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cloudynyims · 7 months ago

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This is part two of the untitled Jamie/borrower fic I started... 6 months ago D: I genuinely didn't think I would lose gusto for that long but January-April is always busy for me w/ school so I'm not terribly surprised. But as promised, here is part two! Enjoy my first writing in 6 months :) Part 1 is here if you didn't read or forgot what happened! This part is about 2.1k words!

Roy was pissed off when they told him what happened while he was gone. “That stupid fucking prick. Not only was he lurking in my office, but he scared you half to death,” he seethed. They knew better than to interrupt Roy when he was worked up like this. Even still, they rolled their eyes.

“He didn’t scare me that badly,” They mumbled to themselves, trying to downplay the mind-numbing terror they had experienced.

“Fucking hell. Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked them for the millionth time. They hadn’t seen Roy get this protective since the team first found them a year ago.

“I told you, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything to me. He just asked me a few questions and then left me alone.” Roy didn’t seem to trust their words, but they knew he was just concerned. If Jamie had done anything, he’d be the first to take care of it.

“When I get my hands on that bastard, I swear I’ll…” They began to tune him out. When Roy was aggravated like this, it became a one-sided conversation. They usually listened politely, but their thoughts turned to Jamie. They kept replaying the moment in their head. When he saw them for the first time, how their entire body froze up with fear, and they could barely get a word out.

But each time they thought about it again, his actions became less scary. He didn’t grab them, hurt them, prod at them, or do anything they seemed uncomfortable with. He didn’t yell, nor did he act malicious in any way. But they also couldn’t ignore how strongly the team felt about him.

They should still be cautious, right?

The Jamie they encountered was so different from the Jamie everyone described. He was gentle, considerate, and attentive. He was a little annoying before he noticed them, but after he wasn’t. He wasn’t demeaning or narcissistic either. The mix of opinions and actions messed with their head. Was he trustworthy or not?

For the next week, they tried to solve that mystery. They still spent most of their time during training in Roy’s pocket, but that was fine with them. It made it easier to observe Jamie. They started peeking out of the pocket when they were certain Roy wasn’t paying attention to them. They wanted to watch and understand how Jamie operated. They needed to see what he was like for themselves.

To their surprise, Jamie seemed distant. They hadn’t seen him practice before, but this was not what they had expected. From what Roy had told them weeks prior, Jamie was still the same self-centered type of player. While his gameplay wasn’t really affected, even they could tell he seemed off. He had a few uncharacteristic errors during training.

Ted was getting on him about those, and Jamie just took it. They knew Jamie could run his mouth; his insults and backtalk often drove Roy to the edge. But now, he was hardly talking at all. He only nodded absently to any direction he was given. They were even more confused than they were before they started.

They couldn’t figure it out. Why was he acting so strange? Roy still wasn’t coaching him, but that never bothered him before. The only thing that had taken place recently was him discovering them. They scoffed. He had no reason to be affected by that. He didn’t get towered over by someone he was told to be wary of. He didn’t get his wits scared out of him. There was no reason for their existence to influence him.

Practice had finished once they returned from the depths of their thoughts. Roy brought them back to his office to stretch their legs. Once he set them down, they began pacing on his desk, thinking again. He could tell something was wrong. “Oi,” He said to snap them out of their thoughts. “What’s up with you?”

They turned to face him. “Sorry,” They said with a small smile. “I was just thinking. I didn’t mean to worry you.” “You’re not worrying me.” He observed as they continued pacing. “Are you thinking about Jamie?” He asked suddenly. They looked up with a start. He continued, “If that twat is making you stressed out, I swear to fucking God that I will beat his ass into next week.”

That made them chuckle. “No, no, no, you don’t need to do that. I promise I’m okay,” They said waving him off.

He knew that wasn’t everything. “But?”

“I just… I can’t figure it out. Why has Jamie been so off lately?” Roy didn’t comment and waited for them to continue. “Is it my fault? He makes these errors in practice now, and I know how much it annoys you when he *doesn’t* make errors. And he seems so distant. He’s not talking much, and he hasn’t annoyed you in days!”

Roy sat back in his chair. “You say that like I enjoy it when he annoys me. I’ve been enjoying the peace,” Roy said with a ghost of a smile.

“That’s not what I meant,” They clarified. “I just… I feel bad. Like I drove him to this point or something.” They paused. “Like... maybe if I hadn’t been so nervous… or… maybe I should apologize—”

Roy interrupted them. “Apologize for what? That prick was snooping where he wasn’t supposed to be. Given how shitty he is, he shouldn’t have been surprised you reacted the way you did.” They cast their gaze down, still unconvinced.

He reached out to tap their shoulder reassuringly. “You’re a good person, and I know you care. But don’t waste your energy worrying about him. He’ll get over himself. His attitude is not your fault.”

Roy’s words dispelled their guilt for a few days. But Jamie’s mood wasn’t getting any better, so their guilt returned tenfold. One day, in the middle of training, they made up their mind. They were going to talk to Jamie and figure out what was going on. Roy would kill them if he found out, probably because this was their stupidest idea to date. But they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if they didn’t.

They knew Roy had a coaches meeting today, so they waited until he left them in his office. Once the coast was clear, they walked over to the edge of the desk. The office didn’t have much to help them get to the floor, much to their annoyance. So, they went back to their roots and headed to their old stash of supplies in the walls. Finding their old hook wasn’t difficult, and they made their way back to the edge of the desk.

“Phew, it’s been a while since I’ve had to do this,” they mumbled to themself. Digging their hook into the groove they previously made at the edge of the desk (they were grateful Roy still hadn’t noticed), it all came back to them. With practiced ease, they descended to the floor, gathered their hook, and jogged toward the door.

It was closed, but they were small enough to squeeze underneath. They crawled under, with their hook getting stuck behind them. After yanking it free from the narrow opening, they looked at the locker room. It had been a while since they had seen the locker room from here. They had almost forgotten how looming it all was. A twinge of fear crept up their spine.

As fate would have it, Jamie was the only one present. He was standing in front of his locker, messing with something inside. They took a deep breath and started heading his way. Doubts crept into their mind, but they pushed the thoughts away, their resolve stronger than their fears.

They had almost reached where he was standing when he suddenly turned away from his locker. With not a moment to lose, they scrambled out of the way as he stepped way too close for comfort. They felt the ground shake as his shoe landed a few feet away. Eyes wide, they stared up at Jamie, who was oblivious to what just happened. Penny in hand, he walked toward the laundry bin and tossed it in absently.

Their heart was racing from the close call. They pressed themselves against the bench wall as he ambled back their way. Jamie promised he would never hurt them, but they guessed that only counted if he knew they were around. He sat down on the bench in the middle of the room and began untying his boots.

They took a moment to catch their breath and calm down. Their heart was still pounding, but they were directly in his line of sight now. There was no going back. “Jamie?” they called hesitantly. His eyes found theirs in an instant.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said with a remorseful tone. “What’re you doing over there? Did you need something?” Jamie was being extra careful. He could see how their fingers tugged anxiously at their sweater. While they weren't as terrified as the first time they met, it was clear they were still nervous.

“…” They debated telling him about the recent scare he just gave them, but deemed it counterproductive to their mission. Peeling themself away from the wall, they took a few steps closer. “I just wanted to know if—" they paused as Jamie leaned a little closer to hear them better.

Every instinct was telling them that they shouldn’t be here. But Jamie looked so concerned with what they had to say. So, they regrouped and continued. “I just wanted to know if I did anything to upset you or make you feel bad. I’m sorry if I did.” They noticed that Jamie’s face twisted into a confused expression. “It’s just… you’ve been acting strange since that day, and I feel like it’s my fault and I threw you off your game or something…”

Now he looked downright bewildered. “You’re... apologizing to me?” He asked.

They nodded. “I thought you might think you hurt me or something… but I’m okay! I was just nervous. I didn’t mean to come across that way. I’ve just heard so much about you from the team and it was wrong for me to judge you so quickly. I wanted to apologize for that too.” They steadied themselves. They were getting worked up into a panic again. “Roy would kill me if he knew I was here but… yeah.”

Jamie didn’t know what to say. They were the last person he wanted an apology from. In his eyes, they hadn’t done anything wrong. Why were they apologizing for how they reacted? Were they so nervous that they thought they had to make amends for being scared? Now he felt even worse. “I don’t think I ever got your name,” he said softly.

The question was out of the blue. “Y/n,” they responded.

“Listen, you don’t need to apologize to me for anything. How I’ve been feeling is… complicated. But none of it is your fault.” They watched as he stood up from where he had been sitting. They shuffled a few steps back, anxious. He loomed over them even more while standing, but thankfully he squatted down soon after.

“I’ve been off because you made me think about myself. I’ve been trying to be… better,” he explained, but it was almost painful to watch him say it. “I don’t hate you, or anything like that, I’m just…” He looked like he stopped himself from going further. “It doesn’t matter, but don’t feel like anything is your fault, okay? I get it. I’ve been a dick in the past, and the team only wants the best for you.”

They were nodding along, taking in what he had to say. “But, could we maybe be friends? At some point? Could I earn your trust?” Jamie asked hopefully. He wasn’t stupid. He could tell they were more than a little uneasy around him, no matter how much they tried to appear otherwise.

They shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “At some point,” they said after some deliberation. A thought came to them and they smiled a little bit. “It would drive Roy crazy, though.”

Jamie shrugged. “I can live with that.”

They found themselves opening up slightly. “So… we’ll take it slow?” They asked, just to be sure.

“As long as it takes,” he assured.

They nodded. “We’ll be friends… eventually.”

PHEW now that this is done, I can start on new ideas and scenarios and things :D I don't like the end but when do I ever lol.

#g/t #giant tiny #borrower #giant/tiny #size difference #borrowers #giant #g/t writing #ted lasso #ted lasso g/t #roy is trying his best to be a good friend #jamie's redemption arc>>>#i like redemption arcs in general #jamie in his sad hours #it's less g/t than I thought more interpersonal relationships #should've added more adjectives #oh well

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faith-alhazred · 7 months ago

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@peterlorrefanpage enlisted me for '9 albums you listen to' and it's kinda challenging, as i am not actually album person, more 'listen this dozen song for the next two years' person 😂 but i will try my best.

1. 'Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century' by The World/Inferno Friendship Society.

Must have of every Peter Lorre fan, i guess. Speaks to my soul.

2. 'Devil's Dozen' by Fiddler's Green. As well as 'Heyday' and '25 Barney Roses'.

Music, that charges me with energy. 'Perfect Gang' is the song that i use to explain to my players which vibe there would be in Dead But games (Dead But is my own PbtA TRPG about living dead who leave their graves to go to the party or club).

3. 'Wolfrider's Reflection' by Julia Ecklar

As well as a few records of Julia, that wasn't included to that album. I grew up on ElfQuest comics and i feel deeply bounded to this universe. 'Going Back' gives me goosebumps every single time.

4. 'Pirate for the Rum' by Stormfrun. I found this album a few years ago, during one of the most stressful periods in my work life, and it really was like that 'and the new man was chosen to lead our raging crew - but this man is a woman, i'm telling you it's true'. Yeah, it's me. I am the woman.

5. 'Father of Invention' by Professor Elemental. It's time for a confession - i really like rap. I love rhythm, i love when a performer not just sings, but talks to you, buuuut. I am absolutely not into american 'money, bitches, drugs' rap, so when i encountered chap-hop, where on the place where you'd expect 'f*** off, b****' goes 'I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, sir' - it was immediately sold to me.

