#but I was made so legitimately angry by the boss fights

[foxykatie425]

Alright, time for me to give my thoughts on the results of this poll I put up last week. Long, drawn out, over-explained post ahead!

86.9% of voters think that Merrin would win if she and Cal had faced off in a 1v1 on Dathomir in JFO.

I am gonna go ahead and… disagree. HEAR ME OUT!

Y’all know I love my girl Merrin. She is wonderful and amazing and very very powerful.

But Cal is a JEDI!

I think because we see so much of them in Star Wars, we tend to forget just how powerful Jedi are. We’ve seen Jedi that are more powerful than Cal, but he’s still slicing through stormtroopers like butter!

Neither Merrin nor Cal is any kind of pushover, and it would for sure be very very close.

One thing to remember about Merrin is that while she is a very powerful Nightsister and implied to be above average for her age, she’s still very young, and was very young when her sisters died. Anything she’s learned since then she’s had to teach herself. (One could say the same about Cal, I suppose, but he at least now has Cere to help guide him.) When Malicos says to Merrin, “This power is beyond your control,” he says it with the intention of making her angry, which he does succeed at, but he also may not have been entirely wrong. Note that when Cal leaves Dathomir after making an alliance with Merrin, the undead Nightsisters are still attacking him on the way out.

(Side note: she doesn’t get to raise the dead in this hypothetical boss fight, that is no longer a 1v1! Plus, she already tried that and it didn’t work!)

Merrin, at least when we first meet her in JFO, has always struck me as someone who’s trying to present herself as something she’s not. She’s got something to prove: that she is capable of avenging her lost sisters. But she’s haunted by the fact that there was nothing she could do to save them, because she was, and is, so young. Malicos uses her insecurity about her lack of experience to gaslight her for his own selfish desires, and in her desperation to prove him wrong, her magick is unfocused and uncontrolled. And at the end of the day, despite her desire for revenge, she’s not a cold-blooded killer.

My point is that in terms of power and skill, Call and Merrin are probably pretty evenly matched.

Another thing to consider is timing. Admittedly now we’re getting into my own vision and maybe things would play out different if you put this fight earlier in the story, but if we’re to assume this boss fight with Merrin takes place in the same time frame as the Malicos boss fight, either in addition to or in place of it, we’ve got Cal at his strongest emotional point in the game. He has just made peace with everything that happened to him. Merrin, on the other hand, has just had everything she thought she believed in come crashing down around her. And if we’re at the point where she’s still attacking Cal, she’s not thinking straight. There is no legitimate reason left for her to be angry at Cal specifically, she’s just angry. She hasn’t cooled down from “You both shall learn!” And to be fair, from her perspective, if Malicos used her and lied to her, why should Cal be any different?

In this scenario, Merrin has got to be at a point of hopelessness. She may no longer be certain that the Jedi killed her people, but she feels like her anger and desire for revenge is all she has left, and she will get her revenge or die trying. And (possible trigger warning) now that she’s uncertain that her anger at the Jedi is justified, there probably is a part of her that almost hopes she dies trying. Because even if she did kill Cal, then what? Then she really has nothing left!

Why go after Cal instead of Malicos? Well for starters, that fight she definitely wouldn’t win, because the only way she and Cal were ever going to be able to defeat him was together. And I think rather than being afraid that Malicos would kill her, she’s more afraid that he wouldn’t kill her and that he would force her to continue serving his selfish desires. (Side note, there’s a possible headcanon in the subtext there that I really, really don’t wanna entertain… my poor girl has been through enough!)

I think in the end, a lack of focus and lack of confidence in her own motivation would be Merrin’s downfall. In a way, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Obi Wan vs Anakin. Anakin was more powerful than Obi Wan, but Obi Wan was more focused and more precise. Anakin’s lack of focus caused him to make a bad judgement call (ignoring the high ground) and Obi Wan quickly took advantage of it.

So let’s write some fanfiction real quick!

The way I see a fight between Cal and Merrin playing out at this point in JFO, they would be somewhat evenly matched, and at a moment when Merrin has the upper hand she would hesitate, because she’s unsure if she really does want this, unsure if she really should want this, and as stated before, she’s not a heartless murderer. Perhaps, even, seeing Cal at her mercy might remind her of herself as a child at the mercy of the monster who killed her family. (A Reva moment, if you will.)

Now one could argue whether or not Cal could’ve held her off at this moment had she not had this crisis of conscience, but regardless, she would hesitate just long enough for Cal to take the upper hand and checkmate her. But he wouldn’t kill her. He doesn’t want to kill her. He knows how misguided her anger is, and even if he can’t get through to her, he doesn’t believe she deserves to die. The victory condition for Cal is simply to get the Astrium and escape with his life. Perhaps he might have killed her to reach that goal if he had to, but it would’ve been a hollow victory.

In this moment, pinned beneath Cal’s saber, Merrin reverts back to the little girl she was on the day of the massacre. She is scared, and not ready to die, but she no longer has the strength or will to fight back.

Everything freezes for a moment, and then Cal slowly lowers his lightsaber. She opens her eyes and looks into his as he turns the blade off and steps back. He walks past her into the tomb, leaving her alone, in shock as she thinks about everything that just happened.

So I think there are a few reasons this didn’t actually happen in the game. First of all, a Merrin boss fight followed almost immediately by a Malicos boss fight would’ve been too much. But more importantly, for it to have an emotional impact would’ve required more character development for Merrin earlier in the game that there just wasn’t time for because at the end of the day, JFO is Cal’s story, not Merrin’s. Cool as Merrin was in the first game, what really made her character interesting is the dynamic she forms with Cal, and to try to develop that dynamic earlier would’ve required more cutscenes at a point when the player is not yet invested enough in Cal as a character to really care that much, and all those cutscenes would do is interrupt the gameplay that people came for. I think if the story of JFO were being told in a different medium that didn’t rely so much on action, such a book or *cough cough* a stage production perhaps, this subplot would fit in a little better.

Okay fine, maybe this is all just my vision for what I’d want a Fallen Order musical to look like! I’m telling you, IT COULD WORK!! 😂

So to recap, I think Cal would win in a 1v1 with Merrin (at least in the first game), I think Merrin in the first game is more bark than bite, and I think underneath the hard exterior she’s a sweet broken baby bird and I wanna give her a hug! 🥺🫶

Besides, if we did actually have this boss fight, video game rules dictate that Cal would have to win eventually! 😉

[cerastes]

Top 5 FFXIV Boss Fights. Dungeon, Trial, Raid, Solo Story, whatever.

5. Hydaelyn. The ambiance, the music, the way her fighting style is equal parts divinity and adventurer, how she switches weaponry and basically just creates a fully complete and integrated experience of everything you've faced so far: Stack markers, spread markers, line of sight, add phase, DPS checks, radial AoEs, donut AoEs, she has absolutely everything. I'm a huge fan of integral test-type bosses, bosses that expressly are trying to test you on fundamentals and everything else you've seen and used at least once so far. 4. Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi will always have a place in my heart because it was in this fight that I actually enjoyed playing FFXIV for the first time; before Tsukuyomi, I enjoyed reading FFXIV, but I markedly did not enjoy the gameplay at all with very marked exceptions. The moment the music kicks up and Tsukuyomi starts pulling out the big mechanics, with lots of mobility, colors, coordinated play, and all of that jazz, it was legit the first time I kinda just woke up from Reading Mode and had to actually engage in the systems of the game, and what a wonderful fight to wake up during! 3. The Diablo Armament. Not only is it a really funny "HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, OLD MAN" moment, it fucking slaps. The music is great, it's at the end of my favorite content in the game, you overcame a LOT of challenges to get to it, and now you fight yet another wholly unique boss with a lot of funny tricks up his sleeve. The first time I managed to fully dodge the Diabolic Gate -> Ruinous Pseudomen -> Ultimate Pseudoterror combo, I legitimately felt so proud of myself. 2. Warrior of Light. The reason I finally said to myself, fine, ok, I'll play an MMO, fine, was because I was jamming out to random autoplay in Youtube while doing something else, and then this absolute turbobanger starts going off and I'm like damn ok what the FUCK is this from, so I check, and not only is it FFXIV (which a lot of friends already played), it was apparently the theme of John Final Fucking Fantasy I himself? In his Amano design? So that made me REALLY curious and I committed to finding out What It Did. The fight slaps harder than the fist of an angry god and it has my second favorite moment in the entire game, when Elidibus basically summons a party of FFIV characters and hits me with "Mankind's first hero, and his final hope!" which lives rent free in my mind forever. 1. Lyon's second duel, in Zadnor. The last thing I did before I stopped playing was finish up 100%ing Bozja content, which meant defeating the 6 superboss 1 on 1 duels in Bozja and Zadnor. Of the six, Lyon 2 was the hardest and most fun. Learning his fight was a trial and a half, he is REALLY damn hard and demanding, but I consider it my greatest achievement to have beaten him, because holy moly macaroni those Hearts of Nature and the Caged Heart of Nature into Cross Bombs gets Very Intense to dodge all while maintaining rotation for the strict DPS check. Lyon is also a really cool character #TACTICSOGREGANG

If I can include a number 6, Dun Scaith, expressly due to Deathgaze Hollow. It's SUCH a mean fucking fight to open with and it's a fight in which you IMMEDIATELY can know Who Knows, actual comedy gold. I would also include my favorite instance bar none, Delubrum Reginae, but I prioritized single encounters over overall dungeons or instances.

[felidae-charr]

[Spoilers] Oh ArenaNet, why are you like this?

Again, please note: SPOILERS for the newest living story patch A Bug in the System.

ArenaNet, you are good at many things.

You are very good at world design. Your maps have always been fun to explore, your races have always been relatively diverse and breakaway from industry standard, with quite a lot of character to them. Your story and lore writing has often been intuitive, interesting and engaging, with a few notable flaws here and there and some pacing problems. You managed to design mounts and encourage free-roam exploration almost perfectly and still continue to manage this with relatively few hiccups.

You are good at many things.

But boss fights are, increasingly, not one of them.

For the love of everything holy, stop putting boss fights in my story instances. You aren’t good enough at creating them or balancing them to warrant forcing me to slog through them. 

This isn’t the first time this has happened, ArenaNet. You know it. I know it. We all know it. This isn’t the first time that you’ve put a boss in a story instance and it has been abjectly shit; at best, not engaging and at worst downright frustrating and close to unwinnable for certain classes or sometimes even people with vision problems. And let me tell you, the two bosses in Bug in the System both were boring and beyond that, the final one in particular was the worst experience I’ve had in a long time playing your game.

Without going into too much detail, I’m going to bitch and whine about how much I hated the fight(s) against Commander Lonai because it was shit.

1) I’m a Sword/Pistol + Rifle thief. I have zero ability to deal with multiple targets at once. Therefore, Lonai’s Dying Stars was a bullshit mechanic to try and deal with at the same time as trying to kill Lonai to push her into the next phase of a fight.

2) Dying Stars can and will target you through stealth, consistently and constantly, meaning the stealth mechanic of my class is fucking useless because it fundamentally doesn’t work on three of four enemies in the arena. By the way, because I’m only a fucking thief, I don’t have enough health to be eating constant homing in attacks that will home in on me even when stealthed and hit for 2k each time.

3) Braham’s AI is broken and rarely attacks anything, in addition to not always seeking me out when I go down to revive me. Since I’m not able to avoid going down because half of the attacks can target me even when I’m in stealth and will follow me around the arena until they hit me, this is a huge problem.

4) There’s so much shit going on in all three phases of her fight that it doesn’t even become a test of skill as to how well you fight her, and instead turns into a “I might as well die and tank and spank because I can barely avoid anything anyway”. AoEs that basically take up half of the arena - in a fight against an enemy who has constant AoEs dropping on you and who constantly has three extra enemies summoned that have attacks that home in on you - are bullshit.

5) The Shade mechanic isn’t very well explained at all until she actually summons the first Shade. That doesn’t change the fact her Dying Stars spawn several minutes earlier than the Shade ever will and so you’re dicking around with the volatile star magic whatever bullshit wondering what the fuck you’re meant to be doing with it, only realising much later that it’s only useful for one mechanic.

6) Why do two of these three phases involve mechanics that give you Chill or that otherwise slow you down when this fight is about constant movement all the time. Literally why.

This fight wasn’t fun. It wasn’t engaging. It was fucking horrendous. Lonai had so much HP that it was a grind to try and kill her even as a single-target focused thief. The fact her fight also involves attacks you can’t avoid (even if you stealth) and that her fight is in small arenas with very few places to safely move despite having so much shit to be dodging and that the fight seems to have been deliberately elongated as filler content (we don’t need to be teleported a third time to the Shiverpeaks just because you think it’s cool to show off a Claw of Jormag) made it a horrific experience to play through.

And I hate that. I hate that both boss fights in this living world episode were so bad, because the rest of it was so damn good. The new tribe of Charr, getting involved in Inquest secrets and seeing things backfire, pushing the idea of people in the Inquest not being evil shitheads (which we all knew but it’s nice to see that finally elaborated on) and also to see connections that hearken back to old characters like Kudu of all Asura! The new map being super fun to explore! There’s so much good in this patch that it hurts me how these boss fights were both so catastrophically bad.

STOP DOING THIS, ARENANET. We had this same shit with a boss in PoF who was fucking abysmal to fight if you weren’t a certain class or a certain build with access to quick CC. This has been a plague literally since the start of your game. GW2 is literally infamous for having bad, unfun boss fights. I wouldn’t be sad if you didn’t include tiny bosses every patch in the story, ArenaNet. I’m totally fine with you designing bosses for the open-world content, not instanced ones. I’m fine with boss battles being saved for huge enemies like Joko, or Mordremoth, or other really big bads, so that you have the time and ability to do it right.

[pumpkincarriage3]

Vil and Epel Relationship Analysis

So, as shown in chapter five, Vil and Epel have been at odds with each other since the very beginning. I mean Entrance Ceremony very beginning.

Epel not liking Vil because he keeps getting bossed around and is made to do things that he sees as "girly" and “un-masculine". While Vil doesn't like the fact that Epel has such outdated views and is fighting against being the very best version of himself he can be. These too conflicting views causing a lot of conflict.

Mainly because the two are so different and view everything so differently, they clash when it comes to simply living their everyday lives.

