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shadowonwater · 2 years ago

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Pokemon Scarlet playthrough part the 9th: I avoid getting crushed by giant boulders, fighting a make-up artist, doing some cave exploring, and then fighting a really sweet wrestler.

Masterlist of my playthrough

Okay so I got a bit mixed up when I said "flying gym leader" next. It was actually flying titan next and then a gym leader whoops.

Gotta say the mountain area where you fight the giant bird? Beautiful. I love climbing up the windmills and gliding from place to place. A very good area for gliding.

I clearly saw the giant Bombirdier in the distance and I was like, yup, that's the titan. So I had to dodge some giant boulders on my way up, not the easiest thing. Gotta say, hiding behind big rocks like that reminded me of this one bit from PR: Shadows of Almia. Similar situation and all, but this time much shorter.

The bird... was very easy. I am overleved and am using an electric type against it. One hit KO.

Happy as always to help Arven's sick dog, I hope the last herb makes it all better. And now... I CAN FINALLY SWIM! Now I can get to the last titan out in the water, first I'm going to fight the Psychic Gym Leader, tho.

Arven thinks that there some sort of mental block stopping Kori from going to battle mode. Something traumatizing. Considering Kori's body language, I'd say he's correct. I'm very suspicious of his mom right now....

I haven't explored the area as thoroughly as I'd like but it's easy to get lost on where you've been and where you haven't when you include all the jumping onto high areas.

So I headed towards the city where the Psychic gym is and went into the cool cave, it seems like a really big cavernous cave. Climbed to the top and into the town. I'm happy to say I'm on level again, considering the wild Pokemon.

I caught a phony Sinistea, might try to get the real deal some other time, but this is fine for now. Also caught a Klefkey and a Banette. The Banette battle was kinda funny because it pretty much sabotaged itself.

See I was using my Clodsire, who has Yawn. I use Yawn to help me catch Pokemon by making them fall asleep. Turns out the Banette had the Insomnia ability which would have stopped this from working if it hadn't used a move that made it copy my ability. So then I had Poison Point instead, which is useless against my Clodsire because it's poison and also because he only has special attacking moves.

So the town itself is real pretty looking what with all the tiles and water fixtures. But the way it looks and the music gives real Orientalism vibes. And I'm just a little uncomfy with that considering the history of Orientalism. idk, maybe I'm overthinking it.

When I talked to an NPC and they mentioned Pokemon artwork on the observatory that looks like old video game sprite art, I got really excited. I was like "is it old Pokemon sprite work?!" and it was! It was sprites from gen 1! I really adore this reference to the older games, it's a really nice addition. Anyway I'll be visiting the gym and seeing what my test is right after this, toot-a-loo.

Uhh... I didn't really like the gym test I think it was kind of tedious, the music was nice though. Also one of my teacher's was there. Y'know something I always find myself wondering is why the other challenges are using the same typing as the gym. I get game mechanics wise, they are suppose to act as the gym trainers you fight in other gyms but in this case they are supposed to be challengers. Wouldn't they have more variety of Pokemon? Or they could have Pokemon that are strong against that gym's type.

Anyway the gym test was pretty much a quick time event, altho I had much more time than I needed, and I just like it went on for too long.

The gym leader herself, meh. I don't really care about make-up. I liked how she had those flapping wings on her outfit tho, they were cool. And I feel like her team fit her theme well with all of them being very pretty Pokemon.

It was nice to battle a gym where I was on level again. She even took out 2 of my Pokemon. I mostly used my grass cat against her, because dark type. I didn't get a single one hit KO, so good on her. I switched to my Rock Salt golem because it has a Steel move to try try to use against Gardavor. But it had Energy Ball and I only got one hit in.

At the end her flower lady became Psychic but it still has its Fairy moves of course and took out grass cat with a Moon Blast. Finished it off with my Giraffe.

Afterwards I decided to do a bunch more exploring. I checked out the detour to that Psychic Town, and it was super cool, very scenic. I explored some other caves around the area. And climbed around the waterfall.

I ended up finding two more stakes. But I've realized something. Up until now I haven't given much though about why the stakes are different colors, yellow and purple. But I think I figured it out. The creepy gate was purple, so I bet only the purple stakes were tied to it. So I bet there's a different Yellow Gate, and the yellow stakes affect that one. So yeah I'm going to keep exploring for a while longer.

Nothing much to report about my exploring. I used Kori's newfound swimming ability to visit some random islands. I was surprised when I found people on a couple of there. I was like "What the hell are you doing way out here?"

So what I decided was Fighting Star Raid first, then going after the Dragon titan after that. Trying to figure out how to get to the next Star Raid was a bit tricky because the area was kinda hard to get to and out of the way. I wonder what made her choose a place so secluded.

Anyway this bamboo forest looking area is really pretty though. Nice music too. I had a hard time getting through because I'm back on level and the many Fighting Types around here keep trying to pick fights with me.

I was surprised to find the boss of this group, Eri, trying to guard the gate herself. Mad respect. Doing the raid itself was interesting because I pretty much just had to go in a straight line, a much less open area this is.

I will say I might have actually been slightly underleveled but I did fine. I had a Normal/Psychic, a Fighting/Flying, and an Electric/Flying with me. So I had a lot of type advantage with me. The fight with Eri herself gave me some trouble.

First I used Kilowattrel against her Toxicroak. Air Slash brought it into red and it's Poison Jab brought me into then low orange (also poisoned). So I used a Full Restrore. It used Poison Jab again but didn't poison me that time so I used Air Slash again and took it out.

I won't do a whole play-by-play but her Annilape gave me some trouble. The car was hard to fight too. In the end I was victorious but half of my team was fainted.

So anyway Eri is really sweet, I like her a lot. It's glaringly clear indeed that Penny/Cass/Big Boss are all the same person. When I ask Cass about her "Gang" she never directly answers me but talks about the motivation's of Team Star, thus, implying that that is the gang.

Penny clearly seems to look down at her past actions as the Big Boss. I'm very interested in hearing more. I want to hear her motives behind everything.

After all that I explored the area a bit. When I saw that huge wall of stone I was like "what the fuck is that" but now I've realized that that is the boundary between this region and another. After all Spain/Portugal isn't an island. I'm just more used to that sort of thing being blocked by a forest. But I guess a forest isn't going stop Koraidon, now is it?

I also found another stake but this was a new color, blue! Are there three doors then? I've never found Blue stakes before.

Another weird thing, I think, are these... crystals? idk what rock they are but there are these big black rocks around and I'm like, "What's the deal with these?"

Anyway I'll leave this post off here, I'll be going after the dragon titan next and then I'll start heading off into the mountains. to face the last stuff that's left. Unless I decide partway through to take some more school classes. Been meaning to take some more.

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet #pokemon sv #first playthrough #playthrough #live posting

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toujoursmiraculous · 3 years ago

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Thoughts & Reaction to GABRIEL AGRESTE

I'm going to start off by saying the biggest part of the episode was spoiled for me while browsing YouTube last night. So my reaction to that part of it was really meh because I already knew about it ahead of time. It has nothing to do with what I think about the episode itself though! I'm just really sad and disappointed that if it's not Gloob or another official source that spoils, it's random fans of the show that won't respect others. I'm also feeling quite discouraged about the fandom, particularly after this episode so I'm a little more affected by that + my mood & problems in RL in this post. I'm sorry x.x So because this episode has brought up things that do lean more on the negative side, I want to make you all aware that this isn't a really silly, happy reaction, as the episode in itself wasn't really silly or happy, but more serious and brought up a lot of serious things. So if you're not really looking for that type of reading today, I totally understand! Just kind of the way it worked out with this episode. I'm sure the next episode will have a lot more light and funny moments! Alright so opening scene is the end of another akuma attack. A nice shake-up to the usual! Gabriel mentions their "alliance" and then Adrien calls it a club. That apparently Chloe and Kagami are also members of.

I keep seeing it being called a cult, and I'm going to point out again that this is a show still aimed at kids in elementary school. While obviously they have some "club" of some kind, I think calling it a cult is a bit out there. Thomas has said before that the show won't touch on religion and religion is in the very definition of a cult. Obviously something's going on, but let's not always jump to the absolute worst-case, dark and depressing, or most chaotic scenario and then try to push it like it's canon. It's pretty sus I admit, but still. Amelie and Felix is so adorable and would probably be what Emilie and Adrien's relationship looks like to an extent, so I feel both happy and sad watching them. 😭 And then the scene where Adrien goes to Nathalie to talk about what's bothering him alsdjgalsd back to back scenes that pulls the heartstrings a bit for me! Marinette's friends are like, time to get more hands on deck to help you with Adrien! Oh kids, no no no. You don't understand that no matter what you do, something's going to always go wrong! It's super sweet that they're supportive, but oh no lol "On the outside, your story seems complicated. But really...it's simple." No, no. You two were right the first time. It seems complicated...because it is! Oh dear, this is going to get out of hand. I freaked out over the art in Nath and Marc's story. Not what it's of, exactly, just the art style! Immediately looks like Sleeping Beauty and I've always really liked that style so much. x3 It's also clear that a lot of time went into those pictures! Well goodness! Not only is Chloe horrible for spying like that, but Sabrina's fall and faceplant on the table though o.o Is she okay? She fell a good 12 feet or more! The kids were planning on having her tell him how she feels about him at school. Where he'd be guaranteed to attend, without interference from his father. Not his home, not some Parisian landmark, not during a photoshoot. At school. So she wasn't stalking him or anything. And it wasn't even her idea, and she didn't reach out to ask for help, her friends volunteered it. Now thanks to Chloe and her spying and threatening to expose that plan the kids were telling Mariette about to Gabriel, with the intention of Adrien being taken out of school, of course Marinette has to go and try to stop him from seeing that video! Because: Zoe wasn't allowed to go. Chloe was the problem. Kagami wasn't there as she doesn't go to their school to be told about this and pushed to try to interfere. Would be kind of weird for any of the others to try to sneak in and stop it, especially since they were there about her in the first place. She also didn't go there with any intention to get Adrien's attention or to confess or anything like that. Just purely to make sure Chloe doesn't share that video to Gabriel to keep Adrien in school and have a social life like he deserves. Because this is what happens whenever they try elaborate plans to get Marinette and Adrien together. Sometimes it doesn't even get past the planning part without consequences. Also Chloe, why. Why would you make him get in trouble and be forced to stay home, just in the hopes his thinking will change so you'll like him again? Not thinking things through fully, but it does show that she still cares to have him in her life...in a weird, selfish, cruel kind of way... Zoe's awesome. Just had to say that. Gabriel asked Gorilla to take care of the jammers. Hahaha oh no. The point of them is to avoid communication from coming in he said... what kind of communication would they not want to receive? And then they don't want their phones recording business during dinner. Adrien to Marino: Do I know you? That's your Lady right there Adrien :DDD Felix sees that Gabriel's Shadow Moth. I didn't realize the peacock brooch is gold when he wears it :o Hmmm, Marinette overheard Felix and Chloe's conversation. How he was fooling her into thinking he's Adrien and laughed at her stupidity. He's sure harsh and sure makes her mad lol "You're perfect" I've seen so many

people going on about this. I mean it's narcissistic Gabriel Agreste who just made a copy of himself. Him calling his copy perfect is to be expected. Lol Kagami doesn't trust Felix :D Okay, narrowing my eyes a bit at why Felix smirked after "Marino" went after Chloe, then made the excuse to go see his mom. Guessing it's because 2 of the 4 left the room so it'd be easier for him to leave? Or does he know who she is from the video he saw of her before? Oop Kagami's still mad and doesn't want to be alone with Adrien in episode 9. But will fight to protect him anyway! She's such a good friend. Truly. Not a good girlfriend! But a good friend. That soft look Felix gives the painting of Emilie has me sooo curious. It's the first time he's actually looked gentle and soft, besides when he's with his mom. Curious, curious! Alright, so this scene with SeniGabriel and Felix has me questioning some things. At first you're probably thinking, "OMG Felix is a sentimonster!" after you hear Gabriel say "And yes, I have all the powers I need to find my ring. Among them: the power to destroy your life, Felix. I don't need to be Shadow Moth to do that" but then some things don't actually add up. I get Gabriel wanting to deflect suspicion off of him being Shadow Moth. But while he threatens Felix, he literally admitted that he can destroy his life without powers, and how he can "just snap his fingers and it will be enough to make you disappear" immediately following that. That seems really strange. If he was a sentimonster, why would he say that to him? He's trying to convince him he's not Shadow Moth, but then it wouldn't make any sense if he can threaten to do what only a holder of Shadow Moth's Miraculous can do and snap his fingers to make a sentimonster disappear. Isn't that contradictory and obvious? It also doesn't make sense for the rings to be where an amok is hidden for Felix. Why would Emilie and Gabriel have them all that time instead of his parents or himself? Kind of weird. I see why people think he's a sentimonster, and I only ever thought of Felix possibly being one because of how he was in Felix, but I also think it's safe to say it's not actually confirmed and there's more we still need to know before we jump on the bandwagon. For the sake of it though, let's say he is one. That conversation would prove that Felix knows he's one, if Gabriel's threat has to do with that. He knows what Gabriel was talking about. Now for the "Adrien is a sentimonster" theory, (if you don't want to read any discussion about this and other sentimonster theories, scroll down to the red text as that's where I get back to reacting to parts of the episode!) We all know Adrien has no knowledge of being one. It seems sentimonsters are aware of what they are and their purpose, based on past episodes. They know the rules of who's in charge of them, too. I've seen people try to debunk that and say that Felix is an inferior copy that Emilie ended up making before they made Adrien, who was made not to know. (Which doesn't make sense to me in the way that if he's a sentimonster that wasn't good enough for them, just like all sentimonsters, why not just snap it away and make another one for Amelie then?) And I just want to say this now while on that topic. Doesn't this sound absolutely twisted and messed up? It's being pushed that a sentimonster is fully human, even though it isn't, but then end up saying stuff like Felix was not good enough for Gabriel and Emilie and cast him off to her sister to make a more superior copy, and that mindset honestly makes me really uncomfortable. I know in the show sentimonsters are pretty obviously disposable, but we're not talking about sentimonsters Shadow Moth needs to do something for him for an akuma attack and then is no longer useful. We're talking about the idea of a sentimonster as a child, a son. Not disposable. Still with feelings and everything. Then we have it going around the theory that Kagami, Chloe, Zoe, XY are all sentimonsters too because their parents are part of that club. So all the

characters in this show that have bad parents and issues with said parents, let's just sweep that under the rug by saying none of them are humans but sentimonsters instead? The real kids in the show have good parents, but the sentimonster kids don't? And have several beloved characters be what is essentially massed produced by a magic piece of jewelry who are at risk of disappearing forever if something happened to their amoks? These sentimonster theories are becoming way too much in my opinion, and I'm just going to wait and see what the show tells us, not just hints at, and go from there. I don't think I've ever felt so uncomfortable reading posts after an episode and I'm really hoping this isn't how things are from now on. ----Felix breaking the akumatization just shows how tough he is. "You can't catch me, I'm the Felix Graham de Vanily!" As in, the gingerbread man...nevermind. Ladybug was this close to being exposed by The Collector. She'd have spilled her secret if she got hit 😬Cutting it way too close! Also that guy running around in the room with his arms up in the air like that'd help keep him from being hit 🤣🤣🤣 LITTLE DOES GABRIEL KNOW CHAT NOIR AND LADYBUG BOTH TRANSFORMED IN HIS HOUSE. Now I'm seeing how useful that jammer is for those cameras 👀 The one thing I prefer with the English here would be that Felix sounds different from Adrien. In French, he sounds exactly the same (and very Chat Noir-like) and it messes with me that Felix sounds like our precious Chat Noir.

