#and i have to get through this version first... yikes tm

[herearedragons]

3, 5, 6, 13, 23 from the video game asks! :)

Thanks for the ask!

video game questions

3. 1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

the first Pillars of Eternity game (as evident by how much I've been posting about it) is still great and I 100% recommend it, it is darker fantasy than Dragon Age and there are a couple of Yikes Moments close to the beginning, but you WILL love at least one of your party members and the writing is pretty great. also a lot of its soundtrack was used in season 2 of Critical Role, and there is significant vibe/theme overlap, so if you enjoyed that season you'll probably like something about POE1 (also there are a lot of voices from the cr cast in the game itself. Matt Mercer notoriously voices two(2) of your best friends party members)

Dragon Age: Origins! The OG. The reason I'm even on this website. I had a pretty major reset when I realized that I accidentally locked myself out of Zevran's romance and now I have to do the Sacred Ashes quest again, but once I get through it things will get fun again. I've had a lot of fun writing Kyana meta based on this playthrough earlier this year, and I'm sure I'll have more things to say when I GET OUT OF THAT TEMPLE

I started playing The Sims 4 between writing sessions during NaNo. I made an off-brand Evelyn and another household based on two very old OCs, and I was really invested in them for a while (to the point of considering making fanart of the second household). I stopped playing at some point, but I think that, like Stardew Valley, this is going to be a fun thing to come back to every once in a while.

(the first answer was already very long so I'm putting the rest under the cut)

5. Game(s) coming out that you’re looking forward to

I played the demo for GLITCHED: The RPG a couple of years ago and it's been on my Steam wishlist even since. I don't actually know what's going on with the game (I think it was announced that it would come out in 2023 and then it didn't?), but I really hope that it will come out eventually because the demo is A Lot of my favorite things packed into one game. Like, honestly, even if the game won't be out for a while, I think that the demo itself is a really fun experience.

also, despite everything surrounding Dreadwolf, I'm definitely looking forward to it! though somewhat concerned about actually running the game because I Do Not Think my laptop will be able to handle it.

6. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

.........I mean, this is very much a Dragon Age blog. DA:O was one of my first RPGs (Skyrim was the other) and Here We Are all those years later

13. Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

I haven't actually played it yet, but Challenging A Queen from Stray Gods. I'm definitely going to play it, though, because this is another game that looks like it was made personally For Me. and this song absolutely rules (my favorite version is the first one they played in this video)

23. A “Wow” moment of awe

...technically I didn't play this one either, but I watched a full playthrough of Wandersong on youtube, and the final song sequence I can't really talk about without spoiling everything was. very. Emotional(TM)

also for a more somber kind of awe, I really like the ambience in Emprise du Lion in DA:I and the White March DLC's entire deal in Pillars of Eternity. in both cases the environment made me just kind of pause for a second and take it all in (actually, adding to the song thing, the Abydon's Shell soundtrack from The White March is haunting)

[cipheramnesia]

I've always wanted to like horror. I always try to get into it? I've had friends all through life that love horror, especially movies. But i end up loving the time i spend watching it with friends more than I've ever enjoyed the content itself. And like i feel like I'm somehow failing to see it the way large parts of the population like yourself do? But i don't know how to enjoy the medium?

The hurtles I've identified so far are that when there's ableism involved i tend to check out fully. That's been a dead end. And when there's painfully illogical choices by the main characters (the ones that the audience are encouraged to connect with). I get it's a useful tool for plot and moving the story along, but any emotional connection that was built there is like nullified? Idk. Not sure how to see what other people see cuz it looks like fun for y'all

Got any advice?

First I'd say - maybe horror just isn't your thing? I love it, I don't expect everyone to love. I barely expect anyone that likes horror to like anything at all similar to what I like. It's a damn slog for me to find new horror I enjoy, even among the horror fandom, because so many of them want it all to be Insidious or Saw or whatever - which is fine but not interesting to me.

Ableism is a deep dive I need to spend time on, but short answer is - I haven't got a good answer here other than maybe steer clear of the "slasher" sub-genre where it seems most rampant.

I think the main item I want to dig into is whether or not horror in general is uniquely poor with ableism, or is it consistent with other media and singled out for other reasons. I have a suspicion that it's the latter, purely on the basis that it's common in generalizations like "horror has an ableism problem" where the reality is "society at large has an ableism problem" that the problem of the former is a reflection of the latter, rather than innate to the former.

But I don't know, Jason is a horror icon and earliest versions ain't too pretty from that perspective. Hard to equate the latter versions with ableism on accounta he is essentially a supernatural entity after a certain point and whatever, you get the idea. It's all complicated and takes time to unravel. However, all that to the side, it may help to consider if those movies in some way reflect something uniquely bad, or if it's instead more upsetting due to horror characters generally existing in upsetting or disturbing situations. Both can be true on a case by case basis - like the infamous "black guy dies first" problem, which STILL HAPPENS somehow even though it's a problem so widely known that it's cliche even as satire. I have some thoughts about that I'll write up sometime as well.

I'm thinking a way to approach it may be via Franklin, the wheelchair using character of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, who I believe is meant to illustrate the poor way disability is treated, confronting the audience with their own biases. That's a whole other long essay that needs a good deal more work. But I notice it, oh boy do I, especially in the beloved "80s movies," yikes. I enjoy much about them, but there was some... stuff.

Now, characters making stupid decisions I mean... that's just movies. That is literally all movies, characters make stupid decisions. I can't say that makes it better, but I can promise you the average bad character decision per horror, science fiction, Disney(tm), drama, romance, etc etc movie is going to average the same. On the other hand, if this happens in almost all the movies your friends watch, they might just have bad taste in horror.

The takeaway here is getting into horror is something you're probably gonna have to work at if you really want to make it happen. Check out reviews, trusted sources, see if you can find some novels or shows or movies that handle those specific issues well. You may find some trusted artists you can go to more consistently but it's probably going to require some screening. And then also - again - if you don't like horror, that's not a failing or bad or anything to stress over. Some people just don't like certain stuff. No big, live and learn, other fish in the sea, different strokes, all that jazz.

[wutms]

﹤𝙾𝙷  𝚂𝙴𝙷𝚄𝙽  ,  𝙷𝙴  /  𝙷𝙸𝙼  ,  𝙲𝙸𝚂  𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙴﹥;  *  -  hello  nate  wu.  long  time  no  see.  i  know  a  lot  about  you.  like  how  you're  twenty-three,  how  you're  a  business/film  double  major,    and  in  fact..  how  you  threw  a  party  where  your  co-star  and  best  friend  overdosed  but  you  never  called  the  police  ,  which  would  ruin  your  career  .  would  be  a  shame  if  it  got  out,  wouldn't  it  ?  so  let's  play  a  game.  𝚃𝚁𝚄𝚃𝙷  𝙾𝚁  𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙴  ?

hi  ,  it's  dani  ...  back  again  and  tell  a  friend  .  hopefully  this  muse  won't  be  a  flop  .    i  have  him  more  fleshed  out  than  i  did  bee  so  maybe  …  just  maybe  ,  this  is  going  to  go  well  .  anyways  ,  below  the  cut  you  can  find  more  info  about  him  .  i  have  his  pinterest  here  and  that  has  a  lot  of  fancy  black  and  white  inspiration  .  

