#her hand just looks so itty bitty which makes the scene so much more painful to watch

[randomfandomsstuffs-blog]

It’s the way that Ellie’s hand just looks so tiny in this scene that it physically pained me. It’s so easy to forget just how young she is.

[duck-in-a-thrift-store]

I witnessed something kind of heartbreaking and kind of infuriating today, so here's a vent about it

Trigger warning for animal cruelty, and for... just a really fucking sad situation, I guess

Also, the events here are not entirely in order, it's been a fucking emotional roller coaster of a day and I'm writing this at... well I don't remember what time it was when I started but it's 5am 6am now, I had to get it all out into words outside my head and there was only so much editing I could do on my current level of brainpower, so some of what I say in here will make more sense once you read further

Things had been going well enough. Unexpectedly well, actually. We had planned to see my grandparents this weekend and we took one of our dogs with us and stopped for coffee on the way and just generally made a day of it, got to the campground they're staying at and got to hang out with them and their puppy and my aunt and uncle and baby cousin, we all had lunch and my granddad took a few of us out on the boat to ride around the lake, which I had been looking forward to

All in all it had been a really nice day

But someone had the idea to go check out the campground's petting zoo, and well, things went pretty severely downhill from there

We were walking around the back of the sheds beside a more open enclosure, I was sort of lagging behind so I hadn't seen yet what was causing a disturbance, but I caught up to my grandma right as she was about to call the management of the place, saying it looked like a mama goat was in distress and asking if they were aware

Basically what this lady told her over the phone was "oh yeah we know, she's probably not going to make it, she just had triplets and there's not really anything we can do" and I guess she was like, grossly nonchalant about it, based on my grandma's description

I hadn't heard it all, just enough to know there was something going on with a mama goat, she wasn't doing well, and that the management knew about it

I think I hadn't fully processed it yet, as I was missing chunks of context and I hadn't actually seen it for myself, because I thought vaguely "oh that's kinda sad," but once I took in the full situation?

When I tell you I was devastated-

I got past the clumsy wooden walls to the open part of the pen, where there was a goat lying on her side, seemingly unable to move but for a feeble kick of her legs every now and then and the rolling of her eyes. She had collapsed- presumably- outside her shelter, in the hot, bright sun, left unshielded from the elements and unable to even get any water to cool down, as she lay slowly dying out in the open for all to see, alone but for the tiny, fragile kids that depended on her for their own survival. There was a small tub of water in the pen, but the nanny couldn't get up to walk over to it, and it was too tall to be of any use to the kids. I watched one of them push at it, trying to knock it over with his itty bitty head.

My mom, who's been a major animal person since childhood, was very much not ok with the whole scene (neither were the rest of us, but she sort of led the way). She went into the pen, along with me, my sister, and my aunt, while my grandma kept trying to figure out if anyone who worked here gave a shit about the animals in their care

There's a gap here where I lost track of what everyone else was doing. I was busy approaching the little goat by the water tub, tipping it enough for him to get a drink, and then fending off his repeated attempts to eat my shoelaces. He was a hell of a cute little guy, and trouble right out the gate. I was a bit caught up in his adorable antics for a moment, but the instant attachment I felt toward the little guy would end up making the rest of our time there all the more painful as I considered his bleak future through a lens of irrational, protective affection. I scooped him up in my arms so he'd stop chasing my laces and we could focus on the more serious problem at hand without tripping over him

Her baby in my arms, I turn my attention back to the suffering mama goat. My mom dips her cupped hand in the tub of water and offers it to the nanny, to one of the kids, and we follow her example. I stand between the nanny and the harsh sunlight and arrange first my sister and later my aunt to stand beside me and cover her body more effectively in shadow, offering her some small respite in whatever ways we can.

The matrons of my family are fighting the good fight with the campsite workers, over the phone as well as in person- once someone finally deigned to show up- much more calmly than I possibly could have done, but it's obvious to us my mom is furious (as she should be).

As for me, over the course of all of it, taking in the scene- the ailing creature at my feet, the knowledge that she wasn't expected to survive, that her and her kids were virtually being left to starve or succumb to illness or bake to death in the sun, that these babies might watch their mother die and wither away beside her, all while some dirtbag humans who either had no fucking clue what they were doing or just didn't care and in any case had no right to possess these animals practically stood by and did nothing but bitch at the witnesses with hearts- I was crying. I kept crying, on and off and on again. I kept having to look away just to get control of myself. At one point I was slipping dangerously into a fit of public sobbing and had to bite down so hard on the skin of my wrist that I'm pretty sure there are still marks now, almost twelve fourteen hours later.

The woman who eventually showed up reiterated that the nanny had had triplets and that there wasn't much they could do, and when my mom tried to argue with her, she started pulling shit like asking my mom if she even had any animals of her own, suggesting she didn't know what she was talking about, and stating that "sometimes nature just has to take its course"

First of all, my mom has had animals most of her life. Maybe not farm animals, but still.

Second and more importantly in terms of relevance and knowledge, our next door neighbor literally raises goats. My mom is always home and talks to this woman a lot; she's seen and heard plenty about these goats and their care, and has in fact helped birth new kids when one of the goats went into labor while the owner was MIA.

She also had done her research and prepared and overall been very aware and responsible when one of our dogs had a litter of puppies, and under her prepping and care all ten puppies and their mom survived and were healthy.

So like. Don't fucking say my mom doesn't know what she's talking about, when you literally leave your animals in a state in which they don't even have access to the most basic of necessities for survival and she actually does have a background with the type of situation at hand.

Also, our neighbor's goats have had multiples and been ok with a little bit of assistance when necessary, so them suggesting that her health was a lost cause purely on the principle of her having had triplets is highly suspicious and their general evasiveness, nonchalance, and obvious oversights make it seem pretty damn clear which party doesn't fucking know what they're doing

And, what the fuck do you mean "nature just has to take its course???" Like yeah ok sometimes things go wrong sometimes animals get hurt or sick and they die and that's just a part of life, but this isn't the fucking wild, this is a setting where you have chosen to be responsible for these animals, their lives and welfare literally depend on you and it is your responsibility to take that seriously and to provide for them and not to just let a mother fucking suffer a slow agonizing death and let the babies starve.

If you really have tried treating her like you say (doubtful) and if the owner/boss of the place is really a vet (highly doubtful), then why the hell are you allegedly unable or unwilling to put the poor thing out of her misery? No seriously they told us the owner was a vet, and then turned around and told us they couldn't euthanize the goat when my mom said that that would be the more humane thing to do. Literally the least you could do here, and as my dad pointed out, even if for some reason their "vet" boss didn't have access to the necessary drugs, they could just shoot her. It would be quicker, it would be over

Someone was sent out to carry the goat to the office (for some reason? I don't know what their plan was from there) but she wasn't strong enough to carry her that far, she said she'd have to wait for so-and-so to get back so he could carry her instead, but in the meantime she at least dragged the nanny into the shade of the shed. It would probably be her final resting place. We found a smaller container elsewhere in the pen and filled it with water for the kids, but it won't do them much good on the 2 feedings per day the office promised us they'd be receiving (newborn kids need to be fed at the very least 4 times a day).

Unfortunately we had predetermined plans set for that evening that involved other people, so we couldn't stay any longer, we had to get home. Before we left, my sister and I carried the babies into the shed to be with their mother for however much time she had remaining, my mom rushing us, getting snappy in the way she has a tendency to do when she's distressed and taking her anger out on the wrong people, because it's socially acceptable to be impatient and harsh with your own kids but it's not to cuss out other adults in public, even if they really deserve it. I could barely speak but I croaked out a "we're coming" laced with a reflexive returning bite, my own defensive tendency to the pattern. I tried to plant a kiss on the furry head of the kid I was holding but I was shaky and I think I missed; I whispered to him "I hope they don't let you starve," bit back another sob, set him down and walked away

I think this whole thing was like. A canon event for me. I just really genuinely don't understand how someone can be so indifferent to the lives in their care, when we- a random group of strangers who hadn't known any of these goats even existed until then- were so thoroughly caught up and distraught over their fate that we stood with a dying animal and did whatever precious little we could with none of their alleged credentials or experience or resources. Where are your fucking ethics? Where is your humanity? It is your job to do something about this and yet you sound like you're mad at us for trying to get you to do just that. God I want those goats to be ok, and I also want that petting zoo to be shut down and all the animals relocated to homes that will actually care for them. But life isn't fair, and that isn't what will happen, and chances are those babies are going to lose their mother- if they haven't already, by now- and then their lives, and the people responsible will just continue about their own, unchanged. How can you be unchanged? You probably knew those goats' names. I didn't have even that much information and yet I cried for them like they were my own. I will never understand you, and I don't want to

[smitten-miqitten]

Repost because idk how to desktop but can’t do readmore on mobile :/

Era’s past reveal fic

The Past, pt 1

Ao3 Link

Era had been suffering a series of splitting headaches not unlike those preceding a vision from the Echo. However, no such vision was forthcoming, leaving her to fight against the pain with no relief in sight. Cid worried over her, trying in vain to ease her suffering, but nothing he could do or provide was of any help. After days of fitful ‘rest���, she was finally overcome in her exhaustion, falling into a sleep so deep it in of itself was worrisome. Unwilling to let her alone, Cid held her fast to him, slowly but surely drifting off as well.

….……..

Cid found himself standing alone in a snow laden forest, the cold of which curiously lacked the bone-deep chill inherent to the locale. The edges of the area seemed to blur and fade into nothingness, solidifying only once he focused his attention in one direction or another. Breathing deep, he was overwhelmed not with the scent of the surrounding pines as one might reasonably expect, but of lavender.

Strange.

As he took in the scene around him he spied an odd blue light emanating from the distance, bouncing off the falling snow in a misty cerulean fog. A faint, intoxicating music drifted on the wind, calling him toward it. As ever, curiosity bested him and compelled him forward as surely as the music, his surroundings increasingly bathed in soothing blue. The ground and trees and snow all started to devolve into gradient around him and a great Crystal came into view. The forest and all it held dissolved impossibly into a deep blue void before the Crystal, telling him in full certainty, in the odd way dreams do, that this was far from reality.

A dream. Of course, he was dreaming. Cid berated himself for not arriving to this conclusion sooner, though, given his experiences, one might forgive him for having trouble discerning the fantastical from the real. 

He paused to ponder this revelation, only to have a young Miqo'te girl run into his shins full tilt. She was frantic, evidently fleeing the Crystal in the distance. In terror she moved to hide behind him but, growing brave, instead stood in front with arms thrown wide, guarding him from the tendrils of light that pursued her.

The girl, too, cannot be real, as she is unmistakably Era – though she couldn’t possibly be more than 5 or 6. Her head barely reached past his knees, her tiny body all ears and fluffy, stubby tail. Turning her head towards him, large and twinkling periwinkle eyes gazed into his own with fear and determination. She would quit this place, but was not about to leave someone else to fall victim to whatever unearthly intentions the Crystal bore.

 But of course she wouldn’t.

Not knowing what else to do and hating beyond reason how the scene made Era tremble, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, making hastily back toward the woods where the scenery carried more of the weight of reality. Tendrils of blue followed for a time, but grew weak and ceased as they passed beyond the treeline.

