I love a very large majority of these Pixelberry books, so I decided instead of having to reread them to get to my favorite scenes I’d write them all out. Might as well post them too! If you would like me to do your favorite next, let me know!
As of right now my Master List is, in rough order;
The Elementalist
It Lives
Endless Summer
Perfect Match
Veil of Secrets
Ride or Die
Open Heart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Blades of Light and Shadow (Visual Novel)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Aerin Valleros/ Valax
Characters: Valax, Aerin Valleros
Additional Tags: shadestalker, monster killing equals falling in love if you do it right, they're not really enemies to lovers, but they're not friends either when Aerin flees his hateful daddy to be at her side, so make of that what you will, when he has no where else to go...
Series: Part 4 of Blades of Light and Shadow
Summary:
He reached out, taking her hand in both of his. She tensed, then stilled. “I’m staying,” he said, and when her eyes flicked up, startled, he repeated it, “I’m staying. Whatever you are, whatever hunts you, I’m not letting you face it alone.”
She stared at him for a long moment, as if trying to decode some private cypher in his face.
“Why?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
He gave the only answer that mattered. “Because I chose to.”
She let out a long, shaky breath, a smile breaking through the mask of fatigue and fear. “That’s dangerous. You know that, don’t you?”
Aerin grinned, bloodied and exhausted. “If I wanted safety, I wouldn’t have left Morella’s dungeons.”
ok so, I approached my local library with a proposal to donate a mural as a way to A: build portfolio/gain practical experience and B: give back to a beloved public institution. The director was very enthusiastic about it and i've been working on it since the beginning of March. Come with me as I endeavor to paint what is in all honesty an excessive amount of birds
I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study
after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines
et voila
and that was a whole week on it's own so next comes the paintin' >:)
my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on
this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏
BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise
ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!
Also thank you everyone for your kind words and support throughout this whole process, it's been a genuine treat thinking there are potentially thousands of you out there cheering me on while I paint this 🥹
Obsessed with this comic commission I've been waiting forever for! These two are my favorites and I just love them so much. I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. I hope it makes you smile as much as it does me!
Likes and reblogs appreciated, please do not repost! Thank you!
When it comes to a book like Across the Void, the first idea that comes to my mind is that there is no doubt Pixelberry tried to repeat a well-known formula that worked great in the very first days of the app through Rules of Engagement. That is, the story of the main character (Nova), plus their siblings (Pax and Eos) and their stories told from all these three different points of view. Unfortunately, this time the results weren’t even close to what Rules of Engagement was back in 2016.
The book tells the story of Nova Elara, in my case a woman (or cyber) whose dream is to become the captain of a luxury cruise. The premise sounds pretty boring until we realize the galaxy is in the middle of a war between two factions, the Jura and the Vanguard, and the route where we have to pilot our ship (the Atlas) is really close to the war zone. Of course, as we may expect, Nova, her crew, the passengers, and the Atlas not only end up getting trapped in the middle of the war for different reasons and events that occur throughout the book, but in a surprising plot twist, we end up discovering (in the final chapter) that the ship was always meant to be a part of the war itself, in the form of a bomb. Yes, I didn’t see that coming, and I dare to say this must be one of the most underrated plot twists in Choices.
Overall, the book is different to what Choices usually offers their players. The backgrounds are stunning, lots of pink, blue and vivid colors in general, lots of neon, and everything is very futuristic and gorgeous. We also got many, many new sprites (I’d say some of them haven’t even been reused yet, I guess it’s because of their uniqueness). However, when you don’t have a strong plot, everything else seems to be overlooked. And that’s the main problem Across the Void faces. Despite having a super promising premise, the story itself has so many voids (no pun intended) that most of the time the book left me way too many unanswered questions or even wondering why the writers decided to add certain situations to the narrative.
For example, I decided to help Pax hide Izar, the Jura guy who suddenly appeared in the Atlas… only for us to never see him again. Why was this relevant? What was the point of it? Not even Pax knew why this guy was onboard the Atlas! How did he board the ship without any radars noticing he was coming? Did he receive help from Artemis? It’s not like he was there at the beginning of the trip. Same with Nova and Eos helping Heze, the Vanguard pilot. I decided to let her go back to the Vanguards, but then what? We never saw her again. Was the only reason for these scenes to exist to help us decide whether we were pro Jura or pro Vanguard? Pure fillers, if you ask me.
