#it's honestly a crime that these games don't have more voice-acting

[tenacquity]

his voice is too cute sometimes i just

[star-hoon]

OBSESSED (p. sunghoon) — PART 2

I’M SO OBSESSED WITH YOUR EX

READ PART 1 HERE — MASTERLIST

pairing: sunghoon x fem reader

includes/warnings (18+): best friend’s ex! au, SMUT (mdni), praise kink, dirty talk, unprotected sex (pls don't), ANGST, profanity, arguing, broken friendship (sorta)  (let me know if i missed anything!)

word count: 4.3k

synopsis: after sage catches you and sunghoon at the party, things change between all three of you. hidden emotions are unveiled and everyone does something they regret. the real question is...who?

author's note: omg thank you SO much to every person who read part 1! i'm so glad you guys liked it. this is dedicated to everyone who commented/requested for part 2 <3 you guys r all so sweet *hugs n squeezes*. pls look forward to my future works!

OBSESSED SOUNDTRACK

“SUNGHOON?!” both you and the raven haired boy whipped your heads in direction of his name that didn’t even get the chance to leave his lips.

holy. fuck. it was sage.

the sound of red solo cup hitting the pavement seemed to echo despite the bass of the party still booming from the house with the silence that fell between all three of you.

you were an absolute deer-in-headlights taking her equally shocked and disgusted expression. she's never looked at you like that.

you and sunghoon instantly push off each other; you flattening down your skirt and he combed through his hair, as if that would help both of your situations right now.

you felt as if you had blood all over your hands at a crime scene. what the fuck?! out of all the boys on the damn planet it had to be him?!

sunghoon. sunghoon. you just made out with park sunghoon. SAGE'S park sunghoon. your best friend's ex.

his name and sage's expression replayed in your mind. you were so. screwed.

you could feel your heartbeat in your ears and it felt difficult to breathe. so much so, you barely heard sunghoon be the first to say something.

"s-sage? h-h-hey uh how have you been? shit that must have been awkward for you to have seen that. jake didn't tell me he invited you..."

sage completely ignored sunghoon's remark, tunnel visioning on you.

"you've GOT to be kidding me y/n..." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, slowly approaching you.

you felt like a child who had just been scolded. you wracked your brain for something to say, but nothing came out. despite how close you two were, sage always intimidated you. she could be stubborn and had a short temper, that thankfully you've learned to tame over the past year. but you knew this was beyond anything you could save yourself from.

"l-look sage i-i'm sorry okay, i can explain-"

"shit- wait you two know each other?!" sunghoon interjected. he had no idea what he just got himself into.

sage broke into laughter, clutching her stomach for dramatic effect. "wow this just got FUN didn't it?! let's play a little game. on the count of three, say how you know the person to your left. and it's okay if a word doesn't come to mind."

the last sentence clearly meant for sunghoon.

her tone of voice was honestly scaring you at this point, and you could sense that both you and her were internally reeling at the words that will be spoken into reality.

best friend. ex. .....

you just stood there frozen and sunghoon turned to you, seeing your mortified expression.

even though you and him just met, he already felt protective over you and with how psychotic his ex was acting...he knew things weren't right. he stepped slightly between you and sage, trying to guard you from her piercing gaze.

but she was one step ahead and moved even more to her left so she was still fully in your line of vision.

"what the fuck is going on sage? just answer the goddamn qu-"

sage cut sunghoon off once again, "3..2..1"

"best friend. ex. ....." you and sage responded in unison.

it was silent for just a moment, as you all stared at one another.

"well glad we got THAT out of the way, hope that answered your question hoonie-" you recoiled at her use of the nickname. she was bluffing and it just made you angry at this point.

"how the fuck was i supposed to know he's sunghoon?! i swear on my life you walked by right as i asked his name-" hot tears started to blur your vision.

people walking by were staring and whispering but you couldn't give less of a shit. she scoffed at what she only believed was an excuse.

"oh give. it. up. y/n! you know what, that's the problem with you. you ALWAYS act so innocent and like you're just the shy girl next door. i know you've always been jealous me. so much so you basically fucked my ex aka the first guy you saw at a party. who would have guessed how much of a slut you are."

tears started to run rampant down your cheeks. you couldn't believe sage would say all of this to you. is that how she really felt?

she walked up and leaned down to whisper something in your ear before walking off, the clicking sound of her heeled boots fading.

you just stood there and covered your face, the tears never stopping. you just couldn't look sunghoon or anyone in the eye after how embarrassed and humiliated you felt.

"hey hey... shhh baby it's okay" sunghoon removing your hands from your face, using his thumbs to gently wipe the ruined mascara from your cheeks. the pet name just rubbed salt in the wound.

he comforted you with soft kisses to your cheeks. he knew you weren't okay, how could you be after all of that? but he didn't quite know else to do or say in this situation.

you shoved him off of you. sage's whispered words ringing in your ears.

"i'm sorry sunghoon, i- i have to go. this was a total mistake-" your hiccuping voice barely getting the words out. you couldn't even look him in the eye and you just wanted to be anywhere else but there.

"wait y/n" he grabbed your wrist before you could run away from him. "look i get it if you never want to see me again after this, but the least i can do is give you a ride home."

your lip quivered as you stared up at him. the way he looked at you was so gentle, a stark contrast to how he looked at sage just a moment ago. it made your heart ache.

usually you would just brush off the offer but you were such a wreck, you knew you were in no state to make it home by yourself.

you just gave him a silent nod and you two walked to sunghoon's car in silence.

the silence persisted throughout the drive, aside from sunghoon asking for your address. sunghoon knew better than to ask questions.

your mind was anything from quiet, sage's whispered words replaying in your mind like a broken record.

"enjoy my sloppy seconds y/n, oh yeah...remember how i told you he said i was the best he's ever had?"

the sound of sunghoon opening his car door being the only thing snapping you out of your daze. he circled the car and opened your door for you.

"it's pretty late so i'll walk you to your door?"

'what a gentlemen' you thought. you felt like you were cinderella and he was your prince. but this was no fairytale.

you walked up the stairs, sunghoon trailing behind you. you stared at the faded blue paint of your apartment and turned around to part ways with sunghoon.

"thanks uh- for the ride. i'm sorry the night turned out like this-"

"i'm sorry about what sage said to you. she was hella out of line calling you those things..." you cringed at the memory. "...but what was the last thing she said to you?" you knew he was referring to what she whispered to you before she walked off.

you could not look him in the eye and tell him.

"she just told me to never text her again" you were sure your performance was convincing.

"y/n, please. tell me what she said. i know sage. i don't know what your guys' friendship's like, but if it's anything like while her and i were dating, she chooses her words wisely. she knows exactly what to say—especially if it's to hurt you."

shit, he read you like a book. you knew sage too. and you knew she would never lie or keep a secret from you—what she said must have been true.

"don't worry, that's what she said to me, promise."

he could tell you were lying, but you've been through enough in one night—he didn't want to cause a fuss.

"okay, just making sure" he huffed out a defeated sigh. "like i said, i get it if you never want to see again. but here's my number. i live only about a 5 minute drive from here so just in case you need anything or if anything with sage comes up, just gimme a call."

you stared down at his phone, contemplating for a few moments, but you eventually comply. a faint smile creeps on sunghoon's lips.

"for what it's worth y/n...i don't think tonight was a mistake. you made that party a hell of a lot more fun..." he chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

you couldn't bring yourself to quite say the same to him, so you just gave him a soft smile.

"thanks again sunghoon, goodnight."

you entered you apartment and made your way to your couch. you laid down and the threw your arm over your face, feeling tears threatening to fall once again.

you just curled up and drifted off to sleep, not even bothering to change your clothes or get ready for bed.

the only thing keeping you from losing your mind was the thought of sleep.

you woke up the next morning (much to your dismay) and barely made it through the day.

you and sage have never fought like this. you both swore to never let something as stupid as a boy get between you two. so many questions swirled in your head.

is that really how sage felt about you all this time?

you get why she's pissed, but is she not even willing to hear you out?

is she willing to let go of your guys' friendship that fast?

you filled your day cleaning your apartment and running way too many errands—being busy always helped you in times of stress. eventually the sun was setting through the blinds covering your bedroom window.

you had no idea how to handle this entire thing. and it was something you certainly didn't want to deal with alone.

you stare down at your phone biting the inside of your lip, your finger hovering over screen.

you knew this could make things that much more complicated, but you needed someone talk to.

calling 'park sunghoon'....

after a few rings, he finally picked up. your heart was beating out of your chest.

"hey, may i ask who's calling?"

"h-hi s-sunghoon, it's y'n"

there was a pause. you were cringing at yourself for stuttering so much, little did you know sunghoon was smiling like an idiot from the other end.

"hey y/n, didn't think you'd actually call...wait did something happen? did sage do anything to you?" concern suddenly lacing his tone.

"no not all. i was just calling to talk, i'm just super stressed about all of this..."

he let out sigh of relief, he thought you could have been hurt.

"aw i'm sorry, yeah that makes sense. did you want to talk in person? i can come over."

"yeah, that'd actually be great, thanks." you heard the sound of him picking up his keys.

"of course, i'll be there 5"

you open your front door after hearing a few soft knocks. you couldn't help but bite your lip at the sight front of you.

sunghoon wore a black hoodie, gray sweatpants, and glasses. a simple outfit but oh was it effective. you had to refrain from jumping on him right then and there.

"h-hey, thanks for coming over. sorry it was so late minute. please come in" you stepping aside and guiding him inside your apartment.

"yeah no problem. no need to apologize y/n, i was the one who offered to talk in person"

you just let out a soft laugh in response, cringing at your over-apologetic tendencies.

sunghoon smiled quietly watched you, finding it absolutely adorable how cute you were trying to be a good host. despite him being the one asking to come over and you two doing not so innocent things just the previous night.

you sit next to sunghoon on the couch. he scanned around your apartment, taking in all of your cute decor and trinkets.

"your apartment is so...cute. never would have guessed based on how you were acting last night" he smirked, teasing you.

you felt flustered as you felt your cheeks heat up.

"oh thanks" you looked down at your feet feeling shy. "yeah honestly i never really do that kinda thing at parties but i don't know, guess last night was different".

different he thought.

he just hummed in acknowledgment as a comfortable silence fell between you. it felt as if you both sucked in a breath in unison.

"y/n-"

"i-"

he speaks first, "of course you can rant to me about however you're feeling, but after thinking it over, i don't think you're in the wrong here y/n."

"she's my best friend sunghoon. and you're her ex boyfriend. is that not the first rule of girl code? i'm sure same thing applies to guys."

"okay sure i guess..." he licks his lips as he contemplates his next words "but sage and i broke up over a year ago. whatever we had, it's long gone. and unless she has lingering feelings for me, which i can tell she certainly doesn't, she should be more mature about this"

you nod silently, agree with everything he was saying.

"...and i know you were telling the truth when you told you had no idea it was me. because she quite literally was passing by as you asked for my name. so i genuinely think you did nothing wrong here"

"yeah that's true i guess" there's a pause as you take in his words.

"can i tell you what sage actually said to me last night?" you felt comfortable enough with him now to tell him and now were just more curious more than anything if what sage said was true.

"sage told me that you said she was the best you've ever had and i can enjoy her 'sloppy seconds'" you air-quoted the last two words with your fingers.

sunghoon's silence made your heart pound even faster. was it actually true? if so, this just made you even more embarrassed.

he eventually just scoffed which turned into a breathy laugh.

"oh man, sage sure is funny." he shakes his head at what you assume is disbelief. "i'm not sure if she got me mixed up with another park sunghoon, but i never said that."

you felt a huge weight was taken off your chest. sunghoon caught your sigh of relief.

"i'll be honest though, sage and i dated for a good amount of time, but i mean clearly we broke up for a reason. and i cannot stress enough that i do not have feelings for her at all. especially not after meeting you."

he puts his large palm on your knee, rubbing it soothingly.

you look down at the comforting gesture, a single tear falls down onto the back of his hand.

what the hell, why were you crying? sure, you were stressed about the situation but you didn't think it made upset enough to make you cry.

you had been beating yourself up about all of this since sage said those harsh words to you. you had started to believe that maybe what she said was true and that an ordinary girl like you had no business with a guy as like sunghoon. feelings of embarrassment, frustration, and guilt were eating you alive.

but after hearing sunghoon be in your corner, him saying you did nothing wrong, and finding out sage made up what she said somehow made you feel forgiven.

the small salty puddle on sunghoon's hand surprised you just as much as it did him.

he turns to meet your eyes, making you look at him "hey, what's wrong?" he pouts at your misty eyes, wiping the second stray tear before it could fall on your cheek.

