#aaaaand its all over the screen

[ihavemanyhusbands]

Vidas Pasadas (Past Lives)

PART ONE: THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Mini-Series Masterlist

Also on AO3

Pairing: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Latina!Reader (Spanish speaking)

WC: 2.5k words

Series Summary: Before the great war, you were an actress—A good friend and frequent co-star of Cooper Howard. After two hundred years in cryogenic stasis, you’re being sent to New Vegas as a performer, but on the way there, things don’t go quite as planned.

Warnings: MINORS DNI, series is 18+, canon typical violence, some angst, friends to lovers-ish?, some miscommunications, eventual smut, chem use, there’ll be some Spanish in there for sure (with translations), cursing, the ghoul being the ghoul, aaaaand that’s all I can think of for now but lmk if anything else!

A/N: This is INCREDIBLY self indulgent, but imagine yourself in these shoes for a moment why don’t you? :) hope you enjoy! pt.1 dedicada ao meu amor @the-devils-littlegirl <33

——————-

The holotape was a little over two hundred years old, but it was in relatively good condition. It contained a talk show interview with two actors who were promoting a Western film. The image was in black and white, fuzzy with time, and the voices sounded tinny. 

“So tell me, both of you, what’s it been like working on so many pictures together?” The interviewer, Holden Boyd, asked. “This must be — what, the fourth one?”

“That’s right. You know, Holden, in all my years in this industry, I have never met anyone more professional,” Cooper Howard, the handsome hero of the film, turned to you, sitting beside him. “But she also knows how to keep things balanced between work and play. We laugh a lot behind the scenes, actually.”

“Really?” Holden asked, leaning forward with renewed interest. “Well, that doesn’t surprise me, you two have some incredible chemistry on screen.”

“Well, gee, Coop, do we really?” You couldn’t help but grin at him, making him chuckle. “Maybe that’s why we keep getting cast together.”

“And how’s his Spanish? Are you teaching him any?” Holden asked you. 

“I’ve certainly tried,” you said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Say something, why don’t you?”

Cooper’s smile turned sheepish, shaking his head. “Errr… No muy bueno, pero intento.”

His thick southern accent made you and Holden laugh, invariably charmed. In the background, claps and cheers from the live audience, equally smitten. Cooper always knew how to win people over, it was like second nature to him.

“He’s a natural!” Holden exclaimed. “Say the line Coop, you know the one.”

Cooper cleared his throat, squared his shoulders and pretended to point a gun, his expression fully serious.“Feo, Fuerte, y Formal.”

An eruption of cheers, louder than before. You clapped in delight, smiling ear to ear as you bumped your shoulder against his playfully.

“Ah, I see you’ve found our tapes,” the mechanical voice of vault thirty-one’s overseer startled you. 

You looked down at… it, still not used to interacting with a motorized brain suspended in some sort of tank. Bud, you thought it said its name was. Vaguely familiar, but your memories were still hazy, having been in cryogenic stasis for so long. 

“Why do you have these?” You asked.

“Everything pertaining to Hollywood was preserved for archival purposes. Feel free to watch anything you like,” Bud said. “We have all of your films, as well as interviews, press clippings, and pictures.”

You looked back at the screen, crossing your arms over your chest and trying not to shudder. You had me, too. You thought, stomach turning. A shiny toy shelved away for later use.

You’d gotten a spot in vault thirty one in exchange for compliance — after all, the future would need entertainers, right? And the nostalgia factor would just sell so well. You would be totally set for whatever came… or so they’d said.

It hadn’t seemed like a terrible deal at the time, but you hadn’t truly realized how tremendous the losses would be. Or how much things could veer off course in two centuries. 

Cooper was gone, and so was everyone else you had ever cared for. Bud hadn’t said what happened to your former co-star, but it didn't need to. 

 You had entered the vault all by yourself, with no family or spouse to consider. And just a few days ago, you had been greeted by that same loneliness when you’d emerged from the pod. 

Some things never changed, it seemed. Perhaps New Vegas wouldn’t be a terrible distraction, all things considered.

“Feels like it was only yesterday…” you said, keeping the melancholy out of  your voice.

“Doesn’t it? That’s the best part of the stasis pods. Keeps one fresh,” Bud said, chipper. “How’s your head feeling, by the way?”

“Better,” you sighed. “Barely any pain left.”

“Oh, good. You should be ready to travel to New Vegas in a couple more days. I’ve been in touch with a trusted courier that should be able to escort you there safely.”

A tinge of fear in your chest. “How… bad is it out there?”

“Well, er, it’s… not great. But we’ll get there! I’ve heard New Vegas has a lot more going for it than these parts,” Bud said quickly, not wanting to linger on the negative. “Vault twenty one, where you’ll be staying, was turned into a hotel. Lots of people passing by. I’m sure it’ll be easy for you to attract the crowds.” 

Stepping towards the projector, you ejected the holotape, unable to watch any more. The memories would consume you far too easily, if you let them. That life had crumbled to dust long ago, and there was nothing you could do to change that, either.

What other choice did you have but to trudge forward?

“For both our sakes, Bud, I really hope that’s true.”

————————————-

As with most things, Bud had severely understated just how bad things were on the surface. The sight of it had instantly struck you— Nothing was left but ruins and desert plains stretching as far as the eye could see. No one but you and the courier — a weathered, gruff looking middle-aged man — around for miles.

You’d left your vault suit behind in exchange for the clothes you’d worn when you first went in. You were also given a small survival pack, a tranquilizer gun, and a pip boy, but that was the extent of your belongings.

 The courier handed you a hat and an old scarf to cover yourself from the sun and the sand, instructing you to keep close before whirling around and starting to walk.

Did he even say what his name was? You couldn’t recall, but you were too busy being in shock to care too much.

It was all so unceremonious, unlike what you’d been used to in the past. No cars or any other mode of transportation, no roads to smoothly cruise on. No kind words offered for your departure, except for Bud’s overly enthusiastic Good luck! before opening the vault’s enormous door. 

“Say, how long do you think the… trip is going to take?” You asked, trying to keep your fear at bay. 

“Around three weeks, give or take. That is, if the weather holds and we keep a good pace during the day,” the courier said. “Can’t be out at night around these parts.”

You swallowed hard, wondering what sorts of dangers lurked out there. You had some stunt training, but no actual fighting skills. Hopefully, the tranq gun would be enough, but you also suspected your companion had far deadlier weapons.

Better to stay on his good side, you thought.

“First stop’s at a town called Filly. Got some quick business to take care of there, so we’ll be spending the night,” the courier continued when you didn’t respond. “Keep your head down and let me do the talking. Don’t want anybody to recognize you.”

You nodded, letting out a long sigh. 

“Hopefully they’ve got showers there,” you said, imagining how calming the hot stream of water might be. 

The courier looked at you over his shoulder, incredulous, and barked out a laugh. Your face heated up at his ridicule, mumbling something about vault dwellers to himself with a shake of his head. 

You walked in silence for the next couple of hours, trying to guess what area you might be passing through. Briefly, you wondered if the ruins of your old house still stood somewhere, and if you’d be able to find them. 

But you reminded yourself not to dwell on what no longer existed. 

Soon enough, you started to see signs of humanity. A few stragglers here and there, but the courier steered you in different directions whenever he spotted larger groups. Raiders, he’d told you, a grim look on his face.

 You hurried your step, wanting to put as much distance between you and them as possible. Bud had given you a very basic rundown of what you might encounter on the surface, but while some of it was hard to believe without seeing it firsthand, raiders did not fall under that category.

Still, despite the danger, at least you were reassured that you weren’t the only people left around. 

Filly was a ramshackle town made up of scraps;  A small testament of humanity’s endurance. Vendors were hawking questionable food and other wares at the outskirts of it, the tight pack of more bodies making you nervous. 

Your senses were invaded by smells and noises and even the occasional passerby bumping into you. Life was still brimming, as chaotic as it may seem. Somehow, it made you feel the smallest flicker of hope.

The courier led you through the crowd and down a rickety stairway towards a small square, where there was a little more room to move. The sun was beginning to set, bright tendrils of orange and gold tinting the sky. 

For a brief moment, you stopped to look at it, moved almost to tears by the simple beauty of a sunset. At least, that hadn’t changed either, and you vowed to never take them for granted again. 

“This way,” the courier said, urging you to move. 

Unbeknownst to you, someone had taken notice of the two of you. More specifically, the courier. A hit had been placed on him, worth three hundred caps. There was no reason given for it, but he hadn’t thought to ask questions, anyway. He didn’t much like meddling unnecessarily.

He surreptitiously followed behind, keeping his distance so you wouldn’t notice him. He already stuck out like a sore thumb, what with being a ghoul and all. But, like any bounty hunter worth his salt, he still knew how to lay low.

The courier led you into a repurposed building that rented out closet sized rooms. You paid with a few of the caps Bud had put in your survival pack, relieved that you wouldn’t have to share a room. 

