#it's right there! they put the ship in the game!

[felassan]

Mark Darrah video: 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard Has Shipped. Now What?? #/masseffect'

Video description:

"Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shipped. What happens at BioWare now? BioWare structurally finds itself in uncharted territory as it only has a single Project (Mass Effect) active. Chapters: 0:00 Veilguard is out, now what? 0:22 BioWare Structure and History 1:57 Growth 4:45 Consumption 6:28 Sustain 7:27 Contraction 11:14 Leadership Discontinuity 1 12:48 Leadership Discontinuity 2 14:14 One Project At A Time 16:33 Mass Effect 18:50 Will The People Be There? 22:18 FOCUS"

[source]

Key notes from the vid and the comments underneath:

"Up front I should say that I have every confidence that Mass Effect [5] is in fact being worked on and that that project is going to receive all of the support from EA that it might need."

Slowly and painfully BioWare is figuring out that it simply can't do more than one project at a time anymore. It's now a single-project studio. Mark Darrah expects that both Edmonton and Austin will be working on ME5 together

ME5 effectively paused production for 15 months in order to help DA:TV ship

Right now other than some DA:TV clean up/final patches, everyone at BW is working on ME5

However ME5 isn't yet ready to suddenly have a team of 250-300 people working on it, so while some DA:TV devs moved onto it, some DA:TV devs were moved to/are moving to other parts of EA instead. The ME5 team started, but there is a long way between "start" and "ready to scale" up

The ME5 team is figuring out what ME5 is going to be & its structure, then will get ready to ramp up to a much bigger team size

"BW, for the first time really ever, is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put everything it has towards a single goal, which is making the best ME it possibly can."

But it remains to be seen whether BW will be able to get its people back when it needs them and is ready for them. There are a few reasons why this might prove difficult. Alternatively, on the flipside, this degree of focus might be exactly what BW needs to move it into the next phase of its life. "Maybe EA is going to prove to be incredibly effective at moving people around and when ME5 looks to start to grow maybe there will be no troubles".

We will probably have hints of what's going on [with ME5] within the next two years. "I have high hopes for ME. I think that once they figure out staffing, BW being focused on one game at a time is probably great for the studio" (though there may be growing pains to get there)

Does Mark Darrah foresee similar issues in the ME5 dev cycle to what DA:TV had? No, because ME5 hasn't had the same two big directional shifts, and it has had no leadership discontinuity (ME5 paused when they went to help DA:TV i.e. it didn't continue without a leader). But we should only really start counting ME5's dev cycle from today. "It really hasn't been that long with a significant team"

The ME5 teases in recent N7 Days were made by a "very small team"

There are still lots of veterans at BW

Mark Darrah doesn't expect to be involved in what BW makes next

More under cut due to length.

BW has existed in different ways/structures through its history. We're currently entering into an "unprecedented time" for BW

The purchase of BW by Elevation Partners, the purchase of BW by EA, when Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk left BW, and the year 2017 in general are the 4 most important events (not including shipping games) that Mark Darrah feels have affected BW the most in its history

BW's strategy over time could be seen as having had 4 different phases: grow, consume, sustain, contract. In the contract phase, though BW maybe didn't realize it yet, the number of projects it was capable of running simultaneously was decreasing slowly/gradually. Why? Projects were getting more expensive, requiring more people/resources/time, and by this point BW had essentially burned off all its 'reserves' from the growth phase i.e. there was no longer any fat left to burn off

After DA:I shipped, Mark Darrah experienced that it was very difficult to find resources if your project wasn't the next project that was due out the door

DLC is a safety valve for processes and staff; a place for devs to work when other projects aren't quite ready for them yet; a place for the next gen of leaders to be grown. These things disappear as DLC does. Mark Darrah is pretty sure that the move away from DLC is coming from EA

In the contract phase, in 2013-14 Anthem was starved out by DA & ME:A. ME:A was also somewhat starved out by DA. Then when ME:A was in the driver's seat, it consumed most of the resources

In late 2016/early 2017 during the push to ship ME:A, as part of that BW began to experience leadership discontinuity. As the DA leader, Mark Darrah led a team of DA people onto ME:A to help it ship (the Dragon Age Finaling Team) for a few months. this sort of thing had happened at BW before but this was the first time when senior leadership moved off the projects they led to do this. this caused a change in philosophy in terms of the way that projects were run

When ME:A shipped and Casey Hudson came back to lead BW, there was then a much much larger leadership discontinuity with Anthem. The Montreal studio was supposed to move over onto Joplin to help kickstart it but it ended up getting taken away and given to the leadership in Montreal. but even if this had happened as it was supposed to, BW may not have been able to be in a place where it was going to be able to ship Anthem and Joplin simultaneously

Three quarters of the senior leadership on Joplin moved to Anthem or left BW. DA continued and became Morrison. The discontinuity had massive consequences for DA4

In 2021/22, this happened again in the opposite direction. The leadership team moved onto DA to help it ship, though rather than leaving some of the team in place, everyone moved. The other project (next Mass Effect) effectively ceased to exist for 15 months in order to help DA4 ship. In 2023 for the first time since 1995 BW was only working on 1 project (DA:TV) & there was nobody working on ME5 or remasters or side projects at that time. Now that DA:TV has shipped, apart from some people on cleanup and final patches, there is no plans for DA:TV DLC and "there is only Mass Effect". "Everyone at BW will be working on Mass Effect."

DA:TV being a 'direct sequel' would have been an unlikely path

With BW now focusing on a single project, Mark Darrah does worry that EA will get "itchy"

It'll be a [long] while to DA5 [hypothetically speaking, if it gets made]

MELE involved a lot of external devs

Shadow Realms was BioWare Austin and was due to: "partially places for people, partially a desire for Austin to get something new."

