#wait for the setup joke in progress

[sealsdaily]

Seven years old?! She should've been at the clubbbb....

[wickedsick]

Akane Banashi wins "best setup for next chapter"

This is a necessary progression in a lot of ways. Rakugo has always had non-comedic stories that we've seen performed by other characters (most notably Shiguma's Shinigami), so we had to see Akane branch out eventually, but this is a horrible time for her - and it's going to completely throw off the Zuiun event. I can't wait.

Kagurabachi wins "best crashout"

People joke about aura-farming and aura loss and whathaveyou, but seeing this chapter talk about how Hiruhiko was unsuited for his sword and his big attack get completely nullified was genuinely hilarious. Get fucked, you stupid idiot.

One Piece wins "annoyingly topical"

Reading this story in the middle of a fascist takeover really is something, huh.

Fuck this stupid manga.

Sakamoto Days wins "best quick gag"

Honestly, at this point Kamihate kind of has to be a cyborg under that cloak. Man has sinuses in his gun.

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi wins "anime physics"

I don't think that's how absolute zero works, but I don't know enough about temperature to disprove it.

(also, -868 F is -500 C, in case you were wondering why they used that number.)

Ichi The Witch wins "TEAR THE BITCH APART"

The sheer level of hatred Nishi makes me feel for Bakugami is insane. I hate it so much.

And Hima-Ten snags another runner-up Tokiro Award!

Sumire adds another excellent wrinkle to the polycule. I hope she continues being a bit weird about Himari.

Shinobi Undercover wins the Osmium Alloy Award for Densest Protagonist.

I CAN'T STOP WINNING

I dont care how many times he brings it up, I will applaud every time he talks about how much he loves his three wives.

[carlyraejepsans]

ok enough twewying out for today. stopped around the beginning of day 4, after catching up to beat and rhyme. so! thoughts under the cut:

I'm completely addicted to this game's battle system. mind you it took me a WHILE to figure it out (i used to switch back and forth between neku and shiki after every combo in the beginning and never understood why i kept getting E rank before i realized i had to use them simultaneously) and then a while longer once i did to as they say "git good", but now I'm just tearing through enemies like paper. i love this shit. especially now that they let you queue fights together. i always clear an area of all noise the first time i enter it, even though it's gonna reset immediately after i leave and come back. grinding them is so much fun

new mechanics! memes! I don't know whether to make an internet joke or an SCP foundation joke. i was wondering when the random snippets of conversation were going to become relevant. i like that not all of the thoughts you gain are relevant for the mission, really gives you an incentive to fuck around and explore. also shiki should meme implant her period cramps into neku's brain, she's earned it at this point.

very amused by the clothes brand debuff system. from the pace it introduced the battle mechanics with, to the pin system, to the food, and now clothes trends, it's obvious that twewy is a very dynamic game in terms of strategy and item systems and it tries to get you to cycle through them to their fullest extent, as well as engage with its shops and money system. It's sure different from a lot of games I've played before! I'm very intrigued. it's pretty fun so far, nice way to keep me on my toes. it also 1) fits diegetically with the look and style of the game and 2) allowed for some cute character moments for shiki (she's so passionate about it!) and neku (get this autistic kid out of here please)

absolutely delighted by beat and rhyme every time they're on-screen. can't wait to see more of them now that we've officially teamed up. shiki becomes more and more interesting with every scene... is it doomed yuri i smell on her? god i hope so. neku amnesiac reveal made my opinion on him take a big leap forward, but he's also gotten progressively less insufferable all around. his shitty comments towards shiki have grown sparse enough that I've finally had the space to find his other scenes endearingly tsundere (and then he insults her again out of the blue and i go back to wanting to beat his ass). oh well. it's gonna end at some point. he's made progress at least.

"ready to die?" "then die!" is such a cute sync catchphrase. pinching their cheeks. i also like that they call out for each other when injured in battle, man i wish that vibe extended to their dynamic outside of battle as well.

players temporarily give up the most important thing to them when they enter the reaper's game, huh? i wonder if for shiki that was her best friend. and for neku his... memories maybe? or something else that would inevitably result in amnesia. if that's the case that tells of a character that is extensively defined by his past and looking backwards. that would sure be a cool setup. we'll see!

[rieamena]

yktil

01. count your days

it was a typical evening, and you were live on twitch, your dorm room dimly lit with colorful led lights that cast a vibrant glow on your setup. the chat was buzzing with activity as fans poured in, excited for another stream. leaning forward and adjusting your headset, you greet them with a smile

"hey, everyone! welcome back! how's it going?" you asked, eyes scanning the chat as messages flew by

as the stream continued, you immersed yourself in conversation with viewers, your laughter and commentary filling the room. the chat was lively, with fans making jokes and sharing their daily happenings. one comment, however, caught your attention

"business majors when they have a coloring page due at 11:59," you read aloud, giggling. "hey, us business majors have a lot of work to do, alright! like..." you hummed thoughtfully, time passing before eventually changing topics. "anyways, let's play…! today we're playing dress to impress and i'm definitely going to win because i have all the style and finesse etcetera etcetera."

your avatar appeared on the screen, and the theme for the round was announced: "secretary."

you began assembling your outfit, carefully selecting items that fit the theme. as the round progressed, you became more and more invested in your creation, making sure every detail was perfect to the last second. when the time came for the judging, you eagerly awaited the results. "i really don't know what i'm all anxious for. clearly the number one spot is mine…" your words died down as the podium was displayed

"what… what is this…" you whispered, your mic barely able to pick up the words

"someone ban these kids. what is this?! have you never walked into an office!? a quick google search, hello?" you exclaimed, throwing your hands up in disbelief

meanwhile, in another corner of the campus, billy was also live on twitch. his stream was a whirlwind of energy, with billy jumping between gameplay and talking his audiences' ears off. tonight, he had coincidentally chosen to play "dress to impress" as well.

billy's chat was equally lively, filled with fans who adored his quirky personality and unexpected antics. as he navigated through the game, he offered his usual playful commentary.

"see, chat, all you have to do to win is not follow the theme," billy said, chuckling as he assembled a completely wrong outfit for the "secretary" theme.

his avatar strutted down the virtual runway, and as expected, it was a hit with the players, despite having nothing to do with the theme. billy laughed and spun around in his chair before taking a quick screenshot of his game, posting it to twitter

his attention turned back to his chat, where a comment caught his eye

"PLEASE MEISTERYN IS IN THIS SERVER AND SHES LIVID BRO 😭😭"

billy's eyes widened in surprise, as it was his only means of expression. "wait, meisteryn is in this server?" he asked, glancing around the game lobby as if he might spot your avatar among the crowd. "no way! that's wild! you know, she's pretty cool! you guys should check out her streams sometime!"

"i bet if billy wasn't streaming right now, he'd be watching her stream" "billy would be the first one in there" "bro def has notifs on"

reading over these comments, billy stammered, "hey! that is not true!"

billy kid taglist

@pedrosimp137 @mary-moongood @linx-nyx @lemonboy011 @eisblume77

@amaryllisenvy @megan017 @astral-spacepumpkin @corrupted-tale @inkycap

@thurstonw @plapsha @lavenderthewolf @kurakusun @miymiymiy

@sweetadonisbutbetter @cobraaah @mochiitoby @clickingchip @bardivislak

@h3r6c00k13 @cozi-cofee @apestegui-y @luvuyuuji

[violetmuses]

Family - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹 🫂

Title: Family - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹🫂

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe

Character: Armando Aretas

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader

Main Storyline: Armando introduces Mike to his wife and daughter. @nelo0wesker

=====

2024

“Christine is nice, but don't bring Marcus yet. I can't handle theatrics right now.” Armando Aretas warned Detective Mike Lowrey about guests.

“Got it.” Mike offered the promise to his estranged son. “See you soon.”

