#but i just wanted to get this out there... for closure's sake if nothing else

[ghostiespengler]

Another day, another rant (and in too much physical pain to do something else).

Each ghostbuster is essential to the team.

They all each represent something that, if taken out, would lead the group to perish (I’m thinking the Gozer and the Vigo battles).

First. Ray is the heart.

Across every films, he is the one that keeps the team alive (he buys the firehouse, continues the job on the second film…). He is the one who keeps holding on to wonder and compassion no matter how strange or dark things get. Yes, he is the one who chooses the “face of the Destructor” at the end of the first film, and look who it is : the stay puft marshmallow. He is gentleness, he is kindness. Even when faced with annihilation, he reaches for innocence, for something soft and sweet.

While others might see a haunting as a threat or a nuisance, Ray sees it completely differently, for him it’s a bridge : a last chance for peace, for forgiveness, for letting go. He literally opens a shop where he can help people to find closure. He is the one bringing back the team together, again and again.

Second. Winston is the soul.

Winston arrives a few weeks after the others have founded the Ghostbusters. But, my gosh, it’s when he gets there that they become the Ghostbusters.

He doesn’t need to see to believe, but he also doesn’t let belief cloud his sense of right and wrong. He asks the big questions : about God and the apocalypse with Ray, about life after death, about the cost of saving the world. He doesn’t need any scientific degree, he has the trust and belief in his team. And that’s more than enough for him.

At the beginning of the first film he says he would believe in anything as long as “there’s a steady paycheck in it.”. But in the end, he still stays. In the second film he still is with Ray at the birthday party and after that, Winston is the one who keeps the legacy alive.

Third. Peter is the arms.

He’s the handshake, the door-kick, the arm thrown around a friend’s shoulders. He’s the first to face down a ghost with nothing but a wild grin and a witty remark. And it would be easy to think of him only as Peter Venkman the chatter, the comical one.

But he is so much more. His arms keeping reaching outward throughout the first two films : and it’s to push, to pull, to provoke, but most of all : to protect.

Peter is the arms that catch his friends when they fall : the one who lifts them back up, even if he pretends he doesn’t care. He may roll his eyes at sentiment, but he’s the one who acts, who steps in, who gets his hands dirty when it counts.

Fourth. And we might think last but no. Egon. The brain.

Yes, everyone knows, Egon is the brain of the Ghostbusters, it’s not a big surprise. He is the “mad scientist”, the creator of the devices. We all are aware of it. But it’s more about how he uses his brain as his secret silent language to care and love.

Every plan he makes, every tool he builds, is for the sake of those he loves. He keeps the dangers at bay not just because he’s able, but because he can’t bear the thought of losing the people who matter most (let’s not enter the whole Afterlife discussion because I don’t even want to imagine how it felt like to care so much for everyone inside this massive haunted house).

Lastly, because she is the Ghostbusters too and without her there would be nothing : Janine. She is the ears.

The one who listens, truly listens, in a world too loud with chaos.

She’s the first point of contact for every desperate client, the doorstep between the public and the boys. Janine hears it all and stays. She could quit, she keeps repeating it in the first film : but she doesn’t. Because she adores them.

She is more than a secretary: she is a member of the team and a confidant. Her listening is active, fierce, protective of them. She is the ear that links everyone together.

Because, in the end, to answer the question : who you gonna call ? Not just the ghostbusters. But Janine Melnitz too.

[genericpuff]

This plot point annoyed me so much! I thought she was finally going to open up to Persephone about the reasons why she hated Hades so much, about what he did to her, but no! They just introduced a new yet unnecessary character to the story 🤦🏼‍♀️

What are your thoughts about it?

oh yeah it annoyed the piss out of me too and for one very big reason that is CHRONIC in LO:

It's a solution to a problem Demeter didn't have.

This happens to a lot of characters throughout the comic. They'll have some kind of plot-driven conflict or character-driven flaw, and then it will be solved by something else entirely that had nothing to do with their original problem or doesn't line up with the theme of their storytelling. Minthe had insecurity issues and a toxic relationship with Hades? Just give her a classroom full of children to babysit! Hades had infertility issues? That's fine, Persephone somehow fixes those issues because at the end of the comic they have babies and Hades has his happy ending so it's fine! Hera was in an unhappy relationship with Zeus and had trauma from her past as a victim of Kronos? No problem, just make her an all powerful fertility goddess! Persephone accidentally causes winter which kills possibly thousands of people? Gaia is here to save the day, and also she's the one who makes Persephone return to the Mortal Realm for a couple months with full visitation rights. Apollo is a serial rapist who's attempted murder on several occasions, even against his own father in an attempt to take the throne? Community service, that'll solve it.

Demeter is one of the biggest examples of Rachel's inability of writing an actual cohesive plotline. She writes like the only goal is to come up with new twists to keep people reading each week without ever considering what themes or questions she should be answering throughout. So when she does pose questions, the answers often wind up being severely disconnected because she can't be bothered to actually plan out a plotline with narrative structure, she just needs 'things' to happen. To put it bluntly and simply, she writes like how a 13 year old on Wattpad would write, no actual thinking about the material she's presenting, no consideration for the curtains and what color they are, just "make the things happen so that people will keep reading because that's what writing is!"

Demeter's problem wasn't her failing to understand Persephone. It was people failing to understand her when she had reasonable cause to both be wary of Persephone moving to Olympus as well as Hades and his intentions with her daughter. But because Rachel needs to have the perfect happy ending for her self-insert power fantasy couple, she resorts to gaslighting both Demeter as well as the audience by extension into believing that the solution to Demeter's character arc... is understanding Persephone more.

Like first of all, the moral "people just want to be understood" is way, WAY too "baby's first storyline" at this point in the story especially when we've tried to tackle much bigger topics like sexual assault, and when we know how complex Demeter's backstory is. There's no way she needs to be told by Hebe that people just want to be "understood". She absolutely knows this already, and has been fighting to be understood by her siblings and peers and family for centuries, but of course, everyone sees her as just "the contrarian".

But then the final solution is... the sudden appearance of Demophoon as her long-lost child, and Hades giving her the volcanoes. That's it. She doesn't get to actually become Queen of the Mortal Realm, she never really gets closure over the past 2000 years of abuse from everyone around her, Hades just - like with everyone - buys her affection and she gets a new baby to pour her attention into instead of Persephone and we're all just forced to go along with it for the sake of Rachel's fantasy.

Rachel can't write (￢_￢;)

[haunteddollz]

stranger things masterlist

pairing(s): steve harrington x fem!reader (henderson)

summary: The party needs help from someone and to steve's displeasure (not really) the only person they can think of is you.

WARNING(S): cursing, fluff, and angst

author's note: this is from my old account as well sooo...

In the depths of night, Y/n Henderson was washing dishes before her mother arrived home.

She was peacefully listening to her Walkman until she saw her brother and his friends rush into the residence.

She took off her headphones and paused her Walkman. With eyebrows furrowed she looked at the group confused.

She was about to ask until she was rudely interrupted,

“What the h-”

“No time to chat! We need your help.”

The girl looked at them dumbfounded with her lips pursed and head cocked forward.

(if you have an idea of what i mean good for you if not then idk)

The younger Henderson rolled his eyes and exhaled, he continued to explain what the fuck was going on. She continued to wash and put away the dishes as she listened to her brother ramble on about Vecna and him being some powerful dark wizard.

She turned around and leaned against the sink with her arms crossed with an amused look on her face.

Once Dustin saw the look on her face he stopped talking.

“You don’t believe us do you?”

She let out an amused chuckle and replied, “Oh no, I believe you, especially with the shit that happened last time. Mind you I was in the same lab as El. I’m good with weird.”

She smiled that devilish smile and looked at the rest of them. Stopping on the boy that broke her heart.

She continued speaking and pushed herself onto the counter, “I mean c'mon I’m friends with Eddie for god’s sake. People call us freaks. I think I’d be expected to be good with weird.”

The group all nodded in unison and understanding. All saying ‘Yeah that makes sense’ .

They looked at Y/n waiting for an answer. The girl was confused as to why it got so quiet until Robin asked, “Soooo are you helping or not?”

The older Henderson’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh! I completely forgot about that. Uhhhhh- I mean I have nothing else to do so I g-”

She was interrupted by Max, “Great! Then let’s go.” The girl quickly rushed of the room leaving everyone else in the dust.

Everyone nodded and soon started walking along with the girl. Except Y/n stayed planted in her spot with another person. That person being…..

Steve 'The Hair’ Harrington

She rolled her eyes at him and tried to walk away but before she could even step out of the kitchen Steve stepped in the way.

Y/n huffed in annoyance, not wanting to hear anything he had to say. She turned to him and said, “Get out of my way Harrington.” He cringed at the formalities between them. He couldn’t help but think of what they used to be but it was his fault. He broke her heart.

The look that she gave Steve sent shivers down his spine. He felt the built-up guilt bubbling inside him from three years ago.

Before, they were a happy couple both in their freshman year. They were the 'it couple’. They were happy until their junior year. Junior year they started to drift apart. Steve started spending more time with Nancy.

Y/n felt neglected and turned to Eddie Munson. They built a friendship they never thought was possible. That was until she heard about Steve’s party and some events that occurred at the Harrington residence.

Y/n was heartbroken. Steve still tried to act like he didn’t fuck Nancy the next day. She told Eddie and all he said was, “Harrington is pussy whipped.” Hearing that Y/n rolled her eyes and laughed with her best friend.

The ex-couple is still standing in the kitchen just staring at each other.

Steve started to speak, “I just, I know what I did was fucked up and I’m so sorry for what I did. I know I can’t change the past but I know I’ve changed. I just wanted to give you closure I guess.”

Y/n furrowed her eyebrows in frustration.

“I don’t need closure. That was a long time ago. We’ve both grown up and I hope we’ve both have at least on your part. Yeah sure I was upset and angry but in the end, all I wanted was for you to be happy. And if Nancy made you happy then to hell with my feelings. I knew I would get better in the meantime. I mean yeah I still have feelings for you so what. I thought I would get over you and let you be but it seems like only one part actually worked…”

As the girl kept rambling on and on. A habit that she has when she’s nervous much like Robin. Steve tries to stop the girl from rambling to have what he needs to say.

“Y/n…..”

She still rambles on.

He says laughing, “Y/n!”

The Henderson replied, “What?”

Steve chuckled while running his fingers through his hair, “You’re rambling. After a while when I was with Nancy more like when she said that our love was bullshit. I thought about you. I thought of how happy I was with you and how I wasn’t that big of a douchebag with you. You made me a better person and it finally came to me. I still love you and I always have. I haven’t felt anything for Nancy in the past two years. It’s always been you.”

(ewwww cringe)

Tears came to both of their eyes.

“Steve I get that. I do still love you but I can’t be with you again. I put that all behind me but I will gladly see what our friendship could turn into.” Steve nodded frantically saying, “Yes! I mean yes of course that’s all I need.”

With smiles on their faces, they walked out of the girl's house with a newfound friendship and ran to catch up with the party.

[bambi-kinos]

Why do you think Paul keeps saying to this day that John was really sweet. He really wasn't. He treated everyone like shit including Paul. Because he feel he has to? Because he was killed and people made him into something he wasn't? I don't blame John for this ). Or but because he was in love with him and that's what he remembers. John doesn"t deserve it. He's even overrated. Both P and G was/is better. I just don't get how someone like Paul who's a better man, artist and person keeps giving J so much credit. I'm not a new fan of the Beatles or Paul. I really can only see it that he was in love with him.

What else is Paul supposed to do?

Idk man I think Paul is just doing his best with what he has. He's never going to get closure on their relationship. He's never going to get an explanation that satisfies him. So he has to work with what he's got.

