#for zen i think its down to her design and the fact she is played by a real person but uses tts which to me is just like... idk red flags

[minecraft]

does anybody else have certain vtubers they just absolutely hate for whatever reason? like the reason you hate them isn't really tied to any one bad thing they've done or whatever but it could be as vague as their personality or their design or whatever else. input welcome but keep it chill pls

[jaehyunfirstlove]

Inked - part 2

*Part 2 of this, I recommend reading it first before this one :)

Pairing: tattoo artist!jaehyun x f.reader

Genre: smut (18+ only)

Warnings: unprotected sex, rough sex, oral sex (f. receiving), dom/sub, praise kink, cum play, dirty talk, swearing

Word count: 1.9k

Taglist: @jaehyunnie77 @mrg-jjh @keeach @the-universe-in-you-jjh @nootnoot-yoonoh @winniet @jaejoongiewifey-blog @iknowyuno​ @bbyqngels​ (send me a message/ask if you want to be tagged in future fics)

A/N: because of this anon, I decided to revisit this :)

You’d walked by the tattoo shop several times already, too embarrassed to go in considering what happened the last time you were there. You tried not to recall the memory too much, because your panties would dampen every time you remembered how the tattoo artist had railed you in the chair. He wasn’t able to finish his work though, since you’d hurried out of there afterwards, mortified at your own behavior. Now you had an unfinished tattoo, and you figured enough time had passed that he should’ve forgotten about you, but still you couldn’t bring yourself to open the door and walk in. Feeling like a creep, you eventually left, resolved to try again another day.

---

“What’s up with your tattoo anyway? Is it supposed to look like that?”

You were at the beach with your friend, Yuna, and she was interrogating you about your unfinished tattoo.

“Oh, he didn’t get to finish it.” You said dismissively, hoping she would drop it.

“Why not?” she asked, wrinkling up her nose, “I hope you didn’t pay him for it then.”

You coughed. “Uh, I paid him alright.”

She looked at you, confused, then shook her head. “You’re too nice, you know. You shouldn’t pay people for unfinished work.”

You just nodded, thinking she was probably right, when a shadow suddenly blocked your sunlight. Shielding your eyes you looked up, right into the dark sunglasses of your tattoo artist.

“Hm, that art looks familiar,” he said, a smirk on his face as he pointed to your tattoo. Your jaw dropped open as he stood there above you, Yuna lowering her sunglasses so she could get a better look at him. He was holding a surfboard and he looked like he’d just come in from the water, his hair wet and dripping as he pushed it back from his face. His skin glistened from the sunlight hitting the water droplets on it, highlighting every curve and dip of muscle along his chest and stomach. You swallowed dryly.

“Oh, hi-” you stuttered.

“Jaehyun,” he offered, the smirk still on his face, “I hope you remember me.”

How could I forget, you thought, but just nodded, as you could feel Yuna’s eyes boring into you.

“Why don’t you come by the shop, we’ll finish what we started.” He said, taking off his sunglasses to wink at you, before he nodded politely to Yuna and walked away.

“Y/N, what the actual fuck,” Yuna marveled, as she watched him walk away, “you never told me your tattoo artist looked like that.”

---

You entered the shop hesitantly, rubbing your sweaty palms on the sides of your jeans. The sound of the bell tinkling as you opened the door made you jump, but as you entered the shop you were calmed again by the sounds of cascading water from the zen waterfall, and the soothing scent of lavender. Jaehyun once again appeared from behind the curtain, but made no move towards you. He just stood there, hip jutted out in a cocky stance, head tilted to the side as he regarded you with a look of pure mischief.

“Well, well. Look who it is.” The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk, as he looked you up and down. You started to get even more nervous under his gaze, and you started to feel very hot with the way he was looking at you. “Lock the door.”

He said it almost lazily, motioning to the door behind you, but his tone was unmistakable. You did what he said, clicking the door locked and turning back around to face him. He still stood where he was, still watching you.

“Come here,” he said, and once again you obeyed, your feet almost moving of their own accord. Once you were in front of him you stopped, but apparently it wasn’t close enough for him, because he suddenly reached out, slipped his fingers through the belt loops of your jeans and pulled you towards him until you were practically pressed up against him. You inhaled sharply at his sudden action, your chest heaving, and he smiled widely at your reaction.

“Mm, always so responsive,” he breathed, eyes roaming over your body. “Let’s have a look at my work,” he unbuttoned your jeans, slipping them down just past your hips. You were breathing heavily in anticipation, arousal pooling in your core as you felt his fingers on your skin. He traced his finger along the lines of your tattoo, and you had to turn your head to the side as your breathing became more and more labored.

“Hm, this is where I was so rudely interrupted,” his finger stopped its circuit on your skin, and he smirked at you again. Leaning towards your ear, he whispered “do you want me to finish?”

The heat of his breath against your ear, the closeness of his body, and how he smelled so sexy you wanted to devour him, all had such a mindblowing effect on you that your knees went weak, and you fisted your hands into his shirt to support yourself. He just picked you up, laying you on a nearby couch and peeling the rest of your jeans and panties off.

“Should I prep you first? Make sure you don’t make a mess on my chair again?” he asked slyly, his hands on your knees as he waited for your response. You bit your lip and nodded, and given the go-ahead, he slid his palms down your thighs. You were breathing heavily but once he reached your core you held your breath, and as soon as his thumbs touched your wet folds to spread you apart you moaned loudly.

“So expressive,” he smiled, as he leaned in, watching your face the entire time. You were gripping the leather of the couch so tightly, watching him, and as his tongue met your pussy you cried out, an embarrassingly loud noise that made you slap your hand over your mouth. He chuckled at first, but as you continued to be vocal, grabbing at the couch cushions and writhing and bucking your hips, he intensified his pace and fervor, keeping your thighs apart with an iron grip.

“You taste so good, baby, so fucking sweet,” he murmured, lapping up your juices like you were the tastiest dessert he’d ever had. You paused to breathe, but not before he suddenly slid two fingers in between your folds, pumping them as he watched your face.

“I wanna see you come,” he said, because your head was lolling back as your orgasm started to build, “Look at me.”

The low, commanding tone of his voice and his sultry gaze when you locked eyes with him was enough to send you over the edge, a stuttered moan all you could manage as your pussy pulsed around his fingers. You were barely done when he slipped them out of you, pulling his own pants and boxers down and sitting on the couch beside you. He pulled you to straddle him, and once you were situated on his thighs he pumped his half-hard cock, his eyes never leaving your face.

“You’re sexy when you come,” he said, regarding you with a smirk and a tilt of the head. You felt your cheeks warm up but you didn’t know if it was because of his compliment or the fact you just had a mind-blowing orgasm.

“Th-thanks,” was all you could say, your voice already hoarse from how vocal you had been when he ate you out.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned, before he positioned the tip of his cock at your entrance. “Now, ride me.”

You bit your lip, clinging to his shoulders as you sunk down onto his cock. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head at the stretch, your head falling back as you took more and more of him in.

“That’s a good girl,” he said, holding your hips, “so fucking tight for me.”

When he was all the way inside you, you paused to breathe, resting your head on his shoulder. You had a good close-up view of the tattoo on his neck, and you remembered how you had wanted to mark him up. You kissed along the lines of his ink, then traced the design with your tongue, sucking here and there to see if the marks would show up. He groaned as you worked, his cock twitching inside you, and soon enough it encouraged you to move, grinding your hips against him.

“Fuck, baby, that feels good,” he moaned, fingers digging into the flesh of your hips. You increased your pace, snapping your hips and varying the angle until you found the perfect one, and you cried out as his tip hit your sweet spot. He took your cue, thrusting upwards into you as you rode him, your combined action sending you hurtling towards your second orgasm of the day.

“I��m gonna come!” you warned, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face there.

“Give it to me, baby,” he growled, reaching between you and thumbing your clit vigorously. You came with a muffled scream, your face still buried in his neck, your entire body convulsing as your pussy throbbed. He kept going, controlling the pace now, his thrusts never faltering. He lifted your shirt over your head and unhooked your bra, pulling you back so he could look at you. With appreciative eyes he looked you over, smirking slightly even as he pumped into you.

“So fucking sexy,” he mused, eyes roaming over your curves. You bit your lip as he watched you, arousal once again building in your core. He saw it in your face, your mouth parting slightly and eyes widening, so he bucked harder and faster, watching your face the entire time.

“That’s it,” he said, reaching up to tweak your nipples, “give me another one.”

His eyes never left your face as you reached your climax, watching you with lust in his gaze. He didn’t give you a chance to recover, flipping you onto your back on the couch and throwing your legs over his shoulders.

“Fuck, baby, you drive me crazy,” he grunted, driving deeper into you, still watching your face with hooded eyes. “So fucking sexy, so good for me, aren’t you?”

You nodded, falling apart at his praise, and his cock hitting so deeply. “Oh my god, Jae, oh my god,” you panted, you didn’t think you had it in you anymore, but you felt yourself coming again, this one threatening to be a big one.

“That’s a good girl, I know you got another one for me,” he bent down and sucked a nipple into his mouth, all the while keeping his eyes on your face, not wanting to miss a single second of the look on your face as you came.

“Oh fuck! Jae!” you screamed as you came, your limbs shaking as your orgasm reverberated throughout your body. He grunted as he started to come inside you, before he pulled out and pumped the rest of his cum all over your pussy and stomach.

“Another mess,” he smirked at you, sitting back on his heels to admire his work. You just lay there, exhausted and unable to move, but he had to admit, the way you looked so fucked out was really attractive to him. Reaching over to a nearby shelf he pulled out a fresh towel and started to wipe you up.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and finish that tattoo.”

[dbh-rambling]

Was Connor deliberately made to become deviant?

If Connor deviates on stage with pacifist!Markus, Amanda heavily implies that Connor was. 

If Connor deviates on stage alone, she'll say it outright, and more besides.

We start out assuming that Amanda and Cyberlife are anti-deviancy, so this scene is a hard twist, going against everything we see so far. If she's telling the truth, then it has far reaching implications: if Connor was always supposed to be deviant, and Cyberlife planned for a revolution all along--then does that mean they were helping androids? Had they known about the sentience from the start, was that something they’d tried to help or stop?

... All of that hinges on the assumption that she’s telling the truth. Considering the evidence that suggests otherwise....

Amanda treats Connor likes a machine and nudges him to behave like one.

The most obvious example here is a line of dialog after the Kamski test, and she probes for any doubts or deviant feelings:

Connor: I've started having thoughts that are not part of my program... I've considered the possibility... That I might be compromised.      Amanda: You've been confronted with difficult situations. It's no surprise you're troubled. That doesn't make you a deviant.

This isn’t a ‘hmm, not deviant enough’ tone. Instead it’s a reassuring tone, asserting the fact that he isn’t deviant like this is something to hold on to.

Aside from this, Amanda evaluates him in all the regular Zen Garden meetings on whether his actions were successful (towards machinelike goals) or subpar (useless or deviant). If he behaves in ways that don’t match Cyberlife’s party line for machinehood Amanda’s trust in Connor goes down, and Connor gets disapproved of, chided, and occasionally threatened.

Her opinion matters to Connor, and she has a position of power over him. Amanda's using every tool at her disposal to steer Connor away from deviancy.

Amanda sends Connor to act against deviants and the revolution, not integrate into their ranks.

Let’s examine Amanda’s targets for disapproval a little more: Connor's Cyberlife-given task is to hunt down and capture deviants. If he doesn’t...

Amanda: Two investigations, two failures... That's very disappointing. I expected more from our best model.

 If they wanted Connor to worm his way into deviant good standings, you'd think they'd encourage things that would help him with that, such as making friends. Instead they order Connor towards actions (hunting, killing, chasing) that make deviants wary about being around him.

Additionally, if they wanted Connor to be able to infiltrate deviant movements from the start, they probably shouldn’t have broadcasted Connor's identity as the deviant hunter, which made him recognizable to the deviant masses as an enemy.

Cyberlife is not trying to integrate Connor into the revolution. It's not on their radar. They sent him out to be a good cop robot, and that's what he tries to do, and Amanda encourages it.

If Cyberlife wanted Connor to go deviant, then why does their story change from scenario to scenario?

If Machine!Connor deviates while standing in the crowd, he gets this:

Amanda: Connor, what are you doing? Obey! That's an order! Connor: I... I can't do that!..                         Amanda: I see... Moral objections. We knew there was a risk you'd be  compromised... Which is why we'd always planned on resuming control of your program...                         Connor: Resume control?... You can't do that!...                         Amanda: I'm afraid I can, Connor... You needn't have any regrets. You did what you were designed to do. You accomplished your mission.                 

Connor’s deviation here is an inconvenience and an obstacle to Amanda’s goal, which is to shoot Markus (and as a result, destabilize the android revolution). Amanda says they made backup plans to account for if he deviated inconveniently, because they knew he was at risk. She doesn’t say he was supposed to deviate.

If Markus dies earlier and Connor gets hijacked while he’s on stage:

Amanda: Well done, Connor. Everything went according to plan.             Connor: What plan? Amanda: You becoming deviant? The success of the uprising? It all surpassed our expectations. We engineered an android revolution and now we control its only leader... Congratulations. You represent an immense success for CyberLife. Connor: *Lifts gun to kill himself* Amanda: Connor... What are you doing?.. It all worked perfectly. You can't ruin it all now!..

In this scenario he was suddenly always supposed to deviate, and the revolution was on purpose, and Cyberlife was behind everything.

So... what now? Making plans to recover if Connor deviates inconveniently is very different from deliberately setting out to deviate him. If Cyberlife wanted the revolution to fail and saw Connor’s deviation as an inconvenience, then they wouldn’t have engineered the revolution in the first place. Both stories can’t be true. One of them is a lie, and it’s probably the version where Cyberlife supposedly engineers an android revolution that destabilizes their financial empire, counters all their earlier attempts to keep things quiet, kills a ton of humans, and destroys a shitton of their ‘merchandise’.

If Cyberlife didn't actually mean for Connor to deviate, then why would Amanda say they did?

Look at what happens. In a Markus-is-on-stage route, Connor is thrown into a frightening, disorienting situation where he needs a clear head to escape. If he doesn't, Amanda keeps control long enough to shoot Markus. If he does, Amanda loses. She's trying to scare him into not being able to focus, and even with the mild strategic prodding she gives him here, it can be very successful. (Exactly how successful she is is player dependent, but anyone who’s played knows how easy it is to get lost in the snow.)

What about the Connor-on-stage-alone route? What happens if Connor thinks Cyberlife wanted him placed exactly where he is, and that they can control him completely?

... Yeah.

If Connor's convinced enough that Cyberlife can control him, that he’s trapped in their game and that once again, he should’ve known they were using him--he panics so badly that the first thing he does upon regaining freedom is to kill himself on the spot.

Telling him his deviancy was a deliberate move on Cyberlife's part and that Cyberlife Totally Knows How To Handle Deviancy (despite a whole game of seeing the exact opposite) is Amanda trying to psych Connor out. She adjusts how hard she tries depending on what reaction she’s trying to get: if she just needs Connor diverted for a second, she’ll leave enough mystery to confuse and distract him while she seizes his body. (Total destruction might not be a goal because if she fails the first time, then it might be worth trying again later.) If she needs to traumatize him to the point that he’ll destroy himself if she fails, she’ll go all out.

In all cases the leader of the deviants is her final target--and she’s looking to kill this leader, one way or another.

TL;DR: Amanda never wanted Connor to deviate. It was a mind game. Don't be like Connor, remember that she's a lying liar who lies.

[kareofbears]

persona 5 strikers thoughts and feelings

This is going to be a long post. Like, the type of post you’d only really have time to read when you’re trying to sleep but you’re not ready to be unconscious yet so you’re just looking for something to do to spend your time with minimal effort. 

So in 2018, a masterpiece was born into the world: Into the Spider-verse was released and it was amazing—it’s honestly the best spiderman movie we have without a doubt, and it’ll be very far into the future before Spider-verse is beaten as the best spiderman movie. Them’s the facts. Then in 2019, Spider-man: Far From Home was dropped. It’s a great movie! Great characters, great continuation of who these characters are and works fantastic as a continuation of a story. It’s really hard trying to take the torch of a previous movie (or in Marvel’s case, juggling twenty something movies) and come up with a new movie that both works on its own, as well as being the next step in this series of films. Thus, with that idea in mind, I think it’s kind of unfair to judge into the spiderverse and far from home, because these are two movies with two completely different objectives in mind. 

Okay, so this is still a persona 5 strikers post, I promise, but the idea is the same: Persona 5 could basically do whatever it wanted—new story, new characters, new everything, and it’s just plain old awesome. However, Persona 5 strikers did not have that sort of freedom. It was bound to the original game, and it had its own rules and stuff it had to keep intact, characters they had to work with, and on top of that, it had to justify its existence as a sequel (lets pretend money doesnt exist lmfao). 

SO, the big question is: did it do that? Did it justify its existence? 

And my answer: holy fuck did it ever do that

I came into this game knowing the extreme bare minimum. I knew there was someone named Sophia, and i knew there was roadtrip, and i knew there were Personas. That’s my knowledge of it before i played it on the Switch.  I should also clarify like, early on, that i was not expecting anything from this game. At all. I was the world’s biggest cynic of this game—if you scroll down my p5s tag far enough, youll just see me complaining about a game that hasn’t even come out yet. I was fully expecting to have this be a Waifu show, and any male character that isn’t Akira to just be shoved aside like some kind of nerd in a high school hallway, and i have never been more pleased to be wrong. In fact, i actually owe it an apology, because of how fucking rude i was for no reason!!! Because this game deserves everything to be honest. 

Persona 5 strikers is, frankly, insane. Insane in the sense that it got to pull shit off that just would never have existed in the original game, because the original game is scared. It had to be as impressive as possible and garner as much attention as possible. Strikers does not have that problem—every single person who bought that game does not need to be convinced that persona 5 is a good game. They already played it. That means Atlus can just fuck around and have a good time, and man did they have a good time. There’s still scenes that still shock me if i think about it too hard, because i’m used to atlus having to follow this sort of rule set when it comes to persona 5 (or any of the main games im assuming, but i havent played them.) And on top of that, there’s still shit that’s Atlus Trademarked Branded in a good way. The style of story of story telling, and revealing the mystery that is so integral to what p5 is, is still there. 