The pervasive feel of danger fading, Cid adjusted his hold on the child, cradling her so that she might be more comfortable. True to her apparent age, much of her earlier bravado had vanished and her eyes brimmed with fitful tears, though she stubbornly would not suffer them to fall. This youthful Era inexplicably took no issue with her rescuer being a complete stranger, knowing, as (or because) Cid did, that he was no threat. 

“Thanks”, she squeaked, in a tiny voice that was both Era’s and not. This voice gave rise to a thought that had been nagging at Cid since he had fallen asleep: This is more than a dream.

Though Cid took great pride in his mind and imagination, he was under no illusion that he could dream up an Era so lifelike. She was here, with him somehow, despite appearance and circumstance. Everything around him smacked of both hyperbole and truth, as if he were participating in some abstract amalgamation of her childhood. As if to punctuate this point, a number of buildings were quickly coming into view in the distance. Her home, he thought with a certainty he could not begin to explain. The buildings gave him uncomfortable pause, however. The architecture and green hued lights were unmistakable; the town before him was Garlean. 

“Whatever were you doing all the way out there? You’re from the town ahead, no? ” Cid asked, though he knew he already knew the answer. Nothing and everything felt like a mystery here.

He suspected, as strongly as one does when they know they’re right but cannot definitively say so, that the Echo must be involved. It must be. The telltale migraines should have been his first clue, but when they failed to reveal to her whatever it was they meant to show he assumed she was simply ill. That the air smelled of lavender should have been the second; it was the smell of her, her presence and her influence. How and why the vision, if it even was one, was feeding back to him was utterly beyond his comprehension. The only precedent he had was when she recovered his own memories, but this vision surely had nothing at all to do with him or his memory. 

“I was looking for snowflowers and I got lost. Tutor did warn me not to wander but… the big Crystal called me. Like she was my friend, like she knew me. She’s really pretty, all big and blue and sparkly, but the way she looked at me was so scary. I don’t like it.”

“Well, I think we’re well shut of the blasted thing now; I’ll not let it hurt you while I’m here. Let’s get you home, little miss.”

Era nodded, smiling, and snuggled in closer, gripping the collar of his coat.

“Please don’t tell Mama and Papa I wandered. Tutor said not to, and if Tutor says so the Viceroy says so. They’re ever so scared of him.”

“The Viceroy takes personal interest in your family?” A province then. She grew up in a province. Northeastern Ilsabardian, if the surroundings were anything to go off of, in the mountains. Cid wasn’t quite sure how to feel, his stomach twisting uncomfortably at the thought of what she must have endured at the mercy of his homeland. A guilty part of him was not unhappy that she did not remember.

“Umm hmm. He thinks I’m clever. Cleverer than the other kids, though I don’t agree. He said that if I stay smart, and be good, that I can go to the capitol when I’m bigger.”

Fat chance of that now, huh. They had reached the streets now, eerily empty, lights lit everywhere but not a soul around. Era pointed an itty bitty finger toward a modest home just off of a large, gated complex undoubtedly meant to house the Viceroy in question. “My lips are sealed. And…and you’d like to visit? The capitol?” Though Cid bore little love for Garlemald, it had on occasion crossed his mind that he’d have liked to show his former home to her.

“Not really.”

She hardly missed a beat. Cid fought back a laugh.

“I study ‘cause if I do he’ll keep being nice to Mama and Papa. I dunno why, but he’s not nice to everyone else. That’s why the other kids don’t like me, I think, but Papa says ‘there’s no help for the jealousy of others’.” She mimicked her father’s deeper voice, failing spectacularly with her much squeakier one.

Cid supposed she was right. “Aye, but you seem pleasant enough to me. I’m sure they’ll come around.” So she’d been but a puppet for other’s convenience since childhood…

They were nearing the doors of the small house, the light emanating from the windows warmer than that of those surrounding it, undampened by the cold metal and dark stone. Inviting. Safe. He could leave her here without worry, he knew, but… to leave her to whatever abuse she was bound to face as the favorite of a provincial viceroy… though there was no avoiding it, he struggled with the thought. To hand her, his very heart, as tiny and fragile as she was now, into such arms…

“Aera! Oh my darling, we were so worried!” a woman’s voice rang out from the hastily thrown open door, the Miqo'te mother rushing toward the pair and wresting Era from Cid’s hold.  A stern looking man, the father, followed not far behind. Era was the spitting image of her mother, and her father, though white haired and tan, bore uncanny resemblance to a certain Ishgardian Count.

“Mama! Papa! I’m really sorry.” Era (no, Aera) clung tightly to her mother, ears pressed back and voice sincere in its apology. Looking back to Cid, she smiled at him with a warmth he knew all too well. “I got a little lost on my way back from the library, and this mister found me and helped me home. Can he stay for supper?“ 

Not wishing to impose upon the family, Cid started to protest, but his curiosity and the cacophony of “Please? Pretty please?” falling from the child’s lips got the better of him. He merely smiled, shrugging at Era’s fervor. She seemed very keen that her newfound friend not vanish into the aether, and given she likely had no others he thought it fair.

Her mother eyed him warily, the center lens of his goggles to be specific, but after a brief, wordless consult with her husband she assented, asking his name and welcoming him. The smell of lavender grew stronger as she ushered him in, mingled now with the familiar scent of ceruleum, of all things. Hardly a common pairing.

Walking through, the scene dispersed into light.

……………………………………….

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 44-45: Bakura‘s Back for More of This Nonsense

Man, I can’t believe we’re closing in on the 4th season of this show (still in shock I’m still able to make these.) Seems like just yesterday I felt like I had no idea what was happening, and now I’m like “they put in freakin Sans into Smash but not Bakura???” I’ve become one of those people now.

It’s been interesting how, because I have slowed down to watch these, I think I’ve been able to have a much more positive experience with the show. People have been talking about how binging has kind of changed TV from a place where fandoms could chat to a place where...you just watch it all in a weekend and hope no one spoils it and then wait for the next big thing to consume a week later.

But, when you’re watching a 15 year old anime you don’t have to worry about any of that. So it’s like a kind of nostalgic experience of a pre-streaming era despite the fact I’m totally streaming this.

But back to the show, now that the deep and reflective moments for Marik are over, my favorite storyboarder went home and left the rest of this to the night team who are clearly in a real rush to get this all finished. Again, the Yugioh whiplash is going from that high of “damn this is so goo-” then to the reality that the rest of the art direction in this show is “-acceptable. I meant to say acceptable. It’s perfectly acceptable”

Yugi Muto is still strung up by weird shadow magic restraints that must also be around his legs for some reason. I mean...it wouldn’t be so kinky if it wasn't also around his feet. More bits and pieces of Our Boy have been removed over the course of this endless card game, and he’s doing pretty good considering.

Joey has decided he’s had Enough Of These Damn Ghosts.

And so Marik decided that he’s been shamed by Joey Wheeler enough that he will just go away like Joey asks. This may be the only person who was actually bothered enough by Joey Wheeler to walk away in all of Yugioh.

(read more under the cut)

They....

Legit no one told her what had just happened.

They........

Just want to note that while Yugi’s leg burst out a stream of weird purple gas and Yugi screamed in pain, when his crotch disappeared, he did nothing but patiently look over at Pharaoh, who awkwardly winced. I guess the animation team knew better than to animate gas exploding out of that one particular spot, but it is still a rather funny contrast.

Marik has achieved his final form of so many veins, and it is a still frame every time it’s on screen. You cannot animate this. You cannot.

On the other end of the field, Odion has somehow made it down these extremely steep stairs, only to look up and see so many more stairs.

And back on the field is so many cards. So many cards, including the Card Poem. This awful Card Poem I tried so hard to forget.

Bro brings up that maybe this poem sounds way cooler in Japanese but like...I doubt it, right? Like this was a poem that the writers threw together in 5 minutes and were like “we’re never going to actually say the shame poem, right?”

But anyway more cards things happen but why talk about cards when this eventually happens.

I feel like Pharaoh was attempting to use Shadow Magic on Marik like just a few episodes ago so he could have done something now but...maybe he forgot? I dunno. Pharaoh didn’t feel like participating in this particular fight, maybe because his alter ego is holding on to life solely by having extra long emo bangs to count as lifepoints.

and so, Odion gives Marik a pep talk--and I kid you not, this is all Marik needed the entire time.

Yeah.

That was it.

Like maybe Odion had to be awake since Odion has a spell or whatever on Marik but still it’s like...all you had to do was say “This guy is not even a person, Marik--you are the person, just nix him and we’re good”

And so the two alter ego’s fight with eachother in the same body and that must have been a treat for everyone watching.

Man, it’s a good thing Mokuba already has so many PTSD situations under his several belts up to this point, because otherwise I’d be somewhat concerned about this very young kid who is privy to all this type of magical abominations every time his brother just wants to play cards.

and then...Yugi plays a bunch of cards and...um......

......don’t ask me what happened........

After the big group hug, Marik and Marik switch places.

This was because bad Marik was fused with a monster card--which turned bad-Marik into...the definition of a Monster.

So, if you kill the monster card then you can...

...switch places with your alternate half...

...yes...

Basically it’s a more complicated version of what Pharaoh did to Ryou and Bakura in S1, except in S1, Bakura played Ryou as a card and Pharaoh just slammed his hands on the table and was like “Screw it, Bakura! I’m so tired of this! We’re all so individually tired of this! I’m just going to use my Shadow Magic and switch you with Ryou and then we’re all going the HELL BACK TO BED!”

This time it just had to be so much more complicated although we have seen Pharaoh willy nilly switch souls before just two seasons ago.

So, just like Bakura did to his evil side in S1, Marik banishes his evil side to the shadow realm in a card game.

Which worked super good last time, amiright?

I guess we’re all just going to assume that this works now? Even though this absolutely did not work in season 1? Like Bakura went right back to a life of murder immediately?

Then again, Bakura’s an actual dude, and Marik’s alter Ego was a figment of his anger or something?????? Maybe that’s the difference? Maybe that’s why we can be rest assured that this works now?

Maybe they’re just tired of the Marik plot line and are like “listen, he’s kind of hard to draw and we don’t want to do it anymore. He’s dead now.”

For realsies though, from what I’ve been told, Marik never goes cray again and gracefully exits the show. But, if they ever want to continue Yugioh back in this direction, you can just have him snap at any time you feel like, we all know this type of exorcism is wholly reversible.

Anyway, the clouds are lifted and we are reminded that it is still hardly even lunch time.

It is at this point that Marik turns to his Brother and his Sister, who all three have no world skills outside of scamming museums and filtering sewer water, and waxes long about all the great times they’re about to have in the future.

Like what future though? You have to go to 20 years of actual real deal school, Marik, you can only read one Egyptian text. Hell knows how many people you possessed in order to get that motorcycle permit. You for sure aren’t ever allowed to play cards ever again. Like what are you going to do, Marik?

...dude what if he just goes back on the boat and just sails away for the rest of his life with his cultists who are equally unqualified to live in the real modern world. OMG what if that’s the real Marik’s Boat Time all along?

