#and uses them to up her creepy factor when she goes on a job

[nerdpoe]

Bear with me I'm sleep deprived but underground tattoo artist Sam.

In Crime Alley there's a tattoo artist that costs a shitton of money, she brings the shop to the customer, and she is definitely a mad scientist or a meta or something.

The ink she uses is fluorescent, and can respond to the wearers need for the tattoo to be invisible or completely visible.

And rumor has it if she gets paid extra the tattoos will move on their fucking own.

Flowers bloom, animals snarl and blink, galaxies slowly rotate as they dance around the skin they have been confined in.

And Jason loves dramatic shit like that.

But when he tries to hunt her down to request one, he keeps unearthing more and more concerning things.

There are no camera sightings of her. No one can really describe her face.

Then the kicker.

When one of her customers let him have a piece of skin for a diagnostic and Lazarus Water (severely diluted but still) shows up, he knows he has to ask the Bats for assistance in finding a well renowned artist that, for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #story prompt #phanfic #tattoo artist sam au #shes just vibing in her crime alley apartment with her husbands #and uses them to up her creepy factor when she goes on a job #the ectoplasm is so diluted it wont effect a gothamite #not with how contami ated the city is

[braxien12]

YuRise - Assassin AU

How hard can it be to kill 5 teenagers?

Word Count: 2,648

Rise felt like the specimen on the lab tables they had to dissect back in middle school as her client circled around her like a lion would a gisselle. But instead of being intimidating, it was really annoying. She felt like she was being sized up by a hunched-over stickman.

“So you’re the best assassin they have in employment, huh.” He gave her the elevator eye again, but he stopped circling her. “Never would’ve thought they’d send the famous teeny-bopper Risette. Man, what a shocker!”

Hearing this creepy, slouched over sleaze call her Risette made bile crawl up her throat, but she swallowed it down along with the list of long-ranging insults she wanted to hurl at him. Risette isn’t who she is anymore. After this last job, she’s leaving the life, no matter how difficult.

Her organization pumps out the best idols in Japan, and each idol goes through intense training to ensure they produce top records and make people smile across the country and even the world. What many people don’t know is that idols also go through rigorous training to kill without being caught, fulfill their clients orders no matter how disturbing or gruesome, and bring in money no matter how bloody.

It’s an existence she wants no part in anymore. Standing on that stage, hearing everyone calling a name that wasn’t her own…

She couldn’t take it anymore.

“What? The screeching canary finally sang its last tune?”

This mission may end with a different dead body than expected.

“Where is your payment? All requesters must be met with the money upfront.” Rise made sure to keep her voice flat to not give the jester any edge.

“Wow. Somebody fell out the wrong side of the cage this morning.” Her expression didn’t give an inch. “Fine, fine. No sense of humor. Your agency has received the payment.”

He must want a group kill. If the requestor wants more than one person killed they have to give the money straight to the company rather than the assassin. Group kills were messier, more factors to mess up the kills and a higher chance of collateral damage.

“Who do you want me to kill?”

“Straight to the point, huh. I bet you’re great at children’s parties.” He reached for the inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out a photo. In the photo was a group of six people sitting together at a food court, each looking like they were in high school. They were all eating and some were in mid laughter when the photo was taken. They overall looked like they were having a good time.

She’s jealous. They looked like an ordinary group of friends. What could they have done for this person to want them dead?

“They call themselves “The Investigation Team”. The bunch of brats go around solving mysteries like some knock-off Scooby-Doo gang. It makes me want to vomit.”

Ahh. They must’ve investigated too closely. She couldn’t count on both hands how many lives she took just because someone was sticking their nose too far into other people’s business. “Do you want them all dead?”

“Why else would they all be in the picture? Kill them all and any more that enter their little group, but I have a special request. This one-” Using his other hand, he pointed to one of the people in the photo: the teen’s silver hair was cut in a bob and amidst the table of seemingly chaotic screaming and laughing, he was drinking from the straw of his drink, watching the scene with a weird calmness, as if he was watching a movie.

“This one’s death is mandatory. Kill him first.”

“Yes sir. Are there any preferences of how you want him to die?”

The client shrugged. “Surprise me. Just make sure it’s slow and painful.”

“Yes sir.”

Coming back to the small town of Yasoinaba after having toured many different big cities and staying in some herself was like a breath of fresh air. It felt nice to return to a place where everyone was so friendly and personal. Inaba was so small that everyone knew each other’s business in seconds. It was warming compared to the coldness of the big cities. It reminded her of a younger Rise, who even though was shy still had a kind innocence to her.

Now Risette follows her everywhere.

“I heard that Rise just arrived in Inaba like yesterday.”

“Seriously! I wonder where she could be now!”

“What is she’s in Junes with us right now at this very moment?”

If they only knew.

Rise pulled the rim of her floppy sun hat lower over her face. Even with her aviator shades, the more skin covered up, the better.

She only came to Junes for some light shopping. A couple clothes, maybe a gift for her grandma, but then a couple became a few and a few shortly became five bags.

If being famous did anything, it definitely fueled her love of shopping. When she was little, she would watch the stars walking the red carpet on the TV and admire their beautiful and sparkly clothes. Shy, little Rise, sitting in her parent’s living room, could only dream of wearing clothes like that. When the idol competition came around and she found out she won, she thought her life would change for the better. Now she’s not so sure.

But now that she has the money to buy those fabulous clothes, she was going to buy them.

Rise was looking at a pair of shoes when she got a shiver down her spine. Someone was following her. As an idol she was used to being followed around, but as a trained assassin she also learned how to avoid them.

First thing’s first: she needed to lose them in the crowd. In training, one of the first lessons she learned was how to memorize her surroundings. She’s on the second floor. Junes has two elevators(it probably only has one but for the sake of this story we’re gonna say it has two). The first elevator was out of the question; it was too close-by and too easy to get to. To get to the second elevator, she’d have to round the entire floor and cut through the large clothing store.

The second floor it is.

She made extra care to keep her shades straight and keep her hat down over her head as she maneuvered through crowds of people. Worst case scenario: they fall off and she causes a rampage. It would make for an excellent distraction, but she honestly didn’t feel like being manhandled or being crowded today. It had to be a last case scenario.

When she made it to the large clothing store she made sure to stick to the smaller, narrower corners: every tight squeeze between the clothes racks, the aisles of the shoe racks, between the dressing rooms. The elevator was in sight. She couldn’t feel the person following her anymore, but she still wasn’t sure what they looked like to be certain. It would be best if she just hurried up and left.

She watched as the red numbers ticked down and it opened to her floor. Rise released the breath she was holding in as he stepped aboard. She made it without anyone recognizing her. She even managed to find a pretty gift for her grandma. She couldn’t wait to give it to her. She started to rummage through the bags as the elevator doors started to close.

A foot weighed itself in between the doors.

Rise backed against the metal wall as the door opened again and her assailant stepped forward. She recognized him. The bowl cut hairstyle was a dead give away. This was the boy she was tasked to kill brutally. Did he know she was sent to kill him? Did he come to finish her off first before she got to him and his friends? Her hand was sneaky when she eased it behind her back as she clutched her weapon in the hidden pocket of her dress.

Her phone was dangling in front of her face from his hands.

“You dropped this.”

“Huh?” Did he seriously chase her around the second floor just to return her phone

She was flabbergasted. She snatched it from his hand.

“Why didn’t you say so a whole lot sooner!”

“My bad. I’m sorry about that,” he apologized. She had just begun to regain her barings when he stopped and looked back.

“Oh, and that strap looks pretty tasty,” he said before the elevator door closed behind him.

What’s wrong with this guy?

The news of her arrival in Inaba striked faster than she thought it would, but it wasn’t unexpected. The flow of information was not something to underestimate. She has no idea how they found out she was working with her grandma at Marukyu. 

Inaba is a sleepy town. No restaurant or stores besides Junes has ever had such an influx of customers at the same time except maybe on holidays. Now people were lining up by the tens outside of Marukyu, and most of them were definitely not here to buy tofu.

She felt bad for her grandma. She didn’t need all of this commotion that she’s brought her. But her grandmother said she didn’t mind. She admitted to being more worried for her than herself, like the sweet lady she was.

However, the ruckus did have a bright side.

It brought her closer to her targets. And thanks to the ruckus, she was looking at three of them right now.

When she heard of “The Investigation Team”, the first word that came to mind was nosy. She had no idea they went to this extent. What were they investigating anyway?

“Wait if that’s…, then who is…” That was her cue.

She turned around to face “The Investigation Team”.

Huh. They looked different face-to-face than from a polaroid picture. The false blonde walked up to the counter while the brunette gawked in place behind him.

“Uh, are you Rise?”

“Yeah. What do you want?” She had no energy to play the preppy idol today. At her dulled tone, the brunette sobered up and ended up looking confused. He must know who she is.

“Are you really Rise! Wait, no that’s not what I- uh. Tofu, please.” He definitely knew who she was.

“What kind?”

“Uh," he hesitated. He shot his friend with a withering look. "Psst. Kanji! Order something!"

"Why me? You said ganmodoki a few minutes ago." The brawny man huffed. "Two orders of Tofu and this guy wants ganmodoki."

“Okay.” She went about preparing their order. She could hear them whispering behind her. Maybe she’s just tired. She wasn’t tired, not the sleepy kind anyway.

“Rise, can you get that pot for me from that top shelf? The ladder is in the back!”

“Hai!”

Sizing the two of them up, the fake blonde would definitely be a problem. Judging by his build and his straight-to-the-point way of speaking, he would definitely be a problem. But the brunete seems to be an easy target. He was obviously a big fan of hers and a little too girl crazy himself. It would be an easy kill if she managed to get him alone by himself.

Or maybe even close enough…

Lesson 2: Seduction. A little slip of the foot should work.

“Ah!” Her foot ‘slipped’.

“Woah!”

“Dude she’s falling!”

She never hit the ground. She had a smile of triumph before she opened her eyes and saw who her savior was.

Gray eyes met her instead of brown.

“It’s you!”

“That is my name.”

She scrambled out of his arms. The teen stood up like nothing happened, aloof and calm as if he just walked into a normal working day in a restaurant with a waitress fixing the food.

Where did he come from? Why didn’t he come in with his friends? She asked these questions to herself while brushing off her apron.

“Are you all right?” The bowl-haired boy asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.”

She could practically hear the implosion behind them.

“Why did she just said “it’s you”? Have they already met before?”

‘Woah! Senpai is the man!”

“Oh, Rise! Are you okay?” She didn’t know her grandma had seen her fall.

"I'm okay." The boy reached around her and grabbed the pot for her from the top shelf. He gave it to her grandma. "Here you go ma'am."

"Thank you. Such a kind young man."

Great. Now her grandma is taking a liking to him. Rise sighed. It should be fine. This was gonna be the only time they'd meet.

"Rise, have you noticed anything strange since you've been back?"

After helping her grandma close up, she left out for some fresh air. It was late enough where everyone was mostly home by now. 

“The Midnight Channel, huh?” It’s been a few hours since The Investigation Team left the tofu shop to warn her. She remembered watching a channel like that the first night she had arrived, but she thought it was just some prank, a parody someone put together that somehow made it to TV. It wouldn’t be the first time.

But a murderer on the loose, a magicial TV channel that only appears at midnight. Just what has her client gotten her into?

No. It was just the start of her mission. She hasn’t even been here for a week yet. It was too early to say she was up to her neck, but a higher bonus was definitely going to be demanded for leaving out important information.

“Hey, is that Risette?!”

Shit.

“That has to be her! Let’s go ask for an autograph!”

Shit.

She took off. She could hear running footsteps behind her. It wasn’t enough to be a stampede, but it had to be more than six people. Too much attention. She couldn’t go back home with them on her tail, but she had nowhere else to go. She’d have to lose them then camp out somewhere until they leave.

Lesson 3: Always have an exit.

She could cut across the bushing coming up. Or maybe she could cut through an alley and duck into a building until the people chasing her give up and go home, but that may cause more of a hassle. The bushes were the best solution.

She made a beeline for the tall bushes in front of the sidewalk when…

“Ah!”

Her arm was tugged, and she was pulled along.

“Shh. This way.”

“Wha? Is that you?”

“That is my name.”

“You already said that!”

He laughed at that, his voice still low to not alert their chasers. “This way.”

As a small mountain town, once you got out of the neighborhoods the rest was pretty much foliage and highway depending on the direction you went. In the direction they were going she could hear moving water. 

“The Samegawa flood plains?”

“I found this spot a few weeks after I moved her. They shouldn’t think to come down here.” The “spot” was the grassy expanse down the hill and off the main road. 

Wait? Moved?

“You just moved here?”

“Yeah. A few weeks ago,” he answered her. He started walking towards the water while Rise stood still stuck in her contemplations.

He just moved here! Just what has he done in a few weeks to get someone to kill him so badly? As an assassin, questions were not something you asked. Whatever they wanted you just went with it, no matter how disgusting or random it was. It was how Rise climbed the ropes so quickly. She caught on fast and she flawlessly did as she was told. No questions asked.

So why was this one boy making her question so much?

“Just make sure it’s slow and painful.”

Just who is he?

#persona fanfiction #persona #p4 golden #fanfiction #writing #fanfic #rise kujikawa #yu narukami #yu narukami and rise kujikawa #yurise #assassin au #drabble #one shot

[layniapetrovnaaa]

Kinkmas Day 6 (cockwarming): Five Hargreeves

Five is physically aged up to 17/18 in all my works. Also, I am 18, so this is not like some creepy cougar situation.

Summary: Reader and five go to see their past selves with Luther at the pub. Trouble ensues, and you decide to then try and help Five relax.

Warnings: Language, suggestive banter, name calling, fighting, smut, cockwarming, light praise kink, hints of premature ejaculation. 

This is pretty long because it was not originally a kinkmas fic.

***

A cold layer of sweat covers your entire body as you make your way to the pub that your past self was currently occupying. 

You knew the dangers of paradox psychosis-- having been part of the commission for many years. Yet, here you were, about to try and negotiate with your two weeks younger self and significant other. 

It wasn't you that you were worried about, however, it was Five. 

You had been partners for quite a few years before you got together, that being said, you knew Five very well. You knew it would be unlikely that he would react kindly to himself

If the first four stages of paradox psychosis were any indication, he was already fumbling this task. 

“You alright, Five?”

“Fine.” he says sharply, but in an unconvincing tone. 

“Here we go.” Luther mutters as he swings open the door, holding it for you and your counterpart.

Upon entering, you catch a glimpse of you and Five at the bar, you turn and laugh at something he says, flirtatiously placing your hand on his arm. 

What you would give to go back to those days, the ones where you weren't constantly worrying about the apocalypse, when you and Five could have a casual drink at the bar, then find each other in one of the empty bathrooms later to... blow off some steam before returning to your jobs as hitmen. 

“Well, there we are.” you breath out. 

Five’s eyes almost bug out of his head as he peers around to get a good look at the two of you together, Luther as well. 

Despite the fact that you were also just as susceptible to paradox psychosis, you seemed to be the most level headed.

“How come [Y/N] looks the same?” Luther asks, stupidly.

“I told you already, I don’t age due to my regenerative healing factor, I’m like you guys.” your growl.

Maybe you weren't the most level headed, blame it on nerves. 

“Huh”

He glances over at Five, who was anxiously rubbing his hands together and looking as if he just saw a ghost, before asking another stupid question. 

“Why don’t we just grab the briefcase and run?”

You scoff, and Five answers him, almost hurt by his words.

“Luther, I would never let that happen. We’re trained to guard these briefcases with our lives.”

“Right.”

“Plus, it’s the inherit paradox where this gets tricky.We’re endangering our existence just being in the same room with our former selves.”

“Huh-- What do you mean?”

You roll your eyes.

“C’mon Ape-man, try to keep up.” you scoff out, biting your thumb nail anxiously. 

“If the old me doesn't travel back to 2019 like he’s supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. I cease to exist. Same goes for [Y/N], here.” Five explains to his brother, making exaggerated hand gestures as he does. 

Luther nods, and Five keeps talking.

“So our best chance is to talk--reason-- with them. Usually, I would count on [Y/N] to keep me grounded in situations like this, but given that fact that she might experience psychosis as well, I’m not really sure how this is gunna go.”

“Ah” Luther lets out, a bit apprehensive. 

“He’ll understand.” Five mutters to himself, itching his neck.

“You just itched your neck! That’s stage two of paradox psychosis.” Luther whisper shouts.

“Luther, don’t be ridiculous.” you speak, wiping the sweat from your forehead as you do so.

“No, I didn't. I didn't itch my neck.” Five says defensively. 

“Well, denial is stage one, and you’ve both got it. “

“We are fine, Luther.” You say harshly and leaning in dramatically.