But both Vil and Epel are incredible tenacious, determined, stubborn people. It's the reason even though Epel can't stand Vil's teachings, he still strives to do his best in them because he wants to prove Vil wrong. It's the reason Vil continues to try and teach Epel even though Epel is fighting him at every given turn.

It's why it all boils over during the VDC. Epel has finally had enough, and worse, he's now having to do these things in front of other people, people that are much better at it than him which would also feel a bit humiliating. Vil is stressed out with all of the meaning he's put behind the VDC, so he gets even harsher than he normally would be to make sure everything is perfect for the competition, which just infuriates Epel more.

Then there's the fact that Epel has tried to prove Vil wrong in his own way, by physically fighting Vil, which got him nowhere. Which is why he probably felt the need to apply for the VDC, to prove Vil wrong in Vil's way.

And even then, Epel struggled, because it was everything that he was against. Which made Vil upset, because he put so much - emotionally - on winning the competition, that seeing Epel (and Deuce) struggle so much made him angry. Which caused the two to clash even more than they would.

It's part of the reason that two things needed to happen. Epel going to that beach, with Deuce, to scream out his frustrations. And Vil, either intentionally or unintentionally, sponsoring Epel's family's apples. Because that helped Epel understand Vil's way a bit more, how it could benefit him. Not to say that Epel liked it, he doesn't, but he can see why people put so much behind the idea of beauty.

Which helped the two come to a rocky understanding, got Epel to take things more seriously, and Vil to back off more and to stop hovering over Epel for every little thing.

It's probably part of the reason Epel wanted to snap Vil out of his overblot state when it happened, since they hadn't known just how bad their circumstances were until after Vil snapped out of it. Part of it was definitely to get his frustrations on Vil out. He could finally knock him around, and he had a legitimate reason! But he also didn't want to see Vil, someone he sees as a strong person, struggle in such a way with something. Because on some level, Epel admires Vil because he knows Vil is such a strong person, even if he doesn't like all of Vil's methods.

It's why he offered to take Vil's place in the VDC. Vil obviously wasn't at his best, and while the rest of them weren't either, Epel and Vil had finally found a common goal. They wanted to win. And Epel didn't want to see Vil ever look so defeated again. If that meant taking Vil's place in the competition, Epel was willing to do that.

That offer of Epel's helped Vil understand and appreciate Epel more. Because Epel was finally stepping out and trying to be the best he could be. He was finally understanding what Vil was trying to get at.

The next bit is spoilers for chapter six - the understanding between them is why Epel goes after Vil when he gets kidnapped. He's angry that such a thing could happen, that such a thing happened in front of him, that he was powerless to stop it, and that people he views as strong individuals were kidnapped. So once he sees what Rook is planning, he takes his chances because the entire situation really pissed him off.

It's this same drive that impresses Vil so much when he next sees Epel, Rook, and Yuu. Because Vil is grateful that they came to save him. And he's happy to see just how much Epel has grown. Because that was the entire journey of them through chapter five and six. Them coming to understand each other and respect one another. They aren't friends. But Vil can respect Epel as his underclassmen that tries his best and Epel can respect Vil as his upperclassmen that's trying to teach him.

The two definitely still clash, because they are practically opposites in their viewpoints. And they will continue to be. Vil never wanted to make Epel into a mini version of himself, and Epel never wanted to become just like Vil. But they can at least respect each other now.

[sproutmole-supremacy]

VERY VERY LOW QUALITY DOODLES BUT (severe rambling below, based off a conversation with @ksenya-and-the-artistic-cucumber)

I’ve been obsessed for ages with the idea of a Mari Boss thats similar in some aspects to the Omori Final Boss fight: especially in the confrontation of the truth (“You loved her and you killed her”)

I’m not 100% sure when I would set this in terms of the game plot but it would definitely happen at some point towards the end of the Hikkikomori route, possibly before the death of Stranger.

While the Boss Rush Mari was already an awesome way for Sunny to be confronted with the weight of what he’s done to his mind, I feel like a more direct approach where Mari actively asks and then begs him to accept the truth would be SUPER impactful for the player

Killing Mari would be a final straw in the rejection of the truth - killing the sister Sunny loved so much because she tries to convince him to confront the truth of the incident, and being able to create a Better, Newer version in Headspace who leaves him to lie to himself and the others.

Dbdidnsisjisjaa i just think that Mari giving Sunny a chance to take an easy win, to guide him through Memory Lane and help him work through his fear of the truth, and Sunny promptly killing her and burying himself deeper in denial would be SO GOOD

Because it also adds an extra layer to the “You loved her and you killed her” - the first time was a complete accident, but this is a conscious choice. Sunny is actively deciding to murder his sister (this is made WORSE if you think of DW!Mari/Something as a guardian spirit who is legitimately Mari trying to help him).

Bonus points:

-Mari never actively harming Sunny because even if she’s angry or upset she doesn’t want to actually hurt him

- Most of Mari’s “attacks” are just status effects like slowing Sunny down or decreasing crit rate

- There is no Run Away option: this is no longer within the players control, this is a direct consequence of the players choice to pursue the Hikkikomori route

- At the final stage of the battle, the “attack” button and all skills turn into lie - it does the same damage, and Sunny doesn’t really need to bother with healing since Mari won’t hurt him

[hopeswriting]

girls when [we’ve been waiting, tsuna-kun. you were right about coming alone. if you had brought along a troop, there would have been more dead bodies to deal with] [destroy the defeated... was it so impossible for them to fight one another...? then there must have been a misunderstanding...] [there wasn’t] [but i’m not mafia!! i don’t have an ounce of pride as mafia!!] [you’re still going on about that? you’ve stained your hands as a mafia boss, haven’t you?]

[when this fight is over, i’ll go save big brother, as well as you guys. it just doesn’t feel right!! the more we fight... the fact that you guys are falling victim to this fight...] [that’s none of your business!!] [shittopi-chan... koyo, and rauji... and my... precious... everything’s because of you...!!] [sawada tsunayoshi!! i’ll defeat him right here and now!! shitt p-chan... kouyou... rauji... and the people who’re precious to me have been hurt by the vongola... i can’t forgive them!!!] [the same goes for me... despite knowing how that feels... why... you made my friends suffer!!] [you’re doing the same thing to us] [shut up!! you don’t have the right to say anything!!] [don’t think that you’re the only one who’s angry!!]

[this strength... so cold and heartless. i only see the legitimate successor of the ruthless vongola primo] [primo is not the man you think he is. and i don’t intend to inherit the current vongola] [hahaha, you’re still saying that. that’s just unfair of you, sawada tsunayoshi. isn’t the crest on your gloves proof of the vongola? that’s who you’ll always be] [you’re at the center of the vongola, and have been benefiting the most from the vongola’s power. and then, when the going gets tough, you escape from the responsibility] [wielding the vongola crest, getting others involved, hurting them, then saying that you won’t succeed as the boss. you hope too much] [......!! ...... no!! i didn’t mean to hurt others! i want to use this power to protect my friends! that’s how it’s been until now... and always will be!] [a fraud like primo. you liar. do you seriously think you could escape from your bloody fate?]

[chrome, and of course, enma kozato, too... we’ll save them, because they’re our friends] [wait. i want you to leave this to me. enma’s gonna be okay] [i don’t want to be alone... it’s lonely...] [there’s no one here. i’m all alone... it’s so lonely... help!!] [it’s me!! wake up, enma!!] [it’s lonely... i don’t want to be alone] [i’m here!! i’m right here!!] [i know this voice... who is it? my... friend? oh...] [!! tsuna-kun!!] [it’s okay now. i’ve come to help you] [tsuna-kun, like vongola primo. you didn’t betray me]

[get out of here!! i’ll kill everyone!!] [no, i’m going to save you!! no matter what!!] [i will definitely save you!! i swear on my pride!!] [pride...? did he just say pride? what is tsuna-kun’s pride...?] [what is your pride, tsuna-kun?] [my pride is... you. my pride is... my comrades, my friends!!] [the battle between vongola and simon is now nullified! please release kyoko-chan’s brother and the simon family from the prison!] [i agree with tsuna!!]

[what you say might be true. tsuna-kun’s father might have... but... i won’t hate him again. besides, he... he would never betray anyone, for anything] [our friendship is... it won’t change] [vongola... simon... none of that matters. tsuna-kun is the only person from outside my family that’s... my friend!] almost besties despite (because of) being narrative foils are manipulated into being each other’s enemy but decide to break the cycle instead

(part 1)

[thevoidscreams]

I don't care which slashers/killers you do for this BUT...... May I have some killers hcs meeting their male s/o for the first time? 🥺👉👈

also I know I need to get through what little writings I have planned done and out so I can do these in return and maybe do somethin for ya

I really tried here, I'm sorry if it's not exactly what you wanted. I love these two and I wanted to write more for them. Please let me know if you'd like me to change them at all or if they seem wrong.

Ghostface:

Danny Johnson did not have a tolerant upbringing. His family, despite lacking any sort of faith, was a family built on the foundation that men only slept with women. That's just how it was and that that was how nature had kept things going. When Danny realized he didn't just get hard when looking at naked girls however, life became a lot harder. Literally.

Collage was the escape he needed. He took off and never looked back. Ghosting his family before it was a regular thing. He could finally be who he really was.

The first time he saw you was at a party and he knew something was different. Just introducing himself felt like a life or death situation, he couldn't fuck this up. Some deep part of him needed you to like him, needed you to want him. Danny man not have called it love at first sight but it was definitely something. When you left you took his number and promised to hang out later. You had similar schedules so it would be easy. Right?

You threw a wrench into every plan he'd set in place. All his aspiring affairs with other people died the moment you gave him your name. Your perfect name.

Danny begins every morning thinking about you and would lay down at night with you on his mind till he faded into sleep. Everyday for months you plague his thoughts. Your chill sessions are basically dates in his mind. Even if it's just bumming it on the dorm couches with Mariocart and eating cheap greasy pizza. He cherishes every moment. It has to be more, he thinks, your too nice, too friendly and some of your remarks could be taken as flirting. You're not like this with your other friends. Just with him.

He plans to ask you out but for the first time in his life he's scared by the idea of getting a no. The thought of being rejected by you makes him feel legitimately sick to his stomach. What if he's misread all your signals and your disgusted by his advances. What if you call him all the awful things his old high-school friends did when he came out to them. He needs you to know how he feels, keeping it all in is making him feel anxious.

He was mulling it over in his mind when he got a call, answering it to hear your voice caused a sudden feeling of euphoria within him. "Hey, can we meet up?" Your voice was shaky and you sounded unsure. But Danny agreed right away, assuring you he had the time and was happy to meet up.

You two got coffee together all the time but today there was something more to it. The way you laughed and bumped his shoulder with your fist, the way you smiled awkwardly like you were trying to keep something from him. Danny was getting worried as he looked down at you. "Is everything alright shortstake? You seem off today."

You took a deep breath and looked him right in the eyes. "DannyIlikeyou" you blurted out cheeks red and eyes wide in panic. "I'm sorry I just I couldn't do it anymore," you looked away, "keeping it all in made me feel so awful and I just needed you to know. I'll understand if you don't feel the same way about me and if you don't want to see me again I'll understand that too but-"

He kissed you, right there in front of all of the coffee shop patrons and employees. To his amazement a few people wooped and clapped.

Danny pulled away, he took his coffee in one hand and then your hand in his other.

"Let's go somewhere more private."

He led you to a little pond, there were ducks and water lilies. It was quiet, peaceful, the perfect place to have a heart to heart.

The talk that followed was long and he explained at great lengths how he felt about you.

You confirmed some of the things he suspected, embarrassed by how easily he read you. At the end of it all you were both a bit teary eyed.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say here is, I love you." You did cry after hearing that, so happy and relieved he felt the same way. You kissed him, and he responded in kind, with only the ducks as witnesses this time. They didn't make a peep about the kiss....but they did quack.

Thomas Hewitt:

Tommy knew something was different the first time he met you. You were just a new hire at the meat plant but he couldn't take his eyes off you. The poor thing didn't know what to do. So he just watched. Intrigued by the feelings he felt when he did.

"Good morning Thomas." You'd nod as you passed him to get to your work station. He'd grunt in reply and nod. Happy to see you.

"Hey Tom, lunch time! Thank God for lunch breaks am I right?" Your hand was firm as you passed him, clapping his shoulder. He liked when you touched him, no one ever touched him unless he was also being yelled at. But your touch was different and it was good.

"See ya tomorrow Tommy." You groaned tiredly after a long shift, promising to see him tomorrow. He hoped to see you everyday for the rest of his life.

It was a system, a pattern, it was something Tommy relied on, like a clock, you were on time and followed the routine.

Except this morning, you weren't here. The supervisor was passing by to inspect the work station.

"Where the hell is that freaky bastard at?" He asked pointing to your station. Tommy shrugged, he didn't know, probably the bathroom. "Yeah well you might want to keep your distance, I heard from some the other guys that he's one of them men lovers. If it were up to me he'dhave never come here, but the boss says we're 'short staffed'." The snicker that bubbled up from him was disgusting and he mouthed off a few insults and slurs before walking off to finished his rounds.

Tommy was angry, more than usual at least. He wanted to take that supervisor's head and crush it under his mallet. Instead he stripped his apron off and went to the bathroom. Still a tiny part of him was happy, glad to know he wasn't alone.

The bathroom was never locked, it couldn't be, the lock was broken and building management was too cheap to replace it. So Tommy pushed through the door and listened. A soft rhythmic sound greeted him. Soft uneven breathing, muffled by the walls of the stall. He knew that sound, it was all too personal to him.

He stepped in front of the stall and their sounds turned panicked like they knew they'd been caught.

He knocked on the wood so gently and as it swung open he confirmed his suspensions. Your eyes were red and swollen, a large bruise on your cheek. Tommy saw red as he looked over your generally disheveled appearance.

You were trying to hide the fact that you'd been crying.

"Hey Tommy, what's happening brother? The uh... supervisor send you in here to find me or something?" When you tried to push past him to get to the sinks Thomas stopped you with one big arm.

"Uh you good?" Your voiced trembled and it torn Tommy apart to hear the man he loved so distressed. His big arms pulled you in, holding your smaller body against his massive one. He just didn't care anymore, he didn't care if you knew, or if the whole world knew. People already called him a freak for the way he looked. They were wrong, Thomas wasn't a freak, not for the way he looked or for the way he felt. Neither were you for that matter. When you hugged him back his heart soared. "Thank you." You cried softly, face buried in his chest.