You have the wrong end of the stick on this, Paul isn't trying to give John credit that he hasn't earned. Paul is trying to move on from what John did to him by focusing on the good moments and remembering who John was before he was brain damaged by heroin and LSD. If your boyfriend has a TBI that changes his entire personality, is that really your boyfriend anymore? Is he really still himself? These are the questions Paul has wrestled with and it looks like he's realized he's never going to get an answer.

So he's focusing on what he does know which is that the John he knew and fell in love with was a sweet kid who sometimes let his insecurities rule him. But he was still a loving person who cared about Paul and was his closest friend for years.

Furthermore: if John was actually the raging dickhead that the internet thinks he is then he would not have had any friends to begin with. People with truly no redeeming characteristics who are assholes all the time don't get friends who defend them even after they die. The truth is that John was not actually a prick all of the time. Otherwise no one could have stood being around him. Paul calls John sweet because he knew the John that was a sweet guy, the guy that Paul loved.

You're also falling for John's own propaganda a bit. John never stopped projecting the image of being a cynical hard bitten street tough that intimidated everyone into submission with his temper. John occasionally admitted that all of this was an act (see his comments at playacting the Teddy Boy image while not actually being a gang member and why he felt he had to do it.)

But the truth is he never stopped projecting the "I'm an asshole you better not fuck with me" thing. All of this "I'm an irredeemable asshole I hate George and Paul!!!" is pure fakery. The very qualities you don't like were fabricated in large part by Yoko as part of a propaganda campaign, and from what I've read in the Dakota Years memoirs, this propaganda was out of John's control from the moment he started the Lennon Remembers interviews. John is just as much a victim of information warfare as Paul is, he just reacted to it differently and used it to barricade himself away from Paul.

That doesn't mean you have to like John or feel sorry for him or agree with Paul's decisions to try and leave the damage behind. You are reacting to the fact that Paul is visibly in pain when he talks about this stuff. He's bleeding in public and there's nothing no one can do to help him. The wounds are permanent. It is, in fact, rage inducing. John isn't here to speak for himself and try to explain. What else can we do as observers except be angry.

But Paul McCartney is 82 years old.

He's close to the end.

He doesn't want to do that, doesn't have time for it, doesn't want to spend his last years rehashing this shit.

Is there an alternative for him? All he can do now is try to make peace with it while he's alive and then he can finally get closure with John when he moves on to the next stop.

Paul doesn't call John 'sweet' for the sake of John's image. He does it to remind himself of the boy he fell in love with in 1957. Because he doesn't have a lot of time left and he wants to spend it being in love with John, not being angry at him. Paul is doing this for Paul. Simple as.

[ceo-of-sloppy-women]

No grave can hold my body down; I'll crawl home to her

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

The job is deceptively simple for being so important: get into the Piltover science district, retrieve a specific box labelled Orianna, and try not to get killed in the process. It is so simple that you can’t wrap your head around why Singed has never trusted anyone else to retrieve it – for fucks sake, Vi could do this job concussed! Why Singed trusted only you and Sevika on this run is absolutely beyond your understanding.

The key you swiped from Singed’s workshop is tucked safely in your pocket. You still remember it’s pin pushed into the Science District on the map.

Yet, here you are, astride King, riding behind Duchess, on your way to Piltover. Acting like a total knob-head as you make puppy dog eyes at your newly official girlfriend. Or, at least the brown, fur-lined jacket stretched over her broad shoulders and the mosaic of hickeys wrapped around her neck from your lazy morning. You’d woken this morning to her wrapped around you, and for the first time, you had been able to turn over and press a kiss to her lips. You had fully embraced your newfound freedom until the morning got away from you, and it was nearly noon. Then, you’d broached the topic of Silco’s request to her, and before long, the two of you were in Singed’s lab. Sooner is better than later – at least, that’s what Sevika had said, claiming she wanted you all to herself, and she couldn’t have that until this job was over. She had a point, you had to admit, even out on the open trail, there’s a sense of closure dawning on the horizon, as if this is to be your last job. Once all is said and done, you’ll be free to enjoy all the creature comforts this new age has to offer.

So, you follow Sevika down the winding trail back toward the towering ruins of Piltover. The spires stretch toward the sky like ravenous hands attempting to break free of the atmosphere and return to the kingdom of Heaven. Purple veins curl upwards, corrupting all that they touch with sickness as if attempting to ascend mortality. Your stomach rolls at the idea of returning to this city after everything you and Sevika went through to escape it the first time. However, the importance of this request has already been stressed to you; if a cure is truly so close at hand, you must see it to the end.

“You prepared for this?” Sevika asks, as if she could read your thoughts. She’s slowed Duchess to trot alongside King as the trail widens into the valley before Piltover.

“Not really,” you admit with a nervous chuckle. You smile as you turn to look at her, trying to swallow the knot in your throat. “But, this job isn’t going to do itself. It’s been nine years; let’s not wait any longer.”

“Just…” Sevika starts, the emotion thickening her voice, prompting you to take her hand reassuringly. “Just don’t go dying on me, alright? I just got you; I can’t lose you now.”

“I could say the same to you. I love you too much to lose you.”

“I love you too,” she echoes, kissing your knuckles.

You revel in the moment for as long as you allow yourself before squeezing her hand one final time and letting it drop to your side. There is nothing more to say. What else would there be? As Piltover dawns on the horizon, your mind turns toward home, desperately praying that it won’t slip through your fingers this time.

Piltover is deathly quiet, silence smothering the atmosphere like a thick wool blanket that refuses to breathe. You stick close to Sevika, head on a constant swivel. It had been this quiet last time you’d visited… and you’d gotten ambushed. You’re not in the mood to let it happen again, especially not now that you’re headed into the heart of the city. Glancing sideways, Sevika’s just as tense as you, gripping her gun with white knuckles. It seems neither of you will be at ease until you’re free of this city’s claws.

Or, tendrils – the interlacing, vein-like flesh sprawls across the city around you, thickening as you near the science district. They go from a few on the outskirts of town to dense colonies coiled around each other in a twisted, shimmering purple haze. You swear they move when you’re not looking, always in the corner of your eye, undulating, pulsating; curling toward the two of you. You’ve yet to encounter any infected, but there’s a strange, unnerving feeling that they definitely know you’re here each time you pass too close to a tentacle. Your hand itches around your machete, ready to cut through the spongy flesh should it suddenly reach out to grab you.

Turning the corner, the two of you find yourself in the shadow of a honeycomb-like structure that pierces the sky far above your heads. In its prime, the building must have shone, its glittering walls welcoming scientists and patrons into its curling halls. Now, it only resembles the library of Babel as the two of you climb the steps. Hexagons upon hexagons, emphasized by the veins webbed across its walls, nearly hiding the building completely.

“This place is giving me the creeps,” Sevika mutters, stopping at the door.

“Me too – let’s make this quick?” you hover your hand over the door, awaiting her reply.

She grunts and says: “Stay close, I don’t want you wandering off. This place is like a maze; I’d go mad finding you.”

“Have you been here before?” you ask, turning to face her properly. She’s watching your surroundings, yet her gaze flickers to yours for long enough to acknowledge your staring.

“Once, accidentally. A group of us were gathering supplies, and I found myself here with Jinx on accident. She’d been chasing a trail of parts, which led to a massive horde of infected. It wasn’t pleasant. We hid in here to wait them out, but by the time we could leave, it was a maze to even find a window we could smash.”

“Yikes; don’t get lost, got it,” you mutter, desperately wanting to take her hand yet knowing it would disarm her. You settle for a quick side hug, which she melts into with a soft little sigh: “I’ll stay close, I promise.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she mumbles, kissing the top of your head.

The two of you linger for a moment, trying to stretch the hug around an unforgiving infinity. Unfortunately, you have errands to run and a home to get back to, so you pull apart and finally step inside. As best you can, at least – you can barely get the door open! A large swathe of tentacles crowds the floor, forcing you to wiggle through the small crack until the two of you were inside. Tentacles practically coat the interior like a particularly bad paintjob, any semblance of humanity that might have been left has been covered up.

“Ew,” you whine under your breath as you dance around various tentacles, trying to step in places where they aren’t.

“Why do they have to move like that?” Sevika grumbles as the tentacles pulse and softly undulate around your ankles.

“I don’t even want to know,” you say, thankful that most of the doors in this building are held open by protruding tendrils.

Singed’s directions had been incredibly clear – he’d all but drawn up a map, telling you exactly where to turn and which stairs to go down (and which not to). Following his instructions, you descend together into the belly of the Science District, holding your breath in hopes there were no infected down here. No light reached the windows, so you have to rely entirely off the light of your headlamps. If anything were to sneak out of the shadows and make an attempt on your life, now would be the time to do it.

At least Sevika’s watching your back, her headlamp shining over your shoulder. Her foreboding presence is comforting – at least you’d have a fighting chance if you got attacked down here.

Unfortunately, it felt that with every little win, three things had to go wrong. You soon found yourself thigh-deep in water. It is cold and unpleasant, soaking into your pants and the pocket journal you’d stashed. At least the tentacles have curled across the walls and the ceiling, avoiding the water and making it easier to walk (though you didn’t like the implications that they need to breathe).

Sevika stops you, passing you her gun as she digs through her pack. From it she pulls a length of rope and fastens it around her carabiner and yours, tugging on it to make sure it won’t come loose. Then she fastens one to her belt loop, the other to yours, the rope floating in the water between the two of you.

“We don’t know how deep it’s going to get – it’s too dark to see the bottom and a floor could’ve collapsed. This way if one of us slips, we at least have a chance,” Sevika explains, taking her gun back.

“Thank you,” you whisper, rolling the lock over the hinge on your carabiner.

She nods her head with a grunt: “Goin’ quiet again, in case somethin’s down here.”

“Right.”

The water follows you through the lower sections of the facility with no discernable source. Sevika and yourself nearly slip several times, the rope saving your lives from undiscernible depths. All the while, you keep an ear out for infected, but the cold water seems to deter them more than you. You highly doubt any of them can swim in their condition, so the water becomes a welcome break to catch your breath.

Eventually, the two of you discover a stairwell you can force your way into, careful not to cut yourselves on the broken window that sits just above water level. The stairwell is devoid of water, yet the two of you leave the rope attached just in case you encounter more water.

There are infected in the hallway, just beyond the ajar door, and someone’s jammed a desk between the railing and the wall leading to the next floor. Giving the two of you only one option. You can’t risk alerting all of the infected in this place, so the two of you carefully sneak out of the stairwell and into a nearby office. Your heart pounds in your chest as you follow behind Sevika, the rope strung between the two of you. One of the walls is smashed in, letting you sneak into the adjacent office, listening as the infected grunt and chitter in the hallway. They’re Goners, thankfully – if you had to take them in a close-quarters fight it would be feasible. Unlike a Belcher that would drench you in its “contents” (less than ideal considering your girlfriend is right there and the last thing you want to do is stink like a rotting corpse as you slowly wither away until you’re infected too).

Sevika picks up a piece of rubble, sneaks over to the hallway and chucks it toward the stairwell. The infected freak out and dash toward it, giving you an opening to race down the hallway and into the next corridor. Adrenaline pulsates in your veins as you try to take the lightest steps, holding anything on your person that may jingle. You almost miss the sign, a flicker of characters on a rusting plaque, but it’s too familiar to completely pass by, and you lurch to a halt. The rope yanks Sevika back toward you – you nod your head to the plaque.

Corin Reveck.

The name had been scrawled across Singed’s earliest notebooks from before he changed his name. From before the collapse. Singed had instructed you to find the office labeled with this very name.

“Jackpot,” Sevika mutters under her breath, pushing the door open slowly.