Ah. 

I almost forgot about you, Bakura.

Just in time for the British Bake Off to start updating episodes on Netflix, just in time, Bakura.

And following this is actual real thing that happened which, if you told me about, I would have just assumed was a joke or an edit to make it appear like this is happening. But no, it’s strip time.

the hell?

Yo can you believe that like a week ago I was like quoting “One Week” for kicks in these recaps and then this week Marik is, indeed, “in the history of taking off his shirt” ?

Anyway, Marik reminds us that his only purpose in life is to uh...be a book. A book that no one can read because Pharaoh didn’t have the foresight 5000 years ago that no one would be speaking Egyptian anymore and also that his reincarnation would be a 14-16 yo Japanese boy who’s entire brain power is used for selecting cards and selecting matching belts.

I just...Pharaoh’s mind must have been in a real place 5000 years ago and that was before he ever became a ghost.

Also, it is kind of amazing how many times it has come up how illiterate Pharaoh is over the past season and he still hasn’t decided to do anything about it. Like, he’s just kind of hoping that someone else (probably Kaiba) will feed the answer to him like a baby because that’s just how this show has been up to now.

In this case he has a one-ness moment with the tablet and gets the sense of “It’s fine, we’ll figure this out later” which um...

I’m really happy that in this scene, Pharaoh is still tripping balls but everyone else is so used to him doing stuff like this, they just completely ignore it.

So glad I had 2 seasons to build up this back tatt in order to figure out that Marik’s back didn’t help Pharaoh at all. The tablet yes, the back tattoo--no, completely unnecessary. Congrats, Pharaoh’s mole people servants, you screwed up and did this weird ass ceremony on 12 yo’s for 5000 years trapped underground for NO REASON.

Anyways, preteens rejoice, Marik without a shirt is randomly 10 lbs more buffed now, which I’m pretty sure was never a thing when he was wearing that itty bitty pink hoodie. Like maybe the animators are just used to really buffed anime and this is them toning it the hell down, but uh...no actual 16 year olds will ever look like this, sorry to break it to you, preteens.

Man, the horny line running through this show lol.

Letsee, Yugi now has the puzzle, Ishizu’s necklace, the Ring, the Rod, the...

...where’s the freakin eyeball?

Did...where is it? Where is the nastiest of the golden objects?

Did Bakura never bring the eye with him to this trip? Like...is it just hanging out in his desk at home near his secret stash he super hopes that his Mom doesn’t find?

Guys, where’s the eyeball?

Anyway, now that Mokuba has decided Seto can feel joy and smile again, he gives Seto the A-OK to blow the hell out of this moneypit island that has already been violently blown up just a few years previously.

Like this begs the question, why even build this tower if you wanted to blow it up? But then again, that is the equivalent to a small child that builds block towers just to knocks them over, right? Like that part of Seto just never grew up?

So........

My bro, while looking this over, gave me the best spicy bro headcanon I’ve ever heard, and it’s absolutely too ridiculous for this blog that is mostly about what actually happens in the course of this show, but I’mma gonna share it with you anyway. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a common headcanon, but if my bro got it from some random fic he read off Ao3, I don’t know any better. So bro kinda squints at Roland, Seto Kaiba’s most incompetent bodyguard (if “bodyguard” is even an accurate description for the weird fake not-a-job that this guy has to do) and is like “do you feel like Roland has Noah’s hair color?”

and I was like “Bro, if you are suggesting that Roland is the illegitimate son of Gozobura because his hair is the same shade as the darker parts of Noah’s hair, that is one wild headcanon and I love it”

So--using Bro’s logic, lets say Gozaboro had a really stupid illegitimate son he had to hide from his wife. So he just...gives him a fake job. Considers “maybe I can use this son on A.I. Noah?” but Roland ends up being too much of a dumbass to intimidate Noah, so instead, he keeps Roland around on low-tier jobs so he gets keep an eye on him, torture him, etc.

And as the company falls out around him, Roland gets slowly promoted, as Seto and Mokuba fire basically everyone who worked with Pegasus and the Big 5. And Roland, who is just so bad at everything, forgot to attend the Pegasus coup (and would have no idea what is ever happening), so when the Kaibas returned from Pegasus’ island they still have Roland...sitting there at that long table covered in 4 identical idiot salads and orange juice he laid out for them in his patchy green moustache and his huge Gozaburo shoulders, they’re like “well.....I guess we have to take care of him now.”

And that’s the story my brother has in his head now every time Roland is on screen. It’s not canon at all that Roland is the secret 4th Kaiba brother but damn. What if he’s just the 4th Kaiba brother but has no idea, and Mokuba and Seto do, and that’s why they drag him all over the world with them? Hilarious.

I mean...Seto and Mokuba fire everyone. But they don’t fire Roland, their biggest dumbass. What a headcanon. (and if this joke ends up being real I’ll be very happy)

ALSO, new thing, the necklaces around their necks with the cute picture of eachother that they had up till now to remind eachother of their forever brotherly love--also keys used to blow up things very violently.

I should have expected this.

Anyway, lets check up on Mai---oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Y’all this was WEIRD.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

So after that extremely insensitive joke that made us doubt if bringing back Mai was a good thing, lets have a reminder that we brought back someone else even worse, who, like a parasite, was devouring everything that they love.

(Bakura’s font color has been changed to blue stripes because before he was just too similar to Joey’s yellow and my white. Eventually I will find the right system for coloring everyone’s font legibly, although I know that the patterns are sometimes harder to read for people that aren’t colorblind.)

Ah, local nasty boy is back. I’d love if they had shown more of the food he ate, but they wisely decided to crop that huge spread out of frame. Bakura eating all of the donuts is canon though. Somehow every donut aboard this blimp fit inside of that small boy’s endless stomach.

PS Kaiba Corp makes their own milk. At some point, Seto Kaiba was just leaning back into his work chair, Mokuba on the couch watching TV, Roland completely unable to reload the Keurig, and Seto was like “But what if...I made CHEESE.” (BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THESE KIDS LOVE CHEESE) and Mokuba was like “OMG you could sell the company back to them at 2 times the price for each share” and he was like “I KNOW.”

and so he marched down to the nearest cheese fields to buy some cows, only to find out that the agriculture market is so strained you can’t sell the shares at a times-two profit now and he‘s like “Ah dammit! I have to do real business! This freakin blows!”

Makes you think.

Anyway, then Ryou throws some shade at us about “PS, I was in Hell! I love you, too!”

Anyway, so it’s about time we ended this season, so how about it? How about we take off, watch it all blow up as a symbolic representation of all the hopes and dreams Kaiba had at the beginning of this tourney, and end this crazy ass season?

Oh wait, that relies on Roland being able to do even one thing competently.

So, that’s where we leave off.

Really truly, honestly, we need to get everyone on this show matching cuff radios because the number of times they’ve needed to call Kaiba is insurmountable. Could have solved so many problems. Really surprised that Roland can’t like...call the Kaibas right now, but now that I think about it, we clarified several episodes ago that Mokuba forcibly kicked Roland off of the radio because he was unable to work it properly.

Good job Roland, the best Kaiba son.

Anyway if you just got here this is a link to read just the Yugioh recaps in chrono order

[ouroboros-panacea]

Stone [石头]-Decompose-[1/?]

Summary: [JJBA x HNK] "Phosphophyllite, my name is Phosphophyllite." Such is your useless life, no matter how many changes you make, how strong you become. Your life will still simply be a tragedy, and you, forever useless. The tale of a gem who suffered because of change, and an ancient being who wanted to change. An odd friendship it'd be. Rebirth seems more like a curse than anything. It would be nice if this didn't end with tragedy. {Disclaimer- I don't own hnk or jjba}

<Next chapter>

-----

Ah.

It's so bright, and so...cold. 

Is it winter now?

Winter? What's that?

I can't....remember. But, why does it hurt so much when I think of "Winter"?

Wh-who am I?

Phos...Phosphophyllite?

Is that my name?

(I'm breaking, cracking, leaking)

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

It...it....I....

Can't....go back.

To how everything was, right?

That isn't how life works.

Ah.

If only I could have....just....one...more....chance.

If only.....

Is this "Death"?

Is this what it feels like?

It's....horrible. I feel so.....

Cold.

It's going dark again.

I wonder what will happen to me?

I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise.

Promise?

What promise? To whom?

No matter.

It doesn't matter anymore.....right?

Nothing will matter anymore if I just.

Close.

My.

Eyes....

On that day, the living example of Theseus's ship broke, and a small, mint-haired child fell.

She fell.

And tumbled.

And fell.

Snapping twigs, scratching arms alike. Leaving dribbling, glistening ruby red lines. Still though, she stayed unconscious, sleeping with the stillness of the dead.

Crashing from the treetops, she was thrown down from the heavens, into a bed of wilted, grotesque flowers.

What a beautiful combination of reds, pinks and... oh.

Was that an arm I spy?

With my empty little eyes?

My apologies, you twisted pile of cold human limbs. I nearly forgot to mention you. Yes, you who play a part in the beautiful shades of reds and pinks. Sadly though, I cannot account for your smell.

Decaying bodies are strewn about the bed of flowers, in which the sleeping princess lies. Almost like a scene from "Sleeping Beauty", don't you think?

Now all we need is a prince.

Right?

Trudging through the dark forest was a young, purple haired child.

The night was quiet; only slivers of moonlight shone through treetops. But it was no big deal to him. It wasn't like he was a weak, frail human anyways.

A sudden thud, accompanied by the crunch of dry leaves, alerted him to the fact that he was not alone.

Perhaps it could've just been another animal, as he saw no light in the direction of the sound. But he could not smell the scent of an animal. He only smelled.... minerals, ore and a pungent smell of rotting carcasses.

That...was strange.

Normally, the smell of bodies would completely overpower anything else. Yet, it seemed that this time, the minerals and ore were the "victors".

How intriguing.

Perhaps he could observe this, it at least find out the cause. Better to know more than regret not having done so in his later years.

He had to find out what or who it was, no matter what.

Gold alloy trickled down the masses of half melted limbs and torsos, as if it was searching for something.

It slithered between the nooks and crannies, rubbing over the dried fluids and such, until it came across a few shards of mint-green phosphophyllite.

Immediately, it stopped, and thin tendrils of alloy snaked across the bumpy surface and wrapped around those very shards. They held the minerals in an almost indecisive manner, as if it couldn't chose between shattering them into a million pieces, or returning the gems to the body lying right behind it.

In the end, it decided to go back to it's body, putting the shards back in it's rightful place, with soft clinks coming from the shards. The alloy acting as a temporary glue, helping it's "body" come together as one whole.

The strangest part though, was when the shards were placed one by one, the skin would smoothen out, leaving no signs of the body ever having any missing pieces.

No sign of them of ever having minerals for flesh.

When it's job was done, it would disappear, leaving the child behind.

But the night was still young, and in no way was it's project completed.

Silently stalking through the forest, he took care not to alert anything or anyone in the forest.

Not that the humans would be awake at this ungodly hour.

