#or maybe it's just an excuse to bash fans of the game

[arcanemadman]

Netflixvania fans will hate Mariacard because one's 16 and the other's an adult after shipping and continuing to ship Trephacard, which has a teenager shipped with two adults

EDIT: Okay I know this isn't obvious but it needs to be said, Netflix Maria uses the design of 12 year old Maria, but she's actually 16. SOTN Maria is 17, which makes her a year older than Netflix Maria. If there was a 5 year time skip in the show, that would make Maria 21.

[crusherthedoctor]

What's your WIP?

Prepare for cringe, and make 'em twinge.

What if: Paper Mario... but with Eggman. :D :D :D

I promise it's not as dumb as it sounds... okay maybe it is. But hear me out, I didn't bash non-matching LEGO bricks together mindlessly, there's some comprehensive logic behind it. :<

A while back, during the weekly groaning about Eggman being undermined and treated like shit, I pointed out that when you think about it, he would actually be a very serious problem if he were inserted into other works unrelated to Sonic. I said this mostly out of humor, but it's a what-if that I've thought about more seriously from time to time, including very recently, where I wondered out loud if Eggman would be more respected in-media and out if he were from literally any other franchise. Because as much as I hate to say it, it does feel that way sometimes...

Meanwhile, as you've no doubt gained from my recent posting, I've been more Paper Mario-pilled than ever before, due to how much the TTYD remake gives me passion during a time where I've been sorely needing it, as well as just remembering how much I love TTYD and the original N64 game in general. This happiness inspires me to do something with it out of celebration, so I think to myself "Hey, all my works so far have been strictly Sonic, but I'm currently having a down period with the series due to my ferocious apathy towards most of the current stuff, so how about I expand my horizon and experiment with something that doesn't have that confounded hedgehog in it for the time being? Maybe having something else would also keep me rejuvenated with Stellar, since I could bounce between different projects! But what can I come up with for Paper Chris Pratt?"

Then I think back to the first point, and… yeah. Does what it says on the tin, doesn't it. In an effort to make it sound less Now That's What I Call Mid-00's Fanfiction.Net Vol. 1, think of it like the anti-Storybook: instead of Sonic being catapulted into an unfamiliar world, and having to help out with what's going on… Eggman gets catapulted into an unfamiliar world, takes advantage of the fact that Sonic isn't there to stop him like the opportunistic bastard he is, and the (Paper) Mario universe is forced to deal with a threat that they have no context for.

Yes, I know it's very fanfic-y, but at this point, between this and Sonudis, I think my entire selling point(?) might be taking the most fanfic ideas you can think of (short of killing off canon characters or dumping them in a high school AU, because not even I would do that), and playing them as authentically and respectfully to the source material and official characterizations as possible. What kind of trouble would Eggman be able to cause in a world with no Sonic or Chaos Emeralds around? What scheme would he come up with? What would this very different cast of characters make of him, and vice versa? Is this just an excuse to write for Vivian to cope with the fact that she'll probably once again not appear in later games? (The answer is yes.)

If I decide to actually create this Frankenstein abomination of an idea, it probably won't be uploaded on this site since I'm not sure how many Mario fans I have in the audience so to speak. Then again... @beevean seems to have carved a place for herself in the Castlevania fic community on here, so maybe I should?

(Also, this would NOT lead into a full-on Mario and Sonic crossover, or some convoluted cinematic universe nonsense. It would just be a unique character study, nothing more. Plus, just the idea of a traditional Paper Mario adventure where the villain is inexplicably Eggman is my kind of shitpost energy.)

[lilacrwses]

▸ love at first goal

summary: Having able to watch a football game is not how you expect to meet your soulmate

ft: itoshi rin

note: reblogs are a big help :>

Your ideal idea definition of a perfect day off is just in bed eating salad watching netflix and just chilling. However, having your friend visit you she insisted on watching the ever so waited football match together than being alone.

You didn’t really like crowds making it as an excuse, but the gods weren’t really on your side when she mentioned she got two VIP seats at the stadium. You weren’t really surprised when she said that she sponsored the event.

“Come on y/n! I promise this is going to be the last one” She raises her right arm as she said it.

“You said that the last time…and the last time..and the last.. and the las-” She covered your mouth with her palm knowing that it would go on for minutes if she hadn’t stopped you.

“I know that but pleaseee! There are a lot of handsome players back there waiting for you. Maybe then you’ll find your soulmate.”

You thought about it for a second, it’s been 2 years since you’re supposed to find out your other half. Your friend, Emi already found hers, and you couldn’t be more happy for her. Maybe, you’ll give it a shot, it’s not going to be bad right

“Fine, I’ll go with you.” You rolled you eyes, plopping back to bed. “Please choose my clothes for me.” Emi doesn’t seem to mind as she opened your closet.

“You bought new clothes?” You turned your back over. “Na, those brands have been giving them to me. I rejected them but they insisted. It’s rude if I don’t accept.” You let out a big sigh watching Emi move from hanger to hanger.

“How bout this? We could also match.”

“Perfect.”

•••

“Of course, it would be crowded. It’s a national game, what do you expect?” You let out a huff after seeing how packed the stadium is.

There were murmurs that filled the room as you guys were passing by.

“It’s starting,”

“There you have it folks, I’m sure everyone is excited as today is a big game. Big players have gathered in this big arena, what team do you think will win folks?” The echoing voice of the commentator was rapidly covered by the roaring response of the fans.

You really wished you escaped the situation but your heart can’t seem to agree so. Beating rapidly while scanning the crowd hoping to have eye contact with your soulmate, but instead you got to share it to what you've been avoiding since you've arrived; the freaking commentators.

“Wow, what a beauty, as expected from a supermodel” You’re ears perked up at the mention of a familiar occupation.

Screams from different areas in the room was heard, as soon as they saw you.

“I should’ve worn something least flashy” You sarcastically smiled when you happened to pass your sight at your figure above the screen.

“Puh-lease, with that body of yours? Whatever you’ll wear you’ll stand out.”

“Still, It could have been…avoi..ded” You can’t manage to finish your sentence when you saw a pair of beautiful colored teal eyes right before you, and that is when you knew you had found your missing piece.

Your heart started to race at the unfamiliar feeling, and butterflies started to roam your stomach, clenching your chest you wanted this odd emotion to stop. Once again you looked at his eyes it was a sharp cold scenery.

"Name. what's your name?" His voice sounded so raspy as if he had just woken up from a great sleep. "Y/n L/n" you curtly replied to which he nodded and looked away for a while..

You may wonder why he doesn't seem interested in talking to you, but oh boy when you look a little bit closer his cheeks are tinted pink. He looked away because he was really bashful about the sudden encounter.

So many eyes have he made contact but with only yours has his heart beated. After what felt like forever he finally looked your way, still, having the slightest blush at the upper of his cheeks.

"I'm Rin, Itoshi Rin." Thankfully you heard his mumble in the midst of the noisy crowd. "Can we see each other later?" He scratches his nape you smiled at his cute antics and nodded. You didn't know where the confidence came from but you inched closer to him and whispered, "Well only if you'll have the first goal."

"Then, can I have my advance victory kiss?" You were taken aback, you could feel your face heat up. Rin intended it as a harmless joke but you took it seriously and placed a quick peck on his cheeks.

The striker's eyes widen but before he could say something you beat him to it "I think your teammates are calling you.." They pretty much saw the scene when he saw them reenacting the whole thing. But his teammates weren't the only ones who saw.

The whole stadium did.

"Wait for me?" you practically chuckled and nod your head "I think that's already given.".

Pretty much sure your interaction with Rin will get you featured in the news articles as the hottest picks.

[glittter-vamp]

The fact is the struggles this year were because of joes injury. That isn’t an excuse to bash him or anything but it’s just a fact. Joe fans are weird to be so threatened by Jakes recent success. No one is suggesting to replace Joe with him at all!

The fact is there’s no way you can blame this teams season struggle on Joe’s injury alone. Other key players like Tee, Sam, Hendrickson, CTB, Ja’Marr etc have all been injured this season as well & have played with their injuries which has not been the best move. After Joes injury there has also has been games where the team has won with insanely close points as well proving that other areas are struggling as well.

I also don’t think anyone is threaten about Jake’s success everyone is just annoyed on the complete 180 people, especially fans of the bengals has done with Joe because of Jake’s success and are quite in fact suggesting that Jake replaced Joe. Maybe not on here, but the comments are there on other social media platforms and is why I tell people that they need to ignore them because it’s mostly nfl bros talking out of their ass.

[gorbalsvampire]

On Mass Combat

There are mass combat mechanics in Dark Ages Vampire's Storytellers Guide, but...

Look at it this way. There are a few key principles to fitting mass combat into an RPG, and if you follow them all you don't really need a mass combat system as such.

0) Your players don't want to sit there and wait

This is rule 0 for a reason. I once sat through an interminable Star Wars D20 game in which the GM's particular flavour of brain worms meant he had to roll attacks and damage and reactions for every combatant in a scene before he described what happened. It's not that he had no imagination, it's just it wasn't fair if he didn't roll, and it wasn't fun if it wasn't fair. Or maybe he just hadn't thought about adapting the standard "declare, roll, describe" process of RPGs for an encounter with dozens of active participants. Either way, it was a terrible way to spend an afternoon - and I like rolling dice for attack after attack after attack, when it's a wargame. When I turned up to roleplay, it's just false advertising.

1) Only the PCs' dice really matter

You're running this scene for your players. They're rolling for their characters. Dice that have nothing to do with their characters don't need to be rolled. Really, this is an extension of Rule 0, but turned sideways so it becomes advice rather than an excuse for an anecdote. I'm a big fan of "only players roll" in general for RPGs and for the way the ST systems work, it really helps to set the players a roll against a target number and have margin of success or failure decide consequences.

2) Just because it's combat doesn't mean you have to roll combat pools

Mass combat is a chance for Leadership to shine. In V5 I would consider something like Resolve or Composure + Leadership to be the best possible roll for a player trying to command a mass battle. In older editions that don't have the good stat grid, sub in a Mental Attribute of your choice - I'd say Perception for the first round, Wits if something surprising happens, Intelligence to close the engagement favourably. If your player isn't in a leadership position I think it's better to roll a few Stamina + Melee/Brawl/Firearms/Atheletics rolls and inflict superficial/bashing damage equal to the margin of failure than to sit there modelling it all out exactly with the four rolls per attack that conventional combat needs. You could even break out a Composure + Survival for a character who just does not want to be there. Again, I have V5 brainrot and I know it, but "three and done" is such a good way to stop system creep and keep the sessions moving.

