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autistic-demon · 5 months ago

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Results are in, and the masses are correct. No driver has gotten stuck in an elevator this year (yet)

Explanations for all of the real things that happened below for those curious.

One driver said another driver had "feminine lips"

This one is pretty straightforward, in Grill the Grid, a trivia show Formula 1 subjects the drivers to, during the 'face mash challenge' Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg said that Mercedes driver George Russell has feminine lips at the 11:45 mark

Thank you Nico for appreciating George's fine features!

A car was duct taped together at one point

In Japan, during the first free practice session William's driver Logan Sargeant had a crash. The team spent the day repairing it so he could drive in free practice three. During free practice three cameras caught that a rear deflector and some parts of the rear suspension has duct tape holding things together. It is unclear if the car ran in the race this way. Commentators made note of this and cracked a few jokes.

Hold your questions about why the duct tape was needed until the following point below.

A team gave one driver's car to his teammate after he crashed his own car

Well, back to Williams. In Australia, Williams driver Alex Albon spun out and got into a pretty bad crash. He was fine, but there was no chance they'd be able to repair his car in time for the race. The team also forgot to bring a spare chassis (yes this also came back to bite them in Japan). So the team was left with 1 car. They decided to have Alex drive Logan's car, because Alex was the more senior driver at the team with more experience. And yes, apparently there was nothing in Logan's contract from preventing this. Alex finished the race in 11th place bringing home no points. This was a very controversial decision by the team.

Now you might be wondering after reading these Williams racing disasters, why didn't they have extra parts for their cars? Well, guess what, they did in fact tell us the reason. They forgot them.

Ferrari said their drivers had a "big kiss on the mouth" after a tense race

I got some of the F1 veterans with this one. I realize you have to be pretty chronically into Ferrari to know this one. During the sprint race in China Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had a pretty intense on track battle that led to some contact, it possibly lost them some places. No matter who you ask it was messy. After the race neither driver was happy in their interviews, it was very clear from the outside that the clash didn't go over especially well.

Now you need to understand that Ferrari do not like to give away too much drama in front of the cameras, they are quick to cover it up(or they sure do try)

Queue Charles' manager(Nicolas Todt), who gave a truly inspired interview, where he explained that Charles and Carlos talked things out. And this led to this truly iconic exchange.

Nico (interviewer): did they [Charles and Carlos] handshake everything? happy days?

Charles' Manager: kiss on the mouth, everything's okay.

Nico: Big kiss?

Charles' Manager: Big kiss.

Link to tumblr post with the interview clip here

All of this of course could mean nothing.

Now, did Charles and Carlos kiss somewhere in that Ferrari garage? We may never know. Depends on how reliable of a source you think Charles' manager is. But the takeaway here is that Ferrari would rather you believe that their drivers are making out behind the scenes, than doing anything close to not getting along. So do with that what you will

A team took away their driver's video game privileges because he came in 5th

Yes this did happen. Red Bull said after the Hungarian grand prix that they were going to limit Max's sim racing time, to make sure he gets enough sleep before races, this also goes for other games he plays as well, though sim racing is the large majority.

And the really insane thing was this all started because the commentary during the race was continuously blaming Max's less than perfect performance on the fact he was up late on his racing sim.

Max is the current leader in the championship and his team relies on him heavily to do well, even though in the last few races his car has not been the fastest. He finished the Hungarian grand prix in 5th after the team messed up several strategy calls. You need to understand what 5th by Max standards is not great, he's usually in first. Now there were a lot of reasons outside his control that led to him not getting as good of a result, but the team blamed him and also fed into the narrative that his lack of sleep from sim racing the night before was a factor in his 5th place result.

Now, did Max, three time world champion and a grown man of 26 take this lying down? No. He ate them up for this in various interviews.

Unclear if Max will be doing any late night sim races before any more grand prix this year. But the team and he don't seem to be in agreement on a bedtime as of the writing of this post.

An 18 year old drove a Ferrari with 1 hour of practice

In Saudia Arabia, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was unable to race, because he had to have urgent surgery after being diagnosed with appendicitis. The reserve driver, 18 year old Ollie Bearman had to take Carlos' place for the rest of the weekend. Ollie only participated in the final free practice session of the weekend, which lasts an hour, before he had to go straight into qualifying and then the race the next day. Ollie was the youngest person to ever drive for Ferrari in Formula 1, and he finished the race in 7th. A very impressive showing from the young Formula 2 driver. And as a result of his impressive performance during this whole race weekend Ollie was signed as a driver by Haas for 2025.

A driver got a 60 place penalty (there are only 20 places on the grid)

Yes this happened. And again I think this one caught a few folks out, because Pierre Gasly received a 50 place grid penalty in Britain.

In Belgium VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda had to replace a lot of parts on his car (engine parts etc) and since he had to go over his season's allotment for parts, each part carried with it a 10 place grid penalty. When it all added up Yuki was hit with a 60 place starting grid penalty.

Now there are only 20 drivers and thus 20 starting positions on the grid. So Yuki had to start the race from the pitlane to serve this starting penalty.

This isn't unusual, although it does sound absurd.

The highest penalty in F1 history was Jensen Button, with a 70 place starting grid penalty. So Yuki got pretty close to that all-time record in Belgium.

A team got cancelled on twitter because they got 2 trophies instead of 1

Buckle up because I am going to introduce you to the wonderful world of Mercedes Petronas F1 team drama!

So, there are a few things you need to know.

1. Mercedes start to the 2024 season was one of their worst in a decade, like their car was terrible, they were not in a competitive place at all. Over the course of the season the car has gotten better, but the season start was rough.

2. Mercedes has two drivers. The 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell (also a skilled driver in his own right but not the legend that Lewis is)

3. At the start of the 2024 season George was consistently doing better than Lewis in races.

4. Trophies are given to the top 3 in every race

5. Sprint races are like mini races, no one takes them as seriously but drivers still get trophies and points for winning and placing in them

So with all that in mind let's cut to the beginning of this story, the fifth race of the season China; while Ferrari was talking about their drivers making out behind the scenes Mercedes was fighting for their lives on social media.

In the China sprint race Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton came in second. After a very bad start of the year for the team they were very excited to even be on the podium during a sprint race.

They made this post and were subsequently teased online for it(mostly for the somewhat amusing attempt to make this small trophy look aesthetic)

As one of the most dominant teams of recent years hyping a second place trophy in a sprint race seemed a little pathetic to some. But whatever let them have this they were going through it those first race.

You may think this is where it ended, no, this is where it started.

Now let's fast forward to Canada, the 11th race of the season. The Mercedes car is much better and starting to look competitive at the front. Both George and Lewis were pretty fast. George was faster and qualified first to start the race.

Insert race shenanigans that I do not have time to explain because what happened during the Canadian Grand Prix was it's own drama. But George finished the race in third and Lewis in 4th.

And of course, Mercedes made their post about George's third place result and of course the trophy.

You see the problem here. Mercedes made a rookie mistake, claiming this was their first trophy of the year. Fans were quick to point this out.

Note here that Mercedes are now arguing what they claimed was a trophy in China is now just a mere plaque, and not in fact a trophy (this did spawn discourse about what qualifies as a trophy in the first place)

A few hours later the twitter post caption had been edited.

First PODIUM trophy of the year. Well surely that's the end of it, right? Right?!

Wrong.

Mercedes walked back their previous statement that the Canada third place trophy was their first trophy of the year as well as their inconsistent stance on the trophy status of the China sprint trophy.

Mercedes were fighting for their lives on Twitter for about 24 hours while people were very upset about how they were treating Lewis' hard work in the China sprint.

Why they needed to hype two separate trophies as the first is a mystery. Most teams are excited to have more than one trophy in a year, that's usually the goal, but Mercedes are doing their own thing.

Brad Pitt is filming a movie in the background of real races and interviews

This is happening and has been for some while. Brad Pitt is essentially making a self insert fanfiction movie called "F1", where he plays an F1 driver. He has been on track and around the paddock giving fake interviews in the same area where actual drivers are giving real interviews. What's more there have been some mixups with the fake car they have had parked places. Fernando Alonso a Aston Martin driver, was temporarily mis-parked because the fake F1 car being there confused the marshalls.

So we've been watching these fake drivers wandering around in the background of the actual drama. Not only that we've caught a few drivers doing a little bit of acting for the movie. We cannot forget Fernando Alonso's iconic stare moment (all happening in the background of one of Sergio Perez' interviews)

And here he is again in the background of Lando Norris giving an interview.

He has been the boogeymen lurking in the background of many F1 interviews.

You can watch the trailer for the movie here. Many of the drivers who have been captured in the background of shots and even playing small roles are credited as themselves.

Sidenote: The movie looks bad, if you are new to F1 and see that trailer, just know it is not like that, like at all. Watch the real sport and get much better drama trust me.

And also note that Brad Pitt is an abusive pos and we do not support him or his movie.

One driver adopted another driver

I had to write it this way for simplicity's sake. And honestly it would be so much easier if he'd just legally adopted him, but no, it's more complicated than that, and it was all but legally ratified.

This is Oscar Piastri. He is a driver for Mclaren.

He is Australian. However he has a diverse background, and thus he makes posts like this:

Now he has been on a quest to be able to claim every race as his "home race" for reasons we don't fully understand. No one truly understands the way this man's mind works, but I digress.

Cut to Monaco. One of the highlight races of the year. The Monaco grand prix takes place in the micro nation of Monaco. Being a micro nation and all, very few people are actually native to Monaco, it's a tax haven for the rich so most people who live there are not originally from the country.

Oscar is not from Monaco, and has no connections to Monaco, as few do.

Coincidentally there is a driver on the grid who is native to Monaco, the one and only Charles Leclerc, who was born and raised in Monaco.

So, what do you do if you really want Monaco to be your home race but have no actual family ties to the country?

Yes these are real tweets made by the actual drivers on their official accounts.

But did it stop there, as just a silly twitter exchange? This is F1 the pinnacle of motorsport, of course IT DID NOT

This meme took on a little too well in the F1 community during the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. And not just with fans, with the official broadcasters, the FIA(F1 governing body) Oscar's mom, and Charles' brother.

Yes Oscar was listed as Oscar Piastri Leclerc on official graphics and race times posted on the official F1 broadcast and account. But wait there's more, Charles and Oscar also were asked about this in interviews and went along with it. And of course why not interview Charles' brother and ask him how he feels about accepting Oscar to the family? This is a serious sport that takes things seriously

If you held a gun to a random F1 fan's head that weekend and tried to get them to admit Oscar was not actually Charles' son they'd deny it until their grave.

I was stuck on how to even explain this one because I couldn't just say "a driver adopted another driver on twitter" because boy oh boy did it not stay on twitter, they went irl with this shit. So the nuance of this adoption is many faceted.

Thank you for coming to my talk about the silly vroom vroom men. What trouble will they get into the second half of the season?

reblog for sample size, I want to see what the rest of this website thinks of our vroom vroom car sport

I will post full explanations of each point and give the answer when the poll is over, ask to be tagged when I do if you want <3

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poeoliverwood · 3 months ago

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Vault-Tec Advertisement review

Vault-Tec is a company that plays a big role in the franchise of Fallout, as it is how the characters in the apocalyptic setting are able to survive the nuclear war between America and China.

They serve in the narrative as both a sinner and a saint, giving people protection whilst also experimenting on them and stripping them of their rights in a sense, with each vault they made being a different laboratory for each specific experiment. I believe that they are a commentary on corporate monopolies and how they can take advantage of the environment around them.

They give their customers life in a nuclear war, but they use the potential of living people completely under their control to experiment with the human psyche in which they can further monopolise their test results once the world returns to order(which it never will due to the nature of man)

The art-style is inspired heavily by many of the advertisements of the 1950s, as well as capturing the optimism of the civilians, the companies and the governments of their hopes of the world returning back into order.

The music also captures those feelings of retro and optimism, comprising of many old-fashioned early-mid 20th century, mostly of feel-good blues, jazz and ragtime which was considered socially acceptable back in the 50s. It's rare that there is a track that sounds reflective of the actual landscape the game is set in, with the only one I know being Begin Again, which is droning and melancholy, depressive, yet a little hopeful, but not hope as in it'd all get fixed by chance, but hope that humanity can all work together to create a brighter future instead of fighting each other, but the games make it very clear that neither side will back down, and hence neither will, reflecting our world with the wars that occur.

As for the advertisement itself, the composition, colour palette and layout is all indicative of Vault-Tec's desperate attempts to hide the truth, making their secret motives covered and solely displaying the positive traits of their scheme. There are painted people standing in line, entering a gear-shaped doorway, which shines like the sun signifying importance, innocence and holiness. What the art tells is that the vault will keep them all safe, but what it doesn't tell us is the experimentation, because if they were blunt and honest about what they were gonna do, the public would never follow along with their plans.

There is a stark contrast between the people on the painting and their mascot Vault Boy, making a clear distinction between them. While all the people blend in to the painting, Vault Boy's design is simpler, sharper in shades and colours, and has cartoonish features like chubby hands and arms and little black dots as his eyes with a pronounced smile. Characteristics of a convincing and charming mascot are all present in Vault Boy, and he serves as the games' signature mascot, both in the advertising for the game and the small things, like the animated tutorials and the notifications(such as the ability activation and the little pop-ups like the legendary "You take a sip from your trusty vault 13 canteen").

These factors are important, both for the game itself and its setting because they need something recognisable, so that people can remember the games through them.

I find the art-style an innovative twist to other post-apocolyptic games. there is a slight be of humor and optimism added to the mix, which takes it apart from the others with their nihilistic and dark themes.

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elekktra · 3 years ago

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so i‘ve started rewatching succession and I have thoughts. @garliclesbian and i were talking about it when watching the s3 finale: how it’s a brilliant commentary on how an abusive family situation, you get so caught up in the machinations of power, get so used to the Machiavellian logic of what are you trying to take from me? what’s the angle? (what do you have in your hands?) that you lose track of who‘s actually pulling the strings. the roy siblings never forget who‘s making the rules, but they forget that the puppet master is a player, as well. and as the audience, so do you. we focus so much on how logan made the kids believe that to come out on top, to have something you have to take it from someone else, that someone else‘s power is your powerlessness, in such a Lockeian logic of man being a wolf to man, that they fight each other like dogs, that they are wary of each other even when they should know better. it’s quite typical of narcisstic abuse: you pick a scapegoat and a favorite, and you have them fight each other always in what they think is a fight for who comes out on top, but really none of them will because the point is in the diversion: if they are busy tearing into each other, they can’t see that the game was never designed to be winnable. the point of the game is the game. and so they fight and push and maim and it never gets them anywhere, they are treading water, and every action they take gets them further and further from each other and thus further and further from actually seizing any power for themselves. it’s classic fucking game theory, it’s a prisoner‘s Dilemma in which the doors are locked and the room empty and of course they‘ll never cooperate. they can’t. to maximize gain you sell out the other player. but he sells you out, because he can’t fathom a world in which you don’t. you’ve both been taught that the other is a wolf. you are each other’s wolves. and so neither of you wins. the only move is mutual cooperation, and yet it’s the least likely to be taken. because when you’re right down in the middle of it, what could be seen as less rational than to trust a killer? and why does this work? because you can’t talk. because you are prisoners locked in different rooms and being fed the same fucking story. because your dad has you locked in a perpetual state of fight or flight, and to hesitate, to think, to talk is to die. and of course the only option is to break the door and work together. and it’s only when the siblings begin to do jsut that that they see that logan never wanted any of them to win. the game was rigged from the start because of course it was. logan says, i win, and it’s only then that they, that we see what should have been clear right from the start: logan‘s been playing the game all along. and we should have known from the pilot: ken does it all right. he does the work and picks the major, he plays by the rules and when they get him close enough to actually come out on top, logan changes the rules on him. because the fight is only amusing when no one comes close. it’s only when he sees ken on that cover that he thinks, how dare you? what are you trying to take from me? because logan had a logan, probably, he‘s been weak and hurt and tired, and he’s made himself the big man, the untouchable man. of course he‘ll never give it up. because when your whole entire life is power for the sake of it, power to keep the fear at bay, when you’ve learned that all that keeps the wolves outside is a leviathan, the act of letting go is to bare your belly, to surrender. and you think that to be vulnerable is to be dead, already, because all you know is wolves. it’s brilliant because the game keeps itself alive: you learn that people are wolves, and so you become a wolf, and then, you treat people like they‘re wolves, and that’s what they become. logan made them wolves. and now that they are wolves, he can not let them win. and it’s so clever, because isn’t that the crux of locke’s leviathan? if people are power hungry wolves, is the ruler not a wolf?

#does this make sense #succession

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tossawary · 4 years ago

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Chapter 29: “The Ringing Bells” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” quotes and commentary. Not a full list of favorite quotes or full commentary.

It’s just been him, Yue Qingyuan, and the not-so-modest Qiong Ding entourage befitting Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s leader. Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan still haven’t talked about anything personal (Shang Qinghua kind of hopes they never will!), but putting up a united front and then putting up with other sects seems to have brought them closer together again.

If Shang Qinghua had given in to his idea of bringing a flask of emergency wine in his sleeve, they could have made a drinking game or something every time someone managed to “casually” mention that Zhao Hua Temple Sect’s barrier techniques were the best in the world. With that face Yue Qingyuan made after the third, ear-gouging hour of listening to a long line of Zhao Hua experts condescend to them about security measures that will surely stop invading demons in their tracks, Shang Qinghua would have bet the man could have been talked into it. Big Bro would have been down, he’s sure.

AN: There is something immensely amusing to me that Yue Qingyuan and Shang Qinghua of all people run this sect (like, sure, SQQ and WQW and the other peak lords do stuff too, but YQY and SQH seem to be the ones who actually deal with worldly affairs and interact with people). To me, they both have such “I don’t want to be here” energy. YQY would rather be thinking about his slow reconciliation with Shen Qingqiu, and SQH would rather be daydreaming about the sexy ice demon he’s been betraying the sect for for 20 years.

But nooo, they have to be responsible.

Yue Qingyuan nearly dying at the end of SVSSS to me had such... vibes of relief? This man is carrying SO MUCH stress over his position and his responsibilities and appearances, that his reaction to dying seems to be at least a little bit: “Oh, time to put everything down. I can give up. I don’t have to be the invincible sect leader above it all anymore. Thank goodness.” You can fit so much trauma and unhealthy ideation in this man!

Which is, I think, why this connection between SQH and YQY was a little inevitable in this story. They’re both carrying so much stress and trauma, and doing their best to not let anyone see it, so they really relate to each other but... in a way that’s kind of one-sided on both parts? Because SQH isn’t supposed to know shit about YQY’s past or pressures. And YQY doesn’t have the full picture of what SQH is dealing with at all. After their fight after SQQ died and SQH coming forward about their invasion, SQH and YQY are finally getting to have some more direct connection, but neither of them are willing to put their masks down yet. It goes against their natures and their perceived duties (as sect leader and a transmigrator/traitor) to honestly confide in each other.

YQY and SQH both kind of have a “I know better than you” thing going on here. Yue Qingyuan because he’s the sect leader and he’s been taught that he has to manage himself and everyone else. Shang Qinghua because he’s a transmigrator and also... the fallen creator god of this world?

Yue Qingyuan is apparently just as eager to make it home as Shang Qinghua is. Their travel pace puts them a full day ahead of schedule, and Yue Qingyuan courteously sends his youngest personal assistant ahead via flying sword to warn the sect.