but  anyways  …  so  first  off  ,  nate  is  a  recycled  muse  .  but  i’ve  never  played  him  like  this  before  so  i’m  really  excited  .  

so  nate  was  born  to  like  …  two  extremely  loving  parents  .  like  ??  they  adored  him  .  but  it  was  only  because  he  was  the  cutest  baby  in  the  whole  world  .  his  mother  was  a  famous  actress  and  she  kinda  ??  resented  giving  birth  .  especially  since  she  was  at  the  peak  of  her  career  .  and  to  give  birth  to  her  first  child  while  she  was  in  her  early  twenties  essentially  led  her  career  to  a  plateau  .  and  his  father  is  the  heir  to  a  conglomerate  that  spans  back  three  generations  –make-up  and  clothing  primarily  .    but  anyways  ,  their  marriage  was  honestly  …  just  because  mi-seon  ended  up  knocked  up  …  yikes  …  

and  when  nate  was  born  ??  his  parents  were  hopeful  .  they  were  like  …  wow  ,  maybe  we  can  get  back  to  our  normal  lives  …  get  a  divorce  .  but  nate’s  grandparents  wouldn’t  allow  it  .  so  mi-seon  ,  nate’s  mother  ,  kinda  threw  herself  into  mothering  him  .  and  she  decided  that  the  best  way  to  do  that  and  revamp  her  career  would  be  to  take  him  with  her  .  

 of  course  ,  his  father  –  sun  –  woo  –  was  more  than  a  little  hesitant  about  that  idea  .  because  a.  )  he’s  a  misogynistic  pig  and  because  of  that  ,  he  thought  that  obviously  …  he  should  be  training  his  son  to  be  a  mini  version  of  himself  .  but  after  one  screaming  match  where  mi  –  seon  (  not  so  tactfully  )  pointed  out  that  he  had  been  having  an  affair  with  his  assistant  and  that  she  could  go  to  the  press  with  that  knowledge  ,  it  was  determined  that  nate  could  go  with  his  mother  and  establish  an  acting  career  .  

i  won’t  bore  you  with  the  details  .  but  basically  …  nate  ended  up  snagging  the  role  of  a  lifetime  .  as  a  comparison  ,  think  of  it  as  like  …  an  almost  harry  potter  like  role  .  where  he’d  age  with  the  character  and  grow  at  the  same  time  .  but  the  only  problem  with  that  was  …  his  father  was  furious  .  because  his  son’s  acting  was  only  supposed  to  be  a  phase  .  however  ,  it  managed  to  help  completely  relaunch  his  mother’s  career  and  start  his  .

 for  the  most  part    ,  nate  really  fucking  loved  filming  the  movies  .  he  was  a  cute  kid  and  he  knew  it  .  and  he  loved  being  told  that  he  was  cute  .  so,  to  have  people  stare  at  him  whenever  he  was  in  a  room  …  phew  ,  he  has  a  big  ass  head  .  he  was  a  natural  too  .  there  was  something  about  being  on  camera  ,  about  pretending  …  it  came  as  easy  as  breathing  .  (  which  has  transferred  over  today  –  nate  makes  it  through  his  life  by  pretending  and  it’s  …  sad  .  because  it  means  that  he’s  never  really  formed  emotional  connections  aside  from  his  parents  .  )  

but  anyways  ,  sun  –  woo  was  not  pleased  .  his  son  was  starting  to  take  way  too  much  after  his  mother  .  and  he  would  constantly  berate  him  about  his  masculinity  and  belittle  him  whenever  he  saw  him  .  and  nate  is  a  TOTAL  mama’s  boy  .  like  he  loves  his  mother  .  thinks  she’s  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world  .  and  to  have  to  come  home  and  listen  to  his  parents  fight  while  being  unable  to  divorce  …  w  as  the  absolute  worst  .  

 so  as  he  got  older  ….  well  ,  nate  found  …  a  lot  of  reasons  to  stop  coming  home  .  with  filming  in  a  different  location  ,  he  was  able  to  convince  his  parents  that  he  was  able  to  take  care  of  himself  .  and  that’s  what  he  did  .  as  a  result  ,  nate  is  very  neat  and  tidy  because  he  spent  like  five  years  alone  .  and  because  he  was  alone  ,  nate  started  to  act  out  .  

he  was  in  those  trashy  tabloids  every  other  week  with  a  new  girl  on  his  arm  .  and  it  was  ??  because  he  really  couldn’t  sleep  alone  .  and  he  didn’t  want  to  sleep  alone  .  plus  ,  all  of  the  emotional  abuse  from  his  dad  had  started  to  take  a  toll  and  he  ...  was  trying  to  prove  that  he  was  EXTRA  masculine  .  and  he’s  still  convinced  that  he  ain’t  shit  …  but  that’s  a  story  for  another  time  .  but  because  of  the  fact  that  he  had  all  these  issues  going  on  at  home  (  his  father  still  cheating  on  his  mother  and  his  mother  …  literally  kinda  just  taking  it  –  which  he  hated  )  ,  he  loved  to  go  out  and  party  .

and  it  was  at  one  of  these  parties  that  shit  went  deeply  wrong  .  anyways  ,  nate  is  a  coward  .  and  after  hosting  a  party  where  everyone  had  access  to  so  many  drugs  and  everything  …  he  found  his  best  friend  passed  out  in  the  bathroom  .  but  since  they  were  all  seventeen  and  underaged  ,  he  was  really  scared  that  he’d  get  in  trouble  …  so  he  just  …  didn’t  do  anything  .  luckily  ,  his  friend  survived  because  someone  else  called  the  police  and  got  an  ambulance  to  the  place  .  but  his  parents  got  furious  when  they  found  out  about  the  party  .  like  absolutely  furious  .  and  they  told  him  that  he  had  to  get  his  act  together  .  

but  …  he  didn’t  .  he  kinda  just  spiraled  deeper  into  like  ??  this  depression  that  was  overwhelming  .  like  ??  he  couldn’t  believe  that  he  was  that  shitty  .  but  he  also  could  .  because  that’s  what  he’d  been  hearing  for  the  longest  time  .  but  finally  …  when  he  was  nineteen  ,  his  dad  made  him  come  back  to  the  states  .  

nate  had  been  blowing  through  some  money  .  and  his  dad  threatened  to  cut  him  off  unless  he  went  to  college  and  got  a  business  degree  .  (  nate  had  his  own  money  but  his  mother  begged  him  to  do  it  and  he’s  a  little  bitch  for  his  mom  .  even  though  he  doesn’t  know  why  she  stays  with  his  dad  .  )  so  nate  came  back  and  enrolled  in  uva  .  and  that’s  where  he’s  been  this  whole  time  .  

anyways  …  personality  wise  …  he’s  pretty  loyal  and  he  loves  ??  to  seduce  people  .  but  he  can’t  commit  because  he  doesn’t  want  to  be  like  his  father  .  he’s  that  bitch  who  knows  the  differences  between  wine  flavors  .  he’s  like  …  mhmmm  this  tastes  earthy  …  like  he  can  actually  tell  .  but  he’s  also  an  asshole  .  as  j  described  him  ,  he  wears  turtle  necks  and  talks  about  french  films  and  will  gaslight  u  but  the  dick  was  good  ig  .he’s  bi  as  fuck  .  also  kind  of  a  sad  boy  tm  .  but  he  tries  to  play  it  off  as  being  a  bad  boy  tm  .  he  just  comes  off  as  a  dick  though  .