"i-i'm sorry i don't even know why i'm crying. this whole thing was taking a bigger toll on me than i thought. just thank yo-"

he couldn't resist and crashes his lips into yours. his hand coming cradle the side of your face.

you let out a noise of surprise, not expecting him to kiss you so suddenly. you surrendered to him quickly though, not realizing how much you missed the taste of his lips. he deepend the kiss, his hand creeping up to thread through the hair at your nape neck, pulling slightly.

you let out a soft moan at the feeling, your parted lips leaving the perfect opportunity for him to slip is tongue into your mouth.

the sound of your lips smacking and heavy breathing filled the room. the heavy makeout eventually left you breathless. he pulled away but you still chased his lips.

he rested his forehead against yours signaling you he needed a breather. the eye contact and tension felt suffocating—the way you looked at him made his heart burst. your eyes were shiny were so shiny and wide, anticipating his next move. your cheeks flushed and lips slightly parted. your tank top and cotton shorts made his mind run wild. but he wanted to explore what was underneath.

he reached to remove your tank top and bra, and your shorts not long after leaving you in just your panties. he took off his shirt and hoodie, leaving him in just his sweats. the sight alone made you soaked through your panties.

he took in the sight on your almost bare figure on top of his, reaching to grope and feel your body. he attached his lips to your neck, sucking and biting the same sensitive spots he remembered from last night "you drive me fucking crazy y/n" he whispered against your skin.

his lips wandered down from your neck to your chest eventually taking a nipple into his mouth, the feeling of his hot tongue driving your desire for even into oblivion. he made sure to attend to the other one by pinching it with his other hand.

"f-fuck s-sunghoon..."

you began to grind on him, feeling his dick already hard through his sweatpants. his veiny hands wandered to the flesh of your outer thighs and hips, gripping your skin tightly savoring the feeling of your skin against his.

you pressed harder against him, finding the right rhythm of your hips on his, making him throw his head back, his eyes rolling slightly. the delicious sensation of your grinding his boner making him bite his lip staring at you. he crossed his arms behind his head, making his defined muscular arms even more prominent in the dim lighting of the room.

"yeah, grind on that dick baby, feel how hard i am for you?... see what you do to me?" his voice lower than normal, laced with nothing but lust.

"p-please..." you whined, his words making you work your hips even more fervently against his.

understanding your plea, he guided your back to lay flat on the couch climbing on top you, his arms on both sides of your head. the cold metal his delicate silver chain grazed the skin of your chest and neck, contrasting your hot skin.

you pulled him by the chain to kiss you again, your hands feeling his chest and biceps. his hands felt up your body once again, taking in every curve and dip from your breast to your hips, eventually playing with the hem on your panties.

"may i, sweetheart?" god, was he trying to make you fall in love with him?

you gave him a nod biting your lip. he slowly pulled your lace panties down your legs, creating a string of sticky arousal. you had never been so turned on in your life.

his fingertips ghosting the skin of your thighs, eyeing your bare body under his. you started to suddenly feel shy under his intense gaze, hiding your face in your arm and closing your thighs.

he gently pulled your arm away and tapped your knees to part your legs.

"don't hide baby, i wanna see your face, you're so beautiful...fuck you're so wet... all for me?"

"mhm...all for you- oh fuck" you breathily moaned as his fingers circled your clit, spreading your arousal. the feeling of his fingertips alone had your head spinning. he slowly inserted his fingers into your core, your walls sucking them in.

"jesus princess, you're so tight" he groaned as thrusts his fingers languidly, your juices starting to drip onto his palm. the squelching noise echoed in the room as you squirmed beneath him.

with the way that your back was arching and your walls clenching around him, he knew you were close. "you close sweetheart? wanna come all over my fingers?"

"fuck, yes please! your fingers feel so good. i- i wanna come" you whined desperately. his fingers speeding up as his thumb expertly rubbed your clit.

"such a good girl. come for me" a few more rubs from his fingers as your walls spasmed around him.

when he finally pulled his fingers out, you whined at the suddenly empty feeling. he kissed you once again, finding you all too adorable. "you did so good for me baby, ready for my dick?"

"please sunghoon, i need you" he pulled away taking off his sweats and boxers. the sight of his perfect cock made your mouth water: it was so hard, veiny, and red. his size making you question if he would fit in you.

he quickly climbed on top of you again, giving your cheek and neck light kisses while rubbing his cock through your folds, wetting his dick. when his tip grazed your clit you couldn't help but mewl at the feeling, your hands threading through his hair.

"fuck, please put in" you begged shamelessly. he bottomed out inside of you, biting his lip as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. he let you adjust to his size before thrusting slowly but deeply.

"s-shit you're so fucking tight y/n fuck" he groaned into your neck, leaving love bites. his could feel every vein of his dick and the fullness felt so good. so right.

his hands wandered to the small of your back, making you arch into him making him hit your g-spot. you nearly screamed into his neck at the feeling. his rhythm started to falter, your kisses getting messier and you were nearing your highs.

"s-sunghoon, please i'm c-close" you said in between whines and moans.

"fuck, me too sweetheart" he has never finished so damn fast during sex before but your pussy felt like it was made for him. he rubbed your clit once again, wanting nothing more than to give you the most pleasure possible.

"come on, be a good girl and come for me. cream all over my cock baby... you're better than she ever was". his words making the knot snap in your build up of euphoria. you moaned loudly a mixture of curses and his name, waves of pleasure washing over you.

sunghoon finished not long after, pulling out and fisting his dick to cum all over your stomach and thighs—making you his. he looked down at the sight beneath him and he never wanted to look away.

your head thrown back and jaw slack, your cheeks still flushed. your heavy breathing and still sensitive body twitching. he rubbed your clit to prolong your high until you pushed his hand away, feeling overstimulated.

sunghoon leaned down to give soft kisses to your lips and forehead, before running to the kitchen to grab a paper towel wet with some warm water to clean you up.

the way was gently wiping your skin, leaving kisses here and there made your heart ache.

"hoon..." his eyes immediately meeting yours at the pet name, his heart skipping a beat. "...can you stay the night?"

he smiled and pecked your lips, "i thought you'd never ask"

sage eventually reached out to you 2 weeks after jake's party and you two made amends. she apologized for what she said and acknowledged that things will probably never be the same with you two, but still wishes you and sunghoon the best.

"so, how did the call with sage go?" sunghoon asked from your kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. you and sunghoon continued to hangout almost every day since that first night, and the more you go to know him, the harder you fell.

you two started to grow so close that could tell what he was thinking and he didn't even have to say anything.

"well, things for sure will never be the same between us that's for sure, but i think we both got closure from all of this." you said with a sigh.

he walked over to you silently, his hair down and slightly messy from sleep. his fingers fidgeted around the coffee mug and his lips smacking together making the 'tsk' they always do when he's about to say something but holds back.

"did you wanna tell me something?" you gestured him to come closer to you. you put your hands around his neck and he put his around your waist. you leaned your forehead up to his and his lips quirked up on the side.

"y/n, will you go on a date with me?" you couldn't hold back a smile as you kissed him passionately.

who would have guessed you could be so obsessed with your best friend's ex?

taglist:  @luv-jungwon106 @gudkc @gyuoonz

ramblings: literally had a fever writing the second half lol pls tell me if this is bad bc i cannot even tell also this is my first time writing smut so i apologize if it just wasn't smexy at all ahHH

+ (also sage is actively the worst in this part lol, she is saur annoying and lowkey crazy)

thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you think <3

reblogs, likes, & comments are always appreciated!!

[pendarling]

Praise

Their hand skimmed Hero's shoulder as they pushed back their hair along their neck. A shiver ran up their spine, and cold eyes welcomed the feeling. 

"You did so well today, didn't you, Hero?" When Villain discovered their best weapon against Hero was themselves, they'd lead an expedition of the heart. The best way to win wasn't only through physical confrontations; it looked like Hero was utterly unprepared.

It might've been an unsettling solution to a more significant issue; manipulation was not an easy path to learn to exploit for gains, but this was a harmless little game to Villain.

For Hero, on the other hand, their emotions were all over the place every time Villain made their next move. It wasn't like this until the sudden tactics change was introduced.

With their heart thumping in their chest, Hero tried to simulate resilience to the enemy. Villain had held a dagger to their throat as they were still recovering from the last compliment. Their voice held onto their throat, too afraid to speak.

"I always did admire your skills, Hero." They whispered gently next to their ear. Hero could feel their back pressed against Villain's chest with such intensity that it made it harder to decipher their intentions. 

Villain grasped tightly at their waist to prevent them from moving and continued feeding them detailed lies.

All of them weren't complete lies, however. They honestly did believe Hero was one of a kind, but more in the sense that they were a nuisance. 

"Are you trying to seduce me or convert me to your side?" Hero smirked tentatively; their body froze in anticipation as soon as Villain slid their arm around them and came to the front of their face smoothly, still aiming the dagger close to their throat.

"I was hoping you'd ask." 

Hero felt their cheeks rise in temperature. Their heart ached in a pain they couldn't bear as they forced the feeling down. The proximity to them didn't help either; maybe they did want to get cut after all, and perhaps they wanted to get hurt. Whatever kept pulling them in had locked them into a position of weakness. "So this was all…"

"Not all, my dear." They fiddled with the dagger. "But you shouldn't believe everything anyone tells you." They rolled their eyes and watched the crime fighter furrow their brows as a thought came over them.

Hero knew this was all a setup for their schemes, but when Villain had confirmed that all their praises were falsified to add to the game, a distressing emotion overtook their face. "I know you would never appreciate what's in front of you, but you really don't know me if you think that would work. "

Villain raised a brow, "Really now? Is that why you're trapped right where I need you?" They tapped Hero's nose playfully, 

"A small blunder for a large prize at the end."

"I guess you also love being rewarded too, huh? I can work with that."

Hero blushed but firmly remained grounded. "I'm not some kind of toy for you to play with, Villain."

"I know~" they chuckled, but Hero didn't buy it. "That's what makes you our city's favourite, isn't it? Those other heroes don't stand a chance against you, do they?"

They tried to push from their grip, but Villain was demanding and continued their fight. 

"Awfully clingy, hm?" They stared at each other with a tilted grin. If Villain would mess with their head, so could they.

Catching onto their new plot, Villain only excited the moment and pulled closer, "It's what you deserve after all that hard work. I know you want a little appreciation," Hero swallowed, their confidence now wavering, "Don't worry about it, dear."

Hero thought back to their earlier days as a hero. What little they could do was credited to more prominent heroes. Their acts of saviour went unnoticed for quite some time, so having Villain of all people notice did something to them they didn't expect. Their words failed them as their mind muddled.

"You're teasing me again." They whispered, this time with a look of disappointment. Although Villain recognized what they could do, these words all existed to coerce them into confusion, not to acknowledge their achievements.

It was evil. 

Self-centred.

Villainous.

Their rival frowned at the way Hero's voice shook in great despair, and this wasn't what they aimed for. Hero should've felt their ego boost enough for Villain to get away with all their plans. 

A simple few sentences couldn't have ruined them; it should've remade Hero.

"You're overthinking all of it. I just wanted to admire you-"

"I get it. So please, whatever this is…" their fragile mask fell apart as growing tears filled their vision. "You win, alright?"

They couldn't have been any more wrong. Villain placed the dagger away and inspected the scene playing in front of them. Their leather glove wiped down a tear with casual comfort. 

"Hmm?" Villain's eyes widened only slightly, not entirely believing what the results had come to. They'd assumed this would end much differently, but it had an unexpected consequence. "Feeling overwhelmed?" They murmured.

"Shut up."

Villain couldn't understand how their words could be misconstrued enough to impact Hero terribly.

They were all praises directed at commemorating Hero's work; it was nothing too special, only vague references and general connections to Hero.

Hero pulled themselves away from their arms and wiped their tears with frustration, "I'm letting you go. So leave before I regret anything."

"You really must not know me very well, love."

"I know you're not sincere."

They walked to their side and pulled their hands away from their face by the wrists, "Please, I'm not oblivious."