I find this adorable, the way they both have that expression on their faces. xD Another episode where it's just Ladybug and Chat Noir! Even though it's short and it was 100% akuma fighting, I still loved it. x3 And that is how Shadow Moth got the charm he used in Dearest Family. Was pretty sure he'd akumatize himself again to get it but there was a little twist this time. xD Deleting that video was the best thing Bob Roth has ever done in his life. And it wasn't intentional to be helpful. It's weird thinking that the Miraculous are capable of things that they simply don't know. o.o I know they're going to explore that more in the future and ahhh it's going to be so cool! Felix knows Gabriel is Shadow Moth still. Interesting... And it seems that Gabriel suspects at least that he knows, as those appear to be fake Miraculous he's putting in the safe for when he's back again. Whatever episode(s) that is, it's going to be craaazy! Overall the episode was really cool, but it did feel just a bit off when we're so used to one or both dorks being the focus, but this time, Gabriel and Felix were. It definitely made it more serious for sure and there was less to point out and laugh at. But we learned some things and have a lot more we need to wait on to find out what's really going on, so it was really interesting nonetheless! Now onto another hiatus, where hopefully by the time the next episode comes out, I will have some chapters of my fic written, my AMV I started in June finished, and some more art done! Until then! (:

#ml #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #ml spoilers #ml season 4 spoilers #ml spoilers season 4 #gabriel agreste #gabriel agreste spoilers #felix graham de vanily #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #ladybug #chat noir #thoughts and reaction to gabriel agreste

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monstersandmaw · 4 years ago

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Male vampire x male character - Part Three (nsfw)

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

This is going to be a four-parter, folks! And here's 3866 words of Part Three for you. Angst ahoy, but you know me, ok, so trust me. Here we meet Alec's little brother, and you'll find out why Sebastien was so jumpy and weird about the Twayblade name.

Part One, Part Two

Alec’s ‘one night stand’ with Sebastien turned into a whole month of of ‘one-night-stands’, and culminated in Sebastien asking him to dinner the following weekend - a pattern which repeated itself every weekend after that.

Sure, the sex was probably the most incredible sex that Alec had ever experienced in his entire life, but what he came to enjoy even more was the time they spent over meals and cups of tea in the intervening time, talking about everything from history to politics to video games and books and everything else besides. Sebastien talked about literature a lot, and Alec sketched him and illustrated his conversations while he spoke.

“You could really make something of yourself with talent like that,” Sebastien had murmured once as Alec had doodled a quick rendition of the Victory of Samothrace on the back of a coffee shop receipt one afternoon in the park.

“Meh,” he shrugged without looking up. “I’d like to, but I’ve got a steady job now, you know? I’m not going to throw it all away just because some gallery might take my work and I might make something of a name for myself, you know?”

Sebastien sighed. “Talent is such an overused word, and great art is rarely based on raw talent alone, but with your dedication over the years, you’ve really honed what natural abilities you have into something exceptional, Alec. I think you should make a go of it at least.”

Alec had flushed, and Sebastien had been distracted by the rising colour his cheeks long enough to abandon that train of thought in favour of kissing him silly on a park bench, and Alec hadn’t much minded.

At an Iranian restaurant near Alec’s place one Friday, four weeks after Halloween, Sebastien leaned on his elbow and popped a fragrant and decadent zoolbia into his mouth, and Alec watched, oddly fixated by the way his fingers held the little fried treat. His eyes, dark and warm and inviting, blinked slowly and he offered Alec a slow-dawning smile that stole his breath.

“We should go to the museum again,” Alec he blurted, thinking back three days when they’d spent their lunchtime meandering around the Italian Renaissance gallery together.

“Mmm?” he asked, licking his fingers in a way that made Alec’s jeans tighten and his throat close.

“Yeah,” he croaked. “I mean, I know you’re not sick of me waxing endlessly about quattrocento art just yet…” he said, sipping his delicious cup of tea and trying not to choke on it as Sebastien’s ankle skimmed up his leg beneath the table.

“No,” Sebastien admitted. “You’re right. I’m not.”

With the bill paid by Sebastien this time, after Alec had bought them lunch the previous day, the two of them left the cosy warmth of the restaurant and stepped out into a bitter November night. “Oh fuck it’s cold,” Alec swore immediately, drawing up the collar of his coat.

“You want to head home?” Sebastien asked, a hand on the small of his back.

Unconsciously, Alec leaned into it and smiled up at him. They’d not yet been to Alec’s apartment, and he found himself more and more reluctant to let Sebastien in now that he’d seen the stunning penthouse that he called home. “If you’re sure? I think your wardrobe has more square footage than my entire place though…”

“Alec,” he purred, taking Alec’s hand in his and squeezing his fingers. “I —”

“—You’re freezing,” he commented, interrupting whatever Sebastien had been about to say.

“I don't tend to run hot,” he conceded, “But neither do I feel the cold much. I’d like to see your home, and you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

He leaned in close and kissed the junction of Alec’s jaw and neck for a moment, his lips lingering, tongue just lapping at his skin and sending shivers down Alec’s whole body, shorting out his brain for a heartbeat or six. Sebastien raked his teeth over Alec’s pounding pulse point and he went still, frozen in a paroxysm of pleasure and, oddly, a strange thrill of fear he couldn’t quite place. Instead of pulling away when he recovered himself, however, he tilted his head further to one side, offering himself to Sebastien’s mouth, and the other man moaned decadently, deepening his attentions.

Sebastien’s hands found Alec’s belt and he tugged him sharply closer so that their hips met. Alec tried not to grind himself against Sebastien — they were still on a public street for goodness’ sake — but desire was washing through him in pulsing waves and it was becoming harder and harder to think rationally. That wasn’t the only thing that was becoming hard either, and he let out a harsh grunt before forcing himself to step back with a sheepish grin.

When he looked up at Sebastien, he found that the slightly taller man had frozen and was breathing hard, eyes closed, lips pursed together as though restraining himself from something.

“You ok?”

“Fine,” Sebastien hissed, still not opening his eyes.

Alec frowned. Sebastien looked like he was in pain of all things. “You sure? You look —”

“I’m fine!” he snapped through a clenched jaw. “Let’s go. You’re right. It is cold.”

The short walk to Alec’s apartment passed in tense silence, with Sebastien keeping his eyes locked downwards on the pavement, though he did deign to hold Alec’s hand. He couldn’t help wondering if perhaps he’d pushed things too far in public, given how proper Sebastien tended to be, but then again, Sebastien was the one who had deepened the gesture by practically mauling at his neck for three minutes straight back then.

Alec’s apartment building wasn’t fancy at all, and it certainly didn��t have a doorman, and once they’d stumbled in through the hallway with the busted light fitting in the ceiling, Alec smashed the elevator call button only to find it dull and non-responsive. “Damn,” he cursed. “Out of order again. Stairs?”

“If needs be,” Sebastien said with a gracious smile.

“This would never happen over at Buckingham Palace,” he quipped back, and Sebastien cracked a smile at Alec’s silly nickname for his apartment block.

“Exercise will shake all that dinner down,” he conceded.

Alec twitched his eyebrows in agreement and held the door open to the stairwell for him. As he passed by in the confined space, Sebastien stopped and leaned in, taking Alec’s jaw in his cool hands and kissing him gently, reverently, on the lips.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I was rude back then.”

Alec shrugged, feeling awkward at the sheer, heartfelt tenderness in the gesture.

“I got carried away. It won’t happen again.”

“I like it when you’re rougher with me,” he smirked. “You should know that after a month of fucking me senseless.”

As if Alec’s words had hit him like a sledgehammer to the nuts, Sebastien rolled his eyes and grimaced, but he did laugh. “You do seem to like a firm hand, granted,” he said. “Let’s get upstairs shall we? Before I take you right here, and I’m not sure how sanitary this situation is…”

Alec needed no more encouragement, and he didn’t even get to give Sebastien the fleeting, one-minute tour of his tiny flat before the man was on him, kissing him blind and backing him into a wall hard enough to knock the wind from him. Sebastien came alive in moments like that, when he could kiss him and lavish attention on Alec, and the latter was not about to stop him.

It wasn’t long before Sebastien’s wandering lips found Alec’s neck again, and as Alec gasped, fists balled into Sebastien’s shirt collar, he felt the sharp prick of teeth quickly followed by the generous suck of a love bite in the making. His knees went weak and he nearly staggered as a huge rush of endorphins swam through his mind, leaving him limp and wobbly all over. Well, almost everywhere.

“I want you,” he gasped, and Sebastien lost no time in locating the tiny bedroom and tossing him onto the bed, stripping them both with startlingly attractive efficiency. Alec barely managed to yank a bottle of lube and a box of condoms from his top drawer before Sebastien was spreading his legs and laving his tongue up over the curve of his balls.

“Oh fuck me,” Alec exclaimed as Sebastien’s slick finger slid into him and he hissed at the intrusion. A moment later, he was lying with his head flung back into the pillows while Sebastien slid a second inside him and began to do just that with his fingers until Alec was finally ready — and more than desperate — for Sebastien’s cock.

Sebastien had a beautiful body, all lean, corded muscle and slender lines, and as he got more and more aroused, his deep olive skin seemed to glow almost supernaturally. He was perfection incarnate. Bernini couldn’t have carved him, even if he’d been given a lifetime to try. Alec was no Bernini but he’d still love to sculpt him.

Sebastien chuckled sweetly and crooked his finger, sending a jolt of searing pleasure through Alec so hard his vision whited out for a moment and his back arched. “I’m flattered,” Sebastien murmured, placing open-mouthed, messy kisses down Alec’s leg as he spontaneously bent that knee up.

“Shit, I said that out loud…” he laughed, still vague and giddy with the sensations sparking under his skin.

“Mmm,” he smiled, lowering his face to Alec’s inner thigh and kissing fervently all up his leg to the crease of his thigh and hips before smoothing his leg back down onto the bed. His breath fanned out across Alec’s sensitive skin and he quivered and bucked, causing Sebastien’s curled finger to brush his prostate again and he yelled.

“Please…”

Moments later, Sebastien entered him at last and stilled, allowing him to adjust to the new intrusion.

When he fucked him like this, Sebastien seemed to take on a new energy, becoming something almost more primal, and Alec lived for it. The expression on his face as he closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the heat of Alec’s body closing around him, taking him, drawing him in, was something he would never get used to, no matter how many times it happened. He was certain of it.

“You’re so tight,” Sebastien grunted, easily shifting Alec’s hips up a degree or two and adjusting his own angle so that he could thrust into his prostrate with every stroke.

Alec’s words failed him as immense pleasure ripped through him, building and building. “You’re gonna make me come if you keep that up,” he barely managed to grunt as Sebastien somehow picked up the pace and began to pound into him with renewed vigour. The man seemed utterly devoted to Alec’s pleasure, as if it was the only thing driving him.

With an utterly inhuman snarl, Sebastien opened his mouth and whispered, “Come for me.”

The sheer weight of command in his voice tore through Alec and he came instantly, untouched, painting his torso with ropes of his release and wrenching Sebastien’s own orgasm from him by sheer force a second after.

Sebastien curled forwards with a hiss, hips spasming as he released, and his lips found Alec’s neck again, and then his collarbone. In the daze of his own peak, Alec thought he saw a flash of red in Sebastien’s eyes again, but he was out of sight too quickly for him to believe what he’d seen. Instead, he found Sebastien kissing his hammering pulse while he finished. Finally going still, Sebastien slumped atop him, breathing hard, his white-blond hair spilling everywhere and tickling Alec’s stubble. He was too tired to care though.

When he woke, hours later, he realised groggily that it must be the middle of the night. Sebastien was curled up beside him, obviously having found the tiny bathroom to clean up, and he was now spread out beside him on his small, lumpy mattress as if this were a palace and he a prince, not some tiny, shitty apartment in the rough bit of town.

Something about the way Sebastien slept still freaked Alec the fuck out. He didn’t seem to be breathing, and when he had laid his palm on Sebastien’s chest on their first night together, the man had gasped and jolted awake like the living dead, sucking in air like he’d been underwater for hours. This time, he refrained from touching him, and instead stared at his inhuman beauty. There wasn’t a mark or scar or freckle on him, and his darkly tanned body spread out over the white sheets like a bronze sculpture arranged in a gallery for the adoration of thousands. And yet he chose Alec to be his only supplicant. Something lurched in his chest and he smiled bashfully, blushing, although there was no one to witness it.

Awake, Sebastien looked maybe thirty, thirty five years old, but asleep, he looked far younger; closer to eighteen or nineteen perhaps, with an innocence around his white-lashed eyes and the natural downward curl of his beautiful lips.

Unable to resist touching him completely, Alec kissed him and rolled over, drawing the duvet up around his ears and sinking back into a deep, dreamless sleep. His whole body felt heavy and satiated in a way he’d never experienced before with anyone. Something clenched in his heart; this felt right somehow.

But nothing is fated to last forever, is it?

Alec stirred groggily, unwillingly, the next morning, becoming aware of a rapid-fire knocking on the apartment door. Grunting, he kicked back the covers and fished for a pair of boxers and a shirt from the floor beside the bed. Sebastien slept on, apparently not having moved at all since the previous evening. Did he have sleep apnoea or something? It was something he’d have to bring up after he’d sorted whatever this was. It wasn’t natural for a man to sleep like that.

Like the dead.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” he grumbled, stumbling across the apartment and peering though the peephole in the door. Twitching back in surprise, he opened it. “Theo?”

