#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

[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.

[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.

[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!))

[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.

[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.

[mcyt-transcribed]

transcript of “where I've been”

TW for discussion of cancer and Covid-19

 Here’s the Google Doc link or you can click on the read more.

Techno: Yo, Technoblade here with another upload, oh my God I can’t believe it. We’re back, we’re playing Bedwars, uh, I don’t know why I said that in the present tense because I actually recorded these Bedwars games a few days ago. I have- I’ve played like, almost no Bedwars since the win streak, which was like, I dunno, years ago - so, you know, forgive me if I’m a little rusty. These are literally just the first three games of Bedwars I played, recorded them, and then just threw them in this background footage because, you know, I like live commentaries a lot, but I feel like sometimes, when you have a topic to talk about, having to play a video game simultaneously can sorta- it can sorta detract from the commentary, you know?

But before that: a plushie commercial filmed on my iPhone.

We got the first one - it’s Technoblade. He’s in a flying pose. He’s flying to save some civilians or he’s falling flat on his face. Depends on who you ask. Alright. We got the- We got Technoblade. He’s sitting down. He’s- He’s seated. He’s seated. It’s incredibly exciting. Uh, we got- we got Technoblade but he’s- he’s a giant- he’s a gigantic pillow. It’s Technopillow. This is actually- This is actually really- This is really soft. You’re gonna have to take my word for it.

These plushies go on sale on September 3rd at 3 PM EST at youtooz.com. The last ones sold out in around eight hours, so be prepared. I mean, one of them was like, two minutes but ehhh, it’s not happening again.

So where has Technoblade been? I know I’ve been gone since like, June. I was actually being really productive in July, which I know you guys are gonna- You’re not gonna believe me when I say that because I made no content. But I was! I was, you gotta believe me, okay? I was getting so much work done IRL; I was like, filling out paperwork, making business moves, working on merchandise, buying new equipment to make new videos. ‘Cause I really wanted- I really wanted to increase the rate at which I was making videos, ‘cause I kinda spent- You know, I kinda spent like, all this time becoming a famous YouTube and then instantly like, stopped uploading. Which, I mean, to be fair, I guess that started more in like 2018. So, that’s more just a pattern now.

 But I figured, you know, this whole thing where I go two- you know, one or two months without uploading- I don’t want that to be me, man. I wanna be uploading at least once per week. So I spent a lot of time preparing to do that. And the plan was that I would start doing that in August, but I took a- It didn’t- It’s, uh- It’s not going great, I’m not going to lie to you.

So in the last two days of July I noticed that my right arm was starting to hurt a decent amount and I thought- My best guess was that it was some kind of repetitive stress injury, ‘cause you know I’ve been playing video games since the age of like, five. It’s pretty much nonstop. I was gonna get carpal tunnel at some point but, uh, I took a few days to rest my arm and it really didn’t… really didn’t feel any better after that. And so after a few days of that, I looked at myself in the mirror and I noticed that my right shoulder was starting to swell like crazy and I was like, “Oh my God! I must’ve broken a bone, this is-” I mean, this- It looked- it looked crazy.

So, you know, the next day - August 2nd - I, uh, headed over to the doctor to see what was wrong and uh, they ran a couple of scans and then they came back and they told me that, uh, the reason my arm hurts is because I have cancer.

That really couldn’t have gone worse, I don’t think. I feel a bit silly talking about this with, uh, Minecraft in the background; it feels a bit out of place. But I’m a Minecraft YouTuber - I don’t- I don’t do a face cam. Which is I guess how most people would talk about serious things, with a face cam. I also probably, uh- *chuckles* Also probably a bit weird to plug my merchandise in the- in the same video, like, “Hey, guys, I have a- I have a terrible disease, also buy my plushies, bro.” But uh- *laughs* Listen: I’ve been waiting so many months to sell those plushies, bro. And it keeps getting delayed and now cancer thinks it can stop me. No no no no no. I’m trying to make some bank, bro. I wanna get paid, also they look fantastic, I mean just look at them, they look incredible. Alright?