The gentle giant wiped a tear away, carefully as not to agitated the bruise. He grunted and ran his thumb around the edge of the darkening spot.

"Don't worry about that, some of the guys found out about my...well I'm sure you know or have at least heard." Thomas nodded, still holding you. "We should probably get back to our stations."

Tommy was hesitant but he let you go to wash your face and fix your appearance. Things were going to be hard for the both of you. But hard was nothing new to him he was used to fighting for equal footing with others, fighting to get what he wanted always fighting. But this time it really was something worth fighting for. This time it was you.

[archived-kin]

obey me cast + their genshin mains

i woke up at like three in the morning and scribbled this all down

not a formal writing piece so i haven’t formatted it like one, but i thought this was a fun idea!!

lucifer: diluc

they both have Fatherly Issues (in very different ways though)

probably inwardly makes fun of diluc for not liking wine

doesn’t really have any emotional attachment??? he just keeps diluc because he does a lot of damage and helps kill enemies quick

he actually has pretty good luck with getting 5 stars before he’s even hit pity, but he has awful luck on the event banners in terms of getting the featured 5 star - he’s never once won the 50/50 when he actually reaches it

gets really good artifact and weapon drops though so all of his levelled-up characters have super overpowered kits

he’s never actually looked up any recommended character builds, he’s just smart enough to figure out what all the stats mean and build his characters accordingly

has not touched his serenitea pot since he got it

not actually great with battle strategy and elemental reaction, he just tries to hit as hard as he can at all times

all of his characters are built dps because he doesn’t know how to build supports or healers

never teleports anywhere (he still hasn’t even unlocked half the waypoints)

didn’t realise the statues of seven healed until really late into the game

doesn’t bother with the reputation quests/bounties

all of his characters are still on that black glider that amber first gives you

it took him ages to finish the archon quest in mondstadt because he didn’t want to go into the cathedral

mammon: zhongli

accidentally got zhongli on like his very first event wish and has mained him ever since

he thinks it’s really funny that zhongli never has money (even though he also often has no money)

apart from that he likes the idea of playing the character that literally makes all the mora in teyvat

was actually considering switching after he finished the liyue archon quests because he absolutely hated how zhongli handled the whole thing but he didn’t want to give up that big pp damage

still doesn’t know that you can climb up onto dvalin in the stormterror battle

mixes and matches artifacts, but the ones he does use have really good stats and sub stats though so the lack of a set bonus doesn’t make much difference

didn’t realise you could increase talent levels until ar 50

loves doing the blossoms of wealth and hasn’t let his mora drop below 100k ever since he accidentally used it all up levelling his team to lv60

immediately does a wish as soon as he gets enough primos, unless it’s an event banner for a character he doesn’t like

he also ignores the story and hangout quests for the characters he doesn’t like

dabbles in the serenitea pot but doesn’t have the patience to really commit to it

forgets to do his commissions until the very last minute and lets his resin fill up to 160 before remembering that he’s not supposed to let it get full

is terrified of spiral abyss on a molecular level

levi: barbara

he loves idols so of course barbara is his favourite

has her built dps and does more vaporise damage with her charged attacks than some people’s 5 star bursts

ended up building lisa as a dps too because she makes fighting the oceanid for the cleansing hearts much easier

somehow still gets barbara to heal enormous chunks of hp as well??

has all three of her talents crowned, she’s lv90 and so is her 5 star weapon, plus all of her artifacts are +20

he likes getting the event 5 stars even if he’s never going to build them, they just make him feel superior in his luck

has really bad artifact drops which makes him really frustrated because he knows exactly how to build his characters with the perfect stats, he just can’t get the right artifacts!!!!!

keeps getting crit dmg, crit rate and atk% sub stats on defence circlets and it makes him die a little more on the inside each time

he despises jean because of how she makes barbara feel and desperately wants mihoyo to make a moment where jean tries to fight something but fails and barbara then steps in and takes it down immediately

never gets barbara’s constellations with makes him very upset because he wants c6 so BAD

nearly cried when he got barbara’s happy birthday voiceline

somehow got his serenitea pot to adeptal energy 20k within like two weeks but it doesn’t look good?? it’s just a whole bunch of 4 star furnishings shoved wherever there’s room

is pretty much always online at any given time

has nearly every single achievement in the game (goddammit just GIVE HIM THE RELIABLE HELPER COMMISSION)

satan: diona

this is not up for debate

he saw her in the character archive and immediately decided that if he didn’t get her he was quitting the game

luckily for him it was xiao’s banner around this time and he managed to get c3 diona from that alone

much like levi with barbara, he managed to build her so that she does enormous amounts of damage but still performs her shielding/healing really well

he prioritises her over everyone else but because of this diona is still his only fully-built character

all talents crowned, all artifacts +20, etc

hates draff with all his heart and refuses to buy anything from him

will murder you if you refer to diona as a loli in front of him

i’m aware keqing also sort of looks like she has cat ears but as far as i know that’s just her hair???

if anything i feel like satan wouldn’t like her because he’s offended that people think those chunk of hair look remotely like a cat’s cute lil ears

chose all his other team members based solely on whether or not their skill set would benefit diona

refuses to use any of the characters lucifer uses and got legitimately angry when he found out lucifer had started building diona to help with spiral abyss

spends like five minutes at a time making diona jump into water because he thinks the cannon ball animation is the cutest thing in the world

if a boss he’s fighting manages to kill diona, he gets so angry that he pretty much obliterates it immediately after

asmo: lisa

partially because she’s pretty and her personality is right up his alley, and partially out of pettiness because he sees so many people slandering her

doesn’t know how to build anyone, he’s only got a good lisa build out of sheer luck

none of his other characters have remotely good builds. like, maiden’s beloved on tartaglia?? really, asmo???

squealed when lisa called traveller a cutie

talks to her while he’s running about doing quests or battles

plays pretty sparingly so his ar is relatively low and he barely has any characters outside the starters

usually gets levi to one shot the bosses for him when he needs to ascend/upgrade the talents of his characters

(levi agrees because it gives him a pretty big power trip)

he also likes kaeya and has him in his team but lisa’s magic is just so pretty to him

spends all his primos on the standard banner trying to get lisa constellations but he still only has c4

all of the solo boss battles he’s won were only won out of sheer luck

adores the concept of the serenitea pot, but he doesn’t like a lot of the furnishings available

desperately wants a character customisation function

died seven times trying to do the stormterror fight and had to have levi do it for him in the end

still doesn’t done any of the story quests that you need a key for

spends most of his free time finding some pretty landscapes, changing the time, and taking pictures of lisa doing one of her idles against the sunset

beel: xiangling

decided he liked her as soon as he did her story quest

he’s only gotten up to floor 4 of spiral abyss because he only did floor 3 to get her

still only has c2 :((((

always has to have snacks with him while he’s gaming because xiangling’s voice lines remind him of how hungry he is

desperately wishes she was real because he wants to taste how good her food is for himself

likes cooking a bunch of dishes in-game, but he also gets frustrated because they all look so GOOD and he can’t eat them

doesn’t really know how building works but he does vaguely know what stats are good and how set bonuses work

doesn’t like hu tao because she’s mean to xiangling >:( plus belphie despises her and beel rarely likes anything his twin dislikes

is low-key upset that xiangling’s story quest was so early in the game because he didn’t appreciate it enough at the time and he hasn’t seeb her in-game for ages

still doesn’t have any 5 stars apart from the traveller, but he does have literally every 4 star in the game

is the type to bring xiangling to pyro domains but luckily she does some pretty good physical dmg as well so his teammates don’t get as mad

takes some time out of every day to find every food/ingredient vendor in the game and buy out their entire stock

still has never run out of mora somehow????

belphie: qiqi

i made this choice partially because of that one halloween belphie ur where he’s dressed up in a jiangshi costume

aside from that i feel like she just sends his big brother instincts haywire

he cried a little bit when he read her backstory, not gonna lie

like satan, he will kill you if you call qiqi a loli

somehow managed to build her as a physical dps that does like 5000 per hit?????

(he has unholy artifact luck and all of qiqi’s artis have atk, crit dmg and crit rate as their stats and sub-stats, plus aquila favonia)

he started out building her as an all-around dps but then he realised that her burst and skill couldn’t do much in terms of damage since they’re healing-oriented, so he decided to build her physical since that the only type of dmg she can constantly apply

and qiqi still heals reliably because her healing is scaled off her attack, which is like monstrously high???

qiqi hates hu tao so of course belphie does too

he still refuses to do her story quest and didn’t touch her banner or character trial

really really wants a qiqi banner for constellations but is aware that that is incredibly unlikely

doesn’t trust baizhu and wants zhongli to adopt qiqi since he seems like a much more reliable dad

heard the theory that xiao is the adeptus that killed qiqi and therefore also despises him even though it hasn’t even been concerned or anything

diavolo: eula

don’t get me wrong diavolo definitely gives me pyro vibes but i feel like he’d just feel so bad for how the mondstadters misunderstand and mistreat eula in her story quest that he’d immediately go to spend all his primos on wishing for her

he’s got r2 broken pines and a full pale flame artifact set with some pretty decent stats and substats on her so she does pretty enormous damage

it’s lucky that eula’s move set doesn’t require anything too strategic because all diavolo does is button mash

all of his characters are physical damage dealers because he doesn’t really know how to do elemental reactions

(because of this though he’s awful at fighting a lot of the bosses, especially the oceanid)

his favourite boss battle is the weekly golden house trounce domain because he can always smack childe down really quickly

he’s stinking rich so he can afford to spend just about as much money as he wants to get any character he wants

like he got all the way to pity on eula’s banner and lost the 50/50 to mona but he just bought more primos and got all the way to pity again to get eula

on the other hand he got broken pines twice in two ten rolls on the weapon banner and he wasn’t anywhere near pity for that

he joined levi along with satan and asmo to have a go at doing the golden house fight in co-op and he managed to pretty much oneshot a lv90 childe in phase 1 and phase 3 with just eula’s burst

(he spent phase 2 recharging it)

barbatos: venti

this is at least 70% because venti is also called barbatos

he somehow knows pretty much everything there is to know about building characters well and he’s built venti with both attack and elemental mastery

got venti on his first banner and managed to get to c4 on his rerun

doesn’t appreciate how much venti drinks and actively buys the non-alcoholic juices from angel’s share to give him as if that’ll help????

is terrified of fighting the wolf because it’s immune to anemo

(don’t ask how he managed to get the hurricane seeds for ascending venti)

can pretty much fire off venti’s burst as soon as it’s over because his energy recharge is somehow also insane

diligently collects all the recipes and masters every single one of them

his serenitea pot is literally so perfect looking????? i don’t know how to describe it everything just fits together flawlessly

diavolo offers to buy him primos because he’s got more than enough money but barbatos doesn’t wish a whole lot so he usually refuses

(diavolo knew he mained venti and liked him though so he bought him a bunch for the rerun anyway)

he still doesn’t have any five star weapons but stringless works really well on venti anyway so he doesn’t mind

doesn’t really like co-op, prefers to just wander around in his own world

simeon: yanfei

simeon definitely gives me hydro vibes and he probably mained a hydro before yanfei, but i feel like he happened to get her on zhongli’s banner and decided he really liked her as soon as he started trying her out

he adores her little ‘boom boom!’

she also works really well doing big damage with vaporise which is good because simeon plays a lot with luke, who mains barbara

he low key identifies with how yanfei doesn’t want to focus on her identity as an immortal half-adeptus because simeon himself often wants to forget the fact that he’s a divine being and just live peacefully

often forgets that yanfei gets a lot of her dmg from charged attacks and just keeps doing normal attack combos until he registers the scarlet seals and realises he needs to hold the button down

nearly all of his characters were basically backseat-built by levi and solomon

even though his team is pretty powerful he still dies a bunch because his battle strategy is just ‘stand there and keep hitting the attack button until it dies’

keeps running off of cliffs and forgetting to plunge/glide and just dying to fall damage

back when he was like ar20 he accidentally wandered into liyue early and immediately got killed by a treasure hoarder

spent like ten minutes of his first stormterror fight just running off the end of his platform before someone told him he was meant to glide

luke: barbara as well

if you’ve seen my post about barbara and luke being siblings you’ll understand why i’ve made this choice

aside from that luke just likes barbara because she’s one of the nicest characters in the game

plus she’s a deaconess in a church and he’s an angel so

unlike levi he’s got her built purely as a healer, but she heals so MUCH

luke’s entire team is just support characters?? but their support is so good that they kind of make each other dpses in their own right??

his strategy is to keep his whole team at full hp and deal relatively small but very steady increments of damage

unfortunately this means he isn’t great at the artifact and weapon/character enhancement domains because they’ve got time limits

wants to have a pretty serenitea pot but he just can’t get it to look how he wants it to

like levi, he doesn’t like jean because of how she makes barbara feel (and also how jean just refuses to take any sort of older sister role for her)

got her to c6 on a single event banner because she just kept coming home (he wasn’t complaining though)

is contemplating building her dps because he thinks it’d be cool if she did a bunch of damage like levi’s barbara

likes to just sit and wait for her to do her dancing idle because he thinks it’s cute (will immediately make her move and cut off the other one though because it’s about jean and he doesn’t like her)

solomon: albedo

they both look sensible but they’re both just mad scientists on the inside

doesn’t really know how albedo’s burst and skill work, just keeps tapping buttons whenever they’re available

if he didn’t have albedo he’d probably main a catalyst but he relates to how curious albedo is about just about everything

(plus he does like his design)

always gets the limited time 5 star on his first ten pull on the event banners????? is he using his magic somehow??????

and also somehow gets really good weapons and artifacts????

he knows enough about artifacts to know what to put on who so all of his characters are really well built

he’s the type with eight lv90 5-stars with lv90 5-star weapons and fully upgraded artifact sets in his character showcase

his signature is ‘hack me i dare you’

constantly getting friend requests from fellow players who want an op friend to help them in domains and against bosses

but unfortunately even if solomon has a bunch of overpowered characters he is very bad at using them

gets all the elemental reactions wrong, uses the wrong element against the wrong enemy, forgets to do things like putting albedo’s skill down before his ult, and he can’t aim with any of the archers

like i said he just taps buttons and hopes for the best

because of this he’s still at floor 6 in spiral abyss

[hihellogoodbyebruh]

Stingy

Pairing: Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes x Black!OC

Summary: EZ has a problem sharing and his girl, Monique is quite over it.

