#i could have seen jumanji

[starsopinions]

The Minecraft movie........

I've been playing Minecraft for as long as I can remember. My brother and I would spend hours on Hypixel, our survival world, and building escape rooms for each other (the exit would no doubt be behind a painting). As a movie fanatic, a film about Minecraft sounds like such a fun concept with great potential yet from the look from the teaser trailer it seems like all that potential will remain unused.

Link to the trailer if you haven't seen it yet!

Plenty of people have already commented on how it looks, which let’s be frank, is terrible. This post, however, is not about the look but the story so here is a summary: The set design is quite nice except it does not look like any Minecraft biome. The people look extremely out of place, especially Steve who is supposed to be part of this world. Last but not least, there are moving, working windmills. Anyone who has played Minecraft will probably feel the same way about this, which is not happy. This is the main problem, the makers have maybe watched 1 Let’s Play. They don’t know the Minecraft experience. They haven’t played hardcore survival and felt the pain when you die because your elytra breaks, they have never gone mining at 2 am on a rainy night or have built a beautiful base they a proud of.

Which brings us to the soulless plot. For anyone unfamiliar, this is what Warner Bros. describes it as: “Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Henry, Natalie and Dawn—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve. Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.”

That made me throw up in my mouth a little. Minecraft is such a fun and unique game and this is what they come up with? Minecraft is a game about being creative and there are literally endless possibilities. This plot has nothing to do with the actual game and could be applied to any video game. Speaking of other games, it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that this is the exact plot of the movie Jumanji.

I’m secretly hoping they pull a Sonic and fix the movie at the last minute but I don’t think that is realistic. I don’t think all is lost though, Emma Myers (who plays Natalie) is, in my opinion, a great addition to the cast and is funny and talented. The rest of the cast isn’t much to write home about, unfortunately. As stated before, I do think the set has a cool look to it, it is just a shame that it doesn’t look like Minecraft.

Here is what I would do if I were in charge:

Firstly the whole cast is going. I would make it an animated film, Minecraft isn’t a realistic game and it doesn’t come across well in live-action. Steve and Alex would be the main characters.

The movie would have an entirely different plot and would either focus on Steve and Alex trying to defeat the Enderdragon for the first time, etc. (I think this is a bit basic but sometimes less is more)

Or it could be about the lore of the Enderdragon, Endermen, Ghasts, etc. and what happened to them and how they ended up where they are. There are so many theories about this online and it’s a side of that Minecraft hasn't been explored yet.

Another option could be about the villagers and pillagers. It would be cool to see more of their history and maybe Steve meddling to make peace or something in that direction. Think about how cool raids could be in movie form.

(see how I just thought of 3 way more original and fun plots off the top of my head when the writers couldn’t think of a singular one in months)-

A MUST for me is the classic Minecraft music. It should be in the trailer, in the movie, it should be everywhere. It is so nostalgic and everyone who has ever played Minecraft knows how iconic it is. (not saying it is not in the movie right now, I obviously haven’t seen it yet but wanted to include this point)

I think it could be cool if, for example, Steve would find a new biome or a new item and then we would get it in the game in an update. It would show a real connection between the movie and the game which is missing right now. (again not saying they won’t do this but I’m not getting my hopes up)

Besides all this, it would be amazing to see jokes and references to the actual game. Think forgetting to set your spawnpoint, inventory being full, etc.

And lastly, I NEED to see Minecraft YouTuber's references. I think they might do this, I’ve seen multiple YouTubers talk about the movie and I know Mumbo visited the set, so there is a possibility. Minecraft has one of the biggest YouTube communities, not referencing it would be a missed opportunity for sure.

I don’t think this movie will be especially bad, from the looks of it, it’s going to be a whole lot of meh. I do want to say that I have not seen the movie yet as it isn’t out yet, this means that a lot could still change (please please please). I will be in the cinema on April 4th with low expectations but high hopes, I have never wanted to be wrong more. Let me know what you think and thank you for reading all the way to the end <3

As always, this is MY opinion. Feel free to disagree but remember: It is a game about blocks, it's not that important (she says after ranting about it for like 2 hours lmao).

[mundaneskeleperson]

I feel like all the hate on Jimmy has, ironically, morphed into an obsession with him.

You don’t see Jimmy in a post that has the rest of the crew of the Tulpar, and everyone says “thanks for excluding Jimmy” - “good job not drawing Jambalaya” - etc., and when you do see him in a post it’s all “I’m sorry you had to draw Jimmy”. He gets a large wave of mentions on a post either way.

The large variety of nicknames and their use are also starting to paradoxically seem like actual friendly goofy nicknames instead of bullying. I get that people claim to do that in hatred of Jimmy, but I think people have so much fun making them that they get excited to try out a new nickname and therefore get excited to talk about Jimmy.

I’ve seen him called Jimbob, J, J*mmy, Junkyard, Jenga, Jorts, Jambalaya, Jabortion, P. Jiddy, J. Diddy, Jiminy Cricket, Jimmychanga, Jidiot, Juxtaposition, Jar-Jar, Jumanji, Germy, the list goes on further than I could write.

I’m not making this as some sort of callout post saying people are wrong for doing this and should stop, because I am also guilty of it.

I just had the epiphany that it’s ironic how much attention and focus Jimmy gets despite how much people hate him. It feels antithetical to that message of hate everybody’s comments seem to put out. Something like, “if we really want to punish him, shouldn’t we let him be forgotten?”

Nonetheless, I really think Jimmy is a very interesting character who should be studied, discussed, and yeah ridiculed. A lot of what makes Mouthwashing so insane mind-openingly good to me is its use of a not immediately apparent unreliable narrator, which is Jimmy. He challenges the notion that the protagonist is good and correct all the time. It shows the delusional mindset people like him have, which I think was really cleverly shown in the rant with all the quest popups coming up and Jimmy yelling about how burdened and put upon he is by all the requests he has to put up with. It suggests that maybe Mouthwashing isn’t structured like a game because that’s the medium, but rather because Jimmy thinks of himself like a video game hero: the main character enduring trials who’s in the right and just misunderstood. This mindset allows for a lot of “doing what ‘must’ be done” actions, which is apparent from the very first action of the game, where you are prompted “turn right” and nothing else in the face of a screen saying to go left to avoid a crash. As a player, there’s no other way to progress the game than to do the horrible things Jimmy does, and I think that’s symbolic of how Jimmy sees his actions too.

The nuance to how horrible a person Jimmy is mixed with a perspective that tries to justify his side of things makes for a really interesting story to analyze and shows how actual people can become like that in real life. Seeing “his side of things” ultimately doesn’t absolve him of what he did, but I feel like it provides opportunities for some people to try and defend him with that, which once again mirrors how in real life people try to argue that “we just haven’t seen this terrible guy’s side of things!” and may advocate for him when they think there’s some tragic backstory missing. Sometimes it’s just about the deeds that were ultimately done.

I just think if people get over fake excluding Jimmy some really good analyses and fan works could be made about the deeper parts of Mouthwashing without still glorifying Jimmy or whatever

This has really gone of the rails but I think I meant most of what I said.

[taraljc]

As a folklore nerd, I really enjoyed how hard Red One leaned into lore, right down to Nick shrinking to enter homes through the chimney or through keyholes, Saint Nicholas of Myra using Kavalame to summon the (all female!!!!) reindeer, and Grýla's mission. It was remarkably consistent and completely devoid of the Coca-Cola Santa that most of us are used to. Also wow Bonnie Hunt has not aged a day. I love that her code name was Partridge.

Also I am enjoying the trend of movies that let Chris Evans be from Boston and I know we've seen him play schmuckie guys who become better people a few times now, but I really loved Jack's relationship with his son and his self-awareness.

Also Dwayne Johnson is so genuine in everything he does that I can't help but enjoy him no matter what the project is, no matter how good or perhaps not so good the script may be. I think the first thing I saw him in was Welcome to the Jungle (aka The Rundown) and I remember really really enjoying it. I saw it on an airplane so maybe I didn't see the whole movie maybe I just saw the airplane cut but he was great.

I know he wasn't crazy about some of his early films but I have such a soft spot for The Game Plan and The Tooth Fairy. And the first Jumanji was just dead on perfect. The thing I like about him the most is that he is also so genuine in his day-to-day life. There's something about people who are so comfortable in their own skin but also always looking for how to be better. Better performers, kinder people, better parents, better sons.

I particularly enjoyed this GQ interview and maybe some of it is manufactured kitsch but I don't think so. It feels very real and direct and full of unexpected depth which is how I think about Dwayne Johnson.

Also the story about him basically throwing money at the crew just because he could with the weekly raffle is just awesome. That's the kind of behaviour you really don't hear about that often. Somebody participating in a $5 raffle and deciding hey what if I put in $50,000? That's life-changing money for people and he didn't do it for the press or to look good. he just did it to make people happy. imagine being a riger or best boy and The Rock just decides hey you know what I'm going to put $20,000 in the pot and suddenly you can pay off your student loans. That's crazy awesome.

Anyway Red One I thought was loads of fun and exactly is serious and exactly as silly as it should be and I will never turn down an opportunity to watch Lucy Liu kick the shit out of people while dressing fantastically. and JK Simmons was absolutely perfect and also surprisingly cut. Kiernan Shipka is probably the only week link and that's only because she was a little bit in over her head. That's the kind of part that usually goes to somebody like Charlize Theron who knows how to do the murder walk and Sally Draper is not quite there yet. But she might be someday and I enjoyed that.

[personificationofcreativeblock]

I've seen a lot of people talking about the Minecraft movie recently, so I decided to do my input too.

The basic Minecraft prelude is that the main character wakes up completely alone in a world with monsters and has to learn how to survive on their own. Honestly, this is just the perfect scenario for one of the best horror movies that could be produced this year, instead of that terrible scenario with a jumanji ahh atmosphere.

Over the years, many Minecraft fans or just people that had at least a bit of overall knowledge about the game have pointed out how Minecraft would be such a great/is a horror game. Many players have stated that they feel like they're being watched when playing Minecraft alone, and I'm not even talking about Herobrine, just the game's overall atmosphere. Minecraft is known for making you feel alone and vulnerable, in a world you don't know the limits of nor what you can find on said limits.

And don't even get me started on the monsters. Have you seem them?? Like

Obviously, some of the designs could use some improvement, but wouldn't these be horrifying sights to see at night in a place where you are completely alone and vulnerable?

Not only that, but what about the villagers? I like to imagine that in the world of Minecraft, the villagers don't even speak the main character's (aka the player's) language, being only able to make incomprehensible noises that you aren't able to decipher. They live in that universe since they were born, and see all of the absurdity of that place as something completely normal. Zombies? Oh, they're fine, they come here from time to time. Stay at home at night and you'll be fine. Unexistent gravity? Wait, what do you mean by gravity? Pillagers? Stay out of their way and you'll be fine.

