#either as the players or as one of the mascots

[the-two-of-clubs]

A r/limbuscompany Reddit thread titled "Why do people refer to Dante as a boy?" had a lot of answers given that frankly depressed me, so I wrote a huge essay. And because it's huge and the Redditors are definitely not going to listen, I'm going to repost it here. For non-Limbus fans, Dante's the game's speaking protagonist of indeterminate gender.

People will just straight up say "I just don't want to use they/them pronouns, it's either he or she and I get to pick, sorry!" and be the top upvoted comment in this thread.

When I encourage you to use they/them pronouns for Dante that's not even because they're nonbinary, it's because it's what Dante is always referred to in the game they're from, and it's because it's a less clunky standin for "he or she" as well. "They" can refer to anyone, that's why it's the single best fit of any common English pronoun for an ambiguous character like Dante. They/them is the only way to refer to Dante without making up a headcanon, whether that be a fan theory that they're Ayin or Benjamin or whatever, or a self insert projection.

They/them is something you (yes you! the reader!) could be getting used to being able to use, for multiple reasons. One of which being for nonbinary people, and another reason being not constantly being forced to assume everyone's gender all the time. To smoothly be able to use language that doesn't constantly exclude women. For example, hearing someone talk about a doctor and immediately leaping to "he/him" is a microaggression, because female doctors are constantly confronted with the assumption that they're either men or nurses.

The more you use they/them pronouns for others, the more natural to you they/them pronouns will seem. And Dante could be a great starting off point for some of you to start doing that. Using they/them pronouns can make somebody's day. It would be real self improvement that matters. You probably know a trans or nonbinary person, whether you know that about them or not.

Some of you are 100% telling on yourselves that you couldn't handle being around a nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns in real life with this thread. The pronouns are so alien and unusable to you you're performing mental gymnastics specifically to get out of using them. Yes, nobody can stop you from using he/him for Dante, knock yourself out I guess. But also, what is your actual reason to do that? And not just some casual excuse that you're throwing out, like "you can't prove Dante's NOT a man" (why not use she/her then, hm? what if she's a woman? at the very least the correct pronoun for this would technically be "he or she", right?) Or "Dante is a male name" (the entire Limbus main cast has male names and you don't see people "he/him"-ing Faust. Seems like a specific issue you guys have with they/them and Dante.) Really ask yourself why. Why ARE you so convinced Dante is a man? No really I'm serious.

And when that question does get asked by OP here, people are arguing in this thread that men are the ones who play Limbus Company, and that of course everyone's calling Dante he/him because almost all gamers use he/him, with the whole self insert argument. Which is dismissal and erasure of women, who apparently don't exist and it doesn't matter if the game's self insert mascot represents them, despite showing up in this thread to tell you that they and their presumably from context also female friends play Limbus. This self insert argument will never make Dante a binary man, it would make Dante another type of nonbinary which is pangender or genderfluid, because Dante represents all players that play them or whichever specific player is playing them, and to refer to Dante as the concept, the gestalt, the infinite-mirror-worlds Dantes that exist on each of our phones, they/them still suffices in a unique way, to pay homage to other players with different genders than you and their Dantes which would match those genders, I think.

Calling Dante "he" is an active choice you're making, going against the way the game refers to Dante.

Using the pronouns that the character always gets referred to in the entire game they're from is the norm. You guys never don't do that, except in cases like this where it's so you can ignore they/them pronouns. You do have an actual reason, conscious or subconscious, to actively change which pronouns you're using. Some of the people referring to Dante as he/him here absolutely have biases that make them unwilling to refer to Dante as they/them and therefore they're going out of their way to contradict the source material, namely transphobia. That might not be you, but it's some of the people you're sharing this take that Dante uses he/him with.

I am under no illusion that Dante is necessarily intended to be nonbinary representation. However, some of your reasons for "he/him"-ing Dante are very much trans exclusionary. "Dante has a masculine frame"... People who look like men to you sometimes aren't men. Heck, sometimes they're cis women. And if this is the first you're hearing of it, yep! That's always been true and you should keep it in mind. We live in a big weird beautiful world. People who look like men to you might be nonbinary and use exclusively "they/them" pronouns for example, and being referred to as "they" rather than "he" might go a long way to their happiness and comfort because of a thing called dysphoria, which can be medically dangerous for people if they suffer too much of it from being misgendered too often. These people can't somehow get a different skeleton structure and look even more androgynous than Dante does in order for you to refer to them respectfully. Training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of the width of someone's shoulders can do real world good just like training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of somebody's career. It all helps you act respectfully and challenge your assumptions. And that can start right now right here. You can just refer to Dante or any nonbinary video game character you've been neglecting as they/them, sound it out in your head, nothing is stopping you.

And yes, before someone starts whining that I'm making "too big a deal of this" because I dropped the dreaded T-word that will get me downvoted, Dante isn't real and can't have their feelings hurt by the fact that people keep referring to them as he/him even if they turn out to have been a woman this whole time. I know I am aware. You should know that nonbinary people are reading the posts you're making and seeing how casually and thoughtlessly you're willing to dismiss even the concept of using they/them for a CLOCK who doesn't even have a human FACE let alone an obvious gender, and I for one know that were we to meet, you wouldn't gender me correctly either. You'd take one look at me and thoughtlessly assume you're always right.

Does referring to Dante as anything at all matter directly? No. It's fiction. However, words inspire people. Everyone is just referring to Dante as he/him because everyone else is and it's considered normal. A creative thinker, a leader rather than a follower, is someone who questions what everyone else is doing, and comes to their own conclusions. Coming to your own conclusions is what you will have to do with what I have written here.

For the Tumblr audience this is probably just an unsurprising PSA that Limbus fan Redditors are being weird about they/them pronouns and a bunch of weird arguments they're using to do so. I'm not trying to come after any queer person's he/they or she/her or any pronoun set Dante headcanons in particular here either, you can tell by the explanation of what dysphoria is that's not the target audience. If you headcanon characters having different pronouns when it's not just because you can't be assed to use they/them we're cool that's very cool of you.

[mascothorrorhellhole]

GOBB AU where everything’s the same except these little bastards are part of the cast of characters/plot

[spacebubblehomebase]

What app and what pencil do you use :3?

(I send u big hugs and hav a nice day :D♡)

Hehe. (Hugs back. I like hugs. XD) I believe someone else had a similar question before! I made this art then too to demonstrate how I use, Ibis Paint. The free beginner friendly drawing app! (No I'm not sponsored-) And as for the "pens", I usually go for the default brushes. As in the first basic ones you find on the app! ^v^ I've been promoting this idea for years and I'll never get tired of saying it! While fancier equipment IS nice, skills can ultimately outclass tools any day! =D In fact, sometimes limiting yourself can hone your creativity as it forces you to work with what you have and invent new ways of experimenting with materials that are often overlooked! That's how I learned. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ -Bubbly💙

[prokopetz]

Inadvisable tabletop RPG premise #137: Nobilis-style god game, except instead of being the rulers of various fundamental concepts, the player characters are those concepts' mascots, in the sense of sports arena or theme park mascots. They still have terrible reality-warping powers, but they can only use them while wearing their mascot suits – our of costume they're effectively regular humans.

Because mascots don't talk, while the characters are suited up, their players are only allowed to speak to the GM, and then only to state what their character does; all other communication – including coordinating with other players and dialogue with NPCs – must be carried out either via exaggerated gestures*, or by holding up printed signs which the player in question has prepared ahead of time.

This restriction may temporarily be set aside by miming the act of taking off the head of one's costume, after which that player may speak normally; however, doing so renders their character powerless and vulnerable during the following exchange.

* And no sign language, either – that's disrespecting the spirit of it!

[foreverisntenough]

Y/N is so fiercely protective of Trent and I just know that when he comes back from matches where he either didn’t play or someone fouled him etc she’d go off on a tangent and Trent would be like trying to stop her. She’d be like “I can’t believe he didn’t get a foul or a yellow card and like everyone saw it and the ref did nothing the stupid ref and he’s so lucky I wasn’t there and-“ and Trent would be like “babe, breathe”.

Sorry got carried away, I just love your series so much 😭😅

I love this! This made me laugh. I feel like that’s their vibe as well. Y/N being in a panic and Trent being like ‘baby chill out.’

TYSM for sending!

--------- My tiny one shot below for you 🤍

‘Mighty Red’ - 1.2k words

↳ Y/N is fuming after the Liverpool Man City fixture but Trent doesn’t seem too pressed. *If your a city fan- probably don’t read lol

Other ForeverIsntEnough One Shots

---------

“Honestly though it just pisses me off because they get away with everything. That’s a fucking foul every time. Like I don’t understand what are we using VAR for at this point because it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s a card! He had you by the neck of your shirt. I would’ve hit him if I was you. What a fucking prick. I wanted to run down there and kick him in the balls like get the fuck off my man.” You rattled on in Trent’s car as he drove you home after a game at Anfield. The Liverpool City match had ended with a tie as its result and you were less than impressed.

“Wow tell me how you really feel.” Trent laughed a little as he flicked his eyes to the side towards you momentary as he drove on the M62. The lights from the motorway filled the car and splashed across your face. He couldn’t help but think you looked beautiful in your rage.

“I should’ve gone down to the pitch to yell at the ref frankly like he’s so stupid. Why are they all so dumb? It doesn’t bother you? Like this is fucking crazy. They are cheating, T. Blatantly cheating.” You yelped out continuing on with your rant. You were fuming after the matches result. There had been a incorrect (in your opinion) call from the referee that even went to VAR to be reviewed. A City player had dragged Trent down onto the pitch by the collar of his jersey after a trip and you thought it was insane the player got away unscathed, not even a card.

“I don’t know, baby. I mean what am I meant to do? I can do my 90 plus on the pitch but that’s the only difference I can really make. Only chance for impact.” Trent responded in a calm voice but with a smug smirk thinking your passion and fury at the moment was pretty funny and definitely cute.

“Well that’s shitty.” You huffed in response. You pulled your legs up onto your seat to sit in a ball, folding your arms around your knees and pulling them into you.

“Well that’s the way it is beautiful.” Trent told you and tapped at your knee telling you the get your feet, still in trainers off his car seat. He hated when anyone got his car remotely dirty and you were not exempt. No rage was going to be enough to allow that.

“I fucking hate them. Everything about that stupid club. You know what else is ridiculous? The dumb mascot, what even is that? Like what an absolute joke of a club.” Your brow furrowed as you dropped your legs back down but shuffled to turn to look at him driving, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Baby, I don’t even know what it is? Why do you even know?” He started to laugh at how ridiculous of a point you were making. You pulled your bent knee onto the seat to get comfortable again and as much as you tried to hold your expression of anger you couldn’t.

“Stop!” You began to giggle as well. “I don’t know why! Okay? But it’s fucking dumb. You know what’s not dumb? A bird. You know what is also dumb that stupid ref.” Your rationale for why you disagreed with tonight’s outcome was dismantling slowly but surely as you got closer and closer to your house. Your argument was crumbling referring to mascots, saying that Liverpool’s liver bird was far superior.

