#This game is like “Okay here's characters you will absolutely love. And we're gonna put them through so much torture and pain.”

[probablyanalienindisguise]

Black and white canvases my beloved

[nozunhinged]

My Top 5 BL Kisses of Jan (& Feb) 24 + why

Okay, okayyyyy I'm doing this, no backing out. I offically accept that analyzing kisses takes up so much of my brainspace that I can write about it — so here it goes. I'M NOT HIDING ANYMORE BUT OWNING UP TO IT! (lol, chill)

Last year I complained that I didn't get a single perfect kiss since I started watching BL TV shows (until PhayaTharn turned up) and now we're not even a quarter into the new year and I already got FIVE I'm absolutely in AWE about!! FIVE!!

I don't know if it's the actors, directors or coaches who upped their game (probably all of them) but hot damn, all of these are beautiful.

And don't ask me why I'm into kiss-acting so much I have no fucking clue, my first guess is that it's an artform in itself to make this amazing, wonderful, intimate form of touching look as beautiful as it feels — bc let's be honest here, irl kissing rarely looks pretty no matter how great it is! So I think it's just dope when you can see this beauty translated on screen.

So I guess this is peak romance genre for me and with that being said, enough talking, lets get to the kissykissies!

5. TenPrem - Cooking Crush EP. 11

I have to be honest with you, I was a bit confused by the kissing in this show. The tippytoe kiss was cute as heck but we all saw how Off AND Gun awkwardly blinked because they probably had to stay like that for a looooong time. It took the whole magic out of the whole first-kiss-moment. Same with the forced in, reshot makeout-scenes. But the kiss in the kitchen? Looks like they FINALLY got to show what they got.

Ten gently pulling Prem closer, them smoothly moving against each other, Ten closing in even more, the slightly open-mouthed kiss with their lips perfectly caressing each other, Ten with a bit more force, Prem with a bit more heat resulting in the perfect mix...Loved it, mwah.

4. PromNont - Playboyy EP. 12

They are my one Playboyy-couple where I'm like "if they don't end up married and running Playboyy together, starting the revolution of well-payed, insured and safe sex workers I'm gonna riot" even though I know this show will not end nicely for ANYONE.

Anyways, this kiss. Holy smokes they had so many good scenes but this one took the cake. Not just the sheer length of it (but still with perfect timing and breaks).

The slightest suck on Nonts upper lip, Prem literally making Nont sway, Nonts hidden desperation for Prom surfacing from his lips, them slowly but surely turning up the heat and last but not least, Prom grabbing Nonts face just to lean against him...UGH THEM!

(I made those)

3. Myungha & Yeowoon - Love for Love's Sake EP 8

I know I'm not alone in how this show swept me off my feet and hit me right in the feels. But I've gotta say, this kiss hit completely different. Again they kissed for so long but not a single moment felt wasted. It felt like their whole story put in a single kiss. And — I mean that in the most loving and positive way possible — they kissed so amazingly gay. Do you know what I mean?!

There's just this level of love, care and happiness that only queer couples can convey. Sprinkled with a hint of tongue (I saw that Yeowoon 👀) — they absolutely nailed it.

2. AlanJeff - Pit Babe EP. 11

The kiss that made me consider doing this post in the first place. I saw them and shouted THIS IS PERFECT just to realize that I did this a few weeks ago already and it made me spiral a little. In the best way possible because I felt truly blessed once again to have discovered the genre of BL in their golden era!

Because this right here is how you nail an open mouthed kiss my friends. Take notes BL producers. Put this in your textbooks! They both go at the same rythm (slow, careful but so, so loving JUST LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP UGH) and same level of touch so their lips caress each other perfectly. Furthermore, Alan knows exactly how to meet Jeff which is also a PERFECT EXTENSION OF HIS CHARACTER! Alan leads, Jeff follows but they meet perfectly and equally. TEN OUT OF TEN NO NOTES!

1. PhayaTharn - The Sign EP. 9

I don't understand the meaning of the "Roman Empire"-thing but I think if I say they are mine, I am correct because they will be the end of me and that's what that means right? I may be biased AF but objectively speaking, this is just an insanely well acted-out scene, PERIOD! And we all know it's thanks to Billybabes out-of-this-world-chemistry!

Phayas desperation translated into this gorgeous lip-clash, so much yearning but softness at the same time but what really got to me was how Tharn immediately melted after their lips touched, how he immediately opened up to him and got completely overwhelmed by Phayas feelings. Chapeau to Babe for showing so much range in a single second. My favorite kiss of the whole series ❤️

I also just realized all these kisses have one thing in common....hands on faces lol.

Well that was fun peeps, thanks if you made it until the end!

[fictionfixations]

jaehee best route presentation

this is just me jokingly dunking on mysme's other routes and pointing out the weird and wacky shit that happened in comparison to jaehee's significantly more tame route (because i love her route. we stan jaehee in this household.)

meant to make a presentation cause a bunch of friends were getting together to make some dumb af presentations but im procrastinating

anyway ive never played deep story or another story mode. and the only routes ive actually played are jaehee's and yoosung's. i cant be bothered to do anyone else's (the notifs get so annoying. im the type of person who sometimes spends whole days in a row desiring me time and being all alone. so guess what when you give me a game thats basically like a messenger in which you have to actually interact by then? its like. actually socializing! which no. it hit my social limit and i just stopped trying after multiple bad endings trying to actually get to zens lol)

since im not gonna be showing off my presentation (because ah.. socialization.. and two, now im kind of scared i might trigger someone..?)

so. here.

MAJOR MYSTIC MESSENGER SPOILERS

its a gif..

[ Content warning: Swears, possibly triggering content, uh. Mention of bombs, death (faked su//cide), possible implied in//est thoughts (he doesn’t harbor those thoughts I don’t think, but it can still be the impression he gives off), ..mention of s*x maybe?, kidnapping, held captive, weird shit that’s meant to be kinky but actually comes off as really creepy, INACCURATE PORTRAYAL OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES, cringe, false reporting / negative media, captivity, yandere ending sob??, and ill add more if i can think of more - and torture. I wont go indepth but ill mention it. …beastiality? Just remembered headbang. I dont think its said but ppl kinda see the implications of it i think. ..ive never played his route so i have no clue | is cucking a trigger??? I dont..>>>????? / sexual implications probably  | mentions of S/A. It doesnt happen but a character falsely accuses another to ruin their reputation, toxic relationships ]

thats it lmfao

what i was going to continue with:

jumin. so. you know that bad ending where you're basically kept in his house and he puts trackers in your shoes so you can only walk as far as like the kitchen away from him and doing so alerts him and shit?? and its played off as being some kinky shit i think but like hello? (also i think. it was either him or saeran, but we fuck in the basement he has trauma in??)

(i mean theres also the thing with his cat. the 'i'll treat you like my pet' or something like that line?? i dont remember. or zen having a dream that elizabeth his cat was running away so he locked her up even worse so then when he opened the door she ran??)

707 is the most story-depth i think, the one ppl consider canon. in which. crazy shit probably happens there with the obligatory kidnapping and bomb threat. i honestly cant remember i didnt even go to his page to check . altohugh i think theres an ending where saerans is like 'give me a hug'. 707 does. then saeran kills him. which. oof…. poor guy. or its revealed who their dad is and basically bad things happen i think?

saeran/ray/unknown. inaccurate depiction of mental disorders or something like that (not meant to offend with wording, but i can never remember the names of shit). it was like.. we first get to know ray whose the nicer one. and then there's saeran whose an absolute asshole. there was something like 'if you dont listen something bad will happen' (which is apparently something his mom said to him or something like that?) very sucky situation

V. cucking??? IDFK wtf

V's CELL?

DRUGGed. from. RAY's. TORTURE. okay. okay.

(someone explain to me whats going on in that ending where we're cucking, im so confused)

ah...

so. yknow. jaehee's route is significantly more tame. and relaxing. and stress relieving imo.

the end

[practically-an-x-man]

I saw you reblog the post "send an OC and you tell me which of your OCs would fall in love with them" and had a moment of oh no, how many non-furry/dragon characters do I have. So I'm throwing you a variety!! We're gonna have to put aside the fact that two out of the three here are furry characters. I'm genuinely severely lacking in human people, despite how much I talk about them. (Is this a game show where only the winner out of all of them gets a date, or are they all getting paired off? Up to you!)

CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE

I gotta throw you a character I haven't mentioned before much. Silver Bullet Babe, or just Silver for short, spends a large majority of his time studying magic. Coming from a well off family who encouraged his focus on his studies and seclusion from others, his social skills are lacking at best. On the plus side, though, being with him comes with the added bonus of a very extensive library filled with otherwise forbidden knowledge. He's also very pink with lovely hair.

(I'll never get over how beautiful this commission is, and I'm devastated that I've lost access to the artist since)

CONTESTANT NUMBER TWO

You already know this one. His info post isn't up yet, so his exact details might be blurry, but let me introduce you to the danger to aviation laws himself, Hazard! I don't. I don't have his picture on my laptop, so you're gonna just have to imagine a tall Canadian with the most mid fohawk ever who talks with an accent that is an affront to the concept of language itself. He's a great guy, I promise. Asides from how much danger he puts himself in for his own entertainment, he's a great guy.

CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE

*Shuffles through my characters* fuck okay who else is in here. hm. I feel I've gotta give you another one I haven't talked about before. I'm digging up Doe for this one.

Do you need a girl in your life that doesn't take shit from nobody anymore? Would it be even better if it were impossible to tell if she even liked you or not? Then let me present to you, Doe! I know for a fact she has an anthro design around somewhere, but evidently not here. I don't even have her regular design on this laptop, so we gotta just imagine an orange skywing woman together. What does she have to offer? She's fearless with the strength to back that up. She's punched both Sandwing and Skywing soldiers on two separate occasions. Her boss is, unfortunately for her, also her best friend, so they're a two for one deal, so you'll also be gaining a really weird uncle as well.

Oooooh, introductions to new OCs!! I love this!!

Let's see here...

For Silver, I could see him getting together with Kestrel. They're also super inquisitive and work with magic frequently, so I could definitely see them bonding over that initially. And like... Kestrel's social skills aren't fantastic either, being a changeling who's been told effectively their whole life that the only thing they're good at is causing havoc and distress, so I think those early interactions might be a little awkward. But after that, y'know, it all would work out great!

I think Quinn would probably fall for Hazard in like.... a weird way. Like the "buddy you're just really fucking Odd. I kinda want to punch you in the face but I also kinda want to kiss you and we'll figure out the logistics of that later" kind of way. She's absolutely a daredevil too and would initially be drawn to that thrillseeking side of him, always trying to one-up him until it becomes a weird sort of game, and then that game becomes a weird sort of flirting... they'd be the weirdest, most hazardous (pun not intended) power couple on the planet, but that's my answer.

Doe definitely strikes me as Eris' type - someone who can fire right back to whatever little battles they want to throw at her, who isn't going to flinch, who's good and strong and driven to keep pace. You've heard of people getting along like a house on fire? These two would get along like nuclear fission. This might be The Most Dangerous relationship I have ever come up with, maybe not to the two of them but definitely to everyone else in the immediate vicinity.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #105

I did a much better job with my to-do list today.

I went to therapy and drew a picture. We're gonna keep working on my ability to have faith in the integrity of my own senses, perceptions, and experiences. From there, I did laundry, washed a bunch of dishes, and made whipped cream - one was just plain cream and sugar, and the other is cream and hot chocolate mix, beaten until it has a mousse-like consistency. I like to call that one "hot chocolate pudding"!

…You wanna know how to make it, doncha? 😁 Who wouldn't, ahahaha~! So I'll tell you:

You need 1 cup of heavy cream (or coconut cream, if you prefer!) and 8 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. I use Sillycow Farms; it tastes really good, and it's vegan and gluten-free, just in case that matters.

Then you stick the heavy cream and the hot chocolate mix into a bowl, and beat the shit out of it until it's a consistency that you like. If you have a stand mixer (I have one of these, because trying to mix stuff together while dyspraxic is an exercise in messes and frustration…), it's very, very simple. Then, you have a bowl full of foamy, chocolatey goodness that is suitable for putting on ice cream, spreading around as frosting, sticking into tea, or just eating straight from the bowl with a spoon!

