#I love how i just stole his random character from a game and made him posterboy.

[heartfullofleeches]

A gift for you!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, so eerie- and amazing! Thank you for the drawing, and your kind words from your asks. I saw you were talking about making your own blog and I'm so happy for you! I wish you nothing but good luck + lemme know the handle.

[vizjpmdose]

⋆🖇₊ Roblox with Peter Maximoff !!

⭑.ᐟwarnings: none.

𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ a/n: another random idea (It's 1am) cuz i want to play roblox with him, i think it's adorable. ☹🙏

Peter Maximoff x gn!reader.

You wanted to spend more time with your boyfriend in a cute but not boring way. You know Peter loves games so much do you decided to try Roblox with him. It's another activity that both of you can enjoy.

Roblox seemed entertaining for someone like Peter, you recommended it to Peter and you want to try it with him.

You explained how Roblox works, you told him about the different games, how you can make new friends from different countries, and how you can customize your character. All of these information caught his interest, he's always up for great games.

In the signing up process to make an account, he was so excited to make his username as 'Quicksilver'

But..

It almost made him faint!

"How?? Who stole that from me??" He gasped out as he zones out while looking at the screen.

100% disappointed indeed.

You couldn't stop your laughter, you just laughed at him while he's zoning out but you feel so bad for your poor baby.

"Aw, don't worry. Let's see if we can make it as your display name." You replied, trying to cheer him up.

As you successfully helped him create an account, you bought/gave him robux to cheer him up even more.

You both had fun as you helped him design his avatar.

You first introduced him to obby games.

At first, he sucked at it. You guys took minutes to get pass every level because he keeps falling. The problem is either his estimations with his jumps or doesn't know how to control his screen or cursor.

But with the right amount of patience and right practice, he finally got the hang of it.

He also found out how to troll in an obby using the fading stairs. The fading stairs will disappear once you stepped on it. You'd go back down the stairs as another player is trying to go up. You'd jump back to the checkpoint before the stairs disappear and the other player wouldn't make it so they'd fall.

You did it to him and he got frustrated again.

"Y/n! Come on!" He groand as he tried to get up the stairs again.

He was glad that he learned that trick from you tho.. He started to do it to other players a lot.

You told him to try the horror games with you.

The fastest game leaver ever when he gets jumpscared.

You guys tried the two player games and he loved it! It made him laugh a lot.

You guys ended up playing Roblox all day, his favorite games are obby games.

"Thank you babe, can't wait to play with you again." He said as he planted a kiss on your cheek.

[alitheakorogane]

My Genshin Impact SAGAU Masterlist

Made a master list for my SAGAU content so you won't get lost. Will be updated with new content.

Will always be updated as soon as a new SAGAU content comes by!

Reader's Protection Squad Series (SAGAU Imposter AU)

Freedom's Protection (Mondstadt)

STATUS: Still in the works!

The Two Imposters - Our beloved protagonist had finally met the Anemo Archon himself. Is he really one of your allies in surviving in this world where people wanted to kill you for 'stealing' the face of the Divine Creator or is he one of them?

May the Anemo Archon Protect You - You were chased out by your beloved characters from Mondstadt who thought that you were the imposter that 'stole' the face of the person you remembered who never even exist in the game files. Meanwhile, their own disguised Archon had done something stupid that could change everything forever.

A Blasphemy or The Truth? - Venti's outburst shocks everyone, making the people of Mondstadt question everything they knew about their Archon.

Stirring Up a Hurricane - The bomb was finally dropped, leaving nothing but a series of chain reactions spreading around the area... Literally. Venti revealed himself as the Anemo Archon Barbatos to his people as a last resort for defending you, causing the entire nation of Mondstadt to go into chaos.

The Eye of the Anemo Archon's Anguish - Venti had accidentally raised a wind barrier to defend you, your friends, and himself... but it caused some people to suffer the brunt of the Swirl reaction and activated his underlying trauma, causing him to lose control of his emotions and his power. As he was getting close to a nervous breakdown, the people noticed that the skies above the city of Mondstadt are starting to change.

Please Forgive Me - Venti tries to visit you while you're still recovering from your injuries and tries to apologize. At the same time, you found out the truth about the Divine Creator from Venti.

----------

Glitching Impact (Corrupted Game SAGAU)

STATUS: Title is STC, while still plotting ideas for this concept...

The Original Corrupted Game!SAGAU Concept of

Corrupted Game!SAGAU, but loosely based on Wreck-It Ralph...

Plot twist Idea Based on Corrupted Game!SAGAU

---------

Random SAGAU Oneshot Stories

"Who's your favorite Genshin Impact character?"

Just A Normal Genshin Impact Game Time...Is It?

SAGAU featuring the Unusual Hilichurl (Wei)

---------

SAGAU Fanarts

Corrupted Game AU - Venti (Based on Faceless Ayato concept)

------

Random SAGAU Ideas and Thoughts

What if the Seven Gnoses are actually fragments of the Divine Creator's Soul?

What would happen if Venti got the same treatment as the Reader in those angsty SAGAU fics?

SAGAU and Regarding the Artifacts!

Short Villain!SAGAU Dialogue (1)

Short Villain!SAGAU Dialogue (2)

SAGAU (Imposter AU), but you have a snarky personality and a fiery tongue.

My SAGAU Playlist (Imposter AU) - PART ONE

Heights in SAGAU

Wishing for Characters Despite You Haven't Met Them Yet In-Lore

Kaveh: From a Humble Architect to a Man of Destruction? (Based on the now-confirmed recent hack using Kaveh)

Imagine Playable Characters Saying This (Screenshot came from a quest in Genshin Impact 4.8)

--------

Reply to SAGAU-related Asks from Anon

How I Will Portray the Archons In My Twist of the Imposter AU

Venti's Characterization In Reader's Protection Squad

U alive???

A Teaser for The Eye of the Anemo Archon's Anguish

We will give him the best treatment that our beloved Venti deserves.

--------

Random Incorrect Quotes for SAGAU

Among Us

Arrows With Love

Does Barbatos even know the existence of dental hygiene?

Chased Out By Obsessed People

Venti reacting on his SAGAU!Imposter/Cult AU self and his insane actions

Making Fun of Venti's Terrible Aim

Zhongli's Meteors Probably the Cause of the Dinosaurs' Extinction

Memory of Dust

Peace Was Never An Option

A Suggestion: Drinking Contest

[moriartyluver]

HEY HEY HEY!!

i absolutely loved your beauty is terror boo on Wattpad and when I found out I did tumble, I rushed over here to find you.

anyways can we please have general dating hcs for Dazai?? Thank you sm in advance please marry me

A/N: thank you for your request nonnie! Took me a while to do this so I’m sorry

Character(s) :Dazai Osamu x reader

Format: headcannons

Genre: fluff

Prompt: general dating hcs

Warnings: general Dazai behaviour. Might be OOC

• Dazai Osamu was a strange man. Nobody knew what was going on inside that strange head of his. Not even his family or friends.

•I'd imagine you would meet him while attempting to commit suicide, hopefully trying to stop him. He's definitely like you since you had met.

•I think if he truly liked someone romantically, he's definitely be a bit shy about it and although he'd rather be more than friends, he's happy to be there for you.

•once you realised you liked him, you'd probably start realising that he didn't treat you the same way he did other people.

•Dazai would be scared of getting too attached to you. He knows that one day, everyone will leave. Nobody stays forever and he'd rather not witness you leaving him.

•he's already lost odasaku, I think he'd be really upset about possibly losing you too.

•he'd be desperate to impress you though. As soon as you'd walk into the agency's office, hems stop clowning around and show off his deep and amazing concentration skills.

•he'd also magically have money for food whenever you would be hungry with him.

•(he defo stole it from kunikida though.)

•He'd probably have planned out a very nice confession. If you're into mind games, he'd definitely have you go on a scavenger hunt of some sort but that's just what he had planned

•i think that he wouldn't actually do a fancy confession in the moment.

•ANGRYYY CONFESSIOONNNNSSS

•I love angry confessions.

•He'd definitely get upset about you doing something and there would be a small argument between the two of you and then you'd pull the "why do you even care?" Card.

•he'd be a bit surprised you had said that, seeing as you had a pretty good friendship. He'd say exactly that.

“-But you're willing to betray your friends. Why cant you just let me do this one thing-"

"-Because I love you!"

•(squealing)

•he'd go on a rant about how much he wants you with him but he's scared about what could happen to you.

•as much as he is smart, he doesn't expect you to feel the same.

•so when you meet his lips with yours, naturally he's very surprised.

•as for actual dating headcannons-

•wouldn't really flirt with anyone after you got with him. Actually, when he realised he liked you, you noticed that he had slowly stopped flirting with random women and asking for them to join him in a double suicide.

•the Ada isn't surprised. Everyone knew dazai liked you and they were relieved that you finally knew too.

•if you're a calm and responsible person, everyone's glad that dazai has you to keep him in check. I think he'd be more into that kind of person to be honest.

•they'd probably be a bit like "him?! Fr?!" Especially kunikida. Every time dazai does something stupid, kunikida goes to you and is like "how tf do you cope with that man? You need him on a leash"

• if you're a bit more extroverted and chaotic, Dazai wouldn't mind at all. He liked having someone with more energy than him. No matter how you're like, he will love you no matter what. The ADA and everyone else thinks you're a match made in hell.

•I feel like dazai wouldn't move in straight away but he'd have this thing where he'd use every excuse in the book to go to your place and cuddle with you before you fall asleep in his arms, before the two of you eventually decide to move in together.

•and it was unexpectedly expected.

•this man is a HOG. He is the worst roommate eveerrr.

•you'd be tidying up after him so often omg.

•living with him is fun though because he's quite a playful partner to be honest.

•teenage girl type of slumber parties, pillow forts, tickle fights. You name it, he'll do it.

•if you ever share a bed, he'll stretch out so much while you sleep that you tumble out of bed and wake up to hitting the cold ground.

•yet somehow, when you wake up, it's impossible to pull yourself away from his grasp.

•DATE IDEAS

• library dates. Definitely.

•imagine shopping at a supermarket with dazai. It'd honestly be so fun.

•coffee dates.

•he'd sometimes just be like "yo you wanna go out?" And you and him would just walk around Yokohama, exploring for a few hours straight.

•icecream dates. He definitely is a massive icecream fan.

• He's very affectionate in both private and public. The former is a lot more intimate and vulnerable though.

•sometimes dazai would just plop himself down onto your lap while you try working in the office.

•kunikida has tried to pry him away from you multiple times so you don't keep getting distracted by the brunette who would be hugging onto you like a koala and just mumbling on about his day while hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

•he also will hug you when he sees you, no matter where. That's just how he greets you. Also would give you gentlemanly hand kisses and kiss your forehead.

•if he ever gets jealous, he'll probably hug you by the waist and glare at the man or woman who seemed to be looking a bit too long and hard at you.

•he liked kissing you at the most random times just to see your adorable surprised expressions.

•in private, he is alot more affectionate. People like to say he'd be really handsy public and although I don't think he'd be shy to show how much he loves you, he's a gentleman who wouldnt just make out with you in the office of the detective agency in front of everyone

•as I was saying, in private hes a lot more vulnerable when he shows his affection. Whether it's hugging you from behind while you make breakfast or letting you kiss his scars underneath his bandages.

•he loves you alot and if anything ever happened to you, he'd be so mad. He'd get thorough revenge and everything.

•please give this man the love he deserves.  Idc what he does I love him

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

I watched TBOSAS today (Sunday) and I’m sadly not very well (bad cold or flu), but I wanted to try and make a little post to appreciate the film/give my thoughts.

