#but also maybe i should start watching just people playing the multiplayer as well since i cant play the games

[guitarhero-3]

becoming a cod fan (hyperfixation) there are multiple different timelines that i have to figure out. i am confused and i feel lost in the maze but its okay. i think.

[genopaint]

I'm having a bit of art block at the moment. So I thought this might be a good time to go back and talk about the 3 games I released this year to give them one little bit of love before the year ends!! As well as some thoughts on where they'll be going next year!

First Up: Released August 10th, BOYZ: WORLD WIDE WEST! (x)

 This was a "pseudo-multiplayer" quickdraw game. Make your very own BOY, and battle foes in quickdraw matches! The big draw was using codes from other's wanted posters to duel their BOY in your game!

This was the game I actually planned to make at the start of the year. I had the idea in my head for a bit, and I think it came out pretty good! Sadly very few people actually participated in the #BOYZWWW tag to share their wanted poster. But I stand by this concept! I've got ideas for updates to make to this game in 2023. I would really like to add real back buttons to each option so it's easier to enter codes and build a boy. But I think there's also potential to touch up some menus and make them look more original and less like RPGM menus. I wouldn't hold my breath for it coming out any time soon. But yeah... I do already have a small idea for a sequel to this game! It's a bit more ambitious than I can do at the moment, but I'll keep my mind on it. This was my favorite game I made this year! 

Next: Released November 6th, DaRoach! (x)

A maze running arcade styled game. Play as DaRoach and try to collect gems and treasures! There's a 10 stage arcade ladder with a small story, and an endless mode with various layouts to try and master! 

This game was something I wasn't planning at the start of the year, but randomly I had the idea that I could make a simple arcade game pretty easily. It took a bit to figure out what it should be about and how DaRoach should look, but I think it came out pretty good! This game really needs to get touched up a bit in 2023. Thanks to SumRndmDde's custom menu plugin I can FINALLY add a score present during gameplay. But I also would like to potentially touch up tilesets and gameplay to look and run a little better. I know this sounds silly. But I already have plans for the next 3 DaRoach games. I'm not joking. The whole DaRoach lore is already figured out. 3+4 won't be able to be made soon. But DaRoach 2 isn't entirely out of the question eventually. But I'd still need help to get it done.

Lastly: Released December 13th, FLYTRAP! (x)

FLYTRAP is a simple Game & Watch styled game where you control Marty the Flytrap and stop flies from biting your stem! It's a simple blocker game, jump in front of the flies before they reach the center!

This game was completely spur of the moment. After playing Garden Gaurdian and redrawing old G&W fanart. I realized I could make a GW game pretty easily. And people seemed interested so I sat down and made it quickly over a weekend. I'm still shocked by the love this one got! There's not a whole lot to the game that can be cleaned up in 2023. But I certainly think there's room for improvement with playing on phones. However my main goal is to add additional game modes that make the game harder/slightly different since it's easy to edit. I do have an idea for a sequel to FLYTRAP but it'd be more of the same. Nothing too fancy. I don't know when I'll get around to it but it's one I could even potentially do in RPG Maker. Maybe. We'll see. No promises.

---

And that's all the games I made in 2022! Thank you all so much for your support, and thank you for playing anything I put out there! It all means the world to me! As always, these smaller games are leading up to me finishing Once Upon An Adventure, my full scale RPG. I don't know when it'll will be done. I'm at a point where I'm pushing myself to just be happy with what I am making currently, I want this to be the last round of asset making I do. I don't think it'll be done by 2023. But I'm hoping I might be able to show more videos by then. Currently Im working on the maps! I'm on the second to last chapter for dungeons. Then I can do towns, then hidden areas! Once that's done I can build them all in game, then start working on overworld sprites and then when its all put together I can record footage of maps! There's still a LOT of work to do on Once Upon An Adventure, but please look forward to it and please look forward to more updates in 2022!

I do still plan on doing 1 short game per year. And I have a couple of ideas. I'm thinking of maybe letting people decide which one I should attempt? We'll see. A big goal I have for game making in 2023 is to try and enter some game jams. I've made games in really short times already so I think entering game jams could be a ton of fun. So don't be surprised if you see stuff like that from me. And as always I'm working with @CloudyGamesLLC and @SeafloorGames for various projects. Please check them out!

Once again, thank you all so much for your continued love and support. I hope I can make even cooler things next year! Here's to a great 2023 with many more video games to come!

[headspace-hotel]

from a dream smp fan: yeah it’s roleplay on a multiplayer minecraft survival server, usually streamed on twitch. dream and a lot of the other people on the smp also make other minecraft related content, like videos trying to beat the game with very inconvenient mods installed, or “minecraft manhunt” where dream tries to beat the game before his friends kill him (in. in game, obviously), or some people just play games on the hypixel server and stuff like that

as for how people get into it,, i got into it because my friends were, and i think they got into via a weird pipeline of hermitcraft (another, less roleplay-based smp) to minecraft mondays (not sure what that is, i never got into it but i think it was some weekly tournament ran by keemstar of all people??) to two other smp’s that i also didn’t watch that lead into dsmp. i’d imagine a lot of other people would get into it the way anyone gets into any new media, hearing abt it enough that they get curious and check it out

a lot of people dislike dream (and by proxy the people associated with him) based on some things that are true (like. past kinda racist actions that he has attempted to somewhat apologise and make up for, i personally don’t have much to say on that except,, maybe he should do better lmao. he tries but at the end of the day he’s a white liberal) and a lot of things that are very very false (there was apparently a document going around ages ago calling him transphobic and homophobic and all sorts of shit with zero evidence whatsoever, and when asked for evidence the person who wrote the doc started blocking people i believe?)

and also a lot of his fans, especially on twitter but some here too, are very annoying and entitled and think it’s a quirky fun character trait to send death threats to people over minor missteps because he literally never admonishes them

apologies for rambling in your inbox a bit, but there’s your basic rundown on what’s up with dream/dream smp i guess LOL (also i couldn’t tell if u knew so apologies if me explaining this seems condescending, but smp just means “survival multiplayer”)

SMPd sound cool conceptually, especially since Minecraft’s gameplay is pretty well suited to open ended storytelling. I have never personally encountered any on YouTube? I’m subscribed to several people who talk about the game, give rundowns of new information about updates, show off cool seeds and whatnot. I pick my YouTubers carefully though, because the loud and over-enthusiastic way many of them talk is grating and a little overloading. Maybe that’s it…

[defdaily]

‪[TRANSLATION] Nylon Korea Magazine June 2020 issue: JB's defined taste.

Translated by defdaily.

just JB

From GOT7’s leader to main vocal and even lead dancer… in other words, he is a multiplayer, and an all-rounder. We were in the midst of preparing the interview, and the editor who was researching JB could already come to know that all that was true even before meeting him. JB, who we meet on stage and on his own personal Soundcloud channel, really does well in everything. We were getting more and more curious about him before having met him. On the day of the cover shooting, we proceeded with the photoshoot first then had the interview after. Watching JB who was in the middle of his shoot, I could see that there are even more things that he is good at. While we talked about the concept and mood for the day, he faintly smiled and answered that he understood. And when he entered the shoot, we heard his answer even more clearly. He wiped the smile that he just had off his face and immediately showed through his actions that he understood what we talked about. In life, opportunities and good fortune are like a random game play but after seeing him we realised that it all came to find him. JB seemed as if he already knew that yet he was never impatient. I hope JB’s intelligent and sexy energy is relayed to Nylonias too.

“I’m doing music now, but be it vocals or dance, I’m not drawn to a particular side. They’re both similarly balanced, but the way I think about them is a little different. Singing is something I definitely want to do well, as for dancing, I want to have fun doing it. It’s good to be a good dancer. It would be really nice to be good at dancing, but since my aim for dancing is to enjoy it, rather than thinking ‘How can I dance better?’ ‘How can I dance more coolly?’, it’s more important that I enjoy myself and receive good energy while dancing.”

http://nylonmedia.co.kr/jb/#

Due to COVID-19, everyone’s daily lives have changed. How has JB’s life changed?

My time at home has expectedly increased. I play with the cats and sometimes go out for a walk. When I go out, I either go to my studio or even when meeting with friends, we try to choose places that are not crowded. It’s a period of time when we should all be careful so I think that we should do whatever we can.

Were you originally someone who spent a lot of time at home. There is a term “homebody” that reflects those tendencies.

There was a time when I stayed home and didn’t do anything for a few months, but I really felt stressed then. I realised then that being home alone too much isn’t good for you. But of course going out everyday is also tiring physically (laughs). That balance is important and when you’re at home, rather than lying down, collapsing and watching TV, it’s better to watch a film that you can relate to or read a book. I do those kinds of things at home.

When you were younger, you said all you did was dance. It could be a cliche question but what is dance to you? Isn’t the one thing that has been with JB or a long time.

The answer could be obvious but to me dance is something that feels like life and livelihood. Since young, rather than practising choreography that has already been set, it became a habit that I could dance freestyle to music that is being played. I don’t know, to me choreography is choreography and dance is dance, to me there is this distinction.

What standards do you think stand at the forefront of dance?

To me, I also consider nodding your head to music that is playing as dance. I think that’s my reply because I feel that  dance is an expression of your current feelings. In the past, something like that happened. When I was walking the streets and suddenly heard a song that I know despite it not being me who played it. Then I would suddenly start dancing. It happened when I was young, but now that I’m thinking about it, it’s a bit embarrassing (laughs)

It seemed like you were enjoying the rhythms of the songs that were being played on set today too.

Music that is my taste played so I was having fun while listening.

To many people, music is a hobby. But for JB that has turned into a career, has there not been times when it has been stressful?

While making music, the times when I can’t seem to create anything are the times (when it is most stressful) or when I had a certain thought or intention while making the song but it is interpreted differently. At those times I think, “Ah that’s not really it?”. Rather than stress, it’s a bit closer to regret.  When songs are not coming to mind, I often think, “Why can’t I think of anything?”, “Do I really not have any talent?” too. But you’re making something out of nothing so it can’t be helped that you collapse at times during the process. I also look back at myself. The stress I had at that time couldn’t be helped. I should put up with it.  

What do you think about while working on your music these days?

Being unlike myself? That’s the part I pay attention to the most. If a song turns out to be unlike me but not over-exaggeratedly, I think ‘oh that’s pretty good’ and can accept it. I try to avoid songs that are too like myself since it can be predictable.

I thought you would be the opposite and make music like yourself instead.

Because it feels like I’m locked up, so I don’t like that.

Do you think you have shown enough of songs that are like yourself?

That is not the case either. As JB, I’m the type to make songs like myself when making music for GOT7. Rather than myself, it has to be more like GOT7’s colour, so I think about that a lot. It’s not that I don’t like music that is like myself.

You seem to be the type that makes plans to clear things out and get them done.

I also have a spontaneous side. But I generally am the type to make plans. If I set my mind and think, “Let’s do this” then in the end I will end up getting it done.

Many people like JB as a singer. You may not have started with singing from the beginning, but you are now the main vocalist of GOT7 and worthy (of the position). What comes to mind when you look back at yourself as a vocalist.

I like my tone but I also don’t like it. Actually, I do think my tone matches well with bright moods or intense music but personally I think it has lacking points. I think it‘s too strong and bright, so I work hard to balance that out.

Is there another artist's tone that you think is good these days?

I often listen to Crush’s music, and I envy his soft tone.

When I see JB's collaborations with various artists, it‘s interesting how a new tone comes out each time.

That’s because I tailor it to whatever is needed each time. Sometimes it's fascinating to me too, that I express things differently depending on who I work with and how I came to meet them. I think vocal tone can be seen as an instrument that makes the music.

Fair skin and cold eyes, sharp nose and jawline, large build, twin moles. As they say, the image of a simple country boy and a cold city man seem to coexist. What is something people around you tell you is really cool about you?

People around me would never say that. Honestly, friends don't really talk about what's cool about each other right? We just curse and get cursed. (Laughs) Well, I know what I think (is cool) about myself.

We’re curious about that too.

Sexiness. Actually it’s more so the thought that I should certainly move forward possessing sexiness.

Is this something you’ve decided that represents you?

If we have to say that, then let's go with cute sexy.

Aren't you being too ambitious?

It’s just my own thoughts. (Laughs) In the past, I would have replied with ‘being free’. I thought that being myself without hesitation was a strength. But these days, it's more of a point that I have to fix rather than a strength. In reality I'm a very free-spirited person, but I don't think that is the right personality for celebrities or public figures.

Did something happen that might have made you feel that way?

I like being honest. But even I think I have a personality that can be misunderstood easily. Like peers my age, I sometimes talk without a filter when I'm excited. But I've been thinking, "Don't we need to manage our image?" Not a lot though. (Laugh)

You seem to be free-spirited, but with rules and such, you seem to be disciplined and have firm standards.

I always upkeep my own line/standard.  I’m not always on the clouds. It's the same for myself and also my friends around me, even for the members, if they cross the line, I am the type to calmly tell them “don’t you think maybe you shouldn’t say/do that?”.

You seem to be the type to say “that’s not it” right away when something is wrong.

Well, I think if I wait to say something, they might feel worse about it. So I’m the type to just say it right there and then that we should be more careful.

I’ve seen an interview in the part where the GOT7 members did not hesitate to say “JB is our leader. There is no other candidate.” But to be honest, being a leader, you can’t not have many burdens and responsibilities.

(Laugh) In the past that was the case so I used to get a lot of stress, but nowadays it’s not the case. Now everyone takes care of themselves and they’re all reliable. At some point, I started thinking that continuously saying "Let's do this" and "Let's do that" is starting to sound nagging. I don’t want that so unless it’s something that needs to be stopped, I don’t say much. Once I was really out of it so I asked Jinyoung to take care of team matters, he did really well so I’ve been leaning on Jinyoung a lot since then.

It feels like a president and vice president.

Nowadays I’m the vice president. (Laugh). I reinforce what Jinyoung says, I don’t interrupt and pretend to act like the head of the group.

Since GOT7 is a team of multi-national members, it would not have been easy to agree on things because of language and cultural differences.

The members are all very good at Korean, so there have never been any times when problems arose due to language issues. When we talk about our opinions, we ask, 'Okay so how do you want to go about this?' And then we go with the majority. This method is the most simple and fair.

Outside of your role as JB in GOT7, is Jaebeom the type to lead in friendships?

Not at all. In a friendship group, there’s always that one person who’s so quiet you don’t know if he’s there or not, right? That’s me. (Laughs) If you call for me, I’ll go out and have fun. But I’m not the type to go “ya~~~” to lead and start up the mood. (My character) is a character that disappears quietly after having fun together.

The latest mini album received a great response. It ranked No. 1 on iTunes music charts in more than 50 countries around the world. Domestic music charts and record sales were also overwhelming..

