, leaned in to try and kiss Cody again. Before he had the chance, Cody held up a hand to stop him and took a side step. General Kenobi stumbled and snapped out of his daze only to look confused as Cody put his helmet back on.

“If you’d all excuse me, I have to go report myself to the GAR.” Cody gave General Kenobi a salute before walking on board the ship. 

He was absolutely going to be decommissioned after this.

Anyways hope you enjoyed this little Codywan except. I was gonna add a read more under the cut thing but I forgot how to do that and I'm panicking that it's almost not Wednesday. So sorry not sorry!!

[sonicasura]

Ok I had some thoughts for both Kaiju No.8 Skylanders and Gamera crossover so I'll split them up in two.

For Gamera:

Ok in both the Heisei Gamera series and The Rebirth series it turns out that kaiju were actually genetic experiments made by an ancient advanced human civilization, and I think it'd be cool if we brought some ideas from them. For example during the ancient civilization there were two types of kaiju there servant class which were humanoid in appearance strong(not to an insane degree) and had human level intelligence and the war class titans which are massive animalistic and have insane powers. So the idea is that some of the numbered kaiju used to be Servant class that now try to recreate their masters works for their own ends but that all gets upended when Gamera shows up, causing the remaining numbered kaiju to figure out what to do about him.

Gamera also has a rather popular following in Japan after there's footage of the giant turtle fighting off a Honju and its Yoju while the Defense Force was busy with another Honju and Yoju. There are even plushes of Gamera being sold out at vendors and Gamera themed dishes.

For Skylanders Giants:

There have been debates from both civilians and even government higher ups about if the Defense Force could defeat the Skylanders and for the most part its been thought of as even, until Tree Rex offhandly mentions he's been fighting for so long he forgot how long its been and that he lost count after three centuries. Then the Kaiju No.8 world goes crazy after this information.

There are fan clubs in the rookie squad on who the best Giant and they have surprising members, for example Aoi actually likes Hothead mainly due to the fact the fire giant always intends to finish the fight, Hairuchi likes Swarm, Kikoru likes Tree Rex etc.

There's actually a chance that other numbered Kaiju could end up as Skylanders/Portal masters if they're pushed to a point and summon an evil Skylander such as Gold Queen or the Chompie Wizard.

Soshiro has a crush on Ninjini and it started when she managed to match him in bladed combat, and has secretly bought some merch of the Ninja genie. Mina found out and she had to excuse herself before bursting a gut.

I have read the manga so I'm going to dodge some major ass spoilers for any anime only readers.

For Gamera, it's definitely some of the old Kaiju in the past but their numbers got dwindled over the years by the Defense Force. They didn't leave quietly as these ones caused quite the devastation before being slain. It's one reason why Toto is being monitored by the DF.

They don't want a repeat of another great disaster like in the past. Luckily Toto's behavior suggests he knows better to cause problems for humans and seems quite friendly with children. There's speculation that he might've been taught this.

Now for Skylanders,

All of them are practically ancient. Hell, Hot Head is said to be 199,999 and 3/4ths years old but has the energy of 150,000 year old. Ninjinni also has been confirmed the oldest amongst the group. The amount of stories they have could fill an empty library.

I won't be surprised if there's fan clubs in the Defense Force. The moment the Skylanders officially begin working with the DF practically has every fan boy/girl cheering. Expect plenty of antics.

There is one future Numbered Kaiju that definitely could become a Skylander. Portal Masters outside of Skylands are an incredible rarity. This is mainly due to portal magic being very rare even moreso in near magicless realms. Kafka having that potential is one in 5 billion.

Hoshina is definitely the type to love someone who can kick his ass. Ninjinni easily matched him move for move and Kafka felt like he was a watching a dance of blades than fighting. Mina would absolutely bully Hoshina about his newfound crush but wish him luck in the dating department.

Not everyone can say they fell in love with a elven genie warrior.

[thepatchycat]

hellooo! 👋

i hope it as okay to tag you in the WIP game!!! 😅😅 you have so many cool projects underway!!

