#See what gets me is you can make a non-horror horror game pretty damn easily

[jaythelay]

With SH2 RE being a half-exception at most, the top modern-ish horror games all had hardware recommendations that your flip-phone could match with artistry still unmatched.

[mamayan]

Hear me out…

We all know crusty dusty Tomura.

But how about the flavor of non-traumatized but still sociopathic and sadistic Tenko?

Tenko who has silky black hair to match his sweet cherry eyes. He’s a handsome pretty picture especially when he smiles.

Tenko who seems sociable and almost nice at first, but is quick to prey on weakness and feed off fear.

Tenko who likes chess/shogi more than video games.

Tenko who knows how to wear a mask and manipulate the room. Easily gaining support and fans, hardly any effort used to impress others because his favorite game of all is playing with you.

Tenko who drops the facade when it’s just you two alone together.

Tenko who torments and ruins your life for nothing else but his own sick amusement, turning everyone he can against you because he can.

Tenko who loves to see you cry, who uses soft flowery words with everyone else but you. “What’s wrong? Everyone finally figure out what a worthless piece of shit you are?” Feeding off your rage and anger, any and all emotions you express, because he adores you.

Tenko who convinces his wealthy family to get to know your own, to tangle your lives together into a web you can’t escape. His mother already loves you, and you’re too trained by society to fight back against him.

Tenko who reveals what his quirk can really do. “You should really tell that boy from class 3 to fuck off. Unless you want him to die. Is that what you’re into? Fuck, you’re really a freak… alright then~♡” he’ll dust a notebook or a favorite stuffed animal as he hangs out in your room while your families talk downstairs. Rolling his eyes as tears drip down your face and you beg for him to stop.

Tenko who cups your cheeks and grins down at you, hands gloved in quirk canceling silk, whispering all the crimes he’s committed to your horror and fear.

Tenko who loves making you do things rather than forcing you physically. He starts small, making you run errands for him, chores, homework. Then he escalates it, making you help him cheat even though he doesn’t need you to, blackmailing you with that into deeper and more sinful things as you both grow up and move on to college.

Tenko who makes you sneak into the boys dorm hall and into his room so he can make you strip and capture cute pictures of you on his phone, only to use that as a threat for later. “Wouldn’t want this showing up in the dean’s office, would you?” He’ll smile, his face so sweet as he degrades you further into nothing but his personal slave.

Tenko who makes you strip naked and crawl when you enter his room.

Tenko who buys a diamond encrusted color with his name engraved on it, tailored perfectly for your neck. He forces you to wear it even in public after a certain point. You’re too desensitized to even think this as cruel, merely a whimsical amusement for him.

Tenko who starts adding to his body count, and not his bedroom one, when he catches any lustful gaze shot your way.

Tenko who takes pleasure in recording the murders and forcing you to watch, tied up on his bed while he holds a vibrator to your clit and makes you cum. “You’re not any better than me are you? Don’t lie slut, look how much you came watching me dust that low life.”

Tenko who likes having you ride him, even for your first time. To see you struggle past the biting pain of taking his thick cock inside your virgin cunt the first time, hanging the threat of another death over your head to encourage your hips to move and bounce. He enjoys seeing all of you, but especially you trying to please him.

Tenko who goes wild with rage and mania when you even attempt to leave his side. “I’ll fucking end you before I let you go. Do you understand?” He’d rather kill you than let another have you.

Tenko who fucks you like a wild animal and damn near almost kills you with his quirk in his unhinged state.

Tenko who apologizes by overstimulating you to a mess and leaving you like that when he’s finished.

Tenko who gets hard causing you any and all types of misery. His favorite is psychological, because he likes making you please him, and that requires a bit of strength left on your end. He’s not above getting physical when you piss him off though.

Tenko who grows softer when you fully break, completely shattering for him and leaving him to piece you back together however it suits him. Petting you, kissing you, holding you gently, because you’re completely his now aren’t you? He can break or care for you however he pleases.

Tenko who marries you and consumes you like some sort of demon, binding your soul to him in a combined system of co-dependency and the inability to survive on your own, financially and emotionally reliant on him for everything.

Tenko who loves you ♡

Post dividers created by @cafekitsune

[vanilla-vivillon]

Happy Wesper Week! We are doing a Wylan POV because I can’t write charm at all. This is a modern AU bachelor party. The grisha powers exist but everything else is made into there real life equivalent

TW very brief mentions of sex trafficking.

What am I doing here? Wylan thought to himself

When his boyfriend Jesper insisted on throwing there good friend Matthias a bachelor party Wylan thought maybe they would go to a nice bar or play some party games

Not get crazy drunk, Not set fire to the Dutch Garden, not get chased by cops, not perform a gas station heist and not catch one of his best friends making out with a gas station cashier

However it seemed the universe didn’t care for the thoughts of little ole Wylan Hendricks

“Let’s get this party started!” The Australian yelled

Wylan had to remindhimself he loved his boyfriend Jesper

“Can you not shout?” Matthias, the groom to be, begged

Wylan, Jesper, and there friends Kaz and Kuwei were throwing a bachelor party for Matthias

It took a lot to convince the Norwegian that this was indeed a great idea

Wylan had never been to a bachelor party before but he was excited for his boyfriend who adored them

“Do we really have to go to this bar Jesper?” Kaz groaned seeing the crazy bright neon sign

After years of knowing Kaz Brekker Wylan could tell that Kaz was cursing Inej for telling him to come

Nevertheless the boys all walk in and start ordering shots

“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” The boys chanted egging on Kaz and Matthias drinking contest

Well it was mostly Jesper and Kuwei chanting Wylan after having a couple drinks was staring at the twinkle in Jespers eyes

He really was beautiful Wylan thought to himself

Wylan attended the University of Amsterdam to mostly escape his father.

There he met his lifelong friends

Matthias a grumpy international exchange student who grew up in a very prominent and dangerous cult in Norway. He wants to be a Norwegian ambassador

Nina Zenik, a heartrender turned corpse witch who was actually a russian spy back in the day. Now she’s working to become an ambassador

Inej Ghafa, she started a non profit to help stop sex trafficking whitch takes her all over the World but she used to. be an acrobat and after that worked with Kaz as his spy

Kaz Brekker, someone who Wylan after years of knowing him isn’t quite sure if there truly friends, or the semi illegal activities he gets up to. Wylan thought his hacking days would be done after University but Kaz has built an online criminal empire

Kuwei Yul Bo a scientists apprentice from China. He was currently working on his masters degree along side Wylan.

And Jesper. How to describe Jesper Fahey. He was an exchange student from Australia. A fabricator with a gift with Guns. While Jesper loved his pistols he actually works for a nonprofit dedicated to gun safety and regulation

After a highly illegal heist on there trip to Norway during college they all bonded as a group

Especially Wylan and Jesper

Jesper with that twinkle

Jesper with that laugh

Jesper with the way he looked at him now

After many more drinks Kuwei had the idea of the century

“Yooooooo y’know what’s a good idea?” Kuwei said bringing his head up from where it was previously glued to the table

“More shhhhhhhhhots?” Jesper suggested clearly as drunk as Wylan

“A couple blocks away is The Dutch Garden, wanna see some prrrrrrrrrrretty flowers?”

Fun fact this is a real place in Amsterdam

Wylan turned towards Kaz expecting him to veto it then and there but to Wylans shock and horror Kaz said “Hell yeah”

“But, but, it’s super late it’s gonna be closed!” Matthias spluttered out

“We can sneak in from the back fence” Jesper said

When Jesper drank his Australian accent whitch had soften over the years of living in Amsterdam came through in all of its glory

When Wylan first met Jesper he thought he was completely out of his league

And that damn accent drove Wylan Insane

While Wylan was contemplating the wonder that was Jesper Llewelyn Fahey it seemed the group made a decision without him

And Wylan thought for the first time in this bachelor party

What am I doing here?

“C’mon Wylan just climb!” Kuwei whisper screamed at Wylan

The drunken lads had made it to the Garden and had found an area where there was a fence they could climb with relative ease

All of the others made it to the other side

Except Wylan

“Don’t you want to seeeeeee the flowwwwwwwers?” Kaz insisted

If Wylan needed any more proof he was the soberest man out of all of them Kaz saying the word ‘pretty’ that isn’t referencing Inej was a clear sign

“Baby pleeeeease” Jesper begged

Oh

Oh no

Not that face

Wylan thought of himself as a sensible person who doesn’t succumb to pressure easily

But when his boyfriend made that face

Where his cool grey eyes went big

And his face had a slight flush to it

Wylan

Broke

“Fine! But if we get arrested it’s on you guys!”

With the ease of a spider who’s leg got chopped off by a middle aged housewife who’s husband is cheating on her climbing up a wall Wylan somehow got across

It wasn’t pretty

And it wasn’t gonna make Kaz proud

But it was completed

Panting Wylan on the ground said “I think this is my biggest accomplishment”

“Not…. Putting away your father? Or growing past your Internalised homophobia? Or writing your first essay on your own?” Matthias suggested clearly bewildered

Hey so i know Wylan can’t actually read. But seeing as this is modern day and plenty of dyslexic people can read with help, I figured that Jan would refuse to take Wylan to a doctor or get him help with his dyslexia believing it was weak making Wylan unable to read. Buuuuut when he’s older it makes sense to me he does learn. I’m not trying to invalidate his experiences or “fix” him but for the sake of a modern AU I had to change some things.

“Nope. It’s climbing this fence” Wylan laughed as Jesper helped him up

“Everyday you remind why your my favorite human” Jesper said with a laugh

“Ewwwww it’s like you guys like to remind how I’m the only single one” Kuwei said with a throwing up motion

“Thanks Jesp- wait human?” Wylan asked confused

“Well my favorite thing is Milo of course” Jesper winked

“The- the goat in Russia?” Kaz inquired not quite wanting to believe what Jesper was saying

To Wylans knowledge Kaz, Inej and Jesper did some job in Russia before he ever met them

“Why of course” Jesper slung an arm around Wylan who was not quite sure how to feel about this goat

Kaz went to go look at some purple flowers and contemplate his life choices

“Oh my god guys…….” Matthias started “the flowers! They’re- they’re”

“Cmon Matty, share with the class” Kaz said apparently bored with the purple flowers

“They’re so preeeeeeeetty” Matthias eyes welled up with tears

“Oh Saints tell me he’s not crying” Kuwei Moaned

Jesper walked over to where Matthias was stroking a hydrangea

“They are soooooooo pretty” Jespers eyes also Welled up with tears

“Fuck this shit” Kuwei said taking out a lighter and cigarette

“Hey! Smoking is very bad for you Kuwei!” Wylan lectured

“Wylan. I’m an inferni. Smoking foesnt affect us” Kuwei rolled his golden brown eyes

“Yeah but we’re in a highly flammable garden! And the rest of us aren’t inferni!” Wylan said

It seemed during Kuwei and Wylans arguement Kaz had also joined the cult of flowers that Matthias and Jesper were fixated on

“Wylan stop smoke shaming me!” And the scientists went back and fourth

“KUWEI YOU PIECE OF-“ Wylan started then sniffed the air “is that, is that smoke?” Wylan asked

“Holy shit dudes there’s a fire!” Kaz yelled pointing at where the cigarette Kuwei droppped

It seemed that the cigarette lit fire to a big wall of flowers

“This is why I never wanted a bachelor party!” Matthias moaned

The boys could hear voices coming towards them

Then all of the men looked at each other

And all of them yelled “RUN!”

All of them starting sprinting to the fence

And Kaz with his limp scrambled up that fence the fastest

Guess his determination to not get caught was strong

Wylan started climbing as fast as he could whitch wasn’t very fast

“Cmon Merchling!” Jesper said at the top reaching out a hand to his boyfriend

Wylan took it and stared at the steel eyes that had first enraptured him years ago

“Hey Stop!” Looking back Wylan and Jesper saw three security guards running towards them and yelling at them to stop

Jesper yanked Wylan up and they both fell off the fence in a pile

Jesper took Wylans hand and they all started booking it to Wylan’s car

Wylan who had sobered up in the whole endeavor determined that he was probably sober enough to drive

Piling in they all shoved themselves in the car

Wylan turned on the gas and starte to get the car back on the road

“I can’t believe we ran from cops!” Matthias said in between panting

“That was awesome!” Jesper exclaimed from the passenger seat

Wylan laughed

He had never been a spontaneous person

It seemed this night was a lot more fun then he thought

Until he heard the sirens

From the backseat Kaz turned

And three police cars were zooming towards them

“I am not going down for arson!” Kuwei yelled

“Wylan stop driving like a grandma and go faster! There gaining on us!” Kaz screamed at Wylan

“I can’t there’s a stoplight!”

“Run it!” Jespers shrill voice screamed at him

And Wylan did what he swore to never do

He took a deep breath

And ran that light as fast as he could

They were flying

Wylan had never seen how fast he could make his car go

Turns out it was fast

Wylan used some of his dads money to buy a sports car just to rub it in Jans face

With the top off and blood rushing through Wylans head he had never felt more alive

His boy beside him

His friends behind him

“WOOOOOOOOO!” Kuwei yelled throwing his hands up

Jesper joined Kuwei as the car sped down the street

Matthias was looking a little green

“Matty you okay back there?” Wylan shouted back at the Norwegian

“No!” Matthias shouted over the roar of engine and Jesper and Kuweis yips and yells

Some point during this Kaz called Inej

“Inej I hate thissssss!” Wylan couldn’t hear what Inej said back but from the pieces Kaz gave it was obvious

“No im not drunk!……. Psh of course those aren’t sirens…… Inej we might’ve bended the law but I swear it wasn’t my fault!…….. alright bye. ….I love you to….”

After what seemed like an eternity Wylan finally lost the police

Laughing the Wylan pulled into a gas station for refill

Wylan stepped out of the car and began to refill his car and thought for the millionth time what am I doing here?

“Wylannnnnn” Kuwei moaned

“What Kuwei?” Wylan said already exasperated

“Wylan I’m hungryyyyyy”

“Then go grab some chips or something!”

“But I don’t want to pay for it!”

“Then I guess that sucks for you!”

“You got like a million dollars from stealing me from Norway! You owe me!”

Ghezen Wylan hated drunk people

“Let’s perform a heist on the gas station!” Matthias said apparently done feeling sick

“What? No! We aren’t stealing from the gas station!” Wylan lectured

“It might actually be fuuuuuuun Wy” Kaz begged

The rest of the party were already getting out of the car ignoring Wylans protests

“We will do a simple distract act, Kuwei will go in first and lead the cashier away, and then we go in and steal chips” Kaz explained

It seemed even drunk Kaz could scheme

“This is insane!” Wylan exclaimed

“You said that about rescuing Kuwei from the Norwegian government but that ended up great” Matthias replied

They were gonna do this with or without Wylan

With a sigh Wylan thought what am I doing here?

Kuwei had gone in and had given the single

Wylan had walked in after pretending to look at some sodas and after Kuwei went into the back room with the cashier Wylan sent a quick text to the rest of the guys to come In and get raiding

Like clockwork Matthias, Jesper, and Kaz went in and they started ransacking the place

Wylan was in charge of Sodas, Matthias was in charge of Chips, and Jesper was in charge of Candy

Kaz had the most important job of all

He had to hack into there computers and wipe the security cameras

If Kaz couldn’t do that then Kaz would have to actually hack into the computers from his phone

It almost suprised Wylan how quickly efficiently, and quietly, a bunch of drunk guys could ransack a gas station

Wylan did feel guilty for a moment

But then he remembered how the CEO of the company the gas station is owned by has had multiple sexual misconduct allegations and Wylan felt better

Wylan got all the soda he could carry and rushed back to the car dumping them in the backseat

Soon after Matthias followed then Jesper and a little while after Kaz

Wylan did a quick headcount “wait where’s Kuwei?”

Wylan checked his phone

No texts from him

Shit shit shit

“Someone has to go back in” Kaz said

“I’ll go after him” Wylan said with a sigh

He loved Kuwei like a brother

But like an annoying little brother constantly getting himself in messes

Wylan Walked in and saw the e cashier wasn’t back

Wylan walked through the store and then heard something towards the men’s bathroom

Walking closer to the door the noises were getting a bit louder

Wylan opened the door slamming it against the wall

There stood a wide eyed Chinese kid and from the green uniform Wylan guessed was the cashier

The cashier who was standing between Kuweis legs. Kuwei who was sitting in the edge of the bathroom sink

There’s arms were around each other

Wylan was confused

What was Kuwei doing?

Oh

Oh

“Get your ass in the car Kuwei!” Wylan yelled

Kuwei gave whispered sorries to the cashier while collecting his jacket he apparently threw off

Wylan dragged Kuwei by the arm outside the store

“Kuwei. When we say distract the cashier, that means distract, not make oht with him!” Wylan lectured

“Cmon Wylan you saw him, he was cute!”

“Your drunk Kuwei!”

“Aren’t we all a little drunk in life?”

“That makes absolutely no sense” Wylan said with a sigh “just go to the car”

Kuwei happily skips away

Wylan had just dropped off Matthias at his and Ninas apartment after dropping off Kaz and Kuwei

Leaving just Wylan, Jesper, and an unhealthy amount of snacks in the car

“Hey Wylan” Jesper said

“Yes Jes?”

“I love you”

“I love you to Jesper”

“No wylan” Jesper took Wylan’s face in his hands

“I really love you” Jesper Pushed a ginger lock away from Wylans face

Jesper then reached into his pocket and pulled out a rumpled purple flower and tucked it into Wylans hair “I really really really love you”

Wylan blinked. Jesper was so drunk.

Wylan gave Jesper a soft smile and placed a kiss on his mouth

“I love you to Jesper”

And suddenly Wylan knew exactly what he was doing there

Finnally finished this in the Nick of time! @neilperryisalive I hope you enjoy this! I was seriously worried I wouldn’t be able to finish it but I did! I’ve never written Wesper but I really enjoyed it. My ask box is open and I take any Grishaverse requests

[just-a-creep-babe]

Matchup!

Commissioned by the lovely @lesbianthespianqueen, thank you sm <3

~Requests are closed~

Masterlist: x

I match you with: Clockwork

Alright, so Nat’s definitely not one to hold her tongue

If she has something to say, she’ll say it, and whether or not it offends anyone, as far as she’s concerned, it’s not her prob ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So usually, if someone else is as blunt & snarky as she is, chances are they’ll butt heads—a lot

Not necessarily in a serious/visceral way, but more of a frenemy kinda way

But for some reason, with you, it’s,,,, different

Like she’s less likely to be so defensive & snappy around you

Maybe it’s the punk look you’ve got going, or the fact that you seem pretty cool & you’ve got the vibe that you know what you’re doing

Or maybe it’s just how attractive she thinks you are & she’s lowkey intimidated by you sksjdjsls

Whatever it is, it has homegirl very easily developing a soft spot for you

The others, especially Jeff, notice that she acts differently around you and they tease the ever-loving hell out of her

She ends up kicking their ass every time though, cause there’s no way she’ll ever admit they’re right skdjdhsl

And when they tease her for it in front of you?

Whew boy, she gets BIG MAD ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

But tbh, it’s kinda cute cause she’ll get all blushy & flustered before finally snapping & chasing/beating them tf up 😏

Which, honestly, ngl, she looks damn fine when she’s knocking a grown ass man killer to the ground like it’s nothing

And she totally lowkey tries to show off in front of you too when she does beat them down 👀

Homegirl just wants your attention a lil, can you really blame her? ;>

Also, another sign that makes it clear she likes you (besides holding back on the snark & getting flustered around you) is how protective she is of you

If anyone makes fun of you or upsets you, she does not hesitate to throw hands

She’s the embodiment of the fite me (ง'̀-'́)ง meme except she WILL fuck up her opponent lmaoo

You might not be the type to easily show when someone’s upset you, but she’ll pay real close attention to anyone that steps outta line

And if she thinks someone’s just a little too rude, she’ll be quick to shut them up one way or another

She doesn’t mind how blunt or smart-mouthed you tend to be tbh

She actually thinks it’s pretty refreshing *cough* kinda hot too *cough*

So it’s pretty clear that you’ve no need to hold back when you’re around her

Honestly, with the way she tends to stick by your side, y’all end up getting pretty close

She loves how extroverted you become when you get to know each other better—and she’s absolutely the same

Y’all end up egging each other on into doing some things you probably shouldn’t do

But hey, it makes for some real good memories 😌👌

Bit by bit, playful insults thrown every now & then eventually turn into lowkey accidental flirting

And your friendship turns into that sort of “I really like you but idk what we are and if this counts as real flirting & at this point I’m too afraid to ask” kinda deal

She typically acts like she’s cool & confident, but she’s actually pretty shy & inexperienced & flustered by affection as well

So a kind of mutual understanding ends up developing between the two of you where y’all both KNOW you like the other but REFUSE to do anything about it

The tension gets t h i c k

Someone eventually has to intervene because it becomes clear y’all won’t do it on your own smh

And it’s pretty difficult at first for the both of you to get over the intimacy hurdle

But once you both adjust, y’all make for a banging couple

*wink wink nudge nudge*

She would’ve showed you some fighting tips before y’all started dating, but she definitely helps you practice a lot more after you become an item

And honestly, pining you down while you‘re all out of breath & sweaty?

