#ehhh i dunno where this went

[wooahaes]

late night chats

pairing: non-idol!bang chan x fem!reader

genre: fluff. silly lil fluff.

warnings: food. its just a silly lil fic abt making plans w chris. mentions of past panic attacks and a not great ex-best friend.

word count: ~1.2k

daisy's notes: oh to go see the tigers with someone i love......

Chris turned over to wish you a happy birthday right at midnight, for once in bed… Only to find that you weren’t there.

He pushed the blankets off, stretching as he sat up before slipping into his house slippers. For once, he was half-asleep (the things he did for you), and pushed himself up. With a slight sway, he rubbed at his eyes before groping around for where he’d thrown his hoodie… Only to find that it was missing, too. No doubt your doing. Not that it bothered him: you liked stealing his hoodies. You told him once that you liked the smell of his cologne, and hugging or draping his hoodies around your shoulders often made you feel closer to him. Sure, sometimes you’d wear his larger ones, but you liked draping them over your shoulders the same way he would sometimes while you were working. 

Easily enough, he found you in the kitchen, standing over a pot of ramen, a pan sitting next to it with nothing in it at the moment. You had tied the sleeves of his hoodie so that it hung around your shoulders, some video essay playing off of your phone. The carton of eggs sat next to you, and you reached over to pop it open.

“Birthday ramen?” He said, trying to make a joke out of it. Except you jerked back, a sharp gasp escaping you as you turned to face Chris.

Instantly, you were relieved, even though you likely knew how silly it was to be startled by him. “You can go back to sleep, Chris,” you said after a moment, turning back to your ramen. “I’m just hungry.”

“Nah.” He made his way over, leaning against the counter. “I’m not tired.” He paused, glancing down at your ramen. “... Do you wanna share?”

With a sigh of relief, you bumped your shoulder against his. “I don’t think I could finish this alone. You want an egg?”

Chris then watched as you cracked a few eggs into the pan—one for him, one for yourself—before changing the topic. “So… Any plans for the day?”

You shrugged. “I dunno. Bare minimum was taking the day off, and since I did get it…” You chewed at the inside of your cheek for a moment. “Didn’t think ahead past a vague ‘enjoy freedom.’”

He nodded along, arms folded across his chest. “We could… go to the aquarium.” 

“We went a few weeks ago,” you said. “With Felix and Jeongin.”

Ah. Right. It’d been your idea to invite the two. Chris hummed to himself. “Amusement park?”

“Ehhh.” 

“Oh.” He looked at you again, “Right, you don’t like roller coasters.”

“It’s not that I don’t like them—”

He shook his head. “No, I remember the story you told me. High school best friend forced you onto a ride you didn’t want to go on, and you had a panic attack afterward.” Chris frowned at the thought. You’d laughed off the story when you first told it to him, but it was half-hearted. He’d held your hand and promised he’d never push you into anything you were completely sure you didn’t want to do (and he’d keep holding your hand if you decided you wanted to try something). “Still can’t believe she fucking laughed at you.”

You shrugged it off, not meeting his gaze as you pressed your lips together for a minute. A few seconds later, you forced a smile. “Eh. It is what it is.” 

Except you deserved better than that, he wanted to say. Sometimes Chris imagined how different certain situations in your life could have gone if he had been there to hold your hand and speak up where you were too afraid to. He would have told her that it wasn’t funny. He would have split a funnel cake with you and called you cute. Maybe next time some of his friends wanted to go, he’d get you to go with him and he’d split one with you there and keep you company when they wanted to go on rides you didn’t like. 

Something stuck out in his mind, though. “... Zoo?”

Immediately, your head jerked up. “Hm?” But he could see the look in your eyes, a new idea planted right then and there in your brain. 

He giggled. “You’re like Berry when I ask her if she wants to go for a walk.”

With a snort, you rolled your eyes and turned back to the ramen. “Still…”

“If you wanna go to the zoo, we can go to the zoo.” He smiled to himself, already planning out the trail the two of you could take. He knew one of them was called the tiger trail, and, well… If the tiger plushies that littered your bedroom weren’t proof enough of your love of the big cat, everything he knew about you did. He shimmied his shoulders playfully as he moved his way over to you, “We could see the tiiigers—”

In the tiniest voice, you spoke up shyly, “... Could we?”

He just pulled you into his arms with a laugh. “If that’s what you wanna do! It’s your birthday,” he kissed the side of your neck before nuzzling his nose against it. “If you wanna see the tigers, we’ll go see the tigers.” Chris could feel the way your skin warmed up, and he just giggled again at how flustered you’d become. “Baby?” He turned you around to face him, caging you in between himself and the oven. “Say it.”

You buried your face into your hands. “You’re embarrassing.”

“I’m not gonna make fun of you,” he said, poking your sides just to see you jolt. “I just wanna hear you say it.”

Even after dating him for this long, you were still so shy sometimes. “Chris?” You peeked at him from between your fingers. “I wanna go see the tigers.”

He pulled your hands away from your face all too easily, peppering your face with kisses. “Then we’ll go see the tigers!” He held your face in his hands. “You’re so cute.”

You averted your gaze, and then finally spoke up after a few seconds, “takes one to know one.”

Fine. He’d let you get that one for today. Other days, he’d deny it and try to paint you as the cutest one in this relationship (truly, there was no competition in his eyes), but for today? He’d let you win. He just kissed you, warm and sweet, before drawing back. “Happy birthday,” he said. And then he pinched your cheeks one last time. “Gonna go see the tigers with my baby…”

You finally let out a groan, yet it was clear how much you still loved him. He might be a dorky mess of a partner, but he was yours. “We can go see your family, too, y’know,” you turned back to the stovetop to make sure nothing had stuck over overcooked. “There’s kangaroos.”

He just laughed, wrapping his arms around you. “Whatever you wanna do,” he said. “I’ll be right there with you.”

taglist: @twancingyunhao @weird-bookworm @bangchansbae @jinnie-ret @cheesemonky

[rulanarinrush]

incredibly random, baseless, probably wrong thoughts+questions about drdt. like, there's literally no evidence behind any of these thoughts. they're dumb. open to discussion bc i like hearing thoughts. as per usual i didn't rewatch anything bc i'm lazy</3 so if something is wrong sorry and also this is not a theory and also this is not a criticism of the series, if you can somehow think of this as one. also sorry if this is incredibly obvious or has been proven by the series already too lol

Also I went searching a bit to see if there's anything I remembered that's referenced here, but the only theoryposts that I can find that use ideas from them are from @/1moreff-creator (for color theory). if anyone else recognizes ideas that r similar here I in no way mean to plagiarize you and if you want credit or brought up these ideas already just lmk (Or if you want me to take this down that's fine too)

david mv baseless thoughts: color theory+roman numerials here, thank you to 1moreoff

could the "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" be a reference to arturo's "mind exercises 1 2 3 4?" I think I've seen some thoughts swirling around the fandom that it refers to the roman numerals like Veronika's, Whit's, Arei's, etc., as in literally taking 4 out of them like Whit's XV-IV becomes XI Mai's, but maybe considering it's colored green like in Arturo's section, it's referring to him? What does this mean? i dunno. could it mean he only lives to chapter 3? or chapter 4? either Whit or Veronika is involved with him as either his killer or victim? Or Hu or Teruko are involved(if you buy into that color theory thing, which I wouldn't doubt, there's a lot of visual symbolism in this series.) Could be anything. Everything in this MV is interpretation until the (main) story progresses. probably wrong about this being important to Arturo too! wrong thoughts everywhere.

could J's "do it like that, let's live together" be a reference to her+her family literally living together?(as in, the line is literal with them) not elaborating cuz it's just a guess. i think some of the drdt side characters have colors in this mv too, since although the same colors show up many times, they are usually in different shades of the color. i think the only colors i remember with the same shade showing up a lot is a dark red and black.

what is going on with that broken clock stuck with a fork in it having approximately the same frozen time as Xander stabbing Teruko in like... was it episode 5?(read the clock as 15:31, or some time close to that idr) i think so. considering there's a fork-like object, that might have been the weapon used to play optometry simulator with Xander's eye. it's probably a bit more symbolic than at face value something something xanruko but. more guesses. eden immediately becomes suspicious but like ehhh. funny coincidences. i don't want to think about it, plus it's such an immediate connection that it's almost suspicious in and of itself.

k i think that's it for any weird(and wrong) thoughts on the mv

why did Teruko bump into Xander? i don't mean this in a super deep philosophical way, I just mean that logically, she bumped into his eye, meaning it was a (semi) head-on collision where their faces were both facing each other. It could be that Xander bumped into her head from behind but I'm really trying to envision that and it's not working. maybe i have rocks for brains :( but yeah it sort of implies that Xander was going back to the dorm rooms which... why tho? if she turned the corner and bumped into him, he would have to be going in the direction of the dorms(i think, unless there's some secret passage shenanigans going on). so like. did he already get that note to kill teruko and just sort of went back there to check for stragglers? forget something in his room, even though teruko proved they can't go back inside? if it's the former why didn't he just bare-hand teruko to death in the infirmary?(JOKE) this is another dumb question that honestly needs no explanation i just like thinking about needless things.

I don't think the girl Eden kissed is Mai

ok before I get booed off the stage!!! Like everything else here I'm not opposed to the idea or this being wrong. I'm just thinking that in order for the motive to work, Eden would actually have to like. remember which girl it is. if it is Mai that makes Eden immediately suspicious, because I feel like with how much of an impact she had on the class they would have brought her up at least once if they can remember her, even if she is dead. I mean none of the class seems to remember any maybe past time in East(?) Hope's Peak, so. Anyone even remembering is suspicious. weak argument i know, it just boils down to "you would think Eden would remember which girl it is she kissed" when I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation to untangle that knot, but this entire post is full of weak thoughts for a fittingly weak mind 😔

(cw: description of murder but like ...this show... uh... you know) what is going on with how needlessly complicated Arei's murder method was? Like, what's the motive behind it? obviously it'll be explained in part 2, but why wouldn't the kiler just let her asphyxiate? I know i know human decency, but mercy is a luxury these days. and if the killer accidentally applied too much force her head would snap off like a funko pop and i really doubt any killer wants to deal with that mess so like. why take the risk? there are plenty of easier options that i can immediately think of like suffocation or drowning. i don't really think "quick death" works as an argument here since it probably takes longer to set everything up with the fish than wait for her to die. I have my guesses for this but they contain so many logical leaps that at this point you're better off letting a wheel randomly pick her killer and going with that.

what is with Eden's tendency to get involved in every murder? Ch2 is obvious, but in Ch1, let's assume that plot armor was on Xander's side and Teruko used up all her luck. It's still hypothetically possible for her to have pointed out Xander as the killer and defended Charles due to seeing the wound in the infirmary. from a story-writing perspective, i kind of get why she had to be in the room and be told to leave, but that's still suspicious to me. another weak thought.

what's with the eerie level of sympathy that whoever constructed the motives has for whoever has the entire family died secret Xander? (I'm just going to say this secret is Xander's just to have an easy way to refer to it, but I fully acknowledge it could be someone else's. I just think it's his due to parent(s) and sibling(s). Hypothetically, Teruko would just be kinda :/ at a more than 1 sibling reveal and Levi only brings up having a mom, though I get this is a weak argument too considering that others are unaccounted for.) All the motives are written with some level of blame in it, some being a bit hostile(like the 3 time attempter) but Xander's feels like it barely works as a motive due to how...kindly it's worded. I get why it does work, but kind of like how they say death games say more about their creators than their participants or human nature, I think it's revealing of something about either the audience, the mastermind, or the traitor that his is worded in such a way that it's like "well... okay...so?" like yes Xander absolutely wants to keep it a secret based on the infirmary talk with Teruko, but it really inspires no sense of urgency and it's not anything new to anyone; not the audience(us, I mean), not the mastermind or traitor(assuming they're not amnesiac), not to whomever owns the secret(probably), just the participants and maybe the hypothetical audience in drdt's fourth wall. And it inspires sympathy by specifically absolving the secret owner of guilt, which no other secret does. Sure it works as a gut punch but unless the character was already at a breaking point, it's a very weak motive.(imo, of course) not that weak motives are new, but...

"disowned" and "doing the laundry" are incredibly funny euphemisms Levi. No context, moving on

Lastly, I did some thinking about what Teruko's plan is in ch2 ep 7. No clue what that is! But I was thinking about Veronikas(? sorry idr) hypothetical plan where they just bore the audience out like a certain mainline dr title. Even though it's not entertained as something practical, I do think that the hidden text in the about page implies that it wouldn't work due to the fact that they can just starve to death according to timelooper. Is the hidden text even talking about this specific killing game and not one that's happened in the past or future with completely unrelated characters? who knows lol. but the pronoun "we" in it during the segment at the end of "i wish i could feel something" paragraph is kind of weird if this looper is not with the killing game participants, or at the very least watching, with different scenarios playing out each time. It's weird to just plop this on the page and have it not be relevant to the story in some way. Anyway, even if starvation is simply an entire chapter motive on its own, the fact that they all collectively starve to death without a murder means this is something that mastermind is chill with. So, despite the comforts that the mastermind/broadcasters provide the students with, there is some kind of soft time limit in this game, though I'm sure that can be artificially messed with at will. Regardless, I think it implies boring people just doesn't work.

why was this so long uh thanks for reading all of this random nonsense ig. it helps me get my thoughts out. idk what it does for you but i hope you found it. mildly ok. thanks to this fandom for always coming up with new ideas it's always interesting, and of course if i accidentally referenced an idea you had and forgot it like i said at the beginning just tell me

[getvalentined]

Finally updated my directory with the links to bsky and cara, as well as links to my screenshot and gif tags for easier access (for me, mostly) and the Strifentine tag because it belongs with my top ships.