His little brother’s bright, sunny grin beamed back at him. “Hey bro,” he chuckled jovially, stepping in as if he owned the place and shooting him a cheeky look back over his shoulder. “Brunch?”

“Brunch?” Alec frowned. “Since when do you do ‘brunch’? And since when is it brunchtime anyway?” He glanced at the clock in the kitchen and his eyebrows rose. It was well past eleven o’clock.

“Late night, I see,” Theo snickered, eyeing Sebastien’s shirt which was still on the floor outside the bedroom door, currently ajar from Alec’s hasty exit.

“Shut up.”

Theo’s grin doubled and his blue eyes glittered. Like Alec, he had the unusual combination of dark hair and blue eyes, and like Alec he could be described as ‘roguish’ at times. Now though, it bordered on downright Puckish. Looking not his actual twenty-one years but somewhere closer to sixteen, Theo shook his head.

“Brother mine, when will you —” he snorted but then stopped and his expression fell, shattering from playful to horrified in a heartbeat before he rapidly attempted to cover it by turning towards the bedroom. “Is he still here?” he whispered.

“Yeah, so keep the jokes to a minimum, would you?” Alec snarled. “What did you want anyway?”

But Theo had changed completely. Gone was the ebullient Labrador puppy and instead a tense, alert, wary young man stood before him.

“What the fuck’s wrong?” Alec hissed, heartbeat ticking faster like an over-wound clock.

And Theo spun and then froze as the door to the bedroom opened and Sebastien appeared on the threshold.

Theo’s lip curled into an ugly snarl and Sebastien regraded him steadily, apparently unfazed by the unexpected hostility.

“The younger Twayblade, I assume,” he said with such ice in his usually warm tone that it shook Alec into stunned silence. “Well, this is unexpected.”

“You’re shitting me,” Theo whispered, horror thickening his tone.

Alec blinked and looked from Sebastien to his little brother and back again. Never in all his years of dating men had he felt so uneasy around a family member. “What’s going on…?” he finally croaked.

“That’s what — who — you’re sleeping with?” Theo practically spat out.

Cold, defensive vitriol bubbled up inside him and he might actually have lunged for his brother had Sebastien not crossed the room in three rapid strides and laid a gentle hand on his forearm. “I take my leave,” he said quickly.

“Not so fast, fang-face,” Theo sneered and Sebastien froze. “Get away from my brother.”

“Or what?” Sebastien said in the quietest and steadiest of voices.

“What the fuck is going on!” Alec blurted into the tense silence that followed Sebastien’s taunt.

The other two blinked, and Sebastien sighed. He met Alec’s eye as he asked, “You really didn’t know at all, did you?”

“Know what?” Alec snapped, rage rolling through him. “Do you two know each other or something? What am I missing here?”

“I think this is a family matter that you need to work out between you,” Sebastien said, voice still tinged with frost. “Alec, you know where to reach me if you decide to continue what we’ve shared this past month.” And with that, he turned and walked from the apartment.

“Wait, stop!” Alec yelled after him, but he was gone down the stairwell and Theo was at his side, tugging him back into the apartment. “Fucking explain yourself!” he snapped, rounding on his brother.

“You’d… better sit down.”

“No. Tell me what’s going on. Right now.”

Theo stared him down, meeting blazing sapphire stare with blazing sapphire stare. “Sit. Down.”

The tone of his voice shocked Alec into doing exactly that, and he sank numbly down onto the saggy old couch in the living room without a word.

What followed next was like something from a movie.

“The Twayblades are an ancient family of monster hunters,” Theo said gently. “Father’s not in the military. Well, he is, but it’s not a normal unit or anything. That’s just a cover.”

“And mother?” he asked mechanically, the information-dump that Theo had just heaped upon him not sinking in, but floating like scum on the surface of his churning mind.

“She’s one too. And Ellie.”

“Ellie hunts… monsters?” he asked. “Like… what… the Boogeyman? Bigfoot?” Incredulity made his tone flippant, but something in the calm sincerity of his brother’s eyes told him it was true, no matter how stupid it sounded.

“Dracula…?” Theo added darkly.

“Dracula.” And then the penny dropped. “Wait. ‘Fang-face’. You’re saying you think my boyfriend is a vampire?”

Theo levelled him with a look from where he was leaning against the windowsill, arms folded over his chest in a manner eerily reminiscent of his big brother.

Now as Alec regarded him, he saw the harsh young man that this little kid had become. The puppy fat had melted into a steel jaw and a hard gaze, and his body seemed coiled for action at any moment. He had the body of a soldier, Alec realised with plunging horror. He knew Theo worked out — he was apparently a personal trainer and nutritional coach for celebrities in London, but even that seemed to have been a lie after what he’d just learned. Apparently the Twayblades actually hunted monsters — he and their parents and their older sister Ellie. Alec and Angie had been left out because they were apparently not ‘hunter material’ whatever that meant. Maybe it meant he was a monster fucker instead. He almost laughed.

“Theo, come on… I can’t believe any of this,” Alec said, leaning back into the sofa and pressing the heels of his palms to his aching eyeballs. All he’d wanted to do this morning was to wake up and maybe have Sebastien fuck him into the mattress a few times before breakfast until he was wrung out and softly buzzing like they had every weekend for the last month.

Now he was having some bizarre fairytale forced at him and he was supposed to believe it like it was some kind of sick joke. But he did believe it, and that was what scared him most of all. It wasn’t a joke. Theo showed him videos his father and he had captured on some of their ‘hunts’, exterminating a poltergeist here and eradicating a revenant there, and in the end Theo phoned their father on speaker, opening without preamble, “Dad, Alec’s dating a vampire.”

“Do you have proof?” was their father’s instant, chilling response. No ‘I'm sorry, what did you say, son?’ or ‘What’s all this nonsense?’. No. He went straight to the heart of it. With a stake.

“Just walked past the sucker leaving the flat.”

“Ancient?”

“No, thank goodness. Maybe just a century at most?”

“Can you eliminate him without alerting Alec?” their father asked, at which point Alec’s heart cracked.

He leapt to his feet and blurted, “Fucking what?”

After a heartbeat of silence, their father sighed. “Unfortunate. I had hoped to keep you and Angela out of this.”

“You’re telling me it’s all real?” he asked, goggling at Theo who held the phone out on speaker between them like it was a live grenade. “You’re all insane!”

“Tell me something, son,” his father said flatly. “Have his eyes ever flared red during a moment of passion? Does he seem to fixate on your neck? Do you find yourself willing to do as he wishes without question?”

Theo interjected quickly, “He’s not compelled. His eyes are clear.”

“Well, that’s something at least,” their father scoffed. “Theo, you know what you have to do. Kill it.”

“‘It’?” Alec shot, eyes bulging, and Theo did have the grace to cringe. “Kill it? You’re going to kill him? He’s a lecturer at the university, Theo. You can’t just fucking kill him?!”

“He might be under the guild rules…” Theo said. “He might be a blood bank user, not a live-feeder… I’ll look into it first.”

Alec’s knees turned to water but he kept himself upright through sheer force of will.

“Fine. But don’t hesitate. And don’t make concessions just because Alec might be compromised.”

Theo nodded and hung up without farewell. “Look, Alec,” he grimaced. “I’m… I’m sorry, ok? I didn’t come here to —”

“— to kill my boyfriend?” he growled, taking a step towards his little brother. To his credit, Theo did actually take half a step back in the face of Alec’s confused, hurt, betrayed ire, holding his hand palm-up.

“No. I came here to see if you wanted to grab lunch, but —”

“—Get out.”

“What?”

“Get out!” he roared, jabbing his index finger at the door and pulling out his phone.

Theo surprised him by nodding and leaving, shutting the door behind him with a click and leaving Alec standing in the centre of the living room, chest heaving, phone in hand, ears ringing.

As his brother’s footsteps disappeared down the stairwell, he unlocked his phone and dialled Sebastien’s number.

Three rings in, Sebastien answered.

“It it true?” Alec asked without preamble.

After a long inhale, Sebastien answered. “…Yes.”

Sorry for the cliffie!! More soon, but it’ll hit Patreon first, then Tumblr. Don’t let me forget, either!

Part Four

___

I really hope you folks enjoyed this one! Don’t forget to let me know if you did enjoy it by leaving a like and/or reblogging it!

#vampire #vampire boyfriend #exophilia #male vampire #male vampire x male human #male vampire x human #mlm #mlm exophilia

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doomednarrative · 4 years ago

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I’m doing this for fun simply because I'm rewatching them all so,

Here's my personal ranking for Every Gorillaz Music video, based both on song and the video itself:

(This is going to be a long post)

PHASE ONE:

Tomorrow Comes Today: 7/10. I love this song and the video fits its vibe, but its still pretty simplistic and not a whole lot of actual animation and no story, so it gets points off for that.

Clint Eastwood: 10/10. I love this one honestly. Its still so charming after all this time and showcases the band well for their early days. Love the more moody tone of it, and I always love seeing the band actually play instruments in their videos too. Bonus points for Murdoc's laugh opening this one because I love that.

Rock The House: 9/10. Pure fun. I don't have a lot of commentary for it, I just think its fun and I love the song itself too. One point off for Murdoc thrusting his hips too many times for my eyes tho.

19-2000: 10/10. This one was the first Gorillaz video that I saw and it really is just a nice non plot connected video. The 3D animation still manages to hold up because of its mix with 2D animation in my opinion and I enjoy it.

Rockit: 5/10. I like the song but the video is kinda meh.

PHASE ONE MV'S OVERALL: Overall I like phase one and I miss Del. Bring him back.

PHASE TWO:

Dirty Harry: 8/10. 2D is just vibing so hard in this video and I'm living for it. That’s all that matters. (Side note but I love the version of this video they did for the BRIT's as well.)

DARE: 10/10. Noodles time to shine, a perfect song, what more could you ask for?? (Also love the bit with Murdoc at the end of course.)

Feel Good Inc: 10/10. This one is obvious if you know me at all. Murdoc playing his bass is what sells this one for me cause I enjoy the animation. The songs amazing and one I find comforting to listen to, and the mood of the video fits it perfectly. Theres some really fun shots with lighting while 2D is standing at the window too in the tower in here that I've always liked.

El Mañana: 6/10. I love this song but it makes me sad and so does the video.

PHASE TWO MV'S OVERALL: Phase One is iconic for its art style and for being The Beginning, but Phase Two is my favorite of the two for its art. I love how these videos are animated, and even if Demon Dayz is my least favorite album, the songs in these videos are all very good. Pretty solid as a whole all things considered.

PHASE THREE:

Stylo: 10/10 LISTEN, I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HATE THE CGI, BUT I LOVE IT. It’s so expressive, this song is one of my absolute faves, I’m sorry to be such a Murdoc liker but hes so much fun in this video and so expressive and it starts the story off for Plastic Beach. I love it so much.

On Melancholy Hill: 7/10. It’s not a bad video, and I love the song a lot, but...not a lot actually happens in the video aside from the bits with Noodle. Bonus points however go to just how seamlessly it puts 2D and 3D animation together, and for how cute 2D looks this whole video.

Rhinestone Eyes: 9/10. WOULD BE A 10/10 IF WE’D GOTTEN OFFICIAL ANIMATION FOR IT ;-; (The fan animated video for it tho is Very very good and i applaud that whole team.) Amazing song, this video has the most story packed into it so far from all the other videos and it’s memorable from its storyboards for that alone.

Doncamatic: 10/10 Listen...Listen I know its a one off and it doesn't really have anything in it but I’m obsessed because its one of my favorite Gorillaz songs tbh and I love Daley’s outfit in it so it gets a full pass from it.

PHASE THREE MV’S OVERALL: I love every video this phase tbh, none of them are bad. All of them are fun,and even if Melancholy Hill is a little slow, it’s still enjoyable. I love this phase because they all connect and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either.

PHASE FOUR:

Hallelujah Money: 7/10. It’s not at all bad, but I’m as not fond of this song, and the video itself is much too trippy for me. Still has its own merits tho that I won’t knock it for even if it’s not my personal taste.

Saturn Barz: 10/10. Everything about this video is amazing. Character designs and as a comeback for the bands animated counterparts, it was perfect. I loved hearing them actually speak again too it made the whole thing so fun. The song is fuckin awesome and it fits the vibe of the whole video. Bonus points for the more lineless animation style they gave everyone in this video, it was a really neat change from past phases. My one complaint is again stop making me see so much naked Murdoc, I may like him but not like that.

Sleeping Powder: 6/10. I am so split when it comes to the mo cap models. This songs good but the video is again too trippy for me.

Strobalite: 9/10. Would have been 10/10 if Russel got to dance with 2D and Noodle, but other than that its pretty damn good. The mo cap looks way less awkward in here, particularly Murdoc and Russel. Also hilarious that Murdoc made a deal with the devil, and the guy who played him is actually his voice actor irl. This songs too much fun to vibe to as well.

PHASE FOUR MV’S OVERALL: Not much for story, but makes up for it in updated art and great music again. Solid overall yet again. I like it.

PHASE FIVE:

Humility: 20/10. Literally every single person I know who’s seen this video loved it. The animation is Beautiful, the song is so fuckin catchy, Jack Black is in it! What more do you want!! (The only thing I could have asked for was to see more of Ace but that’s its only flaw.)

Tranz: 9/10. I love this song so much but this video is Again just a little too trippy for me. However, we get to see Ace just jamming out in this video and I’ll take the trippiness just for that.

PHASE FIVE MV’S OVERALL: I was surprised there wasn't at least one more video for this phase honestly? I feel like Kansas or Souk Eye would have made for great videos for this phase. That aside tho, both the videos it does have are a lot of fun. My literal only complaint is that I wanted to see more of Ace. Bring him back in the future.

PHASE SIX:

Momentary Bliss: 8/10. This songs fine, but what sells it for me is the video is more slice of life/a day in the life of the studio. I’m always a fan of those moments. Bonus points goes to Murdoc trying to fuckin poison Jamie and it backfiring on him.

Désolé: 10/10: ooooh this song is so beautiful...I love it so much. 2D Noodle and Russel got to have such a fun time in this video and they deserve it. And poor Murdoc, having his little sad times by his asshole self. I love him but I think he deserved it. The others needed a good break from the bullshit and I’m glad they got it.

Aries: 6/10. Video itself is kinda boring, but the song is nice. Murdoc deserved to be left behind in Désolé after what he tried to pull here.

Friday the 13th: 3/10. I don’t care for this video and I really don’t care for the song. Not much else to say.