Hero's eyes met the ground in protest, "You could've done this any other way, and you chose to mess with my head?" Their heart raced rapidly. Even when they were mad, they were overjoyed at the evident concern from their adversary.

"You genuinely believe I think so lowly of you?" They leaned in. "Hero, the same one that deciphered my codes when no one could? Saved neighbourhoods alone and still made it home before dinner?" They raised their chin to meet eyes in the centre. "You do deserve all that attention." Their thumb circled their chin, "Though not everyone deserves you."

Hero had thought for a second that maybe they were still lying, still playing games with their head and leaving them to overthink it all later. It was better to stay in blissful ignorance than know; they nodded carefully, still doubtful but accepting of the words. 

~~~

MASTERLIST

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

WOW, a Mario Reacts! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Hell yeah, I can work with this!

(no bc seriously, I just finished watching ep. 7 of Arcane before this and I need an emotional break, yeah I know the rest of Act 3 is gonna kill me)

(the following is my live reaction:)

oh hey, Mario! Wassup?

jigsaw, is that you?

oh nvm, hello Swag! nice to see you again since last episode

I'm about to commit a crime [*strikes a pose then walks away*]

I'm willing to work in a government office just so I can come up with an acronym like, gee idk, Y.U.R.I. or something (I should've been a worker in NASA)

NO STOP STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?!

At this point, Mario, I would just give up

[*clears throat*] mejor me muero, ni modo que sigo con estos porquerías. bueno como dice Mario, bye bye [*drinks some water*] alright I'm back

TADC? ah, just a normal Saturday

no thoughts, head empty

honestly, mood

well, in his own way, yeah

[*echoes announcer voice*] VR, the new era of entertainment

...mr puzzles? nah jk jk

oh, Four's theory may not be wrong here (omg it's jesus)

still can't believe christianity is canon in the SMG4 universe

oh, so I was right! [*jigsaw voice*] "I wanna play a game."

That's actually kinda sweet that he immediately chooses his brother

OH SHIT OOOOH that's gotta hurt

NO MARIO, THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME

[*other me pops in*] emo girlfriend, omg it's smg3

no, we're NOT gonna look too much into this, shut up other me

PPFFFTTT that caught me so off guard

say it with me now: YOU CAN'T CONTROL MARIO [*applause*]

I mean, we've been through simulations before, we can take this one too

unironically, I wouldn't mind a 10-hour video of just Mario (and/or the rest of the Crew) just dancing :)

it doesn't even need to have music, I can just put my playlist on and I would totally join in

ooooh, you want to scan that QR code so badly

but also, how did they get a screenshot of my computer?

Mario 🤝 Mario Buddy from the last episode → destroying PCs for the LOLs

AKLDHLKSAFB;KL just the way Mario goes for a fighting stance just so he could run away will never not be funny to me

LET ME IN LET ME INNNNNNNNN

10 hours, welp I got my wish lmao

Mario morphing his face... hmmmm..... [*flashback noises*]

[SMG4: MAR10 Day]

....

don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it

KIRBO NOOOOOOOOO

NO NO NO SWAG NO

same vibes

meme factory? youtube arc? is that you? /j

(yeah I know that the Team uses the same assets ik)

LET'S DO THISSSS oh welp time to vibe

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

what would that be, Swag? Try not to Laugh challenge? I might win tbh

LET'S GO GAMBLING

laughing because of early victory call? very in character for Swag

oooh that's some good animation (y'know, as always)

HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE

am i thinking too much into this or is this the same military base from last episode?

Alright, my little headcanon: the events of this episode and the last one took place on the exact same day

that's just for me specifically

oh hey, more TADC ref

Also, nice PINGAS STUCK IN A DOOR ref

man Mario can't catch a break dude

Congrats to CMorseu for your art being featured at the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Such a good episode! Not plot-heavy, just a silly episode. I'll gladly take it as my late birthday present. And it's great to have Swag back, kinda was half-expecting Chris to just pop out.

I've said this once and I'll say it again: I wouldn't mind if the rest of the year is just filled with goofy episodes. After all, we just came from WOTFI and we do need a bit of a break so the Team could work on the next arc. (From the looks of things, we might get goop!4 *cough cough*)

Loved the bits of animation and Mario's expressions as always.

Now, I know there is some talk about the SMG4 Crew/Mario Does Things being on hiatus and merging with the Saturday videos. If you can even call it that. Personally, I don't mind it. I completely understand if doing 2 episodes per week is a lot for the Team to handle, though I do wish they would give an explanation for it. I think the best solution would be for the Team making an announcement of the change, the reasons behind it, and how it may be different from the regular Saturday episodes. Also make it clear that "hey, the title says this so it doesn't impact the main storyline".

Anyway, it has been overall a pretty funny episode and I quite enjoyed it! Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna cry my eyes out watching the rest of Arcane Act 3 and bring that angst to the next episode concept :)

OH THE MISERY EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY ENEMYYYYYYY

[pinkexpertnerdghost]

An analysis on Pavia from Reverse1999 (Alternative Title: Me yapping about Pavia's backstory and making headcanons/personal interpretation based on the crumbs of lore we get 😭)

I recently thought about this. I've been grinding in this game cause it's so pretty and the voice acting is delicious. That's my own opinion though. And I want to write this down because It will consume me of I don't.

So all you Pavia stans and fans, this one is for y'all since there is only a handful of stuff about him online.😭🥹

So if any players main/use Pavia a lot and build up Bond with him we get his backstory and more voiclines. And spoiler, in Pavia's second character story, it mentions how he was literally abused/neglected from his legal guardian (bitch-ass aunt) because according to her, he looked closely resembling her mother(aunt's sis).

Also that, the aunts sister (Pavia's mum) is apparently dead??? But present Pavia states She's in "an asylum in Rome in probably her middle ages" and "he's never visited her".

So...does he believe she's still alive? Or did the aunt tell him that his mother was just 'insane' and 'unwell' that she was sent to an asylum and was the reason he was under her care? Never informing her own nephew about the passing of his mother?? Cause man.....that's kind of messed up if so. 🫠😶

I'll assume that Pavia's mom, being a single parent since the dad was 'missing', felt overwhelmed or inadequate to be a mom and left him with her sister (the aunt). Since the aunt described her sister as 'sorrowful' 'who abandoned her' and that she 'left behind her troublesome kid'.

I want to believe that Pavia's mom did love him. To some extent. She sang rhymes for him when he was probably a toddler (mentioned in one of his voice lines). She probably sang them so often to him that a grown Pavia can vaguely recall her lullabies. She probably thought that she really wasn't cut out to be a mom; he already had a 'missing' father, what can she do? Keep in mind that this is probably set in the late 70's or early 80's. And based on the societal steriotypes/stigmas, this reasoning seems plausible. And maybe thought that the best decision was to leave him in the care of her sister.

Or perhaps she was in a dangerous situation because she did apparently 'died a few years later' after "going into the city."

Was she in a tight situation? Was this perhaps linked to why Pavia's father was missing? Maybe the family was involved with a crime group or dangerous people? I find it suspect that his father was said to be missing, and that the mom died a few years later after dropping off her son with the aunt.

Going by the later assumption, could this have been a decision to protect her son? If so....it just makes Pavia's backstory and with the way his aunt treated him makes his story that much more tragic and unfair.

But back to the aunt.

The sister...now being tasked to look after a nephew who resembled her sad, irresponsible and 'selfish' sister, she confines him to a basement 24/7 to not look at him because of her personal issues/resentment towards his mother.

Pavia as a child calls out to her, fucking apologies for something he had no control over (his looks, his mom's decision), and is angry at this treatment. (Which honestly, fuck the aunt bro. Fuck Pavia's aunt bro, me and the homies hate Pavia's aunt. The kid did nothing wrong. Just because you resent his parents doesn't excuse the poor treatment you push onto the child. Your biological sister left him in your care and then later on died, the least you can do is provide for probably the only living relative you have left.)

Maybe this is linked to why Pavia has such a flamboyant and artistic style in appearance. Dyed white hair, but his natural dark roots are showing. Tinted glasses, to obscure his silver blue eyes and deep shades under his eyes. Random jewelry on his hands he doesn't really care for. The varies ink on him that make his skin a canvas. The cool ass piercings.

And while this could be a tactic to keep his identity a secret or untraceable for the authorities due to his job as an independent merc, just maybe..... he didn't want to be reminded of who he looked like whenever he looks at himself.

Maybe he didn't want to resemble his mother. It was because of his appearance that his aunt confined him to solitude. Something he had no control over, but as he got older....he gained control over how he looked and dressed. He never visits her in the asylum, she was the second person who abandoned him and the cause of his aunts hatred towards him. So....he probably has either a neutral or negative towards his mother.

In the basement, he develops a very unhealthy lifestyle; having no real concept of time, little sunlight, the sound of dripping water and pests constantly providing an uneasy atmosphere, but he develops his arcanum.

His imaginary friends, who watch over him and keep him warm. Since the humans who were supposed to do that, failed him so horribly.

His imaginary friends who bloomed from the darkest shadows of the basement due to his budding arcanum. Quiet literally.... byproducts of his own loneliness, perhaps yearning to be a part of a family, and strong arcanum.

He couldn't and wouldn't rely on any human, he had to fend for himself.

And because of this, he became an "independent mercenary" with a fatal flaw of " lacking in collaborative skills". He is good at what he does...but his employers "can't stand his work ethic of ignoring his coworkers". He comes across as having an unlikable personality and rudeness. He has a hard time getting along with other people. And honestly? Who can blame him. With the way he was raised...no wonder he doesn't like people in general.

But why should he? Why should he rely on people? His own biological family left him alone in that basement, he never developed any real friends as a child, he didn't get the chance to grow up like a normal child.

He had no one but he made it work. So why should he start to rely on people? For them to abandon him or betray him?

His former boss had planned to betray him, to kill him. So Pavia struck first, keeping only his tie clip as memorabilia.

Pavia is a lone wolf....as corny as that sounds. But he grew up alone, in a dark den. So close yet so far from human society, he made friends from the shadows that kept him company. That once lonely confinement didn't seem so lonely after a while, he grew to find comfort in his predicament.

Adapting and pushing ahead, finding a twisted sort of 'fun' 'excitment' and 'joy' in the most tragic and unfortunate circumstances; his job as a merc and the 'unsavory' nature of his job.

_______________________________________________

Pavia has become one of my favorite characters in media, despite the media he originates from having limited personal information about their playable characters.

But I think this is also a reason why he's so interesting to me. It leaves little crumbs and pieces of background that is mostly left to be assumed by the player's/reader's interpretation. It's fun to assume and make these little narratives and head cannons about them.

And the fact some parts of his story hit a wee bit close to home. Just a little though. I mean... it is unfair and so infuriating for a child to be antagonized or disliked by family just because they look more like one parent than the other.

But ye....this is just my own personal interpretation of this characters background. Mostly just me yapping and connecting the dots on silly head canons. I should write a one shot or series about this guy. He's such a goob.

[paragonrobits]

there's been some real drama with that Youtuber I Hate and a youtuber whom i have come to greatly respect and honestly its been a delight seeing that youtuber i dont like going full circle on 'fuck around and find out' and apparently rapid-fire switching between constantly crying about being victimized and being a vicious and hateful person to apparently EVERYONE who interacts with her (follower or not) and it's a real case of a kind of internet personality i find exhausting but its made me realize a few things:

one is she apparently considers superhero comics an inherently Bad genre without artistic value (a bold statement coming from someone whose big media opinons are 'the entirety of Japan are man-children who do sex crimes' and 'i'm going to hate on these cartoons for not turning into a murder frenzy at the last second'). i'd say she's clearly never read Magneto's story arc under Claremont, or anything to do with the Morrison run on Doom Patrol (its artistic, demented, filled with coming to terms with horrific trauma, your own depersonalization, and also the primary antagonist is literal nonsense) or the famous story God Loves Man Kills but i ain't holding my breath

the second thing is that apparently she's under the belief that once you have been victimized, it excuses all your actions. This lines up with some common elements i've seen in fandom, especially those who fixate on villlains as the True Heroes, similar to some of my other thoughts on how people seem to tihnk a compelling/tragic origin justifies anything the character does. This is the mentality of completely divorcing a character's moral place in a narrative from their actions, and instead based on their victimhood. It really explains the whole idea i keep seeing there, and its something to address in my story concepts.

