#you're our superstar! (main)

[thesoundofmadness]

Longestsoloever writing a song about the silly existential horror circus show in less than a day

[aubaee]

late night — l.hs

enhypen heeseung head cannon

classmate!Heeseung who contacted you when he heard you needed a roommate.

"Hey, is the roommate offer still available?"

classmate!Heeseung who you find attractive the moment you laid eyes on him with his charming smile.

roommate!Heeseung who moved in right across from you in the apartment complex.

roommate!Heeseung who has an adopted cat named 'Ddongsik'.

roommate!Heeseung who was awkward at first but got comfortable every time you ran into each other in the community spaces of your complex.

roommate!Heeseung who’s known as the ‘ACE’ in your college.

roommate!Heeseung who plays basketball often with his friends on the weekend.

roommate!Heeseung in which you found out has amazing vocals as he sang loudly one weekend night.

“Sorry, was I being too loud? Haha”

roommate!Heeseung who you encountered one day at the college campus with his group of friends hanging out by the main quad.

“Oh hey! These are my friends-“

roommate!Heeseung who invites you to play with him and his friends during their gaming sessions.

roommate!Heeseung is competitive and would do anything to win.

roommate!Heeseung whom you got to know as someone with a free spirit and occasionally taking naps anywhere he can.

roommate!Heeseung who often wears beanies.

roommate!Heeseung who prefers quiet areas over loud ones.

roommate!Heeseung who’s love language is quality time, in which he tends to search for you when he’s bored.

roommate!Heeseung whom you have late night ramen together at midnight.

roommate!Heeseung who goes red and becomes a giggling mess when you’re drinking together.

roommate!Heeseung who finds horror mazes thrilling and laughs at every encounter with the ghost actor on set with you.

“Rock, paper, scissors on who goes first.”

“I think that mannequin is human, watch this-“

roommate!Heeseung who plays the piano and guitar whenever he encounters one.

roommate!Heeseung who helps you with the chores, in which the both of you have clean days together.

roommate!Heeseung who asks if you wanted anything from the grocery store.

“Did you want me to get your favorite ice cream?”

roommate!Heeseung who notices if you're not in a good mood and tries to cheer you up by making jokes.

roommate!Heeseung who doesn't realize what kind of effect he has on you when he wears sleeveless tops.

roommate!Heeseung who subconsciously flirts with you every time you run into each other.

roommate!Heeseung who pats your head whenever he finds you cute and endearing.

roommate!Heeseung who dresses well in plaid or leather attire with his signature cologne.

roommate!Heeseung who brings an extra jacket of his when you're at an outing with him.

"Gotta make sure to keep you warm, I can't have you catching a cold on me."

roommate!Heeseung who’s protective of you whenever the both of you are out for bar hopping, intimidating the guys who tried approaching you.

“Stay close to me,” as he intertwined his hand with yours, leading you to the table where his friends sat.

roommate!Heeseung who you share a playlist with, occasionally recommending songs to each other.

roommate!Heeseung who remembers your usual coffee order.

roommate!Heeseung who helps relieve your stress by playing games with him, or taking late-night drives together.

"We're more than just roommates, I'll be by your side. Whatever worries come your way, let me help you."

a/n: this is lowkey short but i hope you like it. I’ve been wanting to do an angst scenario as well, but we’ll see about that. 🚨 Also, please continue to STREAM XO (YT/Spotify/Genie/Apple Music/etc) & help VOTE as well (ALLCHART/U Pick/Mnet+/Superstar X). Let’s get a win for our boys hard work in the album! 🔥🙌🏻

☆ pls like & reblog ☆

[simphoraa]

Sweet & Sour Legacy Challenge - Sims 3

Created by Simphora & Gabrielle-kl 

Hey guys! Surprise, surprise. Me and Gabby did a little something.. we created a Sims 3 challenge! Woot-woot! This is our very first time creating a challenge together. We had such a blast. I’d like say this challenge is fun and unique. We put our FOOT into making this because us Sims 3 simmers are in desperate need of more challenges. Also, feel free to check out Gabby’s amazing challenge called, Not Your Average Legacy Challenge. 

The Sweet & Sour Legacy Challenge is a six generation legacy challenge inspired by fruits. These fruits have a sweet and sour aesthetic for each generation. For example, the sweet fruit generations are compassionate and up-beat. Meanwhile, there’s a little twist with the sour fruit generations because it’s more pessimistic and chaotic. All-in-all, if you're a simmer that is looking for a fruit themed and drama fulfilled legacy challenge, this is a challenge for you!

If you’re interested in doing this challenge, please feel free to tag us: @simphoraa @gabrielle-kl​ or #sweet&sourlegacy. We would love to see your progress and gameplay!

R U L E S:

You must follow each generation in chronological order. 

It is recommend that you use all of the provided traits.

If you do not have a certain Sims 3 expansion pack that is related to the traits, careers, or goals, you can make adjustments.

The aesthetic color/colours for each generation is optional.

Before moving on to the next generation, you must complete all of the required goals.

DO NOT use any money cheat codes (ex: motherload, kaching, or rosebud).

Generation #1 - Watermelon: One in a Melon

You like to see yourself as the main character, and you think that everyone that comes in contact with you thinks so too.

Everyone absolutely loves you! Or do they? As unique as you are, you want to be a famous actor or actress. Soon enough Hollywood would be signing your name on everything! You find yourself chilling with A-list celebrities and even date a few. You have everything you could ever want! No one can ruin this for you, except maybe yourself.

Get started: Live in a small starter house or apartment. Purchase your basic necessities to survive, and progressively buy more necessities once you start earning some simoleons. Good luck!

Starting simoleons - §1,200

Traits - Charismatic, Dramatic, Snob, Star Quality, and Workaholic

Career - Film

Lifetime Wish - Superstar Actor

Aesthetic Color/Colour

Goals:

Become a five-star celebrity

Ruin your reputation 2 times, make your life a little scandalous! (ex: get publicly disgraced)

Master the Charismatic skill

Reach level 10 in the Film Career (choose the actor branch)

Have 2 close friends

Host a meet & greet once a week (ex: sign autographs and take pictures with fans)

Fall in love with one of your fans

Have as many kids as you want

Generation #2 - Lemon: When life gives you lemons.. you have to deal with some sour sh*t!

Sigh! Your childhood was already enough as it was with being a nepotistic child, but now there’s even more shenanigans.

Apart from hiding in your parents' shadows and not being the main focus when it comes to the paparazzi. You carry a nice and sweet persona on the outside. Those who were fortunate enough to have a conversation with you say your personality is like, “stuffing their mouths with a bunch of sour candy”, but you didn’t hear that from me. Just know, it’s okay to loosen up a bit. You do not always need to leave a bitter taste in one’s mouth.

In the course of time, you finally meet someone and insert yourself into their life. Love makes you do some silly things. You want to help them with their unlawful issues because you think that you can help them figure things out and get their life back on track. Realistically speaking, you would never think of laying your eyes on someone with a completely different personality than yours and a terrible outlook on life. Oh boy! You're in for a nice treat.

Traits - Bookworm, Grumpy, Hopeless Romantic, No sense of humor, and Perceptive

Career - Journalism or Private Investigator

Lifetime Wish - Star News Anchor or Pervasive Private Eye

Aesthetic Color/Colour

Goals:

Get romantically involved with a criminal  

Be disliked by a few sims. Having “friends” isn’t your thing because people disappoint you

Master the Writing or Logic skill

Reach level 5 in the Journalism or Private Investigator Career, and then quit or get fired

Have 1 failed marriage

Have only 1 child

Have a bad relationship with your child

Find a hobby or skill, and make a source of income out of it

Have a rebound relationship with someone

C H O I C E:

This generation has a choice for you to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

Hmm, it looks like you have found love again. Are you genuinely happy this time? You may be a little traumatized from the last relationship. Just remember, everyone isn’t the same. This rebound relationship could be turning into something really serious. There may even be wedding bells in your future. Do you want to give marriage a second chance or stay in the “dating” stage?

Generation #3 - Strawberry: You’re the sweetest pick of the patch!

Everyone loves you, at least this time. Nobody is actually lying. Good job! Everyone finds you to be the sweetest sim in the patch. And, trust me, you will most definitely take full advantage of all this attention. You mainly use it for a good cause. You love power, but not in an evil kind of way. You want to use that power to help those in need.

You attend University in hopes of being the future president of the free world and eventually start raising a happy family that is way better than how your current family dynamic is right now. I don’t really know anything, but deep down you want to be better than your parents because you have a weird feeling that they were doing some shady things before you were born.

Traits - Friendly, Family-Oriented, Good, Irresistible, and Schmoozer

Career - Political

Lifetime Wish - Leader of the Free World

Aesthetic Color/Colour

Goals:

Fix your relationship with your parent

Maintain A’s in school and even aim to become an honor/honour roll student (child-teen)

In high school, join the debate club

Enroll into University and major in Communications

Host a rant/protest once a week

Donate to a charity once in a while

Join a Social Group (Nerd, Rebel, or Jock)

Throw a party every weekend in Sims University

Earn the Communications degree

Reach level 10 in the Political Career

Be a good role model as a parent and a faithful spouse

Have about 2-4 kids

Retire from the Political Career once an elder

Generation #4 - Green Apple: One bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch..

You want to find love just like how your parents have it. You can’t seem to find someone that fits the description of your dream partner. All of your attempts seem to fall flat. Why? You’re not that bad of a person. You’re just exploring a bit. You may be a little picky, but everyone has their own personal preferences within a person. Right? Hmm.. maybe you're just picking the wrong kind of sims? Do not give up. Keep putting yourself out there until you find the one. Just do not get yourself caught up. They say the world is one tiny place..

Traits - Commitment Issues, Flirty, Over-emotional, Social Butterfly, and Unlucky

Career - Any self-employed career

Lifetime Wish - Heartbreaker

Aesthetic Color/Colour

Goals:

Maintain a good relationship with your parents

Create an Online Dating Profile

Go out on a date every weekend

Have 10 failed relationships (get caught cheating or initiate a break-up)

Have an accidental baby from a hook-up

Avoid/Lose contact with some of your friends. You forgot about them. You’re too “caught up” in love

Start a Personal Blog

Post daily blogs about your life

Reach level 7 in Social Networking skill

Attempt to meet someone through the Sim Finder App

C H O I C E:

This generation has a choice for you to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

Good news! It looks like you may have found the sim of your dreams through your blog. Out of all those fishes in the sea, it only took ten different sims to find them. Do you try to fix your reputation, and finally settle down or continue to be a.. heartbreaker?

Generation #5 - Blueberry: Life is very sweet, and you are naturally sweet

Being generous and compassionate is one thing, but doing it all the time, even to the sims that do not deserve it.. gets draining. You kept it pushing. Hey, even I am surprised you lasted this long. Everyone makes mistakes. Although, some people are just unforgivable. It turns out you're the type of sim that doesn’t hold others' mistakes against them forever because holding grudges is immature.

You’ve studied hard to be in a career that has long tiresome hours where you're barely at home, and if you think you got lucky in some extra lounge time – Oh! There goes your alarm, it’s time to clock in! Unfortunately, since you're never home, some things just seem to slip under the rug. Only so much can be slipping through the cracks for you to be completely oblivious. Hmm, I wonder how long this has been going on for? I could never trust someone again after that stunt. Could you?

Traits - Ambitious, Eco-Friendly, Friendly, Genius, and Loves the Outdoors

Career - Science

Lifetime Wish - Become a Creature-Robot Cross Breeder or Renaissance Sim

Aesthetic Color/Colour 

Goals:

Have your sim live the Eco-friendly lifestyle (ex: own a bicycle, eat organic food, recycle, etc)

Start a garden

Fish once a day

Catch/Collect 5 different uncommon or rare type of fishes

Master the Gardening, Handiness, and Fishing skill

Grow a plantsim or create a small farm (ex: raise chickens, cows, horses, etc) [PICK ONE]

Fall in love with one of your co-workers

Once married, make your Spouse have 2 affairs and you must stay with them

Try repairing your marriage with your spouse, but only if you catch them cheating

Generation #6 - Grapefruit: Don’t be such a sour puss!

Let’s be realistic here. You need to get your life together. I’m sorry. I know this is something you do not want to hear, but ya need to put a pep in your step and do something with yourself. Pronto!

You find it quite unfair how other sims around you get to go on fancy trips, have nice cars, live in mansions or high-rise buildings, and afford expensive meals. You wonder to yourself how one can achieve all these kind of lifestyles. Dangerous choices can lead to serious consequences, but it’ll never stop you. I would say you like to live your life on the edge. So, what if you leave a place with five different things that do not belong to you? Any who --- hey, wait a minute... since when did your neighbor/neighbour get such a nice car? Oh my god! Did they seriously leave their keys in the slot like that? Someone could just steal it. It is a really nice car though. I think I might take it for a little spin around the block.. Finders keepers, losers weepers!

Traits - Athletic, Childish, Hot-headed, Kleptomaniac, and Night-owl

Career - Criminal

Lifetime Wish - Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law

Aesthetic Color/Colour

Goals:

Steal 3 items a day

Possess §50,000 worth of stolen items (do not sell anything)

Befriend your ALL of your neighbors/neighbours. No one knows what you do in your free time. You could get some valuable goodies from them, wink wink

Get arrested

Work out 3 times a week at the community Gym

Master the Athletic skill

Live in a house worth over §100,000

Scuffle with someone once a week

Adopt a child

C H O I C E:

This generation has a choice for you to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

Uh-oh, there’s a new addition to the family. Now, you have a lot of responsibility on your hands. This is very important to you. Is this the perfect time to finally get your life together by quitting your job as a Criminal and find a new job? Or, remain a Criminal, but hide it? This has been your lifestyle for a while. Just remember that this could also make you look like a “bad parent” because children can be easily influenced.

If you have made it to the end of this challenge, we want to thank you so much for participating and completing it. Let us know what you think as well!

[yellowbunnydreams]

Bunny Ears (Part 20) ~William Afton X F! Reader~

~Fluffy husband is always welcome! He's so dorky in this chapter it's almost cringy but we all need some golden-retriever Henry Emily in our life too. Sorry it took so long to write, I was really struggling with some writers block for a while so I apologise for any issues with the flow~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Want more or something different? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tag List: @ruh--roh-raggy @h4nluv @sleepy---head @do-double-g @confiscated-peaches-main @dij-ology @viviennemuerte @robin-the-enby @shari-berri @randymeeksisafinalgirl @hallow1090 @aponia-yue @likoplays @dilflover-3 @oak-leafs @phd-in-fuckery @weirdoartist21 @nicolezghostz @fauine @emmbny

Sorry if I missed you on the tag-list!

