#tiny promo bc I wanted one with shadow

[micsmasmuses]

Multimuse featuring muses from Sonic, resident evil, Shiki and other various media.

Loved by miasma

[sunsboyfriend]

i just wanted to point out this small big detail with the way the eclipse is showing in the "shadows"

it's the same light effect that let our eyes work.

when light passes through a tiny aperture, it works like a lent and projects the image of the original fount to the other side.

In this case, the sun is the fount and the image given is the moon covering it.

it performs this

and is the easiest, accidental and safe way to watch a solar eclipse, since it's inderect light and your eyes aren't exposed to literal sunlight (i think moon ones are harder bc yknow there isn't a lot of light). I wonder if it could a message in this promo.

here's another one, reflections in a tree, wich is pretty similar to the effect of the avertures on kings??? skull

pic 1 is from this tweet, and 2nd from this one. and third ok.

[ofcloudyskies]

hiya! i really, really hope things get better for you soon. if you ever want to talk about it, just know that i'm here ♡ i know what you mean about tumblr being a safe haven. looking back, i think i came back here bc i was going through a really rough patch (existential crisis do that to you) and even after all this time, i still find comfort in the chaos that is this website. it's become some sort of refuge where i can be silly and speak into the void about the things that make me happy. (1/6)

hello marina! <3 thanks to tumblr for the reveal haha :D i'll post this to keep the whole thing in one place

apart from ouat, i used to be really into glee. i stopped watching ouat after s5 and the later seasons of glee were a real roller coaster. but i was so happy in both fandoms. i mostly kept to my tiny bubble but i did meet so many lovely people. and the fact that i'll probably never know what's become of most of them will always hurt a bit. but yeah, life goes on and one can only hope that they're happy, wherever they are. ah, this got sappy haha. what other fandoms were you in before? (2/6)

my mind keeps drifting these days, too, and the fact that summer makes me feel super drained isn't helping at all. but YES, YESSSSS, i'm definitely up for a buddy reading. that may help us beat our reading slump! we can read "if we were villains" or we can choose any other book you may be interested in, of course! speaking of naomi novik, i started reading "spinning silver" a while ago after hearing great things from a friend of mine. (3/6)

i don't think i picked it at the right time, but god, the writing was so atmospheric and raw. i'll definitely go back to it one day, i love retellings. also, i hadn't even thought about the colors of the covers, what a cool coincidence! black and gold will always be one of my favorite combos. there's something so magical and kingly about it, right? the collector's edition for crooked kingdom is black and gold, too, and i couldn't stop staring at it the day it came in the mail hahaha. (4/6)

see, i'm incredibly intrigued about nikolai. i need to know more about him. that's one of the main reasons why i want to read the shadow and bone trilogy, actually. if i manage to get out of this terrible slump, i think i'll jump back into the grishaverse and give the trilogy a go. in the meantime, could netflix please give us a trailer or some promo pics? i need something, anything! (5/6)  

