#and im pretty sure that's all i have so far. missing many players and missing freljord but idk who would fit

[reblog-house]

Yes I have a league au of traffic. So far it's just Pearl, but I have Ideas.

[translucio]

more veilguard thoughts! minor spoilers below cut

stuff im liking:

still having fun with combat

level design has been good, tons to explore, solid puzzles. beautiful environments. im liking how distinct and lived in the big cities are feeling.

i am liking lucanis more than i expected.....i know Everyone is simping over him but.. i might have to as well and romance him instead of bellara 🙈

im liking how bite sized the codex entries are. makes it easy to read them all on pickup whereas in inquisition sometimes it was like godddd i want the lore but i dont wanna read five pages right now

petting cats and dogs! i love the haptic purring, that's a really good way to do it (i would honestly love to see that polished even further with variations + meowing/whining/sniffing/licking sounds thru the controller but hey, it's a tiny part of the game and what they have is fine)

the resource economy is feeling pretty decent to me, im motivated to seek out collectables, i buy stuff from vendors often, i understand the upgrade system enough to inform my decisions. it feels very god of war or ghost of tsushima. so my only worry is that i might just get bored of it after many hours as i did in those games (which, i think the solution to that is for the level design to keep things interesting and satisfying enough that theyre rewarding even without the collectibles. so we'll see)

stuff im not really liking

overall plot so far feels Just Okay. but i felt that way about 2 and inquisition too lol

it is actually starting to really bum me out that you can't talk to people at will. like, the lack of dialogue choices in it, for a bioware game, is troubling to me. these settings and characters are interesting and filling me with many questions! i want to be able to dive deeper into them, but i just cant. you just get barks for all the world npcs. and the lack of choices really makes rook feel more like a prewritten/predestined character rather than one that's really yours to characterize. i realize it's a lot of writing and voice acting $$ to have that many dialogues, but that's one of the main selling points for bioware games for me... and it feels weird that other games are now doing it better than dragon age.

similarly the lack of continuity of choices from previous games makes me sad.

i still haven't gotten all that far, but i am several hours in at this point, and i gotta say i am kinda missing side quests a bit... related to the point about lacking world dialogue, but the world is feeling a little bit underwhelming in terms of the character and lore context/depth that i find myself wanting. which was a big problem for me in inquisition as well. like sure, there are collectables and hidden paths and puzzles to navigate through, and those are absolutely a huge improvement over inquisition's. but those don't give life and flavor and narrative depth to the environment the way that having meaningful interactions with npcs does. the barks are nice, but they leave me wanting significantly more in terms of interaction and depth.

im gonna keep comparing it to god of war (2018 - haven't played ragnarok yet) since that's really the closest thing its reminding me of. and while i loved god of war, i did feel like its world was very lonely. it made up for it with its extremely honed in narrative focus on the journey of the two established characters, and the quality of its writing and voice acting both for their dialogues and the few quests with other characters. it's not a game about the setting or how it shapes the characters that live there, it's about a grieving father and son who happen to be gods.

whereas dragon age IS about its world almost as much as it is about its characters. and with such a rich setting with three prior entries to build on, it seems kind of a shame to let players explore all these places we've heard about but not meaningfully interact with the characters there outside of Big Epic Story Moments or companion-focused quests, especially when you could in the previous games.

anyway.... much to think about... still enjoying it, still have more thoughts as i keep playing

[tenaciouschronicler]

June 14 2024 2009

This is some crazy interactivity we got. Im not gonna talk about everything since many arent plot/lore relevant. At the least getting to explore more of Johns house in detail has been great! I love his silly little walk animation.

We have two speakers, the first being the new disembodied voice. They type in all caps on a black background with orange borders and address John as Boy throughout the flash. Each of their texts are preceeded with the command '>' symbol, though not everything they type is a command. The other is, I assume, our narrator. They type in the way we've seen so far on a white background with lime green borders and, unless 'talking' with >VOICE, address John as 'you'. Its interesting to note >VOICE can see what Narrator says when its addressed to them. Its unclear if they can see Everything the narrator types however.

Now for the nity-gritty. (Which is all gonna be under the cut for lengths sake)

(Just so I dont have to type it out so much >VOICE will be V and Narrator will be N)

We start this flash on the roof landing where we get instructions on how to proceed. Vs text boxes are stated to be command menus.

When I was first clicking around I though each object only had 1 command. I found out the sprite and John actually have follow ups when I was trying to tap the sprite when I miss clicked with how closely it sticks to John.

For the Sprite, N rehashes what we saw in the previous update and also notes the transformation did not make the Sprite understandable, it still speaks in fleur de lis. In the next command from V, N reveals [The only thing you can theoretically do with it is TIER 2 PROTOTYPE IT, assuming that's still possible...]. V doesnt seem to have knowledge of SBURB trying to get John to <TIER PROTO TYPE THE SPRITE, OR THE THING YOU SAID.> According to N, [The SBURB SERVER USER is supposed to do that.] With the previous comment combined, it seems Rose may or may not be able to affect John wherever he is. That or N is just as clueless to the extent of SBURBs reach, even if they have more knowledge.

John has a lot more said about him. Here is where we get the interactions between V and N.

> BOY. LISTEN TO ME, BOY.

[His name is John, you nincompoop.]

Absolutely hilarious, N.

> BOY WHO IS JOHN. DO AS I SAY.

[What would you like 'BOY WHO IS JOHN' to do?]

> OBEY MY COMMANDS, JOHN BOY.

[And those commands would be...?]

> I WOULD LIKE THE BOY TO INTERACT WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT IN A CONSTRUCTIVE MANNER.

[Maybe you should be a little more specific?]

Vs use of Johns name doesnt last very long and quickly reverts to Boy. While they are issuing commands, it seems like broad statements dont work. Im wondering where V is even doing this from. Surely it has to be somewhere where they have a visual on John to be able to discern his gender. Its probably a computer of some sort but they probably havent replaced Rose as the Server player or else I feel like N would have said something when talking about sprite prototyping. If thats the case, is V some sort of interloper? Are they Supposed to be able to do this or have they somehow stumbled upon this feed? How would that even be possible and what are the implications of that?

> HAVE THE BOY ASSESS HIS CURRENT SITUATION.

[I'm afraid I can't 'HAVE THE BOY' do that. Tell him to do it yourself!]

> VERY WELL.

[... Ok.]

N is Not having it with V and seems pretty frustrated with the whole situation. Im also realizing the same questions kind of apply to N as I have for V. We kinda took the narration for granted but this is opening the idea that N Is their own character and is Also somewhere commenting on all of Johns actions. When did this happen? Has it been a constant for John that was never noticed? N is more likely Supposed to be able to do this but for what reason?

> ==>

[That instruction does not do anything at the moment!!!]

> ==>

[Sigh. Could you please turn the controls over to a more competent user?]

Interestingly, V is attempting to use a command that has shown up in the comic already, ==>. So they have some knowledge of how commands Should work but cannot entirely control the narrative.

The Cruxite and Alchemiter also rehash things we already saw such as the tree creation. N however does have this to say at the end of the Alchemiter text, [You wonder what happened to your DAD?]. I am now increasingly worried Dad might not be in the kitchen.

We leave the balcony and go to Johns room first. Upon entering it seems that whatever was under Johns bed is no longer there though it left traces of some sort of black substance. Whatever it was seems to have taken Johns gift according to N:

[THE BUNNY IS NOT IN THE BOX.

I SAID, THE BUNNY IS NOT IN THE BOX.

WHY COULDN'T THE BUNNY BE IN THE BOX?]

On examining the posters, V has no idea of the movie titles. Stangely V does seem to know something; <IS THAT JOHN CUSACK?>

Clicking the computer gives us good and bad news, [It seems you are still connected to the internet. Rose is trying to get in touch with you.]

BUT, in the bottom corner the time has been replaced with question marks. Wherever John is its not just frozen in time but Completely Removed From The Natural Flow.

<BOY, LOOK THROUGH THIS WINDOW.> On inspection it seems only the things mentioned in commands were saved as the green between the mailbox and tree is now void.

In a perversion of the original command N states:

A tree without a tire swing is like...

Like a house without a surrounding neighborhood, you guess.

Terrible. Dreadful. How dare you.

Its important to note V does not use any of the names given to the SBURB machines only approximations based on looks, <THIS HUGE SEWING MACHINE. OF WHAT USE IS IT.> Conversely N does have knowledge of the machines but not the extent of their uses, at least in so much as John is supposed to have, [You guess maybe other PUNCH CARDS will produce different shapes? It bears further exploration.] We might likely do more alchemy further on in the comic with this comment in mind.