I mean, I guess it would be ideal to like, split up the announcements, but I’m going back into chemotherapy next week; I don’t got time for this, man. We gotta go!

To be fair, I could make this a lot weirder; I could have like, the thumbnail be a giant red arrow pointing to my tumor with the caption “Might die! Not clickbait!” *laughs* Yeah, just the ultimate- the ultimate YouTuber, bro. We’re clickbaiting the whole process.

So after the scans come in, I get transferred to another hospital which has an oncology award, so it’s a lot more specialized towards what I need. And I’m sorta like sitting there in the bed for a couple of days like, “Hello. Could I please get some healthcare? Could I- Could I just get a- Could I just get a crumb of healthcare? Please! Like, I *stutters* I wanna see people sprinting, you know? I feel like I want to see some urgency, you know? If you guys gotta- *stammers* You know, there’s like, this tumor on my arm - if you guys could just- if you guys could just get rid of it. Just get rid of it right now! Could we just go? If you gotta cut off my arm, cut off my arm, bro - do what you gotta do. I won’t complain, man, I’ve won enough Minecraft tournaments. I’ll just play Minecraft with my feet from here on out, bro. I’ll still be B tier at least, okay? It’s fine. Do what you gotta do.”

But then the doctors are telling me, “Oh, well, we can’t- we can’t do it immediately. We gotta- We gotta find out what it is, we gotta run some tests, do a biopsy.” I’m like, “Okay, do the biopsy.” Like, “Oh, well first we gotta do some scans.” I’m like, “Alright, dude, the scans.” And so it took a couple of days and then they did a biopsy, uh, three days later. And then I was like, “Alright. Let’s go!” And they were like, “Oh, well, the biopsy is gonna take like, a week or more to get back.” And I’m just sitting here like, “Bruh, please. Please, just treat me.”

I mean, it makes sense. It makes a lot of sense and I’m sure they know what they’re doing, but I’m just sitting there in the hospital like, “Please. Please, healthcare.” So they get the biopsy and they send me home and they’re saying like, I’ll come back in like a week or so when they have a treatment plan prepared, and so I- It was a very fun week at home ‘cause I was sitting there still not getting treated and I was just like, looking at my tumor like, “Alright, Mr. Tumor. You know, you need me to survive so it’s in your best interest to just- to just chill out for a little bit, you know? We don’t wanna go too crazy.”

And faintly- Faintly if you strain your ears, underneath my skin you can hear:

[Dream’s speedrun music plays for a few seconds]

Techno: Yeah, it was a really fun week. But I did finally get started on chemotherapy, which is a wonderful process. Let me explain chemotherapy. So basically uh, you know how society has progressed for thousands of years of technological and medical innovation? So basically, one of the top three ways we have to fight cancer is uh, for you to go to the hospital and then they uh, plug you into a machine and then they inject poison directly into your veins for several days. That’s uh, that’s one of the best ways we’ve got of going about this and the poison- it’s supposed to kill the cancer - it uh, also kills things like, you know, blood. But ehhh, does anybody really need blood? I feel like it’s pretty optional, you know? Uh- *small laugh* Blood for the Blood God as it were, alright? Uh, I’ll take what I can get.

I, uh, you know, I used to have a channel meme- ‘cause back in the day- you know how my motivation always goes up and down in, like, cycles? I used to have a meme where whenever I’d get super motivated I’d, ya know, I’d start uploading, like crazy. I’d also do things like get a haircut. And, so, I joked that, uh, the less hair I had, the more I’d upload. ‘Cause that’s- the hair was holding me back. And so, if that’s still true, I gotta say, chemotherapy, that’s gotta be daily uploads or something, bro. *laughs* It’s gonna be- Chemotherapy Arc is gonna be fantastic for content.

Well, ya know, after I got diagnosed, I, uh, I’ve been making a lot of phone calls- ya know, informing all of my distant family members about the situation- and, I gotta say, of all the phone calls I’ve made, nobody took the news worse than my health insurance provider. They’ve been inconsolable for weeks. They were like, “You got what!? No!” 

