#people need to remember that even looking at an executive funny is a good way to get your teeth pulled out

[sorcerersandskillusers]

Between Dazai calling Oda a "balm for the soul" to Mori and him giving Akutawaga a whole lecture about how he couldn't beat Oda in 100 years.

I love the mental image of Dazai just going into tangents about how great Oda is around other mafia members and them being completely baffled when they meet him, and he's like the most underwhelming person ever.

Mafioso: "Why does one of the top five executives never shut up about you?"

Oda: "I really don't know. He's been like that since I tied him to a bed and force-fed him porridge"

Mafioso: "YOU DID WHAT!?"

[couldtheybekira]

Catching Kira is overrated. Let's talk about not getting caught as Kira.

This is the reverse of @couldtheycatchkira where I give you a character and you determine if they could survive as Kira.

Important note: Assume the character is completely willing to be Kira. @wouldtheybecomekira already exists.

There are five categories:

Never caught or suspected: Not only does this character live to actually create their new world, but nobody ever suspects it was actually them! I better not see you vote people into this category just because you like them or it'd be funny. Actually it being funny is valid

Suspected but never caught: It's about a five percent chance. They live to make their new world, and while people have certainly suggested it being them, and some believe it, there's just not enough evidence to convict them

Suspected only by whoever caught them: The general public was fooled, but someone, likely an enemy of that character in their canon, caught on to them and brought them to justice.

Suspected and eventually caught: Look, not even Actual Kira was perfect. They slip up little by little, and they get caught.

Caught almost instantly: Oh, all of that character's worst enemies die day one? Yeah, if they don't stop to think, it's pretty easy to lead investigators straight to them before Ryuk has the chance to not tell them some critical information.

(Results/Unqualified To Say): If you don't know, don't answer. I do try to include supplementary information when I know the character, and get it out of the submitter when I don't, though.

Additionally, just for funsies, any character who causes notable engagement, and did not have the last option as the most voted will be eligible for two bonus polls regarding the Shinigami Eyes Deal and Relinquishing the Death Note and your memory of it.

For the Shinigami Eyes Deal:

Takes the Eye Deal instantly: As soon as it's on the table they accept. Yes, they did hear the part about losing half their remaining life span. They said they accept.

Takes the Eye Deal eventually: They'll come around to it, or if they think they don't have that long a natural lifespan left anyway.

Takes the Eye Deal due to desperate circumstances: They're forced into a bad spot and just need to get someone off them right now, or their life is gonna shortened by a lot more than half.

Uses someone else who took the Eye Deal: You can choose who, and what circumstances allow this to even be possible.

Never takes the Eye Deal: They just don't. Ever. It's either not worth it, it's too easy, whatever.

For Relinquishing the Death Note

Relinquishes Death Note permanently; no longer needs it: They've done what they needed with the notebook. I know I said we're assuming they're completely willing to become Kira, but we never said anything about staying Kira.

Relinquishes Death Note permanently; only way to survive: Investigators are getting too close to their trail and if they're interrogated they'll definitely crack. It's possible they also make someone else become Kira, but this is a one-way street. They do not remember this, ever.

Relinquishes Death Note temporarily; never regains it: It's very hard to stick to a plan you don't remember making. They relinquish the notebook with the intent of getting it back, and simply never do. Either to a change of heart, circumstances not allowing it, or what have you.

Relinquishes Death Note temporarily; regains it: The perfect alibi, perfectly executed. You can fill in the blanks for what their plan was and how it works, they're Kira, they'll do it.

Never relinquishes Death Note: Again, they just don't.

Submit characters of your choosing to have them be posted and judged. I'm most likely going to get to every character submitted eventually, but characters I recognize, or that have good supplementary information included are more likely to be picked earlier.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Pressure reader finding a gun and now can and will defend themself from monster or execute other people for doing something dumb

I'm sorry but I saw this and decided to run with how finding a gun might actually go for a Prisoner!Reader /lh

..................

"Wow...guess somebody forgot to pick this up. Or maybe Sebastian got tired of me dying to those monsters all the time.."

Staring down at the weapon that was just laying on the floor, you looked around to see if any cameras were currently watching you. Of course, there was a singular one with a red light in the corner above the next door, aimed directly at your position.

They were always watching.

From the comfort and safety of their headquarters, they watched you get maimed by the creatures here over and over again. Whether it's a Wall Dweller sneaking up on you or Pandemonium ramming into the locker you're hiding in nonstop....they've seen it all.

So at this point, you didn't care that they could see your clear interest in the object on the ground.

One you were forbidden to take.

But to hell with them and their rules.

After all you've suffered through down here, you deserved to have some kind of self-defense tool that wasn't just a light source you had to conserve.

Why shouldn't you be allowed to protect yourself? They were going to kill all the creatures who escaped containment, anyways, so if you could kill them now, why not?

Unfortunately, HQ begged to differ, as the moment you crouched down to pick up the pistol, a familiar voice came onto the intercom:

"Do not touch the weapon. Leave it alone and it will be collected by authorized personnel later."

"...figures." You glared at the camera, standing up. "Why don't you tell your "authorized personnel" to put down those sea monsters instead?! I think I'm allowed to defend myself if-"

*pop*

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Back here again, are we?"

"Yeah..I guess.." Grumbling, you rubbed your neck as you looked up at the familiar trio of glowing blue eyes and angler lure. Even now, you still had a killer headache from the PDG detonation.

Then again, that was your own fault.

You didn't need to read the same document twice.

"I don't recommend defying them again. At least..not until you find a way to scramble their connection." Sebastian advised, sighing as he shook his head. "You gotta remember you have no rights down here. Neither of us do. It sucks but, we gotta deal with it."

"The IDS has gone haywire..but they're worried about me shooting through a glass window.." You huffed. "What if it wasn't even loaded?"

"Well I'm not sure if you know this, but prisoners and guns don't exactly go together. Just use what you've learned in the past to avoid the threats. It doesn't matter to them how "badly" you think you needed a firearm. You'll never get your hands on one, and I'm certainly not gonna sell any to you. Period."

"....I guess that pistol would've been useless if it didn't any rounds..."

"Anyway, here's what your overseer had to say on the matter. It's..kinda funny." Sebastian showed you another file, documenting your time and cause of death, along with a comment.

"The EXR-P stumbled across a small firearm that was left behind during the lockdown and defied direct orders to drop it, thinking they were an exception to the rule. This cannot happen again."

"Okay, that's bullshit. They're making it sound like I was an entitled asshole." You pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I can see why. Backtalking them is funny and all until your head pops. If you want them to take you seriously, you'll have to reach that crystal."

"Fine. I'll be a good little expendable and just focus on that." Putting a ferryman token on the table, you looked up at Sebastian. "Tell the guy downstairs I wanna continue where I was."

"Alright. Better not waste it." He swiped the coin, fading back into the darkness.

In the blink of an eye, you returned to the Blacksite, in the same room that you died in. It was clear of any blood that was left behind after your PDG went off, and of course..the pistol wasn't anywhere to be found.

It would have been useless anyways.

On the bright side, you did find a blacklight and some batteries in the drawers that you didn't check before, and you realized it's wiser to just use them to protect yourself.

'Okay. Let's just play it safe and keep going.'