“Birds not dumb… noted. Refs… dumb. Duly noted.” Trent kept laughing at you, reaching over once more to pat your knee not with instruction but with confirmation to your words.

“T… you have to be fuming you’ve lost the league to them by a point before like this tie is bull shit.” You pleaded for some sort of emotion from him. You leaned forward resting your elbows on the center console holding your face in your hands looking up at him.

“Thank you for bringing up that very pleasant memory but I told you I can only play the game.” He responded and your lip rolled into a frown.

“You’re being too calm and it’s annoying.” You finally decided maybe you needed to give up because he clearly wasn’t going to get on the same page of vexation as you tonight.

“If I got riled up after each game I’d be exhausted and just upset. It’s a waste of my time, energy, and emotions. You know all this.” He cooed turning toward you a bit and a sympathetic smile. He picked up your chin with a free hand. He rubbed his thumb over your jawline gently waiting at the last stop light on the roads before you reached home.

“Boo! I don’t want to know about your mindful ways. You should be mad with me.” You huffed. You just wanted to vent with him and yell about how much you hated the opposition. You’d done it before but tonight, even in the confines of your car, Trent was choosing professionalism.

“Okay, pretty girl.” He cooed kissing your lips with a quick peck before turning back to focus on the winding roads leading into your neighborhood. You arrived eventually after falling more silent as Trent pulled down your drive. He parked and grabbed his bags ahead of coming around to the passager side. “To be clear baby… I know they are the fucking worst.” He whispered pulling you into a hug at the door of the car before heading in.

“I knew it! I knew you fucking hated them too. Like we should be yelling fuck City!” you eagerly and fairly giddily said to him. You stepped forward into him and he shut the car door behind you. “Fuck them!” You yelped out into the night wrapping your arms around his waist resting your chin on his chest tilting your head upwards childishly to look at him.

“Fuck ‘em!” He yelled louder then you with a smile as he swayed back and forth with you in his arms in the driveway.

“Fuck ‘em.” You echoed him in the same volume before you fell into a giggle.” He looked down at you with a love in his eyes and kissed your lips. “City honestly sucks!” You giggled in between kisses.

“I love you. You’re a very very funny, pretty girl. Thank you for coming tonight. You look beautiful as always.” He cooed softly standing in the quiet drive illuminated by the lights of the house.

“Thank you, T. Wanted to look good for my man that City players need to leave the fuck alone.” You whispered with some cheek in response, ghosting your lips over his.

“You succeeded and you know what? Tie tonight on the pitch… still winning going home with you off it.” He cooed a response that managed to make your heart flutter. “And you’re right, birds… not dumb. Mighty red. Love him.” He began to laugh, turning to walk into the house. You gasped before falling into giggles of your own chasing after him. He was giving you shit for know what the city mascot looked like when he knew the damn name of his.

⇨ Read other ForeverIsntEnough here!

[thewintersoldierdisaster]

a/n: i am so proud of the boys and what they accomplished after everyone counted them out 💙🧡 can’t wait for next year when they’ve had a full training camp with patrick and they come back better than ever 🤍

tw: child goes “missing” for a brief moment, mild innuendo

word count: 2.9k

summary: the msg broadcast gets double the barzal men for a little bit

Offering to take the girls to the arena for a game seems like it’s a great idea until you’ve got Talia, both Martin girls, and Tulsa Horvat begging for pretzels mid-way through the second. Normally you’d have at least one of Syd or Holly with you, but since the outing is for Talia’s birthday, you’d thought it would be fine to just take the girls yourself. That you’d be a good friend, letting Syd and Holly have their Thursday night free, since all of your husbands are retired now and they don’t have to come to the arena if they don’t want to.

But Max is getting antsy and Talia is yapping your ear off - much like her father - begging for snacks.

“Mom, please, I’m starving,” she pokes her lip out at you in a pout and widens her hazel eyes. She looks unfairly like Mat when she makes that expression even though her general looks had shifted to favor yours as she got older. You’ve never really been able to say no to either kid anyway.

“Can you at least watch your brother while I go get snacks?” You ask, lifting your eyebrow and twisting your hair back into a slightly sloppy ponytail. Max swings his legs in his seat next to you, grinning at his big sister. His hat dips over his eyes and you make a mental note to adjust the strap.

Talia looks at you as if you just asked her to swallow a cup of live spiders. “Mom, please no! I don’t even know why we brought him, today was supposed to be for my birthday,” she whines a little, those pre-teen hormones working overtime. Two weeks from turning eleven, and you find yourself missing your baby girl more and more each day. She’s usually a pretty polite and delightful kid, but something about that upcoming eleventh birthday is creating that familiar teenage whine you’d been so good at back in the day. You should really call and apologize to your mother.

Max pipes up without taking his eyes off the action on the ice, “your birthday’s not even today!”

“Thank you, Max,” you hold a hand out in front of his face, covering his mouth, as Talia shoots him a glare. Max wiggles away from your hand, his head bobbing in every direction as he tries to see the players. “I should’ve known this would happen.” You pinch the bridge of your nose with your free hand.

The only reason Talia had picked this game for her birthday is because of Jack Cizikas’s last minute call up from the AHL. Her puppy crush on him is something you and Kristy like to joke about, but right now you’re not laughing. Casey, Kristy, Reese, and Cole are up in a suite with the grandparents for the moment and you should’ve just sent Max up there to join them, but your five-year-old is still a little clingy. He loves the Cizikas family, hero-worships ten-year-old Cole, but when you’d suggested it, his face had crumpled and he’d said, “I wanna stay with you, Mama!”

Who were you to argue with that?

“Okay, I’ll take Max with me, but Win,” you raise your voice and look down a few seats at Winnie Martin, the oldest of your babysitting charges at fifteen, “do not leave these seats until I get back, okay?”

Winnie grins at you, Matt’s smile copy and pasted onto her face. She gives you a little salute and nods, “you got it.”

Talia turns back to the girls, completely ignoring you, and you roll your eyes a little before holding out your hand to Max. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go get some snacks,” you say, savoring the feeling of his little hand in yours. You never know when he’ll start thinking he’s too cool for his mom, so you’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

“Can I get ice cream?” He asks, skipping along next to you. He gives Sparky a high five when you pass the mascot at the top of the stairs.

You laugh a little and point Sparky and his handler in the direction of the girls. “I’m sure Winnie will love to see you,” you say, nostalgia washing over you as you think about the early years of your relationship with Mat and Winnie’s love for the dragon. Sparky nods and gives you an enthusiastic thumbs up, before bounding down the stairs. It’s a different person in the costume now, obviously, but you all had made sure to keep Winnie humbled by making sure each iteration of the Sparky knew to stop and see her at a game. The teen plays along gamely, her mother’s daughter.

Max tugs on your hand, drawing your attention. “Mama! Can I get ice cream?” He repeats his request and you shake your head.

“Nope, sorry, kid. It’s past your sugar cutoff,” you shake his arm when he pouts and kicks his Nike against the floor, nearly tripping himself as he tries to keep walking. “I’ll split a pretzel with you though.”

“I don’t wanna pretzel,” he whines, dragging his feet as he traipses behind you. You dodge a few people, tugging Max along. He keeps whining a little, complaining under his breath, and you pinch at the bridge of your nose before squatting down so you’re at his eye level.

Max goes quiet, but his whole face scrunches up in annoyance and you smile softly. “If you have ice cream now, you’re not going to be able to sleep. And remember that Daddy’s coming on your field trip tomorrow so don’t you want to be well rested for that?” You raise an eyebrow at him while Max considers your explanation.

The line shifts forward while Max is considering and you smile awkwardly up at the family in line behind you, silently apologizing for not moving. The mother waves you off with a polite smile too. Solidarity.

“Can I have ice cream tomorrow then?” Max finally asks and negotiating with the tiny terrorist wasn’t on your to do list today, but you nod anyway, knowing it’ll bite you in the ass tomorrow.

“Yes, after your field trip you can have a little ice cream,” you stand up, knees creaking a bit, and move forward on the line. Matter settled, you hook your fingers in the back collar of Max’s Horvat jersey, worn because ‘Uncle Bo is the coolest!’ much to Mat’s annoyance and your amusement. At the self-serve counter, you grab five pretzels - even if Max doesn’t want to share, you still want a snack - and a Diet Coke, hoping for a quick burst of energy. You let go of Max’s jersey to fish your phone out of your back pocket and tap it against the reader.

“Okay, Max, back to -“ you cut yourself off, looking down at your side and not seeing Max. “Max? Oh, fuck. Where did he go?”

Your heart hammers in your chest, slight panic rising when you scan the concourse and don’t spot your kindergartener. “Fuck,” you mutter under your breath, the only thing keeping your panic at a reasonable level is the fact that Max was quite literally almost born in the arena and knows it better than anyone. Of course that also means he could be hiding literally anywhere and never be found.

“I…okay, think like Max,” you step off to the side, against the wall, so you can figure out what to do. “Where the hell is he going to go?”

The muffled cheers of the crowd filter through the arena, signifying that the Islanders have added to their lead late in the second. You smile faintly and, like a lightning bolt to the head, realize where Max wandered off to. Or where you hope he wandered off to.

You book it towards the Lab and the MSG broadcast set up, trying to see around the crowds of people that are leaving their seats now that the second period is over. Obviously, you can’t see anything around all the people and the closer you get to the main stairs, the more panic you’re starting to feel, thinking about the girls back at the seats and what you’ll do if Max isn’t with Mat.

Once the cameras and desk come into view, your entire body unclenches, Max is happily perched on Mat’s hip, chattering away with Shannon while Mat and Thomas discuss the second period’s play. The cameras are on and your son is broadcasting live on MSG. You wiggle your way through the little crowd of people around the set and get to the front, by the retractable belt barriers, and try to catch Mat’s eye.

The second he spots you, his entire expression changes, a delighted smile stretching across his face and his eyes crinkling up at the corners. He looks like a twenty-something again, not the nearly forty-year-old he actually is.

“Max!” You hiss, trying not to be heard. “Send him over here!” You wave your free hand at the duo, Diet Coke wedged under your arm and pretzels getting squished in your hand.

Mat shakes his head at you and Thomas and Shannon look over too, all three of them laughing. Mat turns back to the camera, Max smiling like the cat that got the canary. “My wife’s trying to get our broadcast sidekick back,” he says, laughing. Mat bounces Max in his arms. “But I think we’ll keep him around for his color commentary.”

“No, oh my god,” you shake your head and gesture for Max to come back to you. “Mat, stop it.”

“Max,” Mat turns to look at your son, totally ignoring you, “what did you think of the game so far?”

Embracing the fact that Mat’s going to let Max join them for a while at least, you sigh and relax into the moment, watching Max perk up as he gets to discuss his favorite thing.

“I missed Matt’s goal,” he complains, Matt Maggio must’ve been the one to score when you noticed Max was missing. “But I like Jack the best ‘cause he’s funny and plays mini sticks. And also he gave me a piggy-back all day at Easter.”