I mean, I had no idea they cared so much. They’ve just- oh my God. I- I think they’re the real victims of this. I mean, could you imagine? Could you imagine? Like, look at me! I was a healthy twenty-two year old, I, like, barely went to the doctor, even for, like, regular appointments. I- I guess I went to the dentist, that’s the one thing I did. I was the freest paycheck they’ve ever seen in their lives. They could’ve been milking money off of me for decades. And then, bam, cancer, bro. *laughs* Oh, those poor guys. 

Uh, the one- the one favor I- I do wanna ask- If you guys could all do one small favor for Technoblade- uh, you know that coronavirus thing you been hearing in the news for the last couple of years? Uh, I want you guys to get rid of it. Just, uh, I want it gone. Just a couple days should be sufficient for you guys to do that.

No, but, seriously. I’m kind of, uh, immunocompromised right now, which means, uh, if a bacteria touches me or, like, a virus touches me, I will explode. So, yeah, uh, I wanna- get the vaccine, is what I’m saying.

I’m gonna get cancelled by the anti-vaxxers for saying it, but it’s such a good vaccine, bro. Pfizer got full FDA approval, this week, for people aged sixteen and up. I think you- you can also get it if you’re eleven to fifteen if you’ve got emergency approval or whatever. Uh, I mean, if you have any concerns, don’t listen to a Minecraft YouTuber, but, please, at least talk to a doctor. Because it’s- it’s so good bro. It’s so good.

The hospitals are currently getting flooded by unvaccinated people. I’m gonna go ahead and speak on behalf of all cancer patients when I say that it is incredibly annoying when the- when the hospitals are getting overworked by people dying of preventable diseases. I’m just saying- we got dibs on those hospital beds. So, ya know, you- you probably don’t- you don’t even want them really. You don’t even want to need them. So, I think the vaccine… what is it? It, like, reduces the chances of you needing hospitalization from Covid by, like, ninety-six percent? I mean, it’s so effective, bro! Come on! I mean, you might still get, like… I mean, you could still catch coronavirus, but, like, the symptoms are gonna be so much milder, bro, I’m just saying. Think about it. Think about it. Talk to a doctor.

I remember when I first went in for chemotherapy, A: I was thrilled, ‘cause, like, yo! Healthcare! Inject it into my veins, bro! Let’s go! But, also, like, the first couple of days were actually pretty chill. I was like, ‘Dang! This is easy, bro!’. And then it kicked in. And then it kicked in. My energy levels were zero; they were absolutely nothing. It’s hard to describe how tired I was, but I think my one example is- so they let me go back home. And after several days of resting, I had a virtual appointment with a doctor. And, so, they were, like, ‘Alright’. And I was just sitting there, like, ‘Wait a second. You guys want me to sit upright in a chair for an hour? What is this, the Olympics, bro? I’m going back to bed! What? What?’ *laughs* ‘Wha? Let’s calm down here. Sitting in a chair? Am I Superman? Like, come one, bro.’

As you can probably tell, I’m feeling a lot better right now. Which is, uh, I think that’s part of the process, is, uh, you get a little bit of recovery time to, uh, ya know, eat a lot of really good food- get the weight back- and get ready for the next round.

And, uh, before we go back for the next round, I’m gonna be playing a lot of video games, uh, making some content, seeing if I can get some more videos prepared, because, uh- I know people are gonna be like, ‘No! Technoblade! You don’t need to make videos for us! Please rest!’

Nah, this isn’t about you, bro. This is about me. I enjoy this, man. This is, like, one of the safest and most fun things I could be doing right now, bro, I’m gonna do it. I don’t know how much content I could make, ‘cause I’m kinda slow, but we’ll see. We’ll see.

I already have a video prepared for next week, uh, September third. You guys are gonna love it. It’s, uh, it was actually- it’s kind of, kind of an old video. It was, uh, from a few months ago, but it’s very good. So, yeah! You guys have that to look forward to. 

