#flynn built video games

[zannenilsson]

Alan Bradley: "I don't know, he just said something about tampering. ...Do you think it's your Fuccboi Ex agai-"

Lora Baines: "Oh it's DEFINITELY my Fuccboi Ex again."

[felassan]

Just some info I noted down from today's video in text form, under a cut due to what some peeps may consider spoilers, and length.

This video took place well into the game, meaning the beats in it are later in the storyline.

At least part of Davrin’s personal arc involves rescuing the griffons. In an earlier part of his arc you are introduced to his nemesis, the Gloom Howler, a creature that has been hunting and stalking Wardens for quite some time. It has kidnapped a bunch of non-Assan griffons and Davrin has been trying to track it down. In the quest shown in the video, he has found a lead and wants to go and track it down and get the griffons back from the Cauldron (a secret Grey Warden redoubt that was attacked). Davrin wonders what the Wardens were hiding inside the Cauldron, as he has no idea. When the party reaches the Cauldron, they find that something large tore down the gate. The party needs to find a way inside and help Davrin investigate.

Davrin prefers a Direct approach in dialogue. Tough dialogue choices can gain approval from him

The bond between a griffon and a Warden moving as one and having unity between them is called “turlum”. Davrin and Assan don’t yet have this

Grey Wardens: Lancit, Remi, Landon, Quincy, Miriel, Fisher, Greta, Beckett, Flynn (an apprentice physician, whose mentor is called Oskar). I think Flynn’s pronouns are they/them. We will do quests with Flynn including A Cabin in the Blight. They were treating patients and became low on medical supplies. Their mentor Oskar has some and lives in a cabin outside the village. Flynn asks Rook to tell Oskar they could use his help if Rook sees him when they are out there. Flynn is local to Lavendel and saw the Blight surge through their home.

A Grey Warden merchant / quartermaster is called Holden. The little girl seen with Davrin in the release date trailer is called Mila.

If you do content in an area it helps you discover more shortcuts, giving you more flexibility in how you navigate between different remaining missions and quests

Each exploration space has its own story to tell. The quests and sidequests there are narratively relevant and also contribute to a meta story/meta narrative about that space. In Hossberg / Lavendel the aim is to get to the center of the Blighty stuff that has been going on there

Another Warden sidequest called Lives Spared seems to involve some missing Wardens who haven’t checked in in a while

Rook inherits the Lighthouse willingly or unwillingly from Solas. It’s located in the Fade and is where Solas was able to start planning his rebellion against the elven gods millennia ago

The Lighthouse shapes itself around your personality. Companions’ rooms there shape themselves around the companions as they live there and go through their arcs. A glowing light above the entrance to a companion’s room indicates that they are ready to talk to us

Hossberg is a later game area. Hossberg Wetlands are dark swamps and the area has almost completely been consumed by the Blight, making it a lot more dangerous than before. As a zone it’s quite contiguous and has lots of branching paths and different areas to explore. The Grey Wardens set up shop in an outpost/fortress (this is only one of their bases) there called Grey Hold in the small town of Lavendel, which used to be a beautiful place full of life and flowers. The Blight has had a serious effect on Lavendel, but the residents are still there and trying to make the most of it. There are plenty of opportunities to help the residents.

The Wardens have noticed that something strange is going on; the Blight is not behaving as it should or as they would expect, or like it has done historically. A codex entry pops up called “An Improved Blight”. (basically we are getting Blight dialled up to eleven) Rook is there to work with the Wardens, help them out, and help them find the answer to their question about the Blight. In their outpost the Wardens have built up a small fighting force to hold off the darkspawn. They understand the stakes of the gods being released and want to help you but they have other priorities, so increasing their power allows them to contribute more meaningfully to your fight against the elven gods. The Blight has changed. It’s become a lot more organic, a lot more alive. Once a slow-moving wall, it now has almost-sentience and almost-thought behind it. This has something to do with the released Blighted elven gods.

Something bad happened to a place called D’Meta’s Crossing, it’s no longer standing.

It sounds like Weisshaupt has fallen.

Merchant shops can be upgraded, doing so unlocks new items.

The Crossroads is a location in the Fade that contains a number of eluvians, allowing you to travel across Thedas in a matter of minutes. At the point the video takes place, the Crossroads are under assault by the elven gods. It’s now a dangerous place.

The big eluvian in the Lighthouse is called the Vir Revas. (that could translate as Way/Path of Freedom). It’s the central focus point of the Lighthouse and it takes you to Solas’ pocket area of the Crossroads, which looks different to what we’ve seen in Trespasser. “A path has emerged from the mists of the Fade that leads to a gathering point where all eluvians meet – the Crossroads”. We will spend a lot of time travelling through the Crossroads as we go from area to area. At one point, it was also a space that served as Solas’ main base of operations and training ground for his rebellion against the elven gods. As we go through it we will find fragments of the past, things that Solas did previously that will give us insight into him as a character, and also into the elven gods and their motivations. If you go exploring in the Crossroads there are opportunities to relive some of the memories Solas had during his rebellion. We will actually get to take part in this ancient rebellion.

The Crossroads as a realm reflects the waking world. It’s a mix/ amalgamation of all the real world spaces that are tied to it, in this case for example Hossberg and other mountainous regions that exist in the game. The architecture around the eluvians here very clearly reflects where they lead. The first time you go to any of the new regions in the world you traverse the Crossroads to get there. After that you can fast travel if you want. But exploring the Crossroads is recommended because some of the deepest secrets lie within

There is a mysterious spirit in the Crossroads called The Caretaker who was there before Solas was. They started to help Solas with his rebellion and also to turn the area into a safe haven for spirits, as Solas loves spirits. In the video we see them piloting a boat through the air to transport Rook somewhere. Because the gods are assaulting the Crossroads, it’s no longer the safe haven it once was. Rook works with the Caretaker through a lot of ancillary content to rebuild it into a safe home for spirits.

There is an area in the Crossroads called Beacon Island

The darkspawns’ different looks is very intentional. Their new look is in part because Ghilan’nain, described here as "the god of monsters", has always been focused on using the Blight essentially as a crafting material, a way to alter life itself. she’s been enhancing and changing the darkspawn as part of her army. She uses Blight like a medium to sculpt and warp the darkspawn to do her bidding and suit her purposes. The idea is that the Blight and the darkspawn are an organic weapon. Instead of making swords and armor, the darkspawn use the Blight to augment themselves, effectively defeat you and give the gods the world that they desire. The darkspawn aren’t just coming out of nowhere. They emerge from Blight pools, like the Blight is spawning them. Part of Ghil’s attempts to turn this into an army for the gods is to use them for overwhelming force. Hurlock Blighters have disgusting growths on their backs that they throw, making them function like grenadiers as they rip off these pieces of themselves and throw them at you - these then explode as Blight – this kind of enemy design for the darkspawn is supposed to lean into the idea that the Blight is organic and disgusting. In places there are Blight boils throughout the area, and if Rook doesn’t destroy them during combat ghouls will continue to emerge from them.

It sounds like in terms of ‘factions of enemies’ and their designs, we have the darkspawn which use overwhelming force tactics, the Venatori which focus on magical power, and the Antaam which focus on physical strength

Zipline traversal is in

Each mage’s (Neve, Bellara, Emmrich) healing ability is thematically appropriate to them

I think Davrin’s special exploration ability, or one of them, is called Blight Hunter. (one of the ones Rook can channel through the dagger when that companion isn’t there). This summons Assan from above to destroy Blight Abscesses. He seems to have another as well that Rook can also use via the dagger called Griffon Strike. In the video Rook uses this one to destroy a mechanism that was keeping a load of wood suspended in the air from a beam.

We see Rook also using the dagger to "charge beam" and destroy what looked like a thick tendril of organic Blight across the ground, and to destroy a ‘wall’ of blight abscesses that was blocking the way. At one point in the video Rook comments that the dagger is vibrating, "like a song in a wine glass"

When companions go ahead to meet you at quests they’re invested in, they won’t complete them without you, but they do get things ready. If you start doing those quests and don’t have them in your party, they will move ahead of you and wait for you at the next point.

[astercontrol]

So here's a funny little thought about Tron.

Yes, he is an oblivious goofball sometimes, BUT...

...He's a security program.

And, interestingly, his knowledge of security measures? Also seems to make him good at circumventing them himself.

We have it on good authority (Yori!) that before his latest stay in the pit cells, he had been captured and locked up -- and broken out by himself-- multiple times before.

"I knew you'd escape! They haven't built a circuit that could hold you!"

Interesting side note: although we in fandom most commonly use "circuit" to mean the patterns on the programs' bodies, Yori here uses "circuit" to mean a literal computer circuit-- a place in the computer that Tron could be kept.