3) What are you using mass combat for in story terms?

Maybe this one should have come first, I 'unno, but this is the thing about mass combat - a lot of the time the systems seem written to simulate it happening without asking what it's doing in the story. Is it a command challenge, for PCs who are trying to command a small army for whatever reason? Is it a social challenge, for PCs who have to lead that army and keep up its morale? Is it an endurance challenge, for PCs who are built to throw hands to a degree no mortal could match? Or is it something that's happening around the PCs, a kind of environmental hazard that they need to negotiate on their way to achieve something else? (This is my favourite way to use mass combat - my Dark Ages game had, er, several city sacking sessions during which PCs were trying to traverse the fires and the furore to rescue so and so or stop such and such escaping or simply to escape.)

I hope all this has shown that you can include a mass battle in your games without needing a ton of new rules (that you won't use very often so they're a faff to learn, internalise and run at table anyway). Quite often, less is more, and you can boil down a situation into something you can represent with unusual uses of the conventional rules.

[hyperfixatinglove]

1, 4, and 7!

1) what’s a Hot Take you have about your f/o?

Murphy is not and never has been the Worst Silent Hill Protagonist nor is his game the Worst of Silent Hill and I will die on this tiny hill.

Some theorize Murphy kills himself after canonical ending since he repeats "someplace I gotta be" which another character said before they jumped to their death but I do not buy that.

4) do you feel like you have to defend your f/o all the time? 

Yes

I feel like I need to defend his game all the time and by extension, him, since majority of fanbase and (especially) the die hard SH fans who only acknowledge the first 3 maybe 4 and consider the rest to be garbage. Yes, Downpour has many things that aren't great or could've used more time to flesh out but it is still Silent Hill game & everyone just pretends it isn't.

This extends to Murphy. He gets forgotten, sidelined, mocked, compared to James all the time (who btw is great protagonist pales to Heather) and bashed. The only thing I've seen is some people saying at least Murphy/Downpour are better than Alex/Homecoming which isn't high praise at all & is just another way to bash him & his game.

Every time there's any video essay on Downpour my gut feeling is it's just excuse to bash Murphy and his game. I've only found one which was good on him & Downpour as whole.

There's reason I don't engage with Silent Hill fandom at all. There's too many purists of Team Silent around.

7) did your f/o deserve better?

HE DEFINITELY DID

From critics, from fandom, from his own damn game, yes Murphy did and does deserve better! He deserves everything good and wonderful in life, my downpour to my sunshine, my religion to my paganism, the calm to my storm!

He goes through so much shit in his own game! Losing his son, ending up in prison, losing the only person who believed in him AND THEN AND ONLY THEN dropping into Silent Hill, attacked by monsters, mocked & reminded of his failures. his trauma of Charlie poked and opened the festering wound at every turn, having someone he doesn't even know chase him around with intent to kill!

Even after he's free he's canonically fugitive! What life does he have?! Maybe he gets lucky and is presumed dead but he most likely has to change his name or pretend to be identical stranger or something.

[goddamnwebcomics]

That reminds me of a Yahtzee quote, where after saying that a game he likes "isn't for everyone", he comments on how useless that sentence is when taken at face value...

Nothing's "for everyone", except maybe oxygen and Pixar films.

...before clarifying that he meant to say that it's a game that appeals to his rather niche interests. And that's basically what "it's not for everyone" actually means, that some things can only appeal to a small number of people.

On the other side of the coin, I'm not a fan of the "it's not for you" defense because authors usually don't specify who it's actually for, so it just ends up feeling recursive ("it's not for people who don't like it"), and because I've seen some authors who are so quick to use that excuse that they don't realize that the person critiquing is part of the (supposed) target demographic, so the author ends up looking hypocritical.

Fair assessment, but admittedly what angers me more is when authors use "you can't please everybody" excuse. It just translates to "I am only making this for people who mindlessly praise my work". It is okay to say if your thing was never meant to be popular and it blew up against your will, but if you're not internet household name that excuse isn't gonna cut it.

Criticism matters when it comes from desire to see something get better. And that sort of thoughtless mindset from creators has led to outright critiqueless bashing and hatewatching becoming more common across Twitter and social media.

You need to listen to people who care. Not people who bash you or people who asskiss you. And if their critique is done behind your back, then you can make the fair assumption they do not care.

[votivecandleholder]

Birthday Party Places for Adults: Fun and Unconventional Options

New Post has been published on https://happybirthdaydecor.com/birthday/birthday-party-places-for-adults-fun-and-unconventional-options

Birthday Party Places for Adults: Fun and Unconventional Options

Let’s face it, we all love a good party! And just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we have to settle for a boring birthday celebration at home. There are so many fun and non-traditional options out there for adults to celebrate their birthdays, from rooftop bars and lounges to luxury yachts and adventure sports.

That’s why we’re here to make sure that your special day is unforgettable. So, let’s dive in and explore the best birthday party places for adults!

Contents

1 Rooftop Bars and Lounges

2 Themed Restaurants and Bars

3 Adventure Sports and Activities

4 Luxury Yachts and Boats

Rooftop Bars and Lounges

Are you looking for a fun and unique birthday party idea? Consider hosting your celebration at one of the best rooftop bars and lounges in town! Rooftop birthday party venues offer stunning views of the city skyline, great food and drinks, and plenty of enjoyable party activities. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to dress up and take some amazing photos!

Rooftop Bars And Lounges

Whether you’re planning a small get-together with friends or a big blowout party, these venues can accommodate groups of all sizes. Some even offer private event spaces or rooftop terraces that are perfect for hosting an unforgettable adult birthday party.

So why settle for a boring birthday party at home or a run-of-the-mill restaurant when you can take your celebration to new heights at a rooftop bar or lounge? Make your next birthday one to remember and plan a pleasurable and noteworthy celebration at one of the best rooftop bars and lounges in town!

Themed Restaurants and Bars

Get ready to unleash your inner party animal and organize your next birthday bash at a themed restaurant or bar! Themed restaurant birthday party venues offer an extraordinary and quirky way to celebrate, with creative decor, delicious food, and plenty of birthday party entertainment.

Themed Restaurants And Bars

If you happen to be a fan of retro video games, 80s music, or Harry Potter, you can find a themed restaurant or bar that will suit your taste perfectly. These venues provide interactive experiences and entertaining birthday party activities, such as escape rooms, murder mysteries, live performances, and trivia games that ensure there’s never a dull moment.

It’s time to let your creativity loose and have a blast at these radical birthday party places that are perfect for those who want to break the mold and have a truly exceptional and memorable celebration. Gather your friends, put on your party hats, and let’s get ready to unleash the party animal within!

Adventure Sports and Activities

Maybe the moment has arrived to try something new and celebrate your big day with an adrenaline rush at an adventure sports and activities center! If you wish to have an exhilarating and unusual way to celebrate your big day then see what these outdoor party places can offer! There will surely be a variety of thrilling activities that could get your heart racing.

Adventure Sports

For those who enjoy rock climbing, zip-lining, or paintball, there are adventure sports and activity centers that are tailored to meet your interests and offer an affordable birthday party option that’s perfect for those who want to try something different without breaking the bank.

If you are willing to step outside your comfort zone and try something fresh, there are numerous riveting outdoor birthday party places to explore! Get ready to celebrate your special day with a burst of adrenaline and experience a remarkable adventure with your friends at one of the premier sports and activity centers.

Luxury Yachts and Boats

If you’re looking for a unique and upscale way to celebrate your special day, consider hosting a luxurious yacht birthday party! Imagine setting sail on the water with your closest friends and family, surrounded by stunning views and you won’t have to worry about anything because luxury yachts and boats are equipped with top-of-the-line amenities like fully-stocked bars and high-end sound systems. You and your guests can dance the night away under the stars, enjoy a delicious meal prepared by a private chef, or simply relax and take in the breathtaking scenery

Luxury Yachts And Boats

A birthday party on a yacht definitely offers a classy and exceptional way to celebrate your big day. So, take your event to the next level as these upscale birthday party celebrations are perfect for those who want to indulge in the finer things in life and create unforgettable memories with their loved ones. Set sail for a lasting experience that you and your guests will never forget!

Party At A #NYC Rooftop Lounge! Best #Exclusive Rooftop Bars/Lounges In #NewYork. Enjoy A Beautiful View Of The NYC-Skyline! https://t.co/VlgstLHnuM pic.twitter.com/zBhXsTOHYS

— Captain Domainer (@CaptainDomainer) March 9, 2018

Conclusion

To sum it all up, there are countless fun and unconventional options when it comes to planning an adult birthday party. Whether you choose to set sail on a luxurious yacht, unleash your inner party animal at a themed restaurant or bar, or get your adrenaline pumping with adventure sports and activities, the possibilities are endless. The key is to think outside the box and find a birthday party venue that suits your unique interests and style. With a little creativity and a lot of amusing birthday party activities, your celebration is sure to be a memorable one for you and your guests.

[oodlyenough]

Another preemptive cut to spare some dashboards. Also I've definitely drifted a lot from the original thesis of this post so feel free to treat this as a conversational off-ramp if you like, lol. I just finished the trilogy this summer and am, clearly, bursting with unexpressed thoughts.

Eh, I think if AA really wanted to do a face-heel turn from its BL roots the writers would unabashedly make Iris and Phoenix reunite in the end, but it didn't happen.

Yeah, I don't want to spend much time re-litigating a shipwar that probably reached its peak 20 years and 6 games ago, and I don't have an issue with the prior relationship stuff or feel it takes away from the present. But some of the forward-looking lines did grate on me, especially ones they gave Edgeworth specifically ("seems like there's something between you two 😏😏😏😏") and the little closing epilogue scene with Iris mentioning with a blush that he "couldn't keep his eyes off her". The epilogue hinting at something going forward made the already-glaring absence of any similar closing scene with Edgeworth (or my best girl Franziska) feel more pointed.

