#I COULDVE MISSED THE BEST PART!!!!

[shazzbaa]

"Welcome to a small, velvet lined box, delicious friend!"

SO UH………………………….. SAMUEL GOT, BURIED ALIVE, IN FALLEN LONDON………….. what a horrifying delight. a little treat just for me. OBVIOUSLY I HAD TO DRAW THIS

(rambling about Fallen London ambitions under the cut)

SO YEAH THIS HAPPENED DURING MY AMBITION -- I ended up finally picking Light Fingers, the "steal a huge diamond" ambition, DESPITE SAM'S ABSOLUTE WORST STATS BEING SHADOWY AND PERSUASIVE LMAO. I was waffling on choosing for a while, until a friend found one-sentence summaries of each ambition's tone that described Light Fingers as the one that turns into horror, which like…. I can't resist flinging sam into a horror story…… and it's surprisingly easy to make the ambition pretty canon for him, tbh -- "Someone you knew sent word that they knew how to get rich in the Neath, and you followed them, but now that you're out of prison they're nowhere to be found." While stealing giant jewels isn't Samuel's passion or anything, his main reason for coming to London was to escape a life in the church that he saw confining him more and more, and thinking he had a friend with a plan down here might've made it seem less like an impulsive nonsense idea. It works better than I expected!!

Anyway IF YOU FAIL ENOUGH TIMES ON ONE PART OF THE AMBITION you can get caught and THIS HAPPENS??????? ITS THE BEST!!!!!! One of the guys involved in the horrors does threaten to bury you alive if you keep sticking your nose into his business (since just murdering you isn't as effective in a world where death doesn't stick), buT WHAT A HORRIFYING SURPRISE TO HAVE IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN!!!! They give you a bunch of options and it's all stuff like "SCREAM" and "SCRABBLE AT THE LID," all of which Samuel attempted to no avail. i love this game so much,

[molliemoo3]

*This was obviously posted before the real reason he was fired came out, what's he's done is fucking inexcusable and I hope the people affected by it are doing well. It feels disingenuous to delete this buy this is definitely a lesson is waiting until the reasons come out and that no one is above being a major fucking disappointment.

I reblogged this onto a post, but for people who haven't seen. Not sure what would make them drop their main guy who's been with them from the start, but fuck loyalty i guess. I think I saw someone say they got a new CEO so it might be that. Either way jack deserved better from the series he's dedicated years of his life too. He deserved a real goodbye and a to be thanked by fans. And the fact they didn't give him that is heartbreaking and evil.

[hannieehaee]

them accidentally ditching you on your bday - pu

hhu, vu, pu

part 2

content: angsty, gender neutral, established relationship, etc.

wc: 2766

a/n: tysm to the few ppl who requested this i hope u like it! pls lmk if u want a pt. 2! i decided to go on a diff direction for minghao's for further angst hehe sorry </3

masterlist

jun -

jun's absence was always a source of sadness for you. it was hard to not miss such a special person in your life, especially when his absence was so frequent due to his career.

dating an idol was difficult, but jun always made it worth it. he kept you to himself, always prioritizing you as much as he could. no day would go by in which he didnt contact you one way or another, even if it was just a quick 'i love you.'

these past two weeks had been hectic for him. going back and forth between china and korea, and even japan all at once had him in planes almost constantly. if he wasnt at a concert, he was at a fansign, and if he wasnt at a fansign, he was at some fashion event. there was no rest for a single member of seventeen during times like these. but despite that, life had smiled at jun's exhausted state for once. he had three consecutive days off; with one of them falling on your birthday.

you had insisted that using up his very rare free time on you was unnecessary. that you'd be happy to just have him home as he slept for the entirety of the three days, but he had insisted to spend the day with him. had even convinced you to cancel all other plans you may have originally had for your special day in favor of spending it with him. he had been unable to promise you anything grandiose, cringing at himself when he told you it'd just be a nice day in between the two of you. nothing made you happier than the thought, assuring him it was more than enough.

the day prior to your birthday, he had decided to go stay with his parents. he hadnt seen them in a while, and they were currently staying in jun's home in korea, so it was perfect. he was still a bit exhausted from the previous twelve days in which had received no more than four hours of sleep at a time, but he headed straight to them the moment he landed nonetheless. it was a nice evening he had with them, catching up and being fed home cooked meals by his mom. he went to sleep a bit late, but not until after facetiming you to let you know how excited he was to to spend your birthday with you. it was 1am by then, so technically it had been your birthday already. he let you go at some point, letting you know he'd be in your home by 11am sharp with a gift in hand.

the next day came sooner than expected, with jun groggily waking up, drool on his pillow showing the very deep slumber he had fallen under. he had not slept so well in months, not having allowed himself a healthy eight hours of sleep in a very long time. it was weird, though, he felt way too well rested, more than you'd expect from a regular night of sleep. upon checking the clock he realized why. it was now 2pm .. had he slept a total of twelve hours?! how exhausted had he been? it was now three hours after the time he was supposed to be meeting you. he ran to his phone to check if you'd called, only to find it dead. he had forgotten to charge it before heading to sleep. his exhaustion had truly gotten the best of him last night.

he gave it ten minutes go charge before turning it on, immediately wincing at your ten missed calls and your dejected messages wondering why he was gone, even worrying if anything had happened until finally tracking his location and realizing he had been home the whole time. you did not have his parents' number, so it had been impossible for you to contact him. by the end of the messages you'd informed him that you'd just go for a quick lunch with your friends, letting him know that it was okay if he just stayed home with his parents if he so wished. you'd only hoped he couldve kept you in mind before changing plans.

his day off could not have gotten any worse.

soonyoung -

admittedly, soonyoung could be a bit ... air-headed at times. its not that he didnt think, but more like he acted on impulse rather than logic. this would sometimes lead him to issues in various areas of his life. including your romantic relationship.

you'd been dating soonyoung for a while, already growing used to his silly antics by now. he was a silly boy, who could blame him! you found him endearing more than anything, always making you laugh and find joy in the little things. your relationship had been nothing but fun so far. not only was he entertaining to be around, but he was also a loving boyfriend and practically obsessed with you. he was affectionate to a fault, always doting on you. at some point he became a bit of an annoyance to his members, constantly showing you off to them in your absence. just like with anything else in life, when it came to you, he didnt think much. he just went based on feelings, and his feelings for you were quite strong.

this was why you were confused as to why your boyfriend was absent at this moment. the same boy who could not go five minutes away from you (whenever his job didnt get in the way, of course) without whining, had seemingly forgotten your plans for the day.

soonyoung was supposed to return from japan this morning after two weeks of absence from your shared home. you had told him it was fine if he wanted to rest instead of doing something for your birthday, which coincidentally landed today. a day in with him was more than enough, you'd assured him, but he insisted that all he needed upon his return was a quick nap with you and then he'd be ready to head out for a night out with you. except he never showed up. you waited and waited, receiving no explanation from him. you even called him multiple times, but he mustve kept his phone on airplane mode, as he never responded. you knew how easily distracted he could be, but to straight up forget to come home was too much, even for his standards.

it wasnt until five hours after his supposed arrival that you found out what had happened to him. you received a call from a very exhausted minghao, letting you know that his driver would be dropping off soonyoung at your home shortly. he and the boys had gone for a spontaneous drink after the flight, with chan having lost some sort of bet and having to buy them all drinks as punishment upon arrival. there was no mention of your birthday during the call, making you think that it had even slipped soonyoung's mind to let his members know he had previous plans.

the annoyance you were feeling was the least of your problems at the moment. you'd probably have to deal with a drunk soonyoung as soon as he and minghao arrived, having to put your feelings aside as you took care of him in order to ensure a painless hangover the next morning, yet another day in which he had to work. not only had he forgotten you, but he had prevented you from making any plans to favor spending time with him, time which would now be spent babying him until sleep took over him.

minghao -

the day had started well. you had woken up to a beautiful message from your loving boyfriend, with a few selfies attached as he told you how much he loved you and how badly he wanted to be home with you right now to celebrate your birthday. you felt truly loved upon exiting your room to find a few different bouquets of flowers, all labeled as 'from: xu minghao', your sweet boyfriend who would always give you small showcases of his affection such as this one.

he had left before you were able to wake up, having scheduled as early as 4am. he had a fashion show to attend today, along with many other previous engagements in regards to his idol life. but you were fine with it! he had promised you time and time again that he'd be home on time by 7 or 8-ish in order to have a romantic dinner with you. this had been the birthday celebration you had been looking forward to the most. you had a quick breakfast with a few friends, along with a small brunch with some family, which meant the final and most important part of your day would come last. you were extremely excited. it was a birthday dinner with the love of your life, a luxury you did not often get due to minghao's overly packed schedule.

at 6, you began to get ready, opting for a cute outfit that would have the usually composed salivating over you. at 7, you had all dinner arrangements ready. minghao had asked mingyu to drop off some dishes earlier in the day, claiming he had wanted to cook for you himself but the fashion show would leave him with no time, instead deciding to ask his best friend to do him a solid since he had been off earlier than minghao today. everything was ready by 7:30, so now all you had to do was wait.

you waited until 8, which soon became 9, only to become 10:30 and then 11 in what almost felt like minutes. you knew your boyfriend did not carry his personal phone with him during public schedules, so you didn't bother calling him, instead choosing to confirm his location with his manager, who let you know he had been driven to an after-party at around 8:30, thirty minutes after your established meeting time.

by 11:30 you had already put on your pajamas, dejectedly picking up all the dishes and saving them for another day. you weren't just disappointed, but you were sad too. he had promised you this for days, only to pick an optional schedule over you. this was very unlike him, but you still did not want to give him a pass for his carelessness.

he came back by 12, apologizing as soon as he spotted you waiting for him on the couch, only to be interrupted by you.

"minghao ... what the fuck? you say you'll be here by 8 and just ditch me for a stupid after party? is there any explanation for this or were you just trying to be a dick?", you knew you went too hard too fast, not even letting him finish his apology, but you were mad.

the venom in your voice seemed to irritate him almost immediately, causing a scary side of minghao to come out. he was never mean, per say, but he could be a bit too cold and direct sometimes. he seemed to forget his mistake immediately, instead pining the fault on you.

"y/n, im an idol. this is my job. you know its my dream to get into the fashion field. i need networking to do that. as my partner you have to understand that. its not like i didnt warn you itd be today."