ahh, tumblr won't allow me to send any more questions for at least an hour because i exceeded the ask limit. but i just needed to send one last message, so i'll just come off anon, i guess hahaha. anyway, feel free to write as much as you want!! as you can see, my messages just keep getting longer and longer. aaah, i'm so sorry. but what can i say, i love letters too! (6/6)

~~~~~

ah, thank you for good wishes <3 i don't want to burden you too much with my life problems and tbh it doesn't really get easier no matter how many times i talk about it, i will most certainly end up crying again if i start thinking about it too much again. i’ve been living with this terrible feeling of uncertainty about the future for a year now (because the thing will happen, the question is how soon) and it feels like i’m always at the verge tears, one word, one thought and i break. ugh, now i’m being weirdly vague akfdjhg sorry >< but i hope you managed to get through your rough patch! if you need to vent about anything, you know where to find me!

oh, i'm actually rewatching glee right now! i was so into it in high school but stopped watching at some point. last fall i needed a pick-me-up show to pass a few weeks of alone evenings so i randomly decided to rewatch glee and this time to watch the whole thing till the end. i think i'm at the start of s4 now. i mostly only listen to the episodes while cooking :D

other than ouat i think i only actively participated in doctor who fandom. for other things i was just a lurker/rebloger... then i got into animanga (mostly into this one baseball manga?? i literally didn't know the rules of baseball back then. don't ask why i like it so much, i don't understand it myself haha, i just accept it) and made a sideblog for that which i started using more than the main blog so i made a separate account and came here only from time to time

YAY we can agree on ‘if we were villains’!! i’ve been considering ‘the priory of the orange tree’ from samantha shannon recently but it’s definitely too long for a slump mood. ah, naomi novik has polish roots and i remember uprooted was based on polish folklore, it was nice to see elements of the tales from my country in the story. i wonder if her other books have that as well. and oh my, i envy you the collector's edition of crooked kingdom! i own the duology but in the basic covers, i love them lots anyway. what are your other fav covers on your bookshelf? and i hope i didn't oversell nikolai, would be bad now if you read the books now and were meh about him ahaha, fingers crossed!

if you like writing letters to strangers, there's this cool app called 'slowly'. you’re matched with a stranger from somewhere in the world and you can write each other letters. the letter takes time to arrive to the recipient according to the distance between the countries where both people live. i used it a bit when i was stuck at home and wanted to feel connected to the world c:

idk how we should keep this going :D does fanmail still exist on tumblr? if u have ideas let me know hah. have a good night x

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Museum of Mayhem Art Analysis

ahhh it’s finally here and it’s AWESOME. Lots of credit to @ifalnasminiatures for bringing this to my attention! Also credit to Hayder Hype for providing (nat zero six on gearbox forums) sources (Ashley Landry on twitter) in the description of his video because oh man it’s a lot

you can view most of these art pieces on the borderlands instagram as well

lots to talk about especially regarding the calypso twins so let us dive right in

tl;dr: tyreen has a weird red marking on her face in some old designs. i think troy used to be blind and missing his metal plates. more proof for my elpis/chemical sludge/lost legion theory that the twins are using said chemical sludge to give their followers psuedo-siren powers bc a dahl pumping station (hyperion pumping stations on pandora) but dahl had a presence on the moon

one of my favorites, it reminds me a lot of the Mask of Mayhem, but for villains.

Punk Girl is shown again twice, probably further proving she’s tied in with the CoV somehow

we also got some crazy looking villains such as

baby face. which is all kinds of extremely fucked up

this dude who looks like he could be a miniboss with the glasgow smile and the cool goggles

this guy who i legitimately thought was dr zed for a hot second there

could it be

the evilest brother?? pfft nahhh

this girl who seems like she could be a unique character with a baseball cap. wondering if maybe she’s related to Punk Girl in any way. What’s the verdict on the other band members? 🤔

uhh let’s give it a solid maybe and move on

this piece! very interesting to me

so, the very first thing i noticed is zane’s eye patch being on the other eye lol

amara’s tattoos are also gone, however that might’ve been for reasons similar to the japanese cover art of the game. 

most interestingly is a point @ifalnasminiatures made and it’s that the calypso twins are actually palette swapped! you can see Troy is the one with the white hair and Ty is the one with the darker hair. which I think mayyy play into a few things we see later about the twins

we also see a tiny ship in the background. i can’t tell if that’s sanctuary-iii or the blue/yellow ship, it all blends together a lot due to the quality of the pic. but it is next to the calypso twins, which makes me want to believe it’s the blue/yellow ship we see with red markings all over it. you know this one from the mural of mayhem wallpapers

you can see the reddish markings on the back right next to the engines

then we have ummm

this cover art

😬

thanks for not using this one gearbox cuz 

oh my god

she just reminds me of suicide squad, that’s not a good image you wanna dredge up from the deep recesses of your fans’ brains

she might be a unique character given the clothes/hair? cuz you don’t normally see psychos with stilettos on. or yknow, shoes in general. the hair also seems way to clean and neat to be a psycho/cultist

i just feel uncomfortable looking at this, so moving on

a different logo. also not my favorite cover art, but at least im not physically uncomfortable looking at this. that poor girl’s pelvis... anyway

lots of silhouettes

interestingly, i feel like the roses might have been a thing they just put in for the new cover art. haven’t seen hide nor hair of them across any of the pictures i’ve seen.

we got a lot of figures. out of them i most definitely recognized amara, salvador, maya, another salvador?, zer0, moze (maybe?), and axton. i thiiink one of them is maya as well, but im not 100% on that. 

i can guess why they didn’t pick this one: it’s hard to tell who’s who. a lot of these poses make the silhouettes kinda hard to see and the merging together at the bottom makes things even worse. i do think it’s interesting there are some bl2 characters on here as well, but hayder hype mentioned they very well could be placeholders, and given that i can’t make out fl4k or zane, im inclined to believe him.

this art which was used during the promo for this event

rip elpis i guess LMAO

a better look at the psycho himself from the promo released by the borderlands twitter.

there’s a new red planet which hasn’t been shown off before, looks like a gassy planet kinda like jupiter, but interestingly it has this green crack in the side?

very reminiscent of pandora’s eridium scar. i am wondering if this is because this planet had a vault opened, or if it is tied to the Eridians at all. be interesting if it was their homeworld.

also i have no idea what the symbolism is in the homeworld destroying another planet but maybe we shouldn’t think about it too hard e_e

the other planet that’s being destroyed... idk fellas

it doesn’t match up to me but like, this is only one shot

