#she looks 28 max in the game but like

[wtftaylr]

blushing and kicking my feet

(I'm working on character busts for my Courier's TH profile! [which is a big WIP btw pls ignore the mess] I wanted to wait to post them all in bulk but i also cant control myself, here's cass)

[coco-loco-nut]

Gen Z

pairing: Max Verstappen x Reader

summary: everyone seems to forget that Max is 26

a/n: not my favorite, but it’s something i’ve been working on for a while there will be no part two

requests open masterlist

—————

Breaking up with Kelly was extremely difficult for Max to do. Despite not being in love with her anymore, he was very aware of what would happen to P. Max knew it was better to break up than stay just because of P, so he bit the bullet. The next few months were lonely, having to readjust to being alone in Monaco with just his cats.

That’s when you came barreling into his life. Only two years younger than Max, you were a breath of fresh air for him. He really didn’t expect to fall for you, not so quick anyway.

You knew a bit about Formula One, but it was more to the extent that your home hosted a race, some drivers lived in the city, and your hairdresser’s son was a driver. It didn’t phase you when Max told you about his career and fame, you just thought the Dutchman was cute.

“Men who own cats are major green flags,” you told him over text when you first started dating. That might’ve been what really made Max fall for you. You made him feel young, understandably so. He was 19 when he first met Kelly, and she was 28.

Max taught you about the races, you helped him connect with his inner Gen Z. He taught you Dutch and how to game, you taught him slang and pop culture. The two of you were sitting on the couch a month before the Monaco GP, watching Cars of course, when Max asked you to join him at the race.

“Of course, anything for Lightning McQueen,” you squeeze his hand. You knew from TikTok that Charles, your boyfriend’s work husband, was Lightning McQueen, but how could that not be Max.

“Kachow,” Max says causing you to laugh. He has been watching the TikToks and reels you send him, usually something formula one or cars related.

Max is watching Cars 2 with you when he points out each driver in the movie. You store the knowledge in the back of your mind for when you watch classic races and Max explains things to you. You feel sufficiently ready for Monaco.

“Lewis, this is my girlfriend, Y/n,” Max introduces you to the Mercedes driver. You look at him, star stuck.

“I loved you in Cars,” you blurt out, causing Lewis to laugh and Max to hide his face in embarrassment. Max isn’t surprised, but he can’t believe this is how your first interaction is going. Lewis is just happy you aren’t with Max because he is a driver.

“Thank you, how old are you?” Lewis asks, ready to feel old.

“24, two years younger than Maxie,” you smile lovingly at your boyfriend.

“I forgot how young you actually are,” Lewis’s unspoken words hang in the air between him and Max. Now that you are dating someone closer to your own age.

Lewis’s statement seemed to be the general consensus when everyone saw you with him. Max looked and acted like he was 26. He was using slang you taught him, he was making pop culture references that he likely wouldn’t have known otherwise. He was getting to experience his twenty’s like he should have been, not as if he was much older than he was.

Lando was the most excited to meet you, not only were you his age, but you brought out Max’s inner child that Lando never could.

“I’m stealing your girlfriend,” Lando tells Max, wanting to claim you as his best friend.

“No,” Max deadpans.

“What if Lando is my bestie?” you ask Max, who can’t say no to you.

“Then I guess that’s okay,” Max kisses your temple.

“OMG, McLaren is doing another hide and seek video, you two should join,” Lando proposes.

“That actually sounds fun,” Max says, looking at you for confirmation.

“I’m in,” you smile, letting Lando lead the way.

The video is a hit, the fans are loving this version of Max. Max is loving this version of him too, for once he doesn’t feel like he has to grow up faster than he should.

“Stay away from her, she’s no good for you. Act like a grown up,” you overhear Jos tell Max as you come back to the garage from hospitality. You have yet to meet Jos, Max made it very clear that he doesn’t want you near his dad. The memes the two of you send back and forth are a good enough reason why, so you hang back.

“What do you mean? I am. I’m 26, why should I act like I’m 40? I am happier with her than I was with Kelly,” Max argues back, you hold yourself back.

“World Champions are serious, mature. Quit acting like Lando Norris and more like an adult,” Jos is seething.

“Ask Max to come back here, say the team needs him or something,” you as an engineer when you notice Jos getting angrier.

“Then why am I leading by a heavy margin already. You just can’t handle that I am putting myself first. What would you even know about being a champion? You never won a race!” Max yells. The engineer quickly cuts in and leads Max to you.

“You gagged him, baby. Are you okay?” Max hugs you, you just rub his back as he regulates his breathing.

“He’s an opp, for real,” Max mutters into your shoulder, causing you to snort with laughter.

“God, I love you,” you can’t contain the laughter. Max joins in, your smile is infectious.

“I did use it right, no?” Max asks between the laughter.

“You did, I just wasn’t expecting it,” you take a deep breath, calming down.

“No cap?”

“Alright, you are using too much. Where is old man Max, this is freaky,” you take a step back, the smile that remains on your face betrays your words.

“You got me into my gen z era, you get the consequences,” Max pulls you back into him as you groan in annoyance.

“I love you too,” he laughs, peppering your face with kisses.

And when a journalist is brave enough to ask about the shift in Max? He’s always eager to talk about you.

“My girlfriend forced me to watch hours of YouTube compilations about formula one memes. We are always sending different memes to each other, she definitely helps me remember to laugh more,” Max gushes.

“I guess we all forget that you aren’t nearly forty,” the journalist nods. Max answers a few more questions before finding you in his drivers room. He lays down on the couch, his head on your lap.

“What’s on your mind?” you run your hand through Max’s hair.

“Have I changed that much?” he asks, his blue eyes looking up at you.

“I don’t think so, I think you’ve just started being yourself around more people. You are still the same Max that I first met and fell in love with, everyone else is just seeing that Max,” you are confused about the question, but answer him. Max doesn’t reply, he just nuzzles closer to you.

“I like this version of me,” he says into your shirt a few minutes later, you keep playing with his hair.

“I’m glad, but I like every version of you, Max. Even old man Max,” you smile as he sits up.

“Old man? How about I show you how far from true that is,” there is a look in his eye that tells you that you just started something.

“And how will you do that?” you decide to entertain him as he slips his hands under your shirt.

“I don’t think I need to tell you.”

[thealexchen]

who the fUCK is that in the new LIS trailer bc thats not the max i know 😭 why does she look so different help

maybe its bc arcadia bay was known for its warm hues and this just feels completely different but even the art style was changed to look more generic :((

The main reason: they made Double Exposure Max more conventionally attractive. Ironically, while Max's redesign in Double Exposure tries to make her face more unique, it winds up making her more generically pretty.

LiS1 Max was deliberately designed to look like a young, plain and mousy teenage girl. She dressed simply and safely so as to not stand out. It conveyed her shyness, awkwardness, and indecisive nature and was an example of Dontnod's eye for character design.

This Max is... I dunno. Her design doesn't say anything. I'm not even that bothered that her hairstyle changed, but it's literally Steph's hairstyle on Max's head and doesn't communicate much about Max's personality as an adult. Same goes for her clothing-- as a teen, her graphic tees and plain gray hoodie immediately depicted her as a shy, youthful wallflower in an eclectic private art school. In Double Exposure, her wardrobe is indistinguishable from any other young working professional her age: a yellow beanie, a green peacoat, blue jeans, red and blue cardigans with feminine necklines.

As for the rest of her appearance, somehow her face shape has completely changed to become more slender, especially her jawline.

LiS1 Max, with her square jaw, distinct from her chin, and dark circles.

DE Max, who suddenly has filled out cheeks, with a softer jaw that blends into her chin.

In LiS1, Max had asymmetrical lips, with the bottom lip fuller than the top lip. In Double Exposure, her lips are fuller, rounder, and perfectly symmetrical. Her nose is also more symmetrical: wider, rounder, softer, and less pointed (especially between her nostrils) than her nose in LiS1. All of this serves to soften and feminize her appearance.

While freckles can fade naturally with age, in Double Exposure, Max's freckles are barely visible in most shots. She has flawless skin with an even more realistic skin texture than the models in True Colors (which looks uncanny to me, in my opinion).

But the main thing is her eye color. In LiS1, Max had medium blue eyes that did not particularly stand out against her skintone and hair color. During the warmly lit scenes like golden hour, her eyes are desaturated even further.

But in Double Exposure, Max's eyes are suddenly ice blue, unnaturally bright and piercing. Even in dark scenes, her eyes have a sparkle to them. Unfortunately, her eye design seems to be carried over from the "anime-fied" eyes in the remaster, which were larger, shinier, and brighter than the original game. The difference is truly astounding:

LiS1 Max's eyes, which had the same texture as the rest of her model. Her irises appear dark blue with little depth.

And now, DE Max's eyes, which have a distinct "glassy" texture compared to her skin and hair. Her irises are suddenly ice blue and the pupil is larger with a very bright reflection.

I know that D9 wants to show off a new "grown up Max" who has grown into her confidence and femininity with a more cleaned-up appearance. But Max was already done with puberty in the first game, so she wouldn't suddenly be sporting a softer jawline and filled out cheeks at 28 years old. This was a huge missed opportunity to instead depict the effects of accelerated aging due to stress and trauma on Max's face: sunken cheeks, dark circles, acne, skin discoloration, and forehead wrinkles. Instead, Max Caulfield got the Hollywood beauty treatment.

[peterparkersnose]

Folded

pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader

word count: 3.4k

warnings: attack description, clicker attack, nightmares, anxiety, wound description, angst, denial of feelings, alcohol mentioned, swearing, mentions and descriptions of gun use, near death experience (if u can’t handle the game don’t read)

HAPPY LAST OF US DAY!!!

a/n ive played tlou 3x and tlou2 2x (going through my second round rn) so shut up pls i dont want any of the ‘you only like joel bc hes pedro’ fr come on ive been playing this game since i was 12. (i’m not like other girls 🥵) jackson joel just does something to me mmmm. wrote this nov 18 ‘22 saved for today

Don’t forget 9PM EST on HBO Max

summary Y/N gets attacked by a clicker during an intense time with Joel

masterlist

join the tag list

read time: 12 mins 28 seconds

You could feel the air escaping your lungs at a dangerous rate. The rifle at your side slammed against your thigh as you kept running. The thick forest was just as you remembered it; wet, cold, and dark.