All that while the main character questions their own sanity and tries to survive in a new world full of foreign dangers to them, the only fellow humans being people that don't seem to even be able to think for themselves. I can totally see them losing their sanity little by little while sucumbbing to the vile world around them that apparently really doesn't wants them there.

And in case they decided to insert the Herobrine, thinks would get even scarier. Imagine not only living in such a horrifying world, but also knowing there's someone or something watching you at all times, being completely aware of every single one of your movements, every step, every breath you take, and as if that wasn't already bad enough, that creature has your exact appearance, with the exception of its eyes being completely blank and having a white void where its pupils should be.

Do you. Do you see the vision.

(also sorry for any grammar mistakes, English is not my first language)

[phoenixriaartemis]

How did baby Sara get sent to the danceverses in your version?

So the shortest version to explain would be a Mirrored Walls from @libra-cant-just-dance(I highly recommend to read it it's really good)/Jumanji/Give that wolf a banana lore situation, actually the last one is where I got the idea

The longer version to explain it.. Well I'm gonna try my best to explain it cause I suck at explaining things.Warning that this is going to be veeeeeery long so sorry about it

So anyways,one day little Sara was in the living room of her house with her parents having a family game night with board games, video games and food that the family made together. They were about to put the game JD on the Wii(to put it more in timeline and everything even though during that time the idea of lore wasn't something that most people wouldn't think about it for JD to have) when the oven beep meaning that the food was ready to be taken out.Sara's parents decided to go together and they told Sara to put the game while they go to get the food.

Sara put the game and hit the bottom of the controller to start the game but when she did it the screen was fully blank.Sara called her parents but nothing happens she calls them for a second time and the same effect happen.When she was about to go to the kitchen and tell them about the screen suddenly the screen start to glitch and the blank screen was now a colorful one. Sara amaze by the colors of the screen went closer to it and touch it.She felt for moment her body numb and something pulling her inside the TV. She started to scream to her parents to help her but it was too late...

The moment she opens her eyes she was met by a colorful and cute view.All of the view was something out of a dream. Sara smile and giggle by the view. Maybe the TV scenario and this was all a dream that she was about to wake up? So after seen around a little bit she tries to wake up. She laid down and close her eyes for a moment. Excitedly she opens her eyes again to tell her parents about the dream but was met with the same view as what she thought was her dream. She tried again, again and again but it ended with the same view.

Sara started to be scared,where she was? Where are her parents? What was this place? She started to see around her again to see any other person there. The only thing that was there was a colorful lake. She looked down and she the fear inside her was increasing more. Her whole appearance was change! She only thought that the white in her arms and legs were gloves and leggings but no. Tears start to form in her eyes. She tried to call for help bit nothing happen. She croached down burning her face in her knees, sobbing and calling for her parents thinking that everything be was still not real...

Until she heard someone coming closer to her. She looked up and could barely see a woman coming to her. Sara panic and she tried to go away and hide, but a beautiful and calming voice call her. She looks back and now she could she the woman better. The woman look like a queen from some fairytale, or that what was she could feel about her. The woman has blue skin, middle short pink hair with a triangle in her head that Sara took it as her crown, and a beautiful gold dress with high boots. Sara knows that she didn't look like the queens that she heard from fairytale but the woman indeed has an aura that felt from a humble and caring queen.

The woman kneeled down with a warm smile on her face. Sara should have ran away because her parents always told her to not talk to stranger but there was something about that woman that feels like she was close to her.The woman spoke in that beautiful again about what was her name. Sara stayed quite. The woman smiles again and told her that she didn't need to be scared of her.The woman presented herself as Si'ha Nova the queen of the danceverse.Sara by education tells her name. The woman call Si'ha smiles again and tell her that her name was a beautiful name with a special meaning. Sara was curious but didn't say nothing even though her eyes glows a little bit behind the fear that still was prominent in her eyes. Sara saw that Si'ha caught her fear and told her that she wasn't going to hurt and she understand her fear of not knowing where she was and where was her parents,and even thought she still don't know how to bring her back home, she promise to bring her there and protect her at all cost.

Sara couldn't hold back tears and start crying. Si'ha hug her and tell her everything was going to be fine,she will find a way.After Sara calm down,Si'ha told her to come with her since she wasn't gking to left her there even if the place felt nice and wonderful.Sara was still unsure but seeing the situation nodded and went with her...or transported with her since a portal appear behind this two.The two enter the portal and Sara was met with a different scenario and two other person. A tall man with a beanie,blue beard and a triangle necklace around his neck.Sara was taken aback as the man has an intimidating aura and hid behind Si'ha.Si'ha giggle and told her to not worry about him, he was not going to hurt her as much as intimidating that he seems and if he does it she will defend her. Sara was still unsure but slowly detach herself from behind Si'ha. The man smile a little bit and had a little bit of nervous in his eyes but quickly remove it and he told Sara that he was not going to hurt her. He presented himself as Traveler and extend his hand for Sara to reach. Uncertain, Sara look to Si'ha which she nods and Sara accept and shake the hand with Traveler.

Si'ha told her to wait here and to talk with her son Wanderlust whole she and her husband go to talk about somethings.Sara stays while Si'ha and Traveler go away even though she heard something about other humans stuck in there too? But soon was met with an excited voice coming from the second person that she saw when she steps out of the portal. The person was a young boy probably two years older than her.He had black short hair that was sligh👀 growing a little bit, a pink shirt with purple shorts, blue skin like Si'ha and a triangle belt similar like Traveler's necklace.

The boy presented himself as Wanderlust and that it was nice to meet Sara even though he didn't know her name. Sara a little bit quiet said her name but was enough for Wanderlust to hear it.

Wanderlust told her if she wanted to know where she was and some cool facts about this place while dancing.Sara nod and Wanderlust start to tell her everything about where she was while dancing and inviting Sara to join her.

So they stay all day talking, dancing and telling things to each other and Sara opening to him. Si'ha and Traveler came later and tell Sara that they will bring her back home but for now she will have to stay with them until they know how to bring her back. Sara nodded and she was hoping that one day she will be back home with her parents but for now she will stayed with the family that will protect her until their last dance...

So well this is how she ended up in the Danceverse but also how she meet and get adopted by the Royal Family. Idk if I explain well like I said before I explain like shit and I'm not used to tell story. I would have write more about it but I think I will be ended up telling the whole stories and it's kinda late for me so I hope this kinda help

[breckstonevailskier]

"Jumanji" speculation

This is the synopsis for the upcoming sixth episode of Gen V (source).

My guesses are that:

"Emma goes to find Sam" - Seems like she probably returns to Godolkin's campus since we last saw her in episode 5 with Sam at the drive-in, calling the others to warn them about Cate.

"Marie, Jordan and Andre are forced to see things from Cate's perspective." My guess is this will be a limelight episode for Cate with a fair number of extended flashbacks that illustrate just how Cate came into Shetty's control, and also probably give us more Golden Boy as well as tell us just how Brink fits into this all (and why exactly Golden Boy killed him). Since Cate clearly is wracked with guilt about wiping their minds, it would make sense that she'd want to divulge everything she can to regain their trust. There was a preview shot in episode 6 of Cate's eyes looking pretty bloodshot, suggesting she restored all of their memories, not just Andre's.

"Dr. Cardosa makes a breakthrough with a mysterious virus, and Shetty makes a terrifying request with dire consequences." We're definitely going to be seeing follow-up to the scene that Shetty had with Cardosa in the Woods corridor. Definitely seems like he wants Marie's blood to perfect his virus that can control Supes (which I personally think might also tie in with why Cate was under Shetty's control, given her particular powerset).

Edison Cardosa: [Sam] nearly killed my family, Indira! He's far more trouble than he's worth, and Golden Boy is dead anyway. The point is, I'm done with Sam. He's not my problem anymore. I'm tired of babysitting psychopaths. Indira Shetty: Babysitting psychopaths is literally your job. Edison Cardosa: Those kids found out about him! Indira Shetty: Those kids have been handled. They won't be a problem. Edison Cardosa: Come on. You know it's just a matter of time before they find out about everything else we're doing down here. I am this fսcking close to perfecting the virus, a viable way to control them for good. But if they discover that? I'm not paid nearly enough to die for this shit. Indira Shetty: So you want a raise? Edison Cardosa: No, that's not what I... Indira Shetty: So why don't you tell me what it is you do want? Because we both know you're not going anywhere. Cutting up Supes and seeing how they tick is a skill that won't quite shine on your LinkedIn profile. Edison Cardosa: I want the girl. Marie. Her abilities are the rarest I've ever seen. She doesn't understand how powerful she really is. She's the perfect subject, could speed up my timeline. Indira Shetty: She is special. But no. You're not the only one interested in Moreau. She has a benefactor, and because of that, she's strictly off-limits. For now.

This will probably include some explanation as to what Soldier Boy might be doing in this show. But then there's the question of who Marie's benefactor is. It's probably not Shetty herself because I don't see why Shetty would refer to herself in the third person, so it's probably someone else within Vought or associated with Vought. Could be Victoria Neuman (since we will see her in person in one of these episodes), but I like the theory that Marie's benefactor is Stan Edgar. As New Rockstars pointed out, he's got a history of taking interest in orphaned Supes from Red River who accidentally killed their own parents (can't be a coincidence that we actually saw Marie's picture briefly on the computer screen when Hughie was at Red River investigating Victoria's past and uncovered her connection to Edgar; Victoria's and Marie's parents also died in similar fashion); he'd want a new asset in the wake of Victoria's double cross, and seeing as Edgar was the one who signed off on Payback betraying Soldier Boy to replace him with Homelander back in 1985, it would make sense for him to have a contingency plan up his sleeve (and be secretly coordinating with Shetty and the many other insiders he probably still has within Vought).

[sl33py-day]

Erised…continued

-After the events of last night, you searched up about the game. Only to find out that the game did indeed exist yet they banned it for reasons unknown.-

A/n: I have no idea where the fuck this fanfic went at the end. Gives me a bit of a Jumanji vibe. There’s more lore and stuff behind everything, I’m not good at part twos I have found out. This isn’t good, trust me

The room was dark with only the lights from the streets outside the window. The computer screen was black as it laid on the table in front of you. If you paid attention you could hear the cars moving around down the streets. But your to focused on what just happened. 

‘It’s a horror game, this is what’s supposed to happen’ you tell yourself, your mind tried to make sense of what happened. Giving the events a reasonable explanation. Like what you would do if you seen something paranormal. 

‘This is just how the game works.’ Taking some deep breaths as you look around your dorm room. From the floor where some clothes laid, to the window where the night stars shined. Your eyes landed on the clock.

“1:30 am….I should head to bed.” You whispered to yourself as you walked to your bed. Figuring that you’d deal with whatever happened in the morning. Maybe you could ask Xiao about the game? He knows a lot about video games, or maybe you could search up and see if anyone else had a similar experience?