[millidew]

random list of v3 opinions after experiencing all that again:

the death road of despair segment is the pre-trial highlight of ch1. so damn good. just a perfect microcosm of the game and kaede's flaws and conflicts

maki is funnier than i remember. but she’s at her funniest when she hits shuichi with a devastating insult, usually completely unprompted

ouma and maki parallels and foiling forever and ever. they HAAATE each other. but also it’d be cool to see them get along. the whole point is that they don’t see through the other and believe the other’s lies but still

maki saying she’ll work hard to make people trust her and her talent and that she wants to survive with everyone…ough…

ouma is so mad. he wishes that were him. also that moment where everyone ignores him and tries to comfort kaito after gonta's execution. he also wishes that were him but unfortunately he's been an asshole to everyone and no one likes him so

the only way i can enjoy saio/uma is one sided ouma->shuichi where shuichi is just not invested in the cop/robber dynamic ouma wants at all. it’s funnier this way + saimota inspires a visceral upset within him. he NEEDS to fumble both kaede and shuichi.

on that note i’ve been hcing ouma as bisexual for years partially out of spite

kaito’s obnoxious charm can’t be ignored. if you think you’ve successfully done it, it means it’s just entered an asymptomatic form. it'll hit you soon enough

ch2 pre-execution >>> KIRA BUCKLAND THE VOICE ACTRESS THAT YOU ARE. EVERYONE WONDERING IF THEY MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE BY VOTING FOR KIRUMI. KAITO GOING “IDC I WANT TO LIVE, OUR LIVES ARE IMPORTANT TOO!” KIRUMI INSULTING OUMA <3 EVERYONE CHEERING FOR KIRUMI TO RUN!!! TO LIVE!!!!!!!! GAHHHH SO COOL

kaito and himiko just blatantly lying through their teeth during their ftes. the liars who suppress their true problemsssss. also him shouting that he is NOT GIVING HER A PIGGY BACK RIDE!!! EVAR!!!!! is so funny

himiko I LOVE YOUUUUU. i love her getting overly familiar with people post-development and just accidentally completely overstepping boundaries by insulting kiibo and calling maki "maki roll." she's trying so hard you guys

KAITO IS SO FUCKING DRAMATIC. HE SHOULD’VE BEEN THE MALE LEAD IN A HIGH-SCHOOL THEATRE PRODUCTION AND ANNOYED EVERYONE IN THE CREW!!!! STOP BOTHERING MAKI SHE HAS A POWER DRILL

shuichi and maki doing sit ups and the camera slowly panning to show kaito laying there hands behind his head saying his usual bullshit is one of the funniest moments of the game

tenko and himiko agree that shuichi should transition into a woman. this is true.

I don’t accept tenko slander unless it’s specifically about her obsessiveness over himiko in ch1-2 in which case I can’t defend her

if kaito shaved he’d look 13. for this reason he is legally not allowed to do that.

tsumugi and the background of v3 are SO GOOD. ABSOLUTE PEAK. in execution there are lots of weak points but after thh, sdr2, udg, and the anime series, tell me a meta story about consumption, lies, and depression that ends with the cameos from entire main games’ previous casts doesn’t go hard

don’t deny that tsumugi loved her little ocs. do you not enjoy torturing your blorbos, putting them into situations, and giving them nice things just to take those away?? shipping them and dressing them up??? making silly aus (salmon mode, utdp, arguably dr:s)?

i just wish the writers utilized her more bc i love that so much. she should've wanted to get to get more involved with everyone (giddily see her ocs up close). she should've made even more thh/srdr2 references. players assume the writers are making for cheap nostalgia points, and they are, but it's true in-universe too...she should've been so overconfident that she'd get sloppy with the situational irony... tsumugi you little freak ily

she and rantaro were 100% s52's survivors and you can pry this from my cold dead hands. her dr fangirl self can be her pre-game personality

speaking of pre-game personalities, pre-game content is at best boring to me. how they write ouma is my litmus test. if he's not enough of a nuisance, just in a different way, then it's gotta go

maki is down for a training trio polycule, shuichi is in denial about everything and fears becoming an awkward third wheel, and kaito has been trying unsuccessfully to wink-wink nudge-nudge shuichi and maki into “realizing their feelings for each other” for ages

i still think maki should have short hair. initially I thought just shorter pigtails would be ok but I’m now in the firm camp of a pixie cut with one of her scrunchies on her wrist, with her orphanage-age flashback self maintaining the pigtails. she had to cut them off for practicality’s sake but one of her hidden desires is to be able to regrow it one day. another show of her loss of identity and past life, and how every aspect of her is controlled? such a simple desire at first glance but because hair is such a simple show of autonomy…even more tragic… maybe her doomed childhood friend yuri used to do her hair …hrm…

ultimates are public, influential figures. maki’s had to assassinate friends before (rip her yakuza friend that I didn’t know she had up until recently). maki went back to being an assassin in utdp after graduating. the hope’s peak class roster MIGHT just be a hit list

for someone who includes miu in her top 3 I haven’t talked about her at all huh. it’s been maki central up in here

miu is AWFUL but when her jokes hit, they hit good and hard just like she’d want them to. she’s completely insufferable and deserves to hit ouma (also insufferable) with 3000 hammers. kiibo too but he wouldn’t want to

look just because ouma said he was doing everything for a good reason, do NOT forget that at his core he is a little dipshit. he’s a JERK!!!

brief dip into maki time again. one of my favorite aus is that maki’s doomed childhood friend is actually miu. i'll expand on this in another post

once again: drv3 and rgu are shaking hands about exiting the narrative and the follies of playing hero. read my utenanthy!kaemugi post

v3 is FARRRR from a masterpiece, but it's a solid and fitting Ending to the main games, plus it's got an insane cast with infinite dynamics and a premise which i love to bits <33 and it was the game that got me into dr, so it'll always be special in my heart. also kaito momota luminary of the stars debuted in it which gives it 5/5 stars

[beevean]

It's funny how S2 both underutilized Annette yet still treated her as the most special and unique buttercup in the world during episode 6 especially. She felt like this weird mixture between a Mary Sue and a side character

Annette was a vessel. Literally, her only role in the story was becoming a flesh suit for Sekhmet, who herself was little more than a Press Button To Win (after roughly an hour of fighting, she needed her wind up). I guess because she was the most "spiritual" person in the group, which when you put it that way, doesn't really sound good, does it? It wasn't even her religion.

I understand people celebrating that she was loved and cherished as a Black woman, I understand people appreciating all the care for non-white religions, I get the symbolism of her paralleling Drolta, but as I said the other time, Nocturne seems to focus more on the Themes than the actual story. Because in the actual story, Annette was written very weirdly.

Her personality, while odious and insufferable, was completely scrubbed down to make her much nicer - she did not go through an organic development, unless you count her outright lying to Richter in S1E7 that she knew he'd come back as development. She and Richter were pushed to the sides, merely following Alucard and having lots of pointless fight scenes. Most of their screentime was ship building, which I liked on one side and found them hollow on the other because the foundations were shaky. Annette spends 5 episodes having visions of her ancestors, which are only trying to tell her "here, we'll show you how to win!" instead of meaning anything for her faith. The only time I remembered her past as an ex-slave was when she more or less said "yeah the king may have been a good person but he still benefited from oppression so he should be executed for the revolution to happen", which okay, much more organic than her speeches in S1, but this used to be such an important part of her character. Richter spends almost his entire screentime hyping her up and protecting her, but Annette, herself, doesn't really do much other than incarnating Sekhmet and so technically not being there in the finale.

Annette in S1 was the writers' favorite. I wouldn't call her a Mary Sue because she was heavily flawed, but the story did nothing with those flaws, and mainly used her to tell a story about the darker side of the French Revolution (with vampires involved somehow). Now... I don't know. I really don't know what her arc was about. Strengthening her bonds with the spiritual realm, to the point of casually chatting with an Egyptian goddess? And getting with Richter, naturally.

I think what happened to her is that the writers still loved her and wanted her to look good and show how much Ricther loves her, but they simply didn't know how to fit her in the story because it's all a fucking mess. And, well, they had to give screentime to Alucard too :P

[yannaryartside]

Carmy and Luca teach the same way

and who may be the reason

Soooo I have this crazy theory, about what made Luca and Carmy teach the way they do in the present.

Luca and Carmy have a lot of things in common, like their passion and drive (and those tattoos omfg) but I want to bring some attention to how they treat the people who work for them, particularly when these people are making mistakes.

There is this scene in s1x02 in the new york flashback, you see a cook struggling with a sauce and asking Carmy for revision, and he just says something like "Not ready chef, again" he doesn't call her stupid or screams at her, he just gives the instruction even when they are in the heat of service, giving her the opportunity to correct her mistake, while the executive chef (a piece of shit) sends her home immediately, and then proceeds to insult Carmen. From what I have heard, the behavior of the executive chef is pretty common in the industry at this level, and Carmy comes from an abusive household, so who tf did he learn patience from?

Luca also has a "Not right chef, again," with Marcus, while practicing decorating a dessert. He gives him the opportunity to try again, he doesn't insult him or screams either.

You may think this can be their respective personalities. We know Carmy is gentle and generous at heart, he really wants to see people around him be well. But it seems tooo intentional to make both of them say pretty much the same line to somebody they are mentoring.

Both Luca and Carmy give compliments when they like something, and give direct instructions and explanations, even to people who are total newbies, like Marcus (Luca) and Tina (Carmy). Even when the norm in this industry is to make people feel bad so (hopefully) they are too afraid to make mistakes again, preserving a cult to toxicity.