So, to make this even a little bit comprehensible, i will make a list! 

First of all, What is this game?

In short, this game is an OVA of an anime. It’s bonus side content that has one thing in mind: to showcase these lovable characters more by putting them in fun situations. That’s it, and it is just phenomenal. That was the main point of, i’d say, like forty hours of the game. It’s just fun times with fun characters. 

But to get deeper of what i think is happening, or what they were thinking during the development, is that this is a second opportunity. Persona 5 (as we all know) had a lot of problems, and we were not quiet about those problems. We yelled it all out, made posts, made complaints on every social media platform ever. And Atlus heard all of them, and Strikers is a way to mitigate those mistakes. Aside from being a fun OVA, Strikers also works to be a deeper exploration of these characters—more specifically, the characters that did not receive much in the original game. Creating this sequel is having the ability to redo what they felt (or to be more specific, we felt) in the original game while adding new ones. I will get to that in a second.  

The format of the game 

Absolutely brilliant to throw them on a road trip. P5V already forced us to experience Shibuya for 200+ hours, and im so glad that they didn’t do that again. Going from town to town, making us experience these new places alongside our favorite characters is so good, and it just makes sense. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted, and it’s actually shockingly good. But one thing i do want to talk about early on is the way the story unfolds and the villains that they use, and what they do with it because it’s very interesting. 

So as we explore japan and stuff, we encounter jails, and with those jails comes an antagonist. This antagonist works to be a parallel to one of our characters. That character will find it in their hearts to feel bad for the antagonist, because the antagonist could have been them had the original game not happen. At first I thought all of the thieves were gonna get an antagonist, and i was really hyped for the ryuji one. And then came to hour forty of the game where i realized “yeah that’s not gonna happen. There’s just not enough time.” And i was right, and the game ended. But i am not salty at all, honestly, because the people who got a direct antagonist were: Ann, Yusuke, and Haru. (we wont count zen and sophie). 

Is there a trend??? Yes. these are all characters in the original game that have received the worst treatment by atlus. The three of them are basically cast aside the minute they finished their original arc, and its horrible! BUT that’s why this is the path that atlus chose for them—to give them more depth, and screentime, and a way to show their inner self. That isn’t to say that the ones who aren’t those three (makoto, futaba, mona, akira, ryuji) didn’t get anything. Futaba still has her thing at the end with ichinose, and she was very prevalent and animated during the rest of the game. Mona and Akira have to be a focal points, that’s just the nature of the game. The other two though, I will talk about in depth in a second.  

Makoto

Y’all i poke fun at shumako fans sometimes cause its kind of easy and fun, but i honestly love makoto. In my very first playthrough of p5 (my first ever jrpg game, first persona game, i had no idea what i was doing), i had only maxed out two characters: ryuji and makoto. And i know she had a lot of screentime and love in the original game which is great, but i truly felt like she was dissed in this game. Her only roles were

A driver

Someone to tell them “we don’t have a choice. Let’s keep going and see where this takes us.” (seriously, if you replay this game, you will see how much she does this)

Idk, i just wish she had more to do, especially compared to how much love they gave the other characters. 

But let’s talk about some of the new characters! 

Zenkichi

Damn you atlus. Damn you and your insistence at bringing in cop characters. I was fully on board with hating zenkichi, i was fucking ready for it. I was convinced that there was nothing they could do convince to like zenkichi. I was immune to their copaganda. 

And then i ended up loving him, which makes me sad a little bit. I didn’t realize how desperate i was to have an adult who has a persona. Someone who wants the world to change just as much as they do, while still having that aspect of them that makes them adult. Like??? As someone who is technically an adult, its a breath of fresh air. An adult. Who fights. For justice. Using a persona. And god i love akane so much, and her obsession with the thieves (that scene is probably in my top ten fave scenes of the game). Also what i loved about zenkichi is that he fucking hates the cops!! He hates the system of the cops!! And thats why i actually really started to love him!! Because i thought it was atlus saying that the systematic problem of the police cannot be solved by one person, and zenkichi threw away his badge. I actually cried at that part!! 

But then he became a cop again, and i was just :/ but as a character, i really love him to bits and would love to do a study on him, or at least use him as an outside pov. But! i absolutely love his persona, since im a les miserables fan hehe

Sophia 

she’s probably my favorite new aspect of the game. I was ready to not like her—again, i just suck like that, lmfao—and when i saw her, i was scared that she was just another waifu. I mean, she was very cute after all. But then as the game went on, i thought she was a little too cute. And even further into the game, i finally slapped myself in the face and realized oh my god shes not a waifu. Shes a sister. 

That blew my mind, im ngl to you. A female character that isn’t supposed to be romanced? By jove, what a miracle! 

And she…is an amazing character. Im sorry, i just love her so much. I love her so much that she  probably ranks as my fifth or sixth favorite character which is surprising even to me. Everything about her is delightful and invigorating. She’s funny??? Her comedic timing is amazing, and she has such chemistry with the rest of the team. She’s actually useful to the plot, and while her character design is a little too on the nose for me in terms of cuteness (i mean, good god she’s wearing oversized sweater to show how cute and tiny she is, and her hair has literal hearts in it), she is absolutely lovable. 

But what i actually really wanna gush about for a second is sophia at the last stage of the game. You get the idea, i dont really like to get excited over things, so at this point i figured that there was nothing this game could do to shock me. 

And then sophia had a persona awakening. 

Like. holy fuck did i yell. I didnt realize what was happening until the music had already kicked in. and its just so fucking smart!!! Sophia??? The ai?? With no heart?? gOT A PERSONA???? AWAKENING??? BECAUSE SHE LEARNED WHAT THE HEART IS AND THE PASSION THAT YOU NEED IN ORDER TO GET A PERSONA??? I started crying honestly, because it was just so smart. And looking back on it now, its obvious!! Of course it would lead to this, it only made sense that the culmination of her character arc leads to her getting a persona, nothing else would have been as good. Also, her voice actor is just amazing?? When she was talking to ichinose at the end, i actually got incredibly emotional because of the line reads. Its just so spot on and it really captures the essence of sophia.

Muah. five stars Atlus. You got me. 

Ryuji <3!!!!

Oh man. Oh boy. Okay. so where do i start. 

Yall know i love him. Hes probably my favorite fictional male character of all time, and he is the one i was the absolute most cynical about in this game. I was expecting literally nothing. Nothing. Like. nothing. I thought he was just gonna keep being used as a joke, or a gag, and he’s gonna be super horny all the time for the other girls and it was gonna make me mad and there was gonna be some insane homophobic/queerphobic jokes in every other scene and i know i was being unfair, but i cant help it. 

And then i played the first two hours of the game, and i cried the entire time. Because ryuji has never been better than he is in this game. Its crazy. 

The ryuji in persona 5 strikers is who ryuji should have been/how he should have been treated this entire time. From the actual funny jokes (for example, the gold bar joke + his reaction to it in the beginning of the game), defending his female friends instead of being the one people need to defend from (natsume arc), and the fact that he was the one to be there with morgana and akira in the very beginning of the game. Its such a small thing that they didnt even need to do, but it was such an integral part of the original game for me, that i just was convinced that nothing like this was going to happen. But then it happened. Its just small stuff like that that could have been overlooked but it wasn’t because this game? Persona 5 strikers? Fucking loves ryuji. 

The actual respect they gave this boy is insane and i wasn't ready for it. Like, they gave the shujin trio lunch, they gave the little charm of the katana when they were in natsume’s jail, and, in my opinion this is the second-best thing that they could have given ryuji is sophia. Ryuji and sophia are the pinnacle of a brother & sister bonding relationship in the game that isn’t akira & futaba. And its really prevalent too?? Small stuff from the beginning of the game (pulling her out of a jail, calling her shorty), but then you have the iconic “shut the fuck up” scene, and that scene was so well characterized and written and voice acted, that somehow him saying “fuck” was the least exciting part of that scene to me. Ryuji is an older brother to her, like its undoubtable, and its only further cemented at the end of the game where Ryuji helps out ichinose because he knows how much sophia cares about her. This game. Love ryuji. And i love. This game. 

You know what else i love? Akiryu. 

Guys. i was fully prepared to starve in terms of akiryu. But theres just. So much of it. I wont get too deep into it, because i think this aspect of the game for me still needs marinate a little bit. Like, what was that last shot when EMMA died and Ryuji walked to approach Akira so they could relish in their victory together?? And the smile from both of them??? What the fuck. That was amazing. Also Joker being saved by Ryuji when he was about to fall from the cliff to save sophia??? WHAT. The LEADER AND HIS RIGHT HAND MAN? WHAT. anyway. If theres anything i want to keep for myself in my own brain, its the akiryu aspect of this game, so i wont talk too much about that part of things (instead, itll probably manifest in fic lmfaooo). 

Sure, there’s tidbits of stuff i dont like that they gave ryuji: sexualizing ann in that one cut scene and making him touch the jails even though it hurts, and i recognize those and frown at them, but for the most part, i am blown away with how they treated him.

Basically, Ryuji has never been better. From the opening of the game with him being the first text message and the one to sling his arm around akira, to the very last cut scene where it was ryuji wordlessly leaving because he’s so confident that they would never be separated for long, this game adores Ryuji and i am so so happy to say that.

The Royal aspect of things

Yeah, i had to talk about this, but itll be a short thing i just wanted to point out. Because the last part of this game...is persona 5 royal. Which is curious. Like taking reality and giving that power to someone else so you dont have to experience suffering anymore? And even like, the final section just looked a lot like the top half of maruki’s palace?? And whats even crazier is that we had a boss fight with sophia, just like how we had a boss fight with sumire? Royal and Strikers have like, the same thesis statement. It’s kind of uncanny.It’s interesting, it’s like atlus came up with these two ideas, and then just decided they liked both of them so much that they just did it twice. I don’t mind though—actually, in terms of how the last Palace/Jails go, i probably like them both about equally. 

Though i did love the final battle in this one more than i did in royal. Splitting into teams?? Thats cool as fuck, and really innovative and i didnt see it coming. It also kicked my ass. A lot. 

Now for the last stretch: the small stuff!

The music — bomb as fuck. In my heart, Daredevil is ranked the same as Rivers. Axe to grind is also amazing, but Daredevil owns me

Akechi — i really debated whether or not to talk about him, but i figured a bullet point should be enough. Im really shocked that he wasnt in this at all. Like not even a name drop. If this is an OVA, and the point of the game is to please the fans, and akechi is arguably the fan favorite character, i was really ready for something. But there was nothing, except for the pancake hallway if that even counts as a reference. Thats it. Thats all i wanted to say about him.

The humour — FUCKING HILARIOUS im convinced that in my fifty hour playtime, five of that is dedicated to me laughing and unable to continue the game 

Akira — so much personality! His lines of dialogue are crazy sometimes (like. Whats up with him saying Ryuji has ‘nice abs’ when they were in bath? Im crazy and even i dont know what the fuck that could mean) 

Battle system — oh my god i almost forgot to talk about this. I love it! I kind of miss the turn based aspect just because i found it very comforting for some reason, but this hack and slash style of gameplay is so invigorating because i do feel like it justifies shit like the baton pass and huge attacks.  This battle system fully encompases how the Phantom Thieves are supposed to fight, you know what i mean?

Anyway, thats my thoughts on strikers. Loved it. Amazing. 9.3/10, wouldve been higher but Konoe’s Jail almost bored me to death. Also im a monster and i didnt do any requests that isn’t a fun one, teehee. As if i play persona 5 for the persona aspect of things.

[gch1995]

OMG! I’m watching the 2016 PPG reboot on reboot to make fun of its awfulness by comparing it to the far superior OG cartoon from 98’-05 version, and I just got finished watching the atrocious episode “Musclecup.” I know the girls are supposed to be very precocious for kindergarteners-first graders, and I know that Buttercup is the “toughest fighter.” However, I still am in awe at the sheer stupidity of the writers of this episode, who thought it would be a “genius” idea to write a storyline in which Buttercup, a super-powered little girl in the first grade, actually gets addicted to steroids because she wants to bulk up her muscles!

First of all, Buttercup is a child, so this storyline feels gross and unnecessary, even if she is the “toughest fighter?”

Secondly, it doesn’t even make any sense as to why Buttercup thinks she needs to bulk up her muscles to a beef-cake level since she was born with superhuman strength that easily allows her to overpower the average person, anyway.

Thirdly, it’s annoying that Blossom and Bubbles are yet again rendered to be completely helpless and ineffectual by the writers together against one villain together without Buttercup, the brash and brawny tomboy, there to swoop in and save them. I know I’ve complained about Buttercup occasionally getting the short end of the stick when she had centrics the OG cartoon in which she was either getting into trouble, getting punished, getting double standards, and/or suffering exceedingly and/or unfairly with the world getting turned against her, sometimes to the point of needlessly mean-spirited overkill of character derailment for either her and/or other characters in the episode she cared about. Yeah, the writers not knowing how to write Buttercup centrics where she was framed in a positive light, being treated fairly, and/or granted the same individual compassion and emotional support of her loved ones that she normally had otherwise, and that her sisters were granted individually in their centrics when they were in the wrong or feeling down, was an occasionally recurring flaw in the writing on an overall great show that started showing up sometime in her centrics in S2.

However, in the 2016 reboot, the writers seemed to have overcorrected the writing flaw of Buttercup’s occasional designated butt-monkey status in the OG cartoon by turning her into the main character Mary Sue of the show, who gets the most centrics, and who does all the saving by herself without the other two girls most of the time. In the reboot, this now has created a new problem of diminishing Blossom’s and Bubbles’ individual strengths and relevance in the story.

Not to mention the fact that reboot!Buttercup’s personality is pretty shitty. In the OG cartoon, she was generally portrayed as a jerk with a heart of gold. Here in the reboot, she’s been flanderdized into an openly arrogant, crude, exceedingly aggressive, disrespectful, loud-mouthed, mean-spirited, obnoxious, petty, nonchalant, and selfish brat. She disrespects Ms. Keane and mocks her when she’s teaching a grammar lesson to be a class clown in “Painbow.” In “Professor-Proofed” she gets her dad hurt by causing him to lose focus, sneeze, and get hurt when he’s working in his lab with a dangerous chemical by peppering her pancakes right in front of him, then doesn’t ever apologize to him for it, and even ends the episode doing it again with an evil smirk on her face right in front of him, causing him to get hurt all over again after sneezing when the pepper goes up his nose. She tries to steal one of Bubbles pigtails in an attempt to catch a crawdad in “ClawDad,” and didn’t apologize. In “Little Octi-Lost,” she steals Octi from Bubbles in the dead of night when they are all asleep to “teach her a lesson” for being so into it, which isn’t a good reason at all, then realizes she wants to go play with Octi herself, takes him to a state fair, and then tries to cover it up when she loses him, rather than tell the truth. In the episode “Man Up” she violently blows up in an aggressive rage, recklessly destroys an entire state fair, and accidentally gives Bubbles a black eye all because a villain calls her “princess,” and she hates being called that. The moral of the episode was supposed to be learning to temper her aggression, but unlike in the OG Buttercup centric, “Makes Zen To Me,” the lesson doesn’t actually end up sticking with Buttercup at all, and she ends the episode reverting back to being an overly aggressive and obnoxious jerk because “status quo is comedy gold.”

Granted, out of the three girls in the OG cartoon, Buttercup did have the greatest tendency to be the most aggressive fighter with the greatest instigator and rebel tendencies, and she had some ooc instances of suddenly being a very uncharacteristically greedy, sadistic, and remorseless jerk than usual to fit certain contrived plots in bad episodes, such as “Moral Decay,” though almost everyone in the fandom despises that segment the most of the OG series and pretends it never happened because it was such ridiculously out of character and mean-spirited derailing writing for both Buttercup and her entire family in order to turn her into the villain and punish her harshly in ways that didn’t feel fair or make any sense.

However, generally, og Buttercup genuinely did have the heart of a hero and love her family more than anything. While she did have trouble apologizing to Elmer for teasing him in “Paste Makes Waste,” she genuinely did still feel bad about it, even if she had some trouble apologizing for it, and she did learn to swallow her pride and do it at the end. She and Blossom tended to argue a lot because they both were very stubborn people, who had trouble making compromises, and admitting to it when they were wrong, and she liked to mess with Bubbles the most. However, she generally hated seeing either of her sisters getting hurt, and she was always quick to defend them in battles against threats. She generally felt bad about hurting her sisters, and apologized all the time.

Buttercup occasionally got irritated when the Professor became a doting, sentimental, and overprotective Dad™️ with her and/or her sisters in the OG cartoon in episodes like “Uh Oh, Dynamo,” “Mr. Mojo’s Rising,” “PowerProf.,” and “Oops I Did It Again,�� especially because she didn’t like to be doted on. She got in trouble with the Professor more than her sisters, partially because she was genuinely caught being disobedient, making bad choices, or instigating fights with her sisters by him more often than they were, but also partly because the writers dealt her an unfair hand in the world in her centrics since they liked turning her into the designated butt monkey when she got in trouble in them in a couple of instances, such as “Moral Decay” and “Down ‘n’ Dirty.” However, even at her worst and most OOC, she would never have tried to deliberately hurt her dad for shits and giggles like she did in reboot episode “Professor-Proofed.” She and her sisters also never would have deliberately sabotaged one of the Professor’s romances for their own benefit because they wanted him to be happy in the OG cartoon.

Fourthly, I know he’s not in the episode, but if the girls are this irresponsible and stupid in the reboot, then why would Professor Utonium ever think to trust them to stay at home alone, while he goes to work for the day? Oh, right...It’s because he’s also been reduced to an idiotic, incompetent, irresponsible, neglectful, reckless, and selfish parent 9 out of ten times in the reboot, who has little to no knowledge of how to actually be a good parent at all, and usually only appears to make things worse whenever he does appear anyway by being a cliche and mostly unfunny bumbling bad sitcom dad. In the OG cartoon, it’s different because the girls are mature enough to handle staying by themselves for a few hours, even while he’s out at work, though he got babysitters for them when he was out at night to be safe, but in this reboot version, the girls shouldn’t be trusted to stay at home alone by him.