I will show you some pictures now!

This is the finished regular whipped cream. I wonder if you like this stuff:

This is what it looks like when you combine the hot cocoa mix and the heavy cream in the stand mixer:

Here is the resulting hot chocolate pudding!

...And here is the whisk I wish I could give to you to lick. Everyone should get an opportunity to lick a whisk that has tasty things on it:

...And this is Hoshi! Hoshi is sad that he can't have anything on the whisk (chocolate is poisonous to cats; they can't process the theobromine in it), so I gave him some scritches:

I also got around to trying that lychee and rose tea. Apparently there is also vanilla in it; I missed that little detail in my previous letter to you. Sorry about that. It's very good!! But I can't give you a cup of it. So I'll send along some pictures.

This is the tin it comes in:

Here's how it looked like after it was brewed; I used my fancy DINOSAUR MUG!!! OH MAN!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Here's how it looked after I added honey and milk:

I also cooked a steak! Because I need the iron! It's seasoned very simply with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder! It's good stuff!! I also can't give you any, and this is very sad, because this one turned out REALLY good!! So I'll send along a picture:

…I'm definitely in the "leave it mostly raw" camp, when it comes to steak. Naturally, you have to kill the surface bacteria to avoid getting sick (this is why I make the outside all brown and crispy), but that's pretty much it. I wonder how you like yours cooked, if you like beef at all. Some people don't, and that's okay too.

There's so much still that I wanna do today. Last time I was at the grocery, I managed to get the supplies needed to make a recipe that was sent to me in this space, and I'm VERY eager to try it out in the near future. Sadly though, I think I might have to wait until some of the other food I made is eaten so that we have room in the fridge…

…For some reason, I get the feeling that if you were around, we'd have absolutely no problem making room in the fridge, though, hahaha! For sure, I wish you could be here so I could give you all sorts of tasty and wholesome things to eat. There's a lot I wish I could give to you, actually. My world has its problems, for sure, but there's also lots of cool stuff to do - lots of good books to read, pretty places to go walking, awesome music to listen to, fun games to play, and enlightening things to watch. I really, really wish you could visit. You'd be safe here.

I can't really think of anything else to write today, so I guess I'll end things here. Don't lose sight of the fact that you're loved and that there are people who wish well on you.

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[nobodysdaydreams]

LOVELACE IS HERE...

...BUT IS SHE AN EVIL CLONE ROBOT?

Also Blessie is now one of my favorite characters 🌱💕

(or my reaction to WOLF359 Episodes 21-22, mini episode 2, and Episodes 23-24, and mini episode 3).

Gonna keep my intro for this one short and just dive right into it.

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that. And for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs

Episode 21: Minkowski Commanding

Okay. Have I done enough to earn a break? No. Have I done a lot and am complete burnt out? Yeah. So let's do this. I have had a LOT of mutual hype around this episode, so I'm ready to be dazzled.

I'm also eating and work while I listen, so sorry if my notes get short (I say knowing full well I'm gonna get distracted and type insane amounts of notes).

MINKOWSKI? I think this is the first episode she'd done the "welcome to Wolf359" thing. Or maybe I'm just unobservant (I also will often accidently skip the welcome phrase because I press the 30sec ahead button to skip commercials).

Enemy? Being watched? Oh... is this about Blessie isn't it 😂

I love this. We still don't know where Blessie came from and what he wants. Why not take him back to Cutter? Since he apparently loves aliens so much, maybe you can feed him to Blessie. In the meantime I supposed Hilbert will do as a mid-flight snack.

"It took a screwdriver" / "how do we know that's all it wants?"

Uh...

Hm. Interesting. Marks in the vents. I wonder if they are Blessie's.

Oh my this is intense. PFFT- "Slimy thief" 😂

Also maybe it's just me, but unless you have a clear shot and the situation calls for it, it seems to be a pretty stupid idea to be firing a gun off in space.

EXACTLY. Come on Minkowski, you're the smart one most of the time. But I suppose we all have our days.

A net?😂😂😂 This is fantastic.

Maybe they can stop Cutter with some home alone style traps.

"I need to make more acid" oh my goodness-

"The acid may have been a mistake. Turns out it developed an immunity to it. And possibly, an affinity." I'm sorry, WHAT. Hilbert. How. How did you do this.

RETRACTABLE SPIKES IT CAN SHOOT?

And yes, plants need light. But Minkowski, please don't. Please please please don't.

THANK YOU DOUG.

"We admire and support you and we want you to catch the plant monster- this is an intervention" 😂

PLEASE. Doug's imitation of Hilbert's voice and knowing they are the same actor...absolute talent. "You sound nothing like him" (winks at the audience).

Yeah I agree Doug. It is strange for you to be the sensible one in the situation. And again, this feels like you're trying to solve the problem you can rather than the problem that's the most immediate issue. Like getting back to Earth as fast as you can and putting a bullet in Cutter's head.

Wow. That was um harsh. Poor Hera. Oh no.

"Just remember that we're here okay." Aw.

Hour three in the black? This is a dangerous game. I don't like that sound. Florescent moss? Territory marker? Don't like where this is going.

Hilbert: "Ah. Specimen 34. Fascinating hybrid" "I don't care how you made it."

DON'T CARE? I DO. HILBERT: WHAT IS IT A HYBRID OF?

Please tell me it's not a hybrid of plants and a person on the ship.

Please tell me you would not be that stupid.

Can it bred? Is it predatory? "Based on history of parent species" WHO ARE THE PARENTS HILBERT.

Both are possible? Don't like that.

And Hilbert. Why would you make this plant, and why would you make the spiders? Why did you want them to grow this big? What is the goal of this?

Well looks like we'll find out.

Oh dear.

The tentacle is dead?

Minkowski. What about the rest of the plant?

OH DEAR.

Final day? Eliminated tentacles, spikes, and leaves? This needs to end.

HARPOON?

You might be closer to going home if you just...went home. Is Cutter gonna blow you out of the sky? There has to be a way to shut off the ship's tracker or fake your own death.

Found it? Lair? Minkowski almost sounds impressed.

Oh. It built itself a little lamp. A nightlight.🥺 Percival B. Eternal just wants to feel the sun. He must be pretty light deprived up in deep space.🥺

DOESN'T MATTER? MINKOWSKI. STOP.

Minkowski please hesitate. Eiffel is stuck in another trap? Ominous ticking sound? Thank goodness, go save Eiffel.

Oh the plant DOES understand. Huh. Seems like they have an understanding.

But. What was the plant made from?

Sedatives in the tea 😂

Reached an understanding? That's true. It DID have opportunities to kill you. But it no longer wants you dead. Which is interesting, because it did before. And that makes me think that it might want Hilbert dead. Because it took over Hilbert's mind and said to Eiffel "you are no better than the oppressor" so perhaps it blames Hilbert for it's creation.

"It wants what we want. To survive. To make it somewhere. To not be in the dark."

That's beautiful and yeah, Blessie can't thrive in space, plants need light.

Spacecraft? Hopefully rescue. But given that it's season 2, I have doubt. One lifeform.

Who is that? ISABEL LOVELACE? SHE'S ALIVE?

(I say as if I didn't see her name pop up 50x before I blocked the tags...still an interesting way for her to return).

Hilbert you lying liar. Tsk-tsk. Looks like she didn't incinerate. But...she couldn't survive in a pod for a year and a half. So...how?

Is this really Isabel Lovelace?

Is she from the past? The future? Is she a clone or science experiment made by Cutter and Hilbert to trick everyone? Is she the real empty man?

Oh and for the record, I've gotten messages from people asking why I keep talking about the empty man. I assumed that that was a real invisible creature that snuck aboard based on what Hera and Hilbert were saying about it in the alone episode (Hera mentions an invisible unseen presence she won't tell them about, and Hilbert hears a knock on his door and asks "why are you here? You weren't here on the other missions?"), but apparently I've been played like a fiddle. Would for sure fail that psych eval, but it's not even an ethical or standardized evaluation in the first place, so I don't feel bad at all about that.

Also, side note, you know what gets me the most about so many fictional (and unfortunately some irl) "men of great science" who do super bad and unethical things all in the name of their great work? Well, besides all the unethical stuff? It's that most of the time, their "genius experiments" aren't even good science. They're just doing random stuff in the hopes that something will work itself out, usually without any attempt at a control group, sometimes they don't even take their own safety into account, other times they don't even know enough about what they're doing to come to any sensible conclusion or account for unintended consequences. "Oh sacrifices must be made for the greater good, oh genius men like me don't need to abide by ethics" okay well can you at least abide by common sense or is that too genius for you? The point is I don't really care how smart you are, pride cancels out intellect, and at this rate Hilbert and Cutter are gonna get themselves and everyone else killed. I don't think Cutter is even a scientist. He calls himself "Mr. Cutter" (not doctor) and talks about money like he's a business man villain trusting Hilbert to do the science, which, bad move buddy. Bad move.

Episode 22: Mutually Assured Destruction

Don't like the sound of the title.

Oh boy. Two commanders lead to conflict. We're gonna need to establish some ground rules.

Blue ship and red ship collided? Oh Minkowski knows the codes.

"What is the point of an empty gun?" To threaten Eiffel.

Wait..."How did you bring me back here?"

They...they didn't Lovelace.

So who did?

Right, play her the messages from herself.

Vessel to return to earth? Yeah, it does seem impossible. Oh...interesting. An astrophysics figures out how to get back to earth. Then said astrophysicist disappears. What a crazy coincidence.

Oh. THAT'S why they don't have an astrophysicist this time. They want to make sure they don't get that close to getting back this time.

"12 hours later she vanished" ...did she open some kind of gateway, or did command vaporize her?

Ah yes, Dr. Selburg. Yeah he does get sloppy. It seems one of his assignments was to not let them return to earth. But there's a grey door that he opens which apparently allows him to come back each time. Interesting.

Incapacitated him? How? And...how did Hilbert survive?

So...Lovelace was in cryo-sleep and went back to the Hephaestus?

Well...I have a theory: Command sent you back and compromised you so that you would take Hilbert's place as their inside man. Or woman. But it sounds like she's a bit more in the dark about what happened than he is.

Rhea.🥺Aw. A moment of silence for the fallen AI.

Oh yeah. Show her Hilbert.

Yes: "What happened to Captain Lovelace?" Get him commander. Get him!

Oh Hilbert. I hope for your sake this isn't a boy who cried wolf situation.

Oh wow the voice acting of Hilbert choking...true talent.

"They said..." hm. Now that's interested.

"They would never" Hilbert man you are drinking the Kool-Aid, command is using you. You are not indispensable.

Lovelace seems pretty eager for violence.

Interesting...Hilbert terrified of something. We didn't see that with anyone or anything else. Clone or robot replica? Good idea Doug.

I also wonder: was Hilbert always afraid of Lovelace? Or is he only afraid of her now that she's back?

"Is everything a joke to you" at this point, I think it has to be. How else do you survive this?

No long on Lovelace's ship? The computer not turned on before this morning? Then...where has it come from? It's highly unlikely that she would survive in space for three years. But Doug has a point. If these are lies, she should have a better one.

Hera...why are you unsure of whether you can help with the ship? It's hard to tell when she's hesitating due to code interference, having hesitation because the plan is bad, and hesitating because she doubts herself.

Oh yeah...this is awkward. It's like if you discovered another family living in your house and you started touching their stuff (because it's yours).

Oh the music! 📻🎶🎶🎶

Yeah...is there a pattern to the music? Why DO they send that?

Um. Yeah. You might want to drop the plant monster bomb slowly...

Interesting. Hera seems to REALLY not like this new ship. But...why? Again, it's hard to tell when she's nervous, leading them astray, or has a legit concern.

She...she wouldn't be able to go with them. 🥺 Oh. Yeah. They do have families, at least Minkowski does. So...I guess they'd need to go home. But then poor Hera would be all alone. But if they make it back, they could send a rescue party back for her! And she could turn herself off until then or use autopilot.

Ah yes. The empty man. Who apparently isn't real, unless the messages were a code for something.

Uh. Minkowski. What are you doing?

"Nobody's getting left behind" but what about Hilbert? I think he can stay in space for a while. He's been on a lot of missions, so he seems to like it here.