Out of ambition, I did hope it would be better. It is important for my name and the team’s name to be more known, however I hoped our music would reach more people.  

Looking at GOT7 onstage, everyone thinks you are a group that stands out with your performance.

We can be proud of that. It’s the thing we pay most attention to since we’re in GOT7. Now we also have some years of experience, so I think our skills should live up to that too. I thought that it’s a time when the team shouldn’t simply be releasing albums. I think we have to work hard so people go “ah great” when watching our performances.

Previously when we were doing the shoot, there was a cut that was a little revealing. Do you work out? There was a time when you were chosen as GOT7’s rep for having a “good body”.

These days I’m intending to start exercising again. And I usually don’t take things such as nutritional supplements, but I’ve come to think they’re important so recently, I stopped by a pharmacy to buy a variety of vitamins and probiotics etc and I eat them every morning.

Was there something that prompted that or did it just come to mind?

I’ve had a lot of interest in fashion, but I don’t really pay a lot of attention to my looks. I’ve come to realise recently that how you look is also part of fashion so I ‪want to take better care of myself. (Laughs) My body is the type to get big easily when I exercise so instead I tried to just lose weight by not eating. But I felt that my condition was starting to get out of control too so I told myself, “Ok, let’s combine (what we’ve done previously) with exercise as well and create a healthy body!”

How long have you been taking nutritional supplements for?

It’s barely been a week. (Laughs) I’m not sure if it’s because of my mood, but I already feel like I'm getting healthier. I woke up at 9 this morning. But I didn’t feel tired or anything, I felt so refreshed so I’m starting to believe more and more in the magic of nutritional supplements.

When we were talking about charms; you mentioned the term sexiness. What does JB think sexiness is?

How do I say this. Rather than forcibly thinking ‘I’m fatal’, true sexiness comes out in a natural situation or moment. Also when someone is working hard on what they do. I am also working hard on my job, and I especially pay attention to the atmosphere created by lyrics or songs. I think that sexiness comes to be when you naturally get caught in that kind of place.

Then what do you think being cool is?

When someone acknowledges their own weakness (problem) and knows how to take that in. Even if they can't fix it straightaway, they think about it once more, and are able to say 'I'm sorry’ or even discuss the issue more. That's what I think 'being cool' is.

Honestly when someone hears words that aren’t very kind, even though in your head you know what you should do, sometimes it’s hard to control facial expressions.

On the contrary, when hearing such things, if it was me I’d say ‘I fully understand what you mean. But to be honest, it doesn’t feel good.”  After acknowledging what I did wrong, I am the type to honestly express how I feel at that moment. Then I ask for some time if I need it or find the cause (of why I feel this way).

You seem to be someone that hates ambiguity.

But there are times when I act ambiguous too. Despite hating things like that. (Laughs) Sometimes I think ‘Am I this hypocritical?’ And have a hard time because of it, but again I guess everyone is like that in a way.

Translated by defdaily.

[yandere-mha-blog]

Chapter 5: Try to Understand

Words:1249 

The next day came and you got as many photos of Panchan as you could, from puppy photos to current photos of when you took him to the beach, you knocked on Tomuras' door, and nothing.

“Tomura it's me, I brought the Panchan photos you wanted,” you said

“Slide them under the door.” he said, you shrugged and slid the photos under his door “You can go now.”

“You know Tomura, I'm a bit worried you're not eating, have you been eating enough?” you asked

“I've been eating just fine!” he yelled

“That's good to know, what did you have for breakfast?” you asked

“... I ate dinner, I skipped breakfast anyway so who cares I'm sleeping anyways!” he said

“Really breakfast is my favorite meal, I love milk bread, and I love to have waffled on the weekends, Panchan always begs for sausages but I can't give him any, to fattening, I also wanted to eat these fluffy pancakes, but they deflate so fast and if I try to eat them when they are still fluffy I burn my mouth.”

Great now Tomura was hungry for pancakes, when was the last time he even ate a pancake again, maybe when he was 12. Still, he said nothing to you.

“Well i got some more stuff for you, I'll leave it here, I'll be back tomorrow,” you said, and Tomura checked to make sure you left, he grabbed the bag and dumped the contents on his bed, a bunch more essentials, not like he could even use the face wash you got him, not with his open wounds that were on his face, he wishes they could just heal already but he keeps scratching them, he had not been to the doctors since he was 16 who just said it must have been allergies and gave him some cream that just seems to make it worse and some allergy meds that didn’t take away the itch and just made him fall asleep in class, which always got him in trouble and a ruler smacked on his wrist and then the class laughing at him.

Bad memories, so bad he didn't notice the fact he was scratching his arm again, still, there was the note you left him

To Tomura

I hope you like the photos of panchan I got you also I hope you enjoyed the food yesterday, I put some mochi in this bag this time, I like mochi ice cream but I'm afraid it would melt, maybe once you are comfortable we can get some together

All the best

(name)

Was it summertime already Tomura wondered as he ripped the bag open and took a bite out of the mochi, he scratched his neck wondering what to do next, How could he scare you into leaving without getting the police involved, the corgi photos should hold him off for the next six months, and you would keep pushing for him to come with you to get stuff, you had been coming by for nearly a week now and showed no signs of stopping. He went to the restroom to splash some water on his face, when he felt the familiar stinging pain, he must have broken through the epidermis again. He uncovered his mirror and took a good look at himself, so gross. The girls in high school call him crusty yet so greasy at the same time. Or the fact he went to ask one of them for the homework assignment and they ran the opposite direction from him, he felt like barfing and quickly covered the mirror, he already knew he was ugly why did people have to keep reminding him, why couldn't they just leave him alone.

“Maybe if she sees my face she will also run away.” Tomura thought, and two outcomes to that, one you would get so scared and never come back, or B you would look down on him as someone who was so dumb as to hurt themselves. At least then he had a reason to keep you at arm's length and remind you why he was keeping you there, how could he trust a person who was so disgusted by him.

Hiromi was once again waiting for you as you quickly walked up to her.

“You are late and just when I thought you were breaking that bad habit of yours.” She said

“Sorry work ran late.” You said, your last client wanted to play another round of video games with you, you said yes and he seemed to want to prolong it as much as possible, when he could have killed you he let you reheal.

“Again when are you gonna tell me your job?” she asked, Hiromi was getting more adamant about knowing what you did for a living, maybe today would be the day you told her.

“Hmm you really wanna know?” you asked

“Yes, just tell me already.” she said “I'm starting to worry it's something illegal.” “I help hikikomori re-enter society and get proper mental health care,” you said, and Hiromi looked at you in disbelief

“Wait, a second, you, you work around those dangerous people, (name) you do realize they could hurt you right?”

“They aren't dangerous Hiromi.” you corrected her

“What do you mean not, not dangerous, (name) they have been completely withdrawn from society, of course, they are dangerous, I mean what type of person just has no social interaction!?” Hiromi said she was getting up there in worry.

“Hiromi, they are people who need help, and I help them, most of the time they just don't have the confidence to think they can live in society, or it's so stressful to them they can’t function.”

“What do you mean can’t function, I read about these types of people (name).” She said, “They just sit all day in their room, watching anime, playing video games, and reading manga.”

“Really I've met one who loved to paint, also one who liked to sew, a lot of them play video games that are multiplayer as well-”

“Again why are you defending them, let alone working with them?” she asked, you took in a breath

“You know Hiromi, on my first year of this job when I was 19, I was still working with a mentor, he went to a guys house, and he was completely malnourished, he was so scared of people he couldn't even buy groceries anymore and was running out of money, we couldn't force him to guy to the hospital either, he died ten days later I learned, all because he failed a university test and no place would hire him.”

Hiromi was silent

“So Hiromi, I think I should go home for the day, Panchan needs a longer walk I think, I hope the rest of your day goes well,” you said and left, you were trying really hard not to get mad at her, she was scared of them because she didn't understand them, but still when she has the means and confidence to go out and live her life without the stress of other people and able to work a job, she just couldn't understand the pain of what people like her can go through.

or the pain you went through all those years ago, you hope she would learn to understand and contact you again, but this isn't the first relationship you ended once they learned about your job, and you were sure it wouldn't be your last.

[goeymoey]

What if you tricked me?

A BBS short! (Part 1/??)

Hope you enjoy :) !

——-

Nogla’s mic popped as he sat down in his chair. The signature black headphones already perched on his head.

“ Okaay, what we doin’ today boys?”

Miles away, in a different country, Tyler sighed. “ You really gotta get that mic fixed, man.” He turned on his web cam for emphasis and gave Nogla’s profile picture a frown. “ It sounds like shit.”

“ What do ya mean?” Nogla faked a whine. “ It sounds great! everybody loves the sound of my voice through this here mic! Am I rights boys?”. While turning on his web cam as he talked, Nogla leans back in his chair with both arms spread wide open.

“ I sound like a god!”

A neon green light highlights around Brian’s box as he snickers. “ Yeah...the god of shit!” Brian flicks his web cam on but, instead of being greeted with a smiling Irishman, he shows his middle finger.

Nogla sticks out his tongue. “ Shut yer fuckin mouth, traitor.” He crossed his arms with a pout. “ You’re the one who gave me the mic in the first place!”

Tyler and Brian lock eyes on the screen as the later smirks widely.

“ Why do you think that was?”

Nogla shrugs. “ I don’t know! I thought it was because you were being a good friend but-“ He gives Brian a hard stare through his screen “-OBVIOUSLY I was incorrect in my assumption! Hmpf!”

Another mic pop echos through the others headphones after Nogla’s shout, and it makes the two begin to snicker.

“ Sorry for trying to be a GREAT FRIEND and give you something of mine!” Brian says through a laugh. “ I guess I’ll go fuck myself next time!”

“ Shut yer cunt mouth you dirty-“

Nogla’s mic pops as it cuts off the final word to his sentence.

“- Next time I see ya, I’ll make sure to stick my foot up your dirty arse!”

Tyler bangs on his desk with a closed fist before taking off his head seat and walking away from the screen.

His faint laughter can be heard even as he walks out of his office and down the hall.

Brian smiles wide at the echoing laughter of his friend. He hunches over his keyboard, to be closer to the screen, as if he was about to follow Tyler himself.

“ You made the man leave the room, Nogla! how do you feel?”

Nogla scowls. “ I feel nothing towards any of ye cunts now...fuckin hate y’all...”. He mumbles. “ Especially-...Hey! Brock!”. Nogla cuts himself off as the discord ping of someone joining the voice call rings in his headset.

“ Just the man I wanted to see!”

Brock sighs and turns his web cam on. He stares at Nogla with a slack face of indifference.

“ Hey Nogla.”

The tall Irishman smiles wide. “ Did ya miss me?”

Brock scratches at his chin. “ No.”

“ What? Come on, Brock! I’m giving you all my love right here and you just-“ Nogla exaggerates his movements while shaking his hand in front of his face. “-give me this!” He slouches back in his chair. “ You give me nothing.”

Brock smiles. “ Okay...Hey Brian.”

The other Irishman smiles at the acknowledgment and tips his head. “ Hey Brock. How’ve ya been?”

“ Oh, y’know...” Brock holds in his laughter at the sight of Nogla giving him a deadly stare through the screen. “...same old things everyday, every night...the use’.”

Brian stretches his arms behind his back causing the bottom of his shirt to ride up a bit. “ Oh the woes of a single man in he early twenties. Never having any fun.” He rests back into his chair with both arms laying in his lap. “ Bet you wish you would have taken me up on that trip to Ireland, huh?”

Brock rubs at the back of his neck. “ Kinda...but not really.”

Nogla has given up trying to get Brock’s attention back and is now glued to his phone.

He mumbles something under his breath, but the other two males don’t catch it.

The door to Tyler’s office shutting muffles in the back ground of everyone’s head phones as the tall man comes stalking back to his chair. His attention is also focused on his phone, but his face is a mix of confusion and frustration.

He doesn’t reciprocate the others greetings and instead hastily shows the screen of his phone to the web camera.

“ Did any of you guys get this message from Evan?” Tyler’s grip on the blue cases phone tightens as he asks the question.

“ It says he sent it to me a while ago, but I left it down stairs.”

While listening to Tyler speak, both Brian and Brock brought out their phones.

“ Ummm...Yeah...” Brian starts awkwardly. “ I got a message from him too but...but it’s just a link with no url...” He mimics Tyler by holding up his phone to the web cam. “ It’s just a grey box...is that what you got?”

Tyler nods and sets his phone out of view from his camera. The screen facing up at him...just in case.

“ Yeah...it’s weird...How about you, Brock? Nogla?”

“ I got the box.” Brock shows the two his phone.

From his slouched position, Nogla mumbles. “ Same here.” His eyes stay glued to the screen. “ I already clicked on it, and it doesn’t seem...weird.”

The three watch as Nogla sits up and exposes his screen. “ I think it’s just a new game, or something like that.” He faces his phone towards him and then scrolls up on the screen. “ It’s like asking for my email and stuff like that so, I’m just guessing that’s what it is.”

Brock puffs out his cheeks. “ But what if it’s a virus?”

Brian shakes his head while tapping on the link. “ Evan wouldn’t send us a virus. He’s too smart for that.” His eyes shine against the brightness of the phone.

He flips up and down on the screen and then nods with a hum. “ Yeah, I think this might just be a new game for us to play. It all looks that way.....you wanna check it out togther?” Brian looks up from his phone. “ It says it’s multiplayer.”

Tyler purses his lips in an unsavory frown. “ I don’t know...it still seems a little sketchy.”

“ Aww, please, Tyler?! Please!” Nogla clamps his hands together in a plea while bowing his head. “ I’ve already set up my account and made my avatar! It’s too late to back out now!”

Brock huffs. “ Maybe for you.”

Nogla points at the screen with a strict finger. “ You shut yer fuckin mouth you god damn short prick!”

“ Hey! Don’t call me short!”

“ But you are!”

“ No I’m not! I’m 5’9!” Brock glares with his arms crossed. “ It’s like the average height.”

Nogla makes a ‘pft’ noise. “ That’s just what short people say! Now-“ bouncing up from his seat, Nogla waves his phone around dramatically “- hurry up and make y’all’s profiles before I start without ya! I’m getting bored!”

The others sigh at Nogla’s childish behavior, but fill out the link anyway.

It takes a few more minutes then Nogla would have liked- since Brian couldn’t decide whether he wanted his character to have blue or brown hair- but he refrained himself from succumbing to his impatience.

Brock was the last to finish his avatar with a worrying smirk as he tapped the ‘save’ button.

“ Okay, I’m ready. Who’s making the game?”

Nogla pipped up with shimmering eyes. “ I will you slow cunts! I’ve been waiting forever, let’s do this!”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “ It’s been like five minutes.”

“ Well, it felt like a long time!”

