#the game gets scary sometimes but it's impossible to be scary when you play as Ghostface hitting zombies with a pan

[lemurianeggs]

Stalker Caleb Headcanon - DDDNE

TW: Stalking - Grooming - Teacher x Student - Implied Noncon

MC can't help the feeling of being watched as soon as she leaves her house. It often has her run the last few meters home / to school cause she is so scared by it.

Sometimes Caleb makes a game out of it. He is standing in the shadows watching her. Using his evol to make her jump by throwing a can or other trash, enjoying the thrill of seeing her panic and run. On rare occasions he will even indulge into running after her. He is wearing all black with a black mask and hat, so no one will be able to identify him anyways.

Maybe on one of those days he will use his evol to make it impossible for her to shut the door after she ran inside, to follow her. Though he probably has been inside her house a lot already, rummaging through her underwear and rubbing himself off on her bed, but at one point that is just not enough for him anymore.

He needs to fully own her. He is so glad that her guardian seems to be away for work a lot. Makes it easier to get close to her.

Cause little does she know that he is her teacher, the school counsellor at her school, watching her even there.

Maybe he will scare her deliberately at school too, letting something fall in the bathroom, when she is alone just to see her jump again.

He loves playing with her fear.

She tells him readily about her nightmares and fears too with him being a trusty teacher to her - He's so aroused from her shaking and quivering while she retells her biggest fears.

Also whenever she gets attention from boys her age, her life somehow gets worse. The scary incidents increase and he has her sobbing in her office. - Getting off on seeing her cry like that.

"You know, Pips. This might be those boys... I know that is hard to accept but sometimes they like to play pranks like that. It's probably best if you don't talk to them anymore.", he will tell her and she fully believes him cause he had always been so so kind to her.

He will probably also give her the cold shoulder eventually, to drive her mad, while scary things keep happening to her, maybe even rumors going around about her, getting her ostracized from her fellow students. Acting as if he was too busy to talk and support her only to make her more pliable in the end - her being already codependent on him emotionally.

There will mostlikely be assault at some point too, just because he is a greedy man and can't hold back for much longer. It makes it easier for him to continue being that strong pillar for her as the "one person" that seemingly cares for her too.

He will play mindgames with her trauma, breaking her until she is malleable enough to be formed into his perfect little plaything. Telling her he can make her feel good and that she doesn't need to be scared of sex, if she just allows him to show her.

(This is most likely going on for years until it becomes her "normal". He might even convince her to marry him along the lines.)

[thegempage]

thinking a lot about. how gameplay creates personality within characters. the link i play in tears of the kingdom is not quite the same link as the ones my friends play. what does it mean to experience the world differently through the same eyes.

[sweetlikesunflowersandhoney]

hi 😊 the random question of the week is what's the last thing a friend or a loved one of yours has done that has brought you joy recently?

hi, cielo 💗

the other night i played Left 4 Dead with my hometown friends who moved to the city. it's been a surprisingly wholesome and fun hobby to break the week, and it allows us to "hang out" in spite of our busy schedules. Huesos got us all these cool mods, so now we play with these characters:

[kammazi]

★ you and katsuki have been dating since highschool and as luck would have it, you both loved to play video games together (or sometimes separately when katsuki would keep blowing up your house in minecraft).

you would play when you would both come back from patrol, or on your days off, including the nights when you chose to stay in when your friends went off partying to god knows where.

eventually however, the more you played the more you realised how funny katsuki was with his reactions and constant serious concentration face that looked like he was in a fight with a villain. so you brought up an idea you had one day.

to start twitch streaming.

at first you expected to be shut down with a scowl or the roll of the eyes but to your surprise he gave you an eyebrow raise followed by, “you know what, why the hell not.”

and that’s what brought you here right now, the two of you huddled around the dual monitor with you having one hand on the mouse, the other on the WASD keys. shaking.

the camera was set up in front as your microphone was positioned in between you two with the chat spamming hilarious comments that were going too fast for you to read, not that you were trying however because you were about to piss your pants.

“katsuki i don’t want to do this anymore.” you could feel the sweat gathering on your palms. you were currently guiding your character through a dark hallway, the only light coming from your flashlight.

“stop you’re fine, just keep going. don’t overthink it.” that’s basically all the support you were getting and you know what, you only have yourself to blame as you thought it would be funny to play a horror game you saw circling on your feed recently, with katsuki saying it didn’t even look scary to be considered one.

“no wait did you see that, there was literally some guy peeking around the corne— OH MY GOD HES CHASING ME HELP.” you could hear katsukis snickers as he watched you pathetically try to escape.

“left sweets, turn left.” your words came out as gibberish as you panicked “I CANT MOVE”. your comment was shortly followed by a scream as the figure lunged at you, the screen displaying a red ‘GAME OVER’.

the force or the jump knocked the microphone, slamming it against katsukis face.

the comment section started blowing up as you sat there contemplating why you ever thought this was a good idea in the first before realising what you did.

katsuki was bent over, laughing hysterically as he fixed the microphone before sitting back up and wrapping an arm around your shoulder, rubbing it in comfort.

you turned to him, a hand covering your mouth. “i’m so sorry kats i didn’t mean to.” you rubbed his face to try and soothe the hit that he probably barely even felt. while still laughing, he kissed your cheek and stood up.

“alright move over and watch the real pro at work”

which was very short lived because after a cruel jumpscare catching him off guard (which you had deemed was impossible before today) and resulted in him letting out an almost inaudible yelp, he had sat there with a straight face before turning to look at the comments that were mocking him to no end.

he scowled before responding to some.. not so gently. “FUCK YOU ‘GOONMASTER227’, I KNOW YOU WOULD BE TOO MUCH OF A PUSSY TO EVEN TRY-” you quickly cut him off by grabbing his bicep and pulling him away from the screen. everyone was already used to katsukis outbreaks wether that be on the clock or over some stupid game, however everyone still thought it was the funniest thing ever and always clipped him in these moments.

you tried your best not to chuckle. “okayy guys i think that’s enough for today. if you want us to finish the game please let us know and we hope you enjoyed the stream.” you had by now started cackling as you could hear the steam coming off of your boyfriend.

“like hell we will, this game is ass. get this off the screen.”

two days later, your boyfriends reaction was soon all over the internet, just like you assumed, and his fearsome expression that people managed to pause at the right time and screenshot was on every single profile picture of every account you saw, even your own friends.

safe to say you took a short break from streaming and had to kiss away the scowl on katsukis face for days on end after that.

a.n ; was watching coryxkensin and thought it could be funny. half assed it tho forgive me 😔 (not proofread)

@KAMMAZI 2025

[annihilatius]

Candy Diver human design I did (the images wouldn't load in the correct order I placed them as but whatever)

Uhhj what do I say.. I think the first and last time I've ever drawn fanart for this game was back in September/October 2021? I don't play CRK for the lore or characters really, even if sometimes the stories are engaging or I like some of the characters. I play because it's fun. But ... I watched Legend Of The Duskgloom Sea a few days ago, and immediately knew I just HAD to draw Candy Diver. Something about them makes my neurons activate I can't help it I have a disease RAAHHHH!

@glitchven Just cause you're my only mutual that posts abt this game

Alternative versions and an explanation for my design decisions and fan made lore for it under the cut (spoilers for Legend Of The Duskgloom Sea)

(In the context of being a human) Candy Diver died sometime around the 1920s-30s, when, on a diving expedition looking for treasures, went too deep and realized it after it was too late, eventually running out of breatheable oxygen before reaching the surface (the deeper you go, the more disoriented you get. Humans can barely handle 40m). As a ghost in the Duskgloom Sea, they still wear the very same suit they died in, which is why it's so stained, yellowed, and dirty (realistically it'd be even worse than this), also explaining why their body has decomposed into nothing but a skeleton.

The lantern is some random junk they found they somehow managed to get working. Their original helmet isn't the one you see here, though, because I specifically designed them to *actually* be a deep sea diver; and this is pretty accurate to what they wore, except, of course, they didn't use gumball machines as helmets. Not long after dying and becoming a ghost they lost their helmet, and had to settle with a discarded gumball machine as a replacement. They figured out a way to weld the two parts together (the odd red thing that connects the empty space between the helmet and the shoulderpiece) so it could come on and off. Their original helmet would have looked like this (Mark V divers helmet):

The name "Candy Diver" is one adopted after the fact (either by themself or given to by other people), I'd imagine they were named something completely different before dying

Thinking harder about the whole Candy Diver being dead thing, I thought it would be really cool to take that in a more grotesque direction. Even though now that's it's finished, it (the design) is extremely tame (at least to me, I invisoned them as being more menacing considering the skull, but I've learned now that it's impossible to make a character that has gumballs for eyes scary or intimidating in any way lmao), Candy Diver has SO much potential for body horror and the like, that the game completely strays away from in favor of making them cute (which is incredibly affective btw).

