#I used some stuff from the dawn trailer

[kokomos]

 ✴    new habits die hard     ࣭     ๋  𖥔 ݁  ˖  ‏☽

— starring    AU!  LUKE CASTELLAN !  ♆

  ⤷     ⅱ. new habits die hard

MDNI 18+

warning : weed! suggestive themes (not explicit)

alternate universe : takes place in an au! where there are no gods, or demigods for that matter. luke lives with his mother, alone, and takes care of her full-time when he's not off doing odd jobs for the locals.

description : after moving several states away from his home in suburban connecticut, luke found himself in unfamiliar territory and in need of a new plug. lucky for him, you're the town's resident drug dealer.

tags : fem! reader, dealer! reader, loser! luke, au! luke; dom! reader if you squint, subby! luke; luke and reader are both heavy stoners, reader is high during the exchange.

how luke got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was beyond him. a girl dealer. after a year or so of nothing but egotistical and overly competitive men—luke needed this, needed you.

there he stood: in the confines of some shabby little trailer, on the outskirts of town, that you called home. his cheeks were flushed, tints of red betraying him as he tried his best to remain stoic in your presence. despite the fact that you were obviously high, luke still couldn't bring himself to meet your gaze for more than a few seconds at a time.

not that you noticed, or at least you didn't at first; you were too busy leisurely packaging his eighth. your eyes were trained on the scale as you weighed the strain of his choice out, shifting focus to neatly tuck the nugs away into a tiny, pink baggie. a heart embellished the shimmering plastic, a signature that this was from your supply. luke wondered for a moment if there was anyone in town who actually didn't prefer using you—for dealing purposes, of course.

your arm extends out towards your new (favorite) customer. “here you go,” you chirp jovially with a smile. in your hand holds the eighth, sealed and stuffed to the brim.

maybe you gave him more than he paid for, just a bit. but what further justification did you need other than the fact that he was cute, and kinda shy—you liked that in a guy.

he freezes for a moment before reaching out to procure the package, meeting your gaze momentarily before dropping his attention to your hand. a smirk graces your face, delighted, or more accurately amused, by the realization dawning on you.

once the product's out of your possession, he hastily stuffs the eighth away in the pocket of his sweatpants. luke tilts his head up to thank you, but seems to freeze yet again when he finds your eyes scanning his form.

“if you were my boyfriend,” you start abruptly and he watches your eyes slowly meet his, “i wouldn't let you walk around like that.”

his cheeks heat up exponentially, the color darkens against his skin, and he has to stop himself from crumbling entirely when he observes that teasing look you've got plastered across your face. shameless and cruel, by his regard. still, he couldn't deny that he was enjoying every second of it.

he did look pretty slutty, to be frank. a black, tight-fit shirt hugging his abs and those gray sweatpants—they looked amazing on him, but you'd argue they would look even better on the grotty floor of the trailer's one bedroom. your master suite.

following your titillating remark, he swallowed his next breath and let his eyes travel down to survey the clothes he so carelessly threw on hours before. “like… what?” he asked, seeming so nervous that it wouldn't be too far-fetched for someone to misidentify him as utterly terrified.

you chuckle lightly prior to indulging in his curiosity, “like you wanna fuck.”

his eyes instantly snap to yours and his cheeks flare an even deeper maroon. “what?” he nearly chokes on the word. “that's—not,” he stutters, “i was working out before and—”

you cut his pitiful excuse for a defense short, “you've got pretty eyes.” sincerity bleeds through the drug-fueled haze, “it's a shame you don't let me see ‘em too much.”

and without another word, or glance in his direction, you reach for the pre-roll on the table to your left and spark up. he watches intently as you take the first pull, how your plump and glossy lips wrap so delicately around the end of the joint. when your eyes flicker to him, as you exhale some of the smoke, he looks away.

“you gonna pay me or...?” you trail off, keeping a flirtatious tune in your voice. he fumbles around for what he owes in his other pocket, and hands the cash over with a ‘thank you’ and a rather bashful smile.

he leaves the encounter with an eighth in his pocket, your mellifluous voice engraved in his memory, and the feeling that this would only be the start of a new (bad) habit.

ᡣ𐭩  with love , honey

[munson-blurbs]

@corrodedcoffinfest Day 16: Struggling

Word Count: 886/Rating: M/Pairing: none/CW: drug abuse (cocaine), alcohol abuse, addiction, some comfort/Tags: Eddie Munson, Jeff, Grant, Gareth, Corroded Coffin, Wayne Munson, addiction, drug and alcohol abuse, tour life

Divider credit to @silkholland

Eddie didn’t know where he was when he woke up.

That wasn’t unusual for most rockstars; long days on the road and a different city every night left often them disoriented. On more than one occasion, each of the Corroded Coffin members had asked production what city they should shout out just before running onto the stage.

But this was different.

Eddie grimaced as consciousness seeped into his body. He could taste whatever liquor he’d downed from the hotel room minibar, the tiny bottles scattered around his bedsheets. White residue stuck to the nightstand, and he made a mental note to scrape it back into the baggie before housekeeping came in. 

At least I made it into the bed this time, he thought. Just last week, he’d passed out on the bathroom floor. The week before, a security guard found him sleeping in the hallway near the elevator.

Being on tour was hard. Everyone liked to glamorize rockstardom, placing their favorite musicians on pedestals and wishing that they could live that lifestyle. And, sure, some of it was great–playing music for a living, traveling the world, and groupies lined up as far as the eye could see. But the fans neglected to consider the jetlag, the sleepless nights, and the lack of a permanent home.

Eddie didn’t mind it at first, especially when the paychecks started rolling in. He’d never before seen numbers that large in his bank account; hell, he’d never even had a bank account before Corroded Coffin scored their first record deal. He bought a condo for Wayne and got him out of that godforsaken trailer park. He bought himself new clothes, new guitars, new everything. 

And drugs. Eddie bought lots and lots of drugs. And the shitty weed he sold in Hawkins was nothing compared to the hardcore stuff out in California and New York. 

It started off with casually using at parties, making the club music louder and dancing easier. Then he would snort a line before shows, but only when he was really tired. Couldn’t let the audience down with a half-assed performance, right? But the more he did, the longer the high lasted, and he’d find himself up until dawn. Which meant that he was exhausted for the next night’s show.

Which, of course, meant more coke.

And then he’d found that he could get himself to sleep with booze. If he drank enough, the depressant effect combined with the coke wearing off made him tired enough to get a few hours of shuteye. 

A headache thrummed behind his eyes, the tiny sliver of light between the curtains like a spotlight. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t found a way around the inevitable hangovers that awaited him each morning.

Knock knock knock.

“Ed?”

Jeff was on the other side of the door, a nervous timbre making his voice warble. Because he’s not sure I’m alive in here, Eddie thought, but he called back weakly. “Yeah?”

“Hey, um, can we come in?”

We. That meant Gareth and Grant were with him, too. 

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie grumbled, sweeping the empty bottles onto the floor. Each step towards the door felt like a mile. When he opened it, his suspicions were confirmed: his three bandmates stood there, worry evident in their expressions. But Eddie barely noticed them.

Not when his uncle stood right alongside them.

“Wayne.” The name left Eddie’s tongue in a whisper, as though his uncle was an apparition that would disappear if he spoke too loudly. His eyes clouded with tears; before he knew it, they were falling freely down his cheeks and onto the carpet below him.

Wayne wrapped his nephew in a hug, and rested his head on top of his. Eddie could feel him swallow the lump in his throat as he said. “I’ve got ya, kid. I’ve got ya.”

Kid. Despite being twenty-five years old, he would always be Wayne’s kid. The notion only made him cry harder, and he willed his knees to keep from buckling at the weight of his uncle’s love. 

“Uncle Wayne, I need help. I need help.”

“I know.” Wayne pressed a kiss to Eddie’s scalp. “The guys and I have it all set up for you. There’s a car waiting to take you to get help, and we’ve already paid off the hotel staff to keep paparazzi away.”

Eddie inhaled short, ragged breaths. It was all he could manage. “What about the rest of the tour–”

“Postponed.” Gareth put a hand on Eddie’s arm. “None of this matters if you’re not okay.”

Grant and Jeff nodded in agreement.

“You’re gonna get better, Ed,” Wayne said softly, “all right?”

The idea was daunting. No drinking and no drugs ever again. How would he get through the rest of his life, or even the rest of today, without them, when he’d leaned on that high for so long?

Eddie almost protested, almost shoved Wayne away and insisted that he was fine. But when he looked at him again, all he saw was fear. Fear of losing Eddie more than he already had. Fear that all of the damage was irreversible.

And Eddie would be damned if he let his uncle shoulder that burden. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and nodded, not able to meet anyone’s gaze.

“All right.”

--

[beigetiger]

ALRIGHTY, I’VE DONE IT, THE MOST SELF-INDULGENT POST EVER

Here is what I think various realms might have been like in the Kingdom of Sky pre-fall, this will be a VERY long post and I might have to do some of it in reblogs. Some of what I say will be based off what I see in the game and other stuff will just be ✨vibes✨, so feel free to share if you have any thoughts.

And with that, on with the headcanons!

➡️ Isle of Dawn:

- The Two Ember’s trailer shows that the environment of Isle used to look a lot like Prairie, so I reckon they may have served similar purposes that I will elaborate on later.

- Was probably mainly comprised of villages and had a pretty small population, was overall pretty quiet.

- Isle seems to have had many different religious groups there who did various things.

- The Prophecy people seemed to celebrate the four elements and a value attached to each of those elements, as well as keeping track of what was happening on the wall, which we can unlock by doing Prophecy quests.

- Passage folks seemed to give animal masks to its more mature members, perhaps associating different traits with different animals and then assigning kids that animals based on what talents they express.

- While the Isle of Dawn wasn’t always a desert, I do think it had transformed into one by the time the kingdom fell.

- Near the end of the kingdom when everything has turned into a desert, people would hand off their kids to various religions because the groups had more resources to take care of the kids than the families. After all, not all of those Passage kids seemed super enthusiastic to be there…

➡️ Daylight Prairie:

- This area (and this also goes for Isle) probably had a lot of farms and mainly engaged in farming and keeping light creatures, as we see many spirits whose job seems to be watching over a type of creature (e.g. the Butterfly Whisperer). They also seemed to like free-roaming creatures.

- Farming light creatures means they probably produced a lot of light involved in creating darkstone.

- Aside from beast keepers, they probably had people whose job it was to construct things like boats that could carry people around, because there is a lot of clouds and a lot of open air in Prairie.

- They probably mainly lived in caves that were formed in the rock, perhaps carving out a few areas as well. After all, there are many caves in Prairie that seemed to serve some use, and some of the caves actually look pretty cozy.

- They were also probably a pretty big vacation destination, so they set aside areas like Sanctuary Islands (and maybe Prairie Peaks) specifically for that purpose.

- They probably had something like bridges between the various floating islands so skyfolk without wings could access it.

- The Flight Guide was apparently a former apprentice of the Prairie Elder Ayin, so it was possible that they helped train new beast keepers, since they seem to have an affinity for butterflies.

➡️ Hidden Forest:

- People tended to either live in giant, hollowed out trees or treehouses. Either way, trees were involved.

- Rain made life much more difficult, which meant that everybody was probably pretty hard workers, and more “no-nonsense” than other realms.

- They made more basic, non-darkstone fueled inventions such as various kinds of chairs, torches, and other stuff. Maybe they helped invent shared spaces.

- Kids spent a lot of time grouper together in little daycare groups depending on their age, and caretaker duty rotated between adults. Is there a single source for this in-game? No, but I choose to believe it anyway.

- At first they mostly consumed light from candles and occasionally birds (they had hunters), but as birds started to become fewer in number due to over hunting and dark plants started growing in, people switched to consuming that instead.

- These giants eggs in a nest imply that something laid them, perhaps some species of creature that went extinct, in which case the eggs would be fossilized.

- Fire was probably pretty important due to the wet conditions, and people preferred to stay cozy indoors when they weren’t working.