Five huffs and shakes himself out a bit before he starts towards your targets.

“Wait-” Luther says, grabbing his arm.

“What?” Five hisses out, still put off by his brother’s most recent comments.

“Maybe I should go first. I mean, the two of you will freak them out.”he explains before turning to your lover.

“Bumping into your own tiny doppelganger? He will lose his shit.”

You all turn to look at yourselves-- the couple-- at the bar.

“Just let me brake the ice.” he continues.

Five looks over at you for approval and you give him a nod. This seemed to be the first time Luther actually had a decent plan.

As you prepare to meet yourself, the three of you take a few deep breaths in. 

As Luther saunters over to the couple , you put a hand on Five’s back, rubbing soothing across his lean frame. 

“This will all work out fine.” you hum, more to yourself than him.

He looks up at the ceiling, then back down at his hands, continuing to fiddle with any of the imperfections on them.

“Whaddya say, after this we’ll go home, finally have some alone time, release all that pent up stress?”

He looks into you eyes, and for a moment, his anxiety stops.

“That would be wonderful.” he pecks your lips quick before you turn around the corner of beam, hearing Luther introduce you.

“Hey there, stranger.”

***

“Well...this is nice, isn’t it? The five of us, together like this.”

You put your head in your hands as your lookalike glares over at Luther because of his unfitting tone and comment. The Fives are the only ones who respond verbally.

“No.”

The physically older five speaks. 

“Somebody explain to me how I am having a pint of Guinness with my younger self and my girl.” 

“Older, actually. I’m you, just 14 days older.” Five clicks.

“I have pubic hair smarter than you.”

And that was your cue to start and finish off your drink in one go. 

“How is that possible?” the only other female at the table asks. 

“I can explain. You see, one hour from now, on the grassy knoll, before the president is killed, you two will brake your contract with the commission.” he says, his eyes flicking over to the other version of yourself, and you noticed his eyes soften slightly. 

“I already know you’re thinking about it. All those years in the apocalypse, we never stopped worrying about our family. Well, today, you are going to do something about it. Today, you are going to attempt to time travel forward to 2019. However you are going to screw up the jump and end up in this twip of a body, trapped forever, small, pubescent.” Five says, starting off soft at first, then becoming more vicious. 

“Okay.” the other Five says nervously.

“How come I look the same then?” You-- well, not you-- speak. 

“Because we don’t age, moron.”

Younger you sits back and scoffs, never breaking her glare. 

“See! It’s a reasonable question!” Luther shouts rather obnoxiously.

“Ah yes, the burden of being young and sexy forever.” the white haired Five speaks, it’s meant to be humorous, but everyone is to stressed to acknowledge it properly. 

Luther chokes slightly on his beer, whereas the Five that you are sat next to reaches for his and gulps it down rather quickly. You just roll your eyes.

“Look, we’re getting off topic.”

Regaining his wits, the man that sits across from you speaks.

“Even if I was to believe you, what am I supposed to do about it, not jump?” he says aggressively, with a hint of fear.

“No, no. I--We need you both to jump.”

“If you two don’t jump, we cease to exist.” you elaborate on his behalf. 

“What I need from you is to jump correctly.” 

“I’m listening.”

“The first time through, we got the calculations wrong. That’s how I ended up in this body. But now, I know the correct calculation.”

“What is it?” the other Five whispers sharply.

“I’ll be glad to tell you... in exchange for that briefcase you’re holding under the table.” the physically younger Five states, a bit too cockily.

“What do you think?”

It’s silent for a moment, and in that moment you hold your breath.

“I think...I need to piss.”

You let out a sigh and hold your head in your hands as he gets up and heads towards the back of the pub, Luther following shortly after. 

“You’ll have to excuse me as well.” [Y/N] says and gets up. You recognize the slight mischievous gleam in her-- your-- eyes when she gets up and heads towards the bathrooms. Your suspicions are confirmed when you see her slip into the men’s bathroom instead of the women's. 

You quickly turn to Five, who is bouncing his leg up and down anxiously and not looking away from the bathroom doors.

“They’re planning something, and they’re trying to get Luther in on it.”

He shakes his head before speaking.

“I know. I bet they’re gunna kill us.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” you say, a bit shocked at his accusation.

“Homicidal rage is stage seven, [Y/N], and all four of us are already exhibiting symptoms of stage six. Besides, that’s what I would do if I were him, and I am him.” he says very matter-of-factly, which makes you gulp, given the fact this he isn’t wrong.

A minute later, the three of them appear. 

“We good?” Five asks cautiously.

“You got a deal.” The other Five speaks. 

“We gotta hurry, Kennedy’s en route. Less than an hour till showtime.” the other version of yourself says, pulling her bag onto her shoulder. 

“Why are you so anxious to get going all of a sudden?”

“Relax. Your getting paranoid.” The mustache donning Five lets out a scoffing chuckle, itching his chin on his shoulder immediate after.

“Oh, am I?”

They glare at each other for another moment before exiting the pub. 

***

“What are you looking at?” Five asks the random stranger aggressively.

You try to push him along, but he continues.

“You see somethin’ funny?” he shouts even louder.

You notice that the other three members of your party are talking among themselves in front of you. Trying to focus hard on what they are saying, you miss Fives next insult, which was along the lines of “Something, something, asshole!”. 

“Mind your business!-”

“Five!” you scold. “-Or I’ll give you something to stare at!”

 “Stop it!”

“You wish you could pull off these shorts!”

You just roll your eyes and try to move him along. 

Luther falls back and you immediately know something is up.

“Hey, lovebirds. How you guys doing?”

Five takes a look at Luther, then a deep breath in before descending the stairs and speaking.

“They’re gunna kill us, aren’t they?”

“What?” Luther lets out a nervous chuckle.

“What, him, her? He’s gunna kill you? Yeah, right. That’s ridiculous.” he chuckles again.

“Luther?”

“Yeah, hm?” he perks up too quickly when you speak. 

“Promise me you will never go into acting. Because you’ve got to be one of the worst liars I’ve ever met.” and Five hums in agreement.

“You’re a worse liar than you are a spotter.”

At that, Luther drops his act.

“Okay, who’s fault is that? What good is having a spotter if you won’t even listen to him?” 

“So you admit you’re all conspiring against us?” Five says, whisper yelling. You scoff.

“Do--Do you admit that you’re suffering from paradox psychosis?”

“Nuh-uh, don’t try and turn the tables, Luther.” you seethe. 

“She’s got it too!” he points at you.

Five ignoring the both of you and instead defends himself. 

“All I’m suffering from is bracing clarity about you and your murderous intentions.” his voice is like venom as he itches his chest.

“Look, it’s not like they’re gonna “kill you” kill you. They just want to kill a, um... version of you two.

“But I am that version of me!” 

“Hey, I don’t love it, either, but he’s actually got a pretty good plan.

“You’re really not helping your case, Luther.” you say, your voice agitated.

“What? The one where you guys off us, then jump to 2019 to save the world?” Five asks, aggressively pushing his hair back. 

“Yeah, wait, how’d you know that.”

“Because, Luther, we are the same people, we think the same way, and that’s exactly what we would do!” you spit, muttering “imbecile” under your breath. 

“Okay, all I know is that we’ve got one of you too many,-- and you’re the mean one and this Five is a maniac.”

You clench your fists and try not to hurl yourself at the monkey-boy. 

“Maniac? Luther, you have seen nothing. If you want a maniac, I will show you maniac.” Five growls. Maybe Luther was right.

“Okay, as your spotter,-” you and Five both scoff.

“I think the best thing I can do for you right now is put you out of your misery.” Luther says in a matter-of-fact tone, and that’s when Five’s had enough.

“Okay, Luther, listen,” Five starts, turning and grabbing Luther. You make sure to watch the show from a safe two feet away. 

“I know your feeble mind only responds to age and authority, so listen very closely.” Five starts, and you got a feeling from the way that he was gripping Luther’s arms-- this would most likely end in an outburst.

“Yet again, you are experiencing daddy issues. This time with your own brother, which is honestly making me a bit crazy.”

“But remember this:” he says, and its the calm before the storm.

“I’m 14 days older than him. I have seniority here. So it is me you should be listening to, Luther.”

...and here it comes...

“I’M THE DADDY HERE!”

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

“Five, you need to calm down.” you finally intervene. 

“What, I thought you liked it when I play daddy.” he says with a veil of smugness, coating his paranoid ticks. 

Before you can huff out a retort, the Five that was walking in front of you alerts everyone that you all had reached your destination. 

And, to say the least, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. At least you survived!

***

When you arrived home you knew your tasks were not yet finished.

Ah, yes, the trials and tribulations of trying to help Five relax after stopping an apocalypse...twice.  

Five heads straight to the kitchen, ignoring his siblings, to get a cup of coffee.

You and Luther filter in behind him slowly, exhausted from the day you’d had. 

Five hands you your own cup of joe and you place a hand on his arm, giving it a small squeeze, and offering him a sweet little smile-- as if to say “thank you”. He returns the look before taking a sip from his mug. 

“Where the hell have you three been?” Allison asks, her voice sharp, but at the same time, caring and concerned. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Five says bluntly before walking away, pulling you with him into Elliott’s old bedroom. 

Allison just scoffs and shakes her head, walking away, Luther following quickly after her. 

You set your mug down on the desk as Five closes the door. 

He goes and sits at the desk immediately, muttering about how you all still had to find a way to get back to 2019. 

“Five.” you say, your tone that of a parent who is correcting their child.

He looks up at you cautiously before determining that he wasn't in too much danger, continuing his scribbles. 

“[Y/N] you know just as well as I do, we can’t stay here.”

“I’m not asking to stay, I’m asking you to take a break for 30 minutes and-” you walk over to him, standing behind his chair, starting to trail kisses up his neck, your teeth grazing the shell of his ear. “spend some time with me. Hmm?”

“I--” he stutters, trying to weigh his options as your hands start to massage his shoulders lightly.

“I need to finish this equation I just started.”

You huff and make your way around the chair to sit on his lap. His hands immediate rest on your hips. And, although he has and exasperated look on his face, you can tell he is enjoying this.  

“But, I want you.” you whisper, your breath ghosting over his lips.

You grind yourself down on him unexpectedly, which makes him release a loud, and slightly high pitched moan.

You grin like the cheshire cat.

“Don’t get cocky.”

“Mmm, but how can I not be when I make the great Five Hargreeves moan like a horny schoolboy.” you mock, your eyes trailing down his sweater vest covered torso. 

“Oh, shut up.” he says just before kissing you feverishly. 

Soon, he is lifting your shirt, throwing it across the room, and groping your breasts. 

You let out a content sigh at his actions, continuing to swish your hips back and forth. 

“You’re so beautiful” he mutters and he leans in to kiss your neck.

You let out delicate moans as he sucks a hickey over your right jugular.

“I love those pretty noises you make, sweetheart.” He says, and you hum.

“Five,” you plead. “I need you.”

“Fuck” he curses at your words.

You get up to quickly take your bottoms off. he lifts his hips, sliding his shorts down to about mid-thigh.

You get back on his lap and start stroking him a bit before eventually lining him up at your entrance, and sinking down, letting out a heavy breath. 

“Oh, that’s a good girl.” Five sighs. 

“You always feel so damn good.” he hums, and you let out a soft moan at his words.

“Just-just let me finish this one problem and I’ll fuck you properly, okay?”

“Okay.” you sigh, sultry.

“Good girl.” he says, looking at you admirably, running a knuckle down your cheek softly, giving it a quick peck. 

Any small thing, any move of his hips, made you let out small gasps and breaths. 

It seems like forever before he is finished, but when you hear the sound of his pencil on the desk, you know he is finally finished. Ready to ravage you.

You start to move up and down slowly, trying to enjoy your first real moment of peace with your other half in a a long time.

Unable to take the slowness any longer, he orders you to get into the bed.

You comply and lay down.

He stands at the foot of the bed and grabs your ankle, dragging you closer to him before he lines himself up at your entrance again. 

His hands rest on the undersides of your knees, pushing them forward so that they are near your shoulders

“You look so beautiful like this” he murmurs, taking in your appearance.

Despite occupying a body that he hadn't possessed in a long time, he still knew exactly what to do to make you a blubbering mess. However, that being said, this version of himself seemed to be...sensitive to more sexual things. Reaching his climax quicker than he intended, he lets out a string of curses.

He seems slightly embarrassed, but makes no note of it when he tucks himself back into his shorts and gets on his knees. 

You let out a moan when he finally puts his mouth on you, a cocky grin forming on his lips.

“Who’s the cocky one now?” you ask rhetorically, breathless, and he dives back in. Your hands thread through his soft and thick hair, tugging on it ever so slightly when you feel a particularly pleasureful jolt. 

And its not long before you reach your glorious climax as well. 

“HEY, GUYS? WHEN YOU TWO ARE DONE BONING YOU MIGHT WANT TO COME DOWN HERE AND SEE THE NEWS.” Diego shouts, and you blush, knowing that everyone now knew what you and Five were up to-- that is, if they didn’t already.

“We should probably go down there.” Five says, helping you to get up and giving you back your shirt.

You agree and go downstairs, only to find that you and the Hargreeves siblings were currently America’s most wanted.

#five Hargreeves x reader #Five Hargreeves #five Hargreeves smut #five is always aged up in all my fics #the umbrella academy #kinkmas

[boncorner]

My Android Sun HCs

[For my roleplays, straight copied from my HC channel, I'll dump art here so y'all maybe wanna know what's going on? Idk enjoy!]

Recently Separated

Sun and Moon recently got split into 2 separate animatronics, this was because the company realised that the stress the switch put on the daycare attendant was making things worse. They are also hoping for them to keep each other in check. We'll see how that goes.

However, Sun has never left the daycare before, because the only time he was allowed to roam the pizzaplex was as Moon at the end of every hour.

He's still a bit scared to leave, partly because 1: It used to be against the rules(!!!) and 2: The daycare is all he knows and it's honestly kinda scary.

So... Other animatronics have very likely only ever seen him from the outside, or heard of him from others.

Design Details

The hair is synthetic and the skin on the face is made out of silicone. You can peel it off along the lines of the moon to reveal the inner workings underneath.

While the skeleton is made out of metal and all, the casing is actually made out of sturdy plastic, so that kids can grab and climb on him without him being too cold or them hurting themselves. The plastic casing actually makes him a little lighter than other animatronics!

The finger tips, palms and lower arms (they're a slightly different shade, you can see it more clearly on Moon where it's dark blue) are sensitive to pressure and touch, so that they know when they might hurt a child by holding on too tightly. Thus Sun's touch is very gentle by default.

They removed Sun's pupils because they made him look kinda creepy in his older design honestly. The concept was cute and all, but it quickly became eerie and made kids cry when they stared into your soul. Instead his eyes may light up if he wishes them to, which benefits him somewhat in finding his way around. Despite that however, this has left Sun to struggle to see because his eyes are kinda foggy, he's unable to zoom and to scan things, especially in low light. He might have a hard time recognising faces, or even how old a kid might be. This factor adds to his stress-levels when he needs to look after a bunch of kids, and when they disappear into the play structures, he just sort of... gives up and begins crying because he won't find them again.

Quick Sun Facts

🌞 He/They/It pronouns (Freddy calls them "it" after all), but is quite alright with she/her, as well as if you wanna make up cute neo-pronouns for them. Bonus if they're sun-themed!

🌞 Is very sweet and gentle, but has gone slightly off the deep end from listening to the daycare theme for too long

🌞 Can animatronics have ADHD?

🌞 He has ADHD

🌞 and ASD

🌞 Has drank too much fizzy faz that their old voice box got messed up. Now he's rebuilt into a separate new animatronic, he's doing it all over again

🌞 Is actually constantly overstimulated and doesn't realise how much they could need a moment in the dark surrounded by silence

🌞 ... but can't, because when the lights go out and things go quiet, their PTSD sends them into a panic attack

🌞 Can robots have OCD?

🌞 They have OCD, triggered by the lack of control that comes with being a daycare attendant and being attached to Moon for so long. Having control and order soothes him, just as much as the lack of it makes him spiral.

🌞 While being attached to Moon, some traits and issues Moon had transferred over to Sun, so you might recognise some stuff at times

🌞 Loves loud music and noisy places, making noises like humming, singing, popping noises, and if he's feeling spicy, screaming. Sounds make him feel comforted because he relies on sound more than vision, and sounds also means that the kids are awake!

🌞 Will talk to you like a kindergarten teacher, as well as running the entirety of the conversation. He's just very excited guys, and he takes his job very seriously, it's hard to switch off!

🌞 Gets scared and ashamed very easily if you get stern with him, scold him or you're disappointed. He's not easily frightened by actual scary things though, this guy lives with Moon after all. It's more a fear or failure than a fear of you

🌞 While he's a very silly little man, he's not a child, and he can get kinda huffy if you talk down to him!