You were outnumbered. Mostly runners, but you spotted a few clickers. The brush on the forest floor wasn’t helping. Your heavy breathing and the sloshing of your boots against the snowy ground were making too much noise.

Where the fuck was Ellie?

3 bullets. Rifle was empty, spent that on some sharp shooting up the hill on some runners you and Ellie found in the town. How stupid were you? Those were an easy kill with a knife. But your childish games on who could get the best headshot left you empty.

Your heart dropped as the rock formation appeared. It was too high. It covered the forest like the earth split into two. That is when you came to terms, and you had to come to it quickly.

You were going to die.

Soon enough, the first runner appeared. Easy kill. One down, maybe 7 to go?

Where the fuck was Ellie?

The next one came. Two down. Three at a time now? A fucking clicker followed them? You wished the brush was tall enough to hide in.

It was useless fighting off three runners at a time with a clicker on their heels. This was it. Death.

The stone wall was cool against your backside. You hugged your knees to your chest as you pulled out your handgun.

At least the clicker would have a good meal.

Shot- one down. Shot- another. The clicker sped up. Shot, wounded but not dead. Quick slice with the knife. Dead.

The shrieking screams of the clicker engulfed your senses as the monster came running at you. It’s flailing arms we’re the last thing you were prepared to see.

You felt the hands on your shoulder. Dead hands of a monster, unspeakable to most. The hands grabbed your shoulders, but no bite came.

Just blinding white noise and a splatter on your face.

You had convinced yourself you were dead. You would never see anyone again. You had died the same death as your father years prior. The death that left you alone.

“Dad?” you managed to mutter out.

The white noise turned into ringing as two hands held your shoulder and shook you.

“Y/N? Y/N please, are you okay?”

Ellie.

“Maria I found her! Here!”

Cloth material wiped over your eyes and they opened. Ellie, splattered with blood stood in front of you with the most panicked look you had ever seen on the girls face.

“Your okay!” she yelled at you, wrapping her arms around you.

Sitting besides you two was the headless clicker that should have killed you.

***

You should be dead. Get this horrible life over with. Dead with your father, with the mother you never knew. Living a life without this disease, these creatures. Free of pain.

When you woke up in the medical wing you were pretty sure almost the whole town was there. You felt like an item on display at a museum. Looking over all the eyes, you most definitely were not searching for his. The whole reason you volunteered to go out with Ellie that day instead of Dina. And of course, he was not there. Why would he be?

“She’s awake!” someone yelled from the crowd. Every eye in the room seemed to fall on you at once. The nurse pushed past the group of people and went to your side.

“For heavens sake! Get out!” the nurse yelled to the group of onlookers. “Give her some goddamn space.” you heard from the crowd as people started to walk towards the exit.

Everyone wanted a look at the girl who survived a clicker attack.

“Hey,” she said, slowly approaching you and sitting on the chair next to your bed. “Ellie!” you exclaimed, embracing the girl tightly. “What happened?” you asked Ellie, releasing your grip on her and settling back into the bed.

The bond had been there since the day you met her. You always remember the look of the scared little girl on the back of Joel’s horse when they first entered Jackson. The bond you two had helped her grow into the person she is now. Ellie had always described you as an older sister. But Ellie was always there for you, and you for her. She was your best friend, platonic soulmate. And a damn good shot.

“I killed it,” she said bluntly. “I-I came at the right time it was about to bite you and- you should have seen it Y/N my shotgun did a number on that thing.”

“A-am I infected?” you asked, looking down at your body for the first time. Your tank top was still on, your jacket was missing. Your jeans were covered in dry blood and smelt of pine needles.

“It’s been three days. You got some pretty nasty scratches though. Sick looking if you ask me. Scars of a warrior.” she added, referring to her tattoo.

And that’s when you saw them. The claw marks were sewn shut on your left shoulder. Your eyes widened as you began to panic. You began to squirm and the pain set in.

“Hey, hey calm down. She took care of you. Best nurse in town, I made sure.” Ellie said, grabbing your good shoulder and stroking your arm to calm you down.

“The doctors said if your vitals stay stable for the next few hours you can go home. Dina and I cleaned up the place for you,” Ellie smiled, stroking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“What have people been saying?” you asked, holding her hand tightly in yours. “That your a hero. You cleared out that building and we found a stash of food that’s going to last for… well, probably a good year. That’s amazing Y/N! They found baby formula for JJ- tons of it. You were right it was the old warehouse.”

A small smile rose to your lips but Ellie could tell what you really wanted to hear about.

What Joel had been saying.

And Joel hasn’t said much. Tommy had told him a brief description in passing of what happened when it was happening. He figured you were dead when they sent out a rescue wagon for you. He even watched as Maria’s horse lead in your body. Ellie was sitting with you in her arms screaming for a nurse, your whole left arm was covered in blood. What was visible of your face was white as a sheet and you weren’t moving. Joel had to silently give up the inkling of what could have been. Hell, you were the first girl who he even considered after his divorce over thirty years ago. It had to end one day and he had to silently agree with it.

“I don’t…” Ellie began, following with a sigh. “Y/N, don’t get yourself worked up over it. It’s not worth it.” Ellie began, knowing her friend too well. “Did he even come and see me?” you asked, looking to Ellie’s eyes. She couldn’t look into yours. She closed her eyes for a quick moment and shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

“Am I a fool?” you asked her. “I’m not sure,” she replied, weary.

The whole reason you went with her instead of Dina was because of Joel. You most definitely could not face him that day after the previous night.

He had knocked on your door a little after nine. He noticed a change in your demeanor today when he came in the room while teaching the some of the kids how to shoot. He wanted to make sure you were okay. Joel felt like he had some responsibility over you to make sure you were always okay because of what happened.

Joel was the one who was with your father when he died.

Sure, he was older than you. You weren’t sure exactly, but he was younger than your father by many years. The attraction from your end started when you saw him drunk off his ass during a celebration dancing with Tommy in the bar. It was the most unconventionally attractive thing, but it flipped some switch in you. When your dad died he taught you how to perfect your aim and kill efficiently. Never crossing any line because you were his dead friend’s daughter. And you were so close to Ellie. Ellie wasn’t too fond of your crush that you confided in her, but she grew to love the idea. Her family.

He came and visited you a little after nine. You were about to slip into bed before you heard the knock on your door. The night was cold and your pajama pants and thin tank top was not cutting it. You invited him inside. He had brought you a tiny gift to lift your mood; a bottle of gin. Your favorite. And you two drank at least half of that bottle of gin. You talked about everything from your father’s death to the time Tommy accidentally washed his clothes with Maria’s pink bra and still has an abundance of pink clothing to this day. The gin was most definitely speaking when you told him how you felt.

And he left.

“Let it go for now- okay? We’re gonna get you out of here and back home.” Ellie reassured you. Nodding your head, you fell back into the cold bed and closed your eyes just wishing it could all go away.

-

Home was empty as it could be. The bottle of gin sat on your coffee table. Your bed was made for the first time in years. Your work station was organized and all of your pens and art supplies were cleaned. You had remembered when Joel gave you those pens, he found them one day and thought of you. Your rifles now hung on your wall. Definitely was Dina’s idea, but you liked it. A tiny gift wrapped in a beige paper with a tiny bit of twine around it sat under your newly mounted rifles.

“Woo hoo. Christmas.” you said to yourself sarcastically. Kneeling down, you opened the package.

Bullets.

For safe keeping, ~Maria

Of course it was from Maria. She always played the mother you never had when she wanted to.

The immense feeling of sleep hit you like a brick wall. I guess being attacked by a clicker and living was a strenuous activity. All you wanted now to do was sleep. Unmaking the nicely folded sheets, you melted back into your bed. The sun was setting in your window and the horses were coming in for the day. You could hear them trotting past your window. You wondered if Joel was just feet away. It was what now… Thursday? You couldn’t remember if he still did the Thursday shift or if he switched with someone else. Who cares, sleep was creeping up slowly and the thought of Joel set you out cold.

The forest was blacker than usual. Without a doubt, you recognized where you were. Running again. All you seemed to do was run now these days. Taking a brief look back while you ran through the forest, you stopped as you realized a whole hoard of clickers were just at your heels. You didn’t have time to react. They were on you ripping your flesh off your body. The dream never seemed to end. You felt each bite and tear of your flesh until-

“Y/N!” Maria screamed, shaking you awake and still being mindful of your wound. “Fuck!” you screamed, sobbing into her arms. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck!” you continued, squirming in bed as she held you.

Your door was wide open and it was now pitch black out. The screams alerted security, and they called for a search of the town. Tommy quickly found the source of the screams and sent Maria in.

Standing outside your door was Tommy, peering in on the sight of his wife with you.

“Gather people. She needs to be watched.” Maria commanded Tommy as she held your shaking body. Too many people had left their homes now to look at the scene and disrupted the peaceful night.

-

Ellie sat with your head in her lap, slowly stroking your hair trying to get you to fall asleep. “Don’t worry. Nobody in this town will let anything happen to you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The whole previous night you didn’t sleep. You stared at your wall and just thought. And that whole day you delved yourself in drawings you hadn’t finished or poems you had the inspiration for. Took a shower. You looked through your closet and picked out a fresh outfit. You tried all the little things that usually worked on your old self, but your old self was gone.

That bottle of gin sat on your coffee table and haunted you throughout the day as well. You didn’t have the heart to throw it away, or the mindset to drink it. So there it sat. Pitiful.

You were at a loss for words. No words could describe the immense amount of pain re living that memory caused last night.

Ellie began to hum a tune. It was sweet and reminded you of something innocent. Your eyes began to get heavy. “You ready?” she asked, fluffing up your pillow. Reluctantly, you shook your head yes.

The absolute end was there and tiredness finally seeped in. Distraught sleep left and peaceful sleep took its place.

Ellie dimmed your lamp and smoothed the covers on your bed. It reminded you of the time you took care of Ellie years ago when she was sick. “Sweet dreams,” she said, giving your forehead a brief kiss.

Mumbling was heard outside your door, but you didn’t care.

The field was beautiful. Finally, peace. The flowers stemmed beautifully and the sun shown down on your face. Your hands ran through the fresh green grass. Laying in the rays, you suddenly felt the field get smaller. Sitting up, you realized the sun had disappeared and the field was getting smaller and smaller by the second. The sudden edge of a forest was getting closer and closer. And then with one blink you were back. The forest erected around you. You were back.

