#welp. that happens in real life too

[thekenikaridevblog]

Finally I get to use this gif properly

Anyways! Like before, this progression chart post thing will be exclusively of day 3, the day before the trial, and that's where all my dev efforts will be directed towards. The full chapter 1 is more than half finished, now we just need the final home stretch and you'll finally be able to see this gay tragedy I've been cooking

Hope you guys will stick along for the ride :D

Background edits (there won't be any new backgrounds per se, but the old ones will get a lot of variations that will require more or less work, so imma keep track of that) (4/7)

Backgrounds (0/1) (edit: whoops I forgot there is a new background lol)

Tilesets (0/0)

New character sprites (0.5/1) (the number could easily go up, don't take the 1 for granted)

Special character sprite bundle thing (2/8)

Pixel character sprites (0/1)

CGs (0/17 at least) (idk the count might be off. These things tend to go way out of proportion)

Dialogue (0.5%)

Free time events (0/3) (0%)

Music (0/?)

[non-un-topo]

Kind of loving where this is going in regards to nature/subspace and the body being one and the same

[drunk-poets-society]

man why is that stupid love song so catchy ugh

[snonkerdoodlefizzy221b]

if I pretend it's not real I can read it

right

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#26: The Crazy (1.03)

gif cred: @nerd4music

So there was no doubt in my mind what I’d label the final post of episode 3. It had to be called ‘The Crazy’ because…Pearl lost her damn mind aiming a gun at Michonne. Like is she insane? 🤨

Lol, no but for real this is called ‘The Crazy’ because my sweet sweet Richonne are a couple that can always match each other's shine, match each other's freak, and especially match each other's crazy.

And their crazy was on full display in the final moments of this thrill of an episode 👌🏽...

But first, we do actually have to talk about Pearl being crazy enough to consider taking out Michonne in cold blood. 😑

After Richonne miraculously doesn’t get caught hungrily making out behind a thin tree they return to take down walkers like only Richonne can. We love to see it. 😊 But Pearl apparently hates to see it. 😬

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

She watches as Rick and Michonne kill these walkers and starts really paying attention to Michonne taking out walkers and being the A Pearl pretends to be.

Pearl appears consumed with what I interpreted as a feeling of being threatened by Michonne, not because Pearl wants Rick, but rather because Michonne is a natural leader who clearly has an influence on people like Sergeant Major Grimes and she’s terrified that somehow Michonne being a clear A will have major ramifications on herself - both as a solider who argued for her and personally considering Dana’s effect on Pearl’s one family member Rick.

So Pearl raises her gun at Michonne and even starts to pull the trigger which was Pearl's certified death sentence. Seeing this, I was like welp this scene is a spoiler now lol. I knew Pearl wasn't gonna make it out of TOWL alive because again, anyone who threatens Michonne swiftly ends up in the afterlife.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Luckily, Rick notices Pearl aiming a gun at his wife and none of what Pearl thinks she’s about to do is ever happening on Rick’s watch so without question he grabs a walker and gets in front of her gun to shield Michonne. How sweet. 🥰

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick reminds Pearl of why they’re out here when he yells they have 10 delts left and Pearl snaps back to reality to finish the job. I'll say it over an over again - I love that Rick takes his role as Michonne’s protector so seriously. He never hesitates to literally put his life on the line for her. 

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

So then it’s nighttime as the soldiers are packing up and Rick and Michonne share a quick little look before he walks in the opposite direction as Pearl approaches to reprimand him.

Pearl says, “She broke protocol which made you break protocol” And Pearl, babe, he’d do it again. Cuz that 'she' Pearl's talking about is Rick's longtime leader so of course he followed Michonne and broke protocol with her.

Also, I was like Pearl the task wasn’t gonna get done if they followed your lead so...🤷🏽‍♀️. Rick responds by saying, “She needed help. You needed help.” And Pearl most certainly did. She seems to have forgotten that.

Pearl is still ticked off as she says there needs to be order and again emphasizes, “She went rogue and you followed, how many others are gonna do that?” I admit I liked seeing someone be so shook over the influence Michonne has lol. 🤭

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Pearl says, “I trusted her, I put my neck out for her. For you. I regret it.” I like how Rick replies by saying, “Don’t.” cuz he’s like 'you have regrets? well, how about don't have regrets' lol.

Then Rick, who has had to be an actor all episode with Pearl, is ready to dish out more lies to protect Michonne when he says, “That’s why I did what I did. Listen, maybe it was too early for her. I’ll send her back, give her more time at the Harvest Point.”

Pearl is done defending Dana as she sternly says, “Yeah, for now. We need to take care of this - us.” And hearing that made me feel like Pearl in the first episode of TOWL cuz I was looking at her like “uh, uh don’t say ‘us’, Thorne.” Cuz they’re not an ‘us’, plain and simple.

Pearl is in her hater energy telling Rick to take Michonne back cuz she doesn’t want to see her again. And Pearl, that's because you know deep down if Michonne does show you up again...

Pearl also says she’ll give Rick a pass this time since he did help majorly. Then Pearl reveals that Beale wants to brief Rick and that he’s moving up which is news to Rick, especially after Beale had previously said he still doesn’t know if he trusts him earlier in this ep. Pearl says, “Rick, you better understand.” before walking away. And Rick seems shaken by all this.

I think for Rick there’s this sense of one; knowing he has to get his wife out of here by any means necessary and he can’t rely on Pearl at all anymore since she’s done with Dana. And also two; for years, Rick's been told that his life’s purpose should be changing the CRM from the inside, and learning he’s moving up could present an opportunity to do so. But also getting the briefing could be something that just further enslaves him as it seems to have changed and enslaved Pearl to the CRM now, even if she doesn't view it like that.

So then, if this day wasn’t stressful enough, Rick is walking and sees the Garbage Queen walking around. 😒

Watching it back it made me laugh because Rick sees Jadis first and he has a stank face but isn’t intending to talk to her. He was just gonna walk on by with an expression like 'look what the trash brought in.' But then Jadis speaks to him saying she’s headquartered here now so she’ll be around often. Again, just more bad news for Rick. 😩

And then like I said before, Jadis will combust if she doesn’t harass somebody every two seconds so she tries it once again when she attempts flirtation and touches Rick saying, “You should come take a look at my quarters.” 🤢 I love the way Rick pulls away in absolute disgust at the mere notion of what Jadis is implying. Like he’s wholly offended by the offer and so am I.

I appreciate how Rick, like Michonne, never even considered anyone else neither sexually or romantically. It’s true to their characters to stay so loyally in love with each other even after being apart longer than they were together. Again, you don’t move on from a love like theirs.

I just know when Rick first got to the CRM he wanted to take a page from Toy Story and have Michonne’s name written on the bottom of his tattered cowboy boot just to make it clear who he belongs to lol. No other woman stood a chance at being with him, especially not that serpent Jadis.

That’s why every time Rick gets to kiss Michonne and hold her and be tenderly held by her after they reunited it makes my heart happy because he’s getting to experience and express this love with the only woman on the planet he wants to experience and express this love with.

And when Jadis comes on to Rick and he pulls away that was a ‘heifer, I’m a married man’ pull away. Like I know the direct quote from his mind was ‘Even tho I’m about to try and break things off with my wife, I’m still an eternally married man because I’m trying to get Michonne to leave me but I’m still not leaving her ever.’ 

gif cred@andy-clutterbuck

As Rick looks at Jadis with loathing in his eyes, she says, “Beautiful view of the cascades,” somehow not picking up on the fact that Rick has gone several years without his wife and still never once looked her way.

And then Jadis just casually looks right over at Michonne almost tickled by this whole situation as she says, “She hasn’t seen me.” The audacity of this woman to be coming on to Rick at all, but especially when she knows his wife was right there. Jadis has been irking my spirit since 2017 y’all, for real. 😪

And she irks me even more when Michonne looks over and sees Jadis for the first time, leading the snake to just smugly be like, “Oh. There it is. She saw me.” She’s getting off on this stuff and it’s annoying. 🙄

And it’s in this moment where you see Rick have a system shutdown experience. 😞 Like there’s just one too many threats pointed his wife’s way and he can’t take it anymore.

Rick is a man whose heart lives outside of his chest because his heart is his family. You can’t truly debilitate him until you come for them. And so when his wife’s life was threatened like eight different times in the span of a few hours you see him just be overcome with overwhelm at the danger his wife is in.