But then AA4 flips the whole table anyway lmao so 🤷🏼‍♀️ It was a bit weird playing these for the first time now, and not really knowing the specifics of AA4-6 but knowing enough vague spoilers to know Iris/Phoenix was a nonstarter despite the 3-5 text suggesting otherwise. I would be lying if I said I left AA3 hoping to see more of her and Phoenix's relationship in the next game, but the fact that we don't is also why my original post describes the game/franchise as feeling disinterested in her.

Oh also one more thing, not related to your post, but I hope the god old "bashing a female love interest that gets in a way of a popular mlm ship" would just die in the fandom

I haven't actually encountered anyone being nasty about Iris myself, but I'm quite new to the scene (finished aa3 about a month and a half ago) and this fandom is huge and old so I am sure it is out there. I think it's possible to criticize a studio's decision-making without taking it out on the female character herself/descending into sexism. Generally speaking I'm pretty cynical about how studios handle queer fans/audiences/stories/subtext but homophobia (real or perceived) isn't an excuse for misogyny either.

Hmm, and I think it would be just a repeat of the Farewell's main punch.[...]

To me it would've been distinct enough because one is the crux of the final case and focuses on his professional life/career goals (part of being a defense lawyer IS defending the guilty, in reality) and the other would've just been background noise from 3-1 -- to be clear I think him still trusting Iris in 3-5 is fine, and Iris being innocent (of Misty's murder) is fine, etc, I just didn't think we needed to go back and change Feenie/Dollie to do that. Trusting Iris in spite of his relationship with Dollie rather than because of.

But actually mainly bringing up Engarde just made me wanna talk about 2-4 a bit, totally unrelated to Iris or Dahlia, because I found the first half of it kind of clumsy for... kind of this reason? When I played I was like "why does Phoenix have to be blackmailed when he would've taken this case anyway? it must be because the client is guilty" -> don't worry the magic rock says he's innocent -> just kidding the magic rock was wrong and the client IS guilty, lol. I like the end of that case a lot, and some of the broader beats, but I do still wonder if I would've found the beginning less frustrating had Maya not gotten kidnapped until, idk, day 2 or something -- maybe Phoenix maybe starts to suspect Engarde and wants to drop the case, or something... I dunno I just remember thinking all of that was a bit clumsy. So I guess I'm saying in my perfect world it would be rejigged and not feel like a retread, lol.

I've been thinking a lot about how fandom attitudes towards female characters shift, and how a lot of the outright hatred that was once prevalent now is replaced by "girlboss" "mom friend" "only braincell" type discourse... and also about the Hawthorne twins and what I see of them in fandom vs canon.

It's interesting to me that I see a lot of what feels like a fandom desire to rehabilitate Dahlia as a character from a feminist perspective, sometimes taken as a given that her canon material was bad, when ...tbqh I don't really feel that she needs it. If I think of characters wronged by their canon text, Dahlia wouldn't make the list. Even a surface-level reading of Dahlia is, imo, a compelling character, with clear motivations, consistent behaviour, agency. She's funny and memorable. You can dig deeper into speculation and headcanon territory with Dahlia (and I totally get the impulse, she's great and there's lots of potential there) but I don't think you need to do that to make her a solid character, I think she already is. I don't think she's any less complex than the other trilogy villains, and if anything she's a lot more complex already than someone like Engarde, and on par with Von Karma.

On the other hand, I think Iris got some paper-thin writing as "the good twin" and, let's be honest, a feeble attempt to set up a heterosexual romance for Phoenix which gets dropped in subsequent games anyway. There are interesting possible complexities to tease out of Iris, just as with Dahlia; Iris facilitates or participates in some pretty messed-up things, but Phoenix and the story are very forgiving, which just flattens her out further into Good Twin. I don't think the canon is very interested in Iris outside of her role as plot twist doppelganger and occasional blush sprite... and mostly it seems the fanon Iris gets in response is to quadruple down on those things. She's pure and kind and sweet, besties with Phoenix, their relationship is cast as something wholesome and innocent, despite the uh objective reality of it.

What about the Iris who helps her sister plan harebrained criminal schemes only to back out at last second, the Iris who fell in love with Feenie despite herself and yet continued to lie and place him in danger for eight months, who watched Dahlia get a death sentence without ever coming clean ... Those things are the aspects that would make her a multidimensional character, imo, but they're ignored and/or glossed over in the story and (what I've seen of) fandom. And I don't say this to mean that she's evil or irredeemable or something, she isn't -- just that the basic fact of her actions is a lot messier than is usually acknowledged, by canon or fanon. For the canon I think the reasons are obvious and not flattering; for fandom, I think the intentions are generally positive, trying to correct for the opposite end of the spectrum (and 20 years ago the attitude was probably quite different), but I still wish female characters were given more space to be complicated in ways that include being kind of fucked up actually.

[whiteqnn]

PURE [3] - Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader

A/N: Over 1 thousand notes. You guys are insane. I can’t see any other explanation.

Thank you so much for all the love and support under the previous parts, all those comments just absolutely made my day! I would never expect this story to receive such a positive feedback, which I’m extremely grateful for! 

Anyway, I decided to add some additional plot to this story - mainly, the sudden criticism and hate directed on Y/N after the last Among Us stream. I thought it would make things more interesting.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the third part ^^

part 1

part 2 

part 4 

part 5

PURE [3]

Y/N stared at her phone screen, reading through the latest tweets of her friends inviting their fans to watch their streams. It was Thursday evening and just as it was planned, everyone was getting ready for another game of Among Us. Just as she would do if it wasn’t for all those comments...

The last stream caused sudden, unexpected amounts of attention on her social media. She probably shouldn’t be that surprised by it, given the fact that by appearing in Sean’s and Felix’s videos she wasn’t all that strange to their fans. But people who watched Rae, Toast, or Corpse’s streams didn’t know her. And apparently, some of them weren’t that happy to see a new face among the group of well-known gamers. 

She always tried to avoid the unnecessary spotlight as much as she could, preferring to stay hidden somewhere behind other, much more popular streamers. And it never bothered her. She was never one to enjoy too much attention anyway.

That’s why when she discovered how upset, or even angry, some people were when she played with all those famous streamers, she was quite shocked, to say the least. 

Like all those comments under Poki’s tweet, in which she mentioned who’s gonna be playing this time...

“Duh, why’s that Y/N chick supposed to play with them again? There are at least hundreds of other, much more popular streamers I can think of who would be better than her.”

“Who the fuck is she anyway? Why’s she there?”

“lmao, some random girl who got lucky enough to know jacksepticeye. Don’t get why she’s playing with them though.”

“NOT HER AGAIN. I SWEAR TO GOD SHE WAS SO FUCKING ANNOYING LAST TIME”

Sure, she wasn’t as famous as Felix, or Sean, or Rae, or anyone else for that matter. Her audience wasn’t very small, but it was nothing compared to the number of fans other YouTubers had. It was understandable that most people didn’t know who she was, and didn’t understand why she was there in the first place.

She was, in fact, just some random girl who was lucky to have Sean as her friend. But in a group of such great and well-known streamers, she definitely stood out like a sore thumb. 

Y/N almost jumped in her seat when her phone beeped with a new message, Sean’s nickname showing up at the top of her screen. 

Jackaboy: We’re starting in a few kiddo

Jackaboy: But join the call now so we can both make fun of Felix

After the last game, she was so excited and couldn’t wait for this evening. She looked forward to cooperating with Sykkuno again, to arguing with Toast, to laughing with Sean and Felix, to murdering other people with Corpse... Yet now, all this excitement seemed to vanish just like the mood to play, let alone talk with other people. They would surely see right through her and try to make her spill the beans, which would ruin the stream. And the last thing she wanted was to ruin their game.

Jackaboy: You there Y/N??

She sighed, thinking of some believable excuse that wouldn’t arouse suspicion, but her mind was flooded with all those comments and DMs she received over those past days, which expressed nothing but hatred towards her. 

Y/N: I’m really sorry Sean, but I don’t think I will be joining you today... I don’t feel very well. 

She waited for Sean’s reply impatiently, expecting him to send her some angry emoji or tell her to move her ass and join the discord call. What she didn’t expect though, was that he would facetime her. 

Her first instinct was to throw her phone across the room as if it would make Sean stop calling. He wouldn’t stop unless she’d tell him the truth. 

So she cleared her throat and plastered the widest smile on her face, before answering his call.

“Alright, what is going on?” Sean asked right away, staring at her with his brows furrowed. He wasn’t in his recording room, but in his kitchen, which meant that he left his stream to call her. “And please don’t tell me you’re sick cause I won’t believe it anyway. And neither will Pewds.”

“I’m tired, Sean... I was working late again and I really need to rest.” she lied, trying to keep her voice steady and calm. She really didn’t want Sean to interrogate her now, not when his fans were waiting for him. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else though. Please tell the guys that I’m sorry”

“Y/N, c’mon, cut this bullshit. What’s wrong?” he asked softly, moving his phone closer to his face. “You know you’re a terrible liar, just tell me what happened. If you don’t wanna play then neither do I.”

“Sean, please don’t do it” she shook her head with a sigh. “Your fans are waiting for you, I’ll be fine.”

“Well they’re waiting for you too you dummy, I already promised them you’ll be playing with us tonight” he stated matter of factly, rolling his eyes. Y/N remained silent for a moment, and Sean suddenly furrowed his brows, narrowing his eyes at her in a suspicious look. “Did someone tell you something rude last time we played? Who and what?”

“What? No, Sean, oh my God. Everyone was super nice, it has nothing to do with the last stream... not with you guys, at least.” she mumbled under her breath, dropping her eyes from Sean’s confused face.

“What do you mean not with you guys? Y/N, what the hell happened?” he demanded, slowly getting more and more worried. She wouldn’t tell him though, too scared that Sean would just laugh it off, even though he also sometimes had problems with dealing with hate. And just as if he was reading her mind, Sean sighed, his face softening in a sad smile. “You’ve read the comments, didn’t you?”

She felt so stupid for being so easily offended by comments of some random people on the Internet, that she just nodded her head meekly, still looking anywhere but at the man. 