Mark Darrah expects that the devs are hearing everything being said about DA:TV

BW focuses more on consoles because of sales numbers

Unreal Engine 5 (which ME5 is on) is moving onto other EA projects as well, which may help

There are reasons why DA:TV is the way it is

BW has had external consultants on leadership and structure over the years

Mark Darrah expects that the next Dragon Age will once again be pretty different to the last iteration

BW Austin were brought in to help make Anthem. "What didn't happen (that should have) is that they should have had more directional control over the live service direction."

BW has had difficulty learning from previous games because at least one title was too far along TO learn. but a single game leads to staffing issues

Mark Darrah pitched a dev structure back in 2016/17 which would have had "3 fast follow games then a period of retooling"

EA doesn't really sell IPs

Chance of DA:TV DLC? "That's an EA question. And I expect EA's answer to be no". "I don't think we will see DLC. A new DA would be in the future."

"DA has been looking for larger audiences in every iteration. EA has never understood the franchise"

Remake DA:O or ME1? "While I think it would do well, I don't expect it to happen at any time soon. Also the skillsets required don't really over lap"

"The 3 previous games DAVe was are leaking through in places"

Diagram from the video which shows the flow of people throughout BW's history, made by a member of Mark Darrah's community.

[source]

[bodacioustomato]

Mouthwashing Little Things That Go Hard

Hello Mouthwashing fandom. I'm hyperfixated on this game. It has emotionally made me feel all sorts of things that I can't quite put into words. Sad. Lonely. Wanting to cry and throw up. You know, all that. I have spent quite a bit of time analyzing some shi in this game that stood out to me. See, someone like me loves the little things that hold big meaning in stories. Symbolism and Easter eggs go hard fr as well as attention to detail. And as we all know, this game does not at all disappoint in hiding things. Imma share some of my favorite sequences presented to us and kinda share my interpretations and discussions as well.

Note: not all of these may 100% be correct. These are based on my assumptions. I could be wrong (and maybe overthink lmfao that's valid too). My judgment can be criticized... as I'm not as bright as I want to believe I am

Spoilers!

Right off the bat, I'm gonna say: colors have a big meaning in this game. Each character has their respective colors that are linked to them. We are introduced to this at first with the character dialogs when they speak. And as we know, Curly is white, Jimmy is green, Anya is blue, Daisuke is pink, and Swansea is yellow. I do have theories on what the colors may symbolize with the characters themselves. However, I'll discuss my thoughts a little later on.

The Cake and Cocktail

There are two scenes in the game where we, as the players, are required to craft something in the kitchen. As Curly, we craft his birthday cake. As Jimmy, we craft the cocktail that is used to knock out Swansea. But something I noticed right away on my first playthrough of the game is the coloration of the ingredient packets.

For the cake, as shown, we use the water, gelatin, and sweetener packets. It can be seen that the packets share the same colors as Swansea, Anya, and Daisuke. And if you think about it, the roles of the ingredients kind of reflect off the roles of the crew. Water is important for everyone, which is in a blue packet. Anya is the nurse and an important member of the crew. The gelatin, which is in a yellow packet, is important for its purpose of keeping the cake together, hence Swansea being the ships mechanic and "keeping it together". And of course, the sweetener is in a pink packet, which can explain Daisukes positive attitude and "sweet" touch amongst the crew. But notice that the only packet not used is the green tonic. It is stated that the tonic has a bitter taste, and it's only used when making the cocktail. Kinda ironic as Curly is the one making the cake. I feel like personally, he has these three under control. These ingredients work together to make a cake.

With that in mind, when the time comes to make the cocktail in game, we're playing as Jimmy. The cocktail is used to knock out Swansea, who is guarding outside the utilities room.

At this point of the game, Anya has locked herself in the medical bay. As we have found out earlier on, Anya was assaulted by Jimmy and she's also pregnant. Jimmy has zero regards for Anya's well-being and constantly tries to cut her out of his mind, hence not wanting to acknowledge the problem he created. As shown, when making the cocktail, which requires the blue water packet, it's crossed out and replaced with mouthwash (which I'll discuss the importance of this later too) and the tonic is replaced with the isopropyl alcohol. While trying to forget one problem, Jimmy creates more.

I feel like I can get into more depth with the cake and cocktail... but I can't quite get my words out. I hope you can kind of see my thoughts behind this...

The Board Game

Now... bare with me. I don't remember the name of this game, nor do I really remember how to fully play it. I do remember that you technically win when all four of your pieces are home. We see this board game constantly. But I noticed that as the game progresses, the board game constantly changes. And notice, once again, colors... the four player colors are the same colors as Jimmy, Anya, Daisuke, and Swansea. I see the spots are white, which could reflect back to Curly... though I could be looking too deep into that. Perhaps that has something to do with how as all the events played out in the game, all Curly could do is sit back and watch as the "game" takes place.

This screenshot is the 7 days before the crash sequence. We're playing as Curly. And for a little while in the beginning, the pieces don't change much. We can see a few pieces are out on the board. Notice the blue and green pieces, which might be in reference to Jimmy's assault on Anya. It can be noted that Anya has only one piece in the "home" spot while the rest have more than one.

Hard to tell from this picture, but all of the blue pieces are knocked over. In this scene, this is where Anya locks herself in medical and poisons herself. The other player pieces have scattered across the board.

(Very shitty screenshot) but this is the board right before Daisuke's death. All the pink are knocked over. I think the knocked over pieces are a little foreshadowing of Daisuke's soon to be fate. I don't remember if this is before or after you talk to Swansea, but I do know there's a difference on the board between when Daisuke tells Jimmy medical is locked and when Daisuke goes into the vent.