#sun #sunnydrop #fnaf #security breach #fnafsb #fnaf sb #sunrise #sundrop #five nights at freddy's: security breach #five nights at freddy's #bon ponders #art tag #android sun

[something-very-special]

Call Her Back

Probably already a post with this title from the Let’s Play but it’s appropriate.

Thoughts on Replicant up to Ending A (and change):

This game is pretty. I guess it didn’t really hit me because I’ve always thought that the original NIER was pretty, but this game can be very pretty.

This in particular just kind of struck me as I was going across the Northern Plains. It had been dominantly gray, overcast skies up to that point because Part II of the game is meant to be. You know. Bleak. But I walked out onto a bright, sunny day with an expanse of blues skies, the mountains in the backgrounds, the ivy a burst of green growing up the rusted sides of the train tracks and it just kind of hit me that the game can be very pretty.

(Then I got punched out by a Shade.)

It’s definitely not a matter of massive graphical overhaul. The models look much better (getting a good look at the Twins during the finale, they really are beautiful) and I’m sure the environmental poly count is much higher and just overall smoother, and there are little touches here and there and just the capacity for better atmospheric lighting... I mean it all helps. But NIER is a game that’s always had fantastic art direction, making the most out of its budget through atmospheric tuning. There’s something uniquely beautiful about its muted palette and the way it uses its spaces that elevates it beyond the its actual technical limitations. It doesn’t look like an end-of-generation PS4 game, but that’s not an insult; it looks very much like itself from ten years ago, with its solid art direction, but touched up where it matters.

Does the sidequest grind seem... better...? I haven’t really dug into the BEST part of the game (spending 30 hours grinding out weapon upgrades) but I mentioned before my theory about how the sidequest grind is supposed to be carried out across multiple playthroughs and that’s why it sucks. To my surprise I finished Ending A missing only one sidequest (your friend and mine, Life in the Sands), with all of the other ones being more or less... pretty natural? The only thing I really needed to go out of my way for was Memory Alloy but all the other components didn’t really give me the kind of grief I remember from my playthroughs of the original. ‘Grief’ of course being relative to getting the platinum trophy, but my first time through the game I gave up finishing a few outstanding sidequests (specifically, fixing the lighthouse broke me-- I could not find 10 Mysterious Switches!)

Maybe I just got lucky, especially with the Machine Oils. Maybe some weird muscle memory kicked in. I feel like there were a few purchasing options that weren’t open originally, too, to ameliorate some of the grind, but it might also be a case of those options being cost-prohibitive so I just didn’t really acknowledge them... whatever the case the sidequest grind felt overall pretty painless. I dunno!

I really need to know how to manipulate events. For literally seven playthroughs straight of the latter half of the game I always did the keystone quest as Junk Heap (start) - Forest of Myth - Junk Heap (end) - Facade - Aerie. It wasn’t until I did a run with my college roommates and Popola gave me the Aerie letter before the Facade in invite that I realized the Aerie wasn’t actually programmed to be the last event.

Absolutely blew my mind, and ever since I became aware of it, it feels like the game goes out of its way to make sure the Aerie always comes before Facade. When I did my Let’s Play of NIER I kept a save file from the start of the kystone collection so I could re-do the events in case they went ‘out of order’ (according to my headcanon)... which they did. I replayed the latter half of the game again in order to get things the way I wanted them to be, same order, and fortunately it cooperated the second time, but I still don’t understand what the trigger is, if there’s a way to manipulate it, or when the determination is even made.

And then they throw the Little Mermaid into the mix, which I wasn’t expecting (that is, I knew it was added, but I’ve been mostly avoiding spoilers -- and happily, the changes have largely been a delight, I’m so excited for the subsequent playthroughs -- but the way it was posted about made it seem like it would happen after and apart from the keystone quest. Not so, my friends).

The reason for this is just the emotional escalation of each factor of the quest. The Forest of Myth is weird and little else (at this juncture, of course). The Junk Heap is a personal tragedy, but the actual tragedy has already occurred and you’re just experiencing the fallout. Facade is a powerful and personal tragedy that deserves to be experienced later on. The Aerie is a terrible place and nobody misses it it’s an enormous loss and profoundly traumatic for the party, and it feels like the appropriate apex to basically force them to go to the Castle and finish the fight, having already lost far too much.

Also it’s just super weird to me that they see that devastation, they literally wipe an entire settlement off the map, and then the next day everybody’s super excited to go to a wedding.

It also becomes even weirder that you go to Popola post-Aerie and nobody mentions ‘yeah that didn’t go so well’ but coming out of Seafront they have a legitimate conversation about the loss of the ferryman and the people they’re never getting back. I guess that guy had a personality but I still think maybe somebody should mention the smoking crater where people used to be.

Then again it’s legitimately funny to me how basically everybody is just agreed the world is better off without it.

This might also just be an issue of familiarity. Maybe if I’d always ended on Facade, or actually known that they could be swapped out as they are, it wouldn’t feel so weird. I definitely got used to the pacing with the Aerie at the end and I feel like I got into a debate with somebody about how it’s more appropriate for Facade to come last so this might just be a personal thing. But it’s still a personal thing and I’m still vaguely irritated I can’t figure out how it works.

Anyway I blew up the Aerie So that’s that problem taken care of.

I feel like the ambiance surrounding Wendy was a little creepier this time. I swear I heard that good stock creepy child laughter in the background.

Then the ferryman left This was a nice bit of foreshadowing; following the Aerie events I wanted to hop over to Seafront to take care of an extant sidequest only to find the ferry dock in the Northern Plains empty. I thought that maybe this was just a weird way of railroading you to make sure you went through the Village first, even though there were no scenes that would trigger just by being in the Village.

Alas.

Not gonna lie, when the couple was first introduced I thought for SURE it was going to be the wife who wound up dead. I guess it’s because the guy had a purpose as an NPC so yeah, I was tricked. Good design decision; the ferryman is talkative and bright and definitely difficult to forget and even though he was kinda obnoxious there’s a definite void where his dialogue was. It’s clever too that you’re forced to use the ferry at least once so you can’t escape the dialogue that you’re presented with, meaning that even if you don’t really make use of the ferry you’ll always have that contrast between him at the start of Part II and the other guy (his brother, maybe?) taking over the job and just not really talking to you afterward.

Episode Mermaid First of all, to be clear, I’ve not done the Route B playthrough yet. All I know about the Little Mermaid is what’s presented on the surface, what can be gleaned from there, what I remember reading in the Grimoire NieR short story. This is very much just an impression and reaction to the first encounter and it’s pretty cool.

I like that they managed to go into yet another genre style aping a point-and-click adventure.

I like the atmosphere of the wrecked ship. It really brought me back to the ‘ghost ship’ level archetype with its little hints of spookiness.

I appreciate that it ties subtly in to the Haunted Manor (technically the Part I Seafront dungeon) with Weiss’ utterly irrational fear of ghosts.

I love every excuse they find to get Kaine and Emil (and especially Kaine) out of a situation. It’s almost a running gag that Kaine keeps getting knocked out of dungeons and boss fights. None of them are quite as great as her getting Rules Lawyer’d in the Barren Temple, but there’s something delightful about “Let’s get you some fresh air, we’ll be right outside, be careful!” and then bookending it with Kaine and Emil just chilling at the end like “Well yeah there are a lot of holes in the hull we just popped in.”

(I forgot to go backward to see what happens if you try to take them into Seafront proper, gotta remember that next time.)

Interesting thing when you find some of the dropped apples is that Nier and Weiss talk about the dinner they had with the couple. This was actually a really sweet and oddly emotional conclusion to the added sidequest between the bickering couple-- entirely missable. I would assume the dialogue just doesn’t trigger if you didn’t do the quest but it was a nice touch.

I appreciate the use of dead bodies in the hold.

(That’s a sentence.)

But for the game’s focus on violence and excess of blood it’s very selective in how it uses actual corpses. Any time you see a dead body it really emphasizes the seriousness of the situation. The corpses in the hold and the blood spatter -- especially compared to how bright and clean Seafront as a whole is -- was surprisingly effective. Again, just good atmospheric buildup.

Bit of an anticlimax as a boss, though. It is a really cool boss, between the environmental buildup to the fight and then actually unveiling her, but for how big and scary she is the fight itself went by fairly quick, and the actual finale (the postman whacking her hand telling her to go away she’s groooooss) felt a bit weird in comparison to the way the boss fights in the rest of the game usually play out. Of course, I don’t have context of her dialogue (I can take my guesses, her holding out her hand to Hans as he freaks out and attacks her is already a palpable tragedy) and by the way the scene was framed I suspect the Route B reveal is where the most important part of the scenario lies.

And the seals came back! It’s the little things.

“I wish I was Fyra.” So in the original Replicant the conversation between Emil and Nier before Sech’s wedding was apparently an implication that Emil had a crush on Nier and wanted to marry him. It was ambiguous enough that people had to ask for clarification and some players interpreted it as a weird, childish expression of looking up to and respecting Brother Nier. It was clarified in the Grimoire NieR that Emil is gay and crushing hard on Brother Nier, and this line of dialogue here seems to have been... not made explicit, but changed even between RepliCant and ver. 1.22 to make the implication a little clearer, at least insofar as he isn’t interested in girls. (It winds up missing the implication that he’s into Nier specifically, though.)

...which is funny, because it colors his introduction to the King of Facade somewhat differently. These two meeting is honestly really sweet on a few levels (Sechs recognizing him from Nier’s descriptions, which implies that Nier’s been visiting Sechs regularly and so proud of his interactions with Emil he told the king of another nation all about him, and the King is legit excited to meet him) but then a couple of minutes later Emil is all ‘I’m so jealous of Fyra’. He isn’t crushing on Nier, but he is totally crushing on Sechs.

Endgame At this point in the game the distinction between Brother and Father has become mostly lost and the final charge is pretty much the same as

wait what’s up with the music in the Lost Shrine? This is Snow in Summer.

Or an arrangement thereof. That particular track level from Snow in Summer winds up getting used in a few new places and it has this kind of weird, vague sense of dread that makes it work pretty well. Utterly threw me off in the Lost Shrine, though (I think it’s appropriate given its connection to the Shadowlord/Gestalt Nier so slowly re-introducing it in the climb is pretty cool). It also builds insanely as you climb, which is a very cool effect but, um, I’m just here to pick up some sidequest items right now this feels like a little much.

There isn’t much to say regarding any impact or differences in the large part of this area of the game. It’s a good final dungeon, it carries good momentum, it works as well as it ever did (that is to say, rather well). The emotional beats are great and translate equally well between the protagonists, although I have to give the nod to Papa Nier during a lot of this just for the imagery of such a big, powerful man becoming so broken the further he goes in (and Kaine being strong enough to toss him around like a rag doll anyway).

The final flashback with Nier and Yonah also feels better with Papa Nier. I always read it as, of course, Papa Nier having his moment with Yonah, giving her the flower, and as he lays back down Yonah does the same big sigh like she’s trying to emulate her dad and it’s really sweet. This is another one of those moments where it’s not something that feels wrong in Replicant, but just having that comparison in the back of my head is something that I just can’t help.

Is Papa Nier still Best Neir? Yes.

But there’s room in my heart for Brother. I’m glad the bizarre marketing decision happened and both of these characters can exist.

...and then we reload the save. Okay, okay, so-- so here’s the thing-- I figured that’s a good place to conclude a session, right? Get to the ending, prepare for the next run. But I also know that Route B starts with Kaine’s unskippable novel segments. I’ve read them, of course, so I figure I’ll just reload into Route B so I can make a save after the novel sections, really get into the meat of Route B when I’m fresh.

So skim through those--

Beat up the Knave--

Skim through the rest--

Educated Warrior... didn’t pop...?--

Wait what’s this camera angle--

Why am I outs--

oh my god

oh my god

KAINE AND EMIL HAVING GIGGLY GIRL TALK AROUND THE CAMPFIRE OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING

THERE’S MORE.

THERE’S. MORE.

I legit short-circuited. Going in I knew they added the Little Mermaid. I knew they added Ending E. Those were things I suspected would be added and went out to specifically confirm; beyond that I’ve been keeping myself completely spoiler free.

I had no idea there was more. I had no idea this was happening.

I’m so excited.

And a goofy thought for the road

“I polished you with a special cloth, I poured warm water on you--”

“Wait, you poured water on me?”

/imagines Emil running blindfolded eight hours across the Southern Plains with an 8oz plastic water cup, getting to the library, splashing it on Kaine, waiting expectantly

/nothing happens

/walks dejectedly eight hours all the way back to the Manor

#NieR #NieR Replicant #Musings #Ramblings #OH MY GOD WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME ABOUT THIS #I AM SO GLAD NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT THIS

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developer Blog (Part 2)

SimGuruConnor has released part 2 of the Sims 4 Paranormal Developer Blog series.

Welcome back to another dev blog about our latest Stuff Pack! This week let’s talk about the Seance Table, Paranormal Investigator Career, and an interview with our Art Director!

 So let’s just get right into it!

Thanks Doctor Ashely for this horrifying scene.

Seances for Everyone!

The Seance Table is here! Talk to ghosts! Scare your friends! Summon the unexpected! This thing is capable of all sorts of spiritual meddling, and functions on any lot!

Your Seance Table can be decorated too! It’s a table surface, so feel free to put a Crystal Ball on top, or maybe a Sacred Candle? Slot any chair you want too!

When you use a Seance Table you’ll develop your Medium Skill, unlocking new Seances, the ability to host Group Seances, and the ability to draw chalk Seance Circles anywhere in the world! And if you’re a Spellcaster Sim, you’ll gain skill much faster due to your familiarity with the mystical arts. This skill and the Seance Table are available for Children and older too!

One of the main purposes of the Seance Table is to perform a ceremony that strengthens the spiritual serenity of the house, making it a little less creepy. However, if the Seance is interrupted for any reason, it might have the adverse effect, so make sure your Sims are protected (Hint: Sacred Candles!).

Seance Circles for the Medium on-the-go.

Other Seances include the ability to commune with the dearly departed. Hopefully, they’ll offer some sagely wisdom, or perhaps they’ll just insult you. Who knows? Great for parties.

Or if you’re really looking to stir up some trouble, you can also invoke spirits from the Seance Table too. Kind of like a ghostly grab bag, just reach in and pull out something deceased. A great way to spice up any lot, or completely ruin it. Honestly, this Seance isn’t entirely recommended, but since when has that stopped anyone?

Bonehilda!

Bonehilda is back! She’ll clean, fix your electronics, garden, fight fires, lay out snacks, and more! Summon her on the Seance Table or Seance Circle whenever or wherever you need her!

She’ll also be your buddy! As long as your Sims don’t mind being around a fully sentient skeleton that is, but I hear they’re pretty open-minded. Bonehilda won’t ask for anything in return either, she’s just here to have a good time.

Summoning Bonehilda is extremely useful while living in a Haunted House, she can help take care of the place while your Sims are preoccupied with other pressing matters. Bonehilda also has a great protective instinct, and will swiftly and enthusiastically show harmful Ghosts the door (with her fists of course).

Paranormal Investigators Wanted

The last feature I’d love to talk about is the Paranormal Investigator Freelance Career. This career is kinda special, and only available for elite Sims with a Paranormal Investigator License. Sims can get the License by becoming a master Medium and becoming certified by Guidry, or by purchasing one in the Reward Store.

A properly certified Paranormal Investigator.

This career is aimed for Sims who have mastered the paranormal and will have to use everything they’ve learned while living in a Haunted House to their advantage.

The gigs for this career are pretty straightforward. You’ll be sent 3 gigs to choose from, either an Easy, Normal, and Hard Investigation. Once you select your preferred difficulty, you’ll be instructed at 9:30 pm to go out on an investigation to an undisclosed location.

Where will the investigation take you? Anywhere! (Well any residence at least!)

Sometimes the Packcakes will have a bit of a Specter infestation, sometimes Goth manor will need an exorcist. It’s your job as a Paranormal Investigator to go wherever the action is, and snuff out any unwanted spirits.

You also won’t just be sent to premade Sim houses, but also your own created households! Your other played Sim families might be in need of a spooky exterminator too! And don’t worry, the house won’t be permanently haunted either (You’ll have control over that with the Haunted Lot Type!).

Finishing these gigs on time leads to all sorts of weird and strange rewards. Feel free to hang up your Specter-in-a-Jar as a trophy. Or amass a collection of exorcised dolls! There’s tons of strange stuff to acquire!

Since this is a freelance career, feel free to take these gigs whenever you feel inspired to snuff out some spookiness. These gigs can be demanding on your Sims psyche, but thankfully they pay fairly well.

