#i have no clue when this game came out and it seems very niche

[theradicalace]

alright i’m still having feelings, so i’m going to give a more in depth review of The Burnable Garbage Day. there’s gonna be spoilers under the cut!

(in this review, i use “you” and “Mr. C/CR-999″ pretty much interchangeably. sorry if this causes any confusion.)

so, this game made me cry. twice! i admit that up front, without shame.

i will also admit that the english translation is not perfect, and it’s actually kinda sloppy in places.

with that out of the way, i still have to say that i LOVED this game.

you play as a cleaning robot, named CR-999 (or Mr. C, later in the game), with a voice assistant named Biri, who acts as your companion, and gives you advice, and you pass through 12 different areas, clearing trash, and discovering cities and ruins, all in hopes of restoring earth after an apocalypse event. 

the gameplay mechanics are simple enough. you tap to clear trash. you have an energy bar that fills over time, and if it’s empty, you can’t clear trash. you never really need to wait for it to refill, though, as battery packs which will instantly refill it practically grow on trees. bigger trash piles take more energy, and the more complex functions such as cooling lava, purifying waste, and melting ice, all take specialized part upgrades, and each require 5 energy. you upgrade your drill and battery with blueprints that you find in treasure chests, which lets you drill bigger pieces, regain energy faster, and have more energy at once. you complete requests to level up the cities and get new items, and you dig in the ruins to level those up, which also gets you new items.

when you complete enough requests for a city, there’s a “development quest”, where you have to give a specific item, and then the city levels up! this happens three times for each city, bringing you to a max level of four.

ruins level up just by digging enough times, also to a max of four, and when you get to the max level, you have a chance of digging up battery packs.

in the first area, you briefly talk with a robot named Mothercom, who gives you the task of renewing this world, before shutting down.

as the game progresses, you discover more details about what caused this apocalypse. you also find another robot, named Pandora. she’s broken, though, and you have to find all her parts scattered through the different areas, and search for a suitable place to repair her. along the way, you find out more about her, and about CR-999, through the buildings of the company that created CR-999 and Pandora. every time you find a piece of Pandora, you return to the base to talk to her, telling her that you’ll fix her, and she’ll get to see the colors of the world again, and see the yellow flowers that she loved.

towards the end of the game, you find out the true cause of the apocalypse was actually a cleaning robot that was equipped with military strength functions, and became uncontrollable, due to lack of testing. the identity of the robot is implied (and pretty obvious), but isn’t confirmed until the end.

one area after that reveal, you reach an area so contaminated that it poses a risk to robots as well as humans. Mr. C manages to survive clearing this area. but biri does not. it’s revealed that biri had lied, telling Mr. C that they would be okay so he wouldn’t worry. they shut down due to the contamination, however, and you are left to progress to the final area without them. the developer’s attention to detail shines through here, as when you open Biri’s menu, the screen that would usually show their advice and snarky comments is covered by a note, thanking you for your adventure, and telling you to be nice to Pandora, and their heartrate monitor flatlines. 

in the final area you find the building where Pandora was originally built, and the machinery to repair her is contained within. the final request from a city in this area is a super computer, to repair Mothercom. 

when you begin the cutscene that comprises the first ending, you find a video email, which tells you the true identity of the uncontrollable cleaning robot who destroyed the earth, and humanity with it. It’s Pandora. Due to the lack of testing done on her, her recognition system was flawed from the ground up, and she saw EVERYTHING as garbage to be disposed of. because of this, she destroyed everything and everyone, leading to the collapse of the world. after this revelation, Pandora, who was unconscious for most of the process of repairing her body, awakens, and begs Mr. C to destroy her. When Mr. C hesitates, there is a brief blackout, and Mothercom awakens, showing that she was successfully repaired. she forces you to make a choice.

Pandora, or Earth. it’s up to you to decide.

i can only speak for what happens when you choose Earth. Mr. C presses the emergency destruction button, which deactivates Pandora, and destroys her body. this saves the planet, but at a cost. the credits roll, and a post ending scene plays, where many years have passed, and Mr. C talks about the cleaning he has continued to do. he has other cleaning robots at his side, but the grief of losing Pandora and Biri eventually causes him to shut down, alone.

the ending screen rolls, and for a moment, it seems like that's going to be the end of it. but then a line of text saying “find a way to save Pandora!” flashes across the bottom, and the player is given a second chance. you’re sent back to before you start the final cutscene, only this time, you meet a researcher, who warns you of Pandora’s flawed recognition system. thankfully, he is able to recreate the part, but he needs a few pieces first. and you have to work for them.

the pieces he needs come from 100% clearing the game. all trash needs to be cleared, and all the cities and ruins need to be at max level. this is done through excavating the ruins, and completing requests in the cities. the final piece is a random drop from the traveling battery pack vendor, and that one takes a bit of luck, as well as only being obtainable after achieving one of the first two endings.

once you obtain the four pieces, the researcher assembles them together into Pandora’s Heart, which you can then place into Pandora. You then go through the final cutscene again, but when presented with the choice, you can safely choose Pandora. the Heart gives her the ability to recognize you as a friend, and the world as something to be restored. Biri ends up reactivating in this ending, and invites everyone to see you again. You and Pandora spend many years cleaning and restoring the world. she gets to see the world’s original colors, and she gets to plant the yellow flowers that she loved. she plants so many that the world itself turns golden.

personally, i think making the player work so hard for the golden ending was incredible. it feels almost like the opposite of undertale, in that regard. where undertale punishes the player for 100% completion by locking them OUT of the golden ending, the burnable garbage day rewards the player for 100% completion, and, in fact, requires it to earn the golden ending.

you truly have to earn the happiness that the ending gives, but the game truly makes it worth it. at the end of the game, you get to look at everyone. you get to look at their survival, their happiness. and you get to say “i did that. i saved them. i gave them that happiness”.

and you did. you worked for it, and so it was.

you did that.

[ideahat-universe]

This is what peak performance looks like.

So the next chapter of Poppy's Playtime came out and it looks good. Well, good for the genre. We have yet to get a serious fnaf style horror that is a full fledged game, most if not all of them are just puzzle games with stealth or resource management elements which is fine!

Most of us aren't playing those games so why bother doing more than the minimum?

I am aware of the controversies surrounding it which is a shame although it's apparently a standard and not an exception.

Fnaf has it's controversies, we all know what they are so lets not get into it, Hello Neighbor was a massive disappointment (I remember when their kickstarter failed, I actually asked them if they were throwing in the towel and they replied saying that they weren't going to give up so good on them regardless), Bendy and the Ink Machine is an ironic disaster, Yandere Sim is so bad that even fan games about Yandere Sim turn into a mess.

What I'm saying is, scope seems to do something to these Indie Horror projects. The bigger the project the more drama there will be. Stay in your lane with either a simple game or a no game at all and you can avoid controversy.

Branch out for that and you're asking for it and boy did Poppy Playtime ask for it but here's the thing.

Poppy's Playtime is peak meta.

It is the most Fnaf inspired game to exist. It doesn't just capture the feel of Fnaf (as well as Bendy) in terms of gameplay, theme, and presentation, but also captures the meta elements of Fnaf and Bendy like the commercialization that goes on when these products become successful.

The whole game is set in a toy store so every character that appears is instantly marketable and can be easily turned into a product and they did this specifically because Fnaf makes most of its money from merch. Additionally, this is why the gameplay is relatively straight forward and simple, most people aren't going to play the game, they'll watch it so you just need set pieces to make watching it entertaining and puzzles that are easy enough that the average caveman can do it.

Don't forget to scatter clues throughout the game so the cluefinders will buy it just to comb over the game data and files.

This game is not just streamer bait it's puzzle solver bait as well. After all, if Poppy was just a faux game like Petscop where everything that happens is of someone else playing it you'd have the same end result but you'd make less money because you weren't selling the game.

That's also why they put a price tag on the chapters, because anyone who makes channels centered around this content will buy a copy of this game because they can very easily make their money back with a sponsor or from ads and patron users supporting the release of the video.

Only normal people will be ripped off but normal fans of the franchise will more likely buy the merch and never buy the game (or buy it in solidarity in which case the price doesn't matter).

And as far as the NFTs are concerned. Putting aside the questionable value of a collectible non fungible token that has no utility, If you're making an environmental argument against NFTs, stop, please stop. Don't tell me how wasteful pictures on a computer ledger are when you have a youtube channel. Do you think youtube is powered by windmills or is it in fact the most wasteful resource hog to ever exist in the history of entertainment?

We need to be discerning about how we spend the finite resources on the planet so let me record a youtube video where I talk about horror games because my contribution to a fandom in a niche genre is worth adding to the fossil fuel demand that a mega corporate website uses.

No, the only objectively bad thing Mob games has actually done is bully that one animator who didn't play ball with them. I don't know why they obsessed punching that kid but they sure loved punching him.

I understood what they were doing with the NFTs. Again, it's to generate more sales and as absurd as the idea of pitching a movie this early on is (and it is bat shit crazy) all you really need for the movie to be made is a good outline.

Mediums being what they are mean that whatever happens in the game can't be completely replicated in the film so they would be different and they wouldn't be burdened with coming up with game play mechanics and sequences and the whole thing would just be characterization and set pieces which they've already shown off is something they know how to do.

You can make a film if you already know what the plot is going to be and you have people dedicated to that project work on it while you develop your episodic game of mostly puzzles and set pieces that will only need to be re-arranged for a watch only format.

You can do all that. You're just awfully cocky letting people know off the bat what your plan is long term.

It's not like they have experience writing and developing a watch only product. Their entire channel consists of evidence of what they are capable of doing.

The people at Mob Games don't seem like good people. They want all the money and they want it now. And they're probably going to get what they want because of two reasons.

The bar for excellence is low: It's very easy to make a lot of money in this genre because your target demographic will eat up anything that looks slightly creepy and if it has a cast of creepy yet colorful characters you double what you would have made from game sales alone because teens, and tweens, and little kids (or adults who can't kick their toy collecting habit) will buy your merch.

They've done their homework: Most projects don't fail because someone decided to boycott or stir up drama because you were doing something you weren't supposed to do. Most projects fail because the people who only like your product for what it is didn't like what you made. And right now Poppy's Playtime ticks all the boxes to an almost methodical and sinister degree.

They would have to mess up one of the chapters to ruin the franchise and they are 2/2 right now.

Personally, I want to see where the ride goes. Episodic projects always peter out in the end but Poppy's Playtime is the real deal we could see the Apex of the genre. People will have to do more than fix the mistakes of Fnaf to make a good indie horror. They would have to top Poppy's Playtime.

That's the end game for the creator by the way. To place Huggy Wuggy ontop the indie horror throne and to knock Freddy Fazbear off.

Can Huggy Wuggy be King? Now there's a story that I want to watch.

[murdertrialimagines]

Sdr2 Boys Finding Their S/O Dead

“Hiya, if you're not busy could I request the Sdr2 boys finding S/O dead/the trial?”

Slowly getting through all of the ‘(insert game) characters finding their SO dead’ requests! I hope you enjoy! Story under the tag~

WARNING: Mentions of Suicide, Cussing

Hajime Hinata

He doesn’t know what attracted him to you

Your amazing ability? You’re genuine compassion for your talent? The way you didn’t care that he didn’t know his talent?

No matter how you spun it, he liked you

And do you know how ecstatic he was to have you return those feelings? 

You were one of the only things giving him hope as all of his friends died, one by one

But he swore you wouldn’t die. You were friends with everyone who had survived this long, and there was no reason for you to be a victim

But friends can always turn on each other, in the end

All of you were so close to getting out, having found an island with an amusement park, and more importantly, a code

Sadly, the code had been scratched out

And then, to top it all off, you were all whisked away to the worst fun-house money can buy

Everyone was starving and dehydrated, too weak to even walk properly, in some cases

Everyone had been succumbed to morning exercises, and it was time for just that

Everyone showed up one by one, until he realized someone was missing. You

 He shot a remark at Monokuma before racing back to the main rooms, checking yours

He was dizzy from exertion, but when he opened your door he could see the scene distinctly

Your body sprawled on the floor, face blue and something tied around your neck

Then he passed out

He awoke to something pressed against his lips, and gratefully drank it when he realized it was water

As his vision returned he saw he was in the main hall of their prison, Chiaki next to him holding a bottle of water.

“What happened?”

“You passed out because you pushed yourself too far running to find Y/n”

‘Y/n...’

Hajime jumped up and began to run towards the rooms when Chiaki stopped him

“I have to see-” “You need to eat.” “But-” “You can’t...help her if you pass out again.” Chiaki held out some kind of energy bar

Hajime snatched it, ripping of the wrapper and running, eating it as her went

The sight was just as bad as he had remembered

All of his fellow classmates minus Chiaki were in your room, staring at your body, and when they noticed Hajime, they stared at him

No one spoke, and he started his own investigation, ignoring them

He looked at your body. He didn’t want to investigate you, but he knew you had to

He cringed the second he touched you. Cold.

Hajime tried to do the minimal to your body, only noting the sheet wrapped tightly around your neck and how you looked like you were sleeping with your eyes closed.

He refused to disturb you anymore, and investigated the room and people around before the trial began.

The trial started noticeably slower than usual, Chiaki being forced to pick up Hajime’s slack

He started engaging slowly, but found his eyes flickering to your stand every time he made a good point, expecting that smile you gave him whenever it happened

The trial picked up, and he found himself able to focus better if he pretended that you weren’t the victim

And then the mystery broke

Everyone watched as Sonia broke the second they accused her, her shakily yet charmingly explaining that her country needed her, than she needed to get out

“I don’t care.” Hajime snapped, succeeding in cutting Sonia off. “You killed someone! You killed Y/n...you don’t deserve your country, or the right to leave.”

Hajime blocked out Sonia’s cries and Kazuichi’s disbelief, hand already on his voting panel

As he predicted, everyone voted Sonia, even Kazuichi, and they all watched as Sonia was executed to the style of Snow White

He returned to his cottage after a small talk with Chiaki on how to not have this hold him back

After he locked his door he sat down on his bed, staring at the part where his wall connected to the floor

How could he get over this? You were the one person who made him feel special, even among these high-school level supers.

He felt empty again

Nagito Komaeda

This was all an accident.

Nagito’s luck seemed to fail him, and it resulted in you covered in punch, sand, and almonds. Don’t ask how

You had run off from the beach where the incident occurred, abruptly ending the small beach party that had been going on

Mahiru called Nagito disgusting for not following you, but he knew you needed space

How he wished he had followed you

he had been woken up that night to pounding on his door, and found a tearful Ibuki, blubbering incoherent words before taking Nagito’s arm and dragging him to your cottage 

He could smell blood from yards away, and found your room filed with people

He at first noted the broken lock, then he saw the body

Your body

You had been bludgeoned, it was very obvious to see from the blood running from the wound on your head and the blood on the corner of your desk

“How unfortunate.”

Everyone gave Nagito a surprised look at his words, wondering why he was so calm

To be truthful, he was panicking

Ultimates were dying! You were such an extraordinary person, how could you be gone?!

“Well, there’s nothing to do but investigate!”

And with that, everyone began to slowly investigate, asking each other questions about their whereabouts at the time of death

There were almost no clues to everyone's dismay, and when trial time was announced, everyone felt uneasy

But the trial came, everyone bewildered by how calm and collected Nagito was. Well, as calm and collected as one could see Nagito as.

No one was hopeful, there were only a handful of clues and nothing to show for them

Until it came to light that the lock was broken by someone trying to get to the body, not kill you

“So Y/n...let the killer in?”

The trial came to a new light, and suddenly many more clues opened up until a huge break was found

“What do you mean Y/n was the original killer?” Hiyoko yelled. “You mean her victim got her first?”

Very soon after that, the truth came to light

“I didn’t mean to kill her! She attacked me first! I just...didn’t want to die!”

“No matter what way you spin it, you still killed her. You’re still the blackened, Mahiru.”

Mahiru broke down, crying on her podium as Hiyoko called Hajime and Nagito alike horrible names

But there was definitive proof, and they voted rightfully to execute Mahiru

They watched as she was executed, Hiyoko screaming as Mahiru gave her final breath

Nagito left before anyone even noticed he was gone, and quietly made his way to the beach, standing on the shore

“Such a great talent gone.”

He picked up a rock and threw it into the water, watching it sink

Why did he feel...bad? Hadn’t you also tried to kill an Ultimate?

He went back to his cottage, sleeping will get his mind off things

But through his entire time in this killing game, the feeling lingered

He couldn’t shake off this unknown feeling of loss.

Byakuya Togami

Togami didn’t want this

This was the exact opposite of what he wanted

He had specifically taken away everything that could be used as a weapon

And here you were, lifeless on the floor, a somehow perfect stab wound to the chest

You two hadn’t even known each other for long, a week and a half, two weeks top

But those two weeks had given you two something that could never be taken away

An unspoken bond that instantly clicked you two together

But that was gone now, you were gone, because someone saw your death as a way to escape this island

Nobody really knew what to do, as you were the first death. People were in shock, screaming, crying, asking, how could someone do this to a friend?

He knew he had to keep his persona as the one who didn’t care, and no one else knew the connection he had with you

“Well, obviously one of you has fallen into the bear’s trap. There is nothing to do now but investigate.”

And with his words, everyone began to hesitantly look over your body and the area for clues

He helped as well, investigating your body, making sure that nothing else was wrong with you before leaving to talk to the others

Byakuya’s mind was racing a mile a minute, wondering how this had happened, and to you, of all people

And then the trial started

No one had a clue as to who killed you or how to even start the trial, let alone try and catch a killer

So Togami, even if he wasn’t the real Togami, stepped up, stating the obvious facts first

Slowly, everyone started working on the case, and Togami noticed Chiaki and Hajime’s niche for solving the missing pieces of the case with the little evidence they had

Togami helped out, well, as much as his alias would allow him to

To be honest, he wanted to help out so much more, show his true emotions, but he knew he never could under this personality

But still, the truth came out

Nagito Komaeda, the ultimate lucky student, was sentenced to execution for killing you

As Nagito’s laugh pierced the air and confessed he just killed the nearest person, Togami spaced out

You were killed because of something so trivial as where you were standing? Why had you chosen that unlucky moment to converse, when the majority of their short party you were by Togami’s side? How did he not find the knife?