Once again, shitty screenshot. But this is the board after Daisukes death. Both Swanseas and Jimmys pieces are all scattered across the board.

Here's the board after killing Swansea and when Jimmy cuts off Curlys leg. Every color, but green, is knocked over.

Now this is a little Easter egg I found in one of the dream sequences. I saw other people point this out too. I wanted to go into the game and locate it myself. We see this little Easter egg in one of the sequences after Daisuke's death. Unlike the other deaths, Daisuke's death is the only one that gets brought up more than once. It could be believed that unlike everyone else, Jimmy actually has guilt towards Daisuke's death. I tried to see if I could find anymore game pieces in the game. I couldn't. But this little Easter egg is neat to me.

The Hibiscus Flowers

I think we all know they go back to Daisuke. He wears a shirt that has pink hibiscus flowers on them. Doing research online, hibiscus flowers (especially pink), can represent love, friendship, and youth. Daisuke was a young, very friendly man. However, he was also naive and gullible and viewed everyone as a friend, which his naivety is what got him hurt and killed. And like a hibiscus, which don't bloom for very long, he died young and didn't "bloom" very long either. After Daisuke's death, we see multiple sequences with hibiscus flowers in them. Like stated on the board game, Jimmy constantly sees reflections back to Daisuke after his death, which can hint that Jimmy actually feels guilt for Daisuke's death. It's simple symbolism, but I always love flower symbolism, nonetheless.

The Dead Pixel

Ah yes. This one is very popular and well known, but that doesn't mean it's not still one of my favorite symbols in the game. In this scene, Curly and Anya are talking in the lounge in front of the night time screen. While talking, Anya points out that there's a dead pixel on the screen. Curly states he doesn't see it, only looking at the bigger picture and how it doesn't ruin the illusion. The scene, I believe, can represent how both of them view Jimmy. Anya was assaulted by Jimmy. Curly is Jimmy's friend. While Curly looks at the bigger picture and doesn't see the bad in Jimmy, that's all that Anya sees. She will only see the bad in Jimmy as she will always see the dead pixel. And as we know, Curly doesn't see it.

The Warning Signs

I've seen multiple different interpretations of this scene. All of them make sense if I'm quite honest. You play as Curly, who is on his way to the cockpit to give Jimmy his psych evaluation. However, you're presented down a long hallway and flight of stairs which eventually drops off into an ocean of red water. As you walk through the ocean aimlessly, warning signs, bent ladders, and eerie noises appear. In my eyes, I think this is both premonition as well as foreshadowing. The warning signs appear as you continue to walk through the ocean. You walk right past them, which I believe shows that Curly ignored the warning signs of something bad going to happen. I'd like to point out too that as this scene takes place, the player gets forced into looking in one direction after a while so you can't look at the signs. I believe the ladders that appear come from the discussion a little later on as they represent Curly in a way. They're busted ladders leading to nowhere. He's at the top with nowhere to go. This is a little personal talk between Curly and Jimmy in the cockpit. At the end of this dream sequence, you walk into a big ball of light (sun?). I think that could be subtle foreshadowing of Curlys fate of the crash. It all kind of mixes together as Curlys mistake to see the Jimmy issue is jumbled with his own personal issues. It all leads to his unfortunate situation of the after effect of the crash. Because right after the dream sequence, you're in the cockpit with Jimmy. Kinda funny too because right before this when he was with Anya getting his psych eval. I could definitely be wrong on this one... of course, my thoughts can be criticized.

Mouthwash

What's the name game after, of course. Mouthwash is the main object we see within this game. I'm not gonna lie, I was very stupid at first and had zero idea what the Mouthwash actually represented. Even now, my judgment may be a little off. In my honesty, I think it represents Jimmy. Realistically speaking, surviving off mouthwash alone isn't beneficial at all. Using just mouthwash won't actually help your dental hygiene. It may cover bad breath, but it won't clean your teeth. As shown in the game, the Dragons Breath Mouthwash doesn't actually have a lot of benefits to it as its sugar volume is very high. It has a 14% ethanol measurement. If anything, it'd cause more harm than good. This could be compared to Jimmy's power as captain as he does more harm than good. Jimmys has this constant need to fix everything, which inevitably gets everyone harmed and killed. And if you notice, for the ad on the mouthwash, the company states that they refuse to take any responsibility for damages done by their mouthwash. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I think anyone can have a stance on what they believe the mouthwash represents in the game. Either way, such a simple item held such a valuable message. I'd like to see what everyone thinks on the 99% part. That I've seen multiple thoughts on the meanings for that.

I think the item of choice being mouthwash is clever. Reading on steam with a Q & A with the devs, mouthwash wasn't their first set and stone choice of an item. I think the choice of mouthwash is so neat because you will have no clue on its importance in the game without subtle context. But thinking about it, thinking of how we use mouthwash, and how its consumed in game, they couldn't have picked a better simple life item.

(Fun fact, each crate had 40 bottles of mouthwash. Jesus Christ did they drink a lot of mouthwash.)

Bed Placements

After the crash, everyone is stuck sleeping in the lounge. There are mattresses that each character uses. What I find interesting and rather sad is the placements of the beds. Jimmys is in the corner against the wall, Daisuke is right next to him, Anya is across from them and Swansea (which isn't visible in this pic) is somewhere else in the room. But what makes me sad is Anya's bed. Its right in front of the motion sensored Polle statue. When you walk over to her bed, it sets off Polle... and I noticed, her bed can be seen by all other beds. Justice for my girl please.

Employee Card Sequence

I believe this scene takes place after Swansea is killed. I think this scene is very neat. I could be wrong, but I believe this scene represents Jimmys guilt. Jimmy starts walking down a long passage with the five crew member employee cards on the walls. But looking closely at the cards, you notice something.