I saw the first three Hunger Games movies on opening weekend during my teens - the only one I didn’t watch at the cinema was Mockingjay Part 2, because it coincided with my GCSE mocks and some other stuff I had going on. I saw the first one twice at the cinema, once on opening weekend with one friend and then a second time with my then-best friend a few weeks later; I saw CF and MJP1 with my younger sister on opening weekend because it’s one of the few series we both love and so it’s one of the few things we can both enjoy together. My point is that I’m a huge THG fan, have been since I read the first book in late 2011 when I was 13 - I even still have my Mockingjay pin that I bought in March 2012 from Waterstones that I still wear!

Anyway, I read TBOSAS during lockdown, my sister bought the book and let me read it after she did, so this has been one of my most anticipated movies of the year!

!Spoilers below!

I was ill when I watched it and I’m even iller now but I’ll try to remember as much as I can

I LOVED IT

I’m glad they made Coriolanus Snow hot because I felt so conflicted watching him and that’s EXACTLY what was needed for the character, he’s got this beautiful exterior but he is POISON inside

Rachel Zegler was AMAZING by the way, I’m not her biggest fan by any means but I say fuck the haters

Hunter Schafer as Tigris was AMAZING casting, she really needs to shine away from Euphoria because damn she was so good in this film

Just in general casting ATE in this movie; Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman etc

Tigris was spot on: “I wouldn’t sing a note for you” and pointing out that Coryo needed to get Lucy Gray’s trust in order to help her win

Arachne Crane deserved death, idc 🤷‍♀️

NO ARACHNE FUNERAL LIKE THE BOOK?!?

The fact that the tributes were just dumped in a zoo and put on display like animals?!? Compared to six and a half decades later where the tributes are glammed up and treated like royalty, even allowed to train before entering the arena??? I love how starkly different it is

I won’t lie, Lucky Flickerman stole the film whenever he was in the scene 😭😅 absolute scene stealer?!?

Lucky trying to cancel his dinner reservations on night 1 of the games because “this is taking longer than I expected” 💀

Also telling one of the mentors not to puke on the floor after their tribute was killed?!?! Iconic really

“Those drones really are not very good” - PLEASE 😭

You can definitely tell Lucky is an ancestor of Caesar lol

The bow and arrow when Coryo enters the arena?!?! 👀🏹

Coryo killing Bobbin was BRUTAL. He could have stopped after the first hit, that was self defence - but he carried on and kept hitting him. It was definitely a huge moment

I obviously knew Wovey wasn’t going to survive, but god DAMN it 😭 DID THEY HAVE TO MAKE HER SO SWEET AND LIKEABLE?!? She just wanted to go home, and those were her last words before she was killed by the snakes 😭

Coryo really cheated just so Lucy Gray could survive, and it still has me questioning whether he cares for her or if it is just to do with the Plinth prize? 🤔

“What are the Hunger Games for, Mister Snow?” And all I can think about was him explaining in the original HG movie why there’s a Victor, why they don’t just kill 24 kids at random:

THE SNAKE SCENE IN THE ARENA WHERE LUCY GRAY SINGS?!? ASDFGHJKL THIS IS CINEMA

The Games felt so much more primal and sad, like you could tell all of them were just trying to survive, even Coral who seemed to target Lucy Gray ruthlessly but then before her death made the comment that it can’t have all been for nothing…

The fact that Gaul didn’t want to call an end to the games even though Lucy Gray was the final survivor, and it was only when the other mentors were chanting to let her out, to call it, that she finally did it…

I nearly lost my shit during the first hanging scene because I suddenly remembered that THIS was what the Hanging Tree song was based on; “they strung up a man they say who murdered three” “dead man called out for his love to flee” etc. And that is EXACTLY what happened, right to a tee: the man protesting his innocence, calling for his love to go…

Listen I may be REALLY off, but the meadow where Coryo and Lucy Gray met up again… is it the same meadow from the final scene in Mockingjay P2 with Everlark and their kids?!?

It probably isn’t but it reminded me of it idk

THE KATNISS PLANT - FORESHADOWING 😭 “it’s not ready yet” “things change fast” ASDFGHJKL

SEJANUS PLINTH YOU HAVE ALWAYS DESERVED BETTER 😭 knew it was coming but I was so sad

The scene where they hang Sejanus was so chilling, because the birds (i think they were Jabberjays and not Mockingjays but I could be wrong?) repeated his blood curdling calls for help as he was hung, like I was so haunted by it afterwards

No wonder Coriolanus Snow hates the fucking birds, Jesus Christ

THE CABIN AND WOODS SCENES?!?

The absolute tonal shift when he finds the guns, when Lucy Gray remarks that she’s the only loose end as if it’s a taunt, a challenge etc.

Coriolanus running through the woods, screaming “AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE FOR YOU?!?” - it just SCREAMS toxic relationship quite frankly, like whether you believe there was any genuine love at all or not, it just screams how toxic the relationship was between them. It was doomed from the start frankly

I was so concerned that the film would make it clear whether or not he killed Lucy Gray, but thankfully they left it ambiguous just like the book. Did one of his bullets hit her? Did she fly free?

It’s so interesting that Lucy Gray and her games were completely and utterly wiped, there was no trace of them - but her songs, her art, survived even after she disappeared. Songs like the Meadow song and the Hanging Tree survived and were passed on through District 12, becoming part of their culture - Snow couldn’t destroy that, no matter how hard he might have tried

Someone on Twitter made this comment and I agree:

Also YES, I noticed that Tigris called him “Coryo” until their last scene together, and then it was “Coriolanus” 😭 and also the fact that she warned him not to turn into his father, his father had hate in his eyes… and then at the end, she sadly tells him “you look like your father, Coriolanus” 😭

The small little hints of the man Coriolanus Snow is in the original series though??? The roses, the Katniss plant Easter egg, etc. And then there’s the fact we see glimpses of what later became his preferred method of killing his enemies - poison. He put poison in the compact and gave it to Lucy Gray, and then he poisoned Casca Highbottom… it’s just so fascinating to think of who this young 18 year old becomes later on, the way he changed over the course of the next 64 years and how those changes came directly from what happened in this story.

Ending the film with Donald Sutherland’s delivery of “It’s the things we love the most that destroy us” from the original movies?!?! FUCK YEAH I WAS THIS CLOSE TO SCREAMING

Honestly it’s got to be VERY hard to play a younger version of a Donald Sutherland character, but especially this one because that man KILLED the part in the films, but I think Tom Blyth did a really good job and I could definitely see hints of the older Snow being included in his performance, like I could genuinely believe it was the same character?

The fact that 64 years later a dark haired girl from District 12 wearing a mockingjay pin and singing songs once sung by a girl he thought dead absolutely fucked his life up?!? We love to see it. It’s like Lucy Gray gave him a middle finger lol

I’ll be honest, as soon as we left the cinema I said to my sister “the only thing is now I want to watch the original four Hunger Games movies” 😭

That’s all I can think of right now because I’m very feverish, I’ve got work in the morning and it was also a long film so there was a LOT going on, but I absolutely LOVED IT. The Hunger Games has truly been the only franchise that has a prequel that has been nearly universally loved and accepted by the fans, Suzanne Collins is truly amazing.

[kiwipineappleparasol]

TTYD Remake — Chapter 3, 4, & 5 Ramblings

I suddenly realized I forgot to post all my rambling here! And then I beat the game haha. But I will post my notes like I did not just Watch the Credits Sequence today . So do not fear! This is only for Chapters 3 4 & 5

I like when they show all the partners out together! Like at the Thousand year door or the blimp cutscene with them all riding together … That one made me unreasonably happy when starting chapter 3 haha.

I was . Literally kicking my feet giggling hysterically when I saw that the photo standee now actually does a little photo op??? I was sooooo happy oh my god . Noone asked for them to make the standee actually interactable to this extent but they did cause they could ! As a kid I would always pretend I was getting photos in it so this literally shot an arrow directly at my Child Self . This game is for meeeeee.

The fact your title screen has your Yoshi color on it! Suuuuuuper neat, I was quite surprised by it -- I just love the title screen in general . How everyone shows up as they join the cast! So fun. Another one of those details just added because they could ! I named my Yoshi Hot Dog by the way . And it was pink! I always wanted the pink one as a kid haha -- but I never got it.

I spent so much time talking to every NPC in chapter 3 it was embarrassing . And I don't think I even saw every piece of NPC dialogue despite my best efforts . Chapter 3 was such fun for me to go through I looooooove Glitzville . One of my favorite chapters for sure

I can appreciate how much foreshadowing there is for everything in this chapter now that I'm older… Bandy Andy and the Seven Wonders are an obvious example -- he directly foreshadows both Grubba's motive and his own demise. NPCs won't stop talking about Prince Mush, especially the juice shop lady -- who is obviously Jolene in disguise… My favorite might be this extremely obscure piece of dialogue if you talk to the freelance cameraman on the second floor, he tells you that Rawk Hawk used to be such a polite guy; he even sent Prince Mush a cake before their match! … Yep. Super Polite Guy! Bet that cake wasn't poisoned.

The way Bandy Andy's disappearance is like. All but unsaid is so cool to me. He just vanishes from the hallway and is silently replaced like nothing happened. But if you talked to him, you'd know exactly what he investigated that caused his disappearance. Loveee chapter 3.

Shellshock eating the cakes will never not be funny to me 🍰 that and him calling Mario "baby" is just inherently amusing to me. Mario is NOT your babygirl.... (End of Chapter 3 Notes)

THEY DID IT THEY CHANGED THE TRANSLATION !!!!! 🏳️‍⚧️ we looooooove you Vivian . I will give her The World . They also changed the translation for Jerry though too! Originally, he said he had to stop Luigi from wearing a dress ever again, but now he says he can't let Luigi fumble around in heels again because he might just kill someone . Jerry Character Development we love to see it .

I love the fact all the NPCs have different little voices it just adds so much … And I still can't get over all their cute little animations.

VIVIAN'S THEME IS SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! I will be listening to this Again . The spooky battle theme rules too . Such great Spooky Atmosphere they set with this chapters music and visuals .

Doopliss rocking in his little rocking chair was an absolute highlight for me . Look at him . I love his room so much . All he does is sit around, watch TV and curse the townspeople all day. He's bored!

the partner hints can be very silly . I really like how because Goombella DITCHED Mario for his poser in Chapter 4 that Vivian becomes the main partner hint girl for a time ! Love extra Vivian content .

I had the W Emblem badge when I got to chapter 4, but I was thinking that it wouldn't affect how Doopliss looked, let alone random NPC dialogue. But color me shocked when Doopliss stole the Wario Color Palette and the townspeople said he wore purple and yellow! This attention to detail is so cool.

The reveal at the end of the chapter ! How the paper ripped away to reveal his true form ! How Mario's shadow state was peeled off like a sticker! Finally a good use of stickers in Paper Mario . (Laughtrack)

My mother wasn't pleased that we had to beat Doopliss up because "look at him he's so cute he didn't do anything wrong." But she did say he should give up Mario's identity because his true form looks much better which is true. (End of Chapter 4 Notes)

Arfur saying he wants to talk to Swindell but he can't find him anywhere … You walk over two feet and see Swindell across the bridge. That got to me LMAO. That and Swindell calling some guy hopping into people's chimneys dashing. Happy Pride!

Mario tipping his hat to pay his respects to Scarlette …

FLAVIOS SINGING VOICE IS SO FUNNY. imagine being on a ship forced to listen to that for days on end.

The sequence of them all going overboard was Awesome love seeing everyone drown . But actually just so many of these cutscenes look so good in this remake !!! It's almost hard to appreciate them all because they set such a standard for them all!

Keyhaul Key looks so good actually. I mean I love all the new graphics in general it just really was hammered in here. Like wow. This game looks awesome. I love the battle theme here too.