The following day, Mike Lowrey parked near this beautiful home with his wife Christine, a physical therapist. Florida sunlight raved over palm trees.

Ringing that bell, Mike only waited seconds before Armando finally opened the front door.

“Hey.” Armando greeted his father and Christine, through slightly accented English, welcoming both guests inside.

While Mike glanced around, the house looked small yet quaint. Personal rooms close for obvious reasons.

“This place is great, man.” Mike genuinely tried to compliment Armando. Christine also smiled, nodding quietly.

“Thanks.” Armando took this moment and contacted leading Mike, stopping his footsteps as needed when you organized the dining room table.

“Oh, wow! Hello.” Mike picked up his chance to act joyful when noticing you. Even this adorable child propped in one high-chair.

Not only had Armando gotten married, but one sweet child, a baby girl, started cackling.

“Hello. Now I'm just checking. Is everyone ready to eat yet?” You can't really greet Mike and Christine right now, wanting to perfect the meal setup.

“Of course.” Mike put both hands together and smiled again.

Sitting with you and watching this beautiful daughter, Armando kisses your cheek, just grateful to be alive.

By the end of this shared meal, Mike sits with Armando in the living room. Aretas carries his sleeping daughter.

“Thank you for trying. I know it's not easy.” Mike whispered.

“Can't sulk forever. She won't let me.” Armando briefly jokes about you, still his wife.

“Christine acts the same way.” Mike continued speaking. “We step outside just to clear my head these days.”

“Yeah.” Armando nodded, knowing that his daughter required upcoming silence.

When Christine emerges with you, it's time for Lowrey to go.

Farewells are quiet and gentle to avoid waking up Armando's child, but Mike doesn't even complain.

Gaining some contact is better than silence at this point. The least Mike can do is make an effort.

On the ride back home with Christine, Lowrey smiles one final time.

There's progress after all.

[alkalinefiction]

Fanfic in progress!! I swear I'll finish it! ⚔️🪸

~~Preview of fic after cuttoff~~

A priest and a sex worker walk into an inn. It sounds like the setup to a joke, and at this point, it might be. It's important to specify that tonight they aren't there together exactly, they just happen to both be there. Both were the inn's most loyal and kind customers, at least if you asked Jay.

Jay Ferin grew up working at the inn and would probably die working at the inn. She took great pride in her work. If only her father'd appreciate it at all. But he was often away doing vice-admiral things, which was better off, to be honest.

Jay was washing dishes while her mother, May, took over waiting.

"Oh, Miss Ferin. How goes it?" The preist chats, very friendly tonight. How could he not be? They had welcomed a new child into the church today.

"Well. It's the perfect time for me and Jayjay to calm down. Perfect time of year, perfect time of day, perfect time of month." May smiles with a calming sigh. "So, what is it you're orderin' today?"

"The usual."

"Really? You haven't switched it up in a while. Alright, I'll get Jay on it." The older woman smiles before calling out to her daughter. "CAN YOU GET A GILLION TIDESTRIDER SPECIAL GOING, JAYJAY?"

"YEAH." Jay calls back before stalking into the backroom. Cocking a highly decorated pistol, she uncovers a barrel they have just for this 'special'. A bang rings through the room as she shoots into the water.

"Eugh." The plant lands on the plate with a wet 'plop' that Jay wrinkles up her face at. She gets why the guy liked it, being a triton and all, but still. Gross.

"If only there was a phrase to describe how easy this is." Jay snickers as she fishes the creature out of the container. She attempts not to retch as she digs her nails into flesh, yanking the bullet out. Plating the fish, she digs into another barrel to find a slimy clump of seaweed.

[simslegacy5083]

Today's (1/16/2025) Episode: Happily Ever After

The next day Skye took xir colorful new cast and xir favorite girl along on a family trip to Moonwood for the first of two very special weddings.

“I never thought I’d be this glad to have so many extra satisfaction points” Luigi said as he arrived at The Collective with his own favorite girl on his arm.

“Agreed.” Noemi snuggled in close “I’m sure they will both appreciate your generosity.” Just behind them Elyse told Skye “Thanks for inviting me. Weddings are a bit of a bore, but the afterparty is always a blast. You ARE going to dance with me… right?”

“Sure” Skye grinned “If you’ll sing a karaoke duet with me.” Elyse’s answering smile told xem the deal was struck as the happy couples headed inside.

"Thanks for agreeing to stand as my sim of honor." Hunter said to his cousin as they prepared to head out to the yard where the venerable Lily waited to join him and his fiancée in matrimony. “I know it was last minute, but we both wanted to get married before the baby arrived.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Courtney and can’t wait to be her husband. It just feels wrong that not wanting to start a family at my age caused my divorce, yet here I am with an unplanned for bundle of joy setting the timetable for my second marriage. I guess that's the downside of all those years being married to a servo, I apparently never learned how to properly use protection!" he chuckled dryly. 

Luigi gave his friends' arm a gentle squeeze. “Hey, sometimes life just has a way of happening. If birth control was foolproof that blue haired kid of mine certainly wouldn't exist!  You’ll be a great dad, and to give you more time with your new family… well here, you can take this now if you like.”

The second wedding was a more formal affair for Luigi’s old college pal Bonnie at the chapel in Tartosa. 

"Luigi, my man, glad you could make it!" The widow greeted her old friend warmly as everyone gathered in the large reception hall after dinner.

"I wouldn’t have missed it for the world" he responded, wrapping her in a big hug. "Nice to see you again too Amir" he turned towards Bonnie's new spouse "I guess yours and the missus little secret is out of the bag huh?"  

Amir nodded, placing a hand on their bulbous belly. "Hey, I'm not getting any younger" Bonnie joked before they could speak, placing her own hand over theirs “We had to get a move on! Don’t they look adorable? I may just want to have a full house so I can keep them like this forever." With the topic of her new happily ever after as an introduction Luigi made sure to encourage her to accept the same life extending gift he’d given Hunter.

As xir parents celebrated on the dance floor with the other married couples, Skye and Elyse were poking around the recently used wedding chapel. 

"Do you ever think about getting married?" xe asked her. “Of course," she smiled "though I'd prefer to do it when I'm much younger than them!“

Skye nodded “Even for old folks, they looked so beautiful and happy up there. I'm glad Aunt Bonnie let me setup my tripod to get some photos for her. I think it’s so cool that her spouse is having their baby. They looked so striking in that suit, glowing with life and energy."

Rather than responding Elyse changed the subject ���Let’s go, I'm bored, and I promised you a karaoke duet before cake!" 

Skye took one last look at the alter as they headed back towards the sounds of the party in progress; the surprisingly clear fantasy of sharing a wedding just like Bonnie’s with Elyse one day bringing a big smile to xir face.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[ava-amelia]

So my mother and little cousin watched Stranger Things (I didn't yet because I have to force myself to wait for it to end but you can talk freely to me about it if you want I don't care about spoilers and never did).

And I checked the By/ler tag (typing like that so they don't find this post) and while I am rooting for you guys so hard (you? us?) it did feel impossible seeing the same type of posts "Mike is gay" and "Rival Ship are going to look so stupid when they finally kiss." and "By/ler is endgame and is/will be canon") and not have TJLC flashbacks.

And since I am obscuring the ship name on purpose, this is more of a vent than a warning, but as a writer, the only deciding factor on if a gay ship happens or not is whether the writers and actors decide it will happen.

I never thought the TJLC premise was that out there. I never shipped John/lock, but the idea that Sherlock is in love with John and even that John's rage was over his repressed feelings and his relationship with Mary was a cover-up for his bisexuality was never far-fetched. It's only in the details that it fell apart a little bit. The subtext was always real, it was just always intended as queer subtext and Mofftiss thought they were in the clear if they just called it a joke and said it will never be canon.