It kinda does things to her that she was NOT ready to admit before you were an item 😳😳

She’s much more comfortable doing that kind of thing when she knows the feelings are,, mutual 😏😉

In fact, she loves play fighting with you

Whether it’s playful/flirty insults or seeing who can pin the other down faster, she adores being stupid with you & not worrying about being judged & vice versa

She knows that you trust her & she trusts you just as much

Like she usually isn’t very good at letting people in, especially not after everything that’s happened to her, but she knows you’d never do anything to hurt her

She loves & appreciates you sm 🥺💗

No one in the mansion wants to mess with either of you

Y’all were kinda scary before, but you’re downright terrifying together

You aren’t really a power couple in conventional/traditional terms, but you’ve definitely got an intensity about the two of you—and y’all are intimidating af with it tbh 😰

Even BEN holds himself back from saying the wrong kinda stuff around you

Or, at least, he tries to

Also, like I’ve mentioned, Nat typically tries to look cool & uninterested, but she’s actually a total softie uwu

Knowing you like video games, she’ll set up cozy lil nooks in her room w fairy lights & ~plenty~ of pillows & blankets in front of the tv so you can cuddle up and have chill indoor dates

But she will deny it if you bring up how much of a sap she can be :”)

She isn’t one much for theatre, but she’ll develop an appreciation for it knowing it’s what you’re into

And any play she hears about will remind her of you so, she’ll get that warm feeling in her chest & it kinda ends up making her day tbh 🥰❤️

Finally, it’s kind of something she keeps secret from the others, but she actually loves book

She is a huge bookworm & will absolutely rave about horror novels with you 👏all👏the👏time👏

Honestly, y’all are just dang fucking cute together—

NSFW

Ngl, Clocky tends to be pretty dominant in the bedroom

She likes the control it grants her & how she can choose how to go about things

She also likes seeing her lil princess squirm beneath her while she teases the hell out of you c;

And it’s all the better when you get flustered & try to give her attitude—you just look so cute~

She’s not too kinky, but she’s not always vanilla, either

One of her favourite things to do is tie you up & see how much teasing you can handle before you start begging for her touch

She’d also love to drag a feather up and down your skin to watch the way it has you squirming at the ticklish sensation

Wax & temperature play are both also something she’d love to experiment with, if you’re comfortable with it, ofc

She’s pretty big on exploring different sensations, and it honestly gets pretty sensual

But unless she’s in the mood for something rougher, she typically enjoys some nice, slow vanilla sex

She wants to worship your form and murmur how soft & warm you are, lavishing you with praise & attention between gentle kisses

She will melt if you do the same to her

Typically, she enjoys being on top, like I mentioned, but if you flip things around and focus the attention on her, she’ll get super shy & embarrassed

It’s honestly so dang precious~

If you wanna take control more often & maybe even get a lil rougher with her, you’ll definitely need to talk things through beforehand

What with her past and all, y’all will prolly need a few safewords & some clearly established boundaries to make sure everything goes well & you don’t hurt her in some way

But she’ll let you take charge if you really wanna because she trusts you uwu

Still would rather have slow & sensual sex if you’re on top tho

She doesn’t exactly consider herself the most romantic person, but she’ll try the whole candle-lit thing just to show you how much she loves you & that she’s willing to put effort

Also, the first few times y’all sleep together, she knows affection can sometimes scare you, so she’ll be very patient & understanding throughout the whole thing

Truth be told, it kinda scares her a lil too

She’s used to non-committal sex, although, admittedly, even in that case, she acts like she sleeps around a lot more than she actually does

She’s got a rep to uphold and all

Point is, the soft-mushy stuff is pretty fresh territory

So it’ll take her some time to adjust to it too, but y’all can both learn together at your own pace

The aftercare is top quality too

Plenty of cuddles and soft reassurance, asking if you’re ok and if it was alright for you

She’s really just a softie :”)

Loves & trusts you with her whole heart <33

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #452

“what i’ve felt, what i’ve known, never shined doing what i’ve shown  /  never free, never me, so i dub thee unforgiven”

Are you a part of the LGBTQ+ community? I am. Do you have Tiktok? Are you addicted? I don't. Do you enjoy being outside? IF it's cool outside, yes. Do you like being around kids? No, not really. Have you ever gotten Covid-19? No. What's your ethnicity? Caucasian. If you were president, what's the first change you would make? I'd probably put in place free healthcare first. What is an animal that you'd like to have as a pet but it's not allowed? If an animal shouldn't be a pet, there's a reason. So none. What was your favorite meal as as kid? Has it changed now? It was spaghetti. I still love it, but it's not my favorite now. Which doctor is your least favorite? Primary, eye, dentist, gynecologist, etc. Potential TMI answer follows. So, the VERY easy answer is gynecologist. Like, I've never even BEEN to one because I'm too scared. Not because I think they'll find anything wrong, but because I'm just very self-conscious about stuff like that and I do fucking not want some random stranger laying a goddamn finger on me like that. My doctor is really pushing me to go by now though as a safety precaution, but I just really, really don't want to. Do you feel that you'd be any good at solving a murder? No. I'm so clueless. You own a dragon, but it doesn't breathe fire; what comes out instead? Water, I guess? That could be beneficial in a lot of ways. Have you ever been sprayed by a giant rain puddle when a car passed by? No. Do you remember the last movie you saw while on a date? Yeah, IT with Girt. What color is your iPod? Hot pink. Do you think baby clothes are adorable? Ha ha yeah, I just tend to like miniature things in general, and babies are just... miniature humans lmao. Whose house did you last sleep over at? Sara's. If you could adopt 3 unique pets, what would you get? A plains hognose morph (probably a lavender, or snow?), a Brazilian black tarantula, andddd... an African fat-tailed gecko morph. What grade are you in, if you’re still in school? I'm not in school. Do you get a lot of tourists in the area where you live? Hell no, there's not shit here. Do you enjoy watching vlogs? Only occasionally by certain people I like. What was the last new video game you were excited about? It really sucks I don't have the appropriate console to play it myself, but I was SUPER stoked for Resident Evil 8: Village to be released and literally watched like four different playthroughs at the same time, ha ha. Have you ever talked about your period with a guy? Were they okay with it, or grossed out? In a three-and-a-half years intimate relationship, it obviously came up before. He didn't care, because he wasn't 12. Have you ever been to small church/bible group/study? Forced to or wanted to? I was forced to go to Sunday school, as well as church. Have you ever been to an Asian (any type) market? If so, what is the closest one to you? I've never seen one here, even. How would you feel if your significant other had tattoos? That'd be a bonus to how physically attracted I was to them, probably, lol. I just love tattoos. Where was the last place on your body that you felt physical pain? My uterus is screaming. :') What are you listening to right now? I am fucking unhealthily obsessed with Violet Orlandi & Skar's cover of "The Unforgiven" by Metallica lkasdjkflawjerwr like I will not stop listening to it lol. Last person you texted? My mom. Have you ever gone out of your way to make someone happy? Yes. Is there a certain person that makes you feel safe? My mom. Have you ever used a chainsaw? Nooo, and I don't want to. Do you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa? crihmuh Ever been so stunned, no words came out? Oh yes. Ever written that you were going to end your life? I have. I was fucking stupid and made a suicide note on Facebook. I genuinely wanted everyone on there to know what they meant to me, so like it seriously wasn't for attention, which I still worry people think that. Ever put fake bugs around your house to scare someone? Not to scare people, no. I have two faux tarantulas in my room as decor, though. Is there a reason you have the name you do? Not particularly. My parents just liked it, ig. Choose: the best song by Green Day? Aw, that's way too hard! I love Green Day. I guess if I absolutely had to pick, maybe "21 Guns." It's just a truly beautiful song. Have you ever tried to “save”, or “fix” someone, before? No. I don't believe that works and only damages you. Were ethics discovered or invented? That's a good question. I really can't say I know. Do you put effort into getting tan during the summer? Nah. Are you a fairly self-motivated person? NO. I need external motivation pretty badly. Be honest, does the person you like actually deserve you? Or are they actually not worthy of your affections? I don't deserve him. List 5 things that have been on your mind most recently. 1.) wtf I feel about Girt and wtf to do about it; 2.) my weight; 3.) what job I'm going to search for once I make progress at the gym; 4.) whether or not to quit photography and focus my efforts elsewhere; and 5.), as always, Jason. What is better, history or science? Science is way more interesting. Do you flinch at the sight of blood? No. Do you enjoy swimming? Yeah. When you swear, is it usually in general or directed at someone? In general. I don't generally swear at people. Are any of your friends hoping to be famous one day? Yeah; I've got a couple of musician friends. Who would you kiss right now if you could kiss anyone? GO AWAY Ever slapped a guy in the face? No. I don't hit people. Do you think you’re a good friend? I sure try to be. Have you ever thrown your cell phone in anger? When? I have on only one occasion when I Jason and I were texting and he pissed me off. I don't remember what we were even talking about now. My phone was fine btw, ha ha, I didn't like, chuck it. What color of hair do you find the sexiest on the opposite gender? Out of the natural hair colors, black. But I really like hair that's dyed exotic colors on like... anyone. Have you slept over at a member of the opposite sex’s house in their bed? Yeah. When you lost your virginity, were you sober? Yeah. Have you ever given your phone number to somebody you met online? Quite a few people, actually. Most of my friendships are online. On average, how much does gas cost where you live? When I was out today, it was $2.99. Why are you happy? Who said I was? I'm not happy. What is in your pocket? Nothing. What was the worst feeling you last felt? Severe indecision. Worthlessness. Yesterday had some grim periods. What would you name your future son? I always answer with the first name, "Damien," so let's see about a middle name... uhhhh... maybe Damien James? I'm not really sure about a middle name, but that sounds nice. What are you waiting for? Girt to message me back. He barely touches Facebook, so I can't blame him, but I wanna plan a day for him to visit and we can hang and I can decide what the fuck it is I feel towards him. What takes your breath away? Big waterfalls, to name a major one. What fact of life would you rather not know about? That the world doesn't give a fuck about you. It sounds super pessimistic, I know, but it doesn't. There is no sentience to it, no will to keep you safe and happy, it just... exists, and we're thrown onto it to figure it out. Unfair things happen. That's life. ... Damn, this answer was dark lol. What’re a few things that automatically make you go, “Awww?” Meerkat pups doing so much as blinking, guys being really cute with kids, seeing elderly couples holding hands and just generally being precious, proposals (especially gay ones just because of how hard that was fought for), seeing literally any picture in existence of Mark and Amy together, veterans coming home and their dogs freaking out... Man, a lot of things. This question brightened my mood to think about. :') Are you easily scared by horror movies? Nah. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? Illinois to visit Sara. :') I really wanna hang. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? No, but a former best friend had her bday a day before mine. Are you wearing a ring? I always wear two. Do you hate to hug people? No, I love hugs. How many rooms does your house consist of? Seven. If you could be on any TV show, which would it be and why? Can I be a Pokemon trainer, pls???? What would you want to be famous for? Most ideally, a great wildlife photographer. The kind photography students would see and be inspired by. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? No, I sleep with a real animal, ha ha. What is your favorite brand of hairspray? I don’t have one. What is in your backyard? Not very much... I'm barely ever even out there, so I barely know. There's one shed, a small tree, and uh... idk. Who is/was your favorite teacher? I have a few. Mrs. Whitley, Mr. Proctor, Coach Collie, and Miss Tobey are some. What’s your favorite non-sexual thing to do with a girl/boy? Play video games together. Do you cheer for the bad guy? Ha, I have a tendency to do that... Would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? Career. I want one so very badly. Something on the human body that grossest you out the most: So even though I am sexually attracted to any gender, nevertheless, genitalia gross me the fuck out. Either kind. Penises especially though like what the fuck- Do you think it’s easier to raise a boy a girl? Why? From most parents, I've heard boys are much easier because girls (supposedly) tend to have more of an attitude. What is your favorite strawberry flavored food? Strawberry is generally my favorite flavor for like, everything, so this is just about impossible. Maybe uhhh slushies? What is the oldest video game system you’ve played? An Atari.

[sun-choices]

It Lives Series: A Guide For Those Who Are Bad At Horror

*ORIGINALLY POSTED ON REDDIT, I AM REPOSTING HERE*

I’m famously bad at horror. I’ve played every single Choices book and been into the app since early when it came out in 2017, but the one series I’d never dared to play was the It Lives series. I’ve been dying to play the series but the scariest thing I’ve watched is Caroline and I get nightmares from that. I’ve also got real bad anxiety, so it was a no-go for me. However, I finally sucked it up and went through both, and god damn, they do live up to their rep. There’s been posts before asking how bad it is, but I would’ve liked something with more guidance to keep the anxiety more at bay. If anyone out there has been holding off on playing, or wants to replay as safely as you can, I hope this helps you all out.This guide will contain some spoilers for those who haven't played it yet, but I’ll try to keep them at the minimum, just some of the scariest stuff. I will also talk about keeping your friends alive diamond free in ILB, a highly debated topic, so keep reading for that too.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Use the wiki guide for both books. This is the safest way to make the safest choices, have slight but not full on spoilers, and keep your friends alive without spending diamonds willy-nilly.

Do NOT play at night, and play with your sound off. Listen to cheery music even, if you want. I found the best time to play was taking on 2 chapters in the morning, and preferably when I had something to do for the day to take my mind off it later (school, work, etc)

Do not fret when you lose nerve. You might even fail nerve checks, but that doesn’t mean its the end for you all. Follow the wiki and think about how you want to play ILB, and everything should go fine in the end.

You don’t need diamonds to keep everyone alive in both books. However, a few calculated diamond choices can help make things less scary. I’ll go more in depth for each game, but as a general guide, weapons pop up over and over a lot in both games. If you want to spend, that’s a good choice.

Play differently than you usually do if you can. I usually play as a girl in non genderlocked books, so I played as a guy here with names very different from what I’d usually choose. Its a small thing, but can help separate things in your mind.

If you ever get really scared or you want to purposely do a darker play through and something disturbs you, remember we’ve basically all played the book, and these writers at PB were really just going all out on these books.

If you want to have a chance at winning diamond free in ILB or make it easier on yourself, everyone must survive in ILITW, and you must sacrifice Noah.

IT LIVES IN THE WOODS

IMO, I found this book scarier, while the other felt more like a mystery book. This is in part due to the scary artwork. There’s a pretty bad jumpscare early in the first chapter, of a purple zombified Dan, so beware of that and perhaps keep your hand splayed over the top. Monsters will also pop up throughout the book but they’re not so bad once you’ve seem them once or twice. The mud monsters can be scary as well for some. Redfield might look a bit creepy too at times but its manageable, look away from the sprite and cover it up if its too much for you. There’s a noticeable in Chapter 9 where the walls are filled with spiders so be ready to look away if that type of thing creeps you out. The next scariest thing I’d say is at the second to last chapter when the friends play Are You Scared in the cave and reading about your friend’s deaths and seeing their bodies splayed over the screen.

Scary story spoilers if you want them: Dan will be missing and then in a coma at first, but he will be found and turn out to be okay later on. Cody will show up impaled and dead on the tree outside your house at one point. Jane is Redfield. To complete the sealing ritual, someone else must become the monster (Noah or MC).

It is easier to keep everyone alive in this book, so don’t worry too much. Try to enjoy their friendships and any LIs you romance, because one of the best parts of these books is how well written everyone is and how intricate the story is.

You can make it through the story pretty easily w/o diamonds. However, as I said before, weapons are very useful to have and they reoccur the most often, helping tone down rougher scenes. Pets are nice refreshers, so if you want to buy one, thats cool too. The lore is what I feel least necessary, and you can google them up on the wiki anyways, but whatever you choose is fine!

IT LIVES BENEATH

This book is less scary, but harder to keep everyone alive. You cannot make one wrong choice without diamonds, and even then, everyone will be alive but Parker will abandon the group and go live elsewhere. This is okay if you don’t mind, but a few calculated diamond choices can help avoid this. Save up diamonds from ILITW to do so. Play with the wiki to get every choice right. You need a group nerve score of somewhere around 289 for nobody to die, so even if you fail minor nerve checks, even those sewer checks, get it up to there by then and you should be okay.

To win without diamonds: Choose EVERY right choice, so use the wiki or replay chapters. You MUST either dance or sit with Tom (you cannot lose your finger at the nerve check or you will need diamonds to make up and keep anyone from dying). Do note, I believe Parker will abandon the group regardless if you don’t buy at least one diamond choice, but he can still stay alive and nobody will die. Alternatively, you can keep him in the group for free but someone would have to die for him.

With Minimal Diamonds: Buy Parker’s stun baton. This boosts his nerve significantly throughout the book and I believe it’ll help get him to 55/100, the amount you need for him to stay in the group. I also bought the scene where you hide with him in a closet, and his end nerve was in the 80’s, so I think you’ll be okay with just the stun baton.

Disturbing scenes and spoilers: this book doesn’t have as many jump scares like the other. The first chapter has a gruesome bloody murder scene where you find MC’s parents dead and a bloody symbol on the floor, and MC remembers this in a flashback throughout the first half of the book. Maybe some of the animals are unsettling at first but they pop up so often its not too bad. The ghost monster from the lake is unsettling too but I’d put her at the same level as Benji’s statue in the closet you find in QB. Finally, I’d say towards the end when you go from the sewer into the water and find Josephine’s skeleton with the marlinspikes in her, that’s also unsettling. If you don’t like seeing ghost sprites, you will see Josephine’s and her angry expression is creepy as well, but again, try to avoid looking or cover up the sprite and you should be alright. Finally, in the last chapter, Richard will try to murder MC by putting them in a coffin. If your nerve is high enough and you use the wiki guide for the right answers, you will survive just fine.

Optional Diamond Purchases: if you have the extra diamonds, I highly recommend buying the bracelet as it serves like a little warning before something bad/scary will happen, and gives MC a major nerve boost later on. Again, weapons are great (I wish I had bought Imogen’s Bolas to keep her nerve higher but oh well), and weapons appear REALLY often in this book so its a worthy purchase. Next I’d say some of the rune items are helpful, such as the skeleton key and Danni’s seeing stone, and ofc the bracelet, but if you had to choose, I’d say weapons before most of the runes. Pets really only pop up once after the initial purchase, but they’re sweet if you want them. As for scenes with the group/one LI, those are nice too, they give MAJOR nerve boosts and since you kinda have to be selective of how you play diamondless, if you really wanna romance someone specific its a good way to get more interaction without risking someone else through the free options, and brings the group score way up regardless.

I hope this guide is useful to some of you, and if I’ve forgotten anything or you have questions, feel free to add on. This is a horror based series and I totally respect and understand anyone who wishes to play it as such and doesn’t mind characters dying, however the plot is so damn good, the friend groups are A+, and I figured I would’ve liked a guide like this when I played. Good luck everyone!

[popculturebuffet]

Reviewcaps: Mega Man: Fully Charged (BOOM!) #1

After 5 long years the Blue Bomber returns to comics and to the Fully Charged Universe! Things get a lot more grim as Aki grapples with a new robot army under actual robots, his buried past, and the fact Mega Mini is still around for some reason. Cracked skulls and dead cells under the cut. 

So i’m a huge mega man fan. I haven’t really talked about video games here because this is my first video game adaptation, but yeah, I love em and Capcom’s vast and awesome franchise of robots and humanoids in blue, and in one case red, is one of my faviorites. From children blowing up tons of robots from a balding man who dosen’t get the hint already, to the pacifist soldier forced to fight in a war against robot whales, buffalo, mammoths, and other bizzare robot animals, to his best friend who has amnesia for some reason fighting more robot animals because capcom ran out, to his human sucessors wearing him like a hat, to some guy who turns out to be a war machine I haven’t played yet because I haven’t gotten the chance to and is the only part of the franchise I haven’t, to another universe where he’s the ai versoin of a dead child whose now a teenager mentally, to that ai’s sucessor a shy child whose dad was kidnapped by a space monster and fuses reguarly with a much cooler space monster. What i’m saying Is I deeply love this franchise, this franchise is complicated iwth all the branches, and it’s also full of lovely nonsense. 

So naturally with that many versions and a decades long history Mega Man’s had a healthy life in one of my other faviorite meddieums: Comics. Over in his home country of Japan Mega Man’s had tons of Manga: The biggest and one of the few to make it here is Mega Man Megamix, a bunch of stories that, after the first two adapted the first two games in their own rough way, took place after each of the various games, and is pretty damn good. Others off the top of my head include a Mega Man x adaptation where X dates a mermaid, a weird mega man zero adaptation, and a longrunning adaptation of Mega Man Battle Network, all ones I need to read. 

Even Brazil had a Mega Man Manga... which I need to cover too.. less because it’s actually good or notable, and more because it’s BATSHIT INSANE, and you can read about it here. But the cliffs notes: Roll is an adult woman who goes around naked half hte time and is the most importnat character, X is master roshi with all the restraint and panty snatching that implies, and ther’es a character that one writer tried to have kill everyone and take over the comic.. yes really. I go most of this .l from that page but it’s documented on various wikis that this did actually happen. Just.. why. All of it.  Meanwhile in the US.. we didn’t get that many. No nintendo power adaptations despite being a huge franchise, no horrible malibu comics like street fighter got. There was one attempt by Dreamwave comics in the early 2000′s a series that only lasted 5 issues, and had mega man trying to go to school and some intresting if loose takes ont he franchise.. but the company bottomed out due to horirble mismanagment soon after and mega man sat ont he shelf for a while until the early 2010′s. At a time when Capcom had given up on the franchise, which has thankfully changed dramatically with the release of 11 and the various mega collections, they still gave the liscence to Archie comics, who, wanting some more of that sweet money they were getting off of sonic, gladly took the lisence and gave it to  Sonic Scribe and easily the best one the comic had during it’s long run, Ian Flynn, who set about adapting mega man from day 1, while incorperating nods and call forwards to the various other versions of the blue bomber, and adding his own nice touches. What i’ve read is really damn good and it’s a shame it got cut off right before the adaptation for mega man 4. I’m only being so brief as .. I intend to cover it like i’ve been saying. I love the character, Flynn’s comic was one of the best versions of him bar none, and I could use more comics content on here too. It’s a win win, smiles all around.  But yeah sadly Archie lost intrest in doing non-Archie stuff, with the Archie Horror Line proving a sucess and a reboot on the horizon. While I do LOVE Archie Comics, this edotiral decision still leaves a bad taste in my mouth and left fans without any mega man till 11 came out and any comics till this year, when the rights apparently lapsed and Boom! Studios, home of such great comics as the mighty morphing power rangers ongoing and JOhn Allison’s wonderful Giant Days, swept it up. Hopefully Boom! will reprint the archie comics eventually, but until then they decided to do a softish reboot of another version of the franchise, another one that like Archie had been given a raw deal.. but unlike Archie had issues: Mega Man; Fully Charged

While most of you probably know this as a refrsher Mega Man: Fully Charged was a cartoon from a few years back, a CGI adatpation of the games in an attempt to get in on that market by Ben 10 and Generator Rex maestro’s Man of Action. Like the Dreamwave comics it followed Mega Man, now Aki LIght as he went to school, did school stuff, and also fought rouge robots after school with secret powers he unlocked before the pilot and were never elaborated on in show.  The show kept Dr. Light, Mega Man’s creator and dad, and his dog Rush who while at first looking nothing like the games was later upgraded to resemble his game counterpart more from what i’ve heard and what’s present in this comic. Replacing Mega’s sister Roll, as his real name was Rock because the Mega Man staff loved musical puns, was Suna.. whos basically the same character but human and with an entirely diffrent design.  The show also, for whatever fucking reason, added... Mega Mini.. a tiny robot with a brooklyn accent who lived inside Aki, Mega Man’s regular name in this series which i’m fine with as while I do lik ehim going by Rock, I get that’s not really a name. Mini also manages his powers, makes stupid jokes and makes me pray for death but death won’t come. As you can tell I hate the little bugger from the handful of episodes i’ve watched. Rounding out our main heroes is Aki’s best friend Bert Wily, whose likely related to the canon wily and is your standard dorky best friend, but his roll as an inventor does come in handy since Mega hasn’t told his dad he’s a superhero, though it’s revealed in the end that he knows.. I did do my homework, even if i’ve only seen a handful of the series. More on that in a minute.  Opposing Mega Man were various robots from the games, adapted with varying degrees of design, from the good. 

To the okay if a bit weird. 

To the how the fuck is this airman. This is airman

Really good basic design. This is what fully charged calls airman, 

Why.. why not just make him Wind Man. He looks more like Wind Man.. why did ... I can bitch about this later when I cover the series, which, yes AGAIN I intend to. BUt seriously he has an awesome looking fan for a face. How do you screw that up. 

Behind the robot masters was Sgt. Night. See in a nice twist, and one of the things I like about the series, the world of Fully Charaged already had the kind of robot on human war that would plauge the main mega man timeline for centuries in the backstory, with LIght and Night being vetrans. Night being a racisit moron, wanted to keep robots apart and set up a false flag operation do do so as Commander Night. He however.. wasn’t a compelling vilian and apparnetly dosen’t really get better, not having any depth to his operations or actoins and his basic plan turns out to be, thank you research, to wipe all robots minds to be subservient.. he’s just.. bland compared to wily who while not complex in his motives, he just wants to take over the world, still has style and in some cases,real thought to his plans. Sure the vast majority are “blame it on someone else” but in a LOT of those cases, there’s still thorught and effort put into who he’s blaming to take doubt away from him. IN universe at least.  Helping night, is Namagem... yes Mega Man..spelled backwards and this series protoman, but hte character suprisingly DOES sound intresting... he just has one of the worst names in human history. Like my god, in god we trust why not just use proto man. the Character is basically proto man, with the interesting backstory of night kidnapping him, and apparently the series gets loads better once he arrives, so i’m not going to be too hard on the name, as the writers were likely stuck with it.    But as i’ve made apparent.. I haven’t watched much of the series. I do want to watch it all and i’m aware the second half is much better, but when trying to binge watch it at a friends house I only got about halfway through season 1, and then just forgot to keep going. And the series does have good pieces: a compelling background of a brutal war, mysteries to unlock, and a steady supply of new villians via the games long history and the series own original, and honestly intresting sounding and looking, robot masters... but it stapled all this to a “cocky hero fights vilians” every week setup we’ve seen a million times and didn’t grab me, but the intresting worldbuildnig and original bits do have me wanting to give it another try so look forward to that.  And with all the intresting bits i was truly invested to see a comic make more out of this part of the franchise,a nd was utterly excited, as it could be what the series could’ve been with less hampering by the various parties involved, as fully charged felt like it had a lot of executive madates slapped on. So free of those and free to be whatever it wants with Joe Kelly advising, what has fully charged become? let’s take a look. 

We Open 6 months after the series with the comic helpfully catching us via news broadcast.. and the art being moody with washed out colors the tone having done a 180. Seriously it is kind of weird for this unvierse to go from early generator rex, a dark backstory with a bizzarely cheery tone to full on Blade Runner or to put it in mega man terms, The Megas. Seriously the breif bit of silicon city we see , the constant rain as a mysteroius figure whose revealed at the end of the next page to be Namagem.. I expect that a pretty hologram in a raincoat is going to pop up next to him any moment... what I can pick which blade runner I want to refrence. Shoo. 