Instead of them just being a ghost who was born from their psychical form dying (most likely), I interpreted them as more of a walking corpse. It may not translate well in the drawing, but they're meant to be hunched over from the constant pressure of how heavy their suit is. They walk slowly but loudly across the seafloor, also because of the weight slowing them down. An odor of death follows them wherever they go after decades of wearing the same clothes and the rotting of what was once their body. Their bones began to decay as well after a time, and eventually they lost their jaw bone, which is why they can't speak (but even when they *could*, I still imagine them as being very very semiverbal anyway. Because autism)

[eyelambspider]

Spider. Eye. Lamb. || COD/Outlast Au

⤷ summary : you and him. together you'll be the ones to make it out of the trials... (drabbles/hcs)

┊pairing : könig, gaz, price x gn!reader ┊content warning : mentions of gore/death/blood, horror, pining(?) finding comfort in each other ┊a/n : ffffffuck! i love the outlast trials! (forgive me i like scary games) also: for god sakes, i'm doing chapters/scenarios for this

▹ König

Its nearly impossible for König to hide while in the Trials. He can't fit into the lockers quickly (or the barrels), so he opts to linger in the darker rooms with the burnt out bulbs.

so. he's usually wearing his night vision goggles or his eyes are adjusting to the dark. leading him to be more anxious and feeling exposed in brightly lit places.

Because of his size, König can break through the wooden boards blocking doorways with one kick if he needs to run.

Other reagents (people) in the sleep-room are afraid of him and tend to stay away. He looks too similar to the Prime Assets in the trials, with the cut up pillowcase over his head... and his height.

it doesn't help his mental health, not talking to much people in the sleep room... but the doctors seem to like him. If not only for his physical build.

sometimes, König comes to the metal door of your room and stands there, unsure how to really ask but- he likes laying with you on your bed. the two of you laying there in each others arms for nothing more than the comfort of being with another person who... knows how scary it is.

König likes to protect you in the Trials, intervening just as the grunts try to bring down their weapons on your prone form by shoving them off violently.

▹ Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

Gaz is the quietest and is hardly seen by those who roam the halls and rubble-filled streets of the trials.

he always has a lockpick on him, and often uses it to open up medical supplies for himself. always proving to be especially resourceful.

Uses bottles to throw and distract the enemies when he works.

Gaz is one of the braver subjects to be put into the trials, always taking risks and evading the prime assets and enemies by a hair.

Gaz's biggest fear in the trials is that he is too good at it. Trials become easier and easier, but it messes with his head to think that instead of getting this horror show over with as fast as possible-he's actually doing exactly what the doctors want him to do.

Is it just survival... or is Murkoff's twisted form of 'treatment' actually working?

Gaz likes talking to you.

Well, having your company. He doesn't open up about what he thinks and fears. Just sort of... sits with you and chats in the cafeteria during meal times.

And on the shuttles (from the sleep room to the Trials) Gaz likes to sit across from you, even with the TV in front of his face, and the bars on the side of his head (forcing him to watch)... he likes knowing you're right there. Likes reminding you to be angry instead of scared, "Fuck the doctors-remember that-fuck the doctors!"

You actually might be the reason he's still resisting the treatment. He tries to protect you from feeling as... as desperately terrified of becoming what the doctors want.

▹ John Price

Price hates to get paired with you in the Trials. Solely because he'd hate to see you hurt but... "its good to see a friendly face"

Price would do well in his trials, ranking a grade average 'B'.

It would be better, but he despises being apart of these sick games and 'messes up' on purpose.

(When you're afraid in the Trials) Price grabs your shoulders and forces you to look at him, keeping you grounded and giving you something to focus on other than the threat of dying. "Just get the key, alright? Its got a little black star on it. You get it and bring it back here... and we'll both get out of here. Won't let anything bad happen to ya," he assures.

In the sleep-room, Price always tells you to come and play a game of chess with him. "No buts." He knows it will distract the both of you for a while, and if you don't know how to play, he's got all the time to teach you.

(When you don't make it back to the exit) Price always waits for you, has to watch you enter the transport himself to make sure you're okay. And when you don't, he gets antsy, glancing at the red timer above the door that says you have only three minutes... "Fuck," he decides, turning his back on the exit and beginning to run back into the Trial to find you.

he likes taking care of you, gives him something else-something more important-to focus on outside of the trials.

if anyone was getting out of the trials, he'd hoped it'd be you

[yuurei20]

Hi there! Quick question, How does Idia feel about Leona?? to me, they have such weird dynamic. They don't like each other but they don't outright hate each other either, but sometimes it feels like they're totally fine with each other?? Is this just a respect thing??

Hello hello!! This gets into character analysis which is definitely not my strength, so I reached out to one of the most knowledgeable Idia-analyzers I’ve ever seen ( @frost__tw ) who was so kind as to collaborate with me on this response, and I am forever grateful ♡

Also: agreed! Their dynamic is particularly fascinating because they are both complete opposites and extremely similar, simultaneously:

Both are housewardens, near the same height, canonically attractive, unusually intelligent, very sarcastic, enjoy chess, are from important families, keep others at a distance, often complain about having to go out of their way to do things they are uninterested in, have brother issues and won’t put effort into things they have predetermined to be impossible, which ties directly into how they are trapped in situations they can’t do anything about due to the circumstances of their birth.

And we also have their recently introduced titles (on JP server): “Ambitious King” and “King of the Underworld.”

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how Idia feels about Leona, possibly because he doesn’t know very much about him (which is possibly because Leona doesn’t want him to).

During Book 6 he assumes that Leona isn’t suited to a leadership role, for example, despite how people who actually spend time with Leona say otherwise.

The two overlap in Idia’s second birthday vignette, where Leona gifts him with an artisanal chess set and the two pause the interview to play together.

They seem to mutually agree not to mention who won the game, and it may have been a draw.

We see Idia categorize people and generalize them into character tropes (from anime/manga/games) throughout the game, and based upon Leona’s appearance/outward behavior, Idia may labeling him as the scary top boss of the Savanaclaw hooligans (re: their Halloween vignette together) in his mind.

But he is able to overcome his initial flight response in this birthday vignette once Leona procures the chess set (one of Idia’s personal interests).

(This is part of the reason why Idia’s stutter is such an important part of the character: he stutters when he panics, but then speaks smoothly when he becomes passionate, which the characters even comment on in the game (Ortho calls it his "go off switch" on EN, and his "heat up switch" on JP).)

(Recreation of this trait varies by scene on EN.)

Leona is difficult to read because he will insult the people he likes and respects just as readily as he does those he does not (something that we see Jamil come to understand in real time during Book 6), so trying to work out his true opinion about anything can get into conjecture.

They also do not overlap particularly often, which gives us less to work with, but his teasing of Idia in the birthday vignette is not dissimilar to his teasing of characters like Jamil and Vil. Whereas they understand Leona’s humor, however, Idia may not.

What we know for a fact is that Leona has canonically complimented Idia for being both intelligent and powerful during Spectral Soiree, and this may have been a parallel to Terror is Trending when, extremely impressed by Savanaclaw’s Halloween set, Idia asks, “Did Leona use his magic for it?”

Idia also comments on Leona’s power during his evaluations at STYX, saying, “I already knew Leona was tough and could handle whatever danger comes at him…”

I think you are correct, and it is a respect thing!

They are both aware of the other’s familial situations and strengths and, in any other circumstances, they might get along well. But their personalities are just too different, they frustrate each other in every conversation they have, and whatever positives the other person has might just not be enough to outweigh how obnoxious they find the other to be.

We learn from Vil that the rule at NRC is “the weak obey the strong,” and the Housewardens at NRC seem to take this literally, with Idia, Leona and Vil all being constantly torn between sincere annoyance and grudging respect. The three referring to others as “spudlings,” “normies” and “herbivores” is another interesting overlap that they share.

(Despite being even more different than Leona and Idia, Leona and Vil repeatedly find common ground in allying against Idia.)

(In a parallel to this, Leona and Idia find common ground on the subject of Malleus, with Leona saying, “It’s a pain when the majority forces their opinion on you,” which is an opinion Idia seems to share.)

Thank you so much for this question, it was wonderful to dive into!