I also immediately knew I would ship Will and Mike when I didn't ship John and Sherlock because it has something they don't: an actual friends-to-lovers (as a concept). And this isn't actually a diss of John Watson or the validity of his friendship with Sherlock this time. I am actually referring to something else.

John/lock as a concept isn't for the most part, them just being close platonic friends first. It hinges on John and Sherlock flirting with each other as soon as they meet, being jealous of potential partners very early on, and both being aware of their own feelings on at least a subconscious level. I have no interest in those kinds of ships. I had a friends-to-lovers ship, and it's not that. This is just a classic romantic misunderstanding setup. It's a romcom setup. That's why it worked and for the most part, it's why it got popular.

And back to my actual point: it doesn't matter how much sense it makes. I know that Will is canonically gay and Sherlock wasn't. I know there are signs and parallels and that it would be great and make sense and listen—I want it to. I want us to win. I want queer kids to have this. I want to have this!

And a different rant: People will go on ao3 and see that Destiel is number 1 and talk about how insufferable the shippers are so of course you are rooting against them. They are not the oppressors here. A teen girl wanting Dean Winchester to be bisexual like her isn't a fetishist. You love it when queer shippers shut up and just take what they are given and don't ever complain. I hate fanservice too. But not for the reasons you do. You aren't rooting for annoying shippers to not win, you are rooting for queer people to lose.

That's what's so frustrating about the progressive het-ship shippers (and I am saying the ship is het not the shipper, you can be queer and like a het ship it doesn't make you a straight person).

You guys go online and see M/M trending over M/F and F/F and you forget that's not how real life works. All your talk about cis white men aside, society will take a kiss between two girls over two boys any day, as they can at least fetishize it. I knew this as a kid, but then I see the discourse online be all backwards.

No. You at least get lesbians. The lesbians die, but we at least had them. We had Lexa. We lost her, but we had her. We had a lesbian kiss advertised and used to draw people in. And to some, that's even more painful. Those tropes are painful just as queerbaiting is painful.

And then I see people like that one Sher/lolly shipper complaining about shippers. Clexas weren't rabid shippers. Some of them were for sure, but they were Lexa fans who had this awesome badass lesbian as a leader and we lost her. Wlw lost her. Making this about shipping when the romance between Lexa and Clarke was canon and thus part of the canon storyline and therefore Lexa's storyline is just immature and disingenuous.

I saw someone criticizing By/lers by saying Will wouldn't come out in the eighties and nineties because it was harder to be gay and how being gay as a teen is cool today, and I heard the same thing in the 2010s, who I feel most of us an now agree were filled with homophobia.

And no. No it is not cool now. It is only cool if your friends are already LGBT themselves or they are very dedicated allies. Society is not as accepting as you think it is. It wasn't back then and it isn't now.

And I know I don't know enough about this so maybe my opinion is irrelevant to you and you might be right. I know you think every show is different, and maybe this one is. I want it to be. I want to!

But don't put all of your eggs in this basket. Don't put the cart before the horse. Don't hand your enemies this win so they can call you all stupid if it doesn't happen right now. It's okay to want this. It's okay to hope. Just... don't make this your entire life, please.

Shows can let you down. Even good shows, even progressive shows, even the ones you trust. Especially those ones as you actually allow yourself to have hope that this time it's different and maybe it is.

Have a queer show or movie or book as a backup. Write your own media. Create. Enjoy what others create. Having hope is great some times and heartbreaking otherwise. But maybe that's just my cynicism speaking.

[half-life-citizen]

A rundown of the flumblr Crimson peak watch party.

As you may or may not know, we recently had a watch party of the Guillmero Del Toro film Crimson Peak, I won't talk spoilers, but will mention some plot details.

It was organised by @thedeafprophet and @the-dye-stained-socialite, who streamed it in a discord.

The discord was made specially for the watch party, being set up a few days before the actual event, and invites opened at around the same time.

The setup:

As I previously mentioned, the server was open for a few days prior to the event, with a few members of the flumblr community joining, myself included.

A few emotes were made, mainly joking in matter. They included some amazing art by @the-insouciant-scientist of the endgame professions.

Some channels were made about the movie, spoilers permitted in one and not the other.

As well as some lovely conversation, the testing for the jackbox games was set up, and a few games were played.

The Pre-Show

As the date; March 9th came, more people flooded into the server, and said people began to talk.

The conversation really began to pick up 2 hours before the show, with many people preparing food for the event, such as pasta, or popcorn.

But there was a casualty.

In their unending hubris; one of the event organisers, prophet, created a quiche too powerful and deadly for any human to handle, and launched a quiche blast across the Atlantic, hitting the bowl of pasta I had made, knocking it to the floor, destroying it.

I am warning you, the image of the quiche pictured below may be too horrible to imagine, to even think about without the edges of your mind falling apart like wet paper.

You have been warned.

And the unleasher of the quiche admitting to their crimes

After this horrible event, I was left scarred, but more importantly, in lack of food. I thought nothing of it and ordered food for later that night.

I thought I'd also mention the loaf of bread made by @zeebreezin

Just a good solid loaf.

After the quiche incident, the conversation just moved along from topics of food and ended up continuing until the time of the event beginning.

The Beginning:

An executive decision was made to wait 10 minutes or so for people to arrive, just to make sure nobody would miss anything.

At 8:12 IST, the watch party had begun in full swing. People sat on chairs, beds, and couches, and were all tuned into a 720p possibly illegal stream of a movie from 2015.

As previously mentioned, I won't go into spoilers in this writeup, but I will mention characters and plot points, but nothing particular.

For this write up, I will go over some of the main characters featured in this film with a simple bio.

Edith: an aspiring author who's wealthy businessman father who disapproves of her relationship with Thomas Sharpe

Thomas Sharpe: an owner of a crumbling estate slowly sinking into the clay mines below the house, he seeks funding for a digging machine to help revitalise the mines.

Lucille Sharp: Thomas's older sister, seemingly distant from the world.

Dr Alan McMicheal: Blonde doctor guy

Ferguson: appears on screen for a total of two seconds, I expected him to come back later.

The slop: liquid clay, looks tasty and probably cures anemia.

As the movie began, everybody who hadn't seen the movie before immediately distrusted Thomas Sharpe, myself included.

As the movie continued, I began keeping two counters and a constant rating.

These were

1: the gun counter

2: the violence counter

And 3: the beard rating

The gun counter was simple, every gun on screen would add 1 point to the total.

The violence counter was every scene of violence in the movie; not act of violence. So a scene of someone getting punched twice would still only count as one.

And the beard rating, where I rated all the beards visible to me during the watch.

Anyways, as the movie progressed, a common theme appeared in the chat.

Manic slop posting.

The slop (pictured below) is the liquid form of the red clay the Sharpe household is slowly sinking into, a deep and rich colour that makes your mouth water slightly.

In my personal opinion, the slop is the single best character in the movie.

I will not explain myself.

As well as slopposting™, during scenes of intense violence people would start talking about the blood; and honestly? Good for them.

I wish I could go into more detail about the events of the movie, but I really urge you to watch it yourself, it's violent and very heartfelt.

Also slop.

now, about half way through the movie, I told the chat I needed to check for the pizza I had ordered over an hour and a half prior to the movie starting, and The Powers That Be graciously granted us an intermission, we're I called my pizza place 4 times and they never picked up, so I was forced to wait another 30 minutes for my pizza.

I did get it eventually.

The rest of the watch party was not uneventful, with a lot of jokes and gasps as the movie continued telling its story.

But all good things must come to an end, and as the final scene cut to black; the end began.

The aftermath:

Most people left after the movie ended, leaving around 8 people left to play some jackbox as the night continued.

Nothing major really happened, (except for prophet finding out the truth behind Easter eggs), so here are a few funny screenshots from the games I was in, I even won one of them

As a bit of a final note, I really have to thank everybody involved. It was a really fun little event, and any more in the future, I'd be glad to participate in.