I keep wondering if I should put a little list of my NOTPs and disliked characters up there too, but ehhh. I have one on my website, and the fact that I dislike a ship or a character doesn't mean I'm gonna talk shit or anything. I don't like Ang*al and still dedicated almost 2k words to creating closure for the character at the end of Smoke and Mirrors, I don't like Lucrecia and I still go to bat for her pretty regularly—these are good characters, I just don't personally like them, and don't like how the fandom treats them. Ships are a little more touchy, since people can be really bad at tagging them, but I can just scroll on by and not engage in conversation about them for the most part.

More personal random update nonsense under the cut.

I'm actually feeling really down lately, for a handful of reasons. Some of it is the weather and air quality recently (it's so hot I want to throw up, there's been smoke in the air so I can't breathe, etc.), but some of it is more...mental and emotional, I guess.

I am so artistically burnt out I kinda want to die (I have no plans to make this happen, don't worry), but I'll deal with it. I've been like this since Turtle's health scare a few months back, when I got less than ten hours of sleep in the span of a week, and then proceeded to get less than five hours a night for the two weeks following, so it's no shock I'm still a mess. It doesn't seem like it's going anywhere any time soon, which sucks because I still owe people commissions from fundraising for her treatment. I may end up just...saving up to refund people.

The issue is that I feel like I can't draw unless I'm working on commissions, but when I try to work on commissions I literally burst into tears and can't do anything. It's a really fucked up cycle where I end up just paralyzed and on the verge of throwing up every time I even think about drawing, which is super hard on me as an artist. I feel like a failure, I feel like I'm letting everyone down, I feel like I'm ruining everyone's opinions of me forever. It's a really shitty feeling.

I'll figure something out. I'm an adult, that's what I have to do.

Speaking of people with ruined opinions of me, I think I'm going to start muting or unfollowing people who reblog/interact a lot with BB$C. I know she has a lot of friends, and maybe she's gotten better, but she still has me blocked so I'm not exactly hopeful. This is the woman who (apparently) told her friends that I abused and lied about her because one of my friends reported and called her out for tracing, and when she faced no consequences I made a vague sad thread on the general topic of popularity rendering unethical behavior acceptable in modern fandom. I only found out that she was seemingly telling people I abused her because one of her friends made a public comment on the twits about me being abusive—on a QRT of my thread detailing how I'd spent the previous year being abused by my now-ex. Very cool for me, the knowledge that some people saw that I'd been abused and went "oh she deserves it though" doesn't haunt me to this day or anything.

It's been a couple years since it all went down, but I just...I dunno, I feel like it's hard to genuinely improve as a person without even trying to make amends with the person she said those things about? But who knows. I'd be down to talk if she ever wanted to, but she hasn't yet, and I don't assume she will. I'm one of like four people on the planet who cares anyway, so it is what it is.

Summer is a rough time of year for me in general, so I'm struggling a lot recently with feeling like I deserve to even talk to other people at all. Constantly seeing the name of someone who went out of her way to make sure that I'd never feel welcome in a community I've been part of for a quarter century pop up on my dash all the time is not conducive to fighting that feeling.

Not to pity party over here, but I do get it. My older sister, my ex, BB$C—they're charming and creative and supportive, the people that they like generally don't get to see how they can be to the people that they don't. In the rare cases that they do see it, they change the narrative to make that person into something irredeemable, downplaying their own actions (if they admit to them at all) while exaggerating the actions of the person they dislike. These people have friends that genuinely love them, so of course they're going to believe their friend over some sad-sack stranger on a dying blogging platform. It's no fault to these people that they believe their friends.

(Just to clarify, I'm not saying that my ex tried to kill me the way my older sister did, or that BB$C was abusive in the way my ex was; these are diminishing levels of trauma. She and I were never friends, our sole one-on-one interaction was me approaching her on a zine project to make sure she was comfortable with me having created a piece of spot art that seemed to have ripped off her page art; I'd done it without realizing the concept had already been used elsewhere in the project, and didn't want her to assume I was copying her without credit. The irony of this is not lost on me.)

It would just be nice to feel like the truth means anything. I'm an abusive liar because I apparently said that this woman traced a bunch of her work; not only did I not report her, but it also isn't a lie. There are overlays with over a half-dozen screenshots and official renders to prove it. But even when her friends are shown those overlays, which I have done, it doesn't matter. The goal posts move, and suddenly I'm abusive just for caring that she traced at all. Allegedly lying is what made me abusive, but somehow I'm still abusive even if I didn't lie—and she's still the nicest person in the world, even though she did.

I do hope she's better. I hope her friends have helped her to become the kind of person who looks back at what she did with guilt and shame, and that she uses those feelings to improve. But seeing her name pop up over and over, sometimes from people who know what she did and still decided to re-follow her years later anyway, is a little too much for me to handle right now.

[snackugaki]

I was semi-joking last post but ....she’s so fun to draw wtffff

Following 2007 and Rise Splinter’s example, Bay Splinter absolutely watches soaps, teleseryes, telenovelas, and dramas and Venus watches some with him 

Casey taught them how to make their own skates, so now the entire sewer is an impromptu skating rink 

... I forgot that Leo, Donnie and Mikey’s shoes actually match (as much as they could make their custom frankenshoes match-- Mikey’s is like 98% duct tape and bandage wraps tbh; “But they’re still chucks underneath...!”) I just subconsciously went Punky Brewster on her shoewear. problem is I like both. so. nyeh.

have I settled on the size of her tesse--- hahahahhahahhahhahhha no.

in a brighter timeline, if they did a 3rd movie or just put both scrotes in and pumped out TMNT movies like they have Transformers movies I’d guess Venus, Jennika, Slash, Tokka, Rahzar, whoever were probably whatchamacallit, experimental groups to Splinter & Co.’s ....control group? subjects from different experiments with the ooze before April’s dad went whistleblower. or maybe experiments from the 15 year interval trying to recreate the first lab’s results ‘cuz Sacks would’ve had the resources to recommence pretty fast after the disaster

although to explain Venus and Jennika... since Sacks had ties to the Foot Clan, and Shredder pulled that double cross with Baxter in OotS. what I would guess is that Sacks pulled whatever weight he had left with the Foot Clan (maybe with Karai at the helm in Shredder’s absence) to use their resources for any gaps with his own and as a cover to reconvene his experiments. blah blah Karai studied under Shredder obvi and so probably thought to have the scientists report to her before they report to Sacks. Sacks was kept in the dark, not told they were more or less able to recreate the original lab results on the turtles who’d become Venus’n Jennika. “oh oops they died sacks, sux 4 u try again maybe, here’s some more animals for you.” 

Venus and Jennika are taken in under the Foot once they exhibit the same potential the boys showed; Sacks just goes a little apeshit on the science, as a treat, hence Slash, and then Tokka’n Rahzar and again told they failed. Sacks fully thinks he couldn’t recreate the first lab’s results womp womp u bitch

....how would any of them break out from under the Foot? lol i dunno. uh. mmmmmaybe black market “weapons” dealing-- Venus and Jennika break out (willingly or opportunistically) during shipment to... where? nyc why thefuck not, oh look they end up in chinatown *eyebrow waggle* oh now they’ve stumbled upon a grandpa, maybe his name is Grandpa Chung in the community, I don’t know, and he adopts them surprise! is he blind and therefore just thinks they’re lost kids? blech, does he see two turtles and see an auspicious omen? ehhh hmmm..... I guuuuesssss? or is he just gonna be an example of people doing good things with no prompting because it’s the right fuckin’ thing to do, they’re obviously kids with no guardians, and goddamn we know it’s for the plot but also people are just out here being good to each other guys, it’s real, it happens.

[gren-arlio]

Back on schedule. Welcome to Part 2 of Waku Puyo Extras.

Nice art aside, hello everyone, was supposed to post this yesterday but got busy watching EVO and Magic Kaito 1412. Welcome to the second part of IDK how many parts of Waku Puyo Extras, where I find videos related to the route I'm currently translating and looking at and add more to what's there, since I know I missed stuff. Lots of it.

AKA, if you have any specific screenshots you want me to translate, LMK. For any route.

For those who are confused, or are new, I translated Schezo's storyline (for the most part) in my blog. Now, I'm just finding bits I've missed and just adding onto those.

Post will cover 2 videos today:

Small bit I completely glossed over on accident between Episodes 5 and 7 (6 isnt real).

What happens if you become a heartless beast and say no to being Serilly's friend from Episode 4, given to me via @kirstenonic05 once again. Thanks for that again.

I have a feeling these Extras are gonna be fairly short compared to others, so have fun with that.

With that, the first video:

This legit is just a scene I missed. My work really is getting easier.

The video here is...interesting due to how the events are unfolded here. The introduction from 0:08 to 0:58 is on Episode 5 of me doing this, and 1:15 is the start of Episode 7. However, thankfully, there's one new whole area of text that my video didn't cover at 1:32, where we have an Arle and Carbuncle encounter.

For convenience sake, I'll just be doing that new part. The rest are already translated by yours truly on the designated episodes.

With that, the Readmore section will cover the translations and the Serilly stuff too. Hope you enjoy this.

Arle and Carbuncle Encounter: (1:32)

Schezo:

Ugh, that's...

Arle:

...Something's bothering me about Schezo lately...

Carbuncle:

Gu?

Schezo:

(You're worried about me!? What's going on...?)

Arle:

Ah, Schezo! How long have you been there...?

Schezo:

N-no...it's not like I was eavesdropping or anything...

Arle:

Well, you know...today, Schezo...

No, it's nothing, sorry! Let's go Carby.

Schezo:

... (What were you trying to say?

No, no way...)

Arle:

Hey, Carby! Over here!

...Schezo, why are you blushing?

Schezo:

Whoa! Where did you come from!?

Arle:

Schezo really has been acting weird today after all.

...Then again, he's always weird.

Schezo:

... ... ...

Huh!? I'm not a fool or a weird guy, Arle! (You kinda are bub)

-----

I guess the Horror House is just the Land of Misunderstandings. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

With that small thing outta the way, lets begin with the other part: Becoming evil and not being Serilly's friend.

For those unaware, lemme give context:

Serilly... doesn't exactly have a boss fight. She's on the floor where you're supposed to have a fight, but she just... doesn't fight. You're given the option to be her friend or not instead, posted below.

(Top is No, bottom is Yes.)

The route I went said yes, posted in the episode count. Today, we're gonna see what'll happen if we say no via this video.

I'll be translating this entire section. It'll be fun.

-----

Saying No to Serilly:

Serilly:

Ah, you're here... Do you want to pick on me that badly?

Schezo:

Well, why do I seem like that sort of person?

Serilly:

Because...you look scary...

Schezo:

(Hm, I thought I was cool, but when you mention it, you're not wrong...)

Serilly:

...You really did come here to bully me, didn't you?

Schezo:

Of course not. If you're not the enemy, I won't fight you.

Serilly:

O-oh... so, you want to be my friend?

Schezo:

Eh? No, that's not...

Serilly:

...Is that a no?

Schezo:

(Err...what should I do?)

[We pick no and cry like men.]

...No, sorry, I can't get along with women well. (Ehhh...valid point considering you hang around Arle and Co. a lot?)

Serilly:

Oh no...is it because I don't have legs...

Schezo:

(I made you cry!? Out of all the things to cry over...)

Serilly:

That's right. You don't have to be friends with someone like me after all...

Schezo:

...Don't talk about yourself like that.

Serilly:

Eh?

Schezo:

Don't say "I don't care about myself," in such a self-deprecating way.

Serilly:

Wh-wha...

Schezo:

In life, there's routes you can take.

2 routes, to be precise. One is to always look down like you're doing right now.

The other way is to be like me, always moving forward.

Serilly:

Always...moving...forward?

Schezo:

Yeah, as long as you give up on always being unhappy.

If not, you'll never move on, never change, and never be happy.

Serilly:

... ... ...

Schezo:

You should really try to be happier about things.

That's how you make friends.

Serilly:

Well, if I try hard enough, will you be my friend?

Schezo:

Yeah, alright. So just keep moving forward.

Serilly:

Y-yes!

Schezo:

(Sorry, I shouldn't be preaching...

Wait, what in the world am I saying? I don't care if this girl is happy or not...)

Serilly:

Um...Well, excuse me.

(She leaves and chest appears.)

Schezo:

What?

Even if the treasure is right there, I can't get it! Hey, go get it for me...

...There's no one here! What am I gonna do now...

-----

In the end, you'll always become her friend. Guess Schezo doesn't exactly have the heart to fully say no. You Are Not Immune to Serilly Propaganda.

Amazing scene overall though for both characters. And with that, I think that'll be all for this week.

Cya next week, guys.

[antihibikase2]

Fame Checker

I wanted to do something like this for awhile- practicing dialogue by making a fic consisting of only dialogue.

[ Hilda Weiss. ]

"A battle prodigy from Nimbasa City. Eight league badges under her belt. Lost against Alder in the final battle. Currently trains at the Battle Subway, where she is rumored to have a 10,000 win streak- and still going."

"I've read about her before! She's the coolest, isn't she?! She started her journey much younger than us!"

"To lose only at the final battle.. and she didn't attempt the league again after that. Maybe she went soul searching..? I don't really get it."

"She looks familiar!"

"How so?"

"Hmmm.. I dunno! She looks like the big sister who gave me a very important-looking parcel!"

"The what-"

"Wh- Rosa, you can't just accept things like that from strangers! What if it was dangerous?!"

"You worry too much, Hughy! Besides, I think it is her! I mean, she has a Simisear, doesn't she? The pretty big sister that approached me had one too!"

"Still-"

"When were you planning to, you know, tell us-"

"Oh, it's not anything you two should worry about! Haven't you seen all those anime with the magical girls? Its a secret between us!"

"..not a good secret, is it? Now that you've upped and told us-"

"Specifics, specifics!"

"You're so flippant about these things, I swear.."

"But hey, isn't it strange? Hilda Weiss is so cool, she's achieved so much-"

"-and she's so smart and popular,"

"-that too! But no one's really gotten a hold of her long enough to have an interview with her."