- Elder Teth oversaw more major projects, and while they were highly intimidating, you’d be damned if they overworked their workers.

- They had darkstone mines that were constantly in use, and these caves were prone to flooding as the end of the kingdom drew near, which resulted in several deaths.

- The shrooms that grew on trees were at first just used as a place to hang out and replenish light, but as the light creatures grew rarer, people started to scrape light out of those as well.

- Wind Paths had people who lived there as a full-time job who were supposed to make sure everyone going through the Wind Paths got where they needed to go and didn’t get lost or injured.

- They had mochi, but it was more of a treat than a main part of their diet.

➡️ Valley of Triumph:

- The Valley Twins totally have no identity issues. Nope. Never. Being a person whose identity is dependent on there being another person with them totally was not damaging at all.

- Valley prioritized the arts and produced a lot of athletes, artists, and musicians.

- The skyfolk usually took after their elders and were very playful and fun-loving.

- Majority of the population lived in the Village of Dreams, because those who didn’t had houses facing sheer, rocky cliffs.

- The kids spent a lot of time wandering around in groups having fun and doing what counted as enriching activities that made them skilled as adults. The adults encouraged this, and probably half the games played in the kingdom originated from Valley.

- Later on in the lifespan on the kingdom, a decent chunk of the Wasteland soldiers probably came from Valley because Wasteland didn’t have enough of a reproducing population to keep up with the mortality rates.

- The Valley Elders were basically everybody’s secondary parent figures and they absolutely loved interacting with their subjects. The twins regularly held big, realm-wide competitions that tested athletic and artistic ability.

- The graves in the waiting rooms for the races are the graves of various champions of those races throughout the years.

- That one grave in the Village Theatre is from when someone died and was buried, perhaps after Eden had blown up and so the others could only bury them and then run to escape the chaos.

- The big floaty things in the citadel are decorative art pieces because someone figured out how to do it and the twins loved it so much they stuck it there.

- The bird statue in front of the citadel was a protest from a citizen near the end of the kingdom who was warning against the overhunting of animals.

- The Valley people caged and killed wild mantas for their light that could be transformed into darkstone. Aurora was sent from Megabird to stop this behaviour, but sadly failed.

- When the first person died from a krill attack, both elders were INSANELY guilty and it still haunts them today.

- Slope race was run by Sah, flying race was run by Mek. This is one of those headcanons were I say it purely off of vibes.

- The Valley Twin’s masks are Priestess Sahmek’s mask split into two. I could unironically make an entire post about these two alone buuuut I’m gonna refrain from doing it here.

➡️ Golden Wasteland (this is a LONG one, buckle up):

- It was originally a very technologically advanced realm, it had a lot of inventors and worked a lot with darkstone. Their affinity for darkstone means that the corruption hit them first and hit them hardest.

- As I said, they originally had many inventors and people who worked on the pipes. But as the corruption and darkness started creeping in, more and more people became soldiers until there were pretty much only soldiers left.

- The Elder Room where you talk to Tsadi used to be different, and it was a room built exactly like Elder Teth’s room. I also want to make a post analyzing this. But basically, room used to be different but they were forced to change it because the corruption was threatening to take over that area.

- They used to have a population of whales who were over hunted and are now extinct.

- Late in the kingdom’s lifespan, child soldiers were used when necessary, but only teenagers. They also brought in people from Triumph because it was easier to train people who had been working out their entire lives.

- Those big pipes around the fortresses were used for transporting something but as of now I don’t know what it would be.

- Everyone slept in barracks and children had a designated mass caretaker, which did not rotate duties like in Forest.

- Resh was worshipped and looked up to a lot more in the Golden Wasteland than other places (which is why they had so many big statues of him) and Elder Tsadi was totally under Resh’s thumb. Some soldiers disliked this but didn’t speak up out of fear of punishment.

- The crashed boat in the crab fields was the Sky equivalent of the Titanic and had all sorts of people on board. The ship was taken out by the krill that now patrols it and many people died. One of the soldiers that survived made a small mass grave for as many of the bodies as they could bury.

- The spirits from Season of Remembrance were originally Wasteland spirits that eventually fled to Vault (that or their spirits were transported there after their deaths for preservation purposes).

- The Forgotten Ark was similar to the crab fields crash but happened a while before and was eventually transformed into a space for spell merchants.

- The spell merchants tended to be from the Golden Wasteland but could move throughout realms, and they sold things to assist with everyday life for the various groups of people.

- There was a small community of merchants who lived full-time on the Forgotten Ark and worked together to collect supplies and sell their wares. The giant pot on one end of the ship was where they concocted the spells.

➡️ Treasure Reef (getting its own section because I have things to say):

- Treasure Reef was originally a colony from the Golden Wasteland to mine darkstone.

- A lot of the now-underwater structures in the reef look like they were created to be walked around in normally, so perhaps the water levels used to be much lower but went up over time, forcing the colony upwards.

- As the water level rose and it became harder to mine darkstone effectively, they would resort to simply swimming down and collecting whatever they could.

- They were deemed hardcore by the other realms (and the rest of Wasteland) due to their diet. Most areas were used to living off of candles and occasionally light creatures, while these people were cracking open clams and catching fish like nobody’s business.

- They probably had a lot of storms, and were one of the first areas in Wasteland to start experiencing krill attacks, which is why the King Krill is located there.

- This means they had an entire protocol if a krill was spotted, which involved moving any children somewhere safe (because the krill would target them) and grabbing a weapon.

- They were all very strong swimmers and spent much of their lives in the water, and swimming was a very standard way of getting around.

- The blue eel/water dragon was very rare and considered a symbol of good luck.

- They also might have been storers of information similar to what can be found in Vault. That or that was their way of containing darkstone.

- They may have lived in caves carved out underneath the water to save space on land.

- Eventually, the krill attacked the colony as a giant group and killed many people, including the Abyss spirits we see today. Those who survived fled to join Wasteland.

➡️ Vault of Knowledge:

- It doesn’t exist naturally, it was built in a part of the void and is constructed entirely of rock and darkstone.

- The people who lives there were keepers of memories and information, and were regularly recording memories that summarized whatever big events were happening at that time.

- Any kids that lived in the Vault were also in charge of keeping the memories safe and organized, so many of them were quiet, under socialized and had never seen the sun.

- Great, wise philosophers and thinkers were the most likely to be transformed into spirits instead of memories. Some of the graves of these thinkers are kept behind the four-player door on the Vault’s first floor.

- The elevator was always moving up and down and people were always jumping on and off it, and it was certain people’s jobs to literally stand there charging the elevator each time for hours at a time.

- Certain, more important or delicate areas had designated keepers instead of being upkept by the general population.

- Speaking of population, the Vault had the smallest one in all the realms.

- People slept in the Remembrance area mainly, but also sometimes would curl up in a corner of the Vault and nap there instead. The conditions were not amazing and there weren’t enough bedrolls for everyone to sleep at once, but that was ok because Vault had no proper night/day cycle, and so there was always a group of people who were working and a group of people who were resting.

- The Nine-Coloured Deer area is a kingdom distinct from the Kingdom of Sky that Vault discovered and created a connective area to so they could keep in touch.

- The Little Prince area is more of a metaphorical dreamland than an actual place and it isn’t fully real. A group of people once did something very bad and were essentially damned to hell there, which is why they are chained up. What they did is up for debate, but these guys were very unaware of what was happening in Vault once they were locked up and are currently unaware that the Kingdom of Sky has fallen. They might never find out.

- Cosmic mantas are actually manta spirits that were brought to the Vault.

➡️ Eye of Eden:

- It had the biggest population in all the realms.

- The people there were friendly, albeit a tad vain.

- They also had pipes similar to those in Golden Wasteland, presumably serving a similar purpose.

- Resh didn’t created the corruption on purpose, and he was violently ignorant of it’s existence even as it was actively harming his own people. He only realized how badly he fucked up in his last few moments of life.

➡️ More general stuff:

- The Hopeful Steward tried to travel throughout the realms warning people of the corruption, but wasn’t listened to due to being a child and instead left to create a little village of their own. At first it was just them, but as the corruption started pushing people out of their homes, more and more people joined the village. It had most of the remaining population of Sky right before the crystal blew up and released the corruption.

- The four mannequins from the Season of Revival are what remains of four kids who were friends of the Hopeful Steward and tried to help them raise awareness about the corruption, but were sadly killed by a krill. This only fuelled the Steward’s determination.

- There used to be caravans pulled by mantas that would travel throughout the realms, and people jumping on the back of them to be carried around was quite common.

- The spirits all used to have names more resembling the Elder’s names, but none of the kids know what those names are. The names we refer to them by (cackling cannoneer, stretching lamplighter, etc) are what the skykids dubbed them.

And that is it, although maybe I’ll add to it later. Sorry again for making this so long, I’ve been slowly constructing this in my head for months and wanted somewhere to put my ideas down. I would’ve added more images, but I can only put ten so that’s gonna have to do it. Thank you for coming to my ted-talk.

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 23: The Aftermath

Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four

Word Count: 4847 words of these kids definitely have ptsd now

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, blood, hospitals (i myself am not fond of being in one), minor violence?, some nice sweet stuff in this one since all the others have been an angst fest

[A/N: this is kind of like a filler episode we all know and love on our fav shows (or not lmao) but i really wanted to give a shot at what was happening before 'two days later'. you don't really have to read this chapter if you don't want to, but there are some important parts?]

The Aftermath

Dawn was breaking by the time you left the Upside Down, slowly casting an orange light on your silhouettes. For a moment, everyone glanced over at the rising sun.

It wasn’t until you were heading to the RV that you realised this particular sunrise wasn’t meant to be seen by your eyes, or any after that. It was a bittersweet reminder that you almost never saw a sunrise ever again. You didn’t even remember the last.

Steve drove away from the trailer park, Nancy taking care of Eddie’s wounds in the back, while Dustin and Robin shared stories of the night. Despite their efforts, there was an unease that even the attempt of comedic conversation couldn’t break.

You sat in the front, staring out of the window and wincing at the reflection of the girl with a blood-stained face staring back.

There was too much running through your mind to truly allow you to focus, only ever seeing the same images burned into your brain. The visions of the people you lost, the grave inscribed with your name. The look in Vecna’s eye when he took your life. Your blood.

“Hey.”

Steve’s foot gently nudges yours, voice lowered in attempt to keep the conversation private. Not that it was needed; Robin and Dustin’s exchange of tales were loud and excitable, the pair happy to just discuss random movies and keep Eddie awake.

“You okay?” He asks before his face drops, shaking his head and looking back to the road. “Sorry, stupid question.”

“We lost.” You say after a time, quietly. He glances over to you.

He took a moment to decide his next words, flexing his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Not yet. We’ll get another chance, and we’ll win. I know it.”

“Yeah.” You try to agree, but your heart wasn’t in it.

“Look,” Steve sighs, quickly checking the mirror to ensure the others were distracted, “All I know is that we’re okay. That you’re okay.”

His voice was slightly cracked at the last three words and your whip your head to find his eyes, frowning.

“Steve-”

“No, I-” He breathes away the reddening of his eyes, focused on the road ahead in the soft yellow glow of the headlights, illuminating the paths hidden in darkness from the early morning shades of trees. “I genuinely thought I was gonna have to figure out the rest of my life without you and I never wanna do that again. I wish I could say it was the first time.”

“When have you…” You shake your head, confused.

Steve’s eyes flicker to yours, gulping. “Last year. When… the Russian base. We got separated. All I could hear were your screams. Even if I was getting beaten to a bloody pulp, those screams were the worst torture, believe me. Then- then that woman showed us a knife- your blood, and…”

A tear rolls down his cheek as he continues. “Jesus, I seriously thought that this year would be different. You left, and believe me that sucked, but you were safe. That’s what mattered.But I- I couldn’t get any of it out of my head. Then the worst finally happened just a few hours ago and I don’t even know how I’m gonna process that one.”

“You aren’t the only one.” You admit quietly and he nods.

“Yeah, of course. Right, I can’t even imagine-” His breath is shaky and you lower your head.

