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leossmoonn · 6 months

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Welcome back, Sara!!! For a fluffy Mike idea, maybe just a cozy rainy day spent at home with Mike and Abby? Like watching movies with cups of hot cocoa under a mountain of blankets, and all that jazz

Hi Logan ☺️☺️☺️ thanks for sending this in. I’m always afraid of writing fluff fics bc like everyone wants the smut, but it’s reassuring to have this put in lol

it’s a sunday and mike just so happens to have the day off. he’s been working long and hard hours and you convinced him to take the day off. you and abby are so excited; you two planned the whole day from the moment you woke up to the time it was time for abby to sleep. unfortunately, it’s rainy and a sudden wind chill swept through. none of you need to get sick and mike didn’t want to make making abby carry an umbrella, so you make the quick decision to stay in. abby’s a little disappointed, but you try to make up for it.

the first thing you and mike do in the morning is make a fort with abby. and not just a little four corners fort. no, she makes you cover the entire living room with blankets. even the tv was included! you and mike are dragged into some play-pretend games. for a lot of them mike’s forced to play some sort of villan.

“why can’t i play the hero, abby?” mike frowns. “because that’s her job!” abby points to you.

mike gives you a look and you shrug. “abby’s the director here. cant fight with the boss.”

mike rolls his eyes, wanting to get out of the humid blankets and sleep, but he knows how happy this makes abby. and even though abby is making him play the bad guy, he knows she means it out of love and he also loves getting to spend as much time with abby as he can. watching you act is pretty cute as well.

once abby gets bored of playing in her fort — which is like 3 hours later — she decides she wants to watch a movie.

“let’s clean up first, yeah?” mike suggests. “no! let’s keep the fort up to watch the movie!” abby says.

“abby, no. we had our fun with the fort. it’s time to turn the house back to normal,” mike says. “please say we can keep the fort up!” abby pouts as she looks up at you.

mike gives you a warning look, but you can’t say no to abby. “let’s just keep the fort up for the movie, yeah?”

abby squeals and wiggles back into the fort. mike glares at you. “she’s never going to want to take it down.”

“she will when it’s time for bed, which is hours away.” you step closer to him, gently putting your hand on his shoulder. “how about i pop some popcorn — the real stuff on the stove — and i make us some hot coca, okay?”

well, who was mike to turn down stove-popped popcorn and hot cocoa. he felt like a little kid again. it doesn’t help that you and abby’s pouty faces were ganging up on him. he sighs in defeat and nods, crossing his arms around his chest.

“fine, but after the movie, we will clean all this up, okay?”

“of course,” you nod. you turn to abby who is lit up with excitement. “can i pick the movie?”

“yep! do you want any popcorn?” you ask her. “yes. can you put m&ms in mine?” she asks. “you got it, babe,” you answer.

you three settle in the fort, abby laying on her stomach right in front of the tv. she chose “Lady and The Tramp”, which was one of her more enjoyable movie choices.

“mike, you’re kind of like the tramp,” abby comments, popping a handful of popcorn and m&ms into her mouth.

you begin to laugh but cover it up with a cough when mike shoots you a glare. “abby, that’s not very nice.”

“he knows it’s true,” she says, kicking her feet up and dangling them in the air. “And you’re like Lady.”

you glance at mike, a small smile on your face. you lean into him, your nose brushing against the scruff on his cheek. “i think what she’s trying to say is that we are perfect for each other.”

the tips of his ears turn pink. he wraps his arm around you, pulling you in so your head rests on his shoulder. “she could’ve said it differently, though.”

you giggle, “nah, i think it’s accurate.” he rolls his eyes, but there’s no denying the smile on his face and twinkle in his eye.

mike ends up falling asleep towards the end of the movie. his head rests on your chest, both arms around your waist to hold you close. your hands are in his hair, massaging his scalp while the credits roll.

“why is he so tired all the time?” abby pouts. “he works a lot,” you say. “but i’m sure he’ll wake up soon. why don’t you help me clean the fort up?”

“do i have to?” abby frowns. “i think mike would appreciate that,” you say.

“ugh, fine. but only if we can have pancakes for dinner.”

you grin and nod, “you got it.”

mike wakes up to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes. he twists and turns on the floor, the sizzle of bacon him bringing him into consciousness. he begins to open his eyes, his back beginning to ache from sleeping on the floor. he hears some giggling coming from the kitchen, sitting himself up on his elbow and peering over the couch. you’re at the stove, a spatula in your hand. abby’s sitting at the table, crayons littering the wood.

“look who’s up!” you exclaim. mike groans softly as he sits up, using the couch as a crutch to stand up. “i’m sorry i fell asleep. between the rain and the pillows —”

“shush,” you cut him off. he walks over to you, wrapping an arm around your waist, his fingers tracing sliver of skin on the small of your back that’s exposed. “i ruined our day.”

“no, you didn’t. right, abs?” you turn to her. “you did snore a lot, but you didn’t,” she says. you smile at mike, “see? all is well.”

“smells good.” he mumbles as he wraps both arms around your waist, placing his chin onto your shoulder.

“me or the food?” you glance at him with a teasing smile. he takes a not-so-nonchalant inhale of your skin. “both,” he answers.

“ew!” abby grimaces behind you two. you and mike both laugh and he presses a kiss to your cheek before pulling away. he brings some plates and silverware out, sitting across from abby and waiting for the food.

mike stares as you two discuss abby’s drawing. he can’t wipe the smiles off of his face. his life was never perfect and he knew it was never going to be, but if he could just keep this — keep you two — he would then be able to call it perfect.

“mike,” abby says with a little pout. “what’s up?” he asks.

“do you have to go back to work tomorrow?” she asks. “i do, but you also have to go back to school,” he states.

“i don’t want to,” she says. mike sighs, the calmness from his body fleeting. “you don’t have a choice, abby. i’m sorry.”

“i… i just mean… i want this day to last forever.”

his eyes widen and glance up at you. you’re rubbing her back soothingly, giving him an encouraging smile.

“maybe we can do something special for dinner again tomorrow,” you suggest. “we can watch a movie and even eat dinner on the couch.”

abby’s face lights up and she nods. “okay! can i pick the movie again?”

“only if you don’t compare me to a dog again,” mike says. abby giggles and puts a forkful of pancakes in her mouth before speaking again. “we’ll see,” she quips.

mike looks back at you, placing his hand inside of yours on the table. your feet slides up his calf, your eyes soft as you look over his face. his heart warms and for the first time in a while, he feels at peace.

#mike schmidt x reader #mike schmidt #mike schmidt fluff #mike schmidt x reader fluff #fnaf #josh hutcherson x reader #josh hutcherson

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lopposting · 4 months

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guys.

I think I did it.

I think I cracked Lies of P.

(me rn)

i keep going back and forth on carlo's death.

i know i was adamant before, on him dying from the petrification disease. i think logically he would have to have had it because of ergo.

but here's another weird point about his death,

i just realized why we intrinsically think he was killed.

Carlo is wearing his school uniform when his stalker finds him, and on the floor at that. That's quite odd. Maybe not being on the floor, but the uniform. Why the uniform?

"He didn't even come to your graduation?"

For the son of an aristocratic family, would this be the image of a deathly ill son in care? Did Geppetto know? Wouldn't he be in palliative care, as Lady Antonia could afford?

Why wear the uniform after graduating?

"Oh, she's here! Grab her!"

"...Gemini, get rid of them! I'm off!"

Was his death literally right after his graduation, on the same day?

And also, Gemini is a little lamp guy. (She doesn't look to be carrying the lamp.) Why does she tell him to take care of the boys? What can he even do? Tell them off?

Here's another funny thing... We NEVER see Carlo outside of his school uniform. (at least, in the "past", "real" Carlo time line).

And as we know, the school uniform has a prominent Sailor collar, the type that is associated with nautical outfits [down to the three stripes, supposedly called a "naval collar"]. The Graduation pendant that he gives to Romeo is of an anchor. [I know that these are all artifacts of the charity house. but they are nonetheless associated in tangent with Carlo]

When we find Carlo's painting, it's right next to this one of a ship. [also, two bottles on the counter, perhaps representing the "two lives" of Carlo and Pino]

also... when Carlo's memories materialize... it's in the sand. Only on the seaside.

Remember, Romeo seems to be associated with a fire element, and Pino with water, the same seems to go with Carlo. The original novel of Pinocchio itself seems to have a strange fixation on the ocean.

And now, might I present to you:

The DLC images are also of a ship and some kind of water turbine.

Director Choi (in pre-release interview): "I'll put it this way: there are more stories I want to tell in Lies of P, so I hope [it] does well."

Also: "There sure are stories we could not introduce in the game" (talking about the story being adapted into another form)

[basically, that there was more to the story than what was really present in the final game.] I'll leave all this to your consideration without adding my own just yet. (I'll add it in a reblog on my own blog without tagging it) Just kidding I want to keep wasting everyone's time

Perhaps after the events of the game,

This is some sort of effort by Pino to either learn more about the deceased Carlo or try to remember his "previous life" as Carlo, by taking to the sea.

Maybe even after the game, Pino will STILL attempt to "awaken" as him so to speak [:(].

[Maybe he actually will.]

Again, Carlo is strongly associated with nautical elements. Again, he is never seen outside of a sailor suit, basically. Also, when we gain the memories of Carlo, they materialize on the sand, at the seaside. Remember, he DIED in the sailor outfit

Maybe we are to take the "sand memories" more "literally" as they are in the sand?

Did Carlo drown and his body wash ashore, which is why these memories materialize in the sand? Why is he so associated with ships?