Jimmys employee card is constantly covering Anyas and Curlys.

Even later on, you see that Daisuke's and Swansea's cards are visible. Anyas and Curlys cards are there, they're just constantly covered. Kinda goes to show how much Jimmy is really trying to cut them out of his mind. But I also kind of theorize it could symbolize and compare both Anyas and Curlys abuse they share from Jimmy. Both of them are his biggest victims. Both physically (Anya being sexually abused, Curly being harmed and beaten when under Jimmys "care") and how both of them are constantly berated and talked down to by Jimmy. I really tend to hate how much everyone forgets that Curly is a victim too.

Employee Cards

This isn't necessarily a huge plot related thing, but it is a fun little Easter egg that I like. There are Steam achievements where you find all five employee cards. They're scattered throughout the game and around the ship. It's just a fun little Easter egg, but I couldn't help but notice the location of all five cards. Could there possibly be some irony behind their locations I wonder.

Anya: in the cockpit where the gun case is supposed to be.

Jimmy: by the Polle statue in the lounge.

Daisuke: by the board game in the lounge.

Swansea: in the coffee machine in the lounge.

Curly: in utilities by the cryostasis pod.

(took me the longest to find Anya)

The Main Theme

For being a simple little psychological horror game on Steam, the soundtrack is amazing. The main menu theme, which also plays at the end during the credits, is so good because I think it displays the game perfectly. It sounds so... sad and depressing. I think the song, when listening to it, conveys the feeling perfectly of feeling lost and hopeless in space. To make it even better (worse) you can hear faint sounds of baby gibberish and crying in the background. To think the whole purpose of what leads to the crash in the game is the pregnancy. I give the devs kudos in the music department.

Colors

Now this will 100% be a long shot and my upmost personal opinions. I don't think I've seen anyone discuss this (if you have, I am so sorry, I'm not trying to steal your thunder I swear). I feel like there is some meaning behind the choice of colors associated with the characters. I always think color symbolism is amazing (I'm a little special lmao) and like to dissect it in medias I enjoy. As I have shown a few times previously, there's a color for each character and its constantly brought up throughout the game. So here are my theories on the colors.

Curly: as I said Curly was associated with the color white. This one was very interesting to think of as white has some very diverse meanings. It can represent innocence, honesty, cleanness, hope. In some instance, white can make you feel safe and secure. All of these can make you think of the irony of the situation. But in my own personal opinion, it could mean the more negative meanings behind white. White is at the top of the color grid for any color. It also has no hue or saturation. It could be considered a very lonely color. Imagine a room that's got white walls, white floor, white ceiling. You'd feel trapped and empty in it. I think that's a perfect way to describe Curly's character. Lonely and empty. Not trying to get into full character analysis mode, but Curly is a very sad and lonely character. Before and after the crash, there is no real hope of where he's going next. When playing the dlc for How Fish Is Made, Curly kind of describes his predicament where at home and in space, he's lost. Life just goes by without him. He doesn't know where to go in life. I think white can show how empty and lonely of a character he is.

Jimmy: this is one I was lowkey able to think of right away. Jimmy is presented with green, and I couldn't have picked a better color for him. I love the color green. With that being said, I know quite a few of the meanings behind the color green. Like all colors, green has both positive and negative meanings. But the one meaning behind green that made me say "yep, Jimmy" was envy. Jimmy is envious. We saw that in the beginning with his thoughts on Curly's achievements as captain. Green is also bitter. Green could often times be associated with life and health... it can also be associated with poison and toxicity. Jimmy was supposed to be the "help" they needed but instead became the poison that harmed everyone. I thoroughly enjoy the choice of green.

Anya: now this one is very fitting, and quite frankly sad. Blue can be associated with innocence, trust, calmness. Blue is also a very negative color as it often times represents sadness, fragility, and depression. Anya was going through it on the ship. I wouldn't doubt all the emotions that she was feeling being in the situation that she was put through. A thing that I'd like to point out too is that the specific shade of blue with her is a light blue, which light blue sometimes can be referred to babies and the youth. This same shade of blue is also used later on when Jimmy was talking to Polle (there's theories about Polle representing Anya and the baby, I didn't wanna fit it here because that's a whole lot to discuss lol).

Daisuke: I think this one is also very on point too. Pink is such a bright and fun color. It's such a sweet color no matter the shade. And I think that goes for Daisuke too as he's such a sweet boy who is always so optimistic. Pink can mean kindness, love, positivity, and youth. Once again, pink also has negative meanings too. Pink can represent immaturity, naivety, and ill-confidence. As we know, Daisuke is a young man who isn't quite mature like his coworkers. He's kinda childish and his thoughts can be very unrealistic. He is also very naive as he easily was convinced to go into a dangerous environment by Jimmy. As I mentioned earlier on, the hibiscus flowers are also pink. This was such a good color choice for him.

Swansea: now... I will 100% be honest here, this is the one character where my color theory makes me really second guess myself. A lot of the meanings behind yellow don't really fit Swansea. Yellow can mean intellect and power. Swansea is an old mechanic, so he's had years of building his knowledge. Yellow is a primary color and doesn't have two other colors mix to make it. When I think of the color yellow, I think of happiness, brightness, enthusiasm. Swansea isn't at all a happy person. He was one of the first of the crew to be prepared to not survive. He accepted his fate. However, one yellow trait that makes me think of Swansea is deception and dishonesty. Swansea did lie, did he not? He lied about utilities and kept up with his lie until Jimmy found out. He lied that utilities, which had the cryostasis pods that were supposed to save them, was foamed. He kept up with this lie for his own purpose. I will definitely listen to more theories on this too if anyone has any. I am all for colors. I do want to believe there's more to the color yellow than what I am coming up with.