And, for the record, I know I’ve been complaining a lot in this video, but I just wanna clarify that the doctors I have are, like, insanely good, bro. I’m gonna be getting some of the finest healthcare in the world, so don’t worry about me too much.

I think the treatment has already started to show some results. I- I mean, it’s been so short of a time, so the results aren’t gonna be insane or anything, but, at the very least, the speedrun music has stopped playing. 

So, yeah, that’s where I’ve been and that’s what I’m gonna be doing for the foreseeable future. Wish me luck, and, uh, wear a mask, I guess. Ya know, standard coronavirus procedures. All that coronavirus stuff and like, getting vaccinated - that goes double for Californians, okay? But it helps everywhere.

Uh, that’s all I’ve got for today. See you guys next time!

[snzyflowrr]

It was the end of the winter holiday, and the students who had went home for holiday were now all piled onto the Hogwarts express on their way back to school. Two of these people where Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, who has snuck away from their friends to a compartment all by themselves. they were both desperate to see eachother after the two weeks apart. the windows were fogged with ice and the compartment door curtain was drawn, so it was as if they were the only two in the world. Sirius thought he could never get tired of snogging Remus. His soft lips, his bouncy curly hair, his delicate fingers, and Dainty nose. The two boys were huddled together for warmth in the coldness of the weather, each other’s breath feeling hot. suddenly Remus broke the kiss pushing Sirius‘ shoulders back before a soft “humptshh!” into his lap, that he has been desperately trying to hold back.

”ugh sorry“ Remus chuckled.

”s’alright,” Sirius whispered leaning in meeting the other boys lips again. Remus ran his fingers through Sirius’ long smoothe hair. But soon Sirius felt labored breaths against his face. Remus pulled away again and Sirius lifted his robe sleeve to Remus’ nose to catch the sneezes for him.

”humptshh hepchhmpt humpchh!”

“bless you, Moony,”

”ugh, cheers,” he responded scrubbing at his nose.

“good?”

”yep, just a tickle,”

sirius would just have to come to terms with the fact that everything Remus did was adorable. So he leaned back in the kiss more passionate than before. Soon Remus moved down to Sirius’ neck. But this seemed to tigger something, for Remus didn’t have enough time to pull himself way from Sirius when, “huhEsshh-kchh!” Remus sneezed, leaving a bit of spray on Sirius‘ collar bone, ”Ugh, sorry that one snuck up on me,”

“you alright?” “yeah, cold air, heh, making my n-nose, Hehckshh! Making my nose run,”

“finished?”

”yeah reckon so, heh, hold on,” Remus turned his face away from Sirius and gave into the build up of sneezes in his nose, cupping his hands over his mouth and nose, “heptshh hepchhmpt heptckk humptchhnt hupTshheh!” Remus sneezed desperately into his hands. Sirius watched at his boyfriends head bobbed with every sneeze. He reached out to him and Remus let himself he pulled into Sirius. He began kissing smoothly and rhythmically behind Remus ear, then down to his jaw. remus hummed with contentness. Then Sirius moved down to Remus neck. Remus buried his head in Sirius’ hair. Inhaling the scent of him. And almost immediately his breath began to hitch. He pulled away from Sirius just in time to spare him of the spray but he didn’t have enough time to bring up his hands to cover his sneezes before the fit began.

”HuhEshh HupCHhhmp hepChkk HiihTshhh HumpKishh huh-Esshhh HepEshh-Hnnkkk!” Remus‘ sneezes were becoming rapid and breathless.

”whats the matter, Moony?” Sirius asked voiced filled with concern.

”I dunno, I just can’t, huh, can’t stop, huh, sneez- HuhEptchhnt! can’t stop sneezing,”

“do you think your getting ill?” “I feel fine its just loads of sn-sneezing, HiihEKtchhhmpt!” he sneezed Welty into the air and a bit of mucus leaked out of his nose, Remus quickly clamped a hand to his face to cover it.