Brian scoffed at his friends whining. “ And yer just making it longer by complaining about it.” His arms sit across a wide chest as he laid back with the black cased phone sitting on his desk.

“ Just make the game already, jeez.”

Nogla huffed. “ I’m going I’m going....Okay, what are your guys usernames? The same as always?”

All three nod in agreement.

“ Yeah.”

“ Mhm.”

“ Weirdly, yes. I didn’t even have to change the ‘s’ in ‘Terroriser’ to a ‘z’ or add a 0.”

Brock hummed. “ Same here, and usually my names the first to go.”

Nogla rolls his eyes. “ Whatever, boring. It should be sending you an invite riiight....now.” He points to the screen just as three simultaneous dings pop in the others headphones.

“ The game won’t be able to start unless we all accept so, hurry up!”

Tyler looks down at the acceptance button suspiciously. “ I still don’t feel good about this...but fuck it! Let’s do this!” He taps the button and waits for the others to join.

Brock nods. “ Yeah, it might actually be fun!” He accepts the request.

Brian hesitates as he reads the short paragraph of rules before accepting.

“...this may be too much for some audiences...viewer discretion is-...I think this might be a horror game!” Brian exclaims with glee.

Brock’s face turns pale. “ A horror game? Does it say what it’s about? I didn’t read the warnings!” Brock looks down at his phone with worry as his free hand fiddles with his hair.

“ I wouldn’t of accepted if I had read that...”

Tyler snorts. “ Quit being such a pussy, Brock. It’s a mobile game. No mobile games are scary.”

“ Except for Five Nights at Freddie’s.” Nogla interjects.

“ That’s different.” Tyler responds.

“ How is that different? It’s a mobile horror game?”

“ It’s different because FNAF is based off of real life human things...like the fear that toys are alive or...yeah.” Tyler bites his lips in thought. “ Stuff like that.”

“ That sounds dumb.”

“ You’re dumb!”

“ Shut the fuck up, Nogla.”

“ No. You shut up.”

Brock sighs in irritation. “ Brian, hurry up and accept the invite before I blow my brains out from listening to these two.”

Brian absently nods as he reaches the end of the paragraph. “ Yeah yeah...im almost done.”

He taps the accept button.

“ I was just-“

“ Ooh Shit-“

The world turns black for all four men as their bodies slump down into their chairs. Phones slip carelessly from hands as headphones ride up on their heads and chairs creak beneath pounds of dead weight.

Tyler’s web came shakes as his head slams down on the desk in a dead black out. The door to his office jiggles behind him, but stays shut.

Brock’s head rolls back over his chair as his jaw unhinges to let his mouth hang open freely. The top of his headphones slide forward onto his forehead while his shoulders rise up on the chair.

Nogla’s arms simply drop dead and hang off the armrests of his chair while his head props up, unmoving, on his shoulder.

Brian’s body fully slips out of his chair as all dead weight transfers to the front of his seat and sends the furniture flying backwards. His camera also shakes as his body slams against the ground without trying to catch himself.

Then everything is still.

A green highlight appears around Tyler’s web cam as a bird chirps outside, but nobody moves and nobody talks.

...

Soon, their chests stop rising.

[schraubd]

Should I PlagueWatch It?: Series Finale!

In March 2020, I inaugurated on this blog what I said "may but hopefully won't(?) become an ongoing series": Should I PlagueWatch It? Basically, it took the thing Jill and I do best -- watch TV -- and offered our recommendations for what you should watch to get you through the pandemic.

Over a year later, Should I PlagueWatch It? did, indeed, become a series. In addition to the first entry -- HBO's Avenue 5 -- I also did entries on Gentleman Jack, Marvel's Runaways, Alpha House, Never Have I Ever, Jelle's Marble Runs, Making the Cut, and a "roundup" post that covered Billions, Insecure, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultimate Tag, Titan Games, and Holey Moley.

But now, it feels we're finally closing the chapter on the pandemic. Jill and I are vaccinated, my parents came to visit this past weekend, we're seeing friends, the CDC says we can go unmasked. It seems, alas, that all good things must come to an end. And while the pandemic itself is certainly not a good thing, some of us may be feeling a bit bittersweet at the prospect of being expected to interact with other humans rather than sit around and watch Netflix all day.

So to wrap up the series, one more omnibus "quick hits" review of all the shows we PlagueWatched that haven't yet gotten their own entry.

* * * Mild spoilers * * *

Blown Away

Reality TV can be wonderful in its formulaicness. Take a random hobby, find ten people who are pretty good at it, dangle $50,000 in front of them, and bang, you've got a competition show. This one's about glass blowing. I know nothing about glass blowing, but the competitors seem pretty talented to me?

I was impressed at how versatile a medium glass is. I worried when I started the show that the challenges would end up being pretty one note (how many vases can one make?). But the competitors actually made a lot of really cool material!

There's a lot of running and swinging and flailing given that they're handling molten-hot material.  It stressed me out. Also, apparently "glory holes" are an essential part of glass blowing, and nobody made a joke about it.

This show is definitely more in the "everyone likes and supports one another" mold of reality TV compared to the "constant cat fights and 'I'm not here to make friends'" mold. No judgment, just letting you know what to expect.

Sexify

A Netflix series about a young college student with no sexual experience who decides she needs to develop an app to optimize the female orgasm. It's not the most innovative concept, but it works well enough.

Of the core trio, my favorite character is Paulina -- the religious Catholic best-friend who is having (bad) sex with her fiancé and feels guilty about even that sin. She does a lot of great expressive work and has some superb character beats (her popcorn addiction -- just casually munching away while watching porn). 

Speaking of Paulina, at the outset I told Jill she looked like someone and Jill's first guess was "a plainer Emily Blunt" (that's not an insult -- who isn't plainer than Emily Blunt?). It wasn't who I was thinking of, and soon I realized the answer was like six women I've known over the years. So maybe "plainer Emily Blunt" is a more common face than I realized?

The show is in Polish (with subtitles), and I'm very proud that I managed to identify the language as Polish right away (I do not speak a word of Polish).

The musical motif for the show combines one of the catchiest guitar riffs I've ever heard with a sample loop of a woman's sex moans. It fits the show perfectly, but it's a bit awkward to listen to on its own.

Wandavision

You shouldn't need me to tell you about this show. It's good, but my hottest take -- and I stand by it -- is that as an exploration of grief Never Have I Ever does it better and it's not close.

Can we concede that Wanda is the unambiguous villain of the show? With only the barest shift in perspective, Wanda could be the nemesis with an admittedly sympathetic motive. To some extent, I think the show was far too forgiving of her. Motives aside, how different is she from Kilgrave on Jessica Jones?

Poor Emma Caulfield. So much build-up for her character, and it's only a head-fake.

Space Force

I liked it. It's not in the most elite of the elite comedies, and maybe that's the standard when Steve Carrell is the lead, but it was quite funny. That said, I keep on almost forgetting that I watched it, and have no substantive commentary to offer. So take from that what you will.

AOC lookalike alert (the character even gets the nickname AYC -- "Angry Young Congresswoman")!

Mythic Quest

I love that Ubisoft is actually involved in the show (which is set at a game studio producing a popular massively multiplayer online RPG).

Surprisingly, given my love affair with Community, Danny Pudi is one of the least interesting characters on the show.

The actress who plays Poppy isn't the very strongest (though she's improving), but Poppy herself may be my favorite character. Of course, everyone knows I'm a sucker for an Australian accent.

The show has some great characters in side parts who don't get enough attention, like Sue the community manager and Carol the HR director. Also, Aparna Nancherla has a small recurring role in the first season and apparently doesn't come back for season two? I don't get why she keeps getting sidelined like this -- she's funnier than the rest of the cast put together.

Ted Lasso

Good, sweet, endearing, fun. British soccer comedies with heart are a winner for me (Bend It Like Beckham, anyone?).

Ted's estranged wife is played by the same actress who plays Linda in Better Off Ted. This was very strange, though admittedly I'm probably the only person who cared enough about Better Off Ted to notice or care.

Lupin

Dashing gentleman thief who's always a step ahead of his adversaries, except maybe the one nemesis who actually can match him step for step in a constant cat-and-mouse game? Look, it's a cliché for a reason. I'm not going to say Lupin breaks the mold, but it certainly is a well-crafted entry into the mold.

If there is anything innovative, it's how Lupin particularly leverages stereotypes about race and class to maneuver more freely in certain spaces (e.g., he can smuggle himself into prison because the guards can't tell him apart from another inmate -- sad commentary, but useful for Lupin!).

It did do something I hate, which is release "half a season" and just leave the audience hanging at the end. Maybe it was the pandemic's fault, but one could really feel its incompleteness.

Kim's Convenience

Of the Canadian shows I've been watching, I'd say Working Moms (not in this post because it is pre-pandemic) is the stronger of the two. But this is fun as well.

It just got cancelled, unfortunately depriving it of the chance to wrap up its single greatest storyline (that's been ongoing since season one). That's a real, real shame.

Simu Liu as Jung is the latest iteration of the Jason Mendoza trend of "dumb male Asian hottie leads". I guess it's a blow against stereotypes?

Pastor Nina also could be an AOC lookalike. I think the show struggled a bit to draw a bead on her character.

Legomasters

I actually mentioned this show in my post about Jelle's Marble Runs, but it is such a joy to watch. I can't wait for season two, which is dropping very soon. For pure, simple, uncomplicated happiness, Legomasters beats out everything on this list.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/3yamzYb

[veralovemail]

Hi! I would love myself a matchup if it's ok 👉👈

I'm female and pan, I'd prefer one of the males tho, Survivors please!

So uhhhh I differ in my personality a lot depending on the situation! I'm more of a loner around strangers IRL— shy, quiet, I don't like interacting and prefer to stay by the sidelines since being in the middle makes me uncomfy.

I try to be as polite as I can, even keeping in my opinions and pain a lot as to not Hurt anyone. I also tend to blame myself a lot for bad situations I'm a part in unless I know I absolutely didn't do anything!

Also I'm quite hot headed and have a bad temper, though I'm working on it! I have quite the problem with guilt and it comes to me fairly quickly when I do something bad.

Ah yeah I'm really forgetful and also really impatient KNRKS

Now- online!!

I'm a lot more open and chaotic. I like to tease my friends and jokingly make fun of them, etc. I try and stop when they tell me to, but I might understand it as them just joking too if they write it that way in my eyes-

I try to look on the positive side for them and their situations and am always willing to make someone happy even without words since it makes me happy too. I'd say I'm caring to a fault- I don't let loose until they finally do something healthy that they've been avoiding and I do get rather angry if I'm not taken seriously with that, causing me to maybe lash out at someone unwillingly,,- and then guilt pops in like "hi there 😍" KDHDJDJ

Anyway,

I encourage anyone to vent, though I'm not the best at giving advice. I'm more of a person who likes to listen and give support if they need it. Oh yeah- my attention span is REALLY short (as short as me good ol' 5'1 me aNENSJJSJD) so I get distracted pretty easily and procrastinate then.

As for hobbies: I love to draw! (As you might know-)Music is my life (especially Jazz) and video games are, too. Though mostly singleplayer Games since I only really like multiplayer with friends-

What else can I write..

Maybe like- I'm an ISFP-T And I think it was 5w6 that I was given by another test

I also got Philophobia, the fear of falling in love because of bad experiences but I'm tryna work on it!!

I guess I can also write about my appearance? I've got short, curly but chaotic black hair that's p much swept to the side- I'm definitely not that skinny lmao- and as I've said before, I'm 5'1! I usually wear casual clothes (hoodies, e.g!! They're so comfy...) I also got brown eyes and glasses!

I think that should be it.. ah yeah! In your introduction, you should prolly add your ID for others to add you because name search doesn't work! :0

Ok that's really it now- take your time, don't rush yourself and stay safe and hydrated!! 💕💕 Hope your blog takes off!

Sorry for my English by the way- I'm German so I might've messed up on a few things!

OH MY LORD I DID NOT KNOW THAT I HAD TO PUT IN MY ID... oml... thank u for telling me that. and don't worry about it, i can see how it'd be difficult (i actually studied german for my gcses :], it was very fun) but anyways! tysm for sending in btw!! i loved writing this, i hope u enjoy - mod vera ♡

i match you with ... naib subedar!

he kinda takes on to your quiet personality, unlike some of the other people around the manor. it's relaxing to be around somebody who doesn't talk much.

you two most likely met when robbie came over to the survivors' side of the mansion, jokingly demanding sweets... but it most likely sounded authentic. and oh god, is that an axe-

you two accidentally locked eyes but you both had a " ah shit, here we go again " face. it just kinda went from there.

at first, he's a tough nut to crack, but if you try hard enough, within a month or so you gain his trust and he .. deems you a friend?

you both kinda start falling for eachother after a period of time, but naib is great at hiding it BUT SIKE, so are you! it's like a game of who can pine for the other in the most subtle way possible.

however, if you tell him about your own troubles with falling in love, he may just open up a little too about his own troubles.

it's takes a while for you two to build a relationship, but eventually (after a lot of rescues, late night hangouts and just being near eachother) you make it!

when he learns about your more chaotic side, naib tries to keep up with you as best he can, he may just need a little tug to do so.

he loves your smile, especially the one you have when you're talking about your passions.

he also tries to help with your temper, but he's just as bad as you are.

however, he's there whenever you have a bad day - he can almost instantly tell, even if you try keep it to yourself. it could be the way you look at him, try to smile or talk, he does notice the change in your aura.

since your shorter than him, he likes holding you. it makes him feel like he's just protecting you from anything and anything, especially on one of your bad days.

he likes your optimism, looking on the good side of every situation. he once saw you trying to comfort robbie when he started crying about not finding any sweets around and you told him "look on a brightside robbie! now we know for next time to stash some away for you before we eat it all!" AND OH GOD, IS THAT AN AXE?

naib gets frequent nightmares about his time being a hired merc, so sometimes you may get woken up at 3 am because he's a bit distressed and needs a bit of comfort.

other times, he just finds holding you while you're fast asleep enough to put him back in a coma for the next 2 hours.

naib also encourages you to talk to him about stuff. whether it be what made you mad, how much of a bitch vera can be, ect. he's there for you and that man is never gonna let you carry your burdens alone.

saying that, you also have to remind him that he can't carry his own burdens sometimes and when you encourage him to talk to you about what's upsetting him, he'll most likely tell, depending on how bad it is.

he also grounds you a lot!! if you tell him about your forgetfulness, he's most likely going to try and remind you.