"and i do understand! but all night? you could've told me. you couldve gone back on your word and i wouldve understood, but you-"

"listen. im not gonna have a conversation if you keep yelling. calm down, and when you decide to act like an adult, ill be willing to discuss this with you," it was so easy for him to dismiss you, which shocked you. he was usually so attentive.

"are you .. are you serious? are you drunk?"

"believe it or not, we're not all waiting for this day to put all our own shit aside and celebrate. i cant believe you're not being supportive. you havent even asked me how it went, i-"

"you know what? you're right. im sorry. i hope it went great, minghao. i'm gonna go to sleep now, if you dont mind. goodnight," there was truly no use in arguing. you knew him to be incredibly stubborn, and he was starting to hurt your feelings. so you marched to sleep, deciding to take the guest room instead, slamming the door shut as you finally let yourself cry at your boyfriend's lack of care.

chan -

chan was an exemplary boyfriend. he was, for lack of a better term, down tremendously bad for you. one simple look from you and he was reporting for duty, ready to do whatever you wanted. this behavior manifested in every aspect of your relationship, making him be labeled as a bit of a simp by all your mutual friends. chan did not mind this, however, being insanely into you and willing to go through all lengths to make sure you knew how loved you were by him.

your relationship was very much like a friendship, allowing the two of you to joke around and hang out as friends would, but also having all the special benefits of a committed relationship. you'd show up for each other more than anyone else, making your bond stronger than any other in your respective lives.

you had expected this to be the same case for your birthday. you hadn't mentioned it much, knowing chan was coincidentally busy during that week. you blamed him in no way for his busy schedule, always supporting his passions and even egging him on whenever he wanted to take on even more challenges (although also scolding him whenever he burnt himself out too much). but you were still somehow expected he would at least mention it.

you were surprised to wake up that day - having fallen asleep before chan's arrival home - to no type of reaction from chan. he was already awake, almost ready to leave for yet another busy day of schedules, with no single word mentioning your birthday. you knew he was insanely busy, but not even a quick 'happy birthday'? in the back of your mind you had hoped maybe he would at least bring you flowers or something upon his return the previous night, but he had clearly headed to sleep upon arrival. for someone who was usually a romantic, his lack of reaction surprised you.

deciding not to make a big deal out of it, you didn't say anything, simply bidding him goodbye with a quick kiss and an 'i love you' to match. you had the day off, but no real plans made, so you decided to just mope around the house, maybe schedule a date with one of your friends for the evening. you had kept your schedule open in the off chance than maybe chan wouldve planned a quick little something. you knew you could've just communicated this to your boyfriend, but you had wanted the romantics sue you!

surprisingly, you received a call a few minutes after chan's departure; one from one of your closest mutual friends, one boo seungkwan. it was very likely that he had remembered today's date, very much unlike your boyfriend.

"hi, kwannie," you replied upon answering.

"baby! happy birthday!!! love you!"

you sighed, "thank you, boo. love you too."

"aigoo, something wrong? sad channie can't stay in today?", you could hear and see his pout through the phone.

"no, kwannie. it's nothing. don't worry about it," even if you were slightly annoyed, you didnt want to throw your boyfriend under the bus.

"no! tell me!! you can't be sad on your birthday, cmon!"

"well .. chan kinda, uh, forgot."

"what? did he say anything?"

"nope. just left without saying anything."

"aish, that idiot. don't worry, i'll take care of this, i'll-"

"no, kwan! it's fine. i dont wanna make a big deal out of it. you guys are busy with your comeback. it's okay, i'll get over it."

"but, baby-"

"kwan, really. i'm fine, i swear. have a good day for me, okay? love you."

he humphed, but accepted your response, "fine. you better have fun today too, though, okay? love you."

and that was the end of it. you would now probably spend the next few hours a bit dejected, not looking forward to the inevitable moment in which your boyfriend realized his mistake, knowing you couldn't really be mad at him due to his busy lifestyle, but feeling hurt nonetheless.

[wlntrsldler]

fratboy!luke save me…

save me fratboy!luke

u get it….

im obsessed with him. soooo part three under the cut 🫣

part 1 | part 2 | part 4 | part 5 (final)

tagged lukecastell4n.

yn_yln: save a horse…

lukecastell4n: ride a cowboy 🤠

yn_yln: my cowboy 🩵

trideltumm: had a blast at rodddeo with you 🙈

liked by yn_yln.

poseidonsfavchild: did shame leave too when u left for college ? what is this caption ?

bethchase: LEAVE UR SISTER ALONE

gr0verunderwood: LET THEM HAVE FUN

poseidonsfavchild: they’re getting too comfortable on this app 🤮

chrisr0driguez: me when

lukecastell4n: WHEN UR BALLS DROP AND U FINALLY ASK HER OUT

yn_yln: LITERALLY TOMORROW IF YOU JUST MADE A MOVE SHE LIKES YOU TOO

clarisselarue: …?

chrisr0driguez: i’ll kill u both.

silenabeauregard: omg ur hat is so cute can i borrow it

yn_yln: always!!!! 🩷

tagged yn_yln, charliebeck, and others.

silenabeauregard: greeks take on the city

yn_yln: best triple date everrrrr

lukecastell4n: we couldve been goin on so many if u confessed earlier chrisr0driguez

clarisselarue: fr

chrisr0driguez: my girlfriend is mean to me :(

clarisselarue: you like it tho

gr0verunderwood: yeah im starting to agree w percy on this one, can yall text each other pls

yn_yln: 💀

silenabeauregard: 😭

charliebeck: we need to do this again!!!!

yn_yln: YESSSS

lukecastell4n: second that

liked by silenabeauregard.

clarisselarue: last night was a movieee

lukecastell4n: i have the video when chris ate shit on the electric scooter 😭

clarisselarue: PLS SEND

chrisr0driguez: PLS DONT I HAVE A CHIPPED TOOTH ALREADY I DONT NEED ANY MORE REMINDERS

tagged lukecastell4n.

yn_yln: we got married 👰🏻‍♀️👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻

poseidonsfavchild: HELLO? WE SKIPPED A FEW CHAPTERS HERE

yn_yln: its a frat wedding percy calm down

poseidonsfavchild: greek life confuses me

bethchase: same. its nothing like what they taught us at camp

silenabeauregard: real ring when 🤨 lukecastell4n

lukecastell4n: can we get a degree first damn

poseidonsfavchild: i’ve never seen any of yall open a book, are u even gonna graduate ???

lukecastell4n: can’t wait til for the real thing ❤️‍🔥

liked by yn_yln.

chrisr0driguez: my best man spot better be secured

yn_yln: fix ur tooth first

clarisselarue: LMFAOOOOO HELP

bethchase: that dress is so pretty yn!

yn_yln: thanks beth! miss u! 🩷

ksigumm: tridelt top srat 🤫

liked by yn_yln, trideltumm, and others.

lukecastell4n: kappa sig’s sweetheart top tridelt 🥱💯

[disneyprincemuke]

the best of (instagram) * macky

rockysroads

liked by mattcornett, oscarpiastri and 248,392 others

rockysroads if there’s one thing about me... i’ll always be the passenger princess

view 54,292 comments…

user1 hahahahahaha wait a damn minute

user2 omg???

user3 SINCE WHEN

mattcornett i’m blinking twice someone send the help

rockysroads LMFAOOO shut up

oscarpiastri likely side of the car to find rocky in

lilyzneimer it’s better off that she’s the passenger princess

maxverstappen1 yeah, have you gotten in a car with her as the driver?

mattcornett yes, we almost crashed maxverstappen1

rockysroads not even close btw, i just hit the curb maxverstappen1 mattcornett

sebastianvettel why are you, as a race car driver

logansargeant i’m no longer the victim so i’m ok with that

liamlawson30 lucky :(

mattcornett give me tips

logansargeant don’t live with her LMFAOO mattcornett

rockysroads im fantastic to live with

sabrinacarpenter omg!!! i love u guys!!!

rockysroads omg hehehehe

rockysroads posted on their story!

caption: bro said he knew a place now i’m in the middle of the ocean and i can’t even swim (i'm in actual tears)

mattcornett replied to your story u literally never told me u didnt know how to swim

rockysroads if u rly loved me u wouldve just known

mattcornett wtfff

oscarpiastri replied to your story lmaoo drown

rockysroads shut up

logansargeant replied to your story i hope there’s a shark

rockysroads please literally don’t say that you’ll actually make me cry

mattcornett posted on their story!

caption: thx for the passes

rockysroads replied to your story not even a tag is so disrespectful

mattcornett everyone knows its u

rockysroads it couldve come from ur boyfriend liam please be serious

mattcornett hater

rockysroads posted on their story!

caption: how can i get someone miles away from me to drive me places???

maxverstappen1 replied to your story MILES?? oh my he's turned u american this isn't u mate

rockysroads PLEASEEEE LEAVE ME ALONE

mattcornett replied to your story i would if i could and u know that i'm flying in tmr to do exactly that!!!

rockysroads if u rly cared, u wld be here now

rockysroads

liked by sebastianvettel, logansargeant and 102,493 others

rockysroads calling me is part of the daily todo list

view 10,294 comments...

mattcornett man

mickschumacher stand up mate

rockysroads girl

blythesworld so this is why u never call me anymore

ciarasdiary right? :/

dalt0ns she's finally not bothering me and i'm happy

rockysroads if u guys missed me, thats all u had to say

oscarpiastri we'll teach him how to say no to you soon

rockysroads WHY?

mattcornett valuable lessons in life

liamlawson30 i got more tricks to teach him

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

[gaarasfiance]

Cardigan

Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem Reader (version of jason isn’t mentioned but i wrote it with his original storyline death from Batman: A Death In The Family, not a later, retconned version)

Warnings: angst but also fluff, reader is a famous singer, use of Y/N, pet names (baby, sweetheart, princess, lmk if i missed any), swearing, makes references to other songs (Lover by Taylor Swift, Lucky People by Waterparks, and Favorite Record by Fall Out Boy), i reread this like 8 times but i couldve missed things so don't flame me if theres any fuck ups in there lmao

Word Count: 4,175

A/N: (yes i know cardigan is part of the teenage love triangle songs, yes i made it into somewhat fluff because i fucking wanted to, whats it to you? I was just listening to cardigan (by taylor swift if you were unaware) in the shower and had this beautiful idea of like what if rather than it being about getting cheated on, i make it about the reader experiencing Jason’s death (and resurrection)? also i color coded the dialogue which is something i normally don't do soooo fun little touch i guess.) (originally posted may 22, 2023 on an alternate account)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Italics mean it’s a flashback, bold and bigger means it's a song lyric, regular text means it's happening in real time. (with very obvious exceptions) Cool? Cool. also, real quick, THE FLASHBACKS ARE NOT IN PERFECT CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!!!!