Not gonna lie, there are a few more things I could've added to this list. The post was getting very long so I did cut out some things. These are just some of the few things in Mouthwashing that stood out and caught my attention. By all means, share some of your favorite moments, symbols, easter eggs. I love the thought put into this game and I love the thought the fandom has put into decoding it.

[secretly-tword-obsessed]

i saw your lee!thanos fic, aaaand... i saw you left a cliffhanger about potential lee!in-ho.. see... this man is so cute (evil, but cute) maybe could you make a part 2 on the man getting wrecked? <3 (if possible, gi-hun can appear!!) ily /p /serious

Oh okay! Tysm - both for the compliment and the request. I had so much fun writing this and hope you enjoy reading it!

Title: Everyone Everyone

Summary: After his plan to bring Thanos down a few pegs backfires, In-Ho tries everything he can to defend himself

Implied shipping of Gi-Hun and In-Ho but it can also be read as platonic!

Warning: This is a tickle fic. If you are not a tickle blog, DNI.

In-Ho's plan was successful. At first. He'd exposed 230's vulnerability, embarrassed him in front of his allies and possibly every single player. That would teach him for acting like an indestructible bitch all the time. Now he'd both stopped Thanos from attacking another player and disrupted his unhinged self-obsession.

Yet, in the process, the Frontman may have accidentally exposed one of his own vulnerabilities. He mentally slapped himself in the head for it, yet he maintained his calm and unbothered demeanor. Well, mostly - a slight blush was growing on his cheeks as Dae-Ho had just asked about this weakness. How could he lie logically?

"No, I'm not, I was just saying that most people are"

"Nah-ah", Jung-Bae interrupted, patting Dae-Ho on the back as if to loyally demonstrate his allegiance to the 'Player 001 is definitely lying' side of the argument; "You said that everyone was ticklish, everyone and most people are two very different things"

Shit. Now In-Ho needed an ally of his own. He turned his head around to Gi-Hun, who was sitting in the middle of his bed, his mind wondering through space.

"Hey, 456", he called, causing Gi-Hun's eyes to widen in surprise - as if he had just been dragged back to Earth from Mars.

"Yes", he responded hesitantly and somberly. In-Ho almost felt bad for putting this poor bloke back in the games. Almost.

"You know figure of speech right? When somebody says that everyone is something, they usually mean most people. These two former marines are claiming the two are synonymous".

Gi-Hun just looked at his new friendly acquaintance in confusion. This was probably the last thing he thought his fellow player would have needed him for. He heard Dae-Ho whisper to Jung-Bae, "The fuck does synonymous mean?"

Finally, Gi-Hun said something. The man had obviously sensed the ramifications of picking a side in this argument, so he said, "Well, it depends on the context".

Dae-Ho smirked, "Oh come on Young-Il", he teased, "Tell him the context!"

Damn it. The Frontman's whole identity was a lie - he had to be able to conceal his sensitivity.

"Alright", he said in resignation, "Maybe lets just drop it".

"O-ho, I don't think so", Jung-Bae chuckled, stepping closer to the Frontman so that he was almost backed against the metal bunk behind him.

"Yeah, don't think your getting away that easy", Dae-Ho added, stepping toward him from the other side.

Gi-Hun, completely oblivious to everything that had just happened around him, felt a concern rising in him. The intrusive worries seemingly flooded from all directions - Are they about to fight? My friends? Does this mean I'm allied with the wrong people? Would the fight have been my fault? I should have just kept my mouth shut. I-"

But than the man noticed something. As Jung-Bae and Dae-Ho surrounded him, stalking up menacingly, Player 001 actually had the remnants of a smile on his face, as if the anticipation excited him. Moreover, he could see a blush running down his cheeks. Weird. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he thought that Young-Il looked kind of cute in this state.

"Come on guys", he watched 001 defend himself, "We can talk about this".

"Why are you smiling?", Gi-Hun interjected.

Dae-Ho's grin widened, "Yeah, tell Mr 456 why your smiling why don't you?"

Player 001 could only look at him, almost pleadingly. Than, in a split second, Jung-Bae and Dae-Ho launched forward, and Young-Il burst into high pitched giggles.

As soon as he figured out what was happening, Gi-Hun sighed. And, for the first time in a while, he smiled. All they were doing was a bit of harmless tickling - Dae-Ho scribbling at the man's left side while Jung-Bae poked around his belly. Young-Il was letting out the most innocent giggles imaginable, squirming desperately to get away to no avail. Gi-Gun hadn't remembered the last time he'd seen or experienced such a display, but something about player 001's laugh was contagious - something about the playful atmosphere lifted his sunken spirits.

"Liar liar pants on fire!", Dae-Ho remarked, switching his tactic from scribbles to light pokes.

"Nohohoho! Dohohon't!"

Dae-Ho raised an eyebrow, poking faster and adding a few gentle squeezes to his victim's hips, "Don't what?"

"Tihihihickle me!", In-Ho cried, and Gi-Hun saw his eyes widened as he recognized his mistake.

The two ex-marines had the most shit-eating grins on their faces.

"Tickle you? Where?", Jung-Bae asked in feigned innocence, jabbing his hand under Young-Il's arms. That was when the man cracked.

"NAHAHAHA! NOHOHOT THEHEHERE! PLEHEHEASE!"

"We're merely doing what you asked", Jung-Bae commented, as if he was stating any other fact and not reducing his fellow player to a hysterical cackling fit.

Gi-Hun watched the scene unfold, seeing how player 001 had absolutely lost his shit, envious that player 001 was being completely distracted from the games - all the man's energy evidently focused on trying to knock off his attackers, not on wondering weather he'd live to see another day or help his wife and meet his child.