Anyways a broadcast debate between a human reporter and her robot coanchor , ron roburgundy as I will call him, fills us in on exposition, while Mega Man himself narrators like this is a noir.. again i’m half expecting harrison ford to show up. Aki muses about how the city, HIS CITY, almost fell.. oh god is frank miller writing this? Are we going to get a middle schooler talking about how much he wants to make love to a city because no one wants that.  Anyways, we get expostion, both for anyone who hadn’t watched the series to give us the cliff notes, and to also catch up returning fans on what they missed. I like it, despite not having watched fully charged to the end, or known exactly what happened until research, this fills it in nicely: At the end of season 1, as I explained earlier Night was arrested, and is thankfully not a part of it nor is his foghorn leghorn attempt at a southren accent. However the remaning Robot Masters are still rioting and a new army of them has started a legit revolution, vandalizing the good guild, which still has that name for some reason despite the tone shift, who are about as compitent as the name implies. Here’s file footage of them fighting Pharoah Man. 

Anyways Dr. Light is going to negotiate peace and as I mentoned earlier nams is watching with a glare on his face. And yeah I .. I can’t keep calling him Namagem. That name is just bad and whoever came up with it is one of the biggest morons in marketing history as is whoever decided to force the poor creative team to use it. However while he is Protoman in ways.. it just dosen’t fit. The two were made together in this unvierse, maybe we’ll see as this comic fills in the blanks, and furthermore he’s a bit of protoman and bass.. and since protobass sounds stupid, and blues dosen’t work without the theme naming.. i’m going with Breakman, protoman’s disgusie from 3. With the heavy scaring, broken past and general state of him it just.. fits and HOPEFULLY the comic will give him a full on rename. If it does i’ll go with that but for now I just want to keep from slamming my head into a keyboard every time I have to type out NAMAGEM... excuse me. 

hgfjnhnghbjnh

That’s better. Okay so moving on from my new headache, we cut to the desert where the good guild, which is somehow even worse than Breakman’s actual name, are escorting light to a bunker in the desert, where the robots outside tell light to leave the good guild inside. Just as well he’d be better protected with a paper mache sword anda  note telling them to go away. 

Naturally, not long inside the robot masters leader forces light to bow and handcuffs him, before revealing himself. 

Skull Man. Who looks really badass in this thought, the skulls themed scrap throne, his regal posture and his speeches about how he feels that the only way things will be right, and settled is not by the fragile peace silicon city has but by humans beneath his rather sizable boots. And honestly.. he was a good choice for the main robot antagonist: Skull Man’s always had a cool look to him and most versions of him have been pretty cool, and the Megas gave him one hell of a theme song. If you haven’t heard of htem the Megas are an indie rock band that do reworkings of the various songs from mega man games, at the time of this recording a full album for 2, two full albums for 3, an ep for 1, and scattered other songs since the second 3 album, with plans to do their next full album on mega man x. Each of the stage themes for the robot masters is from the prosepctive of one of them and are really damn good and I’d recommend thema nd skullman’s.. really fits him here. take a listen. 

But yeah Skull Man feels like a good choice for a menacing revolutionary, as well as a former combat robot as he himself was apparently in the hard wars. He honestly reminds me a lot of more than meets the eye megatron in flashbacks.. just good stuff. But being in the wars, he’s naturally not too fond of repetant vetran light and plans to kill him as an example. Light however.. isn’t an idiot.. a good man who seeks to do his best, who came in good faith.. but just in case he put some sort of device under his skin and presses it, signaling his son to come save his ass. And thus he does come ...

And one of skullman’s minons mistakes him for a bomb.. which light clarifies i’ts a BLUE BOMBER. To skullman’s credit his response is to just order them to go full throttle showing no panic as Mega Man makes his entrance. 

Light thanks him by.. asking what took him so long.. when his son, whose a middle schooler mind you, had to fight through a bunch of armed assholes to get in here most likely. Mini shows up to my annoyance.. though credit where it’s do his zinger of what took so long “some birds, a plane, some guy in a cape” is actually.. really funny. I question why they kept him at ALL, but hey, at least he’s less grating and isn’t around long.. more on that in a minute. 

A really well drawn action scene insues.. while the expressions vary for this comic, I will give the fight scnee, I will give the artist credit for having fluid motion and nice pops of color, most things are kind of blendy into the background other than major character but the color pops where it should.. not exactly my style but it works okay. In a nice change of his character though, Aki offers to spare the various robots there of a fight and possible death, as while he already attacked them it was in self defense.  And while it is a 180 from the show.. it’s not only a welcome change as it’s closer to the games canon and a more intersting personality.. it also still works. Aki went through a LOT at the end of season 1: while he did win, he found out he had a brother, his dad knew who he was but was never honest with him about it and also likely knows where his power came from but hasn’t told him, and has had to deal with 6 months worth of rioting where he’s unsure what side he’s on, machine like he is or man like his family. He’s trying to find the right ballance; be the hero his city needs.. but be the man he needs to be, one who will spare his enemies and won’t fight unless he needs to, for the good fo everyone, His friends, his family, everyone in the city who deserves to sleep soundly. And he’s also starting to wonder, via narration of course, if he’s a hero.. or even a kid.. or a weapon> Which again while a bit of a shift from the series again makes sense: he’s a middle school aged boy who started this jsut fighting random assholes and some idiot racist who was transparently evil and had selfish goals.. now he’s fighting against a revolution who MIGHT have a point. While Silcion city seemd fine and equal.. there wer eplenty of idiot swilling to listen to night. As the real world has proven over the last few months, just because things have gotten better, dosen’t mean that things are 100% or that prejudice is just gone. He’s a 12 year old asked to take a stand in a messy conflict that lead to war in the past with his father offering no answers and growing colder. While I thought his angst was  bit overblown on first reading the more I think about it the more it fits. 

Anyways Mega makes short work of the skull squad after they refuse to back down, but while Mega Man’s ready to ghost.. Skull Man’s not done and drills into mega man’s head... and reveals something. Flashbacks. 

But yeah, Skull Man’s either implanted or restored some memory of Aki fighting in the hard wars.. right alongside dr. light.. with a drill because science. DR. Light then gets REALLY badass, breaking out of the robot restraining him’s grip before fucking UPERCUTTING Skull Man.. jesus christ, Dr.Light clearly traded his empathy for miraclo pills holy balls.  Rush helps him escape and take Aki with him but skull man’s confident, he lost the battle but won Mega’s mind.  On the way home Mega Man tells dr.light what he saw and isn’t sure if it’s the past the future or something else but Dr.Light assures him..

Even though his eyes give away he’s clearly hiding something. Also I haven’t mentioned it yet but Dr.Light looks like santa in this sisue, red shirt, blue pants, big white beard. Just.. why though. Just put him in a suit or something. Also Mini crawls out of Mega’s head and passes out due to the memory restoration.. a nice way to write him out while still giving it weight since while the audience is presumibly cheering his long overdue demise, he is aki’s friend.. why I have no idea but he is.  Back at the lighthouse, the light’s home and home base, which is admitely a really good alternate name for light labs and a better one in my opinon. Light brushes off Suna, telling her to go to bed and avoiding telling her anything. Yeahhh.. while it could be the pressure of the situation I really dont’ like dr.light’s characterization before. Fully Charged, outside of the whole secret identity thing which at least was expalined as Aki not knowing if his dad would let him continue as mega man if he knew, though it extended clearly past the point he was clearly supporting mega man’s actions so I dunno. But he was a compationste scientest, deeply ashamed of his past in the war and wanting to make peace, he was done really well and peformed well by gary chalk. Here? He’s a dick who clearly did something terrible in the past and treats his kids like crap. It’s okay to be suspcious of him given the flashback but he’s given us no reason to like him or want to hear his side eventually, and hopefully that changes. 

Suna talks to Aki who tells her what happened and both side give out good arguments; Suna points out she reallyc an’t trust what some creepy asshole put in his head, as Skull Man could just want to brainwash him.. but Aki counters easily and quietly: How’s he supposed to know what’s real if his dad won’t tell him anything? He took months to tell Aki he knew about his alter ego, and even before his id came out avoided talking about the hard war, which hasn’t changed. He vows to find out though, and Suna naturally is helpful, pointing out there’s more people to ask and since she actually pays attention in school she knwos just who.. Dr. Wily. Yup he’s finally here. dun dun dun. We then close as Breakman watches and tells his brother he can’t stop what’s started. And we’re out.  Mega Final Thoughts: This was a decent issue, doing a fair job of bringing in new readers, and the art was decent and matched the tone.. which If elt was a bit too bleak at times. Better than say a Zack Snyder film at least, but still a bit too close to that form of edgelord for my case. That said it opens up some intresting mysteries and has me at least willing to give it another shot next month and was a solid opener, which while not having the best charcterzation for dr light, vastly improved Aki and Suna’s while giving us a far more intersting villian in Skull Man. If this holds, we’ll see. But until then I plan to cover more mega man comics, as well as my continued weekly coverage of amphibia. Until I see you again, stay safe, wear a mask and later days

[fivegoldpieces]

Talks Machina at Gen-Con Q&A Highlights

Note: This only has the audience q&a portion. Cast answers are transcribed, side-comments and banter are only included if they are relevant to/answer the question posed. Apologies in advance to mobile-users if the read-more doesn't work - this is tagged as #long post if you want to blacklist it.

[[MORE]]

Q: For Matt; might we expect any possible homebrew releases coming out in the next year or so, like dunamancy?

Matt: I have plans. I can't say anything because I want things to be cool and surprising. But I have plans don't worry. It's not that I don't care, it's that I don't have time, but I'm working on it.

Q: For Taliesin; what would make Caduceus really angry?

Taliesin: I will say that he can get angry. It does happen. Juvenile disrespect does eventually get to him. Not a fan of pranking. I mean, you know, everybody's got some layer - there's some stuff. No one's that serene all the time. No one.

Q: For Taliesin; at the end of the Call of Cthulhu oneshot, you mentioned that you had a lot of mouse traps set up. I was just wondering, were the shadow people the most dangerous thing they could've released, or was there a more dangerous horror waiting that they managed to avoid?

Taliesin: I mean, if the cats had been released first, that would have definitely been an interesting thing. The cats would have been a problem. Also, if somebody had died really early, I was setting up a series of rules for dead players to continue to interact, which would have been really really unhappy and bad. And terrible rules for the things that were living behind the glass, and if you were stuck behind the glass, you were right there with them and they could really mess with you. Thankfully none of that happened.

Q: For Matt; you have the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting - I was wondering if you were going to do one for The Mighty Nein campaign?

Matt: I don't have a lot of time. Campaign settings are extensive. I'd like to eventually do something like that. I have materials, it's just assembling them in a way that can be legible by a non-crazy human being that I am. Hopefully! We'll see as time goes on. At the moment, we're consumed with this animated series that you guys helped make happen. Super excited about that. Keep an eye out as time goes on, because hopefully I'd like to get around to that. That'd be awesome.

Q: For Matt; what the hell was up with the undead vibe on Jamedi Cosko?

Matt: Yeah, that's crazy huh? That's a pretty weird thing. Yeah, there was something about him that gives off an undead vibe. Wonder what that means? I appreciate the question, but I don't know if that'll come back into play in some time. Let's see if it gets explored at some point, and if not at least I could tell you at the campaign wrap-up.

Q: For Travis; for the animated series, a lot of the characters have iconic catchphrases so I was wondering how you're going to translate "I would like to rage"?

Travis: Are we going to "translate" that? I think he's just going to say "I would like to rage". Yeah, we are definitely keeping iconic lines, moments, interactions, all those things will be there just as they were.

Taliesin: I'll also add to that - if you want to see somebody doing that and taking things that shouldn't actually work in-game and making them work in-game, Jody Houser is doing a great job in the comic book series of making you feel like somehow Matt is intertwined in everything that happens, it's kind of cool. Check it out!

Q: For Taliesin; a lot of comparisons have been thrown around between Fjord and Percy, and something that I noticed was Uk'otoa is being much more insistent than Orthax was - do you think if Orthax was as insistent and as keen on punishment, Percy might've gone a similar direction as Fjord?

Taliesin: Honest to God, and this is just from watching, I don't think Percy had nearly as strong a will as Fjord does. Watching Travis play Fjord was definitely like, "I did not have the balls to pull that off, oh my God." Percy was never about the hard choice, it was always about "what's the option C that I haven't figured out yet, there's a way to game my way out of this, if I just keep talking I can get everything to work" until the very end. Like chicken? Percy doesn't play chicken.

Laura (using Vex's voice): From firsthand knowledge, Percy does curtail very easily.

Matt: If you actually recall, Percy didn't even make the choice. Scanlan did for him.

Q: For Laura; when can we get a Caduceus tea set?

Laura: Oh, I heard a lot of "ooh's". Who would buy a Caduceus tea set? [audience applause] Well, shit, maybe I should look into it.

Sam: That's so many more people than who voted for me.

Brian: Not to be That Guy, lets just see how long his character lives, before we start making merchandise around him.

Q: For Sam; you are kind of the king of over-the-top and ostentatious whether it be with your character design, or your flasks, or things like that, and especially your outfits at the live events - how do you come up with these over-the-top creations and also how on earth do you plan on topping last night?

Sam: That last part will be hard. I think next year, I'll either come out totally naked or I'll just be so basic - pleated khakis, a polo shirt, I don't know. That outfit last night, it was pieced together from several different stores, I'm sure CritRoleCloset will figure it out at some point. But it was a challenge putting that together. And then, my fellow cast members, like two weeks after I bought all that weird stuff I wore, they were like, "hey let's go goth". So. Fuck you guys.

Q: For Travis; with Fjord's recent decision, do you see him changing outfits to fit his new or old persona?

Travis: I don't think so. Most of Fjord's armor was very piece-mail stuff that he got either from working on the docks, or stuff that he got from Vandren, or items that he was given just as he sort of accrued time and responsibility where he worked. I think that stuff's very dear to him, especially coming from an orphanage where he didn't have any possessions, so all those things that are actually his are very dear to him. He might add to those things, but I think underneath they'll stay there. He might augment them or change them a little bit, in the same way you would draw on your jeans in school or whatever, but that stuff's his so it means a lot to him.

Q: For Travis; after Fjord severed his pact with Uk'otoa, was there a larger fear in telling Beau and Jester what had happened, since he had been traveling with them the longest out of the Nein, or did his journeys with the Nein make that fear equal across all of the party?

Travis: I think actually he was worried about telling Beau and Jester the least, and maybe Caduceus in there as well. He knew he would hear about it from Nott, and Caleb had already sort of started to call him on his shit and saw through a lot of that stuff. He also regards the group as very powerful, so I think a lot of it is turning to his very powerful and talented friends and saying, "I don't have any of that anymore, I hope I can still play with you guys." Legit though, the response was amazing. It was absolutely incredible. Jester is so gregarious and loving and joyful and exuberant that I don't think he was worried about that, I think he was actually looking forward to telling her as one of the first people to know. And Beau is second-mate, so like ride-or-die or right?

Q: For Taliesin; I can totally be wrong for this, but just reading body language and facial features, there do seem to be moments where you're kind of just like, "I'm done with this" - I just kind of want advice, like how do you keep playing when your energy level might be low or you don't like where the story is going?

Taliesin: Oh, that is never "I'm done with this", what you're seeing is the "I'm trying to make sure no one notices that I'm reading my backstory notes". That's me reading, frantically. I'm a big believer in terror, terror is a great way to keep me up. "Oh God, I don't remember anybody's name, oh God how many siblings do I have oh God."

Marisha: Well, also you write your backstories like the Silmarillion, it's like, so intense. I'm like "my dad was mean to me" like that's my backstory.

Q: For Sam; based on the amazing reaction we've had to your DnDBeyond theme and the Critical Role theme, when can we expect a parody version of the 2010 hit "Like a G6" by Far East Movement as "Like a d6"?

Sam: Oh wow, that's good.

Marisha: Not to be that person, it already exists. The Library Bards did it. So, you should check it out. I mean, do a cover, Sam, I don't know.

Sam: There are more songs incoming, just so you know.

Q: For Matt; you say dunamancy can alter the reality and the fate of the person that wields it - is this an affront to the Raven Queen?

Matt: I would say, given the fact that elements of dunamancy deal with the manipulation of probability, destiny, things like that, the Raven Queen is probably not that cool with dunamancy. Just throwing that out there. One of the few things she's probably like, "Really, guys?" So yeah, I'd say you're on the right track.

Q: For Laura and Travis; do you talk to Ronin about your campaign?

Laura: So, Ronin, every Thursday night he stays with a babysitter at home, but he watches the opening of the show. Like, he loves the theme song so much. I sing it every time I change his diaper.

Travis: Same, like I know there's songs that parents sing to their kids - he's heard the damn theme song every day of his life.

Brian: But do you guys change the lyrics though, like "You shit your pants, I'm cleaning it up now", you know what I mean?

Liam: My kids bust into that song constantly. We cannot play a board game or anything. Someone goes "it's your turn" "TO ROLL" every time.

Q: For Marisha; I'm a huge fan of Jocks Machina and hopefully we'll get to see them on the channel one day - will Beau ever join Jocks Machina?

Marisha: What are the requirements, are there prerequisites for joining Jocks Machina? You're kind of the authority on this.

Travis: Guns. Abs. Likes to lift heavy things. Likes to break a sweat. Likes to whoop that ass.

Marisha: Check. Check. ...Check? Check. Hell yeah.

Q: For Matt; this is a rather involved conspiracy theory question, so excuse me - last year when the party was in Shady Creek Run at the Landlocked Lady Inn, they first arrived and there was a doorman named Champ who Keg knew. The next morning, they went down and there was a new doorman who said he'd been working for the Marduns for a few months and had bright red curly hair and vibrant green eyes and acted rather enigmatic and shady and shifty and was saying they should listen more and that he hoped that whatever they were after, they were on the right path. Later, once they recover everyone, Jester is asking the Traveler where he was, and he says he was always there. So my question is this: was that character the Traveler in disguise?

Matt: [several moments of silence]

Matt: That'd be pretty interesting, huh? That's a unique observation. I will confirm nor deny.

Q: For Matt; now that Fjord has effectively broken up with Uk'otoa, what do you think would be a more compelling storyline, or what are you most interested to see: him continue to take levels in warlock, possibly with an Archfey patron, or paladin...?

Matt: Part of what I really enjoy about this game is how the players continuously surprise me. I'm down to see what journey Travis wants to take. I'm curious to see how he takes this next path in his journey and which elements he wants to maintain, what direction he wants to go - he seems to be really finding interest in the Wildmother and talking to Caduceus about that, and that's kind of been an element of breaking that pact at the time, so I'm curious if he's going to continue down that path or see this as a blank slate to continue to grow. I'm interested to see the different decisions that Fjord takes, and Travis does through Fjord, and kind of adjust and build the narrative for that character around that. I can't say I have a specific path that I'm hoping for, because I have no idea what Travis's direct interest is, beyond just the actions he's taken in the game. Yeah, I'm just excited to see where it goes. I really love the idea of not knowing that as the Dungeon Master. As much as it's me building and world-planning, many of you out there who run games as GM know the most exciting part of the game is after all that prep, coming to the table and the players completely surprise you, and you kind of have to think on your feet and go with it. That's the best part of the game for me.

Q: For Marisha; what inspired you to play Beau a bit more shaken about her near-death than some of the other characters?

Marisha: Well, I was at 2 hit points the whole time - Liam can attest to that. So you know, I was kind of role-playing that. Shit's crazy man.

Q: For Liam; so you play your characters, both Vax and Caleb, very emotionally without any hesitation, and you're an experienced actor. What I wanted to ask was, something that people who try to emulate Critical Role don't realize that can happen when you try to put yourself into the character and get emotionally invested is character bleed. I was wondering how you deal with that, if you do at all. Like, if something really emotionally devastating happens to Vax or to Caleb, how does it affect you and how do you deal with it?

Liam: These feel like synthetic memories, so any time the superimposed fantasy friend gets killed or has to leave or whatever happens - that shit we carry around and get upset about. Every time we leave on a cliffhanger and someone's gonna die, we think about it constantly. Vax helped me sort through things, but made me more loyal and determined and willing to take chances - which in life I generally try to avoid conflict. Caleb, I still kind of drive around and think about him and still go, like "why did you do that?" He's really messed up, if I just think like, fireballs and cats like it's fun, and we can make dick jokes and it's fun. But if I really take a minute, I just go "Oh". I feel bad for him, I feel really bad for him. I have fun playing the game, and I love these guys, and I feel bad for my character.

Follow-up Q: Do you have ways that you learned to process that, like if you're at home feeling bummed about something that happened on a Thursday night, and you're like "man I need to get out of this funk"?

Liam: Yeah, I pull my head out of the game. I'll play a game with my kid, or watch a movie with my wife, or go running. Running is great. Not for your knees, but everything else. Or spend time with these guys out of the game. There's lots of ways. We're really invested in their stories, so it sort of drags along like coattails wherever we go.

Matt: To give you examples too, when he says "hanging out with friends", the group that's there, your friends that are in this game that you trust enough? You should all also support each other when those dark moments happen outside of the game. Whenever we lose a character in the game, we have like a wake. We go to an Irish pub that we go to often in Burbank, and we all get drinks and we have a wake for that character. And it's part of that process too. Even though it's imaginary, there's a part of that experience and journey that's come to an end and that deserves its respect as well, and we're all there to support the player. As a playing group, be there for your friends who may be going through that experience, because even though it is make-believe and it's a game, that is still a loss. And that's not a bad thing either. Loss is an important thing to process, because life comes with loss. Part of the wonderful experiences of role-playing games is that it allows us a safe space to explore very positive and very negative emotions in a healthy way and make us better people for it. So just be there for them, be supportive, and be the best friends and co-players you can be.

Liam: Part of the reason, I think, that we get upset when these fictional characters are killed is because we're playing this game of imagination together, and we form a chemistry together where we're like "we get to do this together, and it's always like this, and you're always funny like that, and you're always intense like this" and we really love that chemistry. Then somebody gets killed and they're gone, and that chemistry, which is something that we're like addicted to and love, that chemistry is gone. Like, when Molly was gone. Beau and Molly had this great "fuck you" "fuck you" butting heads thing - that's gone. We're actors, but anyone who plays this game extensively, you love the sort-of second life that you create for yourself and then when the character is gone, you don't have that unique mix anymore.

Q: For Laura; I really love how you play Vex and Jester, even though as two characters, they're pretty different from each other. But sometimes, you have an instance where like, your Laura shows. So I actually just wanted to ask, what was the biggest disconnect you've ever experienced between player versus character? If you've ever felt like, you as a person, as a player, would never ever make a choice in a situation versus what your character would do in that same situation.

Laura: I feel like everything my characters do, I wouldn't do in real life. Like, especially Jester. Travis and I have had these conversations: the joy of playing a character like Jester or like Grog, where you don't have to filter yourself - everybody, I assume, has these random really stupid things that pop up in your brain and you don't say them because everyone would judge you, and they're weird - and as these characters, you just embrace it, and it is so much fun. Talk about character bleed - it is an issue that I deal with now, because Jester has had that effect on me, and so I tend to say stupider things in real life now. No, but I would never deface anything in public, I would never steal anything.

Travis: You're not gonna attach any dicks on the walls.

Laura: I would not attach a dick to a wall in public. Or anywhere. I do eat a lot of donuts though, that's on me.

Q: For Matt; we've explored several places in the multiverse in your games, like the City of Brass, the Feywild, places like that - are there any places in the multiverse like the Astral Sea or somewhere that you, either as a player or as a GM, would have liked to have gone but have never had the time or resources to do?