Like y'all, he’s just a boy in love with a girl whose life is at risk at every turn and that’s intolerable to him since he feels made to protect her. And he wants Michonne safe by any means necessary cuz for Rick, something bad happening to her is 1000x worse than anything they could do to him. Plus, he knows if anything happens to Michonne he won't ever bounce back from that loss.

gif cred: @nat111love

So with Pearl no longer helping them, Jadis' insufferable self, and even Beale noting Michonne among thousands��it’s too much for a man who feels wholly devoted to keeping Michonne out of harm's way and who quite literally needs her to live in order for him to live at all. So we see Rick snap, ready to do anything to get Michonne out of here asap. Including breaking her heart. 😓

Rick sees Michonne seeing Jadis and immediately walks to her, not wanting this to escalate between the two ladies. But then things escalate between him and Michonne because he grabs Michonne’s arm and pulls her to the side...even tho not far enough to the side if you ask me lol. I was like surely a soldier is going to be able to look over and be like 'Why are Grimes and Consignee Bethune arguing like a married couple over there? 🧐'

As Rick grabs Michonne, who is clearly taken by surprise and understandably confused as to what the heck Jadis is doing here, Rick just says, “It doesn’t matter.” But I was like Rick, what? 🤔 It matters a ton because it’s Jadis's threats that are why Rick switched up on thinking they could escape together in the first place and it would be very helpful for Michonne to know the role Jadis plays in all this. 

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne says a bewildered, “Jadis?” And she has every right to want answers and be perplexed seeing her. Like there’s clearly a story here that Rick hasn’t mentioned to her yet. Also, I like how, despite last knowing her as 'Anne', when Michonne sees Jadis with the CRM she calls her 'Jadis' because she’s like 'I know this can’t be the reformed version of that heifer, this has got to be the snake Judas version.'

Since Rick has become quite one-track-minded in trying to get Michonne home, he doesn’t seem to get why explaining Jadis' involvement would be a big missing piece in helping Michonne understand what the heck is going on. So he more sternly tells her, “It doesn’t matter!” And I notice once Michonne realizes the testy energy Rick has that's when she yanks her arm from out of his grasp.

And then y’all, this next part is where we get introduced to a new character. 😪👌🏽

See, the Rick we know and love is called The Brave Man. But this new guy at the end of episode three, who happens to look a lot like the Brave Man, is actually a character I like to call The Bold As Hell Talking To His Wife Like That Man.

And The Bold As Hell Talking To His Wife Like That Man, or TBAHTTHWLT Man for short lol, says, “You’re going back to base right now then I’m getting you the hell out of here”

gif cred: @nat111love

And can I just say, I usually pause the scenes throughout to write out my thoughts but the way he’s behaving in this particular scene had me so heated I had to just stop and let the scene play while I stared silently like…🤨😒.

And Rick continues to be TBAHTTHWLT Man when he angrily tells Michonne he’s getting her out of here even if he has to knock her out and put her on the boat himself which…not knock her out??? 🤨 This healthy relationship only gets one knockout and Michonne already cashed in on it when she knocked Rick out in season 5 so...no more of that. That's not how these two knock each other out anymore, okay?😇

gif cred: @chonesmint

And also nawt him doing a little firm hand movement for emphasis. 🙃 He lost his mind.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne is listening to this with her eyes wide in utter shock that her man is speaking to her like this. Plus, he's the one who told her multiple times that they'd get away together and now he’s on ten acting like she’s crazy for thinking they were ever going to go home together.

Rick really was putting her on a roller coaster since she’s been in the CRM. One minute they’re breathlessly making out with all the passion in the world and the next he’s telling her “I belong here, you don’t, and you will never change that.” 

It’s sad that he’s convinced himself he belongs here. He knows strong people don’t belong here but he’s convinced himself he’s not strong anymore. 😢 When he decided to die he felt he died a failure and he’s lost his confidence that he can be more than that.

gif cred: @nat111love

Saying 'you will never change that' is also wild because Michonne can always change Rick’s mind. He’s been aware of that since years ago, like when he told Michonne she could’ve talked him out of his hidden guns ploy in ASZ in season 5.

Also, this tone he's using...I hadn’t heard Rick speak to Michonne in this tone since the season 3 “we patch you up and then you’re gone” days. And just like that line in season 3, Rick does not truly mean the things he's saying here in TOWL episode 3 either.

Then TBAHTTHWLT Man wants to get extra hurtful when he tries to announce the end of Richonne, saying, “It’s over. Everything we had is broken. You hear me?”

gif cred: @nat111love

Ok first; it was bad enough hearing him say that but then the truculent 'you hear me?' on top of it…TBAHTTHWLT Man and I had beef in this scene, I must say.

But also I’m a big fan of paying attention to wording. And the wording here is very telling. Notice, he doesn’t say we’re over. But it’s over.

'We’re over' would feel a lot more break-up-y but 'it’s over 'feels like saying whatever hope we had of being together is over more than saying there’s nothing between us. After all those kisses he knows that lie would never be bought. So he says 'it’s over.'

gif cred: @nat111love

And then saying 'everything we had is broken,' still leaves room for the fact that something outside of themselves broke what they had.

Still, hearing 'everything we had is broken; is just such a crushing thing to hear tho. 🥺

Like fortunately Rick is not nearly as good of an actor as Andrew Lincoln and so you know right here and now that he doesn’t mean any of this and it’s a bold-faced lie, but still that it was said at all is painful. Especially when you see Michonne’s face reacting to these hurtful untruths. 😞

gif cred: @nat111love

She’s been through hell trying to save Rick and now he’s being so uncharacteristically cold to her and becoming the biggest obstacle to her mission of saving him and getting them home to their kids.

But I love it when you see the subtle shift in her expression. Like at first as she’s listening to Rick essentially try to break up with her (which is just crazy to even type out) she seems really flabbergasted and hurt and also like she can sense an underlying subtext to what’s going on. Like she looks concerned not for her but for him. He’s clearly reacting from a place of trauma and anxiety and she’s like okay what’s really going on with you cuz this is a cry for help.

At this moment I almost thought Michonne might look around wondering who the heck he was talking to and then with concern be like...

I mean, Michonne started talking to her 'dead' lover again in season 9 so maybe Rick started seeing people who aren't actually there again. It happens lol.

But for real, when Rick says that stern “You hear me?” you can see Michonne realize something else - she realizes that her husband has introduced a game for the two of them to play called the Crazy-Off. 😋

And right now Rick is in the lead by talking to her cash crazy. But as a true blue winner, Michonne is ready to come in at the buzzer and win this Crazy-Off that her husband has started. 😜

But for real I do think Michonne blinks and stares at him at the end hearing more of the subtext of what he’s saying. She looks like she’s thinking, ‘Rick, that’s a strange way to say ‘hey I’m stressed and scared for us, so can you take over?’ but okay I translated it, and don’t worry...

It's interesting because no man has ever loved a woman more than Rick loves Michonne and no woman has ever loved a man more than Michonne loves Rick. And once they reunited in TOWL, for Michonne her love for him manifests itself as fuel that makes her fight harder, and for Rick his love for her manifests itself as fear that makes him try so hard to protect her even from himself because he’s terrified of something happening to her. 

But Michonne knows that this breakup talk is BS and so now she’s ready to take matters into her own hands because, as Danai said, she can’t have this man in her presence like this any longer. 👌🏽

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And it’s funny because at first glance it might appear like Michonne's silent reaction is her reacting equanimously to all this. But the way her eyes are moving and twitching while looking at Rick, she's definitely communicating if you want to get crazy, we can get crazy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can comprehend what Rick was doing in this scene. I get that this behavior is all actually coming from how much he loves her and is terrified of something happening to her. While he's presenting as angry, what he really feels is fear. And he knows she won’t leave without him because she loves him and so he’s trying to break her heart so that she’ll be more willing to leave him behind and make it home alive.

...But I still think it’s not okay and absolutely crazy that he thought this approach would work. 

And again, if Rick wants to get crazy…well Michonne had to remind him...

So now, they’re sitting across from each other on the helicopter during a raging storm. Rick is staring at Michonne and Michonne is staring right back at him with crazy all up in her eyes.