”let me get you some tissues,” Sirius said patting his pockets realizing he didn’t bring any, “did you pack a Kleenex Moons?” Remus shook his head wordlessly from behind his tented hands, “I bet Prongs has some, I be right back Moony,” Sirius said and leaned down to press a kiss to Remus’ forehead And Remus let out two very wet sneezes into his cupped hands.

”humpChhngt HiihEptchhgehh!” Sirius left the compartment and made his way down the narrow hallway. He would have to think of an excuse to why he would need the tissues. James didn’t yet know about the two boys relationship, and it would look very suspicious if Sirius was just alone with Remus for no reason. “Hiya Prongs,” Sirius waved at he enters James’ car.

”Hiya Pads, were’ve you been?” he asked. “no where, any chance you‘ve got a pack of Kleenex?”

”probably snogging some girl,” Peter chuckled.

”maybe i have, maybe I haven’t. but do you have some tissues Prongs?“

“yeah course I do,“ James got up and riffled through his trunk for a bit then pulled out a small pack of Kleenex, and handed to Sirius. “thanks Prongs, i owe ya one,”

Sirius hurridly exited the compartment to avoid any further questioning. And headed back to his car. He opened the door to find Remus, red-nosed and flushed, but looking better.

”its dying down, reckon it was just a really awfull tickle,” Remus shrugged.

”good,” Sirius smiled and sat down to throw an arm around Remus who rested his head on Sirius’ shoulder pressing his nose into his neck. After a moment, Remus breath became labored.

”heh, huh, oh for fucks sake, huh heh, hih, Hiih...”

Remus’ head tilted upward with a Pre-sneeze face. Sirius plucked a tissue from the pack and held it up to Remus’ face. as if on cue Remus gave way to a volley of congested sneezes.

“HiihEcktshh HepChhhmpshh HiihEptchhgehh HuhKishhh-guhh!” Remus sneezed, congestion quickly leaking through the tissue.

”here Moons,” Sirius handed the pack to Remus who gratefully took it. And gave four wet blows before he was finished. “thanks Padfoot your a legend.”

”I thought it was dying down?” Sirius said perplexed.

”I, heh, thought it was. now I feel sneezy again,” Remus took another tissue from the pack and scrubbed at his already raw nose.

”poor thing,“ Sirius tutted running his fingers through his boyfriends golden brown curls As he fought the sneeze trying to make it way out.

”ehhh-heh-Eptchhh! HiihTChhahhgnt! HehChuhhhh-guhh!” Remus clutched the damp Kleenex to his nose.

”bless you Moony,” Sirius said sympathetically. “it’s, Hiih, huh, HepEckk! you,” Remus stuttered.

”what?” “the sne-sneezing, HetChhnnkk! It’s you,”

“oh Merlin!” Sirius clamped a hand over his mouth, “I’m wearing new cologne,” Sirius riffled around in his trunk for the little gold bottle of cologne and held it up to Remus’ nose, “is it this?”

As soon as Remus inhaled the scent his breath hitched. He was taking in gasping shuddering breaths. He pulled a few Kleenexs out of the pack and pitched foreword, “Huh, Heh, heh, Hih, HiihIHKShhhh! hehCshhhh! hehSHUHHHH! Ehh-KUTChhhhhh!“

“oh moony I’m so sorry,”

Remus sneezed rapidly hands pressed firmly to his face as the fit wouldn’t seem to end, “heh-IPShhhh! Heh-EKShuhhh! huhShuhhhh! heh... heh-IHTShhhhhhh! HiihEPTchhhhmgnt HeTshhch HihItchhhump!”

“it’s, Heh, its okay, Hih, you didn‘t kn-know heh-IMPHSHH!” “I still feel terrible,”

“Heh, its not your, Huh, Heh, not your fault I’m all- AllergICKKK! Allergic to everything,”

“let me go wash this off, I only be a minute. Want me to open the window?”

”heh... heh, that would be nice HepTchshhh!”

Sirius hurried from the car to the washroom and throughly scrubbed the areas where he had aplloed the cologne. he couldnt believe he had been so stupid. He has a werewolf boyfriend with super human sense of smell and is senseative to literally everything, and he didn’t check with him first. Sirius entered the car once again. Remus’ face was pressed into his jumper sleeve.