The courier was curt but prudent, in his own way. You were just a task to him, and you knew he would protect you as best as he could because of it. You had nothing against him so far, but you didn’t want to take your chances regardless. 

“Stay in your room, I’m gonna head out for a bit. I’ll bring back some food,” he said, turning to leave.

“Wait!” You hurried behind him, out into the open, where it was growing darker. “Wouldn’t it be better to, uh, stick together?”

“It’s private business,” he grunted, annoyed. “Besides, you’ll be safer in there.”

“But—”

“Hey, you,” you heard from behind you, followed by a commanding whistle. “Sabinez, is it?”

The courier looked up, his eyes immediately widening. “Oh, fuck.”

You followed his gaze, finding a… cowboy. His face was mostly obscured underneath the brim of his hat, but his lack of a nose was still strikingly apparent. Radiation burns marred what little skin you could see, the rest covered in old, tattered leathers. 

A ghoul, from what Bud had described. The see-it-to-believe-it kind of danger. Your stomach dropped.

He was pointing his revolver at the courier – Sabinez –  finger about to squeeze the trigger.

“No, please!” You exclaimed, panicked. 

Foolishly, without even thinking about it, you stepped in front of him, arms extended in an attempt to further shield him. The ghoul raised his hairless eyebrows, both amused and surprised.

“I need him,” you said, heart beating so fast you feared it might leap out of your chest. “Please.”

“How sweet,” the ghoul said mockingly, one hand on his chest. “But as it turns out, sweetheart, I need him, too.”

Before you could react, he raised the barrel of the revolver infinitesimally and fired. A dizzying moment in which the bullet whizzed by your head, and Sabinez’s body slumped behind you, his blood spraying at your back. 

Any onlookers that had stuck around scattered to safety, not wanting to be next in line for whatever the ghoul had planned. You let out a choked sound, too shocked to even scream. Shuddering, you slowly looked over your shoulder, only to avert your gaze quickly.

“No,” you murmured, horrified. “No, no, no…Fuck!”

It was just your luck, encountering death the very first day you finally returned to the surface. You wondered if you should fall to your knees and beg for mercy, but your body refused to move.

The ghoul’s spurs clinked as he stepped towards you, and you raised your hands in surrender, keeping your eyes down.

“You the cargo?” He asked, tilting his head to one side in curiosity. “Let’s get a better look at’cha.”

You whimpered as he grasped one of your arms, his other hand tugging down the scarf that covered half your face. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, eyes roaming over your features.

“Look at me,” he ordered, voice low.

Swallowing hard, you finally dared to look up at him. Tears clung to your lashes, a stray one running down your cheek. He looked more skeletal up close, his eyes sunken in, cheekbones prominent, and of course there was the cavern where his nose would be. 

He removed your hat next, letting go of you and taking a step back. There was something in his expression you couldn’t quite decipher, but you felt a creeping sense of deja vu the longer you looked at him. 

“You…” he said, something like recognition in his voice, as well as disbelief.

“I–Please, I don’t know w-what he did to you but I don’t–” You started to babble, but he interrupted. 

“Where were y’all heading off to?”

“U-um, New Vegas, uh, sir?” You tried to smile placatingly, but it was watery and would slip away at any moment. 

Not only was it strange for him to see you alive and in the flesh, but you were also fearing him. He remembered your earnest smiles, genuinely pleased to see him. Then again, you hadn’t yet recognized who he was. 

He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted you to know, but he also didn’t really want to let you go on your own way. Plus, he’d just killed your only guide, so it was only fair that he took on the job and saw it through.

That way, he could try to find out more about all that had happened, without giving himself away.

“New Vegas, huh,” he mused, letting out a low whistle. “That’s a long ways away, especially if you don’t know where you’re goin’...But it’s your lucky night, sweetheart, ‘cus I just so happen to know the way.”

“R-really? I could pay you if you’d h-help me!” you said quickly, rummaging through your pack to show him some caps. “I’m not sure how much would be enough but… I’ll be making more once I start working.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist now, we can do some negotiating later,” he drawled, lips curling in a smirk as he looked up at the building behind you. “Hope you don’t mind us bunking together.”

Your entire face heated up. “Uh, you can take his room. It’s already paid for.”

“Well, what a generous fella he was,” he said, tossing your stuff back at you. “Jus’ don’t come runnin’ when you get nightmares. I ain’t much of a cuddler.”

----

[rafayelsss]

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM! ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ content: caleb x gn!reader, no y/n, can be read as romantic or platonic In which he tries to get you a plushie from the claw machines.

“Why can’t you just get it yourself?”

Caleb questioned, holding back a chuckle at your little antics as you lead— no, shoved him towards the machine. The glass reflected just enough sunlight for your insistent pout to create an image of itself within it.

“What’s the fun in that? I wanna see how hard you’ll mess this up.” You replied cheekily, guiding his hands hurriedly to the buttons in front of him, watching as his fingers wrapped around the joystick and hovered over the buttons.

Caleb shook his head and pouted back at you. Its almost impressive how good he’s been at imitating your expressions throughout all these years, but ultimately, you knew it was all for the goal of teasing you better as time went on.

And you also knew he wasn’t one to back down from such a challenge. No matter how obvious that it was just your attempt to rile him up, he wouldn’t decline an offer to watch your face contort into defeat. Even if, by some miracle, you get the better of him (he swears its just your luck) the fun’s still there.

“Just you watch, pip-squeak,” He cracks his knuckles, a playful glint in his eye as he felt around his pockets, grabbing a coin and inserting it inside. “I’ll prove I’m still the best at these games. Which one do you want?”

You think it over for a moment, as Caleb looked at you expectantly.

“Pssst. There’s a timer, you know.” He whispered.

“Maybe you should have waited until you started then!” You’re met with an unapologetic, half-hearted shrug as you make up your mind and point.

You point randomly, the counting down on the little screen not quite helping your decision-making. His gaze follows your hand and he raises a brow. “The fox? Don’t you have one of those already?”

You give him a look to just hurry the hell up already. He knows he’s pushed his luck now, so he nods and pushes the claw forward and presses it to come down 10 seconds before the time could run out.

“Aaaaand…” Caleb leaned down slightly to watch the crane closely as it caught on the plushie’s round, chubby head. You both held your breaths as it neared the exit, only to slip out of its grasp, making a less than graceful thump as it fell.

A faint laugh escaped your lips as you turned back to him. “What did I just say?”

“Nope, I’m not taking it. I still have more to try again!” With newfound determination, he slipped in another coin before you could even react, hastily grasping the controls. He took his time to position the crane above the plushie carefully before letting it come down.

...And it just misses entirely.

Caleb was dumbfounded. He had that shot, like, perfectly calculated in his mind! The claw somehow overshot it!

You, on the other hand, were having the time of your life, giggling about on his failures as if he wasn’t just right beside you.

Caleb put his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes at you. “Shush! It malfunctioned… Third times the charm!”

“Is it really though?” You replied, still a bit giggly from earlier.

“Don’t jinx it, pip-squeak…” With that, he tried once more, biting his bottom lip in anticipation as the claw came down for the third time. He’s surprisingly pretty serious on getting it this time. His focused expression is fixed on the plushie, its body successfully grabbed up, and slowly it moved, and moved and moved…

And slipped an inch away from the slot.

Caleb slowly blinked, until then stepping back and sighing in defeat. “This thing’s rigged.”

You smile and pat his back comfortingly, and he allowed himself to be dragged away from the claw machines with you to play something else. “Shh… Just admit you suck, Caleb.”

“I’ll redeem myself next time I visit, I swear!”

[villainofmyownstory]

Three copies and some signatures

Simon/Reader/(Johnny)

I don't know I don't have an idea for a title, so I wrote anything. I know some people are waiting for the next part of Day Zero, I'm slowly writing the next chapter but need more time, but don't worry I didn't abandon it! I was motivated to write this thing by anon's shitty ask to @/rememberwren about “too many fics about Ghoap” lmao . So I also wrote something about Ghoap. Because WHY NOT? Aaaaand if you don't know Wren's wonderful work leave everything and go and read it -> HERE <3

I would like to write the next parts, but I can't promise anything.

tags: angst, hurt no comfort

don't know how to tag :< let me know what to add

______________________________________________________________

Of course it had to end this way.

It was more than certain that you would end up in this place eventually. With sweaty hands and a heart that was beating too fast and heavy. Your heart rate increased and your breathing quickened. Drops of sweat appeared every now and then on your heated forehead and you tried again and again to wipe them off. To dry your shiny skin at least for a while. At least look a little presentable.

The crumpled white shirt no longer looked like the one you had ironed for over an hour. Now crumpled and stained, it carelessly hugged your curvy body.

The chair creaked with your every move. Nervously every now and then you change positions as if at least the comfort of sitting would improve your situation.

More minutes pass and the door in front of you is still closed. The paint on them is coming off in some places, revealing the banal light-colored plywood. The entire anturage of this building cries out for renovation.