Pino is also depicted in the water, remember, including what looks to be concept art that was used for the OST? Maybe it isn't "just" a motif? [even simple things like his "official" coat and his eyes being blue, blue blood's tailcoat, and him being associated with the colour blue in general]

Which is why Pino is pictured in the water, since he was "born" from Carlo's death... He was birthed in the water the same way Carlo died in it?

[more notes in reblog]

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spiral-man · 11 days

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My self indulgent list of Entities and what I think my connection to them would be, let’s go:

The Eye-I believe I could be a good avatar of the Eye because I’m super nosy, and have always been told I ask to many questions and am to curious and also I’m a pretty open book myself.

The Spiral-If I had to Pick an Entity I think I’d be most likely to serve it would be the Spiral. I have a lot of mental health issues and I have a hard time figuring out what’s real and what’s fake within my perception, Also I’m Pansexual and Pangender and I have ADHD so….

The Flesh-Think I could definitely be at least marked by The Flesh due to a history of $elf Harm (getting better!) and my fondness for NBC Hannibal.

The Lonely-Depression and Anxiety make me prime real-estate for the lonely and I have a bad tendency of dwelling in my own misery at times and finding comfort in that which is what this entity feeds on.

The Slaughter-I’ve got some anger issues and have a bit of a violent tendency at times (working on it).

The Hunt-Used to (still do) love games like tag and hide and seek, I really loved the adrenaline rush those games give you, especially in the woods or something.

The Stranger-I have a bit of a hard time feeling human, I feel like I’m doing it wrong most of the time, like I’m just ever so slightly off compared to everyone else, like I’m just pretending.

The Web-Manipulative parents need I say more.

The Dark-Always loved the dark, find it very comforting.

The End-I’ve never been scared of death, I’ve had some past suicidal issues and now I’m currently studying to be a funeral director/embalmer.

The Desolation-My family has a history of Arson in the sense that one of my grandmas siblings almost burnt their house down because they liked to play with matches, my grandmas son did burn a playground down because he liked to play with matches and my grandmas granddaughter (me, hi) also has almost burnt her house down (multiple times) due to enjoying playing with matches.

The Corruption-Probably my worst fear, when I was younger I loved bugs but these day they make me so uncomfortable, thinking about them makes me itch, and similar idea with rot in general I just hate it, this fear would have a easy time feeding on me.

The Buried-Similar to the dark, I actually do not mind super confined spaces and in fact find them sort of comforting at times.

The Vast-I used to really love to climb trees but I could never get to high up because I was scared of how unsteady it felt, in general I like climbing shit to be up high but if it feels unstable I feel like I’m about to pass out.

the Exctinction-Lived through a pandemic and constantly being informed about different new events that could end the world.

If you read all this, hot damn I love you wow thank you so much haha, this was purely self indulgent as ive seen other people do it and I find the fears so interesting.

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differenteagletragedy · 5 months

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Your writing is wonderful and so much fun to read!!! If you’re willing, could we get some wholesome headcanons about living with each of the OL boys? Thank you, you’re amazing!

Thank you so much, that makes me so happy! So do wholesome thoughts about these boys! I could have gone on so much longer lol but here you go!

-- Baxter is a lawn guy. If you move out to the suburbs (he'll want to if you have a kid), then he's going to be SO EXCITED to pick out a good lawn mower, to get out there and trim the grass. He's got a little garden going and everything. He's trimming the bushes with glee.

-- He also cooks, both because he loves to cook and because he loves to cook for you. If he can cook with something from his garden, then he's the happiest guy on the block, at least.

-- Meanwhile, Derek is a grill guy. He has cheesy little aprons and everything, and any opportunity he has, he's out there grilling dinner.

Derek: See, what you want to do is put the charcoal in a pyramid, you get the best heat that way.

Cove: I honestly could not care less.

-- Cove doesn't like to cook, but he's got all your takeout orders memorized. He's going to stop and get something after work, he's going to know exactly what to get for you. Do you love that one sauce from that one place? He's not leaving without it. He will absolutely never bring you home the wrong thing.

-- Baxter likes blankets. There's a closet full of them, all different kinds. If anyone is ever stumped on what kind of gift to get him, they're going to learn pretty quick that a blanket is a great bet. If he's sitting down at his apartment and it's not to eat a meal, he's gonna have a blanket. He is also very happy to share :)

-- I mentioned this in another one, but Derek is really good with his hands. He can fix anything. It makes him feel really good too, to be so helpful, so be sure to tell him that he's doing a good job.

-- If you've got a garage, that is the most dad garage you've ever seen in your life. He's got a work bench, a few tool boxes, anything and everything he could possibly need to do what needs to be done around the house.

You, going out to the garage one random Monday: Derek, what are you doing?

Derek, picking up a power tool: I'm building a porch for you, babe!

-- Derek is a "babe" guy, btw. Baxter is a "darling" guy, and Derek is a "babe" guy. Cove just says your name, but we already know that.

-- If you live with Cove then you are contractually obligated to go camping on the beach at least once every summer. He doesn't actually make you sign a contract, but he would if he needed to.

-- One time you surprise him because you find a beach where you can watch baby sea turtles hatch and he loses his mind. Cries every time he thinks about it. Named a few, will ask you how you think they're doing for the rest of your life.

-- Hot beverages with Baxter! It doesn't matter if you like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, whatever, he's got a good selection and he'll make you something whenever you ask, and a lot of times even if you don't.

Baxter right when you walk in the door after texting him in the car that you'd had a rough day at work: Tea, darling?

-- Baxter also has nightmares sometimes, but it helps if you snuggle him tight. He gets sort of embarrassed by them, he doesn't want to be that sad broken boy for the rest of his life, so just pull him close and tell him to go back to sleep.

-- Derek will want to play video games -- also something we already know, but still true. Every time a new Mario Kart comes out (and no the Mario Kart 8 expansions do NOT count, Nintendo) you go to the midnight release and take the next day off work to play. You have to, it's tradition.

-- One day the GameCube is going to break and he'll try to play it off a little but he's going to be really sad about it. Hope you can find a good deal on ebay!

-- So I had this college professor who was talking to me once about directing a play, and he told me that a lot of directors make the mistake of using just kisses or hugs or sexual touches to show intimacy. He said that one time he saw a show with a scene with a husband and wife, and it was this intense scene, and the husband just slid his hand under his wife's shirt and put his hand on her stomach. Not higher or lower, there wasn't any pregnancy subtext, it was just a nice tummy touch. So now every time I like a character with a love interest I imagine that.

-- That means that Cove, Baxter and Derek all like to just rest their hand on your stomach. It's just nice and cozy there.

-- Cove is going to come home with a bouquet of poppies a lot. It's always going to be precious.

-- Baxter is going to tease you mercilessly but in the most loving way. I mention this a lot but it's because it is my truth. Did you trip coming out of the bedroom that morning? Get ready to hear about it for the rest of the day.

-- Derek is an early bird, but if he feels like he can't get out of bed without waking you up, then he's going to stay in bed as long as humanly possible.

Mr. Suarez: Son, you're late!

Derek: Yeah ... uh, traffic.

Cliff: Lol ok

-- If you're in college when you live with Cove then he is going to make sure you take your studies VERY SERIOUSLY. You ask him if he wants to watch something? Nuh uh, you've got a paper to write. He doesn't care if it's not due until the day after tomorrow, you need to work on it.

-- But if you want to binge watch anything, Baxter's your guy. Let him grab a blanket.

-- Baxter likes to give you a bath. Not in like a sexy way, he just likes to take care of you like that. He's got fancy soaps and he'll put on lotion and do your skincare after and everything.

-- You better hope you don't live near a kid, because if some child knocks on the door trying to sell something, Derek is going to spend irresponsibly.

You walking in the door to see boxes and boxes of that fundraiser chocolate: What is this?

Derek: *sheepishly* Nothing?

Cove, shoving a third candy bar in this mouth: Yeah, it's nothing.

#our life beginnings and always #olba #our life #baxter ward #cove holden #derek suarez #olba baxter #olba cove #olba derek #our life cove #our life baxter #our life derek #our life headcannons

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retronator · 8 months

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I never played Karateka in the 80s, but as a big fan of Prince of Persia and Jordan Mechner's journals, I was stoked to hear that an interactive documentary about Jordan's prototypical cinematic platformer was in the works by Digital Eclipse.

Released this week, The Making of Karateka on the surface looks like any other game you buy through Steam ($20, Windows-only), GOG, or whichever favorite store or console you prefer (available also for Xbox, PS4/5, Switch). Once the thing loads though, you really get 3 things: a documentary, the original Karateka, and a new remaster.

The documentary part is an audio-visual slideshow retelling Jordan's development story starting with his teenage years pitching his earlier title Deathbounce to the publishing house Brøderbund. It's an interesting look into the iterative process, seen through correspondence letters, journal entries, and many playable builds at various stages of completion. After we reach the eventual rejection of that title, Jordan comes back with a prototype of a visual-narrative experience unseen on home computers. We get to follow Karateka's full life cycle from pre- to post-production, ending with the conception of its sequel (which eventually turned into Prince of Persia). It's a real treasure trove! Fellow pixel artists will appreciate the many graph-paper sketches and interactive overlays of final game sprites compared to rotoscoped outlines and filmed footage. There are also video segments, from a comprehensive breakdown of the music to interviews with other developers reflecting on the impact Jordan's games had on their careers. You'll even encounter a fan letter signed by the one and only "John Romero, Disciple of the Great Jordan and worshipper of the Magnificent Mechner!" (I kid you not, you can't make this stuff up).

Perhaps just as crucial for an interactive documentary like this, you can launch any of the floppy disks in the emulator, trying out various iterations and ports of Karateka.

