#Especially to you Gordon enjoyers

[thatcheeseycandle]

//Okay seems like Im feeling brave these few days, LETS REACT TO HOISNY CHP 1 WOOOOOOO

(Another note like last reaction, I dont write down most of my reactions on time so I do apologise for that)

Im sorry I just I GOT JUMPSCARED BY THE AXEL TAG GEHAHA

.. Im sorry- Okay the summary got me STRESSIN out now like IM SORRY WHAT

MY HEART ALREADY POUNDING IM GETTING NERVOUS

Im sorry I juat I GOT ENCHANTED BY THE DESCRIPTIONS OF LIKE BASICALLY THE SCENE WHERE THEY ENTER THE GREAT RAILWAY SHOW HOLY GOSH

This whole beginning bit is just GOD IT PULLS YOU IN

Oh OH TIME SKIP OKAY LETS GO YES YEAH LETS GO

Yes YEGAHAHAHAH YES ACCEPTING IT WITH NO HESITANCE I LOVE THIS YES

The announcer just yelling out his class rather than saying his number or his name like THATS SMART. THEY COULDVE DONE THAT IN THE MOVIE TO THINK ABOUT IT

Oh. Oh OH MY GOS- DEAR LORD OKAY. My heart dropped there for a minute wOO OKAY YEAH

I genuinely felt bad for Thomas there for a sec, like GOD IMAGINE BEING IN A COMPETITION THEN THE ANNOUNCERS SEE YOUR LAST NAME RECALLING HOW ALL OF YOUR FAMILY BUT YOU DIED. Its- ITS ANGSTING

"Prove to them youre more than worthy od being kept in steam!" YELL IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

GO THOMAS GO SHUNT THEM TRUCKS GO

WOOIOOOOO YES YEAHHH GO LETS GO

Still keeping the satisfaction of TGR and I AM NOT COMPLAINING I LOVE IT

Ay what WHAT NO WHAT WDYM SCREAMS WHAT IM SORRY WHAT NONO NOOOOOOOO AOGU GOD ITS A CLIFFHANGER

I will admit this is one of the most unexpected cliffhangers Ive read, well not too unexpected but GOD I THOUGHT IT WOULDNT CUT THIS SOON (Not complaining though it got my adrenaline RUNNING)

wOOO OKAY THAT READ WAS DEFINETLY AN ENJOYABLE ONE

Genuinely loved the descriptions, and the change of dialogue from the The Great Race, it still maintained the hype of TGR while also hyping itself even more with it's original attributes! I'll be keeping an eye out for chapter two cause GOD this will be going into my recommended fic reads

I will mention this yet again, HOISNY is a thrilling AU by a fellow friend of mine Loraine, you can be frequently updated on the AU on their tumblr and the askblog about it :D

[potionbarrel]

science team-tober day 1: before the game

prompt list | science team-tober sideblog

[koiiiji]

random windbreaker headcanons

tw : no, kinda cute, x reader not included

⊹ Wooin believe in mbti types, if it says that someones mbti type doesn’t match with his, he will believe it.

⊹ Hyok ultimate stand is pokemon. he wants to be pokemon.

⊹ Harry actually dog enjoyer who prefers animals to people bc they are loud and use doping. and dogs don’t use doping. Noah always argues with him bc actually cats are cooler.

⊹ Mahon was super naive person in some ways. like it was enough to say something with straight, serious face and he will believe it.

⊹ Sangho drink water or strong alcohol like whiskey, vodka, soju or something that have degree higher than 30°. nothing else. it always either water or alcohol. and he hates cocktails. if u guy who drinks cocktails u r gay, his honest opinion, i just asked him!!

⊹ Juhwan actually have a shark. there is an app, where you can “buy” a shark and you can see its location. so Juhwan owns two sharks, their names is Bobby and Sam. he was really upset when Bobbys tracker lost and he can’t see his shark anymore :( Bobby was his favorite one

⊹ deep inside Juwon really lonely person, so partly he actually enjoys that he have Vinny’s company and at some, really rare moments actually think about him as his younger brother (then he have a call from his partners from dark business and everything goes back)

⊹ Juwon actually get tied of people really fast, so he doesn’t really have friends, only business partners like Sangho and some people like Umi, who was with him in university

⊹ TJ have tiktok playlist that contains hard brazilian phonk, the ones from epic anime edits, and he listen it in headphones and imagine himself as an anime hero

⊹ Minu was questionable about his preferences. before he met Mia he always spent biggest part of his time with boys from zephyrus and June, and he wasn’t interested in girls around him. he used to think maybe he had a crush on Vinny or June.

⊹ Aria really enjoys history classes and have best marks at this subject.

⊹ Vinny doesn’t understand concept of dating. like you just met random people and start see each other every day and then maybe marry and have kids? are you insane? you just see random person and think “oh u cool, u r my boyfriend/girlfriend now”. he genuinely think people are weird.

⊹ Shelly 100% high fashion enjoyer and maybe even wanted to be a model, but she is not tall enough, so before coming to Korea she was insecure about her height.

⊹ aside from apples Hajun enjoys cucumbers. they are like apples in vegetables world.

⊹ Kaneshiro hates iqos. same with sangho, either normal cigarettes or pipe with tobacco. no third option.

⊹ Jay Jo enjoy Gordon Ramsay shows. especially old “kitchen nightmares” where he travels across US and mock cafe owners.

[oraclereadsandreviews]

comics i’ve read and loved lately:

- batman: the killing joke

this was the first batman comic i picked up as a tween, and it blew my mind. the gritty, scary style was right up my alley and completely changed what i thought comics were. the final page lives in my mind always, and the final joke + batman laughing haunts me. also, the injury of barbara gordon! what a pivotal moment for her (i am deeply disappointed by the decision to not have her stay as oracle). a great standalone read, a great read with the context of batman, a great read if you are just an enjoyer of great writing. 100% recommend.

- DCeased

this was a more recent read, but i love elseworld comic stories. this comic especially was heartfelt and showed the empathy that the heroes have for each other and for the earth in crisis. it’s a bleak storyline, but there is still hope throughout and that’s the beauty of the characters. before i read this comic, damian al-ghul wayne was probably the least on-my-radar robin. however, his characterization in this run is fantastic and i was torn to shreds by him over and over again. his and jon’s relationship is precious (as always (why is jon aged up again?)). definitely would recommend.

- batman & robin: batman reborn!

the story of dick grayson taking up the mantle of batman, essential reading for a massive change in the batfam. damian and dick’s early relationship, learning together, and some jason thrown in there, it’s a great read.

- superman: son of kal-el

jon kent as superman (unfortunately after his aging up, but still great), a really nice art style by john timms. some crossover with nightwing by tom taylor, a wholesome comic. not the most interesting of stories per se, but it’s really the only glimpse into jon as the main character we get, and he’s just such a sweet boy. the art is the best part of this for me!

- detective comics #833-#834

the backstory of bruce wayne and zatanna’s friendship. a great team up between them too with a crazy trick by joker. love the bat and zat’s relationship in this, and it shows bruce’s willingness to see his errors and his care for his friends(some comic writers do not understand this aspect of him). the first comic that got me into zatanna!