Despite the well-paid work of the people who work here, the base looks as if its glory years are long behind it and there are no funds to even refresh the walls. It's as if for at least 20 years no one has noticed the cracked walls, the paint falling off or the crooked fine wooden chairs.

Maybe it's just appearances.

You shift in your seat again. The creak of the wooden chair echoes through the empty and cold corridor. Despite the early hour of the day and the sun outside the windows, everything inside seems harsh and unfriendly. To your relief there are not many windows so the prevailing semi-darkness makes you feel marginally more at ease. At least a little anonymity. Maybe the small number of people who passed you walking through the corridor with a quick step won't remember you and when you leave these walls after all, no one will ever shout after you on the street. They won't associate you with this place. With him.

Only when that happens. When this hell will finally come to an end. How long will it be when you are free again? Because every doorbell ringing, every unfamiliar number on screen or finally an unfamiliar customer at work looking at you for too long. It won't all cause that nervousness, that cursed lump in your throat and more gray hairs on your head. Every fucking minute spent in fear.

Someone will finally find out.

Reasons.

Everyone has some. Everyone has a story, some problems, something that makes them look for solutions. The question is whether it was worth it to risk so much. Whether committing a crime was worth it to choose to live here. To continue living in this country.

To be alive.

In the distance you can hear someone's conversation, laughter interspersed with words. Empty corridors carry sounds that ring in your ears, but everything blends into an incomprehensible cacophony of sounds. Into one piece.

You know that resounding, hearty laughter well.

You have heard it many times.

The melody, once heard, is forever imprinted in your memory.

Rhythmically approaching footsteps, voices are getting louder. Two people.

They are close.

The danger makes you feel trapped. Like an injured prey caught in a trap on a hunt.

You nervously look around looking for any way to escape. However, the only way to get out of this place is through this damn corridor, the direction from which you hear the approaching voices.

Panic grips your body and mind, many thoughts appear one second not allowing you to focus and remain rational.

He is about to be right here.

As you involuntarily bite your lower lip and try not to sob, the door finally opens.

A tall and muscular man stands in the doorway, illuminated by the light from the room, like a knight on a white horse with a friendly and affable smile. He greets you and says your name. His name. 

Finally, he invites you inside. This time you managed to escape.

Captain Price. This much you know crossing the threshold of this room. In the morning when two sad gentlemen knocked on your door. You expected to be handcuffed, or something else entirely. Something you were being prepared for.  It could always happen. KIA.

And now, sitting in a more comfortable chair than the ones in the corridor, you look at his Captain. A person you knew a lot about, as well as the entire Task Force 141.

After all, you are a good student. You diligently applied yourself to your lessons. You memorized every word.

Every truth and every prepared lie.

Your made-up life.

The captain leans back in his chair still looking at you, despite the stress of the situation a calmness beats from the man.

You expected accusations, shouting, nervousness and humiliation.

Nothing of the sort happens.

“It's good to finally meet you.”

He says, tilting his head gently to the side and grinning at you.

“When Laswell called me and informed me of the situation. Well. It was quite a shock to me. A positive one. But still... it's quite surprising.”

He doesn't finish the sentence because his words are interrupted by a rhythmic and loud knocking.

Damn.

***

Several hours have passed since those events at the base. Despite the fact that there are a few hours left until nightfall, you decide to spend the night in a nearby hotel and return on the next day, in the early morning.

You didn't even wait for the two gentlemen who brought you here.

You rent a car and return on your own.

You borrowed cash from the captain. The meeting at the base was supposed to be a secret, between you and him. No sign of your presence near the base. You couldn't use your credit card.

Another fucking lie in your life.

Or maybe everything else was untrue and what was happening now was reality. The truth you couldn't quite believe.

It wasn't just the frayed nerves of the situation that made you not want to drive today.

There was something else.

Today is Thursday. A day when when he had the opportunity, he called. He was close by, at a nearby training ground with recruiters. So you can certainly expect weekly contact.

The very thought turns your stomach. It was so ridiculous, infantile.

Unnecessary.

When 9pm strikes, as usual, evenly, punctually the familiar ringtone echoes.

You wait.

One-

Two-

Three.

“Hi”

You sit upright on the edge of the hotel bed, squeezing your thighs tightly together. You straighten your back unnaturally pulling your shoulder blades as close together as possible.

Finally, you hear his low voice.

“Hi love”

Love? Huh, that's something new.

“Hi”

You repeat the greeting in a trembling voice. Does he already know about your unannounced visit to the base. Does he know that his captain has finally found out. What if-

“I miss you, so bad.”

At these words you close your eyes.

There's nothing to worry about. A standard fake conversation between two spouses. In case of eavesdropping, in any doubt. At the risk of someone continuing to check up on you.

“I miss you, too.”

you answer with a learned line. As you do every time.

“I'm counting down the days until I see you again, love”.

You hate it. You hate hearing his words. You shiver. Swallowing the incoming tears.

You're unable to utter another theatrical phrase.

When a lie repeated so many times has become the truth for you. When pretending became a natural behavior. How it happened, that something inside you changed.

So pathetic, weak creature.

For the first time, you can't follow the script.

“ 'r you still there?”

The question hangs in the void. It reaches your ears. Further learned words, however, are blocked inside you.

You open your eyes and your gaze drifts to the floor, to the hotel's dirty carpet. Seconds pass slowly. Each moment makes you feel more and more miserable. You want to throw up.

“I miss you so much, Simon.”

Shit, you're such an idiot.

You quickly hang up, throwing the phone in the sheets and running to the bathroom.

Falling in love wasn't part of the contract.

***

He shouldn't smoke.

He quit exactly when he met you. That September night.

Now, standing behind one of the barracks leaning against a cold wall, he looks up at the same sky. Looking for what you were looking for then.

The sky is dark and cloudy.

“LT?”

He is pulled from his musings by a whisper. Such a familiar voice.

“Where are ya? Come back here, I'll freeze my balls off, if- ”

“I'm comin' , Johnny.”

Crushing the cigarette butt under his military boot, Ghost takes one last look at the sky.

No star. That night he sees none. There's nothing special.

As he enters the room, the small light of the nightstand illuminates the familiar room. When the door slams behind him, in this safe space, he pulls off his mask and walks over to the bed.

Shaking slightly, Johnny sits down on his bed, rubbing his bare shoulders in an effort to warm himself.

“You quit smokin'. ”

A dry statement, Johnny says the words and looks reproachfully at the man standing over him.

Ghost smirks, reaching out his hand to smooth the sergeant's messy hair. Like a tame wild animal. To calm him down. Meticulously styled mohawk was forgotten an hour or two ago.

His hand travels lower to finally stop on the man's jaw and with little force Ghost squeezes his chin, raising it to look him in the eye.

“Behave, Johnny boy.”

“Or what?”

With a cocky grin Johnny asks. He lifts one hand and sticks his fingers in the belt loop of his pants, pulling Ghost closer, so that he's standing between Johnny's legs.

“I don't think you're ready for a second round.”

Finally Ghost pulls away and heads toward the bathroom.

Johnny grunts back.

“I saw her today.”

Ghost stops in mid-step. He stiffens, but doesn't turn toward the man who already regrets his words. There's no going back.

“I want to finally meet her.”

Saying this, he gets up and walks closer. He puts his hand on Ghost's shoulder trying to calm him down. He knows it's too much. Not after what he heard during their weekly conversation.

But a life of lies was destroying him from the inside. He could feel the rot. The stinking evil he felt at every turn. While waking up and falling asleep. It was constantly accompanying him.

No one deserved such cruelty. If he even had to pay for it with his happiness. He would agree without a second thought.

It had gone too far.

“I want to meet your wife, Simon. She needs to know the truth. About all this.”

About us.

______________________________________________________________

English is not my first language, so probably many things are poorly described and the vocabulary is very simple. If you see any mistakes - let me know!

[sirhamburrger]

episode four: scream... or maybe not? - atsumu miya

kai's halloween '24 miniseries - a halloween to remember!!

CONTENT WARNINGS: msby visits a haunted house, fake murder, fake blood, 1 (one) ghostface appearance

EPISODE RUNTIME: 997 words || previous (episode three) || next (episode five)

moodboard

“hey, guys, welcome to the msby black jackals’ official blog!” you wave at the camera, and turn the phone lens on your team. well, it’s more like three of the team's members. inunaki's out with his girlfriend, barnes is out of the country, and tomas is visiting his parents in aichi. of course, meian wants nothing to do with their nonsense, least of all on a peaceful wednesday evening.

hinata and bokuto flash mega-watt smiles at the camera, waving enthusiastically. sakusa hides from the prying lens, pulling his mask up further.

and atsumu… is late. 

an annoyed sakusa mutters some not-very-complimentary comments under his breath, but as if on cue, you spot a familiar head of piss-blond hair making its way through the crowd. you have the inexplicable urge to tear it from its owner’s scalp.

“aaaaand… here he is. finally. say hi, atsumu.”