6. 'The Vampyre at the Harpsichord' by Verne Langdon. Oh my, this guy is brilliant. His music has the right vibe of a vintage horror movie. Also I use one of his tracks as my basic rington.

7. 'Ooky Spooky' by Aurelio Volraire. Another guy with a great sense of humor, this particular song is hilarious.

8. 'Boo York', Monster High motion picture soundtrack. Another fandom i am into, catchy energetic songs that speak to me a lot.

9. 'Komik' by Komik Mashrabov. That's very local thing. When i was working in a hotel there was a courier guy, tajik, very modest and polite. But after I told him i quit in two weeks, he got much more friendly, and it turned out he not just a courier, he is also a rapper and stand-up comedian. His 'modest guy' social mask was broken, he was always a fountain of improvisation, jokes and awkward flirt. I still excited how dramatically his personality changed in such short time. So, he gave me couple of his tracks, and still i listen to them time by time, trying to improve my tajik listening (still can't get anything but couple of words, honestly). Also he has really good voice and know how to use it.

youtube

Well, that's all, folks 😁

I have only couple of mutuals here, and two of them have already joined the flashmob, so i can tag only @ilovemesomevincentprice - absolutely no pressure, though 🌿

#9 albums you listen to

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digi-tama-in-your-pocket · 6 months ago

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I think if I were to design my own ideal virtual pet I'd want it to be like a cross between tamagotchi, digimon, animal crossing, and pokemon.

I think the core of Tamagotchi and Digimon is what's most important to me about virtual pets. Feeding, playing with, cleaning up, keeping alive/healthy, and watching them grow and change into exciting new forms. When you take out feeding and minigames it loses a lot of appeal, which is why the vital bracelet and digivices don't do a lot for me.

Digimon has a bit of edge to it with more fierce designs and battling, but it really has not advanced much since it debuted. It's thoroughly stuck in the 90's. Yeah there was the vital Bracelet but again, that's hardly a virtual pet. Tamagotchi on the other hand has a lot of features. Multiple minigames to play, the ability to get new backgrounds, accessories, items, currency, travelling, online multiplayer, NPC encounters, shops, there's so much to it, it's kind of ridiculous. I genuinely hope the next Digimon device is a color screen that's a significant leap up from the Digimon X and Pendulum Z. I digress though.

Tamagotchi was very appealing to me or it's diverse line up of critters when it started. I feel like some of the diversity got lost along the way and everything ended up looking like a Sanrio knock off, even the "Bad care" adults who were supposed to look kinda ugly and mean ( but still kinda cute ) ...Digimon has the opposite end of the spectrum where almost nothing at the end of the evolution charts is cute, and in fact, most of them are not even monster like and tend to be humanoid, or they look mechanical.

That's where Pokemon comes in because I'd love an art style influenced heavily by early pokemon, which I find strikes the perfect balance between cute and cool, with some designs leaning one way more than the other. Hell, the thing that drew me to pokemon in the first place is the language they used in one of the articles. "Raising your monster friend" "watch them grow and change" it led me to believe Pokemon was going to be a virtual pet in video game form. This wasn't the case, it wouldn't be until gen 6 that they added anything that resembled v-pet mechanics and even that was completely optional. But I still enjoyed Pokemon, at least in it's earlier years and it had a strong influence on my art style and creature design... also from pokemon, the ability to keep several pets at once, including storage, a small competitive single player campaign with a story, and maybe even the ability to trade. As for Animal crossing... just decorating your little guy's enclosure with furniture, and chatting or doing small errands for npcs, and having daily tasks to do, special events. I guess Tamagotchi is currently doing a lot of this, sans the errands, but I think they could take it further. I still want there to be a cute and cozy factor here, Digimon kind of lacks in this department I feel.

I imagine this would have to be a very advance device, it sounds like a larger Gameboy Advance game to me, and idk how big the rom size is for the most advanced virtual pets are right now but I can't imagine they're the size of MOTHER 3.

I'd still want it to be pixels. I'm not ready for handheld virtual pets to shift to 3D. I think that might kill some of the appeal tbh.

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nerdyporcelain · 2 years ago

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°THE ABANDONED°

Okay, so my character almost died last session.

Our group and a guest player were sent on a mission to retrieve information about a transport of 30 statues (they are a mischievous thing of the past world in this setting) that was coming to town. We go there and it's a shack full of big ass crates with some random kids at the guard and three more people inside. We lure the kids away, because there's no point in fighting them and after our barbarian, Gotylda, gets brought inside after some unsuccessful seduction attempts, we go in to rescue her, guns blazing.

Now, it was a sturdy building with no windows and no way in other than the front door, so after four attempts at getting in peacefully or stealthily, we decided to fuck it, we ball. My character swings the doors open with thaumaturgy and the combat begins. After some rounds my cleric successfully brings down the Tabaxi, which just so happens to be the wife of the 'main boss' of this encounter, Captain Amarena. After seeing her love die she naturally zeroes in on Licricia, super ficking enraged (our DM loves Undertale so it could've gone two ways).

Fast forward and she fires three attacks at my girl with her great crossbow, and they all fucking hit. Our characters are only lvl 5 at this point, and DM rolls very high damage, so the second shot brings Licricia the fuck down. After that, Captain deals the damage from the last shot and two of my death saving throws automatically fail. If it wasn't enough, I'm next in the innovative, so it's time for my (possibly) last saving throw. I had inspiration so I was prepared to re-roll the dice if need be. Thankfully, I rolled a 15 and a healing potion from our guest Rogue that went next patched her back up to 6 hp before I could roll any more DST's.

For me personally it was fucking stressful (I was shaking, felt sick, couldn't look into anybody's eyes and couldn't feel my fingers) because Licricia is a character that I hold very close to my heart, I've been building her existence in my head for almost a year and half that long in the game. She's my first dnd character that's been given this much life, but her story is just beggining, so grieving her loss would be absolutely heartbreaking to me. I know if I asked, our DM would do everything in her might (that would fit the narrative) to let the players try to bring her back, and she doesn't usually try to kill us off on purpose (that being said I actually really enjoyed the aspect of a crazed lover trying to avenge her wife, very relatable). However, it still would leave the possibility of failure and ultimately having to say goodbye to my beloved character, which is scary as hell.

Now, Licricia on the other hand was fucking terrified because of couple things. One, obviously, being that she almost fucking died, and that hadn't happened in like ten years (she's 47), and that alone is freaking scary. Two, as a Death Domain Cleric she can sometimes hear the dead (something funky I came up with and DM agreed to), especially freshly after they died, or if their spirit is tied to some place. It manifests in various ways, but this time, after all the fighting has been done and Amarena died, Licricia heard a meeting between their souls, like an unexpected greeting between loved ones after years, overwhelmingly lovely in the face of death. The DM described to me that Licricia feels overwhelming sense that they have something that she won't, not in a while anyway.

Now that, that was just the most perfect cherry on top of a character insight that I've been slowly baking.

Licricia had lost her lover, Ophelia, in a rouse roughly ten years ago. She watched her get hanged and could do nothing about it, except for running away and disappearing from society for eight years. She lived through her grieve long and hard, harbouring pain and loss and learning how to live without her other half. It was the hardest period of time in her long, painful life, and when she came out at the other end of it eight years later, she believed herself to be okay. She met people and cought meaningless crushes, she trusted some for a while, she got betrayed like so many times before, she lived on. And she truly believed herself to be content, to have made peace with Ophelia's loss.

But throughout the two years she's been back in the society she drunkenly looked for blue tieflings in the crowds, listened put for a gentle melody of a harp in city squares and subconsciously wondered what happened to the engagement ring that she ordered all those years ago, but never got to pick up. She always thought herself ready to die, because it was the most natural thing in the world, and it might be a chance for them to reunite, but now that she actually saw what it could look like, everything changed. Would she meet Ophelia like that, even though she died so many years ago? Would it be like meeting an old friend or would she be angry with her for not making it to that platform in time? For the first time in a long time she knew that not only does she not mind not dying, she doesn't want to die. She got reminded first hand actually how close death is and how scared she was of letting go. Shes always believed that she'll meet Ophelia once more, but when she saw a reunion of love, she felt it's importance and she didn't want it. She felt the weight of the grieve she thought she managed to let go of, she saw her friends loot the bodies and take the rings from their fingers, and truly understood that she'll never let go, not until she gives Ophelia a proper burial, even if only symbolic.

It was unnerving, guilt ridding, she never expected herself to feel this way, to actually want to live on, to move on from Ophelia, but that is the truth staring her square in the face. She can't ignore it, she can't pretend to not want a life, a deeper meaning in her existence, a night when she could simply enjoy music without her heart sinking, a deep connection with someone, even after all those times she's been betrayed.

She is naively in love with life, still. After all those years, that wonderlusting part of her soul is still there. It's beautiful, it's terrifying, it's hopeful. Shell always love Ophelia, but she still has more love to give, to be herself truly and explore her own soul.

At the end of the session she just stood there and listened to lovers reunite, feeling, searching inwards, terrified of her new discoveries. What a perfect way to progress her story.

#dnd diary #dnd party #dnd adventures #Licricia Verlan #dnd stories

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fizzingwizard · 9 months ago

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Was curious how many of the Sims 4 bugs on this list I've encountered… it's a lot

Part One because I guess this is too many bugs even for tumblr hahaha

Jumpy Animations/Sims teleport - since a long time ago but worse now Routing/Sit down issue on several interactions - love to watch my sims wander around like ants looking for somewhere to sit with a chair right in front of them. especially love when I tell me sim to go play a game at the card table in the same room, and instead they go outside, walk around the entire house, come back in and then sit at the table. guess they just felt like a walk first lol Music from other modes Plays During Live Mode - yup and usually overlapping. fix with restart but it often happens in CAS where you lose all your stuff if you quit… Lag for menu to show up when clicking on objects - especially the fridge/oven!!!! Sims keep moving after paused Sims do DU homework under laptops - not just DU tho I get this for anything that can be done at a table, including eating, and sometimes it's not even a portable laptop but a computer Sim won't accept queued commands/ Sims don't do actions - this was supposedly "console" but as a non-console player I know it happens to the rest of us too. also to most of us Lots with manipulated terrain look realistic/strange in world view - idk if this is a bug, i think probably that's just how it appears. but it is weird Fishing Identification for active Sim with no fishing skill - I think this one has been around since base game. Sims 4 really wants everyone to love fishing. I'll be like. mourning the death of Sim Grandpa. And all of a sudden 6-year-old Sim Grandson will "identify the Perch!" Multiple daily calls for sim to switch careers - CONSTANTLY. EVEN WITH PHONE ON SILENT MODE! Excessive use of Cross Stitch Basket - yep. I get it the worst with cross stitch, but I find it annoying that other hobbies which cost money like knitting and painting are autonomous as well. Either there should be a "practice" object which is the default and is free or this stuff shouldn't be autonomous. Food too tbh… I have tried playing rags to riches before, and one reason I gave up was just this - it was so hard to keep control of finances because sims have no concept of saving pennies lol Railings Clipping Through Walls - hate this so ugly Multi-story columns misaligned Foundation becomes see-through Sim Gets Fear of the Dark After Being Cured - all the fears and wants sucked. they're boring, curing then is boring, they have little impact except just ruining your sims day, and YEAH, they come back after being cured!! best to turn it off just like neighborhood stories Constantly dirty surroundings moodlet from Pressure Cooker and Kettle - I'm not 100% sure I've got this one, I will check the next time I play. However I've had multiple issues with these objects: sims constantly cooking with them when their queue is empty, and constant fires originating with them. Lately my sims was complaining her kitchen was dirty but I could not find anything dirty. She's a Neat sim, but even after having her clean everything, and then going into build mode and moving stuff to look for plates that might have gotten stuck under objects and are hard to see, the room still registered as dirty. I'm thinking it was the pressure cooker or kettle, or maybe even pizza oven which she also has Upgraded beds give two contradictory moodlets - yup spend hours upgrading your bed and the sims like "what a bad sleep!" Sims on home lot don't take care of needs when active sims away - yeah two sims in my house recently almost starved bc of this NPCs take food ordered by active Sim - yup! again ruining my rages to riches haha No evolve option (ready to evolve) - yes and yes I've checked that the plants are in season. Also having major issues with other gardening things especially on community lots Very High Household Bills While On Vacation Campfire causes too many fires - really frustrating for me bc I use the campfire a lot. I absolutely love camping gameplay but between constant fires and thunderstorms where you're 100% guaranteed to get electrocuted (9_9) it really sucks

#sims #sims 4

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wiseedition · 2 years ago

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'I understand his frustration': Russian player Kachmazov after Ukraine's Orlov refused handshake

Russia's Kachmazov says he has no issues with Ukraine's Orlov despite being snubbed during Chennai Open qualifiers but feels it's not right to call him out for something that he has no control over.