Shannon laughs and chimes in, “we like Jack around here too. But hey, Max, I can show you Matt’s goal while your dad and Thomas discuss some of the finer points of the game.”

Max wiggles out of Mat’s arms and darts around Thomas’s back so he can stand with Shannon and watch the goal he missed. You snap a picture of Max’s head poking over the desk, heart melting at the sheer excitement on his face. You also notice the dozen texts littering your phone’s screen - a multitude of laughing emojis sent from the girls while they watch at home.

The fans around you are clearly eating up Max’s presence and you feel a little spike of anxiety thinking about how exposed he is to the public now, after keeping his and Talia’s faces mostly hidden on your social media pages. It’s always a little inevitable that the kids are seen with Mat out in public, but you almost wish you could snatch up all the phones recording video and taking pictures of Max as he points something out to Shannon on the iPad.

You take a nervous bite out of your pretzel and try to just enjoy the moment until they go to commercial when you can duck under the belt barrier. Mat grins boyishly at you, grabbing your waist to pull you in for a quick kiss. “Well, this is fun,” he says, pulling back from the kiss. “Family broadcast.”

“He is so stupid sneaky,” you shake your head, offering Mat the pretzel that you’d taken a bite out of. He accepts it and tears off a piece of his own. “And fast.”

Thomas laughs, leaning his forearms on the desk. “That’ll be helpful when he’s zipping around defensemen and scoring goals,” he teases before going to say hi to the fans and take selfies.

“Mom, look!” Max pops up at your side, holding a puck. Where did he get that?

“Pretty cool,” you smile down at him and let Mat lift him back up onto his hip. Max’s long legs kick at Mat’s thighs. “Where’d you get that, bud?”

“From Dad when I got here,” Max chirps. “Can I stay? Cause I don’t wanna be with the girls.”

He cuddles up against Mat’s shoulder, the father-son duo wearing matching hangdog, pleading expressions on their faces. The day Mat taught both kids the look was the worst day of your life, weakening your already minimal willpower. This time you have to say no, interrupting Mat while he’s working is only cute for so long.

“Sorry, Maxy,” you reply sympathetically. “We have to get back to the girls, but we’ll see Dad right after the game.”

Max whines loudly, reminding you that he’s still only five, and you chew on the inside of your lip. Mat pats Max on the back and whispers something in his ear, the extra lighting catching on the few greys that are starting to form in Mat’s dark hair. You wait while Mat talks quietly to your son, trying not to worry about coming back from commercial while you’re all standing in the middle of everything. Eventually, Max huffs an exasperated sigh and wiggles out of Mat’s grip again, slumping his way over to your side.

You smirk a little, “gee, don’t look so thrilled to come hang with your mom.”

Mat laughs and you roll your eyes at him.

“I wanted to stay with Dad,” Max pouts, little fingers gripping tightly onto the puck. “But he said that he’d take me to the locker room if I go with you.”

“Bribery,” Mat winks at you. “A dad’s best weapon.”

The ten second warning that the commercial is ending blinks and you grab Max’s hand, “okay, time to go back to the girls. We’ll see Dad later, okay?”

Max waves at Mat as you guide him away from the set. “Bye, Dad! Don’t forget I wanna see Jack and the locker room,” he shouts and you can hear Mat’s laughter boom over the noise of the crowd.

“I won’t forget Max, be good for Mom,” Mat calls out.

You hurry back to your seats, Max hopping along and waving to people as you go. He gives big, cheerful greetings to the ushers and security guards he recognizes, forcing you to stop when Sparky passes by so he can give the mascot a high-five and a hug around the legs.

“Max, baby, please. We can see Sparky later,” you sigh, a little worried about leaving the girls alone for so long. You know they’ll listen and not leave the seats, but you feel vaguely like a terribly mother/babysitter since they’ve been sitting by themselves for nearly twenty minutes.

Max pouts, but takes a hold of the hand you’re holding out for him and dutifully follows you back to the seats. He clambers over the couple at the end of the row and you apologize quickly for him, making another mental note to work on the kid’s manners.

“Where did you go?” Talia pops up in her seat like a meerkat, wrinkling her face at you in confusion. “We thought you, like, got kidnapped!”

“We didn’t get kidnapped,” you huff, passing around the pretzels. The girls thank you and turn back to the on-ice intermission action. Max reaches for your half eaten one too and you’re glad you at least got a bite in earlier. “Max ran off to see Dad.”

Max grins at his sister, mouth full of chewed pretzel. “Dad gave me a puck and I got to be on TV with him,” he manages to sound smug and excited all at the same time, waving the gifted puck in one hand.

Talia pouts a little, still childish despite how she tries to mimic the older girls.

“Eat your pretzel,” you twirl your finger to get her to look back at the ice. “There are a thousand pucks at home. Oh,” you add, “we’re going to head down to the locker room after the game. Dad promised Max.”

That gets the girls going, chattering about how they get to see Jack and the rest of the players, giggling like crazy while huddled together. You lean back in your seat, smiling softly at how cute they all are. Max is on his feet, dancing along to the arena music, waving both hands in the air - your little party animal. You send Mat a video of him dancing, teasing that father and son have the same moves.

He shoots back a gif of himself dancing at the Martins’ wedding more than fifteen years ago, making you laugh out loud, drawing the attention of all five kids. “Ignore me,” you laugh, waving a hand at them.

Another message from Mat vibrates your phone: leave the kids with marts and syd when you drop the girls off after the game, i wanna show you more of my moves 👀

Giggling like a high schooler with a crush, you take a minute to appreciate that Mat still makes you feel floaty and dizzy with love. Over ten years together and he still makes your heart skip a beat.

“Mom,” Talia’s voice slices through your thoughts, “what’s Dad saying? Because you look so weird.”

Schooling your features into a more neutral expression, you lean forward over the seat and ask, “how do you guys feel about a sleepover at Aunt Syd and Uncle Matt’s?”

[pancake-cat22]

The Hockey AU characters pt. 1

So I decided I’ll share some of my notes on each character of the AU so that everyone understands some things better :)

This one is for Big Dogs bc I won’t be able to fit everything in one post!

Joel Beans

He’s the team’s star player. Some people say that made him arrogant but those who know him well know that he’s always been like that.

He met Grian and Jimmy in secondary school and began calling themselves the Bad Boys. To this day nobody understands why.

He briefly dated Lizzie in high school before they broke up mutually. They remain on great terms even now

He and Lizzie actually have a running joke that they’re married which started when they once claimed to be married to get a discount at Starbucks

He’s been learning hockey ever since he was 8 years old and has always loved it

Despite denying it like his life depends on it, he’s an absolute softie for animals, especially dogs. Jimmy swears he once saw Joel cry over a cute puppy he saw passing by them on the street.

Grian Moon

He and Pearl are siblings

He has 10 identical copies of his favourite red sweater

He’s been friends with Jimmy since they were 9

He calls Jimmy Timmy because he misheard Jimmy when they were introducing themselves and decided not to correct himself ever again

He once bought a whole chicken costume just to throw an egg (read: several eggs) at Pearl in it. He still has the costume and still denies it ever being him to this day

He stubborn to the point where he once didn’t talk to Jimmy for a whole week for making a joke about him being short

The moment he met Mumbo in secondary school he declared the two of them brothers and decided he would protect that little ball of anxiety with his life

Scar Times

He moved from the US to play in the Big Dogs

He’s absolutely the kind of person to break his leg during a game and say he’s fine, so Pearl drags him off anytime he falls a bit worse than she likes just in case

Only about half of the insinuations he makes are accidental. He’s very capable of making dirty jokes and he will use that skill.

People often think he’s the most oblivious put of them but if he tries, he can easily put together the pieces. He just lives with the mentality of not wanting to pry and doesn’t look too closely into things. He knows the person would tell him if they wanted him to know

He once built a throne for his cat Jellie out of cardboard. In real scale. It stays in his living room and nobody other than Jellie is allowed to touch it.

He has an older brother, Cub. Sadly, Cub lives back home in the US, meaning Scar doesn’t get to see him much

Jimmy Solidarity

He and Lizzie and siblings

He and Martyn are the Big Dog mascots

He’s known Martyn since high school

He made a YouTube channel dedicated to vlogging funny moments from the Big Dog team, for which Gem absolutely hates him because it ruins their reputation a bit. Despite the complaints of said social media manager of their team, he is not willing to take the channel down

He’s publicly dating Tango and yet to his frustration, none of his friends notice. He even got laughed off when he told Martyn he was dating Tango! They even live together.

Martyn Littlewood

He’s the other Big Dogs mascot

He and Ren have a weird thing going on where nobody knows whether they’re dating, friends, or hate each other. When confronted, Martyn either laughs it off or tells the person (mainly Jimmy because it’s funny to see his reaction) that it’s a ‘mascot thing’. Everyone has given up trying to understand the two. Martyn himself doesn’t really know what he and Ren are. When he asked Ren once, Ren admitted that he didn’t know either.

Though he would never admit it, he only took the mascot job because Jimmy did and Martyn wanted to stay around his friend. He ended up loving the job anyway.

He once set a classroom on fire back in high school to get out of an exam. It worked but he got caught because he stayed at the scene of the crime laughing.

He and Scott once role-played secretly being mermaids for a week straight for no reason back in secondary school. Everyone hated them by the end for their terrible acting.

Gemini (Gem) Tay

She and Etho are cousins

She moved to the UK to pursue better career opportunities and see a new place and ended up getting a job as the social media manager of Big Dogs. She never regretted her decision.

She’s been dating Pearl for almost a year now. She forgot to tell Etho.

Everyone is unanimously terrified of her and yet delighted by her presence. It’s confusing.

She actually has a boating license. She never explains why or how to anyone. Not even Etho knows where and when she got it.

One time she literally flipped a guy who was being creepy to her onto the ground. A video of it went viral and was shown on the local small news channel.

Pearl Moon

She’s Grian’s sister

She’s the team’s doctor

In secondary school, she helped Martyn light the classroom on fire. She, however, did not get caught.

Ever since the chicken costume incident, she’s been determined to find that costume and burn it. She knows Grian’s kept it just for the fun of it. And so, every time she visits Grian’s house or is at one of the parties in his house, she looks through anywhere where it could possibly be. She hasn’t found it yet but she will. One day.

Despite living in the UK all her life, she has an Australian accent. Nobody knows why, not even her.

She and BigB are childhood friends. She’s the only one who knows anything about him from their friend groups, including his real name. She also, however, doesn’t reveal any of it because she thinks it’s funny.

She and BigB also have their weird nosy neighbour traditions. Most of their friends think they were (or still are) in a cult of some kind. It’s really just them being silly.

Mumbo Jumbo

He’s the Big Dogs’ team manager

He constantly wears a suit, no matter the weather or occasion

He used to be (read: still is) a ball of anxiety back in secondary school. Grian kinda just adopted him the moment they met.

He plays around with technology and creates little devices for fun in his spare time.