We leave Johns room and head right.

[Your DAD'S room is still locked!!! ]

Thank you, N. Bathroom it is.

Looking out this window we see the cake covered pogoslime and a mangled swingset.

The only other clickable things, the tub and toilet have the same text with V being unintentionally hilarious, <YOUR PLUMBING APPEARS FAULTY.>

Back to the landing and going downstairs we find V does not share the same appreciation for Harlequins as Dad, at least when it comes to paintings.

<DETEST THIS!>

<VILE. PAY NO MIND TO THIS FILTH.>

<NO NO NO NO NO. KEEP MOVING.>

<UGH, NO.>

The Cruxtruder text from N implies moving it would require Grist which seems odd to me. Deploying it was free so it stands to reason moving it should also be free. But I guess you only get one shot at placement and Rose screwed that tremendously. N thinks themselves a really funnyman, [More than ever you feel... what's the word you're looking for? Of course. Housetrapped.]

Hilarious.

In the study we actually get a lot more insight into Dad. Clicking the mural of the <MERRY BAND OF PERFORMERS> reveals them to be the Cirque du Solei. [Cirque du Soleil once filed a restraining order against your father. You were never so embarrassed in your life. ]

...Im....sorry? Dad... what? I have more questions for this man than ever before and I Must get the Dad lore behind this Immediately.

The piano gives us a portion of the sheet music for Johns piano piece and plays the song again for us. I dont know how to play any instruments so I'll leave that to someone else to interpret.

Since we never looked out this window there is nothing to see. [It's dark out there. Can't see anything for miles.] Below it on the sill is more of that weird black stuff.

The picture to the left [can only [be] assume your DAD hung it crooked to make it look more 'whimsical'] which really speaks to how John views his Dad.

At the desk we <READ UNPLEASANT LITERATURE> titled [SERIOUS JESTER MAGAZINE. FOR THOSE FOR WHOM CLOWNING AROUND IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.] This only solidifies the theory @homestuckreplay had on the Serious Business chat being Dads clown troupe. *thrusting microphone in your face* Good sir, how does it feel to be right?!

My shenanigans aside, we head back <TO THE LARGE ROOM WITH THE GROSS PAINTINGS> and go to our next destination, the kitchen.

Immediately we have a lack of Dad and an increase of my concern tenfold.

The bowl of cake batter is on the floor and the black substance is Heavily smeared from Dads last known position to the door.

[You wonder what happened in here. Where's your DAD?]

You and me both John. You and me both.

Examining the bowl leads to a gut wrenching comment, [Wherever your DAD went, he seems to have left in a hurry. For all his absurdities you have to put up with, you sure wish he were here right now.]

Now I am full of concern for John! This is all probably really confusing for him and I wanna go back to the slapstick shenanigans please.

Clicking the artwork just further adds pain as N just Has to let us know [Your DAD was so proud when you drew this. He hung it up immediately and it's stayed there ever since. That was one week ago.]

You know... before this I was just glad John was alive and had nothing but curiosity for the house but now...

We follow the smear out the door to the laundry room John parkour-ed into. Theres nothing really of note except for the lack of more black goo.

The next door takes us outside where again we see no signs of goo or Dad. From here theres no way to the front of the house to explore further. I do wonder Where Dad was taken(?). Theres no visible way down from the cliffs so...

Theres a lot more that I didnt cover so I implore you to explore it yourself, its quite fun actually when you ignore the implications.

[alchemistc]

i wanna start out by saying ive been patiently waiting for a hockey AU on the bucktommy fandom and your Goon fic is everything i have ever wanted, im honestly obsessed with your characterization of tommy

i have never been that big on rpf in the hockey fandom, but i always love reading people write crosby in their hockey aus, also love how you include Hockey Lore TM in the story

so, i wanted your take on the insane 'tradition' (not really tradition, more of a common occurrence) of players playing through injuries specially in the playoffs (I remember that in the 2016 or 2017 cup run, there was more players currently injured on the penguins than not, pretty sure Letang or Daley had like, broken fingers for most of the last round) and how many times Buck had to run away from Hen so he could play, because if anyone is more likely to play through injuries, i'd say is Evan "i-had-another-surgery-instead-of-waiting-for-my-leg-crush-injury-to-heal-naturally" Buckley, or Evan "I-sued-my-job-because-they-wouldnt-let-me-do-said-job-after-said-leg-crush-injury-and-vomitting-blood" Buckley

Thank you thank you! Goon has been so much fun to craft, and I'm loving seeing the hockey fans and the 'what's a chiclet' 9-1-1 fans alike enjoy it!

Personally? I hate it. I think the whole idea of it is fucking insane and detrimental to not only their physical health but their mental health as well. (From the Avs fan perspective, regardless of what we actually know about the Nichushkin situation, the man broke his foot and played through it, likely got addicted to a painkiller in the recovery process, missed a playoff series because of [redacted], had a career fucking year and then sent himself to the Players Assistance Program, came back, had MORE career highlights, and then...failed a drug test in the run up to the playoffs and got himself suspended.

(Another reason players just play through injury and mental health crisis is the Players Assistance Program, which IS ANOTHER MAJOR FAILING OF HOCKEY CULTURE IN GENERAL)

Hell, Landy played through a not-healed-injury after he took Cale's skate to his knee and now he's had two surgeries and may never make another appearance in a game because of it.

(I can't think of the player at the moment, but I remember a cup run where a player was playing with fractured ribs and it was later revealed that if he'd taken a puck or a nasty hit or gone into the boards wrong there was a chance he'd have had a vital organ punctured and likely wouldn't have known the extent of the damage until he'd collapsed from internal bleeding. It didn't happen, but WHAT THE FUCK)

And fans have a tendency to glorify them as gods for 'fighting through the pain' in their quest for the Cup.

As far as Goon goes:

They're all gonna be playing through injury. SInce this is from Tommy's perspective, he's coming at it from two angles - he's the guy who's played through injury his whole career just to keep a spot in the lineup, he's toughed it out and dealt with the numbing agents and the wraps and the twinge that doesn't go away for weeks at a time (and the aforementioned pain killers that eventually prompted him to go to fucking therapy in the first place). He is also the guy who has spent four years unpacking why exactly he did that - how much of it is the culture, how much of it is his own shit and his dad telling him to rub some dirt in it and stop being a pussy, how much of it has just been to prove himself capable of being one of the guys in the room.

There's also Hen, who pushes harder than the other trainers, and calls out the bullshit when she sees it, so yeah, this team probably has a slightly better track record of keeping the guy out with upper body injury out of the lineup for longer than any other team would, but - Buck's not the only one who's learned how to lie about exactly how much pain he's in and how well his recovery is going. He'll strain shit and refuse to admit it, he'll push through on a 'minor' injury unless he thinks playing on it would threaten his career. (He absolutely has NO real concept of how bad an injury actually is, tbh, because like everyone else he's been lying about it for so long he doesn't have an accurate pain scale.)

The tldr of this is that I don't condone it, but the reality is it's so ingrained in kids coming up that it's a reality of the culture and I'm not necessarily gonna shy away from that. It's not a huge focus of the story, but there will be hints here and there.

[celestialfantasiess]

hellooo im back 😍 did u miss me

obessed w ur writing right now oh my gosh 🤭 could i request a mc who sings a lot out in the open? like they could js be in the house of lamentation and start singing random songs they love

theyre all ok with it.. but then mc starts singing a song that lilith liked.. how do they react? do they ask them to stop singing that song? to stop singing at all? do they just cherish the memory of lilith? or do they react some other way? i must know 🙏

- 🍭 anon!!!

requests : closed <3

Sorry for the inactiveness but i'm back at school after vacation so it's kind of getting used to it again and the fandoms i'm interested in really depend on the week with me so i'll probs start writing less for obey me and more for also other fandoms but dw if i haven't answered your request yet i still will but it might just take me a while. The give away will also continue as planned. :) And yes of course 🍭 anon, here you go. :)

。lucifer 。

‣ If he's holding something he might just drop it out of shock, that wouldn't be possible. It isn't possible what was he thinking. Lilith isn't here it's just mc.

‣ Immediately retreats into his office so he can work on his paperwork, he was so sure that mc had been Lilith. For the next few days he will throw himself into his work to forget how sad he had felt when he heard mc sing Lilith's favorite song.