”I ran out of tissues,” he mumbled exhaustedly.

”I’m sorry I don’t have anymore, we’ll be at school soon. Why don’t you try and sleep. Your not allergic to me anymore“ Sirius held a hand out to Remus to reluctantly took it and was pulled so his head rested on Sirius chest.

“ humptshh!” Remus sneezed into Sirius’ chest.

”ugh sorry“ Remus mumbled.

”s’alright,” Sirius whispered leaning in meeting the other boys lips again.

[nightklok]

Why hello it's time for me to be a nuisance and post my detailed Picklegail manifesto after a year of keeping this hidden underground, now it will be raised upground as part of my revenge plan-Under the cut is how I would've wanted their relationship to progress throughout the series-I converted a twitter thread i had into something readable so apologies if some things still don't make sense sdflkj

I like the challenge of trying to keep key elements of the show the same so Abigail won't be introduced until season 4 because I am like this. However, she would be mentioned in passing throughout the series by Pickles. The scene where Nathan mentions wanting to be a regular jackoff in Dethdoubles would probably have a few more lines by Pickles about 'settling down with that nice person you still think about' though the rest of the guys would think it's weird to think that. This would officially start in Snakes N' Barrels Part 2, the scene where Pickles began describing LA.

"Oh yeah, here's where I hosted my first concert in this small club. Got to meet a lot of fans and stuff. Especially this one girl, shit, wonder where she's at now."

This would also kinda explain why Pickles never even seemed to show interest in finding romantic partners throughout the series; almost everyone had an episode where they had a crush on someone even if it never went anywhere in the end. Pickles just never bothered dating because he knew that finding someone genuine as a celebrity was tough and he knew he wouldn't be connected as well as he did with that girl he met back in the 80s. There might also be a scene in Rehabklok where the doctors mention 'letting go of the past', which could also mean both letting go of his trauma from his family and letting go of the idea that he will get the relationship he really missed.

Season 4 comes around and now they all meet. Nathan notices how Pickles looked at Abigail like you would with trying to figure out if you recognize someone.

Nathan: "oh hey was she the chick you went out with back in the 80s?" Pickles: "Ehhh I dunno she is familiar though"

Will it get addressed by the characters? Probably not. Will it instead be painfully dragged out long because the readers will know? Yes, as per the MTL way :D

The two do eventually get some alone time. Abigail interacts with Nathan, Skwisgaar, and him one on one since they're the brains of the band and she wants to get through to them to help get progress on the album. Pickles and Abigail would get more one-on-one time; he especially becomes her translator when it comes to trying to understand what the boys are talking about when brainstorming.

They end up warming up to each other, making jokes, and probably the first time they really did comfy with each other was when Abigail asked Pickles to read the sheet music and he says seriously “I can’t read music”. she laughs thinking it’s a joke (he’s really not)

Abigail: “You know, I met someone back in the 80s who wanted to be a musician but didn’t know how to read music.”

Pickles: “Really? That’s crazy haha wonder if I met em too”

(this is in fact to piss readers off. There will be more dialogue to describe how oblivious the two really are.)

In the background of this, Nathan would be trying to impress Abigail. Her mistake would be beating around the bush instead of telling him upfront, causing very minor miscommunication.

But overall, the progress in the album is coming faster than ever thanks to Abigail's efforts. Though once again Nathan gets the dreams telling him the album isn't ready.

Pickles and Abigail pull an all-nighter to finish one of the last tracks. They get to talking a lot more about their personal lives, finding themselves having quite a bit in common. Abigail mentions meeting a singer back in the 80s who had inspired her to take up music production. After all, it would've been very hard for her to go to college at the time but the man had his own secrets too (being LGBT+ in the 80s) and he somehow managed to be successful. They don't kiss despite the tension but they do fall asleep on the couch together. Nathan sneaks into the recording studio while they're asleep and assumes they're dating which made him quickly back off on trying to flirt with Abigail. It would also make Nathan feel guilty as he realizes that Pickles is still mad at him if he won't tell him about his relationship. However, he wasn't there for that.