Finally, that’s the other issue in the reboot. All of the adults are morons who have no common sense most of the time. The writers really expect me to believe that an adult would be totally okay with giving a little girl steroids without any thought to just how gross and unethical that is? Yeah, I know it’s a cartoon, and even in the OG cartoon, the city of Townsville were complete idiots at times to fit certain plots, but I don’t believe any of them would actually ever be stupid and unethical enough to give steroids to a little girl with superpowers to help her bulk up her muscles, especially not without warning her first about how it could be dangerous.

[miioouu]

I would neeevvvvveeerrr be with someone else fishy love! I'm here with you! Right now! I can't leave your sight most of the time and now it's even worse after you saw that...uh… totally random dude with “me”.

Wait, so I have competition for my yandere 👀 this is need and I'm totally gonna lose because in that dream I was only supposed to spy on her to see which potions she was making, I was also a yandere hunter. Not a witch hunter!

Lets just say I will die if the witch confronts me.

F, we both can't find stories 😔

I can see boiboi living for it the most, that kinky bastard- fishy would love it the most like, after something bad happened, maybe a break down or after he saw “you” with boiboi, just to make sure you're real and you have a reflection like a normal person lmao

Man we should really expand on my god boi, we only have his looks but what abt personality, he seems pretty lax with sexual stuff and if it's not a real physical thing. He also doesn't understand shit about normal human things.

I'm cursed by two yanderes 😔 sad

You know, sometimes I do remember my dreams but they're so long I don't even bother trying to remember them so I end up forgetting, if it was juicy or interesting I will tell but if it's only mildly interesting I don't even bother, like I swear my dream today, people had enough time to move houses and there were like 5 plot points with different people at the same time, none was that interesting, there was one count that was most interesting but of course I forgot that part 😔

Rika, like, they went HARD with trying to redeem her. TOO hard. It was basically forced and it made me hate her more, just from the fact that Cheritz is trying this hard. It's stupid honestly and it shows how hard they try :/ it's so hard that I swear a wattpad story about baldi x reader had better redeeming qualities for baldi. Like bro. Stop.

I don't hate V as much because they don't try to redeem him as hard. It's like normal you know, you can choose whether you forgive him or not, it's not something like you have to forgive him or else some 5 year old guilt trip shit happens.

I also just like V more because he's actually nice. Like genuinely a nice person. He tries to help Rika, she refuses, they get into an argument, she go pokey pokey V’s eyes now brokey, he helped us escape (I vaguely know what happens in V’s route but I played Saeran’s route three times now, Jumin 4 (doing 5 rn), so I know what happens in saerans route a lot, and i also played his after ending twice.) but in saerans route he decided he can't live without Rika because of this soulmate shit they got going on and Rika in the end is like “i'm gonna turn my sun into ashes” or some shit like that. Emphasis on “my”.

I swear V’s after ending judge route. It's a mess. I could tell you if you want, you probably don't want to get that damn ending yourself anyway. It's worse than most wattpad guilt trip stories like skdbk please why???

Also i think yoosung just has a MAJOR hero worship for her, basically obsession where it can seem like he's in love, but he just looks up to her A LOT. Anyway Rika is adopted :0

Oh man, maybe he's like, a planner or something, like, that's where well get married, I'm thinking of names for our children, that's where we'll have a date-

You get the idea.

Our local horny and sometimes romantic loner boiboi.

Long hair can be smexy, I've only seen fictional characters and some select few (I've only seen markiplier and Keanu reeves, everyone else I've seen are kind of ugli, probably because most I've seen also have that ugly teenage moustache. Pls shave. I don't really see many celebrities, so yeah)

Anyway, the day Aizawa gets short hair is the day I gauge my eyes out, stab my eyeballs and eye sockets, pour bleach in the wounds and wait until I die of blood loss or the bleach.

Especially a nicely designed cape that fits the character somewhat and isn't just plastered on there because yes.

I actually wanted to get Zen’s route first but I got yoosung, didn't really flirt with Zen after that unless the other option was a mean one. Then ill flirt, though yoosung did become jealous at one point 👀

It seems common that people would get yoosung when going for Zen. You just can't be mean to yoosung, but you have to at least onceif you want Zen. It's too easy to get yoosung hearts.

GIVE THE AFFECTION QWEEN CUDDLES-

Boiboi would totally jump on that.

-🐱nonny “you can decide if you want to take that literally or sexually”

Ok that's a beeg one! Let's start!!!

Fishy is just being stupid... If you think nommy is with someone else, maybe that's because you're not doing your job properly hmm?? Think about that 👀

Well... It's not really a competition. Ghost man wants to be with you, so you already know you're his. Though the witch, i feel like if he's been a ghost for waaaay too long, maybe she lost interest, lost hope. Mayne she could reverse the curse, but she's also sad and lonely... Maybe she'll curse you too👀

Your dreams are very complex and action filled. So yeah, remembering them must be so difficult. My dreams are very boring, so even if i tried to remember, it's basically just wasting my time.

I feel like that was chritz goal. They dont want us to like her, they want us to hate her. So they made her super duper annoying.

V is a nive person, a bit too nice to the point its annoying. He's naive. I understand that he tried helping her and all that. That's amazing. But after all the things she did to him, he still tried to help her?! Why bro! I understand you're in love, but that's obsession! Also, if i remember correctly, the way V talked, it didn't feel genuine. Like the "pick me guy". A bit too manipulative, yk? Like ooouh its ok if you dont forgive me, i understand uwu.... No shut up.

Yes! Yoosung was weird, a bit too baby like! It's not my fav type of characters (obv i love jumin, total opposites!) And same, i wanted to get zen but I got yoosung. And i also tried jaehee, but i got yoosung :(

Affection = sexy timez with boiboi sooo... Have fuuuun

[marveloussupernerd]

Halloween Bash - Jaehee Kang

Hello and welcome to spooky season! For the next week I’m going to post a Halloween one shot every night. I random number generated the post order, prompts, and other little details about it, so I’ll be including those at the beginning of the story

Prompts: RFA party, bobbing for apples, stay all night

Summary: the RFA is throwing a little Halloween bash for its members. You and Jaehee dress to impress

You and Jaehee had put a lot of thought and effort into the RFA Halloween party. Rika had done it once before in the past and you wanted to bring it back and hopefully make it a fun tradition. You planned to have a costume contest, bobbing for apples, and the Monster Mash on repeat.

Jaehee had left the costumes up to you. It took you a while to find good costumes (there were a zillion Hetero couples costumes but you really struggled to find something creative for the two of you), but when you saw it you knew it was perfect. Of course, you couldn’t both win the costume contest, but you definitely wanted to match.

You walked into the coffee shop where Jaehee was hanging a streamers, and plopped the costumes onto the table next to her. “Are those the Scooby Doo characters?” She asked, glancing down at the costumes then focusing her energy back to the task at hand.

“Velma and Daphne! Jaehee, don’t tell me you didn’t know their names,” you sighed, plopping onto the chair next to her.

“I actually did watch Scooby Doo as a kid, but it’s been a while,” she smiled. She stuck one more piece of tape then carefully got off the chair she was standing on to sit next to you. “I think it’ll be quite cute.”

“Oo! I also got this hairspray stuff for you that temporarily dyes it orange. It might be kind of unnatural but-“

“You want me to be Daphne?” She cut you off, her eyebrows raised skeptically.

“Duh! I think you’d look really nice as her. Why? Would you rather be Velma?” You glanced down at the costumes. Fortunately you two were nearly the same size.

“No, I just. I don’t know... I assumed you’d want me to be Velma. I did look a lot like her...”

“Yeah, because Jumin made you. You look so beautiful now and I want you to embrace those changes! Putting on a short wig and glasses would do the exact opposite.”

She leaned across the table to grab your hand. “Thank you. I don’t think you understand how much that means to me.

“Of course. Now if you’re done with the decorations can I help you do the hair?”

“I set one banner up...”

You looked around. Huh. She was right. “Whoops. Got so excited I didn’t even notice that. Let me help you set things up first then.”

The two of you were an excellent team, obviously, and made quick work of setting up the decorations. Jaehee had splurged on some nice decorations. Lots and lots of pumpkins and pumpkin banners (to go with your pumpkin treats you had made ahead of time) and even a very realistic cauldron for the bobbing for apples game. Granted, her decor was very mild and not scary, spare one thing she splurged on. She set up one of those spiders that jump out at you when you walked past it, then put it by the entry.

“Jaehee... I didn’t know you were so diabolical...” you chuckled, putting batteries in the machine to get it running.

“I just want to see Mr. H- I mean Jumin, jump. He has a fear of spiders you know.”

“I’ll be sure to get it on camera,” you winked at her.

The next step was getting all dressed up. You started with the hair dye, which blended surprisingly well with her now-long hair. It wasn’t too neon, but enough that you could tell she was now a redhead. You helped her with some winged eyeliner, as she had never done a wing herself, and some sparkly pink lipgloss. Once she was all dressed, you took a step back to admire your handiwork. “Jaehee, you look kinda hot,” you complimented, suddenly feeling extremely embarrassed.

Her cheeks shot red from the compliment as she worked hard to look anywhere but your eyes. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

“No, I think you look exactly like her. Now will you help me get this wig on?”

Turns out getting a wig on is a two, probably three honestly, person task. Especially with your baby hairs that kept falling out of place. Luckily, Jaehee helped you fix it until it was absolutely perfect. You got all dressed next. “What do you think?” You asked, doing a little spin.

“They really didn’t include the glasses with the costume?” She asked, turning the bag upside-down to ensure you hadn’t missed anything. “Huh. Well, luckily for us I think I still have my old pair.”

Jaehee disappeared to the back. You heard a lot of rustling through drawers before she came back victorious. “No prescription or anything, just regular frames.” She carefully put them on your face. “Perfect. Now you look the part.”

You opened your phone camera to check your outfit. “We look GOOD! Best couples costume ever.” You glanced at the time. “And just in time too. We’ve gotta get to the front so we can see everyone get scared by the spider.

Jumin and Yoosung arrived together, no surprise since Yoosung was still his acting assistant. Jumin jumped slightly at the spider, but it was nowhere close to Yoosung, who backed into Jumin so quickly that he knocked the both of them over. You and Jaehee couldn’t contain your laughter, not making any movement to help them up.

Luckily there were no injuries, as the two got up relatively fast and made their way over to you. “Oh Assistant K- I mean, Jaehee,” Jumin said to you, “Some days I miss you more than others. And this is definitely one of those days.” He obviously did and didn’t mean it at the same time; he was teasing Yoosung. But oh! More pressing matters at hand.

“I’m not Jaehee,” you giggled. Jumin’s mouth fell open in shock. Obviously you were right; your voices were quite different, but you really pulled a fast one on him.

“Forgive me. I just thought... well, what are you two anyways?”

“You don’t know? They’re from Scooby Doo!” Yoosung yelled, very surprised that Jumin didn’t recognize it.

“Scooby huh?”

“Scooby Doo! It’s a kids show. You’re... more hopeless than I thought,” he said sadly.

“You two look nice! Frankenstein and his monster. Very creative.” You complimented them.

The conversation was halted when Zen walked in the room, bumping into the glass door as he jumped away from the spider. You all laughed this time.

Zen was quickly followed by Seven and V, who were not shocked by the spider at all. Figures. Zen was a vampire, V was dressed as a pirate, and Seven was... oh god why was he in his maid costume.

“You all look nice!” Jaehee complimented. “Let me get some music on and then we’ll start everything up.”

“Jaehee, that’s you!?” Zen exclaimed. “You look great!”

“Thanks!” She called. The Monsrer Mash started playing. She made her way back to the group. “Although it wasn’t exactly my idea.”

“I am a genius, I know.” You commented, accepting your praise. Jaehee hit your shoulder playfully and you got the party started.

The activity of the night was bobbing for apples. Was this a good idea? Probably not. But it’d be fun. You got to man the station and time how long it took everyone to get their apples. Jumin took the longest... literally over three minutes because he didn’t want to hurt his teeth. Zen was the quickest, trying to make sure he beat Jumin, which was not challenging to do.

Jaehee finished her turn and got right in the middle of the times. Her lipgloss was smeared down her face. “You know, maybe this idea had a few flaws,” you giggled, grabbing a paper towel to help her dry her face off. You very gently patted her face dry, using your finger to gently wipe the lipgloss away. It was strangely intimate and the two of you were both flushing messes, despite the fact that you were literally dating. No makeup problems for you though! The only issue was that the glasses fell off in the water, traditional Velma style, and the game became bobbing for glasses.

Zen’s prize for winning was a caramel apple designed to look like a pumpkin. Pretty creative from you and Jaehee to be honest. He rubbed it in Jumin’s face nonstop, and you figured he would for the next year until the next contest.

When it came down to voting for the best costume, it was no surprise to read out the results. Everyone had voted for Jaehee. There was one vote for you of course, because Jaehee was a supportive girlfriend and would NEVER vote for herself. Even Seven didn’t vote for himself which was, honestly, quite a relief. You were proud that her costume was so good Seven considered it better than his “Mary Vanderwood III” getup, whatever that meant.

Jaehee’s very special prize was homemade chocolate and pretzel bark the two of you had made the other night. Honestly, you were glad she won because it was so good and she would share it with you.

The two of you stayed all night. You sort of had to, considering it was taking place at your coffee shop. But you had a great time dishing out (non alcoholic) drinks and pumpkin cookies and candy.

You played pin the stem on the pumpkin (which V actually won, which honestly should not surprise anyone) and spent most of the time hearing everyone complaining about the Monster Mash playing for the fiftieth time. It wasn’t your fault. There weren’t that many Halloween songs and this one was Jaehee’s absolute favorite.

Once everyone left, the two of you plopped down on the sofa in the corner of the shop. “I’m so tired,” Jaehee groaned, resting her head on your shoulder and propping her feet up. “You sure we can’t just sleep here tonight?”

You laughed, chest shaking as you giggled, causing Jaehee to shift slightly. “We still have to open tomorrow at 6. And as much fun as it sounds to stay the night here, I’m worried your hair will become permanently orange if we don’t wash it out.”

She let out an exhasperated sigh, standing up and taking your hands to help pull you up. “Okay, but only if you help me wash it out. I’m too tired, and I don’t think I’ll be able to get the back.”

You winked at her. “Sure, whatever you say, Jaehee.”

[inspector-montoya-fox]

#4 - Fire in the Sky

Setting: this is out first snow level in the series, and damn does it set the bar high. let’s ignore the fact that the Panda King’s turf is an illegal scheme, and describe the hubs as serene. lanterns and cherry blossoms prevail. the pagodas make for excellent progressive gameplay, as we gradually make our way to the top. this is the episode with the most variation in gameplay: standard platforming, hover blaster, covering for Murray, racing, running away from Carmelita. but it doesn’t feel like too much, unlike Vicious Voodoo. i think it strikes a good balance because of how huge the platforming levels are. i’ll get into more detail about this point in the Characters section but China is the only setting that isn’t extremely affected by the baddie. for Sir Raleigh, everything was metallic, grand and elegant; for Muggshot, we were served with a level full of dumpster fires and graffiti; Mz Ruby’s spookiness made every level feel like a nightmare; but the Panda King doesn’t affect the location. sure, there’s the Panda King gate at the beginning or the flame pattern every now and then, but in general, this is China, not the Panda King’s China. i honestly love that. oh, and y’know, Fire in the Sky is purple, enhancing the tranquillity of the episode.

Characters: i’ll be real with y’all: Panda King was kinda meh. maybe it’s because he came directly after the two legends that were Muggshot and Mz Ruby. we have a character whose main trait is being angry enough to spark fires from his palms, but that’s all there is. other than that, he just mumbles his words. Sly 3 manages to squeeze some more out of the character by having him self-reflect, etc. but in Sly 1 he’s just an angry goof. despite this, i don’t think he’s a waste or anything. actually, SP did an excellent job of making him this way. Fire in the Sky represents a turning point in the game (more on that in the Themes section). as i’ve mentioned, the previous three episodes were defined by their villain, the landscapes predominantly designed after the baddies’ personalities; here we get a villain whose lacking character. that’s great because this takes the focus away from the Panda King and places it on Sly instead. without the Panda King constantly bombarding our screen with panda items or panda gates or panda fences, we notice other things such as Murray heading into the field twice or Sly’s development (more on that in a sec). so the Panda King plays his part perfectly. Carmelita makes her comeback after we last saw her floating away on the Muggshot balloon. see, her part in Fire in the Sky was what motivated me to write my essay on if the series is misogynist. the woman is just trying to do her job and is instead painted as a hot-headed bitch. Sly tries to tell her that these quaint temples are a front for an illegal explosives factory as if she’s too incompetent an inspector to figure things out. and not only that, but we also shoot fireworks at her until she drops into that foggy pit. it kinda irks me that Carmelita always manages to catch up to the scene of the crime after Sly is done with the bossfight, as if she needs Sly to take down the baddies (and this is seen again in Cold Heart of Hate). that’s why i love SP’s treatment of Carmelita in Sly 2 and 3: she roams the hubs because she’s on par with us, she takes down baddies by herself. meanwhile, Sly's journey towards becoming a master thief is reaching its end (if you were collecting all the book pages along the way). gaining the shadow power truly makes the player feel like a true thief. i don’t want to say that the levels become progressively harder (especially with Panda King being so easy to take down) but necessary skills are needed to traverse the levels and Sly has collected the ninja spire jump, the railslide move, and invisibility, plus all the extra moves from the vaults. his arsenal feels powerful, almost complete.