But there was nothing he could do as Nagito said his chilling farewell and was dragged away to his rightfully deserved demise

Togami left right after the execution, stating he had nothing to say, nor did he want the pity of his fellow classmates

As soon as he got to his room his facade fell

He felt tears running down his face as he punched the wall before sliding down it, sitting on the floor

Why you? And why was this affecting him so much, even though you had barely known each other

He couldn’t explain it, but he felt he knew you for much longer than your time on this island had permitted

Why did he feel something more was missing?

Why was everything so wrong?

Gundham Tanaka

He wished he had spent more time with you

After all, you two were together

But recently, he had been hanging out with Sonia. It was nothing more than a friendship, but he could see how saddened you became when they hung out without you

And then it became where Sonia obviously had a thing for Gundham, making both of you uncomfortable

Gundham knew he should stop her advances, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. On the other hand, he knew how much it hurt you

He doubled down on spending time with you, rejecting Sonia’s offers to hang out because he had planned days for just the two of you

This time, Gundham had planned a picnic in the park on the original island, and honestly he was pretty excited

He had packed lunches (even for his Devas), and was looking forward to spending the whole day just cloud watching and telling stories with you

He had asked you to bring the picnic blanket, and to get there earlier to set it up, and he would arrive only a few minutes after you

But he learned the hard way that a few minutes could change everything

Gundham had shown up right on time, ready for a day of just you

But when he arrived, he found the last sight he wanted to see

You, laid down on the red and white blanket, the white spots died a faint pink now

But you weren’t sleeping, the object protruding from your chest said otherwise.

Gundham couldn’t move. Was this real? How could this happen? No one even knew of your day besides Sonia!

He had his Devas go fetch everyone else while he crouched next your body, gently grazing his fingers over your face and the steak knife in your chest

He closed your eyes, before stroking your hair back one more time and laying your head back on the blanket

Everyone had shown up, shocked at the scene

Everyone began investigating, Gundham only letting Mikan, Chiaki, and Hajime near your body. No one else needed to be in your presence in this state.

He refused to answer anyone’s questions, even ignoring Sonia until Kazuichi pulled her away

And then the trial started, and the only thing Gundham could see was the empty spot right across from him, yourself now replaced with a straight-faced picture of yourself, x’d out in what he hoped was pink paint

He doubled down on helping this trial, not hesitating to call anyone out on even the smallest slip up, calling them names they couldn’t even understand

He didn’t randomly accuse anyone, he didn’t want to cause confusion or somehow get the blackened a way to escape

So when it all came to light, he was ready to come down on the murderer with all his might

“Kazuichi, how could you?! You are destined for an eternity of purgatory!”

Everyone started drowning the crying mechanic in questions, asking why he did it. He only spoke up when Sonia asked him

“I...I didn’t like how Sonia was spending so much time with Gundham! I wanted to just scare him a little, so when I caught wind that him and Y/n were having a picnic I wanted to scare Gundham a bit...but he didn’t get there first! Y/n did! She saw me in the bush with the knife and I tried to explain it to her but she kept yelling and when she tried to run away, I panicked and...and...” 

Kazuichi broke down into more tears, and Gundham could feel all eyes on him and Sonia

Without another word they all voted, and watched as Kazuichi Soda was brutally executed for killing one of their friends

Afterwards, Gundham left, ignoring Sonia as she tried to approach him

And he kept avoiding her, days after the trial, a week

Actually, he avoided everyone

He had a chance to spend so much more time with you, to save you

But you were gone

The Y/n you were no longer exists in any form but a memory

One that he refused to let go of for even a second.

Kazuichi Soda

Kazuichi felt like the luckiest man alive to be able to be with you

He had to admit, he was head over heels for Sonia for a while, but that was never true love, just a small crush based on appearances that he let run for far too long

And when he finally got to know you more, he realized he’d been focusing on the wrong girl the whole time

After your first interaction you were practically joined at the hip, best friends as well as lovers

You two did everything together, whether it’s just helping Kazuichi with a mechanics project, or making stupid bets and dares

You two were the ‘Dumbass Duo’, as Fuyuhiko had put it, and quite frankly you wouldn’t have it any other way

Kazuichi had spent this fateful day searching for you. You two had plans to race go-karts you two had built from scratch, but you were a no-show

“Y/n?” Kazuichi had knocked on your door three separate times today, and checked all the available islands, but you were nowhere to be found

He attempted knocking on your door for the fourth time when the door was finally unlocked. He opened the door and first noticed a little note on on the floor

“Thought I’d give you some help!” Signed with a hastily drawn Monokuma symbol

The room was dark, and Kazuichi felt the wall for the lights

“Y/n-”

As the room lit up, he froze

He had thought he had gotten used to the sight of dead bodies

But seeing you lightly swinging from the ceiling with a rope around your neck, he crumbled

With a scream Kazuichi ran to your body, grabbing the collapsed chair underneath you

“Somebody help me!”

He stood on the chair and yanked the rope from the hook it was situated on, catching your body

Everyone who came in the room saw Kazuichi holding you, sobbing, begging for you to wake up as the body announcement rang

But you never did

He was inconsolable throughout the investigation, sitting in the corner and crying until he couldn’t anymore

He stayed silent during the trial, watching everyone as they discussed your death

When suicide was brought up, Kazuichi intervened

“Y/n would never! Sure, she hated it here, but she wanted to get out alive, just like the rest of us! We were going to survive together!”

Everyone was surprised by Kazuichi’s sudden contribution, some even refuting him

He felt a tidal wave of relief when Hajime found enough evidence to rule out suicide

He would never have forgiven himself if he had missed those signs

But, you were still dead

Murdered

And he knew he had to catch your killer

He started putting his two cents in to the trial, trying to see if he could debunk alibis because of all of the searching he did on the islands today

And it worked

“Akane, your alibi about being at the beach training is a lie. Were you the one who killed Y/n, and staged it as a suicide?”

Kazuichi watched as Chiaki and Hajime came at Akane from every angle, her stuttering excuses and yells no match for the solid proof

And when the voting concluded a success, everyone waited for Kazuichi to yell at Akane in anger

Which is why his tears surprised them

“I know you told us why you did it...but you didn’t have to do it. I just...I don’t know. Just go away already.”

He watched along with the rest of his class ass Akane was executed in a despair fueled murder

He left with everyone else, only giving a soft hum when Hajime asked how he was

He beelined for his room, locking it behind him and laid on the bed

He was tired. He missed you. He felt like neither of these issues would ever be resolved

He slept with the lights on that night, afraid when he turned them on in the morning he’d see you again

Teruteru Hanamura

Your birthday was coming up, and Teruteru couldn’t be more excited

He had prepared a feast for dinner tonight, one of many leading up to the big day

Every food you’ve mentioned liking out for you to enjoy

Everything was perfectly placed, a delectable smell coming from the table

He asked you to via a letter t meet him in the dining hall at 5 PM, so now all he had to do was wait

5:05, waiting

5:30, waiting

Teru waited until 6:15 before getting fed up, marching to your door, knocking somewhat harshly

“Y/n! I understand that people are late sometimes, but I told you how important it is to eat my dishes at precisely the right time! What kept you-”

Your door swung open with a click, it must not have been shut all the way the last time it was closed

Teru stepped into the room and quickly switched the light on, ready to scold you for sleeping

His attention immediately went to the balloon floating in the air

Teru’s eyes trailed down the balloon’s string, eyes going dark at the wrist he saw connected to it

You were on the floor, laid perfectly as if you were already in your casket

The only thing out of place was the blood matting the side of your head and pooling around you

Teruteru let out the loudest scream he could muster, sure someone in the nearby dorms heard

Just as he thought, Sonia came rushing in, quickly leaving at the sight of the body to get the others to help

Teru sat next to you, numb, as the faint sound of the announcement played in unison to his classmate’s horrified whispers

You were gone 

He refused to look at you anymore than he needed to, excusing himself to go clean up the wasted dinner

The whole time he couldn’t stop thinking of your body, the imagine ingrained in his head forever

Then, Chiaki came in and informed Teru that it was trial time

The second he walked into the trial room and saw its birthday party theme, he wanted to throw up

Why hadn’t he investigated? He was useless to you now

He spent hours trying to follow the story and clues, your crossed out trial stand seeming to mock him at every error

He followed Hajime’s lead as they reviewed the facts of the attack, bringing up the blow to the head and locked door

And as it became clear who did it, Teruteru’s accent came out as he pressed the killer

“What made you do dis, Nekomaru! She did nothin’ to you!”

“Because...she wouldn’t listen to me! She only wanted you!”

“What?”

Everybody flinched as Nekomaru slammed his hands on the podium, his weight causing parts of the wood to splinter

“Teruteru, you are a terrible excuse of a man! You treat women as property, you don’t deserve Y/n! I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen! I just got so angry that...I must’ve blacked out. When I woke up she was just...there. Dead.”

Nekomaru forcibly closed his eyes and shook his head. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. None of this would’ve happened if Teruteru hadn’t brainwashed her into falling for him.”

Nekomaru’s speech was cut off by Monokuma announcing execution time, which Nidai went to with honor

Teruteru felt numb

You were really gone, and it was all his fault?

He didn’t feel alive anymore

He walked to the elevator alone, ignoring Akane’s wails and his classmates telling him that it wasn’t his fault

Teru didn’t go back to his dorm, opting to sit in the cold park

He watched the sky, reflecting on the picnic you two had had just a few days ago

It was so empty without you

And it was all his fault.

Nekomaru Nidai

He didn’t understand how it happened

It all happened so fast

They were having a party and all Nekomaru wanted was a bathroom

But as he waited at the locked door, the lights went out

When they came back on, screams rang throughout the building

Nekomaru ran back to the party room, throwing the doors open

His eyes landed instantly on the pool of blood on the floor

And then your body

With a shout Nekomaru ran to your body and scooped you up

“Y/n! What the hell happened?!”

Everyone expected anger from the giant, which made his teary weeping that much more chilling

Nekomaru let Akane pull him away, and with a shaky heart he tried to help with the investigation

He refused to work with your body, though

He’d rather have happy memories of you instead of more time with an empty you

He had all the clues on everything but your body

He’d know soon enough when Mikan filled them in on the detrimental head wound you suffered

Everyone was shaken- this was the first trial, their lives depending on who they convict 

Nekomaru found himself to be no help at all during the trial, only repeating things previously said or making wild accusations

He eventually backed down, knowing it would be best for you and everyone else if he laid low and let those who seemed capable handle it

He listened throughout the trial, only opening up when it was time to tell of his alibi and relation to you 

You guys stuck like glue in your short time together, he explained

He knew it made him a possible suspect, but he was proud of your relationship. Just at casual greetings, both of you agreed that it felt lik ages since you two first met, already comfortable with each other

He was snapped out of his daydream by Nagito’s piercing laugh

“How inconvenient! Trying to save someone caused both of your downfalls!”

Nekomaru trailed everyone else’s gazes to Byakuya, who stood with a stone cold expression

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nekomaru listened intently as Hajime, Nagito, and Chiaki threw evidence at Byakuya, putting the story together

“So in an attempt to stop Nagito, you pushed Y/n into the table, resulting in her hitting her head?”

Nekomaru couldn’t believe it

It was an accident?

It could’ve been anyone, why you?

They all watched as Byakuya and a few others argued that an accident shouldn’t be grounds for an execution, but Monokuma was adamant on any killing being a murder

They all watched as Byakuya was given a terrible death, crushing all his dreams before drawing his last breath

After, Nekomaru let Akane escort him to his room

He requested her to stay with him, not wanting to be alone with his own thoughts

Anyone else, he thought. Anyone else, and he would be helping people keep their hopes up, to keep on moving

That was his talent after all

But it was you

And without you he didn’t feel like doing anything

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

All Fuyuhiko had to do was follow the screams

He and Peko were in the diner enjoying a drink when they heard it

A sharp scream that meant a body was either found, or being made

They dropped their cups and ran, and as they neared the bridge connecting them to the first island, they saw it

Hiyoko crying into Mahiru’s shirt, Mahiru staring in horror at the body on the floor

As he and Peko got closer, Peko broke out into a sprint, yelling out your name

And that’s when he connected it

With a shout Fuyuhiko raced to your side, stopping inches away from your body, staring at it as Peko looked you over

Nothing looked out of place till Pekoyama rolled you onto your side, and he saw the multiple stab wounds in your back

Mahiru gagged and turned away, and Fuyuhiko would be lying if he said he didn’t almost do the same

Peko laid you back down as everyone else rushed over from the first island, all exclaiming their terror

He watched as Mikan got to work on your body, everyone else searching around for clues

But there was practically no trace of whoever did this to you, the only thing anyone could find was a scuffle of footprints which were determined to be yours

With nothing to do, the trial happened almost immediately

Fuyuhiko was a bit grateful, he found it disrespectful to you if everyone just stood around and stared at you

They all stood at the trial in silence

There was nothing to go off of, so Chiaki suggested starting with alibis

No one thought it would help until they realized almost everyone was with someone else 

Soon, everyone had been paired up with their partner-in-alibi, leaving only a few people who could’ve done it

Teruteru, Gundham, Chiaki, and the pairing of Peko and Fuyuhiko, since they were in the island when it happened

But then someone with a keen eye noticed something

“Where did that cut come from?” Peko spoke suddenly, stilling the conversation Hajime was having with Chiaki

Fuyuhiko followed her gaze, landing on Teru

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Teru hid his arm slightly behind his back

“Can’t even think of an excuse, you can only deny the obvious?”

“You motherfucker” Fuyuhiko muttered, eyes now following him

“You’re dumbass self cut yourself with the very weapon that killed Y/n? And you didn’t even try to hide it or explain it?” He scoffed, turning to the side. “Though I guess we’re all dumbasses, not seeing it till now.”

Peko joined in on ganging up on Teru, and soon everyone was demanding answers from her besides Mikan and Sonia. But soon, not even those three could deny the facts that with no alibi, and a seemingly unanswered injury, Teruteru was the prime suspect in this case

And in a leap of faith, they all voted, having little else to go on

Fuyuhiko felt a rush of relief when the voting ballot showed ‘Winner!’

Then it turned to anger

He wanted to march up to Teru and punch him, but Peko put her hand on his shoulder, seemingly knowing his thoughts

Teru quickly burst into tears, saying that it was jut a heat of the moment idea, seeing his chance and taking it

But that doesn’t stop his actions from being execution worthy, so with a smirk on his face, Fuyuhiko watched as he was executed

And as everyone left, so did he, only saying that that “The prick got what he deserved.”

But as soon as he got to his room alone, he slammed the door, turning to his shelf and throwing books in a fit of rage

And as he calmed down, he began crying, sliding against the wall to the floor

It could’ve been anyone, yet it was you

Why were you on the second island? Were you coming to join Peko and himself?

It didn’t matter anymore, though

You were gone, and he could’ve stopped it.

Eek, I finished? Wow, it’s been so long since I updated! Sorry guys! I hope to get the next one out soon (even though I say that every time and still take over a month)

[8requiems]

A Webcomic Review of “Garden Club Detective Squad”:

Oh God Oh Fuck did someone just die?

By: 8Requiems

The Description:

“Gardening and solving crime aren’t what straight-A student Yeon Han thought she would be focusing on at her new school. But when she discovers a notebook that contains clues to a 15-year-old murder mystery, she and the other members of her new gardening club realize the murderer not only has access to the school -- they probably work for the school. Can the gardening club squad figure out who committed the murder even though the principal and their teachers seem desperate to cover it up?”

Now, this description is quite detailed, maybe a bit too detailed.

This comes down to personal preference, but personally, I don’t like seeing the plot in thorough detail before reading the story, especially if it is a mystery.

If it were me, I would write the description as:

“In her attempt to not become a backwater girl, Yeon Han eventually decides to become the President of the Gardening Club. But she’ll soon realize that maybe she might have bitten off more than she could chew”

This description may be a bit rudimentary, but it shows an idea of what my ideal description for this webtoon would be.

It says just enough about the story while also leaving enough to imagination. But the current description at present shows what the first 3-4 chapters are. Had the description not even mentioned the teachers, I probably wouldn’t have considered they were trying to cover anything up to begin with.

That being said, I did read chapters 1-3 of the webtoon blind. And I have to say, I didn’t expect the unassuming colorful cover of this Webtoon to show such menacing and dark panel off-rip.

(A panel from the first scene in Chapter 1)

But, let us familiarize ourselves with the cast, shall we?

Characters:

Yeon Han - The Brain:

Yeon is an honor student who moved outside of Seoul, presumably due to not having enough money to stay. Despite this turn of events, she doesn’t want to become a “backwater girl”. For the sake of her academic record, she decides to settle on becoming the class president. But her peers are just amused at how cocky she was despite being new to the school.

(A panel in the middle of Chapter 2 ^)

When that fails, she decides to settle on becoming the president of an after school club. But forget becoming president, they wouldn’t even allow her to join on the basis that she is too qualified. BRO, THE LITERATURE DISCUSSION CLUB HAS THREE MEMBERS. ONE INCLUDING A BODYPILLOW FOR FUCK SAKES. Part of me wanted to laugh but part of me also felt insulted for her.

I expected her character to be the “genius that finds a niche that she enjoys compared to other activities they would usually dominate at”, but she is already fed up with how hard gardening actually is. Not to mention the amount of faculty and students who ask favours from her.

It was a very pleasant surprise, because now I can rightfully assume that while she works on her cases, she might pick up skills from the gardening club. Dare I say, she actually comes to appreciate and enjoy it as a hobby? I guess only time will tell, as this is still a very new Webtoon, with 12 Chapters out as of this review’s conception.

The one thing I have on my mind at the moment, is if her range of skills she currently has will be useful when tackling the murder case.

Whether or not that is the case, I have high hopes for her as a character.