That’s it for the Big Dogs! I’ll hopefully post a part two for the Shadow team soon :)

[heartfullofleeches]

Could we maybe see the first meeting between fast food worker reader and the handpit

"Y/n! Some kid lost his teddy in the ball pit!"

You peel yourself from the breakroom chair with the minuscule amount of energy you had regained from it. You learned the first week on the job to never expect a moment of rest, but that didn't make losing precious break time any better.

The ball pit had been a pain since its reopening a full week back. Customers loosing precious items, child claiming to have been scared out of the pit by a scary monster. In defense of the first thing it probably isn't the greatest idea to wear great grandma's wedding ring to a restaurant where the police leaves the phone on the receiver when they call in.

You enter the main area. A parent shouts at the cashier while clutching a sniffing child's name; a glimmer of hope in their eyes as you walk out.

"This is exactly why I don't let my children into those disease pools! If you don't bring my son, his toy this entire franchise is going under!:

Your coworker's eyes water. You throw them a thumb's up as you pedal to the playarea. It's common knowledge you're in this nightmare together so most helped one another when they could.

The play area was your average child's environment. Overhanging tubes leading to a twisting slide. Colorful walls and statues of the mascot looming in watch. The ball pit. The windows to the parking lot had been painted over after similar reports of odd behaviors outside.

You walk over to the wall where the net for such occasions was stored, but it's gone. Figures. Nothing's easy around here. You pop your shoes off and squeeze them into a cubby as per comand of your commerical marketed overlord. You fish around at the top before doing as expected and climbing into the pit when you can't find it on the surface sweep.

The balls come up to your waist, but you can feel they go further than that as you kicking through them. The ball pit was as big as your average swimming pool, so you definitely had your work cut out for you. Better than being screamed at by customers from hell you suppose.

The search is gruelling. Each ball you push out of the way is replaced by a tidal wave of more. You unknowingly sink down to your chest as your frustration rises. It feels like the pit hasn't been cleaned in ages either. Some of the balls sticky and wet, and you're poked and stabbed at by objects were too thin and hard to be a plush bear-

What was that?

You freeze. A pocket forms in the sea of balls to your left, sucking the plastic orbs into themselves like a technicolor sinkhole. You figure its because you had previously just lift that area and swim forward. Something tugs on your pant's leg mid stroke, but your other foot kicks it away as you move. As the lights flicker you get the feeling someone is messing with you.

"Not funny!"

So much for being a team player. You better hurry and find this thing so you can head out early today. About tew feet in front of you, the bear's button eye watches your struggle. Stopping it, you dart towards it, but it sinks into the pit. It then reappears another foot away.

"What the hell.... This really isn't funny.."

You try again. It disappears. This time it teleports behind you. Stagnate in the spherical waters, you watch as the bear disappears and pops back within view in a different location. Sometimes it's at the end of the pit, sometimes it's mere inches away. This definitely isn't right. You need to get out of here. As you swim for the ledge, something drags you below.

You kick and flail, a scream fighting its way up your chest that you shove right back down to save energy. You can't breath. Your body feels weightless like you're swimming in a lake, yet the same air as falling out of the skin. Hands grab at various parts of yoir body. Items flash by as you're dragged further. Ancient photos, priceless watches- name tags.

As a hand wraps around your throat, you scream.

"You..."

Your plunge takes an abrupt stop.

"We did not recognize you at first, but that voice. It is unforgettable."

The hands turn you over. You can't tell if it's onto your back or your stomach. All you really can see is the plastic balls, but if you squint you can make out two white dots in the endless sea.

"So this is your face. We have only seen it in passing from your memories. How peculiar is man that in our eons of evaluation, your cerebrum is the single power that has twine our minds into one? In this "pit" of all things."

The hands stroke at your face; force your eyes to remain open. They carcass your tense form, easing your body but not your spirit. You want to cover your ears, but you can't. The voice is so loud; what feels like millions cramming into your small brain at volume which makes your teeth rattle with each syllable. In the same vein, it is the softest melody you've ever heard - splitting your fragile mind in two and sewing it together again with its gentle hush.

"You are different. You cannot enjoy us. The honor of being your new home would be wasted with your mind lost to the masses. You are to remain in this establishment until we decide what to do with you."

The hands center on your torso and push you upwards. Light pokes through the spaces between the balls as you're forced to the surface of the pit. The teddy bear lays on your chest as you surf atop the balls, staring down as if it's wondering the same thing as you.

What the fuck just happened

[indecisiveoverthinking]

I like to think the player has a small picture of them and their child(ren) in their pocket and pull it out to keep them going after a battle or when they get to a new floor. I wonder how the mascots would react to them doing that or if it fell out during a battle that let them get a glimpse of it, the player looking so happy while holding their just as happy child(ren), before they hastily snatched it back up as if on instinct.

I had the same thought as well!

Banban

He already knew that the player is here for their child(ren), and it was no surprise when he saw them looking at a picture of them and their child(ren). Despite everything that had happened between the two, he tries his best to help.

He would offer the player words of encouragement, as well as to remind them that he'll help no matter what. He'd also mention the picture, and if possible, he'd like to take a look at it. No, he won't take it from them. He's a trustworthy mascot.

Nabnab

The spider mascot probably had no idea why they're here, but after accidentally spotting them looking at the picture, he probably felt their loneliness. As an attempt to comfort them, he just crawls over and gives them a pat on the shoulder.

He had seen people doing it before, so he thought it was the best way to comfort them. At least he tried.

Banbaleena

For Banbaleena, I'm sure that she probably overheard the player's conversation between Banban about their child(ren). She's quite surprised about it.

I think she'd comfort the player and give them the warmest hugs, as well as not to talk about the said picture. She was sure that they'd be uncomfortable if mentioned.

Also, she'd give Banban a punch because she thought that one of the best ways to comfort someone is to give them hugs and NOT to bring up a sensitive topic.

Queen Bouncelia

Although Queen Bouncelia just met the player not too long ago, she knew why they're here. And like Banbaleena, she won't bring up about the picture, knowing it's a sensitive topic. She has many questions, yes, but won't ask them.

The least she could do was to wish them luck in finding their child(ren) and to be safe. She'd be rooting for them.

Stinger Flynn

This jellyfish will bring up the picture. What do ya expect from him? He told them to leave while they still could, yet they didn't listen. And of course, he'd tell them it's their fault, should've leave and bla bla bla, all that. He will not sugarcoat the situation either. Accept the harsh truth.

But despite all that, he'd do small things to help the player ease their stress. Lost their key card? He would simply hand the said key card because he found it nearby. Sleeping? He'll drape a blanket over the player. Tired? Like the game, he makes them fall asleep(so they can have enough energy to survive the next floor).

Sheriff Toadster

When Toadster saw the player looking at the picture of them and their child(ren), it reminded him when he was thrown down to the 4th floor. They were both lonely.

He knew it was unhealthy to bottle emotions, so he did a rational thing anyone could've done. He hugs them. Even if the player fights back, he'd keep them in his embrace. He wants them to spill all their bottled up frustration and worry. He did it before and knew it would work. And before he even knew it, the player had stopped and hugged him back while crying.

Bittergiggle

I would think that he's the type to try and make the player feel better by doing something funny and entertaining. Like Banbaleena and Queen Bouncelia, he knew it was a sensitive topic, and it would make them uncomfortable if he ever mentioned about the picture.

He'd try his best to make the player happy, even if it's just a bit. He'll do funny tricks, like making his snake lip sync to his talking, or even do those magic tricks kids know. Sometimes, when he finds something, he hands it to the player. Like candy, instant noodles(most of them are likely to have expired), or things that reminded them of the player( a toy or probably a drawing he did).

Unfortunately, I didn't really have many ideas for the other characters in the game, I apologise for that. I'm not the best at explaining either, and I apologise for that as well :<

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

the crowleying of your mascot's hair.

Good morning maggots, as I write this it is 11:53 pm on the uh, asmi10kpocalypse/10khaos (both stunning names, whichever of you came up with them please walk on stage and take a goddamn bow) and I have awoken from deep slumber.

The Good News: My hair is dyed! The Bad News: It was torture that I nearly fainted from!

Okay well uh, we know what I'm best at, and it's summaries of chaos. So without further ado (much ado about nothing ahahah everything is a 10k reference now), here we go:

It starts, as it will end, in my room in front of the laptop screen.

Now, as you know, I said I would dye my hair after I scarfed down my lunch. I do that and I also take a nap because fuck yeah, sleep.

I check tumblr one last time, grab my phone without charging it, tell my mum I'm dyeing my hair, and begin the walk to the salon.

On my phone is Arthur, @howmanyholesinswisscheese, who as a cishet deadbeat dad of a lot of us, is the worst person to ask for hair advice, but I do it anyway. I need a reference photo for a haircut.

Arthur helpfully scours the internet and comes up with options that include: Gay, hot history teacher, Joe Locke but something's off about it, same as above but different slightly and I can't place it, top 20 haircuts for crazy people, top 100 teen boy haircuts for teens, mullet slash hot history teacher, Hozier, why does the teen boy have a beard, Aussie AFL player, and Chris Hemsworth.

His words, not mine. Does anyone want to check in on Arthur's history teacher because I am getting very concerned for that man.

So I pick a haircut and land up at the salon. Arthur also tells me my hair is wild and I have needed a haircut for too long. Thanks dad.

The hairdressers are not pleased when I point to the red shade and tell them to bleach and dye my entire hair.

They inform me it will look like shit.

They keep asking if I'm sure. I say, with increasing annoyance, that yes I am.

Arthur is in the phone enabling me, yelling that I need to do it for crowley and "THEY DON'T GET TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO"

The hairdressers then say they're out of red hair dye, I can either do a magenta or come back the next day.

Arthur tells me to leave and go to another salon.

So I do, and I wind up at the salon right next door (Arthur and I cheer for capitalism), an extremely seedy looking place with a poorly painted stairwell that could well be haunted.

I tell the hairdressers there what I want, and they also argue with me about how it will fade, look like shit, etc etc.

Arthur says "THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, THEY'RE JUST HAIRDRESSERS"

He tells me that if Crowley can keep the Bentley together through hellfire through sheer will, I can do the same for my hair.

Finally, they huddle in front of a laptop, muttering, and agree to take me on.

I am then also hair-shamed by the stylist, who tells me in no uncertain terms that if I don't cut my hair as soon as it grows out even slightly, it looks "kharab", which is Hindi for... 'substandard, inferior, bad, shoddy, deficient'. Thanks, mate.

The haircut is done. What follows then is on of the top five most excruciatingly painful experiences of my life.

No, I'm serious. The bleaching and dyeing. It was. Fuck.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

JUST THE MEMORY HURTS

OKAY NEXT PART OF THE SAGA I WILL REBLOG THIS IT IS GETTING TOO LONG

IF YOU WANT THE HAIR REVEAL THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO SIT THROUGH THIS LIKE I DID, I'M AFRAID

[lesbianpepsi]

your face is a like a melody, it won't leave my head

pairing: jock!amber freeman x volleyball player!fem!reader

summary: amber can't stop obsessing over a certain volleyball player

words: 2.379k

warnings: amber being a stab enthusiast, swearing, bad writing

authors note: my biggest red flag is giving all my fics long ass lana del rey lyrics as titles 😕🚩

Woodsboro High was like any other basic American high school. It had its popular kids, nerds, and of course the jocks. But one thing that separated Woodsboro from all the other schools was the jocks, more specifically the star jock player; Amber Freeman.

