#i literally installed sims 2 after knowing about him i think
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voidfanatic · 2 months ago
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I just realized that I (probably) already passed the year mark being a Tank Grunt fan wtf 😭. I mentioned it to my friend but I didn't know it was actually accurate to the actual time period lol. Good for me ig (love u Tankie nobody can make me hate you) (except your psp version you asshole).
I know nobody cares but, like, the only mf I draw on this blog is him so let me be :( Happy anniversary of meeting my sweet idiot with internalized issues to me!! 🎉
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abbysimsfun · 2 months ago
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Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 65 (Personal Lows)
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cw: pregnancy loss (I'm so sorry I did not plan this.)
As well as life had been going for Heather and Conrad, reality came crashing down one Saturday when Ash was in the city with the Landgraabs. Both were spending the day at work, but Heather fell ill and called Conrad.
"Something's wrong. Can you meet me at St. Sims Hospital?"
Heather was admitted for tests, but Dr. Serra delivered the devastating news. "This happens more often than you might think this early on, but there's no heartbeat. I'm sorry."
"This is my fault," said Conrad. "My fear added stress you didn't need."
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"This isn't your fault," said Heather staunchly. "Dr. Serra said this happens more often than you think. You didn't stress me out any more than the rest of our busy lives stressed me out. I've worn a glucose monitor since high school and I have to remind myself to slow down all the time. You make my life so much easier, Conrad. Not more stressful."
"This can be a difficult time for anyone," Dr. Serra said gently. "I'd like to refer you both to a colleague of mine, if you're open to it. Her name is Dr. Supriya Delgato, and she's a relationship and family therapist with a focus on grieving. I think you should talk to her when you're ready. She has an office upstairs and I can let her know she might hear from you."
"Yes please," said Heather. "Thank you, Dr. Serra."
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Conrad was still apologetic when they returned home, trying to think of the right thing to say while an exhausted Heather changed into her pajamas. "I'm sorry. I should have been more supportive from the start."
"I'm glad you were honest with me, Conrad. For better or worse, knowing how you feel makes everything clearer for me."
"I do want a family with you. I want Ash to have a brother or sister, and I was looking forward to the parenting classes we were going to sign up for. I wish it hadn't turned out this way."
She embraced him. "Me too. But when I was about seven my mom had a miscarriage early, like me. She got through it, and she had Hazel a year later."
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"Heather, I promise you, next time I'll be ready."
"I believe you. We don't need to think about that tonight, but I think we should schedule an appointment with Dr. Delgato like Dr. Serra suggested."
"I haven't spoken to a grief counselor since I was in high school," he admitted. "Back then I was too angry at the world to get anything from it."
She held him in a reassuring embrace. "I think this will be a good thing for both of us."
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They went to bed that night feeling closer than ever, cuddling beneath the covers until they both fell asleep. ->
<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start
NOTE: This happened unexpectedly via the Heathcare Redux mod by adeepindigo and I was really sad about it. I'm sorry to anyone who hated this development especially after we all went through it with Conrad. I considered pretending it didn't happen since it happened SO early, but I appreciate the realistic storytelling supported by the mod nonetheless. And Conrad will be thrilled about the next one, because I'm literally sending him to grief counseling to justify me changing his trait to 'Would Love to Have a Child Right Now' without letting it flip over time. No chances taken, only plot! In all honesty Heather should have had therapy in high school so in some ways this is long overdue for them both, anyway.
NOTE 2: That last shot is the first time they autonomously cuddled (to sleep, my heart!) after the Lovestruck update. Honestly their level of flirty when they're together is usually sky high and blocks out most of their sad moodlets, hence the smiles despite this really sad installment. When it comes to Conrad, Heather isn't unflirty whatsoever.
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What are the gangs favorite type of video games to play? Weather it’s Mario, Pokémon, sports, rhythm games, horror games, etc etc.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!!!! Now...
Poppy prefers tabletop games more, but she can be often caught playing or seeing someone else playing The Sims. She LOVES that game - Angel has The Sims 2 installed on their computer, and when they all move to a bigger house Poppy gets her own PC so she can play TS2 as much as she wants.
Kissy doesn't play much on her own, but she really loves 3D platformers and adventure games. Her favorites are the og Spyro the Dragon trilogy! I think she loves watching others play pokémon as well.
Huggy loves racing games. Get anything with a car and he's instantly in love with it.
I can Mommy Long Legs making super over-the-top stories on The Sims 2 as well, so she and Poppy often share news of what their sims are doing. They are both active in forums and are trying to make their own custom content for the game!
Bunzo is a pokémon guy.
PJ Pug-a-Pillar doesn't like playing games in general but he LOVES watching others play, esp if there's lots of cutscenes. It's like watching a movie!
Miss Delight falls in love with Portal 2 when it's released, but I think she's really picky with her puzzle games. She likes being a bit creative on her solutions! She's also really into RPGs. I think the Fallout franchise is her comfort game.
Catnap and Craftycorn are walking Silent Hill encyclopedias, but they LOOOOVE survival horror. Catnap's fav is the original SH1, while Craftycorn loves Haunting Ground (PS2) and SH3.
Bobby on the other hand prefers Resident Evil and Clock Tower 3, but when it's not horror it's definitely a more experimental game. She cries everytime she plays Shadow of the Colossus but she loves it.
Bubba, much like Miss Delight, is SUPER into RPGs and puzzle games, but pokémon and Ace Attorney have conquered his heart. He LOOOVES gushing about it!
Picky's favorite is Animal Crossing! It makes her feel safe and she loves just walking around her town. She made a really impressive one and everyone wants updates from her villagers, Picky loves giving them.
Kickin can't get enough of any FPS or action-adventure game, and he can and WILL ragequit if he's playing online and his teammates start being rude to him or each other. Thankfully he learned really quick how to deal with the more toxic players so now he can truly relax. Unfortunately doomed to become a League of Legends player when it comes out.
Hoppy also loves FPS, but 3D platformers and open-world games are her favorites. Anything that gives her plenty of freedom to move around or just be silly immediately catches her attention! I think she becomes a Team Fortress 2 player.
Dogday prefers to watch rather than play and he gets SO invested. I think Miss Delight likes playing puzzle games with him because they figure out solutions together, but if Dogday were to chose a game for himself to play it would probably be a rythimn game. It gives him the zoomies.
The other smaller toys all have their own individual preferences, so talking about them is more complicated!
Everyone becomes obsessed with Minecraft when it's released. Catch Catnap pranking everyone on their shared beta server by pretending to be Herobrine.
When Angel gets them an Xbox 360 they have many game nights where they play on the Kinect.
Speaking of which, Angel is down to play literally everything, but all the toys know they aren't very keen on anything horror-related. Not because it's scary, it's just that Angel finds them boring after surviving Playtime Co. They probably have an encyclopedia-level knowledge of pokémon, tho.
Prototype doesn't play videogames, but enjoyes watching the others play. Just don't put ANY war games in front of him and we're all good, otherwise he stops watching.
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heartmeadows · 1 year ago
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I'm itching to play Sims 2 again aggfhhd! Last time I had it installed I had to give it up because of the dreaded pink soup. Idk how to fix it tbh. But once I have time I will try yet again. Here's hoping it goes well.
Anyway, a lil update on my life.
I'm not moving to the countryside with my mum after all. The biggest reasons being that I need to be able to go to therapy every week, and that my mum can't provide me with the support that I need and I also can't truly trust that I would be safe living with her because of her abusive boyfriend. Instead I'm moving back in with my dad and brothers, mostly because this is where I grew up and I feel safe and happy in our home. I get the support I need to be able to go through everything PTSD and the rest of my illnesses cause. Once I'm more stable I'll try to find my own apartment somewhere near or move in with my mum if things get better. We'll see. Right now I'm quite bitter having a mum that is unable to support me and keep me safe. She failed in both areas in a way that would make most people go no contact. Trauma sucks.
This was such a hard decision to make because it is my dream that I gave up on for now. It does hurt that I can't rely on my mum. I'm not victim blaming but her choosing an abuser over and over again is a conscious choice by now. I tried my best in keeping her safe and supporting her while trying to help her leave. She took him back again anyway. Even after he abused me as well. I know how manipulation and abuse of all kinds affects you and how difficult it is leaving. But I think a mother that doesn't protect her daughter when literally witnessing a partner abusing said daughter... Well, a mother like that is kind of fucked up. I honestly don't know how to even process this. I know this is kind of trauma dumping but I really needed to get this off my chest.
I'm focusing on myself now. I can't be my mum's therapist or savior anymore. I'm struggling with enough myself. PTSD certainly doesn't get easier to deal with when the amount of trauma one goes through since childhood is a number high enough I stopped counting a long time ago. It's embarrassing to be someone who's lived with abuse all her life. It's not right. It's terrifying when you really think about it. One traumatic event is already enough to deal with and does so much damage. Me? I feel like there's something wrong with me for experiencing plenty of traumatic events. I've survived but at what cost? If only I'd gotten the help I needed earlier. Ten years ago, or even earlier. Maybe it's stupid to mourn the loss of a whole different life, a different self. What could've been. What could've beens haunt me still. Nevertheless, I will find a way to make the most of this life and cultivate happiness, and keep growing so that I can be the person I need to be. It's silly, anyway, to regret something you had no control over. I need to learn how to live in the present and remember that while this life has been hard a lot of good has happened as well. There's so much beauty and joy still left all around. Hope lives no matter who believes in it.
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kuiinncedes · 4 years ago
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PROMPT LIST? cheerio!tina & skank!quinn, angst #37, quinntina ofc
yes prompt list!! sorry this took so long, thanks sm for prompting sim <33
some pre-notes: first that wow this got long again 😂 2398 words (before probably some edits in the tumblr post editor) *oops i did it again*
1 2 3 these are my other three (very short) “installments” for this “verse” i guess 🤪 i wouldn’t say it’s required to read them tho i think everything is pretty understandable 🥰
this also got a little anti rachel lol 🥴 and anti schue but like yeah and i think that’s it 😗
Angst 37: “Lie to me. I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”
--
Glee club has been going well… all things considered.
Including the fact that Quinn’s crush on Tina only grows, that Rachel Berry still doesn’t seem to warm up to her and Kurt’s presence in the choir room, that the teacher really kind of sucks and apparently only Kurt and Quinn see it, that most of the other members are still wary around them - around Quinn.
But not Tina. Tina, who’s one of the most popular girls in school, not actually head of the Cheerios but probably the most well-liked, and there’s a reason. Tina is the first to welcome her and Kurt to the glee club after their audition, the first to make an effort to befriend them. She talks to Kurt about fashion, and Kurt is hesitant to bring down his facade but Quinn can tell how much he loves it, how much he’s missed talking about something that brings him so much joy. Even with his temporary and purposely limited wardrobe situation, he’s talked Quinn’s ear off about the things he wants to do and wear in New York City; she doesn’t understand much of it so she’s glad Tina does.
And she talks to Quinn. Tina actually talks to Quinn like… like she’s a person, just another student at this school, not Quinn Fabray, half of the most cold and closed-off duo that walks the halls, ex-most popular girl in school, Quinn Fabray with an unspeakable history, unspeakable in that Quinn will have consequences for those who speak about it. 
It’s dramatic, she knows. But it’s part of her untouchable image at this piece of shit school with its horrible students. 
Not Tina. Tina’s not horrible.
(Get a grip, Fabray.)
It feels like she and Kurt are on the edge of a precipice with glee club. Tina likes them, Blaine is nice enough to them (Kurt seems to like him, too), Rachel isn’t very welcoming, everyone else mostly ignores them. (Which is fine - preferable, really.)
They sway in the back, they sing, they do their part. And Quinn has missed singing, so it’s not all bad, she supposes.
But Quinn can feel the tension, the others’ hesitation whenever she and Kurt walk in to sit in the back, their unspoken thoughts, loud in their silence, their barely hidden glances.
She feels like she’ll tumble from the edge with one push.
One day, Tina sits beside Quinn and she can’t stop her jump of surprise. Tina just shoots her a small smile and moves her chair a bit further away, but Quinn finds herself wishing she would scoot the other way instead.
Tina keeps sitting by Quinn, and Quinn has no idea why.
She ignores the way her heart speeds up a little every time she makes eye contact with Tina, the way Kurt smirks knowingly at her but then returns to staring at the back of Blaine Anderson’s head, the way she can’t stop letting her eyes wander over to Tina every time Mr. Schuester starts talking about something she has no interest in (which she admits is very often).
Kurt had said glee would give her the chance to talk to Tina. And he was right - she’s made conversation with Tina multiple times (mostly initiated by Tina, though), and she would say they’re friends. Tina has said they’re friends and she definitely didn’t freak out to Kurt about it.
Kurt she called me her friend holy shit -
Inside voice, honey. Your gay is showing.
Shut - we’re literally outside. Let’s talk about you and Blaine.
Nope, fuck you, walking away now.
Kurt - wait! She - but she called me her friend - Kurt -
Besides Kurt, Tina is probably the person she’s closest with. Which still doesn’t say much - she’s not close to anyone besides Kurt…
But she wants to be, she thinks as she watches Tina perform an upbeat solo, a song she doesn’t recognize, but she watches her - how alive she looks, how good she sounds. It’s not like Quinn hasn’t heard her sing in the months since she’s joined, but if she had it her way, Tina would be the only one singing in this entire group. (She would insist on highlighting others, though, so Quinn adds herself and Kurt to that list. Not that they would ever get a solo.)
“All right, guys,” Mr. Schuester says. Kurt nudges Quinn with his elbow to get her to pay attention, and she shoots him a half-hearted glare. 
“So that was everyone who signed up to audition for a solo at regionals,” he continues. “I’ll let you know who we’re featuring by tomorrow. So I’ll see you then!”
“Who do you think is gonna get it?” Kurt asks as they leave, walking out to the parking lot. 
“Um…” 
“Right, I forgot, you’re too busy staring at Tina to know what’s going on in glee.”
Quinn scoffs. “I know what’s going on in glee.”
Kurt gives her a questioning look.
“I do! Sure, I didn’t know about the auditions, but I know Rachel’s probably getting the solo, even though it should go to Tina.”
“Anyone could tell you that.”
Quinn shoves Kurt lightly, a smile spreading across her face as they get into his car. Quinn’s been spending more time at Kurt’s lately - Quinn’s parents don’t give a fuck about her - they did the bare minimum allowing her to stay when she was pregnant and they’ve used up all their good parenting cards, it seems. She’s infinitely grateful for Burt Hummel, because if the kids and some of the teachers at school are going to treat her and Kurt like shit, at least there’s someone in their corner.
-
Completely unsurprisingly, Mr. Schuester announces Rachel as the soloist for regionals the next day, after years of the same thing, from what Quinn has heard.
Surprisingly, Tina isn’t in the room. Although, Quinn thinks, she wouldn’t be either if she knew what the outcome was going to be. And everyone knew what the outcome was going to be.
But Mercedes pushes back against his decision anyway, Santana complains, Blaine and Brittany try to placate, Kurt watches Blaine, Rachel jabbers about her destiny as the New Directions soloist or something, Quinn sits and wonders about the empty chair next to her. (She also wonders what would be the easiest way to get Rachel to shut the fuck up.)
She’s not paying attention, letting everyone’s arguing fade into the background. She barely registers Rachel saying shrilly, “We’re supposed to be a family!”
“Not much of a family when you’re the only one who can have anything good!” Mercedes snaps.
“I bet you wouldn’t react like this if Kurt or Quinn got the solo! Like they would even deserve it! At least I belong here, they don’t even - ”
“Would you shut - ” Mercedes starts at the same time Santana yells back, “Quinn doesn’t need a family, she’s a mother!”
And she knows - Quinn knows - that Santana just does this, she says shit and hurts people and this is just that and it’s whatever but -
Suddenly Quinn is in sophomore year again, hearing the taunts of her classmates behind her back and to her face. Suddenly she’s in sophomore year again, somehow invisible in the halls but also the only person anyone was looking at, pointing at, laughing at. She’s in sophomore year again and teachers do nothing to help her, no one but Kurt bothers to notice anything but the fact that she’s pregnant. And they laugh, and they taunt, and they stare.
She’s a mother. 
There it is. There’s the edge of the cliff that she has been fighting for balance on in this stupid club for months. 
Like they would even deserve it.
They don’t belong here.
And Quinn’s falling.
“I need to go, meet you at your car,” she says roughly to Kurt, who it seems hasn’t been paying attention at all, more focused on committing to memory the details of Blaine Anderson from halfway across the room. Quinn storms out and the arguing continues behind her.
Quinn slams the door to the bathroom as she barges in and all at once, sees that Tina is here (Tina is here?), realizes that she herself is crying, trying not to make noise and she just throws her bag on the floor and sinks down against a wall, hands around her knees and head leaned back. It’s too fucking much.
“Quinn?” Tina asks gently, so gently and Quinn watches as Tina kneels down in front of her. “Are you okay?”
Quinn wipes at her face, laughing harshly. “Yeah. Fine.”
Tina looks at her, not moving but just watching her. Quinn thinks it must be uncomfortable for her to kneel on the bathroom floor in her Cheerios outfit. Quinn thinks that Tina shouldn’t care about her, she should just leave, save her knees from the cold tile.
She doesn’t leave. 
After a moment, Tina says, “Hey, so, you don’t have to tell me anything… but I’m here if you need to.”
Quinn’s not actively crying anymore, grey smudges on her fingers where her makeup was wiped off. Her face probably looks like a nightmare, but she’s too exhausted to care. She leans her head back again and fixes her gaze just above Tina’s head, at the ceiling, the harsh bathroom lights piercing her vision through the tears in her eyes.
“I just - ” I guess I’m talking, she thinks, “Santana said something dumb about me being a mother and that’s what I heard sneered at me every day for months and even now still… and I’m not…”
Quinn trails off, looking at Tina again who nods, encouraging her to continue. She swallows and averts her gaze again.
“…and Rachel said something dumb about Kurt and I not belonging and not deserving it but she’s Rachel and I don’t care about the shit she says - I usually don’t. But her saying that - ” she scoffs. “Newsflash, Rachel, we don’t fucking belong anywhere.”
That was painfully made obvious sophomore year, with Quinn’s exit from the Cheerios, from popularity. It was obvious when no matter what, she couldn’t get it back, any of it. It was obvious when she and Kurt were the only ones to really notice each other and help each other. It was obvious when the only choice they had, the one they took, was becoming this and isolating themselves. It was obvious when the only chance they had was each other.
As if she needs someone else to tell her that, to rub it in.
It’s been building up, she realizes, this feeling, the hatred, the estrangement and isolation. She wonders if Kurt feels the same, how close he is to the edge, or if he’s even on a precipice like she is at all.
Quinn’s falling, she doesn’t know when or how it will end and she just wants -
“Lie to me,” she says to Tina, teeth clenched and voice tired. “I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”
Falling, falling, falling - 
Quinn thinks bitterly that she should be used to it after her falls from popularity.
Tina takes her hands gently and squeezes them in reassurance. “I know this might just seem like words, and I’m not lying - you do belong. Both of you. You belong in glee club. You belong here.”
Quinn just swallows again, letting the words wash over her, and in the back of her mind, the part that’s not thinking about - everything, she marvels at the fact that Tina is holding her hands, and Tina’s skin is soft, and Tina’s words and actions feel genuine.
Falling… slowing.
Lie to me.
“We don’t belong. Everyone hates us,” Quinn mutters.
“I don’t,” Tina says, smiling a little. “I know we can be pretty difficult, the glee club, but we really don’t think that. Rachel might - if I’m being honest, I think she’s the one who doesn’t belong in glee club, for a multitude of reasons - but it really is supposed to be a safe, welcoming space. I’m really sorry we haven’t been able to do that for you.”
Quinn shrugs. “You have,” she admits softly. 