SO HOW THE FUCK CARMY AND LUCA LEARNED TO BE BETTER?

I think it may be HER.

Again, it seems too intentional. The only thing in common between Carmy and Luca is working for her, and both preserve the motto: "every second counts", in their respective businesses. Like, It is a nice motto, but it may have some other feelings attached to it.

Why the fuck did they cast Olivia Coleman, one of the most wholesome and funny actresses now, that tends to be cast in "mother" roles, for this? They also gave her a sweet name: Chef Terry.

Just imagine the young and hungry Carmy and Luca working for this sweet pie. The only time we see her in "Forks" she is sharing a personal story with a person she has never seen, Richie, and is dedicating time and diligence to a task that is way below her pay grade. Carmy and Luca were both "comis" in her restaurant, also known as line cooks, and their roles were like a soldier to a general, they were not making orders, just regular-ass cooks in this great place. They probably had the opportunity to see Chef Terry give orders and pep talks. Probably both shocked at her personality and approach to her business.

All of her employees have this "service" mentality, instead of an "I am gonna look good and smoke you" mentality, that Carmy mentioned in his monologue. All of them have this motivation to make others happy, and they support one another, they support new ideas and crack jokes in their spare time. Like, all their scenes with Richie (that, sorry, had no talent or reputation for them, they just wanted to respect another fucking human being that wanted to improve) speak volumes.

Carmy and Luca could have learned from Chef Terry, that you can build people up, instead of tearing them apart. I think that would make sense.

I NEED THIS FASHBACK. A CONVERSATION THEY HAD WITH HER, OR HER JUST TALKING TO THE STAFF.

Man, and if it comes in a time when Carmy needs to remember how to be a good leader, from the most "mother" chef he has ever work under? Like man....

btw I really recommend this page if you are confused on the hierarchy of the kitchen:

Anyway, this may be a little of a stretch, but I just think it may be really wholesome, thank you for reading!

[gday-gecko]

read another stupid book 😭😭 god of fury by rina kent. (SPOILERS!!!)

Stupid, terrible book. Okay let's go.

There were so many repeated phrases like "prim and proper" and "fucked-up brain". I was already bored of Brandon and his "fucked-up brain" on page 19. Be a bit more creative, please. You don't have to bash me over the head with it.

The dialogue was SO unrealistic, like, people don't say these things??? Especially Clara. I get that she's supposed to be unliked, but that doesn't mean you can't make her at least talk normally. 😭 And the nicknames. "Lotus flower" sounds stupid, I don't care what anyone says. Yes, with their dynamic, Nikolai would give Brandon a nickname, but it doesn't have to be so fucking stupid. Plus, not everyone needs one—you don't have to get a nickname out of every name out there.

The smut was okay (that's a lie, no it wasn't, I nearly cried every time). (Also the dirty talk sucked.) (And boarder-line dubcon several times...)

She screams so loud, Dad shows up at the doorway, but he doesn't make a move. No, he just watches his son and his future son-in-law take the life of a woman and smiles.

I feel like that really captures the whole essence of the book... Just the mysoginy in these "dark romances", you know? (I know Grace was a bad person but the way it's said.)

Nikolai. He wasn't funny, everything that he did/said made me cringe so hard, it was gross. You can have manic or "insane" characters without them sounding fucking stupid. And WHY did he have to name his dick and TALK TO IT LIKE IT WAS SENTIENT WTH (plus discribing him like that when he's five?? ick). He just pissed me off so much. Brandon I disliked only slightly less.

For a book about "want" and "violence" and all those dark things, it didn't seem to show it. I felt like there was a lot of tell and not showing going on. The descriptions of Brandon's mental health could have been sooo much more graphic instead of using the same phrase over and over. And put some more feeling into it. How did Brandon and Nikolai actually feel. I could have written this so much better. Angst? Easy. (I have done it, it was so much fun.) (I am actually tempted to rewrite the goddamn thing.)

There was also just a general lack in character interactions. I didn't know Mia was Deaf until 75% of the way through. I feel like that's an important detail. (TBF, I do miss things but it should be clear enough that I can't miss it.) And Brandon and Lan's supposedly "great and loving" twin relationship? Is the relationship in the room with us? Just. Character interactions are fun. You get to show people's dynamics and make silly jokes and things. Plus you kinda need it for a story...

Also. What is it with these people and their cousins. I can't remember who's related to who and, not gonna lie, it's starting to sound incestuous.

Waste of my time.

this is basically word-for-word my storyboard review

I was looking at Goodreads reviews, and the amount of people that gave it 5 stars and said this was their first mlm 😭😭 Go read some good old AO3 smut, please.

And I was telling my mum about it (excluding some details, of course, like the TOTALLY UNNECESSARY amounts of smut) and she said, "Even I'm finding this book annoying, and I haven't even read it." (direct quote lol)

Genuinly this could have been such an interesting idea but it's just not executed properly.

My sincerest apologies to AFTG, but it does kind of remind me of it. I don't really know, just the manic behaviour of Andrew and Nikolai (yes, they are for different reasons) and mafia stuff, but I could never bring AFTG that low.

[abiiors]

im back again!

could u try to do a thing where reader tries to attempt the gaslighting thing from tiktok on matty

- esp with the like "do you ever wish you were tall" or "have you ever thought of trying to make actual music", or something like that

maybe even confuse him abt if u actually are a thing or not to the point he gets extremely jealous n clingy

Look at him!!! He’s so soft and pretty, how am I supposed to be mean to him? 😭😭 But for you, I’m going to give this a try…

I hope you like it ❤️

Grouch

Can I come over later?

His text from a few hours ago is still fresh in your mind. The excitement about him coming over has since doubled, tripled because you have a plan forming in your head. 

An evil plan brewing more like…

You can’t help but laugh giddily as you put on your nicest dress possible, as you scour Pinterest for the best “sultry makeup inspo”. You can’t help but laugh as the doorbell rings. 

This has to be strategically executed, it absolutely needs to be perfect. You have to greet him exactly like usual, with a smile and a kiss.

He raises an eyebrow when he comes in, eyes you from head to toe appreciatively and then pulls you in for another kiss. 

‘You look gorgeous, baby…’

You blush, shyly say a thank you, but the confused look on his face is back. 

‘I thought we were just going to stay in today?’

‘Well…yea, we are. I just thought I’d go out with Nick after you’ve left?’ You deserve an Oscar for the performance you’ve been putting on so far or at least an Emmy. 

His eyes narrow at the mention of another man’s name. ‘Who’s Nick?’ he tries to be all cool and nonchalant but you can already see the cogs of his brain working overtime trying to place that name. 

Nothing’s going to occur to him, however. Because Nick isn’t a real person, he’s only a prompt for this prank. You let him mull that over in his head for a bit as you make your way to the kitchen. It doesn’t escape your notice how he follows you like a puppy. 

‘Oh, Nick?’ you try to look at him through innocent doe eyes.

‘Yea, do I know him?’

‘Oh well, I don’t know. He runs that bakery in town, remember? I always talk about how much I love their brownies,’ you prod on. Even sigh wistfully for dramatic effect. 

Matty, however, looks like he’s swallowed sour milk. 

‘And what are you doing with him?’ 

You shrug in response, turn around to grab some mugs from the shelf. You even make sure to stand on your toes to grab them from the highest shelf. It wouldn’t hurt if he sees how good your ass looks in these jeans…

‘He said the bakery was going to be closed today,’ you fiddle with the mugs, try to find the right ones, stall time so you won’t have to look at him during this part. ‘I asked him if he could teach me how to bake, so that’s what we’re doing today.’

You turn back to him and smile cheerfully. 

‘So is he teaching a class?’ he asks hopefully, ‘like with multiple other people?’

‘Oh, no,’ you smile excitedly, ‘this is a special one-on-one.’

‘A special one-on-one?’ his jaw hangs open slightly as if he can’t believe what you’re trying to imply. For a moment you wonder if you’re going too far but this is just starting to get funny.

You click your tongue, ‘you know what I mean…’

There’s a beat of silence when you’re both silent. He’s trying to figure out what to say and you’re trying to hold the laughter in.

‘Baby, I could teach you how to bake,’ he grumbles, ‘Fuck, youtube could teach you that.’

‘Yea but he’s a professional,’ you laugh and press a chaste little kiss to his cheek. ‘Besides, do you even know how to make brownies?’