He catches the glow of the monitor and sees the album is almost finished. It isn't ready. He quietly attempts to delete it but the light of the monitor changing for him to delete the files slowly wakes Pickles up. He is groggy but then he realizes what's going on and attempts to stop Nathan but once again he's too late.

Abigail wakes up and quickly snaps out of her grogginess when Pickles explains frantically what happened. They both yell at Nathan for destroying their months of progress but Nathan only says, “it’s not ready. We need a better album. Trust me.” But since he doesn’t give a thorough explanation it’s hard to trust him.

Now is Going Downklok. They are in the submarine, Nathan is trying to fix things between him and Pickles but Pickles won’t have it. So he decides instead to let Abigail and him have as much free time as possible.

Nathan just talks about how great Pickles is to Abigail, accidentally dropping hints that she may have known him as the guy from before. And he does the same to pickles though he doesn’t talk to him much anymore and ignores him.

Pickles and Abigail are once again alone at the recording studio, both ranting their frustrations over working with the album once again. Eventually, it carried over to their own personal lives. And finally, they have the braincells to realize that maybe they did meet so many years ago. The room is so stuffy it feels like a sauna and only adds to the growing tension between. It only increased when they tried to leave the studio to remain as professional as possible but one of them instead locks the door. They both end up making out and eventually having sex in the recording studio.

Years of pent-up frustration, loneliness, and overall everything that had led up to the moment washed over. They decide to keep a secret relationship afterward because even though they did find each other, much like in the past, they found each other at the wrong time.

The dinner scene comes up. The two sit feet apart just to make sure no one would be suspicious. Nathan is at his height of frustration because he knows he had to delete the album but everyone is mad at him. He gets a little too drunk, and like the friend he is, outs their Relationship like a drunken wedding speech. Pickles quickly refutes that, instead he screamed at him over broken trust, deleting the second album that Charles had made sure the public wasn't aware and finally decided to quit the band. The news spreads like wildfire.

Abigail is quickly put to blame however it lasted very short since there became other conspiracies surrounding it. Nathan did say quite a lot after all to the point where it’s clear Abigail wasn’t part of the equation. But of course, some people blame her still and she decides to lay low. Pickles has to deal with his own consequences too so he decides to stay at her parents’ place with her as they wait for the news to blow over. While he’s happy to finally be with her, he does miss music terribly. Specifically, he misses playing with Dethklok.

She reminds him he can always talk to Nathan to sort things out but he knows Nathan isn't the type to apologize. The day of the concert comes, things happen as expected in the show. He doesn’t come home because they are in the submarine and he has to explain everything to her through a phone call where he’s beginning to break down, saying he has a terrible feeling that things will never be the same. She tries to calm him down but given how Selacia’s appearance is all over the news, she has the same feeling. They reunite briefly before the funeral.

I haven’t decided on the official ending so here’s ending one:

Toki offers to give up his seat so Pickles can sit next to her. He accepts as he doesn’t want to sit anywhere near Nathan. Magnus seems bothered but doesn’t say anything. There would be a funny scene of them just recreating 'Hello Magnus' 'Hello Pickles' once again.

But Magnus' tension quickly dies down when he hears them whisper to each other. He sees them hold hands discreetly and relaxes.

Magnus: "So I see the rumors are true between you two?"

Pickles: "I-yeah. What are you gonna fuckin' do about it?"

Magnus: "Nah, nothing. Just happy for you, is all."

Magnus does gain Pickles' trust enough to let his guard down by just sharing small talk. When the service begins, MMA texts Magnus over why Toki is sitting so far and how the plan is ruined. Magnus is hesitant to respond for a few moments (regret over what's to come, perhaps?) but he goes through and texts back that there is a change of plans but this plan would be better.

Well, couples would do anything to make sure the other is safe in such extreme circumstances.This plan could be much better, after all.

Ending two: pretty much exactly as canon. Pickles probably a lot more emotional- The end :D