PAC-MAN: 6/10. Video’s fine, I like some of the little details in it, but it’s nothing special. The song itself is nice tho, super calming, I like it.

Strange Timez: 20/20 MY GOD I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH...VISUALS ARE SO FUN, I LOVE ROBERT SMITH SO I LOVE HIM IN HERE, ITS JUST A GOOD TIME ALL AROUND!

The Pink Phantom: 5/10 I just don’t really care for this song?? I like Elton John but I couldn’t get myself to like this one no matter how many times I’ve listened. 2D got to be happy in this video tho so I’ll give it a pass.

The Valley of the Pagans: 6/10. This song fuckin slaps but the video feels like a boring redo of 19-2000 except for it’s ending. It gets points for giving everyone Plastic Beach feelings at the end and hyping up the video after it.

The Lost Chord: 20/20. Y’all knew this was coming. This was something I’d BEEN hoping for story wise and I finally got it. Was it maybe a little rushed? Yes. But GOD it was such a nice thing to see them say “hey we’ve wrapped up this part of the story for good and want everyone to move on from it, so we’ve given it a properly acknowledged final send off.” And tangibly seeing everyone's emotions laid out about the island and their times there was very nice. And I know Jamie and Damon have stated Murdoc is irredeemable, blah blah yes I know hes an asshole still, but I WILL think about Murdoc in this video and how he seemed actually regretful and what that means to me and the fact that it was no one else but 2D himself being the one to reach out to Murdoc in the end to save him until my dying breath, thank you very much. And this song?? Fuckin beautiful, it had those Plastic Beach vibes again and felt good for it’s send off song, I love it.

PHASE SIX MV’S OVERALL: I may be a little split on some of them and on Song Machine as a whole, but tbh I love the phase six art style so much and most times the videos were pretty good. Bringing back PB in the end was something I always wanted too so it really does get bonus points from me for that. I’m 50/50 on them overall. The great ones are great, and the meh ones are just kinda boring, so it evens out in the end.

STAND ALONE VIDEOS MENTION:

Do Ya Thing: 10/10. I’ve said before I love the 3D animation and the slice of life stuff, so this one’s obviously a favorite, and you really cant go wrong with an Andre 3000 feature either.

Superfast Jellyfish: 3/10. This song is kinda fun but I don’t give a single shit about the music video.

Garage Palace: 8/10. Very fun pixel visuals for a change along with a killer song, super enjoyable.

So what’s my final verdict on Gorillaz and their long music video history?

Honestly for a group thats been going as long as they have, I dont think they have too many misses in their catalog. The ones that aren’t as fun are just kinda there, but the videos that really stand out stand out far above the ones that don’t hit the mark as well and in the end it all feels like a good balance. No band has a perfect video every time, but the ones that Gorillaz did well they did amazing on and I enjoy it immensely when that happens.

Sidenotes after watching all of those:

For the love of god please put Russel in the videos more, please, he deserves it and I would love to see him more.

On that note, BRING DEL BACK WITH HIM TOO!!

And speaking of characters to bring back, I want Ace to come back and join Murdoc sometimes, even if its only once or twice more, I need to see them interact PLEASE.

Last note but Jamie, please, I’m begging, show less of mostly naked or fully naked of Murdoc in future videos, we’ve had our fill by now.

#can you tell im hyperfixating again??? anyways #kief rambles about gorillaz #gorillaz #this was fun but good lord

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bijvoorbeeldja · 4 years ago

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Instagram-Famous!Sander AU, Chapter 1

More fic prompts??! I’m on it!! I’ve been reading a lot of celebrity!Sander aus recently so how about an instagram famous!Sander that comes across Robbe’s account and becomes instantly infatuated, which leads to him sliding in to his DMs and posting art for Robbe on his page! And this causes problems for Robbe because as someone that doesn’t like attention he somehow becomes Instagram famous over night!

-- @that-one-meh

...........

Chapter 1: Sander

Sander was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was late in the morning, and he’d massively overslept, but still, he felt unwilling to move. His phone was next to him on the nightside and was vibrating nearly nonstop, trying to notify itself into a coma. He knew he needed to check it. But right now, he just couldn’t. He was so tired, so burnt out. If he had to take another half-naked selfie, or do some unboxing video of products random companies had sent him that he’d never use, he was going to lose it.

He didn’t really understand how his social media presence had grown so spectacularly over the last few months. He’d posted a few of the candid photos his girlfriend Britt had taken of him, and some of his random drawings, and for some reason, people had started following him — in droves. He got hundreds of DMs a day and some new product or another was always turning up at his door.

It was exciting at first, feeling interesting and admired, but the longer it went on, the more he resented the attention. He and Britt had broken up months ago, so he had to pose stupidly and post his own photos, and art was becoming something he had to do for engagement, not for his own enjoyment. He’d even felt that his following dictated his looks and behavior, forcing him to adopt some on-screen persona that didn’t feel like him. He felt vapid and hollow most of the time now. But the social media collaborations were paying for his rent and tuition way better than his local barista job ever had. So he kept posting.

Finally, he rolled over with a groan, grabbing his phone and bracing himself for the onslaught of messages, comments, and an oversaturated feed. Unlocking his phone, he took in a deep breath as he opened his Instagram app. And groaned. A cursory glance over the more than 500 DMs clued him into the reactions to his latest selfie. They were mostly heart eye and fire emojis, with some “OMG SO HOT” and other explicitly-messaged ones he had to ignore — for his sanity. Ugh.

He left his inbox teeming with unread messages and returned to scroll absentmindedly through his feed. He only followed a handful of people — despite common belief, it wasn’t because he was trying to look cool and unattainable as an “influencer” (he hated that word); it was because there were really only a few people he actually cared about. A few art school friends, a few music accounts, and that was it. Besides doing his job as a randomly famous IG personality, he chose not to engage. Everything was so shallow and pointless. Lives curated to perfection on meaningless squares, the real life off the screen. But as he reached the end of any new updates, a photo caught his eye.

One of his school friends had a habit of posting particularly artsy street graffiti he found around Antwerp, usually black and white photos of spray-painted words and stenciled graphics. But this one was different. First of all, it was in color. Bright, intense colors made the image pop. There was still street art, but it wasn’t the focus, taking second stage behind a figure in the foreground. The figure was a teenage boy, but small, soft somehow, even as his limbs sharply angled on the skateboard he rode. He was in the middle of a jump, his eyes focus and wavy brown hair airy around his face mid-movement.

Sander sat up immediately, rubbing the leftover sleepiness from his eyes, and feeling suddenly warm and breathless. It wasn’t like he was into skateboarding or anything, he wasn’t particularly coordinated, but something about this photo was so captivating, he couldn’t stop staring at it, like the longer he did, some mystery would be reveal itself. The boy looked small, but strong; focused, but relaxed. He looked so...beautiful.

Sander felt embarrassed even thinking it...I mean, he didn’t even know this boy, and hadn’t even ever been with a boy. But staring at him, he felt his stomach flutter slightly, and his heart quicken. The boy had these soft features, and wavy hair he knew was soft without even having to feel it. Which...obviously, he never would. But still. He just knew it. He sat there, the minutes — or was it hours? — passing by as he stared at the photo, absorbing every detail and shamelessly memorizing the stranger.

Then, his heart rate picking even more, he acted without thinking. He hit the comment button on the photo, swallowing hard as his fingers hovered over the keys before typing.

Hey man, cool pic. Who’s the kid?

Did he sound nonchalant enough? He hoped his breathless eagerness wasn’t evident through the words. God, he was pathetic. But the more he stared the boy, the more desperate he was to know more. Anything more.

He waited, refreshing his notification page, willing his friend to respond immediately. But no response came. So he held his phone to his chest, laying back down on his bed. It wasn’t until he was drifting off dozily with brown waves and soft smiles lingering at the edges of his subconscious that he remembered he still hadn’t posted for that day. His followers would be aching for new content. But with his last bit of mental energy, he pushed the thought away, letting the boy’s being envelop him in sleep.

#wtfock #wtfock fic #insta-famous!Sander AU #wtfock fanfic

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balletroyale · 4 years ago

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Unpopular opinions 2.0

Unpopular Ballet Opinion: Isabella Boylston has a fun and active personality that—unfortunately—does not translate well into her performances. She’s talented, but she feels more well-suited for contemporary ballet than classical dances.

I actually am turned off by her personality sort of overall, but I completely agree with the rest of the sentiment.

Unpopular opinion: NYCB dancers can do Balanchine like no one else (for obvious reasons, of course), but whenever they try classic after-Petipa choreography, I can’t help but cringe.

Mostly because personally I would rather watch Balanchine dancers try classical ballet than Russian dancers try Balanchine.

The whole “American Dream” notion being applied to ballet bothers me. I mean, yeah anyone can start doing ballet no matter their age, race, gender, sexuality, fitness level etc. But whenever someone asks “I’m [insert age well within the puberty range], I’m thinking of starting ballet. can I be a professional?”, there will always be people going, “Yes of course! [insert famous professionals who started later than their peers] started at 13/14!” or they would list an example of a male professional starting at 18 or something. Those are exceptions to the rule. And men can generally start later than women, but they never specify it or explain the difference. Misty Copeland starting at 13 keeps getting brought up and look how she dances now. It just plants this unrealistic notion of “if they can do it, I can do it too” in people’s heads and then more often than not they end up failing.

I completely agree. Yes, there are some examples of dancers who started late but they are few a far between. I think that the line between letting people pursue their dreams and being realistic can be hard to navigate, but you ultimately do more harm than good by blindly encouraging someone. For example, I can think of instagrammers who are 18-20, not in a company or a prestigious school with no experience who still think they will become professional dancers and honestly I feel bad for them. You start wasting your life.

Dancers who dance as themselves, instead of living the lives of the characters they’re playing on stage, COULD BE boring to watch. Not to say they aren’t amazing, but I am much more interested in dancers with versatility and who are “chameleon actors”. Lopatkina has mastered portraying a Swan and regality so well (because she is an actual Queen), that’s all I can really see in her other roles but I adore her. Zakharova though just looks very boring to me; although she is beautiful, I have yet to find one role that she embodies completely.

I am only not giving this 100% yes for semantics, basically. I think they ARE boring to watch. Ballet is a performance and part of that performance is acting a role, whatever it is. If you can’t sell a performance emotionally, I don’t want to see it. Completely agree about Lopatkina (though I pretty much cannot watch her in anything but Swan Lake) and I’ve never enjoyed Zakharova. Obviously these people are incredible dancers, but to me that doesn’t mean you’re an incredible ballerina because acting is an aspect of ballet.

I want to plaster this onto every comment section of any youtube videos about ballet: BALLET IS AN ART FORM, NOT A SPORT. Period. I don’t even know if this even qualifies as an opinion, because ballet doesn’t even fit the description of a sport. It’s a fact, supported by historical evidence, quotes and arguments from dancers, choreographers, pedagogues throughout history. People need to stop trying to use athleticism to legitimise ballet, it undermines the artistic aspect of the ART FORM. I don’t think any professionals who have been dancing for years see themselves as athletes. They’re called artists for a reason, and they understand why. I see people who say otherwise are usually very young.

Nothing to argue or explain there.

I'm just a casual balletgoer and know nothing about the technicalities of the art, so forgive me if this is an obscure opinion but... Bournonville's ballets are lovely and they don't deserve their reputation of being boring and drawn-out

I’m always here to defend Bournonville ballet and technique.

Unpopular Opinion: Just because a Vaganova grad has strong allegro or is lively on stage doesn’t mean they are suited for the Bolshoi

Absolutely. I also find it so insulting that people think the Vaganova doesn’t have strong allegro or lively dancers. That’s a fault of the people in charge of casting, not of the whole method itself.

#ask #ballet #unpopular opinions

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theginger-patrick · 5 years ago

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ART 311 - May 6, 2020 Additional Posting

Tagging on to my first post, I have been gaming for over twenty five years and have been exposed to virtually every kind of storytelling that is present within the Video Game industry. Linear or branching structure, supported by a given or built narrative, and a multi-player or single-player experience. I have played games from any classification you can think of and found delivery methods which work and those that don’t. Compare these games: FreeSpace 2, Freelancer, No Man’s Sky, and Tachyon: The Fringe. They’re all spaceflight games.

FreeSpace 2 is a linear, spaceflight combat simulator. To me, this was and is still the single best linear story game that I have ever played (this opinion takes into account things outside of narrative though, like how I can’t play horror games because I jump to easily; if this weren’t the case, Thief II: The Metal Age may have been a contender for that spot). It had an extremely engaging story which was all translated expertly on a “need-to-know” basis via the mission briefings and de-briefings, and in-mission transmission between mission control, your wingmates/escortees, and yourself. The rest of the game was you being a bad-ass pilot and protecting some stuff while blowing the living hell out of other stuff. For its time, the graphics were phenomenal and the scenery (whether open space or a shrouded nebula) beautiful. The accompanying soundtrack took players on an emotional roller-coaster ride entirely appropriate for every scene you played through and was truly breathtaking. Honestly, the music of that games can still bring tears to my eyes in the right moment. The game, as a whole, succeeded at its storytelling because of all of these elements combined, and because it made you feel as though you were directly responsible for the success of missions through leadership (ability to command wings to secure/destroy/protect objectives) and skill, and your character was rewarded with commendations and promotions to reinforce that feeling.

SPOILERS AHEAD: I know the game is now twenty-one years old, but in case I have inspired anyone to try it out through GOG.com I wanted to warn of spoilers. Despite this being a linear style of narrative, this game still provided me with my first truly “influential” player choice in my video game experience which directly influenced how the final mission ended. In the final mission, the bad guys of the series are causing a sun to implode and cause a resulting supernova to destroy a system. Your mission is not to destroy the ships causing this to happen, but to escort the relief fleets evacuating all civilized life from that system from their entry into the system to the jump-point out of the system in a given time-frame. When you begin to near the end of the mission you’re presented with two options: you can either choose to burn hard to the exit saving who you can and escaping yourself or stay back and protect the stragglers, getting them through and failing to escape yourself. Either way, so long as you saved the primary escortees, you complete the mission and are presented with an ending cinematic. However, if you chose to remain behind and sacrifice yourself the cinematic that you are presented with is in a tone of subdued jubilation, the narrator mourning those who sacrificed themselves for their victory of escape. You won either way, but if you sacrificed your character this cinematic stirred a lot of real and deep emotions. END OF SPOILER.