‘It’s not like it’s rocket science,’ he rolls his eyes. ‘And what’s so good about this guy anyway?’ 

‘He’s French,’ you answer as if that explains everything. Matty can make of that whatever he wants to.

You turn around, put the kettle on and start walking away to get some snacks but he’s not about to let you… Not so fast.

In one smooth movement, he hooks two fingers in the back pocket of your jeans and pulls you flush against his chest.

‘I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but you didn’t seriously think you were going to a special session with this dickhead, did you?’

The possessiveness in his voice sends shivers down your spine and makes your mouth go dry. 

‘Especially not looking like that.’

His mouth hovers just above your ear and you know he felt that shiver just now. 

‘No?’ you try to sound confused but it just comes out breathy.

‘Yea, no French asshole is about to get one-on-one time with my girl,’ he declares. And just like that he’s back to being annoyed and huffy.

Your already-weakening resolve breaks instantly as you turn to hide your face in his chest and burst out into a fit of giggles. 

‘Oh god, you really…you really fell for it,’ you try to get the words out between giggles and he frowns. 

‘What do you mean?’

‘You,’ you jab a finger in his chest, ‘Matty Healy who is almost chronically online doesn’t know what a TikTok trend is?’

You look at his face, see him go through all five phases of grief at once. You can feel the tears running down your cheeks, smudging your eye makeup but his face is just too funny. 

‘You’re an asshole,’ he mutters but holds onto your waist just as tightly 

‘Grouch,’ you tease as you stand on your toes once again and start peppering kisses all over his face. ‘Would it help if I say the clothes and the makeup are for you?’

‘Whatever,’ he rolls his eyes, looks at a random spot on the wall but he hasn’t exactly pulled away from you. If anything, he’s leaning into them. 

‘And would it help if I say Nick’s not a real person?’

‘He’s not?’ Of course, that piques his interest but he’s quick to put the annoyed mask back in place, ‘I mean, yea sure. Why do I care?’

‘You really don’t care?’ you pout, press a feathery kiss on his jaw. To his credit, he manages not to close his eyes and sigh at the kiss. 

‘Are you mad at me?’ you look at him through your eyelashes and even make your lip wobble for the added effect. 

That’s the trick that does it. He stops focusing on the wall and looks back at you again. 

‘This is so unfair!’ he grumbles. ‘I can’t even stay mad at you.’

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S04E07 - A Stab in the Dark Web Part B

"We've got a surveillance team in place." That's great. Will you remember this in a few hours? Will they, even? Why were they so "discreet" as to let Eva near Charlie's laptop when they knew she shouldn't be on it?

Sarah is not jealous AT ALL. Nope. Not picking up anything.

"I'm so going to take advantage of this information."

Like, how can I not pin this on the whole team? Joe suggested that Charlie's place was the best place for Eva to be in, when they already thought that they were compromised, which meant that they should have assumed their home addresses were compromised as well. Charlie leaves Eva alone at his house so that Rex can go pee instead of calling either Sarah or Jesse to take him out, which would leave one cop in the van and one guarding Eva, instead of having two in the van (which helps at nothing) and zero in the house. Then we have the house which is supposedly under surveillance by Jesse and Sarah, supposedly watching, but they don't alert Charlie to the fact that Eva touched his laptop. Once Charlie realizes that she's done that, he takes her explanation at face value and doesn't ask Jesse to check his laptop.

The graphic for the disappearing chat messages on the dark web is fun.

I've had some contact with libertarians over the years, more than I'd personally like. All the talk about revolutions and whatnot, and their fondness for the dark web are indeed real. When crypto had first risen, lots of them were salivating at the idea of an unregulated and anonymous form of currency, and even more when they discovered private cryptocurrencies (which supposedly offer an extra layer of anonymity). It's funny, though, that they thought even for a bit that governments and banks would let them do that. Anyway, what I want to say is that Joe wouldn't know how to talk to that person at all. But let's disregard that.

"I can't believe that I left her with a laptop and she opened it! I said no electronics!"

And then he gives her his phone too. Forget Sarah, why didn't Jesse burst into the house?

It's true that the way some drugs are regulated actually hinders some people who could benefit from them, instead of helping. Still, in that moment, Eva is pretty much selling a sob story to Charlie, which isn't even the whole truth since she also needed those drugs for herself, to try to get him on her side.

This is a very appropriate distance.

Sarah looks like she'd fallen asleep and just woke up for the good part. Which would actually make more sense than whatever they were doing in the van with Jesse.

First time I watched this I was like, eh, let the guy kiss someone if it's not Sarah. I hadn't realized he was entering his slut era. Also, yeah, Sarah, they are, this is a very astute observation.

And Jesse is entering his pervert era.

I can't decide if he was thinking "I'm so screwed" or "I wonder if Sarah is watching".

I love that Rex is thoroughly disappointed by that development. Rex was all of us in S4.

And then the ninjas attacked. I'm assuming our surveillance is too busy watching the Charlie Hudson show to see the guy approaching the house?

Dude had knives everywhere. Charlie was lucky he wasn't hit (and I was unlucky).

"I'm having a really bad day. Thank you for letting me get off some steam."

This is the only slightly disapproving look I can find. I mean, given the circumstances, she could have said something.

What a plot twist! She lied and she used you, Charlie. Also, again, where were the rest of you when she was using Charlie's laptop?

More bad news.

I... have questions. Like, where did the paramedics go? Did she make them abandon the ambulance? And was that before or after she tied Rex to the stretcher? This scene was executed sloppily.

Congratulations, you finally figured out why he wouldn't leave Eva's side. I think that played a part in Charlie trusting Eva.

Their brilliant ideas to subdue an angry guard dog is: pet behind the ears, put jazz music... Are you kidding me? At least Jesse thought of food.

I feel like they should have made Mercurius seem more scary and money-hungry or even power-hungry.

In which season?

Sorry, that's just funny. I really don't think he's ever made the first move.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Oh god, he still doesn't get it. Because it was easier for her to manipulate you when you didn't have all the facts!

Bold of you to assume that Charlie would follow, but he's definitely not at his best. This is actually using Rex as Charlie's weakness, unlike the previous episode. Although I don't think Charlie should risk that jump regardless. Also, really, a dog wouldn't have made it? I find that hard to believe, they seem like better jumpers than humans. And have more legs.

Yeah, even at his worst, he will do the right thing.

Oh, yeah, we forgot all the hitmen that might come for her. Whoops.

The more they show that cliff, the more confident I become that Rex would have survived it and Charlie wouldn't.

Angst.

Joe: "There's nothing you or any of us could have done." Except for your jobs, but better?

Poor Charlie. He's definitely not okay. I wish they'd written something deeper about what's wrong with him.

And this is Eva letting Charlie know that she made it and even had time to hack the app to let him know that she's okay.

I like this episode but it always makes me think of what it could have been if it was another show, another production and another network involved.

Once again, I'd like to focus on the fact that after a certain point in the episode where it becomes clear that Charlie's head is not in the game, no one says anything about it. No one pulls him back, no one asks if he's okay or even what the fuck he's doing. I guess they keep all the second-guessing for the last episode of the season. Charlie tried to do his job until the very end but I think the distractions were just too much for him and they're indicative of his state of mind.

And they all made mistakes. I still don't know where to pin the surveillance failure, there were two people in the van. They should have intervened in two separate instances, one to take the laptop away from Eva and one to intercept the masked guy who also might have strolled right next to the van. Am I to presume that they put cameras inside the house and not outside? Where they suspecting Eva more than they suspected someone would show up to kill her? In both cases, they failed.

Again, this less than stellar performance from our characters is a great reason for Adele to show up and say that they need more oversight. But some part of this would have to make it to the reports for that to happen.

I've written thoughts on this episode before. I'd pointed out that Eva notices some sort of kinship and attraction between her and Charlie and she tries to use them to her advantage. Which is why the morality of their kiss is more complex than it seems at first glance. At first glance it might seem like he's the one taking advantage. He's not. Is it still wrong that he let her kiss him, and from the way the scene is shot, for several seconds too? Yes. But I remember from the first moment this episode came out, reading about how he was in a position of power. And in that scene, to me, he always comes off as... powerless. Lost.