Lovelace. Why were you eavesdropping? Oh wow, interesting gun trap! And "I invented being paranoid" is a very unhinged thing to say.

And explosive device? Lovelace what is going on?

Doug. Doug stop them please. Stop them. What. BOMB. YOU'LL ALL DIE. DON'T DO COMMANDS WORK FOR THEM.

BLOW UP THE STATION! BUT WHAT ABOUT HERA! LOVELACE NO! WHAT ABOUT HERA? WE LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND (well except for Hilbert, he can get blown to bits I don't care)!

Yikes what a thrilling conclusion. And now a mini episode? Seems like a odd time for one. Last time Doug read letters to some third graders, is he just gonna...pause in the middle of this epic standoff to give his thoughts on his favorite movies? I guess we'll find out.

Mini Episode 2: Day One

Interesting this says from "Goddard Futuristics Archives". So they are saving all their messages. Incredibly creepy. Oh this is Doug's first log. Yeah...that's why the logs go to command. Sure.

Yep. It is spooky. Wonder what is making those creaking noises?

Oh poor Doug. Hephaestus is a difficult word, but I would have hoped you'd have heard it enough times by now.

Huh. "Weirdly big for just three people"

...yeah. Almost as if it was made for more people but they decided they didn't want an astrophysicist this time.

"The crew seems nice". 😐

Yeah you DO want to get along with Minkowski. Trust me.

"Dr. Hilbert. Seems friendly enough. Hard to understand what he's saying, but he seems nice enough. I haven't really seen him since we docked here. We've got plenty of time to get to know each other."

Hilarious considering it's the same voice actor, not to mention the irony.

"Creeped out by Hera" and now they are best friends. And Doug, Doug she can hear you. She hears everything.

Poor Hera.

Oh that's it? Huh. Interesting. I wonder if we'll get to hear any other cool logs...

Episode 23: No Pressure

Doug. I've enjoyed listening to you work together for the past episode (which I listened to while folding clothes, sorry for the lack of live reaction).

But Lovelace tried to help you! A fake emergency sounds like a scary idea. She's already on edge. And something tells me that this might lead to a REAL emergency.

Hera. Hera. What is this? This sounds like a very very very bad idea.

Plan B? Hopefully just talk to Lovelace nicely? I don't like this. They were getting along so well! The moth joke was nice!

I do not think this is gonna go well.

"Shut up" good for you Hera.

"This is gonna end well."

I don't think it will.

Episode 24: Tactical Brain Damage

I love the title. But I'm nervous.

Oh boy. Hera. "Communications officer who shall remain nameless" 😂😂😂

"We want her distracted not murderously enraged".

Then maybe this is a bad idea. Wait what? Hera what are your sensors picking up?

This isn't gonna end well is it?

I wonder if Lovelace is treating Hera like that because she reminds her of Rhea. Or however it's spelled.

Big red cable? What does that do?

Yeah. Maybe this isn't the best idea.

Oh. Eiffel is the alternative. Well then.

"Permission to speak freely sir" maybe it's just me, but it's odd that Eiffel calls them sir instead of ma'am. Is that a thing in the military or does Doug just not know the feminine version of the word and no one has bothered to correct him.

"What does Hera know" A lot. Yeah Lovelace. You need to show Hera some respect. She's really nice.

"Well educated guess". I do not like this. I do not like this at all.

Um...HERA? HERA.

Uh oh. Oh no. Don't like that alarm. That's a pretty bad alert.

Um..."I just went some where didn't I?" ...WHERE DID SHE GO? Oh dear? Corrupted code?

"Do you think she'll notice" 😂

I love that despite nearly dying every single episode, they keep their humor. I hope they survive this, but I doubt it.

I hope they at least get a half decent ending and drag Hilbert and Cutter down with them.

"What are the other two doing?"

Oh no. Lovelace is gonna snap.

"You're wrong" "I'm not. But that's okay. Because you still have time. Because my way is the only way."

...Lovelace. Lovelace please be reasonable. Don't forget who the real enemy is. And Doug. You might want to work on your trickery skills.

"Ow" "...is this hurting you?" Oh dear. Poor Hera.

"Would it hurt you?" "Is there a risk of permanent damage?" "Yes."

It's not worth it. It's not worth it. Poor Hera. Good job Minkowski, take care of the crew.

"I know you won't let anything happen to me". Oh okay. It's okay. I didn't need my heart.

And Hera is okay!

haha...yeah Eiffel's plan didn't exactly work out. Please don't antagonize Lovelace.

No. NOT HILBERT. DO NOT GO TO HIM FOR HELP EVEN WHEN HE TRIES TO HELP HE HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT VERY UNHELPFUL.

Mini Episode 3: Variations on a Theme

"The more things change, the more they stay the same".

This would be very scary. They are all gonna need intensive psychotherapy after this.

"Rhea checked in with me, that was then this is now. Hera's polite, her programming forces her to be, but I hear what she's really saying..."

😂The impressions. It's also sad that she misses Rhea.

Breaking bones, tossing her out an airlock, and leaving her to die??? Lovelace, Hera might be cold to you, but the feeling seems mutual, and she doesn't want you to die. The only person she's tried to kill is Hilbert, and if they stopped her from doing that, what makes you think that she'd try to kill you? That sounds wayyyy more like something Cutter would suggest. Where has he been anyway?

"More or less angry if she knew the truth?"

IF HERA KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT? Does something terrible happen to the AI units? Is she a copy of someone's brain or personality from a previous mission that Lovelace hates?

Normalize explaining things instead of all this ominous foreshadowing. And I know, okay, I know, when I write my own stuff, that's all I ever do. Call me a hypocrite if you want.

This is very creepy. She's lived through this so much and in space there's not much sense of time.

Oh right. Lambert was the communications officer right? Hilbert must have given him the virus too.

But um...didn't he die a horrible painful death?

"But does he know how it ends, what happens when he gets-"

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE GETS WHAT? WHAT DOES THE VIRUS DO?

Any more ominous hints you'd like to drop Lovelace? I get the feeling you have quite a few.

Hera, Rhea. Yeah they are anagrams. I got the spelling right! It's also an anagram for "hear" which makes the "I always hear you" line more powerful.

"Everything...except him. He never goes away. He never changes."

...Hilbert or Cutter?

Oh Dr. Hilbert. Yeah. I wonder why he never goes away. And I don't think either of them feel much of anything at all.

"Stay way from the ghosts."

Easier said than done.

"You can never go home. You were home. And now you're back. And you can never go back."

...DID she get back? Did they wipe her memory and send her back?

"No friends no trust no safety"

WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD TELL THEM WHAT YOU KNOW.

In fact, I think they should all spill all their secrets. Out in the open. That way command has nothing on them.

But for some reason, I think it might be a while before that happens.

I think that's it for today guys, but I hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading!

[tozierbeeps]

Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, or the Stand for the Fandom Question Game. Dealers choice. Whichever or all. Up to you.

Thank you for always letting me yell djdjd (Only just realized this is still in my drafts)

👾 STRANGER THINGS 🤖

The first character I first fell in love with: Will or Mike. Maybe Hopper

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Steve, of course, but I did also suspect he was gonna be a good guy early on. in a different way I didn't think Max or Hopper would resonate with me so hard either

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Billy. I can't see past the Lucas and Max treagment

The character I love that everyone else hates: Mike, I guess? He's just a kid. Kinda dumb, but his heart's in the right place even if it doesn't show

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I really don't think there is one. Once characters have my devotion that's about it

The character I would totally smooch: So many. Steve, Hopper, and Joyce are probably the top

The character I’d want to be like: Max

The character I’d slap: Billy. So. So hard.

A pairing that I love: Oh where to begin. Jopper! Elmax, steveddie, romance, byler, lumax. God I'm sure I'm missing more. Always Murray x Alexei

A pairing that I despise: Steve and Billy

🗡️GAME OF THRONES🛡️

The first character I first fell in love with: Arya Stark

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy. Both grew on me like absolute weeds. They're incredible

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Dany. I'm not even gonna start

The character I love that everyone else hates: There's a lot of negative talk about characters but yet I can't think of any?

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I don't have any I don't think, I came around for the good mostly in this show

The character I would totally smooch: Literally so many okay. Just put the whole list here and we're good. Gendry, Jaime, and Brianne are extremely high

The character I’d want to be like: Jaime (bar the stupid end). Let me recover from my demons like that

The character I’d slap: Cersei and Ramsay always. Tywin and Joffrey would also be great wins

A pairing that I love: Brianne x Jaime, Theon x Sansa, Gendry x Arya are always my top three

A pairing that I despise: Jaime x Cersei

🐦‍⬛ THE STAND 👹

The first character I first fell in love with: Nick Andros

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Funny enough this is also Nick. As a very huge Rob Lowe fan, I refused to get hopes up when I started the book that I would like him. So I was prepared to hate him and then, well, he's Nick fucking Andros. I didn't think I'd like Larry and I most definitely wouldnt have expected to love Trashcan Man

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: I don't think I have one? I'm not insanely invested in Lloyd I guess but I love him

The character I love that everyone else hates: I don't think there is one?

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I thought I would like Harold a lot at the beginning of I remember right but that lasted... Not long

The character I would totally smooch: NICK! ANDROS!

The character I’d want to be like: Am I the worst if I again say Nick Andros? I want that kind of forgiveness and caring.

The character I’d slap: Julie. Please. Many. Or one, I'm not picky

A pairing that I love: Larry x Lucy. Huge fan, will forever be a fan. I also like seeing Fran and Stu. And Lloyd and Flagg has become a vibe

A pairing that I despise: Harold and Nadine???

[haejjoon]

also, while we're pointing out the flaws of atlus's characterization choices in the game-

ugh. ryuji. i adore him, so much. and the game never decides what they really want for him. i always stood by the fact that the pervy cutscenes were a step too far, even for him- especially after what he knows about ann. i think it would've been interesting to explore how he did sorta believe the rumors about her, but apologized, and the game vaguelyyy does that but canon is still a disservice to the friendship i firmly believe ann and ryuji have.

and the way the other characters treat him. im not gonna even bring up the okumura arc here, it doesn't deserve mention. but sometimes it's hard to listen them insult the poor guy so much. yeah, he gets in over his head and says stuff a little too loud. but sometimes it just feels cruel. especially knowing what happens at the end of shido's palace.

ryuji's gobro's a jerk, but he apologized when he stepped out of line too far when they barely knew each other. he'd never let the post shido moment go down like it did.

my fav thing about third sem is that ryuji's the one that comes to the rescue first. that gets in front of akechi & akira and blocks the blast before everyone else. im glad my boy got a little moment to shine in p5r (rip ann and yusuke). and i love his friendship with akira. but i wish atlus felt less all over the place with him, with all of the thieves.

are we gna take turns dissecting all the characrers in persona 5 because im literally all for it. character dissection is my favorite. puts ryuji on the operating table

i absolutely agree with u anon atlus doesnt seem to know what the hell they want to do with my boy. he's introduced as the protagonist's loud dumbass friend who's got a heart of gold, and then he's reduced to the pervy guy who speaks before thinking, and then it's like atlus goes "oh shit wait we gotta wrap things up for him" and then toss him a moment in shido's ship. like... if ur gna make a decision stick by it atlus cmon.

im gonna assume the gobro moment you're talking about is when he says sorry for calling ryuji useless baggage pre-awakening and say THANK YOU FOR NOTICING...... GWTS ON HANDS AND KNEES AND BOWS HEAD TO THE FLOOR... ryuji deserved that apology and deserved that closure back at the ramen shop 100%, as he did with a lot of the ribbing from the thieves in the canon game. i've got a bone to pick with morgana specifically regarding this but thats another conversation

he's also never properly held accountable for all the moments he pervs on ann either. it's one thing to be like "my friend's rly hot yeah!!!" and it's nother to blatantly stare at her when she's practically getting heat stroke in that microwave of a cat-bus. little things like ryuji turning to akiren and going "dude . wasnt that girl.. like... fine???" about haru is perfectly okay, because he's a teenage boy and teenage boys are stupid, but i cannot believe he never gets anything said to him about how he treats ann. then again he is NOWHERE as bad as yosuke in p4 so it isnt the worst thing in the world. just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth

here have a little preview of chp5 where ryuji actually apologizes for his behavior

[mlobsters]

supernatural s15e3 the rupture (w. robert berens)

can't believe we're still doing this dumbass hell ghost plotline.

this music is awful. is generic and nonsensical to the vibe of the show. it's giving like. in line for space mountain plus 20 year old video game? sigh! (jay gruska, to no one's surprise)

very pretty shot. painting-like

DEAN I mean, this whole mess, you know? This – This sloppy-ass ghostpocalypse – that's Chuck's ending? No. No, I don't think so. After everything that he has put us through? I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some glorified fanboy get the last word.

sloppy-ass indeed

BELPHEGOR It's just a nickname. Doesn't matter. Thing's actually more of a horn. Anyways, when Lilith began sending demons off to Earth to do her bidding, there was a little problem. I mean, yeah, she commended absolute loyalty in Hell, but there was no guarantee that once her minions were topside, that they wouldn't just take advantage of the situation. She needed to control her flock. So —

sure, why not! make up some extra lilith lore

ROWENA A few ingredients, nothing too exotic – lavender, myrrh, the skull of an owl, quiet to perform the spell, and an assistant. Dibs on Samuel. SAM Er, what? ROWENA You're as close to a seasoned witch as we've got in this lot.

team witch!sam

BELPHEGOR I want protection. Muscle. DEAN Yeah, Cas'll go. DEAN You've been to Hell before. CASTIEL Well, it sounds like I don't have a choice. DEAN Good. Great. Go team.

way to be an ass, dean. but also, who else is gonna do it? they're out of people? so we're just gonna make up some hurt/drama.

