#I thought the level of my clowning has peaked yet here we are

[myohmine]

Liz Huett’s STFU & Hold Me MV is basically a combination of Louis’s Just Hold On & We Made It & Back To You + Taylor’s Mean + You Need To Calm Down

Meanwhile Liz’s Nothing Personal = Louis’s Back To You + Taylor’s Look What You Made Me Do

Then it’s Liz’s H8 U vs Taylor’s We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together + Blank Space + I Knew You Were Trouble (Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show version)

Meanwhile Sam Smith’s I’m Not The Only One has Dianna Agron getting cheated on and Louis’s Walls aesthetics all over the place

Then H gotta casually wear red shoes like hey Dorothea do you ever stop and think about me

You know like the one Liz has on in H8 U where the curly hair guy was supposedly the main character aka the ex but plot twist she kissed the bride?? Cuz they’re gaysssss, Petra.

Why you gotta be playing with my heart like this?

[khaotungsfirst]

Top 10 BLs I watched in 2021

As the year comes to a close I’ve decided to take a look at all the BLs I watched in these past 12 months and determine my faves. Notice that it’s BLs I watched in 2021, not BLs released in 2021.

1. Manner of Death (Thailand, 2020)

Even though the majority of this aired in 2020, it wasn’t finished until January 2021 so it counts as a 2021 watch for me. God the theories we discussed after every episode, we all must’ve looked absolutely insane. Peak clown behaviour... Anyways, this is the direction I hope more BLs take in the future. Not necessarily crime/thriller (though that IS one of my favourites and I would not complain about more of that) but what I want to see is BL delving into a variety of genres. You could see how a more serious and mature approach really elevated MaxTul and their acting to a new level and I wish to see more CPs explore that in the future.

2. We Best Love (Taiwan, 2021)

I distinctly remember the moment I scrolled through WeTV and saw this being announced and thought “Oh well, this looks like a small passion project, might check it out.” Well... it IS a passion project but it definitely isn’t small anymore. I recently rewatched this and to be quite honest, the story is not the most amazing thing you’ll ever watch (shoutout to S2EP2 though, that shit was mental). But the reason why I can’t let go of this one is the actors. Apart from loving the supporting actors (Tian and Evan specifically), SamYu simply has me in a chokehold point blank. No other CP compares to them. And even though I‘m scared of what kind of drama plot will be introduced in S3 I absolutely cannot wait for it simply because of all the SamYu content we will get from the promo. Like… @schnaf and I have a wishlist for result entertainment of things we need them to do - and those moving cat ears that read your brain waves are on the very top of it.

3. Bad Buddy (Thailand, 2021)

Ok, I know this hasn’t finished airing yet but I think we can all agree that this deserves to be on here. I heavily doubt they will fuck up the ending so we’ll let it slide. Bad Buddy really looked at all the things a Thai BL can do wrong and then said “Hold my engineering diploma, we’ll show you how it’s done.” Like... it still uses a lot of typical tropes, nothing about the story is particularly groundbreaking or anything we haven’t seen yet. And still, it works so so well. I think Ohm and Nanon’s phenomenal acting contributes a big part to this. But also P’Aof just knows what he’s doing. As much as I praised MoD for exploring a new genre, Bad Buddy proves that you can take all the tried and true things, like a uni setting and an enemies to lovers plot, and still stand out from the crowd. ALSO: Possible/very likely GL side couple instead of randomly pairing up all the best friends? We love to see it!

4. Word of Honor (China, 2021)

After The Untamed we’ve all been waiting for the next big danmei. Is it as good as The Untamed? No. But nothing will ever be as good as The Untamed so that’s okay. I’ll admit I gave up on trying to understand the plot halfway through but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy this drama. Everyone involved really did the best they could do to bring this novel to life by toeing the line of censorship. And with that ending? What more can you wish for honestly, considering the circumstances. WoH, at its core, is a story about bad people and I do love me some villains! Starting from WKX and continuing with so many beloved side characters, a lot of which were badass women, I can’t help but love this show.

5. I Promised You the Moon (Thailand, 2021)

Okay, I’m not a big fan of second seasons when it comes to BL because more often than not we’ll be treated to a cheating plot and IPYTM is not an exception to this. However, ITSAY was already revolutionary in how it broke the mold of what highschool/uni BLs were supposed to look and be like. And this continues in IPYTM. The whole thing just feel so much more raw. A lot of Thai BLs are goofy and ridiculous and that’s okay, those are fun as well. But ITSAY and IPYTM feel more like reality. You can feel how BK and PP really put their all into this project and I hope this shows producers that there are many different ways to tackle BLs.

6. Don‘t Say No (Thailand, 2021)

For the same reason I tend to avoid second seasons I also tend to avoid established relationship plots. Until I watched Don’t Say No. It’s laughable how bad the trailer is compared to the actual show. In fact, it almost stopped me from watching this. Well, thank god I still did! I think LeoFiat are the couple with the best communication skills out of all the BLs I’ve watched so far. They have a very specific relationship dynamic that could definitely be interpreted as dom/sub but - and this is the thing - it’s healthy! Which is why I can’t believe the people who made Tharntype also made DSN. To me, it feels like the complete opposite. As for JaFirst: I hope they’ll get another series because they do have a lot of chemistry.

7. Couple of Mirrors (China, 2021)

Listen, I know I said BL but CoM deserves a spot on this list, period. I went into this knowing nothing and was positively surprised by the mature subject matter. Who doesn’t love a bit of murder, crime and intrigue? On top of that, our two mains were just way too cute! And just like with WoH, considering the censorship this drama went through we still got a lot of things that definitely hinted at more than just friendship. I also really loved the historical setting in the Republican Era and really want to see more of that. Thank god we’ll get season 2, right?

8. Be Loved In House: I Do (Taiwan, 2021)

Is the premise of this enemies to lovers plot ridiculous? Yes, but who even cares. What can I say? I’m a sucker for omg they were roommates! This was like a fun little snack: it didn’t feel too serious and god, did it have some ridiculous scenes. But sometimes, that’s all you need. Obviously, this wasn’t something that will stick with you forever, but that’s okay. The mains did a very solid job and we even got a bit of steamy action towards the end, so all in all I would definitely recommend this.

9. Together With Me (Thailand, 2017)

This is on the list simply for S1EP1 scene 1 alone. Like HELLO? I watched this after MoD so I already knew how MaxTul act with each other but still… insanity. Unfortunately, the trope of the jealous (ex-) girlfriend is heavy with this one but it also gave us one of THE BEST female side characters in all of BL: Queen Yiwha! We love, we stan, we ship her with Fai (yes, we’ll ignore Bad Romance for our sanity’s sake). Major point deduction for the creepy doctor though...

10. Why R U? (Thailand, 2020)

Half of this was great (Fightor) and half of this was boring (SaifahZon). Which is why I have to say I’m very glad Fightor ended up becoming the main couple at some point. Of course they had their ups and downs and some scenes were... questionable but in the end I did enjoy their story a lot. 

-

Honorable mentions:

EP 9 & 10 of Y-Destiny (2021)

Kaengputh my beloved! There really wasn’t enough time in just these two episodes to tell their story so it all just felt a bit rushed but First and Toru made up for it with their phenomenal performance. I really hope these two will get their own series soon because their on-screen chemistry is INSANE.

Until We Meet Again (2019)

Okay, I’ll admit I skipped through most of this. It’s in honorable mentions because of WinTeam. No regrets.

My Engineer (2020)

Congrats for being the worst BL I’ve ever watched yet somehow still making me obsessed for like two weeks straight. This is the complete opposite of Bad Buddy. It looked at all the previous Thai BLs and said “I can do worse!” If it weren’t for the side pairings I would’ve dropped it. Filled to the brim with every bad BL trope you can think of it really cranks up the cringe-o-meter but then again it was all so ridiculous and trashy that it was funny. (Also, I will forever stay mad about how Ryan got the absolute worst dub in existence and then got kicked off the show.)

Kpop ship compilations

Listen, Kpop and BL are inseparably linked in my head forever now. From actor/idol friendships to idols starring in BLs themselves to Kpop fanfiction being adapted into BLs - there is no way I could ever separate these two. So including this just makes sense to me. Top ships I enjoyed this year were: Chanlix, Minsung, Jilix, Changjin (all Stray Kids), Woosan (Ateez), every possible BTS ship you can imagine but particularly Jikook, Sope, Hopekook and Yoonmin, and most recently Yeonbin (TXT).

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!

[lordxgrinnyxboy]

rewatching The Grinning Man once again,,2am edition,,just through Beauty and the Beast bc i had to give up and go to bed. @past me you really thought you were gonna. ha. haha. who ever said you’re not a funny clown.

‘ye gods’ is fully a tagphrase of barkilphedro’s. bc saying it at least twice makes it definitely a Thing.

josiana says Bark looks like a...~bug~...and ngl the cut of his coat + those limp antenna things on his hat do actually kinda create that effect. they really did make him look like a skittering creature

accidentally paused at such a moment where his head is angled just so and it’s so weird bc u can’t see the paint on his nose at this angle what

i could play barkilphedro. it would be a ghastly shame but i. no. i could though. no i couldn’t. but

everything bark says just sounds very...Like That.

gonna start doing eye makeup like bark’s

i have so many feelings about the fact that Mr. Maskell’s ensemble(?) character and Ms. Obianyo’s ensemble character stand beside each other for this scene

au where Gwyn’s mom lives and the two of them work as performers

no but fully that Green Cowl but also like. Ms. Obianyo’s entire outfit??? that is a Fantastic Look right There right There.

i like how Bark points at an audience member when he says “whose life is even worse than yours”

okay so the mist that comes up when Bark first says “laughter is the best medicine” plus the way Ms. Obianyo’s ensemble character Looks At Him plus the way Ms. Obianyo’s Ensemble Character and Mr. Maskell’s Ensemble Character stand next to each other plus the fact that this is all Barkilphedro telling the story of events he perpetrated and whatnot just generally the whole look of the bit gives me Feelings like these particular two ensemble characters are almost sort of the ghosts of Gwyn’s mom and kinda sorta who Gwyn could’ve been but also not but also Kinda

i’m just so very emotional and love seeing these two together they look amazing and i love them DX

Josiana’s Introduction/Portrait dress looks fantastic and im mad she doesn’t get to keep it

London!Jojo’s costume is better

genuinely still can’t believe Clarence is Ursus

but it’s kinda ironic tho since it’s by Clarence’s orders that Bark was ever in the situation where ‘hmm guess i havvvve to mutilate this kid’s face lol, that’s too bad” was a thought htat occurred to him so i mean both of Ursus’ characters had a hand in what happened

clarence is like “look at my unhappy children/what a tonic for my pain” ursus is like “...” and dea’s like “look at your unhappy children father i dare u”

the lords on palace hill are a gift

Ms. Brisson is just a truly adorable individual i love her ensemble character

also the material on the sort of dress/aprons the Lords wear? the print kind of looks like a map to me but idk if that’s what it is?