"She's known to hide from the media at all costs. She's quite good at it too."

"No wonder her Fame Checker entry is so empty, outside of comments from other people.."

"..that'd suck, wouldn't it? To only have things about you be from the mouths of other people."

"Mmm, but it'd suck more to not have an inch of privacy, I bet. For sure, she's had enough of the spotlight- even if it wasn't shining on her long enough."

"Yeah,"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..man, I feel kinda bad now for looking her up in here."

"Well, she has an entry here, and that's that- we can't do anything about it."

"Everything here is moderated, at least- no one's going to be slandering Hilda Weiss of all people."

"True!"

"Oh! ..that's good, right?"

"Yup, yup! I'm sure the guys here will call out anyone who tries to add something fake to her entry!"

"Ah, alright, good!"

"Let's not add to the pile of losers that talk behind her back, even if she doesn't know us."

"At the very least, let's respect her privacy. I'm sure one of these days, she's gonna tell her story."

"Ah, and if she does, I hope it's in the form of a movie or documentary.."

"..you're just saying that so you can audition for a Hilda role, aren't you?"

"You caught me! It would be a dream come true. ♥"

"Ugh, Rosa, seriously-"

"Hey hey, Hugh, give me that! I wanna try!"

"Nate-!"

"Ehhh? I thought you felt bad?"

"That was a minute ago!"

[ Bianca Alabaster. ]

"A trainer from Nuvema Town. Eight league badges under her belt. Did not challenge the Pokemon League. Currently works as Professor Juniper's assistant, studying under Professor Fennel, and collaborating with Director Lenora of Nacrene City's museum in regards to the Unovan legends."

"..who's she?"

"Haven't you heard, Hughy? She's Hilda's new best friend!"

"I thought we just agreed to not be a part of the problem of guys who just talk about her-"

"No, no, look, see, the thing is- remember the thing from two years ago?"

"Plasma?"

"Plasma."

"How could I forget-"

"-a castle rose from the depths of the league! No one's forgetting something like that!"

"Yeah, exactly-"

"Wait, what does- what's her name, Bianca, Bianca Alabaster, have anything to do with this?"

"She's one of the hero's childhood friends!"

"..the hero?"

"...ah, The Hero of Truth, right?"

"..are we allowed to call him that?"

"That's what everyone else calls him!"

"Yeah, but, he's just a guy-"

"That's what's so crazy about it, Hugh! He's just a guy, just like us, and yet-!"

"I've heard that they started their journey late because Miss Bianca's dad was a worrywart. And look at her now.."

"She's working alongside the professors and even the director of the museum to uncover the dragon stuff."

"...do you think she'll find something? ..what can she see that those other archaeologists missed? No offense, but she's not that much older than us."

"Neither is the Hero of Truth or Hilda! Hilda was just ten when she achieved all those cool things, and The Hero of Truth was just fourteen!"

"I feel it in my guts- she's gonna find something that's gonna change everything we know about the heroes!"

"..we don't know much about the heroes-"

"Exactly."

"Hm. Fair point."

"Like, what did they even do?"

"I dunno, politics?"

"They didn't include politics in the legends!"

"Well duh, it doesn't sound as cool and mythic- you think Aya would listen to me telling her bedtime stories every night if the legends actually focused on that?"

"I would listen!"

"Of course you would."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...by the way, did I tell you guys that she's also the one who's gonna deliver my Pokemon tomorrow?"

"What."

"Didn't I tell you? Mom said that the professor called her a week ago, asking her if I was old enough to have my own Pokemon now and set off for a journey!"

"I mean, I knew about that, but her? That's- if she's the childhood friend of the hero, then-!"

"We can ask about Plasma!"

"We can definitely ask about Plasma!"

"You guys, you're always asking about Plasma! They've disbanded, you know!"

"You wouldn't know that!"

"Neither would you!"

"She definitely knows a few things!"

"Didn't she like, what, run into them a few times? She's not as involved as The Hero of Truth, you know!"

"Still involved! That's better than nothing!"

"Like, hear us out, that Ghetsis guy- really, it's just so weird if he gives up after putting in all that effort to trick most of Unova into thinking it's for the good of the Pokemon that they should be separated from humans!"

"Ugh, but he's like, old. He's a bag of bones."

"Rosa, you out of all people should know that old people are stubborn."

"...oh yikes, you're right. Hm."

"That settles it. When we see her tomorrow, we'll ask about Plasma as much as we can."

"Yeah! And I know exactly which Pokemon to pick!"

"You guys are soooo stubborn. Natey, give me that, I want a turn."

"Hey-!"

[ Cheren Slater. ]

"A trainer from Nuvema Town. Eight league badges under her belt. Challenged the Elite Four, but was not able to battle the champion due to unforeseen circumstances. Studied under Gym Leader Burgh of Castelia City, currently assigned to Aspertia City's gym as a normal-type specialist."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Aspertia has a-"

"-gym leader?"

"See, you guys are too caught up in Plasma, you haven't even heard! I was wondering why neither of you were talking about him!"

"We're getting a gym leader-"

"And it's Cheren Slater?!"

"...let me guess, he's also involved with The Hero of Truth like Bianca?"

"More so! He's the best friend of the hero! Right, Rosie?"

"Mhm. Unlike Bianca, he's more secretive- kinda like Hilda. He hasn't spoken a single word at all."

"I'm telling you, something happened in that castle. Something they don't want us to figure out."

"Why?"

"Well, when The Hero of Truth went in, he followed immediately after! I'm tellin' you, they were best buds!"

"And after Zekrom left with Team Plasma's king, the media saw Grimsley carrying him out while the hero held his hand."

"Grimsley? The Elite Four member?"

"Yeah!"

"I've heard that Grimsley's the one keeping most of the league secrets- plus, out of all the Elite Four members, he's definitely the shadiest!"

"You're just saying that because he's a dark type specialist."

"Dude, there's something about him, you know-"

"Out of the other Elite Four members, he's the only one keeping his personal life completely in the shadows. Suuuuper suspicious."

"And not to mention-"

"-the Donphan in the room; they literally share a name!"

"....ah. Gotcha. So what you're saying is-"

"Cheren Slater must be Grimsley Slater's illegitimate child that he's keeping a secret from the public!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Are you two stupid? Are you two actually stupid?"

"Hey!"

"Think for two seconds- how old is Grimsley?"

"He's a vampire, he doesn't age-"

"Last season's issue of Unova Monthly said he's turning twenty eight in the next summer. This Cheren guy- he's gotta be around the same age as Bianca and the hero. How old do you think Grimsley is, if that guy is his kid?!"

"..."

"..we didn't consider the age huh?"

"Back to the drawing board we go-"

"Idiots. They could be siblings. Or cousins. I dunno."

"Kinda scummy if they are. He doesn't tell the world about his bro! Couldn't be me!"

"Well, you don't shut up at all."

"Might be a Hilda situation. Maybe he's trying to protect his privacy."

"..and if he's involved in the thing from two years back.."

"..oh man, do you think something bad really went down there?"

"I'm sure. The league lost the trust of a lot of folks for a reason, you know. They won't spill what happened."

"They've dealt with Plasma along with the hero, but.. something must have happened. They were more active than ever last year, like they were trying to cover something up."

"..not to mention, if you two didn't hear anything about this new gym leader, it must have been that big of a secret."

"..who is he?"

"Hero's friend, he has eight badges, but.."

"..there's something about him, isn't there? Even more secretive than Hilda- nothing about his past, why he was scouted as gym leader.."

"Don't they have a tournament for those kinds of things?"

"Tournament, exam, half a year of prep- that's what big sis Rox said anyway."

"She hasn't told you anything?"

"Nope. The whole thing was kept on the down low. Not even she knows anything about him; she's just as surprised as I was when the league told her she had a new gym leader buddy."

"Who did she train under again?"

"Oh, Miss Elesa and Miss Skyla. She's gotten her own badge to give out, but this guy is apparently taking over the director's badge- the one from Nacrene City."

"Whoa."

"Not even like that Marlon guy from Humilau?"

"Mhm. She says he's trained under both Mister Burgh and the triplets from Striaton- but nothing else. Even his training regime was kept a secret."

"Everything about that guy is kept a secret."

"..well, that's no surprise, considering if he's going to take a step up in the league.."

"..if Plasma still has their own running around, they could target him."

"Bingo. That's what big sis Rox thought too. She can't get ahold of this guy at all- the league has all his contacts under control."

"Plasma was definitely after him like they were with the hero and the others.."

"And if he's moving in Aspertia, this could be the chance for us to find out why."

"Find out.. what?"

"You know. If he's the bestie of the hero, he knows everything. He's gotta know what happened in that castle. Why the league is so hush-hush about it."

"..somehow.."

"..I don't have a good feeling about that, Rosa."

"You don't, huh? ...me neither."

"..."

"..."

"...Rosa, give me that, we gotta check something."

[ Hilbert Blackburn. ]

This person has no entries. To submit an entry, click here.

"Oh."

"I kinda expected that, actually.. that's why I didn't bother looking him up earlier."

"He's more of a mystery than Hilda herself. Fame Checker entries tend to be submitted by users, and the moderation team is the one that decides which entries go up, which comments stay-"

"But no one knows much about this guy enough to have an entry?"

"If they did submit any, they were probably taken down or trashed when reviewing."

"The league doesn't want anyone to know of what happened two years ago, beyond the fact that this guy is the name of The Hero of Truth."

"Hilbert Blackburn was such a common name to hear around Unova two years ago-"

"Yet, no one knows anything about him."

"And league efforts were apparently taken to make sure his family and friends weren't badgered about him either."

"I'm on the league's side on that part."

"I am too! It's just.."

"..it would have been nice to know more about the hero. At this rate, he's no different from the legends we were told."

"Ugh. This sucks."

"I know, but we're not supposed to know everything- celebrities are people too,"

"But it sucks! Not knowing about this guy! He's our hero, but we weren't given a chance to get to know him, before he-"

"And his disappearance definitely has something to do with the fact the league is so quiet about what happened at that castle."

"Man, what do you think even happened there? Murder?"

"Nate-"

"That's a terrifying possibility, Natey. Did you see that Ghetsis guy? Yeah, he's old, but the scary kind of old."

"And you know how the league is. They made no secret of anything so far- and if they did, it's definitely nothing as big as this."

"Yeah, you can't really just sweep a whole castle under a rug now and pretend that no one saw it happen, huh?"

"I mean, yeah. Obviously."

"Still, you'd think they'd make a lie- or parade around the new hero some more. I mean, yeah, Reshiram chose that guy, but you'd think he'd be their mouthpiece or something. Something to get the people to stop talking."

"Yeah, but he just left."

"And that didn't give them enough time to make a lie, I guess."

"Well, they're definitely doing a bad job at keeping Unova calm if that's their goal."

"Yeah, keeping things a secret is definitely one way to get people to start talking."

"And speculating."

"And wondering."

"And maybe even conspiring-"

"Rosa-"

"Kidding. But could you imagine? A mole being in the league, knowing all their secrets?"

"That's also a terrifying possibility."

"Yeah, like, someone must been aware of all that activity in the castle before it rose up! There was definitely a mole."

"My money's on Grimsley. I definitely think he's the league traitor, if there was any."

"Mine's on Caitlin. Psychic powers should have sensed that. Remember that rumor of her being an industry plant from Sinnoh?"

"I think it's Shauntal. I dunno. She just looks like she'd enjoy causing some mayhem."

"Glad to see neither of us think its Marshal."

"Marshal is cool, and Champion Alder's student. Grimsley's a Rattata personified."

"Nate, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you had a vendetta against Grimsley."

"Something about him makes me so mad! It's the hair for sure!"

"Smug grin."

"Gambling enabler."

"All of the above."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...mm. All this thinking is making my head hurt."

"Yeah."

"Agreed."

"Let's.. not do that."

"We've thought of more than enough for today."

"Ugh. I thought checking your dad's Fame Checker would be fun, Hughy."

"Well, it was fun, until one of you suggested we look up Hilda Weiss-"

"And we fell down the Raboot hole.."

"Mannnn, they're cool people, but if you think about them too hard, it makes you question things!"

"Yeah, Natey. That's how most things work-"

"Right, right. Well, we don't need to think too much!"

"Speak for yourself."

"All in favor of not turning on this thing ever again?"

"Aye."

"Aye."

...

...

...

[ Hilbert Blackburn. ]

This person has no entries. To submit an entry, click here.

"Is this on?"

"It's recording! Go ahead, big bro."

"Alright, um, well.. Hilbert Blackburn.."

"He is a trainer from Nuvema Town. He participated in the league challenge and was crowned its recent champion. Currently, he holds the title of youngest champion of Unova- as well as the second holder of 'fastest to ever lose the champion title'."

"Ouch."

"It's true though- that N guy had a good few hours in."

"Sssshh, guys, he's not done!"

"-he was chosen as The Hero of Truth by the awakened Reshiram. Currently, he's out of the region,"

"...sniff."

"...huh?"

"Oh no, big bro, don't cry!"

"Natey, this was a bad idea after all!"

"I'm sorry, big bro-!"

"It's alright. I'm sorry. The recording must have been ruined.. um, I can repeat it, if you want-"

"It's fine, it's fine! You don't have to, big bro!"

"Yeah, we'll live!"

"Plus, we know enough of that Hilbert guy!"

"..oh, just from that?"

"Yeah, just from that. We don't need to know anything anymore-"

"-besides the fact he's a piece of shit of a hero that makes his friends cry!"

"Nate!"

"Language!"

[kotriyas-pizza-tower]

Well I dunno, I've spent hours upon hours P ranking soooo I could be going crazy! Heheh- Besides that, It's up to you. Do you at least want to try to get Doise revived, or not? :]

oh right, also where do ya think Peddito went with Doise?

-Star Anon

"Prolly jus' out the door or in the void!"