BENGALURU: Exactly a week ago, Alibek Kachmazov encountered the war that his country, Russia, had unleashed on neighbouring Ukraine, a war that has caused tens of thousands of deaths. The 20-year-old was playing in the Chennai Open qualifiers and was up against Ukrainian Vladyslav Orlov. After Kachmazov’s victory, Orlov refused a handshake.

“I think Russian and Belarusian players should be banned until their country stops invading other countries,” he had told The New Indian Express.

Kachmazov, who advanced to the second round of the Bengaluru Open with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Maximilian Neuchrist on Tuesday, was inevitably faced with questions on Orlov’s words after the match. His response, though, was that he had no problems with the Ukrainian's statement. “I understand his frustration. He has a family there. No one wants this,” he said. “When he says stuff like ‘I hope he cannot play’, I understand his frustration. He doesn’t want to shake hands with me after the match, that is also not a problem.

“I respect the Ukrainian guys, I have no problems with any one of them.” At the same time, Kachmazov also emphasized that it was unfair to penalise him for something that he had no control over (though a number of his sponsors allegedly support the war, a charge made by Orlov in Chennai).

“From my side, I cannot say stuff like he is saying. Because I think he is wrong. We are all professional athletes. I think he must understand that I am a professional athlete too. It is not in my hands what is going on there. I am just playing tennis. When he says this, it is his choice, but I will never say this,” Kachmazov said.

Kachmazov is in Bengaluru technically as a man without a nationality — Russian players are allowed in international tournaments as individuals, but cannot represent their nation. Kachmazov says that playing with a blank space next to his name on the scoreboard isn’t ideal. But at the same time, he is just happy, he gets to play at all.

“When it started a year ago, we had some problems as someone was saying we would not be able to play anywhere and that they would block us from international tournaments.

"I am just playing, you know? I am just happy that they are giving me a chance to play. I am playing without a flag. It is not what I wanted, but it is what it is,” he said.

“I have been doing this (playing tennis) for 15 years, which is most of my life. We are professional athletes. We just go and play, with flag, without flag. We are just doing our jobs. I am just playing and that is it,” Kachmazov added.

#Kachmazov #Orlov

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hollowed-theory-hall · 9 months ago

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Okay, so first of @mirrorofliterature, thanks! Honestly, I just got a very bleak impression of the Wizarding World from the books and write what I notice. And I agree it's likely many half-bloods and muggleborns (regardless of the size of their society) find jobs in the muggle world.

Next, I want to respond to @fandoomrants points, thanks for responding, too. I agree with some of your points and disagree with others still.

1. I agree with you on this one. Part of my point was that most positions in the Ministry of Magic are probably not actually required. And it's not really everyone, there are shops and makers of various products, at least 10 book publishers and multiple periodicals, a radio, there are magical musicians we know of, book authors, quidditch players and coaches, and St. Mongos, which you've mentioned in your original post.

I personally think this and some muggleborns and half-bloods who work in the muggle world pretty much covers it for the size I believe their society has.

2. While the patrons is one that is probably trickier to learn without a teacher, I don't think it's impossible to do. Also, while the patrons proved incredibly useful to Harry, it's important to remember that the average British wizard isn't going to encounter a dementor (or lethifold) in their life. Aurors who are allowed in Azkaban are probably thought it as part of Auror training, but really, if you don't go to Azkaban semi-regularly you have no reason to know how to cast a patrons.

3. Speaking of auror training, aurors clearly do have some training. I assume healers in St. Mongos go through something similar. Teachers, we clearly see there is no training.

I agree with you there should be, I'm just saying it how it is. There isn't.

I also don't think this one is necessarily a plot hole. In the Victorian Era, there were Dame Schools, which were schools where an older woman would teach children what she knew. There was no standard for who could teach in a Dame School or what training they should have. The Wizarding World is old-fashioned in many ways, this just happens to be one of them.

4. You're right, it is worrying. Dumbledore makes a lot of questionable hiring decisions, Hagrid is one. He also hired Lockhart. Actually, I'd say Dumbledore is bad at managing a school in general, but that's a whole different can of worms.

As for why it's done that way, well, historically, Hogwarts existed before the Ministry of Magic. Sure, there is a board of governors that can fire teachers, but almost all power about the school is in the headmaster's hands.

I'm not saying it isn't worrying, I'm just saying it's not really a plot hole. Like, I can understand historically why it would be like this considering Hogwarts was around before the ministry.

5. I disagree with this point.

I think caring about your students and being passionate about teaching them is more important than being brilliant in your field. A passionate and motivated enough teacher would learn what they need so they could help their students. But that's not really about Harry Potter.

As for Snape, I don't think he's a competent teacher. He's a brilliant potioneer and spell creator, but he's crap at teaching any of it. Mostly by choice.

In book 6, Slughorn mentions alchemical theory for creating antidotes and expects all sixth years to know it. Only Hermione and two other students know what he's talking about. And it makes sense. We see Snape's lessons, he never discusses the theory or the why of potion making. He just gives them a recipe and sends them to brew. He doesn't even give his students the tips about ingredient preparation he wrote about in his potions school book Harry learns from in book 6.

The half-blood prince's school book kinda shows how bad of a teacher Snape is. Harry laments about how the prince is a much better teacher than Snape and Harry learns potion making and silant casting from the prince, things Snape fails to teach him. Snape's hatred of his students is the cause of his lack of effort in actually teaching them.

A student who isn't among his favorites that succeeds in potions does so despite Snape, not because of him.

6. This one, I really don't know. I can speculate about them, but I don't have any canon answers or anything based on canon. And it is an interesting question.

We know Tom's job interview was in 1967, and Harry's first year was 1991. Assuming the curse followed the same pattern we see in the books, there were 22 DADA teachers (I assume the first year with the curse was the same teacher that thought up to that point). That is a lot considering the size of their population (and the Order of the Phoenix in the 1970s was around 25 people, so that's about the numbers we're talking here).

Like, yeah, I'm curious about these 22 and how Dumbledore convinced so many to come to teach a cursed position. (And how there even are that many wizards who know enough DADA that Dumbledore would consider them, then again, he gave the post to Quirrell and Lockhart so... maybe they weren't qualified).

But yeah, no answers about that.

No but I have so many questions about the wizarding world which always come to my mind whenever I think of HP. And every new question just branches into a couple of others.

Granted, some are answered and some are so largely fanoned that most people already believed it to be canon but still.

First of all, what do all these people do, like... I feel like you have a few options only. You can become an auror or work in the Ministry of Magic in general (but tell me, how many unoccupied positions there are?!), you can work in St. Mungo's or something, or you can be a teacher and basically... This is it. Yeah, we have people like Newt but I feel like not many are into these things and also, it's pretty dangerous, isn't it?

And another thing. Like, how do they learn some of the spells that are not studied at school? Okay, let's say pure bloods have someone to teach the but muggle born? Others? How do you know how to make a car fly or sth?

How there isn't some type of Wizard University?! Where one can actually specialise in a certain field, let's say medicine?

Also, can likee, everyone become a teacher? Because I feel like that's really the case... (Ok, I'm in fact a teacher and for a fact I can say where I work it's sorta like that too but it's not your typical school and these are schools that everyone from the country/region attends..)

Like, no degree, no nothing. Do they just check how good was the person at this certain subject or what? How dangerous they are? And people seeing how each time there's a new DADA teacher, lots of them dying or something, why do they keep applying?! Even if you don't know about the curse, why?

Honestly, I have so many questions about Hogwarts and wizarding schools in general that it can be a post on its own.

#harry potter #harry potter thoughts #harry potter theory #hp theory #wizarding world #hp

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turtlethon · 2 years ago

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Turtlethon Extra Slices: “Shredder’s Revenge“

Welcome to the first in an occasional series, Turtlethon Extra Slices! This sub-project will cover media connected to the 1987 incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Shredder’s Revenge, developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu, was released on June 16, 2022. This is the latest in a long, long line of TMNT games released since 1989, but in particular acts as a spiritual sequel to Konami’s original arcade release from that same year, its 1991 sequel Turtles in Time, and their various home ports and spin-offs.

Breaking News: the Foot Clan is back! The Turtles, April and Splinter learn from a broadcast by Bebop on TV that the villains are taking over the Statue of Liberty. It’s up to our heroes to travel through New York, battling waves of the bad guys on their way to final encounters with Krang and Shredder. This time around April and Splinter join the Turtles as playable characters in their journey; completing Story Mode also unlocks Casey Jones for you to use.

While the core of the game draws upon the Turtles coin-op titles for inspiration – and the arcade mode plays in much the same manner – the infamous original TMNT game for the Nintendo Entertainment System hasn’t been forgotten either. Story Mode features a map screen in which the Turtle Van bobs around the city, allowing the player to freely select their next mission in much the same manner as the top-down sections of that first 8-bit title. In this mode, each character accumulates experience and can level up over time, increasing their fighting abilities. This aspect of Shredder’s Revenge has kept me coming back even after completing it, as there’s always incentive to play through again in order to fully power up the team.

Further easter eggs can be found scattered throughout in Story Mode, as players are encouraged by allies of the Turtles to recover lost items. Irma requests that you find her missing diary, while Burne and Vernon have you recover items for Channel 6. Later, you complete similar missions for the Punk Frogs and Neutrinos. Sadly, you don’t really get anything for doing so beyond the acknowledgment that you successfully completed the task.

Speaking of the Punk Frogs, an ongoing gag throughout Shredder’s Revenge has them apparently now being considered celebrities, their popularity equivalent to that of the Turtles in our real world back in the nineties. Other familiar faces from the show pop up across the different stages, ranging from obvious inclusions like Baxter Stockman and Rat King to more obscure inclusions like Tempestra. I would have liked Tribute to go even further in this direction, incorporating the roster of the Archie TMNT comics, the toy line and maybe even some characters from the Red Sky era of the show like Lord Dregg, but it seems that a deliberate decision has been made to avoid any of that and concentrate on the golden era of the cartoon instead, with a few nods to the live-action movies here and there.

Cameos aren’t just restricted to the bosses: characters from the show can be seen scattered throughout the game, such as Burne’s girlfriend Tiffany appearing in a crowd scene running out of the Channel 6 building. Honestly, I would have liked even more of these little shout-outs to have been incorporated, but I concede that going too far in that direction would be a lot of effort and not enhance the playing experience for most players in any tangible fashion.