LOL ripped out ketch's heart? okay. i was never engaged with his little character rehab project so, whatever.

BELPHEGOR You know, your part in all this is, uh, pretty dangerous. I mean, you could die, get trapped in Hell. Your friends might never see you again. Funny, 'cause, uh, they didn't seem to think twice about it.

don't worry, cas. this is all fucking nonsense

BELPHEGOR Okay, you got me. I wanted company. I wanted your company. What? Shouldn't we at least try and be friends? Sam and Dean, they seem to be coming around. I think I'm, uh, growing on them. You know, like a cancer. CASTIEL You are not growing on anyone. Sam and Dean are just using you. Don't mistake that for caring about you, because I can assure you they don't. BELPHEGOR Wow. You learn that the hard way?

really going for the jugular of insecurities here

BELPHEGOR What is it, Cas, really? This, uh, seething animosity.

LOL it's like the nin lyrics to terrible lie!! (pretty hate machine is one of my all-time favorite albums, all bangers no skips)

(Hey God!) Why are you doing this to me? Am I not living up to what I'm supposed to be? Why am I seething with this animosity? (Hey God!) I think you owe me a great big apology

very plotline appropriate too haha

so is this when we find out what angle this demon is working or? LOL sucking up the hell souls with his little horn so he can become god. just like cas and the purgatory souls! like father, like son. dropping characters like flies, this episode

so rowena is going to sacrifice herself like crowley did? i like rowena, but i never was on board with her sudden character flip flop, same with crowley or ketch. gonna take dark to gray characters and oh yeah, we love the good guys now too and we're willing to die for the cause. i think we've had more time to attach to rowena post-flipflop at least? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i was getting this clip for the bad music but dean's increasingly confused and stunned what??s made me laugh

i mean, whatever, man. this doesn't seem like the clearest case of prophecy but whatever, it works, sure. god, the music for this is AWFUL. i usually laugh off jay's bad music but this is insulting to rowena. she deserves better death music :p

well. rowena also got a little swan song diving into the pit moment.

dean asks how he's doing, deflect deflect. the winchester way

DEAN We did it, though, man. It's over. God threw one last apocalypse at us, and we beat it. SAM Yeah. DEAN What you did… Rowena… You didn't have a choice. SAM I know.

how very madison

CASTIEL The plan changed, Dean. Something went wrong. You know this. Something always goes wrong. DEAN Yeah, why does that something always seem to be you?

jesus, dean. that's way nastier than necessary. he can get so mean when he's upset

CASTIEL You used to trust me, give me the benefit of the doubt. Now you can barely look at me. My powers are failing, and – and I've tried to talk to you, over and over, and you just don't want to hear it. You don't care. I'm… dead to you. You still blame me for Mary.

powers failing? wha? ok. when sam and dean talked, they were taking some of the responsibility for not dealing with soulless!jack better, not just only blaming cas? this is a very dramatic breakup situation that i was not expecting

CASTIEL Well, I don't think there's anything left to say. DEAN Where you going? CASTIEL Jack's dead. Chuck's gone. You and Sam have each other. I think it's time for me to move on.

death of a child messes everything up, i get that. but this conflict between dean and cas about mary feels artificially amplified. forever my beef with how they did the friendship between cas and dean

on the wiki:

Part of the music known as "Americana" or the Winchester Family Theme by Jay Gruska, plays as Castiel tells Dean he is leaving.

LOL oh my god the mushy music (see my extensive tag entries 🥴) has a name! i mean, duh, of course it has a name. but i never have bothered to look into the original score soundtracks. and the original score basically never got talked about on the wiki in the episode pages until maybe the last season or so would mention the composer. i just think it's hilarious. i kind of, true to my desire to consume this show semi-in a bubble, have avoided looking into the music too much because i'm just absorbing and observing as i go (and bitching, so much bitching)

first time i noticed it was 8x16, when dean was praying to cas to look out for sam because he was clearly getting hurt in the trials

[hxkerwxlf]

(Please imagine that I'm sending this from Kafka's [araneitela] blog) "Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me—"

Okay but it's time to love on you, because you're literally inviting it in, so I put on my Marty McFly futuristic sneakers and ran over here. EKR, you're Silver Wolf. There, that's it, that's the praise. 🤭 I kid, I mean I don't kid, but I kid about that being the only praise that you're getting. Also, please know that I'm going to follow up this post by sliding into your DMs and we're going to pretend I've been on Kafka and we've been talking about this dynamic non-stop for the last 7 months (except we're gonna... actually start that now, shh), okay? Okay.

In all seriousness though, I've never seen a blog as inherently and intricately in character as yours is, and it fits so perfectly within how they portray her in HSR itself, breaking the 4th wall continuously, over and over and over. You literally do the same here, and I live for it. It's such a thrilling experience that I insist on taking with me to every dash I have. Your Silver Wolf is golden, and whenever I think of Kafka (as I have been, actively, since yesterday) again, you're one of the very first people I want to go to, because being able to write this dynamic with you has been at the very top of my bucket list since I first made her blog for so many reasons. You just— you simply ooze everything about her, she's absolute brilliance, honestly; the very specific level of sarcasm, the classic game references, the balance that you've found and struck with her is utterly sublime. I simply associate her with you, there's no other option, she's just, you've claimed her so much in my head that I cannot dissociate her from you. That's how amazing of a job you've done with her ever since you picked her up all that time ago. You're the definition of chef's kiss, and the total bee's knees. And if you ever go anywhere, you're getting chased down by me after I turn into a goose, but not just any goose, but specifically that one from the Untitled Goose Game? Yeah, that one. Mark my words!

tell me your honest opinion of my portrayal

God, all of this is going to make me blush haha.

Honkity honk honk.

I think what really helps a lot with it, is that her character ties into what I'm already doing. I'm involved with gaming, I'm watching a lot of anime, and manga, so a lot of the refs, and memes, and such, can directly translated to Silver Wolf perfectly. It's something I felt was pretty simple to add in with her.

Even recently, even if I've been adding it a bit more with the 'fr, fr.' but it got me thinking of how she speaks in a general sense.

Like as if she was in gamer chats, and was simple like 'K thx.' and 'u, kno'. Thank some of the meme videos for that haha.

So thank you so much for all of this! < 3

[bioticgoddess]

Alrighty. Minor update since I was finally able to get my hands on the character endings. Will also be below a cut because again - spoiler warning.

Most of the endings were okay. I'll get to the ones I disliked or have mixed feelings about.

We all knew Shao and Shang Tsung were gonna break out of prison. That was kind of a given I just thought it'd be a plot point in the next game or some DLC instead of a hand-wave behind the scenes thing. A jail break would have been fantastic for an opening cinematic. It could still happen, we all know whichever endings NRS makes well and truly cannon will end up being referenced in the next game's campaign.

I also suspect that our "problem" in the next game will likely be Havik (or at least a version of him) and whatever lackeys he puts together for this. Whether it's New Era Havik or AU Havik will be a different story and we'll see some of the shit Shang and Shao are up to in the main New Era Timeline. NRS does enjoy their greatest hits (looking at you Onaga...).

So...the endings I have mixed feelings about:

Team Imperial Family- We needed more. MORE. Great, I love that Mileena is Empress and has her family and has been elevated beyond her "Evil Kintana Duplicate" past. I have wanted Kitana/Mileena with a relatively stable/healthy family relationship for a while now. But...we needed more of their story. What makes Kitana the right choice for General besides her role as a fighter and a Princess? What else is Mileena doing to help the Tarkatans? Do they get the same drug mix she's been getting? Or something else? Could we get more Tanya/Mileena. That moment with Kitanna was great and you know she (Mileena) absolutely changed the rules to allow for "entanglements".

Team Lin Kuei/Shiray Ryu - (this is the long one) Honestly, can't say I'm surprised about what was done to/with Bi-Han. I don't like it and those mechs better be just that. (They won't, it's NRS.) I had hope for like 5 seconds that during the heel-turn moment Bi-Han would pull something to show us he was playing along so they could get intel or escape. But then I remembered what game we're talking about. So I'm not happy with his ending but am unsurprised.

Smoke's ending was...meh? Also knew he'd go with Kuai Liang. That's his BFF. They've always been brothers in some capacity and I'm glad he got to do more than get converted into a cyborg (but not as much as in MK9, which I can live with). Hopefully he'll have a better time of it going forward. If not...we riot. (He's one of my faves, I adore Smoke.) While I appreciate him finding Hanzo Hasashi 2.0, I have mixed feelings about this apprentice being Hanzo. Just create a new character NRS. Not like they haven't done it before. Hell, have it be Kenshi's son Takeda who ran away or something.

Harumi Shirai - I can live with it. I don't like it. But I can live with it. Here's my caveat: She gets to be an actual character. Make her a proper Kunoichii with a personality who can stand on her own. If she dies, don't fridge her like she has been in the past. Make it some grand last stand. For example: if Villain Group X attacks and tries to wipe out the Shirai Ryo she holds her own and her death doesn't turn Kuai Liang or Hanzo 2.0 into OG Scorpion. I'd rather she live though. I'd rather she gets to be a character. Give her a rank befitting a founder of the Shirai Ryu not just "Scorpion's Wife".

Kuai Liang - I am still okay with him being scorpion and it being because of pyromancy not a combination of sorcery and a need for vengeance. Would have liked to know how the Lin Kuei Family knew the Shirais becaus "old family friend" means shit to me. Give me back story dammit. But also I am not okay with him being married to is previous-timeline-bff's late wife. I will be happier if they both continue to live and neither of them dies but ...again...we're dealing with NRS that hope isn't particularly substantive. But allegedly they're trying something new so they might surprise us. Maybe...

Hanzo - Exfuckingscuse you?!?!?! Let the man rest in peace. Either he's in the story of he's not. Period. WTF is this child business other than a moment to go "see! We brought him back too!" Nope. No. Nyet. Ignoring this shit infavor of my pre-game HC which looks like this...

Liu Kang stood before Hanzo Hasashi, little more than a ghost now that the Timeline had been reset. Before he allowed things to move forward, however, he felt that his former adversary and friend deserved a chance to chose his destiny. To have some say in so much that had been taken from him. "Well? You have heard what I intend, what do you think?" "What? Why ask what I think when you are a Titan now Liu Kang?" "Because I cannot tell the future of what will happen and I do not wish to see you live a life where events unfold as they did in every other iteration of Kronika's reign over us." "I see." Hanzo looked at his hands. He had been the spectre of vengeance across countless timelines because of the previous Titan's obsession with balance. He could see his Harumi in his mind's eye and hear little Satoshi's laugh. They were gone, at peace somewhere across realms and space-time. He wanted dearly to be with them again. Was it that simple? Brow knit together he asked, tentatively, "Send me to my family. Wherever they are now but Liu Kang. Do not bring me into your New Era. Let me Rest." The titan nodded, as if he'd suspected the older man would choose as much, "And who shall we have in your place Hanzo?" "Kuai Liang. He is the only one I would trust with my fire," quickly he clarified, "But do not let events play out to do to him what has been done to me countless times. I would wish this on no one, not even my greatest enemy." He had, after all, beheaded Quan Chi for his crimes and until then believed his enemy to be Bi-Han (who he had also killed). "This," he swallowed, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, "Is no way to live." Liu Kang bowed his head. "Very well, may you find peace, Hanzo Hasashi."