I would love to hear more about your Defiance series! Side stories and spin offs?! What a world you must be creating! 🤩

thanks and have a lovely day !!☀️

Certainly! :D I don't always respond to tag games, but I do always appreciate being tagged in them. This one especially makes for a nice excuse to ramble about projects, and I'm delighted to talk about Defiance~

I'm pretty sure Defiance (the main fic) is the second fanfiction I've ever worked on in earnest and also my first and only longfic (not counting some sort of journal thing for Pokemon X I think I started many years ago, as I quickly lost interest in that project; otherwise, I hadn't really tried my hand at writing fic until 2020, despite reading it for much longer). Back in early 2021, with far too much time on my hands and having recently finished binge-watching all of The Clone Wars TV show, I felt very strongly that Fives needed to live and everyone deserved a happier ending, so I started planning a fix-it (actually the idea may have begun cooking back even before I finished the show, but February 2021 is apparently when I created the first doc).

It, uh, spiraled a little.

The planning/notes document is currently sitting at 102 pages (~46k words) of loose outline, worldbuilding notes, character notes, media notes, etc. The fic document itself is at 127 pages (~49k words) of stuff ranging from rough outline to fully written chapters and outtakes. There is also a Sheets file with timelines so I can track who is where, and when. The Sidestories doc is for ideas that would probably take place during Defiance but not be part of the more central plot, like bonus side chapters, and the Spin-offs doc is for other fic ideas that would take place in the same universe—some of which have graduated to their own documents. Though I've not been making consistent progress in the actual writing and have a very long way to go, I am lost in this sauce.

Anyway, the general plot of Defiance is as follows: unbeknownst to Palpatine and the general public, a timely intervention saves Fives' life. This allows him to actually explain himself to the Jedi, who along with the clones investigate the chips further and work behind the scenes to prevent Order 66 from happening while trying to figure out how to take down who's behind it. Critically, despite their suspicions they do not have hard evidence of Palpatine's involvement, so most events parallel canon up through ROTS with the investigation/preparation taking place discreetly, until the train hops off the rails to avoid sailing off the cliff.

If you'd like a sneak peak snippet, here's the first page or so of the main fic below the cut!

Something is wrong. The Force is muddled with a constant and indistinct unease, as it has been for years now—moreso on Coruscant than anywhere else, to Shaak Ti's perceptions. Its warnings are difficult to discern with any specificity. Even so, it murmurs them now. And Shaak possesses her own instincts, enhanced by the Force but extant outside her connection to it; these, too, whisper to her that something is wrong, as she watches Knight Skywalker leave the Jedi Temple conference room to find Captain Rex and investigate the situation with Fives. They are the best fit to track him down and the most likely to confront the rogue clone without further violence. Shaak warned Skywalker that Fives has been acting differently without his chip, that he may not be the man they knew—though she herself is reluctant to believe it—and the Knight and Captain are plenty capable of handling themselves. They will be all right. Still, something is wrong in a way she cannot yet define, and so Shaak Ti decides to join the hunt. Since the Jedi have not been asked to search for Fives, she does not contact the Coruscant Guard when she leaves the Temple. Instead she steps out of the building, pulls up the hood of her cloak, and makes for one of the speeder bikes kept at the Temple for general use. It whirs to life under her hands, and she rides to the nearest transportation portal leading down into the undercity. As she descends, passing speeders of all makes and sizes, Shaak Ti considers what she knows. She is well aware of her own struggles in becoming emotionally attached to the clones; her role on Kamino requires her to balance her care for them as people with the need to defend the galaxy. But many of them, such as Domino Squad, inevitably leave an impression. She watched Echo and Fives grow from bickering cadets to determined protectors, some of the best of their brothers. Her belief in their character during their final tests had not been misplaced. And yet, over these past few days Fives repeatedly defied the Kaminoan doctors, removed his chip, claimed something about a conspiracy, then attacked the Chancellor and fled. Shaak cannot deny these facts, and she must not allow personal feelings to cloud the truth. Then there are the Kaminoans. Shaak clashes frequently with their attitudes toward the clones, the way they view them as products rather than sentients. Nala Se’s arguments for terminating Tup and assurance that the chips are not a problem fall in line with her position as a manufacturer. And Shaak is well aware that the Kaminoans have not shared all of their secrets with her, as she is not owed them. But the medical scientist's resistance had been… spirited. None of this paints a clear picture. As they concluded in the meeting back at the Temple, the Jedi need more information. The familiar sound of a military engine hums past, and Shaak turns her head to watch a pair of gunships heading down the portal through one of the military lanes. She swerves out of the civilian traffic and dives after them, further and further below the surface of the city.

[valorxdrive]

@perditos replied to your post “Gotta speak my truth. A reason why the passion has...”:

My tactic has always been "ignore the hell out of Nomura's dumbshit" and "cherry pick canon liberally." but you know this. There is legit parts of KH I like, even in KH3, but there's also parts that are downright goofy. I'm still writing it because there's parts of Xion's story that still, to this day, intrigues me - not because I'm hype for KH4. Whether you persist with Sora is up to you, but legit, I wouldn't look for Nomura for inspiration.