i don’t know 🤔 if you really squint, maybe you can see that hint of purple at the bottom there?

here

tbh, i thought this was elpis the first time i saw it due to the cracks, but i figured elpis doesn’t have like continents across its surface, just craters. and wayyy more cracks.

so it’s probably not pandora and it’s probably not elpis.

huh...

i do think the actual shot is suspended above promethea, you can see the familiar asteroid belt surrounding it

there’s also a planet in the background,

which i imagine isn’t pandora bc no eridian scar

could be elpis or eden-6, or the 5th planet we don’t know about. i kinda get the feeling the 5th planet may be that gaseous red planet tho. which is probably going to be super weird to traverse now that i think about it. they said oz kits weren’t coming back, right? i wonder how that would work. hmmmm

there’s also this redder planet here which i actually DO think is Pandora. if you squint real hard u can see the purple from the eridian scar. plus the color matches up pretty well with the pictures provided above.

there’s also these two bodies over in the corner where the light is coming from. i can’t tell what they’re supposed to be

there are also these little dudes in the top right

i assume they’re maliwan? they remind me a lot of the maliwan drop ship things that fly overhead when you enter promethea

YESSS okay this is the start of some PRETTY WILD twin stuff

troy: missing his tattoos, blind in one eye, has a weird mark above his eyebrow. also, no metal bits!

Tyreen!!! with a red stripe across her left cheek going up to her eye??? no tattoos on her left arm as far as we can see, but that might be for marketing reasons (she’s also covering up part of her bicep). she’s also missing her coat and chains and wearing a different glove.

we also have a bunch of bl2 VHs taking up space. again i think hayder hype is right in that they’re simply placeholders. not much else to say, but 

this trend of Tyreen having red markings on her face and Troy being blind in an eye (or both) actually continues through a fair amount of these posters!!!

more cover art. one of my least favorites again... i just think it looks like the psycho is puking out the VHs. also, seems to be an older version of the psycho mask.

fl4k seems to be less rendered than the rest of the cast? like they have less detail, especially on their coat

also you can see an older looking space shuttle up at the top, which reminds me a lot of the one we use in TFTBL to get to helios. except less caravanny and more rockety

the splatter also reminds me of siren powers, with the purple and the glitter. it’s cool that it’s showing a different shot than what’s behind it. maybe a hint to siren powers because it’s sort of like a portal.

more puke! 

this time troy is blind in both eyes it seems,

tyreen seems to still have a mark on the left side of her face, im wondering if this ties into her scars at all? it doesn’t seem as prominent as the previous red mark.

Zane seems to have an actual eye patch instead of his more high-tech eye patch, which reminds me a lot of the leaked character concepts from like january i wanna say

amara seems to be dual wielding lol i wonder if originally that was going to be one of her 3 skills but then they were like “wait salvador. wait. nisha. FUC-”

also fl4k is being obscured by this weird saturn-like planet. let them be free!

moze is missing, the saturn like planet shows up 2 times total, and that blue/yellow ship is seen again behind troy

as for the purple stuff? you already know my theory that the twins are going to be using the chemical sludge on elpis to empower their followers. it could also just be straight eridium/slag. you know, like the testing from the WEP with bloodwing and even krieg. we’ll have to see. it would be interesting if they tied krieg into the story through there.

i do lowkey think it’s chemical sludge though, because some of it is actually glowing blue in places, you can see it clearly below amara’s feet. maybe some tie in to siren powers cuz they glow the same blueish color. who knoooows not i

big shot of this psycho here, looks like he’s crumbling. 

i really like the 4 VHs standing at the base with the elongated shadows. very dark vibes from this tho, probably not suitable for the series as a whole. i can see why maybe they decided not to do it. 

i wonder if we’ll see this giant psycho statue somewhere on pandora. it would certainly be a sight to behold. 

also i kinda wish we had cloaks like the concept art shows. cloaks are cool

more sketchy art. this one is also kinda strange, i definitely get why they decided not to go thru with it.

possibly tie-in with the ‘mother’ imagery we get on the propaganda signs across pandora.

lmfao the foot

very bl2 like, im glad they didn’t stick with this. i like that they decided to change things up

troy seems to be blind and also missing his metal implants on his face. his jacket also looks a lot different, it looks more like tyreen’s with the spikes and stuff across it. we also can’t see his metal arm at all, tho we do see his sword! which looks a lot different, im glad they decided to revamp it to be more visually interesting lol

tyreen is more interesting to me. it looks like her right arm has like a silver coating over it? unless that is a metal arm as well. she also is wearing a different kind of glove. her tattoos are missing as well, but again, it’s probably because of the cover art. her scars also definitely seem to have reached her left cheek at some point.

zane also looks a lot different, tho amara, moze, and fl4k look about the same.

another shot of the ship, this one is definitely the blue/yellow one. there’s gotta be some significance with that, right? either we’re getting skins for sanc-iii, we’re going to be painting it a new color, or it’s a different ship.

what the HECK

maybe the twins stole sanc-ii and we’re using sanc-iii. idek. this ship is driving me up a wall lol

gun head.

not a lot to say here. i actually like this one lol it’s very mellow and straight to the point. it’s nice that the logo is right in the middle, not at the top like most of them.

game. buy it. okay? cool.

similar to the other background we did, a bit different. again, like @ifalnasminiatures pointed out, the twins are actually palette swapped here. 

Zane also has the old eyepatch on his right eye instead of his left eye, and his jacket is black instead of blue. fuckin’ edgelord.

one of my favorite ones out of all of them. it’s beautiful, i really wish they had kept it. Fl4k is missing but i assume they were meant to go next to Amara? i also think it’s interesting Moze is in the front, as I took Amara to be the leader this time around. Zane is also an older design, with the eyepatch back on his left eye again (starting to think this is an aesthetic thing lol) and a black jacket instead of blue.

We see the twins on the top. Tyreen has that mark on her face again, and Troy is the same as the last few covers.

We also see Maya, Zer0, and for some reason Brick? Which is weird to me considering we have a few other characters who initially feel much for important to the story (cough Lilith cough), but I’m not complaining. 

the purple splatters again make me think this is a tie in to eridium/slag/elpis’s chemical sludge. i also like the logo being worked into the design instead of just thrown on top, i think that’s a nice detail

i couldn’t find a great shot of this poster which is a shame because it’s one of my favorites

a lot of baddies to go around on here. i love the dude up top, he reminds me of the Anchormen from the captain scarlett dlc in bl2!

these dudes

we can see Punk Girl on the left again

and this guy who appears to be in some medieval armor

i have no idea what’s going on there but i am EXCITED