Warning(s): Some angst with a fluff ending

Word count: 2,552

AN: Ahhhh my first EZ fic. Based on a request I received from the lovely @ly--canthrope with an assist coming from Ginuwine’s Stingy. Thank YOU so much for your patience and encouraging words. I hope you enjoy this xo

You can say I'm tripping but I'm stingy And I can't hide it Wanna keep you all to me I'm selfish, why try to fight it?

An abandoned episode of Girlfriends played on the tv in the background as a woman sat straddling EZ’s lap as the two made out. His hands were rubbing up and down her sides under her shirt and her hands were gripping his face. One of her favorite things to do was kiss her boyfriend. She loved that they could just get lost in each other and it was the perfect opener for the mindblowing sex that was coming.

The familiar ringtone and buzz from her phone’s vibration echoed against the coffee table as she received a text message. She pulled away from the kiss and turned her head, trying to see if she could read the message from her position. She felt EZ stiffen, his hands moving down her hips to grip her thigh.

“I swear to God, Monique.” EZ began, feeling himself become annoyed. He can’t even enjoy her company at home without being interrupted. He’s tried so hard to be understanding, but that selfish part of him was fed up. The opening of Galindo’s company really put into perspective how often he misses time with her.

As Miguel’s assistant she had a very big hand in putting the opening celebration together. She’d been Miguel’s assistant for a couple years now. Her mother was a close confidante to Dita before she passed away. Dita wanted to keep an eye on her so she asked Miguel to give her a job. She was fantastic at keeping things organized and she already knew about the other side of business. 

Working for Miguel was great because though some would hate being an assistant, he actually gave her a lot of responsibility. She was often put in charge of events while making sure everything in his life runs smoothly, at least on the legal side of things.She was so proud of her work tonight but she hardly had time to celebrate until she saw her man walking through the door.

She’d been with EZ, Ezekiel as she liked to call him because she loved his full name, for a little over a year. It was the best relationship she’d ever been in. He was kind, honest, caring, and oh so very fine.

She ended her current conversation before strutting over to Ezekiel, her arms immediately going around his neck. “Hi baby. I’m so happy you’re here.” She kissed his lips.

EZ loved seeing his girl in her element. She was very much out of his league in his mind and he felt lucky every day he woke up to her. “Hey beautiful.” He greeted her, hands resting on her lower back and pulling her close to him. “I see all your hard work has paid off.”

“It really has. Things couldn’t be going better. Especially now that you’re here.” She grinned at him.

“Oh yeah? You’re happy to see me?” He teased, smiling back so she kissed him again.

The two of them engaged in some conversation and heavy flirting before they were interrupted by her boss.

“Monique, I need you for a second…” Miguel announced, no time for pleasantries. He was always about his business. She could respect it but it was also annoying because he could have greeted Ezekiel

“Oh hi Miguel. We weren’t having a conversation or anything.” She sarcastically replied, giving her boss a look.

“Reyes..” Miguel acknowledged her boyfriend with a barely noticeable head nod before bringing his attention back to her. “You’ve put in the most face time with the Castillos and the lovely matriarch has requested your presence. We don’t want to keep them waiting, verdant?”

EZ rolled his eyes at Miguel but didn’t say anything. He was used to Miguel’s shit and honestly he didn’t like him either so the less they communicated the better.

The Castillos were a very important family that have entered into an arrangement with Galindo enterprises both on the legitimate and illegitimate side of business. It was already fragile so she wanted to keep everything on the up and up.

She retreated from EZ’s arms without a second thought. “Is everything alright? When we went over the final documents she didn’t bring anything up.” She began walking alongside Miguel but stopped in her tracks.

“I’ll be right back.” She walked back over to EZ and planted a distracted kiss on his cheek. 

He mustered up a slight smile and then she was gone. 

She didn’t come back until the end of the night.

She sighed, pushing her way out of his lap and snatching up her phone once she stood up. “He’s my boss, Ezekiel. You have got to let this thing with Miguel go. Enough is enough.”

“He just does this to piss me off.” And it worked. He wanted to have her all to himself, but he couldn’t do that with Galindo constantly texting her and having her work long hours. At this point it felt she was the one singlehandedly keeping his businesses afloat.

“So stop letting it piss you off.” She replied, like it was the easiest thing and to her it was. 

He shot up from his seat and exasperatedly asked, “Why do you always defend him?”

“Because you’re being ridiculous. You knew who I worked for when we started dating.” She was annoyed they were even having this argument. Her attention was focused on her phone as she replied to Miguel with the information he needed.

EZ grew even more irritated that even in an argument he couldn’t have her whole attention. “What could he possibly need from you at 2 in the morning? Hm?” He snatched the phone from her hand.

“Are you out of your mind? Give me my phone back!” She gasped, shocked at his audacity. She and Ezekiel had been together for awhile now and he’s never acted this way. He’s never lost his temper with her. “Things happen. Emergencies. I never say anything when you have an emergency with the MC.”

“Bishop doesn’t text all hours of the night. Bishop doesn’t hate you and try to disrespect our relationship at every turn. And quite frankly, Bishop isn’t a woman so it’s not the same at all.” Ez snapped, his voice getting louder.

“And just what the fuck are you implying, EZ?” There was a clear warning in her tone of voice as she matched his volume. Now they both were yelling at each other. She never called him EZ either. Always preferring to call him Ezekiel.

He knew he should have backed down and cooled off but he was beyond tired of this shit. The angry words slipped outta his mouth before he could stop them. “I’m just wondering what all the late nights are really about. If I’m dating Miguel’s side piece just tell me!”

That was a mistake. Yelling was a mistake. Saying those words was a mistake. He knew it the moment he saw tears form in her eyes. 

“Excuse me?” She whispered, voice slightly cracking. How dare he call her a cheater! He officially has lost his mind.

Ezekiel felt his heart drop into his stomach when he heard the hurt in her voice. It went too far. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry, mariposa.” He started to walk closer to her, but she stepped back from him.

“This has nothing to do with me. Or us. This is you and Miguel continuing to have a dick measuring contest. Th-this all goes back to Emily.” The name rolled off her tongue with mild resentment. The two never had a bad run in with each other, but all the stories about Emily and EZ’s past relationship and how she was the love of his life always made Monique get defensive.

“That’s not true.” EZ refuted, but she interrupted him before he could further explain.

“Yes it is!  And if somehow it’s not then we got some serious problems baby.” She just shook her head at him before demanding, “Get out.” 

You're the only one, you're the only love That's strong enough to claim me So please forgive me I'm just stingy But how can you blame me?

It’s been two weeks since the fight with Ezekiel and Monique was really missing him. She was mad that he would be such a dumbass, but she still just wanted to be laying back on the couch with him watching tv.

Miguel watched as she pushed her salad around her plate, clearly not hungry. “Todo bien hermanita?” He asked, watching as she finally brought her eyes up to meet his. This was the quietest lunch the two ever had. Usually she was talking a mile a minute.

She smiled a little at the nickname. He only called her that when he was concerned or when he really wanted something. Truth is, the two had a sibling kind of relationship. She just wished EZ had seen and understood it. “I’m fine. Not really hungry.”

“Hmm.” He hummed, taking a sip of his drink. “Nestor and I had a meeting with the Mayans yesterday. Saw your novio and he looked like shit.” Miguel casually mentions and she tries to act nonchalant even as her heart races at the mention of a certain biker. “Imagine my surprise when he asked to pull me aside for a chat.”

“What!” She gasped loudly, jaw dropping.

“I’m sure you could guess what we spoke about.”

“Miguel…” She was ready to apologize to him for whatever accusations were thrown his way.

“I know I’m very demanding. It’s part of who I am. I demand a lot from myself and from those around me, especially those closest to me. That includes you, hermanita. But I don’t want to be the reason for your unhappiness. Even if it is with Reyes..” There was only mild disgust in his tone and she took that as an improvement.

“It’s not your fault he doesn’t trust me, hermano.” She sighed.

“He is crazy about you, you know that right?”

Monique went to answer, but Miguel stood up from his seat. He grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair and walked over to her, pushing down gently on her shoulders to keep her from getting up. He leans down and whispers “If in the end, you don’t want him and he won’t take the hint you let me know. He can visit my pew.” 

She jerked her head back to give him a stern look, hating when he brought up that damn pew. He just kissed her head and walked away. She sat there dumbfounded for a second. “Wait, what-” She turned her head to call out to Miguel but her voice caught in her throat as she spotted Ezekiel right behind her. He walked over and took the seat Miguel was just in.

It was silent before she decided to break it. “You and Miguel working together? Hell must have frozen over.”

He cracks a grin at that. “Ha. Guess you could say we’ve called a truce. At least when it comes to a certain beautiful woman.”

“Calling a truce with my ‘side piece’? I’m sure Emily appreciates it.” She sarcastically replied, making him sigh in reply. 

“I never should have said that. I was pissed off and being a sarcastic asshole. This never had anything to do with Emily. Yes we have history, but I don’t think about that anymore. I haven’t for a long time.” Monique looked down, wanting to believe him but having a hard time doing it. “I think about you. I think about you when we’re apart, I think about when I’ll see you again, I think about our future when you’re in my arms. You’re never not on my mind.”

His words make her want to smile, but she wasn’t done. “Then what’s been going on with us lately? Anytime I answer a call or text from Miguel you’re huffing and puffing. You sit there literally pouting like a 3 year old every time I have to do something for work. What’s the problem?”

“First, I don’t pout.” She started to disagree but he loudly continued, earning a playful glare from her. “SECONDLY, I know you’re an independent woman out here making it on your own and shit. I know it’s just been you and your job for a long time. But now you got me, mariposa. I’m here by your side and I like spending time with you. I like the quiet moments at home and our nights out. I want more of them. You work so much and you forget about everything else. Me included.”

“What do you mean I forget you? I don’t forget you.”

“Galindo Enterprises.”

“What are...Oh-” Her face completely dropped as she remembered the night. She got pulled away by Miguel and never went back to Ezekiel. She didn’t mean to, but she ended up checking on other things with the party and even though it hurts to admit she did forget about him. “Oh baby…” She held one of his hands that was on the table between both of hers.

“I’ve never been the one to cling and I don’t like to be needy but you’ve changed me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I love being in your presence. Maybe I am kind of a baby, but I think wanting your attention is a good sign for a relationship. I’m not asking you to quit your job, but some boundaries would be nice. ”

She felt so bad. He was absolutely right. She had been alone for a long time. She wasn’t used to sharing her life with someone else. An adjustment was obviously needed. “I never meant to make you feel like I wanted anyone or anything more than you. Or that I cared about those things more. I promise that I will work on communicating more with you and not just doing what I want with no consideration for you.” 

He nodded his head, but she had to add one more thing. “You do need to know that sometimes just like you can’t help getting called away the same goes for me. But I’ll talk with Miguel and we’ll work out something that works for us all. I can’t believe I didn’t realize. I’m so-”

Ezekiel cut her off before she could begin criticizing herself. “So amazing, captivating, elevating,” after every word, EZ placed a kiss on the palm of her hand. “Anyway you put it I’m happy to be your man.”

“I’m still salty at you insinuating I was sleeping with Miguel.” She declared, causing him to nod with a sad look on his face.

“How can I make it up to you, mariposa?”

“Hmm…” She pretended to think when she already knew what she wanted. She leaned forward and beckoned him closer with a wiggle of her finger. She whispered in his ear, “I wanna ride you with only your kutte on until you lose your mind.” She lightly bit his ear lobe.

She busted out laughing at how fast he scrambled out of his seat and took her hand, pulling her behind him as he hustled out of the restaurant.

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

Febuwhump 20: Betrayal

Glomtales infuriates me, so here, have a Lou who gets what he deserves

Summary: Louie isn't really helping the villains. But he's not helping his family either.

Trigger Warnings: none

778 words

“Hey! Everybody knock it off!” Louie yelled, stepping out of the plane for the first time since the fight had begun.

Everyone froze, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Louie?” his family asked, hopeful and naive.

“This is not the plan,” he continued, ignoring them.

“Louie,” his family grumbled, disappointed in him as they always were. He was surprised they even were surprised. They knew better than anyone that he was the evil triplet.

“Lad, are you… helping them?” Scrooge asked, disbelieving.

Louie could have laughed had he not been so angry. They knew what kind of person he was. They knew he was going to snap eventually. They’d said so themselves all the time in the past.

“That’s right, Scrooge. You didn’t win the bet, I did!” Glomgold pronounced triumphantly.

“Wait, what?”

“It was I, Flintheart Glomgold, who convinced all the other villains to band together!”

“And it was I, Louie Duck, who convinced them to hand their resources over to Glomgold. Combined, they actually have more money than you. I saved your lives, but…”

“Glomgold wins the bet,” Scrooge whispered.

Louie held back a smile.

“I won the bet and your company!” Glomgold cried, “with a scheme sorted out by your own nephew!” he said, hugging Louie uncomfortably close. “Or should I say, my new partner. And now that I have your money, and your money, I don’t need any of you!” Glomgold said, diving into Don Karnage’s chest of gold. “I am the richest duck in the world! I am unstoppable! I am Flintheart Glomgold!”

Louie couldn’t hold his laughter in any longer, his laugh overtaking even the psycho bathing in coins. “Yup,” he said, “Flintheart Glomgold won. His name is on all the paperwork. Only, your name’s not really Flintheart Glomgold. It’s…”

“Duke Baloney!” both Scrooge and Glomgold gasped in near unison.

“Flintheart Glomgold is a fake identity. So all your money, all your money, and all your money, goes to your new partner, who is…” he pulled out the contract, just to be petty. “Hold on one sec, just let me check right here… oh right! Me. Always read the fine print, trademark Louie Duck,” he said with a smirk.

The villains, as expected, turned on Glomgold, chasing him to legitimately jump off the side of the cliff (while slamming into a ledge on the way down, which had to hurt), making their own getaway moments after.

Which just left Louie and the McDuck family.

“Now all you have to do is turn the new company over to Scrooge, and everything will go back to normal!” Della said.