​

I still intend to persist on Sora, that in truth genuinely will never really change.

That said though I don't think I can ever really get to that point of approach peacefully. Nomura's creativity to begin with is what really fastened me onto this ride, a lot of past executions and potentials I vividly enjoy to this day and see much more in. Now is there decisions made by him that I can never see eye to eye on? Absolutely. I also think that he gives fans a little too much pull in terms of altering bits of the story, aka getting a soft spot in getting the roster a touch bloated in how many characters still live.

Canon for me is fun and that's because I adore the FF/Disney hybrid possibilities. I never want it to become something unattached from that, or it'd truly just be FF again with a fresh coat of paint. Depending on your context of 'goofy', those very well could be charm points which can tilt away from seriousness that I don't want to oversaturate into the franchise. (For example, this is a hope a lot of people have with Verum Rex.)

Finding series for me that can balance lighthearted, serious and wild tones in the way this does feel hard to come by, and for me to get connected to that roster of characters moreso too.

That said, 3 for me is that horror story and I've made my peace for that. When it starts to lack care in both the expression of folks in the story medium, to even the care of gameplay factors (a BIG part why I stick with these games too), something genuinely has to switch up.

[oodlyenough]

I finished Oxenfree II after, I dunno, maybe four or five short sessions of play. I had intended to replay the first game beforehand, but ran out of time before release, lol.

Thoughts (spoilers for all of both games):

I enjoyed 2, but I can't say I enjoyed it nearly as much - if I had, it wouldn't have taken me a week and change to play through, I think.

The art was gorgeous as always, perhaps moreso. They made small QOL improvements that I appreciated hugely, like the map getting marked up, the task list, and ESPECIALLY the little icon telling me if the dialogue would continue when I walked to a new part of the map. The climbing was simple, but fun enough. I deeply appreciated the ability to change the font and text size of the speech bubbles, because I found the default hard to read on.

Some parts were spooky - loved the community centre turning sideways, etc, some good jump scares, the dreamscape stuff was cool. Loved the idea of the time bubbles you got to walk into, and how that was used in puzzles (albeit quite sparingly).

Some less positive stuff:

I liked Riley fine, and Jacob was ok, but that's about... all I felt. They both felt a bit like placeholder characters. I think there is just not as much immediate pathos generated by "two coworkers" as there was between Alex and Jonas, stepsiblings meeting for the first time who both have a lot of baggage.

I also think having a majority of the support NPCs be voices on the radio was a mistake. I enjoyed those conversations, but I had to be reminding myself to check in, and it all felt a bit remote. As Alex, I felt responsible for the whole group, even when I wanted to throw Ren or Jonas or Clarissa off a tower because they were infuriating me. There were different personalities, and also that meant there were different character dynamics to explore and combos you could play with in replays. The NPCs interacted with each other as well as Alex and the player had to manage all of it. Riley felt like she was the centre of a lot of single spoke relationships.

Also, while the parenting as a theme is fine, it's just... inherently going to be kind of remote to me, I guess, as a childless woman with no interest in being a mother. VS I felt the first game dealt with grief in a way I found more accessible, despite never having lost a sibling (or indeed having any siblings to lose, lol).

After the buildup with Parentage (and stories of burning people?!?!), I felt disappointed they were just a hippie uwu cult.

The Alex reveal was my fave, and my interest piqued once we knew she was involved. I see people are a bit mixed on her involvement but honestly I loved it, lol. The downside was introducing her meant I was like "ok, will there be a choice between saving Alex or saving Riley/Camena/etc?" and I knew I would choose Alex no question.

Not quite what happened! I was fairly satisfied with my ending, which was:

-befriend Jacob, but leave him behind (I was worried about Athena! lol)... it was a little unfortunate that Jacob and Riley felt a bit distant as a result, but I loved Riley and Alex getting alone time, so whatever. -leave Olivia to the ghosts

The problem with the sacrifice decision was I did not feel the game gave me any compelling reasons to save Olivia, outside of "Olivia is a teenager so you have a duty of care". Sure, in real life I think letting a depressed teenager go into the void with her ghost parents is a bad call -- but this is a story, and in this story, they have done nothing concrete to make me the player feel attached to Olivia, as compared to how I feel about Riley and Alex, two characters I've now spent hours with. Perhaps I'd have sacrificed Jacob if he was around, but... he wasn't, lol. And maybe not! Because I the player have reason to like Jacob, and no reason to like Olivia.