The office is far larger than you expected. A desk sits against the furthest wall, with several tables scattered across the floor, covered in vials, boxes and books. Old liquid has dried to tables and dripped off the edges, staining the floorboards. Several books have been knocked over and scattered haphazardly across the floor, open to random pages. Singed had definitely left here in a hurry. Sevika grabs the boxes that Singed had asked for – the ones stacked neatly by the sink with several vials inside of them and an assortment of notebooks. Just what the doctor ordered.

Yet, your eyes catch on something far more interesting across the room: a door. There’s a bookshelf carelessly shoved in front of it, with just the handle peeking out, as if someone had tried to hide it in a hurry. Suddenly, the key in your pocket feels a thousand pounds heavier as you stare at the lock.

“I think we should go in there,” you say, the words tasting foreign on your tongue.

Sevika arches an eyebrow at you, but you can tell the curiosity is eating her alive. She already didn’t like Singed, so if there was some damning evident to prove her right… she’s across the room before you can really register she moved. The handle jingles, but remains stuck shut: locked.

“Can’t. It’ll be too loud if I break this in,” Sevika mutters as if the door has personally scorned her.

“Try this.” You offer the key to her.

“Just find this lying around or…?”

“I found it weeks ago, in his office. It was just lying there,” you shrug, as if it was an innocent act of kleptomania.

“Got the ability to see the future or somethin’?” she jokes, slotting the key into the hole. It clicks open with barely any coaxing. She looks back at you with a little trepidation. “Be ready if there’s infected in here. The lack of vines are starting to freak me out.”

You blink, frantically looking around and suddenly realizing that she’s right – there hadn’t been any vines on this floor. Not even when you first came up the stairwell. You take a step back and draw your machete. Just in case.

“Why’d you have to go and point that out?” you chuckle nervously, white-knuckling your machete.

“Sorry, thought you noticed,” she mumbles, letting go of the door handle to squeeze your shoulder. “We’ve got this. Nothing’s going to happen – we’re going to get the stuff that old bat needs and get out here safely. There’s not going to be anything behind this door other than some weird shrine to Janna or something.”

You swallow thickly and nod your head: “Right. You’re right. Just stop edging me and open the damn door already.”

A wicked smirk grows across Sevika’s face, and she winks at you: “Alright, alright. I’ll just edge once we get back home.”

“Sevika!” you yelp, face flushing red.

She chuckles to herself and finally opens the door.

She wasn’t wrong; it is a weird shrine. Just not to Janna.

Behind the door sits a small room filled with pulsating, undulating tentacles reminiscent of the mass you found in the weather station. It throbs like a beating heart, circled around what appears to be a glass coffin. Most of the walls and the floor have collapsed, as if the tendrils forced their way out of the room. Within the coffin is a pale figure breathing shallowly, thin tendrils erupting from under her skin, twisting through exit-holes pierced in the side of the coffin. Yet, she looks entirely at peace, a graceful smile resting on her lips and her eyes closed in a serene expression. All around the room are various vials and photographs; in the corner rests a well-worn armchair.

The sight makes your skin crawl.

“What the fuck?” mutters Sevika, mouth hanging agape.

You swallow thickly and reach for one of the photographs, nearly dropping it when you get a proper look. Singed stands next to the young girl, his face stretched in a beaming smile, looking damn near twenty years younger. Sevika curses again as she looks over your shoulder to the “shrine.” You follow her gaze, and a chill runs down your spine as a water-damaged letter draws your attention.

Orianna,

If you are to wake before I manage to return here; fear not, for it means my work has finally succeeded. There is much you have missed, but I promise it has all been for you. Shimmer will cure you – I know it.

Your Father

“I think I’m going to be sick,” you gag, clasping your hand over your mouth.

“He – that creepy little rat.” Sevika glowers down at the coffin, hand tensing around her gun. “This – this is it?? This is the reason we’ve all been through Hell for the last nine years? Nine bloody years that he never thought to mention THIS?!”

“What do we… do? If this is the source of Shimmer what does killing it do?” you ask, barely able to hear your own voice as you stare over the coffin. “This is a kid, Sevika. What – what do we do?”

“This isn’t a life. I know if I was trapped like this, I’d be beggin’ for someone to kill me. She’s not alive and she’s not dead, and this ‘cure’ certainly ain’t doing shit. Whatever Singed thought he was doing didn’t pan out how he wanted.”

“Do we even have the right to play God, again?”

Her head snaps toward you: “What?”

“Singed tried to do it once already, and all we got were infected. What if we try, and it only makes it worse? We’ve both seen how the infected act together, like there’s something connecting them all. What if we kill her and everybody who’s infected suddenly worsens, or…”

You don’t have to verbalize the thought for Sevika to understand what you’re trying to say. She swallows thickly, taking your hand in her own.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. The last few months have been the best of my life – if that’s all I get, then I’m okay with it. At least I’ll go out knowing we saved the world from this mess.”

“I’m not.”

“What?”

You lift your head and try to look at her past the tears welling up in your eyes: “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me too; I can’t lose you. If stopping the infected means killing you in the process, then I’d rather live a thousand years in the apocalypse with you. No one has to know; we kept your immunity to ourselves; we can keep this a secret, too.”

Sevika sighs heavily, wrapping her arm around you to pull you into a hug. You cling to her, trying desperately not to cry. “We can’t do that to them. Too many people depend on us not to at least try. You’ll be alright, when I’m gone.”

“No, I won’t. There’s no future in this without you, Sevika. I can’t go through with this if I know it’ll kill you,” you whimper, curling your fingers into her jacket.

“We don’t know that for sure. Maybe I’m still human enough to survive?” Sevika suggests, carding her fingers through your hair. “We have to make this decision soon; the longer we linger the more likely it is that something will find us in here. We don’t know how conscious she is; a whole horde could be on its way right now.”

“Just… give me a minute. Let me think,” you plead, listening to her heartbeat. It pounds against her chest; she’s as terrified by this dilemma as you are.  

The moment stretches on for ages as every possibility swims around your head. You desperately want to leave and pretend you never found any of this. On the other hand, you know what will happen if you do – it’s only a matter of time before everyone becomes infected. It’ll probably take ages, and Singed might discover a cure by then (if he’s even actually looking for one), but there’s a risk. Neither option is cut and dry. Put Orianna out of her misery, and she might take Sevika with her. Let Orianna live, and you could be dooming the whole world. Even if you had the time to get back here and kill her later, there’s no telling if you’ll even be able to find this office again or if she’ll be this exposed then. The tendrils are already starting to curl around the glass case of the coffin.

Whatever you pick, there’s no going back.

You pull back from Sevika and steal a kiss, feeling her pour her heart between your lips. She trembles as she holds you as if she’s taken the last few minutes to come to terms with her own death. She whispers a soft “I love you” against your lips the first time you try to pull back from her, desperately trying to make the kiss last longer. You give in easily, letting her have all that she wants, trying to kiss your “I love you” into her very soul.

When the moment has stretched on for too long to be anything other than stalling, you finally pull back. Swallowing thickly around the lump in your throat, you say: “I know what we should do."

[swaps55]

currently replaying me1 and just finished virmire :( anyways, I noticed that the game places you conveniently between kaidan and ash when you have to choose between them, and I was wondering what sam would do if he was already at the AA tower with ash when the "choice" is presented---if he was simply too far and it took too long to reach kaidan. how would he react, during and after? would he still fight saren if kaidan died, or call it quits right then and there?

What an excellent question!!!

If Sam was already with Ashley when "the choice" was given to him, even if it was futile, he'd try. If it was anyone else he'd cut his losses and move on. But Sharjila happened. And the beacon nightmares happen. And he made Aslany a promise. "I would come for any of you." Sam would die to keep that promise, and he would here. He'd put Ashley and the salarians on the Normandy and go for Kaidan, even if the act of love wouldn't save anyone. At this point in time, I think he is incapable of doing anything else.

But for the sake of a fun thought experiment, let's say he tries to get to Kaidan, but something something he doesn't and Sam is somehow still rescued while Kaidan dies. Don't worry about the details; they don't matter.

I think the Sam who loses Kaidan before Sonata is a very different Sam than the one who loses Kaidan after Sonata. The love is there either way, named or unnamed. Sam loves Kaidan on Virmire just as much as he does in the rain in Vancouver. But on Virmire he still doesn't understand it for what it is.

He loves Kaidan. He wouldn't fight you if you told him that. He doesn't understand he is in love with Kaidan. Sonata is when that clicks, and saying it out loud is the first time he's asked for something he wants. So the Sam who loses Kaidan after Sonata is someone who has given the galaxy everything and only asked for one thing in return. When the galaxy takes that away, fuck the galaxy. He owes it nothing, and it will only get cold indifference from him. The reapers can have it. He doesn't give a damn.

But before Sonata he hasn't made that admission. That one request. He doesn't yet understand this crucial, vital part of himself that is desperately in love with someone. And if he doesn't have that realization until after its too late, he would be so angry. At himself. At Saren. At the reapers.

And he would want everyone to feel that pain.

He'd lash out at the people who cared about him. He'd pour everything he had into winning. He wouldn't care about the cost. He is the Butcher of Torfan, after all. The galaxy would learn why.

And in the end the victory would mean nothing. It wouldn't bring him solace or closure. At some point he'd be forced to feel grief rather than rage, and the only way he gets through that is if there is someone who is stubborn enough to stick by him when he's at his worst. And Sam is not easy to stick with when he's at his worst.

You might think it would be Anderson.

I'm betting it's Aslany.

[sapphire-weapon]

Ah, fuck it. What else am I doing with my internet out at 1 in the morning?

My wants for RE9 really haven't changed, so a lot of those will be copy/pasted from the old post. But...

What I want from RE9 is...

A relationship between Leon and Grace that's similar to Hank and Connor's from Detroit: Become Human (grizzled, cynical veteran paired with idealistic rookie in a partnership that causes the veteran to remember why he went into the field in the first place and causes the rookie to lose their naivete and become the best version of themselves they can be)

Alyssa's death matters in a way that directly implicates/affects both Grace and Leon, and playing through her flashbacks is super important

An acknowledgement of the role that Sherry has played in Leon's life

Ubiquitous sanity effects that can happen any time, anywhere that are meant to fuck with the player perhaps even moreso than the character(s)

A better storyline for Grace than "I am the bearer of my mother's legacy"

A full reveal of Ada's motivations and involvement with Umbrella, Wesker, and everyone in between in a way that isn't just boiled down to "see, she was a good guy/a villain all along!"

Chris shows up at one point because he is also involved with the government now because of Rose

Raccoon City feels more like a real place rather than just "the town where the bad thing happened"

Leon acknowledging that he's pushing 50 and has ultimately failed in what he'd originally intended to do (stop bioterror outbreaks from happening). Bonus points if he does this to Grace. Basically I want him to have an Auron Final Fantasy moment of "Legendary Guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing. That is my story."

A canon endgame romance for Leon that is neither aeon nor cleon just to set the fandom on fire

What I expect from RE9 is...

Very little interaction between Leon and Grace, similar to Sebastian and Kidman from The Evil Within. They cross paths a few times and help each other out without the other one really knowing.

Alyssa's death is just window dressing for Grace's character, and she was killed off simply because she is A Parent Character now OR lol susprise Alyssa's still alive!!!! She abandoned her daughter because Reasons!!!!!

No mention of Sherry at all

"Sanity effects" are limited to characters having visions in cutscenes only

"I am the bearer of my mother's legacy"

Absolutely no closure or new information about Ada at all

No Chris

Raccoon City is still just "the town where the bad thing happened"

The only mention of Leon's age is other characters pointing out that he's old, and his failures will never be addressed

Leon expresses undying love for Ada as she dies

What I'll probably get from RE9 is...