Overall, Leona and Idia seem to share a mutual undertone of “I know you’re the best at what you do, but I can’t stand you. I acknowledge that you’re intelligent, capable and talented, but please go be that somewhere else,” which ties directly into a comment from Yana’s 2023 interview:

“Since the characters in the story are villains they do not admit defeat, but they will admit, ‘Hey, you did pretty good.’ Even if they don’t like each other, they will recognize each other’s abilities.”

(And thank you again to @frost__tw for all the amazing insight! ♡)

[noisyghost]

GOD I absolutely agree re:werewolf tropes, especially in romance. I want to read so many werewolf books, but So Many play into pack dynamics/violent werewolf bf/etc etc tropes that it feels nigh impossible to find something that will Hit for me specifically. Do you (or anyone who stumbles upon this) have any recs for werewolf media? Particularly that which is outside of romance as the main plot/genre? (Nothing against romance as a whole, I just don't tend to enjoy it when it's the main focus of a story)

god yeah im the exact same, its why i usually end up gravitating more towards horror werewolves cause at least then i dont normally have to worry about weird alpha boyfriend tropes lol. But that means i dont really have too many media recommendations! I'll put a couple thoughts under the read more, but if anyone has any recs, feel free to reply below 🙏

i don't have any book recommendations bc i havent read a real book in years so most of this will be movies/shows/comics

Being Human (US) is really good in a lot of places (one of my absolute favorite werewolf designs), but the last season really falls into a bunch of those werewolf bullshit tropes so i pretend it doesnt exist lol. i think the good bits outweigh the stupid though! I have also watched the UK version and its. not bad. i just didnt really get into it idk.

The Order 1886 barely feels like a werewolf game even though it is for sure a werewolf game lol. i would recommend just watching a playthru tho cause the gameplay is pretty much nothing but the plot and characters are very cool!!!!

Uhhhh everyone knows van helsing which is an objectively just an ok movie but the werewolves and vampires go so hard i have to like it. Dog Soldiers is also a fun campy flick, and i enjoyed werewolves within but thats more of a mystery than a genuine werewolf movie. Annndddd i did actually like the wolf man 2025 like. its gonna piss a lot of werewolf fans off i think and i know why people dont like it but i think the ideas and themes it presents are really interesting to me specifically! so idk if the individual werewolf enjoyer will like it in the same way i did but i will recommend it if u like werewolves that really lean into the disease/virus aspect of it.

Wilde Life is a webcomic that i really enjoy that is.... werewolf adjacent. I wouldnt really call Cliff a werewolf, more of a shapeshifter, but they sometimes call him a werewolf so its close enough for me to mention it and theres lots of other cool critters and scary bits to make the comic worth recommending.

I dont think Prague Race (webcomic) is officially available anymore but that also had some fun werewolves in it. You can probably find an archive of it if you google the name (the artist's new comic, 'tiger, tiger' is also very good but has nothing to do with werewolves lol)

How to be a werewolf is another webcomic that does do a bunch of the pack dynamic trope but the characters are charming and has some romance but it isn't the primary plot, its more about family than anything. and a female werewolf main character is always a plus!

uhhhh im sure theres more im forgetting these are just some of the ones from the top of my head

...

ok literally this is so niche and i probably shouldnt even bother mentioning it but i have sat on this fic for literally 8 years now and it makes me so sad the author never finished it but. one of the only werewolf fanfics ive ever read that i really clicked with was an overwatch hanzo/cassidy fic called 'spurs don't pair with scare chords' and i need to put it here bc its the platonic ideal of a werewolf fic with a well paced romance that isn't the major intrigue point. its my white whale of a fanfic and it being unfinished haunts me. i wish overwatch was good

[crownmemes]

From Sentences, Vol. 2

(Sentences from From (2022-). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"We don't have to trust each other, we don't even have to like each other, but we have to work together on this."

"Here's the thing: any time you say that we're fine, it means that we're not fine."

"Sometimes crazy is the most rational response you can have."

"Not every story gets a happy ending."

"Without fear, we wouldn't know how to be brave. Fear is what makes us heroes."

"Why are you being so mean to me? I thought we were friends!"

"What's happening right now is medically impossible!"

"Is it just physically impossible for you not to be an asshole for longer than ten minutes?"

"Are you honestly saying that our dreams can hurt us now?"

"You know, I thought I'd gotten so used to being scared that it just felt normal - but this feels different."

"Things here feel different now. They feel wrong."

"I am only going to say this one time, okay? Whatever stupid ideas you've got locked in that rock hard head of yours, they're going to get you killed!"

"The problem is there's too much we don't know. It's like opening a book and starting from the middle, or trying to imagine what a jigsaw puzzle looks like when all you have is a few random pieces."

"Didn't you say there'd be dead monsters out here?"

"You already know what you have to do. The question is, how far are you willing to go to find answers?"

"You don't make moral decisions based on the outcome you expect; you make them based on whether or not you think they're right."

"The fact that you can look at anything right now and describe it as 'fine' has a bewildering charm to it."

"You did what you had to do - you did the only thing you could do - and you lost because the game here is rigged, and no matter what hand you play, you lose."

"I've never seen what things look like on the inside before."

"I need to talk about some scary things, but you're the scariest person here so it won't scare you."

"Are you sure those things you saw today were hallucinations?"

"If I knew I was going to see you, I'd have worn a better shirt."

"Please stop worrying about me and let me worry about you!"

"I know I'm supposed to tell you that it'll be okay, but I don't know if that's true."

"I don't know you that well, but you seem like a really good person."

"Hey, someone's got to try, right? It's okay, you can thank me later."

"I am trying to keep you alive! Don't you see that?"

"There's a nicer way to make your point, you know!"

"At some point, you either adapt, or you lose your mind."

"Here's your gun. You get your bullets when I think you deserve them."

"The next time you come in here without my permission, you and me are going to have a problem."

"Are these the same ones from your dream?"

"You are a lonely, selfish, narcissistic asshole who doesn't give a shit about anything but yourself and your own ego!"

"Can I give you some unsolicited advice?"

"The answers to the end are at the beginning."

"I think you need to learn for yourself. It's the only way you'll understand."

"You could have just fucking told me!"

"You don't ever say that again! Do you hear me?"

"I'm your dad. I won't ever stop being your dad."

"Whatever it is you think you have to do, you don't have to do it."

"No one can change a story once it's been told."

[chocsra]

if you’re ok with writing for multiple characters, could i request a platonic oneshot with chuuya and dazai x fem!reader who is apart of their “double black” (except ig it wouldn’t be double black anymore) and both mediates their arguments and instigates them? (maybe a snippet of friends to lovers between chuuya and the reader 🤭) tysm have a nice day!

"Unlit Cigarettes stained by Warm Lips"

15! Chuuya x gn! reader x 15! platonic! Dazai

A/N: ofc! yall i should keep my mouth shut bc i make too many promises i cant keep. HALLOWEEN IS SOON BTW AAAAAA

Content: stuck in a jail cell with your unfortunately idiotic subordinates, fluff, crack, mafia work, reader is MEAN, a little romance w chuuya, dazai may be ooc but i like to think that in this kinda dynamic he acts more like a normal teen, slight soukoku, smoking, lots of swearing, NOT PROOFREAD‼️‼️

"Missss.. [Y/N]s smoking."

You slap the lanky boy's shoulder harshly as you shove the cigarette box back into your sleeve, watching as your other subordinate's face contort in surprise as Dazai mockingly whines. "Ow.." he rubs his shoulder with bandaged fingers, the ginger next to him looks at you with amusement and confusion. "Where the hell did ya get that?" he asks, you sulk in annoyance from the whining bastard beside you, "Up your ass." a quiet click of the tongue from the ginger can be heard as you defy his genuine question.

Unfortunately, these two are your subordinates, your partners in criminal work, your associated murderers in the underground business. Even though Double Black is all scary and terrifiyingly violent, you thought they were a pair of funny, immature and idiotic assholes.

Dazai Osamu, a lanky, greasy boy wrapped in bandages, loved dying. Yes, he wanted to fucking die, but he doesn't. You sometimes question his skill of staying alive after that many suicide attempts, but it's alright, you suppose. The mafioso had messy brown hair and wore massive suits that did not fit him and constantly smells like dog shit. He claims he has a silver tongue with women but the only woman he 'has' is the front-desk suicide hotline lady. If somebody ever asked your opinion on him, you would answer.. "He's.. interesting."

Next is Chuuya Nakahara, a short, but strong arrogant boy who is frustratingly brutal. Veeery brutal. He's extremely competitive and takes every minor activity as a sweat-inducing challenge. Karaoke is a pain when he's screaming his ass off, simplistic cooking or baking is horrifiying because this shithead works like he's donating food to charity as if his fatass isn't going to inhale everything afterwards, and any sort of video game was devasting, any one.