In the first couple scenes with Rex, I thought perhaps he was Riley's child who had died, and that the death was part of why Riley in present day was a mess and an alcoholic with minimal relationships etc. In retrospect, I think that could have been a very interesting device. The downside I suppose would be that there would then be no reason for Riley not to stay in the void with Rex, making the end dilemma moot.

Still, it was rewarding to see Alex and co leave the island. The game prompts you-as-Riley to be mad at her, but lmao, it's Alex, it's my girl, I don't care. I also thought it was sweet that they had Clarissa as the one who lingers for her. Aw.

Overall, I would give this maybe a 7/10... I don't regret buying or playing it, but I don't feel compelled to replay and try other routes. Oxenfree 1 on the other hand I've played probably 6-8 times and will continue to play again every year or so when it gets dark and cold and spooky outside.

[condemnedtranscendant]

Could you please tell me about your of bloodline (the daughters of eve)? 👉👈 they sound so interesting!!

:O thank you for asking!

tw: for murder, toxic relationships, mental illness and vampire nonsense

i don't remember where exactly i got the name daughters of eve from, but it was from i believe a non-canonical biblical source?? they're not *literally* daughters of the biblical eve, but as eve = sin in some interpretations, it makes sense w the vampires of vtm lore. but they are all full blood sisters from the same parents.

there's seven sisters total, one put into each clan (just the primary ones in bloodlines). they were all turned on the exact same night at the exact same time (7pm). the event was not planned by any one or group, and none of the sisters were in the same location. some people think their coming is a sign of gehenna and that they all share the same soul, but whether you believe that is up to you. all of them are very different personality wise, and all have various levels of relevancy/power/influence.

meta wise, they represent each of my bloodlines playthroughs, so right now i only have two written out evas and entigone.

evas is the gangrel also known as the ugly german bitch because shes not afraid to look like "trash" (being fat, as i know personally, was NOT in, in 2005, but she dresses as she wants anyways and uses the term ugly to show she doesn't care what others think, i for one think shes hot) she will beat you over the head for talking shit. but shes also in general mean. so that's the bitch part. she has no problem or grief killing people. shes gangrel but down with the brujah. doesn't mind doing tasks/quests just because it gives her something to do and someone to beat up, but she doesn't like to be pushed around like a pawn. shes her own person and fights for her own cause, no one else is on her side, and anyone close to her she sees as temporary (whether they will betray or end up dead). evas probably the most sane out of all of them, and is the eldest sister of seven. also shes bi if you're interested. her ending was the brujah one.

entigone is batshit obviously being malkavain, but moreso than the typical malk. she had ocd before turning, and becoming malkavian turned that shit 100x worse. its very hard for her to sort out whats true and whats not. she is incredibly off putting to be around. she will attack randomly if she feels threatened (even if the person said nothing to her) and because of this she has the most masquerade violations out of any daughter of eve. also loses control when feeding and sometimes drains them without meaning too. big lesbian and trusts women too much, but never trusts any men. her hair is naturally curly, and meant to have greasy roots and matted ends (i use gerard way, amy winehouse, and britney spears for hair reference). she cant take care of herself physically. unphased by violence (the lollipop piece was meant to have a layer covered in blood from one of evas' kills, hence the surprised but not horrified expression) but is terrified of losing anyone she loves (heather is NOT leaving that fucking apartment shes probably locked in a goddamn cupboard if were being honest.) and lives in constant delusions, not being able to tell whats true from the malkavian voices and her ocd, and the x% of the time the voices are right. i haven't finished her playthrough but she was "fooled"* by ming xiao and that's her ending.

her name comes from the ancient greek figure antigone, who was present in oedipus rex. i haven't really figured out if she'll have any true connection to her namesake, their stories don't really cross very much other than i can read antigone's with the Eye Of OCD (only fellow crazies will get me here lol)

*"fooled" bcuz i really disliked they made the kuei jin evil and sneaky, it just felt kinda racist (and i love xiao) butttt i also like the idea of entigone following her ocd compulsions leading to her death like tragedy and comedy, (also since i suffer with ocd irl, and doing compulsions often leads to opposite results its sort of a cautionary tale, again like a greek tragedy)

i really wish i had more to this written out i'm sorry 😭 ill start posting stuff under the tag #daughters of eve when i come up with it from now on if you'd like to follow the story :}