“HELLO GOTHAM CITY!” The crowd roared in excitement. Y/N was excited too, it was her first show in Gotham in a long time. This was her first tour in a long time. Of course, she let the public think that it was just because she was a teenager focusing on school, not because when she was 16 her first love the love of her life had been brutally murdered…

“It’s really nice to be playing a hometown show, and since this is my first one in forever, how about I play you something brand new?” Screams erupted in the audience, people pulling out their phones to get the first recording of a brand new song. 

“This one means a lot to me, it’s about someone very special to me, and how he came back to me when I needed him most. This is a quieter one so I'm gonna need you all to listen, and please don’t judge me if I cry during this. Alright, this one’s called ‘cardigan’ everybody!” 

Rows and rows of people buzzed with excitement as the music began to play.

~

Vintage tee, brand new phone

Y/N and Jason walked in, strutting about as if they were models in the new vintage tees Y/N had bought for them at the thrift store just days before. They strolled about the mall, eventually making the stop to get Jason a new phone, he had dropped his from a rooftop on patrol the night before. Oops. 

“Jay, baby, you can’t just use Bruce’s credit card without asking all the time” Y/N smiled, knowing Jason wasn’t going to listen to her 

“Says who? Besides, I told him I was taking it. If he didn’t want to pay for me to get a new phone, he should’ve given me a secure pocket in the suit for it like I asked.” Jason shrugged. He wasn’t atrociously rebellious at all times, but he knew Bruce had more than enough money for him to get a new phone, and to treat his girlfriend, and best friend, when he wanted to. “Plus, if I didn’t take his card, I wouldn’t be able to spoil you, would I?” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her temple as they walked out of the store.

High heels on cobblestone

Y/N’s heels clicked loudly against the cobblestone walkway as she made her way to the entrance of the Wayne gala, arm linked with Jason’s. 

“Are you sure I look alright? I’ve never worn a dress this fancy Jason. Should I even be at a Wayne gala I mean–” Jason cut her off.

“Sweetheart you look perfect. And if anyone tells you otherwise I will personally ask Bruce to kick them out.”

“Jay, you can’t do that.”

“According to who? I have adopted Wayne privilege and you’re the one who’s Bruce’s favorite”

“I am not Bruce’s favorite!”

“Yes you are, princess.”

He dragged her into the gala, excited to spend a night with her, and after that, her first Wayne gala was nothing but history, as she attended every single one at her lover’s side.

When you are young they assume you know nothing

“That boy is a delinquent Y/N! I doubt you even know anything about him, has he even told you how he came to meet Mr Wayne?” Y/N’s father shouted. He’d never liked Jason, despite him being Y/N’s best friend for years before things ever became romantic. She used to be able to avoid it, but when her mom moved out of state for work and Y/N wanted to stay in Gotham… well this was her only option.

“Yes dad, I know how he met Bruce! You realize I knew him long before he was adopted by Bruce Wayne right? That I didn’t just go for him because he was rich? You assume because I’m young that I know nothing!”

“Clearly you don’t know anything if you would choose to be with a boy who is a thief! He tried to steal Mr. Wayne’s tires!”

“He was trying to steal them because he was living on the streets and needed money to fucking eat, Dad! Clearly you’re the one who knows nothing here!”

She stormed out of the house, furiously texting Jason and trying to will away the angry tears. 

Sequined smile, black lipstick

Y/N grinned at Jason, her black lipstick fresh as they prepared to go to a party. Bruce had cleared Jason of Robin duty for the weekend and they’d decided to take time to enjoy being normal teenagers. 

“What do you think?” She asked, still smiling

“I think… I’m really tempted to kiss that lipstick right off of you”

“Come do it then.”

Sensual politics

“Do you ever think about sensual politics?” Y/N looked up at Jason, her head in his lap as he read a book.

“What the fuck do you mean ‘sensual politics’?”

“Like the politics of being flirtatious or like building a relationship with someone, but like also kind of a play on sexual politics and people’s perception of the difference’s between men and women and the politics of it, you know? Like they’re both very different things but you can name them the same thing”

“And you’re calling that sensual politics?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“I wish I could understand what’s going on in that brain of yours. You’re such a nerd, princess”

When you are young they assume you know nothing

“Jaybird, if you hurt her, I hope you know I’ll have to break your legs” Dick shrugged as if this was common knowledge.

“I won’t hurt her, Dickwad. She’s the best thing to happen to me.”

“Okay, but you’re young and stupid, anything could happen.”

“Just because you knew nothing when you were young doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

But I knew you

Years ago, Y/n was 11 and Jason was 10. Y/N was on her way home from the school when she saw someone she recognized. 

“Hey! You’re the boy from the library! You showed me my favorite book!”

Jason flushed, unaware that she’d remember him, or that she’d take the recommendation he’d once given her seriously

“Yeah uh, hi. My names Jason, Jason Todd.” He stuck his hand out to shake.

She placed her hand in his and shook. "Y/N."

Dancin' in your Levi's

Y/N and Jason slow danced in her room, her record player spinning some old collection she’d snagged from Wayne manor.

“I was unaware that Levi’s were ballroom attire, Monsieur.”

“And I was unaware your bedroom counted as a ballroom, Mademoiselle”

Drunk under a streetlight, I

“Jason you’re drunk.”

“No I’m notttt. Please Y/N pleeeeaaassseee be my girlfriend.”

“You’re drunk Jay, if you weren’t then you’d remember I already am.” She laughed, watching her lover shoot up in excitement

“Really? That’s so cool!”

I knew you

"Y/N what do you think? Do you think he'd like this for his birthday?"

"Why are you asking me? You're his brother!"

"Yeah but you know him better than anyone else"

Hand under my sweatshirt

"Jason Peter Todd get your cold ass hands out from under my sweatshirt!"

"What do you mean princess?" He dragged his freezing cold hands further up her back

"Eek!"

Baby, kiss it better, I

Y/N carefully finished wrapping the bandages around Jason's waist.

"I can't believe you got stabbed!"

"Kiss it better?"

"Dork." She pressed a kiss to his bandages, before making her way up to his lips.

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan

Under someone's bed

You put me on and said I was your favorite

“What’s got you down princess?” Jason quirked an eyebrow, the moment Y/N entered the manor there was an unhappy energy on her, like she was faking her smile. He knew her all too well. “Come here”. He opened his arms to her, gesturing that she should come lay with him on the excessively large couch (rich people bro) and she happily obliged, latching onto his side like a koala with her head on his chest.

“It’s just… I don’t know, sometimes I feel like an old cardigan, under someone’s bed. Just… forgotten.”

“I could never forget you. Sometimes people lose things that are important to them. If you’re an old cardigan then I’m finding you and putting you on because the whole time you were my favorite.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.

“How poetic” She could feel his chest shake as he laughed.

“What can I say? I’m a man of literature. Speaking of which! Do you want to watch Pride and Prejudice?”

“Again?”

“Yes, AgAiN”

Y/N looked up at her boyfriend, beaming. “Always.”

A friend to all is a friend to none

“You can’t keep acting like nothing is going on Jason. You love her, so why are you friends with someone like the asshole who ruined her reputation?”

“Dammit Dick, I didn’t even know that he was the one who did that until a like week ago!”

“And you’ve hung out with him twice since then! A friend to all is a friend to none, Jaybird.”

Chase two girls, lose the one

Surely all of Gotham had heard them arguing from their favorite spot on the roof of the library.

“Jason I understand that you want to go meet your birth mother, but why does that mean you have to not be in touch for an undetermined amount of time? I don’t understand why finding her means leaving me!” Y/N hadn’t meant to shout. She wasn’t actually mad at him. She understood why he wanted to go, but that didn’t make him leaving hurt any less. Why should she have to lose contact with him, let him run off to another continent without any knowledge of if he was okay?

“Sweetheart I’m not leaving you, I’m just trying to find my mom…”

“Yeah, at the expense of me! Jay I will never prevent you from doing something this important to you but that will not change the fact that this hurts me. That I’ll be lying awake at night not knowing if you’re okay or if you’re even going to want me when you come home! Not even being able to ask Bruce if you’re okay because you plan on doing this without his knowledge! For fucks sake Jason do you realize how that would feel?”

“God dammit Y/N why can’t you just be happy for me?”

“Because you’re LEAVING ME. You know what, go ahead and go Jason. You’re choosing to chase two girls and you’ve lost this one.” She made her way down, trying not to let her hands shake from all the emotional turmoil, at least not until she was on the ground again. There was no way she would know how much she’d regret saying that to him.

When you are young, they assume you know nothing

“It’s your first heartbreak Y/N, you’ll get over it. It was teenage puppy love, something was bound to happen.” Her father had no clue. It had been days and she hadn’t heard from Jason. Last she checked with Alfred, Bruce had followed him out to the middle east somewhere. 

“This was, this is so much more than that. You’re doing it again, assuming that because I’m young I must know nothing.”

“Clearly you don’t know anything.”

But I knew you

“When were you gonna tell me that you being a literature nerd was knowledge Dick wasn’t supposed to get his hands on?” Y/N gave him a look. The look that says ‘i didn't know this was a secret so you can't be upset i spilled’

“Shit, princess, please don’t tell me you told him… he’ll never let me live it down!”

“Oops?” She shrugged. He started to say something else but she kissed him before the words could escape. “It’s alright Jay, it makes you a romantic. And it means I know you better than him.”

Jason smiled. “I guess you’re right…”

Playing hide-and-seek and

“Do you wanna play hide and seek?”

“Sweetheart, aren’t we too old for that?”

“Who said that? Come onnn"

“Y/N.”

“Hm?”

“You know I can’t say no to you.”

Giving me your weekends, I

“You know we don’t have to spend every weekend together right? You can hang out with your friends or your family if you want.”

“Why would I do that when I could give you all my weekends?”