Osric’s “Welcome to the Stokes-Croft Faire” is like. one of the top 10 most iconic moments of the show for me negl. maybe even top 5. It’s got this particular energy i can’t describe but it’s So Good

i feel like in this scene like the top half of Mr. Maskell’s face is painted white(er) which looks fabulous once the bandages + cowl are added like heavens above but also with the whole “ooooh that’s the ghost of pre-barkilphedro!Gwynplaine” angle it’s interesting w/how Jojo’s got that bit of white paint/powder as well and it looks like Dirry-Moir’s whole face is painted at least for this number like Ooooh Is That A Lord Thing idk but it’s a Vibe

i once again think it’s interesting that it’s the actors for Angelica and Jojo who are in the picture frame for “Chained Beasts Fighting” considering how Jojo and Angelica seem to for real not get along so well during the play’s events

i’ve another theory abt mr. hubert

bark’s really like all up on Mr Maskensemblecharacter for the “stab an old man with a needle” bit.

i’ve tried so hard to figure out what the heck that could mean but all i can find is “they’re probably referring to murdering ppl with hat pins” u-u

yo the artwork on the walls behind them Wowie

gosh i love Osric

the little dance thing they do after “I’ve got the misery” is something i yearn for like. pls.

idk if anyone gets more into that last Laughter is the Best Medicine choreo than mr. Dirry-Moir like. he is positively Aggressive with it

the drum or whatever makes that little repeating like, three-point, one-two-three over and over toward the peak of this song is like. i don’t know what i was about to say but I Like This Part Of The Song Even Though It Is Very Stressful And Intense

idk man gwyn just looks Really Good when ursus pulls back that curtain like idk if it’s the way he’s standing or the way he’s moving however slightly or what he’s doing with his hands but like. A+ Gwynlit you look fantastic right here

i like how initially he looks just at Ursus but then kind of looks directly into the camera. sort of fancy the notion that in order to get through shows Gwyn’s kind of particular about where he looks and will try to focus on Ursus and Dea as much as possible but otherwise kind of just tries to not really See the audience maybe or something

oh hey that’s Born Broken that’s music boxing hangon lemme go back what plays for

i don’t reckona- give me a minute - i don’t. recognize. there we go. the music box sound that  plays for gwyn

dea is So Pretty

“I shall put my money where my mouth is” dirry-moir that is a most unfortunate turn of phrase

ngl gwyn always looks like he’s having a good time doing up the Drama for his act as Clarence

shadow!gwyn’s hair is next level kinds of floofy magnificence

even his bandages look amazing

“Sonny” :}

no but when Gwyn walks little puppet!Gwyn up the ramp to the ship but Dea’s helping and so they wind up standing Very Close and there’s Height Difference i’m sorry but they are Adorable

i reall like the ocean effect they do

Dea’s cowl look is Exquisite

can’t actually remember for real for real but i’m fairly confident that Mr. Maskell’s “MOTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER MOTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER” was at least 67% of what initially forced me to fall in love with this show so Thank You Mr. Maskell For That

the cowl + bandages just looks so good i don’t know what to say. that’s a Look right there. the eye makeup? the hair? The Bandages and Cowl? I’m sorry who says this is not a handsome boy?

he looks amzing

puppet!gwyn constantly looks like he’s got one eyebrow raised thanks to how the eye area is carved

i want to know how Ursus thought he wasn’t going to wind up with a couple of the most dramatic chidlren on the earth like when did he think there was a chance they wouldn’t both turn out Dramatic

high note hazlit has arrived

i wish that in the Osric Raises Gwyn au there was some way for Osric to meet like Ghost!Hazlit or i don’t even know but. they need. to meet each other.

Osric’s got vibes and i don’t know what they are but they’re so powerful and they move me to intense affection

it’s Ridiculously Tall-looking Gwyn time. he goes to stand up straight and keeps on Extending

he really just keeps his eyes on the puppet at all times tho

“your little hat can find out what it means” i know he said ‘heart’ but he said ‘hat’ gwyn needs a hat send tweet

book gwyn got to have a hat

don’t worry gwynlit osric’s gonna take care of that in the au

dea’s so cute

so when Ursus says “for certain, it would be no man” is that like a heads-up that they changed the wolf’s name bc now it isn’t Homo anymore or

it’s 3am now and im only 20 minutes in help me dea

forearms

the “No” “Yes, yes” when Ursus first gives him the Crimson Lethe kills me every single time bro.

how long is this post do i need to shut up yet

i’ve babbled for longer before i think we’re good

And Ursus Gave The Boy A Name. A Cruel Name. A Name That Means “Wow That Debilitating Wound Carved Into Your Actual Face Must Hurt Pretty Bad Huh Kidlet”

arms

still mad about the fact that Ursus mentions “Melt into mist/no longer exist” and Barkilphedro uses those Exact Words

i always assume they’re talkin about going to Murca but i mean technically anywhere could be the ‘new world’ huh

forearm

see the one thing i

when he says “we’ll come back to the place where once we were lost in the snow” now im thinking about adult!lord!Gwyn revisiting like. the actual place. where it all Happened like. imagine adult!Gwyn going back to the gallows-site and just.

under angelica’s reign it’s probably converted into a memorial instead ofc and is no longer a gallows-site but still

puppet!Dea doesn’t wear shoes

when puppet!Dea first goes “Mojo?” puppet!Gwyn kinda reaches toward her for a sec like he’s Concerned

Dirry-Moir waving at Dea like he’s trying to figure if she really is blind smh

cowl gwyn is such a phenomenal look

GWYN DOES THE FOOT WIGGLE DURING THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SCENE I JUST NOW NOTICED

HIS FOOT IS ACTUALLY FLAT ON THE GROUND SO INSTEAD OF IT BEING A LITTLE HEEL SHAKE IT’S MORE LIKE A LIL ANKLE TWISTY BUT. !!

puppet!Gwyn fiddles with his shirt/vest a lot

forearm

the lil motion with his head after the Kiss tho rlly does look suspicious like the “twinge (of unspeakable agony)” motion tho

love how Osric just runs along to go with to see the rest of the show like. he’s into it.

[kaspbrak-tozier-reddie]

Bad Dream

Warnings: swearing, homophobia

Requests are open

Masterlist

———————————————————————

It wasn’t strange for Eddie to occasionally get nightmares from a game he and his group of friends played in middle school. Even as a 19 year old, the memories still haunt him. It was as if the thing that he buried deep inside wanted to come out.

His nights always were normal; he ate dinner, had a shower, brushed his teeth, studied until lights out then headed for bed. Nothing to suggest that his dreams would turn bad or into nightmares.

It was a cold November night. Eddie loved this kinda temperature as it meant he could rug up tightly with multiple layers of blankets and long flannel pyjamas.

He pulled out 2 reasonably warm blankets that he stole from his mother’s bedroom cupboard and threw them on the bed. He looked over at his roommate peacefully sleeping, Eddie knew he had to be quiet and yet he still grunted, loudly, when lifting the mattress.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.

*

His nightmares all start out the same. Cold, dim, faint whispers from his friends who seemed to be a good 30 metres away and a giant clown head looming over him. The clown’s head always has a creepy smirk plastered on its face. It then will shrink down portraying what Eddie fears most.

The clown always shifted into a leper first but Eddie always showed no reaction.

Eddie often lied to his friends saying that he was afraid of germs.

That was true.

Except there was something else. Something else that scared him more, especially in such a small town like Derry.

His sexuality.

The clown studied Eddie, almost like he was digger deeper and deeper into Eddie’s soul, trying to find that secret hidden fear that Eddie refuses to ever admit.

“He will never love you, Eddie.” The clown would taunt. “Richie doesn’t love you. Imagine if he found out you like him?”

As if on cue a tall, lanky, brunette boy would walk up to Eddie. Except there was never a warm smirk from the boy, like there often was. Instead it was a devilish side smirk that often suggested he was about to do something mean or stupid.

“Hey guys!” The tall brunette called to the rest of the group.

“What now Richie?” A tall blonde boy asked.

“Stan the Man, did you know that our little Eds here is a fag?” Richie asked, gesturing to Eddie.

“Why would be friends with a fairy?” A redheaded girl asked.

“Guys?” Eddie felt his lips quiver as the word left his mouth.

Fear cradled Eddie. He watched his best friends laugh and point at him as they continued on calling him gay slurs.

“Bye bye Edward.” Richie said.

He was frozen and looked on as they left laughing and glancing back towards him.

“Oh poor sweet little Eddie Spaghetti. Did your friends make fun of you?” The clown mocked.

In a blink of an eye, he then found himself in the dorm room that he shares with Richie. On Richie’s side of the room, boxes were packed and the bed was stripped. Clothes and books were gone and candy wrappers were no longer scattered on the floor.

Richie appeared behind him and forcefully turned him around. The tall boy smirked and then turned into Eddie’s mother. “Eddie darling, that Tozier boy is a bad influence. He’s infected you.”

Eddie knew what the clown was saying. But he couldn’t retaliate. No matter how hard he tried, no words came out.

“It’s a sickness, Eddie.”

*

He woke in a sweat. He flipped himself over so that he was facing his nightstand instead of the wall. Eddie had a clear view of Richie, the moonlight shining in through Richie’s half open curtain, lit up his face.

Eddie looked at how his curly brown hair was tussled and was all over his face. Richie smiled in his sleep and let out a soft sigh in contentment.