i’ve been thinking and tbh i think the multiple planets thing was just an excuse for gearbox to go absolutely ham on the character designs/settings. 

i mean why should they have to hold back all their medieval armor designs for another dlc like tiny tina’s? all their pirate/sea-fairing designs for a pirate dlc? fuck it! go WILD. i think they did, anywho

there’s also this post which... tbh i can’t make out much at all. again, seems like an older psycho mask design. it looks like there are characters in the splatter on the bottom left, but it’s very hard to tell who’s who, especially at this angle and image quality lol

if we get a better shot later on i may return to this piece and try to figure things out!

we also have this piece which is giving me huge ‘Happy Together’ vibes. very trippy

moze looks like she’s using an untextured atlas gun? dunno what’s going on with that tbh lol

i really like this one too. it’s cool. i get why maybe they wanted to go a little crazier tho, feels too simplistic for the MAYHEM vibe they’re going for.

oof! can we get an F in chat for whatever planet/moon this is

lots of pink floyd vibes going on here as well

we see a different looking blue/yellow ship flying away from the explosion. it seems to missing a lot of the parts that make sanc-iii so recognizable including the engines/wings

i like the destruction vibe they’re going for here, really sells the “universe destroying power” the twins are supposedly going to get. 

anyway, in addition to the cover art pieces, we also got a few concept art pieces as well!

this bit which looks like a gun

you see the aiming mechanism up there? you see how it’s aimed at that planet/moon? yeah i 100% timed this so you’d see the above concept art with this immediately after :P (im kidding i didn’t but hey now you don’t have to scroll)

fuck yeah babey

we also have seen something similar to this in the gameplay trailer!

i didn’t actually think it was a giant fucking GUN tho. can we get an F in chat for Promethea and/or whatever else this thing gets aimed at

yooo

i thought this was opportunity at first cuz of the bridge but it’s more likely promethea

when u go meet zer0 you can see some water surrounding the city so i would guess this is somewhere else on promethea

im mostly interested in the giant fuckin triangle in the middle of that courtyard looking area

oh also the giant trench of destruction on the right there. that’s probably important, too.

more concept art!

i think the bottom of the 4 VHs is actually what was leaked in january.

some art of the twins on the left there, tyreen is so much shorter than troy omfg

and this does indeed looks to be a younger version of angel so credit to @prettypinkdork for mentioning that on my angel post. it is nice to see those tech-y wings in action, definitely does prove it’s her.

we can also see this art of what i think is Punk Girl, which is interesting to me because she looks to be doing something with her right hand. possible siren powers? maybe! 

we also get a much cooler, bigger version of that maliwan ship people were talking about, with what look to be maliwan... eye bots? surrounding it. this is soooo fuckin awesome to me because it reminds me of a sailboat. and airships are fucking COOL

but something interesting is that i don’t think this ship was actually always maliwan

we got an A in the back here... for Atlas? i mean... you know it’s coming... the colors would match up. Yeahhhhhhh...

more interesting is that it actually looks like maliwan covered it up with their flags/tarps. i would not be surprised if this was claimed by maliwan possibly during the takeover.

a cyclone, with a whole fuckin lot of detail. just... holy shit.

not much else to say here though. i like the stuffed animal on the side, though

a better shot of jakobs manor which holy shit looks badass as fuck

big turret/observation thing on the right there? im not sure

pretty sure this is eden-6. also more tropical trees? possibly a water planet? but maybe just ocean on eden-6. also there seems to be like webbing on whatever is on the road, so maybe some spider-like wildlife?

most important to me is this

yeah i would bet that’s eridium/slag/the chemical sludge from elpis

im pretty convinced this is something on elpis mostly because the DAHL logo on the side. which again, they were on pandora yes but they were mining for iridium not eridium. if this was pandoran pumping stations, that would be hyperion.

i do think this is elpis. and i do think the twins are using the chemical sludge that mutated the lost legion into those fake siren things to give their followers superpowers.”holy holy holy” indeed.

this, plus the rakk wings on the psycho in the mask of mayhem are just convincing me more and more

that’s all for now folks. i gotta run

[yukipri]

Dang someone already asked about Shorter, VicYu and Eiji lol XDDD for the ask: Phichit/Yuuri (can't recall their ship name at moment lmaooo), and Ash?

YESSS THANK YOU SO MUCH~!!!! Gonna split these up too bc apparently I always have too many HCs and talk too much ^ ^; So the ship first!

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you: Phichit x Yuuri

When I started shipping it if I did:

Oh gosh. I was already super interested in Phichit from promo material alone before YOI aired bc he’s freakin’ adorable and also you don’t see many Thai characters so I was really interested? And the first time we see him in the anime is this tiny lil glimpse of him going “Yuuri!!” with happiness at seeing his video and I was like oh shit they’re friends, and then they have the skype chat and I’m like OH SHIT THEY’RE FRIENDS AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES, and they he turns up in Beijing and I’m like FUCK.

I’m a HUGE sucker for long term BFF relationships, friendly social types, and smart capable people, and the fact that he was Yuuri’s friend when he’s so hard to approach…yeah i fell HARD ahAHAHAHAHAH

I actually drew my first PhichiYuu comic VERY early on in my YOI art career which helped me process why I like them so much, and it’s honestly been one of my bias ships since Cup of China aired ^ ^;

My thoughts:

SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD???? Defs one of my bias 2-people OTPs in YOI

What makes me happy about them:

A long-term mutually supportive and understanding friendship. Phichit’s Yuuri’s ONLY international skater friend prior to the canon timeline, and Yuuri’s clearly super special to Phichit too. I see Phichit as the type of person who would do anything for Yuuri and is fiercely protective of him, even if he doesn’t flaunt it, and he’ll always be protecting Yuuri from the shadows. Yuuri in turn understands all of Phichit’s hopes and dreams better than anyone, and knows how to encourage them.

I ship them SO dang much specifically BECAUSE they don’t need to be romantic at all to mean the world to each other.

What makes me sad about them:

When I think about how rough it must have been when Yuuri got depressed, and how absolutely heart broken Phichit must have been after Yuuri left Detroit to return to Hasetsu, and the very complicated mix of emotions that must have been going through at least Phichit up until he saw Yuuri in Beijing. Not gonna go into it in depth here, but I wrote a whole HC post describing how I personally headcanon pre-canon Yuuri & Phichit, and how Phichit probably also left Detroit to return to Bangkok after Yuuri left because he couldn’t stand to stay there….

Things done in fanfic that annoys me:

When the importance of their bond, regardless of how you interpret it, is glossed over or brushed under that of other characters. *coughs*

Also I guess when Phichit’s portrayed as super vapid, since it clashes so much with my personal HC that he’s a freakin’ genius ^ ^;