With that thought you fell asleep, still kinda freaked out about the game. If only you knew….You should probably keep playing the game. If you’re smart enough maybe you’d realize that it has more similarities to your friends then you think.

The next morning was nothing new, getting ready for school and walking down the hallway to the commons area. Some people were already on the couch either reading or talking with one another. 

Walking towards the main building where all the classes were. It was still a bit early so there weren’t many people there. You headed towards the library, it was a really big and beautiful place. The roof had some glass panels that made morning sun shine in the room. Tall bookshelves were along the walls as it reached to the ceiling. There were some tables in the middle of everything, so you walked to one of the many tables and started to get out your laptop.

“Erised….RPG horror…game.” You said while typing out the words in Boggle. Though nothing that came up was really helpful. It had articles on other things like ‘Best RPG Horror Games’. You looked through that to see if there was any good info about Erised. But sadly there wasn’t. 

“Good RPG games…..Horror Games….Ah! I can’t find anything about the game!” Laying your head on the table in defeat. It’s almost like the game doesn’t exist! 

“I’ll try one more time then I need to go to class.” Typing some more words into Boggle and hitting the enter button. Only a few searches were completed. A few articles about the recent killings around the school and a few articles about the missing students. 

“Why is it showing articles about the stuff that’s been happening…….” You continued to scroll down the page looking at each thing that showed up. 

‘2 More Students Goes Missing At Teyvat University.’ 

‘A Girl Found Dead At Teyvat University, Police Suspect It was Suicide.’ 

“What’s this?” You stopped scrolling when an article catches your attention. ‘Police suspect that RPG Game Is Related to the Recent Killings.’ You were about to click on the link when a voice called out.

“Good morning Y/n!” Kazuha called out while he walked up to your table. He had some books in his hands. “Good morning Kazuha.” Closing the laptop so Kazuha doesn’t see the screen. The red eyed boy sat his books down on the table and pulled out a chair. 

“How are you?” Kazuha asked, you took a quick glance at the books he put down. Kazuha seemed to notice that you were looking since he grabbed the books and put them in his bag. Not thinking much about Kazuha’s actions.

“Just doing some research is all.” The H/c student stood up and started to pack up their stuff. It was almost time to head to classes, the library also got a bit dark. Grey clouds covered the sky and blocking the sun from shining. The librarians turned on the lights for when this happens. 

“What’s the thing you’re researching?” Kazuha said as he followed Y/n down the hallway. His eyes looked like they were hiding something, but it wasn’t shown due to the smile he had on his faces. 

The sky outside started to get darker, rain started to fall down and people who were walking ran to the nearest cover. “A game I found, nothing more nothing less.” Y/n responded to Kazuha’s question. Kazuha hummed as a sign that he heard the H/c students response. 

“Is the game Called Erised…?” Kazuha said, 

Y/n stopped walking even though Kazuha was still moving forward. He walked a few more steps before turning around to face Y/n. 

“Yes….It is called Erised. Do you know anything about it?” The sky outside got more dark, almost like it was night. Rain hit the windows in a harsh manner. People walked to their classrooms quickly, leaving the hallways empty. It was just Kazuha and Y/n in the hallways now. 

“Yes, I suppose I do. Do you want to know?” Kazuha turned around fully and faced you. You nodded your head, Kazuha began to tell you about what he knows of the game.

“Erised is banned in many countries, all for the same reason. People believed it was connected to a string of unknown killings and missing people that happened about 10 years ago. Because of that people banned the game and got rid of anything related to it. Videos, shirts, artwork, articles. Everything.” Kazuha took a pause before continuing to speak.

“There’s not much information about the game, or how it was supposedly connected with the crimes. The murders and missing people stopped when a girl bought the game. Apparently there was a rumor going on around her school.” Kazuha looked at the time before walking towards the classroom right across from where they stood. 

“I will tell you more at lunch.” With that Kazuha walked into the room. Y/n was confused, surprised, and slightly scared. How did they buy a game that was banned and never was meant to sell again? Was the thing they saw apart of the game? 

10 years earlier 

A girl sat at her desk, with her computer screen on with the Ersied game intro.  The room was dark with the street lights shining through the windows of the room. A opened game case sat beside the computer.

“Surprised that they gave me this game, even if they didn’t know they had it.” The girl spoke while the game loaded. Tevyat university college was were the girl was, but in the old building of Khaenri'ah that burnt to the ground later that following year.

Amare, the girl, put in the game and started to play it. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, she choose a twin and continued the story line. At first the game didn’t seem suspicious or anything, just a few laggy moments. 

Although, Amare played it for a few more days until the game started to get glitchy. It would freeze every now and then, the characters seemed to be looking at the camera of the screen. 

She was playing the game one night before going to bed. The computer was left in by accident and was running while the girl slept. That same very night, the Khaenri'ah building burned down with the girl in it. 

Some may think that this was the start of Erised becoming cursed because the girl died in the fire while the game was running. However that’s not the case, The game was already self aware and knew that they were just codes from a computer. 

The characters didn’t really care, they existed so there wasn’t anything to be mad about. All of them liked the person controlling them, in this case was Amare the girl. So they weren’t complaining. 

When Amare died…….they got angry. They all were angry for some time, from blaming the girl for not staying up longer to then starting to blame the people who started the fire. But after some time they got over it. 

After 10 years, the game suddenly appears in the game store near Teyvat university. A person finds it and buys it out of pure curiosity. The cycle begins again……this time is more of a necessity though. The game becomes self aware right away and gives hints to the person that they are in danger. 

When Y/n didn’t get the hints, Erised went to more desperate lengths to show that you’re in danger because of your own friends. The commissions that you have done, your friends have done the same thing. The quests in the game? It’s each of your friends problems with having you to themselves. 

The thing that made the game crack was when you accidentally left the game on to go grab something. Aether climbed through the window and went through your things in a hurry. Almost like he was looking for something, when he didn’t find anything he left. Albedo did the same the next day but had a knife in his back pocket that had dried blood on it.

That’s when they showed the ‘cutscene’ so they could outright tell you to get the fuck away from your friends. Why did the little you talk about frogs and ducks! Albedo and Aether had a frog and duck hoodie on! Seriously, they started to think you’re more stupid than the girl. 

————End———For now————

Taglist: @izayumi-chan @yuyuzi-ling @alextheknight707 @yandematic

Didn’t follow a plot or anything, sorry for it not meeting expectations and ending suddenly. Have a good day!

[thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles]

Upside Down OBX

JJ Maybank x fem!reader

Warnings: swearing, major character death, mentions of suicide, pregnancy, implied sex, descriptive death, strange-ass plot, I'm so sorry I wrote this and posted it on a whim, ooc Pope, bi! reader, a slightly-more-than-bromance relationship between JB and Pope, not completely correct upside down (it rains and it's hot), JJ and Sarah are siblings but it's mentioned once, it's fucking interesting, ladies and gentlemen, I'll probably go to prison for this, haven't they been through enough without the added trauma of this fic? evidently I decided no

WC: 2.4k

JJ stepped back from her body, raising his bloody hands, face lit by lightning.

The faceless creature cocked its head, gurgling menacingly.

JJ stood up completely, eyes misting as he looked down at Sarah. He’d just found his sister, only to have a dog-like demon rip her away.

“JJ,” A voice in his head whispered. “Run.”

JJ turned, blood-soaked Timberlands sliding in the dirt, and ran into the woods.

--

Nobody remembered how they got there, where it hardly rained, and everything tried to kill them, to where the air would kill them.

Sarah had remembered waking up in John B’s front yard, feet away from the giant oak, covered in gross slime that coated her hair. JJ was a few feet away, Kie on his other side.

“JJ!” Sarah crawled over to him, flinching as something shrieked overhead. “JJ, wake up!”

JJ wrinkled his nose, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up. He took in his surroundings, holding the side of his head, where blood flowed freely.

“Jesus Christ… Where are we?”

--

“You don’t get it, man! That’s two fucking-- two major losses in an hour!” JJ twisted his hat in his hands, fighting off tears. John B finished his beer, setting it by four other empty bottles with relish, his cheeks rouged with past, dried tears for his friends.

“Have a drink, J,” He popped the lid off another bottle, voice rough. “Take your mind off of it.”

“No, man! What’s wrong with you?! You’re supposed to be the man with a plan, JB, not the one who gets drunk off his ass at every minor inconvenience!”

“Yeah, well, here we are. Next thing you know,” John B dragged out, “we’ll lose the babies.”

JJ slapped the beer out of his hand at the notion, the glass shattering on the floor as amber-colored beer soaked into the carpet. “Get a grip, JB! It’s just us now! Kie ‘n’ Sarah’re gone….” He dropped into a chair. “This is a fucking nightmare. I want out of this game.”

“It ain’t Jumanji, JJ. We’re stuck here.”

JJ put his head in his hands. “I can’t lose anyone else, JB. Not you, not my girl, wherever the hell she is.” His voice broke. “Not like this.”

--

It wasn’t a game. Of course, that didn’t mean it was real. But it did mean that the new landscape was dangerous and unpredictable. The creatures that lived there would kill John B and JJ unflinchingly. There was nothing the boys could do to stop them.

--

John B screamed himself awake, a regular occurrence as of late. He had just seen Kie die again. Nightmares or flashbacks played in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

First, Kie, who killed herself in a fit of madness. Slit her wrists and left a bloody message behind on the bathroom tile: Get out, get out, get out.

Within an hour of Kie’s suicide, Sarah. She’d run from the Château in her grief and was killed, her bones snapping in the air by an unseen puppeteer. She had sobbed for John B as JJ tried to stop the bleeding, Sarah’s eyes unseeing. Her cries still echoed in JJ’s ears.

Y/n and Pope had been nowhere to be found, though alive they must be. At least, John B and JJ hoped.

John B sat in a puddle of sweat, eyes wide and tears cutting tracks through the dirt on his face.

JJ sat up next to him, dark circles under his eyes. “Who?” The word had become a staple of their day whenever the other was awoken with nightmares.

“Kie.” John B’s stricken look scared JJ, and he searched his friend for injuries. Finding him unhurt, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, adjusting his cap.

“C’mon, JB. Today’s the day.”

“The day we get out?”

“The day we find Pope and Y/n. They’ve gotta be where she used to hang out before she knew us,” JJ reasoned, pulling on a fresh shirt. “Her hideout in the woods, that shitty little tent that she liked to call her apartment.”

John B got up, too, moving much slower than JJ as they got ready. “And if… if they’re not there?”

JJ swallowed, pulling back the curtain to look out the window. “They will be.”

--

Y/n froze as the things chittered, feet away from the entrance to the clearing. She held her breath as one of them came within a few feet of the hastily crafted vine canopy.

The chittering and snuffling went away, stalking footsteps following, and she sighed heavily.

“Hey, Pope?” Y/n asked as she sat by the fire. “D’you think J and them are still alive?”