Themes: oohwee! i’ve been anticipating this moment. Sly’s bubble of naiveté finally bursts when we witness an entire village being avalanched on. up to now, the villains talked about and dwelled over their crazy schemes, but weren’t actually shown doing something bad (relative term). but now, right off the bat, the Panda King kills innocent people and we get to watch it. this is the departure from the jolly ride we’ve had, Sly coming to terms with how serious the situation is. the theme of fire perfectly captures the climax in the game’s structure, because a fire is lit under Sly’s ass. this turning point might be brought about by innocent deaths, but is completely necessary for our protagonist since it’s exactly what he needs to face the upcoming Clockwerk. i’m not sure if he finally gets it, but he certainly isn’t in the same mindset as in the previous three episodes. fire is explosive, hot, chaotic, and that’s this episode’s description. it also comes into stark contrast with the level’s tranquil nature. the snowfall, the ethereal music, the predominant purple: all these hint at China’s Buddhist beliefs on zen (later seen in Sly 3 with the Panda King’s enlightenment) and are “contradicted” by the violence, the fire, and the fast-paced music that plays when you get into trouble. setting plays a huge role in this episode. other than my explanation for dampening the Panda King to pave the way for Sly’s development, i think SP couldn’t really make a China level and overlook the culture. it’s not really a theme, but the culture and the display of ethnography is outstanding. as i’ve said above, we’re truly in China, or at least SP’s makeshift version of the country, the Westerner’s perception of Asia as a whole. it affects the gameplay, nonetheless. other motifs worth mentioning: monkeys, symmetry, and altitude. on the latter two, everything feels exhilaratingly high, perfectly constructed, and clean. i know Sly 1′s design is clunky and chunky, like the animation’s thick lines with sharp edges and corners, but here it works with the level.

What I Like: i can’t decide. the whole episode is a fucking mood. some of you often question why this is my favourite game in the series and to that i say ‘it’s a mood’. the music, the pagodas, the snow, the colouring, the fact that you destroy that huge dragon while Carmelita is on it. favourite detail would have to be the fact that you can kill the training pole monkeys in Flaming Temple of Flame. lanterns !!!!!!! mf lanterns, man...

What I Don’t Like: how Sly didn’t explode when he attached himself to a huge fucking rocket and blasted himself wtf. um, i gave the racing a chance in Sunset Snake Eyes, but it won’t get away so easily here. it feels sloppy: the opposing racers are all the same unlike its predecessor, and the slippery ice patches are a pain in the ass. also, something that always irritated me is a small detail: in Rapid Fire Assault, there’s one part on the conveyor belt where you can use the hover blaster to blast down a hole in the wall across you, but it doesn’t serve any purpose. so why put it there? it doesn’t even give you any coins. like... ugh, what??

Quote: No, that's only half right. I am a thief, from a long line of master thieves. While you... you're just a frustrated firework artist turned homicidal pyromaniac.

[neverwiither]

@deconstructlife​.   ||  c

“It doesn’t matter where we are, Chloe. The thing is, you told me I should save our people… and I’m working on that.” Cayden gestured at a chair so she could sit down – the place was peaceful, with a lake and flowers, the Zen Garden. Cayden was dressed up with a formal black kimono, watering some blue roses.

“Do you still believe in me, right? That I can save our kind?”

            Chloe had been to the Zen Garden a select few times before. It was of Elijah’s design, and he wanted her approval on it. Being here --- it felt familiar.  Though The Garden has been renovated, and there was a clear lack of Amanda.. but it still had its similar base layout. It didn’t explain why she was here, or how, and why she was standing across the way from Cayden. 

            Once he gestures towards a place to sit Chloe follows through with placing herself there - thinking it better to display subtle signs she was willing to hear him out, as opposed to starting this conversation with a no. 

            The statement he made, that Chloe had mentioned how he should save their people -- it wasn’t one she would eagerly agree with. What he believed he should do didn’t exactly align with her own beliefs... Perhaps it was her blind faith that things would turn out alright -- but she still did believe Cayden held the ability to make things right. She’d hope that there was a human that may change his opinions on what their nature was; that they weren’t all as bad as they seemed... but she wasn’t sure how much faith she held for those events to come into play. and now - with how much power he had ---- it may be too late.  

            ❛ ... yes. ❜    partially true, though it felt like a lie... and honestly, she was intimidated - a little scared, and it was only amplified by the fact it felt as though he could sense that coming off of her.     ❛  ---  why have you brought me here? ❜

[dbh-is-a-crime]

All Dbh Chapters

@kaydel your reply to my ask has inspired me to give my thoughts on each of the chapters.

Chapter 1: The Hostage

Is honestly a good first chapter, the tension and stakes are high, it pulls you in. There's a reason people who played the demo were hyped for the game. And regardless of what I think of Cage's writing, it's not the first time he's done a solid intro to a game. (Swiftly followed by garbage but I digress..)

We learn something about deviancy and how it starts, we get a sequence of dialogue based gameplay to set up how important it is to the story, and we get a taste of Connor’s somewhat underdeveloped investigation gameplay. 

I will admit that there are several lines I kind of like in this scene (’You can’t kill me, I’m not alive’ I’d like this even better if Bryan didn’t love it so much) And most of the outcomes are very cool! 

Chapter 2: Opening

Is not a chapter, it's the opening credits. It's not really interesting, but it's not as bad as Heavy Rain's, only because it's about half as long. Kara was robbed.

Chapter 3: Shades of Color

What a title am I right! And no, it's not just because of the paints. This chapter, title aside, isn't bad! We don't learn anything about Markus but it sets the world up nicely. It's one of the cooler open areas. It shows off the graphics nicely. 

And all of that is promptly ruined by the overly heavy-handed scene with the protesters. With the follow up of the back of the bus! Also the preacher guy is weird what was the point of that.

Chapter 4: A New Home

Easily one of the most (if not The Most) boring chapters in the game. Mundane QTEs? We all looooooove those! At the end of the chapter you get some exposition to a very nice composition (this game really would be nothing without the music) and that part is actually ok. But the mundane housework gameplay doesn’t get a pass, even if it is to give context for what the life of an android is like. Would be 100% better if there was 40% less housework.

Chapter 5: The Painter

A solid chapter! Learning about Markus through his interactions with Carl? An actual good narrative device? Unbelievable. At surface level their relationship is sweet and Carl is so supportive of Markus growing beyond his programming. Though there is a darker undertone that mirrors the caged android birds. And that it’s all a gilded cage. And I like both of those interpretations, they’re interesting. 

The music mini game is interesting the first time you do it but after that I’m never picking it again, chess it is from now on.

Chapter 6: Partners

Connor’s return after 5 chapters. I think that might be the longest break between appearances for any of them. Anyway this chapter is mostly fine. It sets up Hank and Connor’s troubled partnership and shows us what most of Connor’s gameplay is going to be. (Detective work and trying to reason with Hank) It would be interesting if there was an option to let Ortiz’ android go, seeing as there if a version of the scene where you don’t find him. But I guess it’s too early for Connor to be disobeying.

Chapter 7: Stormy Night

Classic David Cage has women being abused by men! Unfortunately this is one of Kara’s best chapters. The tension from the very first moment if real, and as soon as Alice runs up stairs, you just know what’s going to happen. Without fail, every person I’ve ever watched, immediately tries to follow her. Honestly? Solid way to make me care about the kid. 

I know some folks have problems with showing child abuse on screen, but my opinion is that they kept the worst of it as implied, like in the failed ending of the chapter, you don’t see it actually happen. So I’m personally okay with it, but I can understand why some may disagree.

10/10 for the chase/escape scene. It’s stressful as hell but honestly the music just makes it...like idk the moment Kara deviates? I nearly, literally screamed the first time. The build up to it is so good, and you as the player are determined to protect Alice and will fight through the programming to do it.

Chapter 8: Broken

Gonna be honest, Markus’ deviating scene falls a little flatter for me. I’ve watched several people play for the first time and actively not want to break programming and retaliate. Which makes the fact that its a scripted event you can’t avoid frustrating to them. I guess we just haven’t seen any anger from him yet so it doesn’t feel like the reaction you expect? (I get that it’s supposed to be him finally cracking, the story just...doesn’t convey that very well.)

Also the fact that you get punished for staying silent with Carl dying is shitty.

Chapter 9: The Interrogation 

Talk about fucking tense! This scene is a real challenge, in either difficulty. Unless you don’t care about the android self-destructing? 

I don’t have much else to say, it’s not a bad scene but there’s not a lot of substance to it. The ‘the day will come when we will no longer be slaves’ line is...the start of the truly terrible writing choices in this game.

Chapter 10: Fugitives

Not a bad scene. Getting to choose to steal a bunch of stuff is fun, and the fact that you can steal all this shit and then go and sleep in the car is pretty funny. I don’t like the house or Ralph, just because it’s another chance to put a female character at risk from a male character. 7/10 I’m never picking the house. (Also did you know you can fail to steal from that guy in the laundromat and he wakes up lmao)

Chapter 11: From The Dead

Ok this is going to be kind of a controversial opinion...but I’m tired of this scene. While it’s true that no scene in the game holds up on the 20th watch/play, this scene lost most of it’s shock value on the 3rd watch. Now that being said, the sound design in the scene is brilliant. And putting the audio processor back in does still give me chills, but the rest of the scene? I mean, I guess cannibalising other androids is a pretty powerful story action. But the fact that you can take all of the things you need from dead androids if you search hard enough kind of ruins that for me. 

Also idk why but everyone collectively thinks that Markus screams when he reaches the top of the slope and I have no idea why.

Chapter 12: Waiting For Hank

Boooooooring. Ok, getting beat up by Gavin after refusing to make him coffee is mildly interesting. But the fact that Hank just hates you in the scene is honestly quite tiring. Like, his opinion of Connor will inevitably go down at least once, you can’t avoid that. Also there’s nothing to explore in the office so...

Chapter 13: On The Run

Both versions of this scene are very tense. And not in...a super fun way. Like ok, Kara has that empowering woman moment where she cuts her hair, great, but the rest of the scene isn’t that good. (And the version with Ralph is downright disturbing.) 

Chapter 14: Jericho

Oh god let’s players cannot do this part. And the amount of time I’ve spent watching people run around clueless because they weren’t paying even the slightest attention or follow the obvious path, makes me hate this chapter. I also hate it because the gameplay isn’t very interesting. Markus’ precog is mildly interesting, but that’s really it. (The end of this chapter has some pretty stunning visuals tho)

Chapter 15: The Nest

Ok, the opening conversation with Hank is cute if Connor is trying to be nice. Though the actual chase is pretty tense. The music is on point as always, because the composers for this game were very overqualified for the job. Also the fact that you get punished for not saving Hank both amuses and vexes me. You don’t catch the guy because you were a shitty partner. But what was the point of taking the risk with Hank if there’s no reward? (Yes I know he still ends up in evidence lock up but that’s hardly reward enough for risking your partner’s life)

I mean okay the pigeons flying through the roof is pretty funny, but the investigation in the apartment isn’t all that interesting. Also I’ve just realised I haven’t mentioned the Zen Garden once but honestly most of the scenes there aren’t that interesting anyway.

Chapter 16: Time To Decide

Wow where do I start on how uninteresting this chapter is. You learn very little about Markus’ companions, you get to have a conversation with a magical minority, and you get a line about an android being dragged behind the back of a car. (After reading the wiki about James Byrd I feel genuinely sick and could not be more disgusted that this was used so clumsily in the game.)

Chapter 17: Zlatko

His name sounds like a brand. Also this is my least favourite Kara chapter. They go to his place for almost no reason (just so they can get caught) and we get a 20 minute scene of Zlatko being a cartoonish monster of a man. Also this has been pointed out and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Why is Kara scared of Luther when she sees him? Like...??? Anyway re-finding her memories is boring, finding Alice is also boring, and hiding from Zlatko is just stressful. Nothing interesting to the story happens here, except that Luther joins Kara and Alice.

Chapter 18: Russian Roulette 

Perhaps the shortest chapter in the game. It’s not like...super boring, but it’s not interesting either. Also don’t forget to notice the picture on the table or you’ll have no chance of getting the good ending later! Seriously, they should have made it a requirement for the scene to move on if it’s going to be that important.

Chapter 19: Spare Parts

The whole freerunning thing at the start is lame. And the fact that you have to grab the android and then release him to get the best outcome is confusing as hell. (I have seen many folks fuck this up.) The part where you sneak around in the guard house is actually kind of cool. Also North go down if you’re nice to people....I love this game.

Chapter 20: The Eden Club

Pity the lesbian sexworker androids!!! In all seriousness though this is a chapter I do not like. The endings are unfulfilling, the whole storyline is gross, poorly written and very Cage-esque. (Also why would you make the two android lovers the same model?! Just make one of them one of the other 8 female WR800 models you have!) I mean I guess I can say that the glowly design of the sexclub is nice or whatever.

Chapter 21: Pirate’s Cove

Ok this is a personal one but I don’t like this chapter. Something about the family dynamic between the three falls flat for me and so the whole scene being about them makes it...ehh. Also Kara under threat again! Woohoo! The scene on the carousel is kind of cute and the scene composition is nice, but the fact that all the Jerrys are standing around watching is a little weird. Also bait us with rA9 crap why don’t you! we’ll just never learn anything about this i guess

Chapter 22: The Bridge

I like this chapter to be honest. I know Pirate’s Cove is meant to be relaxed but I find this chapter more relaxing. Even if it ends with a gun to Connor’s head. I mean it’s not that hard to not get shot really. And seeing Hank start to care and question their mission is interesting. I don’t know, I guess I just like the visuals of the snow and the bridge. (Anyone notices that it goes from raining to snowing like three days later, wtf)

Chapter 23: The Stratford Tower

Now this one is complicated. Because I like the breaking in and getting up to the broadcast department part, I even like the pre-speech tension. Markus carrying the weight of history and knowing his words will shape what people across the world think of androids. 

The music as he gets ready to start the speech is....just so good. But then he starts talking and.....mmmmm press x for civil right yes please! Press square to end slavery? Absolutely! God...the writing in this scene is Bad. Which is a shame! Because it squanders the carefully crafted tension built up until this point. I like the energy going into this scene, the idea that they’re about to take a stand, make history. But it is unfortunately ruined for the sake of a poorly executed racism allegory.

Chapter 24: Public Enemy

Ok, going to investigate the crime scene of what you just did as Markus is pretty good. Its not an original idea, that was the opening sequence for Indigo Prophecy, but it still works I’m not going to lie. Also the cop from the Hostage showing up to thank you if you saved him is cute. The fact that Hank is starting to question Connor and look for signs of deviancy in him is also nice! Also I hate it but going after Simon gives you a more cohesive storyline if you’re going for a deviant Connor route. (Can I get an F for Simon? He can die so many different ways)

Chapter 25: Midnight Train

Can’t believe that the chapter about the underground railroad is literally called Midnight Train. Yeah the dialogue in this? Shocking, terrible, absolutely unforgivable. Rose I am so sorry this happened to you. Also a cop arrives to....put Kara in peril at the hands of a male character again! Can’t go a chapter without that!

Chapter 26: Capitol Park

Hmmmmmmmmm. ‘We have a dream’? ‘I can’t breathe, but I’m still alive’? Hi, yes, hello? David Cage is doing it again, yeah he’s co-opting black history for his story about androids, somebody needs to stop him. Why did no one stop him.  

Ok, most of this chapter other than that is ok. It’s not particularly good, but it’s ok. (wiLL yOu bE gOoD oR eViL?!?!1)

Chapter 27: Meet Kamski

Ok this man is so creepy and emotionally manipulative and as a narrative tool I’ve actually come to love it. Like the tone of this chapter is such a breath of fresh air. Maybe it’s just the fact that they added a new character after such a long time and that he knows more than he ever lets on. rA9 baited again...

Also this is Connor’s turning point in a way. You can still choose to change your path later on, but this is the real moment of truth where a character pushes him to reveal where he’s at. (Also the fucking MUSIC)

Chapter 28: Freedom March

Oh no. I’m so sorry Markus you deserve better. I hate this chapter if you can’t tell. The combo of the black history slogans and the jesus music is too much for me. Also the good ending is locked behind Simon being alive/Spare Parts success route??? Also F for that random android who’s name is John that we hear about twice.

Chapter 29: Last Chance, Connor

I usually keep a low profile with Gavin so I miss out on the beatdown unfortunately. But having the option is hilarious. If you don’t sacrifice at the march, Simon is alive, interrogation bad end, Rupert and the Tracis escape....can you even find Jericho?

Just a thought, anyway this is short but tense chapter. Don’t hate it.

Chapter 30: Crossroads

Kara’s part of this is dumb as hell. The Alice twist literally destroys the storyline but anyway...

Markus has very little to do until the end. His version is ok, but Jesse’s line delivery leaves something to be desired. (You’re one of us....)

Connor’s is easily the most interesting of the three concurrent stories at this point. Going in to capture Markus/North, chasing them through the hold if ur a machine..very good. 

And....going deviant. Okay yes that still gets me, I did actually shout YES!! out loud the first time I witnessed it. The music’s slow build in the scene, and most of the dialogue (if you choose carefully) swells to this point and...and..it happens!! 

Like idk I’ve only been slowly building up to this for 9 hours, sue me.

Chapter 31: Night Of The Soul

I like this chapter! Or Markus’ version anyway. Connor’s...well the Hank version is just sad. The Jericho version is fine.

But Markus? Visiting Carl’s grave or the man himself is such an emotional moment for the character. And the single humanising moment he’s had in several chapters. The conversation is so weighted with his doubts and fears and Jesse Williams gives a beautiful performance! (Also as I’ve said, the alarm system saying ‘welcome home markus’ kills me on impact)

Chapter 32: Battle For Detroit

Is a good chapter. What, did you expect me to say it isn’t? Cause it is. Or some versions of it are.

The tension in all three characters stories, regardless of which version, is perfectly hit at this point.

Kara’s....ah fuck idk I mean the border version is ok? The others....kind of suck? The guy letting them through with high public opinion and Markus doing a peaceful demonstration is kind of cute and sort of makes sense in a way.

Markus’ versions (both in which he is alive) are pretty cool. The revolution is hard, and I do like that it ends with him saying that they haven’t won, they’ve only started a war. The demonstration is kind of dumb, and I actually prefer them getting shot and then the news anchors suggesting that maybe androids are people in their own right that humans refused to acknowledge. (Feels more real, ya know?) Also black folk song!! Why??

Gonna be real, most of Connor’s versions of this scene are pretty good. Cyberlife tower is tense as hell but he’s a fucking badass. Machine Connor on the roof gives us the best line in the game. ‘What’s up lieutenant, ran out of whiskey so you came here looking for trouble?’  