I understand the contradictory opinions this episode causes. Personally, I like the episodes where there is an upset. We have too many episodes where everything feels like another day on the job, and it doesn't seem to affect them in either way and the repercussions begin and end in that episode. In this one we do see Charlie visibly upset. I'd have liked to see the rest of the team more worried about him or even frustrated and not understanding his predicament. I'd have liked friction more than getting a mention in the finale. There was something there worth exploring.

I'll say again that it would have been a much better storyline to write something about depression or PTSD for Charlie rather than heartbreak throughout the season. Or a combination. He has been through a lot. Maybe I'm asking again too much of this show and this belongs to fanfictions.

[lazyrants]

Pixel TV (prod 212)

Original airdate: February 15, 2007

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Mani Svavarrson, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Jonathan Judge

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess

If someone randomly asked me to name the ninth episode of season two of LazyTown, it'd take me forever to remember what it was. So, Pixel TV is pretty much unknown to me.

The episode begins with Sportacus going to his screen, and Pixel is on his screen, telling him he's live in four seconds. Sportacus tells the camera that LazyTown is always moving and so are we. Then he does a buncha cool moves.

In his house, Pixel is managing his antenna and is talking to the LazyTown people on his TV screens. He's set up a LazyTown TV channel with good moves, good food and go, go, go! Stephanie will be doing Sportscandy, Bessie and Milford will be doing news, Ziggy and Stingy will be doing their cooking show (probably the funniest segment), and Trixie's doing a talk show (that's why she called Loud Girl).

Everyone has LazyTown TV, even Robbie, and for some reason, the LazyTown theme song plays on his television. He changes to Bing Bang, he changes to Sportacus eating, he changes to Pixel. And at the end of it all, he says.. 'they have their own TV show?!' and doesn't he know it.

Robbie decides if they can have their own TV shows, he can too - since he's handsome, talented and smart. If you're so smart, try actually coming up with a plan that works. Anyways, he has a mini TV that fits on his arm, and now it's time for Stephanie's show. He says he needs a disguise and goes to.. an empty purple box. It makes more sense when you see all his disguises being dropped via a chute.

Colours is performed, and that song really annoys me because mid-way through there is a random cut to Sportacus. I am all for Sportacus scenes, but I'm also all for LazyTown songs. During the song, Robbie steals almost all her Sportscandy, leaving one strawberry. LOL.

Due to that, she cannot make her Sportscandy Rainbow Smoothie (for some reason she keeps on breathing during every word. Sportscandy *sigh* rainbow smoothie.) & Pixel is going to switch to the news so he gets into his Rob R. Robley costume.

When Stephanie turns the camera on (she films and and has her own TV show.. remind you of a blue elf?), Milford doesn't talk. Pixel tells him to go. He asks, 'Go where?' 'You're on!' 'On where?' Haha. I love this season. Then Stephanie tells him the camera is on and to start reading the LazyTown Good News - Three butterflies on the sports field, and new flowers. This town would be so peaceful if it wasn't for Robbie. Speaking of Rob, he shows up with a fan, that blows away his wig and notes.

It's even funnier when you think that someone who was helping write this episode (I'm guessing Mani) said 'Let's give Milford a wig purely to blow it off.' XD! Now, Robley takes his place (Bessie is visibly angry, showing that she doesn't like him purely to use him).

So he announces a buncha lies - Sports Candy makes you sick and all sports has been outlawed forever. By Pixel's request, Stephanie switches over to Bessie's weather show. But Rob takes that pole thingy Bessie's holding and grabs it so hard she falls.

Rob says 'let's take a look at the weather' & signals for Stephanie to pan the camera up. Once she does, he says 'let's take a look at the weather' once again. WHY IS THIS FUNNY? WHY IS STEFAN SO FUNNY?? He takes off the birds, suns, clouds & adds a bunch of storm and rain, telling everyone it's too dangerous to go outside so they must stay inside doing nothing. Now Trixie's doing her yap show.

She's supposed to have a guest, but doesn't then she starts yelling at Pixel about how she needs a guest. Considering the fact he set up an entire TV channel, I think his brain can comprehend it, Loud Girl. Robbie disguises himself as her guest - some apparently famous dude called Purple Legend. Trixie yells at Pixel as he told her they were gonna have interesting guests (PL got steamrolled!), and PL says he eats ice-cream, cookies and candy all day, sleeps till noon, and Trixie says those are both boring. So, PL jumps on the chair out of anger! LOL!!

Trixie says if he's so interesting, he should do something like sing or juggle or DANCE, and he decides to do some weird Irish leg dance or something. Trixie is laughing. LITERALLY.

PL purposefully bumps into the camera, ending the show since the camera broke. And they switch over to Ziggy & Stingy's cooking show, but for some reason, Stingy can't say anything. He tells Ziggy to introduce the show, which he does. They are going to make a castle with apples, and Stingy tells us the ingredients are apples (WOWZA!), 50 of them. Ziggy corrects him by saying fourty-nine since he's eaten one. But they're interrupted by Chef Robert, who cancels them both.

And he is making the most delicious food in history of food - the sugar candy chocolate candy ice-cream gooey-ooey yummy cake. The ingredients - 2 bars of chocolate, a ridiculously excessive amount of sugar, and the candy. The worst part is that he doesn't even take the wrappers off the chocolate bar, or the lollipops off their sticks. Ziggy says it looks delicious but unhealthy.

Robert asks if he's a chef who went to cooking school wearing a big white hat. The answer is of course, no, and he yells at him to go away. The next step is to put the mix in the fridge, but he steps on an apple he threw on the ground, slips and falls, and now the mix is on his head. Slapstick moment.

Anyways, Steph and Trixie managed to get the camera up and running, and now comes the best of all - Bessie's puppet show. I'm being sarcastic, this sucks.

(During it, Pixel complains since this is being broadcast worldwide.) Robbie sees the puppet show, and he says 'Puppets, now they've gone too far!' LOL. He decides now he has to stop the TV station once and for all, and he does that.. with a gorilla outfit. And the way he does it? Instead of scaring him into stopping it, he CLIMBS UP PIXEL'S ANTENNA AND SHAKES IT.

The TV's now all glitchy and stuff, but he shakes too hard and almost falls down. Luckily, Sportacus appears (where ya been dude?) to save the gorilla. Milford is going live with LazyTown Good News. This is sure to make headlines! Milford asks the gorilla what he's doing up there, and he RESPONDS with 'I'm breaking this antenna forever!' But when he falls, Sportacus attaches a hook to Pixel's roof, causing it to open so the gorilla lands in his house. Once he does, the head falls off, and it's revealed that Robbie was doing all this nonsense instead of .. just.. not watching TV.

It turns out well in the end as Milford tells everyone it's just Robbie, Sportacus goes back, & Stingy films Steph doing the Bing Bang. No Sportacus power jump unfortunately. In the lair, Robbie is attempting to forget about the day with ice-cream, but a news report about the day is played on the channel.

And he yells. THE END!

8/10 - Great plot, funny dialogue!

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

The age-old question: Is Kokichi the villain?

Ves: this one whiplashes back and forth from objectively correct to SO SO WRONG so much idk how to feel

Me: well, they're right on their main point and simplified some things to get there and at the end he's an anti-hero, not a villain

Ves: i get being frustrated with woobfication but acting like the cast NEVER treated him unfairly is. UHHHHH Kokichi Is An Asshole, But! - my thesis statement also "bragging about how he got two people killed without a hint of genuine remorse" not a HINT!? NOTHING?? YOU CAN'T REMEMBER A SINGLE THING FROM THAT POSTTRIAL THAT SEEMED REMORSEFUL TO YOU!? 'start looking at him as a villain instead of a clueless victim' this is NOT a zero sum game both of those options r wrong

Me: they treated him Like That before he earned it and in his speech at the end of the 4th trial there's a portion when he says he's just stepping up to what's expected from him

Ves: NO LITERALLYYY THE SCENE IN THE DEATH ROAD LIKE….