Another example: what happened during the peace talks between Lyra and Prince Barlow in the Atlas? Are you telling me Barlow didn’t try to do anything to her when only a few chapters before he had destroyed Matara trying to kill her, in order to stop the peace talks that would lead to the end of the war from happening? And when did Prince Barlow leave the Atlas? Because by the end of the book, he just appeared on another ship. Weird.
And I don’t know if I was reading this part while I was half asleep, but when did Oberon board the Atlas? I assume it was after the incident in Matara, but it was like he suddenly appeared on the bridge of the ship, and no one seemed to question why he was there. Also, who protected the astradust during and after the attack in Matara? Where did that astradust go? I know the existence of it was supersecret, but Oberon was in charge of overseeing it as Head of Security. And it’s not like this is the same astradust they used at the end of the book, because that one had been hidden by Nova’s parents in Cyber.
Another problem I noticed was the excess of characters, which led to us having an excessive number of storylines and extralong chapters. I can’t even remember how many times I had to restart chapters because I got lost in between plots (not even One Hundred Years of Solitude in my teens gave me these many headaches!). Then, I understood the structure was to show 3 or more subplots that, later in the chapter, would be combined into the main storyline. This was completely unnecessary, it only ended up adding filler stories to the book.
But what would I have erased? I wouldn’t have included any of the plots involving passengers. If the idea was to show some people were pro Jura and some people were pro Vanguard, then we had enough with our siblings and our crew. But why does Nova have to help people solve their family issues, especially when she already has a fair amount of problems with her siblings? Or why does she have to take some rich women’s pet to have a spa day, as if they couldn’t do it by themselves? Girl, you’re the captain of the ship, not a psychologist or a servant! I would also have gotten rid of Argo and Corvus. Super nice crew members, but zero relevance in the story (in fact, they were so irrelevant that they were the only crew members who didn’t even participate in the final battle). And finally, Oberon. I loved the guy, and I even chose him as the ultimate LI for Eos, but I’d be lying if I said he was a pivotal addition to the story when compared to characters such as Prince Barlow. Same with Aquarius. I decided to save her because the story promised she was going to be a big help to us during the battle if we saved her, but in the end, she was only helpful in saving Vee from dying in the final chapter.
With the amount of characters the story has (32 if we count the pets), it was quite obvious that we would have many LIs to choose from. And at first, I loved the idea, because it was something the fandom had been asking for a long time. But then I realized not every idea the fandom has is actually a good idea. Why? Because Nova had 5 LIs (one of them shared with Eos… I mean, really PB?), Pax had 2 LIs, and Eos had 4 LIs (counting the one he shared with Nova). So that’s 10 out of 32 characters that are considered LIs, not to mention Nova also has an opportunity to flirt with Prince Barlow. So sorry, no matter how much I liked the LIs (in my opinion, they were great characters), having the opportunity to romance this amount of people seems like a lot, especially when they all live under the same roof.
But in the end, I did manage to have a decent love life for my characters, even though at times it looked like a telenovela:
Nova dated Meridian. And the replay completely changed my perception of their relationship. Fun fact, this has been the only time I’ve chosen a LI based on their looks, as I tend to choose them based on who I feel is the most compatible with my MC. So, I used to complain a lot about how Meridian seemed to have so little screen time when compared to the rest of the LIs. But now I realize he gets not only a more than decent amount of screen time… he gets quality screen time, and that’s just awesome. There are no random appearances and the relationship with Nova, despite being short-lived, seemed to be way deeper than I remember from when I played the book for the first time. I genuinely enjoyed this match.
A part of me regrets pairing Pax and Holmes. In fact, I don’t think she should have had LIs options. Maybe it’s because she’s shown as a rebellious character who’s more focused on the war and defending the Jura, but it’s hard for me to picture Pax with anyone. It’s easier for me to see her as an aroace girl having platonic feelings for Holmes. Their relationship kind of comes from a place of caring for someone who feels alone in the world. And that’s it. There is love, but I don’t see passion. I can see partners, but not lovers. Something about this match just never convinced me, but I wanted to give it a try.