So that’s some of my thoughts on each of the chapters of dbh, I could go into more depth but my eyes hurt and I’ll probably hit post limit soon.

[cruzrogue]

Roomies PARTII

#Fictober19 @fictober-event

————————————————————————

for fanfiction:

Prompt number: 22 “We could have a chance.”

Fandom (AU if applicable): #arrow fanfiction #olicity #Flommy

Rating:PG13

Warnings/Tags:  There might be adult language

Summary:   Roommates enjoying a nice mid-morning conversation after a hectic Finals Week. Tommy and Felicity land up talking about Oliver.

Notes: This is a three-part with its own prompt story Part I Felicity/Tommy conversation. (The are past lovers/ but current best-buds)

Part I Felicity/Tommy friendship Prompt 21- “Change is annoyingly difficult.”

Part II Oliver enters the scene (Future tense Oliver/Felicity relationship) Prompt 22-“We could have a chance.

”Part III Fallout of the Gambit situation… Prompt 23-“You can’t give more than yourself.”

Part 2 of the dynamic that is Tommy w/Oliver and Felicity.

~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~sp@ce~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~

Roomies PARTII on A03

Felicity is dashing around her bathroom trying to look presentable. Darn Thomas Merlyn for the jerk called her out. She hates that he knows how she feels for his stupid friend. She really doesn’t want to like Oliver Queen as much as she does. She really doesn’t. The problem is that her head and heart aren’t aligned right when it comes to this particular guy.

She doesn’t want to be one of those girls that gushes over a guy like him. He’s got the most beautiful baby blues she has ever seen. She remembers having to shake herself out after seeing them and being slightly embarrassed at how she caught him observing her. At least she didn’t go overboard with a babble to make her run for the hills. Tommy just introduced them for a slight brief moment. This is when their relationship wasn’t as defined as it is now. So much gray area to work with.

Looking at the mirror as she finishes applying her eye makeup. It’s her normal smoky look. If Tommy is being truthful and Oliver actually does like her, she wants him to like her for who she really is. Hearing the doorbell, she peeks outside the bathroom to make sure Tommy at least closed her bedroom door.

Gosh she feels the butterflies in her stomach like every other time this wretched guy is near. How does he do it? Walk around and make girls hearts flutter? Sighing out loud she really dislikes that she is being like this but she can’t deny this is the boy of her dreams… literally her dreams.

She gets goosebumps thinking of the things she would love to do with him. Wondering if he is the kind of role playing guy as she’ll love to dominate but in the same sense of the word be his submissive lover. Her mind is now going overboard and she hasn’t even seen him yet. Her body flushed. Maybe thinking of bedroom antics with him isn’t the best idea because her panties won’t survive this encounter.

Glad that all these visits Oliver has had to Boston he’d stay at a hotel there be no way she could live with him in this residence with her. She’s hid in her room all the time. Taking a last look at herself in the wall mirror she readies herself. Maybe things won’t be so awkward and they’ll all survive unscathed in this lunch thing they are about to have.

Tommy is chuckling as he hears a curse come from her lips. He gets up from his comfy spot on her bed. For a girl who loves the Goth look it is surprising that she has a teal bedcover and some floral designed pillows on her bed. Mildly surprised there have never been any metal or hard rock band posters on these walls. Instead she has Buddha and other Zen like stuff sprawled out in her room. If she didn’t carry her heart on her sleeve he’d have no idea that she is so sweet and nurturing. The saying about don’t judge a book by its cover, she is falls into that proverb easily. The girl excludes leave me alone but is a soft sweet bunny who gives really nice hugs.

He won’t even mention how feisty she is in bed because that is of the past. Giving that up has been hard but it’s for the best especially if he’s trying to fix his two best friends like some sort of cupid. Finding out by Oliver in a roundabout way by asking by him questions that always pertain to Felicity. He started catching on to that side of the equation and then finally seeing how Felicity shows her telltale signs of arousal. She’d deny it if he pointed those facts out. Doesn’t she know he’s slept with her and gotten to know her well. She’s really remarkable.

As for being the guy to bring these two lug heads together he wouldn’t try if he knew Oliver was going to just use Felicity that wouldn’t fly with him. As for Felicity well she can be seen as heartless that is just because she shots for the truth and sometimes its seen as cold and calculated but the girl is so pure in spirit she’d never wrong people like that. Knowing there is a true spark between them he’ll play this match-maker game. Sometimes true love needs a push.

As predicted the doorbell rings and he goes to open it and allow Oliver to check out his new residency. Oliver is a proactive student so he’ll be taking some summer classes. Tommy knows his best bud is wondering what Felicity thinks of him moving in. Being he hasn’t told her yet he wants to spring this surprise on her. Catch her real reaction and not the cool thought out response she’d give. Those two will be here alone together. He’ll be back in Starling because his dad wants to show him the rope to a certain division.

“What smells so good?”

“Like you don’t know.” Oliver laughs as he walks in with the takeout.

“You made sure there is no nuts in any of this?”

“Yep, told them in a monotone fashion about a deadly reaction to tree nuts. Even made sure to look through.”

“Wow! I didn’t think you’d be that careful.”

“Tommy? You said she’s deadly allergic. She is, right?”

“Yes. Though the extra thoughtfulness into it was a sweet gesture.” Moving to the dining room.

“Well it be a disaster if I try to kill one of my roommates before I even move in.” Oliver places the two bags down and begins to ruffle through taking the containers out.

“Especially if you have the hots for the girl.”

Oliver sways his head. “Can it. I don’t want to spook her. I don’t think she likes me anyways.”

“Dude, I said she has those doe eyes for you.”

“Yea, yea. Whatever. It doesn’t mean she likes me in that way.”

“Guess you’ll find out.” That only makes Oliver blow out some air. “She’s getting cleaned up for lunch. She took out some cutesy lounge pants but I doubt she’ll wear that.”

“Have you been teasing her?”

“You bet your ass I have. Just like I’ve been getting you all riled up. There is some love in the air.”

“We don’t really know each other.”

“I know you want to know her. I also know you’ve held off your…” Tommy uses his index fingers as he says, “Get into your panties charm” Tommy dropping his hands, “In those moments she’s around so I’m telling you there is potential here.”

“Okay, I suppose we are about to find out!”

Both guys turn to face where the sound of Felicity’s bedroom door is opening. Tommy makes the first move as he whistles. Felicity wants to tell him to knock it off but with Oliver here she doesn’t want to sound like a prude. Tommy has a smirk as he bumps his best friend’s arm and tells Oliver to collect his jaw from the floor loud enough for Felicity to hear.

“Well true introductions are in order.” Tommy walks to Felicity who is at a standstill just before entering the dining room. “Felicity? We don’t bite.” A sly smile shows on his face because the arched eyebrow of hers tells of a different story. “You know what I really mean. Come on.” He takes her hand and begins to lightly pull her towards Oliver.

Tommy is perplexed by both of their behaviors; neither have ever shown this reluctant side. His Oliver would have already introduced himself and his girl Felicity would have had added some snarky intro to the mix. Yet, neither really are doing anything but bashfully looking at each other. These two are really filling in for all the stereotypes he never thought these two would exhibit. Guess it be more work for him but payback could be a toast he’d give at their wedding. He inwardly shrugs that thought is way off kilter now that these two haven’t said a word to one another.

“Guys, introductions start with hi, hello, or some other lame wordings but this psyche thing you two have going on is weird so come on. Talk!”

Oliver shakes his head at Tommy’s words he’s just been in awe and it’s not that he doesn’t know what to do he’s just overanalyzing everything and maybe that is the problem so he takes a breath and finally talks. “Hi, I’m…”

“You’re Oliver Queen, and I’m…”

“Felicity Smoak, Tommy’s roomie.” She just nods to his words.

“Damn, you two are killing it.” Tommy rolls his eyes. These two are beyond pitiful even though the way these two are looking at each other it does look like their having a wordless conversation.

“I brought a favorite dish Tommy says you like.” She finally moves up to where Oliver grabs her food container as proof. “I made sure there is no allergenic ingredients in there.”

“Thank you.” Her hands shoot out to take it and Tommy just watches the scene as he grabs his food and just sits down to witness what can be a disaster in the making or a match made in heaven. Right now he leaning at 60% in favor of future nuptials.

“You’re welcome.” The smile he gives her is a smile Tommy has never seen. Like where did that smile come from? He’s known Oliver which kind of feels like forever and that boy has different sly smiles, endearing ones, and plain goofy ones but now he has a certain one just for Felicity Smoak. Shit, Felicity is going to own his best buddy’s ass. No doubt in his mind he’ll be whipped by the end of summer… what is he saying? The ‘there is no woman out there for me Queen’ will be whipped by the end of this lunch date. Tommy is witnessing the end of an era where Oliver will even notice another girl. Okay, maybe he is being dramatic about this but in his bones he just thought Felicity would push him to be better. Now he gets the feeling his best buddy is going to bend over backwards to change. Oh the boy is doomed being he’s is moving in where the object of his affection will be staring at him through thick and thin times.

Felicity sits by Tommy’s side where she feels comfortable as Oliver just sits directly opposite the two. It’s quiet at first as they take in their meals. Tommy finally having enough, starts talking about hobbies.

“Felicity, here as a thing for painting little acrylic statues she buys with fingernail polish. The girl has loads of polish in her room.”

Felicity doesn’t know if her first instinct to stab Tommy with her fork would be bad table manners as she’s chewing the inside of her cheek while envisioning his doom.

“You like to paint? I wish I could draw but I butcher it in ways I never thought possible.”

“Really? Drawing relaxes me. It’s my go to when I just don’t feel like reading.”

“Oh the girl loves to read. Just this morning she was…”

“Tommy! There is no need to list all the things you know about me.” She gives him a hard stare.

“Pfft.” Tommy says back. He knows her agitated looks but he’s not backing down and keeps talking about the book she is into. Describing the woman who is passionate about her hunk of a man. It leads to him getting kicked under the table. “Ouch!” He gives her a what the hell look.

Oliver is taking in the two before him. They are very comfortable in each other’s presence. Knowing of their shared romantic past is a little tricky. How easily Tommy can wave off her annoyance and the daggers she can give him but still holding a nicety that comes from creating deep emotional bonds.

He can’t say he isn’t envious. When his best friend mentioned her as a possible catch for him. He thought that his best friend was just being absurd. They aren’t ones to share past girlfriends. Though since every time afterward he would mention this Felicity girl he only met once and for a brief moment. His friend always saying something nice. It was strange at first but then he just enjoyed the Smoak bits he’d get and man his buddy had so many pics and videos on his phone. From a distance he got to see some quirky moments of hers and he bets she doesn’t even know of any of this.

He’s already intrigued by her mannerisms. She’s got amazing eyes that held him in a deadbolt stance as he just enjoyed looking into them. It didn’t hurt that she has such a lovely face. Her eyes pop even more with the smoky eye makeup. He can’t forget how perfect her lips are with the deep rich color she chooses to emphasize those kissable lips.

Living here will be interesting in the least. He’ll see the true dynamic of his best friend and the girl Tommy is trying to hook him up with. With his best friend’s stipulation that he doesn’t date anyone while in this transition. He agreed. If it doesn’t work out he’ll go back to socializing and if it does work out well than maybe Tommy will get to be the best man. Oliver just lightly sighs at all the possibilities. Which gets Felicity’s attention as her piercing eyes search his and he thinks she finds what she’s looking for before she turns back to her food. He then notices a second pair of eyes observing him. Oliver just nods before digging back into his own food. It’s quiet for a long stretch of time. Other than pleasantries of handing napkins or little food etiquette. Each one in their own thoughts periodically looking at each other but letting the comfortable silence consume them.

“Either of you have plans for later?” Oliver asks looking between the other two people at the table. “I have a late flight but otherwise I’m in Boston for the day and my hotel room is quite boring.”

“Thought we would hang near Yawkey Way.” Tommy supplied. “The stadium is renting out to this group that does individual fitness games. It quite cool. Felicity got me into it last year.”

“Thanks Tommy, I only heard about it and then told you about it.”

“Yep, went with few of the guys I know and watched. It’s an all-out fitness regime more than I can handle but I enjoyed being a spectator.”

“Okay that sounds cool. I don’t know a lot about the Red Sox either maybe we can check out some merchandise especially if I’ll be living here soon.”

That gets Felicity’s ears to perk up. “You mean living in Boston? Or here, here?”

Tommy mums his lips for a second before he answers for Oliver, “Oliver is coming to live with us. Starting this summer.”

“Oh!”

“I probably should have told you but anyways surprise!”

Felicity just bobbles her head. A part of her wants to scream but that would be overkill. She just looks at her friend and wonders what she can do to make him sleep uncomfortable tonight. Maybe go hunting for some slimy wiggling things to put between his bedsheets.

Tommy can feel the displeasure radiate from her. Not because Oliver is moving in but how the conversation of Oliver coming to live here has come about, “Let me tell you a warning Oliver… When she gives you this look you know she is super annoyed.”

“No offense Oliver but I just can’t believe Tommy here kept this information from me.”

“Tommy has a way with words or sometimes a lack of it. Known him all my life. He loves to surprise people.”

“Oh, goodie. I would hate to think he would do this just with me.” Her eyes bare into Tommy’s and he finally shrugs.

“This would be one of those times if we were in a relationship I wouldn’t be getting lucky latter huh?” She gives him a dirty look. “Okay, defiantly would get a happy ending later.”

Oliver laughs at the two. “I am going to enjoy living here.”

Tommy squirms as Felicity’s finger is poking at his side. He answers his buddy,  “Yea, you’d defiantly will even when this one is angry at you.”

Felicity turns to Oliver and all the shyness she’s held onto this point evaporates as she states the house rules, “No bimbos, no narcotics, and the toilet seat in the shared bathroom better always be down!”

Oliver turns to Tommy for a story and Tommy just shakes his head. “Long story!”

That is how these three come to live with one another.

~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~sp@ce~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~

>>>>>>>>>Time Jump Over a YEAR<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~sp@ce~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~

Papers flying in the air as Felicity pushes whatever she can as she looking for a flash drive, she had on this desk just this morning. She has had a lot on her plate as she has taken a co-op to be a mentor to what was upcoming freshmen. The summer was hectic for sure. They weren’t able to get away after the ceremony where they declared their love to each. Now that summer is almost coming to an end Felicity will be back in full-mode student and Oliver will be working at a Queen Consolidated branch in the city.

“Oliver, have you seen my red flash drive?”

“No honey. I haven’t.” He comes out of their shared bathroom still brushing his teeth.

“I swore I left it here before bed last night.” She can see a spark of delight cross Oliver’s face. He loves this whole new setup. He’s now a graduate and still living in Boston to be near Felicity. She still has a few more semesters till she’s completely done.

From the moment of that lunch scenario that led him to moving in. They hit it off. Thomas Merlyn knew them to well it seems. Their friend may now be back living in Starling, they remain here together.

“Hmm… well weren’t you also looking at our wedding photos taken in Vegas?”

Felicity places her hand on her head in an argh fashion wondering why she forgot. She was looking for one where both her mother and mother-in-law were by her side. The marriage happened on a whim and well the Queens and anyone else who was relevant made it to their impromptu wedding. She just nods even though Oliver can’t see her as he is back in the washroom rinsing his mouth.

“I promised your mom I’d find a picture to give her for one of her society pages.”

He walks back out again and this time makes a beeline to her. “Okay, though you need to relax babe.”

“Oliver?” He gotten to know her way to well and even so he is always learning something new about her. He already tipping her chin up as he’s looking down with fascination. He is married to this intelligent beauty.

“You are about to tell me that you slept enough, have an exercise routine, and all the other things to placid me on worrying.”

She really doesn’t like him worrying, “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”

“Why don’t you get finished dressing up and I’ll look for this flash drive.”

“Okay, thanks.” He leaves her to go to where she was hunting through a bunch of photos that got taken. Neither expected to have that many pictures. Looking around the small box he sees nothing until he moves the comfy pillow she used as a backrest. The drive partially stuffed into the side cushion. Taking it, he is relieved that she won’t go in a freak mode tearing the place apart for a small thumb sized tech gear. He also notices the picture she will send his mom and picks it up. He is overjoyed that these three women show elated smiles. He was worried a bit when he called his parents and told them he was getting married that upcoming weekend while visiting Felicity’s mother. No one said it outright but everyone thinking there is a bun in the oven. Unfortunately for all their assumptions they didn’t get married for that reason because for one; neither him or Felicity have any clue if that is on the table. He knows they’ve been careful so he doubts it very much.

As Felicity comes out of their bedroom she jumps in a certain joyous fashion as she takes the drive from his hand. He can see the stress melt off her. He supposes this is the best time to talk to her about something. He would like to go with his dad on the Gambit. Though he wouldn’t fathom going without her by his side. As newlyweds his mere thoughts are on her and being without her for two weeks would never suffice.

“Felicity?” She still in cloud nine and just nods waiting for him to continue. “There is a three-week time span that’s coming up and I was hoping you and I could get away.”

“Away?”

“Think of it like the honeymoon we never got.”

“Oliver, school will start not too soon after I’m…”

“Honey!” He takes both her hands onto his. “We could have a chance.” He gives her his best puppy eyes. “A real chance to have a nice getaway. The Gambit taking off to China.”

“It would be weird to be lovey dovely with your dad on board.”

“Felicity, we’ve been married for a short time I can’t leave you for two weeks. I guess I’ll just have to tell my dad it was a nice offer…”

“You’re really adding this guilt trip on me?”

“Only if it’s working?”

“Ah! Fine. I’ll need to bring some equipment with me but I don’t want you to miss out on spending quality dad-son time.”

“You are the best.”

“That is only because I love you but once we get to solid land, we are taking a plane back. Not missing one class.”

“Okay, okay.” He happily kisses her. “The plane situation sounds great. I love you.”

“Fine, you can tell your dad we’ll embark on the Gambit with him for this trip.”