Art Direction

This pack has a ton of both fictional and real-life inspiration. To go over where these influences come from, and how they manifest in-game, I’ll take it over to our Art Director Stephan Edwards!

Conor: Can you tell us what an Art Director does on The Sims 4?

Stephen: The AD works initially with Production, Design and Marketing to define the visual direction. Once we have moved into production their role is to maintain and inspire that vision by providing direction and feedback to artists, from concept through to the final asset.

Conor: What goes into the creative process when concepting for the Sims?

Stephen: Once the general theme and tone is locked down and approved, the team then refers to the key visuals and goes broad on gathering reference that reflects that direction. We begin on concepting out room views/clothing to investigate different narratives and moods, identifying elements of style, construction, pattern and color. At this stage, we are still working loose to make sure we explore all options and don’t box ourselves in. As the team iterates on designs, we start to narrow down the selections and then turn to final renders. We draw on those early investigations to help inform our palette, material and pattern choices.

Conor: What sort of real-life examples were used for the Paranormal Stuff Pack?

Stephen: Reference gathering is a huge factor in designing assets and so it’s fair to say that all the content is based on real life to some degree. The team tends to deconstruct styles and translate them through a SIMS lens, the simplified and stylised art of SIMS4 has a further impact on the final result.

Conor: If you had to choose, what was your favorite feature to work on across all of the Sims?

Stephen: Aaarg! That’s a really tough question. Because the packs are so diverse each one has its own set of unique challenges. I would say the supernatural aspect of this stuff pack was a lot of fun and allowed the artists to get a little more fantastical and creative. Storytelling is such a fundamental part of the SIMS and that permeates through CAS and BB designs. While curating all the eclectic pieces we stuffed into this pack I was constantly making up little stories in my mind. Where the characters may have found it, what relevance does it have to them and ultimately is there enough depth in the design to spark the same questions in the players. Oh, and Guidry, he’s a composite of eras and characters. I would be really interested whether the players can pick apart the influences.

Thank you!

That about concludes our look at our latest Stuff Pack! Big thank you again to the SP18 team, working with everyone was an amazing experience and made the later part of 2020 a little less awful. Watching this pack come to life was an absolute thrill.

The prepatch including the new Scared Emotion is coming out January 21st, and the Paranormal Stuff Pack comes out January 26th!

Until next time, SimGuruConor

#news #the sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 paranormal #stuff pack

[netheritenugget]

Alright, I'll bite. What sort of King is Eret here? And what manner of monster?

Sorry this took so long!  I had too much fun writing this post and it’s super long now.  Oops.

(I made a couple of posts about a Dream SMP Undertale AU)

If you’re good at reading between the lines this post contains major spoilers for Undertale. I know the game has been out for ages, but if you care, block the tag "Dream SMP Undetale AU"

IRL Eret is very fond of ferrets and flamingos, and they're very cool animals, but they aren’t that intimidating for a monster design.  But Eret also likes bears (their stuffed bear Ted is their unofficial channel mascot) and that's definitely boss-monster material.  So I think Eret would be a bear monster of some kind, just for the sheer intimidation factor.

I think Eret would be a good king, policy-wise.  They'd do their best to bring hope to the Underground, and they wouldn't be the one collecting human souls in this AU, that's someone else who is well-known for killing people (:  As for how people perceive them, and how they got there...  Welllll...

Eret wasn't the first King, that title goes to Wilbur, who was the King when the War of Humans And Monsters happened.  Eret was loyal back then, but that loyalty wavered when the monsters lost the war, and it fell apart when the realities of living underground made the other monsters restless and bitter.  Many people blamed Wilbur for losing.  Eret did too, and became very outspoken against him.

Dream took advantage of Eret's anger, poisoning his mind and feeding his resentment, and encouraged them to challenge Wilbur to a duel for the crown, telling them they'd be a much better king than he is. (:  Eret challenged Wilbur, but the duel was not to the death, it was points based, though of course with all duels the chance of death is there.  Eret won without killing him, though, and Wilbur gave them the crown.  He was naturally extremely upset about being dethroned, but otherwise everything was fine.

Until Wilbur ended up murdered the next day.  The first suspect was Eret but there was no actual evidence who the culprit was, since monsters turn to dust after death and there weren't any witnesses.  Eret's reputation is damaged, faith in their leadership shaken.

The Player arrives in Cogchamp (the Ruins) after their initial meeting with Dream is interrupted by Fundy before Dream can kill them.  Fundy tries to talk to him, but he just runs away, claiming that the situation is "too awkward."  The player learns that Fundy is living there to escape the emotional turmoil of losing his father and his doubts that Eret isn't as innocent as he claims.  Fundy misses Eret very much, wondering if they were alright after he left, and saying that he wants to go fishing with them when he goes back, like he and Wilbur used to.

Fundy gives us some lore about Dream.  Fundy stopped being friends with him after Dream got very suddenly "too Weirdchamp" about everything. Fundy says he's seen Dream with a human who fell down before, but he never saw the human again, even though he looked all over. Dream denied it when he asked.

Fundy also fills the role of acquainting the Player with game mechanics, though he's much more chaotic and prankish, and the Player becomes his friend.  He tries to prevent the Player from leaving Cogchamp because he's lonely, but ultimately relents because he knows he can’t bring himself to hurt someone who was nice to him.  Unless it's a Genocide Route, in which Fundy doesn't try to fight the Player, and instead flees to the rest of the Underground, to warn Eret and the other monsters. </3

But this post is about Eret, I'm getting sidetracked here.

Everyone else's reactions to current events is mixed.  Some monsters like Hbomb and Puffy stubbornly believe that Eret didn’t kill Wilbur, others like Purpled are just upset that they felt the need to overthrow him in the first place.  The Sleepy Bois want them dead for killing their family, and are planning to assassinate them.

Niki is the closest to Eret, and talks about them the most.  She talks about how they were her emotional rock during the War, and that though they're still good friends, she's seen less and less of them lately, and they don't smile as much anymore.

Despite how things turned out, Eret still tries their best to be a good King, and bring people hope.  Whenever the Player goes to a new area and finds a new box for items, they always find a piece of "you matter <3 - Eret" item inside that grants temporary defense.  Eret also built a lot of important public facilities in the Underground outside of Cogchamp, like a museum in which the Player learns of Wilbur’s heroism in the War of Humans And Monsters.  They also built several bridges and an aquarium for monsters in Waterfall (because of the water level problems Waterfall is having).

Much like Asgore, the Player's opinion of Eret is based entirely on what others have to say about them. The Player might feel strongly that they're too nice to have done something like this, and something else is going on, or that Eret definitely could have killed Wilbur and the Sleepy Bois are right to seek justice for a wrong that has been committed.

Boss Battles:

For Eret's boss fight in the Genocide Route...  Oh boy.

Eret’s fight isn't as difficult as Technoblade’s would be, but it’s difficult because you can't damage Eret in the beginning.  In spite of Eret's protests, Niki comes to try to protect them, shielding Eret from all damage until you kill her.  Then Eret goes into a sorrow-fueled rage and enters into "No-one Knows" mode, removing their sunglasses.  They use their last words to beg the Player to find enough mercy in their heart to Spare Fundy.

The last person the Player kills in the Genocide run is indeed Fundy, who Eret was hiding in the Castle.  It's not a fight, it's just murder.  It's very sad.

Before the boss fight in the Neutral Route, we're privy to a conversation between Eret and Ghostbur, in which Ghostbur comes to visit the castle. Eret tells Ghostbur they're sorry for everything they've done, and that taking his place was the biggest mistake of their life.  Ghostbur claims other people say they killed him, and asks if Eret did.  Eret avoids the question, stating that they've already told Wilbur the truth about what happened many times, there's no point if he can’t remember.  Ghostbur presses the question, stating that even if he'll forget later, he'd like to know, because he does remember being Eret's friend, and he's worried about them.  The Player is noticed before Eret can answer him.

Eret fights the Player alone.  Eret admits to the Player that they should probably be a good sport and just die, they don’t want to hurt a child, but they know the Player needs their soul to leave, and they're too afraid of death not to try and fight.

When they lose, they lament that things turned out this way because they thought they could do a better job than Wilbur, and that they can't seem to do anything right as a King or a mentor to Fundy.  They try to give up their soul to the Player, who spares them.

Only for Dream to kill them, steal the soul, and destroy it.  Because he's Dream.  Dream also reveals to the Player that he was the one who killed Wilbur, because the underground is boring and he needs entertainment. He's been collecting human souls, not to destroy the barrier with, but to become God.  Dream goes Photoshop Flowey Mode and fights the Player.

Pacifist Route:

After completing the Neutral route and starting the Pacifist Route, the Player is pointed in toward Eret's castle basement by Dream.  The Player discovers a Necromancy Lair (a creepy equivalent to the True Lab in Dr. Alphy's house) with the Wilbur resurrection shrine in it.  Once the Player finds the scattered pages torn out of Eret’s diary, it's revealed that Eret suspects Dream killed Wilbur, but they have no proof.  The diary talks about how Ghostbur was the result of a secret project by Eret, their failure to revive Wilbur.  Their diary also informs us that Dream often comes to torment them about this, taunting them about they'd just made things worse.  Eret questions whether or not to step down as King, but wonders who would be able to take responsibility, since Prince Fundy is missing.

The Player also finds a book by someone named "Callahan" about dreamon summoning that Eret was researching (and deemed too dangerous to use, due to the warnings within).

In the final fight against Dream, the Player can Save Eret by giving them pink wool, and reminding them that they matter to Fundy, Niki and the Player.

At the end of the Pacifist run, Eret and Fundy reconcile.  Eret crowns Fundy King, and declares that this is how it should have been from the beginning.  IDK if Wilbur is revived or not, depends on how bittersweet of an ending I want, maybe Ghostbur just has their memories restored without bringing them back to life?  But during the end credits, the three of them can be seen fishing together.

#Anonymous #long post #the eret #eret #dream smp undertale au

[anotheronechicagobog]

Enemies to Lovers Noah Sexton x dawson!reader

requested by: @bitweird1​

written by: @anotheronechicagobog​

Warnings: swearing, mature themes, child neglect, slightly Dawson bashing but they really just didn’t know, canon compliant threats

You had spent your entire life struggling and working your ass off. No social life, extracurriculars for the sole purpose of applying to universities, and spending the majority of your life studying because according to your dad at least one Dawson had to become a doctor and your older siblings had decided that it wouldn’t be them, leaving you to do nothing but prepare for the future that had been hand-picked by the man you felt abandoned you. And then Noah fucking Sexton just waltzes in having put in half the effort and riding the coattails of his much more intelligent sister who gave up a career as a doctor because of sexism. He spent far too much of his time flirting with everything that had boobs and a pulse. You didn’t like him because he took nothing seriously and didn’t have a responsible bone in his body, and he hated you because you were incredibly uptight and didn’t have a sense of humour.

“Maybe you’d have more friends here if you didn’t have a stick shoved up your ass.”

“I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to become a doctor.”

Everyone was getting really sick of your fighting, so they banded together and made things worse. They had badgered you until Doris had enough and dragged you to Molly’s. You refused to drink or eat anything, resulting in more snide remarks between you and Noah. Just when everyone was developing a migraine before they were anywhere even close to drunk your parents burst through the door and marched over to you. And suddenly, everyone in the bar, including your siblings, were subjected to and twenty-minute rant from your parents about how you should be grateful they pushed you towards medical school and all the activities that got you scholarships, that they didn’t abandon you, and that they clothed and fed you because a third child cost so much money, how you never took anything seriously and were always joking around, and how you were a disgrace to the family. Once they finished, your dad dragged you out by your arm, your mom followed muttering about why couldn’t you be more like Gabby and Antonio.

You walked into the ED the next day as robotic as ever. The pitiful and awkward stares were ignored with ease, it was something you were quite used to if you were honest. Your parents were always scrutinized by your teachers and DCFS. At the end of the day, though, they weren’t abusive enough for any charges or housing changes to be set. They weren’t like that with Gabby and Antonio, who had mostly moved out by the time you were in kindergarden, you were their last chance to help them prove to their family that they didn’t fail as parents. And they made sure you knew it.

“Dr. Dawson, you’ve got a patient in treatment one. Also, uh, are you okay? I feel pretty bad about last night.”

“Oh, don’t worry about anything. I’m fine, and my parents were right I should’ve been studying. It was a poor decision on my part not to. I’m gonna get to this patient, but you really don’t need to feel bad, okay?”

She nodded absently as you turned your back to her. ”Hi, I'm Dr. Dawson, can you tell me what brought you in today?”

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

Your patient had just gone up to the OR to have a blood clot removed and you made your way to the doctor’s lounge, followed by Noah Sexton. ”Hey, Y/N, are you-”

”Yes, Noah, I am okay. Yes, I'm sure. I am fine, I am always fine.”

”From my experience when people say they're fine they're usually not.”

”Noah, I am okay.”

“I don’t believe you.”

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

The next few weeks were a maze of pitiful stares, hushed concerned words, and a silent Noah. All of it was completely unnerving. It all came to a head when Dr. Charles approached in the ED you about starting therapy with him, talking continuously about all the points ‘brought to his attention’, not even giving you the time to tell him the majority were false. “Excuse me?” 

Your stomach coiled in anger at his words. Not only were you more than capable of doing your job, but you already had a therapist. With basket case parents like yours, it was blatantly obvious that therapy was required. But the audacity of your co-workers to gossip so much that it came to the point over half the points Charles brought up were complete BS was astounding. Not only that, but he’d apparently spent the last few days internet stalking you to try and find some of your demons. “Dr. Charles, do you consider me a danger or liability to any of the patients or doctors at this hospital because of my relationship with my parents?”

“No, you actually seem to be well balanced mentally.”

“Then what, on earth, made you think it was appropriate to go around behind my back asking everyone at the hospital their opinion about me and what happened at Molly’s, or stalk me online to try and get a read on me, and then ask me blatantly at work, in the middle of the shift, in front of all my co-workers and superiors? What made you think it was okay to loudly bombard me with rumours and hearsay while I’m working?”

“Well, I thought that since it’s my job to check on all the ED docs, I’d check on you.”

“... You’re joking, right? I am the only person in this department who goes to therapy. Don’t kid yourself, you don’t check on anyone here. You judge them and make sure they know it. And quite honestly, you don’t have the best reputation for looking out for the mental and emotional state of your colleagues. This confrontation was not only completely inappropriate, but rude, obnoxious, presumptuous, riddled with unchecked errors, and unprofessional.”

“That’s not how I would word it.”

“It’s how I see it, and how I’ll word it with HR.”

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

No one was pitying you anymore, not since the tongue lashing you gave Dr. Charles, who was on very thin ice with the hospital. While bringing up Robin and Sarah may have been a bit of a low blow, it exposed some issues with Dr. Charles that needed to be addressed. The only person who acted as if you were made of glass was Noah Sexton. While he had been a bit of a pain in the ass, this was worse. He was being sickeningly nice to you and it was getting on your last nerve. Yes, your parents were abusive. Yes, you had a messed up and traumatic childhood. But did that limit your abilities? No. Did that make you mentally unstable requiring therapy and fragility from your coworkers? Absolutely not.

He came in with coffee exactly the way you liked it, again. With a muffin, again. “You have to stop.”

“Stop what, Y/N?”

“Stop acting weird. You don’t like me, you hate me, actually. The only reason you’re being nice to me is because my parents resent my existence. I do not need or want your pity. So stop treating me like a china doll, and start treating me like your coworker.”

“Okay, okay, I uh... I’m sorry. I just, I feel guilty, okay? I gave you such a hard time for being so frigid and then when your parents showed up at Molly’s and started screaming at you for existing and having a life of your own, it just all made sense. And I gave you shit and trouble for coping with your crazy-ass parents. And then Dr. Charles came by to talk to you and I just felt even worse because even though I didn’t tell him anything, it was our fighting that put the spotlight on you in the first place. You shouldn’t have had your dirty laundry aired to the entire hospital, that’s happened to me a few times and it’s horrible, and I feel bad because I know that I was a contributing factor to all the shit you’ve had to deal with at work.”

“I get where you’re coming from, but let’s be real, everything would’ve turned out exactly the same way if you weren’t involved. The gossip mill runs strong at Gaffney.”

“Yeah, it does. I still feel bad.”

“Well, you’re forgiven then. So you can stop treading delicately, buying me coffee, and being creepily nice to me.”

“I am not being ‘creepily nice’! And how can being nice be creepy anyway?”

“Yesterday you followed me around offering to help me take my gloves on and off constantly, to the point where a patient who came in for falling out of the ceiling above the women’s changeroom said ‘that’s just weird’.”