Matt: Interesting. I do have some places that I really would like to explore, whether in this campaign or campaigns down the road. Astral Sea is interesting, it's a really weird amorphous plane, and I just love the prospect of one day throwing an Astral Dreadnought at these poor guys. He's my second to the Tarrasque. Oh they're fun, they're a good time. I've always loved Planescape. The City of Sigil would be great for obvious reasons of course. So I can be like, "no guys, this is where I learned my wrong pronunciation". But the City of Doors is awesome. Lady of Pain is a great element. Those who watched the Search for Bob oneshot, there was a Lady of Pain reference dropped in there. If you missed it, you can go back and look. Maybe there's a few doors in Sigil that lead to Exandria, who knows. Think about that for your home campaigns, huh? I want to go into some deep Abyssal planes too. We've been to the City of Dis, we've seen a little bit of the Nine Hells of Baator, though maybe not the harsher places. There's so many to explore!

Q: For Sam; Matt has said on Twitter that one of the ways you guys handle the pressures of the Kickstarter and the intense dramatic moments in the campaign is by checking in with each other and checking in on each other's mental health. I know you take on a lot of responsibilities with doing the DnDBeyond ads and the songs that you write and also your characters are often joking around with other characters and giving them a hard time so I was wondering, from your perspective, if you could give some details, without giving away anything too personal, on how to properly mentally check-in with your fellow players and just help everybody and check that everybody is doing okay.

Sam: Well, I'm learning from these guys, as we go, how best to do that. I'm weird in that, as weird as I am on-screen, I don't really talk very much when we're off-screen, or I keep my stuff to myself, more than some of these guys do. But they have, in the last few years, helped me sort of connect more with my best friends here. You know, we do check in a lot with each other, thanks to Matt and thanks to all of us. For instance, yesterday morning we all had breakfast together. It was really nice - we just talked about stuff, and it was just great to just sort of reconnect with everybody. I'm not an expert at this in any way, and in fact, on this stage, I am the least good at it, but I have endeavoured to become better at it. Opening yourself up to your friends and feeling comfortable enough to share your past or your worries for the future with your friends and not getting any judgement back is like, the greatest gift. If you have that with one person, it's amazing. If you have that with all of these people? Holy moly, it's the greatest thing in the world. I've tried to be better at sharing my stuff with them and being there for them. That's all I can do.

Q: For Marisha; in campaign one with Vox Machina, there's a lot of powerful badass lady NPCs, so if by chance, it all worked out timewise, who do you think Beau would be most likely to have a crush on?

Marisha: Kima. Yeah. Keyleth very much emulated Allura, and really looked up to her and kind of looked at her as a powerful female figurehead and took notes for leadership through her. Beau would just wanna fuck.

Q: For Liam; what do characters do in the campaign that you find funny no matter how old it gets?

Liam: Everybody throw in on this one. I'll never get over Laura waggling her eyebrow every third word in the game.

Taliesin: Slow snicker every time there's even vaguely a possibility of a dick joke.

Travis: I'd say every time there's a pain reaction out of Nott. It is hysterical to me.

Liam: I like any time, just the concept of death comes up or Molly - anywhere, in the game, out of the game - one of these people would be like, "Like you, you're dead!"

Laura: Uk'otoa.

Q: For Laura; do you think the volcano would be a good spot for Traveler on?

Laura (using Jester's voice): Okay here's the thing. Like, I totally did at first and I need to talk to him, because I think that now it's probably not, because it wasn't very expansive really, as big as I thought it would be, and there wasn't like a lot of beds, and like, no real good food. So, I don't know how many people are coming, but like, even just getting to the nearest hotel was really difficult, you know?

Matt: I love the idea that half of your sketchbook is Jester's tiny Yelp reviews of locations in Wildemount.

Q: For Laura; with all of the throwback to Vox Machina and Whitestone in the week before, how are you feeling with all of it?

Laura: I'm feeling very nostalgic.

Laura (using Vex's voice): Also, I would love for everyone to come visit.

Marisha (using Keyleth's voice): Me as well.

Laura (using Jester's voice): And also, if we did, I think we would cause a lot of problems.

Marisha: New pitch - Travelercon at Whitestone. We know the food is good, lots of lodging and room and board, no dead people in trees anymore.

Laura: All of the residuum that you could ever hope for.

Brian: And endless booze.

[Panel end]

[magioftheseas]

Chiaki & Yasuke

Summary: Nanami Chiaki’s FTEs in the SDR2 Protagonist Matsuda Yasuke AU. Yep. They’re almost completely different from canon.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Language and references to gore/hospital stuff because Matsuda.

Notes: I was just super into the mood to write more FTEs and I went for Nanami since her relationship with Matsuda is fun. It’s also one I noticed the most people (about three) voicing interest in. It’s pretty drastically different but I still tried to make them parallel the original somewhat. Do the two of them actually get closer? Well, I won’t give you the answer so easily. Anyway Nanami talks like a House of Dead 2 character. She does.

Read this fic among others HERE

Main story is HERE

Commission? Donate?

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, start.

Matsuda woke to the sound of furious button presses. The hotel air was as stale as ever. His neck fucking hurt from how he had slouched against the couch. At the very least, his manga had been carefully set down on the table, but he nevertheless found himself irritated at how he just fell asleep while reading.

Just because I got tired of my cottage. The hell was I thinking?

And that creepy otaku was happily booping away on the tabletop game. Although Matsuda was pretty damn sure the lobby had been empty when he entered. He’s sure because when he goes out, he goes out of his way to avoid people if he can help it.

And yet, the gamer chick is here. When he’s sure she has a million other things to do. How irritating.

Huffing, Matsuda pushed himself up. His neck throbbed and creaked and he groaned loudly as he tried to adjust it. He might need a neck pillow or something. Anything.

“Ugh. How annoying,” he mutters, grabbing his book. “I wasted all that time on a shitty nap. I doubt my brain flushed out the chemicals properly. No, I’m sure it didn’t. Great.”

Stretching doesn’t alleviate the aching of his joints, but he’s ready to head out regardless. He pops his lips as he starts with his best foot forward, only for someone to call out.

“Hey, why don’t you play a game with me before you go?”

Matsuda paused, turning to Nanami with a withered, unimpressed look.

“Just one,” she said, not looking at him but at the stupid fucking screen. “Or two. Or three. Or four. Maybe more.”

The fuck? Oh. The hell kind of bizarro world is this?

He thinks that, he thinks that, but he throws his hands up in preemptive defeat.

“Sure. Fine. Why the hell not.”

And that was the start of it. As well as the select, the downs, the ups, and the game.

--

The losing screen flashes in his face. He’s not surprised at it. He wasn’t surprised the first time.

“Another round,” Nanami droned at him. “You didn’t even try in that last one, Matsuda-kun.”

“What do you mean? My strategy of just pressing random buttons hasn’t changed a bit,” he pointed out. “I don’t have the time or brain space to learn the technicalities of this cheap-ass fighter game. Especially when the characters are all so ugly.”

“You consistently pick the same one,” she replied. “If it didn’t matter at all, you’d change things up a little.”

Matsuda stares darkly at the character in question as if it had betrayed him. What met his glare was an annoying innocent smile obscured by strings of red.

“I guess this fugly speaks to me on some level. Not that I’m remotely interested in what it has to say.” He selects them just as before. “Whatever. If you’re that fucking bored, then I guess I’ll pick the stage. Although does it really matter? They’re just different backdrops.”

“It helps with atmosphere, I think.”

You think. Games are supposed to be your fucking forte.

He ended up selecting the gothic horror-styled one. Not for any particular reason beyond it feeling right at the time. He immediately started his losing strategy of random button mashing, and while he got a few hits in due to unpredictability, Nanami Chiaki was perfectly capable of wiping the floor with him. To call it one-sided would be generous.

Another defeat. Another loss. Another smug winning animation of Nanami’s character, cheering and prancing around like a fucking deer.

He pressed start to skip through, but the screen lingered as the other player hadn’t done the same. So he waited because whatever, almost drifted off, and snapped back to attention when Nanami was the one who yawned.

“Am I boring you?” he asked, huffing. “What did you expect? Obviously, I’m not a match against you. This is your field, not mine. Or was this part of a sad attempt at psychoanalysis?”

“Um...” Nanami rubbed at her eye. “I do love games. I love playing games. And playing games with others is fun. It’s fun even with it’s with you.”

Even when it’s you. He wonders if he should be flattered. Ultimately, he doesn’t really care. He shrugs.

“Games are as good as a recreational activity as any, I suppose,” he mumbled. “But still between games and manga, the manga is the obvious victor for me. I’d rather not have to use my head unnecessarily when it comes to entertainment.”

“Unnecessarily?” Nanami parrots.

“Because gaming requires an engagement unlike any other,” Matsuda explained, perhaps a bit snappier than needed. “It’s interactive. The game cannot proceed without a player. It’s more...versatile, I suppose? That’s the main appeal of it, and I definitely see the value there, but, still.” He shook his head. “Not for me.”

“So that’s why you’re not really engaging,” Nanami muttered, puffing her cheeks. “Not really, I think.”

“If I asked you to go reading with me, you’d definitely fall asleep before finishing a chapter.” He paused for a moment, mulling that over. “But I guess maybe you’d put more of a show at participating.”

“Maybe. Books are okay. I guess.”

Matsuda twitched a little.

“Video games are okay. I guess.”

“But video games encapsulate all kinds of experiences,” Nanami said. “So I think you’re being a bit close-minded. There’s surely a game out there that speaks clearly to Matsuda-kun’s interests. Maybe we should give that a try.”

Matsuda perked. Nanami had clicked start so that the screen could change, but her gaze was more intense than before. Matsuda couldn’t help but let out a snort.

“I don’t doubt that, but I’m still not exactly interested in playing through it.” He waved his hand. “I’d rather watch someone else play.”

“I guess I can play it, then?” Nanami’s head tilted. “I guess we’ll both have fun that way. I think so, anyway. So, let’s go find that game. Um. There are simulations of surgeries.” Matsuda remembered those. He remembered those well.

I’ve actually played through those for training. It’s meant to ease you into the idea of cutting open a real person, but it doesn’t fully capture that. Doesn’t capture the feel of pulsing at your fingertips, the weight of that person’s mind and life on your shoulders. How a person can twitch and break if poked the wrong way.

And with all that in mind, he was really, incredibly, exhausted.

“Not right now. I’m going back to take an actual fucking nap.” He stands, and he does a half-assed salute. “Sayonara, bye-bye.”

“Later, then?” Nanami asked. She didn’t even sound hopeful. It was cold and robotic, like a coworker after a long, long day. It lowkey pissed him off, so he didn’t even respond.

--

“Ohhhh, it’s Matsuda-kuuuuun.”

“It’s meeeee.” Matsuda waved his hand dully. “I didn’t have anything better to do so here I aaaaaam.”

“Yaaaaay,” Nanami droned with no mirth whatsoever. “So, let’s go to my cottage, then. I dug around through my games and I found stuff that aligns with Matsuda-kun’s interests, I think. I also asked Usamonomi for other stuff.”

“You can just ask the rabbit for shit like that?” he asked, blinking. “Well, shit. I should’ve been taking advantage of that a long time ago. I could’ve cut down on time spent within the proximity of other people.”

Nanami blinks back at him. She already looks bored. And tired. What a mood.

“Were you serious about finding a game I’d like?”

“Absolutely,” she answered immediately with quite the serious expression. “Games are everything. If you can’t find a game you enjoy, what are you even doing with your life?”

“Other things.”

“Come on,” Nanami insisted. “I will drag you if I have to. Probably.”

I don’t want to go but having someone remark on the weird gaming otaku trying to shove me around isn’t exactly my idea of a better time. The best time would be reading manga. And not going crazy due to a lack of being able to work. God.

��Okay. Sure.”

He could only shrug his shoulders and move on along. And make faces at Nanami’s back all the while.

They got to her cottage easily, and Nanami was even walking a bit faster than usual to make the trip shorter. She had to dig around for her key, but it was only a minute before she unlocked the door and beckoned him within her gaming domain. Matsuda, unaffected as ever, just muttered platitudes as he followed in after her.

“Please excuse me.”

He scowled as he had to step over several cables and nearly flipped over the rug that happened to be the same shape as the hair clip Nanami wore. How obsessive was this chick? Even he didn’t have a specially designed rug. And the shape was impractical, too, it pissed him off.

God, what would life be without such useless luxuries, indeed.

“Ba, ba, baaa,” Nanami droned in a poor non-attempt to drill up anticipation. Before Matsuda could ask, she had shoved one of the handheld consoles into his face. It was pearly pink and well-worn, and also flicked on with the screen blinding. Squinting, Matsuda first heard the steady, synthesized heartbeat before he saw something pulsing in the depths of painfully light cyan blue. On closer inspection it was a heart, tubes and all. How quaint.

His eyes flickered over the title printed on the screen, and he exhaled.

“Yeah. That’s a video game alright.”

“You can play it,” Nanami said. “Or you can watch me play it. I guess.”

“I’ll watch you.”

“Okay.”

Nanami plopped onto the ground. She patted the spot beside her but Matsuda elected to just keep standing. He had no interest in getting overly cozy, that just...made him feel uncomfortable.

This chick in general makes me feel uncomfortable.

And she had already started the game. She was utterly fixated on the screen immediately, even when all she was doing was scrolling through dialogue and watching inane cutscenes. The music droned on, and Matsuda wondered if Nanami would notice him just leaving.

Tempting idea. But if I’m going to waste my time here, I better fucking commit.

He noticed that she used a stylus to navigate the various screens. It was definitely old, but in good shape. Hadn’t even been gnawed on the way most of Matsuda’s pens had been. If anything, Nanami had no idling or ticks as she played. It was as if every atom of her being couldn’t focus on anything else.

Creepy.

Really creepy. Totally inhuman. She’s not even blinking.

“Your eyesight’s going to go out,” he muttered under his breath. But she had started the stage, and Matsuda could only stare at the digitized rendition of a patient on the surgical table. Nanami drew the lines with her stylus, and the ‘skin’ split open, revealing the pulsing masses underneath.

There was music ticking, blaring and frantic. It annoyed him. If any music played during surgery, it was almost always classical. Fucking classical. It’s like he was back watching during his internship. He had been fascinated back then, watching how the body pulsed with life in spite of being cut open. The thrill of a person’s warmth when their inner intricacies were in his hands. The throbbing and spasming of those insides...and Matsuda only snapped out of it when the stage was cleared and triumphant music played.

And Nanami was looking up at him, bright-eyed and expectant. She offered him the game.

He shook his head. He felt twitchy all over. Anxious. Here he was, wasting his fucking time on this. There weren’t even any lives on the line. No excitement at all. He wouldn’t even learn anything. A simulation had nothing on the hands-on experience he used to be so familiar with.

And if I’m here for so long that I forget how to rewire a person...what will I do?

“It’s nothing like the real thing. It doesn’t even make the slightest difference.”

“Matsuda-kun?”

He leaves without another word.

--

He looks through the files in his cottage of weird animal-dressed people, and even mulling over them and trying to act like he’s working isn’t the most satisfying of activities. So, he heads out, reading his manga as he does, and sometimes irritably shielding himself from the sun. It’s painfully bright regardless of what he does, so he ends up in the hotel lobby once again.

And Nanami Chiaki is sleeping on his favorite spot, her handheld placed gently aside. She doesn’t sleep with any grace and is muttering about flying pigs and evil octopi. Matsuda shuts his manga irritably and he nudges her arm dangling over the side with the tip of his slipper. Nanami mutters something incoherent in between weird humming that may or may not have resembled classical music, and Matsuda smacks her head none-too-lightly with his book.

“Oi. If you’re going to sleep, do so in your fucking cottage not out here in the open. Do you have any self-preservation at all?” He smacks her again. “This is also bad for your back. And you already slouch so much. Geez.”

“Mm. The one who orders us. Cannot be negotiated with. Do not call.”

“What weird game are you playing in your head now?”

Nanami’s face scrunched up briefly. And quickly. Almost too quick to observe. Her eyes drifted open lethargically, wide and blank. Slowly, she pushed herself up, and there was only recognition in her dull gaze as she blinked at him.

“Matsuda-kun.”

What the hell was that about? Ah.

“Morning,” he greeted, not that curious. “Do you ever go anywhere else? Shut-in.”

“Mm,” Nanami mumbled, rubbing her eye with a yawn. “I feel most comfortable with games, but I suppose I should go to other places, too. Do you have any ideas, Matsuda-kun?”

“I don’t care. Anywhere should work.”

Her cheeks puffed, clearly displeased with the answer but Matsuda didn’t care enough to take it back.

“Is it that you’re getting bored of games or that you feel like there should be more to life? It’s none of my concern either way, but if you’re going to bother me about such nonsense, the least you can do is be clear about your motivations.”

Nanami stared at him, and after a while, her head tilted.

“It’s because you’re so difficult.”

Matsuda raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Out of everyone here, Matsuda-kun is the most difficult,” she said simply, tugging up her hood. “At least, I think so.”

“That’s...a pretty fucking lofty claim, considering.” He said that, but in all honesty, he’s not that shocked. People have been calling him difficult all his life even amongst others with objectively worse traits. He’s used to this kind of bullshit.

It’s still annoying as fuck, though.

“That’s also not much of an explanation,” he pointed out. “Why the hell am I a factor in how you spend your free time? You don’t have to pay me mind.”

Nanami’s expression didn’t change, but he wondered if he imagined a shadow flickering across her gaze for the slightest moment.

“I spend a lot of time playing games, and I love games.” A pause. “Of course, games are about having fun. But there are other good things you can get out of it, too. Like, a greater understanding of yourself and the world around you.”

“That’s what it means to be art,” Matsuda replied dully. “So, what? What does this have to do with me specifically?”

“There’s a particular genre I have trouble with, I guess,” Nanami said, although she seemed kind of lost in thought about it. “It’s a genre that hinges on understanding others. Other, um, living people I think.”

Living people? The hell is up with that signifier? Is she actually a zombie?

He couldn’t ponder that further because Nanami was now pointing at him.

“And you, Matsuda-kun, are the most difficult person. So, I think I want to understand through you.”

“What a normal thing to say. And do.” Matsuda twitched. “It’s not my fucking responsibility if you have a social disorder.”

Although I wonder if that’s what it is. But it doesn’t matter. This doesn’t involve me.

“When I invited you to play games, I thought playing something that pertained to your interests would get you to open up,” Nanami explained next. “But you didn’t. You just got upset. Why?”

Ah. Okay. That’s a curiosity I can entertain.

“It’s because you assumed that my field is meant to entertainment.” He didn’t look at her, but he wasn’t going to run away. “I got into medicine and neurology out of necessity and purpose, not because I thought it’d be fun. Yes, it can be enjoyable but that’s such a selfish and stupid fucking way to look at it. Even the fucking narcissists don’t care about that.”

It’s about control. The control needed to save a person’s life.

“Narcissists?” Nanami parroted.

“Never mind. What I should be saying is that if you wanted to pick a game I’d enjoy; you should have picked something with magical girls.”

She perked up. “Oh, so Monomi.”

“Something a little more dignified would be preferred, but yeah. I guess. I can’t say I’m that rabbit’s biggest fan.”

If not for her shitty timing and shittier competence level, I’d at least tolerate her, I suppose.

“Um. So.” Humming, Nanami bounced on her heels, likely to keep herself awake. “What’s something that Matsuda-kun enjoys that I can take part in?” She looks at her book. “I can read with you, I guess? That’s sort of like co-op.”

“It’s nothing like co-op,” he snapped. “And I’d rather not have your creepy dead fish eyes staring holes over my shoulder.”

“I’m not a fish. I think. Fish can sleep underwater. And I’d drown if I tried that. Probably. But maybe I could survive if I collected enough bubbles.”

Matsuda stared at her for a long, long time. 

“How about I look for a second copy of this book and you can read along or something?”

“Oh, I guess that’s also an option, huh.”

And such was what they went with. And so, Matsuda’s frustration and confusion with the one called Nanami Chiaki increased. But off to the library, all the same.

--

“Matsuda-kun, Matsuda-kun.”

Nanami was the one who waved him over, although she hardly looked happy to be doing so. Neutrality as always. It seriously weirded him out.

“Let’s go somewhere again,” she said. “Where would you like to be?”

“A...hospital. With patients. Where I’d be working. Obviously.”

Nanami frowned at him, perhaps a little put out. He couldn’t really tell. Maybe she was actually judging him or something. Considering how much time this chick spent on luxury activities, he wondered if she had any concept of work.

Then again, she doesn’t understand much. Isn’t she pestering me in the first place because of a game?

“That game you’re using me to get good at...it’s not unsavory, is it?”

“Unsavory?” Nanami parroted, like she wasn’t sure what the word meant. He shuddered a bit at the implication of such a scenario. “I do want to understand other people. That’s important, right?”

“I guess. But normally a person’s intention would be social climbing.”

“Like gaining social links?” Nanami seemed to think that over. “Well, there are benefits to that. New abilities. Matsuda-kun would grant greater precision. The ability to better aim. Sharp Precision. That’s what it’d be called.”

She’s now talking through me rather than at me. Fucking rude.

“Right. Precision granted, then. Good-bye.”

He turns on his heel and walks away. It’s not all that dramatic, because Nanami just trots after him without missing a beat. One might compare it to being followed by something cute, like a puppy, a kitten, or a duckling. Matsuda felt it more akin to the security cameras.

“That’s not how it works,” Nanami finally spoke after they walked a good distance across the island. “I feel like concluding here would be a bad ending, I’m sure of it.”

Bad ending? So like...a dating sim route?

Gross.

“Alright. So, a question.” He distracted himself with one of the monitors. And one of the cameras. What he’d give for a rock to break both of them. “You’re pretty good at games, right?”

“Mm?”

“Like, it’s your talent. You must be really fucking absurdly good at games.” He still didn’t look at her. “How much do you think I’d have to mess with your head to make you bad at them?” A pause. “One practice during open brain surgery is having the patient playing a game while you poke around. If they go from doing really well to really poorly, you have an idea that you’re doing something wrong. So how about it?” He glanced back. “Wanna test that?”

Nanami didn’t look disturbed. She didn’t even look displeased. She did, however, visibly size him up and shook her head.

“Even if I was bad at games, I’m sure I’d still enjoy them. It’s not about winning or losing, after all.”

That’s...absolutely not what you should be concerned about. Creepy. So fucking creepy. She has the sense to not go for it, but seriously?

If I lost my capabilities for even a moment, I don’t know what I’d fucking do with myself. If I couldn’t focus on something that important, what would I even be living for?

“Oh.” Nanami sighed. “Matsuda-kun looks upset again. At this rate, I’ll never get a good ending.”

Gross. Gross, gross, gross.

“Life doesn’t have any endings,” he bit out. “There’s also no milestones, not really. No plot points. Certainly no impeccable strategy. Don’t you get that?”

She blinked at him. Once. Twice.

“Mm.” She shrugs. “Matsuda-kun, I have a magical girl game we can play together. It’s a fighter. The combos are really simple. I think you’d enjoy it.”

“It’s always about games with you, isn’t it?” He rolled his eyes. “Look. The second we get off this island, I’m going to throw my everything back into work. There’s no point in building a relationship that’s just going to fall apart. Especially when the person you’re looking to build it with is as difficult as I am.”

Nanami blinked at him again. This time, she was quiet.

“I’m going back,” he said, rubbing at his nape. “Thanks for joining me on the walk, but no thanks to your weird, detached advances.”

“It’s because I want to understand you, Matsuda-kun,” she replied simply. “Because it’s difficult for me, too. I think.”

Is it? Is it really?

No matter how he looked at it, it was a fucking weird sentiment to express. It wasn’t normal. Not at all. Nanami Chiaki wasn’t remotely normal.

I actually...do kind of want to split her head open and get a look for what’s inside.

But he can’t really do that, so for now he just brushes her off.

“I’d rather just not be bothered.”

“Hmmm. Well,” Nanami hummed, shrugging as well. “Maybe you’re tired? I’ll talk to you later, Matsuda-kun.”

This time, she’s the one to walk away. Like it’s that simple.

How exhausting.

--

He’s lying on bed, manga draped over his face and hands laced behind his head. He’s decently close to being asleep, but there’s a knock on his door. Pulling the manga off and setting aside, he groaned loudly.

“Leave a message.”

And then, he heard someone stuffing just that under his door. Pushing himself up, Matsuda stared at the folded-up paper now on his floor. Sighing, he went and retrieved it. The handwriting was surprisingly neat.