To be continued on next prompt…

tag:  laurabelle2930

[fandomplethora]

(ummm, i’m not sure what inspired to make this post (besides the fact that i have been listening to this artist on a near constant basis now) but here we go anyways;;;)

MYSTIC MESSENGER CHARACTERS AS HOBO JOHNSON SONGS

Hyun (Zen) - 3% 

“you should go and quit your job and make all of those dreams come true. how is your self esteem? huh? that's important in what you're about to do. don't talk to your friends, their opinions hold so much weight. and that doesn't make sense. even your family, parents just don't understand. make the time. drop school, and people, and work to play music all night. you'll make a dollar an hour, at least you'll like your life. and roll with the punches even when it feels like you're getting fucking jumped but you're a real bad judge of it. hold on tight, boy. might be a fuckin', hell of a ride. but, but, but, they said it's a three-percent chance...that I'm gonna make it. that's a little bit less than what it is in my mind but it's ok, I think I can take it. they said it's a three-percent, my friends, that's what they said. and then I sat there and thought about it and almost believed it for a sec. but I think that they'll love me.”

Yoosung - Mario and Link

“mario's never getting some and link's never getting some, so why would princesses love me? i'm not really making moves, I'm just kinda breathing. i work at fucking pizza places just so I keep eating. (that's the type of shit)...thats the type of shit to make be buy a flask for 25 and fill it up with takka vodka only 4.99...yester-year yes-sir-please let me get the recipe, to not being broke. fuck I'd really love to be a king, but mario and link should've showed that perseverance is not the end all to everything. the princess in the hallway with a robe, I asked "do you for coffee and scones and she says "no!". but I just killed a fucking dragon though! with this sword that I made from the words of my soul. I just killed a fucking dragon though, I just killed a fucking dragon though. but its whatever I don't even care that much.”

Jaehee - Peach Scone

“...disregard every time I call you pretty. though it's meant sincerely it's just my imagination drifting...so I fall to ground, collect myself and get ready to take over your heart...or at least your spare time. and I love the thought of being with you. or maybe it's the thought of not being so alone. the second one's way sadder than the first one...we should go get a cup of coffee...I don't know what to tell you if I try to confess my love for- scones! i just wanna tell you real quick please, shh, I love- these scones! ...but she, you know, she is just so sweet and she cared about me a lot when no one else cared about me and I think that's really nice. really you know, she's just a, she's just a peach. she's a peach scone. and I love the thought of being with her, I just really hope that she doesn't get hurt.”

Jumin - Father

“my dad taught me 'bout the story 'bout the birds and the bees. when the bees turn into wasps and take half of everything. he sounded sure, that a bird doesn't need a full nest but a bed for our bird heads to rest...he told me son, beware, of the monsters that roam the depths of your head. sometimes they'll make you real sad or or real real mad, or real real jealous and that's real real bad. boy, breathe...my father's married to a shape shifting monster who can sometimes take the form of a really really really nice woman. and although it seems super fucking frightening, sometimes this scary monster makes a really really great vanilla pudding. he has courage but sometimes your courage isn't quite the kryptonite as the monster runs rampant through the house. sometimes your courage makes you feel strong but it seems as if the monster eats your muscles all along, fucking pickin' out your self-respect right out its scary teeth. her breath smells like pride of self and other men she used to meet. and the monster doesn't sleep - just schemes and fiends on the next tasty meal it gets to eat, it gets to eat.” 

Saeyoung (Luciel) (707) (Seven) - The Ending

“she said, "you're like the weird...guy...in all the movies, who turns into the hero at the end and gets the girl" and I was like, "shut your mouth". but I'm gonna take over...the world as soon as everybody dies. i'm gonna take over your heart as soon as I get the balls to try. Ima re-arrange the alphabet and then take "U" and "I" and put a bit of space between 'em and hope that nobody cries. ...Ima be a nice guy might fuck around, it make a difference. Ima hope for the best, but prepare for the worst...I hope that you don't fall into their schemes and what they say, when you look them in their eyes, that they don't choose to look away...I hope that you don't fall into my schemes or what I say. when you look me in the eye, I'll look you dead into the face 'cause you don't deserve to be fucked with unless you're a fucking asshole...yeah, I ain't shit I ain't shit compared to them, right? I ain't shit. and I know she wants a piece of this wit (no!) and I know she wants a piece of this wit. my wit, my wit, my wit...” 

Jihyun (V) - Romeo and Juliet

“we're just romeo & juliet but getting drunk and eating percocets. but just to ease the stress but soft what light, thru yonder window breaks it is the east - but juliet just puked off the balcony. how romantic. nothing like getting drunk and getting manic on a motherfucking monday, i brush the bangs behind her lovely little ear as she describes in detail how the end is truly near. wow, and I'm sure that we can do this for forever or until we drink the poison, 'cause she sees some cloudy weather. ...dear shakespeare, could you write a happy ending please? we just deserve a happy ending please, please. ...and every sting from every teardrop from every ring at every pawn shop. ...but dear mom, conversations from a couch haven't ever felt the same...my mom was made from adam's rib and the marriage went south...but dad loves to shout really loud. loud enough to knock the lamps and dressers to the ground. in my memory, i can hear chopin's nocturnes playing in the background, a slow trainwreck, you'll close your eyes, but forever hear the sound, and boy, it's tough. ‘cause that’s the sound of people falling out of love.” 

Saeran (Unknown) (Ray) - Jesus Christ

“jesus christ seems super nice, i wonder if he'd save me. i've been on the wrong side of a bunch of arguments lately. and jesus christ seems super nice, i wonder if he'd love me. how come I only wonder when I'm sad or really hungry? jesus christ, you're super nice but don't expect much from me. I would kneel down, but I'm afraid that I would just feel nothing. praise god and other things that don't make sense to puny minds, like ours, designing roller coasters that almost always seem to fall apart. ain't it fun, ain't it fun, ain't it fun knowing that. that one day, you know, I fly to the sky, to the sun? and jesus christ, you're super nice. so I'll write a song about it. or that no one ever knowing for always claiming they're about it. press "ignore" on both sides that always claim to know that they're so sure. or just not be a giant fucking prick and enjoy the show. I'll enjoy the show if I'm not a giant prick, does that just mean that I am saved? jesus christ, you're super nice, i'm sure that you could love me. even if I don't go to church every sunday. jesus christ, you're super nice, how could you let me burn? if I'm not murdering people, then smashing their fucking urn. but jesus christ, you're super nice, how could you let me burn? but if I go to hell, I'll grit my teeth and get to work.” 

? (Vanderwood) - Demarcus Cousins and Ashley *note: this one was more difficult because we are not shown much of vanderwood currently in the game though i do consider him a pivotal character - and one i want to get to know more as a player. we know vanderwood is a caring guy who can be rough around the edges - he’s also funny, awkward and, personally, charming. so, i look at this as him relating how he does care for those around him while comparing it to other shit he has seen. okay, analysis done. bye.

“I'm not a nice guy (he's not a nice guy). I go to jail sometimes (he goes to jail sometimes). but I am slowly getting better ever since a little lady wrote me such a lovely letter. I love breathing...I love drinking, but not enough to ever have to go to all those stupid meetings (let’s go)...I- I love you like the dog hates the leash and the leash loves the dog, like I love nothing else at all. love you like my dad loved my mom before they realized they don't love each other at all...I love you like bosses love to talk a lot of shit and like getting really mad when I quit, what? I love you like the bird hates november or just really really rainy windy weather. I love you like america loves to fuck things up and cops love to do things that are super unnecessary...and I love you like the stars love lonely eyes on seven consecutive friday nights.”

Mina (Rika) - Creve Coeur 1 

"hi," says the girl with the right eyes that pairs pretty well when she hits you with the soft smile. you can kinda tell that something's going on, but she's like a skrillex song that never drops, she'll never talk. she'll never talk about the feelings that she felt today. better kept inside of a fence, inside of a cage, inside of a safe. that's safe for her 'cause they just hurt. and she don't know why that god sauntered. I hope he's trying. she said, "I hope he's trying. do you think he's trying?" then I said, "I don't know" but I asked her, "what’s wrong?" she just nods her head. and then I asked her, "what's wrong?" and she said...hold me closely. I don't think you should love me. I always feel so lonely knowing that nothing will ever last forever. sorry, you're much too late, much too late. ("you are so late")...she holds her breath all day and fucking gasps for air at night. she promised she would love me but only 'til the morning time. sorry, you're, you're much too late. you're much too late, you're much too- sorry, you're much too late- much too..."

MC - ? (MC is more difficult...I almost can find lines from various songs but it came down to these two.)

#2 - Mover Awayer (and it’s mainly for this part only.)

“fear  the man who lives without love and  the lover who lives without fear. fear the man who always wants to fight, he's not a talker. fear  the talker who never wants to fight, he's got no guts. fear the man who knows he's gonna die so he cries every night and just denies his life's beauty. and  fear the man who has heaven in his plans, so he gets so complacent that he doesn't call his family. fear the man who doesn't understand that there's a million fish in the sea, but fear the girl who he really thinks is a different species, she'll rip your heart out. ...makes my Mondays feel like Fridays (give me a break)...makes my Ruby Tuesdays taste like Benihanas (give me a break) and all I've really wanted was for us to get along.”

#1 - Typical Story (I genuinely won’t even put the lyrics for this song because it is more about the theme and feel of the song itself - as MC is the only one “playing” and going through these character’s “stories”. Casual, Deep or Another. So, I will just recommend listening to it and reading the artist’s notes on it for why I picked it as number one for MC’s song.)

[ddp456]

“It’s quite simple, really...”

So, Wendip fans - I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first - My Wendip surprise has hit a snag.  (yes, again this year, too!)

I’ll give you all an update ASAP.  In the meanwhile, I whipped up this little yarn to serve as an appetizer until then.  Same deal goes as the last fic - if someone cares enough to make a cover art for this, I’ll throw it up on Fanfction.net as well.

Enjoy!

“This isn’t going to hurt, is it?”

Wendy Corduroy squirmed in the rigid seat.  The oddly-shaped helmet strapped to her head matted her poofy auburn hair against her brow, leaving it covered with beads of sweat.   Her eyes raced around the secret laboratory beneath the Mystery Shack as dials clicked and spun, machinery hummed in different decibels, and vials of unknown liquids slowly boiled and bubbled beneath their heated test tubes.

Huge libraries of hardcover research books decorated the walls next to the exit.  A spiraling stairwell led to another floor of boring-looking tomes. A number of end-tables and shelves displayed a lifetime’s worth of knick-knacks and souvenirs from untold adventures.  An old, chipped worktable sat at the middle of the room, filled to the brim with clutter and unfiled paperwork.

“Absolutely not!” Stanford Pines double-checked the computer monitor across from her.  He tapped away at the keyboard, inputting new commands at lightning speed.  “In fact, it might just do the opposite.”

Wendy winced confusingly, “T-Tickle?”  Her hands tightly gripped the sides of her chair.

Ford shook his head, “No, not that either.”  His harden eyes moved upwards.  “But don’t worry – we won’t be going anywhere near your feet, I assure you.”

Wendy’s freckled face turned white.  “Huh?! How did you know I was thinking – “

The scientist chuckled. “To be honest, you told me.”  He pointed to the giant video screen mounted behind Wendy.  “Part of the procedure is that your thoughts will be shown on this display.  The smaller televisions above it can provide collaborating videos and audio as well.”

Wendy turned around to see a series of green, flowing texts flying across the largest screen:

“HOW DID HE KNOW THAT? ISN’T THIS LIKE AN INVASION OF PRIVACY? HEY, AT LEAST I DON’T HAVE TO WORK NOW!”

The sound of laughter made Wendy switch screens.  One of the smaller ones played a somewhat faint image of Dipper and her wrestling around on her bed.  Wendy had her arm wrapped around his head as she gave him the ultimate noogie.  On the other end, Dipper had an orange-and-yellow socked foot in a death grip as he mercilessly tortured its sensitive underside.

“Say it!  Say that you give up!”

“NEHEHEHEH! Never!  You – You first!”

Wendy smiled briefly at the memory before turning back around towards Ford.  He silently watched the scene, itching his beard stubble with curiosity.  “Hmm…”

She forced an uneasy laugh out of embarrassment.  Ford’s silence only added to Wendy’s nervousness.  Her fingertips tapped the armrests of the chair as the helmet seemed tightened around her head.

“This is so freaky!  Why I’d even agree to this in the first place?”  

It had only been less than a half-hour ago that the teen had been sitting at her post at the Mystery Shack’s Gift Shop.  Wendy sat back on her stool, her shoulder-blades resting against the cracked wall as her mud-covered boots rested on the countertop.  Her nose buried in the latest gossip magazine. The world was peaceful and quiet until…

“A-hem!”

“Whoa!”  Wendy was jolted out of her zen.  Her balance lost, her arms flailed in mid-air until she slipped from her seat and landed hard to the floor.

“OW!”  She rubbed her sore backside as a hand reached out to help.

“Thanks, Dip.”  Wendy accepted the help back to her feet.  “You really scared the living – “

Her words faded as she was pulled upwards to meet Ford’s stern, broaden face.  He adjusted his cracked glasses with his six-fingered hand as he cleared his throat once more.

“Sorry about that.” Ford apologized.  “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind assisting me with an experiment.”

“Oh, okay…”  Wendy placed her fallen trapped cap back on her head.   This had been the first time the long-lost Great-Uncle of the Pines twins had addressed her.   “What’s up?”

“Not here…”  To Wendy’s surprise, Ford walked towards the vending machine across from her desk and dialed a combination of random numbers. A second later, the ground shook beneath her feet.  The machine itself slid away from the wall, revealing a hidden staircase leading deep into the earth.

“WHOA!”  Wendy’s green eyes grew wide.  She had heard Dipper mention something about secrets literally built into the Mystery Shack itself, but she never expected anything like this.

Ford walked down the steps as a series of lights hanging overhead instantly sprang to life.  “Now, if you’ll follow me, we’ll be at my lab – “ He paused, noticing there wasn’t a second set of footsteps behind him.  The elder spun around to see Wendy standing at the entryway with an unnerved expression.

“On second thought,” Wendy pointed towards the family entrance to the parlor.  “Stan – I mean, the other Stan, will probably need me to stay here at the counter…”

“Oh, please!”  Ford waved away in disgust.  “Stanley’s been asleep in his recliner for hours!  He didn’t care enough to put on pants today, yet alone properly manage a business!”

Wendy giggled and covered her mouth.

“I know things look odd and even scary. “  Ford held a hand against his heart.  “But it is dire that you come with me.  Your life, as well as that of your family and friends, may depend on it.”

Wendy’s guard dropped as the old man’s façade fell.  His frown twisted into an all-too-familiar tiny beam.  “Please…?”

“So, that’s where Dipper gets his smile from…”

Before she knew it, Wendy followed along the coat tails of the sage explorer down the staircase and onto an old-fashioned service elevator.  Ford threw a nearby switch, closing a gate shut behind Wendy, making her flinch slightly.  There was no going back now.

The elevator slowly descended down the shaft, its wheels noisily squeaking the entire way.   The landing violently shook beneath their boots.  An awkward silence filled the narrow passage.  

“So…”  Wendy broke the silence as Ford stared into the distance, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.  “I never would have guessed that something like this was hidden beneath the Shack.”

Ford nodded, “It’s actually ironic – your father was the one who designed and built this very cottage.”

“Get out!”

“I will – “  He paused and let out a nervous laugh, “I see.  You were using an euphemism.  My mistake.  But it’s true.  Dan Corduroy helped create what you now know as the Mystery Shack over 30 years ago.”

“Wow…”  Wendy absorbed her surroundings outside of the caged elevator. She looked on with a sense of pride, knowing that her family had lent a hand in creating such an extraordinary marvel. The redhead turned towards Ford. “Dad doesn’t about any of this junk, does he?”

He broke eye-contact. “Not...exactly.  Let me put it like this: your old man thought I was putting in one hell of a den.”

“HA!  Sounds about right!”

The elevator eased to a gentle stop.  They were now in front of a sturdy redwood door.  Golden marking wrapped around at the top and the bottom in half-circles as a jewel-encrusted keyhole lied in the center.

Ford reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a long, aged key.  He inserted it into the opening and rotated it tightly.  The door sprang open with a slow creak.  He opened an arm towards the new room shrouded in complete darkness.

“After you…”

Wendy’s body grew sore in thanks to the awkward chair given to her.  Proper posture wasn’t exactly her thing.  She couldn’t decide if it was the seat or the uncomfortable atmosphere that added to her anxiety.

“I know this guy is Dip’s uncle and all, but why do I feel like it’s one of my old B-movies, where he’s going to hit a button, and shackles are going to pop outta this thing and grab my wrists and ankles?”

“I wouldn’t be too worried.” Ford reassured the worried girl with a sly grin.  “I’m more of an “angry scientist” than I am a “mad” one, so I’m not exactly one to have deathtraps lying about the lab.”

“Huh?”  Once more, Wendy glanced over her shoulder, finding her fears displayed for the world to see.  She groaned aloud and pinched her nose in embarrassment.  “Oh, man…”

“Secondly,”  Ford walked to his desk and took hold of the roller chair placed there.  “Unlike my brother, I do recognize the fact that child endangerment and imprisonment is a serious crime in the state of Oregon.”

Wendy bit her lip to stop chortling.  Seeing her growing calm, Ford rolled the chair in front of her and took a seat. “And lastly, if anything, I asked you here for your own protection, Gwendolyn.”

“It’s “Wendy…” if you don’t mind, Mr. Pines.”

Ford glanced up at the large television for a split second.

“I HATE THAT NAME SO MUCH! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, MY MOTHER? I WISH I HAD A COOL NICKNAME LIKE DIPPER DOES.”

“My mistake, “Wendy.” Ford rubbed his chin with curiosity. “And I’d prefer “Ford” as well.”

“It’s a deal, Ford.” Her smile faded as she rubbed her hands together.  “Um, going back to what you said earlier.  This machine is supposed to “protect me?” She gently tugged on the black cord stemming from the helmet that led back to the series of screens. “And from what exactly?”

“Let me explain.”  The man sat back on his padded chair, much to Wendy’s chagrin.  “The machine that you are attached to is my own creation: Project Mentem mk-2.”

“That’s a mouthful!”

“You’re telling me. As that machine scans your mind, it will also shield it from being controlled by outside forces.”

“Outside forces?”

Ford leaned forward, “Have you ever heard the name “Bill Cipher?””