[starrlight-joker]

MOUTHWASHING HEADCANONS BECAUSE I CAN (Everyone but Jimmy fuck his ass)

Daisuke :

— This guy was so obviously a babysitter back on Earth at one point let’s get real

— Loves Pokemons ESPECIALLY Pichu

— Melon Moutain Dew enjoyer

— Doodles on everything (including Jimmy’s face when he sleeps)

— Views Anya as his older sister and Swansea as the strict uncle

— Plushies. So many plushies.

— He’s got THAT DRIP

Anya :

— Great at painting

— Gladly listens to Daisuke ramble about anything and everything

— Very sweet coffee kind of gal (Imagine iced oreo cappucinos from Tim Hortons or something similar)

— Keeps finding paper for Daisuke to doodle on knowing damn well he won’t use it

— She views Daisuke as that one cousin you get along super well with yet see every 5 years

— Could fall asleep anywhere in any conditions. (Type to fall asleep listening to heavy metal)

— Social anxiety

Curly :

— Was emo in high school…

— …Yet listened to stuff like Russian Roulette by Red Velvet

— Had so many layers of boxed black dye on his hair it took 3 years to fully come off (Never dyed it again since)

— Gordon Ramsay tier when it comes to cooking

— DO NOT LET THIS MAN NEAR YOUR KIDS. CHAOS ENSUES.

— Introverted extrovert

— Tries to understand brainrot language but doesn’t no matter how hard he tries so it always ends up in “I’ve GYATT to go! :P”

Swansea :

— You cannot tell me this man didn’t play video games as a kid. I will dig my own grave with the headcanon that he’s an hardcore Mario 64 fan.

— PASTA LOOVERRRR (just like me fr)

— Overprotective.

— Therapy sessions with Anya end up getting reversed because he keeps going “what about you?” everytime

— Likes bubble tea but would never admit it

————————

And that’s all!!

Thank you for reading! ^__^ This is my first post and I’m honestly nervous at the idea of posting this lol…

Feel free to tell me if these aren’t accurate! It’s literally 2am rn and I don’t feel like rewatching a whole playthrough… This is just for fun!

However if you wanna request some headcanons or anything feel free to! I’d love to write some of your requests :D

That’s all for now :] Thank you for reading and I’ll see you again soon <3

[burst-of-iridescent]

atla live action thoughts: season one review

first things first: anyone who says the Movie That Does Not Exist is better than the live action is straight-up lying. the shymalan film fails on the criteria of even being a decent movie, let alone an adaptation. the netflix series, for all its problems, is at least an enjoyable watch with great effects, music and (mostly) appropriate casting. there's absolutely nothing to compare here - the netflix version clears easily.

now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's delve into the series, starting with the positives.

the good:

visuals and cinematography. they really did a great job of making it feel like a fantasy universe you wanted to be in & i love how vibrant the saturation and colour grading was. it made the world feel so much more dynamic and alive instead of the same flat, boring dullness that so many movies and shows have these days. sometimes i didn't even mind that i was being fed obvious exposition because at least they were giving me something pretty to look at lmao

effects and action. the bending was surprisingly good for the most part, and they did a good job of making the elements feel unique through the stunt choreography and the actors' movements. i'm immensely thankful they didn't try to skimp on budget by merely cutting away from fight scenes or showing us as little as possible. almost all the action sequences were fast-paced and engaging, and i was never bored watching them

acting. the main four were all great, but gordon cormier and dallas liu have to be the standouts for me. gordon brings such an earnest, innocent sweetness to aang that you can't help but like him, and dallas plays all of zuko's facets perfectly: the angst, the explosive anger, the bratty snark, and especially the deep-rooted pain that characterizes so many of zuko's actions in book 1. the range he has, especially when flashing from younger to older zuko, was insane. special shoutout to maria zhang and sebastian amoruso as suki and jet respectively, because they killed it

music. leaves from the vine instrumental had me tearbending and i love how they kept the iconic avatar theme while making it a little darker for this iteration of the story. in general, the soundtrack felt very true to the animation while still being a fresh spin on it

zuko and iroh's relationship and expanding on zuko's crew. i think the fandom universally agrees that lu ten's funeral and zuko's crew being the 41st division were the best changes in the series, so i'm not going to talk about it further other than to say that these scenes show me what the show can be, and that's why i'm not giving up on it

the bad:

characterization. almost all the main characters are missing the little nuances that made them so great in the original, but the greatest casualty is katara. i hate that they took away so much of her rage, and gave many of her traits and struggles to sokka. i don't think this is a problem solely with the writing though, because certain lines do feel like things animated katara would say, but the directing and line delivery don't have the same punch that made her so fierce in the original. this is an easily fixed issue though, so i hope they take the criticism and let my girl be angry and fuck shit up next season

exposition. this was primarily a problem in depicting aang's personality and the relationship between the gaang, because a) why are you TELLING me that aang is mischievous and fun-loving instead of just showing me and b) the gaang do NOT feel like close friends, mostly because they spend so much time apart in every episode that they have little screentime to actually bond and develop intimacy.

lack of focus on the intricacies of bending. for a show whose tagline is "master your element" the characters spend very little time actually... mastering their element. zuko is never shown to struggle with firebending (which is going to have ramifications when it comes to developing his relationship with azula), and neither aang nor katara ever learn waterbending from a master throughout the the entire show. i'm pretty sure aang never willingly waterbends ONCE in the entire eight episodes, discounting the avatar state and koizilla. bending isn't just cool martial arts, it's closely linked to the philosophies and spirituality of each nation, and i wish that had been explored more.

pacing. they really needed to do a better job of conveying that time passed between episodes because an 8-episode season is just going to FEEL shorter than a 20-episode one. the original animation felt as though they'd truly been on a long journey before arriving at the north, but here it feels like the entire show happened in the span of a fortnight or so because each episode seemed to pick up right after the previous. they needed to have more downtime within episodes instead of just rushing from plot beat to plot beat because it made everything feel a lot more rushed. give the characters and story time to breathe.

final rating: 7/10.

overall, i would describe the live action as a better version of the percy jackson movies - not an accurate or perfect adaptation, but a decent story that's very fun to watch. but what really makes me root for this show to get a season 2 is that it has a lot of potential and more importantly, a lot of heart. it's evident that the people who worked on it do genuinely love and respect the original series, and it shows onscreen.

regardless of anything else, this show created opportunities for so many asian and indigenous actors, writers and creators to tell the kinds of stories and play the kinds of roles they don't usually get, and that's something worth supporting. if they take the criticism from this season and improve, i believe they really do have something special on their hands which - although it might not be the original we all know and love - could still be a story to be proud of.