Tina looks like she doesn’t know what to say to that. Quinn pushes herself up against the wall, a little awkwardly, hands still intertwined with Tina’s, who squeezes again. “I’ll talk to her,” Tina says. “Rachel. I’ve been getting fed up with her shit, anyway. I’ve been needing to talk to her.”
“Okay,” is all Quinn can think to say, quietly uttered, her voice a little choked. “You don’t have to - ”
“No, I do,” Tina says. “And I want to. Mr. Schue lets her get away with way too much.”
Quinn huffs a laugh and Tina grins slightly, then withdraws her hands and pulls them through her ponytail, suddenly looking almost nervous. Quinn drops her hands in her lap and plays with her rings. Now that Quinn’s calmed down, her proximity-to-Tina-Cohen-Chang-induced nerves are back in full force. 
And maybe she isn’t falling anymore.
“Why weren’t you there today?” she asks after a moment.
Tina’s lips clench into a line. “Knew Rachel was getting the solo. I don’t know, I didn’t want to deal with that today, you know? Three years of the same shit, I’m just tired of it.”
Quinn hums in understanding. She can imagine.
“Are you okay? What do you say we… get out of here? Go somewhere?” Tina asks a little awkwardly, wincing slightly as she stands up and extends a hand for Quinn. She takes it and lets Tina pull her up.
“I’m actually… going home with Kurt, ” - but going somewhere with Tina - Kurt will understand - “actually, yeah, sure. I’ll let him know,” Quinn answers, not letting herself doubt the decision, pulling her phone from her pocket and quickly typing out a text and sending it to Kurt, who immediately responds.
omg did u actually talk and get a date with tina cohen chang
Quinn replies, fuck you, i’m leaving bye
are you okay?
yeah, fine i’ll talk to you later
ok have fun on your date ;)
yeah 🖕
Tina bounces a little and shoots her a smile when she puts her phone away. “Awesome. There’s this coffee shop that I think you’ll love - ”
“It’s not the Lima Bean, is it?”
Tina laughs. “Of course not. Barely anyone knows about this place, at least from school, so I really love it there.”
Tina grabs Quinn’s hand again and they head out of the school, Quinn ignoring how she can feel her pounding heartbeat against Tina’s skin. Hopefully Tina doesn’t notice.
*****
some notes for after 🤪
ok so i don’t really know why i used the “she’s a mother” line and idk if i’m just overthinking it but i’m not saying that scene was bad or anything ?? idk lol it was just on my mind i guess so i put it in slkdgfj (basically,, not related to the canon scene lol i just like adding canon lines 😗)
i think the point i was trying to make if any was that quinn doesn’t really have any family (in this au) so yeah it’s kind of a sensitive point
i did say this was very similar to my previous werewolf!quinn and vampire!tina fic but i’m okay with it now tbh,,, you know like it’s an alternate universe and they just help each other in all universes :’) yeah
i would love to continue this but i don’t have the best track record with that lol so we’ll see 😂
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moth-song-archives · 4 years ago
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The Insatiable Flow of Time (1/8)
I remembered that I can make posts here too huh! Anyways, I wrote a post-MAG200 fic <3
I’ll reblog it again with the link to ao3 if you’d prefer reading it there :D
Rating: Teens and Up Archive Warnings: Choose Not To Use Categories: F/F Relationships: Georgie/Melanie, Georgie & Jon, Jonmartin (mentioned) Characters: Georgie Barker, Melanie King, Jonathan Sims, the Admiral, Basira Hussain (mentioned), Rosie Zampano (mentioned), Martin Blackwood (mentioned)
Additional tags: Diary/Journal × post mag200 × Post-Canon × Canon Compliant × Rated for swearing and me doing my best to write a fitting epilogue for my most fave story of all time × Bittersweet × Hurt/Comfort × Grief/Mourning × Gentle-Sad-Soft × Fluff × Non-Sexual Intimacy × Tenderness × Generally Hopeful Ending × Ambiguous/Open Ending × Catharsis × You know how TMA is a tragedy? ... yeah × Hope Punk × dealing with the fallout of surviving a literal apocalypse × Moving on and letting go × Trans Georgie Barker × Nonbinary Melanie King × Melanie uses any pronouns but needs to (re)discover this first × and is then mainly referred to with they/them pronouns for diary-simplicity × Melanie is ace in my heart ♡ × Jon is also enby but it only gets referred to in passing × Georgie has a Type™ × Character Study × i love them all so much × Nonbinary aspec author × it's very hope punk and somft BUT ALSO VERY SAD × in like a cathartic way × because i like causing pain :') × pre-written and updates every 2-3 days
I think I might use it to… rediscover myself. That’s what I liked about journaling in the first place, I think. Getting to think about things outside of my own head, putting it out there so I could move on? Maybe it’s time to return to old coping mechanisms and try again. Even if I haven’t really changed. Even if I should’ve changed. Right?
As the world tries to piece itself back together, Georgie grapples with her past, her present, and her future by keeping a diary. She also keeps having this strange, recurring dream that involves Jon. Post MAG200.
Finished at ~12k, will upload over the next couple of days <3
Day 3 - Evening
Melanie is sleeping. Basira is also sleeping, on the sofa in the living-room. She doesn’t really know what to do with herself, these days, so for now she’s staying with us.
I am not sleeping. I’m so far beyond tired that I can’t sleep anymore. It’s been... how long? More than a day, certainly. I’m at the kitchen table and the night outside is darker than any I’ve ever seen. There are no street lights and a million more stars than I could’ve ever imagined. I wish Melanie could see them too :(
Back before everything in my life went wrong, I used to be really good at this. I think I got my first diary when I was... seven, maybe eight? I used to be obsessed with it. I guess I stopped writing in college, after the incident, because it felt... wrong? Like I was lying to myself, trying to fabricate emotions that just weren’t there, keeping up with things that no longer seemed important or note-worthy. Mainly, I couldn’t make myself care about anyone or anything anymore.
I think I want to find that person again, now that it’s over. Try and… move on? And Melanie encouraged me :) I guess that’s the main reason. I found this notebook in one of the domains when we were rescuing people. I don’t know what I originally wanted to do with it, but I did end up forgetting about it until I went through my bag again today. It smells like fire and is a bit singed in places, but I kind of like that? I think I might use it to… rediscover myself. ...that sounds very pretentious, but this is just for me, so...
And I like that it’s just cheap paper scribbled on with a shitty biro. Maybe I’ll just burn it when all the thoughts are on the paper instead of in my head. When I can sleep again. And the prize for the most dramatic way of closure goes to Georgie Barker! But yeah. That’s what I liked about journaling in the first place, I think. Getting to think about things outside of my own head, putting it out there so I could move on? Maybe it’s time to return to old coping mechanisms and try again. Even if I haven’t really changed. Even if I should’ve changed. Right?
But I don’t feel any different. Shouldn’t I feel different, now that they’re gone? The entities, I mean, though Jon and Martin seem to be gone, too.
I keep remembering Martin’s expression when he told us to go early, how upset he was.
Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. As long as I’ve known Jon, he’s always done what he thought best. It used to drive me up the walls, but I also admired it, I think? I never would’ve told him that, but… Well. He’s gone now.
It’s over, all of it.
And I still can’t sleep.
And Melanie is still blind, and I still feel empty, and my fear still hasn’t come back. Everyone who died is still dead, and the trauma is still there. There were angry mobs in the streets, and people got killed.
I can’t quite believe that Jon and Martin went with them. I can’t believe they left us behind to explain the entire mess.
 We’re back in our old flat. It’s so weird to be back home. Everything looks the same, as though no time passed at all. Nobody knows what date it is. How long were we caught in there?
Outside, it feels like spring. There are birds everywhere, singing their hearts out. Sounds like more birds than there used to be, too. The trees are leafless and dead-looking, but Basira pointed out that they’re getting there... and it feels like spring.
I haven’t slept properly in 3 days because the questions keep me awake. It’s not that I’m worrying, really, just… thinking? I think I could sleep better if the worry had come back, but it hasn’t.
As far as we can tell, all modern devices are broken, too. Computers and phones and such, digital cameras, generators... we don’t even know what the rest of the world looks like. I hadn’t realised how much gets controlled by computers these days, we don’t even have central heating or water access in our flat. Rumours and news are spreading person-to-person, like in the Olden Days. We only have emergency systems that were installed in case of nation-wide blackout. I guess I’m glad we don’t actually have a blackout, we just need to get the computers back to work. (If I understood it correctly.)
Melanie thinks it’ll all come back to life in a few more days. I certainly hope so. I also hope I’ll stop feeling like this. Or rather, not feeling like anything. It’s so strange. Like in the first days after the incident, when I just felt numb?
They’re gone! I want to feel like a person again! What if I never get myself back?
 They’re actually gone.
 What will we do with our lives now? Basira isn’t the only one who feels uprooted. I think the whole world feels like that right now.
I hope my computer comes back soon. I miss music, and making things. My photos, all those memories.
I don’t want to lose all of that. I want to start fresh, but not without records of the past.
…I’ve had a lot of time to think about that, specifically. Records, and futures.
What the Ghost is done, right? There’s no fun in creepy ghost stories if you’ve been through an actual, living nightmare.
I think I want to start new with that, too. When everything works again, that is.
New world, new future, new podcast. I like that. I think. Make a record of what happened through eyewitness accounts? Or is that too similar to the Statements… then again, it’ll be more like interviews. And I think we shouldn’t forget.
We owe them that much.
I’ll have to talk it over with Melanie tomorrow. Maybe.
We’ll see.
God, I think maybe… maybe I can actually try and sleep tonight. Writing does seem to help.
 Note to self: thank Laverne for suggesting it. (Also for being there for Melanie. And listening to us. And stopping with that culty nonsense. She’s the only one we found so far, but she actually listened to us. Strange to think that in this world, I have to be grateful for someone not worshipping me for some dumb reason?!)
   Day 4 - Morning
So. Three things.
1) I did manage to fall asleep after all! I’ve always been a bit of an insomniac, especially after the incident, so actually getting some proper rest felt really good.
2) I somehow woke up right as the sun went up! I think I’ve never seen a dawn this beautiful? I watched it from the bedroom window and I’ll definitely describe it to her in detail when she wakes up! The Admiral was sleeping on our pillow, right next to her head, snuggled up against the back of her neck and shoulder... it was so cute. I can’t believe my phone and camera still don’t work! Melanie has that old polaroid camera somewhere but we haven’t found it yet, and I wish my art skills were any better. I did draw a sketch of the two of them though. I’ll cherish it forever, no matter how shitty it is :’)
After everything that happened, the Admiral is still a bit weird around us. He started out really aggressive, calmed down a bit, and now… now he’s weirdly skittish? Meows a lot. Keeps walking around the flat. The only thing that even remotely returns him to how he used to be is tuna. It’s weird.
But seeing him like that, with Melanie? I love him so much.
I think he’ll be okay.
But before I forget, and why I actually got out the diary at this ungodly hour instead of trying to go back to sleep now that the sun is up…
3) I had a really nice dream. And... I don’t even know. I think I want to try and hold onto the feeling? I don’t think I’ve felt that… deeply… in a long while. Maybe the last time was before all this, when we decided to move in together. Before all of this happened.
For a moment, I felt like I was whole again :’)
It didn’t even have Melanie in it, which is very rude tbh. I think Jon was there? The Admiral, too. We were just chilling on the sofa, watching netflix I think... It felt so... mundane??? Casual, somehow??? Like it was normal to feel like that and I just... I want THAT. I want to feel like that again, instead of this weird… blank nothingness? I want that all the time, not just when I’m riding a high or feeling so terrible that it pierces through.
I don’t know if that makes sense but this is just for me anyway so I suppose it doesn’t have to.
 I think I should feel bad about Jon being gone, but I still don’t even feel relief at it being over. Just this vague numbness.
I hate it so much, except I don’t, actually, I just know that I should?
Melanie keeps saying that I need a therapist but if we’re being honest here, I guess I need one the least? The whole goddamn world needs therapy right now. Including the therapists. And I’ve been dealing with this for a long time now.
I guess I keep hoping it’ll just go away somehow.
 Anyways. Enough introspection, I’m going back to bed. I hope I don’t wake them! :)
  Day 4 - Evening
 It’s night now, the sun went down hours ago. We have a bunch of candles, but I’m trying to use them sparingly, so I just have one lit. I put a glass of water next to the candle so now the light gets magnified a bit more. It’s a weird atmosphere, but I kinda like it? Feels… cozy! :)
I’m still not over how everything looks the same, but nothing works like it did before, and there’s this… burden? This collective trauma everyone went through. It feels so surreal. So many things are still broken… it’s like we woke from a collective nightmare, but pieces of it still remain, floating around.
And we just sent it away with the tapes. I really hope those other worlds are doing better than us, but what else could we have done? I… try not to think about it. I know I should, but I still can’t really bring myself to care, or even feel overly guilty for that? …
 Melanie fell asleep with her head in my lap half an hour ago. I was reading to her. She says she loves the sound of my voice, so I’ve started doing that in the evenings. (I still love that we had separate crushes from a distance on each other for ages because of youtube and WTG. We’ve been talking about that a lot, too.)
She still has nightmares, but apparently she’s also been having good dreams, and she looks so peaceful right now. The last few days have been a lot, but in comparison to before, and even before then…
It’s over. We made it out. We get to have a future together. I still can’t quite believe it. :)
 I guess I’m writing again (despite already having done so in the morning) because it somehow helped yesterday and I’m hoping to replicate that. And I have a lot to think about. It’s been a long day.
Basira is still out there, helping out where she can. I think she feels guilty. Melanie says she doesn’t because there was no other choice, but I know her, and I know that she’s lying.
There’s always another choice. We just say that to make it easier to bear.
I hope she knows she can come talk to me when she feels ready to tackle it.
I hope I ever feel able to tackle it myself. No. I will talk to her when I’m ready.
We did talk a bit about things, of course. Melanie doesn’t really remember her dreams, most of the time, but apparently she’s been alternating between horrifying nightmares and a really nice, recurring one that sometimes happens after the nightmares. She doesn’t really remember much of it, but she mentioned it after I told her about the Jon dream. Not what it was about, just… in general.
From the way she talked about it, I think her dad might have been in it? I’m actually not sure, but the way she smiled…
She has that little smile on her lips again, even now, dreaming. The soft one she gets when she talks about good things. About him.
About me.
(I still can’t believe she chose me. How impossibly lucky? How did I ever deserve her? But then, it’s not about that, is it? She is mine, and I am hers, and… life will be good. I know it will be.)
 She’s been smiling a lot more, these past few days.
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guigz1-coldwar · 4 years ago
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'High Risks' :New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !
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"High Risks"
Chapter Summary : Bell is forced to work with Adler as a team to infiltrate the nightclub owned by 'Bonnie Blue'.....
To read it on AO3, click here !
Words : +5200
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We worked non-stop after we all talked about the new plan we had in mind to deal with that Bonnie Harless and by the odds, the remaining files that were in the last cardbox allowed us to know more about her  : After she has left the MI6 in 1978, she installed herself in West-Berlin, opening the 'Nuit Blanche' almost a year after her arrival in the city. The MI6 didn't know that she has taken a part of their files....all talking about the arms trafficking business and since she has created that nightclub, she had became a big arms dealer, supplying at first the drugs cartels in South America before going big by supplying actual wars.
It was in 1980 that she met Perseus and she proposed her services to him, allowing her to expand her business and making more money. That money allowed her to make the 'Nuit Blanche', one of the most biggest nightclub in West-Berlin. That place was an perfect place to hide since no one will expect something like that, happening in the public eye but even with that, it didn't avoid us to discover all of that and neutralizing her can help us to bring down one of the many operations Perseus is making all around the world.
After we were done with the cardbox as they had nothing left for us, it was time to prepare our new plan to neutralize 'Bonnie Blue' and her business. Thanks to Mason, we decided to pose ourselves as buyers who want to make a deal with her but with that option, this would mean that we couldn't risk to go inside the nightclub in a large group. Only 2 persons were able to go in as the others stay in support and I was one of the two to go in since I volunteered myself but at my big surprise, Adler was the second one that will go inside with me.....
I was going to team up with the very man that fucked with my brains and trying to put a bullet in them and I will have to act with him as we were best friends from Vietnam. I would have liked Park to come but since Bonnie Harless was an ex-MI6 agent, she couldn't come inside with me and the others didn't say anything about the mission, leaving me & Adler to enter the nightclub and deal with Bonnie.
It took us 2 days to plan the mission perfectly because we needed at first to arrange a meeting with Bonnie at her nightclub posing as buyers and surprisely, we were granted that meeting by luck. Sims created for me & Adler fake identities for the mission : he kept Adler as an perfect american as for me, I was his british woman associate since my british accent was more strong than my russian one. Thanks to that, we gained our entrance inside the nightclub and the rest....will be to me & Adler to make.
We were now ready ! 2 days after we decided of our plan, we could finally go through it. I was in a car with Park at my side on the backseat as Sims was at the driving seat and Adler in the front passenger seat. We were parked on a parking lot, hidden from the public with the nightclub at our view. Woods & Mason would have like to came but Adler preferred to keep the suspicions low by not bringing everyone to the mission. Instead, they were keeping the safehouse for the moment.
"Uhm...." I started, peaking my head to look at Adler, not moving at all because my legs were like crushed by his seat "Can you move your seat ?" I asked
"No." He replied in a harsh voice, not doing a simple thing to let my legs be free. He was the only one smoking in the whole car, maybe trying to concentrate himself on the mission.
"You could at least move it a little." I exclaimed, rolling my eyes in annoyance
"You prefer to focus on the mission or talking about my seat ?" He breathed, blowing smoke out of his mouth "You can just move yourself instead of harrasing me." I started to move to put my hands on his seat before Park stopped, putting her own hands on my left arm, gently
"Anyways." She almost said loudly "Do you both remember what you need to do, right ?" I nodded while Adler...did nothing expect from a little groan.
"Go inside, meet 'Bonnie Blue', neutralize her guards and ask her our questions. Then, going out." I told, it was our plan....less detailled because we don't know exactly how things will play out.
"Her guards would likely be the type of peoples to use silenced guns." Sims intervened, his eyes on the nightclub entrance filled with people. "So, if you are cornering her in a isolated place with her guards, there will be no problems for you to come out of the place." He added, adjusting his cap
"I will be communicating with you through your headsets hidden in your ears." Park said, making me sure that my headseat was well positioned in my right ear. "Mainly to update you each time something new is happening." She pointed to me, the material that was between us, allowing her to listen to the place communications and that, thanks to my help.
"So, it's our time to go to work." Adler started to move to open the door at his side. "Keep your eyes open, Sims." He scoffed
"Always on it, doc !" Sims almost laughed before I started to open the door at my side and then, Park put her hand on me again, with a little.
"Good luck, Yirina." She whispered and I smiled, nodding at her before I left the car to be outside....Adler waiting for me, next to the car.
"Come on, we don't have all night." He ordered, throwing his cigarette at his feets and then ordered him to follow to join the nightclub but before entering, we had to stand in line.
Inside of me, it was stressful since this type of place wasn't something I would go everyday and I will be surrounded by a lot of people. I really hope that I will not make a panic attack in the middle of everybody. The last time I was in a big crowded place was at that bar in Moscow but it wasn't so crowded but here, there were a lot of people around us and I was thinking that it was better to not make things go to shit either because of us or because of Bonnie's guards. We have literally just no firepower, just our fists and our brains to fight.
We joined the line next to the club entrance, it was better for me to have keep casual clothes instead to wear a big dress. Me & Adler were wearing clothes that was way differents from the others and for me, I preferred it that way. I was still wearing Park's clothes and it was so nice to have them on me : I had her blue sweat along with one of her blue jeans....I remember these clothes because she was wearing them during our mission in East-Berlin back 3 years ago.....she even gave me a scarf to put around my neck....why not !