Flavio and Pa-patch fighting over who's the Bravest Coolest Guy only for them to both quiver behind Mario is both entirely expected and very amusing. I Enjoy whatever is wrong with them.

(not) LORD CRUMP DOING THE FUCKING 👉👈 POSE??? hilarious. Also him Evilly Apologizing all the time. AND WHEN HE PICKED UP MARIO OVER HIS HEAD. why didn't he just drop him over the bridge and get it over with .

Koops saying "here I was feeling depressed … Mario, whack this guy" after they realized Bobbery wasn't dead . LMAO.

"Um. No. Not fair. I hate you all." Has got to be one of my top ten favorite lines from this game now.

The amount of joy Flavio riding on Yoshi with Mario brings is insane it's so funny to me. Two grown men piggybacking on a child . The only downside to the new pipe system is that you can no longer do the Flavio glitch and keep him forever.

Bobbery's partner hints are so full of personality… Also you can interact with the winch with every character and you bet I did that just to see what everyone said. I like how Koops didn't even know what the sluice gate was called, it feels very in line with him growing up in a peaceful village doing Nothing. Me too buddy.

I Can't Believe It Was Lord Crump This Whole Time! … Is what I would say if he hadn't told us earlier. I mean his disguise was flawless. Can you imagine Lord Crump doing this 👉👈? (Joking Statement)

CORTEZ SHAKING WITH RAGE WAS SOOOO FUNNY . He is SEETHING. also him eating the Skull Gem . Yum yum! I love this whole sequence with him and Flavio so much. His cabin is soooo pretty in the remake. They really went all out with the coins and gems here. I had to take so many screenshots !

THE SHIP FIGHTING SEQUENCE is great . I watched it twice just because I could .

I can't get over this dialogue from Pa-Patch after chapter 5 . The only explanations I can think of is 1: this is somehow offensive in Bom-Omb Culture or 2: he realized this sounded like he was flirting with a widower who just barely stopped blaming himself for his late wife's death. Bad look.

[nyxknocks]

So, Rashomon was not whatever I expected it to be. Though, I don't really know what my expectations were in the first place...

This style of story telling is always fun for me. It's very Clue-esque in the way you get everyone's side of the story and how it always favors themselves to look the best or the one with less blood on their hands. The characters are... interesting. I don't think a single one of them is good, but again that's the whole point, isn't it?

The line about how the demons there fled because of the ferocity of man pretty much tells you what this story is about. Humans at this point are all selfish, acting towards their own gains and for their own wants with little care for others (the assault, for one). Everyone makes a point to center themselves in the tragedy, that while yes this man did die, they are also a victim (and I mean yes she is there is absolutely no doubt of that) of other circumstances.

It feels like a nod to what we discussed about the shifting of blame. They are culpable to some extent to what happens (the assault, a murder, what have you) but it's not their fault, they were forced to. Just like how the government forced their hands during the war. But I hate linking everything around this time period and also from Japan as related to the war, because it feels reductive and small minded. But in the 50s its hard not to think of the impact the war hand, especially since Kurosawa had to deal with everything during the occupation.

Tajomaru had to assault her because she was beautiful, and then in his account he had to fight the samurai, he didn't want to kill him.

In the wife's account, she fainted after the samurai is freed, thus absolving her for whatever befell him, but she made a point to mention that even if she did kill him in her black out state (which she does not admit to) it was because he looked upon her so horribly after the assault. (Very Chicago).

The samurai's account is the most confusing, because it's told through a secondary source and also he is the one who died, so.

The woodcutter lied at the inquest or whatever because he didn't want to admit he saw the whole thing happen. Likely because he didn't want to get caught up in the blame game and also to hide the fact he stole from them. Again, selfish.

The ending can seem hopeful, with the priest saying the woodcutter restored his faith in humanity or whatever, and maybe I'm just jaded but if he lied once he can lie again. How do you know for sure he has 6 kids at home? You have no proof! You just gave this random dude you met in this husk of a building a baby you just found! Obviously it's meant to be taken well, because the literal imagery of the rain and clouds moving/stopping to let the sun in is like a ray of hope being cast on the people/story being shown. A bit of proof that humans aren't all inherently selfish and self-serving. Mildly hopeful, I guess?

I never realized the Rashomon effect was named after this and that's embarrassing. Like I said, it's one of my favorite styles of story telling because you can see things from so many different angles and still end up wondering just who is telling the truth. It really allows you to strap in and focus on the story because you become invested, trying to untie the narratives while also having your own thoughts/opinions reshaping it to fit your own narrative. It's really sneaky how it happens and its satisfying every time, because you never know, not really.

Also. Best part of the movie.

I also like how you can see the slide cut or whatever it was called. So Star Wars. The whole beginning gave me Twilight Zone deja vu. Genuinely love that aspect.

[darling-in-wonderland]

Kill Your Darlings (Redux)

(in collaboration with @twistedchatterbox ‘s event, Spooky Chattering 2023)

AN: If you were one of the five people that read the original Kill Your Darlings, then strap in because this is a reimagining that is way more cracked than it’s archived original counterpart. And if you weren't, well, you're not missing much. This version is leagues above the og and way more fun. Reader is my yuusona, Darling (she/her), who is very in love with Idia (but feel free to live vicariously through her like I do). Other characters in this little (*cough* 7k word) fic include Azul, Ortho, and Grim (with a little bonus scene at the end with Crowley) Vil is mentioned quite a lot, but makes no appearance.

CW: more of a dark comedy than anything, but there are still points of tension, anxiety mention (in response to the tension), feelings of being stalked/hunted, minor injuries/blood, and one (1) fbomb, meaning that it could safely be rated pg-13.

AN2: Also i am super new/unaware of fanfic etiquette so if there's anything i've missed/should label differently/etc, please let me know! now, without further adieu…

It was a day like any other, really. Foggy, but hey, I like overcast weather so I’m not complaining.

“I guess I never realized that the fog here is different from the fog back home,” I muse to Grim while we walk to class.

“Myah? Whaddya mean by that?”

“The fog back home didn’t stick around this much, I don’t think.”

“The fog here isn’t really that sticky, Darling.”

“Whatever you say, Grim.” I give him some pets as we walk. “Also, before I forget, I have Board Game Club after classes today. Remember the plan?”

“How could I forget?” he grins. “You offered me five whole cans of tuna to help you with this scheme!”

After the events of that phantom bride- oh how I hate her still!- I can’t afford myself the luxury of pretending that Idia doesn’t know that I like him anymore. With the lengths (and songs) I went to without hesitation, there’s no way he doesn’t know; but it’s polite to tell him point blank in no uncertain terms. I mean, that’s what you do when you like someone, right?

The plan is that Grim is going to distract Azul somehow to make him late to the club meeting. Hopefully this will mean that Idia and I will be alone, allowing me to tell him how I feel in person without anyone else there to watch.

Before I left the dorm, I made sure to spritz a bit of perfume on me, just something that makes me smell a bit like candy. I’m only thinking of this because I left the bottle on the stairs since I was running late to class, but I’m always running late to these early morning classes. Anyways, I need to remember to put it back in the bathroom when I get home. 

After classes with Grim, we diverge on our separate paths; Grim to distract Azul with some random fetch quest and I to the Board Game Club to confess my love to Idia, though hopefully not in song while holding a heavy flamer this time.

I show up early to the club meeting, jittery and anxious. When I was out there white knighting and wedding crashing, I was so hopped up on anger, adrenaline, and the anxiety that my Sister of Battle armor would run out of battery too soon that I didn’t even notice that I kept singing the lyrics to “A Grave Mistake” wrong. When you meet the girl whose love you stole… Cringe, but I feel more on edge now than then. Why does this of all things make me anxious?

Time refuses to march on to my best nightmare, so I stay frozen in place as I pace the floor.

And then I hear the door creak open, forcefully shaking me from my thoughts and making my heart pound harder. I see the blue flames of his hair before I see him. I sit down and start nervously shuffling a deck of cards to keep from spontaneously combusting.

He eventually notices me and takes off his headphones. He too avoids eye contact. We haven’t spoken much since that phantom bride left. 

“Magic?” I ask him, holding up the cards.

“Uh... sure,” he responds flatly, pulling out a deck of his own.

My brain is on fire, screaming at me to say something. Now is my chance! But I go to speak and find that my lips are welded shut as I draw my hand, only just now realizing that the deck I’m playing is my Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres deck. I feel bad, until I see that he brought his Juri deck and decide that it’s time to destroy him with toxic and proliferate keywords.

He notices my commander and smirks. “Feeling competitive today?”

“I have some things I want to win.”

Our eyes meet briefly and I feel my heart stop. I bury my face in my opening hand, but out of the corner of my eye I see his hair swiftly turning pink.

“Your hair looks purple today,” he stammers out.

“It’s purple everyday.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

The game continues on as normal.

I manage to ask him, “So, what’s your Halloween costume going to be?”

“Haven’t thought much about it yet.”

“Halloween is in four days, Idia,” I remind him. When I say his name, the tips of his hair turn pink. He’s so cute. I still can’t believe he’s single.

“What about you, Darling?”

Hearing him say my name makes my brain short circuit.

“Oh!” I snap out of my daze. “I was thinking Springtrap or Ennard or something like that since the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ movie comes out today.”

“That’s today?” his eyes light up with excitement. Now’s my chance now’s my chance now’s my-

“Yeah,” I smile. “I’ve already made plans to go see it. After this club meeting its gonna be one hour at Pomefiore to cover my arms with nose and scar wax.”

“With Vil?”

“Who else? He’s gonna help with the scars I have to put on the back of my neck.”

“Oh,” he retreats back to his normal energy levels. “That makes sense.”

And there goes my chance.

We finish the game without talking (aside from reading the cards to explain the cards). He won, obviously.

“Get rekt,” he grins. I can feel my cheeks get hot.

“I took a bad opening hand,” I justify my loss to him. I really want him to think I’m good at this game (even though I am painfully mid).

“Yeah, I saw that mana drought.”

“I had Oko, Thief of Crowns, in fairness.”

“Ohhhh,” he remarks sarcastically, “that makes it totally worth it.”

“If it had paid off I would’ve destroyed you,” I threaten him toothlessly.

“Sure you would’ve.” As he fidgets with his life counter, he says, “I, uh... you mentioned that you wish you had more hands to hold things as you cut out patterns the other day.”

“Especially with Halloween coming up,” I lament, realizing too late that he’s probably dropping hints for something. 

He sets the counter down. “Wait here then.”

He glides out of the room as quietly as he entered. I crumple up in my chair. What a wasted opportunity.

When I was younger, I used to spend my free time outside catching butterflies. There was a slight degree of skill that went into it. If you ran up too quickly, the butterfly would get scared and fly away, but if you went too slow, you would lose your surprise and it would fly away then too.

It’s five minutes past. Where is he? My heart is beating out of my chest. What if something happened to him? I should go find him. My anxiety is fueling my paranoia, springboarding me to the worst possible conclusions. Maybe he died, or worse, I already scared him away for good.

It’s been too long. I’ll go find him. I set down my cards and start making my way down to Ignihyde. The halls of the main building are eerily empty. There must be a logical explanation for all of this. I’m bad at time and I haven’t checked my phone in a while, not that it would matter now because I don’t know how long our game of Magic lasted. He’s probably fine. He’s probably fine.

Despite all my logic, I still can’t seem to shake this paranoia. I hear screams of terror wafting down the halls. Film Club must be watching a horror movie for the spooky season. I hope so, at least. Against all good judgment, I push on. I wish literally anyone was here, some big guy who could do the fighting for me if things got tough, like Jade or Floyd. 

Amidst my thoughts, someone grabs my hand and yanks me around a corner.