It made sense as to why the clown always used Richie and not some other boy that Eddie found attractive. Eddie was always drawn to Richie, even if he was a dick half the time. Especially those ‘your mom’ jokes.

Sure Richie was good looking but the words that fell out of his mouth, his hygiene level and not to mention his need to drink and smoke. Eddie was often grossed out and annoyed by his best friend.

Eddie peaked over at the photo of him and Richie, on his nightstand. The photo was from the night before their high school graduation. Richie had set up the camera on a timer and had run back to hug Eddie before the flash went off.

Eddie sighed heavily, careful to not wake Richie up in the process. He knew he had to tell Richie especially since he’d been keeping this secret for years. If there was one person he trusted in his friend group more than anyone, was Richie.

He sat up and looked over at the bed next to him. “Richie?” Eddie whispered, knowing full well that Richie was a light sleeper.

“Yeah Eds?” Richie’s groggy voice whispers back.

“You know that reoccurring dream that I’ve been having since middle school?”

“Yeah? Did you have it again?”

“Yeah but I uh, I’m ready to talk about it.”

Eddie never wanted to talk about this particular dream with Richie. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he knew he was in love with Richie. Every touch, every longing look, every annoying comment about fucking Eddie’s mom and every smirk that Richie threw Eddie’s way made him weak at the knees.

It was a good weak though, it didn’t make him feel helpless against a bully like Henry Bowers. It made him weak in a way that gave him hope that maybe just maybe Richie felt the same way. Richie was never touchy with the rest of the Losers, just Eddie. Hell! Eddie was the only Loser to see Richie cry.

But at the same time, that could just be because they’ve been friends longer than the others. But then there’s Stan. Stan had been friends with Richie and Eddie since 1st grade, only 1 year between Eddie and Stan’s friendships with Richie.

He never teased or annoyed the others as much or as harsh as Eddie. It was like he wanted attention from one person and one person only.

It wasn’t just that, it was the other things that weren’t directed at Eddie. Whenever Richie smoked, yes it bugged him, but Eddie had to admit it was hot. It was the way he held the cigarette and the stance he took when the two were talking. But what got to him was the fact that Richie always was mindful of Eddie’s asthma and would turn away so that the smoke never went near him.

Richie always carried a spare inhaler at all times in case Eddie was in a position where he couldn’t get his inhaler or it ran out. Richie has never had to use the spare but it’s there for the day Eddie needs it.

Stan had even started making suggestive comments directed towards Eddie about Richie before they all left to college.

Eddie took a shakey breath. “What’s up with you? Do you like Richie?” Stan had asked. He didn’t even plan this, how was he supposed to tell Richie?

“You sure Eds?” Richie asked. “I don’t want you to seem like you’re being forced.”

“‘Chee.” Richie pushed himself off his bed and made his way to Eddie’s and sat himself at the foot of the bed. “I’ve been keeping this from you for 6 years.”

“Okay. Just take you time.”

“I just want to start off by saying uh, I - ” Eddie stopped.

“Take your time.” Richie said calmly.

“My bad dreams aren’t really nightmares. They’re scary but not in the way that nightmares usually are.”

“I don’t understand.”

Eddie tried to form a complete sentence in his head but the way that Richie looked distracted him. His tussled curly brown hair. Even if it was freezing cold out, Richie was shirtless.

“I lied back when we played that game back in middle school. Yes I’m afraid of germs but I’m afraid of something else. I was afraid to even admit that fear to myself.”

“And you dream about this?” Eddie nodded. “What happens?”

“The clown, Pennywise, taunts me. You all call me names and then my mom -”

“Eddie are you saying -” Eddie nodded.

“I’m gay Rich and the fucking clown shows me all of you teasing me, mocking me, rejecting me. Then you - you’re leaving our fucking dorm room and then turns into my fucking mother!” Eddie stopped and looked at Richie. Richie looked down, even though he would never, he felt guilty that Eddie couldn’t tell him.

“She uh, she claims that you’re the one that infected me. You were the one that instigated the teasing and name calling.” Eddie continued.

Richie lefted his head back up and searches Eddie’s eyes. “Eds, there’s something else you’re not telling me.” Eddie looked almost away immediately. “Eds, you don’t have to tell me.”

“It focussed on you because I like you. My greatest fear is you hating me and rejecting not only my sexuality but also me. My fear is that you, well none of you would accept who I am.”

Richie was at a loss of words but starts to draw his lips into a small grin. “Eds, I would never. Look I uh, I like you too.”

“What? Please tell me you’re not saying that outta pity.”

“Eds why do you think I annoy you so you’d pay me attention and not one of the others? Telling you that i ‘fucked your mom’ is my fucked up way of telling you i love you.”

“Richie?”

“Yeah?”

“I fucked your mom.”

“I love you too asshole.” The two boys laughed. “Come on, lets get you back to sleep.”

Richie reached over Eddie and placed his glasses on Eddie’s nightstand.

“Move over asshole.” Richie said. Eddie moved over so that Richie could comfortably and smoothly slide under the covers and Eddie cuddled into Richie’s bare torso.

“We haven’t done this since junior year of high school.”

“That’s because I thought it’d be awkward especially when you came out as bi. But now I can see I was stupid.”

In the Summer before their junior year, Richie had come out as bi to the Losers. Eddie started to slowly stop spending the night at Richie’s and made excuses for Richie to not spend the night at Eddie’s.

It started with Eddie waiting for Richie to fall asleep before quietly sneaking out the window. Or telling Richie that he had picked up an early morning shift, so that Richie didn’t stay or sneak over.

“No you aren’t. Just sleep and I can take you out to dinner tonight.”

“Definitely.”

[chrsitophwaltz]

MICKEY MEETS FC BAYERN (PART 1/4)

for the entire houston clownery experience click here

psa: excuse my face and the pic qualities. up until this happened i haven’t really taken pictures of myself (less than 10 in the past two years for family and work purposes and NEVER selfies) and when you meet people you’ve only seen on TV in a very unexpected circumstance, then don’t expect your brain and motor functions to work 100%.

okay. i posted part 1 of this a few days ago but i’m gonna redo it again to flush out the details. before i start, know that i arrived in houston wednesday afternoon. my original flight back home was scheduled sunday after the game (i booked my flight and lodgings months before like a good binch) but since bayern clowned again and announced the full detailed schedule really late, and put ALL the major fan stuff on SUNDAY, i grudgingly rebooked and extended one more day. how much that one extra day cost me will haunt me for a while but hey, it was more than worth it! of course, i didn’t know it would work out like that at first...

the hotel reception was around 6:30-7 pm on friday so we went there a few hours earlier to get good spots. met up with The Niko Thirst Gang (big shoutout to @screamingoranges, @saquonbrkley, and @simplyirenic! it was great meeting y’all hope we could do it again sometime) and waited patiently in the houston heat and humidity outside the hotel. finally the team bus arrived and got my shirt signed by boa, fiete, benji, leon, and thomas! made a post about it here and i also have the full reception video if y’all wanna see!

but being the greedy thirsty binch that i am, i wasn’t satisfied at all. thiago and niko weren’t there. the coaching staff were the first to go down and hansi flick, dr. broich, and even Witch Doctor™ müller-wohlfahrt were there, but NOT niko. after the bus left and all the other entourage cars were off, i was about to rage outside the hotel bc i was really banking on seeing niko that day and taking a pic with him there (my blood pressure had been raging for 4 hours and then to be let down just like t h a t...). apparently he and thiago went straight to nrg stadium from the airport for a press conference. and guess what? NRG STADIUM WAS JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM MY PLACE 💀💀💀

anyway, come saturday and it was game day! i was so pumped since my seat was five rows behind the bayern bench! y’all know what that means: unlimited firsthand access to peak drama!!! i also had this huge ass sign asking for niko’s bottle sdhfsdjfh. the game was great (bc we beat madridies and it was just really exciting all the way) and i saw stuff that we normally don’t get from TV (e.g. ALL the angry niko antics, leon changing into his kit on the bench, etc.) at one point niko finally looked at my direction while drinking from his bottle and i’m pretty sure he saw my sign but he just kept on drinking sultrily from that goddamn bottle sjadhksfksdfdk i hate him!!!!!!!

after the game i was feeling pretty let down and desperate bc i know sunday was the team’s last full day in houston and i didn’t want my extension to be for nothing. the practice session and paulaner bbq were invite-only events (ugh) and the mall meet-and-greets won’t have niko or everyone else in them. so i set my alarm, went to bed, and decided to try my luck by randomly going to the hotel again to see if i can get something. i had no idea if it was gonna work or not. it was a shot in the freaking dark.

sunday morning. 8:30 am. i went out armed with a sharpie, my cardboarded jersey, a pack of gum, and two bottles of water.

my uber drove me to the hotel entrance and i even got the whole five star welcome sjdhfsjdfbjkds

hotel staff: ”hi! welcome to the post oak hotel!”

me: “oh lmao i’m not actually a customer i’m just here to see if the team’s still here. have they left for practice yet?”

hotel staff: “oh no problem at all. they’re still here they just finished breakfast i think”

me: “oh cool i’ll just wait here then”

hotel staff and some guy in a bayern audi fcb tour polo shirt: “it’s so hot here, though. don’t you want to wait inside?”

me:

me: “............i can do that? am i allowed in?”

bayern guy: *shrugs* yeah sure. i’ve seen you around before anyway (nice guy talk for: i know ur stalking them lmao)

just like that.

i’m in. i made it.

u n s u p e r v i s e d. totally no barriers whatsoever. with full blast A/C too!

cue happy lil me, relieved to be out of the houston heat, entering the hotel and chilling in their nice plushy seats. (if y’all have cash to burn, it looks like a real good hotel too if you get to houston sometime). i kept on looking over my shoulder bc i still can’t believe they just let me in like t h a t. i tried to make myself look as harmless and innocent as possible and saw some of the training staff milling around and chatting in german (for a moment i thought i was back in munich it was so surreal). at some point, a very sleepy and very casual javi martinez in slides came up to the reception and i nearly passed out. he looked over at me and i waved and said hi and raised my shirt (signal if he wants to sign). he shook his head no and gestured to reception and i was like “oh sure no problem!” (i was trying not to freak out even if i was sad ok)

i’ve been trying to kill time by screaming here on tumblr until about 10-15 minutes later i heard the huge ass team bus pull up out front. a few moments after that, it all started.