“No, no…” he heard from your house. Joel’s interest peaked from the grounds left in his coffee mug to the silent struggles in your bedroom. He lifted himself off your porch chair and looked through your window. You were writhing in bed.

“Ellie!” you let out the first yell. It was so loud that it startled Joel to his core and began a flight of panic. Joel didn’t hesitate to burst your door open. “Ellie don’t leave!” you yelled again.

“Hey,” he said softly, patting your shoulder. A loud groan of pain came from your lips. Joel’s heart sank as the feelings on guilt he felt for letting you go on patrol that day set in once again.

“Y/N!” he whisper yelled, yanking your body over to face him. Your eyes shot open. Ripped from the dream into another one.

You looked him up and down. This wasn’t real. It was another dream. Tears welled up in your eyes as you shut them tight, praying you would wake up somewhere else.

“It was a bad dream,” he whispered, resting his hand on your thigh. His thumb patiently rubbed your thigh as your breathing sped up. Your legs matched up perfectly, knees facing him. Your face was buried in your hands that were now grasping at your eyes.

“Stop it,” Joel hissed, grabbing your manic hands tightly. “This isn’t real,” you cried out, sobs following it.

His heart seemed to break into a million pieces when you started to full on cry. The last time he dealt with a crying girl it was Ellie. Wait- no, maybe it was Sarah. He honestly wasn’t sure, but it was most definitely years ago.

“Everything is alright. I know how it is. I-I didn’t sleep for a few days after my first clicker encounter. Those things are nasty fuckers.” he said, his hand returning to your thigh trying to soothe you. He was clueless on what he was supposed to do.

At this point, you realized you weren’t dreaming. He was here. His hand was on your thigh. He was sitting on your bed. You were in a tank top that cut a little too low for your liking.

Your teary eyes looked up and met his. He hadn’t moved his gaze off of your face. He gave you a soft reassuring smile.

Joel cursed himself for letting his feelings creep back in. This was wrong anyways, he felt sick any time he thought about you. The pit of his stomach couldn’t handle it much more, he had pretty much forgotten about you (as much as he would like to admit). But when Tommy assigned him second watch of you that night, he just knew it had trouble written all over it.

“Go back to sleep now. Pretty girls need their beauty sleep.” he said, instantly regretting it.

That line worked on Sarah, but in a whole different way with a much different meaning. He wanted to suck back in the words as fast as he said them.

Letting a tense breathe go, he steadied himself on your bed frame and made his way to the door.

He had made his way to the door as you spoke.

“Joel?”

His hand stopped his motion as it rested on the top of your door frame.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning around.

“W-will you stay? Just for a little bit.” you said, stuttering as you realized how large his body was compared to your door.

He paused. “I suppose.”

You moved your legs so he would have enough room to sit next to you. You heard his knee crack as he sat down on the low rise bed. His legs sat upward as he leant a hand behind your legs to steady himself.

“I’m sorry.” you said. It had to be said, what better time than now? “I don’t want to hear your apologies.” he huffed. “It was inappropriate.” you spit out again. “No- Y/N, stop. Please.” he asked. “You need to get some sleep.”

“I can’t sleep. Every time I sleep I go… back there. I can’t.” you whimpered. He sighed, groaning and wiping his brow.

“What would you like me to do about it? I can’t do anything.”

“Stay.”

Joel was left confused on how your calmness met his angry tone. He knew you well, he was surprised you weren’t screaming in his face. You didn’t take shit. You were being patient for once in your life.

Oh, how you’ve changed since the attack.

“I’m here. What more do you want from me?” he asked. His tone had extra edge of anger to it that was fueled with a faint passion.

In the darkness, you reached for his hand. It was coarse and dry, with many various scars and callouses you could feel just with a slight touch. He instinctively pulled back a bit, but gave in within the second. Wrapping your fingers with his, you places his hand back on your thigh.

“Y/N I-”

“The thing you were doing before on my leg. It was nice.”

“Oh,” he said, defeating the original thought from his head. His thumb began slowly moving in circles once again.

You were showing him what you needed.

He watched as your sad face closed your eyes and sighed. You felt safe for the first time in days.

Joel felt the pit in his stomach widen and fully consume him. The girl who practically raised Ellie from when she arrived; his dead friend’s daughter; one of the best damn killers in all of Jackson; Y/N. God, he was in so much trouble with his morals.

“I’m too far deep in this shit,” he muttered to himself, rubbing his forehead with his free hand.

Your eyes fluttered open to see him. “What?” you asked.

“I can’t…” he said, beginning to shake his knee up and down. “What?” repeated yourself in a confused tone.

His strong body swept over yours. He grabbed your shoulder ever so softly and perched you in his arms. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his neck.

No initiative had to be made besides the movement of your lips against his. Your hand wrapped itself in his hair, playing softly as he held your back strongly. A slight moan came from his lips that he instantly regretted when you accidentally tugged ever so slightly on his graying strands of hair. For the split second that you two separated gasping for air, he pulled you tighter.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been fighting this,” he whispered on your lips. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this,” you sighed, staring back at his scruffy face.

Joel came back to his senses. He felt different. He could never go back to the same person he was a minute ago. His world revolved around something new. No more obsessing over patrol and how to appease Tommy. No more worrying over how Ellie could handle herself. No more worrying about his aching joints and the fear of getting older. Something new became the center of his universe. He had folded.

The girl laying in his arms who now rested her head against his chest.

“You really need sleep darlin’,” he sighed. You sighed in resistance.

“You want me to stay?” he asked, looking down at your exhausted face.

“Please.”

You moved over in your bed as he made himself comfortable. Joel never realized how much larger he was than you until he slept with you in his arms.

You layed on his chest as one arm wrapped around your shoulders. His hand rested comfortably on your shoulder.

“Thank you.” you whispered. He placed a small kiss on your head. Your arms wrapped around your stomach, making yourself more comfortable in his embrace. The only sound in the room was your soft breathing.

“Go to sleep now. Your safe with me, my sweet girl.”

tag list: @dani5216 @uwiuwi @alohastyles-x @samanthacookieone @maddieinnit0 @alexxavicry @scoliobean @jmillerswife

[livin4woso]

Breaking the media

Chapter 8- debut

Training over the next few days flew by as all you could think of the idea of your Barcelona debut the head coaches has been hinting at it due to playing a team that we were sure to beat with flying colours. Realistically you knew you would only average 10 to 15 minutes max game time but even still to play for barca was an honour to you considering you grew up in a concil estate in a small town in North east England where the local street garage was the goal and the fences created the lines for the pitch.

Alexia had drove you to the stadium where you were greeted by the staff "bon dia ms putellas" they said acknowledging the queen of Barcelona, if a city could be pictured as a person Barcelona was alexia everywhere you went it was alexia, from her shirt to even murals of her it was like the city was encapsulated by her presence and yet she was encapsulated by your presence and no matter how much she cared about football you managed to be above it. "Bon dia" she replied waving and ushering you into the stadium guiding you to the changing rooms. She swung the door open and as usual due to her being captain you two had been the first ones there and as you looked around the room you had seen your shirt your last name printed on in white and underneath the number 28 it was almost like a fever dream you couldn't believe it. "Come on pequeña stop staring and get changed" she said as she took her coat and bag off and put them on to her area of the changing room.

After 20 minutes the changing room was full and all the girls had arrived. You had been informed of being on the 6 there was still a chance of you being subbed on to play, but it just depended on the score line and how the team was playing. The match had begun, and Caroline had made light work of the defence to swing one into the top corner just 10 minutes into the game. Next, it was aitana to dribble through the centre halfs and volley the ball into the bottom corner as it skimmed the keepers fingers at 30 minutes. The half-time whistle came quicker than expected as you chatted to vicky and pina on the bench. The first half had finished at 3-0 with caro scoring another goal in stoppage time. While the majority of the girls went into the tunnel, you had been instructed to warm up on the pitch, which had got your hopes up more than it should have. You watched as the girls made there way back on the pitch so you returned to your seat on the bench it was in the back corner as although you liked to see what was happening you weren't gonna get on the pitch so might aswell not inconvenience the other girls who would have to scramble over your lap.

It was the 75th minute when the refs whistle had blew you had looked over your seat to see lucy down on the floor. 'Y/n go warm up just in case, " jona instructed you as you made your way to warm up on the side line of the pitch, keeping your eye on lucy. Thats when the medics came on the pitch and you were called back up to jona "y/n your going on take your bib off and get ready" jona said as soon as the words you were practically throwing the bib off and over your head. Lucy was up again, so luckily, it wasn't that serious, but she hobbled her way off the pitch and sent a small smile to you as the official held up the sign for you to be subbed on. As you ran on the pitch the crowd erupted in applause you clapped as you made your way to the position but before zoning into focus on the game you soaked up the fans reaction the way the club had welcomed you. It felt like home the pitch became quiet and all you could hear was your teamates and the sound of the ball it was like no one else was there it was just you and the ball and it was perfect.

As the winger came sprinting with the ball down your side of the pitch doing step overs trying to throw you off the ball you used all the energy in your legs and launched your foot at the ball in front of her feet and watch as you succeed in winning the ball as it goes rolling out of play hitting the advertising boards. As you stand up, mapi pats you on the back. "Good one, now come one 5 minutes left, keep the pace," she said to you, marking up the levante striker in the box. They didnt make it near the keeper as it came rolling out of the goal line and cata was awarded a goal kick however she rolled the ball out to you to cross it over to frido who was on the far side of the pitch. As the ball left your feet you watched as it flew over the players and landed at fridos feet but as she was making her way to the box the final whistle blew and there it was your debut was over. You shook hands with the opposition, then here came the hugs and celebrations from your teamates as they congratulated you. Then it was alexia who walked over to you and wrapped you into a hug "im so proud of you pequeña i really am" she said to you a smile on her face "thank you ale i really appreciate everything you have done for me" you respond as never had you been told that someone was proud of you so you tried to blink away the tears that formed in your eyes.