He had short ginger hair and stormy azure eyes. His fashion sucked until Koyou, a fellow superior of yours knocked some sense into him. Chuuya had a rather small figure but fairly muscled. Yeah, he flexed his abs (ribs) in the mirror randomly. The boy loved fedoras, chokers and classic, fancy clothing that made girls scream 'DAMON TORRANCE 😍‼️' under his Instragram posts. If someone were to ask your opinion on him, you'd say: "He's an alright guy," with a shrug.

Some dumbass landed you three in jail for a reason you'd rather not speak of, and now you have to deal with the aftermath of waiting for your 'beloved' guardian, Mori Ougai to come bail you three out.

"Mackerel," Chuuya jabs Dazai's side, intensely glaring at him. "Why'd you get the guard's attention? I could've smoked." he hisses, causing the taller boy to snap back at him with an eyeroll. "Nah it's fine, I don't have a lighter anyway." you mediate the tension, boredly playing with the flimsy cigarette box in your hand. The redhead scoffs a little, leaning back in the concrete seat of the jailcell, impossibly manspreading further. "We could use Dazai's hot ass breath as a makeshift lighter.." Chuuya suggests with a smirk, the lanky teenager sassily scoffs, "Or rub pipsqueak's oily hair until it catches fire."

"Like- how would that make a fire?" you retort in amusement, "Have you ever been to a science class?" Dazai and Chuuya shrug in sync unshamefully,

"Was busy protectin' gangsta kids."

"Missed most of middle school 'cause of an attempt."

...

"Fair enough," you shrug back, fixing your hair. "Y'know, Boss is gonna kill us when he gets here." you add on, leaning your head against the prison wall. "I know, I'm not fuckin' prepared," Chuuya copies your movements beside you, loosely throwing an arm around your shoulder. Dazai's eyebrows knit in amusement and embarrassment at the sight, "Pipsqueak, you are NOT smooth." the ginger almost glitches as he flew away from you at those words, now chasing the brunette around the jailcell.

"'Playfighting between you guys is a fuckin' hazard, even for the mafia." you mumble, placing the unlit cigarette between your lips to feel the sensation once more. "This isn't playfighting! I'm gonna kill his ass!" Chuuya pants between missed kicks thrown at Dazai. "That's why [Y/N] thinks you give 'dog vibes'!!" the brunette retorts, bringing up a previous conversation based off you psychoanalyzing your coworkers.

"Why you!-" the smaller boy curses, flying off a wall aimed towards Dazai's head. "I'm not wrong though!!" you fling your arms up in surrender, smiling cheekily as Chuuya rolls his eyes. "After this fuckboy, you're next." You swallow thickly in slight fear. You swore you could hear walls crack and floors thump at the loud commotion, drowning out the poised footsteps towards your cell.

"Sir, are these your children?"

A kind, petite policewoman points to you three fighting like rabid animals. Mori Ougai, your tall, diabolic and terrifiying boss smiles fakely, watching his underlings fight in pure irritation.

"Unfortunately."

The tall brunette immediately halts as the ginger almost decks him in the face. Your hands stay frozen in the air as if you've been caught instigating a chicken fight.

Dude, you are so fucked.

[mohgreal]

true to my word here is my essay on why granny is Good Actually feat. @omenfailure

do not take this TOO seriously but i tried to be a little serious

i dont know where to start, but while granny has been seen as regarded as a "bad horror game" or generally cheap because it's 1) on mobile 2) low graphics 3) no real story — however in spite of this, granny has actually been one of the more impactful horror games, it's almost as impactful as lets say five nights at freddy — not quite, but sorta there. granny inspired a entire movie, "stay out of the house". it also was the cause of that popular piggy roblox game that has 13 billion vists and even has merch with books and plushies and even a collab with dark deception. oh and the yourube kids granny rainbow hello neighbor scary teacher brainrot videos it inspired but lets not dwell on that trauma now

while granny has no real story, (though DVloper's more recent games, the twin one if i recall correctly DO have a more written story just to add). you do have notes scattered around by some rando trying to survive granny, which is a present feature in many horror games (most popular example would be resident evil that does this). granny doesn't really need a story, because you can piece it together or make it up yourself. really though the game is more atmospheric then i see people admit, the entire gray and very "faded" like tone, along with the various toys on the outside and crib, along with it being, well — granny. it's kind of like a play on old nostalgic memories that you only vaguely remember with your grandparents. faded, blurred, grayscales into obscurity, and when you vist them again there's nothing left.

other horror games have done this as well, though i cant name one that does it in this very specific way. apart from that, you have granny herself that is also a part of the rotting/fading like symbolism — her teeth are rotting and she's blind, much like how old people and grandparents in general tend to have their vision fade and their health rot due to old age / sickness. you also have the fact that granny's daughter, slenderina is there when you throw the teddy bear into the crib (notice how the teddy bear has color but the crib doesn't?) and slenderina herself is also very distorted, while her mouth is left agape likely for horror design purposes, it also gives the impression she's despeate, she wants to leave. you also die when you stare into her, but notice how granny is blind?

the general thing is, even when you DO escape from granny, the house is still left there, granny is still there, slenderina is still there(? as a ghost presumably). it's still a way of that memory thing i mentioned earlier, you can stop thinking about your memories and escape the past, but it doesn't change your memories, it doesn't change the past. the way you cant even really see anything outside because of the dark also puts focus on granny's house specifically, forcing you to be there and be present even if you don't want to, because you can't see anything beyond until you get out.

despite granny's design giving off the impression she's ill, dying along with the house — she's strong, impossibly so, she basically runs at turbo speed and whacks you once and you bleed and pass out for a entire day. just seeing granny, you have to panic, you can't look at her, you have to hide; and sometimes even when you do she still catches up to you, she crawls like a spider under the bed to get you, which is a instakill/game over, also adding to the concept and my little theory of granny being a allegory for trauma or just memory in general, maybe even dementia — because avoiding it catches up to you and kills you instantly. this is also present in granny 2 and 3, but you have more then. the house is bigger, there's more people you have to avoid, to hide from, even if it's borderline impossible. oh and grandpa dabs in on of the endings i love you dvloper

there was more but i can't be bothered to type out more enjoy my very delusional take on a mobile gayme

[thatoneneuvichiliauthor]

Get to know your mutuals!

Thanks for tagging me @joyful-soul-collector !

What's the origin of your blog title? Well that’s simply because I got a tiny bit hyperfixated on the Neuvichili ship (Neuvillette x Childe x Zhongli from Genshin Impact) during the Fontaine patch, and that out of the 100 fics that exist for it, I wrote like, 65 of them? 😅 And since I posted them on anon at first, the neuvichili author name stuck.

OTP(s) + Shipname:  Neuvichili (obviously)

Aventio (Aventurine x Dr. Ratio from Honkai Star Rail)

Jayvik (Jayce x Viktor from Arcane)

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite game: I’d say Honkai Star Rail, because I love the characters in this game so much!

Song stuck in your head: Broken Mast Bay – Sail North. Nothing like listening to a selkie song while working on a selkie wip.

Weirdest habit/trait? Not sure if that counts as weird but I love all sorts of animals people usually find disgusting/scary like snakes, lizards, bugs or spiders and I really enjoy taking pictures of them.

Oh also I’ve got a pencil case full of small pieces of paper with the names of characters I’ve gotten attached to throughout the years written on it, and every morning I pick up one to have something positive to think about when I start the day.

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Crafting, Playing Video Games, Watching Movies/Series, Baking (often the same recipes, but I guess it still counts?), Swimming.

If you work, what's your profession? Technically writer, though tbh I haven’t published anything other than fanfiction in years now.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? Oh, I would love a job that has to do with the study of animals (living and/or extinct)!

Something you're good at: Coming up with story ideas! I’d be happy if I managed to write down half of what I imagine.😅 Working on a fic sometimes even feels like a race before a new idea (or even worse, hyperfixation ah ah) arrives

Something you're bad at: Social interactions. I feel much more comfortable writing than talking and I have to plan ahead/brace myself for the smallest things, like checking out at the grocery store/asking a retail worker for advice, otherwise I get overwhelmed quickly.

Something you love: Fanfiction and fanart! (again, obviously)

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: Greek Mythology! I got really involved in it as a kid and my interest in it never really left. Also whatever show/book/movie/game/etc I’m hyperfixated on at the moment. And anything related to my OCs.

Something you hate: When people shout/raise their voices.

Something you collect: T-shirts related to the pieces of media I enjoy (my greatest finding so far has been an official Arcane t-shirt that has both Viktor AND Jayce on it, among other characters, which I was overjoyed about because of how little official Jayce merch there is)

Something you forget: To eat, mostly when I’m focused on something I’m really invested in. Often it’s when I’m writing/ working on some craft.