Matsuda-kun,

Hang out with me?

He had half a mind to crumble it up, but instead he just opened the door. Sure enough, she was still there.

“I hear letters can be a good starting block,” Nanami said simply. Like it was just common knowledge. “So they really are effective, huh.”

“Did you just have this on you?” Matsuda shook his head. “Don’t actually answer that. I don’t want to know. What I will ask is why you’re bothering me. Again.”

“I’ve hung out with other people,” she responded, head tilted. “And I think I learned a bit about human interaction. But, Matsuda-kun is still the most difficult. I think.”

“Mmgh.” She really is an odd one, isn’t she? That said. “You really think we can get along, huh? I don’t remotely understand how but to be honest, I don’t understand how you think at all. Sure I can’t cut open your head?” He snorted. “Kidding.”

Nanami’s expression still didn’t change. He still couldn’t get a read on her.

“Walk with me, Matsuda-kun?”

“Alright. Sure. Whatever.”

There wasn’t any point either way, so he figured he might as well. It wasn’t often someone sought him out willingly, right?

...right?

His head hurt a little.

“We can stop by the supermarket, I think,” Nanami says after he shuts the door behind him. “If your head hurts.”

He waved his hand to brush off the remark and followed her lead.

“When talking to many people, I guess I learned a lot of things,” she rambled on ever dully. “I know quite a bit from games, but that can only teach me so much about the world, I think.”

Matsuda said nothing to that, rubbing his temples.

“There was something in particular that frustrated and confused me,” she added. “Something that I wanted to understand.”

“Dating sims?” Matsuda asked wryly, unimpressed.

She didn’t respond, either to confirm or to elaborate. Matsuda huffed, but he expected as much.

“Y’know most games that simulate interaction miss out on a lot of nuances to actual conversations. Just like most thing,” he found himself saying. “No matter how intricate the control screen, there’s an ocean of difference between playing a game about a subject versus engaging with it in the real world. That’s another reason why your doctor games don’t do much for me.”

“I suppose that makes sense, huh.” Strangely, Nanami almost sounded wistful. “But, it’s still something I’d like to understand better. Interacting with others, building relationships, falling in love, things like that.”

They’re at the beach now. Nanami pauses to stare out towards the ocean. Matsuda wondered what he saw beyond the sunlight broken and scattered across the surface. The seagulls flying overhead, and the rolling waves.

“I don’t understand love, but... I don’t think you do, either, Matsuda-kun.”

Matsuda’s eyes narrowed sharply and he would’ve snapped back except suddenly his head hurt and he nearly choked. He gagged, too, feeling sick and light-headed.

“U-Urgh. Urgh.”

“Matsuda-kun.” A gentle hand on his head. “Forget I said anything.”

He flinched, but, his mind went blank for a moment and he swallowed back both saliva and bile. Noticing how close Nanami was standing to him, and how her stare was the most unsettling it has ever been, he scowled.

“What was that? I felt like you said shit that was seriously fucking rude before.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Liar.”

Nanami shrugs and from there it’s whatever. Just whatever.

“Hey, Matsuda-kun.” She tugs at her hood. “If you do ever leave, do you think you’ll be bothered to remember everyone?”

“You’re a difficult bunch to forget,” Matsuda snapped. “But as for you, I really can’t be clearer about my lack of interest. By the way, getting to know someone because you want to score fictional lovers on a game is kinda shit.”

“That was actually an excuse, but I figured it wouldn’t work on you.” She shrugged again. “But we spent enough time together that there must be something between us.”

“What a gross remark.”

“So difficult,” Nanami muttered. However, something tugged at her lips. “But I would like for you to get along with everyone, I think. Despite everything. I’m sure.”

“You really do sound like that obnoxious rabbit sometimes,” he responded, puffing his cheeks. She did the same.

“Because getting along with others is important, Matsuda-kun. You should know that.”

Of course I do. But the idea is such a hassle. Such a headache. I have to wonder if it’s worth the trouble.

But, he won’t deny that the idea of a future alone and isolated was a chilling one. He was still human, after all. Humans are social creatures by nature. It was how their species survived, as stupid as it was.

Even if I can’t begin to understand someone like the gamer zombie, it won’t be that way for most other people. And for all her faults, I suppose she’s capable like any other person. I suppose there are a couple of things about her that I can get, even if it’s not everything. But before all of that, one thing is certain.

As both he and Nanami stared out across the endless blue of the ocean waves, he could only truly seek after what laid beyond.

I have to get out of here.

[mayohigan-orange]

           Get to know the blogger!     

Can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: Josh

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’m one of the few people who enjoyed Phantom Menace? If only for the fight between Obi-Wan and Qui-Jon against Darth Maul. Iunno, what’s strange to one person might not be strange to another.

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: Boobs, butt, hips. ...What? I’m a guy, what do you expect from me?

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: Probably potatoes. Many, many ways to prepare them, my favourite being mashed.

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: Hmm. I’m not actually too picky, so this is kinda hard. I guess... peanuts? *shrug*

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: I mean, it feels kinda like it’d be cheating to say wearing my pajamas all day, since that’s what Amber put, so, uh... I dunno. My friends kinda got me out of calling stuff ‘guilty pleasures’ a while back, since if you enjoy something, you shouldn’t really feel guilty about it.

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: Pajamas. Sometimes a t-shirt and boxer shorts if it’s hot.

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: Considering I’ve never really had any? Ehh, probably serious, but I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to flings.

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: Not dropping out of school when I was 12 due to bullying and depression would be a good start.

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: Don’t have many people to show my affection to, but yeah, if I know you well enough, you’re getting hugs whenever I see you.

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: Hm. Probably the first Avengers film, Spider-Man Homecoming and Far From Home. Either of the Kingsmen movies, or Skyfall.

12. FAVOURITE BOOK: Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I have many, many books. I guess my favourite ones would be the ‘Horrible Science’ books, since I learnt a lot from them. I’m a nerd like that.

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: I mean, I have cats. What other animal would I want?

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: I don’t actually go for ships all that often? Just... I dunno. A lot of ships are either canon, in which case they can be a bit boring to have as a fave ship... or are fan pairings, and I disagree with, like, 99% of them, whether I just don’t think the characters go well together (HermionexDraco, for example) or they’re just... really problematic (Harry/Snape, AxelxRoxas anyone?) so... eh. I’m just gonna... not pick any.

15. PIE OR CAKE: Neither. I do like pie, but my Dad buys them so often I’m kinda sick of them.

16. FAVORITE SCENT: Lavender.

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: Don’t really have one. I guess maybe Christina Hendricks? *shrug*

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: Canada, probably.

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: Mayor introvert. Going outside? no thanks.

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: I used to be really easy to scare, which led to me hating horror. Nowadays I’m less easy to scare... still hate horror though. Especially games like ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’. No, FNAF, jumpscares don’t make your game scary, it’s just a cheap substitute for actual horror.

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: I’m pretty sure my phone predates both iPhone and Android. Well... maybe not, but it’s pretty damn basic.

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: Yep! Currently working my way through Octopath Traveller!

23. DREAM JOB: Voice actor.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: Probably use half of it for immediate stuff and to give to my family, and then invest the rest in something. Wouldn’t necessarily have to be anything that’d have a super high return, just something that’d be a safe bet.

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: Oooh boy, uuhhh... see, it’s tough, because most characters there is at least SOMETHING I like about them that stops me from flat-out hating them. I’m not very fond of Lexaeus, I guess, but we don’t really get much characterisation for him other than he’s strong and doesn’t talk that much. For characters I outright HATE though... none are really coming to mind. I mean, even the culprits in every Phoenix Wright case, they either don’t make enough of an impact for me to hate them, or they have some quirk that makes me like them. I guess Redd White, though his high and mighty attitude is fun to break.

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: I don’t really tend to go for fandom stuff anymore, since they’re generally filled with drama and people arguing over ships, so... yeah.

tagged by: A bunch of nerds, but I guess specifically @twinfoxtails​ tagging: Do it if you want

[clock-corpse]

Get to know the blogger!

Can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: Severa

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: I can down a 20oz glass of water in ten seconds.

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: Eyes. Eyes in general are just really pretty. I suppose the others would be muscle, and just overall their face.

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: God absolutely none but maybe fish???

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: Jalapeños. Seriously, fuck j alapeños. They can go die and burn in hell for all I care. I’ve never tasted a worse god damn food in my entire life I hate them so much god damn it.

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: Kpop I guess?? Idk. I know I’m a metalhead but they’ve got some good tunes.

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: Clothes

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: Serious for sure. I’m fucking tired of girls that only want to play.

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: Stop myself from watching a horrific scene in reality that I cannot describe here because it’s fucked up.

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: Yes absolutely. Whether it comes to friends, crushes, or actual girlfriends I love showing the people I love that I love them.

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: GODZILLA FINAL WARS IS A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE THAT MAKES ME LOSE MY SHIT EVERY TIME I WATCH IT

12. FAVORITE BOOK: Dracula? Maybe? If visual novels count then Hellboy.

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: Tarantula. I know those are perfectly legal but I cannot express how much I LOVE spiders. I want a tarantula so bad.

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: Oh well I wonder COUGH REMISAKU COUGH. Other than that uhhh, PharMercy, LuciSev, CatrAdora, and Yukayuyu. I might as well have a shirt that says “I Am Gay” on it.

15. PIE OR CAKE: Apple pie and chocolate cake. Why have one when I can have BOTH.

16. FAVORITE SCENT: Uhhhh...This one candle smell that’s like autumn leaves or something.

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: Alissa White-Gluz

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: Uhhhhhh fuck. I guess NY to see my best friend.

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: Introvert. I live in my room away from society. Thank god.

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: Depends on the situation. I get bad paranoia sometimes irl but when I’m watching say a horror movie I usually laugh my ass off or just like, become enthralled.

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: I have an iphone unfortunately.

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: Pokemon, Kirby, Touhou, Doom, Mortal Kombat, Starfox, Smash Bros, Zelda, Okami. I play a lot of Nintendo. It’s what I grew up with.

23. DREAM JOB: Anything that I’m actually passionate in.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: Probably save it for later. Not without some indulgent spending first, but not too much.

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: Fun fact: I used to hate Genji from Overwatch. Not anymore though. I really don’t know if I have a fictional character I hate.

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: Overwatch fandom. It was fun! I miss it and playing Overwatch a lot but Blizzard is a piece of shit now. Rip.

tagged by: @ragnaofazure​ tagging: @twinfoxtails​ @cruentusscarlet​ @nekofantasia​ and anyone who wants to steal

[dkronpa]

Chapter 4: The Sky is Just a Skip Away ~Daily Life Part 1~

//Not much to say other than I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Got this one planned out pretty well methinks.

-Chapter 4, Daily Life, A game of trust-

 ~Ding dong, bing bong~

 “Gooood morning everyone! It is now 7am! Rise and shine, it’s gonna be another beautiful day!” Monokuma’s announcement played. I was ready this time though. More like I could barely get any sleep with Yokozawa-san’s outburst still playing in my mind.

 Today was a new day though. I was in the shower as soon as morning started. My clothes for the day were already laid out. I was gonna make sure this was a new turning point for the group. A real do-over.

 No matter what happened yesterday.

 -Chapter 4, Daily Life, Talents-

 Things were going as well as you’d expect. I walked into the dining hall to find Amaterasu-san and Okanaya-kun having a stand-off. “I fucking knew you would use your talent against us eventually! Now gimme back what’s rightfully mine!”

 “You’re delusional if you think I’m gonna give you anything.” Amaterasu-san looked unusually serious, a terrifying aura surrounding her body. Kirishima-san ran up to me, looking exhausted.

 “Nagata-kun…! Please help us out, they’ve been staring each other down for the past five minutes! I’m worried they’ll hurt each other…!” She clung to my sleeve and pleaded. Honestly looking at how fired up the two seemed, I didn’t want to get involved at all. What the hell happened here?!

 “A-Amaterasu-san, maybe you should just-“

 “Sorry Doi-chan but I can’t give up that easily. It’s a matter of pride.”

 “Pride…?” He said matter-of-factly.

 “I suppose it was just a matter of time before you and I exchanged blows…I’m gonna settle this quickly!” Okanaya-kun cracked his knuckles. Amaterasu-san took a defensive stance, preparing for whatever attack Okanaya-kun was about to throw at her.

 “Both of you cease this at once!” Asano-san’s voice rang throughout the cafeteria. Both of them snapped their heads to Asano-san who was glaring at the two, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance. “What childish behaviour! All of this over a bacon sandwich!”

 What.

 “It was the last of the bacon this morning cause Amaterasu already monopolised the rest of it!” Okanaya-kun argued.

 “I don’t know what he’s talking about.” Saying this, Amaterasu-san nonchalantly took a bite of a bacon sandwich.

 “No! My breakfast!”

 “Really, are you two not too loud for this early in the morning…?” Sly-san rubbed his temples. Slightly surprised he hadn’t stepped in to solve this.

 “Gross. You cooked this way too much.” Amaterasu-san offered a crestfallen Okanaya-kun the rest of the sandwich.

 “I don’t want the rest of it! You’ve already bitten into it!” He complained before slumping into his seat, poking at the rest of the food on his plate.

 “Okanaya-kun’s…kind of like a little kid sometimes, isn’t he…?”

 “He can still be scary…” Kirishima-san sighed.

 “Alright, if you won’t eat then I’ll feed it to Doi-chan.”

 “Wh-why me?!” Kurohiko-san’s face flushed.

 “You don’t want a hot girl to feed you? I guess you’re less of a useless man than I thought. Congrats.” Amaterasu-san gave a thumbs up.

 “Why are you congratulating me for the bare minimum…?” Kurohiko-san questioned.

 “Kurohiko-kun, it is very ungrateful to turn down Amaterasu-san’s offer! You should eat the sandwich!” Asano-san said.

 “Wh-what?! You too?!”

 “You three are so strange…” Yokozawa-san murmured.

 “Sorry that you don’t have friends.” Amaterasu-san said, forcing the sandwich onto Kurohiko-san’s plate despite his protests.

 “Wh-who doesn’t have friends?! I have friends!”

 “Speaking of which…Graves isn’t here. Any word on that?” Okanaya-kun asked. Yokozawa-san stopped for a moment before averting his gaze from the group. Last night…there’s no way that what she said isn’t still on everybody’s minds.

 “No. I haven’t seen her today. I’m not her damn sidekick, so why should I be keeping tabs on her? If you wanna know where she is why don’t you track her down yourself instead of relying on someone like me.”

 “Eh!?” Okanaya-kun leans over the table, “who the hell d’you think you are talking shit to me?!”

 “What? I didn’t say anything wrong. No reason you should be getting offended.” Yokozawa-san said in a more timid tone. Okanaya-kun let out a growl before sitting down once again and continuing to eat what was left of his meal.

 “Never a dull day, I guess…” I said half-jokingly.

 “Bonjour mein amigos!” Kurosaki-san barged into the cafeteria.

 “None of those words were from the same language.” Asano-san pointed out.

 “I have some very interesting news to deliver. I went to investigate ahead of everyone else about the new building that’s opened up to us, and you won’t believe it! It’s a treasure for those with Ultimate talents! Let’s hurry up and explore together!”

 “Can’t you see we’re eating? Go away.”

 “Herr Knives, don’t be crueeel! I thought we really bonded this time around!”

 “Do you wanna die?!” Sly-san snapped.

 “They’re like an old married couple.” Amaterasu-san commented.

 “Huh?! Who is?!” Sly-san glared.

 --

 We all stood outside of the fourth building painting in a multitude of colours, none of which went well with each other. It was like it was painted with melted candy, a sickeningly sweet sight. “Kurosaki, you said you already got a head start. What kind of building is this, some kind of artsy building?”

 “Non! This is a talent development building!” Kurosaki-san announced, throwing his arms into the air to present the building.

 “The hell does that mean?” Okanaya-kun said.

 “Monokuma told me earlier to pass on the message. Basically, this building was constructed for us all to develop our individual talents. Each floor has 4 talent labs, one for each student in our class. It’s fantastic! Tres bien!” Kurosaki-san cheered as he half-skipped into the building ahead of the rest of us.

 “He seems quite happy to scamper off by himself. I suppose this time we should just investigate alone? Everyone will wanna see what their talent labs are like, I’m guessing.” Kurohiko-san suggested.

 “I have no objections.” Asano-san supported. “I do wonder might have been prepared for me.”

 …I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. Is it even possible to create a lab like that?

 -Talent Lab Floor 1 (Ultimate Thief)-

 I walked into a room; the door painted with a large shining diamond. The room was decorated wall to wall with maps of famous museums, prepared with different tools I was unfamiliar with, but Amaterasu-san seemed rather enthralled with. So, this is the standard we’re looking at for Talent labs?

 “This is pretty incredible, don’t you think? I haven’t seen tools this high quality before. If I used stuff like this, I could stop even the most high tech security systems in under 10 minutes.” Amaterasu-san’s words definitely should’ve had more energy behind them. Even though she was staring intently at them, her face still refused to display any hint of emotion.

 “It’s certainly interesting. You think you’ll use these tools when we get out of here?”

 “Possibly. I don’t usually need tools, but if it’s a seriously tough job then maybe I’ll use this stuff. Of course, carrying all the stuff I want will be difficult.” She said trying to cram as many tools as she could into her pockets and arms.

 “M-maybe wait until we’ve actually found a way out before trying to take all this stuff…?”

 “Ah. Yeah. Good shout.” She nods, starting to put stuff back. Amaterasu-san has stayed in the background a lot during this whole game, she’s clearly smart but she doesn’t show off. Not to mention she doesn’t have a big personality. I wonder if she keeps to herself because of her talent. Or is it another reason…?

 -Talent Lab Floor 1 (Ultimate Taxidermist)-

 I went through the door with a goat’s head painted on the front. I could already tell I was going to be entering Kirishima-san’s room. What I couldn’t have prepared for what the horror show that would follow.

 The back wall was decorated with various animals that were stuffed and sewn then mounted onto the wall as ornaments. A large table in the centre of the room fit with sewing needles, thread and various other tools for taxidermy. Kirishima-san was in the corner look inside a closet.

 “Wh-what’s in there…?” I managed to get out as I approached her.

 “It seems that a load of unstuffed animals have been prepared for me. Even some unsewn. Guess this really is constructed to improve our talents.” Kirishima-san noted. I-it’s full of animals?!

 “D-doesn’t it smell really bad in there?! Wouldn’t you rather keep that closed?!” I argued as she continued to shuffle around the closet, I kept my distance.

 “It looks like they’ve already been treated properly. Which makes sense, this is the 4th building that we’ve gotten to explore so it naturally means these have been here a while. Monokuma must have treated the animals in advance for when I’d get here.” Kirishima-san murmured.

 “I…I see.”

 Kirishima-san’s movements slowed down before she took a deep breath, “I know this stuff grosses you out, Nagata-kun, but…” She turns to me, “…this…this sort of stuff is fun for me! It means a lot. It’s something I learned by someone I love so…I might spend some time in here when I want to calm down. I hope you don’t think that’s gross…” She paused, “N-no…e-even if you think it’s gross, I’ll still do it…I don’t want to be ashamed of my talent anymore, so…! There!”

 “K-Kirishima-san…” I wasn’t entirely sure what to say in response. She really had changed from when I met ‘Ram’. Kirishima-san is a lot more vocal and assertive. Even if she’s still timid, she’s sticking up for herself and her talent. It’s such a contrast. “Well, how can I think it’s gross when you’ve got so much passion for it? Spend your time here when you need to, I won’t judge you for practicing your talent.”

 “Ah…r-right! I will then!” Her smile was almost blinding. She’s come so far, she’s managed to gain a smile despite all that’s happened, rather than lose one.

 -Talent Labs Floor 1 (Ultimate Living Doll)-

 I entered the room with the pink door. I found a large plastic box in the back of the room, large enough for a human person to stand in. There was a table in the corner set up for a tea party and an old gramophone in another corner. A desk with many textbooks and various other things that didn’t seem to match up.

 “Ah, Nagata-kun…” I looked over to see Asano-san standing in front of the box. A solemn expression on her face, “it seems this lab was developed for me. This box resembles the one my parents would make me stand in during my display days.”

 “I…I see…” Right…all this time I forgot, Asano-san’s talent and what she went through to get it. The items around the room make more sense now though, her parents forced her to learn literature, music, and etiquette. “I mean, this doesn’t seem so bad. You have a nice library of books as well as somewhere to relax and play music-“

 “Please do not try to make me feel better.” Asano-san said, hugging herself, “it’s such a depressing sight now that I think about it. How much of my youth was spent inside that box, I wonder…? Now Monokuma would choose to put the box here as well…?”

 “A-Asano-san…”

 “I…I am more than a box, Nagata-kun. I wish to prove that to the world. That the Ultimate Living Doll is more than just forced surgeries! I am capable, I tell you!” I could hear the fear in her voice. Was she this terrified of her own talent now?

 “…of course, you are. You’ve always been more than your looks. I mean, you’ve always been helpful in class trials and you’re kind of like the voice of reason in the group. Even Okanaya-kun will listen to you.” I said.

 “Y…yes, I suppose.”

 “Plus, you don’t wait for permission for anything anymore. You’ve been making more and more of your own decisions. That’s proof enough that you’re more than your looks.”

 “P-please, you are giving me too much credit.” She waved her hand to dismiss my comment, “I fear I still have a long way to go…so, please wait until I am able to be fully reliable.”

 “Of course. That’s what friends are for.”

 “Friends…yes.” She smiled fondly. I wonder is Asano-san has ever had friends before? Or listened to her own thoughts…this killing game, ironically enough, it’s made her much stronger.

 “Ah, that reminds me. I tried going into the talent lab next to mine, however it was locked.”

 “Locked?” I repeated.

 “Indeed. Monokuma then appeared. He told me that the lab was prepared for the late Kibe-san. However, since she died before the building was opened, he saw no reason to keep it unlocked.” Asano-san explained.

 “So…only the labs of those alive are unlocked.” I surmised. Asano-san firmly nodded. “It’s a shame. I would’ve liked to have seen the other talent labs. Maybe there could have been hints to our situation in them.”

 “You think Monokuma would do such a thing?”

 My mind went to the photo I found in the library during my investigation of the history building. There was definitely something strange, but I needed more information. “I think anything’s possible in this killing game…”

 Asano-san nodded in agreement.

 -Talent Labs Floor 2 (Ultimate Tour Guide)-

 “HEEEEEEEEEEEELL YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” I stumbled as I walked into the room with a map of Tokyo painted onto it. Okanaya-kun was running around the room gazing, almost lovingly, at all these maps.

 “O-Okanaya-kun…?!”

 “Ah, Nagata, check it out! Look at the quality of these maps! They’re so fuckin’ detailed! They have ones for bus routes, landmarks, trainlines, it’s just so much info! This is great for expanding my knowledge and shit!”

 “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you more excited.”

 “How I not be?! And all these books about history of towns and landmarks are ones I’ve never read before! There might even be more info that I’ve never learned!” His eyes were lit up like stars as he spoke.

 “I’m glad you’re happy. Feel like you deserve it after everything we’ve had to deal with thus far.”

 “Yeah, I’m sure a lot of people’ll be happy with their talent labs. Finally, we’re all getting to do what we love after being forced into such a shitty situation, it’s no wonder I’m happy. Oi, Nagata! When we get outta here I wanna give you a tour sometime so stop the tour company I work for!”

 “Sure, sounds like a good deal.” I nodded. Okanaya-kun started off abrasive and unapproachable, almost terrifying like a monster, but getting to know him…he’s got a lot of love in him for his friends. Sure, he’s hot-headed, but he’s not a malicious person. I…I want to escape with Okanaya-kun.

 -Talent Labs Floor 2 (Ultimate Explorer)-

 I was about to head into an unpainted door when Kurosaki-san suddenly exited. I bumped into him as he swiftly locked the door to his lab before he looked back and smiled at me. “Ah~ no peeking!” He said.

 “Peeking?”

 “Sorry, sorry. The stuff in my lab is rather delicate. Many artefacts and such. I don’t want to risk anything getting damaged, so I’d prefer to keep my research lab off-limits for everyone. You understand, right?”