Not gonna say they've really and truly done anyone dirty because I don't think they have. Not yet.

This game was still very much Liu Kang-centric both as Protagonist and Hero where we got very basic introductions to our major players that sets up allegiances and possible future stories. Ones I'm very interested in seeing are... Order of Light (Ashra/Sareena), the Outworld Politics (esp. Syzoth's and Baraka's stories), and Nitara's story.

Until MK2, however, there's gonna be a lot of fanfic and fixit fics coming in the fandom to flush out what we got and sptiball what we want to see happen.

Harumi Shirai, for your viewing pleasure and I hope she is the biggest badass of them all.

Lin Kuei vs. Shirai Ryu

Those are both from Kuai Liang's ending. So...got thoughts and some tinfoil hat speculation that I"ll save for another post after we learn who character 24 is and whether or not there's campaign related DLC.

I'm gonna tag this as spoilers but am going to try desperately to keep it vague enough so as not to spoil things.

Under the cut...

I watched the campaign of Mortal Kombat 1 since it's launch day and all the folks who record full cinematics are uploading.

It's decent. Yes there are timeline shenanigans but not like what the reddit leaks said would happen. Does it change a lot of original lore and even lore we expected from the last film? Yes. This is a universal reset.

But it's not bad. I think as far as Mortal Kombat stories go it's good.

1. The Timeline shenanigans weren't overwhelming. They were references up til the end when *yes* timelines became important to know about but they role they play is relatively minor.

2. The dynamics changes between characters are great and one of the things people were hoping would happen with a kameo character did. :D .I am disappointed in one character in general and they felt very one note but maybe MK2 will see them given a greater storyline.

3. That reveal. We should have all seen it coming but nooo...not a single one of us did. (If you have seen/played the campaign you know exactly what I'm talking about.) It was great and this gives me some tempered hope for the future of the franchise.

4. I need more Lin Kuei stuff but that's a given and I expect it will be a focus of the next game because of the Bi-Han/Kuai Lian fall out.

And Smoke, because reasons. Eheheh

[cherrycheridarling]

tic-tac-toe | mcu

marvel cast x actress!reader

warnings: one swear, fluff, no plot

summary: you play aphrodite in the MCU and it's time for the press conference for infinity war. based off of this press conference

wc: 2.7k

"Tom Hiddleston!" Jeff Goldblum introduced the man who was sitting on your right.

Everyone applauded before Jeff moved onto you, "Y/N Y/L/N!" more applause rang through the room.

"Sebastian Stan!" you looked to your left where Sebastian waved to the crowd as you clapped with everyone else.

"Anthony Mackie!"

After Jeff finished with the introductions, he explained how the panel would work. He would pull a ping pong ball out of a container and it would either have a name or category. The audience would be able to ask a question to that person or a person in that category after Jeff called on them.

As he pulled RDJ's name out of the container, Tom leaned over towards you.

"Does your water taste funny, too?" he whispered making you stifle a laugh.

You nodded, "Kind of like lemon, right?"

He shook his head, "Mine tastes like mint. Can I taste yours?" he held his hand out as you passed him your water bottle. He took a sip and spent a moment analyzing the taste, "Yours does taste like lemon! Why does mine taste different? Here." he passed you his water.

You took a sip and were hit with a strong mint flavour, "Woah. I think they're trying to drug you." you joked making him laugh.

"As I am answering this question, Tom Hiddleston and Y/N Y/L/N are discussing the flavours of the water behind me." Robert exposed you and Tom to the audience making the room burst out into laughter.

"They have fancy water. Mint and lemon." Tom spoke into a mic drawing more laughs. "Sorry. Carry on!"

As Jeff pulled the next name, you adjusted your dress. A white, long sleeve, blazer dress with gold buttons down the middle, the dress ended mid-thigh. The v-neck cut showcased your subtle gold necklace. Black stiletto heels covered your feet.

You unconsciously began bouncing your leg up and down in a fast motion. Sebastian placed a hand on your thigh, stopping your movements, "You're gonna drill a hole through the floor, Y/L/N." he chuckled.

"Sorry." you laughed quietly.

Sebastian pulled out a notepad and pen, "You need a distraction. Tic-tac-toe?" he offered.

You smiled with a nod before making your move.

"You absolutely suck at this." you chuckled as you won the third game in a row.

Sebastian scoffed, "You can't suck at tic-tac-toe."

"And yet, you do." you smirked.

He rolled his eyes playfully before you continued playing.

After two more rounds, your attention was back on Jeff as he pulled a new ping pong ball. "Ooh! You can ask a God or Goddess." Jeff announced, "So, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth or Y/N Y/L/N." he reminded the crowd, "Okay, yes, you!" he picked a woman in the front row.

"Hi, I'm Alexis with Forbes. My question is for Y/N." the room applauded as Jeff tossed the ping pong ball at you and you caught it with one hand.

"See, Robert! It's not that hard!" Jeff exclaimed making everyone laugh.

"Screw off, Goldblum! You chucked that shit at my head." Robert joked back. "Sorry, Alexis, go ahead."

"Um, I wanted to ask about Aphrodite's powers. We all know that she is the Goddess of Love and can seduce anyone with her beauty. We see in the trailer a small clip of her seducing men. How many people did you seduce in the film and were there any funny moments filming those scenes that you can share?"

Her question drew a mix of reactions from the cast. Some laughed, some furrowed their eyebrows and others were just confused. You took in the question before opening your mouth to reply, until you remembered that you weren't wearing a body mic. The cast laughed again before Sebastian passed you a mic.

"Sorry. Um, how many people did I seduce in the film? None." you stated drawing more laughs, "How many people did Aphrodite seduce? All of them." you chuckled, "I'm kidding. Although, I'm not sure what I can share because I don't know what's in the trailer." you confessed, "Kevin, Joe, Anthony, what's in the trailer?" you asked them making everyone laugh again.

Kevin picked up a mic, "I believe it's you seducing Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax and Iron Man."

You nodded, "I do have a funny moment that I'm sure Mister Holland will kill me for sharing, but it's too good to not tell." you smiled thinking of the memory.

Tom immediately grabbed a mic, "You wouldn't!" he exclaimed making the audience and cast laugh.

"I would," you retorted, "We were shooting that scene and, as you know, they have to act like they are falling in love with me. Like I'm putting them in a trance. Well, Tom took that a bit too seriously." you paused at the laughter that your sentence caused, "They're all on their knees in front of me, looking at me as if I'm their queen, because I am." you joked, "And then Anthony calls 'cut' and Dave, Chris and RDJ all get up and start chatting, but as I'm turning away, Tom doesn't move. Still on his knees, looking at me as if I hold the world in my hands." the room filled with amused laughs and chuckles as Tom covered his face with his hands.

"No, it was so bad because I just looked like a creep that couldn't stop staring at her!" Tom laughed at himself.

Robert grabbed a mic, "Very true. I was watching and it honestly had me convinced that Y/N had real powers."

"I have to say, I understand the kid's reaction. Y/N's costume for Aphrodite and the way they transform her only enhances how gorgeous she already is." Anthony Mackie spoke up causing the crowd to gush and clap, "I'm pretty sure we all had the same reaction when we first saw her while filming Civil War." he looked around as the cast nodded.

Scarlett picked up a mic, "Yeah. I remember her walking on set in this stunning white dress which made me extremely jealous," she confessed, "Because, one, it's so gorgeous and she looks absolutely amazing in it," the crowd and cast applauded again, "And two, it's made of the softest silk while my suit is leather and spandex!" everyone laughed at her comment.

Benedict picked up his mic, "Although, it wasn't Tom's first time seeing Y/N as Aphrodite. He was in Civil War and still could not contain himself." he teased making the audience and cast laugh again.

Robert spoke again, "Yeah, he did that during the filming of Civil War, too." the room hollered with laughs.

Tom's face was bright red, "I'm just a very committed actor. I really give all of myself to my work." his comment drew more laughs.

"That's why Sebastian despises Tom. It all started when Tom couldn't take his eyes off of Y/N." Chris Hemsworth added making everyone double over in laughter.

"I feel so loved," you held a hand to your heart as the room chuckled, "These are genuinely the best people in the world and I guess you could say I seduced one person during filming." you joked as the crowd continued to laugh, "Sorry, Tom. I'll buy you some juice, don't be mad." Anthony and Benedict laughed loudly. "Thank you for your question!" you thanked the lady as the cast clapped before Jeff picked out the next ping pong ball.

Next was Scarlett. You sat back and silently judged the man who asked about fashion. Scoffing with Sebastian at his question and laughing at Scarlett's sarcastic and witty responses.

Sebastian leaned over again, "I have to piss."

You stifled a laugh at his abrupt confession, "Go to the washroom, then." you nodded your head towards the exit.

"We're not allowed to leave." he frowned.

You chuckled and reached over, patting his thigh with your hand, "Don't piss yourself."

He rolled his eyes playfully before Jeff called out the next name.

"Anthony Mackie!"

"Hi, I'm Tiffany with Times Magazine. With such a star studded cast, do you find it difficult or any obstacles in developing your character with all theses amazing stories being told and struggling for screen time? Like, are there any obstacles or special difficulties or is it all just amazing?"

Before Anthony could answer, Joe Russo picked up his mic, "Are you asking Anthony Mackie if he has a hard time getting attention?" his comment caused the whole room to erupt in laughs.

Anthony nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Touché, touché. Uh, well, Tiffany, a wise man once said that some men need an hour to make their presence felt and some need thirty seconds." there was an uproar of laughter and hollering at his comment as he dramatically dropped the mic on the table.

"Who are we asking next?" Jeff squinted at the ping pong ball, "Ooh! Back to the Goddess of Love herself, Y/N Y/L/N!" the room applauded for you as Jeff threw the ball to you.

Sebastian intercepted the toss and caught the ball himself with a smug smirk. You rolled your eyes, but smiled as Jeff picked a lady out of the dozens who had raised their hand.

"Hi, I'm Amy with Esquire and I wanted to ask about the relationship between Bucky and Aphrodite. We see in the previous films their awkward tension from their past history. They have a very special romance and their love story is a fan favourite in the Marvel fandom. What was it like building that bond and relationship on screen? And what do you think of the choice to match the two characters together, how did you react when you found out? Did the pairing of the two help build your bond off screen?"

Jeff spoke again, "I said 'one question', that was at least twenty." he teased the lady drawing laughs from the room.

You chuckled and nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Excellent questions. Umm, I honestly really like the pairing of the two. I think it gives a great dynamic to both characters and reveals sides of them that we never would've seen without their relationship. It's a very 'good girl falling for the bad guy' trope. And if I'm being honest, I've always wanted that." you confessed causing the room to chuckle, "Their relationship is, without a doubt, one of the most complicated ones in the MCU, but I think that's what makes it so loved by the fans since there's not a dull moment between the two. It's nice to see Bucky have a sentimental side, in his own awkward way of course. And you get to see Aphrodite fall for someone who's not a God or a Titan." you turned to Sebastian, "What do you think?"

You offered him the mic, but he didn't take it, letting you hold it up for him, "Yeah, I agree. I never thought Bucky would have a love interest, if I'm being honest. But I'm glad he does because Aphrodite brings out the soft side in him and he brings out the fighter in her. They really balance each other out and Y/N portrays the character in such a unique way, it really brings a whole new fresh persona to Aphrodite and it's amazing having her as a partner on screen." the audience applauded at his words, "When I first found out about Bucky having her as his love interest—"

"—He called me screaming about how hyped he was." Anthony Mackie cut him off making the room laugh. "Anthony! Anthony! Bucky is gonna be with Aphrodite! That's gonna be sick!" Anthony mocked his voice as you were hunched over with laughter.