Having revisited the Super Nintendo port of Turtles in Time recently, it struck me how developed the play mechanics for Shredder’s Revenge are by comparison. Though the Turtles in the older game each had unique attributes, their core fundamentals remained the same, and the moves available to the player were largely restricted to the same basic strikes and throws. This time around the number of manoeuvres available to our heroes has expanded greatly, and the player will need to learn to use them effectively to progress. (Something that I initially ignored, to my cost!)

Voicing Donatello, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Leonardo are the actors from the 1987 cartoon. Barry Gordon, Rob Paulsen, Townsend Coleman and Cam Clarke all make welcome returns here and lend their voices to the supporting cast too – Rocksteady, for example, is also handled by Clarke. Most of the other characters aren’t so lucky. There’s no Renae Jacobs as April or Peter Renaday as Splinter. Some of the other characters have voices that are nothing like their original portrayals, and there are instances where I was genuinely surprised that famous bits of dialogue such as Metalhead’s “I’m going to mangle you green slimeballs!” or Leatherhead’s “ah gah-rawn-tee!” didn’t make the cut.

While the voice acting gets the basics right and leaves it there, the soundtrack is phenomenal. Tee Lopes had previously been responsible for Sonic Mania’s music, and continues to do excellent work here. Each stage’s track has its own vibe, drawing not only upon previous Turtles games for inspiration but also the mid-to-late eighties and early nineties, the two eras which TMNT itself is rooted in. A vaporwave mall setting is accompanied by a tune reminiscent of Madonna’s “Into the Groove”, while a street setting’s theme evokes Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. As the player draws closer to the Technodrome and the game’s final confrontations with Krang and Shredder, the themes become more dramatic and foreboding, making the journey of the Turtles and their allies feel like a genuinely big deal. Fantastic stuff, and I’ve been listening to the soundtrack regularly even when not playing. I think this the aspect of the game that will live on long after everyone has tired of playing.

Is Shredder’s Revenge the best TMNT game ever? Turtles in Time (either the SNES or arcade versions, depending on who you ask) seems to have been considered the standard bearer up to this point. In the conversation also is the fan game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza!, though as an unofficial project it’s debatable as to whether it counts. For me, at least for now, Dotemu have crafted the definitive video game for the 1987 Turtles. I’m looking forward to squeezing at least one or two more play throughs of story mode in before we all get to revisit the classic games in Konami’s Cowabunga Collection, which arrives on August 30th.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is available now for Windows and Linux (via Steam), on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #TMNT 1987 #Shredder's Revenge #game reviews #Turtlethon #Ninja Turtles #video games #gaming #fighting games

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jimmyandthepulsatingmass · 3 years ago

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Jimmy Day 2021 and the Upcoming Project

Jimmy’s 3rd anniversary kind of snuck up on me this year, probably because of the persistent feelings of doom and frustration over the pandemic. I hope everyone who reads this is doing well in spite of everything.

Anyway, let’s talk about Jimmy! I want to take a second to thank those of you who have treasured this game. It never found a wide audience, but it did find an audience who cares for it deeply, and that means a lot to me. I don’t have a lot of Jimmy-related news, but I do want to touch on a few things. First, the vinyl is, as far as I’m aware, still being produced on schedule. Hopefully, we’ll have pre-orders up in September which is next (!) month. I’ve also been putting off updating Jimmy for a while, but I do plan on taking the time to do so once I reach the next stage of development on the next game.

Speaking of the next game, let’s talk about it a little (or a lot)! I’ve been holding details close to my chest on it, but I want to give a few generalities on what to expect from this one. It’s going to be another RPG, but the look and feel are going to differ from Jimmy. It’s set on a planet inhabited by insectoid people who are mostly sociopathic, so the vibe is going to be way different. I was inspired really heavily by the Lennus series on this one. Like in Lennus, most of your characters are mercenaries, so they have their own motivations and self-interest, meaning they might turn against you, rob you, extort you, etc.

Although Lennus was the primary inspiration, the actual gameplay is going to be way different. The level design, for instance, is going to be more like Chrono Trigger, where enemy encounters are on the screen and can mostly be avoided. I’ve been playing a lot with the encounters, so I hope that their variety will keep people engaged. Inside of battle, they’ll vary from Chrono Trigger--basically it’s going to be a combination of FF10′s visible turn order with Breath of Fire 3′s Ex turn system--with a few other wrenches in the works that I don’t want to get into yet. But, this is one of the reasons I’ve been really excited to get away from RPG Maker. Combat’s going to be deep with a lot of room for strategy, and I’m giving players a lot of options on how they form their parties and equip their characters. If you thought Jimmy had a lot of interesting equipment options, this game’s going to blow you away!

The story structure is also going to be unique. I’ve always been fond of the SaGa games, and I’m taking a page from their book and having multiple playable characters--four. They’re all going to have their own stories and functions in the world, and their stories are broken into two parts. The player will get a chance to play all of their first acts in a more linear, guided way (although there will be room for exploration for sure), and, after that, the player will be able to select a character to finish the game with. Their final chapters will be much more open, like the World of Ruin in Final Fantasy 6, and, after beating a character’s game, the player can go back to the halfway point and select again if they would like. Each character’s late game will contain some unique dungeons, variances on a lot of the dungeons shared between characters, and a unique plot and dialogue (including town NPCs).

It’s a large, ambitious game, which is why it’s taking so long to get out there. The amount of planning I’ve done here is insane. I have composed an 87 song soundtrack (this count will likely get larger), 600+ pages of dialogue for the main script, 750 pages (and counting) of dialogue for NPC dialogue, spreadsheets of data about equipment, monsters, magic, skills, etc., and around 60 levels (and counting) mapped out. Actually, here’s a little visual aid about how I’ve been mapping out levels:

This is an optional late-game level called Nightmare Garden. Each of the squares isn’t a room so much as it’s an area, and the rectangles that connect them just show that these areas are connected. Each area will vary in terms of size and layout--this is just a rough plan for the mechanics of the level. The lines indicate that you’ll go through a doorway or some other type of entrance, and the dotted lines means that there’s a secret path or a situational means of getting through a path (like a gate that opens from one side, for instance). There’s also a staircase in the upper left and a little arrow near the middle top that represents a one-way jump. The T’s represent treasure, the M’s represent monster encounters, and the S’s represent special notes--they might be some kind of field hazard, an interactable object, and so on. I have a key in a spreadsheet that gives detailed descriptions of what’s going on at each of these points of interest--not going to share that, as it would be spoilers!

All that’s just to show you the level of planning I’m going through now and why this is taking so long. As I’m working on this, my life-long friend and now business partner Jason is working on getting the essential systems coded. You might remember his name from Jimmy’s credits--he helped test the game and also coded the system that allowed me to animate the battle backgrounds.

The time frame on this game is really hard to judge. I imagine I still have 2-3 months left on level design, but, after that (or maybe before), I’m going to start looping artists in so that we can get enough art for a trailer, a demo, and promotional materials, and then, after that, we’ll be able to launch a Kickstarter and Steam page, which is when you’ll really get to see this game’s potential. I’m sorry that I don’t give regular updates on this kind of thing, but it’s such a lengthy process and, without art done, I can’t really show you the GOOD STUFF yet. But, I hope that this blog gives everyone a clearer understanding of what to expect and why this is taking forever.

Anyway, this was the least Jimmy-focused Jimmy Day blog I’ve written, so I’m going to stop talking, but I know that fans of Jimmy have been looking forward to news about this, so I wanted to get everything I can out. Thanks for playing Jimmy, and thanks for your patience with this new game. I appreciate y’all so much!

#Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass #Jimmy Day #Also kind of Not Jimmy

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rachelbethhines · 4 years ago

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Vintage Shows to Watch While You Wait for the Next Episode of WandaVision - The 60s

So the 60s is the era that Wandavision pulls most heavily from for it’s inspiration. So much so that one could make the argument that each of the first three episodes are all set in the 1960s. Episode one pulls from the early 60s with multiple Dick Van Dyke refences, episode two is very Bewitched inspired, and episode three is aesthetically very similar to The Brady Bunch which started in ‘69. As such it was hard to narrow down the list for this decade and I had to get creative in some ways.

1. The Andy Griffith Show (1960 - 1968)

The Andy Griffith Show gets kind of a bad rap now a days for being, supposedly, a conservative’s wet dream. People claiming it as such have apparently never actually seen the series. Oh yes, it’s very much set in white rural 60s America and will occasionally present the obliviously outdated joke, but the story of a widowed sheriff being the only sane man in a small town full of lovable lunatics, who prefers to solve his and others problems with negotiation and hair brained schemes as opposed to violence has far more in common with modern day Steven Universe than whatever genocidal fantasy fake rednecks have in their heads.

As the gif above shows Andy Griffith was very subtlety progressive for its time. Andy was a stanch pacifist, pro-gun control, treated drug addicts and prisoners with respect, and all the women he would date had careers, ect. and so on. It’s not a satire making any sort of grand political statements but the series had a moral center that was far more left than many realize.

But if it’s not a satire, then what type of comedy is it?

The Andy Griffith Show excels in what I like to call, ‘awkward comedy’. See everyone in Mayberry is far too nice to just come out and tell a character they’re making an ass of themselves, so therefore whoever is the idiot punching bag of the episode’s focus must slowly unravel as everyone looks on in helpless pity until said character realizes the folly of their ways and the townsfolk come together to make them feel happy and accepted once more. Wandavision takes this polite idyllic awkwardness and plays it up for horror instead of laughs.

2. The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961 - 1966)

The creators of Wandavision actually met with Dick Van Dyke himself to pick his brain and learn how sitcoms were made back then. Paul Bentley also took inspiration from Van Dyke in his performance of the sitcom version of Vision, while Olsen stated Mary Tylor Moore had a heavy influence on her character of Wanda. But more than just being a point of homage, The Dick Van Dyke Show was hugely influential in modernizing the family sitcom and breaking a lot of the unspoken traditions and ‘rules’ of the 50s television era. It’s also just really, really funny.

3.The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962 - 1965)

Bit of a cheat here. Alfred Hitchcock Presents actually started in 1955 as a half hour anthology show, but in ‘62 the show got a revamp and was extended into a full hour tv series. I knew I wanted The Twilight Zone to be covered in my episode one recap, but ‘The Master of Suspense’ couldn’t be forgotten. While The Twilight Zone reveled in the surreal and supernatural, Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the thriller genre and made real life seem dangerous, horrifying, and other worldly.

4. Doctor Who (1963 - present day) vs Star Trek (1966 - present day)

Just like how westerns dominated the air waves during the 50s, science fiction was the center of the cultural zeitgeist of the 60s. From Lost in Space to My Favorite Martian, space aliens and robots were everywhere. So naturally I had to name drop the two sci-fi juggernauts that still air to this today. If you thought that the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek was bad then you’ve never seen a chat full of Whovians and Trekkies duking it out over who is the better monster, the Borg or the Cyberman. But which one has the more influence over Wandavision?

Well Star Trek owes it’s existence to sitcoms. As with The Twilight Zone before it, Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions and it’s co-founder and CEO, Lucille Ball, was the series biggest supporter behind the scenes, lobbying for it when it faced early cancelation. As with all things sitcomy, everything ties back to I Love Lucy in the end. However despite that little backstory, it would seem that the series has very little to do with Wandavision itself beyond being quintessentially American.