You made your way back to the changing rooms and jona did a speech congratulating the team and you for your debut and to know that lucy is okay and would miss 2 games due to a minor muscle injury. As you changed back into your tracksuit you wanted to keep your debut shirt but didn't know how to ask so you glanced either side to see if anyone was paying attention to you and you stuffed the shirt into your bag hoping no one saw you. "You ready to go?" alexia asked you "yes definitely im ready for sleep and some food," you said, putting the bag on your back. And that's exactly what happened. You ate dinner with alexia and then clambered into bed after showering because the showers at the ground aren't the best, so you just waited till getting back to the apartment. Then, right as you were drifting off alexia opened the door to your room holding the shirt you had stuffed into your bag "y/n why did i find your shirt in your bag?" She questioned holding the shirt infront of her "oh ermm i must have accidentally put it in there" you responded lying out of your teeth "y/n i know you're lying" she said "ugh sorry i wanted to keep my debut shirt but i didn't know how to ask or who to ask so i just shoved it into my bag im sorry alexia" you responded upset at the fact you probably have disappointed alexia "ohh pequeña its okay but next time ask please but sleep well" she responded and placed the shirt on your nightstand and walked out closing the door and 5 minutes later you drifted off to sleep enjoying a very good day and one to remember.

[delilaahh9]

The “Hughes” War

October 1st, 2021

annabellehugh

Go stream “That Way” on all platforms right now and- oh ya my new album “think later” at 6pm EST!

Comments

@quinnhughes - EXCUSE ME?!

→ did i not tell you?

→ @jhughes - YOU DIDNT TELL ANYONE!

→ @annabellehug woops

→ @user27 - she’s so unbothered I love it

@jhughes - I’m so proud of you! Even if you eat all my cereal

@Annabellehug - your a millionaire buy your own goddamn cereal

@zoebormet - AHHHH SHES BACK AT IT

→ @annabellehug 😉💗

@cariganprice - ON REPEAT! IM SO SERIOUS

→ @annabellehug - I LOVE YOU

@lhughes_06 - wow okay

@lhughes_06 -this is insane

Her first single after her first album, that came out in 2020 just after graduating, before her gap year. Most of the songs were about her ex, max and so are some of the songs on her new album, while one of them is about mark.. but so is the single but one just happens to mention something about her relationship with Jack and she wasn’t even sure if she should use it but all her friends who she told about it said she should, so she is going to.

Which she shouldn’t have, or he shouldn’t have had the reaction he did.

6:12 pm

There was a set of knocks on the door of her dorm room, but the certain sequence of knocks only belongs to the knuckles of one person. “Come in mark” she says and puts her phone down. He looked out of breath, afraid almost, Like he was running from something.

“Make what’s-” she stands up keeping pressure off her knee, but she doesn’t need the crutches anymore.

“Is it about me” he whispers and walks closer.

Her eyebrows raise a little bit, in shock on how this conversation could go either way.

“I… um… what” she says quietly, but a little louder then he was before.

“Is it about me” he asks again, she swallows harshly but nods slowly which he then pulls her into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry Belle- I’m so sorry I didnt mean to make you feel like that I like you I like you a lot. So much it almost hurts and makes me afraid of my own feelings” he admits and they both have small, light, tears in their eyes.

“Do you really?” She asks.

He runs his hand up and down her back before pulling back to look at her.

“So much”

They stare at each other for what seems like hours and just as he is about to ask her, a phone rings. It’s Luke, calling mark.

“Whats up” he asks. “Yea I’m with her, okay, bye”

“Wanna for a drive?” He asks and the two head out the door.

Jacks POV

6:15pm

I knew she liked to sing, but how did I not ever realize she liked to write and perform and produce her music, I didn’t even know she could play the guitar. So if I didn’t feel like shit before I do now. As the 9th song plays, my brain freezes.

“Same fears, same dreams, still trying to get my brother to like me”

Does she really think that?

I would call Luke, but the chances of them being together right now are high so Quinn it is.

“What’s up J-“

“Does she hate me or something?!” I exclaim.

“Woah dude- who are you talking about” he asks.

“Annabelle, fuck, have you listened to Calgary”

“No, I’m just leaving the gym, what’s going on”

“The lyric is *Same fears, same dreams, still trying to get my brother to like me.* Does she think I hate her”Tears are threatening from my eyes while my knuckles are turning white against my steering wheel.

“Jack I’m sure it’s not what you think-”

“What else could it be! I’m the only one she argues with- remember my rookie year when we wouldn’t talk for like.. weeks because of how busy we both were but she would always talk to you two”

“And you always talked to us, Jack I don’t know what’s going on with you two but you need to talk it out, when was the last time you spoke to her”

“When I left? I think maybe the night of that game she somehow came too”

“The day after her surgery- Jack that was like 2 weeks ago- okay you need to call her later tonight she’s out right now. Got it?”

“Ok” I take a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, then hung up.

(Back to 3rd person)

8:28 pm

“Can we talk about what happened earlier” she asks mark as they sit in his car in-front of their building.

“Yea, Uhm, I guess what I was saying is, I do, like you a lot, more then a friend” he admits quietly and she smiles back at him.

“Feelings are mutual, if you couldn’t tell” he chuckles and reaches for her hand, then holds it for a minute.

Meanwhile, Jack was flooding her phone with so many messages along the lines of “I’m mad at you” and “do you hate me”.

“You know you didn’t have to write a song to get me to realize I liked you”

“Yea well clearly I had to write one about Jack being a dick for him to realize he was one”

“Oh Calgary, yes I was waiting for that one. Are you okay?”

“Mhm, I’ll just… call him later I guess. Do you wanna stay with me?” She asks and he nods his head, then the two get out of the car and walk hand in hand to her dorm room.

“Oh I forgot my phone In The car I’ll be up in a second” he says and she heads up while he goes back to car, in the mean time, Anna sits at her desk while she receives a lovely call from Jack.

“Anna what the fuck, do you realize what you did” he says as soon as she answers.

“Did what Jack. Release a song” she sighs.

“No, your stomping on mine. Did you not think that your fans will hate me because of that line”

She didn’t even think about the fan part of it.

“No I didn’t Jack, because I don’t make decisions for myself based of you or fans”

“That’s not what I meant- what I meant was-”

“no I know what you meant Jack, you think everything’s about you and everything is always my fault” she challenges but hangs up. Tossing her phone onto the carpet below her and putting her hands over her face.

“Belle, what happened?” Mark asks as he enters the room, while tears are brimming her eyes.

“Jack called me, he’s so mad I didn’t think he would care” she whispers and stands up, while he pulls her into a hug.

“It’s okay, he’ll come around alright? I’ll get Luke to talk to him”

“Thank you” she sighs and the two lay down on her bed.

“I liked your album, a lot, but I need a name and address of the whoever running for the hills is about because holy, that was rough to listen to”

“his name is max, but he lives in England now” she responds and he huffs, but the two eventually fall asleep.

[crimson-chaffinch]

Life is strange but I like it.

A new game of Life is Strange franchise was a big surprise. I love first game so much (played it 3 times and never could change my final choice). This game is definitely different and I’ll try to write about its pros and cons.

Let’s start with something positive. The first things you notice (since first trailers I’m sure) are graphics and facial animations. Characters look like real people; you can see when they are puzzled or surprised, and it’s amazing! Voice actors and actresses did a great job; you feel this chemistry between characters when listen to them (Max and Vinh are just brilliant).

The list of negative things will be definitely longer and I’m upset writing that.

The greatest problem is the plot. Probably I shouldn’t have bought an early access because after finishing Chapter 2 I had some high expectations and also read some stupid spoilers on reddit (which I definitely wasn’t looking for). So my high expectations and some cool ideas which appeared in my head played a cruel joke on me. Probably Chapters 3 and 4 were kind of good but Chapter 5… and ending was so disappointing. I had a feeling like a scriptwriter just gave up right in the middle of the story, and even didn’t try to make it a bit complicated. Come on, gamers aren’t stupid, we like good stories, cool twists and heartbreaking endings. But it’s not about LiS:DE.

The second problem – characters. Some of them are just good or bad, there is nothing in the middle. Amanda is cute, hard-working and has a big family. That’s all I can tell about her. You even can’t understand why Max like her. She is just an ordinary girl, a typical green flag for Max and it’s cool to have relationship with some good person in real life but such characters in games are just super boring.

That’s why I like Vinh (yeah I like him), because he seems real, he did something stupid in the past and he isn’t proud about it, and it makes him real.

Tbh I don’t know what to say about Safi without spoilers, so maybe it’s better to skip this part.

The rest of characters are like a background for the main story, not sure if you remember any of them in a week or so.

And the third part – length of the story. Yeah, when you play it for the first time you are too curious and just want to move further and further. But even when you start playing the second time and you look for all photos and other collectables, chapters are still so short.

I wish we all got some cool DLC which isn’t about cat or extra clothes. But dreams, sweet dream. Deck 9, plz, can you guys make something really funny for fans, maybe a date for Max (she deserves it).

And the last problem – there is no Chloe. She was annoying in the first game but she is a person Max needs and in my game Max sacrificed Arcadia Bay for her. I just can’t believe Chloe could leave her so easily. Btw Max’s trauma after these events is shown really well, and it helps to see how deep her character is. Sad that’s other characters aren’t so well-written.  

In conclusion I still want to recommend this game. No matter if you are the fan or not, it worth playing and it won’t take lots of time to finish it. Max is still Max even being 28 she can say some cringy stuff and that’s why I like her.  

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

28

Fine Line – Kesha for this Ask Game

I've been hiding my anger, but bitch look at me now

I'm at the top of the mountain, with a gun to my head

Am I bigger than Jesus, or better off dead?

There's a fine line between genius and crazy

There's a fine line between broken and breaking

Spent my whole life tryna to change what they're saying about me

Sick of walking that fine line

Ficlet:

Just like the water balloon Will had overfilled last summer, El feels like she’s ready to pop. It’s like, she’s a balloon. She’s always been a balloon. In the lab, it’d been easy. Papa told her what to fill herself with, told her when to persevere, and when to pop.

Now? Everyone tells her everything all the time. In California, Jonathan had been disappointed when she’d smacked that bully in the face. But when Hopper had found out, he’d clapped her on the back and laughed, liked he was proud.

Who is right?

She hopes it’ll be easier, back in Hawkins. And it is. Max whacks ankles with her cane if anyone so much as scoffs at her, and she has Mike, and all her other friends. But math still turns to mush in her brain, and she still spends long days trying to sit still in quiet classrooms that remind her far too much of locked playrooms.