"Gi-Hun", Dae-Ho said, distracting him from his thoughts, "Quit daydreaming and give us a hahand! here! The vihictim's escahaping!"

Gi-Hun noticed that Young-Il had switched his mode of defense, trying to plow forward to get away instead of escape through one of his left or right side. As the two ex-marines had been concentrated on blocking his exit through those two locations, they were losing their grip on him as he seized this third.

Oh, what the heck. Gi-Hun hadn't remembered the last time he'd been so carefree. He'd help his friends.

Gi-Hun lunged into Young-Il's stomach, squeezing at it gently yet purposefully.

Meanwhile, In-Ho was absolutely losing it. He was being attacked from three angles, and laughing uncontrollably like a child, and he had no chance of saving himself. Not to mention the intensity of the ticklish feeling that buzzed through his stomach, sides and - worst of all - under his arms. He remembered when his brother had tickled him there when they were both young adults, attempting to embarrass him infront of a girl he was trying to flirt with. The noises he made now were as nutty and uncontrollable as they were back than. Moreover, he wasn't entirely sure he could trust these three men to stop any time soon, and he wasn't sure of how much more he could take.

"QUIHIHIHIT IT!", he begged, trying to grab at Gi-Hun's wrists but continually missing.

"Only when you admit how ticklish you are!", Dae-Ho challenged, making the Frontman even more squirmy at the mention of the word.

"EHEVEHEHERYOHOHONE IS!", he retorted, defending his dignity to the very end.

"Everyone everyone? Or most people?", Gi-Hun teased.

Man, the Frontman had only ever seen this guy sad, or emotionless, or angry. He had never seen him this joyous. He wasn't supposed to be having fun during these games. In the second game, he had to remember to break the man's spirit somehow. But he couldn't come up with a coherent plan while he was being tickled to bits.

"EVEHEHERYONE EVERYONE!", he cried out desperately, "IHIHIHIN - AHAHAHA - INCLUDING MEHEHE!"

Exchanging satisfied glances, his three attackers let up. In-Ho collapsed onto the bed behind him, catching his breath.

"You have a cute laugh", Gi-Hun said absentmindedly. Everyone suddenly turned to him, making him go dark crimson.

"N-nothing".

Hope you enjoyed (:

Keep Giggling!!!

[sp00kymulderr]

Get to know your moots!

ty for tagging me beloveds @bonezone44 @morallyinept @perotovar 💕💕💕

What's the origin of your blog title? 'baby, I'm a giver' bc I am obsessed with The Giver and everything about Chappell's performance of it ����

OTP(s) + Shipname: I don't really ship these days, although my otp remains Bobby/Chrisjen from The Expanse bc they are v important to me and always will be 😍

Favourite colour: Pink I love pink, especially brights 🩷

Favourite game: I don't really play anything at the moment because I don't have a gaming console. I'm great at solitaire though 😆. Obsessed with Baldurs Gate 3 right now too, but only from watching playthroughs

Song stuck in your head: Juno by Sabrina Carpenter

Weirdest habit/trait? I'm one of those people who can't have different items on their plate touching, and almost always eats meals from worst thing on the plate to best. Is that weird?

Hobbies: 'Writing', weightlifting, reading

If you work, what's your profession? I work in higher education admin

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? I don't particularly dream of having a job, I dream of not having to work.

Something you're good at: ??? idk I guess I can be creative

Something you're bad at: Everything rn

Something you love: Pedro (duh), Dieter Bravo, aliens

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: Theatre (particularly West End theatre circa 2012 - 2016), Sci-fi, Dieter Bravo

Something you hate: Apart from the obvious? Hm, people who don't unload the bar after their sets (glaring at the guys in the gym who leave all their plates on the barbell after bench esp)

Something you collect: Hard Rock Cafe badges, postcards, I think I have enough vibrators now to say it's a collection 😅

Something you forget: To set my coffee machine on the timer so i have coffee ready in the morning

What's your love language? Words of affirmation

Favourite movie/show: Movie right now is probably Aliens, show is The Expanse (always)

Favourite food: I lovelovelove sushi

Favourite animal: Cats. Cats are the best ever.

What were you like as a child? Shy, quiet, bookish weirdo

Favourite subject at school? I always loved English lit the most

Least favorite subject? Maths

What's your best character trait? I think I'm kind and giving.

What's your worst character trait? I'm too quiet and too shy and too anxious

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? I would have ordered pizza and also not be in pain

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet? Maybe Christopher Isherwood, or maybe Octavia Butler

Recommend one of your favourite fanfics (spread the love!): Just one! hmm, there are so many incredible fics in this fandom but I think maybe for me one of the greatest of all time is into the beat of the night by @perotovar - it means so much to me to see an non-binary characther featured in a story with a Pedro boy, and i know it does for others too. I think Erin writes about their relationship beautifully and there's clearly a lot of care and thought put into it (even though i am sososo behind on my reading of it still I'm sorry ilysm)

Tagging lovely moots to do this! (Sorry if you've already done it!) @covetyou @chronically-ghosted @missredherring @grogusmum @ghotifishreads

@amanitacowboy @quinnnfabrgay-writes @for-a-longlongtime @qveerthe0ry @seventeenpins

@javier-pena @nothoughtsjustmeds @jessthebaker @whatsnewalycat @whocaresstillthelouvre

[dragonologist-phd]

and i'm not supposed to believe they're in love? come on.

[atelierlili]

Sorry not sorry, anytime I see someone say Peeta's childhood crush as obessive/creepy, I can tell they're reaching so hard or projecting. Because Peeta's crush on Katniss is literally so normal. He never acts on it until they're placed in a life or death situation and he only weaponizes it as a tool to keep HER alive. Peeta's affection for Katniss, is and has always been unconditional and innocent. It's so ick when people twist it into something it's not to perpetuate their narrative.