I would argue that Wandavision owes much to Doctor Who though. Arguably more so than any show mentioned in this retrospective. Time travel, alternate realities, trouble in quite suburbia, brainwashing, people coming back from the dead, ect... just about every trope you can find in Wandavision has also appeared in Doctor Who at some point. As a series that can go anywhere and do anything, Doctor Who was a pioneer of marrying genres in new and interesting ways.

5. Bewitched (1964 - 1972) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965 - 1970)

It’s hard to pick one series over another because they’re essentially the same show. A mortal man falls in love with a magical girl who upends their lives with magic filled hijinks as they try their best not to have their secret discovered by the rest of the world. And both have their fingerprints all over the DNA of Wandavision.

There’s only two core differences; Samantha and Jeannie have completely different personalities, with Sam being confident and knowledgeable and Jeannie being naïve and oblivious, along with their relationships with their respective men, Sam and Darrin being married and in love at the start of the series and Jeannie chasing after Tony in the beginning in a will they/won’t they affair, finally only getting together in the last season.

6. The Munsters (1964 - 1966) vs The Adams Family (1964 - 1966)

Fans of these two shows are forever sadden that there never was a crossover between them. Because they’d fit perfectly together. Both shows are about a surreal and macabre family living in American suburbia and disrupting the lives of their neighbors with their otherworldly hijinks. Sound familiar?

The main difference between the two shows is the way the characters viewed their placement in the world they inhabit.

The Munsters were always oblivious to the fact that didn’t fit in. They just automatically assumed everyone had the same personal tastes as them. Whenever they encountered anyone who behaved strangely around them they would write that person off as being the odd one rather than questioning themselves. As such the main cast was structured like a stereotypical sitcom family who just happened to be classic movie monsters.

The Addams were well aware that they were abnormal and they loved it! They lived life with in their own little world and didn’t care what anyone thought of them. As such the characters were far more colorful and quirky as individuals but there was little in the way of refences to other horror franchises beyond just a general love of the twisted and strange.

7. Green Acres (1965 - 1971) and the Rual-verse (1962 - 1971)

So the MCU is not the first franchise to bring viewers an interconnected universe to the small screen. Far from it, as sitcoms had been doing this for decades, starting with the ‘rualverse’. Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres were all produced by the same company and were treated as spinoffs of each other, complete with crossovers and shared characters and sets.

Of the three, the last show, Green Acres, has the most in common with Wandavision. A well to do businessman and his lovely socialite wife settle down in small town America on a farm in order to get away from the stresses of city life, only to find new stresses in the country. Eva Gabor, herself a natural Hungarian, plays the character of Lisa as Hungarian making her one of the few non-native born Americans on tv screens during the cold war. Despite her posh nature and original protests to the move, Lisa assimilates to the rural life far easier than her husband, Oliver. Who, as the main comedic thread, can’t comprehend his new quirky neighbors’ odd and often illogical behavior.

8. Hogan’s Heroes (1965 - 1971) and Get Smart (1965 - 1969)

So as comic fans have been quick to point out, it’s looking like both A.I.M. (Hydra) and Sword (Shield) will be players in the story of Wandavision. To commemorate that here’s two shows to represent those opposing sides. Although in truth, neither series has anything else in common with each other but I need to condense things down someway.

In Hydra’s corner we got Hogan’s Heroes. A show all about taking down Nazis from within.

I love, love, love, ‘robin hood’ comedies where a group of con artists try week after to week to pull one over the establishment. The Phil Silvers Show, Mchale's Navy, and Top Cat, just to name a few examples are all childhood favorites of mine. However while those shows had a lot of morally ambiguous characters, Hogan’s Heroes has very clear cut good guys and bad guys, cause the bad guys are Nazis and the show relentless makes fun of the third reich as should we all. In fact I was watching Hogan’s Heroes while waiting for the GA run off election results. Fortunately my home state decided to kick out our own brand of Nazis this year.

For Shield, we got the ultimate spy spoof, Get Smart. Starring, Inspector Gadget himself, Don Adams, as the bumbling Maxwell Smart. Get Smart, is a hilarious send up of Cold War espionage but the real selling point of the show, imho, is Max and his co-worker 99′s relationship. You can cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife all while laughing your ass off.

9. Batman (1966 - 1968)

First was Superman and then came Batman. Yet while Superman was a serious action show, Batman was a straight up comedy. Showcasing that superheroes could indeed be funny.

Also shout out for Batman being the only show on this list to have an actual crossover with it’s competitor, The Green Hornet.

10. Julia (1968 - 1971)

Since episode two features the first appearances of Herb and Monica, let’s highlight the first black led sitcom since the cancelation of Amos ‘n Andy over a decade earlier. The show focuses on single mother and military nurse, Julia, as she tries to live her life without her recently decease husband, who was killed in Vietnam, as she tries to raise their six year old son on her own.

The series is cute. It’s more of a throw back to earlier family sitcoms where there’s no fantasy and life lessons are the name of the game. It’s the fact that the main character is a single black woman is what made the show so subversive and important at the time.

Runner Ups

There’s much good stuff in the 60s, so here’s some others that didn’t make the cut but I would recommend anyways.

Car 54, Where Are You? (1961 - 1963)

I call this the Brooklynn 99 of the 1960s. Bumbling but well meaning Officer Toody longs to do good in the world and help anyone in need, but often screws things up with his ill thought out schemes. He often drags his best friend and partner, the competent but anxiety riddled, Muldoon into his escapades.

Mr. Ed (1961 - 1966)

The grandfather of the sarcastic talking pet trope.

The Jetsons (1962 - 1963 and 1985 - 1987)

Hanna-Barbera often took popular sitcoms and just repackaged them as cartoons with a fantasy theme to them. The Jetsons has no singular show that it rips-off but is rather more a grab bag of sitcom tropes that feature, robots, computers, and flying cars.

The Outer Limits (1963 - 1965)

The Outer Limits was The Twilight Zone’s biggest competitor in terms of being a sic-fi/horror anthology series.

Gillian’s Island (1964 - 1967)

The only comparison to WandaVision I could think of was that this is a sitcom about people being trapped in one place. But by that point I was running out of room on the list. Still it’s one of the funniest shows on here.

So yeah, this took longer than expected cause there’s a lot, here. Hopefully the 70s will be easier. Which I’ll post on Friday.

#wandavision #sitcoms #1960s #dick van dyke #bewitched

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setterspirit · 4 years ago

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what are you, 3?

❥ ‑‑‑‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑

TALK ABOUT SURPRISES

[ masterlist | one | two | three ]

fast facts;

fact #1; futakuchi is the least trustworthy with eito, not including kyōtani who would forget he was with eito and leave him behind. he’s done a number of things, a few of them being; forgetting eito at the amusement park, leaving him alone in the mall, and most recently, giving him sugar thirty minutes before bedtime. why y/n continues to let him near eito is a mystery to everyone in the friend group.

fact #2; tsukishima is literally the most responsible one of their friend group, though y/n and mai come in at close seconds, for obvious reasons. whenever the group wants to have an outing, tsukishima always chooses the time and place because kenji makes horrible decisions, aone could care less, kogane is just...clueless, and kyōtani doesn’t even join them. y/n trusts tsukishima’s judgement, and mai is too busy trying to shut futakuchi up to pay much attention (he likes to voice his opinion on the topic).

fact #3; look y’all, kogane is just so precious- don’t ask my why i gave him a sugar boost instead of a caffeine boost, but yes, he does eat candy during practices to get through, especially the extra long practices before a game. he drinks coffee, though it doesn’t give him the same energy boost it does with others.

fact #4; ik i mentioned it before, but kyōtani forgets y/n has a kid. or does he? 👀 kyōtani secretly loves the kid, but they don’t need to know that. he doesn’t spoil the kid, not like the rest of the group, but he does like eito, he just feigns ignorance because they don’t need to know he has a soft spot, especially not for eito.

fact #5; aone texts one of two ways: emojis, emojis, emojis (each with some hidden meaning behind them that only y/n, futakuchi, and mai can understand) or properly, rarely any contractions — unless futakuchi is involved — simply saying it as it is, ie: “i am,” “do not,” etc. he knows when to use emojis and when to actually text, but sometimes he catches everyone off guard when he uses words instead of emojis to contribute to the conversation.

fact #6; y/n and mai used to share an apartment, but living in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with three people sometimes got to be a little crowded, especially as eito started to grow. when mai heard about the residents next door moving out, she immediately jumped at the chance to get the apartment.

✨) summary; l/n y/n is a single mother living with her 5 year old son in sendai. suna rintarō is a professional volleyball player, the middle blocker for the ejp raijin. the msby black jackals vs the schweiden adlers is a game between two of japan’s v league division 1 teams that bring together many old rivals. y/n is dragged to the game by her cousin, tsukishima kei, claiming she needed to get out and do more than just work and take care of her child. reluctantly, she goes along with the usually salty blond — leaving her 5 year old with a babysitter — to watch the game between two of tsukishima’s ex-teammates. suna makes the executive decision that he will be going to the game to support his former teammate and setter, miya atsumu, with komori asking if he could accompany the middle blocker so he could support his cousin, suna readily agrees and they also invite washio to go with them, knowing he’d want to see bokuto as well. a chance encounter at the game of old reunions brings together two old friends and feelings start to re-emerge. follow y/n and suna as they get to know each other again, fend off any unwanted attention, and work through parenthood in “talk about surprises!”

taglist; @pieckiya @its-the-aerieljeane @amatee @crayonwriting @reblogthatgoodfanfiction @mint-mai @akaashiwife @kac-chowsballs @sugarb0 @bdanie @the-golden-jhope @goodpop9 @navymacaroons @tendo-sxtori @sirachano0dles @seijqhigh @hannahlxu @mattsunsupremacy @winunk @briidge @kageyamasgirl @yongboxerrr @kiyoovmie @elianetsantana @ofmiceandsharks @bokutokita @honeydrip @tycrackculture @madmelle @kitkozume @gushinim @luckypartyranchmug

bolder and strike through means i couldnt tag you!

check out the masterlist to see how you can be added to the taglist! <3

#talk about surprises #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu social media au #haikyuu smau #haikyuu suna #suna rintarou #suna rintarō #haikyuu suna rintarou #suna rintarō x reader #suna rintarō smau #suna rintarou smau #pro volleyball!suna #suna x reader #suna x y/n

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suituuup · 4 years ago

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pieces - chapter three

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca sees her again in the most unexpected place.

rated: E for drug use and sex scenes

AO3 LINK

“Bec?”

Beca hummed absentmindedly, blinking out of her daze and twisting her head in the direction of the voice.

Sarah smiled gently as she leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen. She cocked an eyebrow, giving a pointed look towards the sink. “I think the pan is clean.”

Beca glanced down, stilling her movements. She had been scrubbing that pan for probably ten minutes now, her thoughts completely consumed by Chloe and what she was supposed to do next.

Chloe clearly didn’t want to see her, and Beca wasn’t going to wait by the phone when it was clear that Chloe was far from okay. She was thinner than Beca remembered, and the look in her eye, the lack of light in those once bright blues, chilled Beca to the bone.

She looked… broken. As though her spirit had repeatedly been battered until all that was left were mere pieces of her old self.

If there were any left at all.

Beca couldn’t stand the thought of not doing anything, and she needed to come up with a plan to help Chloe without driving her into a corner and risk losing her forever.

“What’s going on?” Sarah questioned, pushing off the doorframe and padding over. She rested her hand between Beca’s shoulder blades, her eyebrows knitted together in concern. “You’ve seemed off today.”