Right. Normal. Back to a life where he wouldn’t be appreciated. Back to a life where Uncle Donald wasn’t here, where some woman he’d barely known for a month could boss him around, where people thought nothing of him, where he was nothing. A life where he got locked up in his room while his so-called family went on the one adventure he’d longed to go on for years.

No thank you.

“Nah,” Louie said, his hands in his pockets.

Della and Scrooge looked at each other in what seemed to be confusion. “What?” Della finally asked, looking at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Your family, your problem,” he shrugged.

“You’re part of this family too, young man!”

“Oh, am I? Because I seem to recall you telling me I wasn’t.”

“Don’t be daft, lad, why would your mother say that?” Scrooge asked.

“Because my plans, my schemes,” Louie said, quoting the video Della had left for him. “They only lead to bad things for my family. And if I want to be a part of this family, I’ve got to stop.”

Della averted his gaze, looking awkwardly at the ground. “It sounds… a lot harsher, when you say it.”

Louie glared at her. “I’ve made my choice. I’m not giving up who I am so I can please you.”

“I’m not telling you to give up who you are, Louie,” she said. She sounded annoyed.

“You don’t know me!” he yelled. “And you certainly haven’t earned the right to tell me what to do!”

“I am your mother!”

“You forfeited that the day you got on that rocket!”

“Break it up!” Scrooge demanded, stepping between them.

“Gladly,” Louie said, taking a step back. “I have to go take care of my business as the new richest duck in the world.”

“You’re not — we are not finished here!” Della yelled, desperately trying to find any type of foothold.

“I think we are,” Louie replied easily.

And if his so-called family counted this as a betrayal? Well, that wasn’t his problem anymore.

[obscure-imagines]

(slasher warning, read at your own risk)

-you’re hired as a nanny (this is a given)

-He likes you on sight and his parents leave the next day

-it starts with small thing, pieces of your clothing going missing 

-but then also there starts to be jewelry showing up?

-a pretty pearl necklace on your pillow, a ring on the counter when you get out of the shower...

-they’re family heirlooms of course and you tell the doll not to keep bringing you the ‘gifts’ because his mom would get upset

-you’re not as scared of the idea of the doll being alive as he assumed you would be

-but you were always good to him/the doll so he had no reason to throw tantrums

-one day you’re sick and can’t go ‘wake up’ the doll

-you’re shocked when there’s a knock on your door and a note is slipped under that reads ‘i made you your favourite’ after getting some courage you open the door and find a sandwich 

-you’re so shook and go and get the doll and read to him while cuddled in bed

-he sits in the walls and listens to your read and feels bad that you’re sick

-he knows that sometimes when he’s sick, a shower is nice (even though he generally hates showers, they make him feel a little bit better)

-and he’s a perv so he’s super down for recommending you shower

-so when you go to put the sandwich plate in the kitchen, he calls you on the telephone and suggests it then hangs up

-you’re once more, quite shook. so you leave the doll and trudge to the shower

-it does make you feel better

-Brahms is so tempted to get you to go to the attic so he can lock you inside and generally be a nuisance, but you’re sick so he doesn’t

-he wants a cuddle so bad

-he wonders if you want a cuddle

-wonders if it would make you feel better

-so he calls you again (after you’ve tucked the doll in bed for sleep) and asks “want a cuddle?”

-it’s kind of odd and you’re like “i don’t want to get you sick Brahms.” but then realize it’s a bloody doll so you dont even wait for a response, you just get up and go to Brahms’s room and get the doll

-when you get back to your room, Brahms is there. the real Brahms

-standing with his mask and his cardigan and wife beater shirt

-you’re freaked

-i mean, chances are you run, and if you do, Big boy chases you and wraps his arms around you from behind

-carries you back to your room (you might be kicking and screaming, it doesn’t matter, this is BRAHMS we’re talking about)

- “you’re sick.” he reminds you, as if this will make you conserve your energy and stop fighting him, “i’m a good boy.” he says for good measure

-he sets you down on the bed and backs off, holding up his hands, hunching over, trying to be small even though he’s huge

-he blocks the door

-you realize pretty quick that he’s Brahms

-and you remember he asked for a cuddle

-”do... do you want a cuddle Brahms?” you’d ask, realizing that this will be the right way to talk with him

-he nods, looking down as if he’s bashful, although the would-be-blush doesn't reach the porcelain cheeks of the mask he’s wearing 

-you are HIGHLY aware that this is a 28 year old dude with a doll mask who seems to have been living in the bloody walls

-but if you’re reading this, i’m guessing you’re open minded and have seen a few horror movies and would know how to act for self preservation

-you’re going to cuddle the shit out of this boy so he doesn’t kill you

-is he a murderer? you have no idea as you make room for him on the bed, but he’s definitely scary

-he big

-making room for him and having to pat the bed, he’s being oddly shy about it all

- “come on Brahms.” you’d have to coax

-he comes and lays down and tries to touch or kiss you but you’d have to tut him and tell him to turn around

-making the six foot, hairy wall boy you’re small spoon is the ultimate power move

-and he kind of loves it?

-he falls asleep pretty quick but if you so much as TRY to take your arm away from being around him, his grip on your wrist tightens. 

-yeah you’d be stuck there the whole night

-he’s awake before you the next morning and just states “breakfast”

-and you realize he legitimately expects you to follow the schedule and be his nanny

-“i’ll go make us breakfast but you have to let go of my wrist Brahms.” you tell him

-he lets go of you and sits up and watches you leave the room

-after a moment you can hear him following you

-boy has loud footsteps cuz he bIG

-he lurks while you make breakfast

-and when i say lurk, i mean, you could turn around from grabbing plates and almost run smack into him because he’s just there

-he loves looking down at you because he’s so tall

-follows you around

-you have to do the entire schedule and he follows you the whole day

-he gets bored easily now that he’s out of the walls

-two minutes into listening to music and he wants to dance with you

-he just sort of grabs you and pulls you to his chest

-at this point, you’ve cuddled for a whole night with this guy who just showed up, and made him breakfast and now you’re slow dancing with him

-he’s hairy and gorgeous? and you’re shook?

-he’s looking down at you the whole time and he can feel it in your stance when you relax

-”kiss.” he states, you know, as one does

-“a kiss is for bedtime Brahms.” you’d have to remind him

-he pouts, this is the first time you see him tantruming in person

-straight up throws a chair across the room, arms crossed over his chest, angry baby

-you’d have to console him

-”Kiss.” he states again

-this would be the moment where you’d have to accept his shit

-with a sigh, you’d soften a little, “only good boys get kisses.”

-”i’m a good boy.” he’d insist

-”good boys don’t throw chairs.” 

-he’d look at the knocked over chair with shame and walk towards it with slumped shoulders, pick it up and drag it loudly back to where it’s supposed to be 

-then he’d look at you

-he’s sort of patient as he waits for you to come give him a kiss

-it’s odd to kiss the mask and as soon as you try to pull away he goes to grab you and follow your lips, he’d let you go after a little

-the day continues and at dinner he wants to sit next to you, so when you come into the room for food, he’s gotten rid of all the chairs expect his own and one directly next to it

-he just stares at you, like the fucker that he is

-eating dinner in silence

-kind of awkward at first

-trying to tuck him into the Brahms bedroom bed will fail

-you can try all you want but he’s going to get up and follow you to your room

-you’d have to accept it

-he’d stand in your doorway until you invite him to the bed

-he would stand there all night, don’t test him, he’ll fucking do it

-at the start it would be wise to get him to always be the small spoon until you’re dtf, because if he’s behind you... yeah.... he’s going to hump the shit out of you, like, is this a surprise?

-you’d start to get used to it

-he tries to be good, tries to help you accept him

-he always wants to be touching you

-it gets to a point where he’ll follow you through the house, holding onto your hand

-big hand holder baby

-gets upset when you have to put his hand down to cook

-you’d have to come up with the compromise of him standing behind you while you cook, it’s kind of pleasant having him standing right behind you while you cook? or at least, you get used to it

-but don’t move too much while he’s standing behind you, because the moment you rub up against him, he’s a gonner

-the first night you want to cuddle against his chest he almost dies from it being so soft

-he’s so stiff under you because boy doesn’t know how to properly cuddle

-if you played with his chest hair he’d nut

-well, not literally, but uhh... yeah, blue-balls-ing this boy is not a good idea

-the biggest whiney baby

-(ok now onto once you’re together)

-so boy likes his schedule

-but now that you’re together, he also has to add some extracurriculars 

-sex. we’re talking sex

-he’s horny as fuck

-he likes you having control leading up to stuff, and he likes to please but at the end of the day... Brahms is all about Brahms

-but he’s not into you getting yourself off if he hasn’t made you cum, so boy learns he likes eating more than PB and J’s ;)

-but nah he’s not huge into that, he likes being inside of you

-cockwarming while cuddling

-he likes to bath or shower with you, likes watching you wash him and his dusty wall boi bod

-he’s huge on saying he loves you

-he never wants you to leave

-he’s super weird with anyone who brings groceries

-like, if anyone is in the house he hides but you know if the person in the house so much as touches you... Brahms likes to break through walls and show them who’s boss

-honestly, what’s with him breaking through walls, and why is it so sexy?

-trying to find a painting big enough to cover a Brahms sized hole in the wall is super tough post tantrum

-he likes it when you play with his hair

-he doesn’t talk much

-he loves slow dancing with you

-he likes the way your name sounds on his lips when he does speak

-he loves it when you give him nicknames like Brahmsy 

-loves being the goodest boy

-reaches for things for you from the top shelf

-yeah, thats about as much as he’s going to do to assist you in the kitchen

-i mean, you could try to find a way to convince him to help out more

-he’ll work a little for sex, maybe wash a dish or two but mostly he pouts if you’re holding out on him

-”don’t you love me?” (boy likes to be purposefully ignorant and pretend that sex=love and therefore no sex = no love)

-it’s a big house so there’s usually something to do

-he likes it when you read out loud to him, but he won’t just sit and read himself because he’s a BRAT

-mask stays on during sex unless he’s feeling really warm and fuzzy about you

-there’s something kinda hot about him panting in that mask tho

-but yeah, if the mask comes off he likes to mark you up because he’s a possessive little shit

-he likes to be called good boy during sex

-super praise kink with this guy

-he loves hearing you make sounds

-he’s super whiney too tho

-what an absolute baby

-you’d never have to worry about him leaving or cheating or anything because he is all consumed by you

-you’d just never have to worry about him not showing enough love

-maybe you should worry about it being too much love though tbh

-nah, no such thing, we should all just cuddle this baby

[ichika27]

TWEWY 12

Grande Finale already!

I felt the same nervousness and excitement I felt when I watched the first episode while watching the last one. I’m excited, half knowing what I’d see but not knowing what else to expect.

Can’t believe we finally got to this point. I took so many screenshots... I had to limit myself cause they’re not all gonna fit in one tumblr post.

Also I don’t have to give a spoiler warning anymore. Length warning though cause this is super long!(longer than the usual posts I made for this series at least).

Kitaniji transforms into a three-headed monster and unlike in the game, he doesn’t capture any of Neku’s partners nor use Josh’s power to do so. I’m not sure what explanation there is as to how he got more than one noise form but I guess he’s the Conductor so maybe it’s part of his powers here.

Shiki and Beat awaken in the middle of Neku’s fight and help out. The trio then forms some kind of three-way pact (four if Rhyme actually counted although now completely sure?) and continue battling Kitaniji. The fight scene was pretty cool especially Beat’s attack with the chains. It just sucks the fight ended too fast. I guess all of TWEWY anime’s boss fights end kinda fast even though they’re uh, boss fights.

Final attack beam like in the game! It was too fast and I couldn’t get a good shot of the white version this transforms into (which looks like the one in the game). They have an explanation later as to why it looks different at first but they’ll talk about it later.

It’s sad Joshua isn’t part of this. This is supposed to be the four-way fusion attack. (;-;)

They defeat Kitaniji who disappears, sad that he was unable to protect Shibuya. Joshua never showed up in this boss battle so Kitaniji never got to talk to Joshua for the last time. In the game he at least dies happy in a way - he lost but he gave it his all and his Composer praised his efforts. He was also able to tell Neku that the rest is up to him now. Here in the anime, he just... he lost and felt bad. I wish they had Josh show up here but they had other ideas.

A new door opens and Neku braced himself as he knows the fight isn’t over cause there’s still one last guy on top.

They find themselves in this room/hallway (is this supposed to be the Trail of the Judged?) filled with CAT murals. This somewhat confirms the “CAT = Composer” theory and Neku has now accepted it, calling out Mr. Hanekoma to show himself.

And yeah, the last episode’s title is the show’s title as well “It’s a Wonderful World”.

Someone else showed up instead. Joshua finally makes his reappearance!

Boy, have I been waiting for you! I wish you were with them in the final battle earlier so you guys could be a team (and you could be one of Neku’s partners) one last time.

Neku is surprised but happy to see Joshua again. He thanks Joshua for saving him before and is glad that he’s okay.

In the game, this never happened cause Josh appears in the middle of a fight. Things were too hectic and when the battle with Kitaniji finally ended, he and Josh talked about their own game and so after Kitaniji disappears, what’s left is questioning what was happening. Since Josh didn’t show up earlier, they were able to reunite in a more peaceful way and Neku had no suspicion until Joshua himself brought it up.

And I guess that’s why I was so nervous when I watched this. It’s a bit too peaceful. I know what’s gonna happen next but not exactly how they’d adapt it.

Joshua finally explains the truth to Neku and his friends.

This felt more... awful to watch. Like we had both Joshua and Kitaniji giving bits and pieces of the truth in the game via their conversation so there’s two people to focus on. Here it’s just Joshua. But in a way, I guess this works cause there’s no one else there to soften the blow and Joshua could make the revelation hurt more if he wishes so. It also kinda feels worse cause you see Neku happy to see Joshua earlier before the reveal happens. Kinda heartbreaking.

“I’m the Composer of Shibuya.”

He finally says it clearly to a confused and surprised Neku.

We get a flashback of Joshua and Kitaniji talking about Shibuya’s impending destruction, why it must happen, and Kitaniji making a deal to try and save it. He has a month to change things for the better and if it works out, he wins. If not, Joshua continues the destruction plan.

Joshua’s Composer form is more vague here. It’s human shaped but you don’t see his face and the outline glows like this so you don’t properly see the shape. I think this is better cause there’s no way you can tell who the Composer is like this and he looks less human.