I knew you

"How did you know to tell Bruce I wanted adjustments on the Robin bike?"

"Because I'm just cool like that. And i know you. Now come on, let's take it for a spin!"

Your heartbeat on the High Line

Y/N pressed the side of her head to Jason's chest as a stranger took their photo on the High Line. The trip to New York had been spontaneous, something they'd decided to do for spring break.

After taking her phone back from the kind stranger and thanking them, Y/N turned to her dear boyfriend.

"I could hear your heartbeat you know."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you'd think it was our first date or something." Y/n grinned.

"Because you make me feel... I don't know, like Pip if Estella was actually good for him?"

"Did you just reference Great Expectations at me as a way of expressing your feelings?"

"Maybe?"

"Kiss me."

Once in twenty lifetimes, I

Y/N often thought of how her mother had once told her that true teenage love like the one she had with Jason only came once in 20 lifetimes. Although, in retrospect maybe it's twice in two lifetimes, or once in one, for the partner who didn't die.

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan

Under someone's bed

You put me on and said I was your favorite

"Would I still be your favorite person if I was a worm?"

"Well no cause you wouldn't be a person anymore, but you'd be my favorite worm-"

"You know what? I'll take it."

"You'll always be my favorite."

To kiss in cars

"Jason Todd, you are a menace to society."

"What? How?"

"You brought me out to Bruce's Rolls-Royce to make out."

"So?"

and downtown bars

"Who would've thought the boy wonder had a fake ID?"

"Maybe his girlfriend who's cousin made it for him"

"What? Which one?"

Jason smirked at her, knowing it was going to eat her alive not knowing yes im projecting how nosy i am onto the y/n "Sorry princess, that stays a secret"

Was all we needed

You drew stars around my scars

"Jason, it's just an old scar from scraping my knee a little too deep, it's no big deal!"

He continued drawing small stars around any scars he found on her, gently dragging the red marker along her skin. "I didn't say it was!"

But now I'm bleedin'

When Jason hadn’t come back, Y/N had done one of the only things she promised him she would never do: taking up vigilantism. She told Bruce it was only temporary. She told herself it was only temporary. But the longer she was in the game the more attached to it she became.

"FUCK!" Y/N yelped as she sat on her bathroom counter, pressing a damp rag to her wound, carefully wiping it off. "God dammit, I used to be patching up Jason's stab wounds, not getting stabbed..." She picked up her phone, dialing the only number she cared to call anymore.

"Yeah, Dick? Can you come over real quick? Need you to make sure this stab wound doesn't kill me..."

The audible "WHAT" echoed throughout the bathroom, despite the phone not being on speaker.

'Cause I knew you

"How'd you know I'd be here?"

Y/N found Jason at their spot on the roof of the library after Dick informed her that he'd had a particularly rough argument with Bruce.

"Because I know you better than anyone else."

Steppin' on the last train

Jason dragged Y/N towards the last train of the night, what they never knew would be their final date before everything went astray.

"Come on! The last train is the best one!"

Marked me like a bloodstain, I

The image of Jason, dead, being carried away by Bruce was forever marked in Y/N's head. He was dead. There was nothing else to say.

I knew you

Speaking at Jason's small memorial was never something Y/N saw herself doing.

"I uh- I really don't know what to say. You all always said I knew him better than anyone else, and I just wish I could've known the way to prevent this."

Tried to change the ending

Y/N tried so hard to change the ending of her story. Make it so she wasn't just the girl who lost herself in grief. But until unless she saw Jason again, nothing was going to happen.

Peter losing Wendy, I

As she sat there writing 'Cardigan' it occurred to her that Peter losing Wendy was a choice, and her losing Jason never was, but it fit. Their love was a magic only to be found in Neverland.

I knew you

"Hey Red, do I know you from somewhere in civilian life? You seem familiar..."

"No way, too new in town, sorry."

She knew she knew him. She just couldn't place why...

Leavin' like a father

Even though she'd told him just to go, Jason still stopped by Y/N's house before he left to find his mother.

"Please don't leave me, Jay." She cupped his cheeks, pressing his forehead to hers as tears streamed down her face

"Don't cry, baby, I'll be back before you know it."

Running like water, I

Of course, Y/N hadn't known the identity of the Red Hood the first time she'd spotted him. All she had time to think was wondering why such a large man, with guns nonetheless, ran from her like she was out to get him.

And when you are young, they assume you know nothing

"Why do people love to assume that because I'm young I must know nothing about love or heartbreak?" Y/N had asked one day. No one answered. No one knew. They only knew that they were all too aware of just how much she truly knew about both of those things.

But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss

"I want a blue jay on my forearm. Full color. Can you do that?"

Y/N had walked into the tattoo parlor like she owned the place. She needed a way to let him permanently linger. The kiss of a needle in her skin the only way to physically represent him.

I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

"What if I had made him stay?!"

"Y/N there's nothing you could've done that would change things."

"But what if—"

"There was nothing any of us could do."

The smell of smoke would hang around this long

"Thought you told me that you quit smoking years ago Red."

"Yeah, well, old habits die hard."

"Rough day huh?"

"Yeah. Girlfriend from before all this almost saw me in the library today. She doesn't know about me."

"About you being a vigilante?"

"She thinks I'm dead."

"You know, maybe I'll do this and be totally mistaken and realize i'm delusional, but I swear to whatever fucking god is listening if i tear off that domino mask and Jason Todd is under there I will be pushing you off this rooftop."

"If I've been hanging out with Y/N this whole time I'm throwing myself off."

'Cause I knew everything when I was young

Y/N was playing a show in Los Angeles, touring at age 15 was insane, but then again, she never thought anyone would listen to her music.

"Alright everyone, I may be young, but I also consider myself to be quite versed in romance, who knows, maybe it's my lovely boyfriend, or the fact that I'm a hopeless romantic, but either way, this one's called Favorite Record!"

Even at a young age, she'd known everything she needed to about love, because it encased her every moment she spent with her favorite person.

I knew I'd curse you for the longest time

She sat at Jason's grave in the Wayne family plot for more hours than she could count, swearing at his headstone

"God dammit! Why didn't you come home? Why didn't you come back to me?" Sobs wracked her body. "I was waiting for you to come home."

Chasin' shadows in the grocery line

Every once in a while Y/N would see someone and think someone was him. Maybe it was her brain's sick way of coping. She reached towards the stranger in front of her.

"Excuse me-"

But when he turned around Jason was gone. It was just another high school boy who had vaguely reminiscent hair.

I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired

A knock came on Y/N's bedroom window. She opened it warily before the Red Hood came clinking in.

"Thrill of letting me think you were dead over?"

"Y/N please-"

"Did you sit and watch as I grieved? Stand by while I lost my mind because I thought I'd lost you?"

"Sweetheart, just let me explain–"

"Don't fucking 'sweetheart' me. Get out. Get out of my fucking room."

And you'd be standin' in my front porch light

"Get off my damn porch Jason." He was standing in civilian clothes, shuffling his feet nervously as if he was a little kid again.

"Not until you let me explain!"

"Fine. You get to come in for five minutes. See if you can explain to me how there is any way you can justify this."

And I knew you'd come back to me

Y/N sat with her jaw slack in shock after hearing Jason's story. How saying he died wasn't even a lie, how he'd been brought back, the madness he'd experienced, the resentment for nobody killing the Joker. (she flat out told him she would've if she thought she could do it without getting herself killed in the process)

"i'm such a fucking asshole."

"No you aren't"

"No you went through this whole traumatic experience and I've just been a dick to you!"

"And it's been totally justified! You should've been the first person to find out I was back. Honestly I'm surprised Dick or Bruce didn't tell you..."

"I'm going to ignore the urge to castrate both of them and just be happy you came back to me."

You'd come back to me

"I'll always come back to you."

And you'd come back to me

"Make sure you come back in one piece?" They were on the same mission, much to Jason's dismay, but they had to be split up.

"When have I ever not come back to you?"

"...."

"Don't answer that."

And you'd come back

They'd made it out of that atrocious mission. It all worked out in the end but it certainly had taken longer than they planned.

"hey, you came back in one piece, just like I asked."

"I always do, just for you."

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan

Under someone's bed

You put me on and said I was your favorite

Y/N heard Jason coming in. His duffel bag clunked loudly against their closet floor, and she assumed he changed out of his gear at a safehouse before returning to their apartment. She flipped over the edge of the blanket, making room for him to crawl in bed with her. Once sufficiently comfortable behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Jason spoke.

"Hey Y/N?"

She turned around in his arms so she could face him. "Uh oh, you didn't call me any kind of pet name, just my name, whats up?"

"Nothing I just... I just wanted to let you know you're still my favorite."

~

The tears were flowing freely by then. The audience screamed, cheering at the sweet song. “My favorite person didn’t get to be around for a while, but… he came back to me, and that’s all that matters. Now that's enough crying, I’ve got some much more fun songs, ARE YOU READY GOTHAM CITY!?” And with that, the show went on.

Hours later, Y/N made her way backstage, where she was immediately enveloped by the arms of a mystery man. She wasn’t scared though, she knew who it was. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he spun her around. 

He sat her down gently, beaming. “You wrote a song about me?” “Jay… baby a lot of my songs are about you.” 

“What?”

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you managed to not know that even though I’ve told you before.”

“I just assumed you weren’t serious!”

“... You really think that Lover or Lucky People or Favorite Record, could have possibly been about anyone else?”

“And if I just like hearing you say it?”

“Then I’ll tell you forever.” When their lips met, it was a promise, one that this, this feeling in this moment, was real, and that it wouldn’t ever go away, because they knew everything when they were young. 