Beca released a sigh, setting the pan down into the sink and reaching for the dishtowel laying next to her on the counter to dry her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m just… worried about a friend.”

Sarah nodded slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sarah was unexpected, to say the least. Beca was a workaholic, and her career was too time-consuming for her to get into the whole dating thing. But Sarah, who happened to work as a barista in Beca’s favorite independent coffee shop, had somehow managed to convince Beca to go out with her. One dinner surprisingly turned into a second date, then a third, and it just like that, it had been almost a year since they officially got together.

Sarah was gentle, patient, understanding, overflowing with positivity, but most of all, incredibly kind. She reminded Beca of Chloe, sometimes. And maybe it was those similar personality traits that drew Beca to her in the first place.

They didn’t live together. Beca could feel that it was the next expected step on her girlfriend’s end, but she didn’t feel ready to commit, yet. She liked her own space, her solitude. So Sarah spent a few nights a week at Beca’s place, like tonight, and Beca was fine with that.

“Not really,” she replied, casting Sarah an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, it’s just-- complicated right now.”

“You need to stop apologizing,” Sarah murmured, her expression soft and loving. Beca let her shoulders sag, ready to apologize again. “I understand. But if you do change your mind and need to let something off your chest, I’m here.”

Beca nodded. “Thanks.”

“Are you coming to bed?”

“Not yet, I wanna get some work done, first.” She leaned in to peck Sarah’s lips. “You go ahead, I’ll join you soon.”

Walking across the living room and past the huge floor to ceiling windows looking over Central Park, Beca made her way to her home office, her happy place. She had bought the Manhattan condo two years ago, making it a requirement during her house-hunt to have a large room with plenty of light and enough space to store all her records and her music equipment. It was also where she kept her Grammys and other prizes, away from the attention as nobody really stepped into her office.

She usually popped a blues album on the record player, enjoying the soothing instrumentals while she replied to various emails, but not tonight. Tonight, she grabbed a yellow legal notepad and her headphones from her desk and curled up on the leather couch tucked in the far corner, then scrolled to her Spotify playlists until she found the one she was looking for.

she is magic

Beca couldn’t remember the last time she had listened to her Chloe playlist, one she had made back in Barden when she was hopelessly in love with her best friend. They were songs that reminded her of Chloe, or songs that Chloe liked. Or used to like, at least.

As lyrics she knew so well poured into her headphones, blocking out the rest of the world, different ones flowed out of Beca’s heart, materializing on the paper in front of her in black ink as she scribbled across the page. Lyrics about friendship, unrequited love, and regrets for listening to her brain and not her heart all these years ago.

It was pushing on two am by the time Beca called it a night. Her eyes burned, her mind felt mushy, but her soul felt a tiny bit lighter. Music had always been her therapy, and writing songs had always proved more efficient than paying a licensed professional, even though it had been years since Beca had last finished one, for lack of inspiration.

Or rather, because of the absence of her muse.

She woke up five hours later to a stiff neck and sore back, the bright sunlight pouring in from the windows lining one of her office walls drawing her from her sleep. She had meant to go to bed, before deciding to close her eyes for five minutes right on the couch.

Straightening with a groan, she grabbed her phone and turned it over, hoping to see a text from an unknown number on her screen.

Aubrey Posen [6:23am]

Any news?

Aubrey Posen [6:37am]

Should I come to New York?

Aubrey practiced family law up in Boston. She and Beca saw each other a few times a year, whenever Aubrey was in the city. Bella reunions were a bit more scarce now, with the girls being scattered all around the country. Their last one dated back to a year and a half ago, on the Fourth of July.

Beca ran a hand over her face and heaved out a sigh, swiping her thumb across the screen to unlock it.

Beca [7:16am]

No news yet. I think I’m gonna wait a few days before I head back to the club, if she doesn’t call in the meantime that is. The manager gave me serious sleazy vibes and I’m sure he could blacklist me if I’m too insistent. I don’t think there’s any need for you to come down for now. I’ll keep you posted.

Hitting send, Beca pushed to her feet and shuffled out of her office, hanging a left down the hall towards the kitchen. A note next to her coffee thermos sat on the island.

Missed you last night, but I hope you got whatever you needed done. I had to leave for my shift, you’re welcome to swing by for your second coffee of the day and your morning kiss ;) have a good day!

Sarah xx

Guilt swooped in over picking old feelings about an ex-almost over her girlfriend, and Beca let her head hang forward, releasing a grown. She was far from an expert at this relationship thing, but she cared about Sarah a lot and didn’t want to mess that up.

Beca shook off the sleepiness lingering in her bones and the stiffness in her muscles with a long, hot shower, then got ready for her day. She usually got to the office at 8 sharp, but it was already 7:54 by the time she was out the door, and her commute lasted about twenty minutes, so she wouldn’t get the chance to stop by Sarah’s workplace.

To: Sarah

I’m sorry, I got caught up in work last night and ended up falling asleep on the couch around 2. Come over tonight? I’ll cook dinner. Have a good shift.

Her morning was spent in the studio canning vocals for girl in red’s new album, a project Beca was stocked about as she was BMLJ’s most promising artist for this year’s Grammy Awards.

“That was awesome, Marie,” Beca spoke into the microphone, giving her a thumbs-up through the glass. “Let’s take a lunch break and resume in an hour?”

“Sounds good,” the younger woman agreed with a smile as she took off her headphones.

Beca headed back to her office down the hall and checked her phone for any new messages (finding none important), before shrugging on her thick winter coat and screwing her beanie over her head.

“I’ll be back in an hour, Gina!” She told her assistant on route to the elevator.

As Sarah’s workplace was just five blocks south from the label, Beca figured she would eat lunch there as she wasn’t able to stop by that morning. She stopped in the convenience store across the street from the coffee shop to buy Sarah her favorite magazine as she knew her break was coming up soon and she’d have something to read.

Beca was scanning the press stand for that specific magazine, not paying attention to the person walking into the store until they spoke.

“A pack of Marlboro, please.”

Beca would recognize that voice anywhere. Her head snapped up so fast she felt something in her neck pull, and she was rounding the stand before she even registered giving her feet the order to move. “Chloe?”

Chloe glanced over to her right and froze for a second, before fishing for a twenty in her jacket pocket and handing it to the cashier. “Are you following me or something?”

Given their last encounter, Beca wasn’t surprised by Chloe’s snark, so she gave as good as she got. “You came in after I did, so maybe I should ask you that question.”

Chloe stuffed the cigarette pack and the change into her pocket. “What do you want, Beca?”

“To talk,” she replied, softly. “One coffee, that’s it. And if you decide you really don’t want me in your life, then I won’t bother you again. I promise.”

Chloe seemed to ponder on that for a few beats. “One coffee.”

“There’s a shop right across the street.”

Taking her to the place her girlfriend worked at? Probably not the brightest idea, but she was afraid Chloe might go back on her decision if they spent too long finding someplace else.

When Chloe nodded, Beca took the lead and stepped outside, forgetting all about that magazine as she racked her brain about what she should say. Tactfulness wasn’t her greatest suit; Aubrey would be so much better at this.

They stepped inside Devocion and Beca picked a table in the corner, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the back of her chair. Chloe kept her jacket and beanie on, a bit hunched on herself as she sat down in the chair opposite Beca’s.

“Beca?”

Beca glanced towards Sarah as she approached, wearing a waist apron with the café logo on it. Her dark blonde hair was woven back in a French braid, a few strands escaping, and curiosity swirled in her green eyes as they flickered to Chloe.

Okay, in hindsight, bringing Chloe here was a terrible idea.

“Hey, um, Sarah, this is Chloe, a friend from college.” She cleared her throat. “Chloe, this is my girlfriend, Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sarah replied brightly, her smile fading a little when all Chloe offered was a distant nod. Sarah met Beca’s gaze briefly, clearing her throat. “What can I get you guys?”

“My usual. You want anything to eat, Chlo?”

The nickname rolled off her tongue so naturally, Beca didn’t even catch it.

Chloe shook her head. “Just a black coffee.”

“Coming right up.”

“Thanks,” Beca said as Sarah spun around on her heels, her focus shifting to Chloe. “So um, I wanted to apologize for the other day and putting you on the spot at the club. I just… wasn’t sure how else to talk to you.”

“I can give you some of the money back if you need it.”

Beca furrowed her brow, not having expected that. “No, no. I… it’s fine. I don’t care about money.”

Something flashed in Chloe’s eyes at that, something Beca couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Sarah came back with two coffees before she could analyze it further, setting the mugs down on the table. “Your club sandwich will be here in a few, babe.”

Beca nodded, casting her a small, appreciative smile.

Chloe straightened a bit in her seat, cradling the mug with both hands. “I’m not sure what you expect me to say or do, Beca.”

Beca licked her lips. “I was hoping we could… hang out from time to time. I’ve missed you, Chlo. So has Aubrey.”

The mention of Aubrey made Chloe lookup. “Does she live in New York, too?”

“Um no, in Boston. She’s a lawyer. But she’d come down to have coffee, or lunch, or whatever you feel like doing. In a heartbeat.”

Chloe shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

What little hope flared in the pit of Beca’s belly upon Chloe showing interest in Aubrey’s life vanished. “Why not?”

“I told you. I’m not the same person anymore. I’m-- I’m not…”

Beca tilted her head to the side. “You’re not what?” She pressed gently.

Chloe’s gaze fleeted out the window as her rather calm demeanor now radiated agitation. Her knee started bouncing and her fingers tightened around the mug, and it was as though Chloe was battling against her own thoughts.

She was itching to reach across the table to rest her hand over her wrist in a sort of grounding gesture, but something told her that would have the opposite effect.

“Chloe?” Beca attempted once more, her voice as soft as she could muster, as it seemed like Chloe was on the brink of bolting.

The tear slipping out of Chloe’s eye tore her heart into two. “I-I have to go.”

Her chair screeched as she pushed it back roughly, and she was nearly out the door by the time Beca scrambled to her feet.

It was lunch-hour rush in one of the busiest avenues in Manhattan, and Chloe had already disappeared in the crowd when she reached the exit, leaving Beca to helplessly wonder how someone like Chloe, once the epitome of sunshine, got herself trapped in so much darkness.

#bechloe #bechloe fanfic #bechloe fic #beca mitchell #chloe beale #pieces

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jtrokujo · 4 years ago

Text

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊

paring: Tobio Kageyama x fem!Reader

word count: 1.7k

warnings: none

genre: fluff (i think)

summary: Through their long and healthy friendship, Kageyama decided to meet with (Y/N). But what was the real reason he wanted to meet her or maybe there was no reason, but one thing is clear; (Y/N) is head over heels in love with him.

—

She stands nervously and unsuspectingly in front of her closet and is still thinking about which outfit she should display for her first date.

But not with anyone, no, but with Tobio Kageyama himself.

Hard to believe, but true.

Because since the earlier years, the now big stubborn head, had been her crush, but in the last few days she wondered whether it wasn't just a bad joke or something like that.

Or whether he would dump her and much more, even when her friends tried to give her courage or that it was not like him, the same thought kept coming up, 'What if ...'

Still with this ulterior motive, she took any outfit and slowly changed.

However, she did not know that her crush would be with her in a few minutes.

She was just fixing her hair, which looked a bit messed up when it was put on, until the doorbell paid her attention.

She quickly grabbed her cell phone and bag with everything necessary already inside and now made her way to the front door.

Just as the black-haired one wanted to press the blades again, the door opened.