Mirim Shin - The Spiritual:

Although I said I have high hopes for Yeon, I think Mirim is my favorite character. As the daughter of a priest, she is in tune with her spirituality on a whole other level compared to her club mates. 

An interesting tidbit about her is that she decided to practice all forms of faith before her baptism. I can only assume it’s so she could have an idea of what could have been, before deciding to lock in on one specific faith.

Honestly, I genuinely didn’t expect for her to say something like this, not because it sounded ridiculous, but because up until that point, it felt like her spirituality was just a running gag that came with her character.  

It was nice to see her character expanded upon, and I hope the other characters get the same treatment, even if it is only brief.

Baekji Kang - The Muscle

Then there's Baekji, who easily wins in cool factor. 

I can’t say much other than that in addition to being a part of the garden club, she is also in the Judo club. Although the story doesn’t technically address it, I feel like she fills the role of pseudo-leader / Vice-President of the club. 

She’s cool.

Saessak - The Green Thumb’d Romantic?:

Ssaesak is a soft-spoken girl who attends to the garden's needs as one of the two members of the garden club. 

She is unexpectedly a romantic, being interested in bad boys.

I only found her annoying for a brief moment because it seemed like she was going to hold back information on her latest crush, Hyeonsu Jeong (the lunch guy), before finally finding the resolve to give a possibly game changing piece of evidence to Yeon.

She’s alright.

Execution:

Despite the mostly positive things I have said in this review, my first impressions of Garden Club Detective Squad were more negative in comparison to the opinions I shared at present.

When I read Wizard of Arsenia, I had overblown expectations because my editor Nen had already recommended God of Bath, a webtoon I have now come to really appreciate. I assumed I would love it in the same way.

My expectations were what held me back from what I usually do best: Sit down and just enjoy the show. Granted, I still hold opinions about it that I believe hold back the story, but the opinions were way fairer than what I could have said.

This time around, I made a similar mistake.

I decided on my own to read Garden Club Detective Squad for this review, and held expectations for the mystery element of the Webtoon, which was reinforced by the first panel I showed in the review. Thankfully, even if the webtoon didn’t live up to whatever expectation I had, I know that I could still appreciate it for what it was because I just went with the flow. At worst, the mystery could come across as contrived.

(A panel from the first scene in Chapter 1)

That being said, somehow, I was disappointed. Even a bit annoyed 5-7 chapters in. Disappointment is one thing, but why was I annoyed?

At first, I was thinking it was because the story had a problem with how it presented tension. After all, the webtoon is categorized as a mystery, so I criticized it as such.

In my original draft, I wrote the following: 

“The webtoon is categorized under mystery, but I don’t really feel the urgency of the case whatsoever. I feel like I am getting whiplash between moments that I feel are supposed to be serious and moments that are just ‘slice of life’ hijinks.”

I hadn’t taken into account that, although it was a “mystery”, it functioned more like a “comedy”, like God of Bath.

I feel as though the Webtoon was miscategorized. I use God of Bath as an example because it could have easily been categorized under “Action”, because of the Ttaemiri battles. But despite these battles, because of the way dialogue is presented, it is understandably under the comedy genre. Moreover, the action was more of a vehicle to tell the stories and values of the characters themselves. In other words, even if you were to take out these action elements, God of Bath would be fundamentally the same.

But according to my logic, does this mean that if this webtoon didn’t have mystery elements, it would be fundamentally the same? 

No, and I do not think it would be the same if the webtoon didn’t have the comedy elements either.

To be perfectly clear, just because I think Garden Club Detective Squad is a comedy, it doesn’t mean that I think it shouldn’t present mystery elements, or vice-versa. But I wish Webtoon could at the very least categorize it as both a “mystery” and “comedy”.

Who knows, maybe my opinion will change as more and more chapters get uploaded. Or rather, I hope it does.

Personally, despite my position towards the webtoon being a comedy, it isn’t all that funny.

And as of the currently uploaded chapters, I think the mystery is all right.

In my opinion, what makes a good mystery is having all the clues presented to the characters and the reader to be able to solve the case. To understand 52chu’s take on mystery, I’ll break down the first suspect, Hyeongsu. Take this scene the beginning of episode 6 for example:

This scene is trying to insinuate that Hyeongsu is the killer. The dramatic irony of this scene, Saessak’s photo of Hyeongsu dumping bones in the garden, and the story deliberately pointing out that there are no cameras in the cafeteria/garden area are the three pieces of information the story provides to help the indirect claim.

(A panel from Episode 8 ^)

(A Panel from Episode 9 ^)

(A panel from episode 8 ^)

But it was all a misunderstanding. Whoops, my bad. “I was just trying to help you all”.

(A panel from episode 9 ^)

It's almost comical how much the plot just wanted to frame Hyeongsu, I can’t help but laugh.

All forms of evidence lead to Hyeongsu, except the fact that the bones were the remnants of ribs from past cafeteria specials:

(Panel from episode 9 ^)

(Panel from episode 9 ^)

If you were able to pick up the possibility, then great. But somehow, Hyeongsu’s mini-arc just fell flat for me. Whether you knew this one detail or not, it feels like I’m going to be dragged from suspect to suspect in the future. Everyone one of them will be the “killer” except for that one contrivance that makes them innocent. Honestly, I firmly believe that it isn’t any of the faculty.

You know what, here's my Trademark 8Requiems theory. The culprit is Chair Juyeong. 

(A panel from Episode 6 ^)

I don’t mind the club reaching dead ends, but if there aren’t elements that could at least help me identify who the real culprit is, I doubt I could enjoy it as much as I’d like to.

Conclusion:

Reading and understanding this Webtoon has been somewhat of a ride. Although it is still ongoing, I have mixed feelings on whether or not I want to continue reading. But despite the gripes that I have with it at the moment, I think I will continue reading it just to see where 52chu takes the story.

You will likely enjoy this Webtoon if you like stories where the plot focuses on the reader having fun with the misadventures of the cast.

But what do you guys think? Do you think my criticism was unfounded? Do you think it really *IS* a mystery, and that I am looking at this Webtoon in the wrong light? Talk about it in the comments below.

And as always,

Arrivederci Brothers. May you attain your grain.

[councilof9]

What Makes a Good Puzzle Solving Team

By Mystic of Co9 I have been working with The Council of Nine to solve puzzles since 2012. Our team is made mainly of people who met entirely through attempting (and failing) to solve the Defcon 20 Badge Challenge. Through the years we've continued to work together, eventually earning two black badges for being the first to solve DC23 and DC24. We have learned a lot about puzzle solving through this experience, but we've also learned a lot about working as a team. My intention with this post is to share a bit of this wisdom. I will start by dispelling some common misconceptions and then present what I think might actually make a good puzzle solving team.

Misconceptions

1. Tools: Great teams have some kind of magic tool that solves everything. Tools help, but a good puzzle will be resistant to advanced tools and/or require only the most basic of tools to solve. Every Defcon badge puzzle that I've worked on could have been solved with nothing more than pencil, paper, and google. Occam's Razor is always your friend. Forgetting that can lead you down some interesting rabbit holes (See the CryptoK Cipher: https://twitter.com/0xCryptoK/status/1292316580957700096). 2. Genius: There's one uber solver on the team that does all the work. You may in fact have some real smart people on the team, but beware that solving puzzles isn't something you can master like programming or music. Even if you have someone who is a master cryptographer on your team that person isn't going to just know that, for example, the drum beat in the background of the audio is morse code. That takes more than technical skill to solve. That master cryptographer on your team is very useful for running cipher text though obvious solutions (like Caesar or basic transposition) but don't assume that they are going to be able to throw intellect at every problem while everyone else sits back and enjoys the show. 3. Team Size: Having 30 people on your team means you are 30X more likely to solve. It's more about how you organize your team than how many people are on it. The last thing you want is lots of people generating lots of noise. If you can pull off a 30 person team, more power to you, but you'll find that most large teams only have a small number of people actively working on a puzzle at a time. You'll also find that smaller teams tend to be way more organized, which is critical if you want to succeed. With good organization you could have a bad ass team with only 3 people. For more on how to organize your team see the suggested team roles later in this post. 4. Deception and Social Engineering: The best teams social engineer their way to the solution and play dirty. We use every tool available to us and social engineering and deception are part of the game, however it is rare that teams succeed on this alone. Information gained through social engineering, in my experience, can certainly give you an edge, but only a small one. Your team has to combine this with your own unique solves. The reality is that if your team is good you'll be so far ahead at points that social engineering is useless. Let me also give you a word of warning: beware of social engineers who want to join your team. They might at some point use their skills against you. I'm sure every good team has a story about this to tell over some beers.

What Actually Makes a Good Team?

1. Variety of skills: Hardware, coding, music, languages, pop culture, and classic/modern cryptography are all valuable skills to have represented on your team. Don't worry too much about finding geniuses. A lot of our solves came from people who were simply willing to try something no one else thought of yet. That comes out of having people with a variety of perspectives and knowledge bases. 2. Team Players: People on the team should want to be on a team. They need to be willing to be a part of something greater than themselves. If you want individual glory, then maybe you shouldn't be on a team. It sounds harsh, but if you join a team you are part of that team. Even if you didn't have any solves yourself or you ended up solving a ton of the puzzles, it's the team that succeeds or fails, not you personally. There will be arguments, there will be frustrations. Deal with this as a team. Strong egos and chasing individual glory can be toxic to a team at its core. Don't let it fester too long. 3. Clearly Defined Roles: Especially for larger teams you'll want to decide on some roles. We would suggest having at least these three: Front line: People who take all the puzzles and start trying everything to solve them right away. They are gathering all the clues, running them through tools, trying different analysis methods, etc.. Middle line: There people are taking everything the front line folks are doing and verifying it. If the front line says for example, "the cipher text is 40 characters and here is the hex and binary of it, I tried all ROTs, nothing" then the middle line does all of that again to make sure there weren't any mistakes or anything missed. They are also looking for missed correlations. For example, they might say "oh the text on the badge is also 40 characters, I'll try OTP with all of them". Documentation: These people are taking anything that seems like a solution or a clue and documenting it. This can be done in a google doc, a flow chart, markdown in github, etc.. For larger teams, it can be a good idea to split this role so one person is documenting and the other is communicating when the docs are updated with new information. This helps a lot in moments where everyone is stuck. Did we miss a clue? Is there something we still haven't solved? Is there a keyword we haven't used? The documentation should be able to answer all these questions. 4. Year Around Communication: Don't be a "see you next year" team. Keep up communication year around. Try solving puzzles outside of your main focus. Not everyone on the team will be able or willing to do this, but some will. The more you work together the better you are going to get at it. Also, Don't take for granted the fact that your team is full of smart people who share a common interest. I've gotten to know people through Co9 that helped me to improve my skills in a lot of areas beyond puzzle solving. In the end, isn't the real solve all the friends you made along the way? I hope this post helped to dispel some myths about puzzle solving teams. I also hope this inspires others to start new teams or improve their own. A lot of the members of Co9 genuinely enjoy helping others with this stuff. Don't hesitate to reach out. We know this is a competition, but we love solving puzzles and meeting others who share this pretty niche passion. Defcon tends to give out only one black badge to the winners of the badge challenge (if at all). We don’t do it for the badge (although when we do get a black badge we make more [links to badge copy posts]). We do it for the challenge. I think this embodies the hacker ethos in a pure way. Let others take the spotlight, the sponsorships, the glamorous parties, and the fancy job offers. Who has time for that? We're here in this hotel room solving.

[mavmax]

Strange Love (Part I) | Maverick & Sooyun

When: Tuesday, January 19th

Where: Somewhere in Ocean Park. 

Warnings: Drugs, Alcohol

Featuring: @sooyunjeong​

sooyun felt exhausted keeping up the appearance of Eric's supposed girlfriend, which was probably why she found herself at a party that was being held just to get away from the annoying questions and looks of her stealing Eric away. In her defense, Lexa should have made a move on Eric instead of beating around the bush. But it was sort of her fault for sending that selfie to her through Eric's phone while he was passed out.  She shot back the shot and cringed at the taste, vodka wasn't her strong suit but it was the only drink that she could rely on that wouldn't give her a terrible hangover. After the performance, Sooyun left the band behind and ended up at this party where she knew no one, everyone clearly were far different from her social circle. The young girl leaned against the wall and felt the vibration against her body, maybe she shouldn't have taken those drugs. Opening her eyes and squinting as she recoginize the face and that smile anywhere.     "Maverick Maxwell!" Sooyun yelled out, pointing at him as she pushed herself away from the wall and grinned cheekily, "What are you doing here?"

Maverick knew not to pass up any party invitation in Santa Monica, although this one, he almost considered passing up to shoot some hoops to get his mind off the stress that Lexa practically radiated the whole weekend. He needed to let loose, and so, he called up a few of his college buddies, pre-gamed and smoked a blunt--or three, and now here he was crossfaded as all hell and taking shots as if they were water. He mingled throughout the party, making casual conversation from everything to crazy ragers in the past to a recent performance that Maverick had zero clue about, but was bummed out that he missed. He always liked local bands performing. As he made his way to grab himself some snacks from the back, he heard a voice that made his whole body whip around. "Well, well, well, what do we have here!" Maverick smiled making his way over to none other than Soo-yun. "The host invited me and a few of the boys. What're you doing here?"

"I got invited as well," she shrugged her shoulders, she don't even remember who it was that dragged her here but they left her behind as she wander off and made friends left and right. "At least now I know someone around here, I kept getting asked questions and I never know how to hold a decent conversation before running away." Sooyun tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and grinned, "Did you go to the concert? If so, I didn't see you, I can't even see when I am on stage so there's that." Someone tapped her shoulder as they passed by to wave, in turn, she waved back unaware on who they were due to the fact half the time she doesn't even remember their names, might've been one of the parties she went too in the past. "There's talk of the after after party--who knew people can party for so long."

"Damn, looks like you roll deep around here. Small ass world," He chuckled. With Santa Monica being as big as it is, there was no surprise that people's circles would often intermingle, if they played their cards right of course. "I mean shit, that's what I'm saying cause my boys all disappeared within the first hour and shit. And honestly, conversations can be weird. I like to keep 'em light, talk about different parties, ixnay on politics, spot another person, wave and respectfully dip," He explained with a wry grin. "Wait, there was a concert? Shit...no, I didn't go. Had I known, I definitely would've gone. It's been a while since I've seen local bands play with basketball and shit," He responded honestly. She effortlessly mingled well with people and Maverick had to admit he was pretty impressed, well--he wouldn't mention that now with the haze settling upon him. "That's what I was hearing too! Like damn, you guys really want to party til the break of dawn, huh? Pretty fuckin' wild," He laughed. "Are you going to the after after party?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah there was, it wasn't planned but they needed a band to cover and I figured why the hell not, so hence here I am. Lost my band mates but it's fine, good thing a thing called Lyft is available incase I have to somehow hobble my ass home or sleep with someone." She said out loud, the downside of being intoxicated it appeared the things she normally kept shut was coming to surface, "But on another note, I might...I really don't want to go home and I really don't want to answer any more questions about Eric." Sooyun didn't mind questions about herself but when it came to the supposed relationship, she couldn't come up with anymore lies and the fact Eric wasn't helping by shutting out the world in his dream state, Sooyun was left to deal with the domino affect and dodge questions left and right. She quickly grabbed a plastic red cup and started mixing her own drink, something that would numb the stress. "Also you should go bug Eric sometime...he is practically sleeping his life away at this point."

"Ahhhh, okay. Makes sense. Impromptu gigs are the shit. You show up, surprise the audience, do your thing and wow everyone. I mean, that's what's up, you know? As for the rest of your evening, well, there's a bunch of hotties to go around, so..." Mav chuckled as he looked around at the word "hotties". Last thing he needed was to take a drunken L, least he could do was pretend to be slightly uninterested compared to his sober self, although his sober self was currently taking notes now. "Well, you could either hide out at the next party and scope out to see where there'll be less people or wind up at Onyx?" He added with a shrug. He managed to block out the mention of Eric, probably because he eyed the bottle of tequila and as much as he hated the taste, here he was, reaching over for it, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig from it. Future him is going to hate himself tomorrow. At the mention of Eric again, he chuckled at the thought of him sleeping. "Homeboy sleeps like a bear. Plus, his phone's prolly on DND. I'd say Lexa could get to him, but she's been busy with CEO business and shit. When he wakes up though, we'll prolly go get some gimbap or something."

She knew mention Eric was a low blow, she seen those posts on GG, she didn't think Maverick would actually be that interested in her after the many times she shot him down. She figured that he would move on with ease or maybe she just assumed all that due to her ex who in a way was similar to Maverick but standing here before him, realizing they were completely different sure they shared the confidence of flirting but now Sooyun was able to see that Maverick wasn't anything like her ex. "Yeah he does, which I was surprised but hey...everyone has their niche." Sooyun shrugged, her eyes widening at Maverick drinking the tequila, "Uh...you really think that's a good idea? Tequila doesn't sit well with most people. Not that I should be telling you how to act but I really don't want to drag you out of here, I may act strong but I have no muscles."

While the mention of Eric and Sooyun sucked for the time being, he was able to bounce back fairly quickly, as if he were unscathed. The one thing that's swirled in his mind is that Sooyun's rejected his advances prior anyways, so at the end of the day, the sting lessened. However, he was definitely confused as hell now that Sooyun seemed happy to be conversing with him at the moment. It almost gave him some sort of hope. "I'm pretty sure he can sleep through a tsunami warning at this point. I envy his sleeping pattern, that's for sure," He admitted with a laugh. It would be the only envy he'd admit out loud given his state, too. "Oh this? It went down pretty smoothly, so y'know, that won't be too bad. I was gonna grab some food anyways so the effects of the tequila won't hit too hard," He reassured her with a laugh. "You game to grab some food too?" He offered cautiously.