i saw the kitmen carrying stuff to the bus and greeted them “guten morgen!” they were so cheery lmao (idk if it’s bc they just had breakfast or bc i greeted them in german). then i saw dr. broich and hansi flick come out in their training gear (both looking hella tanned sfnsjfjsdfn) and greeted them both again. dr. broich waved, said hi, and went straight to the bus but i was able to flag hansi down for an autograph. in my excitement (he was my first catch of the day!) i forgot to ask for a pic ugh but oh well

me: “thanks hansi! and welcome to bayern!”

hansi: *handing me back my shirt and trying (and failing) to put my sharpie back in its cap* “oh, thanks so much!”

after hansi went on his merry way, i saw dieter nickles (the press conference guy) and asked him for a picture and autograph too.

me: “hi dieter! can i please have a photo and an autograph?”

dieter: “are you sure? i’m not a player...”

me: “haha i know but if it’s all the same to you...”

he seemed pretty chuffed that i knew him and happily signed and took pictures (score #2!)

that was it for a while (they were the early birds) until giovane elber himself came out. i freaked (i love him) and tried to keep my voice from shaking when i asked him for the standard photo and autograph. in my haste, the first was pretty blurry and against the light but giovane, angel that he is, was like “oh no that’s bad. let’s try again” and maneuvered me to another angle. success! i luff u, giovane ;__;

then The Voice of the Allianz Arena himself came out. i semi-shouted “stephan!” and startled him that he nearly dropped his coffee snbfsdbfsdfsb. while he was signing my shirt, i asked him if he could give me a lil soundbite and HE DID! he sounds exactly the same as he does on TV during games omfg

the younglings started to come out too. i missed a few of them because they went out in a group so i was only able to flag down sarpreet and ron. oh well! they cute af! go bayern babies! grow up and save us from clownery!!!!!!

(ignore the pen in my mouth i was multitasking lmao)

after that, the ground started to shake (just kidding) bc Big Uncle Nik was there! after i got his autograph (a very simple N.S. lmaooo) , we tried to take a picture. i say “tried,” because i’m 5′3 (and 1/2....on a good day) and he’s built like a fuckin skyscraper. in the end, since he was so nice and realized it was hopeless, he bent down to my level so we could both fit in the frame sdhfbsdjfsbdfjd COME ON SÜLEEEEE

then Pure Angel Baby Fiete came out! i already got his autograph and had a pic with him in the hotel reception, but hey, one more can’t hurt! lemme tell y’all: he looks like an angel, and IS an angel. he’s always so game for photos and even said thank you after we took the pic and i’m like “um???? no, thank YOU!!!” he laughed and i cried lmaooo

also, javi finally showed up again. i raised my pen and phone and he was like “oh sure! yeah!” my brain was fried from Beautiful Athlete Overload that i forgot NOT to take a pic from that cursed angle. javi looked like he was in a hurry though so i didn’t even try to ask for a better pic. oh well, at least here he looks like he came down from heaven (he really looked like he did huehue)

(tumblr has this stupid 10 photo per post limit thing so stay tuned for more pics in part 2!)

[ryouverua]

Trial 6 - Flashfiction (4)

FLIP THAT CHESSBOARD, SWEETCHEEKS!

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3

it’s what kokichi would have wanted

DRV3 HOW DARE YOU HOLD OUT ON THE CUTEST DAMN TSUMUGI SPRITE OF THE ENTIRE GAME

how can mirrors be real if our eyes aren’t real

And we found it in Kokichi’s lab of all places. Why? Had he been able to get access to it ater all? Why was it just lying there so awkwardly - not hidden or neatly put away at all, but just tossed on the floor like an afterthought?

...... thinks about the state of Kokichi’s dorm room

yeah the chance that he left it on the floor like a bored 12 year old or me is not 0%

Wait.... is there??? The only one that stands out to me is the method of applying vs being scouted...

So we go over the events again, or as the game would probably put it, comb over The Longest, Most Ridiculous, Most Despairing Backstory to look for discrepancies.

Don’t look so pleased with yourself!

YES THANK YOU SHUICHI THANK YOU FOR STOPPING HER BEFORE SHE GOT STARTED AGAIN

It.... it doesn’t???

as;dflksdjf

U-Uuuuh Monokuma??? Are you just allowed to namedrop the title like that???

A-Anyway, this one was sort of vague - not sure if the game did too good a job of hiding it or not, but I certainly didn’t clue into this immediately because, well, I’d argue that Junko was ultimately the cause of this? And she was the original Ultimate Despair, even if Mukuro got roped into it with her? This felt a bit like being at a multiple choice exam where there are a few answers that are sort of right but not exactly right and then I cry

AND MUKURO!!! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS MUKURO ERASURE, DAMN IT!!! can you tell she was one of my favourites in the first game if not my favourite

“And that’s why, even though you are technically right, you are also wrong, and therefore will not get any points for your answer to this question.” sweetcheeks you sonuvab -

despite the mukuro erasure, consider me team maki

“Can it, nerd.”

It would have been really nice to have Maki in the first game.

We really are going over this piece by piece.

Okay, so now we’re reviewing the first game. They were forced to kill each other, then Junko was found out and killed herself in the end, which led to the eventual end of the Despair side....

Shuichi is clearly onto something that I haven’t quite latched onto yet. 8′D

This makes me think of how cool it would have been to have this text style in the previous games. Have I mentioned enough about how much I like the typography in drv3? Because I don’t know if that’s possible.

OOOH that’s right - I forgot! Or, well, I didn’t forget, but it didn’t really occur to me that we were remembering that they were literally trapped in the school by Ultimate Despair, I guess.

I guess the gist of it is that they’re remembering - well, not witnessing the events, but being told things were one way vs another. They would have been too young to have been alive at the time though, right? It seems to me that, though the game clearly wants us to take it a different way, we can also interpret this as them just being told the wrong thing within the memories themselves as opposed to the actual memories being entirely falsified. What if the reports at the time or the commonly-known story was that they had been locked in by Ultimate Despair, and it’s only the properly researched books like this that have the correct accounts? It’s not exactly an uncommon phenomenon for there to be widely-held mistaken knowledge/generalizations of famous events, unfortunately... 8′D

Anyway, I’m getting distracted because like I said, this is really not the angle the game is going with at all.

BULLSHIT

AND ALSO

WHY WOULD A BOOK EXIST THAT DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS THE MEMORIES YOU GAVE THEM

LIKE

WHY DOES IT EVEN EXIST IN THIS PLACE AT ALL

I’m seriously fixated on this book!

also

I love Shuichi just casually ignoring Junko!Tsumugi lmao

I’m calling her Junko!Tsumugi I refuse to call her Tsumugi!Junko I REFUSE TO GIVE UP ON TSUMUGI’S AUTONOMY

This.... this one has to be it, right? This was the one thing I remember getting really confused by when they talked about applying! In fact, I had thought the whole reason Shuichi was considered the Ultimate Detective was because of the homicide case and if that resulted in him being at Hope’s Peak, it was because word of that had traveled - but then if it was an application, that means either his parents or his uncle would have applied on his behalf, right?

this was a detail I remember remarking on and loving btw I got really sad when in Chapter 5 it started looking like they were all in the same class

I think more than the others, this is the big one. All that other stuff can be attributed to mistaken hearsay - but this? This is something they would have ‘directly experienced’.

Oh apparently he chose to come... despite feeling awkward about his title.

I wonder if he was pressured into it by his family....?

Or, uh. Let me correct myself. I wonder if, in this mistaken memory, he remembers being pressured into it by his family?

I-I feel like I would trust the book over you guys especially considering the whole ‘we remembered Kokichi Ouma as a Remnant of Despair and got him killed as the fake mastermind’ situation tbh.

well technically ultra despair girls is

That is a good point. I mean, it could quite possibly happen underground, but I suppose the same could be said of the Jabberwock Island one - there’s no reason that should be public knowledge.

“I mean, I know it’s nothing new, but bear with me here.”

H A L L E L U J A H

REALLY

REALLY

MAKI, REALLY

YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW BETTER

FUFCKFUCKING HELL GUYS YOU’RE KILLING ME HERE

sdfkdslfj fukging

noOOONONO

aND YOU! YOU SHUT UP TOO!!!!

“Also have you seen their outfits? Do you realize how terribly they would clash? ‘Oh Saihara, why would that matter what do uniforms have to do with anything surely Kokichi and his uniformed clown posse could just be a branch under the Remnants’ NO THAT WILL NOT FLY WHEN THE HEAD OF THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION LITERALLY DOUBLES AS THE ULTIMATE FASHIONISTA!!!”

this level of reasoning is possible for saihara shuichi

.... what do you think, everyone?

And he still has the Supreme Leader title, even if these aren’t really their talents... there has to be something to that, right?

Shu -

Shuichi

The words DICE were written in big words over his giant hella awesome throne

He has a checkered scarf which brings about a certain ‘game’ feeling

he literally challenged you to card games

I’m.... I’m just gonna throw it out there, but there’s a pretty good chance the group he led was called ‘DICE’.

YOU SAW THE VIDEO YOU SAW IT DAMN YOU MAKI I KNOW YOU’RE BETTER THAN THIS YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THIS!!!!

“Maki also said he literally said he didn’t know what she was talking about when she interrogated him with a crossbow literally aimed directly at him but surely that’s unrelated -”

s o b s

I 100% bet Tsumugi was not counting on them finding this room. So.... beginning the trial, she tried to do a Kaede/Kaede’s twin mastermind thing. Then she switched tactics to being solely ‘Junko’ and her lackey Kokichi setting up the game with the last survivors of humanity as... revenge for Hope’s Peak, I guess? Or something.

So where are we going from here? Are we about to discover this was all a simulated scenario then?

Sort of like they’re trying to test different outcomes and scenarios - with different talents, maybe? Is there the selected 16 (15? 14?) talents that can be switched around at will, or is there a larger database of students’ talents? That’s what I really want to know.

But “there are an endless possibilities for lies,” a certain person may say.

why are you all ganging up on me also how when two of you are literally the same person and the other one is an AI acting as an extension of you -

It sort of hit me but this is a weird echo of Korekiyo’s trial, with Junko and Tsumugi switching back and forth with each other the way Korekiyo and his sister did. I wonder if there’s something to that, or if it says something about Tsumugi in general...