There was always a part of you that declared you needed to be strong, to never show weakness. It was that part that always ended up failing you, spinning you out of control until you did something you regret. But those usually extended from small lies or lack of communication. This time, it was quite literally death.

And you didn’t have the strength in you to pretend like you were okay.

“Don’t ever die again.” Steve frowns, breaking the silence, eyes filled with that painful memory. His lips were tight, glistening eyes watching as the light began to beam between the branches you pass. “Please.”

You lean over and wipe the tear from his cheek. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

“Good.” He chuckles, taking your hand and squeezing it. “Because I’m not letting you go that easy.”

That was the first time you felt like you smiled for a normal reason. The only times happiness had struck you over the course of the past few days were when you celebrated that your friends were alive. This… this felt better. Because it wasn’t a relieved smile for once. It was the joy you felt after the boy you loved told you that this was forever.

The moment was broken with a thick air of smoke clouding the road, Steve pulling the RV to a stop and frowning.

“What’s going on?” Nancy joins you at the front, peering through the windscreen.

As Steve wordlessly shakes his head, you can make out a shadow in the distance, a scarlet outline. Your eyes widen.

You were out of your seat and jumping from the door in no time, feet planting on the solid ground before taking a few steps. Your breath slipped from your lips, a clearer view of what you feared.

The Creel House was surrounded by the dark smoke but illuminated by a red light, almost like fire.

And it was no longer standing.

A huge slit broke the house in half, the beating heart of a gate staring back at you. Your gaze travels up the building, face dropping completely. The attic was incinerated.

“Do you think they got out?” Dustin asks with the smallest whisper.

Your friends had collected behind you, poking their head out of the vehicle and staring at the destruction with wide eyes.

Robin nods vigorously. “Yeah. Yeah, they- they had plenty of time.���

Your eyes flicker around, part of you hoping to find Lucas safe and sound among the rubble. Nothing.

Erica would have gone for help, you tell yourself, he’s fine, she’s fine… Max is fine.

“Maybe they’re-” Dustin hobbles down from the step in the direction of the building, until his ankle folds beneath him and he’s almost face first on the ground.

Steve catches him just in time, “Woah, no, okay. We’re getting you to the hospital. You seriously need that ankle checked out.”

“But-”

“No, he’s right.” Nancy affirms, nodding. “You’re obviously in pain, Eddie needs those bites properly treated. And Y/n-”

Nancy turns to you and for the first time tonight, took in your appearance, breath hitching. Almost your entire torso was covered in dry blood, splattered across your neck and face. Three gashes were torn into the fabric of your shirt, outlining the red scars that replaced your once fatal wounds. Bruises coated the public skin, some more brutal than others. You were, to put it simply, a mess.

“I’m fine.” You shrug, clearing your throat. “But, yeah. We, uh… we should get to the hospital.”

You ignored her worried look, turning away from the wreck and stepping back into the RV, reclaiming your seat. Steve slips back behind the wheel, taking a deep breath and relying on the headlights to guide you all safely through Hawkins.

The earlier chatter of distraction had dissipated into unsettling silence. Perhaps they were originally riding the high of their survival, but now the truth of the surface had unveiled itself and plunged them into dread.

And it only got worse.

Driving through streets of chaos, your heart drops; crumbled buildings, fires burning away memories, people cradling limbs as they’re pulled from beneath.

Crying parents held their children, police men desperately trying to assess the source of the destruction. It was soul-breaking to see the panic, residents fleeing their homes without a choice. Hawkins was once so cosy.

The aftermath of Vecna’s victory hadn’t just hurt you. It affected the entire town.

The road to the hospital was busy with cars, forcing Steve to stop in the Family Video parking lot. Luckily for you, the final destination was only around the corner.

Steve supported Eddie’s weight, the latter insisting he was fine when, especially in daylight, he clearly wasn’t. Dustin simply loops his arm around Nancy, allowing her to help him along with no complaints. From the grimace of his face, the adrenaline must have worn off and he was now feeling the pain of the drop.

Robin offered to help, only met with a few murmurs of ‘no, it’s okay’ before she gave up and shuffled up next to you, her curious eyes assessing the buildings around her.

After seeing the Creel House destroyed, your hope had gone. You knew Max was dead, that part was made very clear by the grand opening of Hawkins’ biggest gate yet. But you also knew Lucas had to have seen that, and he wouldn’t have left her side, even if the ground was swallowing them both up. It hurt.

Lucas had a natural charisma about him when you first met. It was late, your first night in Hawkins, and the house beside you was lively, bundles of excited chatter and exclamations spewing from the tiny window of the basement and echoing straight to your window. It wasn’t until you took a step out of the house for some fresh air that you met the kids; Will’s shy smile, Mike’s under-eager wave, and Dustin’s wide grin. Lucas was the first one to talk to you, a warm welcome to the town.

Ever since then, you’ve seen him grow from that 12 year old boy into someone you wished you could be. You’ve dealt with his unrealistically optimistic flirts, his arguments with the other boys, his small and quiet conversations about wanting to play basketball like the older kids did but scared he would upset the Party. And he dealt with your sarcasm, your denial of emotions, even your constant refusals to assist them even though you would do anything for them. When you think of any memory tied to the town, almost every one had him connected into it, his sincerity and love for his friends inspiring you to make the same sacrifices onto selflessness. You couldn’t have hoped for a better person to care for your sister.

The thought of losing them both…

Warmth slipped into your hand and you look up to see Robin’s smile, her hand squeezing yours gently as you led the others towards the hospital. Neither of you spoke, only basking in the safety you felt with eachother, calming nerves.

As the greying white of the building appears into view, flashing lights blare the road behind you, screeching sirens of persistence loud enough to pierce the chaos around you.

The ambulance stops just outside of the entrance, a gurney being pulled from the back and slid onto the paving. You barely take notice, head hung low as you glance back to check on Dustin and Eddie.

“Is she gonna be okay?! Anyone?!”

Your head whips up to see someone else emerge from the transport, reddened eyes and quick breaths as they yell in exasperation.

Erica steps around him, noticing you stood with a look of shock on your face. She immediately turns to get his attention, pulling on his shirt and nodding in your direction.

Lucas’ face drops when he sees you, eyes widening. He glances to the gurney.

It doesn’t take long for the puzzle to build itself.

“Max.” You breathe out, loud enough for your friends to halt all movement and find the source of your whisper.

Without even waiting for confirmation, you drop Robin’s hand and sprint over to where they were carting your sister into the hospital, a sob leaving your lips when you see her face, blood staining her cheeks in tear paths.

“You need to step back.” A nurse informed you a little bitterly and you shake your head, keeping up with the fast pace.

“She’s my sister!” You insist and the woman sighs, nodding to another worker.

“And we will let you know everything once we finish her surgery.”

“No, I- Surgery?” You repeat, hand brushing against Max’s face before she’s pulled away from you and through restricted doors, leaving you stood alone in the foyer, murmurs of busy people vibrating around you.

“Y/n?”

You turn around to see Lucas stood a few steps from you, body almost curling in on itself like he was guilty, ashamed. With the drop of your heart, you realise he must think you’d hate him for breaking his promise. Your feet moved quickly.

Closing the distance, you wrap your arms around him and pull him close. His arms immediately clung onto you, soft sobs vibrating into your shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I tried- he-”

“It’s okay.” You soothe, squeezing your eyes shut. “You’re here. That’s what matters. You did everything you could.”

Lucas’ mumbles of apology quickly faded into silent tears, his tight grasp finding comfort in your arms and letting you hold him up. Behind him, Erica patiently waits, her sad eyes finding yours and flickering to her older brother, a look of helplessness.

The doors open to reveal the others, Steve calling for doctors passing by and struggling to make excuses for Eddie’s condition.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you, we…” Steve stumbles over words, looking to Robin.

“Uh, yeah, we… found him. Like this, I mean. We found him like this.” She finishes, turning red. She was never one for lying.

The doctor raised an eyebrow and Eddie sighed.

“Bats.” He states and they look surprised.

“Bats?” The doctor repeats and Eddie nods.

“Yeah, bats.”

Nancy clocks the medic’s startled face and clears her throat. “He might just be in shock, you know. The, um, earthquake must’ve spooked a lot of animals.”

“Right.” The doctor sounds hesitant but motions over a nurse, whispering something in her ear before she helps them take Eddie from Steve’s hold.

As they pass, Eddie sends you a smile, your brain instantly recognising that look where he hides something behind his eyes. You frown, carefully pulling away from Lucas but keeping an arm around him.

You watch as the doctor nods to a guard by the entrance, the man moving swiftly across the foyer and towards where the medics were helping Eddie.

And, with the sickening realisation, you knew there wasn’t even a small chance he’d have a normal life after this.

Because you never managed to clear his name.

Steve was by your side as you glared up at Officer Callahan, arms crossed as you stared with such malice he was starting to look uncomfortable.

As you intended. After all, his spiel about Eddie’s ‘murder rampage’ boiled your veins with each shake of his head.

“I’m just stating the law-”

“Fuck the law!” You spit and he widens his eyes, adjusting his hat.

Steve raises his brows but says nothing, trying to hide a smirk as the officer slowly shrinks in size.

“And it’s not even true. Which we’ve been trying to tell you for the past 20 minutes and honestly, I’m really starting to think our law enforcement is really fucking stupid.”

“Hey, now-” Callahan complains but you raise your hand and he shuts his mouth.

“Please, tell me how it’s humanly possible for anyone, much less Eddie, to be able to do that to someone.” You challenge and whatever retort he had was thrown away, shoulders slumping as he sighs.

“It’s not up to him.”

You and Steve turn to see Powell enter the hallway, nodding to his colleague.

“Since he was seen in contact with 2 out of the 3 victims, we have to take into account that he doesn’t have any kind of alibi.” Powell explains and you purse your lips.

“Explain my sister, then.” You say and he looks surprised, glancing to Callahan for clarification but in return getting a shrug.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Max is currently in surgery after being found with all her bones snapped and her eyes bleeding.” You try and keep control over your voice, wanting them to take you seriously. “Exactly like the other kids. And Eddie couldn’t possibly have done that.”

“How do you know that he didn’t?” Powell raises an eyebrow and you’re ready to answer until Steve’s reminding touch stops you.

“Uh…” You struggle to speak.

To tell the police that you had been hiding a fugitive wouldn’t look great for anyone, but especially not you. You knew about the records they kept on you at the station, the looks you’d get anytime you would pass an officer. They’d be quick to assume that Eddie had an accomplice.

“He was with me.” Steve breaks his silence and your eyes widen, whipping your head to him. He avoids your eyes, looking to Powell and scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, long story short I kinda ran into him at Skull Rock, got to talking. I mean, I was all on board thinking Eddie could’ve done it until I actually met the guy and yeah, I gotta tell ya… not a murderer.”

Callahan’s eyes narrowed while Powell assessed Steve’s face for any hint of a lie. You held your breath.

Powell eventually nods, glancing off into the distance before running a hand down his face. “Alright.”

“Alright?” You prompt, brows furrowed.

“We’ll reopen the case.” He states and Callahan turns to him with wide eyes.

“We will?”

“Yes.” Powell nods, adjusting his hat and finding your eyes. “I can’t guarantee anything will change, but he’ll no longer be in our custody. At least not until we’ve dealt with this earthquake.”

You let out your breath and exchanged a triumphant smile with Steve.

Callahan clears his throat pointing a stare. “It does mean we’re gonna have to take statements, from you and your boyfriend here. We expect you to show up this time.”

His narrowed eyes stay on you until he’s rounded the corner, contrasting the slight nod giving by his chief and then they’re out of sight, leaving you and Steve stood outside of Eddie’s room with dumbfounded smiles.

“Did that just really work?” You ask, unfolding your arms and frowning in joyful confusion.

“I’ll be honest,” Steve runs a hand through his hair, “When you said ‘I’m gonna scare them into freeing Eddie’, I kinda expected to be visiting you behind bars.”

You smirk. “Aww, you’d visit me?”