[siribear]

morning breaks bleak and cold across diamond city. alice keeps the flannel shirt - she figures it won’t be missed - and pulls the leather jacket on over it. the spare jeans she stuffs in her bag. few are awake in the morning; the market populated only by merchants readying the shelves for the day or early risers getting in their daily dose of power noodles.

alice heads out to find valentine’s. she turns right, continues further into the alley instead of heading back toward the market. and - there, it isn’t difficult to spot in the morning sun. valentine’s is an indented doorway, set apart by a neon sign, valentine’s detective agency glowing bright. she heads inside.

the agency is a small office, walls lined with filing cabinets. in front of her, a desk and chair; the desk itself decorated with photos and drawings and notes of thanks. in the center of the room stands a woman slowly removing papers from the filing cabinets and piling them on another desk in the back. she doesn’t acknowledge alice’s arrival. even when she steps fully into the building and knocks twice on the wall, the woman only mutters something to herself.

‘is everything okay?’ alice asks, stepping around the desk.

the woman barely lifts her head, but nods slowly. ‘yes, sorry. the - the office is closed.’

‘oh. i can come back later?’ the woman shakes her head and turns back toward the files. ‘wait, please. are you valentine? i need.. help finding a missing person.’

‘no, i’m his assistant, ellie. nick is.. i’m sorry,’ she repeats.

‘please.’ alice puts a hand on her shoulder, ducking her head to meet ellie’s eyes. ‘it’s important.’

‘you’re - right. it’s just that nick is missing. he hasn’t returned in a week.’

‘okay,’ alice says, arms crossed. ‘do you know where he’s gone?’

ellie’s eyes widen, hopeful. ‘yes, there’s a gang that hangs out in park street station. nick was investigating a missing daughter that disappeared with the gang leader, skinny malone.’

park street. that was - she pulls up the map on her pipboy, scrolls over to - there. near the boston common. ‘i guess i’ll be back, then.’

‘wait, you’re going after him?’

‘of course. maybe he’ll waive the fee for my case if i save him, hm?’ she says with a wink.

-

‘sorry, ma’am. we don’t have the people to go after him.’ sam tightens the buckles on his catcher’s padding-turned-armor. he tucks his gun in its holster and picks up a baseball bat.

‘a citizen of diamond city goes missing, you know where he is, and you just... aren’t going to do anything about it?’

‘sorry,’ he repeats, and gestures for her to leave the security office ahead of him.

-

‘told you the diamond city security is useless.’

alice and piper sit on the lone couch in piper’s home, alice with her head in her hands and piper with her legs tucked up under her. on the coffee table next to them are their own bowls of noodles.

‘you told me to come talk to you,’ alice says, lifting her head. ‘did you know about this?’

piper leans back against the arm of the couch. ‘i’m just a reporter, blue. skinny malone, huh? he’s in charge of the triggermen.’ at alice’s blank stare, she clarifies, ‘they’re a bunch of gangsters with submachine guns. and you want to go after them?’

‘what choice do i have?’

piper makes a thoughtful noise. ‘i have a deal for you. i wanted to bring you in for an interview, anyway - an outside look at the commonwealth, the city would love it. so, do this for me and i’ll go with you after valentine.’

‘you’re... serious?’ alice looks to piper’s sister sitting behind her, perched on an end table with a notebook and pencil in her hand.

‘of course i am, blue,’ she says. she tips her cap with her thumb and index finger.

‘uh, blue?’

piper points to the pipboy. ‘yeah, blue. you aren’t wearing the vault suit now, but the pipboy and that fish out of water look? dead giveaways.’

alice frowns. ‘i’m not - from a vault. the one i picked this up from was long dead. skeletal. surprised it still worked. i came from a small town, outside the commonwealth.’

‘oh. well there goes that line of questioning.’ nat jots down a few notes when piper leans back to look at her. ‘still. since it’s your first time in diamond city, what do you think? how does it compare to your town?’

what does she think of diamond city? it’s foreign. utterly different from what she remembers the area looking like. two realities layered on top of each other and nothing fits. but it’s - ‘it’s... different. where i came from, everything was open to the area around it. no walls, no security. so it’s kind of genius, really.’

‘is that all?’

‘i’ve seen the buildings in the area, crumbling and ruined. but this place, it’s the opposite. it’s flourishing despite the dangers around it. it gives me hope that maybe - maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.’

in the background, nat scribbles furiously at her notebook. piper smiles, almost proud. ‘that’s actually kind of inspiring. living here every day, you don’t get that kind of.. perspective.’ alice shrugs. ‘next question: why are you going after valentine? what did you come to diamond city for?’

at that, alice freezes. maybe it was a mistake, doing the interview. admitting it - still makes it too real. ‘i’m - i’m looking for someone.’

‘who?’

alice blinks once, then lets the question settle. ‘a family member,’ she says evasively. ‘they... went missing, a few weeks ago.’

‘there,’ piper says with a muted clap of her hands. thankfully, she doesn’t pry. ‘if they went missing, do you think the institute is behind it?’

‘the institute?’ she remembers danse mentioning them - the synths, the technology, the apparent perversion of technology. ‘i honestly don’t know.’

‘yeah, no one does. damn, though. doesn’t look too good if their reach extends even beyond the commonwealth. okay, last thing. but i want to try something a little different.’ this time, piper stands. alice instinctively mimics her. ‘what would you say to someone who’s had a loved one go missing, but is too scared to look for them?’

‘don’t give up,’ it comes easily. ‘no matter what, you can’t give up hope that you’ll see them again.’

piper grins. ‘we’re definitely quoting that. nat, you get everything?’ nat, to her credit, never stops writing even as she flashes her sister a quick thumbs up. ‘great! we made a deal, then, didn’t we?’ she holds out a hand. ‘piper wright.’

alice takes it and finds herself smiling. ‘alice.’

-

from diamond city they head east, piper following a short distance behind alice. the inner city looks more like a war zone, with spiked barricades and toppled buildings making the streets near impossible to traverse. more than once, piper has to redirect alice’s path. the streets she once knew simply no longer exist.

‘blue, you’re leading us right to the commons,’ she says. there’s an edge to her voice. ‘no one comes back from there.

alice makes a show of checking per pipboy. ‘it’s the quickest way to park street station.’ piper only groans. ‘come on. it’s probably just a bunch of ghost stories.’

-

it isn’t just a bunch of ghost stories. the closer they get to boston common, the more warning signs they see. sometimes, literal warning signs. piper points out the third building tagged with graffiti: stay away. at the sound of a low growl, alice ducks into a crouch, piper following suit.