When he realizes that Katniss doesn't reciprocate his affections and may feel burdened by his affections, he put so much distance between him and Katniss that she admits to missing him and HE gets criticized by most of the fandom for freezing her out.

He has always been respectful to Katniss’s autonomy and respects her boundaries. Is he overly self-sacrificing and have little self worth? Yes, but in comparison to red flags in a partner, this is barely one at all. He’s not abusive at his own volition. Doesn’t guilt her for not liking him back or continuing their lover’s facade to keep their families safe. His flaw is workable and it’s never something that can harm Katniss physically or mentally (at least for the most part). And this is not to mention that Katniss shares these flaws as well.

At the same time, these examples of his self-sacrificing nature are placed within contexts where once again, Katniss and Peeta are planning to die for each other again. Where Peeta is doing the ruthless calculus of war and knowing in the grand scheme of things, his death will have less repercussions than Katniss’. He doesn’t have people relying on him to live. He’s not the one the rebellion is using as a symbol.

“Oh, but he used to watch her go home everyday-“ no. That’s what the movie said in that abysmal cave scene. Even if that were the case, it’s not like he’s stalking her- they go to the same school?? Some people act and cling to this instance as if he’s following her home and stealing her panties. All he’s ever done is watch her (and saved her life) and guess what??? Katniss was watching him too? She’s been taking sneak peeks at him too (oh, he can lift heavy bags of flour so easy, he came in second in the wrestling tournament. 🤨 Giirrrrrl) so I guess their both creepy and obsessive for each other. Match made in heaven 🤷‍♀️

[dykedvonte]

I think it’s so ironic that the Pony Express escapes a lot if not all blame in discussion. I can’t even say I am excused from it but it’s just how hard people circle back to the characters alone without considering the environment they were made to be in.

Why would they design a ship where only two of the rooms lock? Not the bathroom? Not the sleeping quarters? We assume that all the companies in the universe are this shallow and careless to their workers but we explicitly know the Pony Express in extra vile. They are fed processed slop pack they can’t even really cook and the ration of those pack is meager at best. They hired and made people with a plethora of conflicting demeanors and beliefs work together on a mission where cohesion is important if not an outright necessity and punish them for not being happy about it. There’s no social protocols, not chain of command other than Captain’s word/choice and the only way to enforce that is with a literal firearm. They don’t allow them to celebrate freely and even took away leisure activities that would make them less stir crazy. They are only allowed a few hours of sleep despite their being no other real responsibilities or work on the ship, no matter the position or its importance. With any crew, with any level of synergy, this was a powder keg waiting for a spark.

I’m not saying characters that made mistakes didn’t make huge ones, but I think part of the horror is that at least for some (this is targeting Jimathan) those mistakes are partly made by a force of the hand. There’s a running theme of lack of choice and being forced into something and the very nature of how The Pony Express expected them to function plays a big part.

[gwendolynnderolo]

teen wolf memes part 17: i’m gay and mentally ill and made these while procrastinating homework

truly i’m having so much fun with these. there are so many more coming i’m never gonna stop. thank you @burnthatbridgewhenwecometoit you’re the best 🩷

teen wolf memes part 17

[royal-elfroots]

Well guys, I'm locked in.

I really thought it was gonna be Davrin, and he did make things complicated because he's so... Davrin.

But it just always felt like something deeper was there with Lucanis. Like my Rook and Lucanis just had this unspoken understanding.

And as soon as Rook got into Lucanis' head, literally opening his closed doors and breaking his walls, there was no going back. It had to be Lucanis.

And I LOVE LOVE hearing the companions talk about it. So no regrets here.

Still gotta finish the game though, I think I'm a bit over 60% done. LET'S GOOO

[forgotten-daydreamer]

"Oh yes!! I can finally join the mouthwashing fandom!!" I said with excitement. Little did I know it was a feature. A creature feature. Featuring........ The absence of media literacy.

[vaguely-concerned]

do you think arranging the little veilguard tableaus of npcs standing around together was fun. I think it would be fun. I would make up soooo many dumb intricate little stories for all of them while I was placing them around the map and no one playing the game would ever know about it. but I'd know. I'd know their stories

[stardestroyer81]

In the mid-1980s, animated adaptations of arcade games were commonplace— for example, Hanna Barbera's Pac-Man or Saturday Supercade's Q*Bert. Both of these shows, for lack of a better term, 'Americanize' the designs of the titular characters, so I got to thinking...

"What would a mid-1980s cartoon based off Rascal look like?"

Seeing as I've had prior experience in drawing faux animation cels, I decided to put that talent to the test and whip up not only a cel drawing but also a painted background for a scene for a hypothetical 1985 Rascal cartoon! 🍬🧡💙🧡🍬

(You can get a print of both the standalone cel as well as the cel overlaid on top of the painted background over on my RedBubble store!)

[knives-and-narcissi]

Okay I saw this on a post on my recommended and decided to nick it because dhdjsjdjdjs THIS IS SO GOOOOD.

“put ur Spotify on shuffle and write down the first lyric of the first ten songs that come on, post the poem that results” (character playlist edition)

(Okay I tweaked slightly for some to include first two lines so it makes more sense but UM)

• William James Moriarty edition:

Time to put my medal on

Whose blood to spill?

Sick thoughts

We might just be unkind

Double, double, double

Down

I thought I saw the devil this morning

Looking in the mirror

Regrets collect like old friends

When I was a boy, I didn’t care ‘bout a thing

I can’t forget what we’ve been through now

Murder lives forever and so does war

This is the end, hold your breath and

Count to ten

A dozen crows and then some on the

Rhododendrons.