I shriek and cover my mouth before I realize that it’s just Ortho.

I almost let my body relax, but then I see the fear in his mechanical eyes.

“Ortho?” Panic rises in my voice like bile. “What's wrong?”

“It’s Idia. He’s sick.”

“Oh, is that all it is?” The tension in my shoulders releases, but only a little. “From the sounds of the screams, I thought that gladiatorial games were back in fashion. Where is he? I can help take care of him.”

“Sick isn’t the right word,” his voice is hard and serious as he flits through words in his databank. What has this kid seen?

“What movie is Film Club watching today?” I ask him as some more screams bounce off the walls of main hall.

Ortho looks me dead in the eyes. “Film Club didn’t meet today.”

I hear Idia cackle off in the distance, this time sending chills up my spine rather than releasing butterflies in my stomach.

“Ortho?” I ask, that old fear bubbling up once more.

“Yes, Darling?”

“Do you know what Idia was going to show me?”

“He never told me,” Ortho remarks. “But I did find a word that I think fits better than sick.”

Everything feels prickly and bad. The blood vacates my face as I hear another one of Idia’s cackles in the distance. Of all my worst case scenarios, none were like anything of what Ortho said next.

“Well, what word is it?” I ask him, panic leaching into my voice.

“Possessed. I don’t know what could’ve caused it, but...” His voice trails off, as if he’s having trouble coming up with a proper hypothesis. At least, that’s what I was hoping.

His eyes grow wide, his mechanical whirring hushing. The hand around my wrist clamps harder. The tips of my fingers are starting to turn a bluish purple.

“Ortho?” I whisper. “My wrist-”

I hear the soft tap tap tap of some boots prowling down the adjacent hallway. I can feel the temperature rise with each tap.

“Darling…” I hear Idia’s voice rasp, a mechanical grinding amidst his organic vocals, “I know you’re hiding here…”

My eyes are watering. I can’t turn around. I can’t even blink. My breath catches in my throat. Has he turned the corner? I can’t tell.

By the shadow on Ortho’s face, he must be looming right above me.

Ortho’s tugging on my ever-numbing wrist, a silent plea for me to run, but my body refuses to move from its position. This is my worst nightmare, and I can’t even wake up.

“Seems I’ve found you,” I feel hot breathing on the back of my neck. “And with Ortho, no less.”

I feel his hand land on my shoulder. I can’t even find the voice to scream as Idia’s grip gets tighter on my shoulder.

Ortho yells something I don’t make out and finally yanks me from my spot, flinging me onto his metal back. I cry out in pain as I’m ripped from Idia’s grasp. I feel something cold and metallic and sharp scratch up against my cheek. I hear him howl in frustration as we make our getaway. 

Ortho and I end up hiding out in the empty classroom on the first floor where the Board Game Club meets.

“That’s a lot of blood, Darling,” Ortho remarks.

I reach up and touch my cheek and find that my face is slick with blood. My fingers are covered in the viscous red liquid.

“It’s just a scratch,” I inform him. “It’s not that bad.”

“Are you sure?” Ortho asks me, searching around for something to clean up the blood.

I laugh nervously. “I have more blood than this sitting on my bathroom counter.”

“Isn’t that blood fake, Darling?”

“And peppermint flavored, but that’s besides the point,” I awkwardly wave the question away. “You’re programmed with medical stuffs, right? Do you have a bandaid?” 

“My lab body is back in Ignihyde,” he informs me, “so I don’t have any of my medical supplies.”

“Okay. That’s okay.” I see the Magic cards left abandoned on the table. The panic starts creeping back into my brian. We won’t stay hidden forever. Idia was originally coming back here. “I should’ve told Idia how I felt while I still had the chance.” “What was that, Darling?”

“Nothing, Ortho,” I try to smile. “Nothing.” 

I close my eyes to try and think of a better place to hide, but I keep thinking of what I could’ve said to Idia before he got possessed by... whatever it was that possessed him.

“That’s quite a bit of trouble you’ve got yourself into,” a familiar voice cuts through my thoughts as its owner gently places a bandaid in my hand. “I can help, for a price.”

I open my eyes and see Azul staring back at me. I beam, my eyes starting to well up as he hands me a tissue. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s time for Board Game Club,” he answers, an edge lacing his voice. “Or are you asking about why I was late. I think you know why.”

From the satchel I didn’t notice before now, he holds up a very angry Grim.

“I kept him stalled for as long as I could, myah!” Grim responds, not thrilled about being held by the scruff of his neck.

“Uh, guys?” Ortho asks, but none of us hear him.

“For the band aid stuck to your face and the tissue now covered in your blood,” Azul continues, “all you have to do is tell me why Grim showed up to the Monstro Lounge and started pulling the table cloths off the tables and swinging from the chandeliers once my employees caught on to what was happening.”

“Grim!” I take the mischievous cat weasel thing from Azul to scold him. “I told you to distract him, not trash the Lounge!”

“Guys?” Ortho pipes up, but Azul pays no mind.

The school’s resident mob boss continues, “So, why did you send Grim to trash the Lounge?”

“My plan was to get Idia alone to tell him that I have a crush on him,” I confess to Azul.

“A crush on him?” Azul teases me. “Greaaaat taste there, Darling.”

And then Grim asks me, “Did the plan work?”

I laugh nervously. “Not exactly...”

“Guys!” Ortho yells at us from the open window. “Idia will be here any second! At least according to my tracking.”

“What?” Azul asks, almost offended at the fact that we didn’t tell him something sooner. 

“Idia’s possessed,” I summarize for Ortho.

Grim hops back in Azul’s satchel and asks from there, “Possessed by what? One of the ghosts?”

“We don’t know,” I respond, the panic creeping back into my voice as I remember the problem at hand. 

Ortho pipes up, “Yet!”

I nod hastily, “Yet, yet is good.”

“Guys…” Panic creeps into Azul’s voice like mold. “I don’t think we’re alone anymore.”

That’s when my ear zeros in on the sound of boots on linoleum and something metal scraping against the walls. I didn’t get a good look at whatever he was wearing when I last saw him. Maybe with his new personality he got a new wardrobe, too. I don’t know.

Looks like we’re about to find out as he starts throwing his body against the door Ortho barricaded from the sound of it. The first thud makes me jump, with each subsequent hit causing my adrenaline levels to rise.

“Good time to jump out of the window,” Azul remarks between thuds, “unless we all wanna end up sleeping with the fishes.”

I can’t bring myself to move. The barricades loosen and once again I am frozen. I have to see what he’s wearing. I have to see if anything about his design changed. I have to know what possessed him.

“Henchman!” I hear Grim yell above Ortho and Azul’s pleas, “I command you to follow us.”

The door breaks open.

I catch just enough of a glimpse of Idia, only a mere silhouette surrounded by fiery red with a bloody crimson light from the center of his head piercing through my being; a horrible, horrible glimpse, but enough of a glimpse to will my legs to work again and jump out of the window.

“We should run while we still have something resembling a lead,” I anxiously quip as Azul groans.

“Azul,” Ortho rolls his eyes. “Your only other option is dying.”

Grim pokes his head out. “Can I ride with Ortho?”

“Fine.” Azul hands Ortho the satchel. “It’ll make running easier.”

“Don’t worry,” I clasp a hand on his shoulder, “I know a shortcut.”

We share a smile, but the moment is shattered by a mechanized roar from Idia. “Oh you sussy baka!” Robotic tendrils shoot out from the window, just barely missing us. “Where did you vent off to?!”

I don’t acknowledge what he says, rather grabbing Azul’s hand on instinct as a signal to get him and Ortho to start following me. 

I’m not the best at running, but at least my theatre kid energy makes me better at it than Idia.

“So where are we running to?” Azul wheezes after a few minutes of nothing but woods.

“By the looks of it, Ramshackle,” Grim responds, chilling oh so smugly in his little satchel.

“Narrishackke,” I correct Grim.

“Is now really the time to try and make Narrishackke happen, henchman?”

“It’s not gonna happen,” Azul manages to get out before collapsing against a tree. 

I stop running and ask Ortho, “How far away is Idia?”

He calculates for a second before responding, “Idia will catch up to us in roughly ten minutes.”

“Okay,” I squat down to conserve energy, “so we have some time. We can formulate a proper plan.”

Grim hops out of the satchel and starts pacing. “We have to figure out what’s turned him into such a bloodthirsty monster!”

“Ghosts?” Azul muses.

I shake my head. “Unlikely. He still talks like himself.”

“There were those mechanical tentacles,” Ortho recalls. “And he was wearing some sort of hat.”

Grim rolls his eyes. “So he wanted to be dapper? Big deal!”

I dig deep in my memory for a detail that’s nagging at me. “Ortho, was the hat glowing?”

“There was some sort of red camera lens attached to it,” he replies.

“Like a headlamp?” Azul asks.

“No,” I continue trying to think, “More like-”

I’m cut off by the sound of falling trees and cracking wood.

“I thought you said we had ten minutes!” Azul hisses at Ortho.

Grim climbs back into the satchel and hides.

Ortho looks concerned as he rechecks his math. “I didn’t think he could move that fast.”

“A side effect of this possession?” Azul thinks out loud.

Another roar from Idia shakes the birds from the trees.

“Guys, we’re so dead if we don’t get out of here soon,” I snap them out of their conversation and start running again. Ortho nods and follows close behind me. 

Azul takes too long to get up off the forest floor. At the speed of light one of those tentacles we saw earlier wraps its metallic phalanges around Azul’s wrist. 

“Guys! It’s got me!” he cries, fear lacing his voice like bleach.

I turn to Ortho and tell him, “Take Grim back to Ramshackle. He knows the shortcut.”

“Be careful, Darling!” Ortho chirps before zipping away.

I rush over to Azul who’s still wrestling with the mechanical hand around his arm. 

“You should’ve gotten away while you still had the chance!” he weeps, voice catching in his throat.

“And leave one of my best friends behind?” I remark as I start my attempt to break the tentacle’s grasp. “Fat chance!”

“Do you even have a plan?!”

I continue to stomp on the tentacle, using my foot to create the tension necessary to try and get this thing to snap. “Not at all!”

I survey the scene as it stands. The noises from the forest are getting louder. If I don’t get Azul out of here fast, I can almost guarantee that more tentacles will come for us.

I start trying to pry the fingers of the metal claw off of Azul’s wrist.

“If it breaks, it breaks,” I mutter under my breath.

“I’d rather you didn’t break my wrist,” Azul gripes through the pain. He then takes the cue and helps me pry with his free hand. 

A red glow is coming from the foliage. 

“We’re running out of time!” he cries out. 

“Oh for the love of- Just yank your wrist out!” I scream, my panic getting the better of me.

Azul clenches his teeth and does so. He shrieks in pain as the claws scrape his wrist so hard that royal blue blood starts dotting the ground below. I pull him away from the tentacle and run before it can grab anything else. I lead Azul off the trail, hoping that Idia won’t be able to find us amidst all the trees.

Once the sounds of his jaunt through the woods fade to near inaudibility, I stop running to examine Azul’s injury. His face is pale as tears continue to pour down his cheeks. 

“Good news,” I tell him as I wrap the sleeve of my blazer around the wound, “it looks to only be surface level. Keep some pressure on it and then I can get it bandaged up once we get to Narrishackke.”

“Ramshackle,” he corrects me with a touch of laughter in his tone.

I smile. “I said what I said.”

We move carefully through the woods, only by the Seven’s protection or some unrelated miracle that we make it to Narrishackke before Idia. Ortho and Grim look overjoyed to see us.

“Glad to see my henchman is still in one piece, myah!”

I tell Ortho to take Grim upstairs to keep watch and to bandage up Azul’s wrist.

“But Darling,” Ortho gently takes my cold hand in his, “what will you be doing?”