Things I look for in fanfic:

When they very clearly care for and support each other, and when Yuuri goes to Phichit for advice, and more rare, but when Yuuri also supports Phichit in some way.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

I mean, strongly, STRONGLY prefer each other, but Yuuri, any of the Future!Verse husbands, and Phichit…idk, maybe Seung-Gil? I wouldn’t be too interested personally ^ ^;;

My happily ever after for them:

To be self-promotional AGAIN, Future!Verse lmao. I’ve crammed a TON of my ideal PhichiYuu into that, as well as my personal ideal happily ever after for just Phichit and Yuuri as individuals too. Of course I want them to get together, but also while supporting their separate goals. For Phichit, I honestly see him as one of the characters with the strongest vision and most dreams outside of his immediate short-term professional skating career, and I just really, REALLY want to see him going to big places and not just as a skater. I could rant on about that forever but I’ll just link lil visual list thing here AHAHAHAHAH

Who is the big spoon/little spoon:

If we’re taking this literally and not just a metaphor for topping/bottoming, then absolutely switch ;D Phichit likes trying to Big Spoon but in his case it turns into Jet Packing AHAHAHAHHA and Phichit is petite and I feel would be very comfy for Yuuri to big spoon for once and he’s happy to be lil spoon ^ ^

What is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Gosh I would honestly say anything? Phichit loves traveling and touristing with Yuuri, loves taking selfies with Yuuri, loves practice, loves shopping, loves partying, loves watching movies, loves studying, loves cooking and eating with Yuuri, literally anything.

But I think what makes them both the happiest are those quiet late night private convos, where they might talk about deeply personal things, or just anything silly that happened during the day. It reminds them of college roomie days, and I love imagining them decades down the line still doing the same thing

send me a ship and I will tell you/Give me a character & I will tell you/send me 5 characters and I will rank them in order of preference

Please send me more~!  

[superemeralds]

Sonic 25th anniversary art book review

Hey guys, it’s Shadow. I bought this book. And I’m really emotional about it.

This review will feature a lot of pictures to prove my points.

TLDR; Don’t buy the book. Just ask me if you want a picture of anything. I believe other ppl already made scans of the good pages but If you want me to I can make scans of the few pages that atually do have concept art.

edit: you can buy the book ofc i just think its not worth it, mostly when you are poor as fuck like me and u go in for an investment. (though it would help maybe getting another, better one? I’m kinda conflicted here)

Onto the review:

Fist of all: this book is bigger than you think.

This is an intuos pen&touch small as size ref

The book weighs a ton and the quality of color and pager is amazing! 10/10 for quality. The binding seems lovely too.

Opening up you immediately feel the sonic atmosphere and you are greeted with text that i was unable to read because it had long ass fucking text in unnecessary passages.

I guess it could be of interest for some hardcore fans, or people who know nothing about the series at all, but as a fan it is very disheartening to see a fuckton of text about one single game, and then have other games completely dismissed from existence.

Sonic and the secret rings was totally left out and not mentioned once in the book, design changes like they happened in riders were not explained.

But. I need to get back in track and start with some formal stuff here.

The book has 245 Pages.

About 160 of those pages are dedicaded to the classic games ( 7 first years of sonic the hedgehog)

(pictured is the distribution between classic area 1991-1998 on the left; and the entire rest of sonic to the right)

And, don’t get me wrong, I would not be mad about this if there was actual good content like tons of sketches and level concepts! But there’s none of that.

instead we get this:

Huge prints of ingame sprites. A fuckton of them.

It’s nice to see how they designed the enemies but why Did they print out pixelated sprites so huge and with so much care for clean back grounds and then have messes like this

These two pages are the only ones in which these characters were ever mentioned at all.

Blaze’s debut game, Sonic Rush, was not mentioned once except for the little “info” on her page saying that she did actually debut in this game and it did, infact, exist.

We get worse pages, though.

These two are the only pages to 06 that we do get to see, and silver didn’t even get a double spread page. They just slapped the sketches on there, tiny, crowded.

Disrespectful.

How did they introduce other characters? Let’s have a look at a classic character!

wow that is neat!

t-theres more?

that feels kind of unnecessarily big but okay.

(he got one more double page of art with him and sonic together and he is seen in multiple other art pieces for other games throguhout the book. He’s also on one of those cool pages that you can extend out for a parnorama of chemical plant)

I thought! Hey every character will get such a cool introduction!

Thought.

The last character to get one of these is Shadow.

I thought: hey cool concept art! I can’t wait for everyone to have concept pages vs Final pages! Mostly cant wait for the silver one haha (we all know how that ended)

b-black on black? Shadow SA style art from 1998 ????

Boom shadow from 2016??? But boom came out 2014 ??? (they got that right w all other charcaters)

What comes right after that boom shadow, though? Big the cat.

and after big comes this disgrace.

This is the first time we see our God of Destruction: Chaos. And, besides a sonic battle spread, it is the only time. We don’t get to see perfect chaos. We don’t get to see SADX concept sketches. all we get is this:

It’s the same hue of orange. Why is it the runners model? We don’t know. Theres no concept of the echidna tribe, nothing to the lore...

Infact, the only modern game they offer concept art of is SA2.

Like w the classics they gave us stuff like this

below is all just for sonic 1 (or just sonic in 1991 in general as the book tends to organize things)

( i decided to leave out the 30 more pages of sprites and promotional art and unrelated jumbo that was more abt sonics image as new mascot for SEGA)

The below art is for sonic 2

kinda sparse, and not as much, but still colored concept art for the levels and stuff, right! I mean there are also tails sprites and promotional art and box art and variants and all that!!

lets move on to the more modern games!

Oh cool the SA games!!!

screenshots next to concept art! Me likey!

Wow that’s so cool! I’ve already seen two of those in generations but that’s fine! Cool having them physical now!

Oh my god! So much concept art! This is so cool! Even when non of it is colored I cherish it its so good!

I can’t wait to see this for all the games!!! Story book ones!!! yes!!! I’d like to see early concepts of riders!!!

(I totally forgot how little pages were left at this point)

I can’t wait to see unleashed concept art!!! The one I saw in my game is sooo good cant wait to have this shit printed!!!

Dragon road? nice! Oh hello there promo art!

woha a double spread page! This image is really unspectacular but I guess it’s nice!!! Can’t wait to see-

oh. Oh. that’s already all there is to unleashed.

Concept art? Who is that? Never heard of her.

Box art and characters is all we know. Screenshots maybe

anyone ask for a giant ass print of a screenshot of greenhill classic? no? too bad.

Don’t get me started on the 7 pges of Sonic Boom they have squeezed in there

