#oh and bluray's a thing now too!

[demonic-shadowlucifer]

"kids today will NEVER know what OLD music/cartoons were like" wait until you hear about reruns and DVDs and youtube and radios and streaming services and-

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 1 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2])

so babe, hear me out. we could adopt him. just spitballing here (agatha, probably)

bwahhaha fantasy!billy and his death stare, meanwhile real billy is such a polite baby

if you look closely you can tell Joe Locke is fighting for his life holding down laughter in a lot of his scenes with Katrhyn. he has nerves of steel, couldn't be me

(also, billy telling her she has neither the respect of her peers NOR a fulfilling home life? harsh, but fair.) (at least her wife is trying to fix the home life part)

honey, don't go around kicking grumpy little twinks now! perfectly in character. despite her chaotic exterior, rio is a very lawful person. she is literally the laws of nature!

the Ballad plays faintly in the background when Billy mentions the Road

I love when good actors have to pretend to be bad actors. and I also find it interesting that Agatha cast herself as a good guy. does it make her feel bette? is she telling herself that all the atrocities were justified, that it was only survival instinct? (like rio said, she's only lying to herself)

I had to look up the painting, it's Macbeth meeting the three witches (thank you Reddit!) So Macbeth (Agatha) and Banquo (Billy) meeting Lilia, Jen and Alice?

how did I miss Billy sitting on the chair Rio was just on?! amazing lens choices here too

Wanda's death makes her cry again. I honestly, honestly believe she feels awful about what she did to her. but guilt will never be enough to redeem her - especially because she tends to run away from it.

Wanda's magic was so strong that it took at least four things to undo the spell: Wanda dying, Rio's intervention, Billy's counterspell, and Agatha's willpower. It was a group effort, Agatha could have never done it alone. And despite her scorched earth tactics, there are still two people in her life, rio and billy, willing to help out in her hour of need

it's naughty tiiiime

I still really love the curls

can I say iconique?

it's like someone's about to die at the end of this

bwahahahahaah and oh my GAWD all the case files and boxes, where did she GET that stuff, did she rob a precint, did she make them with the power of arts and crafts

you know what I think? being naked here is a power move. she is being very over the top because she's really uncomfortable, she just woke up and she's in those moments when you stop dreaming and have to relearn what's real and what isn't. she is someone used to calculate and scheme and micromanage every aspect of her life and she is not in control right now. what does Agatha do to reclaim control? she puts on a show. to her, being under the spell was way more like being naked, her insecurities and emotions and past were out in the open for everyone to see. being physically naked could never be nearly as distressing, and this is a nakedness she chose, because it tells people nothing about herself, nothing of what she wants to keep secret and protected. she's got the upper hand, not the other way round

you are all cowards and sheep for not saying Wanda's name, says the lady who would rather hide under a dozen magic layers than face her problems

that is so nice that they brought her groceries actually??? and lol those are the flowers in Agatha's crime scene pictures

that little girl is having a great time

FUCK CLOTHES BUT FUCK THESE CLOTHES SPECIFICALLY!!!!

(wait am I allowed to post butt cheeks? what are the rules right now?)

she turns quiet and emo as soon as she's alone

why doesn't she just - kiss the wiwwle bunny. bury her nose in that big fluffly head. even villains need a cuddle sometimes.

sure, bring señor scratchy. so menacing. that'll show them.

poor boy. trapped in a closet with ralph's bluray collection

aaand I really want to get to the next scene so I'll start on it right away, hopefully it'll be ready later tonight

go to part 4

[alpaca-clouds]

Dungeons & Dragons - Or: Why Capitalism Sucks at Making Money

If this past year managed anything, it managed to get me really into DnD. Before I did not play DnD much, rather going with Shadowrun or (heavily homebrewed) World of Darkness. But with first Honor Among Thieves releasing - and then Baldur's Gate 3 giving me brainworms tadpoles... Yeah, hurray. New hyperfixation unlocked.

But as I started to read through all the lore, but also meta stuff happening around it. And yes, I quickly understood why basically everyone was frustrated with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. But I also think, that this betrays one of the big issues with capitalist logic and how it often fails to reach an audience - for the reason I outlined before: capitalists are actually super bad at realizing what works and why, because they only judge based on spread sheets.

And yes, the headline is hyperbolic. But let me explain.

A Community-Based Game

I mean, the biggest scandal of DnD this year was probably the entire thing about the community license. And this is very much something that shows quite well, how bad WotC is at recognizing why DnD works and has worked so long.

DnD centrally has been build around this idea of community. Now, mind you: This community was very, very focused on cis white guys for the longest time, but everybody else just managed to get in there and make their own little bit of community. Which also lead to a lot of homebrew stuff, that at times tackled some issues that the rules themselves did not address at all or not well. The combat wheelchair is probably the best known example of this.

But even outside of marginalized communities... DnD always thrived through the community aspect itself. People self-publishing magazines and adventures for it since the fucking 70s. As well as play sets, dice and what-have-you. DnD was always very much about all this and thrived through it. And now in came WotC saying: "Oh, yeah, actually you will now have to give us a big cut. (The big irony was, how Unity made the same move later on.) The fandom outcry was obviously big, there was a boycot, it worked. And WotC went all:

Of course they basically won the world competition in backpaddling (though again, Unity was a big contender this year as well) and quickly went back on this. But of course there is a problem: When your entire product is so much build around community and your community starts mistrusting you, you got a problem.

And this is basically what happened.

The Audience Problem

There is another problem of course. Financially the DnD movie failed - and I actually think this says a lot about how WotC kinda misunderstands the audience.

Now, there will be people trying to tell you, that given that the movie had great reviews and stuff. But the movie had a production budget of 150 million USD and only earned a bit more than 200 million on worldwide box office. Given that the marketing budget was likely around 30 million, the movie barely broke even.

Of course, part of the reason for it was that it just had a bad release date. It released parallel to the Super Mario movie, which ended up being one of the most successful movies of this year.

A friend of mine could not believe that the movie had financially flopped. They were like: "What the hell? Literally everyone I know who watched the movie went to cinema like three times to see it again." But... Yeah, that is true. But the issue is that these people are a very certain group.

Because lets make one thing clear: The people, who adored the movie so much, that they went to the cinema several times and bought the DVD/BluRay on release... were mostly queer nerds. Because this is the group of people who this movie spoke to.

And let's make this clear: I love the movie for this. I love that it so clearly went for this audience. Because I am part of this audience - and I adore this film.

But basically the movie has a general issue in terms of audience. Because on one hand the movie is too nerdy to have a wider audience appeal of people who had never played DnD, while on the other hand the movie was kinda not nerdy enough to go full force for the nerd audience.

A lot of people in the fandom have instantly sussed out one thing about the movie: "Why doesn't Edgin cast any spells? And why do we see so little of the weirder species?" And part of the reason undoubtedly was budget related. But the other reason is that... well, it is currently a well accepted wisdom in media production that you cannot sell a high-magic story. At least not outside of animated media.

Hence... There is surprisingly little magic being cast in this. And we also do have a mostly human main cast - or why Doric is the most classically pretty tiefling you have seen with her human skin tone and all of that. Because media productions do not trust the audience to accept high magic concepts.

Who is DnD actually for?

Okay, let me talk a bit about DnD 5e - and a good decision, and a bad decision. And how that affected DnD.

Everyone, who is somewhat into DnD probably knows that 5e massively changed the game. With one simple goal: Make it more accessible. Which manifested in several ways.

For one, the game was in some ways made less offensive. Because prior to 5e there was a ton of racism, sexism, queerphobia and ableism inherent to the game rules and times to the game lore. This is just a fact. Things like species that are inherently evil and stuff like that - and also some of the real-life racial coding inherent to some of the species. Removing all that stuff is a good thing. Like amazingly good.

And also, they made the rules a lot more accessible. Before the rules were bogged down with a lot of stuff, that was simplified or removed. Again, this is a good thing.

And this worked. It worked really well. Of course, this was also partly due to stuff like Critical Role and other actual plays like that happening and promoting the game. The player base probably increased ten-fold from what it was before.

Yes, it should also be noted that there is probably a good topic for a study on how formerly nerd-thingies became more and more mainstream during the last 10 years or so, but yes, DnD was one of those things.

But in this there was also a rather bad decision made, which ironically also mirrors what happened with Marvel. And this decision is: Because we want to reach a wider audience, every single thing we release for this has to reach the widest audience possible - rather than allowing that certain things might have a more specific audience.

I am sorry to talk about the MCU here, but it is just such a perfect example of this: The MCU basically made two mistakes. Overwhelming their audience with too many releases. But also not allowing the movies to be for a certain audience, but for the broadest audience possible. A good example is how they dealt with the minority-lead movies. They got directors and at times even writers from that minority - but then basically did not allow them to be too specific and be too critical of, for example, a racist system because that might not go over too well with white mainstream audiences.

Now, WotC did not really do anything like that. But they also went with this idea that everything they officially released should have the broadest possible appeal. Hence the weirdly low-magic approach to the movie, of which I assume that it definitely was an executive decision made.

The fact that the movie resonated so much with the queers more than anyone else was also not intended - at least not from the production company. Like, let's be honest. No, Xenk and Ed were not supposed to be read as romantic. And how appealing the found family trope was, probably was not intented at least on the side of Hasbro (not sure about screenwriters and director).

The Lore Problem

This perfectly connects to one of the big issues that all the franchises going for a broad appeal after being very nerd-focused for so long, run into: The Lore Problem. And this is quite ironic, because I ran into the problem earlier this year as well.

See, as I was writing fanfics for DnD:HAT I quickly ran into the problem that I knew next to nothing about the world of Faerûn. Sure, once upon a time (like between 2007 and 2011, while I was living in Austria with my then-boyfriend, who really was into those games) I played the old games of Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate 1 + 2. But let's be frank: I barely remember shit from those games. And getting to understand what actually happened in the lore between and after... Well, there is just a ton of lore. I mean, people are playing around with this world for literal decades. So, yeah. This can very much be overwhelming for someone getting into it anew. Like, where can someone new even start?

The fact that - at least partly for legal reasons - most of the Actual Plays also do not work with the official lore, rather just using the rules to create their own worlds, obviously adds to this. Even the tables I played on so far always preferred original worlds, because the lore of DnD is just very intimidating.

The one thing that actuall ended up getting me into the lore was BG3, because it left open just the right questions to go into the Forgotten Realms wiki and just look for stuff, before also starting to listen to lore podcasts.

But here is the thing: WotC is also not helping with this issue. Like, they absolutel could create a proper accessible compendium on DnDBeyond that would just allow people to get an overview of the world and the timeline of things happening, maybe go into some of the major factions of the world and such. I mean, heck, they really, really want you to use DnD-Beyond rather than roll20. Yet, in DnD-Beyond I do not even have a monster compendium without paying, which roll20 offers.

Like, sure, WotC, it is okay to lock up the adventure modules behind a paywall, no problem. But if you do give me even the most basic tools to run a campaign, I am gonna use roll20, thank you very much.

But yeah, what WotC should make just more accessible was just: Timeline, important places and the maps (heck, make them interactive, you have the fucking money), maybe also a proper list of the pantheons and factions within the world. Heck, add maybe some inspiration there for what players might want to do within one of the scenarios and then, under this, go and link "hey, we made this one adventure about this, if you are interested!"

Something I did not realize originally was how much freedom the lore still leaves the people. Like, often even the important settings and events are just set-ups for adventures that the characters can have in there. There might be a few novels or comics then, that go into an example of a thing certain established characters like Drizzt or Elminster did during the time, but there is a ton of freedom to explore.

But by basically locking everything up behind a paywall, you will never get people even interested in this kinda stuff.

Because here is the thing: I like my lore. I love lore. I adore lore. But... Without BG3 explaining some stuff and giving me specific questions to ask about it, the lore would have been very inaccessible to me.

Just think of people as... people

Of course among it all there lies the central problem that comes with capitalism running something like this. See, whatever CEOs and shareholders are sitting on those chairs with WotC and Hasbro, they do not see the players as players or the community as a community, but as consumers. Just as they see their employees not as valued constributors, but very exchangable wage slaves.

They do not see the value of the community exchange with stuff like fanmade modules and things. While incorporating a bit of homebrew stuff in DnD Beyond, they are absolutely not interested in the wider market of people just creatively interacting with DnD and making a little bit of money from it. If anything they see those people as potential rivals on the market.

Heck, they have issues seeing things like Critical Role or Roll20 as the enrichment for the franchise that either are - but more like potential rivaling forces and money they have lost.

And their employees? Yeah, as we learned... Most people who from the side of WotC helped the Larian team with BG3 have been let go by now. Because WotC and Hasbro do not care for their employees, they only care about having some numbers going up.

I fully admit it. Apart from Buying BG3 and the money I have invested in anything DnD:HAT related, the only money that WotC got from me, was some of the novels I bought on Audible.

But here is the thing: WotC is doing a shite job at wanting me to invest into any of their stuff. Partly because those modules I would like to have are not available anywhere anyway - and partly because... As I said, give me a reason to get something, rather than just expecting me to randomly get something.

And mind you, this is no slight against any of the people just working for WotC. This is mostly about shareholder and executive decisions made. Stuff that basically just sees either their employers or the players just as a ressource to exploit, rather than... people.

[dropthedemiurge]

Hi!

So first off I love your page and seeing all the content on 'Love For Love's Sake' / 'Love Supremacy Zone', becuz your analysis and summaries are always informative and AMAZING.

it's my current hyperfixation and I'm obsessed.

And since you are more knowledgeable and read ALL of the Novel, there is something I'd like to ask that has been confusing me -

I want to read the webnovel but everywhere I see, it says there are a different number of chapters - it says this -

Status in COO:

118 Chapters (Completed) 7 Side Story Chapters (Completed) 5 Side Story Extra Chapters (Completed) 6 Side Story Special Chapters (Completed) 22 Side Story Bonus Chapters (Completed)

What I know:

118 Chapters (main story) 6 chapters (side story with their anniversary/ proposal) 22 chapters (19 Myungha time-travelling to 29)

But what are the last two?

5 Chapters 7 Chapters

Also why is a 'special' story 18+ on Ridibooks?

And if you could tell please, where did you read the whole story? Was it in English or did you read in Korean/use a translator?