There was a smile on his face, but not from the humour. He was glancing to where Powell and Callahan had disappeared then returning to your face, struggling to keep his lips from widening into a grin.

“What?” You question, cocking your head.

“Nothing, I just…” He wets his lips as he shoves his hands into his pocket, grin on display. “You didn’t correct him.”

You furrow your brows, searching through your memory. “About what?”

“Nothing.” Steve shakes his head, grinning still. “Don’t worry about it.”

Laughing, you open your mouth to respond when something catches your eye. Silhouettes of two figures stood down the hall, sporting matching jackets that you’d recognise anywhere.

Steve frowns, looking over his shoulder to what stole your attention and he holds his breath. He turns back to see your furious gaze, the way your hands balled into little fists.

Lucas had explained everything, from the very beginning of Max baiting Vecna to the ending of Jason showing up out of the blue, smashing her Walkman in the process. Erica was quick to chime in about his friend, the attack. Needless to say, one of them had picked a wrong day to show up in your line of vision.

“Okay, let’s-” Steve begins, but you’re already storming towards them. “Nevermind, okay.”

“Hey!” You shout across the hallway, the boys’ heads locating the call. The one with darker hair looked surprised, fearful even, making you think he knew exactly who you were. The other sported a hat, and, adding fuel to your fire, seemed completely unbothered.

“Can we help you?” He grumbles. Andy, you read on his jacket as you stop in front of them.

You take a look between the two before settling on Andy. “You the one that tackled a little kid and threatened to break her arms?”

The boy beside him- Chase- shifts uncomfortably, looking to his friend with a startled expression. Andy barely flinched.

“No.” He spat, shoving his hands in his jacket and nodding to his friend, a cruel smile on his face as he begins to turn away.

“You realise harming a minor results in both jail time and high monetary fines?” You retort, his footsteps slowing.

He looks to you with a scoff. “You a fucking cop or something?”

“No.” You shrug, tilting your head. “Just a friend of the victim.”

“I don’t know what that little shit said but I didn’t do anything.” Andy insists, voice deep. It wasn’t a plead of innocence. It was a warning.

“Look, we’re just here looking for Jason.” Chase interjects, looking extremely nervous.

“Uh…” You frown, feeling a little guilty in knowing the truth. But you didn’t want to be the one to bear the news. “Haven’t seen him.”

“Waste of time.” Andy mumbles, scanning your body before rolling his eyes and sending Chase a sarcastic look. You purse your lips.

“Maybe if you had checked on him before running away like a wimp, you wouldn’t be wasting your time.”

“Andy?” Chase frowns and Andy’s amused face abruptly drops to a scowl. Chase seemed to have no idea of the previous events of the night, part of you wondering if he wanted out of the ‘hunting’ after his teammate died. Or maybe he was just morally better than the rest of them.

“I’m warning you.” Andy grits his teeth, body fully facing you now. He was clearly a violent one.

Maybe you should take the warning. After all, Andy was physically built as an athlete, much taller and stronger than you were. Your most recent exercise was climbing up a rope and hell, that was a struggle.

But Vecna had really heightened your preferences on what you would find intimidating.

“About what?” You challenge, raising your eyebrows. “You gonna break my arms then run away? Because as I recall, my friend still has her limbs perfectly intact and she’s 11, so… if you can’t even win a fight against a literal child, what makes you think you’ll win-”

Andy’s arm flies out, hand flat as he aims to swipe it across your head. The effect would have hurt for sure, if someone hadn’t caught it just before impact.

You barely flinched as it was, already set to have dodged the attack. But there was something even better having Steve Harrington stood next to you, hand gripping Andy’s wrist tightly as he glares at him.

“I’m warning you.” Steve threatens, voice low. “You fucking touch her and I guarantee someone’s losing their arm today.”

He violently thrusts Andy’s arm back to him, earning a wide-eyed stumble. Andy moves forward, but Chase blocks him.

“Come on, man, let’s just go.” He places a hand on his shoulder and manoeuvres him backwards.

There’s one more angry look from Andy before Chase manages to wrangle him back down the hall and out of your sight. You figure this won’t be the last of seeing him.

“I swear you make more enemies than you do friends.” Steve lets out a breath, shaking his head in disbelief.

“As long as I always have my knight in shining armour to save me.” You bat your eyelids sarcastically and he chuckles, clicking his jaw.

“I’m just glad I actually did something this time instead of running in when it was all over.” Steve smirks knowingly and you look to the ground.

“Can’t believe he did that to Erica. That any of them were just ready to kill a guy because of what? A- a game that they thought was satanic. Part of me felt bad for Jason, but the rest of them barely had an excuse.”

“And Jason did?” Steve quirks a brow.

You sigh, “He was broken. Chrissy was his girlfriend and, I mean, he clearly loved her. Love makes you do crazy things and no, I do not think anything he did was right, but he was hurting. So badly. God, if I was told that someone I loved was murdered, I’d…”

“Hurl Molotov cocktails at the guy who did it?” Steve suggests, attempting a joke but ultimately placing his arms around your shoulders and pulling you closer, planting a kiss on the side of your head.

“She’s gonna be okay, you know.” He mumbles into your hair after a while and your shoulders slump. Of course he already knew what you were thinking.

“We should probably be in the waiting room. For when the doctors have news.” You say quietly and he nods. “Maybe get some coffee so I can be awake. They’ll be a while.”

His arm slips from your shoulders but instead finds your hand, intertwining fingers as you walk towards the busy noise of people impatiently waiting for good news.

“Should also probably get our bruises looked at.”

“I’d rather suffer in silence until I get a good night’s sleep.”

“You literally just said you wanted coffee.”

“Huh, then I guess it’ll have to wait a little longer.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You love me really.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“You guys heard from California yet?” Lucas asks, his voice thick with tears as one hand holds an icepack to his face. He was trying his best to stay calm, but his leg anxiously bounced as he leant back in his chair. Erica's head was rested gently against his shoulder, the girl drifting off to sleep.

“No.” Nancy sighs, scrunching her face. You knew she and Jonathan hadn’t been talking as much lately. You prayed that everyone was okay, and that Nancy and Jonathan would be fine. They were meant for eachother.

“Oh my god.” Robin suddenly blurts, standing up abruptly. She glances around at everyone’s concerned faces. “I gotta call my parents.”

Once her eyes locate it, she bounds over to the phone hanging from the wall, scrambling to dial a number in. Nancy raises her head.

“What is it?” You notice Nancy’s fallen expression, the tightening of her lips. It looked like she was about to cry.

“My parents. Holly.” She says in breaths and you move from your chair to crouch in front of her.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” You comfort, placing your hand over hers and dipping your head down to find her eyes. “Okay, your- your dad is always watching those disaster documentaries, right? He would have gotten your mom and Holly to safety in no time.”

You didn’t have that much faith in Ted Wheeler. It wasn’t that he was a bad father, or anything like that. You were just closer to Karen, her taking you in like you were her own, and their marriage was far from perfect. Ted seemed grumpy most of the time, but regardless he definitely had love for his family. That was something you could have faith in.

“Yeah.” Nancy gulps her anxiety. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. I’ll call them when the phone’s free.”

You stand in time to see Steve rejoin you after a brief coffee run, noticing Nancy’s unease straight away.

“Nance?” He questions, placing her coffee beside her and another on the small table for Robin, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She sends him a quick smile, reaching for the cup and holding it up. “Thank you.”

Steve walks back to the seats opposite her, carefully placing himself in the seat beside yours, holding two cups. Gratefully, you take the hot beverage from his hands and hold it to your lips, breathing in the familiar scent. If you were going to be here a while, you needed caffeine.

Just as you shift back into your seat, echoing footsteps approached behind you.

“Mayfield?”

You whip your head up, exchanging wide glances with Lucas, and jumping from your seat to raise your hand.

“Hi, yeah. I’m her sister.” You stumble across the words, not expecting to hear back from the doctors so soon. The surgery would surely take hours to be successful without…

...without anything going wrong.

Your face drops as the doctor hugs the clipboard, offering a tight smile.

“I’ll need to speak to you privately.” Their eyes shift to the curious faces of your friends behind you. “Family only.”

You glance back at Lucas, the ice pack now deserted on his seat. There wasn’t much to do, so you made a silent vow to tell him everything.

As you follow the doctor down the surgery hallway, the bleached white walls seemed to be closing in on you, tightening your chest. Not a word was uttered as you pushed through the doors, entering a room with artificial lights that blinded you on first look.

The doctor stills, turning back to you and sighing. They didn’t need to say anything.

Your eyes had already drifted to the window beside you, your furrowed expression faltering.

Chapter 24: Hell Comes To Hawkins ->

[A/N: guys, there's only one episode left of Raining Hellfire 4 SOMEBODY SEDATE ME]

taglist: @gnnnne / @beepisbeep / @paintballkid711 / @eddiesbirdie / @livasaurasrex / @darktimelegends / @jackierose902109 / @mvrylee / @chervbs / @eternallyvenus / @nervouscatsuit / @f1nn-wolfhard / @hereiamhereigo / @ladybug0095 / @fangirling-4-ever / @astrolockley / @mothmanatemycat / @sheisjoeschateau / @champagnejoker / @umidktbh / @fallinginlovewithqueue / @ilovetaylorswift132006 / @live-the-fangirl-life / @sadbitchfangirl / @cherrymedicine13 / @engenelxver / @sagaonpandora /

[emmatgc]

Wonderful World - Extra Chapter

A little fan service to the loyal fans of my story. This is for you. More angst, sexy time and yes smut. Very short but I hope you enjoy. For adults only. R18 (wink, wink)

Daylight

The sun shines and his eyes open slowly, stretching his arms, unaware at first but felt his chest a little heavy. His mind picking up, and upon seeing her hand in his chest, hair messy but cute, he thought. She looks so pretty, he thought. It dawned on him. They made love. For the 1st time. His 1st time. He blushed like a teenage boy. What happened last night was like a dream. From a nightmare turned a delightful dream. Soo Hyun on top of him, riding him. Not his ideal 1st time plan for her, not in his trailer, but there is nothing normal for them. Both sinners. Both prisoners of the past but they made a pact- they will stay together, no matter what. He wants to make her breakfast but he doesn’t want to wake her up. Yet it is 7:00 am, he has no work. He is still on leave. He looks at the ceiling of his trailer and suddenly, some movements from Soo Hyun, she slowly opened her eyes and saw Seon Yul looking at her softly like she is the most beautiful in the world. “Good Morning”, he said. Soo Hyun, seemingly shy and caught off guard, cheeks turning red, memories from last night coming back as she mounted him 1st and rode him. What was she thinking? she is asking herself now , in her thoughts running wild. She was wild last night. Now , she is shy. She took the pillow and buried her face below. Seon Yul laughed and hugged her. No words are needed. They are both overwhelmed with what happened. 

They had breakfast in the trailer. Both are silent and still shy of each other. “So…about last night”, Soo Hyun said first. “It was amazing”, he replied. Both smiled. “Not the ideal place but who cares, right? Seon Yul said. Both laughed. “There is nothing normal between us, Seon Yul”. 

He took her hand in the table, and said “Im sorry, It won’t happen again”. I won't disappear again. “Better not happened again” she replied. He will drive her home but first they stopped at Seon Yul’s house to get some of his stuff. They are preparing their next moves to combat the bad press upon them due to his uncle’s sudden appearance back in the limelight. Seon Yul wants to take a shower. Soo Hyun started to check her phone for details they can use for the fall out they are expecting. They want Kim Joon gone for good. Meaning in jail for good. They have done nothing wrong and this humiliation coming from him is such an injustice. Seon Yul was watching her. He hasn’t thought much since last night. His little secret is from the moment he woke up, he wanted to take her again. He wanted to taste her lips again. He wanted to touch her again. Everyday if she let him. He rushed away these thoughts but he is hard. Still hard from last night. He feels he might die if he won’t be honest right now at this moment. “Would you want to join me? In the shower”. There he said it, finally. Boldly, he asked her. Soo Hyun’s eyes grew bigger and her mouth gaped opened and wide. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, Soo Hyun” he retracted his plea and turned his back and curse at himself. The boy is horny. He can’t help it. Soo Hyun, was debating herself if she will join him. She will admit. He is so fine. Even finer in bed. Even if ideally that was a bachelors pad. Her 1st time in a bachelor’s pad and in a trailer! She is amazed by her standards , her wildest night so far. She feels something and with what is happening, she can’t help but wonder, time is of the essence. She needs to be alive and both of them to be alive and free. She wants to feel alive and Seon Yul, despite the odds, makes her feel alive again. His touch, his kisses made her feel alive last night. She wants to be brave. 