Noise turned around to approach the door and froze. He finally noticed that they were no longer in the room from before- just a white void with that machine they were interacting with. He scratched his head.

"Well, thats weird! Guess he's somewhere here, then!"

"I-a hated P-a ranking.. but.. Teo is-a alright. If-a thats even possible-a.. we-a should do-a it."

"Ehhh. "

[pesterloglog]

Roxy Lalonde

Act 6, page 5577

"i think you were supposed to just tackle him," beatrix said looking all kinds of put off.

wizardy herbert reached down to the body of the fictional camper he just shot and picked up the flag. "same difference."

"IS it?"

"this is some lame magical version of capture the flag. the book wanted me to capture the flag from him. the flag has now been captured. anyway, hes just a kind of brainless puppet."

"then what are we?" she asked.

"i dunno. brainless puppets whove spent a few years in the real world. kind of like everyone else, i suppose."

"jeez thats cynical. anyway, youre the one who said we should let the story play out the way its supposed to. im just pointing out your own rules."

"ehhh." herbert made a dismissive gesture with his smoking gun. "these punks were starting to get on my nerves. we're making progress anyway. see? listen to that. russets scene is coming up. if i remember right this is the one that introduces his recurring love interest. also i guess the chief bad guy. i mean, sorta."

she listened. there was yelling through the woods. it was coming closer.

"help! herb! bea! where are you?!"

"herbert - OW - will you do something? OWW! sunuva. this cant be right!"

herbert aimed carefully with his beretta at the head of russets assailant. he was way serious and stone cold about it. he was not going to miss.

BANG.

he missed. beatrix was grabbing his arm redirecting his aim. "herbert you have to stop!"

"why beatrix" he said with a super sly smile. "if i didnt know better, id say you were taking some enjoyment from watchin your dear pal russets smackdown."

"what? no!" she didnt let go of his arm. but he wouldnt quit his douchey smile. she went on. "you cant just keep offing fictional characters. its... i dunno. irresponsible."

"yeah yeah."

"besides you know the scene is supposed to play out like this. russet is supposed to get rescued. how is he supposed to get rescued if the bullies are dead? you cant just go around changing things."

"i guess youre right."

herbert holstered his gun admiring a few more choice sucker punches to russets midriff. OOF. that onell leave a mark. beatrix regained her calm. "so whos this guy thats supposed to save him?" she asked. "you say hes the villain?"

"here he comes now."

beatrix squinted at the serpenook boy. she didnt know why she couldnt see it coming. "grant??"

"a favor?" russet said. but he was barely listening. the resemblance to his real life friend was uncanny. he was sure it was him. but here in this dumb prison he was no more than a soulless mannequin dreamt up to recite insipid horseshit.

actually he said it like a zombie. "never. ill never betray my friends."

"russet" he whispered.

the guy paused to remove his glasses and polished them on his sash. it came off as a seriously dramatic gesture, just as intended and also as explicitly stated in the text.

[stayathomesurveys]

158.

Do you remember much from high school? Ehhh, a bit. Where would you go for the ultimate honeymoon? Not sure. Can you access the roof of the building you live in? I don’t know. I’ve never tried. There’s a way to, but I’m not sure if just anyone can access it or if you’d need a key. I would assume you’d need a key to get up there. Do you know anyone who has a strong accent that is hard to understand? Ehh, not terribly so. If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would you get? No idea.

What was the last podcast you listened to? Do you listen to it regularly? The Basement Yard. Yes. Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist, and why do you think this is? Idk, kinda a bit of both.

When was the last time you moved house? December 2020. Have you ever held a gun? Did you fire it? Yes and yes. Do you like simple questions or deep questions that make you think? It depends on my mood. When was the last time you threw up? Why were you sick? This morning. I’m not sure if it’s the antibiotics or if my infection is getting worse. Are you on a first-name basis with your boss? (or last boss if unemployed) Yeah. Would you ever wear a bright orange shirt? Yeah. What was the last thing you wrote in a word document? I don’t remember. Who do you miss and what do you miss about them? Hm. What were the best and worst costumes you’ve ever worn? I dunno. Do you know anybody who is gay and married? Uhhh, not off of the top of my head. Are there any hobbies you want to get back into? Yeah. Have you ever shared a home with a friend? No. What’s the craziest or weirdest place you’ve ever slept? Not sure. What did you have for lunch today and who made it? I had leftover bbq from Mookie’s. Do you believe in anything supernatural like ghosts or ghouls? Yeah, maybe. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Not enough. Are you allergic to anything? How did you find out? I’m allergic to certain medications. I found out by taking them and having an allergic reaction. What’s your favourite Thai dish? Pad see ew and pad thai. Do you have any alarms set? What time and what for? Not at the moment. I’ll set my alarm tonight for like 5:45 am to get up for work. What are you going to do when this survey is over? No idea. Maybe another survey. Maybe I’ll sulk in bed some more. Have you ever been on a date with someone you met online? How was it? Yeah.  What colour is the rug in your living area? No rug. Who is your favourite character on Friends? Rachel. When was the last time you used a pair of headphones and what for? Saturday, to listen to music while I went for a walk. Describe the temperature of the area you’re in right now. 46. Have you ever had teppanyaki? I think. How long does it take you to get ready before you go somewhere? It depends. Do you find it difficult to get rid of material possessions? Yeah. What was the last candy you ate? Dove chocolate. Do you know anyone who is deaf? No.

[thezeekrecord]

1am is the finest hour

[index/summary]

Tommy kept in close contact with Benry the following days after that, whenever he had cell service. The only day he didn’t go out of his way to call was the day they headed further up the mountain to a resort for some skiing; Gordon spent most of his time on the smaller hill with Darnold and Joshua, trying to teach them both the best way to maneuver down a snowy hill for sport. Joshua was just on a tube rented out to most little kids, shrieking with glee as he slid down each time while Gordon held onto Darnold’s elbow to support him on his skiis.

“It’s one of those things where when you get it, you just get it.” Gordon reassured Darnold with a laugh while he wobbled unsteadily.

“You keep saying that, but I’m not—whoa!” Darnold’s left leg slipped out from under him, and he sank face-first into the snow, taking Gordon down with him. Gordon laughed as he sat up, helping Darnold up as well.

“You’ll get it.” Gordon told him, helping shake snow out of his hair. He was about to help Darnold stand when he felt a sharp pain in his back, followed by Joshua zipping past him on his tube. Gordon looked behind him, finding the gnome embedded in the snow. “Josh! Again with the gnome!”

“I think I’m just...gonna get down this hill and go inside for something hot to drink.” Darnold said with a defeated voice.

“Come on, you’re close!” Gordon encouraged as he tucked the gnome under his arm and helped Darnold stand.

“Ehhh—thanks, Gordon, I appreciate your help trying to teach me, but it feels weird and embarrassing to be falling all over myself on the kiddie hill.” Darnold admitted. “You should be having fun with your son.”

Gordon helped Darnold down the rest of the way, and he unhooked his boots from his skiis to head for the lodge. Gordon looked up the hill, watching Joshua getting towed up on the weird, almost conveyor-belt device that hooked up to the kids’ tubes, eliminating the need for scrambling up the hill. Joshua waved at Gordon, and Gordon waved back, electing to wait at the bottom of the hill so he could follow Joshua up the next time around.

When Joshua came down, though, he stumbled out of his tube and complained to Gordon he was cold. Gordon looked towards the lodge, taking Joshua’s hand to trail far behind Darnold. By the time they stepped inside, they found Darnold already in line at the cafe, staring at the menu as he waited politely for his turn. Gordon joined Darnold at the back of the line, tapping his shoulder.

“Hey, man. Guess we’re joining you.” Gordon greeted.

The three of them ordered their hot drinks and settled down at one of the available tables, Joshua taking the gnome from Gordon to stand it up on the seat beside him. Gordon gratefully sipped his coffee; he hadn’t realized until just now how freezing he’d been.

“So...how was visiting Benry?” Darnold asked suddenly.

Gordon glanced up at Darnold before looking back down at his cup with a small laugh. “What? You already heard how it went from Tommy.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Darnold fidgeted with his cup, trying to line the bottom edge up just right with the grain on the table. “It’s a really different perspective, between you two. I heard so much about how you felt about the fight with Benry, and then you stayed the night at his house, had dinner with him...”

Gordon shrugged. “It’s...I dunno. Awkward. But, um...” He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out how to skirt around the subject of his plans carefully. “I guess...if he’s not dead—and clearly, can’t really be killed—it’s...scarier just knowing he’s out there, pissed at me. You know? Probably better to make amends, get closure, whatever.”

Darnold frowned, a look of concern growing on his face. “...So...you feel threatened into making him like you?”

“Well—I don’t know, it’s just...” Gordon sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What would you do in this situation, man?”

“I’d probably just let sleeping dogs lie, to be honest.” Darnold told him seriously. “I don’t really know Benry, I only talked to him that one time. But I understand, based on what I know, why it would be good to distance yourself from him at this point. He doesn’t seem dangerous, anymore, so...I kind of worry that you trying to squeeze into his life like this is just gonna make things blow up again.”

“That’s...” Gordon stopped, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s kinda surreal to hear. I kind of expected everyone to be on board with me trying to make peace with him.”

Darnold shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “Well, I don’t know. You do what you think is best, but that’s my outside perspective.”

“Yeah. It makes sense.” Gordon agreed. He wished he could follow Darnold’s advice; to just leave Benry behind and forget he lived out in the middle of nowhere a state away would be pure bliss. “...But...I don’t think I can do that.”

“Why not?”

“I just...can’t.” Gordon said with a defeated sigh. “I think I’ll be able to explain to you better why later. I guess, for now...you kinda just have to trust me.”

Darnold didn’t look pleased by this answer, but he nodded regardless.

Something Gordon hadn’t wanted to contend with just yet had to come up eventually; there was a time limit on their vacation, meaning Gordon would have to make more long-term arrangements in order to continue watching Benry. Once they were done skiing, the group returned to the cabin, too sore now to do anything but lounge around and warm up. Gordon tapped his foot restlessly as he thought.

“Uhh—I’ll be right back, I think I’m gonna change into warmer clothes.” Gordon told the group.

Heading upstairs to the bedroom he and Joshua were sharing for the time being, Gordon shut the door firmly and locked it, despite having the most secure way to talk to his secret confidante possible. Awkwardly, he held out two fingers by his side, and he felt his chest constrict as time stopped. He gasped and clutched his chest, doubling over as Mr. Coolatta appeared in front of him.

“Jesus.” Gordon grunted. “Is there any way for that to not feel awful?”

“Unfortunately, it just...comes with the territory.” Mr. Coolatta replied. “You wanted to speak with me?”

Gordon nodded, threading his fingers through his hair. “So...listen. I don’t have all the time in the world, here, I have a job to get back to. Unless you have any plans to pay my rent while I’m doing all this, I can’t just quit right now.”

Mr. Coolatta hummed in agreement. “Yes, it was...unlikely you were going to—find, the tether, in such a short span of time.” He said, brushing his hand down the front of his suit to straighten it out a little. “Not to worry, Dr. Freeman. I never—expected so much of you. I would just suggest, you—find a way to...‘keep in touch’. He’ll warm up to you, if...you keep contact, I’m sure.”

“He has no WiFi or cell service at his house, though. Am I just supposed to call him up on his landline every day?” Gordon asked in dismay.

“You say that, as if it’s...not viable.”

“Well, no!” Gordon said firmly. “People don’t really keep in contact like that anymore, especially not in a situation like this.”

“Tommy’s been...doing just that.”

“Okay, no, it’s different.” Gordon insisted, shaking his head. “Tommy and Benry are already friends. They’ll keep in contact however they can. Where we’re at right now, it would probably be super weird to everyone in that house if I kept trying to call Benry every day.”

“Clearly, I am...not the, expert, here.” Mr. Coolatta conceded. “If I think of—a good solution, I will...certainly inform you. However, it seems you, may need to use your...human experiences, to think of a way yourself.”

Gordon sighed, running his thumb over the scars on his arm as he thought. “...I dunno. Well, I’ll think of something, I guess.”

“I look...forward to your solution, Dr. Freeman.” Mr. Coolatta replied. “Now, I ought to—”

“Wait, hold on, I have another question.” Gordon blurted out. “What’s the deal with Tommy, man?”

Mr. Coolatta frowned, clearly confused. “What do you mean?”

“He was like, adamant that you’re not his dad.” Gordon recalled. “So like, you never told him? And why did you even leave him for that long, for that matter?”

Mr. Coolatta fidgeted with his tie uncomfortably, looking down at the floor. “The circumstances, of...my relationship with, Tommy, are irrelevant to our work.”

“...Alright, I guess.” Gordon muttered. “See you later, then.”

Mr. Coolatta disappeared, Gordon having to spend a second recovering from the feeling of time restarting. After his heartrate felt normal again, he quickly changed into warmer clothes as he’d promised and headed back downstairs.

How does one keep in contact with someone in a subtle way when they don’t have a cell phone or WiFi? Letters? Telegram? Nothing felt natural, Gordon lamented. Maybe Benry was an odd enough guy to not notice how weird it was that Gordon was calling him all the time or sending him letters...? As the day drew to a close, everyone heading to bed to get some sleep before driving back home tomorrow, Gordon couldn’t stop mulling this problem over in his head.

It was 3am when he jolted awake, remembering the existence of a very special device.

“A satellite!” Gordon whispered to himself.

“Hm?” Joshua asked, clearly woken by Gordon’s tiny outburst.

“Nothing, sorry. Just talking to myself.” Gordon muttered to him, running his fingers through his son’s hair.

“Go the fuck to sleep!” The gnome demanded.

Gordon snickered exhaustedly, taking the gnome from Joshua and setting it on the bedside table. “Goodnight, kid.”