‘ghost stories,’ piper whispers harshly.

alice edges around an abandoned army vehicle. she peeks her head out and sees - nothing. not a single person. she turns to piper, brings a single finger to her lips, and gestures for her to follow. they slowly creep around the fenced park, and through the bars she can see the old pond and a single swan boat.

it moves.

they stop. the boat moves again with another growl and a series of bubbles on the other side of the pond. and again. and - alice exhales quietly, indicating for piper to move. the station is on the other side of the park, just beyond the pond. they quietly make their way toward it, and whatever lurks beneath the pond snores on.

they break into a run at the stairs leading down into the station, taking them two at a time. at the door, they take the moment to breathe.

‘what do you think - ?’

‘no.’ alice shakes her head. ‘no, absolutely not. i’m not going to think about it.’ she doesn’t want to think about what could be under that water. what could be so terrible that the entire area is a ghost town.

‘they call it swan’s pond,’ piper continues. 'jesus. i think swan is - ’

‘piper.’

‘okay. sorry. uh, my legs feel kinda numb. is that normal?’

alice takes a seat next to her when piper all but collapses to the ground. ‘yeah. kind of normal. do you do this often?’

‘what, hang around giant monsters? no. i deal with enough just publishing the paper. don’t... usually go chasing down danger.’

what a pair they make. ‘we’ll be alright.’ alice stands, draws her pistol. ‘you good?’

‘think so.’ piper stands with alice’s help. ‘yeah. i’m ready to go, blue.’

‘you’re not letting that nickname go, are you?’

‘fine, alice.’ she wraps her hand around the door handle. ‘let’s get this party started.’

-

the party consists of a handful of triggermen sitting in the dust covered reception of the subway. they sit on crates emblazoned with vault-tec logos, talking amongst themselves. alice catches handfuls of conversation. something about joining the gang, more caps than they could have imagined, skinny malone’s girl and her short temper.

and nick valentine, held deeper in the vault. vault.

alice signals to piper and slowly brings herself to look over the stack of crates they’ve hidden behind. one of the triggermen spots her and manages to point before getting shot in the face. she crouches back down.

‘got their attention?’

rapid fire gunshots ping off the crates. ‘maybe.’

piper shoots one that tries to circle around them with a baseball bat. he falls to his knees, one covered in blood, before his head bursts open from another shot. alice shrugs it off, ignoring the bit of bone that falls out of her hair, and continues shooting at the others.

two more go down by her count and piper’s exclamations of yes! they’re almost through until three more triggermen run into the room.

‘any ideas?’ piper yells over the gunfire peppering their hiding spot.

alice digs in her pack while piper covers them. ‘just the one,’ she says, pulling out a grenade. she pushes piper down by the shoulder as she pulls the pin and lobs the grenade across the room.

the world explodes. lights flicker overhead. her ears won’t stop ringing, but it’s the only sound she hears. which means - alice shakily draws herself upward, one hand on the edge of a crate. reception is a mess of scattered plaster, blood, and gore.

‘wow,’ piper says, surveying the damage. ‘nice, i guess. good timing, too. i’m out of ammo.’ alice ducks back down to rifle through her things, producing three more packs of ammo. ‘hey, thanks. what about you?’

she unslings Righteous Authority, smiling faintly. ‘i’ve got a spare.’

[collectedbooks]

@andholy​ said:  what do you love most about writing aziraphale? ( bonus if you want: would you say you are pretty similar or different to him, & in what way(s) 👀 )

OOH THANK YOU FOR THIS!! i’m gonna start with similarities and differences bc what i love most is gonna be LONGER

so i think i’m just slightly more different from aziraphale than i am similar, if that makes any sense?? the reason i’m ?? about it is because the things that i have in common with him are HUGE parts of my personality, so it’s ?????

main differences are:   i swear like a dnd barbarian  /  i’m more goth-wannabe than pastel dandy  /  i generally try to be nice to most people i meet unless they get on my case first ( instead of passive aggressively scaring off every stranger who comes near, az )  /  i’m more sociable than he is in general  /  i’m more at home with casual affection than he is  /  i’m not nearly as well-traveled  /  i get angry a lot more  /  i SHARE my books sometimes  /  i’m not okay with casual killing  /  and i’m pretty tech savvy and modern-ish overall. he’s also got this detachment from people as a whole since he’s lived so long and since he’s got this connection to a higher power, and i’m, comparably, more down to earth ( badum-tss ). also not religious, and have a kinda negative view of humanity given the past couple years’ political events.

main similarities are:   BOOK LOVING MOTHERFUCKERS  /  huge collections of books  /  would kill anyone who damaged a book  /  i love tea and cocoa more than coffee  /  i like being comfy  /  i don’t mind a nice helping of alone time  /  i’m also dumb of ass and home of sexual  /  i have unhealthy attitudes instilled in me from my upbringing/education that i’m learning from and breaking out of over time  /  i get SUPER excited about the things that i’m interested in even if i’m not very good at them  /  i FUCKING LOVE SHAKESPEARE ( i’m literally about to go to a camp that teaches me stage combat through fight scenes from shakespeare plays can i get a WAHOO )  /  i’m Soft ( or i like to think i am at least )  /  i love food  /  i tend to ramble  /  alcohol nights and existential rambling with friends baybee  /  and i cannot drive nor do i enjoy driving. also i do think the world is worth saving, so that’s something.

as for what i love the most about writing aziraphale......it’s a couple of different things!

first of all, good omens and i have a History TM, i read the book years and years ago --- this blog was made five years ago!! --- and then lost it and bought a new copy, and lost that one, but ever since, whenever i’m at a really difficult point in my life, i’ve always been able to find one of those two copies somewhere in my house, and sit down and read them and enjoy them. the mini-series came out right at a tough time for me too, so good omens has always been my little comfort nook to settle into, even though i never really appreciated it until this year. so writing aziraphale is comfortable, and makes me happy, and reminds me of every time he and that story have been there for me.

second, like i said, our similarities are HUGE parts of who i am as a person, so sometimes it’s just like being the most positive version of myself on here! i get to ramble about books and reblog aesthetic pictures of tea and be hella gay, and when my personal life gets rough it’s really nice to be here and dive into the elements of my life and myself that make me feel happy and safe. the past couple of months were rough; like i said, the mini-series came around at a perfect time. and everyone in the fandom is so nice and so chill as far as i’ve seen, and there’s so many people who have loved the book for years and years and now get to share their love with an even wider audience, so it’s cool to feel both that history AND that energy at the same time.

third, good omens has always had that aura of lived-in-ness to it. there’s a vast and mapped out and familiar world behind it for crowley and aziraphale both, we know weird specifics about both heaven and hell enough to make them feel like entire fleshed-out concepts, BUT at the same time, we don’t have all the details. there’s such a wide, wide world of possibilities within the good omens universe, even with all we’ve been given! what are the departments of heaven? are there individual offices? does someone plan out things like freak accidents ahead of time or is that human influence gone wild and the angels are just like ‘oh yikes’? I Don’t Fucking Know, I Just Go Here! same questions for hell! there are spelled-out limits to the garden, but no one knows exactly what kind of fruits are growing in it, so we can pick and choose and imagine whatever we want to! and it’s fun to write in a universe with some boundaries but limitless liminal spaces for imagination to fill in!