Since season 3, Michonne has never backed down from a steely stare-down with Rick Grimes and she’s not about to do so now.

gif cred: @nat111love

The way she’s staring and smiling without blinking in this helicopter, I’d be more scared of whatever is going through her head than this helicopter rocking about. 🫣 And Rick is more uneasy about her too lol. They’re definitely expressing things without words here.

Also, whoever is piloting this helicopter during this storm has no idea that the real storm a-brewing is between the married couple in the back.

I love the way Michonne just stayed looking at him with that smize being like you seem to have forgotten who I am but it’s all good cuz I’m going to quickly remind you. I could just feel the way she’s probably thinking - I’ve been through too much, you’ve been through too much, we’ve been through too much to end it this way. So if we’re gonna go out, baby it’s gonna be with a bang. 💥

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how you can visibly see Michonne concocting an unhinged plan in her mind too. ���

So the helicopter shakes and Rick is already anxious because he probably has helicopter crash PTSD but then he looks back up at Michonne and tries to maintain his grumpy little face at her but he also is nervous cuz he can tell she’s up to something.

Then Rick starts getting legit panicked from the violent shaking of the helicopter. But Michonne is so locked in about what she’s about to do that she’s completely unfazed by the helicopter. Let it rock. 😌

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne just calmly looks out the window at the water below as she again speaks to her daughter in an unforgettable episode ender.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne says, “Shoto, it’s Daito. I’m sorry…” And then Michonne stares right at Rick, unstraps herself, and swiftly grabs Rick, plunging both of them out of the helicopter and into the thundering storm as Rick lets out a panicked yell. Michonne's voiceover then just says with chilling calm, “I don’t know if we’ll be back.”

Wild. 🤯

gif cred: @nat111love

And also what an icon Michonne is. 👑😌 I loved this moment. 👏🏽 I know up to this point Rick probably thought he had tried every method in the book to get home but Michonne was like have you tried plummeting out of a moving helicopter?...let's try that.

Rick didn’t realize of all the people to be nervous about it was actually Michonne, not the others he should have most been on high alert for. 😋

Michonne really said oh you’ll do anything to save me? Guess what? I’ll do anything to save you, so off this helicopter we go. And her pulling this move was her letting Rick Grimes, the CRM, and Gravity itself know she's that girl and nothing is stopping her. 💅🏽

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how Michonne will both literally and figuratively do what needs to be done. Like figuratively and literally knocking some sense into Rick in season 5 or literally and figuratively yanking Rick out of his stormy state in TOWL.

The way she told Shoto 'I don’t know if we’ll be back' - Michonne basically was like your daddy is tripping, Shoto, so I don't know if this story ends with us going home to Alexandria or me sending him to the heavenly home above.

And honestly, if Judith had heard Rick talking cash crazy to Michonne like that she would have had some words cuz she does not play about her mama. Idk if her parents would ever tell her this part of the story one day but if they do, I personally think Judith would be in full support of what Michonne did. 😅

But also I really like the wording of 'I don't know if we’ll be back' because it poses the question to be beautifully and expertly explored in the next episode. Can Rick and Michonne find their way back to each other in a more internal sense? Right now Michonne doesn’t know for certain. But as a true Get Things Done Grimes she’s gonna try to find out during an incredibly riveting Richonne 'timeout.'

So the exciting episode 3 ends with an empty helicopter and rain pouring as we’re set up for what comes next.

And what comes next is an experience that transcends television.

An experience that profoundly explores the depths of Richonne and takes the characters to their highest heights.

An experience that features some of Andy and Danai's absolute best performances.

An experience so great and addicting that every single scene had rewind buttons around the world looking like...

"What We" is a true standout within the TWD franchise, and most of all it's an experience that was exceptionally written by the illustrious Danai Gurira herself. 👑👏🏽

So now, my fellow Richonne fans, stans, & friends...

We have got to talk about every fine detail in the masterpiece that is Episode 4. 😇🎉👌🏽

[suiana]

✎ yandere! writer headcanons . . .

✎ warnings . . .

― delusional yandere, obsessiveness etc.

(gn! reader x male yandere! oc)

✎ yandere! writer who made you his greatest creation. you were exactly everything he wanted, everything he needed. you're his beloved little main character, the love of his life.

✎ yandere! writer who didn't know when the lines between adoration and obsession mixed. he used to see you as just his character, now he wants nothing more than to keep you by his side.

✎ yandere! writer who cries himself to sleep every night, knowing you'll always simply just be a character he created, never real to anyone but himself. why couldn't you be real?!

✎ yandere! writer who is taken aback when you're standing in the middle of his bedroom one morning. eh? did he... did he drink too much last night? why are you standing in his room? you're so warm though... so soft, so beautiful- and he got slapped by you! so you were real! his prayers were answered!

✎ yandere! writer who deludes himself into thinking you came for him, that you loved him just like he loved you. so he keeps you in his house, never allowing you to leave despite your protests.

✎ yandere! writer who eventually caves and allows you to go out, he has to come with you though. you complain and nag him, you came to this world to save it from a disaster! not to be locked away like some damsel in distress! your writer thinks otherwise though. even though he wrote you to be badass and for your novel to be action based.

✎ yandere! writer who prevents you from helping that train passenger who got shot by a tall and handsome cat human hybrid. oh... so it looks like you weren't the only creation that came to life. it looks like everything jumped out of the books... welp! time to head back home where the both of you will be safe! and just like that, bam, you got knocked out and he dragged you to his home where you'll stay forever.

✎ yandere! writer who locks you in his room, never allowing you to leave while an apocalypse goes on outside. you can't even escape, this man knows all of your weaknesses! he's your creator after all. all you can do is hope that some god takes pity on you and curses your creator to fall out of love with you. but I doubt that'll be happening anytime soon, your creator is the writer of this book too after all.

✎ "y/n! you can't go out! you'll die! you can't die! writing your first death in chapter 7 already made me more than traumatized! so just... just stay with me here, we'll be safe. I promise."

[darthpastry]

Insanity ending of Pizzeria Sim is actually pretty tragic when you think about it. I mean, the real ending as well, but that'll be a separate post because I just watched the insanity ending and want to talk about it. Endless tragedy of Michael Afton is on my brain as of late. Huzzah.

Chances are you know how the insanity ending plays out. Michael finds a hidden tape in Egg Baby, because apparently Henry has a secret audio diary he hides in weird places? I digress. The tape reveals Henry's plan, Michael gets told he messed up the plan, so what does Henry do? Surely if he just HAD to make a tape that could ruin the entire plan, he would've had a backup plan in case the tape was discovered, right? Right? NOPE! Dude just decides "oh wow, my irresponsible choices and Michael's curiosity led to my grand plan being ruined. Who could've anticipated this? Welp. I'll just ruin Michael's life forever. Lol."

Instead of making sure to have a backup plan for his painfully flimsy plan, he just makes sure EVERYONE thinks Michael is insane and the dude gets locked up in a mental hospital. Quite frankly, I think that if Michael hadn't already gone insane by that point, being told by probably the last person he trusts "you ruined everything on accident, so I'm convincing the whole world you're insane and replacing you." That's pretty brutal.

It's Henry's fault for MAKING that stupid tape, like what was even the logic for keeping that around. Yet Michael is the one having to pay the price? Also states that Michael didn't even know what was happening and just wanted to open a pizzeria and play arcade games and can you imagine how he felt when he started finding the crew outside the pizzeria?

Why exactly do people think Henry's so great when he has no issue treating Michael like this and is shown to be awful in TSE trilogy iirc?

I do want to go over the other endings and how Henry screws Michael over no matter what at some point, probably one dedicated to the true ending and then one for all the others, but that all seems too long for one post.

[rocketinthesky]

Hi! Hope you're having a good time💜 Any opinions the Haasbands? (Kevin x Nico)

OMG HI! Hope you’re having a great time too

As for the ask game

HAASBANDS?!? BOY DO I HAVE SOME STRONG OPINIONS ON THIS !! So sorry op this might be posted a bit late cuz i have TOO MANY THOTS AND FEELINGS OVER THEM OK LETS START:

Obviously, the HISTORY. Ik the most “relevant”/spoken about F1 rivalries are brocedes/lestappen these days but we really have to look into Haasbands cuz they’re THE enemies to lovers story, like actual rivals who fell hard for eo.