Beat gets angry at the revelation and tries to attack Joshua which he couldn’t do because of Joshua’s powers. I wasn’t able to get a screenshot of this but Josh is twirling his hair after this while Beat struggles to try and punch him. He’s cute and I know this is kind of inappropriate to say in this situation given he legitimately made someone mad and he deserves that punch to his pretty face.

Joshua uses his powers to freeze the others (and later renders them unconscious to keep them quiet). Neku is worried about his friends and is mad.

Joshua tells him he won’t hurt Neku’s friends. He then explains about how he found his proxy. Which is Neku much to his horror at what this meant.

I just had to get this with the subtitles on. I replayed the scene several times to hear if there was no error. Joshua says “Daiji na Neku-kun no tomodachi...” and I google translated it. It says “daiji” means “important”. So yeah, he definitely called Neku “important” to him. It’s surprising although this wouldn’t be out of place in the original game since they had more moments to just talk on there.

Yeah, I know I focused on this a little but I’m a nekujosh/joshneku shipper so forgive me for latching onto this.

Neku slowly sees the bigger picture as Joshua continues to explain himself. As a reward for getting this far, Joshua returns Neku’s memories.

He really had to get that close while saying Neku’s name, didn’t he?

Neku’s death flashback. The scene plays almost similar to the game right down to the censored guns (is this a creative decision to make it faithful to the game or are they really just not allowed to draw actual guns?). I was gonna make a joke about how Joshua stopped Minamimoto’s bullets using an AT field but the shot was different and the bullets just looked like they froze midair and not stopped by some kinda force field like in the game.

Neku ends up getting shot by Joshua complete with bleeding unlike in the game. I just have to wonder if I was the one who got it wrong cause in the game, Joshua looks like he’s aiming for Neku’s head and here, Neku gets shot on the chest. Did they change it cause a headshot would be too much or has it always been a shot to the chest?

Neku angrily walks over to Josh and grabs him by the collar. Joshua stops Neku with his powers as he continues to explain about what happened regarding the death scene and Minamimoto. Joshua then materializes two guns out of thin air and places one on Neku’s hand as he tells him the rules of their final duel: just shoot and if Neku wins, he could save his friends and he becomes Composer and do what he wants. What stood out with how he said it is that he didn’t exactly go “If you don’t beat me, Shibuya is destroyed.” and instead went “If you win, these are what you get to be Composer and whatever else you’d like! Sounds good, right?”. As if saying killing him has a lot of perks.

It feels weird seeing Josh physically placing the gun on Neku’s hand cause in the game, the gun was by Neku’s feet and Neku had to pick it up on his own accord. Anyways, I like the effect they used to materialize the gun cause it’s the same effect for the names of the routes when they show them on screen. Like graffiti or something.

At this point Neku’s crying. The shot didn’t feel as dramatic as in the game in my personal opinion. Neku is tearing up here but he looks tired and was about to sob in the game. Joshua meanwhile, counts down from ten.

Before Joshua’s count hits three, Neku hears a somewhat distorted voice (which we know is just Mr. H) saying “Trust your Partner”. This reminded Neku how he got to where he is: by trusting his partners. (I have something to say about this later)

In a very shocking turn of events, instead of just lowering the gun and letting himself be shot like in the game, Neku drops his gun and with a hand outstretched tells Joshua “I’ll trust you”. Oh my god... they really did it. I love this change not gonna lie. I think they might have added this cause they didn’t adapt Neku’s ending monologue where he does say he trusts Joshua. It’s less dramatic than the game though since Neku doesn’t say anything while Joshua is counting down. In the game, he was crying and saying how he thought Joshua was his friend and how all of this really hurt him. Guess we take what we can get and they gave us this.

Joshua smiles as he shoots but as Neku falls, the smile on Joshua’s face disappears.

Mr. H didn’t show up at the end here either so Neku didn’t get to see him.

Neku wakes up in the middle of Scramble Crossing like usual but he bumps into people and so he realizes that he’s alive now. He doesn’t scream after the very stressful crap he went to like in the game. Might not be entirely the same but Joshua still left him lying down in the middle of the street. Nice.

We then see a short timelapse from above Shibuya which is probably supposed to show a week has passed. Neku’s monologue wasn’t added in and no ending music as well. I’m disappointed “A Lullaby for You” wasn’t used. Here I was hoping for a miracle.

By the way, Shooter, Yammer, and I think Makoto all passed him by the scramble. They really didn’t get much screentime but at least they made cameos.

Neku finally meets up with the Bito siblings like at the game’s epilogue! The shot they did was almost the same as with the game, too. They have dialogue here instead of just stills with Neku showing how happy he was to see his friends alive again, too. I’m happy the anime version showed him smiling more at the end cause he needed that after everything. It’s nice to see him smile.

RG! Shiki is here! With the same shot as in the game! They really aren’t gonna show us her face, huh? Also, all of the shots with Shiki on them has her back towards us. Like there are scenes where Neku and the rest are looking forward and she’s in front of them with her back turned on us. Why? They could’ve used the lighting on her glasses to obscure her eyes, too. So her bangs are a secret as well then?

They show Eri later, too enjoying a concert, by the way. I was hoping to see a reunion between her and Shiki as well and them finally talking after the stuff from before. Oh well.

Neku takes off his headphones and he and Shiki do a proper introduction with each other with Shiki being herself this time. (Is Shiki the same height as Neku? It looks like that from this angle.)

Anyways, this was a nice way to adapt Neku taking off his headphones since they can’t do it like in the game.

They adapted the secret ending but expanded it to add stuff from the secret reports to explain other lore stuff which would’ve been missed by the anime-only watchers since those are part of bonus game contents. Mr. Hanekoma and Joshua talk about the events of the long game and Joshua says he knew it was Mr. H whose responsible for Minamimoto.

They also talk about the Red Skull Pins and how Mr. H made it for Kitaniji. Mr. H says the pins imprints Kitaniji’s will on people and that he himself (Mr. H) doesn’t need that cause he could do so with all the graffiti he left all over town.

Which brings me to earlier in the duel: Neku hears a voice, clearly (to us) is Mr. Hanekoma’s and it’s in a place filled to the brim with CAT graffiti. Did he imprint the words “Trust your partner” to Neku?

Meanwhile, Beat wonders how they were able to pull off the final attack. Neku says it was probably the pin Hanekoma gave them (the keypin looking thing). I guess they needed an explanation for the last attack but they didn’t have the fusion pin so they used this keypin instead. It’s why the attack looked different in the beginning when the attack was powering up.

There’s apparently a new CAT graffiti at Udagawa and of course, CAT-fanboy Neku has to see it. On the way, they meet Sota and Nao who are now alive! I’m so happy!! Joshua brought them back, too! I always felt bad about what happened to them in the game. I’m glad they got a happy ending in the anime.

Def March, 777′s band, are back as well and look... they got their winged mic back! It makes me wonder if they found it later on or if Joshua gave that to them back the same time when he brought them back lol. I’m just really happy for all of them.

Joshua’s wings!! This is, unfortunately, the best shot I could get since they never really zoom in on this. In the game he is in his Composer form in the secret ending and turns into a ball of light when he leaves. Here, we see his wings. It’s smaller than the one he has in KH:DDD. At least we canonically see it here.

I can now use the term “Joshua Maji Tenshi” and be accurate!

Mr. H points out that Joshua looks lonely and is in denial and Josh just leaves. Mr. H also shows his wings and leaves afterwards, too. I didn’t take a pic of it since we see it in the game’s secret ending anyways. His wings also seem smaller than in the game.

Final shot of the new CAT graffiti. I was so close to crying the entire ending and this nearly tipped me over but it didn’t. If “A Lullaby for You” was playing, I’d have probably bawled my eyes out. This graffiti is beautiful. I want a sticker of it.

Also, I just noticed but CAT’s old graffiti at Udagawa had mostly darker colors. This new one is brighter and is more colorful.

--

First of all, I wanted to thank tumblr for not giving me an error for posting more than 15 images like I usually did. I was bracing myself for the error pop up and was gonna make a part 2 instead but there was some kind of miracle and I got more than 20 pictures on here.

I have a lot of melodramatic things to say about the anime but I’ll save it all for later. For now, I’ll say something else. I’m sad they didn’t adapt Neku’s monologue. Those words from Neku still hits me in the feels to this day. Him saying that the entire ordeal really affected him in more ways than one and it wasn’t all good even though he’s happy about changing and what he learned from the experience. His line about how he can’t forgive Joshua but trusts him was cut along with it and it would’ve been nice to have to know what he thought of Joshua.

The thing I missed the most was the “I have friends now. We’re meeting each other for the first time in a week. See you there?” lines. It shows how happy Neku is that he now has people to call his friends which is super heartwarming and the line implies that he counts Joshua as one of those friends, too (which is properly confirmed in KH: DDD which I’d probably make a post about later if I get the motivation to do so). That would’ve also made the last scene with Josh hit harder. In the game, knowing Josh wanted to be with them and is sad he couldn’t already makes me sad but also knowing Neku is waiting for him makes it much worse (and I still feel pain thinking about it even after all these years).

Maybe we’d see them get reunited in NTWEWY. Hopefully. I really do hope so.

The anime isn’t perfect but it did what it could with the limited amount of time it had. The show would’ve been better if they had more episodes but we don’t know why it ended up with just 12 so we can’t really say anything else. They did it and it wasn’t as bad as I was fearing in a way. Would I recommend it? I’d probably rec the game first, to be honest. I was only okay with watching cause I have played the game and could fill in the missing stuff but the anime-only fans couldn’t and the thought that they won’t be able to fully appreciate the entire story of twewy is kinda sad. It was a nice watch though and I’d miss waiting for it every week.

I wonder if they’d make “A New Day” OVA since the anime is supposed to help the ones who haven’t/couldn’t play the first game but would go play NTWEWY and that scenario has story stuff that’s connected to the sequel.

Anyways, thanks for reading this far if you did! I’ll be watching gameplays of NTWEWY when it comes out in full (since I don’t have the money nor the console for it). 

[twilightknight17]

We’re at the end of the road, folks.

And god damn, I feel so validated by my Sojiro characterization. Wow. Thanks for basically making me canon for ten more seconds, Atlus. XDDD

So when last we left our intrepid heroes, they were laying at the bottom of the Jail of the Abyss, because Ichinose is an asshole. So we had to fight our way back up, carrying Sophia’s unconscious body. Which wasn’t that bad; the Jail isn’t very big. We left Sophia at the door to keep her safe, and then charged back into the hall of the Ark to hack Ichinose’s exploding crystal box thing.

Ichinose doesn’t understand why we came back.

So, yeah. I guess like... bizarro-world Maruki? Maruki wanted to alleviate suffering by granting everyone’s wishes. EMMA’s going to make it so that people can’t wish for anything.

After a kick-ass hacking battle set to the new version of Rivers in the Desert, Ichinose yells at us about our right to judge. Why should humanity keep this painful world, just because WE’RE strong? Just because we’ve never screwed up or suffered?

Which, clearly she has no idea who the fuck she’s talking to.

We’ve worked too hard to listen to that kind of bullshit.

Ichinose proclaims that “humans don’t need hearts” and charges up the laser crystal to blast us again, and Sophia steps in to block the attack. She’s still fighting Ichinose’s control even though Ichinose insists that she’s just a faulty prototype.

Apparently Ichinose created Sophia in the first place because she spent a lifetime being called a heartless doll, so she made an AI to help her learn about the heart.

I think you’re the problem, but not for the reasons everyone else is saying.

But she got angry when Sophia started asking questions of her own and basically tossed her aside, until EMMA found her and dropped her into the Shibuya Jail.

And Sophia, unlike her creator, has learned and grown, and is tired of being given orders. She’s ready to make her own choices.

That is certainly a persona.

I gotta admit, they got me. I was wondering why Sophia didn’t have her arcana yet, but for some reason, I also wasn’t expecting her to get a proper persona. I’m now wondering about the implications of someone being able to code an AI capable of developing a soul that can summon a persona. There’s a zero percent chance that Ichinose had any access to plumes of dusk, which are the reason that Aigis and Labrys gained enough consciousness to have personas. So Sophia is legitimately a miracle piece of technology.

Pandora is an interesting choice, but I dunno if I can articulate that beyond a surface-level, “Oh, because she’s Hope, and Hope was still in the box.”

I swear to god, every major villain in this game is trying to be Goro Akechi. For the last goddamn time, we don’t kill people. Get up, Ichinose. We’re leaving.

Ryuji literally grabs her by the arm and drags her out, because she’s trying to stay behind. Which just confirms for me that if Goro hadn’t put up that bulkhead door, we’d have dragged his stupid ass out of the Ship, too. XD

Back to the real world, and Tokyo is blacking out, and the Tower is losing its shit.

The metaverse is fusing with reality, the Tower is becoming the Tree of Knowledge, and hell yes we are climbing this tower after all!

Morgana points out that this is the same thing that happened last year, and Zenkichi freaks out a little bit.

You’re lucky you moved to Kyoto, sir. You missed quite a bit.

I love these kids, though. They’ve got so much black humor about this whole god thing.

The metaverse encroaching on reality means that everyone has to cram into the bus in their thief gear. Zenkichi, please. Your hat. Sir.

I love climbing this tower. I’ve been here, too! Also they have butter. XD

I was expecting the Mementos version of the lower observation deck, and instead I got some weird amalgam between Mementos and Azathoth’s boss chamber.

We had to fight Metatron as the guardian of the last elevator, which is another parallel to Yaldabaoth’s archangels. And then it’s up to what I guess used to be the high observation deck to fight the big box.

EMMA insists that all humanity wants is to let it give them all the answers, and it throws them into some sort of alternate fog world full of the voices of the public.

The Thieves are all separated, trapped in the fog. Each of them has to find their way out, and they realize that the fog of the Desires is protecting EMMA. EMMA knows exactly how calling cards work, so they won’t work on her. Instead, the Thieves decide that they need to send the calling card to the public, so that they’ll become aware of their desires again and the desires will crystalize.

...oh come on, Atlus. We’re right in the endgame.

One last hacker battle to break into EMMA’s server room in the tower, and Futaba and Ichinose manage to hack EMMA itself to deliver a calling card to everyone at once.

Love you, Zenkichi. We’ve taken out two gods already. We’re good.