[pistachi0art]

Sorry for adding to what im sure is your massive pile of asks, but you have such a knack for making insanely interesting aus and amazing art to go with it. It's fr an addiction. For the parasite au, do you think there would be any side and/or after effects that linger if the science team were cured? Or would they just go back exactly to the way they were before? I can't imagine Gordon or even Benrey coming out unscathed even if a cure was whipped up. The angst potential is rotating in my mind.

haha it’s all good! ^^ I love getting into the nitty gritty of my aus so the more the merrier! And tysm! I have sm fun with the aus I make so I’m incredibly happy to hear that ppl are having as much enjoyment tagging along as well as adding their own to what I have formed.

as for those infected then cured, definitely! in the science teams case it would be worsened/loss of vision (Darnold could likely fix it) and in ppl who had prolonged infection unhealthy weight loss due to a lack of nutrition and joint pain. Other than physical injury it’s gonna take time to readjust from it, nothing too long term unless it’s something loss of permanent- (like loosing a limb or the infected person having their optic nerve gone- leading to blindness)

Gordon getting cured would probably have the worst of it recovery wise, next to his already crappy vision getting crappier our orange guy would have lost a lot of that fat he had on his body from not eating much other than the occasional nibble from another human while he was out of it… :( but let’s say that the arm incident also kinda happened so he unfortunately comes back to consciousness finding out he’s also lost a limb :/

Benrey on the other hand would probably just be really sluggish and have a lot of pain in his body from the janky movements he had no control of . And also a gross gooey sweet voice chronic cough bc his body is trying to expel whatever is left in him.

BUT YEAH TON OF ANGST POTENTIAL! ESPECIALLY IF YOU CONSIDER THE HYPOTHETICAL “GOOD END RECOVERY” PART OF THE AU :))

[seventhofcrows]

Book Recs if You Really Liked The Wild Robot

All of these are novels who either have animal characters, are about robots, or are sci-fi with similar vibes! Each has its own section!

For Fink the Fox Enjoyers (Animal Characters)

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

The entire Redwall series by Brian Jacques.

The One and Only Ivan series by Katherine Applegate and/or the Endling series by the same author.

Maxmillian Fly by Angie Sage

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Roz Lovers (Technology/Science Fiction)

The City of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau

A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga

The Ungifted series by Gordon Korman (Also known as the author of Restart)

The Overthrow series by Kenneth Oppel (Book #1 is titled Bloom)

People Who Really Like Brightbill (Books with Birds and/or Underdogs)

Coo by Kaela Noel

The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla (Has an autistic character, too!)

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux also by Kate DiCamillo.

I really tried to mix and mention between some already mentioned contenders like Pax while also giving you some newer, less recommended reads that can fill the void in your Wild Robot heart. In my opinion? A Wolf Called Wander and/or Pax should be adapted into film someday, especially since The Wild Robot now has franchise potential now that it broke the box office. I feel like people who really liked Fink (Like I do!) would enjoy more films about foxes who survive through environmental and social issues like war and abandonment. But also, The City of Ember gives off huge Roz vibes and I feel like even if someone hasn't read or watched The Wild Robot, they would still enjoy how dystopian the story is. Also, Bloom should have a fandom. It's great.

Thank you for reading onto the end of this fan-made post! Have a very nice day or night. Bye!

SeventhofCrows

[starsworldd]

Hi, are there any other placements that are good cooks?

cooking indicators in the natal chart! 🥘

- 6th house placements: 🥖

neptune, venus, and moon can be significant placements:

• neptune represents creativity

• venus representing where we find pleasure

• the moon indicating where we find emotional satisfaction

6th house is indicative of what we do to take care ourselves, not only the daily grind and keeping our tasks up, but our bodies as well. our diet is a prominent theme found in the 6th house.

- 2nd house placements: 🥦

the second house in astrology represents the resources we have to fuel ourselves. food is a fuel is it not? some prominent placements here could be…

- moon ⭐️

- venus ⭐️

- neptune ⭐️

- ruler of 2nd house in 2nd, 5th, or 6th:

• the ruler of the second house being in its own house means that 2nd house themes (resources to fuel ourselves, aka food) are especially accentuated

• 5th house represents fun, hobbies, and talents so this could indicate some sort of talent or at least fun with food depending on context

• the 2nd in 6th may be more of the dietician aspect, but it can still represent someone who likes to create good meals and likes to perfect the food they make

- venus, moon, mc/10th house, ascendant or sun in taurus and cancer (virgo also, but not as much) 🍉

• one of the things that cancer and taurus represents are comforts and resources. they just spell out food :p also i’ve noticed that these placements are big enjoyers of food and like to make and have good meals, especially taurus sun and cancer rising

• i also add virgo in there too (especially moon) because these placements usually have some sort of relationship with food i’ve noticed (especially moon) too, and they learn how to create better meals for themselves and others. virgos are also notorious to be perfectionists and cooking is a lot about perfection and precise amounts of ingredients for every recipe. just take a look at gordon ramsay’s virgo stellium!

- 4th house placements (venus, moon, mars, sun): 🥨

- 4th house represents emotional comforts, family, heritage, and where we came from so culture also plays a part into this. food is in relation to a lot of these topics are they not? and i feel like these placements would actually cook with love and intention <3

hope you enjoyed! these are my top 5 observations, and thanks for the ask <3

[dg-outlaw]

Batman Unburied: Season 2 - Fallen City REVIEW

Spoiler-free Quick Review: Having enjoyed the 1st season as well as Riddler: Secrets in the Dark, I was eager to jump back into this series and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it advertised. Overall, I enjoyed Fallen City, but felt the storyline wasn't as tight as the first season. There were moments and episodes where I felt like I needed more and by the end I wasn't sure how I felt about this season overall.

Comparing it to the more serious and "gritty" live-action media like the Nolan trilogy or Reeves' The Batman is probably not fair. But if comparing it to something that might fit alongside the 90s Batman: The Animated Series or the more recent animated Batman: Cape Crusader, then I'd say this is an enjoyable addition given the similarities in style, tone, and pacing. The dialogue can be a little over-the-top or campy at times, but, again, it fits. Not all of the voice acting hits, but most of it does, especially from the core cast members.

If an "edgy" and "grounded" Batman is your thing, this may not be for you. But if you're okay with a bit of cheese or on-the-nose dialogue (which it sometimes has to be for an audio series), without it going into full-camp territory like the 60s Adam West Batman, then I think you'll enjoy this series.

*more thoughts and spoilers below the cut*

A lot of different things happened in Fallen City, but I felt the main plot and some of the subplots felt rushed or not given enough time to breathe. This is a common occurrence in superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy genres where I think the writers/creators (or execs) feel that people will lose interest if the story isn't going all ADHD and bouncing from thing to thing. That or there's the assumption that sequels "need" to raise the stakes with more characters and/or villains. Fallen City was also two episodes shorter than season 1, which I'd say those two episodes could've been used to let this season breathe and have more meat on the bones.

What I enjoyed about season 1 was that we got a noir-style slow-burn detective story that many fans are always wanting out of Batman media. Caped Crusader had that tone as well. To me, this series, Caped Crusader, and Batman: TAS all do a good job at giving us detective Batman while also still being a superhero story. Don't get me wrong, some of that tone was also present in this season, but it often felt like it was trying to get past those moments and onto the next plot point or action scene to keep people listening. Please, let Bruce detect, brood, and think.