SLOP!!!!!

[practically-an-x-man]

Sorry my brain is still so frazzled, and I'm bad at coming up with asks on a good day. :D

For TST, can I get a director's commentary on a recent work? I always love those!

Thanks!!!

Thank you!! I think I'll go with that new Nikoletta/Abner AU fic I posted yesterday, Southern Hospitality :D

Talk Shop Tuesday

____

So everyone was a little weird around here. But the new guy took it to a whole different level.

This is one of those things where... idk, I can't say I struggle writing it, but it's definitely a challenge. Abner is weird. He just is. And a lot of his relationship with Nikoletta, both in canon and in this AU, isn't about the fact that she doesn't think he's weird, but that she doesn't care.

And I think, on that note, one of the tenets of their relationship both in canon and in the AU is that they don't have this immediate attraction. She thinks he's a little weird, he thinks she's kind of icy and intimidating, and there are biases and walls that they're still in the process of breaking down even as their relationship progresses. Before their relationship is even really built out of affection and trust, it's built out of loneliness, but in the end that leads to a deeper connection and trust because they made the conscious decision to work for it.

At this point, Nikoletta was tempted just to let it go. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly either, and as far as she was concerned she only needed to know her neighbors well enough to knock on their doors if there was a tenement fire.

This is one of those moments where I'm trying to link the AU with canon. Nikoletta may not be in Belle Reve here, but she's still a bit of a loner who doesn't believe in expending her social energy on things that aren't worth it. She'll be polite enough, but once she decides it's not worth it, she's done.

Long story short, she needs a reason to interact with him at this point, since she'd past the point of just being friendly for the sake of being friendly.

The door opened a crack. Through the gap, Nikoletta saw the faint glow of multicolored light illuminating the dark apartment beyond. Her first thought was of those flashy computer setups with the RGB lights - but if he had one of those, he certainly wouldn't be living in a place like this. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

I'm not sure why I chose to have this all occur when Abner's dealing with a dot flare. I think it boils down to two things: one, I think the vague body-horror of seeing bits and pieces of it here but then having him appear completely normal when they meet face to face adds an interesting touch to this piece, and two, I feel like it's more meaningful to Abner that she'd still offer to have him over even after witnessing something clearly strange and even a little unpleasant. It goes back to that first point - their relationship isn't built off an immediate attraction, it's a conscious choice to built that trust, and it starts with moments like this.

"Wait here." His voice was soft and somehow gentle, even as the door shut forcefully in front of her.

This is really what endeared me to Abner as a character from the very beginning. His power is destructive, he behaves oddly and is used as the butt of the joke by the rest of the team, but he's really very gentle. There are really only two moments in the movie where we see him genuinely get angry - once a brief flash of annoyance when Peacemaker is shoving him and badgering him about his condition, and later after Milton is killed and the others hardly seem to care. And once you get past some of those off-putting moments, he really is a sweetheart!

And of course, by extension, his being gentle (despite the pain he's in, despite being isolated, despite being surrounded by metahumans who want to push him around) is what endears him to Nikoletta as well. It's more obvious in the main story, since Belle Reve is such a hostile environment that he really stands out, but this moment here is really the AU equivalent to that. He's clearly dealing with something, he's clearly in pain, but he still helps her when he could easily just close the door on her.

Twenty minutes later, she found herself back in front of his door.

And here's Nikoletta's response to that, of course. This is the equivalent to their early interactions in Belle Reve in the main timeline - she saves him from the other inmate attacking him, he brings her coffee after she has a nightmare, slowly they start to connect through those little moments like that. It's again that slow build of trust, the daring to reach out even when it's not easy for either of them, and the connection that comes from those moments.

"You want to invite me over?" It was the most she'd ever heard him say at once. His voice still held the same gentle hesitance, like he was shocked she would even speak to him.

Poor guy's just not used to being included, invited, thought about, anything like that. His story really breaks my heart in that way, but I think it also makes moments like these a lot richer.

She'd extended the offer mostly as a courtesy - this was the South, offering to share a meal was hardly any more uncommon than saying "bless you" after a sneeze - but had never really expected him to agree.

Okay, yeah, a bit of hyperbole here, but sharing food is still a big thing here! I mean, I can't count the amount of times one of my theatre castmates has been like "I'm taking coffee orders, let me know what you want!" or brought in snacks for our tech rehearsals (to be fair, I'm included in this crowd, my dad and I brought cookies on our first tech day for Pippin) or offered to bring in pizza or sandwiches so everyone can eat during our two-show days.

Idk where I'm going with this, I just love the theme of sharing food as an act of love/connection.

Being face-to-face with whatever those pustules and tumors were? But she'd spent plenty of time around metahumans, she'd certainly seen worse. She couldn't say she was delighted by the thought of it, but neither was she disgusted.

That's the other thing I see a lot in Abner fics: romanticizing the dots and how they manifest. And like... if that's your thing, cool, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I think it's just as fair to say "this is understandably a little gross, a little unpleasant to look at, and you don't have to romanticize it to love and respect your partner. It can be gross and you can love them anyway."

I feel like I'm not articulating that thought very well, but like... if your partner has IBS, you can love them very much and still want to leave the room when they're having a flareup just because it's a little gross. If your partner has cystic acne, you're not obligated to find their acne beautiful and you're not a bad person if you don't, you just need to respect your partner and not reduce them to their condition. Human bodies are gross. There's going to be something here or there that just grosses you out, and that's not a moral failing, it's an impulse and you can't control it. You don't have to romanticize every little thing about your partner in order for it to be a healthy relationship.

So yeah. It weirds Nikoletta out a little bit. She's not used to it, she doesn't know what it is, and it's not exactly pleasant to look at. And that's okay, because she doesn't let it overwhelm her opinion of him.

He was… kind of cute. In an awkward, kicked-puppy sort of way.

Okay, yeah, Abner used those ten minutes to purge the dots and clean himself up a little. I was tempted to go the other way with it, and I think there would've been a lot of merit to the "more than meets the eye approach" where Nikoletta is put face-to-face with those visual biases she might have, but I went with this for three main reasons:

Abner as a character would probably want to purge the dots and make himself "presentable", if only because his mother's drilled it into his head that he needs to hide his condition in order to be respected and cared for. Sad reason, but it's the most logical action for him

As I mentioned before, I love the vague body-horror of Nikoletta catching glimpses in his apartment but then Abner appearing completely ordinary when they finally meet face-to-face

I just really liked the whole "Oh man I don't even know this guy, he was nice but that was a little freaky and I'm wondering if I made a mistake and- hey hang on he's kind of cute" thought process, I thought it was cute

This is getting long so I'm going to leave it here, there's not a whole lot I wanted to say about the last bit of the scene except that I was trying to be faithful to how they're both fundamentally very awkward people who are trying their best and how that carries over in their relationship regardless of what stage they're in, and I really had fun writing this piece.

Thanks for the ask!!

[nickyrothfan]

What if everyone got super powers?(part 11)

The heroes decided to continue later... or rather, after lunch.

But at the same time...

"Are you serious right now?!" - Abanante slammed her fist on the table as she spoke with her friends through the computer.

"Keep it down... even if we blocked the channel, your office isn't soundproof." - Otto grumbled.

"We prepared for this for so long? And you're telling me we have to give up?!"

"Not give up... just lay low." - Mayor Tavish tried to calm his friend.

"You know full well... with the top government figures involved, I won't be able to get the blueprints for the amusement park..." - Leslie shook his head.

"We may have controlled everything until now... but the risk is too high, too much attention is on our city... and then there's those from Planet-PRO..." - Gerda wasn't happy with the news either.

"We need to wait it out... until everything settles down..." - Leslie repeated.

"We're already losing too much! That girl got Peterson's book! And that investigative journalist..."