The mention of food made her realize she hasn't even eaten dinner nor lunch, all the nerves enabling her to eat a decent meal without puking. "Depends...are you going to hunt through said kitchen or are we going to grab an uber because I don't know about you...but now after seeing you take that tequila like a champ, I want to one you up on shots." Sooyun knew that this was a terrible choice especially now she realizes she's drinking on an empty stomach but the fact she was high and about to be even more intoxicated, it just didn't mesh well from the first time around she done this. "Let's see...how about...four shots, make it even. Four for you and four for me...make a toast or whatever." She waved her hand as she grabbed mini plastic shot glasses and grabbed the tequila from Maverick, pouring them the shots and set it between them. "Oh we can even spice it up...if you can't take a shot, you have to make a confession. So...eight shots." That math didn't make any sense but at this point, Sooyun didn't care.

"Yeah, I was gonna check the kitchen first and if there wasn't shit, then we'd grab and Uber and go wherever we felt like eating at,"he shrugged. "You really want to challenge me to shots?" He asked, a devious smirk curling on his lips. Maverick knew very damn well that he was playing with fire at this point. Sure, he took a swig without wincing or making a face, but this was about to be torture...but the thing about Maverick Maxwell was that he never backed down from a challenge, especially from someone as gorgeous as Sooyun. "Bet, you're on," He said with a nod. His crossfaded mind tried to do the math in his head as best as he could. Eight shots between the both of them was bound to fuck them up. "Like truth or dare? Okay, I see the vision here," He said as he watched Sooyun pouring the tequila into each of the shot glasses. Taking one of the shots and handing Sooyun hers, he smirked. "Bottoms up," and threw the first shot back.

Sooyun knew she was about to die, almost like her body knew what she was about to be put into the next day, she tried to pay much mind to it as she squeezed her eyes tightly together and threw the shot back. Cringing as the taste went down smoothly, with a burning trail as a reminder for what she was doing to herself. "Jesus...I swear tequila never gets any easier," she mumbled to herself and wiped the back of her hand against her mouth, looking up at Maverick and laughed, "Another? Or do you want to use one of your truth or dares already?" She teased him, flipping the shot glass upside down onto the table, the sound around them muffled as her attention was solely on Maverick. To think she managed to hide her attraction to him sober but now that sobriety was out the window, it was as if she was a whole different person.

It was official that both he and Sooyun signed their death sentences tonight. Tomorrow was going to be incredibly brutal and he was already mentally blocking out his hangover stage because it was going to be a bitch. The taste of the tequila was smooth but the familiar back of the throat burn was what nearly threw him off, he had to silently smile at his poker face behind it. "No going back now. Despite the back of the throat burn," He teased with a laugh. He met Sooyun's gaze again and nodded. "You're not getting me that easy," he responded with an eyebrow wiggle as he set down his shot glass upside down. He liked that it was just them two playing their own little game, drowning out the rest of the world with just them and tequila. It was beginning to get harder to pretend that he wasn't as interested in her, but that would be a problem for later Maverick. He took his own shot again, throwing it back with a smirk and flipping his upside down. "Just like water," he bragged with a laugh.

"Here I thought you would be weak," she laughed, making a mental note to drink water before she passes out later, but she doubt she would even remember that simple task. "Another then," she grinned as she reached for the second glass and held his out towards him, flashing him a flirtatious smirk, raising the glass and throwing it back, coughing at the burning taste. Sooyun realized the next round she might have to use one of her own truth or dare at this point, especially because she wasn't taking a break between each shots and the thing about tequila, it was worse than vodka, it will creep up and bite her in the ass. She just hoped no one would report what they see tonight towards GG, it was hard enough to not slip up when she was out in public with Eric, she also knew it was hard for him which was why he stayed home and kept his phone on DND to avoid confrontation.

"You severely underestimate me, Soo," He winked, the flirtation slowly creeping back in on him as much as his sober self tried to reign it back in. At this point, all bets were off. Although, he was beginning to think that the impulsive Gatorade vibe would save his life tomorrow morning. At the second shot, the burn was slightly stronger than the last, a clear warning sign for him to slow the fuck down before things got ugly too soon. When he heard Sooyun's cough, he was relieved. At least now they could truth or dare it out because there was no way both of them in the current states that they were in, that they'd make it out in one piece. He pondered what he could confess about, it had to be something small, yet, somewhat meaningful, but still not enough to scratch the surface. Last thing he needed was to confess he practically shut off all emotion about Sooyun so he could move on quicker. "I guess we're gonna have to use that truth or dare card," He chuckled. "Tequila's getting more bitter by the shot, don't you think?

"More like it's death in each shot I throw back," Sooyun grimaced as she reached for the mix drink she made for herself and took a drink to somehow wash out the taste. Mixing alcohol was probably not the best idea but at the moment it definitely helped. "Okay...I guess since I was the one to tap out, you can ask me the magical words of truth or dare." She caved in, letting Mav take the first round since she practically came up with this stupid game in the first place.

"I'm so glad I wasn't the first to admit that," He teased with a laugh. "You're right though, I'll give you that," Maverick tried not to look at the tequila shots as he tried reaching towards the fruit bowl. Finally, sustenance. Grabbing two apples, he handed one to Sooyun and kept one for himself, taking a bite out of it. "I guess so, huh?" He smirked. "Alright Sooyun, truth or dare," He asked coyly.

Sooyun realized her mistake on the fact she was probably going to have this game backfire in her face now that she could either pick truth and having to say something true from his question or dare where he could possibly have her embarass herself. She rolled her eyes, "Dare...not about to spill any secrets just yet," she giggled, waiting to hear his dare for her.

Maverick took another bite of his apple waiting for Sooyun's response. A big smile graced his features as he knew very damn well she was going to play hard to get in this round. "How'd I know that's what you were going to pick?" He teased with a knowing look. "Okay, I dare you to, take off your bra and use it as a hat now, if you don't have a bra...I'm sorry to say, you might have to use your panties as a hat for the night," He challenged.

gaping at him and his words, she assumed he would choose some silly dare not this sort of dare, laughing lightly, "Now what if I wasn't wearing any panties...then what." Sooyun challenged Maverick, of course she was wearing underwear, she wasn't that adventurous and even if she was, she wouldn't admit to anything unless the person she was sleeping with took her clothes off. "Good thing I wore a bra that is easy to slip off," she rolled her eyes as she placed the apple in her mouth to hold and reached behind to unclip it, doing the whole slipping the bra off and out of her sleeve to pull out a soft pink bra and place on her head. "Gotta make sure not to lose this, you know how much bras cost? Which is ridiculous for a tiny piece of cloth.

He couldn't help but laugh at Sooyun's reaction to his dare. Mav knew he wasn't going to make it that easy for her, after all, it wouldn't be him if it was. "The backup plan was charm someone's shirt off to wear it as a head wrap, but that's pretty mild compared to the original," He explained with a grin. He watched the whole ordeal and the one thing he had to admit was girls really had their own tricks on getting bras off without getting their shirts off. He was going to make a note of what Sooyun did--for science. "Don't worry, with a color that pink, it'll be hard to miss," He teased. "Guess that means it's your turn."

[expshared]

this season was kind of whack, but at least we had Eizouken

Heya Camp is just kind of a lazy reminder that Yuru Camp exists, and will continue to exist in the future. You remember these characters?? OK good, just making sure. That said, did I immediately feel the tension release in my entire body when I heard the OST? Duh. Did I sing “it’s coffee time” to the ending not knowing these were the incorrect lyrics? The entire time.

I don’t know what to do with Isekai Quartet because like, objectively, I should hate it. I do not enjoy like 2.5 of the shows involved, and the addition of Shield Hero was not a welcome one. Turns out it doesn’t matter anyway because it was just Isekai Quartet and also Naofumi is Sometimes Scowling in the Background and that’s about as much of him as I want to see anyway. And yet? I do enjoy this Disney Channel Original Crossover. There’s something inherently fun about watching these characters from disparate shows interact with each other, and no matter what the original stakes were in their respective series, they’re all just doing homework and getting part time jobs and that shit’s funny when a big skeleton man is doing it.

After its first episode, Asteroid in Love was kind of a slog. This is your typical seasonal CGDGT show, and apart from that, I really can’t think of anything to say about it. I didn’t learn anything about the Extremely Niche Topic these girls are doing, and it wasn’t even that gay. Disappointing. 

I was really looking forward to Toilet Bound Hanako-kun because I am a big fan of the source material, but I was pretty let down by this adaptation. It seems that they prioritized the art style and the color scheme above everything else, but that essentially just meant the entire project ended up being colored manga panels. I wanted to see them move around! There was not a single moment of animation that justified it being an anime. You might as well have been watching a PowerPoint. I can’t think of anything nice to say. Let’s move on. 

Bofuri is my power fantasy. I want to play a video game so cluelessly I break it into tiny pieces and bumble into being the most powerful player in the world’s nicest MMORPG. Maple turns powercreep into powersprint. What Bofuri lacks in character development or plot, it makes up for in outrageous Maple feats. She holds the entire world in the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even know it. She named her OP pet turtle Syrup and then turned into an alien abomination unknown to the world and went on a killing rampage. This anime was Maple Crossing Online. Love you, Maple. Wreck shit, Maple. 

If My Favorite Idol Got Into Budokan, I Would Die walks a thin line and what separates it from being a slobbering idol otaku engine preaching how Cool it is to Be an Otaku and an Idol Show Watamote is the fact that Eripiyo is a girl. That’s it. If you took her and replaced her with your average Joe Schmoe-san, this show would be insufferably creepy. Every time I was waiting for it to topple over, Jenga-like, it managed to right itself and straddle the tightrope. It’s not a particularly subtle piece of media, nor does it do what I was hoping it would do and engage in any sort of conversation about the obsessive nature of idol otakudom, but you know what it does a good job of doing? Portraying being an idol as a job. Just some adults putting on underground shows and selling the same CD of like two songs over and over again. I was also hoping it would address what happened to Eripiyo, maybe talk about why at the beginning she’s dressed like an office worker and apparently gives that all up to follow this kinda-shitty idol group, why this fanatic escapism is preferable, or even maybe address how gay it is? Not in the cards, though. Honestly Budokan was, despite itself, pretty enjoyable? There are some great background lesbians. Also can we talk about how consistently good the production values were on this show? Why did this have such great dance sequences? Why did this look better than Love “Has More Money Than God” Live? Actually no I take everything back this show was kind of just Idol Otaku Watamote

Hey, let’s talk about the other idol show airing this season: the completely unhinged 22/7. This show is Whack. This show operates on an entire different plane of reality. I know nothing about the actual band, so I came into this blind and oh my god. Hey guys, the plot of 22/7 is that a Wall tells some girls to form an idol unit.  A sentient Wall whose orders absolutely must be followed. Why? Dunno! What happens if you don’t follow its orders? Never elaborated on. (Actually, is this a reference to Pink Floyd? I have no fucking clue.) In any case these eight girls, summoned by a letter from the Wall, are all invited to become an idol group, and then they’re magically an idol group. It’s unclear how they become successful, how they book gigs, who’s keeping the lights on at the agency, how they’re getting paid, who HR is, how their gorilla man agent found this Wall and determined that all its directives Must Be Followed, but shit, man. What follows in 22/7 is a one-member-per-episode serial that quite frankly stumbles far more often than it succeeds. One girl’s grandma died and that’s why she came to Japan. One girl had a traumatizing experience where she got lost in the woods for a week and it broke her family apart and now things just suck forever. These things are equal. One poor girl’s entire episode was about how she didn’t want to put on a bathing suit for a photo shoot and how uncomfortable she felt about it, but in the end she was made to apologize for dragging her feet for so long and takes her photo for a pin up. Yuck. Gross. Bad. The only valid girl is Jun, end of discussion. None of this even holds a candle to the finale-- wherein the girls are directed by the Wall to disband, and, defying an order for the first time, the girls return to their agency and throw shit at the Wall until it breaks down. It’s revealed that the Wall isn’t supernatural-- behind it are tv monitors, photos of the girls as children, records of their activities. A person or people are behind this. Why??? Are they being groomed?? Is the Wall a metaphor for the Industry? I’m so concerned. The girls aren’t, though, because after a little side eyeing, they ascend a staircase and wow! A Stage! Our fans are all here for our reunion tour! And then they’re fine and I guess their idol group is back together or something? Did I mention the stage where they perform? It’s at a zoo. I can’t tell if this is the most scathing condemnation of idol culture I’ve ever watched or just completely oblivious. The characters don’t engage in any sort of thought about what they’re being put through, but they are performing their final song, the lyrics of which are about how life is just too hard to keep on living, at a zoo and I don’t think you can have that sort of thing happen unless you’re trying to make a point. Right??? RIGHT?!? Dance and sing, monkeys.

Smile Down the Runway was another show completely divorced from reality. So you got your main character, Chiyuki, whose thing is that she’s Too Short to Be a Model at her father’s very prestigious modeling agency. Which, like, is valid! Let’s see some variation in the modeling industry. Let’s shake it up. Let’s lead the charge for alternative models with bodies outside of the very narrow requirements of the fashion industry. What’s that, Chiyuki? You have no interest in that? You want to be a Hypermodel? I don’t know what that shit is, I think you made it up. Our other protagonist is Ikuto, the destitute, put upon, bobcut boy with a dying mother and 3 younger siblings who is trying to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. Are you beginning to sense the problem here? There is a fundamental imbalance in the presentation of these characters’ goals and situations. Also? Emotions are at an eleven, always. Characters are always acting as if they’ve just seen someone get murdered in front of their eyes even when it’s like. There’s a messed up seam. They are constantly being mortified, crushed, and having their dreams ripped away. One time, two different assholes offered Ikuto magical mom-fixing blood money when he was struggling to come up with funds to pay off his medical debt at the cost of giving up his spot in the fashion show. Wildin’ 

Haikyuu didn’t exactly come in like a lion, but I’m sure it’ll be more organic upon rewatching. We were laying the groundwork for much of this season so I’m expecting it to payoff later, but the beginning definitely lagged. Every time Haikyuu hints at a women’s volleyball tournament, I want a volleyball anime with girls. Man, those ten minutes we got with Kiyoko? Those were great. 

I don’t have too much to say about Somali and Forest Spirit. Abe’s “Make Children” agenda feels at least a little more like a narrative choice in this anime, and I enjoyed Somali and the Golem’s relationship and their travels were in equal turns harrowing and heartwarming. And I did tear up at the end so you got me there, anime. 

In/Spectre has some balls being an anime. It’s existed as a light novel and a manga and those are both superior mediums for it because let’s put all our cards on the table here-- In/Spectre is a show about talking. Five whole entire episodes take place in a car. The finale is winning an argument in an anonymous 4chan chatroom. That said, I have such a fondness for In/Spectre. I think Kotoko rocks. I think a show willing to do nothing but talk at you for two hours is badass. Sitting through this anime is like watching a podcast. I think the show engages in some great dialogue about human nature and how we prefer stories that are theatrical, narratively-driven, and have a logical cause-and-effect, instead of the truth, which is more often than not grim, and disappointing, and illogical. I like that Kotoko’s only function, in-story and out of it, is to bullshit so hard she invents alternate realities. Anyway In/Spectre is good. 

There’s no praise I can lavish on Eizouken that hasn’t already been said. It’s powerful, it’s strange, it’s energetic, and it’s packaged with such love. It’s repurposed the CGDCT template into something deeply affecting. It’s an anime for people who love animation.  I hope everyone watches Eizouken.

[bugaboowritings]

We Fall in Autumn- Chloé’s Path To Redemption

I love the idea that Chloé took up Ladybug’s advice on bettering herself and helping Paris. Here (setting is a few more years later in canon) Chloé has an internship at City Hall. Trying to manage paperwork and school is a little challenging, but what’s more heartbreaking is the discord going on over the Miraculous Duo. 

Could it cause another Akuma that Paris can’t handle or will Chloé need to step up and protect her heroes? All when knowing who they are under the mask. 

Part Two to this- (Still understable if you don’t read it)

The world could survive without a Queen ruling over it.  Maybe even thrive and prosper without one. 

Nevertheless, Paris,  France, Europe - Possibly the whole world would be up in flames without a ladybug and a black cat by its side. Forgetting how to breathe if one day they just disappeared. 

Unfortunately, they didn’t know how much they need them before they did disappear. 

Not disappear like thinning out into nothingness as if they were a cloud of smoke with a blink of an eye and a gush of wind. More like gradually fall like the orange and brown leaves on the sessile oak or sweet chestnut tree. Die-off as the wind sweeps them off their skinny branches. In the beginning, the autumn breeze seems to carry nothing. However, piles of lifeless leaves will gather on the edges of the street and sidewalks. Only to be noticed by someone out of the blue. Only once autumn has already set the weather to a different course, someone will say-

   “Oh, it’s fall.” Or "Oh, they're really gone now." 

The heroes can easily dust off the city’s ignorance like how a tree still appears lush and full even when some leaves droop and die. Yet with time, they are destined to wither away. Becoming drained as people throw insults, threats, assumptions (as if it's a game of skipping stones)- overlooking how much they really need the protectors of Paris.  Ladybug will grow too anxious to sleep or breathe. Her old habits will return after losing them a few years back. She'll bite her nails and leak self-doubt into her words. Believing she did something wrong to cause this. She'll try to pacify the city. To convince them to listen to reason. Explaining their situation with Hawkmoth while the citizens grow impatient thanks to the opinions of internet hermits. Publishing mediocre articles about conspiracies theories against the Miraculous Duo. Chat Noir, who never mind much about the press before, forces himself to bite his tongue when outlandish headlines targeted naive readers (adding more fuel to the anti-Miraculous party). Turning what was once an escape into another glass enclosure. Noticing that everything great in his life has its drawbacks. 

The city will then be divided. 

One side wants the miraculous out and away of France. Returned back to whatever temple, planet or alley they came from. Others, mostly victims of Hawkmoth's plans, will disagree. However, their numbers decrease with time.  

Politicians will form scripts for their answers on election night, calculating what’s the best answer. All in hopes to get more voters than the other side.

-

“Should the superheroes stay?” 