" hey, [ name ], you did bring [ item ] into the match, right? "

" um... "

" goddamnit [ name ], i thought i reminded you "

naib takes it upon himself to rescue you, or keep you within his general vicinity if you're in a match with him. he does know you can kite very well though! he just wants you near him for a bit of reassurance.

he can be mean sometimes, but he means it in the most endearing way possible since most of it is sarcasm.

you two kinda have " stab as a warning " vibes so nobody really opposes the two of you. even norton. not even freddy dares to oppose you because the last time he did, aesop almost had to prepare his equipment to embalm the poor fella.

when you lash out at someone, naib is there almost immediately to take you away to calm down and comfort you when your guilt kicks the door down and goes " Hey girlie! Hold still 😎 "

sometimes you have to do the same for him because you both have a tendency to lash out.. but.. never at eachother? you two kinda agree on the same things, there isn't much to exactly disagree on.

please draw him!! watch him while he's training in the garden and draw him, or just a few silly doodles of him.

he likes looking at your drawings, it kinds boosts his ego knowing that he's worthy enough to be drawn.

if he finds out that you like music, he'll tell you about nepalese music, or at least what he knew of it - if you both get engrossed in it, he may try and get you some records to play.

teach him how to dance, if you can. it'd make listening to music together way more fun.

he's very content with you!! he likes kissing you out of nowhere, too. you could just be chilling and naib would come up to you, turn you around and give you a smooch outta nowhere. but only in private.

i feel like neither of you would be big on pda, you just stick to holding hands around the manor.

if this were in a modern setting, you two could probably play a game like phasmaphobia together just for funsies.

all in all, your relationship with naib is mutually beneficial and robbie has learned to never ask for sweets again.

i hope you enjoy this <3 it's my first time writing naib too so i apologise if it's not very good </3

[girlwithshipsshitshow]

Part 15

(Rose and Eri sat on the beach, their hands laced with each other, they watched the waves crash onto the sand. Eri pushed up the sleeves of her light white hoodie she was wearing, and dug her toes into the sand, her black leggings were rolled up to her knees, Rose wore a similar outfit, a light red hoodie and blue leggings).

Eri: (Picks up a clump of sand and throws it towards the water). This is nice.

Rose: Yeah, its feels good outside too.

Eri: Hey, I had fun last night.

Rose: Yeah, so did I. Want to come spend the night again?

Eri: I can't, I have to work tomorrow, Isaka only let me have a few days off and I promised I'd come back tomorrow to get some stuff organized.

Rose: Okay, I understand. I go back to night shifts this weekend.

Eri: Maybe we can do Lunch friday?

Rose: Yeah, sure!

Eri: But, hey it's only noon, still early, we have the rest of today!

Rose: That's true! What do you want to do? you hungry?

Eri: Sure, lets go get a burger.

Rose: Yeah, I know a great Place, it's called "Blacows" it's about twenty minutes from here.

Eri: Sounds great! (Stands up, pulling Rose up with her, they grab their sandals and wipe their butts off, then they head up the beach to Rose's car).

(Misaki walked out of the bathroom towel drying his hair, he peeked on the couch, good, Usagi was still fast asleep, he quietly walked up to the the his bedroom, he loved that he moved into Usagi's bedroom, at some point they wanted to knock the wall down and expand into the extra bedroom so they'd have more space. Misaki, threw his towel on the floor, slipped on blue boxers, Black sweatpants, and a white tank top, and white pullover, he walked down out of the room down stairs and looked through the pile of take out menus, he really wasn't in the mood to cook, and they were running low on food that isn't junk. Misaki found a menu for Priya Japan, they hadn't had indian in a while, it sounded really good in fact, Misaki picked up the food, walked outside to the balcony, and leaned over the brick wall).

Priya: Priya's how can I help you?

Misaki: Yeah, I'd like to place an order for delivery?

Priya: Sure, what can I get for you?

Misaki: Can I get an order of chicken Tikka Masala, two orders of Palak Paneer, four orders of garlic nan, two orders of cheese nan, and two orders of basmati rice.

Priya: Is that all?

Misaki: That's it.

Priya: Okay, your total comes to nine thousand eight hundred yen.

Misaki: Okay thank you.

Priya: And can I have the address?

(Misaki gives the restaurant the address, hangs up, and puts his phone in the pocket of his hoodie, it's twelve-thirty, he hopes Usagi will be up in time to eat, but he also wants Usagi to get his rest, Usagi also need his nutrients. Misaki sighed he looked out into the city, it was a beautiful sunny day, tomorrow would be cloudy an awfully bad day to take a test, but at least it was a his last test on a thursday, and he was definitely prepared for this test, he loved psychology sometimes he regretted not going into that field. After this test he had friday and the rest of next week to relax before his graduation March twenty second, the only thing that would suck his figuring out what he and Usagi would do, it's not like they only had sex, but a lot of their relationship consisted of it, and until the day of his graduation, they needed to find something else to do. Maybe they could play cards, he recently learned a card game called "kings in the corner" It's like solitaire but multiplayer. Misaki heard the the door to the balcony open, he didn't turn but he waited for Usagi to come beside him).

Usagi: (Groggy voice). Hey, what are you doing out here?

Misaki: I was ordering lunch, You were still sleeping, I didn't want to wake you.

Usagi: (Pulls Misaki into a hug, gives him a kiss on his head), thank you Misaki, but you could've made the in the house.

Misaki: I know. (Turns to face Usagi, he puts his arms around Usagi's neck, smiling at him). Look, I just want you you to get your rest, speaking of which, tomorrow is my final test, are you going to be okay alone for a few hours?

Usagi: (Usagi put his arms around Misaki, pulling him closer to him). Misaki, I think I'll be okay on my own for a few hours, plus it's your last test, you have to take it and pass so you can graduate and we can go on a trip.

Misaki: What kind of trip?

Usagi: Well are you sure you don't want to go on your graduation trip with your friend?

Misaki: (He shook his head and looked up at Usagi), No I want to stay with you Usagi. So if you want to plan a trip for us after my graduation you can, just keep it in tokyo. I don't want to go far, maybe for our honeymoon.

Usagi: (Takes a hand off of Misaki's waist and holds up a finger) Wait a minute, you're saying that when we go on our honeymoon, I can pick the place and you won't yell at me about the expense?

Misaki: Yes Usagi.

Usagi: I'm going to need to get that in writing.

Misaki: Ugh, whatever.

Usagi: Um, but you can get mad at for our trip after you graduate because I already got the tickets, but I did keep it in Tokyo.

Misaki: Fine, but we need to go inside because i'm sure the food will be here any minute.

(Misaki grabbed Usagi's hand and the second they closed the back door, the bell rang, the food had arrived, they spread the food on the table.

Usagi: Oh, Indian smells amazing, we haven't had that in a while.

Misaki: Yeah, I was looking through the take out menus and had the same thought. (Looks up at Usagi) Why do we even have take out menus when everything is on our phone?

Usagi: Because, the ones we have here are from our favorites.

Misaki: (Laughs as he walks into the kitchen), Usagi there's like twenty, we don't have that many favorites. do we?

Usagi: Well of we have that many menus we have that many favorites.

Misaki: Okay Usagi, do you want something to drink.

Usagi: Wine.

Misaki: What kind?

Usagi: Red.

Misaki: Okay, (He grabbed some plates, a bottle of wine and two glasses).

Usagi: ( Takes plates from Misaki, distributes food on the plates while Misaki pours the wine, they sit down in their normal spots). This looks good Misaki.

Misaki: (Mouth full), It taste good.

Usagi: So, what's bugging you?

Misaki: (Shit, Usagi always knew when something was on his mind) How'd you know?

Usagi: Misaki, no matter how much you try you try to hide it, I can always tell when you're upset about something.

Misaki: Well, it's kinda a few things.

Usagi: Okay, (Takes a sip of wine) what are they?

Misaki: Well at some point we need to, um-

Usagi: Tell the public about us? Aikawa is working on setting up an interview unless you want to, it will be part of your job?

Misaki: No, she can do that. When is she planning on doing it?

Usagi: After graduation, before our trip. Is that okay?

Misaki: Yeah.

Usagi: Is that what the problem is?

Misaki: My problem is what will happen if we tell the public? What if people don't accept you, I mean you know how the ladies love you, Usagi you could lose a lot of fans, this could end your career.

Usagi:(Rolls his eyes) See this? (Holds his hand out with his engagement ring).

Miskai: Your engagement ring?

Usagi: Yeah, this bonds us Misaki, you knew that when you proposed. So that means when we come out to the public, whatever happens, happens. I've always told you, I don't care what happens as long as I have you.

Misaki: I know. I love you so much Usagi, everything will work itself out. (Places left hand on top of Usagi's left hand).

Usagi: Yes it will. So what's your other problem?

Misaki: Oh, it's really dumb.

Usagi: What is it?

Misaki: Well, tomorrow is my last test and after that i'm going to be around for a week and a few days, which usually isn't a problem, but since we can't have sex for a while we have to find something to occupy ourselves, like playing cards or something, so while i'm gone tomorrow, you need to figure that out. Make a list of stuff okay?

Usagi: Yeah, I was actually thinking about that too, but I was really hoping you would bring it up first so I wouldn't have to.

Misaki: Well thanks. Anything you want to talk about?

Usagi: Nope, I just think we should eat before this food gets cold.

Misaki: Agreed.

(Rose stood at Eri's apartment door, their hands laced together)>

Rose: Are you sure you can't stay at my house again tonight?

Eri: (Grins), I wish I could, but I have to work tomorrow.

Rose: I thought Akihiko had like four months off.

Eri: (Laughs) Yeah, well Akihiko isn't the only person I edit for, but he is the main one, plus I have four months of transcripts from him that I have to edit, if I get them out now, well that will be huge for the company and him and Misaki.

Rose: Oh, yeah well that's awesome, when can I see you again?

Eri: We can meet for lunch tomorrow?

Rose: Sure, yeah I start back at work again tomorrow, but I should be able to make lunch before my night shift.

Eri: Okay cool, i'll see you around noon?

Rose: Sure.( Smiles and softly kisses Eri on the lips) i'll see you tomorrow.

Eri: Okay.

(Rose kisses Eri one last time before walking off, Eri sighs and walks into her apartment, sit her turns on her hall light, slips her shoes off, she walks to her couch flipping on the telvelstions before flopping on her couch. It was two pm, the time of day when nothing good was on. Eri sighed and flipped on her side, she decied she needed a nap).

(Misaki sat on the opposite couch while Usagi laid stretched out on the other one, he typed away on his computer looking for property).

Misaki: (Sighs, glances at Usagi whose focused "Greys Anatomy, which he was currently binging again. He sighed louder hoping he would get Usagi's attention, but he still didn't. He loudly cleared his throat).

Usagi: Misaki, what's wrong?

Misaki: What if I was dying, and you just now noticed that I needed you?

Usagi: Well you aren't dying, you're on the computer, what are you doing anyway?

Misaki: That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, I was thinking, have you ever thought about selling this place?

Usagi: It's crossed my mind a few times why?

Misaki: Well I was thinking (He gets up and sits on the edge of the coffee table taking Usagi's hand). I Want us to buy a house, a-a-and not just buy a house, I want us to buy some property and build a house, or at least design it and have people build it for us.

Usagi: (His blue purple eyes lit up, he gave Misaki a half smirk). You wanna buy land a build a house together?

Misaki: Well yeah. Why, is it dumb? it's dumb right? Look, nevermind, it's just I found this amazing property in Kanagawa and its sixty two acres, the going rate is one hundred twenty-eight thousand three hundred eighty-nine yen. It's huge Usagi, and it could be perfect for us.

Usagi: Really? (He sits up grinning at Misaki), what makes you think that?

Misaki: Us getting married, and I had a dream about us buying land and building a house, and I want us to have a family, plus I love this house, but it's not mine it's yours, I want us to have a house together, one that we can grow old together in.

Usagi: You've really given this a lot of thought haven't you?

Misaki: I have, Look we have until June before we really start work again, and Maybe we can look at the property on friday?

Usagi: And where does that leave us the rest of the week?

Misaki: Making design plans, on pintrest.

Usagi: Pinterest? Like that dreamboard app thing?

Misaki: Yeah.

Usagi: Okay, I'll call my realtor tomorrow and see if he can help us.

Misaki: Really?

Usagi: (He smiled running his hands up and down Misaki's thighs) I think us buying land and designing a house together is amazing, I mean we need people to help us clearly because we don't know how to do that.

Misaki: I know, I said that earlier.

Usagi: Let's start by looking at the house.

(Misaki grinned, and leaned forward kissing Usagi softly).

Misaki: I'm going to start making pinterest boards.

Usagi: Have fun with that, I'm going back to watching Greys.

Misaki: have fun that.

(In the early hours of the morning, before Misaki raced to get ready for school, Usagi pulled him close, kissing his head, running his fingers through his soft hair, this always relaxed him, and even though Misaki was extremely confident about this final test, he wanted to stay in Usagi's arms for as long as he could, especially since they couldn't have sex, it felt nice just to cuddle, their body heat filling each up).

Usagi: Misaki, are you sure you'll pass this test?

Misaki: Why are you doubting me, you know psychology is my favorite.

Usagi: Still, I just want to make sure you're prepared.

Misaki: (flips on his side to face Usagi), I am, why don't you believe me?

Usagi: I do, but sometimes overconfidence doesn't mean anything you could still fail.

Misaki: Why are you being mean to me?

Usagi: I just need you to pass so you can graduate and we can-

Misaki: Can what?

Usagi: Begin our lives together.

Misaki: Beautiful save, but I already know about the trip you're planning for us after I graduate because you told me.

Usagi: Oh yeah.

Misaki: What time is it?

Usagi: (Reaches behind him and raises his phone to check the time), six.

Misaki: (He groaned burying his head into Usagi's chest) I gotta get up. I have to shower, my test is a eight.

Usagi: So why aren't you moving?

Misaki: You're comfortable.

Usagi: Go shower Misaki, go to school, kill the test.

Misaki: What are you doing?

Usagi: Going back to bed. I Love you.

Misaki: I love you too.

(Usagi sits up up giving Misaki a small kiss before he walks into the bathroom).

(Usagi leaned back in his chair, his phone ringing, wating for the person on the other end to pick up).

Ren: Akihiko Usami, it's been awhile.

Usagi: Yeah, what thirty two years?

Ren: Yes sir, are you moving out?

Usagi: You didn't think I was just calling to check on your kids did you?

Ren: (Laughs) No sir, so what's making you move, you've lived in that space since you were sixteen.

Usagi: My fiance and I want a space, well he wants to build a space or a lot to build our dream house.

Ren: Wow, Akihiko getting married, that's something I never thought I'd hear.

Usagi: Yeah, well he found a place, can I send you the address, we want to look at it tomorrow.

Ren: I think I can work that out.

Usagi: Well thank you, and we might need some carpenters.

Ren: I have people to help build your house, and interior designers, anything you need to help you build your dream house, my company and I can help you.

Usagi: Thank you Ren I appreciate it.

Ren: Of course.