fourth, aziraphale is a challenge for me, as a writer. i’ve always favored morally grey asshole-with-a-heart-of-gold characters, but aziraphale is different in certain ways from my usual mold. it’s like, he’s GOT a moral code, but no one else really knows what it is and it can change at any given time. he’s hypocritical in action, not just in words or ideas; i mean, he’s an ANGEL, and he’s the one who comes up with the idea of killing the child antichrist. who on earth would think that’s the angelic play to call? aziraphale does. he’s a nice person at heart: he loves humanity, he’s apologetic and kind and helps heal people who got hit by cars, he feeds the ducks and reads books. but he’s also customer-service-hates-your-guts extraordinaire in his shop, and okay with casual murder to suit a cause, and jumps around people’s bodies sometimes ruining their lives in the process ( sorry televangelist guy that we all kinda hated anyway ), and manipulates people into doing the stuff that he doesn’t find morally agreeable enough to do himself but that he still needs done. he’s a mosh pit of enigmas and it’s hard to pin him down, because he is SO kind and SO dumb of ass but at the same time he is FRIGHTFULLY callous at times and really an asshole at times. which is SUCH a dichotomy and i love to experiment and play around in it!

in summary: I Just Think He’s Neat! writing him brings a lot of positivity into my life and i find him a fascinating character to dissect in so many ways and he loves books just as much as i do! Idiot Angel Man Take Me By The Hand Lead Me To The La

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 10]

Elite Four grind time.

With some time spent pushing rocks into holes, just in case I need to go places in the future.

Team:

Caspet (Gengar)

Nessy (Milotic)

Diego (Gardevoir)

Stormy (Metagross)

Vertex (Luxray)

Photon (Rayquaza)

So here we are, leveling up our team before our chaotic last stand, and that means... we’re in a new route. One more for the road.

What will it be?

It’s a Fire type!

I’m a moron!

No, Diego, no.

...

FUCK I HAD A MASTER BALL I COULD HAVE USED.

WHY DOES MY BRAIN CONSISTENTLY GO TO THE “yeah there could be a type problem but I’m sure it’ll be fine,” ARENA WHEN I’M TRYING TO CATCH THINGS. YOUR OPTIMISM IS KILLING THIS TEAM. KILLING IT.

IT’S CAUGHT ANYWAY.

I GUESS THE LITTLE MURDERER WHO’S LIKELY TO BE PART OF THE TEAM GETS A NAME.

YOU’RE DAMIAN. IN ALL CAPS.

I’m so sorry my optimism killed you, Diego.

I have a Dawn Stone now.

Maybe things would have gone better if I had it earlier.

I might be sorrier I have to grind something else. But I’m mostly just sorry.

-sigh-

Rest well, friend.

Now then.

Hey there. You’re Serious and often doze off.

I guess I’ll train you now.

We’ll be back when the demon child is up to 60!

Or when I’m in his patch of grass again and cool, Sunflora and Manaphy. Mareep is in more common grass. As is Rhyhorn and Manectric. Ninjask in the water. Look, the wild one live longer. Braviary is occasionally here too, with Marill in the deep spots.

Heeeeey, DAMIAN made it to 60 without dying! Also without anyone else dying! Nifty! We’re throwing Caspet back in front, handing the Exp. Share to Photon for now, and just going to go through this Victory Road.

What I assume to be Victory Road. This part of the game blends together for me even worse than the rest.

...Well, now I’m on it, so no matter!

Wait. We had a planned thing?

N, this is why there’s so much fanfic written about you. Thank you, friend. Even if it’s only because I remind you of your boyfriend from the last cartridge set.

What do I teach it to, though? It’s a physical Water attack. A very good one, but I don’t think any of my physical attackers can learn it. I might have to take something out of a box for it... In that case, I might as well also get something that can learn Cut. There are trees about.

Photon and Nessy are the only ones that can learn Waterfall. I don’t think I want it for either of them. To the nearest box!

I don’t know if this is a way to a box, but this is really, really cool and I dig it.

Okay, do I have anything that can learn both Cut and Waterfall? Mayhaps? Or Fly?

No, this isn’t going to be that straightforward. Nessy and Caspet are in the box since they need exp least. Replacing them temporarily are Amuro the Charmander (Cut), and Winn the Whiscash (Waterfall and Surf).

Photon’s in the first slot, Exp. Share moves to Vertex for now.

There’s this maze of Cuttable trees and trainers out before Victory Road proper. I don’t really understand what this gen likes so much about random maze areas, but I think most Pokemon games are into that on some level. It’s just annoying right now because Sun and Moon spoiled me. HMs are obnoxious.

On a related note, Winn now knows Strength.

There are also now Kabutops everywhere.

Having gone through the maze, I’m going down Victory Road with Nessy back in the party and Amuro back in the box. Thanks for your service, bud. Where we’re going, we don’t need Cut. ...I hope.

This gen’s needless drama makes me happy.

And the first pokemon of Victory Road is...!

Hi there. You’re gen appropriate. What are you doing here.

Quick Ball for a quick catch, and your name’s Kansas now. Get in the box.

Other possibilities that can no longer be counted as such are Lickilicky, Psyduck, more Psyduck, Aggron, Spheal, Smeargle, Dragonite, Dewott, Starly, Zweilous, Trapinch, Marill, Swellow, Mismagius, Weavile, Genesect... there were a lot.

Throwing the Exp. Share at DAMIAN for the now.

We’re secretly the same person.

The number of trainers on Victory Road who have history with Team Plasma one way or another is really satisfying. In this sequel game, the events of the game preceding it had an impact on NPCs. Delightful.

Also, I repeat my desire for NPCs to not be allowed to have things that have Sturdy. I hate Sturdy. It makes me sad. So do caves that need Flash to see in. Instead of teaching anything Flash, I’m going to stumble around in the dark. The dark that says this is probably an optional section.

I made my way to an outside!

Hmmm.

Russell?

Russell!

Fuck. Rival fights just when I’m really wanting to see a Pokemon Center are not my favorite thing. They are even less of my favorite thing when I have a  slot taken up by an HM slave.

!!!

Hey, this is the rival fight that starts with an Unfezant in this corridor!

It’s level 55, and Russell only has four pokemon, so this should be relatively okay. Bouffalant comes out as a result of Unfezant’s U-turn. Nessy deals with it, but is in the orange. Simisage is next, go DAMIAN. Samurott following, go Vertex. Samurott is level 57. Stormy goes in to finish the Unfezant since Stormy has a Quick Attack replacement.

And that’s the fight! Yay!

Pokemon Center?

Fine, I can take the Thunderbolt TM I guess.

Geez, what happened in the past two years, huh?

Oki doki, I’m going to go back through Victory Road and check out all the things I didn’t want to before finding the health point on the way out. When I’m done with that, I’ll look at the resting levels and decide what I think.

Stormy with the Exp. Share for the moment.

The heck.

Am I going to want to give something Flash?

Randomizer is fun.

Now then. What are you gonna do?

Nothing. Well great.

That kind of leaves with one thing to do, doesn’t it.

Yeah.

Soooo.

I think based on the levels I’ve been up against to get here, continuing to grind kind of defeats the spirit of the Nuzlocke. I also don’t have Fly, so I’m going to stick with what I have available here to construct team improvements.