In the morning, everyone was in a rush to pack their things back up. This was Gordon’s least favorite part of any trip, especially when everyone else was being particularly chaotic about their efforts to reorganize—which, of course, described the science team perfectly. Gordon tried his best to focus on his own business while they worked, and soon, they were all climbing back into their cars. Once Gordon had backed his car out of the way for everyone else to leave, he pulled out his map, tracing his finger along the interstate and looking at nearby cities.

“Let’s goooo!” Joshua complained.

“Just a sec, bud.” Gordon told him. “We gotta pick something up first.”

Gordon settled to start at the town close to Benry’s house. He drove through the streets at a crawl, finding what seemed to be the main hub area for businesses and searching each building carefully. He wasn’t lucky enough to find what he was looking for here, but in the next town he hit up, he found a store that would sell him what he needed. Joshua in tow, Gordon walked back out to his car with a big box in his hands; it was hard to find a way to fit it into the car with everything else, but once he’d played car Tetris with his things long enough, he managed to get it in. With a sigh of relief, Gordon stopped at a drive-thru for a milkshake to placate Joshua on the way back to Benry’s house.

As Gordon pulled up in the driveway, he couldn’t help but note that the truck wasn’t there. Ringing the doorbell yielded no result, either, except for Beef barking inside; even the barn was locked. He ended up sitting in the car with Joshua, humming along to the radio for a while as Joshua dozed off. He was close to dozing off himself, jolted awake by the sound of a long, loud honk behind his car. Gordon looked into the rearview mirror, watching Benry’s family truck pull up behind him.

“The hell are you doing here again, man?” Benry called as they both climbed out of their cars. Moula stepped down out of the passenger seat while Gordon got Joshua out of his carseat; she looked a little better than she had when he’d last seen her, at least.

“Uhh—I heard your whole conversation, that morning after I slept over.” Gordon called back, next moving for the box he’d stuffed into his car. “I get it, if you’re not ready to talk or anything. But...think of this as—uhh—an apology gift, I guess.”

Benry stood beside Gordon as he pulled the box out with a lot of trouble. Looking at the display of a satellite on the box, Benry clearly didn’t recognize it right away. He tilted his head, accepting the box and reading some of the block of text on the side.

“It’s a satellite for internet.” Gordon explained. “You’re gonna have to call the provider and everything to get it activated, but this is the basic stuff you need.”

“Wh—...” Benry looked up at Gordon with wide eyes. “They do that? Satellite internet?”

“Yeah, I remember seeing some guy on a forum mention it a while back, that satellite internet can be pretty useful out in rural areas.” Gordon went on, watching Benry investigate the box more carefully, now. “It’s probably not gonna be as good as Black Mesa’s internet. But it’s better than nothing.”

“...Wow.” Benry muttered, looking up at Gordon again. “...Thanks, man. This is really cool.”

“Yeah. No problem.” Gordon shrugged, stuffing his hand into his pocket. “...Do you want help setting up the satellite?”

To Gordon’s surprise, Benry accepted his help. Moula watched from the ground with Joshua by her side as Benry set up a ladder for them to climb up to the roof, arguing back and forth for a bit about the instructions. It took a while before they actually made good progress, but finally, it was stood firmly in its assigned place.

“Man. We’re gonna have internet.” Benry said in awe as he traced his fingers along the edge of the satellite. “When I was still in high school, I’d skip last period so I could get to the library early to use the one computer they had. They have more now, but it was wild they even had one at all back in fuckin’—1995 or whatever.”

Gordon snickered, leaning back on his palm while Benry talked. “God, I should’ve figured you’d do that. When I was in high school, there was this one kid that would hoard the best computer at the library for hours at a time. I hated her so fucking much for it until my parents got a family computer, and I could play Doom all night after I finished my homework.”

“Pff—you had a computer in your house, and you did your homework?” Benry asked with a laugh. “Fucking dork.”

“Well, c’mon! Getting super good grades for a scholarship into college was my best plan to get out of my parents’ house as soon as possible.” Gordon argued playfully. “And y’know what? It worked. I haven’t had to go back to my parents’ house ever since I started at MIT.”

“You and your goddamn...Einstein rocks.” Benry muttered, standing carefully and heading towards the ladder. “C’mon, nerd man.”

“The part of my thesis that involved Einstein was about the EPR paradox.” Gordon reminded him with a laugh, watching him start to climb down as he patiently waited his turn. “It was all about quantum mechanics. At the time, they were arguing that there were elements of reality that can’t be described with quantum theory. Which led to hidden-variable theories—”

“I didn’t come up to the roof with you for a science lecture!” Benry interrupted as he touched down on the ground, holding the ladder steady for Gordon. “I left high school for a reason, man, sick of it all.”

“Jesus, fine, just completely disregard everything I studied for years of my life.” Gordon said sarcastically, starting to climb down himself. “Wait—left high school?”

“Yeah, man, like I said. Sick of it.”

Gordon could only laugh in understanding. “God, yeah. I get it. I did an early college program.” He said sympathetically, Benry stepping aside to allow him space to step off the ladder, now. Benry started to take the ladder down, so Gordon reached out to help him. “Didn’t help anything that I came out in high school. Y’know? Worst time to come out, really.”

Benry let out a loud laugh. “Try coming out in middle school, see how that treats ya.”

“You know what? Fair. I’ll accept that.” Gordon conceded. With the ladder safely down and folded up, Gordon looked back to Benry with confusion. If he could get people to magically accept he wasn’t human, couldn’t he do the same with his sexuality or gender? “...You came out that early, then?”

“Hmm? No, I came out way earlier.” Benry explained as Gordon helped take the ladder around the back of the house, where they’d store it back in the shed. “Nobody cared when I went to school as a, uh...not girl suddenly in elementary school. Emmet was the one who came out in middle school. Guess that’s when kids start caring about that kinda thing.”

“‘Not girl’?” Gordon echoed. “So, are you nonbinary...?”

Benry set down his end of the ladder to open the shed door, then made a noncommittal gesture with his hand. “Kinda. Trans...masculine-ish. Whatever.”

“Oh, huh. That’s cool.” Gordon murmured, already lost in thought. All this talk about childhood—how old was Benry, really? He wondered. Did he just masquerade as a child while he got a grip on what humans acted like? If he was trans, what did that mean about his initial choices when he arrived on Earth?

Benry laughed quietly to himself, not offering any explanation as to why while they put the ladder away. Once that was finished, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, leading Gordon out of the shed and pausing to look up at the satellite.

“...Thanks, again.” Benry said to Gordon, not looking at him.

“Eh. No problem.” Gordon replied casually as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. “I wrote down the number you should call to get your internet activated.”

Benry accepted the paper, placing it in his pocket carefully. “Cool.”

Gordon made a popping noise with his mouth in the ensuing awkward silence, stuffing his hand back into his pocket to keep himself from fidgeting. “Well, uhh...I gotta long drive home. Guess we should get going.”

“‘Kay.” Benry said, heading for the front of the house.

Gordon followed him, realizing for a moment he couldn’t see Joshua. He found Moula crouched down in the snow, though, and realized there was a suspicious-looking mound in front of her. Sure enough, Joshua’s head burst out the top, eyes immediately locking with Gordon’s.

“Daddy! We made a fort!” Joshua shouted excitedly.

“It looks really secure. Except...” Gordon told him as he approached the mound. He reached his hands into the snow to grasp him under his arms and lift him out. “I can just do this.”

Moula stood, brushing snow off her skirt before moving to do the same for Joshua’s coat. “Thank you for your help, Gordon.” She said as she picked a dead leaf out of Joshua’s hair.

“It’s not a big deal. Just thought Benry would like it.” Gordon said with a shrug. “Thanks for watching over Josh while we were working.”

After making sure he had everything and running through a mental checklist in his head—they’d installed it correctly, according to the guy who sold the satellite to him, right?—Gordon strapped Joshua back up into his carseat and climbed into his car himself. Moula and Benry were both heading for the front door of their house, pausing at the sound of Gordon closing his door. Benry gave Gordon a tentative wave, which Gordon returned before starting up his car and turning around in the driveway.

****

Gordon’s plan could now be divided up into phases. Phase one was complete—set up a line of communication with Benry. Phase two was underway, now that he was going to have internet: keep in contact, earn his trust slowly and carefully. Phase three would have to involve going back to his house, or Benry coming to visit him, for however long it took for Gordon to observe him and find his tether. Phase four, if written out, would simply have a few question marks beside it, considering he didn’t know what it meant to break his tether to this dimension. Phase five, kill Benry. Phase six, move on with his life and forget any of this ever happened.

It was vague, but had plenty of room for improvisation, which was Gordon’s best kind of plan.

One thing he’d failed to account for, however, was that internet access was just a part of step one. A big part, but nonetheless incomplete; it was one thing for him to have internet, but it was another to be able to find Benry on the world-wide web to talk to him. He let the dust settle on that for a few days, though. He seemed to break down a wall with Benry, but he wasn’t eager to push it with him. Besides, he had other things to do with his life once he got back home—there was a mountain of work to catch up on after the break at the university he worked at now, and most of his evenings were spent jumping between catch-up work and taking care of Joshua.

On the following weekend since Gordon’s return home, though, he got Benry’s phone number from Tommy in passing and let out a deep breath as he hit dial.

“House of Calhoun.” Benry’s voice greeted.

“Hey, man.” Gordon greeted anxiously.

“Gordon?”

“Yeah, uhh—I guess I just wanted to check if you got your internet set up okay.” Gordon explained, standing to pace back and forth in his living room.

“Oh, yeah. It works in theory, I guess.”

“What? ‘In theory’?” Gordon echoed, stopping his pacing to put a hand on his hip and stare down at the floor.

“We don’t have a computer. Can’t test it.”

Gordon gripped his phone tighter. “You...don’t?”

“Nope.”

“Wh—but—why didn’t you say anything before I paid out the ass for that thing, then?” Gordon demanded.

“I didn’t ask you to buy it.”

“Well, no, okay, but—before we set it up, then!”

“Jesus, chill out, man.” Benry told him with an irritated tone. “I’m getting a computer this month, maybe. If this guy’s kid doesn’t get her grades up, he’s gonna trade me her computer for me to go fix a part of his fence.”

“...Oh.” Gordon said, relaxing significantly. “...Uhh, terrible parenting tactics aside, that’s cool, I guess.”

“Eh. It’s whatever.” Benry muttered. When he spoke next, Gordon could practically hear the grin on his face. “I finally got my PS2 fixed, though. Now that I got internet, I can play Call Of Duty: Finest Hour. Gonna go get it later when I pick up Emmet from work.”

“Oh, hey, that’s—uhh—that’s a good game.” Gordon said quickly. Truth be told, he didn’t have it, but he was quickly seeing an opportunity. “I like the...shooting. And the killing, and stuff.”

“You would.” Benry muttered.

“Huh?”

“Gonna play it with Darnold ‘n Tommy later.” Benry went on, like he’d never said anything suspiciously bitter.

“Well, hey, uhh—why don’t I join?” Gordon offered. He felt like his voice was too strained, clear he was just being weirdly opportunistic, but he did his best to push past it. “I’m not doing anything later, Joshua’s out at his other dad’s place for the next two weeks, anyway.”

Benry was silent on the other end for a few moments. “...Sure.”

“Cool. Awesome. Um—I’ll talk to you later, man, I gotta go...clean.” Gordon said, starting to pace again nervously.

“Yeah, sure. Bye.”

Gordon hung up, flopping back on his couch and letting out a deep, exhausted sigh. He’d hoped to just sit in his apartment all day and relax, but now, he was going to have to go out and buy fucking Call of Duty.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want Call of Duty; he’d been kind of planning on buying it eventually, but not immediately after an expensive vacation and buying Benry a goddamn satellite. Apparently, he just didn’t have the luxury of choosing when he bought his video games anymore. He picked up a copy at Gamestop and a case of beer from the store, cleaned up a little around his house, and plopped down in front of his TV with his one-handed controller in his lap while he texted Tommy. GORDON: hey tommy ur playing cod with benry today right? TOMMY: yeah, howd u know? GORDON: i talked to benry on the phone today to ask him how his internet is. im joining in whenever u guys are ready TOMMY: ok! :) benry hasnt called me yet so he must still be out TOMMY: lets go ahead and get into a server tho GORDON: sounds good TOMMY: it was really nice of you to get him that satellite btw TOMMY: i think it made him really happy GORDON: well that was the idea, haha

Gordon cracked open a beer before navigating the game to join a server with Tommy and Darnold. It took a while for Benry to join in; Gordon had already drained his first beer and opened a second before he received a text from Tommy, letting him know Benry was about to try and join. A few more minutes later—probably impeded by unforeseen connection issues—Gordon heard Benry’s voice on his headset.

“Heyyy!” Benry greeted excitedly, his audio quality particularly crunchy. “Had to turn around and go back to the store so I could get a headset. Almost forgot I didn’t still have one.”

“Yeah, the headset’s important.” Gordon agreed, taking another sip of his beer.

“I’m glad your connection works enough to join!” Tommy said happily. “I was worried the signal—I thought it might be too weak out there.”

As it turned out, Benry’s connection to the server was indeed weak, like Tommy had said; it was enough for him to play, but his character and his voice were both lagging pretty intensely. Gordon probably would’ve quit, were he in Benry’s position, but Benry didn’t seem to care; he was still laughing the whole time, like it didn’t even matter. Other people on voice chat in the server tried to heckle him—par for the course, really—but between the four of them, as Gordon sipped more beer whenever he got the chance, he couldn’t help but feel he had a good time. The way Benry’s voice distorted and cut out from his bad connection as he talked back was too good not to laugh at; it felt almost too natural for Benry, like he should’ve met him in an online game server first before meeting him at Black Mesa, had his life been normal.

They played late into the night, Gordon shouting and laughing hysterically while Benry followed him around to shoot at him, despite being on the same team.

“Jesus fucking Christ, just play the game normally, johnwicklover, you’ve been making us lose all night.” Someone else griped on voice chat.