 “Not really. I’m sure everyone would be careful, but…if you’re that concerned about it…”

 “Indeed, I am.” He confirmed. Kurosaki-san would never lie to me, right…? He’s hidden things, sure, but I don’t think he’s ever outright lied to me. But for some reason, this situation…why do I feel so uneasy about this lab?

 Kurosaki-san, just what are you…?

 -Talent Labs Floor 3 (Ultimate Blogger)-

 The door this time had Wi-Fi bars painted on it which made it easy to guess I’d be walking into Yokozawa-san’s talent lab. There was a large multi-monitor computer setup in the room along with a shelf of various drinks and snacks and a refrigerator.

 “So this is what was prepared for the Ultimate Blogger…” I wonder, this computer’s here then maybe-

 “Don’t bother trying to search anything.” Yokozawa-san said.

 “Gwah!” I jumped back. Somehow Yokozawa-san had managed to sneak up on me again just like in the storage room yesterday. Come to think of it, I almost missed him on day 1 and Watanabe-san said she didn’t see him when she and the group woke up before splitting off. “Y-Yokozawa-san…you surprised me.”

 “I get that a lot.” He said.

 “…right.” I forced myself to say something, so we weren’t left in awkward silence, “…ah, you mentioned about searching?”

 “No Wi-Fi.” Was the answer I got. “Well…there’s Wi-Fi, but it’s password protected, and I couldn’t find the password anywhere. So, I can’t connect to the Wi-Fi. The only thing I can really do on that computer setup is write documents and play minesweeper.”

 “Is that so? That’s a shame, I was hoping we might’ve found a way to alert the outside world.”

 “Same here. Imagine my disappointment. The one time my talent might’ve been useful, and I can’t do anything. I’ll try a few passwords out and see if anything sticks, but I can’t promise anything. Password could literally be anything.” He shoved one hand in his pocket and fiddled with his hood with his other hand.

 “Well…if anyone can figure it’ll be you, right?”

 “I guess.” He shrugged.

 “Yokozawa-san?”

 “I just wanna be useful, is all. This might be my only chance, so I don’t want to fuck this up. Leave it to me and I’ll figure it out, but…I can’t promise anything.” Yokozawa-san walked away and sat at the computer.

 Junpei Yokozawa…a massive online presence, ironically has no presence in real life to the point he’s almost invisible. But if it weren’t for him, we might have not solved Shinko-san’s murder. He’s intelligent but clearly wary of everyone and refuses to allow himself to get close to people. Graves-san seems to have taken a shine to him but it doesn’t seem like the feeling is mutual…but if anyone could help us find information on our situation, it’ll be him…

 -Talent Labs Floor 3 (Ultimate Romance Expert)-

 “It’s…not too flashy, is it?” Kurohiko-san commented as he looked around the purple walled room with the red carpet. “A little gaudy, if I’m honest. And this divider in the middle…is it supposed to be for blind dates? How will that help me develop my talent?”

 “I’m not too sure.” I admitted. Romance is a difficult talent, I think.

 “Ah.” He opened up a drawer filled with sheets of paper, “this is more like it! Dating profiles! Now these would help develop my talent! Maybe I should get everybody to fill these out, it could be fun. What do you think?”

 “Should we really be thinking about our love lives when we’re in this situation?”

 “Of course we should! Lord knows we need a little positivity in here and love is about the most positive force in the world!” He flashed a ‘pretty boy’ smile that I hadn’t ever previously seen before. I think it’s easy to forget how much of a people person Kurohiko-san actually is despite all his…clumsiness.

 “I guess I understand that perspective, but I doubt many others would see it that way.”

 “Probably not, but…at this point anything’s possible, don’t you think? Love can bloom in the strangest of places!”

 I tilted my head a little, “I suppose?”

 Kurohiko-san stared at me, “Ah, geez…you’re really dense then, aren’t you? Nothing I can do about that until you realise it yourself though. I’ll support you when you figure it out.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a thumbs up.

 I…honestly still don’t get Kurohiko-san. When I first met him, he was a complete disaster but now he rambles much less and seems to have a better hold over his thoughts and feelings. Is he reliable? I’m still not entirely sure, plus I still have trouble figuring out what he’s talking about half the time. What am I supposed to be realising?

 -Talent Labs Floor 3 (Ultimate Assassin)-

 I entered the room painted to look like door is dripping down from top of the doorframe to find a wall covered in different types of knives, swords, and guns. Horrifying, to say the least, when you’re in a killing game.

 “Don’t worry, I took out all of the ammo.” Sly-san assured me.

 “O-oh, good.” Can he read me that easily?

 “You always barge into other people’s rooms unannounced?” He questioned.

 “H-huh? Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

 “It was a joke. Hah.”

 “O…oh…” There was a phrase of awkward silence.

 “Why do you always stand like that?” Sly-san asked as he examined one of the firearms on the wall. “Y’know…like you’re apologising for existing? I thought you just needed time to warm up to everyone, but you do it even when you don’t realise I’m around.”

 “I do that…? Wait, what do you mean when I ‘don’t realise you’re around’?”

 “Constantly, and yet as soon as we step into a class trial, all of that nervousness disappears. Weird.” He put the gun back onto the wall and turns to look at me, slight suspicion in his eyes, “tell me something, Nagata. How does someone so timid become the lead in such dire circumstances?”

 “Are you suspicious of me?”

 “The fact you didn’t answer my question makes you look even more suspicious.” His hand reached into his hoodie.

 “S-seriously, what’s up with you?! I don’t know why! I don’t even realise I’m doing that, okay?”

 Sly-san stared at me, his hand lowered from his hoodie. “I suppose that could be true. Out of everyone here, you’re the second-least likely mastermind. Only beaten by Kirishima who I put as 10th- bottom of the list.”

 “You have theories on who the mastermind is?”

 “Obviously. Everybody should. Top of the list is Kurosaki, obviously. It’s way too suspicious for him to just know everything there is to know about this killing game and the crimes committed during it. It’s hard to not be suspicious of him.”

 “I suppose…” I murmured. Kurosaki-san was definitely suspicious, but being the mastermind…? I don’t know, ”Wait, you said 10th for Kirishima? You include yourself on that list?”

 “It’s possible I’m an unaware culprit. We don’t even remember how we all got here, who knows what else we might be unaware of.”

 “I didn’t think of that? You really think the mastermind would do something like that…? Plus, the mastermind being one of us…? Wouldn’t that be risky for the mastermind? What’s the goal in taking part in the game?”

 “Exactly that: taking suspicion away. Understand? No sane person would willing take part in a killing game they set up, therefore, we have to consider they’re not a sane person.  Don’t know about you, but that just makes Kurosaki even more suspicious.”

 Sly-san’s so calculating and level-headed. I’m still scared of him, admittedly, but he’s definitely one of the most reliable people here. However, we still don’t know anything about Sly-san. Someone so quiet about himself but also so intimidating…what am I supposed to think? Or act? He even considered me for being the mastermind. He considered himself as being the mastermind…

 -Talent Labs Floor 4 (Ultimate Lucky Student)-

 I walked into a room with a lucky cat painted on the front. Before I even stepped in, I was sure this was going to be my talent lab, and upon entering my suspicions were…not entirely cleared up. I found a small garden in the centre of the room filled with clovers. The wall was lined with items that were typically thought to increase luck. Horseshoes, a rabbit’s foot, pennies.

 Was this really supposed to help me develop my talent? Then again, how else would you develop Ultimate luck?

 “Whooooa! This shit’s awesome!” I jumped when Okanaya-kun’s voice suddenly came from the doorway behind me, “Nagata, you’re research lab is really cool!”

 “C-cool? I don’t see how.”

 “Well, your luck is supposed to affect people around you, right? So…it looks like this stuff is supposed to be used to see if lucky items can make you a better lucky charm. Ain’t it cool if you look at like that? You could be even better for us!”

 “Ah! You’re right, that does make sense! Maybe if I start carrying around more stuff like this in my pockets, everyone will be blessed with some better fortune. In this situation, we’ll need as much luck as possible…hmm, looking at this stuff, only a rabbit’s foot is lucky to carry around on my person, huh?”

 “Well, maybe we can do something about that!” Okanaya-kun walked over to the clovers and began gently sifting through them, what’s he up to? He suddenly stood up straight with a bright smile spread across his face, “Bingo!” His hands started to move methodically crafting something delicately at his fingertips.

 “What are you…?”

 “Here! Hold your hand out!” He extended one hand to me. I hesitated for a moment before giving him my hand. His other hand came from behind him and slipped something onto my index finger. A four-leaf clover ring tied together with stems. “There! You could make a bunch of these and it makes you, like, infinitely luckier!”

 “O…Okanaya-kun, thank you.” I stared at the ring not entirely sure how I was supposed to respond to the gesture. “A…although…isn’t it only the person that finds the four-leaf clover that the luck works on?”

 “Ah?! Really?!” Okanaya-kun tapped out a rhythm with his foot and hummed along with the beat, “then…you better stick close! If that clover’ll only work on me, then you’ll just have to be my lucky charm!”

 “St-stick close, huh…?” Geez, he says such embarrassing things so easily, ”Then, if you’ll put up with me…”

“Hah! Good to have you around!”

 -Talent Labs Floor 4 (Ultimate Secret Agent)-

 I walked into the final unlocked lab. By process of elimination, this has to belong to Graves-san…I wonder what I’ll find in here? I go to open the door but the handle just rattles. Huh? Is it locked? I thought Monokuma opened the labs of everybody who was still alive…right?

 “Yikes, my dude! I go to the bathroom and find you trying to break into my talent lab!” Graves-san laughed heartily at me as she approached her talent door. She placed her hand on the wall next to her lab, a beep played which revealed a security pad. She typed in a number I couldn’t see at the current angle and the door clicked to signify it had unlocked. Graves-san turned to me, “wanna see?”

 “U-um…if you don’t mind.”

 “Sure! Let’s go!” She was back to her cheery self. Even so, after last night after the trial…I followed her into the talent lab, however…

 “Huh? There’s nothing in here!” I exclaimed when I was greeted with a bare white-tiled room.

 “Oh, right! Everything’s here, it’s just hidden behind passcodes and ocular scanners and stuff like that. Pretty much only I’m able to access the stuff in this lab, pretty suitable for the Ultimate Secret Agent, right?! I’m uber excited to see if there are any secrets to discover about my lab!” Her eyes sparkled.

 “I see…well, if any labs were gonna hold secrets it would be either yours or Kurosaki-san’s.”

 “Riiiiight~ Yuuki is definitely hiding something from all of us! I’m gonna try and figure it out very quickly! I wonder if anyone knows anything about it? Maybe Sly does?”

 “I suppose they hang around together a lot, though…I don’t even think Sly-san like Kurosaki-san…”

 “Business relationship, duh.” Graves-san shrugged. “Once I expose him, everything will be revealed…I’m sure of it. Everything will finally make sense.” She spoke with a kind of determination I hadn’t heard from her before.

 Graves-san…I’m so uncertain of her. I don’t know how she feels about me, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about her. She’s been explicit with how she feels fine about killing to escape to the point that I worry for everyone’s safety, and yet…she seems focused on uncovering the secrets of the killing game at the same time.

 What is you aim? Who are you really, Graves-san?

 -Chapter 4 Daily Life, Reporting-

 All of us, bar Graves-san reassembled back in the dining hall to discuss what we had all found. The nine of us sat around the large centre table looking at each other with rather blank expressions, “I mean…if there even much to talk about this time around…? We all got to explore our individual talent research labs. That’s all the building had to offer, right?” Kurohiko-san said.

 “Kurohiko-kun is correct. I failed to find anything of value there.” Asano-san agreed.

 “Not to mention all the labs of those who passed away are locked up. We can’t explore then even if we wanted to.” Yokozawa-san said.

 “Monokuma confirmed as much. I tried to pick the locks but Monokuma said he made them unpickable, even by me.” Amaterasu-san added.

 “Well, if we explored all the research labs then I guess there’s nothing to be done!” Kurosaki-san shrugged.

 “Not all of them. Kurosaki…you didn’t let anybody into your research lab. What’s in there?” Sly-san asked.

 “Nothing interesting, but it’s stuff for the Ultimate Explorer so it’s a little dangerous. I’m keeping it locked so that nobody gets hurt or anything.”

 “Locked? Your room locked…?” Sly-san cocked an eyebrow, “my lab doesn’t lock.”

 “Oh? How odd. My lab came with a lock.” Kurosaki-san murmured.

 “So did Graves-san…well, not so much a lock as it was a security system. Something about it being part of her talent getting developed.” I said.

 “Eh?! You ran into Graves?!” Okanaya-kun exclaimed, “sh-she didn’t do anything, right?! You’d tell us if she hurt you, yeah?!”

 “Okanaya-kun, Nagata-kun’s clearly okay. Let’s not doubt Graves-san so much…” Kirishima-san said.

 “Don’t doubt her?! Did you forget how she was actin’ after the class trial? How she’s been acting since the class trial before that?!”

 “O-Okanaya-san, you shouldn’t yell like that at girls…” Kurohiko-san tried to reason. “I’m in agreement. Graves-san is probably just as scared as the rest of us, she’s just not handling it in the same manner.”

 “She seemed chipper when I saw her.” I said.

 “Probably because she realises how terrible you’d be if you tried to murder someone.” Amaterasu-san said.

 “A-ah…probably.” I admitted. Yeah, Graves-san knows who a threat to her safety could be. This whole thing might be her becoming overly cautious. Although it’s hard to totally determine what it could be with her…

 “Well…if there’s nothing else to discuss, then I suppose we’re done for the day, huh? This was the shortest meeting we’ve ever had.” Sly-san said.

 “Yep. Well, later.” Amaterasu-san gave a half-ass wave before promptly exiting the room.

 “S’up with her?” Okanaya-kun asked.

 “Not sure. She’s been kinda weird the past few days. I’ve asked her about it, but she just keeps saying she’s been wanting to spend time by herself. Obviously, it’s something more than that.” Kurohiko-san said.

 “Weird for Amaterasu to be so secretive…” Okanaya-kun frowned.

 “No, I disagree. Although myself and Kurohiko-kun are fairly close with Amaterasu-san, we don’t know anything about her past her name and talent.” Asano-san said.

 “She’s flew under the radar. Though that’s probably how someone like her prefers it, being the Ultimate Thief.” Kurosaki-san smirked.

 “You’re probably right. I just kinda wish she’d open up even a little…” Kurohiko-san shrugged.

 -Chapter 4 Daily Life, No Air-

The next morning, we had all been called into the gym for Monokuma’s next motive announcement. When we all arrived Monokuma was standing in the middle of the room, idly playing miniature golf, wearing a visor and carefully aiming. He hit the golf ball with far too much force sending it across the room, imbedding itself into the wall.

 “WAAAAAH!!” Kurohiko-san cried out, clutching to Asano-san’s arm, “t-talk about unnecessary force!”

 “Yeah, I’d say that’s a hole-in-one.” Monokuma shrugged, throwing away the visor and golf club. “Anyway, how’re we all doing? Feeling kill-y or what?”

 “Do you actually want an answer?” Yokozawa-san clicked his tongue at Monokuma.

 “…who are you again?”

 “Bastard…” Yokozawa-san spat back.

 “Careful now! It would be bad if you used up all the air in here!” Monokuma giggled.

 “What?” Yokozawa-san raised an eyebrow.

 “I suppose I had to give you a heads up on this motive otherwise you might all end up dead before you even realise what’s going on. Alrighty, better start learning to conserve your oxygen cause this motive is oxygen deprivation!”

 “Oxygen…deprivation?” Kirishima-san repeated.

 “Yeppers! Every day I’m gonna decrease the oxygen level in this killing game area by 1%, so yesterday the oxygen level was the usual level at around 21% and today its been lowered to 20%!” Monokuma explained.

 “What the hell?! Ain’t that the sky above us outside?! How you supposed to decrease the oxygen levels?” Okanaya-kun questioned.

 “Huh? Oh, I guess I never mentioned it until now but there’s actually a layer of glass covering the top of this place. So, actually, you’re totally trapped inside here! Up until now there have been air regulators on the sides of the buildings which have been keeping the air breathable, but from now on I’ll be decreasing the levels. The only way to stop it is…you guessed it! Kill someone!” Monokuma cackled as he disappeared behind the podium.

 “Shit…” Kurosaki-san cursed under his breath, “he’s become so desperate to basically give us a time limit like this…? Sadistic bastard.”

 “He’s…gonna suffocate us…?” Kirishima-san trembled.

 “Worse than that…” Sly-san shook his head. “Gradually decreasing the oxygen levels won’t let you die so nicely like that. It’s much slower, dangerous.”

 “At 20% it’s fine, really. Places like Salt Lake City have an oxygen concentration of 17.9%.  Getting lower is when it becomes a problem. I know a decent amount about this cause I’ve climbed the odd mountain or two during my explorations. At around 15%, you can experience a bunch of different symptoms, usually nausea and dizziness. Possibly confusion if you develop High Altitude Cerebral Edema, or HACE. Further drops in oxygen levels can cause cyanosis or respiratory distress which can lead to fainting and such.” Kurosaki-san explained.

 “Wh-what the fuck…so that shit’s gonna happen to us?!” Okanaya-kun paled.

 “That’s not all to worry about…” Graves-san continued, “we clearly don’t have the resources to treat any symptoms should they start to develop. So, trying to do a class trial when we’re all super loopy…? No chance we’d pass.”

 “So, waiting until the oxygen levels are low is a viable option for someone if they wanna get out.” Amaterasu-san said.

 “Amaterasu-san…!” Kurohiko-san turned to her.

 “It is.” Amaterasu-san shrugged, “although probably means they couldn’t kill anyone efficiently at that point.”

 “She’s got a point. Really, if a murder doesn’t occur before we hit 16% then one won’t happen at all, if I had to guess.” Asano-san theorised. “This is…a test of time. Either all of us die or one of us kills.”

 “Would Monokuma really do that though?! To just…end the killing game in a way like that?!”  Yokozawa-san questioned.

 “Our lives are just playthings to him. Doesn’t matter how we die.” Graves-san answered.

 “Nagata, you good?” Okanaya-kun placed a hand on my shoulder. I had been hearing what everyone was saying, but I was having trouble reacting. It’s really came down to this? Monokuma’s just gonna put a time limit on our lives and see if that kills us? No way, that can’t happen…right? I don’t wanna die like that…

 “S-sorry, it’s just…a freaky thing to think about…” I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck. “What the hell are we supposed to do about something like this? Is there even a way out…?”

 “N-Nagata-kun?”

 “Ah! S-sorry, Kirishima-san. I didn’t mean to sound pessimistic, it’s just…”

 “I understand…b-but I’m sure there’s a solution! We just have to find it! We still have a few days before any effects settle in, right? Then let’s use our time wisely and try to escape before then!” Kirishima-san seemed pumped up.

 “Good luck with that.” Amaterasu-san nodded before heading to the door.

 “W-wait, Amaterasu-san, where are you going?!” Kurohiko-san called out.

 Amaterasu-san turned back and stared at Kurohiko-san. Suddenly she struck a dramatic pose and simply said, “it’s a secret” before promptly leaving like yesterday.

 “Seriously, what is up with her? It’s getting annoying…” Yokozawa-san complained, though looking rather thoughtful, “ah…I gotta try and occupy myself while I think stuff over. I’m gonna go to my research lab if anyone needs me.” He pulled his hood over his head and left the room.

 “Yokozawa-kun…Amaterasu-san…we need to work…together…” Kirishima-san twiddled her thumbs as she tried to keep her enthusiasm.

 “Then the rest of us’ll work on finding an escape route. Nothing much else we can hope to do. Plus, with our numbers we can pair off and search like that.” Sly-san suggested.

 “Nah, no point in that. If we pair up, we’ll end up covering less ground. It’s better for us to split up.” Okanaya-kun said.

 “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’m in agreement with Herr Okanaya. It’ll better our chances of finding an exit if we all investigate separately.” Kurosaki-san seconded. Sly-san stared at Kurosaki-san with a confused expression.

 “…fine then. We’ll do that.” Sly-san conceded. “We can’t afford to waste the rest of the day, so let’s hurry up. Split up everyone, we’ve got an exit to uncover.”

[creativenicocorner]

“Uh-oh” - a CH11 Sneak Peek

Good grief this chapter so far has turned into such a test to see if I can balance humor and angst haha I’m enjoying the challenge! 

Sometimes I do worry if I’m underlining certain things or repeating myself too much. But honestly, I’m tired of self judging and second guessing myself too much can be inhibiting. I want to get this show on the roooaaad

Anyways...

//

Jim’s sleep deprived brain felt like it was overheating trying to keep up with his own emotions. And with every blink, his eyes burned a little more. 

“Do you need help, Jim?” went Strickler in such a helpful tone it made Jim’s skin crawl. The audacity to try and be nice after everything that’s happened. “Are you alrig-”

“No. I mean, yes.” strained Jim, “Let’s…let’s just eat. Okay?”

“Indeed.” chirped the changeling, “Oh, hang on. Napkins.”

And to Jim’s absolute horror, he watched as Strickler easily navigated his kitchen space. Heading directly to where the napkins were kept without so much as a misstep. 

“There we are.” went Strickler with valorous cheer. “Ready to tuck in.”

“Yeah.” said Jim, placing the plates. Feeling as though he were experiencing what was happening in his kitchen distantly, through a telescope. 

Strickler was the first to start eating. It ought to have taken the changeling sooner to notice that the air had changed as quickly as an impatient kid trying to draw with an etch -a - sketch. 

The biggest clue something was indeed off, was Jim not eating. But rather staring at him. 

The changeling looked at his sandwich then Jim’s untouched sandwich. And, as a knee jerk reaction, ran through their entire discussion in the kitchen. Strickler’s chewing slowed to a stop. While an entire moment to moment breakdown, contemplating when, if ever, Jim might have slipped something into his food.

Yet in Strickler’s heart of hearts, the changeling knew Jim had done nothing to tamper with the food. With an internal curse to have ever doubted Jim, Strickler swallowed the rest of his bite. 

“Jim? Your sandwich will get cold.”

“It’s okay.”

Strickler’s mouth twitched from side to side, as though he were balancing his pipe on his lip, or wiggling a mustache that wasn’t there. The changeling took another bite of his sandwich. Contemplating as he tasted the oil soaked bread and cheese, the juice of the tomato and the freshness of basil leaves balanced with the crunch of various amounts of peppercorn. 

To no one’s surprise, it was a damn good sandwich. 

It inspired the changeling to ask, in hopes of continued amicable conversation, “Has, ah, Blinky ever tasted your cooking?”

“Hu?”

“Blinky, while he was waltzing about as a human. Did he ever get the chance to taste your cooking?”

“Um…no…” Jim’s brows furrowed in realization, “No, I guess not.” the teen’s eyes slightly bulged as another realization came to Jim. Blinky who was more deserving to taste his food never did get the chance to eat it. 

Jim felt a want to throw something. But only pursed his lips. 

Imagine a kettle. An emotional kettle, where with every attempt at kindness, only fueled the burner under the kettle all the more. And this kettle. This Jim Lake shaped kettle, was very ready to boil. Especially after realizing he was on the stove top this whole time. 

“Oh that’s a criminal shame.” said Strickler sincerely. Though it could easily be taken as insincere with the changeling’s natural dry tone. 

“Yeah…criminal.”

“Well if it happened once, who knows. Perhaps it can happen again. Blinky and Humanity Round Two Electric Boogaloo.” snorted Strickler with a hopeful attempt at a contagious laugh. 

Jim didn’t laugh. 

A bit of mozzarella slid out of Strickler’s sandwich. Landing as sadly as his attempt at good humor. 

“Yes well…” Strickler cleared his throat, and fumbled to put the mozzarella back in the sandwich. “I’ll, ah, right. When this whole thing is over I’ll leave a note for Merideth- have you had the chance to meet her? Erm, no suppose not. She’s a very competent councilor.” Strickler paused, glancing at Jim. 

But Jim remained as stoic as a drowsy cow. A cow left in a field goggling and wondering why no one is taking care of the barn that’s on fire. 