To the TM page.

Nessy’s going to forget Twister for Ice Beam.

Photon’s going to... actually no.

DAMIAN’s ditching Crunch for Toxic just so someone knows it.

And that’s it for TMs that I could change up their movesets with.

Leftovers for Nessy, Magnet for Vertex, Wide Lens for Stormy, Charcoal for DAMIAN, Spell Tag for Caspet, and Razor Claw for Photon.

Going to spend most of my money on recovery items, and then. In we’ll go.

After giving Caspet all of my remaining Rare Candy. Caspet it level 69. Nice.

I think Fighting dude is to the far right. He’s been a problem in the past, so I’m going to go ahead and try to get that out of the way. Stormy up front because while Photon might have Air Slash and STAB, all these things are likely to have Stone Edge. The worst of everything. Next to Sturdy.

Yeehaw.

...Huh.

Well then.

So Marshal’s first pokemon is a level 56 Throh. At the risk of feeling very embarrassed in a few moments, I think I might be slightly overleveled for this. Uh. Stormy, use Zen Headbutt?

Bye Throh?

Mienshao is up next, and for that one I think I want to switch into Photon. Or do I. See, I can’t remember if Bug is super effective against Stormy or not. Steel clears up a lot of the Pyschic weaknesses, but I am not allowed to look things up, and gaaah.

Stormy can survive one hit of anything, probably. In Stormy stays.

One Zen Headbutt later, Stormy is also staying in to fight Conkeldurr. It’s level 58. It uses Bulk Up (yes, it lived. its berry even brought it back to orange!). Stormy uses Zen Headbutt. Conkeldurr is no more.

Next and last is Sawk. Let me guess. This is still the Sturdy version. It is. It uses Payback, which does a pathetic amount of damage. Stormy uses Bullet Punch to simplify the future, and Marshal Full Restores Sawk. Stormy uses Zen Headbutt.

Yay, I won.

...This is sincerely awkward. I thought they’d be in their 60s. And maybe they are for the second round, but I’ve spent so many hours in this gen that my plan is to call it after beating the Elite Four. So uh. This is my final battle.

To the Psychic room?

I like how two years later, the Elite Four has agreed to stairs instead of moving spiral stairs.

Caspet is up in front.

Caitlin sends out a level 56 Musharna. Caspet uses Shadow Ball. Musharna faints. Caitlin sends in a level 56 Reuniclus. Caspet uses Shadow Ball. Reuniclus faints. Caitlin sends in Sigilyph. Caspet uses Shadow Ball. Sigilyph faints. Caitlin sends in a level 58 Gothitelle. Caspet uses Shadow Ball.

And that’s Caitlin.

Ghost girl next because I already have Caspet up front.

Shauntal sends out a level 56 Cofagrigus. Caspet uses Shadow Ball. She’s about to send out a Golurk, and to keep from being too arrogant, I switch to Nessy. Nessy uses Surf. Bye Golurk. She sends out a Drifblim, I go back to Caspet. Caspet uses Shadow Ball. Nessy gets sent back in against a level 58 Chandelure. Nessy uses Surf.

Nessy’s level 67 now.

Three down.

Stormy, you can sit in front for this next one.

Grimsley sends out his level 56 Liepard. It uses Fake Out. Then it uses Night Slash. Stormy is at 156 HP out of 192. Stormy uses Hammer Arm. Liepard faints. Nessy comes out to handle the Krookodile. It uses Earthquake. Nessy uses Surf. One is left standing.

Scrafty is next.

I don’t have anything I’m super comfortable having out against it, so I think I’m going to go for an odder pick and have Vertex fight it. If nothing else, yay Intimidate.

Vertex uses Spark. Scrafty uses Rock Tomb. Vertex’s Speed is lowered, but Scrafty’s down to half health. Vertex uses Spark. Ugh, a sliver of health left. Scrafty uses Rock Tomb again and Speed is lowered again. Grimsely is going to use a Full Restore, so I’m going to use Charge.

Scrafty uses Crunch.

A moment of fear for Vertex. Yike.

Charged Spark takes out Scrafty, though.

Grimsley’s final pokemon is Bisharp. DAMIAN, this is your time.

DAMIAN uses Flamethrower. Bisharp faints.

4/4.

Yay.

The question now becomes what I want in front. If memory serves, Iris is now the Champion. I don’t know if her Dragon theme is changed up at all. I do know that her levels will be a bit higher than what these four fights have entailed.

I think I’ll put Caspet up front. She’s faster than anything, and does enough damage that unless something goes very wrong, she has an excellent chance of just nailing the first thing.

...On second thought, no.

Iris might have a Hydreigon. Likely not first, but I do not need to ever give a Hydreigon extra moves. So.

Stormy, I guess. Stormy’s reliable, and whatever happens, probably won’t die in one hit. Okay.

Hi I’m Iris and I’m extra af.

AF.

Oh, I don’t remember her theme music. Feels... prancy. I like it.

HEY WAIT LOOK I DID A SMART THING SHE DOES HAVE HYDREIGON FIRST.

STORMY USE HAMMER ARM AND PLEASE HIT.

(It’s level 57.)

Hydreigon uses Flamethrower. I figured there was a very good chance of that happening, but Stormy endures the hit in the green, and Hammer Arm hits.

Hydreigon down!

Stormy grows to level 65!

Aggron is next.

I don’t want to risk Earthquake, Nessy’s taking this.

Level 57 Aggron, Nessy uses Surf. No point wasting Hydro Pump on something likely to have Sturdy.

Okay so it doesn’t have Sturdy.

It’s also gone now.

Nessy’s level 68.

Iris sends out a Lapras, Vertex needs something to do. Vertex uses Charge as a safety measure/to see if I can one-shot the Lapras. Lapras uses... Ice Beam, I think, but I was typing in this window when the attack went off. Because this has my full attention.

Vertex uses Spark. Lapras faints.

Iris has a Haxorus. It is level 59.

Well, Nessy has Ice Beam.

Haxorus hits first with Earthquake. Nessy stays green.

IRIS WHY DOES YOUR HAXORUS HAVE A FUCKING FOCUS SASH COME ON I’M SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO LIKE YOU.

Siiiigh. Nessy gets to use another Ice Beam, likely after the inevitable Full Restore comes in.

Yes to both those things.

Haxorus faints.

Iris sends out Druddigon, Nessy stays in. Nessy uses Ice Beam. ...Druddigon survives with a sliver of red, but is frozen. Nessy uses Ice Beam again. Druddigon faints.

Last up is Archeops.

I am, at heart, a sentimental man.

Caspet. I believe in you. You, the closest thing to a starter this run had after the first hour.

Use Shadow Ball.

WE WIN.

That...

Geez, that certainly happened, didn’t it? I can’t say I’m disappointed, exactly, because I like winning too much, but. Outside of Vertex vs. Scrafty, there wasn’t much fear involved. Kind of anticlimactic.

And sad, to think that Diego could have been part of it if we hadn’t met DAMIAN first. He missed it by so little.

Iris.

Iris.

Please.

Wait, where’s the shot of my entire team? Game!

No.