“Shut up, man, we’re just having fun.” Gordon argued drunkenly while Benry sought that player out to start antagonizing. Gordon watched his character lag, flying off a ledge and disappearing for a second before appearing on top of a box.

“You’re gonna r—” Benry started to say, only for his voice to cut out again. His character disappeared a few moments later; Gordon searched the area for him, only to see a notification in the corner that he’d disconnected from the server.

“Oh, damn, I guess his internet cut out.” Gordon said with a frown.

“God, it’s late.” Darnold yawned. “I should go to bed, anyway.”

Gordon glanced at the time. Already, it was 1am. Where had the time gone? Tommy agreed he should go, too, so Gordon reluctantly disconnected, his apartment feeling very quiet without the voice chat.

[previous | next]

[bloodsbane]

it was Fine.

for context: i was keeping up with mlp:fim while it was airing until ~4th or 5th season, but i've always been somewhat of a fan even when i stopped watching. the last year or so, i've been watching a reactor go through the series, and he's at season 7 now? which is further than i ever got on my own. HE is the one who got far along enough to watch the movie (which i never bothered to see when it originally aired), so i ended up finally watching it over his shoulder basically.

THINGS ABOUT IT THAT ARE GOOD AND I LIKED: the animation kicks ass*, i think it was a very fun and interesting direction for them to go in. the entirety of their environments being 3D was slightly jarring but, given what they were going for with the 2D characters, I think it was a fine choice and definitely understandable with how they were playing with angles and perspective; ultimately the look suited it.

the voice acting was great, obviously from the mane 6 but especially from the supporting cast. the sound design went crazy, i was very impressed. tempest shadow was easily the best thing about the antagonistic force, the way they did her character acting, voice, magic- it almost felt more like the movie was built around showcasing HER. which, well,

THINGS I LIKED LESS: the plot was O-kay, but honestly all around it was kinda disappointing! like i dunno, they've had more engaging and eventful finales on the show itself. and the writing was... ehhh. not particularly clever, especially with the dialogue. the mane 6 can have such fun dynamics, both together and in smaller pairs/groups, so it's kind of a huge shame they never really got time to just hang out

i think the focus for the story was totally in the wrong places... they once again made it All About Twilight and HER journey as a princess of friendship, which is so ironic because the friendship between her and the others was SEVERELY lacking. twilight spends most of the movie annoyed at/dismissive of the others, which is something we've seen several times in the show. by the time this movie came out, she should be like, at least 50% better at handling this kind of situation without regressing to her s1-2 characterization

i just feel like it would've been way better to write a plot that allowed us to focus in on all the girls, both as a group and on more individual levels. have a scene where they break off in pairs of 2 and give us some more focused, unique dynamics! have them switch partners halfway during a chase sequence or something! the mane 6 are what people care about most in mlp, so why do they feel barely realized in the movie?

and related to that note they really shafted fluttershy in the movie huh. she gets like, maybe 10 full lines throughout the whole thing, mostly being relegated to fearful squeaks and bland reaction shots. i know she's not the most exciting or expressive character among the cast, but they even set up what i THOUGHT might be a plot beat, with fluttershy seeing animals being poached and caged; i thought it might lean into 'twilight is frustrated w her friends acting thoughtlessly' by having fluttershy attempt to free the animals. and THEN i thought fluttershy might be the one to connect with the mermaid pony, her element of kindness leading her to comfort and encourage a friendship there, maybe with pinkie then jumping in to inspire the song, but no it was just a pinkie pie moment!

the villain guy was fine and funny enough i guess but he and his whole Thing just feels so out of nowhere. i can get wanting to bring in a new villain just for the movie, but at the same time, it feels random and there's no connection between us, the audience, and the threat, so it's more difficult to gauge and respect the danger. like all of a sudden this guy has been active enough to 1) send an entire other race into hiding and 2) begin taking over the lives of other groups in equestria. and celestia did apparently Know Of Him, enough to direct the mane 6 towards the plot, but not enough for any of them or US to have even heard of him before. like honestly, i think the only reason the storm king was a presence in the movie is because they wanted his betrayal to act as tempest's reason for redeeming herself. imo they should've just had tempest be the main villain!! she could have a reliable second-hand man oversee canterlot while she hunted down the others on her own, and since she was the one with major interest in the magic staff working, she could still utilize THAT, like instead of having her want it so her boss could re-grow her horn, she'd just use the staff for her magic instead. esp since the issue wasn't 'i cant use magic at all' but 'my magic is more volatile and unreliable' so the staff just gives her more power and focus

*uh oh there's the footnote. just wanting to say real quick, while i did LARGELY enjoy the style change for the movie, i think the way they chose to go about the animation was... only about halfway to refined. it was, at many times, a bit too slow and floaty. i think if they could've presented it more similarly to the original flash style, more snappy and deliberate, it could've greased the wheels on the pacing a bit. again, it looks AMAZING at times, i like how much they were able to push expressions and gestures, but it never STOPPED feeling just A Bit Off, and i think a slight lack of precision added to that

anyways look i know i was probably expecting too much from a my little pony movie, especially one that's at this point kinda old, but idk. it's like i said, the writing for the REGULAR ASS SHOW is notably better than the MOVIE, and i found that to be a bit of a disappointment. i think they just didn't put a ton of effort into making the STORY feel as big and eventful and bright and fun as the visuals, which was a shame.

i watched the mlp:fim movie for the first time yesterday and unfortunately i have Opinions

[cosmicbash]

Hey, So I'm having a bad week and would really like an outed Kells and Em fic, it could be as angsty or fluffy as you want, I just need a happy ending. A little joy from a situation like that would be really nice right now, Thanks P.S. I've been reading your writing for a while and I think they're really great!! I hope you keep having Inspiration to do so!!!

Sorry I'm so late replying to this!! Ive had a shitty busy week myself and i feel horrible its taken me so long!!

I feel like instagram would be Em and Kelly's downfall. Just because the younger rapper is constantly on it, posting little snippets to interact with his fans, going Live, and of course posting pictures.

Slip ups are inevitable once he and Marshall start spending more and more time together.

Because Colson can't just cut back, when he does that fans start speculating. Questioning why exactly he's suddenly getting more secretive or searching through what he does share with a fine tooth comb to spot a new mystery girlfriend.

So Colson continues posting away on instagram and filming his lives, even when he and Marshall are together. Ignoring the headshakes and looks the older rapper shoots his way everytime he's on live laughing it up.

At first it's awkward, Marshall and him keep alternating who's going to duck into the bathroom or step out for coffee. But eventually they get used to it and comfortable enough that Colson can walk around their hotel room filming while Marshall naps on the couch.

The blonde even gets cheeky enough to start teasing his partner, like snapping photos of their shared brunches, or taking after sex selfies that always get Marshall hiding under the blankets or kicking him.

Really Colson should have seen it coming. You can only fly so close to the sun before you get burned afterall.

The mistakes start piling up soon enough.

Marshall accidentally yelling to ask him something when he's recording a live, Colson walking a bit too close to the couch and flashing the hoodie clad rappers back, the bottom of Marshall's AA necklace in the back of a breakfast shot, and more minor incidents that branch out from there.

At first Colson can just brush the unfamilar voice and thankfully covered up body as one of his assitants or friends. But as soon as that necklace peek gets out the internet does its thing and speculation over a possible collab strikes up.

The assumption being he gave everyone the glimpse on purpose.

Of course he's relieved the public isn't immediately jumping to the crazy possibility of them banging. Even though thats exactly what theyre doing. But him and Marshall AREN'T actually making any music together, and neither of them has publicly squashed their beef. Afterall, what better cover than pretending to still hate eachother?

But now that's all out the window. Colson's lack of an immediate excuse and rapid deletion of the photo just convincing the media their theories are correct.

Paul is of course furious, reaming both of them out over the phone about how they better get on a track together or figure out some new cover. And Diddy, well Diddy rarely comes off his self made throne to speak to Colson, let alone acknowledge most of his success, but the rapper actually does inquire to him about the whole spectacle. And Colson can't help but find himself wishing he had a guy like Paul who knew about them and could just simply yell at him because he still has no idea what to even say.

They settle on quiet ambiguous statements from their labels about how the two of them are working towards mending their beef and that a collaboration isn't exactly out of the question at this moment.

It works. For about a month or two, mostly due to them being apart yet again. The major hype dies down and Colson avoids any and all questions relating to Marshall in his lives and on twitter. The two of them are able to breathe a sigh of relief as temporary as it may be.

Until the next time they make time to see eachother. Colson's got a small charity event in Detroit that he plans on using as an excuse to linger around the city and steal some much needed time with his secret boyfriend.

Of course all eyes are on them yet again, questioning whether the young rapper might also be stopping in to work in some music with his rival.

With paparazzi tailing him more than ever it's impossible for him to just go to Marshall's place like he'd planned. Instead forcing him into renting a suite and wasting most of the day stressing over just how the hell he's supposed to sneak Marshall in with the bastards sitting outside the building like hawks. The other rapper isn't exactly helping either, just sending his usual cryptic texts telling Colson not worry about it but never expanding on what his plan is either.

By the time the blonde finally finishes his busy day and drags himself back to the room he has fully accepted that their rendezvous is not going to happen. Marshall had stopped texting him more than two hours ago and he wasn't about to act even more like a spoiled child by blowing the man's phone up. Colson's just given up. He can't even muster the energy to give the paparazzi outside his hotel more then an annoyed comment about how his life doesn't revolve around collaborations and the finger before slipping inside.

Marshall's presence in his hotel room, already stripped down to his night tee and briefs almost looks like a mirage. But when he shuts the door and crosses the room to bury his face in the other man's neck he smells like ivory soap and that woodsy beard oil the blonde bought him and Colson can't help but hug him closer.

He's so relieved to see him he doesn't even snark back at Marshall's muffled comment that he looks like shit.

The moment is sweet and Colson honestly should have realized it was just the calm before the storm but he's too caught up in complaining about the media and basking in his partner's soft agreements to care.

Before taking off to take his shower he hands Marshall over his phone, suggesting the brunette look through the mess his instragram comment section has become, all the questions and posts he's been tagged in over that little picture and their statements. Because why not? They would inevitably end up laying against eachother in bed scrolling through them all together anyway, at least this way Marshall can get a headstart.

And Marshall does actually swipe through them for a bit, spending more time admiring some of his partners pretty posts than he does reading the never ending stream of comments. The rapper rarely gets on the app himself except to post the occasional merch drop and promo. Social media isn't his forte, and it's not like he could follow Colson's account anyway. Navigating the app and searching for his boyfriends account was too much work when he could just asks for selfies over text.

Thats why when Marshall finishes his browsing and begins backing out of a post back to Colson's homepage he doesn't even care to pay much attention to what he's tapping. The flash of black and loading wheel that lights up the screen completely missed when he tosses it across the bed in lieu of playing around on his own phone.

The livestream he accidentally starts mainly films a blank ceiling through the rest of Colson's shower. The occasional creak and shift on the bed from Marshall's weight and blare of music from his own phones speakers all anyone tuning in can hear.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon for fans to realize the Live has been started unknowingly, but thats not going to stop any of them from filing in.

Maybe if Colson hadn't set his phone to silent the string of text messages might have alerted Marshall to his mistake. But the older rapper relaxes back on the bed less than a foot away blissfully unaware until Colson finally exits the bathroom.

Neither of them notice the phone when Marshall sits up and scoots to the edge of the bed, his body briefly flickering past the frame. They don't see the explosion of comments flying past the screen while they talk and Colson shoves the other man back onto the bed again. Bouncing the phone high enough to almost flip it if fate didn't decide to just scoot it closer to their tangling bodies.

Colson's whole upper body and face is in frame from then on. His cheeks flushed and smile cocky while he straddles his unseen partner. Marshall's fingertips peeking onto the screen where they're tickling the skin covering his ribs.

Its not until after Marshall's sat back up and begun peppering kisses down the front of his throat that he finally catches sight of his half blanket covered phone. An amused accusation about the other rapper trying to sneakily film them prompting Marshall to scoff and reach out for it.

"Probably just the app, shits always opening up to the camera on my phone-"

The rush of comments speeding past the screen and the unmistakeable red dot next to LIVE has Marshall freezing. His wide eyed face fully on screen for 10 seconds before Colson finally pries the phone from his hands to see whats got him so spooked.

Instead of panic, anger is what rushes through Colson's veins. A slew of curses leaving his mouth, before he finally manages to end the live. Phone promptly flying out of his hand against the wall afterwards.

The blonde wants to scream and thrash around. And thats what he does, fingers tearimg at his hair in frustration.

It takes Marshall's fingers softly prying them down for Colson to finally open his eyes again. The utterly terrified look on his partner's face chasing away his residual rage. "Fuck Colson I'm sorry-" its not the first time he's heard Marshall apologize, but it is the first time the man has ever done it while looking so scared of his response.

All the months he'd spent dreaming about his rival making such an expression have nothing on the real thing. And that smug powerful feeling he'd imagined was completely absent now. Just an uncomfortable knot seizing up his chest in it's place.

"I'm not--" his own voice feels tight. Tears threatening to bubble up in his eyes while the reality of the whole situation continues to wash over him. "I'm not mad at you, alright?"

He's mad at the media, at his fans, the rap industry, everything that makes him feel like this little slip up and intimate moment of theirs going viral will ruin their lives.

Colson's sick of hiding who he is and who he's with. Its utter bullshit. Its 2019 for chrissakes, who gives a shit who's banging who? They both make bad ass music either way and liking dick shouldn't change that.

Pushing up off of Marshall, Colson moves to climb off the bed. His hopefully not smashed phone across the room his current focus. But the older rapper snags his wrist and wont let him take more than one step.

And thats when Colson realizes just why Marshall looks so terrified. The man's worried that this is it, that he's going to just leave.

Run away from their problems and abandon the relationship they've been cultivating. Just go full scorched earth.

And that hurts.

So instead the blonde softens his expression and climbs back into bed, onto the other man's lap to hug him tightly. "Fuck Marsh--" He's not about to let the media ruin another relationship. "I love you."