The emulation is fantastic and lets you fiddle with display settings (monochrome or color display, scanlines, pixel perfect or zoomed) as well as enhance the frame rate. You can even rewind the many deaths you will face if you've never played the game before (like me). If you spend some more time obsessing over the weird artifacts of the Apple II hi-res graphics, you might even go down the rabbit hole of realizing that on the Apple II you didn't really paint colors as much as you used different monochrome dithering patterns that the graphics display would then turn into 4 different hues. A fascinating learning experience if you include some of your own research online!

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Add to this the Commodore 64 and the Atari 8-bit versions to compare how the graphics got adapted across the earlier ports and you have a nice way to relieve the mid-80s with a bit of help from modern emulation (I did beat the C64 version without rewinding though!). I'd love to see more art from the other remakes, especially the 16-bit Atari ST port, but I understand their decision to omit playable versions of those due to the lower quality on the gameplay side of the translations.

This brings us to the final part of the package, the modern remaster. Unlike the 2012 complete reimagining of the game (with 3D graphics and all), Digital Eclipse approached the remake as the ultimate port of the original to an imaginary system along the lines of a 90s VGA PC.

It's well done. Some of the fully-redrawn scenes are a bit overpainted for my taste (I'd prefer a pixel art rendition of the castle than a blurry photographic collage, although there were many games in the 90s that did take this approach), but the in-game graphics are really in style, including the smooth animations that are like one would imagine granted a beefier CPU. It's also a sort of director's cut with previously unseen scenes added, in particular, the battle with the leopard as a clever action-puzzle in the middle. The AI is unfortunately even less challenging than Jordan's implementation. As great as the 6-move fighting system could have been, you yet again resort to simply kicking away opponents as they tirelessly crawl into your range. There isn't even the nuance from the original where you were the one who had to approach some enemies with skilled timing. On the other hand, you now have optional goals and achievements that make the repetitive/easy combat work in your favor (stringing various combos, beating opponents or the level under a time limit …). As the Digital Eclipse president Mike Mika admits at the end of the welcome commentary mode, they didn't manage to achieve their perfect port, but they did come close.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed playing both the original as well as the remake and while the combat system lacks any sort of depth beneath its stunning animations, Karateka is instead a monumental experience for its presentation. Big characters with personality and realistic motion are displayed through cinematic camera cuts and story vignettes (3 years before Ron Gilbert came up with the word "cutscene"). There are details like animating the unfortunate falling off the cliff at the start of the game, or respectfully bowing to the first guard as they bow in return. Jordan's creative work is precious and worth the attention this release gifts it.

I highly recommend The Making of Karateka to all retro gamers and/or game developers for its immersive documentation which provides an experience that goes beyond the usual video documentaries. It's interactive—just like the subject it's talking about—something I want to see more in the future. And if the $20 by any chance seems high to you, consider that the original retailed at $35 (and that was in 1984 dollars).

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#Feature #Gaming #Pixel Art #Digital Eclipse #Jordan Mechner #Platformer #Documentary #cover2 #title3

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elliespuns · 5 months

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I heard once that in the discarded drafts, Joel would have a romantic partner, I think her name is Esther, I just don't remember what happens to them. But anyway, I'm glad they sent this idea away bc I can't imagine Joel dating anyone, you know what I mean? And I'm not a Joel fangirl, so It isn't jealous, It's just... Doesn't fit him? Since I've watched first game I always thought of Joel as a sort of a loner most of the time when it becomes to relationships, and It always had been my headcanon that it is even more reinforced after the events of first game, cause Joel already thinks ellie is enough in his life and heart. But at the same time, his "Well, I am the romantic type" line still makes me think. Anyways, any toughts anyone?

Yeah, Esther was supposedly Joel's romantic interest. It was Tommy who paired them originally. As stated by one of the directors; they were supposed to meet her through one of the earlier flashbacks when Ellie was younger—like 15 or freshly 16. Joel and Ellie would visit her in a city near Jackson (she wasn't living in Jackson with them but lived nearby). They would find her infected and trying to heal herself after a bite. In this scene, Joel sent Ellie to bring water, but on her way outside the house, she heard a gunshot. And neither Ellie nor the player would have known whether it was Esther pulling the trigger or Joel.

Joel was also supposed to get remarried to this woman at some point, but it got scrapped because the creators didn't have time to establish her, as they said. She was a legit character, but she didn't make it into the actual story.

I also have a feeling that Joel is a loner. He loves being alone and the only woman in his life is literally just Ellie. The only one who he let's get closer—so to speak—in his bubble.

But I'm not gonna lie. I would love to see some of Esther because I have a feeling that young Ellie would be a little jealous of some other woman stealing Joel from her with her abandonment issues. It was already seen (for those who noticed it) that show Ellie was a little jealous of show Joel reuniting with Tommy. Maybe 'jealous' is not the right word to use, but she would definitely be scared of getting replaced. I would just love to see game Ellie have these thoughts. Because not only would it be freaking cute, but also, can you imagine a scene where Joel finds out and tries to reassure her of his love?

#the last of us #tlou #ellie williams #ellie tlou #joel miller #joel tlou #ellie and joel #joellie #esther tlou #joel and esther #the last of us game #tlou game #the last of us part 1 #tlou part 1 #elliespuns answers

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darkkbluee · 7 months

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What are your lawlight headcanons?

Oh, an ask? In my inbox? It took a while to realize there really was something in the inbox and it wasn't a bot this time. Anon, this is my first real ask, I'm so touched <3

To the topic! Lawlight headcanons! I have so many, I don't even know where to start. Some of them are AU genre specific, some are based on which arc/timeperiod it is. So many thoughts, how to summarize...

Warning: Below is a long ramble of a few headcanons and why I think that way. They're headcanons, and don't need canon or authorial proof to exist, thanks. Some of them might be AUs too, oops.

For AUs set in the early 2000s, where Light is first arc age. L realizes he's in love first. Not because L's older. Because of the circumstances Light grew up in.

Light is the eldest (and only) son of his family. He had his life figured out since childhood and never doubted he would do anything other than follow that path: Become a detective, chief, and eventually director. Get a girlfriend, buy a car and a house, marry said steady girlfriend, have two kids, the whole traditional family thing. You can even see hints of that in second arc.

When I first read the manga, I could see it in manga!Light. It seemed that way to me because it is sort of a common cultural thing between some Asian countries. Not anime!Light though, which is interesting, but not the point here.

So, Light does not realize he's in love, because he's never had the question of whether he's gay, because he never thought the reason he can't keep his eyes off L is because he's attracted to L, because 'attraction to L' is a non-existent concept in his consciousness.

Light is not dense, nor homophobic or anything. He recognizes when other men are attracted to him, he accepts that people can love whoever they want. He just never superimposes that image on himself.

It takes a whole long while for his brain to cook enough, to separate himself from the image he has in his mind. Then, he questions his sexuality and realizes he is, indeed, attracted to men as well. Or rather, one specific man. He has no sexual and romantic interest in anyone else and by that age, Light has experimented enough to know that.

Between Older Light and L, Light would be the first one to figure it out. But between 18 - 21 year old Light and L, it would L.

2. L is very specific about textures. His favorite, the one he discovers when he meets Light, is Light. Light takes very good care of himself, his face and body being as much a resource he uses as his brains.

Cue touchy L. L likes to run his fingers through Light's hair, he likes it when he can touch Light skin-to-skin, likes it when Light touches him back with his fingers.

As much as L likes watching Light (because L will freely admit he is a shallow creature and Light is very attractive to watch indeed), L loves touching Light more. He may or may not miss body language cues if he's too close to observe the full picture, but the trade off is worth it to L.

3. Light's long list of ex-girlfriends and admirers has stumped L many times. Especially when Light admits they all knew about the others. And that they don't begrudge Light for not committing 100%. And that they still happily help Light with whatever he wants them for even decades later.

Sometimes, it makes L wonder if he is just another victim of Light Yagami's charisma. Then he discards that thought because it doesn't matter. He has Light and Light is just as obsessed with him right back. L is the eventual winner and it doesn't matter who caught whom when they're both in it together.

4. They're both highly competitive. It translates over to board games as well. It's a Rule TM, posted on the fridge, notarized, signed and stamped by their friends and family, that they are never allowed to play Monopoly. And Uno. And Catan. And- [an increasing list of trade focused games].

Addendum - Twister should only be played in personal space, behind closed locked doors! — Sayu and Mello

Addendum 2 - Light is forbidden to play Jenga with Near. — L

That's all for now! If I continue, I'll never stop XD

Thanks for the ask, Anon!

#lawlight #death note #light yagami #l lawliet #asks #ask: lawlight headcanons #my first ask!

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kimbap-r0ll · 2 years

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could i please request trey, riddle, rook, idia, and malleus reacting to their s/o wanting to learn about/participate in one of their hobbies?

Hello! This is pretty wholesome, thank you for the ask!

Trey, Riddle, Rook, Idia, Malleus with an s/o who is interested in their hobbies

Trey

He likes baking, but surprisingly his character bio says he likes to "brush his teeth" as a hobby? Let's just say that s/o was interested in baking haha

He would be glad to teach you! He will tell you that oyster sauce is the secret ingredient when teaching you how to make a tart base. Of course, you have to catch this as him lightly teasing you, he'll wink at you and say "Ah you caught me, good eye, chef."

The two of you end up making a tart together, sharing it once it's finished. It becomes sort of a tradition to make something new every once in a while together after that.

I feel like though he's a really careful guy, he might have too much fun talking with you or teasing you that he forgets about the baked goods in the oven and it almost causes the school to burn down haha.