Pope shrugged, staring silently at the fire.

“I do. JJ and Kie, at least.”

Pope shook his head.

“Not JJ?”

Pope nodded.

“You think Kie’s dead?”

Pope nodded again.

“I think you’re wrong.”

Pope smiled softly. “‘Cause you had a crush on her.”

“Well- yeah, but we’re still friends.”

Pope looked up at her. “You want them to be alive. I get it. But I don’t think they are.” He looked around. “This place kills. It’s dangerous.”

--

JJ felt along the ground, searching for the tent flap he knew was buried amongst the foliage.

“Motherf--” The flap slipped through his fingers. He pulled back as the two people inside held their breath. A branch snapped behind him, the crack echoing in the dark woods. He thrust out a hand, silencing John B. He pointed at the curtain of leaves and vines in the dim red light. 

“You heard that, right?” Pope breathed, voice shaking.

“Uh huh,” Y/n cleared her throat, sitting upright in her sleeping bag. “But it’s gone now. Right?” There was a sort of besieged hope in her voice, perhaps how someone speaks when they don’t believe what they’re saying.

“Hey. It’s JJ,” JJ barely opened his mouth, wanting to remain quiet in his dangerous, unfamiliar surroundings. It looked just like home, but he knew it was different here. He heard shifting in the tent and saw a light flicker on, dimmed by a hand over the bulb.

“JJ?” The tent flap opened from the inside. “For real?” Y/n's eyes met JJ’s. Her mouth dropped open, hope lighting anew in her eyes. “Oh, my God.”

Pope muscled past Y/n urgently, searching for John B. Upon finding him, he let out a shaky breath and pulled him into a hug. John B’s arms wound around Pope's back, gripping Pope's shirt and grounding himself on the evidence that Pope was alive.

“John B-- God, I thought you were dead--”

John B squeezed Pope tightly as his eyes darted around for what felt like the millionth time. “Just relax, Pope. I’ve got you. Breathe. We’re going home.” His hands smoothed Pope's shirt, rubbing warmth back into his skin as goosebumps rose on his lower back.

The gentle pitter-patter of rain began on the dead leaves above, creating a disorienting crunching that none of the teens cared for.

“JB,” JJ stood up, shining the flashlight around the perimeter of the clearing. “Let’s go home.” 

--

Pope lay sleeping on the couch, still shivering from the rain. John B draped a second blanket over him and sat by him on the floor.

“Do you think they’ve seen what we have?” He spoke softly, bending the bill of his hat.

JJ shook his head, laying a gentle kiss on Y/n's temple. “No. But I’m sure they’ve seen things we haven’t.” JJ met John B’s eyes. “Equally as bad, if not worse.”

John B’s bright and carefree eyes went darker still with another shadow of pain and vengeance.

“I wish we could free them,” JJ mumbled, an altogether different person as he looked at the girl he loved. “Send them back where it’s normal. Get them out of this hell.”

John B agreed as Pope stirred, swiping at his eyes.

“If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?” John B’s words were meant for Pope. “I would take you there if I could. I’m so sorry that I got you into this mess.”

--

They wouldn’t get out. Not alive, at the very least. The creatures had followed the four back to their safe house, their perfectly hidden Château, and told their master. Now they would surely perish.

--

JJ swung in the hammock, eyes on the dark red sky above that promised rain again.

“Damn. I miss blue,” Y/n sat beside him, her weight dipping the hammock. 

“I miss the clouds,” JJ replied, taking her hand.

“I miss flowers,” Y/n gestured to the dead grass and wilted, dead daffodils around them.

“I miss the ocean.”

“I miss my mom.”

“I miss your mom, too.”

Y/n made a face, “My mom hates you.”

JJ laughed. “I miss avoiding your mom when I snuck in.”

Y/n smiled, then it faded. “Are they dead too, d’you think?”

“No, no, sugar,” JJ wrapped his arms around her. “No, I bet they’re still in the right world, the one with flowers, the ocean, and blue skies.” He pulled her closer. “The world where I fell in love with you because of how the ocean made your eyes light up.” He kissed her shoulder. “The one where our friends are, where your family is.” He kissed the back of her neck. “The one where everything is right and makes sense.”

“The world where you love me?” She whispered, leaning into him further.

“I love you no matter where we are, baby,” The air turned humid, and the rain was warm as JJ turned Y/n to face him. “You’re here with me, and that’s what matters.” He kissed her shortly. “Let me show you how truthful I am.”

--

Pope felt John B’s grip tighten on him in his sleep. He shifted, slightly uncomfortable. His mouth was dry, his tongue like sandpaper.

“JB,” Pope mumbled, disentangling himself from John B's arms. “I’ll be right back.” Pope wiped sweat from his forehead and left the room.

Pope stopped by the door to put on his shoes and went outside, taking in his surroundings. The rain barrels were full, and Pope made his way over, remembering that John B had told him about Kie's decision that the water was safe to drink.

Pope put his face in the barrel, filling his mouth with the salty-sweet taste of freshwater. Then he noticed a gray slate that folded into a grotesque flower inside the barrel, level with his reflection, and screamed.

Y/n and JJ jolted up in the hammock, eyes searching the property. John B practically hurled himself off the porch as the creature ripped into Pope's stomach, gorging itself.

John B stopped dead in his tracks, then yelled in anguish. He tried to charge the creature, but JJ stopped him.

“No, John B, no,” JJ shook his head, the color drained from his cheeks, his lips turning white. Y/n clutched JJ’s arm, sobs wracking her body.

“JJ--” John B’s eyes flitted from Pope to JJ and back again. The creature looked over its shoulder, chittering as it seemed to look at John B, blood dripping from its mouth.

“We can’t do anything for him, JB. He's gone,” JJ’s voice rose as he spoke, trying to convince himself of what he said. “It’s too late. But you-- you can still get away. You’re not dead yet, John B.”

John B clenched his jaw, turning away from Pope as tears pricked at his eyes. 

--

JJ’s horror was palpable. His even breaths had turned to shocked wheezing as he stared at the bump evident under Y/n's shirt.

“This can’t be happening,” John B mumbled. “You were given one job.”

“It only happened once!” Y/n retorted, eyes on JJ.

“No shit! I can’t believe you fucked around and got pregnant!”

“Look, dude--”

“You can’t-- there can’t be a kid here! It’ll die or give us away. We have to get rid of it--”

“You’re just upset your girlfriend’s dead!” JJ yelled. “I have the opportunity to do something great, like actually being there for someone who needs me, and you’re just trying to fuck it up because there’s no pussy left for you!”

Silent tears ran down Y/n's face. She reached out to John B.

“JB--”

John B shoved JJ and ran out the door, hurtling out of the yard.

JJ blinked, staring after his best friend. “Shit.” He raced after John B, following as best he could as the clouds darkened the sky.

“JB-- come back! You’ll die out here--” Thunder boomed, lightning streaked across the sky, hitting some twenty feet from JJ, who picked up the pace, footsteps falling in time with John B’s as he advanced. “John B, you’ll get hit! Please, man, let’s just go home!” 

Lightning lit up the sky again, and when the spots cleared from JJ’s eyes, John B was nowhere to be seen, save for a lone shoe, a busted, filthy Converse on the ground. “God-- damn it!”

Something hit JJ like a truck, throwing him to the ground as it stabbed through him. Thunder sounded again, lightning struck--

He coughed, blood spattering across his shirt, then fell backward, dead. Y/n skidded to a stop, her knees drawing deep tracks in the dirt as she grabbed at his body. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her chest heaving as she tried to draw breath. The cyclone came down hard and fast, surrounding her, and everything went dark.

--

The sky was blue once again, white clouds dancing across it. The grass was green, the flowers yellow and blue and purple. The ocean roiled with fervor, waves crashing against the beach.

The cuts healed themselves, blood pulsing under her skin and color rising back to her cheeks, making them the healthy pink they should be.

Y/n opened her eyes, blue meeting blue. She lifted a hand. JJ pulled her out of the bed of flowers.

“Hey, baby,” He grinned, glowing with a fresh tan.

“We were wondering when you’d get here,” Pope added, stepping up beside them. The world is as it should be. Blue skies, green grass, the ocean waving hello. But be careful,  or the world may just turn Upside Down.

[littlealeta]

The Remake/Sequel/Spin-off problem needs to be fixed

Many of us are tired of the remakes/sequels/spin-offs phase. Some of us might even be almost totally averse to them. But, I do want to get this off my chest in a proper blog, because I don’t think a lot of people have talked about how studios can scratch their franchise itch in a proper way. And also in a way that could’ve give them more respect than they get now.

Remake: Stuff That Actually Could've Been Better Or Expanded Upon

There are a lot of movies I’ve seen that have some clear potential underneath that never really got their chance to shine.

Examples being No Hard Feelings, The Boxtrolls, Ralph Breaks the Internet, The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. (They need to make another Thumbelina film anyway, it’s already been, what, at least 20 years at this point?) There’s also some anime that I think could use remakes, but Japan mostly keeps their paws off classics.

To explain why, I think these movies all have interesting premises and some kind of hook to them, but the execution turned out to be underwhelming. They're still fairly new, but maybe in another decade or so, they could be considered for a remake. But, really, I wouldn't mind hearing them being remade right now. As for expansion, something I’m thinking about is a TV show called Captain N: The Gamemaster.

I would like to see a remake or at least spin-off of that. It’s an 80s show about a guy who enters into a world of retro-gaming who can control stuff with a belt shaped like a NES controller. It’s been largely forgotten at this point, so bringing it back with newer games juxtaposed in with the retro games will also be a plus. The Great Mouse Detective also could’ve been made into a TV series.

Sequel: Stuff That Actually NEED A Sequel

I think a lot of people want sequels just to see their favorite characters again. But sometimes, that doesn’t always work, I mean look what we recently got.

All because of recent fan demand. The first movie, I believe, felt complete anyway.

There needs to be more sequels to anything that’s either ended on a cliffhanger, or could’ve used an expansion of the world and story.

Monsters vs. Aliens (another Dreamworks film and also highly underrated) ended off on a cliffhanger and could’ve used a sequel (the TV series unfortunately was underwhelming). Go back to the Madeline (Didn’t like the TV show for some reason, though but I did love the live-action one) or Eloise franchise (that had a ton of books that I don’t think got adapted). Bring those to the attention of the modern kids. Maybe go back to the Jumanji franchise WITH THE BOARD GAME and instead of being in a jungle, make it different like Zathura did where they’re like under the sea or in a desert or something.

For the spin-offs, I would kinda repeat the same things I’ve already said. Again, do spin-offs to expand the characters and/or the world. I can’t think of a movie or TV example that would work with this, so I’m just going to use a game example: Catherine.