"So....Bell..." Adler started, looking at me with an raised eyebrow as we were slowly advancing in line.
"You never opened your ears with Park or something ?" I said, crossing my arms to him, he will never understand.... "I'm not your 'Bell'"
"Think what you want to think." He rolled his eyes behind his glasses "But, we're doing things  my way." He added, poking me a little on my left shoulder
"Yeah but I remember that you're not my boss." I scoffed "Maybe it's time for you to remove that stick from your ass." I added, laughing nervously
"Oh, very funny." He sniffed, almost clapping with his hands "I'm getting a lesson from a soviet."
"Can you just act for normal, for fuck sake, Adler ?" I exclaimed, arriving almost at the club entrance
"I will try." He responded, not very enthusiast "Remember that here, I'm the one in charge." He added as we became the second to last persons before we can enter.
"Profit of it, not gonna be long." I looked away at the car's direction, trying to not desasperate because of his attitude towards me...it's going to be quick....I really hoped to....
"Just don't be suspicious." He ordered me as we were finally facing the guards.
He was the one to speak with the guards in front of the entrance, explaining that we have an meeting with the club's owner. Hopefully, our plan worked as the guards were aware of our arrival, saying to us that 'Bonnie Blue" were waiting for us but that she was taking care of a little issue before she can really meet us in person. The two guards called by one of their radios another guard, tasked to lead us inside the nightclub and to put us somewhere until we are cleared for the meeting.
Just a few seconds after that, the guard in question came, ordering us to follow him inside and we complied to his orders. We finally entered the nightclub, I could see that there were a lot of people in the hallway leading to the dance floor and in me, I was struggling to not panick at all from it. I can't panick right now, it's not the time or the place to do that. I just need to stay focused, calm and determined about the situation, we're acting like normal people for the others and like buyers with Bonnie's men
We arrived in the dance floor area and like in the hallway, a lot of people dancing, talking and drinking. The music in the club were very loud....loud enough to cover the sounds of gunshot from an no silenced weapon, it was something that could help us in case, things go wrong. The guard led us to an empty table away from the public sight but still able to have a look on the big room and left us until he will come back to clear us for the meeting. Now, we were just awaiting with me not stressing out at all.
"You're trembling ?" Adler asked me after 2 minutes of silence after we were left alone as he saw my left hand shaking and I was trying to control it with my other hand.
"Yeah, why I can't do that ?" I said, grinning nervously to him....yeah, I was stressed out.
"We're going to meet a arms dealer and you're getting stressed ?" He raised an eyebrow, his hand on the table
"It's not about meeting her."  I replied, mixed between looking at him and my hand
"So, about what ?" He started, curious "Fearing that you will not get out of here alive ? Fearing to not see your little Park again ? Fearing because of me ?"
"Are you trying to provoke me or...." I cut myself, trying to control my own nerves in front of him "Yeah, you surely want to provoke me." I said, sure of me "Right ?"
"Why are you getting stressed out ?"  He asked, not even answering my question
"Maybe because I'm not used anymore to go to a big crowded place." I answered frankly to him, biting my lips
"Bell is scared of people, now ?" He smirked at me, causing me to lock deadly eyes on him
"I'm not Bell for the second time." I exclaimed, my hands starting to form into fists on the table.
"You're saying that but you can't remove that name from you." He put his right arm along the seat "You're just an russian girl who know too much and running around with memories that isn't even hers." He added
"Maybe." I started, realizing that a part of what he said was right : I was living with his memories in my head and for the first part, it can be seen better as a advantage than something bad.
"You were just someone that could have tell the world what the CIA did to you, there were no chances to let you live by joining the MI6." He admitted, leaning to face me "You are just a product of the CIA."
"Maybe..." I whispered in a low voice "But instead of making your job to the end, you decided to left me in a coma....." I said, more clearly to him "What's got into your head.....the moment you left me to die....the moment you maybe saw me in that bed ?" He was looking around with an worried look, not even focusing on me.
"I don't know." He simply replied, looking at me a little, seeing my face before the guard came back to see us,
"'Bonnie Blue' has finished, she would like to see you." The guard exclaimed as we got up from our seats "Follow me !"
We started to follow that guard as Adler took the lead in front of me. I was able to stabilize myself and not stressing further along the way, trying to think of our mission and how will neutralize Bonnie with just our fists and our heads to think. We crossed the dancefloor until we arrived to a door guarded by two persons, the guard in charge to leading us to Bonnie explained our cases to them, allowing us to pass with the guard. They opened the door and the first thing we saw was stairs going up.
We got up, still following that guard....and getting followed by one of the guards that was keeping the door. When we were up, we arrived in a little waiting room, with some mens on the couch, armed with either MP5 or LC-10, all silenced and apparently, they were waiting for us because at the moment, we stepped inside that room that they got up from their couch to get next to us.....awesome !
Before letting us enter, we had no choice but to get searched by those guys. Spreading our arms and legs to allow them to frisk us more rapidly and clearly for any surprises like an gun or an knife. While they were easy on Adler, it wasn't the case with me as I had the impression that they were taking their time to frisk me....are they staring at my ass ? I looked at the guy in charge to frisk me and I was right....he was taking his time and when he saw me with deadly eyes, he preferred to go faster, not wanting me to kick him in the nuts.
After that 'little accident', we were finally cleared to enter the next room that was Bonnie's office but of course, those same guards decided to accompany us inside. We got inside to discover Bonnie Harless herself, awaiting for us in an couch, smoking an cigarette. She was looking like in her picture we had in the safehouse with some scars near her eyes. Her room had a big view on the dancefloor area and we better watch out for that.
"Ah...my friends." She started, pointing to the other couch "Take a seat." She ordered us and we complied, playing like buyers, keeping a straight face.
"So, you're the mysterious 'Bonnie Blue' ?" Adler first said, getting sit on the couch along with me as two guards got next to it, their guns in front of them.
"Mysterious ? I'm flattered !" Bonnie replied, enthusiast to hear that and nearly laughing.
"Guess we are too, miss Blue." I grinned a little, getting comfy in the couch.
"Please, call me just 'Bonnie Blue." She put her hand on her chest, gesturing to us to present herself. "So, you're the two buyers I have heard ?" She asked
"Exactly !" Adler answered to her "I'm Clark Dewill and she's Jess Blackwell." He added, using his fake name....and my old 'Bell' identity that Sims preferred to use again for me "We're both associates."
"An american boy....and an british girl." She was looking curious at me with wide eyes "Where you're coming from, miss Blackwell ?" I needed now to find something good....find something, Yiri !
"I'm from Reading in the UK." I replied, saying it like that
"I'm also british, you know ?" She looked both of us "Been working for that stupid Crown for years and they were never able to see my full potential." She rolled her eyes and her fists were forming before she stopped herself "Anyway, where are you operating ?"
"Mostly in America." Adler answered "More in the United States and Canada."
"I have an buyer too in the US and I'm wondering what are your plans in those places." She asked, very curious
"We have some plans to disrupt Reagan's goverments by arming...some extremists group and maybe put an end on the 'War on Drugs' the US is making."  Adler added without hesitating a second in his words, something I couldn't have done.
"Like the other buyer...." She smiled at us, almost laughing"Well, if we can have more buyers, it will work better for my employees." She then put her hands on a register that was between our couch and hers "What type of guns you would like ?"
"We can possibly try for british ones..." I suggested but she was making an apologizing face to me
"Ah, I'm sorry, my british guns are going to another buyer who need them to train some of my employees group around the world." She affirmed before looking at Adler.....the buyer, she talked, it was maybe that H.S from the files we got.
"It's better that we go on american ones." Adler said, making a 'friendly tap' on my shoulder "What do you think, Jess ?"He added, in a fake voice
"I'm okay with this." I responded before my ear start to make some noises....my headseat and I could see Adler put his hand to hide his ear where his headset was and I do the same.
"Yirina, Adler, you got a problem !" It was Park voice, alerting us from something bad "Got a communication : your cover has been blowed. Act quickly against her !" Yeah, something bad...and it got worse when a guard arrived in the room.
"Don't you see that I'm in a business talk ?" Bonnie exclaimed to that guy before the man started to walk next to her and at this moment, I realized that this guy was going to give her the infos that we're not buyers.
I looked at Adler, giving him a look to tell that we needed to act quickly and then, I redressed myself on the couch as my eyes were now on the guard that was just next to me. The guard who enter the room started to whisper something  in her right ear, giving us a strange look. I was thinking now, the guard next to me has his MP5 ready to get taken off his hands and he had also an pistol, strapped around his waist. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and then reopened them...ready to act.
In a second, I got up and with my right knee, I striked directly in the chest while I took his pistol in my left hand and with the other, I took the MP5 he had. He started to fall on his back not before I fired a first bullet from the silenced pistol in his direction, hitting him directly in the throat and then I focused back on the others guards. Adler reacted quickly by throwing himself onto the guard that was keeping him as me, I was looking at the others.
They were going to aim at me but I was more faster and with my right hand, I opened fire with the MP5 in their directions : there were two of them behind Bonnie and also the guard who was whispering to her. The first one was hit by two bullets on his head and the second one received 5 bullets from my MP5 but for the guard next to Bonnie, I had to use the stolen pistol to avoid to hit Bonnie.
I shot him right between the eyes and he fall back dead on the couch next to her who was now petriefied to see her guards falling one by one until they were only the three of us remaining in that room. Me & Adler standing up, observing what we have done as Bonnie was looking scared as hell. Adler was aiming her with the pistol he got from the guy he threw himself in.
"Don't fucking move." He said, walking next to her and by the sudden, he decided to shot her in her right kneecap with his gun, causing her to scream before he put his hand on her mouth. "You scream, you're dead !"
"That was unnessesary to...." I was shocked by him, she wasn't going to flee, she was just scared as hell
"Go search her desk, I'm asking the questions." He ordered me brutally, keeping her from screaming freely and I had to comply to his order to search her office. I walked to it as he was keeping her under control.
"Go to hell !" She said as Adler removed his hand from her until I heard the sound of a big slap coming from him. He slapped her with his other hand.
"Not a way to talk with me." He said aiming her. "Not when you're working with Perseus." He gave me a furtive look, more like an threat to me as I put myself to search her office.
"I barely know Perseus." She admitted but Adler thought that she was lying
"Yeah, like every person we have dealt with." He scoffed "Don't bullshit me, who are your buyers ?"
"I don't know." She then start to make noises as Adler put his hand around her neck, trying to strangle her "I only know their initals but...."
"But ?" Adler cut her, letting her free,
"I know who they are by their description : a corrupted politician in the US, a Irakian general and a ex-SAS soldier."
"Harry Stone ?" I proclaimed, having found an document with his name on it. So it was him...H.S....the same one I had in my memory after that operation, she nodded in fear,
"He's the one who is training Perseus soldiers around the world" She affirmed to us "In fact, he's basically the one who is helping me to establish my connections."
"And the others ?" Adler asked
"For them, we only communicate by our initials." She replied in pain with the bullet she has in her leg "They're affiliated with Perseus but he advised us to not get ourselves involved in person."
"So, we only know that in the US, it's a politician and in Irak, it's an general." I said, having found nothing else that could help me to find who those guys were at her desk, I decided to join Adler next to him. "You have nothing else to tell us ?" She shook her head
"Then..." Adler started, aiming her at her head "No loose end !" He added before he shot a bullet that landed right in her head, killing her instantly. He then put the pistol behind his back, under his jacket, keeping his cool as me, I was shocked to see him doing that because....I had a feeling to relive that scene on that cliff at Solovetsky.
"Are you kidding me ?" I almost yelled at him
"What happened ?" I hear Park's voice in my headset
"Adler, he shot Bonnie in the head just because she shook her head." I explained to her in fury, looking at him with eyes that could kill someone.
"I wasn't going to let her live." He tried to defend himself from his actions, making signs that he wasn't guilty at all. "And even, she wouldn't talk further."
"We could have know more if you were acting normal."  I told him, trying to not looking at Bonnie dead body.
"At least, we know more about those buyers and we dealt with her." He then start to walk away, gesturing me to follow him "We're done here, we're leaving without a noise."
I was so angry at him right now but it was better to leave that place that was turned into a warzone. Our guns were certainly silenced but someone will have to come here to check if everything is okay. We decided to take the same door as we entered the room. It was without an risk because we have neutralized every guards that were following us inside that room but we had to keep low and not be suspicious at all when leaving the nightclub.
When we arrived in the dance floor area, I realized from afar that they were 3 guards positioned at each part of the area....looking at us. It was at this moment we realized that we were trapped inside the nightclub, we couldn't leave without having them at our tails as they will make sure that we're not leaving the place.
"Let's go to the bar !" He ordered, making me signs to not look at those guards. We passed through the crowd to arrive near the bar who was empty from people.
"What now ?" I asked him, putting my right arm on the counter.
"We're gonna wait for those guys attentions to go away." He replied but I could see that he wasn't sure of that and as I was looking behind him, the guard were slowly coming towards us.
"You're sure ?" I scoffed at him and he looked behind me.
"Not really actually !" He breathed before he turned around to see the guard behind him, getting closer. He gave me a quick look...a look that I don't like at all,
"What are you thinking ?" I asked but he didn't respond as he looked back to the guard
"You know, it was good for you to let yourself have a great time but...." He then looked back at me, taking a deep breath as the guard put his hand on his right shoulder
"Bell, we have a job to do !"
He was planning this....shit....at hearing this, I started to feel all weird inside of me as I closed my eyes, trying to control myself to not pass out from him. I needed to be angry now but I realized that he did this to make them believe that I was under his control if there were anyone that could have recognized me....maybe a good thinking but not like this. Strangely, for the first time....I was able to control myself from that sentence....and I opened my eyes again, back in control....but not entirely.
I nodded to him briefly and then, I started to play his little mind game he was planning all long with me. I took the guard hand off his shoulder, crushing it causing him to step back from Adler who started to admire the scene doing nothing else. I took a glass of water that was on the counter and then, I smashed it against the counter before I planted the glass foot at the side of his neck.
At this moment, one of the others guards grabbed me by behind, putting his arms around me but with my foots, I put them on the counter and pushed them against me, causing us to fall back on the ground in the middle of the crowd who started to watch the scene and for them, it was just two drunken person fighting. I nudged the guy badly with my elbow in the guts before I got up, grabbing him by the collar....the last guard has took his gun from his jacket and he started to fire at me, causing the crowd to panick as hell before running away.
I was able to use the guy I was holding as a human shield for 3 bullets before I threw the dead guy on the armed guard who lost his balance and find himself against the counter. He shot another bullet but he missed again. I then put my hand on his gun as we started to fight for it and he was slowly losing the advantage before the gun was directly under his chin and then, I pulled the trigger of it, firying more than 3 more bullets in his head, the blood going everywhere behind the bar counter.
"It's okay, Bell." Adler intervened, putting his hand on my shoulder, sounding good for him,
"We have a job to do !"
He said it, causing me to close my eyes to control myself to not passing out....you got this, Yiri ! You got this !......... I then removed myself from the dead guy in shock, realizing the brutality I used to kill those guys...realizing that Adler manipulated me to kill those guys....realizing that he said that key-phrase again. It wasn't me who did this....that....was the 'Winter Soldier' still inside of me....
"Let's get out of here." He ordered and I complied, following him outside, still troubled by what I have done...what he has done to me. When we were outside, I needed to know why.
"Why you did this ?" I asked in anger
"It was the only way for us to get out."  He admitted
"By manipulating me again ?" I exclaimed, clenching my fists "I'm not like this, I'm not an monster."
"And by seeing you, you had this in your veins." He smirked at me, before looking away
"Listen..." I started, looking at him while I cleaned up my jacket with my right hand "Don't do this again because...." I pointed him with my right hand....until I saw some blood on it. I looked down to a bullet hole in the jacket,just next to my right kidney....the armed guard didn't missed me at all, I was ignoring the pain during all these times "Aw shit !" I whispered, looking at my hands and the bloodied hole before I started to lose my balance, feeling so weak now
"Damnit, kid !" Adler grabbed me before I was able to fall on the ground and then, he started to walk with me, he was making the hard step as my legs weren't responding anymore. "Almost got to the car !" He said after he was transporting me throught the street. My vision was troubling itself as I was going to pass out.
"Yirina !" I hear Park voice panicking, getting out of the car.
"She got shot, get her next to her and try to stop the blood." Adler ordered her as he gave me to her and I was now in her arms before she installed me in the car, along with her. "Quick, Sims, she need to be healed fast." He said to Sims who immediately drove off the scene.
"Am I dying ?" I whispered to Park, my voice cracking down by saying it
"No, you will not die !" She almost said loudly as she put her hands on my wound to stabilize it, getting her hands filled with my blood,
"Don't let me die." I started to cry because of it, breathing heavily and trying to not passing out but I saw the blood and I realized that I was going to pass out in that car. I could see Park face as my eyes were going to shut down, looking panicking...scared. She didn't want to lose me....and I don't want to lose her,
"I will never let you down, Yirina !"
10 notes · View notes
aharris00britney · 5 years ago
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ASKS 19
It’s 6am and Brandon woke me up when he got up to go to work so now... i answer asks bc i cant sleep. 
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@mileyzangel said: Can you please make a Harley Quinn hairstyle from both Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey?
I went and watched Birds of Prey the other night and it was really good. Brandon went to sleep I think tfgvhb. But I doubt I’ll try doing her hair from either of the films. @enriques4 is working on one for her Birds of Prey look if you are interested in that <3
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Anonymous said: is tiny living worth it? im leaning towards the gameplay although i love cas. is the gameplay as bad as people say?
I honestly don’t think the new beds do anything. They’re... there. Lmao I think the CAS and buy items are very nice. If we get some cc murphy beds then that would make them a lot more usable tbh.  
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Anonymous said: how do you and ayoshi keep making some fantastic collabs?? y'all are literally the first people i go to when I make a fresh install and I can't wait to see what you do next
Anonymous said: AxA CC KINGS!!!
Anonymous said: you guys didnt have to snap like that on AxA
Anonymous said: I LOVE EVERY SINGLE PACK U AND AYOSHI DO PLEASE KEEP MAKING MORE
Anonymous said: another iconic ah00b x ayoshi collab YAS LESSGOOOO
We put a bunch of cc ideas (hair and clothes) in a discord server we have together and then work on the stuff together on call usually so each item is the way we both want me. Like for example i’ll be meshing the Ivy top while he works on texturing the ribbed version.  We also only do collabs when they happen, we didn’t plan AxA 2019 or this new set, mainly just made cc starting in May and wrapped it up in July to release in August. Then this time we started making stuff late December and got most of it done by the time I got done with my break. Having a planned collab/deadline makes stuff less stressful and the stuff usually turns out better imo
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Anonymous said: hi! ur sims are so prettyyyy what skin texture and eyes do u use?
Anonymous said: hi! wcif the eyes of the sim in the edit that Dogsill edited for you please? thank you!
Anonymous said: Hi! I really love the way your sims looks so, I was what skin and eyes you use?
I actually am changing my default eyes so I need to update my resource page soon ;n; but the skins they use are all listed for each sim on the resource page here
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Anonymous said: you always name axa packs by the year but this one was named after a season those that mean.... 👀
We are wanting to do something in the fall, just not sure how our lives will be then ya know? There’s a chance that this will be the AxA 2020. Since we weren’t sure I didn’t want to label it that if 2 AxA’s release this year lmao
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Anonymous said: what game is the pokemon thing you're playing!? pls help a guy out i'm in love with the art style
Pokemon Sword and Shield (I have shield) for Nintendo Switch. I’ll prob post more pics once I get some new shinies :P
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@kristabunny said: lol is it bad that when I saw your Santana hair I read it as Satan Hair XD
tbhhhhh it was lowkey referencing that lmao. I made the hair in October for a speed meshing video and since it was around Halloween I was like “lemme give her an almost demonic name” also Santana from glee is a queen
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Anonymous said: Tbh I absolutely adore your female cc but I LIVE for your male cc!!!