I've been stressing over this for like months and cant get an answer anywhere

Sorry for the long question - thank you for taking the time to read <3

Thank you so much and you're very welcome, first of all! I saw you in my notifs and I was very happy to meet another LFLS obsessed person :D

I gotta admit, I didn't read the novel and webtoon... I mean, I started it but I haven't finished yet. I've read the fan-translated version of a novel (which is like 1/3 of korean novel?) and I have access to Ridibooks where I decided to start with reading Spinoff story (since I sort of know that's completely new and kdrama closely follow original novel)

I can assume 18+ story might be including chapters with somewhat NC scenes? (I haven't read them yet tbh I'm still wary of buying such things on Korean websites, blame my paranoia) but other than that, the rest seemed like the typical novel (118 chapters) + Special side story (I haven't read it yet) of 6 chapters + bonus stage released in 2024 with 22 chapters . You say 6 chapters about proposal? I gotta read it then! Though the proposal was hinted at in the last spinoff story though...xD

I don't see different separation in Ridibooks. I see 118-6-22 chapters too. Oh, but I see 19+ version with 7 and 5 chapters, maybe that's the one you're talking about? But sorry, I haven't read them yet... I might do it though xD

But I have Kdrama storyboard + scriptbook right now to read! As in actual physical book, so I'm very curious to read and check what differences there are in actual drama (Taevin said they had to give up some scenes because of the weather etc). + I will work on translating spinoff soon while somebody else has been translating the original novel. Not sure about 19+ version one xD

And also they are releasing Bluray and DVD right now with extra commentary and everything... I should not spend more money on LFLS editions... I should not...... please tell me you guys don't need to know all those extra commentaries and behind the scenes....xD

[leadandblood]

PLEASE tell us more about your Crozcest interpretations of canon scenes omg 0w0

This reply has gotten SO fucking long, oh my god, Anon, what have you unleashed. (kidding, i love you, thank you so much for this ask <333333333)

Below are my thoughts and interpretations of canon scenes along with screencaps from the show. All the things below are speculation. No, these characters are not related whatsoever in the show. I made this AU up bc it's fun. Don't go into the soup store if you hate soup. Don't read this post if you hate blorbo incest. (though this post is very mild and mostly covers the basic family dynamic)

okAY OKAY, So!! Basically everything has to be viewed through a different lense, because well. they're family now! It changes Everything! So I might as well describe the whole show, but I guess for this post, I can start with ep 1...?

Overall

Technically Edward is better off, because he gets a higher position in the navy. He has influence, he has command, he can order men around as he likes as long as it's something a lieutenant can do. It's possible to think Francis likes him more because of this BUT!

Thomas gets to be way closer to Francis and is allowed to spend more time with him and has way less weight and expectations placed on his shoulders. Many of the tasks he has to do are controlled by Francis, are always the same and don't require much from him apart from physical labor. It's basically "I want to keep you as close as possible on this journey without burdening you too much or raising suspicions". That of course doesn't prevent Tom from working his ass off, but we'll get to that at some point.

Alternative first scene (Francis & Edward)

In one of the cuts, the first scene we get of Francis is with Edward (ignoring Blanky). And he's being all fatherly and friendly and touchy, which is actually adorable. All is well! I'm soft.

Despite everything, especially earlier into the journey, Francis doesn't dislike Edward all that much. When he's in a good mood, one could even say he loves him. Edward has been capable - he's a good lieutenant, when they're actually sailing and when he knows what to do. I'd say Francis is proud of him at least a bit at the start of the show, even though he wouldn't admit it.

(sorry for the shitty screencaps i only have this cut in 720p)

Then there's of course Edward's yay, daddy, hi! 🥰🥰 expression which is beyond adorable. I love him very much.

Alternative first scene #2 (Francis & Thomas)

In the bluray version (and netflix, too, i believe) Francis's first scene is with Thomas. Which in itself is crazy to me like. The fact they chose Jopson and Little specifically to accompany Francis in his first ever scenes!! Bonkers in the best way possible. (and also HIGHLY convinient for this AU reading lmaooo) Anyway.

Tom's cunty little head wiggle here is everything to me. When your dad goes on another rant abt how much he hates your auntie who comes over to visit once a month and you just have to endure it and nod along.

I think Francis is that sort of parent you've had to comfort when you were a kid. They'd pour their heart out to you about their problems (which you could do nothing about). And despite how small you were, you were expected to respond maturely and to not only bear your parent's tears, but to comfort them. This of course is an insane burden to give to a child, who WILL then feel responsible and WILL feel like they have to do something, yet can't. (Been there, felt that. Sorry Tom)

I think he has had to do that since he was young and that's why he's good at it now compared to Edward. He had time to practise and to learn to bear these sessions from Francis. Tom locks his own emotions up to let his father's flow over him. He might then release them somewhere else ehm ehm, Edward.

Overall terribly unhealthy, but very good angst material.

On a sillier note, Tom stop looking at him like that that's your father ffs-

2nd scene (Dinner on Terror)

Here's just a moment to appreciate this quick glance at Francis (and also how pretty Edward is)

Something something Edward being the one at a table, dining with his father and the officers while Thomas is the one serving them. Something something, useful youngest child, something something a-prize-to-show-to-others eldest child. Tickles my brain.

Also I can't help but imagine Edward looking over to Tom anytime his sleeves slide up a bit when he stretches out to pour them a glass like 👀

Then Francis's moment of "can't believe you'd betray me like that, Edward". To look at Fitzjames with such admiration and interest and to ask questions while barely looking at Francis at all throughout the dinner must be so humbling lmao. (it drives him mad)

I think this is part of the reason why he then makes the Birdshit island comment. It's not 100% aimed at James, but at Edward also, although indirectly. "You think he's so great? Well I don't. And it disappoints me that you do."

Toxic parent Francis go woooooo.

Anyway, then there's this glance which Edward quickly ignores. "Are you hearing this shit?" "oh my god dad shut uppp🙄"

Trust (Erebus visit)

When the officers from Terror visit Erebus after she's injured, Edward stays behind, presumably to watch the ship and keep command while the rest of them are gone, which I think is a great show of trust on Francis's part. Francis, Blanky, Hodgson and Irving are all on Erebus... He's really quite alone and although it's for only a short while and they still feel safe, I think it's notable how much he trusts Edward.

Anyway.

Then there's a whole lot of nothing until the ice cutting scene which i JUST noticed btw aksndgkejf Hi Tommy. I don't think Francis would order him to do it. Rather, I choose to believe he volunteered.

He's always wanted to be stronger and better and to keep going and keep pushing and most importantly to be better than Edward. That's why I think he'd volunteer. Though it may have also been an ''everybody needs to help'' situation, where they were way too desperate to waste a pair of perfectly good hands.

Conclusion to ep 1

We mostly got Francis's POV in this episode, but that's okay. There will be time for the sons too.

Overall I think Francis likes both his sons, though in very different ways and the first ep is a great display of that. He may also be conflicted about the ways in which he shows this, but doesn't know how to do any better, so he just keeps at it. It gets worse as the show progresses, but I'd be getting ahead of myself with that.

Edward Francis wants to push through the stress and burdens of command so that he comes out of it better. Not only that, he trusts that Edward can manage it. That, I think is a really interesting part to their dynamic. The duality of "god, you can't do anything right" and "you can manage this" (eldest daughter syndrome if i ever seen one)

Meanwhile he made Thomas a steward. He had been Francis's steward before, so he may have taken a liking to it and maybe asked his father to give him that position again. Also Francis wants to shelter him more than Ned - wants to keep him close. He's the last thing his wife gave to him before she died, so he cherishes Tom like treasure.

The first episode was for introducing characters, of course, and to set it all up, so there isn't much open conflict or relationship evolution between them Yet. That will change, though. I'm already excited to do the next episode.

I will be writing some of this into the actual fic, but I'm far from that yet, so I might as well make this post my starting point.

Um. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😭😭

[pretty-idol-hell]

High School PriChan 1

Just finished watching the High School PriChan musical. Part 1, anyway. (I kinda forgot there was two parts.) So I don't think it's too big of a spoiler to say it ends on a cliffhanger.

Basic plot summary and thoughts below.

It starts with with Miracle Kiratts and Meltic Star on their way to school, but they aren't acting quite right.

Mirai clearly has a crush on Sara, who is Rinka's big brother (yes, brother). Mel is Sara's robot. Anna is Emo's MAID.

But eventually Anna and Emo start fighting and ruin everything allowing us to find out they are supposed to be acting in a musical.

Daia, who is supposed to be playing the boyish, energetic transfer student, doesn't even get to play her part before they are all whisked away in a robot rocket ship by Sadame Ginga where they meet Maria and Suzu at a high school in space. Sadame's goal is to have them build their sadame power so they can... change destiny. Or something.

Although it's obvious to the audience that she has some kind of nefarious plan, the girls eventually go along with it (Maria is happy to go to school with everyone again, and Mel in particular is having a GREAT time) and participate in the high school where Sadame uses them as "examples" for the other "students" (the MyCharas sent in by the fundraiser backers).

But no matter what subject, their example is just a live haha.

Eventually, after everyone has performed, Sadame lets everyone know that... they did not collect enough "sadame iine". They all FAILED.

But then she gets them a better stage and after performing Diamond Smile all together, they PASS!

But that doesn't mean PriChan high school is over. No, they're just second graders now! To be continued!

So, like the PriPara virtual live I watched before, there was a thin plot but most of the runtime was taken up by full performances (usually the full song, uninterrupted by Yattemita, etc). There were a few new songs such as the school song and Sadame's solo, and at least one big surprise: Daia performed the full version of Heart Iro Tori Dream!!! The dance reference here might be very useful... f... for a friend...

Most of the older songs I haven't heard since PriChan ended, so it was nice to hear them again. I don't know why, but PriChan songs and coords don't stick in my head as well as PriPara and Pretty Rhythm stuff does. But, on the bright side, that made it almost feel like I was experiencing them new all over again. After PriChan season 2 ended I basically never wanted to hear Diamond Smile again (the Jewel Chance song on the arcade) so I was surprised how much I enjoyed it here.

Sadame Ginga has a pretty badass design with her galaxy skirt and cape and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with her! Her voice is FAN-TAS-TIC as well!

*sigh* I gotta admit though I spent a lot of this musical SUPER JEALOUS of all the people who got their MyCharas in though. And the voice actors even called their NAMES! I was totally gonna do it, but then a bad thing that cost a lot of money happened to me at the beginning of December and I didn't even try. It would have been expensive, but I'm sure if you just sent the PriTicket to the right address and everything they would just accept it haha... oh well.

I've been trying to console myself by telling myself getting a MyChara in one of the PriPara movies is a much bigger deal considering there was a DVD/BluRay release. Meanwhile, this musical is probably just going to fade into obscurity after the archive period ends, right? ...Probably???

[helenarlett-rex]

Reviewing your Game X Change reviews

(From a Game X Change employee)

Overpriced...? What are you looking for? Video games? We literally have a program in our computer that makes sure we offer better prices than our competitors. DVDs? We sell the dame things at $4 a piece with a buy 2 get 1 free deal. How much lower do you think I can go? Trading cards? We sell them at market value rounded down to the closest dollar. If they're too expensive, that's the market, not us. I don't know what you want from me here... But when you say staff is "kinda weird" what do you mean? Do you mean they are a bunch of nerds...? You're in a used game store... What do you expect...? Or do you mean that most of them are some variate of LGBT? Because that sounds like a you problem.

As for the inventory, yeah... We know... It's a total piece of shit. We can't do anything about it. That's what corporate makes us use. We ALL complain about it. Corporate doesn't care.

I'm giving your review 2 stars. The only reason it's not lower is because I agree with you about the inventory system.

Look around you... No one is selling DVDs anymore. They don't even have a DVD section at Wal-Mart anymore. We're not going to keep dedicating half our store to a product no one buys just because a small handful of people refuse to upgrade to bluray and/or streaming. We were taking in something close to 90% more DVDs than we were selling. Excuse us for not wanting to go out of business...

Oh! The toys and snacks are what's overpriced! You must be looking at the anime statues and blind boxes. Yeah... Those are imported directly from Japan so the import fee jacks up the price. That is what you mean, right? You can't be talking about the used collectable section because our company doesn't know what the hell it's doing in that department. I commonly find action figures over there that sell for $50 or more on the used market priced at $10 or less. I literally bought a pair of $40 Predator figures for $3 each. As for snacks... Yeah... Just go to 5 Below.

I'm giving your review 2 stars because you are right about the snacks and your complaint about the DVDs is at least understandable. It's no longer sustainable for us to keep carrying them though, and no one else is either, so it's still a you problem. That's why you're a 2 stars instead of 3.

It's not the best place for new games because we literally do not sell them! We are a USED GAME STORE! Stop calling and asking if we have Call of Duty Black Ops 6! No! And we aren't going to until people get sick of playing it!

But thanks for the otherwise nice review. I'll return the favor and give you 4 stars as well.

First of all... What the fuck is a PS3 wifi guitar? There's no such thing... Do you mean, bluetooth? That's a thing... But the more important question is, who the hell are you emailing?! Of course we aren't replying to emails... We don't have an email address! Why the hell don't you just come into the store or call us on the phone like a normal person?! If you would have done that, we would have been happy to refund you! In fact... you STILL CAN! We have a three month return policy! I'm sorry your guitar wasn't tested first, but if you haven't noticed, there is a run on retro game consoles right now. Take a look at our shelves. It probably didn't get tested because we don't HAVE any PS3s to test it on... That's WHY we have the three month return policy!

Your review gets 0 stars because your problem could literally be fixed by picking up a phone and instead you are sending emails to an email address that doesn't exist!

Uhh... You do realize we aren't some little mom and pop thrift store or whatever, right...? Nor are we a pawn shop... We are a corporate chain, no different than Game Stop, or Wal-Mart, or Electronic Express or what have you... Do you go into Wal-Mart and ask them to negotiate a price? No, of course not... So why the hell do you think you can do that here?

You claim you've never had a nice interaction with an employee? Well... you know the old saying. If you meet one person in your day who is an asshole, that person is likely the problem. But if everyone you meet is an asshole, you're probably the problem. And considering you are in here bitching at us for not negotiating corporate set prices, I think I know which of the two it is...

Your review gets 1 star.

Uhh, no... It is not my job to go through all 500 of your damned Yu-Gi-Oh cards and tell you what they are worth. We buy cards valued at a dollar or more. We do not appraise cards... It's your job to know what you have if you are wanting to sell it to us. If you walk in with a box full of cards, not knowing what any of it is worth, and slap it down on the counter for me, it is store policy for me to tell you to leave and look up the value on your own. Do you think I have time to sit there and look up the value on 500 or more cards that you may not even decide you want to sell to us? There are between 2 to 3 employees in the store at any time and we have a lot of other things we have to do. No one has time for that... The store would be losing money in man hours if I had to spend all day sitting there looking up the value of every single card you were too lazy to look up yourself. And we flipped through most of your rares...? Your... Yu-Gi-Oh rares...? This is the part where I toss my head back and laugh. And I think once you start looking up the value on Yu-Gi-Oh cards, you'll understand why. It's not my fault you picked the world's most worthless card game to try to sell cards from...

But hold on... No where does it say we can only take 30 DVDs a day...? We literally told you ourselves. That's just a story policy. You want every store policy posted in writing or something? I don't have any signs up saying it's against store policy for you to take a shit on the floor either. You want to argue that you should be allowed to do it? And sorry you aren't happy with the price you got, but we only pay $0.10 a piece on DVDs and that's not a secret. We'll tell you up front. The things are worthless... We give half of them away for free. Hell, we've already stopped carrying them.

Your review gets 1 star.