[lakesbian]

and re last post as for how i would fix that issue if i were in charge of twig:

one: sy should not fucking run away. give him one chapter to stalk miserably around the town stewing in his thoughts before undergoing the character growth of admitting that he genuinely cannot do 62 hours away from jessie without ending up dead in a ditch somewhere & doesn't want to run away from conflict resolution with the person who's been his partner in crime and sole mutual support over the last few months.

two: during the conversation he and jessie were Supposed to have after he got back from his walk, force sy to undergo some goddamned fucking character growth over actually processing and internalizing the fallout of both the realization that he's not on equal ground with or fair to lillian no matter how much she likes him

three: also force sy to undergo some goddamned fucking character growth over grasping and sincerely, in his own sy way, regretting/wanting to amend doing some evil shit to jessie with the mental walls

four: this one is critical. i recognize that it's hard to fit this in following the heels of lillian but. i think you amend the issue of it being unpleasant to watch jessie having to bend over backwards for a mere Chance at sy theoretically liking her someday by having sy actually acknowledge that she's right and they Would be a good pair together. like have sy set aside the anger where he's getting bitter and sardonically going "what you want me to go make myself gay" out of clear revulsion for the idea of changing himself to be compatible with jessie--if jessie is going to change for him, then it's not fair that sy gets to be repulsed about the idea of changing for her.

i like jamie and jessie both being naturally gender apathetic and jessie deciding to transition to distinguish herself from jamie, and i could like her doing it to be more romantically compatible with sy, but i think in order for me to like that second part it would have to go the route of like. first of all sy takes culpability for his very very large part in the fight. second of all sy is like. "huh you know what. i would actually hypothetically make a good pair with you as a person i've been happily spending some of the best months of my life alone with. and maybe it would be nice to try feeling things out one day, even if it not immediately because of lillian, but i doubt something like getting a back alley doctor to rummage around in my brain is a good idea, no? this is sad i feel like we're missing out on something that couldve been good just by bad luck of i wasnt born as someone whos into boys or youre not someone who was born a girl" and jessie is like "no yeah i dont want someone to rummage around in your already wyvern-saturated brain i think it would not work and also you might die. however, re the girl part, i have some feelings ive been musing on,"

like. not necessarily over the course of even one immediate conversation, obviously not in those precise words. but if sy just One time got off his cishet ass to be decent to jessie and intentionally choose her or want to prioritize her feelings. Well then I would approve of their transhet biopunk brokeback mountain once more.

also. remove the part where jessie is like Ohhh unless it makes You uncomfortable for me to transition. let her keep being a hardass, let her want to do it either way, she can be noticeably nervous about sy's reaction without actually capitulating. she has that in her.

[dykementality]

forgive me if you're not interested, but I'd actually love to hear more of your thoughts on the maroon arc, what you thought was/wasn't done well. would u like to share?

hii i didnt see this. im gonna apologize right away bc this is not gonna be organized i have talked soooo much today already and im tired lol.

for starters what i think was done best is flint and madis dynamic. its incredibly well played both as individual characters and as representatives of pirates and maroons in relation to empire. their chemistry is crazy and their dialogues are extremely didactic. i also find that flint not immediately viewing the maroons as natural allies but as tools to reach his own purposes and later deconstructing that after getting involved with them aggregates to his ongoing theme of progressive radicalization which i think is also a highlight of the maroon arc in the way it makes it explicit for good that his political stance has done a 360 and is now entirely discordant from the one he had as a lieutenant in every aspect that matters. freeing and partnering with the maroons is expected after that and i dont think theres anything special on that regard. then the shitty parts are essentially everything else. especially steinberg admitting he stalled to really explore the topic of slavery due to not being in his element as a white guy but still not putting black people on the team to do it. this reflects very obviously in the show and makes the entire arc feel rushed and reticent besides leaving a billion loose threads and missing opportunities to appropriately explore character dynamics that couldve been way more interesting (such as silver/julius/flint & madi/eme & madi/eleanor & eleanor/scott) and really engage confidently in the impact that flint and the pirates having canonically sold slaves would have had in their relationship. speaking of julius i also very much felt like it was a tragedy to hinder his presence and had they started it earlier or extended it longer his perspective on war vs. protecting his community as opposed to madi’s for example would have been probably my favorite part of the arc. i know the version in my head of it is. all in all its a vital arc for the story and everyone slayed really hard with with they had i just wish the creators hadnt shied away from all the implications of it. if i had the energy to go look for some posts for u i would bc my mutuals have definitely also discussed this before but alas. thanks for asking anyways feel free to add ur own thoughts or question mine further

[oetscop]

hey! absolutely love your art and your rainer interpretation- can you talk about your headcanons lore-wise involving rainer and mike? honestly you can talk about more than just those two as well i'm very curious about your interpretations honestly.

YOOO I LOVE UR RAINER ALSO thank u.....

this will hopefully not be complete word salad. bc my brains fried already, but my views on petscop characters are esoteric and best and downright incomprehensible at worst. so idk how legible this will be JDKSHSKSBSK

uhh ill start with like. jill is significantly older than anna and lina. rainers actually fairly close in age to anna.

rainers biological dad isnt in the picture and actually went missing a few years after him and jill divorced. it runs in the family i guess. but since tom was there longer hes only ever called him dad, and both jill and him took the last name hammond when they got married. and mike was actually an accident! a welcome one tho. jill and tom were in their 40s and rainer was like 16 or so.

they were very close tho! he was very close with his immediate family. for the brief time he was in college he still lived at home despite the commute.

mike would sit and watch him work on the game all the time. he wanted him to teach him how to code (thats why he created the "petscop kids" after school program! at first anyway...) but 5-6 year olds dont exactly have the attention span for explaining how the dev kit console works. unless theyre belle i guess. but he did get into art! and considering rainers also an artist he encouraged it. mike would sometimes draw his own pets to be put in the game, but since it never went past evencare they never showed up. he did sorta base toneth on mike, and that was before he based any of the other pets on other family members.

mike went missing shortly after rainers mental health was declining. he ran away after some argument with his mom, and nobody remembers what the argument was even about. since this was after marvin hit the dog with the car, and he was beginning to experience psychosis, he immediately made the connection and believed marvin had something to do with it. the cops found it a little suspicious that rainer somehow just knew he had been struck by a car, and he was the only suspect for quite a while. tom had to vouch for him pretty hard and get him a lawyer.

as for vaguer things. the newmaker plane was started in an attempt to find out where mike wouldve run to. he was already recording movements in game, so he put all of mikes in game behaviors into a to scale version of their town, trying to train it to show him where he couldve gone. this obviously didnt work. didnt help that it was completely flat terrain and like had only their house, the marks house, the school and like a couple roads. it actually lead him to the opposite side of the town than where his body was located.

marvin is ALSO severely mentally ill and was convinced that care was lina reborn before any of this happened. obviously anna didnt believe that since shes still. yknow. alive. but rainer introduced the A/B/NLM concept to him, and they both began to believe care was just lina A reborn. pre traumatic event lina. they were both trying to see if they could somehow force something like that to occur, in an attempt to bring mike A back. when belle didnt work, they figured she was too old, so they moved to care. part of this whole "changing your past" thing involved plucking out her eyebrows (lina A had trich) and essentially trying to reenact aforementioned traumatic event. thats why marvin kidnapped her to keep her in the school. and it didnt work! just traumatized the fuck outta the kid. they never had the chance to do anything to "bring mike back" by the end of it, which lead to Bathroom Tomb Event. however, last belle heard, he was pretty certain paul was actually mike A. she tried her best to keep that from paul before they became distant.

i feel like the core of a lot of this is that i really dont believe that the rebirthing process does anything at all. with enough manipulation you may start developing false memories, sure, but its not actually working. in retrospect it makes rainers character a lot sadder. just a terrified kid trying in vain to bring his baby brother back. its not easy losing someone so young in such a horrible way without knowing who took his life.

BUT UUHHH YEAH ^}^ can you tell ive been thinking abt petscop pretty much nonstop since the end of 2022 i bet you cant

[petalkitshadow]

I saw your PKS Headcanons and now i cant stop thinking....what If mapleShade and freckleWish actually had feelings for eachother but they didnt know what to make of It because yknow surpressed lesbians in a homophobic clan but they still are soooo inlove yet confused and when mapleshade lies that the kits were birchfaces freckleWish is like "this is the PERFECT excuse for me to spend more time with her and take care of these kits as If It were my own- because ofc they uh are my brothers so they are my kin" but ofc It was all thrown off the window when ravenwing revealed everything and homophobicStar kicked maple and her kits off the clan and ofc frecklewish feels alot of anger towards maple at this point because everything was a lie to cover up her half clan kits and she was inlove with a random riverclan tom??? She was heartbroken and felt betrayed so she turned her back on maple but after maple was gone freckle sometimes would think to herself regretting it and missing maple and the kits anyways i love some angst

Yep you hit the nail right on the head! I'm exploring it more in the Frecklefic, but i hinted at it a bit in PkS as well, such as here in Ch 11:

Freckle and Maple's relationship was... complicated. Like in canon, the clan had high hopes for Mapleshade - granddaughter of Redstar, many thought she would be deputy, and maybe leader eventually, including Frecklewish. As such, she was close with the leaders' kits; best friends with Birchface and Frecklewish. Oakstar wanted to keep the "strong blood" together.

Freckle and Maple both had romantic feelings for each other, but Oakstar's ThunderClan (as well as the ThunderClan of his predecessors, Seedstar and Redstar) is highly utilitarian and conservative. Everything must be done to serve the clan, and there's a bit of gender essentialism thrown in as well. She-cats should have kits, to provide the Clan with more warriors. Oakstar was giddy at the idea of merging the bloodlines of two leaders (such a shame seedstar was so ambitious and never had kits like a good she-cat, he says)

Well anyways, because of this climate, same-sex couples were shamed and ostracized by the community, for their inability to provide good, wholly-thunderclan kits to the clan. (no, adoption and surrogacy don't exist, whats that? we cant challenge the nuclear family model that keeps bloodlines so clear and separates the leaders from the ordinary warriors, says Oakstar!) It was kind of an unspoken rule to not be gay, not speak about it, and such. Thus, Frecklewish and Mapleshade never realized their own feelings. But for some reason they just really loved sharing a nest, raising kits together, being physically affectionate, etc. very much the epitome of "they seem like good friends", as Petalkit put it lol

But, these feelings, I think that's part of why Frecklewish reacted so strongly. She felt betrayed, not just for her brother's sake, but for her own. She felt as crushed as if her own wife cheated on her. Which of course, isn't what happened at all, as they werent together and didnt even realize their own feelings, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Maple on the other hand, was so crushed that the one cat who'd been by her side for years was now against her. Maybe in a better world things couldve worked out... but this isn't a better world, and both cats have to live (well. after-live) with what they've done for all eternity!