“hey, y'all!” blissfully ignorant of your annoyance, he shoots the camera the sideways smirk that msby's fans practically live for. “i've been preparin’ for today with scary movie marathons. no way this is gonna scare me off!”

“i dunno, miya… this place seems mighty creepy, don't you think?” you grin widely, and the camera pans over to show an old dilapidated house. the vicinity is illuminated briefly by a flash of lightning as you speak, like a cartoon cliché. his fearless facade seems to falter, and you chuckle.

“in case you didn't already know,” bokuto chirps, throwing an arm around your shoulder, “we're at the spookiest haunted house in osaka tonight to test our mettle!”

“i'm placing bets on atsumu to run out screaming like a little girl,” sakusa comments offhandedly. the chat goes crazy, spamming laughing-crying emojis and asking to hear atsumu's response to this.

atsumu's eyes narrow. “you've got a bet, omi-omi. if i get through without chickening out, i win.”

“loser does water-bottle duty for a month,” hinata challenges. a hush falls over the rest as the atmosphere seems to change, the stakes raised.

“no,” atsumu breathes. 

sakusa's tone is uncharacteristically smug. 

“then, don't lose.”

you find that atsumu is the worst haunted house partner ever. he's screaming at every moving shadow and every flashing light. not to mention that his terrified yelps are the most horror-movie-realistic noises you've head all night. you groan. you may have had to split up at the entrance, but why oh why didn't you take sakusa along with you instead? 

“chat, are you seeing this?” atsumu says for the fifth time in seven minutes, and you snatch the phone from his hand.

just then, you hear a floorboard creak loudly, and the sound of a heavy object hitting a hard surface. your guard is instantly up, and you scan your surroundings for any potential scares. atsumu follows close behind you, ragged breaths fanning down the back of your neck.

“don't tell me you're scared already.” you smile wickedly, pressing the tip of your finger to your lips. “we're just getting started.”

“try me,” atsumu retorts, plastering a confident smile on his face. he leans in to stare at you, and you push his face away with your hand, blushing.

as you move into the next room, brandishing the phone in front of you, the chat overflows with messages telling you there's something moving in the far corner. atsumu squints, angling his head away from the phone screen to peer into the darkness…

and screams. 

you let out a noise of annoyance. you push him aside to take a look for yourself, and sure enough, it's another haunted house cliché. a masked ghostface killer stabs a woman gasping for air, and looks up as they notice you.

“come on, miya, you know it's another of their gimmicks-” you start to say, but you cut yourself off when the masked figure stands up and advances towards the two of you.

“sir, i don't think the staff are supposed to be coming this close to the visitors…” atsumu's voice trails off, and he grabs ahold of your arm firmly, backing the two of you away.

ghostface chuckles. “you really think this is all just a part of the experience?”

fear grips you like a cold hand.

“run,” the woman rasps, blood spurting out from her neck wound, and the two of you turn back the way you came, panting and looking back periodically. being the pro athlete he is, atsumu quickly overtakes you. you hear the knife-wielding psycho bearing down on you and suddenly you're hoisted across atsumu's shoulders as he bolts for the exit. you're horrified to find it's locked, and as you yell for him to go the other way, the lights come on.

what?

you hear bokuto and hinata’s raucous laughter, and ghostface pulls his mask off. to your shock, it’s osamu, and you realise this must have all been an elaborate prank. targeting atsumu, no doubt, but unfortunately you’ve been caught in the crossfire. suddenly you’re all too aware of atsumu’s arms around you, holding you securely in place.

“atsumu,” you sigh. “you can put me down now.”

face flushed, he sets you back on the ground.

there is a lot of screaming and yelling and roughhousing once the initial shock wears off. shaking your head, you go back to retrieve your phone, which you’d dropped during the chase. you find it in a corner of the room and stand up to leave-

and bump into atsumu.

“well,” atsumu says after an awkward silence. “sorry fer scaring ya over somethin’ that wasn’t even real.”

“it’s all good, i didn’t even realise it wasn’t.” you offer him a genuine smile, which quickly turns into a devious smirk. “i also didn’t realise you were the gentlemanly type. thought you’d leave your poor manager for dead at the first sign of danger.” 

he follows you out, protesting, but there’s a soft glimmer in his eyes that wasn’t there before, and that you think you’d like to see again.

even if it means getting jumpscared again.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE:

dang this was kinda long and also kinda unserious

(but then again, this is atsumu we're talking about here)

watched scream original (i did not scream but salmon did) (a lot)

last chapter incoming! already cooking up ideas for halloween 2025 lol

borders are by @saradika-graphics!

© sirhamburrger 2024

[apebellica]

Last night I finally watched I saw the TV glow and, in a very short amount of time, It has become one of those movies that makes me both want to rewatch It over and over again and simultaneously pill my skin off. This movie has quikly became one of my favorites, hands down. But! It's so intense and terrifying and dense that I think I need time to fully digest it.

Right now I can only say that I have never seen something like this (ok, maybe yes if we count We are all going to the world's fair, Jane Schoenbrun's first film), I never consumed a media SO damn dysphoric. You can feel it, clearly. It's in the cinematography, in the script, in the lighting, this sense of incongruity, this feeling of "there's something wrong, something doesn't add up, life shouldn't be this way". It's insane how a viewing like that satisfied a deep desire inside of me and incredibly shook me at the same time. Themes such as isolation, nostalgia, escapism, dissociation and the fear of not being able to distinguish what is truly real are brought to the screen with an imagery so extraordinarily beautiful in all its horror that I really don't know what to say other than ... wow. The more I think about it, the more I feel understood by this film. It's a strangely thrilling and exhilarating experience. This movie, among other things, like I said erlier in this post, is about dysphoria. The type of dysphoria we feel pre coming out (to ourself and to others), before realising this is why we feel this way, before accepting it and before deciding what we want to do in terms of transizioning.

I think the final scene, above all, while extremely disturbing, is a perfect representation of that realization: it pictures the panic, the fear associated with it. The protagonist sees something they cannot unsee and, at this point, you can never look back.

Don't mistake me, being trans, being non-binary is beautiful (I absolutely don't want to be cis) but sometimes it feels like that, like in that final scene, when you can't breathe and all you want is to scream. When you feel distant from other people, not understood and, all you want to do, is to open yourself up.

So yeah... This are my 2.00 AM toughts on I saw the TV glow.

The only thing I can say right now is that I need to rewatch this movie multiple times.

Aaaaand if you have toughts on this movie or you want to discuss It let me know!

PS: plz forgive me if the english is weird, It's not my first language O⁠_⁠o

[breezybangtanbebe]

🐍Chapter Two🐍

✨masterlist✨

While most parts or Luminasia wouldnt be considered the safest, they paled in comparison to Mamba District. The central parts of the neon city were basically an amusement park versus the concentrated grit and shadows that made up the reptilian beings' territory with a crime rate so high, local authorities didn't even flag citizens for speeding through it.

Despite its unsavory reputation, there was always much entertainment to find there. Night clubs, illegal gambling spots, *ahem* nightly solicitors, drugs, cheap liqour, debauchery...

Aaaaand Trouble. Never a shortage of that.

Megan hadnt made it her business to spend much time around these parts in years, finding her fair share of all of those things and more. In the time that she did , however, she obtained a decent lay of the land. Which was useful to her when needing a stealthy way in and out on missions like this.

Her bike purred quietly as it came to a full stop in the grime-coated backstreet alley, and her view of the warehouse was centered several feet ahead of her.

Black and brown bricks soaked in the evening rain, the gaping windows and crumbling architecture gave the abandoned area it's ominous appeal. At some point, the building may have been used for mass manufacturing or packaging. But now it stood as a hiding place for the forsaken or rebellious teens looking for a spot to get high or do who knows what else. An extremely peculiar place for something as valuable as a synstone to be hiding.

"Ok Phor." Megan whispers, nudging the kickstand out before swinging her leg over the bike.

The moment her heels touch the moist pavement, a wave of panic rolls over her, sending goosebumps all over her body. Something about this place had that effect on her, whether it be for good or bad reasons. She doesnt show it in her agile stride though, walking with confidence while keeping to the shadows of the alley until she reached its end.

"Im here. What's it looking like?" She speaks lowly to her trusty pup in the chair, who was already working on scoping the scene.

"Uh give me a sec. Im hacking a PD drone with some infared as we speak."

Seconds later, a buzzing drone zips over Megan's head and she watches as it hovered over the baren warehouse. As it scanned it, greenscale images of the building's interior fill Phor's screens. He types quickly, shifting the filters until he manages to get an unobscured high-resolution view of several hulking figures surround one in the middle of the vast room.

"Oh shit." the canine utters. Megan's eyes widen cautiously.

"Whatchu mean, Oh shit? Who in there?" she whispered harshly. All the while, Phor's toe beans tap frantically.

"Oh just your favorite kind of distant planet natives. Most that were so hostile that the mayor of Lumin gave them their own little hidey hold of hell in the ugliest part of the city...hehehe.." Phor chuckles nervously, zooming in on the exact location where the synstone's signature was the strongest.