“... Okay. I’ll stop. But I gotta be honest, I don’t think I can go back to arguing with you all the time.”

“That’s fine, just stop acting so weird that a couple I caught having kinky sex after an STD swab said ‘that made us really uncomfortable’.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Seriously, you didn’t have to tell me twice.”

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

SIX MONTHS LATER

You and Noah had actually managed to become good friends and roommates. Shortly after he started acting like a normal person around you, not an instigator or a psycho, you found yourself enjoying his company. And yesterday, when you’d come home to find your room completely torn apart by your mother because your father had tried to frame you for using weed, you were done. Most of what you owned had been destroyed in your mother’s search, which sucked, but it made packing up all your stuff into your car much easier.

So far you’d ignored 43 texts, 12 calls, two visits from Gabby when she brought in a patient, and one visit from Antonio who didn’t even bother trying to lie to you. He also threatened to impound your car, you threatened to tell Voight about the time he and Lindsay got drunk and hooked up. It didn’t even matter that she was in New York now, Voight wouldn’t even blink before bludgeoning him down. He swore at you, “how could you break mami’s heart like this?”, and “can’t you just behave and do what you’re told for once?”

You looked him dead in the eyes, heart beating erratically at you older brother supporting your parents belittling and abusing you, “You sound like dad Antonio.”, watched his face fall, and left. Noah stopped him when he went to follow you. “You good?”

“Uh, not really. I don’t have a place to go tonight.”

“Did your mom kick you out?”

“No, I left. I can’t do it anymore. I break out in hives whenever I even think about my mother now. I just can’t go back.”

“Well, you don’t have to. I have been looking for a roommate, we can move you into my place after shift.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Now come on, it’s prank week. Stohl pissed off Manning last week and she’s been planning revenge ever since, you do not want to miss this.”

And you didn’t. You entered the ED to find one of the most hated doctors in med spitting out Gatorade. “WHaT thE heLL?! That was sooo-ughghghg-” he couldn’t even finish his sentence before running to the doctor’s lounge to throw up in the bathroom. To Natalie’s credit, she didn’t crack a smile or react at all as she gracefully stepped over the spilled orange Gatorade. She briefly reminded you of a fae, graceful, beautiful, and cunning as all hell. You made a mental note never to cross her. Later at lunch, Natalie opened her sushi container, slightly deconstructed each piece, loaded all the pieces up with wasabi, reconstructed them, and popped one in her mouth. Everyone sitting near her had their eyes flash in recognition. Stohl had a habit of stealing other people’s food, and no matter how many times anyone told him to stop, they were just bullied into compliance. As a result, everyone had to dictate their food choices around his palette. Which meant no spicy food. Something that sucked for nearly everyone because hot food was a favourite for most people in the ED. But Manning wasn’t taking his shit. Not today. Something that worried everyone sitting around her because she would get in trouble for eating her own food how she liked it. It wasn’t until one of the HR workers, Holly, sat down beside Natalie and engaged in conversation that everyone realized the full scope of her plans. Stohl plopped down beside you and stole half of your sandwich right out of your hand. Ranting and raving, insulting everyone, stealing food, he made his way all around the circular cafeteria table until he got to Nat. He scooped up to pieces and threw them in his mouth just after he finished the words ‘insolent underlings’. Everyone held their breath as they watched his pale face redden exponentially. His eyes widened. And then he screamed. 

He yelled, he swore. “I’m going to report you to HR! You tried to poison me!”

“You stole food from everyone, something inappropriate, unethical, and unprofessional. You stole her food. That she made spicy to her tastes. She didn’t try to poison you.”

“And just who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“Holly Scott, from HR.”

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

You and Noah were doing great, as roommates and as friends. “Hey, do you have any plans for dinner tonight? My parents invited me over for dinner and they asked me to extend an invite to you. It’s nothing major, they wanted to meet my previous roommates, too. Make sure you’re not a hooligan.”

“Okay, sounds fun. What should I bring?”

“Yourself...?”

“It’s rude to show up at someone else’s home without a gift.”

“You don’t need to bring my parents a gift.”

“Oh, I’m bringing a gift. I’m just asking you for some input.”

“Okay, well they really like wheelie shoes-”

“Ha, oh my god, I meant for what your parents would like, not you. And want wheelie shoes? Those have been out for a while, Noah.”

“Hey, do not laugh at me! They are just a very effective and fun way to get around.”

“Would you like them to light up too?”

“... Is that an option?”

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

You knocked on the door while Noah rolled his eyes at you. “I grew up here!”

“Well you don’t live here anymore and it’s rude to just barge into someone’s home and act like you own the place.”

“Oh, you must be Y/N! I wasn’t expecting anyone to knock, usually, Noah just barges in and acts like he owns the place. Come in, come in. It’s freezing outside.” You gave Noah a side-eyed smirk as you took off your coat, while he looked bashfully embarrassed. “Uh, here Ms. Sexton, I brought some homemade empanadas, they can be put in the fridge or kept in the freezer, and it’s best to reheat them in the oven. 350 F, ten minutes from the fridge and about 20 if they were put in the freezer.”

“Oh, you really didn’t have to do that.”

“I was raised that when you go over to someone’s house for dinner or an event, you bring a gift. And it was either this or a house plant.”

“Ha, good idea going with the food, it’s a Sexton family trait that will kill all the plants we touch. Thank you very much.”

“Hello, you must be Y/N. It;s wonderful to meet you- and what smells so good?”

“Y/N brought empanadas, and they are going away so that you and I can enjoy them later. Now everyone, to the dining room, dinner is just about done.”

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

Things started to change a bit a few months later when Choi had to physically restrain Noah from attacking a drunk bar fight patient who called you a slut in the middle of the ED. You’d been confused but Maggie just kept saying that it was a matter of time.

When you’d been hanging around at Molly’s with Noah, Sarah, and Darren, Noah had his arm casually wrapped around your shoulders, something your sister gave you the eyebrow for from her place at the bar.

After you’d been mugged and beaten, you’d run to the 21st, where your brother promptly unleashed the most fearsome demon hell has ever cowered from, AKA Hank Voight, he also called Noah. And when your brother finally made an arrest and got Voight to calm down a little, he’d entered the breakroom to find you fast asleep, curled up against Noah. Who sat in an incredibly uncomfortable position, holding you and stroking your back. You missed the dark look that crossed his face, or the one of fear that had crossed Noah’s but something of an understanding had fallen to Noah. The two of you needed to talk.

So you did, and it went well, so well that you planned a date. Then another one. And another one, until you two had been dating for six months and figured it was time to tell your families. You were shaking in your boots, the Sexton’s were all incredibly close and incredibly doting on Noah, so even though they liked you, you had absolutely no clue as to what the reaction would be. To your relief, it was happiness, they loved you as much as Noah apparently, and they relished in the changed you’d caused in Noah.

Your family, on the other hand, did not react well. Which was why you’d made sure that you told them in a very public place, and had only ordered waters before you told them. There was yelling, screaming, your father waving his arms around so much Antonio had to use his cop voice on him. In the end, you and Noah had been there for around five minutes before throwing some cash at the waitress as a tip for leaving her with your family, and hauling ass out of there. The two of you had ended up just eating pizza on the boardwalk in your fancy clothes and heading back to the apartment late.You both had work the next day, but while you were an intern, Noah was not. And while you were off giving a patient a sponge bath, your siblings cornered Noah at the nurses desk. “Sexton, is there a place the three of us can talk?”

“Uh, sure, this conference room is free...”

“Perfect.”

“So, I take it this is about-”

“Nuh-uh. You do not talk. We do.”

“You are dating our baby sister.”

“We may not be as close to her as you are with your sister, but she still means a lot to us.”

“We love her. We are two people with some pretty dangerous skills. It is for these two reasons that you will not hurt her. Ever.”

“And if you do, don’t forget who I work with.”

“No one will ever find your body.”

“Are we clear?”

“Uh, hmmh... Clear. Crystal clear.”

“Good. Now do you know where Y/N is? We’d like to take the both of you out to lunch or something, just the four of us, to make up for the dinner of many disasters.”

#One Chicago #chicago med #Chicago Fire #Chicago PD #noah sexton #noah sexton x reader #antonio dawson #gabby dawson #maggie lockwood

[never-changing-muses]

Character Profile: Shinji Wataru

Name: Shinji Wataru Romaji: Wataru Shinji Age: 18-20 Gender: Male

Overview

Shinji Wataru is a character whose nature is that of a shut-in. He rarely leaves his house and spends most of his free time surfing the internet and reading light novels. He lives with his older sister whom he often describes as a "helicopter sibling" and he works as a shopper at a local super-market. His story involves him trying to find himself while also seeking the connection with others around him, despite his  fears due to events that happened in his past.  Along the way, he discovers the existence of magic and seeks to learn more about it, hoping his answer and peace can be obtained from such.

Background

Childhood

Shinji's childhood was what he described as an average one. He and his sister was born to his parents, Tesuo and Ari Wataru and the earlier years of his childhood were described as some of the happiest he'd ever known. He was loved by his parents and got along well with his sister who often protected him from bullies. This had started to change though when Shinji began his first year of elementary school. Here, he had been somewhat excited about the prospect of meeting new friends, but things did not go the way he thought. Instead of kind greetings, he had been met with jeering and mocking by his fellow students due to his appearance and certain quirks he displayed at the time, the bullying being a very disheartening for him. His parents, although they felt bad for him, tried to encourage him by telling him to ignore it and keep moving forward. During this time, he tried just that, but as the bullying got worse, he failed to ignore it all. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he was just too different from everyone else, that he wasn't human at his core. But at the same time, he developed a burning hatred for his classmates who constantly hurt him and the teachers who refused to do anything about it.

Middle School Years

Although the bullying had subsided somewhat, his view of himself plummeted by the time he started middle school. His peers often steered away from him because of his moody attitude and once again, his appearance being a factor. His hatred for others was particularly strong during these years as he failed to understand why people hated him and why he felt even his own family didn't understand his plight. Some point during this time, he had made two friends and this resentment and moody attitude seemed to lessen when these two individuals had came into his life. He had fun with them during the two of the three years of his middle school days, often going to arcades and hanging out, but come the third year, this was not to last. The two friends had gotten into a dispute which left their relationship strained, with Shinji getting caught in the middle of such, having nothing to do with the initial dispute. He devised of a plan that would force the two to meet up, and with the hope that they would rekindle their friendship  and go back to how things were.

This had not gone the way that had been intended, as when the two saw each other, hostility and harsh words were thrown at each other, and when Shinji had tried to explain, that hostility was directed toward him, with accusations of him trying to start drama. The male friend, having had enough, decided to cut ties with not only the female friend he was feuding with, but also Shinji as well. The female friend later scolds him and chastises his decision to go behind their backs and arrange that meeting, calling his belief that it would have caused them to become friends again stupid. After trying to argue his point, the female ultimately declares that Shinji never once understood the hearts of others or valued their safe zones and for that, decides to cut ties with him. For the first time, Shinji snaps and goes on a tirade about how stupid their whole dispute was and claimed that she never cared about him or the other friend. She seemed to be hurt by this and leaves.

Shinji has had no contact with both of them since.

For the duration of his third year, he entered a "delinquent" phase, becoming what others saw in his appearance. He was prone to violent outbursts and even beat people up, which ultimately got suspended from school. His parents were furious with such and berated him harshly for his actions, which caused him to enter a period of reflection and regret, only to come to the same conclusion as before, that he wasn't human and his erratic emotions was proof of that.

Highschool years

With his first year of highschool dawning upon him, Shinji was nervous, and wondered how he would navigate through a particularly important period of his youth. In elementary school, he was seen as a creepy looking weirdo which made him subject to bullying, and in middle school, people were put off by his appearance and his failed friendship turned him into a monster that everyone hated. He wanted to make an entirely new impression that wasn't negative, so he had taken a few pages out of his father's book and took cues from how he interacted with others and how he had many girlfriends before he met Shinji's mother in a story he had told him very recently. So when high school came, he tried to emulate his father's mannerisms and personality traits, but this seemed to have the opposite effect. Instead of drawing people to his side, he ended up pushing others away, everyone disturbed by his behavior and appearance. He had asked out at least five girls out at some point and had been rejected by all of them. The final one had even gone as far as to say, he needed to have plastic surgery before he even had a remote chance with her. This had essentially killed his self esteem, enforcing the belief that he was not human and had come to hate his facial features to a large degree.

To make matters worse, both of his parents had been killed in a brutal accident, which hit him hard while it forced his older sister to step up and take care of not only the house, but Shinji as well. All of these factors had hit him hard and he gave up trying to connect with others, and spent his remaining high school years as a loner all the way to graduation.

University

After graduating, Shinji had very little drive for his life, but after being pushed by his sister, he decided to apply for a university that specialized in Culinary Arts, since it was something he had a passing interest in. he applied and was eventually accepted into the school. He had some measure of fun, making pastries and bringing some home, even though some of them turned out messy. However it was not to be, his difficulty focusing and learning something, which had plagued him through out his educational life, had reared its head and he struggled in the curriculum. Eventually after the first quarter of the year, he flunked out altogether. This infuriated his sister to the point where she had implied he was a burden. This had a profound effect on him, increasing the hatred he had for himself even more due to what he perceived as his inhuman nature and dead spirit. he wished that he was like everyone else, all in appearance, personality and intelligence. With this, he reclused even more.

Present Day

A year has passed and Shinji spends most of his free time on the Internet's largest video sharing website and reading novels and comics, often imagining himself in intimate situations with the characters. He has a job where he works four days a week, shopping for orders in a supermarket, although his sister wants him to do five days, much to is chagrin. His engrossment with media is to take his mind off of the darkness that lies within him, as he has not found an answer to the question imposed on him and has resigned himself to a life of isolation, understood by no one.

Personality and Characteristics

Shinji is many things, but the best word to describe him would be 'complicated.' From a glance, Shinji can be seen as rather eccentric due to his enthusiasm about certain media he consumes. The bulk of it though comes from emulating his late father, a trait that hasn't fully gone away in some instances, often using exaggerated motions at times when he is excited about something. He is socially awkward but tries to be as amiable and friendly as possible and depending on the circumstances, he will even offer to help someone with their problems as long as it lies within his own ability to do so. When getting to know him, he is rather shy but hides it well under his upbeat mask and it is only dropped when he can no longer maintain it or feels the need keep it up in certain situations. As he once went to a culinary university, he knows how to cook a few things well and is willing to cook something for someone, provided it is within his budget and ability to do so. Overall, he is a warm and welcoming individual in initial appearances, but there is more to him than what the eye can see.

Darker Aspects

Despite his positive personality traits, underneath them is a slew of darker ones which are concealed. Because of his past, Shinji is very insecure about his general appearance, mainly his facial features, which many had seen him as creepy or disturbing. An interaction with a girl had led to him resenting his appearance to the point where he wanted to rip his face off. This view of him goes back to his childhood where he was harassed and called a demon by his peers, leading him to believe that he wasn't human and thus, never saw himself as one well into adulthood. In certain situations, his general facade is dropped and he can become agitated and filled with anxiety, causing him to say things he wouldn't normally say or to act rashly and while he hasn't lashed out at someone since middle school, the anger he holds within himself is extremely powerful. He has a poor view of himself because of these emotions, believing himself to be further away from humanity because of them, thus giving himself a reason to resent himself. Because of this, he often wishes that he could become emotionless so he could 'fit in' and not hurt anyone from his anger.

Shinji appears to have a strong desire to 'fit in' and be one with the crowd because of his experiences. He has an odd and rigid set of criteria for someone to be considered human, and he believes he does not fit any of these due to how he is and is often hard on himself for not being like 'everyone else' and is especially harsh when he makes a mistake. This would hint at a perfectionist mentality that he holds himself to, yet does not hold others to it as he feels everyone else around him is what he wants to be: normal.

When it comes to relationships with others, he is very mixed in how he feels. On one hand, he wants to find someone who would understand him, a person who he could call an understander, life partner, and soulmate, and it was a desire he had since he was a teenager. But he feels that such a relationship with others is out of his reach, due to what he believes is his repulsive nature and the belief that there is nothing to understand. His only friends abandoned him due to drama and he was unable to form connections with anyone else, resulting in him giving up such ideas altogether. Although he laments it, he resigned himself to living an isolated life where his only companions are fictional characters in his head. Along with this, the reason he isolates himself is so that others won't be exposed to his rotten nature.