Thank you! lmao the only thing I can take full credit for is the AxA male hairs. I mesh the clothes for packs but ayoshi does the texturing for them.  
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Anonymous said: Could you have a go at the updo Dua Lipa has on the cover of her Future Nostalgia? The high bun with a flick in it and the strands of hair down the sides. Thanks if so :)
I’m not the biggest fan of the hairstyle tbh ;n; but we will see. (Physical is a serve, just saying)
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Anonymous said: So ive never played pokemon before until my friend gave me a copy of pokemon moon. I love cats so of course my starter was a litten, but i had no clue about evolutions or anything like that. I was heartbroken when my cute litten turned into some big man cat :(
omg noooo ;n; yeah Litten is a cutie... incineroar is... well I got used to him tbh and kind of like him now? I absolutely hate scorbunny’s evolution (and most of the SWSH starters final evolution) so I think that made incineroar slightly better in my eyes. My shiny litten will be staying a kitten however :)
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@multifandom-slytherin said: Hello! I love your cc! Would it be possible for you to make the bangs from your Bree Hair a separate accessory that you can put with other hairs (for example the BG low ponytail)? Thank you so much!
Anonymous said: have u considered making or allowing someone to make an acc version of your handmade bangs?
I have thought of doing accessory bangs tbh, I just like... don’t like using accessory bangs myself. So I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing it. I might try it for myself and see how many hairs they work with, and if it is a decent amount I’ll release. 
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Anonymous said: First off I want to say how amazing all of your hairs and collabs are! Second I was curious if you ever thought of going back to your old hairs and updating their thumbnails / display indexes so they matched your stuff now?
I really really wanted to have all my 2019 hairs updated by 2020. It was only January 2019-April 2019 that needed updated (thumbnails and display indexes). But I just lost motivation for doing it. I will focus on it next time I have a big break from school. Also planning on updating select stuff from 2018 and 2017. 
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Anonymous said: please put Sophia Barker in the gallery. PLEASEEEEE it's the most beautiful sim I EVER seen! >:3 PLEASEEE!!!!!!!!!!
She should be on there? I think? Make sure you have CC enabled and if you can’t find me through the gallery her tray files are here
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Anonymous said: Hi! After the recent patch I started having a small issue with Bree hair(without bangs), when I zoom out it looks like a completely different hair, something similar to that one basegame hair that's layered with tips pointed outward but longer. Thought I'd let you know, maybe others have had a similar issue or maybe I need to change a setting or something. Love your work so much!
Really surprised this is the first time someone told me about this lmao. The hair should be updated now on SFS/Patreon <3
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Anonymous said: I tried to look around for this on your "Asks" portion before bothering you (so sorry), but do you have a link perhaps for all the lips you use on your models? Are they in game or a cc you create? Thanks so much! Love all of your work! I'm super new to cc stuff and I found yours like 2 days ago and have been going nuts with downloads lol 
like presets? None of my cc models use a lip preset. I do use this slider on some of them though. For lipsticks, that is listed for each model on my resource page <3
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Anonymous said: i’ve been looking for a hair like lexi that i actually like forever and now i find it but it’s for paterson peeps and i’m like actually broke and i’m like :/
im sorry ;n; at least it wasn’t too long of a wait? :/ I hope you liked the hair
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Anonymous said: I can't find your jisoo ponytails in your downloads?
they’re in my retired section... may they rest in peace. scroll to the bottom of my downloads and youll see ‘RETIRED.’ click that for the retired download page. 
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@eclypt-0-sims said: Hi, I recently started making MM hair and I know you're probably an expert at this but; every time I go into CAS to test a hair, all of my accessories clip with the hair. Like the hair texture would cover some glasses if my sim was wearing glasses. I don't know how to fix it, someone told me to delete an eye weight in blender but I don't really understand weight painting that much, any suggestions? love your content btw
this is a late as hell reply i’m sorry. I think that you have texture where the glasses texture would be. Hair texture should only be in hair section or hat section (if you don’t want it hat compatible). Here is a UV map layout that I use for making hair textures. It shouldnt have anything to do with weights
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Anonymous said: Do you use reshade when you take previews for your cc? and also is the tropical punch ombre overlay a palette or did you make it?
I do use reshade when I take cc previews. It adds a bit of saturation to my sims and gives them some shadows under their chin/clothes. Nothing major. Also, myself and @imvikai came up with the tropical punch palette together.
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@little-eris​ said: You probably have answered this before but who drew your tumblr icon? I’ve seen the same art style with other simmers 👉🏼👈🏼 it’s super cute!
thank you! here is their twitter 
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Anonymous said: The male sim in your Tiny Living review looks soo familiar; was there inspiration from anyone IRL? The person he reminds me of isn't even famous so I don't even know! He is very pretty though *-*
He was a gallery sim that I just revamped a bit so I’m honestly not super sure lmao. But he is very attractive yes I agree
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that concludes this ask ceremony please collect your things and move to the exit to your left. fvghbjn if you sent something I didn’t answer and it was off anon I’ll get to you soon (person who asked what beards I used for AxA... I see you)
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hydradrive · 4 years ago
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Go Hellnalysis (aka : hydradrive gets mad at the fanbase for ignoring go’s ongoing 2 season long breakdown for like, 5+ paragraphs)
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We are talking S1 foreshadowing as it relates to the facts of S2. As already mentioned, I think it sucks of the writers to do it to him like how it sucks how they treated Emma and Aoi throughout the entire series and reeks of colorism like. having your two darkest skinned characters be actively antagonistic as s2 goes on is a bad fucking look. 
But it’s there, and I am not happy that people defend Lightning weirdly when he treats people he knew for years badly, and then turn around and say wildly fucked up shit about Go.
I guess today is the day i Get Into It Again. I’ll be rehashing some of my points from my old thread on nac, so strap in i guess.
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This is said to Playmaker in season two. 
‘After i lost to you’. 
So, by episode 4. And the text backs this up. The text in season one aligns.
In Go Onizuka VS Genome :
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[ transcript for subbed text: 
Dr. Genome : Did your defeat at Playmaker’s hands force you to evolver? 
Go Onizuka : As much as I hate to admit it, yes. That was when everything changed. 
/end text screenshot id ]
That was when everything changed.
Let’s look at the rest of it, then. How it affected him, in the long-term. The Go Analysis... Is here.
MASSIVE CWs for discussion of canonical weight loss, brief discussion of disordered eating in the context of that, and a whole bunch of other stuff re: the brain hack that I don’t even know how to tag, really. medical? Basically, if you have any triggers relating to that, please exercise due diligence because I will not pull any punches about the implications.
tldr version :
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This is real dialogue from Go Onizuka’s first (and only) duel against Revolver. 
No matter what he says trying to spin it a different way after this segment of text, that it’s about fighting for yourself, these statements exist, and they exist with the context given by his own words; that he was struggling, mental health-wise, when he said these words.
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[ transcript for subbed text: 
Go Onizuka : Until now, I’ve battled in front of huge crowds. (There is a single beat frame, to indicate silence.) But I realized I’m all alone. There are no fans rooting for me here. I realized... We always duel alone. We fight for ourselves, not for anyone else. 
/end text screenshot id ]
But perhaps this isn’t compelling enough for people. Fine. Let’s go even further back.
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[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers : Go Onizuka : It’s my fault that Makoto is in this condition. /end text screenshot id ]
Go has an easily seen habit of assuming the worst, and with regards to stuff like Makoto, blaming himself, to the point that if his manager hadn't said more on Makoto, he would've been going into VS Genome blaming himself for Makoto getting into duel monsters in the first place.
In episode 5 it was shown that with one loss he was entirely certain that nobody would care about him in any capacity:
But why?
... It’s brought up in one of the first episodes of the entire series.
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[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers : 
Go Onizuka’s Manager : That’s exactly it. It’s a winner-take-all world, after all. 
/end text id. ]
And given an even more... depressing? Spin later, when Go thinks about it throughout S1 and S2 during his duel with Takeru:
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[ transcript for screen readers : 
Before I was placed in the orphanage, I only relied on myself. The world I lived in was all about survival of the fittest. “You must protect yourself” was my credo. 
/ end text screenshot id ]
It’s genuinely that simple. He slipped back into his old way of surviving because the way he did in season one didn't. save him. it didn't save him from a duel he needed to win, not just for himself necessarily. he would have died if playmaker had lost. a lot of people would have. He was already starting to have these doubts about his entire reason d’etre for dueling, and his loss only further spurred it on.
It’s repeated, again and again:
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[ transcript for screen readers :
Go Onizuka : For everyone to appreciate me, I must win! 
/end text screenshot id ]
That sentiment. “People won’t like me if I lose.” “People will abandon me, if I lose.” In his own words, his losses, losses in duels that were important, rotted him. And it /is/ true. His manager said he’d leave if he went to try and stop the Tower Of Hanoi and lost. And he followed through with it, by all implications. He didn’t come back until season 3. Keeping in mind that Go’s self-hatred spiral regarding guilt over in his mind dragging Makoto into the mess that was season one-era Hanoi shenanigans was only cut off because his manager and other people talked him out of it... Yeah.
This is before we bring in the other complicating factor : a certain little company, who never did anything good for anyone. A man, who despite supposedly being well-intentioned, did very little to help, until it reached the darkest point.
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[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers, since that’s the primary important stuff : 
Akira Zaizen : But we don’t intend to acknowledge that the network was on the brink of destruction. So I ask you don’t cause the press to delve into this. 
/end text screencap id]
People focus so much on him yelling at the press because they keep asking about Playmaker but with this context?
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[ transcript text for screen readers: 
Akira Zaizen: You’ll continue to be the focus of the press. /end text screenshot id ]
He’s not allowed to talk about how you nearly died.
He’s not allowed to talk about what really was at stake.
In fact, he’s not allowed to even act in a way that makes people even a little suspicious about what happened.
And yet.
‘But he could just ignore this advice’ . Not really. Go Onizuka’s platform was built in Link Vrains. Being the whistleblower about the actual danger of Link Vrains would not endear him to Sol, and potential backlash from Sol, from everything we know about the company? Hmm, gosh, wonder why that might be bad. Almost as if Go is basically a livestreamer who is at risk of having the video platform he exists on die.
It would be incredibly difficult to continue working under the public eye like that. The stress from that alone would start tearing someone to pieces.
Ergo, his decision to work for Sol Technologies as a bounty hunter. Both jobs now hinge on him currying favor with a horrible megacorporation, one just has less baggage from his past way of surviving and gives him the ability to talk a tiny bit more freely about things.
This is all the leadup, of course, to the ultimate lowest point. The duel chip. Brain hack.
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[ transcript text for screen readers: ‘By implanting this duel chip, the brain’s thought capabilities expand.’ /end text screenshot id ]
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[ transcript text for screen readers: 
Akira Zaizen: You can always refuse.
Go Onizuka : Your methods are dirty. You guide me to the gates of hell, but you don’t care what happens afterwards.  /end text screenshot id ] 
Let’s talk about the physical side-effects of the brain chip on Go Onizuka.
Me, personally? I genuinely wonder what came first; the most severe physical side-effects or a worsening of Go’s mental health that made him stop eating. 
It’s never stated what came first. We only see the mental health side effects of the chip in flashbacks initially.
I looked at one of the instances where Akira pulled go out of the sim wrt: the listed sys/dia ratios on-screen. They have those in certain shots, btw! They’re consistently really fucked up!
Here’s what those were, in one very notable instance:
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... So, right off the bat, a heartrate of 195, huh.
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And a sys/dia of 187/112 with a mean of 136. Wow! I wonder what that means for him!
I can tell you. 
He statistically would be in the range of having a hypertensive emergency. Having rates like this can damage your heart muscle when you don’t literally have a heart attack, hypertensive encephalopathy, ( which can cause dizziness and altered levels of consciousness, if we are getting into it.), kidney failure, coughing up blood...
I don’t want to speculate too much about why the Duel Chip caused this, but I will note that blood pressures like this sometimes come about as result of issues with the neuroendocrine system. This would tie in with a loss of appetite and some of the other things Go seems to canonically have had from the getgo of having the chip installed, and probably added on to his already pre-existing mental health stuff which I personally parsed as depression.
... I think this mostly covers the main points of what gets missed. Aka, literally all of his arc. Just, literally every piece of his arc. People miss all of it.
Also, to reiterate : it is NOT GOOD the way this is framed by the writers. it is loaded to, in a series heavily informed by the main character’s trauma, have a teenaged darker skin character ( Go is 19!! ) be portrayed as more erratic, etc etc. I do Not care about Lightning. He is a little robot, and while there is probably some ableism in the way trauma is represented therein as a corrupting force, it is far more worrying how Go is treated in terms of representation, and I am not going to bat for the guy who treated Haru like dogshit lmao. 
The fact that one of the two darker skinned MOC is given more obvious mental/physical illness signifiers in terms of symptoms to mark them as antagonists (when, again, Yusaku literally CANONICALLY HAS PTSD) fucking blows, and I’m going to personally fight the writers. 
But. I am also laying the blame at the fanbase’s feet for this shit, too. They literally ignored this to coo over Lightning. I’m going to bite them.
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homespork-review · 5 years ago
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Homespork Act 1: The Note Dawdling Tension Plays (Part 3)
CHEL: John heads outside, finally, but finds the mailbox empty and the car locked with a package inside. It seems he’ll have to confront his father to get the game he seeks. And then, we get the internet equivalent of a splash page, with ominous wind chimes, slow-pan animation, and lyrical text.
You have a feeling it's going to be a long day.
Regarding the term “ominous”, it applies in ways Hussie intended, implying the strangeness to come, but also in ways he may not have. Notice anything absent from that animation? Go on, guess.
FAILURE ARTIST: John’s neighborhood is more bland than Privet Drive.
CHEL: True, but “character” wasn’t really what I meant. What would one expect to see at least one of, in a nice suburban neighbourhood, even a bland one, in the daytime, when we know John’s dad is home from work, even if through a window? What are we not seeing here?
FAILURE ARTIST: No people and not even any pets.
CHEL: Hot dog, we have a wiener. Not character, characters. There are no signs of life at all. Not even a wild bird. Now, John is the focal character here, so that might come under the heading of unnecessary detail, but considering what happens later, this becomes very creepy. The big dangerous thing has not happened yet, so there should still be people in the neighbourhood, and the sound of wind chimes implies at least one of those houses is inhabited. But we don’t see them. Come to think of it, John never mentions his school at all, nor any other friends apart from the other kids featured in the comic, and nor do they. It’s as if they literally sprang into existence on that day and got plopped down in place just in time to be in the comic.
FAILURE ARTIST: Given that John is home in the middle of what would be a school day I think he might be home-schooled.
CHEL: That didn’t occur to me. I’m a Brit and I guess I was thinking “Easter break”, but the school year pattern in the US is different. But that raises further questions. Doesn’t he know any local kids? His dad works full-time and he has no other family - when does his dad find the time?
FAILURE ARTIST: Maybe it would be Spring Break in Washington State. I don’t know.
CHEL: Regardless, it’s eerie. If he’s home-schooled, he still ought to have some local friends or at least be on wave-hello terms with neighbours, unless he really is stuck in his bedroom almost all the time. I’m tempted to add an ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY point for the implication that John’s been raised locked in a room, but that’s just silly speculation so I won’t.
While on the topic, John does live in a literal suburb, but I’m not going to give points for WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM here. That count is for when the characters’ behaviour comes across as white/suburban/wealthy and that contradicts how the author is trying to present them. John is supposed to be the everyman figure with an ordinary life, living in a regular respectable town.
Let’s move on. It’s time to confront the Parental Figure.
TIER: John finds himself heading to the kitchen to retrieve his game, and it's now that we get a good look at his dad, along with one of the neat little details about Homestuck's world being brought to the forefront.
I am of course, talking about STRIFE!
"[S] John: Enter and Strife!" (Watch on YouTube)
The more or less fighting system for lack of my vocabulary, and seemingly a thing you just do in this world.
CHEL: John gets to actually use his “hammerkind” weapon, and Dad’s preferred method of combat is offering yet more cake.
FAILURE ARTIST: John threatens his father with a hammer. In the real world, this would be horrifying. But it’s not in this video game world. The other Beta Kids have “STRIFE” with their parents and in only one case does it end up as being treated seriously. Yet that will wait to be seen.
CHEL: One case which is significantly less disturbing than one of the other cases, in some ways. But yes, that’s for later. To be fair, John could have been trying to hit the cake with the hammer, not his dad, but most parents still wouldn’t be pleased to have their kids waving hammers in their direction regardless.
ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 2
TIER: After a short few rounds, John manages to properly distract his dad and successfully gets to his mail. A winner is you Johnny boy. Then we find ourselves with another hit of sylladex fuckery happening, joyous.
When we get back to John's room, it's pesterlog time, this time with a little sneak peak at the last of our fabulous foursome of thirteen years olds, gardenGnostic, or GG! They're only present for three short lines, but damn if they aren't pretty telling. From what little is seen they're an overall pretty chipper person, and to me at least adorable with those emojis.
CHEL: The beta’s finally in John’s hands, after all that effort to get it. So what do we do now? Why, it seems like a great time to go waste some time reading an entirely different imaginary webcomic promoting Hussie’s other work! Though, to be fair, the Midnight Crew will turn out to be relevant later. Keep that name in mind.
FAILURE ARTIST: The Midnight Crew actually started as the OCs of Problem Sleuth fan Mayonka who paid to have a extra episode.
CHEL: And then, FINALLY, he installs the thing, and it... gives us a loading page, and he goes off to read up on data structures and fuck about with his fucking sylladex some more!
TIER: The sylladex thing really knows how to wear its welcome thin with the shenanigans, thought I'll admit that John getting a razor embedded into the face of one of his posters was amusing in how dangerous the dang thing can be.
GET ON WITH IT!: 3
"Get on with it! (Monty Python)" (Watch on YouTube)
CHEL: Because I’m feeling bitter, I’m adding another point too!
HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 5 The Lost Sock - wherein the plot is too slight Here the main conflict is barely adequate to sustain a Partridge Family episode. Remember that this drama has to carry the reader through 300-odd pages. The central dilemma of a novel should be important enough to change someone’s life forever.
Our main plot hasn’t been introduced yet, so as far as the reader knows, what’s happening now is the plot. Getting a video game out of the kitchen should not take this long and is not much of an epic adventure! By now, Hussie’s committed almost all of the sins listed in HNTWAN’s section on beginning a story! NOTHING IS HAPPENING!
Okay, something happens. It’s not plot, but it’s adorable. John opens the birthday present from Dave, to discover a souvenir of his favourite movie; the very stuffed bunny prop featured in Con Air. Look at how happy he is!
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TIER: I do believe that up to this point, there hasn't been much of a plot, just people doing stuff. It's boring in the same way that someone telling you about an average day is, not much going on to be honest.
FAILURE ARTIST: I enjoyed reading Act 1 when I first read it but I was coming in under no expectation. Homestuck as a deep meaningful story hadn’t begun yet.
CHEL: Okay, NOW a thing is happening. The game is installed, on comes the loading page, and… Well, that’s peculiar. Now, at last, we see what the big deal with this game is. It permits TT, who installed the “server” section of the game while John installed the “client” section, to reach into his actual bedroom with the cursor and move things around, place bizarre-looking machinery in the rooms, or even add parts to his house a la The Sims. Now that’s a game worth the hype it got! Too bad it took almost 140 pages to actually reveal this.