"I know aint shit funny over there, Pho. Show me what you see.."

Phor obediently sent a live feed view of what he was seeing to Megan's watch. It blinked with the notification and she lifts her wrist just as the hologram rectangular screen materialized.

"Oh shit..." Megan shared Phor's grim sentiment the moment sees what he's looking at.

A grainy image of the cleared space is pulled into view. Large dangling industial lights hum overhead ans in the center one of their beams was a huddle of tall, slender reptilian figures in dark tailored, their massive tails whipping against the dusted concrete floors.

The Vortarians were a unique group of individuals that made up most of Mamba's population. They were a nasty race that had humanoid bodies covered in thick, mosaic green scales that could shift to blend in with their environments. Their sharp-clawed hands and feet could easily gut a man with one swipe, and they had black beady eyes with gold pupils used for tracking their prey in any light. Not to mention their pharyngeal jaws that opened their mouths wide enough to engulf just about anything  in a bite riddled of razor-sharp fangs that leaked acidic flesh-melting venom.

They were quite intimidating to say the least.

But their presence wasn't even the main cause for Megan's shock. She actually expected some Vortarians to be there since this was their neck of the woods. By her count, there were at least 8 of them. Barrelling through them wouldnt be an issue with what she was packing.

It was was the man that seemed to be in their custody, seated at a table with his hands bound and his lips quirked up in an unphased smirk , that had her second guessing the entire mission.

"Of course its him." she grumbles, followed by Phor's hum of agreement.

"Mmhmm..I knew I detected a Bangtanian signature when I was tracking the stone but I had no clue it would be THEE Bangtanian himself. Sheesh. No wonder theres so many Vorts on him."

Megan was vaguely attuned to Phor's assessment, but her gaze fixed heavily on the dragon-eyed leader of one of the most elite squadrons to come from the Intergalactic Hybe Force, straight out of the mystical planet of Purpura's capital city of Bora.

Who he was to the world was slightly different from who he was to her, however.

And knowing he was most likely after the same synstone that she was, made everything a million times more complicated.

[cornbread-but-cringey]

Cornbread's Texture Fixer Devlog v0.9.0 - Beta 6 December 8th, 2024

i've decided i'm going to be doing weekly devlogs for whatever pack i'm working on at the time. primarily so this blog (pretend i posted this to the mc sideblog; i saved the draft wrong) isn't overrun with my responses to the vanilla change logs, but also, it adds a bit of structure to this whole thing. (well, i say this, but i've also put this off by multiple days).

anyway, first things first, i have updated my fix to the sides of grass blocks to account for the pale garden. (vanilla on left, resource pack on right)

it isn't perfect, but that's mostly because minecraft's biome blending as a whole isn't perfect.

also, i only included the colors for transitions to dark forests, birch forests and groves, since i'm contemplating increasing the number of colors for each biome transition again. that'd be a lot of work for something that i don't even know if it'll be more accurate, so i haven't yet come to a decision, but once i do, i will finish the pale garden biome transitions.

these are the only transitions i even found generating naturally anyway, and bedrock edition does not yet have /fillbiome, so this shouldn't be noticeable in-game, but if it is, i would appreciate if people told me.

i fixed the issue this pack was having with cobblestone walls, as i said i would.

i removed the textures for the different types of nether bricks, since vanilla fixed their issue, but to match them (and other kinds of bricks), i shifted the texture for mud bricks over a pixel to the left, so that the stuff in between the bricks (i forgor what it's called) is on the right side.

in very early versions, this pack and Conglomeration were initially meant to be one and the same, but that ended up getting changed. while a bunch of features got removed in favor of just having them in conglomeration, bedrock edition's green item slot highlight is just really ugly, and so the java-edition-styled highlights stayed in the pack for a long time, up until their removal in Beta 5.

i reverted that back.

turns out, the green slot highlight, apart from being really ugly, is also really difficult to work with from a creative perspective. particularly, in the crafter screen and the new bundle tooltip (bundle ui changed slightly in game version 1.21.50).

so i re-implemented all the JE-styled highlights i had from Beta 4. (i also reverted the changes to the buttons on the beacon screen, since those use the same color palette). there were some small changes to the json, but those aren't super important. what is important is that these changes meant i had to start paying attention to the bundle ui, which, of course, is off center. so i fixed that.

sidenote, but you ever notice that light blue and light gray bundles have long enough names to stretch the ui?? java edition has its bundle ui pre-stretched to deal with this, which is kinda silly imo.

anyway, i also did the highlight inside the bundle ui:

this is mostly accurate to java edition, except the slot background doesn't disappear when the highlight is visible, since the background of the tooltip is already opaque (and therefore inaccurate) anyway.

this uses two different textures (directly adapted from the java edition textures) because i couldn't get it accurate otherwise, but it might still be technically better optimized than vanilla, since it isn't needlessly checking whether touch controls are being used (selecting an item with touch controls instantly closes the bundle ui).

speaking of which, i also fixed bundles with pocket ui.

i'm holding off on pocket ui until the end of this pack's development, but i figured since i'm already here and pocket bundles are in the same file as classic bundles, i might as well.

aaaaand before we leave bundle land, i just want to say that Beta 5 has an issue where a closed bundle is visible behind the open bundle when scrolling through a bundle's contents in a crafting grid specifically. i don't have an installation of Beta 5 right now to show this off with, but i fixed it.

one of my favorite parts of this pack is the way it changes the recipe book (/creative inventory). in vanilla, as with the rest of the ui, things are just kinda scaled willy nilly. the scrolling part of the recipe book doesn't quite fit into the space allotted, but this pack fixes that. (would you believe me if i said it was difficult? you shouldn't, because that would be me lying.)

one of the things this pack neglected to fix previously was the length that the recipe book scrolls. in vanilla, as with some other parts of the ui, the recipe book scrolls down farther than it should, leaving a noticeable gap between the buttons and the bottom of the scrolling area.

i didn't previously have any idea what the issue was on account of scrolling panels being complicated, but i've since messed around with dropdowns, learning a lot about scrolling in the process. the issue was the exact first thing i thought to check. mojang should be ashamed.

Holy Shit It's So FUCKING SNUG!!!!!!!

last things last, mojang added an option to the GUI Log Level dropdown in the settings screen, making it scroll. this pack previously made it not be considered scrolling, since it didn't scroll before, but now that it does, this change has been reverted, with the fixes for scrolling dropdowns now in effect.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

so! it's tourette's awareness month! i wanted to take a second and describe what it's feels like to suppress tics for y'all since i don't think most people truly understand what it feels like <3

so, the first thing tourettics usually say to get non-tourettics in the feel is: imagine you have to sneeze. you know that feeling? that build up to the sneeze? it feels like that. now try holding back the sneeze. try forcing yourself not to sneeze. that's what it feels like to suppress. sometimes, people use the blinking analogy. you know, try to see how long you van go without blinking. it starts getting uncomfortable after awhile, right? maybe it strains your eyes? maybe it hurts? that's what it feels like to suppress.

but… suppression is a little more than that, in my experience. actively trying not to tic or to hold it back is a more intense version of trying not to blink or sneeze. the feeling differs depending on what tic(s) and our mental state and physical surroundings (noise, textures, who you’re with, where you are…) but here are some other ways suppression can feel...

it can make you restless. i had to suppress a bit the other day (long story), and it made me restless. it made my chest feel all tight like it does during an anxiety or panic attack (sometimes, suppression can lead to those or a tic attack). sometimes, suppression makes it hard to breathe because of the panic and utter concentration. because, yeah, suppression takes a Lot of mental energy. it makes you hyper aware of everything you do, say, how you move…

sometimes, it can be like a sharp pain. sometimes, it’s an intense tingling sensation. sometimes, weird as it sounds, it sounds like static in my ears.

it feels like there’s a little bubble inside your stomach and all your tics are being confined in there. they’re beating and trying to get out. or sometimes, that little bubble is breathing on its own. like breaths are being taken in that bubble and they aren't your own. and it’s Uncomfortable.

sometimes, it makes your skin crawl. sometimes, it sends alarm bells ringing in your ears. just now as i was typing this, i tried not ticcing my stupid finger tic the whole and i felt panicked for half a second because my brain sent this wave to my body that went “something’s wrong so something’s wrong something’s wrong you did something wrong bad bad bad”. and even now, as i type this and try not to tic, i’m swallowing more because i’m uncomfortable and my fingers are starting to feel weird and tingle and itch. it’s like something is trying to burst out of them and they feel so weird and want to tic because ticcing is the only way to relieve that build up but i’m denying it that

aaaaand i just let myself tic and instantly felt better. well, better aside from the bit of pain that tic gives me. it’s not bad, but slamming my finger into my phone screen over and over again until it’s slammed “right” can hurt.