We all know about the infamous “suck my balls” comment from Kevin, about Nico and Kevin butting heads on track, how they apparently hated eo till suddenly they’re teammates and they mesh so well tgt that Nico calls it a fucking “romance”.

There’s soooo much nuance to their dynamic to unpack here though. The general consensus is “guard-dog kevin” and “level-headed nico” but LETS TALK ABOUT THE INNER WORKINGS OF THEIR DYNAMIC PRE-MARRIAGE OK. In an interview, Kevin talked about how the “hatred” was one-sided, that despite the hot-headed comment during that interview, Kevin has never disliked Nico, rather he always respected the older as a fellow driver.

This flips the “level-headed nico” characterization on it’s head because look: pre-marriage Hulknussen was basically a one-sided rivalry where Nico was a petty bitch and giving Kevin the silent treatment, whilst Kevin was leaving all the rivalry and anger on the track, more or less wilfully oblivious to the “enemies” narrative. He respected Nico as a person and just was chill with him off track, but on track Kevin fights for his life no matter who he’s up against.

Now post-marriage Haasbands arc brings us two dudes who are much more mature, definitely have a much different perspective in life (cuz of the families they’ve built). They’ve grown as people obv and when they were more or less forced to be co-workers they had to suck it up like real adults and act like professionals.

But when they were actually working tgt, they found that it was easy. They got along on a fundamental level. Kevin always held that respect for Nico as a driver and person and when Nico actually allowed himself to give Kevin a chance, to talk to the guy and see him for the person he is off-track, not just as the aggressive and fearless fighter in the car, he grew a genuine respect and appreciation for Kevin as a person.

Among all the ships, i’d say Haasbands is the most sane one. They go from genuine rivalry/one-sided hatred and one-sided ignorance, to a friendship, mutual respect, peaceful relationship.

Obviously that’s just the brief overview of it but let’s not overlook the INSANITY within their dynamic cuz i am in no way discounting “guard-dog kmag”. He’s a fiercely protective warrior on the track and we’ve seen firsthand how he will fucking kamikaze for fhe sake of nico getting a point, how he will openly speak up about anything unfair that happens with Nico, like with nico and daniel’s crash this year. Kevin is a man in love and he’s a man who will lay his life on the line for it.

NICO. He’s level-headed alright. He’ll very calmly with the sweetest smile on his face threaten any lifeform that harms Kevin in any way. He’s a sweetheart sure but he’s just as nuts for Kev as kev is for him. His raw thoughts on Kmag’s race ban is a prime example of it.

These two are like actual fuckin husbands, they’ll protect eo to the end. And the domesticity between them makes me gag like ok get a room guys we get it yall are in LOVE

the kmag birthday clip? Them watching sports tgt outside of WORK duties? The way they’re constantly complimenting each other without faltering, almost tryna one-up eo in a compliment battle in the driver rankings videos? The compliments outside of those too like they are genuinely obsessed with each other?! I could go on but we’d be here all day so. Just know they’re sickeningly, tooth-rottingly sweet with eo

Welp i’ve rambled long enough lmao sorry if u subjected urself to my disjointed thoughts i just have so many Feelings™️ about haasbands they’re one of my otps lol they’re just so PERFECT they’re THE enemies to lovers like real fuckin enemies to lovers.

(As for my nsfw thoughts i think they’re pure switches but Nico lets his short gremlin male-wife take care of him more cuz he’s very fond and will do wtv Kevin wants THANK YOU)

[prismuffin]

Back again with a question that lives rent free in my head!!

How do you think; Superman, Batman, Hal Jordan, the flash, and John Constantine react to someone just handing them an unconscious reader?

Basically, the "Here take this".

Ex: Someone puts a unconscious reader into Batman's lap while he's at his computer. Then Batman just stares at the person with a face that screams, 'what am I suppose to do????'.

- Crow

KNFSKNFKLSFN You know I got you Crow- anyway I think that-

Superman would be confused as he takes your unconscious form in his arms. His eyebrows are furrowed as he stares at your chest, focusing on your heartbeat and letting out a slight sigh of relief as he hears the steady rhythm. He'd hold you bridal style as he walked around, just having casual conversations with you resting in his arms. He didn't even think of setting you down until Barry asked why he was still holding you.

Batman would most likely be working when someone just dropped you in his arms with a "here take this real quick". He'd be very confused as the person just walked away nonchalantly. He'd look down at you in his arms, eyes scanning over you to see if you were hurt at all. Seeing the steady rise and fall of your chest, he just deduced you were asleep. He can't be away from his computer for too long so he'd just set you down on a couch in his office, glancing over at you every now and then as he went to back to work.

Hal would most likely try and chase after the person that gave you to him like he doesn't wanna get stuck with this what the hell??? After attempting to give you back to them he'd sigh heavily before looking down at you and wondering if you were even alive. He tried to put you down but you were clinging onto his shirt so he had to carry you around. He had a big pout on his face as he tried to ignore the looks he was getting from people (*cough* Batman *cough*) as he walked around with you in his arms. After a while he gets tired of the stares and tries to wake you up

Barry would just be like "hold this? oh ok" :)...OMG ARE YOU DEAD???- After figuring out you were alive he'd be relieved but like wow- were you knocked out or something cause you are not waking up. He'd set you down somewhere comfortable and then would sit right by you, just watching over you until you wake up so he can be sure that you're really ok since he got practically no explanation of what happened to you.

John would immediately try and hand you back to whoever gave you to him but somehow he ends up failing. He'd probably use his powers on you to see what exactly made you unconscious. After finding out that you weren't harmed at all he'd just sigh and then immediately try and wake you up. His face says it all- he is so done with this shit like why aren't you waking up??? He's gonna have to carry you around isn't he? Sighhhhh welp, guess this is his life now. The second he sees anyone else (that he trusts with you) he's handing you off to them cause he does not want to be bothered.

( I should just rewatch Justice League Dark because omg I forgot abt how hot I found John??? )

———

Directory

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

HLC REACT TO MC HAVING AN OUT OF CHARACTER OUTBURST

Requested by: @ma1egamer

MC had a bad week. The worst week. An awful horrible week. But they still smiled. No one could know what was broiling just beneath the surface. They were the cool popular kid at Hogwarts, they had a reputation. If they just kept up appearances until the end of the day, they could go out after classes and fight a few dark wizards. That would help them de-stress.

They were lost in thought when someone accidentally ran into them, knocking their bag off their arm and causing it to spill its contents all over the floor. One of their ink bottles smashed, staining what was a lengthy essay they had just completed the night before for astronomy.

MC lost their carefully collected shit. "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!? IF ITS NOT ONE THING, ITS ANOTHER!! EVERY! SINGLE! DAY! But, if we didn't have bad weeks, the good weeks would be so amazing." It was like someone flipped a switch. MC was entirely calm again while using their wand to clean up their stuff.

The hall was dead silent. The whole crowd of students and faculty watched MC pack themselves up and walk away smiling.

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: "Welp, I feel sorry for any dark wizards or goblins that cross MC's path today." This included himself. He steered clear.

OMINIS GAUNT: "What happened? Why did they shout like that? Are they okay?" He needs context. He's worried.

ANNE SALLOW: She avoids eye contact with anyone in the crowd. She doesn't know what's going on, don't look at her.

IMELDA REYES: "What, in the actual fuck, was that?"

NATSAI ONAI: She marches after MC. They clearly aren't okay and she wants to know what's up.

GARRETH WEASLEY: MC's outburst made him drop a jar of pickled slugs. Now he was having a bad day too. The smell was awful.

LEANDER PREWETT: "They're cracking under the pressure. Sad."

AMIT THAKKAR: He has shrunk away from the noise. He doesn't deal with that kind of energy very well and removes himself from the situation.

EVERETT CLOPTON: "Merlin's beard, and here I thought Kogawa had a temper."

POPPY SWEETING: "Yeesh, I knew MC had fangs but I've never seen them take it out on a random student. I wonder what's bothering them."

ELEAZAR FIG: "Oh dear." He shuffles through the crowd and shepherds MC away. "What was that about? Are you alright? Please, don't lie to me."

MATILDA WEASLEY: She bristled at MC's volume. She could take house points for that, but instead ask MC to come to her office. She wants a word.