"Didn't that girl... shoot gusts of wind?" - Otto narrowed his eyes.

"Was she behind the explosion?" - Tavish wondered.

"I'm trying to convince her parents to send her to a boarding school... there's progress."

"We tried to grab that Esposito girl not too long ago... she got away... really fast." - Gerda recalled how the blue-haired girl had escaped so quickly... weird...

"And the setup didn't work either..." - Abanante leaned back in her chair... everything was going wrong.

"At least... did you find Peterson's brat?" - the principal asked the taxidermist.

"He just... vanished." - he shook his head.

"Damn it!"

During P.E. class:

"Come on... you're not even gonna try?" - Trinity glanced at Nicky, who was sitting on the bench.

"First of all... after yesterday, I doubt anyone even wants to play with me... and second... I hate sports!" - he crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Well... then I'll sit with you. What do you think—"

"Will we be able to handle all these threats?" - he cut her off.

"No... I meant... us, you know... where we could go... as long as it's not too crowded, because my folks... still don't like you very much."

"Ah... I know a sushi restaurant... but it's extremely DRY there." - he smirked at his own joke. (For those who didn't get it—sushi is fish, and fish live in water.)

"Ahahahaha... not very funny." - Bales gave him a look.

"Well... I'll work on my punchlines next time."

"Alright... that one was actually good." - she smirked slightly.

"Yeah... you know, when we can talk like this... it feels easier." - he sighed... and blushed when she placed her hand on his.

"I'm sure... things will get better." - a determined smile appeared on her face.

"... I refuse to comment on this crap! Someone... kill her!" - Fleetway screamed, causing Nicky to flinch in reality.

"Can you shut up?!" - he yelled at his personality, but in reality, at the air.

"I won't shut up until you ditch that girl and go back to your father!"

"He has Michael, back off... you've been replaced..." - this time, Nicky whispered.

During lunchtime:

"So... I guess we're not acting yet?" - Ivan whispered to Trinity.

"Not yet... with the government around, it's too risky... the only problem is that our energy can be detected, so we just sit tight." - she shook her head.

"But what about the disappearances in the woods... do you think they can handle it?" - Maritza asked.

"They can... probably..." - Delroy shrugged.

"So... we act normal?" - Enzo widened his eyes.

"Yeah..." - Nicky replied.

"Alright... then I guess... I'll get back to my experiments, maybe create something to cloak our energy..." - Ivan said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I'll try to help." - Enzo told his friend.

"Maritza?" - Nicky looked at her.

"Uh... I guess I'll hang around with them." - she pointed at Enzo and Ivan.

"Okay... then I'll... um, I'll go for a walk." - Bales started sweating when she realized Enzo was nearby, and reminding him of the whole... situation wasn't a good idea.

"Sure... and Roth just gonna stand around for no reas—" - Delroy tried to add his two cents, but Bales elbowed him in the side.

"Hey!" - he grabbed his ribs, but the girl just whistled innocently.

No one noticed someone watching them from afar... or rather, no one except Trinity.

Lunch ended... pretty normally. Everyone went their own way.

Delroy ran off.

Ivan, Enzo, and Maritza went to Ivan's place—the first two to study chaos energy, and the last one... just because she had nothing better to do.

And so, Nicky and Trinity were still at school...

"Um, Nicky?" - Bales approached the boy, who was opening his locker.

"What?" - he glanced at her, then started packing his books into his backpack.

"You know... let's meet at the museum at 4:30? I need to take care of some... things..." - her tone sounded a bit sarcastic.

"Uh... okay?"

"Great! Love you." - she kissed him on the cheek and left...

"What's with her?" - Nicky felt a little uneasy... They knew Abanante was Crowface... but she wouldn't attack her alone, would she?

"She figured out what was pushing us to act, so she's probably trying to handle everything herself, which is why she dismissed everyone today." - Shadow!Nicky spoke in his head.

"But... we're a team..."

"Two options. One: she doesn't want you involved, so she's manipulating you. Two:... I don't know." - Dark!Nicky suddenly fell silent, as if the second option was... important.

"I... maybe..." - Nicky started walking in the direction Bales had left... he needed to know... and make sure nothing bad happened.

She walked past the principal's office and kept going...

"What? Isn't she supposed to..." - Nicky didn't get it... where was she going?

"Looks like she's not heading for Abanante..." - Dark!Nicky shook his head.

"Then where is she—" - Nicky's eyes widened when he saw... she was approaching Finch.

"Oh... this is gonna be good!" - Fleetway!Nicky got excited.

"I don't think we should be here..." - Shadow!Nicky muttered... why, though, wasn't clear.

"I... yeah..." - shaking his head, Nicky turned away... looked like his girlfriend wouldn't lose her temper... and that was a relief. Though hiding around the corner wouldn't hurt. So he did.

"What do you want?" - Finch asked rudely, eyeing Bales as she approached.

"Nothing... let's just call it a warning..." - Trinity pulled out two newspapers from her backpack, printed yesterday...

"And? Want an autograph? Your ex isn't good enough for you?"

"No... he's not my boyfriend." — Trinity crushed both newspapers into a ball and tossed them into the trash.

"Well... you don't really need to know..." — Bales thought.

"Just know this... if you ever start bullying him again, or any of my friends—" — Trinity swiftly snatched the camera from Finch's hands.

"Hey! Give it back!" — The scout jumped up, trying to retrieve her device, but Trinity held it out of reach.

"You'll end up just like this thing." — Trinity shoved the blue-haired girl aside, then dropped the camera onto the floor and stomped on it.

"No!" — Finch was about to fight back... but the look Trinity gave her—it felt just like yesterday's Nicky.

"Feel better now? Not so fun when you get a taste of your own medicine, huh? Bullying a boy... a traumatized boy, after he disappeared for a month... you really are awful. And trust me... if you go down this road again... next time, it won't just be the camera that breaks."

With one last contemptuous glare, Trinity walked away.

"Mmh..." — Nicky's eyes widened as he saw her approaching. He needed to hide—

"There's a bathroom right behind you, dumbass." — Fleetway!Nicky remarked. He sounded... calmer, as if lost in thought.

Nicky darted inside immediately.

"Damn... that was unexpected." — he muttered.

Trinity, of all people, just threatened Finch... holy sh#t.

"Well... maybe this Bales girl isn't so bad after all." — Dark!Nicky admitted. Despite being the embodiment of hatred, he wasn't incapable of positive feelings... and he liked ruthless people.

"Still... that was overkill." — Nicky shook his head. Finch hadn't really done anything to Trinity directly—oh, right, the second newspaper... well, almost. But destroying her property? That could cause problems.

"You're not seriously thinking of buying that scout a new camera, are you?" — Dark!Nicky asked, annoyed.

"Not your business." — Nicky replied.

"God, why are you so naive and kind? She bullied us! She deserves way more damage than just a camera." — Shadow!Nicky seemed to have woken up.

"Shut up!" — Nicky snapped at them.

Trinity was probably gone by now. He should head home...

Meanwhile... in the forest:

"It's all my fault... my fault!" — Aaron Peterson ran through the woods, aimlessly, his eyes full of tears. The strangest part... his tears were red, with two tomoe spinning in his irises.

"I'm guilty! I... I killed her, I hurt him..." — he kept muttering.

"I'm a monster! I attract evil..." — the brown-haired boy finally ran out of breath and stopped. He had been in the forest for half a month—well, okay, four days. Before that, he had just wandered around town.

"I don't deserve anything good... I—" — his body started trembling as he heard a snap behind him. Someone had just stepped on a branch.

"Oh, boy... what are you doing out here?"

A voice spoke. It tried to sound friendly... but it absolutely wasn't.

[popculturebuffet]

Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space Retrospective: Chariot of the Dogs (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people! We're near the end of our Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space Retrospective. After this we only have one more chapter till ....we take a bit of a telltale break for a bit.