A relationship between Leon and Grace that has a similar amount of screentime as Claire and Steve, with a dynamic similar to Chris and Ethan

Alyssa's death only serves to explain the villain's motivations and give backstory to Grace; Leon only briefly mentions that he met her once and then immediately moves on after an "I'm sorry for your loss."

Sherry mentioned superficially in passing

Sanity effects are scripted events like the plaga headaches in RE4make

Grace has a brief moment of "I am not my mother!" -- but the overall events of the plot kind of disagree with her

Some really surface-level insight to some of Ada's dealings, but not enough to really explain much of anything or be satisfying in any real way

Chris and Rose mentioned in memos/files

Raccoon City gets an expanded look at how Corrupt and Awful the leadership there was simply for the sake of making it more Horror-Themed(TM)

Leon bitches and complains regularly about his age and maybe gripes a bit about how he's been "so blind" all these years, but it's never explored in any real depth

Leon exits the game single, with no real romantic prospects at all

[rosstrytobe]

Thinking if in s7 epidose 1, Chris was forshading just in part Eddie love life there are some points that are really interesting:

1) The first girl that Chris brings at home, eating pizza and playing videogames is Penny, a blonde girl that he met at math class (as Eddie told to Buck) and Eddie say that he doesn’t get if it was a date because it seems to him that they were just hanging out as two male friends do (👀👀). Even though from the scene we know Christopher and Penny are smiling so they both are enjoying this date. Even though Eddie can’t see it because he was behind them and watching them afar

Now, It's pretty obvious who they are referring to because videogames and pizza is what Buck, Eddie and Christopher did from the past 6 years. Penny is blonde as Buck and him and Eddie smiled everyday when they are with each other because they enjoy their time with each other

The math class also is a methaphor because in the past seasons we saw that neither Eddie and Buck knows anything about math until Buck died and when he came back he knew all the answears and he was a jenious at math. That brought them to their first poker date night togheter as Chris and Penny dated because they met in math class. Even though neither of them knew it was a date

Eddie watching Chris from afar it can be also a methaphor of the fact that now he can’t see what he have with Buck because he doesn’t think that what they do is romantic coded or anything but then Buck line came and it's very important because Buck is the first one who are saying that there is just ONE CASE where there's underlying sexual tension and Eddie face to that was speechless. Almost as he got what Buck said but he doesn’t want to think about it. So what Eddie did? He just change the subject

Because if we think about it, in episode 5, Eddie didn’t think Buck and Tommy was interested in each other in a romantic way. Also, Eddie didn’t think Tommy was gay in the first place and it freak Eddie out a bit but then he just proceed to support his best friend because nothing will ever change his bond with Buck. As he tried to change the topic and talking about something else. But then at the bachelor party Eddie couldn’t hide his feelings and from his expression is pretty obvious is jealous of Tommy

But what Eddie did in next episode? Instead of understand why he was a little mean to Tommy he put himself in an emotional cheating relantionship with a copy of his dead wife (💀💀). Again, he's trying not to think about it and putting that feeling away. Changing the subject

2) The second girl Chris was talking to, she was a black hair girl who we don't even know her name (👀👀). As we don't know Marisol last name. And the first thing we see about her is her jealous towards Penny because Chris was two timing her. As now Eddie is doing it to Marisol with Kim. And if Tim wasn’t jocking with the Vertigo post, we know Marisol (the nun) will break Eddie illusion to bring back Shanon on his life and of course they will break up in the end (😍🥳)

3) Buck talked with Christopher of why he was seeing more than one girl and how it was wrong for his sake. Christopher answer that he doesn’t care about them because he knows they will leave him in the end as his mom did. Eddie heard them and later he give his son the Shannon letter and with that. It seems Christopher have his closure with his mom (We don't know it yet until the last two episodes airs)

Now, from Ryan interview we know Buck is going to meet Kim and I think if that's so. Then Buck would try to tell Eddie how it is wrong for his sake and his relantionship with the nun (lol) as he did for Christopher. But I think also, that as Christopher didn’t listen to him. Eddie won't listen to Buck either. Because Eddie is still missing Shannon in some ways and seeing her in Kim face made him again romanticed his marriage with her. When we know the memories he played weren’t happy ones but where we saw there were problem in their marriage. Problems in wich Shannon asked Eddie to divorce him before dying

But as Christopher have found his way to close that chapter with the letter. Kim is the key to Eddie to have that closure with Shannon and realize why he can’t commit to any women he's been with or have what he though he had with Shannon. Because he have to go deep into himself and understand something he didn’t understand before (as his sexuality or his feelings for Buck)

[inkykeiji]

idk abt you but ive binged your entire touya-nii series and im hooked😔even if it was 3-4 years ago😓im js thinking abt what conversation the family talks abt after the reader and touya-nii leave on christmas after kissing each other in front of the family

do they have a conversation abt it or do they disregard it, also do they find out that natsuo also has an incestial relationship with the reader and touya-nii slightly or does he never confess or nothing gets brought up

im thinking like the readers father gets smacked in the face with reality bc bes constantly avoiding the problem, it definitely does smth to him, and im guessing fuyumi is uncomfortable along with shoto and rei is like the readers father, smacked in the face with reality even though she already knew what was happening, the kiss js kinda solidified it

ooooh anon these are delicious questions!!!

do they have a conversation about it or do they disregard it?

they definitely have conversations about it, but the length and depth of the conversations depends on who the discussion is between. so, for example, we know reader’s father likes to turn a blind eye to this a lot of the time; he can’t deny it now that it has been directly and explicitly shoved in his face, but that doesn’t mean he wants to talk about it. as such, he will often deflect or completely shut rei down when she tries to discuss it (which infuriates her to no end; there are their CHILDREN for christ’s sake!!). fuyumi and shouto talk about it the most—it’s usually just standard sibling gossip, but they criticize a lot. sometimes rei will be included in these conversations, though she usually shuts them down faster than when it’s just the two of them because she’s made so uncomfortable and disgusted by the whole thing. sometimes natsuo will join in, if he happens to be around while they’re discussing it (tho they often try not to talk about it around him, since he’s so close to touya and such a little shit disturber), but he’s rarely serious about it, usually just cracking jokes and giggling about it all, which annoys the rest of his family. they also know that whatever they say around him will be reported back to touya, verbatim—not that that matters very much, anyway.

do they find out that natsuo also has an incestial relationship with the reader and touya-nii slightly or does he never confess or nothing gets brought up?

they have an inkling about natsuo and his involvement within this whole deplorable relationship, but no one bothers directly asking him because no one truly wishes to know (ignorance is bliss). natsuo makes this worse by hinting at things when he IS included in those discussions about touya + reader, but he mostly does it just to watch his siblings squirm and to feel some sort of power over them, knowing he can cause such discomfort so easily. he never explicitly admits to it, though. i don’t think he would even if he WAS directly asked, because he loves keeping them suspended in that uncertainty, never giving them true closure. instead, he would respond with cryptic remarks that never fully answer the question he’s being asked; and if they push, they’ll be subjected to his explosive temper.

so yeah, you pretty much got it in your last paragraph there!!! rei is more disappointed than anything else. despite knowing the truth, she couldn’t help but hope she was somehow, miraculously, wrong. it hurts a lot to know that she was right all along.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt like the universe actively conspired against something until I witnessed the production of The Flash.

Since 1991 there have been quite a few proposals for Flash movies, but they never really got off the ground for whatever reason. Following Barry’s debut in Justice League, a movie finally was announced before multiple delays due to rewrites, in particular to cut Ray Fisher’s Cyborg from the story after he went public about the awful shit he had to deal with under Joss Whedon. Things seemed hopeless until It director Andy Muschietti came onboard, at which point production on the film finally started to go smoothly. Sure, there were rumblings about Ezra Miller having episodes on set, but that’s just typical actor nonsense, right? Surely it couldn’t get any worse!

Look, I’m here to review a movie so I’ll keep this brief: Miller committed crimes. Lots of crimes. So many, in fact, you’d think they were method acting for the role of Reverse-Flash. The thing is, despite all of this, Miller was basically given a slap on the wrist by the studio, being forbidden from doing promos and press tours (oh no! The horror!). And as if the situation wasn’t already a fucking mess, while Miller’s crime spree was ongoing WB canned the nearly-complete Batgirl movie that featured Michael Keaton and Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser while simultaneously inflating The Flash’s budget to nearly $300 million with reshoots. It seems baffling to cancel a movie that was nearly done and that people were marginally interested in for the sake of a movie that people were losing interest in quickly due to its star’s erratic behavior, but remember: Leslie Grace isn’t white, while Ezra Miller is. WB is never beating those racism allegations at this rate.

With a normal movie, this is where the nonsense ends. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

This film was meant to smooth out the clusterfuck continuity of the “Snyderverse” with a soft reboot, with Henry Cavill filming a end-of-movie cameo alongside Miller, Gal Gadot, Keaton, and Supergirl’s actress Sasha Calle to establish the new direction of DC going forward. Unfortunately, the hierarchy of power at DC changed, and Gunn shot that down. While this meant the ending would probably not get people confused with regards to upcoming projects, it also meant the movie wasn’t going to really have any closure for the old universe. Affleck, Cavill, and who knows who else are just gone, and the future is just a big old question mark. At least Aquaman is safe, maybe?

Literally none of this news was very reassuring to fans. Nothing above is any good for a film’s perception to audiences under normal circumstances, but here we have all this news coming to a fanbase that genuinely did not want this fucking movie. The DCEU was already divisive when the film was announced, and Miller’s portrayal of Barry doubly so; the fact it was adapting Flashpoint was seen as lazy and uninspired, not to mention its not really a story that lets Flash stand on his own merits, making it seem more like this movie was just an excuse to reboot; it was a multiverse story in a day and age with an abundance of such stories, and it was releasing around the same time as Across the Spider-Verse to boot; and Gunn’s reboot plans meant this story was likely a narrative dead end. This movie had an uphill battle the likes of which haven’t been seen since Sisyphus.

But much like that mythological figure, the boulder came crashing right back down when the numbers came in. The movie would likely need to gross $500 million at minimum to break even after factoring in the reshoots and advertising, and it only managed half of that with a pitiful opening weekend followed by a massive 73% drop. It now sits alongside films like The Lone Ranger and Mortal Engines as one of the most expensive bombs in history, to the point where WB would have saved more money by cancelling it like they did with Batgirl. And despite glowing praise from the likes of Tom Cruise and Stephen King, it received middling reviews from mainstream critics.

Audiences haven’t been any less mixed, but considering most people weren’t particularly excited or invested in this film’s existence this is basically a miracle. Sure, there’s plenty of people out there saying this is the “worst comic book movie ever” like they do every time a new superhero movie drops, but even more people are saying they enjoyed the film… although even they tend to have some severe criticisms.

Even though I knew most of what was going to happen in the movie going in, I wasn’t really sure what to expect given everything surrounding the movie. But you know me, I’m willing to give almost any movie a chance, and bombs this big don’t happen every day, so even before it was voted on I was trying to make time to check it out. So sit down, microwave yourself a snack—

—and watch as I try and determine if The Flash is really that bad.

THE GOOD

The biggest shock of this film is that Ezra Miller is actually really good here.

Their Barry is still a bit of a goofball, but he’s clearly matured as a character since his precious appearances. They managed to make him much more charming and likable than he ever was, and this gets compounded when he interacts with the younger Barry and gets confronted with how annoying he was before. I think young Barry could have come off as really insufferable, but the fact he annoys everyone around him and also ends up maturing makes him a lot more endearing.