CHIYO KOGAWA: "Move along, everyone. You all have places to be." She shoos the crowd and stops MC from leaving. "Let's talk. My office."

AESOP SHARP: He gets it. As far as anyone is concerned, he saw nothing.

ABRAHAM RONEN: He's immediately by MC's side, helping them with their books. "Can you spare a moment to chat?" He wants them to be actually okay.

MIRABEL GARLICK: She walks quickly to catch up with MC and hands them a colorful bloom. "Here...it's Worry's Blight. It'll help you feel calm. You seem to need some more than me today."

MUDIWA ONAI: She invites MC up for tea. A special blend and good conversation is what they needed.

BAI HOWIN: Everyone has a bad day. There was no confrontation about the items dropped, so she let it go.

DINAH HECAT: "You shouldn't be shouting the halls, MC. However, instead of taking points, I have an assignment for you." She gave them a small price of paper with a location. "This is an ashwinder camp I heard wind of in the Three Broomsticks. It's a big one. Use this information as you may."

CUTHBERT BINNS: He just ghosted on out of there. He had a lecture to prep.

SATYAVATI SHAH: "No shouting in the halls. That's five points, MC." She didn't notice the vein fit to burst on MC's neck when they just smiled back at her.

PHINEAS NIGELLUS BLACK: "Children. Always whining about how hard life is. They know nothing of the real troubles life can throw at you."

[caustinen]

hear me out… 90s mobster au… conjugal visits…

mafia boss bucky got himself locked up… for something stupid and petty so he only got like 2 years and he already has people working on getting him the hell out of there, he’d never leave if they knew all he’s done but this sentence is doable. or so he thinks until his husband arrives to their first conjugal visit and instead of jumping his bones looks him up and down all icy firece eyes and throws a pile of papers to the bed before leaving with the bang of the door as soon as he arrives. bucky is too preoccupied with looking after him (gale is dressed in his tightest jeans on purpose, surely) that he doesn’t realize they are papers for him to sign for them to get a divorce.

the next time doesn’t go well. bucky has a point in claiming gale is being unreasonable just throwing it at him without even wanting to talk about it, gale insists he should’ve thought of it before getting caught. bucky gets all defensive and accuses gale of being a hypocrite, enjoying living trophy husband life when it suits him but now suddenly having a problem when there’s a slight hitch. he straight up refuses to even entertain the idea of divorce and gets all smug about it, tells buck he’s just having a temper tantrum and oh boy that does not land well, gale of course loses it completely to the point where the guards come running in to see if they’re okay and make gale leave with them (he goes happily, yelling after him about what an arrogant asshole john can be.)

while john is left fuming too, that little cell is starting to get to him, so the third time gale comes he’s ready to talk, and surprisingly so is gale. bucky apologizes and tells him he understand if gale wants more of a normal life, that he deserves someone who can give it to him and while it breaks his heart, he loves gale too much to not let him walk away if that’s what he wants. gale breaks down and tells him he doesn’t care about normal or want anyone else, he doesn’t care what people at the high school he teaches are saying nor their neighbours, he’s just broken about being scared for bucky’s safety here and once he gets outside too — the fbi keeps contacting him begging for information about his husband and there are suspicious cars always parked in front of their apartement these days, and gale hates and fears that he can be used against bucky, that he can be a weakness of the person he loves in his cruel world. bucky is beyond himself with worry once he realizes how much danger he’s caused gale too without realizing and left him to deal with it all alone, but gale claims he doesn’t care about that, just felt betrayed when bucky didn’t warn him beforehand about the gig having the potential to go this way like he promised he always would when they got married, had thought for a bit something worse had happened when he couldn’t reach him and then having to hear from the police he wouldn’t be able to see him other than at court. bucky apologizes and apologizes and apologizes until gale shuts him up by kissing him. the real feelings finally come out instead of anger and fear — missing the other like crazy, hell, they aren’t used to being apart even for a night. they run out of time when gale’s straddling his lips and they’re whispering comforting words to each other between kisses, and both walk away feeling much lighter than walking in.

the fourth time… welp! they make up for the lost time and then some. the guards have to physically drag gale away from there that time, clothes barely on and bucky yelling after them warning about hurting his husband or else as they manhandle him a bit too roughly for his liking. let’s just say that he’s more motivated than ever to get the hell out of there 🫣

[trick-or-fucking-treat]

The Knife in You Brings Out the Life in Me - Danny Johnson x Reader

Masterlist

Prologue ~

Summary:

Y/n was never close with her cousin Billy and hadn’t seen him in years, but when he shows up at her roadside home, running from the law and with a Stu on his arm, she figures it’s best to let him stay. He wouldn’t.. gut her? Right? Best not take any chances! The real kicker, however, is when their inspiration - the real and original Ghostface - shows up. She has less faith he’ll let her live if she isn’t careful.

"How could this happen? Am I dreaming again? Her body's not moving I'm assuming she's dead"

- The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ice Nine Kills

———

"Fuck, Billy! What'd we do now?" Stu stressed, knife in hand, gesturing wildly.

"Well... our face is on every news station, too many people around here know who we are." Like Stu, Billy still wore his shitty dollar store Ghostface costume, albeit their masks were tossed off to the side. Both were covered in blood, Billy slightly more so, and Billy was trying to keep his cool while Stu made every effort to panic.

"Ok, so.. we need to lie low?"

"Exactly. I have a rich cousin who doesn't live far from here, but still pretty out of the way. She's a recluse, we won't be bothered there... assuming she'll take us in."

After pulling off their first couple murders scot free, Billy and Stu decided they couldn't let the thrill go. Of course it was going to bite them in the ass eventually, but how were they supposed to know karma is a cold hearted bitch? Welp! They sure do now...

Their latest victim managed to get away, and while she didn't see their faces, she was damn sure she knew the killers. The two slash happy teens had taken a hit at another one of their classmates who they weren't too fond of, and they got cocky. Gave a hint hint, wink wink, at who they were behind the masks to scare the poor victim into thinking she was going to get her guts spilled by the guys who sit across the classroom to her in chemistry. It's all part of the thrill!

Except this time the bitch got away and ran to the police.

Stu was quiet for a moment before another thought occurred to him. "What about... you know who..? How will he find us if we drop off the map?"

"For all we know Danny's watching us right now! He's probably laughing about us fucking up.. he'll find us or he won't, that's up to him. Right now we need to get out of dodge."

———

Danny Johnson. The original Ghostface. Billy and Stu thought they were funny copycatting such a famous psycho. He was their role model of sorts.

Things changed when good ol' Jed Olsen started being pally with Billy and Stu, though. He was older. Sort of came out of nowhere. Knew things he shouldn't have known.

At first the pair were worried he knew what they were up to and just needed confirmation before going to the police, but Jed seemed to find it more funny than anything. He had this energy about him that made them cautious.

One night they were getting ready to start stalking another future victim (Miss run-away-and-blab-to-the-police funnily enough) when they got a phone call.

"Do you like scary movies?" The familiar staticky voice had spoken. "Who am I kidding? Of course you do! Why else would you both be starring in one? The question is... are you really the predators? Or are you actually... the prey?" The line had gone dead a moment later.

But when they shared a slightly concerned glance and decided to continue to leave for their midnight hobby, they opened the door to see a matching - though much more pristine mask  - staring back at them.

The Ghostface at the door didn't wear a cheap, scraggly, dollar store Halloween costume like Billy and Stu. He wore thick, black, sturdy material with straps and combat boots. Ohhh fuuuuuck... this guy is serious.

Danny gave them a good scare and let them fear for their lives for a while. Danny's a better killer than them. More experienced. More ruthless, and far more premeditated. But despite planning on killing them at first (they stole his entire thing, they couldn't get away with it, Danny had been planning this for a while) in the moment, he saw potential in them. Also they were a good laugh.

From then on, Danny took them under his wing and turned up when he felt like it to guide them in stalking and nurture their talent for murder.

Danny wasn't typically the kind of guy to help out other killers, especially ones who steal his likeness, but these guys had the same raw psychopathy that Danny sees in himself. And also, what the hell, he gets bored, they buy him free meals, they treat him like a god, what's not love!

And so Billy and Stu met their hero and dedicated their time to someday be as great as him. (Danny knew they'd never live up to him, he can always kill 'em when they get boring).