。mammon 。

‣ At first he doesn't even notice what you are singing. he just likes listening to your voice whenever you do sing which is often. But once you get to the chorus he recognizes it.

‣ He watches you from the kitchen counter with glassy eyes. As soon as the song is over you he asks if you can sing it again.

。leviathan 。

‣ It's one of the few times he has come out of his room, when he sees you in the kitchen he immediately halts in his tracks and turns around. Even if you are his player 2 he has no energy to communicate with anyone right now.

‣ However when he turns around he halts in his tracks, that song you are singing. It's Lilith's favorite song. Pulling out his phone he records your voice and he walks back to his room without you knowing he was ever there.

。satan 。

‣ He himself has never known Lilith but because he was born from Lucifer he has some of Lucifers feelings about things.

‣ And somehow he almost gets a sad feeling, no that's not right, a nostalgic feeling when you sing this song. Even though he is pretty sure he has never heard you sing this before and he has no emotional link to whatever you are singing.

‣ Will keep listening and won't ask you to stop, is slightly confused as to why he is reacting like this to you singing a song like you always do.

。asmodeus 。

‣ He knew you were a great singer, you had sung to him on multiple occasions with songs of his request so it didn't surprise him when you were singing in the kitchen when he came downstairs.

‣ The thing that surprised him was that you were singing her song, Lilith's favorite song. His eyes turned glassy at the memories he had of her singing that song whenever she could not stopping once no matter how many people asked her to stop.

。beelzebub 。

‣ Is one of the few that really likes it because it makes him remember Lilith, how much she also loved singing that song whenever she could. How she wouldn't stop singing it even after having been asked multiple times to stop.

‣ Asks mc to sing it more often for him, he enjoys hearing it it makes him remember the good memories he has with Lilith.

。belphegor 。

‣ For a second he thought he was back in the celestial realm with Lilith, with her singing her favorite song whenever she could as often as possible. But no he is still in the devildom and she is far way from him in a place he can't reach.

‣ Won't ask you to stop and also won't outwardly react to you singing Lilith's favorite song but for the next few days no one is capable of getting him out of the attic while that specific song is playing on repeat in the background.

[chicspo]

hiii again lola, i just wanted to thank you for always giving me the most helpful advice. no joke, you have been right like every single time. i did break up with my first bf of 2 years, but it wasn’t bc of you or anything, it was just bc i couldn’t see my growing as a person and didn’t want to regret not having more experiences in life. i didn’t want to miss out on opportunities and was struggling to do better for myself. i know it’s hard for him, but he was very respectful and understanding. we did leave on good terms and i’m grateful to be able to appreciate memories without dwelling on them now. i know it might’ve seemed like i moved on fast, but i missed many chances during the time we were together considering i have never been in anything before him and we were serious.

life comes so unexpectedly though. i didn’t plan on seeing anyone romantically, so it felt really naturally to just interact with people. i don’t typically fall hard easily either, but i’m so glad the new guy i met that i told you about click so well with me. it wasn’t anything romantic either, we just got along so well and slowly it shifted slightly. he’s actually cute too and doesn’t seem like a player either lmfao. update: he also has no social media presence but is by far one of the most fun person i met. he’s really smart and since he took my class already, he helped me study and was able to make it fun too. we stay up talking everyday until 6 in the morning bc we have a lot in common, especially with both of us being cinephiles. he watched all 3 movies i recommended him like the following days haha. none of us have directly made our feelings known since it’s a bit early for that, but i feel like there’s definitely something there ?? i thought that he just talked to me that long bc he has no one else to talk to but he admitted that while it’s true that no one is really up all night, he’d still rather talk to me and has to find me a likable girl if he’s staying up everyday talking to me until then. he’s also told me that he normally doesn’t even yap that much, but it’s just easy to talk to me and his favorite thing about me is my yapping. we agreed he’d help tell me which of my perfumes was the best, so i brought travel sizes and he ranked them for me before we started studying. while we were studying, i get distracted really easily but he got me to learn so much somehow and i think i passed my quiz. there were little gestures here and there that made me feel like he was interested in me during studying bc he would play with my hair, slyly trace his finger on my hand here and there, or our legs would touch against each other often, but none of us minded it. i had my leg crossed him under the table at some point, but he was okay with it too. we mess with each other all the time and i’m pretty comfortable since the beginning until now. btw i know you’d love hearing this but he’s an aquarius like both of us and he’s an ENTP.

ur both aquarius omg!!! and if hes really an entp thats also sooo good. im so happy u left all that was old behind and ur already moving forward. ur not moving too quickly ur just fine. its obvious he likes u and im sure ur aware. i think its better that ur starting off as friends and spending time together innocently and keeping things light. keep it that way and just have fun its gonna be way more meaningful

[aquarelle-rina]

Thoughts on Fashion Dreamer Day 1

Since the game received close to no marketing outside of Japan. I love fashion games and I want this one to do well too.

I played all the Style Savvy games before (almost 300 hours on each of then oof) but I ll try not to compare with Fashion Dreamer too much since the concept is different.

Apologies in advance for the mistakes (English is not my mother tongue)

What I like so far:

- Getting lookits from other players and giving some to them! I love seeing everyone's creativity

- There's SO many options to design a logo!! I spent too much time making them haha

- Visiting other's showrooms feels fluid. Its fun to just change try an outfit on a mannequin and walk to another showroom, like a carousel.

- The photo mode offers a lot of options. I like being able to take a picture anywhere. Also you can take vertical pictures for a better composition! Or just use the random button to have your muse in a dynamic pose.

- I love the idea of unlocking color palettes and using them to design clothes. There's some color theory in there... Also having reommendations is nice for indecisive people.

- It's rewarding to see the earrings I designed on the trends board. Then I found them again on a mannequin in another muse showroom. My muse tried the whole outfit (that was styled to match the the earrings I designed) and it was SUPER cute! I took pictures to remember that moment. I dont think there's any game that offers this kind of experience.

- Not having to manage a budget and getting items for free it is a fashionista dream haha.

- The animations and the models look nice! I was also afraid of EVE looking cold and empty (like the EDEN in Digimon Cybersleuth) but I was pleasantly surprised. I also havent seen anything clip though the models? (Anyone an expert on that lol?)

What I like less:

- Search function could be better. I want to be able to search by pattern and color!

- There's a bit of a performance issue when you have a lot of clothes. Hope this gets fixed in the future.

- Not being to zoom in clothing when dressing up is... Odd. Because you can zoom on the ones you design.

- Its super easy to get likes (I dont know if its the case for everyone). What bothers me is you get a notification for EACH likes. Im the kind of person that deacrivates most of my notifs on my cellphone because I find them intrusive.

- I hope they add runways, handbags and the possibility to share pictures with other players. And it would be fun to suggest makeup or hairstyles to other muses!

Game is pretty addicting, Im gonna play more for sure. I really needed a good fashion game for the Switch!! Its not Style Savvy but if I miss it too much, I can always power up my 3ds.

Maybe I ll write another post about Fashion Dreamer as I play more. Who knows :p Dont hesitate if you have questions!

[single-malt-scotch]

of course i have things to say about lim life and bdubs. you know its funny and great- of course i would love his pov. but i still feel satisfied by what i saw and i dont feel like i do. there is something very different about witnessing a player this way, something we really havent had at all. and of everyone its bdubs. the guy who is associated with time and the guy who acts out so well to the narrative in front of him. and we dont lose anything- bdubs is still bdubs.

after double life we see him team up with people he hadnt from LL-DL. something fresh. together they create a family themed around time and at the center of the map they make a clock tower. they watch every death that spawns for entertainment. regardless of his need to stay with the clockers he continuously shows attachment to TIES/etho (mostly etho). it may be in jest but the clockers point out numerous times that this behavior doesnt shock them, that of course hes like that with etho and of course its muddying his alliances. and lets not forget the grudges held by most members of TIES (eventually Skizz on the list for a bit due to killing him), a neat detail in this funny little situation.

and then for a good whole episode it does make a problem- in the sense it confuses him and everyone else as to where he lies. he later defends the hell out of etho even from the meta jokes of being washed up, later in game of putting himself in front of a group that wants to kill etho, again in offer his life that etho doesnt take. we dont get to hear his thought process, whatever commentary he may be giving about why he really wanted to be with etho again and why he struggled to make it happen. we see it through everyone else. cleo, who is amused at bdubs' very typical behavior but evermore trying to convince him to not go wot etho. etho, who gets glimpses at bdubs from afar and a few moments where they meet in private, having a connection only two close friends could have alone. the rest of TIES who takes him in in brief moments but never hearing more. overall in the end hes around and hes trying to do good, hes "trying his heart out", theres attempts being made but we can see them slip and falter from things outside of his control. the timing is never right.