But anyway, this establishes that Tron has a history of breaking out of any circuit they try to keep him in.

Back in the cells, when Flynn arrived, Tron was already planning (with great confidence!) to do this again.

"You really think the Users are still there?"

"They'd better be. I don't wanna bust out of here and find nothing but a lot of cold circuits waiting for me."

He has no doubt that he'll "bust out of here" eventually. His only concern is that maybe he'll find only "cold circuits" (which is a little ambiguous, but I took it to mean something like "cold empty hallways," with no User presence).

He has more faith in his own escape-artist abilities than he has in the actual Users.

So.

Let's go forward to when he actually does get out.

This happened with Flynn's help.

Flynn, racing against an enemy lightcyclist, turned at the wall and led the enemy to crash into it, making a large crack.

Then, Flynn went off toward that crack, announcing to Tron and Ram:

"I'm getting out of here right now and you guys are invited."

And all he hears back?

"Got it." Like that, monotone. Didn't even sound excited.

(And that was Ram, the polite one! Tron doesn't even bother answering.)

Sooo. Conclusion? This thing with the cracks in the walls is not even a surprise.

It happens a lot-- often enough that the announcer-lady voice has a prepared announcement for it.

"Video game warriors escaping game grid! This is an illegal exit."

(She doesn't sound surprised either, for what it's worth.)

Tron was confident in his ability to escape because he knew this was gonna happen sooner or later. He'd probably seen it happen! He was just waiting for it to happen when he was in a position to take advantage of it.

Yes, Flynn happened to be involved in making it happen, this time. But, in their whole little interlude in the energy-pool cavern, Tron and Ram never once express thanks or admiration or awe or anything. It's like Flynn's part in this was totally unremarkable.

Now, when Tron introduces him to Yori, he does have the decency to give Flynn fair credit for being the one who happened to "bust him out"....

and Yori does mention that some thanks might be in order... although their primary focus shifts pretty fast to "yikes look at him getting all up in Yori's space like a creep."

Neither one of them seems impressed that Flynn helped with the escape. All the congratulation for Flynn's knowledge of how to break out of there? It's all self-congratulation-- right before Flynn seems to decide that now's the time he has to admit to being a User, in order to explain this great feat.

Really, Flynn. Really?

(I'm not saying Flynn was 100% useless on the entire mission. There was still the MCP Distraction that he provided. It's possible Tron wouldn't have been able to find a substitute for that.)

(But still. Really, Flynn.)

[egg-emperor]

Speaking of Eggdad I don't remember which video it was but it had Ian discuss how family bonding between Eggman and Sage would be destroying villages and subjugating the inhabitants HAPPILY together. Eggman and Sage are new team dark if anything. In fact, if we got a new Sonic Heroes type game it'd be so awesome if we got a playable Eggman team featuring himself truly, Sage, and Metal Sonic.

Yeah every time Flynn has talked about Eggman and Sage that I'm aware of, it's not without him explaining how Eggman has messed up perception and conditions behind his embracement of the dynamic, or emphasizing that they're still very much evil together. It's cool that he doesn't seem to play into the hyper pure wholesome fanon idea because of how the fandom mass misinterpreted it and clearly prefer it that way, when he very well could. Goes to show that it really was never actually the written intention of their real dynamic in the games

Because it just reiterates what we already see to be the case in the game already, with Eggman's dynamic with Sage being anything but traditional and in fact very self-centred and conditional with just as selfish motives as ever, and Sage clearly being on Eggman's side of evil even after her developments by staying by his side as he laughed at Sonic's cyber corruption death and the way she says the world is his to conquer. She's still very much evil and her development is only likely to make her more so to please her father and attempt to bond with him

So the idea that closest to family bonding is through that instead of all the traditional things/at least with an original evil twist on them in the very rare occasion that they might be is great. Eggman wasn't the type to suddenly get into tons of traditional domestic family activities to please someone who was literally created to serve him, so Sage instead joining in on all the things he already enjoyed doing before she existed and her just being happy to be included makes way more sense. And it's way cooler to think about what fun diabolical things they can get up to together!

It's fun to think about how they work together in business and schemes and happily destroying villages and subjugating inhabitants. Also how Eggman could indulge in his love for theme parks with her, not by wholesome trips to Disneyland but showing how they really should be with Eggmanland, twisted and deadly dangerous thrills. Same with carnivals. And with his love for circuses, he kidnaps and showcases stolen animals like Circus Park. And he said he could turn Sonic and co into toys for Sage to play with in The murder of Sonic, teaching her that people are their playthings

It is pretty much his answer to a new Team Dark, though he prefers the name Team Eggman now, probably because he considers himself the founder and creator of the original Team Dark and feels it was highjacked with him being cast out and replaced by Omega so he wants to assert extra hard that it's his this time so it won't happen again, can't forget who it belongs to or replace him when he's in the name lol. And then he can show how much better he can be on a team with his own superior creations built in his image instead of with Shadow and Rouge!

While it's funny that he had Zavok on his Team Eggman last time, reflecting his cush and obsession with the guy lol, Eggman and his own creations makes the most sense long term. The best way for him to team up with anyone is if they're his own obedient creations that won't - or literally can't ever think of betraying him with the programming like Metal (for the most part!) or have the genuine enthusiasm like Sage and most of the "teamwork" is really mostly them serving him and him getting all the benefits and glory. Metal and Sage are the perfect fit

Also if going by team types again, they don't fit into the Heroes team structure as none fit Flight type much but certainly fit the Team Sonic Racing one. Sage Technique, Metal Sonic Speed, and Eggman could be Power class again like he really always should be and would've been again if Zavok hadn't stolen that spot in TSR! Eggman being the brains and the brawn when be wants to join the action and show off his physical strength, Sage also being brains and skill with her programme abilities and Metal being the speedy killing machine he's always been

Diabolical dream (nightmare?) team there! XD They could get up to some great evil together!

[shannonallaround]

It still surprises me that some people, including Ian Flynn, are desperately trying to fit Sonic Prime into the video game timeline. Like? Why are you trying to fit a circle into a square-shaped hole? Sonic Prime is clearly its own universe, close to that of the games but purposefully not exactly like it. It’s like Sonic X or Sonic Boom, where each were designed to take place in their own worlds. Sonic X is an especially relevant comparison, as Sonic’s planet in there was mean to somewhat resemble the game verse, but then the show built off it like an AU. Sonic Prime is the same.

And despite Ian trying to slip things into the games to force everything into a single timeline (I am looking directly at the nonsensical name drops of Sticks and Tangle in Frontiers rn), it really doesn’t have to be that way. You are allowed to enjoy things as separate stories without feeling like it’s blasphemy.

[blazehedgehog]

For your BTAS-inspired Sonic cartoon, would you want the freedom fighters or other non-game characters to be included (even if it was only for a one-off appearance)? If so, do you have any ideas on how you’d incorporate the freedom fighters?

As much as I like the Freedom Fighters and wish there was a way they could return to comics, I don't think they would fit the theme of "Batman: The Animated Series, but for Sonic." They are fun in a spinoff where they get to live in that spinoff, but so much of the point of those comics were that they explicitly separate from every other universe.

They were from a time where all video game cartoons, all video game movies, etc. had no source material to work off of because the source material was either on the other side of the planet in Japan or just did not exist. Or both! Sega of America explicitly threw out whatever Sega of Japan was crafting for Sonic's backstory and made up something totally new.

They were hardly alone. While capturing video for the Sonic Frontiers video, I watched this video on the Pac-Man and Donkey Kong vinyl records from the 1980's. They are FULL of characters, and concepts, and ideas that have nothing to do with what we would come to be enforced as the "canonical representations" of these characters.

That's just how it was.

But whereas those representations only existed briefly, for a couple years or so, the Freedom Fighters stuck around for over twenty years. That little spinoff burrowed into its own little niche in the franchise, built a nest, and roosted there. As Sega of Japan re-established themselves and took control back of Sonic from Sega of America, the Freedom Fighters hung on for dear life and just kept going on pure momentum. After a certain point, it almost felt defiant.

The whole point is that they weren't part of the Sega games. It would feel weird if they were. Even after Ian Flynn tried to incorporate more elements from the games, it still felt noticeably incompatible with Sega's narrative style. The fact they weren't part of the games felt almost like a point of pride, to me. It meant they were uncorruptible from the stupid garbage that gave us something like Sonic Lost World.

The problem there is if you're making a TV show, there's not much of a rogues gallery to work with. It's pretty much just Eggman. This was the problem we faced in Sonic Lost World, right, where they made a big deal about bringing back Sonic's rogues gallery.

By which it meant they brought back basically the only villains that weren't Eggman: Shadow, Chaos 0, and Zavok.