“Shen-Shixiong and Wei-Shixiong will need time to hide the mess from all the parties they’ve been throwing in our absence,” Shang Qinghua jokes.

Yue Qingyuan looks at him with polite but concerned bemusement.

“Aha, never mind, I’ll just… go check the last report my head disciples sent me again.”

None of them are expecting the assistant, who flew off with all the energy and eagerness of youth, to return only a little over an hour later. The assistant is red in the face and panting for breath. He collapses in front of Yue Qingyuan.

“Shizun, I-! I turned back as soon as I saw- in the distance-! The sect was on fire! Qiong Ding Peak was on fire!”

Yue Qingyuan and Shang Qinghua exchange a look of shock. When Shang Qinghua joked at the beginning of their journey that the sect would probably set itself on fire without them there to do damage control, he really was only joking! He’s had way too much of the shit he says coming true on him!

AN: I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but Yue Qingyuan’s youngest assistant is the kid that Shen Qingqiu shoved on him from the House of Rejuvenation mess. Qi Qingqi and Liu Qingge picked up Luo Fanli from that, Shen Qingqiu picked up Fu Qiang from that, and Yue Qingyuan got this kid.

He doesn’t have a name yet, but he’ll probably get one at some point. Probably in Part 4 when Shen Yuan and Fu Qiang’s story comes to the forefront.

“Shishu!”

Shang Qinghua turns and gets an armful of nephew. Binghe’s arms wrap around him with no care for the bandage around one of them and Binghe’s warm face is buried into his neck - he’s so tall now - to share his dirt stains.

Shang Qinghua has no idea what to do. He wants to hug his very huggable nephew, of course, but in front of so many people?! He can’t just shove Binghe away either! Luckily, Binghe seems to realize his mistake about two seconds after contact and launches away from Shang Qinghua, bowing deeply enough to hide his face completely.

“Apologies for tripping, Shishu!”

Shang Qinghua nearly laughs. “Ah, ah, it’s fine. It’s fine.”

This is probably one of the worst kept secrets in the sect, anyway.

AN: This is absolutely a reference to Binghe pulling this trick in SVSSS canon, only unlike SY, Shang Qinghua recognizes the excuse.

Luo Binghe clears his throat and intervenes before his friend can accidentally kill Shang Qinghua with kindness or something. “The demon saintess Sha Hualing and her followers attacked.”

“Oh,” Shang Qinghua says, relaxing a little.

“Is that all?” he thinks. “Phew! Earlier than I was expecting, but okay!”

AN: It’s very funny to me to have CQMS going, “Demon attack! Demon attack! Totally unexpected demon attack!” And Shang Qinghua going, “Shit, I think I put that down on my calendar wrong. Did I put that down on my calendar...?”

This apparently prompted Liu Mingyan and Luo Fanli to volunteer at the same time.

“They looked like they were going to argue over it, at first, or even fight over it,” Luo Binghe says. “Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu didn’t seem to want to let them fight, but they just ignored them and almost started a quick hand-game over who would get to fight. And then the demoness said… she said… she...”

“What?” Shang Qinghua asks.

Ning Yingying lifts her nose to the sky and declares, “She said: ‘If I get a say in this, I want to fight the pretty one in the veil, and not the old lady!’ So rude!”

“...Ah,” Shang Qinghua says again.

That explains the awkward grimace Binghe is making right now.

“Liu-Shijie and Luo-Shijie froze, then Luo-Shijie just looked at Shizun and Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu,” Ning Yingying continues. “ Snap! And then it was really quiet. And then Shizun said, ‘I’ll allow it.’ And Qi-Shigu and Liu-Shishu and even Liu-Shijie didn’t say anything.”

“Of course not! Shizun outranks them,” Ming Fan says.

As though that has ever honestly mattered to Liu Qingge or Qi Qingqi.

“So she got to fight the demoness,” Luo Binghe says, like it was a foregone conclusion that his stubborn auntie would get what she wanted. Who’s surprised about this? Not this long-suffering nephew!

AN: So, Sha Hualing made the “old lady” joke in front of 1) Qi Qingqi, Luo Fanli’s teacher who knows about her student’s past with the House of Rejuvenation, 2) Liu Mingyan, Luo Fanli’s friend who either knows about it or recognizes that LFL is touchy about her age, 3) Liu Qingge, LFL’s brother-in-law who also knows, and 4) Shen Qingqiu, who was THERE and that’s how they met.

So, there’s sort of a collective, “If we don’t let Luo Fanli try to beat the shit out of this demon girl, we will never hear the fucking end of it,” here.

Also, as soon as I made Luo Fanli into Liu Qingge’s apprentice of sorts, there was no way that she was NOT going to want to fight Sha Hualing, and it seemed a good way to shake things up from canon while also doing some stuff with the Fanli & Binghe relationship. I’m really trying to breathe new life into all the scenes that I’m redoing from SVSSS.

“She kicked that demoness’ ass!” Ning Yingying squeals.

“Ning Yingying!” Ming Fan hisses.

Shang Qinghua snorts. “Oh? Really?”

“It was rough,” Luo Binghe says, while Ning Yingying and Ming Fan both turn bright red realizing what she just said in front of a Peak Lord. Binghe, however, has totally heard Shang Qinghua say way worse than that. “The demoness was really good and really mean, and she kept getting up even after she got slammed into the ground, but eventually she got pinned and had to forfeit to keep her head. Fanli is still mostly in one piece. She’s over there right now with Mu-Shishu and Liu-Shishu.”

Shang Qinghua follows his nephew’s finger, then winces. His little sister-in-law looks pretty roughed up, her face is beginning to swell and she’s got a lot of claw marks, but she’s grinning up at Liu Qingge. Liu Qingge looks totally fine, besides some flecks of blood that must belong to other people, and is smiling down at her.

Mu Qingfang looks less than enthusiastic about all this as he treats Luo Fanli’s injuries of victory.

Aha, yeah, Liu Qingge is definitely the one explaining this to Luo Jiahui later.

AN: I really like building and having built up all these relationships. I like giving Binghe friends, even if they’re friends that he kind of runs rings around given his manipulative tendencies (NYY and MF rely on just grabbing him at this point and relying on sheer force of obliviousness/authority). I like giving Liu Qingge more connections in the form of Luo Fanli and Mu Qingfang too.

This cast is... so big at this point. I didn’t really expect this when I started.

Inside the cell is… a bloody demon girl who looks about fifteen-ish (sixteen-ish, maybe?), with dark hair in many braids, a sharp face and a sharper stare, and clothing that looks like it was made out of not nearly enough silk ribbons. Ah, wow, that’s way more skin than Shang Qinghua ever wanted to see of Sha Hualing. No jewelry at all, though, not even a belt. Not even boots or even slippers. Just lots of blood splatter.

Both Sha Hualing’s arms and legs have been restrained. She’s also been muzzled, though that doesn’t stop her from showing off her teeth in the least happy-looking smile anyone has ever smiled. There’s blood in Sha Hualing’s teeth! That’s blood there smeared around her mouth!

Qi Qingqi is in the cell too, utterly unimpressed, making sure that Sha Hualing is properly restrained and even treating an injury on the girl’s thigh. Demons are pretty tough, Sha Hualing would probably be fine, but Shang Qinghua supposes they can at least be a little kind toward the poor disciple who’ll have to mop the floors here later.

“So good of you to finally join us,” Shen Qingqiu says to Shang Qinghua. His voice is dry, as usual, but it might be missing its worst sharp edges? The man seems pleased at having caught himself a demon.

“Ah, I didn’t want to show up the sect leader with my speed,” Shang Qinghua replies.

That gets an amused look from Yue Qingyuan. “Let us speak elsewhere,” he says, politely admonishing everyone to shut up in front of their guest. “Qi-Shimei?”

“A moment,” Qi Qingqi says.

“Oh, don’t leave me all alooone,” Sha Hualing says, only slightly muffled by the muzzle, her eyes going wide and scared. “I’ll behave! This is really too much! These restraints are hurting me. Please… it’s making it hard for me to breathe, please…”

Qi Qingqi ignores her and finishes up her work.

Yue Qingyuan lets the Xian Shu Peak Lord out and then seals the cell behind her. Shang Qinghua is familiar with those seals and yeah, there’s very little chance Sha Hualing is getting out of there on her own. The demoness complains loudly about being left behind in a cold and lonely cell. Shang Qinghua can still hear her wailing as Yue Qingyuan instructs the guards on, mainly, not letting anyone in and not taking any of Sha Hualing’s bait no matter what lies she tells.

If anyone gets “seduced” by that teenage girl - a trick pulled many times by the wily Sha Hualing in Proud Immortal Demon Way - Shang Qinghua is going to be so disappointed. Surprised? Not really! But still… depressingly disappointed!

AN: It was... hm... important to me that none of the characters here actually sexualize Sha Hualing or disregard the fact that she’s very young to them. In his narration, Shang Qinghua mentions her skimpy clothes and the possibility of her seducing a guard, but it’s with the casual detachment of someone who was writing a stallion novel and knows the tropes.

I wanted to focus more on the fact that Sha Hualing is not just a “wife character”, but an extremely dangerous non-human individual and already a minor political player, if currently trying to play outside her league. She’s an enemy. Also, just because she is currently playing outside her league doesn’t mean that she’s not dangerous and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

All she needs is someone to get close and she will inflict life-long injuries.

I also wanted to use her here for some Mobei-Jun stuff, which I’ll talk about later when I get to the Mobei-Jun part.

“Shang-Shidi, do you recognize any of these materials?” Shen Qingqiu asks next, like he’s reading Shang Qinghua’s mind now! He looks so unimpressed by Shang Qinghua’s startle. “You are, after all, one of our experts on tracking down the source of such strange things.”

“Aha, off the top of my head? I couldn’t say! But… I would suspect part of this weapon came from the far north of the Demon Realm...”

Wei Qingwei finally looks up. “I would make the same guess,” he says, like a real bro. “If only this weapon hadn’t broken, we could have tested its limits of disruption! But our plans have been disrupted there… I’d like to see how something like this would go up against the different types of barriers out there.”

“Zhao Hua Temple’s barriers, perhaps?” Shen Qingqiu suggests.

Yue Qingyuan audibly sighs.

“Of course, they won’t wish to see proof that there are demon lords preparing to invade,” Shen Qingqiu says icily. “How remiss of me to forget that fact. What does it matter if a demon lord’s daughter was swinging around a previously unseen weapon like a child’s favorite new toy?”

AN: So, when I say that I want to breathe new life into the canon scenes that I’m redoing and reinterpreting, my goal for this one was to really... build up the upcoming Immortal Alliance Conference and actually connect Sha Hualing’s invasion to... well... anything.

In SVSSS, Sha Hualing’s invasion happening is just following PIDW events apparently, and SVSSS in my opinion isn’t... really too interested in PIDW worldbuilding or Sha Hualing’s character from the standpoint that this really is a real world now. It’s all about Shen Yuan reliving the PIDW plot.

So, if I’ve put 200,000+ words at this point into actually trying to establish that this is a real world, these are real people, there are real long-lasting politics and sect relations, that world elements aren’t just spawning into existence when the plot needs them and exist now, even if I’ve been doing so kind of as a joke because I think it’s funny to make Shang Qinghua deal with that, I wanted to actually try to place and connect Sha Hualing’s invasion to other story elements and place Sha Hualing’s character in relation to the others.

Here, Sha Hualing’s invasion is a spoiled and violent child looking to make herself look good and cause trouble, as it is in SVSSS, but here it’s emphasized that Sha Hualing really is 1) a child, 2) a demon lord’s child, and 3) a future demon lord herself. And Sha Hualing is showing off her family’s inventions in preparation for the Immortal Alliance Conference. This is a move that has consequences for her and for Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, and will continue to have consequences for her (partially indebted to MBJ’s clan) and for Cang Qing Mountain Sect (it makes them look bad in front of the other Great Sects).

“Aha, off the top of my head? I couldn’t say! But… I would suspect part of this weapon came from the far north of the Demon Realm...”

“Zhao Hua Temple’s barriers, perhaps?” Shen Qingqiu suggests.

Yue Qingyuan audibly sighs.

AN: Me to myself: “...Is there canonical evidence that Mobei-Jun can read and write???” Because, like, the impression I get from this guy is that he basically raised himself and barely survived, so the System could interpret that to make an AU in which MBJ never learned to read or write.

Mobei-Jun can read and write in “pride is not the word I’m looking for”, Shang Qinghua is just exaggerating here because he’s a little miffed.

But it’s kind of tempting to write an AU now in which SQH realizes early-on in knowing MBJ that... his king can’t really read or write... his upbringing was so shitty and his father was so careless that MBJ never learned more than a few words that he picked up from context. That’s fucking horrifying. MBJ’s poor socialization and communication levels reach new heights!

“It’s just that something like that happened before, remember, Uncle?” Binghe presses. “With the skinner demon? That same light and that same warm, almost burning feeling! It was different this time - that weapon wasn’t going to hit me, I was blocking it; I know that I was blocking it the right way - but it’s too similar, isn’t it?”

“It’s… very similar,” Shang Qinghua agrees slowly.

“System?! Bro?! This is your fault!” he thinks. “Why the fuck are you leaving these explanations to me?! If you take points off me for any of this, you piece of shit, I’m going to find a way to strangle you, I swear! Preemptively: fuck off!”

Shang Qinghua lets himself visibly think about, trying to figure out what the fuck to say here. Binghe looks up at him like he’s trying to see into Shang Qinghua’s head to watch his thoughts come together. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a man all of a sudden! Binghe is too clever to be easily fooled by weak bullshit! How is a man supposed to come up with a decent lie under these circumstances?

“Well, ah, it’s happened when you’ve come into contact with demons who are trying to kill you, so it seems like it’s… some kind of unique reaction between that demonic energy and your spiritual energy,” Shang Qinghua says finally, because it’s better than explaining that there’s some shitty, no-good god-like being invested in a predestined plot. “Strange things happen sometimes in life-or-death situations, you know. Cultivators can accidentally pull off great feats sometimes when they’re desperate or panicked, without knowing how they did it.”

Binghe doesn’t look very reassured. Which makes sense, because a long-winded way of saying “I don’t know, it sounds like a freak accident to me” isn’t really reassuring.

AN: This, plus Sha Hualing’s invasion, is about Shang Qinghua’s coming up against the consequences of his choices. He can’t really have everything at once! He’s managed to have a lot all at once so far, but the time for Binghe’s demon reveal is coming closer, and Shang Qinghua is going to have to make some tough decisions and live with them. He’s going to have to deal with the people in his life having opinions on his tough decisions.

Shang Qinghua is trying to keep the System happy, with his eyes on the end goal of keeping Binghe out of the Abyss, which makes him unwilling to take certain risks deviating from the plot. But, if you’re looking at it from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know about the System or the plot, Shang Qinghua’s decision-making seems completely illogical.

Binghe is too clever not to at least notice that there’s some bullshit happening here. He doesn’t know what his uncle isn’t telling him, but Shang Qinghua isn’t the greatest bold-faced liar, so he knows there’s something.

At the end of the day, Shang Qinghua leaves his fellow Peak Lords (Shen Qingqiu, Qi Qingqi, Liu Qingge, and Tang Qingling) arguing in circles over cold trails (Yue Qingyuan is stuck refereeing, poor bastard). He returns to his Leisure House and finds a familiar ice demon lounging in his sitting room, eating some of his snacks.

“My king, did you help Sha Hualing escape?!” Shang Qinghua demands.

“She did not contribute,” Mobei-Jun answers.

Mobei-Jun looks good, like breaking in and out of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect last night was no trouble for him. Why would it be any trouble for him? He’s been doing it for years and years without getting caught, after all!

“How did you bypass the cell’s seals so cleanly?” Shang Qinghua wonders, as he puts some papers aside and kicks off his boots.

The cell doors hadn’t been ripped off its hinges, just… taken off like they were never attached… which combined with the ice-related injuries on the guards, plus the fact that the intruder slipped in like a shadow and left the same way, kind of gave the whole thing away.

Mobei-Jun raises his eyebrows. “You have shown me many such protections.”

“Ah… yeah… I guess I did do that.”

AN: Presenting Sha Hualing as I did: a dangerous and political figure even though she’s only a teenager, was also meant to reflect on Shang Qinghua’s relationship with Mobei-Jun. Mobei-Jun is the enemy. Mobei-Jun may be on Shang Qinghua’s side and his own side, but he is not on Cang Qiong Mountain Sect’s side and he has loyalties to people in direct opposition to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

Sha Hualing is, in many ways, Mobei-Jun’s people. He’s completely unfazed by her violence. To him, Sha Hualing’s behavior is normal and expected, if the foolishness and arrogance of someone trying to act grown-up. He is not human. He is from a completely different world to Shang Qinghua.

And their separate worlds are now colliding.

Shang Qinghua really can’t have everything he wants here. He’s a traitor and, realistically, he can’t expect that not to come out sooner or later. He’s making decisions for the sect (releasing SHL to prevent another demon invasion (and also to keep the plot on track)) that Yue Qingyuan might have agreed with if he knew the full picture of SQH’s spying (all he knows at the moment is that SQH has informants), but that YQY doesn’t know about and so can’t agree with, so SQH is acting beyond his authority letting MBJ break SHL out.

It’s a mess! It’s not sustainable! Shang Qinghua’s old character role and his new character role can’t continue to coexist like this.

Thinking of worrying unnecessarily, desperate to change the subject away from the looming plot, Shang Qinghua brings up the very important subject of Mobei-Jun possibly, maybe, if he has the time, letting him know when to expect him, when he’s going somewhere, and when he’ll be back. He’s brought this up before, though mostly in a “my king, this humble servant would really appreciate it if you at least learned to knock, but if that’s too much to ask, it’s fine, it’s really fine, never mind, forget I brought it up” kind of way.

He only realizes just how daring it sounds after he says it! He’s always kind of figured that the proud Mobei-Jun would take offense to the concept of being at Shang Qinghua’s beck and call in any way. Why would Mobei-Jun need to explain himself?

“Why?” Mobei-Jun even says.

“...Why?” Shang Qinghua repeats, kind of hoping that he wouldn't have to explain the things he asks for. Mobei-Jun said he could ask for things, but he has to explain himself too? That's really too much. “I didn’t get to see you at all while I was gone! I got back and I didn’t know when I’d get to see you again, my king.”

This gets him another random pinch to the cheek, but it also gets him another surprising kiss. Mobei-Jun is apparently not even a little bit offended by this request. So it’s fine! This one thing, at least, is really fine.

AN: But Mobei-Jun is also becoming one of SQH’s rocks in many ways! This relationship is new and exciting and comforting! Giving up or betraying Mobei-Jun is completely out of the question for Shang Qinghua.

I’m kind of fucking loving these secret forbidden romance vibes.

If Shang Qinghua asked, Mobei-Jun would whisk him away from everything right now, but he understands that Shang Qinghua needs to be here for his nephew, his sister-in-laws, and his students. With his father as king, Mobei-Jun doesn’t have the position or authority yet to make any kind of peace with CQMS. MBJ’s relationship with SQH could get him in deep shit with his father, with his uncle, and with other demon lords.

Shang Qinghua is a filthy traitor and he’s dragging MBJ down with him.

#tossawary commentary #tossawary svsss #pride is not the word

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thistle-and-thorn · 3 years ago

Note

4, 6, & 23 for the book discussion game!