Riddle

Riddle likes to tend to hedgehogs! Who wouldn't want to do that honestly haha. Anyways, s/o heard of Heartslabyul having hedgehogs, and, because they weren't in the same house, decided to come by when Riddle was tending to them

If they show interest in learning how to tend to them, Riddle would be more than happy to teach them the proper things to do. He might be a bit strict, but you can see how much he cares for the little animals with how careful he is with them.

He thinks you look super cute trying your best to get them comfortable in your hands and eventually near your lap. You'll catch him smiling softly at you.

He might invite you over more whenever he's tending to them. It's a way for him to de-stress with you and catch up with you on anything. You get to see a soft side of the strict dorm leader so cherish the moments!

Rook

Rook likes to watch plays, and if you happen to be a theater person too, he would offer you to come with him to a play instead of the other way around. He has two tickets before you even say yes btw.

You guys probably go in-depth about the director's choices on each actor/actresses' positions onstage and some of the stage-lighting directions too. The two of you stay up all night talking about these kinds of things too.

I can imagine the two of you reciting lines when passing by each other in the hallways too haha. It's sort of like inside jokes for the two of you.

He'll try to go to a theater performance with you whenever he can. The two of you might be in the regular seating area or in a private box, who knows! Either way, you guys have a great time, sitting next to each other and watching the story unfold onstage.

Idia

Unsurprisingly, Idia's hobby is pc gaming, and if you happen to show even the slightest interest in joining him, he'll be over the moon about it. Watch him gush about which games you guys can play together haha.

You both play online together a lot. I'm sure if you stream or have any online friends/fans, people speculate if the two of players "Gloomurai" and "(insert username here)" are dating haha.

You guys are probably a power couple when in the same team, no matter what kind of a game it is (be it a first-person shooter type or a mmorpg). But sometimes, you guys like to watch each other play individually.

I'm sure Idia loves gaming with you so much and being able to geek out a bit. But because of this, the two of you barely get any sleep. Crewel might point this out if you guys show up to class with heavy dark circles for a month haha.

Malleus

Malleus likes exploring ruins, which is an interesting hobby and one where the two of you guys can spend a lot of time together. He's super happy when you tell him you want to accompany him on a trip one day.

He'll lead the way on most occasions, mainly because he chooses which area to explore but also because he wants to protect you if anything jumps out and potentially harms you.

Expect a lot of calm vibes while you guys are together. I can see the two of you sitting on top of a high broken pillar, watching the sunset. You're resting your head on his shoulder and he has an arm around you. It's really wholesome!

Overall, he's super happy he doesn't have to be alone when doing his hobby anymore! He'll offer you to accompany him every single time from then on.

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lollytea · 8 months

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AND KING!!!! OH MY GOD I FORGOT ABOUT KING WHAT ABOUT HIM WJHERE IS HE IN THE AU!! also were eda and darius old freinds Back In The Day when they filmed the azura movie (maybe darius was like one of the makeup artist's apprentices or something and he kept rising to the top even after eda was fired from the sequels). also how did luz and amity get together and break up (i think u briefly mentioned this in a post) and then back together again? IS MATTHOLOMULE IN THIS AU TOO???? im sorry for the spam but my brain is exploding and i am chasing the dopamine rush

OKAY!!! BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!! Some more tidbits about the AU

-- To explain King, I'd have to first explain his Dad!! Let's talk about Papa Titan!!!

That wasn't his government name but an affectionate nickname he got during his time in the industry. The "Titan" part came from being a hulking 6'9 and built like a brick house and the "Papa" part should be obvious enough. He was a sweetheart who was always warm and fatherly towards anyone who needed somebody like him in their lives.

Titan was a director. More specifically, Titan was one of the greatest directors in Hollywood history. He was passionate about horror and humor and beauty and ugliness and love. There was so much love his work. A real Guillermo Del Toro type.

However, when he met a young Eda Clawthorne at an audition back in the 80s, he was basically a nobody. The Good Witch Azura was Titan's very first big budget project and he was determined to create something deep, magical and genuine.

During their time working together on the movie, Titan and Eda formed a tight bond over feeling like an outsider in this world because of things like medical history, sexual orientation and being lovers of the gross and the weird. They might have been weirdos. But weirdos stick together. By the time filming on Azura had wrapped, Eda and Titan were family.

Azura was a big hit at the box office and it was obvious that the studio had a franchise goldmine on their hands. However, the popularity of Azura among the 5-12 demographic led them to the conclusion that the series needed some drastic changes. Namely, they needed to take a more digestible and child friendly approach for future films. And Titan was just not the director for that sort of thing.

After quite a bit of back and forth over creative differences, Titan was removed for the project. To this day, he's not sure if he quit or if he was kicked out. It somehow felt like both.

(Eda was removed near immediately afterwards.)

Titan did not let this incident deter him and continued working and gradually climbed the ranks of fame until he was considered an irreplaceable Hollywood gem.

He and Eda remained in contact and that familial bond between the two never frayed.

Titan passed away from health complications in 1999. At the time of his death, he had been a single father of one. His infant son King was left in the custody of Eda, his godmother.

At the current point in the story, King is a loud, brash and opinionated eight year old boy who gradually warms into a mature, gentle and introspective soul as Luz enters his life. He likes stuffed animals, video games and making fortresses of solitude out of cardboard boxes and blankets.

However, King wasn't all Papa Titan gave to Eda on his way out the door. He also left behind a large wooden chest that he had packed to the brim with journals and notebooks and scripts and sketchpads and all the inspiration and ideas that he had gathered for future projects over the years. He knew, that his deathbed, that he would never get a chance to execute all of his ideas. Not in this lifetime. But maybe, one day in a far off future, there would be somebody like him and Eda, a lover of the gross and the weird. And he was sure that person would have plenty of ideas of their own. But who knows? Maybe one day they'd need a little extra inspo. His stuff would be their waiting for him. His soul would rest easy knowing one of those scribbled down half baked ideas could have some life into it. And by another weirdo just like him, who would put their own spin on it.

Titan entrusted that chest with Eda, knowing she'd come across another weirdo one day, even though she was adamant that there would never be anyone quite like him. So for years, that stupid box remained locked, gathering dust in her attic. Eda didn't trust the key with anyone.

Until she did.

It was eight years later when Luz Noceda lifted the heavy wooden lid and inherited the last drop of Papa Titan's magic.

-- Yes, Eda and Darius have known each other since they were teenagers. They went to the same high school (Eda went to public school on and off) and Darius was an intern in the wardrobe department on a movie Eda starred in. They were very familiar with each other and often hung out.

-- I haven't thought too deeply about the development of Luz and Amity's relationship in this AU. I figured I'd provide enough info but leave enough gaps that people who are passionate about lumity could use their imagination to draw their own conclusions. I can tell you about their pre-relationship tension tho:

In 2006, Luz became a little bit tangled up in celebrity gossip at the time for her friendship with known stars Willow Park and Augustus Porter. The two were frequent faces in Luz's silly low quality YouTube vlogs.

At the time, none of the trio were all that close to Amity. She was a celebrity to Luz but basically a stranger, a former friend turned strained acquaintance to Willow and a co-worker to Gus. So of course, Amity was not included in any of Luz's vlogs. They simply weren't close with her.

However, in the eyes of the press who feeded off writing parasocial and invasive articles about the personal lives of teenage celebrities, this was interesting. At the time, the studio producing Hexside was trying to sell the illusion that Willow, Gus and Amity, the show's stars, were all best friends behind the scenes who hung out all the time. And the YouTube videos were directly contradicting that.

This led to a lot of speculation about drama between Amity and the other two kids. Things like bullying, exclusion, bullying etc. Rumors were always swirling around and, in all honestly, it made Amity feel extremely uncomfortable and upset.

She had never cared before about what Willow and Gus did in their spare time. She knew they weren't friend, so why should it bother her? It wasn't until the whole press was drawing attention to her being a friendless loser that it really started to sting.

Sometimes she wished the dynamic she pretended to have with Willow and Gus was real. And during this time, she started to feel a good bit of resentment towards Luz for being the real third piece of this friend group.

So basically, once she and Willow started gradually repairing their friendship, Amity kinda organically developed into the friendgroup. She was chilly to Luz at first but through a series of trial and error, the two began warming up to each other. A shared love of the Good Witch Azura really ignited a passionate friendship between them.

From that point, Luz and Amity became closer with each other than they were with Willow and Gus. They were practically joined at the hip. Yknow those really really really close girl friendships that's clearly gay but they haven't noticed yet? Yeah.

In every other AU I imagine that Luz and Amity get together before Hunter and Willow. Except this one. It takes waaaay longer because Luz hasn't really realized she's bisexual yet and Amity is petrified to confronting the fact that she's a lesbian. She is not only closeted but she is deeply in denial about it.

So ya I haven't thought about the moment they get together but it probably takes at least a year. I'll let the lumityheads come up with their own headcanons about how it happens.

Anyway, yeah, the reason it took so long for this relationship is the same reason it fell apart so abruptly. Amity was scared that somebody was gonna find out. She was terrified. It's hard being a closeted teenage lesbian in any circumstance. But a closeted teenage lesbian in 2008 who also happens to be one of the biggest child stars on television? The whole world is watching her. The stress this little girl is under is insurmountable.

Ultimately, Amity is gonna need time to figure this out. She's gonna need help to break away so she can be with Luz without feeling paranoid. She's under contracts, she's in an abusive and controlling household and work environment. It's gonna take time before this little girl will be alright.

And also, that's not even going into if Luz will take her back after all this time apart. She's been understanding to Amity's situation but also very hurt by being suddenly thrown away. It's Luz's call to decide if they want to get back together, knowing that she's putting herself at risk to get hurt again.

But then again, she has a lot of faith in Amity.