but no im not done actually. his attempt to help isnt just tied to etho. bdubs has shown himself to be caring and kind, and putting himself out there in order to help others. i think thats where he fell apart- he wanted to keep it all good between clockers and TIES, despite the family dynamic putting in stone that it wasnt possible. as a whole he wanted to be in the middle and this extended to many other interactions. there wasnt a single person that bdubs was actively against this season (yes including skizz- their dynamic was on the same level after he first fight so it became mutual imo), no long building hate, and the clockers were welcoming to others too in their alliances but bdubs did still stand out as the clockers denied TIES and he held on to them. further in we get to the moments where bdubs then offers himself up. its like there was a realization on the game in episode 7, they were far enough in that he thought maybe he could help just before it got worse. he went up to jimmy who's known to die first (yet someone he hardly interacted with) and desperately and repeatedly asks to be killed and of course jimmy takes it, hes only a few minutes away. and then of course he tries again with etho, twice, including helping a fight and etho doesnt take it. you can hear bdubs in the background still laying out what etho could do.

as the season reaches its end let me wind back a bit to deaths in general. bdubs earliest death was certainly an interesting one, one fight he was so confident about and completely failed at, missing numerous hits. and this isnt a surprise to me. bdubs was actually pretty.... well he lacked a lot of kills this season. and not knowing his time for sure through the episodes made this all more interesting to watch, you know? he never seemed like he was really seeking it out. even in a stream before session 8 scar and grian both say they have no clue what bdubs' time is. im sure someone added this up but for everyone else and the average watcher, we see him fumbling or giving his time all while not thinking at all about what he had left just before the end. and then hes the first one to go out in episode 8. its not that it wasnt expected, but his time being in the dark for so much of the series leaves you not thinking about it. it didnt seem like he died that much, it didnt seem like his timer was that now- you wouldnt know for sure unless you saw his pov. most of all, we never really hear him asking for time? there arent any key moments with him saying he really needs to kill. hes fighting, hes helping, but theres barely a hint of desperation to hunt people down- he just stayed in the place he usually was, around the tower, hoping to lend a hand.

and death again. how does his series end? unexpected, completely unknowing to what would kill him. impulse had killed him once earlier and tried to a second time and the cute thing about it? they were laughing the whole time. this could be the moment where youd say impulse got the kill he wanted. and then we get to bdubs' perma death and its impulse again and he never saw it coming- out of the game first that session and left to spectate everyone until the next start to die. quietly until he gets in the chat.. not unlike LL, but not for nearly as long.

and of course, so much of his time is spent in around the clock tower. this led to all of the clocker's demise, with ow dangerous of a location it became, and its all the more in character for each of them to go out there. theres of course something poetic to take from that.

so what does bdubs give us this season? why does it still mean something despite his pov? well it can mean whatever you want it to mean, it can add up to whatever narrative you took from limited life. i dont know if we will know for sure why bdubs didnt upload outside of what he loosely stated on stream. but forever hes someone i look to for an act that has so much to take from it. intentional or not hes putting something in i never see from anyone else. there doesnt need to even be an artistic reason for his choice to not post but his choices always add up to something and i do think he goes out there knowing full well what he can do. he played a type only he can play, because its inherently just who he is and he will never stop being him and that is so great. ill never doubt his decision no matter if it was purposeful, or personal. bdubs is still bdubs and that is all that i wanted.

[wederyed]

18 44 for pjsk ask game and uhh. what’s your least favorite chart to play

18. the kohane awake now card i believe? where shes in that gray outfit and the angle is sideways ykwim i hope 44. evil question i cant choose fuckkk. tie between tgirl tsukasa (dragon) darkfes rui and fes honami you cannot make me choose

least fav song to play. good lord there are so many first of all machine gun poem doll it is the only expert i cannot full combo (on the english server so far) ive done a two hour session of trying to fc and my best was One Good. i also hate ego rock specifically because of those ascending ladder trills during the instrumental and the jacks at the end. im pretty sure my sum of best is an ap - 3 but noooo im too skill issue to fc the chart. fc -1. dappou rock also sucks but i mean i fced it recently while trying to show how i cannot fc it so idk how valid that statement is now but good LORD those directional flicks and trills are hell on earth. oh hcm also sucks my best combo was like. 1300??? i think it was a fc with 3 goods and 2 misses i dont remember but its not the spam in the center or any of that im just extremely inconsistent and really suck at that single line spam towards the end. if i was more consistent im pretty sure i could have fced it by now and honestly fced most 30s and 31s :/

honestly any song with swing notes or wide bars are the bane of my existence. im a lot better at songs whos challenges are trills and sandwiches (see: bitter choco deco master fc) but am overall a SUPER inconsistent player and honestly i suck at the game but everyone tells me i cant really tell myself that since i compare myself to my friends who are on the ranked top 20 but whatever i think im bad dont let my 200+ master fcs fool you

OH ALSO FUCK MORE JUMP MORE I HATE THE WIDE NOTE SPAM THATS MY LEAST FAVORITE CHART TO PLAY

[freebooter4ever]

If you weren't actually meaning to open a convo on the all star game feel free to ignore this!

But I think it just has a lot to do with how the all star weekend involves a ton of media so even if they enjoy the game/events themselves there's a lot of strings attached. Like all your coworkers are posting vacation photos, and you may have even been on vacation with them, but you had to cut yours short to work. Sure the office is also throwing a party but it just isn't quite the same as having those days off.

lol!!! Well its not really a discussion on my part because i will just never be able to understand the player's perspective, but i find it fascinating to hear explanations of why the players dont like it - partially because i wonder if the league was a little more "hip", if it could be salvaged.

For one thing, for some of us salary challenged people 'vacation' is not really a thing - i always used my time off to go home and visit my grandparents. Though quite honestly i'd rather hang out with grandma for five days doing nothing but puzzles than sit on a beach doing nothing for five days. When i lived and worked on the east coast i spent most of the year missing my grandparents and the pacific northwest and wishing i was there, so naturally it was always the first place i went to when i got a chance. Im weird. And boring. I realize this.

Secondly, when i did work in education there was this yearly conference and pretty soon after i became in charge of the art department we started bringing the whole team to these conferences. It was the highlight of my year - im not even kidding, im that much of a nerd. I thought my team were the greatest people ever - a sort of found family if you will - and getting to be stuck for an entire weekend with them in some of the most boring cities the united states has to offer never failed to entertain. You know how when you're with people you love everything just feels more exciting? Even dumb shit like getting lost on the DC subway because the foodie of your group wants to try a very specific japanese restaurant thats in a far corner of the city on the opposite end of where the hotel is located. Or getting lost in Atlanta because we had to walk all over the old olympi*c grounds just to see some old stadium so the sports fans in our group could take a photo. Actually now that i think about it most of our outings involved getting lost while walking places. Im not even going to go into detail about the more boring cities because im embarrassed to admit that i found even the most mundane events Really Exciting with these guys. I had a blast, this was the highlight of my LIFE, i dont have very many friends or get out much, lol. I miss those days. I see some of the team individually, like when i last visited pittsburgh, but its not the same as being trapped in a random city and having to entertain yourselves during the off hours when you're not giving presentations. These conferences were also the only time i ever experienced Popularity. Being able to sit in a hotel lobby and have people come up to me, because they recognized me (or my team) was a blast. This is the ideal scenario for a shy person who loves talking to people but cant start a conversation to save my life. I did not care that most of these fans were educators over 40, they all had interesting stories and hearing them talk about using our program helped me come up with new things to implement next so it was a win-win. I also shamelessly used this time to do research on the history of our team. The group peaked in the 90s/2000s and it was really easy to get the older members to start talking about those days. i could probably write a book with everything i learned over the years. except not because even education nerds have scandal. the thing i always found is that if a person seems boring its just cause you haven't asked them the right questions yet.