CW: Minors DNI, (18+ ONLY), Female Reader, legal age gap (Reader- 20's, William - 30's), divorce/processing divorce, Afton being a sarcastic hot ass, grumpy x sunshine . Faz-Fuck TM

The sweet smell of something syrupy and sugar, fruit hidden beneath it, filled your nose in the morning. Turning over in the large bed, your hand reached out for William only to find the mattress cool beneath your fingertips and making your eyes snap open as sit up. Wincing slightly as your body twinged unhappily and you blinked away the last of the sleep clinging to your eyes before your legs slipped out of the bed and padded barefoot across the cool wooden floor.

The space looked so different in the daylight, a window built into the slanted roof opposite the bed let in a lot of natural light, chiffon curtains fluttering in the slight breeze as you realised it was open. His bedding was black sheets with a blue comforter and black pillows, a stark contrast to the pale walls and matching the dark wood of the furniture around the place. It weirdly felt appropriate that William straddled the line between open and airy space with darker elements.

Your footsteps were silent as you pressed on through the house, coming to the old stairs and pulling down William's t-shirt around your body before you reached the bottom. Hearing humming coming from the kitchen, you managed to peek your head around the corner and smiled as you saw his broad back to you. Still wearing those sweatpants that he'd pulled on last night, but clearly focused on cooking as he partly turned to grab something from the counter, his sharp features looking handsome in the soft lighting as his greying stubble made his cheeks look a little more hollow. His salt and pepper hair messy like he'd just woken up, squinting as you realised that this was the first time you were properly seeing him without his glasses.

"Welll good morning handsome." You called sleepily, watching as he practically jumped out of his skin and hissed as the distinct sound of somebody slamming their foot directly into the nearest solid surface was only just covered by the sharp intake of breath. Your hands flying to cover your mouth as you gasped too even though you were completely safe. "Oh my gosh, I'm so so sorry!"

"You're alright bunny, I didn't see you there." He laughed, crouching down to inspect any damage, more to his kitchen than himself before standing up tall once again and gently padding his way around the counter, his thick arms wrapped around you and holding you closely in a warm hug.

"How's my cute little superstar doing this morning?" He asked, kissing the top of your head as your arms wrapped around him in kind.

"Superstar? And I'm good...sore but good." Feeling him squeeze you tighter as he pulled back and inspected you with a frown, squinting in what looked like a slightly accusatory fashion.

"Bunny, baby-girl, you should have lead with that!" He began to ramble slightly as he focused on you, holding onto your shoulders and stroking his thumb over the curve of the joint appreciately as he seemed to tune you out almost in his slight panic.

"Will-"

" I'm sorry you're sore if I went too hard last night say and we don't have to do that again! Gosh I'm so stupid, I should have given you aftercare and made sure..no maybe I should have prepped you more-" Your own brows raised in slight amusement as you looked up at him, head cocked to one side as his voice slipped into that deep gravel.

"William."

"I am such a fool, an old fool! Bunny please can y-"

"WILLIAM AFTON." You finally broke through to him as he seemed to jolt at the use of his full name. Tensing before your hands reached up and cupped his cheeks lightly, thumbs stroking them over his stubbled cheeks and feeling him relaxing, torn from his little concerned spiral.

"William Afton, I love you. And last night was beautiful, and I wouldn't change it for the world, you hear me?" Watching his expression soften as you spoke,

"I do bunny...sorry I just..I wanted it to be special and I wanted to make you breakfast in bed and bring it up to you because you're special to me..I love you too."

"Good, now you've stopped panicking...is it bad timing to mention whatever you're cooking is burning?" Looking over his shoulder and towards the pan that was producing a little black smoke and smelt acrid, making William snap his head around and release you as he sprinted to the stovetop, swearing profusely as you dissolved into laughter over the whole situation.

If it was any indication as to what mornings were like in the Afton household, you were certain that you could live with that for the rest of your life.

It took William about another hour to clean up breakfast, or rather the cremated remains of the original breakfast plan and then to make some pancake batter, making sure that you had heaps of syrup, butter and cream on your pancakes that he even cheesily poured into a little heart shape.

It was entirely silly, but it was so cute that it made you smile even as you tucked in. Moaning at the taste on your tongue and William occasionally stealing bites from your fork and you from his as in the morning light, you both felt that playful spark passing between you. The cuteness of the morning suddenly broken by the telephone on his kitchen wall which had escaped your notice the night before ringing, William rolled his eyes and stood up, cracking his back before he picked up the reciever and crossed his broad arms across his chest, pressing a button on the wall unit so you could hear the full conversation.

"Morning to you Henry."

"Good morning Wil- Hey, how did you know it was me?" You stifled a giggle around a mouthful of pancake as William rolled his eyes again and rubbed his hand over his face.

"It's always you, the telemarketers don't even call this early anymore." William sighed before leaning against the wall, giving you a playful wink as he spoke to your mutual friend. "Anyway, you're not just calling for fun are you?"

"No, right! Yes... The reason I called!" You nearly choked as you could hear the mild confusion in Henry's voice before returning to it's naturally chipper state, probably forgetting why he was confused in the first place. "The reason I called is that I really need you to come in Will."

"It's my day off."

"Yes, I know I know, but one of the arcades isn't acting right and it's spitting out tickets when it's hitting low scores and nothing on the jackpot."

"Is it a One-Dee-Aye-Zero-Tee error?" He asked, taking a moment before you realised what he spelt and trying not to laugh even more as William gave you that confident smirk again that made your chest tighten up.

"No? You know I'm not familiar with all the error codes like you are! Please, please just come in for half an hour?"

"I uh...I would love to Henry but I genuinely can't." He replied, looking suddenly slightly sheepish as he moved his weight from one leg to the other, making you raise an eyebrow and point to yourself. William simply made a non-commital motion in return.

"Why? Wills if this is about your little guest that I presume is still there, just bring her along and I'll pay both of you for the day!"

"I can't drive, Henry."

There was a pregnant pause as you looked at the taller, older man with a furrowed brow and confusion written over your expression. Watching as even through the stubble you could see his cheeks flushing red and practically hear the gears of Henry's mind turning.

"Damn Will, I mean..did you like...break... it? Cause uh...wow that's mildly impressive almost if she-"

"No. No! God, no! Nothing like that!" William rubbed his hand over his face as he turned even more sheepish looking and could barely look in your direction as he tried to mumble something into the phone, only making you raise your eyebrows again. You could just hear Henry through the phone asking him to speak up however, clearly struggling to understand his friend as he tried to be discreet before William got frustrated and spoke loudly again.

"Look, I broke my damn glasses last night okay? I'm blind as fuck right now." You blinked in surprise as you vaugely recalled William throwing his glasses as they fogged up and bursting into uncontrolled giggled. Trying to clamp your hands over your mouth as you recieved a squinting death glare from your boyfriend as Henry spoke up again.

"You....How? Wait no, I don't want to know! But I do...but...how? How do you even???..." confusion evident in his voice as you tried and failed to stop your laughter.

"Look so I can try to get in but-"

"OH MY GOD IF YOU BROKE YOUR GLASSES WHAT DID SHE BREAK?!" you were unable to hide it as you burst out laughing, hearing Henry calling your name panickedly through the crackle of the telephone. "SPEAK TO ME, IF YOU NEED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE SAY 'PINEAP-"

William slammed the phone down on his friend as you looked at each other and burst out laughing again after a moment. Jokingly holding up some fingers and asking how many there were before William flipped you off and came over to kiss you, humming against your lips as he smiled into your laughter.

~~

"Bunny, we're going to be late." William laughed as he poked his head around the door to his room, looking at you sat on his bed and turning up the cuffs of the jeans he had leant you so that they wouldn't drag on the floor. He had had to lend you clothes for the day since you certainly weren't being let into Freddy's wearing that cute little dress from the night before, but his jeans drowned you even with one of his belts as tight it would go and a flannel shirt over a t-shirt.

You looked like you were a kid playing dress-up, but William simply smiled and padded over to you, wrapping his arms around you as he carefully tucked and adjusted the flannel to sit a little better on your much smaller frame.

"You look very cute though." Grinning as compared to his own lazy black t-shirt, opened pale yellow plaid shirt and jeans, you looked like a mini-him. Sticking your tongue out slightly as you shook your head.

"I look like a kid."

"No, you look like my beautiful bunny," He chastised playfully, giving you a slightly squinty smile as you noticed the bulge of his glasses tucked into his top pocket. It had admittedly been quite amusing when he revealed that they were really broken, one lens popped out and cracked so even if he could force it back into the frame, the vision would still be way off. You didn't remember him throwing it that hard the night before, but you supposed that you were focused on a lot more intense things instead.

"You're always going to say that, you love me." Rolling your eyes and watching as William raised an eyebrow before giving you a stern look and tutting through his teeth.

"I do love you, and here I thought you were a good girl."

"I am!"

"Good girls don't act like brats, they accept when their boyfriend says they're cute." Chuckling as he held your hand and kissed your forehead, humming against your skin before squeezing your hand and looking at you sheepishly again. "Although...I do need to ask a really big favour."

Crossing your arms after a moment, even in his squinty state, you looked all too cute and not in the least bit intimidating. Afton blinked and gave you that lopsided smile that made you melt, wrapping his arms around you and holding you close as he put his chin on your head. Breathing in and realising with a pang of both sadness and comfort that you smelled a little like his cologne as well as your own sweet perfume.

"I need you to drive us to work," He asked quietly, nuzzling into your shoulder as he dropped his head down, feeling you gently shake yours. "Please, I know you have a drivers licence."

"William..." You whined, feeling him turn his head and begin to place scratching kisses against your sensitive skin on your neck, murmuring 'please' against you between each one that made you think back to each delicious kiss the night before, groaning softly as you cradled the back of his head. "You're not playing fairly kissing me like that."

"You'll learn I don't always play fairly, bunny. Pretty please? I promise I'll take you to breakfast afterwards." Hearing the almost childish whine to his voice, you shook your head and laughed, carefully bringing his head up and kissing him as you looked at your handsome, older boyfriend and boss pouting like he hadn't gotten the candy he wanted.

"We've had breakfast, Will, both cremated and edible.

"Then I'll treat my pretty little bunny to ice-cream and cake and all the attention I can humanly lavish upon you?"

"Fine, twist my arm then. You're showing me how the hell to drive your car, and I'm not responsible for any scratches or paint work damage!" Kissing him again before taking his hand and walking down the stairs together, William holding your hand tightly and glad for the excuse that he could keep holding it for just a little bit longer.

~~

Driving through the small town and towards Freddy's whilst trying not to crash in William Afton's car that you definitely could not afford to replace, and you really hoped no cops pulled you over to ask for your registration details, was more stressful than you could have ever wanted to experience. Sure, you had a driving licence, but you didn't own a car and you were sure that the last time you had actually driven a vehicle was during your driving exam. But Afton had made it as comfortable for you as possible, and even allowed you to get out a block down from Freddy's and walk, since you both agreed that you weren't sure it was quite time to tell people about your relationship.

It felt strange, being inside the pizzeria without your uniform on now, and you called back to your first time arriving there, how nervous you had felt and how overwhelming the bright lights, colours and noise was. Now it felt strangely like home, like it really was a place where fantasy and fun could come to life.

Stacey wrapped you up in a bear hug once you got in, taking you slightly by surprise as you watched William slip in and through to the back hall to get his tool kit to fix the arcade, moving slower than normal to avoid earning an additional moniker to 'Wiffle Bat Willy' by punting a child in his blind state.

"Oh, em, gee! You're here on you're day off! Mr. Emily said you were sick on Friday and went home early and I was so worried!" The young woman gushed as she held you close and then at arms length, raising her eyebrow as you realised she had finally noticed what you were wearing. "And this...honestly isn't what I thought you would have as a personal style."

"Gee, thanks for your total vote of confidence!" You laughed, making your work friend laugh too as you shook your head. "It was what was clean and available." Not a total lie.

"Girl, stick a...darn...wash on, wear a skirt or something, god knows I would if I could right now!" Rolling your eyes at her statement, you looked over her shoulder at the groups of children running around carrying paper cups filled with half-strength sodas and hyper from pizza grease and carpet candy, raising your eyebrow as she followed your line of sight.

"Are you sure you want to keep to that statement?"

"On second thoughts, I have enough stains to get out of my clothes without having to scrub my legs raw to get off fizzy-Faz."

"Come on, find me a seat and I'll get a drink or something, I have to hang out for a bit anyway." It was Stacey's turn to raise an eyebrow now as you blushed, wondering if you had given too much away before she looked at the already blazing sunshine outside and sighed.

"Yeah, you don't want to be out there at the moment unless you're in some air conditioned car or bus. Come on, let's get you a table and I'll even get you a colouring sheet if you play nicely with the other kids!"

"Ha-ha, very funny." Ribbing her playfully in the ribs as you managed to snag a seat by the stage, prime real estate at Freddy's, and had a good view of the arcade, where you could see Will knelt on the floor and opening the back of a machine that had the 'out of order' panel placed over the screen.

"Oh look, you get a great view of Afton too!" Stacey laughed, making you blush more and smacking her arm as she retreated to just out of your reach. Cackling as she clearly enjoyed teasing you about what she presumed was a crush on your boss. "He's rubbing off on you too, that looks like one of his shirts."

You weren't sure how much hotter your cheeks could get as she disappeared to continue working, leaving you to sit and wait with your day dreams about what you would rather be doing as William Afton glanced over and gave you a soft smile that made you melt all over again.

[jo-harrington]

Sunsets.

They were always better when you watched them with someone else.

You glanced down at the hands in your lap: yours and Sam's, twined together like your lives have been for the past 5 years. The best of friends from the moment her family moved into town. You couldn't remember a time when you existed without her.

She's chatting now, telling some story about her boyfriend's dunce behavior to cheer you up after Mark broke your heart. Douchebag. You don't really know how you got here of all places; how things seemed to go so right with him and then so terribly wrong.

Sam made a joke at both Patrick and Mark's expense. You laughed and the sound of it was unfamiliar and almost roared in your ear, like a hundred people were laughing.

Everyone always laughed at Sam's jokes. Everyone loved Sam. Everything always worked out for her, even in the most unlikely situations. She was just lucky like that.

You told her once, after she won the talent show at school, that it almost seemed like she was the star of The Samantha Show or something. She found it hilarious, apparently, but you had an inkling that her feelings were still hurt. This was real life, not TV. She didn't just win because she was some main character, she worked really hard on her dance routine.

You felt a little bad after that, never brought it up again. The dark little voice deep down inside you smothered for now.

Because yeah, she did work hard. You knew that. She was smart and talented and funny and caring and a great friend and neighbor and that's just how it was because...

Because...

Because she strived to be all of those thing.

Things you…really didn’t bother with.

Because you were…

You.

Average, squeaking by a three-point-something GPA, wannabe artist who could barely draw, never left town before even when there was that field trip to DC because you got the mumps. A little nervous, a little clumsy, a little romantic with your head in the clouds. You always had a crush but nothing ever really came of those crushes until Mark.

The only boy to ever like you back and then he broke your heart.