I love seeing your views on literature.

omg i'm happy to chat about books at anytime!! <3 what are you reading right now?

4. A popular book you dislike.

OMG. I just...hated Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. I just....hated it? It was basically It's A Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol....except those are brilliant social commentaries with a lot of genuine heart and this was...just...he's not Dickens, okay? Like, that's fine and neither am I but I'm not trying to take A Tale of Two Cities and rewrite, ya know? It wasn't good enough to improve upon this established plot so it just ended up feeling unoriginal. I have a close friend who wanted to use it as like a book group/therapy tool and I...pretended very well because I abandoned it around chapter 3. It was just so...like, I think it was supposed to funny and it just was So Not to my taste? IT would make a really wonderful children's movie probably. It made me never want to read The House on the Cerulean Sea or whatever it's called.

2. A book with one character who stood out from the rest.

Oh, iNtErEstInG. When I was in high school, I read Sharon Kay Penman's Plantagenet series and just absolutely adored them. They're these epic historical novels that track the rise, life, and eventual death of Henry II of England. It started my love affair with the 12th-century truly. And there's this one character RANULF. And Ranulf is the half-Welsh, illegitimate cousin to Henry. What a guy. Those books are about Big Character with Big Passions and Big Ambitions. You have Henry, you have Eleanor, you have Thomas Becket, then eventually Richard the Lionheart and Prince John. And like...Ranulf is this normal dude just @.@ this whole time. He's smart and capable and so human in the face of these over-the-top legends--who are portrayed faithfully but like, my dude, it's Eleanor I-Evaded-Two-Kidnappings-and-Went-On-Crusade-as-a-Vacation of Aquitaine...not a ton to relate to there. And his relationship with Rhiannon and the conflict of his Welsh heritage...UGH my husband, truly.

A book where you disagree with one of its messages, but still enjoy it.

Dude, I just love Mere Christianity. I really, really do. It gave me language to describe the parts of me that were formed by faith and that was super important in my religious development....is it full of chastity and homophobic shit too? Also, yes.

#asks

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colorseeingchick · 4 years ago

Text

Oh Baby! A series (Sugawara x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Sugawara loves to play-hide-and-seek with your nieces and nephews, almost as much as he loves them. But this usually light game has real stakes when you, your brother, and your sister-in-law decide to get involved. What does Suga win in this special game?

Warnings: Fluffy fluff, mentions of pregnancy

Word Count: 4k

A/N: I have severe baby fever and time is a construct. This is on the longer end but I think its worth it :) Hope y’all enjoy! <3

Tired. That was the only possible way you could describe the way your husband looked as he stepped through the door of your brother’s home. His tie loose and shirt half untucked- he radiated exhaustion. But right here and right now, there’s something important that’s about to occur. And Sugawara Koushi would be at its forefront.

“This is for you, Koushi-ojisan.” Your eldest niece, Tsubaki, bowed as she offered a folded piece of paper to your husband, who froze in the process of sluggishly sliding on his house slippers.

Suga shot you and your sister-in-law a questioning glance as he hesitantly received the piece of paper. Your sister-in-law feigned an innocent look, and you just shrugged your shoulders, pushing yourself to hold back your mischievous smirk.

“Ne, what is this Tsubaki-chan?” The initial tiredness that had weighed down on his face had receded, being replaced with a burning curiosity and loving smile.

“It’s to make our game of hide-and-seek more fun. You’ll play with us today, right Ojisan?” Tsubaki shyly smiled at her uncle, a plea subtly being communicated through her gaze.

Of course he would play with his nieces and nephews. Even if he wanted to say no (which, obviously, he would never do), how could he ever reject those eyes?

You and Suga had been married for quite a few years now, but you had been together for a long time before that. Soon after you two started dating, Suga had become best friends with your older brother. Moreover, you were very close with your brother’s girlfriend as well. So the four of you were inseparable.

That continued into your married lives. You and Suga would invite over your brother and his wife once a week on Friday, spending the time to go out to restaurants, do game nights, or just watch movies. However, as time went on, the family dynamic shifted as your brother had his first child. And then the next one. They were now up to 4 kids, the oldest being 7 years old, the youngest at 2. Double dates became Ghibli Studio binges and babysitting time.

Not that either of you minded, though. Your nieces and nephews were all angels, and you and Suga both loved caring for children. You and Suga had been trying for kids of your own for a while, but for the longest time, things didn’t seem to be in your favor. Suga knew that you felt responsible and that it weighed down on you, so he always kept his spirits high for you both. But you knew your beloved husband too well- he wanted a baby as badly as you, if not more.

“Of course I’ll play with you guys,” Suga ruffled her hair, tightly holding the paper in his other hand.

“I’m assuming Sumire-chan, Fumio-chan, and Mizu-chan are already hiding then?” He asked, glancing around the room to see if he could see any poorly hidden heads or tiny movements.

“Y-yes...When you find them make sure you ask them for their papers, okay?” Before Suga could answer, she quickly turned around and scurried to the kitchen and grabbed her father’s leg, tugging on the fabric. “Did I do okay Otou-san?” She whispers quietly.

Her father gives her a big smile and nods, patting her head. A hint of a smile pulls up at your lips as well. Tsubaki was the oldest of the group, and such a good older sister to her siblings, but she was yours and Suga’s lil princess. When you asked the kids to help you out when you arrived at the house that day, she was the most enthusiastic about making her Ojisan happy.

Suga opened the folded piece of paper in his hands, very curious as to what this was all about. On the white piece of paper, in his niece’s bubbly and straight handwriting, was written:

“for giving us another.”

His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, and his head instinctively tilted. That told him absolutely nothing. But he could conclude that there was some bigger message. They were all too small to come up with something like a scavenger hunt/hide-and-seek game, so he knew it was the doing of the three suspicious-looking adults watching him intently.

What are you all planning? Suga asked with his eyes, eye contact jumping between all three of you. Hide and seek was the kids’ tradition with Suga. Without fail, they would beg him to play EVERY Friday when you guys came over. And without fail, he would always agree. It was his game with the kids. But it seems like the adults had a hand in the game this time around. It was a competition with them, too. Alright then, game on.

Now, there are some things you have to know about this household’s version of hide and seek. The kids have numbered them as rules and made a nice little poster to go along with them, that way everyone would know them.

Rule 1! Suga Oji-san will always be the first one to seek.

Because, for some reason, Suga Oji-san was also a master hide-and-seeker, there was an extra rule when he was seeking.

Rule 2! When Suga Oji-san is seeking, he has to do it in 15 minutes, or else we win!!

“Tsubaki-chan!~ when does my time start?” He calls out to the little girl, but his eyes are trained on you.

Tsubaki looks up to her father because she forgot to keep track (oops).

“You’re down a minute, Koushi,” your brother responds, leaning against the table in the kitchen.

“You know, if you don’t find all the kids in that time, you may not get all the pieces of paper,” your sister-in-law chimed in, teasingly, at which you chuckled.

Suga quirked an eyebrow, his competitive spirit really getting riled up now. “Tsubaki-chan, are you gonna come help me find the others?” He put his bag down by the door itself and started to quickly move towards the stairs.

Rule 3! Once found, you have to help the seeker find the other hiders.

Tsubaki scurried back to her Oji-san, happily (but quietly) saying, “Let’s go find Sumire-chan and Fumio-chan,” as she pulled his hand, leading him up the stairs.

Suga knew that he genuinely couldn’t lose this time around. Sure, he could usually find the kids easily because they rotated through the same spots, but he always made a spectacle of trying to find them, loudly expressing how lost he was. Sometimes he would even lose on purpose. But not today, knowing that the adults would hold to their word of not letting him see the last piece of paper if he wasn’t in time. Sumire, first on the list of kids to find, had also gotten better at hiding now that she was older, and Suga wouldn’t be surprised if her father helped her find a new hiding space.

“Ne, Tsubaki-chan, do you know if Sumire-chan is hiding in the spare guest bedroom?”

“Oh uh, I-I don’t know…” she pushed up her glasses and tugged on her sweater.

He’s taking that as a yes. “Let’s go check.”

Usually, she hid under the bed or burrowed beneath a pile of pillows that sat by the headboard, but she was in neither location. Suga pursed his lips, hands falling to his hips. “Sumire-chan is almost always in this room! But I can’t find her anywhere. She must be a master hider, I swear,” he proclaims, leaning against the wall. The closet door that was mostly closed didn’t mask the muffled giggle that carried in the air.

“Tsubaki-chan, is that a… monster in the closet?” He gasps dramatically, as he pushes the door open slightly, just in case Sumire was behind the door. The giggling from the closet mixed with Tsubaki’s as they found Suga Oji-chan’s commentary hilarious.

There, hiding in the corner of the closet with spare pillows and stuffed animals covering everything but her face, Sumire was now giggling uncontrollably.

“I’m not a monster, Oji-san~~~!”

“You’re right,” Suga responds as he pulls the pillows and stuffed toys off her body, pulling her arms lightly to help her stand up, “you’re Sumire-chan!” he cheers, pulling her into a hug, which she joyously returns.

“Sumire!” Tsubaki whisper shouts. “The paper!”

“Oh! Oji-san take this~!” she pulls the piece of paper out from her overall’s front pocket and holds it up to him.

Suga takes the paper and opens it to read-

“Thank you”

-written in neat cursive, resembling his sister-in-law’s writing.

“For giving us another” and “thank you.” Yeah, I still have no idea what this means. He just has to find the other two pieces, then. No point in overthinking.

“Tsubaki-chan, did Otou-san give you the timer to carry?”

Yes, there is an official stopwatch they carry for this game. That’s how seriously they take hide and seek.

“Mmhm! You have 8 minutes left, Oji-san.”

“No time to waste, huh? Ok, let’s go find Fumio-chan then.” He slides the pieces of paper into his pocket and offered his hands for the little girls to hold, although Sumire opted to just hold his two fingers instead- it was easier for her smol hands (I love when children do that 🥺💖).

As you put your mug into the sink while carrying out conversations with your brother, you watch Suga and the two little girls descend from the stairs, their tiny hands gently clasped in Suga’s. As they reach the bottom they dash to your brother, leaning against his legs. Suga makes eye contact with you and smirks lightly, his competitive spirit shining through.

“Found Sumire, hmm?” You taunt, knowing that he took a little longer than usual. This game that usually had no stakes had insanely high stakes, which Suga had no cognizance of, so you try to be as unassuming as possible.

“I did!” He taunts back, but his eyes drop to her and his voice softens. “She did a good job hiding, though.” You turn just in time to see her whole face light up. Your heart bursts at the sight. You both would die for these kids. From when Tsubaki was born to Mizu’s first steps, you and Suga had been there to see a lot of it and raise them in part.

“The next target is Fumio. But I have no idea where he is!!” Raising his voice at the last part, he looks around dramatically, eliciting a giggle from the two little girls.

Fumio is almost always in the kitchen- during hide and seek and even outside the bounds of the game (baby loves food). Suga monologues, opening the pantry and turning on the lights.

Would he go somewhere entirely different to throw me off?

Well, no. The point of the game IS for Suga to win (this time around).

So where is he?

The girls let out another round of giggles when Suga opens the fridge to look for Fumio, and you and your brother can’t help but chuckle as well.

“Ne, Ni-san,” Suga calls to your brother. “Can you give me a hint to where Fumio-chan might be?”

“I don’t know,” he pulls his mug away from his face. “Do you think I should help Oji-san?” He looks down at his girls.

Little Sumire nods her head aggressively and Tsubaki quietly responds, “Yes!”

“Koushi-kun. You remember when Fumio was like, 2 and would crawl everywhere?” your brother starts.

How could any of you forget? The kid ended up hiding unintentionally in all the worst places. Underneath desks, behind the couch, inside the dishwasher- it was endless. But there was one place above all he loved to hide…

Suga’s eyes met your brother’s, lighting up with understanding.

“Fumio loves helping put away the dishes, right Tsubaki-chan?” Suga walks around to the other side of the kitchen, where you were now standing next to all the cupboards filled with cooking pots.

“But sometimes he puts himself away, with the pots, too.” He was right. Fumio would put a pot away and push it all the way to the back of the cabinet, only to crawl in after it. How he found the spot comfy, none of you understood. But it made for some very cute photos.

“Fumio thinks he’s a pot!” Sumire chimes in.

“So I should check where all the pots are, shouldn’t I?” With that, Suga opens the (already slightly open) cabinet, to reveal a little boy with his hands over his mouth (concealing giggles) and a pot on his head. Suga smiles and lifts the 3-year-old out of the cabinet, pot sliding down and covering the child’s eyes.

“Look! Fumio-chan is a pothead!!” Sumire cries out.

All three of you burst out laughing, your brother almost spitting out his hot chocolate.

“Su-Sumire-chan don’t say that okay? It means something different,” you try and talk without dissolving into giggles again.

“Hmm? But he has a pot on his head. What else could it mean?” She looked extremely confused and you couldn’t even fault her for it.

“You’ll find out when you’re older,” your brother’s classic way of shutting down unwanted topics (for now).

Fumio, on the other hand, was just glad to be in his uncle’s arms, surrounded by his favorite pots.

“Oji-san, here!” Fumio giggled as he held the piece of paper up above his head with both hands. Suga pulled the boy against his body, opting to hold him with his left arm, while receiving and reading the piece of paper with his right.

“To play with”

-was all that was written on the small piece, this time clearly in your brother’s handwriting.

“Thank you for giving us another… to play with.” Suga’s hand goes slack as his eyebrows furrow in thought. What did I give them to play with? Did I buy them a toy recently? Was I supposed to buy them something!?

The little boy in Suga’s hand notes the pensive look his Oji-san had-- leading to the boy’s decision to poke his Oji-san’s face, right on his beauty mark. “You have to find Mizu-chan!!” He cries, his smol finger gently pressing into Suga’s cheek.

Your brother gently tilts the watch in Tsubaki’s hands. “2 minutes, Koushi.”

“2 minutes!” A lot more time actually elapsed than he expected. “Let’s go find Mizu-chan then! Come on, Tsubaki-chan, Sumire-chan!”

Suga hands Fumio over to you, taking the pot off his head and placing it on the table. He reaches his hands out to the girls again, both of whom accept gladly. And with that, he bounds back into the living room where your sister-in-law still waits.

“One minute, Oji-san!” Sumire calls out this time, genuinely concerned her uncle won’t make it in time.

But there’s another unspoken rule that’s been accepted by all the participants that ensures Suga’s success.

Rule 4! The baby gets to be found last.

Mizu was just 2 years old. He didn’t understand the concept of winning or losing. He just liked it when other people played with him. But the older kids did understand winning. And just like Suga, they were quite competitive. This rule was made to teach them that being nice to those who can’t play as much (like a baby) is more important than winning.

With this stipulation, Mizu consistently hid in the same spot for every single game. Without fail, in the small woven basket used to house all the family blankets, the baby boy would sit in silence, his mom right next to him on the couch it lays adjacent to.

Suga was gonna draw it out, though. If it's not a show for the kids, then was there really a point?

You and your brother (who now had his turn at holding Fumio) watched as Suga ran behind the TV, searched beneath the table, and moved pillows on the couch searching for the baby of the family.

“30 seconds!”

“I have no idea where Mizu is! What should I do?”

Sumire’s face is flushed with worry and excitement as she runs up to him and grabs his hand with both of her own, pulling him towards the blankie basket. “Oji-san! He hides here usually! Hurry before time runs out!”

You sit down onto the arm of the couch as Suga stares at the woven basket.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…”

“Found you!!!” Suga pulls the cover of the basket away, triggering an endless stream of baby giggles from little 2-year-old Mizu. Suga picks up Mizu and his stuffed bear that he had been clinging onto.

“Oji-san wins!!” Sumire jumps up and down, hopping onto her mother’s lap. Tsubaki opts to sit on the floor, ready to watch what was to come. At this point, you and your brother are also sitting on the couch, your anxiousness raising in your belly.

“So where’s that last piece of paper….” Suga scans the baby for any pockets when he realizes it's tucked into the ribbon around the neck of the bear in his hands.

“I’ll take him,” your sister in law says as she gently puts Sumire on the side, grabbing Mizu from Suga before sitting down again.

Suga slides the slip of paper out from the bear’s ribbon and sits onto his knees, retrieving the other pieces of paper from his pockets.

“Ready for the big reveal?” He asked the kids in tone of voice, but the adults through eye contact. Although he had no doubts all the adults already knew the message.

Tsubaki nodded in agreement while Fumio’s eyes were trained on his Oji-san. Sumire was fidgety.

“Alright! So it says, ‘Thank you...’ ‘for giving us��’” he places the little slips onto the floor, leaving a gap for the 3rd piece. “...Something ‘to play with.’ Let’s see what I gave you guys to play with.” The final piece was now being flipped over in his fingers. He was killing himself with the suspense. “Thank you for giving us another-” he drops the last piece into line with the others, “-FRIEND… to play with…”

Though the words came out of Suga’s mouth, he didn’t process what they had meant right away. For once, the fun and playful Koushi oji-san had dropped his usual playful demeanor for one of complete shock.

A...a friend?

Your nerves were now skyrocketing as you felt your brother squeeze your arm in a calm and reassuring manner. You get up, arms hugging yourself as you slowly approach Suga, who was dumb struck on the floor.

But before you could speak, Tsubaki spoke up, scooching towards Suga, tugging on his arm sleeve.

“Oji-san, remember when I asked you if you and Y/N Oba-san had any babies I could be friends with, and you told me we would have to wait a while?” Suga’s eyes moved to the little girl, wide in surprise. In honesty, her words caught you and your brother off guard as well.

She remembered that? It was a conversation from around when Fumio was a few months old, and you and Suga had been trying so hard for a child then. She asked Suga if she could play with your kids, somehow convinced that you guys were hiding your own children from meeting her. It crushed you both internally, but you had smiled as Suga told her “Oba-san and I don’t have any friends for you now. But I promise we will give you another friend to play with as soon as we can! You might have to wait for a while though.” He had ruffled her hair and smiled, but it was pained. Though she was young and didn’t understand why, she knew that what she had said had hurt Koushi oji-san, one of her favorite people. You assumed your sister-in-law had told her to just not ask you or Suga about it again, but you never assumed she actually held onto the memory.

Suga just looked at Tsubaki, waiting for her to continue.

“... well… Oba-san said that she has a baby in her tummy… and that when it comes out we can be friends… so we wanted to say thank you for keeping your promise, Oji-san.”

Everything goes still. Even the small children sitting in the room, Mizu now sleeping on his mother’s shoulder while Fumio and Sumire hugged each other, aware of the frozen air...

...until Suga lets out a shuttered breath. You look at him, watching tears stream down his eyes, and you exhale a breath you didn’t know you had been holding.

“Yes, Tsubaki-chan, I told you we would keep our promise,” he jumps up, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around. She starts laughing and he laughs too. Before you know it your body starts shaking from giggles and tears that can’t help but escape you. You can hear your sister-in-law crying as well, and feel your brother’s arm pull you into a hug, a bright smile plastered across his face.

Your sister-in-law had come with you to your doctor’s appointment 3 weeks prior to confirm the pregnancy. However, you wanted to hold off on telling Suga just to increase the chances of the pregnancy carrying through. You couldn’t bear the thought of telling him only to lose the baby mid pregnancy- that would absolutely crush him. So while waiting, you decided to come up with a fun way to tell him, getting your nieces and nephews in on the plan in the process. Although your brother and sister had known, neither had really processed the information. And neither had you. Not until this moment.