Here are our available living pokemon in the box. Hark and rejoice, my friends I will never play with again. The friends most of you never met are victorious.

Here lie Dreamor, Tagg, Sylarana, Sasuke, Itsy, Stella, Puff, Boruto, Cerberus, and Diego.

Thank you, and farewell.

Final team:

Nice job, guys.

Caspet, level 70.

Photon, level 65.

Nessy, level 68.

Vertex, level 64.

DAMIAN, level 65.

Stormy, level 65.

Phew.

So all of the tension went out of order for this one. My starter died early, I was massively overleveled for the Elite Four and didn’t even expect to be fighting them this round, then I was, and meaningful deaths weren’t that common or devastating.

But I had fun, and I hope the two of you who sometimes read these enjoyed the adventure. I’m done with this gen for like. at least a year, but I have decided to do a Nuzlocke of either Fire Red or Leaf Green. I don’t know which, but I’m not going to Randomize the run. I am going to have one very specific rule changing things up to make going back to the gen three version of gen one hopefully very worth it, but yeah.

I don’t know when that will be happening, but I seem to enjoy having one of these going. Plus, I think the rule changes I have in mind would make my posts less meandering.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

[moreracquetball]

Youtuber AU Headcanons

(Lowkey inspired by a post by @whizzerbrowne who brought the idea to my attention and it has since dominated my brain). Let’s just get started:

(This got way too long, yikes. I had to include a read more line)

~ Three Youtubers: Jason, Cordelia, and Whizzer.

Jason

Type: He’s one of those younger, newer youtubers. He started when he was nine, and he talked frankly about stuff like divorce (bc his parents were going through a divorce at the time) and being an introvert and being autistic and being Jewish and dealing with a difficult relationship with his parents. He has trouble really talking to people so it was like really easy to just sit in front of a camera and start talking at them. Side note: this was totally Mendel’s idea as a therapy exercise that actually worked, okay? And (as we’ve seen in the musical), Jason has this raw honesty and wit to him that is very funny and real to watch. As he’s gotten older, he’s started talking about other things - like not such heavy topics. He talks about the things that he’s hyperfixated on (baseball, chess, the emoji movie, etc), and though his content is pretty erratic and all over the place, people just love his commentary and he’s amassed millions of followers in just a few years??

He also vlogs /a lot/, which is how his audience got to know Trina, Mendel, and Marvin.

Trina - Everyone literally adores her. She is v nervous and awkward in her cameos in Jason’s videos, but she is also very honest and vocal about her opinions and calls herself the Cool Mom even though Jason’s like “Mom, you don’t let me stay up past ten even when it’s not a school night” and Trina’s just “A Cool Mom can’t still care about your healthy and well-being??”

Mendel - As a one-off, Jason asked his followers to submit questions to Mendel the Psychiatrist for a collab idea with his stepdad, and his pieces of advice were kinda off the wall and funny and it quickly became a series and one of Jason’s most popular series ever. Some people are convinced Mendel is just playing a character so Jason has to be like “no he is actually like this. You have to believe me.” Also: Mendel gets a snapchat that everyone follows. He uploads grainy pictures of like trees and makes puns and constantly spams his story with pictures of Trina with captions like “look at how pretty she is” and “how did i get so lucky” and “rare photo of an actual goddess.” 

Marvin - Tbh, the audience’s reaction to Marvin is a little more mixed, esp at first. Jason had talked a lot about his difficult relationship with Marvin and his “Draw My Life” video did stir up some contempt for Marvin’s selfishness. But like, over the years and through small snippets of cameos, it is generally believed that Marvin has changed and grown up a lot and is like an amazing (but dorky) dad. His cameos in Jason’s videos are the best bc it shows how eerily alike those two are and at one point Marvin briefly talks about internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity and hints at the stuff that he is’t proud of, and everyone - no matter their outward opinion of him - has like a little crush on him. Also, the videos with Marvin and Mendel both?? Their petty arguing gets like millions of hits every time.

Jason also totally does all the trend/tag videos but also has like that sarcastic, almost ironic vibe at first but he ends up really sincerely liking it. 

Jason also does like monologues of his thoughts and opinions while also doing mini skits in between and he is iconic and a jack of all trades really.

He is very articulate and seems so mature but like any hate whatsoever does get to him a lot. He’s learned how to deal with his self-doubt and ignoring the trolls better than he had when he first started, but every once in awhile it still gets to him.

Also??? Remember that Roast Yourself Challenge trend??? Jason did that, and it was on the top page for like a solid week. He went too hard and too real.

Cordelia

Type: Totally like Hannah Hart’s Drunk Kitchen, are you even kidding me?? That it totally Cordelia. She drinks and talks about current events and makes really bad food puns and it is Everything. She also branches out after awhile and starts doing like satirical how-to videos. Lowkey once she tried to make a wry, parody version of a beauty vlogger how-to and she ended up having so much fun with it and her after make-up looked ballin, so she starts doing make-up tutorials, too.

She’s also very very proudly gay and out. Like, her username is literally lesbiancaterer. But she still gets like comments on her videos saying “are you straight?” or “her boyfriend must be a lucky guy” and it just makes her go “????? How could I ever make this clearer?” (once, in a collab with Marvin, one comment said “ahh, her and her bf are such #relationship goals” which then launched a very satirical, very deadpan boyfriend tag video with her and Marvin that made it abundantly clear just how fucking gay those two are).

Charotte first got introduced very very early in her videos bc once during a drunk kitchen, Cordelia cut her finger with a knife and called for her girlfriend and Charlotte went into complete Doctor Mode and started treating her immediately. Cordelia is a little tipsy at that point and starts blatantly flirting with her and calling her “my doctor” and that video’s comment section is just keysmashing and the phrase “my doctor.”

Cordelia does not try to hide her relationship in any way. She and Charlotte have done all those cute couples tags and Charlotte is the star of Cordelia’s social media and vlogs. Now they are #relationship goals.

Cordelia actually got into Youtube bc of Jason and everyone was like lowkey shocked when it turned out that these two popular but different youtubers knew each other and cameo in one another’s videos a lot and Cordelia is like “he is literally my godson, guys. Ofc I’m gonna be around him and support him.”

Whizzer

Type: Ohhh boy!! Whizzer is def the kind of youtuber that has been around on the platform since circa 2007 - are you even gonna try to fight me on that??? He is a fashion channel (also has like a series of the youtube version of fashion police) but also like a major storytime channel bc he’s been around and tells the craziest but realest stories of all time. He is also quickly considered The Gay Icon^tm of Youtube.

He is definitely one of the biggest youtubers on the platform but he also lowkey feels too old to still be on here and has that like Shane Dawson kinda feel of like keeping it real about youtube drama and rebranding himself and learning from stupid old videos when he was still like a shit 20-something that was lowkey problematic. 

He stans so hard for Britney Spears and Carly Rae Jepsen and he got Carly in one of his collabs and he could not stop smiling and fangirling and he is literally all of us.

He is very, very vocal and honest about his sexuality and sexual history. He has a lot of Body and Sex Positivity videos and speaks very bluntly about the importance of self-esteem and body image and safe sex.