While I hate boom, we can’t dismiss this horrible layout choice. Tiny pictures? Really?

What’s on the next page then that you don’t have the space for making them ncie and big?

Did they literally use a filler on that right page? You could’ve used that for concept art.

?????  YOU COULD’VE USED THIS INK TO PRINT A PRETTY SONIC UNLEASHED CONCEPT COLLAGE W TINY ASS PICTURES LIKE YOU DID W SONIC BOOM ON THAT TEXT PAGE.

Maybe I’m the biased one who thinks of Modern games to be of importance and for them to be more aesthetic and pretty and all that (i mean its mainly bc my fucked up brain cant process the classic games, too much color, too much going on, too sharp on the eyes)

but is it too much to want an even spread between classic and modern? To want justive for all the amazing characters?

If you didn’t get the book yet, then please dont. It’s not worth your money.

There are 5k prints of this book, and I sure as hell hope that there will be 5k disappointed fans.

[marilynnewbury-blog]

Every year my husband and I argue about where to go on vacation. We've been married thirty-six years so that means we have had thirty-six Vacation Wars.

MY HUSBAND DOES NOT LIKE TO TRAVEL. I DO.

My husband, Cliff, likes to be home more than he likes to be away. I, on the other hand, prefer to leave home the minute our holidays begin and return in the wee hours of the morning just before going back to work. When vacation time rolls around, we both pull out our lists. We don't actually write them out, for after this many years, they are well-rehearsed. My list varies from year to year, but Cliff's never does.

It is not enough that I have set foot on four continents, stood by the shores of three oceans, and travelled to most of Canada and the United States.

I have enjoyed seeing the tulips in Holland, the Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows NL, and the sand dunes on the Oregon coast, but I have not yet experienced Paris.

I have marvelled at the crashing waves in Cape Spear, NL  and gazed at the Alps and London Bridge in England, but I have never driven across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA.

I have safaried in the Serengeti, resorted in Mombasa, and shopped in the Jerusalem Old City Market, but I have not been to Alaska.

I want to see more!

Our summer vacation war begins sometime in April or May.

After this many years, we have an unwritten script, and every year we faithfully repeat it.

WIFE: Where are we going to go on vacation this year?

HUSBAND: I don’t want to be gone for too long.

WIFE: We need to get away and have a break.

HUSBAND: At the end of my holidays, I don’t want to look back and see that I was hardly home.

WIFE: So, where would you like to go?

HUSBAND: We could take some short trips around here, and it would be  cheap. We could spend the last half of the vacation at home.

WIFE: What are you going to do at home?

HUSBAND: I would like to organize my tools, and then sit in my chair and read or watch TV.  I love being in my house. It is so quiet.

WIFE: QUIET? The house is way too noisy!

HUSBAND: NOISY?  How can it be noisy?

WIFE: The house is always talking to me:  the paperwork screams to be filed, the bed clamours to be made, the weeds laugh behind my back, and the plants yell to be watered. I can’t relax here!

And so the tense negotiations begin.

Fortunately, my husband loves to visit our families who live on opposite sides of the continent.  When our three children were younger, driving was the only financially feasible way to visit.  With the significant road time, I always hoped for potential stops along the way.  This was a problem.

Cliff sits behind the steering wheel. His mantra is drive, drive, drive. His only focus is the final destination. Food and bathroom breaks are annoying interruptions that deter him from his mission of reaching his goal as quickly as possible. His warrior instincts kick in and he aims to conquer the road by passing as many vehicles as possible. I am not sure what he hopes to win, but I have seen the defeated look on his face when he watches all of the vehicles zoom by that he just passed. All stops to view waterfalls or scenic viewpoints only mean he has to pass the same cars again. Enjoying the journey between points A and B is not in his brain vocabulary.

My role is the navigator. I am not sure why my husband still trusts me, but he follows my directions. Over time, I have discovered that my husband has a vulnerable spot in his crusty no-breaks stance: if I can somehow get him to stop, he enjoys almost any place in the world.

I have learned a few ‘tricks’ to use this chink in his armour to my advantage.

TEN STRATEGIES FOR VACATION BLISS

1. Plan bathroom breaks for stops at Visitor Centres

Timing is important: bladder urgency is best when entering a new country, state, or province as visitor centres are usually close to the borders. If possible, also bring out snacks and suggest getting fuel.  This will extend the visit so the children have time to browse inside the Tourism Center. Return to the vehicle armed with promotional literature describing the tantalizing local attractions down the road.

2. Get the children on side by creating interest in the above brochures

Start reading the tourism promo material out loud. The children will hopefully join in and want to visit the sites in the brochures. If the children are enthusiastic, Dad will probably agree to go to at least one.

This subtle strategy led to visits to the Terry Fox Monument in Thunder Bay ON, the Reversing Falls in St. John NB, the Statue of Liberty on our only visit to New York NY, a ride on Maid of the Mist at the Niagara Falls ON, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto ON. (My son, Stephen, found a brochure for the Toronto museum in a tiny Information Kiosk in rural Saskatchewan and kept it safe all the way to Newfoundland and Labrador and then back to Toronto.  He insisted that we go to this museum, and none of us were disappointed.)

3. Get lost with purpose.

Lose the map-reading skills and give directions for an unplanned but desired location. As we were passing by Quebec City QC, my husband was adamant that we would not go into the city, despite my loving pleadings. Finally, I meekly said, “Well, we have to stop for lunch.” As the designated map-reader, I directed him across the bridge and then suddenly had trouble understanding the map. My husband trustingly followed my prompts for a confusing route, and somehow we happened to end up in the centre of old Quebec City.

There was no turning back as my husband now wanted to stay. He rolled down his windows to smell the “European-style” air, strolled around the Old City under the royal shadow of the Chateau Frontenac, toured the Citadel, and tried to have a conversation with the French locals at an ice cream stand. I got to go to Quebec City, and incidentally had no trouble reading the map to get back on to the highway.

4. Use This Would be Good for the Children - shamelessly

I wanted to see Ottawa ON. My husband did not. I dug deep into my manipulation bank and suggested that seeing the Parliament Buildings would be a great educational experience for our offspring. He grudgingly agreed but firmly announced that we would NOT be stopping. I agreed, of course.

When we arrived at the hub of our country's government, I reiterated that the children really did need to go on a tour. My husband, not wanting to be an obstacle to his children's academic success, unwillingly complied. Ten minutes into the tour, however, we would not have been able to drag him away. We stayed for an extra hour to watch the politicians in the House of Commons and then remained for yet another hour to observe the Question Period.