The kids don’t seem very surprised by all this, yet the reviewer hadn’t heard the game could do that. One would think even such a disaffected dudebro would be curious about that, if he knew. Maybe the game really does have some kind of built-in failsafe to keep adults away?
FAILURE ARTIST: This is a world people have inventories instead of pockets and an RPG battle starts every time you argue with your parents.
CHEL: Does that apply to all people in it, though, or just the lead characters? They are, as it turns out, special already, and we never see a person who’s not involved.
John wants to try moving things around, but he needs the “server” CD-ROM to do so, which is still in the car. TT’s attempts to help result in not only a large machine called a “Cruxtruder” blocking the front door, but also the toilet, which John earlier accidentally filled with cake during sylladex shenanigans, being ripped out and dropped in the yard, and the bathtub similarly ending up in the hallway, which is pretty funny, I admit.
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EB: you can see me, right. EB: tell me what is wrong with this picture.
Perhaps sylladex shenanigans could be trimmed without being deleted entirely. SBurb shenanigans, similarly, are funny but might possibly do better to be compressed into fewer pages, but that’s not as big a deal, I think. The shenanigans aren’t entirely TT’s fault; she keeps losing her internet connection due to bad weather. GG’s earlier mention of an explosion near their home implies that things are starting to happen around them, too. Meantime, John finds a sledgehammer, a much better weapon, the implication being he’s going to need one, even if he turns out to be unable to lift it. TT helps him to hit the Cruxtruder with it, and said machine produces a glowing… thing and starts a four-minutes-and-thirteen-seconds countdown. Countdowns are never good in this context.
The glowing thing is a Kernelsprite, which needs to be “prototyped”, so into it goes the harlequin doll, causing it to take on the shape of a harlequin’s head and hand. Attempts to use the mysterious machinery TT has deployed result in the production of a shiny blue cylinder called a cruxite dowel and three green cubes labelled by the game as Perfectly Generic Objects, using up the game’s abstract building currency dubbed Build Grist. Wasting time playing with the machinery proves to be an unwise idea, however, as John looks into the sky and sees…
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Even worse than the meteor heading directly for his house, Dad is coming back!
FAILURE ARTIST: THIS is where I came in. It is the most impressive flash animation so far. It is still awkwardly animated compared to later ones.
CHEL: I think it’s one of his earlier efforts, so I wouldn’t say it was bad. It succintly gets the point across and it’s better animated than anything I could do.
John messages TT again.
EB: oh man who cares about the bathroom, now there's a meteor heading for my house!!! TT: I see. TT: Do you suppose it has anything to do with the game? EB: i don't know, maybe! what do i do! TT: I think it's very likely. TT: The walkthroughs vaguely suggest an impending threat before they end. TT: The already poorly constructed sentences become even more curt and ambiguous. TT: As if written hastily and with a sense of alarm. TT: Actually, their dedication to updating the walkthrough under such circumstances is admirable.
TT concludes that if the meteor is caused by the game, succeeding at a game objective must be the way to stop it, and investigates while John talks to TG, resulting in one of my favourite conversations in the comic, but also leading into another count.
EB: we'll talk later if i am still alive and the earth isn't blown up. TG: like the size of texas TG: or just rhode island TG: theyre always throwing around these geographical comparisons to give us a sense of scale like it really means anything to us TG: but its like it doesnt matter its always just like: WOW THATS PRETTY FUCKING BIG TG: like mr president theres a meteor coming sir. oh yeah, how big is it? its the size of texas sir TG: OH SHIT TG: or, how big is it? its the size of new york city sir TG: OH SHIT TG: sir im afraid the comet is the size of your moms dick TG: OH SNAP TG: sir are you familiar with jupiter TG: you mean like the planet? TG: yeah TG: well its that big sir TG: hmm that sounds pretty big TG: i have a question TG: is it jupiter? TG: yes sir, earth is literally under seige by planet fucking jupiter TG: OH SHIT TG: anyway later
I don’t know if TG is supposed to believe John here. If he is, then we get another count:
HURRY UP AND DO NOTHING: 1
FAILURE ARTIST: Hate to be a killjoy but the line about your mom’s dick is transphobic.
CHEL: My original intention with the PROBLEMATYKKS count was to point out cases where it wasn’t justified by the character saying it, so I wasn't going to count this. Thirteen-year-old boys trying to be witty say all sorts of awful bullshit. Though the writer’s old enough to know better and it didn’t ever get called out, so yeah, okay, I’ll expand the original intention.
CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 4
The rest of it’s still funny, though. Besides, I was more immediately concerned with the fact that TG seems remarkably unconcerned about the possible risk to his friend’s life. There isn’t really anything he could do about it even if he tried, obviously, but one would expect he’d at least say “oh shit, run!” or something. This will become a recurring pattern in the comic, as will be shown fairly soon, hence the DO NOTHING count.
FAILURE ARTIST: I think that conversation is also from real life. Hussie and a friend talked about meteor movie conventions and Hussie decided to use it. However, I assume during that conversation they weren’t threatened by an actual meteor.
CHEL: Possibly he’d have done better to make it clearer that TG did not believe John actually had a meteor heading for him. John is a known joker, after all. It would be quite easy, and I would have assumed that in a comic which had had fewer unremarked wacky happenings already.
Dad Egbert is also remarkably calm about the bathtub in the hallway. TT’s attempt to move it is foiled when her connection is lost, causing her to drop it in front of John’s bedroom door, trapping him inside. John is now on his own.
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supergenial · 5 years ago
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The Byleth Diatribe
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clickbait title: if you thought Byleth was creepy, wait until you read this!
Intro
In the past couple months it's really gotten my attention the fact that some people cannot stand looking at images that depict the teacher character from fire emblem three houses (Byleth) with their students in a romantic manner. They arrive at this disgust due to the parallels it traces with real life teachers who take advantage of their students. While I don't share this sensibility, I do think it's an interesting topic to think of so I'd like to explore why these people are correct in their conclusion that Byleth is creepy, but entirely wrong in their logic-path to it.
1) Byleth is just not an actual character
To address the elephant in the room, Byleth is literally a non-character. In a game filled with wonderful dialogue that fully exposes character motivations for a massive cast, it's hard to think of this one silent teacher as a real character that normally exists in that world. Byleth's "character" is purely an afterthought to their role as the Player Avatar. Surely enough in previous installments of the series you had Robin, Corrin and Kris, but their situation was partly different.
Robin and Corrin were proper characters as much as every other character in their game. They held conversations with the other characters, they expressed themselves in regards to the events that happened to them, some would even dare to argue they were better written that some other characters in their respective games if only because their heightened importance to their respective plot lines inevitably helps them have more dialogue, and even a bad writer has to stumble into writing something good eventually which means in some scenes they’re able to overcome the barrier of being bland by design.
Byleth however has none of this. At best they're given 2 or 3 text choices at any given time, and any bipartisan conversation that involves them is more of a soliloquy by the other character, with the player input being largely irrelevant to the flow of the conversation aside from changing the very immediate reaction that follows that same input.
As such, the notion that Byleth is a creepy teacher who's grooming their students to be their personal sex slaves is misconstrued in the fact that Byleth simply has no real motivations, hence no intent. It is equally as valid to assume they could be a straight laced no-nonsense teacher or a deviant who preys on children, because no conjectures can be traced to their personality, as it doesn't exist. We can't deduce what is it that Byleth wants out of life because the avatar has no life and exists purely as a videogame terminal. We don't know what they enjoy outside of the very few things we the players are allowed to do as the character, which is why so much Byleth fanart involves fishing, cooking, or drinking tea, the few hobbies we indulged in while playing as them.
There is however something innately perverse about Byleth, it's just not the fact they're a teacher, but rather the fact they're the player.
2) Player avatars are inherently creepy, and so are dating sims
Fire Emblem is a fantasy game. In Fire Emblem games you will not only find unreal things like dragons and magic, but also straight up impossible things such as kind-hearted rulers that care about protecting and improving the lives of their constituents. The three real main characters in this game all have pure motivations and genuine desire to improve the world (yes... even Edelgard). As such, we can expect the same purity and lack of reality from a hypothetical Byleth that has a personality. It's fair to assume they'd be legitimate teachers with no creepy intentions who, through the vicissitudes of life, end up inadvertently falling in love with their students. In a fantasy land where every "good guy" is pure in nature there is no concern of Byleth grooming Dimitri, or of Edelgard forcing some ill intentioned quid-pro-quo with her right hand strategist whom she is obsessed with, because it's simply fantasy where everyone is nice and pure so things just magically always work out.
There is however an insidious factor lurking over this fantasy land, and that is the player. An omnipotent being who decides who lives, who dies, who gets married to who, and who stays alone because we just don't like them that much. The player can send Ashe to get the last hit on Lonato, just out of morbid curiosity to see what is the special dialogue that they have in that situation. The player can recruit Felix and then have Felix kill Rodrigue in the crimson route, just to see what hilarious quip will the son bark at the father. And of course, the player gets to decide who gets married to the lifeless slab of meat and bones with no emotion that is the Player Avatar. If anything breaks the idea that these characters are well written or realistic, it is the fact that they can all fall in love with someone who cannot communicate with them, all because of the emotions they magically choose to believe the avatar has, or rather, we choose to make them believe it.
In a "set" story like fire emblem echoes or path of radiance, the epilogues have little to no variety because the characters will just be themselves regardless of the player's input. No matter how much you want to see Celica's reaction to Faye getting together with Alm, that is simply not going to happen because their bond is set in stone, it cannot be altered, it is a "set" story. Likewise Nyna in new mystery of the emblem will never, ever fuck Sirius regardless of what she or the player wishes. Three Houses on the other hand is more like a playground than a book, the player will mess with the lives of these characters until they get bored of them, seeing every possible unlikely combination programmed into the game just out of curiosity to see what the characters will say, to squeeze out every last bit of "Content" that the game has until they get bored of it and move on to something else, effectively reducing the characters from "characters" to mere consumables. 
Hence why I can't help but laugh at the notion that Byleth is creepy by nature of being a teacher when they're so much more than a teacher and so much more creepy than a creepy teacher. They're an in-game god (hell, lore-wise they're also a god in every ending except crimson). Byleth can quite literally mind control other characters into loving them as long as they're given enough flowers and tea. Look at Sylvain's C support with Byleth and tell me if it's natural for a guy like him to fall in love like that after saying he wants to murder Byleth (surely enough, it's even creepier for players to fall in love with him because of that support, as Sylvain is an extremely interesting character but only in his other supports).
This is why you see people saying that Felix and Annette are a great couple, or that Marianne and Dimitri are made for each other, but you don’t really see people saying that Byleth’s pairing with x is cute. When two proper characters interact all the way to their A support and fall in love that way, you’ve actually seen their story develop, you can feel happy for them. Pairing Byleth with a proper character fulfills your desire to monopolize that character and get a neat special artwork of them, but has it really been a good story and feel like this is a good conclusion for them? No. (I’d be willing to say Byleth and Dimitri do make a somewhat good couple though, but that point would be much easier to defend if Byleth could actually communicate properly)
It wouldn't matter if Byleth was a 15 year old teacher, or a 17 year old student that's a peer to the classmates, or if all of the classmates were older than Byleth AND teachers instead while Byleth is a student. By the mere nature of the player input and Byleth's lack of character, the pairing is screwed up to begin with. 
What I'm getting at is that pairing Byleth with Catherine or Shamir is equally as fucked up as pairing Byleth with Dimitri (I would argue moreso because come on... Shamir and Catherine are totally girlfriends and you're just squeezing yourself in, have some respect).
In other words Byleth is only creepy because you are creepy. You're playing a game where you can date people who cannot possibly refuse you. Even if you remove that factor, you'd still be playing at making children fuck each other in whatever way you see fit. Something is wrong with you. You're the only impure factor affecting this game.
3) Fire Emblem will always suck
This is my favorite series of games but come on guys, you know fire emblem will always suck if you care about this kinda thing. In fire emblem fates Corrin has a wide variety of about 9 flavors of incest to choose from. In fire emblem awakening Robin can marry an amnesiac woman with head trauma who can't even speak complete sentences and is entirely dependent on him to subsist. The fanbase has grown so twisted they actively wanted Byleth to get married to Alois, a married man with children, and were disappointed when they didn't fuck in that paired ending (though I understand getting upset about the lack of gay supports, but hey that's just yet another way in which fire emblem chooses to suck).
Hell this is the fanbase that considers Berkut and Rinea to be a cute couple, what the actual hell guys. Go ahead and criticize the games but as long as the shipping simulator is included in the series, the games will always be creepy in their very nature, and guess what: the shipping simulator happens to be one of the most popular features and the one that people say it's the best written part of every game, so go figure if they're going to remove that.
ps: if you want a fire emblem with no paired endings, path of radiance has your back, it is my favorite! and if you want to avoid supports altogether, try Radiant Dawn, that's some good stuff.
4) Just for fun: the actual most fucked up ships in the game
-Lysithea with Linhardt, Byleth or Hanneman, or anyone.
When I recruited Lysithea in my first playthrough I didn't know she was a strong unit, instead I simply did it because I saw this sassy lost child wandering the halls and just really didn't want to kill her. I wanted her to live on and see her have a happy epilogue. Imagine my surprise when I reached the epilogues and it turns out she just simply dies shortly after the story if you don't pair her up with anyone. The exact one thing I wanted to avert was having her meet an early death, yet the game simply has her die anyway.
At the end of my deer playthrough I was all set to click on Hilda when I realized, wait a minute, Lysithea is going to die if I do this, right? And that is in fact the case. She can only live by supporting Hanneman, Lindhart or Byleth, and I had not recruited those two. So I click on Lysithea but it's kind of a tainted click isn't it? Not that I dislike her or anything, but once you throw in that additional motivation the scales have been irreversibly tipped in an unpleasant manner. I have effectively been guilted into picking her.
On to a third playthrough. I see Felix has really cute supports with Lysithea, but I can't have them supporting each other because I know she still meets an early death with him. And Lindhart, well his supports aren't bad and he's a great guy but they're certainly not as fun supports as Felix's. Hanneman fortunately doesn't seem interested in that way when you pair him up with Lysithea (not that he has any restraints when it comes to his supports with Dorothea...) so you can still have that as effectively a "solo" end for her in which she lives, but it's still kind of messed up. By giving her the Hanneman ending I'm condemning her to miss out on love for the rest of her life so that she can live on, but isn't love the reason we live on to begin with? Overall, I'd say Lysithea x Lindhart or Byleth is certainly a creepy support in the very nature that you have to do it or else you're a murderer, because you had the power to prevent this death and chose not to.
-Flayn with literally anyone
Imagine if a grown adult man could disguise himself as a high schooler, infiltrated a school and got married to a girl less than half his age. People would hate it, people would riot, Intelligent Systems would be over. But that is Flayn everyone! Fire Emblem is no stranger to the stupid trope of "little girl who's actually hundreds of years old", but I'll argue that Flayn is markedly different from Nowi. Nowi is most definitely a cartoonish fantasy character, who still acts like a little girl despite being hundreds of years old. She's literally bait for pedophile nerds with a flimsy shield in her supposed age, which she and her fans openly flaunt as if it really meant anything when the intent of her character is so transparent.
Flayn on the other hand is a legitimately mature character (as far as maturity goes in this game...) who is pretending to be a high schooler to get hitched with a student, all while hiding her real age entirely on purpose. An actual wolf in sheep's clothing (or dragon in sheep's clothing in this case...). And she can s-support literally every single male student except for Hubert (for story reasons) and Sylvain (for Sylvain reasons). Not only that but she doesn’t support any females other than Manuela, her fellow cougar, and she doesn’t support any of the older men like Hanneman showing she’s only interested in young blood.
But hey everyone! Flayn is just the little meme fish girl trapped in the mcdonalds playplace so we all give her a pass right. Overall though I'd say her creep factor is still significantly lower than Nowi's if only because her design isn't a chore to look at.
-Rhea x Byleth
This is some galaxy brain 5D chess grandmaster type of shit I tell you. Capitalizing on the sickening mommy fetish that's been rising up recently internet the crackhead team of geniuses at intelligent systems decided to pull Joker's Trick on people who are into that kind of thing. First they have her be the oldest non-wrinkled character, then they give her Kikuko Inoue as a seiyuu (famously known for often playing mom roles), then they give players that one scene where Byleth rests on her lap like their kid, and then? Then the game tells you Rhea is the daughter of Byleth. Wait a minute, what the hell? I can't even begin to think this one out because at this point my brain has turned to tofu and I am forever perplexed by this turnaround, hats off to intelligent systems for their ultimate jest.
After fates and this I positively cannot wait to see what new incestcoaster they'll turn my guts inside out with in the next entry of the series, Fire Emblem is truly the finest series of horror games disguised as jrpgs.
Obviously, this post was written in jest. I don’t actually believe you’re an inherently creepy person for playing fire emblem, nor do I think Flayn is a predator deviant (hell I don’t even think Nowi is that bad). I just found it truly interesting how people’s sensitivities can activate in these fictional settings (and do think those sensitivities should be respected) but when I try to activate those neurons my mind ends up in a whole different place. So yeah, just having some fun.
Also check out the rest of this trilogy with Three Houses sucks actually and Three Houses is good actually. I seriously hope I never feel like writing anything about this game ever again.
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soveryanon · 6 years ago
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Reviewing time for MAG124 /o/
- There was a delicious echo between this statement and MAG021, in the sense that it had been the first statement involving Simon Fairchild (The Vast! ~Distance~!), with its follow-up interrupted because of… Martin popping up:
(MAG021) ARCHIVIST: […] It might just be a coincidence, but I recall the name “Simon Fairchild” was one of the ones used by– [DOOR OPENS, CHAIR TUMBLES] My god! Martin?! [SOMETHING SQUELCHES] What… What the hell is–? What are these things?! [CLICK.]
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: […] Still no sign of Peter Lukas of course, or Mar– [STATIC] Wait– Wait. [CHAIR SCRAPING] [OPENS DOOR, FAR:] Martin! Martin!
From Martin coming back from his two weeks-long Prentiss siege (where~ he was~ all alone~ and nobody~ had checked~ on him~~~) and forcing himself into Jon’s office, to Jon running out of his own office to finally see Martin again after a week of being back to work (following his six months “coma”). It just… installed, right away, the shift between then and now? It hurts thx I hate it ♥
- *OBLIGATORY LOUD SHRIEKING* since in MAG120:
(MAG120) MARTIN: W… what… What are you doing here, mister Lukas? PETER: Please, call me Peter. MARTIN: N–no. No, I think I’m okay. PETER: As you like. […]
And now:
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: Wh–where have you been, I–I mean, I–I–I thought– MARTIN: N–no, no, I’ve… I’ve been here, I just, er… Y’know. Been busy. ARCHIVIST: Busy. MARTIN: Yeah. ARCHIVIST: … Right. Working for Lukas. MARTIN: N–no, Pe–Peter’s… eh. It’s complicated. ARCHIVIST: … Right.
1°) *weeps loudly* Martin, what the heck happened for you to get on first name basis with “Peter”, now… (Answer: “Relationship Status: It’s Complicated”.) 2°) By contrast, I don’t think we've ever heard Jon ooze quite so much disrespect towards someone. I mean, calling Peter by his last name like this? Jon? Jon??? Even in the previous episode, he was still using first+last names (MAG123: “Working for Peter Lukas.” and it was exactly the same phrasing!!), he tends to use honorifics or mention people through first+last names or first name only, even for monsters… So by contrast, this makes it sound like he’s Out For Blood. Someone is reaaaally not enjoying the idea of Martin working for someone else, uh. 3°) … Martin literally denied working for “Lukas”…?? Is it a matter of “this is not what he’s doing right now”, is it a matter of Martin actually doing something for the Institute/something that is technically not Lukas-related, is it a matter of making a distinction between “Peter” / “Lukas”, is it a matter of a third party being involved? Or… Well. I have Questions And Ponderings about where Martin is (presumably in the Lonely dimension?) and what control he has over his comings and goings… but I also do wonder, since Martin slipped and almost said something when Jon spat Peter’s name, while Martin had been apparently very cautious not to tell Jon anything about his current whereabouts all through the exchange… what if. actually. Peter was there in the room right now and Martin knew it? MAG120 had demonstrated that characters not seeing Peter doesn't indicate that he isn’t actually witnessing events himself, since… he knew how Elias had behaved before revealing himself to Martin:
(MAG120) ELIAS: G– goodbye, Martin. Be seeing you. [DOOR CLOSES] [SILENCE] MARTIN: [LONG EXHALES] [VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION] PETER: Must be a relief. MARTIN: H– uh– PETER: Honestly, I thought there’d be more of a scene, but… he always surprises me.