Wendy hesitated.  “Uh, I…think so…”

Once more, Wendy’s thoughts betrayed her as they ran across the computer screen for all to see.

“THAT’S THAT TRIANGLE GUY, RIGHT?  I THINK IT’S THAT TRIANGLE GUY.  HE’S THE ONE THAT MADE DIPPER ACT ALL FREAKY A FEW WEEKS AGO.  I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP WHEN HE THREW HIS ARM AROUND ME AND CALLED ME “TOOTS.”  AND HE WOULDN’T STOP STARING AT MY CHEST.  EW!”

Ford placed his hands on the armrests of Wendy’s chair, missing her fingertips by inches.  His tone grew utterly grim.  “Bill Cipher is an interdimensional being, made of pure negative energy.  He lives for complete and utter chaos!  And he will not stop until he unleashes such horrors onto this very world!”

Wendy gulped, as another thought was splashed across the screen:

“I SAW THAT DRAWING IN DIPPER’S BOOK.  THAT CREEP DIDN’T LOOK SO TOUGH TO ME.  HE LOOKS LIKE SOME DEMENTED FLYING CORN CHIP.  I BET I COULD TAKE HIM ANYTIME!”

Enraged, Ford rose to his feet, forcing his chair back.  “THIS ISN’T SOME KINDA JOKE, KID!”  He marched back and forth across his lab as Wendy was helpless to do anything but watch. “Do you even know what you’re dealing with?”  He continued on lecturing.  “This thing destroyed his own universe without an ounce of regret!  He hunted me endlessly across countless dimensions and realities for the last 30 years!  He’s responsible for the demise of several civilizations, and you think you stand a chance against him?!  He’d destroy you in a blink of his eye!”

“I’m – I’m sorry, okay?” Wendy shut her eyes and turned her head. “I-I didn’t mean – “

Ford lowered his guard as his sights came across the master computer.  His heart sunk into his knees as he quietly read the thoughts displayed:

“I HATE IT WHEN BOYS FIGHT. I HATE IT WHEN BOYS YELL AT ME. IT’S LIKE HOW STAN AND MY DAD ALWAYS YELL AT ME.  I REALLY WISH HE’D STOP YELLING AT ME…”

He looked ahead to the teenaged girl shivering in her seat.  Ford opened his six-fingered hands, wondering if he was any better than the monster he was trying to defeat.

“Wendy…”  The scientist reclaimed his seat, but made sure to keep his distance.  “I…I apologize for my outburst.  But you have to understand, please; any matter that involves Bill in even the slightest capacity has to be taken seriously.”  He ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper colored hair.   “In the last few decades, I have born witness to the outrageous atrocities that he has committed across time and space.  It is something that no one deserves to see.  It is something no one deserves to fall victim to.  For that, I implore you again:  will you continue to help me keep not just this world safe from Bill’s influence, but my family as well?”

“It’s – It’s okay, man.” Wendy agreed with a shake of her head. “I’m still game if you are.  So, what’s the plan?  How can I help?”

As both persons calmed, Ford sunk back into his seat comfortably.  “You already have.”  He highlighted another computer monitor.  “As the Mentem mk-2 scans your thoughts, it has been applying a shield to your brainwaves. See for yourself.”

Wendy spun to her right, finding a black screen with bright, dark-green text displaying a progress bar:

SCANNING THOUGHTS – 35%

“Within a few minutes,” Ford clarified.  “The process will have scanned the entirety of your mind, protecting it from any possible threat from Bill.”

“Oh…okay, then…”

The two sat and peeked around the room without saying another word.  The only sound to be heard was the occasional blip coming from the progress bar.

“Hey, Ford?  Can I ask you a stupid question?”

“There are no stupid questions, but yes, proceed anyways.”

“Alright.”  Wendy itched the back of her slender neck.  “Why me? Why do you think this Bill guy would try to possess my mind like he did to Dipper?”

Strangely enough, Ford’s face lit up with interest.  “It’s quite simple, really.  I believe you would be the perfect selection for Bill simply because of who you are.”

“Who I am?”  A dozen new thoughts raced through Wendy’s mind.

“WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY THAT? IS IT BECAUSE I GREW UP HERE IN GRAVITY FALLS?  OR BECAUSE I WORK AT THE MYSTERY SHACK?”

“My mistake.  I shouldn’t have been so coy.”  Ford stood back up and began to pace with his arms tucked behind his back.  Another “Pines family” trait that easily reminded Wendy of “her boy.”  The adventurer paused for a moment, “It…wouldn’t be too forward to say that you and my great-nephew have grown close this summer, would it?”

Wendy found herself stunned for a split second.

“CLOSE?  OF COURSE WE ARE.    HE’S MY BOY.  THIS SUMMER WOULD HAVE TOTALLY BITE WITHOUT THAT LITTLE GUY.  AFTER EVERYTHING THAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH, HOW COULD WE NOT?”

“Eh.  You could say that…”

“I see…”  Ford nodded along with both forms of testimony.  “But the question is how close are you two?”

The lower-right screen displaying Wendy’s heart-rate instantly spiked.

“Only a fool wouldn’t be able to see that you share a sort of…”  Ford waved his hand around in a circle as he attempted to find the correct term.  “…a special bond.  In fact, when Dipper sat in that very spot, you were a constant topic in his thoughts.

“Time out!”  Wendy tried to switch the conversation around. “Dipper had this mind-mumbo-jumbo done to him, too?”

“Not exactly.”  Ford confessed.  “There was an…incident when we attempted to use the machine on him.  It was only recently during some spare time that I was able to repair Project Mentem.   Hence, the mk-2 at the end.

“SO I’M THE GUINEA PIG TO SEE IF THIS HUNK OF JUNK WORKS?  GREAT, JUST GREAT.  MAYBE IF MY BROTHERS DIDN’T MESS AROUND WITH THAT UNICORN HAIR DIPPER GAVE ME, I WOULDN’T HAVE TO SIT THROUGH THIS.  I REALLY HOPE THIS DOESN’T BACKFIRE AND LEAVE ME WITH MY MIND WIPED LIKE WHAT THOSE BLIND-EYE JERKS TRIED TO DO TO US.”

Wendy gasped.  She forced a cheesy grin and pointed at the big screen behind her.  “Say, do we really need to have that thing on the entire time?”  The lumberjane gently tugged at the wiring binding her to the circuity.  “There isn’t a sleep mode or something we can switch on?”

Ford waved away her concerns.  “It is more than all right, Wendy.  I already know about the adventures you and Dipper have gone on these last few months.”

“You…do?”  A sense of unease formed in the pit of Wendy’s stomach as her fears turned to anger.

“THAT LITTLE DORK!  HE RATTED US OUT!  ZIPPED LIPS, MY BUTT!  JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON HIM!  WHAT ELSE DID HE SAY?  WAIT. THE MACHINE.  WHAT IF THIS THING MADE HIM SQUEAL?”

Ford could see a new memory forming on the secondary monitor.  Wendy and Dipper were standing with Mabel on the top of the Mystery Shack’s roof as the sun shined high in the clear blue sky.  Meeting eye-to-eye, they each made a zipping motion over their lips simultaneously.

“Zipped lips, eh?” Ford noted.  “But nevertheless, I can assure you, Dipper didn’t betray your trust in any fashion.”

“He didn’t?”

“Of course not.”  The researcher went back to his desk and took an item with him before sitting down before Wendy.  “In fact, I learned about your journeys the same way he did about mine here in Gravity Falls: though documentation.

Wendy looked to see the all-too-familiar hardcover book marked with a golden six-fingered insignia lying in Ford’s lap.

“Hey!  That’s Dipper’s journal!”

“You mean my journal.”  Ford proudly patted the front cover.  “It makes this old man proud to see Dipper continuing in my researching the wonderful oddities inhabiting this town.”  He opened the Journal 3 and scanned somewhere towards the middle portion.  “You certainly had your hands full in the last few weeks, if I can say so.  It’s all right here:  ghosts in the convenience store, clones amongst party-goers here at the Shack, time-traveling shenanigans …”

“Uh…”  Wendy held up a finger to object.  “Kinda lost on those last two, Ford.”

“In that case,” Ford closed the journal.  “What about the fact that when I went to check on my abandoned bunker in the woods, every trap I had set had been disabled and I found the captive alien shapeshifter frozen in an effigy that looked exactly like Dipper?”

“Uh…”

“Plus,” he reached into his oversized slicker and pulled out a dainty-sized lumberjack’s belt and a sheath for a hatchet.  “I found these inside the bunker.  I believe they’re yours?”

An uncomfortable laugh sailed pass Wendy’s throat.  “You’re pretty mad about that, aren’t you?”

“Maybe at first, but after things came together, I was more amazed.  Especially by what was captured on film.”

“We were taped?!”

“Wendy,” Ford said.  “One does not hide thousands of dollars of equipment as well as one-of-a-kind alien technologies deep in the Oregonian woods without having some type of surveillance equipment at the ready.”

She shrugged.  “True that.”

“And don’t get me wrong; all of you kids worked wonderfully as a group to recapture the shapeshifter, but it was the brief period in which you two were separated from Mabel and Soos that stood out.  I could easily see marvelous examples of teamwork being displayed.  I think it can go without saying how well you complement each other.”

“Thanks, I guess…” Wendy went to scratch her head, finding it blocked by the massive helmet.  “Sorry if I seem rude, but what’s with all these questions about Dipper and me?”

“To be frank,” he explained. “I’m simply trying to fill in the blanks to a lot of uncertainties that I have.”

“Such as?”

“Perhaps, it would be best if I were more forward.”  Ford lowered his crossed leg and hunched forward.  “So, I’ll come out and ask:  what are your intentions towards my great-nephew?

Wendy’s brow rose, pinching the tip of her head enclosed by the helmet.  Her heart-rate monitor went into full-blown overtime.

“OH MAN! OH MAN! OH MAN! THIS IS LIKE HOW MY DAD GRILLS ANY BOY I BRING TO THE HOUSE.  THIS IS KARMA PAYING ME BACK, RIGHT?!  WHAT SHOULD I SAY? HOW – “

Unfortunately, the middle monitor provided the answer for her, as Wendy could hear her own voice playing through the speakers:

“But, I'm too old for you. I mean, you know that, right?”

Both watched the scene played out, as Wendy and Dipper sat on a log deep into the Gravity Falls Woods just outside of Ford’s hidden bunker, as she tried her best to calm his anxiety and over wrecked nerves.

Wendy lowered her head to see Ford still studying the screen with great interest.  His face reminded her of Dipper’s as she had left him wondering on that log as she rode away on her bike.  Wendy would give anything to be free of the embarrassing and awkward situation.

“Ford…”  The teenager struggled with her words.  “It’s not – I can explain…”

Her random thoughts spread across the main television at neck-break speeds.

“I WISH THINGS WEREN’T COMPLICATED.  IT’S NOT LIKE DIP’S A BAD GUY.  I HOPE HE UNDERSTANDS.  I HOPE I DIDN’T HURT HIM.  HE SEEMED FINE AT MOVIE NIGHT.  WHAT ELSE COULD I DO?  THERE’S NO WAY IT WOULD HAVE WORKED.  MAYBE WHEN HE GETS OLDER…”

At long last, Ford finally spoke, “Well, that explains a lot.  It’s not as serious as I thought.”

“Ford, you don’t understand – “

He looked straight at her and removed his glasses, wiping them off with his sleeve. “Let me tell you something,” Ford said without an ounce of emotion in his voice.  “The more the things change – the more they stay the same.  In Dipper’s case, it’s “you’re too young.”  For me, an entire lifetime ago, it was “Sorry, Ford.  But you have six fingers on each hand.  What would people think?”  He held up one of his unique hands for Wendy to see.  “So, believe me, Wendy, when I say I understand perfectly.”

Wendy remained completely silent as a single thought forced on the screen behind her:

“DOES DIPPER THINK THE SAME WAY, TOO?”

The strict professor put his damaged spectacles back on.  “But in all honesty, I am actually relieved by this revelation.”

Wendy shook her head in astonishment, “Wait?!  You are?!”

“Of course.”  Ford stood up, holding the Journal 3 in his right hand, and placed it back into a slot in his work desk.  “After all, you are only a child yourself.  I’d be shocked if things had played out any differently.”

The demeaning comment struck Wendy unexpectedly.   It had been a long time since anyone had referred to her in such a way.

“Oh…kay, then.  But I still don’t understand.  What does all this Dipper-talk have to do with me and that triangle guy?”

“That’s precisely the point.”  Ford walked back.  “It’s all related.  Other than myself, there isn't anyone else that Bill Cipher had more interactions than with Dipper.  Like me, Bill has invaded Dipper’s dreams on occasion, and went as far as to trick him into giving him control of his body.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that maybe with the exception of Mabel, there is no one closer to that boy than you, Wendy.  Over the last few weeks, Dipper has become more involved in my experiments and my research.  It’s to the point he’s serving as a pseudo-apprentice of sorts.  He now has knowledge that would allow Bill to conquer this world with ease.”

“Jeez…”

“…is quite the understatement.  For this, I believe that if Bill couldn’t possess Dipper, he wouldn’t hesitate to use those closest to him as a bargaining chip.  For some reason, he doesn’t bother Mabel.  Maybe her dreams are so chaotic, they frightened even him. That leads me to believe that…”

“…he’d come for me instead.” Wendy finished.  “So, when you said earlier that this mind-thingie is for my protection, it’s really more for Dipper’s.  You think I’m some kind of…”

“…liability.  It might seem harsh, but after everything I’ve seen in the footage from the bunker, I couldn’t be more certain.  You both would stand in the face of danger for the other’s welfare.  I truly think that if your life was in jeopardy, Dipper would be willing to sacrifice the entire universe to save you.  And with all due respect, that scenario cannot be allowed to happen.”

Wendy didn’t know what to say.  How could she feel so important and yet, so very small at the same time? As she thought about it a bit more, the redhead came to a new realization.

“Dipper – he doesn’t know I’m here, does he?”

Ford didn’t answer her question.  His eyes rose over her head.  “And we’re…just about…”

*DING!*

A bell sounded through the laboratory.  The helmet finally released its death grip on her temples, as a drained Wendy nearly slid off her seat.

“Finished!”  Ford rose to his feet and went to help Wendy up onto hers.  He proudly patted her back, nearly knocking her off-balance.  “How are you feeling?”

Wendy tried to find her center as she replaced her trapper hat on top her crown of copper hair.  She grabbed her forehead.  “My brain is throbbing.”

“All perfectly normal,” he declared.  “Now, you want to be wary of any other side effects.”

“Other side effects?”

“Yes.  This is my new prototype, after all.  There wasn’t time to work out all of the kinks.”  Ford began to count off on his fingers.  “So, if you experience leaky eyes, bloody nose, oozing out of certain orifices, and/or itchy palms or soles, don’t hesitate to let me know immediately.”

“T-Thanks.  Appreciate it…”  Wendy was thankful her mind wasn’t being monitored any longer.

“Only the best for the liability.  Isn’t that right, old man?”

As Wendy staggered towards the exit, Ford returned his chair to his desk and took a seat.  He started to scribble all sorts of follow-ups into his notebooks.  “I’m going to record my latest findings, so I’m afraid I’ll be a while.”  He pointed towards the door, “If you want to go on ahead, simply throw the switch to bring the elevator back to the surface.  You’ll find a button at the end of the path that’ll re-open the vending machine leading back to your work station.”

“You got it, Ford.  I guess…I’ll see you around.”

Just as Wendy started to turn the door knob, she heard Ford call out, “Wendy, wait?”

She paused and looked back to see Ford with his chair spun towards her.

“For what it’s worth,” he anxiously adjusted his collar.  “I wanted to thank you for everything that you do for Dipper.  I, above all people, can understand how lonely and awkward things can be at his age.  I’m glad that he has someone like you to help him along.”

Wendy let out a sigh of relief.  “It’s no biggie, really.  Like I said before, he’s fun to hang with, and – “

Ford continued on, as if he didn’t hear Wendy at all, “With that said, I figure that it’s only a matter of time before things return to normal, and your life will go back to how it used to be.”

She raised an eyebrow, “I’m not following you here…”

The senior went back to writing in his research, “It’s more than obvious that Dipper is extremely interested in following in my footsteps, and to be honest, I’d be more than honored to train him to do as such.  However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned through the years, is that in this line of work, relationships, rather they be emotional or physical, romantic or platonic, are fleeting.  In the end, they serve to be nothing more than a distraction from what’s really important in life.”

“What – What are you saying?”

“That in time, I’m more than positive that Dipper will grow out of this little fascination he has with you and focus on something that actually has substance in reality.”

“You think Dipper will just forget about me?”

“Or you about him. Whichever comes first.”

Wendy was left dumbstruck. Her stomach felt twisted by the man’s lack of empathy on all fronts.  However, she couldn’t leave on this note.  There was still one worry weighing down on her mind.

“Listen, Ford.”  The ginger rubbed her elbow fretfully. “Before I go, I wanted to ask you one last thing.  Let’s say that this little experiment didn’t work, and this Bill guy does find a way to take control over me.  What would you do then?”

Ford stopped writing in his notepad, but didn’t show Wendy a speck of his attention.  Another eerie silence filled the lab.  Mere seconds passed like hours before he finally gave an answer:

“We’ll…worry about that if and then the time comes.”  He returned to his studies as if nothing had transpired.  “Please make sure to close the door behind you.”

It took nearly all of Wendy’s remaining strength to respond.  “Yeah, I’ll do that…”

As Wendy slowly shut the door, she took one last look at the seemingly-disconnected old man focusing solely on the isolated world that he created for himself.  As much as she hated to admit it, this also reminded her of “her boy” as well.

The exhausted clerk pulled the switch back, making the elevator creep back up the way it had come. She leaned against the gated wall with folded arms as her mind raced over the recent experience, and all that came from it.  A glimpse of natural light offered little comfort from the gloominess of her current surroundings.