There was one instance of a guy my age who came up to me and turned out to know the sculpting program i used, and was canadian so we had the whole pacific northwest thing in common, so after the con was over for the day the two of us went out on the town alone. And stayed out till like 2am, not doing anything wild (we visitd tourist sites! We bought smoothies!) i believe we ended up hanging out on an empty playground and talking philosophy, but im pretty sure that was the closest i will ever get to having a one night hookup. The hookup part did not happen because i was too shy to invite him back to my hotel room, and he was staying in a buddhist temple because it was the cheapest housing available and he was a broke grad student studying machine learning and art. I still remember that night, that was the Best night, partially because it was so unexpected and a random happenstance meeting of two strangers who would normally never come together.

Aaaaaall that said, i do realize we are talking about hockey players here who i imagine are maybe not the best conversationalists, and maybe would much rather be sleeping on a beach somewhere. And most of them are probably not the creative type to make exploring a city new or interesting no matter how many times you've been there. (with the exception of sid*ney cro*sby who as we all know is excellent at scavenger hunts). So all right, yeah, maybe i too wouldn't relish the idea of being stuck in a city with a whole bunch of hockey bros.

I also imagine its very different asking someone like sid if he enjoys the all*star game versus asking some player who isnt the best in the league and maybe just got there because of a voting fluke or the rest of his team is just shitty, and is maybe fairly new to the league and this is his first time going, and holy shit he's sitting next to sid at breakfast. Cmon theres got to be at least one guy having that experience even if they would never admit it because its uncool to fangirl.

[vanikey]

if i wanted to start dragon age for the first time ever, which game would you recommend?

OHHHH GOSH OK OK UHH

it depends on what you're going for tbh? and full disclosure i have not physically played the first one (and i havent technically played veilguard yet so I consulted my friend the wise dragon age sage @jasonqrace)

Dragon Age Origins: probably the best starting point as it is the first game in the series, introduces the world and gives full world context; HOWEVER, apparently the gameplay is rough and you have to get mods or an old multigen console just to run it

Dragon Age 2: biased bc I love this game so much but probably not the best starting point despite this being the point where stories start being pretty consecutive bc the limited maps and also hawke (the player character) is less customizable than other player characters in the series (like they can only be human and have a set sort of story/background but you can still have fun with it/ur own ideas!!)

Dragon Age Inquisition: I think this was many ppls first game? (myself included despite being interested in da2 first) This one sets up for the fourth game pretty heavily and youll miss a lot of the emotional points/reveals without playing it before the veilguard....gameplay is fire and this one is a large open world if that's ur jam !! lots of player character customization and interpretation

Dragon Age The Veilguard: not entirely sure but character customization in the physical design/sense is so incredible and the gameplay looks really fun and dynamic and also this game is the first where u can be #confirmed trans/nb and they'll address it and use whatever pronouns (only they/them, she/her, and he/him available) but yeah idk abt story wise if this is a good place to start? just bc there are many inquisition references and stuff. I've heard criticism on the writing compared to the first three in the series but I can't tell if that's valid or ppl who had too high of expectations after waiting 10+ years or ppl who are homophobic/transphobic

I can say for at least the first three, the stories are absolutely incredible and captivating!! There's so many decisions that affect everything and everyone which is daunting but it's also so cool and allows for a lot of replayability. For all four of them I can say the companions are a highlight and there are some im actively in love with actually and others i Despise but they're still so nuanced and intriguing

Each one plays differently tho and tbh i think the gameplay improves each time for the most part (as far as i can tell) (I say this bc I am biased to da2 which is more limited compared to dai so objectively I'm not the best person to ask lol)

Sorry this is long and probably doesn't answer ur question but imo they're all worth playing/watching a walkthrough or something

if it helps, i went: dai first, then da2, then watched dragon age origins, and then watched parts of dragon age the veilguard and am planning on playing it soon

[m1ckeyb3rry]

HAHA NOOO MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR REST!!! Honestly im so prone to just passing out if im somewhere comfortable and I’ll wake up and be like “…..shit” but hey naps happen for a reason too sooo ok but as inspiration keeps striking im just mentally visualizing your “to write” list LMAOOO honestly its such a feat how you’re able to keep track of all the different storylines and ideas if it were me id probably end up accidentally making the crossover of the century HAHAH actually im kinda curious (besides the inspiration striking) what’s your process of choosing what to work on/how to get things started?

Ok yeah there’s definitely worse parents than the itoshis but wow it’s very interesting seeing the difference between parents who really act like devoted parents to their kids and others who are…stumbling…let’s just say LOL I really hope we see more of everyone’s family at some point or another…I see fanart of this all the time but imagine all of their sisters just bumping into each other on the street it’d be so cute and funny!!

Omg no because I think everyone got baited by that Bible ranking poll but people forget that’s it what the BLLK characters ranked them and their opinions/impressions NOT what is actually fact according to the creator (tbh I was confused at first too especially when naruhaya ranked for most generous and least generous)

If we keep following Isagi so closely we’re gonna need more episode (insert character here)s LMAO hoping that doesn’t happen though because I think it’d cry if I found out we were just watching only Isagi Noel ness and Kaiser for a whole 50 chapters

-Karasu anon

i love sleeping LMAOO plus so much of my writing i do at night right before bed so if i feel sleepy earlier i have less time to write 😓

hmm in terms of what i choose to work on it’s pretty much what i’m having ideas for!! so usually it’s whatever i’ve consistently been working on for the past while as i’m more ��in” that storyline!! so like it’s easier for me to keep writing for hollyhock vs going back and writing for peregrine as it’s been some time so that storyline isn’t as fresh for me. but then once i get some momentum for it it’ll be easy to write for again!! as for what i choose to write…definitely some characters are easier for me to write for than others (ex karasu vs yuki) so i tend to gravitate towards those characters, and then within that i’ve noticed that some tropes flow better w my writing style than others so if i have an idea that shits that i will typically go for that first!! and then too i’m not immune to validation so if a work is getting a lot of comments (or even just a couple detailed ones) and feedback i’ll be more inclined to work on that!! it’s made writing bllk fics on ao3 hard as the fandom isn’t super big yet so i don’t get many comments (if any) esp compared to my jjk works

i can’t even lie getting stories started is difficult for me i usually have to rewrite my beginning few paragraphs a few times before it morphs into something i don’t mind/like!! so i don’t really have a set process besides trying to start in the action…if you start too far in advance (which i always do at first) the beginning gets to be very wordy and info-dumpy!! in my experience it’s good to start like that and kinda orient yourself in the story and then cut to the action for the ACTUAL beginning

the itoshis are def leaning towards bad but they’re not AWFUL like some parents (hiori’s and kaiser’s parents come to mind) definitely not as good as isagi’s though!! and yeah i do wish we could see more interactions between the families but considering how we hardly get to see players that aren’t in bm that might be a tall ask 😭

yeahhh i do think that the bible poll def made things confusing especially because there’s no official english translation afaik so if that’s not made super clear in the version you’re reading online it’s easy to miss!! haha i think it’s funny how reo got voted for like all of the positive ones…he truly is mr perfect and we love that for him

NO FR if it’s just the german people + isagi w occasionally hiori/yuki/kurona/kunigami cameos for the entire next arc i might cry 😩💔 though i don’t think they would do that because it would mean taking away the focus from soooo many popular characters (rin, bachira, nagi, chigiri, barou) for even more time 🤔 i suppose we will just have to trust the process and see what happens!! for now it seems like bm vs pxg is going to go on for a bit longer so at least there’s karasu cameos to look forward to (as long as we don’t keep getting backstories…imagine a shidou/wildcard flashback is next lowkey that would be hype af)

[ifthestarsarewilling]

here

anyways im gonna talk about eldritch horror watcher pixlriffs now. because i love him.

so pixl wasnt always a watcher, was he? there must have been something before he watched. and maybe he still watched, but not officially. some sort of immortal, ineffable creature, similar to the crawling chaos if you like lovecraft, who will take on a form considered 'normal' to fit in. then the watchers found him and adopted him into their ranks, giving him another form: a more human one, draped in purple and copper finery, veils and wings and eyes, all biblically-accurate-angel vibes. which is pretty cool, if you ask pix. he meets zloy and lyarrah, two other watchers/a watcher and a listener, and the three team up to look over a select group: the hermits. but obviously, the three need to do more than just watch, since theyre not born watchers. and pix? he decides to join a small server, with people such as pearl, who was on evo smp with grian (another watcher), and then several people are whisked away to play third life, so the server (empires smp) is definitely a viable place for him to hide: theres already so much watcher magic, his wont make a huge difference!