Confronting the Ark again reveals a bunch of freaky tentacle arms grabbing the desires, and then the box turns into some sort of massive figure that looks sort of like Yaldabaoth, except less robot and more seraphim. It literally names itself the Demiurge, so I feel like EMMA may be drawing something from the lingering dregs of Yald’s influence? It’s cool.

Clearly no one told you what happened to the last false god that thought it knew what was best for humanity. ;) “Hope binds humanity to misery” is bullshit.

After a... not very difficult first phase, the Demiurge reveals its true form, and we split into three teams to take out its support orbs (modeled after the sephirot) and the main body.

I really liked the setup for the last boss. The teams were the first instance where it was really apparent that the whole team was fighting together. Each of the three battles was happening concurrently, and destroying the orbs has a concrete effect on the main fight. I wish we’d gotten to do things like this more often, especially during the Shadow Thieves fight.

That said, the main body was actually the easiest part of the fight? All the attacks were really telegraphed, and not particularly hard to avoid. Except for the spear jab.

But it finished off with a full-team all-out attack, and that was awesome.

The desires began to return to their owners, and we get to bask in a job well done once again.

Upon returning to the real world, it’s the next morning. Sophia’s happy that she got to be a hero, Zenkichi’s heading off to properly arrest Owada, and the rest of us need to head home, because we were supposed to be home last night. Zenkichi can’t figure out why we consider him a phantom thief, since he “only joined [us] to use [us]”. Which is silly. The Phantom Thieves are built on the bonds of friendship and stalking! It’s too late, Zenkichi. You and Akane have been adopted.

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get to tell Akane the truth. That would have been great.

Atlus personally reaches out and pats me on the head, because Sojiro has the absolute perfect reaction to his kids coming home after a nationwide manhunt for them.

I feel so valid making him serve Lavenza coffee and be completely nonplussed about a guy marrying Death. I love him. We’re so lucky to have Sojiro. XDDDD

The next day, the kids have a celebration party for their victory, and learn that Akira is going home the next day. This kid needs to catch a break. He can’t even have a few days to relax with his friends. X’‘‘D

Everyone goes to see off Akira, though we detour to Shibuya to meet Ichinose. A news report shows that Owada was successfully arrested, and apparently Ichinose tried to turn herself in to the police, and they didn’t believe a word of it.

This is just highlighting my issues with Maruki. Even if he doesn’t think he did anything wrong to society as a whole, he never apologizes to them for what he put them through. Especially Akira. Ichinose turns around and helps them stop the final boss, and her last scene is her apologizing to the Thieves and trying to make amends for her actions. Maruki’s last scene is... “If things get bad, you can start over like me! Now we’re even!” We are not.

Sophia leaves to help Ichinose learn about the heart, Akira promises to come back for winter break, the Phantom Thieves go their separate ways once again, and the credits roll.

I’m gonna leave my final impressions in a different post, because this one is long enough already. So... look forward to that?

[cruelfeline]

Do you think Hordak abused Catra, or was it a two-way exchange? I had this tussle with a Catra stan trying to claim she was innocent and it was Hordak doing everything wrong in the situation and wanted to hear what one of Hordak's biggest fans thinks.

Ah, anon, this is such an interesting question! And it’s definitely one I see people fight over time and again. I’ll give you my opinion, though I warn you and everyone who reads this: the nature of Catra and Hordak’s relationship seems to me to be a subjective one. How abusive, how reciprocal, and ultimately how distressing one finds it is often dependent upon one’s own views. That said, I shall give you mine. 

Official disclaimer: this is all based upon how I interpret these characters and how their interactions make me feel. Your mileage may greatly vary.

First and foremost, let me answer this question: does Hordak hurt Catra? Yes. Yes, he does. He uses a machine to suffocate her. It is bad. He also plans to send her to Beast Island. He should not have done it. He is a bad man with bad leadership methods.

Now, with that established: did he abuse her?

Ah. Hm. Hmm. 

To me, this is not “abuse” in the way that what Shadow Weaver does to Catra is “abuse.” And I emphasize “to me” because, again, your mileage may vary. I have a certain sense of what I interpret to be “abuse.” And my sense may not be your sense. Heck, it may not even be the showrunners’ sense! But it’s mine, and that’s what I’m going with when discussing this.

and yes, I am bringing Shadow Weaver into this, so prepare yourselves

Hordak’s treatment of Catra is wrong, of course, but it’s not the same thing as what Shadow Weaver does to her. And it’s not something that makes me uncomfortable in the way that Shadow Weaver’s actions make me uncomfortable. 

Part of the reason for this is the motivation behind it. Why does Hordak do this to Catra? Why does he physically harm her? Why is he so harsh? 

Well, short of asking him, we’ll never truly know, but in my opinion, he is harsh and draconic and violent partially because of his “upbringing,” and partially because he is afraid. He spies and attempts to control everyone because he is afraid. And he is afraid because, once someone learns his secrets and figures out how to turn off his life support, he can be smacked around and broken over one’s knee like the grumpy toothpick that he is.

And cruel as his methods are, evil as he is, he’s pretty much right, isn’t he? As we all know, Catra achieves this. She figures out the secret to Hordak’s armor and essentially usurps him. In all of twenty seconds. Violently. Painfully. With plenty of humiliation involved.

Add to this physical vulnerability Hordak’s tendency to be easily manipulated due to his own emotional issues, and it’s not difficult to see why he might feel the need to rule with an iron fist. Hordak has precious little room for error, not just in terms of keeping on top of the Fright Zone hierarchy, but in terms of keeping his life. He’s killable. He’s really, disconcertingly killable. And beyond being killable, he is manipulable and easily influenced.  

Even exile to Beast Island can be viewed as an extension of this: if someone is a legitimate, untrustworthy danger to him, then they must be eliminated. And Catra, due to her lies and her personal motives, ends up being an untrustworthy danger. 

So that’s one reason I don’t view this as traditional abuse: Hordak’s motivations appear less “abuse the child for a power trip” and more “I need to keep everyone in line because if I don’t, there’s a pretty legit chance that I’m going to die.” There’s a self-defense aspect to it. It’s a weird, fucked up form of self-defense, but it’s there. 

Shadow Weaver, on the other hand… well, I’m not entirely certain of her motivations. She doesn’t hurt a military-trained, dangerous teenage cat person that could kill her; she starts off very plainly hurting a frightened little girl. I have my own sort of pet theory why, but this isn’t really the place for it, and it’s entirely speculative. I feel like we-the-viewers don’t really get much of a reason for why she treats Catra the way she does. Oh, she claims that it’s to make Catra stronger, but that’s… kind of a weak reason, to me. Again, I have my thoughts, but this isn’t that post. 

The point is, whatever Shadow Weaver’s motives, I don’t read them as “messed up self-defense” the way I do Hordak’s. Which is why her torment of Catra reads as true abuse to me, while Hordak’s punishments read more as overzealous, maladjusted discipline. 

Now, one could definitely argue that the only reason Hordak needed to defend himself from Catra is because he wronged her in the first place, and this is a legitimate argument. However, I would counter that Catra ended up being dangerous not only to her enemies, but to her friends as well. She tazed Entrapta and all but killed her. She used Scorpia whenever it was convenient and otherwise threatened/neglected her. She pretty much made a game of one-upping and trying to kill Adora. Being kind to Catra wasn’t some sort of guarantee of safety, and really, I don’t think Hordak was in the sort of place to take that kind of gamble, physically or mentally. So to me, this is a bit of a moot point.

The other big factor in why Hordak’s treatment of Catra doesn’t read as traditional abuse to me is how it affects Catra. In short: it doesn’t seem to. Not really. Not beyond keeping her in line and ensuring that she is afraid of him enough so that she doesn’t try anything. It’s not like Shadow Weaver’s lifelong abuse, which causes severe, traumatic damage to Catra and is essentially responsible for her being the way she is. 

Catra is able to break off from Hordak with no emotional repercussions even before she physically bests him. What he’s done to her, while painful and morally wrong, doesn’t appear to have lasting effects. It doesn’t affect her view of herself. It doesn’t add to her pathology. She doesn’t feel the need to continue chasing his approval.

Compare this to how Catra responds to Shadow Weaver even after having “defeated her” and supposedly moved on: she’s still deeply hurt by her, still bound to seek her approval and esteem, still driven to tears when Shadow Weaver rejects her yet again. Nothing like this happens with Hordak; he hurts Catra, yes, but he doesn’t damage her, if that makes sense.

The reason for this is rooted, I think, in the roles these characters play for one another. Catra isn’t much affected by Hordak’s physical punishment because he doesn’t really mean anything to her. He’s her boss, not a father figure or anything like that. More importantly, he’s a means to an end: a source of respect and authority that will provide her with the ability to get what she actually wants: Shadow Weaver and Adora’s respect and approval. Shadow Weaver, on the other hand, is Catra’s mother. She’s supposed to be her source of affection, security, and emotional support. And so when she hurts Catra, it leaves legitimate emotional scars. Which is what marks it as abusive. Again: to me. 

Now, briefly: did Catra abuse Hordak? 

My assessment of that is a bit more difficult. It’s a little rougher, I think, because despite being a traumatized child, Catra was able to perform some heavy emotional manipulation on him, and I suppose one could argue that she causes more lasting damage by using his emotional insecurities and connection to Entrapta against him. I guess her motivations also seem to leave “self-defense” territory and wander into “using you for personal gain.” 

And in the end, he does end up forming an emotional attachment to her that leaves him distraught upon learning of her betrayal, so… hm. Hmm. I guess one could argue that she “abuses” Hordak the same way she “abuses” Scorpia and Entrapta. Perhaps. Her actions do give me a certain emotional discomfort that Hordak’s do not. So… maybe yes? I would personally classify it as some sort of abuse? Even though it distresses me to do so, because I know Catra is in pain. And it’s not the same as what Shadow Weaver does to Catra. And it’s definitely no where near the level of abuse Horde Prime visits upon Hordak. Like, not even close. 

So… yeah. It’s probably odd to read, but the way Catra harms Hordak feels stranger and more distressing than how he harms her. She’s certainly not innocent. To me. I cannot stress “to me” enough.

I suppose, to close this off, what I think of Hordak’s actions toward Catra is less “abuse” and more “assault.” He physically hurts her, because he is a bad man with leadership skills steeped in brutality, but it never goes beyond that. It doesn’t cross that line for me. That line is hard to define, of course, but I’ve tried to compare the Hordak/Catra situation to the Shadow Weaver/Catra situation to give you a better idea of where it lies for me. Catra’s actions toward Hordak are a little more difficult because of course she’s so young and so hurt, but they do feel different to me, enough so that I think they cross that odd line into abusive. But only just, I think.

My verdict: Hordak doesn’t abuse Catra so much as he assaults her, and Catra does some sort of weird emotional-manipulation-pseudo-abuse thing to Hordak that disturbs me, but it’s weird because he’s evil-man Hordak, and she’s a damaged child, so I get how odd that sounds. *sigh*  

actually I have a masterpost on that if you’re interested

So: that’s my answer, take it as you will. I accept all comments and angry screeching, so feel free!

[cryptidshuffle]

the less we say about it the better - chp 1

ao3

Rating: Teen Fandom: Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware Relationships: Tommy Coolatta & Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman (pre relationship) Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Temporary Character Death(its benrey dont worry hes ok), meta about deaths and respawns, arguing about the rules of uno, gay pining, Mutual Pining, fellas is it gay to comfort ur friend who u love and are both boys?, also fair warning it'll eventually be a poly ship with benrey, Autistic Character, Autistic Tommy, ADHD Gordon, everyone is gay and trans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Summary: “after everything we’ve been through we deserve a few mental break downs.” they are trying to recover after black mesa, but recovery is hard. especially when one of you is still dead

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

They had been out of Black Mesa for a few weeks now. It was difficult trying to acclimate to life after the incident, but they were all making it work.

The science team had gotten together for some sort of game night, something cathartic about being around others who share the same trauma. Anyways, snacks and Uno was just as chaotic as one would imagine with this group of chucklefucks, with competitive tensions high on the last round of the night.

“You can’t stack the draw 4 cards, Gordon,” Bubby argued, smacking Gordon’s hand just as he placed the card.

“Says who?”

“It’s literally against the fucking rules of the game,” Bubby said back.

Tommy agreed with, “It is in the official rules, Mr. Freeman, they- Mattel confirmed it on Twitter.”

“But that’s dumb!” Gordon argued back, “I’ve always played where you can stack those, why change that now?"

Bubby retorted, “Well maybe you’ve always been playing wrong, huh? Ever thought about that, smartass?”

Dr. Coomer chimed in with, “Well on the official page for Uno (card game) on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, it states that

The following official house rules are suggested in the Uno rulebook, to alter the game:

Progressive Uno: If a draw card is played, and the following player has the same card, they can play that card and "stack" the penalty, which adds to the current penalty and passes it to the following player.[4](Although a +4 cannot be stacked on a +2, or vice versa.)[6] This house rule is so commonly used that there was widespread Twitter surprise in 2019 when Mattel stated that stacking was not part of the standard rules of Uno.[6]”

“Well, there you have it,” Gordon exclaims, interrupting Coomer’s Wikipedia infodump, “Just because it’s a house rule doesn’t mean it’s not a legitimate way of playing."

“What if I don’t want to play with that rule, that’s fuckin stupid,” Bubby grumbles.

“Jesus ok, I'll play a different card, happy?” Gordon says dejectedly, taking back his controversial draw 4 card for a more innocuous one. “It’s your turn anyways.”

Bubby throws down his last card onto the pile. “I win fuckers!!!! Ahahahahaha!"

“You wouldn’t have won if you let me stack the fucking cards,” Gordon said as he threw his losing card pile onto the coffee table.

“Don’t fret Gordon! Bubby is just extremely good at card games,” Dr. Coomer replied.

“You're forgetting I’m a goddamn genius, that extends to my sick-ass Uno skills,” Bubby bragged.

Gordon chuckled, watching the two older scientists get up to leave, and watching Tommy remain, quietly cleaning up the uno deck into neat piles to place in its box.

“Well gentlemen, it’s been fun, though I think it’s time Bubby and I better get going!” Dr. Coomer said.

“No problem, don’t want you two to be late for your old man early-bird breakfast at Golden Corral tomorrow!” Gordon teased.

“Shut the fuck- I’ll kick your ass,” said Bubby.