By now, my husband was hooked on seeing Ottawa and the family was free to explore the city. We visited not one, but two museums: the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum and the Museum of Canadian Civilization. After a driving tour of important landmarks and a leisurely supper on a restaurant patio, I eventually pointed out that it might be time to leave. My husband agreed, reluctantly. We had been in Ottawa for six hours.

5. Find destinations that are attractive to the children

In the interest of seeing something new, find activities the children would like to do. I wanted to see Shakespeare at Stratford. My husband and all three kids gave an emphatic, unified negative response. I acquiesced and instead we went to a Toronto Blue Jays Game in Toronto ON.

I got my revenge by always cheering for the losing team, but secretly loved seeing everyone else enjoying themselves. This technique also worked for a trip to the Redwood Forest CA and for surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Dad hauled the RV trailer on the paper-clip shaped road to Tofino BC for one of our final vacations with our two youngest children.

6. Suggest activities that your husband will not be able to resist

Casually mention that the Pioneer Auto Museum is ahead in Murdo, SD. Read the sign, loudly, about the Anne Murray Centre in Springhill, NS. When in the vicinity of the OMNIMAX Theatre in Science World, Vancouver BC, read the titles of films now playing and ask if any of them sound interesting. The go-to-no-fail guarantee for a desired scenic detour is to find a restaurant that has great seafood, preferably with a lobster buffet. Since this method is so successful, I am already planning to use it for future vacations when we are close to Graceland, the White House, and Paris.

7.  Occasionally, insist on your own choice and hope the family will enjoy it

The children complained long and loud when I insisted on a visit to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island BC. Fortunately, they loved it all - the fountains, concerts, and variety of gardens.  We stayed much longer than intended as they begged to see the lights in the dark.

8.  Take advantage of unintended delays to see the local sights

Over the years, we have had our share of unexpected delays, usually due to vehicle problems. One year, we had planned be in Ottawa ON by July 1st but instead were stuck in Thunder Bay for Canada Day. We embraced our situation and found plenty of patriotic inspiration in the local fireworks and genuine community spirit. Another time, a belt broke on our vehicle in Portland OR on a weekend. While we waited for the part to be shipped in, we toured  the International Rose Test Garden, rode the gondola across the river, and admired the famous bridges. We had similar stories when we waited for repairs in Jasper, Edmonton, St. John's, Halifax, and Milton.

A less pleasant memory is the week we spent in the Walmart parking lot in Red Deer AB waiting for our income tax refund to be deposited into our bank account so that we would have money to continue our holidays. Family tensions soared, but regularly browsing in Walmart helped to ease the friction. The friendly employees were very hospitable, and we found out later that the children created a home theatre for themselves by regularly watching the  TVs in the electronic department.

9.  Apologize for tactical errors

The day I asked to please see the ocean just one more time when we already were very behind schedule.

The year my detours took longer than intended and we had to drive 24/7 to get back to a wedding.

The time my creative trip planning for the longer scenic route took us through the middle of a dangerous storm, and we had to stop driving. Unfortunately, time was of essence. My husband was not pleased. I'm sorry!

Sometimes, I should just keep my mouth shut and be thankful for sights already seen.

10. Finance Creatively

When the amount of road stretches further than the money, find creative ways to pay for the last leg of the trip home. Increase credit card limits, go into overdrafts, and make late payment arrangements.

This usually is not a good idea, and will be sure to enter the Vacation War dialogue the following year. Your husband will likely adamantly declare he will NOT be going into debt for this year's vacation. In my opinion, he is just looking for an excuse to stay home!

The children are grown and no longer come with us on vacations, but the script remains the same.

Cliff wants to stay at home or just go away for a few days.

I want to see new sights and be gone for as long as possible.

A FEW YEARS AGO...

The annual War of the Vacation was over-shadowed by the pain in my husband’s aching leg. With his hip needing to be replaced for the fifth time, holiday plans were uncertain and unpredictable. The war was more of a discussion dance.

My husband graciously went on a few short trips with me to northern Alberta, the Kootenays, and Banff, which was all he could endure. We arrived home a week too late for Cliff and a week too early for me. When he offhandedly suggested that I could travel by myself for a week, I did not hesitate to accept the offer.

After some creative financing, for which I had plenty of experience, and passport in hand, I was soon on the road heading southwest to Montana. One state led to another – Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and California. I stopped in San Francisco. It was definitely worth the five days of driving for a two-day visit!

I took a tour on the top level of a double decker bus and had to duck so that trees would not whack my head. I saw the painted ladies.  After a short boat ride and a precarious stint on an old-fashioned street car, I strolled the busy pier while inhaling the scents and sounds. I did not go on the large tour boat to Alcatraz, however, as I wanted to wait so I could share that experience with Cliff.

I keyboarded the first draft of this article while gazing at the swell of the San Francisco ocean, intermittently wondering which of my schemes would work to get Cliff to  San Francisco on a future trip.

But for that year, the Vacation War was over,and I had seen the Golden Gate Bridge.

TWO YEARS LATER...

Cliff got his fifth right hip and was able to travel again, so we decided to go to the Grand Canyon AZ. After my pressured persuasion and the promise of fresh seafood, he unenthusiastically agreed to a return trip home via the longer route up the west coast. His patience was as sketchy as my map reading ability, especially when the extra miles stretched into additional hours and days. His demeanour changed when we finally got to San Francisco CA. He loved everything about it - the harbour and bridges, the architecture, the roads, the wharf with its sea lions and buskers, and especially the seafood.

The best part for me was the hoped-for harbour boat ride to Alcatraz,and getting to share the view of the Golden Gate Bridge with my husband!

THIS WEEK...

My husband and I have had our annual Vacation War conversations. After we each said our piece, I read him the script I had written several years ago, and we had indeed repeated the dialogue almost word for word. Cliff was not amused.

My husband says that he would like to go on a road trip to the West Coast, but I think he would be just as happy with a drive to the other side of the city. I would like to travel to Yukon, the Arctic Ocean, and Alaska so that I could remove them from my Never Seen list.

So far, none of my strategies of gentle persuasion are working.

Not even the lure of a ferry ride, fishing, cute gift shops, gold panning, or seafood restaurants seems to be having any effect.

Cliff claims that the mosquitoes will be as big as dinasours.

I'm not sure how he knows, since he has never been to the Yukon or Alaska.