Not a sleazy guy named Jason Jackson but a girl named Amber Freeman.

She was absolutely notorious for her massive parties, how good she was at football and how stupidly attractive and athletic she was.

Everyone was fawning over her good looks and obnoxious attitude; well almost everyone.

You were the star of the volleyball team, the one who worked the hardest to gain the title of captain and went to every single practice to come out of it sweating like a pig.

You were the one in five hundred who did not like Amber Freeman.

Her cocky behaviour and rude attitude to students and some teachers who didn't deserve it made you go red with rage.

The feeling was heavily reciprocated as Amber made it very clear she did not like you.

"Accidentally" kicking her ball in your direction at lunch every time, snarky comments whenever she saw you and mistakenly using your locker to keep her things when she needed to change into her football gear.

It was anything but fun to deal with.

After a particularly rough practice session after school, you had to stay behind to clean everything up while your teammates headed towards the changing room to get their stuff and leave. Your oh so lovely coach didn't bother to help either, she simply threw the keys to lock the gymnasium at you and told you to lock up.

With a tired sigh you began rounding up all the volleyballs into a large black bag, throwing one in after the other. As you were about halfway done the doors opened, you sighed in relief as you hoped it was maybe your best friend Rosa had decided to help you clear up.

Grabbing a ball you turned to look at the doors, smiling widely before it quickly faded away when your eyes landed on who it was.

Amber Freeman stood there with a smug smile as she headed towards your direction, she was wearing her own jersey which told you she had just finished her own practice.

The jersey was the school's colours navy and yellow with the mascot being a panther, the front of Amber's jersey showing her signature number '96'.

The colour scheme was the same as your volleyball outfit; your long sleeved navy shirt with some stripes of yellow on it accompanied with short navy shorts that matched Amber's navy jersey and tight yellow slotted waist pants.

"What are you doing here, Freeman?" You grumbled as you stuffed a ball more roughly than necessary into the large bag.

Amber chuckled as she stood in front of you. "Coach didn't like my apparent 'arrogant' behaviour in practice so she said I gotta help the volleyball team clear up." She explained with a light rasp to her tone, something that you couldn't help but find hot annoying.

You scoffed as you picked up another ball off of the ground, dropping it into the half full bag. "Amber Freeman being arrogant, how shocking." You retorted, your tone dripping with sarcasm as you glanced at Amber.

The dark haired girl still had that smug grin that you wanted to desperately wipe off of her face. "Someone's grumpy, are you annoyed that you and your girl broke up?"

Your jaw clenched as you averted her gaze, focusing your attention back on the balls on the floor, much more aggressively than necessary shoving them into the bag.

"Fuck off, Amber. That's none of your business." Amber let out a laugh as she snatched the bag from your grip, opening it wider as she smiled at you.

Sceptical, you glared at her before you picked up three balls off the floor and dropped them in, the entire process being much faster with Amber holding the bag.

After a small period of silence much to your displeasure Amber broke it.

"Is it true you broke up with Neve 'cause she said she wanted to fuck me?"

You froze as your grip on the final ball tightened as you glared at her. You honestly thought she couldn't be any more of a bitch but here she was, in all her glory being a massive bitch.

"If Neve wants to make the mistake of fucking you then that's her and yours business, not mine." You replied, rubbing your thumb against the ball. "Well don't you worry baby cakes, I wouldn't sleep with her anyway." Amber asserted with a smirk, giving you a wink as she did so.

Your ears burned at her weirdly cute stupid nickname, your grip tightening even further.

Before even thinking you threw the ball weakly at Amber's face, resulting with her letting out a pained whine as the ball swiftly dropped into the bag. You grinned - mostly satisfied at the fact the ball dropped back into the bag- as you retrieved the full bag from her clutches.

"Whoops." You apologised as you tightened the top of the bag with the string, throwing it over your shoulder.

Amber rolled her eyes at your fake apology as she frowned like a hurt child, rubbing at her forehead where the ball hit.

"You're not funny." She grumbled out, moving her arms to cross them over her chest.

You narrowed your eyes at her with a smirk of your own. "I might not be funny but at least I'm not a reddit user."

Amber eyes widened in shock for a split second at your words, that only made your smirk grow even larger. She tilted her head to the side soon after, acting confused but you knew the truth.

"What are you even talking about?" She questioned. You stifled a laugh at fake confusion, you were positive Amber Freeman would not make a good actress.

"Does stumachersknife69 ring any bells, Freeman?" The jock averted your piercing eyes with a cough, finding a new interest on the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about." She mumbled.

You snorted a laugh as you nodded your head. "Sure you don't. Maybe I'll just have to ask Tara." You quipped making your voice sound more flirty at the end knowing how Amber would react to it.

Everyone in Woodsboro knew not to try to play any games with Tara Carpenter, Amber Freemans best friend. The football player was very protective over the smaller girl.

Amber's dark eyes glanced back at yours instantly at yours words, a glare on her face as she straightened her posture.

"The fucks that's supposed to mean?" She asked in an accusative manner. You shrugged your shoulders innocently as you smiled at her. "Well, you did say I was grumpy, so maybe I should start dating again. Tara's quite pretty, beautiful even and so sweet. What's not to like?"

"Like hell I'd let you go on a date with Tara." Amber said gruffly, her jaw clenching as your fake smile widened even further, knowing it would rile her up even more.

With a dry laugh you asked her: "Are you her personal guard dog or something?" your smiling becoming real at how annoyed Amber got.

"No, I just don't want her hanging out with douchebags like yourself." She cursed back. You watched her carefully as she took a step closer to you, glaring at you the entire time.

"How am I a douchebag? I've literally had like three girlfriends in my entire life and actually treated them with respect unlike you." You retorted with cockiness that faded once you noticed how lame what you just said sounded.

Thankfully Amber paid no mind to the fact you only had three girlfriends as her anger fizzled over. "Excuse fucking me? Are you saying I don't respect the people I go out with or something?"

You snorted a laugh as you stared at her in disbelief. Amber was the literal biggest player in the school, of course she barely cared about the girls she slept with. "You fuck 'em and leave 'em on the very same day without warning, that's kinda of a douchebag thing to do."

The jock stool another step closer until the point she was in your personal space, breathing heavily as she gazed into your eyes. "Oh shut the fuck up." She growled, the air around you suddenly starting to feel much warmer.

You didn’t wait a second to think of a reply before two words appeared on the tip of your tongue, escaping before you could do anything about it.

“Make me." You challenged with a smirk.

Amber opened her mouth to say something but faltered at the last second, shutting her mouth. The dark haired girl cocked her head to the side with raised eyebrows. “What did you just say?” She asked you in a low voice.

Your eyes flickered down to her pink lips before back to her dark eyes, licking at your own lips.

“I said make me.”

The football player didn't waste another second before her lips were on yours, capturing your lips eagerly as one of her hands moved to the back of your neck, pulling you even closer.

The bag full of volleyball balls had dropped from your shoulder to the ground, the impact making it reopen as all of the balls escaped with a roll.

Amber nor you paid any attention to it.

Your own arms wrapped around her waist as you pulled her even impossibly closer as you kissed her back just as fiercely.

The dark haired girl faintly tasted like raspberry apple, a taste you had never found so addictive and delicious until now.

Your heart beating faster than it had all of practice at the feeling of Amber Freeman’s soft lips on your own. Shutting your eyes it was as if you’d gotten much more sensitive, the feeling of the butterflies in your stomach intensifying.

Amber’s tongue professionally slided along your bottom lip as she begged for entrance. You whined pathetically loud at the feeling as you quickly went to complied to her request, soon after

Amber greedily shoved her tongue inside your mouth.

Your hands gripped at her jersey; your knees started to feel weak as her tongue explored your mouth.

The jock’s other hand held your waist with firmity, her thumb gently moving up and down your waist.

You couldn't bring yourself to pull away from Amber’s addictive soft lips, no matter how much your lungs begged you for oxygen.

Unluckily you didn't get much of a choice when you’d pull away when you heard a booming voice.

“Yo! Freeman where you at?”

You recognised the voice as Chad Meeks Martin’s voice, the second most popular footballer player at Woodsboro.

Amber hurriedly pulled away from you, breathing heavily as she still held you. It took you a moment or two to open your eyes, your breathing as erratic as Amber’s.

It definitely didn't calm down when the first thing you saw was Amber’s flushed cheeks and swollen lips, her signature smirk toying at her lips.

Your eyes locked with hers as you loosened your grip on her jersey, swallowing dryly.

You could feel the jock’s fingers playing with your hair as she leaned closer, her mouth hovering over your ear.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Y/n.” Amber whispered out in a sultry tone, kissing your cheek as she pulled away.

Before you could argue Amber's hands dropped from your body as she left without another glance, leaving you alone feeling flustered and as much of a mess you had at the end of practice.

It took you five minutes before you could move, silently repeating your previous actions as you kept the volleyball balls into the black bag. The warmth on your cheeks never leaves.

Once you actually kept everything you headed towards the locker room that was empty. You didn't bother taking a shower and as you decided taking one at home would be easier.

Throwing your backpack over your shoulder you locked the gymnasium before you kept the keys in Mrs Smith and Miss Myers small office near the gymnasium.

As you opened the door you saw Miss Myers inside writing away on her notepad, she jumped at the sudden entrance before she turned to give you a sweet smile.

“Y/n, great to see you, how was your practice?” She asked you in a honey sweet voice, very different to the deafening yells she’d give the football team when they played a game or were practising.

Without a doubt she was the scariest teacher at the school.

You grinned back at her as you nodded your head weakly. “Knackering, one of the hardest we’ve had in a while.”

She barked out a laugh as she threw her notebook to the side. “I can see you're still quite flushed.

That was more Amber's fault than Coach Smith but you didn't dare tell her that. Instead you laughed before you gave her the keys.

“Smiths made you lock up again?” You nodded your head, rolling your eyes as you grinned. “Captain duties apparently.”

She gave you a sly smirk as she took the keys from you, hanging them next to the dozen other keys they had.

“You're as dedicated as my quarterback.” Miss Myers complimented. You tilted your head to the side as you played with the strap of your backpack. “Freeman? I thought she was a hassle in today's practice?”

She laughed as she waved at you dismissively. “Amber is never a hassle in practice, that girl always tries her best and it shows.”

You blinked at her confused; Amber's earlier words replaying in your mind of her saying she had to come and help you clean up.

Had Amber lied to you to just see you?

Shaking your head weakly you smiled at Miss Myers one last time as you took a step back. “I'll see you tomorrow, Miss.”

“See you, Y/n, get home safely.” She replied with a wave of her hand, you waved back before you turned on your heel, exiting the building.