Its a complicated mess and I haven't really planned the whole solution out. Feel free to brainrot about it for me if you want.

-- Anyway. MATTHOLOMULE!!!

Matt begins the story as a slimey, deceitful little paparazzi wannabe. His big brother Steve works on various sets around the studio and sometimes Matt is there because Steve has to babysit and sometimes he's there because he steals his brother's employee pass to sneak on to studio grounds.

He's a bit of a bottom feeder, mostly dumpster diving for celebrity trash since that shit goes for good money online.

However, Matt is dreaming big. And his next plot is not to gather celebrity trash but celebrity secrets. And his target is Augustus Porter.

Gus is thrilled to see a dude his own age on set and happily befriends Matt when the latter gives a sob story about being a loner.

Anyway, Matt betrays Gus, Gus gets burned. It sucks.

There's a later incident where Matt sneaks some of his school friends (most notably his "best friend" Bria) on to set to impress them and they prove to be far more vile and cruel than even Matt can stomach.

Things like stealing actors' phones and journals and gathering very personal text messages and diary entries of their lowest lows.

It's what wakes Matt up to the fact that maybe this isn't the person he wants to be. And maybe he's on his way to becoming that person if he doesn't catch himself before it's too late.

After helping Gus retrieve the private things that his former friends stole, he and Matt form a tentative (but real this time!) friendship. From that point on, he makes semi frequents on set for no other reason than to hang out with Gus.

#La La Land Machine AU

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mareenavee · 1 year

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⭐️ mages and literacy

Director's Cut -- Mages and Literacy in The World on our Shoulders

FRICKEN FANTASTIC. Thank you so much for asking about this specifically.

Actually, on a side note, my mom and I were talking about how strangely well read the people of Tamriel are considering the setting. I really love it even though it's relatively odd. We only ever meet a few authors in game, and never anyone who transcribes professionally. Certainly no printing presses. Maybe there are and we just don't know it.

On a more serious note, since literacy seems very common in the setting, generally speaking -- obviously like everywhere there will be exceptions to the rules, I'd like to talk just a bit about arcane text specifically. I'd mentioned before that becoming a mage, or at least becoming more skilled at the use of magic requires time, effort and study. Some people are naturally more inclined to do so, and some are not. There could be a myriad reasons, culturally or biologically or what have you.

I have a scene in chapter 2 where Hadvar gives a spell tome to Nyenna that he'd taken out of the keep in Helgen. The scene starts after she quickly understands and memorizes the words for the flames spell:

“How curious… I had no idea this could be so simple,” she said. “My mother never saw sense in trying to teach me. My purpose was to unite houses, and that’s it. At least according to her. It was a miracle I learned even the tiniest alchemic recipes in all the time I’d had to observe her work.” Hadvar looked at her, again with his eyebrows knit, making his broad face seem even wider than it was. She returned the confused stare. “Wait, is it not simple?”

“Magic definitely isn’t simple, no, I can assure you. I can’t make any sense of those scribblings no matter how many hours I stare at them. I know they’re written in Common but they start to swim around on the page like they’re not meant for eyes like mine,” Hadvar said, reading over her shoulder.

We're not exactly sure what language magic is written in, or if it exists in all languages, or is something else entirely. We're not sure if it's a manifestation of the blessings of Magnus or Julianos on Nirn, even. In my hc, sometimes the text is very difficult to read. Some people can't read it at all, though it's possible they could learn the spells if the words were ever spoken to them. Some people, especially considering the social attitude toward magic in Skyrim in this case, accept that arcane texts are more trouble than they're worth -- as Hadvar might in this scene. Or maybe there's more to it that we can't know.

I like to think the arcane texts are themselves magic of a sort, that spells and the intentions behind them are found in the shape of this language -- even if it's actually written in Tamrielic/Common. It's possible, for some, it's simply not something they're willing to put the effort in to comprehend.

Even if many people in Skyrim/Tamriel own and read many more books than would normally seem possible in such settings, arcane texts are probably on a different level. I would imagine that's probably why there's not very many spell tomes sitting around on peoples' bookshelves in their houses or anything like that. Usually one must go to where the mages are to borrow their copies.

There's probably a lot more we can extrapolate on this question, but there's surprisingly little lore about the mechanics of why spell tomes work. (Or really, why they get destroyed in game when you're done with them.) In the end, I think there's a lot of factors that influence why someone might become a mage, and perhaps a lot more as to why someone else might not, and some of that reason could be the difficulty of the craft and the amount of study and work that probably has to go into it under most circumstances. Less literacy, and more cultural and aptitude based.

(I like to think it's like any art in real life. Some people have natural affinities to do creative work, some don't. Anyone who wants to improve their skill in said art will need to put in the work, no matter how easily or not it comes to each specific artist.)

Thanks! This was fun to mull over :D

#AskMareena #MareenaWrites #skyrim #elder scrolls #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #fic writer #fanfic writer #fanfiction writing #skyrim fic #skyrim fanfic #skyrim fanfiction #ao3 #The World on Our Shoulders

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moltz23 · 10 months

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FE3H Development Trivia: That one time Black Eagles tried to trick its players

Yep, you read that right (also, thanks for checking up this post!). One often missed aspect from the development history of Three Houses’ development is that Intelligent Systems (namely, Toshiyuki Kusakihara, the game’s director) once blatantly attempted - and failed - to trick players introduced to the world of Fodlan with the Black Eagles House, which is a small bit of trivia I’ve been wanting to touch upon for a while.

It’s important to go back in time, when Three Houses was still relatively fresh in everyone’s minds, and development interviews had just started to surface about the game. Post-launch, the first details we got from it came through a February 2020 Famitsu Interview which, oddly enough, contained extra info only for its digital release. One of these bonus details was the thought process behind Black Eagles and its branching paths:

–On top of that, [Black Eagles] also had a hidden story branch. Yokota: We kept it hidden, but the idea to have a story branch was there since the creation of the Black Eagle route. –Did you have plans to implement a story branch for the other houses? Yokota: No. We only decided it for the Black Eagle house and to keep it a secret. Edelgard is a character with a unique position, but we thought it would be more interesting to have two stories here, then we implemented the triggers for it.

Going forward a few months later, Nintendo DREAM’s May 2020 issue provided far more details on how each of the four routes came to be:

Q: Can you tell us which route was made first in order to expand and explore the world? Kusakihara: The first and second parts of the Empire route. which is called by the userbase as the “Church Route”, Silver Snow. The progression of Class Leader Edelgard to become the antagonist… that is what we initially decided upon. It was from there, that every route’s story and the progression of other Lords as characters were expanded by the Koei Tecmo Scenario Team. As the Class Leader would leave, the Black Eagles were initially decided to be the most difficult route as imagined (gameplay difficulty). Yokota: Ahh, this is about losing access to the most powerful unit that you would be raising, right? This is pretty bad, yeah. Kusakihara: In my personal opinion, I think that some cruelty from the parts of developers is necessary. This is because if we weren’t cruel/callous in any way, then, just like pre-established harmony where everything only interacts with itself, it would be easy for readers/players to predict everything that will happen. A scenario that would completely be predicted by the reader/player is not something that feels attractive. And that’s why we went all out that way, but the wish to walk with Edelgard was incredibly strong even in the development team. Walking with Edelgard in “Crimson Flower”, or rather known as the, “Supreme Ruler Route” is something we honestly meant to be much more difficult to enter. Yokota: I’m really sorry to you, Kusakihara-san too, but I was also someone who battled with Koei Tecmo on it. The exploration event split was initially too difficult and there were no hints at all. Even now, if you don’t explore during the certain day (lists the exact month in Japanese), then you wouldn’t be able to go to the Supreme Ruler route either. Nevertheless, most people generally go out to explore on the start of each month, so it ends up being rather obvious, eh. Kusakihara: Compared to what I envisioned, it’s about 3 times easier to enter, but that’s fine, I think. Yokota: In my opinion, I was thinking that this sort of difficulty is fine instead, lol. The Black Eagles Story was the first story Kusakihara-san wrote, so I thought you might be more against this, but it’s nice that we are able to go into a route split here, so the “Unpredictable Story” that Kusakihara-san wanted was able to be achieved through this form. It feels like you were able to make it without much deviations right from the planning stage all the way.

There is a lot to unpack here, but for this topic’s sake, what’s worth rescuing is that:

One, only Black Eagles was ever planned to feature two story branches, which was envisioned early on.

Two, the developers consider Silver Snow branch the actual Black Eagles path, while Crimson Flower is instead seen as the Supreme Ruler route.

Three, it was very important for Kusakihara to keep Crimson Flower very hidden initially, to the point many people at KT were reportedly not ok with this decision and had to push against it.

And four, emphasis was given to how Silver Snow is inherently cruel gameplay-wise (to the extent of being intended to be the hardest route) and its story was meant to be unpredictable, with Edelgard herself playing a big role in both points.

These four factors not only made what makes the Black Eagles House unique in Three Houses, but also contain an underlying scheme from IS' part which not only didn’t quite succeed, but also radically changed how we perceive it’s two story branches: Silver Snow, and Crimson Flower.

The Failed Deceit

Black Eagles’ story – for those unaware - openly telegraphs which choices spark the big story changes as long you’ve fulfilled two easy-to-meet requirements (namely, reaching Edelgard’s C+ Support, and talking to her while exploring in Chapter 11). Once the game is updated up to version 1.1.0, you’re instantly told that some content’s been added to CF. And to cap it off, the Japanese title of Three Houses, Wind Flower Snow Moon (風花雪月), revealed a whole year before release back in June of 2018, hinted there would be four stories, so there’s very little secrecy left involving Edelgard’s route in the game we ended up getting.