Freelancer is a third-person, spaceflight RPG, with a core story line which was a semi-linear and semi-branching in nature. It was linear in that you had to complete various core missions to progress to the next phase of the game, but it it was branching in that what you did in between to advance to those transition missions was entirely up to you; you could become a mercantile behemoth, a pirate, a military officer, a smuggler, or a mercenary. There was expansive lore in the game outside of the core missions for you to discover, a variety of ships and weapon loadouts for you to choose from which affected the difficulty, and occasionally the lore, of the game universe. When comparing space games, this is easily my favourite RPG style space game that has a story to it (Star Citizen, EVE Online, and Elite: Dangerous don’t qualify because while they may have goals you can aim for, there isn’t really an overarching story in them). The story itself gets characters emotionally invested in the game’s universe, and uses pretty darn good foreshadowing in several instances.

Tachyon: The Fringe is a mechanically excellent game, but it falls far short of the excellence of FreeSpace 2. It is another primarily linear story line, though you are given the choice of choosing a faction to support, which just determines which of two linear paths you will follow. The writing of the story’s structure leaves much to be desired, though it must be credited with being fairly compelling despite this. It’s also presented in the lac-luster manner of job board postings. There are side missions that can be completed, however there’s little variety and zero bearing on the main story. The soundtrack is of middling quality and doesn’t inspire nearly the emotional response of FreeSpace 2′s masterpieces of composition. Not much more I can say about this game other than, “It was meh”.

No Man’s Sky is infamous within the gaming community, and for good reason. It was promised to be the most expansive sandbox game ever created, with diverse ecosystems on procedurally generated planets, whose fauna was also to be generated using this procedural process and as a result be unique, have a deep story that players uncover pieces of the story as they travel towards the center of the galaxy only to be thrown into a much more expansive story when you get there, and be actively multiplayer (but were told it’d be super unlikely you’d run across any other players)! Except it was nearly nothing like it was promised. The planets weren’t unique, the animals were all similar, and the story was dull as all hell, and when two players coordinated over stream to get to the same location on a planet, they couldn’t see each other (multiplayer wasn’t in the game). The story of this game relied on information dumps on the players at uncontrolled intervals, and there was nothing present within its content or delivery which gave players any reason to care about or engage with the “main story”. This was a branching narrative “sandbox” game which failed for a variety of reasons at launch, but story wise it failed because it didn’t catch the players’ interest.

If you made it through all of this, good on you!

#freespace2 #tachyon #freelancer #no mans sky #video games #storytelling

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 6 years ago

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Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Finland to Eurovision with a meme icon and his side-kick

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“heeeeeey what is that song on that video???” Definitely not Darude - Sandstorm. Grow the fuck up.

I mean that they basically threw off the open call for songs from Finnish artists, instead opting for having one artist national final, usually one very known but very gettable-bored-of name so that they could get some more viewership rather when they pick a random nobody from a bunch of other random nobodies. Last year YLE got themselves an artist whose Eurovision ticket was long overdue, but this year they went the extra step and brought us HIM.

No, not that HIM. They can't go anyway as they've already disbanded. I'm talking about HIM.

Yes, THAT HIM. Meet Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen, which thankfully has a pseudonym to publish his music with - Darude. Almost 20 years ago he published this beautiful techno single "Sandstorm" with lyrics like "du du du du du du du du du du du du". And now it's become the big-ass target of memery for the past few years on the Internet, with Darude being very well aware of it all - I don't think he has escaped questions about "Sandstorm" now that the Eurovision interviewers media is on horizon and interviews literally every single representative, no matter if they're shy or unpopular with the bookies at all.

And even if "Sandstorm" was the only thing to shake his tiny little Finnish world, it did not break Darude to be just a one-hit wonder (well he still looks like one but yeah) and he's got more music out ever since. And it probably sounds a little too tragic when YLE resorts to just nagging and begging Darude to represent their nation, even kinda secretly hoping that thanks to him Finland can have a qualification just solely for the meme factor. Darude even said so that he at first rejected their calls, but this year became THE year for him to go, and he's not alone obviously - his credited vocalist friend for this ride to Tel Aviv became Sebastian Rejman, a bit washed-up media star who already did some collaborating with Darude.

So the format was basically the same for this year's UMK - artist announced separately, then each of their 3 songs gets published every week on a specific weekday, with single cover art and a music video already, and the Finnish people together with international juries vote for the best track. Simple as that. Unlike with Saara Aalto though, all Darude & Sebastian songs were barely even distinct from one another in sound - just techno songs that have a piece of "Sandstorm" with themselves. Well only 2 do anyway. But still, techno/house songs to listen to on the radio when you're driving and minding your own business. And I had hard time picking favourites but all of them were alright I guess. Yet somehow my least favourite happened to win... and that was "Look Away", very much so inspired by natural disasters and how do we all ignore everything around us. No matter if it's a storm or hurricane or tornado or wind throwing sand at our eyes.

I don't know why the song didn't click with me all that much at first, I suppose it was because it's just a mindless gloomy techno song that raises global awareness (we already have Denmark talking about that, but they're insisting that "love is forever", while Finland is just... getting up more seriously in all this), and besides that, it's just incredibly repetitive. It consists more of the pre-chorus-ish chorus (I mean the line "is it in my head? Am I the only one?" and that other line preceding) and the actual chorus that mostly goes like "look away, look away, look away...". Even to the point when the song ends with some additional “look away”ing but under a different drum beat. What's it with Finns having a passion for the word "away"? We already had seen them sending a "Sing It Away", which was basically a cheer-up tune telling you to sing your problems off... while this year? We're trying to NOT look into the problems dead in the eye. We're looking... erm, uh, away.

But now I do have to say that I somewhat like it. Tell it to ya - the B minor chord is possibly one of my least favourite music keys, so I might as well be a little bit more negative on it if takes the song with itself to sound incredibly dull and painfully meh. So thankfully we'll be hearing it live half a step lower (idk if that's what it is with most EDM singers in Eurovision that shit like this can be possible, as well as idk why are they allowed into Eurovision in the first place. But seriously, why can't you just choose the same key you sang in in studio for Eurovision...), which made the song sound better to me - as a Nightcore junkie, I am passionate about hearing songs in different keys all the darn time, to see in what key would a certain song sound the best. It's usually the song's key that makes me like a song better or worse live rather than a live performance itself (though in some NFs I can see which of my favourite acts are DoA by not even emoting towards them - my emotion has to be evoked, and if I evoke it on purpose, well then, I'd just rather stay motionless completely on anything and only yelp if a song causes me to do this unexplainedly). We'll see how Sebastian will execute his singing live. As for now, he's the captain of this sinking ship that hit a small iceberg (another one of the disasters we usually "look away" from until it's found in our history books). Not Darude. Darude's just merely a musical hold-up of the disaster. It all has to depend on the vocalist and if the staging clicks with the audience. Sure, Darude can put on a red wig and green sunglasses so that he could click with the meme audience, but that won't get the Finns far.

So I like this song, it actually has some cool musical moments thrown in (I like the piano for one), I can enjoy this off my free time. But Estonia does it better at the "Finno-Ugric EDM-ish entry about Mother Nature's tantrums" category and I ain't even sorry for saying this. But I gotta be sorry for Darude. This year's UMK had the lesser care about it because... well, these songs weren't exactly inspiring or anything, and with people wanting something groundbreaking, their hopes kept on vaning away with each and every song release of the UMK entries': "oh so the next 2 two songs will be good right?" "oh so then the last one will be the best one, yeah right?" "...oh, okay then .-." And him, as the Finnish meme king, should have deserved a better year for a better Eurovision stint, so he could have become something à la Epic Sax Guy. Right now I mostly see a middle-aged DJ with 2 kids, not a redhead dude with green sunglasses looking shadily on us. And that's okay sometimes because memes don't necessarily need to be remembered for memes (just like I mostly remember Kanye West for music, and then memes come second), but Finland's gonna take a miracle to get through, and I hardly see any. That's an aina mun pity.

Approval factor: Eh, it's alright, but I would certainly not hold it up to high regards post-contest? lol.

Follow-up factor: it's kiiiiinda bleak knowing that after giving us probably one of the most favourable dark horse efforts for Eurovision they're now going down the dancier route, with one entry after being a banger, the other being a dad banger. Ah well. It doesn't flow so neatly in my eyes, it seems.

Qualification factor: almost dead in the tracks. Finland flows anywhere they can, having a lot of bad luck for 3 years this decade, and I doubt that the juries will be supporting this heavily, considering they are better at rating good vocalists over bad ones, so I don't think this will sail through. But I secretly have hopes in this. It's not that bad, but Estonia is in this semi too, and it's a friendlier EDM track, so I don't quite think that repetitive will out-compell the good formulaic. Plus, Sebastian has a lot to fix vocally, and I doubt that he will carry Finland any further if he doesn't fix anything, so so far the chances of Finland aren't looking up imo. Bottom 5 at the semi is more likely if not already the actual outcome. Maaaaybe 10th in the semi at best, but I doubt it.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

The more this section pops up in my works, the less I wanna recap national finals anymore. I hope there’s more breather moments with me having to review a lot of internal selection songs in between the ones from NFs, because this whole season was an utter disaster, and it’d help if the next one isn’t. So let’s check in on Finland's selection’s best:

• But seriously, did anyone ever see Darude as a Finnish representative coming??? No??? Me neither. I was just sitting there, waiting to see if there's a hope for Mikael Saari (you know, that balladeer guy from previous UMKs - I do believe some audiences love him just as much as Saara Aalto, who only was on one UMK and one Euroviisut) to be announced on this special separate programme. Nope - the trilingual hosting trio of the programme that included Krista Siegfrids in it as the token Swedish speaker just happened to happily proclaim Darude as THE Finnish hopeful... and the world was s h o o k e t h. Just look at him go. His smug grin is still iconic on here.

• During the wait for all the UMK songs to pile up, the excitement for Darude faded away and everyone moved on to support other countries. I can't blame them, because I have found like one decent song this UMK that's still worth listening to twice a year or so - "Superman". Where Darude becomes the everyday hero for ordinary people that have difficulties in live to do mundane stuff. Maybe this song would have made him look like a better meme than his current entry would have? Just watch him go on his DJ booth dressing like a knock-off superhero because EBU doesn't allow blatant advertising. A way better gimmick than Gromee's snakey hands. Alas, no one will have to hear "Superman" anymore. Granted it's just an EDM song just like any other, but somehow I liked it best, end of.

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• There's at least one memorable screenshot from UMK as well, so I'm happy with that. I saw this pop up on my Twitter time line and I could not stop laughing inside. Seriously. Krista and this other guy should host ESC provided Eurovision is ever coming back to Finland. They had a lot of iconic outfit changes during the NF itself (and the NF itself had "Look Away" with some dancer on a cube but they scrapped the tall cube for Tel Aviv entirely), but those floral onesies are my favourite.

Now I kinda hope that there’s something that will alarm YLE in the meantime that Finland needs a better approach for Eurovision and we’ll see another fully-fledged UMK in the works next year, and then Finland can be great again. For now, I’ll just wish “onnea” to Darude and Sebastian, with hopes that people don’t look away from their song at all! (but most likely they will so what’s the point.)

#eurovision 2019 #tel aviv 2019 reviews #finland 2019 #darude ft. sebastian rejman #look away #finland

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natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk · 6 years ago

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Anime Highlights of 2018 (SO FAR!)

I haven’t watched all of this year’s anime because I have a ton of other stuff on the “watch later” list, but I wanted to get my two cents in. I know it’s just the start of 2019 (when I started this post, it was 2018).

If you don’t see a show on here that could’ve been on the list, scroll to the bottom and click “Keep Reading” because it might be included in the shows I didn’t get around to watching!

For this list, I will be ranking the shows into categories:

Raisin Cookie: Low-Tier

Sugar Cookie: Mid-Tier

Chocolate Chip Cookie: Top-Tier

No sequels allowed! No shows that are continuing from the previous year.

Honestly, there were a lot of good shows this year. Even this summer (which was considered the weakest by many) still got a lot of good shows in.

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This video covers a lot of this year’s good anime.

Raisin Cookie:

Conception

Read the synopsis. Do I really need to say why? I watched one episode, cried on the inside, then asked why I was even born.

Goblin Slayer

The first episode was gruesome and horrifying. It was seeping with edge, but I couldn’t figure out why they would make that the first episode if the rest of the anime was just an ecchi harem. We knew this would be a disappointment, but we didn’t know it would be a disappointment because of that.

Bakumatsu

I watched the first episode and wondered why I even tried watching this. You can’t carry a show with just voice casting and arguable fujoshi-baiting.

Mahou Shoujo Site

This rivals Goblin Slayer’s edge. Mahou Shoujo Ore takes the magical girl genre and makes fun of it through comedy. This makes fun of it through gore. Think of it as an extremely poorly done, awfully written, badly executed attempt of trying to recreate a show like Madoka Magica.

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

For a mystery show, this show was sure full of bullcrap and nonsense. I watched the first few episodes and found myself disliking this anime.

Kitsune no Koe

I watched nine episodes before giving up. The music is subpar. The acting is subpar because the story and script are so poorly done. I would even argue the casting is all wrong.

Akkun to Kanojo

I just don’t like relationships where people are overly tsundere. I get the whole getting flustered thing, but resorting to violence and bullying over it is not my thing. This guy is so mean to his girlfriend, and sure, some people might enjoy it (which is why it’s the top of the trash pile), but I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Sugar Cookie:

Mahou Shoujo Ore

This show was supposed to be stupid. That’s the point. But the jokes get overused and stale after a while, and I found myself wanting it to be over near the end. It got me to laugh once every couple of episodes, but that’s about it.

Devils Line

This was a cringy vampire romance. That about sums it up in a nutshell. Miyuki Sawashiro deserved a more badass character, and so did Yui Ishikawa. Still better than Twilight.

Satsuriku no Tenshi

This was edgy like Mahou Shoujo Site and Goblin Slayer, but this show didn’t take itself as seriously. For the video game fans, they pretty much followed the story of the game. There were little to no discrepancies. But if you are only watching the anime, you’ll find this show so cringy and awful. Kudos to Nobuhiko Okamoto who took on this role knowing that it would strain his vocal cords.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 2

The charm of the first season was just lost. They had a lot of hit-and-miss episodes where I was either going to like it or think it was a waste of time. I want more sibling antics and fewer love triangles, but it was still a solid season.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl

I watched three episodes of this, and as much as I wouldn’t mind watching more, I couldn’t build attachment to any of these characters. I felt nothing for the story either. Okay, so a pretty misunderstood girl gets into a relationship with an otaku... what else?