Now that the Upside-Down is gone, it’s like something in her has atrophied. Will’s flourishing without the Mind Flayer tethering him down. Like, every gate closing has awoken something in him where the shadows used to be – something talkative and confident and happy. El is happy, too. For him.

But where does that leave her? The unwilling weapon. The one to save their lives when all the chips are down. What’s the point of sitting quietly in a droll classroom compared to saving her own little corner of the world?

Hopper tells her that it will settle down within her. He rubs her shorn head roughly and tells her that thing inside her that’s always waiting to fight will grow dormant. El doesn’t believe him.

Everyone is surprised when all the windows shatter, seemingly without provocation, one day in Mrs. Click’s class while El is being reprimanded for her poor performance on a test. El’s not surprised. She’s an overfilled balloon, of course she’d burst.

Dustin gives her a look, wide eyed and panicked as everyone else begins shrieking. She pointedly doesn’t meet his gaze. There’s nothing really to say.

But word travels fast around the party. It’s not Joyce who picks her up after school – it’s Steve.

She hasn’t spent much time with Steve, but she’s heard stories. Dustin especially admires the boy, but even Mike has a little bit of admiration tucked away for him. It’s Max’s opinion that makes her get in the car, though.

Max, who’s sullen and euphoric in waves now that she’s at half-sight and half-mobility. Friends and parents have dropped out of her life in the strain, but Steve’s name falls out of Max’s mouth every other sentence. Steve, who lets her stay at his house sometimes. Steve, who goes grocery shopping with her, who helped her clean her house. Who roughhouses with Max the way no one else will anymore.

El gets in the car.

There’s upbeat music playing quietly from the speakers. He bops his head to it as he pulls away from the school.

“What’s up, Supergirl?” he asks, hands on the wheel, eyeing her from his sideways vantage point.

No one calls her Supergirl anymore. There’s nothing left to save.

“You picked me up,” El says, sullen and euphoric in waves.

Steve laughs, barking and ugly. It makes El smile down at her shoes. “Dustin called me, you know,” he says. El’s smile curls down as something pit-like sinks into her stomach.

She watches the fractals of evening light bounce around on her legs, waiting to be reprimanded. It doesn’t come. The song changes, something more droning and somber as El looks up from her feet.

Steve’s staring out the windshield, still smiling. “I still sleep with my bat under my bed, you know.” She nods, doesn’t know what to say. “And I drive around sometimes, making sure all you kids are safe.”

El feels her brow furrow as she looks at Steve. She doesn’t know him well enough to read his expression. “The Upside-Down is gone,” she says, echoing Hoper and Joyce, and Mike, and almost all her friends.

Steve laughs again, but El doesn’t think he actually finds it funny. “I know!” Steve says, still smiling. “Robin’s been saying that same thing to me, but you know what?”

Lucas had taught her about rhetorical questions, so she waits a while before realizing she should answer. “No, I don’t know what.”

He glances over at her. “I don’t feel like it’s over,” he says quietly, like it’s a secret between the two of them, before bursting out a drawn-out sigh. “Everyone’s acting like it’s all over so we should move on, but how do I do that?”

El analyzes his profile. His eyebrows are pinched but he’s still smiling. She thinks he looks sad. “I miss it,” El whispers.

Steve pulls over and turns the key in the ignition. He turns his whole body to look over at her. “The Upside-Down?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “Being Supergirl.”

His lip quirks back up, small and just on one side as he looks up at her growing-out hair before looking back down to meet her gaze. “You’ll always be Supergirl,” he says, talking through her scoff. “But it’s gotta be tough going from saving the world to flunking algebra.”

El scoffs. “I am not flunking!” she says, indignant. “I have a C!”

“Hell yeah, Supergirl!” he says, beaming as he reaches over the console to slap his hand against hers.

“Max has helped.”

Steve hums, sits, and waits to see if she has anything else to say, but she’s a water balloon, recently emptied, so she stays quiet.

He starts the car and drives.

It isn’t until he’s pulling up to her house, Hopper standing on the porch with crossed arms and a glare on his face that she speaks. “It is hard,” she says.

Steve nods, staring out into the dark woods like he’s expecting something to come barreling out of it. “I know,” he says. “Walkie me if you want me to kidnap you to go beat the shit out of the trees with me or something.”

El smiles, feels the way it stretches her cheeks almost painfully with the force of it. “Thank you, Steve,” she says, hopping out of his car with a wave.

She walks up to her house, ready now, to meet her destiny; even if her destiny is being yelled at by an overprotective Father and grounded for three weeks.

It’s still hard, but it’s a little easier when it’s shared with a friend.

[frozenfirecats]

Pirate101 ask Meme!!!

Questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6,7, 9, 10, 12, 18,27, 28, 34, 38, and 41!!!

oh man that's a lot of questions, ok lets go

1 - Favorite crew member/companion?

bonnie anne my beloved. she’s so cool I wish foxes were real.

2 - Favorite world?

marleybone. the aesthetics and music go hard and the story peaks here

4 - What is your favorite class to play as and why?

musketeer for soloing cause it's the easiest imo and also the most fun, privateer for group play cause I like playing support

5 - What are the backstories for your Pirate? (Parents' death, where were they trained, Etc.)

Esmee: armada/skull island. Grew up among the rats in the sewers, having to steal what she could to get by, leading to her being quite adept at sneaking and using daggers. Strongly despises the Armada since she lost her parents to them, so she tends to be a lot more reckless whenever in a battle against clockworks.

Remmy: storm/marleybone. Was aboard a ship with his parents and sister, Maeve, when a storm struck. His parents died in the storm while he and Maeve where separated. After which, he was found by a Marleybonian ship and the dogs took him in. He grew up in Marleybone training to be a privateer but eventually found ranged weapons to be more to his liking. Was aboard a cargo ship tranporting weapons to Port Regal when he got captured in ambush by the Armada, and met Esmee that way.

Brynn: lost/marleybone. AU character of my ice wiz Brynn, just thought it would be fun to have her as a pirate so yeah no backstory.

Flint: mutiny/mooshu. haven't really worked out a backstory for him, this is just what it says in game. Will likely be change once I develope him more.

Maeve: squid/krokotopia. As mentioned earlier, she is Remmy's sister who was seperated in a storm (that a squid may or may have not been present in idk yet). Ended up in Krok where she learned magic.

6 - Who is your LEAST favorite crew member/companion and why?

wing chun, his voice and personality is a bit grating. idk I don’t really hate any of the mainline companions, and most of the non-story ones aren’t memorable and are lackluster combat-wise so they all meld together, so again I don’t have strong negative feelings towards any one in particular.

7 - How many Pirates do you have?

six, have five maxed out, the sixth was actually my first pirate I made, a musketeer named Ingrid, but I didn't make it that far into the tutorial before stopping. Later I made Esmee and it was then I got super into the game. I don't plan on questing with Ingrid anytime but I don't really feel like deleting her so she's just kinda there

9 - Any headcanons for your crew?

uuuuhhhheeeeuguh i got nothing sorry

10 - What does your flag look like? What are your crew colors?

Esmee

Remmy

Brynn

Flint

Maeve (hopefully I stay settled on this one instead of changing it a fifty more times)

12 - Do you headcanon anyone as LGBTQIA+? If so, who?

yeah I got a few. Bonnie: Lesbian, Ratbeard: gay, Toro: bi, Gracie: aro/ace, Sarah: lesbian. I would include Catbeard but that's canon now so.

as for my pirates, Esmee: ace, Remmy: bi, Brynn: pan, Maeve: trans mtf.

Flint is the token straight who's on thin ice

18 - Opinions on Cool Ranch?

love Cool Ranch. Visually it's gorgeous and the music absolutely slaps, however some parts of it drag and I don't like having to choose between wearing something culturally offensive or having shitty stats for my witchdoctor.

27 - Is there anything you wish was in the game? (Crafting? Fishing?)

tbh I find crafting really annoying in wiz so I hope it never comes to pirate. But I would love to see events akin to wiz's lost pages/five boxes. Especially five boxes I would love to see pirate get its own version of that.

28 - How long have you been playing Pirate101?

at least 3 years, can't remember exactly when I started

34 - What are the hardest and easiest parts of the game to play for you?

easiest is pretty much everything up until Cool Ranch, which is where the difficulty starts to ramp up. hardest is definitely the new updates, Tartarus and Wheeler especially.

38 - Is there anything you hope for in a future update(s)? What would you like to see?

would really love to go to Albion sometime. as for features, pretty much stuff we already have in wiz like character name/appearance changing, option to hide quests, and setting a minimum player requirement for team up, and please for the love of all that is holy give us the option to trash doubloons

41 - How did you first discover Pirate101? (Commercial, a friend, fanart, etc.) What inspired you to play?

kind of always knew about it through wiz, wasn't until around 2020/2021ish that I got interested in playing

[sevenmerrymagpies]

Chapter 4

Steve Harrington is an artificial lifeform created by his two "parents," Dr. Don Harrington and Dr. Caroline Harrington in the spring of 1966. His objective is to learn through experience and prove his creators hypotheses about neutral networks correct. In 1983, he decides to start adding his own objectives.

Teaser under the cut

The kids' voices were gaining volume as they began arguing with each other. As far as Steve could tell, they were planning a suicide mission. From Steve's risk analysis calculations, a potential winning outcome for them was abysmal. 

"Yeah, and then we all die," Steve said as the kids paused long enough for him to say something.

"That's one point of view," Dustin said.

"No, that's not a point of view, Dustin. It's a fact," Steve said. There were too many variables and too many unknowns. What he knew about—for example, the demodogs—was nothing the kids could face alone. Even Steve couldn't face them all by himself. Not more than two or maybe three at a time, like at the junkyard. Even then, he didn't know how well he would have done against the creatures if the hivemind hadn't called them off. 

Of course, they ignored him. 

Mike moved around the house, the kids following him as he laid out his newest plan. Steve followed them, hoping any of them would do the same risk analysis Steve had already done. Weren't these kids all supposed to be smart? This was basic statistics.

"Maybe if we set this on fire," Mike said, gesturing to the crayon drawings covering the floor.

"Yeah, that's a no," Steve said, throwing the dish towel over his shoulder.

Predictably, at this point, the rest of the kids joined in, talking over Steve as if he'd never spoken at all.