Regardless, just the idea of CF being more hidden, while having Silver Snow be seen as THE Black Eagle route, very much sends the message - without saying it outright - that the original plan with the Black Eagles route was to railroad most of its first players into Silver Snow, all for the sake of having them fulfill Kusakihara’s vision. Because in hindsight: what purpose serves having a story with two story branches, where one of them is far more accessible than the other? This is no FE6 where visiting one of the two neighboring villages will change the upcoming chapters; In Black Eagles, Silver Snow is available by default, while Crimson Flower is conditionally locked.

Of course, as the title of this part suggests, the scheme didn’t really pan out in the end. The efforts on making Edelgard’s route secret were mostly undone by KT, and like it’s said in the interview, the path became very easy to get into. How easy, you might wonder? Well, in a 3H survey from Famitsu made in October 2019, it was revealed that of all the people that started the game with Black Eagles (1185 people), 77,9% of those (923) ended up on Crimson Flower. The effects this had within the public, contrasted with their original intention, was so drastic that the fact it’s admitted in the interview that even the Japanese fanbase calls Silver Snow “The Church route” gives away that Death of the Author is in full effect here as for which Black Eagles story is perceived as the actual Empire route.

Finally, the emphasis on Edelgard’s route being conceived as this story branch, parallel to Silver Snow, that once required a lot of effort to get into, also raises implications I haven’t seen people discuss in general. Three Houses loves to recycle its content, so when Crimson Flower gets compared with the other routes at a surface level, more often than not, it ends up praised for being different while also getting criticized for its short length, to the point it’s widely believed the path is unfinished. And yet, who’s to say that its identity is a side effect - an artifact, if you will - of having been envisioned as that one super secret story branch few were meant to enter by sheer accident? I think this is worth pondering because at a closer inspection, there are so many design choices unique to it that are not shared anywhere else (such as: tweaked difficulty balancing; a strict resource pool; paralogues having unique quirks in it; inverted light and dark symbolism for important scenes; harder endgame monsters, etc.), that in my opinion, does put into question the idea that the path was intended to be far longer than it ended up being.

Three Houses is one of those games whose development has always intrigued me. Compared to Engage, it very much feels story-driven and one can tell tried its best to surprise the player both in the narrative and gameplay, even if it very much tried to eat far more than it could chew (like, it does have a gigantic page The Cutting Room Floor, and the sheer amount of content that was silently fixed, tweaked and added post-launch is also something very few people touch upon nowaydays). And I feel that the whole attempted stunt with the Black Eagles is something that’s not often appreciated and brought up, regardless of your feelings on the ideas behind them and their execution (I have a ton of bones to pick up with SS myself, but I digress).

#FE3H #FETH #black eagles #fire emblem #Fire Emblem: Three Houses #Crimson Flower #Silver Snow #Development #Three Houses' Development #edelgard von fresberg #edelgard fire emblem

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moonlight-fan2008 · 14 days

Text

Moonlight rewatch for millionth time

Episode 2 random thoughts and feelings I had while rewatching again: cause I’m bored and have nothing else to do or watch. And I love this show

Mick: monsters don’t get happy ever after. Me: Stop saying you’re a monster! Stop it now

I like Mick’s early 80’s look, it had a 1970ish vibe to it

I know Mick probably panicked but he should have just snapped Lee Jays neck before running off

I like how Beth’s like talk about my feelings? No I’d rather get to work bye lol same girl

I think I’ve said it before but I think Beth purposely picked out a 25 year old single malt to maybe catch Mick in a lie or maybe get some sort of reaction from him

I wish we got more Bobby scenes

My head canon is that Logan and Mick met over World or Warcraft and Mick beat Logan who then threatened Mick (think end game with Thor) and Mick was like oh okay I’m so scared then Logan hacked him and went to his place and was like oh shit my bad uh friends? When he realized Mick was also a vampire

I love him but Mick really needs to think things through before he acts

Ilene deserved better I’m glad she gets justice in the end

Lee Jay in fact did not understand

Mick says vampires don’t have a club house that they hang out at and yet we have this episode where we have vampires at a club that has freshies then several episodes later another club where they all play pool. So what’s the difference?

I never noticed this before but Mick had random lemons in his fridge

There’s like four or five of them in there. It’s most likely for clients that come over but he also has green apples in there too.

Lee Jay is the worst

I like Josef’s casual style in the way that something about it still feels very expensive and true to Josef’s personality

I like how Beth is a ride or die when it comes to Mick. She’s only known him a week but she’s already willing to break the law and go against her boyfriend and friend to help prove his innocence

I wonder what happened to Julia after this episode, I’m sure she went to therapy for everything that happened but it’s just strange we never see her again especially when Josh died

Is it bad that when Mick is running and jumping on the rooftop that StarWars bad lip reading of Yoda singing “now run jump” etc etc was playing in my head? Lol

Where did Mick get that blood packet from and why didn’t he get help for the silver buckshots in his body? Did he just rob a blood bank ? Because I highly doubt Guillermo would let his friend go off on his own in such a vulnerable situation

I like how they didn’t drag out the vampire secret for very long. Sometimes I feel like when writers and directors drag things out like that for too long it becomes a bit stale once things are actually revealed

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carolmunson · 5 months

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⭐️ i would absolutely love to hear anything that you have to say about the orange colored sky universe. completely obsessed with that relationship and the way that it feels so real, r and eddie argue and have faults and are just so normal!! but also the side relationships that you have incorporated with Eddie and steve and both of their relationships with Gwen <3 such a run-on but it’s a masterpiece to me!

Director's Cut Ask Game This is an excerpt from 'Agitated from the Shadows, Can I Take it All Back' in the Orange Colored Sky universe:

"Can I..." but you trail off, not wanting to invite yourself -- uncomfortable in the silence. In the way he doesn't look at you, in the way he feels far away. The sound of the bathroom door closing puts a weight in your belly, your heart thrums, heat rises on the back of your neck. You settle in on the couch, the steady hum from the central air makes your eyelids heavy -- it was already a late night. You scroll on your phone, listening while the water hits the shower floor up stairs, wishing he'd invited you up. You feel sticky from the heat outside, from the bar air, from the beer someone spilled on your legs. Maybe you should just go.

Director's Cut: Under the Cut

I really wanted the reader to feel the emotional and physical discomfort of this scene. Like, that feeling at the end of a long summer night where your skin is kind of damp and your clothes are sticking to you. The way a leather couch sticks to the backs of your thighs? And you're so uncomfortable you just want to shower and you sort of feel ugly and sweaty? And not only that but the guy you're seeing seems mad at you, or at worst -- disappointed. That sort of tear between, 'Am I overreacting?' or 'Should I just go?'

Weirdly I was sort of grappling with myself writing this scene because it reminded me of some discomfort I had with some partners of mine when I thought someone was 'mad' at me. I feel like Peach, even though she's a 'reader' character, really struggles with 'assumption'. She hasn't really grown out of the 'deciding something is bad' phase and is challenging herself to be like 'Let me face this head on, actually.' This can also be seen in the chapter where he takes her to his house when she gets drunk in the LES. She just 'decides' he doesn't like her anymore.

I think something that's true in most of my fics is that I never like making couples totally okay. Because in my experience, real life couples aren't always totally okay either. My sister and her husband fight sometimes and they are like -- so in love. I think it's easy to romanticize love and relationships in the fandom space and I also think it's GOOD. People should live happily ever after. But I also like to bring some really grounding humanity to the worlds I build so that people can truly see parts of themselves in the fic. Also, any time I write Steve in any of these (for the most part, aside from blurbs) I run it by @loveshotzz because he is from her summer series All I Really Want Is You and is also the main inspo (aside from the hot older guy I saw at TJs that day) for this series!

#orange colored sky

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hayffiebird · 3 months

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Taste of Strawberries, chap. 40 (part two)

Author’s note: TRIGGER WARNING for mentions of eating disorder, suicidal ideations, animal cruelty and sexual assault.

Forgive me for any typos. I am really tired!

Hayffie Post-Mockingjay Multi-chapter, Rated M

Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie returns in to Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is renewed. Will it lead to something more?

Meanwhile Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something that will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming.

Chapter 40

The writing on the wall (part two)

“When we graduated from the Academy,” Annabel continued her story, “Effie was dead-set on becoming a licensed architect. For years, that’s all she ever talked about. But her father contacted my father. Asked if he could pull a few strings. Recommend his daughter for an escort position. An outline district would be absolutely fine. And then they gave her the good news like a sort of … early birthday present. One she could not return without breaking their hearts.

I had no idea what I wanted. Most of the time I just longed back to our Academy days. Those years remain some of the happiest of my life. Before I met June. It was Effie and I against the world. I even got smitten for the first time. A girl in our year with wild, curly, jet black hair. And the school, while strict, was also my ticket out of Cordelia’s little kingdom, or so I thought.

All the Snow children were homeschooled. Like most of the prominent ultra-rich families. Especially the daughters, destined for marriage rather than higher studies. But my father was adamant. His girls wouldn’t sit and wait until someone proposed. We would get a proper, thorough tuition first and embark on a fine career of some sort. So, first the Academy – then the University, just like he once did.

Pallas and Apollo’s Academy were boarding schools back then. ‘Give them to us young and they are ours forever’ was the motto. So even though I’d still see Cordelia during each Games, I’d only ever leave the school’s stone walls for the occasional holiday. With me tucked away, I thought, some other girl would take my place and I’d fade from Cordelia’s memory.

After graduation I moved back home again. All of us children were expected to stay at the Flickermansion until we were properly married off.