“Keeping watch downstairs,” I respond solemnly. “We still don’t know exactly what’s caused this.”

“Be careful with him, then,” Ortho cautions me.

I nod and start my vigil. “Nothing would hurt me more than making him suffer.”

Ortho takes Grim and Azul upstairs and I double check all of the downstairs locks. The ghosts seem to be keeping their distance today. I guess whatever this is is too much for even them. I could use their comfort now though.

Why is it that the one day I want something to go right everything goes catastrophically wrong? I can’t even cry properly right now, lest I drain what little moral is upstairs with the sounds of my sobs.

What if we can’t fix him? What if all of this is permanent? What if I can’t put him back together? After all the phantom bride stuff, things were starting to look up. I should’ve just left when he did to start getting ready to go to the movie. I have two tickets. I could’ve invited Vil.

Through my sobs, I start to sing quietly in a futile attempt to ground myself or summon the ghosts to my side, or even just to right this upside down world.

“Is it a crime to kill,” the melody of the song passing through my halfhearted sobs in a heart wrenching staccato. “if we’re only sinking deeper and love can’t stop the fever?”

A knock on the door startles me from my thoughts. I frantically look for something sharp and pointy.

“You open that door and I’ll kill you!” I threaten the person on the other end. I don’t care if it’s Crowley himself, I'll stab if he opens the door.

All I find is a pencil. I’m doomed.

“I finally leave my room,” my best nightmare’s voice scrapes against my ears, “and this is how you react? RUDE.”

He slams the door open, confirming my worst fears.

“Darling!” I hear Ortho call from upstairs. “What’s wrong?”

I can’t even open my mouth to scream as I stand in the shadow of the Prefect of the Underworld standing in my doorway, his halo of fiery red hair devilishly backlighting his face, making him look like a fallen angel. I just start crying again as I shakily hold my pencil out in front of me.

I don’t want to hurt him. He’s not himself. But he’ll hurt me if I don’t do something. But I don’t want to hurt him.

He slowly walks towards me, his boots making a heavy thud with each footfall. I slowly back up towards the stairs. My hands tremble, still holding the pencil pathetically between him and I.

“It’s game over for you, Darling,” he bares his fangs in a twisted grin.

In this moment I understand why moths fly towards candles and burn up in their fiery light, for I too am now a moth staring down a candle, every part of my mothy being crying out to be enveloped by the warm, inviting light. Oh how I’d love to grant my cells their wish and let them collapse in the melted candle wax; but, unlike a moth, I have a job to do. I can’t give up now!

The lens attached to his bowler hat glows brighter, as if a light could be filled with rage. If I try to run now, he’ll just grab me and rip my throat out with his teeth.

“I thought you felt differently about me, Darling,” he continues, “but my eyes have been opened. There’s only one thing that could love me as much as you claim to.”

He continues to advance on me, pushing me up the stairs with his presence.

“Are you going to hurt me?” I ask out of the blue, as if I’ve seen this scene before.

I see a pink plastic cylinder on one of the steps through my tears. A candy scented body spray, within arms reach.

“Oh, I’m not going to hurt you, Darling,” the robotic sheen on his voice makes him sound like a vocaloid. 

I never moved that bottle of perfume back up to the bathroom, and I’d say my life is at least worth the seventeen thaurmarks the bottle cost.

Idia continues, “I’m just going to bash YOUR FUCKING BRAINS IN!”

He lunges at me, but that Shining reference telegraphed his moves so much even I was able to dodge him and  spray what feels like half the bottle of body spray in his face, causing him to recoil and retch. I pump a few more sprays for good measure and bolt upstairs to Ortho, Grim, and Azul.

“I’ve got more info!” I inform them as I lock the door and wedge a chair under the knob.

I was in the middle of redecorating my guest room, which means furniture is rather scarce. Aside from the chair I just wedged under the door knob, the only place to sit is the floor. Thankfully, there’s still places to hide. 

“Well, spit it out!” Grim commands.

“It’s gotta be the hat! Think about it,” I postulate, “first, he tells me he’s got something for me. Ortho, when you found me in the hallway, was Idia wearing a bowler hat?”

Ortho thinks for a second before his eyes widen and his apertures dilate. “Yes, he was!”

“And then something scratched my face as we fled,” I continue. “After that, we started seeing the tentacles.”

“The same ones that scratched up my arm!” Azul exclaims.

“But how is this proof that the hat possessed him and not something else?” Grim asks.

I take time to remember Idia’s exact wording, but Idia beats me to the punch, yelling from down the hall, “Fine! I never needed you, Darling! I’ll just keep this gift for myself!”

“Yeah, that works as evidence,” I remark as he cackles.

“So we have to rip that hat off,” Ortho states. “At least to prove or disprove our hypothesis.”

“I have a plan to get that hat off his head,” Azul announces. “Darling, you’re going to hide and get the jump on him. Us three will distract him so that you can knock his hat off.”

“Any idea what I can knock it off with without braining him?”

Just then, there’s a loud thud against the door.

“No time,” Azul responds. “You’re smart. You’ll think of something.”

I nod and move the chair back to where I decide to hide just as Idia kicks the door off its hinges.

He starts to growl, “There you are, Azul! And Ortho, too. How wonderful.”

“H-hi, Idia,” Azul stutters, eyes wide.

“You don’t appear to be at the club meeting today,” Idia rasps menacingly. “That’s not very poggers of you.”

“I had some,” he shoots a glare at Grim, “things to deal with at the Lounge.” 

“A shame, really,” he sighs maliciously, “because based on that look you gave Darling earlier, I would’ve assumed that you would’ve wanted to hang out with her.”

“What are you going on about?” Azul asks, genuinely confused.

“Don’t play dumb!” Idia shrieks, moving closer to him, and therefore me. “I saw the way she looked at you through Doris. I know what I saw!”

Grim pokes his head out from behind Azul. “Myah? Who’s Doris?”

He grins and gestures to the bowler hat enveloping his face. “She’s Doris. I found her in some storage room around campus. She promised she would help me and she opened my eyes.”

Just walk a little bit closer. Just walk a little bit closer and I can knock that evil thing off of your head.

And then Ortho asks him, “But what does this have to do with Darling?”

Idia whips his head around and focuses on Ortho with laser-like intensity. 

“Darling,” Idia runs over each syllable in his mouth like a flavorless wad of gum, “is a tease. She may act like she likes me, but Doris and I know better. There’s any number of guys she likes more than me. Like Vil,” he turns his attention back towards Azul, “or you.”

Azul sighs, “I’ll have to pay her back for this, but I have photographic evidence that Darling likes you.”

Idia scoffs, “Like I would believe you over Doris! Get pwned!”

I tighten my grip on the chair I’m hiding behind to keep from screaming. You’ll have to pay me back in a lot more than Monstro Lounge drinks if you leak those DM’s, Azul!

At this point, Idia is looming above the still seated Azul. Once Idia’s distracted again, I’ll strike. Now is not the time to miss my chance overthinking everything. 

Azul grins mischievously. I’m almost more terrified of whatever he’ll say next than this “Doris.”

“Okay, so what if Darling likes me then?” Azul asks. “Are you just that terrified of me liking her back? Of the possibility of me treating her better than a loser like you ever could? I mean, if Vil couldn’t keep her happy, then what chance do you have?”

He’s a good liar, I’ll give Azul that. I know he’s lying and I’m still a little pissed. 

Of course, Idia doesn’t take any of this well, letting out a mechanized screech as he lunges towards Azul. 

“Well, Azul!” A new rage alight in the red lens on the hat, “looks like it’s time for you to show the audience your flashback sequence!”

Now! Now’s my chance!

Time feels like a thick jelly as I spring up from behind the chair to knock that hat off of Idia’s head. The sound grabs his attention as he turns to me.

“Found you,” he growls, a devilish smile painted across his face.

Using nothing but momentum and lucky timing, I manage to tackle the unsuspecting gamer and rip the hat off of his head. Before we hit the ground, I fling it into the wall. I can hear it spark and sputter in the background. 

I gently brush his now blue hair out of his face. The tension in his face melts away when he’s asleep. Based on what Ortho’s told me before, this is a rare site to see. His face is so damp. It looks like he’s been crying for an hour or so. Poor guy... 

Ortho taps my shoulder. “Darling?”

“Yeah?” I respond, continuing to brush Idia’s pretty blue fire hair out of his face, gently cupping his face in my hand, running my thumb over his cheek. He’s so... beautiful.

“I need you to get off of him so that I can perform a medical examination,” Ortho continues. “Just to make sure that the hat was indeed the culprit.”

“Oh, right,” I snap back to reality and get up to sit by Grim and Azul.

I don’t talk much. Azul walks me through the recent changes he made to his Urza deck, but it all goes over my head. I hold Grim in my lap and give him pets. I can’t seem to find where I threw that bowler hat.

Idia eventually comes to, given a clean enough bill of health by Ortho. Azul immediately rushes to Idia’s side to apologize for baiting him by calling him a loser earlier, while also telling Idia that he will not be giving him any emotional compensation for it.

I see the way Idia looks at Azul, and I can only wonder if a quiet guy like him could ever want to be with a high octane girl like me. He smiles, and laughs, and takes Azul’s hand. I must just scare Idia. He’s never that calm with me.

It all comes back to butterflies. My heart feels like a butterfly crushed underneath a hunter’s boot.

“You alright, henchman?” Grim asks me.

“I will be,” I respond, dejected.

I get up to go get Idia a glass of water. Seven knows he needs it.

I grab a glass from the cupboard and fill it up with tap water from one of the good sinks in the dorm. I should get him a snack, too. So, I set the glass of water down on the counter and rummage around for a bag of chips or something.

I feel a low rumble, like a car driving by, only shorter. Not to mention cars don’t drive out this way. My heartbeat picks up the pace. I drop what I’m holding and look at the glass of water on the counter. There are faint ripples on what should be a still surface. There’s no way... 

As the rumbles become more pronounced, the ripples do too. I start to pray that I’m wrong and that this sound of thunder is only attached to a storm, but there’s no way. There’s no way!

I race back upstairs to the others and blurt out, “There’s a t-rex coming.”

“What are you talking about, Darling?” Azul pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Do you not feel the rumbling?”

“It’s probably just a storm,” he continues.

Ortho pipes up, “According to the local weather report, it’s clear skies for the rest of the day.”

“Well,” Azul tries to save face, “there’s got to be a logical explanation for this that isn’t t-rex.”

And then a mechanized roar like something out of Transformers rocks the dorm. I look out the window.

And I see it. I see the terrible lizard king himself. I see the beast trampling through my forest. And I see it heading straight for us.

“Dammit, Doris,” I hear Idia mumble. “I just needed you to hold sewing patterns in place, not this!”

“Doris?” Grim asks, “What does that cursed hat have to do with this t-rex?”

“She told me that she had a plan if things went wrong,” he continues. “And I guess getting slammed up against a wall counts. I have no idea how she could’ve gotten a t-rex but it doesn’t surprise me that she did. I should’ve known that hat was sus.”

“You didn’t build it?” I ask him.

“I found her in one of the storage rooms. She was broken, and soaking wet, so I fixed her up.”

The t-rex has gotten closer and at this point I can now see the tiny little bowler hat on its massive reptilian head.

It roars again; an earth shattering, mechanical scream as it starts to bull rush the dorm.

I sprint across the hall, too panicked to tell the others to do the same. Thankfully, they all had the same idea I did.

From across the hall, we watch the t-rex smash a hole in the side of my guest room. Note to self: twist Crowley’s arm to make sure he repairs that.

The boys ready themselves to fight this fierce beast. As always, it’s my job to keep them on track.