Sebastian nodded with a smile, "I did. Won't lie, I did. It's a really refreshing relationship and I'm glad that the fans love it as much as I love playing it. Back to you, you haven't talked about the development and our bond." he gave you a lopsided grin.

You chuckled, "I feel like I'm rambling, but yeah. Their development is definitely," you paused, trying to find the right words, "A development?" you settled on drawing more laughter. "Well, as I said, it's very complicated, but awkwardly adorable at times. Since Seb complimented me, I feel obligated to say something nice about him," you joked making them laugh again, "Kidding. He really does play Bucky with such passion and commitment, it's truly inspiring. And working with someone who loves what they do as much as Seb, it definitely motivates you tremendously and yeah. Um, I won't lie, I honestly was dreading working with Seb," you confessed drawing laughs and a gasp from Sebastian.

"Why?!" he exclaimed making you laugh.

You sighed, "Not because I think you're a bad person or anything, but you come off as very intimidating to people who don't know you very well. And I knew nothing about you before filming other than the films you'd already done, so you scared me." your confession caused everyone to laugh loudly.

Sebastian smirked jokingly, "I am extremely frightening. I understand." he shrugged.

You scoffed with a laugh, "I caught you sleeping with a stuffed turtle and whale noises playing." the room roared with laughter again, "That's when I knew you were a big softy."

Sebastian rolled his eyes playfully, "She's joking. I am the toughest man alive." he deepened his voice.

You shook your head with a chuckle, "Sure. Thank you for your questions." the room clapped for you as you set the mic down and relaxed back into your seat.

"Nailed it." Sebastian held a hand out for a high five and you chuckled before hitting your hand against his.

For the rest of the press conference, you sat back and listened to your friends answer questions. Laughed at jokes made and clapped when appropriate. Small tic-tac-toe games went on between you and Sebastian. Your attention was fully on your nails when Tom Hiddleston got called on.

"Hi, I'm Samantha with Daily Mail and I was wondering, since Loki is a very closed off and mysterious character, we never explore the aspect of him having a love interest. So, if you could choose anyone from the MCU for Loki to end up with, who would it be and why?"

You turned to look at Tom as he pondered on the question, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin, "Very good question. Umm, who would I choose for Loki? Let's see," he paused again and looked around the room until his eyes landed on you, "Ah, I'd steal Aphrodite from Bucky." he answered making the room laugh and Sebastian chuckled with a nod.

"Why Aphrodite?" Jeff asked.

Tom chuckled again, "Well, it's Aphrodite." he simply answered drawing more laughs, "They are so different yet similar in so many ways. Loki is never fully evil nor fully good, but I think Aphrodite has the best chance of turning him good. And who wouldn't want to end up with the Goddess of Love?"

The cast nodded understandingly before Chris Pratt grabbed a mic, "If you were to ask any person on this stage that same question, I guarantee the answer would be Aphrodite." the whole cast nodded.

"They're all trying to steal Sebastian's woman." Jeff teased.

Sebastian scoffed jokingly, "They're all jealous." he wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

You chuckled with a shake of your head before Robert spoke up, "Adding onto the conversation. Miss Y/L/N, who would you want Aphrodite to end up with?" his question drew excited reactions from the crowd.

You let out a bark of laughter before looking from Tom to Sebastian, "Hmm, excellent question, Mister Downey." you rubbed your chin, "Stop doing that, Holland." you chuckled as you saw Tom point at himself in the corner of your eye.

He raised his hands in surrender before Anthony Mackie spoke up, "Spidey is five years old, kid." everyone laughed at that.

"I'd have to stick with Bucky. He is her true love." you shrugged as the crowd cheered.

Sebastian smirked from beside you as the men of the cast faked disappointment.

As the panel came to a close, you looked around at the family you were surrounded by. Friends you love more than anything. Hundreds of memories with the most amazing people you'd ever met. Your home.

[ufonaut]

Will you please share your black adam thoughts?? I was also very nervous about it and how it would handle the JSA but i actually really liked it! I actually work at a movie theater so i saw it twice already 😂

i'm putting these together because they're all related to my thoughts on black adam 2022 and i thought it'd be more convenient for everybody (even if they're wildly antithetic povs)! i absolutely loved black adam and i think i'm gonna see it again quite literally as soon as i can. given that i only got back approx ten minutes ago, here's some jumbled thoughts right off the bat:

i think what makes or breaks a superhero movie is whether the people involved think comic books are beneath them or not (as the folks over at the mcu often seem to do) and black adam certainly loves comic books with its entire heart and soul and you can tell. from various black reign panel recreations to carter's picture perfect thanagarian ship from hawkman 2002, this is a very sincere and earnest movie with none of the parodic tone i so often despise in superhero media.

VISUALLY GORGEOUS. SIMPLY GORGEOUS. the fact that 99.9% of the film takes place in daylight immediately resolves the lighting issue of all modern cinema but lawrence sher (of joker 2019 fame) as cinematographer simply changes the game with this one. in fact, i can say the same thing about the magnificent use of cgi -- cyclone's powers, in particular, are one of the most beautiful things i've ever had the pleasure of seeing in action.

while there are certainly a few things i disagree with, such as carter's estate and kent seemingly having a chauffeur/butler, i think most of the major changes were unavoidable either in a lost in translation sort of way or simply in order to make this movie palpable to average audiences used to marvel. over all, i felt the jsa's dynamic was captured perfectly and what drew me to the team in the first place is very much still there in a way that's definitely absent from stargirl, for example. they're still a horrible little family made up almost exclusively of weird uncles.

SPEAKING OF. AL PRATT? I SCREAMED.

i thought it was made clear that this isn't the entire team but rather just the members carter chose for this particular mission, which i also enjoyed. and while we're here, to touch on some of the points from the anon, i don't think any marvel-style humour was actually present? or at least, it didn't come across that way to me. i mean, it's a very funny film, i was laughing nearly the whole time (or tearing up! or simply absolutely on the edge of my seat!) but it all felt perfectly natural to me, especially in al's case where it's a clear consequence of powers he's obviously still unused to. the relationship between him & carter is actually exactly the element that made me feel a first spark of recognition like.... man i'm seeing my favourite lil comic book guys up there on the big screen.

ALSO THE LEGEND OF CARTER - KENT GAY HOMOSEXUALITY LIVES ON. OLD FRIEND? CARTER CRYING? YES OKAY OKAY I'M ON BOARD. IT'S NOT CARTER IF HE DOESN'T HAVE A BIZARRE WARRIOR BOND WITH SOMEBODY.

considering i was all set on hating this portrayal of kent, i also can't believe how much i ended up completely utterly loving him. the movie definitely has a knack for making you fall in love with its characters nearly instantly (maxine!!!!!!!!! oh maxine!!!!!!!) because it's so well written but kent's random outfit changes for no reason whatsoever, the bit where he's parading around in a dressing gown on carter's ship, "i'm not that kind of doctor", the entire scene in adrianna's apartment... yeah babey. actually i was losing my entire mind at "i remember the day i saw my first aeroplane...", the way pierce plays him might not have been intended to be hilarious but by god, giffen himself couldn't have done a better job. you can tell he's not all there (and i did also enjoy maxine calling him possessed by fate) and it's precisely how kent should be even in the absence of unnatural youth.

the narrative actually allowing carter to be his usual arrogant asshole self-appointed leader with a heart of gold self was also a welcome bonus, i loved seeing him the way he's always been written at his best and i loved that his sharp edges haven't been dulled any by a script that could've easily gone the sanitized route. his black and white thinking is also something that's always been a part of him and i don't think it's necessarily odd to have him say superheroes don't kill -- superheroes certainly don't kill as easily and indiscriminately as black adam does, not even the jsa.

on that point, the jsa's actions are clearly framed to be in the wrong? i loved black adam's arc, i thought mr the rock was acting his little heart out and succeeding like never before but we're also definitely pushed to be on his side to begin with. adrianna and amon are the moral centre of the movie and they certainly stand with black adam! the movie doesn't simply co-opt anti imperialist languages for the hell of it, the jsa is plainly told they're coming here with a us-centric pov and helping nothing & nobody in the name of some nebulous form of justice. i thought it was definitely abundantly clear that the conversation opened around a colonized kahndaq does not condemn adam's actions against intergang etc.

FINALLY, MY THOUGHTS ON THE FATE HELMET AT THE END? HERE'S HOW JARED STEVENS CAN STILL WIN.

this got long enough but god, i really did love it. i loved black adam. i loved the jsa. a respectful, loving, beautiful cinematic adaptation like i never thought we'd ever get.

[vneuns]

— “SHOPPING CART” + Dream

author’s note(s): i absolutely loved this video lmao they are too much 💀

cw: very little cursing

“Y/n?”

“Heyyyy.” You joined the game after being invited by quackity. “Yeah, yeah let's go we’re poppin off, we’re poppin off.” He yelled through the mic in his weird accent.

George laughed and Dream just snorted. “Okay so you’ve got your Tesco , your walmart, but now you’ve got your shopping cart.” He stated in a posh accent crouching up and down going side to side.

“Is that a I-”

“Wait.. What! What is that?” Dream questioned as he looked at the shopping cart model in Quackitys hand.

“I don’t even understand tha-.”

“It’s a shopping cart baby.” Quack interrupted. “Check this out check this out.” He placed the model down as you all looked at it in disbelief. “What-.” You all walked around the small cart in front of you eyeing it skeptically.

“Me and George are gonna be the kids and Y/n and Dream’ll be the parents.” You laughed as the two boys sat in the different part of the carts. You made your character crouch as you walked over to Dream with your head down him doing the same.

“We should abandon them and run-away together.” You whispered. “HEY HEY HEY LISTEN YOU TWO-” Dream nodded following after you as you made a run for it leaving Quackity and George behind in the shopping cart.

“You two are horrible parents.” George stated flatly a voice changer on making his voice sound like he was younger. “Thank you, thank you I shall hold that title with pride.” You followed after Dream as you began to run back.

“You push the cart.” Dream laughed before mounting to the push part of the cart and began to push causing the two in the cart to shout in disbelief that it was actually working. You moved over to one of the trees in the field you were in and began to hit at the wood before it was just a floating bush.

“How do I put you guys down? I don’t want you anymore.”

“You can't, we're your children now.”

-

“So how this is going to work Dream and Y/n you have to take me and George shopping for natural resources.”

“Oh look there’s an enderman.” George pointed out the enderman facing the tree. “Dont’t- don’t hit it.”

“And don’t look at it either.” You added in at the last minute but it was already too late George had begun to shout about how he looked at it as the tall minecraft creature made its way towards the cart your two “kids” sat in.

“Sh*t George! Okay you guys go and I’ll fight it off.” You watched as Dream struggled to push the cart as you followed after the enderman hitting it multiple times without it getting a hit at you.

You collected the ender pearl that had spawned and you were about to begin to boost about it before George began to yell about the Mob in front of them.

“Goodness gracious if I wasn’t here you all would’ve died by now.” You mumbled as you quickly began to get the items you needed, taking your time as all the boys in the call began to yell about their distress.

After a few moments of non-stop yelling Quack began to “cry”. “What the hell is happening?” You questioned once you had a weapon crafted as well as a crafting table. You teleported to the three only to find them on a grass patch in a swamp.

“You’d three die without me.” You chuckled as you all went up a hill to find food. “How’d you get a pick-axe so fast.” George questioned as he watched you hit at a near-by tree with the pick-axe you crafted.

“Because I use my brains.”

-

“Okay George. I’m Dababy.”

“You’re Dababy?” Dream asked jokingly.

“Yes I’m Dababy, we need to set family relations here okay?” You crouched next to Dream as you walked forward and backwards out of boredom. “Okay I’m Dadaddy.” A laugh left your throat at the term he used to describe himself.

“n/n’s Damommy. you’re Dababy.” He walked to the side of the cart to get a better look at George. “And George is I don’t know.. The ipad kid.”

You snorted at the term used to describe the british boy in the shopping cart. “No no Quacks the ipad kid. George is… the other one.” You finished with a laugh watching as Quackity threw his wooden pick-axe to George before Dream stole it and began mining the cobblestone on the ground yelling haste.