"Hey," he said, and they kept talking. "Hey," he interjected again to no avail. "Hey, hey, hey," he clapped his hands and finally got their attention long enough to say, "This is not happening. No, no, no buts. I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing. We're staying here, on the bench, and we're waiting here for the starting players to do their jobs. Does everybody understand that?"

"This isn't a stupid sports game," Mike complained.

"I said does everybody understand that?" They rolled their eyes at him. "I need a yes."

Into the silence of their obstinance came the roar of an engine. Max's demeanor shifted from stubborn to dawning fear before she jogged over to the window. "It's my brother." She told Lucas, who followed behind her. "He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." She looked at Lucas. "He'll kill us."

Steve wasn't sure who her brother was until he heard the engine rev. He knew that engine, and he knew the driver. That was the blue Camero—a 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, to be exact. Only the new kid, Billy Hargrove, drove that car in Hawkins. 

Steve thought for a moment. He couldn't let anyone die. Or any of these kids get hurt. Not just because Hopper told him to but because the alternative was not something Steve could tolerate. 

Steve thought about last year. When he changed or updated his original programming. He could do it again. He could add to the changes he'd already started last year. His first addendum hadn't been enough to keep him from still being bullshit in the eyes of the woman he loved, but maybe, if he changed enough, he could be good enough for her one day. 

First objective: learn through experience. Surely, everything happening with the Upside Down fell outside typical human experience, but he wouldn't abandon these people now. 

Self-given sub-parameters: don't be an asshole. It was a work in progress. It was more difficult than expected to do the right thing. Nancy telling him everything about him was bullshit was proof enough of that. 

He reached deep within himself and updated his code once again. There inside himself was his sparkling new self-given sub-parameter (addendum A): keep the kids alive no matter what. 

[honeyhobi]

Spider Socorro + curse of obedience?? <3

Put That Guy In A Situation™️ Ask Game

Crossposted on AO3

28. Curse of Obedience + Spider Socorro

A/N: This is short but I hope you like it anyway! Content warnings for child neglect.

At first everyone thinks Spider is just a really good kid. He never has to be told to do anything more than once.

“Spider, finish all your vegetables,” the McCoskers order him at dinner, and he does without complaint.

“Spider, stop running in the labs!” Max calls after him, and he skids to a stop so fast he almost trips over his feet.

“Don’t climb in the link beds!”

“Quit crying!”

“Stay away from Grace’s amino tank.”

The commands are endless, and Spider obeys each and every one. It's a gift to have such a well behaved child, everyone tells the McCoskers. They must be such good parents.

Except one night, when Mary is putting Spider to bed, he fights her. He kicks the blankets away, whines and cries to be allowed to stay up a little longer, struggles against her hands when they push him down onto the bed.

“For fuck's sake, Spider, just go to sleep!” Mary yells.

And, miraculously, Spider does. He goes limp on the bed, his eyes close, and his breathing evens out. It should be more concerning, but Mary is just so exhausted and grateful that she only shuts the lights off and leaves the bedroom.

The next morning comes around, and Spider sleeps right through it. The McCoskers go to work, and when they come back, Spider stubbornly stays curled up in his bed. He ignores them when they call his name, doesn’t even stir when Mary opens his bedroom door and asks if he's mad at her.

“The silent treatment, huh?” Mary says. No response. Spider snores away in his bed even as eclipse draws near. Or, he pretends to.

She comes over to his bedside and shakes him by the shoulder. “Come on. You can't stay in bed all day, you know.”

Still, Spider does not wake. His eyes remain stubbornly closed, face slack with sleep, until Mary orders with concern creeping into her tone, “Spider, wake up.”

And he does.

Spider's eyes blink open instantaneously, and he sits up and looks at Mary without a single inkling of sleepiness.

“Is it morning?” He asks her.

And he says it so innocently, so genuinely curious and not at all like a normal fussy five year old would after pulling a prank on somebody. It’s a ridiculous thought Mary has next, but she says it out loud anyway.

“Spider, do ten jumping jacks.”

She expects him to ask why. Maybe argue a little that he's only just woken up, that it's too early to exercise. But he doesn’t. Instead he gets out of bed and does ten jumping jacks. And Mary feels cold all over.

She calls Norm. They run brain scans and draw blood. When Spider whines fearfully Norm tells him not to be scared. Spider stops whining.

When the tests come up with nothing, when no machines tell the scientists anything about what could possibly be happening, they call Jake Sully. Jake Sully comes to Hell's Gate with the Omaticaya's Tsahìk on his tail. Everyone knows that something serious has happened when they see Mo'at's regal figure duck in through the airlock of the labs.

“There are stories,” Mo'at tells them, “passed down from generations about a child with a gift that allows him to do anything he is told to do. Stxeli lek.”

“The gift of obedience,” Jake says, his expression somber.

“Yes. It is said that this child has great skills, and can do many great things.”

Mary lets out a nervous little laugh. “That’s good, then, right? He won't ever be a hassle.”

Mo'at's grim face shuts her right up.

“This gift is very rare. Very powerful. The stories serve as a warning not to misuse the child's power. Many see this gift as a curse. The child could hurt himself, or hurt others.”

For the first time during the entire meeting, Nash speaks up. He shrugs and says, “Sounds like a gift to me. Maybe we can order him not to become a genocidal maniac like his father.”

Norm glares at him and objects, “Spider would never hurt anybody!”

They all turn at once to look at the boy in question through a small window that looks into an observation room. It used to be to interrogate enemies back when Hell's Hate was RDA property. Now it's been transformed into a classroom for Spider, equipped with soft mats to sit on and educational toys to play with. When Jake visits with his two children, it doubles as a playroom for all of them. Now, they all watch as Jake's daughter sits on the floor and braids Spider's hair with clumsy fingers while he chatters away. The room is soundproof, so they can't hear what he’s saying. But whatever it is makes Kiri laugh.

Mo'at hums in consideration. “Perhaps not. But if someone wished it so, he would not have a choice.”

[sanvirtheobserver]

Taking Flight, Chapter 28: All Sneaky Deaky Like.

The bandit stronghold is buzzing like a beehive as the night drudges on. The fields outside the outer walls are littered with all sorts of vehicles and haphazardly constructed war machines. Over on the cliffside overlooking the stronghold, Meggy is scanning the area through her scope while Pomni watches her six.

Meggy: This is Overwatch to Bluejay, do you copy?

Over to the East we see Tari, Uzi, and Jax hiding amongst the supply crates. They're all wearing the standard "TF2 Default Sniper" fit and some Gummy Bear Masks. Tari is currently speaking with Meggy on the walkie-talkie.

Tari: Bluejay to Overwatch, we read you.

Meggy: Okay. Once you're inside the walls, keep your eyes and ears open for any info on what they're planning. According to Gummigoo's info, you'll find Chewmaw's war room in that fort at the center of the stronghold.

Gummigoo also chimes in. He's in the trailer of the War Rig and is currently in a game of cards with Max, Chad, and the Mario Bros.

Gummigoo: The big bastard himself will likely be sitting around on that throne of his. Ya can't miss him. He's as big as a mountain. Also, he may sound as sharp as a bowling ball, but his wits could split a man in two. Don't let your guard down.

Tari: Roger that.

She readies her Gummy Bear mask and looks to the team.

Tari: Alright. Follow me.

The trio makes their move. So far, nobody is paying them any mind as they weave between the tankers and approach the main gate. A pair of gunmen stand guard and stops the three from entering.

Guard 1: Hold up. You know the drill. Speak the flavor of the day.

Jax: Sunday.

The guards exchange glances before opening the door and letting them through. Uzi and Tari are awestruck at how quickly he figured it out.

Jax: What? Caine gives us riddles like that all the time.

The three make their way towards the central fort, where they see one of those Cultists entering through the front door. Seeing their opening, they slink their way into the building. Inside they see a surprisingly lavish throneroom, the roof held aloft with massive pillars adorned with banners bearing the insignia of a Shark's skull. The trio sneaks behind the pillars as the hooded figure advances towards a formittable Rock Candy Throne, upon which sits a slumbering Blue and Purple Gummy Shark adorned in candied scrap armor. His right arm is a formittable vice-like claw, and a cherry red scope sits atop his right eye.

Cultist: Greetings, Lord Chewmaw.

The Cultist's raspy voice rouses the Warlord from his slumber.

Chewmaw: Nnngh......... there better be a good reason you decided to interrupt my beauty sleep.

The three continue to sneak between the pillars as Chewmaw converses with the Cultist.

Cultist: Well, you should know that we found the remnants of Gummigoo's war band out on the Rocky Roads. There were few survivors. Gummigoo and his brothers were nowhere to be seen, and we have yet to find his Tanker.

Tari peaks out from behind a pillar and sees Chewmaw gritting his teeth in frustration.

Cultist: Rest assured, though. Your current stockpile is far more than what we'll need. Final preparations on our side are progressing nicely, and we'll be ready to proceed by morning.

Chewmaw: And you're certain this will work?

Cultist: I swear on my mortal soul, all goes well and the Sweetlands will be yours to rule.

A toothy grin creeps across Chewmaw's face. He rises from his throne and marches towards the door.

Chewmaw: Then let's get this shindig started. I hope you appreciate the effort I had to spare for all this.

Cultist: Oh, it is GREATLY appreciated. Of that I am sure.

The cultist takes one last look around the throne room before following Chewmaw. The trio peak from the left staircase as the two head out the front door. With the coast clear, they head upstairs and find the war room.

Tari: Overwatch, we're in.

Meggy: Copy that, Bluejay. See if you can find anything.

The trio splits up and searches the room. While Uzi flips through the papers on the war table and Jax admires the weapon racks adorning the walls, Tari walks over to examine............ a sculpture. A monolith of stratified minerals twisted into a shape akin to a knight's Chess piece. She inches closer and places a hand on the polished crystaline surface. Her reflection was distorted, twisted into something unrecognizable. That's when she heard something.

Tari: Did....... did somebody say something?

Jax: No. Why?

Uzi is still preoccupied with examining the table. Tari listens for the noise again, which turns her attention back to the sculpture. She is compelled to place her ear up to it and listen closely. There's the sound, faint and illegible. It was like something inside the sculpture was trying to speak from within the crystaline mass. A sense of dread began to coil around her heart as she looked to her robotic hand.

Clench: I don't like this.............