Considering we test all game consoles (including hand-helds) on the spot before buying them, (that's literally what I do all day) allow me to translate this into what you actually meant to say, "They sold me a 3DS and then I broke it and tried to sell it back to them, but they would only give me 10 bucks for it now that it was broken!"

That's a 0 star review if I ever saw one...

Oh yeah, we only play 20% cash and 30% store credit. Our offers are very low ball. We know. We can't do anything about that. It's all set by corporate and they are greedy fucks. I wouldn't sell to us either. But overpriced...? Okay... We literally make sure our sale prices are lower than our competitors. We have a program that scans their prices and updates ours every day as needed to make sure of that. So I can only agree with half of what you're saying. Unless you're talking about snacks... We have movie theater prices on those damn things...

Your 1 star review gets 2 stars, because like, half of what you said is true at least...

You know... I wasn't going to review any of the reviews from Covid because it's just a million people bitching that we required masks, (and I wasn't even there at the time) but this one... uhh... I know the "mixed gentleman" you are talking about, and... he doesn't drink... So... You're just full of shit, aren't you?

0 stars for you, Sir!

I know the prices we offer are low, I've already touched on that... But you came in to do a trade and we told you it was too late? Okay... do you know what that means? That means you came in to trade something in within 30 minutes of closing time. All trade-in stop at 30 minutes to closing. That's story policy. It always has been. Because I have to test whatever game system you brought in before I can buy it. I have to enter every game and or movie you brought me into the computer individually by title so I can make sure I am giving you the right price. I then have to clean all of the items I bought from you then process each of them... Putting price tags on everything, shrink wrapping items that need to be shrink wrapped, removing disks from cases and sleeving them in interlopes.... Sleeved discs have to be sorted into the drawers... Cases have to be put on the shelves... It's a quick in and out for you, but the amount of work I have to do after taking in a trade is more than I have time to finish in 30 minutes. And that's on top of the closing duties I already have around the store... And yet assholes like you keep coming in every night 15 minutes to close... 10 minutes to close... 5 minutes to close... and get mad at me when I won't take your trade? No. Fuck you. If I came into your place of work 5 minutes before you closed and asked you to do something that was going to take you an extra 45 minutes, you'd be mad too, and probably wouldn't do it.

So your review gets 1 star, Sir.

Oh god, who let their child write a review on my store? First of all, kid... We don't sell anything new... We are a USED GAME STORE. Everything we sell is used. Including DVDs. The prices are horrible? You paid 5 bucks for a DVD... 6 years ago, I might add... Going price for a new DVD back then was like, what...? $20? And yeah, you are right. We don't give cash refunds. Only in store credit. Which I admit is kind of shitty... but we do TELL you there are no cash refunds when you buy it, so I don't know what you expect... Just take the store credit and get yourself a different DVD for crying out loud... I was almost going to write this off as you just being a 7 year old who thinks $5 is a big deal, but then you said we only offered your brother $5 of an Xbox? And $2 for $150 worth of games? That's literally impossible... Even a defective Xbox will get you at least $10. And a single copy of the most shit game I have will fetch you at least a dollar... So now you're just making shit up.

Sorry kid, your review gets 0 stars.

Oh, hey... My favorite type of review. This is what I call the "We are not a pawn shop!" review. I'm sorry you need the money, but we don't do pawn... We are not going to give you the value of your item and hold it for you until you come back to pay it off again. I see your name (before I blacked it out). I know who you are... And I've told you before, multiple times, we don't do that here! Go to an actual pawn shop! And no, we don't buy your items for the same price we sell them for either. I know what we offer is very low. (20% in cash) But even if we offered more, it still wouldn't be the same price we sell it for! How do you think we would make any money if I gave you $100 for your Xbox and then sold it for $100?

You get 0 stars because I've explained this to you multiple times...

[nonbigalmari]

[This is a transcript from January 18th at 4:25 PM of me (Mari Diaz) having a chat at the park written in third person.]

[Mari stands up from the park bench, placing their phone behind them back on the bench. Staring at someone who had walked up, The person is slightly taller, wearing a yellow hoodie with a black winter jacket over it and has a red beanie and long dark brown hair. Mari looks at the person, tilting their head.]

Ma: Um… Ok so I should ask before any other questions… Who are you and why did you walk up to me, sitting on a park bench eating an apple alone?

?: Oh, I’m Marigold Ash! Nice to meet you!

[Marigold sticks out her left arm, but instead of a hand there’s two black hooks coming from her sleeve. Mari stands there for a moment, before slowly grabbing one of the hooks and carefully shakes it.]

Ma: I hope I did that right? Um… This is going to sound dumb but I haven't met many people with a prosthetic arm…

[Mari laughs, but almost immediately stops.]

Mg: Most people haven’t, but I don’t mind questions as long as you aren’t a dick about it.

Ma: I uh right now my only question is… I wasn’t like… An asshole shaking the arm like that? Um… I would feel kinda bad.

Mg: The asshole move is just staring at it. Or staring at my other hand instead. You’re good dude.

Ma: Cool… Um… So why did you walk up to me randomly?

[Marigold stares blanky for a second before a look of understanding crosses her face and she reaches into her pocket with her right hand and pulls out a phone.]

Mg: Right! So uh, could be wrong, the lighting is shit and the footage is all blurry but uh, is this you?

[Mari looks at the footage and slowly nods, before looking back at Marigold.]

Ma: Yep, that's me. Why, are you a cop?

Mg: Ew no. I was just wondering if you knew the other person, I want to ask them how they designed that prosthetic of their’s. And why the hell they were wearing it to a random club when it’s not even close to Halloween.

Ma: I only know like… 3 people from that night? And uh that person you're talking about technically isn't one… I mean they have spoken to my coworkers over tumblr? They sign off with the letter H if that helps?

Mg: Damn, my search continues then. Oh well, nothing’s fun when it’s easy anyways as my mom always says.

Ma: Hm… Yeah I guess that's kinda true… Depends on the thing I guess.

[Mari looks at the ground, seemingly upset about something.]

Mg: Ah yeah, fair enough. But hey, you said some of your coworkers have talked to this person?

Ma: Yeahhhh?

[Marigold puts her phone away, and reaches into another pocket and pulls out a small card and holds it out to Mari.]

Mg: Here, if you ever learn any more about them, you can find me here!

Ma: I um… Ok.

[Mari grabs the card, slowly putting it in their hoodie pocket.]

Ma: Oh I uh forgot… Are you fine being recorded and this being turned into a transcript for uh… Tummmmmmmmmblrrrrrrrr purposesssss?

[Marigold paused for a few seconds before nodding.]

Mg: You know what? In any other circumstance I would probably have said no, but since you did actually ask, why the hell not.

Ma: Ok cool um… Also, um if you see the green haired person I was fighting, just… Don’t mention me to her? It’s a… Long fucking story.

[Marigold mimes zipping her lips with her prosthetic hand.]

Ma: Cool… Wait… The card is for a repair shop?

Mg: Yeah! It’s the family business. Well, it’s my mom’s and I also work there and that’s it most of the time.

Ma: Oh… I'll try to pop in sometime if I remember.

Mg: Yup! If you ever need pretty much anything repaired, there’s like a 99% chance we’ll be able to fix it!

Ma: Nice! I uh… might need some stuff repaired around my house… [Muttering.] Like the bluray player that just stopped working.

Mg: Just stop by any time we’re open and we can probably help! Although speaking of the shop… I’m technically almost running late for my shift…

Ma: Oh um… Need a ride..? I have my car.

Mg: No thanks, but it’s not too far from here so I’m good.

Ma: Oh, alright! Be careful.

[Marigold starts to turn to walk off.]

Mg: [Calling over her shoulder] My mom would kill me if I wasn’t!

[Mari laughs, before looking back at the phone. Grabbing it.]

Ma: Ok… Um… Interesting…

[End transcript.]

[nehswritesstuffs]

Trick or treat! 🦇

Here, have 500ish words of TTOU that I'm many chapters away from broaching even if I started posting tomorrow (which I won't), most of it being under the cut.

Babies. Malcolm Tucker was minding multiple babies. How the fuck did his sitting room turn into a full-blown fucking daycare? His son was bouncing around, with Emma crawling at top speed after him, and his grandson laying underneath the overhead activity center. Having Conall was expected, Emma or Jack were alright to come over, but all three at once? With him as the only cunting adult? What did he fucking do to deserve such fucking torture? Oh, yeah, he simply was the one working at home that day.

“Da! Da! I gots a bug!” Conall announced as he bounced up to him. Malcolm was attempting to sit on the couch with his laptop computer, which had some very fucking important press release drafts on them. With the way things were puttering on, they needed to have five different versions of everything depending on not only the latest political gaffes, but also the UN's decision on whether or not to keep them in London. “Why do you keep on finding bugs?” he wondered. “I dunno.” The boy opened his hand and a spider of the non-biting kind was sitting in it, calm and collected. “Bugs are neat.” “Glad you think so,” he replied. “Now can you please let Da work?” “Okay!” Conall bent down and showed the spider to Emma, who poked at the creature in curiosity. “Bugs go in plants!” “Puh!” Emma declared. She followed Conall as he went over to the plant next to the French doors and placed it on one of the large leaves. “This is fucking mental,” Malcolm grumbled. He placed the laptop down on the table and got up to grab Jack, who was making suspiciously-cranky noises. He rested the infant against his chest and sat back down, attempting to continue his work. Three children under the age of three was going to drive him fucking bananas, but he was going to at least attempt it, so at least they could put on his epitaph that he died trying. He bounced Jack gently, soothing the child. “Just wait until you’re in this fucking game, lad. It won't be fun.” The baby drooled in response. “Da? Peppa?” Conall asked. Malcolm saw that both he and Emma were staring at him expectantly. “Yeah, yeah; go the fuck ahead.” “Yes!” Conall bounced—how the fuck was he always bouncing—to the Bluray player and turned it on, getting a Peppa Pig DVD to place in it. Before long the show started up and the two children that were capable of independent movement were entranced. Malcolm was almost about to think he might get some real work done, when his mobile rang. Fuuuuuuck... it was Dr. Shaw. “Better be good, Lizzie—I’m up to my elbows in nappies and bugs and dry cereal.” “Sounds like some pork roasts too,” she smirked. “…wait, how do you…?” “I’ve got tiny terrors in my family too, as unfortunate as it is to admit,” she said.

[chasetriesagain]

But consider Columbo, Benoit Blanc, and Mystery Inc. all working together to solve the murders that begin during the annual detective and investigator super conference in Tokyo in less than 90 minutes. (Obviously, animated in the traditional Scooby style) Scooby sees Light drop the Death Note, hands it to Shaggy who hands it back to Light. Shortly thereafter, they see Ryuk in line at the buffet (for detectives only). Shaggy: Like, zoinks, that cosplayer at the buffet was creepy. He was super tall, super pale, and super into apples. Scooby: Reah, he really roved apples. Columbo: You know, it's interesting that you bring that up. My wife, she's a nut for Japanese mythology... * * * run time of direct-to-Bluray movie later * * * Blanc: So, Light Yagami, the truth unravels, and it turns out that there was no mystery machine behind these murders at all. No sir, no machine in deed. It was something as simple and common place as an apple, and with a heart just as full of the potential for evil as the arsenic in a tiny little apple seed. The murder weapon, is that simple composition book you've hidden under the papers on your desk. Just a note. A death note if you will, and you, young man, are its wielder. From the profiles of the criminals to the manner of their deaths, every obituary is written in your handwriting. Velma: Jinkies, I just wish we'd been in time to save Mr. Hanks. Light: Don't be ridiculous. Tom Hanks died in a boating accident off the coast of Maine. How could I have had anything to do with it? You have no proof. Columbo: A boating accident? Terrible way to go. Well, my friends here, they certainly make passionate arguments, but you're right, Mr. Yagami. We can't have you arrested with no proof to go on. I suppose we should see ourselves out. Columbo: But there's just one more thing that's bothering me, Mr. Yagami. Y'see, we've been paying careful attention to these murders. Got a whole database in our van with all the latest doodads, and Miss Blake has been able to predict the identities of several of the victims. And, well, I'm no watchmaker, but it seemed to me that the timing had to be real deliberate, too, and Miss Dinkley, well, she was able to guess the timing for the last two murders based on that hunch and all the data. Velma: It was actually the last three murders, detective. Columbo: Oh yes, that's right. *checks his watch* I'm sorry, Miss Dinkley. The last three murders. Y'see, Mr. Yagami, Daylight Saving Time ended in America just a few hours ago, and Mr. Hanks wasn't supposed to die until just 60 seconds ago. Now it'd be awfully suspicious if you new that before it could have possibly been reported herer in Japan. Then Fred hoists Light up in a net contraption that he somehow built in Light's bedroom. Shaggy: Hey man, there's, like, no laws about surreptitious audio recording in Japan, man. You're going to fucking prison. Scooby: Re-he-he-he-he-he-he. (Poster/Bluray cover: Mystery Inc. in the Mystery Machine with Ryuk, Benoit Blanc, and Columbo.)

Please reblog to increase data size. Please also add how long you think it would take and why.

[heresmaitake]

Happy, happy end of the weekend!

It's 22:30 now, and the weekend is almost over. I just want to pour out my feelings again (as I always do), so here it is.

Sometimes, I feel sad when I realise that things that used to excite me no longer hold the same meaning. It's as if I've finally let go, and while this realisation brings a sense of relief, it also leaves me feeling a bit sad. How can I explain it? For example, when I was in high school, I had a favourite group of singers, and I was so obsessed with them. I watched every TV show that featured them, bought their albums, and felt heartbroken when a member decided to leave the group. The funniest thing was that I used to wish that in the future, when I became an adult, had a more stable life and a partner, I would watch their concert with my partner.

But then, in my second year of university, I didn't really care about them anymore. I didn't follow their activities or even know they had released a new album. My attention had shifted because I was busy with other things. One day, I suddenly realised that this group I used to love so much no longer held the same meaning for me. Watching them was no longer as fun as it used to be, and whatever happened to that group didn't affect my feelings anymore. This group is still active now, but when another member left, it didn't even affect me. I didn't even know she left until I read someone's tweet about it.

Honestly, I feel relieved that whatever happens to this group doesn't affect me anymore. But at the same time, the memories of loving this group so much make me feel bittersweet. I think, "Oh, I used to love them so much, listened to their music 24/7, was so happy when I bought their albums, and was thrilled when they won awards." Now, I feel like I'm cutting ties with them because I don't find anything related to them fun anymore. While I'm happy that my obsession with them has ended, there's a strange feeling that I've moved on from them. They will always be something I treasure from the past. They are a part of my history, but not my present.

A part of my life has finally come to an end, and though I'm ready to embrace many better things, the reality is still somehow sad. Not being able to enjoy the things I used to be so obsessed with is a bittersweet feeling.