Like, at least if you do a Mega Man cartoon, you get all of the robot masters. If you do a Mario cartoon, you get all of the Koopa Kids and a ton of second-stringers like Kamek and Boom Boom. But with Sonic... it's pretty much just Eggman. You get badniks, sure; and early Archie Sonic tried to make Crabmeat (and to a lesser extent, Coconuts) into lackeys for Robotnik, for instance.

But for the most part, badniks are tools. They are less intelligent than Metal Sonic, less capable. They are cannon fodder. Meant to be easily controlled.

So, really, your only villain is Eggman. And maybe you could expand that to include the Mecha Sonics and of course Metal Sonic if you stretch.

Now, there are other ways to generate conflict. We could downgrade Knuckles as a friend back to a "friendly rival," for one. Somebody who maybe isn't always happy to see Sonic. And, of course, there's what we do with Shadow. Because, like, we can't not do Shadow.

Shadow is a weird one for me, because if we still have Classic Eggman as I suggest, putting Shadow in the mix there feels strange. Even though I kept saying "no origin stories," it's important to note that Batman TAS did actually do a few real origins, and even some original characters. It debuted Harley Quinn, for instance, and season one dedicated an entire two-part episode to showing Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face.

Batman TAS also evolved over time. It introduced its version of Batgirl, Dick Grayson graduated from being Robin to becoming Nightwing, Tim Drake came on as the newer, younger Robin, and so on. There is wiggle room here.

I imagine you could do at least a whole season (10-20 episodes) of exploring Sonic and Tails versus Eggman and robots, and then maybe we hit our evolutionary point where we could do a, like, Sonic Adventure adaptation, or Sonic Adventure 2. Give us leeway to change up Robotnik's appearance, maybe mellow Knuckles out, bring in Rouge and Shadow.

Like, imagine an episode where Knuckles confronts a post-SA2 Shadow like "dude, I used to be mad at Sonic all the time too, but he's not so bad once you get used to the way he does things." and Shadow's just like, "I'm not mad at Sonic. I'm mad at myself."

We could also pull an Ian Flynn and maybe start bringing in guys like Bean, Bark, Fang, and since he loves her so much, even Wendy Witchcart.

My point here before I trailed off on this tangent is that if we did dip into the Freedom Fighters, that would give us a larger pool of villains to pull from. We could bring in Snively, Ixis Naugus, and um. Uhhhh. Lazaar? Remember Lazaar?

Listen, it's fine if we don't include the Freedom Fighters. We're not trying to make "SatAM 2: This Time It's Late Archie Sonic." I wouldn't mind that, but that's not the prompt being given here.

[acesandocs]

What i think the utdm cast would do in Minecraft

Marius - starts every new game by locating and robbing the nearest village, pretends to be your Minecart gf so you'll give him your diamonds, makes everyone pride flags via banners, goal is to craft an entire netherite set of armor. skin = cute anime egirl 

Jack - usually does what his friends do and goes on a creeper killing spree if his house gets blown up, fixes up the villages Marius raids and builds them an iron golem. Gets really into the trading system cuz he likes to see the villagers level up. skin = Enderman 

Eveline - plays in creative or easy mode to relax. Likes making redstone and musicbox contraptions, and collecting all the jukebox disks, will let the game play in the background just to listen to the music, can't stop taming parrots. skin = something artistic, like a straight up detailed pixel drawing of a bird or flower 

Lottie and little L - they have a peaceful server where they built a farm and have a bunch of farm animals, have either a cutesy pink texture pack or a cottage core inspired one. skin = Pink princess and queen of hearts

Malwina - does Minecraft role-play, wasn't initially into building but started so she could make set pieces and environments for her rp’s, downloads mods with new decorations and custom blocks for her builds, helps little L and Lottie build cute houses inspired by Victorian architecture. = custom skin that's her sona 

Máire - would have to be convinced to start playing by a friend, like jack she just follows someone else’s lead but will eventually get really into enchanting and making potions cuz the sounds are very asmr. skin = something witchy 

Sylvester - wouldn't get into it on his own but his kids love it so he and his wife got it so they can play with them and participate in any Minecraft related conversations around the dinner table, they just wanna show that they care about their kids interests. skin = Steve (his kids eventually change his and his wife's skin to Morticia and Gomez Addams)

Flynn - makes a server just so he can abuse his admin powers and greef people, would never admit to anyone that he plays Minecraft. skin = creeper with a suit 

Cora - lore expert, makes YouTube theory videos, even plays the spin of games and tries to haphazardly fit them together into one universe. skin = Herobrine

The characters belong to @libras-interactives

[hannahhook7744]

Meet Phoebe Anne-Marie Gothel;

Fc: Kathryn Newton.

Fic Title: The Marvelous Misadventures of Hannah Hook.

Nickname(s): Peachy, 'Ebe, Pho, Peaches, Peachy Gothel, Peachy Flynn, Phoebe Flynn, Peachy Anne-Marie, Anne-Marie Gothel, Anne-Marie Flynn, Annie Flynn, the 3rd mate of Stormbringer, the boatswain of the Stormbinger, and P.

Sexuality: Lesbian.

Pronouns: She/her.

Birthday: November 7th, 13 years ago.

Height: 5"5.

Hair Color: Dirty blonde/Hey blonde.

Eye Color: Greenish-bluish-grey.

Place of Birth: Isle of the Lost.

Hobbies: Writing, teaching, sailing, playing card games, playing board games, playing video games, listening to music, playing with her pets, gardening, role playing, watching movies, occasional potion making, sparring with a pitchfork, swimming, exploring, and reading.

Likes: Hanging out with her friends, any varation of the color green, chocolate milk, hot chocolate, pies, movies, cats, dogs, teaching, games, gardening, exploring, stories, writing, pitchforks, mild piracy, etc.

Dislikes: Dishonesty, disloyalty, abandonment, yellow, bugs, wearing long sleeves with shorts, wearing short sleeves with long pants, her friends in danger, her mother trying to hurt people, her siblings trying to hurt people, her friends' violent tendencies, etc.

Favorite musicians: The Dalmatians, Aladdin and the Lamps, Panic! At The Disco!, Cavetown, Imagine Dragons, Against The Current, League of Legends, and M.A.K.O.

Physical Quirks/Scars: Freckles.

Family: Captain Flynn (father), Mother Gothel (mother), Cassandra Gothel (half sister), Ginny Gothel (half sister), Mason Gothel (brother), Glenn Gothel (brother), and Hannah Hook (niece).

Honorary Family: Her crew and the Hooks.

Friends: Her crew.

Pets: A black cat and a black dog.

Love Interest: None at the moment.

Optimistic or Pessimistic: Optimistic.

Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert.

Occupation: High school student and 3rd mate of Hannah Hook's crew.

Extracurriculars: Writing Club, the Netball team, and gardening club.

Favorite Animal: Butterflies.

Favorite Color: Green.

Favorite Book: Detective Conan books.

Favorite Food: Apple Pie.

Favorite Drink: Chocolate Milk.

Favorite Movie/TV Show: Spiderman into the spider verse and Detective Conan.

Background:

Once upon a time, Captain Flynn and Mother Gothel had a one night stand.

Phoebe Anne-Marie Gothel was the result.

She grew up the youngest of 5 siblings (Cassandra, Ginny, Mason, and Glenn) and quickly befriended Remi de Vil.

Eventually, when she was 7, she and Remi joined one Hannah Hook's crew—becoming the 3rd and 4th mates respectfully of said crew, and have been best friends ever since.