“I just want to disappear,” you muttered pathetically and let go of Sam’s hand to cover your eyes again.

"So do it!" Sam finally hopped to her feet in the way that only she could, raring for another passioned, motivational speech that she was known for. You really needed one of those and also loathed that she was about to give you one. "Disappear! Leave!”

This was not the speech you expected.

"Uh, what?" you let out a mixture of a scoff and a laugh, tears forgotten for now. "What do you mean leave? Hello, graduation in a few months. Prom? Then college. What happened to your big plan last week? One last summer in Port Geneva?"

"Forget one last summer," she waved her arms wildly. "This is your life! You're my best friend, I want you happy. Tell me the truth. Do you really even want to go to college? Wouldn't you rather pack up big blue and go on that adventure like you talked about in 8th grade?"

At your blank stare, Sam grabbed you by the shoulders and shook you.

"That's the whole reason we're friends in the first place don't you remember? The ice breaker?! Are you kidding?"

"I don't have a clue," you giggled as she jostled you around.

"Our entire friendship built on a lie. UGH. Ok. Mrs. Mills what-do-you-wanna-do-in-10-years activity? And everyone's was stupid. Tina wanted to be on the cover of Tiger Beat for the Girl Superstar issue. Patrick...gotta love him...but he wanted to be the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Mine was so dumb I don't even want to say it, great first impressions I made as the new kid.

"But you wanted to see the world! Pack your bags and board a train around the US. Paint the sunset at the Grand Canyon. See glaciers in Alaska! Hell, you even said you'd travel to Middle Earth if you could. And I thought you meant the equator!"

You both laughed and as she went on and on about things you apparently said 4 years ago and as the memory came back to you, your heart ached.

Yeah, you did say that stuff didn't you? You’d been such a silly, idealistic kid before you grew up and reality hit you time and time again.

"That was just kids stuff Sammie," you laughed dismissively. "I'm...I'm gonna take classes at State, and I'm gonna work at the furniture store and I'm gonna..."

"You're gonna pine over Mark Greckman over the rest of your life?" The hands were on her hips again. "No, ma'am, you...you're gonna go on your adventure and...oh my...you're gonna find a prince of some European kingdom or...or a handsome stranger in an Italian villa. Or both. Hoards of men fighting for your affection."

"Please stop," you stood up and grabbed her as she started waving her arms around and pantomiming kissing a tall stranger. "Stop it."

"Ok I'm done, I'm done," she promised. "I just don't want you to be crying over that idiot anymore. And we might be close to graduation but...I don't know...you can still change your mind."

"Hmm," you shrugged. "I dunno. If just sounds so…”

“Unlike you?”

“Yeah.”

"Just think about it," she urged you. "You and your Volkswagen Beetle…and the world...the whole universe if you want it! The possibilities are endless. I just feel like...1985...it's gonna be your year."

There was a spark of inspiration that grew inside of you, and in your heart, you knew she was right.

You pulled her into your arms, grateful to have your best friend.

"Port Geneva was filmed in front of a live studio audience."

Eddie hit the rewind button on the remote and watched the scene speed in reverse until it hit Sam’s big speech. He hit play and watched for a minute then paused, the blurry image of your giggling face frozen on his screen for the foreseeable future.

He sighed and leaned back on the couch to enjoy your company for a minute.

The living room was dark, only illuminated by the glow of the TV and the street lights outside shining through the windows. There was a stack of tapes on the coffee table, along with his abandoned homework. The pizza he ordered would be here soon but for now…it was just you and him.

“M’sorry Mark was an asshole,” he said aloud into the still room. “To be honest…I kind of warned you about him way back.”

You don’t say anything. You never do.

“I know, the heart wants what it wants.” He picked a piece of lint off of his jeans. “I just want to look out for you honey.”

You stay smiling on the screen, and he can imagine it got the slightest bit bigger when he said that.

“I know you try to look after me too. Guess that doesn’t stop either of us getting hurt right?” He chuckled and pat his hands on his lap.

This was pathetic, talking to a fictional character like they were really in the room with him.

You were just…you were everything. And you’d been there for him, a balm to his woes. You had been since he started watching Port Geneva way back when, but especially since everything went down last year.

With his dad and the house and…

There was a knock at the door and Eddie hit the eject button so he could put in the next tape in watch with dinner. It was gonna be a good episode, you tell Mark off and even punch him; he remembered it fondly.

Defending yourself. He was proud of his girl.

Eddie ate his dinner and watched his episodes, taped from when they originally aired. Wednesday nights at 9pm, right before the news. He did his homework and occasionally repeated the rewind-pause-play act that he had perfected over the years so he could make another joke or, just once, complain about his chemistry homework.

Life was hard. For everyone. But especially if your name was Eddie Munson. Still, he endured. He’d never been a stranger to fantasy and escapism, he had his books and his game and his movies but there was something so…comforting in the realism that was your show.

A small suburban town full of normals. All sorts of mundane activities that mostly everyone made feel were…life altering events. And a handful of misunderstood outcasts���like you and Scott and Bonnie—who played supporting characters to the stars. Stars that were, quite frankly, unrealistic and annoying.

Eddie felt that way sometimes though, like he was just some background character waiting for his chance at the spotlight. Who had been the main character in his story, huh? Ronnie? Yeah…he could see that, now that she was on her great college adventure.

But with her gone, what would come of his storyline? Did he just fade into the background again?

Eddie ejected the tape before the current episode finished and propped his feet on the coffee table as he flipped the channels to something else. He needed to focus on something else. He would come back to his tapes, to you, another night and he would wish that you were real once again. Knocking on his door, taking him on a grand adventure with you.

But for now he just needed to stew in his…sad secondary character thoughts.

You got your time in the spotlight, a 2-episode arc at the end of the season, and as much as he hoped that it would be his turn soon…to be the character everyone loved…the person everyone loved…he knew it might never happen for him.

Eddie the Freak. Eddie the outcast. Eddie the idiot.

He would even take a single scene dedicated to him at this point.

Was that too much to ask?

Coming in 2024.

Find the Masterlist here. And the original blurb here.

[paledoptera]

SHADOWFELL SAGA CONTENT ARCHIVE (POST 2/2)

welcome back to the shadowfell content archive!

this is going to be the second (and hopefully last) post! keep in mind the "parts" are going to be a lot more brief than the first post, the early game was pretty fleshed out but the rest was pretty much just vague ideas.

in addition to content that would have eventually come out, i'm also gonna be showing off a couple of early drafts and ideas that got cut!!!

SO:

INTERMISSION: BATTLE TIME!!!

so this was the original draft shiiv sent me for "smackdown". for the two tracks they contributed to the game (smackdown & pasta la vista, which you can hear in the last content archive post) they basically made a full song with temporary instrumentation, then i went back and remade the song with more toby fox-y instrumentation. they are FANTASTIC at music writing and i actually kinda love this original version of smackdown, it has some unique charm in how bitcrushed it is

i don't really have much to comment about the battle system, but i'll quickly run through how it would've worked:

basically, it'd be the mario & luigi battle system but with a few small changes.

solo attacks would be weak attacks that cost little BP (bone power)

bros attacks would be strong attacks that cost lots of BP

you can skip your turn and regain BP by using a "pass" action command. this would be the main way to recover BP

i think one flaw in mario & luigi is that BP being a somewhat limited resource kind of force you to use solo (jump/hammer) moves rather than your COOL and hard to master bros moves. i feel like BP being an UNlimited resource would kind of remedy that

here are some ideas we had for bros attacks

(in bone blast, papyrus' gaster blaster would have been FRANK from papyrus belief <3)

yaboinando made this amazing concept for an attack based off of an old "dark darker yet darker" fan animation

last thing i have to say about the battle system: we actually had another form of "bros move" planned out. the whole game is food themed, so i figured it was only natural that a cooking move would be in the game!

PART 4: MOUNT CERAMIA

this area's name actually hovered between "mount ceramic" and "mount ceramia" for a while. i ended up choosing ceramia cuz i thought it sounded more mountain-y the theme is pretty unfinished, but i really like how it sounds anyways. i wanted to establish "our maiden voyage" as the overarching "area theme" for the whole game, but i thought a more percussive and tribal-sounding version of it would be cool for the mountain area

mount ceramia is a giant mountain made of plates and mugs. who would've thought!! i wanted to make a joke about "tectonic plates" here. i liked the section in superstar saga where you climb a giant mountain, which is prob the biggest inspiration of this area.

early on in the area, you meet IMPACT, a skeleton oc with a giant bone club

he was mostly a joke character, but i liked him. he was kinda like a big dumb caveman-y guy. funnily enough, i never envisioned him as a boss or villain. he was always going to be an ally.

(i didn't make it very far in the writing process of his theme song!!)

i can't be bothered to make a whole google doc for his short introduction script, so i'll just copy-paste it to here. (his text was going to be comedically large)

Impact: IMPACT!!! Impact: I AM IMPACT Impact: THE ONE WHO BONKS Papyrus: HELLO IMPACT! IT'S NICE TO- Impact: IMPACT PLAGUED BY Impact: TERRIBLE EGGPLANTS Impact: THEY HARD LIKE ROCKS Impact: AND RUIN MY GARDEN Papyrus: AH, A SKELETON IN DISTRESS! Papyrus: NO MATTER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO HELP! (papyrus materializes a bone in his hand) Papyrus: I'LL SMASH THESE EGGPLANTS VALIANTLY LIKE- (papyrus swings his bone at the eggplant, it bounces off. he keeps trying) Papyrus: …LIKE SO!! Papyrus: LIKE SO!!! (the bone he's holding cracks) sans: you're cracking me up. Papyrus: SHUT IT SANS! Impact: YOU ARE BABBY BONES. Impact: WEAK LIKE TWIG! Impact: NEED MORE CALCIUM Impact: VITAMINS ARE GOOD. (impact tosses a heavy bone club at papyrus) Impact: THESE ARE REAL BONES. Impact: BONE CLUBS. Impact: IMPACT MADE THEM MYSELF. Impact: THESE ARE REAL BONKABLE. Impact: HELP ME BONK THE EGGPLANTS Impact: AND THEY ARE YOURS. the bone clubs would have basically been this game's replacement for the hammers in m&l. i liked the idea of papyrus and sans just hitting shit with comedically large bones like cavemen

this area was very egg-centric for some reason. i think it's because i got the whole "smashing-plates" thing into my head and wanted to smash other stuff.

PART 5: CARRION ISLES

in earlier versions of the game, the brightwater floats were actually called the carrion isles. i thought that name was too grim for such a brightly colored area though, so i pushed it forward!!!

i don't have any concept art for carrion, but i'd picture it as a collection of super stormy scary piers with constant thunder and scary intense music. it'd have that core-thing going where it'd have really intense area music that keeps playing in the battles.

(enemy designs by the fantastic yaboinando!)

this area was very fuzzy in my head. i wasn't really sure what to do with it, but i wanted some kind of semi sheriff minigame or battle at the end of this. the basic idea i had was that there'd be a "pirate king" and that semi would ally with them, maybe there'd be some kind of silly cannon battle between you on ferryperson's (now repaired) ship and them. another idea i had was that the "pirate king" could have been undyne, who fell into the dark world way after sans and papyrus did. they'd initially be allied with semi, but as soon as she sees her "enemies" are sans and papyrus she jumps ship and joins you on your adventure. i'm not sure how that would work with the rest of the game though!!!

one thing for certain is that after the silly battle, there'd be a big intense betrayal scene where ferryperson fights you. i SWEAR i had some concept art of this but i can't find this. it'd have ferryperson on a giant wave while papyrus and sans are floating on the collapsed remains of their boat though. kinda like this.

this theme was somewhat inspired by alphys takes action, funnily enough. i like how it sounds, though it is very unfinished

(edit) FOUND IT!!!!

this is VERY very early concept art, back when the game had more of an undertale-y UI. originally sans was actually going to be the only one in this battle since papyrus was held hostage, it'd be the thing to push him into finally fighting properly

PART 6: STEEL CALDERA & ZARELLA RESORT

quick warning!!! everything beyond this point is very fuzzy. we had NONE of this solidly planned out

this is the closest thing we have to a theme for steel caldera. it would've been a magma-y volcano area! originally this area was actually called "steamworks" and was a purple-pinkish retro-futuristic city, but undertale yellow came out and i thought it'd look like a ripoff so i trashed that idea lol

in the original script, caldera was also called "mt zarella" but i thought that sounded lame

i had a brief idea for a skeleton in undyne's knight armor called "ROMAN OF STEEL" who was gonna be the main villain for this arc, sort of a big egotistical tough-guy character.

zarella resort was gonna be the part-2 to this area, a fancy italian resort next to the volcano with heavy mafia connections.

r.v pine made some fantastic designs for the cheese mafia that i still LOVE

there was gonna be a meta joke in the resort where papyrus & sans expect to get firehand and thunderhand, but the ancient sites that those powers come from were knocked down and turned into a tourist attraction. some mafia employee goes "I'm sorry, but hand powers have been privatized."

the arc ends with papyrus getting a neverending bottle of hot sauce that he just kind of carries around and uses as a "fire" attack

INTERMISSION: MID-GAME SEMI FIGHT

early on i envisioned some kind of semi-emotional moment where sans and papyrus meet another skeleton with this big western wagon, then they sit by a campfire and talk, then go to sleep. when they wake up, semi sheriff is chasing them with his own wagon, and there'd be this massive battle. i swear i have concept art of this too but i ACTUALLY can't find it this time

PART 7: CAPRESE JUNGLE

this was a very weird area. it was gonna be a jungle based on salad i swear everything i came up with for this area came from some schizo hallucination because i don't remember coming up with any of this.

here are some iterations this strange area went through:

the area was ruled by a fancy skeleton with a fancy feathered hat called "Arial Noire". she spoke french and was a necromancer

the area was ruled by dinosaurs, like papyrus' dino egg oatmeal. there would be a part where semi tries to ambush you, but accidentally shoots a baby dino in its egg and then the baby dino gets pissed and fights papyrus and sans

the area was ruled by a flowey knockoff called "Peppermint".