The song “Daylight” is playing in the background. “Oh I love it and `I hate it at the same time”…it kinda feels their song. Twisted but real. Fighting what’s real but cannot abandon the feeling. She wants to do it. Do it now. She went to the bath room and just in time, Seon Yul is done taking a shower. She saw her get out from the door, all wet and just a towel tightly covering his hips and what’s under it. She saw his body. She remembers last night. Blood boiling and she can’t talk now. Seon Yul knew that look. That look from last night. She wants him. Now. “What do you want Soo Hyun” he is teasing her. “Say it”. Say it, please”. Soo Hyun fixated her yes on him. She touched his chest. The wetness is arousing her. “I want you.” 

Without a second delay, their lips pressed into each other. Nothing like last night. This is different. Desperate. Sloppy and wet. He kissed her neck. He pushed her against the wall and she moaned. He wants to go to bed but everything happened so fast. He is so feral now. He wants her, right now. He wants to be inside of her. That unimaginable feeling. The sin of being with her, in her. Gods be damn. He held her hips and again, he remembered she was wearing a skirt. “Can I” he asked. She said “Yes, please”. He lift her up. So sexy against the wall, with every moan and every thrust, he is breathless over her. "I love you. I want you forever, Soo Hyun". Soo Hyun wants to reply but she choked at his movements.

He wants to die like this. Happy. Blissful. She is his poison, She is her religion. His savior. She is his. He is hers. If they sinned in the eyes of the world, they don’t care anymore. 

Note from the author: This is not Chapter 13. I promise it will be posted this weekend. I can't help but add this chapter for these fools deserve this "love making time". This bliss and happiness. Major development coming in the next chapter. Thank you so much to my loyal followers here! Ive been sick last week and so busy this month but I promise, I will finish this one.

[ar3s-r4t-qu33n]

Some observations about our new victims (I unfortunately don't have many of these)

• Appear FROM A DISTANCE to all be be female, which would make sense since this appears to be a Sorority House and Johnny's got a thing for messing with girls, as Cook so eloquently put it.

• Blondie at the front door reminds me of a TCM OC I've seen on Instagram named Bree O'Malley by @/oabeelha and she has also posted some interesting things on her story the day of the teaser, but obviously that could be in reference to her personal plans for Bree in her own headcanon, not anything affiliated with the game, just something I've noticed. It would be super cool even if she isn't actually Bree for her to be inspired visually by her because there's been a big movement to get Bree in the game, but who knows, only time will tell on that one

• The girl beside her - is that June, Sonny's girlfriend? I mean, let's be honest, ANY of them could be June, June doesn't have to be black because Sonny is black. But also we're finally getting a black woman in this game!! I've been saying it for a while now, I know it's the 70s but I literally do not care, representation matters and it's not like the Family care about blood relation!! If they declare you family, you are family, I really hope we see some new folks of more diverse backgrounds on the family's side in the future, but I THINK two of the women in this trailer are black and that would be super cool!! Also, we don't have any Asian characters (yet, obviously we're still waiting on details about our new cast) in the game yet and that's also important. I'm obviously white (she says, faceless profile) so I'm not gonna harp on this too much, but it IS important and I hope for more in the future, especially in the main gameplay!!

• At least two cheerleaders!! That's exciting, their lil dance looks awesome and I hope if we get like, an opening cut scene or bigger trailer, we get to see a lil more of that because it is NOT gonna be in the gameplay

• Unless we're getting emotes like F13?? 👀

• Girlie in the top right window- is she wearing a towel, or a strappy dress? I've seen a LOT of folks thinking she's in a towel, and she could well be. But the more I've looked at this teaser (and BOY have I LOOKED), I THINK I can see some straps on her shoulders..? If not... I really hope we're not getting a Sam from Until Dawn moment with her, that would kinda suck imo

• She seems to be in a heated discussion with the other girl. An argument, it looks like? I really wanna know everyone's relationships with each other. The Cheerleaders and pair walking in both seem very close with their second, but these two? Doesn't seem like it from the 23 seconds of footage we've got-

• I highly doubt these are just random NPCs to fill the gaps and that the only two out front are playable. Gun have never made NPCs for this game, why would they waste resources when they could show off all six new characters in a very fun way by hiding four of them in the windows? That makes way more sense to me than "these are NPCs and they don't serve a purpose and aren't coming back", ESPECIALLY since they've made unique animations for all four of them. They've reused animations a million times for trailers, like Danny using Johnny's slow walk and Virginia using Sissy's in each of their trailers. Why would they go to all that trouble to make the dancing and arguing animations if the characters doing them don't mean anything??

• Also, more of a personal thing, the POTENTIAL FOR OCs that this teaser gives us?? I've already got one I made specifically for this, I'm so excited by Rush Week, I cannot WAIT to see more oh my GODDDDD

• @/SumxBonez on X/Twitter has made a list of their observations and that goes into more about Texas/the Sorority (which is all stuff I don't know about yet) so go check their thread!! They also do some really amazing artwork on Instagram and have two very cool OCs of their own so please read what they have to say, I won't parrot it here because they are their points but it's all really intriguing stuff!!

Lemme know what y'all think/have noticed too!!

[wirewitchviolet]

You know there's more to culture war BS than just shouting on the internet, right?

I had a longer version of this, but lost it to a browser crash, so forgive me if this is a bit terse. I constantly see people doing this thing where they look at reactionary propaganda accounts ranting and raving about how a movie having a black woman in it means America is dying or whatever the hell, noting what an absurd thing that is to say, and then ruining it by adding "and then you have people on the other side saying stuff that's just as extreme! Like 'nazis like this guy need to be shot' or whatever!" I used to always be baffled at how people could manage to "both sides" this sort of thing, but it suddenly dawned on me that the sort of people I'm describing might actually think the propaganda accounts are JUST shouty creeps on social media and there's nothing more to it than that.

There was a similar angle I kept seeing back when mainstream media started paying enough attention to Gamergate to start talking about it and referencing it in shows and such. Everyone was hyperfixated on all the messages targets who got media attention got on twitter or whatever, just horrible hateful shouting and verbal abuse and all. Like... that stuff EXISTS, and yeah, that alone would be pretty awful, but it's important to understand that these monsters are also actually murdering people. A lot of people. And this is still happening.

If you're just the average person on the sidelines, you're going to see the people throwing temper tantrums about movies, because that stuff exists as a recruitment and retention tactic. The people who produce the 4 hour long videos about how they're making a new version of Snow White and this time Doc is gonna be played by Lucy Liu (this is not a real example) or whatever don't actually care about children's cartoons at all, or the integrity of dwarves, or whatever other stupid thing they're going on about. And their regular viewers don't care about any of that either. They haven't watched it, they aren't planning to watch it, there's good odds they never watched the original. What they're doing is keeping the fires going. There is this whole huge scene of bigots and grifters and delusional bloodthirsty wanna-be feudal lords, and their whole thing depends on keeping this pile of howling frothing little rage monsters they rely on both as a crowd to direct and a source of income scared and angry at all times, and they can't ever let then calm down and think straight or they'll realize they've been wasting their time obsessing about ridiculous fantasies.

The followers they have now all got recruited in with some variation on the idea that there is some sort of all-powerful evil cabal with an evil agenda to ruin something they used to like "with diversity" and they're going to do it to everything else next. So now that lie has to be kept up or they'll leave, and the people benefiting from it HAVE TO keep finding things to hold up as "further evidence" that no, really, look, they're gonna make a new X-Men with Giancarlo Esposito as Professor X! (I don't THINK this is a real example, but he'd be great for that.) We're not just making this up!

The real Rosetta Stone for this was these people freaking out about TMNT Mutant Mayhem. For something like two months after this absolutely fantastic movie came out (for real, go see it if you haven't, any given frame of it would make a fantastic blacklight poster), if you searched for anything related to it, you'd see a bunch of youtube thumbnails of performatively angry losers screaming about how "THEY MADE SPLINTER GAY!?"

And yeah, same garbage content in these about the evils of diversity and destroying your childhood and the legacy of characters and bla bla bla... But the thing is, they uh... didn't make Splinter gay. He's actually straighter than he's ever been, in fact. It's central to a lot of really solid jokes. There's no fake out about him being gay, no misleading trailer where you'd maybe get that impression. It's all a big telephone game thing where some creep overheard someone laughing about a scene where he's hitting it off with another character, and didn't realize that she was a girl. Because, and I cannot stress this enough. Not one single person freaking out about this had actually watched the movie, knew anyone who had, or did even the most basic research before making their propaganda videos about this. They really lost out too, because not only is it, as I said, a great movie, but they could have gotten fodder for like half a dozen more videos about how those evil diversiteers made several characters women whose toys from the 90s didn't have giant boobs! And they didn't even give them giant boobs for the movie! Can you even tell which of these are women without hearing their voice actresses!?

But yeah. Months of shouting about this non-existent gay Splinter in a movie they never watched, and never being called out on it by their audience who also didn't watch it. Because they're not there to review movies. They're there to keep nazis stirred up about how SOMEONE is ruining movies and insist how people need to do something about it. People who actually buy into that stick around, they watch a bunch of other videos like this, maybe follow the people making them on social media, and eventually, they get fed a list of names of people and organizations who they claim are the ones doing all this ruining, and where those people live, and where people are getting organized to deal with people like this, and eventually this genuinely leads to people taking bags of guns to public spaces and killing a bunch of people and letting poison gas loose in convention centers and overloading the phone lines of hospitals and such.

So yeah, if you see other people getting a bit heated about stuff like this, it uh... may in fact be that you're looking at some of the people who are dealing with terrorists trying to kill them or having actually killed people they care about, and not just people being overly heated about people saying the stupidest things you've ever heard about movies or games or whatever.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Hey mod did you see the hundred of last line of defense academy what your thought

//Honestly, at this point I'm exhausted trying to keep up with all of these games. Kodaka won't rest until he puts a Danganronpa spin on every genre out there.

//My face definitely lit up the moment I saw Komatsuzaki's art style, and I'm glad that they're opting to go back to the more visual novel aspect of it.

//It makes me laugh because Last Defense Academy looks like it SHOULD be a Danganronpa spinoff. They're trapped in a school, they have a mascot character overseeing them.

//Rain Code didn't really have this problem (I say problem, but it's not really a problem, just something worth noting) because even if there were some stark similarities between it and Danganronpa, Kanai Ward as a setting, the interactions between the characters, the supernatural element of the story, as well as the overall theme and style of that game made it stand out as its own thing that could be loosely linked to Danganronpa.

//You could legit replace the main cast of this new game with the cast of Danganronpa, and have Monokuma fill in the role of that mascot, and I don't think there'd be much difference.

//In fact, do you know what this feels like? This genuinely feels like what could have happened during the two years before the first killing game, when Class 78 holed themselves up in the school and are defending it from the Despair outside while they board it up and cut them off. It really just does feel like it should be a Danganronpa title, but Kodaka didn't want to slap the name on it anymore.

//I mean, it's not like he can. He doesn't really own the series anymore. But it's clear he loves Danganronpa dearly, and so he should, it's his pride and joy, and there's no shame in basing most of his games off of it. That's what put him on the map in the first place.

//This is the closest thing I have to a gripe. The characters look plenty interesting, and the idea of a strategy RPG-style game coming from Kodaka is cool, and I really want to see where he takes it.

//Narratively, from what I can understand of the plot, Kodaka is taking the stuff he wrote with the Danganronpa series and Rain Code, and he's giving it more of an Assassination Classroom spin. And if you remember some of the discussions I had during the Mukuro Vs Kayano phase of the Death Battle even, I think that sort of twist works really well.