Strickler continued, “No matter, I’ll leave her a note to start rounding up a few potential colleges that might interest you. With strong leanings towards the culinary of course.”

“Ah-huh.”

“You know,” went Strickler with awkwardly forced lightness. Hopeful Jim will start responding again. “you could end up hosting a dinner party for graduation - or, erm, some sort of celebration. You’d need help depending on how many courses and portions. Toby could be a great candidate, or the ever competent Claire. Perhaps not your mother, as much as I care about her she is a bit of a disaster in the kitchen. 

“Although I will trust her when it comes to whip cream- do you remember the pie she made?” Strickler snorted with a laugh, hitting the table lightly like an old chum. “While we [snort] fought? Very good form by the way. How Barbara didn’t notice is beyond me. The focus on that woman when she sets out to do something, astounding. Must help in the operating room. I’d say theater but those are slowly not being used as much.”

The more Strickler talked with obvious fondness the more Jim’s face soured like spoiled milk. Until finally Jim’s stomach curdled.

It was the unintended mention of his mother that was the last straw for the frustrated sleep deprived teen. That emotional kettle was whistling more than ever now.

Even if Strickler didn’t mean anything malicious by it - it stung - it stung like Strickler’s presence stung. Like a constant sharp bitter wind. A reminder.

A reminder of how much Jim used to look up to him. A reminder of how foolish he felt to have ever looked up to him. A reminder of another betrayal by a paternal father figure. 

And Jim, angry, tired, and young, wanted Strickler to feel a sting. If it couldn’t be physical what remained was the emotional - so Jim went for the only other thing (aside from his mother) that Jim knew Strickler felt strongly about.

And it wasn’t Napoleon short jokes.

“You know.” smiled Jim with a touch of acidic frost in his blue eyes, “I did a bit of digging in Blinky’s library about Shigir.”

“Did you now?” perked up Strickler, delighted. 

“Yeah, came up while we were looking for more info on the Triumbric stones.”

“I’m surprised there was anything written at all! That’s incredibly rare, though not impossible. How curious.”

Jim made a non committal sound. He looked away from Strickler’s smiling face “Yeeaah, we found a nursery rhyme and a story to boot. KnotEnrique confirmed it.”

Strickler should have felt something was amiss in these statements. For one, troll knowledge on Shigir was bound to be contorted. And secondly, it was known KnotEnrique knew little of Shigir. 

Yet in some recessive instinct, Strickler wanted to believe that the ever studious Blinky, brother of Dictatious, would hold a knowledgeable variety in his library. And that Jim willingly read it. So the changeling was gleeful to accept such a possibility at face value. Hopeful even.

And with that Strickler leaned forward. Hands itching, eager to hear more. “Did you bring it with you?”

“No…no, it’s still saved in Blinky’s library. Didn’t want to risk it falling out of my bag.”

“Ah. Wise move. Why the concept of zipping up your bags escapes you and your friends is beyond me.”

“-So, Shigir-” Jim said hurriedly, feeling a tangent about to happen. Not wanting to loose his nerve in dealing an emotional blow.

“Yes! Who wrote it? When was it written? Why would trolls- well, did you read the preface? Was there one?”

“Y-yeah I…don’t remember all that…but the story was…” Jim looked at his former teacher. Then the napkin, then the lack of the Inferna Copula worn on his hands, and finally that smarmy cheerful face he once looked up to so much. “..A little out of left field..” Anger prickled at the tired teen’s eyes. And Jim pushed his plate away to also lean forward, mirroring Strickler “It went a little something like this…”

There is a level of anxiety that surfaces when making something up on the spot. Sometimes (although not limited to) it’s a bit like ripping off a band-aid. The lie is told, short and sweet and to the point. And the world awkwardly continues to spin with a pin pricked after thought of ‘did I get away with it?’. But that’s quickly forgotten. 

Other times it’s like thawing out a frozen meal. Slow, potentially painful, and with the curious feeling the dead absent eyes of the defrosting fish might not be as absent as you’d like to imagine.

And then there are times it feels like the water level in a video game.

The bets are open as to what Jim is about to experience. 

“Once upon a time” started Jim, feeling brave in his anger. As what good story didn’t start with such famous four words? “In the land of…Lah, there’s a troll about to be duped. 

“His name was Ji- Jiumb, and all he wanted was some peace for his family and friends.

“One of those friends was a person he really looked up to. And this, obviously, was Shigir.

“Now Shigir was a cool dude, said some - uh, cool stuff. Probably knew how to kick-flip at some point.”

//

I’m sure this ends well. 

Lemony Snicket Voice: A well is a man made pool of water where one can retrieve water. In this case however, the water is pretty salty. 

[goldenscript]

08. thin ice

↳ prompt: the night we shared with spaces between us → athlete!jungkook

pairing: jeon jungkook | reader genre: hockey au / drama, angst word count: 3,961 author’s note: forgive me for taking ten years to post anything! i made this especially long, so i hope that counts for something. <3

When he was eight-years-old, Jungkook had the opportunity to play with the national hockey team.

Born and bred for the ice, bruises, split lips, and the occasional (okay, frequent) scuffle so normal to his life before the prospect of video games or even playground interactions ever crossed his mind. He knew more about defensive plays than how to play wall ball, and his ineptitude in social interactions showed most even before the Game.

Sure, he was blessed with the chance to play on the ice with his idols. Some of which has signed his stick and wished him the best of luck in his athletic endeavors with necessary truth and tips lined behind each well wish, and that was the best experience a little, doe-eyed boy like him could ask for. And, this was something his father prided him in. In fact, it was something everyone in his hockey league seemed to pride him in.

However, just about everyone else feared him for it.

Hockey has been known as for being violent, even volatile at times, with nothing to gloss over and make pretty. Even the skating couldn’t be saved—its aggressive, almost feral nature, especially between the competitors all too wince-inducting and jaw-dropping because how was any of it legal?

The sport itself immediately conjures up an image that a hockey player is someone hulking, giant and absolutely terrifying, without an ounce of self-control that could easily unleash a bout of anger so great it’s like watching a real life Incredible Hulk.

As expected, this was what everyone saw, even with Jungkook playing on the field, that fate Sunday afternoon: they caught him in all his glory, a natural on the ice without so much as a falter after his first round on the ice, and when they looked at his doe-like eyes in search of the innocence and curiosity that often sat on the hickory hues, they saw the fire burning in his eyes in its stead. It was different, almost frightening to see for anyone who wasn’t playing alongside him on the ice. To new viewers, he looked like a completely different person.

So, to say the very least, this made him a very, very, very lonely child without too many playmates besides his own teammates, and even then they were spread across the districts in the city, too far and too busy with their own lives and practicing making up a good portion of their schedules like his own.

It made for many lonely afternoons after homework was finished and only Joohyuk to bug when opportunity arose. Jungkook just wished for one friend, one person to understand him better than his family, someone.

Perhaps Fate heard his plea, because just as soon as he wished for someone to come into his life, you appeared.

Like a scene taken out of those ridiculous romantic comedies, you moved to the empty house next door, welcoming him with a smile so warm and inviting, he was tempted to befriend you on the spot but the thought that you might actually denounce him once you caught wind of all the horror stories going around about him, all he wanted to do was keep away. Hope, as he had grown to see it, was a thing for suckers or the non-monsters that everyone didn’t equate to the Hulk.

Of course, it was no surprise to anyone besides Jungkook that someone saw past the presumptions. As a newcomer and his next door neighbor, you saw sides to him that others did not. The sorts of things that made him more human like rollerblading in the yard and nearly toppling over into the bushes, playing catch with his older brother despite the immense difference in strengths and the myriad of times that he had to shyly ask you to toss the ball over from your side of the fence when you shrieked at nearly getting pummeled by the flyaways, and growing frustrations when life was too hard for an adolescent kid because how does one function without proper friends?

He was lonely and sad, in need of companionship, and after the two weeks of rejecting the suggestions made by his brother to just befriend you, their curious, little neighbor, you took matters into your own hands (with the help of Joohyuk, of course).

Hopping over the large brown fence with ease as soon as you saw a chance, you nearly cause him to dive headlong into the netting of the hockey goal, eliciting laughter from his older brother as he came over to you to give you a hand from the stony ledge that carried the hedge-less dirt. You introduced yourself to Jungkook, unwilling to take rejection for an answer because there was no way that this kid who spent so much of his time alone during school couldn’t some form of companionship. You knew it. He knew it. And the culmination of seeing you plop into his yard with an outstretched hand and a toothless grin (which in your defense was still a pretty damn cute sight to see you with your two front teeth), with the prospect of friendship, of understand, of a courageousness that he sometimes wished he had— after all, you’re the one who took the leap of faith and prompted him to follow.

Over the next decade comes adventures, memories that you’ve both held so tightly in your hearts that it’s no wonder that at some point a bridge was crossed and the friendship that so closely entwined you together became a relationship that everyone saw coming. You’ve support him in his hockey endeavors from the gnarly violets riddling his body to the very often black eyes, all because it makes him happy and gives him a space of belonging. It’s all you’ve ever wanted for him.

And, to your (and his) relief, adolescence does get better.

/

It has become no surprise that everyone else you’ve gone to school with has gotten over their fears, giving Jungkook congratulatory handshakes when they see you two traipsing down the hallway together. It’s better. When you glance over at him and catch his quiet smile, your heart can’t help but swell because he is pumped for this game, spending extra hours at practice to get his backhand for the moment he can finally end Mingyu’s winning streak. They’ve been friends for ages, but their rivalry runs deep.

To see it come to head like this is a work of miracles, and you only bear one thought in mind as he has you switch his home jersey for the away one.

“Be careful.”

He shrugs on the jersey over the heavy padding, flashing you a sunny grin too breathtaking to maintain the creases embedded on your forehead.

“Always,” he says before pressing his lips to your forehead.

You don’t let him escape so easily, encircling his waist with your arms and giving him a tight squeeze. He still has a few moments, and like every game, he likes to spend those spare ones with you. Switch jerseys, stay with you, go out on the ice. This is his routine. His lucky routine. His favorite routine. And, naturally, your favorite as well.

Unfortunately, the heavy weight in the pit of your stomach refuses to cease. It only seems to grow as the seconds tick down.

You don’t want your unhappiness to show, but knowing each other for a decade isn’t just you reading him when he tries to hide an injury, it also means he knows when there’s something wrong. His eyebrows knit together and he immediately asks what’s wrong as soon as you look up at him.

You shake your head, wanting to will away the ill thoughts. “It’s nothing.”

He raises a brow.

“Really, don’t worry. Just be careful,” your bottom lip pouts a little. “Please.”

“Careful won’t help me win, you know,” he teases lightly. Like your nature to worry, something you’ve developed since befriending and loving him, he is prone to ease those anxieties away. He likes to soothe them away with laughter, smiles work too but his favorite pastime is watching when your throw your head back and release spurts of giggles just because of him.

You say his nickname halfheartedly, turning away from his eyes just to give him another squeeze.

“Hey,” he says after a moment, grunting a ‘go away’ when footsteps approach. His large, firm hands leave your back to find purchase on your shoulders.

This time you can’t escape to his chest, but there’s some comfort in seeing his hickory eyes. They bore into yours with warmth, its assurance trying to rid away the dark thoughts that have bothered you since finding out he had to stop by the hospital after a practice. Jungkook’s been trying to convince you that it’s nothing, but a part of you still finds it too significant to believe him. But looking at him like this, after seeing the adrenaline already waiting to pump inside him and the peeks of ember floating across his eyes, it’s hard not to believe that it’s going to be okay.

“I promise everything’ll be okay, alright? I’m okay. Tonight will be okay. I’ll play, you’ll cheer, we’ll celebrate with kisses and I’ll take you out.”

You snort, “Shouldn’t I take you out?”

“Are you offering?” he asks with the corners of his lips twitching. You’re trying not to smile, but it’s too damn hard when he looks at you like this.

“Offering?” you scoff, falling into his clutches. “I’m telling you, Jeon. I’ll take you out when you win.”

He replies singsong, “Since you said so.”

You laugh in response, placing your hands on top of his.

Jaehyun’s back again, signaling Jungkook’s need for departure. You flash the ash blond a small smile before giving Jungkook’s hands one final squeeze. Before he leaves you for the locker room, you make sure to ask if he’s sure he’s okay.

He nods with a smile for good measure.

You kiss him before you’re off to your seat in front of rink.

(Him and Jaehyun watch as you depart.

Jaehyun raises a brow at him and asks, “She still doesn’t know, huh?”

Jungkook shakes his head, dismissing the subject with a simple answer: “I’ll be fine.”

His lips tingle but his heart screams at him with guilt, but he’s sure that the game won’t do anything worse than practice already has.)

/

The stands are filled with onlookers from both schools cheering on their favorite players in flurries of scarlet and azure banners, with hushed murmurs of gossip and eyes of anticipation. You’re almost certain that this turn-out is far larger than last season’s game when the lineup was exactly as it is now. There’s some of the local news cameras propped at the team entrances, while it appears that some of the reporters have already gone into the locker rooms for the pre-game interview.

A normal game of high school league hockey lasts an hour and a half, sometimes even as long as two if there’s overtime. And with a team like Jungkook’s, there’s almost always a guarantee for overtime where playing Mingyu is concerned.

Among the throng of conversations surrounding you, the hottest topic of them all is the showdown between Jeon Jungkook and Kim Mingyu. Both of which are individuals with skills in hockey unparalleled to many of those in their junior league and with opportunities laid out on the line for this sole game. Their rivalry is nothing more than friendly, but a part of you feels the twist of nerves when you see how closely everyone is going to be watching them.

Jungkook has never thought twice about the crowd, what matters the most when he plays is playing, knowing that he is putting in his all and coming out with a win, but you know better. The pressure is insane. He doesn’t tell you often, but the immensity of attention he can receive in a game can tear him up and leave him with nerves bundled so tightly you would’ve thought he was back to eight-year-old him when he was just getting to know you. 

The only thing you can truly offer him right now are loud shouts of encouragement alongside the crowd. You stand and cup your hands around your mouth to call his name as soon as he passes your side to enter the rink. He glances over with a tight-lipped smile in your direction, only giving you a small wave before Jaehyun’s ushering him forward.

It’s not odd, but your eyebrows furrow when you see him wince at the sudden blare of an air horn pierces the air and reverberates around the arena like a signal to start. Of course, the teams must shake hands and wish one another luck in the most cordial way possible, but where rivalries stand, it’s almost hard to imagine anyone else on Mingyu’s team acting right aside from him.

The moment comes and goes, and it isn’t long until the buzzer sounds and the game begins.

The opposing team has the puck first. They lobby it to and fro as they skid toward the goal. It’s far too easy, but a goal nonetheless. And as soon as there’s a jeering of sneers and ridicule dropping out onto the rigid ground, Jungkook’s ready and willing to give his all. You know that. His dad knows that. Everyone knows that. And truthfully,  it frightens you how easily he loses himself in these games.

He is quick, lithe, and almost hard to see if you even so much as blink. Sometimes he skates circles around Jimin for shits and giggles, but when he’s in this tier of focus, it’s hard to believe he’s the same guy that drinks banana milk like water when he plays League of Legends in his free time. Most of all, there’s a burn in his eyes that could make anyone cower away.

There is no vehemence or malice in him, but in fact, only passion and determination that transcends normalcy. You’ve met plenty of passionate people in your life, even known yourself to be quite a passionate person, but when Jungkook enters that plane, he loses his usual joviality, taking on a persona that one could classify as absolutely ruthless. One might consider him to be like who he once was back in third grade, though no one dares to bring up those days lest it’s in congratulations.

Without fail, he turns the tides of the one-point lead and begins to rack up points for your school. The first twenty minutes fly by with your school leading by five points, and half of the second already obtaining another five on top of that.

Twenty to fifteen, the scoreboard reads right before the zero transitions into a one and Jungkook’s skating to his position for defense.

It seems there’s nothing stopping him right now. Not even the loom of an injury that leaves his teammates, his coach, and his father at the edge of their seats as they see him pirouette into one of the opposing team members.

At the bottom left corner from where you’re seated, a position that feels too close for your liking when you can see him so closely and too far with the plexiglass keeping the action inside the rink, you flinch as if you’re taking the brunt of the impact instead as the collision reverberates through your ears among the hullabaloo shrouding you.

The opponent is one of Mingyu’s team members, Dino, they call him is apparently one of the youngest on the team with a particularly solid build that they consider as lethal as a T-Rex (Jungkook’s words, not yours.), and taking any sort of blow from him is a miracle in itself, considering even Mingyu has trouble with him during practice.  

Jungkook makes it out, however, relatively unscatched.

(This is something relatively uncharacteristic for Pledis High, what with the ratio of volatile players on the team much to everyone else’s dismay. There’s a roaring faction of clean players like Mingyu and his pals, Dino, Seungcheol, and Wonwoo, and dirty ones that only want to win at all costs. And that small altercation with Dino is more than enough to elicit an uproar or even retaliation.)

Until a runaway body comes barreling into him.

/

“What were you thinking, Jungkook?!”

“C’mon, Ji—”

“—No! Don’t you fucking ‘c’mon Jin’ me, you little shit! I put you in because you said the doctor gave you clearance, and here you are picking a fight with that other punk. Don’t you dare pull that shit again or I swear to God I will bench you for the entire season, got it?”

The protest in Jungkook’s throat is caught, visibly torn between two things you aren’t all that well aware of, but whatever the case is, you step into the nurse’s office and rush to Jungkook’s side. Your first three words are ones you’ve offered in place of a regular greeting from all the times he’s returned to you in a worse shape than the last—”Are you okay?”

Your eyebrows are furrowed together as you look to him then to Jin, “Should I take you to the hospital? Should I take him to the hospital?”

“No, don’t! This is nothing, I swear.”

Jin glares at him for a moment before his hickory hues soften upon meeting your concerned ones. He nods.

“Please take him. Tell his parents what happened, alright? And make sure he stays awake,” He claps a hand on your shoulder with a small smile, both for reassurance, before sending Jungkook a final glare and exiting back into the rink, where the game continues.

“Don’t, this is nothing,” he wheezes. He gives a shudder that makes your stomach drop once more.It pisses you off.

“Like fucking hell I’m believing you,” you spit at him. You don’t know what is more appalling. The fact that he doesn’t want you to tag along or the fact that he, Jeon Jungkook, was ready to propel himself off the wall and plow right into the asshole who knocked him right into the wall with a resounding thump that still plays over in your mind.

Your gaze only softens at seeing the dark splotches of purple prominent against his cheekbones.

“Of course, I’m taking you,” you tell him, flashing him a small smile.

“I’ll be back on the ice before you know it—” he pauses, wincing hard. His eyes clamp shut right as his jaw clenched, and the only response you receive is a sharp exhale that dissuades you from leaving this alone. He doesn’t even bother fighting you when you coax him up and toward your car. 

The drive to the hospital is stiff with silence, but it’s gets even worse when you take him back home.

At the hospital, your worst thoughts are confirmed. From Jin’s warning to his previous visit to the hospital, you actually knew something was wrong. You felt it the moment you woke up today. Every part of you was screaming against Jungkook playing, and despite your best efforts, they were fruitless. And for every reason anyone would have when it comes to someone they love acting stupid and putting their themselves in danger, you are incontestably furious.

His parents aren’t home, but you make a mental note of letting them know what happened whenever they get back. It won’t be uncommon to see you there in the morning or even at the ass-crack of dawn, but that’s just a given of having your neighbor also be your son’s best friend. Regardless if they were there, you still wouldn’t show an ounce of mercy to Jungkook right now.

“Concussion, really Jungkook?” you ask after tossing his hockey gear to one of the corners of the room. It makes a soft sound, but you still feel a pang of guilt when you see him flinch from the corner of your eye.

You see him plop onto his bed, sitting up against the headboard before exhaling a brief, bitter laugh. “Well, you heard the doctor, didn’t you?”

“What the actual fuck? Why—why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs, fueling on your irritability, “I’ve had wounds before, enough scars that you’ve seen. What’s the big deal about this one? It’s nothing.”

You scoff, “You must be shitting me right now. Nothing?”

“Yeah, nothing. We’re here in my room for absolutely nothing. If anything, I should be back at the rink, still playing. The doctor basically gave me clearance anyway.”

“This isn’t nothing, Jungkook. The doctor mentioned brain damage if you continued playing! Or is that taking effect now?”

“Y/N, I got treatment. We’re home now. I know you’re not taking me back. Are you really that upset that I didn’t tell you about it?”

“Of course, you lied to me. You told me everything was fine. Everything is not fine. You have a concussion and for some fucking reason despite knowing all of that stuff about it already, you wanted to pick a fight with Asshole Number Two.”

“It’s nothing!”

“It’s not!” You huff with a small shake of your head, already feeling your heart thumping erratically, “Why do you insist on convincing me otherwise?”

He exhales just as hard, a lot more carefully considering the state of his head at least before responding, “What good could it have done for either us? You would’ve been worried about me. I would’ve been worried about you. And the last thing on my mind would be playing the actual game, winning Champs, beating Gyu… all that. Would me telling you be worth all that fuss?”

There have been days where you feared having this conversation. It’s not as simple “it’s me or it’s hockey,” though that in itself is complicated already. No, this has been a topic you’ve tried answering yourself time and time again.

Jungkook’s life has always revolved around hockey. He lives it, breathes it. It’s something that he’s grown with, and his promise in the sport is phenomenal. He does have a future in it. But what scares you the most isn’t that he’ll drop you for hockey, because something deep down tells you that he’ll always choose both. Rather what scares you is what hockey does to him.

He changes. He becomes someone different. And right now shows that more than ever.

It’s quiet for a moment before you ask him a question that weighs on your mind. You’ve always guessed the answer, but you decide it’s time to hear it from Asshole Number One himself.

“Is your health really that insignificant compared to hockey?”

He gets quiet this time. His own frustrations melting off his visage as quickly as it had come. With you, everything else, even the world, stops being so loud. His own voice seems to shut up, because it knows you’re right. You just want him to be happy and healthy even after all of that. You don’t care if that means a stop to hockey or if it means having to take care of him yourself, you’ll do it. It infuriates you that the last person he thinks of is himself sometimes, especially in these moments, but if you have to be that person—as pissed as you are—you’ll do it.

The only response he offers you is a small, “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Instead of leaving like you know he expects because you are still angry with him, you take a seat on his swivel chair before you tell him to hit the showers, and even when he returns, still half-expecting you to leave, you’re there at his desk to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep.

And there you stay even until morning.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep 40 PART 1/2: So Much Random Stuff Happens That It Requires Two Parts

Most of the time, Yugioh’s plot is delivered in nice, bizarre, bite-sized segments, offset by duels that I skip. But then, in this episode they decided “Hey, we should drop some plot. Like a lot of REALLY WACKY plot.”

And thus we have an episode with over 80 caps. So, this’ll be a two-parter! The other part will show up later. Like...when we finish it.

Also, despite the fact that this is probably one of the more important episodes of the season, it has quite some damage on the recording on Netflix. You’ll see that it isn’t really cropped right on the sides, and in some parts it’s got motion blur I couldn’t avoid. One day, Yugioh will get it’s Sailor Moon remaster, but this is not the day. Also, if they redubbed Yugioh, it would be an absolute tragedy, but that’s a different story.

TL;DR Forgive the massive amount of text in the upcoming recaps. There’s just so much they did and I uh...didn’t want this to end up being over 100 caps this episode alone.

So, lets get into it: The Yugi crew is looking for Pegasus.

For some reason, Tea suddenly remembers what went down the night before and decides “I bet Pegasus is hiding in that spooky tower we don’t actually know how to get into because we climbed it with a grappling hook.”

(Sometimes I get used to Yugi’s eyeliner and then they throw a shot like this at me and it’s like DAMN, Yugi, when did you have time to apply that stiletto heel to your face? Like most of the time I’m just put off by the awful hair and then the rest of the time I’m just really jealous of this emo boy’s wings.)

With that they suddenly remembered...the other stuff.