(As Usagi hung up, another call came through, it was Misaki, Usagi grinned, even though they've been together forever, his heart still raced and he got butterflies whenever Misaki's name came across his phone).

Usagi: Hey you.

Misaki: Hey Babe.

Usagi: How'd your test go?

Misaki: Great, it's being graded now.

Usagi: Ah, and how long will that take?

Misaki: Not sure, it's a small class so maybe twenty minutes at most? Enough about me, how was your morning?

Usagi: Well slow, I had enough time to talk with my realtor, we might be able to have a look at the property in the morning.

Misaki: Oh that's awesome!

Usagi: (Chuckles) I'm glad you're excited about it.

Misaki: I am, I'm really happy.

Usagi: Okay, well i'm on my way to come get you, we can grab lunch.

Misaki: Okay, i'll see you soon.

Usagi: Alright, I love you.

Misaki: Love you too.

[chocochar]

Hi I would like to request a scenario with the female reader having a fire eater quirk where she can eat flames and spit it back out 10 times hotter. The only trick is she can't produce her own flames. I would picture this reader as a delinquent who spray paints but isn't an actual villain till dabi notices her. End it as you like. Cheers ❤❤❤

(AN:  I think people are catching on that I like writing for Dabi.... lol Anywaaays so this took a different direction than intended. It also was waaay longer than expected too XD but yeah, I hope it’s okay! Reader is 18, a senior in school)

        (F/n) pants as she rounds another corner, running as fast as she can. She holds a spray can in one hand and a black mask hides her nose and mouth, her (hair color) hidden by a beanie and the teen dressed in a black hoodie and jeans to help her hide if she finds an alley she can slip into.

        "Get back here, you punk!!" She hears the policemen behind her shout and she picks up the pace, her legs growing tired and lungs screaming for air but the student keeps running. No one tries to stop her, although they probably figure the cops will catch up eventually and they don't need to get involved. 

        Fortunately (F/n) has come to know these streets like the back of her hand, so slipping down an alleyway she yells back,"Come on, move a little faster!" She can hear there footsteps growing more and more faint as she turns corner after corner starting to slow down herself. Finally she slips between two dumpsters, kneels, and makes herself as small as possible with her hood hiding her face. They're coming, but clearly they don't have a clue where she went when they turn down this alley, panting and ready to give up.

        "Damn, where did that kid go?"

        "I swear I saw them come down here," one replies, the two looking around and getting ready to pass the dumpsters. "Damn kids, spray painting a business." They stop in front of her a couple feet from her, and she stiffens wondering if they found her. 

        'Cops can be blind, but if they see me I'm gonna have a real rough time getting away this time...' She can only see their shoes under the hood but they haven't turned to face her yet so maybe not. She can hear a third set of footsteps coming from the other side of the alley ahead of them, the shoes tapping on the pavement with a slow pace.

        "Hey, you, you seen a kid running through her, dressed all in black, wearing a mask?" The first cop asks the third person to show up; slowly and carefully (F/n) starts raising her head to get a better look at them since they appear distracted. She freezes seeing the immediate fear on the men's faces when the unknown person gets closer.

        "W-Wait a sec, you're-"

        She jolts back in shock when suddenly bright, blue flames begin engulfing the two men and more than half the alley.

        'Wh-What the hell-?!' The teen presses as far back against the wall as possible feeling the heat licking at her face from the intense blaze and watches as one cop manages to use his quirk to deflect them long enough for him to run, his partner already a charred crisp on the concrete. The flames disperse and once the cop is gone and the third set of footsteps start up again, coming this way. (F/n)'s heart is pounding and she feels fear building the closer this murderer gets; they probably don't even realize she's there, and wracking her brain for information judging by the flames color, intensity, and their targets the person must be-

        "Pigs, always gotta make a fuss when they see us," a deep, rough voice speaks up breaking her train of thought and she looks up wide eyed when the unknown man steps into view; Dabi, from the League of Villains! She is silent, starting to shake when he stops and turns his head looking down at her. His intense stare and the way his blue eyes seem to almost glow in the shadowed alley, and the expression she can't read. For this moment she forgets how his quirk won't harm her and only stays still, hoping he'll just keep walking and ignore her. She may be considered a delinquent but a villain is still a villain, even if his quirk can't harm her he's still bigger than her and can overpower her if things got physical. 

        Fortunately he only says,"Guess I found you, not like they're looking for you now, though." before he looks ahead and keeps walking, passing the corpse without a glance and stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. She cautiously peeks out and watches him leave, her shaking ceasing but the girl not moving until she can't hear the click of his boots anymore.

        When he's gone she stands and gives a look at the body, swallowing. She didn't know this would happen, but it still doesn't help the sick feeling settled in her gut as she rushes out of the alley just as sirens are heard.

[X][X][X]

        A week has passed since what happened and (F/n) can't seem to get it out of her head.

        The fire, the death, the intense gaze, they won't leave her mind and even when trying to focus in school (which she doesn't focus much normally) she keeps looking back on that day. She did feel bad for the cop, even at certain points blaming herself despite knowing his death had nothing to do with her. But the main thing on her mind is Dabi. 

        What if he comes to find her and kills her too to get rid of a witness or something?

        He's apart of such a dangerous villain group, why would he let some trouble making kid off the hook? (F/n) has had run ins with the cops before, and while the other cop managed to survive he's been in the hospital in severe, life threatening conditions so they haven't been able to get anything out of him. Her quirk is known by the police, they wouldn't believe her, and worse may try to pin it on her. Maybe he assumed that.  Or she just wasn't worth the effort.

        This mixed with her dad's drinking getting worse she's left with little to nowhere to turn, and almost considers running away or moving in with her grandparents.

        Either way she's been watching her back more than usual, avoiding alleys for now just in case. Who knows what he'll do if they come across each other again.

[X][X][X]

        "(F/n), why the hell did you choose there to tag?!" 

        It's been 3 weeks since the incident, and (F/n) and her friend Hide are out tagging again. The two decided to spray paint the side of a very popular hero store, and now are once again running from a few police who were out on patrol.

        "You do know we could run into heroes right? Did you think about that?!"

        "We've almost lost them, Hide, here you take that way I'll go this way," she points, the two reaching an intersection. (F/n) goes right and Hide takes off left, the (brunette, red head, etc) running as fast as she can and luckily finding an alley entryway ahead right when she rounds the corner. 'I should be able to lose them in there!' She thinks, turning in and looking for a hiding place or ladder she can use to hide up on the buildings.

        But it seems she's made a grave mistake when her eyes meet very familiar cerulean. He's using his flames again, this time on some local gangsters judging by their clothes. Two piles of ash sit side by side on the concrete while the rest manage to run while he's distracted by her showing up. Dabi is staring at her, only this time his face shows more expression. He looks pissed, his brows furrowed and flames flickering over his right cheek and from his right elbow down to his fingertips. She's not shaking this time, but she still is frozen under his intense gaze as he faces her, his hand now covered in the blue fire.

        "You really don't have any other strategy, do you? Stupid kid," his voice is gruff and lacking emotion like before but there's a hint of something dangerous mixed in and lifting his hand he smirks. "And here I thought letting you go last time wasn't a bad idea, but sounds like you brought more cops this time too. Guess I'll have to take care of you this time before we run into each other again."

        (F/n) doesn't have much time to react when fire bursts from his palm aimed for the teen but luckily she breaks out of her frozen trance and pulls her mask down revealing her lips and face. Just as the fire reaches her she starts sucking it into her mouth, every inch being pulled into her mouth and filling her up. Dabi stops and actually looks taken back, his smirk gone and eyes suspicious. "You eat-?"

        Before he can finish she puffs her cheeks and his eyes widen, the man jumping out of the way behind a dumpster just in the nick of time as this time fire blasts past where he's hiding. She blows the fire out of her mouth like a dragon as it makes an 'o' shape, it not being as widespread as his own but he can feel how much hotter it is, having to cover himself behind his coat just to make sure his skin doesn't get worse or burn off completely. When it disappears he peers out, still processing this girl's quirk. It's.... Powerful and deadly, and works really well with his own.

        The sound of her running causes him to jump to his feet and rush out of the alley, watching the teen run off.

        He can hear the sirens in the distance as well as seeing people running, meaning it's about time to go, but he gives a second glance where (F/n) had ran off before disappearing back into the alley.

[X][X][X]

        "You encountered that Dabi guy?!!" Hide exclaims, the two at (F/n)'s apartment eating snacks and playing a multiplayer game together. He noticed how out of it she seemed when they met up, and now that she admitted what happened she's honestly wondering if he believes her or not.

        "Yeah, this isn't the first time either," she says, having trouble concentrating on the game. Her dad will be home soon, she wants to leave before that but he'll just get made again. "I managed to use my quirk, though, caught him off guard."

        "But like, isn't he a scary dude? He and the League? Aren't you scared?" Hide inquires, the boy watching her now and gauging her reactions. 

        She nods, then shrugs, setting the controller down. Without the hoodie the light bruising that's all but gone along with more recent marks on her wrists and arms is out in the open, the girl not hiding them when in front of Hide given he knows the culprit behind them. 

        "Yeah, but I doubt I'm worth that much trouble, they're probably too busy plotting more dastardly deeds," she laughs although it's light and almost forced. Hide sighs, patting her back, but hearing a car door slam she stiffens and he groans.

        "Want me to stay? Or do you think he'll be okay today?"

        She hates involving her friends in her personal things, especially when her dad is involved, so she shakes her head, forcing a smile and saying,"It should be fine, you should go home."

        The night air is crisp and cold biting at (F/n)'s bare skin as she rushes through the dark streets. She didn't even bother with a jacket, a new bruise on her forearm and the girl biting back the tears threatening to fall. 

        'I hate him, so much, I just... I wish he'd just disappear! Why can't he see how he treats everyone?! Why mom left us?! Why-'

        "Y'know, without that mask and get up you're actually pretty cute."

        She stops abruptly and freezes up when that familiar voice hits her ears again. Slowly she turns around and watches as Dabi steps out from the shadows, hands in his pockets and his expression aloof as always. His eyes are scanning the girl until they land on her arms, the lighting from the stores making it easier to see the bruises. She's sure it was just a trick of her eyes but it almost looked like his own turned soft, or something like it, but she's sure her mind is just messing with her.

        "Looking to kill me again?" She asks, facing him and while she's trying to stay strong he can already see how she's crumbling inside. "I didn't bring cops this time, but that doesn't matter, huh? You just want to take me out cause I'm a nuisance right?" Her tone has bite to it, while still being shaky with a tremble. But something tells him it isn't because she's scared of him. 

        Holding out her arms she exclaims,"Then do it, do it already! I won't stop you this time!" She waits for him to burn her to a crisp just like the others but is confused when he just rubs his neck and replies,"Keep it down already, do you want to wake up the whole neighborhood? I didn't expect you to be so noisy."

        "You... Aren't you going to kill me? Isn't that why you're here?"

        He shrugs, saying,"Keep being loud and I might, it'd be a shame to burn that pretty little face." But his words don't hold that same threatening tone like they did earlier that day, more like it's just an open threat. Her cheeks turn pink but she ignores it.

        "Then I'm leaving-" She turns ready to keep going.

        "Wait, dollface, I wanted to talk," he moves quickly stepping in front of her. They're only a foot away from each other now allowing her to smell the smoky scent on him and get a better look at his features, namely his scars, staples, and piercings. She takes a small step back in surprise and meets his hypnotizing orbs, also realizing he's.... Handsome, something she really couldn't admire before or ever think she'd have that sort of thought. Despite the scars and staples she feels her cheeks flushing, hell those add to his look; she almost wants to reach up and feel them, see if they really are real or not.

        She shakes her head and misses what he says while scolding herself in her head,'He's a villain, and he tried to kill me, stop being weird!!' "Wh-What? What did you say?"

        He narrows his eyes, not enjoying the way she's staring at him and even zoning out. To him she's most likely looking at his scars, whether that's a bad or a good thing he doesn't really care. But he lets it slide this time and repeats himself.

        "I said, dollface, I'm here to talk to you about something important. To be honest the League would've probably kidnapped you either way, but judging by those something tells me that won't be necessary," he gestures to her arms, and even surprises her when he takes hold of the one with the newest bruise and starts looking them over more closely. "Been a while since I've seen something like this..." he mumbles to himself, not stopping her when she yanks her arm back and tries to hide them, brows furrowed.

        "What did you need to talk to me about, and how important is it?" She asks without hesitation, her own wounds clearly being a touchy subject too. He puts his hands back in his pants pockets and stares at her, the teen shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of the beautiful cerulean.

        "The League is looking to recruit you," these words completely catch her off guard and her eyes grow wide while her mouth gapes. "Well, it's more like I was for once impressed by someone not looking to be a hero so I decided to tell our leader about you. After he bitched about adding another to our pile of misfits he agreed it'd be beneficial to add you on." He waits for her response, watching her face for any change in reaction. Her mouth closes slowly and she looks down, her mind buzzing and the girl almost wondering if she heard him wrong. She had to right? Slowly the reality sinks in as to why he came looking for her, the fact he admitted he was impressed with her quirk was quite the surprise too. He definitely doesn't seem the type to hand out compliments often.

        Looking back up she rubs her arm, biting her plump lip. Which he can't help but watch a little; she's cuter than he was expecting, and he oddly has this weird feeling stir in his chest when he looks at those marks all over her. They resonate with him, his own memories flooding through his mind, and while she'd be very beneficial to the League he now has other reasons for wanting to recruit her. He wants to learn more about her, get to know her, and show her how corrupt their society is. He also has this underlying feeling of protecting her, something he wouldn't do for anyone else but somehow this girl is different.

        "And why should I go with you?"

        "Because, sweetheart, we've been in the same boat as you. Mistreated, used, turned away when we needed help. This is a society full of falsehoods, corrupt bastards sitting on top, they care about you about as much as they did about the rest of us. And we want you to see that too," he states, before taking a step back and pulling his hand out of his pocket, holding it out for her to take. "I want you to see that. Come with me, and you won't have to worry about those ever again."

        A smile comes to his lips, waiting for her answer.

(AN: Okay so like, this was way longer than intended, like 3000 words and counting, also I left it open ended for either a possible sequel or for the reader to decide.  Also he’s totally not Touya in this lmao (〃￣ω￣〃)ゞ I hope it's okay, story also took a different direction too, hope Dabi wasn't OOC and hope you enjoyed lol)

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

My thoughts on Bioshock 1

I just wanna put this out there. It’s 12:01 am and I find it nice that I finished it before Sunday popped up. This post is gonna have major spoilers. I’ll post the screenshots in a different post. I don’t know if I should call this a review. But yeah I didn’t wanna make this quickly. Took time making some popcorn(two bags for a bowl) and getting a Diet Dr. Pepper.

But my thoughts on the game itself. A game that gamers have considered one of the greatest video games ever made.