Strangely, he lost track the uniquely powerful scent a while ago. It frustrated him, but still he was determined to find the source of this possible anomaly.

Hearing a quiet rustling from , accompanied by staccato clicks and pings, he stopped in his tracks.

Clearly, there were now other trails that led to the same smell.

He raised an eyebrow in question, whilst a faint smirk curled upon him lips.

It was the exact same smell, no mistaking it. 

Taking a step forward, he opened his mouth to greet the "newcomer".

Until an ear-piercing scream stopped in in his tracks.

Phosphophyllite opened her eyes, and found herself in an unfamiliar area. Where did all the trees come from? Last time she checked, she was still on the......

On....

Where?

She couldn't remember.

But she could remember one name.

Antarcticite.

The name alone sent shivers down her spine, and an overwhelming urge to break something, anything.

Herself would also suffice.

It made her feel like she was on the verge of breaking apart to the sheer loss she felt from the name.

That name felt like the most important thing in a sea of jumbled memories and promises. Of ice floes, silvery mercury, a large figure dressed in Buddhist robes and two white haired individuals, each unique in their own way, who were together yet apart.

Yet it was not as painful as the thought of "Antarcticite".

The soft light of the moon seemed to only drown her further into the tempting thought of crushing herself in to itty-bitty bits, it's glorious shine reminding her of a phrase spoken a long time ago. She didn't know who said it, or where it was said.

But she hated it. Hated the moon and everything it stood for in her hazy mind.

Hated it with with a fiery passion.

Those blazing feelings clogged her throat with a rising taste of metallic bile clawing it's way through. Choking her with a vice-like grip.

Her left eye hurt, feeling as if something was penetrating the fragile gem. She tried to ease the throbbing pain as she brought a hand to her face, attempting to gently massage it through the eyelid. Curiously, nothing was there, nothing in her eye at all. It still hurt though. Shifting her legs slightly, soft squelches were suddenly heard, while her other hand felt something soft, squishy.

Then the smell hit her.

The godawful smell...that came from below.

With wide eyes, she looked down at the carnage beneath her.

She was met with a twisted wreath of limbs and torsos, all having open wounds that leaked maggots from crusted edges of dried blood and pus.

With Phosphophyllite herself sitting in the very center, a mockery of a monarch sitting upon their throne.

It was...filthy.

What was this....whatever it was. Certainly nothing pleasant.

She didn't like it. But it intrigued her.

Who on Earth would be doing such a time consuming task like this?

But.

She found herself with only one clear question in mind.

Where was she?

Clearly nowhere she knew of.

Attempting to get herself off this abomination, she tried to push herself off the dirty, wet surface. Gripping half revealed bones and ripped up muscle, she turned herself over and nearly fell flat on her face in the process. Thank goodness she was fast enough to plant both arms on a "sturdy surface" before she did so.

It was as if her legs forgot how to walk or stand.

Then she heard her wrists fracture.

Curiosity overtook her, forcing her to look at the no longer flawless skin. There were thin cracks to see, and when phosphophyllite pushed herself up to stand on her two shaking legs, they dropped both small and large crystals of her namesake. The shiny mint green almost impossible to miss.

When she tried to move them.

They fell off.

Leading to another observer to gasp at this anomaly.

Causing a chain reaction.

She saw white. Blinding beautiful clear white. Like ice floes. It reminded her of them.

What were ice floes?

Oh, right. Nothing good. They weren't good at all.

Gold and platinum mixed together, meshing into a combination of the two, the colour a golden white. It splashed down from her arms, seeping through from the cracks. Reaching out for the fallen pieces of her body.

Her eyes widened with surprise, yet a sense of familiarity washed over. Telling her it was nothing new.

The alloy slotted itself into the tiny openings inside her broken hands and pulled them back onto her wrist like puppeteer strings with a woosh,clink and clack. Like a trained embroiderer, it weaved in and out of her "skin", fixing any blemishes and irregularities.

Now.

Where was she?

Oh.

An observer. Looking so much like.

Like...

B...o..r..t?

Who was that?

Were they important?

The name vanished as quickly as it came.

Oh well. Maybe next time. Right?

The sound of another drew her attention.

Tumbling out of the bushes, a young boy stared at her with horror in his eyes. Mouth set into a scream, yet no sound could be heard. He landed on his knees and stared at her as if she was death itself.

Cold sweat ran down his forehead like tears, made his palms clammy and sticky. His entire body shook with absolute terror.

That green haired girl was a monster.

Was she the one who slaughtered them all? All those who had gone missing in the forest, never to come back was because of her? Was she responsible for this macabre sculpture?

Looking at her odd appendages, even more fear clouded his mind. Cowardice tempting him to run, run far away from this-this thing.

Then she turned to look at him with dull, dull eyes.

A piercing scream ripped from his throat.

How annoying.

Now that was definitely another one of them humans.

He'd have to get rid of that boy.

Screaming?

Why was he screaming?

"H-hey, why are you...?" She tried to ask, staggering towards the... squishier version of her. She supposed.

She only got a choked cough in return, a face as white as a sheet.

Dark brown eyes stared up at her.

She tried again

"Ar-aren't we the...s-same?" Words came out with slight difficulty. An expression of confusion on her face.

Finally, he spoke.

"I'm not the same as you. You, you murderer!"

Murderer? What did that mean? Was he talking about the pile of squishy things? Did he think...that she did it?

No, no. She couldn't take credit for someone else's work.

She opened her mouth again to tell him the truth. But before she could.

He flopped down as he suddenly became rubber. As it fell, she could see purple.

Purple.

She saw purple.

Purple hair, that is.

Then a finger, which led to the smirking face of a victor.

"My my, what do we have here?"

Covered in nothing but a loincloth, a boy with messy, curly purple hair appeared. He seemed to be the same age as her.

Or perhaps not. He emitted an aura that told her he was much likely older than he seemed.

Could he tell her where she was?

He stepped over the deflated corpse. With a few strides he stood in front of Phosphophyllite, staring down at her.

Name, he needed a name first before she could ask.

"What's your name?" An abrupt question. It didn't catch him of guard. Though it was certainly interesting how she didn't seem to recognize him for what kind of race he was from. It looked like she wasn't from this place. Perhaps he'd give her his name.

Let's see what happens.

"Kars. My name is Kars."

The beginning came from the end. She'd remember one day.

An unlikely friendship.

-Chapter one end-

[lokigayforhela]

Love Bites, Part 8

Word Count: 1110

Pairing: Hela x reader

Warnings: None

Notes: More quipping, and some actual plot development, look at that! Also of import: I have no idea how crime scenes work so I’m very sorry for the inaccuracies. Please enjoy, all the same, though!

Prompt: Ten from this list.

Previous Chapter .......... Next Chapter

You and Hela walked down the sidewalk in comfortable silence, but found yourself continuously glancing over at Hela to check on her every so often, your arm hooked around hers as you disinterestedly watched the hustle and bustle of the city around you.

“Do you really turn into dust in the sunlight, or is it, like… really, really bad sunburn?” you asked after a short while, your curiosity getting the better of you, once again.

Hela chuckled humorlessly, gaze trained in front of her. “That’s not something I’m in a hurry to find out.”

You nodded once as you considered that. “Fair enough.” You looked down at Hela’s hands, which were hidden beneath the too-long sleeves of her layered-on sweaters. “But you’ve never even accidentally gotten in the sunlight? Like a teeny, tiny little bit?” You were trying to lighten the mood a little. Hela was so serious in her anxiety to get the newborn taken care of, and you just wanted her to relax a little bit. “Eenie-weenie, itty-bitty, wittle little-”

“Don’t make me change my mind about letting you come with me to help,” Hela deadpanned, but when you glanced up to look at her, you could see a smile hidden in her eyes. “How far away from the neighborhood are we?”

“Well, the news said it happened a few blocks from Central Park, in the Upper West Side. And we’re about halfway across the Park now, so it shouldn’t be too much farther.”

Hela nodded, but said nothing. For a few minutes, you continued your walk in absolute silence, and you turned to look out across the green expanse of Central Park, watching as children played with their dogs, and as couples sat together at benches, completely oblivious to anything and everything that wasn’t a part of their little world. You couldn’t help but smile. People-watching had always been one of your favorite pasttimes, and walking through Central Park was the prime place to do it. Over the years you’d lived in New York City, you had seen and met so many people, each with their own story and their own goals in life. You found humanity’s will to adapt and persevere through all, and to never give up a comforting thought, and you hoped that maybe, someday soon, you’d be able to find out why exactly you were here, and be able to properly start down the pathway to your own goals.

“What are you thinking about?” Hela asked gently, and you turned to see that she was looking at you with curious eyes, head tilted the slightest bit, and lips curved in a soft smile.

You smiled in return, and turned back to look at a family enjoying a picnic spread out on a blanket. You were silent for a bit, just watching as you tried to figure out exactly how to word what you wanted to say. “So many different families, so many different people… From all walks of life, with different backgrounds. Hundreds and thousands and millions of stories, waiting to be told, waiting to be heard. I could live a thousand lifetimes and never grow tired of listening to someone talk about the hardships they’ve overcome to get to where they are today.”

Hela said nothing for a while, and when you turned back to look at her, she had an expression on her face that you couldn’t quite read. There were a thousand emotions going through her eyes, fondness, understanding, grief, regret, pain. Too many emotions for one person to have to bear on her own.

“What are… you thinking about?” you asked, treading gently, in case it was something Hela didn’t want to talk about.

She was silent for a few moments, and you watched as she fought to make her expression decidedly emotionless, glancing up at the sky briefly. “I’m thinking… The sun needs to, what you mortals say, ‘to fuck off’.”

You knew better than to push the matter, and instead settled on feigning offense. “Mortal? Is that how it is? That’s how it’s going to be?”

Hela only laughed, and shifted to put an arm around you as she carefully maneuvered so she could press a kiss to the top of your head without upsetting her hat. “Yes. But you’re my little mortal.”

You had to admit, that sounded a lot better than just ‘mortal’, and you gave a quiet, happy little sigh as you let your head rest against her shoulder.

The rest of the walk passed by in silence, and before you knew it, you were standing in front of an apartment draped with caution tape, watching as various cops and investigators looked around and asked questions to neighbors and standers-by.

“Okay… So how are we doing this?” you turned to look up at Hela, who was glancing around the crime scene with narrowed eyes as she took everything in.

“I’m going to go talk to one of the investigators. See what I can find out. While I do that, I need you to sneak into the ambulance and check for a bite mark. It could be anywhere, but… you’ll know what it looks like if you see it.”

“You really think they’re going to just tell you information about an investigation?” you asked dumbfoundedly, and then the rest of Hela’s sentence sank in. “You want me to sneak into an ambulance to check a dead body for a vampire bite?”

Hela looked at you with an amused little grin. “You said you wanted to help, right? That’s helping.”

You didn’t answer, lips curling into a pout because you knew she was right, and you were worried if you argued against it, she wouldn’t let you help at all. “I still don’t think they’ll tell you anything,” she muttered grumpily.