(one hangman’s gambit later...)

TALENTS ARE NOT THEIRS AND POSSIBLY ARBITRARY CONFIRMED

I WOULD KILL FOR KOKICHI TO POP OUT OF THE GRAVE TO SHOUT IT’S A LIE RIGHT NOW

FUCK YOU BEAR

ghggkhgkh

that is a dangerous precedent to set

But you weren’t planning on revealing this, right??? Right???? Your hand was totally forced! Don’t play this off like it wasn’t!

I swear I had a similar idea when I was coming up with how they could see themselves in photos/pictures if the students weren’t actually who they thought they were - about how their brain filled in the gaps and placed their own faces where they’d expect to see them (like in the funeral scene with the portraits, etc). Glad to know I was kinda right on that regard!

I really like it when they combine Junko and Tsumugi here. There’s probably something to that - when it’s Tsumugi herself acting as the mastermind, as opposed to just being ‘Junko’.

T-Those are some pretty big inconsistencies though? Why would there be incorrect options in those flashback lights in the first place? What was there to gain for their being options where ‘Ultimate Despair trapped the first class in’ and ‘Junko is the end-all of Ultimate Despair’? At least Kokichi’s made sense to have on standby, but the other stuff? Isn’t their existence a bit weird?

It’s... nice to see Shuichi focusing on Kokichi. Being posthumous and all it’s a bit late, but it’s still nice - especially after all that talk of ‘not understanding him’ and ‘the embodiment of a lie’, having him finally clue in to Kokichi’s real place in all of this - a victim of the mastermind - is good. It’s the perfect example of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ and Kaito figured that out last chapter, so it’s long past due for Shuichi to drag himself and everyone else to that conclusion, kicking and screaming if he must.

(he was jealous of Angie)

because he was trying to stop the game!!!!!

Which, honestly, was pretty clever on her part. I think overall Kokichi will come out of this looking the best - he had so little going for him and almost succeeded in his coup - but the fact that Tsumugi was able to counter his surprise attack still says a lot about her own intelligence and her ability to adapt, because in that moment she also had limited options.

THANK

YOU

LORD

WE HAVE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO SAY FAREWELL TO REMNANT!OUMA THEORY

REST IN PIECES AND NEVER COME BACK

Pretty damn successfully, too.

While the fact that her first inclination was to straight-up murder Kokichi was very Not Good, it’s at least good to know that it took the extra nudge of the flashback lights to push her over the precipice. Basically, it took turning Kokichi into a complete monster in her eyes - Despair with a capital D - to strip away his humanity entirely. I do wonder if she still would’ve staged a rescue mission of sorts to rescue Kaito? For that matter, I wonder if Kaito had been on the outside (with the Flashback Light used on him and everything) and it was someone else being held hostage like Shuichi, would he have been able to talk Maki down?

It’s interesting how they’re turning hope itself into a weapon here. I think Junko talked about this in the first game, the idea of giving hope out to maximize despair, so it’s not the first time the mastermind has actively used hope as a weapon - but it’s never felt quite as dirty as it does here.

!!! We’re seeing her as herself in the room!!! I guess it’s the flashback light classroom, but still!

That is so unfair considering they were all being threatened with death, you were straight up messing with their brains and also that airlock exists??? And they straight-up collapsed after being exposed to the outside??? I’m 

I think Shuichi managed to break away from that a bit at the end... maybe. He seems more motivated by righting the wrong in Kaede’s case at this point, and of avenging everyone who died - but the same can’t be said of the others.

Man I even wondered what it would be like without Kaito and Kokichi there considering they’ve been the strongest ‘movers’ on both sides - and the answer ended up being ‘I’ll give you artificial motivation to act’.

SHE’S.... REALLY A KILLING GAME FAN GIRL AFTER ALL..........

Oh, this does feel dirty. She’s lusting after them in an abstract way - like pieces on a chessboard. Kokichi was able to compartmentalize and make people take certain actions to an extent, but even he had attachments that he wasn’t able to shake. I knew it felt like she had managed to keep herself from getting too close to them, with the sole exception of the protectiveness she felt for Gonta (which?? I want to know if we’ll hear anything about that specifically???) but this is... wow.

Actually, this is very Komaeda-esque isn’t it? She wants to see them succeed in their battles against each other in a similar way...

Junko only gets that look when she’s actually mad. So if Tsumugi is sporting that... well, she must be smarting a bit underneath all the gloating she’s doing. She was happily spouting off ‘hints’ before, right?

Oh??

me too tbh

OH THE TURNABOUT MUSIC IS HERE

THAT TRANSITION WAS SO GOOD AND SMART WHAT A GREAT WAY TO USE THE PORTRAIT STAND

oooh! OOOOH! OH WHAT A FANTASTIC POINT!

SHUICHI MY BOY YOU’RE ON A ROLL NOW! GET HYPED GET HYPED GET HYP -

AAAAAAAAAAH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hajimemed

[haruki-ya]

Hot Take on Akira playin God

Been thinkin bout this ever since I rewatched Akira. how much of what happens is fate vs. coincidence? or say the influence of some greater hand at work? namely, Akira’s influence himself. 

Takashi is essentially the catalyst for the story, both in film and in manga, as he sets off the chain of events that leads to the second destruction of Neo Tokyo by inadvertently helping to awaken Tetsuo’s powers, but is the fact that he happened to be on the same highway ramp as Tetsuo pure coincidence? What made him run to the old part of town? Surely safety from the army and protests, but why did he run away from the city and ultimately any chance of finding Ryu, the person who his guide said for him to find? Is Takashi the only catalyst here?

When Tetsuo first ran into Takashi during the chase with the Clowns and was injured leading him to being taken away by the army and Col. Shikishima, Dr. Onishi was quick to notice the unique energy pattern Tetsuo’s brainwaves displayed as they were examining his injuries in the hospital. saying it was unlike any other he had seen. Shikishima speculated Tetsuo’s run in with Takashi awakened any latent psychic powers within him and that is the most likely scenario because Tetsuo did exhibit signs of some inexplicable foresight right after the incident by repeating Akira’s name despite being in a completely separate room from Shikishima and Onishi as they discussed him. I think tho that was the initial time Akira reached out to Tetsuo’s unconscious mind.

Shikishima asked to see the overlay of Akira’s energy pattern with Tetsuo’s, which looked like a giant dome, or “black shadow” dubbed so by Kiyoko in her precognitive dream, which totally encompassed and swallowed Tetsuo’s power signature, a delicious piece of foreshadowing for the end of the film as well as a look at the sheer magnitude of Akira’s power! 

One theory I have (which really ain’t theory so much as speculation based on cannon events) is that just like how the government can track the use of psychic energy through technology, other espers can track psychic energy through something similar to a sixth sense. Akira sensed the compatibility of Tetsuo’s energy with his from the beyond as nothing but energy himself and I imagine he was initially drawn to the similar energy signature knowing that Tetsuo’s rapidly growing powers, once finally matured, would awaken his own. This is also how Kiyoko was able to kinda possess Kei (and become what I love to dub Keiyoko) because she recognized the dormant power of Akira in her that every person has, but her power in particular was stronger/more compatible with Kiyoko’s energy pattern than any one else around. (side note, but something I like to see in post-canon stories is Kei having a low level psychic inclination having had her psychic potential awakened by Kiyoko) 

Akira, who was cryogenically frozen whole in the manga, has nothing to him after the fact but a sixth sense as an unconscious omnipresence that kind of lingers both in memories and in an intangible presence, sort of like air or atoms making up all matter. I think that in the cryochamber, whether in jars or as a whole body, Akira’s conscious mind was asleep but his unconscious mind awake. That is where the supernatural powers of all espers lie, within the unconscious until it is awakened, either by stress, pain, or experimental measures that the government took with the Subjects.

Akira is often likened to “pure energy” which is part of all things in the world and this statement makes sense as to how Akira is later able to subdue Tetsuo once he’s unable to control his powers (fight fire with fire, energy with energy.) Like, technically he was never dead in the manga but his powers were sealed away and his active consciousness suppressed or more literally frozen. In the movie, he was dead af and in several glass jars yet still managed to “communicate” with Tetsuo, Kiyoko, Takashi, and Masaru as well as manifest himself in the end thanks to Tetsuo losing control. 

This scene is how I imagine Akira communicating to Tetsuo, both as a warning and a premonition. Nonsensical images and impressions that to Tetsuo make no damn sense but to Akira have probably already been cemented into history (because all he’s essentially doing is bringing about a repeat of his prior mistake, but this time he gonna do it right with the help of unstable Tets.)

Akira guided Takashi to Tetsuo, because he foresaw the chain of events that would happen were the two to meet (”The future is not a straight line. It is filled with many crossroads. There must be a future that we can choose for ourselves” what better person to choose than the all powerful Akira??) and knew were it so Tetsuo’s awakened powers would bring him back to life. Kiyoko said so herself in the showdown Tetsuo had with the esper kids that Akira will be reawakened by Tetsuo’s power when it reaches his peak, and nothing will be able to stop him then. Here I always mistakenly thought Kiyoko was talking about Tetsuo, but Akira is who can’t be stopped in the end which is why his revival is both detrimental to the end and the start of a civilization. 

Akira’s powers are said to have grown out of control, similar to Tetsuo, but I can’t help but think he purposefully let himself wreak havoc on Tokyo. In the manga, Akira is said to have gone on a rampage and killed several scientists and other subjects where in the film he is described as loosing control of his powers. I think he was fed up with the life he lived as a test subject and turned his anger and resentment outwards towards the world and ended up grinding a whole city into the ground with his wrath, but before attempting to create from the destruction. (Kiyoko, with her exceptional psychic precognition, possibly knew what Akira was up to the first time he caused Tokyo’s fallout, as did Masaru and Takashi, but they had concern for others and were willing to stay in the facility as test subjects where as Akira, and similarly Tetsuo, were not.)