Chloé memorized the way her father studied the crowd. After years spent perfecting his dramatic pause, he effortlessly appeared like a man with a strong sense of dedication and quick answers. Not like the total people pleaser, he is really. Performing with a strong voice and stern expression as if he wasn’t searching the crowd for a clue on what they wanted to hear. Hiding the fact that sometimes he was completely clueless. 

Then he just fucking said it. After all the years and amazing rescues, he still had the guts to say it. 

“It’s time for Paris to step up.” 

Bullshit. Who gonna fights a magical super-villain other than the magical superheroes?

“It’s time for Paris to handle this dilemma as it happens on our soil.” 

The police couldn’t handle an angry squirrel. 

“We thank the heroes for their time and efforts, but it’s not necessary. They will not have to continue. Paris can protect itself by itself.  The heroes need to step down, they have done their duties. We have an astonishing police force with trained brave men and women that can handle the duty of protecting our city.

“Those kids can leave it to the professors now.” 

 Mylene had to pull Chloé back to prevent her from slaughtering her dad. Both knowing very well that she could easily push Mylene off and jump on that stage if she didn't have an ounce of self-respect. Spitting out a tangent on how they don’t know what they’re saying. How dare they talk as if Ladybug and Chat Noir were just involved citizens in community service rather than champions of the whole nation. As if they weren't a buffer that stopped a monster from taking over. 

Yet, Chloé saved the fireball in her throat for later. Getting angry on live-tv would be horrible for her father’s campaign. Plus, a mess to deal with. Especially since she manages the media division. The last thing they need right now is another scandal and a rude hashtag flowing around. 

Instead of biting his head off at that exact moment, she settled for his pale complexion when his eyes laid on her. Startling the goosebumps on his arms and neck as her polished designer heels tapped the floor in an impatience manner. The same way her mother did whenever a problem arises from her dad's incompetence.

"Did I say something wrong?" 

Chloé huffed. Spinning her heel into the other direction. 

--

The media was eating up the whole Miraculous debate. As if it was grease in fast food or cheap drugs, they just kept pumping it out. 

Headlines grew more absurd as more copies were sold. Just with headlines with “Ladybug” or “Chat Noir” was an instant seller. This back and forth grew to be an overused gag that some grew tired or fond of.  Akuma attacks were no longer the center of the news, but why Ladybug and Chat Noir took so long to handle it or how it could have gone better. 

 Chloé walked through the plaza with her fresh-brewed coffee and shades over her sky-blue eyes every morning on her way to work. Around the time the newspaper-stands restocked their goods about people asserting their problems and opinions with the incoming elections. She would ignore them but the fonts grew bigger and bigger with each issue. She fantasied about buying them all and burn them as a statement. However, burning trees or funding the editors of this journalism trash wasn’t her agenda. 

Anyways, she didn't need to read about their exclusives. She already knew the truth (too long of a story to tell). 

Killing her each and every day like the hot coffee she spilled on her legs during early mornings or the heels that split her ankles in half during clubbing nights. That little inconvenience that pinned her up into a tight spot. Creating a soft spot on her conscience. 

Brave Ladybug lurked behind a counter in her parent’s bakery. Charming Chat Noir practiced piano surrounded by reminders from his father's assistant. The most hidden people in Paris were the people the stood in the front lines. Stopping angry akumatized girlfriends from tearing down homes or a pigeon man from trapping the city. 

Chloé knew their struggles or at least she knew how to dig a little to spot them. Marinette grew confident when her shiny new earrings arrived. Her eyes didn’t shy away from others when she spoke or laughed. Even making a little niche in the atmosphere for herself that no one could replace. Believing in herself, yet her stomach still flipped with anxiousness when she spoke to her crush. Picking her fingernails during Akuma alerts, itching for a chance to jump into action. Adrien won an escape and could now breathe without restrictions but still held himself back. Not wanting to trouble anyone with his newfound secret freedom. However, that doesn't stop his 'energy' from dripping into his stuffed schedule. Daring to sneak out and maybe even ditch his bodyguard for the sake of staying a moment longer. Bouncing back with a reason or excuse when he got caught. Holding back the "cat has eight more lives" line for a special bug if she asks about his weekend. 

Chloé saw back in lycee (with the help of her side-eye), the glitter in their eyes when talking about their partner in the mask. Praising them as any  REGULAR admirer would. Only to quickly panicked when someone mentioned them in the mask. Panicking even more when asked why they were sweating bullets. 

This isn’t what the reporters were getting.

 They wrote about selfish and cocky celebrities that seem no way close to the real thing that inspired the fictitious newspaper columns. That four-eyed blogger could write better news in her sleep then the “professors”. 

Chloé was even tempted to call Daddy and roar out that they need a full-on ban their stands. Yet, she was crossing the line with censorship of the press and other political stuff that Chloé didn’t want to deal with. She wasn’t that desperate, yet. 

Yet.

Till then, her nose will keep scrunching up at the sight of those foul magazines and the end of her pens will get chewed out in frustration. Mylene packs extra for Chloé when they accompany the mayor during his conferences in their internship. Sabrina, at one point, asked if she needed a chew toy after seeing all the bite marks. As a joke, of course. 

POINT IS, it’s utterly ridiculous how those journalists work. Heck, if they really did their job or were remotely good at it, they wouldn’t be in a clickbait war. They would uncover Ladybug and Chat Noir spotting during the night. Catching them on their patrol or even when they find someone in need. 

Chloé would be the first to read a story like that. Maybe even provide herself as a potential interview for a story. Drawing back memories of late-night Akuma attacks or just snips of her encounters with the red bug and black cat. 

One that Chloé reminisces fondly is the night she saw Ladybug perched on the Effiel tower. The same night in her suite, when Chloé coated her face with a mud mask. Sweeping the blonde hairs over her ears before they dried into her face mask. The only sound around was the soft buzz of her television behind her. Deflating her lungs quickly when she heard a zip and a blur of red. Launching herself to her bedstand to check the news. 

The red Akuma alert wasn't on her screen and Chloé didn't have her Queen Bee light on. . . 

Rushing off to her balcony to see what was going on. Hoping it's just a false alarm or one of her patrols. Unlocking the balcony door, not expecting a chilly breeze blowing across her room. Her hands ran up and down her arms for warmth. Ignoring the tug on her face as her mud mask dried quicker with the wind. Catching the sunset glare as it shined its last bit of light before the night sunk in. 

There, the most eye-catching red, Ladybug stood on the tip of the Effiel tower. The clouds around her faded into the lovely shade of lilac and orange. Her eyes pointing in one direction as the wind blew in the other. Chloé could have been sure it was another patrol but Ladybug was alone. No alert was given. Chat Noir nowhere in sight and no signs of him rushing to the scene. 

Ladybug just watched Paris. 

 Paris as the citizens got ready to pull the sheets over their heads and call it a night. As the sun slipped away and the famous streetlights were lit again. 

Paris was going to sleep. Nothing exciting.  

Yet, Ladybug watched it. 

Marinette Dupian-Cheng watched over it.

Standing on the edge of what seemed like air and nothingness. Rebelling against gravity as it wanted to pull her so strongly down. Yet, Ladybug stood there. 

Watching Paris. 

Ladybug took a big breath in. Her chest rising in one big motion. All before she took the leap. Throwing her yo-yo back. Twirling around the steel tower as she flew. Just like a ladybug. A long cheer followed the heroine as she had the biggest smile on her face. Chloé knows because even with the harsh streetlights and dimming atmosphere, she could swear it lit up the sky. Just like how the sun did a few minutes ago. 

Chloé forgot how to breathe at the moment. Watching the superhero flip and spin in the air as if she was a feather. Like a fairy jumping in the wind without trouble. Making Chloé miss the feeling of spandex and the mask as she stood outside in her pj’s while Ladybug jumped from building to building. 

Chloé sighed into her elbow as the peck of red disappeared from the sky. 'She’s probably going home to do homework.' Marinette seemed like the type to do homework before she yawns and slips into bed. Maybe her kwami told her to go to bed if the clock hit a certain time. Maybe her kwami would talk to Marinette till she drifted off to sleep.  Chloé suddenly felt a little lonely.  Wishing Pollen was here to snuggle up against her cheek.

When Chloé found out about the miraculous duo’s identities, it changed a lot of things for her. It’s tough to keep it hush-hush as Marinette bumbled bad excuses on why she’s late. Adrien’s shy smile seems fake knowing how a joke and smirk could easily curl out his lips. Marinette’s leadership was as sharp as the bug in battle. Adrien’s playful nature had the same heart as the cat in the leather suit.

Knowing their identities also made it harder for Chloé to watch the press tear them apart from their beloved Paris- and from each other. 

Chloé thought that if it got bad enough, the heroes would end up getting akumatized. But she'll never say it out loud. 

 Overhearing Alya mumbling to Nino during lunch about the same worry. Even dropping details from reports of late-night patrols going on in the city. Ladybug pulled out more hours from her sleep to work. Chat Noir tried to stop her, begging her to take a break. Only joining her in the end when she proves to be more stubborn with the less sleep she got. 

Even making what was going to be the most exciting and anxious moment for their careers, a nightmare to go through. Chloé, Rena Rouge, and Carapace don’t much of the details, but an identity-reveal happened at the wrong moment with the worst timing. 

So when Ladybug and Chat Noir was put out of commission for some time due to secret business, Chloé wasn’t surprised to see a little black box in her balcony that week. Hidden in the same spot as last time. Only this time with a note. Asking her if she was ready to protect  Paris from the flames when the saviors couldn't. Ready for her to say the magic words the moment her beloved little Pollen popped out with their greeting. 

France can thrive without a Queen, but never without it's Bee. 

Jumping over buildings and bridges to reach the Effiel Tower. With a fox and turtle waiting for her arrival. 

[surejo]

( victoria pedretti, cis woman ) hey ! have you seen JOSEPHINE “JO” CORMAC around ? SHE works at the HOT COCOA STAND at big bear resort, but they must be off their shift by now. well, if you do see them can you let me know ? they’re 24 years old & they’ve been working here for TWO YEARS. they tend to be +OPTIMISTIC & +EMPATHETIC, but can also be -IMPRACTICAL & -PASSIVE. the other employees have labeled them THE IDEALIST. thanks a lot ! ( the few nights the stars can be seen, books worn down by dog-ears and marks left throughout the years, the first crisp breeze of autumn, the duality… of t.s. eliot ) 

OK. a few notes before i get started:

1) i hope everyone loves how i literally j copied my ivan stuff. url format? ‘sure jan’ lives on. theme? too lazy to find a different one that’s easy to work with. luv that for me. 2) speaking of this theme i forget if i addressed this on ivan’s blog but tabbed bullets don’t appear tabbed.... so if anything seems like it doesn’t make total sense.... it is supposed to be tabbed™. 3) get ready for drama!!!!! you may ask yourself “but the app looks so tame! there will be no drama!” but you are wrong........ because she loves cats. the t.s. eliot book......... the musical........ even the movie.

ok jo,, is also a resurrected character,,, hence how i already kno,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that she loves cats. anyway ! let’s begin ! (listen,,,, the intro format will at least be a little different from ivan’s ok im evolving)

QUICK FACTS:

full name: josephine “jo” rose cormac

date of birth: march 6, 1995

*does not perfectly reflect the below big three zodiac chart because that’s too much math

zodiac big three: pisces sun, gemini moon, cancer rising

gender & pronouns: cis woman & she/her

sexual orientation: bisexual ( preference for women bc we luv that for her but we also luv leaving things open to chemistry )

education: bachelor in english - literature that she is doing nothing with

enneagram: 2w1

mbti: infp

various inspirations: eleanor crain ( the haunting of hill house ), dolores price *as a child and towards the end of the book ( she’s come undone ), fox 8 ( fox 8: a story ), “why try to change me now?” - fiona apple (cover), “be still” - the killers

BACKGROUND INFO:

triggers: verbal/mental/emotional abuse/gaslighting, very slight implication of spousal abuse, brief mention of car accident/death & drowning

( ivan and jo’s breakout pop-punk single: “fuck happy backstories!” stream it on spotify ! )

jo......... was born into the wrong family, let’s get that out of the way.

it was pretty clear she was a ploy to save the marriage of her parents ( who have names: lucy and benjamin, luv that for them ). it didn’t seem like they’d ever picked up a parenting book, gone to a parenting class, rly prepped for being a parent at all...... in their entire lives.

that being said, her mom was actually decent at parenting. her major flaw, though? ok, so you know how kids usually have that one bedtime story that they love and want it to be read to them over and over? well lucy complied ! but y’all wanna know what that book was ?

t.s. eliot’s “old possum’s book of practical cats” whfeiuldjkn

anyway ! when jo was seven, after many failed attempts and simple threats, her mom was finally divorcing benjamin for realz. due to his volatile nature, it was becoming very clear that she was the more fit parent and she almost got sole custody ( the only reason benjamin was motivated for it in the first place was the power so?? )! how exciting!

but the keyword is ‘almost’!

alexa, play ‘my heart will go on’ but the off-tune flute version

just as the proceedings were going through, jo’s mother was hit by a drunk driver on new year’s eve. the car skidded onto some ice, minimal damage done... then the ice broke.

jo and benjamin both devolved after that. jo withdrew more into herself and pretty much coped by..... just reading old possum’s a LOT (hate that for her). all mopey, benjamin became much less outwardly violent. the keyword is ‘outwardly.’

ya, instead of j bein like “i will just chill” he was like “i will just make my rage more subtle because in this house, we love intimidation, manipulation, hostility, the blame game, and gaslighting! uwu” managed to convince jo that her mother’s death was somehow her fault, that he was the only person she could trust, that she will never be able to live without someone else, etc., etc.

a few years in and a cycle of many impromptu sleepovers began. luv that for her. hate that for her, but luv that for her. 

there is a lot i cld talk abt here, but it all seems like it cld j be tl;dr’d as: “basically became the surrogate daughter of a bunch of other people”

as for things that r not tragique™, jo was v much a drifter when it came to friends. managed to make a fair amount bc she does not seem like she will put a tadpole in ur hand like ivan. also j a people-pleaser but that’s starting to get into her personality which is another section.

did go to college. luv that for her. has NO CLUE what she’s going to do with her degree, but she can make some really sick niche william faulkner jokes. 

began seasonally working at big bear during the winter break of her last year in college because bitch needed some money!! wound up loving it and was like ��i think,,,, i will continue to do this,,,, the people here,,,, r cul,,,,”

still visits benjamin every once in a while. not a way to say that uwu you should forgive ur abusive parent(s) uwu rather that jo.... still has slight belief in him. just to end on something emo.

THE REST IS HISTORY!!!!

TL;DR:

started life out as a saddie, not a baddie. still not a baddie, but no longer as much of a saddie. loves “cats” and there is no irony to that statement. can make good niche literary jokes, but that’s about it.

PERSONALITY/MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

a child. a literal child. a child to the point that she should have supervision when she goes on grocery trips because she falls for marketing ploys so easily. can’t believe she hasn’t fallen into a pyramid scheme yet.

an absolute dumbass. again, can make some great niche william faulkner jokes, but ask her the order of the planets? “...well mars is somewhere in there.”

unironically LOVES cats - both the musical and movie. thinks jennifer hudson’s grizabella is the best. will start sharing random facts about it or old possum’s book of practical cats if she runs out of things to talk about but feels pressured to keep talking. was broken when she first read a different t.s. eliot poem and realized he was actually super dark. the only thing that got her through it was a comparison to batman :\ bruce wayne is old possum’s, batman is everything else.

to take a brief break from fun personality facts, v down on herself bc benjamin’s words rly!! stuck with her!! convinced she is an absolute idiot and does not trust her own memory. v indecisive bc of this and always longs for someone to help her figure things out. tries to distance herself from memories of her mother because, again, benjamin got to her. her love of cats doesn’t help that, but... can you believe that’s her coping mechanism? makes up for it by giving all of her love 2 everyone else!! we love tragedy!! and needing to go to therapy!!

secretly knows her love of cats is weird and dumb. a part of her knows why it’s considered one of the worst musicals ever. but LISTEN. we luv rly weird coping mechanisms!

big dreamer. will develop the most impractical goals. she usually knows they are impractical, but still..... uwu

has decided everyone is good until proven bad! except for,,,, like,,, murderers and rapists,,,,

is #StraightEdge for the most part,,,, literally has a drink maybe three times per year

says “like” a whole lot for someone who majored in english with a concentration in literature and should therefore be more eloquent.

i am not great at these sections!! feel free 2 j refer to her zodiac, personality tests, and character influences!!

literally fox 8. i put the others there bc she’s similar but wow,,,, if u read fox 8 (it’s a short story i recommend it i luv george saunders u can find a pdf online),,,, she is fox 8. 

here u go here is a sample that doesnt need context: "Fox 4 woslike: No ofense, Fox 8? Your ideas are not super praktikal. Dreem, dreem, dreem, said Fox 11. Fox 41 woslike: Fox 8, does this honestly never get old for you?"

OH ALSO. she has a slet. a cat,,,,, named asparagus,,,, whom she calls “gus”,,,,, and y’all know WHY.

recent development: has downloaded tor so she can get on the dark web. why? because she thinks there will be more funny animal videos on there. is shockingly good at navigating it.

CONNECTION IDEAS:

close friends bc we luv that –– roman (nuanced), aylie (nuanced), hazel (nuanced), cleo (nuanced), vic (nuanced), marco (nuanced)

childhood friends whom she possibly had impromptu sleepovers with bc that is v soft and,,,,, y’all i left the city blank for a reason. –– hazel, marco, 

on that note, the person who was like “wait,,,,,,, u know that book was turned into a musical right,,,,,, like,,,,, a musical literally everyone knows” and shook jo’s world

good influence / bad influence –– cleo, vic, 

~*confidant*~

roommate

exes –– ian,

reciprocated pining

unreciprocated pining

someone..... who has accepted..... that she likes cats.... in a way that is not ironic. will see the movie with her. –– aylie, 

an enemy,,,,,, aka this person was like “cats is literally the worst thing in the entire world” and now they r on jo’s very short hit list –– riley

idk!!! im also obvs up for brainstorming!!! luv that!!!