A lot of the side characters in that one don’t get a lot of character development or depth and some of them had some interesting conflict and backstories that they were going through. I also would like to see the main character interacting with the other characters in more wholesome and complex ways outside of drinking, chatting and having conflict since we barely get any wholesomeness between them in the game. He can help out their problems and grow through each other. It would also show his bar posse as being more of friends than typical long-time acquaintances who just chill out in the bar every day.

I know studios won’t read this, but that’s what I wish would happen, even though a lot of it is most likely a pipe dream. But, you know me, it’s always fun to dream.

[quitealotofsodapop]

What would happen if Nezha and Ao Bing from Nezha (2019), Jiang Ziya, Yang Jian and the Lego Monkie Kid gang, got warped into a videogame, (like something in Jumanji), where they each go into the body of a famous historical figure, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, Charlamagne, Atilla the Hun, King Arthur, Pharaoh Thutmose III? I just think it would be hilarious Nezha as George Washington or Napoleon in the game. Nezha / George Washington ruling, with a bald eagle on his shoulder and a giant American flag (maybe paired with sunglasses). Though Sun Wukong as Napoleon would be funny too. Maybe Jiang Ziya is Pharoah Thutmose III? And Mei is Catherine the Great? I’m not sure.

Or something along the lines of that DC Legends of Tomorrow episode I watched. Like the demons go back in history and kidnap George Washington and Nezha has to pretend to be George Washington until the Lego Monkie Kid gang save the real George Washington.

I just got this from Bing Chat, never heard of these historical figures honestly, MK as Julius Caesar, Pigsy as Henry VIII, Red Son as Attila the Hun, Macaque as Hannibal Barca, Tang as Ashoka, and Sandy as Saladin, and Yang Jian as Charlemagne.

Ooh but Nezha as Alexander the Great would be cool. Mei as Joan of Arc. Just like folk heroes that are real or could have been real (but not confirmed), world conqueror’s and stuff like Boudica, William Wallace, Constantine, Augustus Caesar, El Cid, Sparticus, Sundiata Keita, William Tell. Abraham Lincoln? Maybe King Leonidas (MK), and they would imitate the THIS IS SPARTA meme.

I honestly havent seen Jiang Ziya to answer things about him yet but the story sounds very interesting.

I can imagine some historical shennanigans occuring because of a time-travelling artifact Sun Wukong had in his treasury.

Also the LMK cast might have trouble passing themeselves off as different historical figures depending on how they looked.

Except maybe Pigsy as Henry the VIII. The english court would see a pig-man in the king's clothes and think; "Huh. Henry's looking thinner."

I love the idea of MK yelling historical movie memes depending on where they are XD

[radioactive-dazey]

The most glaring obvious problem with the minecraft movie trailer is that it's typical.

I've been seeing genuine shock that this is the product being spoon fed to us. But really, it's NOT that shocking. It's safe. It's stupid, but for executives, it's safe.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to the sonic film, or the Mario bros film, but those films were safe too. They do just enough to establish the world and make room for sequels but don't go too far as not to alienate consumers who, say, don't know Sonic the hedgehog or Mario. You could boil down both of these films main story and describe them as "beloved main character enters a wacky world and defeats an evil." This is not a new premise, AND YET THESE FILMS STAND OUT WHEN COMPARED TO EACH OTHER. Sure they can be predictable, and hit familiar plot beats, but they stand out because they did it well, and have their own tonal and execution differences

But this? The scales have been tipped too far. They went so far as to make a "satisfying product" for people who don't know minecraft, that it has completely alienated the fans that do. They took a safe premise, aka the Jumanji concept, and put a fresh layer of blocky paint over it and expected everyone to be happy. But I don't think anyone is. It just looks so BAD that nobody is going to see this. Nobody SHOULD see this

I'm honestly in such disbelief that I hope this was some well thought out prank. That the next trailer will be the "real one" and actually show a really good premise. The concept they provided was insulting 😭

[gryph-the-condor]

Minecraft movie post

Sorry it been so long I got cold feet on posting anything FNAF or murder drones related because I feel like I missed the window of opportunity. I digress

I wrote this in a YouTube comment about the Minecraft movie and what plot I would give it instead.

I wrote this at 2 am

I am not okay

Anyways enjoy!

Welp im going to ramble on about how to fix the plot cus right now it seems like a generic

*Main cast get sucked into a fictional world* a Jumanji and or isekai

The beginning

Minecraft gods or watchers as some might call them commune about the impending calamity.

_The dream needs new dreamers_

*_someone to mend, to resolve this story_*

*_for it doesn't have beginning or middle, nor end_*

_an story yet to be written what a delight_

(Opening prologue it could be used for the ending :p)

*Player 1 and 2 spawn in*

Steve and alex discussed what just happened, talking with Minecraft god.

Tasked with preventing this great calamity and ultimately freeing or resolving the end.

But first they must survive the (ps they would probably be in hardcore to add stakes)

Steve builds dirt house alex builds a wooden house

However monsters break the doors down and they resort to hiding in a dirt hole.

*Story option 1 cave crawlers*

*Story option 2 village and pillage*

*Option 1*

The duo dig straight down because of panic and end up in a cave system,

they mine for ores, have some shenanigans in a lush cave, maybe befriend an axolotl.

The duo find an ancient city and learn about the ancient builders who created the calamity (Ultrapowered wither) driving the builders underground or to other dimension. However those builders met their end one way or another. Their portal shenanigans now risk all dimensions as the ender Dragon was trapped intentionally in the end to stop it from destroying everything. The warden being a product of interdimesional travel.

They awakened the warden

They find a deep dark mineshaft.

Subsequent minecart chase seen maybe even with a warden for spice.

*Option 2*

They dig themselves out of hole in the day, maybe tame a wolf and find a village.

The villager ask for help as they are being raided. The duo fend the pillagers of getting a totem of undying in the process and are the heroes.

Get some down time maybe throw in how broken trading is.

They ask about if they know anything about solving a quest. The cleric or librarian explains the mostly forgotten history of the ancient builders, creating monoliths and structures, however curious or foolish they open portals to the nether and create the wither thinking it was a protector like an iron golem, the buiders were driven out forced to other dimensions where they met their ends one way or another, risking the ender Dragon escaping its prison the end

*This is where the plot merges again*

Steve and Alex now know they must make eyes of ender by going to the nether and find the strong hold.

With the remains of a ruined portal they enter what can only be described as hell.

They are close to a fortress and bastion. Shenanigans insue. Pigstep moment. some miracle Steve and or alex angered both the wither skeletons and piglins and the two groups fight while Alex and Steve grab the eyes.

They return to the overworld and follow the eyes

(Journey montage)

They made it through final stronghold.

They make their way through

Music (other side playing, at least it's not disc 11)

The portal

The threshold

The end..

Yet to be written.

Inside they are in the darkness the looming dragon the purple eyes starting

(Option 1 moment)

One of the duo is knocked into the void... Almost certainly to their demise. However a swift ender peasl throw and they are back on the island and the battle continues...

(Option 2 moment) The dragon attacks knocking one of them of the tower, to their death however the totem revives the fallen player and the battle continues...

The dragon takes the last bit of damage and dies leaving an egg in its place. (They take the egg)

Now their journey has come to an end.

Steve and alex jump into the portal a scene similar to the prologue begins (its the end poem)

_"And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the universe was love."_

_"you are the player."_

*_Wake up_*

And they wake up at home. Questioning if it was a dream but no the egg the egg is real the end is real. They did it.

They made an end a happy one. One that can be continued. Into other adventures, stories _dreams_

*The end*

And that's where im going to leave it. Oh god this was long but fun at least this is here for my own amusement.

:)

Final thoughts: so if i were to choose music composer animation ect. Make it an animated film in the style of Minecraft trailers. The music composer/composers should be a collaboration between Hans Zimmer and C418 i think it would be amazing.

As for how the movie is currently looking like well im not optimistic. Maybe they might pull off a sinic movie and tern this Trainwreck around whos to say

Sorry for any typos weird grammar as I wrote this at 2 am. So I'm not all their. Anyways.

Yeah.

[soundwave-macaque]

So I just watched the minecraft movie teaser and boy do I have opinions.

Lets be honest with ourselves its gonna suck. Anyone who's seen the trailer knows it is going to be hot garbage. But I think that the worst part of this movie isn't even going to be that it is live action, I think the story is going to be the worst part.

Don't get me wrong, it should absolutely be animated in a style similar to Element Animations Villager news. But the story seems to be (from what I can tell) an isekai esc comedy movie about people entering the world and solving this big war with the Piglins. I feel like this is the wrong approach to minecraft as a whole. Most minecraft fans probably don't even realize the games have lore, so that should not be the focus of the movie you are making TO ATTRACT MINECRAFT FANS.

I think a better story would have been something closer to a new players experience, taken a little more seriously of course. I would have much preferred to see a serious movie about a lone individual surviving in a harsh world that they do not understand. Watching our protagonist struggle to survive would be so much more engaging then this jumanji-but-minecraft ass movie.

You could probably still have Jack Black in it!

I don't know, I'm just very disappointed in what they have delivered. Personally I could get past the terrible live action CGI if the story was good, but I can already feel that this will be trying and failing to be funny and end up just being painful to watch.

[heard-nsfw-is-back]

Part 2 of jumanji!steddie. Had a hard time deciding if Eddie should be in the trailer and I'm also trying to see which kids should be the two kids in the movie but I'm thinking Eddie gets a house. Idk fukin plot convenience. I make the rules

Eddie slumps in his house. It's a decent size. Too rich for his blood but the pride of his father so, whatever. He might just pack a bag and stay with his uncle tonight. The thought of seeing his parents right now sends a familiar ache in his chest. He sets the game on the table in their living room. "Eddie? Are you home?" The voice of his mother scares him and he jumps to hide the board under the couch. "Uh.. yeah. Yeah mom, I'm home!"

He scrambles up to meet her outside in the hall. Hoping that she won't think to go in the living room and see what new thing he dragged in the house. It wasn't until she was grabbing his face and gasping, that he remembered the cuts and bruise he had. Her frightened and worried face was nearly worse than his father's stern disappointment.

He brushed her hands off his face. "I'm ok mom, really." "Was it that Billy again? I told you to stay away from him!" Eddie scoffed and pulled away. "Trust me. I did not ask for this." His mother rolled her eyes. "Well look, dinner is on the table. Your father and I are going out tonight." She pauses and grits her teeth. "He.. hasn't seen these yet has he?" Eddie shakes his head. She nods a small curt thing. "Probably for the best. He has some good news for you!"

The 'good news' was his father was sending him to boarding school. Eddie almost lost his mind. The pain from his face, the stark realization that his father just didn't want him around, and his mother's refusal to take any side made him make up his mind. He was going to run off. Meet up with his uncle and try his damndest to live with him. Anything was better than here. At least Wayne would want him around.