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

I watched this because the OP was so darn good, the art looked nice, and it gave off the same vibes as Gekkan Shoujo, but it ultimately disappointed me with the ending and the whirlwind of “Wait... what just happened?” The relationships were not developed enough and came out of nowhere like the truck in Zombieland Saga.

Phantom in the Twilight

Giving this the benefit of the doubt... this didn’t make it past this category because the art was so poorly done that I found myself wondering what the budget even was. The story wasn’t even as poorly done as other otome game adaptations (actually, this one is an original I think?) A Kana Hanazawa lead bumps this show up a notch though.

Nil Admirari no Tenbin

This is probably right beside the previous entry, but this one had better character designs. It was another otome game adaptations... why do I even try? It was okay. It’s more episodic than one would think because you have a “guy of the week” or something. It was just meh... but I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t like guys all that much.

Sugar Cookies With Icing:

Dame x Prince Anime Caravan

This is separated from the other two otome anime because this one made fun of itself. It was openly wondering what the heck happened to itself, and it was a lot more fun to watch because of that. It was kind of like Konosuba in a way because none of these guys were all that desirable. Picking “best guy” would be tough with a cast like this. It was a lot more enjoyable than the others because I found this cast more likeable because they were so over-the-top.

Gakuen Babysitters

I don’t like kids. This show... tried to change my opinion. I still don’t like kids.

Pop Team Epic

Yeah, you’re probably wondering “WHAT THE--??” That’s normal. It's basically parodying with famous voice actors. You won’t like it as much if you have a normal sense of humour. This anime is really strange, and like a lot of comedy, it will be hit and miss.

Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet

This show was okay. It was well-animated, and I liked the cast a little. Okay, I liked Hasuki. Besides that, you are basically watching the whole “Romeo and Juliet” stuff again with anime cliches.

Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

This was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting this show to be good, and the art was subpar, but the cast (despite a huge lack of female characters) found itself being oddly good. It’s crafty and gives off the same vibes as Durarara but with hitmen. Who will hit the hitmen next?

Grand Blue

Let’s ignore the romance elements. This is a comedy, and while this is a bit ecchi, I found myself tolerating that part. This show had me laughing at least once per episode, but if you were looking for a diving anime, you have to look somewhere else.

Banana Fish

I watched the first six episodes of this one, and I found myself liking the cast. It was pretty good. The animation is great, the voice acting is good too, and the story is riveting. I just jump around series a lot.

Asobi Asobase

Same with this one. Six episodes have been watched. It has a very odd sense of humour, and it gives off the vibe that “this is going to be a cutesy anime” with its opening then screws you over with their antics. I found this anime oddly charming despite me not being so excited about its art style and watercolour palette.

Hataraku Saibou

I never thought that the least questionable ship out of the summer 2018 anime I watched would be between two fricking cells. This anime was great, it was cute, and it was educationally entertaining! It was a very solid series. Plus, a Kana Hanazawa lead is always a bonus!

SSSS.Gridman

This is an amazingly animated series by Studio Trigger that can excite even non-mecha fans like me. I just started it, but it’s turning out great! This might even go all the way to triple cookie status by the time I reach the end.

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

I never thought a skull face bookseller could be so entertaining, but it is. This series is charming, and even though it didn’t have the greatest animation budget, it uses it in all the right ways. The relatability that retail workers will feel is astounding, and even non-retail workers like me can find this enjoyable.

Violet Evergarden

Kyoto Animation can make anything look good, and they made this look amazing. This story is oddly touching, and a lot of people got emotional. I wasn’t really one of them, and I found them reaching a bit too much sometimes. I feel like I was supposed to feel stuff, but I didn’t. That’s kind of my fault though. This series is stunning and beautiful visually. The soundtrack was well-written, but it was sometimes misused by the sound director. The stories are pretty solid, but I found the development a little rushed at times. I would recommend it still though.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

The otaku jokes resonated a lot with me, and I found this story to be cheesy in the best of ways. The cast is so likeable and pure, and I found myself looking forward to a new episode every week.

Hinamatsuri

This anime had be laughing so hard to the point where I couldn’t watch it around other people, and I had to conceal my laughter as I watched it during the middle of the night. I never thought such a wholesome father-daughter relationship would occur between an OP esper and a yakuza. If you like Mob Psycho 100, you will like this one and vice-versa. This, to me, was the best comedy of the year.

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

This anime was so darn misleading. I was about to skip this because I thought it was going to be some tasteless edgy show, but I found this to be a weirdly pleasant show to binge-watch, and it was a much more easy and arguably better take on the Monogatari series and whatever genre that is. The girls are likeable, there isn’t a lot of fanservice that is shoved in your face, and the writing got me attached to a lot of the characters.

Zombieland Saga

This anime sounded so stupid at first, but after watching a couple of episodes, I started really liking the cast. These are all relatively new seiyuu minus Mamoru and Risa Taneda. Honestly, words cannot describe this show besides surprisingly amazing. You thought this would be a stupid idol anime? Instead, we go an intriguing, touching, and oddly inspirational anime with great music, art, and everything.

Let’s announce the stuff that I’m excited to watch later!

These are the amazing shows that I’ve heard about that I haven’t gotten around to watching.

Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (Winter)

Also called “A Place Beyond the Universe”, this anime is about this group of girls taking the journey across Antarctica. I heard it’s a lot of fun.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san (Winter)

Her forehead is as big as her face. I’ve heard this is funny, and I’ve watched clips of it. Rie Takahashi and Yuuki Kaji have the main roles in this anime, and they do a fantastic job playing the trickster and her victim.

Megalo Box (Spring)

This one is probably one of the biggest things I’m missing out on. If it weren’t for one of my anxiety triggers being sports, I would’ve jumped on this. Yoshimasa Hosoya does an amazing job as the protagonist in this well-animated boxing series.

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (Autumn)

I’ve watched one episode, and yes, tsundere dragon is the best girl. Besides that, it just looks like a lot of fun for a show that sounds so weird.

Yuru Camp△ (Winter)

Cute girls doing cute things while camping. That’s pretty much what this is about. Whether you like that kind of show will determine whether it’s worth watching for you.

Golden Kamuy (Spring)

This another big thing I’m missing out on. It already got a second season, and it looks like a fun action series. Minus the bad CG, it looks good. I heard the lead sounds just like Hosoya, but Hosoya is in the show too! Along with a new score composer with a lot of new series under his name, I’m excited about this one too!

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Autumn)

I’d be more excited about this series, but I haven’t finished Haikyuu yet, and I have a really bad history with track and field.

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (Autumn)

This series looks beautifully animated, and this is one of Kaori Ishihara’s big roles besides Aladdin from Magi which was years ago.

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redroseredemption · 7 years ago

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My Top 15 Best Sentai Openings

I love sentai. I know, shocking. I’ll give you a moment to pick up your jaw. Super Sentai is filled with action, a surprising amount of drama and men and women in colorful spandex! But for all of that, there are things we as fans tend to sometimes overlook. One of them being music. Toei, the owners of the Super Sentai franchise, make some great music. For this post, I’ll be looking at the opening themes to Super Sentai The opening to a show isn’t there to just show the title card and credits. It’s to show what the series is about with its theme song and visuals hoping to get you hyped up for it. Sometimes, we tend to remember the opening to a show more than the actual show itself. I will say, most if not all Sentai openings are very memorable and catchy, even the truly terrible ones...unfortunately, but that’s for another list. Before I start, I just wanna let everyone know that if you hate or like any of these, more power to you. Just please don’t harass me over it is all. With that said let’s head on into...

MY TOP 15 BEST SENTAI OPENINGS! Why top 15? Because there were too many good sentai openings to leave out! --- #15: Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8x5ea9f3rs) This opening is definitely not everyone’s cup and I can see why. The person who sings it sounds like he smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day, but for an opening about a team of animal rangers, I think it fits well. However, I will admit it does get kind of old after binge watching for more than two hours. #14: Kyukyu Sentai GogoV (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87BBbm5Q-KI) A sentai about a team of firefighters, a pilot, a policeman and an EMT ( all of whom are siblings) deserves an epic opening and that’s what this song brings. The song has a sense of urgency to it that I think fits well with the show, even in the lyrics “Save the Earth! Save the Life(?)” It just fits well with the theme of the show. #13: Tensou Sentai Goseiger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nUT9Lr39pA) Goseiger is the most disappointing sentai ever, but that rant is for a whole other thread. Here, I’m actually going to say something good about Goseigers. The theme song is great. I love the instrumental at the beginning, I love how after that it becomes quit somber and then cheerful, with children cheering “Tensou” during the chorus. It’s a good song. #12: Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ntnX6wEkg) The 70 sentai’s had very disco sounding openings. Even in Denjiman’s theme, you can hear the disco influence in the guitar riff, but starting with Sun Vulcan it seemed like there was a clear jump. I don’t know how to describe it since I’m not an expert on music, but you can clearly hear the difference. This opening to me signifies the change sentai would go through over the years. #11: Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKcEvrOWhBc) Ah, Dynaman. The Michael Bay of Sentai. I swear, there are more explosions in the opening then some sentai’s have in their whole show! Anyways, its theme is extremely catchy. I mean almost all sentai themes are catchy but this one, in particular, will have you singing “Dy-dy-dy-dy-dynaman” ALL DAY. I also love the epic violin part at the beginning. It’s a solid 80′s sentai theme #10: Doubutsu Sentai Zyouhger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQa4P7b2NCA) Zyouhger is...meh. I only got 20 episodes in before dropping it. It wasn’t terrible, but it could be better. Maybe one day I’ll rewatch it and finish it, but for now, I’m putting on the back burner to watch other sentai seasons. It’s theme song, on the other hand, is fantastic. It has a very jungle feel to it which matches the theme of the show. My favorite part is when they do the call out to the rangers animals “EAGLE, SHARK, LION, ELEPHANT, TIGER” it honestly gives me goosebumps almost every time. #9: Chouriki Sentai Ohranger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iWRNAW6N1E)

Ohranger has the best theme song out of all the 90′s sentai in my opinion. Other than GogoV, the other 90′s Sentai theme songs range from ok to god awful. This was the season Toei and Super Sentai was going to go all out and you can hear that in the theme. Every time I listen to it, it gets me pumped! The chorus is honestly me my favorite part of the song (starts at the 1:00 mark in the video) Not much else to say other than it’s a great song and the best 90′s sentai theme. #8: Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kqFVvyKr6Q) Dekaranger was the first sentai I ever watched so there’s bit more bias in this one than just the theme is good. Like with the others before the music matches the theme of Dekaranger well. It has a sense of urgency to it like GogoV’s. The rangers are raring to go without a moment's hesitation. My fav parts have to be the beginning and the countdown. It might be a bit Engirshy, but its fun. #7: Choushinsei Flashman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzKTRJsoyvo) When I first heard the beginning of this theme, I knew I’d love it. The trumpets combined with the guitar just work so well. It’s also the first sentai theme on the list that actually makes me want to dance! It’s a shame this season isn’t fully subbed yet. Maybe one day. #6: Tokumei Sentai Gobuster (1st theme) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V-u08pynXs&t=104s) BUSTERS READY GO! Why did they have to change this theme? Seriously it was fine! The 2nd theme is...ok I guess. I know it was an attempt to rebrand the show due to declining ratings and toy sales, but to me, the first theme has way more impact and emotion. #5: Ressha Sentai Toqger: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW9q06Z9O1M) Want to make Trains seem cool? Put it to an awesome pop/punk song about imagination, and that’s exactly what they did here. No other sentai theme makes me want to headbang to it like this one. Everything about this theme is just fun! I hope in the near future, Toei brings in more rock themes to Super Sentai #4: Kosoku Sentai Turboranger: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTj4Ho4dQJY) I feel like I love this theme more than I should, but I really don’t care. This theme to me is the best 80′s-90′s sentai theme. Everything just works. From the trumpets to the double pedal, every instrument and sound just adds to the song, nothing feels like filler and nothing feels like it shouldn’t be there. Also, I think I like songs with the word “dash” in them because this is the second theme with it.

#3: Juuken Sentai Gekiranger: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIuvq0-XrJg) Now we’re getting into the hard part of this list. Honestly, I wish I could give this and the next two theme’s the number one spot, but unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a top 10, or 15 in this case, list if I just put multiple songs in one spot. Right off the bat, Gekirangers theme hits you with the classic Japanese instruments and then hits with a sort of modernization of those instruments and it’s like a beautiful explosion of martial arts. Makes me want to punch and kick my TV screen! (I suggest you don’t that) #2: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vToLwIEuI8) This is probably cheating, but I’ve never watched Shinkenger. I know! I know! Blasphemy! It was never that high on my “must watch” list...but that might have changed since after hearing the opening theme, because oh my god. To say that I was floored would be an understatement. This theme captures everything I want in a children's theme song. Catchy, high energy, fits well with the themes of the show and actually makes me want to watch it. The ONLY complaint I have is that the part before the chorus is a little too slow for my liking. Other than that this is almost a perfect theme. Before I continue to my #1. Here are a few HONORABLE MENTIONS: Chojin Sentai Jetman: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvwKKYUCwQk) It’s a good theme and will get stuck in your head all day long as you sing “Jeto, Jeto-Jetoman!” over and over again! Also, the dance exercise video of the song is a thing of beauty and must be seen! Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6aDs8cvReI) It’s such a fun and happy theme. It makes me feel all bubbly inside. The only problem? This theme is for a sentai about thieving PIRATES! While it’s a great song on its own, it just doesn’t fit with Gokaiger in my opinion. Chikyu Sentai Fiveman: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmF6wqCtRug) Even though this was the series that almost killed super sentai, doesn’t mean it didn’t have a pretty good theme song. The first part is really good. The chorus, on the other hand, is a little weak, but it hangs in just enough to get on the honorable mentions list. Dengeki Sentai Changeman: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7MzNRs4CY) I don’t think any theme song makes me want to shake my finger around like the swing dancers do like Changeman theme does. This and Jetman’s theme would be tied for the 16th spot. And now. My number 1 sentai theme song is!... #1: Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67dQUTP3Has) Is this a cop-out? Maybe, but I don’t care I love this song SO MUCH! Everything is nearly perfect about it. The vocals, instruments, the way it builds up, and the sense of hope it brings, that just because the universe is ruled by an evil tyrant doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there fighting it. A tiny flickering light in the void of darkness. That’s what this song fills me with and it’s the reason it’s my favorite sentai theme! Thank you guys! I hope you enjoyed this list! Let me know what you think and what are your favorite sentai theme songs!