With the season cover art and trailer, you know there's a Harvey Dent/Two-Face plot and I thought this would be the core plot of the season, but within that the story quickly moved into a mystery plot involving the Court of Owls. On top of that, there are mysterious earthquakes in Gotham. THEN we get a Ra's Al Ghul plot. Yes, it's all intertwined, but it's too much, IMO. Oh, and Barbara Gordon is still semi-on the run after the events of Riddler, but she's also secretly playing as Oracle, an Anonymous-style underground voice for Gotham.

*takes a breath*

And I think all this is what made Fallen City feel rushed, but also not fully fleshed out. Any 2 or 3 of those plot points would've been enough for a full 10-episode season, but I feel like the writers/producers wanted to include all these elements and more. Or when they started connecting threads they kept adding more characters and plot points which made it feel chaotic and also like not enough.

Would I have accepted a cliffhanger ending with the hopes of a part 2 in the near future? Yes. Or could they have teased a few of these things like the Court of Owls or Ra's Al Ghul WITHOUT going fully into those plots? Also, yes.

Nevertheless, this continues to be a well-produced series and it's always fun to listen to. I also enjoyed the returning characters like Gina Rodriguez's Barbara Gordon, though, I did not expect to hear Cheech Marin as her father, Jim Gordon. That was a humorous reveal that I had trouble wrapping my head around it at first because he's so distinct in my head, but I eventually embraced it as the season played on. Colman Domingo returns as Batman, having replaced Winston Duke from season 1, with his role starting in Riddler: SitD. Jason Isaacs also returns as Alfred Pennyworth, and I think he does a fantastic job. Hell, I think Isaacs could jump in as a live-action Alfred in the upcoming Gunn-verse (if there's ever a Batman separate from Reeve's Batman). Morena Baccarin, Tahar Rahim, Alan Ruck, and André Holland as Harvey/Two-Face round out the rest of the main voice cast. All do a good to great job, but I am curious to know how Holland was able to change his voice for Two-Face. It wasn't just a different tone or style like when Domingo switches from Bruce to Batman, but it almost sounded like he was talking as if his mouth was deformed like Harvey's as well. I'd be interested to see a BTS video or interview about his performance.

As far as new characters go, was I suspicious of Allie and Cobie early on? Yeah. Even without knowing the voice actors, anytime you add random characters AND keep them on, there's probably something's up with them. Was I able to predict the final reveals? Not exactly, but again, my Spidey senses were tingling, especially with Allie grieving Harvey for two seconds before jumping in to help and flirt with Bruce. Then again, this could've been the pacing as mentioned above.

All in all, despite minor critiques, I still enjoyed Fallen City, maybe not as much as season 1 or Riddler: SitD, but I look forward to more of these audio stories. If you listened or are a fan, hit me up and let me know your thoughts.

[blacktobackmesa]

Hi hiiii I binge read your series in 3 days since I've ended up back in my HLVRAI state. Your writing is phenomenal!! I enjoyed every second. You characterize everyone so, so well and really stick to the humor of the series with your own little spins to boot. I think my favourite thing is how you manage to balance both humor and serious moments in a way that fits. I like a lot of the deeper angles you've taken, exploring a lot of the existentialism and horror of the situation. As an enjoyer of the cosmic and unknowable horrors all the little bits and pieces of it make me soooo happy!! Especially when Gordon shows the science team his real face. That stuck with me and it's such an interesting take on the idea (but it also makes a lot of sense too!). The feelgood vibes all over the place make me equally as happy. Friends making the best of what they have :] There is a fine balance between the sheer terror of one's existence and the comfy, lil' moments appreciating what you have. You've done great at giving both of them <3 Super excited for whatever comes next! I'll probably reread them all in the meantime. Adoring all your thoughts and the concepts you explore. There's so much potential on the spooky side that your works have opened my eyes to. Also sorry for the really long message. It had to be done.

I took a couple days to answer this bc I was holding it close to my heart for a while. Thank you so much!! If there's anything I love to write, it's The Horrors balanced with The Power of Friendship. And being a goofball. These are all important parts of being alive.

Never apologize for a long message like this, it makes me very very happy :D

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey is: Chapter Nine: Can't Hurt

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

~

Benrey read whatever he could find online, searching specifically for weird and interesting stuff, until Gordon fell asleep on the other end, his soft snoring coming through the phone. He then read a little more just in case. Gordon had sounded awfully shaken after all. A not unfamiliar quality to his voice, he’d been that shaken or worse during much of their trip through Black Mesa together, but… Benrey now knew how fragile he was. And he’d decided Gordon was his pet so it was his responsibility to make it better.

Eventually he had to call it good enough though as he didn’t know when the hotel manager was likely to return and he needed to be gone before then. So he closed the web browser and shut the computer down, making sure to turn the monitor off as well.

“’Kay, uh, gotta get off the computer now before I get caught. I’ll call you later or text… I don’t know, whatever I feel like. Doesn’t really matter ‘cause you can’t hear me anyway. Bye.” He hung up and started back for his room.

~

He waited until the sun was fully up before pulling his phone off charge again. Gordon hadn’t texted. Not surprising, he’d have heard the ping but he was starting to get restless. Playing games was great and all but… no multiplayer games or anyone to chat with while playing was less fun. Something else to do again for a little while would be welcome.

‘awake yet?’ he sent to Gordon.

He stared at he screen for five minutes before giving up; apparently the answer was ‘no’. Maybe a good thing… unless Gordon was having another nightmare. Perhaps Benrey should’ve gone back with him. He’d thought about it but during the first trip nothing dangerous had happened and then on the car ride back, all the nosy, annoying, bothersome questions had convinced him not to. But if Gordon’s mind was an enemy… it couldn’t kill him though, could it? So it was probably fine.

Pocketing the phone, Benrey turned his attention to the window. Lifting the closed curtains, he stepped under them so he could look out and see if anyone was around. … No one seemed to be so he grabbed his new camera before walking through the wall, putting him out back behind the hotel.

It was warmer out here already, the pleasant desert heat starting to set in. He’d never given his enjoyment of warmth and heat much thought, they just felt nice, but perhaps Gordon was correct and he was cold-blooded; didn’t produce much heat of his own. Did that matter? … No, but it was kind of interesting.

Shaking off that thought, he started making his way around to the front of the building so he could follow the sidewalk. It would perhaps lead to somewhere interesting, right? Upon reaching it, he slowed his pace a little. He had nowhere to be, nothing to do, and no one coming to bring him back to the Black Mesa facility.

He fiddled with the camera, turning it on. Gordon had called it cheap when getting it for him but it was far from a shitty disposable one. It had digital display, making it feel fancy to Benrey. As he walked along he snapped a photo of anything that caught his eye. Roadkill, the way the sunlight glistened off the jagged edges of a broken window, what at first look like more roadkill but upon zooming in was actually just an old boot that had been run over a few times, and other such things. A lot of it wasn’t really that interesting but he’d never been in Tuefort unsupervised for more an hour or two before.