And I still feel like this nowadays. I used to really love a K-drama called Hospital Playlist. It is a slice-of-life drama that helped me get through the COVID phase, and it was, and still is, special to me. But I've moved on bit by bit from being totally obsessed. I rewatched it so many times in the past, and it's not even a romcom, it's my first time being so obsessed with a slice of life show. Even my friend told me yesterday that when Hospital Playlist 2 was still airing and even months after that, I was crazy obsessed. She said I couldn’t even leave home on the airing day. And yes, that’s the truth. I would take a shower, eat my dinner, finish all my on going projects and make sure I didn’t need to go to the toilet because I had to watch the drama on streaming at 8 pm, even though I don’t understand Korean. :'D

Probably because when the first few episodes of Hospital Playlist 2 was airing, I got infected with COVID, and it was the Delta variant. So, I was isolated in my bedroom for a month, and because of that, my obsession with Hospital Playlist was crazy, hahaha. I had a boyfriend at that time, but from what I remember, I kind of ditched him because of my love for Hospital Playlist. We had some problems too (anw this relationship was beyond repair at that time), and strangely my relationship problem wasn’t relevant to me at that time. I didn’t even care if he wanted to break up, that's how unhealthy my obsession was with Hospital Playlist. Last year, they released the Bluray of the drama after two years, and I bought it thinking the clips would make me as excited as I used to be, but it didn’t bring the same joy. I still felt a bit happy watching the Bluray clips, but I haven’t finished watching it until now because I have other things that excite me more.

So yeah, in life, I don’t think I can control to whom or what I fall for. By fall for, I mean like in life, we can fall for a person, a show, a group, a celebrity, an actor, an anime, and we can get super obsessed because we made them our whole personality to the point it affects our lives. But believe me, some obsessions are normal, and with time, if we know our limits and don't get overly obsessed, we'll let go of them. We might think, "Argh, I hate that I get too attached to this thing or this person. I want to detach so bad. I don't want them to affect my life," but the first thing we need to do is just to feel it, feel our emotion. I currently have something I'm so attached to that, to be honest, I feel hopeless at times because I want to detach asap. I hate that this thing affects my daily life, but I understand that every day I get better. Every day, I detach a little more, even if it's just 0.01%. I remember what my therapist said two years ago "You can't heal what you don’t feel." So I'm just going to feel it, even when I have to cry because of it, because I know this too shall pass. And maybe in the future, I'll have a new obsession. HAHAHA

[nitallica]

So I have news

The new laptop finally came in. I went with another Alienware (an M18 this time) because at the time I was still employed at SVP and we had a nice big discount with Dell, putting it far below the ASUS ROG I had been eyeing. Basically the same specs, and to be fair, until my last lappy ate itself, both brands had proven rock solid. Dell's tech support proved slightly better than ASUS in my own personal experience. And considering that machine was well over 7 years old, I'd say that it held up really well! So now I'm still moving data over. I had online backups through Carbonite which kept most things that I'd forgotten. Sadly, I lost my OneNote notebook. The online copy was over a year out of date. Apparently it had stopped backing up, and I could not find any local copies. If I could've gone back, I would have manually exported a backup copy somewhere. Oh well, you live and you learn. Sucks because that's where I stored all of my custom Powershell scripts I'd written over the years. Bleh! Almost all of my software licenses were backed up via email or my external backup drive. Unfortunately about 25% of my Plex library is on that drive too since I'd store my manual DVD and BluRay rips there. I've now got the drive mounted on my Shield again, so those are populating back into Plex now. I lost the rips I had done of my iTunes library, so I'll have to do those over. No biggie, just gonna take time. I wish to God someone had a place where I could buy movies and TV shows with no DRM. I mean, it's easy enough to buy on DVD or BluRay and rip it myself, but the out of print stuff is harder and harder to find. :( Like, I'd love to have all of Murder She Wrote. Let me pay to download full copies to own myself and put on my Plex so I can watch offline. That's one of my few comfort shows. Netflix, Hulu, Peacock Premium, hell even just basic cable, it's all too expensive now. Let me pay for and own what I want. /le sigh At least DRM-free music is easy to find and usually pretty reasonably priced, so no worries there. :) Also: I accepted a job offer this past Friday with DataPerk. It'll be a pay and benefits cut, but the job sounds fun. The guys I met seemed nice enough. I'm not looking forward to having to go through all the medical authorizations for all of my treatments and medications again (considering we JUST did that when SVP changed providers). And DP's benefits do not cover my therapy so I'll be back to paying that out of pocket, which is going to hurt for a while. Better than going without though. Been there, did that, not gonna be that stupid again. I honestly don't have updates on much else. I know I need to get away first chance I get. Unwind, let off some steam. The last year has mostly not been good for me outside of the few trips I took. This year I need to take better care of myself, drawing firmer boundaries where needed (family included). So we'll see ... source: https://www.nickifaulk.com/2024/01/28/so-i-have-news/

[bearballing]

End of the year Asks exept they’re not asks and done like a livejournal/myspace answer thing

1) Song of the year? Rare Ould Mountain Dew - The Irish Rovers i actually discovered in on xmas eve last year, rare old mountain dew was mentioned in Fairytale of New York so I decided to look it up and this was the first version i found and then i fell down a rabbit hole of traditional irish music. lol. anyway this is still the best recorded version of mountain dew there is

runner up is Hell’s Comin’ With Me - Poor Man’s Poison it just so happened to be the perfect song for saints row 2022 AND for thaddeus. whomst i played as

notable mention is any version ever of The Rattlin Bog/Bog Down In The Valley-o. i found a youtube version of some irish wedding where the guests were drunkenly singing it at like 3am and even that slapped

2) Album of the year?

Not released in 2022 - The Irish Rovers 50 Years

Released in 2022 - Bronco, Orville Peck. and i had apparently forgotten to put the album on my phone until THE OTHER DAY???

3) Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

The Irish Rovers. Other notables are The Dubliners, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Strugill Simpson, The Protomen

4) Movie of the year?

Nope. like enoguh for me to Physically own it when it came out on bluray.

5) TV show of the year?

we watched Parasyte and Ghost In The Shell, first time I saw both of them and i love when shows make me like obsess over the lore lmao.

OH AND UH THE UK COMING /SECOND/ IN EUROVISION.

6) Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯  i dont think there was a specific episode of anything.

7) Favorite actor of the year?

jim byrnes, every time we find out something about him it makes our heads explode lol. we still have to actually watch half the stuff he’s been in

8) Game of the year?

joint Saints Row and Pokemon Legends Arceus. 95% of the complaints about saints row are stupid i loved it. i still want to try to 100% it (I’M CLOSE) at some point

9) Best month for you this year?

january/february maybe

10) Something that made you cry this year?

hurricane ian. also the death of 2 cats

11) Something you want to do again next year?

go to maine lol. we May be able to

12) Talk about a new friend you made this year

well i gained several mutuals on here.....

13) How was your birthday this year?

it was nice!!! i got to do shit that i wanted and just chill. and i’m finally not in my 20s anymore

14) Favorite book you read this year?

i don’t think i read anything new, only re-read things

15) What’s a bad habit you picked up this year?

fuck i dunno. procrastinating on vacuuming the house.

16) Post a picture from the beginning of the year

17) Post a picture from the end of the year

18) A memorable meal this year?

we had dinner at belle’s castle at disney world. IN THE WEST WING.

19) What’re you excited about for next year?

visiting my family in the uk. which i’m also nervous about ngl

20) What’s something you learned this year?

that gamefreak can truly get away with anything regardless of quality

21) What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year?

WE OWN A HOUSE WE OWN A HOUSE WE OWN A HOUSE WE OWN A HOUSE

22) Favorite place you visited this year?

didney wurl trip was gr9, really liked getting to go to new england again even though the circumstances sucked.

23) If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

house happens on the 31st don’t worry about it

24) Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

got a house lol

25) Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

no new ones but this was definitely the year of our lord Thaddeus2022. i played as him in saints row And in pokemon violet and accidentally created so much new lore for him. boxy also accidentally dreamed up yet another AU where he is the main character too lmao

[jjks-dodo]

What did you think of the movie!!!

IT WAS SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD

and everything after this gonna be spoiler review lol

and it's really not organized

God I was like... I wasn't expecting the movie would be depicting the past arc that much?? like?? I wanted to scream when I saw Geto saving miminana ughhh that scene....and i knew there'd be shinjuku scene because the official released the short pv on Youtube, but I wasn't expecting they they'd actually say the lines.....and that slow turn of geto just broke my heart so bad ughhhhhhdkjadfkjksjdfksdf and when they last talked... gojo sitting down to tell geto the line 'that we do not know but is in the book' at the same eye level<<<<<<<<<<killed me..... little details like this really hit hard.....

and gojo at the end was so good looking and so cute??? like ??? I this we can say that Gojo is cute (objectively)

Okkotsu was such a romantist and rika was the cutest girl ever (human and cursed spirit form both) and the 1st years (current 2nd years) were so cute together toooooooo

before I went to the movie, I was listening to Sakurai's radio (the voice actor of Geto) and he was saying something about tamamo no mae (as Japanese Yokai in general). Then it became something about jjk0, and he was like 'Tamamo no mae is a special grade curse spirit, and Uzumaki would probably be as strong as a special grade curse too. So there were total of 3 special grades at that place. But the PINK BEAM... And he was talking about the pink beam/sexy beam/ love beam for like 2 minutes lol so at the end of the fighting scene between okkotsu and geto, all I think in my head was 'the pink beam.. the pink beam all over the screen..' lollol

Anyway.... The first thing I said after the movie was 'Geto was alive...and he's dead now'... man it was good but it was sad..lol but I'm really happy I was able to watch him (the real geto) being alive and fighting like a proper special grade curse user..

I watched it twice cuz i wanted to focus on details of the movie. But the second time I watched, someone laughed at the scene where Gojo kills Geto.. and i'm like how??? i don't understand lollol what was so funny about that scene?? but then again, everyone has diff perspective, so it's whatever :cccc

I loved it.. and i want to watch couple more times if my schedule permits... and prob gonna buy the bluray too..

and I NEED THE PHOTOS OF GETO both in his casual wear and his monk wear (the photo on the whiteboard when Ijichi was explaining about Geto in the meeting)

oh and SAKAYUME THE BEST SONG EVER

[aitaikimochi]

The BNHA Season 4 BluRay/DVD Vol. 1-6 Box Set comes with a special bonus light novel called the "Cultural Festival Wrap-Up Party" about Class A's after-party they had the day after the Cultural Festival, written by Anri-sensei. Here's the summary! Enjoy~

Boku No Hero Academia Cultural Festival Wrap Up Party

The story starts off with All Might greeting Aizawa as he enters the faculty office, a day after the Cultural Festival. He says good work to Aizawa and asks how the clean-up went for the Cultural Festival. Aizawa says that everything has been put away properly and recalls how it was a bit of a risky Cultural Festival this year with the whole fiasco that almost caused them to stop the festival, referring to the incident with Gentle and La Brava.

Aizawa mentions that the students are now preparing for an after-party. He says, “too bad they can’t put this amount of effort that they did in the Cultural Festival towards their studies instead,” and All Might laughs and says, “Well, they’re still just kids after all.” He also tells All Might that a little while ago, Sero stopped by the office to ask him something. Aizawa says, “What?” and All Might explains, “Well…you see…”

Next scene is at a nearby discount variety store (**note: basically a Don Quihote department store in Japan that sells a variety of things including food at really cheap prices). The Class A band team, consisting of Jirou, Kaminari, Bakugou, Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami, are buying snacks and drinks for the after-party. However, Jirou seems to be the only one who’s actually taking this seriously as she can’t find where everyone else ran off to. She bumps into Yaoyorozu, who excitedly says, “Jirou-san, look at these super cheap drinks! They’re only 10yen each! If we buy 20 of them that’s only 200yen!”

Jirou looks at the bottles and notices that they’re only on sale because the drinks had already expired. She tells Yaoyorozu to put away the items. She then continues to search for the other band members and finds Kaminari. He tells her that he wants to add these cool snacks into their pile of food, which come with bonus cards or toys. He says, “Look at these! Doesn’t it take you back? Man, when I was a kid I used to collect these all the time!”

Jirou looks at the items and says “put it back,” and Kaminari whines but does so anyway. Yaoyorozu keeps getting distracted by all the things in the store since she’s very rich, she seldom has the opportunity to visit these discount stores that people go to. Jirou finds Tokoyami, and Dark Shadow dumps a whole bunch of sweets into their shopping cart. Jirou says that they don’t need that many sweets and to put things back. Tokoyami then gives Jirou a snack with packaging that says “The Witch of Darkness’ Apple Pie.” Dark Shadow says, “Fumikage used to love these sweets when he was younger!” and Tokoyami gets flustered. Jirou then pats Dark Shadow on his head, and Bakugou comes up behind her.

He says, “What the hell are you guys even buying!?”

Kaminari cries out, “Whattya mean!?”

Bakugou says, “If we’re gonna eat this at the after-party, then we need several big bags of food! And why the hell am I even here shopping with you guys right now!? This is so annoying!”

As he says that, he fills the shopping cart with bags of potato chips, sweets, paper plates, and trash bags. Jirou sighs in relief and says, “Yeah! I was thinking of getting paper plates too so clean-up would be easier!” They then agree to buy some more bottles of juice and soda, and Bakugou says they only need a maximum 5 bottles to which Jirou agrees.

Bakugou then says, “Well then let’s just get the hell out of here!” and Kaminari regrettably puts all of the sweets that he added to the shopping cart back on the shelves. Jirou looks at Bakugou and says, “Bakugou, you’re…kinda like a very capable Mom.”

Bakugou gets mad and says, “WHAT!? Stop saying such stupid crap!”

While the Band members are buying stuff at the discount store, the Dance Team members and Stage members are back in the Class A dormitory preparing food and decorating the common room. The Dance Team is in charge of the food and the Stage team is in charge of decorations.

Satou is the one who is cooking most of the food, but the other Dance Team members are helping him with the food preparation. Iida is in charge of chopping the vegetables, and although he is known for his speed, he’s not used to handling knives, so he chops them at a slower pace. Hagakure is in charge of prepping the oil and oil absorbent sheets to fry the chicken and place it on the sheets. Ochako and Ashido are in charge of stirring the pot, which contains beschamel and bolognese sauces.

Ojiro checks up on the oven to make sure that it’s the right temperature. Satou tells Ochako and Ashido to add the sauce for the lasagna and to not forget to put olive oil on top. Shouji says that he’s done making the dressing for the salad, and Satou samples it. The kitchen is full of lively sounds, and everyone is excited for Ojiro’s delicious cooking.

Ochako, Ashido, and Hagakure then discuss how Christmas is around the corner too, so they should do this again and throw a Christmas party next time. While they think about having a potential Christmas party, Iida says, “Hey now! Christmas is a day that celebrates the Birth of Jesus Christ! You should be spending it with your families, so this Christmas we…”

Satou then says, “Iida, the knife, watch out the knife!” since Iida was talking while swinging the knife around in his hand. Iida apologizes. Ashido then says, “But wouldn’t a party be fun?” and Mineta appears in the kitchen holding some peaches while muttering, “Christmas…Christmas costumes…Santa Girl skirts…That’s awesome…”

However, they eventually convince Iida that Christmas is indeed a time to celebrate things together, and Iida gives in and says he will ask Aizawa for permission to throw a Christmas party much to everyone’s delight.