Well i'll tell you terry: Kev DID try a backup plan, giving me his old PS3. But despite trying EVERYTHING possible.. I couldn't get it or it's eventual replacement when it went to PS3 heaven to connect to my internet. I mean i'ts still damn neat to have but it dosen't really solve the problem and with my computer not having a completely 100% graphics card, the reason my brother gave it to me in the first place, I'm not sure it could take playing the Devil's Playhouse.

So for now my only option is to wait for the remaster, which at the time of this writing has nothing close to a release date after a year. This dosen't mean the project's canceled: there have been work in progress pics on Skunkapes Artist Formerly Known as Twitter account

It just means it's taking a while in the oven and i'm fine with waiting till it's ready. I'd rather have a third awesome remaster to fix things instead of a glitchy mess rushed out to meet some sort of quota.

The good news is that Kev's keeping the sam and max reviews a coming, having me review stories from the comic and cartoon in the devil's playhouse's place till said remaster happens. And given i've only scratched the surrface of both, we've got PLENTY of sam and max stockpiled till the devil's playhouse or the inevitible apocalypse. which ever is first!

So with that we have Chariot of the Dogs... which not only neatly dethrones Moai Better Blues as the most bonkers these games, and this franchise has gotten, but is also just a joy to play with a unique setup: your time traveling which means a lot of familiar locations to reuse them assets, but most redressed to fit another time period. As a result there's a lot to unpack and i'll try my best. It runs into the usual issues of there being a brick wall you can't pass, but it helps that by being fun and only hvaing one puzzle i'd call "a giant list of menus wearing a hat. " So come travel in time so time as we travel to the end of all sam and max to find out where Bosco is.

We get a really awesome playable cold open following up from the last one: Sam, Max and Flint break into Bosco's to find him after he disappeared off the face of the earth. The puzzles are mostly one way but their fun from scanning a moai to undo the lasers to bosco's home office to all the fun jokes you get as you look at things. There's also some nice easter eggs like the items he had at the end of season 1 that would've made season 1 way easier.

Inside his sanctum unsanitorium, we find what you'd expect: a plunger that gave Sam nightmares when used on a delivery man, toilet wine, toilet wine that's become vinegar, and a LOT of paper mache volcano's. A lot. A LOTTTT. Like a whole rack of ones that just weren't big enoguh. As it turns out big explosions summon THEM

So we need to summon THEM

Too. So we need the world's biggest baking soda volcano made the old fashioned way... with a bullet hole, a lot of toilet vinegar and a prayer. This works as THEM

Abduct you, kicking off the spaceship

ON TH...eir spaceship, we meet bosco, whose now a cow

Gladly but you may never get the image out of your brain

Turns out it isn't thanks to THose guys who run the ship, but Bosco himself. THEy have a time machine, and like most time traveler's , Bosco fucked up his own personal timeline, so now we need to unfuck it.

To unfuck that time cow, we have to use the time machine, and I love the design of this one. It's a wood paneled elevator, something really neat and unique. And how it operates is also a lot of fun: it hones in on specific people in time and space. Why we'll get to in a little bit , but while there's a printer for the cards, we can't really use it so instead we use Bosco's carbon dater he somehow got from sybil, and use it to create cards by scanning a person.

So our first is Bosco's own, which leads us to his oft talked about Mom right before he was born in the 1960's. And like her son she has a habit for being mildly disturbing, in this case outright asking Sam and Max to donate as the fathers to her unborn child. Bosco's mom is a feminist, the extreme kind that hates all men and thus wants to make a child the new fashiond way: SCIENCE. But since invetro is still a decade out she made her own setup. She just needs the dna of two parents, any kind.

We end up making a problem for this plan though as she falls in love.. with MAX.

So Bosco's back to the futuring. Luckily we got a time card from Mama Bosco that sends us to the kennedy era white house.... and to a young but identical looking agent superball.

He can't help us much for now, but he can give us a time card to our office, and scanning ourselves gives us time cards to 80s stinkys and our future office

So we get to meet the man, the myth, the legend himself Stinky. And we see why Sam and Max love him as he's a misanthrope who creates his dishes not to feed people but to cull the weak. Yeah I can see why Max loved him so much.

Their attempts to warn Stinky of his possible death at Girl Stinky's hands fall on deaf ear.. and the one that works tells them NOTHING CAN KILL STINKY PUNY MORTAL. Which honestly giving his cooking habits, general attitude and multiple attempted culinary murders for what's been decades, yeah i'm not convinced anything short of ten nuclear bombs in a row, an orbital laser strike, thirteen hulks, the entire nation of krakoa pre fall, and dropping the MOON ITSELF on him could kill stinky.. and even THEN it's not an easy bet.

At any rate while , like most locations we can't get everything we need NOW, but we can interact with our past selves. And it's here we get the jokes in this part that REALLY don't work for me, the only ones really.

See this chapter finally fully nails the black comedy as there's no one who gets hurt, physically or emotionally, you feel all that bad for for the most part. Bosco is back to the futured but it's both because Max is an accidental sex machine and because he mucked with time in the first place for no good reason, Mama Bosco is a raging misandrist who, while understandibly tired of men hitting on her, is also mad at a whole gender and later targets will make themselves clear.

The one exception is Past Sam and Past Max, who our heroes have to get intrested in girls. Yes really. This joke's problem isn't that it's rediculous enough, our heroes CHANGING THEIR OWN PERSONAL TIMELINE for petty self gain is pretty on the mark, it's just the joke is so lazy. GET IT NERDS DON'T GET WOMEN. GET IT. YA GET IT. YA GET IT. GETTTT IT. It's a lazy joke and like the sea monkey's thing is a relic of the times it was made. It also kinda misses the fact these games have enough gay subtext between the main two to fill a scrapbook. Or that the previous version of the franchise did this

What i'm saying is Sam and Max are married and even if I didn't ship the two of them, this joke just dosen't fit. Sam and Max tends to punch higher than this.

But like I said.. after a whole season of grousing.. and I admit sometimes it was a tad overblown as I forget THIS IS A COMEDY, it's nice to see them nail a darker tone.. while still being hilaroius. The jokes here are still pretty dark, but their back to the wackier tone of things like torturing whizzer in the oval office. Ah that was a good day.

Oh the memories. Anyways this subplot does have ONE thing going for it as the game Max is playing is Bluster Blaster. And that would be enough, seeing Bluster before our heroes give him a future ai set to grouchy.. which I was farwarned for by the guide i'd need to do. Which is good because it gave me the best runner of both games so far, a joke I just.. never got tired of. Anytime you alter the timeline the computer says "Timeline Altered, Jackass". It's funny every damn time, especially since 80% of your timeline alterations are screwing someone else over.

That's not the big takeaway.. no the big one is that Sam CREATED Bluster Blaster. And he didn't forget, to quoth the doggo himself "It just never seemed important." It's the best joke of the episode... just.. deciding that sam just never brought up he had an arcade cabinet son. And it's entirely in character for him to have just.. forgotten that.

Anyways onto our offices. The present one has Superball present in the present. He's guarding the trophy closet as suprisingly Max's disappearnce was actually looked into as the president instead of as seen as divine intervention before he destroys us all. We also find out Superball.. is still a shady guy as he gladly mindwipes us if we mention time travel.. despite being in the middle of something important. I'm hoping this pays off... I mean it does in this episode but i'm wondering what the hell.