Third thing is more important, more profound. Its hard for me to articulate WHY people like this bother me so much; that they're so unrelentingly unpleasant, cruel to everyone around them, and even similar attitudes of people who are just casually rude. Even if there's no harm meant, you can just... not talk like that. You don't have to be mean with every single word you say, and you can resist the urge to turn every exchange or observation into an opportunity to sound like a smart ass; that's how you get stuff after James Earl Jones dies, you post pictures of Mufasa's death and then fail to understand why people are upset by you immediately making a joke about an inoffensive, much beloved voice actor who never did anything to you.

So i think about how to describe this... or perhaps how to AVOID this. How to talk and act in ways that's softer and doesn't hurt people for a quick joke or jibe, or acts like they can't understand why its wrong. And then I remember the game Undertale, where in the Pacifist route (the only route I've ever played), Sans will warmly tell a player who has actively refused to ever kill or hurt a single monster by saying that 'it just means you kept tenderness in your heart', and i think that's a good way to do it.

Just keep some tenderness in your heart. Let yourself be open and be gentle as much as you can. A thing that is tender ache when it hurts something or hits something pretty much at all, so its important to keep that tenderness so you DON'T hurt others too.

The world is sad and unpleasant enough as it is. You don't need to make things worse just so you can feel better about yourself.

[peskellence]

Pairing: RK900/Gavin Reed

Tags: Post Pacifist Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Smut, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Masterlist

Read on AO3 here:

Summary: A lot has changed since the revolution. Crimes against androids are now being treated with greater severity, with many being subject to the same penalties as crimes against humans. While anti-android attitudes are on the decline, transforming the mindset of an entire city is no simple task.

A reluctant Gavin Reed and his new partner RK900 have been assigned to investigate a string of disturbing murders. Despite the shift in Detroit's social climate, Gavin still holds reservations about whether or not androids are truly alive. Will his developing feelings for 'Nines' prompt a shift in perspective?

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depression/Self Destructive Behaviour, Smut

Word Count: 3.3K

Gavin wondered if maybe he was seeing things. That the haunting familiarity of the face, along with the dark hair and powerful physique, was simply coincidental. The shared manifestation of his weary mind and blighted focus. 

A bloodied pipe was clutched in the hand of the man above him as the other continued to grip his jaw. The object drew closer, and he flinched back instinctively, only to feel its blunt edge run across his cheek. Trailed with deliberate slowness. He strained to pull away, but a firm hold anchored him in place.

Then he met the eyes of his assailant, alight with cruel intent.

"Alex."

A smirk played on the man's lips as his eyes rolled disdainfully. “Don’t look so surprised. Did you honestly think someone like me would be interested in someone like you?”

In retrospect, he should have known the moment he had heard the Reaper’s voice. It had all the same distinct inflexions, with little effort made to disguise them. An accent he had never been able to shift—

His mind was charged with more questions than he could process, exacerbating the raw ache in the back of his head. Through hesitant lips, a prevailing thought managed to escape. 

"What the fuck." 

Alex paused, his brow arching at the expletive. With a sigh, he abandoned the pipe, the hollow metal clanking against the concrete. 

"I don't know why I expected anything more articulate from you." He looked down his nose with palpable disgust. "Charging headfirst into an unfamiliar setting, seeking out a known threat. You've made this too easy."

Gavin's eyes swept the floor, noting the fine streak of blood that had been left from his initial violent impact. He could feel the liquid beneath his head beginning to spread, fanning towards it. "What happened to your M.O. of just hurting androids? Did blue get old, you sick bastard?"

Alex brought down his knee in a sharp, jerking movement. It was propelled into the other man's body, lodging uncomfortably into his gut. "I have never hurt a human who didn't deserve it. You only have yourself to blame for this."

Wheezing as the air was knocked from his lungs, Gavin grappled with a sudden wave of nausea. Reaching out to hold his stomach, the movement was promptly halted. Alex grabbed his wrist, wrenching it to the side at an unnatural angle.

"After you told that idiot Scott your name, he wouldn't shut up about you. Brought it up at meetings for weeks. You and your little plastic pet."

"So you fuckers really do meet up for coffee", Gavin teased, echoing the theory Fowler had presented several weeks prior. "Guess even parasites need something to keep ‘em going." 

"Don't act so high and mighty. From what I'd understood, I was hoping we might see eye to eye."

"Why the fuck would you think that?"

"‘It gets a little zesty when it needs an oil change.’" A sadistic grin spread across the killer's face, stretching ear to ear. He grasped Gavin's second wrist and pinned them both above his head. "Does that sound familiar, Detective? It should. Or do you express such sentiments with enough frequency that you'd simply forgotten?"

Gavin could feel his bravado beginning to dissipate. “...Things change”, he seethed, withering at the unpleasant memory as nausea continued to churn his stomach.

"I highly doubt that," Alex dismissed, his mocking smile curling down into a disapproving grimace. "You fell into the same trap as so many other degenerates in this godless city. Why invest the time and effort into winning the affections of a human when you can simply bed a machine?" 

"Nines said Scott and Finch didn't know who you were. That none of them knew who you were. How did they trick him?"

"They didn't." The disgust on the other man's face only grew more pronounced. "They weren't the only mentally challenged members of their organisation. I wasn't about to reveal myself with such transparency, and no one ever asked questions. If there is one thing the group values, it is anonymity."

"Well, isn't that lovely?" Gavin replied dryly. "Got to look out for your own, right?" 

"They served their purposes." His knee, which was still positioned against the detective’s stomach, pushed itself in a second time with targeted strength. "It really is horrifying just how much you can find out about a person with a little digging. Joined the force at 23, and a Detective by 26. Very impressive, I'm sure your father must be proud."

The words hurt more than any of the physical anguish that Alex was subjecting him to—and the knowing twinkle in the other man's eyes told Gavin he was aware of this. Unable to contain his fury, he lunged towards him, snarling like an untamed animal. 

"You piece of shit, I'll fucking kill you."

His defiance was rewarded with a harsh strike across the face. Alex seemed to revel in how he reeled from the impact, his head lulling back before flopping to its original position. 

"I am speaking. Be quiet and listen". The words carried with them a disquieting nonchalance. "Of course, you hardly have a squeaky clean reputation. Quite a contentious figure, even within your local community—and that was before I bypassed the laughable encryption on your DPD database."

"Oh wow, so clever." Gavin’s voice dripped with sarcasm, intermingling with the blood that poured from his lips. "I'm really impressed."

"Lengthy disciplinary record, including repeated ‘property damage’," Alex continued, the twisted smile returning. "Very much opposed to the ‘robot helpers' your department employed when doing the job yourselves proved too tasking."

"I'm sure this all gets you super rock hard, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"I don't like having to repeat myself. Be quiet, you won't get another warning."

Gavin’s jaw hardened defiantly as he levelled his attacker with a narrowed glare. He was growing tired of just how much the killer seemed to be enjoying himself, dragging out every twisted revelation.

"I was unable to access the files on my own work, which was frustrating—but I had learnt enough about you to know that I could secure them through other means." 

The grip on his wrists seemed to tighten, the flesh being squeezed with bruising ferocity.  

"Interesting result on the most recent police census, wasn't it? Turns out that your love for machines isn't the only deviancy you're partial to." 

Through a wince, the detective laughed before rolling his eyes in flagrant dismissal. "It's 2039, and we're still hating on the gays? Go fuck yourself." 

Alex let go of his wrists, seeming to take some time to deliberate on his next move. His fingers curled into tightened fists, and before Gavin could react, one of them descended—striking his nose with a sickening crunch.

"It was no surprise to see you were single. I assumed you'd be the sort of person who would use something like USwipe. From there, it was just a matter of finding and seducing you."

"Didn't work though, did it?" Gavin hissed back, wheezing through the pain as flecks of red propelled from his lips. "I threw your ass out."

"Forgive me if I don't think much of your taste." He gripped the other man's jaw, his eyes narrowing with predatory focus. "It's a pity. You could've been useful… in exchange for your compliance, I could've given you what you wanted."

A thumb trailed languidly across his lips, and Gavin felt his stomach twist. It made him sick, just how willing Alex was to abandon his own demented convictions for the sake of furthering his goals.

"Pleasure, fulfilment—"

His snarling mouth lunged for the thumb, threatening to capture it between his teeth. "Don't touch me."

"You're hardly in a position to be making demands." 

The hold on his jaw trailed up, capturing his face in a stifling vice. Excruciating pressure was applied to either side of his nose. Gavin attempted to pull the hand away, but his limbs felt heavy and weak.

"Tell me where the machine is, or better yet, lead it to me, and I might be willing to give you another chance."

"I'd rather die."

The pressure increased, and the detective howled, writhing in agony. Warm trails of blood poured from his nose, passing through gaping lips. 

"I tried to warn you, Gavin, that nothing good would come from your sordid affair. You didn't listen, and now it's too late."

"You—don't scare—me." The words were spat in bitter fragments, mingling with the warm swell of copper filling the back of his throat.

"I should." Alex shifted his weight to intensify the pressure on his already aching ribs. Their bodies were close—too close—as powerful hands found his neck and began to squeeze. "I gave you a choice. Perhaps I wouldn't have had to kill that RK900 and his blood traitor whore if you'd simply made the right one." 

"There was—never any—choice", Gavin challenged, wheezing as the pressure increased. You would have carried on killing—regardless of what I did—Miles and the rest."

"Oh no, Detective, that was personal." Alex shot back, chuckling darkly. "I needed to send you and your partner a message so you'd understand the fates that awaited you. Their blood is on your hands."

"Don't try to—guilt me—” The wheezing escalated to chokes as his throat began to close. "This was all part of your game—they were just toys. Ones you decided to—tease us with—after you'd broken them."

Then Alex slackened his grip just enough to allow Gavin to breathe. Cracks were beginning to form in his unnervingly calm demeanour, betraying hints of frustration.

"So narrow-minded. To equate my puzzle to a child playing with toys”. He spat the words as though they lingered with an unpleasant taste on his tongue. "Don't try to convince me that you would have been able to solve it alone. Some vulgar, braindead alcoholic, all washed up before the age of 40."

"There was never any grand puzzle; you just wanted to pretend like there was. Scattered jumbles and fucking brainteasers sprinkled around to make you feel clever."

Gavin’s head was pulled forward, wrenched up by his throat before being harshly thrust back, slamming against the concrete.

"Perhaps you're right. There was never a test for you because there was never any hope that you could understand my message."

His vision filled with stars as he reeled from the impact. Despite this, he stayed resolute, chin jutted in defiance. He refused to lie back, quietly allowing the Reaper his moment of triumph. 

Scoffing through his split lips, he flashed a mocking sneer. "You can't accept that your big fucking 'message' has all the depth of a kid playing make-believe. You have no morals, no grand code of ethics. You're just a fucking lunatic."

It was evident that Alex was tired of playing games. His hand dove into his pocket, and a glint of light caught against something metal. The barrel of a gun emerged before being pressed to Gavin's temple. 

"You may not have been my intended prize, but your android-loving blood will make a fine anointment." 

As the cold steel brushed his skin, he shuddered in morbid anticipation. His tortured subconscious appeared to seek comfort as his mind became awash with memories. The sound of laughter, the smell of popcorn, and the shared warmth found underneath a throw blanket. As he cowered away from a flickering television, his father laughed, holding him close and shielding his eyes. 

At least I get to see him again.  

A finger traced along the trigger of the gun, ready to pull, as Gavin glared back at him. Unyielding and unafraid. He could only hope that Hank and Connor would find them soon—to complete his objective where he had failed. 

Give this fucker hell, guys. 

Then, there was a rogue shuffle coming from the other end of the warehouse—followed by a voice. While muffled by the thick walls and reinforced steel of the door, it was still audible. Calling out to him—low and growled with frustration: 

 

"Reed…? Oh fucking Christ, where has he gone?"

"He must be close. I am beginning to pick up on some vital signs."

 

Alex’s finger, which had been poised in place, promptly stalled. A flicker of confusion passed his face before it gave way to stony realisation. "So you didn't come alone."

A weighty pause hung in the air as the figures beyond the door fell silent. Then, one of them spoke again, with audible trepidation:

 

"...Hank, there's two sets of vitals. He isn't alone."