Suga put Tsubaki down and approached you, face completely tear-stained and smile bright as the sun. You always somehow got lost in his beautiful features, and now you felt lost in the happiness radiating off of him. You let him engulf you in his arms, kissing your forehead while his tears rolled onto your face.

“We finally did it, love.” He whispers.

You push your face into his button-up shirt, inhaling his cologne and the reminiscent smell of detergent.

“We did,” you murmur against him.

“Wait, Oji-san and Oba-san are gonna have a baby?!” You hear a surprised Sumire ask loudly. Evidently, she had been a bit out of the loop and Tsubaki one-san had to fill her in a bit.

“Yes, Sumi, we are having a baby,” you respond, turning your head to look at her but not letting go of Suga.

You watch the realization dawn on her, turning to Fumio. “Fumio there’s another baby coming!” She jumps up and down once more, spreading her excitement to the little boy who starts clapping and jumping with her.

“Ba-by! Ba-by! Ba-by!” the two cheer while Tsubaki tries to shush them, Mizu still fast asleep.

“Alright you two, shhh! Time for dinner. You can cheer more after dinner,” your sister-in-law chides as she heads to the kitchen.

“Who’s ready for some ramen?”

“Ra-men! Ra-men!”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once dinner was over, a movie was watched, the children were put to bed, and dishes put away, you and Suga say bye to your brother and sister-in-law.

“Goodnight Ni-chan!” you say as you watch him close the door.

“Night Y/N-chan, Koushi-kun.” He waves a final goodbye.

As you approach the passenger side of the car, you feel a hand lightly tug your wrist. You turn around to have Suga wrap his one arm around you while guiding your face to his as he gives you a slow and loving kiss. As you pull away, Suga buries his face into the crook of your neck, his smile pressed against your skin.

“We’ve waited for so long, Y/N… and now it’s finally happened.”

You pet his hair and snuggle against his head. “I know, Koushi. And it will be wonderful. You’re going to be the best dad out there.”

“And you’re gonna be a wonderful mom.”

You both stand there for a minute, bodies warm in each other’s embrace and hearts warm in the realization of your shared dream.

“But you know, our baby’s gonna be really lucky,” you giggle.

Suga pulls away to look at your face. “Why is that?”

You put a hand on your stomach.

“Baby is going to have a lot of wonderful friends to play with, always.”

183 notes · View notes

marshmallowprotection · 4 years ago

Text

Kait Reacts To The AE 10/?

Hi! These reactions are written out every time a Chatroom opens and it’s done over the course of the day. So, you’re watching me react in real time as it is for me. So, Spoilers AHOY. Expect Another post like this tomorrow, there is just too many chats to put it all in one post. So, hey, if you click this, you’re opening yourself to spoilers, you make the choice. If I do this right, there should only be two posts tomorrow.

[21:39]

The chatroom opens again. Saeran knows the truth. He ran off. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t. He said nothing. He just left. I had a feeling for a moment that he used this... grief and moment of weakness to make the distraction that needed to be made and I don’t know if I’m still on the good ending path or not right now because I didn’t think the game was going to continue to separate me and Saeran. I sincerely didn’t. It felt like maybe there was a shred of hope but now I just.

I don’t know. I don’t know what to think here when I’m reading through this part and it hurts. But, I do appreciate the commentary in this chatroom because time and time again, the game lets you tell Rika she’s wrong. She needs to hear that shit whether she likes or not. Nobody can coddle her. She needs to facts and be honest. She needs to admit she did wrong.

She cannot live a lie. I thought she was going to lash out. I don’t know if she will at this point but she and V leave the chatroom after this conversation so make of that what you will. There’s some dodgy moments there for a second as they try to figure out where he went and who should go after then. I really don’t even care anymore about what’s going on with them. I cannot trust them. I just can’t do that.

They both hid this secret, and the bombshell is that V is there that day. He was close-by. Rika didn’t fucking hide it from him. He hid that. I didn’t know that, I did not even think that he knew. I thought maybe... he assumed, but I wasn’t sure if he actually knew. He didn’t know about Mika, either. So, this just proves that V has been hiding her and spurning this all along and Mika was there as well to push Rika deeper into what she already wanted to do and who she wanted to be. No wonder she crashed when she did, honestly.

Saeran hits V with a text and that’s when I know this is the end.

He only texted V something vague about where to find him.

Once again! So, yeah, that’s one thing that caught me off-guard and now I can’t unsee or unread what I learned. V knew from the start that she was going down a bad path and he knows right and wrong, but he just... he didn’t. He didn’t stop her and he didn’t help her go to where she needed, we know that she blacked out when she killed Mother Choi. She was fearful for her life in that moment and likely wouldn’t have faced a huge punishment.

But, she still took a life.

And Rika herself says... “Even my abusive mother... if someone killed her... the devil would be the one that killed her.” Therefore, in that logic, she and V are the devils. V asks me if it’s a mistake. Let’s just make it clear how I handled that one with him.

I race to Saeran as fast as I can in the visual novel. It’s... there’s no choice for me here. I have to leave him and the music is playing louder in the background and I just. I’m crying. “I don’t want to leave you. Please.” I try to see if he’s okay but he’s... at peace with the truth. I don’t know how I would have handled that in this situation. Does anyone feel relief when their abuser is dead? It tends to be muddled quite a bit for most people.

Saeran tells me that he won’t change his mind, though. I don’t have the strength or the ability to type through my tears right now so I just copied the dialogue out from the game and pasted it here for you to see why I’m so fucked up. I can’t just forget you and leave, Saeran Choi. That’s not how this works. We’ve talked about this. Nobody can make me choose anything, just as nobody can make you choose anything.

And, I choose you, forever and always.

So, if you think that I could leave and never look back, you’re wrong. I can’t do that. I don’t know... I just. I can’t. I don’t know. Zen texted me after this and said even though Jumin said no, he wants to help me make a plan with Yoosung to be able to save Saeran. Maybe, that’s the key? I don’t know.

[23:00]

I have never been sadder in my life than the moment that I heard Generously Hacked Bepop. Honestly. That song came on and I was just. I’m too sad for this upbeat jazz party. I can’t. The RFA is together and they want to know that we’re okay. We got out. Saeran stalled. He did what he could. We’re out of there and Saeyoung is going to be awake within four hours and we’re going to be at C&R within two hours. There’s not much to note, here. All I know is that we’re on the move.

Zen and Yoosung want to rescue Saeran. Jumin... I don’t know. He seems to be thinking otherwise. I don’t like that. He and Saeran likely had a talk. I don’t know, I’m just... guessing here. He also says something that we shouldn’t forget, that the group wants to put on a big announcement in the morning. I don’t know what that means. I’m actually.

The worst thought came to me when he said that because.

I thought.

What if the plan is to say that Saejoong Choi killed Saeran? To everyone, to all of those in earshot. I don’t know. It’s just a guess. But, when Saeyoung does the work for the agency and takes them down... he’s the only boss left to take care in a sense. Is that the plan? It has to do with Saejoong. I don’t. I don’t know. I just can’t figure it out. This is my guess... but I don’t know. They said that they will tell me when I get there.

That means I may not like it.

That means I could be right and.

My track record of being right has doomed me thus far.

Anyways, the visual novel is rather lengthy and it fucked me up. It fucked me up really bad. I just. There was the music, there was the emotional turmoil, there was just too much to process all at once for me to be able to handle what was even happening here. Rika and V really did get rid of the body together, they did that. I can’t. I can’t believe that. Saeran is... I can’t believe his level of maturity, I said that I didn’t want him to forgive Rika or V. But, he chooses to forgive them because that’s his choice.

He doesn’t want to be angry anymore.

He doesn’t want to think of the pain.

He doesn’t want to drown in that feeling.

He just wants to be happy.

He chooses that for himself, and honestly, it felt like he did that as he came to the conclusion that this was it. There’s a lot to unpack here so... I’m just going to let Saeran speak for himself for the most part as I recount my feelings on the matter. He’s... I’m proud of him. I know that he picked this for himself and I want to respect his freedom. He decided to forgive, and he decided that this was the right emotional choice for him. Don’t get me wrong, I doubt he’s going to let them into our lives.

Forgiveness does not mean friendship.

It means that we can part ways as well and end that arc of trauma. It’s a choice that you can make. You don’t have to make it. If it helps you, make it. Saeran is the one that decided that he needed to do this. I respect that. I don’t know what V and Rika plan to do.

And for the worst, he looks at them with this look on his face and simply says:

It was my worst fear come true and I don’t... I can’t. He is willing to die for this cause. I can’t. I can’t. Rika freaks out. She says that she is the root of all evil because this “never would have happened if I didn’t kill your mother.” She can’t change the past, and she has to live with that. If she and V do turn around here and do the right thing, don’t expect me to forgive them for what they did. Even if you do the right thing at the last second, you are owed nothing.

I’m twisted. I know that neither of them want Saeran to die like this. I know that, but... after all that they’ve done. It’s just hard for me. Saeran is a bit more stronger then me, I guess. I admire that about him and I love him for it. He is so warm and so kind. I will never let myself forget that. But, this isn’t the end, and I am not leaving him to die.

You can call him after this as well.

His phone is about to die. He’s tired. He can’t move. He’s laying there on the grass as he watches the sky. He repeats his love over and over and over and over again. He says that he’s grateful for me being there for him when he needed someone and he’ll never forget that. He tells you every way that he loves you and every way that he is thankful and it’s hard to focus on it when you are crying.

And... he just...

Saeran: “I’m free. I’m finally free. My life was always a cage that I never thought I would escape from... but. I’m free. I love you... I will love you forever... I love you, I love you so much... I...”

And the phone drops the call when his battery dies and I die a little alongside that.

Please, please let me rescue him before it’s too late.

24 notes · View notes

skinks · 5 years ago

Note

I would just like to say Bongo Smugglers killed me. I’m sitting in class giggling thinking about a Losers movie night where they have a dramatic showing of the movie. Audra and Richie are less embarrassed then they should be. It becomes an annual tradition to play a bongo smugglers™️ drinking game at Christmas.

AHH this is amazing, I just shoved two words together that I thought were funny and suddenly it’s this whole ugly 2002 sex comedy fully formed in my head. Glad it killed you during class. And yeah, they’re definitely not embarrassed, everyone’s heckling the writing and the early 2000s fashion more than anything else anyway.

Richie happily provides commentary the whole way through even though he’s only in the sex scene, waving his tortilla chip in Eddie’s face because he’s got his arm around his shoulder, hugging him close into Richie’s side. Eddie keeps snapping bites at it so often that Richie just ends up hand feeding him chips.

“Aaaaaaand... that’s the first time I touched a boob, right there!“

“Glad to help,” Audra winks.

“The exact moment I realized I was totally lying to myself. I’m having an entire existential sexuality crisis right there on camera, but can you tell? Does my fratty façade crack an inch?”

“I could tell, because you spent fifteen minutes before the scene pacing around set and chanting you can do this, you can do this, don’t throw up, you like girls, but not too much, because you don’t get paid if you pop a boner, c’mon Richard, c’mon—”

“Like I said,” Richie shouts, over all his stupid friends laughing at him, “no one can tell, ‘cus I’m a pro—”

“You call yourself Richard during pep talks?” Stan’s grinning at him sharp-beaked, like a vulture. Has Richie seen him blink even once since he came back from the dead? Not sure, not sure, make note to ask Patty to spy.

Onscreen Audra is shimmying down her low-rise stone-wash boot-cut jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club was in fact lookin’ at her. What the fuck was anyone thinking back then? Richie privately blames the Bush administration, and continues.

“You’re a great scene partner, Audra-my-deah, and I respect you for cougaring not one but two of our little balding Brady Bunch here, but you were kinda the reason I figured out I’m gay. Like, big time gay. Well, the second reason.” He rubs tortilla-salt fingers through Eddie’s hair and feels his stomach go fuzzy when Eddie kinda thrums out a low noise against him. Oh, he’s purring. Some deep down part of Richie’s caveman psyche, lodged right in the hungry reptilian nub of his central brain wants to bear-hug Eddie to a pulp, wants to Lenny him like a mouse until they both stop breathing at the same exact moment from the pressure.

Yeesh, dark!

He smooches one of Eddie’s Easter Island eyebrows instead, keeps his lips mushed there. Smooches again. “Biiiiiiig time.”

“My wife,” Bill whips around from his seat on the floor at Richie’s feet, cheeks bulging with wontons, “my wife did not cougar me.”

Eddie shushes him. Everyone else is exchanging Looks, including Audra, because she totally did cougar Bill. Good for her!

“My wife,” Richie mimics, all sing-song and bugling. “Who the fuck are you, Borat?” Eddie snorts, hard. “Turn around and watch me make sweet love to ya woman, Bill.”

Onscreen Richie is struggling out of a giant hockey jersey at the sight of Onscreen Audra’s nubile charms. Everything is lit terribly, to a Smash Mouth deep cut.

“Oh man, check out that figure.” Richie whistles at himself, twenty-six years old with muscles like long ropes. “These were the pre-gut days. Even though my diet was just Adderall and instant ramen.”

“I like your gut,” Eddie murmurs, squidging at it with the hand not shoved up the back of Richie’s shirt. He’s already looking pretty tipsy, because he told everyone loudly and at length that he’d have to be what he deemed, shithouse drunk, to cope with whatever 90 minute dick jokeathon he was about to endure for the sake of two minutes of Richie-ass. “You’re hotter than him.”

Richie preens. “I am him, dude.”

Eddie’s hand lands clumsy on his cheek, pulling Richie’s attention away from his own foregrounded bare ass and Onscreen Audra’s shocked expression, to face him. Eddie’s all unfocused, flushed in the cheeks. “You’re both hot. Him and you, I’d fuck you both. I’d let both of you fuck me at once.”

“Um,” says Ben. Mike keeps slorping up noodles, but his eyes are saucering at Bill’s giant TV.

“Hhohkaaay,” Richie breathes.

“Is this when you saw it, Audra?” Bev asks. She waggles her eyebrows at them from the muscular nook of Ben’s arms. “The famous Tower of Tozier? You mentioned in the group chat.”

“What group chat,” Richie croaks, wrenching his eyes from the sight of Eddie’s slick tongue pulsing gently against his lower lip, hanging open like he wants Richie to see inside his mouth. Yowza-yowza-yowza, this is so much better than movie-nights back in the 90s. “I never saw anything about that? And I monitor you all on WhatsApp twenty-four-sevs. I literally have nothing better to do while Eddie’s working.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Beverly dismisses him with a flick of her wrist.

Audra is nodding vigorously while Onscreen Audra tilts her head comically far to the right. “That’s when I saw it,” she says. “They couldn’t find a modesty sock that fit you, Richie, remember? I didn’t have to fake that reaction. And that’s with them blasting the A/C on high so my nips would poke through my shirt.” She nudges Eddie’s shin gently and stage-whispers, “Well done.”

Eddie growls hot miso breath into Richie’s neck. Snarls, really. That’s the only word for it. Richie’s not embarrassed—he’s been telling people about his donkey schlong for years, not his fault nobody ever believes him. It’s a boy who cried wolf situation, perhaps, if the boy was actually telling the truth every time and just wanted to brag to everyone about seeing a really big, thick wolf.

“Honey,” Bill says, visibly distressed, “this is already weird enough for me, please don’t say nips.”

“Nips, nips, nips.” Audra tickles into Bill’s ribs, and Richie joins in the chant, they all do. It’s a hailstorm of sesame toast raining on Big Bill’s protesting head. “Stiff nips! Stiff nips!”

“Shut up, I’m, uh’wanna see Rich fuck!” Eddie roars, wrestling the couch cushions for the remote and stabbing the volume obscenely loud.

Moans fill the air. Rice sprays from Mike’s mouth, between his hasty fingers. Patty is laughing so hard into Stan’s shoulder Richie would be kinda worried about her, if he wasn’t so distracted by the way Eddie’s leaning forward, hand on Richie’s thigh and eyes locked to Onscreen Richie’s bare bucking hips. He remembers this part horrible and clear, preserved behind glass in his mind like the embarrassing ninth grade school photo his mom still won’t remove from the mantelpiece. Braces like train tracks and his eyes squinted up small and moleish because his mom said she wanted to see his handsome face without his glasses for once. Eddie laughed at it for five whole minutes the first time Richie brought him up to visit mom and dad as his—as his, at last, before snapping a careful picture of the photo with his phone and muttering, so cute.

It’s the noises.

“This was the day I learned women really can, uh, fake orgasms,” Richie says. He coughs. Eddie’s fingers tighten on his thigh and he looks back at Richie over his shoulder, eyes all drunk and dark and dilated like a shark’s to the backdrop of Onscreen Richie and Audra’s plastic din. Richie’s head thumps dizzily, sliding his hand secret under Eddie’s shirt to the damp small of his back, watching his neck go pink. This, now this is familiar from 90s movie nights, how sweaty they’d get, tangled together like pocketed earbuds the longer the VHS spun. Always on the same couch by unspoken agreement, kicking and left to do so by the others, like the clubhouse hammock flirting was more RichieandEddie status quo than behaviour tethered to any one location. Feeling your heartbeat in your ears and everywhere your limbs are shoved between another sapling boy-body, and the couch.

Richie can see exactly what Eddie’s thinking, in that darkness. That’s not how you sound in bed with me.

“This is revolting,” says Stan, mildly, but Richie holds up his hand like a stop sign, pulled roughly back to the present.

“Wait, wait, here comes my line!”

“Thought you said it was a non-speaking—”

The camera cuts from Onscreen Audra’s bouncing breasts to Onscreen Richie’s slack-jawed face, his ill-conceived soul patch. He was asked to remove his glasses for the scene, he remembers, and was glad of it, feeling useless and young and stupid and exposed enough already just by virtue of needing the money, he didn’t need to see this perfectly nice and reasonable actress pity him for not even knowing how to pretend at being with a woman. Onscreen Richie tilts his chin up, and Bill’s entire rec room holds its breath. There will be bruises on Richie’s thigh tomorrow.

A grunt, a groan. An unsubtle trumpet fanfare musical cue on the soundtrack, but hey, neither of them ever claimed Bongo Smugglers was a masterpiece. “¡Ay, chihuahua!”

Richie throws his arms up in triumph. “All my own improv, folks! And they kept it in the final cut!”

Eruption. He’s pelted with howls of disgust and prawn crackers. Eddie grabs one of his arms and just shakes him, ragdolls Richie’s laughing body around until he tips over and sprawls into Eddie’s lap, shielded from assault. Eddie chews his insistent teeth into Richie’s shoulder, and finally, the scene ends with Onscreen Richie leaping a naked escape from Onscreen Audra’s balcony.

“Worst,” Eddie mumbles against Richie’s nape. “Worst thing’ve ever seening m’life.”

He’s so drunk, sweet thing. Richie sits back up, still wheezing. He rests his cheek on Eddie’s shoulder and gazes starrily up at his plastered little face. Steel-cut jaw softened with laughter and stubble, un-gelled hair curling around like a chestnut lamb’s. “Worst ever-ever?”

“No,” Eddie says plainly, and that’s true, “but it’s up there. Woulda rented the shit out of this at Blockbuster.”

Richie flings his leg over Eddie’s knees, kicking Bill in the process. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees, gathering up all Richie’s loose ends in a big circling cuddle. “Every week. Woulda worn it out. Broke the disc.”

“Got your ‘Lil ‘Busters membership card revoked for being a creep.”