… So, given that Jon is not hiding his annoyance about the mere concept of Peter (and given Jonathan “Bad Decisions” Sims’s luck overall), I… wonder… if this wasn’t Martin almost slipping up to say that Peter was there too, before remembering to not say anything about it? (But even if it wasn’t that during that scene, overall: I’m still wondering if Peter mightn’t be just roaming the Institute and having the time of his life listening to Jon’s complains about him and just. Not showing himself to him. Best way to avoid compulsion and to get on Jon’s nerves.)
- Curiously, the tape recorder got into static mode when Jon spotted Martin – not the distorted screeching sounds from Peter’s appearances (MAG100, MAG108, MAG120): usually, with Peter, there is a “peak” of it during his arrival/departure (well, departure in MAG100; the tape stopped while he was still there in MAG120, and he left through the door in MAG108), and a constant screeching as long as he’s there. Here, there was only a peak of static when Jon spotted Martin and, I think, nothing afterwards? Can’t 100% guarantee it, but I think it was the same static from Jon’s compulsion, which… could mean that it was Jon’s powers which allowed him to See Martin, because he was thinking of him?
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: […] Still no sign of Peter Lukas of course, or Mar– [STATIC] Wait– Wait. [CHAIR SCRAPING] [OPENS DOOR, FAR:] Martin! Martin! MARTIN: Oh. … Hi, Jon. ARCHIVIST: Martin, i–i–it’s… I, I–I haven’t seen you– MARTIN: Yeah. S–sorry.
Or was that Jon’s… “Insight”, like when he knew Tim when would be there in MAG114? He was waiting for Tim, back then, so it was something he already knew; maybe the static here was Jon Knowing right now about Martin’s presence? There was something akin to a ruffling noise, back in MAG099, too, when he mentioned Gerry in relation to Gertrude (something he had never learned prior to that), and I’m not able to tell if it was Jon’s clothes ruffling or actual static… It could be the same thing in all cases, perhaps? … aaaand now that I think about it, the fact that he knew/felt that Basira had a statement in her bag in MAG122 could also be not because he Can Feel Statements Overall Since He Is Tied To Them (smells like food.), but due, also, to that ~Insight~, since same static. Don’t know! Jon, what the eff are your powers, what the eff are you, what the eff do you know about them, etc. But the static in MAG124 could also be unrelated to Jon: Peter’s appearance (with the huge screeching) had been preceded by static in MAG108, while Martin was deciding to ask Basira about Melanie and calling for her to no avail (implying that he was already getting isolated at this point, since Basira heard him call for her afterwards). Static might be showing up when people are getting Isolated/released from isolation, while the sharp distortions are Peter’s sounds specifically? We’re lacking data so far, since we don’t know much about what is happening exactly with Peter’s appearances and that other dimension overall? For example, were Peter’s three appearances in season 3 him sneaking his way into reality (and the tape recorder reacting to the intrusion and his presence because he’s a spook), or Peter swallowing a piece of reality into the Lonely (and the tape recorder reacting because it’s not in the right space anymore)? I wonder, more and more, if there isn't something about time being involved with the Lonely, rather than only space: Peter had made a lot of references to time in season 3, and there was the fact that Basira came in to see Martin as if he had just called her name (despite the fact that the whole Peter-Martin exchange had happened in the meantime)… *squints, once again, at Elias’s clock*
- Anyway, if it wasn’t a coincidence nor Martin’s decision to pop up, and if Peter was behind it: hey Peter, remember about that? :w
(MAG108) PETER: […] And what’s Elias like to work for? Aside from orchestrating unsettling encounters? MARTIN: That’s… that’s a lot of it, to be honest. PETER: And that’s not something you look for in an employer, I assume? MARTIN: Well, he’s… I mean, you just… you’ve just said he’s watching us.
(Jon, if you still can’t meet Peter: blame Martin, it was probably because of this that “unsettling encounters” don’t happen anymore around here.) (Martin had asked for less murder, too!! I still hope that the researchers from 3rd floor are okay >:()
- Yyyyeaaaaah, so Martin basically confirmed that, even though he is unreachable (MAG122: “We don’t see him around the Archives much these days. Best I can figure, he’s working on something with Lukas. […] he comes and goes. He’s busy. Well, he seems it.” / MAG123: “Martin is working very closely with The Lonely, who is, predictably enough, isolating him”), he’s basically here, though in the Lonely dimension/space/whatever?
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: Wh–where have you been, I–I mean, I–I–I thought– MARTIN: N–no, no, I’ve… I’ve been here, I just, er… Y’know. Been busy. ARCHIVIST: Busy.
Is it the exact same place of reality as in Barnabas Bennett’s letter (MAG092), since Barnabas has… ended up as bones? If it is the same one: *screams* about what Martin is risking and/or the implications behind the fact that Martin is still alive so far D: Is it because the Institute/Archives are Beholding’s territory that both spaces are still able to interact a bit? Barnabas had felt the difference (“I know that what is done by those I cannot see might be felt here – I have found glasses broken and pages torn that were not so the night before. It is my hope that if I leave a letter here, in your institute, you might find it, you might be able to save me.”) and Elias had confirmed that his letter had reached Jonah Magnus, so it indeed looks like the Institute/Beholding can pierce through it or act as a bridge or diminish the Lonely’s influence…
- Okay, so regarding Martin himself: it was abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to tell Jon anything about what he’s doing, but also… He was shit at giving Jon reasons not to worry, and we have had ample proof that Martin can be very good at lying (he’d lied to everyone about going to uni for at least seven years before Jon extracted a confession out of him, and gave a stellar performance of getting surprised and hurt and offended when Jon asked him to stay behind in MAG116 in order to lower Elias’s guard, before suddenly turning steel-cold and in control as soon as Elias had left). So. How come Martin Blackwood wasn’t able to convincingly deceive Jon here? Was it because Jon spotting him was a surprise? Was it because Peter had suddenly dropped him back in the Archives as a ~little joke~ (Jon had mentioned Peter right before mentioning Martin)? Is it because Martin is still too weak to Jon / was very tense because he feared that Jon would compulse the hell out of him? Was it because he’s really really uncomfortable with what he’s doing, and fearing Jon’s reaction? Was it because he didn’t even care about being convincing? ;; He wasn’t surprised about Jon being awake and back, so either he had been able to see Jon even though Jon couldn’t see him, either Peter told him about Jon’s return. So… definitely, Martin is doing his thing and it’s ;; worrisome. I don’t think it’s worth hoping that the six past months (and Martin’s current… work…) haven’t messed him up, but I’m not sure that his exchange with Jon was indicative of his current state? It was mostly Martin trying to slip like water between Jon’s fingers, and trying to say the least possible (that part was obvious). So whatever he’s doing, it’s… probably not pretty, or could easily be interpreted as very bad without the full picture… (Martin is not stupid; he agreed to something in the trailer; he probably felt like he didn’t have much of a choice, or that he could get something valuable in exchange, and it clearly sounded like a sacrifice. That doesn’t mean that it’s not probably meant to backfire, but at the same time… he’s not currently being a victim?)
- BUT HAVING JON AWKWARDLY TRYING TO REACH WAS SO PAINFUL AND ~*IRONIC*~, rfdjfvjnfd I’m crying but I’m laughing and I love and I hate it. Jon not used to Martin trying his Best to not talk to him, Jon being the one who is trying to make small talk, Jon asking Martin about his poetry………………………. the stuttering, the long pauses, Martin perpetually trying to announce his departure………….. (And it also highlighted how… Jon doesn’t know much about Martin? He knows that he likes spiders, he discovered (creepily.) that Martin writes poetry (progress!! Jon didn’t say anything mean about it this time around, focusing on the activity rather than the result. Careful, Jon, next time, if Martin Gets Better, he’ll probably ask for your honest opinion about a piece and you’ll be screwed.), he knows that Martin makes tea, he knows that Martin used to write letters to his mother… that doesn’t make a lot of topics to try to grab his attention.) There is still something comforting in the fact that Jon is now trying, though? That he’s aware of what he has lost, and is trying to change, to reach, to inquire about others? Of course, it’s heart-wrenching that it’s not currently working, that the situation has changed, that it doesn’t evolve into communication, that… it might be too late. I don’t feel like it’s getting depressing, though (… not yet maybe.), because there are still efforts coming from Jon, and he seems to be following his decision from MAG117 about trusting and trying even when things don’t come to him naturally anymore. Season1!Jon wouldn’t have bothered. Season4!Jon might be too late for this, but he’s trying, and there is still hope (… for now) that it will matter in the end? (Or, precisely: it will fail, again and again, and the new tragedy will be that Jon and the others never managed to reach out at the same time.) Even with Martin’s departure, I wonder if Jon wasn’t still aiming for something:
(MAG124) MARTIN: … Look, Jon, I, I’ve really got to go, so… ARCHIVIST: Oh, er, okay… MARTIN: I’m, I’m sorry that you– ARCHIVIST: Wowowow, it was… good t–, it was good to see you. MARTIN: … Yeah. [STEPS LEAVING] ARCHIVIST: … yeah… [CLICK.]
The fact that Jon stopped Martin’s reflex to apologize and that “It was good to see you” meant that he wasn’t shutting Martin off, and maybe… throwing out an awkward attempt to give him something to fight off the Lonely? Those words are especially nice, especially caring (like Jon wasn’t asking anything out of Martin but giving something?), and it’s not a sentence that you would have expected coming from Jon’s mouth.
- There is currently a Thing about Jon coming back to his roots as Head Archivist (the statements from MAG122 and MAG123 were at the end of Gertrude’s direction/the beginning of Jon’s) and here, we kinda had a nod towards Jon’s first steps in the Institute… given that “Simon Fairchild” was one of the first cases Jon had studied as a researcher!
(MAG051) ARCHIVIST: […] One of my first cases as a researcher for the Institute in 2012 was looking into the history of a jeweller in Hackney, that had reported cases becoming cracked in the night. Nothing was ever taken but, each morning it would be like a heavy weight had been dropped upon them. Looking into it, it turned out that the jewels had, in the 1930s, belonged to a con artist and fence, who had attracted the displeasure of the local population. When one particularly irate customer threw him out of a fourth-floor window into a crowded street at midday… no one claimed to have seen anything. A minor possible haunting with a decidedly pedestrian backstory, but notable because while I was never able to discover the original name of the con artist, one of his many, many aliases was Simon Fairchild, and it appeared on several business listings around the time. Whether it’s a coincidence or not is something of a moot point at this stage, however.
(YEEEET) So, Simon again. I had stupidly assumed that he might have died in MAG051 (August 2006, expedition to retrieve antiques from a 19th century steam yacht, “The Maria Fairchild”), because there had been no trace of him after the events and the statement-giver had been told by the Captain, when inquiring about him, that “The sea is a dangerous place”. But nop, he was still active in 2012 and it looks like it’s his Thing to just… come and go (after taking someone in the process). Woopsies. But since he’s someone who is tied to Jon’s first steps in the Institute, and that Jon said that:
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: Simon Fairchild is one of the… recurrent figures that I think disquiets me the most. Not simply for what he does, the endless spaces of highs or depths to which he’s so quick to condemn his victims, but… the joy he seems to take in doing so. And I don’t think there is much to this tale beyond that: an evil man tormenting and killing simply for his own pleasure, and to feed the power that sustains him. […] I do not think I ever wish to meet him.
1°) Oh My Gods, Jon, Don’t Bring It On Yourself. (10 episodes later (probably): Jon Meets Simon Fairchild.) (I mean. You know your luck, Jon. Don’t tempt fate.) 2°) The casual shade towards (other) monsters, Jon, please… Hey, old man! Jon finds you stereotypical and too random for his taste. I’m really reassured that Jon is using a few keywords such as “victims”, “evil”, “tormenting”, and that he’s… looking down on him. That’s also good. The less neutral Jon will be about Avatars hurting people, the betteeerrrr ;; (I’m afraid of him getting… used to that dynamic, insensitive to it? Perceiving it as something normal, and mostly concerned about the ~creativity~ displayed?) (Simon had been compared to a “vulture” back in MAG051, and we also had the case of Mike Crew preying on the acrophobic brother back in MAG075… it’s not even specifically a Vast thing (since we’ve also had Elias swooping in as soon as Melanie mentioning being desperate in MAG084, or Peter around Martin) but I’m still nervously laughing that they just. Go nnyYYYOOOOOOOOOOMM as soon as someone vulnerable to their Patron is feeling things.)
- (Simon was fairly recognizable, it wasn’t especially “!!” that Jon went straight to the… meat during the post-statement, and highlighted right away that it was him although he hadn’t been named. It just makes it even more surprising that he didn’t even mention the possibilty of the girl being Annabelle Cane in MAG123. Jon, are you hiding something again? Or are the spiders encouraging you to not think too much about her…?)
- (I’m not mentioning the statement much in itself but: that was dreadful, really loved it, really resenting the fact that the episode just happened to be released when we got snow in Paris, really reassured that I could avoid the tramway during a few days and that I don’t go to the mountains anymore =D)
- nervouslaughter.wav that the statement had a son and his mother (and no father anymore) being close and then drifting away => poof! Martin invoked in the adjacent room. (mARTIN……)
- “It’s been a week and… Melanie’s attitude towards me hasn’t softened” => It sounds like Jon is back to the ~casual~ rhythm of one statement a week, which was more or less his cruising speed excepting for awful accumulations due to Circumstances. That’s a kind of normalcy he can have some control over and it’s a bit reassuring that the statement dependency doesn’t seem to have escalated, what’s with his new… status.
- Still no reference to MAG118 and MAG120’s tapes but That Means Nothing given that Jon tends to overall hide things and to reveal them much later. (He didn’t ask Martin about his mother, at least.)
- (Also: who is currently in possession of the Web lighter right now? And has Jon... stopped smoking, since he woke up.)
- Okay so if they don’t leave the Institute much and kind of live in the Archives nowadays, what are they all doing with all this free time, since…
(MAG122) ARCHIVIST: […] No notes or follow-up in the statement, and obviously no research done by myself or… my team. (MAG123) ARCHIVIST: […] The investigation is tricky, I don’t want to impose on Basira and, obviously, Melanie and… Martin… aren’t available, but I did do some light searching myself on Gregory Cox. (MAG124) ARCHIVIST: […] In other cases, I might think for locations noteworthy, might to try to piece together some wider plan. But Fairchild seems to travel far and wide for his victims, with no motivation other than… variety. I do not think I ever wish to meet him. … Of course, even if I did want to do research into the statement, I wouldn’t have any help doing so.
… they’ve never been this bad at doing the follow-ups, holy heck. But ;; Sasha was the one who could hack, Tim was the one flirting his way into records, and they’re both gone. Martin sometimes went to talk to people (and have them weep on him) and he’s unavailable. Melanie is, uh, not keen on helping. Which leaves Basira, who had connections in the police, so mmm. Indeed, if she’s not helping Jon with follow-ups, what is she doing…
- So !!! regarding Basira!!
(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: […] And Basira, though she is very willing to talk, still doesn’t seem to trust me enough to let me in on whatever plans she might have – if she has any plans at all, of course. I could… make her tell me, I know that, but… I can’t afford to burn any more bridges.
1°) =D Yeah, Basira said she was “more of a talker” in her first appearance (MAG043). I wonder (due to that “very willing to talk” which sounded like… Jon.) if she’s trying to keep Jon updated with the Institute’s mundane gossip. 2°) I had somehow not considered that Basira could be planning something, and I feel so stupid about it… she’s Basira! Aaaaaaaaaand. I wonder if she’s been researching The Watcher’s Crown by herself? She picked up that their ritual was still a possibility (MAG123), she had been the one to notice the regularity surrounding The Dark’s (MAG108): she’s very good at drawing connections between data to understand patterns. And it would also explain why she’s so cautious around Jon: as long as she has no way to be sure that Jon is against their ritual, as long as she doesn’t know what state Jon currently is in, it wouldn’t be a good idea to share what she has found. Jon by himself hasn’t done much to be reassuring, since he… Knew that she had a statement on her as soon as he woke up, and asked for it even before asking for water. From an external point of view, his awakening made him look more inhuman than human, even though he’s also been quite good behaviour-wise since then… 3°) Jon’s argument for not compulsing her is a tiny (TINY) bit creepy, since he’s thinking about the strategic consequences more than uuuuuuuh, Basira’s feelings on the matter??? But it’s also… typical Jon. The fact he’s aware of consequences is even an improvement compared to season 1? But it’s also highlighting that either the need to know, either the stress of people hiding things from him, is taking its toll on him, and I don’t know how long it will last before he snaps ;;
… I do wonder if that won’t be Jon’s dilemma pretty soon: trying to trust the assistants like he had decided to at the end of season 3, not probing them too much, waiting for them to open up to him when they feel it’s Right, not compulsing the truth out of them (and accepting that they’re taking risks and could get harmed in their own involvements), or… compulsing them hard and extorting what is actually happening (losing what remains of their trust in the process, directing their disgust/hate towards him maybe, but also ensuring that he would be able to save their lives)? I mean, for Jon, Tim just happened. He chose to trust Tim, to give Tim the opportunity Tim sought, and Tim didn’t come back from that. That could change his perspective a bit about his way to try and save the assistants.
(Overall: AHAHAHAHAHA, SOBBING ABOUT MARTIN, WOW THAT WAS SO RUDE. SO, SO RUDE. At this point, only Elias will to be happy to ~see~ that Jon has woken up, uh.)
27 notes · View notes
baldysims · 6 years ago
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Strange Legacy 2.2
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I’m sure you’re all just dying to find out how Betelgeuse’s return to the legacy lot went. But first, let’s check in with generation 2 spare Alpheratz, shown here in his graduation duds cuddling with college placeholder Christy Pons.
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Many Romance spares from other legacies never marry, but in this family, woohoo is strictly verboten outside the bonds of holy matrimony, so Alpheratz was set on marriage and children from the start. Unfortunately, as detailed in chapter 2.1, the love of his life is engaged to his brother, so he had to settle for the next best thing... her adult townie lookalike.
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Creepy, yes, but despite the wrongness of the whole situation I actually enjoyed playing their little family. Their wedding wasn’t anything fancy, just your basic “I’m sick of this legacy already” sidewalk fare next to the trash can and mailbox, but the groom got his woohoo and the bride got her lifelong partner to talk about grilled cheese with, so I call it a success.
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They had two adorable daughters who they named Bellatrix and Cursa, in keeping with the alphabetical and astronomical theme of the legacy.
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Unfortunately their birthday parties tended to invite drama, and at Cursa’s toddler-to-child birthday, an out-of-control grandpa Zaniah did this:
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Yes, that is the creepy townie who showed up to his wedding in a white gown. I’m sure you’re just as shocked as I am.
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“I can’t believe you would do this to me! And at our granddaughter’s birthday party!”
Yeah, totally unexpected. It’s not like Zaniah is a garbage person, or that they’ve been heart farting over each other and undermining your marriage since forever. This is completely out of character for our legacy founder. Mmm hmmmm.