Amber Freeman’s irresistible smirk all you could think of as you headed back home.

[urauntiefaye]

The Boys of Grey City University

(Alternative Title: &Team as University Students)

WC: 3098

TW: Mentions of cheating in Keis, angst in most of theirs, mentions of rebound sex in Nicholas, light cussing, Usage of She/Her pronouns and feminine words like girl and ladies. Mentions of other idols. That should be all, let me know if I forgot anything. 

A/N: This took me way too long to make…literally been working on this for like three weeks right now so please like this I’m begging you. Jkjk if you don’t like that's okay bebe I understand. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while now, I also made them a hockey team simply because I’m a hockey lover and it definitely doesn’t help that my team's mascot is the Wolves teehee. Also not Tumblr fucking up the quality of the photos and screwing with my formating 🥲.

"Awoo there fellow Wolf! Welcome to

Grey City University,

where your future begins whether you

are a returning or a new student.

Are you ready to start your journey?"

-Grey City University, home of the Wolves. 

Meet Luné Nu Fraternity

~

Kei (Koga Yudai)

Major: Sports Management

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: President

Hockey Team Position: Center Midfielder 

Jersey Number: 9

Introducing Kei! the school's heartthrob that everyone either wants to be with him or be him. Not only is he one of the star players on the hockey team, but he is also a pretty smart guy. He is super extroverted and is always seen hanging around a large group of people, the smallest group you’ll see him in is a group of three. Only time he’ll ever hang out with someone one on one is with his best friend Fuma, or his girl of the week. 

Now despite Kei being super popular and coming across as the “Perfect Guy”, he has this one tiny little flaw. Kei has never in his life ever committed to anyone; even when he’s “with” someone he’s not necessarily loyal to them. Kei THRIVES off of the attention he gets from being the center of attention. And the fact girls throw themselves at him willingly just like that? what more can he ask for? 

Presently Luné Nu Fraternity and Soleil Sorority team up to throw the biggest party of the year to celebrate the win of the Wolves hockey team. Both coming together to make this party a memorable night. Expecting everyone to be having the night of their life, Kei grows curious about the girl who appears to be bored while standing in the corner by herself, sipping from her plastic cup. Being intrigued he approaches her, expecting her to act the way all the others do. Now Kei has a five-step guide on how to woo a girl.

He would advance towards her

Ask her how her night was going

Make her heart melt that he noticed her out of everyone at the party

Show that he was a sincere guy

Make his move on her once she opens up

What Kei failed to predict was that none of these steps would work, in fact the girl seemed so disinterested in him. How could she not be falling for him right now? He did everything in his book right, everything that would make girls swoon. But why did she act like she would rather be talking to literally anyone else but him? 

Murata Fuma

Major: Sports Medicine 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Vice President 

Hockey Team Position: Defensemen/Full backer

Jersey Number: 2

Meet Fuma!, the gentleman of the university. Always seen sporting a soft endearing smile while helping others. Fuma is the person everyone goes to when things fall apart or just in need of simple advice. His life is seemingly perfect just like him. Acing all his classes, becoming a top player on the hockey team, even the perfect home life. But what people don’t see is how utterly single he is. Fuma sees no problem with it though, as he just doesn’t have an interest in hooking up or casual dating. But his friends urge him to find someone because they deem it not “normal” to not even have at least a one-night stand. But Fuma finds it hard to be intimate with anyone especially if they’re a stranger. Now this doesn't go to say that Fuma has never tried to find a girlfriend before. They would always start out great in the talking stage, until they find out about him being a huge nerd and Pokémon lover. 

As the party planning was being held at his fraternity house; both being filled with members of Luné Nu Fraternity and Soleil Sorority, he decided to head out to grab some snacks and drinks. Going to the nearby gas station he catches himself accidentally knocking over a girl. Helping her up and profusely apologizing as he offers to pay for her food; her agreeing of course as it's the ‘least he can do’. Talking to her felt more than right, never having such a calm and fun conversation with someone who also didn’t judge him for rocking the Flareon keychain on his phone. Grinning from ear to ear as they parted ways. It would appear he may have found himself forming a little crush on this stranger. Unfortunately, his goofy smile would drop instantly when the realization that he had forgotten to ask for her number hit, thinking it would be the last of seeing her he gave up and let the thought go.

Disappointment however would quickly vanish when he sees hers at his university. Thanking the universe as he may now have a chance at getting the cute girl's number. 

Nicholas (Wang Yixiang)

Major: Fashion Design 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Philanthropy Chair (In charge of planning events like charity events)

Hockey Team Position: Defensemen/Sweeper

Jersey Number: 3

Congratulations ladies! Nicholas is back on the market! As he’s finally ended his on and off relationship with Soleil Sororities IT girl NingNing.

 Known for his fashion sense and cool chic demeanor; he is always seen walking around campus in designer attire or sometimes even clothes he’s made himself. Being the top in his major and fastest on the rink makes Nicholas a very desirable man. So, make sure you get in line fast. Even if it’s just for sex you don’t want to miss out.

As Nicholas finds himself newly single, he’s ready to hit the streets for some rebound sex. Not knowing where to start he finds possible luck as a girl in his 3D Digital Design class retweets his post. Discovering that this girl who he’s never spoken to has been secretly crushing on him since freshman year. He decides to approach her, finding her to be an easy target to be his rebound. Asking her out on a date thinking it will be a breeze. The date going well as he starts to genuinely have fun with her, but never forgetting his main goal is sleeping with her. Alas regrettably it doesn’t go well in his favor when their date comes to an end. Nicholas had expected this night to go a very specific way since he had this girl all figured out. But what he wasn’t expecting was her rejecting him. Coming to a surprise not realizing she was more intelligent than he had predicted as she admits that she knew what he was doing and not wanting a part of it. Understanding and leaving her be, thinking he would just move on to another girl for a rebound. But why does she keep popping up in his mind? Why does he find himself so drawn to this girl? 

Byun Euijoo 

Major: Nursing 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Exchequer (Treasurer) 

Hockey Team Position: Goaltender (Goalie) 

Jersey Number: 8

Presenting Euijoo!, the cutie in the Luné Nu Fraternity who always sticks out like a sore thumb when with his fraternity brothers. Everyone was confused on how this gentle giant even got in, as he doesn’t sleep around, and is always oh so shy especially when talking to those of the opposite sex. His friends, especially Nicholas, always have to give him a shove when it comes to parties. Now it is true that Euijoo turns into a genuine shy mess, but what if the reason he doesn’t talk to girls isn’t just because he’s shy? What if it’s because his eyes and heart are set on the beauty in his anatomy class. Euijoo always tells himself that today will be the day he will talk to her; but always failing when he’s around her. He would reach out to his brothers but knowing they’ll give him shit advice he decides to come up with a game plan to finally talk to the girl of his dreams. But how? Staying up late at his desk, pen in hand staring at the lined paper trying to come up with a way to at least say hi to her. Drawing to a blank he goes to bed, praying to whoever is up there to help him. 

The following day it would appear his prayers would be answered. Entering his Anatomy class the teacher tells them they’ll be changing seats before they start. Euijoo now being desk partners with his crush, thanking the universe as this is finally his chance. But what should he say? What if makes a fool of himself? lost in thought he almost didn’t hear her introducing herself. Euijoo was starstruck as she reached her hand out to shake his. This is finally it; he’s finally talking to her. 

Nakakita Yuma 

Major: Psychology 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Chair(Rush Chair/ in charge of the rushing process)/Recruiter 

Hockey Team Position: Wide Midfielder 

Jersey Number: 15

Uhoh, better get prepared as I introduce the prankster of Grey City University also known as Yuma! Yuma is super laid back and known as the class clown. Never really seen doing his work or caring about class but always seemingly being near the top. How does he do it? He never studies, instead opting to party all night long. Is he really just that smart? Despite his questionable grades, he is quite the charmer though. Always being the charismatic guy he was and causing girls' hearts to flutter left and right, along with getting along with pretty much everyone on campus. No one had a problem with him, finding his little pranks and antics endearing. Especially when he decided to skateboard all over the cafeteria while blasting music on his speakers. 

When Yuma decides to make his weekly appearance in his Societal Human Relations class, he gets informed that the semester's project will be assigned. Not being able to choose partners he had no issue with it, as he has the ability to get along with anyone. But what happens when the person he’s assigned to actually hates him? She can’t stand Yuma as he always gets perfect grades despite doing no work, while she remains just average even with all the all nighters she pulls. Fascinated with her hard work and no fun personality, paired with her constant state of annoyance towards him. He finds himself wanting to be around her more and more, telling not only himself but others it’s because she’s just so easy to mess with. But is that really the case?

Asakura Jo 

Major: Fine Arts 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Recruiter 

Hockey Team Position: Forwards/Right Winger 

Jersey Number: 43

Hey there? Are you interested in the tall silent type? Well lucky for you because Grey City University has a guy just like that! Meet Jo, a talented painter in the Fine Arts program who keeps to himself, stealing people's attention no matter what he does as he’s just oh too enchanting. Jo here takes his art very seriously as it’s more of a priority for him than anything else in the world. If it wasn’t for his childhood friend Yuma, he actually would have never even thought about joining the Hockey team or Luné Nu Fraternity. Taking that into consideration, no one knows Jo’s true personality minus his brothers. 

Jo, who never shows his true feelings until one day the clumsy girl in his Art: Advance Painting class trips over her feet, accidentally knocking into his table causing the water filled cup to splash everywhere including all over his painting. Jo who’s never felt so much anger in his entire life, instantly growing a distaste for her. Her never being so scared in her life as her eyes make direct contact with his. Convinced she wasn’t looking at the Jo everyone says was a sweetheart but instead the devil himself. Her now terrified to death trying to avoid him as best as she can and him refusing to ever let her near his work. Both hoping they won’t have to interact with one another ever again. Until he is asked by the theater department to help paint their set for the upcoming musical. Walking into the auditorium he instantly locks eyes with the girl who has also been asked to help. Will they both eventually grow to like each other? Or will Jo’s hatred and her fear grow instead. 

Shigeta Harua 

Major: Journalism/Communications

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Recruiter

Hockey Team Position: Forwards/Left Winger

Jersey Number: 11

Welcoming the adorable bunny-like boy, who loves sweets: Shigeta Harua. 

Harua is the president of the Journalism Club and is a well-known gossip amongst the students at GCU. Always knowing everything about anyone and anything. If you're curious about an event he’s your go to guy as long as you bring a snack for him as an offering. Also having people swoon over his cute appearance and personality they fail to see who this lovable guy really is. Only person who knows his true identity is his best friend who’s vice president of the journalism club. Her being able to see through his act on the first day they met made them click instantly. Even though knowing who he really was, she still found him interesting as hers and his real personality matched perfectly, since they both have a hunger for gossip. Becoming best-friends, they anonymously created a gossip page called “Secrets by Bee and Bunny”. Where they expose people and answer questions sent by their loyal followers. 