His parents slammed the door shut behind them and Eddie ran upstairs to pack just enough to get him through the week. Some comics, snacks, a couple of clothes and magazine with the coolest guitar he'd ever seen. He wanted it for Christmas but his parents were strict about noise pollution. Whatever that meant.

He ran up to the front door and swung it open to see Steve Harrington standing there looking probably as surprised as Eddie felt. "Um. Hi." Steve smiled and Eddie felt almost all of the day's worries just melt away. It was amazing what that smile could do to him. "I uh got your bike for you." Steve pointed to the mess of wires and basically scrap metal hanging together by a prayer and bubblegum. "Steve you can't be here. If Billy finds out, I'm dead!"

Steve huffs and walks in anyway, dragging the bike behind him. "Billy and I are done. He's so weird. He's jealous about everything. Besides. You're my friend. I'm allowed to have friends." Eddie closes the door behind him, trying to come up with a way to get objectively the prettiest boy in the state out of his house. What has his life come to? Steve looked at Eddie. "Did Billy do that?" Steve bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I'll talk to him in the morning." Eddie waved his hands. "No no no! I'm good! Besides I don't want him getting pissed. Again."

Steve walked up to him and looked at the small suitcase in Eddie's hand. He looked like he was going to say something but they both shrieked when a loud drumming interrupted them. Eddie recognized it and ran over to the board. Steve slid next to him and Eddie opened up the board to see a small game. Four home places and a small glass dome in the middle with paths winding between them. Steve picked up two pieces. An elephant and a bat. "Cool minis!" Eddie gushed and only winced a little at Steve's face.

"Nerd." Steve chuckled and Eddie played with his lip trying not to blush. Steve went to smack his hand off before it could bleed again and dropped the pieces by accident. They spun and went to the home spaces. Steve grabbed Eddie's hand, he just squeezed it and Steve took a steadying breath.

Oh we go baybee I'm so excited to finish the next part but I'm very sleepy (it's 1 am and I'm like 60 years old it's time to honkshoomimimimi)

[autisticempathydaemon]

What song are you fixated on at the moment? - A Nonsense Christmas by Sabrina Carpenter, it fits the season, its playful, and I love all the innuendos in it

What is your Enneagram type? - 4/4w3

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays? - I prefer mid-size ones like an hour or less and usually about true crime, natural disasters, climbing/diving expeditions gone wrong, etc.

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. - I never had an imaginary friend but I was big on playing pretend especially around like the Warrior Cats books or pretending to have powers.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? - Noise cancelling headphones, sleeping mask, ASMR, but I play game playthroughs on my TV.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? - I've changed my name before and the two names I go by currently are tied to characters that really resonate with me and that I feel a connection to.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? - David's Hoodie Audio, it was the first one I ever heard and I latched onto the character and the audio kind of aggressively. That audio has gotten me through a lot this year.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? - Ollie! I love him, don't get me wrong, but for me something about him is kind of boring and I don't find myself going back to his audios at all.

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. - The Twilight movies as cringe as that is. They came out during a really shitty time in my life and they became a comfort, I've seen all of them more times than I can count.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? - Honestly, Damien. I relate to his story in a lot of ways and just generally as a character plus he's so ride or die I feel like he'd be a great friend and wouldn't be hard to relate to.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? - Usually random TikTok drama that I've come across and/or random political things going on currently.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. - 7/11 Slurpees (Coke and Cherry mix) and Munchos (best potato chips ever)

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. - I have an everything type playlist with all the music I like and it's the one I've been cycling through the most. It's fun to hear how all my odd tastes come together in one playlist.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? - Currently? Boyfriend ASMR I suppose. It's really hard to explain to other people what this thing is without sounding at least a little odd - (I had to explain it to a new therapist and could not figure out how to do it without sounding a little insane.)

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! - My favorite color is pink, my favorite sweet food is chocolate, I use emoticons a lot :3c and I love my friends above all, they've gotten me through a lot and I really value community.

The Enthusiast is an interesting, difficult to match type because I could pair you so compatibly with so many people. Ultimately, it was vibes and the color pink that led me to pair you with Gavin.

Enthusiasts are characterized as creative, outgoing, and unique, the kind of person you don’t forget. I love the idea of pairing Gavin with someone like that because that’s kind of how he is too; he’s best with someone that has the same star power, the same je ne sais quoi to stand out next to him. Not just that but I love that y’all are very interpersonal people with friends being so important to you both; that’ll be perfect considering how the DAMN group are not just his friends but his family.

Y’all would honestly be such an it couple around Dahlia maybe with some cute matching outfits, some pink statement pieces that you and Gavin swap because he’d be a fashionista and a thief that way. When you’re not found at the 7/11 with your respective Big Gulps and Slurpees, you’re chilling at home, giving Gavin a pop culture education because if he hasn’t seen Jumanji, we can’t be sure he’s seen Twilight, and you’d have to fix that.

Song:

Yes, I'm young for a teacher, I'll teach you what you don't know/ (I could teach you the things that you wanna know)/ But I can't give it up all at once, you would overdose/ Don't you bring any bull in the room tonight/ It's a whole new rodeo/ It could be you and me/ But you know that I'll steal the show, oh (yeah)

One, it makes sense for me to give you a Sabrina Carpenter song in return, so that’s fun. Two, I love this song in particular because I could storyboard a whole movie scene set to it of you and Gavin in a Dahlia club, dancing, outdoing one another, just killing it with the romantic and sexual tension of the song like it’s a duet. I have a vision, okay?

Runner-Ups:

Asher was a really close runner-up for you because community and pack are so important to him too as Shaw Beta, so you would have been a good mate for him. Vincent is a runner-up not just because it’s fun to pair Twilight lovers with vampires but because he also finds so much cheesy comfort in those movies; he loves them.

note: whoever this is for and you know who you are let’s pretend this is the first and only time I posted this ask hahaahhaahaaaa I’m sorry bless you

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[mortemoppetere]

TIMING: pre-ireland LOCATION: the jones house PARTIES: @vanishingreyes & @mortemoppetere SUMMARY: xóchitl comes over to watch a movie with emilio. they're both having a bad night. CONTENT WARNINGS: alcoholism

She’d only loved a select few people in her life. Not in any teen-movie-angst sort of way, but just through simple fact. It was easier to leave people behind when you didn’t love them. It was easier to not get sick at the thought of them getting lost or dying. Xóchitl wasn’t cruel, any loss or death was terrible, but when you weren’t close, loss was at least hypothetically easier. Still, point was, she didn’t love easily, and it wasn’t some angsty-moody teen heartbreak kind of ‘lack of love’. It wasn’t even a lack, not exactly, anyhow, just a careful culling of those she could care about.

However, she loved Emilio. In a way she hadn’t felt in a very (very) long while. In the sort of way that you loved a sibling, even though she’d never had one. Besides, it was more than that. It wasn’t platonic, and yet in some strange way, despite the regularity with which the two of them had slept together, this was one of her most platonic relationships. Go figure. Xóchitl had decided not to focus on that right now, to just enjoy her time with Emilio, and for Esperanza and Perro to spend time together. So she waltzed right into his and Teddy’s home, dropping a bag of Chinese take out on the counter. 

“We’re watching Jumanji. The original. Not the over-hyped remakes that I’m judging without actually having seen them. I – Mackenzie liked that movie. It’s fun and silly and sort of stupid, but I think you should watch it. It’ll be good. Plus, I have food and I know you’ve got alcohol somewhere in here, and we can day drink and have fun. Celebrate you. Us. Whatever. Okay?”

—

The seasons were changing. It wasn’t quite as bitterly cold out, a shift that his bad leg seemed grateful for. The trees were sprouting leafs again, the world looked a little less dead. Emilio wondered if that meant he ought to feel a little less dead, too. He didn’t. He still felt heavy, still felt tired in a way that had very little to do with the lack of sleep he got. There was still a knot in his stomach, still a weight on his chest. It had lived there for years now without moving, a cruelly static thing. It made Emilio feel stationary, too, sometimes.

Today, he was laying on the couch in Teddy’s living room, staring up at a spot on the ceiling. It was just him in the house today. Teddy had said something before they’d walked out the door, probably to make sure Emilio knew where they were going, but he felt like he was listening from underwater, straining to make sense of a muffled world. Wynne was at work or with Ariadne or something, and even Gabagool seemed to know better than to bother Emilio when he was like this. 

So, when the door opened and the smell of food wafted into the room, Emilio assumed it was Teddy. It wasn’t exactly unheard of for the ex-demon to recognize the slayer’s ‘bad days’ and try to combat them; if anything, it was something of a given for them to do so. It was something of a surprise, then, for Xóchitl’s voice to ring through the living room instead. Emilio forced himself into a sitting position, nostrils flaring briefly at the pain that shot through his leg as he shifted. “I don’t know that word,” he said slowly, wrinkling his nose a little. “And I’m not very good at movies.” But… Mackenzie liked it, she’d said. Emilio softened a little, getting to his feet slowly and painfully. “We can try it. You want whiskey, or tequila?”

—

One of the things that she’d been drawn to about Emilio was that neither of them needed to be happy. Not that she didn’t get joy out of spending time with him (she did, and she liked to think he got joy out of spending time with her), but that there were no expectations for either of them to be happy. There never had been, and then when they’d both discovered the immeasurable loss that each other had gone through, things fell even more into place. Still, that didn’t mean that she didn’t want to be happy.

She just didn’t know how good she was at it.

But she could only find that out if she experimented, and Xóchitl figured Emilio was a safe sort of person to experiment with. Siobhan would’ve been too, probably, but Emilio was her top choice. Plus, even with him moving into his partner’s house (which, adorable), his was the place she could most easily navigate to. She tried not to think too much about that. That would only serve to make her lose her appetite, because that would send her down the path of thinking about how she’d let him and other people close, which meant she’d probably lose them, which meant…

Xóchitl shook herself out of it. At least partially. 

“I’m not great at movies either. So we can always turn it off. But I liked it when I was little, and it’s – well, soon enough it’ll be – you know,” the anniversary of her death, “and it felt like something maybe I should do? Just because I haven’t done it in years.” She grabbed a few plates and spooned some chicken onto hers, followed by lo mein. “I want both, but let’s start with whiskey, yeah?”

—

Absentmindedly, Emilio twisted the ring around his finger. He thought of Teddy on Flora’s birthday, of all the ways they’d tried to distract him from the crushing feeling of loss. The motorcycle, the trips around town to do silly, mindless things that would allow him some reprieve from the thoughts in his head, the ofrenda in the craft room… Hadn’t it made him feel a little better, in spite of everything? Hadn’t it made it easier to breathe, just for a moment?

He knew he couldn’t do all of that for Xó, though she deserved it far more than Emilio had. He wasn’t like Teddy, wasn’t capable of big, elaborate plans and gestures even though he thought he might want to be. But he could sit with her, he thought. He could make room on the couch, he could get the whiskey down from the cabinet, he could try to watch what had been Mackenzie’s favorite movie even if his legs would get restless and his knee would bounce. He didn’t think Xó would mind it much, anyway.