Father was present and he wasn’t. He outsourced everything. Nannies to dress us, chefs to feed us, housekeepers to clean up our mess. I think I joined The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – father’s house band, playing the trumpet because then at least I’d see him and not through a television screen.

He wasn’t a bad father. He loved us deeply. He just didn’t really have time to have five daughters. Especially after mother died. I believe he always tried to do what was best for us. But how can you really know what that is when you hardly ever see each other? Especially in a society that teaches you to push down every bad feeling that arises.

I had been home for just a couple of weeks when father summoned me to his office. Said he had some great news. I was betrothed.

‘Clearly you’ve made a good impression’, he said. ‘Cordelia asked for you herself. Her parents have blessed it. A fall wedding. How would you like that?”

I always knew I’d be married off eventually. To the daughter of a coal mining tycoon or maybe an award-winning up-and-coming director like Cressida. A match viewed as mutually beneficial for both families. But unlike many parents in the Capitol my father, our father, promised the five of us that we’d all have a say in who we got engaged to. He’d never sentence us to a forced marriage.

But in these matters he had no choice. And we both knew it. You didn’t say no to Snow.

‘This is the best thing that could’ve happened, Bee,” he said. ‘We couldn’t have hoped for a better match. The merging of the families … We’ll be related to the most powerful man in Panem.’

What he didn’t say, not in so many words, were the dangers of declining such a generous offer. If I so much as hesitated it would be questions. My wavering could set a ball rolling that we had no means to control.

After that, I was to spend all my Saturdays with Cordelia. At the mansion, closely chaperoned of course. All while the Snows and the Flickermans made arrangements for our three day wedding.”

She wet her lips, a vacant look in her eyes much like Effie when she shared a painful memory.

“I could never quite tell if she really was gay like me or just wanted something soft and submissive to use at her own fancy. Like the animals. Either way, I knew that once we were married she could beat me and enjoy me as she pleased and there was nothing I could do about it. Not without risking my family.

I didn’t know it then but looking back, I was clinically depressed by that point. Save those mandatory Saturdays I isolated myself from everyone, even Effie. Kept to the Flickermansion as much as possible. I’d counted calories on and off for years but it wasn’t until my engagement that the habit really escalated. Triggered an addition of sorts. I could control little else in my life but I could control what I ate. Or didn’t ate.

Weight loss is glorified in the Capitol. Praised no matter how you achieved it. People want to know your secret. Calls you morphling chic. But for me, it was never really about being thinner or looking a certain way. I doubt it ever really is, at the core if you have this disease.

First I thought I had control over it. This ‘weight journey’ of mine in lack of a better word. But once I reached my goal I started negotiate and bargain the finish line, pushed it further and further ahead. Because it was never really about the weight.

It was a system I built up, to protect myself from anxiety. To manage my feelings. It would just be me and anorexia sitting in a room and then it wouldn’t matter that I was alone and unhappy, facing a future I dreaded.

I had a hard time showing up for meals. To eat in front of people in general. I felt like everyone was watching me but if I missed too many dinners my sisters would ask questions.

So it became this destructive cycle of starving myself and then binge-eat as a response which triggered panic attacks so strong I went and drank Evermore drops to make myself vomit, only to tumble into a pit of self-loathing for wasting good food and so I was right back to not eating again.

And then there were still my Saturdays with Cordelia. For someone who apparently ‘asked for me herself’ she couldn’t care less about the wedding plans being made over our heads. We never really talked about it, but she spent more and more time with the animals and during the last weeks of her life she practically lived in the Asphodel Meadow.

It was really just another room, with the same twenty-foot-high walls but it had a force field, mimicking an open green plain, distant mountains and the wide blue sky.

Cordelia owned only one animal bigger than herself. A pony. I called her Boo for short and she was the fairest, mildest, most sweet-muzzled creature you ever saw. A cream colored, freckled Connemara who loved sugar. I always made sure to bring a few cubes in my dress pocket in the hopes that I might slip her some.

The Asphodel Meadow was an equestrian centre laid out with horse jumping obstacles and this is where she lived. Boo. I never got to ride her myself but I braided her mane, groomed her, cleaned her hooves. Minor things that bored Cordelia.

She was a fine rider. Had been on horseback since she was a toddler. She was supposed to always wear a helmet and never ride bareback but she hardly ever followed those rules.

One morning when I got there she was in a foul mood. I never did learn why but she took Boo out before she was saddled and ready. Didn’t care what anyone else had to say. Just grabbed the whip and swung herself onto the horse’s back.

I’d seen her hurt Boo before but never like that. She was livid. The people who worked the stable tried to rein her in but Cordelia ignored their every attempt. Furious, her and Boo soared over the jumping obstacles and either you got out of her way or you got run down.

Then something happened with the force field. To this day I don’t know what it was. If somewhere a fuse had blown or there was a power cut or someone simply turned it off but there was a sharp zapping sound and in an instant the Mind Flight was gone. Nothing left but the real ceiling, the high walls with no doors unlocked but the ones leading you back into the depths of the mansion.

The reaction from Cordelia was instantaneous. She shrieked with fury and slammed the whip down, harder and harder. Yelled at Boo to go faster. Punished her, I think, for everything wrong in her life. Whipped her bloody until I screamed at her to stop.

Finally crazed with pain and terror the horse bolted. The servants could not control her. Neither could Cordelia. She shouted at the mare but the animal was beyond reach. All the girl could do was drop the whip and clutch on to Boo’s mane. Grip her with her knees. She couldn’t even throw herself off at such sped without breaking bones, without being trampled.

Panicked, I watched it play out. Frozen like the first time she kissed me. And then Boo crashed into the vertical poles of a nearby obstacle. Cordelia flew forward and slammed into the ground, head-first.

The room was in an uproar. People running wild. Some for Boo, most of them for the young woman. All I did was stare at one of her boots, twitching with what little life still left in her. She’d broken her neck. By the time the doctor arrived she was already gone.

The next few days were a haze. I was in shock. Numb. Scared too. Scared over what might happen to my family. I know father called for an emergency meeting. A meeting we children had no part of, of course. It wasn’t hard to guess what the topic was. ‘What we will do if miss Cordelia’s death is blamed on Annabel’. As if any words or actions on our part would make the slightest difference if Snow decided to rain his fury down on us.

In the end, Cordelia’s fate was ruled a tragic accident. Capitol News made a glorious tribute about president Snow’s oldest daughter. ‘The free spirit and lover of animals. A fine rider heading toward a brilliant future when taken to young.’

I never forgot Snow’s face at the funeral. Hard-lined. Unsmiling. A white rose in his lapel. Very controlled and yet I couldn’t escape the feeling that on the inside he was dancing. Because a problem of his had been solved in an unexpected yet welcomed way. A bad leaf snipped off of an otherwise glorious rose.

And I lay awake at night wondering if I was much better. Wondered during those bleak, dark, sleepless hours if the real reason I did nothing when Cordelia died was because a part of me wanted her dead, wanted to be rid off her.

What kind of person was I for being more upset about Boo having to be put down than I was a dead girl. A girl probably feeling just as trapped and caged as I was, only more. If I could wave a wand and bring her back to life, would I? Would I really?

Not a week after the funeral, the citizens of the Capitol had already gotten on with their lives.

Not me.

I hadn’t seen Effie in ages. Hardly ever returned her calls. So when we finally did meet up at her place she noticed how much I’d changed physically, unlike my family who saw me every day. And I could pretend in front of my father and my sisters but not Effie. In the end, I told her everything.

About Cordelia. About my anxiety attacks. That I didn’t know how to eat normally anymore and that the only thing I could hope to achieve with my pathetic little existence was help continue Snow’s Games through my father’s name. All the things I never told a living soul. I could see how concerned she got. ‘I think we should talk to your father’, she said but I made her swear not to tell anyone. Not ever!

I already regretted opening up. Effie wanted to meet up again after that but I dodged her suggestions of when and where.

A week of this and my father took me aside again. Only this time, he came to me. For ten dreadful seconds I feared he’d announce another marriage candidate but that wasn’t it at all.

Effie Trinket had come to see him. Told him she was worried. Deeply worried. About me. That I seemed depressed. That I wasn’t eating.

I’ve never felt so betrayed. So deceived. I trusted her with my secrets and my darkness and she fed me to the wolves. The only real friend I thought I had in the Capitol.

So then our house doctor paid us a visit, I got my diagnosis and from that moment on everything changed.

Anorexia is a symptom of a larger problem but people thing the problem lies with the food. If only you start eating again you’ll be healthy and happy. So why aren’t you eating? Just eat!

So I started hiding my behavior – the sick ways in which I ate and it infected every ritual, every habit, surrounding food. Even with eyes on me, I hid parts of my meal in the napkin, smeared the gravy out across my plate, found ways to get my hands on Evermores and burned the bloody tissues in the open fireplace.

With each broken rule the grip on me grew tighter and tighter. My going to the dining hall was now mandatory. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, closely supervised by nurses employed by my father. And their obsessive-compulsive counting of calories only fed the existing problem, like petrol on a fire. I couldn’t use the bathroom without someone standing outside the door. They locked me in at night with guards at the door. Put bars on the windows so I couldn’t escape for a nocturnal run around the garden.

Ten days of this and I snapped. Completely. Called Effie. Screamed at her until my voice gave out. Told her I never wanted to see her again. That I’d never forgive her for doing this to me.

With Effie cut from my life, everything got even more unbearable. A month went by. Two. I was literally a prisoner at my father’s mansion. Like Cordelia. I don’t think my family trusted me outside those walls and they were right. There must have been questions about my empty chair in the house band but I guess father came up with an acceptable excuse. A secret passion project perhaps.