Grim looks up at me, crackling with excitement. “What’s the plan, henchman?”

“Try not to kill it,” I say, “but if you must, make it instant!”

They ready their pens and start slinging as many spells necessary to take the beast down. 

I was doing my part by singing “Walk the Dinosaur,” since it’s the only dinosaur song I can think of, not to mention a bop.

It was a ferocious battle, with Idia’s defense being the only thing between them and a fate similar to that of the lawyer from Jurassic Park. Azul manages to sharpshoot the bowler hat dead in its lens with a jet of water so pressurized you could powerwash the grime off of Narrishackke with it. The thing eventually roars its last as it is soon felled by my team; falling to the earth with a thunderous crash. We go out to investigate, but the hat is nowhere to be found. 

I examine what I thought was a corpse of a t-rex, only to find that it’s somehow only been knocked unconscious.

Azul sees the gleam and my eyes and asks me, “Do you want me to shrink the t-rex down for you so that you can keep it as a pet?”

I nod rapidly. “I’m gonna name him Nathaniel.”

“Of course you are,” Azul sighs. “This won’t be cheap, you know.”

“I figured,” I say as I text him an IOU. “Next time I have my wallet, come talk to me.”

He nods and starts getting to work. Grim and Ortho wander off to continue looking for the hat, but I have something more important to do.

“So... Idia,” I slide up next to him, wringing my hands anxiously, “ I know you said earlier that-”

“When I had the hat on?” he cuts me off, voice pinched. “Darling, whatever I said about you when I was possessed by Doris, just, pretend I never did.”

Now’s my chance now’s my chance now’s my-

“Then, would you like to come see the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ movie with me?” I ask him. “I originally bought two tickets, and you’re the only person I know that cares about this series as much as me.”

His hair turns bright pink tip to root. I can practically see the 404 error screen plastered on the walls of his mind right now. 

“I wouldn’t want to intrude!” he finally exclaims. “You probably bought that ticket for someone else!”

“I did,” I confess. “For Grim. Because I was going to drag him along if you said no.”

“But you said you were going to get all dressed up for this.”

“Plans can change, and if we leave now we’ll arrive just in time.” I smile, extending my hand for him to take. “And I’d rather have you there than some nose and scar wax.”

He grins; nervously, excitedly, dreamily. He smells like candy. He gently takes my hand, as if I’m a Warhammer model he’s afraid of breaking or an unsleeved Black Lotus card. His hand is so soft, and warm, and wonderful. I’m holding his hand! I could cry if I wasn’t already so giddy.

I see a moth flying away in the distance towards some unknown light. I smile. The dust from the t-rex is still settling, making everything look hazy and dreamlike. And yet, I’m so lucky. Eat your heart out, Eliza! Eat your heart out, Doris! Eat your paradoxical heart out, Eckles!

The next day, Azul and I meet up to talk to Crowley about what is to be done about Narrishackke.

“Oh! So that’s what happened yesterday afternoon,” Crowley laments. “Has the press caught wind of this?”

“Not yet,” I respond, still worn out after the events of yesterday.

“We’ll leak it if you don’t answer some questions first,” Azul applies some pressure.

“Ortho did record everything,” I state.

“Fine, fine,” Crowley reclines in his office seat. “What is it you would like to ask?”

“First, where the hell were you?” I ask, doing my best to censor my language.

“Oh, well I was in my office. I initiated lockdown mode when it notified me that there was a prehistoric creature roaming the woods.” He smiles. I can feel my blood pressure spiking.

“How nice for you,” I respond, pissed.

“Next question,” Azul takes the floor. “What was that hat Idia found?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know,” he sighs. “I would check the library or ask one of the ghosts if you really care.”

“Okay, final question,” I ready my statement, “what are you going to do about the damage Nathaniel caused to House Narrishackke?”

“Narrishackke?”

“She means the ramshackle dorm building she and Grim are living in,” Azul pipes up. 

“And I named the t-rex Nathaniel,” I state proudly. 

“I’ll just give you a blank check,” he says quickly, exasperated. “Aren’t I just so generous?”

I take the blank check from him, “Yeah, generous works.”

After we leave the office, Azul asks me, “So what else are you gonna charge Crowley’s card with?”

“Whatever it takes to deck out a room for Nathanial,” I beam. “And an Emrakul, the Promised End.”

“Why?” he asks me, baffled. 

I smirk. “I still have to beat Idia in a game of Magic.”

[randomrabbidramblings]

Random's "The Super Mario Bros Movie" Review

My quick toughts on the fly weren't enough so his is a longer, more "serious" review.

Obviously, SPOILERS!

So let's start with the negatives since there are so few of them.

The pacing feels kind of rushed, sometimes we jump from scene to scene too quickly and the interactions between the characters are also a bit too fast (like Mario and Donkey Kong becoming friends so quickly in a "I saved you, you saved me" kind of thing). As a lot of people said: the movie really needed an extra 15 minutes.

Some of the characters are very plain, especially Toad. He is very underdeveloped compared to the others and only serves as the funny side character. There's no explanation about who he is or why he behaves that way (Nintendo fans will correctly guess he's Captain Toad, but an outside viewer might not get it). This doesn't mean I didn't like him, his comedic timing was good and never annoying and he never tried to steal the scene for a gag. Luigi comes close to having little characterization, but it's mostly because he didn't have a lot of screen time. We do get to see his relationship with his family and Mario, we get his personality quite well and he gets to be a hero by helping Mario at the end.

End of negatives. Yes just that, lol. Now the positives!

The plot. Even if very simple, it just works. It's a movie about the beginning of the Mario Bros adventures, they couldn't tell a completely different story without twisting everything. Plus it's a movie made by Illumination and we know their main target audience are kids and so they mostly focus on simpler plots and not very deep stories (unlike Dreamworks or Pixar for example). And since it's a movie about a 40 year old chracter, the movie has to appeal to more aged viewers as well. Everyone knows Mario games aren't so deep with lore (not counting the various RPGs and spinoffs, I'm only talking about the mainline games!).

The atmosphere is perfect. "Normal looking" (but never plain) in Brooklyn and "super bizarre" in the Mushroom Kingdom. There are a lot of things taken from the games, but even if they are never explained they don't feel out of place because the universe is so odd and everything feels so unnatural they make sense for themselves, even for someone not used to Mario things. The floating blocks? By themselves they would look out of place, but with everything going on, the question isn't "Why is that block floating?", but "Why wouldn't that block float?". And this goes for every "strange" thing we see.

The characters are well distinguished even if in a simple way. Mario and Luigi are the ones with the deepest characterization with their wholesome relationship and family problems. Peach is simpler, but it's ok it's that way because we don't know anything about her past, just that she came from the same place as the Bros and the Toads took her as their Princess. Bowser is quite funny: he's presented as a ruthless tyrant, but in his speech to his troops we learn that he stole the power star and they're heading to the Mushroom Kingdom because he wants to marry Peach. Even his own army can't believe it! The viewers go "What??" the same way as they do! Donkey and Cranky Kong have a simple but effective relationship as well with Cranky being embarassed by his boisterous vain son who's supposed to be the prince, but instead he just likes to show off.

References. As much as I don't like too many refences to things in movies here they work! If they aren't relevant to the plot, like the powerup blocks and Rainbow Road, they act as very good background props and they are never constantly shoved in your face. A lot of them are even very well hidden, so the movie is worth a rewatch to catch all of them.

And now some things I enjoyed!

The mario Bros sitting at the table with their family. I love how they made them so different, yet so similar. Dad being voiced by Charles Martinet is poetic.

The Blue Spiny Shell scene in general. I knew it was gonna happen, but still surprised me.

The Donkey Kong vs Mario scene was one of my favourite scenes. Animation, pacing and dialogue was perfect there!

Bowser and Kamek piano duet. "Jam with me." *underground theme* *coin sound*. It was so unexpected, lol. Also Bowser's practice wedding with Kamek. Basically all scenes with both of them.

Mario's training course was also one of my favourite scenes. Peach stuffing the mushroom in his mouth was funny. Mario throwing up in between shots of the montage was even funnier. Mario and Peach little talk after it was sweet too.

Luigi in the Dark World. Everything about this scene. The Luigi's Mansion references, the Dry Bones behaving like stock movie zombies and the surprise Shy Guys at the end. Not gonna lie, I was expecting some Boos too in the Fortress.

Bowser's ehm... passionate singing lol.

Totally unexpected, I called the swearing. But not in the Mario Kart part where I expected it. And just in the Italian dub, I suppose as I really haven't seen it mentioned for any other languages. Mario and Luigi swear once each (or Luigi swears twice, I can't remember now) with a nice placed "Are you fucking with me?". Yes the Mario Bros officialy said "fuck". Twice.

Lumalee. Dark humor at its finest. The funny thing is that he could easily fit trough the cages' bars, but he just didn't want to, lol.

And finally a couple of missed opportunities (in my opinion).

The 1-up mushrom. Maybe they could have made Mario eat one someway and then let Bowser defeat him in the final battle. Everyone is grieving the poor plumber, Bowser is gloating in his victory, but Mario comes back to life thanks to the 1-up he ate before. Too much for Illumination?

I still haven't understood why they replaced Toadsworth with a generic Toad. He could have explained something on why Peach became the Princess.

After this review, I think I'm gonna change my previous 8/10 with a 9/10 (because this time I took in account the Nintendo fan in me, lol).

[mycomicbox]

Random Thoughts on Persona 4 Golden - Part 2

(for context, I'm up to 11/13 and I just rescued [SPOILER])

<<< Part 1

I like how there are a lot of moments where the Investigation Team hangs out together outside of the context of the main story, like the fireworks scene and the concert performance. It really makes them feel like true friends.

Not my favorite fishing minigame in the world, but it's serviceable.

You ever drink coffee so good it knocks you the fuck out?

The Death Social Link may be in my personal running for one of the best Social Links that isn't a party member or side character.

I was honestly kinda blindsided by Mr. Morooka's murder.

They did it. They made a character who's both a bear and a twink.

Mitsuo's dungeon and boss fight were cool as fuck, especially with the 8-bit remix of I'll Face Myself. I'm a sucker for that retro aesthetic.

Since I played Persona 3 Portable immediately before this game, I loved the Tatsumi Port Island field trip. It was really nice to see something familiar. Chihiro shows up and briefly mentions Mitsuru, Club Escapade plays the opening song for Persona 3 FES, and the gang even stays in the hotel where SEES fought one of the boss Shadows. Wonderful.

Speaking of Club Escapade, how did Rise and Yukiko get drunk again? Naoto mentions that the drinks were non-alcoholic, so were they just acting drunk?

...They did Naoto so dirty. That part where she said that she "shouldn't strive to live as a man" gave me the ick. Her dungeon literally has a Transition Surgery Machine, and she continuously wishes that she was born a guy. Like I said in my last post, the story feels like if a queerphobe and a queer person were fighting over who got to write it. It would've been nice if Naoto's arc revolved around accepting that she was transmasc, or better yet, rejecting the concept of gender entirely.

Speaking of Naoto, she's honestly kinda OP. I heard that she was buffed from the original Persona 4.

The Cultural Festival was... holy shit, where do I begin. The whole beauty pageant segment was incredibly awkward (except for the bit where Teddie stole the show, that was pretty based of him), and the hot springs scene was even worse than the one in Persona 3. And don't even get me started on the scene immediately after.

The scene on the night of 11/1 was awesome. The suspense of Nanako's kidnapping was elevated by how likable she is, especially if you finished her Social Link beforehand (which I did). I was also wondering when Dojima would find out about the protagonist's involvement.