//Not only that, but when I went back and listened to what they were saying in the trailer, it also seems like the team is re-using a really old concept that they first came up with with Distrust; Danganronpa's Beta Version. And that's the idea that your choices can affect which of the main characters die and which one's live.

//Like the typical DR setting, there are 16 students including the protagonist, and the trailer states that you need to defend the school from the unknown assailants for 100 days. This makes me think that the game is taking a Fire Emblem/Until Dawn route, and there will be multiple endings to it, like one where all the students die, one where they all live, one where certain students die and it affects the others, etc.

//If that IS the case, then that's pretty stellar for what Kodaka and his team have put out so far. Danganronpa may be a sensation, but it's simple in practice and execution. It's the character writing that carries it; not the gameplay.

//Rain Code improved upon the gameplay aspect a lot, but even then, it never went as far as this.

//Unfortunately, despite all I've said I can't give a full opinion of it until the game actually comes out, and/or we see more gameplay footage and information of it. The stuff that they showed in the teasers isn't an awful lot to go off of.

//Also, whenever this comes out, there's a chance that, depending on whether I like it enough, I MIGHT add the characters to the blog. HOWEVER, if I DO, then it's probably only going to happen if I decide to do a Phase 4.

//Originally, I only planned to have Phase 3 be the end of the blog's main story, but for all we know, depending on how far this goes, it could very well just serve as the end of the Zetsubou saga. I don't really like dragging these sorts of things out, but this blog and it's story got way more popular than even I was expecting, and I'm always happy to deliver for you guys.

//But again, I can't write promises that my mouth can't cache, so don't quote me on this.

-Mod

[zponds]

(Credit goes to JWBtheUncanny on Deviantart)

Ketchum Alliance Uniforms 1

After Viewing the Teaser Trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy, I've been thinking about The Pokémon World Coronation Series (ポケモンワールドチャンピオンシップス Pokémon World Championships) You know the anime-exclusive tournament. Ash is competing in, What if there was something about it that Non of us realise about. We know that It is a competition held to determine the strongest Trainer in the world. But we don't know who is hosting it and how it started, I would say Chairmen Rose or Charles Goodshow, But non of them are involved, And I doubt the Champions of Each Region came up with it, So I'm suspecting it's been Secretly set up for the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon Amusement, Or something else..... What if it's part of the Dissidia Contest of Champions, Made by Extremely Powerful beings (The Grand Master, The Collector and The Beyonders from the Marvel Universe) Setting up the Pokemon World Coronation to see which Strongest Trainer will be useful to go up against Other Champions within the Anime Multi-Verse, Who ever Wins gets the ultimate Prize, and the Losers become possessions of The Collector. So... with things becoming unpredictable, and Pretty Cure All Stars Gen 1 being captured by the Witch of Delays because of a Botched Rescue mission in the Grand Ocean, Yana Ketchum and Professor Cerise and Professor Ivy have Decided to one up the Ultra-Guardian concept for the Ultimate Wars, giving Ash and Goh's Dynamax Bands a Extreme Upgrade with Tech from not just from the Ministry of Science, But also the Aether Foundation, the Upgrades where inspired from Professor Bellis's Sync Pair Research, so Mega-Evolutions and Z-Moves can be performed, As well as summon up a very useful Built in Pokedex for Details, Tactical knowledge and Weakness location for any Combat scenario, The Bands can also form Official Ketchum Alliance Uniforms, not just for the Main members of the Ketchum Alliance, But Also for The Boys, The Truth Seekers and The Ultra-Guardians, (United they are the Ultimate Ketchum Alliance), Who Designed these Costumes, Non other then Hermione (Former Teacher of Paris from Diamond and Pearl Episode 86) She heard of the Heroic efforts Ash and his Friends did at Sukoyaka City and with Dawn and Cynthia having Special Contacts with Paris, Hermione agreed to come up with Costumes that will Represent the Ketchum Alliance in Future up-coming Battles using the Rarest and unique Materials, She's keeping a Trade secret. Here are Ash Ketchum (Leader) Goh (Ash's Apprentice) Chloe (Goh's Childhood friend), Conner "FireRed" Ketchum (The Clone of Red and Ash's Adopted brother) and Kris (Twin Cousin of Marina from the Jotho Region) While Ash and Goh are gonna have much importance, Chloe is gonna have some Active Roles in the Events of 2021 mainly tell them about Tropical-Rouge! PreCure, and the Reason Kris is there is because I may have started a Relationship Between Conner and Kris, You could say there Costumes are kinsa similar to Super-Sentai stuff like Kamen Rider, but without the helmets, and don't worry, These Costumes are not gonna over-shadow the Pokemon-PreCure aspects such as Ash being Cure Master, these will be for the More Advance Pokemon Battles.

[moldygreenblue]

Sometimes I forget that 'Cats (1998)' trailer appeared on Barney's Great Adventure as one of the previews

Having finally watched Cats (2019), it's not as bad as everyone made it out to be when it first came out. Like it is very not a good film, but there's a charm to it that I can't help but like (some parts have more charm than others; Skimbleshank's number is a good example of it). But honestly speaking, I wouldn't watch it again.

Or at least, the not whole movie in its entirely. I feel maybe if I watched it as a bunch of disjointed music videos with a theme being an adaptation of T.S. Eliot poems, I enjoy it a lot more (with edits that omits the interruptions; The Rum Tum Tugger number really could have done without the Rebel Wilson's interruptions).

And having watch Cats (2019), and knowing I have Cats (1998) and being obsess with Cats in my younger years (mainly pre-teen years) and still on occasional listen to the songs of any production I can get access to (chores, excising, trying to drone out stuff by putting in my headphones, etc), I realize that I haven't watched the movie in a few years. And I figure, "Hey! Why not watch the movie you watched so many times when younger that annoyed the hell out of your family?"

And I re-watched it. I honestly forgotten how much I enjoy it! Got to love the obvious edits in parts of songs especially so (I know that some cut parts were release/found, and I hope someone managed to edit them back in in an ultimate fan edition).

Having re-watched it, and maybe it's because Cats (2019) omitted this part out due to the restructuring of having Victoria as the protagonist + audience stand in, something finally occurred to me that never did crossed my mind before.

Why is 'The Man Over There' in the junkyard in first place?

(Note: I know this applies to other/all productions, but since I watched the 1998 movie, it's the one with 100% focus)

This legit had me going down a spiral of over-thinking, and an answer (of a wild mass guessing kind), which will be under the cut for this post got a bit longer than I expected:

So, during the pyramid section of Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, a boot drops from a nearby house or apartment/flat [near/over the junkyard] to interrupt them. The cats don't stop their singing. Sure, they pause, but they go back to the singing in seconds. And also steal away the boot (they don't want anyone tripping over it).

It's only after they finish the number does Asparagus notices that "there's a man over there". We now have a random human stumbling on a bunch of cats singing and dancing so late at night (how late, very late for Jemima to eventually sing 'Daylight' and let us know it's almost dawn near the end of the musical).

And on a similar note that I swear is related to to the topic at hand, Asparagus is the cat to notice the man first before everyone else. I don't want to say he ratted the man's flabbergasted look of 'wtf is going on what is a jellicle cat'. But I'm 100% certain Asparagus is smirking as the rest of the scene unfolds. That to me, personally feels as if he knew what likely going to happen next (re: the man is now stuck with them for the rest of the night).

So, back to the topic. Why is 'The Man Over There' in the junkyard in first place? Why did the man came to the junkyard of all nights?

Because 'The Man Over There' (who Asparagus knows and/or recognizes), dropped the boot into the junkyard in the first place.

Stay with me. This make sense when you overthink all the details.

The Man Over There lives near/over the junkyard. He has a window over it. It's not the prettiest sight to look at, but he's not cursing its existence. It's not causing trouble.

Until now, on this particular night. On this particular night, a colony of cats are suddenly meowing and screeching together. The cats in their congregation, wakes the Man up. And the Man is not happy. He is grumpy for getting waken before his alarm could do it, and he thinks he can get a bit more shut-eye if he can gets the cats to stop their 'singing'. And what does the Man does? Throw one of his boots.

There is silence for about five seconds, before the 'singing' starts up again. The Man was not expecting that outcome. He thought they would scattered and leave. Now being fully awake and realizing he needs his boot back (it's a good boot, and it wasn't cheap), the Man decides to go to the junkyard to get it back.

In the junkyard, the Man is rightfully freaking the hell out. He is now hearing the cats sing. Like, actually singing that he can understand. He sees them dancing (are they dancing like they appear in the musical or are they dancing like actual cats on hind legs, I don't know). He is rightfully freaking out, and confused as fuck because he truly has no idea what is going on, in terms of his situation AND due to his sudden ability to understand the singing cats.

As the Man is freaking the fuck out, Asparagus sees the human. Very shocking to see a human in the junkyard of all nights! And the human here is one Asparagus knows! Or rather, seen more frequently than he likes. The Man is a familiar face Asparagus has the odd luck of running into in many places in London, though the Man never seems to notice Asparagus.

And Asparagus quickly connects the dots regarding the boot from earlier ('Oh, so it's HIM who dropped the boot? Well, he's going to get a night he will NEVER forget.') and rats the Man out.

And to be honest, the fact that the Man did in fact, stay for the whole ball, is something I feel is fanfic material and shock there isn't a single fanfic from the past to now that explores this.

[lightkidshenannies]

trailer screencap + vague theory dump

ok lets start with alef/resh shall we? we all know the ushering stargazer is the one who found him f-resh-ly fallen, and it seems she takes him in (forgive the blur, its largely for comparison + flow)

but she's clearly sick or injured. she's not the only one we see with these (darkstone?) fragments

and i assume she passes, as the Embers are referred to as orphans by the devs and the fact that approaching the Isle, his guardian seems to change

and speaking of the isle, it seems it used to be heavily forested (and with no snags or stumps + apologetic lumberjack's memory i think it's somewhat safe to assume they were unsustainably harvested)

and there's no trace of these tents or anything now, except for perhaps sand dunes covering these pyramid-type structures. and as of that time in the trailer, the cave holding the first murals + first spirit you meet before the stairs to the temple hasnt been constructed

... and it also seems there was an area to the left of the temple that is just completely gone now

anyhoo back to reshyboi. we saw in this trailer and unfinished animation in sneak peeks that he loves mantas, and i think seeing himself + his own face in their designs is where he got the inspiration for his mask/headpiece from

also as a side note i think that theyre juxtaposing timelines in the trailer - if the long-haired Ember is Dusk and resh is Dawn it would make sense that resh came first and the other came later, their stories are just interconnected

ive seen some people point out that adult resh shows no skin, and the theory that he also has whatever shard sickness/injury that seems to be infecting people and light creatures, and while ive only seen that in response to the 'no shown skin' thing, i dont think ive seen anyone point out The Back Spike (broken down into three separate shots here so you can see the movement. i thought it was his left elbow at first)

however, some people have already pointed out the Lumpiness in his sleeves and wear on his gloves

resh saw this happen to people as a child, Dusk is watching it happen to his manatee, and the lighting in the trailer remains blue so i assume the shard sickness is completely unrelated to and/or came before The Shattering

however, it's somewhat interesting to me the imperfections in the big darkstone in eden the edenstone and the differences in how we see the physically shattered parts in Eye of Eden in-game (in other words, it's Interesting to me that it didn't Break In Half at the concave parts, only got chipped along the edges)

also, due to this mural

and shots like these

i think that in The Shattering, the palace above eden was blown into what we now call orbit closer to megabird, which helped restart the cycle

anyhoo, onto Dusk! i have A Lot Of Theories (obviously) BUT i think that Dusk's coming was foretold. maybe not as heavily prophesied as resh, but look at this mural and consider the context in the trailer. i think the one on the right is resh (bc he came first + the points around the candle light) and the one on the left is Dusk

if you'll forgive the altered screenshot, i think this is resh - and if it is, that means this is either historical record or prophesy, (the first of which confirms my theory for timeline re: resh coming first and Dusk after)

also the parallels are already popping off for Dusky

look at THIS - i always thought the rebirth sequence was very end-of-steven universe, especially with the way your individual appearance returns after hugging your light, (so To Me, this seems like Dusk after he made it through eden and is about to be reborn as the hopeful steward - the first to make it through after resh cut off the cycle and ushering in a new era of rebirth)

okay time for some largely unrelated stuff!

look at this shot of the boat! it's been broken already by the time (presumably) Dusk explores here, and the pipes leading to the battlefield have yet to have cracked the wall - what exactly is the timeline theyre working with here??