[helluvapurf]

13

forgot i was still doing this ask meme for a sec my bad lol

13. worst blorboficiation

Do you mean in terms of canon portrayals, or fandom-wise? Hmmm... if we're just talking canon here, then... weeeeell- >>

-Now before anyone freaks out, no I don't "hate" Stolas... at most I'm honestly just kinda... "neutral"-feeling whenever he pops up on screen these days 🤷‍♀️

Concept-wise, I do like the idea of Stolas being this seemingly aged, powerful figure among the Ars Goetia... struggling to balance his twisted desires with his family/royalty responsibilities. Often getting lost in his own head to focus on anyone but his personal joy/fantasies-

...but at the same time, not too far gone that he can't reel it back in-time to eventually realize his mistakes, and try to do whatever he can to fix it (no matter how successful or not those attempts be-):

It was unique, compelling and overall made Stolas an entertaining character from the initial HB pilot to the end of S1. Making me super intrigued of how this crooked, broken bird could eventually grow and learn from all that happened into S2...

...aaaaand then "The Circus" & onwards just... idk, decided to do away with all that to make Stolas more like an innocent, pure-natured soul all along... who never meant to come off like a selfish jerk 'cause he's just soooo lonely & sad, having the sweetest of intentions all along~ 🥺🥺

and its like... usually I don't mind giving sympathetic/tragic backstories to explain why they behave the way they do in the present-day... but with how S2's been framing things with Stolas atm, any and all mistakes he's pulled in the past has become the fault of other people's doing?

Stolas & Stella having a cold, loveless marriage that ended in him getting caught cheating (+Stella hiring a hit on him because of said cheating)? ...Well then clearly thats all Stella's fault for being a raging harpy from birth, so bitch got what she deserved when he dumped her ass, haha~

Stolas having a demeaning, belittling view on Imps (even around Blitz a few times in S1)? ...Well then that clearly was just the fault of his eeeevil dad Paimon, pushing the idea in his son's head from his kid years (who was so pure at heart enough that he wanted to bow to Blitz, when they met, awww~).

Stolas not being the most attentive father to Octavia, ignoring her feelings over & over? ...Well then clearly thats all on Via for not being grateful for the big, noble sacrifices Stolas put into loving her (esp as she apparently only exists to be a “precautionary heir” from his toxic marriage), and the fact that he's trying should be enough to forgive all his faults as the best dad ever~

Stolas being a pushy creep towards Blitz during their S1 dynamic, stepping over boundaries despite Blitz's clear discomfort? ...Well then that's clearly all on Blitz for being the one who put the moves on Stolas first, who was just a flustered bean from the start wanting to reconnect with his old buddy & gained true feelings overtime... why can't Blitz see how much Stolas loooooves him~? :ccc

...Aaaaand yeah, idk about yall but ehhhhh- I just couldn't really get into that angle the more I watched S2 :/. Not to say that Stolas’ last couple appearances were bad, per-say ('cause I did find his sassiness to Striker while kidnapped + his reading-enthusiasm with Ozzie's contract pretty funny)... buuut to make a long story short:

Shady, morally gray Stolas who needs to work on himself >>>>> Sad baby boi Stolas who did nothing wrong ever

[thenewfuture]

Touko, again with this?

We’ve been over this, Kebi has helped us out multiple times today! Will you quit suspecting him already?!

Don’t be dumb, Komaru. There’s still a lot more we don’t know about this thing. And I won’t lower my guard until I get all the answers I need...!

So tell us something, “Kebi”, i-if that is your real name: why were thrown out? Where is Monaca? What do you know?

.............

*Kwuuwiirrr...*

*Fwwoooonnn...*

Huh?!

TH-this is...!

*Kebi’s eyes glow blue and displays a projection. The projection is in the shape of a square, and is listed a year before the attack on Towa City...*

----------------------------------------

*The screen is dark, but a similar voice can be heard on it...*

???: Okay, let’s seeeeee.....aaaaand turn on!

*The screen now shows a room befiiting a child, it looks to be from Kebi’s point of view, then someone appears on it*

Aha! It worked!

------------------------------------

Monaca...

-----------------------------------

Hellooooooo!~ My name is Monaca, and I am your master. Your creator.

Kebi: Oowwooohh?

Mhmm, mhmm, mhmmm. You seem to be responding well to voices, and curious to your surroundings, as expected.

This is mainly a test run, we’ll experiment a bunch and see how you react to certain stimulations and tasks just to make sure you’re working properly. Do you understand?

Kebi: ...........

*tumble* *It seems Kebi has rolled upside down*

Heeeheehee!~ You really are cute! Like the character from Monaca’s favorite game!

I should give you a name, huh? Uuuuuummmmmmmmm.......

Names were neevr Monaca’ strong suit, so we’ll just skip that for now and get to later...eventually....

*zzzzzzzzrrrrttttt*

*The screen goes to black...*

----------------------------------

Kebi......

.....?

------------------------------------

*Another recording comes up, this one dated a few days after the first one*

Fuel substitute experiment number one.

Okay! Eat that garbage.

Kebi: Blllaaarrgghh!

*Kebi aimed towards a pile of garbage bags, and uses his tongues to devour it*

All right. Now spit in this plane

Kebi: Blaaarrgghhh.

*Kebi spits his usual slime into a toy plane using a cone...*

*Whoosh!* *She throws it, and it starts flying perfectly on its own*

Yes! It works! You did it! Monaca is so happy! *She hugs him*

Kebi: Eeeehhh...bluurrgghh.

EWWWWWWWW!!! You got your slime barf on me!

Kebi: ...?

Bad, bad! Turn off!

*Zwoop!*

*The screen goes black again...*

*Another recording comes up...*

Monaca is sorry about the other day. You were just doing as you were told and got really happy about, that’s all.

Still doesn’t make it any less gross....

Kebi: ...................

Tell you what, let’s experiment again today, okay? Would you like that?

Kebi: *nods*

Perfect! Boop!

*Crash, bang, bam, bang, bang*

*Kebi is pushed down a flight of stairs* *A moment later, he walks back up it as if nothing happened*

Woooow! You don’t show any anger or resentment towards your creator! That’s impressive loyalty there. Waaaay better than Monaca’s classmates.

Let’s see how far we can push this. Boop!

*Kebi is once again pushed down the stairs again*

*Zzzzzrrttt!* *The screen goes black...*

........

*Another recording plays...*

???: Aaaaaaaahhh! What is that?!

???: It’s so freaky looking!

Kebi: Awwwoooh?

Monaca: Hey! What are you doing here!?

You’re not supposed to follow me to school! Bad, very bad!

Teacher: This is your....toy, Monaca?

Yes. Monaca’s so, so sorry. Can you forgive Monaca, pweeeeeaaase?

Teacher: Hmmmm....it hasn’t done anything bad per se, but I will have to inform your father about this

I understand, I suppose it can’t be helped.

As for you, turn off!

*Zzzzzrrrtttt!* *The screen goes black...*

........

*Another recording plays...*

Haiji: You should be grateful we even let you anywhere near our robotics department. What happens if our reputation goes down because of it!?

Big brother! You’re turning this into a much bigger deal than it actually is! Can’t you just forgive Monaca?

Haiji: You are NOT my little sister! So stop calling me that, you brat!

Ow, ow owwww! Y-You’re pulling my hair rougher than usual!

Kebi: !!!

Toukichi: Now Monaca, this is what happens when you get out of line. Just accept your punsihment and everything will be-Hmm?

Kebi: Grrrrr!

Toukichi: Wh-what is that?!

Haiji: Oh, is this that damn little toy of yours that got you in trouble at school today? Pretty ugly, just like it’s creator!

Kebi: Rrrrrrr! Raaaggghh!

Haiji: Agh! Wh-what the fuck!?

*Kebi jumps at Haiji’s face and starts attacking*

Oh wow! It has an innate desire to protect its creator. I didn’t anticipate that.

Toukichi: M-Monaca! You shut that thing off this instant, or else you’ll be in even more trouble!

OW OW OW OWW OWWWW! P-papa, please!

Kebi: Grrrrrr!

No, no, no! Turn off!

*Zzzzzrrrtttt!* *The screen goes black...*

..........

*Another recording plays...*

You know, I talked to Big Sis Junko today, and we came to an agreement.

I tried really, I tried to advocate for your to be the face of the robots that she uses in her plans, but......eh it’s just not working out.

With the way the Monokumas are coming along, much more easier to produce and their efficiency, there really is really no room for you in this plan. And with the electric cars, no one really needs a fuel substitute anymore. It’s just not working out anymore...

Kebi: ...................

*Kebi grabbed a few balls and starts juggling*

Meh, see even that’s getting old. You’re not as cute as when I first thought of you.

It’s not me, it’s you. I’m really sorry. Turn off.

*Zzzzzzrrrttt*

*The recordings come at a pace...*

Now we just have to-

Huh? Did you turn yourself on again? How annoying. Turn off!

*Zzzzrrtttt!*

Urrrgh! Go away. Turn off!

*Zzzzzrrttt!*

Turn! Off!

*Zzzzzrrtttt!*

I HATE YOU! WHY DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AST THAT! TURN! OFF!