"Ho’ shit, that ain't good."

 

The killer appeared to have lost interest in his awaiting prey as Gavin felt the pressure on his forehead begin to slacken. A malicious glint shone in his eyes as he looked across the room, suggesting that his target had shifted. "I know that voice...an RK800. Not the one I wanted, but a prize I will happily claim."

A spark of hope rekindled as Gavin, seeing his opportunity, was quick to grasp it. With shaky hands, he reached up and pressed a palm to the side of the barrel, angling it away from his head. In the same movement, he enclosed himself around Alex, yanking harshly to one side. The unexpected force caught the other man off balance, and he was sent hurtling onto the concrete with a harsh thud. 

The momentum left the detective reeling as his fraught mind sought to catch up—but he pressed forward, knowing he needed to act fast. Spotting his weapon by a nearby shelving unit, he struggled to his feet, legs quivering. He hobbled towards the gun and, with a triumphant hiss, reached down to claim it.

Having recovered from the shock of the strike, Alex had composed himself and was raising his weapon once again. Gavin was able to act first—and with a desperate, thunderous cry, he fired off a shot. It was done so blindly, eyes unfocused, as his weakened body reeled from the force—but it still succeeded in hitting its mark. 

The bullet lodged into the other man's leg, and he hissed in agony, doubling over as he used his free hand to cup the wound. "You bastard." His darkened gaze stared at him, brimming with hatred. With focused intent, he pulled the trigger. 

There was pain. Like white hot shrapnel, piercing the numbing rush of adrenaline. Gavin’s trembling hand reached over and lightly touched the front of his chest. Pulling away, he was greeted by a thick sheen of red that had coated his palm and fingers. 

Oh, shit.

Despite his best efforts, buckling knees began to give way, and he collapsed to the ground in a slumped heap.

A loud crash emanated from the other end of the room as the steely door of the warehouse was promptly slammed open. Hurried footsteps came charging through, and Gavin saw Connor appear from around the corner—gun in hand, raised offensively. "Detroit Police, stand down!" 

Alex made a strange huffing noise—caught somewhere between frustration and satisfaction. Despite his injury, he was quick, lunging towards the android—his own weapon primed, aimed at the crucial components in his chest. The attempt was quickly evaded as Connor darted to one side, and the bullet fired through a box on one of the shelves. 

Gavin watched on from his curled position on the floor, at a loss to do anything but grapple for oxygen through increasingly laboured breaths. Connor, catching sight of him, stilled temporarily, his brown eyes blown in horror. Quivering lips opened to speak, but the detective stopped him, reaching out to point in a weakened gesture. "Behind you."

The man sprang forward, closing the distance between them, and shoved the barrel of the weapon firmly into Connor’s back. The android anticipated this, reaching back and grabbing his wrist—angling the shot towards the ceiling and causing it to fire harmlessly into the air. 

As the officer tightened his grip, Alex cried out. He grappled to maintain his hold through increasingly crushing pressure until another hand reached around and yanked the gun from his grasp—tossing it to one side.

In an attempt to knock Connor off balance, the killer threw himself back, pulling the android with him. Once both figures had fallen to the floor, he sought to establish a distance between them. Frenzied eyes canvassed the room in search of a weapon before settling on the weighty pipe that he had previously discarded. 

Having armed himself once again, he reached up, aiming to strike through his target's head. Then Hank, who had been standing in wait, emerged from behind one of the shelving units and pointed his weapon towards his hand. "I don't think so, scumbag."

With another shot, the flesh of his wrist was pierced, and the pipe slipped from his weakened grasp. In a final act of desperation—and seemingly spurred by nothing but hatred—Alex promptly abandoned strategy. He charged at Connor full force as grappling hands sought out the junction between his head and throat. 

Synthetic skin peeled back to a wave of exposed white before the android moved again. He switched their positions in a deft twist of bodies, settling behind Alex—arm enclosed around his neck. 

As the human struggled, he held him tight before aiming a sharp chop at the point between his shoulder and neck. His writhing body stilled before slumping down weakly. 

The android let go and allowed the unconscious man to slip silently onto the floor. Hank reached down to restrain him, retrieving a set of handcuffs from his jacket pocket. 

"Guess the machines win this time, eh, buddy?" 

Connor seemed to take a moment to revel in their victory, smiling pridefully. However, the triumphant expression quickly dropped upon hearing a strained gurgle that leaked from Gavin's lips.

The room around him started to spin, exacerbated by a sudden blur of movement, as the android rushed for him. Delicate pressure was applied to his head before it was gently hoisted up. 

"Detective Reed…?" When the response was not immediate, Connor spoke louder, shaking his body. "Gavin, can you hear me?"

"You’re two inches from my ear, dipshit. So yeah, I can hear you." 

The strain of the words spurred on a wave of violent, rattling coughs as Gavin struggled to breathe. With the exertion came several speckles of red, which dotted the front of Connor's suit. 

"I'm going to scan you to assess your injuries; try not to move." Upon completion, the android's lips pulled inwards in a disconcerting look of unease before he turned to his partner. "We need to get him to a hospital immediately."

The older man cursed under his breath, clearly put out by the urgency with which the android said this. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, before frantically swiping across the screen. "Okay, okay, I got it."

"Immediately, huh? That’s not soundin’ like a great prognosis…" Gavin laughed weakly, punctuated by laboured gasps. His vision was growing increasingly blurred as he bared his teeth in a bloodied smile. "Hey, Connor. Can you do something for me?"

Through the haze, he saw the android lean in closer, brow furrowed in concentration. "What?" 

"Look after Nines”, he rasped as a powerful surge of pain shot its way through his ribs. "I know you will just…make sure he’s safe."

His head flopped against Connor’s grasp. He felt tired, desperate to sleep, as his eyelids started to droop. 

"...Gavin?" He felt someone tapping against his cheek. Lightly at first before building in intensity. "We're going to get you help, but you need to hang on."

As he faded further into his subconscious, the sounds around him grew muffled and distant, mingling into waves of static. Through the buzz, one noise broke through—a loud thump which resonated throughout the room. 

When a distant chatter of voices broke out, he wondered if he might be hallucinating. His head was slowly dropped and pressed against the concrete. It felt cold and bracing against his skin, but this no longer bothered him.  

"Sooner—I tried to get—" 

Shit. Hank only just made the call, right? That’s got to be the quickest dispatch in history. 

But something didn’t seem right. There was not enough movement, no rush of people spurred to action. Instead, he was being lifted again, cradled in somebody's arms.  

Through cracked eyes, everything appeared pale and distant—but he made out flashes of red as the figure held him close. The intimacy of the exchange had been unexpected. Of all the people to embrace him as he began to fade, Connor seemed unlikely. 

Then he saw another figure walk into sight. Through an indistinct blur of features, he made out a prominent stroke of grey—distinctive of the clothes that Connor had been wearing.

Well fuck, guess I’m seeing double. 

"I’ve got you, it’s okay, I’m here." The tones were rich and smooth. Whispered softly into his ear, seeking to comfort him. Despite this, there was palpable rawness. A despaired vulnerability that could not be disguised.

Wait. 

He focused on the figure's eyes and noted that the rich brown was absent, replaced instead by steely grey. "Nines?" 

The android spoke again, and it took a moment for Gavin to realise he was addressing him. With what remained of his dwindling strength, he focused solely on Nines. Drowning out everything else. He could feel a hand run down his cheek, nursing it with featherlight strokes. 

"Don't try to speak. Save your strength."

His fingers twitched as he attempted to lift his arm, to clasp their hands together, but the limb lay still and unresponsive—despite how fervently he compelled it. Heavy lids stooped further, shadowing what remained of the dimming light around him. 

Nines' typically level tones trembled with desperation. His instructions came with greater urgency until they had escalated to anguished pleas. "Keep looking at me. Don't close your eyes. Please, you have to stay awake."

Gavin struggled to maintain focus—to keep his eyes open—but his lingering tethers to the world around him were beginning to slip. His breathing grew increasingly shallow, the exertion becoming too much for his beaten body to handle. 

Nines lost what remained of his composure as his voice broke away to a harsh, choked sob. "I'm sorry, Gavin. I'm so sorry." He held him close, pressing their foreheads together, as tears began to run down his face. "I love you. Please don't go."

Then everything went black.

[aceantarctic]

The Pink Clawed Eclipse

You know, in all the storyshift takes, versions and whatnot, I NEVER see anything done with Mad Mew Mew, which is weird considering her direct connections to MTT and Blooky in canon, you'd think she'd have a more prominent role cause of that. This led me to havin' an idea for what MMM could be like in Storyshift, involving a small bit of reboot's lore and acknowledging some of her subtler connections in Undertale Mew Mew didn't have much to do in her free time, most of the time she just sat in waterfall, pondering and grieving... not like she had anyone to go back to, everyone was either dead or... well the one who was around had better people to talk to than her. They probably don't even remember her for the better honestly But, sometimes she'd venture on down to Snowdin, and at the very end of the forest, there was a door. And a "Overly loud rattling voice" behind it, but that wasn't so bad, not that she finally had someone to talk to... to accept her. And he enjoyed her too! They had so many conversations together Eventually, she noticed that he seemed, quieter than usual, so she asked what was wrong "TELL ME, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HUMANS?" ... this wasn't a question she was expecting. She wasn't exactly a fan of them but... she didn't hate them either. Human's couldn't of been that bad her cousins were able to befriend one... "Well, they're alright I guess, why you asking?" And so Papyrus explained the events that had transpired to the friend he trusted ...turns out, a group dubbing themselves the "Solar Warriors" had killed a human he'd adopted after they were moved to be with Sans to be protected She was appalled to hear this, someone had killed the princes child.. who CARES with they were human it... WHO DOES THAT?!? And was... No one going to object to their actions? To call them OUT for murder?!? Even if it was a human, surely breaking into the THRONE ROOM is against some sort of law, right? Just cause they're part of a little group shouldn't absolve them of any crimes... ...well, even if others are just willing to ignore that for "the sake of freedom", she isn't. She's getting answers. It didn't take long to find out who was involved or where they where situated (pretty easy to look up articles on the Undernet about what happened.. at least once you know it did) and soon enough, she confronted them at waterfall She was furious and god was she letting it be known, how AWFUL and REVOLTING they were When she asked the warriors why they killed a human despite the fact that both Royals had given her the a-okay to live, she was met with "IT'S FOR THE GOOD OF THE KINGDOM" "IT'S FOR OUR FREEDOM!" "WE'VE WAITED FOR SO LONG!" "IT'S WHAT THE GHOSTS WOULD'VE WANTED!" "YEAH, WE DID IT FOR THEM!" Hearing them say something so WRONG about both the royals AND her cousins... it sent her over the edge These... "warriors" weren't seeking justice or freedom, and this wasn't even about revenge. They just wanted a reason to kill humans, and were willing to use ANYTHING to excuse either actions ...even lying to someone's FACE about what their family would've wanted... And she. wasn't. having. it These people want to act like they're above consequences do they? Well two can play at that game... And she is MUCH better at it than they are Countless screams. Boundless dust. All washed away by the stream of murky water And yet. She couldn't care. Why should she care about a bunch of "no name" liers and murders? She could go back to doing...whatever it was she used to do... ...but what if it happened again? What if they tried to kill another innocent under these hallow excuses? Who would hold them accountable then? ... Guess she just found something else to do in her freetime... and something that'd finally let her atone for failing her family before...

...and there's a certain human in Snowdin who very much does appreciate the "pink clawed eclipse"'s vigilantism.

[animentality]

(Leaps in askbox now its clear) Howdy! I'm curious about your opinions on the companions, like initial thoughts and now that you've clocked in an unhealthy (affectionate) amount of hours? We know what you'd change but how about everyone as is? Thanks!

Alrighty, I can finally answer this one...

Ok.

Man. This is gonna be a long one.

We're gonna start with the shorter opinions first.

Minthara:

I have not done a run where Minthara was alive in Act 2. I literally know almost nothing about her.

I think she's hot and has the sexiest voice of all the female characters, but I know nothing about her story, other than she was a lesbian with Orin. I do wanna try and romance her, but.

Who knows if I'll ever get around to it.

Minsc:

I get that he's a fan favorite from the old games, but I kind of hate him. He feels like fanservice, and I didn't get a nostalgia boner for him, so he does nothing for me as a character.

I honestly kill him. Not out of malice, just more out of, why even have him be here?

Plus I tend to go through the entire game without swapping my party members, because I'm pretending it's a real dnd campaign.

And I ain't changing my team comp for this weirdo who only shows up at the very end.

Sorry to his hamster when I kill him, though.