#super sentai #uchuu sentai kyuranger #tokusatsu #Toku #top 10 list #top 15

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suzu-kun22 · 7 years ago

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My Top 10 Favorite Video Games

This is basically gonna be the same as my ranking of the V3 characters. I’m going to list my top 10 favorite video games and then write a small paragraph on why I love them so much.

Spoilers for the games mentioned.

10. Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire

The characters of Alpha Sapphire are very fun to hang out with and very endearing (since I chose the female protagonist, I found Brendan particularly likable). Plus its endgame content is some of the best of any Pokémon game I’ve played to completion. The Delta episode is just incredibly fun and rewarding to complete, and it ends with a very nice ship moment for my biggest ship in the game. It was nice to revisit a region I love so much with such beautiful graphics and likable characters.

9. Minecraft: Story Mode

I honestly don’t know why I like this game so much. I know it’s dumb and that most of the choices don’t really change the story that much, but I find the characters so endearing and the story so weirdly compelling that I’m willing to ignore most of that and just enjoy the game for what it is. And what it is is a fun ride with really likable characters who actually have well crafted and well-explored dynamics. A lot of it feels like watching a TV show where I have some input, and that isn’t a bad thing.

8. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Most of the first three games on this list’s appeal chalks up to characters for me. However, THH has the added bonus of an intriguing plot and satisfying twists sprinkled on top. The characters all have standout personalities and designs as well as phenomenally developed dynamics and personal histories. The twists are mostly unexpected, and you can tell that a lot of love went into crafting it, even if the actual art is probably the worst of the series.

7. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

The main thing that pulls UDG ahead of THH is the fact that I prefer UDG’s protagonist. Komaru is just more relatable for me and her dynamic with Toko is utterly adorable. I always found that Toko never got enough focus in the main game and this game remedied that with ease. Yuta Asahina was also an added bonus, even if he only lasted about five minutes. The only reason this game isn’t higher is that the 3D graphics can look really awkward some(all)times.

6. Doki Doki Literature Club

The Gakkougurashi of video games. Need I say more? Yes? Even with its fake-out cuteness and actually evil characters, the game still manages to get you to love them and become invested in their fates. Of course, the darker second act of the game wouldn’t work so well without the relationship you build with the characters early on. It also wouldn’t work without the game’s amazing art and unsettling music. A game that is almost perfectly designed on both a technical level and a story-level.

5. Pokémon Black Version

I must admit that this one is mostly here because of nostalgia. It was the first Pokémon game I ever completed (and I think the first video game I ever completed) and thus will always have a special place in my heart. The Gym Leaders are cool and interesting, the Pokémon are cute, and the endgame content is on par with that of Alpha Sapphire (A whole other side of the map to explore and battle through!! That’s pretty awesome!!). There’s even a cameo from my favorite champion (Cynthia my girl!!)! For a 2D Pokémon game, you can’t get much better than this.

4. Pokémon X

This is my favorite Pokémon game. The difficulty level is just right. The characters are fun and vibrant, and the world itself is laid out in a very cool way. The Pokémon themselves are all cool and cute, and the endgame content (while not as good as Alpha Sapphire or Black Version), is pretty cool. Working with Looker to get rid of crime in Lumoise city was really fun, and all the restaurants and other areas that become available once you beat the champion are interesting to explore. A truly well-designed and fun-to-play Pokémon game!

3. Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

This one all comes down to characters. The characters all have even more personality than those in THH or UDG. The twist is much more compelling and surprising and even more meta. The murders are more interesting to solve and appear better planned out (though you can still guess the killer most of the time, but there were a few times where the killer legitimately caught me off guard). Chapter 5 on its own was better than the entirety of THH, even if the reveal of the mastermind wasn’t nearly as satisfying because we all knew who it was from the start. However, the Izuru Kamukura and Ultimate Impostor twists were easily enough to make up for that. Just a well-made, well-written, clever game all around. Loved it to death.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Link.

Okay obviously that’s not enough.

Breath of the Wild strikes a perfect balance between being challenging enough to be rewarding to complete, but not so much that it’s impossible to figure out how to do it. Games like Borderlands, while very fun to play, often miss this crucial balance for me. While those games may be fun to play and very rewarding if you actually manage to complete them, they are so challenging that actually completing them is often not worth the rage, pain, and time I know it will take. Breath of the Wild hits this balance perfectly with a difficulty curve that doesn’t actually exist, but really feels like it does just from how the game goes about getting better gear into your hands. The characters are slightly lacking (Sidon and even Link are well-characterized), but that’s part of the point. The game creates a beautiful feeling of melancholy in the player, which I’ve talked about in more depth in a short analysis I wrote on the emotional impact of the game.

1. New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

I think the characters pull this one ahead (no surprise). The characters in this game certainly act the most human of any character in any Danganronpa game. They cry when something happens to their friends, they get angry when someone insults them or betrays them, and they’re suspicious of pretty much everyone. Pretty much all of them are completely fleshed out and interesting to watch. The twists are fun and unexpected (even if there are hints towards them early into the game), and there’s even more to do than ever before, with events between trials that aren’t only about getting the characters into a location to find a body. Chapter 5 is yet again the best chapter with the most entertaining and compelling trial in the entire series, culminating in one of the most effectively emotional executions in the entire series (the first one of this game may have this one beat, I’m still not sure). Kokichi Oma specifically is probably one of the most interesting characters in a series filled to the brim with interesting and unique characters and I legitimately missed him once his role in the game was over. This game has so many layers beneath its surface that one could probably spend all day collecting hints to determine if the ending was real or not. The cases of this game are also a lot more complex, with one trial that even goes for THREE HOURS BEFORE THE KILLER IS FOUND OUT!! This is when the focus really shifted from ‘okay we gotta figure out who could have done this’ to ‘okay we have to figure out HOW the killer did this and then figure out who in our group is capable of both coming up with a plan like that and carrying it out without getting caught.’ And the killers themselves are never characters you would expect to kill someone (chapter five is sort of an exception but meh). All of this, plus the detailed art of the characters and environments, (and excellent voice acting if I do say so myself), make this my favorite game that I have ever played to completion.

#new danganronpa v3 #the legend of zelda breath of the wild #super danganronpa 2 #pokemon xy #pokemon black #ddlc #doki doki literature club #danganronpa another episode #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #minecraft: story mode #mcsm #pokemon alpha sapphire #spoilers #new danganronpa v3 spoilers #ddlc spoilers #ndrv3 spoilers #doki doki literature club spoilers #danganronpa

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transtarot · 7 years ago

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I'm looking for a queer tarot deck - hopefully something with the lovers card not being really cis heteronotmative, you know? Do you have any recommendations?

Oh I do know! And I’m so glad you asked because I’ve been meaning to point out some awesome queer decks on this blog!

(Before I begin: No animal decks or otherwise people-less decks are going to get mentioned because lack of people does not equate “queer friendly.”)

This gets long so it’s under a cut, but if you know of any other queer decks not mentioned (or any warnings about queer decks that you feel should be shared), please message me or reblog this post!

TW: Nudity under cut

Let’s get into it, starting with decks I own:

Tarot of the Silicon Dawn by Egypt Urnash

This deck’s Lovers features three people, whom Urnash never distinguishes the gender of. Urnash herself is a trans woman in a polyamorus relationship (at least at the time of writing the booklet for the deck!) Is it any surprise the Lovers would have more than two people?

The deck itself tends to have a lot of sexual undertones, that are explicitly stated in the deck’s booklet. For this reason, I would not recommend the deck for anyone who is sexually repulsed or made uncomfortable by nudity. There is one card in particular that is very, very sexual, which is 8½: Maya [click here to see an image of it, but remember it’s very NSFW!] The other cards display nudity, but for the most part it’s not necessarily sexual, if that makes sense.

Unfortunately, the Court cards are still called Queen and King, with Chevalier and Prince/Princess depending on the suit. Also the Pentacles and Wands have their elements switched, so Pentacles are Fire and Wands are Earth.

Also this deck is very small. A little longer than playing cards perhaps? So if that’s something you want, or don’t want, keep that in mind.

Modern Spellcaster’s Tarot by Melanie Marquis and Scott Murphy

This deck is significantly not really meant to be “queer” but it has a lot of LGBTAQ themes. Aside from The Lovers being hooded figures that disguise any obvious gender, the Four of Wands has two feminine people getting married and Two of Cups has two masculine people sharing a cup together. But it still has Queen/King/Knight/Page titles.

There isn’t any avert sexual themes in the deck, which could be useful if someone is sex repulsed.

My biggest problem with the deck is that it’s very NeoPagan and NeoWiccan in its symbolism… Lots of the Triple Goddess Moon symbolism throughout the deck. I don’t recall if the book itself was sprouting stuff about “masculine” or “feminine” energy, which is nice (and happens so much that I usually just filter it out when I read any tarot book.) Also, the book that comes with it is very dogmatic about how to handle a tarot deck – which I tend to disregard.

But a fairly nice deck with some diversity!

The Numinous Tarot by Noel Arthur Heimpel

… Okay I don’t technically own this deck yet, but I did participate in the Kickstarter and will get a deck when it comes out in February 2018! This is seriously probably my favorite deck I’m going to list, just because I love the imagery.

This deck was explicitly made queer. Heimpel is a genderfluid artist who wanted to represent a variety of people and genders, and I think they did just that! Seriously this deck is breathtaking and you can still preorder it even though the kickstarter ended.

The Court cards have been renamed to Mystic, Creator, Explorer, and Dreamer. Some of the gendered Major cards have also be renamed, like High Priestess is now The Diviner. It’s all very rad.

And suits have been changed! Which is kinda cool I think?

Anyway I am so excited to own this deck!

Now onto decks I don’t own, but I heard good things about:

Slow Holler Tarot by Various People (screencap of the deck from this video)

This deck is known for being Southern Queer Wonderfulness. I don’t personally yet own it, but I plan to someday get it because it’s very beautiful artwork at the very least.

Gendered cards and then some have been renamed too, which is fantastic in my opinion. Suits are also renamed to various things, like Swords being now Knives and whatnot.

Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road

This Lovers card is pretty gorgeous, not gonna lie…

Anyway, I don’t own this deck nor have I preordered it, but it looks pretty awesome. Taken from the pre-order page: “Featuring body outlaws, endangered cultures, and anti-colonial belief systems, THE NEXT WORLD TAROT envisions a world where justice relies on respect and revolutionary love.”

It’s pretty revolutionary in that regard, and the art is fantastic. I don’t know much about it beyond that. It seems like the gendered names of cards are still there, which is meh but not the worse thing since the deck displays a lot of different body types and genders nonetheless.

That’s about all the ones I know. I’ll update this list if I find any others!

#tarot community #divination community #decks #decklust #transtarot #queer decks #Anonymous #ask allec #nudity tw #Trans Resources

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gothrapxxx · 6 years ago

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Mehndi is the standard art of henna painting in India and the Middle East. You might see it written as mehandi, mehendi, mendhi, henna, al-henna, and a myriad other names and spellings. In current times, United States henna artists have pertained to denote the art with the term "Henna Body Art." All of these words explain the same classic art form, body painting for festive occasions. However you spell it, mehndi is pronounced meh-hen-di (with a soft, dental d sound like "thee"). I focus on comprehending conceptions of henna in India, where it has actually been used given that the 12th century. Lots of historical documents detail earlier use; for example, it is the Arabic Muslims who brought henna to India, where it has actually blossomed into its own distinct art design. In Indian mehndi, an individual applies designs traditionally to a woman's hands and feet. For especially advantageous celebrations, males use mehndi also. The most auspicious celebration necessitating mehndi art work is the Indian wedding event, where both bride-to-be and groom apply henna, along with numerous members of the bridal celebration. Henna on any occasion symbolizes fertility. At the wedding, henna artwork furthermore signifies the love between husband and wife, and the stain's long-lasting nature symbolizes the long-lasting nature of their love. Mehndi entered use because of its cooling restorative effect in a hot environment, and, in India, it was likewise a way for a groom and bride to learn more about one another before a set up marriage. A variety of traditions underlie using mehndi, consisting of wedding event video games and legends. For instance, the groom's name is typically written somewhere within the bride-to-be's mehndi; if he can not discover his name within the complex design, the bride is stated to have the control in the marital relationship. Also, a dark mehndi design for both bride and groom symbolizes that the two will have a strong relationship. Within the past few years, mehndi has become popularized in the West by artists and Hollywood characters alike, and is now a quickly rising pattern among females and guys in world culture.

Equating the word "henna" actually indicates "to end up being queen." The Indian name "mehndi" designates the procedure, the color, and the stain of mehndi. To make the color, henna (mehndi) leaves are dried and finely ground. The powder that results is filtered 2 or more times through a great nylon cloth. This process leads to getting rid of the coarse fibers from the powder, making what is left finer and easier to utilize. The artist then mixes this fine powder with an oil (such as eucalyptus, nilgiri, or mehndi oil) and other liquids (lemon, water, or tea), making a thick paste. This paste is applied to the wearer's hand in various styles, which can vary from large, thick patterns to Moroccan geometric patterns to standard Indian paisleys and lace-like drawings. All depends upon the ability of the artist and the style of styles used. A solution of lemon juice and sugar is then applied to the drying mehndi to allow it to remain stuck to the skin and to improve the dying process. Mehndi is yet another conventional yet interesting pre wedding ceremony. In Indian weddings, a lot of focus is given on customizeds and routines and the very same is reflected in the Mehndi ceremony prior to marital relationship. Mehendi event has ended up being such an integral part of the wedding ceremony that it can not be imagined without it. Additionally, Mehndi is among the sixteen adornments of the bride and her beauty is insufficient without it. Mehndi event usually happens just before marriage. According to the routine, the bride-to-be does not step out of your home after this ceremony. simple mehndi event is basically arranged by the family of the bride-to-be and is generally a personal affair which happens in the existence of friends, relatives and family members. Nevertheless, the scale of the event relies on private choice. Some people celebrate it with fantastic pomp and show. Mehndi is one of the oldest kinds of body art developed by guy. The Hindi and Arabic word Mehendi is stemmed from a Sanskrit word 'mendhika' which described the henna plant itself. Referral to uses of henna can be traced back to the Bronze ages. In the bible, henna is described a Camphire. In and around the Indian subcontinent, henna has been used as a cosmetic even prior to Vedic ages. India is considered as the source from where the body art traditions with henna infect different parts of the world like Egypt, Asia Minor and the Middle East. Recommendations of henna throughout the mummification procedure of Pharaohs in addition to anecdotes of the famous queen Cleopatra using henna to paint her body are popular in history. Prophet Muhammad is known to use henna paste to color his graying beard and was understood to promote use of henna to others as well. Use of henna is thought about immensely auspicious in lots of traditions worldwide, especially within Hindus, who would think about Mehndi part of the popular 16 adornments or Solah Shringaar. Henna (Botanical name: Lawsonia inermis) is a small shrub-like plant, found in tropical climates of Indian sub-continent, Malaysia, Africa, Middle Eastern countries. The leaves and branches produce a red-orange dye called Lawsone that is responsible for imparting the characteristic color when bound with protein particles of the upper skin layer. The plant is commercially cultivated in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Traditionally, the Mehndi paste is made from dried powdered henna leaves. The leaves are dried in sun, ground and sieved to obtain a fine mossy green powder, which is then integrated with water, lemon juice, drops of eucalyptus oil, and mixed till a smooth paste is acquired. The paste is soaked overnight for optimum infusion and after that poured inside a plastic cone. Smaller cones are chosen as it affords much easier application.