Hela only grinned more. “Darling, I’m a vampire. Charm comes with the job.” She winked at you, and you scowled back at her, turning to look at the ambulance parked along the sidewalk. Hela followed your gaze, and reached for your hand, voice softening a little. “You’ll be fine. I promise.” She waited until you were looking up at her to smile encouragingly, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze before gently pushing you toward the ambulance.

You took a few steps toward it, and then turned to look back at Hela, but she had already disappeared to go talk to whoever she was going to talk to. You heaved a sigh and turned back around, making sure no one was watching as you slunk over to the ambulance, coming to rest in front of it anxiously once you were close enough.

“Well… Here goes nothing.”

Previous Chapter .......... Next Chapter

[impivus]

very rushed very shit intro comin @ you all but here goes nothing ! i’m felix from the gmt tmz, i use he / him pronouns, and im gonna power nap any minute now because one thing you should know about me is that i’m eternally on the verge of passing out from minimum exertions during the day. this is my pain in the ass eunsu: not even going to sugar coat it - he’s the human personification of a headache dumpster fire all in one beefy package and i really don’t even blame your character if they just . ignore his presence because, me too !

under the cut there’s some information about him if you want to get to know more about him regardless. smash that mf heart if you want to plot.. and i will get to you ? sometime ? its an ambiguous promise but i keep them, discord is also an option so just ask if you’d prefer to plot on there. eun’s about is here but no plots as of yet because life is hard and We Cant all Have Everything 

aka im lazy 

* ☾ ✧ * º ━━ is that KIM JONGIN walking about ? nope ! that’s just EUN SU CHO. & i’ve been told that they work as a INFORMATION BROKER ! apparently, they are TWENTY FIVE ( 204 )  years old .  some people say they are a CISMALE, DEMON ! HE is very CULTIVATED & INTUATIVE but also DECIETFUL &  MENACING. i wonder if they are just as odd as the rest of us .  ⇢  SYNOPSIS. MBTI TYPE  /  entp, the debater ZODIAC SIGN  /  scorpio   ENNEAGRAM TYPE  /  7w8 KINSEY SCALE  /  3 MORAL ALIGNMENT /  chaotic evil / neutral HOGWARTS HOUSE / slytherin ⇢ AESTHETICS. 

goosebumps raised and feelings of growing dread, the dark corner of a room where light doesn’t reach, silver pocket - watches with dead batteries, the scratch of a record player needle, flares in the sky, bad ideas coming to life, half-assed clapping when it’s required, figures dancing within the shadows & a smile you shouldn’t trust . 

⇢ OVERVIEW

literally anybody: when are you free?  eun su: im forever imprisoned in my own personal hell so i am never truly "free" but i don't really have plans all next week except for monday

this is eun su, and will y’all believe me if i say he used to be a good egg before he turned into the rotten egg i’m presentin y’all with today ??  i kid u not.. bs free zone. he did once ..  have a hort  he was born to a cult of witches, his twin brother absorbing all the magic that was meant to be equally distributed between them in his mother’s womb, which pretty much left eunsu as the black sheep of the family. said cult had been living on a small, near enough desolated island for literal decades, entertaining themselves with magic, seeking out knowledge, observing the unassuming populace, and toying with other supernatural creatures who dared cross their paths. unfortunately for eunsu’s family, tragedy struck when one of his aunt’s tried to over throw the high priestess ( his mother ) in their coven. unyielding in her position and untouchable to the magic she was exposed to, her sister went about other ways to break the woman’s spirits, dabbling in black magic predominantly to achieve her goals. eunsu’s brother was, thus, cursed before he was even born with an incurable heart defect that would see him dead before he reached double figures. eunsu’s mother was broken not mourned over how much he missed out as on a child: but she mourned for the fact that he was the only child that harboured any magic in their veins, the only child that could’ve carried on their lineage.   queue entrance of eunsu and his Whats the Worst that Could Happen Attitude. being young and naive, thought he could’ve been able to solve it by himself, solve the issues and earn his mother’s lacking affections. eun had heard about dark vessels that could miraculously grant wishes through summonings. though he didn’t have magic in his veins he had a fire in his heart, and after all, demons cared not for who or what they fed from: so long as they appeased their hunger.  all it wanted in return was a good, pure soul, and that’s what the demon stole from him before it mended his twin brother’s heart, giving the boy a new lease of life that wasn’t intended for him from the start. pity that eunsu died before he got to the age of twenty, following a quick and hungry fever that overtook his frail body and too soon turned deadly. there was no surprise that, come judgement day, he was turned away at the gates of heaven, in exchange for becoming one of lucifer’s own.

as a result of being eternally cursed with immorality and a tainted soul, he's lived some hundred-odd years and is coping by making the current populace in jeonseoul suffer along with finding purpose in digging out the secrets of his past life, mayhaps trying to find the demon who cursed him.... which could definitely be a wc.. and strengthening his abilities as a demon.

his personality is a bit insufferable; eunsu keeps himself distant and cryptic, because he likes it that way. he's a real weirdo ( if u have ever watched hxh he’s hisoka.. THAT weird )  that's hard to forget: completely mischievous, dramatic, and malicious to boot. some days he's waxing poetic about the futility of having a sense of justice and the next he's using his demonic powers to make some innocent tourist think they're hallucinating as they attempt to walk into a steady flow of traffic. 

ultimately life's a game to him and bih.. he’s here to have fun ! he's outlived his actual family and friends ( well, aside from his brother who he barely remembers, prolly be a wc if anyone’s interested ) and he's not looking to get attached to anyone. it would be great to Die because it’s his forever Mood but he also gets furious if anyone tries to actually expel him for real - so he'll simply prod at the world and its people until he gets the reactions he wants.

fair warning: it is a pain to genuinely care about eunsu and not many people will wanna do it. he comes and goes into people's lives as he pleases, stops reaching out once he's bored and only ever grazes the surface of a relationship based on its worth or his curiosities, innocent ppl, cute ppl, etc are just gonna be eaten up by him then dropped. 

the people who will be closest to him are doubtlessly other demons ig ? but he also hates y’all too so.. don’t get too friendly like he’s not here to make friends he’s here to be Jeonseoul’s next top Demon. also since he died sumn like 200 years ago it’s possible some wizards / familiars knew of him and his coven, it’d be super interesting for someone to have known cute human eunsu in exchange for chaotic bastard demon eunsu 

⇢ MISCELLANEOUS

since he’s a young demon, his horns are small and his wings barely span about two inches above his shoulder bones, he got itty bitty bat wings lbr he’s kinda pissed abt it. there’s tattoos over his scars from clashing with other demons / hunters / angels, but his devil’s mark lining the back of his neck, performed by first demon who took his soul, has never faded away. 

he also works as an info broker, which ties in with the fact that he’s a contractual demon ! it's more of a hobby than a job, something he does for kicks and to restock his gambling money and alcohol money, but he offers a helping hand to solo clientele for private cases if need be, just remember to bring your negotiation skills because his manipulation skills are a1.

he's well-versed in witchcraft even if he can’t actually possess the abilities that actual witches can. while hardly the mentoring type, he could be convinced to equip people with his knowledge of latin, spells or dark magic they want if he's interested enough. then again he might decide to screw them over for kicks so ask him for favours with caution.

for someone who carries a ton of spite and secrets, he passes as an easygoing, casual literature major on the daily to disguise his true intentions. find him at the university pretending to be a student and failing miserably at it like edward’s thousand year old ass in twilight

he cheats at the casino with his demonic powers but does it infrequently enough to pass it as luck. play games with him at your own risk. casinos are one of his favourite places but he can really be found anywhere with ease but some other places he frequents are: beaches, libraries, museums, bars, etc !

he'll get on people's nerves, but getting him to care to the degree of hate is another story. living this long has numbed him; people don't surprise him anymore and he doesn't care to spend time thinking about others. the secret to getting him to turn deathly serious is as simple as telling him you can tell that he was once a good person - because the cheesy truth is he was. he just convinces himself that he's given up trying to remember his human life and finds it easier to live like he’s dead.. yknow which he is.

romance makes him queasy, he's a spiteful old bastard and the concept of sweet love rubs him 100% fictional. there's someone he fancied before he was cursed but i'll save you the story: that's a distant dream now.

he might quote romantic works or put some pretty words together but he's fake as Fuck. if he notices someone innocent and unsuspecting crushing on him they are in so much trouble. he'll kiss their hand then twirl them right off a cliff. corruption kink central right here laid ease

as of rn he’s trying to master how to teleport and shadow control but he really is like on level one and he’s got to get up to level 50 to achieve even a fifth of what these other demons can do 

edit: i totally forgot to include eunsu’s ‘demonic’ title after he was banished to the perils of hell. it’s ironically just saint, and he goes around using that bc it’s blasphemous and a big ole middle finger to god himself. nobody will know his real name, but if there’s an off chance that they do, that’s a massive threat to eunsu and he’ll get his Snipers on Scene

tl;dr: 

[blu3gr3y]

so i told myself year ago that i would never write fanfiction again...  but i heard a song and i couldn't help but write something little... tiny .. itty bitty... please be kind...im rusty.

So, here’s a little something based of off or inspired by this lyric “Please don't ever become a stranger, whose laugh I could recognize anywhere”

Stranger

Betty’s knuckles were solid white as she gripped the grocery cart. This was her first time out since she moved back to Riverdale. This is the first time she has been to Riverdale in the past two years, since Black Hood was caught.

After he was caught, Betty was no longer emotionally or mentally stable to be by herself or stay alone in her room without having a serious panic attacks, which would leave her completely breathless and her pulse pounding. Almost to the point where she needed to be ambulanced to the emergency room. Her body would shake and her mind would race. She wouldn’t be able to see straight or find her footing to keep standing.

Her mother suggested that she move away, for a while, to a place that could help with her anxiety and let her finish school. A type of boarding school. Riverdale did not have any good doctors or psychiatrists and the ones that Riverdale did have were always booked with everyone else from the town. Black Hood was treacherous and vicious in his last few murders, almost as if it was a Freddy Krueger movie and Betty could not handle knowing that she had some play in it because of Black Hood’s threats and manipulation.

So, she left. It took her a little longer to finish school than it should had. While everyone in Riverdale graduated high school at the end of May, she didn’t finish her last class till the end September and moved back home. It was better for her to finish later anyway, because now everyone was away at college. Archie, Veronica, Kevin, once her close knit group of friends, they were nowhere to be seen. She didn’t talk to them much while she was away. She didn’t talk much at all to anyone. She tried to keep her distance, because talking to them brought back hard memories and flashbacks. She wasn’t ready to face them, yet, but hopefully, by the holiday break she would be.

The display of black ski masks stared back at her in the middle of the grocery store. The weatherman had called for an early winter, even though it was currently sunny summer weather outside. She felt her pulse race and her breathing pick up inching closer to hyperventilating.

Walk away. Do not make a scene. Look away. Do not have a panic att- Dammit, Betty just look away. Black Hood does not exist anymore. He’s locked up! He’s gone! She thought to herself. But seeing the ski mask flooded her brain with memories of the dark gloomy house in the woods. She remembers how hard it was to look through the eye holes of the hood and how her own reflection in the mirror was distorted and made her want to vomit.  