But now they've fucked up. Their victim got away. Danny's laughing and hiding in a bush somewhere vowing to never let them live it down. And Billy and Stu are hitching a ride to Billy's cousins place, hoping y/n will look past the blood and murder and let them crash for a little while.

———

A/N: ok this is the prologue for my new fic! Now I know I've written fuck all in a long time, and I apologise to anyone who's been waiting on updates to my other fics if you've read any, but I've got to go where the inspiration takes me!

I hope you enjoyed this little intro and please leave a comment if you have any ideas!

Have a great day/night,

~ trick-or-fucking-treat

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Miraculous World: London, At the Edge of Time

(Spoilers for those that havent seen it. and yes this will be my sort of Live reaction, with my thoughts at the end)

-Okay so Nooroo be sad and trying to appeal to this person's morality.

-Okay so I was wrong about them being Adrien, but they are... Blond Lila?

-Okay, so She was actually BOTH akumatized Villains. Not gonna lie, That is so expected I assumed one of them would be adrien. Damn

-Intro be dope though

-So they are playing some weird variant of chess.

-If I was kid Alix, Id be salty, I would never. win since the other versions of me KNOW all my moves.

-OH DAMN GRANNY BUNNYX! 70, damn she looks good for 70

-Oh they be fading, and they arent even phased. Because they know what will happen. Wow... kind of takes the drama out of this

-Oh cool, recap

-They dont even bother saying he was originally called monarch.

-Alix is so valid for that comment about them kissing

-"Gabriel makes his wish, history is still on course." Yep they are playing the Miguel O' Hara is right canon event bit unironically.

-Portals start vanishing. But the drama is gone because YOU KNOW Alix will fix it

-Oh there is a depressed Bugnoire. Confirmed that merge miraculous can still use powerups.

-She goes to London. Damn this is depressing, and sterile

-Bugnoire casual destroys the cell to free Kagami made me chuckle

-Marinette reflecting on what happened. talking with Gabriel

-"Adrien cannot find out."

TO THE SURPISE OF F***ING NOBODY!

-Kagami calling her out but then saying she will oblige her

-Oh they actually talking about Tomoe.

-Kagami wants to try and talk to her mom, which Marinette honors because... at least she isnt being a hypocrite here.

-Okay I know I am a bit nasty, but I do appreciate the time the scene is taking. its really building up the tension to this.

-Gorilla out of nowhere just like "Let me unlock it first." that made me chuckle

-I feel VERY CONFLICTED. Because on one hand, LOVE THE ANGST. Absolutely just perfection. Really milk that drama. But f*** do I HATE how this came about.

-Oh the Lie is actually pretty convincing. Oh look at how absolutely distraught Adrien is. Boy is f***ing wrecked.

-OH DAMN ADRIEN OUTBURST

-That Adrigami comforting.

-I want to love this absolutely heartshattering scene. Its beautiful, its angsty.

-Okay, you know what. I will hold my reservations until I actually finish.

-You can just see the absolute distraught face of Marinette. SHE HATES THIS. SHE ABSOLUTELY HATES WHAT SHE IS DOING. OH THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL ANGSTY THING. Its slowly warming me up a bit, the finale was missing this.

-Oh damn, Nathalie knows Marinette is Ladybug. WELP, just another person that knows thats not Adrien.

-Oh damn, Ladybug monologue, while she destroys everything related to Hawkmoth, monarch, and his scheme. In a way, becoming his greatest accomplice.

-The press conference is full of a lies. Wow its starting to feel just like real life.

-Nathalie comforting Adrien, such a soft scene. Meanwhile Tomoe and Kagami are cold to eachother

-Marinette is at the train station

-That adrinette hug.... yea, thats the good stuff

-Im happy the kwami are safe.

-There is a lot of not talking in these moments. letting the music set the tone.

-And day becomes night, Marinette sleeps with Plagg and tikki by her side. Now she asks if what she did was right

-Is there a kwami of truth? Because if there is, I wonder what animal it is

-WAIT, She lied to Alya too? THAT I didnt see coming.

-And right there, we see when the special ACTUALLY Starts

-Okay the vest is funny

-The burrow has a slowed down time aspect, makes sense because of the whole time travel thing.

-So they have to take Marinette's Miraculous from when she renounced it. For a split second, I thought she was talking about the Kwami choice, but it was actually Origins. Which makes more sense

-So thats why Tikki becomes so sure of Marinette.

-She changed colors? Why thoough?! Granted I do prefer it to the original costume, but not as much as the lucky charm form.

-"There is no such thing as ghost." GHOST FORCE WOULD LIKE A WORD MARINETTe

-Basically she can phase through things like Kitty pride. And be invisible. So like a Ghost.

-Ladybug verses the Ghost akuma

-She cant touch them

-Calender. it means you have to go to a different time

-This special really likes hammering in that Ladybug's lie is wrong, yet at the same time NO ONE is offering her an alternative. So it feels like the special isnt really committing to the "Marinette is right" or "Marinette is wrong."

-"Sorry, you cant take the butterfly miraculous cause Canon Event." Yea this is getting repetitive

-So Time Stalker was there. Saw Ladybug was Marinette

-Yea, not gonna lie. All the clips showing the finale only remind me how much I HATE it.

-Gabriel f***s off to leave his son an orphan but gets to be with his wife. Thus getitng his wish forever and now Ladybug has to basically let it happen because F*** her in particular

-NATHALIE WITH A CROSSBOW!

-Nathalie telling the small crying teen who was willing to sacrifice HERSELF, that she didnt have to go that far. People often forget Marinette is a TEENAGER going through s***. Nathalie should have stopped Gabriel earlier

-That aside, all this special reinforced is that Gabriel is an idiot. He really could have won so much easier

-And thats how Time stalker found out

-Marinette figured out they were the same person, clever writing

-Super ghost and Super Spy dumb names

-I love Barkk. She is like "Dont be so sure"

-Man this special really retreads a lot of old ground a lot

-Miraculous Bug Noire

-So Bugnoire saying until they get the butterfly miraculous back. She cant tell him the truth.... Yea no. Thats dumb. I still find this very dumb.

-But the whole mini portal thing was funny to me. Why not just make a portal under them to pull them in.

-There we go.

-SHE HAS MORE OF THEM? Okay thats pretty clever

-"He or She?" if it wasnt present bunnyx Id assume she knew.

-The explanation on why Nathalie cant tell Adrien is also bulls**t.

-A wiseman once said, the "Truth hurts but once, but a Lie will ache forever" Marinette is basically setting up for worse

-I will say, the Choreography in these encounters is pretty cool.

-Okay the plan was clever

-Ladybug is apparently REALLY good at forging signatures. Are we sure Marinette isnt a future villainess?

-The Ladybug monologue with that funky beat was fun

-HEHEHE Lila Temper tantrum

-Poor Nooroo

-Well the plan worked.

-Bunnyx not being sad about having to stay as Bunnyx.

-Wait, so how come they can go ride dinosaurs if they cant mess with time?

-So bunnyx says "Hey its cool to lie as long as you own up to it eventually." Thats a fucking terrible lesson for kids to learn. I hope everyone reading this knows that

-Wait... is Chronobug dead?

-Nope, she is still alive

-Plagg is confused. But Tikki knows. Okay thats cute

-Marinette fixing the miraculous and upgrading them. Thats neat

-Marinette's logic for spreading it out makes sense at least. And the new hawkmoth doesnt know the heroes identities. Tomoe might though

-Okay, Plagg is cute.

-Ah yes, the Ladynoir

-There is that Hug. Thats that good stuff

-Chat noir's guilt and Ladybug's Guilt

-And then Lila's monologue at the end

___________________________________________________________

Now... How do I feel about this special?

I am torn.

On one hand, it did show that Marinette is feeling the effects of the secrets she is keeping. She is clearly feeling guilty about it. And the special does a LOT to justify what she is doing and never outright gives her a pass for it. I also LOVED that sweet succulent ANGST. Good stuff.

on the Other hand, some of the explanations are not good (like Adrien not finding out until after the butterfly is found? It makes no sense), and it hand waves a LOT of things. Not to mention, it does basically have Marinette, Kagami and Nathalie in this secret Cabal of secrets. Tomoe is basically not held accountable. And the whole Canon event thing and time travel basically means there is never any real danger. So it really takes the wind out of this.