Akira wanted to live again, but not in a world where he would be monopolized and treated like a guinea pig to the white coats. Unlike Masaru, Kiyoko, and maybe hesitantly Takashi, he never got used to the idea of being experimented on for his powers and ultimately caused the first fallout ofTokyo and World War III due to his resistance of the life he was forced to live. Tetsuo, following closely in his footsteps of reluctance to take orders from authority, played a pawn for his desires of creating a new world where himself and his friends would be free to grow up as they pleased and not listen to orders from those who only had their own interests in mind. that is a goal I feel the two of them shared, but I theorize Akira’s goal was to literally create this new world whereas Tetsuo just wanted to change the world he already lived in. Tetsuo’s well matched energy and hatred towards the white coats though was as good a sign as any for Akira to finish what he started. 

The new world can honestly either be the devastated, leveled Neo Tokyo free of a corrupt, capitalist government after the second fallout or the new dimension (not sure whether to call it a universe or world? i’m still unclear on it tbh) that is created during the blast in which Tetsuo, Akira, Masaru, Kiyoko, and Takashi are enveloped within. The world in which they will be able to choose their futures for themselves. The world in which Akira tried once before but failed to create until he had the final key to the equation.

So basically to sum up my cluster fuck of thoughts, I theorize Akira playing a very important but seemingly nonexistent role in the progression of the films plot by sleight of hand. He is the driving force behind all coincidences within the film despite literally having screen time for .2 seconds because to him the events that took place were predestined to happen, one way or another, in order for his resurrection and subsequent awakening to happen. Having the power to manipulate matter, time, and life itself pretty much makes Akira a God, hence the prevalence of Lord Akira fanatics in film and manga. The whole film tho is a domino effect of incidents from the future that Akira chose, one free from the shackles of an unawakened world, in more ways than one .

[momestuck]

Epilogues: Meat ch 9-13 [Epilogue 2]

We have set the stage for the Masterpiece. Now the Masterpiece itself. For reference to the original work, it begins here.

Chapter 9

We are informed that Caliborn may have taken some creative liberties. In pretty much as many words. Nevertheless, from John’s perspective, it is indeed true that Caliborn traps him and the three other beta kids in the house juju - for ‘quadrillions of years’, ‘from the outside perspective’.

Chapter 10

Jane POV chapter. She gets the news that she’ll be running against Karkat. She’s not terribly happy.

She also keeps thinking in really eugenic ways like ‘stock’, and correcting herself on the level of words and not like, actual principle lol.

We learn a little more about Dave’s politics: he’s against “neoliberal austerity measures”, whose phrasing suggests like, either a Keynesian or a socdem type approach...

Anyway, to ensure her victory, and make sure a troll couldn’t preside over the first generation of troll reproduction (no that’s not my gloss, she actually goes and says that in the narration!), Jane calls up Jake to try and win over his endorsement.

She certainly doesn’t have any sudden desire to fuck him in this timeline.

Chapter 11

John was apparently not aware of the whole ‘house juju’ plan, because he’s moping about being trapped in it.

The beta kids can at least talk to each other through the walls of the house, but it’s hard to hear. They can also hear the battle taking place outside - apparently in real time.

John can’t really talk to them very easily, so he starts thinking about, what else, his own massive depression. Hey, been there. Terezi, he reckons, would have helped - pushed him to live a bit.

Chapter 12

Oh hell yes it’s time for Dave to monologue about economics.

Basically Dave’s a classic socdem, and he sees what Jane’s aiming for as an appeal to ‘supply-side economics’ favouring tax cuts which, it’s alleged, create economic growth.

He points to their own inadequacy to the task, and continues to hero-worship Obama:

DAVE: which is fine i mean you cant really expect a bunch of teens who didnt finish middle school to set up a sustainable form of social democracy that isnt just blatantly ripped off whatever we incorrectly thought obama god rest his soul was doing back in the day

That’s certainly a take...

Anyway Dave says they’ve merely been ‘playacting capitalism’ the last five thousand years, but he anticipates Jane will try to restrict the use of grist alchemy to stimulate ‘growth’ - a move which Dave anticipates would lead immediately to a communist movement, or possibly a clown dictatorship.

In an echo of her role in ‘Candy’, Jade inserts a sexual innuendo to Karkat’s massive discomfort, but Dave manages to blow it off before it can get too awkward.

Jade wants to get them together just as much in this timeline. But she instead tells them about the Laffer curve, which you’d think Dave would know about given his whole presentation, but the narration treats as a foreign concept to him.

Quick summary: the Laffer curve is a fancy name for the relationship between tax rate and government revenue. Set the tax rate to zero, you obviously get no taxes; set the tax rate to 100%, and nobody has any money after the first year of taxation, so there’s no economic activity and the revenue thereafter is once again zero. By a theorem calculus, if we assume the relation between tax rate and revenue makes a continuous curve, there must be a value in between these two extremes which maximises government revenue. So far so good... only economists can’t agree on what the actual Laffer curve looks like, or where exactly this peak might be. Reagan justified his program of tax cuts by claiming that the US was on the right hand side of the Laffer curve, so reducing taxes would increase government revenue.

tl;dr: Jane == Reagan, economically, got it?

Anyway we’re not really here for economics, we’re here for... shipping. This time, instead of weird sexually-assaulty boundary-pushing moves to jujitsu them into admitting feelings, Jade just... straight up talks about it.

Karkat is not prepared for this conversation, oh no... we get quadrants, god tier bullshit, it’s exactly as chaotic as a conversation about relationships with the people who invented the penis ouija should be.

But despite the heavy davekat teasing... not yet.

Chapter 13

And now we’re “the true hero of this tale” - Vriska, who appears to have taken over the narration. Back to second person again.

This is Vriska on maximum arrogance - proud of all the people she hurt, including her alternate self. Unfortunately she gets caught in the head by a sharp piece of spacetime.

Head wounds are serious business. Call an ambula -- ah. Well. I asked my girlfriend, who knows more about first aid than me, what to do when you have a head injury, there are no hospitals or ambulances because you’re fighting Lord English in paradox space and there’s a giant black hole. She said it would be very hard to diagnose the severity of a head injury on Vriska because the diagnostic criteria ask whether they’re acting like a DICChead, but then we established there would also be considerable danger to the first aider from the giant black hole, reality collapsing, and Lord English, and as such they should make these safe before attempting first aid.

Vriska gets pulled into the giant black hole - which we now know will dump her in the ‘non-canon’ universe of the Candy story.

That’s the end of Epilogue 2. Phew.

Epilogue 2, in summary

I expected the Lord English confrontation. Candy had informed us that Vriska would be forced to leave the battlefield early.

I did not expect the extensive discussion of taxation rates.

Homestuck!

[crdenhart]

10 Movies You Should Watch This Halloween 2017

October is here, and now is the time to get into the Halloween spirit! Instead of the traditional “best of” Halloween movie list (don’t need to mention yet again how much I love The Shining, the first two Halloween films, and The Exorcist), here are a list of 10 movies (in release date order) that may not be as well known or not usually listed among the upper echelon of scary movies but perfect for this 2017 Halloween season and worth a look.

Eraserhead (1977)

“In Heaven everything is fine…”

The spectacular new season of Twin Peaks just came to an end last month, so this Halloween would be the perfect time to take a look back at David Lynch’s brilliant feature film debut on its 40th anniversary.  The film create a sense of total dread and darkness in its beautiful black-and-white cinematography, eerie sound design, and well-acted performances. It is pure horror!  The film has inspired a significant number filmmakers over the years, including Stanley Kubrick while he worked on The Shining. It may be one of the most important movies ever made!

Phantasm (1979)

“Boooy!”

This cult-classic horror film was remastered in HD this past year (with the help of JJ Abrams) so this Halloween would be the first time to experience the film in its full visual glory.  I love the creepy music, eerie sets, and low-fi feel of the film; feels like being in a haunted house. Really high quality for such a low budget and some really good scares, especially Angus Scrimm as the menacing Tall Man. If you like movies such as Stranger Things, Super 8, and the Halloween series you will love Phantasm!

Vincent (1982)

“Vincent is nice when his aunt comes to see him, but imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum.”

This early Tim Burton stop-motion short film is a masterpiece! Vincent Price provides the narration with great inflection.  The animation is top-notch and some of the best stop-motion work ever; love the dark visuals and music.  At some points it feels like we are getting a glimpse at Tim Burton’s childhood.  The short celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, and its influence shows in the many stop-motion films that have been released since (i.e. Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie). It’s almost as if all stop-motion animated films have to be horror-themed and this one was the first.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

“Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! Happy, happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!”

Most overlook this film and pass on it as “the one without Michael Myers,” but Season of the Witch is actually a great horror film in its own respect. John Carpenter’s idea of having a different Halloween-themed story with each sequel while maintaining some of the same crew and cast (albeit in different roles) was way ahead of its time and now seems to be commonplace with American Horror Story changing its story and characters every year.  I love the cinematography, special effects, scary soundtrack, especially the dark “Silver Shamrock” commercial song.  The movie also celebrates its 35th anniversary this Halloween.  Definitely worth another look because it is actually a good horror movie, especially if one doesn’t think of it as a Halloween sequel.

Return to Oz (1985)

“There’s no place like home!”

Many see this movie as the weird Wizard of Oz sequel. However, it stands on its own as a truly unique fantasy adventure film. It is actually quite dark in parts; more in the likes of The Neverending Story or The Dark Crystal than the 1939 original.  This movie is great for Halloween with the fall setting, the Halloween visuals (i.e. Jack Pumpkinhead, the thousand-head wicked witch Mombi), and the spooky interpretation of Oz.

Stephen King’s It (1990)

“They ALL float down here. When you’re down here with us, you’ll float too!”

If you like the new IT adaptation (or if you don’t), definitely check out the 1990 original. The new film has more impressive special effects and is a better movie overall, but the 1990 miniseries holds a special nostalgic place in my heart and is much scarier thanks mostly to Tim Curry’s terrifying performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. This film also would make a great introduction to the horror genre to younger viewers because it scary without the excessive gore or gratuitous sex found in many horror films.

Halloweentown (1998)

“Being normal is vastly overrated.”

With the passing of star Debbie Reynolds this past December, this Halloween is the perfect time to pay tribute to the late actress by watching one of her best films.  My siblings and I watched this film and its sequels (the 2nd one is good too, 3rd and 4th are not so much) every Halloween at our grandparents’ house. Not really scary as much as it is a fun Halloween movie. I love the decorative set designs of the town (it’s a place I would love to visit if it were real) and the cool costumes used for all the monster characters who live in Halloweentown. It’s a movie all ages can enjoy!