Jaheira:

She's ok. I don't hate her, but she doesn't do it for me. I don't get why she's Russian. And apparently the only Russian in the whole game.

She also feels like fanservice.

Plus she fucking drops ice storms on everyone's goddamn HEADS when they're already in Hunger of Hadar, and honestly?

We have beef. I let her die sometimes, for that crime specifically. I also skip her house, because it doesn't have good loot, besides the scimitars, and I don't play races or classes that use scimitars. like ever.

Halsin:

I like Halsin generally, he's inoffensive to me, but his "romance" is so bad. It's shallow, it feels tacked on, which it was, and everyone knows how much I HATE how little his sexual trauma is focused on.

I romanced him twice, and both times, I was underwhelmed and kind of shrugged him off.

He should just be a fling option like Mizora. He shouldn't have become a "romance" option. It's fine for him to be a big buff bear hippie that you can fuck, but a companion?

He's got nothing to do with Act 3. It's a detriment to his character and the game, tbh.

Ok, that's the smaller ones out of the way. Now mains:

Astarion:

I got into BG3 for Astarion.

I fully admit it. I saw a scene of him screaming at Tav for blasting him with the sun beam from the githyanki creche, and it was funny as fuck.

Neil Newbon is highly charismatic, and truly elevates a character I don't find that physically attractive. His personality and enthusiasm shine through, and his voice acting is superb. And I am a sucker for angst and redemption and themes of abuse and breaking free of toxic relationships. And darkly, I admit. I do like the more twisted nature of his backstory, the way he had to use his body to survive, has a bad relationship with sex, and was tortured repeatedly. As anyone who reads my writing knows...I am a disgusting sadistic pervert.

That being said.

I no longer like Astarion. Well. No. I like Astarion.

I don't like his fans, or his rhetoric. Astarion has the better writing of BG3, but the lack of nuance from his fans annoys the shit out of me, and overexposure to him as a character, since Tumblr and TikTok are obsessed with him?

No me gusta. I don't hate him as a character, but I can't stand to see Astarion is so perfect posts. He's not, and that's the whole point. He's awful, but you people don't appreciate that. I don't want to see Astarion x Tav headcanons. And I especially do not care about the BookTok crowd being obsessed with him because they just like a dommy vampire, and disrespect his narrative with absolutely no self awareness.

BookTok Astarion is SO GODDAMN BORING. They really just reduce him to a hot dommy vampire daddy, and that's why I never take BookTok recs. Pure garbage.

So. TL;DR - I got BG3 for him, but overexposure to his fans made me be significantly less interested in him. It's a good thing. If I was obsessed with Astarion, I'd be forced to interact with his fans. Thank god for Gortash... I'm free of that prison.

Lae'zel:

I loved Lae'zel the minute she was mean to me.

She's hot as fuck, like seriously, so hot, her neck makes me sweat something fierce, and her voice is sultry and raspy and hostile. just how i like my women.

But I admit...she's too fucking meta. gameplay wise, she's probably the strongest companion you can have for DPS...so I admit...I've had her on my teams so much, that I am sick of her.

And again! It's not because she's badly written. I actually think her character is really strong, and really awesome. I also think her arc is amazing, going from this devoted cult member to basically saying I'm going to fucking kill a god.

I actually teared up a little at the creche this one time, when I had to beg her to stay, and she was like, you knew I had no other path to follow, but this one, or something like that.

But.

But I have beaten the game with her in my party like three times. I've had her in my party on Honor mode like...a million times.

So, tl;dr - I love her to death, but gameplay wise, she's so strong that I can't play her anymore.

Shadowheart:

Ok...I admit it.

I don't like Shadowheart. I find her boring visually, because she's just this generically hot white girl. She was designed to be the companion that all straight cis white men would want to see naked, and that's fine but uh.

Does absolutely nothing for me.

I don't care for her personality either. I don't like her lines, all coy and vaguely condescending. I don't really like how mean she is to you, and it's different from Lae'zel, because at least Lae'zel came from a warrior culture that doesn't put much value on flowery language. Lae'zel makes sense.

Shadowheart is an amnesiac who's just mean to you because.

I also don't care for her story, at all.

Don't care about Shar's Gauntlet or her kidnapped backstory. Don't give a shit about her parents. Don't care that she's scared of wolves or that her hand hurts.

I like the overarching thematic bridge that her character exists on, specifically that the gods will demand everything of you, and will hurt you for their own amusement.

But as a companion...no.

I have never been interested in romancing her. I never have her on the party, except to get that achievement.

I also don't like clerics. I think they're kind of weak, tbh. They're heal bots. They're really only good for spirit guardians, glyph of warding, and removing status effects. Just don't care for that. I'm an all dps team, we have no room for healers.

TL;DR: I don't think Shadowheart is interesting design wise, story wise, or gameplay wise.

Karlach:

I loved Karlach the moment I saw her, I fell deeper in love with her the second I heard her voice, and I knew I would die and kill for her, when I saw her excited "I love you" confession scene.

Seriously.

I have said this before, and I will say it again.

Out of all of these characters, romanceable or not...

I would only marry Karlach in REAL LIFE. I'd never date a man like Gortash or Astarion. I might be friends with Gale, but he's too smart to be my boyfriend.

But Karlach. She brings the wife energy. She could throw me over her shoulder and bash me against the concrete, and I would say thank you, ma'am.

she's also so fucking fun to play. barbarian options in bg3 are so goddamn funny. you can intimidate everyone and just break shit. it's great. you can also constantly throw people AT PEOPLE. And it's great. She's way more fun than Lae'zel because of it.

No notes. Top tier character design. My wife.

But also FUCK the developers for only giving her two fucking quests, one of which is a FETCH IT quest and the other is just a lame boss fight.

And FUCK THEM for only originally giving her an ending where she either dies or becomes a mindflayer. WHY.

And the Avernus ending still annoys me, because the ENTIRE PARTY should be there too.

FUCK YOU LARIAN. Why do you hate Karlach???? You're monsters. She's never done anything wrong, and yet all you do, is wrong her.

Bullshit.

Wyll:

Ok.

Hard truth time.

Wyll is the hottest male companion.

Like.

No cap. Everyone who says Gale, or Astarion, or Halsin-

Incorrect. It's Wyll. He is literally so hot, with the white eye and those sexy throat scars. Hrrrrrrr.

Also, controversial opinion. I actually like his devil form.

I think it makes him even hotter. I do wish he had wilder hair, though.

That being said...

He's horribly underwritten.

I went in, thinking, he's so kind and nice and hot...and then I was disappointed by how little they gave him.

He, like Karlach, got hit with the cut content curse.

And it's so ugly.

And gross.

And honestly, I suspect it's racist.

But yeah.

I think he's really sweet and I like romancing him and all. But they didn't dedicate any time or effort to his romance, and I hate that. But not him. Never him.

TL;DR - my first impression of Wyll was wow, he's hot, I wanna know more about him, and my last impression is, wow, he's so hot, I hate that he has nothing going on because Larian simply didn't bother to give him shit to do.

Gale

Alright, I left Gale for last, because he has the MOST complicated relationship with me.

So I initially missed Gale, because my friend failed the strength check to get him out of the portal.

So for a while, I didn't even know he existed.

Then I started to see more of him on Tiktok and Tumblr, and I was like oh...ok. So...we missed him. Damn.

So I decided to try romancing him fairly early on....only to find out...

I absolutely despised that when he dies, he killed me with necrotic damage.

That pissed me off. In the early days, when I was new to the game, I think I once had a whole team wipe, because Gale and Lae'zel went down, and then Karlach went rampaging, set me on fire, and then died to Gale's necrotic...which is funny in hindsight, but it was annoying at the time.

The eating magical items thing was mildly annoying, but that was far worse.

I pretty much never ran Gale for a long period of time.

As the Dark Urge, I'd often kill him, in fact, just so I wouldn't have to deal with his Arcane Hunger.

And honestly, initially, I kind of disliked his personality too.

I think the first scene I ever saw of him was when you tell him he's ok in bed, and his response is like, I guess I'll go kill myself.

And honestly, I thought he had incel vibes because of it. Then add to the fact that he's rude to you, no matter what, when he needs his third item...and also add that to the annoying gameplay, PLUS the fact.

That I was rocking Sorceror and Warlock for most of my early runs, so didn't need a wizard...I said, no. No Gale.

I don't like Gale.

BUT.

Here's the thing, right?

I got into Gortash... and then I stepped away from Astarion. Started being obsessed with the Dark Urge...

And then I noticed that all of my Durgetash friends were super into Gale, and I didn't get why...

But then weavewithshadow specifically alerted me to the fact that... there are Gale and Gortash parallels...specifically, that they're both brilliant, scruffy, are blinded by ambition, can't appreciate the things they have, and keep chasing after things they can't quite reach.

And then I was like...ok, maybe I've been harsh on him...

So I did his romance...and I felt bad.

Because he's actually very sweet.

And his voice is reallllly lovely when it's soft and fond.

He's a poet...and then I felt bad for all the times I had chewed off his arm.

And honestly, with experience...I now know what to feed him. Mostly garbage magic items like Komira's dumb locket or the ring of color spray from the harpies' nest, or those dumb boots that electrify the water you stand in.

Plus, I'm smart enough to know how to keep Gale alive now, so the necrotic thing isn't an issue.

So.

So. TL;DR I had a very complicated relationship with Gale, first with his mechanics, then with this random out of context scene where he's kind of nasty to you. But I came around, and honestly...right now...I like him more than Astarion.

All he wants to do is...live.

And I relate to that.

And his romance scenes are nice, and he has more of an arc than most of the other companions, Astarion aside.

So there you go, anon.

This took forever to write.

Thanks for the ask, though.

[beevean]

I know TvTropes is edited by different people, but I would dearly love to understand their general logic.

You find this in the YMMV page of Lament of Innocence:

Mathias is not afforded much grace for acting out of desperate grief, to the point that apparently some thought he didn't even deserve a second chance in the form of Soma.

Now, I would argue that LoI doesn't even expect you to cry over Mathias. It's very obvious that he has become a despicable person, using his friend as a pawn, causing the death of said friend's fiancée and not shedding a compassionate tear over her, and even believing he would be joined in immortality. But yes, I agree, Mathias is pitiable only to an extent: "wife died" is not exactly a compelling argument for rejecting humanity to the degree that he did.

... but then what about this, TvTropes? From the YMMV page of NFCV?

(you'd think Mathias would also get the moniker of Jerkass Woobie. nope)

One, NFCV didn't come up with the idea of Dracula lashing out due to the grief of Lisa's death. It comes from SoTN. NFCV only put more emphasis on it. Stop giving the show undeserved credit.

Two, really? Really. N!Dracula is really that sympathetic, that most of the voices he gets are all about how much of a poow bapyboy he is? What the hell do you mean, "he makes a good case against humanity"???? This piece of shit wanted to exterminate humankind and vampirekind (because he was aware that they'd all starve to death, he just refused to give a fuck) because one village didn't rise up against a bishop! When he yells "there are no innocents, not anymore", do you take him seriously?????

He does get a Moral Even Horizon voice, but it feels half-hearted, to say the least:

If you think it's hard not to sympathize with him and that being brought back as a treat rectifies it, then by definition it's not a Moral Event Horizon, because the very definition of the trope is that it's an act that makes a character completely and utterly unforgivable, on par with Griffith sacrificing the Band of the Hawk and raping Casca, to make a famous example.

(funnily enough they do the same with Lenore under the same trope, saying that apparently she understood that she crossed the line and tried to make amends. There's not, however, mention of Isaac killing innocent people and defiling their corpses for his selfish purposes. Inch-resting.)

I really, really am made uncomfortable by the serious apologism N!Dracula gets, and only because he cries a little more than his game counterpart. "He makes a good case against humanity", huh? Do you have any idea how many genocides started from motivations that were seen as reasonable? How many dictators tried, and are trying, to kill many for the perceived sins of few? Yes, I am fully aware that N!Dracula is a fictional villain, and he benefits from a cool design, suave voice, and multiple Pet The Dog Moments, I'm not really saying that his fans condone real crimes... but just like Lenore fans who justify her abuse and rape with real life rape apologism arguments such as "Hector consented at first" or "she wanted his own good", the rhetoric used here is honestly appalling.

But yes, on a pettier note, I'm also salty that game Dracula isn't afforded the same sympathy, even though he too is bereaved by grief. He just doesn't express it in a pitiable enough way. It's easier to go all 🥺 at a depressed man moping in a chair, isn't it? Ignore how said depressed man has hired two misanthropes to Forge demons to routinely send to slaughter innocent humans! It's off-screen, after all :) you don't need to see it :)

But you know who gets called Unintentionally Unsympathetic in the show?