I am trying some new strategies to try to lure Cliff to a trip up north:

Enticement: I am hoping that my writing, pictures, and publicity will change his mind.

Manipulation: We could save money, as I now qualify for seniors discounts.

Guilt: Since I am getting older, this might be the last year I will be able to go on such a long trip.

If he bites, I will perhaps be able to ride a train in the Yukon, see dancing Northern Lights, relax by the Arctic ocean, eat baked Alaska, go to a museum, and experience travelling on the Alaska Highway. I have offered to just go by myself, but so far he has not agreed. He probably does not want me to have seafood without him.

In any case, the pysanka egg in Vegreville will have to wait for another year.

Thanks to my children, Stephen, Michael, and Julia (now 30, 28 and 25).

Without you, we would not have had any family vacations,

and I might have been a vacation widow.

Who do you think should win this year's vacation War?

Vote in the COMMENT SECTION BELOW

Originally published at https://www.marilynnewbury.com Subscribe: http:subscribe.marilynnewbury.com

PHOTO CREDITS

Some day, most likely in the very distant future, I will sort through thirty years of photos. Then I will have actual pictures of our vacations for the website. For now, I am grateful to pixabay, unsplash, and flickr for permission to use their photos.

INTRODUCTION

(Golden Gate Bridge CA; Pysanka Egg,Vegreville AB) Golden Gate Bridge in fog; pixabay SuzyLu; Pysanka Egg pixabay Shaawsjank61; Globe in Hands pixabay Geralt

PLACES I HAVE TRAVELLED

(Tulips, Holland; Viking Settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows NL; Sand Dunes OR, Cape Spear NL, Alps, Switzerland; Tower Bridge, London, England; Serengeti Safari, Tanzania; Mombasa Resort, Kenya; Jerusalem Market, Israel)

Tulips in Holland by Louisa Mac CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); L'Anse aux Meadows Historical Park NL by Eric Titcombe CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Sand Dunes OR pixabay Macmaus; Cape Spear NL by Matt Boulton CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped & resized); Alps pixabay violetta; London Tower Bridge pixabay peremon; Serengeti, Tanzania personal; Mombasa, Kenya pixabay benarudo; Jerusalem Old City Market by israeltourism CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)

PLACES I HAVE NOT SEEN

(Eiffel Tower, Paris; Golden Gate Bridge, CA; Alaska). Eiffel Tower pixabay Kaz; Golden Gate Bridge pixabay CC0 Public Domain; Alaska wolf pixabay Public Domain Pictures

TRIP NAVIGATION

Car Sign pixabay CopyrightFreePictures; Glasses with Map pixabay allysonmiller1969 border

STRATEGIES FOR VACATION BLISS

1. Plan bathroom breaks for stops at Visitor Centres. Welcome Center pixabay SooZ8

2. Get the children on side by creating interest in the above brochures (Terry Fox Memorial, Thunder Bay ON; Reversing Falls, St. John NB; Statue of Liberty, New York NY; Boat Ride, Niagara Falls ON; Royal Ontario Museum,Toronto ON)

Terry Fox Statue, Thunder Bay ON by Brett Vachon CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Reversing Falls, St. John NB by Sonja CC BY 2.0  (cropped & resized); Statue of Liberty pixabay nyc_napa; Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls pixabay CC0 Public Domain; Royal Ontario Museum by Carsten CC BY 2.0

3. Get lost with purpose. (Quebec City QC:  Bridge, Old City; Chateau Frontenac; The citadel)

Quebec City Bridge unsplash Drew Coffman ; Old Quebec City pixabay Breaktime; Chateau Frontenac by Prayitno CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); The Citadel by Alonso Inostrosa Psijas CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped & resized)

4. Use This Would be Good for the Children - shamelessly (Ottawa ON:  Parliament Buildings; House of Commons; Canadian Aviation and Space Museum; Museum of Canadian Civilization; Rideau Canal)

Parliament Buildings pixabay Festivio; House of Commons by Scazon CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); CH-113 Labrador chopper in Canadian Aviation and Space Museum by shankar s. CC BY 2.0; Museum of Canadian Civilization by sookie CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Rideau Canal pixabay pcowan5188

5. Find destinations that are attractive to the children (Rogers Centre for Toronto Blue Jays Game,Toronto ON; Redwood Forest CA; Surfing at Tofino BC)

Rogers Centre Toronto Blue Jays by thatlostdog--  CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized); Redwood Forest personal; Surfing personal

6. Suggest activities that your husband will not be able to resist (Pioneer Auto Museum, Murdo SD; Anne Murray Centre, Springhill NS; OMNIMAX Theatre in Science World, Vancouver BC)

Pioneer Auto Museum, Murdo SD personal; Anne Murray Centre, Used by permission from Anne Murray facebook page; OMNIMAX Theatre, Science World, Vancouver BC by David Stanley CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Lobster pixabay Alina Kuptsova

7.  Occasionally, insist on your own choice and hope the family will enjoy it (Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island BC)

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island, BC pixabay Walkways Photoman; Fountains marybettiniblank; Star Pond pwindsor; Foot Bridge Photoman

8.  Take advantage of unintended delays to see the local sights (Canada Day in Thunder Bay ON; International Rose Test Garden, Portland OR; Walmart in Canada)

Canada Day Fireworks in Thunder Bay ON by Derek Hatfield CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); International Rose Test Garden, Portland OR by Neeta Lind CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Walmart by Mike Kalasnik CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped & resized)

9.  Be prepared for tactical errors

Driving in Rain by Jason Trbovich CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized)

A FEW YEARS AGO...

Marilyn's Trip to San Francisco (San Francisco CA: Double Decker Tour Bus; Painted Ladies; Street Car; Pier 39; Ocean)

San Francisco:  Double decker tour bus by Nick Ares CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped & resized); Painted Ladies by Jiahui Huang CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped & resized); Street Car pixabay jingoo10200; Pier 39 pixabay skeeze; Ocean pixabay suyashdixit

TWO YEARS LATER...

Cliff & Marilyn's Trip (Grand Canyon & San Francisco: Harbour & Bridges; Cityscape; Lombard Street; Busker's Guitar; Fishermans Wharf)

Grand Canyon: Photo by Alexandre Godreau on Unsplash (cropped & resized)

San Francisco: Harbour and Bridges pixabay jessebridgewater; Cityscape pixabay tpsdave; Lombard Street by Holiday Point CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Busker's Guitar by Bob Doran CC BY 2.0 (resized and cropped) NOTE:  I did not actually see this busker or his guitar; Fishermans Wharf pixabay sarangib

Boat Tour in San Francisco Harbour (Boat; Alcatraz; Golden Gate Bridge)

Boat to Alcatraz pixabay sarangib; Alcatraz Prison pixabay BKD; Golden Gate Bridge with blue sky pixabay kahsky

THIS WEEK...

Arrows pixabay geralt

Travel Destination Maps (Yukon; Arctic Ocean; Alaska/North America)

Yukon map by CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Arctic Ocean by Dan Markeye CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Alaska/North America map by CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized)

Insects (Mosquito & Dinasour)

Mosquito and Dinosaur pixabay OpenClipart-Vectors

Yukon & Alaska Destinations

(Alaska Ferry; Fishing Salmon; Simply Salmon Gift Shop; Gold Panning; Crab Shack)

Alaska Ferry pixabay skeeze; Fishing Salmon pixabay LoveToTakePhotos; Simply Salmon by Public Domain; Gold Panning by CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized); Crab Shack by CC BY 2.0 (cropped & resized)