“Worth it.”

“Aw, Eddie-baby.”

“Would you two stop, you’re making the rest of us look bad,” Bev says, smiling fondly. The movie’s moved on, and none of them are really paying attention now that the main event’s over, but everyone’s still coming down, dismounting from belly-laughter and landing ankle-deep in giggles. “That was inspired.”

“He made me laugh so hard on that take,” Audra sighs, leaning against Bill. “I remember thinking, shame he’s a closet-case. I always knew you were a good guy under all that fake stand-up.” She rolls her head back on her neck to look at Richie, upside down. “D’you remember right after, too?”

“Ah,” says Richie, tensing up. Eddie must feel it, because he makes a lowing noise of concern and turns the volume down.

“What you did to those guys?”

“Ahaha, uh.” Richie struggles to sit upright with hot embarrassment tugging at his stomach. “They don’t need to—Audra, it’s not, anyone would’ve done the same—”

“No, actually, you were the only one who ever did,” Audra says, sharp-eyed, and Richie remembers that too. How much surer and in control of herself she was than him, even back then, when they were both just simple bottom-feeders on L.A.’s sludgy floor.

“What happened?” Patty asks. They’re all looking. Richie stares at the wall beside the TV’s garish over-saturation, scratches at the back of his neck, until Eddie takes his hand softly back to hold in his.

“I was pretty much always the only woman on set,” Audra explains. “Par for the course on a movie like that, it was whatever. It’s nothing like real sex, obviously, you have to stop and wait for lighting changes, new set-ups and stuff, you’re surrounded by crew. But you’re the only ones naked, and pretending to fuck, right? It can be a little.” She pulls a face, tilts her palm back and forth. “Degrading.”

Richie snorts, humorlessly.

“Anyway, that scene wrapped and they called cut, and a few of the guys in the crew said some stuff. About me. The director ignored it, the producer ignored it. I was used to it,” Audra says. Richie can see the edge of Bill’s jaw clench and re-clench like a fist as he watches his wife speak. Audra smiles widely, then, and jerks a thumb at Richie. “But this guy?”

They’re grinning, they’re all grinning, because they know him. Richie squirms under it. He can feel blood pounding behind his ears, across the surface of his scalp in pulsing waves of embarrassed heat, because it’s one thing to spend your life running your big fat Trashmouth to distract the bullies’ attention onto you, but it’s another for people to treat you like some kinda hero for it. Like it’s not just something friends do.

Bev’s eyes go all emerald-shiny with delight, like the quarry in sunlight. She covers her mouth. “Oh, Richie.”

“Knocked the first one out cold,” Audra crows. “You tried your best after that. It was three against one and he had a black eye before the rest of us could separate them, but he had the element of surprise at first. I mean, he flew at them, if you can imagine it—you’re what, six-one, six-two?”

Eddie’s trembling ever-so-slightly against him. Richie screws his eyes shut. “Six-two.”

“No wonder the asshole shit himself, you came at him all six-foot-two naked inches, pissed as hell, with a massive—”

“Alright!” Richie yelps, because if there’s anything more embarrassing than his brief Bongo Smugglers cameo, it’s the fact that he left set that day with a black eye and no money. Who cares. His closest friends are alive and they’re cheering, and Eddie is shoving himself into Richie’s lap just like it’s movie night in 1991 but with 100% more enthusiastic frenching, seating his drunk ass in Richie’s startled hands and hissing god, you’re such a crazy dumbass, I love you so much, Richie, even back then with that soul-patch I’d have loved you so much, god, sexy, Rich, wanna see you with a black eye, can I give you one, can you give me one, Richie, I’m gonna fuck you so good for this later, ay chihuahua—!

#long post #once again i did not mean to write over 2k about fake sex comedy Bongo Smugglers (2002) when i started answering this message #reddie #ficlet #bongo smugglers

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cynergy-laughter · 4 years ago

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Obey Me! One Master To Rule Them All! Fic #2

Working Dinner ([MC] x Satan) (Tickle fluff fic!) (Slight angst...?)

You had just gotten back from your classes at RAD, and after being swindled out of some pocket money by Mammon, you decided to head straight home to the House of Lamentation.

You got out of your uniform and into your comfy clothes and proceeded to walk through the house, to look for something to do, or someone to hang out with. Lucifer had stayed behind to discuss stuff with Diavolo, Asmo was currently shopping with Beel with a promise of a free mid-meal at Hell’s Kitchen before dinner tonight. You didn’t know where Mammon was, and he was very lucky that you didn’t. Leviathan’s door was closed and you could hear a bit of commentary from the Avatar of Envy himself. Probably live-streaming.

You walk around to the library and see someone sitting on the sofa with piles of research materials and books stacked on the coffee table. And who was sitting and overlooking this massive stretch of knowledge other than the Avatar of Wrath, Satan. He looked deep into what he was doing, so you decided to not disturb him… not without an offering for this powerful demon.

You went into the kitchen and began to make some tea. You wonder what tea would be perfect for concentration and focus, but you decided to make some tea that complimented the snacks you bought before Mammon took the rest of your money. After you finished brewing it, you put the teapot, cup with saucer, and snacks on a serving tray you found in one of the cupboards and began to slowly make your way back to the library, it was pretty heavy, but you managed. You walked into the library, to which Satan turned his head with your presence.

“Hmm? Oh, [MC]... what’s all that?” Satan asked, blinking at the array you brought in.

“I was passing through, and noticed you were hard at work, so I decided to surprise you with a little snack and tea… umm, I hope you don’t mind.” You say with a blush and an adorable smile.

Satan gave a small appreciative smile and nodded once. “Well, thank you for this, if only my brothers were as thoughtful as you…” he said as you set, or tried to set the tray down, but there wasn’t any immediate place to put it. “Oh just put it down over there.”

You put it down and went over to Satan, and looked down at his materials. “What are you working on, by the by?”

“I’m doing a research paper on the history of the Devildom in relation to the human world. I always found it fascinating that the House of Lamentation used to be a human world landmark, and was trying to spot similarities of other landmarks here.” Satan explained, a glint of excitement in his eye.

“Ah… that’s pretty cool… wait, isn’t that your big research paper that’s due to Diavolo in about 2 months?” You asked, crossing your arms.

“Yes, I like to get my assignments over and done with as soon as possible.” Satan said, sipping his tea, “Mmm, very good choice of tea.”

“Oh thank you… w-wait, when did Diavolo give you that task? One… two… maybe three days ago?” You tilt your head a bit.

“... He assigned it to me today, during our student council meeting.” Satan said as he began to write down references in bibliography format.

“Satan… you better not over work yourself… it’s due in 2 months, you’ve got time.” You pouted.

“I know, but why put off something today that you’ll regret tomorrow?” Satan shrugged as he kept writing.

“I mean… I guess, but just remember to take breaks…” you said.

“I’ll be fine, I appreciate the concern, but you don’t need to worry about me.” Satan reassured. “It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”

“Excuse me?” You questioned, raising a brow.

“I said it’s nothing. I thank you for the snack and tea, but I have to get back to work…” Satan snapped almost immediately, shooing you away. He obviously didn’t think you would catch that.

And that was it, you reluctantly left Satan to his research, feeling a bit bad, maybe you had annoyed him. Maybe he was right, maybe he did have this. Later that night, at dinner, you noticed that everyone except Satan had joined at the dining table.

“Hey… where’s Satan?” You ask Lucifer.

“He said he had important business to attend to, and that he’ll eat later.” Lucifer said before taking a bite of his food.

“Huh? He’s having a working dinner again? I swear his work habits have got to be bad for your skin…” Asmo sighed a bit.

“He does this a lot, I’m surprised he doesn't do a working breakfast. Could you imagine, falling asleep at your workspace only to wake up to your work unfinished, and unfulfilled? Heh, cause I can’t.” Mammon said as he was eating.

“That wouldn’t be fun at all, but at least his body makes him sleep.” Belphegor shrugged.

“And to not eat while keeping up a work streak too… I couldn’t do it.” Beel said, munching away at what would usually be considered leftovers in the human world.

“I’ve fallen asleep playing a game before… I was mad because I had accumulated 10 hours of just idle game time, I was so mad…” Levi groaned, playing with his food a bit.

“Don’t worry [MC], just let him do his work, the sooner he gets that paper to Diavolo, the sooner he can try to get back on his sleep track.” Lucifer reassured you, but you couldn’t be reassured, you’ve seen what overworking does to a person, you’ve experienced it in junior high. You wouldn’t stand for it, you had to do something to knock some sense into Satan.

Later, after dinner was finished by Beel, you were left to do the dishes, it was hell, but you somehow did it. You went over to the library in order to confront Satan.

“Satan… I need to talk to you…” You said as you trailed off, you saw he had a new cup near him on a spare space of the coffee table. “Is that coffee?”

Satan’s head turned suddenly at the question. “No, it’s black tea with cream and sugar.”

“Satan… I made coffee for my dad plenty of times, I know coffee when I smell it. And you know you’re a tea taker more than you are a coffee drinker. Which brings me to my point… You need to eat and you need to rest.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I promise, I’ll eat.” Satan reassured. Suddenly, you just see a stack of books in front of where your serving tray was. You walk around the sofa and behind the stack of books.

“Your tea is ice cold, and… where are your snacks?” You turned to Satan, going from behind the books and put your hands on your hips. “Did you give them to Beel?”

Satan was caught, he didn’t know why you would be so concerned about him, none of his brothers were, but this situation was certainly very different, it felt like being scolded by a parent. “I’ll neither confirm nor deny that question, please go on to bed.”

“Oh no you don’t, not until I see you eat, and actually eat.” You said, walking over to him, but it happened so fast, Satan stood up and grabbed you by your arm and leg and put you to the floor.

“Or you’ll what, human? I keep saying I appreciate your concern, but now I’m losing my patience with you. If I don’t eat something, then you’ll what?” Satan said with a scowl on his face.

You were a bit scared at how quickly Satan set you down, but you had a secret weapon, and he should have known better than to pin only one of your arms down.

“Well… then you leave me no choice… I have to punish you.” You say, and you suddenly get a devilish glint in your eye. Satan was confused a bit, but when it started happening, Satan had already realized his mistake too late. You reached your free arm up and squeezed Satan’s side, making him squeak uncharacteristically and fall away from your assault.

“N-NoHO! Okay, you made your point, I’ll go eat something…” Satan said, trying to get up and go to the kitchen, as if that would somehow appease you. But he fell back onto the floor with another yelp when you grabbed at his ankle and pulled.

“Ohohoh no no no, we’re way past that point, and since you wanna go and make some threats, how about I follow through with my own threat~?” You say, whenever you got into the tickling mood, nothing could stop you. You pulled Satan closer to you by his ankle and began to tickle his knees, behind and fronts~.

“No! No! NOHOHOHO! Cehease! CEEEEHEHEHEASE!” Satan tried to incur his wrath, but he couldn’t, his laughter and fighting to get away from his assailant overcoming him. But in honesty, he saw where you were coming from. And he couldn’t get mad at you for your wanting to make sure he was okay.

“Nuh-uh. Not until you apologize to me for threatening me~.” You winked as you began to straddle Satan’s waist, squeezing his thighs playfully before the squeezing migrated to his hips and sides.

“NOOHOHOHOHO! Get-GEHET OFF OF MEEEHEHEHE!” Satan squeals as his hips and sides are squeezed and then his arms shot down when you got to his armpits!

“Oh no, my hands are stuck, whatever shall I do~?” You tease in a monotonous voice as your hands are trapped in Satan’s pits, but that didn’t stop you from wiggling your hands within them.

Satan really didn’t want to be here forever, cause his pits were a maddening spot, he didn’t want to raise his arms, but he didn’t want to let you go in fear of you getting at a worse spot. “PLEHEHEASE DOHOHOHON’T! AHAHAHAHA! STOHOHOP!” He suddenly shot his arms back up as he held onto the carpet, so your hands could move.

“Hehe, ‘don’t stop~?’ Well then, I guess I won’t anytime soon~.” You tease as you lift Satan’s shirt up and expose his abs and stomach. “Hehe, I absolutely love it, you could crush someone’s head with your thighs while reading an encyclopedia, just because you can.” You say as you lower your head down and blew a raspberry into his abs and navel, earning you an octave you’ve never heard from Satan.

“GAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA! STA-STAHAHAP! Okay! OKAY YOU MADE YOUR POIHIHIHINT! I’M SORRYYYY! *snort* PLEHEASE I’VE HAD ENOHOHOUGH!” Satan flailed and blushed a bit when he snorted. But he finally apologized!

You smile as you stopped tickling and straddled his waist, just looking down at Satan with pleading eyes. “Please… take a break… you have been working so hard, you deserve it. I mean, you’ve made a whole two page bibliography of references, that’s a good start.” You say after Satan calmed down from his giggling and panting.

“... Heh… are you sure you’re a human, [MC]? Cause… you’re as devious as a demon… that was a dirty trick…” Satan panted a bit, blushing as he looked up at you.

“No, I’m a human, as far as I can tell.” You said, and then gave Satan a kiss. Now you both were blushing.

“Heheh… you really are something else… Fine, I’ll take my break… but I’m taking it with you.” Satan said as he sat up so you both were face to face.

“Hehe, deal.” You say as you helped Satan up and went with him to make dinner for him, and a second dinner for yourself.

It must have been a good break because Beel woke up early to see if there was any inspiration for breakfast, he passed the library and noticed you and Satan asleep together on the sofa. Beel smiled and moved quickly to get a blanket for you both, draping it over you both before snagging up the plates and began to lick them clean as he continued on toward the kitchen.

#obey me #one master to rule them all #obey me fanfic #obey me main character #obey me satan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me fluff #tickles #tickling #tickle fic #mc x satan #i love these bois #shipping

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dredreadsdrawing · 4 years ago

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Oc-tober Day 13: Future

........... Yall ready for a bigass story dump? Oh boi. Here we go..... (also bonus points and possibly a free sketch will be given to whoever guesses what this story was originally a fanfic of ;p) Again, hate these sketches but im short on time for these posts lol and my pen tablet broke. No more pen pressure, the lines come thick and round always now. big oof.

This story is set in an apocalyptic future.

Small note, i had written originally written half of this in a post, it crashed and didn’t save, so i rewrote it and it became more detailed and uh. im basically like. almost halfway through the fuckin story so..... please enjoy? :,3 I tried going full but its so much plz i cant ah i already have two other oc-tober prompts to complete ;o;

I would also like to specify that uuh this story situation is something I need to work out the kinks for lol. Definitely. Buuuut this is all I have for now XD please take it with a grain of salt. Oke here story:

- First and foremost, make no mistake, the Yellow and Pink siblings are the main characters. I haven’t fleshed out the others as much as I have these two because of this.

- It starts with Yellow and Blue. Friends since before they could walk. Their parents were already friends, so it was only natural. Pink was born once they finally hit school, and she grew up seeing Blue as a second brother figure. He was clearly a part of the family.

- As time went on, though, these familial feelings were turning into something else. Yellow was hit with the realization that he liked his best friend. More than that, he was head over heels in love. But there were lots of problems with this.

- For one, as soon as he realized his feelings, Blue had made it big in the newest gaming scene. The newest consoles had yet to be mastered, but he pioneered it, creating the first high scores, and charming the onlookers with his commentary as he did so. The rest of the bunker took him in as a new young celebrity.

- Another big problem was, of course, how close they already were. ‘Brothers’ this, and ‘siblings’ that. The world already saw them as having this relationship, Yellow himself has told them before that Blue was this to him. But now he wasn’t. Yellow could die from embarrassment and shame.

- And no matter how hard he tried following behind Blue, Yellow just isn’t as gifted; neither on screen nor with his people skills. Yellow does well enough to be a part of the top, but he never stands out. He doesn’t feel special enough.

- Meanwhile, Orange and Pink are the best of friends. When Pink was little and saw how well her brother got along with Blue, she felt she wanted something like that too. She found her match at school, with the shy and quiet Orange. She was always nervous, but when she opened up, Pink found her to be clever, quick witted and sarcastic. She was a blast. They were inseparable babies, and quickly, they made a promise.

- It started with Pink proposing to Orange. She liked her! They should clearly get married! But Orange wasn’t so quick to agree. Marriage is such a big commitment! Her mom would never allow it! So they compromised. No matter their future, they’d live close together. They’d always be together.

- Even as Orange’s older sister took a dislike to Pink’s rowdiness.

- As time went on, and puberty hit, some things came to light. Pink was very much into girls, in very explicit ways. Orange was…. Not. Nothing explicit for her, thank you very much. Through teenhood, the two kept their strong friendship, though, and always comforted one another. Lots of Pink’s girlfriends ended up jealous of Orange, but Pink would stop them at their tracks. Orange would always be a part of her life. If they don’t get along with her, there’s no point keeping a relationship that doesn’t recognize this.

- Moving onto the plot, here it is. Everyone is already an adult, Pink and Orange being the youngest. There is a prestigious event that’s going to happen; the launch of the newest console that will feel the most life-like. To celebrate this launch, seven players will be chosen through competitions, and they’ll get to play the first quest in a livestream. It’ll take them three days.

- Competitions come and most people that were already suspected to be chosen make it. With two surprises. Yellow, who barely got top due to pure luck. And White who… well, Orange is the best medic, hands down. Everyone knows she knows her strategies and most effective ways to save the group. She’s effective. Always where she needs to be. And yet, even though she got the highest score, she’s been pushed aside and her place in the team was given to White. Everyone screams malarky.

- Pink is pissed for her friend. She was going to have a great time with her in the game! They would be pioneers together! Orange calms her down. Pink should have fun without her, it’s not a big deal. Orange still has her high scores, and she can keep her notoriety. This won’t affect them in the long run. Pink relents but isn’t happy. She hates White and sees him as a prissy elitist. As they go to get lunch, they pass Red. Pink casually invites her to eat with them. Red says she’s busy. Pink is disappointed and Orange laughs. Pink’s got her eyes on Red. If she can’t spend her time with her friend, she’ll be spending it getting closer to her instead…

- Orange goes home and mopes in secret. She stayed calm for Pink’s sake but she’s really taken this loss hard. She needed to make a break in her record. Have a flashy accomplishment. And it was stolen from her. Her older sister comes in. She’s the head of coding for this new game. Orange mopes around her, begging for her to let her in, or to at least tell her why she didn’t make it. Her sister keeps her lips shut. But. She does concede that it was unfair. She prepares Orange’s favorite dinner and bought her favorite dessert. Orange smiles at the heartfelt show of sympathy and doesn’t bring it up again. Whatever it was that happened, it wasn’t her sister’s fault.

- White is from a legacy of high-rankers. They’ve always kept their marks perfect, and drilled perfection into their kids. IF there wasn’t a white player in a prestigious event, they had failed. Out of the newest generation’s three, White is the youngest and…. The least skilled. They try! They’ve worked so hard all their life, but their reflexes aren’t as polished no matter how hard they focus. They just can’t be better than Orange, the true best medic. Before the tournament, he had become depressed. He didn’t even want to try out for it, knowing what would happen. But he ran into Red, an old acquaintance from past games, who picked up on how red his eyes were. She treated him to a warm drink. She let him vent. She showed genuine concern, and was gentle as she reassured him she knew his worth. He’s always been a great partner in the games she’s played with him. She knows he’d be a great addition to the team if he makes this. With her words of confidence, he’s flushed. A renown sense of hope…. And a new attraction makes him try harder. He competes. He pushes and pushes to save his teammates. But he’s just not as effective or calculative and Orange gets the big win save for hers. She won, fair and square. But when they present the awards…. It’s White they call out. He’s…. floored. He didn’t win. Why was he getting into the group?