“Look kiddo... I’m not gonna tell you to get yourself together and just ignore them, cause it won’t help, and I know cause I’ve been there. Hell, I’m still there.” he chuckled to himself and continued “Anyway, you really shouldn’t be worrying yourself about people who don’t even know you. They don’t know you, Y/N, why would some complete stranger’s opinion matter to you?”

“They said I shouldn’t be playing with you guys... that I’m nothing but a burden and you should be playing with someone who’s at least recognizable.”

“Well excuse me Miss, last time I checked I could choose who the fuck I want to play with.” Sean scoffed, clearly irritated by such comments “You’re one of my best friends Y/N and I don’t give a fuck what some haters say. And neither should you.”

“Maybe you should just invite someone else... It would make everyone happy.” she muttered almost inaudibly, but Sean almost barked at her when he heard her words.

“I told you to cut that bullshit, Y/N! Everyone couldn’t wait for this game and now you wanna back out? C’mon, kid. Do you have any idea how heartbroken Sykkuno’s gonna be? When you left so quickly last time, he kept complaining that he has no one to team up with.” she couldn’t help but smile at that, letting out a tiny giggle. “And Corpse? Have you even seen his last tweet?”

“What? No, I- I don’t follow him...” she said, wondering what Sean was talking about. She quickly searched for Corpse on Twitter, still being on facetime with Sean, and her heart almost dropped when she saw the last tweet.

@.Corpse_Husband Really excited for tonight’s Among Us stream, 8PM PST.

Jacksepticeye

Valkyrae

Pewdiepie

Pokimane

Sykkuno

Disguised Toast 

Logic 

Mr Beast

and, hopefully, my partner in crime - Little Y/N 

:)

She stared at the screen with her eyes widened, and her lips corners curling up in a small, bashful smile. It was so nice of Corpse to mention her as well, especially with the nickname that he seemed to like so much since their last game. 

“God, if you could see yourself right now. How’s it that my pep talk didn’t do shit, but Corpse’s tweet magically made you smile, ugh.” Sean reminded her of his presence, and she quickly returned to the call, trying to somehow control her burning cheeks. 

“It’s not like that, Sean, I really appreciate that you’re trying to cheer me up... I just didn’t expect your friends to like me...” she admitted quietly, and if Sean could, he would probably strangle her at that moment. 

“I JUST TOLD YOU THAT SYKKUNO KEPT BUGGING ME ABOUT YOU FOR TWO FUCKING HOURS. YOU THINK HE WOULD TALK ABOUT YOU IF HE DIDN’T LIKE YOU?!”

“I just... what if they’re just being nice, but they don’t actually want me to play with them?”

“I’m done.” Sean groaned, shaking his head furiously. “Alright, here’s what you’re gonna do. You stay away from your phone, join the discord call, say hi to everyone, and we’re all gonna have fun, okay? If not, Pewds is gonna murder you, cause he was already growing impatient even before I called you.”

“I’m still not sure if that’s a good idea, Sean...”

“But I am sure, Y/N! Now come on, we’re playing in five. I’m telling everyone you’re joining as well.”

And before she could even reply, he hung up. Y/N groaned, rushing to her computer to turn it on. Now it would just be plain rude not to join the game, especially after Sean wasted his time talking with her, while he should be talking to his fans. Just as he suggested, she kept her phone far away from her desk, deciding to stay away from Twitter and all those comments for a bit. Maybe it would help her clear her mind and at least try to have some fun. 

An invite to the group call was already waiting for her, along with a message from Sean with a code to the game. Y/N put her headphones on before joining the call and quickly typing in the code. 

“... so let me repeat myself. I ALWAYS sound guilty, no matter what. Please, guys, don’t vote me out!” 

Y/N shook her head with a smile on her lips when the first thing she heard after joining the call was Felix’s pleading voice. Clearly, he was already trying to save his own ass even before the game began.

 Y/N could hear Sean’s loud voice as he commented on Felix’s plea with some snarky remark, later also catching the sounds of Rae’s laughter. Everyone was already there, they’ve been clearly waiting for her to join. 

“Hey, look who’s finally here! Hi Y/N!” Poki noticed her presence first. 

“Hello everyone” Y/N said, as shy and quiet as usual.

“Oh, Y/N! It’s so great to see you again, I was worried you weren’t joining us tonight” Sykkuno said, a pout clear in his voice. 

“WELL ABOUT DAMN TIME” Felix all but yelled, making her roll her eyes with a smile. “What did I tell you about being late?!”

“Give her a break Felix, her mic wasn’t working again... Luckily, I was there to save the damsel in distress” Sean said, and even though she couldn’t see him, Y/N was almost certain that he was smirking. 

“Yeah, I’m really sorry guys to have kept you waiting so long...” Y/N said, feeling genuinely bad. Maybe Sean was right after all? They could have just invited someone else, and yet they decided to wait for her.  

“It’s okay, you’re here now and it’s all that matters” a deep voice sounded out, and whether she liked it or not, Y/N grinned like an idiot with a blush rising up her cheeks. 

“Shit, here we go again...” Felix sighed, making everyone else laugh. Y/N bit at her lower lip, feeling her heart thump in her chest as she felt a sudden wave of courage, deciding to speak up despite her initial shyness:

“Well... I couldn’t just leave my partner in crime alone, right?” she asked, and she could swear she heard Corpse stutter as if he completely didn’t expect her to say that.  

“Ah yes, after all, killing wouldn’t be the same without her, right Corpse?” Toast teased, repeating Corpse’s words from the last stream. Everyone in the call laughed, Y/N included. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, even though just mere minutes ago she was on the verge of crying. “It’s good to have you here, Y/N/N. Maybe I’ll actually get a chance to finally kill you this time.”

“Jesus Christ, Toast. You sound like a psychopath. Hey, I’m happy you’re here, lemme stab you in the back, please?” someone whose nickname was MrBeast spoke up with a chuckle, before directing his next words to Y/N “I believe we haven’t played together before, I’m Mr Beast, it’s really nice to meet you Y/N”

“Yeah, pleased to meet you!” another player, Logic, spoke up “I also didn’t have a chance to play with you yet, but I’ve seen Sean’s last stream... Let me just say, that Toast murder was absolutely perfect!” 

“Wow. And here I almost managed to block it out. I’m fucking traumatized Y/N, you should be ashamed of yourself” Toast scoffed over Felix’s laughter. 

“You should be proud of yourself!” Sean interfered “Just so you know lads, Y/N may seem like a little angel, but she’s a little demon. You’ve been warned.” 

“Yeah, she’ll charm you with her voice only to snap your neck next second.” Felix scoffed.

“Just like she did with Corpse!” 

“Charm?!” Y/N gasped, her cheeks burning.

“I don’t recall Y/N killing me...” Corpse said in his low voice. 

“I love how that’s the only thing he denied” Poki pointed out in a teasing voice, which only made Y/N sink further into her chair. 

“Can we please start the game now?” she asked in a pleading voice, hoping that everyone would stop making fun of Corpse and her. She could only imagine how uncomfortable he felt, for some reason being the target of their jokes... They must’ve made him feel awkward, right? 

“Jack, did you tell Y/N how we’re playing tonight?” Sykkuno asked, and she sighed in relief that they dropped the jokes. 

“Oh, right! So there’s this mod called proximity chat, where we’re able to hear each other as we pass by another person, and it seems quite fun so that’s what we decided to try out tonight.” Sean explained to Y/N, and before she could ask another question, he added “I’ve just sent you the link, it’ll take a minute to install it.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you Sean” Y/N said, before downloading the mod and quickly installing it. When everything was set and ready, she pulled up Among Us again and typed in the code, and the game finally began. 

“Woah”

“Holy shit!” 

“Guys this is so cool!” Sykkuno exclaimed, his voice so happy and excited that Y/N couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Okay, I’m scared now. I feel like encounters with Imposter are just gonna be perfectly cut screams” Felix chuckled, as they left the dropship and moved down the map. That’s when Y/N gasped in surprise, upon seeing the locations completely different than those she was used to.

“Wait- is that a different map?” she asked through her mic, hearing Toast’s distanced, devilish laugh. There was only Rae and Sykkuno beside her, as everyone else have already split up to do their tasks.

“Oh yeah, that’s Polus, it’s much more fun than the one we were playing in last time.” Rae explained happily and Y/N groaned. She didn’t know that map.

“Great. I don’t even know how am I supposed to do tasks in here...”

“Oh, it’s not that hard. They’re in most cases similar to those you already know, they only look a little bit different.” Sykkuno said in his kind voice, before asking “Do you want to team up again, Y/N?”

“I thought you would never ask Sykkuno” Rae chuckled under her breath.

“Yeah, that would be great! I need someone to show me around” she smiled. The trio finally moved from their spot beside the dropship and went to the left where, as Y/N later realized, was electrical. She quickly did her task in there, being under the watchful eyes of both Sykkuno and Rae.  

Before the latter could do his own task, the first body was reported.

“The body is in the lab” Felix said, and Y/N couldn’t help but smirk as she saw that it was Toast who was murdered first. One less person to accuse her or try to frame her, if he was the Imposter. 

“I just ran towards the lab from the left side, I only saw Poki on my way there” Corpse said right away, and the accused girl was quick to try and defend herself:

“Okay, I wasn’t in the lab, I was doing that engines task which is next to the lab.” 

“Did you see someone else there?” Jack questioned. 

“Nope, just me and the engines.” 

“Okay. Sykkuno, where are you?” the lime astronaut was next on Jack’s list of suspects, which made Sykkuno groan. 

“Why do you sound so suspicious right away?” he asked in disbelief, causing the rest to giggle “I was with Y/N and Rae all this time, we were all doing our tasks in electrical.”

“Is that true Y/N?”

“Yes Sean, that is true” she rolled her eyes with a laugh “I don’t even know this map, I have to stick with someone so I don’t end up like Toast.”

“Alright, what about rest? Logic? I think I saw you in admin but then you disappeared somewhere.” Felix said.

“Yeah I’m with Mr Beast in the office”

“That’s right” Mr Beast confirmed, which didn’t bring anything new to the investigation, so everyone decided to skip.

“Wo- Okay where are we now?” Y/N asked in surprise, when the new round began in some completely new place Sykkuno didn’t manage to show her yet. She could hear as Corpse laughed at her shocked voice, which made her smile widely.