It's probably been said many times before, but WE WERE FUCKING ROBBED. As I found out, there were unused voice lines for Yosuke (in both Japanese and English) which imply that he was going to be a romance option, but it was cut in late development. Not only would it have been nice to have an actual bromance in a Persona game, this would've been a great character moment for Yosuke; it would've recontextualized his homophobic remarks as the result of denying his own feelings, fitting perfectly with the game's intended themes.

(Also, happy launch day to Persona 3 Reload. This is a Persona 4 post, but it feels weird not to acknowledge it.)

[lenorethequietbookkeeper]

(Screencapping the og post cause it's pretty long)

Ok so this is something I've wanted to do with my own old fucks, but I didn't know exactly how I wanted of go about doing it!!! Until my mate @prettyputrified sent in the ask that gave me an idea; polyvores!! So anyway, I made some more "What's in [x character]'s bag" type posts as a response to this!

(Shout-out to @/cuuno for the og concept btw! Png credit will be in reblogs)

(Read tws in tags before proceeding)

-----

Sylvain's Bag

Work Bag: The plain black bag Sylvain takes with him when he goes on jobs. It contains only what he needs, which are usually no more than his weapon of choice and his collection of burner phones. Oh, and a pack of cigarettes. Murder is pretty stressful after all.

Casual Bag: Sylvain's own personal purse and wallet. Despite his rough and violent demeanor, he loves self expression and indulging in the emo/pastel goth aesthetic.

- Pocket 1: Self defense pocket. The streets of Pythonel are a dangerous place, so Sylvain makes sure not to leave the house without a gun and/or knife. The weed is purely for sale by the way, not edglord enough I guess.

- Pocket 2: Self care pocket. Contains his own personal phone, which he decorates in cool stickers he finds while out and about. Also makeup and protection, in case he wants to doll up for someone he fancies.

-----

Aldin's Bag

Shopping Bag: Aldin just uses the same plastic shopping bag he got ten years ago to carry everything. Usually has empty cans and drug garbage in there with everything else. Phone is busted to hell, but you know Aldin's broke ass can't replace it. Get your shit together man what is this???

-----

Jeagar's Bag

Bag: Ann made it (and basically all his clothes) for him. She tries to include stuff she knows Jeagar likes on it. He never says it aloud, but his old ass appreciates it. Always has bugs inside it that he finds in dire circumstances.

- Pocket 1: Used to store weapons and cigarettes. Usually alternates between his collection of fancy weaponry when he goes out. Matchboxes are from Ann's thrift shopping. Never buys any of his cigarettes, instead he digs up used ones from the dump.

- Pocket 2: Leisure pocket. Contains whatever books he's reading at the moment. Carries around his favorite songs on cassette tapes because the radio people have bad taste. Phone is an old ass brick phone he's had for the last 20 years. How does that thing still work??

- Pocket 3: Emergency pocket. Always has at least one Molotov cocktail in his bag. Just in case.

-----

John's Bag

Backpack: Simple brown backpack John brings when he goes on trips. Has his keys and pins that he finds funny. Tomagachi is a gift from Ferris for when he's stressed out.

- Front Pocket: Sketch pocket. Has all his little sketchbooks and pencils for when he's bored. Also draws on pieces of loose paper like receipts and used envelopes.

- Inside (smaller part): Comfort pocket. Has porn and alcohol in it all the time, always. Keeps more hardcore drugs in a vintage tin case. Please don't ask about the wedding ring.

- Inside (larger part): All the random shit he's stolen. Purely does it to satiate his "tendencies", as he calls it. Usually takes valuables or vintage items, but will nab literally anything if need be.

-----

Charles' Bag

Backpack: Old backpack Charles covered in cool stickers and patches. Loves creepy stuff and clutter, which shows in how he decorates most of his belongings. Negative space who?

- Front Pocket: Fun shit pocket. Ready access to drugs, money, music, and most importantly, video games. Phone is some dinky bullshit covered in stickers. Actually has to replace it semi-regularly due to being a temperamental little bitch that destroys shit.

- Main Pocket: "Important" storage pocket. Where he puts his bong when he goes out to a buddy's. Pretty much always has a shitload of random snacks. Always contains at least two guns no matter what.

-----

Ferris' Bag

Handbag: Bag Ferris stole from a thrift store and covered in patches and pins. Decorates the same way Charles does, but has more vintage and kidcore-esc tastes. Oh and also sexy ladies.

- Pocket 1: Storage pocket. Always has drugs on him, either to sell or use. Keeps his wallet in there for business purposes. Mainly has weed, but will also carry other stuff too.

- Pocket 2: Fun pocket. Books and video games for when he's bored. A rough draft of whatever gross fic he's working on in case inspiration strikes him. Weapons used to make potential inspo. A camera to capture said inspo. Phone is nothing special, just a sticker-covered little flip phone he actually takes decent care of.

- Lunchbox: Usually carries this along with his bag. Keeps the bigger snacks and drinks he can't stick in his bag. Organization is important after all!

-----

Daniel's Bag

Handbag: Alternates between one of his many vintage-looking, designer handbags. Loves excessive gold and jewels in his accessories. Minimalism is so overrated. Daniel's cutesy pink and white flip phone is hardly anything special on the surface. Gets a bit strange when you realize it's the only bit of modern tech in Goldberg. Weird...

- Help Pocket: :)

[supercupcakecollector-love]

Changes/ things in season 3 that I disliked 

the positive season 3 post I made  if you would like to read that as well or instead I will be adding both to that post and this one when part 2 comes out  

no im not going to talk about the goddamn costumes, everybody has, I agree and im sick of seeing it  they look cheap and  bad, they need more color they need to look somewhat period appropriate, moving on 

We got alot of amazing bonding moments with Ciri and Yennefer but I wish they would have kept the scene where she saved Ciri from the Wild Hunt.  We already got lots of Geralt Ciri bonding moments, we needed as much stuff with Yen being Ciri`s mother as we could possibly get and that was one of the best scenes, 

(side note of the stuff we did get while I appreciated and “ my ugly one” scene it felt very random and out of place  especially with how dolled up they made Freya look, she didnt need to have any makeup on I would have liked to see her more tomboyish look from the books)

TWN usually knocks casting out of the park but Robbie Amell  as Gallatin felt so out of place with his acting and trying to hide his accent, and much like the problem with blood origin looks nothing like the other elves and his scar is barley noticeable 

I knew he was going to die from when I heard they were going to use an original character instead of  Isengrim or   Iorweth they really did learn from the  Eskel incident. while I didn't like his character his death leads to some amazing character stuff with  Cahir, grappling with his sense of self and loyalty to Emhyr  since they need to have another reason why he changes sides later because of the age gap between him an Ciri in this version

Dijkstra here just doesn't feel like Dijkstra  

normally I don't really care if a character doesn't look  exactly like their book counterpart, but    Dijkstra being a huge imposing pigish man is part of his character,   Graham McTavish isn't doing a bad job, there are a few good scenes and he has good chemistry with Cassie`s Philippa but he just doesn't have the right sarcasm,  snark and attitude for the character, even their dynamic is off they’re equally stubborn, arrogant, conniving, and equally think they’re the one dominating the other , book and game  Dijkstra stole every scene he was in and was one of my favorite characters this version is mostly boring 

( sidenote but I didnt mind the whipping scene it was clearly not meant to be sexual or that they are in a sexual bdsm  relationship but that Dijkstra is a   Flagellant and that its a stress coping mechanism they engage in as they must trust each other in the underground world)

Tissaia and  Vilgefortz being lovers and  Tissaia`s seemingly ooc behavior

now to be fair with the intrigue aspect of this season I think they might do a bait and switch with this either  Tissaia Is acting this way to lead him on and try to stop him, or  Vilgefortz has control over Tissaia in some way ( he is arguabley the most powerful mage in the world even if she also is)  

either that or they put them together so it makes more sense for her to side with him/ Nilfgaardian since they established her as much more an active in this version and not just someone wanting to remain “neutral” like in the books

I just hope that her “ending” has as much impact as it should considering what an important character they made her 

Episode 5 is a mixed bag

while there were definitely things that I loved about this episode like the tender  yenralt moments and the use of dialog from the book, as well as the concept of the framing device from the book, but it got way too repetitive in parts, the Valdo song was fun but it overstays its welcome 

this episode reminds me of the Leverage episode  “ The Rashomon Job“ while that episode changed things things up every time it went back and told the story from another characters point of view this one doesn't do anything all that creative with it, and your stuck watching a bit of the same exact  scenes over and over again with slightly more information 

I imagine this episode will work better when the full season out and we see what its all building up to 

and I said I wouldn't  mention the costumes but, the ball was the one time the consumes had to be really stunning, where is all the color, its so dull looking, why do they look like they are doing a red carpet event in the 90s 

and I didn't  think it was possible to make Anya look anything less than stunning but this is by far Yennefer’s worst look, it bothered me more than any other visual in the season, nothing works about it, shes supposed to be in a gown with her hair down but she look like a cross between a taky 70s Cher impersonator and a low budget bollywood star 

( can some one please draw the TWN actresses in what they are described as wearing in the book like Keira in the green tulle top, Sabrina in the black chiffon blouse and a crimson skirt or Philippa dress lined with diamonds and ermine fur, I will commission you  ) 

the  casting of  Margarita Laux-Antille completely backfires due to how they wrote her character 

 Casting a plus sized black woman as a character that is described as white, and extremally conventionally attractive, to spite the gamer dudebros, is a move I like to be clear I love the diversity this show has given us  incredible actresses like Anya and  Anna and Mimi that in past years would have been looked over 

 but unfortunately they make her character conform to the “ angry black woman stereotype” and hit Ciri despite her character in the books who could be described  as “sweet” and “the cool teacher”   hopefully we will see her  character more like the books with the lodge in the second half of the season 

and just general “sins of the father” stuff that is from the books but isn't given proper context for show only fans to understand 

 like the discussion about aelirenn leaving out that older elves are infertile, or    many things about Aplegatt and his role in the story, the “ my ugly one” line feeling really out of place im sure there is more but thats all I can remember for now,  

[theplottdump]

12 and 13!

Ahhh thank you for the ask! :')

12. Do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium? I do play the game!! My Gens 1-5 were purely personal gameplay, and then things started to slowly snowball with more poses and more complex storylines when Val was in High School. The Pit was essentially a NISBI challenge where I just controlled Valerian barring the last fight and escape sequence which was more story focused. When Val aged up I used all the legacy funds he stole from his parent's Vault (legitimately) to pay for the house leaving him with like $30. The whole house is off the grid, there's a massive windfarm out back in the deco rocks, and he cloned a bunch of perfect dragonfruit he stole from his family and has a little underground bio-farm to pay the bills. He also legitimately built Leanne as a servo though gameplay. Because I'm impatient with how slow of a writer I am, I have also played through science baby's entire toddlerhood. They're ready to age up to a child but I want to go back and play with infants too. :') The Casino Heist is going to be pure story, start to finish because it wasn't even something I had planned on doing in the first place. But when @doctorsimcraft built the casino I got all excited about doing one final sendoff for some secondary characters and it provided the opportunity to have more of a spectacular resolution with Val and Chad's relationship. (The initial idea was just to have Chad roll up back on the island coming out of the ocean like Ariel in the Little Mermaid. Val would have seen him coming and rush to climb down the stupid house, falling, and Chad catching him. Then they make a funny remark about having to put in a front door and the laugh track plays and credits roll.) But this arc gives me the chance to explore more of the relationship with Poppy and Chad, introduce some new characters and old faces from gen 5, and dive into the world and aesthetics of one of the members of League of Evil.

Honestly I would love to highlight all the members of the League in little pulpy spin off stories but that would probably kill me. 13. From basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you?