(One of his most popular videos is the one with him candidly speaking about having HIV and he talks about his mistake with unsafe sex and all the terrible stigmas around the topic. He talks about how it’s both a physical and emotional struggle, and he also talks about treatment and awareness and prevention and seeking emotional help to combat depression).

He arranges a collab with Jason bc they are alike in that they always speak candidly about issues and struggles and have like the exact same sense of dry, almost scathing humor. Whizzer meets Marvin bc Marvin is like “Jason, there is no way you’re meeting a strange man who you met over the internet. I am definitely going to be the one that goes with you.”

(Awkward moment when Marvin and Jason get to Whizzer’s apartment, and Marvin and Whizzer’s profiles light up with one another from one of those websites like Grindr). Whizzer has like lowkey commented on Jason’s videos before with lewd comments about his hot dad, but like this is so not what Whizzer had been expecting?? Yeah, at the end of Whizzer and Jason’s collab video, Whizzer puts like a small blooper reel and it’s him continually flirting with Jason’s dad (who’s behind the camera) and the Internet suddenly has a new fave ship.

(Marvin and Whizzer totally messaged each other and hooked up like the next day).

But like, they keep the budding relationship very underwraps bc they both really don’t want it to affect Jason’s channel and neither really think at first that their whole arrangement will go anywhere close to serious because Whizzer has never been in love or had a steady boyfriend and Marvin cannot hold a relationship either even after his divorce.

But of course they fall in love, and of course the internet knows something’s up. Whizzer keeps vaguing on Twitter about the new man in his life with weird tweets like “I can’t believe I’m deliberately sleeping with a man who UNIRONICALLY knows every word to Allstar” and “get you a man who always sends that courtesy ‘thank you.’ text after you send him a dick pic.” And when Whizzer vlogs, he always makes sure to keep the camera trained on himself but you can see that his eyes are always looking away as he’s like smiling at someone who does not want to be on camera. Also, Jason’s weekend vlogs have cameos of Whizzer in them now.

They mess up when in one of aforementioned Jason’s vlogs, there’s a grainy clip of Marvin and Whizzer in the background and Marvin kisses Whizzer’s cheek. The internet loses their minds

(After nine/ten months of dating, Whizzer and Marvin abruptly break up and neither really acknowledges it. However, weeks after their break up, Whizzer decides to make a story-time video about this fucking asshole boyfriend that broke up with him over a chess game. He wanted it to be like both petty but also very funny because that is such a ridiculous story, but like when he’s editing it, he notices himself being like on the verge of tears in some parts and being overly bitter and tense, and he never uploads it and he realizes that he isn’t over Marvin like he had said he was).

(However, Whizzer does end up making a story-time video later about how Jason’s baseball game brought him and Marvin back together).

After they get back together, they’ve worked out their issues and are couples goals now and they do not hide their relationship and Marvin makes cameos in both Whizzer and Jason’s videos/younows and it is incredible.

Through Jason and Marvin, Whizzer and Cordelia meet and they become best friends. They collab all the time and they complain about queer struggles and they talk about their relationships and get drunk on camera and be weird, loud idiots and those videos get tons of views.

And Whizzer gets candid about how he’s always felt like alone in the world and hasn’t really had the opportunity to rely on anyone but himself but through Jason and Marvin, he meets Cordelia and Charlotte and Mendel and Trina, and even though they might not get along all the time and some people are closer to other people, they’re all his family and he never thought that he’d really have one that close before. It’s one of his most vulnerable videos.

The most successful videos on all three’s channels are the collabs of the three of them together: Jason and Cordelia and Whizzer. And they become like one of those Youtube cliques that collab all the time and tweet about each other’s videos constantly and always hang out with one another at all the events like Vidcon and Playlist Live. 

[nyanzaya]

THAT’S ACTUALLY ADORABLE AS HELL? Oh my god lol I have some ot3s but ehhh depends really. I actually might pick up that ship even though there’s probably hardly any content for it //CRI

I like Kyohei and Chikage. Something about how they fought each other--it’s been a few years since I’ve seen it but it was like because of that whole issues with people in the dollars attacking the motobike gang from Saitama. I can’t explain it I swear LMFAO But legit, I think even Kyohei and Chikage as a bro ship would be so fun to see since their dynamics are quite different, Kyohei being a little more reserved but will say point things out and Chikage being a more free-spirited flirty playboy type who respects Women hard core. Just. They would of probably of been good friends if it wasn’t for the fact they were in two gangs that were fighting.

LMFAO ARE YOU FOR REAL? I don’t know which novel Ran shows up in but if it’s just headcanons then like okay I guess but just cause headcanons are popular doesn’t make them canon LOL. Like ALRIGHT IT MIGHT BE ACCEPTED BY A LOT BUT IT DONT MAKE IT TRUE. that actually makes me sad. Ran was done so wrong. He’s probably a really in-depth character like the rest of them but because of those headcanons people won’t give him a second look :( 

I agree, from what I remember Mikage was just, iffy with Ran. Like she would tolerate him lmfao like she could probably squish him with her thighs or choke him in an arm lock and he can’t do much about it because she’s a trained martial artist if I remember right. I wouldn’t put it passed Mikage to outright defend herself and kick someone’s ass if she’s provoked enough. Oh god I don’t think I want to know if she’s seen as someone who gets “in the way” of ships LMFAO. Though I guess it is canon that Izaya or Mikage had a thing for each other but it didn’t work out? Since Narita wanted to do something between Izaya and Mikage but it didn’t go through, from what I remember at least. 

Ooooh that makes sense actually. I forgot their parents divorced. That just shows how well I know them LMFAO they didn’t get much attention in the anime AT ALL. I hardly remember any scenes with them besides the flash back of their childhood and Aoba doing Aboa things with Mikado tagging along for the thrill and that fight between Walker and Ran. I’m sure if I keep reading the novels like, it’ll be a revelation for me LMFAO

That’s like. yikes(tm). Just because two characters are similar in the same series doesn’t mean one is a discount LOL. I swear I read that Izaya knows Aoba, obvi if he literally declared war on Aoba because “I won’t be outwitted by a kid.” and Izaya is petty AF. But Aoba, I mean, he does what he does for his own personal gains in a sense? convincing Mikado to lead the blue squares? That sure doesn’t scream hidden agenda LMFAO but I think a lot of characters had hidden agenda’s like it wasn’t just them. Shinra for example, everything he does is for Celty. So if he straight up lies, the hidden agenda is “It’s because celty.” AT LEAST THATS HOW I REMEMBER AND SEE IT. 

Like, no lie even. My Alt of Izaya (which is literally just a neko version named Iza) has a lot of similarities to Izaya that someone asked me what the difference was between them and there’s too many to even say. You can literally make a comparison chart between Izaya and Aoba and you can probably find a TON of differences honestly. Like, I think people would be thoroughly surprised at just how different Aoba and Izaya are. It took me a while to actually look at Aoba objectively tbh, I didn’t like him at first but then I had an epiphany and reazlied “Oh yeah, no, Aoba and Izaya are two completely different animals. similar sure but no....different species.” 

Can’t even lie, Kadota/Izaya is one of my favorite rare pairs, as same with Shinra/Shizuo among many other “rare pairs”