“Hello Gord- Actually our old man breakfast is not until Saturday! It’s the one day a week I let loose and unhinge my jaws at the buffet like a Burmese Python!” said Dr. Coomer as Bubby grabs his coat and keys.

“That sounds absolutely horrifying,” Gordon laughs.

“It really is,” says Bubby. “Well, see you later asshole,” Bubby says, herding himself and Coomer out the front door.

“See you guys later,” Gordon says.

“Goodbye, Gordon! Goodbye, Tommy,” Coomer also says, before they leave Gordon’s apartment.

Tommy had yet to get up to leave, he stayed sitting in his seat staring into space, and fiddling with the Uno card deck.

“Hey Tommy, you alright man?” he asked gently. At the mention of his name, he was shaken a bit out of his stupor.

“Y-yeah I'm fine Mr. Freeman, why do you ask?”

“I mean you were kinda just staring into space for a bit, and you didn’t say anything when Bubby and Coomer left.”

“Oh shit. Sorry about that, I’ll get out of your hair,” Tommy said, starting to move to leave.

Gordon placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Hey, if something’s bothering you, just know I’m here if you wanna talk about it,” Gordon comforted.

Tommy blushed slightly at the contact and nodded.

“Thank you. I-uh… I’ve just been thinking about things that happened back in Black Mesa and, you know,” he pauses to think for a bit, and sighs, “honestly I’ve been thinking a lot about Benrey.”

Just at the mention of him, Gordon felt his stomach drop with the weight of too many emotions.

“Yeah...I uh… I understand,” he responds with a sad sigh, “anything in particular you’re thinking about him?”

“I don’t know just kind of- Earlier I started thinking about how much he would enjoy game night. And then I started to miss him and realize that- that he’s not here. I feel guilty about killing him and upset at what he did. He was still my friend and I just- I want to know why he did what he did. I just want to understand,” Tommy said.

Gordon looked away as he thought about his own emotions regarding Benrey. He was undeniably angry with him, for getting him ambushed by the bootboys, for getting his arm cut off, frustrated with the constant taunting. Yet… he also felt guilty for some reason and he couldn’t quite place why. Gordon really didn’t want to feel guilty.

“Yeah…” Gordon sighed, “I'll be honest I do feel guilty about it too. I don’t know why because I feel like it should be justified since he did try to kill us. But there were times when him pestering me about my arm felt like… like sincere questioning? I still… I don’t know.”

“Yeah… I think-” Tommy cut himself off, staring at a fixed point in his vision, trying to decide whether or not to bring this up.

“I don’t think Benrey understood how human mortality worked.”

Well, that wasn’t what Gordon expected. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he was from Xen, Mr. Freeman, he wasn’t human. It was different for him. You remember he did die several times, but he came back eventually. He had to wait for his form to regenerate.”

“Wait-” this time Gordon cut Tommy off, “Oh shit, that wasn’t a joke?  For some reason I just assumed his talking about respawns and shit was part of his Epic Gamer bit?”

“I mean it was a little but I think… there’s probably a reason Benrey attached himself to video games so much, yeah? He can see himself in the structure. Like, uh- something he can relate to.” Tommy says. “It doesn’t excuse what- what he did, but I feel like knowing why things happened makes- makes them more understandable.”

Gordon leaned back on the couch blown away by the revelation. In hindsight it wasn’t that surprising but it took him a few seconds to come to terms with the reality.

“Yeah, when you put it that way, I guess it does make a lot of sense. Wait though, I swear to god all of you have died at least once, but you guys aren’t from Xen?” Gordon said, now confused about the seeming metanarrative of the mortality of his friends.

“Yeah, but those were weird Black Mesa things, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy said, not elaborating any more than that.

Gordon waited a beat for Tommy to explain more but he said all he needed to.

“I will ask you more about that later, but I do not have the energy to unpack all that right now,” Gordon said with a gentle laugh.

“Wait, getting back on topic real quick, why couldn’t Benrey just... respawn now? Did we really get him that good?”

Tommy looked incredibly sad when Gordon said this, and he regretted it immediately.  ‘Damn it Gordon, Tommy’s clearly upset about Benrey, you don’t gotta be an insensitive dick.’

“Well Mr. Freeman, that’s kinda why I’ve been thinking about him,” Tommy said, “I’m not sure. It shouldn’t have taken him this long to respawn. Depending on the amount of damage it takes longer but… It’s been a while and what if- What if he is back but he is mad at all of us and that’s why we haven’t seen him? Or what if it is taking a really long time because we hurt him a whole lot. Or what if we…”

Tommy got quiet for a few seconds, the silence in the room was deafening. For an instance Gordon felt as if making a sound would shatter the air like glass.

Tommy finally said with a whisper, voice thick with choking back tears, “What if we killed him for good? And I don’t- I never see him again?”

It honestly broke Gordon’s heart how distraught Tommy was. Pushing his own complicated Benrey feelings aside, he was gonna focus on Tommy here and now.

“…Tommy, is it ok if I hug you, man?” Gordon couldn’t think of the best way to comfort the other man with words, but physical comfort he could do.

Tommy looked a little surprised at this ask but nodded. Gordon leaned in to hug the other scientist and Tommy collapsed in his embrace, completely breaking down.

Gordon just sat there and held him as Tommy sobbed into his shoulder, trying to comfort the crying man by rubbing circles into his back.

Gordon’s brain processed the things Tommy had said. Was Benrey really gone? Why did he feel guilty about the idea of having killed Benrey, he was fine with the concept during the final boss fight on Xen but now… the thought made him feel… sad? Regretful? Even his seemingly rational justifications didn’t seem as clear at the moment, only thinking of his fonder memories with Benrey.

‘Fuck this,’ he thought as he felt his own tears well up, ‘this isn’t about me, I need to focus on being there for Tommy,’ pushing his own feelings to the back of his mind to be dealt with later.

Tommy eventually calmed down enough where his sobs turned into sniffles, and he started to pull away from the hug.

“S – sorry for having a – a breakdown on your- on your couch Mr. Freeman,” Tommy said, the post-crying mental fog making his stuttering more noticeable. Tommy didn’t really have the effort in him to care.

“Don’t worry about it, man, after everything we’ve been through we deserve a few mental breakdowns,” Gordon joked trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh, that was nothing, Mr. Freeman, in terms of mental breakdowns that was as mild as a first-grade pizza party in the eye of a hurricane,” Tommy compared in a way that made little sense to Gordon, yet ridiculous enough to cause the man to burst out laughing.

“Alright I’ll take your word for it,” Gordon said, still laughing.

“I’m serious Mr. Freeman, once you have a meltdown so intense that you accidentally teleport yourself to an inter-dimensional void, the rest is a cake walk at the school fair,” Tommy said.

“Waitwaitwait- teleport?” he leaned back to look at him in surprise, “Since when could you fuckin teleport!” Gordon asked caught off guard.

“You know, learned some things from my Dad,” Tommy said, again failing to further explain himself.

“…Well alright. Yeah that tracks.”

Gordon was quiet for a moment before responding with, “You know, Tommy, I want you to know I’m here for you if you need anyone to talk to. You were there for me when I was at my lowest in Black Mesa, and I wanna be that friend to you if you need it,” he said giving the other scientists hand a comforting squeeze.

Tommy smiled, “Thank you, that means a lot Mr. Freeman.”

“You know you can call me Gordon, you don’t have to be so formal all the time Dr. Coolatta,” he teased.

Tommy blushed, ‘dammit why did he have to be so cute?’

“Wow Mr. Fr – Gordon are you really gonna make fun of my doctorate that I worked very hard for,” Tommy teased back, still a bit sniffly from crying.

“Dude, I cannot imagine you in college for some reason, what was your doctorate even in” asked Gordon, semi-jokingly, but still a bit serious.

Tommy laughed a bit, wiping the remaining tears away with the back of his hand. “Bio-chemical engineering. Creating Sunkist was for my thesis project.” Normally Tommy would be more then willing to infodump about the topic but he found his energy to be draining fast.

“What the fuck, that’s cooler than mine was. Us nerds in the Theoretical Physics department didn’t do any crazy shit like that,” Gordon said.

“Bold of you to assume I was a nerd, G-Gordon. I was the craziest guy in the frat house,” Tommy said.

Gordon’s memory vaguely recalls Tommy’s insistence that he “do something crazy” when drinking Darnold’s Potion of Grow Gun Arm.

“You know what, yeah, surprisingly I can see that image vividly in my head,” Gordon said. “Real talk though…” he said changing the subject and putting his hand on Tommy’s shoulder, “Are you- uh, ok? Like feeling better?”

Tommy was quiet for a second, eyes flickering down to look at his fidgeting hands in his lap, before replying with, “I’m ok. N-not great, I don’t think, but I will be.”

Gordon nodded. “Tommy, if there’s one nugget of wisdom that I have to share, it’s that healing takes time, things usually turn out to be ok in the end. No matter what’s going on with Benrey…it'll be alright, I’m sure.” Gordon patted his shoulder for emphasis, “not the best advice out there but it’s the best I can come up with straight off the dome. And I don’t wanna seem like I didn’t try to help you out."

Tommy laughed gently, “Thank you Mr. Fr- uh, thank you Gordon. You did help. Even if- if your advice was a bit cheesy.”

“Whatever man, you can’t blame me for trying,” Gordon laughed, playfully shoving Tommy where his hand had previously rested on the other man’s shoulder. Tommy laughed in return. He only noticed the warmth of Gordon’s touch once it was gone.

Tommy absentmindedly noticed the time on the wall clock in Gordon’s apartment. Jesus, 11:30? When did it get so late? The older scientist really hoped he wasn’t overstaying his welcome; While he would love to just stay here and joke around, he had already bothered Mr. Freeman enough and was already exhausted.

“I- I’m probably gonna head back home now, I didn’t realize how late it was,” Tommy said, standing up from his spot next to Gordon.

Gordon nodded. He had the passing thought of offering for Tommy to stay but… maybe that was a step too far. ‘Tommy probably wants his space,’ Gordon rationalized to himself.

He nodded, “Alright, don’t let me keep you,” he said, getting up as well to help Tommy gather his belongings. Which, to be honest Tommy didn’t bring much but some snacks for the group, but Gordon just needed an excuse to do anything.

Gordon walked Tommy to the front door of his apartment, like the good host he was, opening the door for him.

“Thanks for coming over Tommy,” he said.

Tommy nodded. “Thank- thank you again for letting me talk about Benrey, I know it was kinda rough there at the end, but if you ever need to talk about anything… I'm here for you as well.”

Gordon smiled, “Thank you Tommy, I'll keep that in mind.”

Tommy smiled in return, “Have a good night G-Gordon,” he said turning to head to his car.

“Goodnight Tommy.” Gordon turns to head back inside, but before he does, he can’t resist one more jab.

“Thought you could teleport?” he calls out teasingly.

Tommy flips him off, which causes Gordon to laugh harder. “Gives me a headache,” Tommy called back, trying and failing keep a straight face.

Gordon laughs as he waves a final goodbye, turning back inside and closing the door after Tommy waves as well. His thoughts race as he gets ready for bed, trying to ignore his fluttering heartbeat as he lays down for the night.

Tommy shuffles his thoughts in his head as he drives home. The emotional rollercoaster of his already draining social interaction meter from the science team, his Benrey guilt, and his small crush on Gordon was just too much for one day. His hands clench and unclench the steering wheel, looking forward to collapsing in bed for the night, hoping his dad won’t notice he'd been crying.

Somewhere, in an interdimensional void far away from this reality, someone begins to shift awake.

[mwolf0epsilon]

There's something lore related that's been on my mind for a while now. In BATIM Chapter 5 there's a Nightmare Run easter egg where you can find a dead Chester floating around the giant Ink Machine before you fight Beast Bendy. This means that the Nightmare Run antagonists are actual canonical villains in the cartoons, so why do you think Joey didn't try to turn any employees into perfect Chesters, Gaskettes, Canoodles and Deweys? Who would have been a good candidate for those roles?

Obviously the reason why is because Nightmare Run was conceived well after BATIM was in the works, so the only actual physical appearence of an enemy is indeed the dead Chester easter egg.

Dead Inky Chester found in BATIM Chapter 5, near the giant Ink Machine.

For lore reasons however, I think Joey refrained from using templates of Chester, Gaskette, Canoodle and Dewey because they're much bigger threats than Bendy, Boris, Alice and even the Butcher Gang.

I mean, sure, the ink monster versions in BATIM are pretty dangerous (With the exception of Boris if you put Borkis in his own category). But imagine if Joey had actually used characters that were meant to be the big bad of the week?

Again the Butcher Gang is meant to be antagonistic towards Bendy, and we even see them in action in "Tasty Trio Trouble", but they're really just bullies and petty thieves. The Nightmare Run bosses tho?

They're legitimately dangerous and won't hesitate to kill Bendy and friends if slighted by them. And this is in the cartoons!

Not even Joey was willing to tempt fate all that much, not when he's seen what the machine spat out.

Their size, for one, would make it harder to contain them (as they're meant to tower over the main trio). Their powers would only add to the danger... I mean, Chester can bombard you, Gaskette has laser high beams, heck Dewey has an ink machine gun! That'd be hell to control even if they came out perfect!

But, if Joey had indeed tried to make perfect versions of them, here's who I believe would have made perfect candidates to "donate" their souls to the cause:

Chester.

Described as becoming irate with Bendy after the little devil darling stole his "thunder", I believe that Chester is a prideful pirate, thus easy to upset if his ego is wounded. Bertrum Piedmont would have made a pretty good Chester as a result. The personalities and characteristics fit perfectly.

Gaskette.

His bio states Bendy used him and then tried to run from paying his dues, thus enraging Gaskette enough that he chased him down for revenge. I think Sammy would have been a pretty good candidate, as he was equally as angry about being used for his talent, only for Joey to take credit from him.

Canoodle.

A territorial living can of soup, Canoodle seems to have a personal grudge against trespassers. Whether this is because he doesn't trust easy or just likes to be left alone to his own devices is up to debate. Either Tom or Lacie would have made good candidates, as they weren't the most social and preferred to be left alone.

Dewey.

A keeper of order Dewey isn't difficult to upset if you're the noisy sort, and rightfully so as it's his job as a librarian to keep things rolling smooth. Grant would have likely been a good candidate, if just to match the work ethic and responsibilities.