Betty jumped and looked away from the masks as a little kid ran into her grocery cart throwing a bag of chips into it. He giggled and looked up at her with wide green eyes, dark curly hair and a bright smile.

“Ryan, you cannot run into people and put things in their grocery cart,” a lady ran over to the little boy. “Oh my gosh, I am sorry. I don’t what has gotten into him.” She spoke to Betty and reached for the chips that was put within the cart.

Betty smiled, “its okay. I actually like those and was planning to get them.”

The lady gave a quick smile with an “okay” and pulled her son away quietly scolding him.

Betty’s smiled faded as she glanced but over to the ski masks. She shook her head and began walking towards the self-checkout line. She didn’t want to deal with any more people today. Maybe going to the grocery store was too much, maybe too soon.

“Betty, why don’t you just stay home? You only just arrived yesterday. You don’t want to over work yourself. I can go,” her mother said to her about two hours earlier. “It’s only a couple things, Mom. I can do it.” Betty argued back.

Maybe she was right. It took Betty 15 minutes to just start the car and leave the driveway and another 20 minutes to actually enter the grocery store. She dodge any aisle that had a person down it and kept her face looking down so she didn’t make eye contact with anyone.

Betty gripped the handle of the paper grocery bag as she walked back into the parking lot. The warm air engulfing her with comfort till she noticed a couple motorcycles parked a few spots from her own car.

Motorcycles. She thought to herself. They only remaindered her of Jughead. Her heart began to ache with a familiar agonizing pain, one that seems to leave only for a few moments and then slowly creep back in.

Juggie. Two years. I haven’t seen him or heard from in two years. She longed to hear from him. Hoped that he would have contacted her after she left. But she understood. She is the one that broke up with him. Temporary, at first. She never got to see him. To traumatized from the Black Hood and her phone taken into police custody.

She adverted her eyes from the motorcycles feeling tears begin to weld up in her eyes. She couldn’t look for him now. It had been too long. He had moved on. A serpent now according to Archie, but she wouldn’t care. Yet, that doesn’t matter. Two years is a long time and she missed any opportunity that she might have –

A deep chuckle stopped her in tracks. She recognized that laugh, one she heard oh so many time before, but now, it was one from a stranger. Someone she had not seen in a long time. She glanced quickly to the motorcycles. No one to been seen around them, but she did notice a green serpent in the shape of an “S” on the rear fender of one of them.

She swallowed hard with a tear falling from her eye. The paper bag slipped from her hand smashing to the group breaking the glass jar of jelly inside.

“Betty Cooper?” the voice spoke her name so smoothly giving her images of the last time that she saw this man in person. The time where he wished that they could run away together like Romeo and Juliet but we live happily ever after instead.

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Brooke you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Bellatrix Black!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

Bellatrix is such a complex character, so it was a delight to get an application that explores so many different sides of her personality! Her possessiveness, her addiction to torture, the vestiges of insanity, her love for her family -- it all came through beautifully in your app. I know she’ll be a much wanted addition to our mix, and I can’t wait to see how you explore her characteristics and allow her to grow depending on where the plot takes us. Congratulations and welcome!

application beneath the cut ( tw: death, torture, blood )

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Hi, my name is Brooke. I’m 26 and go by she/her. I live in EST time zone, USA.

ACTIVITY

I’m a teacher so my activity during the week can be a bit spotty if I have school functions, however I am active on weekends. So my number is anywhere from 6-8 given the day of the week. I also have the app on my phone and can post during my lunch breaks and when out and about.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

I was RPing here a while back as Lucius, but RL got away from me so I had to drop him. My friend Orlik is still here as Umbridge so I felt like coming back now that my life is more settled.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

I love Luna. She is someone so utterly full of life and she gives no fucks in the best possible way.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I am a devoted Ravenclaw!

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Bellatrix- Means “female warrior” in Latin. This is the name of the star that marks the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.

Eris- Eris was the goddess of strife and discord

Black- a nickname given from the earliest times to a swarthy or dark-haired person

FACE CLAIM

Eva Green suits me fine! She has a wild beauty about her that fits my view of Bellatrix.

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

Ah, Bellatrix Black. The infamous zealot for Voldemort’s cause. Wielder of the power of Occlumency. Bringer of pain and destruction. What’s not to love about our resident crazy witch? She’s wild, full of blood lust, and evil. These types of characters are a blast to play! It is a small chance to drop the modern niceties and bring out a wilder side of you. Yet, Bellatrix is a character who is not one dimensional. Yes, she’s mad, but there’s also passion, loyalty, and even love.

Bella (I’ll call her that even though I imagine she’d allow no one but her sisters and Voldemort to call her that) is passion incarnate. Every action she does is done with her full self. Nothing is half assed with her. At any moment she is ready to kill for her cause and kill she will, with brutal skill and violent strength. Such is her passion that she utterly defends her cause, her blood purity, and family.

This brings us to her next point. Loyalty. She is of course loyal to the Death Eaters, but I would even say her loyalty to her family comes before that. She loves her sister Narcissa and I think, deep down, even Andromeda, though her passion would never allow her to admit it.  The loyalty for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black is so deeply ingrained in her that she’d stop at nothing to make sure it’s honor is upheld to the highest. Merlin help the person who dares sully their good name. This of course means Andromeda, which brings out a heavy struggle in the two sides of Bella. Loyalty and Passion conflicting at once.

But let us not forget love. Bella has memories of her sisters that are not easily forgotten, even in throes of passion and madness. She loves them dearly as she does her master. She may not understand her feelings as love however. She might see it more as possession. They are HERS and must be protected at all costs. How she manages her love among her other traits as the war develops remains to be seen, but it is clear it will be a struggle for all involved. Nothing will stop her from her goals, not even herself.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Bellatrix uses sex as a means for power. Whether it be to sleep her way to the top or to get someone hooked on her extensive bedroom skills, Bella has no qualms about working what she has. She is bisexual with a heavy lean towards women. Women are so soft and delicate and so fun to break.  The sight of blood, dark and wet, makes her hot and she loves to break out the knives for a little fun. The feel of steel on flesh, lightly touching and teasing as it raises goosebumps on the skin makes her dizzy. But it all becomes clear once she plunges the blade into her unfortunate lover’s flesh. Muggles are particularly fun to play with, so innocent and trusting. You know that Bellatrix has been around if attractive young muggles begin to disappear at a frightening speed.

Bella does not feel love, per say. She feels possessive and things that she marks are hers are just that. HERS. Her sisters. Her master. All hers. The thought of her beloved Andromeda in the possession of anyone else fills her with rage. HERS. NO ONE ELSE’S. Andy will return, even if it means she returns to Bella in her burial shroud.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-A MOODBOARD-  http://www.gomoodboard.com/boards/P2Bme_9I/share

-A PLAYLIST

Starset- My Demons (theme song)

“I cannot stop this sickness taking over It takes control and drags me into nowhere I need your help, I can’t fight this forever I know you’re watching, I can feel you out there

Take me high and I’ll sing Oh you make everything okay (okay, okay) We are one in the same Oh you take all of the pain away (away, away) Save me if I become My demons”

The Offspring – You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid

“Slowly out of line And drifting closer in your sights So play it out I’m wide awake It’s a scene about me There’s something in your way And now someone is gonna pay And if you can’t get what you want Well it’s all because of me”

Nancy Sinatra- Bang, Bang

“Bang bang, he shot me down Bang bang, I hit the ground Bang bang, that awful sound Bang bang, my baby shot me down

Seasons came and changed the time When I grew up, I called him mine He would always laugh and say “Remember when we used to play?”

Lana del Rey- Ultraviolence

“He used to call me DN That stood for deadly nightshade ‘Cause I was filled with poison But blessed with beauty and rage”

Imagine Dragons- Thunder

“Just a young gun with a quick fuse I was uptight, wanna let loose I was dreaming of bigger things And wanna leave my own life behind Not a yes sir, not a follower Fit the box, fit the mold Have a seat in the foyer, take a number I was lightning before the thunder”

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

The following section should be looked at like a survey for your character. Answer them in character and feel free to use gifs. Or, if you’d rather, answer them in third person or OOC without gifs. Answers do not have to be extremely lengthy.

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

Skin is full of holes, you know. Did you know that? Little tiny holes. Openings. Entry ways. There’s a phobia for that, you know. Imagine. A fear of itty bitty little tiny holes. It makes one think of something sick. Infested. Infected. Trypophobia. Foraminissanguinem is my spell. Imagine a geyser. So beautiful. Now imagine three trillion of them erupting. Each from a point nearly invisible to the naked eye. So beautiful, no?

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you: There is one object I have always admired since I was a tiny pip of a girl. The Staring Glass Eye in Borgin and Burke’s. It’s quite a simple object. Unassuming. Small. Shiny. Yet it does so much more than meets…well, the eye. It resembles a glass eye. Of course, it does. A small, round, shiny glass eye with a blue iris. Pretty little thing. Would match my collection. I do so love the color blue. Once held, its owner is alerted to anyone or anything that attempts to sneak up on it. It sees through all things, solid or otherwise. Organic or otherwise. Such a useful tool, no? I believe I’ll inquire about its whereabouts. If lucky, it will remain at the store for my purchase.

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

None. What a ridiculous question. Next!

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

That I were not the very image of blood purity. I am Bellatrix Eris Black, eldest daughter of Cygnus and Druella Black, of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. The blood of my veins is that of a pure blood witch. My lineage is pure and superior. To declare otherwise is to meet the end of my wand.

WRITING SAMPLE

The echo of footsteps reverberated around the abandoned alley. The man, breathing heavy, pulled himself along the wall with one hand. The other was wrapped protectively around his broken ribs. Each footstep was a burning agony. Each intake of breath threatened collapse. Yet, he continued on. The safe house was near. Just a bit further and he’d be with the others. They weren’t expecting him, but he’d be welcomed. The information he’d acquired…he shivered slightly, feeling cold. Was it the chill weather or the rapid loss of blood that brought on the shiver? He couldn’t say. A high feminine giggle echoed somewhere nearby. He paused, barely breathing. It faded in the night, leaving a haunting silence in its wake. He shivered again. Must keep moving.

Behind him, stalked a predator. The metallic scent of blood wafting in her nostrils. She shivered as well, yet for a wholly different reason. A sigh followed by another high pitched little giggle. What fun! Stooping down, one long finger reached out to touch the crimson liquid splattered on the cobblestone. A pianist’s fingers, he father used to tell her. In happier times, that is. The blood was still warm. The coated finger was raised to the woman’s lips. A fine color to match her already ruby lips. A tip of pink tongue darted out to taste the salty liquid. Another sigh, like one offered to a sweet-talking lover. Oh, this was fun.