The suggestions of the cones are cut according to the favored thickness of the lines required. The cones are squeezed lightly to make sure smooth, constant circulation of Mehndi. Application is normally begun with lower arms, slowly moving down the hand, ending in the fingertips. Gone are the days when particular aunties and sis were in need around the area for their know-how in Mehndi designs. Now Mehndi event centers around professional Mehendi artist who specializes in the most recent patterns in henna art. Conventional Indian styles consist of peacock themes, floral styles, bride/groom reproductions and other elements that cover every inch of the hand, lower arms, feet and calves. The fingertips are usually covered in thick layers of henna paste. The idea is to decorate the bride-to-be's body in imitation of costly Fashion jewelry. For those who are minimalists, they can pick Arabic styles where the Mehndi concepts are normally applied to one side of the hand and feet and do not extend to lower arms or calves. Floral and paisley themes control this style and the designs are usually curvy with great deals of focus on vines. Indo-Arabic style of Mehndi merges these 2 design patterns into a classy, artistic category. Latest trends in bridal henna styles is incorporation of colors in between henna concepts, addition of stones and blings, addition of flashes or metallic dusts. Geometric patterns and white henna designs are likewise in vogue today. The henna needs to be kept on for a minimum of 4 hours for deep and uniform color. The longer the paste is kept, the deeper will be the color. The color actually intensifies depending upon one's temperature, so the henna-painted body parts can be wrapped in cling wrap or hinders to seal in the temperature. A mix of lemon juice and sugar should be applied on the styles with a brush or light cloth at 1 hour intervals so that the dried Mehndi does not fall off and stays put guaranteeing much better color. Another method to make sure better color advancement is to dry roast some cloves on a tawa and letting the hands soak up the smoke. The Mehendi should never be gotten rid of by water after it has actually dried and must be done by simply rubbing the hands together as the dried bits come off quickly. The Mehendi Ceremony normally takes place the day before the wedding, in the early morning. The bride-to-be and the groom's family observe this ritual separately at their own residences. It is traditionally a women centric event with the men of the family generally not taking part. The outfits chosen for the ceremony are simple, in light colors, absolutely nothing too flashy. The venues are decked up with flowers and colorful draperies. The bride-to-be wears a light yellow or light green colored Lehenga or Salwar Kameez with short sleeves preferably and the groom uses Kurta Pajama likewise in light colors. It is not compulsory for the groom to use Mehendi, however a little bit is applied on his hands and feet in simple dots or little designs. The ceremony also involves application of oil on the groom's hair. The henna for the bride's ceremony needs to arrive from the groom's side together with some other gifts like fruits, dry fruits and sugary foods. Lady of the houses put together and the Mehndi is either applied by one of the bride's relative or nowadays by professional Mehendi artists. Designs are more elaborate and depending on what the bride prefers, the henna is applied on the front and back of her palm, forearm, till above the elbows, and on the feet till below the knee. Elderly girls sing conventional Mehendi songs with dholaks and other musical instruments. Ladies loved ones of the bride-to-be also get latest mehndi applied to their hands, although the styles are not as intricate as the bridal Mehendi.

The Mehendi ceremony includes within itself a host of standard beliefs that are handed down the generations. Traditionally, somewhere within the complex bridal Mehendi, the groom's preliminary is included. In post wedding, the groom needs to look and find it out. This helps with a good ice-breaker for the freshly wedded couple especially in case of an organized marriage. It is likewise said that the darker the color of the Mehendi, the more love the bride will receive at her in-laws and especially from her partner. The longevity of the color of Mehendi has special significance as well. In older days when set up marital relationships were primary, the bride-to-be retaining her Mehendi while visiting her parents' house after the wedding signaled her mother that the in-laws were thoughtful and caring.

Use of Mehendi in a pre-wedding routine is not just cosmetic but has deep underlying clinical factors behind it. Henna is known for its cooling residential or commercial properties and is expected to calm the bride's nerves when applied to her hands and feet. Indian weddings consist of a host of pre and post wedding rituals that extend the happy event through days before and after the real wedding day. These colorful events bring the whole household together, even from far off locations. The immediate and extended families, buddies and neighbors get together to commemorate the union through numerous tried and true routines throughout a span of numerous days. The Mehendi Ceremony is one such occasion that is an indispensible part of the wedding celebrations. simple mehndi Event typically describes application of a henna paste in fancy complex designs on the bride's hands and feet. A tremendously colorful event, with lots of singing and dance efficiencies involved, the Mehendi event officially kicks off the wedding celebrations completely gear.

This ritual is not only part of Hindu wedding events in Northern and Eastern India but also a part of the wedding event routines amongst Indian Muslims. The ceremony is observed in countries adjoining India like Pakistan and Nepal, in addition to in a number of Arab countries in the Middle East. Although, the ritual was primarily observed in parts of northern India, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, the pattern has gained appeal all over India. More and more cultures are welcoming the concept of Mehendi Ceremony as a pre-wedding routine mainly due to the aesthetics included. The event has ended up being a symbol of splendour, enjoyable and festivities, and excuse for some significant pre-wedding lady bonding. Mehndi (or Hina) is the application of henna (Hindustani: हेना- حنا- urdu) as a temporary form of skin decoration, most popular in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Somaliland, along with migrant neighborhoods from these areas. It is generally employed for events and special events, especially weddings. Henna designs are generally made use of the hands and feet, where the color will be darkest due to the fact that the skin consists of higher levels of keratin. The leaves of the henna plant consist of a red-orange dye particle, lawsone, which has an affinity for bonding with protein, and has actually been utilized to color skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk, and wool. Henna leaves are usually dried and ground into a powder, which is blended into a paste and applied utilizing a range of methods. The henna pasted is typically left on the skin for 8 hours; after it is removed, the pattern continues to darken for roughly 3 days. The word "henna" originates from the Arabic name Hina for Lawsonia inermis. In the Bible's Tune of Songs and Tune of Solomon, henna is described as Camphire. In the Indian subcontinent, there are lots of variant words such as Mehndi in North India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Arabic-speaking countries in North Africa and the Middle East the Arabic word is "hina." In Telugu (India, Malaysia, U.S.), it is known as "Gorintaaku." In Tamil (South India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) it is called "Marudhaani" and is utilized as ground fresh leaves rather than as dried powder. It is utilized in numerous celebrations and celebrations and utilized by women and kids. It is left on overnight and will last one month or more depending upon the plant and how well it was ground and how long it is left on. The various words for henna in ancient languages recommend that henna may have had more than one point of origin. It is known that henna has actually been in usage as a cosmetic, along with for its supposed healing residential or commercial properties, for a minimum of 5,000 years, but a long history of migration and cultural interaction has made it tough to figure out with outright certainty where the custom began. Some scholars claim that the earliest paperworks of henna use are found in ancient Indian texts and images, showing that mehndi as an art-form may have come from ancient India. Others declare that the practice of ornamenting the body with henna was taken to India by the Moguls in the twelfth century C.E., centuries after it had remained in usage in the Middle East and North Africa. Another theory is that the custom of latest mehndi come from North Africa and the Middle Eastern nations throughout ancient times. Henna is likewise known to have been utilized in ancient Egypt, to stain the fingers and toes of the Pharaohs prior to mummification. Another possibility is that the similar use of henna for skin design developed individually and maybe all at once in these areas.

It is thought that dots of henna were first applied to the palms of the hands as a means of cooling off the body. Early users of henna began to add lines and other shapes to the single dot on the palm, ultimately establishing the sophisticated styles utilized today. Henna has been utilized to embellish young women's bodies as part of social and holiday events considering that the late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest text mentioning henna in the context of marriage and fertility events comes from the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, which has references to ladies marking themselves with henna in preparation to fulfill their partners, and Anath adorning herself with henna to commemorate a victory over the enemies of Baal. Wall paintings excavated at Akrotiri (dating prior to the eruption of Thera in 1680 B.C.E.) reveal women with markings consistent with henna on their nails, palms and soles, in a tableau consistent with the henna bridal description from Ugarit. Numerous statuettes of young women dating in between 1500 and 500 B.C.E. along the Mediterranean coastline have raised hands with markings constant with henna. This early connection in between young, fertile women and henna seems to be the origin of the Night of the Henna, which is now popular global. The Night of the Henna, a ceremony throughout which henna is applied to the hands and feet of a bride-to-be, and typically to other members of the wedding celebration, was commemorated by the majority of groups in the locations where henna grew naturally.

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actualltr4sh · 6 years ago

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i’m doing this bc im having an existential crisis

1.if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?: read the mothers by britt bennett, watch stuck in love (2012), listen to the suns tirade / isaiah rashad

2.have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?: not yet.

3.three songs that you connect with right now: i’ve been heavily immersed in florence & the machine lately. drumming song, what kind of man, heavy in your arms

4.would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?: no lmao

5.have you taken someones virginity?: whoops!

6.how many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?: you can’t trust none of these niggas tbh.

7.if you could, would you take back your last kiss?: i would take back the circumstances in which we kissed, not the kiss itself lmao.

8.who would you like to see in concert?: isaiah rashad. i’d probably cry the whole time lmfao.

9.what was the last concert you saw?: beyonce i think.

10.would you ever want to swim with sharks?: you niggas are crazy.

11.do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?: i sure as the fuck hope so.

12.what was the last thing that made you laugh?: mmm.. new girl.

13.a song you’d listen to during soft/slow/passionate sex?: any of the old weeknd. let’s get dark and twisty.

14.have any pets?: 0.

15.do you want to have kids? How many?: if i get over my evergrowing fear of being in love again i’d like one. a boy. zion.

16.do you have piercings? How many?: 9. i doubt i’m done. i can at least get to 10. i’m no puss.

17.do you miss anyone from your past?: ish. i think about people from my past a lot. i wish everyone the best.

18.what are you craving right now?: sanity lmfao.

19.have you ever broken someone’s heart?: i doubt it lol.

20.have you ever been cheated on?: kinda. it was a technicality. i had never felt more cheated in my life though. it took me months to get over it. it’s damned near a yes LMFAO

21.have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?: yeah i guess so. we’ve cried as a unit.

22.do you believe in true love?: not any more.

23.favourite weather?: spring or fall. i like my weather mid as fuck LMFAO

24.do you like the snow?: not particularly.

25.do you wanna get married?: doubt it’ll happen.

26.is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby?: if i’m in love with you lmfao.

27.what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?: “excuse me, did you see my ash???” LMFAO

28.go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!: space is completely silent, says the internet.

29.what’s your favorite pasta dish?: cajun chicken pasta from chilis - no tomatoes.

30.what color do you really want to dye your hair?: blonde, actually.

31.what’s your favorite eye color?: brown. ugh. sex.

32.talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.: it’s a red duffle bag i got when i was like 8 from when i did gymnastics.

33.are you a morning person?: i’m barely even a person lmao god no.

34. what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?: i don’t think i can say i’ve broken in anywhere lmfao

35.what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?: used to be my white chucks, it’s now black combat boots.

36.what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.: i haven’t worn matching socks since i was like 9 or 10. i typically wear the fun ones. i don’t sleep in socks because i’m not a fucking serial killer.

37.tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.: one time we were at a party and we got locked outside of my friends car and we had to ask some random guy in a fraternity for help and he unlocked it with a hanger.

38.do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!: it’s this place called ‘sip’ in crown point indiana. it’s cute and quaint and they have cookie dough hot chocolate. there’s a book you can write stuff in and people can read it whenever. none of the chairs match. it’s like a huge thrift store with coffee.

39.who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?: probably joe lmao.

40.what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?: mmmm i don’t know.

41.do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?: i used to LOVE buying cd’s. the last two cd’s i bought were the soundtrack to into the woods and 2014 forest hills drive lol.

42.think of a person. what song do you associate with them?: dante, holla if you need me. that was our song when we were like 12 lmfao.

43.what are your favorite memes of the year so far?: idk. i keep taking social media breaks (outside of tumblr obviously) i can’t even think of any lol.

44.do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?: love. the first thing that came to mind was we real cool by gwendolyn brooks. idk why.

45.what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?: given? like some now laters and a tea lmfao. idk about received honestly. i like most of my gifts.

46.what are some of your worst habits?: i can sound/be incredibly patronizing. i’m self destructive. i’m oblivious. and impressionable.

47.describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.: they are one of the smartest people i know. they focus too much on their flaws and can hardly see how amazing they are. they are so fun to be around and i aspire to be like them one day.

48.tell us about your pets!: 0.

49.is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?: idk. being a success story.

50.are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?: eh. fuck minions. i guess that’s hate lmao.

51.what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?: once i tweeted “if a boy ever called me and sang just the way you are by bruno mars, i’d die.” and someone called me and sang it. i was like 13 or 14 lmao.

52.describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.: the shape of almonds, and the shade of honey. a sea of allure one could get lost in. sweet and honest were the pieces that gazed.

53.what’s some of your favorite album art?: my beautiful dark twisted fantasy.

54.are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?: nigga. i want two sleeves lmfao.

55.do you like concept albums? which ones?: meh.

56.what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?: legally blonde.

57.list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.: rope / isaiah rashad. heavy in your arms / florence & the machine.

58.if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?: future. the past is done. i also do not want to do college again lmao.

59.what do you do when you’re sad?: be sad. write. cry. watch tv. sleep. avoid. make videos. laugh at memes.

60.what are some things you do when you can’t sleep?: sit and stare into the lids of my eyes lmao. i dead ass will just lay there with my eyes closed.

61.what was the best (non-romantic) night you’ve had?: idk.

62.who is the last person you told a secret to?: joe.

63.what’s the best piece of advice you ever received?: don’t date while you’re healing.. that’s the most recent at least.

#that's two in one day #i didn't even really like this one though so whoops #about me

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