I want you all to know. The reason I went back to playing it because I was looking up the terrible voice acting of the original RE game. That it got me to wanting to play a older game...which is the first Bioshock on my main computer. 

But in a nutshell I thought it was a pretty nice game. The gameplay is pretty stellar. Especially the combat. But I will admit, the game didn’t really scare me. Because it was considered horror by some folks. But the way I was playing I think a way how you would describe....something out of the Doom series. 

Yet this is because I was playing on easy mode. Because I wanted to experience the story. Especially when I upgraded my weapons. I was basically a walking powerhouse. Along with the fact I didn’t use my plasmids a whole lot. But I did use them when they seem needed or when I wanted to try them out. I was mainly a weapons guy. 

But yeah upgraded weapons made the journey easier. Even during the final boss with Frank. 

The story is pretty alright. Even though some of the audio diaries I decided not to listen to except for some. Especially when the big reveal was coming. 

I will admit and I think people may know of this. But I knew of the big twist and read stuff about how Jack was basically controlled through most of the game. Where the phrase, “Would You Kindly” Atlas was saying to control him. Where this becomes more clear when you enter a room that has, “Would You Kindly’ on the wall and...those diaries crap....a dog getting it’s neck snapped....to be honest I feel like the moment Jack see’s that. I feel like he was probably confused or just wondering, “What the fuck?”.

But basically where Andrew Ryan exposes this by saying the phrase a couple of times, and asking Jack to kill him with the golf club. Gonna admit to watch that twist in motion, for some reason I wasn’t expecting it to be that dramatic. Because I was expecting it to be simply casual with Andrew explaining what Jack is actually. Where Jack realizes when Andrew asks Jack to kill him, he was telling the truth. Yet I strangely like it how Andrew was trying to showcase more that using the phrase a few time to really showcase Jack was never in control. 

Yet it was nice to finally see the scene in full motion in the original game. Since I’m not playing the remastered version.

To be honest I think the most shocking thing was the fact when I went on the Bioshock wiki. That Jack is literally 4 years old. 0_0 Just....I actually found that to be the most surprising.

Including just the whole set up of why Jack is there isn’t by chance. Honestly despite the dimension hopping that surprised me a lot. Just Jack growing up and all that...surprised me the most. 

But I find it nice how Andrew during the game as you get closer to him. He’s alluding to the fact that it seems like such a coincidence that Jack crashed near that lighthouse above Rapture. As if it was some sort of miracle. 

I’ll stop talking about the twist sorry. So I was right, Atlas who is Frank didn’t really have a family. I will admit Frank’s a pretty damn good actor. Because I feel like people who first played this and if I didn’t look into certain stuff. It would of been more of a surprise. Because I find it amazing he can change his voice. 

Including the fact when you get closer to him. He’s just talking about you and him tricking you. Including why are you even still trying to get him. When Jack doesn’t have a family. I guess I can say he didn’t disappoint me as a villain. 

Again the gameplay is wonderful, Rapture was a interesting place. Both to look at and I guess to explore. I will admit I sometimes couldn’t find some stuff right away. Such as a Big Daddy helmet after a while.

The Splicer are cool and have some variety, the Big Daddies are pretty nice too. Yet what I’m amazed by and I’m glad I couldn’t find that Big Daddy helmet right away because the last two Little Sisters that were with Big Daddies were near by. 

I actually got all the Little Sisters that I recall. Basically rescuing all of them. Meaning I got the best and what I know canon ending. Gonna admit that last scene and just watching that cutscene. Despite it’s actually very quick. I can’t believe I had tears or so....despite I don’t seem to build a connection with these girls.

There is just something beautiful about that ending. Including to see they offered Jack the key to Rapture but he denies it. 

Also there is something of just seeing all these Little Sisters just literally murder Frank and I got a shot of that actually. I saw that in a video once and it’s just intriguing. It seems kind of ridiculous but once you play the game, you understand how they are overpowering him. 

The soundtrack....I’ll be honest I didn’t think about it much. Mainly because I was so focused on gameplay and getting through the game. Also weird thing this didn’t happen a lot. But I remember one time one of Franks line was up and he wasn’t talking. 

Listen to any fans of Bioshock, sorry that I’m rambling. But I’m sorry I’m not praising it to the heavens. But I felt like I did myself a favor because this is a very loved game. It was nice to finally play it and finish it. I think it’s because I’m still processing some stuff. Including during a time in my life I thought gameplay is more important than story. Which was a thought I started having when I became a fan of Doom. But then loving Resident Evil again got me to realize liking video game stories. Considering before the gameplay thing, I would always prefer a single player over multiplayer. 

But now I like both. It’s just I was I guess annoyed by how much praised Bioshock gets and it makes it seem like 2 and Infinite are hated on a lot. Including it just...bothered me and that I’d felt rebellious to not play the original. Because people made it seem like what I like to call it, “The Citizen Kane Of Gaming”. It was a game changer and I should understand that.

Yet you can thank my good bro and buddy @pikablob for being the reason why I got into this series more. All because I was wondering why does Elizabeth in Burial At Sea look so young but in the timeline she would be 66. Until he explained to me things about dimension hopping and after my surprise and shock of what he told me. That got me basically be like, “Okay I need to play these games because holy shit”. Even though I’ve played 2 before and finished Infinite and Burial At Sea episode 1 before. 

It was just so insane to learn that I needed to experience these games myself as I’m older now. 

I feel like overtime I’ll like Bioshock more. Because I had predicted this could become one of my all time favorites. But I don’t think so right now. Maybe when I ever replay it again and maybe even the remastered version. I may love it more. But I felt like compared to games like the original Doom, Doom 2016, Halo Combat Evolved(Because I recall from my experience that game is a classic), and even the Call Of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy. Especially 1 and 2, with 3 being a fitting conclusion to it. I got more out of those games.

Which I sound stupid for mentioning. Bioshock is a whole different beast. I’m talking about a game where someone like Andrew Ryan literally made a city underwater that wouldn’t be affected by what he considered, “Petty morality” and look where Rapture ended up as....a fucking shit hole. 

That I recall I don’t feel terrible seeing Andrew Ryan die. Yet it’s probably because he wants to die and he accepts it. Including his final words and the way the scene went. Yet I was surprised that golf club got stuck in his head when Jack did the final blow. 

But I think that’s just my mind set. Including on a silly note and I’m finally gonna say something I’ve had in my head. I just miss Elizabeth. Again I may enjoy it more as time goes all. Because it is a excellent game. 

Because even though I haven’t played the remastered versions of Bioshock 1 and 2. I feel like if you want to. I’d recommend checking out the original Bioshock if you want to. It’s a well made game and I hope I think it’s genius about the fact The Bioshock Collection exists and it’s on 8th gen consoles now(Especially it got released on Nintendo Switch last month) and for PC’s if you want remastered versions of the first 2.

Basically was looking at trailers for the collection. I think it’s genius because that package seems perfect for any new fan who wants to experience the complete saga as of now. 

I think I’ve said enough on my piece on the original Bioshock.

Anyway during the making of this post. I was listening to this kick ass rap. I find it awesome I finished the game and got to experience it for my own. Here’s JT Music’s Bioshock 1 rap, “Rapture Rising”. Been listening to this when making this. Warning in case even though I talked about spoilers in here, you have spoilers in this rap. Again well done rap.

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Sick Day

Figured since the first one was more of an introduction; I thought I’d post this a bit earlier than intended. I actually have a few written out, but I’m pacing myself so I can keep this regularly updated.

Chapter One This can also be found on AO3 and FFN. 

Summary: They were going to need each other if they wanted to survive education. A-level/School AU. LuNami Rating: K, just more shenanigans

Enjoy.

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

Weeks had flown by since Nami’s first day at college and she couldn’t be more pleased. She had finally caught up on the missing two weeks from the start of term and had made a great group of friends, courtesy of Luffy. He was a moron and gave her a headache with some of the things he did or came out with, but she was grateful, nonetheless. Although the description of him sounded harsh, he was all of those things, yes, but also the first to make her laugh.  

However, this would officially be Nami’s first day off sick. She’d caught a cold and felt like death. Belle-mère had taken one look at her when she had gotten up that morning and sent her back to bed with some fresh orange juice and toast, saying something about a dose of vitamin C would sort her out.

Nami had sent out a group text to her friends, telling them she wouldn’t be in because she was sick. They’d all sent something back. Chopper was giving her advice, Usopp told her he’d make notes for her from business that day, Sanji was incredibly dramatic and when she filtered through all the mush there was actually a few nutritional notes thrown in. The rest gave variations of telling her to get better.

The oddest though, was Luffy. All he’d said is that he’d see her later and that had been it. Not only was it incredibly short but that’s all he’d sent.

They’d grown fairly close over the last couple of weeks, sending each other texts to make it through the day. He’d send her pictures of things he found funny or would ask her for help with his homework. That would of course lead to a phone conversation about essay structures. To be fair, he was actually very bright, but he struggled to pay attention for long when it wasn’t physically challenging, and she got the feeling he didn’t necessarily want to be doing A-levels. Whilst they were close, it had only been a few weeks and she didn’t want to push on something he may not want to speak about. Perhaps Usopp would know. Maybe she’d try her luck with Zoro, but he wasn’t as forthcoming as Usopp.

She didn’t give it another thought as she rolled over to go to sleep. She did that for most of the day, she’d watch TV for a bit, maybe go to the toilet or eat something and then sleep again. It was close to four in the afternoon and she was starting to feel better, she decided to go have a shower. When she got back to her room and dressed herself, she laid back down and figured a nap wouldn’t be a bad idea.

As she was starting to fall asleep, she could faintly make out some voices. Was she dreaming or was this real?

“Nami, you there? Nope. Okay well I’m coming in.”

“Oi shithead, what do you think you’re doing?” A loud, disapproving voice spoke, “If you’re going up there, I’m going first! I need to protect Nami’s virtue.”

“No, you’re just being a pervert.” A deeper voice spoke.

She jumped when the window started to open, and a very real, sandaled foot appeared through the crack. That was certainly enough to fully wake her. However, the intruder couldn’t manoeuvre the blind that was pulled down, tripped over something they couldn’t see and came crashing in, landing in a heap on the floor.

A heap with a straw-hat.

“Luffy!?” Nami blinked in disbelief, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s not just the idiot, my swan,” Sanji sang as he gracefully manoeuvred through the window and stepped over Luffy. “Unfortunately, the Marimo came too. But at least I’m here, right? I even brought you soup!”

Zoro glared at Sanji as he moved through the window and offered Luffy a hand to help him up. “I had to come. You never know what Luffy is planning and all he said was he was going to drop by. Everyone knows that can’t end well, especially as you’re sick. Then swirly brow over there said he was coming at the mention of your name. Someone had to watch these idiots in your absence.”

Nami refrained from pointing out Zoro was also an idiot, instead she was struggling to pick an emotion. On one hand it was sweet they had come. On the other hand, why did they have to come through the window?

She rubbed her forehead and voiced her thoughts, “Why exactly did you have to come through the window? What if it was locked? Then what would you have done?”

“You didn’t answer the door,” Luffy ignored Zoro and Sanji saying he hadn’t even tried ringing the bell, “so I figured you’d be in your room. If not, I was going to try the fence next. I knew you’d be home, just wasn’t sure on the room.” He had a look on his face as if it was obvious and that she should be able to work that out.

Nami laughed, he said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world! She shouldn’t expect anything less. “Well, thanks for coming anyway. Did anyone think to bring Usopp’s notes from business today?”

All three looked at her blankly. That’s a no, Nami thought. So much for catching up before going back.  

“I’ll get them tomorrow; I’m feeling much better than this morning.”

“That’s great! We can walk to school in the morning and we have third period free together. We can go into town!” Luffy said, but Nami understood that going into town actually meant going to McDonald’s to get a free cheeseburger with his student card. “I really missed you today, that’s why I wanted to come.”

Nami could start to feel her cheeks flush at his blunt honesty. How did he do that? Say something so sweet in front of other people and act as if it were nothing. He was still looking at her though. “Oh- yeah… I missed you too,” Nami was thankful she managed to spit that out without stuttering.

“Maybe we should go, so you two can be alone?” A smug voice interrupted. She shot a glare at Zoro, but he didn’t even flinch, if anything his smile just widened as she felt her blush starting to go down her neck. She hated being teased.

“Woah. You have a Nintendo!?” Nami turned as Luffy broke the staring match between her and Zoro. Luffy had rudely started to snoop around her room, but as she looked closer, there was no mistaking the faint blush on his cheeks either.

“Oh yeah, you like to play? Well, look who I’m asking, of course you do. I have a couple of multiplayers that you might like.”

As if Nami had offered him free food for life, he beamed and excitedly nodded. He started asking her questions about what games she liked to play and the multiplayers she had. It turned out he really wasn’t that picky, but his eyes lit up when she turned to open her case for her games and showed him Super Smash Bro. Ultimate. Apparently, he had the old version for the Wii, he was saving up for a Switch.

Nami and Luffy was shoulder-to-shoulder and huddled over her game console as she explained all of the games she had and what she thought he’d like. Both completely unaware of the two forgotten members in the room as they glanced at each other with raised eyebrows.

Well.

This is certainly an interesting development to fill the group in with.

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

Inspired by early manga days when it was just Luffy, Zoro and Nami. Luffy just climbing over fences into people’s properties when he’s not even bothered to knock still kills me.

Thanks for reading!

[nyrator]

Mind’s a bit better than previous nights, but just feel like rambling again before bed- Just random thoughts stirring in my head with no one to say them to, I suppose

I think a lot about current events and the tragedies they’ve been creating- and also how twitter is such a terrible platform for my mental health. I don’t really have any power to do anything about it, nor the willpower to avoid it, but it just has me thinking and wishing people were different.

Of course, things I can’t reasonably say to anyone about my thoughts, which is a bit sad to me. All I can do is hope people hate each other less, that’s the only thing that really matters to me.

Been thinking of my sister randomly, what a crazy time that point in my life was. How insane and unpredictable she’d be on heroin and fentanyl, how many times she attacked me and could have murdered me. From nearly blinding me in high school by clawing my face, to trying to stab me with a used syringe when she was filled with all kinds of hepatitis and who knows what else. She’s been gone for six months, and it’s amazing how easy it is to loosen my shoulders and breathe without that paranoia lingering over me that she could murder me at any moment, without all the lies and rumors she’d spread about me to friends and neighbors to spite me, without having to have everything secured beyond locks and locks for fear of it being stolen and sold for drugs, or people breaking into the house looking to get revenge on her.

Yet now I still suffer from anxiety, for other reasons now. But that burden has passed, at least. Lately it’s been feeling like my body has been weakening from anxiety- like it’s trying to fuel itself, but has no energy to. Feels kind of like my blood is just shivering in my veins, vibrating and trying to muster up energy to curl me into an anxious mess, but it’s basically run dry.