And here I say what I said about Mathias: there is nothing "unintentional" about this, the show has zero pity for the peasants who were slaughtered. Much like you, person who roots for Dracula, the writing too painted them as stupid because believing the CHURCH BAD, and therefore, like all stupid people, deserving of gruesome punishment. Peasants are low-class and religious, and as such deserve death. "Cool" murderers like Dracula and Isaac, who are so intelligent and above the petty masses, instead deserve everything on a silver platter.

I really despise this show and the messages it sends. And the general anti-game bias, of course.

[lawlietscaramels]

I think you and 🍰 have mentioned it before, but I’d love to hear your thoughts about the way the musical portrays L. The concept album was my introduction to Death Note as well, but I feel like the L in the songs is a much more dramatic take on L? Which, y’know, makes sense, since it’s ✨musical theatre✨ and all. Like, “The Game Begins” is SO fun, but we’d never get a monologue like it from L in the manga or anime. Idk, the musical paints a bit of a different image of L to me. Not a bad one at all, just a different one.

-🎲

holy space cows 🎲 anon okay let's go! again answering this before my other asks because it's more me rambling than an actual story

GOOOOOD musical L when I first watched the musical I wanted to pick him up take him out of the screen and squeeze him like a stress ball. honestly I loved (love?) him maybe even more than anime L dhdhhdh

I'll put a break in here because I think I'm gonna say a lot

like. he did so many things like anime L (I've never read the manga so I see that L as "base" L) but also I feel had his own quirks. like how he hopped onto chairs (Teen Angst L did this too but because it was screen not stage it felt different. I've done stage acting before so maybe it's just me but screen doesn't feel as close, I just loooove stage acting, UGH. This was also why it was more dramatic in some places, you have to act for the whole audience but, I'm assuming you didn't see it live, WAIT have you even watched the recorded version?? It's on YouTube it's sooo good the subtitles are great too, you can sing along to the songs. it's in Japanese tho. Anyway my point was going to be, because you're acting for people really far away, your movements will be big and dramatic and you'll notice this if it's recorded up close).

HIS VOICE WAS SO NICE TOO like damn this is a fine ass man. His songs, I agree looking back at them they aren't all things anime L would say, especially not unprompted. But I don't think that it was so far out of character that it was unbelievable, you know? I actually think that though yes, the Game Begins was dramatic, that was just the song and not the tone of it, if that makes sense. I'd say songs like Playing His Game and (I can't remember the name but the one LawLight duet they sing at the college? not the tennis one. UGH I know the Japanese...) Anyway, I'd say those songs are more ooc. Cause I think L sees all of his cases as a game, his job as a game. Like yes he cares about human life but he also only takes on interesting cases. I've heard this is more like his manga version, which is kinda cool that this "headcanon" of mine is "canon."

AHAHA anyway the point I was actually going to make with that paragraph was: in the final song (a little ooc but in some lines very in character) L holds this one "O" note that makes me go WEAK IN THE KNEES and of course Light is singing over it at the same time, sobs. This is in the Japanese version. I prefer that version overall, but I like some of the English songs too, like Playing His Game and Requiem. So if you haven't listened to it YOU SHOULD!! It's on YouTube music, you can search up english song name + death note musical. A lot of them are by "LyricNear" I think. and you can ofc watch the full musical. but aaaa the final song breaks my heart but I have to listen to that goddamn note... you guys... you don't understand.

Uh, the musical did of course take some creative liberties. There was no Matsuda which I will always bring up because it is a crime, MUSICAL REMISA WAS THE BEST, the limited runtime cut plots and explanations (I kind of appreciated the ending, though I cried because I was hoping it would end differently), and I don't think they had a Watari. Actually thinking about that, that's probably the most ooc L thing in the whole movie: being able to take care of himself. (well presumably to some degree considering he's still alive at the start)

But yeah... I love musical L... I don't mind when he's ooc because it only disrupts soft headcanons of mine, not hard ones. I also haven't watched it for a while so I may be misremembering some things, but still. Gosh I really want to hug him... his clothes look so soft.... maybe I'll just steal his voice box/j

[cannoliramblings]

Astrid Louise Ward

Image from here

Tag: #Reluctant Thief

In game account: here

Age: 34 years old

Height: 5' 5"

Weight: 120 lbs

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bi (she's into enbies and women)

Open to RP: Yes

Open to shipping: Yes

Her voice is a warm alto.

Affiliation: Criminals (specifically The Cheery Man), The Great Game, and hopefully eventually the Revolutionaries.

Revolutionary-wise, honestly she doesn't get a lot of the big ideas, and I don't think she's that big on the drasticness of the Liberation of Night, but she wants to make London better and she does get more into some of these ideas as time goes on.

Occupation: Thief and enforcer in The Cheery Man's gang, her "day job" is as a waitress at the Medusa's Head

Backstory: Astrid’s family on the surface was not great. Her parents were high society types who abandoned her at birth, and often Astrid would be stuck taking care of her brother and sisters. She was sucked into a life of crime early on to survive, and she got pretty good at petty theft and smaller-scale crime. She probably interacted with Locryn at some point on the surface to try and get them out of danger but she doesn’t remember it that well. She worked her way up in the criminal gangs on the surface, and eventually became a well known thief and con-artist. 

Unfortunately for her, a large-scale heist on the surface went wrong, and she found herself in a worse off position than she had ever been in before. Left for arrest or death by her so-called friends, she realized she had to flee and had to rely on herself, so she found her way to London/The Neath. She did some criminal stuff in the Neath too, mostly just because it was all she had known, and she lived briefly with Timothy, working with The Cheery Man’s gang and making a bit of a name for herself. Her skills continued to improve, and eventually, The Cheery Man trusted her to steal things from the Masters themselves. There were a few missions that went decently against Mr. Pages and Mr. Wines, but Astrid then had a string of missions that ended in utter failure, namely against Mr. Stones. I won’t go in depth about what happened to Astrid here, but she was injured to the point of near perma-death and this all left her with a lot of mental scarring + trauma. After she was physically healed, it was decided that she needed somewhere safe and non-associated with The Cheery Man to live, so Juno reluctantly took her and Locryn in to protect them. 

Once she met Locryn, she immediately felt a need to protect them, so she backed away more from the criminal activity. Unfortunately, recent events have led to her going back to it as the only thing she's known. She wants to stop though, but isn't sure about what her path forward would be and doesn't want to put her friends in danger.

Relationships:

Locryn and Astrid are close friends. Astrid feels oddly protective over Locryn, she didn’t really expect to bond with them as much as she did. Honestly, she has a little bit of a crush on them.

Juno is Astrid's landlady. Astrid always tries to be nice to ver since she knows ve is a dangerous person, but ve could probably get her arrested with a single word so Astrid tries to keep her distance.

Timothy and Astrid are friends. Astrid appreciates Timothy’s loyalty and friendship, and knows that she owes him a lot for his various help on criminal expeditions. They grow a bit closer once Locryn begins seeking.

Astrid wants to fight The Merry Gentleman. She cannot stand his relationship with Locryn.

Her relationship with her parents on the surface was entirely negative, her siblings she had a bit more of a positive relationship with but they haven't seen each other since she came to London. (Oscar is her older brother, Sophia and Clara are her younger sisters).

Personality: Astrid is an energetic and passionate young woman who sometimes struggles at knowing when to shut up. She can be somewhat impulsive, and doesn’t really think before she acts or speaks. She’s usually pretty loyal and if she likes you, she’s going to be nice to you. Even if she’s stressed or anxious, she’s able to keep her wits about her pretty well. She’s fiercely independent and struggles sometimes to trust others or ask for help, having been burned many times. She prefers to work alone.

She currently lives with Locryn and Juno in a house between Veilgarden and Spite (although this is 100% a temporary living situation for both Astrid and Locryn)

If you want other random snippets about Astrid or would like to send them a question, please let me know!

Eventually these OCs will appear in actual written works that aren't just random blurbs on my google drive, I could also post some snippets of interaction on here if that would give y'all a more decent sense of the ocs

[meirimerens]

it seems to me that the deal with pathologic 2 english dubbing is entirely dividing all of the characters into three categories: British, South Park character and Women (with intended derogation). honestly drives me insane a bit because with russian well we don't really have that distinct of accents so everyone kinda sounds the same in that manner... and it almost feels less theatrical (maybe it should. but the way english dubbing sounds theatrical To Me is. well. NAWT GOOD) in russian voice over, especially with the kids. (still thinking about british 20 y.o. oxford student that is Notkin and south park caricature voiced by an adult woman that is Khan in english dub. *[metaphorically] holding a cig in between my fingers pensively* still not dealing very well with it emotionally.) the only voice that set me absolutely fucking insane in russian voice over was Eva's – WHY DOES SHE TALK LIKE THAT!! WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER!!!!! misogyny in casual ways etc. etc. but with english dubbing every other character forced a fight or flight response out of me. idk maybe i am a bit biased but with the way it is just so different.... pathologic 2 (RUS) and pathologic 2 (ENG) are like two siblings who are mostly the same but one of them is objectively . uglier than the other. speaking of siblings, it turns out Stamatins have DIFFERENT voice actors in english. this feels like a crime....

i could talk about the voices for Hours bro i played the game russian voices/english subtitles and most of the lp's i watched also went this route except One so i discovered the english voices like second-handedly and Scared Me bro scared me... i've already talked about the kids' voices like I Know. I Know how hard it is to VA kids especially if you have to work with regulations making it harder to hire child VAs (for the better of the kid mind you, i'm not saying #bringbackunregulatedchildlabor here) and i'm sure the women who voice teenage/child boys are doing their absolute bests but man. i think the suspension of disbelief works way more when working with for ex. anime voice acting bc you can See the characters are only vague simulacra of children, but in a game that has pretty detailed 3D models and strives for a certain realism in the faces and whatnot, it is Jarring...

i think the use of British/generally Non-American english accent is like a commin trope to denote a foreignness or a different social status (because most of the anglophone players Will Be americans because. bigger country) but like. come on. look_how_they_massacred_my_boy.mp4... i'm sure there are subtleties within the russian voices that i'm not gettin because. well i'm not russian i guess that helps that would be Complicated to transpose in english but like. worarrgh.

i'm Very Glad both of these games had a release with an english voice acting cast because we like. Know. the tendency that americans have wrt Foreign Media / refusing to interact with things if they are not Dubbed in english even if they are subtitled [i think the whole Parasite movie release put that on the carpet again but i knew of it way before that] so it allowed for More People to check out the games [again. for the better and the worse...]

can we talk about eva and the twins let me talk about eva and the twins. can i talk about eva and the twins?

p2 russian eva has a light and high-pitched voice but it's kinda like. airy and hazy like she's deep in thoughts like she's daydreaming... her english voice sounds like the squeaky voices anglophone VTubers make so sound like cutesy anime girls. she sounding more like a child. and when you pair it with her neotonous face with her fit that looks like a child having dressed themselves and the general "youthening" of her personality. well i ain't saying anything but i'm making the biggest side-eye known to man rn!

p1 russian andrey has a sort of like high almost mighty and haughty attitude, kinda towering, p1 russian peter also has this sort of height with pride to it but fraying on the ends like mouth woolen (the Drink)... p1 english andrey has some of that height and restraint, kinda high in the throat like he's being above... p1 english peter is Squeaky. he's so squeaky. almost sounds giddy from time to time but also. The Drink. my man an arm on the wall drink in the other at a party telling you about shit only his drunk mind can comprehend...

p2 russian andrey has a depth and a certain Mystery but it still looks natural/like he's Deep In Thoughts... p2 russian peter is way #deeper than his p1 counterpart but it still looks natural/that's a Depressed voice if i ever heard one. scraping the floors with it.

p2 english andrey is so raspy it's kinda comical like he playin toughguy and p2 english peter while still Deep is like Theatrical to a goofy extend like IT'S NOT THAT SERIOUS. YOU SLEEP IN A BATHTUB 😭😭

while it. is normal for siblings to have different voices and would make sense for two siblings to have different voices, and as such voice actors... it doesn't for the stamatwins!! are you crazy? you SEPARATE the stamatwins? you make them into two people instead of two sides of a same coin? JAIL!! JAIL FOR THE VOICE ACTORS

[sleepdepravity]

ok i feel like making more in depth posts about those games i just listed but since they're so many i'll separate them by genre