“Yeah, I’m also not used to this new map yet” he admitted, his black astronaut walking up to her white one “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“Sure!”

-

*Meanwhile Sykkuno*

“Okay this is bad guys, we lost Y/N” Sykkuno said to his mic, running around the map to find the girl he was earlier teamed up with. “I thought she followed us when the new round began, but she must’ve gone the other way... What if she’s dead already? Not good, not good...” 

-

"Woah! This looks amazing! Is there some task here as well?”

“Yes, there’s temperature recording right here” Corpse said, standing by the lava pit, watching as Y/N’s character ran back and forth over the pool of lava. 

“I wonder if you could jump into it. What do you think, Corpse?” she asked curiously, standing close to the edge. 

“Not that I’m aware of it...” he mumbled coming closer to the edge as well “Why would you jump into it?” he asked with a half-smile on his face. 

“So Felix can’t stab me in the back.” she whispered, even though there was no one around them. 

“You think it’s him?” Corpse mirrored her voice, and she hummed in response “Why?”

“He’s constantly suspicious of everyone, last time we played he also kept interrogating us all, without even telling his own location.” she stated as if it was very obvious. Corpse couldn’t help but let out a laugh “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

“Not at you, Y/N. I’m just impressed by your investigation skills” he admitted “In that case, we better both jump in. Felix likes to frame other people.”

“You wanna jump into the lava with me?”

“Sure I do.”

“There you are!” Sykkuno’s lime astronaut came out of nowhere, followed by Mr Beast. Two of them walked up to Y/N and Corpse, and before the latter could even say anything, Mr Beast snapped Y/N’s neck.

“WAIT, NO-”

“OH GOD, OH GOD” Sykkuno yelled in panic.

“KILL HIM CORPSE” Mr Beast screamed, frantically running around.

-

“What the heck?” Y/N stared at her screen in shock, her dead body laying over the lava pit. Mr Beast had already fled to the left, leaving her, Sykkuno and Corpse standing between two of them. None of them said anything for a moment before the black astronaut finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N” he kept repeating, regret clear in his voice. “And Sykkuno, I- I can’t even express how-”

He was cut off by Felix’s scream, who reported the bodies before Corpse could kill him as well.

“IT’S CORPSE ALRIGHT” Felix yelled right away “HE’S STANDING OVER Y/N AND SYKKUNO, HE HAS THEIR BLOOD ON HIS HANDS”

“That is- I did not kill them” Corpse replied, calm as ever, as opposed to his frantic apologies. 

“Then why were you standing there?! Without reporting the bodies?!”

“I was... mourning their death.” he replied, which caused the whole group to burst out laughing. “Seriously guys, you think I would murder Sykkuno? And Y/N? I would never even think of hurting them.”

“The simp is strong, we get it, but it doesn’t really save your situation” Rae laughed. 

“Let’s kick him out guys, he can’t even defend himself” Sean chuckled, and everyone else didn’t need to be told twice. Soon enough, Y/N watched as Corpse’s black astronaut was thrown into the lava pit... Oh, the irony...

The game continued with her wandering around the map, doing the rest of her tasks to at least support somehow her fellow crewmates. She stumbled upon Corpse’s ghost at some point and laughed wholeheartedly when he started circling her little character in something she read as an attempt to apologize. 

A little while later another body was reported, this time it was Felix who lost his life. Y/N didn’t really focus on the conversation this time, glancing at her phone instead. There was this urge to reach for it and check how people reacted to her joining the game, but she kept repeating Sean’s words in her head. There was no point in worrying about the opinion of somebody who doesn’t even know her... or at least that’s what she tried to convince herself to think. 

Her attention was brought back to the game when she heard the sound of a new message from someone who was also dead. She clicked on the chat, seeing that it was one of the Impostors.

Corpse: :(

Corpse: I’m sorry 

Y/N thought it was sweet of him to apologize for it, even though it was his main goal to murder everyone after all. She believed he was genuinely sorry for it, just like she was each time she was an Impostor and had to kill somebody.

Sykkuno: Welcome to the afterlife, Corpse!

She laughed at Sykkuno’s constant happiness, which was evident even in his messages, before typing one as well:

Y/N: We’re all corpse here

Sykkuno: Oh, so it means we’re all really cool then ^^

Y/N: Fair point

Corpse: See Y/N

Corpse: I told you I would jump into the lava for you 

Y/N: You didn’t exactly jump...

Corpse: :(

Y/N: But let’s say it counts as well :)

Corpse: :)

Before they knew, the voting ended. Mr Beast was thrown into the lava, which ultimately lead to the victory of crewmates. Y/N cheered happily, when the blue sign appeared on her screen, right above everyone else who was innocent. 

“Yaaay, the first time I wasn’t killed in the first game!” Sean announced enthusiastically, his astronaut running around the dropship.

“Yeah, and the first time it went so fast...” 

“Right? Corpse, I’m disappointed in you. What happened to the King of Impostors?” Rae asked.

“Well.. no matter how good you are, you can’t always win, right?” Corpse replied calmly.

“Hmm, you seemed kinda absent-minded during the game, though...” Poki suggested with a smirk hiding in her voice, and Rae was very quick to pick on it.

“Oh, you’ve noticed that too? Almost as if he was distracted by something” 

“I don’t know what are you talking about” he chuckled nervously, and Y/N just sat in her chair confused about what was going on. “Anyway, who’s up for another round?” 

“Yeah, I have an idea” Sean said, effectively shutting everyone up “What if we play something along the lines of hide and seek? Let’s have one impostor, and everyone else needs to get their tasks done before he finds them.”

“That is...” Felix took in a dramatic breath “THE BEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD ABOUT”

“Yeah, I think it will be fun” Sykkuno replied. 

“It sounds really cool, but let’s maybe tell who’s the impostor? I think it would be more fair” Rae suggested. 

“I think it’s a good idea” Sean concluded, before changing the settings for one impostor only. Y/N waited patiently for the game to begin, and when she saw that she was a crewmate again, she sighed in relief. Only to gasp in a panic a second later...

“It’s me.”

Everyone stumbled out of the dropship as Corpse admitted that he’s the impostor. It seemed that knowing exactly who can murder everyone made the whole game a little bit terrifying...

“I don’t know where the heck I’m going” Y/N mumbled to herself with a nervous laugh when instead of doing her tasks, she searched for the perfect place to hide. When she entered security, she spotted Mr Beast fixing the wires, so she decided to join him.

“OH SHIT- god damn it, you scared me to death!” he all but yelled when she appeared next to him, doing her tasks. 

“Sorry” she giggled, quickly finishing the wires, before speeding out of the room. On her way to weapons, she stumbled across Felix’s dead body, and could hear some screaming in the background... but didn’t recognize who was murdered next. 

Y/N managed to do most of her tasks without meeting Corpse, whom she hoped not to see probably for the first time since they played together. She was just leaving decontamination when she heard Sean’s panicked laughter:

“...tee, bitches love me?”

“Wrong.” Corpse’s voice almost made her squeak in surprise, only to really scream when he suddenly snapped Sean’s neck. 

“Retreat, retreat!” Y/N laughed as she sped past oblivious Rae and Logic, Corpse hot on her tail. She quickly returned to the decontamination room, hoping to flee from her inevitable death, when Corpse’s black astronaut walked in, and the door closed. 

“Please don’t kill me” she chuckled, even though there was no hope for her. 

“Finish my lyrics, and I’ll let you live...” he began, and Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion “ I spilt wine...”

“Wait- what lyrics? You sing?” she asked, completely dumbfounded. Corpse was silent for a moment as if he didn’t understand her, before bursting out laughing “What’s so funny again? Corpse, come on!” 

“Yes, Y/N, I do sing, I was actually hoping you’ve heard some of my songs...” he admitted, still chuckling to himself. She felt a blush rising up her cheeks.

“Oh- I- I didn’t, I-... but I will, okay? I’ll do it right away!” she promised, quickly jumping up to grab her phone and listen to Corpse’s song. She was genuinely shocked, she would never expect him to sing! 

 She unlocked her phone with a wide, somehow nervous smile on her face, which, however, dropped the moment she saw her notifications. Hundreds of notifications. 

“You there, Y/N?” Corpse’s voice reached her after a moment, when she still didn’t say anything, just kept looking at her screen. “I hope my music isn’t so bad that you passed out from listening to it...”

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, her phone gripped tightly in her shaking hands.

“Um, Y/N?” his voice became more worried now “Is everything okay?” 

Y/N cleared her throat and quickly wiped her eyes, closing them for a moment to steady her breathing.

“Yeah, all good Corpse” she forced herself to smile, so her voice wouldn’t sound weird. “Look, um, I need to leave, can you tell the others bye from me?” 

“Is something wrong?” Corpse asked confused.

“No, of course not!” she laughed through her tears “Something just came up and I really need to leave.”

“You sure you’re-”

“Bye Corpse. It was nice playing with you.” 

-

A/N: I hope you guys are not too disappointed in me... It didn’t turn out as I initially thought it would. Isn’t it too dramatic? And is this hate plot fine? Or is it not? What do guys you think? 

TAG LIST IS CLOSED!

@slytherin-chan @pillowjj @afuckingunicornn @love-and-virtues @ignooynim @crapimahuman @hannahjsworld @laugh-like-the-moon @fallengoddess772 @kingric03 @dolphinpink310 @paigeyisme @bunnychano3o @dxrtygxrl28 @z-nyx @baby-iyania @trashygeek

[silly-mouse]

Handcuffed at a Carnival Challenge!!

“What’s up Jake Pauler’s, today I rented out this entire fairground and we’ve got a bunch of challenges for these guys to compete in, but with an insane twist! Everyone has one hand handcuffed to their partner for the challenge, so they’ve got to do everything one handed and work together! First challenge: hide and seek. I’m going to go look for them in thirty seconds… twenty-nine… twenty-eight…”

“This way, this way,” Karl whispered frantically, tugging you into the funhouse. You both giggled as you tripped over the same prop on the floor, shushing each other as you tucked yourselves into a corner hidden by a dark curtain. “We’re totally gonna win this,” he whispered to his go-pro.

“Oh yeah,” you agreed. “Chris is stuck with Chandler, who’s not gonna want to snuggle up, same with Jake and Tareeq- we’ve got this.”