Miller really kills it with the emotional moments, particularly the ending encounter with Barry’s mom and the scene where old Barry snaps at young Barry. The film is really carried by the dramatic, emotional moments far more than any of the superheroics, and Miller manages to sell a lot of it very well. It was to the point where I started thinking, “I really wouldn’t mind if they stick around.” Then a scene where Barry says the Justice League has no real psychiatric help or where his younger self ends up repeatedly exposing himself in public by accident happens, and then I remembered, “Oh yeah, aren’t they a mentally unwell criminal?”

Unsurprisingly, Michael Keaton absolutely kills it in his role as Batman, but much more shockingly is that Ben Affleck's brief return as Bruce is pretty great as well. I always thought Affleck, much like Henry Cavill, was desperately trying to give a great performance while weighed down by bad writing; here, he gets an actual poignant scene where he talks to Barry about how dwelling on tragedies isn't the way to do things, and you should try and move forward instead. It shows he really could have been great if given better material to work with.

Okay, enough being nice to Affleck, I wanna talk about Keaton again. As much as the marketing hyped him up and as much as he is obviously the most blatant fanservice possible, it's still so cool to see him in the suit again. I am not immune to nostalgia pandering, and as corny as it could have been from anyone else, the zoom into his face when he says The Line really is a highlight of the movie. Keaton has a great deal of charisma, and while there are issues with Batman they aren't his fault at all. Most impressively, he doesn't steal the show away from Miller like I thought he would; he enhances the scenes he's in without stealing the spotlight completely from their performance. I feel like this is a problem in a lot of movies like this, where the lead gets overshadowed by a hyped up character, but somehow The Flash of all things managed to avoid this.

And as bad as the cameos could get, this movie gave two of the greatest cameos ever put to film with the return of the GOAT George Clooney Batman and, best of all, Nicolas Cage Superman from the unmade Superman Lives, fighting a giant spider to the death just as God intended. I am not immune to the charms of Nicolas Cage.

Overall, this movie presents us with a solid story, plenty of fun moments, great character dynamics, and more... for the first two acts, anyway.

THE BAD

Once this movie hits the third act, it basically just loses any and all focus and becomes a big dumb video game-esque battle against Zod and his forces in a bland desert landscape. While both Barrys admittedly get some pretty cool moments sprinkled in and Keaton’s Batman’s second death is actually a well done emotional moment, Supergirl ends up being completely wasted, with her sole role being to angrily scream and then die repeatedly.

This actually highlights the problem with Kara in this movie: She’s basically nothing but a plot device and has zero personality, and a good 80% of her dialogue is just angry screaming. As hot as Sasha Calle is and how much she obviously wants to make Kara compelling, she is given so little to work with that her efforts end up being fruitless. She does nothing of consequence after helping Barry get his powers back, and could be replaced or written out of the story and it would still make perfect sense.

Zod’s inclusion is pretty baffling as well, especially since they chose to water down one of the only good things from Man of Steel into a boring, generic doomsday villain. You can really feel that poor Michael Shannon would rather be doing anything else, and his bored performance just highlights how poorly implemented Zod is in the plot. Like, the Fladh has some of the best and most colorful DC villains in his rogues gallery, one’s that are often overlooked because Batman’s villains sell more toys. Why not highlight some of them instead of taking a Superman villain and stripping him of all personality to the point the actor clearly has no passion for the role? Cutting Zod would make cutting Supergirl even easier, and then two of the biggest problems with the movie are gone!

The third act does manage to mostly rerail itself once it goes back to Barry trying to unfuck the timeline, with only a disgustingly egregious bit of fanservice that I’ll discuss in the next section hampering it. But at the end, despite the incredibly based George Clooney cameo, there’s just so many unresolved and unanswered questions, with the biggest one being who killed Barry’s mom? Considering her death is what kickstarted the whole plot, you’d think this might come up, but it never does. A lot of other things come up and get dropped too, like whatever was going on with Batman in the opening, but maybe I’m just crazy for wanting elements introduced in a plot to have significance beyond just being there to be cool.

Even beyond that, there’s the fact that Supergirl and Keaton!Batman’s final fates are never really resolved, something that apparently wasn’t a problem in early versions of the film since they showed up alive in the final scene. As much as I loved seeing Clooney, I think trading him for getting some closure for Keaton and Calle would have been more satisfying.

Everyone harps on how bad the CGI is—and it absolutely is, don’t get me wrong—but for the most part I found it endearingly bad. Like the opening with the CGI babies? That’s too goofy for me to hate. But once the movie revolves into bland grey and black CGI bad guys and creepy deepfake celebrity cameos, I stop being quite so forgiving.

Oh, and on the subject of cameos, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one as pointless and unfunny as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman showing up out of nowhere (complete with theme music) to make Bruce and Barry look like dumb assholes. Imagine thinking this was a good idea.

THE UGLY

The biggest point of contention surrounding this movie is the CGI necromancy used in the aforementioned cameo clusterfuck from the climax, which gives us George Reeve, Christopher Reeves, and Adam West posthumously reprising their DC roles in non-speaking appearances (there’s archived audio from West, but his cameo isn't really focused on to the point you can barely tell it's him) where they just stand there before the camera swoops around like in that Saul Goodman gif.

I think this is one of the very few times where I actually think the outrage is mostly justified. To be clear, I’m not getting mad on behalf of dead celebrities I never knew, and as long as the filmmakers went through the proper channels and the estates of these stars were properly compensated, I don’t have any legal objections. All of my distaste is coming from a subjective, moral standpoint.

I have never liked this CGI necromancy ever since Rogue One popularized it. I find it really gross and distasteful, and in most cases I think finding a lookalike actor would be preferable than playing Weekend at Bernie’s with a computer generated facsimile of a dead person. In The Flash, I understand having lookalikes would diminish the wow factor of the crossover, but there was an extremely easy workaround to this: Have cameos from all the living DC stars.

Was Brandon Routh not available to put on the Superman tights? Would it have been so bad to let Grant Gustin pop in for a cameo? They acknowledge Helen Slater, so why not Melissa Benoist? Hell, if you want to reference bad, campy movies, have Shaq show up as Steel or Josh Brolin pop in as Jonah Hex! Or even Ryan Reynolds, I’d bet he’d be down to return if you gave him a real suit this time!

Like there’s just no excuse for ghoulishly parading around dead guys when there’s so many alive guys you could use instead. People can complain all they want about the fanservice and cameos in the past few Spider-Man films, but at least they only had returning characters played by living actors. And when this movie already has the niche, out-there Nic Cage Superman cameo, proving they were down to do things as out there and inoffensively creative as reference unmade movies, it’s really just inexcusable. It doesn’t ruin the movie for me, but it makes me lose a bit of respect for the people who okayed this over less offensive cameo ideas.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

To my surprise, this film actually turned out to be pretty good. Not “great,” not “the best superhero movie ever,” but genuinely mostly good and enjoyable.

My opinion is that the movie is good in spite of itself. The third act is truly a hot mess, the stupid desert battle against Zod is awful and boring, Supergirl is depressingly pointless, so many plot points are just dropped or otherwise forgotten, and the CGI necromancy is nothing short of ghoulish. But the rest of the movie is truly a lot of fun. Barry and his younger self have a fun dynamic, Keaton really manages to take what little he’s given and show that he’s still got it as Batman, the Clooney and Cage cameos were delightful, and most importantly the emotional moments are actually effective.

I think with a bit more polish this film could have actually lived up to the hype around it. There is a great movie in here being suffocated by fanservice and CGI but still managing to get a few gasps of air regardless. I think if they’d kept the conflict more grounded or made Reverse-Flash the primary antagonist, things might have turned out better.

I think its score is pretty fair. My friend @huyh172 described this as “the worst good DC movie,” and it’s an assessment I fully agree with. It’s not as good as Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, the Snyder Cut, or Shazam!, and it’s definitely not as bad as stuff like Wonder Woman 1984 or Josstice League. It’s also a bit too enjoyable to be mid. It’s just a really solid movie held back from true greatness by some damning flaws… and really, that makes it the perfect capstone to the "Snyderverse," a cinematic universe that had some solid movies but was held back from greatness by incredibly bad ones.

[dakotajchnson]

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 | self-para

CHARACTERS: Dakota Johnson, with mentions of @fameheughan SETTING: Melanie Griffith's home in LA. SUMMARY: After witnessing something that shattered her trust, Dakota flees to her mother’s home in Los Angeles, desperate to outrun the pain. But when an unexpected call comes through, everything she thought she knew — and everything she feels — is thrown into question.

After witnessing another woman kiss her husband, Dakota had done the only thing she knew how to do: run. She hadn't answered Sam’s calls, hadn’t even opened his messages. She wasn’t wired for calm or rationality when her heart was broken — no, she was the girl who packed up her pain and fled without a plan. True to her impulsive nature, she had scooped up Lennox, booked a private flight, and escaped back to Los Angeles without looking back. Now, five days later, she was still hiding out at her mother’s house, nursing the slow, hollow ache that felt like it might never leave her.

"She's finally down for her nap. She's feisty, that one," Melanie Griffith said with that warm, raspy voice Dakota had known her whole life. Dakota sat cross-legged with a journal open on her lap, pen in hand, pulling her headphones off, forcing a smile for her mother’s sake, but it was thin, brittle, and didn’t come close to reaching her eyes. Melanie sat beside her on the couch, the way she used to when Dakota was a teenager, after bad auditions or heartbreaks that felt like the end of the world. She ran her hand through Dakota’s hair, a small comfort that somehow made Dakota’s throat tighten painfully.

"Don't you think it's time to talk to him?" Melanie asked, her tone gentle but insistent. Dakota exhaled sharply through her nose and closed her journal with a snap. "There’s nothing to talk about," she muttered, the words tasting bitter in her mouth. Melanie opened her mouth again — probably to launch into the same cautious optimism she'd been peddling for days — but Dakota cut her off before she could finish. "Don't," she said, her voice sharper than intended. "We've already been over this." She pushed up from the couch, leaving the journal and her mother's worried gaze behind, and made her way outside to the pool.

The California air was cooler now that the sun was beginning to sink, but the water still shimmered invitingly. She kicked off her sandals, sat at the edge, and dipped her bare feet into the coolness. The shock of it grounded her a little. Not enough, but a little. Without thinking, she pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her sweater, an old, bad habit she'd sworn off years ago, and lit one with trembling fingers. The first inhale scorched her lungs, but God, it felt good to have something sharp and tangible to cling to when everything else inside her felt so goddamn fragile.

Her phone buzzed on the concrete beside her. She glanced at the screen. Unknown number.

Dakota’s stomach twisted. It could be work. It could be Sam. It could be more pain.

She stared at it for a moment, the cigarette burning low between her fingers, before steeling herself and hitting answer. "Hello?" she said cautiously.

"Please don't hang up," a woman’s voice rushed out.

Every muscle in Dakota’s body went rigid. "Who is this?" she demanded.

"Amy," the woman said. "Please, just hear me out."

The name hit Dakota like a slap. Amy. The woman she saw — the woman she watched — kissing her husband. Dakota let out a small, hollow laugh. "Boy, you have some nerve," she said darkly. Her thumb hovered over the red hang-up button, her whole body vibrating with rage. But something — morbid curiosity, masochism, hope? — kept her from ending the call.

"I know I’m the last person you want to hear from," Amy said, her voice thick with remorse. "But it was my fault. All of it. I... I thought I could get him back. I knew he was married. I knew better. But I convinced myself I needed closure. To see if there was anything left. And when I realized there wasn’t... I just— I messed up."

Dakota closed her eyes, tears gathering at the edges, threatening to spill.