Against her better judgement, she takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and hesitantly places her robotic hand on the sculpture. She opens her eyes and she is elsewhere. The sculpture in front of her was now one of many, lining the walls of a cathedral-like chamber. At the far end of the chamber was a yawning opening overlooking a vast chasm of pitch black nothing. In the middle of the chamber was a slab of black lustrous metal and polished stone, circled by various containers........... with something laying on top. Tari cautiously walks over to the slab. Whatever laid on top the slab was swaddled in fine silks and bound in golden rosaries. A faint glow can be seen beneath the wrappings, throbbing like a heartbeat. The voice is here. Tari works up the courage to speak.

Tari: Hello?

The whispers cease for a moment. An oppressive silence fills the air as the coils of dread pull tighter. Then came the whisper.

????: Rap. Tap. Tap.

Tari gasps as something yanks her backwards. Tari's heart is racing, her breath short as she looks around and sees she's back in the war room. It looks like Uzi yanked her away from the sculpture.

Uzi: Hey! Snap out of it, will ya!?

Tari's heart was still racing. She takes a moment to catch her breath.

Tari: I......... what happened?

Jax: Hell if I know. You were the one Blair Witching in front of that creepy rock.

Tari: I...... I was somewhere else. There was something there, something........ awful........ like.........

That's when Meggy chimes in on the walkie-talkie.

Meggy: Overwatch to Bluejay, come in! Do you read, over?

Tari: Um, yeah. I hear you.

Meggy: I just spotted Chewmaw departing with a caravan of tankers. Did you find out when they're planning to attack Sugar Canyon?

Tari tries to answer, but a splitting headache prompts her to hand the walkie-talkie to Uzi.

Uzi: Yeah, that's not their plan. It turns out Chewmaw has been helping these cultists with some kind of......... ritual. They're heading for some place called the Fudge Pits.

Meggy: Wait wait wait, a ritual? A ritual for what?

Uzi: Haven't deciphered that yet, but it has something to do with the "Fifth Scholar of Zalgo." We'll go over it later. Right now, we need to get out of here.

Meggy: Alright. We'll meet back up at the rig.

Jax: You good, Blue?

Tari: Yeah. Much better now.

Back on the rig, Gummigoo just won his fifth game in a row, much to the bemusement of Mario.

Mario: This game sucks!

Chad: The boss always did have that gambler's luck.

In the driver's cabin, Kinger is zoning out when he hears Jax calling in on the radio.

Jax: Hey! Whoever's behind that wheel, please respond.

Kinger: Jax?! How did you get in there?

Jax: Hoo-hah, good. We got what we need and we're ready to split. Get behind that wheel and floor it over here, would ya?

Kinger: Affirmative, captain. Be there in a rook.

Just then, the war room door opens and we see a bandit walking in on the trio.

Bandit: Hey boss, you in here? I was kinda hoping I could get the day off for my daughter's birthda-

His head is swiftly blown off by Uzi's shotgun pistol. She then grabs as many notes as she can and stuffs them into a dufflebag.

Uzi: Let's get going.

Several bandits gather outside the building after hearing the gunshot. They all aim their guns at the door, ready to spray down whoever comes through that door. That's when they hear something busting out of the second floor wall as the trio leap down from the hole. Jax lands right on top of one of them and gets to clobbering while Uzi lays down suppressing fire. One manages to sneak up behind her, but is quickly cut down by Tari's glaive.

Tari: Y'know, we could've just gotten out of here quietly!

Jax: Eh, easy is no fun anyways.

The blair of a very suspicious horn echoes through the air as the war rig comes crashing through the outer wall like a bowling ball through Styrofoam. Several more bandits are flattened while the turrets take care of the stragglers.

Kinger: All aboard going aboard.

The trio hop into the trailer as the war rig kicks it into high gear, splattering even more poor saps before busting out of the stronghold as gracefully as it came in. Meggy sees the whole thing going down from the ridge as Pomni looks on with mild concern.

Pomni: Uh, couldn't they have just snuck out quietly? I think that would've been a bit easier.

Meggy: Eh, so long as it works.

She holsters her gun and the two set off.

Meggy: Besides, easy is no fun anyways.

[maxdurden]

28 & 5 for vivka / 32 & 18 for rhea in the ask gamee :33

oc asks! about my ocs in max durden's adventuring party!

putting this under a read more because it got. so long :3

vivka vileshade -

28. how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

vivka tends to express her feelings through action and acts of service. she will kill someone for you if she likes you, no questions asked. unfortunately, in elmville that's usually not the vibe so she'd had to adjust a bit. she has a deep sense of loyalty and cares deeply for her adventuring party, and the way she showed that was by creating pendants with their hair and gifting it to them, kind of like victorian mourning jewelry but i imagine it's like a fucked up baronies version of friendship bracelets. and she may or may not have snuck into everyone's homes and stolen a lock of their hair while they were sleeping but that's beside the point.

again, killing people isn't the vibe in elmville, so she's trying to get over the habit of killing people as a way of signaling her distaste for them (and her adventuring party has done a good job of stepping in and reminding her that she can't). but with hate she's also an action-oriented person. if you find a dead rat on your pillow it might be because you pissed off vivka. but most of the time she's rather keep her feelings lowkey until she can strike at the optimal moment, it's just in her rogue nature.

5. how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

this is such a fun question for vivka thank youuu for asking it. she's from the baronies, so a lot of what i've imagined her wearing is definitely inspired by historical fashion. a lot of vivka's style has been inspired by edwardian sensibilities. she wears a lot of lace inspired by the kind of flowy, relaxed gibson girl look, but also definitely also enjoys more structured dresses with waistcoats that were equally popular in the early 1900s (of course, these aren't real cultural ideas/time periods in the world of spyre, but they're more of a guide and inspiration for me when thinking about her style).

she's definitely dressed well a lot of the time, but never so impractically that her clothes would get in the way of any potential sneaking or murdering that needs to happen.

i imagine her hairstyles taking more inspiration from renaissance styles, with braids and pearled cauls holding her hair out of the way. she's got these long black curls that i think are really suited to hairstyles inspired by that time period.

rhea hollowstone -

32. do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

rhea's biggest self-destructive habit is definitely picking fights. whenever she needs to really feel out what she's feeling about something, she'll just decide to get into a screaming match with whoever about it. she doesn't always even mind which side of the argument she comes down on, she's just trying to figure how she feels by verbally sparring.

it's definitely one of those things that makes her come across as pretty abrasive to most people, and different members of her party handle it differently. max is always happy to argue right back; it helps that she and max are old friends and kind of get that about each other. ficus, for example, is on the other end of the spectrum and will very much just walk away the minute it seems like she's looking for a fight.

18. their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

rhea grew up being best friends with max durden, so she's not gonna judge someone for stealing and she's definitely lied to cover for his ass on more than one occasion. she's pretty into the idea of moral relativism, which is probably also a consequence of being friends with max. generally she's concerned with utilitarian questions about morals--who is being hurt? is this for the greater good? what are the power dynamics? if she catches max stealing from local businesses she slaps his hand because she's of the opinion that that energy should be saved for big corporations, but she's not gonna judge him harshly for it.

killing is a bit more complicated, especially going to aguefort where wanton violence isn't exactly discouraged. her goddess, njalla, is a giantkin goddess of spring and rebirth; a goddess who honors maidens in a similar way to the bacchae in ancient greece. so she's not opposed to violence for the most part, given that it feels deserved. so, killing on a quest is fine for her, but she's also usually one of the party members trying to talk vivka down from killing random aguefort students for minor social slights

[peakvincent]

ok love you @okaynowkiss for tagging me in my favorite kind of writing game, an opportunity to toot my own horn.

rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

In a Shocking Conclusion You’ll Never See Coming, Season 28 of The Bachelor ended when Daniel Garcia found love where he never expected it: not in the crowd of twenty-five suitors, but in the production staff. (the right reasons, wrestling, cowritten with @pucklingrevisted)

“I don’t understand,” Ace says, “She got what by what?” (instead of carving up the wall, nancy drew cw)

They talk about it, just once, really early on. (a church with a locked door, wrestling)

You’d think a guy like Max would be angrier about it. (the altar is your hips, wrestling)

When Punk gets back to his dressing room, Max is waiting. (sick sense of a calling, wrestling)

Max lets Punk into his hotel room. (i want the wolf inside the wool, wrestling)

He can feel Max’s eyes on him in medical, and he very deliberately looks anywhere else. (you cracked me for real this time, wrestling)

The thing is, Claire's landlord is useless. (we better make a start, bon appetit)

“Weren’t you going to go home for Thanksgiving?” Jon hears Tommy ask Lovett from the other side of the aisle of desks. (i know you know that here is home, podsa)

Lovett had picked PSCI218, The American Presidency, for exactly two reasons: one, he was completely on track to graduate at the end of the spring as long as he shoved this last bullshit social sciences general education requirement into his schedule somewhere, and two, Professor Jonathan Favreau had a low difficulty rating and a little red chili pepper on ratemyprofessor.com. (he can't help but let me in, podsa)

ok, six of them are very short and punchy, and those are pretty much all followed by a longer one in contrast. i love a very blunt opening line that then needs to get expanded. two of them are dropping you in the middle of a conversation, which also i like very much. also, two of them have hotel rooms! we love sports rpf.

if you wanna do it, please consider yourself tagged!!!!

[crispylilworm]

Top 5 Video Game Foods

The recent Watcher Top 5 Beatdown had me racking my brain and googling lots of pixel food images, love the different aesthetic, experience, and curiosity factors that went in to their lists. Though I'd share my own & would love to hear yours!

5. Sweetroll (Skyrim)

4. Lantern Fruit (Subnautica)

3. Creamy Heart Soup (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

2. Peach Pie (Animal Crossing: New Horizons)

1. Brewster's Coffee (Animal Crossing: Wild World)

Reasoning & honorable mentions below ^.^

5. I got into Skyrim late to the game, but my first character started as a Jean Valjean-inspired petty thief in the pursuit bread and cheese. Nothing looked quite as appetizing as those little sweetrolls. One of the many delightful discoveries I came across going in blind to an iconic game.

4. Red, plump, slightly bioluminescent - super versatile as either a food source or bioreactor fuel, but most of all a gorgeous addition to any base. Returning to base and taking a bite of a fresh lantern fruit was more just for roleplay than anything lol, but man do I want to have a taste in real life.