but, people are always drawn to the powerful, and pixandria expands. pix knows that as far as the other emperors know, hes the only ruler of pixandria, while they all had ancestors in the world. memories spill over with pix there (the pufferish of peace) but still he tries to stay off the radar. and when he helps kill the dragon? he knows he Messed Up Bad.

so he runs, returning later, but he runs again as he doesnt want to see the destruction of the people he considers friends. pix knows theyre not dead, he knows theyll be back for season 2, but still. so he watches hermitcraft, voicing the recap, and occasionally wanders in empires to keep up with history.

so, s2 comes around, and pix wouldnt have noticed if he hadnt been wandering near spawn, and that pesky but helpful eldritch magic that draws people important to the Narrative to pix draws some of the reborn emperors to him. so he joins the circle, masquerading as an innocent archaeologist, and so what if he can See the past? technology is always advancing, after all.

its a mess when the hermits get there. pix reveals his knowledge, accidentally almost reveals gem, and with the other watcher, grian, there? pix was sure he was going to get berated by xisuma for his Watching hermitcraft. so when it turns out they already know, its such a relief. grian knows what its like not being a born watcher, and promises not to reveal anything to fwhip or the others. also, pearls there, and thats awkward because they Both Know They Know But Refuse To Acknowledge That. then he blows up grumbot, because hes very protective over his world. hes been living on empires for so long, hes laid a claim. the other watchers know not to touch it, and none but the most powerful eldritch gods would dare mess with pixlriffs.

then hes on hermitcraft, and its so weird because hes Not Meant To Be There! It keeps him on edge, and hes glad when he returns, even if he will miss the hermits. and eventually, esmp ends, and pix moves on to a new server to occupy his time.

(i havent watched whatever hes got going on after esmp s2. gotta get round to that at some point)

(also, he uses the survival guide so he can fit in with other players. its a guide so watchers can fit in with players, if they want)

(also i have so many thoughts about david)

watcher pixlriffs truthers where yall at

[autumnslance]

hello i know this is like. super late but i saw some of your posts on werlyt and i wanted to add that im pretty sure livia's attraction to gaius overall is mostly an ENG thing. the scene where gaius tells her to meet in his office later is, actually, standard procedure in japan for bosses when they need to scold employees in private. ive actually seen several japanese players express confusion over non japanese players viewing that in a romantic context. and its obvs not the first time that (1)

(2) the english team has fucked up, as we have seen with nael van darnus always being intended to be female in 1.0 but the english translation team didnt realize that. so while i do think its a shitty attempt at retconning, i do think that the scene everyone cites as "evidence" of gaius and livia having an affair is moreso something that was lost in cultural translation, as he doesnt ever express anything otherwise. the eng team seems to. make many things romantic for no reason

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

Combining both asks. My Sorrow of Werlyt tag; some faint praise and plenty of salt, fair warning. My Livia sas Junius tag as well as I've talked about this before.

I dunno even know that the EN team specifically is "making" things romantic for no reason--in fact, there are criticisms of some character translations that seem to try and ensure there isn't romantic misconception from some characters--as it is players reading so many things with shipper goggles on, and this is a case of poor context.

Though it does sound like a weird request; for me, as a former soldier, once the other officers had left, the criticism or instruction would happen then and there, not in an hour (unless Gaius needed the time for something else), and if needing guaranteed privacy from other soldiers, I would have said "office" not "quarters" as the connotations there are very different in English (and officers/high rank NCOs that I knew had an office separate from their personal quarters while on base). But there are a lot of folks playing EN, perhaps some of them more familiar with the tropes, or simply non-ship focused, that didn't read romance into it at all ever.

Overall, everything Livia says in EN lean toward an obsession with her foster father, though his reactions to her are far more reserved and offhand--to the point of forgetting about her entirely even, his interactions with Cid (and later the Auri quintet) as much more important. He reacts more to Rhitahytn's death than hers, which strikes me as odd. Even something simple would do.

Nero makes a comment after Titan about Livia being "in love" though how much it's supposed to be a joke or what also seems lost in text and translation.

In general I think ARR needed a few more editing passes they had no time and budget for, given they rebuilt an entire game in the span usually reserved for an expansion. They did OK overall, though some weird choices then have haunted the story and characters since.

Also the EN localization team has changed over the years, so the teams have been picking up and recontextualizing the pieces over the years. Koji's been over on FFXVI, so Kathryn Cwynar has been EN local lead since Shadowbringers, as revealed in a 6.1 live letter (she's the bespectacled lady doing translations during FanFest 2021 and those PLLs when Miss Aimi cannot). The EN and JP are mostly written together, but there's still a lot of back and forth, too, as well as interaction, cultural checks, and consistency with the other languages they have to manage. Kate's twitter has an interview pinned with the Local Leads for each language, and the coordinator, from in March 2021.

I also have a post on the Eula/Nael mess, and in that case it's one of those things the devs claim they decided to retcon-but-we-don't-like-to-call-them-retcons, perhaps rather than admit to an error or place blame for mistranslation of a major figure. Which is another aspect of cleaning up some of those missteps that linger, and we're honestly not going to know that answer for sure.

EDIT ADDENDUM: DT has a good point in the Replies too (that I usually mention, at least did in another post); everything we ever see in ARR about the “relationship” is entirely Livia’s statements and POV, across all languages/translations. So if people are reading into it, it’s because they’ve been primed to based on Livia’s comments and Nero’s snarking. Not anything Gaius himself ever said or did, and the “My quarters, one hour” line ends up a victim of translation as players take Livia of all people at face value, not considering her POV is very, very skewed.

Though it is common enough for players to take everyone at face value, heroes and villains alike, without considering their personal perspectives, misinformation, misunderstandings, outright lying, and other agendas, before we even get to how each player interprets those lines they’re taking as absolute truth.

[matsbarzal]

Hi my dear!!! I’m here to request another fic/blurb bc I cannot get enough of all the ones you’ve written for me/others so far! 🤩💕

If it’s still available, could you please do random/au #4 the moment you look into their eyes... you just know. with Mat Barzal??? Thank you so much! 💙💙

au #4. the moment you look into their eyes... you just know.

pairing: mat barzal x reader word count: 1.2k

They always said, the day you found your soulmate… you just know. It was something in their eyes, they always said, like everything finally clicked in your soul, both halves finally complete after years of being separated by time and distance.

As the years went by, it seemed probable to you that you’d never meet your soulmate. There was never any twitch inside, never a pull or a need to go somewhere you weren’t. You had deduced it to the fact your soulmate wasn’t looking for you simultaneously, they didn’t care to find you, or they just didn’t care to find you yet.

Everyone had their examples of the worst way they’ve met their soulmate. Some while they were out for dinner with their significant other at the time, some in the middle of a rivalry high school football game, and some? Well, some apparently met in the middle of a National Hockey League game.

Number Thirteen’s eyes bore into yours from his spot on the bench, his entire body turned so he could stare at you, a look of confusion slowly fading into a look of understanding, and then he was shoving into number nineteen. Beauvillier, as his jersey said, whipped around to look over the crowd, his eyes eventually falling on you just rows back from their bench.

You could feel it, every time number thirteen looked at you, every time your eyes met for even a second. He was the person you had been waiting for, for so many years, and who was to even say you’d see him again after the game?

Both gazes were ripped off you when their line was told to get on the ice, number 13, or Mathew Barzal as your parents had told you the moment they realized what was going on. Mat had tried to keep his focus on the ice, on the puck on his stick, on the weaving players around him.

Everyone could see the distraction in his movements, the puck flying far left of the net, his speed not up to the caliber it usually was. After two periods of impeccable hockey from the Islanders’ forward, just to crash midway through the third, his teammates were confused and so were his fans.

The end of the game came quicker than you were hoping, Mat’s eyes attempting to never leave yours as he went down the tunnel. The tunnel walls cut through that almost immediately, disappointment settling in your stomach when you realized it was unlikely you’d be able to get a chance to see him again until God knows when.

“We could wait, darling? Maybe he’ll send someone to look for you?” shrugging your shoulders gently, you pursued your lips as you looked around, people eager to get out of the arena to miss the traffic that they were going to inevitably be stuck in regardless.

“No point, probably, like anyone’s even going to be able to make it through all these people. May as well just—”

Your words were cut off by the sound of something slamming against the glass behind you, all three pairs of eyes turning their bodies to look at the source. The puck didn’t leave a mark on the glass, but the person staring back at you through it sure left a mark on you.