People passed him, going both ways. The sidewalks were bare enough that his slow pace didn’t bother anyone enough to bump him or tell him to go faster. No one paid any attention to him whatsoever. If he tried to talk to any of them, they’d brush him off, say they were too busy. He’d need a cop uniform if he wanted anyone to heed him. … Gordon had stressed he not cause problems though and borrowing a cop uniform to join their ranks, even for a little while, would undoubtedly cause some. Especially since cops were a lot like the military, right? They liked to shoot things. Getting shot if he got caught trying to sneak in would likely call attention because of the whole healing, not human thing – which Gordon would probably classify as a problem – and he was expressly forbidden from shooting back if he could even get a gun.

What if he did it anyway though? Or if he was breaking the rules, what if he did something properly fun? Like steal a car. He’d never driven in real life before but he could probably figure it out. A car chase with the police had to be even more fun if it was real, right? Not that something being fun in a video game necessarily made it fun in real life but it sure seemed like the kind of thing that would be.

There was car parked on the side of the road ahead. An old rusted blue pickup truck that if video games were anything to go by would probably be pretty slow and clunky to handle. So not exactly the fastest chase but for a first time might be good. He slowed to a stop as he reached it. It was empty, its owner nowhere in immediate evidence

Normally, he’d have just phased through the door and tried to figure out how to steal it from there. It seemed as if it might be fun so why not go for it? But if he did, Gordon would be mad. Not that making him mad was a big issue or anything but… it would mean no PS3 for sure. And Gordon might start hating him again. Not a huge deal but he was just starting to like Benrey and ruining that would be lame.

Also, Gordon might do more than just start hating him again. He might change his mind about keeping him secret from the rest of the scientists. Some or all of whom might decide to try to get Benrey back into Black Mesa’s custody, Gordon may even assist them in such an endeavor. With a car, Benrey could theoretically escape and evade any such attempt much easier than on foot. He could drive out of Tuefort and go anywhere in the world; lose them so thoroughly they had no hope of ever catching up. But that would mean no more Gordon or Tommy or the rest of the Science Team unless they came with him. Tommy was the only one who might and that was a big ‘might’. Probably he’d be alone, possibly for a long time. No one to play games with if he ever did get a console and TV of his own somehow.

And so, he lifted the camera and snapped a photo of the truck before turning away and resuming walking down the sidewalk. Following the rules wasn’t all bad anyway. He was always telling Gordon to follow them, mostly just for fun now that he wasn’t a security guard anymore. So Gordon doing the same to him was justified.

As if blessed by resisting the urge to stop behaving, his phone pinged in his pocket. Putting his camera away, he pulled it out instead. Gordon had responded. ‘I am now. Good morning.’

Not wanting to attempt texting and walking – he’d seen people on TV doing so walk into poles a few too many times to risk such an embarrassment himself – he continued walking until he found a bench he could sit on while he typed out his reply. ‘not gonna ask if im still behaving’

‘No. I trust you. Don’t betray that trust or no PS3 for you.’

Benrey had made the right choice for sure; Gordon trusted him now. Neat! ‘sleep well no more nightmares?’

‘None that I remember.’ Not a ‘no’ though or any kind of confirmation that the rest of his night had been good. ‘Thanks for last night. I appreciate it. Do you think we could have a phone call before I go to sleep tonight?’

‘sure’

‘Thanks. Talk to you then. I need to go eat breakfast.’

Well, now Benrey had something interesting to do later. Not until tonight though. … Bubby was supposed to come back to Tuefort today, right? Benrey closed his text chat with Gordon and scrolled until he found Bubby’s number.

‘hang out when u get back to 2fort play games maybe?’

It was only a few seconds before the answer came. ‘No’

Seems getting back on Gordon’s good side didn’t mean he was back on everyone’s. Not surprising but still…‘:(’ He put his phone away and resumed walking.

Not even five minutes went by before his phone buzzed again. It was Bubby. ‘Fine. We can hang out. I got nothing better to do anyway.’

‘sweet text me when u get here’

***

With the half the survivors off on their rescue mission deeper into the facility and a few more dropped off at the hospital, there were only a few of them left to begin the salvaging of resources, research documents, experiments, computers – even the damaged ones, as long as the hard drive was intact or other parts that could be sold or reused elsewhere – and anything worth taking in general. A small enough number that even Breen was all but forced to bodily help as well. Gordon’s single hand gave him the perfect excuse to drift between assisting Dr. Coomer and Tommy instead of going off on his own like everyone else was doing.

Most of the work involved breaking into the living spaces not marked as belonging to any of the known survivors. They were looking for bits of experiments brought home, research papers, or anything else related to the work done by the scientists of Black Mesa. A lot of scientific advancement had taken place here, some of it with the potential to be pretty big, anything that could be salvaged would likely be worth the effort. At Gordon’s suggestion, they were also collecting personal artifacts to send to families who’d lost loved ones. Which added a whole new layer of work; putting things into boxes marked with the appropriate person’s name.

Naturally, going into unexplored rooms revealed more bodies. Well into the process of liquefying, some were genuinely hard to tell if they were human or alien. After last night’s nightmare, that was even more unsettling than it otherwise would’ve been. Gordon used his missing hand as an excuse to not be the one to drag them to new body pile in the center area to be burned once they were all done here. That left him to search those rooms alone and sadly, the smell didn’t leave with the body. Somehow, he managed to not vomit until the third such room.

By the time his body gave on heaving his guts up, allowing him to straighten, darkness danced at the edges of his vision. He swayed as he left the corner and stumbled out of the room. The smell seemed to follow him, closing the door helped only a little. With a groan he leaned his back against the wall next to and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. Surely a break was warranted.

He pulled out his phone and pushed it open. ‘Hey.’ he texted Benrey because he hadn’t closed their chat.

‘yo’ came the answer a short time later.

‘What you up to?’

‘hanging with bubby u?’

Perhaps Gordon should be worried about that given what happened the last time Benrey and Bubby got buddy-buddy. But he’d moved past that with Bubby a while ago now and seemingly Benrey now too somehow. ‘Taking a break.’ He wanted to talk more but what could he say to continue the conversation? And Benrey had just confessed to being busy hanging out with Bubby so all he added before hitting ‘send’ was, ‘Don’t have much time though. Talk to you later.’

‘k’

Gordon was sort of starting to not be bothered by how bad his texting was. Enough so that reading back over their prior conversations was somewhat comforting. Not as much as more conversation would’ve been but enough to keep him sane until Dr. Coomer announced his return with a classic, “Hello Gordon!”

Putting his phone away, Gordon looked up at him. “Hello Dr. Coomer.”

“Did you find anything in the room while I was disposing of the corpse?” His voice was chipper as always… or not always, but most of the time. Was he really chipper or was it something else making him speak like that? Some kind of speech impediment that effected his tone? He definitely had some kind of speech something going on so… maybe. Regardless he certainly didn’t seem bothered.

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Not lose your mind.”

“Well, it helps that my mind is in my brain which is inside my steal-plated skull.” He tapped the side of his head. “That makes it quite hard to lose. Have you lost yours? I could help you find it. What does it look like?”