She's also the unofficial teacher of the group and one of the more responsible ones.

~~~~Playlist~~~~

"I promise I'm trying" by Cavetown.

"Legends Never Die" by Against The Current, League of Legends, and M.A.K.O.

"High Hopes" by Panic! At The Disco.

"Must have been the wind" by Alec Benjamin.

"Mind is a prison" by Alec Benjamin.

"I built a friend" by Alec Benjamin.

"I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts.

Inspired by @thecaptainsgingersnap and @theinnerworkingsofoc .

Requested by @cleverqueenchild .

Suggest names for the pets in the comments down below.

[usagirotten]

Watch the trailer of the new video game of Tron: Identity

Tron: Identity weaves an interesting detective story that expands the franchise mythos. Tron: Identity takes place "in a world where Flynn created an Ark, where Flynn created a second grid for them to go to, promising that he'd come back," according to the game's director, Mike Bithell. Tron: Identity is a mystery visual novel. The game contains a lot of what makes a visual novel good but also feels constrained by its nature as a short story and limited locales to visit. Fans of everything Tron will find an enjoyable experience for a few hours, but anyone not a fan of the IP or visual novels likely won’t find much to keep their attention. Tron: Identity is available now on PC and Switch.    TRON: Identity is a visual novel adventure following Query, a detective program tasked with uncovering the mystery of what was taken and by whom. Finding yourself in a world built on unstable foundations and filled with whispered knowledge, it's up to you to question suspects and investigate your surroundings to piece together the truth.  

Read the full article

[cantdanceflynn]

 OK QUICK DISCLAIMER OF “THIS ISNT SUPPOSED TO BE “OH EVIL CREEPY PHINEAS AND FERB” OR “OH HAHAAHAHAH GONNA RUIN PNF FOR U” THIS IS “IM VERY HYPERFIXATED AND IF U WATCH LIKE A WALKTHROUGH AND ALSO WATCH THE SHOW EVERYONE MUSIC VIDEO THIS GAME WAS JUST BEGGING FOR A PNF AU” ANYWAYS IVE TRIGGER TAGGED EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF IM RLY SRY IF THIS RUINS SOMEONES DAY OR SOMETHING CAUSE IK PNF IS A KIDS SHOW AND I WENT A LIL OVERBOARD WITH THE BLOOD IK BUT IT WORKS WITHIN THE AU BC LINDA(DAISY) AND LAWRENCE(NICK NACK) ACTUALLY GET USED AND ALICE IS. SIGNIFICANTLY MORE PROACTIVE IN HER OWN WAY COMPARED TO MORTIMER

BUT LIKE. IM SO PROUD OF THIS U GUYS HAVE NO CLUE IG I NEED TO DRAW HORROR MORE OR SOMETHING

ALSO FOR THE OTHER UN-DRAWN CHARACTERS: ANTONY IS IRVING AND OWEN IS MYSTERY.

TECHNICALLY THIS AU TAKES PLACE OVER A FEW MONTHS INSTEAD OF THE MULTIPLE DECADES OF HELLO PUPPETS CANON. BOTH BC THE FLYNN-FLETCHERS KNOW HOW TO GET SHIT DONE AND BC I DIDNT WANT ANYONE I DIDNT HAVE TO HAVE DIE(SRY MYSTERY) DIE.

LONG STORY SHORT, ODDLY SIMILAR TO CANON, MYSTERY ENDED UP CASTING A(VERY NORMAL DEMONICALLY INFESTED) SPELL TO BRING ALICE(JUST A RLY INTRICATE AND FREAKY PUPPET IN THIS AU) TO LIFE, WHICH TURNED INTO ALICE KNOCKING HIM OUT, ESCAPING TO THE STUDIO, MAKING FUCKED UP PUPPETS OF MOST OF THE FLYNN-FLETCHER FAMILY(THE BOYS, LINDA AND LAWRENCE) AND THEIR SOULS BEING FORCED INTO SAID PUPPETS. LINDA AND LAWRENCE FALL TO THE DEMON PRETTY EASILY(LOSING THEIR MEMORIES IN THE PROCESS), BUT PHINEAS AND FERB ARE HARDER TO CONTROL. SO THE DEMON GOES “FUCK IT” AND FORCES PERRY AND CANDACES SOULS OUT OF THEIR BODIES AS WELL. UNSURPRISINGLY, THIS LEADS TO PHINEAS AND FERB PANICKING, QUICKLY MAKING VERY NOT GREAT PUPPETS OF PERRY AND CANDACE, AND WILLINGLY GIVING INTO THE DEMON AS THEIR SIDE OF AN AGREEMENT TO SAVE THEIR LIVES BY PUTTING THEM INTO PUPPETS AS WELL. CANDACES MIGHT BE MESSY, AND SLIGHTLY IMMUNE TO THE DEMONS NORMAL POSSESSION(ALTHOUGH STILL MOST OF THE MEMORY WIPING), BUT HERS IS STABLE. PERRYS ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS NOT BUILT FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HUMAN AND ANIMAL SOUL, AND HAD TO BE EDITED SEVERELY, EVENTUALLY ENDING WITH PHINEAS AND FERB SEWING THEIR HOSTS INTO PERRY TO KEEP HIM ALIVE AND STABLE. BASICALLY 90% OF THE SHOW CAST ENDS UP GETTING KIDNAPPED BUT, AS SHOWN IN THE COMIC, THEY’RE KEPT IN ODD HALF-CONSCIOUS HOST STASIS WHILE THEY MOSTLY USE OTHER RANDOM PEOPLE AS HOSTS INSTEAD. EVENTUALLY, DEMON POSSESSION OR NOT(AND THE DEMON FORCING ALMOST EVERYONE INTO DISDAIN FOR HER), CANDY FINDS THE WORKING TV. AND THATS WHEN THE MEMORIES START COMING BACK. FIRST FOR HER, THEN OVER THE COURSE OF CANON, EVERYONE.

THATS AROUND WHERE THE GAME ITSELF STARTS, WHICH IM PLANNING TO HOPEFULLY MAKE A LOT OF COMICS FOR BUT WE’LL SEE

@pyxehastoomanyinterests @official-crucified-mortimer

[stockholmdolly]

Thank you for loving ME II

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x reader (Modern Au)

Warnings: blood, violence? 

Word count: 1,215

Summary: Two people with nothing in common, one is a socially awkward Y/AGE years old who lives a content life, no friends and definitely no complications; the other one is a man running from his past, avoiding friendships and relationships for fear to being hurt again. They’ve been living next door to each other for 6 months and know nothing about the other, well, except her, who knows all about his sexcapades. But life has a funny way of sneaking up on you. Who would've thought, it figures.

Author’s note: Hello fanfiction world, it is me! Stockholm Dolly. Did I start a new series without finishing the previous one? Hell yeah, but I almost finished with the other one and I posted ahead of scheduled, so I’m on time. Happy reading solecitos. English is my 4th language and all mistakes are my own confused mind hahaha

II. A drunken mistake

I was playing video games and eating a lot of snacks at my…dad’s house? Why am I here? Anyway, I love this Super Mario World game. I'm team Luigi by the way, yes! I’m in the last world, ready to kill browser and suddenly there’s knock on my door, which is weird, dad never lets me close the door…"come in”, and no one comes in, and they knock again, louder this time and a voice startles me, “fucking door, it won't open, dammit”, that's definitely not my dad.

I open my eyes and hear that same noise outside my apartment door. Someone is trying to break into my apartment, fuck, where is my taser and pepper spray my dad gave me when I moved in? Ooh! My bag.

I walked to the living room and I heard the same noises that I thought were my dream. Is it a guy's voice? 

"Fuck, I can't fucking catch a break, I just need to clean my face and sleep" he says and kicks my door.

I found my pepper spray, yes!! I go to the kitchen and grab the first thing I see, a frying pan, well I guess I'm going to go full Rapunzel on this motherfucker, I tiptoe to the door and prepare to attack, open the door and spray the hell out of the thief and hit him with the frying pan. He fell to the ground and when I looked down…. Oh, my fucking God, it's 6B, I hit 6B, omg, what do I do? He's going to kill me. Well, judging from the amount of alcohol he drinks and the awful smell, I don't think he remembers this, but what should I do? I can't take him to his apartment, he's built like a thousand bricks. Ugh, sleepover it is.

I pull him towards the living room, trying to put him on the sofa is useless. I can't, but I make him comfortable enough, a pillow under his head, a blanket and a water bottle with pain pills. I go to the bathroom to get my first aid kit. I need to fix him up a bit.

His face looks like he fought the Undertaker in the elimination chamber and lost miserably, he starts to whimper but shows no signs of waking up, I guess Flynn Rider was right, the frying pan is an excellent weapon. I clean him up the best I can, that should be enough, I'm not a doctor, I was trying to be one but, well, life isn't always what we want, come on Y/N it’s not time to go down memory lane.

Now, what should I do, go to sleep and check on him every hour or… I was still debating on what to do when I heard him groan, "ugh, what happened, I feel like a truck hit me, my eyes are burning, hell, where am I?", he said. 

"Umm, hey 6B" I said really low, ugh I hate socializing, why me? I should have let him suffer, that way I didn't spray him or hit him in the face lol I start laughing and he's just blinks 

"What are you laughing at… 6A? And what the hell are you doing in my house?" He was so confused and I couldn't help it. I was cackling. I blame it on the lack of sleep. 

"What the hell 6A, how do you get into my house, what happened, fuck, why are my eyes burning so much?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you look so confused, it's really funny, I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that YOU ARE in my house not the other way around" 

"I'm not at your house" he looked around and opened and closed his mouth 

"You're in my house, I was sleeping when I heard a noise, I thought it was a thief, so I pepper sprayed you and hit you in the head with a frying pan, in my defense I was scared and my dad gave me that for emergencies" 

"Oh my god, did you hit me with a frying pan? we aren't in tangled 6A, what the fuck, I could have died" 

"You're so dramatic, you weren't going to die, maybe you will die from alcohol poisoning, I'm sorry, I really am, but I cleaned you up, you were bloody, what happened?" 

"I… I think I had a fight in a bar" he sighs

"Oh, are you good now, do you want to stay here? I think that's for the best, I was going to check on you every hour, in case you had a concussion" 

"No, I'm fine, I'm going to go" he points to the door and tries to stand up but he can't and falls on the couch. 

"For me, please, I won't be able to sleep if you go to your apartment" I wasn't very happy about this, letting someone I only knew through moans, grunting and the occasional who's your daddy, but I couldn't help it, damn conscience, my dad calls me mother Theresa because I always try to help everyone. 

He seems to think something and then nods. 

"Great, excellent, umm, do you want to take the couch or do you want to have my bed?" 