So close. He just had to make it. She was closer, he knew. But there was no rush in her pursuit. She knew as well as he, that he was not going to make it. A tear slipped down his face, falling to mix with the blood on the stone. If he could just get close enough. If he could just find some way to alert them, then it would not be for nothing. They needed to know. He needed them to know. Another step. He stumbled and then fell. Black spots danced before his eyes, blacker than the night. The sound of footsteps drew nearer until they were right upon him. She tutted, sadly, before straddling the man. Her weight upon his broken ribs brought gasps of pain. She nuzzled him gently. Her finger, still coated in the man’s blood, stroked his stubbled cheek. A smear spread upon it, barely noticeable in his already bloodied features. She smiled, which tore a sob from the man’s lips. It was too wide, too toothy. She leaned in close, her lips almost to his ear, and whispered gently. His sobs came swiftly. “Did you really think I’d let you go so easily?” She pressed her lips to his cheek before sticking out her tongue. She licked the side of his bloodied face and shuddered heavily. “We’ve only just begun our fun.”

[horrible-monstrosity]

Adventures in reviewing games I haven't actually played

so it took me something to figure out why i really didn't like danganronpa, and that something was 9 doors 9 people 9 etc. i'm totally not just salty that chihiro dies early, r e a l l y

to begin with without even comparing I can already say Danganronpa is visually... terrible. The characters look mildewed, for lack of a better term. The backgrounds are clunky as shit, weirdly proportioned, brightly colored eyesores. Usually I'm pretty down for thing in weird unrealistic reality-breaking styles, but this just looks like... chunky ass...

Next, the characters... aside from looking completely unappealing, they're all bizarre unlikable stereotypes. I remember seeing someone claiming that's the "point", that the characters seem like stereotypes and treat each other like stereotypes because you supposed to get to know them and then you care when they die, and also they barely interact with each other because only you know their true selves because it's a deep meaning thing about stereotypes, but... it kinda doesn't seem like they actually manage to get beyond that. And also then of course they eventually die and then they stop developing. But we'll get to that. On the other hand, compare that to the 999 characters... it's a vibrant cast of tropey but still fairly unique characters with nice eyecatching designs. You get a taste of their personalities immediately via first the main guy's stupid little nicknames for them all and then through their reactions to his little snap assessment of them. Throughout the game they banter with and bounce off each other and continue being vibrant lovable characters and it's fucking beautiful. You could probably compare it to Higurashi with the great contrast between the characters dicking around with each other and the deeply serious and horrifying moments... hah, no wonder I liked 999 so much P:

And the final problem is that, and this is gonna sound really fuckin stupid for a sec, it's that people keep fucking dying in Danganronpa. No, really, lemme explain. So first off characters are slated to die regularly not only to fuel the court thing but as a direct result of it. If you're expecting at least two characters to die ever chapter or arc, it becomes routine. Plus the fact that the murders are slightly contrived- just put a bunch of people in a building and be like "lol kill each other", and instead of outright fighting and rioting you get single distinct clean murder events? It's fucking weird.

The other problem is, if you introduce a cast of characters we're all supposed to like and put them in mortal danger, people're gonna want to see them all come out alive somehow. DR addresses this with... a deus ex machina where you can get the key to the fucking exit out of a vending machine at the start of the game and just fucking leave. lol whut I dunno, maybe that was in one of the other games, not the first one which is the only one I ever bothered to even try watching. But the point is, the writers/designers decided to pander to the audience, but instead of thinking it out and allowing you to maybe affect events somehow I don't fucking know they went with a fucking stupid magic plot token.

In 999 meanwhile, while there's indications you've taken the wrong path long before you get to the killin', the whole point is to get as many people as possible out alive, so that problem is nipped in the bud. Not only does that lead to a more satisfying good ending, the bad ends are a wild fucking ride of bloodshed and death and it's fucking amazding okay

I... I dunno, man, the things just bug me.

... But as it turns out, that whole thing was just prologue to me bitching about 999's inferior sequel Virtue's Last Reward!

So VLR is like... basically, it's like if the writers decided to do exactly the same thing as the first game but amped up to eleven, and put no thought into it beyond that.

Immediately out of the gate you can tell the characters just aren't up to snuff. Compared to 999, the group introduction is just... like, there? It's like, oh, here's a person, here's a person. It's pretty weak compared to its predecessor. And then robot comes in with unconscious Clover because why. As far as I can tell, there's no reason for her to be unconscious except le drama, and in exchange... well, her character introduction is even weaker than everyone else's. Because she's unconscious and can't do shit. Her character and the writing are undermined for nothing of any worth. I mean maybe they'll hack up a reason for it later, but I really doubt it'll be as good as say June collapsing with a fever whenever you made a bad choice in 999, for two reasons. For one it's just... a one-trait plot point. June's collapses are interesting because, as it turns out, she has a fever then because she's literally burning up in another timeline. But Clover is just... out cold. Just that. It's literally a boilerplate sitcom drama trope. It's nothing. And then secondly it only happened once with no apparent cause so even bothering to explain it would be a waste of fucking time. So I almost hope it's never explained or even referred to again, except that's still stupid so I guess we're just fucked either way huh?

After that, the game's own design prevents anything like the interactions between groups in 999 by forcing the cast off into minimal itty bitty little groups of three. Man, that just damages it. There's very little of the cast interacting with... well, each other. Yeah sure you get to see enough of each character individually throughout the story branches when you pair up with them but they really don't feel genuine as a group. It's really lacking.

Oh, but then we can get into something that's just the pinnacle-example of the writing problems with VLR... the door-choosing scenes. Just... no, oh no... Every single damn one of them... there's a time limit. The characters know damn well there's a time limit, but they manage to get right up to the very last second boringly agonizingly going over every single combination of who makes what color... then boringly arguing over who goes which what... one time they literally just turn to mister main character at the last second and tell you to choose and they all just go with it because lolwritinghowdoidothisshitfuckingkillme In 999 meanwhile, a lot of the group/door deciding scenes *start off* with characters laying out who they do or absolutely don't want to group up with, or with characters picking out which door they want, and *then* trying to work out groups... you know, the *characters* take precedence rather than the look at muh clever plot mechanics u guise did u know that basic colors? The main character being the arbiter because he's a conduit for the player's input was done much more naturally, usually due to you being the tiebreaker vote or the like. And yes, once they get through the doors there's a silly little time limit thing while they run around looking for the second bracelet thing, but it's given much less focus so it's fine. Ugh... it's just, it's so painful to watch this game trying to go through the motions of its predecessor so exactly (the characters must choose a group for the doors but there's conflict!!) and still failing so hard. It's not so much the same motions as it is following the same path by writhing along the floor and occasionally sticking its ass in the air and screeching.

Mechanically, 999's "morphic resonance" and its interaction with the player's ability to replay scenarios with different choices is... one-for-one replaced with a much more generic and obvious concept that's then massively overused. In 999 morphic resonance is very much a unique trait of the narrative- it's built up to with various odd stories and conversations, based on events both real and invented, leading to the climactic moments where it's first revealed to be the lynchpin of the entire story and then used to save day. Not to mention it's a concept I don't think I've ever heard of outside of the game. It's pretty fucking fascinating, I'm saying.

In VLR meanwhile it's just like... hey, guys, quantum mechanics! Every second of every day, it's quantum mechanics!... But guys, guys, did I mention... quantum mechaniiiiiiiiiiiicfs- meh. Seriously, I'm... almost entirely sure I've seen a branching paths story use quantum mechanics to be "meta" with the fact that the game you're playing has the game mechanics in it before. It's basically baby's first smart-sounding complicated science thing that everyone basically already has a basic idea of (entanglement and spooky distance and shit).

But to make up for underdoing it on the actual ideas front, they decide to just massively overuse it. Nearly ever fucking "ending" I've seen so far has been "ha ha go quantum fuck yourself in another branch before you know how to do this one". Apparently  only two endings out of go fuck yourself so many can actually be obtained from the start, and there's no real indication of which path you should take to get them (and it is *should* take unless you think perpetual bullshit and disappointment is some sort of necessary game and story feature). There's one fucking "ending" where the way out is to just fucking immediately go back a scene and watch it again. Just one. It's the one where Alice stabs herself, which happens in other timelines (or she tries to anyway) but only in this one do you do this thing because... it's a fucking misused overused gimmick! And look how clever we are in this single idea- what, polishing it? lol nope man go fuck yaself! aaaaaaaaaauuhghg- Also, you'd think *someone* would have thought "man all this quantum connectedness bullshit sure never happened to me in my normal life, I wonder what changed?" Again this isn't a problem in 999 at all because they use it sparingly instead of spamming it all over the place. Instead we get people wondering if the entire fucking universe outside of the box they're trapped in isn't the REAL shcrodinger's box *sarcastic mind blown ptcheeeeeww*

And then this is all just boilerplated on over the original Nonary game concept. Like, why does it still have to be the number nine? You're talking about quantum pairs and the binary between ally and betray, but the quantum entanglement system has to be awkwardly grafted onto the group of nine by having only some of them pair up and aaaaahksdjhguhdkhgkjdhgudrhg Why not change it to something relevant, like a power of two?

... No, seriously, let me just fix this entire setup in a hot fucking second. Let me introduce to you... THE BINARY GAME. So to fucking start off with you have eight characters, or fuck it have sixteen of them. If you want to "sequelify" things compared to the previous game just go fucking whole hog into it. Besides, having more characters might help with having smaller groups interacting at a time. So now your smaller groups are... larger. Anyway, you have eight or sixteen or maybe fifteen characters (because something zero indexing). They're quantum paired off and made to share their "destiny" or whatever the rabbit said (basically forced to ally regardless of how much they might dislike each other). Those pairs then pair off with another pair for the puzzle rooms who they can choose to betray/ally later on, forming a double standard of sorts that could be interesting. If you go with fifteen characters, the "zero"th one is the one missing (because of course). The 15th or whoever ends up without a partner has some dead relative/loved one as a backstory element and are particularly lonely or isolated, or are seen as suspicious by the others, but this is just thematic/a red herring and they aren't connected to New Zero.

And after you've got all that sorted have Alice-standin stabbing herself and you undoing it be the first significant quantum bullshit event that happens, effectively serving as a tutorial moment instead of shoehorned "look how clever I am u guise" bullshit.

After that, all the bullshit about "but what if humans are the real robot??" can be actually tied into the "binary" theme- New Zero's trying to make the "point" that if you boil a person's thoughts and feelings down to only two options (the prisoner's dilemma game) it supposedly becomes predictable, and all humans are just meat robots and shit. This is probably delivered in an extremely cynical way, like that people who'll always betray are proof humans are all evil and people who always ally are overly trusting fools. And people who'll ally or betray depending on the opponent or the situation, well they're just etc etc The player's ability to go back in time and change their choice is a "shrodinger's cat", in that no matter what you do the bunny will claim he knew you'd do that all along. And of course the final statement of this thing is that if you accept all the complexities of le human you'd see they're so much more than roburts. And then you just fucking play with the concepts. Binary numbers, binary options, binary pairs, quantum particle entanglement, going beyond two options like some quantum computing shit, do the gender binary by making Luna a trap, whatever! And for the endings you have like two or three or four that lead to "true" endings and are "to be continued" off if you don't get some of the bad endings and find out things first. You know, instead of the opposite of that.