“I have a wooden pickaxe and you don’t george that’s embarrassing.” The boy in the darker blue shirt stated as he also began to mind the cobblestone next to him. “Give me stuf give me stuff.” George begged.

“No I’m the preferred child.”

You faked a gasp going over to George and throwing him one of your extra pickaxes. “Yah yah, got a pickaxe yah yah.”

-

“I made a smoker. I’m cooking it” Dream placed the smoker down near the crafting table.

“What you’re Smoking?”

“He’s teaching us to smoke!”

“Dream! You’re setting a bad example for the children.” You stood in front of the placed smoker blocking it from their view in the cart. “No- I’m not. I’m not. I’m no no no.”

“We’re children!” George shouted. “I meant a food cooker, a food cooker.”

taglist : @spacenova @heyskeppy

[mymarifae]

sorry if you’ve already done this but thoughts on ralsei?? people seem quite divided on him

omg ralsei. love that lil thing

the divide on his character makes me a little sad because omg. guys. he's not a mastermind with evil ulterior motives. look at him. he's a cotton ball. YEAH he's hiding something, absolutely definitely 100%, but skfjfjfkfjgjs he's another weird slightly off-putting 16 year old with too much responsibility/knowledge thrust upon him. he just wants friends

if he comes out at the end of ch7 or something like "MWAHAHA i was the bad guy all along !!!!!!!" i think susie would just be like "? no you're not. get back here." and he'd be like "yeah okay. sorry." and that would be the end of that!!!!

i think his kindness is very very genuine... he's beyond ecstatic to meet susie and kris and finally talk to someone his own age - he's been alone!! for his whole life. and for this reason, he doesn't. get It. he doesn't understand the nuances and complexities of friendship and he doesn't get that kindness can take a lot of forms, and that servitude =/= kindness. he's learning though, and he's learning pretty fast. i think we're going to see ralsei go through a lot of changes. i've talked about this before though

now, like. he's hiding Something. i kinda refuse to believe it's out of maliciousness. i think it's more likely he's not aware that he's hiding something, orrrrr there's just some pieces of information that we, the player, cannot know about just yet, or maybe not ever should we prove ourselves unworthy of the knowledge. if he's purposefully concealing something from us, i think it's probably stuff he discusses openly with kris whenever we go off to watch susie.

he. knows a lot. a lot more than a kid his age should know. he knows about us and he knows the controls of the game. and then there's his damn prophecies - angel's heaven and the roaring... two very different events. the fact that he never elaborated on what the angel's heaven Is stresses me out a tiny bit, and i can't help but assume it's what happens when there's not enough darkness to balance out the light, and you know like. im concerned. and, hey, ralsei, who opened castle town's fountain? why can it sustain darkners from every dark world? why don't YOU turn to stone outside of castle town? why do you know the layout of the school.

there are a lot of questions that i guess no one in game is asking, so idk if he would honestly answer if someone did ask, and he's not giving any exposition for our benefit....... maybe he thinks he doesn't have to; considering the power we've demonstrated to him, why wouldn't we already know these things? idk. i assume he's had a considerable amount of contact with gaster. or at least someone else close to gaster.

i've seen the theory that gaster reached out to jevil and spamton with the intent to give them the knowledge to be third-wall-breaking guides for kris (and us), but neither could handle it and thus were failures, and ralsei was a Success. im not sure how to feel about it. i just can't like... gauge the probability? i don't think we've seen enough of the game.

but i do think it provides a very interesting foundation for both jevil and spamton's characters... gaster looked at both of them and thought they had the potential to be what ralsei is. makes you wonder what they used to be like, if you think about it in these terms, and why ralsei was able to handle all this life-shattering information while they couldn't. i don't think ralsei is okay with ANYTHING he knows by any means, but he's certainly got a better hold on it. at least for now 😐

anyway i love ralsei. i dont think we're going to get a master plan reveal from him at any point but i do think there's a good chance we'll see him Snap . if anyone's gonna say fuck (uncensored, i guess) in this game it's going to be him. like he'll just get a little fed up. he wants his own life and he wants to eat cake with his friends and he wants to take a NAP and none of this is fair and just leave him alone already !!!!!!! for fuck's sake. and susie's like RALSEI?????

[cheelduh]

How to strike your way into someone’s heart (Highschool AU)

Part 2 to this. Can be read alone!

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Warnings: A lot of swearing I mean what do you expect they’re all teenagers. Lots of brick slapping. Childe clowns Scaramouche. OH YES this isn’t edited at all lmfao have fun.

Synopsis: It’s your big date with Childe after you lost the bet miserably. You decide to pay the occult club a visit in hopes of finding something that can...ease your concerns. Childe on the other hand has Signora give him a friendly piece of advice, believe it or not. 

Note: SRY THIS TOOK ME LIKE A MONTH

For as long as you can remember, you've never believed in ghosts, demons, or souls that lose their way in the endless void, forced to roam the earth in repentance.

Believing in the unknown takes creativity, adventure, maybe even a little sense of fear. Scratch that—a shitton of fear, because humans love to weave in their insecurities and inability to explain something into something of a phenomenon.

Bad luck lies in this category. Bad luck is simply a way to justify the catastrophe that one cannot admit they have fabricated themselves. Everyone wants a reason as to why shit hits the fan, and it can be anything but their own fault.

Bad luck is nothing but a load of bull to you. That's totally why you're standing outside the calculus classroom during lunch break, which happens to be the official meet spot for the occult club.

You raise a fist to knock, but then falter, thinking over your options once again. Is this what it has come to? Putting your faith into the weird kids that once tried to summon Schrödinger's cat for the physics final.

Fischl kicks the door wide open, a smirk playing at her lips once she spots you. "One cannot refrain from the song of your cogitation. The feline for which thou dwell on—"

A squeak leaves your throat and you flinch back, cutting her off. "You can read my mind?"

"Fischl," An icy eyed boy shows up from behind her and points a thumb back. "Mona needs your help."

Fischl squints at you for a brief moment, and then spins onto her heel to go back into the room.

The blue haired lower class man, Chongyun you guess, narrows his eyes at you. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Finally you manage to speak, palms all sweaty. "Yeah uh, I need your help. You know, with occulty things." You use your hands to articulate your thoughts, but ultimately give up.

You're not sure if it's pity towards your pathetic explanation or simply annoyance, but Chongyun widens the opening. He silently gestures for you to follow.

Stumbling on your feet and putting on your big girl pants, you hurry inside of the room, hoping you aren't seen by Beidou. She wouldn't let you hear the end of this.

The temperature instantly drops, and you have to adjust your sight to navigate. There's heavy incense in the air as well as a a few lighted candles from the dollar store, you guess.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of all the demonic markings is Mona, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Chongyun has made his way next to her, crossing his arms with a sigh, and Fischl is busy cooing at her bird.

"Well well well..." Mona's amused, eyes almost twinkling as she gets up from the poor desk that had to suffer the wrath of her ass. "If it isn't Y/N."

Mona is a glorified dick wiper in your books. One time, she partnered up with you in chemistry last year and refused to do any work because apparently her "star sign" said she was incompatible with science. You haven't forgiven her since.

"I need your help." You barely manage to choke out the words, reigning yourself in by clenching your fists instead. It'll be unethical to claw her face, especially since you're the one who's come to her.

"Oh?" She smiles wickedly, revelling in every moment of this no doubt. "Why would the high and mighty Y/N need help from the 'Whoroscope whore'?"

Fischl nearly slips out a laugh, trying with her upmost ability to refrain from rolling all over the floor.

You blink away your tears of almost-laughter, casually sliding in twenty mora across the table dividing you two. If she's a whoroscope whore like you say she is, she'll definitely put it in her bra.

Mona raises a brow, but her eyes linger on the bill for a second too much. "What makes you think I'll do it for money?"

"That's simple," You say, rolling your eyes. "When you see mora, you cling to it like a baby clings to a tit. Now just take it and solve my issues."

She fumes a litany of curses but snatches the money up anyways.

"What do you want?"

You breathe in, then out. "I need a talisman."

Mona raises a brow, hand on her hip. "I'm sorry. Did I get that right?"

How dare she. You will your eye into not twitching, the beginnings of fire thrumming through your veins, scalding hot. How dare she make me repeat myself.

"You know, the thing to fend off evil spirits," Your statement hangs heavy in the air as the cogs in their brains click into place. "I need one that can remove the most evilest thing times ten to the power of twenty five on this planet."

Everyone immediately thinks of Hu Tao.

Chongyun is the first to speak from an area of expertise, seemingly shocked at your words. "Are you sure you want a talisman that powerful? How bad is the evil spirit you've come across?"

You glance out the window, through the semi-open blinds. The apprehension curls in your stomach once you spot Childe chasing Aether with safety scissors, and you've never been more sure of than anything in your life.

Gulping, you turn back to the exorcist. "I'm 110% sure."

He doesn't ask any more questions and goes to fetch the talisman.

Mona clears her throat. "So I hear you have a date with Childe today. Quite the character you've taken to."

"Oh please," You hiss through your teeth, your blood pressure going up tenfold, "you're the one that told him our star signs were intertwined and that we're fated lovers."

She shrugs innocently, stance casual unlike your own that is ready to lunge an attack.

"Here you are," Chongyun hands you a talisman, a colourful mix of some charms, some kind of liquid in a bottle, and about a shitton of other things. "You'll need these if you're going to face the most demonic of all evils."

You think of Childe's stupidly handsome smirk, the playful life of his eyes, and how gentle and considerate he is with you. You think about how cruel he is to others, but how loving he can be to you.

"Oh, I will be."

—

Childe is getting his ass handed to him by Scaramouche on the switch. It's just that he can't seem to focus, not with the forthcoming date all over his mind.

He hasn't experienced these kind of jitters in a long time. Has to endure that foolish smile that's about to plaster all over his face.

Scaramouche may be a son of a bitch with an agenda, but he doesn't appreciate his acquaintances safeguarding their personal crap when it starts to leak onto him. Especially when it comes to video games.

"Okay," The short boy sighs, stretching over the staff room sofa to drop his controller on the cushions. "Let's hear it." He can't even properly enjoy his victories when Childe isn't giving it his all.

"Hear what?" Childe lays his head back, relaxing from all the strain of endless gaming during the lunch hour. He seems too relaxed for someone who's broken into the teacher's lounge.

"Why you're so distracted." Scaramouche points out. "Not that I care—hey! I'm serious here!"

Childe's cracking up for absolutely no reason, rudely cutting him off. "I'm sorry—sorry it's just so hard to take you seriously when you're wearing that stupid fucking hat."

"Don't question the drip." The older moves his head to glare at him, but the thin stripe of silk on his hat swooshes with him, and it's enough to have Childe clutching his stomach in pain as he barks out in laughter.

"Grow the fuck up." Scaramouche says, no doubt exasperated from the constant shit he gets.

"Ok—ok I'm sorry."

There's a knock on the door before Scaramouche gets the chance to intimidate him again.

"Fuck shit fuck who is that? Wasn't there a staff meeting?" Childe whisper yells, panic clear in the ocean of his eyes.

Scaramouche shrugs and downs a can of soda with no care in the world.

Childe would be nonchalant too. If it were a normal day, he wouldn't give two shits about getting caught.

However, he's looking forward to that date he has with you today. Detention is going foil all his lecherous plans.

"It's me." The feminine sound of a threat calls out from the other side. "Open the door." The clicks and clacks of her toes tapping the floor indicating her impatience.

The two sigh in relief, Childe getting up to open the door. It's way too early in the afternoon to deal with this crap.

"Surprised to see me?" Signora greets sweetly, and if not for the murderous glint in her eyes, he would smile back.

"Yeah, I didn't say Bloody Mary three times." The ginger replies, keeping a steady eye on the upperclassman in case she pulls a fast one.

The blonde shoves him aside in offence, and prances in like she owns the goddamn place. Scaramouche greets her with the bird.

"There's this rumour going around—I'm sure you've heard..."

"Oh?" Childe pockets his keys, ready for an attack, not even remotely interested in the topic.

"Something about how Y/N gave Mona a visit today" Signora muses, elegantly taking a seat on the arm of the couch, "with your date and all, I just thought you should know."