What's your love language? Quality time and words of affirmation

Favorite movie/show: Yu-Gi-Oh!, it will always have a special place in my heart since that’s basically the show that got me into storytelling and writing

Favorite food: Most pasta-based dishes I’d say.

Favorite animal: Oh that’s a tough one, right now I’d say sharks (they’re awesome!) but I love so many animals that I might give you a different answer of you ask me tomorrow

What were you like as a child? The textbook definition of a gifted kid and dealing with medical issues. 0/10, do not recommend. I was/still am very curious/passionate about a lot of things which is nice though.

Favorite subject at school? History.

Least favorite subject: Maths.

What's your best character trait? Creativity, definitely. I love writing stories/making things and sharing them with others.

What's your worst character trait? I’m way too anxious and my mind will come up with the most impossible, worst-case scenarios over the tiniest of things (In a way, I guess that’s the downside of being good at inventing stories)

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be? No more chronic pain please.

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet? Oh if I could travel in time, I would definitely skip the people part and go a few million years back so I could see all kinds of extinct creatures (and probably get eaten by one, because Jurassic Parks hasn’t taught me anything)

Tagging: any of my mutuals who'd like to do this ❤️

[beoljibentertainment]

𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙉𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎

this is a list of friends, enemies and other notable connections Nara has in the industry - I'll probably add more as the story unfolds

T.O.P — 

have been greeting each other since BigBang's debut 

but only started to really talk when she became friends with Jiyong

who, by the way, tried to get them to date

but it didn't work out 

so they became friends 

he hugged her whenever he saw her 

and loved to kiss the top of her head 

they loved drinking together 

(I remember him saying that he should date someone who doesn’t drink, because he loved drinking with his girlfriends and in the end he couldn't remember anything) 

the kings of the party

got Jiyong looking 🥰 at them 

whenever Seungri tried to get too close to her, he pushed him away 

not that he knew anything, but we have seen the way he treated Seungri years before 

so it’s not impossible 

tried to text Seunghyun after everything happened, both at Jiyong's request and because of their friendship

“maybe he'll answer you” Jiyong hoping :((

but he never replied 

DAESUNG —

promised that if she made a debut in Japan, she would do a collab with D-Lite

HONEYs and Fanlights demand it to this day

it's been more than 10 years

she laughs a lot with him oh my god 

you know he prefers to stay at home and is super introverted 

but that doesn't make him any less funny 

so sometimes they get together in small groups so they can do some home hang out

it took them a long time to become real friends

because of the age hierarchy and because she was older than him, he didn't like to talk to her

and he was a bit scared of Super Junior, after witnessing the Incheon fight 

she just looked so familiar with them having a physical fight

thought she was scary too 

today he doesn't care about these issues and calls her noona, even in public

she really likes him

and see him as a younger brother

her video on his youtube channel gave the fans a lot of cute interactions  

GIRLS GENERATION — 

has always been called the “temporary SNSD”

they shared a dormitory 

and there’s nothing that unites people more than that

in the beginning, Taeyeon treated her with too much respect - she even called her sunbae-nim 

Nara didn’t like it

then Taeyeon said she didn't want to be scolded by her manager

they managed to lose the formalities before the girls debuted 

but it was a long road 

except for Hyoyeon, because they were friends before

but I'll explain that in BEEHIVE

Nara and Sunny used to drink a lot when they were in the dormitory 

very funny

and they all partied at the karaokes 

she used to share a room with Tiffany

a lot of the English she spoke at the beginning of the group was Tiffany's expressions 

so clearly very informal English, with a few dialects and swear words

completely unhinged when she was asked to speak English at award shows or programs 

and, in order to be a bad influence on each other, Nara taught Tiffany how to sneak out from the dorm without the manager knowing

especially when she was dating Nickhun 

there was a time when she was very jealous of Yoona, because of how beautiful she was - Nara felt out of beauty standards because of the gummy smile 

but I know that the strangeness was the same, since Yoona should have debuted with Super Junior

anyway, it took some time (2013) before they became real friends

because she also helped Yoona trick the manager 

she felt bad about leading her astray

but at least they were friends now

she and Sunny played a lot of games together and Nara used the skills she learned from Kyu to win

“IT’S AGAINST THE RULES” and then a discussion about if it was against the rules 

many of the fights in the house were between her and Sunny

they were extremely abrupt in their positions and argued a lot

but when it came to supporting each other, they also supported each other sooooo much 

ended up distancing herself from a large part of the group, but has a very strong affection for all 

MY LITTLE OLD BOY —

appeared a few (several) times on the show

mainly because she is friends with Heechul

then for becoming friends with Kim JongKook

and then when she was working with Heo Kyunghwan

(he was going to appear on Sabbatical Serenade, but they left it a secret) 

moms love her 

especially when she bawl the guys out

and puts them in their place

someone needs to, right?

but sometimes she's scolded herself

she's already been involved in a lot of controversy

and older women still think she's ���too much” sometimes 

they say she needs to get married and have a baby soon 

she once replied “your son is also single and the reasons for that are being broadcast to the whole of Korea”, talking about the program

the old woman kept quiet 

as said on Beehive, Heechul's mother loves her 

and defends her so much

in fact, she always says she wanted her as a daughter-in-law

tells about when Heechul said he was going to marry Nara just to make fun of his parents 

poor thing 

even Nara didn’t know she'd gone to dinner at his house to be made fun of

“a great girl”

Nara and Donggun hooked up once but they pretend to not even know each other when they met on the show

Heechul didn’t like it 

“why you always hooking up with my friends?”

DONGWOOK —

became friends during the recording of Crimson Crescendo

they had crossed paths a few other times on variety shows and backstage

but never cared much for each other

I feel he had a bad opinion of her 

maybe not exactly bad, but not very favorable 

modulated by what the media and fans said

she never cared of it either 

but when they did Crimson Crescendo together, he could really get to know her 

there were some very heavy scenes 

(both between them and with Kim Shi Ah)

he fell deeply in love with the way she managed to make situations lighter on set 

and praised Nara's talent for getting in and out of character, at the director's request (method acting is shit by the way)

she made jokes to break the tension 

and didn't want any of the actors or staff to be afraid of her 

even though the character was completely psychotic

the way she treated the teenager also impressed him 

many people are under the impression that teenagers are grown up children or mini adults, and not their own social type 

she also showed concern for the girl's education

he loved acting with her 

scenes of abuse, torture and the death of his character 

it was all great

they even thought it was very funny to film her killing him 

“she's very funny, one of the best people I've ever acted together”

he said in one of the interviews

the videos of them backstage became very famous

and the interviews they gave afterwards showed the incredible connection they had 

they became friends 

I think he developed such a strong affection for her that sometimes he just smiled because they were side by side

he cheered when she won the awards more than he cheered when the movie did 

CHANGMIN —

normally, the older trainees bully the younger ones, but when she joined he had already made his debut

so he was at the top of the food chain

he flirted with some older trainees, who were trainees at the same time as him, and didn't talk to her 

that's fine 

she became closer to the other TVXQ boys, she didn't care much and neither did he

when they were alone, they barely exchanged sentences, and only stayed in the same environment because of Kyuhyun 

but eventually, when they were all drunk together, they developed a friendship

always very respectful of her and Kyuhyun's relationship

and when they broke up, they also stopped talking to each other

they crossed paths at the company, in smtown and both pretended they hadn't been friends before 

because he was the one who heard Kyu drunk talking about her

and singing songs to her at karaoke

and then write his own songs about the two of them

as kyuhyun's friend, he wanted her to explode 

as an idol the same age as them, he understood the girl and the problems of dating in this industry

but why did they had to be in the same group

then she went on hiatus and kyu went into the army, Changmin thought he'd gotten out of this crazy relationship 

and then 

YUNHO HAPPENED 

HE ASKED NARA OUT 

Changmin wanted to hide inside the ground

he couldn't tell Kyu 

and he couldn't look her in the eye

hey stared at each other and Nara felt like she was going to hear a “fuck, two of my friends?”