Mineta had been slacking off on his duties by looking at the peaches and stroking them gently, imagining something lewd, and Hagakure calls him out on his perverted thoughts and tells him to help out along with the others.

He is in charge of cutting the carrots, and while everyone is helping prepare the food, Ochako stares at the fried chicken that just came out of the fryer. She can’t help herself and pops one into her mouth only to find that it’s burning hot. Tsuyu says to be careful since they’re still hot, and Ochako apologizes as the fried chicken looked and smelled so delicious she moved without thinking.

Satou asks her how’s the flavor, and she says the fried chicken is really good while giving him a thumbs up.

Ojiro and Hagakure are washing the dishes, and Hagakure holds the plates, making them look like they’re floating in mid air. Ojiro then tells Hagakure that she should probably put some clothes on if she’s going to be in the kitchen where people use fire and knives, but she said she just wanted to see what people’s reactions were to her small pranks. Shouji then passes her an apron, and Mineta muses that it’s one of those tropes where girls wear aprons while naked, but Iida warns him to not go further.

Meanwhile, in the common room area, the Stage Team is preparing the decorations to be strung about the living room. Deku, Todoroki, and Koda are folding origami together to put on the walls as banners. Deku folds a cool All Might shaped origami, and Todoroki praises him, saying “Wow, All Might! That’s awesome!” Deku actually used to practice folding the All Might origami countless of times to perfect its shape, and he blushes a bit when he hears praise from someone.

He then sees that Todoroki folded a crane, and Todoroki says that his sister taught him how to fold the crane origami when he was a child.

Koda then says, “Oh um…I…made a camera origami!” and shows them a whimsical camera shaped origami that makes a shutter noise when pressed. Deku then notices that Koda actually had folded a ton of different origami flowers and animals, and Koda gets a bit embarrassed at the attention.

Koda says, “But the All Might origami is amazing…” and Todoroki agrees.

Todoroki then asks Deku to teach him how to fold the All Might origami. Deku is happy to oblige, and he says, “Okay first you fold a triangle and then…”

As he starts teaching Todoroki, Kirishima comes into the room and puts up his own dorm room’s fisherman banner on the wall of the common room. He says that this will make the place a bit flashier, and the others agree. Aoyama then comes in and also says that they need something sparkly and bright. Aoyama tells them that he’ll come back with something sparkly.

Kirishima then says, “Oh wait I’ll come help too!”

Todoroki then turns to Deku and says, “Midoriya, so how exactly do you fold the All Might origami?”

Deku realized that he was in the middle of teaching Todoroki before they got interrupted by the others, so he resumes his lesson by saying to first fold a triangle. Afterwards, he goes off on a tangent about how to perfect the folding process as well as making sure to accentuate the silhouette of All Might through the folds, and as he mumbles a bit, he accidentally folds the origami too quickly.

Todoroki is patient with him though and says again, “Um…can you please start from the beginning and teach me the steps a bit slower this time?”

Deku apologizes for folding the paper too fast and teaches Todoroki again, this time at a slower pace.

Kirishima then walks by and says, “Woah Todoroki, you also want to learn how to fold the All Might origami?” He leaves them to their folding and joins Aoyama and Koda in putting the finished origami and other decorations up on the walls.

After Todoroki successfully folds the All Might origami, Deku says, “You made your first All Might origami!” and Todoroki responds quietly, “I think this should be able to fit in the letter…”

Deku says, “Hmm?” and Todoroki says, “Ah, it’s nothing.”

Aoyama them brings a disco ball into the common room, and he, Kirishima, and Sero put up the other decorations.

Finally, the preparations are complete, and the Class A students gather in the common room surrounding a bunch of food that’s placed on the tables. Iida then makes a toast to a successful Cultural Festival, and everyone raises their glasses and says, “Cheers!”

Satou mentions that he also has prepared dessert, and they have two choices of either a chestnut and fig montblanc cake or an apple and peach jelly. Tsuyu chooses the jelly as jelly is apparently her favorite food. Tokoyami also chooses the jelly dessert while Ashido takes the montblanc.

Iida mentions that he and Mineta were in charge of chopping the cabbages and carrots for the cole slaw. Todoroki and Deku praise him and say that the coleslaw is delicious.

Bakugou watches irritably and decides to leave the party, but Kaminari says, “Hey hey hey, where do you think you’re going, Kacchan-kun!?” Bakugou says that seeing everyone making small talk is pissing him off, but Kaminari rebutts by saying, “But you looked excited when you were buying food!”

Kirishima then comes over and says, “Bakugou! I brought you some fried chicken! Let’s eat a ton!” and puts a bunch of fried chicken in front of Bakugou, to which he says he doesn’t want it. Kirishima doesn’t back down though and says, “Oh I got it! So you want lasagna instead!” and brings a slice of lasagna for him.

Satou noticed Kirishima carrying the food over and says, “Hey, you should put a bunch of tabasco on it before eating too!” and pours a bunch of tabasco onto the lasagna and force feeds Bakugou with it. Bakugou yells, “What the hell are you doing!?” but eventually pipes down after taking the lasagna from Kirishima as it seems like he does enjoy the food after all. Kirishima watches him and says, “See, I told you it’s good! I’ll bring you seconds!” and goes to bring Bakugou more food.

Sero then turns everyone’s attention towards the TV in the common room. He says, “Well then now that Bakugou’s calmed down, let’s watch the recap of our Cultural Festival performance!” He turns on the TV and everyone gathers around to watch the recorded performance.

Some of the members mention that Deku was late to the performance, and they thought that he might not even be able to perform. Deku apologizes for being late, but as the performance starts, they can hear the audience’s chatter as someone yells “YAOYOROZU!!!” Ashido and Kaminari tease her about having fans, and she gets flustered. Satou then whispers, “It’s starting…it’s starting…!” and the screen fills with the sound of Bakugou’s drums as well as a huge explosion.

The girls all fawn over how cool Jirou looks while singing, and this causes her to blush and say, “Please stop…” Koda also adds, “You were really cool, Jirou-san,” which makes her blush deepen.

Ashido exclaims, “Look look, the dance is all in line too!” and the class watches as Ojiro uses his tail to swing around. Everyone on the dance team mentions how it was thanks to Ashido being their teacher that they were able to have fun while dancing and making this possible. Next is Deku and Aoyama’s synchronized dance, and Shouji murmurs to Tsuyu, “Wow, they are so in sync!” to which she replies, “Midoriya-chan and Aoyama-chan practiced real hard, right?”

The students continue to watch as Aoyama becomes a disco ball and the stage team starts their part of the performance with Kirishima shaving the ice that Todoroki created while Sero uses his tape, and Kirishima says, “You guys’ timing was perfect, Seroroki!”

Sero mentions that they should try this move out while doing actual hero work next time, and Todoroki agrees. As Kaminari watches himself play the guitar, he says, “Woah there…I feel like I’m gonna be super popular after this with those slick guitar moves…!” and Mineta says, “But wait did you guys see my harem dance? That was the best…!”

Jirou says, “Tokoyami, you’ve gotten super good at guitar!” and Tokoyami mentions that it’s all thanks to her.

Kirishima and Bakugou are watching the performance from a spot a little away from the rest of the class, and Kirishima smiles at Bakugou, saying, “Man, you’re great at drumming after all!” and Bakugou replies casually, “it’s just average.”

Jirou overhears their conversation and says, “No way! Your drumming was phenomenal! Your rhythm is what allowed us all to stay in sync! Thank you for taking on this role!” and Bakugou scoffs and says, “Well, you’re the one who carried the whole performance though!”

Everyone is really impressed by Jirou’s bass skills as well as her singing, and they vote for her as the Class A Cultural Festival MVP. Everyone, aside from Bakugou, smiles at her, and she blushes, saying, “What…why…”

Yaoyorozu remarks, “Jirou-san, you were shining the brightest!” and Aoyama says, “Even more than me!?☆” But he agrees that Jirou indeed deserves the MVP title.

The class asks Jirou to make a small speech. She thanks everyone for making this performance a reality, and she’s really happy that they were able to perform together.

After everyone is done eating, Sero and Kaminari tells the class that they have some cool party games planned for everyone. Most of the class are excited for what they have in store, but Bakugou feels like it’s a waste of time and gets up to leave. Kirishima tries to stop him, but Sero taunts, “Oh, you’re leaving because you don’t think you can win, right? Well that’s fine, you can go back. Even though we have a quiz specifically tailored for you, but I guess you’d fail anyway.”

This gets Bakugou angry, and he agrees to participate in Sero’s dumb quiz challenge.

The games that Sero and Kaminari have planned are for one member of each Cultural Festival team to undergo a “Can you guess the __” type of challenge. Bakugou is first up, representing the Band Team. His challenge is to differentiate between three different types of pepper spice seasoning purely by taste (called 一味 ichimi).

Bakugou sits down in front of the table that has the seasonings, and Sero blindfolds him by putting on an eye mask that has a funny grinning face on it. Deku and the others snicker at how ridiculous Bakugou looks with that eye mask on, and Bakugou gets mad, yelling, “Damnit Deku, what the hell is so funny!?” Deku replies, “Well, anyone would laugh when they see…hahah!”

Bakugou roars, “You piece of shit!” but Todoroki says calmly, “Hey Bakugou, maybe you should consider wearing a hero suit that matches that mask.” Bakugou is furious and yells, “Shut the hell up, you half and half bastard!”

The challenge then begins, and Kaminari spoon feeds Bakugou the three different spices. He surprises everyone by correctly guessing each type of spice and goes even as far to explain which company manufactures them. Kaminari and Sero are speechless, but Deku says, “I thought that Kacchan would know the difference. He’s always had a very particular sense of taste. He could even tell when sweets expired and would never eat the expired food.”

Bakugou gets mad and says, “Don’t put on that stupid face as if you know it all!” and throws the eye mask at Deku.

The next challenge is Todoroki’s turn, representing the Stage Team. His task is to figure out among three cups of brown liquid which one is soba noodle soup. The cups contain either coffee, soba noodle soup, or throat medicine, and Todoroki cannot smell or taste them before picking his answer.

Iida mentions that Todoroki often eats soba during lunch, so there’s no way he would guess incorrectly for a food that he loves. Deku says, “Good luck, Todoroki!” as everyone watches him study the cups closely. The catch is that he also has to drink from whichever cup he chooses. Todoroki decides on a cup and drinks from it, only to spit it out and say, “That…wasn’t soba noodle soup…”

Kaminari chimes in by explaining that the cup he chose was actually throat medicine. Todoroki apologizes for spitting out the throat medicine, which splurted all over Iida and Deku. They tell him not to worry as more importantly, they need to get tissues to clean up the mess. Todoroki mutters, “I don’t think I want to eat soba anymore after this…”

The next challenge is for Tsuyu, where she has to differentiate from three different types of fluffy things: Koda’s bunny, Ojiro’s tail, and Deku’s hair by touch only. As she puts on the eye mask, Koda, Ojirou, and Deku stand in front of her. When Koda offers the bunny, Tsuyu says, “it’s fluffy.” When Ojiro offers his tail, she also says, “it’s fluffy.” When Deku offers his hair, Tsuyu says, “it’s…fuzzy?” She then correctly guesses which fluffiness was which.

Kaminari and Sero then round up the results of the various challenges, and the winner ends up being Bakugou!

Bakugou says, “Obviously I would win!” but the party’s not over yet! Next up is the Personality Quiz! Sero explains that since the class is with each other practically 24/7, they should all have picked up on small details of each other. This quiz will test how well they actually know each other after all.

The first question they ask is, “What did Iida answer on his Hero Test the other day to name the three most beautiful Heroes of the past?”

The class guesses incorrectly, and the answer was that he wrote on his test “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone has their own different types of beauty.”

Baffled, Iida asks Sero and Kaminari how they even knew what he wrote on a test paper, and they explained that their accomplice, Hagakure, has been doing a bit of spying on everyone in order for them to make this quiz a reality. Hagakure apologizes for doing so, but she says that she saw it as an opportunity to also test out her hero skills too.

The next question is “What has Yaoyorozu been obsessed about lately?” Jirou answers first, saying “Oh, is it furikake (rice seasoning)?” The answer turns out to be correct, and recently, Yaoyorozu has taken a strong liking to furikake to season her rice, which makes her blush a bit.

Sero then says, “All right Kaminari, what’s the next question?”

Kaminari answers, “Okay! For the next question, what made Ojirou disappointed recently!?”

Satou guesses, “Cementoss said his effort was average?”

Shouji says, “Tetsutetsu told him his strength was average?”

Aoyama ponders, “Recovery Girl said his health was average?☆”

The correct answer is actually Ojiro changed the conditioner for his tail recently, but no one noticed. However, Hagakure sidles up to him and says, “I actually saw you looking around near the bathroom area to see if anyone noticed, haha!” and Ojiro gets red, saying, “Well if you were watching me, why didn’t you say anything…!?”

The next question was, “What was hidden in Kirishima’s elementary school yearbook!?” Kirishima panics and says, “Huh!? How did you…!” but Sero grins and says, “That’s only for me to know. But I totally could not believe what was hidden there!”

Ashido guesses, “Maybe a love letter!?”

Mineta exclaims, “A porn magazine!!”

Todoroki says, “Failed test scores?”

All three of them were incorrect. The correct answer is “a photo of him dressed up as a girl!”

Bakugou says to him, “You’re actually into that kinda stuff?”

Kirishima gets flustered and says, “Wait, you’ve got it all wrong! It was during my elementary school’s festival stage play of Cinderella where I played the Stepmother! When I left the picture at home, my mommy kept showing it to other people, so I tried to hide it!!”

Kaminari then continues with the next question, saying “Okay, so next question. Before the Cultural Festival performance, what did Uraraka mess up on!?”

Deku says, “She accidentally made herself float!?”

Iida offers, “She was too nervous she threw up!?”

Tokoyami asks, “She ate too much mochi and threw up!?”

Kaminari says they all guessed wrong and the correct answer is “she was looking for Midoriya but tripped and accidentally went into a room where Class B’s Monoma was in the middle of changing clothes!”

Ochako gets red in the face and says, “I didn’t do it on purpose!!”

Mineta comments something lewd, but Tsuyu shuts him down.

The next question is “What was the reason why Jirou and Hagakure were arguing!?”

Koda says, “Because Hagakure-san was messing with Jirou-san’s earphone jack…?”

Yaoyorozu offers, “Jirou-san accidentally stepped on Hagakure-san’s naked body?”

Mineta exclaims, “Fighting over a guy!”

The correct answer is because Hagakure tried scaring Jirou after they watched a horror film together. Ashido asked whether they actually argued, and Jirou said she got mad because when she takes a shower alone, she’s usually scared of the bathroom area anyway. So when Hagakure messed with her by causing the lights to flicker on and off and the faucet to suddenly turn on by itself, she absoutely freaked out and felt like she almost had a heart attack. Naturally, she was livid, and Hagakure says, “Sorry Jirou, your reactions were just too good!”