(read more under the cut)

I like how Joey is just so incredibly fed up with magic at this point. Out of all of them, he seems to hate magic the very most although his best friend is a walking dark magic portal. Joey is just completely done, but unfortunately for Joey it turns out all the magic up to this point hasn’t even remotely been the amount of magic that this show is going to throw at us, because this entire episode is a bunch of wizards just screwing with each other.

I’ve mentioned before that it feels like the power players of Yugioh are kinda like Greek Gods where they just really can’t be bothered about 95% of the time--but when they are FINALLY bothered enough to move their own ass, they just kinda sweep the floor clean and leave me utterly baffled.

Anyways, Pegasus actually is in the spooky tower, to my disbelief, at this non-euclidean desk that doesn’t seem to exist in time and space.

And then Kaiba wakes up in a cabbage-patch lookin jail cell. I would love to see more of his reaction to that but alas, this episode is not about Seto Kaiba.

Pegasus decided to make good on his word, mostly because Yugi is a cursed Pharaoh and he doesn’t want to see what happens if he doesn’t make his end of the bargain. To be quite honest, getting your mind scrambled would have probably been better than what did eventually happen to him in this episode.

Seriously, did this guy ever sell a painting that wasn’t a card? His portfolio would just be one person. And they do say that you shouldn’t make your portfolio too many styles but, damn, you can’t just do one person, unless your going to work for one specific type of video game, in which case sure just draw that one space punk chick over and over it seems to work for you.

Bakura decides to show up, and he’s very Bakura about it, introducing a new Bakura mechanic that I didn’t at all predict would ever be a thing.

Bless this storyboarder.

After showing off his weird tarot ability for no other good reason than to mess with Pegasus for a little bit, he decides to make me regret ever saying this necklace looked like it has five dicks.

I am so sorry, I had no idea! I had no idea it would be shooting lasers! What the hell, show?? What genre am I even watching anymore??

Also this whole concept that at any point these items can just shoot anime lasers and start a...whatever this trope is called, is so bizarre to me. They CAN do this...but they prefer to use cards.

They CAN do this, at any point, but they prefer to trap the souls of you and your friends in a card so you must play even more cards.

Or they can shoot you with a laser and solve their problems that way.

But why would they? They can like...play cards and do tarot and read minds and make card monsters real so who would ever want to shoot freakin lasers!

I do appreciate that Pegasus’ laser is pink like the salmon I chose for his font.

My bro argues that Pegasus probably sees just fine with the golden eyeball, but I feel like it can’t be the same, like a Spike Spiegal situation. It’s not like they ever tell us, anyway.

Him being alive for centuries is just never brought up for the rest of the episode. It comes up here and then Bakura’s like “Woopsie! Change the subject!”

Kid’s show!

As a kid an episode of the Rugrats freaked me the hell out--you know the one where Reptar becomes alive? I couldn’t take that one, it was terrifying. So maybe I’m not one to judge, because I was not a normal kid when it came to anxiety (in fact a legit phobia of dogs gave me pretty severe panic attacks on a weekly basis) but, it seems like Yugioh is a lot like brother’s Grimm because they are SO READY to cut off body parts, revive corpses, and overall gross me out, just to make a point.

Is it necessary? Eh.

But is it bizarre body horror we can stuff in this kid’s story? YES LETS DO IT.

With the way they set this up it looked as if they were just going to have them show up in the nick of time or something, but instead the show was like “lol, these kids? You’re kidding, right?”

He’s literally missing an eye and Croquet’s exact line was something like “he’s fallen ill.”

Also, I’m glad we got a cameo from Double-Spike Mohawk Mullet Man in this episode, giving Pegasus a fireman carry like a trooper.

So, because they can’t not, and because Pegasus’ security is only effective at random times of the day (they must have a lot of smoke breaks or something) the four decide to raid Pegasus’ bedroom. Why would you ever want to do this to the guy who was ritually sacrificing people the night before!?

Joey’s weird crushes on blondes that are...not in High School. Joey. Stop this. You are a child.

Anyways, Tea goes straight for the juicy stuff, because if there’s anything in this world that I would never ever want to read is a grown man’s journal filled with all his unfiltered thoughts.

Then we’re welcomed into a Pegasus Flashback, because why not make a tragic past even more tragic? Anyways, it’s OK because anime food lives here.

Bro called them gravity melons. I want to point out the party cups drawn from the side sitting on the round table we see from the top. Love it. Also realllllly love that guy with the mustache and glasses in the bottom right corner. There’s some good stuff here in this vaguely 80′s flashback.

Anyway, she totally dies. The flashback goes through things we’ve been over before--they get married, she gets sick, she turns into a rose and then becomes a grave in a really poorly kept graveyard.

And so Pegasus turns to religion. Yes, you read that right, He decides, he wants to find a religion that will explain afterlife to him, and he’s like I might as well start with the oldest and work up, so he goes to Egypt.

Uh...OK. I mean if you’re just looking for a religion with an afterlife you could have chosen...almost any of them. You could have stayed in America and like gone to...anywhere but, the guy was like “Mummies, youknow?” and went to Egypt although Cecelia is already dead and buried so it’s not like he can do the mummy trick to her now. It’s a little LATE?

My brother and I were so entranced by this bizarre hat, that we wanted to see if it’s ever been made real. AND IT HAS.

MARVEL AT IT:

IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE.

LOOK AT THAT DUMB HAT!

We checked Amazon for cheaper listings, but only found trucker hats with the Square Mason symbol on it, and Illuminati trucker hats like this one.

My brother wrote this note to them. I hope they read it and take it to heart.

Anyways, our newly found joy, held aloft by the discovery of perfect square brimmed hats was quickly sullied.

His hat is a transformer. But a round to square kind.

So in walks this guy. His name is Shadi. I’m telling you that right now because I want you to pay attention to how long it takes before we find out his name is Shadi. He is going to tell us his name at some point, and it’s very weird when it happens.

Pegasus doesn’t seem to realize it is not at all normal for a guy in modern Egypt to be walking around with this massive ankh on his chest (eh...you can’t see it in these pictures, but there’s a HUGE ankh just hanging around his neck) with earrings and pharaoh makeup. Pegasus is just that type of sheltered American. He’s like...well you look like someone from a movie so it must be legit. And that is how Pegasus decides to follow a guy who is clearly an ancient spooky wizard into an ancient death dungeon crypt.

I feel like Pegasus could have easily avoided this whole situation he got himself into.

Shadi has a whole speech about how the eyeball has a lot of power, and that he’s got to protect it all yada yada--but at the same time Shadi is like “BUT I gotta make sure some people use it so a lot of terrible things happen. You’d think I’d just...leave this stuff in this crypt so it’ll never be a problem and the world will never be cursed with terrible dark magic that was sealed away for thousands of years, but...I’m gonna make it happen anyway...and it’s not my fault...”

How many times has Shadi done this? It’s suggested that Pegasus is not the first.

It’s pretty gross, and while it’s done in shadow (which was a nice visual allusion to Shadow Magic), it’s still pretty gruesome for a kids show. To happen twice in one episode of this kid’s show, haha.

She calls him by his full name “Maxamillion” which made me realize he’s probably never shortened his name to “Max” in his entire life.

I’m glad Pegasus making out with a ghost happened on screen. This is now the most romance we’ve seen in all of Yugioh. Good.

So did Pegasus actually write the part where he made out with a vision, though?

I’m curious about how that process works. But, I don’t think we’ll ever find out.

Anyways, next time, on this very same episode of Yugioh:

Will Bakura stick this eyeball in he own eye or will he back out last minute and just hang it from his necklace and pretend it was there the whole time? Will Tea next read Pegasus’ food diary only to discover, in horror, that he drank upwards 60 liters of grape juice and far exceeded his daily calorie intake? Will security even realize these children have been snooping in all of Pegasus’ personal stuff for the past 30 minutes?

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #250

"you’re so pretty, dripping sin.”

Do you plan on having children in the future? No. How big is your house? It's very small. Two bedroom, one bathroom. Do you believe that the world will actually end? Humanity, yes. The planet being inhabitable, probably at some point. The universe itself, life itself, won't, though. Describe your handwriting: Very fancy/fluid, a weird mix of cursive and print. Can you speak any other languages than your first language? Some German, but not a lot by now. I've lost a lot of memory of it. If you could speak another, which would it be? I wanna be fluent in German, but it's not something I pursue 'cuz I guess like... why. I don't think I'll ever really apply it to my life, nor is it something I'm DYING to do, so paying for classes just seems. Idk. What is one trend you think is stupid? I don't care. Let people enjoy things. Do you ever watch any soap operas? No. Do you ever get goodnight or good morning texts from people? Not usually. If I do, it's only ever Sara. When did you last go to the doctor and what for? I'm assuming you mean a general doctor, in which case, I think it was just a regular check-up a month or so back. Are you socially awkward? To a painful degree that I'm incredibly sick of. Can't be in a social situation and not feel uncomfortable even if it saved my ass. Would you rather watch a comedy movie or horror movie? It would depend on my mood, but horror would usually win. Do you know where your family came from? Europe. If you could choose to be any mythical character, which would you choose? Realistically, probably like, an elf or something 'cuz they're pretty unlike me so it'd be a nice change. :^) Where are both of your parents right at this moment? Mom's at church, and Dad is probably at home 'cuz it's Sunday. Have you ever seen a movie so ridiculous you couldn’t watch the rest? Yep. Does it make you angry when people text short messages back? If I'm seriously trying to have a conversation, it doesn't make me *angry*, just aggravated. What is your favorite animal and why? Meerkats. I could write a damn essay on why, but I'm not up for it, so basically, they are just extremely interesting animals with serious fire in a foot-tall body. Are you satisfied with your gender? Yeah. Have you ever kept a successful diary before? Not really. Well, I guess for short periods of time. I'd call them just "journals," though. It was something to do every time I stayed in the hospital, a good, insightful thing even, and just really at my lowest times, it helped me, but I never stuck to it. Are you good at admitting your problems? I think I'm very honest about them, really. Have you ever had a hangover? No. What is something you’re looking for in the next three months? I don't know. What’s something you normally cannot spell on your own? I have trouble with certain words where "e" or "a" could both easily be used (ex., "independEnce"), so I rely on spellcheck with words like those a lot. Looks or personality? Which is more important to you? Personality. Do you know any strippers? I don’t think so. How many times have you dyed your hair? Holy fuck idk. What is something that reminds you of your childhood? Cranium games. Do you think you eat healthy? I think I eat decently. Since I started paying attention to calories, I improved a lot. How would you describe your style of speech? Are you a fast/slow speaker? Do you stutter often? Generally, I think I speak quietly (but sometimes actually too loud, according to Mom) at a pretty normal pace, sometimes kinda fast, but I stutter a lot. When was the last time you’ve visited a family member’s house? What was the occasion? I haven't been to anyone's in a while... I think the last time was when I went to Ashley's to babysit my nephew a few months ago. Have you ever tried to construct a language? How do you feel about fictional languages (such as Dothraki and Klingon)? Not really. One of my old RP friends and I kinda-sorta had this "ancient meerkat language," but it was faaaar from developed. I don't feel any particular way about fake languages. Were you born and raised into a certain religion? What was it and have you changed your religion? Yes, Roman Catholicism. I've changed my religion quite a few times... Well, I don't like "changed." It just developed away from what was instilled in my head as a little kid. How do you usually feel when one of your favorite television or book series end? This doesn't apply to me really, because I haven't been involved in those things for a long time. The only one that I really cared about/was watching when it was current content was Meerkat Manor. I was sooooo so bummed out. That show had such, such, SUCH a colossal impact on my life. What do you like most about your town or neighborhood? Nothing. Well, it's small. Are you looking forward to any upcoming events? I'm obviously anticipating Mom starting chemo this week, but also very nervous. I don't want to see the physical toll it takes on her. What were your first impressions on your current best or closest friend? Lmao it's still funny to this day to me, our start... I just didn't like her. I thought she was over-dramatic and attention-crazed. What would you do if you knew a person that you were not fond of or even disliked, but they considered you as a friend? Would you confront them, avoid them, etc.? "I wouldn’t confront them unless something happened that made it come to a head. I’d try to be civil yet non-committal. It would also depend how I knew them and how much I had to interact with them." <<<< This. It doesn't seem necessary to just randomly walk up to this person and be like "hey you know you're not my friend, right?" Just leave it be unless something occurs where it seems more relevant. What are some things that you do to make you feel relaxed? Listen to music, nap... How often to do go to concerts? What was your favorite experience so far? Not even nearly enough because 1.) I'm not in a position where I can afford tickets and 2.) NO good bands like, ever come here. We only ever have country bands. The only concert I've been to was Alice Cooper, which was great. What is your newest and/or current passion? Newest, uhhhh. Idk man. I have a lot of current passions, but none surpass the Blazing Inferno of Love in my heart for Mark Edward Fischbach. Do you still have a fear that you had held since childhood? If not, how did you overcome one or more of your childhood fears? Yes, dolls. It's really mild now, but still, I really don't like porcelain dolls. What is your favorite type of weather? In general, a moderate snow. To actually be in, ohhhh man, gimme that cool, crisp fall air with a partly cloudy sky, very little to no breeze, depending on how cool it is. Do you watch documentaries? If so, do you have a particular favorite? I love animals docs. Meerkat Manor is of course my favorite. Is there a particular sentence or line from a book that carries a deep meaning to you? What is that sentence/line and why does it speak to you? I'm sure there is, but none immediately come to mind. When's the last time you ate bread? A couple days back for a sandwich. What's the last movie you watched on your own? UHHHHHHHH I think it was The Shining. Great movie, so glad I finally watched it. What about the last movie you watched with another person? Now this I'm unsure about, but I want to say The Lion King (live action) with Dad. What about the last movie you saw at the cinema? Was it good? ^ It was fucking great. I mean maybe I'm biased because it's my favorite movie, but either way, the hate it got shocked me. I know people were upset about like "oh they looked so emotionless" but like... they're animals made in the most realistic portrayal possible. I thought that was very cool. Do you attend school, college, or uni? I'm a college student. What do you study, wherever you study? Photography. What industry do you want to be a part of when you’re older? At least SOMETHING with art, or even animal rescue and conservation. How many girls can you trust? Like, two. What about guys? Also probably two, maybe three. How do you earn your keep? I don't. I don't/can't work (at least right now) and my disability case was just denied for the second time, so, y'know, I'm basically a leech. If you could speak three different languages fluently, what would they be? Not including English? German, Japanese, and Spanish, for convenience's sake. Who do you usually text the most? My mom or Sara. Baths or showers? Showers; baths gross me out. Cheese or tomato? Noooot a tomato fan, so. At least I like some cheese. Shaved legs or shaved arms? ??? I mean I think shaving your legs is more noticeable, but I don't care. I'd only ever shave my legs (I mean unless I had a good reason to shave my arms?), but shave whatever you want, dude. How many coats do you own? One winter coat. What about shoes? A handful, though I only ever wear my sneakers or flip-flops, lol. One word to describe your most recent ex? A soldier. Fried, poached, boiled or scrambled eggs? I will only ever fully eat scrambled eggs. Boiled, I'll only eat the whites. Fuck yolk, shit's gross. Have you ever been surprised with breakfast in bed? No. Where, in your current cournty, would you like to live, other than where you do now? Western NC, in the mountains. It's beautiful. Where wouldn’t you want to live? Several places, like North Korea. Do you like snow? I'm a kid when it comes to snow, I love it. Have you always got good grades? Up until college, I did... Do you like sheer clothing? With something under it, yes. List four things about your facial appearance: 1.) It's this really weird mix of dry as hell and oily; 2.) I have blue/gray eyes; 3.) I wear large, black-rimmed glasses; and 4.) I have a vertical labret in my bottom lip. List four things about your general appearance: 1.) I'm fat even though I've worked my fucking ass off to keep losing weight for two years now :^); 2.) I have some but certainly not enough tattoos and piercings; 3.) I'm very pale; and 4.) I have very short, brown hair that needs to be dyed immediately. List four things you like about yourself: 1.) I'm extremely empathetic; 2.) I care a fucking LOT about the people I love; 3.) I'd say I let myself fall kinda easily, yet I'm resilient as shit and will always get back up; and 4.) I'm extremely open-minded and capable of considering a whole lot. List four things you dislike about yourself: 1.) MY GOTDAMN WEIGHT; 2.) my teeth are too yellow for my liking (I've been exceptionally self-conscious of that lately as I've used whitening strips); 3.) I'm extremely impulsive with what I say and do when I'm seriously upset; and 4.) I will, without fail, jump to the worst possible conclusion in any and all situations. List four of your favorite TV programs: 1.) Meerkat Manor; 2.) That '70s Show; 3.) Fullmetal Alchemist (+Brotherhood); and 4.) Deadman Wonderland. List four of your favorite foods/drinks: 1.) Mountain Dew Voltage is my absolute worst enemy; 2.) I will ANNIHILATE the spicy shrimp fritas from Olive Garden; 3.) the shrimp & cheese quesadillas from Mexican restaurants are not safe either; and 4.) pizza is, of course, rather gucci. Cats or dogs? Idk, I really like both. Have you ever seen anyone famous in the street? Hunty I live in NC, that doesn't happen here. Are you hungry right now? No. What do you think of couples who have entire albums just for them, with pictures of them just randomly at home, doing nothing that really requires a photo? Dude, I love that. Cherish every moment with each other. Make memories, freeze them in pictures. Can you work the microwave? Well, considering it's the only thing I cook in and we've had the same one my entire life (ours is extremely old/can't be bought anymore and is SERIOUSLY durable with time, apparently, as it works perfectly), I know it well. Can you work the washing machine? Heh. Not really... embarrassing as that is. My mom does both of our laundry together, so... but I should seriously still know. She's shown me a few times, but with how abominably horrid my memory is, I forget again and again. There's too many options. Do you like your photo being taken? NO. Have you ever got into a club, whilst being underage? Never been to a club period. How many magazines do you buy a month? None. How many of them are car-related? "If I did, they certainly wouldn’t be car related. That doesn’t interest me at all." <<<< Big same. What about fashion? Well, I'd like ones that offered alternative clothing choices that you could order. Any celeb gossip ones? Ew. What pets do you have? We're about to have only two: my snake Venus and cat Roman. With Mom's cancer diagnosis and both chemo and surgery coming along, she simply can't handle our dumb dog anymore. He's needed to go for a LONG time, so we're trying to find a new home for him. Last gig you went to? Still Alice Cooper. Next gig your going to? Should Ozzy still have his concerts like he wants to after his treatments in Sweden or wherever it is, most likely him. Mom and I planned to, and we will absolutely go if he reinstates them. I'm completely understanding if this doesn't happen though; he has to take care of himself, the poor 'ole man. Bless him. Life's a cruel bitch, giving a legendary singer Parkinson's (it's going to disable him from singing with time). Favorite color? Pink! o: Are you regularly tired? Only always, my friend. Are you excited to live on your own? Completely alone, no. I know it would be extremely unhealthy for me with depression and becoming so easily lonely and unmotivated without encouragement and companionship of some sort. I'll have to live with a spouse. Even then, I'm nervous about it. Living with Jason and our friends in that apartment was both a good and very bad experience; it taught me a good deal of independence, but I still found it very stressful. When do you plan on moving out? When I've been in a long-term, healthy relationship. Do you daydream? Only all the time. Do you dream at night? More like have nightmares/terrors almost nightly. BUT! They've actually chilled some the past few days!! I don't recall what the dream was (but I'm 90% sure Mark was in it, A SHOCKER), but I woke up laughing hysterically recently, Mom told me. So that could only be a good sign. When you’re sick, do you like to be pampered, or left alone? A mix, but mostly the former honestly. Halp pls. But I also want my time to sleep. Are you superstitious? Nope. How many pictures are in your wallet? Ohhh I'm actually not sure. I know I have a handful of my nieces and nephews. I need one of Emerson now. If someone cries while watching a sad movie..do you laugh at them? ???? That is so insensitive???? No???? How often do you change your sheets? I'm... not sure, actually? I know at LEAST once a month (which probably isn't enough), but possibly another time? Idk, I don't pay attention. I just do when I feel it's time to. Is you bedroom upstairs or down? We only have one floor. Is it true blood is thicker than water? Nope. If you could wish someone out of your life... who would it be? Well, he's not *literally* a part of it, but Jason, as far as in my head. Remembering him, sudden memories, flashback prompts, all that jazz are very much daily events. Truly, it doesn't *really* affect me much anymore, it's just so "normal," but it would certainly be grand if he wasn't the most staple person in my head. If you could be with anyone in the world..famous or not..who would it be? HUNNY SWEET CHILD- Are you high maintenance? Nope. If you could change one thing in the world... what would it be? PEACE. JUST PEACE. No war, no violence in general, just. Handle shit like mature adults. If you could star in any movie... which would it be? None. I'm too self-conscious of myself to be in a movie, and I'm a horrible and extremely awkward actress. If you could live in a fairy tale..which would it be? "Alice in Wonderland." <<<< 100% 100% 100%. If you could live in the past..where would it be? The '80s, baby!! If you could see only one person right now..who would it be? Ugh, Sara. I've missed her to death and desperately wanna hang out. Do you wear shoes in the house? No sir. Do you dream in color or black and white? YO! I only recently learned this is a thing with some people, but I dream in color. What is your favorite accent? British. Do you write poetry/songs/stories? Poetry, occasionally. Stories, well, you could easily consider RP that, as we're all collaboratively writing many. Do you wear socks with sandals? gtfo of here with that shit Would you marry for money? HA, no. Do you have any “in the mood” music you like to listen to? AHAHA YES I'M SORRY. Would you vote for a woman president? "If she was a good candidate in my own personal opinion, yeah." <<<< "This. I want to vote for someone who I feel can do the best job. Their gender has nothing to do with it." <<<< Ditto. Are looks/appearances really important? For me personally, not really. Like yes, it's nice to feel physical attraction towards your love interest, but it's a very, very little factor for me, if at all. When you die, do you want to be cremated or buried? Please just cremate me. I really don't wanna be buried. Just taking up space. Do you like to play video games? Yeah, but not as much as I used to, though I wish I did... I think I've watched way too many let's plays to where I can enjoy just fine watching YTers I like experience the game, and I do secondhand while getting some good laughs. Do you like Final Fantasy? Which one do you prefer of all? Oh my god, I wish I was more involved in that series, as I know how madly beloved it is. I used to be obsessed with the demo for FFVIII; my sister, brother, and I would play it like mad, but only Bobby could beat it. The final spider-like boss of the demo was fuckin impossible. I did play a lot of FFVII, which I adored, it was just... so long and by maybe over halfway through, I just drifted from it. I need to watch a playthrough of it, honestly, because the story was so captivating and I genuinely would love to witness how it ends. Have you ever caught on fire? WOW no thank fuck. Do you have a YouTube channel? Yeah, but I don't really make stuff anymore. I don't have Vegas on this computer and honestly I'm just not motivated to really make videos. Do you ever go to video game arcades? No. :( Do you care what people think of you? In most cases, VERY MUCH. Not always, though, but it STRICTLY depends on the situation, big time. Like, I'll walk into Wal-Mart in my pj's np, but there are just a lot of things where I will seriously care too much. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? No. I had one teacher that ALL the girls thought was super attractive, but I definitely didn't have a crush on him... and then later he got fired for sexual relations with one of the students. OOF. Do you like Lady Gaga? I don't mind her, usually. She's got some good jams. "Bad Romance" is legendary. Do you think you have been in love before? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadly in love, friends. Do you like Edgar Allan Poe? Love him! Have you ever gotten hit on by some creeper? Oh god yeah and it was awful. Do you bless random people when they sneeze? Yep. Do you have a short temper? No. Have you ever had a yard sale? Yes. Do you go to Barnes and Noble for books, the library or someplace else? I go to Books-A-Million. Do you have an iPad? Nope. Are you scared to die? Yes and no. It's the unknown of what comes after that makes me apprehensive. Do you go to church every Sunday? I never go. Do you think you draw well? I honestly think I draw decently. Have you ever wanted to be a meteorologist? No. Do you like Taylor Swift? Not really, and DEFINITELY not newer stuff, but I will rock hardcore to "Picture To Burn," "Safe and Sound" is positively beautiful, and "Love Story" used to be my favorite song at one point.