I just need to keep it at this level- in the position I’m in now, which is too hard to talk about, I can’t afford to let it boil to a full anxious level. It’s still very uncomfortable, anxiety that’s running on empty, but I just need to endure it. I don’t have any other option for now, and probably not for a long while, unfortunately.

Hoping this virus goes away soon. At the very least, that things are loosened up soon. Going back to work sounds nice. Being able to get my Kuja figure would be really nice. And the border being open would be fantastic- I really wish it were open while work was still closed, so I could just hang out in Canada for six months. It sounds really nice to be with Kresna right now. I don’t think I blog enough about how much he means to me, but he really is my better half.

Also, if people have immigration advice in general, that’d be really appreciated, honestly. We’re in a particularly interesting situation, but hopefully things can figure themselves out some way or another.

On a random note, I really want to try to start reading books again. I wonder if I’m better off just reading them digitally- I’m a purist for the physical format, but I’m too glued to the computer to take the time to read them. Doesn’t help that I have that kind of addictive personality- if I start reading a book, it’s hard to stop. And then afterwards I usually have days of a sore neck and eyes and don’t want to endure it again.

But I have some Murakami books lying around that I still need to read, and I recently got No Longer Human after getting a few recommendations for it. I really want to give that a read. But man, reading is a hard commitment.

Ended up killing time while doing laundry watching some random cartoon I’ve only heard about in passing, and only vary briefly, but somehow decided to just start watching it, and it’s honestly pretty good. Something called Cybersix, watched four episodes tonight.

Also been thinking about video games- I like the idea of them, but I really can’t think of any I’d like to play- especially in a multiplayer sense, since I’m looking for things to play with friends. Nothing really speaks to me or comes to mind- Fortune Street though, what a great game. Same with GX and EDF, honestly. And most games I’m decent at, but never feel the drive to get really good at them, I guess. Cave Story’s one I think of- I enjoy it, but I’ve only beaten Ballos once, and never again. Meanwhile, I have friends who speedrun that Sacred Grounds section, and I don’t think I could ever commit myself to getting that good at something.

Kresna shines in this regard, though- In games we play, he’s the perfect partner for me. He’s highly competent and highly skilled, and he won’t hold back- we can be cutthroat with each other. Say the Switch Mario Party, and how he can just stare someone dead in the eyes as he refuses to high five them after a minigame, solely to not give them an advantage- he gets me. Of course, cutthroat things like that are hard to find a third or fourth player who also enjoys it, but Kresna knows how to pull it off while still having a great time and good bants- without being mean or superior about it, just by making beautiful power plays and having a good time. We’ve been playing MKWii together recently, and he destroys me, but even then it’s great- His item placement is remarkably dirty, and he’s such a good guy to bant with, but it’s one of those games I can’t imagine becoming a challenge to him, which I guess is what prompted this conversation. This is a gush-over-Kresna post, but I realize I don’t really do it often and I don’t state enough publicly how good he is.

But yeah just need to find more games where the games are fun and the playing field is good for other people as well

Got one of my last four art fights started, but I’m scared that I won’t be able to finish them all in time. Latest one basically just needs some coloring, but ended up losing interest in it tonight. I feel I might be able to do commissions confidently now, but drawing things for other people just feels like a chore, honestly. Still need to draw my local friends some characters too like I promised ages ago.

I feel that insatiable urge to talk about Rotten Nyan still, and yet still scared to work on the comic. Or maybe just intimated, I don’t know. I really just want to share it with people, I guess. And Middle Lave I’m especially obsessed with, I just don’t know why. Just want to draw them like I see artists on pixiv draw their characters, y’know? Have an ask blog, a vtuber, something where people can interact with the character and not just me, I think. I worry about people being afraid to get near that character given the connection to me, to treat it like any normal character distanced from me, but it is what it is

I really do wish I had the ambition to work and finish my projects, though. Wish there were better circumstances to inspire me, or something, y’know?

I should stop rambling into space and go to bed, though

[winterknight1087]

Play to Ease Anxiety

Summary: Thomas finds Virgil a game called Stardew Valley to try and ease his anxiety.

Word Count: 2806

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, sympathetic Remus, cursing, food mention, mention of a goose with a knife and death (no one dies)

Pairings: n/a

AO3 Link       My Writing

A/N: So, I’ve become super obsessed with Stardew Valley recently (like I’ve clocked about 70hrs into the game despite having it less than two weeks). I realized how much the sides would actually enjoy the game and so this came about... So yeah, enjoy!

Thomas groaned as he yanked the pillow out from under him and smushed it against his face, trying to stop the anxious thoughts. Finally, he got up, knowing that just laying there wouldn’t solve anything. So, Thomas took a seat at his laptop, wondering what he could do to help calm Virgil. Thomas may have needed a nap, but Virgil needed help first.

Thomas messaged a couple of his friends, asking for something to help his anxious side relax. For the most part, the advice wasn’t all that helpful: breathe, avoid caffeine, exercise… Yeah, sure, they were all valid advice, but Thomas could tell that those wouldn’t ease the anxious side this time.

As he was about to start Googling ideas, a final message arrived, suggesting that he play a calming game, with a couple of suggestions: Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Minecraft, or phone games with the word idle in them. Thomas knew Virgil would refuse to play Minecraft, just because ‘do you know what playing that would do to my image?’ He also figured that phone games would be out as he found them a bit mindless, which didn’t really help stop anxious thoughts. With that, Thomas pulled up Animal Crossing. Of course, it being 60 bucks, that made that game a bit unreasonable for right now. He did scribble a note to himself to discuss including it in his budget with Logan as he now wanted to play it himself. With that, he looked up Stardew Valley. It was much cheaper than Animal Crossing, so there was that. It looked to be some farming game. Maybe…

 ****

 Virgil sat on the couch, trying to calm his head. Too many things were stressing him out and even blasting his music– so loud that if he were a real human, his hearing would be gone within the hour–he still could hear his thoughts. Nothing was working and he knew that he was probably affecting Thomas, but that just added to his list of stuff.

A hand gently tapped his shoulder, jolting him off of the couch, teetering on a panic attack. Thomas motioned the side’s headphones as Virgil started trying to regulate his breathing. The side didn’t want to take them off and hear the lecture about controlling his anxiety better and how he was failing Thomas, but he also knew that he deserved it. He knew this was going to be coming since he woke up this morning with that feeling of ‘everything is wrong.’

“Sorry, Virge. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. You weren’t responding to me waving a hand in front of you though.” Thomas said, gently.

“Just get it over with, Thomas. I know I’m failing and it’s a bad day and I’m sorry but that isn’t good enough and I should be able to handle this better but I can’t and…”

“Hey, hey. Take a deep breath, Vee. This isn’t bad. I know it’s not your fault. You’re struggling just as much as I am with this.”

Virgil was close to tears. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK, you don’t need to apologize. Here, this is what I wanted to show you.”

Virgil accepted the laptop Thomas offered him, wondering what new horror was about to be added to his list. Instead, it was some load screen with ‘Stardew Valley’ on it. Virgil looked at his host in confusion, wondering what he was supposed to be panicking about regarding this.

“It’s a farming game. Talyn recommended it to me and I thought you could use the distraction. The Internet seems to like it and it isn’t Minecraft. I even saw that one of the NPCs smokes pot, another likes spooky places, and there are these little candy things that are excited if you give them an ear of corn so are essentially Patton.”

“Oh…” Virgil wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with this. “And you gave me your new game because…?”

“Music isn’t helping you, so maybe a game can! If you don’t want to play, it’s OK, but it’s an idea at least.”

Virgil looked at the laptop. “Are you sure?”

“About the game helping? Well, no but it’s something we can try.”

“No, about lending me your laptop? What if I drop it or accidentally download something icky and break it or…”

“Hey, breathe. I know you guys said that whatever I have on my laptop, you guys get on yours within the mindscape, so you should have it on yours. So, I guess if you want to go grab your laptop, you can, but I figured that this would be easiest for you as you don’t have to lose sight of me while anxiety is trying to list every bad thing that has a high chance of never happening.”

“Oh…”

“So, you going to play?” Thomas asked, playfully nudging his anxious side.

Virgil shifted so he was sure he wouldn’t accidentally drop his host's laptop before hitting the new button. He went through the character design page and watched the scene with the grandfather. Then the game opened and he started figuring out how the game mechanics worked.

Thomas smiled as he watched the anxious side plant some parsnips before heading into town to start meeting people. Not even five minutes into the game, the host could feel the knot in his stomach vanish and he finally felt relaxed.

“So?”

“Shut up, Sanders. I have parsnips to water.”

Thomas laughed but watched the anxious side play for a it longer. He waited until the side was halfway through the month without another shoot of anxiety hitting him before deciding that he could go take his nap now. Virgil waved him off, as he harvested parsnips from the little patch outside his cabin.

Virgil wasn’t aware of how much time in real life passed before Patton’s voice intruded on his new mental lists of things he needed to do in the game. “Hey there, kiddo! You doing alright?”

“Hey, Pat. Yeah, I’m chill.”

“Is that Thomas’s laptop? Whatcha doing with it?” Patton asked, curiously.

“He downloaded a game for me and now I’m playing it.”

“Oooh! Can I watch!?”

“Sure.”

Patton jumped into the seat next to his best friend. The game looked cute and Virgil seemed to have put a lot of work into his little farm already. Patton cuddled in close and watched. The Flower Dance was his favorite part as Virgil moved into the first day of summer. Virgil frantically went around preparing his little farm for summer planting, finding that there was not enough time in the short days to accomplish everything he wanted to.

“…noying as you!”

“Hey, shut up. I’m busy!”

The twins looked at the couch in surprise to see Patton curled up against Virgil while Virgil worked on Thomas’s laptop. They glanced at each other, wondering what was going on, but also reminded of what they had been doing before popping up.

“Hey, since the two of you are here, can you settle something for us?” Roman asked.

“What’s up, kiddos?” Patton asked, looking over as Virgil cranked up the game’s music in response.

“Well, Remus…” Roman started off on a long-winded rant that was rudely interrupted constantly by noise from whatever Virgil was doing. Finally, the prince moved over and looked at the laptop. It was some computer game around farming? Virgil opened the social tab and looked through the list, seeing how many hearts he had with Marnie.

“Oooh, ‘single’? Does that mean you can go woo some villagers?” Roman asked, grinning.

“Once you have enough friendship hearts, yeah. Then date and marry them. You can even have two children with them.” Virgil answered, closing out of the social screen.

“That looks interesting! When is it my turn?!”

“Not now.”

“But I want to play the new game!”

“You have your own computer.”

“But it’ll be a whole new game! This one is already well underway!”

“You are not messing up my farm, Princey. I’ve put a lot into it and I do not need you going in and messing things up.”

“If only we could all play together! That would be so much fun!” Patton said.

“I… well…maybe? Let me finish this day and I can check something.”

“You think there’s a way to do multiplayer!?”

“If I remember the start screen well enough, yeah.”

Patton started giggling as he jumped off the couch. “I’ll go get my laptop then! Come on, you two!”

Virgil rolled his eyes as Pat and the twins vanished back into the mindscape. He finished up his day before closing out of his farm and looking into the co-op option. He slowly figured out how to set it up and had just opened the new farm when the three of them returned with their laptops.

It took Virgil a little investing to figure out how to share it with the others but it worked out and soon they had their first crop planted. Not even three days into the game, Roman had announced his intentions of wooing Elliot, who he insisted was the most romantic NPC. Remus liked pulling trash out of their little ponds and gifting it to everyone. Patton was talking to everyone and just enjoying the game. Virgil was happy that the planting and harvesting of crops was less stressful with extra help.

 ****

 It was too quiet. Logan liked the quiet, but it was also nerve-wracking. He knew the twins had been arguing pretty much all afternoon over Remus having released a goose into the Imagination and it had apparently chased Roman from one end to the other with a knife. Something about some game. It was still too early in the afternoon for the twins to have stopped yelling at each other. He also didn’t hear Patton singing or a movie in the background, breaking up the silence. Logan also knew that this was a bad day for Virgil, but he assumed that the anxious side fell asleep or something.

“Have you seen the trash rat?” a voice asked behind Logan.

Logan would deny the small shout and jumping as he spun to see Dee standing there, unamused. He quickly recomposed himself and straightened his tie. Dee noted that the logical side’s eyes were relieved though upon seeing him.

“Salutations, Dee. No, I have not seen Remus. I have not seen anyone in the past couple of hours, in fact.”

“Locked yourself in your room again, have you?”

“No, I have not. I was reading in the commons. I eventually noticed that everything was too calm though and went to investigate. You are the first side I have seen since.”

Dee raised an eyebrow. “Well, those four don’t have enough brain cells to open a jar with instructions right in front of them.”

“Which also concerns me.”

“Have you checked Thomas’s house, yet? The hissing cat of a side would probably place himself where he could see Thomas if the anxiety from earlier was any indication.”

Logan considered it. “No, I have not. That is a valid point though.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Logan hadn’t even fully risen up before he heard Roman screeching. He assumes that this meant the goose with a knife didn’t kill the prince in the Imagination, then. Logan noted all the sides who’d been missing, sitting around the living room on their laptops. Roman was screeching at his twin about something with hitting someone with a slingshot.

“Glad to see that you lot didn’t get yourselves lost in the mindscape.” Dee drawled.

“Shut up, I have blueberries to harvest and I already have that mess over there to ignore,” Virgil stated.

“What?” Dee and Logan responded in unison, confused.

“We’re playing a farming game! Do you two want to join?” Patton asked excitedly.

“Wiki says that multiplayer only goes up to four, Pat,” Virgil commented.

“Well, if you’re playing a game, there are bound to be mods.”

 ****

 Thomas woke up groaning as light hit him. Blearily he glanced at the time, surprised to see that what was supposed to be a short nap turned into a full night of sleep plus some. He ran a hand through his hair, knowing that he was in for a long lecture from Logan about sleeping for 16 hours.

He got out of bed and got ready for the day, unnaturally so calm that it mildly worried him. He couldn’t even worry himself about the lack of anxiety. He finally started downstairs before the voices in the living room alerted him to the fact his sides were all present.

Thomas peeked around the wall, to see all his sides sitting around the living room on their laptops. A giant whiteboard sat in front of the TV with Logan’s scribbled handwriting all over it. On Thomas’s coffee table sat his laptop, with the game that he’d given Virgil open. It took a moment before Thomas realized what was going on, but he chuckled to himself when he did.

After taking a picture of the living room, Thomas continued downstairs as Logan stood up and went to the whiteboard. He scribbled something next to Roman’s name before coloring in a patch of squares. Thomas greeted the room. Logan was the only one to glance over to the host. Everyone else kept their eyes focused on the game, though they all muttered a greeting back.