PART 8: QUICK ROUNDUP OF OTHER AREAS

here are some other area ideas i had for the late-game:

sugarspice peaks, an area with cliffs and moths and stuff. i didn't actually put much thought into this area, i just wanted moths in the game. in the light world this would have been a cupboard

the badlands. this area would have started as a return to flavortown, that ends in a giant journey to catch the IMPASTA, the bandit who framed papyrus & sans and caused semi sheriff to hunt you down throughout the entire game. after you catch impasta, semi sheriff joins your party.

steampunk glacier, basically just the fridge in the light world. this would have been a heavy parallel to "joke's end" in superstar saga. i think paps & sans would have been seperated from semi sheriff (and possibly undyne) for the first half of this section, then they all meet back up near the end. sans also gets a shitty hand power, being a few cubes of dry ice that he just throws at people's eyes

PART 9: WATERFALL PALACE & FINAL BOSS

so, this is something that's oddly personal to me because the stupid, STUPID idea i had for the final boss was my entire motivation to create this game.

the waterfall palace area would be a standard area-before-final-boss-area. in the light world it would be the comedically tall kitchen sink.

at the top of the tower, there'd be a giant faucet with running water and the "dark lord", the overarching villain for this whole thing. you find the "dark lord" and fight him. a theme similar to "in the final" from bowser's inside story would play, but then the boss would be incredibly underwhelming. he'd die in like 3 hits... at which point he reveals he's not the ACTUAL dark lord, and he was just pretending to do so for status. he'd turn off the faucet... and then a giant door would reveal itself behind the great waterfall.

papyrus, sans and semi sheriff would walk through the door... and see a japanese temple.

and then, the ground rumbles.

the FINAL BOSS of this entire adventure would have been a GIGANTIC ANNOYING DOG WITH THREE HEADS. an ANNOYING CERBERUS if you will

you don't understand. the idea of this is so fucking hilarious to me. imagine going on this entire adventure just for the final boss to be an annoying dog joke. this is the first ever idea i thought of for this fucking fangame and i worked backwards from there and thought up EVERYTHING ELSE. JUST to fit the puzzle pieces together for this finale. i thought it would be so fucking funny to troll the players like this.

to bring the joke even further, in most mario & luigi games, you have to collect 8 pieces of some kind of ancient-mythical-powerful-artifact. in this game i decided on "ingredients for the legendary linguine", a bunch of seemingly magical ingredients that come together to make this uber powerful relic of a meal. there was gonna be this dramatic scene halfway through the cerberus fight where papyrus assembles the linguine, throws it at the boss and then NOTHING HAPPENS. a big point of the boss would also be that it'd think papyrus, sans & semi's attacks are just play-fighting, but once they deal enough damage then it'd get angry and just curbstomp them both and they'd seemingly be pretty much dead.

there would be this big power-of-friendship scene where sans, papyrus and semi revive, and then a giant three-headed gaster blaster dragon would be assembled from the bones of their attacks, and there'd be a bowsers-inside-story style giant battle where the megalo dragon finally defeats the annoying dog

and that, my friends, would be the ending of my half-shitpost game, because i think that would have been amazing and hilarious, but unfortunately that reality will never come to fruition.

thank you all for the support. since i posted the first half of this archive i saw a twitter thread posted about the game's cancellation. it's pretty humbling, and dare i say almost inspiring seeing how many people liked the concept so much and were saddened by its cancellation. i have a big problem with announcing projects too soon and then having to cancel them when i inevitably loose motivation, so to avoid this i'll probably be dead quiet on any future big projects until i can release SOMETHING to do with them, whether that's a demo or trailer or anything else. i hope to see you all in whatever project i start next!

SHADOWFELL SAGA ARCHIVE: PART 1 - PART 2

[ibeta]

Embarrassing Interviews of Famous Red Scenes

One: Red is a singer, Sans is the brother of the guy that Mettaton is platonically dating.

*AT AN AWARD VENUE, AFTER THE EVENT*

Interviewer: So, when are we going to hear a love song from the newest Golden Voice singer?

Red: *scowling* i don't fucking sing love songs, who do ya think i am?

Interviewer: Our audience will be disappointed, but as you've never sang a single love song, it does sound like you—

*Sans walks past as he talks to his brother, who is Mettaton's plus one*

*Red starts staring with wide sockets at somewhere off-camera.*

Red: *desperate expression* waitaminute, i didn't say i wasn't gonna change my mind, give me that fucking mic right now i'm gonna blast your ears with the best love songs ever okay wait—

———

Two: Red is a famous actor, and Sans is an actor who takes on small roles, like a shopkeeper, a janitor, a random employee, or a passerby. He's not well-known, but people keep seeing him, and he looks familiar, although they can't tell why.

*AT AN INTERVIEW EVENT*

Interviewer: We've seen you play as the main character and the true villain of the movie, but rumours have it that your next step is a rom-com show, is this true?

Red: *confused* who keeps saying stuff like that? i don't do rom-coms.

Interviewer: Does it relate to your previous interview with Mettaton, where you mentioned that you aren't in love, so you have no idea how to play those roles?

Red: yeah, i have no idea what love wou—

*Sans darts past while giggling, running away from his irrate manager and brother, Papyrus*

*Red's stunned.*

Red: *panicking, flustered, a whole mess* actually, never mind. i am so inspired to do rom-coms right the fuck now. where's my manager? hey, you! get that guy's name and – where does he work? hire a scriptwriter from the company to write our love story—i mean a rom-com story and while you're at it, grab him so i can ask him out—ask him about it and—

———

Three: Red is a superstar with lots of talent, Sans is also famous, but as a scientist. His brother is the manager of the famous Mettaton, who receives help from Sans if he needs repairs. Sans gets invited to places because Mettaton appreciates his help so much.

Interviewer: Is it true that you've never fallen in love before?

*AT A SUPERSTAR EVENT*

Red: why do you keep asking me stupid questions? why can't you ask me about how stupid my last movie was? i don't know where they hired the idiot who thought it was a good idea to write a quasar into the last scene, i mean do you even know how stupid it would be for a spaceship to be that close—

Interviewer: *almost crying, wants to keep the topic of love, understands nothing about science at all* So, you have never fallen in love before?

Red: dude, were you not listening at all? i haven't—

*Sans passes by with Mettaton. He recognises Red and stops to talk to him*

Sans: oh, hey. you're that monster captain guy, right? did you know that quasars produce so much light that your space alien team should have been blinded even if your spaceship was made of plot armour?

Red: *staring at the other skeleton with wide sockets* you science.

Sans: *blinks and notices the camera and interviewer* oh. oh, man, sorry, i just overheard—

Red: *sweating* nonono, it's okay. anyway, about quasars, did you see how they put a habitable planet next to a blue star?

Sans: *pained expression* don't remind me. i had to tell my brother it was impossible several times over the course of a month after that movie.

Red: hey, since you like space so much, how about you be a star and stay in mine? *dying expression*

Sans: *flustered* huh?

Red: what about being the center of my galaxy? *desperate and confused expression*

Sans: *sweating* u-um—

Red: i think that you're the core of my world because you make me warm inside. *horrified at the things he's saying*

Sans: *embarrassed* stars—

Red: speaking of stars, are you one? because you're lumino—mmpfff *Sans decides to block his mouth with his hands, blushing and staring at Red in flustered surprise.*

*Red's experiencing the sweet relief of being silenced after his embarrassing words*

Sans: buddy, enough—

Red: *muffled* but you're so pretty. *Red is dying inside, but he can’t stop his mouth*

Sans: *dying noise* ...okay, fine. i give up.

Interviewer: *whimpering, forgotten at the side* ...is that a no?

———

1/?

[soulc-hilde]

Ch. 04 - Fight, Fight

Pairing: Jey Uso / Josh Fatu x Aries / Ezmeralda Bey

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

Ch. 01 | Ch. 02 | Ch. 03 | Ch. 04 |

Kansas City, MO 

Today before the show, a few of the girls were set out to do an autograph signing. Ezmeralda had taken the opportunity to ditch the scene for some time with her brothers in the ring. The trio run through their drills, going over their move set before taking a quick break. 

"So why ain't you out there with Trin and 'em?" Ezekiel questions, sipping some of his water. 

The youngest triplet shrugs, "we already sell a shit ton of merch as is and I love seeing the fans, but I'm not all for having to dress up and flaunt my body in hopes the sales can put more zeros on our check."

"I hate to say it, but sex sells. Especially as a woman who is being broadcasted and is participating in sports, your body is at least 90% the main concern of the fans and the company. 5% is your knowledge of the craft and the other 5% is your skill. If your face doesn't 'sit right' with them or body doesn't look like this girl or that girl, you either gotta change it or get lost."

"When my brothers and I first started, that was a huge thing going on in WWE. The women, the Divas, were nothing but eye candy. Yeah, they'll do a little this and a little that, but at the end of the day, your sex is what earns the company money while the 'big dogs' get to have their fun and be rightfully paid for doing their jobs."

"Just like in the past and just like now, my body is for myself to enjoy. It's not for everybody and I don't feel comfortable." 

Ezra sighs, irritated. He, himself, has always hated whenever Talent Relations would ask her to play roles that suggested her as nothing more than eye candy or a bed warmer. "Fuck that, let's talk about somethin' else before I get heated."

"What's up with you and Joshua?" He side-eyes her, studying the way her face scrunched at the question. Ezmeralda's lips purse, pushing out into duck lips as if she was a child all over again. She points at the elder Bey, mimicking their great uncle's accent.

"Le'me... Le'me tell yu somet'in'," they burst into laughter. She stutters through her laugh, "me and Josh... are chillin', ye know? We're gettin' to know each other some more."

Ezekiel reels back, face scrunched, "'gettin' to know each other?' Girl, y'all been knowin' each other since like 2008. What else y'all need to know about each other?"

She kisses her teeth, "that's why I said 'some more' dumbass."

"Look," Ezra shakes his head, "all I know is that Josh is like an extra little brother. You? Are my little sister, okay? Both of y'all are my favorite, but I'll be damn if you play with his emotions and he plays with yours, especially with us working together."

"We've talked about it just a little. He understands that I don't have experience in this field and I want to take it slow. I want to learn about myself and my love language before I just go jumping in his arms screaming: 'I'm yours!'"

Ezekiel side eyes her, pushing his palms towards her. "Girl, too much. Too much. We you're brothers, not your girlfriends, nye. All we needed to know was that y'all were taking it slow like Bobby Valentino. That was all." 

She giggles, heading for backstage. "Where you headin'?" Ezra raises an eyebrow. She looks over her shoulder, "Checkin' on my outfit for the night. Your girl gotta look good, ya dig?"

"Aye, can you check on ours, too?" Ezekiel shouts, hanging upside down on the ropes. Instead of answering, Ezmeralda simply shakes her head. 

As Ezmeralda was looking over her outfit, Trinity steps up to her with a scrunched face. "Girl," she trails, collapsing beside the older woman. "Guess what Ariane's pestering about now?"

Immediately, Ezmeralda's face drops as a heavy sigh leaves her chest. "Oh, God. Does that woman ever stop?" 

Trinity snorts, "of course not. So, we're getting ready for the signing when the Bellas and Ariane begin talking about the size of their boobs, especially Nikki's. We get to the booth, Nikki's pushin' them things up as if they weren't already spilling out and Ariane's trying to do the same like, it hurt to watch."

She pauses, "that's when she goes: 'I'mma go to an appointment.'" Ezmeralda's jaw drops, "because Nikki has big boobs?!"

Trinity shrugs, nodding, "basically."

"Nat has big boobs, so big that it looks as if she's pushing them up when she's not and yet look at how the company treats her," the veteran scoffs. "And don't get me started with the fact that the recovery process might set y'all back. It's a stupid decision." 

"Typically, the Divas compete with one another for screen time and climbing the ranks for popularity in the company. One of the biggest things that comes into count is the appearance of them. If they look more like a model or some type of dream woman, you have a step in the door."

She shakes her head, "I've seen women in the business go in and out with several different surgeries on various difference spots of their bodies. I don't really care if they do it, but I always say that it's better to do things for yourself than for others. If it makes you happy? Do it until your heart bursts, but please never do something to make someone else happy cause they never will be."

Los Angeles, CA 

Tired of Ariane's growing bullshit, Trinity had volunteered Ezmeralda as the tag team's third party to the opening of a boutique. Not one for boutiques, especially high end ones or having to dress up on her day, she came up with an ultimatum. She'd go as long as she could bring a 'date,' which was really supposed to be her fellow escapee. 

And who better to invite than her slow burn lover, Joshua?

Dressed in a creme, off the shoulder top and a short, brown skirt with a thigh slit paired with a matching set of brown leather knee high heels and a brown purse, Josh had unintentionally matched with her.

Similarly, the younger Fatu took on a slick yet casual approach, dressed in a creme crewneck and matching jeans with a custom pair of brown and creme low high Air Forces - a birthday gift from yours truly.

The duo walks behind Trinity and Jon, their faces taking on a natural mean mug. It was no secret that Josh was an introvert and preferred socializing on his own terms rather than smiling in the face of strangers everyday.

For Ezmeralda, she was to stand in the public with one interview after another since she was one of the many household names of the company; although, that didn't mean she was willing to do it for free and on her off day.

"Jon, Josh," Ariane's boyfriend, Vincent, calls over his shoulder. "Get your swag on. Swag on, baby, there you go."

Immediately, Josh and Ezmeralda side eye one another. Nearly laughing her ass off, Ezmeralda shakes her head and keeps walking.

"Wait, babe," Ariane stops Vincent, "um, so, you're gonna stand right here. And we're gonna work it." 

Ariane looks over at Trinity and Ezmeralda, "come on, girls. Let's work."

Trinity begrudingly steps forward, pulling the older woman with her. As the three stepped closer to the boutique's entrance, the small group of paparrazzi begin to take photos of them. A few primarily focusing their shots on the veteran posing out of of her element.

Blinded and overstimulated, Ezmeralda walks past them and heads for the door. "I'm'a head inside, y'all," she states.

Ariane quickly tries to pull her back, "no, girl, you need to, you gotta," Trinity goes to follow Ezmeralda in.

"Wait, no, stop. Hold on," Ariane catches them. "Picture, y'all. Come on. You better work. Bitch, you better work."

She goes back to posing while Trinity carries a large yet tense smile and Ezmeralda simply smoulders in the cameras.

"There's nothing wrong with the glitz and the glam," she laughs. "I've watched my family deal with it for practically, my entire life. I think that's what really sets me apart from others, at times, because I don't care for having a camera in my face every second. I don't care for having every ounce of information about me uttered to the public as it's not their business. I do it cause it's a part of the job."

Even inside the boutique, Ariane and a few photographers were taking pictures rather than enjoying the clothes. Trinity stood beside Ezmeralda, an exhausted pout was prominent on her face. The elder woman pats her on the back.

"You okay, boo?" Trinity nods, "I just wanna do something fun without the cameras and stuff, ya know? Like this, isn't fun."

Ezmeralda pulls her into a quick hug, "don't worry, we'll find something fun without the attention."

As they look at the different shoes, they take that as their moment to talk. "So, what's been going on with you and Ariane, recently?" This ellicits a heavy sigh for the young woman. 

Trinity shakes her head, "we've been butting heads a lot recently. Like, I want us to grow as wrestlers. That's what we're here for, you know? Doing our little dance is cool, I use do that before WWE, but that's not my job anymore. However, Ariane doesn't see it like that. She's so focused on the glitz and the glamour of this, it's like she doesn't really care that much about wrestling."

"Oh," Ezmeralda hums. "It's always been obvious that you and Ariane solely have chemistry because of the time you've had to work with each other, but outside of that, you guys are insanely different to the point where a clash was bound to happen."