So he made his way into the kitchen, pulled open the cabinet that Teddy had lined with bottles and bottles of his favorite whiskey. He pulled down two; he thought they’d probably go through them both before long, given how these things usually went between them. 

Making his way back over, he held up the bottles to show her before taking them back into the living room and placing them on the coffee table. “You’ll probably have to explain some things to me,” he admitted. It wasn’t a confession he would have made to many people, but Xó had found herself on the list pretty effortlessly. “I don’t always understand movies, I think. They make no sense sometimes.” Suspension of disbelief wasn’t his strong suit.

—

The staggering weight of loss felt like too much, sometimes. Which was why she’d ran out of her classroom in a panic back in high school when they’d read The Lottery – even though she still had gone back to Shirley Jackson, it was never that story. Never. Rocks crushing people for the hell of it, as dictated by townspeople? Not when Mackenzie had been murdered by a rock and when her grief and loss felt as heavy as a boulder. Xóchitl took in a deep breath, trying to refocus herself on the present and all the many benefits that came with living in the moment.

Right now, the top two of those were a good friend and alcohol. It was important that Emilio was a good friend, the quality of the alcohol wasn’t so important. Even if it was complete shit, Xóchitl could practically guarantee that she’d had worse. Besides, there was something oddly satisfying about truly awful booze. The sort of satisfying that she figured Emilio would understand perfectly, without her even having to say anything. That was one of the many reasons why they worked – as friends, of course – not that Emilio wasn’t a perfectly viable romantic candidate but he had someone and Xóchitl didn’t feel any sort of romantic way toward him.

She watched him walk toward the kitchen and she settled onto the couch as she waited for him to come back. Soon enough, he was back, and with two bottles, and that much brought a smile to Xóchitl’s face. He knew her just as well as she knew him. Intimately, in a strange and different but not altogether bad – not bad at all – way.

“Looks perfect.” She took a bite of her lo mein. “We each get our own, right?”

To his comments, she nodded. “They don’t make sense a lot of the time. You can ask me whatever you want. I just – it’s a nice distraction. Drowns out the noise in my brain.” Xóchitl was more open with Emilio than she was with most people, but for once that didn’t scare her.

—

Xóchitl smiled as he returned to the living room, and Emilio tried to offer a smile back in response. It was the kind of thing that always seemed easier said than done in a way that was almost laughable. His hunter heritage granted him with strength superior to most, but there were days when the corners of his lips were too heavy to force into a smile, days when his limbs weighed so much that he couldn’t fathom the thought of getting out of bed. Having Xó around made things a little lighter. So did having Teddy and Wynne and Nora and Jade and everyone else who was willing to put up with him. But nothing alleviated that weight entirely. Nothing seemed to boost his strength enough to help him carry it without aching.

Still, with Xó around, it was easier to want to try. She understood grief the same way he did, had been shaped by it in a similar way. And it was terrible, the way he found some comfort in that. Xó didn’t deserve what had happened to her as a kid, and Mackenzie hadn’t deserved to die the way she had, and for Emilio to find some ease in the event because it meant he had someone who could better relate to him was certainly an irredeemable sort of thing. He knew that. It was why he’d never say it aloud, why he wouldn’t voice it. He’d never pretended to be a good man, but he wasn’t sure he wanted Xó to know what a bad one he was.

So, he said nothing. He handed her a bottle of whiskey, he nodded his head. “There are more in the kitchen,” he added. He’d probably need more, on a day like today. Even on his good days, he often drank enough to earn worried glances from people who cared about him. On bad days, anyone who didn’t know about his slayer-boosted metabolism looked ready to call an ambulance. Emilio quietly reminded himself to try to take it easy around Xó. The last thing he wanted to do was worry her.

“Ah,” he hummed, thinking of the ‘noise’ in his own brain. “It’s good that it helps with this.” Different things worked for different people, he thought. Movies often made him uneasy, playing on paranoia that was ever-present in the back of his mind. Sometimes, things got too loud and he was sent spiraling back to chaotic times he didn’t want to return to. But Xó knew just enough about his history to know which movies would set him off, and he doubted this would be one of them. He trusted her more than he trusted most people. “Probably will ask lots,” he said, settling back onto the couch. “Is it English?”

—

She grabbed the whiskey from him and took a giant swig of it. She’d been drinking nearly since she went away to college. Not quite since, given how she’d only been sixteen at the time, and it was hard to convince people over twenty one to buy you a drink sometimes, no matter how much she batted her eyelashes and begged and offered to do their homework for them. Xóchitl had managed to find a way to get drinks not too long after though, and it was the only thing that could block out the anguish and anxiety that she’d still felt about Mackenzie. Now that she was older, she figured that anguish was maybe a bit of an extreme – but at the same time, if she hadn’t stopped thinking about her friend for what was now twenty-two years, then maybe it had been the right word all along. “Good. I’ll need more too.”

She blew half a raspberry between her lips before taking another swig of the whiskey. “Drinking helps the most but I – when – well,” she sighed, starting again, attempting to make her voice as leveled and even as possible, “sometimes having a part of her around again helps my mind shut the fuck up. If this doesn’t work, maybe we can go break a few things out on my porch? I have some plates I want to get rid of.” But Xóchitl hoped it would work, because she wanted to collapse into the couch, into herself. 

“You can ask as much as you want.” It would be an added and welcomed distraction. One she almost wanted to beg him for. “It’s English, yeah, but we can throw on subtitles. I like having those around. I’d offer to dub it over but then that makes all the mouth movements way too confusing.” To put it lightly. Plus, she’d always watched it in English with Mackenzie and that was the version of it that she wanted to hold onto. Nothing else could — or would — take its place. Maybe it was stupid, but it was something she needed, and Xóchitl figured that Emilio would understand. He had to understand. She needed that. Didn’t know what to do if he didn’t understand her.

—

He nodded, relieved that Xó, as always, was so willing to accept him as he was. Plenty of people had figured Emilio would be better off changing over the years. They wanted him to drink less, to rise to his feet and feel the earth beneath him and acknowledge the way it still turned, to be less angry at what the world had taken from him. Some days, that was good advice. Some days, those people were right and he needed to get out of his head, to recognize that even if he’d lost plenty, he still had things left to hold onto. Those people had his best interests in mind, and some days, he listened to them. But on days like today, he needed to… wallow. To rot, to decay, to melt into the ground for a while. Xó was willing to let him do that. More than that, Xó was willing to sit with him while it happened. Emilio needed that just as badly as he needed the people who dragged him to his feet.

She spoke about what helped, about how having a piece of Mackenzie with her made her mind a little less addled. Absently, his thumb found the wedding band on his finger, and he thought of the worn, faded photo in his wallet. He had very little of his family to hold onto, but the things he kept were precious. This movie was the same for Xó, he realized. And there was something touching about the way she wanted to share it with him. He was honored. “I like breaking things,” he agreed. “If the movie doesn’t help, I’m good at breaking things.” Better than he was at almost anything else, really.

“Ah, I probably will.” Movies often confused him; even the ones Teddy put on about detectives in grayscale, with the dramatic voiceovers and simple cases. In those moments, though, Emilio’s questions always seemed to be about the intelligence of the characters on the screen. Why does he trust this woman? She’s playing him. How has he lived this long? Teddy found it endearing, he was pretty sure. Or… maybe the way they kissed him was more of a method of shutting him up. Either way, it gave him little incentive to speak less during the films. “Subtitles are good.” Not quite as good as dubbing it over — though he wouldn’t admit to it, Emilio wasn’t the strongest reader, even in Spanish — but he thought it seemed important to Xó to watch the movie as she had with Mackenzie, and Emilio wouldn’t challenge that. No matter what language the film was in, he doubted he’d be able to give it his full attention, anyway. He rarely ever could. She started up the film, and he cradled the bottle of whiskey to his chest, taking a long swig. Maybe this would help him, too.

—

It was luck that the two of them had met. There was no other feasible way to reasonably put it. Luck, which statistically didn’t really exist, but had to, in some cases. Xóchitl counted herself lucky that she’d met Mackenzie, even though the course of things when it came to her friend were very much anything but luck. Bad luck, if luck had to be used to describe that day in April. The day that she did every bit of everything to not think about but the day that, despite all attempts (and no matter how much she drank) she couldn’t truly get out of her mind.

“We can break things either way, if you want.” If he was willing to sit down and watch a movie with her, then the least she could do would be to break some stuff. Besides, there was a certain thrill in the idea of it. “It sounds pretty damn appealing to me, honestly. Maybe you can show off? Actually, correction, you should show off. Please.” It would be another welcome and added distraction, and would be something she’d enjoy, too. Something she and Emilio could both enjoy that didn’t involve alcohol. Which was maybe good for the both of them.

She nodded. “All good, all good.” She settled into the couch, pressing play. Grabbed her own bottle of whiskey and took a giant sip. “I like this, I think, ‘cause the little girl there,” Xóchitl pointed at Kirsten Dunst, “well, she reminds me of Mackenzie in a whole lot of ways.” Which was cause enough to take a giant gulp of the whiskey. Figured she should probably get some of the take out she’d brought, but found herself unsure if she could get up to eat. 

Emilio wouldn’t judge her for that. She was pretty sure that Emilio hadn’t judged her for – well, anything, really. Mackenzie would’ve loved him. Mackenzie also would’ve thought he was hot, probably. Xóchitl wasn’t entirely sure, and it felt weird to think about, so she brushed it off. Not thinking about things was something she’d found herself to be really good at. Probably not something to brag about, but screw it, what did that matter?

“What –” she took another sip of her bottle. “Well, she even sounded a little like that.” Which was probably the real reason why Xóchitl wanted to watch. “Like the girl, I mean.” Which he probably got, but still.” Maybe this was a bad idea. “Maybe we should go and break stuff.”

—

He tried for a smile, though it was a difficult thing to maintain. There were days when the corners of his mouth seemed to weigh more than a mountain, when lifting them was a herculean task that he just wasn’t capable of. But Xó deserved it, and Emilio wanted to try for her, so he made his best attempt at a smile and pretended it was a genuine thing and not a child carving clay into clumsy shapes. “I’m good at showing off. Maybe I wear something with no sleeves, show my arms some more.” It was flatter than it should have been. Another day, it would have been more playful, but today was hard. 

The movie started, and he was only marginally aware of it. Already, he was having trouble paying attention. Xó pointed to one of the girls on screen, spoke of how she reminded her of Mackenzie, and Emilio nodded in quiet understanding. He could relate to it, to seeing ghosts reflected in strangers even if not many real similarities existed. After all, didn’t every little girl remind him of Flora? Didn’t he see his daughter in every child he met, see what she could have been in young adults around town? There were things that would follow you all your life. Emilio and Xó were both haunted in a way no exorcism could fix.