*Zzzzzzzrrrtttt!*

....................

*This next recording is dated a day before the attack on Towa City...*

Hmmmm...welp, you sure are persistent...

I try and try again to get rid if you, but you just keep on coming back.

Kebi: ..............

Since you’re so committed; we’re going to play one more game!

The game is: you stay here in this room, and don’t move from this stop until I come get you okay?

If you do this, I’ll give you a biiiiiiiiiig reward! Sounds good?

Kebi: .................

Ah ah ah, no no no! Don’t go to your charging pad. Stay right there, on that spot!

It’s an order from your creator, and you don’t want to disappoint an order from your creator, riiiiiiiight?!~

Kebi: .................... *nods*

Yaaaaaaay!~ Okay, stay right there, I’ll be back!

*close!*

..............

..........................

.........................................

*The recordning fast forwards....as hours pass....then days.....then months....*

{LOW BATTERY! LOW BATTERY!} {POWER OFF!}

*Beeeoooopppp....*

..........

..................

........................

*The next recording is dated yesterday...*

{EMERGENCY BACK UP POWER ON!}

*creeeeaaak*

............

......?

Monaca: Yeah just throw everything out in there. I don’t want it anyway, it’s no good to me.

.........

{EMERGENCY POWER LOW! SHUTTING DOWN!}

*Beeeeeoooooopppp!*

--------------------------------

.....................

----------------------------

*Zrrrrtttt!*

*One last recording plays, dated....today...*

Touko: Oh well, too bad. Looks like we better leave while-

*whir* *whirrrrrr* *zoooooop!*

Touko: O-Oh shit!

Komaru: Ah!

Kebi: .................

Um, uh....hello.....

*Zwooop!* *The projections turn off*

------------------------------

...................

[ellynneversweet]

Aaaaand I’m done.

Okay. I’ll say that I liked this the best out of all the Bridgerton offerings so far: it made a genuine attempt to engage with the absolute nonsense Romancelandia setting rules already established in this universe and turn them into something cohesive. It almost works.

Everyone had real problems (except for Violet, who was just sort of…there) that weren’t things that could just be resolved if they would just talk out a stupid misunderstanding. Charlotte and George’s romance is genuinely unusual and quite touching, especially in its later stages. Lady Danbury as the fantasy version of an unhappily married woman turned wealthy independent widow is delightful. I like that they didn’t (by romance standards) sugarcoat the level of control a woman’s relatives and husband had over her life, or how precarious life without a good protector was. Some of the ways in which this was spelled out to the female characters (and thus, the audience) was a bit clumsy — this is their native culture, after all. They can and certainly should react to it in a variety of ways, but surprise at the degree of legal confinement they’re subject to comes across as stupidity, often.

Some of the costumes were hideous, some were great. Late baroque suits the brocade and ruffles bullshit of the Bridgerton Style Guide much better than the regency does. No one knows what to do with hats, but I really enjoyed the ladies in tricorns we got. (I love a good tricorn.) And there were some beautiful bergeres, which are another fave of mine.

It offers a cohesive explanation for why Charlotte is dressed in styles from twenty years ago, because she’s emotionally arrested in that era. It doesn’t make me forgive the lack of regency court dress in the Bridgerton-family centric seasons, because I desperately want to see that on screen. I actually think it could work. I know everyone hated it and the fashion plates of the era look a bit silly, but the silhouette is not dissimilar to a hanbok, if you squint? It could be done. And I bet those dresses could even be reworked to be regular going out dresses. If the panniers only added width to the sides, all you’d really have to do is re-sew the side seams into straight lines.

Violet should have been cut from this, frankly. George needed more screen time outside of Charlotte and his never ending leeches and ice baths. He’s an interesting character and the actors who played him were both genuinely good. We needed more sane George, because mad George is necessarily shown at an emotional remove from his thoughts and emotions. I’m not sure if having him be unstable so early was decided as a plan to explain away why Prinny isn’t a character in the main series and why Charlotte is so very prominent as the effective regent.

Also, we could have done with less horrible sex scenes between the Danburys. Once or twice, fine, but the rest could be easily telegraphed through Agatha’s post-rape bath and bitch sessions.

Um. I loved Reynolds, as I’ve said, and I’m sorry we didn’t get mature Reynolds in George’s household. I liked the variety of relationships shown. I don’t love how cold mature Charlotte is towards Brimsley — it seems horrible and disconnected from their early friendship. I don’t appreciate the way the narrative role Brimsley and Reynolds played necessarily cut out the existence and importance of ladies in waiting (and courtiers more generally). That annoys me, in a show that so heavily centres the lives of women. Lady Danbury’s relationship with Coral was good, though.

Edit: oh, and the timeline and travel distances involved made absolutely no sense at all. They all have magical tardis carriages. I nearly lost my mind when Reynolds complained about ‘riding all the way here’ when Brimsley had been using that same route as the walk for a small puppy every day. And, of course, the whole invitations for a royal wedding that starts in three hours thing.

Anyway. Scream away at me if you have thoughts.

[thestupidhelmet]

That ‘90s Show Reviews

“Lip Smackers”

Three episodes into That ‘90s Show, and I don’t get a That ‘70s Show feeling from it at all despite Red and Kitty’s strong presence and other recognizable elements. Mentally and emotionally, it’s a bit discombobulating for me. I watched T7S when it originally aired. And for the last thirteen years, I’ve been steeped in the T7S fandom, analyzing the show, talking about it with fellow fans, writing millions of words of fanfic, and drawing thousands of comics. T9S doesn’t have the same flavor (in a metaphorical sense) as T7S despite what it’s inherited and taken from T7S. That being said, I’m overall enjoying That ‘90s Show as its own thing and getting more Red-and-Kitty content, but aspects of T9S—beyond how it doesn’t fit in T7S’s universe—are throwing me off.

--Fez #6 is CAMPY. Which is not an issue in and of itself. But Fez isn’t campy on T7S. He’s a fish out of water (in all versions but T7S season 8, where his main personality traits morphed into sexism and womanizing). At least he’s holding a Tootsie Roll in his salon commercia and says, “I said good day,” which are nods to T7S!Fez. --Oz getting stuck in Nate and Nikki’s make-out gave me a laugh. --Finally, some real Oz content and background. Some, but I’d like to know what his friendships are like with the other characters. Go deeper, show. What connects Oz to them? What connects them to Oz? Why do they care about one another? What’s their history? (Yes, it’s only episode three. But I do hope these questions are answered by the first half of the season.) --I’d also like to know more about Nikki, but the force of her personality is very strong. We get a lot simply from her actress’s performance. Great casting, imo. --I am happy that T9S decided to stick with T7S S1-S7’s ongoing joke of us never learning where Fez is from. Another part of T7S season 8 has been erased … from existence (well, the T9S universe). I would like to know what Kitty said while her voice was drowned out, lol. --Aaaaand a meld of T7S S7-S8 Fez season is in the house. --Fez and Kitty’s conversation in Fez’s salon reminds me of their dynamic in season 8. Fez being rich and successful—no problem with that. How, though … the salon … and the fact T7S season 8 ended with Jackie sweeping at the salon Fez worked at in order to “humble her” (since the S8 showrunners hated her character with more than a touch of misogyny). I’m glad for Jackie that S8, as well as T9S, are on-screen AUs and not canon. By their very nature, they can’t be canon since real!Jackie would never make the choices she makes in those AUs. --When describing Sherri, Fez says he “hasn’t felt this way about a girl since Jackie.” Kitty asks what happened between him and Jackie. Real World Explanation: The actors who played Jackie and Kelso got married, and the people behind T9S wanted to capitalize on that. That ‘90s Show’s Explanation: Jackie left Fez for Kelso. Simple. What we all thought. But, really, Fez was heartbroken over her for fifteen years? Uh, no. (Of course, they never actually dated in the canon T7S universe, so none of this is real. Moving on … for now?) --Kitty gets turned on by Fez for a moment. Just like she, er, appreciated Kelso’s body in That ‘90s Show after he hugged her. For “the laughs”. Not fidelity to character. (Reminds me a bit of the T7S parody porn. I saw the version with all the sex parts cut out (thankfully). But these Kitty-is-attracted-to-her-surrogate-kids-now-that-they’re-adults moments are beyond cringey. They’re squicky. --Leia’s awkwardness trying to get her first kiss at the mall reminds me of Eric. --Jay Kelso has been characterized as a man-whore by Oz and Gwen. --Fez got his MOM on the phone, according to Sherri. (Man, my T7S brain and my T9S-as-a-canon-divergent-AU brain are clashing. There are answers to questions I wish T7S had given us and never did, but T9S’s answers don’t fit with T7S’s universe). --Red in the massage chair is hilarious. He doesn’t need a circle. He just needs a chair from Sharper Image. The fact he asks if he and Kitty should get a cat tells us he is out of his mind, lmao. (He hates cats.) --Jay and Leia’s scene on the car. Depth for Jay (yay). --Oh, man. Fez made a sex joke about Kitty (but he did that on T7S, so that’s nothing new). --Fez being shocked about Sherri being in her forties and saying, that he “really dodged a bullet there,” is season-8!Fez all over. Real!Fez loves them big, loves them small; he loves them all (that applies to age, too—legal age).And his reaction to Sherri having kids, he’d be more like Gus on Psych, wanting to become insta!Dad to them, not scared off. --Gwen [frustrated] to Leia, “You dork! I’ve been telling you how all along how awesome you are, but it took some guy to say that for it all to sink in.” A lot of Gwen and Leia’s interactions and dialogue so far can reasonably be interpreted as having romantic subtext (despite that this is not the writers’ intentions). --Glad Oz’s boyfriend is real.   --Final thoughts on T9S!Fez as depicted in this episode: he is cobbled-together mess of characterization. It’s all over the place. While he is recognizable as Fez, I don’t truly know or understand who that Fez is. It’s vague, nebulous, and ungrounded.