Me: he was asking to be executed too, but sure, no remorse

Ves: what are we defining as remorse?? because that seems like literally the most remorseful a person could get to me oohhh i forgot remorse can mean REGRET yeah he's not very regretful neither is gonta! they're both crushed w guilt but that's not the same i guess

Me: the whole. everyone believing him when the lies fit what they want to see. bullshit he's a liar until he's saying he's evil, until he's taking something back, because surely he wouldn't lie about lying without saying the catchphrase

Ves: yeag like,,,when it's 'half my lies are told with good intentions' and 'i'm just trying to give gonta good advice, he'll get killed being so naive' and 'monokuma is going to make you suffer for cooperation like he did kaede' and so on and so on…. that's DEFINITELY a lie guys

Me: he left room to be seen through, he gave hints, he gave so many opportunities for them to get it, that he can't be doing it openly, but they went in with pre-packaged distrust specifically for him I love the theory that Tsumugi had them brainwashed to be opposed to him as a default to push him into his role

Ves: you're right but i wouldn't even describe it as HINTS, he has TWO SEPARATE MONOLOGUES about the danger of public cooperation that honestly monokuma should've clocked [sob emoji] but that's getting more into danganronpa writing than kokichi's morals i love giving him stuff that makes them inherently unnerved by him from the beginning

Me: this is also related to how much of "script" I believe there was for the game, I think they were given cues for how they're supposed to feel, little unconscious suggestions, a vague outline set with motives, nothing actually set in stone, the flashback making machine wouldn't need multiple options if there was a whole defined script that's expected to be executed to a t

Ves: i always thought tsumugi's claim that everything was scripted didn't. make sense. but i can never really feel out how much of it was

Me: she gave them roles, and then left them to improvise, she also has a lot of lines that cue you in on what she wants you to think of other characters, she wouldn't need to be doing that if she already controlled what you thought of them, but she's checking in, if you'll agree

Ves: truuuuee the way she talks about gonta always makes me shudder and the way she talks about kokichi always makes me giggle SNDJBHSHF she's sooo bitchy about him i love her

Me: she wants to shoehorn him into being a classic antagonist so bad and he just doesn't fit, like, I could swear she makes a reference to Nagito at least once when talking about him

Ves: THE WAY SHE TALKS ABT RANTAROU FITS THAT REALLY WELL TOO she KEEPS bringing up him being the fanservice character a playboy and he keeps shooting her down

Me: She fucking hates Rantaro and it's so funny, what did he dooo that finally puts her calling him a normie in a context, he ruined a cliché she was trying to pull, that's punishable by death

Ves: it's like when she yells at shuuichi in the FTEs for trying to say she isn't plain

Sini: I will say this, even though he did in fact show remorse in that instance I can’t blame the others for still being bitchy and pissed with him. Even if he had a good reason, which he did, what he did was still majorly fucked up. He was an asshole throughout the whole trial, an asshole to Gonta until that one moment, and then led him to his brutal death. I’m not saying how they treated him at that moment was good, but they aren’t really going to be thinking too rationally after all that. Ig one thing you could say is that they tend to not treat other culprits like Kirumi that way, but in that case I’d say they should’ve overall had written the characters reactions post trial or what not differently in general

Ves: oh no i absolutely think how the characters treat kokichi after ch4 is justified. i just think the op's casual dismissal is. UHHHH shoulda specified i was talking abt them and not the cast, sorry! kokichi was absolutely an asshole and deserved to get treated like one, but i think op fell too in line with the characters

Me: it was a situation where everyone sucked, nobody ever could begin to be equipped to deal with this shit, and so, nobody handled it well the end of the world was involved

Sini: Yeah, like, he’s a liar. Everyone only assumed he must be lying when trying to be helpful or didn’t mean well when he was spitting straight facts. No one bothered to listen to him. I get he’s an asshole, but fuck man, they cozied up to Maki. Wth is her excuse?

Ves: maki is the wall i always run into here maki is just as mean as he is and FARRR more dangerous but. her being an assassin was added later than her being a waifu

Mauri: i love maki. but in canon why the fuck did everyone love her she choked him out after he revealed that she was a fucking TRAINED KILLER and no one was worried abt that ??? kodaka dont make every single female character waifu bait challenge (almost impossible bc miu my love my life)

Ves: they literally cut to the next day when they're all looking through her lab and not ONCE do they comment on how that debacle…ended. DID ANYONE HELP HIM???

Sini: If Kokichi was a girl, I swear, things would’ve been a little different

Ves: if kokichi was a girl but written the same ppl'd say he EATS BABIES if he was written like kodaka likes to write women he WOULD eat babies but it'd be like, fine

Sini: Kokichi literally revealed a threat to the cast. And yet they still treat him like he’s this big villain….WHAT? Okay, but literally people treat Celeste better than Kokichi. Celeste is worse than Kokichi in everyway (personality wise)

Me: Celeste is evil in such a simple way, it's easy to brush over she's just greedy, a materialistic girl in a materialistic world, who could blame her? murder? god forbid women do anything

Sini: She’s very slay, but it’s just shitty cause you know people only excuse her cause she’s a cute girl

[thevoidstaredback]

Hi i don't know if you take writing requests but if you do could you write a villain with mind reading powers?

I most definitely will take writing requests! Though, I won't write anything that makes me uncomfortable. Villains, though, I can do.

I will warn that this is gonna have some heavy topics, so here's your Content Warning: Affair outside wedlock, intense invasions of privacy, briefly implied transphobia, threats/execution of threats against a school/students

You wanted a villain, so here's a tragic villain with a backstory. Lemme know what you think🖤

(Like all my stories, this is not beta read/peer reviewed)

The Outlier

Max had known since he was a kid that he was special; stranger than other kids. For as long as he could remember, he was different; the outlier.

The first give away was the way his parents looked at him. Side eyes when they thought he wasn't looking. Whispers when they thought he couldn't hear. Smiles that didn't seem genuine, and only got faker as he got older.

The second tell was the looks he got from other kids. Girls weren't supposed to like the colour blue. Girls weren't supposed to like action figures and bugs. Good thing he's not a girl, then.

The third, and biggest thing, was that he could hear voices. They didn't usually talk to him directly, and were mostly whispers in the wind. When he told his parents, they told him it was cute to have imaginary friends. His parents were his parents, so they must've been right when they said he'd grown out of them.

But the voices didn't go away. They only got louder.

By the time he was ten years old, he could match the voices in his head to those of his classmates. The one always thinking about how cute Joshua is was Cindy's voice. The one constantly thinking about lunch and recess was Ethan.

All of the voices were so mundane and never really strayed from their normal thoughts. The bigger voices, though, the voices of adults, were interesting to listen to.

His teacher, Mrs. Kingston, only ever had three topics on her mind: Anticipation to get away from her students, her next lesson, or how cute Mr. Spring - who is not her husband - was.

Shame. Max liked this teacher. Oh, well.

As Max got older, the voices got louder, but he could still ignore them as though they were white noise. He'd even managed to figure out how to focus on one voice, making it louder while the rest faded out.

That's how he found out, in middle school, that the eighth grade chemistry teacher, Ms. Adam, was planning to blow the joint. Literally.

Her class had been working with some chemicals that, while mixed in small, were harmless, but were deadly in large amounts.

She, apparently, was on a downward spiral and no one knew anything. Well, almost no one. Max had known Ms. Adam was going through some stuff, but he'd always filtered her out. Not his circus, not his monkey.

Regardless, he needed to tell someone. If he didn't, then the whole school would be blown up by the end of tomorrow! As much as he hated school, he had grown attached to some of the people here. Besides, he quite liked living in spite of everyone he didn't think he deserved to. It was funny to watch them turn red.

Maybe that should've been the first red flag.

The second the bell rang, he was in the halls and quickly moving to the principal's office. He'd know what to do! He's an adult! He's the adult in charge of the rest of the adults, so they had to listen to him!

But adults don't believe children. Children don't know any better. Children don't know anything.

But Max did. Max knee everyone. Max knew people and their thoughts better than anyone else. And Max knew, for a fact, that the adults had failed him.

He managed to get thirty-two students out and to the far side of the field before the building went up in flames.

It was that event that ultimately brought him to where he now was.

He'd always been a smart kid, using other people's inner dialogues on top of his own knowledge to get things done. In a year, he amassed a following of other kids. Kids that had been failed by adults. Kids that shouldn't have had to grow up before their time. Kids who had only ever wanted to be kids.

Together, they grew. Together, they quietly took over the crime ring in the city. Together, the planned for expansion into the world. Now, together, they would take over the city. Then, together, they would work to take over the country.

If the adults were going to fail the children, then there was no need for them. The system was broken by adults who intended for their children to fix it, so the children were going to fix it. Adults had no place in the new system.

Max became The Outlier. The children he'd taken on as his own, despite being younger than a lot of them, became The Mavericks. Adults all over had become The Unwanted.