"I kissed him," Amy continued, voice cracking. "I kissed him. He didn’t kiss me back. He pulled away. He looked horrified, Dakota. He didn’t want me. Not even a little bit. And I want you to know... I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. You and Sam... you’re his whole world. I see that now. I just wanted to say it out loud. I’m sorry."

Before Dakota could say anything, before she could yell, or cry, or ask why the hell Amy thought this confession was supposed to make it better, the line went dead.

Dakota sat there for a long moment, staring at the phone in her hand like it had turned to stone. Her cigarette had burned down to the filter. The sun had dipped lower, throwing long shadows across the backyard.

The hurt was still there — raw, aching, relentless — but now layered with something else. Reluctant understanding. The beginnings of forgiveness. And god, it scared her. Because as angry as she still was, Dakota wanted to believe Amy. Wanted to believe that Sam hadn't betrayed her. That their life, their family, hadn't been built on a lie.

She stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and rose unsteadily to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly, but she forced herself to walk back inside.

Melanie looked up from the kitchen island where she was scrolling through a tablet, concern etched deep into her face.

"Are you okay, baby?" she asked softly.

Dakota swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and gave the smallest nod. "I need to call Sam."

[novelmonger]

Honestly, this is a big part of why I stopped watching at the end of season 5. I desperately needed to see these characters I'd become so invested in find some approximation of closure, some kind of ending that could at least give me a little bit of hope that they would be okay. But I was already getting fed up with the way they play fast and loose with things like angels and demons and God and heaven and hell. There was one episode in particular (I think it was in season 5, but I don't remember exactly which one) that left me with my head in my hands, seriously wondering if I could put up with their frankly disrespectful and irresponsible treatment of such things anymore. I soldiered through to the end of season 5 for the sake of the brothers, but I knew that I just needed to Get Out.

I'm not saying that anyone else needs to do the same, Christian or not - that's up to everybody to decide on their own. But it's why I always say I can't in good conscience recommend the show to anybody, and it's one reason why Supernatural has and probably always will remain a "second-tier" fandom for me (in terms of importance to me, not quality).

Because I think you hit the nail on the head. It's not just "wow, they got the lore completely wrong," it's that there's something fundamentally hollow at the core of it all. We like to joke about how many times Sam and Dean have died, but like...that's so depressing when you think about it?

As a Christian, I take great comfort in knowing that I will die once, and I don't have to worry about lingering as a ghost or someone selling their soul to bring me back or anything else. When I die, I will be with God - not in some little corner where I get to relive my best memories and hang out with my loved ones, but in a whole new chapter of existence for which this life has been nothing but the prologue. I will be looking forward to eternal life with the One who cared for me so much He suffered far more than a Winchester could even dream of, not just looking backward on the glory days from when I was alive on Earth.

Sam and Dean can't give each other up, can't let one of them die and stay dead, they'll do anything to prevent and reverse it, and that's so powerful. That love is what drew me in, what probably drew all of us in. But it's also really sad. Because whatever hope the characters in the Supernatural universe have for the future, it's just so paltry compared to what the truth is.

It also could be downright dangerous, if people who don't know any better walk away from this show assuming that the lore behind it is fundamentally what Christianity teaches, if dramatized for the sake of the show. Like thinking that if you go to hell, it's not necessarily a one-way trip. Like thinking that maybe there are some demons who aren't really all that bad, or if you're clever enough you can outsmart them and get them to do what you want. Like God doesn't care, angels are mostly jerks, heaven is desirable mostly just because at least it's not hell....

I mean, at the end of the day, it's just a show. It's a work of art created for entertainment, and it delivers on that more often than not. And the vast majority of people who watch Supernatural are perfectly aware that it's a work of fiction. But it's also true that the media we consume begins to affect the way we think and the way we look at the world.

Okay, time to serve some SPN tea.

Gotta be honest, as a Christian, there is so much about Supernatural that makes me really uncomfortable, ESPECIALLY the later seasons. Which sucks, because Sam and Dean are my favourite kind of characters, and hunting monsters is super cool, but there's all... that.

I mean, I never wanted to watch a whole 15 season show anyway, but digging into the story and some of the lore to gain a clearer overview makes me even more picky and choosy. Yeah, I see some great characters, some really cool adventures, some beautiful relationships, and some genuinely good storytelling. But I cannot in good conscience watch any of this show at all, without talking about what is wrong with it too.

Like, I have a bunch of you my friends who are getting into it, and like I said, Sam and Dean's relationship is like a siren call to me, but I'm beginning to think I can't just enjoy this on some fun surface level; I can't just take what I like and ignore the rest. Because the rest is a dangerously twisted mess of truth, but not just any truth, the kind of truth that means the difference between eternal life and death.

Like, yeah, it's a joke how nothing dies more in Supernatural than the fourth wall, but there is something about this show, and the way they take VERY REAL spiritual elements and blur them across the line between fantasy and reality that feels wrong. Of course I'm an adult, of course I can parse out the difference between truth and fiction. But the fact remains that there is Ultimate Truth, and this show often (especially in the last 7 or 8 seasons) feels like it's deliberately taking that truth and subverting it or twisting it because it doesn't want you to know that Tuth.

At it's heart, I find Supernatural to be hollow and hopeless. Hang on, hang on, hear me out!

Yeah, that sounds crazy when the fans have long talked about how much of a family they find in each other, how many hard times they got through by being inspired by the characters determination to "Keep Fighting" (which I 100% support by the way!), and how the core of the show is supposed to be Dean and Sam and their love for each other. And on a two dementional plane, that's fine, that's good. But there is a major flaw in the theme of a story being 'all we have is each other as human beings, and if we just love each other enough, we can fix this world, we can make things right'. Because it's a lie.

That is not a message we can take away from a story and apply to real life, because we can never make each other complete, we can never save each other, not for eternity, no matter how much we love. We need God, the Creator and Sustainer and Lover of the universe, of US, us messy broken people, to be the ultimate source of love and strength and forgiveness and understanding.

Supernatural says that there may be Higher Powers, but you can't count on them, you can't trust them, in fact, the conclusion it vomes to is that they're couldn't-care-less a**holes, who will turn on you and destroy you if you don't do what they want. Uh, hang on, that sounds like the Roman gods. And the Greeks. And all the gods of history people hated even as they worshipped, because they were so hungry for someone to be watching over them, to be in charge of this crazy thing called life. The sad thing is that Supernatural does this using the title that basically everyone in the Western world knows to reference the Christian God. At least the writers had enough sense to leave Jesus alone, yeesh. But that really makes me wonder how many people out there have horribly messed up thoughts about God because of this show. Like seriously, that does worry me.

There is no final authority in Supernatural, good and evil are thrown into a blender and if you like the character that flies out enough they get to live, no matter what 'side' they seem to be on. Sam and Dean start out with pretty decent moral compasses, but again, as the show goes on and changes hands, that gets more and more distorted. Morality becomes whatever best benefits Sam and Dean, and we ALL know how badly they screw with each other's internal compasses. There's also no clear explanation of what you do to get to heaven?? Is it just if Jack likes you enough? Ugh *throws up hands*, there's NO logic in it.

But, Rain, you say, why must it be logical? Or truthful?

Okay, you're right, logic isn't always necessary. But truth is! Because there is no getting around the fact that this show plays some very stupid games with very serious concepts. Demons and angels are very real! Heaven and Hell and the Apocolypse aren't jokes. I'm not saying they can never be directly incorporated into stories, but when we do it carelessly or flippantly or even rebelliously, we really are starting down a dangerous path. Stories have power. Positive and negative.

And at the bottom of it all, the 'fight' of Supernatural, the cycle of die and come back and keep going, just feels futile and empty. This is such a niche reference, but I've been watching the furor surrounding the story that twenty-one pilots have built, and how it swirls with questions of how the story will end. Will it end hopeless and defeated with Clancy trying to save himself (you can't save yourself, but what matters is that you keep fighting and trying anyway!), or will he accept the help and power of the Torch-bearer?

How do Sam and Dean get a happy ending and find peace in their heaven? All I see is the writers giving them the ending that they want them to have, honestly, the cycle is only broken because the characters get outside help.

But why is Supernatural so fascinating? Why is Sam and Dean's relationship so attractive? Because they are willing to do ANYTHING for each other, and we all want to be loved that much. They die for each other over and over, and we all want someone to consider us worth their own soul. (I know Someone who did that, btw, who literally became the worst of everything I am, and died to save me from Death and Hell, all in one go.) We all want to be loved that fiercely.

Of course, their relationship has it's dark side too. I think in a lot of ways, their love for each other becomes their god, especially Sam toward Dean, I think, and as CS Lewis said, "Love, having become a god, becomes a demon." They are, quite frankly, the snake eating it's own tail. As much as their love is also what sustains them, they remain stuck in a loop, and the cycle is only broken when one of them is able to let the other go. (And then they find their way back to each other, of course they do.)

Look, am I asking everyone else to deconstruct this show as thoroughly as I seem to find necessary? No. Do I think this show is okay for anyone to watch? Defnitely no. But I say all this in hopes of having someone converse with me about it, without hating me for it, lol. Like a lot of other sketchy-at-first-glance, but super popular, media, I want to engage with this thoughtfully, not flippantly, and be able to have some deeper conversations with you guys about the deeper stuff.

And so I remain, a Sam and Dean fan splashing in the shallows and digging up the lake.

[xxsycamore]

—𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘬𝘦

► SYNOPSIS:

MC is being playful, and Comte gets what he wants.

Or,

Comte gets his face rode on his birthday.

▍comte x mc 

▍rating: E (mdni) 

▍tags: Birthday Smut; Face-Sitting; Cunnilingus; Oral Sex; Come Eating; Comeplay; no food play; Wet & Messy; spoilers for comte's real name 

▍wordcount:  902

masterlist

▍a/n: Happy Birthday, Comte! I have nothing to say about this. Something possessed me, I just sat and wrote this. Glad you're here, hope you enjoy <3

When MC scoops whipped cream with the pad of her finger and lifts it to his mouth, Comte expects to be made to lick it off. It comes as a surprise when MC smears the sweet white substance across his cheek instead.

He is taken aback, golden eyes widening all for MC to admire as she stares back with naught in her own. Amused and curious, he wraps his hands around her middle a little more securely; no running away until she explains herself.

Comte has her seated on his lap in his room, a small birthday cake prepared by his truly on the decorative table in front of them. MC made it just for the two of them to share, and getting to enjoy it with her on his lap is a part of his birthday present - one that he himself greedily asked for, and she obliged.

"Hehe… you see, this is a thing in the 21st century. I could have gone even harsher on you and shoved your face in the cake while you were blowing out the candles, just so you know!"

He is now truly bewildered. What a bizarre custom to dirty a person's face with cake icing on their birthday. It would seem as though his lover found a gap in his profound knowledge about how the modern world works. Being helplessly in love with her dictates that he would just feel a burst of fondness for her because of it, and that his interest is now aroused.

"You have made a mess of me, ma douce… aren't you also supposed to clean it afterwards as well? Perhaps this is could be a common reserved for couples only, no?"

Now it's MC's turn to chuckle bashfully, secretly glad that her dear Abel is always following close behind whenever she gets playful ideas. As usual he is creative and comes up with his own that entail additional closure between them… alright then, it will be as he wishes.

MC licks a stripe across his cheek, more than what is necessary to collect the whipped cream with her tongue. She makes a show of licking her lips clean afterward as if it was the sweetest treat in the world she just tasted. Comte leans in for a kiss.

"But darling, you promised me a taste of something else this morning… something that is just as worthy of being called my birthday cake."

A bottom lip caught between her teeth, MC shudders. The libido of this man just heightens with the years, she swears, based on her observations so far. A whole lifetime with him is both a very pleasant and a very dangerous thought, and she's all in for it.