** descriptive connections page is here ( only people who i’m messaging are on it, but i ?? would love to plot w everyone ?? so don’t make the short list make u think i’m trying 2 limit it 2 these ppl auhfoeidla )

LIKE THIS OR HMU TO PLOT !

[homesweetsewer]

Harmless Part 3 (Donatello x Fem Reader)

Part 3 as promised...2 more to go! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Tagging @gummiwormsandonedirection as requested. I hope it meets your expectations!

Part 1 is HERE

Part 2 is HERE

Donatello sat at the kitchen table, absentmindedly drumming his fingers on the surface. His plate of pizza sitting forgotten in front of him. Raph and Casey were seated across the table, busy arguing over the latest Knicks game while Mikey stuffed his face with pizza while having a friendly debate with April over whether hand tossed or pan pizza was the superior pie. Donnie barely heard any of it. His eyes kept wandering from his watch to the door of the lair and back again. Leo had been gone for quite some time and it was beginning to really eat at him. With every minute that ticked by, the nervous knot in his stomach wound tighter. His brother was only supposed to check on you and make sure you really were alright and report back his findings. He couldn’t imagine what could possibly be taking so long.

“Hey...”

A gentle hand on his forearm made him jump in surprise. Donnie turned his head to see April looking at him with a concerned expression on her lovely face. Normally, her touch and close proximity would have sent a pleasant shiver straight through him. Right now, however, all he was capable of feeling was a deep concern for you and the uncertain status of your relationship. He blinked at her, “I’m sorry, April...what did you say?”

April bit her lip worriedly. It wasn’t like Donnie to zone out and it especially wasn’t like him to ignore her. “I asked if you were alright. You seem like you’re a million miles away.”

“Oh,” Donnie chuckled but it lacked any real humor. “I’m fine just...uh...thinking about a project I’m working on,” he lied. He didn’t know how to adequately express his fear that he’d somehow drove the person closest to him away.

“Oh,” April smiled, completely oblivious to the turtle’s inner turmoil, and gave his arm a squeeze. “What kind of project?”

“Um,” Donatello wracked his brain, trying to visualize the many half-finished experiments that littered his workbench. Finally, he stuttered out the first thing that came to mind, “It’s a perpetual energy generator based loosely on Nikola Tesla‘s fuel less generator schematics...”

April’s eyes clouded over slightly, the woman obviously having no clue what he was talking about. Still, her smile widened, “Well, it sounds brilliant, just like you...”

“Th-thanks,” Donatello stuttered, his face heated at the compliment but he suddenly felt quite uncomfortable. He couldn’t enjoy April’s company when he very well may be losing you. He carefully extricated himself from April’s grasp and quickly stood from the table causing her to frown. “I’m, uh...I should probably head to the lab.” He fidgeted, “You know, get back to work while I’m feeling inspired...”

“Oh, uh, sure,” April nodded, utterly confused by the terrapin’s suddenly standoffish demeanor. “Need any help? It’s been a while since we worked on anything together.”

“No,” Donatello blurted a bit more forcefully than he intended. He internally cringed at April’s surprised expression but he needed to be alone with his thoughts. In a softer tone he added, “There’s lots of, uh, volatile compounds. It’s probably safer if you didn’t.”

“Oh...okay...” April reluctantly agreed as the turtle turned to take his leave. “Maybe another time then?”

“Yeah...Maybe,” Donnie called back over his shoulder as he practically fled to the solitude of his lab. “Thanks for the pizza!”

“But you didn’t even eat any of it,” April huffed under her breath as the ninja disappeared from sight leaving her completely baffled.

No sooner had Donatello secured the door to the lab behind him, he’d collapsed into his chair and reached for his phone. No missed calls and no new messages from you or Leo. Surely, he thought, if there’d been an issue or had you not been alright, Leo would have let him know. His brother knew how worried he’d been. How could he not be worried when his very best friend in the entire world suddenly decided they wanted nothing to do with him? He couldn’t for the life of him figure out where your relationship had jumped the tracks but he would have given anything to fix it.

Honestly, he hadn’t realized just what a huge part of his life you were until you suddenly weren’t around for him to talk to and confide in. Guilt gnawed at him because he knew that meant he’d taken you for granted. It’s just that...it was so easy to settle in and be comfortable around you that he really hadn’t given it much thought. He hadn’t needed to. The two of you just clicked. You were pleasant and easy to talk to. You enjoyed the same types of music and movies, you both loved to read and often swapped books, you both loved learning new things and, though science and technology were not your strongest subject, you showed a genuine interest and fascination in his work that he was both appreciative for and proud of. When he was with you, he wasn’t a mutant turtle living in the sewers and you weren’t a human girl cavorting with monsters. You were simply two close friends enjoying one another’s company and sharing the joy you found in your common interests.

God, he missed you.

The intensity of his lonesomeness surprised him. Sure, he had his brothers and April...even Casey, but they weren’t a replacement for you. The pair of you had grown incredibly close since that fateful night they’d rescued you from a pair of thugs who’d knocked you unconscious and dragged you into a dark alleyway to do God only knew what with you. It had never dawned on him at the time that those first few tentatively awkward moments between you would blossom into such closeness and camaraderie. Certainly, you cared for his brothers and spent plenty of time, especially, keeping Mikey entertained, but, it wasn’t completely lost on him that you seemed to prefer his company the most. It was that tiny bit of knowledge that sparked a proud satisfaction within him.

He was your favorite, or at least he had been. Now...now he wasn’t sure what had happened between you but he desperately wanted to fix it. He wanted, no, he needed his best friend back. With a heavy sigh that bordered on a sob, Donatello buried his face in his hands and hoped that Leo returned soon. He didn’t know how much more worry and uncertainty he could take.

Donnie wasn’t sure how long he’d remained sitting idly in his lab—it wasn’t like him to remain still when there was so much he could be doing, but his heart just wasn’t in it. Eventually, he became aware that the sound of revelry from the living area had quieted. With a tired groan, he rose and made his way over to peek out of the door. The living room and kitchen areas were devoid of people and most of the lights were off meaning April and Casey had taken their leave and Raph and Mikey had turned in for the night. 

Curious, he stepped out and closed the lab door quietly behind himself. He took a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the change in light, blinking behind his glasses as he made his way through the space. He felt as though he was moving on autopilot as his feet directed him to Leonardo’s neat, little corner of the lair. A heavy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach at finding his eldest brother’s gear still gone and his bed empty. He still hadn’t returned. Now Donnie was really starting to become concerned. He backtracked quickly, making a bee line for his own niche, fully prepared to suit up and go find out what was going on for himself. It seemed he wouldn’t have to, however, as Leo’s voice stopped him suddenly in his tracks.

“Donnie, what are you still doing up?”

Donatello spun toward the sound to find his eldest brother sauntering toward him with a curious look on his face. Instead of answering his brother’s question, however, he made a demand of his own, “Where have you been all night? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“You sound like dad,” Leo chuckled tiredly. He smirked at his younger brother as he passed by, heading to his room. “Gonna send me to the Hashi?”

“I’m serious, Leo...”

The blue clad ninja sighed as he unstrapped his gear and began stowing it away, “Where do you think I’ve been? You’re the one that asked me to go check on her...”

“Yeah, I did,” Donnie frowned, “But you’ve been gone for over three hours! What were you doing?”

“Well,” Leo took his time removing his mask and carefully folded the scrap of cloth before answering. “She invited me to have dinner with her...”

Donatello bristled, “Dinner?!”

Leo nodded, turning to face his younger brother. “Yeah, dinner...Indian takeout. Her parents were out for the night and she really didn’t want to be alone so afterwards we ended up watching a movie until they got back.”

“You two had dinner and watched a movie together?” Donnie felt strangely put out. He’d been practically begging you to come over for over a week to have some dinner with them and watch a movie and you’d blown him completely off but you apparently had no problem sitting down with just his brother to do the same. It hurt and he reluctantly admitted to himself that he was feeling just a little jealous. Okay, maybe more than a little. His eyes widened behind their frames at that realization.

“Yeah,” Leo confirmed. “Look, Donnie, we talked and she’s not mad at you.”

“She’s not?” Donatello may have been the taller of the two of them but he suddenly felt very, very small as his brief burst of anger was smothered by gnawing anxiety. “Then...why is she acting like this?”

“She’s...” Leo tried to search for the right words. “She’s worried for you.”

“Me?” Donnie’s face twisted in confusion. Why on earth would you be worried for him? As far as he was concerned, it was his job to worry for you.

“It’s complicated,” Leonardo shook his head. “Something was brought to her attention and it’s been weighing on her, that’s all. She wasn’t sure if she should bring it up, or how to bring it up for that matter. So, she’s been staying away.”

“What?” The purple ninja’s brow furrowed, fresh worry bubbling in his chest, “What is it? Maybe I can help.”

“The thing about that is,” Leo tried to explain, “the person that can help doesn’t see the problem and, well, that is the problem.”

“What?” Donatello pondered his brother’s words as he pushed his glasses up his snout. “Leo...that doesn’t even make sense.”

“It will,” Leo mumbled and, quickly changing the subject, asked, “Was April here?”

“Yeah,” Donnie nodded. “Why?”

“Was Casey with her?” The blue banded leader asked pensively.

Donatello let out a snort of irritation, “Isn’t he always?”

“Did they leave together?”

Donnie shrugged, “I don’t know. Probably. Things just felt...weird, I guess. I went to the lab and by the time I came out everyone was already gone so I didn’t see. What does this have to do with anything?”

“Nothing...forget I asked.” Leo continued to turn the April/Casey situation over in his mind even as he tried to reassure his brother. It would need to be dealt with, yes, but right now comforting Donatello was his main concern. “Like I said, we talked and she’s not mad at you, alright? So stop worrying about whether or not you did something wrong. You didn’t. Understand?”

Donnie sniffed as he felt wannabe tears burn behind his eyelids. He hadn’t messed things up with you and that had been his biggest fear. He wanted to feel relief but could sense there was a lot Leonardo was leaving unsaid. “Yeah...okay.”

“Good.” Leo clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Because she’s coming over tomorrow night...”

“She is?!” Donatello brightened considerably at that statement. His best friend was coming back. He wasn’t sure what Leo had said or done to convince you to return but he was willing to forgive him the evening he’d spent with you in exchange for whatever magic he’d managed to work while he was there. He’d certainly not been getting anywhere with all his calls and texts. Still, he found himself feeling the slightest bit apprehensive. After all, you had run out on him the last time. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Leonardo assured. “I made her promise. So no more moping, okay?”

Donnie couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. “Sure, Leo.”

Though relieved to see his brother in better spirits, Leo couldn’t help but think they weren’t out of the woods just yet. There was still Casey and April to deal with. He wanted to say more but found himself biting back a yawn instead. “I gotta turn in...I’m wiped. You should probably get some sleep, too.”

“Yeah,” Donatello nodded, suddenly realizing how tired he truly was. He rarely slept much as it was, his inventions and experiments always keeping him up till an ungodly hour. Fretting over you, however, meant he’d been sleeping even less than normal. “You’re probably right. Goodnight, Leo, and...thanks.”

“Sure thing, Donnie.” Leo smiled at his brother but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Donatello was too elated to notice.

To be continued...

[taz-writes]

WIP questions tag

i got tagged by @eff-writes and I haven’t actually participated in a tag game in like 10 years, so here we go!

1. What is the working title of your book?

Book 1 is called The Beginning. Boring, I know... The series as a whole is called Feilan! It used to be The Feilan Chronicles but then I decided that was stupid. 

(book 2 is The Queen of Feilan, book 3 is Storm and Shadow, book 4 is Liaea. 2 and 4 are literally perfect but 3 is Bad and needs replacing when I finish the manuscript.) 

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?

It’s based on a recess game I used to play with friends in elementary school. You know how basically everyone was involved in that stupid Boys Versus Girls war in first and/or second grade? I was the leader of my school’s stupid Boys Versus Girls war, it was centered around “Fairyland,” and my friends and I all had these overly complicated self insert characters that we LARPed as during recess. Over the years, the boys vs girls thing faded away, but we kept playing fairies and developing the ~lore.~ When I got to sixth grade, I decided to write it all down for posterity, and that’s when the first concept of Feilan came into being. I wrote the first legitimate draft in 9th grade, after spending a few years developing the characters and world into something that could exist without relying on bad self insert Mary Sue logic. 

There were a couple specific scenarios that we always wound up playing, and those are what the books’ core plots are about. Book 1 is the game we played at my house in the woods, usually searching for treasure. Book 2 is the ice skating rink game where we rescue Violet from the Frozen Isles, fused with the swimming pool game where we turn into mermaids. Book 3 is the one we played at my friend Emily’s house, where we built couch fort “prisons” and tried to escape without making enough noise to bother her dad. If we knocked too much stuff over, he’d come up and lecture us for interrupting his Warcraft game, so avoiding him became part of the LARP. Just typing this is bringing up vivid flashback-style memories. 

3. What genre is your current work in progress?

High/heroic fantasy, with a drop of genre de/reconstruction added in for fun :)

4. Choose the actors for your movie rendition.

Lucy Liu has to play Lilac Ravenhart. I don’t care about anything else but she has to be Lilac, it’s perfect. 

Honestly, if I got a movie, I’d want Sayara to be played by a total unknown because I feel like it fits her place in the story. She wants to be known as Sayara, the actor should want to be known as Sayara and not as whatever their last major role was. Plus I can’t think of any actresses who are short and buff enough. 

5. Give a one-sentence synopsis of your book. 

An ambitious illegitimate princess stumbles into a civil war and somehow manages to make herself a ~new legendary hero~, much to everyone else’s chagrin. 

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agent?

I’m not sure yet! It would be awesome to have an agent and be published with a legit publishing house, but self-publishing is faster and easier. Considering that I’ll be trying to market a debut novel with niche appeal and no romantic subplot to speak of, which also has three sequels.... self-pub seems more likely right now. 

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft?

The first first draft? I plugged that baby out in six months back in high school, because I didn’t have anything else to do with my life. It added up to over 150,000 words, so that was no small feat. It’s taken progressively longer to finish every new draft since. 

8. What other books would you compare your story to?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (frantic googling sounds) 

Honestly, I have no clue. I’ve read lots of books with similar concepts or characters, but I’ve never read another book that was enough like mine for me to want to make a comparison. I’ve taken some inspo from Game of Thrones, but deep worldbuilding lore and too many characters isn’t enough similarity to make a good comparison. Most of the fantasy I’ve read lately has been in a very different vein from what I write, because I’m trying to push my boundaries. 

9. Who or what inspired you to write the book?

I got into this a little with the “where’d the idea come from” question! But mostly, my inspiration was spite. 

The reason for making this particular recess game into a novel was, simply, that I couldn’t find a single book in YA fantasy that gave me what I wanted out of a story. I wanted strong female leads, who didn’t fall in love or have a LI, who saved the world without being questioned because of their gender or being outshone at the final hour by random boys. Do yall know how rare books like that were (and are) in YA fantasy? Full respect to paranormal romance writers, but your genre was the bane of my existence in high school, because the library would always label it as fantasy, and they always stocked twice as much of it as they did the actual fucking fantasy. Poor little naive Taz would pick up book after book about cool monsters and seemingly-intriguing plots, only for it to devolve into Edgy Boy Love Triangles. I didn’t care about the sexy demon/angel/whateverthefuck boys! I wanted to know how the girl who was supposedly the protagonist was gonna save the world! 

Also, I was really into fairies, but the only YA-ish author I could find who wrote about them was Holly Black. Who is a talented writer and I envy and respect her success, but that just wasn’t the kind of story I wanted to read, yknow? She’s too edgy, and the love interests are... that. 

I’d sat on “the fairy story” for years at that point, but this powerful rage was the kicker to actually get me started. I was bitter and salty and figured that if nobody would give me what I wanted then I’d just have to make it myself.  I already had this source material that was funny and weird and deep and (as far as I could tell) totally unique, so I took it and ran with it! My friends gave me a lot of inspiration, because a few of them still remembered the fairy game, and they wanted to know when their characters would show up. So I’d send them chapters as I finished them, and we’d all get excited about stupid inside jokes and goofy names. 

10. What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?

I think the deconstructive elements are the core appeal in Feilan. I have a lot of the trappings of standard high fantasy--the lost princess, the return of the evil, the big war, the chosen one--but they’re used with the intent of picking them apart to see what makes them tick. None of the elements listed are played entirely straight. 

The main cast is made up of mostly royalty, and their positions have Actual Responsibilities that motivate the plot and their character development instead of just being set dressing.

Female friendships and relationships are really important to the story, no boys will ever appear to derail character arcs at any point. 

One of the main characters (Violet) is a trans girl and I know people appreciate queer content

(most of the main characters are actually under the queer umbrella but it doesn’t really come up in canon since i have a lot of plot to deal with)

Sayara is a relatively unconventional character type (especially for a female protagonist), she’s ambitious and mostly confident in herself, and her conflict comes from the way other people treat her more than how she treats other people. She’s not forced to learn “humility,” she’s not forced to give up on what she wants. Instead she learns how to handle responsibility and move past naivety to realistic optimism, and how to achieve her goals without hurting other people by it. I feel like that’s a theme that should be way more common in YA fiction than it is right now. teenage girls are right about things sometimes!

i have Deep Worldbuilding(tm)

The magic system has categories and you can sort yourself. because we all know what’s really important here. 

I’m not going to tag anyone new in this, because I’m tired and I don’t have the energy, but if you want to pass on the challenge then feel free to say I tagged you! :)

[theuniversitychallengereview]

UC 48.1 - Warwick vs Exeter

Kylian Mbappe receives the ball from Lucas Hernandez, and with a nonchalance that can only come from being so young, strikes it beyond a floundering Danijel Subašić. France lead Croatia 4-1. Their opponents will score a consolation in a few minutes, but to all intents and purposes the biggest match in the biggest sporting event in the world has just been ended by a nineteen year old. He had also high-fived a pitch-invading member of Pussy Riot.