Our final timeline, for now, is the future! Girl Stinky has become a paste magnet, the flying cars are finally here and sam.. is not doing so good. This is sad... and unlike previous dark bits, while they do JOKE about it, it's clear there's a hint of tragedy to what's going on. Sam.. has dimentia. THat's it. He has it, Max is taking care of him while wearing a geordi laforge visor. While it's clearly after a lifetime of adventure.. it's still pretty sad to see Sam like this.. evne if him wearing the cat's suit from red dwarf while his wheelchair is half a dalek, as of course max is the only thing in the universe that can kill a dalek easily, helps suck the pain out.. as does a brilliant gag where checking your trophy closet , since you can't check yours in the present, finds it just.. crammed full. Great

So now all the pieces are in order a LOT has to be done. Some of it later, some of it now. The shortest explination is you use Past Sam's screwdriver to steal a saucy letter from president kennedy. I love how Sam asking Max to distract stinky.. has max just tell him sam is stealing. And stinky.. still does nothing. We use that to suprise agent superball, get his dna and get president kennedy's. We use that to create bosco, Max is a sex monster now so mama bosco decides to make a kid, timeline restored... jackass.

Now we have a new issue though: THE...Y want to see us and we get the grand reveal that THEM

Are the mariachis. Yes the random ones that show up any time someone says birthday... are the kidnappers.

It's.. it's both. It's both hilaroius.. and a great payoff. Sadly I knew going in.. but I didn't know WHY they were doing this, or that they still had a UFO for it. As they explain in song, Pedro was an elderly mariachi from the future, the timeline we saw, and with the art nearly extinct he decided to assemble two younger versions of himself to form a marachi band to sing for people's birthdays whenever the word birthday is spoken. It's gloriously dumb and I love it.

We also find out how the moai an djurgen kidnappings and the mysterious triangle figure in: Turns out UFO's that have a time machine in them are expensive, so to pay for it the Pedros are working for a mysterious big bad to give them souls. They send them through the triangle after having the moais, who they built, crush the people then shrink their souls.. or in bosco's case just the soul part as he dies of fright.

So we need to Save Bosco and since talking to the three Moai only makes Bosco's soul go into the hole faster, we need to go with plan b: get the Marachi's to quit.

Thankfully Pedro, while you know, doing some murders, including Jurgen whose sadly not in this episode for wrong, is a nice and resonable guy: his backstory is sadly relatable, and he's genuinely only doing this because it's the only job he has and HATES doing it.. and agrees to quit if the guys can answer two questions for him: how does he dies and which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which given we've had an egg for some time we got from ourselves, I at least knew which thing woul dlikely solve it

We also have to get rid of the other two pedro's too. Luckily the one steering the ship wants to go solo and the other one is busy listening for birthdays, so ther'es easy ways to take care of them both. Well... easy for Sam and Max. In any other situation solving these four problems would be nigh imppossible. Thankfully this universe runs on nonsense.

So the first task is the easiest: get Perdo's death notice. Future Sam and Max have it on the board so jus go grab that, show Pedro and he agrees not to go near the printer anymore. This allows us to, and actually explains the ink ribbon from last episode: Max chucked it into the time stream.

So with that we can print our own time card.... a BLANK one. This takes us to THE START OF TIME ITSELF.

Where we find what you'd expect: a black void of nothingness, a small baby universe about to explode, mr. featherly.

Yeah the Marachis chucked him to the start of time after kidnapping him during the filming of Midtown Cowboys The Movie. I don't know and I don't care as my boy is here and we need to take him with us. Problem is Mr. F is now the SOURCE OF ALL LIFE ON EARTH. So while the elevator will let us gleefully destroy history all the live long day, destroying EXISTANCE is a hard no.

So we simply leave the egg there instead and take Mr. F back in our inventory as a new item. He's not pleased. I however am delighted and showing him off gets Pedro to quit

Next is the youngest pedro and while the HOW is a bit obtuse, it's great: we simply use the calender from WAY back in episode 4 of the last game to change the date to the 9th, superball's birthday. Getting this.. requires a lot of talking and is obtuse as heck. It's why strategy guides exist. But the payoff is great as it summons the marachi.. and we just.. leave him there. In the Kennedy Whitehouse. Forever. That sure happened.

So with that we just have one last task to get to the end of this chapter and it's one of the funnest. Turns out the Marachi's next target is the soda poppers

Yup. Thankfully their only in it for a minute..t his time as we go back to embarassing idol. We also don't hear Peepers sing so 10/10 chapter. We go back to get the recording contract from us, explaning what happened to that. Our past selves still need it though and upon hearing the words time machine steal it. I love this gag.. esepcailly since sam and max then have to relive the entreity of chapters 3-6 of save the world AND this game up to this point. I love it so much. I also love how when trying to question past sam and past max... past sam asks the questions instead.

To get our more annoying past selves to actually coperate we send them back to superball, who blanks their memories, allowing us to steal the contract in exchage for a screwdriver. We give it to pedro, he books it and now we can go savvvvveeee bosco's soullll.

Problem is not only does soul go down the hollleee.. but the self detruct activates. The marachis somehow appear in the time machine and use it to go do all the apperances we've seen this season, leaving us stuck. Thankfully using some goey cake from stinky's that we stole the copyright to, long subplot I genuinely forget that' snicely fucked up, we can stop the gears of time themselves, giving us time to put bosco on the platform before escaping into a hole. Sadly the Moai don't make it so I guess we stil lhaven't broken our streak of ruining one mostly innocent person's life a chapter, but it dosen't matter as anywhere's better than here.. and if not they'll see us in hell

Next Time: We wrap up beyond time and space as that's literal! Our heroes must face the most insideious, nightmarish, horrifying force they've ever encountered one last time to save Bosco's soul, and the world.. again. Thanks for reading

[project-discipline-2024]

Thank you, 2023, for such a wondrous ride! You have helped me broaden my skills, patience, and, most of all, my faith. It was an incredible ride, with some moments being truly great. I'll never forget the highs and lows of emotions from last year; all those experiences are acknowledged. I'll always be thankful to you because you helped me open another chapter in my life where I found the love of my life. I believe everything happens for a reason. Some people left my life, but as they say, when something leaves, someone arrives. She's the one I've been waiting for, my partner, someone with whom I can share my life.

In order to move forward, I'd like to reflect again on 2023. I accomplished so much in the wheel of life, and I was satisfied. I appreciate and am grateful for all the events that unfolded in each area of my life.

At the start of the new year in 2023, I treated myself to an IMAX experience and made time for more leisure activities to move on from the challenging experiences of 2022. The movie was great, leaving me amazed and somewhat reflective—I was moved by the family's sacrifices for each other.

As an outdoor lover, I pursued adventures. I joined friends for a hike at Mt. Masungi Georeserve, enjoying the calm and safe experience. The scenery was fantastic, offering breathtaking views of Rizal. We also visited Daranak, my first time seeing such a wonderful waterfall—a legit adventure.

After Mt. Masungi, I tackled more hikes—Mt. Ulap, Mt. Pulag, Mt. Malvars, Mt. Talamitam, and Mt. Apayang—all incredible experiences. I challenged myself further by participating in the intimidating Spartan race. Despite doubts and limitations, I pushed myself and found it to be a worthwhile and thrilling experience under the sun. Super proud of these achievements.

Last year, we finally bought our first-ever second-hand car, bringing immense joy to my father, and fulfilling one of our dreams—to see him drive a private car. Remarkably, we bought it on my birthday!

On that very evening, I messaged Arcel, who is now my girlfriend. I felt comfortable talking to her, and our conversations gradually led to dates, introductions to friends, and family. We enjoyed attending various events, going on adventures, and creating cherished memories together.

Later in the year, I ticked off some bucket list items—travelling to Palawan and experiencing the beauty of Japan for the first time. Both experiences were incredible, leaving lasting impressions and cherished memories.

This year, one of my siblings went abroad to one of my dream countries. I believe it's part of God's plan, blessing us in both small and big ways. I'm proud of my sister's transformation and her active involvement in every worship service to God.

Additionally, I met my girlfriend's family, a memorable experience. Eventually, I introduced her to my family in the last month of 2023, a year filled with many firsts. I'm grateful for these opportunities.