The responding hug is so tight it hurts but Colson doesn't stop. "I fucking love you."

They're falling back onto the bed, legs tangling and Colson's teeth grinding while he rubs his face along the older rapper's shoulder. "I love you"

He doesn't even know what else to say. Now that the words are out it's all his tongue can shape.

"Colson-" Marshall's warm palms are cupping his face, pulling him back so they can stare at eachother

"I love you-" that one hurts the most, maybe because they're eye to eye and just looking at Marshall's soft expression and the possibility of losing it makes him want to crumble. "Please-"

He chokes back a wet sound in the back of his throat before they kiss. Pressing as close as he can, practically trying to glue their mouths together permanently.

Marshall's afraid to lose him just as much. They're idiots for ever thinking it might be a possibilility.

The media can get blown, and so can the industry and their so called fans. The cats out of the bag now and theirs no turning back. If they don't like them together than tough shit. They've both dragged themselves up out of the pits before, this will be no different.

Except, this time they have eachother to lean on.

"I love you to you cornball."

(((Ffffff this sat in my drafts cuz I got distracted by work and life. Im so fucking sorry anon!!!)))

((Also! Thank you anon! For the compliments! Im glad you enjoy my works!))

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

Dedede!

oh get your ass ready i love this idiot

favorite thing about them -- changed a lot from the beginning! probably the character with the most development in this series. it's really refreshing to see a someone like him be so blatantly a good guy in such a large franchise, and to have that characterization stick

least favorite thing about them -- - did you know his mouth is canonically lips, not a soft beak. HMMMMMMM, thats uncomfortable - older content is kinda aughhhhhhh to consume. they went too hard with some things

favorite line -- "You can't be mean to my Waddle Dees! Only I can be mean to my Waddle Dees!"

brOTP -- bandee and kirby

OTP -- metadede

random headcanon -- - he's a kind of tropical penguin and prefers hot weather over cold, but can still stand the cold if needed. he also grew up in a tropical place on his home planet, and likes places near the ocean where he can smell the sea breeze - he doggy-ears the pages of books. as in, folds the corners of them as a place marker. this pisses off a lot of people, mostly meta knight

unpopular opinion -- i like star allies dedede and i have never been able to find out why people hate that one so much. whenever i ask people are like ehhh i dunno, he just looks kinda off, his eyes are a little weird. but everyone absolutely loves the newest kf2/fl render and he looks nearly identical. huh???

favorite picture of them --

[theauthorlives]

△ for yancy. why did you really never go for parole? and why’d you change your mind?

Triangle Truth

"Two."

"I, uh, thought this one was kinda obvious, honestly. Literally made a song and dance 'bout it? Remember? Not wanting to be free 'cause life is fine in here for someone like me who don't got nothing? That is true. I don't got connections on the outside no more. If I got out, I'd be homeless. No money, no chance of a job, nothing. Staying here means that I always gots a roof over my head and a nickel or two to my name.

Then we gots the actual legal side of things. See, when it comes to trying to get in front of the parole board, a murder sentence needs to wait eight years before youse's first hearing. Since there's all th' hoo-ha 'bout extra regulations, making sure youse ain't gonna be a danger to no one while also keeping you outta danger, it's a lotta work. I didn't wanna go through that for no reason, so I never went for it. My particular sentence, ehhh, kinda makes it tough. I never said how long I'm in for, but just take my word that I's gonna be here for a reaal long time. Now if I was to look for parole and get it, there's a whoooole lotta rules I in particular need to follow. I can't leave the state. If I wanna move, there's a bunch of paperwork that needs to be done. Not sure if I need an ankle tracker since another condition is that I don't even move to a state where a sibling might be living; but I'd need to check in regularly with a parole officer to show I ain't misbehaving none.

See, me applying for parole don't mean I'm gonna get it. I could build up a good case and say what I gotta, but if they think there's a chance I could do something else, or could cause fear in a community, then it's a mark against me, and a possible rejection. This, well, it ain't gonna be easy."

But that doesn't fully answer things, does it?

"I thought it's obvious why I'm looking into it. I got one person out there. Not that I expect them to be some sorta support system, but... It's not me out there alone. I dunno, it doesn't seem as daunting when there's someone there."

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Fic Title

Hero Maker

UA is considered the best school for heroes. Everyone knows most of the top ten came from there, and it’s lauded by many.

 At least until a new hero comes onto the screen. A new one who saves people, volunteers, donates and catches more criminals then most. He’s rising through the ranks, he’s on top of the world.

 “Where did you go to school?” he’s asked in an interview. 

 “Oh, I went to Nabu high, but got into the Mando University of Heroics.” the hero laughs.

 “... You didn’t go to UA?” 

 “I was rejected from UA. Honestly- I think this like focus on like the best school for heroes is stupid. UA is a good school. But you don’t need it to be a hero.”

Pairings: Ehhh I dunno.

Notes: Yes that is Izuku and this would be more of him going: heroes are more then just their skills.

[commentaryvorg]

Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 4 - The New Team of Marcus and Thomas!

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Sayuri Daimon ~ Sarah Damon

Chika Daimon ~ Kristy Damon

Captain Rentarou Satsuma ~ Commander Richard Sampson

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

Marcus:  “My guess is that the Digimon we want is inside.”

Agumon: “Wow, nothing gets past you, does it, Boss?”

Another Agumon line that would be very snarky – this entire building is covered in slime and stinks to high heaven, yes I wonder where the Numemon went – but that Agumon probably means completely genuinely.

Yoshino:  “Cleaning up after this will be tough.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Can the chatter and move in. We’ve got a job to do.”

I am sad at the loss of Yoshino worrying about the clean-up.

Thomas:  “I doubt he’ll survive long enough to learn to work with us.”

Against a Numemon? Yeah, sure, that thing’s totally going to make toast out of Marcus because he’s not listening to your plan. (Tohma had no such uncalled-for jab here.)

Tohma:  “Velocity at +2 with a movement rate of 0.06.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “I’m picking up movement. He’s heading this way.”

Thomas is not precisely calculating its speed like Tohma did, which, yeah, that’s a lot more sensible, especially since Tohma’s technobabble in doing so was kinda nonsensical. Still, it’s kind of appropriately over-the-top perfectionistic of Tohma to have felt the need to do so here, so maybe losing that’s still a shame?

Yoshino:  “Stop causing unnecessary trouble!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “You would be lost without me!”

This is after Lalamon defeats the Numemon for them. On the one hand I like Yoshino being professional and simply moving to point out that this is their fault for bickering; on the other hand, she absolutely deserves to be a little smug, because yes, they would be lost without her.

Masaru:  “Listening to your blabbering takes too long, you Tonma!”

Tohma:  “My name’s not Tonma, it’s To-h-ma! Can’t you even remember a person’s name?”

Masaru:  “Oh, I remember, TONMA H. Norstein-san!”

Tohma:  “Are you going to keep insulting me?”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Well, I would listen to ya, Thomas, if you ever had anything worthwhile to say!”

Thomas: “You jerk! No, make that you cocky jerk! You’re just a snot-nosed amateur. You don’t even know what you’re doing!”

Since the dub doesn’t have an equivalent of “Tonma” for Marcus to call Thomas here, this argument gets shifted around a bit… and as a result, suddenly Thomas is being far more out-of-line, not only rising to the bait but throwing even more uncalled-for insults than Marcus was in the first place. And the thing is, most of this exchange takes place over the shot of Yoshi’s exasperation, so the dubbers didn’t need to keep Thomas speaking for so long and could have put in more of Marcus being just as insulting. While last episode’s changes generally made Thomas somewhat more reasonable, this one is suddenly making him noticeably less so? Apparently the dubbers didn’t have any actual consistent plan in mind with this, then, and are just throwing in whatever without thinking.

Chika:  “Is he a friend of yours, Masaru-niichan? Introduce me!”

Masaru:  “He’s not a friend!”

Chika:  [to Tohma] “I’m his younger sister Chika. Nice to meet you!”

…

Chika:  “He drove Masaru-niichan back home.”

Sayuri:  “Oh my! I’m much obliged to you for taking care of our Masaru!”

~~~~~

Kristy: “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Marcus?”

Marcus:  “I would if he were my friend, but he’s not.”

Kristy:  [to Thomas] “Just ignore him, that’s what I always do. I’m Kristy.”

…

Kristy: “Marcus’s friend drove him home.”

Sarah: “Thanks very much, Mister Marcus’s Friend.”

Well, okay, apparently Kristy really did ignore her brother’s very firm insistence that Thomas isn’t his friend and decided he is anyway. (And that’s despite Marcus making it a lot clearer that he doesn’t even like this guy than Masaru did.) The original had Sayuri and Chika accidentally misunderstanding and assuming vaguely friendly terms between Masaru and Tohma simply because Tohma drove him home, but here it’s very much a result of Kristy deciding to deliberately misunderstand how her brother claimed things were, just to be contrary. So in this scene, Marcus’s frustration as Thomas leaves seems to be a lot more just annoyed that his sister insisted and made his mom believe that they’re friends.

Either Kristy’s the one being an annoying sibling here, or this is supposed to make us think that Marcus routinely brings home friends while moodily insisting that they’re not his friends because he’s a Tough Guy who Doesn’t Need Friends etc. Which, ehhh, that is not a thing Masaru would do.

Ookawa:  “Stay away, stop!”

Drimogemon: “Stop.”

Komiya:  “You can understand us?”

Drimogemon: “Understand.”

~~~~~

Komiya:  “Do something! You gotta save me!”

Ookawa: “Save yourself!”

Drimogemon: “Relax.”

Komiya: “Huh? You can speak?”

Drimogemon: “Yes, of course I can.”

Here in the dub, Drimogemon is not remotely parroting their words and is very definitely speaking for himself. This is a very significant difference and absolutely not how it is supposed to work in the original.

Ookawa:  “R-Really? Th-Then, can you make a hole with that drill of yours?”

Drimogemon: “Hole!” [it immediately begins drilling through the nearest wall]

~~~~~

Ookawa: “Wait, can that nose of yours dig us out of here?”

Drimogemon: “Stand back!” [he immediately begins drilling through the nearest wall]

Even so, given that Drimogemon is apparently doing this entirely of his own accord, it raises all sorts of questions as to why he’s so weirdly chill with helping these random humans escape this place. He seems to perfectly understand the situation, but, since he literally only just came to this world, how?

(Note how I’m using “he” for Drimogemon in the dub despite having used “it” in the original, because in the dub it very distinctly feels like Drimogemon is a person and not just a non-lucid creature.)

Drimogemon then just walks out of the hole he made without another word, because he didn’t say another word in the original. With this new more talkative and lucid Drimogemon, I’d expect him to have said something like “hey, come on!”, encouraging his new somehow-friends to follow him. But they can’t do that, because it didn’t happen originally, because it’s not supposed to be happening like this at all.

Yoshino:  “They’ve made a large mess…”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “More good news, as always…”

Again the dub is leaving out these little bits of Yoshino worrying about the clean-up they’ll have to do. I like those signs of her thinking about the practical concerns and actually subtly being the most competent member of this team in all these less-flashy ways, and I’m sad to see it gone in the dub.

Miki:  “This is a digital device found at the scene of the crime.”

Megumi:  “This device showed faint responses of a Digimon reaction.”

Tohma:  “I think that while they were hacking the bank’s security system, a gate to the Digital World opened up by pure coincidence.”

~~~~~

Megumi:  “A device was found at the scene that produces a signal which attracts Digimon.”

Thomas: “Hacking into the bank’s security system must have accidentally opened a gate to the Digital World, and the Digimon simply came through it.”

Uhhhh, yeah, I’m pretty sure none of these things are supposed to be true. I guess it could be simply an accident that something about the device’s signal happens to be attractive to Digimon; it sure doesn’t make any sense that some random hacking device bought off the internet deliberately attracts these secret creatures from another world.

Meanwhile, I guess Thomas’s assumption that the device is what opened the gate could also be just a false assumption (though I’m not convinced that the dub writers know that Thomas is incorrect here). But also, way for him to claim that the part where the Digimon appeared was a coincidence, which basically contradicts what Megumi just somehow confirmed.

I just don’t think the dubbers are thinking about this very hard at all, and it certainly doesn’t seem like they’ve watched ahead in the series to realise that the device is definitely not the reason this happened.

Ookawa: “Keep our friend company.”

Komiya: “He’s really gonna stick around?”

Drimogemon: “You bet!”

Drimogemon is still very much being a person and speaking for himself, but also, why? Why does he want to stick around? What is he getting out of this? From the way he’s talking here, it doesn’t just seem to be out of a selfless desire to help them.

(Actually, given the dub’s rather different version of why this is happening than the original, as will be established in a later episode, maybe there is something Drimogemon is getting out of this. So I guess I’ll talk about this again later when we get to the dub establishing that change.)