Finally, the hospital had to get involved. I was literally wasting away before my family’s eyes. Way beyond what even the Capitol considered attractive and still losing pound after pound.

This was the last resort. Executed in the biggest of secrecy. Father wanted as little bad publicity about me as possible after what happened with Cordelia. To protect me in his own way. I didn’t put up a fight. Was nothing I could do. Either I checked myself in to their psych ward voluntarily or I’d be committed against my will just the same.

My father never called. Never visited. Neither did my sisters. Looking back I believe they trusted that I was in good hands. That interfering would only hinder my progress. But at the time I felt nothing but utter and complete abandonment. That the outside world had finally forgotten me and wasn’t that what I always wanted?

Days passed. Weeks. Medicines. Therapy. Enteral nutrition pumped into my body. We were eight patients at my ward. Eight pale little ghosts floating around. Nurses and the occasional doctor filled the halls at all time. I didn’t care what they did to me. Didn’t care about anything anymore. Well, not quite. I was waiting. For my first day pass. One day outside those walls. Just an hour would do. So I could slip some garden rocks into my coat pockets and walk straight out into the River Theseus.

So outwardly, I co-operated. Did what they asked. Told them what they wanted to hear. But inside, I’d withdrawn so far into my numb little shell I might as well already be dead. The only thing that got me going during those first few weeks was visualizing the quiet, deep river. Over and over again.

But then, there came a letter. First and only time I ever got one at the ward. And I didn’t have to turn it over to know who sent it. I’d recognize that careful handwriting anywhere. The nurse who first brought it to me, stood with me as I read. Hours after I’d mustered up enough courage to do so.

Sweet Effie. It was as if all of my dark thoughts had somehow lit a beacon. A beacon so large she was able to see the smoke rising into the sky all the way from her apartment.

The nurses got a call through to her for me and an hour later she arrived in the little room for family and friends.

One look at her was all it took. Even after everything I said during that awful phone call months ago, her blue eyes held nothing but love and I completely fell apart. Her arms encircled me and I cried. More than cried. Wailed. Like a child sitting at the bottom of a well with no way to get up.

She helped me to the couch so my knees wouldn’t give out. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t even get any words out. Words of forgiveness, most of all. But I didn’t have to. She understood anyway. And she just held me. Caressed my back, my hair with quiet soothing sounds. Like I were a baby in her arms. She stayed with me for as long as she was allowed to. When they came to take me away and I started trembling she squeezed my hands and said, ‘Tomorrow.’

A fresh wave of pain filled Annabel’s eyes, but not for the reason Haymitch imagined.

“I didn’t know it then,” she said, “but she was already pregnant by that point. I was still on the inside when she gave birth to her boy, months later. We’ve never really talked about it since but I wonder sometimes. If I hadn’t ended our friendship when I did, right in the middle of her tender first time as escort in the Games … If I never said the things I did, would she have come to me instead of going to that party.”

“Not your fault,” said Haymitch. “Effie would never blame you. You want a culprit, that’s Kane.” And, with a heat behind it that made the hairs on his arms stand: “Sexual assault. That’s what it was. Doesn’t matter if he didn’t literally force himself onto her, it’s still fucking rape!”

He’d given it a lot of thought ever since Effie first told him and the more he did, the more he felt he wouldn’t mind jamming his knife into the man a couple of times. If they ever saw each other face to face.

Lucky for him he’s rotting in jail.

“I haven’t been there for Effie the way I should,” Annabel said, with a pain behind the words that he knew all too well. “It’s one of my deepest regrets. That I didn’t pay better attention. Listened to the things she wasn’t saying. The way you do. The way she did with me. I wish I’d spent more time with her. Especially after the war and my father’s trial. Instead I fled to District 11 every chance I got, first as a volunteer worker and then living here part-time.”

She drew a deep breath.

“But I am here now. She saved my life. She knew I didn’t want help. Knew I’d hate her for interfering . Knew I had the means to turn the Capitol against her if I wanted to. And she was fine with that. Fine with all of it. Because I would be alive to do it … Takes a pretty remarkable person,” she said, “to make a sacrifice like that.”

Haymitch nodded.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Yeah.”

“You’ve been through hell,” Annabel said. ”I know that. Worse than any of us can possibly imagine. I just told you all this because I want you to know I understand. What it’s like when the people you love most goes behind your back. Tries to make you do something you don’t want to do. She did the same to me.

But it wasn’t betrayal. It was love. She carried me on her back when I couldn’t go any further. Helped me get the help I needed to help myself.

And now she does the same to you. Carries you on her back. Carries Amy and Ian too. And she's strong, without a doubt. Stronger than most. But she's not made out of titanium. She won’t manage it forever. No one can.

Now, I’m not telling you to check yourself into a rehab facility. Maybe you can’t. And if you can’t you can’t. But if you want to do something for me, then I beg of you from the bottom of my heart: Don’t break her just because you cannot live without her.”

Author's note: Special thank you to my sweet, dear friend Sara for sharing her experiences of eating disorders with me to help with this chapter. She and Annabel are not the same person and they don’t share the same backstory but the things I got right about anorexia is 100 % thanks to Sara!

Also, as you might have noticed I've made a slight change in past chapters concerning Haymitch sleeping with other Capitol women when drunk.

In my defence, I included that headcanon in 2015 so it's been a minute but lately I've thought to myself: "Oh come on! Effie would NEVER let Haymitch do that when he's drunk and isn't thinking straight! Especially after what happened between her and Kane."

So I went and changed it soo that poor/lucky Haymitch only got to sleep with two women he really cared about.

#hayffie #the hunger games renaissance #haymitch x effie #caesar flickerman #the hunger games #haymitch abernathy #effie trinket #my fanfiction

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canmom · 6 months

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Animation Night 176: The Hedge-Pigge Whin'd

Thrice the brinded Cat hath mewed, Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin'd, Harpier cries, 'tis time! 'tis time! - Macbeth

For the fourth time, Animation Night encounters Halloween. What horrors yet await us? Oh, there are....... many...

I'm going to keep this writeup pretty short bc (as is probably evident from the Posting lately) I'm not in the best of sorts.

The traditional Animation Night halloween goes something like this: a vampire-related anime, some Yamishibai, and something weird and different. Sometimes that leads to discovering some truly great and unexpected films, like Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (Psiconautas) by Alberto Vasquez. I had been thinking of doing Vasquez's Unicorn Wars tonight, but I decided to hold off to rewatch Birdboy alongside it in a week or two.

Other gems we've encountered have been the Chilean stop-motion film obliquely about a Nazi cult The Wolf House, the 'gekimation' works of Ujicha, the gorgeous one-man adaptation of Suehiro Maruo's ero-guro manga Shoujo Tsubaki, and of course Phil Tippett's 30-year magnum opus Mad God. There's a reason I look forward to Halloween each year.

Animation is a tricky fit for horror stories, particularly traditional animation. The stylised and clearly artificial presentation intrinsic to animation can be distancing and make it hard to make things genuinely scary - so if anything, a lot of horror creators benefit from a deliberately low-fi style, which avoids being too obvious with displays of technique. But animation of all kinds loves horror images and themes, from gory OVAs of the 80s full of rapacious demons, to what you could call 'spoopy' works like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania and Paranorman which play around with all the Halloween/Hammer Horror imagery - the Draculas and Frankensteins and so on.

So what's the recipe tonight?

Well, for our vampire anime, we have now worked through the obvious ones, so it's on to... the Darkstalkers OVA from 1997-8, adapting Capcom's series of fighting games. Though in Japan it's called ヴァンパイアハンター THE ANIMATED SERIES (Vampire Hunter: The Animated Series).

Fittingly for a late-90s OVA, this is full of crazy sick animation, notably including a number of cuts by Yoshinori Kanada. The story is basically: two vampire clans are having a war, but then aliens show up. Somehow that leads to battling atop exploding zeppelins. I'm curious.

For our Western Animation slot we have something by Genndy Tartakovsky (Animation Night 35). While Tartakovsky is best known for his 2D animation and hyper-simplified graphical style, he's also directed Hotel Transylvania in 3D. I was rather dismissive of this one at a glance apparently, but I've been told it's good and I mean, it's Tartakovsky right? I'm definitely curious to see how his style crosses dimensions.

Hotel Translyvania was created at Sony Pictures Animation, the studio that would later blow everyones' minds with Spiderverse. Their history is this: Sony, the international media and tech giant, had a visual effects studio called Sony Pictures Imageworks. They were considering selling it, but then came the wave of CG films beginning with Shrek, and suddenly the smell of money was in the air. So Imageworks was retooled into a studio for making feature-length CG movies. Their early films were pretty formulaic, but they gradually began to get more ambitious.

Hotel Transylvania, which depicts a hotel for monsters run by Dracula, has had a rough history, with Tartakovsky actually the sixth director to take on the project. His goal was to try and take the vibe of 2D animation, with its squash and stretch and variable timing, and bring it to 3D - a concept that was perhaps ahead of its time! How did he manage? Let's find out.

For our Yamishibai slot we have Yamishibai.

...ok, for those just joining us this I should probably explain. It's kind of like creepypastas for weebs. Yamishibai is a series of limited-animation shorts in the style of kamishibai paper theatre, telling short horror stories. In the first half of the 20th century, kamishibai performers would go around telling stories with illustrated panels, and the form was influential on the early days of manga. They're usually a blast so we'll definitely see a few of these.

...and, given the late start that will probably be all we have time for, but if we're in the mood, I can pull out a couple shorter animated horror works. Next week, we'll follow it up with Alberto Vasquez, revisiting Birdboy and also checking out Unicorn Wars.

Sound fun? See you at twitch.tv/canmom; we will start the spooky playlist soooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn...

#animation night

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