RAHHH CANON MOBILITY AID/PROSTHETIC DROP DURING DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH RAHHH RAHHHHH

l o o k at lamed i am losing my mind. mother superior could never

cratue (crab statue)

and somehow krill are even scarier in 3d animation ;n;

[wolfontheloose]

|| Marsden & Ryden ||

“I think I got it. It’s gettin’ warmed up.” Ryden announced, idly walking up and down the narrow length of the little trailer home they took up for today with a slightly fussy baby trapped to his chest in the baby bjorn. With her tiny winter jacket and pants she could hardly put her short arms close to her body and barely kick her feet, a warm and fuzzy little ball of stuffed fabric which protected her from the winter cold but annoyed her to no ends because movement was now the most interested thing ever yet her outfit allowed so little of it. But Ry had fiddled with the electric heating system ran through the space and with all the windows and the door closed, it was slowly starting to get comfortable even for a fragile little munchkin. Most of the trailers were perfectly livable in, whole family friendly camping space easily ready to accommodate even for an overnight stay in this cold, damp wilderness. Luckily they haven’t had any snow whatsoever and that was one thing less to worry about.

“I need coffee.” The werewolf sighed wishfully, a finger of each hand firmly captured by the baby’s tiny fists because it entertained her how he helped her fail around like that, like a little doll made to gesture around by her puppeteer. It was barely nine in the morning, both the siren and the wolf up since crack of dawn to get to the camping grounds on what was considered to be a decent time to set everything up for the rest of the stay. And in the wilderness there was a lot of things to consider, since comforts of living in the civilization were not that readily available. But the trailer Ry had occupied ever since becoming the alpha was for sure one of the good ones with everything working as properly as it possibly could, having some comforts some smaller trailers didn’t include and the very careful care of its new occasional occupant. Not that Ryden had some special privileges or anything, everything was shared equally between pack members and there was plenty of benefits to go around. It was simply vacant now and used by the previous alpha so that was how Ry ended up being free to use it himself.

Reluctant to use the stove cause of the baby strapped to his chest and also reluctant to put her down just yet, at least not until it was warm enough and she no longer needed his extra body heat which made sure no winter cold would dare touch her, Ry simply pulled a chair at the tiny kitchen table to take a seat, arranging the baby’s limbs more comfortably on his lap, then reached for a bottle of water already sitting on the table along with some other baby stuff pulled out of the multiple bags they’ve brought with them, mostly for her and barely any for themselves. He offered her the bottle to sip on and she greedily chugged, small hands gripping the bottle firmly enough for Ry to let go and let her do it on her own like a big girl.

“So the Millers are nice, yeah? Both brothers’re into that geocaching thing ya like. Never knew it was that popular.” On their way in, Ryden was probably stopped and talked to by dozens of people, the pack camp pretty damn busy now that it was just a few days before the full moon. Many of the pack came out around this time to prepare for the big night. Naturally, being in tow behind Ryden, both the baby and her father got dragged into many of the casual conversations along the way, no shortage of friendly curiosity among the lycanthropes.

@marsdenlee

[nanakibh]

What’s in the box? An ominous sentient rock.

Cracking the last line of Demyx’s character file solves everything. (I think.)

“In that case, aren’t I more cut out for lugging stuff around? Oh yeah, what is it that person used to say all the time? Something about a guiding key? Come to think of it, wasn’t something guiding me?”

From the FF Wiki...

In the early Final Fantasy games being made a Warrior of Light by a crystal was shown in heroic light, but in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series the equivalent fate of a l'Cie reflects a more sinister state, calling the person's free will into question.

Final Fantasy Agito XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis like Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which Verum Rex is based on. In the Type-0/Agito series, the people believe that the Crystal will continue to guide them down the right path as long as they follow its divine will, so they tell each other “May the Crystal guide you.”

In KH3, Luxord says that he was told that the box contains “hope.” The Crystals are frequently referred to as “beacons of hope.” The Crystals are the embodiment of light and serve as symbols of hope to humanity.

In the Type-0/Agito series, the Crystals will choose someone with a “strong heart” to become a l’Cie in order to protect them. It communicates with the l’Cie telepathically and no one else can hear its voice, so it’s the l’Cie’s job to do as it instructs and convey the Crystal’s will to others.

The l’Cie stones offer a lot of insight into what it means to be a l’Cie. They’re all really interesting, imo.

A l'Cie Stone acquired in the Cetme District. Last Words: White Tiger l'Cie Theo For twenty years, I served my country as a soldier in the Militesi Army. At the age of 35, however, it dawned to me that I might better serve the empire by protecting our beacon of hope and thus ensuring its light may guide our nation forever more. Now cognizant of the truth about this world, though, I know our Crystal will only truly be safe from harm once all of Orience is united under the emblem of the White Tiger—and I believe I have found the one man who can accomplish such an incredible task. I have fulfilled my role, and the future of our world rests in his hands.

I like this one a lot because the “truth of the world” Theo was referring to is the fact that the war had ended the world before.

In the original concept of Agito XIII, anyone who attended Akademeia would have been able to make a “blood pact” with the Vermilion Bird Crystal to receive blessings such as weapons and powers. This is shown in the first Agito XIIi trailer when Ace enters the Crystal’s room and presses his thumb to a pedestal which lights up the gears around the room. A set of cards then appear on the pedestal for him to take.

A l’Cie’s Focus is called a “role” in Japanese. It’s the same word they use in Back Cover when the MoM assigns roles to all of his apprentices. One would assume that he had a role of his own.

Demyx's current state could be a result of him being away from the Crystal. L’Cie turn into Cie’th when they refuse or fail to follow their roles, so separating himself from the object he was supposed to protect could have had some type of degenerative effect on him. When Celestia went against the Azure Dragon Crystal in order to help Class Zero, she lost her sense of self and turned into a dragon.

Alternatively, he’s still connected to the Crystal. Even l’Cie who obey the Crystal will gradually lose their sense of self. Upon becoming a l’Cie, Machina had to constantly remind himself of his own past.

I mean, there are other explanations for how the MoM went from A to B, but these explanations came in the box, so they’re worth consideration.

The MoM’s clock tower in Daybreak Town was based on a design that comes from Akademeia in Type-0. (It was designed by Yusaku Nakaaki.) Here I’ve overlayed the concept art from the Type-0 design book with a screenshot from KHUX. Akademeia was the home of the Vermilion Bird Crystal. It was built to be its shrine. The Crystal is located underground, below Akademeia.

Demyx is nearly identical to Jack who attends Akademeia. Same face, same personality, same voice actor. Very important piece of info.

I don’t have trouble believing Demyx when he says that he’s on Riku’s side. But his theoretical Crystal overlord might have other thoughts that could later put them in conflict. With all of this in mind, it’s easy for me to understand how the MoM could end up starting a war and sacrificing a town full of children.

The Vermilion Bird Crystal told Caetuna that she should sacrifice the majority of Rubrum’s citizens to summon the Verboten Eidolon. She thought that sounded reasonable.

Khalia: You… You can’t be serious! You want to offer the lives of Dominion civilians?! Caetuna: Should half of the powerless be offered, the summon can be performed. Promptly begin the preparations. Arecia: …The Crystal is most rational, isn’t it? In a manner of speaking, to win the war, it chose the path with the least sacrifices. Arecia: No matter how many people die, it won’t subtract from the number of soldiers and cadets. It’s a strategy to massacre the Milites army while retaining the Rubrum army’s present strength.

This is an example of the relationship between a Crystal and its l’Cie at its most sinister. Caetuna is otherwise depicted as wise, graceful, and kind.

The Azure Dragon Crystal gave the queen of Concordia the power to see the future. (”If she could see the future, why didn’t she just stop the war and save the world herself?” 🤪)

Behold the extremely convenient built-in explanation for how the MoM obtained the Gazing Eye. No Crystal? No power. If the source of his power is in the box, then it just as easily explains why Demyx wouldn’t have the Gazing Eye.

During the Militesi Assault on Akademeia, the Imperial forces deployed two crystal jammers to suppress the Dominion's magic: one aboard a dreadnought, and another built into a Magitek Armor. Severed from their Crystal's blessing, Rubrum's cadets, legionaries, and l'Cie were left all but powerless.

"May your heart be your guiding key” feels like the opposite of “May the Crystal guide you.” If the MoM had no choice but to do what the Crystal instructed, then it may have benefited him to tell others to do what he couldn’t. It’s ironic. The guy who says it the most might not have been able to follow his own heart. :’)

Demyx believes that he joined the Organization because he wanted friends. What the Crystal wants can be totally separate from what a l’Cie wants, but a l’Cie can only do as the Crystal commands. The Darkness refer to themselves as the MoM’s friends, but he doesn’t seem to share their feelings. Unable to freely make friends as he pleased, they may have been the only “friends” he was able to have. I get the feeling that they thought they could use their pseudo-friendship as a bargaining chip to make him stay because they thought it was something he valued. (Oof... Rejected.)

Anyway, I maintain that if you know everything about the Agito series, it’ll probably be possible to arrange all of the information in a way that spells out exactly what’s up with the MoM. So, even if I’m not perfectly correct, I feel safe assuming that I’m at least very close.

[lizardgimpking]

Book Review: The Living Dead (Daniel Kraus, George A. Romero)

Been wanting to read this for a good long while (Well, 2019 I guess). First, I had to wait for the standard annual wait between hardback and the more desirable/affordable paperback, then I had to wait for that to be a bit more affordable too. And, well...I also had to muster up the determination to actually read the damn thing, because this book is huge, and whilst not the biggest book out there by any means, it’s very easily the largest one I’ve read since I rekindled my love of books during the Covid lockdown in 2020.

And it is big for a reason, this is a true epic of a zombie novel, one that spans over a decade and follows a huge assortment of different characters in a wide array of different locations/circumstances. Across nearly 800 pages (In the paperback at least), this is the late, great George A. Romero’s definitive and final word on the ‘Dead’ series he created back in 1968. One that covers pretty much everything you could hope to cover on the subject, and it does so with his well known understanding that largely it’s less about the zombies and more about the blood-soaked mirror they hold up to the real world and the way humanity behaves within it. But still ripping guts out and all that fun stuff. The best of both worlds, I say! Now, obviously Romero himself didn’t write the novel, or at least he didn’t manage to finish it. Daniel Kraus was brought in to write it after the legendary director’s passing in 2017, using unfinished writing, notes and plans, and various loosely connected short stories by Romero to bring this final piece of work to life. Now sadly, and despite a chunky authors note at the end which is well worth the read, I remain unclear on how much of this was actually Romero’s work and how much has been improvised by Kraus, but all the same it ended up a mostly quite excellent read.