Thomas went into the kitchen to make some breakfast. He decided on some eggs and toast. Easy, no real thought process. He opened the fridge and pulled out the egg carton. Taking an egg out, he was struck with the disappointed thought of ‘the spirits and chickens must be displeased with me today’.

The host marched into the living room and over to his anxious side. He didn’t say anything as he held the egg up to him. Virgil glanced up and noticed his host and the egg. The anxious side didn’t have anything to say, so merely shrugged.

“The spirits and chickens must be displeased then.”

“I don’t even know what that means!”

“They are displeased.”

Patton giggled. “You want to join us, Thomas?”

“We already have a cabin and character set up for you, if you would like to join our group one. Just be careful not to close the command prompt. It will shut the game down. We had to add mods to play with everyone.” Logan commented, looking over his board of information.

Thomas looked around at his living room full of sides, peacefully–or well as peacefully as he could ever hope– playing the game. Sure, the twins were bickering, but that was more of their sibling relationship than actual anger this time.

“Won’t it mess up whatever you guys already got going on?”

“Nah, Lo would just reorganize who tends to which crops. Real issue would be who you plan on dating. I’ve called Elliot, Patton is going for Sam, Remus wants Emily, Logan is after Maru, Dee wants to date Shane, and Vee is in between dating Sebastian or Abigail or even just rooming with Krobus. But if you would rather one of them, I’m sure we’d be willing to let you, our most amazing and beloved host, steal our crush.” Roman said.

“Flattery will not save you if he wants the isolated writer on the beach, kiss-up,” Dee commented.

“Statistically speaking, it is more likely that Thomas would choose one of Virgil’s choices due to the fact he is in between three choices or one of the remaining dating NPCs. Factoring in his preferences though, he is most likely to pursue Sam or Sebastian.”

“I have no idea what any of that means, but sure. I’ll join. Just let me get some breakfast.” Thomas glanced at his anxious side. “Without the spirits or whatever being disappointed. I’ll have you know that these are technically large eggs and I have no idea why that is an important factor or whatever.”

“That works. I will factor your playing into our assignments.” Logan said, setting his laptop in front of Patton. “Make sure Logic gets to be before the hard bedtime.”

Thomas laughed as he shook his head. He went back into the kitchen to make something to eat, occasionally peeking into the living room as he heard Dee try and convince Logan to give him a certain crop while the logical side rearranged the work. Thomas couldn’t help the smile as he decided that he would need to find some way to thank Talyn for this suggestion. Still, that was for later. He wasn’t getting anything other than virtual farming done today since all of his sides seemed to be intent on this.

“The spirits are very happy today.” Thomas found himself muttering, not sure what it meant but knowing that it was a good thing.

[veryangryhedgehog]

Man of Medan: AKA Let me Throw my Money at your Face Supermassive

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these little analysis things, and I doubt this one will be very long (just kidding I lied), but I’ve been playing Man of Medan, the first episode of the new “Dark Pictures” anthology by Supermassive games, and I think you can tell by the title exactly how I feel about it.

(As a note, I will be discussing the contents of the game, so SPOILERS ahead)

First of all, let me just start by saying that I am a huge fan of horror in general, but especially of horror anthologies. There’s just something about the format that fits in so well with this particular genre, one that is often more about eliciting a certain kind of emotion or feeling from the audience vs. any grand character studies or morals to be shared. Don’t get me wrong, those things are great as well, as a writer becoming known for my massive amounts of character (a large number of which I kill off) I understand entirely. But horror in particular is a genre best encapsulated by its brevity. The shorter and more visceral it is, the less you have to explain, and often the more terrifying or thought-provoking. 

Another benefit of the anthology format is the ability to explore a larger amount of ideas in a shorter amount of time. And horror is of course, all about its ideas. So the instant I heard that Supermassive was going to create a series of shorter horror stories in the format of its previous game “Until Dawn” I was immediately excited. I held back a little, holding onto the fear that sequels are often worse off than their predecessors, and that lightning doesn’t often strike twice. I am pleased as punch to admit that my caution was entirely unwarranted.

Keep in mind, I have never actually played “Until Dawn”. I have seen two different Let’s Plays of it, but I feel as if I can’t truly judge a game without actually having played it myself. That’s kind of the purpose of a video game. Thusly I will not be making a whole ton of comparisons between the two works, but rather discussing “Man of Medan”, or MoM as I will abbreviate it as, on what I have observed and its own merits.

However, the one point of comparison I will have to make is between its two “framing devices,” mostly because I think it’s interesting to compare these two with the themes of their respective games. Until Dawn had a psychiatrist character, and many of its themes were related to the characters and their interpersonal relationships. I think people who claimed that the “choices didn’t actually matter that much” in the game were incorrect, as the choices weren’t so much based on how the story went moreso than how many characters made it out and how their relationships with each other changed. 

A lot of this theme of character interaction carries over to MoM, but at the same time I feel like there’s a much larger emphasis put on the concepts of the tales, as horror anthologies are wont to do, and the plays and twists on tropes that the creators can make. Thusly, MoM trades out the psychiatrist for the Curator. I will say that personally, I like the Curator better as a character. The psychiatrist was meant more to scare you, whereas the Curator has a deeper sense of disquiet to him. It’s more subtle, and it shows that while MoM does have a lot of “jump scare” moments to please the masses, it also contains that hint of genuine creativity and understanding of its genre. Also, for those of you who read Ede Valley, I think it will be obvious to you why I like this character so much. Or maybe not quite yet.

On the topic of its creators, I was incredibly impressed with the writers’ understanding of tropes and their uses in Until Dawn--I always hated when people complained that its characters were “weak” or “annoying” because once again, they completely misunderstood the creators’ intentions--and Man of Medan continues to impress on that front. To be fair, my friend (an actor) and myself (a writer) were able to guess what was really going on within about ten minutes of the game’s beginning, but even with that knowledge, it was still utterly fascinating for us to go through the game and seeing what the creators did with it.

Have you noticed that all of the characters see different things? (Special thanks to @allimiece for pointing this out.) Alex and Brad see pretty generic things, but Julia (who is unsure of her relationship) sees Alex trying to attack her, Fliss (who is relatively superstitious and cautious) sees cults and rituals, and Conrad, most interesting of all, has his own hornyness turned against him in the form of a pretty pinup girl turning into an ugly crone and hunting him down.

I am sincerely impressed with the amount of thought that went into the writing of this tale. As with its predecessor, these characters are not the smartest people. They are a little older than their wendigo-chow counterparts, in a slightly different phase of their lives, but still kind of idiots. But that’s the point. Sure, there’s some incredibly cheesy lines here or there, but all of it is done with this knowledge of “yeah, we know this is really stupid too. Look at this fucking idiot. You wanna kill him, right?”

But not only that, I am even more impressed with the thought and care that went into absolutely every detail of this game. I decided to go and watch some of the small featurettes that came with the game, as I’ve always been a sucker for behind-the-scenes stuff. This is actually what prompted the writing of this essay. Because in those featurettes, the creators talked about the amount of thought and love that went into every aspect of the game, down to hiring a costume designer and getting swatches for the Curator’s potential clothes, down to the details on his fucking desk and the hours of thought about the lighting in his repository, and I was utterly astounded (and honestly a little cowed, I wish I could write some of my stories with as much effort). 

I’ve always held the belief that if you put a lot of love and a lot of effort into a work of art, it will really show. And sometimes this will elevate a work from great to stellar, and now if I ever need a ready example of this, I can point to Man of Medan. You can truly tell that everyone involved with this project really cared about what they were doing, and about making something truly great, and every second of screentime just bleeds it.

I’ve played through the game about 2 and a half times now, once in multiplayer, and once in single, and it ran so smoothly and wonderfully and I only ever experienced a few minor graphical glitches (which are slightly worse in the multiplayer, but that’s most likely out of Supermassive’s control). Even my friend who is a professional business man was highly impressed with it, so much so that he was wondering how much money it would take to buy Supermassive (keep dreaming, Wimdy, keep dreaming).

So yeah, Man of Medan is absolutely fantastic and if you haven’t experienced it yet, you should really just go buy it. It’s available on Steam for only $30, and is worth every penny. I understand that it’s very easy to simply go watch Lets Plays, especially of games that play mostly like movies such as this one, but Supermassive is not a huge AAA studio. They certainly don’t get the sales figures that say Call of Duty or even Assassin’s Creed receives. So if you can, please, please go support them in any way you can. MoM is an incredible game and I’m so excited to see what they come out with in the future.

(Also, Allimiece and I are so excited for Little Hope. The Crucible is our shit and we are over the moon about it!)

[situspokeridn4-blog]

Getting involved00 in Online Poker

Situs Poker IDN Terpercaya Include you heard when compared with online poker is a lot connected with entertaining? Indeed poker features a ideal mix of a new social friendly eliptical or maybe club versus struggling senses and adrenalin associated with succeeding. When getting started together with poker some people dash off to to be able to deposit a sizeable sum for a biggest on-line site they will find. Many people usually quickly get rid of all their deposit, sour for the online game and leave. There is also a a great deal better way and it is definitely more enjoyable. Instead I propose starting any kind of time quality totally free online poker websites. At this time there are many out right now there to choose from.

Situs Poker IDN Terpercaya

Find out Poker Rules

While holdem poker rules are simple, the action is fairly fast moving. Usually you may have less in comparison with 30 sec to have a go. Thus it is vital to have the capacity to quickly get good at at least precisely what control cards you have, how many people blend community cards as well as all various methods you could win. Do you wish to discover all that will when you have your current authentic, hard earned cash on the table? You could do. As for myself : that would produce me nervous and also exactly where is fun in that ,? No cost multiplayer poker internet sites, everywhere you play against other individuals online, are perfect to get learning these essential texas holdem rules. You will find out regarding no pressure along with no arised to your own personal wallet.

Do Not Possibly be the Patsy

There tend to be reasons why websites promote you to make any dollars deposit as before long as possible. The nearly all important some may be to get new money into your sport. Poker is a absolutely nothing sum game. That is actually what exactly someone won anyone else necessitie lost. Completely new inexperienced gamers are identified as "fish" or "patsy" within poker parlance. Excellent participants purposely seek these individuals out there. Poker is a activity of skill after all of. The more effective you skills are usually the considerably better and far more consistent your salaryday will be. You are certainly certainly not some sort of patsy. Since anyone are perusing this article you actually are already just before much of poker beginners. Anyone have mastered poker basic principles on safe play cash poker sites for free of charge. While you are set to play for actual money you enter the video game a number of confidence. You are generally not intimidated as well as perplexed by a strict trader and quick pace on casino tables.

Learn Precisely what Not to Do

Many poker authorities believe this is detrimental for your personal on line poker skills to exercise on cost-free, that is usually play money, online poker web sites. They explain any time at this time there is no real funds on the line people modify their behavior. To put it differently players have no anxiety of getting rid of their dollars and become maniacs bringing up every hand just in order to see where the night takes us. I agree using that observation. Have fun with income sites often attribute clumsy, hyper aggressive perhaps maniacal players who certainly not cease for an instant when you consider what they are accomplishing. Well, they are really easy to be able to beat if you include a decreased discipline and not necessarily engage in precisely the same around the top playing fashion. On line poker has what is definitely called a best method - strategy which often helps ensure to win essentially the most through the long term in spite of what business a person are dealt. The more detailed your play to great tactic the bigger your own edge turns into. Think regarding it this way rapid if you cannot conquer a free holdem poker online game, why do you assume you might prosper in income sport where players, about average, are more proficient? Make sense? In this manner involving thinking goes even more. If you can consistently whip an absolutely free poker game, that is a sturdy clue that you are completely ready to progress.

Observe in addition to Adapt

You will discover at lowest three fundamental knowledge an individual must learn before anyone go for a roll inside Las Vegas. Obviously study the cards. That is actually know the way cards combine straight into earning combinations in Mississippi Holdem poker. The way several combinations rank next to each one other. Most of typically the players you will confront do learn that. But individuals a long time you spent online pays off there. Since you actually gamed for free a person could afford actively playing considerably more hands. More process manufactured you faster plus much more relaxed running card permutations throughout your mind. The different two capabilities are staying observant and establishing for you to current playing model. What exactly is there to watch on the web you might consult? Even in poker on-line an individual can observe a good deal. Watch how long your enemy take to act in response. Produce mental notes where did they answer to different situations. Discover patterns in their have fun with. This might sound like a ton of work. That is the fault the idea is but so will be walking. You do definitely not consider jogging hard mainly because you learned the item the moment and it became anyone nature through constant train. It works the identical with texas holdem skills. Last but not least, adapting signifies adjusting your current game to take highest possible advantage of specific folks put at your distinct table currently. You could not play mechanically utilizing "best practice" rules including increase with your good memory cards and fold your worthless trash cards. I want you actually to also than in which. Here your own personal sharp remark starts enduring the fruit. You actually will notice that a new boost from maniac suggests significantly less that a bring up from a warm, diligent player. Betting out and about in four players from a elevate on previous around states that a lot more this an intelligent bet with the flop. You should adapt your play by simply removing up and tensing decrease as opportunities occur as well as go. There is the one thing I learned well instructions enjoying poker is enjoyment and participating in is often the important thing. But performing and winning is all the more fun. Spend a minor time getting ready then a person can enter on your personal own terminology and possibly be a dangerous opponent not really a huge fish.

Where to Head out Online

That is a brief portion because the respond to is usually easy. Find a internet site having Fixed Limit and also No Control poker which will loads rapidly and it has the graphics are efficient although sparse. I find quite a few gambling themed web-sites usually are heavy on brilliant defiant graphics which mistake us and turn my family away from. You want to keep away from people and seek available poker spaces where artwork are very simple, functional along with basically "get-out-of-the-way" for an individual to focus on on line poker. You may have plenty of possibilities from feature rich, downloadable computer software by substantial commercial on the net cardrooms using an excellent help support for Microsoft windows and Apple pc. On the other stop of spectrum is no cost no download poker program playable in a online browser. These no acquire clients even now offers complete-featured Texas Holdem poker nevertheless playable even on apple ipad tablet or smartphone.

Where to help Study Poker Strategy

Often the hints I gave with this article are simply just blank basics that bring you commenced on the right base in poker. However you can find plenty more if anyone wish to transform your life activity. Depending on your particular strategy to learn and the way you break up information you actually can go on the list of a couple ways. Either empty your wallet connected with time on poker boards interacting with fellow completely new members and learning by means of societal group. It can certainly be fun and rather motivating but be geared up to devote more time to. Another means is buying a e-book and really working by it. For top level value My partner and i recommend Small Blind levels Have 'em: Winning Significant Having Expert Play by means of Edward Miller and Jesse Sklansky. The book is definitely sound, methodical yet legible in addition to covers all components of profitable in poker.