"Are you trying to get into my pants 6A? I'm flattered but you hit me with a frying pan. I doubt the winter soldier wants to go out and play now" he says smirking 

"The winter…oh my goodness, no, I've never, I'm, no, no" I cover my eyes in embarrassment, this bastard loves to make fun of me.

"You're so sweet and cute 6A, I was joking, not with the name or the playing thing tho, my head hurts really bad" 

"Oh, here" I grab the pills and water from the coffee table and hand them to him. "it's ibuprofen, I hope you aren't allergic" 

"Are you a doc, 6A?" he quirks a brow 

"No, no, I was about to, but I couldn't go to med school, I have all the first-year books so I read them in my free time" I didn't want to go there on the first serious conversation with him, so I started to look everywhere except at him, he felt it and didn't ask further. 

"Well, I will take the couch don't worry about it, goodnight 6A"

"Y/N, goodnight 6B" I smiled and started to walk towards the hall

"James" he smiled and made himself comfortable on the couch. 

I walk into my room and get on my bed, staring at the ceiling, 3.30am, damn, I don’t know if stay awake or sleep for an hour, whatever I chose is going to be bad for me later, but maybe I can call dad later and tell him I can’t go to work today because I wake up with a bad migraine, do I really want to lie to my dad? Maybe not, but if I tell him that I helped 6B, James, I’ll get a lecture about how people like him just want to get in my pants or how people don’t change. I don’t want to hear those things right now, and with those thoughts on her mind, Y/N starting dozing off.

Taglist: @vicmc624

[toaarcan]

Ken Penders doesn’t *want* to make The Lara-Su Chronicles.

So Penders has been stupid on Twitter again. Normally not worth talking about unless what he’s saying is especially heinous or stupid, but this time it was followed reasonably closely by Matt McMuscles posting an episode of What Happened? about Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

Unlike most discussions about Sonic Chronicles sucking, this video included a segment voiced by SomecallmeJohnny talking about Ken Penders’ role in the game never being continued and all of its ideas being dropped from SEGA’s canon. 

Naturally, the comments contain plenty of people talking about how the game was what got Penders angry enough to finally kill the Archie Sonic comic by collapsing the house of cards of incompetence that Archie had built for him to topple.

But I think there’s a misconception here. Because I don’t think Penders wanted Archie Sonic to die.

No, Penders didn’t want to kill Archie Sonic. Why on Earth would he want to kill something he wanted to be the head writer of?

Penders knew that he’d contributed an enormous amount of the lore of Archie Sonic. Not just characters, but settings, concepts, ideas, the whole world was largely defined by him. Other writers were certainly better, but they were playing in the house that Penders built. It was rotten and riddled with woodworm, but he made it. 

Just like Ian Flynn, whose dedication to this comic allowed it to stumble on while bleeding out, and enjoy a quasi-resurrection under IDW, Penders has an undeniable passion for Archie Sonic, and refused to let go of it.

Yes, it’s a version of Sonic warped by Penders’ own ego, incompetence, confusing political views, ego, lack of self awareness, ego, absence of talent, sexism, ego, enormous daddy issues and of course, ego. But it’s passion nonetheless. It would be admirable if that dedication didn’t just kill it for everyone else, but, y’know, points where they’re due.

I think Penders believed that if he gained ownership of all those characters and concepts, they’d have no choice but to hire him back. The Archie Sonic universe couldn’t exist without what he had made, and if they wanted to continue in that form, they’d need to give him a seat at the table.

When he issued his statement on the restrictions he was placing on further use of his ideas by Archie, I don’t think he was making intentionally unreasonable demands. I don’t think he wanted to be a third executive that Ian had to please, after SEGA and Archie themselves. He wanted to supplant Ian entirely. He wanted Ian’s job.

Why else would he talk so much about what he’d do if given the job again? Why else would he keep posting about things he wanted to do with Archie but never got the chance to? Why else would he not involve anybody else, like Scott Fulop, say, until after the reboot had happened and he already had what he wanted?

That’s the smoking gun, for me. If this was really about giving back authors what they were owed by the evil company that had been making money off their hard work, he would’ve done much better as just one writer among many, all aiming for the same goal. 

Fulop’s later litigation, which probably finished Archie off, proves that, at the very least, Penders was able to get others to take up his cause. At most, that other writers had genuine grievances with Archie’s actions.

So why did he wait? Why make himself the sole enemy of the very fandom he’d be intending to sell his own comic to?

Because The Lara-Su Chronicles was never the goal.

He wanted to be in control of Archie Sonic, and if he’d achieved that, Fulop taking ownership of Mogul and everything else he did wouldn’t have helped Penders. It would’ve outright hindered him, taking away things that he would’ve wanted access to in his new role as head writer. He knew he was integral to the continued survival of the original Archie universe, and he was expecting that to give him power over the comic. He wasn’t expecting Archie to turn around and delete everything not made by SEGA, DIC, or one of their then-current employees.

He thought they needed him to survive. And then they found a way to do it without him. And that pissed him off something fierce. And when the reboot of Archie tanked after three short years, of course he celebrated. Because as far as he could see, they’d refused to do things his way, and perished. They had rejected him, and failed without him.

And that’s why he turned his sights on IDW as soon as they got the license with Ian at the helm. Because he cannot stand not being the man at the helm of the Sonic comics. It’s got to be him, it can only be Ken Penders. 

That’s why he posted his own idea for what he’d do with IDW, and it mainly consists of trying to turn IDW entirely into a revival of Archie.

And that’s why The Lara-Su Chronicles has never materialised. Because he didn’t want to make it. He still doesn’t. He wants to be writing Archie Sonic. And that’s why his lore for Lara-Su is a confusing mess of concepts stolen blatantly from SEGA and Archie. Why he’s had the legal rights to do whatever he wants with those characters for almost seven years, and has done nothing. 

He’s made one page. And it was posted online a few months after the lawsuit ended, and since then, nothing.

It’s almost tragic, really. He had a genuine passion for this work, but because of his own ego, he couldn’t allow it to survive without him. And so he killed it, and now all he can do is sit about online and hope against all sanity that it will one day return to him. And only to him. 

[sweetsugaryimagines]

doomguy x trans reader imagines? :3

Good ol Flynn Taggart I see :3

He respects your pronouns no matter what! And he's quick to correct anyone who tries to maliciously misgender you! And I mean, who the fuck is gonna argue with the 6'8 demigod who is literally too angry to die over pronouns?

Need a binder? He's on it! Need a padded bra? Off to the store he goes! Need a sign off to get rid of the ol' ovaries? He'll forge papers to make it look like you're married to him so the doctor won't question a gotdam thing!!

When you're having a dysphoric day, he'll cuddle you and compliment you and remind you that not all peeps are built the same!

If you don't want physical touch, he'll make your favorite meal and let you dig through his comics and play his video games. He's happy to share!

He's not the best at sewing but he will attempt to make you clothing that matches how you feel! Dresses, pants, suits, he'll give it his all with VEGA's help!

[tronrpg]

what are Sirens?

what are Sirens? we just don't know.

but i'm getting ahead of myself.

To my knowledge, there has never been an officially-released Tron pen-and-paper RPG. There certainly would have been a market for it around the original film's release, had it done better at the box office. And assuredly there have been dozens of homebrew splats and rulesets shared between fans and friends over the years. The Fract, in an ideal world, would eventually be a complete RPG system, enough to fill up a corebook and run a game. But in thinking about worldbuilding, I've run into a storytelling problem that, if not unique to the world of Tron, is certainly still a sore-thumb kind of issue.

Tron--that is to say the OG 1982 Grid, the New Grid, and whatever metatextual setting that the Fract takes place in--is neither science fiction nor science fantasy. For those who aren't clear on the delineation between the two, the plainest I can describe it is to say that "Star Trek" is (generally) science fiction, and "Star Wars" is (generally) science fantasy. Science fiction is nominally supposed to adhere to scientific rules or at least bend them to a reasonable degree in order to tell a story. Science Fantasy bends and breaks those rules, sometimes with impunity, because space wizards waving laser swords around speaks for itself.

The setting of Tron, taking place as it does outside the Grid, is a simulacra of a modern-day "real world" as we know it, with science and computers behaving the way we know they normally do. Except for in the Grid itself. We have to assume that both the Old and New Grids were special in some way, or at the very least that Grid-like systems with sentient programs are few and far between; because computer systems and programs as we know them do not behave like they do on either Grid. If they did, why would Flynn have bothered to create a new one if there are Grids within every computer in the world?