The Outlier would not allow The Mavericks to kill. He would rather have the blood haunting his nightmares for all eternity than to let even a drop stain the hands of a child. A group of older kids, however, disagreed. They named themselves Bohemians and they became his generals. They became the kill order. And The Mavericks never knew execution.

There were some who opposed the ordered death of The Unwanted, but they were few and far between. If they spoke too loudly, they became a part of the Court. They spoke in favor of adults, acting as their jury when brought before The Outlier and Bohemians. They never won a case.

Max had made it known, when he had taken over the city, that it was adults that had failed him - them - so it was adults that would pay.

Children were innocent, unable to do any wrong. They were to be protected from the people that would only continue to fail them.

But, quietly, in the privacy and secrecy of his room, Max dreaded the day he'd grow up. It's inevitable, he know, but he still fears that he'd become like them. He didn't want to be an adult because he didn't want to fail anyone.

Storyboard

[edgarbright]

Ikemen Vampire Main Route // Charles chapter 23 thoughts

tl;dr Charles and his story are driving me insane and I love it so much

CHARLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy shi-- That scene in the church was SO GOOD, FULL COURSE MEAL, PERFECT BAD-END TYPE OF CONTENT, I GOT TEARS IN MY EYES.

I was ready to murder Vlad if it turned out to JUST be a dream lol (MC's reaction and response at the end were so on point so thank you, girl.) I hadn't completely forgotten that moment two chapters ago between MC and Vlad before she suddenly woke up in the mansion (I am an Ikerev Loki gal, after all, so this isn't my first fake reality rodeo) but the church scene was so good it kind of pushed that moment to the back of my mind.

Because at the same time, I remembered the preview trailer where they showed Charles's CG of him bleeding out in the church while the voice over had him apologizing for his crimes and for being born. I thought this was going to be the moment.

So the MC and I were both in denial that he was dead while she feels his body going cold in her arms :')

And all the while MC is talking about the things Charles wasn't able to experience, like seeing the sunrise over the ocean, and that she needed to keep her promise with him. She asks Le Comte to bring Charles back.

Cue me nodding my head and getting intrigued at the idea of Charles being freed from the Cult of Vlad (affectionate) and getting to live the idle, wealthy lifestyle of one of le Comte's collection.

Except le Comte says he can't, he can't, because he can't sense any desire to live coming from Charles. (And the way le Comte said it breaks my heart because you could tell he regretted being unable to help.)

At last, after trying so hard, Charles had truly and utterly given up on everything. And he did it in the most horribly perfect way: as the God of Death, as a man who had experience executing thousands of people with both axe and guillotine, he killed himself with one perfect strike.

(And while I greatly appreciate the fact Cybird acknowledged his expertise to let him die with such quick precision, insert a hundred more pictures of the crying hamster here because my heart is broken!!!)

Fun fact: between Ikevamp and Ikevil, this is the third route in a row that I've read that has dealt with a suicidal Love Interest (which, hello, Cybird, that is a wild stat??? why do you have so many LI like this??) At this point in the story, however, I feel like Charles has the route that has best handled the topic in a narrative-rich and nuanced way.

Charles is so incredibly tragic and real that he's looking for hope to the point of endangering himself. He's sweet and funny and wildly friendly. He's also drowning in his tragedy and so he clings to people who might save him, such as Vlad, someone he even calls a God, someone who promises him a better world, a world where he doesn't have to experience the things that hurt him, a world where he can be happy and loved and accepted. I was thoroughly entranced in the scene where MC gets kidnapped (at last lol) and she sees how easily Charles defaults his will away to Vlad. Even though Charles asks questions several times which show his hesitancy and doubts, it becomes clear he isn't seeking truth. What he really wants are reassurances that this is right, that this is OK, that he's not making a mistake.

(He is an executioner through and through: someone else makes the choice for him. It's not his place to judge or decide.)

But in this way, Charles is just so wildly victim-coded to me in that I can clearly see him accepting abuse if it were called by any other name. When he speaks of his house calls, when he offers to let MC do anything--anything!--she wants to him, when we witness the group of men he lets beat him up (because he could have kept his truth without letting them abuse him), I dread to think what violence has been done to him in the dark streets of Paris that he has accepted in the past under the guise of the word love.

So the fact chapter 22 and 23 showed Charles realizing the solution to all his moral and ethical and emotional turmoil is to stop struggling and die, and that the story actually lets him succeed--albeit in a "highly possible future" scenario that Vlad reinforces will surely come to pass again at some point--hurt me in the best kind of way and I'm looking forward to how this route ends.

But Charles's highly probable suicide also brings up the question of why did Vlad pick Charles, of all people, to bring back as a vampire? Was Charles simply an ideal follower? Because the the key promise Vlad makes with Charles seems to make Charles somewhat useless for his plans: Charles won't have to kill anyone. What use is a perfect executioner who refuses to raise the sword?

The dynamic of Vlad, Faust, and Charles is wonderful though and I hope Vlad gives us a straight answer for the reason of his original experiment of MC teaching Charles love.

(Maybe helping Charles was Vlad's true experiment all along.)

[creativriot]

Oughhh considering everyone is posting their sonic 3 thoughts

Basically it was better than I expected but not exactly a cinematic replacement for SA2

-I keep seeing people referring to the “Talk about a low budget flight! No food or movies? I’m outta here!” As a snapcube reference like no babes that’s from the original game I-

-upwards akira slide goes crazy

-absolutely adored the visual nods to the Shadow the hedgehog game. Also love how it looks like they tried to get the shadow meteor to look as black-armsy as possible considering Black Doom was absolutely not going to show up here.

-I honestly feel like they executed Maria’s death the best way they could, finding a balance to have it be like…caused by GUN without having a soldier absolutely lock in his shot on a child. Bro said fuck them kids fr 💀

-while #notmygerald the writing for the dude was better than I initially anticipated.

-there are moments where the film just doesn’t feel…confident? Like it cuts to a joke after having a serious moment way too quickly instead of letting the moment sit, and it’ll flashback to a scene that wasn’t too long ago to make sure you remember what they’re talking about. Straight up the moment where Shadow points to his chest telling sonic to finish him off only for Sonic to realize what he’s done would’ve been way more impactful if it wasn’t interrupted by a flashback.

-While I would prefer to have the beast in the flesh, having the biolizard be a goofy b movie kaiju in an old film was kinda cute ngl.

-insert joke about shadows punch not being enough to kill Tom. Like yea I knew they weren’t actually gonna do it but c’mon man don’t play with me like that- (/j/j/j if you like the human characters that’s more power to you)

-as excited as I was to see the GUN Robots in love action, it wasn’t really that good of a replacement for the Final Hazard fight but like! It still did what it needed to do! And honestly I’m a sucker for robots. and honestly even though it isn’t the perfect translation to Adventure 2 to the big screen as I had wished it’s not like I can’t play SA2 anymore.

-while I’m absolutely elated they didn’t chicken out and make GUN the good guys, I feel like their moral ambiguity could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. Like initially when commander Rockwell (had to google her name lmao) was looking for the Eclipse canon key and seemed frustrated that it wasn’t on the commander I was expecting the twist to be she had plans to use it for her own goals and it was gonna be a three way race between Sonic, Egg-men and GUN.

-to be honest there are plot points and whatever that felt like they needed more time to be developed but this is a movie so whatever

- THE SCENE WHERE SHADOW LOOKS SO CONFUSED, SCARED AND HURT WHILE BEING PUT INTO CRYOSTASIS??? /pos

-personally didn’t get the scorpion Vs mantis thing? Like I get the part that they’re scientists, brains over brawn and whatever but the exact choice to execute it like that felt a lil…idk strange? But anyways I wanna believe the whole Gerald scorpion thing is a potential nod to Spinball- I wanna believe.

-dunno how to feel about Gerald’s death like as funny as just ceasing to exist was nothing is ever gonna top that he deadass canonically died by firing squad 💖

-Yea like a Pavlovian bell I started getting emotional when the soundtrack started referencing the Final Scene track from SA2. SA2 was such a good game dude I hope it gets some sort of remaster at some point. Fuck dude. But on that note THE CREDITS SAID CITY ESCAPE? I MUST BE DEAF AS FUCK I DID NOT HEAR THAT SHIT 😭

POST CREDIT THOUGHTS

-As much as I expected Eggman to get killed off because of the whole Carrey retiring situation, a tad bit bummed because In my mind the perfect metal reveal would be if sonic & co. Didn’t know, and during a confrontation with ‘eggman’ the Liquid Metal melts away to reveal our favorite metal blue boy. Alas 😔

-yea obsessed with Metal showing up in the post credits sequence. I’m not sure if it’s implied sonic went fast enough to travel to the future? But like. I’m hoping that it’s not JUST Amy and she like takesss sonic to meet her friends so we can get a live action big n cream? I heard some people hoping for blaze and like yea.