As per Eos, I liked the fact that he’s canonically bisexual. For some reason, I think it suits him well. However, a part of me believes that behind his flirty ass, there is a guy who was never able to move on from Oberon. In fact, I had originally paired Eos and Lyra (they gave me all the Bodyguard vibes), but when Oberon appeared for the first time, I felt like it was impossible to just overlook the fact they might have been a couple in the past (in my story, Eos didn’t admit they were a couple when he had the chance to do it in earlier chapters). The sparks were there, and they were inevitable. So yes, they were my perfect match, and I’m more than happy with my decision.
Special mention to Zekei, for being the only LI in the history of Choices that has been shared by two siblings. Please, Pixelberry, don’t you dare do this ever again. I have no idea what the writers were thinking about. The guy was so evidently in love with Nova that trying to pair him and Eos must be one of the most “what the fuck” moments in the book. Did Eos have feelings for Zekei? Maybe he did (or he forced himself to have them in an attempt to forget Oberon), but I like to think the Zekei + Eos relationship is one of mutual respect. And that none of them would disrespect Nova that way. That’s just too low for both of them.
Even though I’ve already mentioned several things I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy about the story, I wanted to save the best, and of course, the worst, for last.
I’d say the most disappointing aspect of the book is how the topic of war was addressed. I feel we never got to understand why there was a war in the first place. We never got to really know what the Jura and the Vanguard stood for and why they had been fighting for so long in a war that evidently affected every single character in this story. I have no idea how the writers missed that, when it was some vital information for us to not only understand the plot, but also for us to be able to make some choices throughout the book. I managed to remain neutral 95% of the time, but then one choice sent me towards the Jura (even though my Nova would have probably agreed more with the Vanguard, mainly because the fact that she and Zekei were classmates gives me the idea that the training she received was actually the same the Marshalls received, that has to have some effect on the way you think about the situation). Luckily, I was able to go back to neutral at the end of the book.
Despite everything I’ve already mentioned, I’ve always thought that replaying a book gives you a whole new perspective on things, and Across the Void is not the exception. In fact, while replaying the story I noticed situations I may have overlooked the first time (maybe because I was too overwhelmed trying to understand everything that was going on).
One of my favorites is how the writers play with the idea of destiny and how the topic seems to be present everywhere! The book is full of references to the future and how we have plenty of time to do certain things when, in fact, life may change in a matter of moments. And not only that. Every single character seems to have a certain destiny written for them, too! For example, Zekei was not meant to have knowledge because he was a technical cyber. Zaniah had constellations that told her purpose in life. Prince Barlow was able to see many futures (Dr. Strange is that you?). Nova herself claims at some point in the story that she felt she wasn’t able to guide her own life. When I discovered it, it blew my mind. How is it that I never saw this before?
The fact that our siblings were annoying also had some very interesting turns. The amount of mistakes they made was almost unforgivable. Like Pax hiding a Jura guy in the ship despite knowing how important the job was for Nova. Or Eos not telling Nova about the importance of Lyra, despite Nova being the captain of the ship. We may have wanted to kill these two, but every single time something like this happened, we could see that no matter how big the argument was, none of them would put the Jura and the Vanguard interests over their family. Their loyalties were clear, and even though they explicitly said the opposite, I’m pretty sure they’d always put their family first. In fact, you could even see them breaking their own rules when it came to helping or protecting their siblings! The best example is probably when Eos helps Pax hide Zaniah’s wrongdoing and to keep their secret safe. Or when Pax questioned Artemis for having her brother as a prisoner of war for so long even though she knew who he was. So, no matter how hard the story tries to convince us Pax and Eos are willing to kill each other for defending their ideals. That’s not going to happen.