The next question is about Deku, and Kaminari asks, “Recently, Deku has been leaving the dorm early to meet with someone. Who is that secret someone!?” (**Note: The word they use is ‘aibiki,” which means secret date/meeting).

Deku is surprised and says, “Wait, how do you know that…?”

Mineta and Satou ask if he was secretly meeting up with a girl, and Iida says, “Midoriya-kun! Are you actually in a relationship with a girl!? You should prioritize studies first!”

Ochako is confused as she says to herself, “Aibiki? Like the type of meat?” (**Note: Ochako isn’t familiar with the word, so she thinks it’s referring to ‘aibikiniku,’ which is a combination of different types of ground meat)

Deku gets nervous and says, “No, it’s not like that…” He thinks of ways to deflect the situation without making it known that he’s actually meeting up with All Might in the morning to train his quirk, but the other classmates continue to guess.

Kirishima says, “He’s meeting with someone from the General Class!?”

Ashido says, “No way…maybe he’s meeting with someone older, like Midnight…!?”

Mineta suggests, “Maybe he’s meeting with a living thing other than a girl…!!”

All three of their guesses were incorrect, and the correct answer was that he was meeting with the Support Department’s Hatsume Mei!

Deku is relieved to know that the others have not found out about his secret rendezvous with All Might early in the morning to do training.

Bakugou snorts and says, “There’s no way that dumb nerd would ever be popular!” but Sero says, “No, Midoriya is quite popular among the ladies. Like during the Provisional License Exam when that naked upper classman got all over him.”

Deku rebutts by saying, “But that was because she was attacking me!?”

Iida then recalls how Hatsume helped Deku out when they went to the department together earlier, and after an explosion, she was also all over him. Mineta then gets lewd thoughts again, but the conversation switches to Mineta using his mogimogi hair balls and puts it on Deku’s head. Iida notes that it looks like Deku’s wearing those infamous mouse ears from “Zoo Dreamland” (aka Disneyland). Ashido mentions that she used to go to Disneyla—…Zoo Dreamland all the time when she was younger. The class chatter switches to discussing their favorite rides, attractions, and food.

The class then asks Mineta to put mogimogi balls on their heads too so they can look like they’re wearing those infamous mouse ears as well. Mineta enjoys the attention and says, “All right I guess…”

Before the party wraps up, Sero mentions that there’s one more video that they want to show to everyone. As they gather around the TV to watch, they see Aizawa on screen with a cat. As the video starts, Aizawa suddenly appears in the common room and reprimands them, asking what are they doing up so late? The video pauses on the screen.

Aizawa stops the party and tells everyone to clean up and go to their rooms. Since the party’s over, he tells Sero, Kaminari, and Hagakure to stay behind. The three students prepare themselves for a scolding, but instead, Aizawa asks them where they got this footage.

It turns out that Present Mic gave it to them after he recorded it while hiding in sight. The footage was of Aizawa trying to befriend a cat, but the cat ignores him and goes to All Might instead. Sero actually came to the faculty department before the after-party to ask for permission to show the footage, and since Aizawa wasn’t there at the time, All Might said it was okay.

However, Aizawa says he will be collecting the footage and tells the three to never discuss the contents of the video to anyone. They agree, and he sends them off on their way.

It’s been a long day, and Aizawa sighs and wonders just when he got caught up in all of this student stuff. However, although adolescence is short, that never stops them from chasing their dreams forever. Happily, while young, without sadness, sweetly, harshly…youth is a precious thing.

The light novel ends with Aizawa saying, “Good luck, everyone” with the words “the festival had ended, but even so, their bright days continue onward.”

THE END

[babymetaldoll]

Danger Days - Chapter fourteen: "Love, hate, love"

Word count: 8,8K

Summary: The band is decided to take care of Joey, and for once, she is ok with that. Gerard is trying to find a way to get closer to her while Matthew... gets drunk again.

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, cursing, cheating, angst, a lot of crying.

A/N: I want a friend like Mikey in my life. Do you guys think Joey will forgive Matthew? Would you do it? also, I love how honest Frank is with Joey. Gerard really hates him at this point hehehe.

Not my gif, and all this shit is fiction.

Masterlist

Chapter one | Chapter two | Chapter three | Chapter four | Chapter five | Chapter six | Chapter seven | Chapter eight | Chapter nine | Chapter ten | Chapter eleven | Chapter twelve | Chapter thirteen | Chapter fourteen | Chapter fifteen | Chapter sixteen | Chapter seventeen | Chapter eighteen | Chapter nineteen | Chapter twenty | Chapter twenty one | Chapter twenty-two | Chapter twenty-three | Chapter twenty-four |

::: Valencia, March 11th, 2011 :::

Joey's eyes were wide opened as she laid on her bed. She hadn't slept at all. Mikey was snoring next to her. He had stayed over to take care of her after everybody left. But he fell asleep, and the girl stayed up the whole night, not able to move or to do anything but to stare at the heart locket on her bedside table. It felt like bullshit to her now. What seemed to be so romantic was now nothing but a pile of lies.

Memories kept coming to her head. All of the times together with Matthew, their whole happiness. All the days they spent working on the house he had bought for them, and all the nights they sat in their new back yard to look at the stars, drink some wine and sleep in an inflatable mattress they had put in their bedroom. But what she remembered the most was the day they met. The day their whole story together had started, and how now Joey wished to go back in time and change it all. Ignore him, never talking to him, not even being in that studio that day. Anything that might keep her from the pain she was feeling now.

She had reached the studio early that morning. She had a meeting with a band at ten to record a demo. They needed a studio drummer, and Billy, the producer, contacted her. She had learned the songs; there were just three on the setlist. That shouldn't take more than three days in the whole process, including production.

Joey went through her warm-up and stretching before Billy walked in with two cups of coffee.

- "Thank you."

- "You are gonna need it,"- he said and cut her a short smile- "As far as I can tell, these guys are hyper"- the girl smiled and nodded.

- "Noted, hyper kids."

The drummer already had a lot of practice recording with random bands and some pretty known bands too. Yet, she wasn't ready for the tornado of energy that was about to go through the door that day.

The band was pretty funny and easy-going. Their music wasn't really in Joey's favorite playlist, but she was professional enough to give her best no matter what. Their friend, though, that guy was driving her insane. This very tall thin guy with light brown hair kept jumping with every song they played. He was sugar rushed or in coke. There was no way anyone would be that energetic on his own. And he had an opinion for every part of every song. Their friends loved him, it was clear, that's why they brought him along, but Joey was trying to do her work.

- "Hey,"- he said to her at the end of the session. He hadn't talked to her in the whole day- "That was pretty cool what you did back there."

- "Thanks"- she simply answered and looked for her backpack.

- "I mean, you played amazing, but the way you managed not to kill me through the whole day, though it was clear I was driving you insane, that was outstanding"- and the girl chuckled, she hated it 'cos she didn't want to, but that had been funny indeed.

- "It took a lot of will and mental strength, I must confess, you were pretty annoying,"- she answered with a snarky smile.

- "I'm sorry in advance for the next three or four days then"- the girl sighed and nodded.

- "Thanks, I guess."

- "Hey, can I try to make it up to you?"

- "By not to eat anything with sugar or take any coffee before coming tomorrow? Because that would be awesome"- and Matthew laughed. An honest big, and sincere laugher.

- "No, I was going to ask you if you wanted to get a coffee now with me..."

- "How much coffee do you have during the day?"- the drummer asked, raising an eyebrow.

- "A lot"- he simply answered- "So, what do you say? I promise I won't be annoying, or at least just the decent amount of annoying to be tolerable."

Joey didn't know what to reply. It had been ages since anyone had asked her out, and that guy was breathtakingly hot. Was it a prank? Why would he want to go out with her?

- "How are you planning not to be annoying?"- she asked and narrowed her eyes.

- "You can pinch me every time I get annoying,"- Gubler grinned, looking pretty excited to go out with her- "I know you want to pinch me."

Joey smiled and kept her eyes on his. He gave her the most adorable puppy eyes, and not even thinking about it, she accepted.

And that was the first of a thousand coffees they shared in almost a year together. They had even talked about getting married around the same date they had started dating. But now, none of that mattered anymore.

- "Mother fucker"- she whispered and slowly got out of bed. Mikey was still asleep. She wondered around the room, not knowing what to do. She went through all the things the guys had left upon a dresser: chocolate bars, filled chocolate, M&M, fun-size Snickers, all of her favorites candies. Frank's whiskey bottle, even a Pride and Prejudice Bluray.

- "You guys are awesome,"- she whispered and grabbed a bunch of candy. She looked through her things as she ate. It felt nothing was hers anymore. It felt that wasn't her life or her clothing. Not even her mind. She was out of herself. Her phone was nowhere to be seen. Probably Mikey had it hidden, just like she had done for him when he broke up with his wife. Now the tables had turned. And it felt weird. Wrong. Bad.

Joey had a knot in her stomach as she kept eating Snicker after Snicker. Still, she couldn't stop. She didn't want to stop. She found Matthew's shirts among her clothes, and her body shivered at the smell of his perfume still in the fabric. She could almost see his face, hear his voice, feel his hands on her skin. The same hands that had cheated.

Tears started falling right away. Still, she couldn't stop smelling the shirt. She couldn't stop thinking about him, about his face, his kisses, everything. But yet, she was so mad, so sad, so confused. Her stomach started aching, and the girl started retching. She ran to the bathroom and puked the few candies she had eaten. That was all that was left in her stomach.

- "Bug, hey..."- Mikey appeared running and kneeled next to her.

- "I'm ok, I just... I'm still..."- the girl sighed and wiped off the tears from her face, flushing. Mikey reached the mouthwash for her- "Thank you"- Joey clumsy stood up and spat in the sink.

- "Did you get any sleep?"

- "Not really"- the honesty of her answer surprised him. He was ready to deal with a girl in denial of her state. Instead, somehow, she just answered the truth. He decided to take another shot.

- "Are you hungry?"

- "Of course not. I just puked."

- "What do you wanna do today?"

- "Stay in here, in my pajamas, and watch shitty tv. How is your schedule for today? What do you have to do?"

- "Stay here in my pajama watching shitty tv with you,"- she cut him a sweet smile as she crawled into bed again.

- "You don't have to do that, Mikey. You have to work."

- "I know I don't have to, I want to do it for you"- he made a pause, grabbed the phone, and called room service.

- "Thank you,"- she whispered and heard him asking for two breakfasts.

- "Besides,"- Mikey added, after hanging up and getting into bed with her- "It's not like I have to show up and answer questions I've answered a million times before. That's why Gerard's the lead singer. He loves the attention."

Joey smiled and hugged Mikey, resting her head on his chest as he surfed channels.

- "Yeah, he is a little diva sometimes."

- "A little? Sometimes?"- Mikey chuckled- "Oh Bug, you have no idea..."

Gerard was walking on his own after the first interview. He asked for a few minutes to get something, and Worm came along to make sure he made it alive.

- "Dude, help, what can I give Joey?"

- "Is her birthday again or something?"

- "No, she broke up with Gubler, and I need something that might cheer her up."

- "Fuck! How is she?"

- "Locked in her room... what can I give her?"

- "Chocolates."- Worm answered right away.

- "Mikey got her a million of her favorites."

- "Booze."

- "Frank got her favorite whiskey."

- "Shit... movies to kill time?"- the man looked at Gerard and nodded- "So Ray got her movies?"

- "They had like a "break up kit" in their fucking bags or something. They know what to do, what to say to her, how to comfort her. And I ended up looking at her from a distance like... awkward and out of place."- Gerard was opening himself up at his friend.

- "Well, think of something that might help her use her time and mind to refocus her into something other than the breakup. Maybe a book"- Gerard nodded and kept looking at the window glazes. Instinctively he stood outside a stationery shop. He thought about it as he looked inside. To draw was an excellent way to kill time. Would she like that?

- "Why not?"- he said and walked in. After a few minutes, he stepped out with not two but three bags filled with art supplies.

- "Did you leave anything left in the store?"- Frank asked when he saw his friend carrying so many notebooks and pencils, you could think he was starting a store of his own. The two of them, plus Ray, got into the van to go to their following interview.

- "Funny. I just got Joey a few things to help her think of something else."

- "Cool man, good idea"- Ray smiled and took a look inside- "I just checked with Mikey. They were watching a movie."

- "How is she?"- Gerard asked as the van traveled through Valencia.

- "She didn't sleep, she hasn't eaten, Mikey was fighting to get her to eat some cereal... she was crying and puking when he woke up."

Gerard's heart ached in his chest as he heard Ray's words. He needed to find a way to make her feel better. But how? How if he never got to talk to her?

- "Any news from the asshole?"- Gerard asked, and Frank nodded.

- "Mikey has her phone off, so no one knows anything about him."

- "Do you think he is gonna show up?"- the singer asked, and both Ray and Frank looked at each other.

- "I think so,"- Toro said- "He is in love with her after all."

- "After all?"- Iero turned to him and frowned- "The fucker broke her heart! I don't want him near my little Bug in a thousand years."

Gerard wanted to hit Frank after calling her "his little Bug."

- "What the fuck is his problem? She ain't his. She is mine."

- "Frank, we are her friends, and we have to support her, but if she ever decides to get back with him again, even when we both know that's nearly impossible, we have to respect her. Ok?"- Ray was very rational about it, mostly 'cos he had lived it with other friends before- "So if he gets here, we can't do anything."

- "What do you mean "we can't do anything"?"- Frank frowned right away, frustrated- "I'm not gonna let that asshole near her."

- "Me neither, man"- Gerard adds- "And I can't believe you are saying this amount of shit after how she was yesterday."

- "It's called experience, Gerard. So remember, this whole shit ain't about how mad we are with Gubler, but about how much we want our friend to be happy, no matter what!"

Ray used his "dad" voice, and his friends couldn't argue with that. That was Raymond Toro's superpower: Super Dad.

Matthew looked at his mom and sighed. He still had three more days of shooting, and he was about to quit. Gubler barely had the strength to get out of bed that morning. He hadn't eaten. He looked like shit. He didn't want to be in the movie anymore. He gave a fuck about everything. So his mother came along to work with him and sat closely, reading a book, trying to comfort him in any way. Yes, that's how much Matthew loved his mother. And he cared shit if anyone made fun of him.

- "I can't do this, mom,"- he said as he walked to her by the end of a scene, he had some time to wait for things to be ready at the following location- "I mean, what the fuck am I doing here? I have to go to her! I have to tell her that I'm sorry"- he grabbed his phone and dialed- "Still off... Yami, please listen to me. I need to talk to you. This can't be it. I need you to listen to me."

- "Voicemail full"- a computer voice warned and finished the call.

- "Shit! Shit! Shit!"- the young man hit the wall next to him a couple of times as his face turned red in anger and desperation.