But BUT, This special does at least imply that this secret will be the cause of tension, now the question is IF the show will actually deliver on this angst.

I dont hate this special as it does illuminate a LOT of what was missing from the Season 5 finale... that being said, I still hate the season 5 finale.

so its 6/10.

[that-girl-glader]

JWCT SPOILERS FROM THE TRAILER BELOW

BRO WTH OMGOSH. SO FAR THIS ARE THE THINGS GOING ON IN MY HEAD FROM THAT TRAILER

FIRST OFF...... OMGOSH WHY DOES EVERYONE LOOK SO HOT. AND WHY IS BEN SO BEAUTIFULLY BLONDE AND PRETTY BOY😭😭 DARIUS IS KILLING ME WITH HIS STANCE IN THE BOAT. THE FU???

Okay now for business. "I'm not the same Brooklyn you knew before" Bitch no you FUCKING AREN'T. BECAUSE YOU HAVE GROWN UP. AND have trauma. But babes....what do you mean by that???? Brother. You're gonna get yourself ACTUALLY killed. Why did you burn the photo....there was no reason. ALSO LOVE THE HAIR WTH.

I think the other girl in the trailer we didn't see is either Mae or you know BEN PINCUS' GIRLFRIEND. AND IF IT IS.... I'M SO OVER MY LIFE. BUT THE GAYS CAN'T WIN. AND....I have the sneaking suspicion that benrius (yay) or Benji(bluh ew ew burns...jokesssss) is never gonna happen. I hope he breaks up with her if that ends up true.

I will sue if Brooklyn and Darius end up together. And no it's not because I want Darius and Ben or whatever. Heck they can all stay single except for yasammy for all I care. I just don't see it. It does not compliment each other in any way, and doesn't make sense to me. And I'm a hugeeee Kenji x Brooklyn because it was a very fair balance of differences and similarities. And it was so requited. I just don't see why if you can see she wasn't committed to being with Kenji that she'd be committed to be with Darius. I think she just can't immediately jump into a relationship.

Darius just had his first love it doesn't make sense for him to get with someone. The field of romance is unfamiliar to him. I think he needs to heal first too. They both do. Before anything happens. But guys...it would mean so much to me if benrius in a future skip ends up together because I NEED THIS WTH...And their dynamic just makes me so happy I can't lose that. I'd be borderline sad. Even if the bond was queer platonic. I'd take it. Even if they never kiss or hug or whatever I'd take it. Even if nothing happens with brooks or Ben I'd take it!!! Better non canon than canon am I right. Pull a gustholomule so I can stay delusional.

If anything and I mean ANYTHING HAPPENS TO YASAMMY IM THROWING ROCKS. NO ONE IS DYING THEY ARE LITERALLY IMMORTAL. IT CAN'T JUST BE THE WHITE CHARACTERS WHO CHEAT DEATH.

WTF did Ben keep it a secret that Brooklyns alive?? Delusional version: He doesn't want his chances with Darius to blow....ahahahaha. Real version: He doesn't want his friends to be upset with how much Brook has changed. Or their grief to be invalidated. Or for them to give her a chance when she has changed so much in a very not moral way. Welp. Maybe he just feels like Brook kept it a secret for a reason, and I might as well not call her out. Anywho you guys help me too. I'm insane.

Bye guys. Stay prehistoric!!!!💚🤎🦕

[lulusoblue]

Welp. Played Double Exposure. Finished it.

ALMOST spoiler-free thoughts, any spoilers are literally superficial and make no impact on the plot as a whole: this game is not worth the price of admission at present.

Just to get it out of the way; the way they unceremoniously wrote Chloe out of Max's life, be they romantically together or platonic, is garbage. She doesn't even have a character model. The only image of her post-Arcadia is the one we've all seen before. It was all VERY out of character for both Max and Chloe and all of Chloe's social media posts feel like DeckNine rubbing in that they just see her as a party girl lesbian who sleeps around and would rather completely ignore any trauma that she or her BEST FRIEND WHOM SHE WOULD TAKE BACK IN A HEARTBEAT would have because she wants to "move forward". Incredibly insulting, especially when Chloe keeps getting called "the blue-haired girl" and not by name when Max is literally TALKING ABOUT HER IN A HEARTFELT CONVERSATION.

Graphics. I can run Baldur's Gate 3 at a damn good and steady framerate even as it is constantly loading shit into the level as you travel this giant-ass world map. For some reason, LiS:DE just chugged along. What's worse, the lowest and most unstable framerates and graphic quality I had was INDOORS. I didn't even have these settings on Cinematic because then it ran like shit. Even after I found advice on discussions. This game is beautiful but only if you're standing still and not moving the camera around so much.

Cat Content is waaaaay to minimal. Cat didn't appear until the very end of Chapter 2, and after that the cat will only appear when you can explore Max's house. Which is the ending of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4. You don't even get to keep the cat. This content is not worth being locked behind the Ultimate Edition.

The writing of the main plot starts strong, but leads to a very underwhelming conclusion. All of the other entries in LiS have felt like their endings were ambiguous in that there wasn't so much a right choice as there was a choice of which ending you felt fit the narrative. Chapter 5, and thus the whole ending of the game, felt like... nothing. Even down to the final "big" choice and the last scene. There was no real delving into Max's trauma stemming from the ending of the original game, because in "respecting both endings", DeckNine respects neither by making their differences superficial. There was no story following through a setup of how one can move on from death in one's life. The ending just relies on supernatural fuckery and then sets up for future games in a meaningless way. It all felt so rushed and hollow, for lack of a better, spoiler-free way to describe it. Aside from saying that there were SO many theories people came up with that were much more gripping than what actually happened.

The characters are underutilised for how much the marketing put the spotlight on them. Not to say I don't like the new cast of characters, but aside from their charm in some scenes, I literally only really cared about Moses by the end of the game. If the threat of Max Caulfield's return doesn't fall through, then I hope at least Moses will be along for the ride too. Aside from him, I just... didn't really grow attached to anyone besides Gwen and the cat. For as little as the cat appeared, I still cared about that damn ball of pixels more than almost all of the main cast of characters.

The side characters have so much dialogue. Too much dialogue. You will be listening in on NPC conversations for 5 minutes and maybe, MAYBE you'll be able to put that therapist card down on the table for them in Chapter 2. There was waaaaaay too much thought and time and dialogue put into background characters and conversations that aren't all that interesting and just get their audio cut off if you step a couple of millimetres away from their assigned seats.

The game is small. Even with exploring, you only have 4-5 environments to venture forth in at Caledon, and when most of them are indoors and something keeps causing my framerate to tank (which honestly how can your indoor lighting tank my framerate with outdoor scenes should have more shit to load in) it feels so claustrophobic. Scenes are short if you're good at puzzle-solving and revisiting locations makes events even shorter when you don't need to re-examine details for Max's inner monologue. It feels like you have less room to move than in True Colours, which when combined by how disappointing the main plot is?

Main plot is only a murder mystery for the first two chapters. Then it kinda derails. The mystery disappears and you just have plot twists that don't fit the Life is Strange vibes.

All in all? This is the first entry in the series that I regret buying at all. Great acting performances, pretty graphics and a stellar soundtrack can't carry a game or save it from writing that isn't just bad, but ultimately insincere. I knew what stories previous games in the series were trying to tell. I don't know what Double Exposure wanted to tell or try to say beyond "stay tuned".

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Thoughts I had during TGCF Season 1 the Recap!

Basically, I recap the First Season of TGCF with my reactions, before my Season 2 binge watch!

Ep 1

-Don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… *Bride gets snatched* Okay, maybe you should’ve gone out there.

-Right after XL ascends, Lan Hai and Qing Tao then go, “Huh, Who is that?”  Then everybody yells at them, “PRINCE XIE LIAN!”

-So much Property Damage…

-Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

-Fu Yao, *Is sarcastic and rolls his eyes* Basically me: He’s just like me fr!!!

-Hehehehehehe Dick joke XD

-Sees Bride!XL: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’m Sorry XD!

-Yeah right a few alterations, she totally fixed his make up calling it.

-*Sees Bridesmaids NF and FY like* W H E E E Z E XD XD XD XD

-So that’s how he was able to last longer than the previous bride

-Pass me the Aux cord!  You better not be playing mainstream garbage! *Turns on One Flower and One Sword and vibes like there’s no tomorrow*!