The Sixth Sense (1999)

“I see dead people.”

With writer-director M. Night Shyamalan making a successful career comeback earlier this year with Split, this Halloween is the perfect time to take a look back at the film that made him a celebrity filmmaker. The atmosphere and performances are incredible!  I used to watch this film for the horror elements as a kid and in my teen year, but now as an adult, I see this more as a film about love and relationships.  There are some scenes that really hit me deeply on an emotional level, especially in the scene where Cole tells his mom how much her mother really loved her and the final scene with Malcolm and his wife.  One watching this movie can see why Shyamalan was at one point thought to be the next Spielberg.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007)

“Behind these eyes one finds only blackness, the absence of light.  These are the eyes of a psychopath.”

This Halloween marks the 10th anniversary of Rob Zombie’s Halloween film (my dad and I saw it theaters on opening day when I was a high school freshman). It is quite possibly the best horror film of the past 15 years! Though not as much of classic or as scary as the 1978 original, the 2007 film stands above other horror remakes (i.e. Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Fog, Prom Night, Psycho, Amityville Horror) and succeeds by being its own thing and not trying to be a carbon copy of the original.  I especially like the performances including Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis and Daeg Faerch as young Michael Myers.  Also some really great cinematography and use of colors and overall pacing that gives the story a grand scope.  Plus it has a killer soundtrack featuring awesome songs like “God of Thunder” by KISS, “Baby, I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton, and “Love Hurts” by Nazareth.

Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

“Always check your candy.”

Good elements of dark comedy are sprinkled throughout this colorful horror anthology. I like how the film is several Halloween-themed shorts that are all tied together.  It’s the rare horror film that is both fun and scary!  Also check out writer-director Michael Dougherty’s short animated precursor “Season’s Greetings,” really retro and creative!

Happy Halloween!  By the way, as an added treat, here is a picture from my animated Halloween short in post-production called “Halloween Cat.”

[ruined-rp]

Derek Hale Sample App

OUT OF CHARACTER:

Name: Admin Kitty Pronouns: She/Her Age: 27  Timezone/Country: Australia - GMT+10/AEST Triggers: Rape, trypophobia, clowns, insects Activity Level: 5-6, I own my own business and am currently caring for my grandmother as she’s very ill but I’m around on mobile constantly and am quite regular with my replies! How Did You Hear About Us: I am the creator of all things Ruined :p

Anything Else?: I am so excited for this RP to start! The Code: N/A

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Desired Character: The one and only Derek Hale. Why This Character?: The first ever male muse I ever wrote is Dean Winchester- and he still holds a very special place in my heart but when I connected with Derek Hale, it was like a whole new world opened itself up to me. He is my ultimate muse, the one I have written the most, the one I have written the longest... the one I will return to, time and time again because writing Derek is like coming home. Any FC Changes?: Never in a million years Ships/Anti-ships: He’s a bleeding heart, especially for the women. Even after all the hurt he’s suffered by their hands, he’s still a sucker for a damsel in distress but, I will go where the chemistry and development leads, every time. It also has to make sense to his plot and character type, for example; I would never pitch Kate with Derek unless it was flash backs showing their relationship before the fire.  Headcanons: 

TATTOOS: Derek has a triple spiral or triskelion on his back. It is three spirals connected together.The triskelion is an ancient symbol and whilst it has many, many meanings, to Derek , the symbol stands for the three types of werewolves - Alpha, Beta and Omega. He says it reminds him that while we can rise we can also fall, a Beta becoming an Alpha or an Alpha falling back down to Omega status.It’s also in my opinion an ode to his heritage. The symbol represents his family, almost like a family/pack crest. He has the symbol on Laura’s grave, also in his home and further, it’s the symbol on the tokens given to the Hale Children by Talia to help them with their transitions and to learn control. Derek also has a full sleeve down his left arm that covers the top of his hand- the entire depiction is an ode to the moon and his wolf. He also has a small crescent moon tattooed on the inside of his right wrist.

CRESCENT: Like all of the Hale’s and Labonair’s, Derek has a birth mark of a crescent moon. His is on the inside of his left ankle, whereas Hayley’s is on the back of her shoulder. It’s what ultimately lead to Hayley’s discovery and the one thing that sets their families apart from the rest of the Crescent legacies. The birthmark is what gives a wolf the right to become Alpha of the Crescent Wolf Pack, should their time ever come... something that isn’t always a blessing or a right of passage.

FAVOURITE THINGS: Derek has a thing for Winter too but there is something so special about Autumn. It’s natures way of preparing for change, of shedding the old after a brilliant array of colour and beauty ready for a new cycle. The colours that surrounded his loft and the home he grew up in felt like a warm hug from the earth. Not that he’d ever admit that out loud...He’s also an exceptionally good cook. There’s something so therapeutic about being in the kitchen, making something by his hand. He’s great at any handy-work style task but making good food for his pack and watching the joy on their faces as they sit around the logs and a freshly stoked fire eating whatever he’d prepared for them is one of his favourite traditions. Please Provide At Least One: You can find it all here  → [xxxx]

CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE:

How Does Your Character Feel About The Peace Treaty?: It was his family that helped established the Peace Treaty but frankly, his thoughts on it are a lot like believing in God. You do, until something goes wrong and then you don’t. After the loss of his family, he wasn’t sure he could stomach the idea of living in Peace with the very people who destroyed him but the Hales and his pack have lived in New Orleans for centuries, have built a refuge here… if signing a treaty fortified their position in this town? Then so be it. Though, he is no fool. Peace is only ever temporary, and when it all falls apart… he is ready. His pack is prepared. Slice of Life: Derek is a simple man, with simple habits. Sleep, clean, wank, plot vengeance, exercise, cook, repeat. He lives his life one day at a time, and tries not to break the norm of his routine, because at this point in his life routine is all he had. It’s what kept him going day by day in his methodical existence.One of his most important habits is his exercise. He works out at least two hours every single day. A wolf in his position has to stay fit, after all. His routine consists of cardio + calisthenics. It allows his stamina and endurance to peak and it was what kept him so light on his toes, almost always guaranteeing the upper hand in any fight when combining that with the fact that he was an alpha. When he’s not training himself, he’s training the Pack- especially Scott and Hayley, who need him the most right now. On occasion, he’ll head to Auggie’s or Rousseau’s and blow off a little steam. Things are calm right now, and Derek is relishing in it whilst he can because he knows that it’s a false sense of security, literally the calm before the storm. With each day, the Nemeton grows stronger and it’ll take every none of them to stop it. What is Your Character’s Greatest Fear? How Does This Affect Your Character?: He’s lived it. Over and over again, Derek has come face to face with his worst fear of that decade and somehow survived. He’s lost every one he’s ever loved or cared for in any capacity. Felt the pain and anguish of life. He fears for the safety of NOLA and those who still look up to him for guidance and protection but at the same time, he’s broken- so yeah, the fear is still there, but it’s dormant. No longer the driving force of his actions.

SAMPLE:

“Dreams are excursions into the limbo of things, a semi deliverance from the human prison.”

The near full moons light illuminated the restless body of the alpha, reflecting against the light sheen of a cold sweat on his naked skin as he tossed and turned under the sheets that threatened to suffocate him. The recurring dream Derek had each night since the tragic events that affected the course of his life forever was yet again plaguing his mind; only tonight it was different…where he was normally thrown awake in terror, there was something pulling him deeper, sucking him further into the memory.

His feet were moving so fast, were he not a wolf he’d have tumbled face first. His heart beat so violently against his throat Derek feared he was going to choke on it. Panic was all consuming as branches whipped against him, cutting his skin and piercing his soul. How could he have been so stupid? Trusting Kate was going to have an affect on his life like he could never imagine…

His mind flashed to the house, the sky ahead now black in the midst of the night, the moon tucked away behind the dense trees surrounding his family home, the stars a beautiful contrast to the horror below them. The screams had begun, the blood curdling cries of those who shared his blood, locked in the basement and too far gone for him to save…  The pain in his chest threatening to break him open.

Suddenly, his view shifted, he was running again only now that view was lower, his body morphed into his wolf form. The pain a little less, a dull ache in the back of his mind overcome by his animal instincts as he hunted his prey through the forest. With a shift in his sleep he pounced on the deer he had been stalking, his teeth sinking into the warm furry flesh as he ravaged the animal the way his past ravaged him.  

Blood dripping from his fangs as he finally pulled away, satiated. Sitting back on his haunches his muzzle lifted to the night sky as a howl erupted from deep in his chest before taking off again. Constantly running, barely living…a half life, a life of fur deep emotions and animal meat for sustenance…

The alpha didn’t know how to pull himself out, the dreams getting increasingly more real as he lived his past trauma, playing out the last two years of his life mentally….only it wasn’t just the recent trauma he was seeing….The scene shifted to a younger version oh himself, the child with human eyes standing over the slowly fading body of his first love. His mother had told him it was mere puppy love, the hearts desire of a teenager swirling in his own hormones but he constantly denied it… how could something so pitiful feel so real? How could it end so fast, at his own hands, no less?

Sinking to his knees, tears choking him as he reached trembling hands out to grasp the skin getting colder and colder underneath his touch. “I’m sorry, Paige…I’m so sorry” He knew it had to end, Peter having left her crippled, the damage irreversible. “It’s ok, Derek-” her voice was faint as it escaped her soft lips, her eyes fluttering closed one final time as he snapped her neck needing the end to be as quick and painless as possible…even though his own heart shattered into a million pieces…

With a sideways slam, Derek was back on his knees among the rubble that was once his family, his home, his life. Ash streaked his clothes as his hands closed around the bones of his parents, attempting to lift the fragile bones only for them to disintegrate to dust, blowing away in the wind as a scream erupted from his lips. All the heartbreak he’d ever felt in his life coming out in the night, lost to the universe as he was lost to himself…

The night continued, the alpha trapped in a dream world, forced to relive all the mistakes he had made throughout his life. The lives taken because of him and his actions, the pain he suppressed from his own determination to carry on….for what? What was the point, when all he ever touched seemed to die. Something was keeping Derek under and he fought to get out, his hands turned to claws as he absent mindedly raked them through the air, through his sheets, through his own skin. Blood pooling around his unconscious body as his consciousness continued to be assaulted by his own wrongdoing.