thought that at any moment he was going to ask her when she was going to date Minho or Suho 

and even after she and Yunho broke up, she couldn't stand to be in the same place as them and Kyu at the same time

she wasn't invited to his wedding in 2020

which caused a stir within SM and among the SM staffs and sasaengs 

when she got back with Kyuhyun again in 2024/2025, she knew he would come along with the combo

he's part of kyuline

she just don't know if he told Kyu about Yunho or not

and she won't say anything 

actually they are really awkward 

please save this boi

YUNHO —

I'll talk about their friendship here, the relationship I'll leave for another topic

yes, they both have a history

they've been friends since she became a trainee at SM

he made a joke and she laughed A LOT, while the other girls were afraid and/or embarrassed to be around him 

or just flierted deliberately 

and they liked to practice dancing together

she was a TVXQ dancer in some shows, before debut 

she told him at one of the practices that she wanted to give up and leave the company

he told her not to give up, that he would take care of her until she debuted 

and when she debuted, they remained friends 

really helped her with tips and lessons 

in fact, she was much closer to him than to the super junior boys at the beginning of the group 

Nara knew Leeteuk didn't even have money for the dorm members, let alone for her

he wasn't going to ask for money to eat

and Yunho realized that, so he took her out to eat after practice

“I'll get paid by my parents in a few days and I'll pay you back” 

“I didn't tell you to pay, I told you to eat”

their friendship was platonic for YEARS

really platonic

he saw her as a “child”, a “little sister”, even after she came of age, dated Kyuhyun and had all the sexiest scenes possible in the shows

never cared

it was only during her hiatus that he began to see her as a woman

a very attractive and talented woman 

would visit her at the art gallery there whenever he could 

and then asked her out 

they didn’t work out and now are friends again 

even asked her to appear in his MV 

fans like to hear about their stories pre Nara debut 

SHINEE — 

we know that Minho is a passionate man 

so after listening to Kyu drunkenly talk about her for hours

singing songs for her at karaoke 

writing music for both of them 

he ended up taking the poor guy's pain 

and I'll admit that Nara is a little afraid of him 

because genuinely we already know he's crazy 

but imagine a crazy person who doesn't like you? 

Kyu said that he and Minho don't see much of each other these days (on KyuTV with Hoshi), so that's not so bad

but he'll probably put Nara and Minho together to talk  

just like she did with him and Jiyong 

Onew doesn't talk to her either 

not because he doesn’t like her (he do!)

but because he's too embarrassed 

he said she was his ideal type in an interview in 2008 and he's never been able to face her again 

because she knows 

and he knows that she knows 

Nara thinks it's funny 

and she really wanted to be Key's friend, but she's afraid of him 

you may disagree with me but he gives off a very toxic bottom vibe (brazilian meme)

that will offend her in every way 

because for sure he gossips a lot with the other shinees about her 

and she’s a little afraid of his judgmental look

EXO — 

her favorite dongsaengs in all SM

they are the best

what a chaotic group

she loved EXO M, all of them 

maybe Lay a little more 

but she loved talking to them using the chinese Hangeng taught her

she missed him so much :(((

they know that if they talk about Hankyung she'll get emotional

and knows that the chinese members left for similar reasons 

she also thinks they deserve more than the torture they went through at SM

back to Lay, my boy also likes Nara a lot

he texts her regularly

in chinese, so she doesn't lose practice 

“why all of my boys leave? :(”

defended Baekhyun and Taeyeon when they started dating

made a fancafe post about it

received mean comments but didn't care 

after all, because of that, she became closer to both of Baekhyun and Taeyeon

then they broke up, but she remained friends with both of them

Baek likes to annoy his sunbae at the awards

he'll keep calling her to say hi 

and make jokes 

always showed up to talk to her when they were in the training rooms 

she feels like the mother of a hyperactive child 

in fact, it almost feels like they're all her children, even though they're close in age 

but Baekhyun wins 

this affection hungry monster

Kyuhyun and Suho are also very close, which means that she and Suho are always hanging out

but unlike Changmin and Minho, he didn't hate her when she and Kyu broke up 

they remained friends 

he saw the way she handled Taeyeon and Baek's situation 

as a leader, he was very grateful for the support of a sunbae (who could not want to be involved)

and he knows that she is extremely loyal to her friends 

he himself has been in trouble and relied on their friendship

in short, he likes her a lot 

also defended Chen with a long post about how fans ask artists to “come clean about relationships and let them know” but when they do, they ask him to leave the group, which is why many hide it 

and sometimes they even want to tell, but the companies forbid it

she even stood up to SM

has a lot of trauma from what happened to Sungmin

didn't defend Kai's dating publicly, but expressed support personally 

just let EXO have safe sex omg

absolutely loves when Xiumin drinks

you know he's very quiet and super respectful to the sunbaes (actually to everyone)

but when he drinks 

incredible 

Kyungsoo is another one who loves her 

but she's a bit scared of him 

not like Key, a different type of scared

Chanyeol had a crush on her when he was a trainee and the members made fun of him 

he even watched Kid's Club just because of her, even though he was too old to “enjoy” the show 

and he still gets shy talking to her 

Nara remembers when she saw the performance of MAMA in the rain and was completely dazzled

the rain was a hired actor? 

perfect performance, incredible choreography, vocals!!!

she knows they're incredible and she cares so much for her little kids

she has even called them that

fans joke “don't tell Nara that the EXO boys didn't come out of her uterus”

motherly mode activated

all their interactions, perfection 

and they always speak well of her in interviews

RED VELVET — 

telling the truth, she don't have much of a connection with them 

when they debuted, Nara was already in a lot of trouble and hate 

and on the verge of a hiatus 

was always very kind to them when they were trainees 

told them not to give up

and took them out to eat

she wanted to give them the same confidence that Yunho had given her when she wanted to give up. 

she did this with the f(x) girls before they debuted 

she gave them lots of tips at the beginning and told them to text him if they wanted anything 

even if it was just to vent about the industry 

but they never did 

they didn't want to bother their sunbae 

she wanted to be better for them 

but in general, they only have good things to say about Nara

[star-man-in-the-sky]

Sorry this post is very long but here's my oc's opinions on some of the canonical characters (and how I think they'd feel back)

Joan McCann

Bill Dickey:

"What is that guy's problem?! Jeez!"

• Joan thinks Bill is crazy, always freaking out about something seemingly unimportant.

• She says that she thinks if he'd just chill out they might just get along but she doubts it'll ever happen.

• She doesn't entirely hate him... She's pretty sure he must be going through something to end up like this because surely nobody can just turn out like that... Right?

• Either way she'd hear him out if he needed someone to talk to because maybe, just maybe, deep down she cares about him a little.

"Joan's a total bitch! She's probably not a real geek anyway... Such a poser..."

(I'm sorry he'd hate her so much... They should hug it out and make up for real)

Jerry Stokes:

"He's kinda goofy, no idea how he ended up with these guys. Probably one of the only ones I'd hang out with solo..."

• Joan thinks Jerry is sweet, well at least in comparison. She actively believes that he'll actually end up vaguely sane when they're older.

• She would totally ask him to teach her to play DND "or whatever it is you play" but she's too awkward to ask herself, dropping impossible to spot hints at wanting to play, she's not shy she just doesn't trust him enough to not make fun of her yet.

• She thinks that it's cool that he likes Ghibli movies. She plans on inviting him to a sleepover with Gwen and Alex to watch some.

"She seems nice... A little loud sometimes but nice."

Pete DiNunzio:

"I'll never be the same after I accidentally found his 'goon' material... Gross..."

• Joan thinks that Pete's a weird perv. I mean they all are, but he's the biggest freak in her opinion.

• She would be closer with him if it wasn't for the gore fetish. They get along fairly well in regular conversation, or at least as regular as conversations can get with these people.

• Loves to call his favourite horror icons "girlypop" or "babygirl". She thinks it's the funniest things ever.

"She's cool, got nice tits. She's kinda prickly though."

(I like to think that Pete is just completely unaware that Joan doesn't really like him)

Josh Levy

"He makes me laugh... I don't know if he means to though..."

• Joan finds Josh to be vaguely nice to be around, at least when nobody is pissing him off.

• He got her into the X-files because she liked Dana Scully so much. (and thought both her and Mulder were fit)

• I doubt she'd make fun of him for his weight. She used to get body shamed when she was younger, she's always been a little chubby, and would never do that to someone else.

• Tried to get him into a magical girl anime but just ended up watching MLP with him for the giggles.

"Joan's sweet, really sweet. She actually leaves me alone when I'm pissed rather than irritating me more."

Gwen 'Mousey' Wilkins

Bill Dickey:

"He's... Alot. He's pretty scary to be around when I'm on my shift at work..."

• Gwen is absolutely terrified of this man. God forbid she gets stuck with him on her shift when Ironjaw is nowhere in sight.

• She doesn't defend herself when her geekiness is questioned... Mainly because she too busy trying to breathe to talk in general.

• As a whole she tries to avoid him outside of work as much as possible; she's absolutely certain that he wants to kill her (someone gets this poor girl some anxiety relief oh my goodness).