Hanging out one day at his dorm, Harua listened to her rant as he went through their email to see what people had sent them. Stopping his scrolling as a mysterious email pops up only saying “I know who you are”. Becoming nervous and filled with anxiety as the possibility of them being exposed they are now forced to go undercover and investigate who sent the unnerving email. Unveiling secrets and truths not only about the school but about each other too.  Filled with uneasy trust and causing newfound questions to arise. Will this make them closer than ever before? Or will it only tear them apart causing heartbreak and destruction. 

Taki (Takayama Riki)

Major: Cinematography and Film/Video Production 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Recruiter 

Hockey Team Position: Defense/Wingback

Jersey Number: 6

Hello there! Have you met Taki yet? You probably have but I’ll go ahead and introduce you to him. Here is Taki, the sunshine of the school, always making people's day as he goes around being a little goofball. Even if some people don’t see him as dating material that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy his presence. Taki loves people, he loves making people smile and laugh and just overall loves making them happy. If he could make someone's day better even with just a simple smile and a “hi” he would do it. The room always lights up when he enters, that’s just how much of a sunshine he is. 

Being in a Film Production class it’s only natural that he’s friends with literally everybody, including the Professor. But as the time of projects starts to roll around the Professor gives them the run down. You must be in a group of five and film a short movie together and finally present it to the class. With everyone wanting to work with Taki, he ends up in a group with Myeong Jaehyun, Anton Lee, and Won Haneul. Taki, noticing something was off, informed the Professor that they were a member short. The Professor then proceeded to call out to the class that if anyone had not found themselves in a group yet that they could join Takis. 

That being said, the girl in the back of the class stood up and made her way to the group. With the group now finally complete Taki noticed something weird about the girl. She was very quiet and never smiled. He wasn’t used to it, making it a point to get to know her and make her day. But his attempt of doing so would fail, as she just wasn’t having it. Curious about the girl who never seemed to smile, Taki decided to make it his personal mission to get her to at least laugh or smile. And that’s when Taki got the brilliant idea of Operation: Happiness. 

Maki (Riki Maus/Hirota Riki)

Major: Cinematography and Film/Video Production 

Luné Nu Fraternity Position: Recruiter/Probationary Member 

Hockey Team Position: Defense/Center Winger

Jersey Number: 14

Looky here everyone! It’s the freshman Maki! Not only is Maki a freshman but he’s also a probationary member of the Luné Nu Fraternity. This means that he has passed the rush, but he still has a time period to prove himself as a valuable member until he becomes an official brother of the fraternity. What does he need to do to become an official brother of Luné Nu Fraternity you ask? Well, it’s simple really, first things first he has to be present and participate with all meetings and events. He has to try and recruit at least five members, and last but not least he has to bring a girl to the party that’s being thrown by both Luné Nu and Soleil. 

Who will Maki choose to take to the party? A girl he just met? Or maybe best friend since middle school? Only issue with the best friend is that they’re actually no longer friends. Having not talked to her after having a falling out in their freshman year in high school. Will she even talk to him now? no need to fear though, it’s just one night. Maki is sure it won’t be that big of a deal to approach her and invite her as his plus one. 

Spotting her in the gymnasium as they shared P.E together he would try to strike up a conversation. Despite it going awkward at first, he would try to crack jokes from their past. Once the conversation starts to smooth over and flow more easily, he found his chance to ask her to the party. Coming as a shock to him though he discovers that his old friend seems to have a grudge against him for something he did in the past. Wracking his brain around not knowing what it was he could have possibly done to her. The time for the party getting shorter, he decides to apologize and rekindle their friendship as a means to become an official Luné Nu brother. Even if it means lying to her. I wonder how she would feel if she found out about Maki's selfish intentions, especially since it’s been bothering her long enough for her to hold such a grudge. 

Guilt creeping up on Maki he tries to actually befriend her. But would she accept him again that easily? 

[3liza]

I've only seen one single YouTube let's player understand that Garten of BanBan is a actual joke/parody/satire/troll (to wit: it is "bad" on purpose as a commentary on the genre and medium of mascot horror) which is ironic because those are the four words (besides "gaslighting") that i see misused the most in YouTube and TikTok comment sections. sometime around 2018 everyone under about 30 years old received a really incorrect vocabulary sheet and it has made discussing or even consuming media incredibly difficult. "gaslighting" now means "any form of falsehood including fiction", and "satire/parody" are used interchangeably to mean either "any form of humor" and/or "trolling".

there's something to be said for being critical of the intense, even recursive irony of the internet in the 00s, but it was (unironically!) a better media landscape than the current hypernaïvete which makes full grown adults play a shovelware Steam game that has "THE SPIDER IS COMING :)" in MS paint graffiti on a wall and ask in all sincerity, "is this supposed to be a horror game??" and then credulously scoff at how "bad" the game is.

the ONE YouTuber i saw who immediately just said ''oh this is a joke lol" was Pakpak, who also did a good video on the nearly-forgotten game Tattletail. and even his comment section is full of 20 year olds insisting that the devs selling ten dollar stickers in their merch store is a genuine effort to "exploit vulnerable child fans" and not. you know, a joke about the entire genre of cheap mascot horror exploiting vulnerable child fans.

we can post the "clarity of purpose" guy meme all we want but sometimes your purpose can be breathtakingly clear and your audience is just too fuckin stupid to pick up on it even if you spoon feed them the punchline

[ranchstoryblog]

PRESS RELEASE: Second Annual ‘Marvelous Game Showcase’ Delivers Exciting Updates on Fan-favorite STORY OF SEASONS and Rune Factory Series; Reveals NARUTO: Arcade Battle for North America, and More

Second Annual ‘Marvelous Game Showcase’ Delivers Exciting Updates on Fan-favorite STORY OF SEASONS and Rune Factory Series; Reveals NARUTO: Arcade Battle for

North America, and More

New Looks for Additional Titles in Development Include Opening Animation for

Monster Farming / Action Title Farmagia and Striking New Teaser for DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion

TORRANCE, Calif., — May 30, 2024 — Marvelous USA, Inc. and XSEED Games today shared a localized version of parent company Marvelous Inc.’s second annual ‘Marvelous Game Showcase,’ which debuted today at 3:00pm PT. President Suminobu Sato hosted the showcase and was joined by key members of development teams to provide updates on titles announced in last year's event, and announce new regional and global initiatives for the Marvelous family of companies.

Farmagia (formerly Project Magia): Product Manager Takehiro Ishida revealed the official title of the project, Farmagia, and presented the game’s opening animation, giving gamers an action-packed look at the cast of characters and powers they wield. Ishida-san also shared details on key characters in the game, designed by popular artist Hiro Mashima, including Ten, the protagonist who often acts before thinking; Arche, his childhood friend who balances both kindness and a competitive nature; Chica, another childhood friend with a more reserved demeanor; and Lookie-Loo, Ten’s sidekick and de-facto mascot. The title is planned for a global release in 2024.

STORY OF SEASONS: The next, as-yet-untitled entry in the beloved franchise continues its development as the team focuses on improvements to the visual presentation and natural environments. Series Manager Hikaru Nakano joined to debut a fresh look at the results of their efforts, highlighting how aspects such as updated natural lighting and festival fireworks have been improved to enhance immersion and atmosphere. The project remains in active development and will be fully revealed at a later date. In the meantime, Nakano-san confirmed new gameplay features including a player-controlled glider and the return of fan-favorite pets.

Amusement Section: Marvelous Inc. supports more than just PC and console entertainment and announced a number of new arcade initiatives including NARUTO: Arcade Battle, which will be available in North America this summer. Players will experience the world of NARUTO on a massive 50” screen, where they’ll engage in intense ninjutsu battles and collect plates to reach the highest rank they can! Arcade titles for Japan release only were also presented.

Indie Partner Lineup: The Marvelous family continues to invest in helping creative and exciting visions from smaller indie developers become a reality with global support for titles! Titles introduced for worldwide release include Bitsummit 2023 Grand Prize winner Death the Guitar, where players become an electric guitar fighting with the power of death metal to avenge their owner, planned for a 2025 release; and Moonlight Peaks, the supernatural-themed vampire farming/life sim title from Dutch developer Little Chicken, scheduled for 2026 release. One additional title, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, was also presented for release in Asia and Japan by Marvelous on July 28, 2024.

Rune Factory: Following a brief history on the evolution of the Rune Factory series and how it has grown across nine titles released over 18 years, Rune Factory series Director Shiro Maekawa joined the stream to reveal a new video for Rune Factory: PROJECT DRAGON sharing a look at the title’s protagonists. Players can choose to play as either Subaru or Kaguya, two new Earthmates with a twist; they will use the power of dance, rather than farming, to communicate and interact with the world around them. This new approach to interacting with the world comes with non-combat tools, including parasols and drums; series staple weapons like swords; and brand-new weapon types to experiment with, including bows and talismans.

DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion: First revealed during last year’s Marvelous Game Showcase, DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion once again closed out the show, where President Sato-san shared an evocative look at Marvelous’ First Studio’s mech-action sequel.  Additional details including platforms and a release window will be announced at a later date.

To celebrate the Showcase, select STORY OF SEASONS and Rune Factory titles will be on sale for up to 60% off on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch™ through June 7, 2024.

More information about XSEED Games’ products can be found at www.xseedgames.com Fans can also follow XSEED Games on Facebook, X, Instagram, Twitch, Threads, get in depth info from their developer blog, and join the discussion on their Discord server at: http://discord.gg/XSEEDGames.

About XSEED Games

XSEED Games is the independent-minded publishing brand of Marvelous USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvelous Inc., which is a publicly traded company listed in the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Formed in 2004 by a small group of industry veterans, XSEED Games is headquartered in Torrance, California and publishes video games on PC and consoles in North America. The publisher's diverse portfolio of over 100 titles includes releases from Marvelous Inc. including STORY OF SEASONS (Bokujo Monogatari), Rune Factory, and DAEMON X MACHINA, titles from third-party partners including AKIBA’S TRIP, Corpse Party, and Granblue Fantasy: Versus, and titles from independent developers including Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, Potionomics and Cuisineer. XSEED Games has grown its reputation among global gamers with its critically acclaimed localizations and commitment to fans, remaining ever dedicated to its “indie spirit, player-first” approach for quality games.

[skylarsblue]

»zenless zone zero«

Details of Belle's room, because I like her a lot and she deserves more attention.

[Desc: Belle's wooden desk. Featuring an industrial style lamp, a metal lock box under a standard black file box. There's a pair of white headphones with green detailing, and a clear plus(+) and minus(-) symbol for volume. A pencil holder that looks a bit like film, though it has numbers & letters. It holds a pair of scissors, a graphite pencil, an exacto blade/box cutter, a marker, and a mechanical pencils/pen. There's a scrap/sketch book in the center, brown and seemingly leather. There's a latch and band to keep it closed and it's covered in stamps, most notably one with a four leaf clover. On the wall are two post it notes, both with little doodles. This hints that she's creative. Either collecting stamps and stickers, which would align with the stickers all over her room and her pension for memory keeping (see the memory board the player can edit), and that she at least does small doodles, if not draw as a hobby.]