• Louis James Moriarty edition:

Draw the cat eyes sharp enough to kill a man

All my friends are heathens, take it slow

I’m in the rafters looking down

Are you insane like me?

Be careful making wishes in the dark

Our coming of age has come and gone

I don’t even know myself at all

I’ll make it through the rainy days

I’ll be the one who stands here longer than the rest

To carry on for you

(Screaming thanks for those last two Spotify??)

• Sherliam Edition: (I got carried away shutup)

Remember those walls I built?

Well baby they’re tumbling down

Wise men say, only fools rush in

These are the moments that mean the most

Feeling you closing in, brushing against my skin

I’m giving you a night call to tell you how I feel

Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned

I wasn’t jealous before we met

I’ll sing it one last time for you

What would I do without your smart mouth.

Sun is gleaming on the water, nothing but the after in our gaze.

(Again WTF I am deceased)

Gonna tag a bunch of people because I adore this, feel free to ignore or if you’re not tagged you wanna jump in, please please do!

@xokiddo @hergan416 @user-needs-new-hyperfixation @methpring @alabaster-moon @tachikoma-x @memento-yuumori anyone else I missed I’m so sorry I suck remembering tumblr usernames LOL but join in!

[musubiki]

tcwg boardwalk/fair day but taffy works as one of the carnies (he didn’t think they’d show up)

this is so lore accurate but for oscar instead of taffy 😭 oscar is the one who is always working weird odd jobs in random places that seem to change every week !! (which is how he ended up with madam springs in the first place)

i think taffy is the type to take those weird gross out-of-sight jobs that no one wants to do....cleaning grime out from under the docks or something, the kind of job where he wouldnt be around people..

[spiderslvts]

some new tags ?? some new tags !! + affiliate tags :]

  .   🕸️  HOW   OUT   OF   HAND   IT’S   GOTTEN       ╱     ooc.

  .   🕸️  MY   FLESH   IS   LACED   WITH   SUGAR   AND   MAGGOTS       ╱     asks.

  .   🕸️  YOU   SAY   YOU   MISS   ME    (  I’M   RIGHT   HERE  )       ╱     starters.

  .   🕸️  WITH   PINK   EYESHADOW   AND   A   SOBBING   PRAYER       ╱     isms.

  .   🕸️  ANYTHING   COULD   BE   HOLY   UNDER   NEON  LIGHTS       ╱     visage.

  .   🕸️  DO   YOU   FEEL   THE   EYES   OVER   YOUR   BODY   STILL?       ╱     promo.

  .   🕸️  TO   SWEETLY   MELT   IN   SIN       ╱     rp memes.

  .   🕸️  I   DRINK   ;   I   BURN   ;   I   SHATTER   MY   OWN   DREAMS       ╱     open starter.

  .   🕸️  YOUR   FISH   HOOK   IN   MY   MOUTH       ╱     crack.

  .   🕸️  EATEN   IN   PIECES   ;   NOT   MEANT   TO   BE    KNOWN   WHOLE       ╱     ic.

  .   🕸️  I   BELIEVE   YOU   LIKE   A    BEATEN   DOG       ╱     dash games.

  .   🕸️  I   WILL   NEVER   BE   FORGIVEN   FOR   WANTING       ╱     affiliates.

  .   🕸️  KISS   ME   WITH   MY   BLOOD   BETWEEN   YOUR   TEETH       ╱     ships.

  .   🕸️  TO   BE   LOOKED   AT    &.   NEVER   SEEN       ╱     art.

  .   🕸️  TOUCHED   DOWN   TO   THE   DELICATE   BONES       ╱     poetry.

  .   🕷  |   IN  NEON  LIGHTS     ╱     canon &. main verse.

  .   🕷  |   THE  CALL  OF  THE  ANGELS     ╱     overlord verse.

  .   🕷  |   FEATHER  BOAS  AND  GLITTER     ╱     70’s verse. (ft. sirserpentine)

  .   🕷  |   OVERSEER  OF  HELL     ╱     zestial’s employee verse (ft. zestials)

  .   🕷  |   GOOD  OLD  FASHIONED  LOVER  BOY     ╱     human verse.

  .   🕷  |   LACED  WITH  BELLADONNA     ╱     lost twins verse (ft. spyderdust)

  .   ♡  DO  YOU  LIKE  THE  SHOW ?  ARE  YOU  TIRED  OF  IT ?     ╱     videoaux.

  .   ♡  THE  LAST  SHRED  OF  TRUTH  IN  THE  LOST  MYTH  OF  TRUE  LOVE     ╱     hellsbroadcaster.

  .   ♡  I  COULD  NEVER  DEFINE  ALL  THAT  YOU  ARE  TO  ME     ╱     r-adio.

  .   ♡  BUT  I’D  NEVER  SAY  I  LOVE  YOU  JUST  TO  HEAR  YOU  SAY  IT  BACK     ╱     sirserpentine.

  .   ♡  I’M  PUT  TO  AWE  SOMETHING  SO  FLAWED  AND  FREE     ╱     dark-ambition.

  .   ♡  YOUR  BEAUTY  NEVER  EVER  SCARED  ME     ╱     gamblins.

  .   ♡  THE  FEAR  OF  THE  UNKNOWN  /  THE  FACE  IN  MONOCHROME     ╱     zestials.

  .   ♡  YOU  HATE  THE  APPLAUSE  /  YOU  CRAVE  THE  ATTENTION     ╱     xluciifer.

  .   ♡  BUT  YOU’RE  HOLDING  ME  LIKE  WATER  IN  YOUR  HANDS     ╱     oriiginis.

[cripfaggot]

the amount of rookanis art i've seen either featuring or captioned with hozier lyrics.... thank you everyone