“Jimmy really screwed up, he put the two cuddle bugs together,” Karl giggled, hoping the camera couldn’t see his light blush as you pressed yourself closer to him in an attempt to make you less noticeable.

“I feel like we should be being entertaining but I don’t want them to find us,” you whispered into his ear.

He nodded, giving a strangled noise of agreement as your hot breath fanned over his ear. You both stayed quiet for a minute. “Your hair smells really nice.” He wanted to bash his head into the wall he was pressed against as you giggled.

“Thanks, your body wash smells nice, too.”

He felt hyper-aware of the placement of his hands at his sides, fingertips of the handcuffed one occasionally brushing yours. No biggie, he told himself. You were handcuffed together, you were going to have to get used to being close… close enough to smell your sweet shampoo… close enough to notice the minty freshness of your breath… and the soft pink of your lips… no biggie, no biggie at all.

Just as he started to relax his walkie-talkie beeped. “Karl, we found everyone else, where you at?”

He fumbled to get the walkie out of his pocket. “We’re in the funhouse, about thirty feet down the main hall.”

“Alright, we’re on our way.”

“Now we wait,” you muttered against his ear. He shivered from your breath and blushed red as you giggled at him. “Do you need me to back up a bit? We don’t have to hide anymore.”

“…no… it’s alright,” he muttered back, resting his chin on your shoulder. “…I don’t mind.” He heard you give a soft hum as you rested your chin on his shoulder too, the two of you standing there peacefully until you could hear Jimmy’s voice approaching. You pulled back from Karl and he frantically tried to calm his pink cheeks before throwing the curtain open.

“BOO!”

You all laughed as Jimmy jumped with a high pitched shriek. “There you are! Oh wow, you guys found a good spot, you really had to squeeze in there!”

Karl’s eyes went wide for a second at the hinting tone in Jimmy’s voice but luckily you didn’t seem to notice. “We were saying the others would get found because they wouldn’t want to be so close together, were we right?”

“Oh yeah, Chandler was yelling at Chris we could hear him from like two buildings away,” he laughed, leading you two and the crew out to the front to film the next scene. Once everyone was in place Jimmy was ready to announce the next challenge. “Alright, everyone listen up! We’re going to make our way through the fair, so next stop: fair games! First team to win one of our totally not rigged fair games gets the next point, but since Chris and Chandler were found first the last round they have to sit out- go get some cotton candy, boys. Everyone else: go!”

You tugged Karl over to the darts game. “Here, I kinda stole your dominant hand so I’ll win for us!” He giggled at that, setting to work cheering you on.

“You can do it! I believe in you!” He made sure to keep the camera angled over your shoulder to watch your darts hit the board, despite the couple times he caught himself watching your concentrated face as you tried to hit the balloon taped to the target.

“Ooh, Jake made the shot! Jake and Tareeq win!”

Karl rushed to reassure you as he saw you deflate. “Oh, we almost had it! Don’t worry, we’re gonna get the next one!”

Jimmy came over just as you nodded. “Well, not this round you aren’t. You guys are sitting out and Chris and Chandler are coming back in-”

“Why are we even doing it this way,” Karl asked, followed by manic giggles from you both and the camera man as Jimmy glared at him.

“…anyways, I’m banishing you two to the ferris wheel for this round, we’ll come pick you up later. Have fun!”

Karl’s eyebrows raised at Jimmy’s mischievous grin. Oh, that was why they were doing it this way, he realised. He never thought Jimmy would use a video as an excuse to- he didn’t know, try and get Karl to ask you out maybe- but here he was. You both climbed into the ferris wheel cab, getting a friendly smile from the operator that told Karl that the man knew of Jimmy’s plan. Sure enough, the wheel teetered to a stop when you were at the top, giving you a wonderfully romantic view of the landscape around you.

“Whoa, why’d we stop? Is someone else getting on?”

Karl rushed to ease your nerves, go-pro forgotten in his jacket pocket. “He’s probably just making sure we get to enjoy the view. We don’t exactly have anywhere to rush anyways.”

You hummed, deciding he was probably right. “It is nice,” you admitted, leading your head onto his shoulder. Karl prayed you couldn’t hear his blood rushing through his veins as he settled his head on top of yours.

“Yeah… it really is.”

[hummingbird-games]

2021 In Review (Visual Novel Edition)

Okay!! 

So. 

I played a LOT of games this year, but for sake of relevance we’re gonna narrow it down to the VN games and demos I tried. I’m not a fan of bashing games I don’t like (with certain exceptions) so don’t expect those titles to make an appearance here. 

So, in making this list it got too long for my own liking so I decided to focus on the titles I REALLY love or think are noteworthy and should be on others’ radars...note how the list is still too long F R I C K. 

DEMOS

Trouble Comes Twice - there isn’t a day that passes where I WISH I could have supported the Kickstarter. I was drawn to this game because you can play as either twin, and then stayed for the great banter and interactions and art style.

Herotome - the superhero genre is one I’ll never get tired of so to see visual novels out in the wild??? I’ve been on cloud 9 ever since. (Also the dev is a GEM so maybe I’m biased, but let the record show that I fell in love before we became friends and moots so there!!)

An Everyday Love - I’ve talked about this game a lot and love any excuse to reblog content (click here or here or here)

Twin Coves - I actually am not the target demographic for Twin Peaks but the dark atmosphere and the promise of mystery drew me in.  And then I played the demo and was SOLD!! And then I did a happy dance because I got so support the kickstarter lol

After-Party Chemistry - !!!!!!! Don’t remember how the algorithm worked in my favor but one day I was looking for a high school game to play (to be inspired on my project and also because we just need more HS/teen stuff and I’m starved ALWAYS). This project is still very much a WIP but I love that it’s chemistry based (I sucked at this subject in school BTWs and this game reminded me while also being such a treat to play) 

The Radiants - Along with superhero games, I also have a love for magic. Also school based games....yeah there’s a theme here, thanks for noticing LOL. Another “demo made me fall even more in love with the game”

College Craze - Hey look! Another school theme game!! But it’s mature. No, like super mature, like Smut City with Plot and Character Customization lol. Dev is slowly trucking away at this project and it’s a joy to see it come along even if I’m late to the party. 

Dagonrompa: REVIVE - My sprite artist’s WIP so maybe I’m a little biased but that just means it’s totally worth your time to check out the demo!! Also I knew of  Danganropa and didn’t plan on seeking it out, but this fangame demo is my first ever interaction and I it was truly a good time. 

Band Camp Boyfriend - There’s a handful of demos I’m chomping at the bits to have a full game, and this is one of them! I was never a band geek in HS but was always curious about band kid culture (plus I am a high school content connoisseur *twirls mustache*) so I was destined to fall in love with this one. 

The Closet Door - This is another game that has the blood, sweat, and tears of a loving dev, who wants more representation in games, and I’m so happy I stumbled upon this WIP. It’s charming and the art style is SO so so lovely to stare at, and the main character is such a firecracker who doesn’t take shit and can be a little sharp and I ADORE her!! (JMB if you see this, I love you and I think you’re doing amazing, always!!) 

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough) 

War on Roses - I actually cannot stand love triangles, but I ALSO can’t stay away from fashion sims...or beautiful Black people in games...and also character customization??? Yeah um, this is one of my top faves whoops.

Magical Diaries Horse Hall - School + Magic YAAAAAAY. Wolf Hall is on my list next, but this series is super fun. It’s stats raising and romance and fun (or off the wall) events sprinkled through game play. This is probably the only series that made me consider just once writing a male protagonist. (Horse Hall, f!MC and Wolf Hall, m!MC by the way)

Our Life: Beginnings & Always - This game makes it on the list by a technicality because I devoured it Nov 2020 buuuut I’ve replayed it so many times this year and it was the simplicity and wholesomeness of this game that inspired me and Hummingbird Games that I had to add it.  

Blooming Panic - At the time of this post, there is a full and expanded version available for play and I haven’t done a replay, but I have romanced 3 of the guys and there aren’t enough words to explain why I love this game. If I could buy it I would have done it without hesitation, so for the content to be free really feels like I’ve won the lottery. Also, IRL I’m terrible when it comes to participation in Discord groups, and DMs are not too great--shoutout to everyone I still need to message back ahaha-- but the essence of this game is being on a discord server and it’s so. Much. Fun. (Quest is a gem, but nightowl was my first and by that logic still reigning champion in my heart) 

Raptor Boyfriend - First I’d like to apologize for judging this game by it’s cover. SECONDLY I’d like to stress that it shouldn’t have taken a sale for me to put this on my radar but I’m soooooo glad it worked out. It’s very 90s (my fave time period for content consumption and storytelling) all 3 love interests are quirky and loveable in their own ways, the telephone call feature is SO fun, and I just had a really great time with this game. 

Chess of Blades - This is not the list for boys love titles, BUT I will eventually make that post too. For now you will accept that this is pretty dang high on the list of faves this year. The voice acting is perfect, the art is exquisite, the love interests and their routes all bring something different to the table, and your choices have consequences!!! I hate that but I love it. Play this game. Cop it on sale if you have too. I love it, that is all. 

  Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Women of Xal - Being a baby dev on the scene + being Black with an intense love for VNs meant I was resigned to seeing white (and anime) faces more than anything else, as the MC and as the love interests. And then I saw art for WoX. Alllll the beautiful melaninated people. And then time went by and I fangirled and was rewarded for my efforts for seeing this project to completion (I wasn’t there at the veerrry beginning but it all worked out.) There’s soooo much content and treats and lore and just sheer amount of STUFF that I’ve put in X amount of hours and I still have more to go. And it’s super exciting.

(FINISH) Butterfly Soup (because I’m suffering from ‘I don’t want this to end’ syndrome, but I can’t have all these unfinished games in my life)

Do we share any favorites? Any titles you want to fight me on over my tastes? Let me know!! Or just scroll on 😂

- Gemini

[iturbide]

Will admit my dislike towards Shez is mostly based on how everyone seems to now be bashing Byleth for it, because "Oooo it was SO easy to make a protag with personality" or "Ooo Shez is doing the bare minimum and is still better" like?? You don't HAVE to put a character down when you say you like a character? And Byleth did have personality i thought - they're even shown to have a little in the brief glimpse you get before they get snapped out of the demo in my opinion. Or maybe I'm just being too sensitive :P

-- wait people are bashing Byleth because Shez exists?? What's even the point of doing that??? They're two different characters with two different personalities and please excuse me I'm about to devolve into an AC3 rant.