The first thing he saw was not like in the typical films, the outfit, no more the hair, but instead of staring at her strangely, he looked at her lovingly and quickly fixed her hair.

The pounding of the heart of the person opposite could apparently not be overheard.

The silence among them is so pleasant, but she curses herself for the fact that her heart is beating quite loudly at the moment.

Is that still healthy at all?

"Let's go?" he asked her and held out his hand to her.

"Yes, in a moment. I just have to put my shoes on very quickly, then we could go." she said with an extremely normal tone and took out the shoes which she is now putting on.

While she is about to tie her shoelaces together, the thought of Kageyama came to mind when they first met.

A warm grin could be seen on his face and he didn't even try to hide it, because if he shouldn't feel well he just has to think about this one moment, where any bad emotions in him dissolve like in the elevator.

"... yama? Kageyama? Tobio Kageyama!"

"Huh?" he looked at her in amazement, while she looked at him in amazement.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly, touching his forehead as his cheeks made a pinkish tone.

He gently took her hands away from him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Shall we go?"

Nodding, she took his hand which was stretched out in front of her - so they made their way to the amusement park.

TIME SKIP

As soon as the teenagers had paid for the ticket, they entered the amusement park when suddenly something particular caught Kageyama's attention, and he immediately pulled his good friend with him.

"Kageyama?" she asked him in amazement, but looked at the other stands, from extraordinary sweets to the weirdest cuddly toys, but you are now standing in front of one of these stands. "Doesn't she duck look extraordinary?" he looked her in the eye.

Nodding, she agreed.

He paid for the balls to win them, but just before he could throw a ball she told him it wasn't necessary "A little reminder wouldn't hurt anyone." he answered with a small grin and already positioned himself.

But how unexpectedly - he only threw one ball and immediately all the empty cans fell down, the seller gave the volleyball player a compliment and immediately afterwards got the cuddly toy he wanted.

"Here." said the black-haired one and showed the cuddly toy under her nose.

Thankfully, she accepted this, after which the two would visit one or the other booth for a long time.

Until Kageyama's hand was pulled, he looked at his companion in amazement when she stopped and looked up.

Likewise, looking up, keep his jaw open.

A haunted house.

As reluctant as he would admit it, he's not a big fan of it, as long as that doesn't mean he's scared of it now.

He just doesn't like it.

"Kageyama, are you okay?" she told him which he only answered with a 'yes'.

She saw this as sufficient and thus paid for the tickets.

Still not enthusiastic they were allowed in and then Kageyama wondered why he was in such a bad mood all the time, it's not that bad, no, rather normal.

If only he only knew.

Because immediately after the sentence of his thought ended, two zombies came, who scared both of them and screamed so loud that the probability is that the other from the outside had heard it.

After what felt like an eternity they left the haunted house together, although they look more horrible than normal, but if you have to be honest they would say that it was a fun time which they will soon be able to laugh together.

Even then they were so different, but still so the same.

Sounds strange, maybe it is too, they will only understand.

ABOUT 6 YEARS BEFORE

While the boys are once again playing a sport together and the girls are playing with dolls while talking about the boys, there is one girl who is sitting alone on a bench and doing the process that she has been doing since she started school.

Every day at the same time and in the same place, she takes the coloring book from her backpack that her mother gave her and the pens that came with it and began to paint as always.

Of course she was alone, but what could she do now?

Do the activities that don't make you happy, no thanks.

In addition, the boys were conceited and the girls bitchy, is understandable but doing the same thing over and over again?

Certainly all the children have disappeared after all or have different interests, so why are they doing exactly what is probably not making them happy?

Or maybe it's better not to know everything, because you never know.

Scrawling on the coloring pad, she didn't hear the small footsteps coming at her until the person draws her attention.

"You are (Y / N) right?"

The little girl was astonished to see who she was talking to.

Unfortunately, she didn't know his name, reluctantly she nodded and painted the elephant with the next color she could grab.

"Do you have friends?" he asked puzzled and looked at her, she was still paying attention to the coloring book - still answered with a shake.

"Oh, well then, let me help you paint." the black-haired gave her the offer.

She thought for a long time so that she had forgotten the doorbell.

"Let's go inside." he said and helped her with packing, but instead of going with her he was jogging in while she was taking all the time.

Weird.

PRESENCE

At the moment you are now in front of a booth where you can buy the most delicious sweets in Japan, but the queue is not short for that it is so popular.

It's quite long, you could say there are 30 people waiting crazy for their turn just to be able to buy a candy.

The friends are in the middle of the long queue, but while Kageyama is talking to his good friend about the new film that is just before it, the little encounter occurred to her, whereupon she asked him, "Kageyama, you remember back in elementary school when you knew me asked if I had friends, why did you come up to me so suddenly. "

Immediately, in silence, he considered that day.

"Every day you were alone. Every day while the other kids had their friends, you were the only one who was alone. I didn't know what to say so I decided to ask if too really had friends. In the beginning it was only because of pity that I always kept you as a little company, but when we went to a new school you were so different.

You had friends, you could laugh, and you didn't have a coloring book with you. I'm happy to be friends with someone like you, I don't know myself what makes you so special, but one thing is clear. You are unique."

Is that real, Kageyama? "

Shocked by what he said keep her jaw open, said nothing but stared at the floor.

Immediately after Kageyama paid for the candy, he showed his girlfriend if she wanted to go to the Ferris wheel with him, she only agreed when she was allowed to pay for the tickets.

After a few minutes of discussion, he was dejected and so they set off.

When she had paid for the tickets, she ran up to Kageyama who was standing in line, but it didn't look like they'd have to wait forever, which made her sigh in relief.

In the middle of the conversation, a member of staff drew attention to the young people because they were apparently allowed to be on the Ferris wheel.

Like a gentleman, Kageyama stood by the side so that his girlfriend can enter this first.

From now on you are allowed to go on the Ferris wheel for 5 laps, but when you reached the top you saw the blue sky getting an orange tone, the sunset.

How she loved them, the atmosphere between them was so beautiful, because the silence was not at all uncomfortable, no.

"(Y / N)." he said.

She turned and saw that he had something in hand, possibly a small box.

"I would like to thank you for being such a great person, who always kept my back free. The person who made me laugh a lot. The person who gives me security. The person with whom I, to be myself However, in the meantime, the feelings also came.

My heart beat madly against my chest every time I only think of you, hear your name or even when I see you. But your touch takes me to another world, where there are no worries, where there is no one but us. So I asked you would you like to be my boyfriend? "

When he said his last sentence, he opened the box to see a chain.

The chain was engraved with its initial letter, "You over here, (Y / N)."

He pulled the chain out from under his sweater and you can see that he has the same chain, only that it is engraved with its first letter.

"I would love to be your friend." she said and so her lips touched his.

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keijikunn · 4 years ago

Text

Fate’s work

Pairing: Iwaizumi Hajime x fem!reader (there’s a slightly platonic Oikawa x reader but anyway) Genre: a big mess of angst and fluffy and I don’t even know anymore Summary: you and Hajime have initiated a concluded two cycles of life together: elementary and middle school passed by in a breeze. Now, high school graduation was approaching faster than you wanted and a statement terrifies you: Iwaizumi Hajime will not start the college cycle beside you Word count: ~3.5k

Author’s note: well well well it’s me after a while to post something out of blue! Special thanks to @hidden-otaku-stuff @toorusushijima

WARNING: none

If you enjoy it please leave a comment or a reblog!!

The first time you saw Iwaizumi Hajime was when his best friend – and soon to be yours as well – had hit your face with a volleyball during a p.e class. Oikawa Tooru still thinks it was a funny incident, despite the fact he bawled his eyes out at the sight of blood coming from your nose. Iwa, being the responsible kid he has always been, called the teacher to help you out – while calm down his crying friend.

Later that day, after the club activities, the two boys searched you in every class of their grade so Oikawa could (quoting the exact same words Iwaizumi said) “to apologize to her because of your clumsy self, Idiotkawa”. They just found you by the gates, your face didn’t look swollen neither did your nose appeared to be in a weird position – which Tooru thanked the skies, he definitely wouldn’t be able to deal with the fact he broke someone else’s nose (not that it was possible given the fact he was 6).

“C’mon Oikawa, say it” Hajime demanded pushing the other boy towards you, catching your attention.

“Oh, you’re the boy who spiked on my face” you stated before cracking a teasing smile. “I thought it was cool, until you started to cry. I wondered if you felt my pain by the way you were screaming”

“Hey!” Tooru whined, which made you and Hajime laugh even harder. “I was worried and came here to apologize, but I take everything back”

“You haven’t even said anything, idiot” Iwaizumi snickered, eyeing you as you proceeded to laugh once again. For a young boy, hajime wondered why his chest felt so warm watching you smile with something he had said.

“It’s fine, Oikawa-kun, right?” your laughter died down a bit, a hand raising to your face and poking your nose lightly. “It hurt quite a lot- but it already passed! See? I can touch it without feeling pain. And the name is L/n Y/n, so if any of you try to kill me with a ball, you can apologize properly”

Oikawa kept complaining, as the years passed by, that you just joined their little group of friends because you and Iwaizumi bounded by bullying him. The other boy would snort at that comment and proceed to tease him, while you’d laugh at their interaction. Ever since Iwaizumi Hajime was 6 years old, he had found your laugh one of the best sounds he had ever heard. And up until today he still agrees with it.

On the next day, you found the two boys at the same spot they talked on the previous day. You could tell oikawa was whining at something iwaizumi said and couldn’t help but crack a smile. Indeed they were best friends, bickering to no end and still remain next to each other. Wow, I envy these two.

“Good morning L/n-san” Iwa greeted as you approached them with larger steps. “How’s your face?”

“Morning, you two” you answered back with a small wave, stopping in front of them. “And it’s fine, Iwaizumi-kun. It hurt a lot at that moment, but now it’s all good”

And together, the three of you walked side to side to their classroom – coming to realize you’ve been classmates before even knowing. You blended well between Oikawa’s somewhat difficult personality and Iwaizumi’s bluntness towards the other boy. In no time, the duo became a trio and that just made sense.

Just like the sudden ball on your face, the years passed by in a blink of an eye. When you noticed, the three of you were graduating elementary school and joining Kitagawa Daiichi. There, they’ve joined the volleyball club and you decided to follow them as well – becoming the manager (a position you would hold until the very end of high school). It was definitely a process of growth for you: Oikawa became more ambitious; Iwaizumi progressively became better and better at his position. And you grew as the responsibility to maintain energetic boys at bay demanded you. But, the most important, your feelings for none other than Iwaizumi Hajime flourished in your heart.

It was funny how cliché your very first love came out to be: falling in love with your best friend… you didn’t know what made you like Iwaizumi more than just friends. Could it be the way he’d always care for you, making sure you don’t get hurt? (he says he’s traumatized after your first encounter). Maybe the way he plays volleyball, with such passion and desire to progress in ability?

Perhaps it was everything and much more. But, on top of anything, what made you fall for Iwaizumi Hajime was because he was himself. The blunt, slightly violent towards Tooru – but just because he genuinely cares about him, the hardworking and loyal boy he has always been. It could be a silly childhood crush- heck, you didn’t even care if it was a one-time-thing, liking Hajime was easy. And it was the purest thing ever.

In the deepest part of your brain, at some point while you were growing up, the possibility of parting ways with the two boys crossed your mind. How could you not think about that when they were so talented volleyball players at such a young age? If they applied to any powerhouse school the answer would be a big yes.