- He accepts the award. He’s not happy about it, but… it’s all he can do. He asks his family what strings they pulled. They never give him an answer. They don’t even congratulate him or leave any messages as he prepares to stream. He’s left alone to face the wrath of the people who knew Orange deserved his place, her best friend Pink at the forefront. To treat him like the petty sore loser he didn’t want to be. He slapped himself. He can’t let them win. He’ll do it. Red believed in him. He’ll show them what he’s made of with this game! He won’t die. And… he notices the looks Pink is giving Red. He doesn’t like that. He’s going to get closer to Red for sure. He knows he stands no chance with her… but he wants to be someone she opens up to too. And she may not like him romantically, but Pink is in no way someone who deserves her attention. With how brash, rude and self-centered she is? White hates her. They’re going to keep butting heads.

- Yellow and Blue practice together nonstop. They are in sync, years of getting to know each other’s play style has them adept to being a team. After beating a favorite of theirs, they go out to celebrate. On the way there, Blue keeps being stopped to be congratulated. No one congratulates Yellow. Not that he minds… he doesn’t do well under the spotlight. But… as they sit down to eat, Yellow’s concerns bubble up. After a few drinks, he comes clean. He’s not sure he deserves to be a part of the team. It was pure luck that he barely scraped by and got the most points. He doesn’t even remember what he did to get them. Blue pats his shoulder, and shakes him. He reassures him its only his insecurities making him feel like this. Yellow deserves to be there. And he won’t be alone. Blue will always have his back. Yellow smiles and they have a good time the rest of the night.

- After a month of preparation, presentations, and practice, it’s finally time. They wave to everyone as they step into the room that will start their procedure. They’ll be knocked out, have their bodies connected to the game, and awaken in it.

- They’re up. They’re in a metal chamber. They’ve already got their armor suits on, and their weapons are right beside them. It’s a survival game set in what the upper world would look like. They must treat this as real life. Supplies are provided; this is just a trial of the game. The setting isn’t on difficult. Their main focus is to not die, and to get to the end of this delivery mission. They’ll send a note to a sanctuary, the path already set, and it should only take them three days tops. Easy enough. They leave the chamber and take in the view outside, blinking at the harsh morning light. Their livestream begins, their helmets broadcasting what they see.

- The world is a dump. Nice graphics though. They step out and thus begins the journey. From this point forward, I’ll just mildly explain some events. Some will be more detailed than others cuz this is all a haze.

- First, as they walk around, they catch the attention of people in cars. Their first bad guys. The bad guys don’t stand a chance against them, and retreat. Red is cautious of them coming back.

- They stop when they reach an abandoned house, no neighbor houses anywhere. It looks so normal. They step inside and, though decrepit, everything looks ok. Until they reach the basement. An underground lab. Years of gaming has made them apprehensive. They can’t understand what’s going on but this doesn’t look good.

- Before they can find logs on an old computer, the bad guys they fought before indeed burst through with reinforcements. It’s a close battle, and most of the lab is destroyed in the process. The team beats most of them as one drops a light. The building is set on fire. The team runs away, but Green dropped her gun. Black can’t let them go empty-handed, he leaves his sniper with her and goes back to get it. The fire reaches the lab, to the gas storage and the house explodes while he’s inside. Black is out of the game.

- Green is miffed. He died so early, and for such a dumb reason! They told him not to go in!! Everyone crowds around them. He’ll be ok, they can yell at him when they win the game. They are comforted by that fact, but still, this loss is taking a toll immediately. They were supposed to be seven and now they are six. So they really will just die and not respawn. For now, they need to continue.

- The team move forward a bit more but stop to rest for the night once they reach an old city. Red just lost her second in command. She needs someone else to fill in. Pink and White go hard trying to impress her all night. Their stumbling and forcefulness leaves Red more exasperated. She ultimately chooses Blue instead.

- Where before, Yellow and Blue would be goofing off together, now he has to stay beside Red and help her be vigilant and strategize. Yellow feels a bit left behind again, but Blue reassures it’s only temporary. For them to win the game.

- They take a rest in an old mattress shop. Perfect for their sleep. They take turns being on watch, not taking off their suits. They were told to keep them on at all times. For safety reasons. And the slight discomfort they felt sleeping with them wasn’t unbearable. It was a calm enough night.

~~~

- A shift in perspective to Orange, she’s been watching the livestream nonstop from the comfort of her home. She checks the media (idk technology I guess these phones just work within their space? Underground? Lolol man idk XD sorry) and everyone is sad about Black being the first to go. Somewhat meanly, people start callously saying Yellow or White should’ve died first.

- The question pops up. When will they be seeing Black? Now that he’s out of the game, he should be returning. No answer from the game manufacturers. Radio silence.

- Her sister comes home late that day. She looks frantic and doesn’t even tell Orange hello. She goes straight to the kitchen, picks up a container, and packs in food. She does this when she’s staying the night at the office. Orange is concerned. She asks about Black’s return. Her sister flinches. She stops. After a few, quiet moments, she shakily confesses.

- “He’s…. dead.”

- It’s all over the media the next day. There was a malfunction in the game machine. There is a risk of the players dying in real life if they die in game. They just lost Black. Everyone is horrified and outraged. The government tries to reassure the public. They are looking into it. They will bring justice. Orange is beyond worried for everyone, but particularly Pink. She should’ve been there. She wouldn’t let them die. But here, at the Bunker, there’s nothing she can do. Only watch and hope.

~~~~~~~~~

- Two days left. They’re doing well on time. Their map is a general one, only showing the straight line they need to take. No small details or markers to be had. Pink and White are still at each other’s throats, blaming the other for not getting the position beside Red. A scuffle comes to them. Not the same bad guys, new ones. More sophisticated ones. They aim for their heads, and shout insults at them. Calling them ‘Bomberbees’.

- In the scuffle, Yellow notices something off. A child by themselves, no older than four or five, in the middle of the street, getting caught in the crossfire. They hide behind an old, toppled over car, but stray bullets hit the gas. It drips and Yellow remembers Black’s death. Without much thinking, they scurry from the fight to pick up the kid and run. Sure enough, a spark from a fire close by lands in the gas, and causes another fire. Then bam, second explosion. The kid is clinging to him, Yellow has gotten them out of the fire, but now they’re being chased by someone from the attackers. They get caught in a shop without exits. Yellow tries to shoot with one hand, but he can’t get the attacker. As they near, they pick up a heavy display, readying to crush Yellow and the kid. A shot hits them in the neck and stops them, making the heavy load also slip and fall on their head. They’re dead. Blue rushes inside. He’s furious.

- He’s cursing at Yellow for putting his life in danger like that. Yellow lets go of the kid, and they run away immediately, scared of Blue. Yellow is anxious, wanting to follow the child. Blue is incredulous. It’s an NPC. Yellow tries to reason. Maybe it’s a side quest? It’s a kid alone in this dangerous hell hole. They should help. Blue shakes his head, they already lost Black. They can’t lose Yellow. Not for this. He uses his rank, as second in command. Yellow can’t look for the kid. It’s an order. They return to the group.

- They had managed to kill enough for the bad guys to retreat, but the toll was heavy on their resources. In just these first two days, they’ve gone over half their ammo. Realizing their situation, Red begins prioritizing looting. She was right the first time when she said bad guys return with reinforcements. These new dudes can too.

- Taking advantage of the big city, they venture a bit to get more ammo. They split into groups. Unfortunately, despite her protests, Pink gets put with White. Red was hoping they’ll work whatever they have going on. They bicker as they leave, and she already regrets her decision.

- Yellow gets put with Green, and they go the opposite direction. Close to where the child ran off. He recounts what happened as they scavenge around, Green listening with only mild interest. Then she sees a kid herself, at the end of a street with a toppled skyscraper. It motions to them. They follow.

- The kid leads them to their home inside the topped skyscraper. There’s a bunch more kids. They’re surrounding one of themselves, a hurt girl. The boy Yellow saved quietly steps forward and asks him to help her too. Yellow and Green look at each other. Side quest?

- Blue and Red are on their own. They have the easiest time out of all of them. They started by looting the bodies. They never really got to appreciate it before, but these gory details…. Went above and beyond. Almost felt surreal to Blue that he was gathering bullets from the pockets of a man’s bottom half torso, his top half across the room. He suspected if he took off his helmet, the place would smell too. Red is quiet, but she eventually breaks the silence. She apologizes for putting Blue as her second in command without asking him. He shakes it off. It’s alright. Black’s death was unexpected. Black’s death. Blue almost shivers thinking about it. Everything in the game has felt so lifelike. He’d hate to go out with a bang like that. He tried making the situation lighter by bringing up what Black would be doing right now. Probably, he’d be escorted to the hotel nearby to stay and watch the livestream until his teammates finished. He’s probably beating himself up over being the first to die. Red shakes her head, remembering how her friend hated losing first. But more than that, he hated being separated from Green. This would be his true hell. And the comments he’ll get on his news feed! The roasts! They laughed, imagining it. All for his lover’s gun. Green has him whipped. Blue sorts through some more piles of trash, the laughter dying down. Behind his smile, he hid concerns. It was so fast to die here. No health bars to keep in check. Nothing but realism. He had to keep Yellow safe.

- Cut back to Pink and White. Though they hate each other, they do work together. There’s no point letting their disagreements drag the group down. They manage to find an old gun store. Jackpot? As they scavenge, a wild, and mutated animal enters the store. A chase ensues. White is quick and small. He manages to get away fast, leaving behind the stocky and slower Pink. She curses at him for not sticking to her. She gets cornered as more of the same mutants show up. She decides she needs to blow them in one go. It’s her only choice. Though it’s one of her last three, she readies her grenade, but is beat to the punch by a giant beam crushing all three mutants. The dust settles and she sees White on top of the beam, having pushed it down with his entire weight. He’s hurt.

- He turns on his healing, but it’ll still take a while. She helps him up. She’s salty, but grateful. He’s limping. They’re far from the group. And they still need to go back and check for ammo. Stuck together for longer, they finally break the ice. She was impressed by how quick he was. He hesitantly takes the compliment. As they continue, curiosity burns. She’s been chastising him for so long, she wants genuine answers. She asks him why he chose to be a medic. He says he didn’t. He was forced into it because, naturally, his siblings and parents already filled other roles. She doesn’t like this answer. So he relented? Just like that? She lets him have it. Orange loves being medic. She put her heart and soul into her job. He just does this because of his family.

- White bites back. Yeah he gave in. His family is so overwhelming. His entire life was already given goals he didn’t choose. An idea he had to live as. Of course she wouldn’t understand. No one but them would understand. He has no choice. But he doesn’t want to disappoint or be a burden. That’s his reason for training! He…. Breaks down at this. He cries. Pink is very uncomfortable. They reach the gun store and separate again. Its quiet with the occasional sniffles. Pink feels…. A bit bad.

- They do find ammo. White heals. They walk back. Pink relents after a few minutes, and tells White that… he isn’t.. the WORST medic. He did manage to be second in the competition. That counts for something. He’s surprised by her try at peace. He also gives in. He says he’s sorry for taking Orange’s spot. He honestly didn’t ask for it. But his family… Pink is surprised by this confession. So he didn’t get in because he pulled strings. It was his overbearing parents. She finally gives up her hatred for the short dude. It’s not helping either of them. They return more successful than the others, being the second group back. To Red’s delight, White and Pink aren’t fighting anymore. She gives them both a pat and congratulates them. She’s proud they can work through their differences. As she leaves them, they both sigh at the same time. Then look at each other. Oh yeah. They’re still rivals.

- Yellow and Green get back late. They tell the group about the kids. Blue is quick to groan, but Red takes an interest. She allows the team to accept the side quest. They just need to help one hurt kid, after all. They turn to White, pleadingly. Can he do it? White gulps, the pressure being on for him to succeed. Now was his chance to prove himself as a medic.

- Still not sure how to make the healing system work exactly, but ultimately, he succeeds. The kids swear he’s a wizard, but he brushes it off. Still, he’s flattered and riding a high from his success. They say goodbye to the kids, who take a liking to White, Green and Yellow for being nice. They still don’t like Blue and are wary of Pink and Red. Either way, they leave, and the three favored talk about how real the kids acted. The NPCs in this world are well-made.

- They’re on the move and there’s some lighter bickering between White and Pink as they continue trying to get Red’s attention, but she ignores them. They halt their walking as a familiar event occurs, dirty beat up cars coming and circling them. They stop and open. A big man, clearly in charge steps out. He’s there to give them a warning. When they stepped inside that normal-looking house, they were in Crumble territory. His lackeys foolishly followed behind, and now the building is gone. He’s barely placated these ‘Crumbles’ by making a deal with them. To catch this team and bring them back. His lackeys point their weapons. Are they going to come quietly or do they need to make a scene?

- Pink is excited. “Oh the plot is picking up!” It’s a fight. It’s super close, the hardest fight they’ve been in by far, but it’s completely thanks to their armor that they get the upper hand, and leave by stealing a vehicle. All those driving games taught White how to be a getaway driver well. They escape, and along the way, ditch the car in case they can track it. They survived the second day.

- Back to it being night, they make a fire and gather around. They have bedrolls to sleep in, but it’s uncomfortable. One person will stay guard while the rest sleep. They SHOULD be sleeping in their armor no problem. But especially with the bedrolls… its uncomfortable. So Pink takes hers off. As they choose spots to put down their rolls, she ends up setting hers next to White. She tells him he’s impressed her today. “If you can’t make it as a medic, you can definitely win competitions with those skills you know.” White is embarrassed, but… hopeful. He liked the thrill of going fast. Maybe… this could be something he’s good at. As Pink lays herself down, she slips and hurts herself on a jagged rock. She starts to bleed. White stares. They’re baffled. Having never taken their suits off prior, they hadn’t realized they can bleed. “It even hurts.” Pink laughs it off. “Damn, they went all out for this.” White agrees, but it still doesn’t sit well. Red passes them and his concern fades into thoughts of her instead. He gets up.

- Red is first watch. He stops by to just…. Tell her she’s doing a good job leading them so far. Red is surprised. He never talks to her first, always shy and skittish. She smiles back at him, sadly. She thanks him, but she can’t take the compliment. Black’s loss was a failure on her part. A real good leader would’ve held him back by force. It was a stupid death, no way around it.

- After an awkward silence (because White didn’t know how to follow that up), Red decides its her turn to be nice. She thanks White for saving them today. Her compliment is genuine, and she follows it with a head pat. He’s incredibly happy from this, and goes to bed looking beet red with a goofy smile. Pink notices. She decides it’s time for her to get a bit more aggressive. Gotta put down all her cards before slowpoke seals the deal.

- Pink’s shift is next. As she goes to relieve Red, she also tries for small chat. It doesn’t work. Red calls her out for not being in her armor. Pink says she’ll get it in a bit. Red starts to leave, she is tired. Pink blurts in a moment of impulsiveness.

- “When… all this is done, can we go for a drink?” Red stops and turns around. She’s confused. “Uh.. sure? I imagine we’ll all have a big celebration with alcohol anyways…” “Yeah, but I’m not asking to just get wasted. I’m asking to.. be able to get alone with you.”