Okay so I have been an Assassin's Creed fan for a long time. I played the first game when it was newly out. That's how I got into the series. I have kept up with it...well enough? I played the first "three" (yes I'm counting the Ezio trilogy as a single unit, and I have played all of them), I eventually managed to get through the next trilogy of Black Flag, Unity which I loathed we do not speak of it, and Syndicate, and I keep trying to play Origins/Odyssey/Valhalla but the major changes to the control scheme have made them impossible for me to succeed at so at some point I need to go in and overhaul the controls so I can actually progress out of what amounts to tutorial land. This isn't about the later games, though: this is about that original trilogy, and you will understand why shortly.

So you might have noticed that the first "three" bit is a bit odd. See, the first game took place during the Third Crusade (1191), focusing primarily on the cities of Acre, Damascus, and Jerusalem and followed master assassin Altair as he royally fucked up, got demoted, and then worked his way back up through the ranks and learned some humility (among other things). He was kind of full of himself at first, but while he was an interesting enough guy overall, it was really the wider story and open world game mechanics that proved to be the major draw of the game and got it greenlit for another.

The second game took place during the Italian Renaissance, and followed a young Florentine nobleman Ezio through his teenage years and the trauma of losing his family to a conspiracy, becoming an assassin under the tutelage of his uncle, and hunting down the men responsible for having his family killed. Ezio was...well, very Italian: very expressive, very emotive, very suave, very charming, lots of gestures when he talks, very open and expressive and emotive. And he was popular -- so much so that, rather than going to Assassin's Creed 3, they instead did two spin-offs that continued to follow Ezio through his life: one covering the Borgia papacy and set mostly in and around Rome, and a second covering the rise of the Ottomon Empire in and around Constantinople.

Revelations brought Ezio's story to a close, at which point the series finally moved onto the "third" game, set during the American Revolution. And this was where they did something that to this day I find incredibly clever: they start the game having you play as Haytham Kenway, a British man working to establish an operative network in the colonies and find the use for a key he stole back in England. You spend roughly five hours with him, going through all the usual motions of an Assassin's Creed game, and while he's rather more brutal than Ezio was he still acts and talks just like the assassins we've come to know over the years...

...and then at the end of those five hours he gets together with his operatives and speaks the Templar phrase and pulls the fucking rug out from under you

Look to this day I think fondly of that reveal, that for all their enmity and their millennia of war the Assassins and Templars basically operate the same way such that there's very little to distinguish one from the other when approached from an outside perspective, it's brilliant and it plays so beautifully into the game's overarching themes

So after that, the main game opens up and we start following Ratonhnhaké:ton (who goes by Connor, in interactions with people outside his tribe), the son of Haytham Kenway who was raised by his Kanienʼkehá꞉ka mother among her people, as he sets out to join the Assassins for the sole purpose of stopping the Templars who threaten his people and their way of life. The whole game with him is probably my favorite narratively, and Connor is my favorite assassin to this day.

Fandom hates him.

Or at least it did when I was playing. For all I know opinions have changed. But there were lots and lots and lots of criticisms about Connor being emotionless, uninteresting, etc. despite the fact that he...really wasn't? He had a quieter emotional affect: he was generally more measured, more tempered, but that meant that when he raised his voice you knew he meant business. I loved his generally more stoic handling and how powerful that made his more emotive moments, but the fandom just looked at him and said that he had the emotionality of a brick wall and generally dismissed or derided him...in favor of his dad. Who was an upper class British man, cultured, polished, and emotive in familiar ways.

A lot more similar to Ezio, basically.

They latched onto the character that was more similar to the one they'd just spent three whole games with, and that sent the message to Ubisoft that that's what people wanted -- which is why the next three games featured Ezio clones as their protagonists: Edward Kenway, Arno Dorian, and Jacob Frye are all very Ezio-adjacent, though some more successfully pull it off than others. Connor became a failed experiment because people didn't want to bother learning how to read a new character: they just wanted more Ezio.

And that's what immediately comes to mind with Shez bringing on Byleth bashing. People want an emotive avatar for their Fire Emblem game: they don't want someone with a more nuanced emotional affect, they want Brash Shounen Protag, and when one appears they will bash the more nuanced character for being "emotionless" or "not having a personality" (which, for the record, I do think Byleth does have -- seeing how they become more emotive through their Supports in 3H is great, the way they become more expressive in B and A conversation, says a lot to me about how they're willingly adapting to the norms of people around them in order to better interact) when they're just not seeing what they want to see and therefore not paying attention.

Anyway, Shez is fine enough but I still prefer Byleth from all I've seen so far (though I do love Arval being a sassy little shit).

[pretty-idol-hell]

Idol Land PriPara 02

AMARI I MISSED YOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU

The PriPara gates only opening in certain places at certain times reminds me of the Digital Gate from Digimon ahah. I love this. It also just fits the concept of a mobile game well. You can fall in from anywhere. 

IDOL DADS

(I’m always saying Hijiri and Rei are the Prism Dads in King of Prism but this is another level.)

Ace Asashi and his CUTE FACE

NOOOOO KOYOI’S SOUP 

KOYOI MADE YOU SOUP SHOGO HOW COULD YOU 

Strong Minato vibes from this 

(......Gawd I’m projecting King of Prism on these boys so hard)

Okay Amari is right. Not about being a trash idol, but being THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT YUI (aside from Shogo) DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HER 

No, I don’t care about Mirei’s explanation here (about how just having fun in PriPara technically helps her) hahaha just wow.

Okay so they DO know what happened to Shuka... Aw...

Even Meganii has limits 

“Promises”

OH 

MY 

GAWD

Do you know what this is? Do you know what this freakin is!?

It’s dailies.

WE’RE GOING TO SAVE YUI

BY DOING MOBILE APP DAILIES

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

okay that’s pretty hilarious

That’s a new one

Amari you’re gonna have to get used to having fans

Because your biggest fan

IS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

RASSERA RASSERA RASSE RASSE RASSERA (Taiga!!!!)

Pffffft

I kinda like this new glass wall thing

Oh for f*cks sake

You’ve got to be kidding me

It’s been 

YEARS

And they’ve still got ONE SONG (and six spider legs)

Did it ever occur to Shogo that if singing the same song over and over again isn’t waking up Yui maybe they should IDK try a different song

(Really tho PLEASE for the love of god let them perform their other stuff this season)

Mamma mia (I forgot about this)

AHHH!!!! Amari’s performance was different this time! She only did the generic Making Drama last time but she actually got her own brand Making Drama this time. MR = Mousou Reality (fantasy reality = fantasies becoming real?)

Okay excuse me what

I uh

UHHHHHHHHHHH

I thought this could only happen to vocal dolls

Um

Okay so I rip on stuff in these posts all the time but I actually do hate this

I’d rather she just stayed asleep hahaha

The goat costumes! The Shogo face. 

Oh that’s Amamiya! Is he a regular at Danpri?

He’s probably been before, but this was super noticeable to me because I just finished rewatching the first season of PriPara. And they talk a lot about boys not being able to go and often show Amamiya watching from the outside. Like there was this one specific scene where Reona is talking about Dressing Pafe performing for all the boys who can’t go. And it’s so funny looking back on because Danpri is kind of a huge retcon. Like apparently this entire time there was this whole PriPara for boys nobody talked about hahah.

Edit: Wait... why do the boys above have shirts that say PP? It’s not for PriPara. Does the Prism Stone of the Danpri world have the initials PP?

Taking bets on how many more episodes they’re just gonna do the thing.

Maybe they’re gonna just sit back and judge and when the entire season’s over they’re gonna be like “Well that was OK” and walk away. 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

THE BOY IS HERE 

Yeah so he’s just Amari’s imagination become reality. Maybe she kickstarted it by bashing into the glass?

Oh actually I wonder if he’s gonna team up with Dark Nightmare so that’s why they’re waiting ahaha hmm. 

Welp, until April (or whenever the anime starts for real).

[strongislandsuperfan]

If "F**k This Job" was a Person

It was the 3rd quarter, in a blistering cold stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. There was a commotion on the sideline during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. NY Jets game. Antonio Brown, one of Tampa's top offensive weapons, was flipping out. He took off his helmet, his shoulder pads and the rest of his gear. Even as teammates tried to walk over and calm him down, there was no getting through to him. Something definitely wasn't right. No one could see what the conflict was about, but the obvious reason, judging from face value, would suggest that maybe Antonio Brown wasn't being targeted enough by his quarterback, Tom Brady, so he could make a play. There seemed a little more to it, if anyone paid attention to the subtle details.

As he walked off, headed to the locker room, he waved goodbye to the fans in the stands and threw up a peace sign, as if he knew this would be his last "hoorah" in the NFL. By the time the Sunday Night Football game was underway, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs, Bruce Arias, announced that Antonio Brown was no longer part of the team.

Monday morning, all the sports analysts and commentators went wild, bashing Antonio Brown's behavior, calling it bizarre, selfish but not surprising, being that he has had issues in the past with the teams he's been on. Some even went as far as cracking jokes, either trying to make light of the situation or make fun of Antonio Brown himself. Of course, social media didn't let us down, as the memes came pouring in.

After the smoke cleared and the criticisms turned from blistering put-downs to intellectual reasoning, then the truth came out. In his first statement since leaving the field in the third quarter of the Bucs vs. Jets game, Antonio Brown said that he was forced to play on an injured ankle that will require surgery. This was the reason why he exited so abruptly. An MRI on Monday revealed broken bone fragments, a ligament torn from the bone and cartilage loss. Antonio Brown also accused the Buccaneers of mischaracterizing his outburst on the field as a "mental health issue" rather than a refusal to play due to pain.