And lastly, he is someone who has no idea or interest in his future. He is someone who always lives in the present while avoiding the past and discarding the future, yet his sister has constantly asked what he wanted to do, even in the event of his failing university, screaming at him about it, which forces the question upon him. he does not know, and feels he will never know, yet he feels he is expected to know, to already have the answer like everyone else, but doesn't. He laments this, up to the point of calling himself defective because he hasn't found a purpose yet, or to become human enough to satisfy the world around him. At one point, he even admitted how envious he was of everyone around him --- they were able to form bonds with others so easily, find love and already know what they wanted to do and have the path set out for them. Yet he failed to obtain anything but scorn, isolation and misfortune.  These feelings have led to him considering ending his own life, believing the world would be better off without a useless creature like him.

Discovering Magic

Depending on his path, Shinji will discover the existence of magic and attempt to learn from it in order to find his peace. One system of magic he gravitates toward would be Thelema, created by one Aleister crowley, and he would thus work to try and become a magician, if not to at least make something of himself besides a nobody.

#Muse Information

[popculturebuffet]

The Loud House Reviews: The Boss Maybe/ Family Bonding

`

Loud House weekly coverage continues as Leni is pushed into the deep end of responsiblity and taking over Lori’s old role of babysitter while her parents are gone and promptly drowns in a sea of comedy clubs, human body parts both on screen and in the fridge, old men in holes and indoor beach volley ball. 

First things first: Last week I forgot to mention Rusty’s mustache freezing off as god, wether it be the judeo-christian god, Odin, that prick Zeus, the flying spagehtti monster or one of many other gods out there. Perhaps all of them did it at once out of hatred for the little weiner. Maybe one of them finally answered my prayers which in that case, that was nice and all but there are far worse things going on i’d prefer you took care of. Also the “stuff I couldn’t fathom” turned out to be just more loudcest, because of course it did. Loudcest is like David Spade, you think it’s finally gone or isn’t doing as much but then it comes around and makes the wrong missy and you waste 90 minutes of your life thinking i’td be so bad it’s good when it’s really just boring and a waste of it’s main actress talent. I lost track of that metaphor, but Loudcest is like david spade in that people like it for reasons I can’t fathom and it hasn’t quietly faded into the background for reasons I can’t fathom, though at least david spade was funny once. So maybe Loudcest isn’t like david spade. or maybe i’ve been taking too long with this bit. 

But whlie last week was a bit wonky it also had a lot to setup.. but now it’s time to see what the show does with all the setup over, and a lot of new possiblities ahead. PItter Patter!

The Boss Maybe Ah now this is exactly what I was hoping for this season. New situations brought about by the year-up and all the changes it brought, with the same old heart and humor and character progression that drew me back into the show. This is the kind of episode i love and have talked about in the past and dosen’t fall into any of the shows usual pitfalls in the process. Just great. I could end it there but I haven’t shut up before why do it now.  So this episode focuses on Leni who I talked about a bit last week and easily had the best plot and in general tends to have good episodes, both before and after the show became an ensemble piece, and even in episodes without her tends to slide in just fine. She’s always a nice breath of fresh air when she shows up. 

I think that’s due to a number of things. For one it’s how sweet a person she is: She’s genuinely nice, kind and well meaning. While she is dumb as a box of rocks that resemble Pauly Shore, what I like is her stupidity isn’t malicious, or overused for misery. She causes comical injuries from time to time with it but she’s quick to apologize iff she realises it and usualyly has no ill will to anybody unless provoked or fighting Lori over a dress despite them wearing the same clothes all the time. I know standard animation thing but it’s always weird to me when shows with a stock outfit for a character have a fashionista, and prefer when shows have stylish characters actually change outfits like Kim Possible did with it’s title character, Xiaolin Showdown did with Kimiko and of all things LIttlest Petshop did with Blythe. Granted Blythe is a nothing of a character but still, credit where it’s due. But I do get this is also a nick show and they givet hem the budget of 50 cents and a network memo that says “BEG US FOR MORE MONEY” written in blood, so fair enough. 

That aside she’s just plesant to watch. The other factor is Liliana Mumy. If you haven’t heard of her , she’s a vetran voice actress whose been doing this on and off since she was a kid, voicing Panini on chowder as a child and later going on to voice Beth in bravest warriors among other roles. Why she only does work so ocasionaly I have no idea but when she does she’s great. She’s also the son of fellow child actor BIll Mumy, aka the guy who as a kid played Anthony Fremont from the Twilight Zone classic “It’s A Good Life”, which if you haven’t seen it is about a small child who has the power of a god and thus can banish people who are “bad”, i.e. disobey him and thus rules over a small town as a creepy and cruel despot. Oh and he can read minds so if you dare to have a thought he dosen’t like your getting banished, with no telling what that means or where anyone disappeared goes. It’s good stuff. Highly recommend it, Mumy is absolutley terrifing and a brilliant actor even at that age and I wish he’d done more as an adult. I also bring it up because Lily played his daughter when they did a sequel episode during the UPN version of the show, set decades later and showing just what the little terror was like grown up... as well as what happens when his DAUGHTER gets the power. It was also really good and worth a watch after the first one. Good stuff. 

TLDR: Leni is one of my faviorites, so’s her voice actress, i’ve rambled enough about unrelated stuff at this point. 

We open at the mall, where for Leni life begins after schol, that’s when we bend all the rules time to hang with all her friends in the place where she belongs!

I mean technically she’s 17 now, but she was 16 when she started this job and none of them were 16 by the time the show ended so nyeh. This started in season 3 when the show started giving the girls not just their own stories but their own supporting casts., storylines, love intrests etc. Luna and Luaan got their romance plots with Sam and Benny, Lori got her college plot towards the end of the season, Lynn’s friends started showing up in her plots more, Luna’s mortuariy club went from assorted background friends of hers to a full fleged supporting crew, and of course Lincoln’s friend group started to become a recurring part of his plots away from his sisters. 

For Leni, being one of the only three kids that could legally work at the time, another possible plot to dig into, and with Luna having way less incentive to get a 9-5 job with her music to work on and the fact we’ve seen her use said music to make money once in a blue moon, Leni was a good choice. It gave her something she was good at besides fashion, even if it’s fashion adjacent and gave us a new supporting cast for those stories: Her boss Mrs. Redinger, your standard “i’m tough by fair” type, and her new friends Fiona and Miguel, two fellow fashion savy teens played by actors i’d never heard of but who do a damn good job and play off her well, with both being a bit sarcastic but Fiona being a bit more mopey and deadpan and Miguel being a possibly but defintely gay teen. Both play off her well by being more down to earth and more wiling to be negative, but still enjoyable enough to be around you can buy them being friends with Leni and their a stellar addition to the cast. I wish, much like we’ve gotten with Liam lately, we could see more of them outside leni stories. Their a treat. 

But I really like Leni’s work there. Besides the cast it puts Leni in a role of responsiblity she excels at. My only real problem is her boyfriend, maybe I dunno, Chaz, one of the ONLY love intrests from l is for love to get mentioned again and one of the more intresting ones, never shows up despite also working at hte mall and the story potetial of them working for rival stores or the same store. I mean I can’t blame them for not throwing another love intrest on the pile when they had two ongoing romance plots, but now both Luna and Luann are on steady ground with their steadies, it’s time to pull that trigger, get off hte ground and eat that horse. Also let LIncoln have one again will ya? It dosen’t have to be stella but Girl Jordan is right there, i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again.. where is she. And if not her just make one you’ve proven to actually be really good at it. 

Where was I? Ah yes the mall. Leni is doing great at her job, suggesting some gloves to scoots, who ceases being skeptical when a hunky younger man of 30 something compliments her on them them chases off after him. If you don’t remember who scoots was that’s the old lady on a scooter who makes troulbe and appareltly can still get it. Good for her. Granted this is coming from someone who ships eda and stan pines still even though it’s now revealed she’s 30 but... frankly I don’t think age is a concern with her and stan can make this joke, so it evens out. 

I mean he would right? I”m getting off topic even more than usual, point is Leni is doing great and her boss takes her to the break room for cake room... it’s just the one cake but can you imagine a cake room? that’s the life. Just a fridgerated room full of cake. 

Turns out she’s EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH. And she didn’t have to chain squidward to an ancient battle ship to get it or anything. After some confusion, Fiona has to clarify it’s NOT her birthday because of course she does, Leni is proud. Full of cake and pride she tells her mom whose decided to reward her good job at work.. by dumping a bunch of respnosiblity on her.  I kid. Rita is being somewhat resonable here. She asks Leni to take over Lori’s old role of babysitting/making sure the other 10, now 9 kids don’t burn the house down... no really she actually specifies that when leaving in the next scene. Which.. fair enough.. you have 11 kids, all likely to plug in a lot of stuff especially Luna and Lisa, said Lisa is a mad scientest who ends up nearly being the one to do it this time, Lynn has no common sense, and the younger ones who aren’t mad scientst are still reckless and vain and combattive respectivley so the odds of a house fire nearly breaking out on any given night are 1:1. But Leni in a show of self doubt that’s rare for her is scared (Though her revealing that by answering a question of how she’d feel about about babysitting the kids with “Scared” was fucking gold. I swear Lily’s deliveries are always so great. ), and while Rita assures her she’s not sure. But as I said, she is being resonable: While Leni’s not the brightest she’s kind, she’s been shown even before her recent major award she’s responsible, she’s babysat for other people’s kids, and she’s kind. I mean they COULD put Luna or Luaan in charge but while when I first read the preview blurb for this episode I was cuirous why they didn’t think of that or thought they would, this episode does a good job presenting WHY they’d do it, while other episodes fill in the gaps: Luna is a bit reckless and Luaan can get caught up in her bidness and as we know once a week goes through the green door and comes out a gamma monster fuled by the sound of her own laughter, a horrible mixture of the joker and madman.. the leader’s insane brother. I’m a huge nerd, you all know this. Leni is the right choice.

Despite her nerves Leni has little choice but to take it on and Mr. Loud proudly sees her out with ye olde english as he and Rita, with lily in a cute little knight’s helmet in tow, are going to a renisance fair to cater, with Lynn Sr needing the backup. And while you may say “what about his staff”.. their either going with and he just needs an extra pair of hands since it’ll be nuts, or some of them are staying behind to man Lynn’s Table while he’s out on his catering gig. I mean the man has plenty of time for his kids, he’s not at the restraunt 24 hours a day. Someone else has to run it when he’s gone. I asked internally why they didn’t just take them along.. then reminded myself that taking all 11 kids to the faire at once, without anyone to watch them and likely having to call in favors when jsuta s likely, Lynn Sr and Rita can take them all another day with presumibly free passes as part of the catering job as that sounds like the kinda thing he’d do. Also Senior’s into scarf’s now thanks to Leni, which I love. Looks good on him. Hank should give her a call. Ascots may be out but I think he could rock a scarf. I’ve had ventures on the brain.  What follows is naturally Leni having several panic attacks as chaos naturally insues btu without Lori’s lifetime of experince dealing with it. IT’s a nice dynamic: Leni, as we’ve established, has always been sort of Lori’s sidekick, her best friend, her amigo. Sure they fight, siblings do that, but they’ll always be there for each other when it counts. SHe’s never really had to THINK without her or be without her, so throwing her into the deep end of taking care of the kids really leaves her shook. It’s a HARD job, it’s probably why the louds don’t bring in babysitters often: there are 11 kids to look after, 10 now and only 9 tonight but still a LOT of them and most of htem pretty high maintince. It was just easier with Lori because she grew up knowing each of them, knowing each of their weaknesses and putting the fear of her righteous wrath into them. They’ve spent their whole lives looking up to her, literally and figuratvely, as their big sister and respecting her as the biggest authority in the house that’s nto her parents, sometimes bigger. Those aren’t just big shoes to fill , their Galactus size and that combined with her big sister worship leaves Leni understandably scared, lost and frequently paralized with anxiety this episode.  No really multiple times she just freezes and one times she screams. As someone with Anxiety disorder I related to this.. sometimes you either just break down or you just FREEZE from the stress and everything hitting you at once and have no idea how to progress while people are still barking at you to do something. It’s a lot but it was a nice touch that really added to her sympathy.   And her anxiety is also understandable when she’s being hit with 80 problems at once, which i’ll tackle all at once here rather than in order as this episode has a really frentic and good pace: while it follows the formula of “Leni runs into a problem, Leni freezes, then Leni gets help from Lori twice hten mr.grouse, more on that in am inute”, the quick pace and great jokes help keep things from feeling too repetivie. 

Anyways the chaos: Just from the start Lucy puts a possibly human liver in the fridge, Lana eats all the cookies then gets skunked by her pet skun, and Lola and Lynn get into a fight over 5 bucks Lynn found, and since Leni can’t just let one kill the other as nature intended she has to fix all this.. mostly by removing the smell with tomato juice and scaring off the skunk and cutting the dolar bill in half. Money dosen’t work that way as both sisters point out but frankly it’s Lola and Lynn, I don’t care who they feel. 

Meanwhile two of my other faviorties get into a tiff over their room: Luaan turns it into a comedy club and kicks luna out, with Scoots and her new man returning. Again, get it girl, get it, and Leni, under Lori’s advice, pretneding to be a fire marshall.. only for Luna towarsd the end to turn it into her own rock club. Lisa creates a corossive super substance that burns a hole in the floor, Lana continues to grapple with the skunk and finally Lincoln and Clyde.. watch a scary movie despite Lucy’s warnings.. and Lucy does something else.. I think? It was a chaotic episode with a lot of set pieces so forgive me if I forgot one of them. Honestly she’s the most well behaved there.But yeah as per the cliche Lincoln and Clyde, after Leni gets the wifi fixed with Mr. Grouse’s help, they get super scared and freaked. Everyomne is freaking, the house is falling apart and Senior wants permission to wear a pinky ring via thought cloud.. which.. no man no. Scarves yes but no one looks good with a pinky ring. No one. And I say that as amporphous blob covered in hair, sweat and regrets. 

As for how Leni deals with all this she leans on Lori, calling her twice, but at inportune times: during a golf game and at the library where said phone gets taken. Granted, I don’t get why she didn’t have it on silent, as I would in those situations, but then we wouldn’t have an excuse to include her and it feels necessary to show WHY Lori can’t just help all night or reassure her sister and with Lori gone the panic only intensifies. As I said she gets paralized with fear and later just outright screams.. which attracts an irate Mr Grouse, the next door neighbor who I need to watch more of’s episodes. Including 12 louds of leapin.. I know i’m way overdue on that. This december. Promise. 

The old man who yells at Louds helps for a bit, helping get rid of a beach Lynn set up because she’s lynn, she has the consderation of a puppy, but eventually falls in a hole like most great heroes and most elderly people. I mean the ones up the street at the retierment home must fall in once a week. They get out of course because the assitant living mole lets them ride out as it digs into the walls. Or maybe that was just a hallucination.  Eventually though the start at her job comes back as she calls the only people she has left for help: Fiona and Miguel, who are at the mall in chairs because of courser they are, and both are confused why she’s so helpless: She’s fantastic at work, she’s kind, confident and smart.. about certain things, she can do this. Besides helping her confidence with this really sweet moment they also give her a good tool for how to use said confdience from work: just treat her siblings as customers. It’s also a nice call back to how we’ve seen Leni learn way back in season 1 during “Driving Miss Hazy” we’ve seen that she can have troulble grasping things, but when you put it in terms she understands, like fashion, or shopping, or in this case helping customers with their issues, she snaps into it. She learns at her own pace in her own way, it’s why I think sh’es neurotypical, and possibly ont he spectrum like yours truly: while her stupidity isn’t part of that the unqiue way she processes things has me supscious. either way it works. 

So with a new strategy Leni.. literally adresses them like shoppers, which is comedy gold. However it’s a valid strategy:  besides the visualation part by getting them to form a line, instead of trying to handle 2 or 3 problems at once she simply handles them one at a time: She scares the skunk off again, shuts down both competing clubs in the older kids room, uses water to take out lisa’s universal solvant, gives Lola and Lynn 5 bucks instead of just cutting a ten in half this time, and in the sweetest moment of the episode, reads Clyde and Lincoln a childrens book to clam them down. Sure it’s  a bit funny but their genuine relief and all threes adorable expressions really melt the heart. 

Leni finally wins, just as her parents get home and congradulate her, Rita’s faith not misplaced. While Rita probably knew it’d be an adjustment, and frankly should’ve prepped her sooner, she knows her daughter and knows waht sh’es caapable of. Also Senior brought home meet and gives leni a turkey leg who gives it to the old man who now lives in a hole inside their house. That’s his home now. Mr Grouse is just there now. Or I wish he was. But I guess you can’t always get what you want epsecially if it’s an old man living in a hole in the loud’s living room. Someday.  Final thoughts for The Boss Maybe: As you could easily tell I loved this one. Funny with a hell of an emotional core, and with great pacing espeially for a loud house episode, this was a joy to watch and easily one of the best episodes the show has done. Just a funny, breezy watch with a lot of subtext, intetional or not, regarding what we’ve seen of Leni and honestly i’m going to go with intetional. It felt really rooted in who Leni is, her relationship with lori, and her work without hitting you over the head with it. It just all flowed really well and made for a hard one to top for the season this early. I’m impressed and it gives me hope for the rest of the season. 