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Although I will say it was oddly sweet watching Demi bitch Tamara out for horning in on her mother in law’s man. Strange spouses gotta stick together!
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Back on the main lot, Angeline moved in and she and Betelgeuse are working hard at their careers. I want them to both be permaplat before they get married and start reproducing like crazy. Shouldn’t be too hard, since they both got 4.0′s in college and have mad skills in everything.
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Zaniah isn’t convinced of Angeline’s worthiness to be a Strange spouse, though.
“Didn’t she kiss your brother?”
“No, Dad, she didn’t. Angeline would never do that to me. And you’re one to talk! We all heard about how you cheated on mom at the birthday party.”
“I would never. That’s just what that harridan your brother married is spreading around because she’s jealous she wasn’t able to marry into the legacy home. Never trust a woman’s gossip, Betelgeuse. I know I’ve taught you this lesson before.”
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Yeah, that might have worked if Bete wasn’t a total mama’s boy. He’s been there to witness nearly all of Sharon’s unhealthy coping mechanisms ever since the birthday party. She’s always thinking about that kiss, usually while drinking herself into a stupor.
And so Zaniah tries his schtick out on Angeline.
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“Why Angeline, what a lovely pair of lips you have. It’s no wonder BOTH of my sons were unable to resist them. If only you were able to resist both of my sons.”
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“Ha, ha! That’s so funny, Mr. Strange. I know you have to be joking because there’s no way a proven adulterer would be lecturing me about the morality of my dating life before I even got engaged.”
“Watch your tone, missy.”
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“No, you watch yours, old man. You think you’re hot stuff because you’re a legacy founder? I’m a hot downtownie, I’ve been around since 2005, and I’ve married into a million of these things. You better think long and hard before you start playing games with me, because I will END YOU.”
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Yeesh. Well, I think she’s scared him off of trying to come between her and the legacy fortune ever again. Moving on.
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Sharon reached the top of the Journalism career, fulfilling her lifetime want.
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She then apparently decided that what with her dead marriage and all she had nothing left to live for, and promptly started dying in the bathroom.
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“Really? Your first generation spouse is dying before the heir even gets married? That’s pathetic.”
Shut up, Grim, it’s hard when you have Real Sickness installed! You should know this from my apocalegacy!
Thankfully everyone’s favorite mama’s boy was there to save Sharon from my ineptitude and spare her a grisly fate.
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He even went above and beyond and cured her ills, literally, with a little Grandma’s Comfort Soup.
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Unfortunately, even with her sickness cured, her heart was still broken, and I think we all know Zaniah wasn’t capable of mending it without help.
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Fortunately, super son comes to the rescue again with some well placed couples’ counseling. Psychology degree FTW!
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Practicing therapy on your own parents... it’s a little unethical, but what can I say? That’s never been a problem for this family.
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Awww. Look how happy Bete is to have helped. And with him and Angie both poised to reach level 10 in their careers tomorrow, there’s no better time to restore the household’s relationship harmony!
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Once Zaniah’s done getting alien abducted again, natch.
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Sure enough, Captain Hero and Chief of Staff did their thing the following day, and I was really looking forward to their Barbie Dream Wedding.
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I even decked out the backyard with a sweet ass decorative pond. Look at it! That thing took me two hours. I was pumped.
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Of course Zaniah just had to pick a fight with his existing daughter in law, because he can’t let a special event go by without ruining it. Looks like he’s complaining that she’s wearing “too much” makeup. Why am I not surprised?
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More things I wish I was surprised about: College placeholder Christy showing up in an exact replica of Angeline’s gown. What is it with the women in this town? Begone, thot!
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And so the ceremony -- wait a minute, what’s that happening in the corner?
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God. Damn. It. Alpheratz! You had ONE job! Be appropriate at your brother’s wedding.
“Angeline was supposed to be mine! If I can’t have her, then you’d better believe I’m going to ruin my wimp of a brother’s wedding to her!”
UGH, and of course it’s with inappropriate Christy in the white gown. Why can’t my Sims be faithful to their partners at family functions?
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Poor Demi was a real trooper, though. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces, but she stayed in her chair and politely clapped until the bitter end, because she wanted Betelgeuse and Angeline to have their moment. It’s odd having a truly classy person in the family for once.
Of course, even classy dames like Demi have their limits, as Alpheratz learned the hard way the second the ceremony was finished.
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Oof, right in the moneymaker. And please notice in the background poor Bellatrix and Cursa tearfully fleeing the scene.
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Bellatrix is a mean little Scorpio who takes after her father’s side of the family, so she was mainly furious, but poor Cursa just cried and cried. Demi came over to comfort her daughters, and I was torn between delight at the cuteness of this interaction that I had never seen before and sadness for what my drama-loving play style had done to my poor innocent babies.
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I’M A MONSTER.
But how much did their other relatives care?
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I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.
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Demi was actually so incredibly classy that she stopped inside to have a slice of cake and toast to the newlyweds before she said goodbye to the hosts. Oh, Demi, you are so much better than this trash family deserves.
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“Yes, unfortunately I do have to go. But I want to wish you every joy and happiness together. There’s nothing better than a marriage that goes right, and nothing worse than when one goes wrong. May you always stay honest and true to each other.”
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I don’t think they’ll have any trouble with that nowadays... thank God. You may recall that Angeline was also in love with Alpheratz at the time of his kiss with Christy the homewrecker, and now she hates him just as much as Demi does. I guess it’s true what they say: every cloud has a silver lining, and every broken family has a correspondingly broken incestuous love triangle.
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With a little one officially on the way, Angeline was free to focus on less breedertastic legacy duties, like making sure everyone had their portraits in order. Competent artist that she is, she finished that little project before she even started showing.
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Good thing, too, because she didn’t have the easiest pregnancy in her later trimesters.
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It was definitely a relief when the birth came.
I was less than thrilled that Zaniah directed his applause at his son while turning his back on his daughter in law, the person who actually gave birth, but hey, that’s Zaniah for you.
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Anyway, welcome to the family, Cassiopeia Strange!
Little Cassie turned out to be a little bit of a daddy’s girl, and who could blame her? Unlike his own father, Betelgeuse is an actual Family Sim with actual Family Sim wants, and he loves nothing more than showering his daughter with affection.
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Soon after, Angeline got pretty busy being pregnant with #2 and working on getting that impossible want point for her secondary aspiration, so she didn’t have as much time for Cassie...
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...but even when she did, Cassie was usually thinking about Betelgeuse.
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Zaniah has been similarly busy working on his secondary impossible want, among other legacy business. He’s reaching the end of his lifespan and I wanted to make sure to wring every last point possible out of him.
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He wrote his novel, as required for the storyteller handicap.
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He also got abducted a third time, but unfortunately, no matter how much I made him stargaze at night, there was no fourth or fifth time for that one truly impossible knowledge want of 5 Abductions.
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C’est la vie. Although he did survive to see the birth of Betelgeuse and Angeline’s second daughter, Diadem. Yes, daughter. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to have more than three kids, but oh well.
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His last action on Sim Earth was becoming best friends with one of his four granddaughters. Ha! Serves you right to die before ever meeting your grandson and third generation heir, you old hypocrite!
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Please enjoy this establishing shot that proves I put his grave next to the legacy tree in the backyard... and also that I collected 25 elixirs for a collection point from his aspiration bank before he kicked the bucket.
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Mmm, sweet legacy points.
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Sharon and Cassie were devastated, but I don’t think anyone else is going to miss the old coot. Particularly since it’s also a birthday party night!
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Alpheratz and Demi came by, God knows why, and Alpheratz was so enraged to find that Angeline was pregnant by his brother again that he just had to slap her around a bit.
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Classy. This family is so classy.
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Adultery everywhere, drinking while pregnant, what social taboos haven’t the Stranges crossed with impunity? I just hope the baby comes out okay. It’s crazy to me that Maxis won’t let pregnant ladies change the cat litter or use the hot tub, but apparently “juice” and “bubbles” are just what the doctor ordered.
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But fear not, no amount of dysfunction will ever stop the younger Stranges from getting every privilege in life offered to them on a silver platter! As long as your family is rich, you’re set! Just like in real life.
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And may I please just single Demi out for being once, twice, three times a lady yet again? Look at her, autonomously feeding her hungry niece out of the goodness of her heart! It’s like she doesn’t even know what she married into.
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Later that night, the house gets burglarized.
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Even though Betelgeuse is Captain Hero, the Fearless handicap prevents us from using any alarms and makes burglaries a real pain in the ass. Sharon just barely managed to call the police in time to catch the thief. Why does she need to call a low ranking officer when they have Captain Hero in the house? Who knows. I’ll chalk it up to the booze.
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The next morning, the kids prove that they know exactly which family they were born into by rolling identical wants to murder the burglar with the cowplant. Yeesh.
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Betelgeuse attempts to teach Cassie a healthier way to deal with her feelings by showing her the ins and outs of investigative police work.
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Meanwhile, Angeline gives birth to... ANOTHER girl, seriously? I’m trying to run a patriarchy over here!
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I’m sorry I’m not more excited over your birth, Electra, it’s just that I kind of hate dealing with multiple toddlers at once and I don’t like doing it more than once per generation.
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At least the girls are cute. Here’s Diadem as a child, showing off her gymnastic skills.
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I love watching Di and Cassie play with the dollhouse every morning and night before bed. It’s so wholesome!
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Also adorable: Grandma Sharon tucking her grandbabies in whenever she gets a chance. Awww. We’ll just ignore that she probably reeks of booze the whole time.
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Much less adorable: Zaniah scaring the crap out of his pregnant daughter in law on his first night haunting. Zaniah! I know you’re a fake Family Sim, but the least you could do is not sabotage your own legacy.
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Oh, thank God, it’s finally a boy.
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This little rugrat is named Fornax, and he is definitely the heir because I am done, done, D-O-N-E done with these two having children. They’re cute and all, but four is more than enough.
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Cassie grew up and rolls Romance, which I don’t think suits her. She seems much more like a Family Sim to me. She’s always rolling wants to interact with her parents and siblings, and sure, she’s a mean little Scorpio, just like dad and gramps, but that’s never stopped her from -- hang on.
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What’s that happening in the back of the lot?
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Oh, nothing, just Grandma Sharon quietly dying while no one but me cares. You were a good Sim, Sharon, always fun to play. A real booze hound, but I’ll miss you very much.
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And her granddaughters who cared so much for her... just kept playing Spin Me Around and didn’t stop until they got their inheritance. 
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That’s cold. Maybe Cassie wouldn’t make such a great Family Sim.
Just to test drive the whole Romance thing, I set her up with patriarchy-approved Romeo Montague, and she seemed to like him okay.
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They had a very enjoyable date, but when it was time for him to go, she shooed him away in a less than polite manner.
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“Get OUT of here, you disgusting boy, and don’t think I’m going to call you again! My family is way richer than yours anyway.”
Yeah, I don’t think Romance is Cassie’s thing.
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So after Fornax’s birthday party, when her aspiration finally dipped back down into the green, I went ahead and cheesed her.
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No regrets. This family does not need any more Romance Sims -- a lesson that I will be sure to impart on our young heir, Fornax, as well, since he’s our one and only shot at continuing the legacy.
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Fornax, sadly, did not have a Roof Raiser of a birthday party, and so I will be going for a different Master Point with him. I’m thinking Child Prodigy, since so many of his relatives have maxed out skills and more career reward skill objects than you can shake a stick at.
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Plus, look at what the little stinker always wanted to talk about in his toddler years. Algebra? Yeah, that’s a nerd if I’ve ever seen one.
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He is an EXTREMELY good sport about the whole spending his entire childhood studying and skilling thing.
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I think Diadem would have made a good child prodigy too, since she rolled knowledge and is ALWAYS congratulating everyone on being overachievers, but sadly, she is a girl and therefore can’t be heir in this deeply unfair patriarchal legacy.
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Electra, meanwhile, became a Pleasure Sim with a lifetime want of 50 First Dates. Curse you, Adam Sandler, for inspiring that LTW from hell!
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We’re fulfilling it, though. You know we are. I’ve never been able to resist those impossible want points.
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“Tybalt, I know Electra brought you home on the schoolbus for a freebie date and all, but I really think you should leave before my grandpa scares you to death. It’s just not safe for a matriarchal guy like you to be here at night.”
“You sure, Cass? Diadem doesn’t seem to mind getting scared.”
“That’s because she’s a freak, Ty. Now beat it.”
“Okay, but you have to promise you won’t tell Bells about this. Electra promised it was going to be strictly platonic!”
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Yep, that’s right, Tybalt is dating none other than Alpheratz’s daughter Bellatrix, who grew up into a Fortune Sim who fell head over heels for the fiery Capulet. That would have been a problem if she was born into the main household, but Alpheratz never cared much for legacy rules so he’s perfectly fine with his children dating matriarchal Maxis-mades.
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Not that Cursa would ever be in danger of settling down with one. She’s Romance, just like dad, and while she does go out with Tybalt and Bellatrix, she prefers doing her own thing, usually on the karaoke machine.
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And how are Alpheratz and Demi? Obviously they are still married, because divorce is anathema in the legacy family, but they actually surprised me by being able to patch things up somewhat.
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Okay, maybe they patched things up a lot.
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Back on the main lot, Fornax continues his Child Prodigy studies, and Electra continues her string of meaningless dates.
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She met many an interesting character downtown, including this dorky vampire who only wanted to talk about school.
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“You must tell me about your schoolverk. I haff such an interest in how theese thinks haff changtt since I vos a boy, back in Baffaria.”
“Wow, okay. I have to tell you that as a Pleasure Sim, I hate school with every fiber of my being, but can I introduce you to my sister? I think the two of you would get along like a house on fire!”
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Indeed they would, especially since Diadem managed to get herself alien abducted and has therefore become an excellent candidate for the Ivy League master point mini-challenge!
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“I get to become a vampire? Sweet.”
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I was hyped for the vamping, but unfortunately my vampire skin default left a lot to be desired. Apparently it makes everyone an opaque pearly white regardless of original skintone. Lame!
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Pardon me while I switch some files around.
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“Ahhhh. Much better. Grandma Sharon must be so proud of me.”
I’m sure she’s proud of all of you, because the time to grow Fornax up and get that master point has come! Once he grows up platinum, we’ll be ready to ship everyone except little miss I Was A Teenage Vampire off to college. It’s been a whirlwind of a generation.
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Let me just show off a couple awkward shots proving that he maximized everything he was supposed to...
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And away we go! Fucking nailed it!
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Next time: How will Fornax cope with going straight from being ten years old to becoming a college student? Will I be able to get Cassie her 200 sandwiches and Electra her 50 dates without driving myself crazy? And what’s with the mystery surrounding Alpheratz and Demi’s third child?
Legacy Scoring:
Legacy: 2.5 Money: 1 Family friends: 38x.25 = 9.25 Impossible wants: 5 (Alph 20L, Sharon 30F, Zaniah 7Sk, Angeline 7Sk, Fornax 7Sk) Platinum graves: 2 (Family, Popularity) Ghosts: 1 (Old Age) Business: 3 Seasons: 2 (tree) Free Time: 2 (Games: Zaniah, Betelgeuse, Alpheratz) Collections: 1 (25 Elixirs x1) Master: 2 (Social Bunnies Need Love Too, Child Prodigy - Fornax, ) Handicaps: 0 Overflow: 0 Penalties: -1 (bills) Total: 29.75
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yakumtsaki · 7 years ago
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Take your hands off me, I don't belong to you, you see, and take a look at my face for the last time, I never knew you, you never knew me, say hello.. ♪
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WAVE GOODBYE. 
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WHADDUP PPL. Much like Ronroneo, we’re back from the dead and ready for a whole new generation of Union fuckery. We’re also officially.. drumroll.. MIDDLE CLASS. Our shiny new house is based on this one by frottana-sims​, which I downloaded but dumbassly forgot to install, and since loading the game takes a hot half-hour I opted for this poor recreation instead. We start the extreme home makeover with an incredible budget of..
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...Yea, I see the value of getting 6 pets to the top of their careers now. Included in this insane sum is the 20k+ that Wyatt and Jojo brought with them moving in, and at first I’m worried that we’re way too rich for only generation 2. Well, careful what you wish for, cause here’s our post-remodeling budget:
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LMAO. It’s as if not a day has passed since Vic started this legacy with a dream in her heart and crap to her name. Let’s check out the new digs!
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Everything was purple.. his pills.. his hands.. his foyer. 
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As eagle-eyed readers may observe, both the hall and the living room were designed with nothing else in mind but whether they matched our cat paintings. Per legacy rules I use as little cc as possible, which isn’t that hard since I feel this bizarre, angular and hugely impractical couch really encapsulates Jojo’s essence. Like if he was a servant in Beauty and the Beast this would be his furniture form.
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Apparently the only things I deemed important enough to capture were the cat portraits, so it looks like my Komeization is finally complete! Here’s some floorplan shots tho so you don’t get disoriented in our labyrinth-like mansion. Please note our amazing pink-blue-purple kitchen! Barbie’s Dreamhouse who??
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And here’s the second floor, which also illustrates the exact point I ran out of money. Honestly looking back I don’t understand how the fuck this place cost 70k?? Like nothing is particularly expensive except the amazing vintage batmobile which was around 30-40k and some of the paintings? But I guess all the small things add up in the end + I’m super bad with money..
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..and I’m not the only one. Jojo GET A FUCKING GRIP and A JOB. Literally no comment @ your cat wants, you inherited the jaw, wasn’t that enough??? ANYWAY. I know the question on everyone’s mind is how is Wyatt going to fit in with the Unions.. and all I have to say about that..
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..is LOL. Truly the perfect career for when your mother-in-law is a criminal mastermind and your husband is a serial killer! I mean the jokes practically write themselves. At least he doesn’t want 10 kids or any shit like that, cause I’ve seen hell and it was the result of mixing Jojo/Wyatt genes in cas.
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On top of gifting us with his future-probably-fug children, Wyatt also gives us the gift of our first ever kitchen fire when he decides to make dinner with 1 cooking point. His generosity really knows no bounds.
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It’s all fun and games now but Wyatt deadass almost died in the inferno and was about to take poor, stupid Komei with him, who of course ran to the fire even though he was in the yard. Meanwhile Victoria was safely watching tv and didn’t move while Jojo..
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..was doing this in the next room. Two types of sims I guess!
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-So Wyatt, you’ve been here for almost an hour now, burned down our kitchen and I still don’t see any grandchildren. I thought you were a family sim!
-Haha oh mom, you’re hilarious! Ignore her, Wyatt, let’s enjoy your delicious pasta.. It was definitely worth almost dying for.
-Your mama is right, mon cheri, not only do you have an obligatión to your famille but I rolled the want to have a bébé the second we graduated!
-Well it’s still gonna be there when we aren’t broke, Wyatt, god!
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-But.. bébés, mon cheri! Tons of bébés I can have but never interact with, in typical famille sim fashión!
-UGH thanks a lot for opening this gate, mom. If only you had found your love of children when I was living on cat food.
-Well it’s different when they are your children, everyone knows that.
-THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE SAY THAT MOM
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-Honestly, Jojό, I’m prouder of taking down your répugnant suitόrs than I am of graduating with honors!
-Aww Wyatt <3
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-And if I have to souffrir through a childless existence to be with mon amour, so be it (:
-Aw- wait what?!
-Really, c’est bien, Jojό, marriage is all about compromise, nό? I mean, not that I would know since we’re not even married yet!
-Wyatt we’ve been here for 3 hours.
-My point précisément.. C’est bien though!
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-Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really regret murdering Ti-Ning. 
That makes two of us, Jo. Honestly even Francis would be better than this. Family sim spouse??? Tf was I thinking. 
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Ah, some things never change <3 It’s a new day and someone very special passes by our lot..