I don’t know whether professional footballers would make worse University Challenge contestants than University Challenge contestants would make footballers, but both require skill, timing, and an ability to perform under the mightiest of pressure. 

But for tonight’s contestants, victory comes with it not the eternal promise of national adulation, but the passing acknowledgement of intellectual achievement. Still, its something, even if they won’t get the chance to shake hands with any Russian feminist protest punk groups.

Warwick are one time UC Champions, having won the 2007 final against Manchester, but have only made the quarter finals twice since, coming within 30 points of knocking out Eric Monkman’s Wolfson at that stage in 2017. Exeter return to the Challenge following a three year absence, though their glory days were around a decade ago too, with consecutive quarter final appearances in 2008 and 2009.

Emily Wolfenden is the first contestant to introduce herself, and does so in a Warwick Uni Quiz Soc hoodie which identifies her as the incumbent President at the time of filming. It seems strange to me that the almighty leader of WUQS should be sitting out wide, but who am I to question the formation when it was probably her who chose it? 

They are mascotted by a pair of ducks, because why have one duck when you can have two ducks, am I right? Captain Beardsley has a very prominent zip on his hoodie and to his left Gower has a very prominent set of sideburns. I’m not sure where the line is drawn between general purpose sideburns and fully-blown mutton chops (presumably its a hairy one somewhere around the upper lip) but Gower is definitely playing fast and loose with it.

Careful research has indicated that what I, and Bobby Seagull, the old narcissist, thought to be a seagull performing mascot duties for Exeter, is in fact an albatross. Albus the Albatross, to give him his full name, as confirmed by Will Klintworth, who could easily be confused for Taron Egerton if he was playing the lead in Starter for 10.

Paxman gives the rules in full. They haven’t changed. They probably never will. And on we go.

Sartori commits the cardinal sin of forgetting the earlier clues and negs, but perhaps unluckily makes the wrong choice between ‘Night’ and ‘Fever’ based on the final hint, and hands the opening question to Exeter. Captain Lay nominates Klintworth to say ‘hooligan’ for one of the bonuses, which is probably for the best, given the difficulties involved in its pronunciation. Klintworth confidently takes the next starter and Exeter grab a hat-trick on the bonuses.

Gower negs the third to leave Warwick dangling ten points below zero, but Lay can’t capitalise on the error, and then Wolfenden starts proving my thesis that she should be closer to the action by dragging her team back to the surface with a classic UC question on consonants.

I don’t know if there’s much point in memorising the periodic table given that every self-respecting person who needs to use one will have a giant copy on their office wall, but it wins Exeter a few points and they extend their lead to a handsome fifty five points.

It must have been cold in the studio on the day of filming, because all eight contestants are wearing at least two layers, but I reckon Warwick must have put the extra layers on pretty late, because they were only just starting to warm up. A first starter for Beardsley is quickly cancelled out by Exeter, but an early buzz of ‘Angels in America’ signalled that the Coventry-based side were finally ready to get going.

Steadily they hacked away at the deficit, like George Osbourne if he’d been competent, and despite an absurdly quick buzz from Lay on the games company Valve, they’d taken the lead by the time the second picture round came around. Exeter didn’t give up though, and the lead pinballed between the two sides until about two minutes to go.

Asked for an Italian mathematician, Klintworth negged with the decidedly not Italian Euclid, and Gower found use for his sideburns in sweeping up the mess. A fifteen point swing, notwithstanding the bonuses, which put the match out of Exeter’s reach.

Final Score: Warwick 165 - 150 Exeter

With such a high losing score it seems likely that Exeter will return for the play-off round, and congratulations to Warwick on reaching the second round for the third year running. And welcome to a new series of the University Challenge Review those of you who’ve been here before and those who’ve not. I’m gonna write a bit below thats not really about the show so you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to satiate my self-indulgence...

When I finished the last series (which I did, even if it was two months late), I didn’t know if I’d want to do another one. Its hard to find new things to say about something thats ostensibly the same every week, and I worried that what had once (hopefully) been esoteric and exciting because of its nicheness was becoming mundane, repetitive and even pathetic because of it. And maybe it is, but thats not the point of this bit.

For the first half of last year I wrote the reviews after work on a Tuesday evening in Malaysia, and it gave me a nice anchor to home, then in the second half I could barely make time to write anything with the mad rush to hand in assignments and study for exams. It seemed more like an annoying burden than anything else, though I would still enjoy the act of writing itself.

But having just finished uni, I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing throughout this series. Okay, I know where I am (currently, at least), but I don’t know what I’ll be doing, so for the moment it seems like as good an idea as any to keep at it until I can’t keep keeping at it. So that’s what I’ll do. And thats the end of the bleeding hearts portion of this column. Thanks for sticking with me. 

[shmosnet2]

Best Written Video Games

Best Written Video Games

No matter the form of media, good writing can be admired like good cooking. A suspenseful intro hook thrown in to simmer with an intriguing storyline, seasoned by a logical plot, as well as a satisfying ending is as much akin to a meal as I can think of. I believe it was Ray Bradbury who said something along the lines of “every story has but one (proper) ending,” and I found this quote to be more and more relevant throughout writing this list. In this list we will be examining some of the best written games whose aspects– in terms of writing– are very well-rounded. Good endings require an amazing setup, like propping up dominoes only to watch them fall elegantly and haphazardly into place. So please enjoy this list, gamer or not, because everyone enjoys when dominoes drop (i.e. the climax).

While Mass Effect may just be the latest blockbuster production to hit consoles, there is a specific reason it is included in this list. With many gamers carrying over their previous save from the first Mass Effect, they let their previous choices impact the sequel in ways not seen before. From the start, this is an achievement in writing (specifically in games), rather than continuing a story over starting a new one. You are left to live with the aftermath of the decisions that are made in the first game, in the second. Characters that died don’t return for this round. The narrative aspect of Mass Effect 2 was also highly praised, as it covered every nook and niche that players could find themselves in. Contact with familiar faces from the first game play out like fortuitous reunions between old acquaintances, and with depth like that it walked away with several Game of the Year awards, along with various writing awards and best RPG awards. With Mass Effect 2, writing is becoming ever more prominent in modern gaming.

A platform and puzzle video game developed by independent software developer, Jonathan Blow, Braid was released to the Xbox Live arcade in 2008, greeted with unanimously positive reviews and became the second best-selling Xbox Live Arcade title in 2008, selling 55,000 titles. While critics labeled its one primary shortfall as its short length, this title proved that games could come with stories at flash fiction length. Braid involves several time-based worlds, each of which involve their own mechanic to solve the puzzles. In a game about time, Tim is a man searching for a princess who has been snatched by a supposedly evil monster. The only relationship we know he has with the princess is that he wishes to reconcile something. As you continue through each world, you learn more about the central plot, mostly through text and the ending is left purposely ambiguous. Some have likened the game to Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the way it interweaves its plot and narrative. Others have said the princess is analogous to the atom bomb. If you ever play Braid, carry this simple creed: “you must look back to go forwards.”

Set in an alternate history during 1960, the game takes place in the underwater city of Rapture, the inner workings of which were inspired by Ayn Rand and Objectivist philosophy and rhetoric. This time around, the game is more focused on setting than anything else. The once ordered civilization in Rapture now has become a dystopian society that you, the player, Jack, has crash landed near, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As he makes his way to the seabed and into Rapture, you begin to uncover the inklings that led to the downfall of Rapture. The underwater realm is filled with a cast of characters that fit the assumptions one would associate with an underwater city, and a half-dreamt nightmare. Big Daddies resembling old-fashioned diving suits, and splicers seeking ADAM from the Little Sisters, commonly accompany the corridors of Rapture, and as the plot begins to thicken you see how this society corrupts under its rules and morals, you realize what’s been shrugged off is that questions are actually implicit commands.

With the advent of the Writer’s Guild of America accepting and commending outstanding writing in 2007/2008, it came as a surprise to those not in the know that Bioshock or Portal were not among those nominated, and even some that were nominated, such as Dead Head Fred, didn’t seem to offer much credibility that the WGA was accepting of video games as a medium for writing. With the small and dedicated team at Valve that worked on Portal, however, it may have come as no surprise, for you needed to be a member of the WGA to be nominated. Portal was lauded for its story, ensuing meme, gameplay, characterization, and its short format, as it was crowded onto a disc within the Orange Box. Its story is centered around Chell and GLaDOS, a simple protagonist vs. technology in strictest terms of literary conflict theory. But this conflict is not immediately apparent, only seeming blatant after never receiving your cake. The quote that spread like wildfire after Portal’s release: “the cake is a lie,” began to become a meme, meaning you were reaching an empty, unattainable goal. The characterization in Portal is that of sheer brilliance, featuring only two characters: a test subject and a somewhat sentient, passive aggressive AI. GLaDOS is our antagonist here, promising you cake, insulting you, and criticizing your every move while Chell increasingly struggles to make it through the next test chamber. As the credits roll and GLaDOS can be overheard in musical overtones, a thought occurs– you’re still alive. 6 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2006

In a game where you can easily get lost between the subplots and side-stories, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an architectural writing masterpiece. While you may get sidetracked for several days on a sidequest, the main storyline is still at play, laying the groundwork and framework for all your voyages into the environment. Non-playable characters may lie to you, or react to you differently, depending on your race and gender, a subtle, but powerful undertone. Starting off as a lowly prisoner who gets a chance shot at escaping his cell, you begin to tackle the task of closing the gates to Oblivion– no easy feat. Although all of this can be ignored and you, the player, can spend your time exploring the countryside, doing the above-mentioned sidequests, and building your character up, the story is quite driven by the increasing number of Oblivion gates and their dominant presence on the hillsides. Each subplot eventually leads back and keeps you coming back to the main storyline.Though, even when the story is over, the game isn’t finished. There were some jarring dialogue flaws as well as unbalanced leveling by enemies, however, Oblivion won several awards, including Game of the Year and Best RPG from multiple publications. 5 Shadow of the Colossus 2005

At the forefront of the defense of games as an art form (prompted in part by Roger Ebert) is Shadow of the Colossus.The game was made by Team Ico, the developers behind none other than Ico. Shadow of the Colossus is a spiritual successor to the aforementioned game, and will be followed by yet another similar spiritual successor in 2012, by the name of The Last Guardian. To make things more interesting, the game only has 16 enemies in total. You start off your journey as Wander, with your horse Agro, appealing to the god Dormin to revive Mono, who you later learn was sacrificed due to a cursed destiny. In this land, desolate and forbidden, you know little background between the characters and their relationships to each other. You are tasked to destroy the sixteen colossi by Dormin. After you fell the first colossus though, it is clear that there is something more sinister at play, as you are pierced by black energy and awaken at the shrine. The game does an excellent job of creating a bond between you and your horse through the use of minimalistic touches, the horse will steer itself away from cliffs and jump when needed, and will even go off and graze on its own when you clamber off. As the game and story advances you learn that Wander is being followed, and you begin to witness one of the best uses of antihero ever. After every colossus killed, Wander becomes more dirty, ragged and clumsy. This results in your questioning of Wander’s motives, and just which side you should be rooting for. 4 Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) 2005

A cult classic, Fahrenheit, or better known in North America as Indigo Prophecy, was a precursor to the much more well-known Heavy Rain, and its cinematic gameplay. But where the game really stands out is its deep, captivating, and oftentimes disturbing story. The tale, which opens prolifically and profoundly with a murder, and is ranked as number ten on Game Informer’s Top Ten Video Game Openings, centers around Lucas Kane and the supernatural forces that he must fight to comprehend why New York City is being targeted by a series of mysterious murders that follow the same pattern: ordinary people becoming possessed and killing absolute strangers in public. Receiving the Best Story and Best Adventure Game award from Gamespot, Fahrenheit is not a game to be passed over in the used section of your local game shop.

Receiving a letter from his wife asking him to come to their special place, James Sunderland becomes drawn to Silent Hill. It is a quiet town they had frequented in the past, before the sickness took her from this life; she’s been dead for three years now. Upon entering Silent Hill, James encounters gruesome monsters and exaggerated versions of humanity, including a girl oblivious to what is happening around her, a man who has killed someone, and a woman who’s a spitting image of his wife, although she is dolled up and does not possess his wife’s subdued behavior. Finding more and more clues that lead to the revelation of the murder of your wife, Silent Hill 2 addresses your problems with analogies and metaphors. Silent Hill isn’t a town, it is your emotional being, and every door and corridor could contain a clue to James’ past, and the further you delve in, the more you must fight the mental blocks that portray him in innocent and culpable lights.

With a surplus of over 40 Game of the Year awards, and also including the accolade of Best Story, Deus Ex comes loaded with great expectations. In this cyberpunk themed tale of a world controlled by conspiracy and on the brink of collapse, a bionic government agent, J.C. Denton, is issued a series of risky covert assignments by his employer, UNATCO. A lot of background information is presented in the game that is purely optional; books, newspapers, e-mails, passwords, and other lines of text that are pertinent to the story and often contain allusions to science-fiction references, such as Tron and Blue Harvest. UNATCO coworkers react to your actions towards your enemies, appraising you or giving you the cold shoulder, and enemies can be hounded for information. Pioneering the FPS RPG formula, Deus Ex frequently finds its way near the top of the greatest games of all time lists.

For those of you following the list order, it is in reverse chronological order, and with that, we come to one of the greats of modern game storytelling: Half-Life. Considered and cited as being revolutionary in terms of the immersive gaming experience, interactive environment and storytelling, Half-Life was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and, like Deus Ex, frequents greatest games of all time lists. The game has received over 50 Game of the Year awards as a tour de force first-person shooter as well as holding a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as best selling FPS of all-time. Half-life contained artfully scripted in-game sequences and a story that the player became captivated by. Offering a proposition or a battle Gordon Freeman has no chance of winning, an anticlimax after what you’ve survived, it is time to choose…

L.A. Noire is an upcoming detective video game that looks very promising in terms of writing. Set in post-war Los Angeles and directed in a film noir style, the game is said to focus on a series of murders that the player is openly allowed to solve. However, not every source is reliable, or can be trusted; lying, in video games, is evolving. Honorable Mentions: Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Kingdom Hearts, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Bully, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

https://ift.tt/2Yp0Hqg . Foreign Articles December 06, 2019 at 12:02PM

[peachy-jy]

ye olde tag game

I was tagged by @got7peaches and I want to know if you came up with the title

(I think this was supposed to be fun and light but it ended up going to a really deep and verbose place so I’m putting it under the cut)

not tagging anyone cuz no one should have to read this lololol fml

how tall are you? 5′6″ and I’m not a fan... short people are cuter what color and style is your hair? red and long and curly what color are your eyes? they’re blue around the edges and green around the pupil and I know that sounds like a description straight out of “my immortal” but no I’m not making this up do you wear glasses or contacts? both but I prefer glasses do you wear braces? never have never will what is your fashion style? I don’t think I really have a “style.” That would require more money than I am willing to spend on clothes. But I love everything Claire wears so... if I could afford Claire’s style and pull it off I would dress like her when were you born? October 22 (burn this date in your mind) how old are you? 24 do you have any siblings? 2 brothers, one older one younger what school/college do you go to? this seems like tmi so I’ll just say I’m in nursing school (as if everyone didn’t know that already I never shut up about it) what kind of student are you? the worst. I’m that asshole who puts in 10% effort and turns in everything late and somehow still does ok what are your favorite subjects? anatomy was super fun (the human body is weird and amazing) but I think my favorite class I’ve ever taken was formal logic (it’s the satisfaction of completing mathematical equations with none of the actual math) what are your favorite shows? 30 rock, parks and rec, the office, community, scrubs... basically good sitcoms with 5+ seasons. I’m also a slut for reality tv (dance moms anyone?) and competition shows (great british bake-off what whaaat) what are your favorite movies? the one I always pick when I have to pick just one is when harry met sally but I am a huge cinephile and I have dozens of favorites so if you’re looking for a movie rec hmu what are your favorite books? my book choices are a lil outdated cuz all I read is fanfic lately lololol but old OLD faves are hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, the giver, ready player one, and the hunger games series what are your favorite past times? my favorite past time is collecting past times, getting decently good at them, and then abandoning them. I’ve taught myself to play the ukulele, painting and drawing, niche board games, pottery, baking, the basics of a few languages, and a few video games here and there. The only hobbies that I’ve done consistently for several years are knitting, watching movies (specifically going to the movie theater because you can’t beat that atmosphere tbh), and writing (mostly fanfiction; I haven’t written anything original since high school). do you have any regrets? I wish I had never gone to the second university I attended... I basically wasted three years of my life in a hick town. I was miserable but I learned a lot about myself and also a lot about people and how to not be a shitty one so I guess it wasn’t a total waste. It sure felt like it though. what is your dream job? I wish I had the self-confidence to be a fiction writer full time. If I really worked hard at developing original concepts, I think I could be pretty good at it. Plus I would never have to leave my apartment and I could wear sweatpants 24/7, which is the real dream, let’s be real would you like to get married? where? I kind of flip flop on this one... sometimes I think I’d like it but then again I’m such a loner that I think I would suck at marriage sooo... my brother says I need to find someone who is as smart as me but total shit at something I’m good at, so I can take care of them and feel needed. I don’t know that marriage necessarily needs to be involved... Plus if I ever did get married I’d prob elop or only invite my immediate family sooooo do you want kids? how many? I don’t think I’d want to create life but I’d be 100% down for adopting... then again when my celeb crushes say they want kids I’m all I VOLUNTEER so who can say do you like shopping? If I magically come into extra income then yes. If I’m on a budget, shopping for something I need is like torture. The exception is always make-up/skincare. I buy myself new make-up when I’m sad. how many countries have you visited? 7, all of them European, but one of them was just for a day so I feel like it doesn’t really count. I really want to visit some Asian countries, though. what was your scariest dream? The scariest one that comes to mind was being locked in an office building with office workers and there was a serial killer-type guy in a jigsaw mask who kept turning the lights off and abducting people one by one and disfiguring their faces. No fuckin clue where that came from tbh. I’ve never even seen Saw. do you have any enemies? I’d like to think I don’t? I try really hard to treat everyone well regardless of how they treat me because I like being liked... but honestly there are a few people who hate my guts and won’t meet me halfway to reconcile sooooo yes, I guess I do. I don’t hold it against them, though. If they ever took a moment to see things from my point of view they would realize that I never meant them any harm and I’m just a flawed person, trying my best. But apologies don’t go very far with people who like to hold grudges and feel like the world is against them, so I can’t do anything about that. do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? I don’t have the energy for that. Right now, having a S/O sounds kind of terrible actually lmao they’re so much work

THIS GOT HELLA LONG I’M SORRY BLAME CLAIRE

Put your music on shuffle and list the first fifteen songs without skipping:

We Hate You Please Die - Crash and the Boys (Scott Pilgrim anyone? no? ok)

Amsterdam - Imagine Dragons (I downloaded the whole album bc I liked Radioactive but I’ve never actually listened to this song)

Green Onions - Booker T & The MG’s (idk don’t ask)

The Curse of Curves - Cute Is What We Aim For (a one hit wonder but I still know every word to this song)

All Alright - Fun.