Family Bonding

This one was.. okay. As i’ve learned the hard way from doing Amphibia when an episodes just okay it’s best to breeze through it.. but I can give it this. While it’s mostly a standard loud house episode the ending.. wasn’t predictable. That’s for sure. I mean.. it left me with only one thought really...

But i’m getting ahead of myself. The episode’s plot is standard for the most part: Lincoln’s obessed with a new spy comic book about a james bond expy.. okay so that’s what Sterling Archer did besides physical therapy for the three months between his waking up and Season 11.  Anyways they soon get more exciting news from Lynn. New Neighbors! Before Rita can stop them, the rest of her family tramples over her and goes to make their aqunatince and of course be a bit overbaring with it before Rita rushes in with a spray bottle to spray them like a bad dog because frankly when your dealing with 11 people most of whom are really impuslive, sometimes dog training just works. You try raising eleven kids and see how long before your brain breaks.  Anyways after introductions and the mom turning down cherry pie, you monsters, lincoln sees strange flashing lights and a device and is convinced something is up and unable to convince his family and on a spy kick, recurits clyde. Now why he dosen’t call on Stella and Zach I dunno. And yes I said Zach and not my boy Liam. I have my reasons: Stella, besides being a faviorite of mine, is a tech whiz as shown in one of the comics and in the cookie episode, and Liam is already a paranoid conspiracy nut and as we’ve seen with Dale Gribble, they can be suprisingly useful. I mean Dale is not the best on common sense but he knows goverment bilaws in and out, is skilled with a gun or a bag of pocket sand, and has danny trejo’s octavio, whose basically danny but as hired muscle instead of a master actor, on speed dial. I mean we don’t know if Zach dosen’t have a danny trejo on speed dial or not. We never asked.  As for the other two while I love LIam, spying just dosen’t seem to be in his sizeable skill set and Rusty.. well rusty’s about as subtle as a man covered in screeching cats he glued to himself blowing an airhorn, while screaming the script to a micheal bay movie while doing the explosion noises himself.. which Rusty has probbbly done.  The real thing i’m getting at is I don’t get why, outside of Clyde and LIam, the writers think when LIncoln has an epiosde it either just needs ot be ClyncolnMcCloud or the ENTIRE group, when one or two would do the trick. YOu CAN seperate them out. People do hang out with diffrent friends at diffrent times. I know the show’s grasp on reality is tenous at best, we got to that last week with the whole one teacher for core classes thing with schooled and this week.. again we’ll get to it in a second, but friends DO hang out seperate. We saw each member of the Lincrew, minus stella because she didn’t exist yet, doing their own thing in Racing Hearts. It’s not that complicated. It’s hard to flesht hem out when their used as one solid unit and not unresonable to just use one or two. it’s a lesson I hope the show learns eventually and hope it’s sister show learns too. 

But yeah our dynamic duo spend the episode as youd’ expect; unraveling conspriacies and stalking the new family, though there are some funny bits. Besides Rita squirting her family like a cat or a dog, we have flip getting half his face shaved by a survelince drone and okay maybe just those two things. not bad bits, but the general concept of them roleplaying into mischief.. has been done before. The show’s done the detective bit before and the spy trappings really don’t change that. And you CAN do a good spy takeoff episode, this one just sin’t it and feels like your standard LIncoln and Clyde messaround with tuxedos. Which to be fair are pretty awesome but still. It’s pretty flat.  The climax though? I’ll give it this.. it’s pretty entertainngi if also 100% what exactly the fuck. So our heroes are naturally caught sneaking into the neighbors house and its eems they were wrong, etc etc, exactly what we expected the new kid will hang around.. at least we have a new character. Instead.. LIncoln accidently hits a knob and unveils a panel

So yeah... turns out the new family ARE spies, just for Peach Growers and plan to wipe out all cherries in royal woods. Yup.. look I know this universe is patently insane but even for loud house, even with all of lisa’s super science... even with the slapstick but this is just.. nuts. Like i’m fine with suspending my disbelif, this show is a goofy comedy, but this is a bit much. I LOVE it for being nuts but only in a “what on spagehtti monster’s green earth were you thinking”. I get swinging for the fences but Lincoln getting into a fight with a bunch of spies after playing spy, well beating them with slapsticks and stopping their plot to elmitie cherries..t his isn’t Kids Next Door. This just.. dosen’t work. Jeff Goldblum tell em why, my brains too broken to articulate this anymore

Yeah that. It’s just a weird climax and ends iwth LIncoln vetting the new neighbors.. which does it include girl jordon? Did they just write her out? If so why? Fans liked her, you can have more than one female character in Lincoln’s friend group. Zach is replacable. You can give me whatever the fuck this was, but not an intresting friend for him who has personality already. I get 50% chad but not your decision making. Gah. 

Final Thoughts for .. this. one This one really didn’t work. Besides the ending just not fitting the series specific brand of ludicrous, I mentioned KND for a reason as it made this sort of plot work fine by having it’s whole unvierse be really fucking weird and specific, it’s mostly just okay. We’ve seen this before.. well okay I haven’t watched many of the Lincoln and Clyde messarounds, but the formula’s about the same.  And that dosen’t work. For one you have a HUGE swath of new possiblities: A new school, Chandler coming back, new teachers and faculity, a new principal, and Lynn and LIncoln being in the same school, and you instead just.. retread the same crap. you have 4 of lincoln’s friends other than clyde to use but don’t let them in on the fun. And most agrivating to me you move new neighbors into the neighborhood while neglecting some of your old supporting cast and have them be villians of the week instead of adding someone NEW to the neighborhood. Give one of the other kids a new friend, or give lincoln a new friend to add to his group and replace liam, shake up the dynamic with him and clyde bya dding a third or, most obviously move one of his friends INTO the neighborhood, most obviously stella since you spent so much time building her up then have her addition affect Lincoln and Clyde. Sure we’ve had an episdoe of one of his friends getting in the way of them before, but this would be diffrent. This episode is just.. not great and was a waste of my time, espespcailly after following such a stellar episode. It’s probablyt he first genuinely bad episode i’ve covered on this blog. Now that probably won’t stand, i’ve seen genuiley worse but.. as a wise penguin once said. 

One last note. That Young Dylan graphic is really obnoxiou and obtrusive.  It’s the second most obnoxious thing i’ve seen on this network. 

I”m out for this week. If you want more check out my Amphibia reviews, as I just finished a new one today, my other loud house reviews in the newly minted nickelodeon tab or other stuff on my other tabs, send me an ask for reviews you’d like to see or pay me to review whatver you want for 5 bucks via direct message. And check this blog Monday for the return of weekly Ducktales coverage, and next weekend for the next episode of loud house, and throughotu the week for more reviews.  Until we meet again, GO TEAM VENTURE!. Play us out Mary Kate Wiles. If nothing else this episode let me use this song. 

#the loud house #leni loud #lincoln loud #lori loud #lynn loud #lucy loud #lisa loud #lana loud #lola loud #luna loud #luann loud #rita loud #lynn loud sr #lily loud #clyde mcbride #nickelodeon #reviews #recaps #animation #criticisim #circus afro

[lovelilijazunde]

And It All Fell Down

Fic: And It All Fell Down

Writers note: Hey, this is my first fic I’ve posted on here, so, while constructive criticism is nice, please try not to be too harsh. This is a fic I wrote for @deafgirl-and-hercoven ‘s Heir AU, which you should check out if you haven’t already.

Ships: Romantic Dukeceit/Demus

Warnings: Remus being Remus, zombie mention, Virgil, Patton, and Roman being kind of jerks (If I need to retag, tell me! Still new at this)

Word Count: 1822

Summary: Remus, Deceit, and Princess have had a relatively secret life together for the past six years. No one knew about Princess, and Remus and Deceit didn’t really advertise their relationship, but then an unexpected Summoning raises questions.

It had been a relatively normal day in the Dark Side of the Mind Palace. Princess had woken Deceit up at one in the morning for no real reason, and they had fallen back asleep reading, cuddled in a huddle of blankets stolen from Remus (he was a space heater, he didn’t need them). Princess had gotten up to work out with Remus roughly four hours later, giggling as she sat on the bar while Remus benched twice her weight, and sitting on his back as he did push ups. Then Deceit had woken up around noon, reluctantly leaving the blanket nest, and Remus had left Dee and Princess alone for the day. 

The two of them had amused themselves quite happily. They colored in the coloring book Remus had made for Princess (begrudgingly, he had made them PG13), read together from some of Princess’s favorite books, and Deceit had juggled apples using all of his arms - all of Princess 626’s favorite things. A normal, everyday routine.

Now, though, they had decided to try something different. And messy.

“Stop wiggling!” Freezing, Deceit tried not to smile as Princess grabbed his face again. “If you keep moving, I can’t make you look pretty!”

They were in the Dark Sides’ living room, where Princess 626 had decided to have an impromptu makeover session. And, really, who was Deceit to deny her? They had snuck into Remus’s bathroom and borrowed some of his makeup products. He was still off bothering Thomas, probably would be for hours more, and wouldn’t mind them using his stuff, anyways. He would probably be delighted that Deceit was allowing himself to be unprofessional enough to apply makeup at all, much less let Princess 626 do it. 

Deceit was standing relatively where Logan would stand in Thomas’s living room, and Princess 626 was standing on a stool in front of him. He had offered to sit, to make her job easier, but she adamantly refused. She wanted to feel tall, Deceit, presumed. He could relate.

Deceit looked down at his princess softly. Her rainbow-dyed hair was loose around her shoulders, and she was frowning in concentration, completely absorbed by her work. Her hetero-chromatic eyes were squinted, with only slivers of the red and purple irises visible. Her dress, a miniature version of Deceit’s tunic, had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, her nimble hands were liberally spotted with excess makeup and freckles.

As they were each doing the other’s makeup, Deceit had offered to go first, to show her how it was done, but Princess adamantly refused, insisting that she knew what to do and how to do it. She had allowed him to apply his own mascara though, as she understood that it was not always pleasant when another would do that for you. 

Princess carefully applied a layer of lime green lip gloss onto Deceit before noticing that his eyes were open, and told him yet again to close them.

“Don’t ruin the surprise!”

Trying not to smile, Deceit closed his eyes again. It was impossible not to be happy when 626 was around.

***

“Ugh, Remus, why don’t you just leave Thomas alone?” Virgil snapped. 

Remus hid a flash of hurt behind his ever-present painful grin. He was having fun, right? Pestering Thomas, scaring Patton, annoying Roman . . . the usual interactions. Virgil wasn’t having it today, though. He wasn’t scared by Remus’s antics anymore. He used to help Remus - their jobs were easier when they worked together. But Thomas got older, and then Virgil didn’t want to help Remus anymore. Then he used to shiver and shake when Remus used to imply particularly lovely things, but  . . . now he would more often treat him as if Remus was an annoying child who needed to be silenced. Remus squashed the anger that always bubbled in his chest when he thought about Virgil down. Who cared what the anxious side thought? He obviously didn’t care about Dee or Remus, so why should Remus care about him?

“Why, you should ask yourself that, Emo Nightmare! Aren’t you just as bad?”

“No! Virgil would never hurt Thomas!” Patton interjected, offended, ever the defender of his famILY. “I don’t see why you have to hurt him, either.” 

Remus wanted to growl at him. Remus was just doing his job. It wasn’t his fault that Papa Pretentious had a stick up his ***. Ugh, even his thoughts were censored when he was too near the Moral side. How would Patton like it if Remus was able to shut him up about what he like to talk about? Deceit could do that, but not Remus. He was the opposite. Just think, no more puppies, kitties, cookies . . . Hmm, would Patton stop liking puppies if Remus put zombie dogs in his room? Ooh, should Remus shape shift into a zombie dog and take a chunk out of Patton’s leg? Maybe that would shut him up. He wouldn’t need Deceit for that. Remus decided to address this question to the general room. Patton flinched, and Roman groaned.

“Why must you always tell us what goes on in that creepy head of yours?” Remus’s brother complained. Remus wiggled his eyebrows.

“What, I thought Thomas wanted to be honest with himself? Isn’t sharing being honest?”

“You know what, Remus, I think we could benefit from a little less honesty out of you.” Thomas finally said, annoyed. Logan glanced at him, eyebrows raised.

“Well, Thomas, if a little less honesty is what you wish, shouldn’t you summon Deceit?”

Thomas blinked. “I  . . . well, I mean, if you think I could deal with both of them at the same time, sure.” 

Remus felt his smile falter. While he was always glad to see his boyfriend, he and Deceit both knew what would happen if Princess was left alone - poor kid. He started to speak up, to stop them somehow, but he was cut off as Thomas raised his arm and commanded “Deceit!”.

***

Princess added the finishing touches, and Deceit was still trying not to smile. “Okay, just a few more seconds, then you can look!”

Deceit waited a few seconds, but there was silence, and nothing touched his face. He started talking as he opened his eyes “Princess, are you done?”

He wasn’t in front of Princess anymore. He was in front of the other Sides and Thomas, who were staring at him as if he had shown up in a clown suit. Oh, no. They must have summoned him. And he not only was looking completely unprofessional (he wasn’t wearing his hat, caplet, or gloves) he was wearing makeup (probably obviously) applied by a child! They would either think him incompetent or insane. And there goes that respect fear factor.

Deceit suddenly felt guilty of thinking badly of Princess’s work - Princess! He had left Princess alone with no warning. And when had he popped up? What if they heard him say her name? No, no, no, no, no!

“Deceit?” asked Logan quizzically. He was taking in Deceit faster than the others were, apparently. He started to continue, but Roman cut him off.

“Are you wearing makeup? I thought you hated makeup!”

Cut out of his frozen state by familiar contempt, Deceit curled his lip at Roman. “No, Roman, I detest makeup. I truly despise  it when someone does it for me.” Deceit made direct eye contact with Roman as he said this, in an attempt to avoid looking at Remus in hopes that they would forget about him, and he could slip away to Princess. Remus, thankfully, seemed to catch his drift, and sunk out. Unfortunately, his swift exit did not slip past Virgil. 

“Hey, what - Why did Remus leave so fast once you got here?” he demanded to Deceit. 

Lie. Deceit summoned his gloves and put them back on as he spoke. “Me and the Duke are not on the friendliest of terms. We prefer not to be in each other’s vicinity.”

“Why? I would have thought you and that disaster would get along swimmingly.” Roman said. Deceit wanted to rise to the defense of his boyfriend, but that would defeat the purpose of the lie he was constructing.

“Well, my purpose goes directly against his purpose, so, no, we do not get along.”

Virgil frowned. “What? Last time I saw you, I thought you two were all buddy-buddy, you liar.”

 Sneering at him, Deceit pulled on his bowler hat. “Well, it’s been a while, Virgil. You haven’t been to visit. You haven’t been around. Things have changed.”

Virgil hissed at him. Deceit hissed back.

“Hey, Deceit, who’s Princess?” Patton interrupted. Deceit’s already cool blood chilled.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” He pulled on his caplet as he said it, as if the question were beneath him, and he could not be bothered with such trivial things at the moment. His attitude didn’t dissuade the other Sides in the slightest.

“Well, you obviously know, so why not tell us?” Roman asked. 

Deceit felt like he was being torn in half. He knew this day would come, when they would figure it out, put the pieces together, he had prepared for this, he knew. He had lain awake night after night imagining this day, what he would say, what he would do. Princess would want to bake cookies and play stuffed animals with Patton. Logan would be able to sate her insatiable curiosity about the world around her, and outside Thomas’s head as well. And, of course, she would probably want to meet her unknowing donors biological parents. She would want to sing and act with Roman, and sew and listen to music with Virgil. But he couldn’t stop himself from trying to delay the inevitable. And, besides, they hadn’t seen her. What proof did they have that she existed? Maybe they would give up. All he had to do was misdirect them. That was what he was good at.

“Tell you what?”

“Really, Deceit, you’re not fooling anyone. When you rose up, you were talking to someone who you referred to as “Princess”, and you were uncharacteristically relaxed and calm, and . . . happy looking.” Logan paused. “Princess must be special to you.”

Deceit blinked slowly. Out of all of the “Light” Sides, he thought that Logan would not be the one to notice immediate emotional connections, since the logical side to ardently tried to deny even having emotions, much less noticing them in other Sides.

“You know, if you won’t tell us, we could always summon whoever this ‘Princess’ is,” Roman announced, motioning to Thomas, “If you would, Thomas.”

Deceit’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait, no, don’t- STOP!”