-I now pronounce you both husband and husband!  You may now kiss the gro- I mean, bride!  

Ep 2

-Honey, He looks a little too good looking to be the Ghost groom

-That temple looks abandoned, and the animation camera for walking inside

-There’s the ugly mob

-Hehe Xie Lian’s aggressive kindness

-When the mob scooched away from Bride!Lian I freaking lost it XDXDXDXD

-And Nan Feng and Fu Yao inch away instead of defending him!  

W H E E Z E!

-The fact they both agreed to not explain anything XD!

-Xiao Ying is a real friend

-And hurting the injured is a real low for the mob

-They have enraged the ghost groom

-KO!  Flawless victory!

-Zombie brides!

Ep 3

-Didn’t know it a zombie apocalypse happened in Ancient Feudal China (I need to brush up on my history)

-Welp, now they’re grateful 

-Wait a minute, he was an acrobat???  Xie Lian Pre 3 ascension life spinoff when??? (That’ll prolly never happen)

-Man here comes the Bride Pun count: 3

-Now that is an Azula level breakdown

-They are not merciful with the body count in this whole series

-Woah saved by literal divine intervention

-Geez, Pei Ming this is why we don’t Ghost our Exes, Pun Count: 4

-Man, Xuan Ji, maybe you should’ve heard of the phrase, “Plenty of Fish in the sea”

-The way Xie Lian blinked when he realized he was still in the wedding dress XD!

-Restoring faith in Ming Guang

-Oh no Trauma

Ep 4

-He’s so distraught he couldn’t follow

-The telepathic matrix, is basically the world’s first discord server

-Thank you Ling Wen

-Aw he likes Hua Cheng’s name!

-That explains the fall of Xianle and the Moldy Face Plague

-Let’s be honest, Bai Wuxiang is totally responsible for Covid-19

-Woah Hua Cheng has made his mark on Heaven

-Aww he thinks the Butterflies are beautiful!

-Honestly, smart move Mu Qing and Feng Xin

-Oh she is so burnt out

-Yeah, who was the Prince of Xianle anyway?

-WHY IS EVERYBODY’S EYELINER GAME SO ON POINT?!?!?!?!

Ep 5

-The way he blew off that maple leaf

-Oooh that subtle hinting later on and symbolism with Xie Lian

-The way he moved in closer *fangirls like no tomorrow*

-I freaking love the instrumental version of Hong Jue

-Is he touched starved?  He is touch starved

-I love that when San Lang scared the Ghosts shitless they ended up running like no tomorrow, Ghost 1: Book it guys our lives depend on it!  Ghost 2:  But we’re already dead! Ghost 1:  Well it’s just an expression!

-And there was only one bed.  Oh my gods there was only one bed!!!

-Aw he caught him staring

-I believe you Ox cart man

-Heck with how popular TGCF is right now, Xie Lian would be worshipped today by fans like us

-His luck did rub off on you and you should take it all Xie Lian

-Welp time to go start the next arc

Ep 6

-Woah, that old man is traumatized

-Of course being a martial god, he has experience in combat.  Have you seen him in a sword dual at Yinian bridge? (Subtle Phineas and Ferb quote)

-Yep called it, and the gong noise when the door opened!

-“How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean???”

-Awww look at San Lang’s emo hoodie!

-You know what’s better than one evil Daoist?  Two evil Daoists!

-And he drank the whole thing like a boss

-Now Nan Feng’s acting like an NPC from a fantasy video game

-The woman in the teal cloak saw him

-He’s touched starved again!

-Best chemistry ever!

-And after Rouye grabs San Lang and Xie Lian says, “I didn’t mean San Lang”. Rouye goes: “Really? Ok!”  And then lets him go, that’s just the hypothetical dialogue I’ve got for the silk band

Ep 7

-It’s official!  Xie Lian is shorter than San Lang people! 

-I’ve heard of a close knit unit but this is just insane!

-There’s so many people

-Ooooohhh That poor poor general

-SO MANY COBRAS!

-Oh no and 4’s an unlucky number in China

-He is sucking the venom out like a G!  Get yourself a man like San Lang people!

-You know we’re all thinking what Xie Lian’s thinking about how he’s going to clean San Lang’s bloodied lips (I’ll let you share your answers in the comment section)

-And Fu Yao’s stuck with merchant sitting

-Really lovely desert travel music!

-Yeah he does know an awful lot

-Uh oh the woman in the black cloak spotted them

Ep 8

-Thank you San Lang for protecting your man like a champ!

-Ooooh cool more Ban Yue lore!

-Ooooh his poor, poor head

-And San Lang’s expression, is worried if he hurt him, but it worked!

-Yeah but our faces don’t stick out of the ground like a fresh tater!

-Aw no they’re gonna need sacrifices

-Zhao’s fight response kicked in

-Eeenie meanie meinie that kid (probably Kemo)

-“Sully not thine honor on innocent blood” That almost sounded like a bible quote…?

-Dude Xie Lian was royalty

-Trust fall!  (You’ll see next ep peeps!)

-Oh and Xie Lian’s scream!  Kind of needed more raw emotion though

Ep 9

-He’s gonna jump into the pit, he’s jumping into the pit, he jumped into the

-Xie Lian’s like: Well I am going down there, but I won’t go down alone!

-The pit’s entrance is sealed!

-Trust fall!  TRUST FALL!  

-He touched his throat!

-There’s your answer Xie Lian

-Dance fight!  Dance fight!

-You’re just gonna excuse the mass murder San Lang committed in the pit?????

-Let me just find somewhere that isn’t covered in blood

-Oh yeah you’re grateful for San Lang carrying you

-The faces they made when he called them out for jumping into the pit XD Xie Lian’s eyes are wide and blank while San Lan has a cat face! XDXDXDXDXD

-She came down!

Ep 10

-She saw Xie Lian and San Lang

-So many fallen Ban Yue soldiers

-Hi Fu Yao

-I wasn’t kidding when I said Fu Yao isn’t great at crowd control

-Thank you Fu Yao

-She’s holding his hand and he’s patting her head my freaking heart!!!! 

-Oh No! Vomit trigger warning for this episode people

-Xie Lian raised her more than her Yong’An father did (and to some extent her late mother)

-It was still a good choice after all Xie Lian

-Take it easy with the ‘Bad Cop’ routine Fu Yao

-Oh no a scorpion snake

-Well that’s bad

Ep 11

-Aiaigasa!  It’s Aiaigasa again folks AAAAAHHH!!!!

-Scorpion tailed cobras why’d they have to be Scorpion tailed Cobras?!?!?!?!?

-That explains the sandstorm

-Ooooh Pei Xiu army backstory

-Ugh Classist general

-No Ban Yue!!!!  She was so young!!! T - T

-Yeah where will Xie Lian go from here?

-Oooh Yizhen got name dropped too!

-Uncle Jiang is cured!

-And the way he’s running away from the duo XDXDXD!

-Here’s why Fu Yao left early, as they healed Uncle Jiang he contacted Nan Feng through the telepathic array and Fu Yao’s reason is:  Come on, you know how horrifying his highness’ cooking can be.  This is just my theory, and I’d love to hear your possible ones in the comments!

-And the way Hua Cheng moved in closer and just preferred to be called ‘San Lang’ my freaking heart!!!

Ep 12

-We are back in Puqi village folks

-I freaking love how Xie Lian says ‘The Crimson Rain Sought Flower’ Howard Wang’s voice could act as my new sleeping aid

-Oh yeah San Lang does treasure you dude

-Ban Yue deserves all the head pats!!!!

-Ban Yue, I think you should keep living despite all the mistakes you’ve made… other than that I also don’t know the answer like Xie Lian

-Aww Xie Lian will love him no matter if he’s hideous or a monster he really does have the best standards!

-Awwww He’s hot when he’s mad!

-Another Reason why Hualian works so well is that San Lang also Respects!  Xie Lian’s!  Boundaries! (Yep still not getting involved with the Helluva Boss drama folks)

-It’s official!  That looks like an engagement ring people!

-Dude pass me the Aux cord!  Ya better not be playing mainstream garbage *Puts on Hong Jue at full blast and vibes like no tomorrow!*

-It’s like they’re running towards each other AAAAAHHH!!!

-Welp, see you guys later for Season 2!

Season 2! Here I come!!!!