Look, there, I fucking fixed it. fucking hell

What else can I bitch about?... Well, there's some just dumb shit like the one time some of them found a HWACKEY QHWACKEY AUSTRALIAN ROBURT that talked about deep philosophical shit with a wacky accent! Or it tries to, anyway, all it says is some boilerplate I'm-14-and-this-is-deep shit about how *maybe you're the robots* because... like, your arms move, or something. Seriously, that's it. And it just goes on and on for fucking forever, saying nothing of any fucking value in any of it.

Clover and Alice as far as I can tell are just there as like continuity-bait characters. Like hey guys remember that time we had a good game and these characters were there (or Clover was there and Alice was kinda this... thing)??? Remember how you liked them?? Well, now they're here, too! Effort done, everyone likes the sequel now, we can stop trying. It hasn't been covered in the game yet but apparently Alice's backstory is... fucking stupid. Like, the obscure fictional "all-ice" rumor from the original games that was an invented piece of deepest lore that informed the plot and feel of the game... uh now it's just some rumor everyone knows and kids tease Alice because she was kangs n Alice and shiet. It's like they tried to surpass the most obvious, boring, boilerplate thing they could do with that girl who appeared as a gag at the end of 999 and create a character truly out of nothing. And of course it doesn't fucking mean anything, it's just look at how clever we are obsessing over random shit from out previous success. Did Trigger write this game?

Everyone seems to fucking hate the main character. If you choose to downvote someone everyone gets bitchy at you about it, including Phi who probably told you to do it when she's partnered with you. But if someone downvotes you they're all just like "it's perfectly understandable to look out for yourself I don't know why you're upset lol". If anyone else (so far Quark and Phi) gets 9 post karma, which is what you need to get out of there, they'll just let them wander around because they totally wouldn't abandon us here lol but if you get 9 points they FUCKING MURDER YOU. And this one fucking baffled me for a while- despite loving to go on and on about the most useless of fucking shit all of the fucking time the game decides to not remind you that opening the 9 door kills everyone who doesn't have 9 points yet until fucking forever later (or, given that it's multiple paths, just at some completely random point in the story). So for the longest fucking time it just seems like they decide to kill you out of spite.

Oh, and everyone also seems to also fucking hate Dio. Like, wow, he gets kinda snippy with people and votes "betray" all of like twice in each timeline before people start physically assaulting him to prevent him from voting. It's not like people might get selfish and snippy when they're in a life-and-death situation, nooo, that's not totally understandable at all. Better yet the thing goes on about the prisoner's dilemma as this great big moral... dilemma- oh, do you choose "ally" or you choose "betray"?? oh man the choices!!- but when Dio is just like "fuck it I pick betray" and everyone just goes HOW FUCKING DARE YOU REEEEEEEEEEEEE--- (And yes, I've read the spoilers about him... it sounds absolutely fucking retarded.)

Speaking of which Dio's "I'm a ringleader lol" shctick seems like an entirely weaker imitation of 999's wacky character designs. 999 had characters who were eyecatching but not too over-the-top in appearances, which the main character raised an eyebrow at at the beginning but it becomes strangely normal as you go along. Sounds great, right? Well in VLR we have... ringleader guy for no reason, kid with cinderblocks on his fucking head, Clover and Alice looking FUCKING TERRIBLE... and then completely normal boring designs like old man guy. What the fuck? Seriously, in 999 you look at Lotus and in one second you know she's dressed as a bellydancer. You don't know why she is, but she is. In VLR you look at Alice and she's a... what? She doesn't even look like a stripper like Clover kinda does, she just looks retarded.

[idolapps]

OOC INFO

NAME/ALIAS, PRONOUNS, TIMEZONE:

Crissy // She/Her // PST.

RESERVATION: 

N/A!

MEMBER PROFILE

FACECLAIM: 

Lee Hyunwoo, my smol son.

NAME/STAGENAME: 

Han Kiseok and he doesn’t have a stage name unless you want to count the p l e t h o r a of things that idols, managers, facility members and higher ups call him while him while he’s running their errands, in the which case we have:

“Bambi”

“Kiki’s Delivery Service

“You clumsy, incompetent fool”

“Idiot Chicken Boy”

“Kibum”

“EXO’s Minseok” ( does anyone actually know his name? )

“Why did we hire you anyways?”

aaaaand my personal favorite:

“YA!!!!!! YOU!!!!!! WHERE IS MY COFFEE HUH??!!!죽을래 !!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!”  !!!!!（╬ಠ益ಠ) !!!!!

BIRTHDATE/AGE: 

Nineteen years old. July 8th. Cancer.

COMPANY/POSITION:

Intern for Crystal Entertainment.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 

N/A. Baby boy is not relevant enough for dis, smh.

TRAINING PERIOD/JOINING YEAR: 

I’m not even sure if this is relevant, but if it means anything, Kiseok’s probably been with the company for a few months or something? Half a year?

INTERESTING FACTS: 

//cracks knuckles (none of this is even important, but i thought it would be fun?)

He is the admin of several KPOP fan blogs on tumblr.

I’m pretty sure he broke his leg singing into some shampoo and trying to replicate Sweetheart’s choreo in the shower. RIP.

Kiseok’s very allergic to cats, but he saw this cat on the street and fed it and it wouldn’t stop following him, so he took it in. Her name is Pepero and he’s always sneezing and dying because of her but he can’t get rid of her because he’s soft.

He does not know how to drive and bikes to work everyday.

He lives with this super ornery old woman who runs a dress shop. He ran into her shop when he was fifteen trying to hide from these bullying punks who were trying to beat him up, but once he ran in there a few more times and she realized his home was so broken one could hardly call it a home at all, she took him in. She says she only likes him because he does her taxes, but she adores him … her mahjong buddies tell him everything.

Super bi, but honestly can only stutter his way through half a sentence before the words collapse on his tongue and he gets too flustered so, really, what’s it matter?

It’s really funny if you get him drunk because he’s super shy, but he’s also a lightweight and a really wild drunk. Don’t do it. ( Do it and videotape it. )

STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: 

STRENGTHS:

He has a really high IQ. His mind pretty much works like a racehorse even though his mouth stutters almost every word he’s ever said. Kiseok has maintained remarkable grades throughout the entirety of his academic career and has been called Google/Jeopardy because he is full of intellectual but useless information.

He is a notoriously quick learner because of this high intellect? Picked up a lot of the choreo for the trainees and the idol groups while he looks on and knows pretty much everyone’s names and stats???

I don’t even know if this counts, but he’s really, really kind? Like he genuinely cares a lot about everyone and is always willing to help people. He’s really sweet and lovely even though he is 100% nervous and awkward all the time. Basically he will go very far out of his way to help people.

REALLY GOOD DANCER!!!!! Singing is quite pleasant too, to tell you the truth, but really he is a very gifted dancer, like, if you saw him you’d be pretty impressed. Dancing is the only thing that makes him feel better and he’s looked up to idol groups like the ones in CE all his life and longs to be apart of them very clandestinely…but alas.

WEAKNESSES:

Kiseok has chronic social anxiety that developed from how poorly treated he’s been basically his whole life. It leaves him, at times, breathless and stupid, but he tries his best? 

Very, very shy as a result and prone to panic attacks. :(. He has a hard time talking to people and nervously rambles and stumbles his way through conversations. I can’t even imagine someone trying to hit on him, he’d die. 

Having that little faith in his abilities and being that freaked out of the times means that he had to throw away his lifelong dream of being an idol because he can’t dance or sing in front of people and so he joined CE as an intern just to be close to thing he loves. :(((((

HUGE PUSHOVER. He’s scared of disappointing people or them being sad so he’ll do anything you ask him to. It’s also his job as an intern to accommodate people, but he does have to do a lot of not so cool and strenuous stuff behind the scenes that you won’t hear him complain once about even if it’s killing him a little.

BIO/PERSONALITY:

THE FIRST LESSON YOU EVER LEARNED WAS TO HATE YOURSELF.

You were born too early, but for your mother it was too l a t e. The smell of death hung limply in the air: whodunnit? Fate in the hospital with a premature baby and case of internal bleeding gone awry. She looked like the crime scene but played the victim, leaving you as the murder weapon. 

Surprise: Y o u dunnit.

 Like the jaws of life, two hands bravely descended into the carnage and like Moses parted the vast, impossible sea of red, plucking you out and polishing your soiled body like silverware ( as if somehow cleansing your body would in turn, cleanse your s o u l . ) When they were finished, they put you in a blanket and her in a body bag. 

CRAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

You were too young to properly recall the the itty bitty gritty details…

…But no matter:  while you might not remember,  ( your father never forgot. )

…

THE ALCOHOL MADE THE PAIN BETTER, BUT HIS TEMPER WORSE.

You spent your childhood in f e a r, towered over, dominated, quivering, shivering, dodging acid words, punches, bottles…but you weren’t fast, you weren’t reactive, you wheezed and sneezed, broken before he could even lay a finger on you. And from your miserable existence in that ramshackle house, there was only one escape —

 …

YOU CALLED THEMSELVES I D O L S BECAUSE THEY WERE YOURS.

From this unforgiving reality, you only escape were these big stars that graced your tiny screen each day and you watched them like religion, You admired the way that they carried themselves; heads held high, moves exquisite, perfect, confident words always poised on their lips and after years of feeling like a lost puzzle piece, you finally found somewhere to b e l o n g. When you danced, everything was okay. Music soothed you like medicine and created a feeling that made you feel, for once, i n v i n c i b l e. Just like that you were hooked, just like that you knew

….You always knew someday you were going to be a [ k p o p s t a r ],

( “You think that Crystal Entertainment would hire someone like you? You're nothing, Dancer Boy. You're worthless. You're a l o s e r! And the CE doesn't hire losers.” ) 

BUT FIRST YOU WOULD BE A  [ L A U G H I N G S T O C K ] 

…

You soon found that school was no better than home. The kids in your class were viciously cruel and the bullying they administered left your heart and outsides black and blue. Up and down the uneven streets, they chased your cottontail as you ran huffing and puffing and crying and clutching your collapsing chest like a lifeline. They were right in a way. Rock beat scissors but anxiety beat e v e r y t h i n g. You were too nervous, too timid and could barely utter a few generous sentences before they collapsed on your tongue like forgotten civilizations. 

BUT WHERE YOUR LIPS WERE WEAK YOUR MIND WAS STRONG

…

You were always good in school — great, even. You skipped grades and your dad never cared, other people’s father’s handing you prestigious awards on stage. Your mind worked overtime and retained information like a sponge, arranging it in intricate and complex formations that dropped jaws and astounded people. They called you “nerd,”, “dork”, “geek”, “f r e a k” but now they would have to call you Han Kiseok, Staff Member of Crystal Entertainment. 

YOU WISHED YOU COULD SEE THOSE BOYS HORRIBLE FACES NOW.

…

It wasn’t ideal. You still looked at the CE entertainers with shiny, glossy, fanatical eyes, worshipping them like gods, but you were happy — blessed to just be their Ariel and a part of their world. So while they went out on stage, singing and dancing, you helped make everything work behind the scenes, oversized lanyard, talking too fast, tripping over your words, fetching pastries and turning out paperwork like t r i c k s

— because in this world there are two kinds of people:

Important People™

and people who get those Important People™ C O F F E E.