Trinity's eyebrows raise. "Really?"

The veteran nods her head. "From the moment she tried going behind Sandra's back to get y'all's costumes without even including you, I knew she was focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time. It's best that you talk to her, not as a friend, but as a business partner cause this can jeopardize your spot in the company."

The two hug, Trinity eyes slightly watering as the stress weighs heavy on her mind. "Thank you, Ezzie."

The woman smiles, "I always got your back, sis. Now, let's go find the twins and sneak out." They laugh, searching for their men. 

Tampa, FL

While on another day off, Trinity, Ezmeralda, Eva, Jojo, and Ariane decided to go for a fun day out Go-Karting. Trinity, especially, wanted to try and deescalate the tension growing between herself and her tag team partner. 

As they all were getting settled, Eva begins to joke. "Ladies, ladies, while I love you, I see that little stand over there," she points at the podium. "I'll be standing on top."

Ezmeralda laughs, "good luck with that, girl. You talkin' to someone who used to steal cars and race them thangs around the block." Jojo and Eva's eyes widen in shock, laughing at the small insight of the superstar's childhood.

Eva and Ariane pose at the top while Trinity shakes her head. "Both of y'all gon' be numbers two and three cause I'm gonna be number one." They all were given their helmets and told the rules and safety regulations.

They begin racing, the mics picking up their laughs with every drift and crash. Once the race was over, the official hands out their papers while announcing their placements. "In fifth place, we have Trinity."

She playfully snatches the paper out of his hands, crumbling it as the others laugh. "Fourth place, we have Jojo," he announces, handing the girl her paper as she giggled beside Trinity. "In third, we have Eva." The redhead's jaw drops. 

"What? I didn't get first?" She laughs, taking the bronze metal. Ezmeralda laughs, "damn, that's tough." The official continues, "in second, is Ariane." 

The woman's jaw drops, she side eyes Ezmeralda and swings her hair. "Girl, bye," she kisses her teeth, taking the silver. "And finally, but not least, in first with the gold is Ezzie." The superstar takes the gold, sliding it over her head with a little dance.

She climbs to the top, "yessir! Yessir!" She sings. "I'm a gamer, I do this, yuh." The others laugh. Afterwards, the group chilled on the side, talking.

"You was all about winning, passing me and everything. Both of y'all lapped me, but now look at you," Trinity jokes, pointing at Eva and Ariane.

"Don't be mad because you're slow, girl," Ariane chastises.

Trinity laughs, catching Eva in a small hug, "I'm not mad. I'm not a sore loser. Ezzie won, you got second place; congratulations."

Empathetically, Ezmeralda knew what was bound to happen due to the brewing conflict between the women. She wraps an arm around Trinity's waist.

"You could be a little more sincere about it," Ariane argues, receiving a side eye from Ezmeralda.

Trinity continues to try and brush her off, "get over it. Sincere about what?"

"Because you're like, uh, congratulations. You're just being bitter right now."

Trinity gives her a face. "I'm not being bitter. You're doing too much right now. It's a game, who cares?" Ariane holds up her metal, "but I won, though."

At this point Trinity and Ezmeralda was getting annoyed. "Don't get hot," Ariane taunts.

"I'm the one that wins the matches," Trinity states. Ariane raises her eyebrows, "oh, so you're the one who wins the matches? But when it comes to speaking, I'm the one who can talk on the mic."

Trinity tilts her head, "I can speak very well for myself." Ariane points at her, "you wanna take it there?" Trinity shrugs, "it's already took there."

"Trin's a lot better than me cause I would've already sent a right in Ariane's mouth cause you ain't finna talk to me any kind of way like that. And all over a mediocre race? Girl, four-year-olds could win that medal if they want to, who gives a damn? What? Your daddy, mommy, ain't never said 'congrats?' Well, here you go:"

She claps her hands, "congrats. Damn, now shut up."

"What you gettin' hot for?" Trinity looks at her. "Because you just took it to a whole other level," Ariane argues.

Trinity raises her eyebrow, "I didn't. Is it not true? Am I not the one that wins the matches?"

"Uh, yes, your Honor. It is true that my client, Trinity McCray, does in fact win all their matches," Ezmeralda exaggeratedly adjusts her glasses. 

"Okay," Ariane huffs, "so you win every single match?" She waves her hand, "actually, I'm done. I'm ready to go."

Trinity shakes her head, looking at Ezmeralda. "This is what I'm talking about. She's too much sometimes." 

They continue to go back and forth, Ariane's squeaky voice rising with every rebuttal. As they get ready to go, the duo begin to push at one another. Quickly, Ezmeralda wraps an arm around Trinity's waist in an effort to hold her back.

"It's not worth it, sis. Not in public and not with our job."

"I'm putting $100 on Trin. Ariane ain't got a chance to even lift her arm before she gets knocked clean out." Ezmeralda laughs.

Monday Night Raw

As a result of Trinity and Ariane splitting, some changes have appeared and one of them was Ariane was to compete against Aksana while Trinity was to compete against Ezmeralda which meant that the triplet's original match against The Shield was then switched to Team Hell No and John Cena vs. The Shield.

As Trinity and Ezmeralda's match was coming up, the newly dressed superstar stood in the Guerilla with the twins and her brother.

"Aye, now, take it easy on my baby," Jon jokes pulling the woman into a hug. 

"Boy, hush, if there's anyone I trust to go against as a rookie, it's my good sis," Ezmeralda laughs. "She just has ring rust. This is her moment to dust it off and find her moment to shine."

Her theme goes off as green stobe lights begin taking over the stadium. She smiles, "time for Aries to welcome the new meat."

Hyped, she skips through the curtain before switching to her signature strut out into the spotlight. Raising her arms at the climax, she dramatically bends down as the pyro sets off. Coming back up, she leads into a leap with a roar that mixed with the music. She slapped the hands of the excited fans before reaching the ring. Settled in her corner, pacing while in character, she watches as the familiar disco intro of the Funkadactyls plays.

Excited, Trinity comes skipping down the ramp with her signature pompoms. As she reaches the opposite of the ring from Ezmeralda, she leaps over the top rope with a split. Just moments before the bell rang, the veteran catches Trinity's eyes and sends a subtle nod of communication which she sends back.

The duo begin a match of trade offs and reversals, Naomi specifically taking on a defensive approach to Aries' typical fast yet offensive one. Despite the unnoticeable change in Aries' move-set, the fans weren't able to identify the lack of emphasis with every spot. 

Unbeknownst to the WWE Universe, Divas in positions like Naomi and the Bellas weren't trained to take powered slams neither were they trained to give them out. Thankfully, when training with the likes of Aries, she wasn't much of a rule follower anyways. 

As they keep going, Aries' approach then switches to take on the fast paced, arial based luchadore style adopted from her father. She notices that Naomi was slowing down, winded and fighting for her breath.

The dancer climbs the top rope, going for a crossbody; however, she overcalculated the landing. With ease, Aries' arms wrap around her torso to catch the woman as they fall back. Aries’ sell coming off as a cushion for Naomi's landing.

Naomi gets the pin on her, but Trinity as the athlete was not happy with her own performance. As they meet up backstage, Ezmeralda pulls her into a hug.

"You did good, love. We'll definitely have to work on your in-ring stamina, but you have the skills and can hit the spots. How'd it feel?"

She shakes her head, "I loved getting that chance, but I do wish for Ariane to be there cause that's all I know."

Ezmeralda nods, "I know, love, it's gonna be alright. You'll just have to talk this out and see how to solve this tension or find a way to keep yourselves connected." Trinity nods, the two walking further backstage.

Next chapter is gonna take a different turn with more Ezmeralda and Josh moments especially with Natalya's bachelorette party in Vegas coming up.

[violetmuses]

Wicked - A. Aretas 🖤

Title: Wicked - A. Aretas 🖤

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe

Character: Armando Aretas

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader

Main Storyline: Following the events of “Ride or Die,” criminal Armando Aretas returns to Miami and confronts his unknown future.

Tag List: @nelo0wesker @yassbishimvintage @nobodygetsza @peaxhygirl @superstar-t20 @adoresmiles @klssngss @deja-r @hyper-trash-panda 🏷

=====

2024

The large-scale space of this crowded airport helped criminal and fugitive Armando Aretas gain coverage during his prolonged return to Florida.

Armando could stop hiding around the world. By this point in time, moving over and over again would've depleted countless resources.

When Aretas looks up, Detective Mike Lowrey grinned while choosing famous sunglasses.

After facing terrible secrets or holding various questions, Mike would take responsibility here and now stood as Armando's biological father.

“What's up? I'm parked outside.” Kind for obvious reasons, Mike pointed outdoors and led his son near Miami's warmth.

______

As Mike took his Porsche, silence greeted this ride home. Lowrey wouldn't even play music out loud while Armando joined that passenger seat.

“You good?” Mike handed that brief yet genuine question after reaching the driveway.

“Tired.” Armando clipped through slightly accented English.

“I get it. C'mon.” Mike completely understands Armando's point before entering the house.

Inside, Mike's wife Christine smiles.

“I'm glad you're here and we've already organized our guest room upstairs.” Christine gestured near the staircase of this beautiful home. “Take your time.”

“Thank you.” Armando nodded to Christine and rolled his small luggage, able to sleep without disruptions.

*****

Sunlight returned when Armando Aretas woke up the next morning. Both soft blankets and gentle pillows welcomed his exhaustion this time around.

Pulling himself together, Aretas then straightened up the guest bedroom and headed downstairs, joining Mike and Christine for breakfast.

“Good morning.” Christine and Mike greeted Armando by the kitchen table.

“Hey.” Aretas nearly sounds coy when sitting down for this meal.

Peace brightened at last.

_______

“Ready to go?” Mike stepped near the driveway once more.

“That's why I'm here, right?” Armando shrugged while joining this passenger seat again.

“Not always.” Mike cleared his throat before air conditioning started up and this Porsche left.

_______

When parking near the Miami Police Department, Mike looked toward his estranged son.

“Ripping off that band-aid.” Lowrey wouldn't offer jokes and revealed this truth instead.

“Yeah, let's go in.” Aretas braced the inevitable moment because there's no other choice.

Entering this well-known precinct, Armando trailed his steps behind Lowrey just in case people started to ask questions.

Detectives and other staff members welcomed Lowrey without realizing the presence of his “guest” until both men reached that briefing.

“Mike! Why didn't you tell me that Armando was here?” Mike's longtime partner and best friend Marcus Burnett displays theatrics while leaving his seat.

“Marcus, don't start crying. C'mon!” Mike nearly rolled both while everyone else chuckled around the room.

Even AMMO weapons expert Kelly and tech genius Dorn smiled for a moment.

But when Captain Rita Secada joined the podium this morning, everyone silenced.

No more foolishness.

******

This upcoming case involved neon paths of South Beach.

“Monsters keep running around.” Driving with Marcus and Armando, Mike takes out his Porsche by nightfall. “Let's knock these fools out. Deal?”

“Armando better not act up tonight.” Marcus grumbled warnings over Aretas.

“Shut up, Marcus!” Mike gritted his teeth while pulling to the club. “We should blend here anyway.”

“It's just your sly way of getting Armando out of the house.” Marcus just kept ranting as all three men passed this bouncer.

On the other hand, Mike stepped back and watched Armando “network.”

When Aretas joined the party, this woman smiled and Armando whispered in her ear, nearly flirtatious.

Bingo! Still watching everything, Lowrey then realized Armando's plan and headed to that VIP section once Aretas left one of those barstools.

_____

“Sup?” Mike caught Armando without hesitation en route.

“There's a drop tonight, but that leader keeps hiding.” Armando explained. Drugs would funnel around.

“Who was at the bar?” Mike snuck his personal question.

“I don't really know who she is yet. We just met each other.” Armando held back thoughts of you.

“Have fun, but don't be stupid.” Mike offered quick advice to Armando before Marcus showed up again.

“No chance. He's dead.” Marcus revealed unexpected news.

“What?” Mike and Armando scrambled down this hallway as tension grounded the night.

******

Red and blue overcasts immediately brightened the skyline this evening as neon lights still painted canvases. Law enforcement swarmed all corners.

Huddled among terrified patrons, you listened while several officers questioned everyone.

One dangerous man snuck with plans to bring garbage near the city. Drugs would have ruined everything.

Just when authorities cleared this scene and you would head home, one seemingly familiar voice called you name across the street.

You learned his own name tonight: Armando Aretas.

The handsome stranger stood in black while this gold chain shined around his neck. Deep brown eyes glanced toward you with absolute concern.

“Are you all right?” Running down this block in your favorite shoes, you throw caution to the wind and check on Armando regardless.

“Yeah, I'm good. You?” His slightly accented English broke your heart this time.

“Scared.” You still kept telling him the truth at this point.

“I know, but we'll figure this out, okay?” Aretas wanted to settle your nerves. “Call if you hear anything else.”

“Okay.” You nodded, finding a ride shortly afterwards.

Who knows what could happen next?

******

“Reaching the morgue to identify this body. It's a rough case.” Returning to the precinct with Aretas, Mike set their next plan sooner than later.

“Aw, hell no!” Marcus turned away. “Leave dead bodies with the experts, man. I'm staying right here.”

“You found the body first, Marcus.” Mike seemed fed up. “Let's go.”

_____

“Be really careful when working through places like this, man.” Mike detailed protocol for Armando. “We should never contaminate anything.”

“Got it.” Aretas nodded toward Mike and locked down concentration. There was no other option.

“How are y'all so calm?” Marcus felt dramatic as usual. “I'm getting sick already.”

“Don't you dare start with that bullshit!” Mike warned his best friend.

“Detectives?” One expert acknowledged Lowrey, Burnett, and Aretas.

Here we go. Mike thought.

______

“Excuse Burnett. He's very squeamish.” Mike informed the team over Marcus.

“The man's body was found much later than expected. Not even embalmed yet.” One professional spoke up.

“Can we at least identify this man now? Our intel claimed his work as a drug dealer.” Lowrey tried once more.

“Verification will take more time, Detective. I'm sorry.” The professional declined further scope.

“Fuck.” Mike then clenched his teeth upon realization.

Progress almost moved ten steps back with the case.

Just when everyone bid farewell and reached that Porsche, Marcus finally vomited outside!

“I can't stand your ass!” Mike drove home for the evening.

“You know damn-well that I hate dead bodies, Mike!” Marcus shouted back to defend himself.

No breakfast tomorrow. Aretas casted both eyes toward the ceiling.

_______

Back home in the guest bedroom tonight, Armando took this much-needed shower and charged his cell phone before texting you.

Armando: Hey. 🚔

You: Hi. 😴

Armando: Did I wake you up? 🚔

You: Yeah. 😴

Armando: My bad. Check again soon? 🚔

You: Of course. Good night. 😴

Armando: Good night. 🚔

*******

Only taking coffee at the precinct, Armando watched virtual screens as tech genius Dorn highlighted updates.