Also admittedly I sorta just tossed these games into genres very haphazardly so i dunno if i particularly categorized them right. anyways, here are the ~~~mystery games~~~

This is basically ace attorney but with birds, which makes it an instant favorite. Also, for some reason, the french revolution is involved. i really don't remember why. I remember also a twist ending that's fun, plays on the expectations an ace attorney player would have and stabs them with a knife.

another bird-themed mystery game thing, point and click. It's got a nice aesthetic, and the voice acting is honestly quite good. i like going around and detectiving and also being a bird. it's fun.

there are a LOT of furry detective games for some reason. i think this one is based on a french comic? actually maybe i shouldn't have picked this as an "obscure game," i think this is, actually, a pretty big deal in france maybe?? the lady cats look real weird. i don't remember literally anything about this except that. somehow. the game ends somewhere underground.

LITERALLY don't remember anything about this. but the protagonist is a lady detective.

another furry mystery. this one is neat because you're just in your wheelchair, looking out from your room and finding out shit by watching. There's another game, Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View (or whatever), where the protagonist is also in a wheelchair and looking outside his window, but Conway's protagonist drives me crazy for just being So Nosy and just, getting into places he Really Shouldn't. Anyways, the flower collectors felt nicer.

i just kinda realized that, like. this probably shouldn't be under the "mystery" genre. Like, yeah, I guess you're trying to figure shit out, but it's not exactly. like. mystery mystery. yknow? But it's a time loop! It's a time loop game. You're trying to figure out the stuff that's going on in this time loop. I think it's neat. Time loops are neat. It's fun.

this one also isn't really a mystery, honestly. Even though it calls itself "a mystery game" in the title. but I made my bed and now I have to sleep in it. Anyways, this one I don't particularly know how I feel about it. It's a very odd game. fun visuals sometimes. The scenery was nice. There are some good vibes. It's very odd. Anyways.

i literally don't remember shit about this game. there's a boat. you walk around in a house. I love walking around in houses. i love picking stuff up and looking at it.

I find this game to be a very interesting one...! I have no idea how to describe it. Also, there's some sort of....secret? Or something? on the title screen. I think there's a secret. But I don't know what it is or how to unlock it, and nobody else seems to know either, at least last I checked. you have to use law as evidence. but also, you play a cop so. y'know. acab. There's multiple endings depending on like, if you are a "good enough cop" or not. And also, you can use evidence in different ways when indicting someone, there are different level of crimes you can arrest someone for as well. Anyways, it's neat.

i remember liking this one because it involves timelines and you figuring out what's wrong with what people are saying based on what they say happened. Also, the culprits are daemons and you have to also correctly identify which daemon the culprits are possessed by.

honestly........this probably doesn't count as obscure (i see over 3k reviews) but i mean, like. it has the vibes of obscure. the environments and the music and everything is very, uhh, what's that genre called again? something-core? VAPORWAVE. that. also, there's a map and you walk around it and you collect things and i am always obsessed with that. honestly reminds me a lot of umineko, in terms of like. one of the phrases that keeps repeating is "the truth is not the same as the facts" (I think?). like, the ending is where you accuse people, and you essentially decide the "truth." and, yes, like, in some ways, the question of "who killed X" can be played with! Who is actually culpable? How far do you go? Idk. it's neat. also, your name is Lady Love Dies!!!! it's cool!!!! what a fucking name.

i don't actually know how i feel about this one either. there's stealth involved, though. and a lot of exploration elements, which I think is neat, actually, but i am such a soft nervous baby so I probably missed a lot of shit tbh. And there's a timed element too, so extra nervous baby mode.

uhhhhh. this one also probably hsouldn't have been counted as an obscure game, oops. I think there was a certain point where I just, really went wild for space games. I don't remember what this one is at all. I think there was some eldrich elements at the end, so maybe it shouldn't be considered a mystery, oops. Actually, this should probably be under horror. oops. oops!!

visual novel. I'm surprised it didn't have more reviews, because like.....i think this started as an actual? like? console visual novel game?? and got ported to steam later. anyways, i think this one is funny for one particular ending. maybe this also shouldn't count as a mystery, because you can, uh, determine what the "answer" is by choosing certain ways to write letters. but look, it's mysterious! you're trying to solve, like, a disappearance!! it's fine.

this one involves cults. once again, you get to walk around a place and look at things and pick them up. i like that in a game. does this count as horror? I think it does make things creepy and tries to scare you at points, i guess. ummmm i guess also this probably shouldn't count as mystery either. anyways, this is about cults so i mean, definitely a lot of dark shit going on here. you read a lot about death and sex and bad cult shit.

this one is an fmv game (game with real-ass people) and this one i think is kinda fun because you will shapeshift as people, meaning you can go to each person as some different person and see how they treat you and stuff. which is fun. though i think that doesn't end up mattering as much. i don't remember a lot of this actually. i liked the radio people.

corporate capitalism apocalypse type thing. sometimes i get so so sad about having to make decisions on shit. you make decisions on people living or dying. also, your boss grades your performance. there's one case about a cop android in particular that makes me so so so sad. anyways.

this one is by the guys who make the sherlock holmes game. this also maybe doesn't quite count as mystery?? because you also have to shoot stuff and things. but i mean, you also solve crimes and also sidequest crimes, so like. whatever. also, there is lovecraftian horror things involved. it is very much a sherlock holmes game except lovecraft.

i don't remember this game. but i do remember it being neat.

[speaking-from-the-abyss]

Some random thoughts on Obey Me! Nightbringer up to lesson 10 (with LOTS of spoilers)

If you ask why I'm making a post like this in this blog is cause I will defend that this is a queer coded game to my last breath –and cause is my blog and I do what I want.

Full disclosure: I'm not done with the first game yet so no spoilers for that one please. I'm guessing I'll get spoiled by Nightbringer anyways as the story progresses, and I already did lol, but I wanna gush about this game because I love it so much already.

Starting with the title screen, oh my gosh the art is beautiful. 10/10 would definitely buy a poster of this.

They continue using they/them for MC and that's a thing we all gotta appreciate. Thank u.

The layout and the art of the game is just SO PRETTY in general. Definitely an upgrade from the first game, credits to the designers and artists.

It's a rhythm game!! I like it, the gameplay is easy enough and in classic Obey Me fashion you gotta be really precise when you click or else, which adds a good layer of difficulty.

We don't have 8 different types of support items, just 4, which makes it easier to keep count of how many we have. I am still broke in-game to buy them tho.

WE CAN GET DEVIL POINTS BY COMPLETING LEVELS THANK U SO MUCH. In contrast, I feel like they give less materials when you clear a stage? I mean, they gotta balance it I guess, or maybe is just me.

The game was lagging like hell when I first started playing tho. Idk if it was the game or my phone that couldn't run it or what, but it's fixed now.

I love the fact they're using the character songs for the levels!!! I was waiting for the unit songs and they took a while, but they're there too. The remixes are fun and I can't believe how good they sound.

Speaking of sound, this game's ost is SO GOOD like huh? I was kinda expecting it cause it's a big production and all but bruh. Every now and then I end up having to stop because I gotta appreciate the bgm. There was this one funny song where a banjo started playing and I straight up laughed out loud. 10/10

MK is that you?

Coming back to the layout and the designs: THERE'S SO MUCH RURI HANA IN HERE!!!!!! Love it. 20/10. Best thing ever. Whoever decided to add that I hope they're having an amazing day.

Also, is that a Ruri Hana Miss Em?? Gosh I love this game.

And I'm not done gushing about the designs yet cause LOOK AT HIM!!! LOOK!!!! He's so cute!!!!🧡🧡🧡

HE'S SO PRECIOUS JUST LOOK AT HIM!!!!! 🧡🧡🧡

The art for the cards is really pretty and I need more Levi cards so badly asap

Also, there's a shit ton of extra content, wow. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole 3D models yet (mostly cause my phone only gives me bad renditions of them) but the extra content is slice of life funny bits. I like that they're voice acted, they're good.

Hey so y'know how you can click on the characters and get voice messages in the home screen and how you interact with them in the surprise guest screen? In neither of those I can click on Levi's tail and I consider that a crime against all Levi stans.

OKAY SO when this game was announced and as time went on and we got little pieces of the plot, not gonna lie I was worried. When it comes to time and time travel this franchise has a, well, a record. I'm still worried how it's gonna develop but for now I really like the things they're showing in the main story regarding the characters and the plot. Just, y'know, fingers crossed it doesn't become a mess.

Honestly the timeline is a mess already as it is. We met Luke and he has apparently just started learning how to bake, but in the first game he says he's been doing it for about 300 years, so it's been only 300 years between the end of the Celestial War and the beginning of the first game? Shouldn't the time be at least a few thousand years?? I'm solving this by doing a headcanon that time moves differently in different worlds cause otherwise the lack of coherence bothers me too much.

I'm so intrigued about Nightbringer himself. You think the prologue is giving us a red herring about who he is? Will it be a new character? An old one? Us from the future? They did a good job in implementing the mystery and I can't wait.

I was rereading this chat we have with them at the beginning of the game and something caught my eye:

Do you think maybe we'll start jumping between time as the story continues? So that we'll be at and see different time periods with different characters?? 🤔

This guy has an omurice for an icon when we all know he can't cook to save his life and I find that so ironic xD I like how much he's getting involved in the story so far too

I still don't know who gave them the right to go THIS HARD on a rhythm otome game. I love this thing what the hell. I wish I went this hard with my own projects.

That's all, I'll be waiting for more lessons to drop✌️

[wormturned]

can you tell us a bit about commodities from the wip folder game please?

Yes for sure!!

I'd had the characters knocking around in my head for a while, and I decided to try and write them into a cyberpunk story for a scifi/fantasy writing contest. In this world, all medical accommodations (prosthetics, hearing aids, etc) are owned by a large company, and everyone is forced to pay subsribtions every month in order to keep them active, or the company shuts them off until it's paid. The story follows four characters trying to do a job for a crime boss to get money to keep their stuff active.

I wasn't too happy with how it turned out (I don't think they fit very well in a cyberpunk world) but it was cool to try! I also draw the characters alllllll the time so here's some of them!

This is Devon. He's sort of the leader of the group. He's the best talker and often the one to convince people to give the group jobs, but he doesn't like the business at all. He feels like there's a better way to do things that doesn't compromise morality, but he's just as desperate as the others, so he helps. In the story he has a mask that acts as his voice because his vocal chords were badly damaged, but I have a hard time drawing it, so.

This is JJ. He's sort of the thief of the group. He has a much more dour outlook on life than Devon. He doesn't care what he has to do, as long as it keeps his prosthetic eyes active. He usually looks down on other people and honestly likes the power that comes with being part of a feared crime syndicate. He's almost gotten the group in trouble a few times trying to get more power to intimidate people.

Hard to see, but this is Trick. She's a hacker who digs up dirt to blackmail people or track down whoever they need to look for. She hates people just because of all the shit she's seen that people hide and is sort of convinced that everyone is secretly a monster except for her and the others here. Even that, she's not always sure of. She has a hearing aid.

Old picture, but this is Io. In the story, they have a prosthetic left arm and leg. This was drawn before I started on that aspect of the story. They're the muscle of the group and are always the one to rough up whoever they need to. They love fighting, and are super protective of everyone else in the group, especially Devon, who's their oldest friend. While they don't necessarily enjoy doing dirty work for money, they don't make any pretenses about the realities of their world. They don't care about what happens to the world around them, as long as their friends are safe.

Also here's a little excerpt:

“So what?” Trick snapped, tapping aggressively on her screen. “It’s her or one of the zillions of others in this city. At least she actually gives us work.”

“We could do this ourselves,” Devon insisted. “We don’t need to be the bad guys.”

“We are not the bad guys, Dev,” Io hissed, glaring at him from under their hood. “We’re four guys who need money to keep ourselves functioning, so we can keep our jobs, and get more money, and keep functioning. That’s what we are.”

“We’re beating up some stranger in a back alley!” Devon snapped. “That’s pretty bad!”

“They are,” JJ corrected, pointing to Io. “I am helping, and you can leave if you hate it so much.”

Thank you so much for asking!! Sorry this ended up being so rambly lol I really love talking about these guys