Tohma:  “If you were that worried about your mother, you should have stayed at home.”

~~~~~

Thomas:  “If you’re so worried about your mommy, then you should have just stayed home.”

This line itself is almost exactly the same, and the rest of the conversation around it is also basically equivalent, but I don’t know if I like the “mommy”. It makes it sound a lot more like Thomas is mocking Marcus for being worried about sneaking out without her permission. Since this whole thing is coming from Thomas’s jealousy at Marcus’s family situation, I guess it could be reasonable for it to come out sounding bitter and disdainful like this? I dunno, it still doesn’t feel quite as right to me, since this is Thomas briefly letting slip the feeling that of course he should care about his mother.

Yoshino:  “All you ever seem to think about is picking fights with Digimon…”

Masaru:  “I just have to defeat ‘em, don’t I?”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “All you seem to care about is getting into fights.”

Marcus: “Rrgh. Sorry, I thought you wanted to defeat them!”

Masaru here is simply being kinda bewildered at why he’s supposed to think all this extra stuff about duty is important when all they need him to do is defeat Digimon. But Marcus is being a lot more angry and defensive about them objecting to his love of fighting.

Masaru:  “Damn it! What’s going on here?! … … Baaaaah!”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “I didn’t do anything! All I did was push these buttons, and then, a – a thing happened, and… aagh – aaarrrgh!”

I do prefer Marcus’s more elaborate flustered squawking as he messes up the computer.

Masaru:  “Whew, it stopped.”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Whew, I fixed it!”

Marcus also has more audacity than Masaru in assuming that him hitting the computer somehow magically fixed it, rather than it simply made it stop blaring at him one way or another.

Thomas: “Maybe we should take away his computer privileges, just in case.”

Honestly, that would be an entirely reasonable thing to do. It’s not like he’s going to be able to do anything useful on them anyway.

Tohma:  “Keep him in your Digivice!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Put this oversized oaf in your Digivice!”

A bit of an uncalled-for jab at Agumon there, Thomas. He is still getting shifted to be just slightly more of a jerk in this episode than he was originally.

Agumon:  “I hate being inside of that Digivice!”

Tohma:  “Having one annoyance is more than enough already.”

~~~~~

Agumon:  “I can’t stand being in there, it’s so cramped!”

Thomas: “Great, I get to sit next to two nitwits.”

I enjoy Agumon stressing the cramped thing again – but then Thomas’s response, phrased more like an actual response to what Agumon said, makes it sound like he’s calling Agumon a nitwit because he doesn’t like cramped spaces. Bit of a dick move?

Drimogemon: “You want me to make a hole here?”

Drimogemon is still being a person and wilfully choosing to co-operate with these dudes, for… some reason.

Komiya:  “Now we’re super-rich!”

Drimogemon: “Super-rich!”

~~~~~

Komiya: “We’re gonna be super filthy rich!”

Drimogemon:  “It looks clean.”

For a while, I was very confused as to why Drimogemon would randomly call the money clean of all things, but then I realised he’s responding to the “filthy rich” line and taking it literally. I guess that does make sense in this version of the narrative where Drimogemon is being a lucid person but isn’t human and doesn’t properly get why the robbers want money. (The dubbers sure don’t remember this concept of Digimon-aren’t-aware-of-human-phrasings the rest of the time though; see Agumon.)

Ookawa:  “You’re roadkill!”

~~~~~

Ookawa: “We’re in big trouble!”

During the van-pushing match, we lose the murderous intent, because of course we do, this is the dub, it’s not like that’s something that’s quite important for why this happened in the original or anything. Instead…

Drimogemon:  (My friends need me!)

Drimogemon thinks this, as he begins to glow with an ominous, very dark-looking energy and grow bigger. It didn’t have any line here at all in the original. This is definitely not supposed to be Drimogemon getting a burst of power out of a desire to protect its friends. Especially since Drimogemon isn’t going to say another word from this point on and, in fact, will crush the entire van and only not crush its “friends” in the process by sheer luck.

(I guess it could be read as a case of the extra power Drimogemon consciously draws on being something he can’t control, leading him to become overwhelmed with it and forget the fact that he wanted to protect them? That’d make an interesting, kinda-tragic narrative in itself, but it’s definitely not presented that way, because that’s not the narrative in the original, because it never considered them friends in the original at all.)

Also, why does Drimogemon even consider them his friends? He’s been helping them, but they haven’t done a thing for him in return. As I mentioned, there is a potential reason that could work in the dub for why he’s been helping them, but that reason does not constitute thinking of them as friends or particularly caring about protecting them on the basis that they’re “friends”.

Marcus:  “I think it’s Digivolving!”

It really isn’t, but okay. (Drimogemon Digivolve to… BiggerDrimogemon!)

Miki:  “The Digimon signal is getting abnormally stronger!”

~~~~~

Miki:  “In response to the threat, Drimogemon is growing!”

Response to the “threat” of Masaru and Agumon was definitely not what actually made Drimogemon grow originally… but I guess that’s consistent with how the dub’s presenting this version, so whatever.

Kudamon:  “It must’ve gone berserk!”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “Our team’s in trouble.”

You know, somewhere around here would have been a reasonable moment for the dub to slip in a line about how Drimogemon won’t be able to control this extra power he’s drawing on and will even end up endangering his “friends”, if they were deliberately going with that narrative. But no.

Marcus makes some glorious panicked squawks as he’s flung into the water. His VA is pretty great at that kind of thing. Masaru’s VA is also pretty great at it, don’t get me wrong, but this time I liked Marcus’s more.

The melody of Lalamon’s Sing A Song is completely different in the dub. This will be relevant in a later episode.

Masaru:  “Our fighting spirit won’t be doused by water!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “And if you thought you had it rough before, just wait!”

Masaru here is just excited to fight, not even really caring that Tohma is also involved in this. But Marcus is specifically trying to make himself sound better than Thomas (the “before” he’s referring to is when Drimogemon was facing Thomas and Gaomon just a second ago).

Tohma:  “You want to interfere with me again?!”

~~~~~

Thomas:  “Oh no! He’s going to ruin the plan!”

Thomas’s line sounds very stilted and expositiony (as if the viewers couldn’t already figure out for themselves that Marcus is going to drive it back onto land), rather than Tohma more meaningfully expressing frustration at Masaru for interfering with the plan.

Masaru:  “Shut up! It doesn’t matter where a man’s fight takes place! As long as sparks are flying, that’s where our fighting ring is!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Back off! We’re gonna take this guy down our way! ‘Cause wherever we fight, we come out on top!”

The general intent of this speech is pretty much intact, but again, the dub removed the mention of manliness. It’s not like that concept could possibly be a really important part of Masaru’s character or anything, nah.

(Though the emphasis on “our way” (implying: as opposed to Thomas’s way) also gives more of a sense that Marcus is still thinking about proving he’s better than Thomas rather than Masaru simply wanting to fight without really caring about their rivalry right now.)

Tohma:  “If you fight above earth, he can escape underground! Why can’t you understand that?!”

~~~~~

Thomas:  “If you fight over water, he can’t escape underground! You’re going to let him get away, you impulsive fool!”

While it’s honestly entirely fair to call Marcus (and Masaru) an impulsive fool, doing so in the middle of the fight like this still feels slightly more uncalled-for and just-being-a-jerk than how Tohma expressed his frustration.

Masaru:  “He turned tail during a fight! I don’t believe that guy!”

Agumon:  “It must be because we’re strong!”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “He turned and ran from a fight! What kinda Digimon is this guy?!”

Agumon: “The kind that turns and runs, I guess.”

Agumon’s comment in the dub is not as adorably naïve-excitement-about-their-strength as the original, I am disappoint.

Tohma:  “Check rate of velocity. According to his behaviour patterns, he should show up at point 08 in district E!”

~~~~~

Thomas:  “But maybe, based on his behaviour, we can track Drimogemon.”

…

Thomas: [after evolving Gaomon, on Gaogamon’s back] “Quick! Get to Area F!”

At first it seems like the dub is going a little bit less silly-sciencey-technobabble here, like Thomas isn’t going to somehow magically predict where Drimogemon will show up and is simply going to follow its signal and then run ahead of it. But then, no, he’s still somehow predicted it exactly, despite being a lot vaguer about how. At least Tohma’s technobabble, silly as it was, gave some sense that there was some kind of calculation he was doing there. The thing of checking its velocity made a return from the Numemon incident earlier, at least. But the dub didn’t have him precisely measuring Numemon’s speed, which was more sensible back then, but possibly makes a little bit less sense not being mentioned now?

(I’m very much nitpicking here, because this is pretty silly even in the original.)

Masaru:  “Calculations aren’t always right!”

~~~~~

Marcus:  “We prove that his way isn’t the only way!”

This is Marcus being somewhat less bitter about Thomas than originally, since he’s at least acknowledging that Thomas’s way is a valid way to do things, whereas Masaru was grumpily trying to insist that Tohma’s calculations totally aren’t always even right at all.

Tohma:  “There’s no-one to drag us down now.”

~~~~~

Thomas: “And this time, Marcus isn’t around to mess it up.”

Tohma:  “I can’t believe you want to drag me down again!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Haven’t you done enough damage already, Marcus?”

There was something quite meaningful in Tohma’s “drag me down” (this is really about his sense of pride and not just about Masaru), and that’s lost in the dub’s versions of these lines.

Sadly, the amusing effect of the way Believer abruptly cuts out as it becomes clear they’re screwing up isn’t there in the dub, because the dub’s evolution theme just happens to reach its natural stopping point at that moment.

Tohma:  “This is bad! We let him escape to the Digital World…”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Fine job, Marcus! You let him escape to the Digital World!”

Thomas immediately jumps to accusing Marcus here, where Tohma didn’t. Since this is the point in the original where Tohma begins to be hit with the fact that he failed and it becomes a lot more about him, I kinda like the way that it doesn’t occur to him to blame it all on Masaru in that initial moment.

Masaru:  “Good! I’m out, too!”

~~~~~

Marcus: “Good! I’m sick o’ you holdin’ me back anyway!”

Here in the dub we have Marcus being the one to emphasise the point that he feels the other has been holding him back, rather than Thomas. I don’t think that’s quite meant to be the point. (Again, Masaru has been quite happy to be just doing his fighty thing in this episode and only mildly peripherally annoyed about Tohma being there too.)

Kudamon:  “And it’s even worse now that he’s running wild.”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “And now Drimogemon is out there somewhere…”

The dub misses the explanation of the part where the reason Drimogemon going back to the Digital World as not-an-egg is a problem is because he’s still rampaging. …Which, I guess, probably has something to do with the fact that the dub didn’t even seem to realise he was rampaging after the point where he grew bigger at all.

Satsuma:  “He may appear again someday. Keep on the lookout.”

~~~~~

Sampson:  “We may yet get another crack at him, but… you simply failed.”

Meanwhile Sampson is just being way harsher than he was originally, made even more so by it not being made as clear why this was a failure.

Kudamon:  “That’s not the only problem. He might act as a negative influence to the other Digimon living in the Digital World.”

~~~~~

Kudamon: “You have to think of the big picture. What if he gets other Digimon to join him, and he infiltrates this world in numbers too large to stop?”

I, uh, don’t think that “encouraging more Digimon to come to the human world” is quite what Kudamon originally meant when he talked about Drimogemon being a negative influence, since, you know, the whole mindlessly rampaging thing.

(What is dub-Drimogemon even going to say to the other Digimon to get them to want to join him? “Hey, come to the human world, there’s… banks to rob!”)

But also, I am sad that dub-Kudamon is still worrying more about the human world. I liked how original-Kudamon cared about the problems this might cause in the Digital World, which is, after all, Kudamon’s home.

Tohma:  “I’ll go in pursuit of Drimogemon and turn him into a Digiegg without fail!”

~~~~~

Thomas: “Please, just let me do this and I promise that I’ll capture Drimogemon!”

The dub is not mentioning the part where the only thing that really matters here is turning Drimogemon back into an egg. “Capture” could technically be one word for that, I guess, but it could also easily be misinterpreted at something else like, I dunno, bringing him to DATS to imprison him there or something, which is less of a solution than letting him wander around the Digital World. It's like the dub’s angle on this is that Drimogemon is a criminal who must be caught. This isn’t about punishing the Digimon for their “crimes”, but simply about making sure they can’t cause trouble any more, for either world.

Satsuma:  “Stop thinking of such foolishness!”

~~~~~

Sampson: “Enough. You’ve failed; accept it.”

Sampson is really going way harder on the failure front here than Satsuma was. (It’s actually pretty fair that Satsuma didn’t make a huge deal of them failing, since, while the two of them clashing did not help, Drimogemon’s escape actually pretty much happened by accident thanks to the Digital Gate happening to appear at the worst time.)

Still, Sampson stressing this part does at least serve to make it clearer while still not being too unsubtly obvious that Thomas’s real issue here is feeling like he failed.

Yoshino:  “I’ve been working since early morning yesterday, too… Being on-duty is rough…”

Lalamon:  “But I’m here with you.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Man, this has been a dull shift. Not that I’m complaining about having a little downtime…”

Lalamon: “Sounds like that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

It seems like Yoshi hasn’t been awake and working for basically two days straight like Yoshino was. I guess that’s a point to dub-DATS for better employee hours.

Meanwhile, Lalamon is just being a lot sassier rather than supportive.

Yoshino:  “Lalamon, why is it locked?!”

~~~~~

Yoshi:  “We just got locked out, Lalamon!”

The dub is often not great in that it has lines like this that are unnaturally stilted saying what’s happening as if they need to tell the viewers that, rather than having lines with the characters naturally reacting to what’s happening that in the process smoothly inform the viewers of what’s going on.

Overall differences

This episode’s changes aren’t as bad as the previous one’s, but there are still a bunch of notable things.

Whereas last episode���s changes made Thomas the more reasonable one, this time they’ve made him less reasonable and more of an uncalled-for jerk towards Marcus in their arguments. Marcus also makes slightly more of a point about showing that his fighting is better than Thomas’s, whereas in the original Masaru was kinda just doing his own thing in the fights and only mildly annoyed about Tohma being there.

That device the robbers had absolutely should not have been responsible for opening the Digital Gate and attracting Drimogemon, but in the dub’s narrative, it seems we’re supposed to believe that that is how it happened.

The end of the episode makes it less apparent why Drimogemon escaping to the Digital World is a problem, especially with Thomas insisting he’ll go over there to capture him, which is nonsensical.

And then by far the most significant change is that Drimogemon is lucid and helping out the robbers of his own accord. This is a very big difference in how this stuff works in the dub, and it’s much less interesting! I will go into this a lot more in this opening arc of episodes, because the dub is at least consistent about making this type of change with all the rampaging Digimon. There’s also the part where Drimogemon grows larger apparently out of a desire to “protect his friends” instead of the reason it happened originally, except then he immediately proceeds to go wild and nearly kill said “friends”, so that doesn’t make very much sense.