...but maybe there's a chance things can be settled, when they finally meet in the dark forest 👀

[w1f1n1ghtm4r3]

ippiki au: minor characters edition

first things first: here look at everyone. dont mind the inconsistency of style, i took a 4 month break in the middle of these okay

and now! lore and stuff will be under the cut to not clog up everything

ill include everyones images a second time before their specific lore just to help keep track of things i hope you dont mind that. also implied vbs event spoilers (specifically for light up the fire) when you get to radder, if thats a concern at all

mizuki- deer. a runaway from an arena with lower security, met ena early into their escaped days and theyve stuck together since. their antler broke while in the arena, and they havent shed yet to grow back evenly. whether the white spots are because of their deer species or the fact that theyre still a teenager or just because of weird hybrid things is up to viewer interpretation (aka i never really settled on a specific type of deer for them). unfortunately the antlers make them pretty visibly trans and they dont really like having them, but at least most other hybrids dont seem to care too much.

ena- mountain lion. grew up in the same lab as akito, and to neither of their knowledge, they are actually related (ena was still somewhat of an older sister figure to him, along with some of the others from his group. they havent seen each other in a few years since ena got taken to an arena. to each other they might as well be dead). not the biggest fan of their current situation, but shes trying to make the best of it.

they live together currently in the undercity, living somewhat steadily off of odd jobs. its not the greatest life, and maybe one day theyd like to leave, but for two teenage girls, its the best theyre managing for now, and it certainly could be a lot worse. they both couldve never escaped their arenas and died there.

haruka- domestic shorthair cat (but often mistaken for being a russian blue... shes just a regular gray cat with blue eyes). an ex-feral (captured as a child) turned show pet with a reputation for her cool charm. while shes taken to this life with relative ease, she misses her home from far outside the city and her childhood best friend who got captured at the same time and separated from her (she cant help but fear that an is probably dead, sent to an arena for her rowdier personality. shed like to hope otherwise, but the odds are against her)... also yes, her outfit mainly looking like her asrun outfit is intentional.

minori- goat. i forgot her sideways pupils here but she has those, just like kohane and luka. a childhood friend of kohanes, raised in the same lab, but was bought as a show pet instead. no one really knows why, besides her enthusiastic personality having its strengths in the idol-like niche of show pets. admires haruka from a distance, but theyve never had a chance to properly meet. maybe one day...

nene- longhaired fold cat x canary. part of a private project attempting to create non mammalian hybrids by balancing them out with known stable hybrids, and shes one of the first semi successful ones. she might have survived to a reasonable age so far, but not without complications. shes prone to occasionally unstable health and has some speech issues, mostly caused by the bird parts of her not mixing well with everything else. the feathers are cute, but at what cost? although being kept in a very restrictive environment isnt doing her any favors either...

technically shes not even a main part of the au! shes got her own side storyline with wxs lol

kotaro- racoon. literally just some guy. from the same town as haruan, but hes just been there the whole time. probably the only character here who hasnt experienced the horrors to some extent. not actually relevant to the au besides like oh he exists he might briefly show up, but i wanted to draw him because i had design ideas

souma- domestic dog, some kind of mutt. suffered a combination of severe injuries throughout his time in an arena and during their escape, leaving him with a nasty mess of scars across his body as well as a mostly paralyzed arm and a noticeable limp. hes trying to stay positive despite that, after all theyre free! but its tough sometimes, he cant help but feel bad that hes slowing down their pace in traveling.

arata- caracal. from the same arena as souma, but escaped much more unscathed, his past injuries are nowhere near as severe. heard stories about the outside world somewhere and is now determined to find somewhere worth living out in the wasteland with souma. hes not exactly friendly to people they cross paths with, but its mostly out of caution to protect both of them.

fun fact i had to redesign soumarata partially because i just wasnt satisfied with their designs (i had made some very early on into the au) and partially because me and my friends realized souma is the taller one (hes like. slightly taller than touya? while arata is only taller than akito) and i had it the other way around before.

nagi- maned wolf. a popular face around town, and one of their most successful participants in various resource gathering missions (it isnt uncommon for hybrid towns to have members who will steal things for their towns from supply trains that go out to human towns in the wasteland and nagi was often a fan of going on those). she liked to get out and explore the wasteland! sometimes shed let an (and less often, haruka as well) tag along with her so they could see more of the world while still supervised, but that led to her own downfall. a mission went wrong, the kids got caught, and she got killed trying to save them.

taiga- tiger (how could i not go for the pun, and also canon did it first anyway). while once a common sight around town, after nagis death hes become a rare visitor, traveling more often than not, only stopping home once in a while. maybe he doesnt want to linger around the feelings left behind now that shes gone. scary and serious, but not out of bad intentions.

ken- fox (just like an). runs a somewhat popular cafe in town, comfortably settled down. he regrets not being there to protect his daughter, but theres nothing to do about it anymore. maybe one day shell come back, but for now, hes got a job to do and thats the most important thing for him to focus on.

nagi and taiga are fully aware that theyre siblings, unlike akito and ena. it was more common for their generation to be aware of this, rather than having knowledge about their origins withheld. they both were in an arena that focused on team fights, and when taigas original teammate was killed, nagi ended up with him, prompting him to help them both escape because he didnt want to let his sister get hurt more than necessary (even though shes capable of taking care of herself in a fight). they met ken (another arena escapee) during their way out of the city, and began traveling as a group of three until they found the town they all called home. their presence was an important part of making that town thrive into the place it is now, even if things for the trio have since fallen apart quite a bit. nagi is gone, taiga rarely sticks around, ken is the only one who stayed now.

meiko- bear. runs a convenience store at night in the undercity near one of the arenas (the one akikoha are in), well known around the area and uses her advantageous shop location to help new escapees get a little more set into their newly freed lives. a kind if intimidating woman, and very reliable at her jobs.

miku- striped hyena. just an average young escapee living in the undercity, although she doesnt try to blend in very well. ever since she got her hands on some hair dye shes been stubbornly sticking to the faded and grown out color, she thinks shes cool with it. friends with a couple humans who seem completely unbothered by her animal traits

luka- ibex. an escapee from the outer city workshops who decided to move to the undercity... and never really settles down anywhere. she likes to wander from place to place, experiencing the great expanse of the city from its depths. shes got her favorite places to come back to, but more than anything, shes always on the move to see something new.

kaito and the kagamines are humans (the kagamines are mikus human friends!) which is why theyre not here 👍

and thats everyone! apologies this is a monster of a post, but i hope youve enjoyed reading. and hopefully its semi coherent lol

[oswaldstan]

i don't even care it's 4 am over here i saw ONE post and now im thinking about the mad doctor and oswald in epic mickey 2 again like??? imagine you're oswald, you're FINALLY getting your life back together after your home was restored (for the most part) and then out of nowhere BAM your ex-best friend shows up asking for a second chance. earthquakes are happening and he needs your help to save the town and together you'll be heroes.

the SAME "friend" that betrayed you during the blot wars (and in the graphic novel, had a significant part in ortensia turning to stone) and COULDVE helped you back then but didn't. because he craved power, and the moment something bigger than you asserts themselves, he switches sides.

but oswald goes with him because "doesn't everybody deserve a second chance?" and while it's easy to say "he shouldn't have done that" do you know who ELSE oswald gave a second chance? mickey, who, because oswald had forgiven him, was able to destroy the blot, save ortensia, and fill the world with paint again!! oswald couldve taken the heart for himself, but it was his decision to give him a second chance that literally saved the world. and if he was able to do it for mickey, maybe forgiving the mad doctor won't be the worst thing in the world either, right?

BUT THE THING IS mad doctor actually never apologized anywhere in the game?? like sure, he acknowledged that he was evil, but just SAYING "oh yeah im a changed man!" isnt!! actually an apology!! he sings to them and sways their hearts and that's that! not even in his ending song, it's just "woah I'm a toon again! im gonna be good for real this time!"

and yeah, I've seen the criticism for "why was oswald ready to trust him again" and what i have to say,, he was his friend. they were friends once. the bond was there, and the mad doctor that oswald knew was probably a "good" man, maybe one that he missed (despite everything). maybe when the mad doctor came back, the part that missed him was willing to believe anything. even something as ridiculous as a redemption song.

[kindnessisweakness2]

Delusional - Part 24

Jax's eyes widened in shock as he watched Delaney Grab the barrell of the gun. Lunging forward, taking Alex down to the floor as 3 shots of the gun fired, Jax screamed as he watched Delaney fly backwards. Smashing his fist into Alex face twice, Jax threw the gun away from him. He couldnt explain the relief he felt at the sound of the door flying open and the guys rushing in. Happy was the first to Jax's side. "Take this piece of shit to the warehouse. I want him alive Hap!" Jax barked orders he knew the Tacoma Killer would be glad to Obey. Juice, Tig and bobby followed behind Happy, there was no way that slimy fucker was running away now. Chibs and Gemma were all over Delaney. Jax stood next to Opie, gripping is hair in frustration as tears fell. "She grabbed the gun Ope. H-he said she had to choose. She grabbed the fucking gun!" Opie did his best to comfort his best friend. They'd grew up together, and he'd never seen Jax like this. Not even when Tara left. Jax always jumped to Anger first. Never let emotions get in the way. Fuck, he'd only seen him cry once and that was when he got the news his dad died. After that it was all fighting and drinking the pain away. "She's gonna be okay. She's a fighter. Shes survived the worst. It's gonna be alright man." And as Opie patted his best friends back, he hoped with everything he was right.

Chibs worked fast. Faster than he ever had. Cutting Jax's hoodie away, revealing the once white vest top underneath, he packed gauze into the open wound in her shoulder. "Its still in there. Im gonna have to pull the bullet out." He looked at Gemma as he spoke, unable to keep the worry from his face. He'd never had to work on an old lady before, let alone his VPS. "Shouldnt we get her to the hospital? Shes pregnant for god sakes!" Gemma questioned. Clay and Chibs shook their heads at the same time. "No. It raises too many questions. Shes been in and out of hospital too much recently. I can handle this Gem. Shes gonna be fine." Gemma shook her head, hoping what he was saying was true. Jax leaned over his girl, kissing her forehead. "Shes got a shoulder wound. The other two bullets missed her. Shes very lucky lad, but shes gonna have to rest after this. The doctor said no stress and i dont know what effect this would have had on the baby." Jax nodded at chibs, not being able to manage words. He stayed there, leaning over the love of his life as she lay unconscious on their living room floor. He begged whoever was up there, God, his Dad, Thomas, that both her and their baby would be okay. She didnt deserve this. She didnt deserve any of it. Him? He was far from perfect. Maybe this was Karma for everything he had done wrong in his life. The best thing that ever happened to him was going to be ripped away.