-please I need SCU big. He better have whiskers and he better be the sweetest boy under the sun.

-METAL OVERLORD IN SONIC 4 OR BUST 🗣️

-felt the shadow reveal was abit lacking. Like yea ofc they’re not gonna kill off the biggest cash cow SEGA has. They could’ve at least used the “he’s still alive” reveal to introduce at LEAST OMEGA. On that note I’m curious how they’d execute his character IF they do 🤔

TLDR JUST PLAY SONIC ADVENTURE 2 /j

[softpine]

@bb-enablefreebuild LITERALLYYYYYYY i even have this exact image saved in my asa & finn web weaving folder jfksjds it's so them, even the hands 😭

@forgotten-pixels oh yeah he definitely has a wikipedia page!! his first single was a pretty big hit and even though his other work hasn't been as mainstream, he's contributed to a bunch of other artists' work so he's still well known in certain circles. i also think he's JUST famous enough to get those weird AI generated articles written about him, like "remember the guy who sang [song title from 15 years ago]? this is him now!!" because he's not well known enough for people to realize it's false / clickbait lmao. (btw you never have to apologize for asking questions!! i love them at any time 🥺)

asa has a regular phone but he may as well not have one at all because he quite literally never charges it or brings it anywhere fjkjsds stevie is the one who's always switching out her phone case & never gets around to putting a screen protector on so her screen is definitely cracked, i think elaine probably loses her phone the most on accident, and jada will say she lost her phone even when it's ringing in her hand because she just doesn't want to answer. if we still had texting limits stevie would use that shit up in half an hour, if that!!

his intentions were good...... his execution however..... leaves a lot to be desired

i'm so sorry my brain cannot even think about april fools right now without the dan and phil brainrot fully taking over 😭😭😭 no other pranks exist in my brain at the moment i can't even think of any sjksjd i could definitely see mikaela & danny pranking each other though

HELPPP this is so funny but i'm gonna have to say casper, there is no way he knows what that is

thank you for the idea!! i'm trying to avoid sending people a patreon link for written work; even if it's free (and it would be), there's still a connotation that it would cost money and i'm afraid no one would even click the link to read it (plus i've already used my patreon for cc so i'm afraid i would annoy the people who followed me for that content). ughhhh but thank you for trying :(

i'm really bummed about substack because it looked like the easiest way to accomplish what i want to accomplish but i'm sure i'll find something eventually. thanks for the interest 🥺

i would love to, but tumblr has a 30 pic limit and also i need to cut myself off at some point because otherwise i could literally spend months on 1 single post lmao 😭

you were right :P :P

i forgot about that too!! iirc wasn't it just dependent on the number of sims you have & their ages? asa bounces between caroline's and danny's houses so he would change the difficulty, but the mayfields would always have the highest rating because they also have sadie & the farm animals to take care of!

yes definitely!! just please credit the original mesh creator if applicable (i always list them) 💝

i forgot to answer this when you sent it, but i did read it right away and it made me smile, so thank you 💖💖

it really is the most attractive trait a person can have to me fjkjsds did you ever hear from that guy btw?? 💕

THANK YOUUU kisses you back one thousand times 💖💖💖

@minamill ILYYY 💞

@morrigan-sims thank you!!!! 🥺

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Heya, INFP adult in standup comedy here. Your work is awesome. I'll jump right at it: I keep doing this thing where I know what kind of joke I wanna make or answer I wanna give, but it floats in my mind as a vague concept or vibe, that I can maybe match with my body language and/or tone, but not actual words. It's like I know what kind of emotional reaction would be the funniest in the exchange, and I usually even remember where I've seen it first (talk shows, comedians, movie scenes...), but I can't quite put my finger on the syntactical details in time.

Basic example. Let's say my line is "I'm too old for this" after a certain interaction: I intuitively know it's gonna be funny if I say that, =I know it's the right thing to say for the bit to keep flowing, but I also know I can't say it that way. I need to construct the sentence more, using synonyms, throwing in a reference, maybe use a funny metaphor or example... and so forth. I always called this "adding layers" to the core concept in my head, which is basically the rule I've followed to make comedy work for my entire life even if for some truly appalling reason I just can't seem to do it anymore without spending SO. MUCH. MENTAL ENERGY. like, man... I used to do this effortlessly. I thought I was good at this shit?

Every time I make an attempt at good improvisation now my brain goes nothing to see here, buddy and I end up giving the basic answer, which sometimes ruins the entire buildup, especially at the end of bits with other people (who look at me sideways in awkward silence while I pretend I'm dematerializing). It's so frustrating.

I'm assuming this has something to do with Ne? Seeing the general picture before zooming in? What's your advice (except practice, I'm already losing hair every day) to pop the bubble and come up with alternatives as fast as everyone else? Cause ngl I'd kinda like to stop rereading ChatGPT synonyms lists on my phone in the midst of a panic attack the night before meetings and weeks later realize I gained nothing from it but myopia degrees. Big thanks

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

As a writer who tackles rather serious subjects, I might not be the best person to ask about comedy. I can only offer some general thoughts about creativity and the creative process.

If I had to speculate, I'd say that your problem boils down to trying too hard. It's a surefire way to interrupt and even ruin the creative process. "Trying too hard" can take many different forms. A common form is "overthinking", e.g., overemphasizing procedural details to the point where you lose all sense of practical ability.

There is a neurological basis for this. To grossly oversimplify, the parts of the brain that are responsible for executive functioning (used for analysis and planning) and creativity (used for brainstorming and free association) are somewhat separate. Maintaining a healthy balance between the two is necessary for achieving what you're trying to do. However, since they are somewhat oppositional processes, it is easy for them to get out of balance, and then problems occur when one process overrides the other.

As a general rule, mental equilibrium is very easily disrupted by any kind of stress. Trying too hard basically increases the probability of creating a stress response in the body that disrupts normal distribution of mental energy.

For instance, a stress response might get triggered by overthinking the details about exactly how to do something. This leads you to overuse executive functioning for planning, which then dampens creative functioning. And then the more you feel "blank" creatively, the more anxious and stressed you get, and then the more you overthink. It is a vicious cycle that, if left unchecked, can shut down creativity completely. This vicious cycle is also responsible for the fatigued feeling of expending more and more energy with diminishing returns.

Note that I'm always emphasizing how important it is to improve one's emotional intelligence. It is not only people with poor mental health who need to improve EI. It's something everyone could stand to improve because emotionality is baked into the center of the human mind. If you don't have a good grasp of your emotional life, it can have a negative impact on many aspects of your mental functioning.

One of the most important applications of EI is stress management, which is vital for both physical and mental health. Stress responses can easily cascade in the brain and body, like a domino effect. In the worst case psychological scenario, the cascade can lead to a "breakdown" of some kind, such as a panic attack. Improving EI should help increase bodily awareness, which would allow you to spot stress earlier and do something about it while it is still manageable.

When you're worked up about something, the worst thing to do is anything that gets you even more worked up about it. Putting more pressure on yourself only escalates the stress response in the body. Although it sounds like trite advice, the best remedy is simply to chill out. Put reliable strategies in place for calming yourself, especially your body. There are so many possible strategies to choose from: take some deep breaths; clear the mind with a meditative state; jog around the block; shout it out; give yourself a mental break; distract yourself with a different task; have a nap; etc.

The creative process requires a certain amount of freedom, relaxation, and inspiration to work optimally. A creative "block" means there's an obstacle and you need to remove it:

freedom: you have to give yourself enough open space to experiment and grace to make mistakes

relaxation: you have to choose optimal work conditions that challenge you to rise to the occasion, but not so difficult that you drown in anxiety or dread

inspiration: you have to keep looking for new ways to stimulate and exercise the generative+imaginative+associative (Intuitive) aspects of your mind

With regard to Ne, maybe it is time you switched up your method. The more you rely on one so-called tried-and-true procedure (isn't this just another way of saying Si loop?), the more you paint yourself into a corner. And the more you feel stuck in that corner, the more you trigger stress responses that undermine the creative process.