“Our suspect ran this massive operation until we reached that nightclub.” Dorn explained.

“Anything like James McGarth?” Mike remembered the last case with Armando.

“Nothing like McGarth, but the culprit still made a name for himself.” Dorn shook his head.

“Names?” Mike continued offering his important questions.

“Still no confirmation from the morgue.” Dorn kept refusing.

“Aight. Let's go, man.” Mike gathered his belongings and pointed toward Aretas instead, leaving.

“Hey, where y'all going?” Marcus stood from his chair, puzzled.

Ignoring Marcus, Mike grabbed keys to the classic Porsche and rolled out with Armando.

______

“Take a break.” Mike parked in front of the house this time. “I'll pull more strings and we'll reconvene soon.”

“You sure?” Armando wanted to clarify the plan just in case.

“Yeah. We pushed a lot, regardless of taking dead ends.” Mike nodded. “Get some rest. We got this.”

“Fair enough.” Armando left the car, exhausted.

_______

While settled, Armando noticed your text message first:

You: Feel better? 🫂

Armando: Can't explain everything, but I'm taking a break. ❤️‍🩹

You: That's good. 😁

Armando: When this case ends, could we hang out sometime? 👀

You: Sure. 🫂

Grinning, Armando Aretas slept while thinking of you once more.

******

“Somebody has a girlfriend.” Marcus Burnett whispered to Mike Lowrey, joking.

When Armando sees you up close again, the case ends for good, as promised.

Warm daylight greeted one public park. AMMO joined this cookout with the Miami Police Department.

No more danger. Armando refused to see you worry again.

Standing at the grill, Mike looked over his shoulder to see you chatting up a storm with Armando. Even Dorn and Kelly joined your table.

Sighing with relief, Mike knew that the future wouldn't cloud anymore.

[nausylemmyj]

TADC AU - Wonderful Souls

A Magical Girl like AU. Glossary at the end.

Let me set the scene :

You're living in a very big city, going through your daily things without a care in the world. You're maybe happy with your life or maybe you have some problems on your mind. In any case, it didn't prevent you to notice that shiba inu, all alone on the street. In curiosity, you approch. It's friendly. It want you to pet it. You notice a collar with a big round blue gem and a little plate where you read :

"My name is Bubble. If I'm lost, please take me back to Caine's Fun and Wacky Toy Store."

You should have other things to do, maybe more important then taking a dog back to its home. But somehow, you decided it was your main priority.

The toy store is not far. It will never be far. It was pretty, colored and eye-catching. The owner, Caine, get out of his shop, happy to see his dog. He thanks you, a bit too excited for your liking, and to give you a free toy as a thank gift. You shouldn't take it, but it remind you of an old toy you used to love as a child. In fact, it looks exactly like that. Come to think about it, who give it to you in the first place?

Anyhow, you have the toy and you're back at home. You may not know yet, but it will be the beginning of a weird adventure.

Glossary for the AU :

Digiphones : The Digiphones are little phones created by Caine to keep in contact with him and the other Guardians. It works using the Digital Signal and are indestructuable.

Digital Signal : A imperceptible dimension glued to our reality.

Ennui : An Ennui is the manifestation of someone's problem through a monstruous form. There's three forms of Ennui :

-Little Ennui : Little monsters representing a small problem. They're mostly little tricksters who just love to cause troubles to the Guardians.

-Grande Ennui : A bigger monster who are mostly the boss of the Little Ennuis and represent more important problems. Things like the Gloink Queen or Gummigoo.

-Mortal Ennui : Abstraction.

Gift : Individual powers given after the birth of a potential Guardian.

Guardian : A human capable to use their soul to fight evil. Their soul manifest as an avatar of themselves with the most useful weapon to the owner.

Master : The leader of the Guardians and the ones who judge which humans are worthy to become one. They are the one to give them their Talisman and to give them their Gift.

Professor : An old Guardian who pass the age of retirement (at 50-years-old). They have to train the new Guardians how to fight and, if needed, support in combat.

Soul Label : It's a phone number a Master give to a Guardian to recognize them.

Superstar : A Guardian who sacrifice themselves for a love one and is rewarded by a star on their uniform and a stronger powers.

Talisman : A token given to a future Guardian. It's a lucky-charm made to protect them and their child innocence. When it's time to became a Guardian, the Master give back the Talisman as a welcome card.

Feel free to ask me any questions. Mostly because it was a lot of informations and I might forget some stuffs here and there. I hope you will like my AU idea.

[archiveikemen]

Liam Evans Main Story: Chapter 21 (Crazy Love)

I do not own any of the Ikemen Series content being uploaded on this blog, everything belongs to CYBIRD. Please support them by playing their games and buying stories. Not 100% accurate, expect mistakes.

read this before interacting with my posts

Liam: I don’t ever want to disappear before your eyes again.

The pair of rose coloured eyes staring at me contained a passion I had never seen before.

I noticed a change in Liam that was small, yet definitely there.

Liam: Hey, Kate.

Liam: I couldn't take your hand back then. But—

Liam: But…

While his face contorted as he tried to force out the words that were caught in his throat, I shook my head.

(He’s referring to the time he tried to end his own life.)

Kate: You don’t have to force yourself to say something. When you’re ready, you can tell me.

Liam: … Tell you?

Kate: Yes. Things like… what’s on your mind, what’s making you happy, or what’s hurting you.

Kate: I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry, patience is one of my biggest strengths.

Liam: … Mm. Thanks, Kate.

I nodded and we looked up at the night sky together.

The small changes in Liam were like faint lights of hope twinkling in the sky.

…

The next day, Liam and I went to The Scala to discuss William’s plan with everyone there.

(Hm? It's unusually quiet today.)

The practice room was usually bustling with actors doing their rehearsals, but today it was filled with silence.

Liam and I went backstage, and saw Tom looking at the script in his hand all alone.

Liam: … Tom?

Tom: … Liam.

Tom’s eyes widened and he ran to pull Liam into a tight hug.

Tom: Liam! Ahh, I’m so glad you're safe. If anything were to happen to you, I would’ve—!

Liam: I’m so sorry, Tom. I…

Tom: It’s alright. You're back in one piece and that’s all that matters.

(Tom must have so many questions, but he’s holding them back…)

Liam: Are you the only one here today, Tom? Where’s everyone else?

Tom: I actually wanted us to carry on with rehearsals while waiting for your return, but your absence made everyone unmotivated.

Tom: So I decided to give everyone a break until you’re back.

Tom: The Scala very seldomly goes on break. That makes you everyone’s superstar!

Liam chuckled in response to Tom’s teasing yet kind words.

Tom: Anyway, did the two of you come today just to show your faces? You seem like you have something to tell me, but—

We slowly explained our plan to Tom.

There was a dangerous organisation in England known as ‘Golden Butterfly’ that was once annihilated. However, it had recently been showing signs of a potential revival caused by an unknown instigator.

As the identity of the instigator remained a mystery, our plan was to use The Scala to spread word of it to all of England and put a stop to its revival.

Tom: … I see. I have a general understanding of the plan, and that you don't want this ‘Golden Butterfly’ to revive.

Tom: However, Liam and Kate, how did you obtain this information and why do you want to stop them?

(The Scala must never know about my job as a fairy tale writer and the existence of Crown.)

(In order to protect them… we mustn't reveal any more details.)

Liam: I’m sorry, Tom. I can’t tell you that.

Liam: But… I don’t want people to be burdened by any more unnecessary suffering.

Tom: …

Liam: I swear to protect you and everyone at The Scala. … I absolutely will.

Liam: Therefore, will you help us…?

Kate: … I plead for your help as well. Please help us.

Tom: Lift your heads, both of you. I don’t see any reason why I… no, both myself and The Scala should refuse to cooperate.

Kate: Really?

Liam: … Really?

Tom: Yeah. I believe that people's thoughts have the ability to change them, and that’s why I named this place ‘The Scala’.

Tom: This is the perfect opportunity to show The Scala’s true spirit, isn’t it? We must make good use of it!

Tom: Also… I’m glad to have you asking me for a favour. This has never happened before.

Liam: … Tom

Tom clapped his hands together to dispel the sentimental atmosphere.

Tom: Now that it’s been decided, we should start thinking about how we're going to spread word about ‘Golden Butterfly’ through theatre.

Kate: Firstly and most importantly, I think we have to be able to get the audience’s attention. A well-known play would easily do that…

Tom: You’re right, I was thinking the same thing. We should integrate ‘Golden Butterfly’ into a performance that will captivate people's interest.

Liam: Are you saying that we’ll alter an existing story to include ‘Golden Butterfly’?

Tom: That’s right! — I think that ‘this’ would be the most suitable.

Tom gave us the script in his hands.

(‘Hamlet’...?)

Kate: … ‘Hamlet’, one of the four tragedies of Shakespeare?

Liam: As expected of you, Kate. I’ve only ever heard about its name and nothing more. What’s the story about, Tom?

Tom: It’s a story about a prince named Hamlet who seeks revenge on his uncle who murdered his father, took the throne, and wedded his mother.

Tom: You’ve heard the line ‘to be or not to be. that is the question.’, right?

Liam: … A story about revenge.

Tom: ‘Hamlet’ may be a story about revenge, but I believe that its true meaning lies elsewhere.

Tom: To me, the story tells us that if someone wants to live, they have to be strong and endure all their suffering.

Tom: I was reading the script while waiting for you to come back, and thought that you absolutely had to play this role.

Tom: Liam, endure the hardships as Hamlet. And after that, play Quasimodo in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’.

(Tom wants Liam to persevere through struggles as Hamlet, then be successful as Quasimodo.)

Liam nodded.

Liam: … Yeah, let’s do ‘Hamlet’.

Tom: That’s great! Now I shall work on the script, and then we’ll let the others know…!

Kate: Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, anything at all!

Tom: Haha, you’re very dependable, Kate. Alright then, first of all—...

…

The days that followed were busy enough to make our heads spin.

Members of the theatre troupe readily agreed to participate in our plan, and that marked the start of a period of intensive rehearsals.

Despite that, watching ‘Hamlet’ gradually take shape gave us an indescribable feeling of accomplishment and joy.

— In the meantime, there was an unexpected visitor at The Scala.

Troupe Member: Excuse me… you can’t just barge in like this! Excuse me!

Kate • Liam: …?

I gasped when I saw what was written on the armbands of the visitors as they forced their way into the theatre.

(‘The Shadow’... the gossip magazine that published the cover article about Liam…!?)

Not only were there journalists from The Shadow, a number of them from other magazine and newspaper publishers had also infiltrated into The Scala.

I instinctively hid Liam behind my back to protect him.

(I won’t let them hurt Liam ever again. I’ll protect him no matter what.)

— To my surprise, that wasn’t the case.

Magazine Journalist: We’re here to cover your theatre’s next production! It’s called ‘Hamlet’, is that correct?

Newspaper Journalist: We’ll be here on the actual day of the performance as well, and we’re looking forward to seeing the exciting play. Ah, could you allow us to take pictures of you during your rehearsal?

(Huh…?)

Liam: Could it be…

Liam looked up at the second floor of the theatre — where Harrison was standing.

Harrison noticed us looking at him and left with a smug smile.

Liam: Excuse me for a moment. I’ll be right back…

…

Liam: Harry, wait! Harry!

Harrison, who was walking through the town square that was dyed crimson red by the setting sun, turned around.

Harrison: What, you actually came after me? Dealing with interviews from journalists is your job, Liam.

It was clear that Harrison was the reason why the journalists were there to interview Liam.

However great the performance may be, its influence would be limited if it didn't go beyond the theatre’s usual audience.

(And if that happens, there’s a chance we wouldn't reach the person behind the revival of ‘Golden Butterfly’, hiding somewhere in England.)

(Therefore, Harrison made use of his connections to the media to create a buzz.)

Liam: Harry, I…

Harrison: It’s all up to you now, Liam. I have high expectations for you.

With that, Harrison walked away and left Liam standing there, staring.

The casual ‘I have high expectations for you’ was more of a ‘do your best’.

Thanks to the newspaper and magazine articles, word spread throughout England about ‘Hamlet’ even before the day of the performance.

Rehearsals grew more intense after being motivated by that, and the opening night gradually came—.

…

Everyone from The Scala was gathered at a tavern to give themselves a boost of morale before the performance.

They clinked their mugs over and over again, and I quietly left the gathering.

I stepped out onto the street, the gentle night breeze brushing against my cheeks that were flushed from the alcohol.

(... I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Why do all the actors have such incredible tolerance for alcohol?)

While I was cooling down, I saw someone slumped against the wall of a nearby shop.

Kate: … Tom?

Tom: Oh, Kate. Haha… I’m not a very good drinker. Just trying to sober up.

Kate: Perfect timing, then. Let me join you.

Sitting down next to each other, we looked up at the night sky.

Kate: … Um, I’d like to thank you.

Tom: What for?

Kate: For many things concerning Liam. It’s probably rather odd for it to be coming from me, but I just wanted to tell you that.

Tom: Actually, I wanted him to play the role of Hamlet for my own sake.

Kate: What…

Tom: Take this as just some rambling coming from a drunkard, yeah?

Tom: When I first met Liam, it was in the audience seats at The Scala. Oh, judging by the look on your face, you’ve heard about this before?

Kate: Yes. He happened to see a play with no one watching in the audience… and all the characters in the story died in the end.

Tom: That’s right. Back then, I was still struggling and constantly trying new things. It felt like the entire world was criticising me.

Tom: That day, although the play had such a tragic end… Liam remained in the audience even after the performance ended.

Tom: He sat there all alone, staring at the stage. And before I knew it, I approached him.

– Flashback Start –

Tom: Excuse me, you over there.

Liam: … Erm, me?

Tom: Yes, you. Hey, are you interested in theatre?

– Flashback End –

(... He must've felt so happy when Tom approached him like that.)

Tom: Liam’s growth as a stage actor was impressive. His progress was also The Scala’s progress.

Tom: Watching The Scala grow greater and greater made me so, so happy…

Tom: And that's why, even though I knew… I turned a blind eye to it.

Kate: Turned a blind eye to…?