[starsdreaming]

and because all the above never ever shuts off, i quite literally cant hear myself think. I have no idea what my thoughts are because everything else is taken up with noticing how the lights play over my damn pens and also highlight the dust on my frickin computer screen and that the fan is going but i need it to keep going so I'm not swealtering while sitting at my desk and my shirt feels different but its not bad but its obviously not one i wear often and OH MY GOD MY FOOT IS SO FUCKING ASLEEP and for fuck's sake can i stop fucking sniffling already aaaaand there's the mucus sliding down the back of my throat and hey! Can anyone else hear the fricken power outlets? That hum is driving me crazy how can you not hear that?!

I have absolutely sat and stared and had a metaphorical dial tone going on where my thoughts are because of all the above. You try making

"How can you forget sticky notes, they're right on your desk! Right in front of you! Are you a toddler with no concept of object permanence?"

No I'm just ADHD and the Brain Noises are at such a constant cacophony it's like there's a 500 player orchestra constantly playing and each instrument is playing a different songs at the same time in my head that I most importantly can't shut off.

Try remembering a sticky note exists when the trumpets are blasting star wars, the violins are playing never gonna give you up, the flutes are playing livin la vida loca and the drums think they're a christmas marching band.

"Surely it's not that much input!"

I am at my desk in my bedroom right now. I hear my parents talking in the other room, my cat snoring behind me, the water was turned on and off in the kitchen, the fan is running, the ac is on, there's shuffling of slippers, I can smell my candle, I heard a car go by, the computer is buzzing and it's fan is running, I can hear the fishtank in the other room because my bedroom door is open. The clicking of the keyboard is satisfying but loud. I look up and see everything on my desk. I taste the hot coco i just ate, I hear the fridge beeping, I heard my stomach make a Noise, my over the ear headphones make a soft shhhh sound wqhen they're not playing music, my tinnitus rings constantly, my neck crackled when I looked to the left.

That input DOESN'T SHUT OFF.

Y'all with executives that can function? They're in a nice quiet boardroom with pretty windows and a quiet meeting.

MY executives are forest critters in ties and glasses meeting in the Denny's parking lot at 4am to go over peanut butter recipes and that song we heard when we were 8 and can't EVER let go. What important stuff happened today? I dunno, the raccoon disguised as the board meeting leader ATE the file.

[neodoodles24]

Aaaaand its all over my screen

[e17omm]

Ranting about Natlan part 2 (act 2)! Whohooooo god I am dying from heat.

Its actually not all negative this time. Its less just ranting and more thoughts of the Archon quest.

I ramble at the lack of stakes or tension at the end. That part's actually me venting frustrations.

TL:DR; quest is disappointing because it could have gone in a very fresh and tense direction but it doesnt because this is 2024 Hoyo.

Music is chill nice vacation music.

Conversation is about the country's constant war with a cunning immaterial enemy that has been fighting them for 500 years.

Nice to see that Hoyo completely succeeds at tone. (Sarcastic)

2. PREDICTION TIME! Kachina is actually gonna stay dead because the resurrection thing is gonna fail and Im meant to feel sad because this character that speedran her character arc in 1 hour and that I've only known for that hour is dead.

3. Traveller casually knows the song????

4. what a surprise! Kachina is (supposedly) dead. My money's on that she was captured or is hiding or something.

She "died" off-screen and Ive known her for an hour. Come on.

5. Oh? We're gonna investigate with the Archon, Mondstadt style? Im game.

I still dont care about Kachina, because again, Ive barely met her. But investigating with the Archon has been a while. I welcome it.

6. Damn, Mauvika just beat the shit out of him. The fight did turn into flying anime line battle, but the music was jamming.

7. aaah damn we arent gonna be investigating with the Archon. Shame. That would've been fun.

8. Did the Pyro Archon legit just send us to go to the Night Kingdom with a stone we can only use if one guy happens to be at the settlement at the time and we can find these fetch quest items he needs?

Who wrote this script? The Archon talked as if she had a way to go to the Night place and she doesnt? ANd now we are on a fetch quest to eat up time? Come on.

9. EVERYONE has sob stories in Natlan jesus christ.

I just wanna clarify that theres nothing wrong with sobstories in themselves, but they wont make me care about a character unless it actually matters to the story.

10. Man I hoped they would be pissed that we broke the thingy. Fucking Hell Hoyo games needs to have character conflict brought back.

11. oh we are going with the Archon... Oh yeah nevermind ignore point 8. I write these points as Im playing.

12. Oh I almost forgot, but yeah Kachina is alive. No surprise there.

13. Pyro Archon is a bitchass mf. Venti can barely fight and he still traveled with us. You can fight and you're not coming with us? Lame. (Im being half serious here)

14. This friendship and fighting with my friends arc feels incredibly cheap. Probably because its been 4 hours long.

15. and we ALMOST had an incredibly interesting plot direction.

Almost.

Hoyo keeps doing these fakeouts that I am actually yawning. Unironically, Im yawning. Whenever anything doesnt go to plan something always saves us. This happens in every one of their Honkaiverse games now. You can do a fakeout here and there, but not every time.

I hope someone understands my boredom with this. I lean back in my chair and go "and SURELY no one will burst in and save us from being trapped in the Abyss for more than 5 seconds, aaaaand there's the Pyro Archon. (yawn)" because it has happened so many consecuative times by now that its not tense or exciting any more.

16. I feel like Natlan would've been such a good story if we didnt JUST arrive here. It feels like there is a lot of sentimentality here, but I dont get invested in flashbacks and sob stories.

17. People claiming that the Traveler is just a spectator so its fine if they dont get stronger or have a character are sure is quiet after this quest.

This quest was pretty disappointing. Again, repeating myself over and over, but Natlan's biggest issue is that its the 6th region and Hoyo's baits never land so I've stopped grabbing at them.

You know what would have been a plot development that would have rekindled the fire of excitement inside of me? If we ACTUALLY got trapped in the Abyss, instead of having another bait of literally anything bad happening to anyone ever.

Can you imagine the plot if we got trapped in the Abyss for an extended period of time and had to survive and scavange for things to eat while trying to retain our sanity as we search for a way out?

Wouldn't that be fresh and exciting and something we haven't seen before?

But that would be something bad happening to our characters and we cant have that! No no boys and girls, nothing bad ever happens to the heroes! But we will sure keep baiting that it will happen! Are you still nibbing at the baits? Are you still worried for them? We will never actually do it but we will keep casting baits!

I want to be proven wrong so fucking badly you dont understand. Hoyo used to write stories I actually got invested in because at any moment, with a few wrong moves, something bad could happen to the characters. Not even death! In the [Seele] cinematic, Bronya could have been trapped in the Sea of Quanta and Seele would have had to go back in to pull her out (which is what she does, but it could have been a 1-chapter arc if Hoyo wanted to). But moments like that never happens any more.

We could have been trapped in the Abyss for an extended period of time before Mauvika found and rescued us and everyone could have escaped with their lives!

But NO! Instead we find Kachina right away, solve a small part of the problem, get baited with being trapped there before instantly being rescued and Kachina gets treated right away and SHES PERFECTLY FINE. THEY BAITED HER DEATH EARLIER TOO.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY IM NOT FUCKING WORRIED ABOUT ANYONES LIVES?!

IF THERE WAS ANY CONSEQUENCE AND ANY STAKES AT ALL KACHINA WOULD AT LEAST HAVE BEEN AFFECTED FOR A FEW DAYS BUT NO, SHES PERFECTLY FINE.

WHY SHSOAJD =IA^SPE DHUja9o'

Why should I care when the result is ALWAYS that everyone is perfectly fine and happy?

No one would have even needed to die or been permanently injured. But we get saved instantly.

Where's the tension and stakes supposed to be?

[chrismcshell]

i feel like a Bad SJW(tm) for going to see it when i couldve seen black panther instead but uuuuuh the greatest showman is an extremely enjoyable movie & we're already making plans to see it a second time so that mom and i get to experience it again & sister gets to see it with us