__________________________________________________________________________

This was written for a prompt  that I was in and very fond of. It consisted of characters being forced into a lucid dream they couldn’t escape and is one of my favourite Derek pieces. I thought it a great way to introduce Derek to Ruined. <3 Please note, when providing your own sample, it needs to either be specific to your character in this RP or from a blog proving you own the original work.

[ciathyzareposts]

Crusaders of the Dark Savant: Rattrap

Esteban prepares to cast a spell that rarely fails to perform.

         When I last wrote, I thought I was stuck underground in Nyctalinth. As some of you guessed, I simply overlooked a ladder. This brought me to an area I had marked as dead space. In the middle of that area was a statue of Phoonzang, labeled “THE CREATOR.” I couldn’t find anything productive to do with it. From here, a secret door put me back in the main area of Nyctalinth. Someone said I need something from another location before I could finish this map, so I took the Anthracax back to New City.

In New City, I found a random building in which to drop my excess stuff, as several of you recommended. This included quest items I’m pretty sure I’ve already used and special items that require different classes. I find it amusing that other NPCs repeatedly beat me to key treasure chests, despite all the obstacles in between, but apparently the stuff I drop in a random unlocked corner is safe.             

I get a lot of use out of the fountain in the starter dungeon near New City.

            Commenters had suggested that I might be able to do something with the computer in New City, perhaps with something I’d found in Nyctalinth, but I fiddled with it for a while and nothing seemed to work. I might need a more explicit hint there.

At this point, I had three major unexplored areas: south of Munkharama, northeast of Orkogre, and the sea. I chose the northeast path, but for some reason I decided to walk there from west of New City–probably because I stopped at the fountain in the starting dungeon first. North of the orchid fields, with half of my characters asleep, I ran into Shritis T’Rang, who’d I’d last seen when I gave him orders to STRIKE.          

Then why are you wasting my time stopping me?

           Shritis insulted me, and I decided I could do with one fewer NPC to encounter randomly in the world. I attacked him, which caused him to somehow immediately summon a veritable army of T’Rang to his side. Fortunately, I was at the peak of my powers, having just maxed out at a fountain, and a full-powered “Nuclear Blast” took care of everyone except Shritis himself. He was no pushover; he was capable of multiple high-damage melee attacks per round, with poison and paralysis effects. It took about six rounds to kill him in melee combat, and I lost Bix in the process (I resurrected him afterwards). I was hoping I’d get some kind of sick weapon or something, but the battle just won me a lot of experience. 

East of Nyctalinth and northeast of Orkogre, I entered a grove. Multiple ominous warning messages preceded combats with tree-creatures called “Man o’ Groves” and “Halloweeches.” I swear I’ve seen something that looks like these creatures before, in another game or movie, but I can’t quite place them. There were about six fixed battles in the area, culminating in a combat with their leader, Tobagan.

When the dust settled, I found a slab in the middle of the area, with a carving depicting a giant tree with a gnarled face. Running through my items, the only thing I could think might help was the bonsai tree I’d picked up in Orkogre. When I planted it, it grew into some kind of creature named Maa-Googg, who promised me one of his servants would grant me a boon. The tree shrank and disappeared.               

If I tell you my name, will it mean anything to you?

            Moving on, we started to encounter a lot more Rattkin parties, and walls started appearing in the environment. Messages indicated that we were circling some kind of ruin, but the entrances were choked with trees and other foliage. Eventually, we reached a square where a tree came alive and lifted the party over the wall and dropped us in the ruins. I assume this was Maa-Googg’s servant.              

A tree lifts us over the wall.

           The ruins, which I haven’t yet finished, comprise two levels with a maze of ladders connecting them. Large parties of Rattkin have attacked me throughout, although they respond nicely to most spells, including “Asphyxiate.” One battle, however, with a Rattkin named Grimal and several parties of Rattkin Ronin, was almost comically hard. The Ronin version are capable of numerous mage spells, including “Sleep,” “Weaken,” and “Fireball,” and they get multiple attacks per round. When I first encountered them, I was at half-health and got slaughtered. I had to reload several times to defeat them, exhausting my spell points in doing so.             

This was one of the hardest battles in the game so far.

            There haven’t been any puzzles in the area, but there are a few NPCs. One, occupying an alcove off a large courtyard, is an old blind Rattkin named–groan–“Blienmeis.” He hasn’t had much to say in conversation, and I’m not sure what to do with him. On an upper floor is an impatient, jumpy Rattkin named “Bertie” selling ammunition for bows and slings (I was just complaining about how rare ammo is).              

Either NPCs don’t have a lot of answers, or I just keep using the wrong dialogue prompts.

              There are two major areas I haven’t been able to figure out how to access. One is a locked door at the entrance to “Rubi’s Funhouse.” The face of a clown on the door is lacking a nose, and none of my existing objects seem to suffice.

The second area is behind a door titled “Ratskell’s Thieves Guild.” There’s a window next to the door, and there a Rattkin demands that I put my hand through the window. He feels my hand and tells me that I’m not a good enough thief, to come back when I’ve had more practice. I suspect this is because I’ve barely put any points into the “Legerdemain” skill, not intending to steal from NPCs. I’m not sure how to fix that at this point, when leveling has slowed to a crawl. I may have to change my ninja back to a thief so I can jack up that skill.             

There are so many ways this could go bad.

                Lots of miscellaneous notes:

The economy is a bit weird in this game. You rarely encounter anyone with much to sell, but when you do, what you want is inevitably very expensive. Most combats don’t provide gold–through most of the game, I’ve earned more from selling unwanted equipment–but occasionally you meet an enemy that inexplicably delivers a lot of gold. I made about 1,200 gold pieces per battle against the “Mans o’ Groves,” for instance.

My characters’ melee prowess continues to grow as I (slowly) level, with my lord now capable of about eight attacks per round, four at the beginning and four at the end. It’s nice when a game doesn’t under-value melee characters at higher levels. In some earlier Wizardry titles, spellcasters carry almost all the load once you hit the midgame.

This game could really benefit from a Bard’s Tale-like “batch spell” that casts “Armorplate,” “Direction,” “Enchanted Blade,” “Reveal Secret,” and “Magic Screen” simultaneously. I try to keep these spells on as often as possible, but they only last about 15 minutes even at the highest power.

It’s surprising how rarely the party is at 100%. It only happens when you spend some time at a fountain. Resting really doesn’t restore much at all.

The game has an encumbrance system, but since it began I’ve been nowhere near in danger of exceeding any character’s load, and I’m usually packed to the gills with inventory.

When I’m fighting Rattkin leaders, the game always says that they attack with vorpal blades. Where do those blades go when the combat is over? I never get them.

We have a new NPC who frequently drops in for a visit, forcing me to acknowledge her introductory text repeatedly before I can “Leave” and move on.

               Why art thou trying to sound like Lord British?

              It’s extremely satisfying when I hit an enemy with a sling bullet or dart, do only 1 damage, and then roll a critical hit and kill him. 

            I haven’t talked much about the disarm and unlock minigames, which I enjoy. The disarm screen requires you to “inspect” the trap and try to figure out the trap’s assembly pattern and match it to several potential traps accessible from the scroll bar. Attempting to disarm a trap or calibrate a lock tumbler requires you to click a button above a window that continually flashes green, red, and yellow.              

Picking a lock. Getting all five tumblers was a stroke of luck.

          If you click when it’s red, you fail and the trap blows up or the lock jams. If you click when green, you succeed. If you click when yellow, you get another chance. The proportions of the colors are dependent on your “Skullduggery” skill, but otherwise it’s just luck; the colors flash to quickly to actually time them.

Here’s quick review of all of my unsolved puzzles and unexplored areas. I’ll take light hints if I’m already supposed to have the item or knowledge to get past the area.

Nyctalinth: Energy field blocking passage between two pillars.

Nyctalinth: The jeweled staff that the ghost keeps stealing.

Nyctalinth: Gooey balls on the cave floor.

New City: Computer in Controller room.

New City: Whatever I have to say to Professor Wunderland to get key to Old City.

New City: Access to Umpani embassy.

New City: “Twisted Heads” puzzle.

Seas and river south of New City

River north of Munkharama

Northeast ruins: How to get into Rubi’s Funhouse

Northeast ruins: Getting into thieves’ guild.

Continuing wilderness east of northeast ruins.

Munkharama: Getting the 5 flowers for Master Xheng.

Continuing wilderness south of Munkharaam.

I like having my characters settled in a single class. My lord is particularly kicking ass every round with his Sword of 4 Winds. His statistics are almost maxed too–everything’s 17 or 18 except one 16. Ninja (who despite my complaint above did end up with a Vorpal Sword) and Valkyrie continue to pull their weight, landing critical hits with satisfying regularity. My bishop doesn’t have every spell in the game, but it feels like he’s getting close, and when he’s at full power, “Nuclear Blast” and “Death Wish” make ruin out of most enemy parties. When he’s not at full power, the alchemist is there with her terrifyingly effective “Asphyxiation.”             

The mage, on the other hand, isn’t doing as well.

           Only my mage–who if you’ll recall originally started as a bard–is a little weak. My bishop has more than 200 spell points in several schools and at least 100 in all of them, and my alchemist is well above 100 in all of hers. But my mage, who it feels ought to be racking up the points more quickly as a “pure” spellcaster, is struggling to top 80 in all of his schools. I think his intelligence may be partly to blame. I’ve been unlucky with the dice. The minimum for his class is 12, but after 14 level-ups, he’s only at 14. (When leveling up, the game selects random attributes to increase by one point. Usually, it’s just one attribute, but sometimes you get lucky and get a bump in two, three, or even four.) Perhaps because of this, he doesn’t get many skill points. Where every other spellcaster in my party is already at 100 in his or her primary magic skill, Bix is only just about to break 75. Maybe I should give up and make a samurai out of him or something.

More on Legends of the Lost Realm coming up if I can get anywhere; otherwise, we may take a premature detour to Cobra Mission.

Time so far: 60 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/crusaders-of-the-dark-savant-rattrap/