Seemingly Gordon had indeed lost his mind because it had been his idea to come back here to help any survivors they could and he’d volunteered to help with this too. Why had he done that? He could’ve just let it be, not come back to help anyone because he was already out. Surely he couldn’t have been blamed for such; he owed no one any more than he’d already given. But here he was… and he was about to get up and continue, wasn’t he? The research was important but more than that was taking care of the bodies. Burning them in a big heap wasn’t the best funeral but it was far better than letting them continue to rot alone. And their loved ones deserved closure in the form of whatever could be gotten to them alongside the news. Breen hadn’t been planning to do the latter until Gordon had pressed him to, making Gordon’s presence valuable.

And so with a heavy sigh, he stood. “Nah, I’m sure my mind will turn up on its own eventually. For now, let’s go back in here and finish searching it for stuff.” Before Dr. Coomer could answer, he turned and headed back in.

~

Despite their plans and best efforts, they were unable to finish going through the whole living area in a single day. Gordon could perhaps still leave on the morrow, let the rest of them to finish the job. Tempting but he should at least finish making sure people who’d lost loved ones would be getting what they could of said loved one’s possessions. It was the only thing left he could do.

And so after exchanging greetings during the promise pre-bed phone call with Benrey… “Also, I’m probably gonna be staying another day.”

“Why?”

“Gotta finish with this area then most of us are heading back to town. Except for Breen,” at Gordon’s suggestion because he was the head of Black Mesa and thus should stick around until everyone else was out, “and a few others waiting for the rescue team.” After that would come the long arduous process of sending teams down to save what all they could to bring back from the other areas of the facility since it’d be a long time before it was operational again and some of it would be needed at wherever their temporary setup ended up being. Not to mention, hiring the people to even start fixing it couldn’t start until as much of the top secret stuff was removed as possible.

“Lame.”

Lifting his coffee half way to his lips, Gordon paused to look down on the phone, currently on speaker and resting on the couch’s armrest. It was a bit precarious with how close to the edge it had to be to allow the charging cable to reach it but as long as he was careful not to bump it, it should be fine. “Why’s that lame?” He hadn’t expected Benrey to care much.

“It’s boring and your rules are dumb, making it more boring.”

“You got plenty of video games though.”

“Yeah, no online games though and no one to play with. Bubby’s worse at Melee than you and you only got one hand. He doesn’t even like it, said it wasn’t ‘very fun’ don’t know what I see in it.”

“Well… sorry. I’m sure you’ll survive though.”

“Barely.”

“Just uh… continue to behave, please.”

“I will, I will… only ‘cause you promised to buy me a PS3 though so you better keep your promise.”

“Well, when I do head back, Breen’s lending me the company card to rent a space to store all the stuff we’ve already recovered and to rent a building to start setting the lab up in if I can find a good one. And uh… we’re kinda owed something nice, right?”

“Ooh, naughty. Gonna steal some money, huh? I could report you for that. But uh… I ain’t a security guard anymore so… I guess I can look the other way. Just once, only ‘cause I want it real bad.”

“It ain’t stealing. He’s lending me the card and I’m like basically second in command of the company now anyway. I’m calling multiple shots on this salvage operation so… I probably won’t do it but it’s a fun thought, huh?”

“Boo! Lame. Gordon Goody-two-shoes-man over here being a big loser. I finally let you steal something and you chicken out.”

Gordon chuckled hard enough to almost spill his coffee. He had to lean forward and put it back on the coffee table in front of him. “Don’t worry, man, I’ll still get you a PS3, soon as I can, I promise. Gotta worry about getting a more permanent place to stay first though which is gonna be expensive because … duh. But soon as I get back, I’ll play more Melee with you or whatever you wanna play, ‘kay?” That actually sounded like a good time.

“Yeah, ‘kay.”

“Now, uh, in the meantime…” He paused to retrieve his coffee cup, giving him a bit more time to figure out how to word this. He hadn’t given it as much thought as he should’ve before calling. Benrey had given him a good opening angle though. “You said that uh… you like playing games with people. Obviously we can’t over the phone but maybe uh… you play something and talk to me while you do, read the text and stuff, maybe talk to me about it a bit? It wouldn’t exactly be hanging out, watching you play something, but it’d still be less lonely, right?” And more importantly would keep him on the phone with Gordon for potentially a long time, hopefully even all night, if he was willing.

“Don’t you gotta go to sleep soon?”

“Nah, skipping a night of sleep won’t hurt.” Or at least not as much as the nightmares he’d likely have should he attempt to sleep. He’d spent the day rooting through dead people’s stuff and occasionally coming across the dead people themselves, after last night’s nightmare, that was bound to make getting good sleep impossible. So really, not trying to sleep was likely to be more restful in the end.

“Really? You sure? ‘Cause uh… don’t humans sleep every night?”

“Usually, yeah but only because not doing so makes us kinda tired. One night isn’t a big deal though so since you’re like… bored and lonely, hanging out over the phone should help, right?”

“Oh, okay.” Benrey, as expected, didn’t need much convincing. And staying up apparently wouldn’t do him any harm either, making it a win-win. Having a non-human friend was fantastic. “I haven’t started Wind Waker yet so I’ll do that one.”

“Sounds good.” Gordon finally took a sip of his coffee. Brewed as strong as he could bear it, he winced a little at the taste but he’d likely get used to it long before the night was through because it was going to be a long one. Benrey should help make it bearable though.

~

Doing the same stuff as the day prior but this time after a night of no sleep was both harder in some ways and easier in others. Harder in all the ways staying up all night made everything harder; trouble focusing, mild headache, general overall ucky lethargic feeling. Easier in that, emotions and thoughts dulled by exhaustion were harder to stir into despair even upon discovering another forgotten body behind a locked door.

Even when it got up to start shambling towards him he didn’t feel as bothered as he should. Instead he raised his gun hand and riddled it and the headcrab controlling it full of holes. His gun hand wasn’t as loud as normal guns but that didn’t mean it wasn’t loud.

“Wow, that uh… woke me up a bit, I think,” he said over the ringing in his ears as he watched the headcrab zombie fall.

“Fine shooting, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer said, patting him on the shoulder before stepping forward to bend down and grab the corpse’s wrist. “I will drag this to the corpse pile now while you continue our search.”

“’Kay, see you in a bit.” The adrenaline had been the exact thing he needed. He was doing just fine.

They finally finished a few hours after lunch, just a bit too late in the day to justify going back to Tuefort today. Instead Gordon sat down with the rest of the group again. While they all set to chatting, he folded his arms into a pillow for his head on the table in front of him. Surely a quick nap while everyone’s conversation floated over him would be fine. If the nap lasted long enough maybe he wouldn’t even need to go to bed proper tonight… wouldn’t that be nice?

~

Gordon woke with a jolt, his heart racing, his breath fast. Despite that, the dream was already starting to fade from his mind, leaving nothing clear in his memory other than that his dreams had conjured the mass of rotting flesh again. He could almost still smell it even now… no not almost, could.

The headcrab zombie he’d killed had been close enough that some of its gore had splashed on him when he’d shot it. Tired, he hadn’t changed his clothes, especially since a shower wasn’t available; this part of the facility had run out of reserve water yesterday. There wasn’t enough to be overpowering but it did make his stomach churn with nausea.