And this is where I want to stop for a moment to talk about Pax. Because after replaying the story I have some mixed feelings towards her. She’s annoying, that’s for sure. But at the same time, I feel sorry for her. It was sad to see how many times she was disappointed by the Jura. I could feel her heart being broken over and over again. In fact, if you ask me, I’d say by the end of the book, she had questioned her loyalties a lot. Did she defect the Jura once the war was over? I like to think she did. Did I get the same vibe from Eos? Absolutely not. His personality was more like Nova’s than we give him credit for. In the end, he just wanted to protect the ones he loved. His methods weren’t the best, though. Especially because at times it felt impossible to have a serious conversation with him. I mean… grow up, dude!
Finally, Across the Void felt different after the replay. It didn’t feel better or worse, it was simply different. I found out this was more than a story about a war we never got to understand. This was the story about a bunch of broken characters who found in the Atlas not only a crew, but also a family. And that’s why Nova’s sacrifice in the end makes sense to me. In her own words, “most of us would do anything for the ones we love”. And that’s exactly what she did for her biological and her chosen family.
For a really long time, I felt this wasn’t the ending she deserved, especially because she didn’t ask to be part of this war. She deserved to be happy. She deserved to keep exploring her relationship with Meridian and to see her siblings in peace. But happy endings are not always wholesome. And this is one of those cases where the saddest ending was most definitely the best one.
Would Lex Luthor from DC Comics have a gigantamax Alcremie?
Yes, they would
No, they would not
see results :3
Voting ended onMay 31
Please reblog for larger sample size and discuss below :)
Propaganda : “When no one was looking, Lex Luthor took forty cakes. He took 40 cakes. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible.” — The Super Dictionary
I think one of the funniest abortion stances I've heard was from my parents neighbor. He's a like, hard-core libertarian viking larper guy who is very tall and very fat and very bald.
He believes a fetus is human with a soul, but also its "basically attacking the woman's body" so if she wants to get rid of it, that's "basically self-defense". He compared it to shooting a home invader. So he supports abortion not as healthcare, but as killing a baby in self-defense
Y'know I'm so glad someone reminded me of this. Because this was also discussed.
My stepmother did NOT like the way her Libertarian Viking Neighbor framed pregnancy as the fetus "attacking the woman". She incredulously told him this was extremely disrespectful to expectant mothers to portray pregnancy as so violent and negative.
Libertarian Viking Neighbor's response was that people consensually hurt each other all the time, and "there's like a whole community about that, with the acronym the one that starts with a B" And his reasoning was that if the mother was consenting to bring attacked by the baby, it in fact wasn't violent and negative because there was consent.
He brought up people consensually hurting each other, didn't go for one of the obvious answers like boxing or body mods or something, no he went STRAIGHT TO BDSM and he DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE ACRONYM
Chapters: 1/16
Fandom: It Lives (Visual Novels)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Andy Kang/Main Character (It Lives In The Woods), Ava Cunningham/Main Character (It Lives in the Woods)
Characters: Andy Kang, Ava Cunningham, Lucas Thomas, Lily Ortiz, Noah Marshall, Jane Marshall, Stacy Green, Dan Pierce
Additional Tags: Murder Mystery, Teen Horror, Teen Romance, monster mystery
Summary:
Something old and powerful lives in the woods surrounding the small town of Westchester... something that knows our name.
“I want to write a fic about this but I don’t think anybody will be interested in it” ummm hello excuse me ma’am what do you mean you don’t think anybody will be interested in it??? YOU. YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IT???? write it because YOU are interested in it and YOU want to write about it. fanfic writing should always be first and foremost about YOUR enjoyment, not other people’s.
actually fucking disgusting that glasses cost any money like if you actually think about it for more than a few seconds it is so unconscionably inhumane. this goes for things like insulin and mobility aids and hearing aids too ofc but fuck man, fucking glasses? the thing you need to fucking see? its genuinely sickening and inhumanly evil that those cost ANYTHING.
I wish ao3 had a "primary ship" and a "secondary ship" filter. I'm tired of looking through smaller ships and 90% of what pops up is the top m/m ship with a minor ship that's vaguely mentioned in the background.
And yes, I use the exclude filters. I'm just complaining because it's still annoying and that's what these submissions are for lol