That was the reason why you approached your best friends after practice, when everyone had already left the gym and only Oikawa was training his jump serves. Iwaizumi was on the side lines ready to stop the other boy- he claimed he could easily headbutt the brunet once again like he did previously.

“Guys…” you called quietly, completely different from your usual self around them. Looking at them made your eyes swell with tears and the clear image of them using different uniforms from the best volleyball clubs in Miyagi prefecture had appeared on your mind. “Do you know which school you’ll attend next year?”

“Why the sudden question, Y/n-chan?” Tooru asked without looking at you, Hajime, on the other hand, noticed how you fiddle with the hem of your jacket. “We don’t have to think about it right now, we have some time”

“It’s important, Idiotkawa, Y/n has a point,” Iwaizumi retorted, taking the volleyball from his hands. “Unlike this dummy, I wasn’t accepted in many schools… though Aoba Johsai accepted me”

“Seijoh?! Really, Hajime?” the excitement didn’t pass unnoticed by them, even the hint of relief was hidden there. “Wow, congratulations!! And you, Tooru-chan? Did Shiratorizawa accept you?”

“I’m not going to the same school as Ushiwaka,” he huffed, crossing his arms, a pout forming on his face. “So I’m following Iwa-chan”

“As always, dumbass” his friend shot back with a teasing grin. It was enough for a bickering start between them, leaving you with your own thoughts.

At the age of fourteen, you don’t have many worries about life. So, the thought of going to different schools as those two who you knew since you were six years old was terrifying. I’ll have three more years with them. You wouldn’t say goodbye to Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Not yet, at least.

“And you Y/n- hey, why are you crying?” Hajime shouted surprised, he stopped on his tracks - with hands stopping Tooru. You wiped your tears quickly with the sleeve of the track, to no avail since they kept falling, and smiled. “Oi, why are you smiling and crying?”

“I’m just… happy” it was true. You were not ready to say goodbye to your best friends, especially your first love. Because, for someone who didn’t have much worries in mind, that situation was the worst scenario. “I’m happy we have three more years together”

Unfortunately, three years were not enough for you. 1095 days were not enough to calm your heart that, despite any distance, friendships don’t end just because you don’t see each other every day. But the most important, three years were not enough for you and Hajime; not when being with him felt so right.

His confession surprised you, especially on White’s Day during the first year at Aoba Johsai. After years giving him (and Tooru) chocolates, you would never expect Iwaizumi to give you a necklace while saying “I like you more than just friends, please go out with me”. All you did at that moment was laugh- and laugh hard. It was so Iwaizumi to confess like that, bluntly and straightforward; and you appreciated even more because you fell in love with him the way he was.

“I can’t believe I’ll be the third wheel everytime we go out” Tooru whined after Iwaizumi and you told him about the new label the two of you would have. “Fortunately I have Makki and Mattsun to keep me company while you two get all lovey-dovey”

“Oikawa Tooru, I spent almost ten years of my life being the third wheel of you and Haji” that comment made them snort. “Do not complain about it because it’s most likely that you’ll have my boyfriend most of the time”

“Lies! You’re our manager, the whole team will need to deal with you kissing Iwa-chan” Oikawa teased you and a part of you was getting annoyed, but the soft smile he gave you and your boyfriend told you otherwise. “Seriously, though, I’m so happy for you two”

Hajime squeezed your hand at his best friend’s comment, grinning down at you with a sparkle inside his eyes. You felt at peace: your feelings were mutuals, your best friend supported your new relationship and it was only the first year. Your state of bliss numbed your constant fear of changes, especially those brought by the end of cycles.

And gosh, dating Iwaizumi Hajime was probably the best decision you’ve ever made in your teenage years. He still was the same boy as before, but gentle kisses, holding his hand and nights spent in each other’s embrace maximized all the already-perfect traits your boyfriend had. At the same time dating Iwa was new, it felt like you’ve been doing it for ages judging by how comfortable you were around each other.

Falling in love with your best friend was probably the best decision you’ve ever made.

Every achievement felt a thousand times better when you could jump into Hajime’s arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as he spinned twice cheering loudly. There was no better way to celebrate a deserved win after a difficult match or a good grade on a difficult test.

“Haji, you did it!” those were the first words that would come out of your mouth after the referee signaled the end of the game and the boys cheered between themselves. The ace would always wear a big grin on his face as he catches you when you jump on him. “Oh my, I’m so proud of you and the boys”

“How could I not make it when my personal cheerleader was giving her best on the side lines?” Iwaizumi teased kissing the corner of your mouth, your response was a light punch on his shoulder, but your eyes expressed all the love and proudness you were feeling. “Thank you for all your efforts as well, manager-chan”

“Hey, you two” Oikawa called off, interrupting the sweet moment between you and your boyfriend. “Keep PDA to minimal, we’re still on court. Iwa-chan, we have to bow to the stands, you can be all gross and touchy on the bus”

“Don’t give them ideas, Oikawa!” Makki complained kicking the setter, their antics made you laugh and tap on Hajime’s arms to put you down. “Don’t you dare do anything with us nearby, you perv”

“Of course not, dumbass” Iwaizumi barked, the tip of his ears burned in embarrassment. You watched your team thank the audience that supported them with a tiny smile on your face.

You’ve created beautiful memories in three years.

However, the same way all cycles have a beginning point, they also have their ends. And they were coming faster than you thought. You firstly noticed that after Aoba Johsai lost to Karasuno after a difficult match.

It was the last chance to go to nationals with this team, in your last year at Seijoh, and the look on Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s faces shattered your heart. It was upsetting that you couldn’t do anything more than pat their backs and praise their efforts, because you knew it wouldn’t help ease the anger caused by a loss. The tears streaming down Hajime’s face showed the vulnerability you would only see at the comfort of your or his house.

“You guys did everything you could have done today” became a ritual for the team to listen to a speech from their managers, a straightforward and honest one before the coach treated them to a meal. “Remember this frustration to get better, okay? I’m proud of all of you”

Little by little all the club members started to head home, except the third years - including you - that went to the school’s gym. You were quick to understand the reason why you were there: because you would leave the club to focus on college exams. That meant another cycle was coming to an end, and you were not ready for that.

You weren’t ready to hear Oikawa thanking his teammates for the past years they’ve been playing together. You weren’t ready to see them fall apart in tears. You weren’t ready to hold Iwaizumi as he cried his heart out, sobbing hard on the crook of your neck as you smoothed your hand up and down his back.

Just like you, they were not ready to say goodbye to all of these.

It felt like yesterday when you worried about which school you three would attend after Kitagawa Daiichi. The silly tears you shared in front of your best friends could not compare to the waterfall you’re shedding at the information Hajime just shared with you, during a late-night phone call.

“I made to a college in America”

The air left your lungs and you swore if you were standing, your legs would definitely give in. Your chest tightened as your feelings divided in being extremely happy and proud of your boyfriend, and being… lost. To say you grew accustomed with Iwaizumi’s constant presence in your life was an understatement, after more than 10 years, you have never pictured your future that wouldn’t have him by your side.

“That’s amazing, babe! Oh my god” you exhaled mesmerized. “I’m so happy for you! I knew you’d make it”

“I still can’t believe it” he answered quietly, the following silence deafened you and that made you worry. It had never disturbed you how quiet sometimes your calls could get, but today it felt different. “Y/n, what about us, though?”

“Haji…” more silence. The truth was that you didn’t know, neither did Iwaizumi. Throughout the unstable mess that life is you and Hajime were the constant variable, just like in Maths. No matter how things changed, how the scenarios shifted, you two were always there for each other. But now… the only steady thing in your life wouldn’t be there anymore right next to you. “We should… think about what we want, yeah?”

“You’re right” Iwaizumi breathed slowly, letting what you said settle down inside his head. “I love you, Y/n”

“I love you too, Hajime” and with that, the call ended, leaving you to drown in the sea of your thoughts.

Ever since you were a kid, changes scared you. No monster under your bed or inside your wardrobe could beat the terrible villain that walks side to side with the changes of life. Guess a few fears stick with us for good, you thought laughing humorlessly.

It was a fact that Iwaizumi would never cheat on you, his loyalty was marvelous ever since he was six years old. And you knew for sure he would move mountains just to talk to you for a few minutes, like you’d do to him. Carrying a long-distance relationship with Hajime would be challenging, but no impossible, because he was him and you were you. And you loved each other so damn much.

You spent weeks thinking about it every night - because during the days your thoughts were 100% focused on the boy standing right next to you. Time would eventually pass by and the moment he would leave Japan to start college in America would arrive, and you won’t be able to do anything to stop or delay it. So, after debating with yourself, you have made your final decision.

Graduation was filled with joy and the inevitable tears shared in your group of friends. The fellow volleyball club members were there to congratulate the now former third years, wishing them luck for their future paths. Surprisingly or not, you managed to keep your tears at bay - maybe because you ran out of them on the last night after having a bounding time with Oikawa, Hajime, Matsukawa and Hanamaki.

In a month or so, Oikawa would fly to Argentina to pursue his professional career as a volleyball player, Iwaizumi would have his brand new start in America, Makki and Mattsun would stay in Miyagi; and you would leave to start your new cycle. A cycle without Tooru and Hajime.

“Hey” your boyfriend tugged lightly at your hand, motioning you to go to another place, a quieter one. You two walked in silence until you'd reached the stairs that led to the club room, sitting on the step next to each other. “It’s over”

“We graduated” both of you laughed, thinking about it three years ago felt so far away, like this future would never come. Yet, here you were, ready to face the world. “We had a great time here, even dealing with Tooru’s annoying ass will be a fond memory”

“I can’t believe we are all parting ways like this” Hajime admitted quietly, however his tone was filled with nostalgia. “I feel like it was yesterday that Shittykawa smacked your face with a volleyball”

“I think it’s the only occasion I’m glad I got hurt” you admitted lightly. “Because of that day, we could spend many more together”

The silence hugged you two nicely, you rested your head against Hajime’s shoulder as he hugged you by your sides. You wanted to save the feeling of being so close to him in your memory, in a place where it would never fade away even after years. His smell of cologne that was his mark filled your nose and you let yourself be intoxicated by it.

“I guess it’s the end” he said in a whisper, rubbing your shoulders in circle motions. After thinking for many nights, the decision of breaking up with Iwaizumi felt right - although extremely painful. “Sometimes I regret choosing America”

“Don’t start with this bullshit again, Iwaizumi!” you scolded him, creating enough space between you so you could face him. “It’s your future, for god’s sake!”

“But I want you to be part of it” his eyes were a bit shiny, just like on the day you brought up the decision of ending the relationship. A stray tear rolled down his cheek and you quickly cupped his face to dry it with your thumb, the boy responding to your touch by leaning closer to your palm.

“Hajime, we’ve been best friends ever since forever, way before we fell in love with each other… I love you so much - and I’ll probably always do - but I can’t find peace within myself knowing that I’m holding you back. We will remain best friends for life, you are my first love and will always be… so, if there’s a red string tied up around our pinkies” you wrapped the said finger around his much larger one, a gentle smile appearing on your not wet cheeks. “Let fate bring us back together, whether as friends or lovers”

The boy leaned down to capture your lips, your mostly likely last kiss before splitting for good. You could taste the salty tears you two shed, but nothing could top the amazing sensation that was being so close to Hajime. Nothing could top the sensation of love and being loved by Iwaizumi Hajime.

You feared changes, the numerous cycles scared you ever since you were a kid. But it was fine now, that you understood that it was necessary, though not permanent. If you and Iwaizumi Hajime were meant to be, fate will do its work to bring you back to where your heart belongs.

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