- Ah. Now Red gets it. She’s embarrassed. After a momentary pause that feels like forever, she speaks. “I’m… sorry.” Pink is hurt. She knew she had less of a chance with her but she’s still hurt. Pink brushes it off. “It’s ok.” Red still looks like she has more to say, but… she turns back. She’s tired and now isn’t a good time. The stream is still on. God, Red remembered and so did Pink. She just got rejected in front of the whole Bunker... Pink is frustrated and cant sleep even when her shift is done.

~~~~~~~~

- Back at the Bunker, Orange watched the confession and felt terrible for her friend. She had been embarrassed today. Still, more than the concern for her love life, was the concern for her life. The confession was secondary to the threat of them all dying.

- The media has blown up much much more. Everyone was scared for the player’s lives already, but after today’s stream, more joined in. The people that hated White have mostly turned around, finding his day as redeeming. Instead, blame was shifted onto his family as they were now seen for the perfectionist robots they were. But more than that, they have now effectively put their youngest in danger for his life by forcing him onto this game. Very unexpectedly, the Whites…. Showed remorse. They never expected to sign away their child’s life. It was just supposed to be another prestigious event to get their name into. They’re mad at the game developers and are with the people hounding the government to get answers. They’re mad, and they want their family member back. Alive.

- Yellow also begins getting his own fans. Showing care for the NPCs, especially contrasted with Blue’s disregard of them…. Blue fans are buzzing. What kind of person doesn’t care for children, EVEN in a game? Defenders of Blue make their case, it’s a dangerous situation and they’ve lost Black. Though he doesn’t know it, keeping everyone in the team alive over NPCs IS the way to go. Still, it doesn’t sit well with half his supporters, and alliances are shifting. Yellow is gaining followers.

- Pink’s bold declaration made her gain new fans. Many proclaimed that if Pink made it out, they would gladly take her. Orange grimaced at these. Red, likewise, got a lot of…. Hate. Pink fans thought she was too mean with her rejection. Red stans defended her right to say no. There was a battle between the two, and in any other day this would be normal, but the underlying pressure of either not making it highlights their hate for one another. These could be their last moments, and now they’ll spend them awkwardly. Orange sighs and drops her phone.

- All day, Orange’s sister has been out of the house. Though she had taken food with her, Orange guesses it wasn’t enough. Orange hasn’t talked to her all day, not after finding out her friend was in danger and her sister was part of it. There are no words to describe her feelings. Still. With how stressful things are right now…. Her sister should be at her top game trying to fix this. She should be eating well. Orange makes her dinner, still… upset but resigned to what’s happened, and goes to deliver it. Having done this before, she has no problem getting through to her office. She meant to leave the packed, warm lunch in her desk if she wasn’t there, but she dillydallies when she finds the picture of White on her sister’s screen. She looks around. No one is watching her, everyone busy with the catastrophe at hand. She clicks through and discovers. Her sister specifically made the deal to keep her out of the game. To bring White in. In her emails, she seemed aggressive this be done. Even threatening to quit her beloved job. Orange hears the clicking of her sister’s heels and returns everything back the way it was. She sits down at her sister’s seat with the dinner in her lap and her phone in her hand, pretending to have been waiting for her. The interaction is normal. She hugs her, gives her the food, and leaves. On the way out, she sees a group of her sister’s coworkers rush out of a familiar room. The room that’s always been showcased as where the players would be held. She slips behind the cameras and peeks in through the door’s small window. The machine that was supposed to connect everyone’s minds is… empty. They’re not here. Orange’s stomach twists. Where are they then?

- Hearing more people coming, she rushes out of the corridor and out of the building. She has too much to think about. Too many implications. She. Wants. Answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~

- One day left. They are close! They wake up and get ready. Their last stop crosses through a town. They’ll get to interact with more NPCs! Everyone is excited. They begin the walk, Blue talking to Red, Green to White. Pink stayed quiet. Yellow is concerned for his sister. All their time spent here, she’s been making googly eyes at Red, and now she won’t even look at her. Oh no. He knows whats up.

- He tries to cheer her up, reminiscing her old girlfriends… and some other nice girls waiting back home. Pink snorts. She’s not in the mood for this. Not from someone like him. Yellow is hurt. What does she mean someone like him? Much to his dismay, Pink gives him a look. Then she looks back at Blue. … she knew? “You knew?” “It’s… not exactly subtle.” She teased. “You’ve liked him since you wer-“ “PINK! SHUT UP!” “What? Rude.” Yellow looks furious. Slow realization dawns on her yet again. She forgot that they were on a stream. Ooh dear.

- Now they were both in a bad mood. Yellow terrified of going back when they won, to having clips of his sister’s words thrown in his and Blue’s face. He never wanted to confess! This will ruin their friendship! And the audience backlash!!!! Blue has a lot of diehard stans that… to put it mildly, are not keen on giving him up. To hear his own best friend, whom they barely tolerated already, has a crush on him. Yellow. Was. Scared.

- Pink feels so guilty. She was already in a crappy mood and now she’s gone and made things worse. It’s her turn to try to reach out and reassure Yellow, when more dust picks up from behind. They hear the sounds of vehicles. Oh great, there’s more. They ready for a fight, but are caught off guard when the cars aren’t stopping. They instead, zoom by, each one trying to wrap a rope lasso around a member as they move. Most of them dodge or cut the ropes in time. Pink doesn’t She’s caught by the midriff and dragged along, her armor taking most of the hits for her as she bounces along the ground. This is NOT her day! Her teammates chase after her, but the cars are too fast. Thinking fast, she pulls a grenade from her backpack. The one she didn’t use against the mutants. She aims, and luck is on her side as she’s able to chuck it inside the open window holding her rope. The car explodes and she’s blown back. She hits her helmet. She dents it. Her livestream is shut off.

- Her teammates get to her just as soon as the cars double back and try to lasso them again. They’re prepared now, dodging and even pulling someone out by yanking on the rope. They kill them. Per Red’s orders, they aim for the wheels. They get one car to pop, the others drive away, having failed. The car they left behind is quiet. They inch closer. They see the figure inside, staring at them. He opens his mouth, but before he can say a word, Green from behind everyone shoots him in the head. She needed to practice using Black’s gun anyways. Everyone congratulates her for her aim… though it wasn’t as good as it could be. She laughs with them, promising to give up being a sniper one this was over. She’s only taking over because she lost her gun.

- Pink gets up. From her reads, its clear her livestream set up is too jammed to start back up again. Her footage is lost now. It’s a bummer. Yellow helps her as they continue moving towards their destination, but neither speak. Still mad. Still guilty. They reach the town. It’s huge! And unlike the abandoned city, it’s full of people… They decide to stay and explore a bit. They had time, their destination was just a ways across from here. They’d make it.

- Trying to distract herself from her conflicting emotions, Pink leaves the group when they’re not looking to go to a bar. There, she finds what she believes to be a mini quest. An old man is complaining about what he calls ‘the abomination’ taking his wares the other day. Pink jumps into accepting this NPC’s quest, to defeat the abomination and retrieve his goods. She follows his directions to the outskirts of town. To a normal-looking cabin. Wanting this to be quick she carelessly blasts the front door open and immediately, a fight begins. The abomination has green fur, different sized golden eyes, and scales and spikes scattered around its body. The abomination makes some clear sounds that reminisce garbles. So it can’t even communicate. This has got to be it.

- They fight, almost destroying the home in the process. The abomination almost bites the dust with a full face blast, but manages to scurry away, Pink hot on their trail. In the chase, she follows it out of the town… into a valley… behind a fence clearly stating danger… The creature leads her to a cave where it gets darker… and warmer… By the time she notices her radiation alarms going off, she’s already feeling sick and exhausted. She passes out.

- She comes to outside, feeling something in her mouth. She swallows unconsciously, but gags at the foul taste and sputters. She looks up at the person holding her. The abomination. Pink is quick on the draw…. Except her gun is not with her. Neither is her suit. She panics but a voice is heard from behind. “She saved you, and you still want to blast her?!” She turns around to see a shiny, scaled person judging her. “You should’ve left her in the cave, Charger.”

- The abomination makes more garbles, with a shrug. Pink is confused. With the help of the draconic(?) (who is the abomination’s brother???) the situation is cleared up. So the quest was a lie. The old man is a smuggler, and the goods they confiscated where weapons stolen from another smaller town nearby. Pink was being played. Pink apologizes, not knowing what else to do. She had thought this was just another clear cut mini-mission. Who knew this game had moral complexity like this?

- Charger forgives her, to her brother’s annoyance. Pink stick around for a bit, offered a place at their dinner table. She got to meet their oldest brother, and taste what local food is really like. It’s not bad. She gets back her suit and weapon. She’s allowed to go. But before she does… she ends up opening up to these nice NPCs. Why not? Her comms where off and her livestream camera was busted anyways. The NPCs nodded along and Charger gave her a hug by the end. The middle brother gave a few words of wisdom. “So it’s not what you wanted. But at least you’ve got a great friend to add to your collection. And she sounds pretty bad ass… you gotta keep those close.” Pink laughed. Yeah… she’s been lucky in the friend department. She mused how much she missed Orange. She got to leave finally, a load off her shoulders. She went back to the group, where stuff… is going down. The town is in chaos and her team is in the middle of it. What happened while she was gone?

- When Pink left, the group had decided to split again. Green, Blue and Yellow went to see something (idk lol haven’t worked this out yet) and White and Red stayed together. They explore the local food and shops. They have a nice time taking everything in. They peak a few people’s curiosities, but they aren’t outright being aggressive, so the NPCs leave them alone. It’s a fun day…. One could even say…. It’s like a fun… date…

- White can’t hold it in anymore. He’s ready to confess. He takes her to a secluded spot and very nervously fidgets with his helmet… taking it off and begins to talk by bringing up a memory. The day Red helped him. Red’s attention is piqued. What about it? White continues. That day, he had hit his alltime low. He was ready to quit gaming altogether. But she… gave him hope again. Made him strive to be someone worthy of working beside her. Her cheeks redden and her eyes widen. She’s realizing where this is going. White continues. Being here, watching her work…. He was content with just staying in the background... but after today. He holds her hand, he himself turning into a tomato. Nervously, he blurts. He wants to stay by her side, even outside of this game. He has his eyes closed. No sounds respond to him. He nervously opens them to see Red’s expression. She looks sympathetic… but that’s it. His heart drops. “White…” His face stays aflame, he wants to cry.

- With a shaky voice he rushes out. “Oh-nonono its ok I just. I pushed this on you- Im ok I just-“ “No. White, listen to me.” He stops his tumbling and listens. He wont look at her, but he’s readying himself for her response. She sighs, and takes his shaking shoulders. “I like you White… but I’m not… interested in being in a relationship. With anyone.” White’s shakiness drops. Ok… now he’s looking at her. Her expression is sincere. White is confused. Red makes a disgruntled noise. “I should’ve explained this sooner to people… I’m not looking for any romance. I just. Don’t have any interest in it.” She looks away, taking another breath and continues. “I know most people don’t understand it but please… believe me. This isn’t me lying to you to make your rejection easier. I…. genuinely am trying to… get you to understand.” Her expressions. Her trying to hard. He’s seen enough. He’s convinced. And he’s honestly... touched. He sniffles and rubs his eyes, he was just about to cry a second ago. But he feels it’s silly now. He’s still sad, but more than that. He smiles at her. He thanks her for confessing this to him… he hopes this means they can stay friends. She smiles back, relieved, beaming. Of course. She thanks him for understanding and ends the conversation with a hug. It’s a nice rejection.

- It’s at this moment, that they are attacked. Caught completely off-guard, they are easy targets. Still, they put up a fight. Red can get to her gun and fends them off. White isn’t as lucky. He’s knocked down easily, tied and gagged. He’s got a concussion, but he’s still fighting to stay conscious. Red chases after them, shooting. People around the streets flee from the scene. Green, Blue and Yellow heard the commotion. They run and are ready to help, weapons raised. The kidnappers know they are outnumbered. But they have leverage. They hide behind White, holding his struggling body. If they shoot, they can hit his soft nogging. The one holding him grips his hair tightly. White makes a noise of pain.

- Pain. In game. The team looks at one another. Red tells them to put their weapons down. They slowly do. A car comes blasting through the now empty streets. Their ride. They’re taking White. If they want him safe, they’ll come with them without any problem. More bad guys get around them. They’re ready to bind them. Red is the quickest shot. She knocks back the person behind her, manages to shoot the two behind Green and Yellow, and Blue followed suit with his own. She points her gun to the one holding White, but a sharp cry of pain makes her hesitate.

- What was he doing? He twisted White’s arm forcefully and doesn’t stop until it snaps. White is screaming. His arm socket has popped off. It hangs loosely. The holder is cursing at them. They should’ve played nice! He throws White into the car and jumps in, closing the door. The car slams it. They shoot but its too late. White is gone. They’ve lost a member to an unforeseen obstacle.

- They’ve failed.

- And more than that.

- Those cries… wont leave their heads. Red throws her gun in anger. White was in pain. There is pain in this game. Real, fucking pain. Blue and Yellow immediately look at each other. Green is in shock. What the fuck is going on.

- Pink returns to this, White missing and the group in shambles. Pink is confused. Of course there is pain. Had no one else noticed? They look at one another. They never left their suits. They never got hurt before this. No. Only White has gotten bruises from the pillar he toppled. Only Pink has gotten cut from a rock. Their only concerns were dodging bullets that didn’t even penetrate their armor. They didn’t think pain would be a factor. This new information sets a series of horrid questions through their brains. It was this easy to get hurt. And Black? He died in an explosion. His suit may protect him from bullets but not from fires that hot. He may be chilling back home now, but at what cost?

- What madman programmed realistic pain into a fucking game.

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zdbztumble · 5 years ago

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Alright, let's see SoKai for the ship meme. :P

General:

How long will they last? - Well, they’ve eating the paopu fruit at this point, so their destinies are intertwined forever.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Interesting question, because it’s pretty clear that Sora, at least, has a crush on Kairi at the start of the first game, and it’s probably mutual. It was probably a gradual growth of friendship into romance over the course of their childhood and adolescence, with the first game at the tail-end of that transition.

How was their first kiss? - “They ate the paopu fruit - they basically kissed!” That was nearly every commentary on that scene in KH III. A real kiss would be classic Disney material, probably on that tree on Destiny Islands at sunset.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Sora. Immediately after a life-or-death struggle at the end of an adventure. It was awkward. Bernard’s proposal at the end of Rescuers Down Under awkward. Kairi loved it.

Who is the best man/men? - Riku, to the extent you can say it had a best man (see below.)

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - If I accept any of the games past KH II in this exercise, then Namine.

Who did the most planning? - I’d like to think they got married at Disney Castle, with Merlin or the Fairy Godmother officiating, so it was all planned out by the classic Disney playbook - think of what you saw at the end of Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, etc. That’s also not a terribly organized wedding with a lot of assigned roles, though.

Who stressed the most? - Donald, because he and Chip n’ Dale got into a fight over how to decorate the Gummi ship for sending the couple off. He ends up with his head stuck in the axis of a gear while Chip n’ Dale take over.

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Thanks to the world order, a whole lot of people weren’t invited, because they weren’t allowed off their worlds. Sora got around that by using Summon magic (with help from the Fairy Godmother.)

Sex: Are you mad? This is Disney!

Who is on top? -

Who is the one to instigate things? -

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? -

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? -

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public (I’ll go this far with them) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children: Again, fankids aren’t my thing.

How many children will they have naturally? -

How many children will they adopt? -

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? -

Who is the stricter parent? -

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? -

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? -

Who is the more loved parent? -

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings?

Who cried the most at graduation? -

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? -

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Sora makes the most attempts, assuming (incorrectly) that he picked up some skills from Little Chef. It rarely goes well.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - I don’t imagine either of them are picky.

Who does the grocery shopping? - It’s pretty strange, thinking of them in domestic situations like this when nothing like this happens in the games. I’ll say they split it.

How often do they bake desserts? - Again, Sora tries, and rarely succeeds, so he doesn’t try often.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Fruit!

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Sora.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Sora. Whether he’s got access to the Gummi ship or not, he likes that Bistro.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Sora. Good thing Kairi knows magic now.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Who needs to assign chores when Aero, Gravity, and Magnet can take care of a room in no time?

Who is really against chores? - Neither’s against it, but they can both be lazy.

Who cleans up after the pets? - No pets. Who has time for pets when you have to keep saving the multiverse?

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Again, magic.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - The bigger stress is having five minutes’ peace to actually have guests over.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - It’s called Munny, and you don’t find it in the couch, you find it in the corpse of a Heartless.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Man, these domestic ones are a stumper. Sora, I guess? Seems like the kind of guy who’d lose track of time.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - No dog to take out.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Decorate? When the Gummi ship’s available, they can just go to Halloweentown and Christmastown! And the other doors are there too, so...

What are their goals for the relationship? - To stop getting screwed over by Nomura Get back home to Destiny Islands and enjoy some peace.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Sora.

Who plays the most pranks? - Sora.

#kingdom hearts #sokai #headcanon #meme #send me prompts!

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corbo-florbo · 5 years ago

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Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Retirement (Fantasy Booking)

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, but I’ve been feeling the writing and wrestling bug, so I figured why not put this here? This is how I’d envision and book a retirement angle for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn of the WWE.

So, some context. Kevin Owens is a top guy, a main eventer, having had main evented Wrestlemania. He has essentially stayed the same person, but not as volatile since his face turn against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre back in early July 2019. Throughout the rest of his career, he has shed more and more of the same Kevin that would turn on his allies and accepted that he is deserving of friendship and teamwork. He lets people in more. Kevin, who knows exactly who he is and has since the beginning, has become the superstar he is meant to be.

That isn’t the case for Sami. Through face and heel turns, it is evident he is lost. He may have found some middle ground in managing Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, but in this fantasy booking, Cesaro moved on, and Shin turned on Sami shortly after dropping the IC title to Braun Strowman. Incensed by the betrayal, Sami attempts to get back in the ring again, vowing revenge, with the crowds behind him again. I mean, who can hate Sami when he’s such a good guy?

Come a ppv (one of the big four), Sami goes against Shinsuke, and though he does not prevail, the two put on a banger of a match (hopefully making Shin a big deal again and gets him a push). Meanwhile, Sami is still at the bottom. Where does he go from here? His former client Shinsuke is becoming a big deal without him, and Sami is struggling.

Fast forward to Wrestlemania season, Sami has officially moved out of the managerial role and once more back into wrestling. Things look up for him, as he beats enhancement talent, until after one victory, he demands he faces an actual member of the roster. He’s cocky and confident again, and feels he’s ready to make a splash again.

Unfortunately for Zayn, that splash would merely look to be a small raindrop in a vast ocean as he is greeted in this promo by a Firefly Funhouse segment, featuring none other than Bray Wyatt. Bray states that Sami should feel at home beating the enhancement talent. That sometimes it is important to stick with what you know, and to Bray, he sees Sami as “generic”. That there isn’t anything special about him, and that’s okay. But Sami doesn’t agree. It’s not okay, it’s less than okay. Sami was on the fast-track to being a big deal. However, Sami doesn’t express this, as fear has lumped in his throat. “Why are you going after me? I’ve done nothing to you. I’ve no past with you - nothing. When I see you, I only know one thing, and that’s to RUN.”

Bray says that’s exactly the point. Sami runs. “Why do you think you’re always moving from being good to bad so much, Sami? You’ve become stagnant! Wait, Fireflies, that’s the word of the day! Stagnant!”

This taunting continues, until grows tired of the mockery and challenges Wyatt’s alter ego, The Fiend at the Showcase of the Immortals, where Kevin is having a bout against Bobby Lashley, feeling there is unfinished business, from being out of commission through most of 2018 because of him, and becoming embroiled in Lashley’s feud with Rusev, albeit briefly. This is a “Loser Retires” match, which Kevin wins. He’s retired Lashley and is still on the fast-track to the top.

As for Sami vs The Fiend, it goes as expected. Fiend dominates Sami every step of the way. Cue the “Ole!” chants, which inspires Sami. They’ve never left him, the Sami Zayn band has his back and he must fight for them. Then he gets some good offence in. As usual, Fiend laughs it off and continues to shrug it off. Mandible Claw, 1...2...3...done.

The upcoming draft occurs, and The Fiend and the Universal Title is drafted to Raw, the same brand as Kevin, Seth Rollins, etc. Yet Sami is nowhere to be seen. Debuting on the Red Brand is a masked luchador. The audience, those familiar with this man, sing “Ole!” like they did when Sami was around. This masked luchador is thrust into feuds with the likes of Rey Mysterio, Humberto Carillo, and Andrade. They don’t take him seriously, and mock that he doesn’t appear to speak fluent English, OR Spanish for that matter. They and commentary are oblivious as to who he is. As for the World Championship, McIntyre takes that to Smackdown and loses it to Shinsuke Nakamura.

Kevin is back in the Universal Title picture, against his usual rival, Seth Rollins. Kevin and Seth are still worlds apart, yet both are competing at the chance to face The Fiend. Seth wants to redeem himself, Kevin wants to reclaim what was his, what was taken from him by Goldberg via Jericho. Kevin still knows who he is and who he wants to be. Seth is still struggling to find his own identity, his career rife with finding where he stands. As such, Seth loses the title opportunity to Kevin.