- "Matthew, please calm down, you are gonna go, but you need to be calm when you meet her. You have to put yourself together first. What are you going to tell her? How are you going to approach her?"- he sighed and walked around in front of his mother.

- "I just need to talk to her now!"- he whispered, pouting. He had never needed anyone as much as he needed Joey at that moment.

- "She has to make her process too. If you run to her now, you are both going to be still hyperventilated with what happened, you are going to be irrational, you know you will, and she is going to be still so hurt and mad she won't think straight"- Matthew sighed and looked at the ground- "Let the things cool down for a few days."

- "I still need to talk to her. I have to call her."

- "Just make sure you don't sound like a madman when you get to talk to her, ok?"

- "Do I sound like a madman now?"- his mother smiled at held his chin for a second

- "As I had never heard you before... you are in love, baby, it's ok to be a madman... just... try to keep a mind straight when it comes to talking to her, don't scare her away."

Matthew nodded and sighed. His mother's words made sense, but how to calm himself down when he felt he was dying inside? He grabbed his phone and dialed. Still off.

- "Can you come over tonight?"- he wrote and sent the text to Paget, his best friend.

- "Sure, is everything ok?"

- "Tell you tonight."

The band reached Joey's room at lunchtime. They brought pizza and beer, but she didn't want either. They talked to her about their day, the interviews, and Gerard gave her his present. That was the one thing Joey was excited about. She loved drawing and coloring, though she sucked at it.

- "Thank you, Gerard!"- she said and cut him a shy smile- "I wanted to get some of these things for a while and never did"- and the singer smiled proudly. He had finally done one thing right.

- "Hey, if you want, I can teach you a few things so you can start your comic,"- he said and sat next to her.

- "Thanks..."- she nodded but didn't look into the idea. Gerard was probably pushing too hard. But he had gotten so excited with her reaction he thought it was the solution to the whole situation. Nothing was farther from the truth.

- "Come on, Bug, we brought your favorite pizza,"- Frank said and sat next to her- "It has all the bacon in Spain."

- "I'm not hungry,"- she whispered and didn't take her eyes from the art supplies.

- "You've barely eaten,"- Mikey said and held her hand, looking at her so worried, it made Joey feel guilty for having her friend like that. It wasn't fair.

- "Bróðir, I am ok. I ate that cereal you gave me."

- "You threw it up twenty minutes later"- she closed her eyes and sighed- "Do you always throw up when you are upset?"- and she nodded. She didn't want to say a word about it. When Joey was a kid, she had many anxiety problems; she always threw up when she felt stressed. It was the way her body worked to cope with whatever it was that she was feeling.

- "Just a slice, I don't care if you vomit it,"- Frank insisted. She held it and took the tiniest bite possible in a poor attempt to make her friend happy. He just kept looking at her, forcing her to take another bite.

- "Do you have to go to work after lunch?"- she whispered and looked at her fingers playing with the bacon on her pizza.

- "Yeah, Bug. Mikey should probably go shower, but I'm gonna stay with you."

- "I'm not a baby, Ray"- the girl frowned- "I can be alone."

- "I know you can, I just feel like staying here, watch a bunch of movies... maybe sleep a little, I don't wanna go to work,"- Ray simply replied.

- "Guys, I know you are being too cute and adorable right now, and from the bottom of my heart, I am forever grateful for it, but I can stay alone. Nothing is gonna happen."

Mikey moved closer to Joey in the bed and wrapped an arm around her.

- "Sure, you are gonna be ok, but right now, we just wanna be with you... just today, ok? Tomorrow you are on your own,"- she turned and raised an eyebrow at him- "I promise."

- "Fine..."

- "Now eat"- he commanded and moved her pizza closer to her.

- "When are you going to give me my phone back?"- she asked after a while.

- "Tomorrow"- Mikey simply replied.

- "What's the plan for tomorrow, by the way?"- Joey asked and looked at her friends- "Do we have to be at the festival the whole day?"

- "No, but we have to be there early,"- Gerard said and chewed his food- "We have to do some press there, and you should come along."

- "I'm good, thanks."

- "No, really, it was great when we did that radio with you, and you've been great all along this tour, so... it would be great if you were there with us... how many times did I just say "great"?"- Joey smiled at Gerard and looked back at her pizza.

- "Like a million times, dude,"- Frank answered- "Hey, where's the veggie pizza?"

It was very heartwarming and, at the very same time, very overwhelming for Joey to feel that amount of love from her friends. She didn't see it coming. That afternoon, she and Ray watched Pride and Prejudice together, and she even allowed herself to share a few tears during those 90 minutes. Ray pretended he never noticed, and that made her happy.

She picked a bunch of other chick flicks she liked, and her friend watched them all, sleeping a little bit from time to time. Joey wasn't able to close an eye. Every time she took her mind off the movie, she thought of Matthew and started crying again.

By the time the rest of the band arrived again, with more booze, more food, and a whole bag of candies, Ray had watched Clueless, 10 things I hate about you and Ever After. He was pretty surprised to know Joey could recite from memory most of the dialogues in those movies. He never thought she could be so... girly.

- "Hey Bug!"- Mikey practically ran to her- "What are you doing?"

- "Coloring this mandala book Gerard got me"- it felt like she was a little kid and Ray was her nanny- "I don't know why people say this is relaxing; I find it pretty stressful"- Mikey looked at it and smiled.

- "Looks pretty cool to me."

- "Let me see"- Gerard said and walked to her, sitting for the very first time, next to her- "Yeah, that looks stressful"- he whispered, and she smiled- "But there was another coloring book in the bag."

- "I feel like I'm five years old,"- she whispered and looked at the singer in the eyes. He cut her a big smile and grabbed a notebook from his bag.

- "I stopped to buy ten comic books today, so that would make two of us."

- "What did you get?"- that conversation kept going. Gerard couldn't believe it.

- "I saw a few X-Men issues in Spanish, and I thought it would be a nice addition to my collection."

- "Nice..."- Frank moved closer and messed with the girl's hair.

- "I brought you a Dr. Pepper,"- he whispered and kissed her cheek.

- "Thank you, Jersey."

- "I also got you fries"- he smiled and raised an eyebrow- "You can't say no to fries..."- and damn it, Frank was right- "Cheesy fries"- he added with a low sexy voice.

- "I hate you, Frank."

- "It's time for you to face it, Iceland, you love me, you can't live without my pretty face making you laugh"- he teased her and chuckled. She kept her eyes in his and cut him a short smile.

- "Fuck you, Jersey"- she whispered but smiled and snuggled closer to him- "I love you. You are a psycho brother with the ability to make me want to punch you."

- "You are that hot second cousin I would nail,"- Frank answered with a chuckle and a low voice. Joey giggled and hit him simultaneously. Gerard froze, thinking there was no way Iero could be so honest with her about his thoughts, not making her mad.

- "Shut up. Why do you always ruin every single moment we've got together?"

- "'Cos... you laugh when I do, and I love to hear you laugh"- the girl chuckled and blushed.

- "Just give me the damn fries."

Gerard looked at his friend in shock. He had flirted, and she smiled. What the fuck was that? It was so clear everybody was closer to her than him... and she told him she loved him.

- "Damn it! You are not going anywhere tonight until you get fucking closer to this girl."

Around midnight, Ray and Frank stood up. Joey was still laid on her bed, wide awake, watching Lethal Weapon with Mikey.

- "Kids, you should go to bed"- Ray announced and put on his shoes- "We've got a big day tomorrow, and you should all rest, especially you, Bug. The dark rings under your eyes will not be covered with makeup, and we will be on tv tomorrow."

- "I'll sleep, I promise"- she whispered and nodded.

- "Are you going to be ok with these two?"- Frank asked after kissing the top of her head.

- "These two are leaving soon, so I'll be ok"- she made a pause and held Frank's hand- "Thank you, Jersey."

- "There is nothing to thank, Iceland. You are my friend, and I'll protect you no matter what."

- "Yeah... what you did yesterday when you yelled at... at him"- Joey couldn't even really say his name- "Well... thank you-" he smiled and winked.

- "Anytime"

- "I love you, dad,"- the girl said as Ray walked over. She wrapped her arms around him and felt him kiss her forehead.

- "Please, try to sleep."

- "I will ... and thank you for watching chick flicks with me."

- "Anytime you want."

- "Really? You won't get sick of the clichés?"- she smiled and wrinkled her nose.

- "No, maybe next time I'll pick a couple when we are on the bus."

- "Dad, it's a date."

- "Sleep tight."

Joey nodded and watched her friends walking out. Mikey kept his eyes on the tv as he ate a bag of M&Ms. Gerard was sitting at the other side of the bed, drawing in silence. The girl sighed and watched tv for a while, but her mind was somewhere else.

- "You should take a bath,"- Gerard whispered suddenly- "If you are going to try to sleep, maybe a hot shower can help you."

- "I thought I smelled so bad you were gonna force me"- Joey answered, not even looking at him.

- "Joey, I've lived with you for a lot of months so far, and I've been locked with you after playing shows covered in sweat"- Gee made a pause and smiled- "You've never smelled bad"- she rolled her eyes, but a slight smile appeared on her lips.

- "You've never been close enough to smell me."

- "She is right, she gets nasty"- and Mikey got smacked by a pillow after those words.

- "Fine, I'll shower..."- but before moving an inch, the girl looked at her friend and asked- "Can you give me my phone back?"

- "Tomorrow."

- "I want to call my parents"- Mikey took his phone from his pocket and gave it to her.

- "Use mine"- she huffed and dialed.

Gerard watched her walk around the room, speaking half in Spanish, half in English with her mother, and then half in Icelandic, half in English with her dad. It was a funny scene to see; he had never seen it. He had never seen a lot of her habits, and yet he had fallen in love with her. Why? How?

- "Dude, I'm talking to you"- Mikey said and threw him an empty bag of candy.

- "Sorry, what?"

- "Can you stay with her for a while? I have to go to my room and take the biggest dump on earth"- Gerard frowned, disgusted, and nodded.

- "Using the bathroom would have been enough, dude."

- "No, it wouldn't, you need to know the disgusting details of my organism..."- Mikey started gathering his things, and Joey frowned as she watched him.

- "Where are you going?"

- "To take a shit"

- "Please don't use my bathroom. You are gross. It's like there's a corpse coming out of you every time"- Joey simply says, and Gerard burst out laughing.

- "Best description ever!"

- "Here's your phone, bróðir."

- "Thank you, Bug"- he grabbed it, put on his shoes, his backpack, and hugged his friend tight- "I love you."

- "I know. I love you too."

- "I'll leave you with Gerard. Are you gonna be ok?"

- "I'll be fine,"- his older brother answered and never took his eyes from the paper, scared of looking at Joey under the circumstances. He was finally going to be alone with her. What was going to happen?

- "I was talking to her, dumbass"- Gerard flipped the bird to Mikey as Joey stayed hugged to his younger brother. He wished she could hug him like that one day. That night maybe...

- "You are the best brother on earth"- she whispered- "Now please go to your room and sleep."

- "Eat some chocolates, take a bath and fall asleep, ok?"- Joey nodded, and Mikey left the room.

Suddenly she realized it was just her and Gerard. For the first time in weeks. But her mind didn't have room to think about anything else but the pain she was feeling. She missed Matthew so much; watching Lethal Weapon was the best idea at the moment.

Gerard kept drawing in silence, and Joey watched the movie until it was over. She ate a few more Snickers and went through the pages of one of the mandala coloring books Gerard had given her.

- "Are you going to take that bath?"- he asked her. But she didn't answer. She had spaced out, staring at her hands in front of her- "Joey? Are you ok?"

- "Yes,"- she murmured and took a deep breath- "Yeah, I'm gonna shower."

- "Do you need me to run the shower for you?"- the singer asked, standing up, but the girl excused herself, moved out of the bed quickly, grabbed a clean pajama from her bag, and locked herself in the room.

Gee looked around and sighed. He knew she wasn't ok at all, so he cleaned the room a little, threw all of the empty bags of chocolates into the paper bin, called room service to take their dinner dishes away, and made the bed.

- "Hey babe"- he whispered as Lynz picked up the phone- "How are you?"

- "Good baby, you?"

- "So fucking tired"- he might have exaggerated that a little bit- "We had an eternal day today, doing a lot of press for the festival tomorrow."

- "My sweet baby, are you in the hotel?"

- "Yeah, already in bed "In Joey's bed, asshole."

- "And how's everybody?"

- "We are all exhausted. It's been forever since we've been home."

- "I know, honey, I miss you so."

- "I miss you more, baby."

Joey sat under the hot water of the shower, crying her eyes out. She held those tears for so long that day. She needed to get them out of her system when no one could see or hear her. Under the shower was good, with water running down her whole aching body.

She felt so much pain inside it seemed to be endless. She was never going to overcome it. Joey knew it. She actually thought she could die of sorrow. And her friends had been so nice to her. She felt she had to be better, so they were calmer. She didn't want to make them sick worry about her.

- "You to put out a show from the next day and start acting like you are getting over this whole deal"- she whispered to herself and whipped off her tears- "They deserve better than a broken drummer. You have to be professional, you are here to work, and you have to fucking do your best work."

But still, she looked at the ring that was still on her finger, and the tears came back. She didn't want to take it off. She wanted to hold onto the memory of the days she was happy. But it was so hard. She had been broken-hearted before, but not like that. It had never been like this. It felt like the end of her world, and she was sure she was never going to recover from it. She wouldn't be the same woman that she was before. She just didn't know how much of the old Joey was going to survive.

- "Joey, are you ok in there?"- Gerard asked from the other side of the door- "You've been in the shower for a long while."

- "Yeah, I'm coming out in a minute,"- she answered and cleared her throat- "You can go to your room if you want to, I'm ok."

- "I'm not leaving until you are tucked and asleep into that bed, Joey."

Gerard sighed and closed his eyes. He had brought this to her. She deserved him to be nice to her. Nice, he could do nice. He just had to turn his dick off, and everything was going to be ok.

Easier said than done, clearly.

Joey walked out of the shower in her pajamas, hair already dried, and night cream on her face, 'cos she had done nothing for herself in the whole day, and a part of her needed to feel a little human again.

- "You didn't have to stay,"- the girl said as soon as she saw Gerard sitting on her bed, his back resting on the headboard.

- "I didn't want to leave"- he simply answered and tapped the bed beside him- "Come here... "- she sighed and thought a few months ago she would have been shaking as jelly under those circumstances. Now it seemed Joey couldn't even think of Gerard in any way that wasn't a friend.

She crawled into the bed and looked at what he was doing. He had been working on a sketch for a long while now.

- "What are you doing?"

- "Not much, just trying to ease my mind, I think"- he answered and showed Joey his drawings- "I've been working on characters for the stories I wanna write, so I keep making sketches of random thoughts and ideas I've got for them"- Gerard opened another folder and showed Joey some more of his work- "These I've developed for a long while, but I still don't feel they are ready."

- "How do you know they are ready?"- he hesitated for a second before answering.

- "I guess they never really are. You are constantly changing little things about them with time."