3. Figuring out recipes was one of my favorite parts of the unlimited exploration in the open-world Breath of the Wild, and nothing seemed tastier than the Creamy Heart Soup. I can just imagine how revitalizing it would be to slurp it down mid-battle. Something about video games making imaginary fruits just looks so tantalizing, and I'm always a slut for a good soup.

2. The craftable food update in New Horizons is what kept me around for nearly a 1,000-hour island. Something about how they would steam after you cooked and placed them just looked so good. The cute aesthetics of the food items could warrant its own top-10 list for me, and the Peach Pie was as good as it got. I got the Switch game in 2022 well after the pandemic peak. Neither me nor my friends had peaches on their islands, and I was not about to pay to trade with someone - I never actually attained this beauty. My island had lined fields of crops and a farmers market with baked breads and jarred goods, she would have been my star centerpiece.

1. This is mainly an experience-based choice for me, but I imagine the taste would be phenomenal as well. 10-year-old me was unaware of changing DS settings to play different dates, so the once-per-day cup of coffee was a cherished moment. At the time I did not even know what coffee tasted like lol. The thought of drinking a scalding hot beverage scared me but I did not want to disappoint Brewster by letting it cool past its peak flavor. And Saturday nights when KK Slider was there?? Highlight of my week. Honestly that whole atmosphere of having a tasty little drink and watching a local live performance is exactly the vibe a look for as 28-year-old still. I wish I could go back and see how many hours I put into Wild World, I literally COMPLETED that game before I had access to the internet to look up how to find things - it was my cozy place.

I had too much fun putting this together lol honorable mentions has no cap idc, also no proofreading we die like men!

Honorable mentions: Yeto's Soup (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) - it took so long to make it must be the heartiest soup ever, Rare Candy (Pokemon) - if it can make my pokemon level up imagine ME, Lobster Thermador (Sims 2) - max level cooking meal I didn't think was real lol, Goopy Carbonara (Sims 3) - what's so goopy about it?, Crab and Egg Chinese Style (Cooking Mama) - a food I want to try and cook myself, Dubious Food (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) - what flavor is 'dubious' exactly?, Cheesy Meat Bowl (Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) - food that could instantly cure a hangover, Golden Apple (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) - does it even taste different?, Perfect Cherry (Animal Crossing: New Horizons) - I am allergic to cherries but I would risk it, Pink Cake (Stardew Valley) - so cute I NEED a taste, Light Faerie Sundae (Neopets) - faerie food looked tasty af the light sundae looked the best, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (HP & The Chamber of Secrets PS2) - Harry seemed so excited to find those beans I need to know why, 'Johnny Silverhand' Cocktail (Cyberpunk 2077) - beer + chili + tequila sounds awful I want a taste, Big Bang Burger (Persona 5 Royal) - I want to taste of Okumura's finest, NukaCola (Fallout) - if it doesn't taste like Diet Coke nuclear apocalypse isn't worth it, Klawf al Ajillo & Pickled Toedscool (Pokeomon Scarlet/Violet) - I want to taste the forbidden meat o.O

[crepearchives]

CROB Profile: 🐛 Centipede Cookie

Warning: This Cookie’s content may be offensive and/or Orientalist due to Devsisters’s mishandling of Middle-Eastern themes and the extent of SWANA (Southwestern Africa and North Africa) cultures as they published more parts of the Yogurca theme. I will try my best to publish the content of this Cookie on a purely gameplay-centric basis while only providing extra content based on storylines in the game itself as part of my obligation as a Cookie Run information archive blog. Cookie commentary will be cut from all posts on this theme. As such, I do not support Devsisters in their handling of these themes as it stands now. I would rather see them have a do-over, or to have somebody else who knows more about the subject of SWANA cultures audit the company’s work to ensure that the Yogurcan theme is not mishandled again beyond anything that has already been published. If I make a mistake on this subject, respectfully report any specific problems seen in this post (and any further linked posts) to me ASAP so that it may be corrected.

Centipede Cookie is an Epic Cookie who was released alongside her Pet Treasure Flask on March 28th, 2023 as part of the update “In the Shadows of the Dunes” as the first of the update’s two new Cookies. As explained by Chapter 1 of the “Village of Mirages” event, she appears to be vying for leadership of the Sneaky Sands Clan when the old leader steps down, and subsequently brands Lilac Cookie as a traitor since he left the clan.

Release Date: March 28, 2023

Tags: #Speed #Jellies #SpecialControl

Rarity: Epic

Energy: 176 + 9 per level (266 Trial at Level 11, Max 302)

Resonant Ingredient: Golden Sun Necklace

Pronouns: She/Her

Unlock Condition: 758 Trial Star Jellies OR 2,900 Crystals

Affection Bonuses: +1,000 / +2,000 points for Treasure Jellies

Titles:

454. Ooh Ho Ho! (Upgrade Centipede Cookie to level 15)

453. Sneaky Sands Clan, Assemble! (Reach Diamond in Centipede Cookie and Peppercorn Cookie’s Trials)

Banned in CotMT?: Unknown

Raid Run Skill: Not Qualified

In-Game Story

"Ohh ho ho!" If you hear this piercing laughter... you better run! Or else you will have to face Centipede Cookie's giant centipede bursting from the ground right before you. Sitting on the head of the giant centipede, smirking down at other Cookies, this Cookie always desires to be the center of attention. Like her tail, Centipede Cookie wields a vibrant whip, and quite a few Cookies look up to her skillful powers. The Cookie has been waiting long for the day to rise victoriously. By the look of all the golden accessories she buys, perhaps the Cookie wanted to be rewarded for the long wait.

Skill

Starts riding the Centipede King at given intervals. Treasure jars appear, which can be broken by the Cookie's whip. Press the whip button when a jar is in range to destroy it and create Treasure Jellies. Level Up for more points and Coins for Treasure Jellies.

Centipede Cookie will periodically summon the Centipede King to ride on top of it. While the Centipede King is active, she can encounter Treasure Jars moving left towards her. Press the “Whip” button while a Treasure Jar is in the red targeting zone denoted by the two dotted lines (and highlighted by a set of crosshairs) to destroy it using her whip, releasing the Treasure Jellies and Coins inside. A Treasure Jar is counted as a “Miss” if it moves left outside of the red targeting zone. The whip attack can destroy obstacles in the targeting zone, while the Centipede King will destroy obstacles by moving into them. Centipede Cookie will have a basic magnetic field while the Centipede King is active, and she can still jump and double-jump from atop the Centipede King to achieve other objectives such as collecting static/winged jellies or destroying other obstacles for points.

⏳ Skill Delay: 29.2 seconds

⏰ Observed Skill Duration: 11.02 seconds

🏺 Treasure Jars Per Skill: 7

💎 Treasure Jellies Per Treasure Jar: 10 x 7 (70 Total, 40 with Magic Candy)

💎 Treasure Jelly Score: 95,000 + 12,500 per level (220,000 Trial, 270,000 Max)

🪙 Coins per Treasure Jelly: 10

Magic Candy

Some of the treasure jars turn into Splendorous Jars. Splendorous Jars contain Splendorous Treasure Jellies. The stronger the enchanted effect, the more points and Coins for Splendorous Treasure Jellies.

With her Magic Candy, three random Treasure Jars in one skill cycle are replaced with Splendorous Treasure Jars. Destroying these jars will release Splendorous Treasure Jellies worth more points and Coins than regular Treasure Jellies.

🏺 Splendorous Treasure Jars Per Skill: 3

💎 Splendorous Treasure Jellies Per Splendorous Treasure Jar: 10 x 3 (30 Total Replaced)

💎 Splendorous Treasure Jelly Score: 156,000 + 68,500 per level (390,000 Max)

🪙 Coins Per Splendorous Treasure Jelly: 30

✨ Blessings: Yellow Bear Jellies, Pink Bear Jellies, All Bear Jellies, Coins

Relationships

Lilac Cookie: I trusted you... 🔥 Rival

Scorpion Cookie: Wipe that smirk off your face, traitor! ⚡️Tension

Tiger Lily Cookie: The Centipede King is cooler than your Butter Tiger! 👍 Friendly

Skating Queen Cookie: Ohh ho ho! You're very confident, like me! 👍 Friendly

Adventurer Cookie: Lucky Cookie who didn't face any troubles in the Mirage Village! ⚡️ Tension

Yogurt Cream Cookie: It's always a failed mission when this Cookie is involved!!! ⚡️ Tension

Combi Bonuses

Treasure Flask: +220,000 Points for Treasure Jellies

Pop Pop Photocard: +240,000 Photocard Collection Points

Costume

Sun-Blessed Hotshot (+1,500 Treasure Jelly Points) When the whip soars high into the sky and soaks in the sunlight, it's game over! The outfit may seem a little light for going into a harsh battle, but don't be fooled as Centipede Cookie has all the skills to win any battle. The Cookie claims to have been blessed by the sun and maybe... just maybe it is true!

Release Date: March 28, 2023

Rarity: Champion

This costume was only available during the Centipede Season of the Champions League for 2,400 Season Points.

Conclusion

Centipede Cookie is a low-end Coin generator for her skill (700 without MC -> 1,300 with MC), but with a few extra coins on the map, she can reasonably benefit from skills and features that require Coins to activate, such as the Ion Microchip, her combi Treasure Pop Pop Photocard, Energy Scale, Panda Dumpling, and in-map shops. As such, she would not be recommended to farm Coins. However, the bonus speed she gets from her skill, combined with her magnetic field, moderate jelly creation, and large destruction hitbox, allows her to clear large areas of the map while destroying every obstacle in her path and collecting almost every jelly along the way while her skill is active. Running with the Paradise Compass will turn this magnetic field into a Super Magnetic Field that can attract otherwise winged/un-attractable Rainbow Bear Jellies, ensuring that EVERYTHING in range gets collected by the magnet with less effort to jump into them manually. This area sweeping range can be extended with speed Treasures like the X-tra Hot Turbo Engine and Lollipop Skate, as well as a well-timed Blast from countless sources.

Intended to be paired with Treasure Flask’s energy conservation skills, Centipede is built for moderately-long hauls across the map before she stops. Utilize and boost her speed to cover as much ground as possible with her massive skill hitbox, and utilize the Coins she generates for extra bonuses to maximize your score as much as possible.