SummerSlam approaches, and Kevin faces off against The Fiend, who it seems has finished collecting the debt owed by those who wronged him. None of the mind games got him, none of the usual: “You’ve turned your back on everyone! You’re sick and you’re going to do it again! Jericho, Sami, The New Day! You almost turned on Samoa Joe! You are a Judas, and you know it. And come SummerSlam, HE is going to stop your reign of terror.” Pot calling the kettle black. Despite all odds, Kevin gets the win over The Fiend.

Survivor Series, it is World Title vs Universal Title. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kevin Owens. A match that starts of slow, but gets more and more intense. Shinsuke targets and takes apart Kevin Owens, yet he doesn’t get up. “FIGHT OWENS FIGHT! FIGHT OWENS FIGHT!” the fans chant. As Kevin gives a Stunner to Shin, his pin is denied as he is assaulted by the mysterious masked luchador, as he also incapacitates Shin as well. Kevin comes to, sees the masked man, and asks loudly, “SAMI?!” A kick to the face knocks Owens out. No contest.

The next week, Kevin calls out Sami. But there is no Sami, just that same masked man. “Cut the crap Sami. You’re not him anymore.”

“I am... I am El Generico!”

“No! No you’re not, you’re not that confused lucha guy from the indies, the bingo halls. You are Sami Zayn. ‘Ole, ole ole, oleeee!’ Remember?”

Nothing decipherable comes from El Generico. Kevin realizes he is getting nowhere right now. He ignores every advance. But he can’t ignore forever, as he puts his title on the line and at #1 at the Royal Rumble of that year. He goes through everyone, and even has his moments against people he had a past with. Joe, Cena, Fiend, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, even Shane McMahon makes an appearance. A quiet Sami Zayn comes in, not seen for the first time in a while, and no number of people in the ring is going to stop them. Owens dispatches them and Sami all the same. Then it comes down to #30. Who is it going to be? Is it a debut? A return? It is the latter, as Generico makes his way to the ring, and the final four are: El Generico, Kevin Owens, Tomasso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano. Fitting, as the latter two have their own intense history. Ciampa and Gargano do not make it, and neither does Generico. Kevin retains, becoming the third man ever to last throughout the entire Royal Rumble match and win.

Kevin cuts a promo the next night on Raw, stating he feels he’s done all that needs to be done, and that’s to help his friend Sami. He needs to do it at Wrestlemania. If he wins this, he will end his career on this note. If not, he will keep fighting as only he can until Sami gets the picture. He clarifies he doesn’t mean win, as in winning the match. He means winning back his old friend. Generico, still hard to understand, attacks Kevin.

Yet another Wrestlemania approaches, with Generico and Kevin are the main event. Kevin fights long and hard against Generico, and it gets bloody. It gets painful to watch, yet nobody can look away. Tables, ladders, chairs, the ring bell, the stairs, all are strewn about as these men batter each other. After a weak Kevin Owens frog splashes from the tallest ladder, he gets the pin on Generico. Generico, enraged, throws a tantrum. Kevin grabs him, hoists him up and looks him dead in the eyes. Commentary lets this moment breath, Kevin lets this moment breath. Nothing is said verbally, but so much is said in this post-match staredown. Generico backs away from Kevin, looks at his feet, and back at Kevin. Slowly but surely, Generico removes his mask, and now Kevin finds Sami’s eyes looking back. Sami, with tears in his eyes, embraces Kevin in a hug. Confetti falls around them as the two men are surrounded by cheers from teary-eyed fans. Kevin holds Sami’s hand up.

The next night on Raw, Kevin relinquishes the title, riding off into the sunset. Sami starts his own slow climb to the Universal championship, until he finds himself the winner of the Royal Rumble that upcoming January, against the champion at the time, Aleister Black. Through some shenanigans, the Universal Title is defended in the Elimination Chamber. Aleister gets the win and retains his title against Zayn, Fiend, Roman, Ciampa, and the recently Main Roster debuted Damian Priest.

Through it all, Sami still is dead set on winning the title off of Black at Mania. Aleister, confident, allows Sami to choose the referee of his choosing. Who does he choose? Is it Mike Chioda? Jessica Carr? Nope, it’s Kevin. Kevin, though retired, accepts on one condition. That caveat is that Sami retires and lets newer wrestlers get their chance. He’s seen Sami through his ups and downs, and wants this win for him. But he reiterates over and over again that he will strictly call it down the middle. “So don’t mess this up, Sami.”

A hard fought battle at Mania in the second to last match on the card, with both men tired. Has Aleister met his match? Near fall pins and near submissions ensue. Sami has dodged the Black Mass over and over again, with his own color-coded finisher, the Blue Thunder Bomb. This is enough to knock down Aleister. Could this be it? It turns out to be so, as Kevin’s hand slaps the mat for a third time, and Sami Zayn is your new Universal Champion.

Sami and Kevin are in the ring on Raw the next night as Sami thanks the WWE Universe, relinquishes his title and is serenaded by “Ole!” as he and Kevin leave. They are inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the next year.

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I hope if you’ve stuck around reading this, you’ve enjoyed it.

I want to thank my inspirations, @adriennegabriella for pushing me to execute this idea and @mith-gifs-wrestling for reigniting my passion for writing and wrestling as well as discover the wonders of fantasy booking. I know I don’t know you, Mith, but your passion for this business is infectious! Part of the reason I started watching wrestling consistently, so thank you!

#fantasy booking #wwe #kevin owens #sami zayn

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fossadeileonixv · 3 years ago

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Milan 0 Torino 0

Oye. How is Milan still top of the table? Well, we'll get there but let’s talk about the Torino game first

I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon thinking about the game and why Milan is having difficulties scoring. There were some things in this game that were different than the other games comprising this dry spell and I’ll give you my take as to what I think is going on. First ratings with some commentary, then more commentary and probably more down in the comments…

MAIGNAN 8.5 Wasn’t challenged much but the best shot of the game from either side was heading to the top left corner with some heat and Magic Mike got a hand on it and pushed it over the bar. I would guess 95% of GKs either don’t get a hand on it, barely get a hand on it, or do get a hand on it but aren’t strong enough to keep it out. Moreover, the way he commands the team and distributes. My god. Best keeper in Serie A and it’s probably not even close

CALABRIA 6 Just kind of more of the same from him. In fact, he’s basically a microcosm of the whole team: not playing terrible (mostly), but just not doing enough to make a difference. He did have one of the better shots on goal for Milan, but that’s not saying much

KALULU & TOMORI 7.5 I’ve been grouping these guys together for the most part during this run and I’m not going to stop now. Their score is a little low (for them, LOL) but they actually played really well. The reason? They both got carded. I know, I know, the fouls were VERY soft and I’m not even sure contact was made in either case. But, having them both carded made me nervous in the event there was a counter that was looking promising for Torino with neither of them able to take a tactical foul without being set off, and one goal would have definitely been enough to take all 3 points

THEO 5.5 Probably his worst game in a while. He was average at best on defense mostly because he was out of position a lot, which I get - he’s often bombing forward - but that wasn’t really the case this time. He seemed to make a lot of runs into the middle of the pitch and rather then getting into the final third he often got dispossessed before that and wasn’t in a position to track back. So he was out of position a lot and didn’t provide anything on the offensive side of things

TONALI 6.5 Looked tired. Wonder if he’s still feeling a little weak from the week before when he was out sick. Either way, did his thing before getting subbed out. One thing that has been bugging me about him of late: his corners. It’s like Hakan is over there taking them

KESSIE 5.5 I didn’t notice him until about 15-20 minutes in and I’m pretty certain that’s when he had his first touch. Some of you said it in the comments but, just leave already. He’s not doing anything well and my god that was some of the worst crossing I’ve ever seen anyone make at this level

SAELEMAEKERS 5.6 See what I did there?...ANYWAY, guy got back into the starting lineup and it was like he never left! Ran around like crazy, got into some good positions occasionally only to squander the opportunity (see his flop in the box), dribbled a little too much, and was competing with Kessie for the shittiest crosser on the team. I think the best thing he probably did was motivate Messias to be less terrible. Oh, and the hair...WTF. I didn't know there were Supercuts in Italy. Even recent Q&A guest Sabrina Belmonte said something about it on Twitter. Yikes

DIAZ 5.5 I usually don’t think he played as bad as some of you here do, but he wasn’t very good this game. Probably his worst game in 2022, which is saying something because he hasn't been all that good in 2022. I think what happened this game was that Theo and Leao kept on running to the middle and it was clogging everything up. There was zero width and Torino was more than happy to let Saelemaekers keep ending up with the ball in the final third. There’s a little more about this I want to say but I’ll save it for below. At any rate, last season Brahim came up big late and Milan is going to need that again as they can’t seen to put this thing to bed

LEAO 5.5 Where has this guy gone? He can’t get anything going and he seems to have all but given up staying wide on the wing and trying to sprint past the defender for a shot on goal or to get a cross off. His decision making has been poor as well and so it’s the double-whammy of not staying wide and then giving up possession in the middle of the pitch for no good reason

GIROUD 6.5 Giving him a 6.5 because the man battled against one of the biggest and toughest defenders in Serie A and he straight up took a beating. My one critique though is I wish he would try to come down with the long balls rather than trying to flick them to teammates. Come on big guy, bring in down, turn and release your teammates or hold it up for others

subs

MESSIAS 5.5 Didn’t do much but looked far less lazy after getting benched for the Salad Man. He did have that one nice one-touch pass that almost released…Giroud?...I forget who but it was a nice pass

KRUNIC He played

GABBIA N/A Came in for a banged up Tomori who was also sitting on a yellow. My biggest concern about Gabbia is that Tomori might be injured and bump him up the pecking order. Ok, that’s too harsh

coaching

PIOLI 6 Lineup was good I thought, especially considering the players missing. Another clean sheet? Also good. But game plan? Nope. Not good enough. We all know they have issues at RW and LW and AM aren’t helping either. It felt like the players thought they should move inside more but also stay out and whip in crosses because ?...more on this below

THOUGHTS

-Let’s start off positive: Milan have now gone 567 minutes without conceding. That is really f**king good

-Also good? Still in first! I was looking at the top 4 and how they’ve fared over the last 5 league games and the only one with more points than Milan?...Juve, the team furthest out trying to catch them. Here’s what they’ve all earned in their last 5 league games:

Milan – 11pts

Inter – 11pts

Napoli – 9pts

Juve – 12pts.

Yes, I know it would’ve been nice to extend the point lead but not one of these top 4 teams were going to win all or most of their remaining 8-9 games

-Not so positive: Milan haven’t scored in over 210 minutes. This has been super frustrating. Yes, Milan has issues at key offensive positions but they’re not THIS bad. I honestly believe it’s a result of poor game planning on Pioli’s behalf. Maybe come out the first 10-15min in a different formation just to throw off the opponent. Change it up. Anything

-One thing I noticed between Milan and both Liverpool and ManCity (yes, I know they’re much better teams…smartasses): Liverpool and ManCity always have different guys making runs into the box. It’s never just the forward up top and guys trying to whip in crosses or taking shots from distance. Do you know who’s the only guy I see making runs into the box on a consistent basis? Brahim. The shortest guy on the pitch. That’s not good enough. That would be like basketball players without the ball not running into the paint to try and drag defenders out of position and then the ball handler wondering why he’s getting mugged trying to drive to the basket. Umm, there’s too many bodies to do anything.

With Milan it’s basically the same thing: No runs into the box, no overlapping runs, nothing. It’s Giroud in the 18yd box trying to flick it to nonexistent players because no one is making runs into the box and everyone else is outside with terrible spacing getting every shot they attempt blocked because there’s a sea of opponent’s bodies to try and get through

Ugh. What do you guys think?

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dailyaudiobible · 6 years ago

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07/05/2018 DAB Transcript

1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17, Acts 23:11-35, Psalms 3:1-8, Proverbs 18:14-15

Today is the 5th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. It is great to be here with you as we all assemble around the global campfire coming out of the darkness we warm ourselves together in community and allow God's word to wash over us and into our lives. And today we will be beginning a new book, the book of first Chronicles.

Introduction to the Book of First Chronicles:

So, let’s just kind of fly over this for a second. Not completely sure who wrote the books of Chronicles. There’s a first and a second Chronicles, but Jewish tradition, going pretty far back, has Ezra as the author. The books of Chronicles date to about 450 to 425 BC. So, there about four centuries, roughly before Jesus came. But in first and second Chronicles, I mean, we’re going to be recovering a lot of the same territory that was covered in first Samuel, second Samuel, and then first and second Kings but we’ll be looking at it from a different perspective. We’ll be looking at the stories, and we’ll be looking at the same stories, but we’ll be looking at them through the eyes of the priests and kind of get their take on what happened. As we just completed the book of second Kings, we see that the children of Israel are in exile and they’ve been taken away by the Babylonians and it's been pretty brutal. The books of first and second Chronicles were written from the exile. They were written to remind the children of Israel who they are, who God is, how to worship Him, and what to do when they return. So, the first nine chapters will cover a lot of genealogy and, you know, we’re kind of at that point in the Bible. And all the genealogies can be tedious. And we wonder why we’re reading names. Once we understand why they're there, to tell a moving story. The children of Israel are in exile. Many families have been torn apart. Many will never see each other again due to death, slavery, forced relocation. So, these names, these genealogies, their knit together so that the people can remember where they came from and who they are and each name has behind it a story of life and loss. Of course, this won’t be the last time this happens to the Jewish people. So, these genealogies matter. And as we go back to some the territory we've already covered, once again we’ll see God's faithfulness, God's forgiveness, His mercy, but also His righteous justice. The children of Israel know firsthand what it looks like to serve God and the repercussions of their own actions as they turned their back on Him. And none of this has changed. We all face the same things in our own lives. So, as we read through these stories, the echoes through history can remind us of who we are and encourage us deeply to follow God and walk in His will and His ways. And, so, we begin. We’re reading from The Voice Translation this week. First Chronicles chapter 1, verse one through 2:17.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we get going in first Chronicles we can see that we are retelling the generational history of the people, and this certainly gives a backdrop of the people and players in the stories that will be told.

In the book of Acts, we can see that Paul, had he not had the protection of the Roman government, of which he was a citizen, he’d be dad. He would've been beaten to death by the Jewish people. What is this all about though? Like, it's really easy to get lost and say, okay ,Paul was a devout Pharisee, then he became a follower of Jesus. There were other followers of Jesus and there were not assassination plots. I mean, why such rage against Paul? It's a pretty complicated issue on a number of levels. First of all, Paul's back in the holy city, Jerusalem and this is not an unfamiliar city to Paul. Paul has been a trained up Pharisee, living in Jerusalem for his life, his adult life. He’s not unknown to all of these people. He’s not to some kind a rogue person who keeps traveling around the empire saying things and shows up in Jerusalem. Like, they know who he is. The problem is what he appears to be doing is heretical to them. He seems to be an apostate, a person who is left his faith. And as we can see with these devout Jewish people, that's worthy of death. So, we can understand why a mob would form or, you know, an oath of allegiance – I’m not gonna eat or drink until I kill this guy – you can see where that comes from. But why though? Why do they think Paul is an apostate. This is because, to them, that's exactly what he is. And it boils down to two reasons and neither one of them directly relate to Jesus. I mean, everything in Paul's life relates to his encounter with Jesus, but at this point in time people who believe in Jesus are just kind of a sub- sect of Judaism and so they’re tolerated by religious Jews, at least to a degree. Paul has done a couple of things that are a step further. For starters, he's gone to the Gentiles, a people that the Jewish people insulated themselves from. Anyone who was non-Jewish was a Gentile and the Jewish religion was a separatist thing. You had to be a Jew, You had to convert if you wanted to worship God. For Paul to go out among the Gentiles speaking of this Jesus was separating him from his Jewish heritage and customs. And to make matters significantly worse, his language was that the law of Moses had been fulfilled in Jesus and was no longer something that they had to adhere or live under because it would only reveal their inability to be in relationship with God in a righteous way because nobody could obey the law. So, Paul had to spend a lot of time, a lot of theological wrestling as a Pharisee. And as he's converting to Jesus, looking at the story of the Jewish people. And we’re looking at the story of the Jewish people in first Chronicles as we read down the generations. And we found a name in the genealogies today, Abraham. Abraham started everything, not Moses. And that was Paul's really long-running argument. Abraham is the origination of this story. Abraham didn't have a law to obey. Abraham believed God, he put his faith in God and God considered him righteous because of it. That was like a game changer for Paul. We all know how things go, right? You tell somebody something and then it gets rebroadcast and told out of context. Without the full context it seems like it's something different. That's kind of what's going with Paul. He’s got this reputation going around that he is an apostate, that he has left his Jewish heritage, that he is preaching against the law, that he is claiming that Gentiles can be included in this new covenant. And, so, to the religious Jews. He has become a heretic. They don't leave this at all. So, now we kind of can understand why a couple hundred people need to escort Paul out of Jerusalem, like, armed military soldiers to get him out of there. And they take him to Antipatris, which is about halfway. Basically, from Jerusalem to Caesarea is a journey to the north west. Caesarea is a coastal town right on the Mediterranean coast and it was very Roman, whereas Jerusalem was obviously a very ancient city. Antipatris still exists today. Some of the Roman roads that go through there are still in existence. You can still see chariot tracks on some of those roads. And, so, it’s interesting to be there and just understand the apostle Paul came through here on his way to Caesarea. But now we kind of understand why he's under such heavy guard, it's to protect his life, not because he's that big of a criminal. It's to protect his life. God is using the Roman army to protect Paul from his own people, but still allow him to speak to them, to tell them the story. And we’ll see this continue as we move forward.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the way that it sweeps into our lives and informs us and counsels us and corrects and rebukes us and pulls us forward each and every day into relationship with You. We are grateful for that. And, so, we invite You, Holy Spirit, to come, plant the words that we’ve read today in our lives. Lead us into all truth, we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it's where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check in and check it out.

Just a couple days for now, day after tomorrow, is the Daily Audio Bible long walk. The 7th of July. It's our 11th annual. So, make plans for that. Go somewhere beautiful. Take a long walk with God. Let Him speak to you. Speak to Him, worship, enjoy nature. And take a picture or video wherever it is that you go and you can post that to the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page Facebook.com/dailyaudiobible and we will all enjoy each other's long walk. And it's always been a beautiful thing. So, plan for that on the on the 7th.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you, humbly, especially here in the summertime. Thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. This is Billy from Montgomery. I wanted to put a prayer request out there for my wife. She had a colonoscopy today and everything went fine with that but then they did an x-ray on her lung. She has some issues in her chest and then they found a spot in her lung that was questionable. That’s what the doctor said. They do not know what it was but it was questionable. Anyway, that is all we know now. We just need to be covered up in prayer and hope that it is nothing. Anyway, I just want to put that prayer request out there. My wife’s name is Natalie and I will talk to you all later. All right, bye for now.

Hey everybody, this is Pelham in Birmingham calling. I just finished listening to June 30ths reading. Brian, you just finished reading Acts. Brian, I don’t know if it’s just your voice this year or if it’s just the world and I know it’s happening in everybody’s life, but Brian, I was in tears saying goodbye to Paul. That was one of the most emotional moments I’ve ever experienced in the Bible, his departure, and them hugging him in a circle, crying, knowing they aren’t gonna see their friend again. The way you read it man, it was like I was there. I felt like I was saying goodbye to one of my best friends. And it made me think, what if I couldn’t contact you guys? Or what if I didn’t have any connection to anyone that knew anything? And then, I can thank my Lord, I can fall down on my knees and I can thank Him for giving you a mission 14 years ago and for you just taking that one step in the right direction and look at what that decision has done to the world. Brian, thank you. Everybody, thank you. The Daily Audio Bible is a revolutionary thing and that decision that you made 14 years ago Brian was a revolutionary decision. It caused and causes revolutions of light and its increasing. Just as fast as the darkness seems to be increasing the Army is being encircled. Thanks for your prayers guys. Blind Tony thank you. I love you everybody.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. It’s Jim, the teacher from LA. Summer break has been good to me. Sorry I’m out of breath. I was out for a run. Only the second…second time since February cause teaching and having a family and getting a Master’s degree is not always good for your health but you can get back into it and maybe that’s encouragement for someone out there but that’s not why I’m calling. I’m catching up on old broadcasts, listening to prayer requests back to back and a woman called in about her daughter’s baby and not having a proper umbilical cord, having only two chambers and not three. You know, it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, a strand of two cords is stronger than a strand of one and a strand of three is not easily broken. As I know that they speak that to couples at weddings often times to say that you need both partners and the Holy Spirit. That that baby needs mom and dad and the Holy Spirit. And God can work miracles and He can certainly work in the uterus, the heavenly secret place where we are woven together. So, pray with me family. Father God, as you are weaving this baby together in her mother’s womb in the secret place of the earth, weave a new chamber to that umbilical chord, we pray that this cord will be a three stranded cord, unbreakable for this child who has been attacked by the enemy even before coming into this world. She’s already in this world. You’ve already given her life, you’ve already given her breathe and spirit in your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Love you family.

Hi fellow DABbers. It’s Lanna calling from Canada and I desperately need your prayers. I’m going in for surgery on the July 9th at 1 o’clock. I have to have a wisdom tooth extracted which has a cyst lying underneath it and I’m asking for your prayers. I’m quite anxious about this. And I guess, since my mother’s passed away I have to face everything alone now, except I do…I do have Jesus, and I have you as a family. I have no other family except I do have a cousin, yes, that lives out west but I have no family here, just my friends and you guys. So, please pray for me that everything will be okay. Thank you. God bless.

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