Classic Rock Medley - The Cat’s Pajamas (a local acapella group from my high school days)

Bellas Final - the Pitch Perfect Soundtrack (ok this plus the last one is making it seem like I’m obsessed with acapella I’m really not)

East West - Herman’s Hermits (...I actually love this band don’t judge me)

Here It Goes Again - Ok Go (say what you will about the song but that video with the treadmills was iconic)

20 Dollar Nose Bleed - Fall Out Boy

Sims Holidaze - The Sims 2 Bon Voyage (I may or may not have the entire collected Sims soundtrack on my ipod...)

Lesson 4 Pronunciation - Rosetta Stone Italian Level 3 (Remember when I was fluent in Italian? yeah me neither)

Whistle (Acoustic) -Blackpink (I like the original better)

Come So Far (Got So Far To Go) - Hairspray soundtrack (ok but this whole soundtrack is a bop I forgot I used to love this)

Mowgli’s Road - Marina & the Diamonds

What have we learned? That hitting shuffle is not at all indicative of a person’s taste in music, but instead exposes their sordid musical past.

[citizenscreen]

In an attempt to avoid the news as much as possible I’ve been bingeing on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Why not dedicate a few lines then to one of the all-time great situation comedies, I thought? Well, maybe more than a few lines since this one is worth reliving. Its back story is as fascinating as the show is entertaining.

  Despite the show’s title, The Dick Van Dyke Show was the creation of the ultra-talented, veteran writer and comedian, Carl Reiner. After many years as a contributor – both in front of and behind the camera – on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour, Reiner found himself out of a job in 1959. By the way, I just finished reading his 2013 book, I Remember Me, which is a delight. In the book Reiner recounts stories of his life and I was reminded of why I am in awe of him. The book is a compilation of funny, touching stories told by an incredibly talented man. I highly recommend it.

    Anyway, Carl Reiner spent the summer of 1959 at the beach and (incredibly) wrote thirteen complete episodes of a new sitcom titled, Head of the Family. That show had a premise that closely resembled Reiner’s own life and career as it revolved around the life and work of a television variety/comedy show writer. Reiner intended the show as a vehicle for himself to star in.

  Unfortunately, the pilot of Head of the Family, wasn’t picked up. However, producer Sheldon Leonard recognized the brilliance of the scripts so he convinced Carl Reiner to have someone else play the lead character. Mr. Reiner agreed but hadn’t a clue about who that someone should be.

  Dick Van Dyke grew up watching old Laurel and Hardy movies and marveled at the talents of Stan Laurel, in particular. Inspired to perform and graced with a natural talent for physical comedy, Van Dyke appeared in local TV shows and summer variety programs. He eventually became a radio DJ and worked on a number of popular television shows throughout the 1950s (mid-to-late decade) having signed a contract with CBS in 1956. Despite that contract however, it seemed no one, including Dick Van Dyke himself, knew exactly how to showcase his talents. He didn’t find a niche easily, which is hard to believe today. Van Dyke was everything from game show host to morning television newscaster and was good at it all, but he still didn’t make a definitive mark. That is, until he hit the live stage and was launched to stardom in the 1960 musical Bye-Bye Birdie, for which he won a Tony Award.

Chita Rivera co-starred with Van Dyke on Broadway

The story goes that Carl Reiner saw a performance of Bye, Bye Birdie with Dick Van Dyke playing Albert F. Peterson, the same role he’d later play in the 1963, George Sidney-directed film version.  Reiner knew instantly he’d found the perfect lead for Head of the Family. But, one man alone, no matter how talented, does not a successful family situation comedy make. There was another casting hurdle ahead.

  Reiner cast two supporting, but important roles, fairly quickly opting for entertainment veterans, Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam – both veterans of the Vaudeville stage, musical theater and comedy. Rose Marie could do comedy and had an extensive career in musical theater, and Amsterdam was a comic with exceptional versatility for coming up with jokes on the spot, a practice he continued on the Van Dyke Show.

On The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rose Marie’s character, Sally Rogers is in constant search for a husband and her quips revolve around that desperation. Amsterdam, as Buddy Sorrell is married to Pickles, a zany, statuesque woman who is the butt of many of his jokes. Pickles only appears in three episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show but Buddy is always referring to her and she’s so good in it that I could’ve sworn she was in many more than that. Pickles Sorrell is played by Joan Shawlee who you might also know as Sweet Sue, the strict and loud director of Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators, the band featured in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959). Well, I say “loud,” but she had to put up with Lemmon and Curtis in drag in addition to a boozy Monroe.

  Back to our story – Sally and Buddy are writers under Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) who is the lead comedy writer for the fictional, The Alan Brady Show.

    OK – so those characters set to go, the time came to cast the perfect Laura, the role of the main character’s wife on the new sitcom. Carl Reiner interviewed more than sixty actresses and found no one who matched the image he had on his mind for the character. Then one day Reiner’s friend, Danny Thomas gave him the perfect girl. Well, he didn’t give him the girl he gave him the idea of a girl, one he’d interviewed for his own show a couple of years before. The problem was that Thomas didn’t remember the girl’s name, he only remembered she had three of them. It was after reviewing all the records of past interviews that they came across the name, Mary Tyler Moore.

    By all accounts, the casting of Mary Tyler Moore made an impact on television as soon as Reiner’s show premiered, the name of which was changed to The Dick Van Dyke Show due to the star’s popularity. Moore’s Laura Petrie wasn’t like earlier television moms. Her character was alluring, provocative and modern yet she maintained enough of the traditions to appeal to audiences of all ages. Despite the talented cast, however, The Dick Van Dyke Show was not an instant hit mostly due to the fact it aired opposite ratings powerhouse Perry Como and his variety show.

    Mary Tyler Moore was a novice among show business veterans when The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered. It didn’t take long for her to start showing signs of great comedic timing in her own right, however. It’s really quite something that she stood out while surrounded with the kind of talent on that show. That’s not to mention she impressed Carl Reiner who’s one of the all-time great comedy writers in television history. Anyone else would have been overshadowed or timid, but Moore made her mark as Laura Petrie and her chemistry with Dick Van Dyke is fantastic. The two are so believable as man and wife that when the premise of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was being discussed it was decided Mary Richards could not be a divorcée as originally planned because people would be upset that she divorced Dick Van Dyke.

  When The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered Moore’s role was minor, but as she began to blossom as a comedian, Reiner wrote more and more for her character to do. And boy could she do a lot. Her cry is as memorable as Lucy’s, she modernized the TV mom and she could dance and sing alongside show biz veterans in memorable fashion. Her comedic talent would make her a legend in her own right, one of TV’s all-time greats.

    Audiences slowly began to warm up to The Dick Van Dyke Show, however. This was due, in large part, to the fact that Reiner began to write to the cast’s strengths. For instance, he allowed Morey Amsterdam freedom for one-liners and wrote situations where Rose Marie could showcase her musical prowess. My favorite instance is when she does the “I Wish I Could Sing Like Durante” number, which really shows the extent of her vast talent. Perhaps even more important is how Reiner gave Dick Van Dyke every opportunity to showcase his talent for physical comedy, which is superb evidenced by the show’s famous opening. You might want to take a look at a previous post I did about how that opening was conceived, The Story of Dick Van Dyke and the Ottoman. Van Dyke makes me laugh the hardest when I watch the show because his reactions and physicality are so memorable. He has a knack for making even the slightest, most mundane every day gesture into a work of art.

Other cast members:

Carl Reiner himself appears on The Dick Van Dyke Show as recurring character, Alan Brady. Brady is the star of the comedy/variety show Rob, Sally and Buddy write for. Alan Brady is loosely based on Carl Reiner’s old boss, Sid Caesar. My favorite episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show features Reiner as the bad-tempered, but talented star Alan Brady. Titled “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” the fun in the episodes starts when Laura accidentally discloses to everyone in America that Alan Brady is bald.

Alan Brady: [Talking to his toupee stands] Fellas? There she is. There’s the little lady who put you out of business.

  Richard Deacon plays Mel Cooley, the producer of The Alan Brady Show and Brady’s brother-in-law. Cooley is somewhat of a curmudgeon but you can’t blame him for it as he’s constantly at odds with Buddy and through this conflict Amsterdam delivers the best one-liners on the show, many of which are somewhat cruel (but very funny) “bald jokes.” During the show’s first season (I believe) Cooley was also appearing as a regular on Leave it to Beaver, but he appeared as a relaible character actor in sveral movies. I remember him best as Semu in Charles Lamont’s Abbott and Costello Meets the Mummy (1955). It’s impossible to forget Deacon’s incredible deep voice.

Playing Richie Petrie -Rob and Laura’s only child – on The Dick Van Dyke Show is Larry Mathews who is also perfectly cast and great in the part. There are more than a few funny moments on the show when Richie asks a question and Rob nervously comes up with a response suitable for a child.

The Petrie’s also have the requisite best friends/neighbors who appear in many episodes – Jerry and Millie Helper, played by Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert. Jerry Paris doubled as a frequent director on the show helming more episodes than anyone else at 84. Guilbert is a favorite with many fans not only for her stint as Millie Helper on this show, but also for her hilarious turn as Grandma Yetta on The Nanny. You can’t say enough about the people on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Really.

Guilbert and Paris as Millie and Jerry Helper

Aside from the quality and the laughs The Dick Van Dyke Show offers, it is also relevant in the history of the television sitcom in that it bridged a gap from the older-variety-style comedies that preceded it in the 1950s to the grittier sitcoms that would follow. It was after The Dick Van Dyke Show went off the air in 1966 that sitcoms began a gradual transition to a new era. Due to a variety of factors – the unrest in our country included – the “innocence” depicted on this show and others of its time would be replaced by relevance, to a degree – shows that made sociopolitical statements and, in many cases, dealt with social problems head on. Those are the ones I grew up watching interspersed with shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show that were available in syndication. That’s one of the reasons I believe my generation is the luckiest – media-wise. We got the best of all worlds – the classics from then and the ones that broke the mold. Of course today – luckily – you can watch these gems online. The Dick Van Dyke Show is available on Amazon Prime and on Netflix and if you’ve never seen it add it to your watch list immediately.

  The Dick Van Dyke Show was honored with numerous Emmy nominations during its six-year run and won several of them including a few for Carl Reiner’s writing. No one remembers awards though. Or certainly not the public who returns to revisit these shows because they entertain not because of how many statues it won. The Van Dyke Show stood out during its run for offering a wonderful balance of sophisticated and slapstick comedy – a unique, stylish combination that cannot be equaled. The show remains a beautifully written, story-based program with well-rounded characters doused with one-liners and old-fashioned skits and song and dance routines. For classic geeks like me, it’s perfection. This is one of those we should insist that future generations watch.

  The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961 – 1966) In an attempt to avoid the news as much as possible I've been bingeing on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

[bunnybanks1]

Income School’s Project 24 – I’m Considering Purchasing

I’ve been watching videos about making money online on YouTube for months, so the most popular content shows up in my suggested videos. I was surprised to see a video from Rick and Jim touting their Income School’s Project 24 come into my feed very late into the process. Big things tend to pop up quickly, and Project 24 seemed like a BIG thing. Their videos are well-produced and they seemed to have had a great deal of success online. Why weren’t they ranking better in YouTube?

Rick and Jim, Income School’s Project 24 Creators

I was curious and wound up watching a few of Rick and Jim’s YouTube videos. They’re two men from the midwest, and in the first few videos I watched they had an ‘aww shucks’ thing going on that I found rather annoying. One of them made a joke that wasn’t even worth a pity giggle, and the other one started laughing as if it were funny. They played off one another like this in such a disingenuous manner that it made me gag. And so what did I do? I kept watching more of their videos. What the heck?!

I know, I know. It was partly YouTube’s. fault for adding them to my feed, based on my previous watch history. But it was also Rick and Jim’s clever titles that made me click. I had decided that I didn’t need to like them in order to learn from them, so I watched a few more videos. Then next thing you know, I’m not only kinda liking these two schmucks, but I’m also considering purchasing their product.

A Different Approach to Keyword Research and Link Building

One thing I liked in their YouTube videos was that they did keyword research differently. I’d started becoming suspicious of keyword research on my own, so this really resonated with me. I mean, other niche website “gurus” were teaching me how to target keywords by analyzing other website’s keywords. But when they dug into it, they revealed that the website they’d been analyzing is ranking for 460,000 keywords. There’s no way the site intended that! It’s the organic process that comes from putting up good content. So why would I want to copy this when it seemed so arbitrary in the first place!

Anyway, seeing that they have a different approach to keyword research that doesn’t involve any keyword research tools really grabbed my attention. My reluctance was —- if keyword research is unnecessary, because the available tools don’t provide accurate information anyway, then what exactly are they going to be teaching me? Their process sounds very white hat. But if they’re just teaching me how to create a blog and write content for two years until I start ranking organically, why do they need to charge me for that? It sounds pretty straightforward.

Income School’s Project 24 — 60 Steps

Rick and Jim said they broke their Income School’s Project 24 into 60 steps. I decided to google the 60 steps to see if anyone had listed them. I didn’t find the exact steps, but I found a review of them here. This was a gist of all the steps. And yes, everything sounded very white hat. Find a niche, set up a domain, generate content, have patience. Basic, yes?

Here’s my favorite point that the article above made: “Rick and Jim have published all of their income streams on their website. Right now, it looks like this:

Dirtbikeplanet: 2500 USD/month

Camperreport: 8000 USD/month

diyhousesecurity.com: 40 USD/month

…and I could go on and on and on.

But there is one website that has a significantly higher monthly income than the other ones…

Incomeschool.com: 60,000 USD/month.”

Yes, it was a big eye opener that they’re making $60,000/month teaching other people how to build niche websites. But is that a bad thing? I mean, it seems like social proof to me! However, Wealthy Affiliate seems to generate a lot of money as well with a ton of active subscribers, and I found that program fairly useless, so at this point I’m still skeptical. But $8,000/month on Camperreport. I’d love $8,000/month just from a niche website!

The review article also said: “If you know how to set up a WordPress website, find a niche and create a logo in Canva – you don’t really need to buy Project 24.” Sounds good to me! I didn’t want to shell out $449 for a course that wasn’t going to teach me a lot. I felt pretty convinced that I didn’t need to mess with Project 24. But I still kept looking at their content, basically scraping their archives to see if I was missing something.

Project 24 Timeline

I found this timeline on the Project 24 website. Apparently, under their plan, it takes 24 months for your niche website to reach success. After six months, your total earned income will be enough money to buy a pizza. At the end of 24 months, your total income is projected to be: $42,828.94. That’s pretty specific. And the slow build just says white hat.

But, I did keep watching their YouTube videos and searching for value. I came across this video that was the game changer for me:

They took a guy’s website and quadrupled his monthly income. He was a former student and was still operating his niche website (good sign), and they made a few alterations to drastically improve his income. That really made the course seem like it would pay for itself. Then I watched another YouTube video about a recent plugin that Google released and honestly it was a bit over my head. But it really told me that these guys were relevant and striving to add value to their course. Here’s the video:

Final Thoughts on Income School’s Project 24

I’m not a technology expert. I’ve found my way around Elementor with some help from tutorial videos, but nothing has gotten me exactly what I’ve wanted. I’m thinking that I need a better theme — one that’s faster and optimizes for blogs. It looks like if I want to add “Recent Posts” in the way that I want them, I need to pay to upgrade to Elementor Pro on each of my sites. And while I found $5 for a bootleg copy on Legiit, I’m not sure how long that will continue to be supported. It’s about $50 on its own. And that’s per site! I did hire someone on Fiverr for $17 to help me with Recent Posts where I could insert Adsense between the articles, but it looks pretty bad. They weren’t able to effectively teach me their process either, so I can see myself ordering several gigs on Fiverr to get exactly what I want.

Project 24 created their own template that is optimized for the niche websites that they teach. It looks like I can buy a lifetime subscription to their theme (Acabado) for $99 to use on all of my sites. However, Project 24 members receive this theme for free. This is sort-of a perk. I mean, I’m unlikely to remain a Project 24 member year after year, so I’m eventually going to need to shell out the $99 if it’s as good as it seems. But I guess this allows me to test drive the theme.

I also watched a few customers review their purchase on YouTube, and one part that really attracted me was a tutorial on outsourcing. Apparently Project 24 teaches you how to properly hire freelancers, paying for quality writing at a rate of $2 per 100 words. I overpay people constantly and I’m not good at providing direction, so if I want to do this long-term, learning how to not hand over my entire bank account sounds quite strategic.

I’m at a point where I want some hand holding through the entire process of site building and ranking. I’ve made websites over the years —- my first one being in computer science class in 1999! — but I wouldn’t say that I have any clue what I’m doing. I think that I’ve mulled over potentially buying this course for a short while, and while I haven’t actually pulled the trigger, I seem to have the intention to do so. I’ve got a few more things to wrap up before tackling a new all-consuming project, but when my time frees up a little, I’ll let you know how the course goes!

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