He was yelling something, his voice illegible by the chatter throughout the arena. It was easy to read Mat’s lips when he was only saying two words multiple times in a row, hoping you’d eventually be able to hear him, or at least try to.

“Stay there,” you could even see the huff in his voice, the aggravation from the crowd taking forever to clear out, and not quietly at that.

You nodded your head back, a look of awe in your eyes as he grinned up at you cheekily. Winking at you, he quickly made his way back down the tunnel again, two of his teammates peering out around him to see what he was so eager to get to after the game.

“We’ll go wait in the car, hun. Give you some time to… acquaint yourself,” nodding at her, you watched both your parents follow the departing fans as you sat back in your seat, thumbing through your phone and eagerly looking around you every few seconds.

It was only minutes later when you heard footsteps slamming down the stairs next to you, most of the building cleared out. Turning to the sound, you were instantly met with the same eyes that had just… made it click inside of you. The pull was even stronger with you being so close to one another, even more eager to encourage you to get closer to the man now just steps away from you.

“Couldn’t have like… come to a game that wasn’t dire for our playoff push, huh? Already distracting me and I don’t even know your name?”

You couldn’t help the guffaw that fell from your lips at his words, a small grin taking over your face as you stood up and extended your hand towards him. “Y/N, sorry for distracting you. Fate works in funny ways, Barzal.”

Nodding his head with a laugh, his hand instantly engulfed yours and before you realized it, he was pulling you into a gentle hug, his arms wrapping around your back as his chin gently placed itself on the top of your head. It didn’t take much thought to hug back. For the fact he had just played almost an hour of hockey, he didn’t even smell awful.

Pulling back, the grin never leaving his face as he looked down at you. “Never thought I’d meet my soulmate, to be honest with ya. Tito, Beau, Anthony Beauvillier, always told me to just wait it out, suck it up and eventually you’d come around. Em, his soulmate, showed up almost four months ago. Guess I had to top him by finding mine in the middle of a game, huh?”

Shrugging your shoulders, you just laughed and nodded your head. “Pretty sure it’s a double-whammy for him too, you’re beautiful, and our first look is ten times better than his story.”

“Oh, I’m sure his soulmate and their story are just as beautiful. Just maybe not as great as ours.”

Nodding his head, Mat just shrugged his shoulders as he gestured to the teammate that was now standing at the top of the stairs to your aisle.

“They met in a Walmart parking lot in the middle of a snowstorm back near his hometown, he almost ran her over with his car. Tito always says she came around swinging before they even made eye contact, you’ll love them, everyone does.”

“Are we going to keep talking about your teammates and their soulmates, or are you ever going to kiss yours?”

Surging forward at your words, all elements of the previous conversation now gone when Mat pressed his lips to yours. The fireworks in your brain set off immediately, the butterflies in your stomach jumping around the moment your lips made contact for the first time. It was definitely something you wouldn’t mind happening forever, his lips eagerly pressing against yours as his hand cupped your cheek, the smile pressed into your lips a clear sign that he was thinking the same.

note: im literally obsessed with you, thank you for being my biggest supporter always!! i hope this blurb is fit perfect to the request, and thank you for requesting, ily <3

[princessphilly]

All Bets Are Off Chapter 12

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CW: smut, filthy talk

This is a bit of a filler chapter, sorry. 

“Are you going to miss me?”

Nina didn’t even look up from her iPad. It was so annoying yet adorable at the same time, how Sidney was desperately trying to get her to tell him how much she was going to miss him. 

“Um, I think you’re going to miss me more than I’ll miss you,” Nina finally replied. She grinned as Sidney huffed. 

The first month of the new year had passed by pretty quickly to Nina. After being together for New Year’s Eve, Nina and Sid separated as the Pens had to finish off their road trip. Nina stayed in Miami for Jason’s game before taking an extra week just for herself. It was nice to have a bit of a vacation, especially when Lauren flew down. Nina basically enjoyed being on the beach, hanging out with a close friend, and shopping. 

The morning of New Year’s Day, after having their first breakfast together of the new year, Sid had given Nina a card. Nina was shocked to see a credit card with her name on it and she had tried to give it back but Sid had insisted. “You don’t treat yourself enough, pretty girl,” he had firmly stated. So Nina took advantage of it to treat herself a bit. 

By the time she came back to Pittsburgh, Sidney’s road trip was over but Nina’s semester had started. They had a couple of weeks where they spent time together as much as possible before the Pens had another short road trip. Now, Sidney was on his way to the Olympics in Beijing for their longest separation so far.

Sidney finally had his bag packed the way that he liked it. Glancing at Nina laying on their, um, his bed, he drawled, “Are you sure you aren’t going to miss me?”

Nina looked up and giggled. “You hog the sheets, Sidney. And you’re like a furnace when you sleep.”

Sidney walked over to the bed, crouching over Nina. “Hurting my feelings right before I have to take a long flight. Tsk tsk.”

“Your flight leaves tomorrow. You’re just making sure you are totally prepared tonight. Stop being so dramatic, Sidney Crosby.”

Sidney smirked as he brushed a hand down Nina’s front. She was clothed, wearing one of his t-shirts. “Still, Nina. 

“Still, Sidney.”

Nina stuck out her tongue at Sidney as he giggle-honked. Sidney brushed an errant strand of hair off of Nina’s forehead as he whispered, “I wish you were coming.”

“It was too short of a notice to take almost three weeks off, Sid,” Nina murmured. “Plus, hasn’t it always just been your family attending the Olympics?”

“Yes?”

Nina smiled. “Then, I would be breaking your tradition and your superstitions-”

Sidney opened his mouth to disagree but Nina put a finger over it. “Don’t even start, we both know how important ALL of your superstitions are. Even if you wouldn’t say it, if you lose without a gold medal and I'm there, part of you would be wondering. So quit the bullshit, Sidney.”

Sidney gave Nina a chagrined smile as she laughed at him. She was right, as always.

“Sid, it’ll be fine. You’re lucky I’m a morning person, you can call me crazy early here and I’ll pick up,” Nina reasoned. 

Sidney pouted a bit. “I finally got you to actually date me, I don’t want to be separated from you for that long.”

“How cute, Mr. Obsessed-with-Hockey has become soft in his old age.”

Nina squealed when Sidney tickled her, squirming. “Okay, okay, you’re allowed to become soft!”

Sidney gave Nina a soft smile and she gulped. Something shifted in that look and Nina felt like there was something new. 

Sidney bit his lip as Nina nervously laughed. In that moment, the pure joy on Nina’s face as she squealed while he tickled her, Sidney was sure that he loved her. He loved Nina. But this was the wrong time to admit that. So he chuckled and said, “If I’m soft, it’s only because of you.”

Nina stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Sidney chose not to respond to that statement, instead choosing to slide his lips over hers. Soft and sweet, exploratory as they kissed, not their usual hungry kisses. Then Nina wrapped a leg around Sidney’s waist and the mood changed. 

Nina ended the kiss first, whispering, “I can feel that someone is going to really miss me.”

“Going to miss you so much,” Sidney replied, grinding his hips into Nina’s core. “Let me show you.”

Nina gasped as Sidney sucked along her neck, just light enough not to leave any marks. “Gonna give you something to remember while I’m gone,” Sidney promised as his hands went under her shirt before pulling it off. 

Nina grinned before moaning as Sidney began to do exactly what he promised to do.

**

Sidney sighed as he sent the text. Everything was going great, even after a couple of hiccups in their first group stage games. This year, it was obvious to Sidney that this was going to be the last Olympics for him. Except for him, Tazer, Bergy, Tanger, Webs, Price, and Giroux, all of the other players on the team were under 30. Sidney saw his job as captain this year to not just get one more gold, but get the younger guys ready to take over. 

Right now, they were getting ready to play against Germany, their first game after the group stage, the real games. It was before pregame; the players whose families had come to Beijing were giving well-wishes. At this moment, Sidney wished Nina was here with him instead of home in Pittsburgh.

His phone pinged and Sidney relaxed when he saw the message: its midnight here. Good luck. Im g2g2 sleep. Bye

That message was quickly followed by another one: why the hell did they schedule yall for so fucking late? figured canada would be primetime here

Sidney laughed when he saw Nina’s message. Giroux looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Must be the elusive girlfriend.”

Giroux’s wife elbowed him, causing him to say ow. Sidney snickered; they may be teammates for Team Canada but their truce was still a fragile truce. Ryanne Giroux said, “I heard Nina’s very sweet and kind.”

“Oh?”