"I take it as you're willing to have it according to the custom I just shared… very well then, Abel. Go lie on the bed."

With the willingness of an obedient pet in the shell of a refined gentleman, Comte makes quite the sight for her. Wetness had dampened her underwear by the time she takes it off, keeping her dress on. Not wanting to make the birthday boy wait any longer, she climbs over him on bed, holding the skirts of her dress by the hem so the territory underneath is all at his disposal. Then she descends, swollen pussy lips pressing against Comte's warm mouth. The faint sensation is enough to stimulate her already.

He lets his tongue out, refusing the urge to lap at her wetness just for the sake of serving her - leaving the movement all in her hands to dictate and toy with. MC uses it all to her utter advantage, finding a pace that works well for her, rocking softly back and forth. It takes a couple of minutes to get used to the initial outburst of pleasure but eventually she braces herself for taking a look down at him. Skirts pushed out of the way so the place where he serves her is exposed, her cheeks heat up immediately. She can all but see the skin around his mouth glistening with her juices.

"Abel… I'm gonna make a mess of you if we keep this up…"

The response comes in the form of a low, guttural sound deep within his throat - telling volumes of how shamelessly inlove he is with the image she put in his head. He practically purrs at the way another wave of slick arousal coats his tongue as he feels the tight ring of her entrance contracting each time MC's hips buck against his face. For the lack of anything more fitting to call him, MC realizes he's utterly pussydrunk in the current moment, but then for the sake of her own wellbeing she spares him the introduction of yet another modern time thing that can be used against her, in the best way of course. The orgasm knocking on the doors of her reason is unavoidable, and even though she's all in charge of that, her hips move seemingly on their own. She rides her beloved's face to completion, screaming his name to the heavens as she makes a pretty mess of his pretty face.

Instead of electrifying overstimulation, there is only a need for more. This is only a part of all the things she wants to do to him on his birthday, so she should really consider taking her pussy off his face soon, but…

Taglist: @arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran  @thehappycat123 @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @theuwuisunreal @ravenarld @kyokirigiri-22 @kimmy-banana @devonares @animeworldsposts @randomanimatedhusbandoseeker @galaxyprison @trishtori @sadshaxk @starshards26 @pro-cat-stination @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @keen19thcenturygoatsstudent @lordsister @ikemen-banshou  @themysticalbeing @canaria-blackwell @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @fun-ghoul-neela @salty-fed-up-bitch  @coornn @cilokgoang​ @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 ​ @ikemenlover24 @violettduchess @mcofthemansion @tiny-wooden-robot @joy-the-reader @atelieredux @cilokgoang Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

I have been waiting for this i want more Poppy Playtime fics around and now is a chance! I am so bad at thinking of prompts I am so sorry if this doesn't sound okay- and I feel the need to ask for it to be a platonic fic please-?

Maybe a Reader that was an ex-designer for the toys designs, and Huggy Wuggy being one of their favorites, so when they see the giant Huggy Wuggy statue, creature, they express outwardly how proud they are of how Huggy turned out and how much they love their design and wish they could hug em themself abit whilst talking to themself, and during when huggy is gone expresses some small bit of disappointment before realization hits, and during the chases Huggy, instead of murder when catches, instead actually hugs, leaving the reader both absolutely terrified, relieved, and utterly confused, and after a long while gets let go, and Huggy either hangs around them still and becomes like a guard dog or heads off on his own you can decide that- sorry if this is confusing or weird,,- ;w;

- Salt Anon (imsorryifitsterribleimsobadatthinkingofprompts)

"Everyone thinks the staff disappeared 10 years ago. We're still here. FIND THE FLOWER."

You repeated the words of the note given to you by an anonymous sender, keeping them fresh in your mind.

A while ago the letter showed up in your mailbox, and at first you had absolutely no idea what it was talking about.

But then..you finally remembered that old toy facility.

Playtime Co, a place dedicated to bringing joy to children around the world with lifelike toys.

Being an ex-designer of most of them, including your favorite one Huggy Wuggy, you've come up with ideas for their appearances and functions. But that's about it really. The rest of the process was locked behind closed doors, and you mysteriously got sick when you questioned what exactly brought them to life.

Well, you took your sick day for the month, which would end up being your last day affiliated with the company ever. Nobody answered when you called after recovering and news broke out regarding the company's entire shutdown, allegedly due to families discovering massive amounts of blood while on a tour at your facility.

You knew they weren't the most sanitary, but jeez..you didn't think it'd be that bad.

It was a disappointing to see the Huggy Wuggys and other toys get pulled off the shelves. It broke your heart just as much as the children's.

In a way, it made you feel like you've put all your blood, sweat, and tears into the toys for...nothing.

Despite this abrupt change, you tried putting it out of your mind and moved on, finding a normal job that didn't involve anything unusual like what you've experienced.

Then your life was turned upside down once more with the arrival of this letter, hinting that your less-than-fortunate ex-coworkers were somehow still alive.

Your gut and logic begged you to burn it and forget that place, for the sake of your sanity.

But....this was your best chance at getting closure.

You secretly hoped to find answers, through studying old VHS tapes for anything unusual and even contacting the families of those coworkers. Oddly enough even they had no idea what happened. Their loved ones seemingly disappeared like a blip on the radar, and are still reported missing to this very day.

As for the facility itself, the mysteries turned into a "ghost story" around town--where the toys supposedly became possessed after being abandoned, and were still awaiting vengeance on their creators.

Back then you gave up on finding answers.

But now? One simple letter with a familiar flower has drawn you back here.

And here you stood, with the blue arm of the Grabby Pack, a contraption you immediately recognized. With a sigh you adjusted the shoulder strap, gazing upon the tall Huggy Wuggy statue that towered over everything else.

He wasn't just a stone or marble statue but the biggest Huggy to date, made with the same string and polyester as his smaller sellable counterparts. You've put your heart and soul into designing him and proposed the idea of him being the mascot, given how his popularity just soared.

It was a shame no child would get to have another Huggy again. To feel the happiness of one clinging to them and comforting them whenever they needed a friend.

But at least this one was still here. Elliot always addressed him as "Experiment 1006", though of course he'll always be "Huggy" to you. He was more than just a number.

"Wow..you still look amazing even after all this time." You muttered in awe. "I miss you bud, and...I wish I can give you a big hug. Just for old time's sake."

As expected, only silence greeted you. But that was fine. Huggys weren't much for conversation anyways, only hugs.

"I'm proud of what we built together. I'm proud of you." You whispered before snatching the key he held, venturing to the power room.

'That silly red arm has to be here somewhere.'

What you missed, though, were the pair of eyes that slowly shifted towards the section of the factory you departed to.

..........

After doing some electrical maintenance, you returned to the main wing to check on Huggy, only to find he had vanished.

While you were initially disappointed to see him gone..it dawned on you that maybe he heard your words.

Of course..he would've had to.

Why else would he move from his post? Though you weren't entirely sure what he could be up to or where he could be.

Regardless, you had to look for the flower. And you kept your sights on that as you ventured throughout the facility, eventually finding the other arm and using both to assist you with various tasks.

Then came the Make-A-Friend section, where you had to complete the rite of passage that was assembling a toy to open the next door. The "Nobody Leaves Without A Toy" sign was clear indication that you weren't going anywhere until you've put a toy on the scanner.

So you hummed quietly to yourself as you got right to work turning on the machines, assembling a Cat-Bee. If it were up to you, you'd try to make a Huggy, but your options were obviously limited. So you work with what you have to progress.

It could've been just the nerves of being alone in a creepy place for so long, but you felt the machines' eyes watching you the entire time...just like Huggy was.

Oh well, the sooner you found a sign of that flower, the easier this'll be. You had nothing to be afraid of.

After grabbing the finished Cat-Bee off of the conveyor belt, you brought it to the scanner. You designed her, too, and were happy with the way she turned out.

You remember just suggesting you combine a bee and a cat into one creature. A simple suggestion that took off fast, though not nearly as fast as Huggy.

With a small sigh, you let go of the handles of the pack to give her a quick hug for good luck, before placing her on the scanner. After a few moments, you saw the green check mark being displayed as the door opened.

You found yourself facing a small hallway with two locked doors and...a completely dark corridor straight ahead.

Now if you've learned anything from horror movies, this is exactly the part where some creepy monster lunges at you from the darkness. 'There's no monsters here, though...' You thought with great uncertainty as that ultimately failed to comfort you.

All you could feel was a sense of dread, just by thinking that.

But what monster did you have to be afraid of..except-

'No..stop it. He isn't a threat.'

However in the very next moment, after you've taken a few steps closer to the darkness...

You would realized how horribly, horribly wrong you were.

Huggy silently appeared from the shadows, almost as if he materialized out of thin air. He loomed over you with a wide smile, one that was full of wet, pink, fleshy gums that seemed all-too-human. His thin sharp teeth were arranged in such a way that looked like a mouth within a mouth.

You definitely did not design him with those features at all.

"H-Huggy? What are you...h-hey! Stay back!"

Realizing how close he was getting, you backed away into the previous room, wondering why he was acting like he wanted to...to eat you. His gaze was unblinking, mouth hanging open like a ravenous dog as he showed no signs of understanding your commands to stop.

But before long you heard alarms and glanced over your shoulder, seeing the door to the ventilation shaft had opened.

No way could that be a coincidence.

Someone else was watching you.

You didn't know who, what, why, or how. But you knew one thing for certain:

You had to get the fuck out of here.

"I'm sorry, Huggy. Please don't follow me!" You ran to the door, jumping onto the conveyor belt before rushing inside the ventilation system. Despite the obvious "DO NOT ENTER" sign plastered beside it, you had no other choice.

Unfortunately you had to duck down as you navigated through it, which didn't help the weight of the pack. But you could manage it for the time being.

Though you heard nothing behind you, and you figured it was better if you didn't look back at all. Not even once. You just kept your eyes forward. There were a lot of slopes and holes you could easily fall through, so you watched your step as well.

Ahead of you were some grates, and you froze in fear upon seeing Huggy turn the corner and rush over to you, before turning left and disappearing.

He didn't crawl. He was actually crouched, using his long limbs to shuffle through the tight spaces. The vents didn't impede his movement whatsoever.

In fact..he was still faster than you.

The only way to go was left, so you did and tried to keep an eye out for the monstrous toy. You were no maintenance worker, so you had absolutely no idea where you were going or where he'll pop up.

All you could do was pray that your body won't end up decaying and rotting in here--adding to the stench of death that already swamped this entire place.

You noticed spraypainted words on the walls, like "DANGER" and "DON'T", wondering if someone left those messages here as a warning.

It would be more helpful if they showed themselves and told you what the hell was going on here.

By some miracle you've evaded Huggy long enough to find a way out, sliding down a ramp that sent you straight out onto a catwalk. The vent door slammed shut soon after, allowing you to catch your breath.

You noticed a giant box up above you with red, green, and blue handprints on it. Before you can react, the door burst open and Huggy screeched, leaping over to you.

"Shit-!!!"

He had you trapped in his hold, hoisting you up high above his head. You could only look down in terror, seeing his gums drip saliva, and you closed your eyes as you awaited the inevitable.

Dying here, without learning anything about your coworkers or why your beloved creation had betrayed you.

Maybe this was your punishment for being so nosy. For blindly trusting that damned letter.

Yet you felt no pain, instead there was only..

Softness?

Opening your eyes, you found yourself faced with a furred blue chest, arms gently squeezing you.

Just like..a hug.

"H-Huggy..?" You murmured, confused, terrified, and..oddly enough relieved.

Of course, this is what he wanted from you: a hug after not seeing a single human in forever.

Maybe you were overreacting when you first saw him approach you.