"She's such a poser, she doesn't even try defend her sorry self! Why did Joe even hire her?!"

Jerry Stokes:

"He's nice, I think. He could just be pretending though."

• The only member she honestly can hold a conversation with for longer than 20 seconds that isn't an argument.

• Even still she's kinda scared of him since he hangs out with the dudes who haunt her workplace.

• Tried to bond with him over the Legend of Zelda games since she's played them for a while but immediately gave up before she even said hello.

"She's a kind person but she's got some serious paranoia issues big time, Buck."

Pete DiNunzio

"I get nauseous when I'm near him, not too sure what that's about.."

• She doesn't really know Pete that much, at least not as much as the others so she doesn't really have much to be scared of with him other than her regular social anxiety.

• I think he'd try get her to watch doll horror movies but I doubt she'd click with them because the majority end with the doll getting destroyed and she's not about that life lmao.

• Overall she's pretty neutral about the guy but I doubt she'd actively try hang out with him solo.

"Eh, she's fine. Needs to take a chill pill though.."

Josh Levy

"He seems okay, I would hate to risk getting on his bad side though."

(can you guys see why she doesn't have many friends now? 😭 Poor girl thinks everyone is out to get her.)

• Gwen is pretty frail so seeing a guy who is so much taller than her get so angry is pretty harrowing.

• I feel like she knows he wouldn't actually harm her but she can just never be too sure...

• I like to think that if she's told to let people know what new merchandise they have, she'd tell him so he could tell the others. She's not about to be bombarded by a crowd of geeks (valid).

"Gwen's nice, but what the hell does she know about geek shit?"

(btw Gwen never talks about any of her interests other than dolls so she seems pretty normie-ish)

Alex Lambert

Bill Dickey:

"He's easy to pester and I find that hilarious. Would 100% chase him down with my pet bugs."

• Alex finds Bill so amusing. He's like a cool insect to them, she just wants to shake him around in a jar and see what he does.

• "Social norms? Who's she never heard of her?" He totally gets all up in this man's business, talking to him about his random thoughts. (Think of the "The Egyptians believed the most significant thing you could do in your life was die" tiktok sound).

• They definitely aren't allowed to hang out with the club without Joan present like they're some kind of misbehaving dog that needs constant supervision.

"He's a total freak! Can't get the damn queer to leave me alone"

Jerry Stokes:

"Oh the green one? He's funny, he makes weird sounds... Bee-dee bee-dee.."

(I feel like Alex would repeat people all the time, especially if they have a catchphrase or vocal stim, it's now theirs too).

• Alex really likes hanging out with Jerry. I feel like they'd do fantasy roleplays together because Alex is a natural at putting on characters, they're almost always a jester character and you can't tell me otherwise.

• DND campaigns with Alex are either the most ridiculous thing you've ever experienced or the best emotional rollercoaster you'll ever be on, there's no middle ground.

• Probably feels more comfortable being herself around Jerry, they don't try hide their personality but sometimes he gets worried he's gonna lose friends over how he is.

"Alex is pretty cool if you actually try understand him. They're a great roleplayer too."

Pete DiNunzio:

"We share a love for the dead, I have a feeling that we like it in different ways though.."

• Alex enjoys having someone who can actually understand his interest in the macabre even if they're at different parts of the spectrum of enjoyment.

• I think they'd share horror movies with eachother, Alex definitely watches those really obscure ones that only had like 15 physical copies and you had to follow a treasure map to find one or something.

• I don't think it'd take that long of a conversation to find middle ground in their interests to talk about, cryptids, horror creatures etc.

"Alex is a fellow horror enjoyer so he's cool enough in my book, his movies are lacking in hot chics though."

Josh Levy:

"He's kinda like Bill but also not at all. Not as fun to annoy for me personally but Joan and Gwen seems to like him so I'll leave him be."

• Alex is very passive towards Josh, y'know other than their regular obscurity. I doubt they'd interact much unless Joan or Gwen was around.

• He thinks some of his sci-fi movies are cool, especially the X-files (yes again) mostly because of all the cryptid-esque themes since Alex is gaga for the unknown.

• Other than that Josh is an overall okay guy in Alex's book, nothing special but she doesn't dislike the guy.

"He's super weird but I guess I can tolerate him."

[asaka-lucy-touhou]

Hi! I hope that you're doing well 😊

First of all, thank you for mentioning the Grimoire of Marisa to me last time, I found it in english on the internet, and I absolutely loved reading it! It made me appreciate the games and all its spell cards even more, and I had no idea such a book existed in the first place, so I'm really happy that you told me about it ^-^

But now, I wonder : do Touhou fans have favorite spell cards?

And ( if it's a thing ) : do you have favorite spell cards? If yes, why do you like these ones in particular?

(oh and, of course, feel free to ignore this message if you're not interested in these kind of questions or if it bothers you! and have a great day <3)

Hi Alcibiade!

Wow, I'm really glad to hear you love the Grimoire of Marisa! XD Maybe only very deep Touhou fans have read this book, but I think it's a very interesting book, and you're right, it gives me a very deep understanding of the games and spell cards.

Which spell card is your favorite is a standard topic among Touhou fans, and I'm so glad you brought up this great topic! XD

There are so many spell cards that I like that I can't narrow it down, but I'll try to focus on a few themes:

Spell cards that are fun to dodge

The first thing that comes to mind with my favorite spell card in terms of fun to dodge is this one:

Over The Rainbow is constructed with rain falling straight down and rainbows spreading out from the sides, then the player must make a path by shooting the rainbow and passing between them. I really love this and often want to play Double Spoiler for it. It's not difficult to clear, but the randomness of the rain and the fact that you have to wait until the very last minute to shoot the rainbow makes it a bit challenging. (It is also very close to Kogasa, so you can collide with her.)

I like both the concept of photographing rainbows in the rain and the balanced difficulty.

Also I love Hoshifuru Shinreibyou. I personally think this is an exquisite tension spell card!:

The last spell card of many final bosses is difficult to get through without using bombs, but this one can be gotten without bombs, and I find it fun to dodge the bullets. The randomness of this spell card is quite high, so sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is so hard that it is absolutely impossible, but I never get bored because of that.

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Spell cards that shocked me with the idea

If I had to pick a favorite boss for the entire battle, it would be Koishi Komeiji. Personally, I think she is the character that is filled with the unique performance of a bullet-hell shooting game. Especially Philosophy of a Hated Person is great:

This spell card consists of bullets that are lined up very regularly and a bullets of roses that seem to be moving very erratically, as if they were writhing. I think it can be interpreted in many ways, but the roses seem to me to symbolize the "hated person", since the player must move away from the roses. I was very shocked when I saw this, because it looks like a very abstract looking spell card, but it looks like a spell card with a clear story.

The movement of the roses is very eerie and scary. In reality, the game is programmed, so there are rules, and after playing it many times, I know that there is a certain safe position to stay in. However, I really like the way it expresses the unconscious movement of Koishi, which is her characteristic.

Also Ichirin's spell cards were very shocking overall.

Who else but ZUN could come up with the idea of a fist flying towards the player in a shooting game? XD

I especially like Fist Smash, where fists come from both sides and collide in the middle. It is very unique, but actually fun to dodge. 😄 (It's fun to get in the gap of the fists!)

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・My favorite of my wife's spell cards

Finally, I would like to mention the spell card of my favorite character, Alice. I love her spell cards overall because I love her method of attacking with a lot of dolls, but I especially love Goliath Doll in Touhou Hisoutensoku!

(You can see the spell card at 15:00 in the video above.)

In this spell card, a giant doll with two swords chasing and attacking the player. (Huh, why is she doing that crazy thing? 😄)

She generally acts like a smart person, but for some reason her attack in this spell card is completely brute force. I loved Alice even before Hisoutensoku was released, so I was very excited the fact that she was the final boss in Chiruno's story, but I was shocked that she actually did such an incomprehensible attack. But it made me like her even more. XD

By the way, this is not to say that I like the spell card itself, but this is a good opportunity, let me talk about this: I love the fact that a certain spell card of Marisa's in Danmaku Amanojaku is insanely easy to clear if you use a doll. 🤭

It might be hard to understand what happened if you have not played, but in this spell card, Marisa shoots a very wide Master Spark in the direction of the player, but if you place Cursed Decoy Doll, it will recognize that as the player's position, so the attack will not come towards the player at all. 😄 So, Marisa's weakness is a doll, at least in Danmaku Amanojaku. This fact was very exciting for me because I couldn't help but think of MariAli. 🥰

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

Spell cards are very interesting because they express the characterization and story of the bosses, and I can't count the number of times I've been amazed by ZUN's flexible ideas.