And that's where the science fiction of Tron falls down. Stephen Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird were not computer experts, and they wrote the original screenplay during a time when computers were widely known but not widely understood, particularly by the common person. They can be forgiven for leaning hard on the fantasy and spirituality elements that make Tron a work of more consequence than oh, say, Computer Warriors. But by the time Legacy was released, the world was a very different place, and the ubiquity of computers and technology meant that the average person had a basic knowledge of how a computer works and what it can do; and the OG Grid does not fall into those parameters. So it's hard to say that Tron is strictly science fiction, where rules have meanings, or science fantasy where rules are up for grabs, because each of us carry around a real-world analogue to the Grid in our pockets all day and by now we are all pretty sure that Google Chrome does not, in a metaphorical or spiritual sense, fight for us.

(This, incidentally, is where I feel Legacy did the right thing by having Flynn starting from almost-scratch with the New Grid instead of attempting to apply real-world IT logic to the Grid like Tron 2.0. Divorcing the fiction from things like emails and spreadsheets allowed Legacy to retain some of the spirituality and potential of 1982; and inasmuch as Tron 2.0 is a great game that I intend to revisit soon, I find the "real computer" stuff to be kinda cringey.)

And here's where we come around to Sirens, finally. What the hell are they? Aside from being conventionally-attractive female-coded Programs in white vinyl outfits who appear to have largely representational or ritualistic roles in the New Grid, it's not entirely clear what they do or what separates them from a garden-variety Program. We see Gem and the three other Sirens in Legacy, there are a handful of Sirens in Uprising, including Lux, who appears to have been a...battle Siren? Maybe?

When it comes to putting together an RPG, you have to lean on rules. You have to nail things down and say, outside of GM fiat, a dice roll does that and a stat means this and an attack is performed thusly. So in thinking about squishing the world of Tron into an RPG format, which unlike most video games does not contain a single linear storyline; you have to think about making the world digestible and processable by squaring the edges and making definitions. You want the players and the GM to be able to exercise the vastness of their imaginations, but you want to set the parameters of the playing field, or else why have a themed RPG at all?

That's where I started thinking about how Tron's mish-mash of science fiction/fantasy elements make it a unique challenge to format as an RPG setting. Would it be better to emphasize the fantasy theming, or would players prefer a more grounded approach with real-world computer elements? Is it possible to have a balanced approach? How do you color in the missing information about how the Grid and Programs work, the stuff that the original works never really explained? Just what the HELL are Sirens anyway? Is there some sort of unspoken caste system in the Grid? Are there male-presenting Sirens? Can they suit up and play in the Games? Can they all do that synchronized-walking-backwards thing? Do Sirens just show up when Programs are about to compete at something? Why so much eyeshadow? Why does it rain in the Grid? Why did Flynn serve Sam and Quorra a roast suckling pig? Why does Clu 2.0 look more like Lord Farquahd than Jeff Bridges? WHAT HAPPENED TO RAM? IS HE PART OF THE JUNKY RECOGNIZER NOW OR DID HE TURN INTO THE BIT OR WHAT? KEVIN FLYNN, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

...okay, got that out of my system, thanks for bearing with me. The point is that there are a lot of fill-in-the-blanks when it comes to worldbuilding lore in the Tron universe, and that may be by design. I love Star Wars, but the industry that has been built up over the last 40+ years to make sure every puppet, alien and CGI blob with a nanosecond of screen time has a full backstory and Wookieepedia entry, I find, largely detracts from the magic of the original movies. Not having everything explained adds to Tron's lasting allure. On the other hand, it makes a project like the Fract a product of guesswork and blue-skying.

So let's say I was creating a Tron RPG, like you do. And I wanted to make Sirens a playable class (which I intend to). Based on the information given to us by the canon, which isn't much; I'd say that Sirens are, first and foremost, specialists. They have specific skills that they hone and adhere to and do not deviate from to take on other roles, which makes them in-demand as bodyguards or enforcers but their specialization limits a players' build choices. They are also largely recognized in the Grid as having ritualistic or shamanistic public roles, perhaps representing the link between Programs and Users. (Maybe Dumont was a Siren 1.0. He could have had on a white vinyl singlet under that getup, who knows?) Maybe they're like priestesses or shrine maidens, maybe they take vows like nuns. This might make them like Monks in D&D.

You see how narrowing the possibilities of what Sirens are in order to fit them into an RPG character class box also reduces their potential in canon--but of course canon's not being contradicted here; this is a fan work and is not intended to overwrite the creative work of others. I just hope that if it ever gets completed, it plays enough like the work that inspired it, so that other fans can get the same rush of imagining what it's like to be on the Grid.

[everybodyscupoftea]

idk you yet: next up forever

reggie peters x oc

and if you’re broken. you’ll make your own thing

There was nothing quite like the rush of playing in front of a large crowd. Reggie loved the band’s chemistry in the garage they used to practice in or the energy of small crowds they played for in the back rooms of record shops while they were trying to make it big, but there was no feeling greater than playing a stadium full of people screaming their name.

Luke loved it too, he ate it up, and he was always on fire, always at his best, which in turn fueled Alex to match his boyfriend’s energy, and Reggie could just feed off of them. When they got signed to their first big label, Reggie could just remember Luke’s flushed cheeks, his, “This is going to be great, guys. We’re going to be great.” 

“Legends, even,” Alex added.

Which Reggie thought maybe was a bit much, they were still young, still largely untested, but he loved the enthusiasm. Bobby was a bit more chill, probably the most levelheaded of them all, and the least driven by emotion, but even he was vibrating with excitement.

Then they started planning for a tour. Reggie hadn’t even realized a national tour was possible while they were still teenagers. Hell, he didn’t even realize releasing a full album was possible.

“Boy bands do it all the time, think about One Direction,” Bobby told him quietly while Luke chattered on to Alex about songs he’d written that he thought were perfect for a first album. Reggie was grateful Luke wasn’t the one to read his facial expression that clearly was showing some sort of doubt.

The first tour was incredible, smaller venues, but they sold most of them out. Sunset Curve was new and people were curious. The second tour was where it all became insanely real. Reggie can remember the day Luke ran into the garage, beaming.

He flopped on the couch, which wasn’t unusual, and propped his head up on his hand, “So, I talked to Drew today.” Their manager.

Alex hummed, sitting down next to him, “What about?” If Luke had gone and made decisions without the rest of them, he was the most likely to react in a way that wouldn’t hurt Luke’s feelings, but would still remind him that they were a group.

“He thinks we should do a world tour after releasing our second album.”

Reggie’s eyebrows shot up. He knew they were big, he knew they were popular in a few countries overseas, but he didn’t know they were world tour big. The other two boys were also shocked into silence. Their second album was fairly close to release, they’d released a single for it the week before, but a world tour already.

“Holy shit,” Bobby mumbled, and then a few seconds later, “holy shit!” 

“Yeah!” Luke was practically shaking as he jumped to his feet and onto the table, “Guys, this is it. We’ve made it.”

Reggie snorted, “Okay, well, we don’t know that the tour’s going to sell.” 

“It’ll sell,” Luke clearly had the confidence to carry the rest of the group through it, which Reggie could get behind. He couldn’t quite shake one of his mom’s lessons growing up: temper your excitement because things rarely go as planned.

So they got to work. They put the finishing touches on their second album, which did extremely well, some of the songs flying up the charts to the number one spot for a few days. They announced their tour, a few weeks later the dates and locations. Some arenas sold out within minutes. When they found that out, Luke bragged, not hesitating to throw in, “I told you so,” every time it came up. 

They planned a show, put together a list of their favorite songs off both their albums, worked out effects they wanted to put on something fun for their fans. Reggie was a lot more hands on in that process, not the most gifted with tech, but was the most interested in actually looking impressive outside of just the music.

Then they had to find an opening band. Someone who they could get along with, someone smaller that they could help get exposure. Reggie found them first, on YouTube, a couple called Double Trouble, also based in Los Angeles. After watching a few of their videos, Luke approved wholeheartedly and got Drew to contact them. Double Trouble was ecstatic, and thus, the details were finalized.

And the tour was great, they started in the South and worked their way up the Midwest, hit a few cities in Canada, down the East Coast and ended up home along the West Coast for a few shows. 