In summary, 2023 was a year of firsts and checking off bucket list moments. I cherish them all and eagerly anticipate more adventures with family, friends, and my girlfriend.

Today, I'm walking into the year 2024, January, feeling much like last year. The work challenges and room setup remain unchanged. Some people still indulge in peculiar jokes. I began the first week of the year with enthusiasm and a positive outlook. I drafted my focus for the entire year and areas for improvement. I've set my mind to consider this year as one where discipline holds the key to progress in life. I opt for the harder path now to avoid regret later on. By discipline, I mean taking care of my body, maintaining a balanced diet, and nurturing a healthy mind. Mastering control over my emotions in every life situation is another goal. I'm steering away from quick judgments of people because everyone has their story, and none of us are perfect. My focus is on personal growth and forging deeper connections with my loved ones. I've observed individuals who practice this and they exude happiness while broadening their perspectives. I deeply admire such individuals.

With my girlfriend, my partner in life, we've committed to inspiring each other, igniting fires within ourselves, and propelling one another to places we rightfully belong. We aim for a tranquil, healthy life surrounded by our loved ones. Hopefully, by year-end, our bond will be stronger, having embarked on this journey together with youthful determination. The first week has been challenging for her, but I have faith in her resilience to overcome these obstacles. I strive to learn from her experiences and remain grateful for every opportunity we face together.

In this year, I'm determined to become a better, wiser person. My mantra: "Better days are coming." It's a year of encouragement and victories. To kickstart, my goal for the first quarter is to establish a habitual system—exercising, prioritizing a healthy diet for mind and body, reducing social media usage, and enhancing in-person social connections.

Let's do this!

[beetledragonx]

If I use an inch of my brain they can't stop taking a mile

asey has permission

I have permission

Shit though sorry if i was sassy is that the fucking

they refused

What a vuck

Let me be alive

Uh if you then I'll fuckong do it

Uh die faster right fr not listening not screamed it opposite game or like geez taking a step back

I can't have you not talk to me with this 500 whale killing voice guy

5 minutes I can't remember something

There's no way that shit was super slowly explained and they

Sorry sorry

whole day ? Go away

Oh he's this drunk extreme rapist that likes me and I said I won't jack off for a month

This one is just random? They didn't do it watching grow 1 inch.

She's this tool she's this most powerful monster they've got

Sounds out

Okapparently I'm theor gift

Still rip his head off

Can't complain

It's too pathetic

Game is impossible

Sorry my mind right

Still ignoring and overpowering still waiting could you

Not how it works and

Were the good guys

Uh the actual demonology things around Todd

So if I can go

Evil as gremlins

Social animals

Women problems

Their slight stunned this is about the real rape me

Damn I would stop

a aseys a whore thing

I mean it felt good they forgot what the fuck

CyYeah this happens

Two years of one way talk

Alright I mean the problem is they forgot I'm an npc purpose screamd control freak goes idk being nice her too her while shes being an asshole that's 2 days

No it's real and

as a inside joke setup to hurt the group

Pippa American pride that lady is my hero

Their like you guys are making progress and this and that

Can u not make me a living doll

Please dontget me put to sleep for good just being a rape

a lot of these things

[doedesk]

11.21.2023

𝒹𝒾𝒹

ANTH Final Project (Commodity Report)

↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █████░░░░░

𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉

RLCT lessons

↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ██████░░░░

RLCT Research Paper (NDEs?)

↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: █░░░░░░░░░

CLAS lessons

↳𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈: ░░░░░░░░░░

𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎:

█████████░

𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓎:

███████░░░

𝓂𝑜𝑜𝒹:

████████░░

𝒹𝒶𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝑜𝒹𝒷𝑜𝒶𝓇𝒹

so part of my school caught on fire today.

I wish I was joking. The way my school is setup is there is a main building where most classes get held that is split between my University and a College. The College side of the building literally caught on fire in the culinary arts room.

University students were allowed back inside despite the alarm going off because it wasn't on our side of the building, the alarm did eventually turn off but then almost immediately turned back on. Majority of my SOCI class showed up and we all waited for around 20 minutes with the alarm going off for our teacher to arrive before we gave up, signed a note saying we showed up, and all left. He still has not contacted us I think so oh well!

On a less cooler note: I have made huge progress in my ANTH Report! I have 5 pages of research so far that I am probably gonna try and bump up to six. After that I need to create a presentation and record it! And then after that I believe I have to write a report? I don't know why I need both a report and a presentation but ¯\_(⊙︿⊙)_/¯

I'm probably not going to sleep tonight because I am getting sucked back into video games but I'm probably going to skip my GIS Lab tomorrow.

[saga-project]

❣️

❣- A memory that leaves them laughing

"Donnie."

Unlike a few scarce weeks ago--when Cain would have reacted to such a thing with terse, spat-out words along the lines of that's not my goddamn name--the softshell simply gritted his teeth, content to just ignore Leo's ribbing for the time-being. He had a lab space to design, and a garden to plan, and other plans to attend to that didn't involve stooping to whatever new level of depravity his twin had in mind in his current mischievous mood.

But Leo was goddamn relentless when he wanted attention, and he just kept going at it.

"Donnie. Donnie. Don. Don. Don-tron. Beloved twin. Hermano. My homeslice breadslice dog. Inhaler-looking ass. Five-head haver---"

"God, WHAT." Never mind that he'd given Leo exactly what he was looking for--a reaction of some kind--Cain was annoyed, now. "What could possibly be important enough that you're pulling me away from essential work."

"....wait, are you actually mad at me, or-"

Cain took a moment. Assessed his feelings. And then let out a long-suffering sigh under his breath, leaning back in his chair. "No. Not really. I am frustrated over my lack of progress, and the tiniest bit overstimulated, and taking it out on you. I. Suppose. Apologies. I should have conveyed that."

"No, no, I get it. I'm just being an attention-starved little bitch, once again." Leo fiddled with the edges of his mask tails then, taking a beat of silence before speaking up again. "....out of curiosity, would a joke cheer you up?"

"Mmph. You can try, I suppose."

"Great! Okay, okay, lemme think." Leo leaned back in turn, brow furrowed in thought before he snapped his fingers as a silent ahah. "Are you made out of gold, titanium, sulfur, titanium, and carbon?"

Cain furrowed his eyebrows in turn, looking at his twin out of slight bewilderment. This was the setup to a joke? He couldn't possibly think of what all those elements combined together would make. Maybe some kind of bioweapon he hadn't been made aware of? Was that the punchline? "Uh. I have. No earthly clue."

"Because damn, bro. You're lookin' kinda...." Here Leo leaned in, conspiratorially. "AuTiSTiC."

A beat, in which Cain considered. And then he couldn't help himself anymore. Whether it was the ridiculousness of the joke, his utter bewilderment over the situation, or just because his brain desperately needed something to focus on other than his failures, he felt a sputtering laugh escape his throat, mouth upturning into a grin as he sat there. "That.....is the stupidest joke I've ever heard-"

"I have more! What do you call an eyeless fish?"

"There are technically many species of--"

"A fsssssssssh."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-" Unlike the mad laughter of the empyrean fits, this was genuine laughter, escaping from him in a spasm of pure glee. It wasn't the dry, humorless chuckle that he'd developed within the halls of the Syndicate--no, it was Donnie's laugh, high and joyful, petering off into a series of hee hees under his breath.

"Why is dark spelled with a K and not a C."

"No more, you heathen-"

"Because you can't C. In the dark."

That did it. Cain howled, clutching at Leo's arm as he doubled over and wheezed. "You--ehehehehe. You absolute MENACE, that one isn't even GOOD--"

"You laughed anyway! Admit it, you feel better already."

"....hee hee. Maybe. A little. Thanks, Leo."

"Any time, hermano."