Shaking his head, he reached over to the nightstand, fumbling along it until he found his glasses. The clock read 11:35pm. Dr. Coomer must’ve brought him to bed, either immediately or once bed time rolled around. His nap had lasted a while. … It didn’t leave him well rested by any means, especially since he’d still had nightmare but it had helped a little anyway.

With a groan he dragged himself out of bed and over to the light switch so he could see well enough to change clothes into something that didn’t have the smell of death clinging to it. Once done, as was becoming habit – whether good or bad was hard to tell – he checked his phone. Benrey had texted several times since their last exchange.

‘yo want to do another call before bed?’ ‘u good?’ ‘tomy said u fell asleep at table wierd place to fall asleep but ok’ Each was about an hour apart, according to their time stamps.

Having been off charge all day, the battery was running low so Gordon wondered back out the living room area to retrieve the charger, bringing it back to his room to plug in while he sat down on the bed to reply. ‘Yeah, exhausting work so took a nap, lasted longer than I thought.’ Should he apologize for worrying Benrey. That’s the vibe he’d got from the texts but… it was hard to tell for sure with just words on a screen. Much more likely, Benrey was bored and thus looking to converse to pass the time. Probably best not to assume anything. ‘You keeping yourself entertained?’

Perhaps lending credence to the idea that Benrey had been worried by Gordon’s lack of response, his reply came swift. ‘sort of im bored call?’ He was saying he was bored though so probably just that. There was no reason he should care enough to be worried.

As Benrey had done to him, instead of responding, Gordon pushed the keyboard back in place, allowing him to call. The charging cable meant that he had to keep it on speaker as it couldn’t reach to his face comfortably but he’d likely have to set it so eventually away like he’d done before.

“How often do you need to sleep anyway?” he asked as soon as Benrey picked up. How many nights in a row could he depend on Benrey to keep him company while everyone else was asleep?

“Uh… like once a week or every other week if I’m really not in the mood. Humans gotta sleep more than that, right?”

“Yeah, we gotta sleep uh… most nights, missing a night here or there is fine though, not an issue at all.” And he didn’t need to mention the whole eight to nine hours thing. Not that Benrey would care but if he told Tommy or Dr. Coomer that Gordon was intentionally not sleeping as much as was recommended, they might try to bother him about it. And then he’d have to explain he wouldn’t be able to sleep well anyway so might as well try to avoid the nightmares via not sleeping until the was too exhausted for them. … Or maybe they wouldn’t care either. Gordon was the only normal human in the group, the weakest among them by far. Why would any of them care about how fragile he was?

“But uh…” he continued before the pause could carry on for too long, “that means, the other night, when you were here and joined me in bed you, um, didn’t need to, right? You just… wanted to?”

“Yeah, bro, you’re warm, it’s nice. Won’t happen again.”

“Nah, it’s fine, you can… I mean, uh… it was nice. So you know, if um… again wouldn’t be bad if you wanted to and… stuff. Only if you want to though… or um… uh…” He shouldn’t have brought it up but if Benrey were physically here right now it would’ve been really fucking nice. So it was probably a good thing he wasn’t because Gordon’s desperate loneliness was pathetic and he really needed to get over it. Especially if it was making the thought of cuddling Benrey of all people sound appealing. Not that it had been bad, just he shouldn’t want to do it again. But could he really be blamed whilst in Black Mesa, the source of his nightmares? Once out, surely it would be better.

“Uh… maybe. Let’s talk ‘bout something else, huh?”

“Yeah, good idea.” Anything would do as long as he wasn’t alone in this horrid little room. He’d go back to Tuefort tomorrow, in the same car as Tommy or Dr. Coomer, didn’t matter which, and then things would go back to being good.

Next Chapter

[nonhumanresources]

A List Of Books/Stories About Transformation

You ever seen those titles of extremely specific essays? If this was one of those I'd call it "A List Of Books That Contain In Whole Or In Part Some Amount Of Transformation, Or The Changing Of Oneself To Another That Has In Some Manner Been Fundamentally Altered From The Self You Used To Be." That was the original title but I didn't want to be mean.

I was rambling far too long about post TF on one of warmer-hotcakes's posts and they mentioned not being able to find stories with a positive relationship to transformation (as well as transformations that are permanent) so I wanted to put a few down in a list!

Granted, these are incredibly inconsistent in pretty much every way other than being SFF but hey, we take what we can get here. Plus they weren't wrong it is VERY hard to find these kinds of stories, half of the list at this point is self published novels on Amazon written by people I've met by chance in TF circles, to give you an idea. So, to pad it out I will add more tangentially related TF stories.

If anyone happens to have more stories feel free to comment them and I'll add them on! I will also add to the list sporadically if I feel like it.

Anyway, without further ado:

Wolven by Di Toft is about a kid finding a werewolf out in the woods. It's been years since I read it but it's got a fun dichotomy between a villain and a protagonist both suffering from partial werewolfication and the ways they deal with it.

Thousand Tales by Kris Schnee is a self published series of books set in the near future where an AI runs a video game that allows people to be "uploaded" into it. There's a lot of books that don't need to be read in any specific order focusing on different characters and is generally a more lighthearted approach to the topic than most, and also it has furries in it. There are books about people who upload immediately, people who do eventually, and people who never do. Not quite the same as adjusting to changes IRL but this is my list and I get to shill whatever I want. Also, it's some of the highest quality writing/editing I have seen in a self-published novel (especially TF novel).

How To Be A Hero: (And Part Time Dragon) by S. Blakeway is a book about a hero who gets defeated and turned into a wyvern by the Dark Lord. Her eternal torment is interrupted, though, by said Dark Lord sending her out on a quest, during which she has to navigate turning back into a wyvern every few days. It's fun and silly and has lots of TF and the author is a very nice and cool person. Go buy this one and the sequel and help me bother her into finishing the trilogy please.

Perspective Flip also by Kris Schnee and Shifting Tails by Paul Lotor are a pair of short story collections. These are more of a soft recommend; both include cases of protags adapting to transformations, and generally involve positive stories, but not all of them are great. Perspective Flip is generally good but Shifting Tails especially has stories that lean very far into the horny side of things as well as topics I was very much not into, but some of them were admittedly very enjoyable. Being horny isn't bad, of course; it's moreso that there is less "story" and more "hey wouldn't this TF be hot." To be fair, sometimes they are, but sometimes they stray far away from my interests, so take that how you will.

Wereworld by Curtis Jobling is something I read as a kid but I'm gonna be honest I remember almost nothing about it. However it is about therianthropes of all types and I like that so it's going on here. They even have sharks!

The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson. Full disclosure, I have not finished reading this one, and I do not believe it has permanent TF, but it does feature a dude who astral projects into a dragon and is generally a fine book.