Reggie was constantly exhausted, it felt like a daze. Travel, play, adrenaline rush, eat, crash, repeat. And everything was great, they played consistently well, and after a few shows, he thought they really got the routine down pat. It worked really well for them, and the boys were thrilled with all the choices Reggie made.

The only problem was that it got lonely. He felt like he was surrounded by couples. Luke and Alex, Julie and Flynn, Bobby and his girlfriend that showed up every so often when she could get off work. Reggie was truly the only one alone. Which was fine, they were busy, but sometimes, sometimes the loneliness was heavy.

It all built, crushing him slowly as they crawled their way through tour, more and more dinners after the show feeling like a double date he was just crashing while Bobby stayed in to FaceTime his girlfriend.

October

When it finally overflowed was after their show in San Jose. It sold out, most of their California shows did, and that one was especially incredible to him. The fucking SAP Center. He knew a lot of their fans were Californians, that’s where they got their start, but he wasn’t prepared for that. 

They went to a local place, something small that they likely wouldn’t be recognized much at, and once again, he got the double date vibe. The couples talking lowly amongst each other, relaxed and comfortable, while Reggie picked at the straw paper on the table and stuck it to the condensation on his beer bottle.

He wasn’t sure if it was the fatigue that made him snap or just that the weight of his loneliness got too much to bear, he was out of his seat before his brain caught up and mumbled for them to get him something takeout, that he was going back to the bus.

Luke started to protest, hopping out of the booth to grab his arm, but he must’ve seen something on Reggie’s face that caused him to reluctantly drop his arm. Reggie wasn’t sure what expression he had, but it must’ve been something raw to make Luke give up that easily. Eyes burning, he shoved his hands in his pocket and left the restaurant, desperate to crash in his bunk and sleep it off.

Shoulders slumped, Reggie headed back toward the arena, staring at the cracks in the concrete as he walked, not wanting to attract even the slightest bit of attention. That’s when it happened.

-

William pretty much kept to a routine. It was easier for him, especially during the season, and it kept his dog happy. There was something that night, some anxiousness about the upcoming season maybe, that had him out and about after dark, walking Luna down the sidewalk near the arena.

There had been more traffic than usual that night, he wasn’t sure why, maybe a concert at SAP, but he wanted to see it. Before fans flocked there, and before he was contractually obligated to show up and be on top of his game. 

It was something he did in college too, sat in the bleachers right before the season and soaked in the stillness of the rink. The calm before the storm. He couldn’t get into the big arena, not without keys and a certain level of clearance he didn’t have, but he could walk around, using the facade of taking Luna on a walk as his reason.

He almost ran into the boy, more focused on staring at the buildings around him than the sidewalk. It was late, he assumed no one would be out, clearly he was wrong. Luna barking and pulling on her leash snapped him out of his trance, confused as to why she’d be freaking out.

The boy obviously hadn’t seen him either, hands shoved deep into his pockets, staring at the ground, and giving off huge leave me alone vibes. William almost recoiled, he looked so sad. But maybe sad wasn’t the right word. Morose maybe.

Luna could tell too, he thought. She was pretty perceptive like that. William only had to consider for half a second before giving in. Dogs always cheered people up, right? He let her pull him over until he was right in front of the boy who stumbled back at his sudden appearance, startled look on his face.

“Sorry,” William said quickly, trying to look as apologetic as possible, “didn’t mean to startle you.” 

The boy shrugged, staring at him inquisitively, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to figure him out. It made him a little uneasy, but he figured maybe the boy was a hockey fan.

“Can I pet your dog?” he asked quietly, staring down at Luna where she was practically chomping at the bit to get to him.

“Yeah, of course!” 

William took the time to study him while the boy squatted down to pet her. He was cute, William realized, and looked slightly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it. Maybe he was from the area or lived in William’s building.

The boy was gentle, murmuring quietly to Luna while stroking her head. He couldn’t be sure, but William thought his shoulders started to lower where they’d been defensively tensed around his ears before.

Luna jumped up, resting her two front paws on his knees, and licked his cheek, drawing a soft laugh. William immediately wanted to hear it again, he was entranced. Soon, too soon in William’s opinion, the boy was gently lowering Luna back to the sidewalk and standing back up.

He cleared his throat and gave William a small smile, “Thanks. Dogs fix everything.”

“I agree,” William answered quickly before taking his chance, “I’m William by the way.” 

“Reggie,” the boy answered, holding his hand out for William to shake. He did happily, trying to keep the shake out of his hands as excitement started to build.

“You from around here, Reggie?” he asked, genuinely curious and not wanting to let him go.

“Los Angeles actually.”

William couldn’t stop the frown, totally unsure why Reggie looked familiar. He hummed, “Sucks, NorCal is 100% a better place to live.”

Reggie laughed, “Oh yeah? Seems a bit biased.” 

“Totally unbiased,” William crossed a finger over his heart, “I’ve been there.”

“So you live around here?” Reggie crossed his arms.

“I do. A few blocks away.” 

“Seems a little late to be out and about.”

“Luna wanted a walk,” William told him, and in a rare state of perfect honesty, “plus was feeling a little anxious.”

“What about?” Reggie asked before flinching, “Oh God, I’m so sorry. That was super intrusive, feel free not to answer that.” 

William laughed, “Oh nothing, nerves over a new job.”

“Ah,” he nodded a bit knowingly, “stage fright.” 

Narrowing his eyes, William nodded slowly, “Something like that.” 

A comfortable silence lapsed, and Reggie’s eyes started to droop a bit. He blinked a few times and let out a sigh, “I should probably get going. It’s been a long night.” 

“Me too,” William smiled wryly, “should attempt to get at least a little sleep before I have to be up early.” 

“Feel that.” 

Just as soon as Reggie went to side step him, to walk away forever, William blurted, “Wait.” 

Reggie froze, head snapping up to meet his eyes, “Yes?” 

“Can I,” he drew in a breath and gathered his courage, “could I get your number?”

Tilting his head, Reggie looked him over, William could see the carefully masked surprise, “Um, yeah, sure.” 

William beamed, and held his hand out for Reggie’s phone. Eyebrows raised, Reggie passed it over. Typing in his number, William couldn’t help but add a shark emoji. Maybe it was a bit on the nose, but he thought it was at least a little funny.

Reggie wrinkled his eyebrows, but texted him to make sure William had his number too. His stomach swooped as it popped up on his screen.

Hey it’s Reggie

“Thank you,” he gushed, trying to mask his excitement a bit, “I’ll text you later.” 

Reggie smiled, and it seemed genuine, “I’m looking forward to it.”

-

Reggie was oddly nervous. He’d never met anyone quite like William, the boy who either didn’t know who he was or didn’t care. Laying in bed, he passed his phone back and forth between his hands, waiting for a text that didn’t seem to be coming.

Did he hallucinate William out of pure tiredness, he wondered, scrambling to check. Nope, he’d sent a text. Maybe William fell asleep as soon as he got home. Or forgot. 

A voice in his head that sounded oddly like Alex suggested, ‘text him’ which seemed a bit absurd at first, but the idea started to grow on him. Thumbs hovering over the keypad, he eventually came up with something simple.

Hope you made it home okay

The response wasn’t immediate, but came pretty soon after.

Just made it, was about to text you

Reggie smiled goofily, and stared at the message. Shaking his head, he knew he needed to respond.

Guess I’m just faster.

The next text from William was immediate.

Doubt it. Just more impatient.

Reggie snorted.

Also true.

The typing bubbles appeared and disappeared a few times while Reggie waited with baited breath. 

So what are you up to?

Reggie hesitated, should he tell this boy who he was or keep it vague?

In bed, probably going to sleep soon

He figured it was probably the right move when William texted back.

Same, got an early morning tomorrow. It was nice meeting you though, talk tomorrow?

Reggie’s stomach actually fluttered, he didn’t even know it could do that.

Sounds great

He fell asleep with a smile on his face and when he woke up, phone pressed to his chest, battery dangerously low, there was already a text from William and a picture of Luna attached.

Good morning, hope you slept well. We sure did.

Reggie sighed, thankful that it wasn’t all a dream.

I did, thanks. Good luck with your new job today

William didn’t text back for a while, but Reggie didn’t really expect him too. He knew not every job was like his, so he figured William wasn’t allowed his phone much at work. Which was fine, he’d just wait with a little ball of anxiety in his chest until he got a response.

It turned into a routine after that. William always responded at the weirdest times. Sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes at night, and sometimes in the morning. Reggie never could pin down his schedule, just went with the flow as they worked their way through the western states.

The boys were never really sports guys. If they did keep up with anything it was basketball. But one night, out of pure coincidence, Reggie found himself on a channel playing a hockey game. It looked interesting, and one of the teams was the Sharks which he faintly remembered played at the arena they’d performed at the night he met William.