‘The Living Dead’ is broken up into three acts. More-so it’s broken up into two acts with a short bit of connective tissue between to bridge the large gap of years between start and end. The first act is set broadly in the first couple weeks of the ‘Dawn’, charting what could well be the first instance of someone coming back from the dead, and then exploring, through a wide array of perspectives and locations, how humanity responds to the end of the world as we know it. Amongst our collection of protagonists are a pair of pathologists, a woman living in a trailer park, a TV journalist and a Naval officer stationed on a aircraft carrier. To name but a few. Needless to say all their differing locations, ages and perspectives lead to a multitude of different tones and scales. With the Naval element providing the kind of bombastic insanity that would’ve likely never made it to the big screen for budgetary/content reasons, whilst the pathologist thread is more intimate and sombre. The main things connecting all these stories, bar some loose shared elements, is both the viscerally described and brutal nature of the violence that ensues, and the way in which both modern American life, and the concept of death and undeath, are explored in both sociopolitical and philosophical contexts. There’s a lot of ‘evil phone bad’ kinda stuff that didn’t quite work for me, but beyond that it’s all quite engaging, and turns the novel into as much of a grim reflection on human nature, in all its highs and lows, in addition to faith and class/race division, as it is a blood and guts zombie epic. Which is exactly what Romero’s ‘Dead’ films were like at their absolute finest. The second act, which I won’t spoil the grander details of, takes place over a decade after the dead rose, and sees several of the previously established characters ending up in the same location. In my opinion, this act is where the novel gets the most wild and interesting with its zombie elements. Again, it’s best left discovering yourself, but there’s certainly a lot more to all of this than just zombies munching on legs and limbs, and this more nuanced and elaborate take on the undead, again, feeds into the politically charged and ultimately pessimistic vibes of the overall story.

And it is a mostly quite grim read. If you aren’t into gore, even when written down on paper, this isn’t the book for you. If you’re looking for something that will raise your spirits or offer happy endings...you clearly haven’t watched Romero’s previous works in the genre, that much is certain. This is a bleak and brutal epic that questions humanities role on the Earth, and whether or not they can ever ultimately turn around the sinking ship that is modern civilisation into something better for both us, and the planet. There’s a lot of heavy, existential themes to contend with, so if you’re just looking for a bit of spooky fun, this ain’t gonna do it for you. Especially given its titanic length. Personally, I found it all quite fascinating and gripping to read through. I was really worried before starting that this was going to be a slog...it’s a huge book, and if a huge book isn’t hooking you in, then you’re going to be stuck on it for a long time. Fortunately I enjoyed it a lot, and whilst some elements maybe overextend into goofy or extremely contrived territory, as a lot of Romero’s works ultimately did, even those were at the very least still striking and entertaining.

This is certainly a much better final word on the zombie phenomena Romero himself created back in the 60s, as opposed to the, frankly, abysmal ‘Survival of the Dead’ from 2010, which sadly constituted his final cinematic work. With Romero’s ideas and Daniel Kraus’ strong and poetic writing, this is a must-read for any fan of the genre, and indeed any fan of the ‘Dead’ series of films. Some of it may come across as a little familiar (Shades of ‘World War Z’ for instance), as a lot of zombie material does these days, but ultimately the scope and final destination of the epic journey make this one of the definitive works of zombie media. Flawed in parts, but still highly recommended.

Read it or Leave it : Read It.

Reading Next (The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex)

[something-tofightfor]

It's super stupid but I think giving Joel the flamethrower in the show would have been hilarious. Yes I thought this after seeing the screenshots from your playthroughs. Let Joel have some arson as a treat.

But on a more serious note I'm so glad I watched the show and I have to thank you for making it sound so interesting. I'm not one for zombie and zombie adjacent stuff in general and was probably gonna skip this show. Then I read your Joel series and saw how excited you were for it and decided I was gonna have to see what you loved so much about it. So thank you for that.

You are 100% welcome. I'm so very glad you watched and enjoyed. I really wish that more people that weren't familiar with it (and even some that are) could understand that this isn't a zombie show.

It's not the second coming of TWD or 28 days later or Dawn of the Dead or any of that other "dead things chasing people and taking over the world" plot. Could they have shown the infected a little more? Sure. But that's not the overall point of the story.

The games have always been about the people with the Cordyceps being the inciting factor for the world to change so much. The Infected are a threat - but they aren't a threat as much as they were at the very beginning. Since most of the story takes place 20 years later, and it's about the people doing what they can to survive (at any cost!) and I'm sure there were a lot of people that saw/heard about it from trailers and previews and rolled their eyes at "just another zombie show".

I hope that they give it a chance and are pleasantly surprised.

And as for Joel's flamethrower?

Yes, please. It's my favorite and I always laugh so hard whenever he aims it and then unleashes a literal river of fire. I kept hoping he'd find one and pick it up, even if he didn't use it. (I'm also sad he never used a baseball bat - with or without nails driven through it)

[dastardlyobnoxious]

Robots 2005 Review

Blue Sky Studios, while it’d later be defined as the production company behind many famous films such as Ice Age Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Ice Age: Collision Course (I jest) back in 2005, the studio was still getting its footing as an animated film producer. Following the success of the original Ice Age (2002), its next work Robots, released in 2005 set as the title implies in a world of robots. But how well does it hold up? With its eighteenth anniversary having just passed us earlier this month, here are my thoughts and opinions on it.

The first thing that comes to mind when discussing Robots is their art style, think something like Toy Story or Meet the Robinsons. Its visuals pop out in a way that’s helped age the movie in more ways than one. From its character to city design almost everything about the movie sells this world, think of the film's Rupert Goldberg machines or the design of the ever-intimidating chop shop. That said, don’t stare too hard at background characters cause you’ll likely notice a few repeating designs (Ex; Bigwelds Corporation), and like most early 3d don’t look at the liquid cause it’ll look metallic. Aside from more background stuff though, gotta appreciate the main cast's design and how they all look rather distinct from one another. For example, Cappy is the most futuristic looking as opposed to Fender looking older/rustier by design. Madame Gasket and Bigweld are probably my favorite design-wise of the movie with both of them being very striking in how their design correlates to their personalities. And that’s ignoring the visual treats here and there from the referential posters to the high school graduation pictures and quotes. The occasional action sequences the film has are also pretty fluid, really helping to up the ante in a couple of scenes. All and all, this is the standout highlight of the film and if you like the look of the posters and trailers you’ll probably love the look of the film.

The story of Robots is unfortunately, nothing that striking, a young Rodney Copperbottom is trying to make it big in Robot City when his idol Bigweld goes missing. Will he be able to figure out what's going on, and stop Ratchet and Madame Gasket from taking over Robot City? It’s a simplistic make it big in the city story, and while it’s at least somewhat uplifted by its comedy, voice talent, and art style. At the end of the day, it’s a very forgettable plot, with the occasional strong point such as the introduction of the Chop Shop and Madame Gasket. This is a comedic film first and foremost and while I’ll focus on that more in the next section, it does undercut more of the narrative-focused serious moments. Robots had the workings to be more memorable since I didn’t dislike what they were going for, but whether the result of the movie being so short or having to introduce so much in a narrow window it’s just not the greatest. Speaking of run time, this movie could’ve easily run for another thirty minutes to an hour than it ended up having. While it could’ve been budget or production reasons, part of me does wish we got more from the story.

Then we have the comedy, which, it’s honestly surprising how much they get away with, from the movie's frequent adult jokes, toilet humor, darker humor, and its off-the-walls absurdism. Some of it landed but most of it didn’t for me, and from what I can glean from the trailers and some of the behind the scene stuff, the movie was aimed towards tweens and teenagers. I can see why the movie was able to be more daring in its comedy. In a world that in the past few years had seen stuff like Shrek or South Park become global phenomenon's. As I mentioned a bit ago, the humor can be kind of at odds with the film’s narrative, hijacking it at times. And I think that’s best shown via the character of Fender. Fender throughout the film has many moments where he’s intentionally or unintentionally being used as a comedic device. And while I enjoyed Robin Williams' performance, it’s way too focused for a comedic character. Fender is very Looney toons esc in his non-stop energy, and aside from one scene comforting Rodney he is always bouncing off the walls. So much so that the main villains don’t get anywhere near the same amount of focused screen time as him. Fender in my eyes is the worst of the comedic hijacking, and if he had been scaled back a bit I think he would’ve worked a lot better as a character. Take, for instance, Diesel and Wonderbot their comedic bits are more occasional and toned back and usually work better within the scene. Again, not to say I didn’t enjoy Fender as a character. My favorite jokes of the film usually involved Fender doing something absurd (the fight dance scene, Rodney and Fender dancing, etc), because once you go beyond him, a lot, and I mean a lot of the humor is crude. Take a side character like Aunt Fanny for instance, the second you see her the second you know the recurring joke with her. To each, their own though, the movie gave me the occasional laugh but I didn’t find it all that noteworthy in its comedy.

Now onto our main characters, and their vocal talents, characters such as Aunt Fanny and Diesel will be left out since I feel like the comedy section covers them well enough. This’ll mostly just be my impressions after having watched the film twice so if I don’t point out a vocal talent in the blurb assume they did alright in my book.

Herb Copperbottom - performed by Stanley Tucci, Herb was a really fun character and I think Tucci nailed his general enthusiasm during the opening scenes and later when he was more solemn. His overwhelming support of Rodney and his dreams are super uplifting, but beyond that, there isn’t much to him.

Rodney Copperbottom - Played by Ewan McGregor, the main character of our film Rodney is one of the blander parts in it. Partially because he has to be built up as this hero leading the charge against Madame Gasket. Partially because of the scriptwriting, I think McGregor’s performance here is alright but I was left wanting more from his delivery. I’ll touch on Rodney’s dynamic with other characters in their own sections but by and large, excluding Herb and Bigweld his relationships with the remainder of the cast are serviceable but weak.

Bigweld - Played by Mel Brooks, I One hundred percent expected Rodney and Cappy to find him near death/dead in his workshop on my initial viewing. Ends up kind of overriding the other side characters given he’s able to solve the problem by firing Ratchet. He’s a standout character that gives a sort of Walt Disney aura coming off as bigger than life, that said after being knocked out by Ratchet he becomes more of a plot device than someone actively contributing with the villains and Rodney fighting to save/kill him. Can't not shout out Mel Brooks because he's great here.

Ratchet - Played by Greg Kinnear, the best character in the movie hands down. Greg Kinnear’s over-the-top performance of a capitalist nut obsessed exclusively with profits is great. From his sleazy nature to his dimwittedness in charming Cappy. His relationship with Madame Gachet is something of a strong point. There isn’t much I disliked about this scumbag of a character only wish he had more scenes.

Cappy - Played by Halle Berry, advertised as Rodney’s love interest, as a character she’s barely present. It feels like they wanted to do more with her and Rodney but besides a few action sequences and her bailing Rodney out she just has so little.

Fender - Played by Robin Williams, this’ll be brief since the comedy section covers how I feel about Fender for the most part but he’s the strongest of the supporting cast due to him having the most time with Rodney. Their relationship is very quick to go from Fender mugging Rodney to friends, and I can’t deny Robin William's strong vocal talent.

Lug and Crank - Performed by Harland Williams and Drew Carey. Sorry to say, both Crank and especially Lug are relegated to background characters. Cranks' cynical view of the world could’ve been used to juxtapose Rodney’s optimism but as it stands his most memorable scene is a one-off joke. Lug, on the other hand, is irrelevant, and scenes with him in the frame, let alone talking, probably total somewhere under ten minutes of the entire film. Directors seemed to have more plans for them both initially but it seems that got scrapped at some point.

Piper - Played by Amanda Bynes, she’s in a similar situation to Lug and Crank, she’s just narratively present as Fender's younger sister who’s attracted to Rodney. Hardly anything comes of this beyond a few jokes between her and Fender, but she also gathers the army for the final fight. From the advertising, you’d have expected her to have a much bigger role since she’s up there on the poster but nope!

Madame Gadget - Played by Jim Broadbent, I'm gonna be real the design of Madame Gadget feels like something out of an entirely different movie. Their introduction nails them as this super intimidating villain, and they deserved to have more standalone/planning scenes with or without Ratchet. Loved the crazy mom angle they went with her, honestly didn’t expect her to get the blast furnace in the end.

Alright, that’s probably the most anyone has written on Robots in quite a bit, I’ve heard this sentiment echoed online but after having seen the film I do feel this had the potential to have a more lasting impact than it did. While most of what I saw on the behind-the-scenes, development stuff was on Youtube if there's anything I missed, comment! Or however Tumblr works, I’m still getting used to this stuff.

It’s been a minute and figured I’d write a short piece while I write more long-form stuff, and this was free on Youtube at the time of writing. Until next time, don’t question what is and isn’t a robot in this universe lol.