[Desc: Beside her orange box tv; which is inspired by vintage 70s/80s tube televisions with knobs/dials; is a game console on top of a VHS player. It's seemingly inspired by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, based on it's shape. There are three game cartridges, one in the machine. The one in the console is half visible, but what we can see has a blue smiley face. The second cartridge with a visible sticker seems to be either a horror or "biohazard" type shooter game. Though that's my interpretation.]

[Desc: Beside her desk is a wall with pipes. On the lower pipe there are more post it notes with more small doodles, stuck to the pipe with small magnets. One features a small yellow star and three big question marks. Two features a figure running with their hands over their head, carrying a heart. Three has some illegible writing and an emoticon face. On the pipe above this one are VHS tape boxes. Most are in kanji I cannot read, but the ones I can are- (1) The Silence of the Butterflies (2) I'M NOT A BANGBOO (3) The Sixteenth Split. I like to imagine the first movie is maybe a reference to Silence of the Lambs, based on the title alone. Which, if it is, might mean Belle likes horror/psychological horror movies.]

[Desc: On the table beside her mini fridge is a hybrid music player. It plays records via a slit in the front, almost like a CD player. And there's a space for walkman tapes above that. The volume knob is notably loud, there are tiny numbers and Belle's set it to the second-to-last setting. There's a box of records beside it with two semi visible packages. The first one is in kanji I, again, cannot read. But my guess, based on the art, is some kind of alt style music. The one behind it has a barely visible animal mascot with vibrant blues & greens, and the sharp art style makes me think of electric rock or pop. Behind this is her night stand. On the nightstand is a blue "GameBoy" and a yellow mug that says 'LENMAN', which is also seen on a soda can in her room. Lemon soda, I would guess.]

[Desc: The wall beside Belle's (unmade) bed. There are five posters. One features art of a woman's face above the movie title; 'REVERSAL'. There is some silhouette art that vaguely looks like some ethereal monsters, followed by the movie tag line underneathe - "Night of the Ethereal Reversal". Might be a Night of the Living Dead reference. Which further makes me believe Belle likes horror movies. The second poster is covered by One & Three, which makes it pretty hard to know what it shows. What I can see is an unfinished title - "---- Slayer". There's eyes on some of the visible artwork and it looks vaguely like a record with scenes on it. The third poster features various Bangboos climbing away from a large, glowing, orange, Bangboo that seems to be "exploding" with energy, exposing its skeleton & heart. There's kanji I can't read, but under the kanji title is the word "THUNDER". And the words "BANGBOO POWER" are behind the artwork at the top. The fourth poster is one also seen downstairs in the Random Play store. The title is 'Coffee Mate'. Based on the style & energy of the artwork, my personal guess is that it's a romantic, slow paced anime film. The fifth & last poster is titles Ports Peak. The art is blue with a red chainsaw blade shape cutting through the middle, in the blade shape is the vague image of a man's side profile. Based on the blood splatter pattern & the chainsaw, this is likely a horror movie. The art makes me think of Evil Dead & Texas Chainsaw Massacre, personally.]

{Desc: Beside Belle's leather couch is a red electric guitar & an orange amp. On the couch is also one of her console controllers...which has no joy sticks, only a d pad, buttons, and bumpers. Also, she has stickers on her leather couch, clearly showing she gives no fucks.]

[Desc: On the floor, in a divot in the wall beside the small stairs that go up to her bed's raised platform is a skateboard & a framed poster. The skateboard features a green dinosaur/monster with it's mouth open. The bottom says FATE, likely the brand. The framed poster features two smiling tigers on the top & bottom of a logo, on a red & black striped background. Since she also has snowboard goggles in her room, I'm guessing she uses the skateboard when the weather is too warm for snow.]

[Desc: Next to Eous's charging station is a yellow dresser. On top of it is a boombox radio that has two mixtape spots. There's a small display with random colors that currently displays a pause symbol. It also has an antenna, which means it could be used as a standard FM/AM radio. Beside the boombox is a rabbit statue that Belle is using to hold a pair of black, green & blue snowboarding goggles. Small note, on Eous' coat is the words "Random Play - Staff", and his scarf has their name in small text.]

[Desc: At the end of Belle's bed is a pair of red shelves, and a pair of industrial metal & wood shelves. On the red shelves are three record sleeves. The small text on the albums is gibberish, but they're all made by 5AM Studios. The first and top one is black with white graffiti-bubble letters that say "3Z". R'n'B maybe? I've seen art like this for some R'N'B albums. Below it, the second album features some art of a Bangboo riding a cat through a ring of fire. Above the art is the word ZENLESS. The font & style give me, personally, some rock vibes. What subgenre of rock, I'm not sure. The last album is a art of a spider on a black & red ombre background, contrasting the spider, which features the same gradient in the opposite direction. The spider seems to feature the name of the band or album, but I can't tell what it says. I do know that this shit has to be a metal album. I'm like, 90% sure. On the industrial style shelves are some VHS tapes & a box. These tapes look like the type you buy for your own recordings, rather than ones with movies. Underneath that level is a technicolor piece of artwork in a frame. There's an illegible signature in the right bottom corner, meaning it's an autograph.]

[your-local-taurus]

Newsies Marching/Concert/Jazz Band Au

This has been sitting in my notes app for ages and I had the brilliant idea to post it here. These are heavily based on my own experiences in band if you couldn’t tell by how wildly specific some of these headcanons are!

Jack: He. Is. A. Trumpet. Player. I don’t make the rules here. Definitely the type of kid to challenge others to “who can play louder” or “who can play higher” and proceeds to blow out everyone’s ears. He gets an earful from Davey, Katherine and the band director.

Davey: I was like “what the nerdiest instruments this loser can play” and was like CLARINET (and then remembered I play clarinet) This kid can play hard-ass riffs like there’s no tomorrow, it’s actually terrifying. He makes it look easy. The others make fun of him but all agree that without him the upper woodwinds would be a disaster.

Les: Davey’s little brother that is always at rehearsal for some reason. He’s around so much he’s basically their unofficial mascot. He carries the school banner haha get it? and water bottles during parades.

Katherine: Definitely the drum major during marching season. She’s really organized and the boys are all low-key scared of her too, so that’s a bonus. She plays the tenor and soprano sax in concert band.

Crutchie: Mallet percussion! He can’t March but man this kid can bang out rhythms on the xylophone and marimba! The others jeer at him and call him “SIDELINES” we do that to our mallet percussion but it’s all in good fun.

Race: ALTO SAX PLAYER. He does not stop playing Careless Whisper, he has no shame. They’ll be practicing drill and then *CARELESS WHISPER* “SHUT UP RACE, I SWEAR TO GOD”. He’s one of the alto section leaders with Finch, but no one knows how because this boy does nothing but goof off? He’s mainly the morale portion of the section while Finch does the actual house keeping stuff, but he’s not that good at it either. Needless to say, the alto section is hanging on by a thread.

Albert: Definitely a trombone player. Knows all the big memes and can play them on command. Despite all the joking around he does (with Race) he’s actually a fantastic player and does killer solos in jazz band. He can rip the paint off the walls with how loud he can play.

Finch: As I said above, an alto player and section leader. He’s low-key done with Race after spending years sitting next to him in band class and half the time you see him he’s on the collapse of a breakdown. But he loves his section as much as he jokes otherwise. He just wishes Race would stop playing Careless Whisper, but we can’t have everything, can we?

Elmer: Also a trombone player. He’s normally trombone two, but he’s totally chill with it, he likes the harmony parts. Also knows many memes he can play on command and he and Albert duet a lot of them from across the field. Like, they’re on separate ends and just BLASTING the Wii theme across the football field. Everyone hates it almost as much at they hate Race playing Careless Whisper.

Jojo: Alto player. No one knows why this kid isn’t the section leader because he’s so good with the section and already does a good portion of the responsibilities. Kids come into band being like “oh yeah, isn’t Jojo the alto section leader?” And are shocked to find out no it’s Race and Finch????? My boy doesn’t take any credit and says he’s just trying to be helpful, bless his heart.

Buttons: Flute player! Don’t have a lot of good parts in marching band but that doesn’t bother him because he gets a lot of the pretty melodies in concert band.

Specs: Plays flute for concert band but since he doesn’t get a lot of good parts, he plays trumpet for marching and jazz band. Section leader for both and is super good at keeping people on task. He’s like the tired parentTM with dealing with his sections (particular the trumpets *cough cough* Jack)

Romeo: Plays the flute. He’s the flute player that complains about how his arms hurt from holding his flute up for SooOoOoooOoOOoo long while the drum line is just deadpanning at him like “you’re kidding me, right?” Whines about the runs he needs to play but gets mad when people suggest he just changes instruments if he hates it so much.

Tommy Boy: DRUMMER TOMMY BOY DRUMMER TOMMY BOY DRUMMER TOMMY BOY!!!!! Plays the quints for marching. He plays a variety of instruments for concert band but he’s really good at the timpani. He 100% plays the drum kit for jazz band. He’s so good at keeping the band grounded, definitely lives up to the “heartbeat of the band”.

Mike & Ike: I hate putting them together because they are two different people, but they need to be together for this head canon. Both play tenor in marching, concert and jazz band. Both tenor one in marching and concert but weirdly enough, no one knows who’s tenor one in jazz band? They both know the tenor one and tenor two parts to all of their songs and just switch day to day, song to song and everyone’s like ???????? But they think it’s funny and they’re both good players so the band director doesn’t care.

Mush: Tenor sax! He plays it for both marching and concert band but plays the electric guitar for jazz band on account that the twins are already the two tenor players and he’s pretty good at it. Definitely a section leader, total sweetheart and gets along with mostly everyone, even the twins, though they do drive him up the wall at times.

Kid Blink: Bari sax player. Honks on those low notes and CARRIES Seven Nation Army. There are times where he alone can over power most of the band and is told to back off. Does amazing solos in jazz band as well.

Henry: Trombone player. Really done with Albert, Elmer and Sniper’s shenanigans. Probably the section leader even though he’s not the best player, just because the other would probably abuse their authority. Poor kid normally spends rehearsal thinking about food and wanting to leave because Albert has been play the Wii theme for fifteen minutes now. His instrument probably also has some nasty shit stuck in it because he eats before and during rehearsal. Gross.

Smalls: Piccolo player for marching band, flute/piccolo player for concert band and plays the electric/upright bass for jazz band (idk why, it just feels right) The upright bass is like twice the size of them but man can they pluck out those bass rhythms. Likes to play stupidly high with their piccolo and poor Romeo and Buttons who sit next to them are just wincing every rehearsal and come out of it deaf from the shrillness.

Sniper: Trombone player. Completes the unholy trio that is the chaotic trombones. Probably going to give Henry a migraine at some point, they are the type of trombone player to try to balance their instrument on their head (if you know what I’m talking about). Knows all the harmonies to the memes Albert and Elmer play just to piss everyone off a little more.

Spot: Drum major for Brooklyn, no questions asked. Do you see the way he cuts off the Newsies at the rally drum major style???