This depends on a few things! Do I need to make CC for this scene? Poses? Am I recoloring anything? Who am I writing for? Why am I such a slow writer? Being able to make your own poses and props is a slippery slope. I think I've made like near 150 poses, 5 animations, a pistol, 2 massive conference tables, re-uved and recolored Val's helicopter, Made helicopter headphones, luggage pose accessory and poses, cc for the casino and so much just random stuff just for this gen so far.

BUT, I don't edit my pictures. Unless there's a special effect, everything is shot in game with my reshades I'm constantly tweaking.

Usually if it's a big story heavy event I'll work on poses after work throughout the week and dedicate half a Saturday to shooting the dang thing.

Ask me more things and get very overblown answers.

[radcowboylad]

I do agree with what you said about actors engaging with the material outside of formal interviews as an important tool to prolong the popularity of said material (and to be honest, other projects of the actors' too; I think a lot of people started watching 'Six' after playing COD because of Barry Sloane). However, I wonder what Activision truly thinks about it. On one hand, I think they do support it, seeing as they helped Neil make that Christmas video. But, how much does this extra marketing translate to sales? (I personally have fallen into the COD rabbit hole here on Tumblr, but have never bought the game). It also seems as if that that's only how far Activision is willing to go to make extra promo material, because they don't seem to have made any more.

As fans start to attach/separate characters with their voice actors depending on their reaction to the voice actors' statements (like, the Konig/Soap situation with their voice actors), do you think this will affect the recasting of actors for future COD projects? If it were to negatively affect a voice actor's involvement in future projects, would this not be unfair since some fans expect a character to be like their actors, especially in this game where they do use the actors' physical image?

--- I hope that this doesn't come across as a hate message. I really just wanted to discuss it.

Do you think this will affect the recasting of future projects?

Oh definitely. I think we’ve seen this happen in other casting examples—when a character becomes so well received it’s hard for any other actor to “feel the same” (especially if it’s for a movie and the actor needs to actually look like how the previous actor looked) that franchise will have so many boosted sales. If you look at Nightmare on Elm Street as an example, Robert Englund (Freddy’s actor) completely stole the hearts of the casting crew and the fans despite the history of his casting for the movie being almost on a whim. Robert then proceeded to be in like 7(?) elm street movies with most of them rising in even more sales than the 1st movie because people were so attracted to his character and the way he played him. THEN… you take a look at the reboot that doesn’t involve Robert. I might be biased but it was kind of a complete dumpster fire and did not ever make it as popular as the rest of the films Robert was actually in. (and also tainted the way people saw Freddy forever since they brought in the idea that he was a pedo, when in the original franchise the writers purposefully did not want to do that!!)

On one hand, I think they do support it

I do think that once they saw his characters rising popularity they did try to make the most out of it, but there’s only so much Activision can do without turning it into something that’s too corporate feeling, instead of something that only the actor can do in their spare time out of love.

I think if they did this again with just Soap, it would really seem unfair and kind of weird to ignore all the other characters. To boil it down it was most likely a decision made based off a unique situation that Neil created. It would make sense for them to do the same with Ghost since he is also essentially the icon for MW2 but they probably recognise that Samuel doesn’t have as much of a connection to the fans or his own character as Neil does. They’d probably have to bring in a writer to help him answer questions in regards to his own character.

But then there’s Horangi, I’m kind of curious if Activision would also lean into the current situation with his character’s popularity rising from his actor. I doubt it though since I don’t believe any regular fan would care about another random DMZ/multiplayer only character as opposed to a story character.

I personally have fallen into the COD rabbit hole here on tumblr, but I have never bought the game

Cod games are outrageously over priced so I don’t blame you, but I do have some good news for you: you can play a handful of mw2’s multiplayer game modes for free ^_^

[infamous-raven-x]

for the ask game: Hydron and/or Mylene?

> Sexuality hc: Homosexual

> Favorite ships: Hydron/Gus, Hydron/Lync

> Brotp: Hydron/Volt

> Notp: Spectra/Hydron, Mylene/Hydron, Hydron/Volt

> Random hc:

--I'm sure is Hydron survived the explotion he would have been put into a program to regain his sanity.

--Volt would probably have drag him to the lower towns of Vestal to make him humble, but Hydron would have just took pictures of himself in there an hashtag it as "returning to our roots".

--Hydron would have escaped to earth as start in the fresh with the other vexos if they have survived, probably bother Spectra and Mylene on why does he has to follow orthers, Volt would have turn into a more big brother figure to him and teach him how to be humble and walk out of his privilege sincen he is no longer a Prince.

--I really wish to open up my little AU with Fate and summond one of my prince of England just to bother Hydron with "Look at what a true prince is made off!" actitud, and maybe Hydron would grow knowing how to take his status more seriously.

--Hydron would be fan of earth expensive cloths and shoes...

I do see Hydron fighting Spectra over a pair of Louis Vuitton high heels and Spectra winning because he is the boss bitch from the vexos and he would assert domination, Mylene is just there thinking how to get out of the store as if the fucking store didn't have more shoes...

> General opinion:

I see Hydron as does white privileged americans that has to start to live in a country that is not United states and they struggle becuase they think that everyone has to speak english and acept dollars becuase "What do you mean that dollars are not the use as currency?, Aren't like dollars the most important money in the world???"

I would like to see a fic where Hydron learns and tries at least to be friend the Vexos.

> Sexuality hc: Non-Binary/Pansexual

> favorite ships: Mylene/Shadow, Mylene/Mira, Mylene/ Spectra

> Brotp: Mylene/Spectra, Mylene/Volt

> Notp: Mylene/Hydron, Mylene/Volt

> Random hc:

--Mylene is open minded, she just use the pronouns She/Her put of courtesy because she thinks that everyone is stupid and they wouldn't even try to remember her pronouns.

In fact, I do think Spectra, Volt and Shadow do use the They/Them to refere to Mylene, some times they just call them by there name since Mylene does have a issue with there name.

--She would love the european culture and italian food, I don't know why but her armor type of dress makes me think that Mylene would like the cultures of europe.

--Mylene is into BDSM, and she is mature enough to state that she just like sex, so she has a reputation of hurting the sex partners she had Spectra tried but ge didn't liked that, Shadow is like "Jokes on you i'm into that shit!"

--There's a say inside the Vexos, If you need some sex stuff or toys you should ask Mylene

Not me looking at Mylene like she would be the owner of a Sex shop but yes

--Mylene is mad becuase Spectra stole her lipsticks and Shadow her nailpolish.

--She would trust Gus or Volt on making the food for everyone.

--If she has to trust someone from the battlebrawlers she would choose Shun or Alice.

--Mylene 🤝Sellon

> General opinion:

Mylene is like that girl that you see her walking and you know that she is the definition of Girl boss, Gate keeper, Gaslight, I mean she has her issues like Spectra but I truly believe that Mylene would be a hard worker woman that would put on the paper of the absolute boss and make shit work because she knows how to play team even if she does things out of her porpuses.

>>>Ask me the name name of characters and I will answer!

[rottenbrainstuff]

BG3: The Party + random notes

And the big conclusion to the big fight: a big old party.

(dark urge spoilers)

Time to party with all my friends! There was a tiefling there I didn’t recognize, and apparently it’s because if any of the tieflings scheduled to be at the party die for any reason, there is a new back-up NPC there to take their place. So she was there instead of Alfira. 🥲🥲🥲 Sigh. I read online that if you’re playing durge, Alfira isn’t supposed to be replaced, and instead Lakrissa will mention she’s worried about Alfira… I would have preferred that (cause no one mentioned Alfira going missing at all) and I’m not sure why that didn’t trigger in my game.

Found a suspicious lady sneaking around in the grass???? She teleported away???? Doesn’t seem to be a huge amount of info about her online???? Guess I will find out more later????

What a cute party, everyone having a good time: Ikaron loosening up and having a pint, the three siblings still arguing, Bex totally smashed and trying to convince Danis to go into the bushes with her. I feel like if people don’t even like the cute tiefling kids, then everyone must just hate Rolan, who is always super annoying? I love Rolan though, silly idiot. I really wish I could follow these guys all to Baldur’s Gate and make sure they get there safely. Unfortunately it seems like I’m going to find some of them dead on the road as the game goes on no matter what I do, and… well. I’m not going to think about that right now - just going to enjoy the cute party.

It seems I’ve done something that’s glitched Gale or made him mad at me. All the companions propositioned me at the party, even ones I have politely rejected before, but not Gale. I had no dialogue options with him at all, he only told me to go and enjoy the party. Guess I really broke the guy’s heart when I told him that I only wanted to be friends. Sorry man. (another funny bug - Wyll is supposed to be off away from the party standing by the water. But sometimes he won’t be by the water, he’ll be at his regular tent, but he’ll still have the “I hoped you wouldn’t notice I had left” dialogue)

Apparently in early access, Zevlor lights magic lights in the sky, one for every life you saved today. Dang. Why did that get cut? That sounds beautiful? Man I just love Zevlor. Poor old guy can’t relax even at the party. (Honestly, if he was a romance option I think I’d be chasing him… sorry Astarion. It’s the shame, it’s the shame. I smell it like I’m a shark and it’s blood in the water. Give me a sad old character with shame and I’m there) I’m sure everything will go great for him from here on out and nothing sad will happen at all!!! :) :) :) :)

After the party scene, I got the second Guardian dream. DESPITE what you will read online, where the information seems to all be either guessing (incorrectly) or else based on the early access, I can confidently confirm that the second guardian dream is triggered after you free Halsin and talk to him about your tadpole. …and then my friend also playing this game, who has a really bad memory, swears up and down that they had a third guardian dream while they were at the goblin camp, but can’t remember what triggered it or what it was about. I could barely find info online about the second dream at all, I have no hope of finding anything about the third, but it seems so far that the dreams are triggered by concrete game events.

I might have mentioned this before but I am *REALLY* loving the little details in the books I find. I know there’s so many of them so there’s a tendency to skim them, but if you can force yourself to actually read each one, some of them are very funny or very interesting, and some include clever little easter egg tidbits. I LOVE how in conversations with Halsin, he mentions he wishes he had some books to read, and you can say that you keep finding a million books. I am collecting every single book I find and keeping them all in the chest I stole from Kagha, hehe.

Lastly, in my incidental looking up of things, I continue to see the most rancid takes and people complaining about the weirdest things. Like the fragile straight men crying that they need a filter in the game to protect them from male characters hitting on them. Or people complaining that the game is all just pointless combat, because these people are picking the most aggressive dialogue options then wondering why every NPC is aggressive. Or people saying you can’t blame the druids for being protective of their grove - yeah right, so protective they won’t even lift a finger to defend it from an invading goblin army, so protective they can’t even crack open their door to let in one single lost and scared child. On top of everything else they did that pissed me off.

The latest bizarre thing I read is complaining about how on a durge run, Alfira’s death shouldn’t be mandatory, or how the mandatory durge kills shouldn’t break your oaths if you’re a paladin.

Like. Guys, why are you even playing a durge run if you don’t like the durge story? This game has a narrative, it isn’t just a collection of “x action causes you to receive y effect.” The point of Alfira’s death is that it’s supposed to be senseless and devastating. If you are playing a good paladin, it absolutely SHOULD break your oaths and that should be something you have to deal with. That…. That conflict is supposed to be the entire bloody point of playing a resisting durge character. It’s what makes the story so interesting and gripping. If this stuff was optional it wouldn’t be as devastating. If you don’t like it, you can 100% play a different character. Why on earth play durge if you don’t like the durge story??? The game warns you at character creation that there will be consequences. Why… why would you complain when you run into those consequences?... I don’t get it.

Next up: just tying up all the loose ends before I am ready to explore the underdark. Gotta fight that gnoll nest, gotta do Ethel’s hut, gotta clear out the goblins leftover in the camp. SO looking forward to the underdark area.