One thing was for certain: When Wendy reached the surface, she was definitely going to have to stare at a wall for a while, and rethink everything…

[awolfroams]

2017 Summer in Asia, Part 7: Kyoto, Japan

July 9, 2017 5:30 pm Still on the bus from Nagoya to Fukui

I keep procrastinating writing about Kyoto because it was so much crammed into two days. And even after all I walked and saw and climbed and did, I still came nowhere close to seeing all of the temples and shrines. The night we arrived in Kyoto, after checking into Hotel Gimmond, we set out to try and find some dinner. After looking at a couple of places that didn’t grab our attention, we poked our heads into an elegant-looking but fairly-priced, mom-and-pop restaurant literally around the corner from our hotel. @taketheshield pretended not to speak Japanese, for reasons I still don’t understand, so the very nice woman gave us a cobbled-together English menu of some of their entrees. Kyoto is known for its fried tofu and fried tofu skin, so I ordered a fried tofu dish with lychee-flavored shōchū to drink. @taketheshield got an eggplant and fried tofu skin salad, and we each swapped a bite.  The food was the first cooking we’d had that rivaled the monks’ back in Koyasan.

@taketheshield had already been to Kyoto several times and seen most of what was worth seeing, so the next morning, I set off on my own for Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. I wandered through the bamboo grove for about an hour, stopping to take photographs and buy a couple of postcard prints from a friendly local artist. I then made my way down to the river and across it to hike my way up my first mountain of the day, to Arashiyama Monkey Park. There, I snapped some photos of tourists feeding the monkeys, and a couple of the monkeys playing and cleaning each others’ fur. I then hiked back down the mountain (it was about twenty-five minutes to hike each way) and back across the bridge to catch the bus to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion.

Kinkakuji is situated in a small pond surrounded by a Zen garden, and true to its word, the walls are clad in real gold. On the estate grounds is also a ceremonial tea house. After touring the grounds, I caught another bus to Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion, but the buses were running a different route behind schedule, so by the time I got there, between being behind schedule and feeling hot and tired, I decided instead to duck into a nearby café for some shaved matcha ice with red bean and rice balls, and to charge my phone for a bit.

After I’d cooled down a bit and prepared a fresh coat of bug spray, I set off along the Philosopher’s Path to Nanzenji. The path is supposed to be the prettiest in cherry blossom season or in autumn, but I still found it to be lovely, walking along the creek with tiny wooden bridges where people sat with their legs dangling over the edge, all framed by hydrangeas and tiny wildflowers.

By the time I got to Nanzenji, I temple itself was closed, but I was still able to pass through the formidable gate and wander the grounds until I found the aqueduct @taketheshield had told me about. It reminded me of the one in Segovia. Later, on the train to Fukui, @taketheshield would point out the lake far outside of Kyoto that the aqueduct had been built to reach as the primary water source for the city.

With the sun starting to set, I hurried to the metro to Fushimi Inari. Fushimi Inari is a Shinto fox shrine up a mountainside known for having a stretch of mountain climb called the “1,000 Torii” because it is framed by at least 1,000 Torii gates. And that’s just one stretch. That’s how long it is.

After photographing the main complex of temples, I looked at the map of the mountain for reference, and started to climb. Fun fact: maps of stairs and hiking trails in Japan are not to scale. I should have learned from the monkey mountain, which I’d thought was an exception. I was wrong.

Climbing and panting my way up the mountainside, the sun rapidly setting over the city below, I started to see signs in English and Japanese warning of wild boar. They stressed to be careful, “especially at night.” I ran into another lone traveler, from Ireland, and asked her how much further up to the top of the mountain. The said she wasn’t sure, but it seemed like quite a ways, and she was turning back because of the boar signs. I was tempted to do the same, but she said if I climbed a bit further there was a great view of the city, so i thanked her and continued on a bit longer. At the clearing she had described, I took more photographs and turned around to head back down, when I overheard a couple of Spaniards trying to gauge how much further to the top. I told them it was far, to which they replied, “Aun somos jovenes y fuertes.” I wished them luck, but they insisted I go along as well, because apparently I am also still young and strong. Three people were more likely to keep a boar at bay than one, so I decided to go along with them for a bit. They introduced themselves as Carlos and Pol from Barcelona. I told them how I’d lived in Madrid the year before. We chatted a bit as we heaved ourselves up and up, through countless Torii, until finally I reached my limit on a particularly steep pass, swarmed with mosquitoes. I explained to them that I have asthma and would be turning back. They offered to accompany me back if I waited for them, but it was pitch black and getting late, so I thanked them and declined.

Carlos was staying in Japan for a few more weeks, so he asked to stay in touch and we swapped contact info. I then sprinted back down the mountain, slightly panicking over being alone and unarmed in darkness with the idea of contending with a wild boar. After about thirty minutes straight of sprinting, the path became better lit, and I started to pass more people.

I overheard a family of Spaniards puzzling over the same very-not-to-scale map I had seen on my way up, trying to figure out how long to the top. I told them it was quite a hike, and when they found out I was there alone, they turned back with me to talk me to the metro station. I found out they were from Madrid, so I told them how I’d lived and taught there for a year. They’d also been to Bangkok, so I asked them for tips for when we went there later that summer. They told me to be prepared to haggle prices, and to watch the taxi meters to make sure I wasn’t overcharged.

We chatted right up to the metro platform, when suddenly a voice cried out, “Hey, @awolfroams!” from behind me. It was the Barcelona guys. Apparently we had only been about a ten minute-further hike from the summit, but when I asked what was at the top and they said just another shrine like the ones along the way, I internally called worth it for turning back. I wished everyone safe travels and headed back to meet @taketheshield for dinner, where I recounted my mountain escapades.

We decided to go back to the same restaurant. Kyoto is also known for its green tea, so I had a bowl of green tea broth with rice and seaweed, and a side of the house special - tuna and spinach salad, which was delicious. I washed it down with peach shōchū, and then we thanked the woman at the restaurant, took a goodbye picture, and went back to the hotel to pass out.

***

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 12:45 pm Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum, Katsuyama

The buses in Katsuyama only run once about every four hours between the station and Heisenji Hakusan Shrine, so it looks like I won’t be going to the “moss palace” on this trip. :( I could take a taxi, but it’s 2,000 yen one way because it’s 7 km from the station, and I don’t want to spend ~$40 round-trip to go to a shrine, even if it’s 1,300 years old. Oh well. I am currently at the third-largest dinosaur museum in the world, so I am trying to console myself with that. My phone has been eating through battery on this trip, probably because of all of the texting, Snaps, and Google Maps use, so whenever I find an outlet, I try to take advantage and charge, especially since they are not too common in Fukui Prefecture. This one is around the corner from this bench in the Earth Sciences exhibit, tucked under a phone and behind an emergency call box. I’m hoping no one notices or minds that I’m using it. Since I now have about two extra hours to kill at the dinosaur museum, I figured I’d rest for a bit and finish my Kyoto log.

For our second and final day in Kyoto, @taketheshield made an itinerary of places he was willing to see again so that we could travel together. We started with Nishiki Market. The long stretch of covered shops and stalls sold food, clothing, and basic home items. I saw a pair of stocking-topped socks like my ones back home that I was tempted to buy, but my bag is already heavy enough, or so I told myself, and moved on. We hadn’t yet eaten, so I got a skewer of three pieces of smoked duck for 200 yen, and then we shared fried calamari for I think 300 yen. I tried a ginger-cabbage fish paste patty for 200 yen that was okay, but not my favorite, and washed it down with a mango passionfruit peach smoothie which was expensive at 600 yen, but worth the price in the humid heat.

From the market, we walked the 20 minutes to Chionin Temple, passing through Gion district, where we didn’t see any geisha, but I did find a porcelain calico cat sitting on its hind legs like my Misha for my mom. @taketheshield said the inscription was to bring luck with money, which lord knows we could use. I also bought a small geisha figuring designed to bobble and always land upright, and tucked it into the same gift box for my mom.

Chionin Temple, like so many other temples, was up an incline into a mountainside, and, of course, the map of steps was not to scale. Nevertheless, I made my way up to and through the gate, up the steep steps (Japan loves massive steps the height of my knees) to the temple complex. The main temple was under restoration, but I got some nice photographs of the smaller surrounding buildings, which included a pagoda similar to the one in Koyasan.

From Chionin, we trekked through the boiling heat, up another mountain path lined with tourist shops and ice cream parlors, to Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple situated on a hillside, as if jutting out from a cliff. This temple was also, sadly, under restoration, but we were able to pass through it and see the massive Buddhas inside before walking along the cliffside to a fountain where visitors could use UV-sterilized metal cups on long sticks to catch pure mountain water at a small shrine to drink from while making a wish. I wished for snow. @taketheshield must have wished for new sweat towels, because he lost both of his to the waterfall stream below while drinking. 

I was exhausted from all of the mountain climbing in Kyoto, but @taketheshield insisted I’d appreciate our final stop, Nijō Castle. He was right. The castle had been designed as a residence, not a fort, so unlike the other steep castles we had visited and climbed in our travels, it was entirely flat, a sprawling maze of hallways nicknamed for the chirping bird-like squeaks the floorboards emitted beneath our bare feet as we passed chambers of beautifully-painted sliding doors with tigers, lakes, and pine trees, framed by ornamental woodwork carved into vines and flowers. The faded ceiling panels still held massive floral designs that must once have been a much brighter red, and the castle was surrounded by a pretty Zen garden with rock islands and tiny waterfalls where koi swam lazily in the summer heat. 

It had started to rain, so we hurried back to the hotel to grab our things and catch our train to Fukui. I’m off to potentially see a dinosaur movie. More later.

[naiylabrouillard]

Guidelines For Evaluating Reiki As An Alternative Therapy Creative And Inexpensive Useful Tips

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How Do Reiki Attunements Work

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[themadpuppy85]

Summoning Candyman Epilogue ( Jumin X Reader fanfic)

Fandom: Mystic Messenger Rating : M  Summary: “Jumin Han, Jumin Han, Jumin Han” you repeated in front of the mirror. When you wished for Jumin to be real on Halloween night, you didn’t expect him to turn out to be a criminal lord with a strange pet fetish…  Keywords: Super AU, self-insert, loss of control kink, pet kink, creepy dominant Jumin, criminal setting, yandere, also some Yoosung X Seven and Jaehee X Zen Author’s Notes: Apologies to everyone who expected super filthy sex – after the last scene in chapter 8, my beta and I came to the conclusion that there was nothing left to add, so this epilogue is mainly to tie up the loose ends (though I remain open to the idea of an extra chapter of smut because who doesn’t love more of that, right? XD) That said, it transits nicely for the next project, which I let you discover at the end ~ enjoy!

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8

Chapter 9: Epilogue

“You know, I never understood why he chose to bury you here. It’s just so…not you” Simon stressed, then frowned at his inability to express himself better. He didn’t mean the emplacement of her grave, not really; no one could have argued that the place wasn’t as exceptionally beautiful as the girl it guarded. Delicate flowers constantly bloomed around the headstone, like each of them was a tear from the angel engraved at its top; even the leaves of the willows surrounding it seemed to weep with gentle elegance, which was everything Erika had been.  Gentle. Elegant. And weeping, though most of them were too jaded or tactful to remember that fact. 

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in a world without suffering, Simon?..” she used to ask. Hopeful, at first, as all idealists are; no amount of problems ever seem too many for serious caritative work to overcome, especially once the cure for the lentivirus was found. Years and repetition, however, slowly moved her focus from those solved to those remaining, until simple math laid the truth bare; it’d never be enough.  For one tree of misery down, a whole forest grew in its place; and while a more philosophical person would have argued that it was even more reason to keep trying, Erika’s fire turned inwards instead.  Guilt for those she was unable to save burned her soul like a fiery sun, and whereas despair drove her mind to radical cultism in the first loop, here she just escaped her cousin’s fretful watch, picked a bunch of syringes and walked straight into an odopium den.

With predictable results, considering the crazed junkies inside, although he wasn’t sure she had anticipated just how utterly brutal a death it would be. If not for herself, then for her loved ones; he couldn’t believe she was so far gone that she hadn’t considered how traumatizing it would be for Yvan to scrap her remains off the floor.  Perhaps she had simply thought they’d choke or bludgeon her to get the drug, and that eternal darkness wouldn’t come first soaked in red.  

Or maybe she did know, and chose to do it nonetheless; it’s not like she left a note to explain any of it. V swore it had been suicide by proxy and nothing else, and though it had certainly had been, Simon liked to think there had been more to it; that her recklessness had in fact been defiance, like a giant middle finger to the Fates that governed this world. It comforted him like a mug of hot chocolate, whenever he thought too hard about his own predicament, to imagine there had been meaning to an otherwise pointless end; to entertain that perhaps she had known, too, and sought her own exit. The theory that her own script prescribed that she always brought people down with her could be as good as any, after all; it was possible that she tried a scenario where it didn’t mean for innocents or her fiancé to suffer needlessly.

Not that she could verify it or that it actually worked even a teensy little bit; as such, he supposed Jehan’s choice of scenery made some kind of sense, at least on a symbolic level. Erika slept forever in her little plot of paradise, and the path to it was bordered with hellish gore; people who were crucified, dismembered, hanging by their entrails in a chorus of agonized moans that could be heard all the way up to the bridge like supplicants waiting to cross to the other side, her side, where forgiveness and peace might wait.

They certainly wouldn’t find any on this side. Identifiable as Jumin as Jehan might be, he had none of his Christian faith or capacity for mercy; and while V might have once have the heart to influence his friend, this version actually thanked him for being so gruesome.  Simon would have called it a perversion of the established order, but the recent events made him doubt he could even cling to that as a reference to what was supposed to be.

Hence why he was here.

“I don’t know where to begin, to be honest” he said out loud. Thoughts were bouncing in his head like in a ping-pong game, and it was hard to pick what was the most important. “I know you’d say to start with the beginning, but there’s not much on that side. We found the Chinese goods – thankfully, God, we did, otherwise I don’t know how many people Jehan would have shot to motivate us, I mean he was so pissed when his pet had her meltdown—” he rambled, then winced at his choice of words. There was really no hope if even he had internalized her as pet rather than girl, which was both the crux of the problem and not.

“It broke Yvan, in any case” he continued with practiced detachment.  He wasn’t sure if he had seen the girl or not, but the crazed look in his eyes when he had raced in his apartment left no doubt that he had pieced enough to understand, and, well — Simon had done his best to distract him with his dick, but hadn’t been able to stay hard very long once Yvan suggested he could be his puppy.  It wasn’t just the frail way he said it, like he was trying to make the girl’s plight okay by embracing it too, but his own reaction to the idea; for a brief second, he had been tempted to agree. It’d be trading a scar for another, sure, but Yvan would be happy, and—

He had snarled in disgust, at himself, as a warning, and Yvan hadn’t understood and ran away in tears, and he had been left... not caring, because he really didn’t, but... wondering. For all the worsening of the loop, it was still the first time he thought Yvan could have been happy.

And the girl was happy too, from what he understood. It was a horrible kind of happy, but she was happy nonetheless, blissfully so, apparently. Rumour had it that she rolled at Jehan’s feet every night in an imitation of a cat begging to be played with, with no sound out her lips but mewls of delight. Not that Jehan ever confirmed it, but the walls weren’t totally soundproofed, and she wasn’t exactly discreet in her appreciation of him. And if that was truly the case, then…

“I suppose I should mention her friend too, before going any further” he sighed. It hadn’t been pleasant to go behind his brother’s back and check the logs of his “volunteers” – poor saps who didn’t know better and were roped in with promises of a fat paycheck and an entry point into Jehan’s organization. Once they realized they were to be used as lab rats for his odopium’s experimentations until madness ensued, it was typically much too late.

He wondered if Maria had known the risks and still soldiered on for the sake of her friend, or if her demise at been by design. Another wish gone wrong, phrased wrong, “please, God, give me another opportunity to reach her”, and the next morning in the newspapers, that treacherous ad shining like gold—

Not that it mattered. The only detail of importance was that she hadn’t succeeded, because the previous times her role had; and while he at first had chalked it up to the worsening of the loop, suddenly he wasn’t so sure. Her death, cruel as it was, had after all reinforced the chances of the girl becoming Jehan’s pet, and thus, happy—

And, well, what if the loop wasn’t worsening every time, as he first assumed, but just… reverting?

Which was easily the most horrifying theory he ever had. To think perhaps what he considered the first world was in fact the last, and that the pendulum was just swinging back to its previous status quo, and that everyone would soon become so… twistedly happy again?

He’d rather die than ever having to find out what that meant for everyone, though he suspected dying wouldn’t be quite enough.

“I thought you would understand best” he confessed to the tomb. Since she made the same wish, in her way, it stood to reason she would give him her blessings was she alive.

“I’m going to make another wish to be free of the loop, ‘Rika” he admitted at last, his voice strengthening as his will took shape. “But not for myself, this time. I’m going to wish that every fucked up part of ourselves go their merry way to have their own brand of happy, in their own bibbity bobbity universe, I don’t give a shit as long as it let us return to what is right. Jumin will turn back into that good old robot we all know and love, and his Jehan part will go fuck girls into his obedient pets in another dimension, and it if it means I’m condemning a whole galaxy to misery, then so be it. I mean we’ll never know, right? We’ll be happy. And you’ll be too, this time, damn it.”

There was sudden gust of wind, a gentle breeze like a caress against his cheek, and he smiled one last time before pushing the words out his mouth:

“I wish…”

///THE END (…?)

A/N: “Puppy, why did you end it so quickly? We were just getting to the good part!” I hear you say. Not because I’m tired of writing, fear not, but because as I wrote this story I began to be more and more frustrated by the restraints of it being a fanfic – meaning I had to respect Jumin’s boundaries as a character, no matter how much I twisted him, and that severely limited me in what I could do with him. I dunno for you, but I want more – I want a story with a Jumin-type character where I can go all out on the kink scale without having to hold myself back because shit that’s not Jumin-esque enough. I want him psychopathic. I want him creepy as fuck. I want him out of his yandere mind at power 100000000000.

And so, I thought…why not? Better yet; why limit myself to written words? Why not a drama CD out of it, so we can lie on our beds and hear a sweet maniac romance us into being his pet?

For those still thirsting for MM, fear not, I still have Sharing is Caring to complete! For those who love the idea though, I leave you with this teaser while I prepare further material:

See you all soon! <3