There are so many spell cards I like, so this answer is already insanly long, but maybe after I post this I'll remember, "Oh, I haven't talked about that one yet!" 😅 I hope you will not be put off by my geekiness.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about this! 💖

[pleas3pretendimnothere]

Six more books this month! If I keep this up, I'll be barely able to meet my 52-books goal. The (short) Narnia books are my backup plan if I run out of time... Anyway, I read a lot of great stuff this month!

Piranesi

By Susanna Clarke - I've been looking forward to this read all year. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was my favorite book I read last year, and while Piranesi was not quite so huge and fantastical, it was still another outstanding project from Clarke. I loved this book.

Piranesi's best strength is the constant sense of foreboding. The narrator is childlike, his desires and endeavors so simple, they sometimes seem pathetic. Piranesi is naive but he isn't dumb. He seeks truth, and his naivete transforms a strange, cold, unwelcoming world into something magical, mysterious, and benevolent. This creates a peculiar sense of wrongness throughout the tale's beginning, and when truths slowly come to light, Clarke only further bends the reader's perception of Piranesi's world. Is it the world that is broken, or the men living within it?

The book somehow felt too simple, too quick, but nonetheless, I couldn't put it down. The main character is loveable, and the challenges he faced still haunt me. Even now, I get shudders, remembering the twists! Deeply psychological stuff! Everyone who loves a good mystery, maybe even horror, needs to read this one. BUY IT!

Sabriel

By Garth Nix - I'm a sucker for fantasy romance (very different from romantasy, btw). If the fantasy world is weird, and the romance is built from adventure and adversity, I'm game. This book...this is it...

LOVE Sabriel. Can't sing enough praises. We've got weird necromancy magic based on runes and a series of bells capable of varying archaic horrors. A weird fantasy world split in half. On one side, people are living in a happy and prosperous Ghibli world, on the other, they're fighting monsters and undead ghouls in a Souls game. There's a cat that is also a mind-devouring cosmic god. Cool. Then, children are thrown helplessly to the wilds as bait for bigger predators. It was Berserk, but for the girlies.

The romance was exactly what I like. Natural, built on friendship and trust, and low on the horniness scale (although Nix weirdly informs us that our male character is...cut....okay, I guess...). The adventure was dark and gruesome, as the central magic system is necromancy, so there was an unexpected element of horror in Sabriel. Nix pulls off a sinister sense of danger and risk that sustains itself from beginning to end. Characters die and are killed and brought back, and the ending! Bizarre, frightening, but endearing and clever. Loved it.

Cannot WAIT to pick up the sequels. This is my perfect book, no flaws, no notes. If you like sweeping romance and spooky fantasy, stuff like Howl's Moving Castle, BUY IT!

The Ship of the Dead

By Rick Riordan - I don't know how to review Riordan books. I don't know what to say. They're all carbon copies of each other with little distinct tweaks to an excellent formula. They're all good.

I mean it, I don't know what to say. The Magnus Chase series is good. Period. It's fun, it's weird, and this finale was especially dark. The dragon scenes were excellently scary! Throughout the rest of The Ship, I was laughing, I was gasping, I was having a wonderful ol' time. Period, no notes. Keep it up, Rick.

Don't sleep on these books, that's all. Read them, learn stuff, warm your heart, and repeat. Revolutionary series? No. But joyous and loveable? Absolutely. RENT IT!

Borne

By Jeff Vandermeer - I just ate so good this month. Sabriel was my perfect book, and so too is Borne. I am an insatiable devourer of dark romance. Thank you Jeff, god bless.

Weird is the best way to describe Vandermeer's projects. The Southern Reach trilogy played on evolution, madness, and legacy. It was freaky and exciting, and I knew after finishing it that I had to read more from Vandermeer. His mind is sometimes so impossible to comprehend. Borne came into my lap, and I zipped through it in no time. Why? Of course, because there's romance! I just can't put that shit down, I'm serious!!

This novel is quirky and silly at times, and then it quickly turns upsetting and dark at the drop of a hat. It's graphic and absurd, and the terror is masterfully written. Like Junji Ito, Vandermeer finds horror in the absurd. He takes a bear, a frightening predator, and says, what if it was really big? And it was flying? And it also used to be a normal man, but now its a fucked-up god? Silly, strange, but when written in the cosmic sense, as Vandermeer writes it, petrifying. The mundane becomes the macabre. Chef's kiss.

And a goopy, otherworldly, unfathomable monster? What if it was a child? What if it loved you, and you taught it to be kind, but it was still just a monster? Borne the character is so complex and fun and scary, and I think I won't ever to be able to forget how he made me laugh.

And I didn't even mention the romance, oh, the ROMANCE! Another perfect book. If you're into psychological horror and romance, this is for you. I'm talking fucked-up, NieR: Automata, SCP shit. Loved it so, SO much, BUY IT!

In the Time of the Butterflies

By Julia Alvarez - And now for something completely different! I read A Thousand Splendid Suns and told my friend I was a sucker for stories about the struggles of women in the world. She said, "Oh! I've got just the book for you!"

In the book's Afterword, Alvarez explains her intent to bring the struggles of the Dominican Republic to the English-speaking world. That English-speaking world is a bubble, after all, and it's a difficult one to penetrate. Growing up as an American, I knew almost nothing about the world south of America. I learned about Europe and China and North America, but I essentially thought South America was all one, big, same place. Africa, too. Of the Dominican Republic, even as an adult, I knew very little.

For that, I am most thankful to the book. Alvarez follows a fictionalized version of the Mirabal sisters, four sisters whom three of were martyred during the Era of Trujillo. While many of the events of book are dramatized, many surprising scenes are not. I was constantly fact-checking the events of this book, which lead to lots of time spent researching the history of the Dominican Republic. Before this read, I knew next to nothing about the country, and now, that's totally changed.

The book feels mournful from the start, as the reader knows these women are doomed. Nonetheless, each feels like a fully realized woman with personality and desires, hopes and sorrows. I only became emotional during the epilogue, when Alvarez details the impact of these four women following the murders. I genuinely felt I had watch three women die far, far too young, and I commend Alvarez for that.

Alvarez has accomplished a powerful, insightful novel about women and the Dominican Republic. The day of their death, I learned too, would become the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. That's kind of a big deal! It's a personal, emotional read, and I'd recommend it to any and all readers who want to understand a massive part of history in a quiet corner of the world. RENT IT!

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

By Brandon Sanderson - I am no stranger to Sanderson's work, but I knew almost nothing about his four "Secret Project" novels. Of them, this one attracted me the most because romance + fantasy = yippee!! Unfortunately...I sort of hated this book.

I love the Mistborn series. Really enjoyed The Way of Kings and Elantris. Adored Warbreaker. Again, I am quite familiar with Sanderson's cosmere and his style of writing. Yumi was akin Sanderson's modern Mistborn books--fun, but lackluster. Where Alloy of Law and its sequels are campy, Yumi is just embarrassing. I was cringing SO MUCH at Sanderson's constant need to explain away all the mystery of this book! Mystery is good, I kept screaming! Ask Nix! I don't need an explanation for every little thing! When he wasn't explicitly saying, "Yes, we are definitely in fantasy anime Japan," he was covering for all the plot-holes that OBVIOUSLY weren't really plot-holes! Plot-holes I hadn't even considered, until his quirky narrator served them up to me out of nowhere! Why? I don't know! I don't know!!!

Don't get me started on the Japanese-cringe. It really felt like a mediocre, forgettable anime. At one point early on, Sanderson attempts to explain what MUST be Keigo, and...oof. So wrong, so misunderstood! And why attempt putting fantasy Korea into the mix when hardly any effort was made to do so? Why not make both Japanese fantasy? WHY?!

I'm getting angry just writing this. The book had a lot of potential to explore cool ideas; a nobody from a technologically-advanced society ends up in a position of import in a foreign land, where everyone thinks he's someone he isn't. The possibility for conflict was ripe. What if Painter thieved Yumi's body? What if he attempted to split their connection and seize control? His own body had been stolen and reshaped! Wouldn't he be disturbed, upset? I wanted some kind of betrayal, I wanted anger and agency, but instead, our two main characters are instantly peas in a pod! Everything's cool, all the time! Painter's secrets are small and unimpactful, and while the twist of Yumi's world WAS more worthwhile, it somehow lacked drama? How? The twist was huge, why didn't it feel huge! It was Broken Age and Your Name, but worse. If there were stakes, I didn't care about them!

To describe this book in one word, I'd say disappointing. Don't read this. Watch Your Name, play Broken Age, but just...just don't read this. Waste of my time! SKIP IT!