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UGH NO not you asshole, once again delivering bills at the worst possible time.
-Miss me bitch?? Lolol
ONE OF THESE DAYS DAGMAR. ONE OF THESE DAYS ISTG
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No, it’s mismatched beard townie, whose regular outfit is simply iconic, and he’s waving at me! What a sweetheart! TAKE SOME NOTES DAGMAR YOU FROZEN-FACED FREAK
-Umm he’s actually waving at me, moron.
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-WRONG, he’s waving at me!
Ok it literally doesn’t matter who he’s waving at. 
-Well c’est moi. 
OK WHATEVER WYATT GOD. Just go off to work in a position you’re criminally unqualified for and try not to die ok??
-Why would I mourir?
Hm let’s see, maybe because you’re a ‘SWAT Team Leader’ straight out of college with a shocking lack of skill points?? Jfc college degrees in this game are so fucking op it’s legit making me resentful of my sims.
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In other news, major dicks Sophie and Victor have started constantly beating each other up and the only thing surprising about this development is that it took this long. Honestly these fights are peak #TeamNoOne. Please note Alegra who continues to give 0 fucks @ the bloodshed. What a gal <3
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Burning with religious fervor, fundamentalist nutjob Sophie emerges victorious!
-I WALK WITH GOD BITCH
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Tears. Literal tears. Victor is the most unbelievable creature I have ever played.
-The rampant violence in this house is a violation of human rights! I AM OUTTA HERE
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Literally still cannot believe this happened, like the sheer NERVE is killing me. Victor has started every fight he’s ever been in for an astounding total of 40-50 fights, and as you all know he almost always wins. Like this one was what? The fourth one he lost?? AND YET HE RUNS AWAY LIKE HE’S THE VICTIM I HATE/LOVE HIM SO MUCH
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Meanwhile this happens which, of course. Leave it to me to finally get a chance card right for the only sim who doesn’t even deserve the job he currently has.
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..Police Chief Wyatt reporting for duty! And crime increased 80% overnight. 
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In actual good and not lawsuit-waiting-to happen news, Wyatt brought Amanda, Vic’s only friend/lesbian crush with him! Amanda has the distinct honor of being literally the only non-Union non-Jojo person Vic has ever genuinely liked and hasn’t had an affair with. YET THAT IS.
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Man, these are some fat fucking flies. I’m talking 10 plagues of Egypt teas. 
-I KNOW, where the fuck is Komei, what are we paying him for?
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-I’m over here honey, talking to my least favorite son for the second time in my life, since apparently he’s sticking around.
-Yes, thanks for requesting a recount of the heir vote, dad. I will remember it when I decide where to scatter your ashes. 
-I TOLD YOU I WANT THEM MIXED WITH THE CAT LITTER 
Ugh Komei, please stop trying to bond with your son and do something productive instead-
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-like finally convincing Neo to bang Sophie. She has refused 3 TIMES because there’s a rule I have to earn kittens by suffering. I mean Alegra refusing to procreate with Victor made sense, it was Victor, wtf is Sophie’s excuse? Waiting for marriage?
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ABOUT TIME
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YAS. CAT GEN 3 ON THE WAY. Human gen 3 will have to wait till I’m in the mood to deal with screaming infants aka it might take a while.
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The science career FINALLY SHOWS UP after 5 fucking days, jfc. Love how Wyatt’s dumb ass started as a swat team LEADER but Jojo who has half the skills maxed starts as a science teacher. Also love the idea of Jojo as a teacher in general, I mean just imagine having him teach you science in high school. I would literally drop out.
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Jojo returns from work, brings this rando with him and doesn’t get promoted. We can’t all be Wyatt I guess! We’re not completely broke anymore tho so..
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It is time.
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Gunther, Melody and Max Flexor on one side..
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Craig, Brit Brit, Ti-Ning and Daniel on the other. What a bunch of assholes, Craig obviously excluded. Remember him? I invited him because he and Jojo are still semi-friends thinking he wouldn’t show up and yet here he is! What a good guy. 
-It’s at moments like this, watching your high school boyfriend get married.. that you really get to thinking..
Awww.
-..there but for the grace of god go I.
Less awww. You’re not wrong tho, definitely dodged a sociopathic bullet..
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..not everyone is that lucky. WE GET IT WYATT YOU’RE CRAZY AND IN LOVE
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-Mon bien adoré, I vow to aimer and honόr you and not cheat on you again or at least be more discrete about it <3
-And I vow not to kill you and feed you to the cats for as long as we both shall live <3 
Ah, true love, you guys. 
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Too bad half our guests are inside dancing-
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-OR HAVING COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE AND UNTIMELY THOUGHTS. TI-NING SERIOUSLY GO TO HELL. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU
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Well at least Vic is excited which is more than I can say for Gunther who is literally LOOKING THE OTHER WAY. 
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Time to cut the cake with the sky as our only witness, since everyone has taken a plate from the buffet and fucked off inside. Seriously WORST GUESTS EVER 
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Not one to be outdone by his guests’ questionable behavior, Wyatt takes the time to remind us who he really is. 
-And n'est-ce pas forget it!
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Despite all the obvious problems, like one of the grooms literally going to sleep, our party score is ‘good time’ which is a truly rare and exciting occurrence. With less than a minute left I’m feeling pretty confident that nothing can ruin this wedding!
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Weirdly no one has touched the champagne even though sims in general are obsessed with it?? My best guess is everyone is at a loss for words at having to toast this union and who can blame them tbh. Thankfully Daniel steps up and I find it super sweet because I’ve forgotten that he and Wyatt are mortal enemies and it’s only by chance they haven’t beaten each other up on this instance like they have countless times before.
-Let’s all raise a glass to my beloved brother, Jojo, who generously woke up to attend his own wedding reception! Just one of many examples of his fine, giving character. Too bad he’s committing his life to a complete waste of space adulterous loser like Wyatt, who I’m not even convinced is really french, since his ability to speak and understand english fluctuates according to convenience. Man, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but this choice in spouse is just too tragic. Oh well! To Jojo!
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NOICE, still a good time. SO CLOSE
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AND YET SO FAR. Goddammit do you two mind killing each other on your own time and not literally 10 seconds before our wedding ends??
-DIE WHORE, THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO STEAL MY MAN
-THAT’S MY LINE SLUTBAG
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-HA! ZUMBA, BITCH
-Wow, so glad I woke up for this, really got my bloodlust going! 
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Indeed a roaring success if there ever was one. I mean how can this night possibly get any better?
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.............of course.
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Oh nice, I remembered to install an alarm for once! I’m also desperately trying to wake up Wyatt thinking that he’s fucking CHIEF OF POLICE so he might prove useful in this situation..
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..especially since we get this cop of a completely untrustworthy Bieber hairstyle. Talk about striking fear in the heart.
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Sadly it turns out that Wyatt could not give less of a shit that we’re getting robbed and picks this moment to head for wedding buffet leftovers-
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-while Bieber cop prevails! This robber is awesomely named Russ Bear btw and I wish that was my name, sounds like a slavic medieval folkore hero. But I digress. Please prepare yourselves because our first robbery is about to take a dark turn.
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-Ehh, you get at a certain level on la force, you just become desensitized to la criminalité..
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-Oh don’t worry Wyatt, I totally understand.. I mean I’ve robbed so many houses in my time, I hardly blink anymore..
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-So it looks like you and I are not so different after all.. ;)
.............
.....................
............................why. why has the universe chosen me for the greatest suffering the world has ever known. i try and i try but incestuous relationships just keep sprawling like mythical strangler vines. i bet this wouldn’t happen to someone named Russ Bear. fml
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sophygurl · 7 years ago
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@wingedsaboteur asked: Unconventional end of year lists: Top 3 dreams you had this year (like, literally while you were asleep), top 5 amusing anecdotes from this year, top 10 characters or ships you obsessed over this year?
Part 2!
Top 5 amusing anecdotes. Hmmm. 
1. I’ve been taking paratransit a lot more this year and I’ve had some interesting drivers, from the young black man who nervously but daringly engaged me in a conversation about racism and gun violence to the gregarious guy who was driving several of us all over town and chatting about music and the various tragedies of the day (this was shortly after the Vegas shootings and Tom Petty’s death) to the guy who joined me in ranting over the loss of state funding for the paratransit program that is going to make it more difficult for both drivers and riders. 
But the most interesting was this older white lady who started right in laughing and joking with me and we found we aligned pretty closely on political lines pretty quick. We were discussing the fact that so many politicians want to deny the fact of global warming as she was setting something up on her phone’s GPS. Suddenly, the lovely voice on the phone said “I don’t know what to do about - people who don’t believe in global warming.” We both looked at each other and just cracked up laughing saying - we don’t either!! This lady was something else - told me half her life story in the 20 minutes it took to get me to my appointment. I hope I get her again sometime. 
2. This has been overall a very difficult year for many reasons, not least of which has been the diagnosis and treatment of my bestest friend’s breast cancer. She lives alone and in a different city as me and we both have health issues which make visiting one another difficult in the best of times, but when it dawned on me that she was going to need help after her surgery and that no one else was going to be available, I decided to make myself available and saved up those spoons and went and helped care for her for a week.
One of the things she needed help with that week was - okay this is gonna be about gross bodily functions here so skip to number 3 if you’d rather not read this part but - after a mastectomy, the body still keeps pumping blood and lymphatic fluid and stuff to the area the breasts once were so they install these tubes and drains for all of that to have a way out of the body. And the drains need to be milked, which is kinda grody but whatever, bodies. So a few times a day we’d have to milk the tubes coming out of her and measure what came out and what it looked like, etc. She got real tired of this real quick and I had to kind of be a cheerleader/drill sergeant about it. 
So one night as we’re emptying the drains she was skipping the milking part of the process and I was encouraging her to milk it and she just stopped and stared at me and yelled “YOU MILK IT!” - which caused us to both explode in giggles and is now one of our many running jokes. Sometimes you just have to laugh about this stuff. 
3. While playing Sims awhile back, I suddenly noticed that the Grim Reaper had moved into one of my empty houses. I thought this was hilarious enough that I started playing as him, got him a job, went to the park and made some friends, started teaching him various skills. IDK if it’s something I’ll come back to or not, but weirdly enough he picked this one ginormous house with many floors and a crapton of furniture and stuff that I’d made for a household of 8 so he’s just kinda rambling around in there by himself playing guitar and video games for now.
4. Oh! And this summer my roomie and I saved a baby bird that he had found right outside our apartment. It took the entire day, several trips out to the wildlife rehab place, and a great chunk of time watching lil birdie in the DIY nest we built tied up in a tree hoping it’s parents would come feed him (they didn’t, so the rehab place kept him and hopefully got him fed up and re-entered into the wild eventually). 
But in all that time sitting outside, I got to know some of my neighbors, including the dog owners across the way who informed me that their doggie loves our cats and gets excited whenever they’re in the window and a friendly if somewhat socially awkward guy who lives upstairs who kept me company for a lot of the time. 
Friendly but awkward guy quickly turned into creepy neighbor guy a few weeks later however, when he got drunk, sat down right outside my bedroom window at ten at night, and started trying to chat me up. He was all “remember the bird? and our conversation about the books?” And I was like - “uh, yea, are you drunk?” - to which he laughed and replied “toooootally.” Eventually my large male roomie came to my rescue and just as Awkward/Creepy? guy was saying “just tell me to go away” - roomie said gruffly “yea, go away!” and slammed the window down. 
That one incident I could maybe just excuse as not understanding social cues very well combined with the drunkenness, but a week or so later he started knocking on the door at 3am - repeatedly - until finally I woke up large male roomie to maybe do something to make him stop, but by then he had left on his own. We still think he probably didn’t have bad intentions - likely saw my light was on and figured I was awake and ??? somehow it was okay to knock on the door at 3am???? But still. I’ve been wary of him ever since. 
5. Other neighbor incidents included my usual Cranky Old Lady going out late at night in my pajamas and yelling at people to turn their music down bits. The funniest was when the teenager who had lived upstairs from us was apparently having a party and I went over to go tell them to keep it down. There was much girly squealing and laughing when the doorbell rang and then I could hear them wondering who could be at the door but not wanting to open it. Finally we were just yelling through the door at one another, and when I asked if there was an adult home, one of the girls yelled “we’re all adults!” Then another piped in “YEA!” So I just made a skeptical noise, said “okay then” and walked off. They quieted Real Fast after that though lmao. 
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almightytallestvoldy · 7 years ago
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Aaaaand it seems I didn’t upload Voldemort’s birthday picture from last year either.
“So here we are again. Another new year, and another New Year’s Eve spent celebrating Voldemort’s birthday for me. It’s one of three times in the year (now instead of two, but we’re yet to see the fruit of that labor) where I FORCE myself to make absolutely SURE that I do a piece of art. When I started thinking about what I wanted to do for this year’s picture, I remembered the one major Harry Potter (Voldemort specific, actually) event that took place this year; Harry Potter ALBUS POTTER and the Cursed Child.
(Skip the Italics rant to get on to the art description)
While I have no idea if the general populous even accepts that entry as canon, particularly because of some literally IMPOSSIBLE things in it, and I myself found a great deal of anger and disappointment in the installment, there were a few shining points of wonder and glory, one of those being, imo, our new addition, Delphini Diggory RIDDLE. This is one of those things I’m referring to. There is NO WAY she could exist, at least as stated. No one was aware of her existence, despite the fact that she was apparently born in Draco Malfoy’s house and to his aunt Bellatrix. You’d think that’d have been a detail that would’ve been mentioned when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were captured and in the Malfoy Manor, or, you know, something Draco would’ve known about. So there is no way that’s a true thing. But one thing that definitely comes to mind is the fact that Delphi herself didn’t even know of her own heritage, and didn’t find out until Rudolphus Lestrange somehow managed to get the information to her. Personally I believe it was a final act of loyalty to Voldemort to make sure his child knew her background, and a final act of loyalty to his wife to make that child believe she was Bella’s. I have serious doubts that Voldemort would ever mix his genes with anyone so annoying or mentally unstable. I’d have to see some serious explanations and background of the build up or whatever before I’d buy that noise. But all the same, I love Delphi. I love her sooooooooo much. She, Albus, and Scorpius were the only good things about that toilet paper roll they called an official next installment. I love her for multiple reasons. First and foremost, she validates even the possibility of my own OC’s existence. Secondly, she’s almost an exact carbon copy of her. Delphi is certainly more unstable (which would be the only thing that would make me believe that she’s Bella’s), but that aside, their motivation and behavior are pretty much identical. Delphi’s speech towards the end of the book was almost word for word something that my Vivian had said in various RPs and fanfics. It’s hard not to love a character that I have both already gotten attached to through my own writings, and that puts egg on everyone’s face that ever made fun of me for my idea. Yeah, it’s still a pretty Mary-Sue-ish idea, but now it’s a CANONICAL Mary-Sue-ish idea. I’d like an apology from all those people that judged it so viciously, thank you very much. I’ll pass out numbers, and then you can all line up and I’ll call you to the desk.
ANYWAYS, my heart goes out to Delphi, almost as much as it does to Voldemort himself. She just wanted to know her father, who’s known no earthly love or affection that we’ve ever been privy to. She, too, has spent her life alone and neglected. She was raised in such a way that I know would absolutely enrage Voldemort. She never even went to Hogwarts! She was robbed of the experience he treasured above all others! Of social interaction! Of a standardized, varied education! It’s just the ongoing injustice of the Riddle family. And then they had to go and have her kill somebody and vilify her, too, when this could’ve been a chance for redemption after the massive negligence from virtually every character in the series. Seriously, I could argue a case for everyone, don’t get me started.
So basically now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll get back to the actual art. For a while, I considered doing a picture of just Voldemort and Delphi. I wanted to grant them both some respite from their cursed lives. Like, if in just one universe, somewhere out there (which is to say, my cathartic art), that they could be together, and on Voldemort’s birthday, I just thought that would be great. But why even stop there? If I’m talking about my own universe that I have created (now along with @blissomquisling as well), why not include my own OC, who just gained a sister? Or her mother for that matter? Well, the simple answer is that I could think of no reason why not. It seemed wholly appropriate for an updated family photo.
Without further ado:
Left: Delphi. I used the only picture of her that seems to exist for reference: https://goo.gl/images/6CTKAf I tried to make her seem very content at realizing her fondest ambition.
Top-Center: Vivian. Anyone who’s followed me closely for years will recognize my second oldest OC. She’s positively delighted for this influx of family that all love her father. It’d just been her and Nagini for so long. Obviously their ages don’t actually reflect well together. Delphi was apparently born some time in 1998, while (default) Vivian was born in 1980.
Center: I don’t think I really need to say who that is. He’s really having a hard time processing all of this positive attention. But HE was the one foolish enough to believe he could get away with sitting alone on a LOVEseat in a room full of people who LOVE him. Come on, tho, really … He kinda likes it.
Back: Nagaini, of course. You know, I never remember a very clear description of her, other than a massive snake. I wanted her to look real, but not plain, so … greyscale python? Yup. Sounds legit. She’s like the family dog. Everybody loves Nagini.
Right: Nova. This is the other that requires some explanation. As my friendship with @blissomquisling grew, so too did our interests together. Voldemort and the injustice he suffered has always been a great passion of mine, so eventually she started to participate as well. Her oldest OC, Vanessa, is a demi-goddess/the goddess/the embodiment of love itself. Back YEARS ago when FaceBook had that Sims Social game, I made Voldemort for my profile, and she made Vanessa. Through absolutely no bidding of ours, Voldemort was immediately attracted to her, which made perfect sense, as anyone who meets Vanessa falls in love with her as a side effect of being love incarnate. Over the years, it kind of just kept happening. We had them both in Sims 2, and they were drawn to each other. We had them both in Sims 3, and they were drawn to each other. We had them both in Tomodachi Life, and … they were drawn to each other. (They’re actually one of my happiest married couples now LOL). The explanation for this now is that Voldemort sought the power of love, as he claimed to Dumbledore in one of the memories in Halfblood Prince. He had stated that his search had been unsuccessful, and Dumbledore came back that he’d probably been looking in the wrong places. But in our canon, he had in fact located this goddess of love in his wide search of the world for rare magics and hidden powers. He couldn’t help but be attracted to her, but the clincher was that love, being like a force or even an actual, quantifiable thing like a gas or liquid, would be attracted to places where there is less (or none) of itself. That being said, she found this terrible blunder of human kindness, charity, and understanding (someone who had received virtually none of these) fascinating, as well as something that needed correcting. She told him that she would be born to a mortal body, and that they would meet again when she did and what signs to look for. She didn’t know when this would come to pass, however, and the high levels of emotion and endorphins and the like usually make encounters with her dreamlike. By the time Voldemort came to Dumbledore to request the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, he had come to believe that the encounter had not been real, and felt somehow more betrayed and abandoned than before. At least until sometime in the 1970’s when he met Nova on a trip to France.
While residing in the 70’s, she still won’t give up a lot of her 60’s trends, such as her gogo boots, and short bob. She was actually very young when she re-encountered the Dark Lord, but she was not intimidated by him, and immediately struck up friendly conversation. He found her so curious and charming that he kept visiting her. She loves him unconditionally, even if she doesn’t condone all of his actions.
Ugh. I wish I could go on about her forever. She is so delightfully quirky and bizarre. She is seriously one of the greatest characters I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. But I’m sure by now pretty much everyone has lost interest by now. This is getting into the realm of being more for my own records than anything.
FINALLY
The Loveseat: The horrible 60’s - 70’s pattern is based off of “that couch everyone had.” Yes. You’ve had it. I'VE had it. We’ve all had it. Nova has it. So Voldemort has it, poor bloke.“
Original Posting: https://almightytallestvoldy.deviantart.com/art/Voldemort-s-90th-Birthday-Another-Family-Photo-654695329
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