White hot pain. Thats what Delaney felt when she opened her eyes. "Fuck" She groaned as she tried to sit up, but a hand flew out to stop her moving. "Dont." Jax spoke softly as he sat on the side of their bed. "Alex.." He cut her off. "Happy has him up at the warehouse on the Wahiwah. He's not getting away this time, im gonna make sure of it." Delaney sighed, "I was so scared he was gonna hurt you." Jax cupped her face and kissed her gently. "I cant believe you grabbed the gun. You idiot! You couldve been killed, Our baby..." It was Delaneys turn to cut him off. "I wasnt going to let you get hurt because of me. Yes im an idiot, but your important Jax. Your needed." Tears fell from Jax's eyes as he kissed her again. "Your needed. I need you" Delaney wrapped her arms around him, hissing at the pain and trying to be gentle because of the stitches. "I love you Teller" Jax smiled at her . "I love you too you idiot." Gemma, Chibs and Clay made their way into the bedroom at that point. Each of them wanting to check on her and Chibs handing her much needed painkillers."Now we know your both okay. I have halfsack fixing the bullet holes in your living room and Happy's getting antsy. He needs to know what to do with the scumbag." Clay questioned Jax. "I want to see him." Delaney stated to the shock of everyone in the room. "It's my turn to get answers. Also i have a question, has anyone else noticed this fucker only re surfaces after Tara rears her ugly head and causes an argument?" She could see everyone thinking it over. "Think about it, both times hes come back and attacked me its been when Tara has managed to seperate me and Jax." Chibs and Gemma nodded. "The bitch has to be involved some how." Delaney stood from the bed, "We'll im gonna find out." Jax tried to stop her but it was no use.

Delaney was determined to find out Tara's involvement in all of this.

She wanted Answers and she didnt care who she was going to have to go through to get them.

[akascow]

im pretty sure i never finished editing this and putting all my thoughts into it but its been in my drafts for like a month and i cannot delete it bc i spent too long on it im just scared to post it because i dont wanna upset anyone but im tired of it being in my drafts so im just posting it with a single tag and running pft i know if i actually reread it i'll just keep adding thoughts and itll never get finished so im gonna not look over it HAHA

its basically me ranting about other people being upset over "some s2 plot points were unnecessary" and how a lot of it was actually needed for the story so if u dont think youd like reading maybe just scroll idk

that type of mindset is so silly bc when u think about it for more than 2 seconds, the arcane team spent porbably over THREE YEARS animating and storyboarding and doing the best they could to 'wrap up' what was supposed to be an entire THREE SEASON ARC into NINE episodes

i GUARANTEE they agonized over not only EVERY LITTLE DETAIL they felt was necessary to the story BUT ALSO painstakingly animating said little details BECAUSE IT WAS NECESSARY TO INCLUDE IN THE STORY

like obviously its fine to dislike how it turned out i know not everyone will like it as much as i did and thats totally fine however just because u didnt totally like how things went over doesnt mean it was unnecessary kjdlskjfd

and im not saying s2 is completely perfect and therefore unable to be touched by criticism. theres some scenes even i dont care for when i rewatch it, same as s1, but theyre still important to the story nonetheless lol

i keep seeing this👇🏻 complaint and idk its getting to me a lil lmao

‘ishas death was pointless it didnt change anything’ did we miss the part where jinx got so depressed that she tried to blow herself up (CHARACTER DEPTH) and she finally got to talk with silco and ended up helping in the fight bc of what he n ekko said (PLOT PROGRESSION) and jinx let go of vi so that vi could finally let go of powder (CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT)

also since when did a character death have to always mean smth HAHA just because she didnt actually kill vander doesnt make it pointless💀💀 it was important to hers and jinx’s character: smth smth like isha sacrificing herself for someone she loves, and jinx watching someone someone she loves and deeply connects with sacrificing themselves for her even if she probably thinks she herself is not worth saving,, (i think idk lmfao)

and it also helps to catalyst viktors machine herald form bc singed takes and merges him with vanders beast (the beast is like lowkey dead after she blasts him so like,, theres that too) the show is very centered around the snowballing/domino effect of one thing leading to another to another to another and so on and so forth.

"jinx vi cait sevika and isha couldve just left" isha gets scared as she watches jinx thrown to the ground and noxian soldiers inch in on her with spears. what isha did saved jinx's life because ambessa was determined to kill jinx too. it didnt kill vander but it immobilized him enough as well as the surrounding soldiers so that the fighting would stop and our mc's could escape

jinx joins the fight in the end because of what ekko says and how she connects it with isha. "no matter what happened in the past, its never too late to build something new, someone worth building it for" which presumably means fighting to fix the future of the two cities i think idk

its fine to be sad about her death obviously but lets not pretend the rest of the show didnt happen lmfao... it would be pointless if literally no one reacted at all but thats very much the opposite of what we saw HAHA... and it probably felt like she got pushed to the side never to be mentioned again (bc no one ever mentions her again HAHA) but u can clearly see how tired and Over It jinx was after isha dies, and how it helped her finally let go so everyone else can move on. like no one mentions her but jinx incorperates parts of isha into her airship decorations (bunny ears on the balloon, shart teeth from her hat on the turbine, designs on her goggles on the windows) and she wears the same pink face paint that isha did

also we just wouldnt have that beautiful montage of isha and jinx in her final moment if it wasnt meant to be important lol

but yeah u gotta remember how much the writers had to fit into s2 in order to get a decent ending lmao

[syrupspinner]

i just completed bomb rush cyberfunk

the sound that plays when you clear a textbox is the spongebob footstep sound and youll never unhear that now

i love the fuck out of this game. the vibes are literally, not figuratively, everything i couldve ever wanted from a jet set radio successor. a lot of people get caught up in naganuma's music, but jsr had way more variety. the original had rob fucking zombie and future had that yoko ono song about cake or whatever. i feel like they did a excellent job keeping a cohesive vibe while still including a wider variety of songs. characterizing the gangs through their mixtapes is such a fun idea and it was done so well

the gameplay is perfect too, like every little bit is fine-tuned to be exactly what it should be. walking feels like walking and skateboarding feels like skateboarding, the way you turn feels noticeably different but in a lateral way that the game is built to accommodate

level design is phenomenal. built from the ground-up for your combo game without feeling like its forcing you onto a single route. manuals were the perfect addition so you dont feel trapped in what the game provides, and lets you get creative with a levels ingredients.

I dig the dream levels and how they twist the formula. levels are normally pretty open arenas, but these are just linear platforming challenges. it's really cool to see what these physics and moves let you do in a different environment. they're super fun for the plot too, I love the bit where red is like "I can't keep the ladder steady, I'm up here with you". no spoilers but I think it ties in super well to the backstory of the character and shines a light on their thought process - you can't get support from someone if they're on the same level as you because they're too worried about keeping themselves steady.

i love how they did achievements for this game. the only story-related achievement is for beating the final boss, and its totally possible for that to be the first one you unlock. it feels good when youve actually gotta work for the achievements, and it adds so much to the endgame. i had so much fun experimenting with the best place to do the longest manual, going back through all the stages for the pictures of the penguin guy, and just playing around for... the, uh... oh christ those are some high scores. welp, problem for the post game.

not to mention all the collectables you can get! this is the perfect amount of side content, i always get excited when i see a pickup in the distance but i never felt bogged down by the need to collect everything. and slowing down to examine the level and look around for everything is a great way to shake up how you usually play the game without feeling like youre doing something that isnt accounted for design-wise.

also, fucking thank you for the maps, and smart move that you can only get em after the main story beat in that spot. it's a shame they don't show the collectables too, cuz finding the last 2-3 is a total pain without a guide, but I'm just glad there's some mercy in finding the graffiti spots. that one in mataan is a bastard, you know the one

the game's pretty easy, i dont think there was ever a point where i lost and had to retry something, with oooooone exception. the cops are all pretty annoying, especially the turret, but not in a way that makes the game unplayable if you have heat. there are certain platforming sections that gave me trouble, like that one on top of the signpost in varsum hill, and... probably another one im forgetting. its hard to hold on to stuff i struggle with, because its just so fun to do fucking anything in this game. moving back into position and trying a jump again is just part of it, yknow?

but that exception, damn. theres one boss fight that fucked me up. it was the first time i actually died in this game. and the second, third, fifth. heres a hint: youve gotta deflect the projectiles. dont worry, you didnt miss anything, you cant reflect any other projectiles (i dont think there even are any) so there isnt some tutorial you missed. it may seem like youre supposed to get close to the machine and spray it like every other fight in the game and youre just struggling with the hitbox or something, but no youre doing the wrong thing. it may also also seem like the reflected projectiles are designed to miss because they keep just barely avoiding his head, but there youre just doing the right thing the wrong way and need to aim better. not with your camera, but by changing the angle of your player character. it may also also also seem like youre meant to use the deflected projectiles as a chance to stun him and close the gap between the two of you, because since he jumps across the map whenever you get near him, there is going to be a gap. this is also one of team reptile's clever tricks, as the stun is so short you need to dodge the projectiles to get in close (but not too close!) and only then start to reflect them. wow, this is inexplicably misleading for a game thats been really tightly designed until now. you think since i get texts all the time like "dont forget to earn points by doing tricks!" someone could communicate the brand new mechanic to me at some point

another thing with this game and communicating mechanics, nobody explains the secret things that all the different ride styles can do, so thisll be your spinny tip of the day: skateboards can balance on fire hydrants and do a trick to unscrew them and ride them up; bikes can stand in front of those garage doors with bike symbols to open them; and if you manual with the skates you can break glass. yeah i only figured out the bike one on my own. i get this is going for that good ol days vibe where there was just cool hidden shit the game doesnt tell you about, and too its credit you only need to know these if you want 100%, but i found them pretty unintuitive. like, i had my board out and fucked around with a hydrant at one point, and i didnt stumble on the secret, just because theres nothing that flags to me to consider jumping on it. this is obtuse, but not as mood-ruining as the boss fight.