"Hah!" Scaramouche bursts out in laughter, tears in the corner of his eyes. "I can't believe she went to get a horoscope reading on how shitty your date's gonna be."

"Get castrated." Childe growls, flipping him off on both hands.

"Now now boys," Signora's lips curl, and she clasps both manicured hands together, prepared to break the fight if it ever reaches its peak. "Settle down. You two are comrades."

"As if I'm comrades with this SIMP!" Scaramouche has to wheeze out the words.

The youngest clenches his fists, unclenches, and then lets a smirk grow. "Oh? I'm the simp? What about that time Mona pantsed you in-front of all the freshmen and you fell in love with her."

Scaramouche glares at him, a glare strong enough to have anyone shaking in their shoes. "I'm attracted at her sheer audacity of trying to fuck I, Scaramouche, the 8th harbinger, over. It takes balls."

"Mad respect." Signora leans forward to place her phone on the coffee table, then approaches Childe. "Moving on, the reason I've decided to bestow my precious intel on you is because I have a favour to ask of you."

"What?" He says blankly, confused that she has a request for him out of all people.

"I need you to let me get you ready for this date of yours." She gives him a gaze that is enough to wither away any arguments.

Childe shares a look with Scaramouche as if to say "am I fucking deaf because I sure as shit didn't just hear that."

"You sure as hell did, boys." Signora intercepts the connection of their two brainwaves with a dreaded sigh. "I hate Y/N. This is the only way I can get back at her."

"Hey!" Childe exclaims loudly, waving his hands in the air incessantly. "What makes you think I'll let you shit on my future girlfriend."

"I'll be doing nothing of the sorts." She points out, giving him a sly smile. "I just know she's terrified of what's coming. The better the date is, the more she's gonna hate herself. What more do I need but to sprinkle some inner conflict within her airtight resolve?"

As favorable as the proposal is, Childe  contemplates for a second. Signora...helping him? This could work to his advantage if he plays his cards right.

His inner turmoil takes him into the future, where you two are happily married with eight and a half kids. If you ever managed to find out Signora was the culprit that was finally able to set you two up, you'd never forgive him.

"Nah I'll take a hard pass." He doesn't want to think about divorce and custody battles this early on. He'd rather face the brunt of Signora's wrath.

Scaramouche chooses right then to make a tactical withdrawal out through the window since he doesn't want to be a witness to a murder he hasn't caused.

Surprisingly— "Fine then." Signora shrugs, unbothered when summoning out a minty juul from no where. She's disappointed nonetheless.

Childe tilts his head, perplexed, but decides against mulling over it for too long. Instead, he strides off to the door, wanting to get the last two periods over with so he can run home and freshen up for this date.

"Oh and Childe?" Signora calls out to him, but he barely acknowledges her, only pausing momentarily without looking back. "A piece of friendly advice. A diligent student like Y/N, there's no way she'd be into rash things like fighting. So try and control yourself, hmm?"

He flashes the senior a sheepish smile, the front row tickets to the illegal underground fight-club burning in the back pocket of his pants.

—

Childe conceals near the bushes by the gate, expertly hiding his shaking hands by pretending to look for something in his back. His goal isn't to seem desperate, even though he's raced out here at the speed of light after Havria's dismissal.

It's not like he's trying to eavesdrop or anything. He just wants a little insight on how you're feeling about this, in case the rumors of you visiting the occult club wasn't a farce.

From his peripheral, he spots you and a familiar figure that is Lisa, leisurely walking side by side as you approach the main side walk.

"Ready for your date, Y/N? You've been daydreaming all afternoon." Lisa winks, and dodges the shove you send her way with experience like no other.

"Yes, daydreaming about punching you in the face." Your left eye twitches in annoyance as you fix your hold on your skateboard.

"Well then, I'll be off—ah!"

The gorilla grip you have on her sleeve takes away all the time she has to get on the last bus she's about to miss.

Your utter strength is enough to make Childe's knees weak. How pathetic he thinks.

"Oh no you don't," You say in a sing-song voice, "you got me into this, so you're going to help."

"Help with what?" Lisa fakes a hard pout as she bats her lashes, trying to collect pity points.

"I—" You inhale, loosening your grip on her and averting your eyes nervously to see if anyone's watching. "Don't make me say it."

The older girl motions for you to continue, and you're sure you've suffered more for less at this point.

"I've never...been on a..." The sentence ends in a trailed murmur.

Childe doesn't think he's ever seen you so flustered. He's about to snap a picture for later, but decides against it. They'll be plenty of moments later on to see your cute expressions.

Lisa's grin is both seductive and terrifying, Childe notices. "You've never been on a date?"

"Shut up!" You hiss, dropping your board so you can cover her lips with your palm, eyes darting around your surroundings frantically. "Not so loud."

He has to bite at his fist to hide his amusement.

As if she has a sixth sense, Lisa's eyes somehow find Childe's through the abundance of leaves, and there's a glint in her eyes that nearly makes him shart his pants.

"Of course Y/N," She replies sweetly to you, who is currently unaware of the staring match going on. "I'll teach you everything you need to know...and more."

Childe doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing. Nor does he want to find out.

—

You ponder on what's taking him so long, more on edge than you usually are. Thankfully, Lisa basically pried your hair down from its usual up-do. Said something about how you can hide your lack of shits given as to not offend him.

Except you think you're giving more shits that you expected to. Why else would your heart be pounding so hard?

"What took you so long?" You sense him creeping up on you, ceasing his chance to pounce.

Childe groans playfully and slaps a hand over his face as he comes into view. "How'd you know?"

"You have a douche-styled gait." You reply as you remove your gaze off your phone to approach him.

He's prepared to shoot a witty reply, but it dies halfway through his throat when he procures a good look at you. Your hair frames your face elegantly, eyes shining despite the tiredness that's so clear, all complete with a cooling spring dress that hugs you just right.

Mouth going dry, he forgets how to speak the common tongue, unable to tear his gaze off your form.

You shift in place awkwardly. "Uh are you okay? Looking a little...blank."

"Sorry—sorry just thinking." Childe stumbles over his words like the complete idiot and a half he is, berating himself countlessly on the inside. He regains his confidence once he spots the light dust on your cheeks. "You ready for the best date ever?"

"The best date huh?" It's the first time you smile today, and he swears his heart leaps in his rib cage. You're the prettiest thing he's ever laid his eyes on. "I'm ready. I better not be disappointed."

"I wouldn't dare disappoint, girlie." He feigns mock offence as dramatically as possible. "I'll show you how to have some real fun. Cool keychain by the way, for good luck?"

It's one of the charms Chongyun urged you to carry with you at all times to keep all forms of evil away.

"Yeah...something like that."

The two of you ease into the walk in a relatively comfortable fashion, contributing with lively chatter and a few jabs here and there. It's not awkward at all, not like you thought it would be. Your nerves loosen up, mind diverting from the roots of the stress of high school.

"—And you won't believe what Kaeya did the other day. I'm telling you there's something wrong with him because that SoundCloud rapper wannabe Venti goaded him into birdboxing through the hallways at lunch."

"And the son of a bitch did it?"

"The son of a bitch did it." Childe confirmed, gasping through his laughs as the two of you converse in psychobabble. "And guess who he bumped into?"

You're choking in laughter, tears in your eyes as you hunch over and shake. "He didn't. Childe—no he didn't."

"Straightttt into Diluc. And he had the balls to feel him up because he thought he bumped into a hot bab—"

Childe crashes into a sturdy chest and stumbles backwards towards you, but manages to catch his balance midway. Both of you freeze when faced with a buff guy from another school, bandages on his fist and a crooked smirk on his face.

Fuck. You think. Classic high school cliché.

Realizing he can't risk the remainder of this date when it hasn't even begun, Childe raises a hand in apology, aiming to be the bigger person instead of socking the kid in the face.

"Sorry. I wasn't looking." He offers to the guy, but you can tell he isn't buying any of it. There are about four more kids who group, a setup that isn't going to end in your favour.

"Hey punk. You don't remember me?" The upperclassmen barks out, glaring holes into your date.

You deadpan towards Childe, but he's too is racking his brain to remember. Ends up shrugging with no recollection.

"I have a list of names but they're in my other pants." Shit, what an a-grade reply. Now you know you're done for. "Listen dude, I'm kind of on a date and the vibe is going great. Don't ruin it."

"It's a good thing she's here to watch then!" The guy yells, stomping so that he's right in-front of Childe, ready to pounce. "You humiliated me in front of my gang last week. I'm here to rip you a new one."

Childe blinks, tries to remember, and when he doesn't, he grabs a wad full of cash from the his Fanny pack and throws it at the guy's feet.

Everyone's eyes bulge out of their sockets, including yours at the amount of money placed there casually on the crack of the dirty sidewalk.

"Hopefully this is enough for the damages." Childe offers, aiming to not further escalate the situation albeit how pissed he is right now. If you weren't here...well that would be another, much more violent story.

With a soft tug, Childe brings you close and begins to pass the guy, until he's abruptly stopped by a hand gripping his shoulder tightly.

"I don't think so!" The guys barks, and his lackeys move to surround you two. "You gotta pay taxes too buddy." Oh he's getting way too comfortable now.

A feral smile grows on Childe's face as he looks over his shoulder. "Oh?"

"Yeah shithead." The guy seethes, puffing out his chest to size him up.

Childe itches for a fight. He can no longer keep in the urge and is just about ready to raise a heavy fist, but is beaten by the sound of a loud thwack, and then a painful groan following.

There you are, standing in front of the trembling asshole, spinning your crossbody bag in circles like it's a nunchuck in all it's glory. There's a deadly glint in your eyes, pure, unadulterated vexation in your features.

If Childe could fall for you any harder, it's probably happening now. In that exact moment, his heart beats in his ears uncontrollably, and there's nothing but raw adoration that piles up all at once.

You're an angel of destruction, a force not to be reckoned with, and shit, you're the eye of the fucking storm.

Fire courses through your veins as you pulverize the guy with your bag, swinging with such expertise it has Childe in awe. "He may be an absolute idiot for not remembering—"

"Hey girlie you're killing me here!" Your date snaps out of his astonishment temporarily.

"—but you don't get to call him a shithead, you asshole!" You snarl angrily, gripping the handle of your bag tightly, decking everyone that lunges at you, letting out strings of curses with every hit. Every hit sends a flock of them either stumbling back in pain, or knocked out completely.

Childe doesn't even get a chance to lift a finger by the time you're done violating them with your heavy ass pink bag. Stands there like an absolute loser.

"Apologize." You pant, prepared to send another flurry of attacks at the leader, who is crawling away with a battered face. "Apologize or I'll—I'll fucking Russian neck tie your ass."

"S-sorry!" The guy whimpers out and tries not to piss his pants at the threat.

Childe is still in too much shock at the whole ordeal to reply, short circuiting.

Another thirty seconds pass until he registers the smaller hand waving in front of his face. He catches your cold hand through his haze, brings it closer.

Running a free hand through his locks, he doesn't hide his astonishment. "You're fucking gorgeous, girlie." He whistles lowly, eyeing you with a new kind of regard.

"I-I uh." Your face is all shades of red by now, the adrenaline from kicking ass wearing down. "Let's go."

"How is that bag so heavy?" One of the fallen gasps out in pain, clutching his ribs as he trembles on the floor. "Like a buh-brick."

A part of your zipper in open, and Childe briefly peeks out of morbid curiosity. His jaw slackens. "Is that a...no, it can't be."

"It's a brick." You murmur guiltily, gnawing at your bottom lip. "Just in case." Fingers tentatively play with the straps.

Childe is head over heels by now, all smitten as a foreign warmth bubbles up in his throat, and he's just about sure he'll puke his heart out.

His next words are picked out carefully. "There's an underground fight club going on—"

You lock and aim for his right kidney.

Worth a try, Childe thinks.

"SIKE. Joking—joking. Just a joke." He insists, gloved hands raised by his ears in defence.

Clicking your tongue, you scowl and rush past him.

It hasn't even been an hour and it's been the most exciting date Childe's ever experienced. When he sees your lips twitch, he knows it's the same for you as well.

"Are we going or not?" You mumble, avoiding eye contact, a tinge of red still decorating your cheeks.

Childe crumbles into his hands at your deadly duality. One that comes for his enemies and one that comes straight for his heart.