The Dangers Of Wearable Technology by Serathin Sabertooth (gods I hope that isn't a pen name, that would be so cool). This is one that I don't really recommend? Which is odd, you might say, for a list of recommendations. Correct! I just have a complex relationship with it, which I will include in a post here so that I don't flood this list with unnecessary words.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but like I said, feel free to send suggestions my way and I'd be happy to read em/add em to the list! Obviously it's pretty short right now and I'd love to bulk it up as much as possible for all us COOL NERDS

[deconstructivesurgery]

controversial post but i think i'm just too much of an actual adult to be into hlvrai shipping. none of them are kissing on the mouth. none of em.

especially not gordon and benrey. they are however the world's worst roommate. worsties, if you will. gordon gets a notification every time he looks at that uncanny shitass gamer and it says "newsflash: the worst person you know is hysterically funny sometimes" and the funny aspect is just endearing enough that it prevents him from going entirely looney tunes insane

likewise benrey looks at him through the lens of like "man my new friend I found at the end of the world alien event is fucking mean to me sometimes for no reason. this surely has nothing to do with me, benrey, because I am normal and excellent at making friends on PSN." but also he mutually just finds him fun enough that he's genuinely distraught when it turns out gordon actually fucking hates him and isn't picking up on any of his (incomprehensible) bullshit about not wanting to be an antagonist

literally tldr: why would you ever want to make their relationship into anything else when the "wow everyone else here is so strange (mildly lovingly and also with a fair amount of dread and frustration). glad I'm the only normal person here" dynamic is there and 10x funnier than any possible outcome in which neurotic gordon freeman makes out with low res security guard

and also there are literally 3 other deranged individuals ripe for you people's enjoyment. go get them.

[ishhbowl]

What are your hlvrai headcanons. BLEASE

AUGH i have somany. thoughts

well starters i am number one transfem gordon enjoyer she is my favorite woman in stem (suffering, transgenderism, electronic gaming, and murder) and im a huge fan of mute/nonspeaking gordon as well, honestly any kind of headcanon or canon aspect taken from hl for hlvrai gordon is soo fun to me. my favorite bad bitch from videos game <3 ALSO i always forget to draw her amputated arm but i headcanon she doesn’t wear her hand gun after the events of the series and doesn’t use a prosthetic or anything because it’s more convenient :) i love drawing her in pinterest fashion clothing but i know deep in my heart of hearts that she will wear the worst outfits you have ever seen. cargo shorts ratty ass dad rock band tee and gods ugliest gym shoes combo every day. also i think benrey buys her really dumb graphic tees as a joke but she doesnt gaf and just wears them around

gordon is my fav character (if you couldn’t. tell) but i also know that everyone else is also transgender because they all told me themselves & i am always right forever. transfem tommy is one of my fave hcs especially with tgirl gordo bc i can so vividly imagine them bonding over fem stuff and braiding each others hair and it makes me want to jump around off the walls I LOVE THEM…. also i think that benrey has never played undertale but mains sans in smash. yea thats it

[duckiedaledeservedbetter]

finished a:tla netflix

here are some thoughts (idk, they might be controversial)

Things I liked:

Avatar itself is so good that even a bad adaptation is enjoyable, and i really enjoyed seeing the avatar world in live-action style, especially Omashu !!!

Ian Ousley was born to play Sokka idc what anybody else says, idc about the butchered character arc, or the personality changes or any of that, Ian Ousley is the live-action Sokka we deserve and he ate every scene (except one, which i WILL be mentioning later)

Like seriously Sokka has never given such big bro energy before and i'm living for it, Ian looks like Sokka, sounds like Sokka, and imo carried the show a bit.

I love a good long episode, none of this percy jackson 30 minute nonsense.

Fire Nation costumes HIT - like some of the other costumes were lacking but the fire nation uniforms and armor ? amazing.

They kept so much of the original music !!!

Honestly the bending was pretty good. i fully expected it to suck and be super cringey but there were really only a few moments of cringe for me.

Lieutenant Jee!!! best character!!! best casting!!! amazing, 10/10.

Like seriously though Omashu looked amazing, Agna Q'ela looked amazing, the southern air temple looked AMAZING.

Hahn was cute, i liked Hahn.

Blue Spirit accuracy omg i am so glad they stuck so closely to the original blue spirit storyline.

Gran gran was giving, ngl.

Again, Ian Ousley as Sokka. Show stopping.

Things I didn't like (sorry, the list is long):

sorry, gordon cormier did not do Aang justice. maybe it was the writing? idk, either way, Aang was not Aang-ing and he was honestly boring ? also i'm pretty sure Gordon is age-accurate (?) but if i had to guess his age with no prior knowledge i would guess 9. maybe 10. idk. i get that Aang is a kid but idkkkkkk I was just disappointed ig.

KATARA. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. DON'T EVEN ASK, WE ALL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Like, i never even liked Katara that much in the og show but dang, they ruined her.

besides katara, Iroh seemed the least character accurate to me. like, in the very first scene in the og show when Zuko is practicing his firebending iroh gets on his case for doing it wrong or whatever and he def has some attitude about it. like, Iroh isn't all chill all the time, let him have some attitude. also where was the wisdom? I felt a bit like i was watching endgame Thor - like iroh was kind of a joke? idk, i couldn't take his character seriously. the actor fell flat for me. bland. didn't sound like iroh, didn't really look like him. writing was weird.

THE PART WHERE THEY HEAL MOMO IN THE POND AND AND AND SOKKA - HUGS HIM ???? LIKE THAT ???? WHAT DID I JUST WITNESS ???? IM CRYING IT WAS SO CRINGE LIKE WHY DID I HAVE TO WATCH THAT WHAT WAS THE POINT

Maybe it was just me but Zhao's actor delivered all his lines like jokes with no punchlines. and he also was not remotely intimidating.

SORRY DANIEL DAE KIM I LOVE YOU BUT no. he didn't do Ozai justice (but really, who could possibly stand up to the performance of mark hamil?)

it wasn't funny. straight up. the whole show. just. not funny.

idk maybe i'm just a nitpicky bitch but none of the performances really hit except Ian's. that's my biggest complaint. they can change what they want (it is an "adaptation" after all) but none of the actors felt right. ig dallas liu wasn't bad ? ian ousley was great, but that's about it.

butchered bumi storyline. no thank you. i will be pretending that didn't happen.

i really just wanted to see live action sokka in kyoshi warrior makeup tbh.

ALSO STRAIGHT UP WHY DID EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER HAVE TO TALK ABOUT HOW SOKKA WASN'T A WARRIOR ??? LIKE YEAH VALIDATE HIS ENGINEERING PASSION AND WHATNOT BUT HE IS A WARRIOR? THAT IS PART OF HIS CHARACTER ? AN IMPORTANT PART ? THAT CARRIES HIS ARC TO THE VERY END OF THE SHOW ? LIKE HE IS A WARRIOR? A NON-BENDING WARRIOR ? idk man don't @ me i stan warrior sokka, it's literally a big part of the show, his growth from child to warrior, his training with piandao, his training with the kyoshi warriors, etc etc. like, it's important.

i feel like they took the wisdom and hard-hitting lines right out of the show. "youre just a child." "well, youre just a teenager." etc etc.

idk. it was fine overall. i watched it. i enjoyed it. i wish it could've been better-acted and more faithful to the original but you win some you lose some.