also, this isnt really a complaint, i think im just confused. there are tons of spots that are designed like hidden loading screens? theyre usually transitions between parts of the map, like between the entrance and the wide-open parts of the mall. im not sure why though, because it seems like the game doesnt need them? like theres one in pyramid island separating the lower and upper parts, but... you can fall from the higher part to the lower part without a stutter. theyre both clearly loaded all times youre in the area, and the game isnt shy about loading the levels when you move from one spot to the other. is it just to stop combos from going too long? that seems strange in a game thats like, about combos. again its not a big deal at all i just dont really get it?

oh, i should talk about the plot. no spoilers, but im super into stories about the psychology of the characters, shit like repressed memories and identity. if you didn't know, I'm actually working to become a counselling psychologist, so it's really cool to see how games tackle really mental-based narratives. it's like being a plumber and appreciating the manhole design. the central theme is roots, as in where you come from and how it effects you, and they did a pretty cool job exploring how that would be handled in a sci-fi setting.

the story does a great job of having a protagonist thats important but doesnt feel shoved into the world. a lot of stories have to establish a status quo and then introduce how the protagonist is fucking with it. here, the status quo is already shaken up cuz the streets used to be between the big three, but now theres only one left. the protagonist is born from this distruption and has to work backwards to try and get out of it, all while still embracing the world around him. it really helps players get acclimated without making it feel like a hand-holding isekai

and of course you know im gonna dig the anti-cop through line. i like how there are focal characters within the force to show that while its corrupt on a systemic level, there are still individuals inside that system that arent immoral. and once they conflict with the corruption, their choices are to abandon their morals and assimilate (which is why one of those characters disappear from the narrative, they were faced with the realization but discarded it to become assimilated into the general mass of the police) or to abandon their position and fight against the corruption (the other character doing so to help our heroes survive the oppressive force).

oh, and i also dig how they specifically draw attention to how police think. the chief states that he sees all crime as bad because of the slippery slope fallacy, saying that citizens witnessing that the laws dont matter would encourage more reprehensible criminal activity like homicide or piracy. i can see how someone raised in a system that values order and obedience could develop such a black-and-white thought process, and we see how its propagated through the whole police. i also love how, even without saying it out loud, theres a point to be made about how the police are so overfunded that theyre running out of shit to justify it. yeah sic the swat team on those teenagers, who gives a fuck if youre just treated like an inevitability of society and have more money than god. theyre also so everpresent that theres little pods where i think the fuckers just wait until their inescapable silencer system picks up the slightest hint of disobedience. saying the quiet part quietly, but still saying it.

uhh what else. i also appreciate that we see what a cyberhead looks like before we learn why red is exceptional. thats just good plothole-covering, cuz if that didnt happen, i totally wouldve been like "wait are they all like that?". im trying to be vague but its the thing in the mall chapter

alright lets talk about what youre here for: what it was like to 100% this thing. my process was this: normal casual playthrough of the story, getting pickups i saw along the way and making a point to seek out all the optional characters. the second thing is to go back and tag all the graffiti spots, which you should get out of the way so you dont have to worry about the police later and so you have the rep to unlock all the oldhead-gates. after that, go back through the boroughs a third time and pick up all the pickups i missed. you should use a guide for this, those fuckers are really well hidden. by all means look around first, like i said earlier its fun to take it slow, but it devolves into "where the fuck is the last thing" pretty quickly. if its not fun, why bother, yknow? turn it from a scavenger hunt to geocaching. the fourth step is doing the other gangs' score attack challenges to unlock them as playable. I thought it'd be super hard, but theyre tough but doable if you keep a single combo through the whole thing and do the boost trick. the only thing is if you drop your combo, you gotta march your ass back to the challenger to restart, or get your phone out and wait the timer out, there's no quick restart. it's not THAT big of a deal, but I shouldn't be taking my phone out in the middle of your video game, just saying

then there's the high-score steam achievements. this is bar none the hardest part of the game. unlocking futurism in mataan just takes 5mil points, which you can do in a few minutes. the achievement asks for 16mil, more than triple that. you have unlimited time, that's still a pretty bad leap. the best way to get your score up is to up your multiplier with unique billboards and rail corners, but that only works once per combo. even if you exhaust most of a stage, you're still gonna be pretty short, with the multiplier only getting you to a couple mil. so, what do you do when you have no time limit? find a rail that loops, rubber band your joystick to the side, and go to bed.

...that's what I thought at least. I tried this in mataan and I bottomed out at about 6mil after going grocery shopping. and I gotta walk a kilometer and a half to the store and back, so it was like... a little over an hour. that doesnt sound that impressive but still i didnt wanna just wait. I feel too self-conscious about running up a power bill I split with my roommate to do it overnight, so let's try plan b and just... do it. and yeah, its still the hardest part of the game, but... its still very doable. i dropped my combo like two or three times, but i ended up with 20 million before i even realized it when i went for varsum hill, which is wayyy overshooting. the only problem area was pyramid island, and thats just because i had to march my ass back to the top when i dropped my combo. i totally overblew how much of a pain these would be

i think thats it! with a single 15-minute-or-however-long-that-fight-took exception, and disregarding the post-game optional character missions having no quick restarts, this game is fantastic from beginning to end. i know it sounds like that fight was a huge detraction, and yeah ive got problems with it, but a single blemish cant ruin a whole game. i can see myself loading this up and just fucking around with it even after ive perfected it, which is a HIGH complement from me. its got that same sauce as all the games i played as a kid, where it feels like if you only got one game per year, you could play the fuck out of until that whole time without getting bored. you know the kind of games im talking about, those jrpgs and zelda-like adventure games where it just feels like the game doesnt want you to leave. like yeah there are games where its fun to replay the campaign over and over, and this feels like one of those too dont get me wrong, but it just feels like its giving you so much to play around with, to explore and unlock and even just to fuck around and exist in the world. sure, as an adult it feels kinda nice when a game is short, cuz you know you wont have to be married to it for a year while you balance real-life shit in between the video games, but thats why it being optional is so thoughtful. also 30 hours is a totally healthy length for a game to be completed in

i guess what im saying is that bomb rush cyberfunk knows exactly what its doing. this feels like how a game from the era its paying homage to should feel, how it would be designed with the sensibilities of the time, but without subtracting from what i appreciate about modern titles. if you told me this was a remaster of an OG xbox game that added shit like autosaving, id totally buy it if i didnt know better.

im worried im underselling how much i love this game, so i guess ill just say that i love jet set radio. jsr classic has some of the best vibes in the medium, and future is straight up my favorite retro game of all time. and brc eclipses both of them combined. i would like to apologize to anyone who has any interest in working towards xbox emulation. i fear that interest in the field will somehow decrease even further now that the only xbox game worth emulating that hasnt just been ported to pc has been totally outclassed. good luck trying to top this, sega

[baby-yaga]

i totally get why art that seems "shock for shock-sake" is a turn off for some people. it honestly wasnt until earlier this year, after i remembered some really fucked up shit that happened to me, that i realized why i am so drawn to that kind of thing.

making a work that is shocking to be shocking isnt easy--decent writing, composition, themes, those all still apply. and then, theres the added challenge of writing about topics that are ~controversial~

i think the immediate thing that comes to mind is rape revenge, one of my favorite horror subgenres. one of my favorite rape revenge movies is i spit on your grave, the 2010 remake of the 1978 film. the original is, by todays standards, much more tame. the attack is far less brutal, the murders are less graphic, even the scenery [ connecticut in spring, as opposed to the remakes setting of louisiana in fall ] is much more green and vibrant, and more pleasant to look at in my opinion. i think both of these films have a reputation for being shlock--exploitative, misogynistic, torture-porn. and i dont even think they arent those things [ and the victim being a rich white woman, her attackers impoverished white men. these films are very classist in my opinion ].

rape revenge is a very controversial genre, made even more so by the fact that many of the most well known films are written and directed by men [ i spit on your grave, the original and its remake, same of the last house of the left and its remake, in fact female writers and directors are relatively new to this subgenre ]

if id been asked earlier this year, "what is it about this genre that you find so compelling?" i wouldve struggled to answer. i think the best i couldve come up with is something like, "catharsis." and i do find these films cathartic. they are tense and brutal, and at the end, when the bad guys have died their grotesque deaths, unable to harm anyone anymore, i breathe a sigh of relief. but the truth is, i like that they make people uncomfortable.

to me, these pieces of work existing, even though i havent made any of these works myself, are my own revenge. i want people to watch them, and i do get offended when someone finds them morally wrong. in the evilest parts of my soul i want to force people to watch these devastating, "pointless", "shocking-for-shocks-sake" films and feel even a fraction of what i do. for even a moment, feel as helpless, trapped, terrified, hurt, disoriented, enraged, and humiliated as i do. yes, i want people to be shocked. i want them to be shocked because i want them to feel it. i want their hearts and minds, souls and bodies to be as tainted as mine, even if its just a little bit. i want people to be as traumatized as i am.

i understand this isnt rational. for one thing, i am far from the only rape victim in the world. im not even the only childhood rape victim in the world. im not even the only victim of csam/sex trafficking victim in the world. im not the only person whos family had a "weird uncle", that everyone, even his victims, refused to acknowledge what he was. im not the only victim of sexual harassment and stalking. im just one of perhaps millions, a victim of all of those things. there are perhaps thousands of people with a history nearly identical to mine. but i dont care. i want them to hurt too.

art is supposed to make you feel something. its often said that art is a conversation between you and the artist. how do you feel when the artist wants to abuse you? how do you feel when the artist, knowing nothing of your own history, shows you the ugliest, most rancid, most infected parts of themselves, and they ask you to look?

look at me. look at what i am missing. look at how i am mangled. look at how i am ugly. i am not a palatable victim. i wasnt saved from abuse. the fbi never broke in while i was being photographed or molested and saved me from my fate. the worst happened. and it happened again, and again, and again and no one noticed, and no one saved me. i didnt even save myself. i didnt move away from it all, abandon everyone id ever known, and change my identity like i desperately wanted when i was a teenager. im broke, and i still live within a 1 mile radius of where all the worst things in my life happened to me. i live just 2 blocks away from where i was trafficked and used to make csam. i live just 2 houses down from where i was groomed and repeatedly raped by my best friends dad. im not there anymore, in the sense that years have passed, and i am an adult now. but i still live here, still see his house every day, still see the tree in front of the house where i was nearly drowned to keep me quiet and afraid.

yeah, i want the art i make to shock you. i dont think i have anything else to say.