Sidney was suddenly very curious. Blithely, Ryanne replied, “You know as well as I do it’s a small league. People only have the kindest things to say about her.”

Relaxing a bit, Sidney grinned. “Nina’s pretty fucking amazing. I’m lucky she likes me.”

“Oh God, he’s talking about Nina again.”

Sidney’s grin turned into a smile as Tanger clasped him on the back. Tanger continued, “It took five years-”

“Five years,” Giroux asked as Sidney groaned. “Stop giving him chirp material.”

Ryanne snickered as Sidney’s phone pinged again; kris says ur bragging about me again?

“Really, Tanger, really?”

Kris laughed as Sidney narrowed his eyes. “Calm down, Sid.” 

Before Sidney could reply, Nina sent him another text: score a hat trick

Sidney gave his phone a soft smile. It was time to get focused for the game, so Sidney put his phone away as soon as he went back into the locker room.

**

Nina cracked an eye open. The time difference was a motherfucker; it was 5:45 am but 5:45pm. Yawning, Nina sat up in her bed as she accepted the call from Sid. 

“Nina, really?”

“Good morning to you,” Nina yawned. 

Sid slightly frowned. Nina was wearing a team USA t-shirt. Her shorts were blue. Even her sleep bonnet was blue. 

“I’m not Canadian, Sid.”

“Stilll-“

Nina smirked as she shook her head. “No, I’m not rooting for you. Score as many goals as you want, I’m Team USA.”

Sidney scowled as Nina laughed. “It’s not even like the US made the gold medal game!”

Nina was disappointed in Team USA. She was hoping they would make it to the gold medal game but they were going to go against Finland for Bronze. Tomorrow, at 8am Beijing Time, 8pm EST, Canada was going against Sweden for gold. 

“Still, you should be rooting for me.”

“I am,” Nina reasoned. “I want you to score all the goals. But, I just cannot root for Canada, yet.”

“Yet.”

Nina looked up to the ceiling before yawning again. Sidney was in a snit. She felt a tiny bit bad for Sweden because they were going to get it. But that wasn’t her problem. “Seriously, good luck, Sidney.”

“Thank you, Nina.”

Nina blew Sidney a kiss and he pretended to catch it. Then he licked his lips. “How many days did you take off when I get back?”

“Three, Sidney. Just three.”

Nina couldn’t help the rush of heat in her center when Sidney drawled, “I don’t plan to let you out of my house then.”

“Win the damn gold then,” Nina snapped. 

Sidney chuckled, saying, “You’re ready to go back to sleep then. Sweet dreams, Nina.”

“Bye, Sid.”

**

Nina looked down at her phone. There were three messages, long messages, all from Sid. She took in a deep, fortifying breath. Canada had one gold and Sidney had two goals. From the highlights, it seemed like Sidney was on a mission the whole game. Sighing, Nina pressed play on the first one. It was just a noisy celebration, nothing big until Sidney started talking. His talking was garbled at first and Nina laughed when she realized that he was drunk off his ass when he called her. 

The second voicemail started just as garbled, then Nina heard Sidney clearly say, “I’m so happy we won, I still wish you were here, you’re my new lucky charm, pretty girl. Fuck, I love you so much, pretty girl, you make everything better now that you’re mine.”

The next one was just sappy as the second, but Sidney was definitely somewhere quieter with this one. But he was also just as drunk, as he ended by saying, “I wanna fuck you when I get back, with you wearing my gold, pretty girl. This gold is almost as pretty as you.”

Nina ruefully laughed, already expecting apologetic texts from Sidney when he was sober. But for the rest of the day, the thought lingered in her mind, the idea that Sidney loved her. However, her patients kept Nina busy and she didn’t get a moment to really ruminate on that. Then, Nina went over to Karesha’s house to babysit her play nephew, AJ, as Karesha went out with her boyfriend. 

Within an hour of leaving, Karesha came back in, heated as she slammed the door. AJ commented, “He must have made Mom mad again.”

“AJ, please go upstairs and play with your Legos, Mommy needs to talk to Aunt Nina,” Karesha asked, trying hard to control her voice. 

AJ quickly ran up the stairs, loudly closing the door to his room. Karesha flopped on the couch, kicking off her expensive heels. “Fuck men.”

Nina got up and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses. Pour shots, she passed one to Karesha before sitting back down next to her friend. Karesha gratefully smiled before downing the shot. 

“I’m tired of this shit. I told him it was over through text. How dare he say he’s coming up to Pittsburgh before spring training and then text me after I get to the restaurant to say he’s not coming after all. I’m done. I can’t.”

Nina murmured sympathetically, “Fuck him.”

“I’m so glad I never brought him around AJ though,” Karesha stated. “He had the nerve to say I spent too much time with my kid when I told him it was over.”

Nina’s eyes widened at that statement. “What are you supposed to do? Parent him less?”

Thoughts about Sidney were forgotten as Nina consoled her friend. Deciding to sleep over, Nina woke up early in the morning on the couch, several texts from Sidney waiting for her. Nina quickly scanned over them, starting with a text telling Nina his flight was about to come in to the last one asking if everything was okay. Nina sent him a message: friend had a crisis, be over around 10

It was early, around 7am so Nina didn’t expect to get a response. But Sidney replied: everything ok?

As ok as it’s gonna be, don’t worry, Nina sent back before straightening up Karesha’s living room. She then slipped out, locking the door from the inside. 

**

“Gonna get you full with my cum, pretty girl. Fuck, look at you, your pussy already trying to milk my cum.”

Nina groaned as she watched Sid fuck her, claiming her. Her legs were over his shoulders, allowing Sidney to fuck her deep. “You missed me, pretty girl?”

“Uh huh,” Nina managed to say. He was fucking her so good, each stroke hitting her g-spot. It was like Sidney returned as a man on a mission. 

“I missed you. Dreamed of you every night, Nina,” Sidney rasped. 

“Mmmm.”

Nina no longer had words, she could feel her high coming. Then she felt Sidney’s fingers, just two fingers on her clit and it was enough to send her over the edge. Nina screamed, her nails digging into Sidney’s back. That was enough to get Sidney to reach his high as well, his grunts wordless as he came. 

Nina sighed as Sidney withdrew, already sad at feeling empty. Sidney sat back on his haunches, watching as his cum started to leak out of Nina’s pussy. “I’ll never get enough of seeing that,” he remarked as he played with Nina’s clit. “Just for me, pretty girl.”

Moaning, Nina closed her eyes. She was sensitive but she felt herself respond to Sidney’s fingers. Then his fingers were replaced with his tongue, his fingers fucking his cum deeper inside of her pussy and the time for rational thought was gone. 

**

Six weeks later

Nina sighed as she rifled through her bag for the keys to her apartment. Today was her thirty-first birthday and for some reason, she felt weird. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m now on the other side of thirty,’ Nina thought to herself. 

The morning began with happy birthday texts from friends, birthday calls from Mom and Dad, and a facetime call with Jason. Sidney had sent her a funny meme birthday text but nothing else. Nina knew she shouldn’t feel too bad; the Pens were trying to solidify their playoff spot in the division and her birthday, April 5, fell right at the end of the season. As she opened the door, Nina hoped that Sid would at least do something once the playoffs were over. At the same time, it felt weird that she wasn’t going out with her parents either.

Just her luck that for the first time she was in a relationship around her birthday, her boyfriend had reasons not to take her out. Nina sniffled as she turned on the light.

“SURPRISE!!”

Nina gasped as Sidney, Kris, Geno, Anna, Catherine, Taylor, Alex, Victoria, Mario, Nathalie, Guentzy, Tristan, Hannah, Karesha, AJ, Lauren, her mom and dad, and Aryanna jumped out. Eyes wide, Nina burst into tears. 

“Oh no, what’s wrong pretty girl,” Sidney replied, folding Nina into his arms. 

Nina sniffled as she cried, “I thought everyone forgot my birthday!”

“I told you she wasn’t going to take it well,” Karesha muttered as Lauren kicked her. “Girl, be happy he did this all for you when he could be extra obsessive about the playoffs.”

Nina cut her eyes at Karesha before getting on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Sid’s cheek. “Thank you, Sid.”

**

The pictures of that night were put into a small scrapbook. Nina didn’t understand Sidney’s love for documenting memories in such a dramatic way but it was nice to look back at the memories in book form instead of having to scroll through her phone. Playoffs were now starting though so Nina was sure that would be the last carefree time until the playoffs were over, this time hopefully with another cup.