“You can tell me what she was like, you know,” he said, staring at the bottle in his hands like he was treading water in the ocean and it was a life raft floating within reach. “If you want to. I know — I know we’ve talked about it before, but if you ever wanted to… talk about her like she was, you can do that.” He rarely spoke of Flora. When he did, her death strangled him, its cold fingers wrapped so tightly around his throat that he struggled to get the words out around them. There was something cruel about the way a person’s death could define them once they were gone, something unfair about the way they became defined by that event and not what had come before it. He thought it helped, sometimes, to think of Flora as she had been before, even if it was hard. He preferred the girl to the corpse, even when they were tangled together.

He stared at the screen, at the girl who wasn’t Mackenzie but was. He thought of his daughter, and how she was everyone he’d ever met even if she was no one at all now. He didn’t know if seeing her everywhere was a comfort, or if it only made the loss of her hurt all the more. Sometimes, it felt like both at the same time, somehow — like it intensified the grief while also easing it just a little. It was funny, the number of contradictions that came with mourning. None of it ever made any kind of sense. 

The idea of breaking stuff felt better than the idea of sitting still, even if neither idea felt good. Emilio nodded, though he made no effort to get to his feet. “What do you want to break?” Anything would feel good or, at least, better than this. 

—

“You do have nice arms.” She raised one eyebrow at him. “Very useful for all sorts of things.” It was easy to be playful with him, even when she felt nearly suffocating grief. Which, as it turned out, was nearly always, and fine, so the movie had been a stupid idea. Which, really, she had plenty of. A nearly overflowing amount. It didn’t come with flirting any longer, not really, because Emilio was attached and she respected that and Teddy was good and she wanted her friend to be happy. Still, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t agree with things that were indisputably true.

Mackenzie had a better smile than the girl here. Which, wasn’t she some award-winning actress now? So that had to be some intense sort of insult, but Xóchitl found that she didn’t especially care. It wasn’t like she’d ever meet this girl-now-adult, and Mackenzie mattered more to her than this stranger ever would. They just shared some similarities, that was all.

“She was magical.” Xóchitl responded to Emilio’s comment before she was even fully aware of the words herself. Which was all the more reason that it was good she trusted Emilio with everything, because she couldn’t keep anything a secret around him. Which felt nice in some ways, but it was good that he was good, because she had put up far too many walls, far too carefully, to let them fall down for just anybody. “She lost her tooth in first grade and learned how to whistle where it was missing – she could say the alphabet backwards hanging upside-down. She – she could do anything, I was pretty positive. Still am. Her parents weren’t all that well off, and I know mine were – and still are – but she never thought it weird when she came to my house, and her parents and mine hit it off.” At least, until they’d moved. She wondered if Mackenzie’s parents blamed hers for what had happened. Blamed the whole family.

She took another gulp of her whiskey, enjoying the burning sensation as it went down her throat. It felt good when that happened. It made her feel alive. It wasn’t as good as Icees from the movie theater, or slushies from the corner store, ones that colored her and Mackenzie’s lips so many different colors, but it was something, and slushies were far too sweet now. They didn’t feel right. Xóchitl knew that she did still eat and drink sugary things, but some she made a point to avoid, and some things just brought up particular memories, especially when she was feeling down. Which hadn’t been the intent for today’s get-together, but it had still happened nonetheless. 

“Extra plates and shit that I have. Whatever works for you.” She pushed herself off of her couch with her elbows, still clinging on to the whiskey bottle as though it were some sort of flotation device. “C’mon – we’ll – let’s bring the tequila out. I’m – done with this movie.” Her words slurred together. “It – stupid idea to watch.” She pressed pause. “We should do something better.”

—

She called his arms useful, and all Emilio could think of was the time he’d spent longing to have such a descriptor applied to him. When his mother was alive, he and his siblings had lived under the knowledge that you were nothing if you couldn’t be put to use, and Emilio had been the least effective of the bunch. He wasn’t as ruthless as Rosa or as smart as Edgar, he didn’t die as well as Victor had. Xó used the word so easily, as if it belonged around his neck or pinned to his chest like the same medal of honor it had represented when his mother used it. It felt wrong, almost; like another in the long line of betrayals he’d delivered to Elena since her death. Emilio was a desperate enough coward to accept it all the same, to turn his head and not refute it.

Still, it was a relief when the moment passed, when she spoke about Mackenzie instead. He’d rather not dwell on the complicated nature of accepting a compliment he wasn’t sure he deserved, even if it meant listening to the kind of ghost stories soaked in grief and love. (Hadn’t the two always been synonyms?) 

He imagined Xó, a little girl so utterly impressed by everything her best friend did. He imagined Mackenzie, too, a stranger he knew only through Xó’s memories of her. That part was harder. He pictured a little girl with her front teeth missing, teaching herself to make new sounds through sheer force of will, but it was hard to put the blonde hair he knew belonged to Mackenzie from Xó’s stories. It was impossible, most days, for Emilio to picture any little girl without his mind transforming them into his daughter, as if Flora was the only one who’d ever really existed. Mackenzie had been older than her when she’d died. Emilio had never seen his daughter with a missing tooth, or even a loose one, but it didn’t matter. His mind created the image all the same, morphed one ghost into another with little thought. 

He brought the whiskey to his mouth, taking a long swig and reminding himself to loosen his grip on the bottle, lest it shatter. He thought there was probably some kind of a metaphor there, some sort of comparison to his habit of holding onto things so tightly that they broke and his daughter’s death in Mexico due to his own inability to do what was expected of him, but he didn’t want to think of it now. He didn’t want to think of anything now, really, which made Xó’s suggestion of tequila and breaking shit all the more tempting.

Maybe a better friend or a braver man would have tried to change her mind. Maybe someone else would have insisted they keep talking, or cry, or do whatever it was well-adjusted people did to combat their grief. But Emilio was none of those things, so he nodded. He stood, steadier than he would have liked to be with less alcohol coursing through him than he needed, and held a hand out to Xó. “Let’s break shit,” he agreed. That was what he’d always been best at.

—

She knew that she was haunted. Even if not literally, because ghosts were – well, they were parts of stories she usually didn’t turn to, full of made up things that made her feel unsettled and were on any number of crumpled up papers in her childhood therapist’s office that was on top of a candy store. Which seemed cruel, and Xóchitl had thrown any number of fits about it at first, saying it was a bad omen, even though her therapist, Diana, was actually really cool and nice and didn’t make her talk if she didn’t want to.

Her home was full of ghosts. The photographs proved that enough, and her memories and far-too-frequent flashbacks (which, Xóchitl figured, were technically memories but due to their intensity and the fact that they left her feeling desperate and hollow, deserved their own category). She felt less like she was going to drown with Emilio around, though. Even if neither of them had the very best coping mechanisms – and she knew that they both knew that – it was comforting to have someone to just sit with you. That made things far better than having someone tell her that things would be okay, eventually, at some point.

She desperately wanted that to be true, but having people tell her that over and over again gave her nothing other than a headache. Waking up with a severe hangover hurt less than the headaches that people’s possibly false hope gave her hurt. 

Xóchitl wondered if the town had put out a chair for her at what would’ve been her high school graduation. If she’d been around, she would’ve insisted on it, but when it happened she was in Boston – or, technically, Baltimore, having made herself graduate two years before she would’ve otherwise. So she never saw it through, saw if the town honored Mackenzie in the same way that she did. Maybe, to them, she was just another disappearance, another unfortunate death. Her moms had talked about some of those, even when she was little. People who’d just go missing without explanation. It was a higher rate than some cities, she’d thought, though never confirmed. It wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted confirmed.

(Except she did. Of course she did. She wanted every possible answer to everything she could get her hands on. Even if it scared her.)

(It scared her so much that she felt sick. Nauseous in a way that standard ways of medicating it didn’t help.)

Alcohol helped. It helped sometimes because it made her less likely to think, and if Xóchitl didn’t think, then she couldn’t conjure up memories that stung, which meant that, at least for a moment, she could live in a world where she was fine and nothing bad had ever happened, except maybe a shitty grade on a test or an essay.

She took his hand and pulled herself up.

She almost fell over, fell onto him, but steadied herself just enough – at least for the time being. Let his hold on her hand steady her and let the sound of his breathing ground her. Five things you can see. The whiskey bottles. The television. The couch. Emilio’s hair. The window. Four things you can touch. Emilio’s hand. Her own shirt. The nail polish on her nails. The tequila bottle. Three things you can hear. Emilio’s breathing. The hum of the lights. Some sort of bird outside. Two things you can smell. Her own perfume. Perro’s dog food. One thing you can taste. Somehow, something sweet, like candied chocolate eggs Mackenzie had loved for Easter.

“Yeah, let’s break shit. Please. Now.”

—

Most days, Emilio felt more like a mausoleum than he did a man. His ribcage housed corpses, still rotting or long decayed, and his heart was always trying to find some way to beat around them. There were days when it was possible for it to do so, days when it had enough room to stutter on freely in his chest even if it was hardly an impressive effort. And then, there were days like today, when it seemed stilted. It was as if there was no room for it to beat, as if his heart was stuffed in a place too small to house it. For Emilio, who’d felt cold and itchy all over any time he was forced to sit in a space smaller than his bedroom, it seemed an especially cruel fate.

He wasn’t sure if it helped or not, having people around. Had Xóchitl not come over, he would have melted into the couch for hours, wouldn’t have moved at all until Teddy came in and saw him curled up and staring at the wall and crawled onto the couch to sit with him and bring him back to the present. 

But that action, just like having Xó here now, would have come with a quiet ache. Finding comfort in other people hurt when you knew it wasn’t a comfort you deserved. He hadn’t earned Xó’s hand in his any more than he had earned Teddy’s warmth pressed against him on the couch on those dark days. He hadn’t earned the faith Wynne had in him, or the way Nora turned to him when she needed someone to lean on. The only thing he deserved were those bodies rotting behind his ribcage and that suffocating feeling of a heart not given enough room to beat. 

But he was a selfish man. He was a selfish man, and Xó gave him her hand so he took it. He pulled her to her feet and pretended like it earned him something, pretended the way she leaned against him and he let her meant he deserved more than the ache. He didn’t much care for dishonesty, but maybe it was okay if the only person you were lying to was yourself. Maybe it became a more forgivable thing. 

Xó was quiet a moment, unsteady as she stood. The alcohol hit her harder than it did him; it wasn’t particularly surprising. Between the advanced metabolism granted to him through his hunter heritage and the fact that he’d hardly been sober for more than a few hours at a time in years now, there were few people who could outdrink Emilio. 

He nodded at Xó’s statement, wondered if he was cowardly to find relief in it. Breaking things was something he was good at. If she’d requested any other form of problem solving, he would have been useless. He knew that. But this? This he could handle. “Let’s break shit,” he said again.

He figured they could both pretend it helped.