Tom: The dark side of Liam’s talent, which is his ability to completely immerse himself in the roles he plays, as if he and the character have become one person.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hello, you're someone I've come to respect to give honest and thoughtful answers to questions that may not be 'the general consensus' and I hoped I could get your opinion on the following. I was watching a translated version of an interview JK did during his solo era and I know we need to be cautious about accuracy of tone and meaning. He said he missed being on stage with BTS but instead of it coming across as ‘I love being solo but sometimes miss them' it was more 'thanks for the solo opportunity but I still prefer being with them'. I’m a newer fan – Dec 2019 – so I don’t have years of perspective insight on their personalities like some other fans but I sensed that this moment was at odds to the ‘I want to be the biggest popstar ever’ we got shoved down our throats recently. It niggled at me to the point that this last week I've been looking back on a lot of JK content and I'm a little startled by how much evidence there is that JK hasn't ever wanted to be a soloist. It's nothing major, just lots of little comments and behaviours that paint a big picture if you look for it. I know that confirmation bias happens, that once you have an idea you look for evidence and convince yourself you're right when you find it. But the more I look the more I see JK not being the 'cocky soloist bts sell-out' that many horribly seem to have tagged him with recently but as possibly the biggest OT7 in the group who was forced into a solo project. Looking back through BTS content, I'm actually a little startled how many times he says he prefers being on stage with the others than doing a solo performance. We all know he’s said he wants to be in BTS till they are old men, that he wants RM to always be leader (a little strange for the supposed soloist), he looked almost terrified when he found out that Dreamers was a solo project, he always hovers in the background in BTS content (again strange for THE soloist), and there is an overall impression he hates being on his own and is very much an introvert. He seems happy to show off his voice for solo material providing it’s mainly in a studio or a familiar/homely setting and he can get back to the group activities asap. There are many other things out there but I’m glossing to save word count. Now, looking back at his latest solo venture with an idea that maybe he didn’t even want to do it, the story becomes very different but I’d argue makes as much sense as the (horrible) current rhetoric. For years, the expectation from BigHit/Hybe/Armies is that JK could and should be the new global superstar. And let's be absolutely honest here, JK has the talent to be the biggest artist in the world if he wanted. I'm just wondering if he doesn't actually want it? That he just wants to sing and be the main vocalist for BTS – and while he enjoys being told he has the best voice and ‘could’ be a global superstar – he actually doesn’t want that, for whatever reason. If he didn’t want a big solo career and he put in some resistance to keep his career from going astronomical it explains some of the weirdness around his solo era – and choices. I’ve seen others mention a weird dichotomy with some of the choices made and I wonder, now, if it was down to a push and pull between JK and Hybe. Hybe wanted to rocket launch him into stardom and JK wanted a limit that didn’t put him in jeopardy of losing BTS as his main focus. I have to admit I get a chuckle out of the idea of JK dragging his heels writing an album to the point Hybe are like you will have a global solo project even if I have to get a western producer to write it for you. Then JK coming back with the trump card of, well, you do that and I’ll play along but oops I’ve applied early for the military so *timelimit* but hey I’ll be back in time for the promised BTS comeback! Obviously that’s some serious conjecture and I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek but I guess, what I’m ultimately wondering, is if this kind of conversation has ever hit your radar? Or if it’s something you’ve wondered yourself?

***

"Obviously that’s some serious conjecture and I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek"

I'm grateful for the small show of self-awareness. Really.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that. It helped me better understand your point of view, and while I can see where you're coming from, I disagree with many of the assumptions you've made and what you conclude.

First off, why is it so difficult to imagine Jungkook as a global pop star while active in BTS and fitting seamlessly in a group that keeps reaching new heights? Why must it be a zero sum game of one or the other? Why is it so difficult for people to believe this is a reality Jungkook might envision and work towards?

I've said before that I think Jungkook is a very simple and honest person. When he says something it's usually what he means. If you want to understand Jungkook, the easiest way is to simply listen to him. Anon, you said you don't get the impression that Jungkook wants to be a global pop star, but I think he does. There's an interview from 2020 that I strongly suggest you read in full. It explains so much of the kind of person Jungkook is. It made me fall a little more in love with him. The article is linked here but the excerpt I want to highlight is this:

Jung Kook: I think my heart’s telling me to. BTS was able to climb this high thanks to the group members, the company and our fans. But there’s always the question of whether I could receive that kind of recognition by myself, so I have this feeling of wanting to throw myself at some challenge alone. There’s a lot I want to do, and a lot I want to achieve.

By gradually improving yourself, what kind of person would you ideally want to become? Jung Kook: A person who’s crazy awesome in their field. (laughs) Those kinds of people look cool even when they do something different. I still have a long way to go. I feel like I could be more captivating and draw more out of people by improving any number of things, by trying hard to be confident about my singing, or the way I dance and perform. BTS is way more important and meaningful to me than I am to myself, so I’m not saying I want to do anything alone. But I hope I get to the point where I can perform alone for three or four hours in a venue full of people.

Italicized for emphasis.

Like I said, I honestly think anybody who is shocked by what they're seeing in Chapter 2 for any member, probably just wasn't really paying attention before. That's not a diss it's just what I think.

We agree that Jungkook has more than enough talent to be a global pop star; we agree that at the end of the day, going by his choices to enlist so much earlier than he needed to, among other things, Jungkook indeed prioritizes the group. But it's only in a fandom filled with insecure twats that Jungkook simply saying he wants to be a global pop star is treated like he denied the holocaust. In my opinion. Jungkook could be the biggest pop star and Jimin would be right there with him. On his own merits. Owning the world with him because they are BTS. Solos are obsessed with sorting out the popularity of the members within the group, but they forget that BTS are too ambitious to ever make it easy for the world to care about anything but them. I take issue with the very idea that Jungkook being the biggest pop star is somehow problematic for a group like BTS. Even more so when this is apparently the reality BTS have all agreed to, enough to renew their exclusive contracts early, twice.

I think you have a point about all the times Jungkook appears kinda reluctant to do a solo gig though. I mean, he's said it himself that he's actually kinda shy and feels most comfortable with the guys. They're all like that, you know? That's the thing about BTS that it seems only ARMYs get. BTS actually want to remain together, in a system designed to pull them apart. That's why they're one of the few anomalies in this ecosystem, an anomaly the system keeps trying to both replicate and eliminate.

Jungkook feels most comfortable performing with the guys, but he also has a desire to establish himself as a solo artist. I assume this is something everybody in BTS, Bang PD / HYBE, and Jungkook himself understands. Rather than the company dictating solo goals for Jungkook, I think this is something Jungkook is involved in and partly responsible for. As are the other members.

I'm already rambling but what I mean to say is that I think a lot of the discourse around Jungkook's actions in Chapter 2 have been either ignorant or in bad faith. And I think that's unfair to him given it came from his own fandom.

The only real disappointment I got from Jungkook in Chapter 2 is that his solo album didn't have a song he wrote or produced, especially when I know he'd done both several times before. I understand writing a song in a language he doesn't speak can make a difficult task even more intimidating. But I also think he just kinda choked. He'd been building expectations for his solo debut for three years and had to deliver something epic. But between the Busan concert, World Cup, OSTs, enlistment announcements/planning, etc I wouldn't be surprised if he just got overwhelmed and by the time he got his bearings he felt he didn't have enough time and got stuck. That sounds kinda long-winded but it's something I've seen happen often and a feeling I've experienced myself.

Sometimes people just get stuck. It takes a mini-intervention to get the ball rolling again. In this case, and to use a reference from the article above, Jungkook decided to tackle the idea of introducing himself as a solo artist, a bit at a time. In Golden we're given a selection of his pop tastes, songs that he feels represents him, in his beautiful voice. Bang PD gave him a challenge of an all English album and Jungkook more than delivered. Would I have preferred more direct involvement from him? Of course, and it's what I expect in his next project. But for his first work I'll excuse it given he does such a phenomenal job in his vocal delivery and the songs are bops.

Anyway, I appreciate that you felt there was something off in the bad rep Jungkook has been getting, and actually did the work of going back to watch original content. I just disagree with some assumptions you've made along the way because in my view, it's unneeded. Jungkook is very clear about the kind of person he is and what he wants for himself and BTS.

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

Miami Vice S1E18: The Maze

Tubbs is sent undercover to save hostages in an abandoned hotel.

This is absolutely one of those Vice episodes where you are given two versions of the truth and are asked to be discerning enough to realize which one is real. Vice likes doing this a lot with music-- you see something happening on screen that's contradicted by lyrics or musical tone, and you have to figure out if what you're seeing is the lie or whether it's what you're hearing. In The Maze, we are presented with a spoken truth (some people aren't "good enough" to be cops, the world is hard and dangerous, a kid with a gun can't be thought of as a kid ever again) and a witnessed truth (a "bad cop" is suffers no consequences because he's a cop, people you think of as disposable or even frightening are worth protecting, a kid with a gun may be dangerous but that doesn't make him not a child) to striking, devastating effect. There's a distinct sense in this episode that our protagonists are playing proscribed black and white roles in a drama they're not quite ready to see shades of gray in yet-- later in the series their disenchantment with the justice system will come, but in this point in the series, they don't quite see what we, the audience see.

I started this one thinking "it's always weird seeing other cops outside of the main squad," and then one of them immediately died

Womp womp

The two "new" cops, Tim and Dickie, are talking about how they finally made some "real arrests," and how they usually can't get charges to stick because something-something-the-law, and that it's because of guys like them that the area they're in is starting to get "cleaned up"

Immediately Sonny and Rico correct them, very gently explaining the concept of community organizing, and pointing out that whatever "clean up" they've seen happen recently has nothing to do with the cops and everything to do with the people who live here deciding to stand up for themselves and invest in their neighborhoods

This is the thesis of the episode

From here on in it becomes a split between Tim's tough-on-crime view (what's said) and Sonny and Rico's maybe-heavier-policing-isn't-the-answer view (what's shown)

The dancing guy, Pepe, is played by a choreographer known by the real-world name of Shabba-Doo

Sonny pours water on him because Sonny is an asshole

There is a scene in which Switek offers Zito lunch while Zito tries to pick up a woman through the window of the bug van; both of them tell the other they're "pitching" and I. I have questions

Tim, the asshole cop whose partner got shot, suggests that the best way to catch the criminals that killed Dickie is to just go into a building full of squatters guns blazing, random innocents be damned

Sonny glares at him like he is a leopard and Tim is a plate of ground beef

They decide to, instead, send Tubbs undercover in to see if he can clear the squatters out and get them to safety before they go after the Escobars. In order to do this they dress Tubbs up as the world's most beautiful filthy transient. He looks like he should play Jesus in a modern version of Jesus Christ Superstar

It should be mentioned that the ~*scary dangerous building*~ the homeless people and the Escobars are in is a dilapidated hotel owned by a rich white guy who's on the phone about golf when we meet him, and it turns out the only thing really scary about it is that the people inside are living in terrible conditions because they are poor. In case, y'know, other parts of the episode weren't already clear enough on the whole "maybe the system is broken, actually" angle.

After Tubbs is in the hotel for approximately three and a half minutes, Tim charges across the street with his gun because it's "ridiculous" that this is "taking so long"

He completely ruins the operation and causes an immediate gunfight between the police and the Escobars to break out; Tubbs and the rest of the squatters are taken hostage as a result. Tim is not punished for this-- Castillo says that if he "didn't need every man," Tim would be sent home, but that's it.

Let's be very clear, this is a perfect example of why the whole "one bad apple ruins the whole bunch" thing is 100% true about the police

You get one Tim the Asshole on your squad and people fucking die

Actor Joe Morton, who I best know as Henry Deacon from Eureka, but who others may know better as the SkyNet Scientist from Terminator 2, plays hostage negotiator Jack Davis. He has a big ol' stick up his ass, but he's kind of hot anyway?

Sonny smokes like twelve cigarettes in the course of about 3 minutes, and then goes outside because he can't stand to look at Tim any longer. Castillo makes an attempt to comfort him in his extremely Castillo way (he's the one who says the Escobars, who are a bunch of teenagers, "stopped stopped being kids when they started using guns"), which does not seem to calm Sonny down much. He tells him the best thing he can do for Tubbs is "be cool," and then there's a lovely little match on Sonny's face and Rico's face, both looking off to the side, both looking worried.

The graffiti in this episode slays me

666 is COMIN

Why ME

Rico plays with the child hostages, and a teenage girl dances to the music playing inside her head. I genuinely feel like this is one of the saddest episodes of Vice-- we see the squalid conditions these people are forced to live in, they're humanized and made very real feeling, even if they don't have many lines, and you know that even if they all get out alive, nothing good is going to come of it, because they've been living illegally inside an unused building and the police will have to remove them, leaving them all completely homeless. There are multiple shots throughout the episode of the beach-- its crystal blue water, the sun, the pristine sand, palm trees-- through the broken windows of the collapsing hotel. The squatters are bereft in an ostensible paradise, completely disconnected from the glamorous world outside their crumbling walls.

Sonny suggests that they pinpoint the exact location of the hostages; Tim asks why they should bother when it was the hostages who "got them into this."

Yes Tim

Definitely not you, fuckwad

When Davis negotiates to let the small children hostages go, Jaime, one of the Escobars, argues with one of the older boys that "they're just kids," and that they should do as the police said and let them free. Jaime appears to be about fourteen.

Sonny insists he go in to find the hostages; Davis stands behind him shaking his head no at Castillo. Sonny goes in to find the hostages. He climbs over a fence and through a hole in the wall in his loafers and chinos.

When Sonny figures out where the hostages are located, they send in what appears to be the entire national guard of Florida. The Escobars, it should be noted, are five teenagers.

At the end of the episode, approximately twenty adult men with machine guns point their weapons at one teenage boy. He breaks down in tears and falls to the ground, because no matter what Castillo said, he is ultimately a frightened child.

The episode ends on a freeze frame of Sonny and Rico looking at each other, silent, with the darkening blue sky behind them.

[erasmashups]

this is a side blog! dedicated to writing out the lyrics of each eras surprise song mashup (maybe a little analysis + sharing of audios/video) send me asks if you have any issues or q's!!

my main is @wannaloveyoubutidont current icons are from @directiolfiepacks

Mashups Masterlist:

Buenos Aires, Argentina (Nov 11, '23) – 'Is It Over Now?/Out of the Woods'

Melbourne, Australia (Feb 17) 'Getaway Car/August/The Other Side of the Door'

Melbourne, Australia (Feb 18) 'Come Back…Be Here/Daylight'

Sydney, Australia (Feb 23) 'White Horse/Coney Island' (ft: Sabrina Carpenter)

Sydney, Australia (Feb 24) 'Should've Said No/You're Not Sorry' 'New Year's Day/Peace'

Sydney, Australia (Feb 25) 'Is It Over Now?/I Wish You Would' 'Haunted/Exile'

Sydney, Australia (Feb 26) 'Would've Could've Should've/Ivy' 'Forever & Always/Maroon'

Singapore, SG (Mar 2) 'Mine/Starlight' 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever/Dress'

Singapore, SG (Mar 3) 'Long Story Short/The Story of Us' 'Clean/Evermore'

Singapore, SG (Mar 4) 'Foolish One/Tell Me Why' 'This Love/Call It What You Want'

Singapore, SG (Mar 7)  'Death By A Thousand Cuts/Babe' 'Fifteen/You're On Your Own, Kid'

Singapore, SG (Mar 8) 'Sparks Fly/Gold Rush' 'False God/"Slut!"'