Maybe he could talk to William about it later, he seemed like the type to be into sports. So Reggie settled in and texted him, unsure if he’d even get a response.

You a hockey fan?

And then a few seconds later after a brutal hit.

I wasn’t but this is kinda fun. I’m sure you’re a sharks fan, they look good

He took a liking to a particular player, number 23 that the announcers kept calling Harris. Reggie found himself at the edge of his seat as the other team started to come back, the Sharks struggling to hold their lead.

“Come on,” he muttered under his breath, nervously checking the clock, “so close.” 

He pulled his phone out as the other team called a timeout.

If you aren’t into hockey you should check this out, I’m so invested

The game started again and he put his phone down, paying full attention to the TV. He tapped his knee as the last minute of the game stretched out, totally confused why the other team’s goalie just dipped, but invested nonetheless.

When it ended, he let out a relieved breath as the Sharks managed to hold on and win. Reggie stood up, shaking out his fingers which he didn’t realize he’d been clenching into his pants. He walked away from the TV, needing a break, and went to find something to eat.

Their cabinets were sparse, so he left the bus, wandering to the nearest grocery store to pick something up. His phone buzzed a few times, no doubt William texting him back, and he juggled the items in his hands to fish it out of his pocket.

Hockey’s cool. Probably my favorite sport. Picked a tough game to watch though. Calgary is pretty good this year, but the Sharks will get it figured out

Reggie chuckled and typed out his response with one hand while he waited for the people in front of him in the checkout line to move.

You seem like you know your stuff

The typing bubble appeared and disappeared for a minute straight, oddly reminiscent of the first night Reggie texted him, before the next text finally came through.

Yeah, hockey’s been part of my life for a while

After setting the boxes down and paying, Reggie responded.

Long time fan then. Always liked the Sharks?

Reggie didn’t get another text for a few minutes and figured it was one of those nights William was working.

Nope, liking the sharks is a new development. Started when I moved here

Stirring the pasta, Reggie nodded and decided to text him back when he sat down to eat. It never happened. He’d left the TV on accidentally, and when he sat back down on the couch, the men on screen were breaking down the game.

“William Harris in particular was impressive tonight. He really stepped up on the penalty kill, that game would’ve been a loss if he hadn’t played like he did.” 

A picture of his William popped up on the screen. Well, Reggie was pretty sure. He didn’t quite look like he did when Reggie met him, and sure he’d only seen William that one time, but he was pretty fucking sure that was him.

Hands shaking, Reggie exited their text thread and was hitting FaceTime before even realizing what he was doing. It took William a few rings to pick up, and he smiled, looking a little surprised.

“Why are you on my TV? Or at least I think it’s you,” Reggie blurted, not even saying hello.

William blinked, surprised, “What?” 

Reggie flipped the camera to show where they were still talking about this Harris player he’d been enamored with during the game. He watched William’s face carefully and saw the resemblance to the guy on the TV. 

William winced and put on an apologetic smile, “Um, because I played well tonight.”

“Mhmm,” Reggie muttered, still shocked, “and you didn’t tell me, why?” 

“I thought you’d figure it out. That’s what the shark emoji was for.” 

Staring at William incredulously, Reggie managed, “In what world do I make that connection on my own?” 

William smiled sheepishly, “Maybe it was a bit of a long shot. But I mean, it’s not a big deal, right? I’m still William.” 

Reggie took a deep breath and relaxed back into the couch, “I suppose, yes.” 

“And by the way, you’re not off the hook. You didn’t tell me you were a famous musician.” 

“Oh God,” Reggie shut his eyes, “I totally meant to. I just couldn’t ever find the right time.” 

“How about, ‘hey William, I know I seem normal but I’m actually famous and definitely way out of your league’? That would suffice in my opinion.” 

Sitting up, Reggie glared at him, “Hold on, if anyone is out of anyone’s league, you’re definitely out of mine. A professional athlete, are you kidding me?” 

William scoffed, “And you have fans all over the world, I just have fans in the United States, mostly in San Jose.” 

“But you’re hot,” Reggie countered.

“So are you,” William argued and set his jaw stubbornly.

Reggie sighed, “Fine, we’re both hot. But, I’m not sure what this means.” 

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” William sounded desperate, “we’re just two guys, right?” 

“Right.”

“And we like each other, right?” 

“Right,” Reggie repeated.

“Then let’s just be two guys who like each other. Not two relatively well known guys.” 

Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Reggie nodded, “Okay, I think I can do that.” 

William was silent, both of them soaking in it, and Reggie sat up, “You look exhausted, I should let you go.”

“Wait,” William protested, “I want to see you again. When are you free?”

“I probably can’t make it for a while,” Reggie admitted, “Maybe mid-November if you have some off time.” 

“November we have a homestand, I can definitely do that.” 

“I’ll send dates.” 

William blushed, “I’d like that very much.” 

“We should FaceTime more,” Reggie mused.

“We absolutely should.”

When they finally hung up, Reggie immediately hunted down his laptop to start googling hockey rules. If he was going to (hopefully) date a hockey player he should start learning about the sport. 

He didn’t think William would hold it against him if he didn’t, but hockey was clearly something the other boy was passionate about, and the least he could do was support him. Maybe the next day he’d be a bit embarrassed about the texts he’d sent, but for the night, at least he’d be preoccupied enough. 

Over the next few weeks, Reggie started to watch Sharks games, every one he could, and the ones he had to miss for shows, he’d watch highlights after, all the time looking for his favorite player. William was good, Reggie knew that from the praise he got in the media, but one night he started looking up William’s highlights particularly. Found some stuff from his stint in college hockey and fell down a rabbit hole. He pulled out his phone.

You’re like. Insanely good.

The response was quick.

Ha. Thanks

Reggie scoffed.

Not joking. I’m looking at your college stuff, you went high in the draft. Maybe I was right about out of my league.

William sent back screenshots of his playlist, a few Sunset Curve songs thrown in the mix.

I’m not the only one insanely talented.

Reggie’s cheeks heated up and his palms started to sweat.

Mostly my bandmates honestly

He could almost hear the tone William would use if they were talking over FaceTime, he’d used it many times before.

Lies and slander. I’ve watched videos too

Reggie got that fluttering in his stomach again, and he actually went to look at dates, something he’d been putting off, checking the Sharks’ schedule to see if there were any days that matched up.

Hey, how about November 14?

William FaceTimed him instead of responding. His cheeks were flushed, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Yes, absolutely. Fuck yes,” William breathed.

For the first time in a while, the loneliness crushing Reggie started to lighten. He knew his bandmates would start to notice, he knew Alex at least was confused about why the fuck he’d started watching hockey, but for the time being, William was his.

It wasn’t a secret really, not a dirty one. But Reggie shared almost everything, and he wanted something for himself. For once. With a happy sigh, he walked over to his bed and flopped down, smiling widely when one last text came in.

I can’t wait

[blueiscoool]

The $2.4M HGTV’s 2021 Dream Home

Last month, HGTV announced that Jeff Yanes of Kyle, Texas was the winner of the 2021 Dream Home Sweepstakes. Valued at over $2.8 million, the fully-furnished and brand new home located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, $250,000 cash, and a motorhome from Camping World were awarded to Yanes, per a news release from the network.

The four-bedroom waterfront home was built by JPS Construction and designed by Brian Patrick Flynn (he discusses the home's design in the video above!), who has been at the helm of HGTV's Dream Home projects since 2016. Just right outside of Newport, RI, the three-story home epitomizes New England's coastal charm. But despite its beauty and Yane's diligent efforts (for the past six years he entered the HGTV Home Giveaways giveaway twice daily), he is parting ways with his highly-coveted grand prize. The home is currently on the market for $2.39 million.

If you were part of the 136 million entries that weren't selected, now's your chance to scoop up this dream property. Some highlights of the 3,300 square foot home include: a rooftop deck with a built-in wet bar, a custom outdoor kitchen, a backyard putting green, a basement game room and lounge area, a walk-in closet and en suite bathroom in the main bedroom, and more. Just as when Yanes won the home, all furniture, art, and appliances are included in the sale.

Last but not least, you'll get to live in a Brian Patrick Flynn original! With this year's home, he opted for a modern nautical style rich in deep reds and blues. "Every detail about the home, from the construction to the design elements, capture the spirit of Newport," he said in a press release last December, when the home was unveiled. Interested in owning the HGTV 2021 Dream Home? Tracie Hall of Keller Williams Realty Newport holds the listing.

By Kelly Corbett.