- "Like songs?"

- "Yeah"- the girl looked at the drawings in silence for a few minutes. Gerard looked at her as she stared at each sheet with detention. He analyzed her eyes, her lips, and her cheeks. She was still very pale, black rings under her eyes. But yet, for him, she was gorgeous. He was dying to hold her.

- "They are pretty cool,"- she said and handed them back.

- "Hey, did you ever finish the song you were writing the other day?"

- "The other day, you mean five months ago?"- he nodded, thinking it felt it was just a few weeks ago- "Yeah, I did."

- "Can I hear it?"

- "Sure, one day you'll hear it, not today, dude. Today, I don't want anything"- he nodded and watched her sighing.

- "Another movie?"- and she nodded- "Do you wanna pick it?"

- "No... I don't care what's on the screen as long as I don't think"- Gerard grabbed the remote control as Joey kept playing with the ring on her finger- "Are you going to..."

- "I'm not talking about it,"- she answered right away.

- "Sorry..."- he muted and surfed through the pay-per-view options until he picked up "The Goonies." Joey didn't say a word. That was one of Matthew's favorite movies. But she wanted to watch it. She wanted to feel he was close. She was so mad and so in love that she didn't know what to do.

Gerard put all his art supplies in his bag and cuddled next to Joey. He did it just like Frank had done the night before: like it wasn't a big deal at all. He wrapped an arm around her neck and moved closer. She didn't do anything against that. Instead, she rested her head on his chest and sighed. Gerard felt triumphant. She was in his arms, finally. But Joey had cuddled for one reason only: it was the best position to hide the tears that started falling slowly as the movie began. She remembered clearly the first time Matthew "forced her" to watch "The Goonies." It was a Saturday. It was raining outside. They spent the whole day in bed, watching movies, making love, eating chocolate chip hotcakes, and s'mores. It was the perfect day. Now it was just a hurtful memory.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Gubler could feel the anger coming from Paget's eyes as he came clean and told her the whole story. They were at his house drinking beer and talking. Mostly Matthew was doing all the talking, while his best friend decided which was the best moment to hit him.

- "You are fucked"- Paget simply said as he kept talking. He stopped and frowned. But nothing came from his mouth- "I can't believe you did that! You are disgusting, Matthew!!"

Paget lost it for a second. She never, in all the years she had known her best friend, ever thought he could do such a thing.

- "I know"

- "I just... why did you do it?"

- "I was drunk!"

- "That's not an excuse!! You've been drunk before! And your cock hadn't ended up in your ex-girlfriend's mouth, so be honest with me and tell me what the fuck happened?"

- "I don't know! When I noticed it wasn't Joey, I stopped it all!"

- "You thought your girlfriend was sucking your cock?"

- "Yes!"

- "And why did you make out with those girls at the dancefloor?! Everybody saw you!"

- "I lost it for a second, 'cos I was scared Joey might cheat!"- Matthew murmured and looked at the floor, so ashamed of his own words.

- "And you did it 'cos you were scared she would?!"- Paget yelled and smacked his head- "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

- "I don't know!"- the boy rubbed his hands against his face feeling the anger filling his whole body- "Don't you think I regret it?! I hate myself! I was stupid!"

- "Yes! You were fucking stupid! Do you know what it takes to get someone to love you the way she does?! Do you know how hard it is to find someone as weird as you?!"

- "I know it's hard! I know it's fucking impossible, and I know I fucked it up! But I need you to help me fix this!"

- "You could start by going to see her and beg for forgiveness!"

- "That's what I want to do, but mom said I have to give her a few days to calm down."

- "She is right, and you have to calm down too."

- "She said I sound like a mad man."

- "Madder than usual, yes"- Paget nodded, still serious- "And where is she now?"

- "Spain, she has a huge festival show tomorrow, it's gonna be televised..."

- "So you get to see her live?"- he nodded- "And after that?"

- "Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, she is only staying one day at those places, she is traveling by bus, so she is going to be stuck with the band all the time. And those guys hate me."

- "Right now, I hate you too."

- "Please stop hating me and help me find a way to get to her 'cos I know they are not gonna let me."

- "They have nothing to do with this whole situation! What are you talking about?"

- "Well, they've always been very protective of her, which used to bother me a lot, until I realized they loved her like a little sister, and she is happy with that 'cos she doesn't have many friends."- Matthew was talking very fast, as the words kept coming nonstop- "Eventually, we got closer, especially with Mikey. He is like her older brother on the road, and he is so fucking nice to her for a moment, I thought he was in love with her. But it turns out he loves her as a sister, which made me happy 'cos it meant she wasn't alone in that tour."

- "To the point, Matthew."- Paget sighed, annoyed.

- "Yeah, sorry. What happened was I called her after our fight, and Frank picked up the phone and told me he is going to kill me if he ever sees me again, and threaten me to beat the shit out of me if I ever try to get near her."

- "What at asshole!"

- "I know!"

- "You completely deserved that!"

- "Paget!!"

- "You would do that for me if someone breaks my heart, so deal with it"- Gubler nodded and for a second, then chuckled.

- "A few months ago, Joey told me the same thing..."- he sighed and stayed in silence- "I miss her so much it hurts."

- "I know"

- "I need to get her back..."- his friend didn't say a word, just rubbed his arm gently and cut him a short smile.

Paget couldn't promise him he was going to get her back 'cos she knew how much it hurt being cheated on, and she had never forgiven a guy for that. And by everything Matthew had told her about Joey so far, she knew she wasn't going to do that either. But she couldn't tell him to give up either. She knew he wasn't going to.

Joey sighed. The movie was over, and she was starting to feel tired. She was afraid to sleep though, she knew she would dream with Matthew Gray, and it hurt to even think about it.

- "Ready to get some rest?"- Gerard whispered. She didn't move- "I know you are awake."

- "Are you a psychic?"- she whispered, and he just smiled.

- "I can see your reflex on the screen"- he caressed her hair softly- "Do you need anything?"

- "No... thanks."

- "Do you want me to stay over tonight?"- Gerard simply asked, making sure it sounded like no big deal, though he could hyperventilate if she ever said yes- "I wouldn't mind."

- "I think I could use some time on my own"- Joey answered and moved on the bed, sitting next to him

- "I get it..."

- "Thank you, though. Thank you for taking care of me today and for bringing me so many things."

- "Hey, don't thank me for it. I'm glad I could make you smile even a little bit"- Gerard murmured and tuck some hair behind Joey's ear softly- "I just want you to be happy. You deserve to be so happy."

She didn't move, mostly 'cos she had spaced out thinking about Matthew again. She didn't seem to have room in her head for any other thought but him.

Gerard saw this as a chance to move a little further. He kept his hand in her hair and moved it slowly down to the backside of her neck. The girl chilled and looked into his eyes. That look, it wasn't a friendly one, and she just noticed it.

- "Joey, you deserve so much better than what he did to you, and if it were for me, I would give you everything, my whole life."

- "Thank you, Gerard"- she whispered and smiled- "You are a good friend."

- "I wasn't saying that as a friend."

Way smiled and moved closer to her, his nose touching hers. She didn't move. She didn't know what to do, actually. She had always thought he was incredibly hot, but she never wanted to cheat on Matthew. But now, that didn't matter anymore.

Gerard moved a few centimeters closer, and his lips touched Joey's. Electricity ran down his back as he kissed her slowly, just to make sure she wasn't going to move away. She didn't. And slowly, she kissed him back.

His hands cupped her face carefully as Gerard increased the kiss, slipping his tongue between her lips. They tasted like chocolate, and they felt warm against his. It was blissful. It was like all the months he had to wait to feel that kiss had been completely worthy. That was the best kiss he had ever given, and his heart was rising so much, he thought it was going to escape from his chest.

Joey wasn't thinking. She wasn't at all. She just went along with the kiss 'cos it felt nice. And it also felt like payback. Like if by kissing Gerard, she was getting sweet revenge for what Matthew had done to her.

Gerard increased the kiss a little more, biting her lower lip and moving her closer to him. He wrapped an arm tight around her and kept a hand playing from her cheek to her neck slowly. Joey was enjoying this, Way was a pretty good kisser, and it was honestly a kiss she had thought about a million times. But it felt empty, like the kind of kiss you give to a random guy when you are drunk at a party. And this wasn't a random guy. This was her colleague, her married colleague.

- "Stop"- she whispered and broke the kiss.

- "What is it?"- she landed her hands on Gerard's chest and pushed him away softly.

- "This is wrong."

- "Why?"- Joey frowned as he held her hands and looked confused.

- "Well, apart from the obvious"- she said and pointed at his wedding right- "I'm at the lowest point of my life, and we work together. I can't afford to lose my job right now, so kissing one of my colleagues seems like a pretty shitty idea to me."

- "Not to me."

- "Gerard... that's your cock talking,"- Joey stood up and looked at him.

- "I've longed to kiss you for a long while"- he confessed following her and standing right in front of her- "And I've got the feeling so did you."

- "That's not the point. This it's wrong."

- "But it felt good, and you know it."

Gerard leaned to her, held her face, and pressed his lips against her, this time in a passionate kiss that made Joey feel weak on her knees. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his hands on her waist, moving her closer. So close that she could feel his erection, rubbing against her body.

- "You should go"- Joey whispered, gasping for air as she moved from his lips.

- "But I wanna stay"- she shook her head immediately.

- "You have to go, Gerard."

- "But, Sugar"- he murmured and rubbed his lips against her. She let him go slowly and looked at him, shaking her head again- "Ok..."- he grabbed his jacket and his shoes and landed a soft kiss on Joey's cheek- "Good night, sugar."

- "Bye, Gerard."

The singer walked out of that room and sighed. That had been the best kiss of his life. But Joey was right; it had been a mistake. However, it was a mistake he wanted to make ever since he first saw her. Still, he had just cheated on his wife. But that was a thought he needed to ignore at the moment. He had kissed the girl he loved. And he was in heaven.

Joey was in hell. She hated herself so much she wanted to die. She brushed her teeth over and over again, tears falling from her eyes. Her head hurt after so many days of crying. She had kissed another guy. And though Matthew had done the same to her, she still felt guilty and dirty. She was so sorry for what she had done; she knew it had been a terrible mistake. She didn't even want to face Gerard after that.

He was so eager for her, he had been holding that kiss for a long time, and he simply confessed it, like it wasn't a big deal. But it was. It meant Matthew had been right all along; Gerard had a thing on her, something that had ended up being a hot kiss. A very hot kiss. And if she hadn't stopped him, it was clear where Gerard wanted to go.

- "He had a boner for Christ Sakes!"- the girl argued, walking back to bed- "A fucking boner!"- she got under the covers, wrapping her arms around her legs, biting her lips so hard she nearly drawn blood.

Kissing someone else while still in love with Matthew didn't feel right. She didn't want to do it again. No matter how hot Gerard was. She missed her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. How was she ever going to get over him? She knew it was impossible. You don't love someone that much and successfully take him from your heart.

It was a good thing that Mikey had her phone, 'cos she felt the urge to call Matthew at the moment. That would have been stupid, and she knew it. But still, it physically hurt to miss him so much. She needed to talk to him. But Mikey had her phone... he didn't have her computer, though.

She looked for it in her backpack and started it on right away.

- "What the fuck are you doing?"- she asked herself out loud as she stared at the screen- "You can't talk to him... you are going to cave in."

Joey brushed her hands against her face and closed the computer. But after a few minutes, she poured herself a glass of whiskey and opened it again. She had decided to check her mail, and maybe Twitter, nothing related to her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend.

But her inbox was filled with emails from Matthew. At least twenty. Her stomach tightened as soon as she saw them. She took a sip of whiskey and opened the first one. It was sent the night before, probably after Frank had yelled at him and turned off her phone.

"I'm so sorry Yami, I know I was stupid and drunk, and I'll regret it for the rest of my life. But I need you to know you are the only woman I wanna spend the rest of my life with. I love you so much it hurts to think of a day without even hearing your voice."

Joey was already crying. This wasn't healthy. Why was she doing it? She needed to sleep. She needed to get her mind from Matthew. But the memory of Gerard's kisses was right there hunting her too. She poured herself another whiskey and walked around the room. Maybe she could drink herself to sleep. But, she had a huge gig the next day, and she had to be professional.

- "Fuck! I wanna die..."- she sobbed and opened the next mail.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, and I get it. I just need you to understand how much I love you and that I'm willing to do anything to fix this, anything you want, everything you ask; I'll do it, but please, please don't leave me."

- "I have to stop this..."- she took another sip of her whiskey and whipped off her tears. She walked to the phone and talked to the front desk.

- "Hello, sorry to bother you, but can you please connect me with room 1201? Thank you"- the girl waited in line for what felt like ages until she heard Mikey's half-asleep.

- "Joey, are you ok?"

- "No, I'm not ok. Can you come and sleep with me, please?"

- "I'll be right there"- Joey stayed still, eyes glued on the screen, reading over and over again the last mail she had opened.

Mikey didn't even knock. He still had her key, so he just walked into the room in boxers and shirt, shoeless and with his hair made a huge mess. Mikey didn't say a word either; he just took the computer away from her and closed it, grabbed the glass, drank what was left of her whiskey, and got Joey under the covers of the bed. She was shaking and crying quietly.

- "You are gonna be ok Bug, I swear, please try to get some sleep"- he said and held her tight, spooning her- "I'm right here, I'm going to take care of you, ok?"- she nodded and sighed- "Now close your eyes and sleep, I've got you, ok? I've got you."

Joey sniffed and sobbed a little, feeling how her brother's arms tightened around her.

- "Thank you, Mikey."

- "You did the same for me. I owe you my life at this point. I'm never going to leave you."

Back in Los Angeles, Matthew was drunk, calling and calling Joey without any result. Her phone was off, her voicemail was full. So he continued writing emails. At least he could put his heart out in a way, though he had no idea if she was ever going to read them.

Paget, next to him, tried to stop him. But it was useless. The boy wanted to write and ignored everything else.

- "Matthew, Matthew"- she said and shook her arm- "Buy the fucking plane ticket to see her!"

- "Yes!!"- he kind of shouted and took a paper from his pocket- "This is Yami's tour schedule... the movie ends in two days, I can go take a plane straight from the set... so I have to go to Oslo if I wanna catch her."

- "Nice! Bring souvenirs"- his friend smiled, trying to cheer him up

- "Deal"- the boy grabbed his credit card and booked the first flight he found to Norway- "You know it is our anniversary next 17th, if everything goes right, we could actually celebrate our first year together."

- "Please, Matthew, and I need you to listen to me"- Paget said seriously and looked into her best friend's eyes, making sure he would understand her, though he was wasted- "Please, whatever you do, don't fuck it up! ok?"

- "Yes."

- "'Cos this is going to be the only chance you'll get to talk to her and fix everything. Trust me."

Gubler nodded with widened eyes. He was drunk, tired, and devastated, but still, he got how serious and honest Paget was with him. He knew he wasn't going to get many chances to get Joey back. And maybe that was going to be the only one.

**

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