Singapore, SG (Mar 9) 'Tim McGraw/Cowboy Like Me' 'Mirrorball/Epiphany'

Paris, France (May 10) 'Is It Over Now?/Out Of The Woods'

Paris, France (May 12) 'The Alchemy/Treacherous' 'Begin Again/Paris'

Stockholm, Sweden (May 17) 'I Think He Knows/Gorgeous'

Stockholm, Sweden (May 18) 'Say Don't Go/Welcome To New York/Clean'

Stockholm, Sweden (May 19) 'Message In A Bottle/How You Get The Girl/New Romantics'

Lisbon, Portugal (May 24) 'Come Back…Be Here/The Way I Loved You/The Other Side of the Door' 'Fresh Out The Slammer/High Infidelity'

Lisbon, Portugal (May 25) 'The Tortured Poets Department/Now That We Don't Talk' 'You're On Your Own, Kid/Long Live'

Madrid, Spain (May 29) 'Sparks Fly/I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)' 'I Look In People's Windows/Snow on the Beach'

Madrid, Spain (May 30) 'Our Song/Jump Then Fall'

Lyon, France (June 2) 'The Prophecy/Long Story Short' 'Fifteen/You're On Your Own, Kid'

Lyon, France (June 3) 'Glitch/Everything Has Changed'

Edinburgh, UK (June 7) 'Would've, Could've, Should've/I Know Places' ''Tis The Damn Season/Daylight'

Edinburgh, UK (June 8) 'The Bolter/Getaway Car' 'All Of The Girls You Loved Before/Crazier'

Edinburgh, UK (June 9) 'It's Nice To Have A Friend/Dorothea' 'Haunted/Exile'

Liverpool, UK (June 13) 'I Can See You/Mine' 'Cornelia Street/Maroon'

Liverpool, UK (June 14) 'This Is What You Came For/Gold Rush' 'The Great War/You're Losing Me'

Liverpool, UK (June 15) 'Carolina/No Body, No Crime' 'The Manuscript/Red'

Cardiff, UK (June 18) 'I Forgot That You Existed/This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things' 'I Hate It Here/the lakes'

London, UK (June 21) 'Hits Different/Death By A Thousand Cuts' 'The Black Dog/Come Back…Be Here/Maroon'

London, UK (June 22) 'thanK you aIMee/Mean'

London, UK (June 23) 'Out of the Woods/Is It Over Now?/Clean'

Dublin, Ireland (June 28) 'State of Grace/You're On Your Own, Kid' 'Sweet Nothing/Hoax'

Dublin, Ireland (June 29) 'The Albatross/Dancing With Our Hands Tied' 'This Love/Ours'

Dublin, Ireland (June 30) 'Clara Bow/The Lucky One'

Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 4) 'Guilty As Sin?/Untouchable' 'The Archer/Question…?'

Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 5) 'imgonnagetyouback/Dress' 'You Are In Love/Cowboy Like Me'

Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 6) 'Sweeter Than Fiction/Holy Ground' 'Mary's Song (Oh My My My)/So High School/Everything Has Changed'

Zürich, Switzerland (July 9) 'Right Where You Left Me/All You Had To Do Was Stay' 'Last Kiss/Sad Beautiful Tragic'

Zürich, Switzerland (July 10) 'Closure/A Perfectly Good Heart' 'Robin/Never Grow Up'

Milan, Italy (July 13) 'The 1/Wonderland' 'I Almost Do/The Moment I Knew'

Milan, Italy (July 14) 'Mr. Perfectly Fine/Red' 'Getaway Car/Out of the Woods'

Gelsenkirchen, Germany (July 17) 'Superstar/Invisible String' '"Slut!"/False God'

Gelsenkirchen, Germany (July 18) 'Speak Now/Hey Stephen' 'This Is Me Trying/Labyrinth'

Gelsenkirchen, Germany (July 19) 'Paper Rings/Stay Stay Stay' 'it's time to go/Better Man'

Hamburg, Germany (July 23) 'Teardrops On My Guitar/The Last Time' 'We Were Happy/Happiness'

Hamburg, Germany (July 24) 'The Last Great American Dynasty/Run' 'Nothing New/Dear Reader'

Munich, Germany (July 27) 'Fresh Out The Slammer/You Are In Love' 'Ivy/Call It What You Want'

Munich, Germany (July 28) 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever/imgonnagetyouback' 'loml/Don't You'

Warsaw, Poland (Aug 1) 'Mirrorball/Clara Bow' 'Suburban Legends/New Year's Day'

Warsaw, Poland (Aug 2) 'I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)/I Can See You' 'Red/Maroon'

Warsaw, Poland (Aug 3) 'Today Was A Fairytale/I Think He Knows' 'The Black Dog/Exile'

London, UK (Aug 15) 'Everything Has Changed/End Game/Thinking Out Loud' (ft: Ed Sheeran) 'King Of My Heart/The Alchemy'

London, UK (Aug 16) 'Dear John/Sad Beautiful Tragic'

London, UK (Aug 17) 'My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys/Coney Island'

London, UK (Aug 19) 'Long Live/Change' 'The Archer/You're On Your Own, Kid'

London, UK (Aug 20) 'Death By A Thousand Cuts/Getaway Car' (ft: Jack Antonoff)

Miami, FL (Night 1 - Oct 18) 'Tim McGraw/Timeless' 'this is me trying/Daylight'

Miami, FL (Night 2 - Oct 19) 'Should've Said No/I Did Something Bad' 'loml/White Horse'

Miami, FL (Night 3 - Oct 20) 'Out Of The Woods/All You Had To Do Was Stay' 'mirrorball/Guilty As Sin?'

New Orleans, LA (Night 1 - Oct 25) 'Our Song/Call It What You Want' 'The Black Dog/Haunted'

New Orleans, LA (Night 2 - Oct 26) 'Espresso/Is It Over Now?/Please Please Please' (ft: Sabrina Carpenter) 'Hits Different/Welcome to New York'

New Orleans, LA (Night 3 - Oct 27) 'Afterglow/Dress' 'How You Get The Girl/Clean'

Indianapolis, IN (Night 1 - Nov 1) 'The Albatross/Holy Ground' 'Cold As You/exile'

Indianapolis, IN (Night 2 - Nov 2) 'The Prophecy/This Love' 'Maroon/cowboy like me'

Indianapolis, IN (Night 3 - Nov 3) 'Cornelia Street/The Bolter' 'Death By Thousand Cuts/The Great War'

Toronto, Canada (Night 1 - Nov 14) 'My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys/This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things' 'False God/'tis the damn season'

Toronto, Canada (Night 2 - Nov 15) 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever/Mine' 'evermore/Peter'

Toronto, Canada (Night 3 - Nov 16) 'Us (with Gracie Abrams)/Out of the Woods' 'You're On Your Own, Kid/Long Story Short'

[doctorstrangereview]

Strange Tales #145

Cover Date: June 1966 On-Sale Date: March 10, 1966

This is Steve Ditko's penultimate Strange Tale. This is another departure from the main arc; and even more so than any previous distraction. Previous departures were tangentially related by being caused by something in, or involving characters from the main event. This is a genuine interlude and introduces a new villain. Except for the installment in Strange Tales #129, all these Strange stories are Stan Lee/Steve Ditko productions. Issue #129 was scripted by Don Rico. I forgot to mention this when I wrote that one up and I'm too lazy to go back and edit it in. This issue is scripted by future superstar Dennis O'Neil. Stan being Stan still manages to put himself first in the credits by giving himself an edited by credit smack in front! No one could accuse you of modesty, Stan.

Hearkening back to the old days, we begin with the villain committing a crime. Mr. Rasputin is in a little European country plundering state secrets using illusions to scare their guardians. The super honest Mr. Rasputin also screws over the traitor who helped him out. What a guy!

Damn, Mr. Rasputin is sinister looking! Yes, he's a descendent of Grigori Rasputin who was shot, stabbed, frozen, emasculated and a few other things I can't quite remember. The scene is repeated all over the globe with a nice symbolic image to keep this from taking up too much real estate.

Our villain, by a lucky coincidence, winds up in Greenwich Village. Funny that, eh? He practices his illusions and our series gets its first mention of Ikonn. Ikonn will be invoked frequently and even show up in person in about 15 years. Ditko gives us an idea of what the fellow looks like. I have to give credit to Gene Colan who made Ikonn resemble this initial look when he shows up for real.

This tips of Doc who just happens to be doing his virtual patrols with the still yet-to-be-name Orb of Agomotto, which still looks like a classroom globe in a fancy stand. Doc goes flying to find Mr. Rasputin. Along the way he calls the ritual of Ikonn forbidden. Doc will use this "forbidden" ritual as often as he breathes in the future. Doc arrives in Mr. Rasputin's rented loft masked in shadow. It looks really cool!

Naturally, a battle ensues and even though he's still weak from his clash with Tazza in the previous issue, he's easily Mr. Rasputin's better.

Magic bolts fly and clash into shields. Mr. Rasputin realizes he doesn't stand a chance in a fair fight. What, oh what, will our enterprising, yet cowardly foe do? Why, pull out a gun of course!

The tables have turned. Doc uses his cloak to float into the window of a nearby hospital. How fortunate for him that a doctor and nurse happen to be in the room he floats into. Hooray for diversity! The doctor is black! He's one of the first non-white, not-Asian characters in the script. The colorist does him no favors. I present a scan of the original instead to the usual Masterworks restoration.

After surgery Doc is interviewed by the police. His cloak is hanging around upside down. It's not shown before or after, but perhaps it likes to rest like a bat. Or it may have just been tossed over the door.

Thinking fast, Doc realizes where his buddy is heading: His own Sanctum Sanctorum! Going ghost Doc finds him there. Yup, still no freaking security, physical or magical. Everyone just walks in.

While Doc is checking out Mr. Rasputin, a thug has been sent to whack Doc's body in the hospital. Doc has sent for his cloak which is flying to the Sanctum. Now we know why Ditko drew Doc's entrance earlier the way he did.

Mr. Rasputin's like "Oh, crap! You're supposed to be dead! What the hell do I do now? I know! I'll shoot him again!"

Very clever Doc! You can be a deceptive little SOB too! Realizing what's happening, Mr. Rasputin attempts to banish Doc's ghost to the netherworld. He nearly succeeds, but Doc sends the ghost version of his amulet's eye to entrance his foe. Mr. Rasputin manages to resist the eye until Doc uses the cloak to wrap itself around him and suffocating him until he passes out. Doc returns to our plane and uses the cloak to haul his buddy to the hospital.

Entering his room, he finds the thug entranced by the physical version of the amulet. Whew! It woulda sucked if that didn't work! There's one last task Doc must perform. He non-consensually wipes Mr. Rasputin's mind of magical knowledge. The coerces him and his minion to confess their crimes.

One day the Ancient One will need to sit Doc down and have a serious conversation about consent! Doc's doc says he'll be released in the morning. Doc's like "Don't worry none! I kinda like it here and need to catch some z's." The magic business must be lucrative if he can afford an extended stay at a New York City hospital. It'll be a good investment. There's something big coming next month!

While it happens in the middle of an arc, it's unrelated to what's happening around it. It's also the last villain of the week, standalone story we'll see for quite awhile. Everything is multi part arcs from now on. Fortunately, none of them will span 17 months like this one. I like Mr. Rasputin. He's not arrogant, is aware of his limitations and is not afraid to stoop to dastardly deeds to get his way. He's clever and thinks on his feet. He's not the bungler that Mordo devolves into. Since the foes that Doc mindwipes have a high rate of recidivism, it would have been nice to have him as an occasionally recurring villain. He does pop up again in the future, but not as a the primary antagonist. Let Doc get his rest, he'll have bigger fish to fry next month.

[just-a-carrot]

HELLO CARROT!

Given how apparently I’m immune to playing OW games without recording them now, you’ll audibly hear my thoughts within the next few weeks (I’m posting tomorrow because I’m an absolute maniac), BUT I WANNA SAY THINGS HERE BECAUSE APPRECIATION CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG!

Also Merry Christmas! It’s midnight when I’m writing this, so ‘tis the day of caroling and festivities and woah. Or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate!

Back to the Our Cinderella topic, I have only played Genzou’s route as of now (I’m sure that’s hardly surprising, he is my fav), but the others are next. Their time is coming. They cannot escape. SO SPOILERS FOR GENZOU’S ROUTE!

First off, I saw you included the little dancing in front of TV Iggy pose and the joy I felt seeing it was off the charts. I kept bringing it up, I was very happy. And seeing Iggy moving about was really cool in general, even without the novelty of seeing a suggestion I made exist in the game.

NEXT UP! Genzou drunk singing is an image I didn’t know I needed, thank you for the visual and the brain food. BUT ALSO I HAVE BEEN CONNECTING JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SONGS TO OW FOR SO LONG AND HEARING THE MUSICAL BE MENTIONED BY GENZOU THREW ME FOR A LOOP. Great musical, very nice. Last Supper reminds me of Genzou and Orlam. Judas’s voice in general reminds me of Orlam. Musicals and OW can further connect in my brain hobby drawer.

The text interactions in general were really funny, actually. I liked the absolute chaos that was Iggy and Genzou’s text conversations, I was laughing while trying to read a lot of the time. I remember the aforementioned drunk singing conversation and the puddle one both got me pretty good while I was reading, and it was overall fun to see more lighthearted conversations from the characters, even if it’s in a different universe from the main canon.

To end things off, ‘cause again 1) I haven’t finished all the game’s routes yet, and 2) you’ll be able to hear my thoughts in the moment if you choose in future anyways, I wanna mention the version of Cinderella Bucks tells at the end? I can’t get it out of my head. When I was thinking about the game after having just played it, my mind kept flashing back to CinderJesus. It absolutely decimated my brain function, but in a very fun way. More slice-of-life Bucks, please, she’s peak comedy.

Very fun game, 10/10, very sad I couldn’t buy the Kirby in the first playthrough but it’s on my to-do list, aaaand yeah! Thank you for making this! I loved every minute of it, and I’m really excited to play the remaining routes once my irl festivities are over.

sob this is so sweet! 😭💕 i'm excited to watch your playthrough too -- things are a bit overwhelming in general for me right now as i'm still with my family and doing a bunch of things, but even if i'm unable to find time this week i will for sure watch once i'm back home next week. i'm really happy that you're enjoying it so much already tho ahhhh and that you're finding it so entertaining 🥺

i'm glad you liked the poses i had so much fun with them and also using some of the suggestions to add more! and LMAO JCS is a musical i grew up watching (my parents used to play the original album in the house lol) so i get the songs stuck in my head a lot, hence why it randomly worked its way into this (among many other random silly little references or inspirations from my own life hahaha). that is extremely funny to me 🤣

i'm glad you liked the convos they were the epitome of silly. and also bucks's part hahaha. i was half-worried it would end up being too ridiculous and random for people because it just got so weird in places hahaha

thank you so much for this lovely message and all of your thoughts and for playing the game! 🥺💕 i look forward to watching the playthrough so i can see all of your reactions in real-time lakjdfs