The last part, I respectfully disagree with. An injury, plus the added stress definitely played a roll in all of this. Maybe its just me, but when I see Antonio Brown in some air of controversy, all I can think of is that infamous hit he took in the 2016 playoffs at the hands of Vontaze Burfict, one of the most brutal football players of my generation. It is generally known throughout football that wide receivers are the divas of every football team, due to their fast speed and cocky, brash behavior, but even I know, Antonio Brown hasn't been right since taking that violent hit and I don't blame his diva-like behavior at all. Not to make excuses for him or any other athlete that acts like an entitled jerk, but its clear as day that something wasn't right with him.

Later on, after doing some more digging, it turns out this sideline situation wasn't just about injuries or mental health. It did play a huge factor, but there was a little more to it. There were also some financial factors as well. Being that the NFL season was reaching the end and the Bucs were making a playoff push, that signaled bonus/contract time for most players that were either going to become free agents or needed a dynamite performance to give coaches and office personnel a reason why they should be kept on the roster for next season.

It turns out, that if Antonio Brown made a certain number of catches or held a certain number of receiving yards, he'd get his bonus. Maybe it was the mounting pressure to receive that money, but to be fair, the Jets had a young defensive core that held every offensive weapon at arms length the entire game, until Tom Brady began orchestrating an impressive comeback and eventually won the game.

While I don't know Antonio Brown personally, other than the highlights and controversial headlines he's been in, I could see that the boiling point, which he reached, had more to do with a lack of respect for who he was, in his particular job role rather than a top offensive wide receiver just looking for the quick dollar. Seeing signs of being fed up with the way things are going, especially in a field where you've worked so hard and given much of your time, passion and energy to, just to not receive the same passion, time an energy back, does take it's toll. I've been there, whether it was working odd-jobs or my career in the IT industry or even the friendships and relationships I've had throughout my life. If what you give isn't given in return, you are left with no choice except to throw your hands up and say, "F**k this job!" and walk away.

We've all been there. Antonio Brown has been there, as well as another talented athlete in most recent memory.

Simone Biles. Arguably, the greatest gymnast in Olympic history. Even she had her day of emotional reckoning. Understandably so. The pressure to duplicate the awe-inspiring, death-defying performance that made her a household name in the previous summer Olympic games, as well as National Gymnastics Championship competitions here in the United States was building.

On July 28, 2021, the world was shocked when it was announce that Simone Biles had withdrawn from competition in the Olympics. The reason? Mounting stress and a lingering injury that had been plaguing her for some time. Simone Biles was even quoted saying, “It’s been a long week. It’s been a long Olympic process. It’s been a long year. Just a lot of different variables and I think we’re just a little bit too stressed out, but we should be out here having fun and sometimes that’s not the case.”

Of course, the keyboard warriors and internet bullies came out in droves on social media, criticizing and putting down the beloved gymnast, who just a few weeks ago, prior to the announcement, was America's Olympic sweetheart. Its almost as if performers, athletes or anyone in the spotlight of dazzling the masses, are placed on a pedestal, with an overly-scrutinized microscope, that nobody asked for. While most of us are of the understanding that this is the nature of the beast of fame, it causes many of us, athletes and spectators alike, to lose sight of the one thing that does make us unique. We forget that we are human, with faults that are no different or any better than the next individual.

With the break that was taken, Simone Biles found the strength in her and did compete in some of the competitions of the 2021 summer Olympics, earning a silver medal. This I commend her for, not just for her perseverance but for taking control of her career and coming to this decision on her terms and not the pressure of coaches, fans or the powers that be.

Your health, whether its physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, takes precedence over appeasing the spectators or those who sign your paycheck. Sometimes, it requires a great amount of recovery, strength, reflection, and prayer to overcome. Other times, it requires you to throw your hands up, and just say, "F**K this job!" and take back control of one's dignity, to remind all those involved that we are just human.

While those with a high and mighty attitude will see this as a cop-out or an excuse predicated upon fear and being underprepared, I see it as an old saying I once heard. While I can't put my finger on who did make this remark, I will simply summarize as, "Quitting while you're ahead, isn't the same thing as quitting."

[cockasinthebird]

Forever ago I talked about writing a “kiss cam au” that I never got to finish, and perhaps never will, but I’m still actually very happy with what I’ve got! So here you have it, three pages worth of Kiss Cam 

-

The fact that she didn’t say yes right away should have been a clear enough sign of her reluctance to go, but Steve was far too overcome with excitement of having won the tickets to really consider her hesitance as anything unusual. And looking back it wasn’t even the first time she “needed time to think”, but Steve was in love, and he thought that she was too. 

To be fair he did ask Tommy first if he wanted to go to the game, considering how obsessed he is with their college’s baseball team, but he and Carol were going on a roadtrip with her parents, leaving the day after summer break started, and Robin hates attending sports events unless there’s a promise of cheerleaders.

And maybe the fact that Nancy wasn’t his first, or even second, choice should have made everything clearer for Steve, too.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” he asks, a slight waver to his voice that he’ll claim is from excitement, but truthfully he’s starting to feel a bit… bashful, as he carries his pretzel, bag of peanuts, and large soda away from the concession stand.

“I’m fine, I have my water bottle,” comes her response with a shake of the mostly full bottle. She meets with Steve’s gaze for barely a second with a strained smile, before returning her look to the sticky floor.

“Really, whatever you want, I’m paying-”

“Steve, I-... it’s ok, I’m still full from lunch,” she sighs, heavy and edging on irritated perhaps, or at least that’s the way Steve hears it. She barely even finished her scone at the café earlier.

“Alright, just tell me if you need something- anything, ok?” he tries, smiles and looks her in the eyes as she finally offers more than a slight glance.

And she smiles back, softly, like she really cares about making Steve happy, even if baseball isn’t her first idea for a date. Or at least that’s how he interprets it.

“Ok.”

There’s a roar echoing through the tunnel, the sound of thousands and thousands of fans hyping up for the game, San Francisco Giants versus Los Angeles Dodgers, Steve himself in a white Dodgers jersey, and even from here he can feel the energy, like an electric charge shooting through him, bringing forth goosebumps and raising the hairs on his arms from pure excitement of being in a stadium again for the first time in who knows how many years. His cheeks hurt from smiling so wide, and truthfully if it wasn’t for the group of people in front of him and Nancy, he might have run out with a near child-like glee, not a care for how other people would have stared.

You’re gonna love it, he recalls telling her during the one hour drive here, It’s like being at a concert, but so much better. The camaraderie is just… so… I don’t even know how to describe it, but you’ll know it when you feel it.

Yet as they near the end of the tunnel leading to their seating area, he looks down at her and catches the way she’s chewing on her lip, hands strangling the plastic bottle till it crinkles, doubt written in between the lines of her furrowed brow. And he thinks about turning back, about telling Nancy that they can just go to the movies instead or look for a nice restaurant, whatever might make her feel better and look less dismayed, like a good boyfriend might do. You have to make sacrifices in a relationship sometimes to make it work-

But there’s a definite point of no return, as they step outside again, the faint stench of piss and beer dissipating as fresh air fills their lungs, well, fresher air - there’s still a lingering scent of sweat and musk and beer, too, but it’s lighter and less offensive, less in your face, and Steve feels invigorated by it all. Left and right he sees rows and rows of people in jerseys, foam fingers, caps, greasy food and beverages, smiles as big as his own.

This is it, the feeling of belonging, of fitting in. Despite the pushing and shoving and elbowing people do in attempts to get to their seats faster, there’s joy to be had, elation shooting through his bloodstream at just the sight of the field before him. It’s everything he remembers from the one game his dad brought him to too many years ago, and while Steve himself doesn’t care to participate in sports, it’s a feeling he’s been chasing ever since with high school baseball, and now in college he still attends every single game he can, but there’s nothing that can compare to all of this.

He inhales till it feels like his lungs might split and tear, wanting to engrain every impression of this moment into his soul, in case he’ll have to go just as many years till he can stand in such a loud and crowded space again.

Unable to look away from all the excited faces, he asks, “So, what do you think?”

“There’s… a lot of people,” Nancy says loudly in an effort to get through the horde of Dodgers fans. “Very noisy!”

“Yeah!” Steve needs to almost shout it back at her, and doesn’t deem it important to mention that that’s part of what he loves so dearly too; the inability to hear himself think, to never be alone again for as long as the game is on. 

Hell, even going to the bathroom here is a group activity surrounded by strangers that might or might not take a gander at your dick at the urinals.

“Come on, we’re just up here! Row f.”

Despite the inevitability of it, it’s still considered courteous to apologize when awkwardly making your way down the row in search of your seat, and both Steve and Nancy seem adept at it as they struggle to avoid stepping on shoes or knocking over beverages, one “Sorry” after another.

When Nancy puts a halt to the expedition. “Steve…” her voice a shy little thing only to be heard by Steve standing near flush to her back.

Steve doesn’t even need to ask what’s wrong, when looking over the top of her head is enough for him to understand why she’s this hesitant now. Loud, brash, unruly, a whole row of frat boys acting like they own this entire section, marking their territory with spilled beer and popcorn tossing. Truth be told, even Steve’s a bit intimidated just by their presence here, but refuses to let it ruin his day.

“Yeah… Yeah, you sit here and I’ll take the seat next to them, ok?”

The relief in Nancy’s strained smile is brief before falling back into the very unimpressed, very uncomfortable expression of malcontent, but this time Steve doesn’t find time to worry about her; rather he’s worried about the old, brown leather jacket thrown over his seat.

There’s a certain painfully anxious throb in his chest. From his own vague experience of the frat guys back at Purdue, they’re rarely the kind of people he’d hang around with, all that childlike pestering some just never left behind in high school. But what’s seemingly more dangerous here - sitting down on a buff stranger’s jacket, or asking him to remove it just to be told to “fuck off”.

“Excuse me, your jacket is in my seat.”

Before this stranger has even turned around Steve is already planning an exit strategy that leaves him the most dignity and preferably without getting punched, better safe than sorry and all. Between the clear tension in those broad shoulders, the way his hand grips his beer tighter, and the glare he carries as he turns to look at who dares interrupt his festivities, Steve would say it isn’t unfair to expect some unnecessary hostilities next. Yet when those refreshingly crystal clear eyes meet his, the anger furrowed in this stranger’s brow smooths out, and the way he so suddenly smiles all charming beneath that mustache, Steve fears he might blush as his heart trips over itself.

“Oh, sorry pretty boy, wasn’t sure if anyone was gonna show up.”