He genuinely made you feel scared for your life, so...why did you feel so guilty for running?

You were filled with conflicting emotions.

After a minute or two had passed, Huggy finally set you down and did nothing else, except crouch to see your face better. You looked into his glossy plastic eyes, noticing almost..humanlike ones within them.

Or maybe it was just a weird reflection, or your own eyes playing tricks on you.

You didn't know what to believe anymore.

But you released all the tension within you with a forced laugh. "Oh Huggy..you should've told me that's all you wanted." You sighed, feeling your heartrate calming down. "You were probably excited to see me, huh?"

Nodding, he patted you on the head gently. Then he perked up and crawled past you, grabbing the boxes blocking your way and throwing them into the foggy abyss below.

It was quite a long way down, indeed.

"Oh! Thank you." You also saw, across several more catwalks, the giant painted poppy flower on the opposite wall. A door appeared to be in its center.

"FIND THE FLOWER"

That's right. That's your original objective.

You wondered how Huggy knew, but when you turned around to question him, he had disappeared back into the vents.

Finally..you realized something you've been blind to all along: he wasn't just chasing you around to get the chance to hug you.

He was also showing you the way forward.

[tredderwrite]

Finally ~ c!Technoblade

Word count: 1.4k

Pairing: c! Technoblade/ reader

Warnings: none

(pov pronouns: she/ her)

☆   ☆   ☆   ☆   ☆    ☆   ☆   ☆   ☆    ☆   ☆   ☆   ☆    ☆    ☆   ☆   ☆    ☆

The pink-headed boy sat still, head down yet his eyes didn’t leave her once, barely peeking under the locks of hair that fell in front of his face. She was his muse, she was what he wanted to fight for, she was… laughing, twirling her hair at the boy in front of her, and for once the ego king himself thought about what it would feel like to be someone else, to be the one making her smile like that.  

The other guy had his back turned towards him, he seemed to slump down, his posture was outright horrendous, and the way he gestured with his hands only made him look stupid. They would laugh at him together if she wasn’t the one he was gesturing towards, her smile widened every time, without fail; and he counted, it was once every two minutes, and then every minute, and now the laugh seemed like one continuous sound, how did she even find the time to have a conversation if all she did was giggle like that. 

She finally noticed him behind her new friend, he didn’t look too pleased with her, but he never looked pleased with anything, in her eyes it wasn’t alarming, it wasn’t seen as a silent plead to understand like he had hoped, more like a usual bad mood. And so he stood up, her hug didn’t seem to phase him on the outside but the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood up let him know of the effect she could have. She smiled at him, and he swiftly looked away, deciding to stay close but look off, anywhere but her, trying to create some mental space between them as he couldn’t bring himself to walk away. And it was upsetting, he had never felt so weak, nobody ever rejected him, not that he really ever liked anyone else, there wasn’t enough place in his mind for all of that, overwhelming people irritated him, he only wanted whatever she had to offer and she wanted everyone else but him. 

A light hum came from his side, looking over to see the culprit behind such a crime as snapping him out of his thoughts. “Yea?” “You look dreadful..” Wow, such sweet words coming from the girl who was just a few moments ago laughing like it’s the first time she’s ever found anything funny .” “Thanks,” he shot her a smile, well, not a real one, like the sarcastic ones you do when you need to make a point without making a fuss. He thought his words over carefully, the last thing he would wanna do is hurt her, but it was increasingly difficult to resist grabbing her by the shoulders and screaming about how deeply he was in love with her. 

“You look like you’ve found prince charming” he referred to the boy who already walked off, secretly wishing he would never return, hoping to get some closure to feed his suspicions. He got what he wanted, just not in a way he would like “And if I did?” she smiled, a genuine one, looking down with a light red flush rising up on her cheeks. If she wasn’t there in the moment, this would be the straw to break the camel's back, he would surely go crazy if he wasn’t staying grounded for her sake. “Shut the fuck up, gross” she only laughed, making some backhanded remark about him finding someone too, but he wasn't too worried about that, her last words struck him harder now that he had time to think about it, there was one meaning, he wanted there to be more, he wanted to believe she was joking but the words said kept flying around, the voices repeating back to him, And if I did? so simple yet it felt like the biggest bag of bricks had just dropped in his face, and his arms were tied; he felt entirely helpless, there was no way back.

Without a word he walked away, not worrying about all the shouting behind him, occasionally it was his name and then a couple of “Stop!” ‘s and then followed by “Hey! Slow down! What’s wrong?!” but, he kept walking, there was nothing that could hold him back, he needed to get away and get away fast before he completely broke down in front of her, all over some feelings that he himself deemed useless. 

She trailed behind as fast as she could, not quite catching up to the big strides of such a tall man, she was practically running and still too slow for him. Shouting didn’t seem to help and so she slowed down as he walked in a woodsy area, getting lost in all the crossroad trails covered in about an inch of snow. The only good part about his height was his proportions, making it easy for him to leave a trail, one that she decided she would follow without the need to lose her breath. 

They both walked the same steps, his walking slowed as did hers and now they were at a constant, following blindly wherever his feet would lead them. He didn’t have a plan, his cabin was way behind him, but walking back would mean facing her, and he was on a mission to do quite the opposite. A clearing near a beach seemed to catch his eye, not very safe for nighttime but he figured he could pearl back last minute, he needed to clear his head right now, the voices were angrier, crazier than him and he’d be damned if he let them win. What he was unaware of is the fact that she was following behind, the careful chase brought her to a few conclusions, including the possibility that The Technoblade himself could love her back. 

As he sat on the sand, he thought about how anything between them could ever play out, trying to convince himself maybe it’s better if she’s away, maybe it would be more efficient for him to steer away from a romantic interest, after all, he was considered one of the most dangerous people back in L’manburg, maybe he was just as bad as they say. These what-ifs circled around, tunnel vision slowly closing in on him, and again he was snapped out of it by his one and only. She sat down slowly, a solid foot between them, she didn’t wanna make any moves that could upset him further. The mistake was just that. Her thoughtful harmless actions stuck a nerve, he was already afraid of her fearing him, and the distance proved him right in his head. 

He shot up, her following close behind, an awkward few seconds of eye contact exchanged before he had the courage to speak up “You should go.” His ever-so-monotone voice now switched for one of full emotion, shaky and unsure. But she stepped closer, the voices now fully screaming at him, “RUN” “TELL HER” “RUN AWAY” “SPEAK UP” “DON’T TELL HER” “TELL HER”, that same tunnel vision now returning, but he pushed his own fear aside, she was going to confront him and he knew that, his only option was to face it, so he shook his head a few times, old habit, a way to bring his thoughts forth and push the voices back. The long-awaited conversation finally started off, almost painful. “Techno, I’m sorry,” “Sorry for?” He tried to play it nonchalant again, and he was right, she had nothing to be sorry about, he knew his actions would have consequences eventually. “Sorry for not realizing, and before you say anything,” she waved a threatening finger in his face, keeping him from interrupting, “I always saw me by your side, I just didn’t think you’d actually want me there.” 

Standing confused, he tilted his head to the side, part of him amused by her boldness in assumption and the other shocked she finally caught on. Took him a few seconds of processing to gather that she was the one who thought he wouldn’t love her back, never once noticing his own occasional cold-natured actions in which he had most likely turned her down multiple times. 

But that didn’t matter right now, she was there, and she loved him back, and that was all that mattered, he leaped at her, trapping her much smaller frame in his arms, squeezing just a bit too hard, but she didn’t mind, finally she knew what he felt, finally it was just the two of them alone.

[underratedandoverit]

slipping out of my fingers

912 words past orangekip

im sorry i wrote angst i. i dont know. my mind is dealing with something rn clearly even tho its not on the surface but like. yeah. this has been plaguing me the past few days and so i just barfed the words out and here we are. this is kinda alternative events post immortal fears there is no happy ending. im sorry

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate (im tagging yall since you wanted to be tagged in everything, not cause i think you'd enjoy suffering tonight)

on ao3

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The house was so quiet it almost made him nauseous.

Cassidy had been dragging himself through every room possible, being met with the same silence and loneliness every single time. Every single light of hope had dimmed after another, every single door opened to an empty room without a single soul inside it.

Without him ever encountering that smile he had grown so fond of. The laugh that still rang in his ears whenever he heard certain words. The arms that always wrapped around him in a comforting manner when he needed it the most. The soft lips he was so used to be able to kiss whenever he wanted.

He couldn’t find any of those inside these rooms anymore. There’s nothing left behind but darkness.

Heartache.

Every curtain was closed. There were no open windows. The deafening silence lingered around stronger with each room he peeked into, eating alive the final pieces of hope Cassidy had.

He would just need to accept it.

The heartache.

Standing in front of the last door, his hands were shaking. Cassidy didn’t want to face this, but he was told he needed closure. That he needed to embrace the acceptance, that he needed to do this for himself. For their sake.

For Kip's sake.

The door handle was so cold. The tingling feeling shot through his entire body, making him shiver. It wasn’t always like this. This used to be one of the places he spent most of his time when he was home, the one room Cassidy could guarantee he would find company whenever he entered it. The room where most of the tears were shed, but also the one where things had been pushed into motion. Where they had healed, alone, separately, together.

Where they had finally said those faithful words.

There were no sunglasses to hide the tears tonight. He wasn’t even trying to hold them back as he pushed the door open finally, getting slammed in the face with every single memory at the same time, looking over the dark, messy room that hadn’t been occupied in what seemed like weeks now.

The bed covers that either of them so rarely made. The extra darkened curtains to make this a safe space. The dresser half pulled open, single clothing items draped over the edges of the drawers.

Everything just as he remembered leaving it when he walked away the first time.

Cassidy wandered slowly into the room, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. The air was still, heavy with dust, not at all how he remembered it. This had been a place of love before, holding so many strange, heavy days and nights for them both. He could vividly remember every late night conversation they had sitting on the floor at the same time. The way that hand ran through his hair, the way those eyeliner heavy eyes looked at him after they cried together for what felt like the millionth time.

There had been times before, both good and bad, making up, apologies, words that shouldn't have been said but were still shared out of both love and desperation. 

And he wasn’t going to get any of that back again.

He rustled through his jacket pocket for a brief moment, pulling out the note he had found from the kitchen counter earlier. The handwriting was familiar, but it seemed shakier than usually, even after getting better it rarely returned to this bad anymore. Or at least as far as he could remember, it didn't. This was something else, this wasn’t the usual relapse.

Cassidy read the note over and over again, until the tears made it impossible to see the letters anymore, forcing him to crumble the piece of paper, dropping it to the floor.

He carefully laid down on the bed, eyes filled with dust and tears, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had seen this view so many times before, but those dark, lonely nights were nothing compared to the pain shooting through him right now. At least before he would know someone would come for him, help him up on his feet again, be there for him at a moment of weakness like this.

This time, and from now on, he would just be alone.

The phone buzzed in his pocket. On an autopilot he pulled it out, some sense of sick hope in him making Cassidy think this was a sign. No. No, it was just Chuck. He was outside, asking if Cassidy was ready to go.

He slowly sat up, replying to the text barely registering the letters he was punching on the screen. There was no reason to wallow in it, he had to accept the fact that this was how it was going to be right now, and this was how this was going to be from now on. And that he couldn't do anything about it. 

Cassidy took one more glance around the room before he stood up. He didn’t want to leave, but at the same time the happy memories inside here were too much for his heart to handle. Everything was already broken, there was nothing he could do to fix it. Turning on his heels, he dragged himself out of the room, closing the door slowly behind him.

Closing the final door to the love he could possibly receive back from Kip anymore.

We have decided to try again with Penelope. I’m sorry. I love you.