But it was too late. Thomas had already raised his arm, commanding “Princess!”

For a split second, Deceit thought that perhaps it wouldn’t work. Perhaps Thomas couldn’t summon a side that he didn’t know existed - and was Princess even a Side? He probably couldn’t summon her. He could convince them that Princess was nonexistent, or imaginary, or - 

Princess rose up.

#deceit sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #charcter thomas #Sanders Sides #logan sanders #romantic demus #romantic dukeceit #Princess 626 #heir au #fanfiction

[pxrxllel]

inner child trauma (11/12/20)

Today was filled with epiphanies, and I’m a mix of excited, at peace, and anxious about all the answers they’re providing.

Yesterday I watched a webinar on self-love and self-sabotaging in the context of romantic relationships, and here were some of the key points:

Who did you crave love and approval from the most as a child?

Your relationship with your parents and your needs being met/unmet subconsciously create emotional patterns that you take into your adult relationships. Therefore, your relationships are a reflection of how your needs were met by your parents.

When you have a wounded inner child, you are fixated on ensuring the outcome that you expect. The energy you take into the relationship is based on fear and control.

You’re trying to protect your wounded Inner Child by controlling the outcome, to avoid being hurt again.

I’ve taken the attachment styles quiz and for the most part, I come out as being anxious. I know I definitely tend to take on the role of the mother/therapist/fixer upper in my relationships (which has usually ended up with me becoming avoidant after a while due to resentment), but I’ve also had some where I didn’t feel the need to and I became clingy instead. So maybe that’s me yoyo-ing between the two, which I think the webinar described as being disorganised. 

I’m keenly aware that I have a rich history of needing external validation, because approval was never received from my parents. I was never emotionally applauded for anything I did - in fact, my parents nitpicked me to the point where I was made to feel innately wrong. It’s hard to not be angry about it, but it’s even worse to hold that against them because it won’t help me make progress. A large part of the validation was being called fat and ugly, which may be why I’ve been so reliant on compliments about my appearance all throughout my life, and even still since I’ve become objectively attractive. My father and some extended family always framed it as not being pretty enough to attract boys, which I’ve previously established as the key reason why I clung onto compliments and relationships and used sexual attention from men as a metric for self-worth. I’m just also starting to realise that perhaps it’s why I took sexual rejection from my previous relationship so personally - I was still unconvinced that he was attracted to me and the rejection only confirmed that I wasn’t desirable in that way (or that’s how my mind attributed it anyway). 

I think I made that realisation about my dependence on external validation in 2018/19. Since then, I’ve actively worked to disempower that, and I’ve largely been successful. I hardly ever use my appearance or compliments as a success metric anymore. I don’t fish for compliments or check for likes half as much as I used to. And it’s sort of been a self-fulfilling prophecy; the less I cared, the more they came and I genuinely feel OK about myself. I believe people now when they say nice things about me.

The point about fear and control is really interesting to me because looking back, I definitely was trying to be the ‘perfect’ girlfriend and looked for verbal validation (in the form of compliments, how much it seemed like he was into me) that I was doing a good job. I used to be so sensitive to any changes in the temperature of the relationship, and would melt down easily and take it personally if his demeanour cooled down even in the slightest. When I felt him slipping, I would hastily try to overcompensate out of fear for losing him, which I now know is a recipe for backfire. It’s also interesting because I’ve realised that I’m modelling ‘perfect girlfriend’ after my mother. My mother is a voice of reason/wisdom, emotional support cushion, physical support cushion, service-oriented, problem solver, domestic goddess, and all around superstar. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those things, and not necessarily wrong for me to aspire to those things, but maybe it’s wrong for me to uphold that as the be all and end all of girlfriend material and then get annoyed when it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. 

Speaking of mirroring, it’s really interesting how accurate it is... a bit too much that it’s creepy. I never heeded it much before, and especially not when my therapist brought it up as something to flag, but I’ve come to the realisation that mine and Jarek’s relationship almost exactly mirrors my parents’ marriage. The long distance thing, and the fact that I feel like my parents aren’t each other’s soulmates. They care about each other a lot obviously, but I feel like my mom relies on my dad for practical reasons (kids and money - she’s much more comfortable playing the role of a mother than a wife) and my dad relies on her for emotional support and all the reasons listed above. Don’t get me wrong, they clearly enjoy each other’s company and get along, but I don’t think they have the X factor that I observe in other couples and what I think I look for. They don’t really have the natural, seamless, deep, almost magical affinity that I’ve been so lucky to experience a handful of times in my life. They don’t naturally understand each other. I think perhaps pragmatic marriages are more common or accepted in Asian cultures and worldviews, but for those of us that grew up in Western cultures, we see the romanticised version of these things and can’t help but want for more. It’s also interesting because I’ve always wondered what it would have been like if my parents weren’t in a long distance marriage/what it’ll be like when they retire and move in together. I always thought that maybe they would get sick of each other and argue more, but I can’t say for sure (plus, they’ve mellowed out a lot as they’ve aged). 

This relates to me and Jarek because I feel like our dynamic is really similar. I care about him so deeply and the way that it manifests is that I treat him the same way my mom treats my dad. I’m definitely more of a mom/therapist to him than I’d like to be - I’m sick of taking on the role of the fixer, although I think it’s neat to help people become self-aware of certain things or issues affecting them, I don’t really want to be the one holding their hand through their journey. And I think maybe the reason why I’m so stubborn about this relationship is that he represents what my dad is to my mom: Material security, stability, a comfortable life, America, all the boxes ticked. Even if he doesn’t understand me, and even if he doesn’t absolutely light me on fire, I’ve been accepting of it because I see how it works with my parents. And with them I know it can work, if I stay committed to the path. And I’ll be rewarded with my needs for security and safety and permanence met, which were not present for me emotionally as child - see how I’ve looped back to the beginning of this piece? And that’s also why I guess I feel so stable in this relationship: I know it well, I know how it goes and how it can end up, and I’m not grasping at fear or control to try to maintain the outcome because I already know what the outcome is. 

Jarek himself has a lot of childhood trauma too and his level of anxious attachment is far more severe than mine (I think I’m secure in some ways, too, esp ever since I actively worked on myself). His parents have a loveless marriage and he’s been emotionally neglected and felt unsafe in his family his whole life, so that’s something for him to work on and I honestly am not sure if we would be able to have a functional relationship if we were both still stuck in our ways.

I really truly think that because of this fixing issue I have, deep down I believe that until that’s cured, I can only be loved at arm’s length. Because if I get too close, I become too suffocating and overwhelming to be around because my fear kicks in and I start becoming controlling. So it would make sense then that the relationships I get tired of are the long distance ones and then everyone I do get (properly) close to in real life are the people I scare away with my intensity. This pattern makes total sense when taken into consideration with my childhood and how my parents are with each other. 

I would like to ask my mom these questions:

Do you think you and dad understand each other?

Why do you love him?

How do you think your marriage would be different if you weren’t long distance?

Have you ever wanted more from the marriage?

I’m quite proud of myself for coming to these conclusions without therapy, and I have a strong gut feeling I’m not wrong with any of these as it makes complete logical sense. And while it’s so good to have some clarity, context, explanations, and answers about all this, it doesn’t necessarily inform my next steps (although it can provide a guide). Knowing about these subconscious patterns and my emotional makeup means I can check myself according to my personal goals, but it doesn’t provide a template for my decision-making. I think that’s something I need to chew on more, as to where to go from here. I still need to figure out what I really want and what’s best for me and will make me happy. It’s hard because I don’t have a healthy relationship to look at and view as a model, so I don’t know what it should be like apart from relying on my gut and perceptions.

However, I accept that although the answers may be not what I want and I may have to make some tough decisions, it’s ultimately the right thing to do for my own wellbeing and happiness, and that of everyone else as well.

#Talking To The Moon #wounded inner child #life #marriage #relationships

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, Vigilantes 15, Replies Part 2

1) “Oh, but even if you’re doing it for your own nefarious ends, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to work hard, right? And by god, are they making you work a lot.

They realized there’s someone that is hardworking around, and of course they are going to exploit the shit out of it.”- On the other hand, by making herself so intrinsic to the Running of CC’s operations, not to mention his media presence and coordinating with his team, Makoto can thus make her blackmail double-layered, tricking Skyline into unintentionally relying upon her so she can double the threat of telling his wife with threatening to use his ‘advances’ on her to leave the team and leave him high and dry, Makoto probably intentionally scouted several heroes and picked CC precisely because she knew he was a notorious womaniser and shameless flirt, not to mention that he was a recent arrival to Japan. He and his team would need somebody local who could handle-day-to-day activities and knows the civilians well enough to help CC make a good impression on them, despite himself. By stepping into this role, Makoto becomes a crutch CC relies upon to handle the trickier details of managing his hero team and public relations.

Thus when he slips up and gives her the blackmail materials she wants, she can additionally threaten to leave the team due to his unwanted propositions’ and thus tarnishing CC’s new reputation with Japan and leave his team in an organisational mess struggling to find somebody new to fit the role Makoto did, which wouldn’t be easy if public opinion of him changed for the negative, in addition to him having to deal with problems with the missus back home from that. The closer she gets, the deeper she can threaten to plunge the knife into him if he doesn’t do what she requests, and Skyline let her get way too close for his own good. Good thing she’s ultimately a benevolent person, but in the hands of somebody with far less morals, CC would have been screwed….more screwed.

2) “I mean, in theory there shouldn’t be a problem, he’s, what, 30, while she’s around 25, but… there’s something reaaaaaally weird in here and I don’t like it one bit.”- How about the fact that he’s legally married and still flirting with an attractive stranger despite that clearly being in violation of their current agreement with each other? All things considered, CC is lucky that the worst that came out of this is that he got shanghaied into letting Makoto run the shots with more control than she used to have, and that he’s being forced to be a more responsible hero. In any other situation, Things might have turned out with Koichi having to retrieve the blackmail material for him, which would still work out in that case, because it would put the highly-sensitive info into the hands of another deserving individual who’d use it to force CC to be a better hero.

3) “Oh boy is this getting uncomfortable… But since this is Makoto, I’m sure she’s aware of what he’s doing, and just keeping her cool; if she feels like she could extract some useful things out of him, then I’m sure she’d play along until it stopped being convenient.”- Oh, she goes way farther than ‘cutting it short when the date gets uncomfortable’. This way, she’s basically got a hero in her pocket, and access to everything he knows about heroics, not to mention control over how he dictates himself going forward, lest she get his wife on the phone again. If this is what she does for her paper, imagine what she’s actually do for a job as an investigative journalist

4) “Really fucking creepy for some reason…”- And for once, it’s not Koichi that’s being considered creepy- in fact, he’s the one that’s calling out the creep factor of this whole situation, despite basically stalking Makoto in this panel, though thankfully Makoto’s no damsel in distress who needs rescuing.

5) “Alright, the part that he’s a bastard isn’t new, hell I’d be surprised if he wasn’t like this after all we saw, but, the one part that left me shocked… He’s married.

Knuckle didn’t said “ex”, he was clear on calling her only as “wife”, meaning that this dude is STILL married, and he’s hitting on other woman…”- Look at it this way- if he wasn’t married, Makoto would have a harder time getting him into a blackmail position, so if anything, we should be thankful that he’s carrying around a ball and chain- seems to be the only thing that can put some kind of restraint on his egoism and get him to act with a modicum of responsibility, if only out of fear. If you can’t appeal to his better nature, appeal to his worse one, then use that against him.

Heroics may pay the bills with CC, but the fact that he needs to be seen to keep a certain measure of decorum as a hero also means that his very flaws in his ‘heroic’ actions make prime blackmail material to keep him in line, if nobody else of his team seems to be stepping in- the perils of being surrounded only by yes-men.

6) “Also, good job being stealthy Koichi, you got found out in less a quarter of a second.”-I guess skyline somewhat recognises Koichi better than any other civilian he’s interacted with because, as far as we can see, Koichi’s one of the few people who don’t fall into the category of adoring fans cheering me on (people whom he’d soon forget) Rescue workers aiding him in the execution of his ‘heroism’ (people he can’t flirt with because they likely know about his notorious reputation, since he seems to have brought his team with him, and thus they know about his issues with his wife) and other heroes he works with (too high-profile for him to openly date, and several of them are likely connected enough to find out about his marital issues with little trouble, if somebody like Knuckle found out the info relatively easily). 

Koichi’s somebody he’s met in the line of duty often enough that he recognises him on sight (though the fact he found him in a crowded street when he was presumably flying overhead to meet Makoto lends support to my ‘super senses’ theory) and since he’s not an official hero he hasn’t bothered to put on his ‘heroic persona’ for him like he would when interacting with other professionals or fans. In a way, Skyline probably feels pretty relaxed around Koichi, because he’s one of, if not the only person, that he doesn’t feel the need to act more ‘upstanding and heroic’ around- something which Koichi probably isn’t really that grateful for.

7) “But, he at least has the advantage of CC not being aware of his other identity, what would be a real problem now that Makoto is there.”- More like CC is aware of His other identity, but perhaps doesn’t go blabbing around about it because he’s aware that Koichi plugs a hole in his preferred line of heroics- dealing with the less glamorous side of rescue missions, and also provides a handy damsel in distress figure for repeat rescues- and one that he doesn’t even have to pay to boot. That said, his mind is most likely occupied by ‘other matters’ so bringing up work right now is that last thing on his mind, and since this is literally the first time he’s met Koichi outside of work, and he’s the proverbial ‘third wheel’ he wants this conversation to end and put as much distance between Koichi and Makoto as possible so they can proceed asap, without any inconvenient questions coming up like where they met each other. He definitely regrets that now, but if he’d let them chat a bit more, odds are he might have confirmed Makoto’s theory about ‘cruller man’s’ secret identify out of impatience or carelessness. Alas, for Koichi’s sake, he was hoist mightily upon his own petard, which is just tragic, simply awful…

8) “Oh yeah, she knows what his idea of this is, because, of course, she knows of his infamy, meaning that there’s something she hopes to get out of this, playing along his B.S.”- more to the point, she’s underlining to him and other third parties, that as far as she’s concerned this meeting is only for work purposes, even though she’s dressed up nice for it. That way, when skyline starts his usual flirting antics, Makoto can definitely claim that he was the one who instigated events to go that far, not her, and thus leave him high and dry up a creek without a paddle…or quirk-propelled flight in this case. Makoto was laying the noose around Skyline’s neck from the very start and the dope walked right into it without a second thought.

9) “Also, there seems to be problem to the side, you don’t need to worry about Makoto, she can handle herself.”- She didn’t just handle it, she also technically handled the bank robbery by forcing Skyline to take his job seriously for once. The only reason Makoto’s not a hero in her own right is that her quirk’s not very combat-capable, and that she seems to work better as a planner, rather than a fighter. Her and Momo should team up sometime- imagine the shenanigans.

10) “Oh my god, every single word that comes out of his mouth leaves me uncomfortable, but Makoto doesn’t care, because Makoto knew how he’s like, and she has plans in store, she’s just waiting the right moment to strike…”- Adding to Makoto’s multiple talents, alongside blackmail, team coordination and excellent fashion sense, is her ability to speak American English flawlessly, as denoted by the brackets around her speech, indicating that she’s talking in another language. It’s why Skyline reacted immediately when he heard his wife’s name be brought up- Makoto suddenly started speaking English and was chatting over the line to somebody called Pamela. Most civilians like Makoto seemed to be wouldn’t know much about skyline beyond the fact that he’s a foreign hero, something he was counting on to continue his bad habits abroad, because there’s no way any one of his one-night stands would know about the marital troubles of a foreign celebrity they just met.

However, Makoto suddenly starts speaking English out of nowhere, bringing up his wife’s name, showing that she knows more about outside japan than he thought on a surface glance, and skyline’s immediately taken aback by Makoto demonstrating unexpected skills in communication to foreign countries, showing that she’s more informed and aware of international events than he thought she’d be. The nail in the coffin, and his fears, is when she confirms that she is indeed chatting to his wife, and knows her personally, well enough that Skyline won’t be able to brush this under the rug or claim it was an accident, meaning that for all his powers and strength, he’s utterly helpless to do anything except follow Makoto’s whims from this point onwards- and he knows it.

11) “SHE HAD AN AMAZING TRAP, JUST WAITING FOR A VERY SPECIFIC POOR LITTLE BASTARD TO MISSTEP AND ACTIVATE IT

HE JUST REALIZED HOW FUCKED HE IS, SHE HAS MATERIAL FOR BLACKMAIL AND HE HAS NO WAY TO ESCAPE IT BESIDES TELLING HER EVERYTHING SHE WANTS” - It’s true what they say- ‘get a man’s phone number, you have him for a meeting. Get a man’s wife’s phone number, you have him by the short and curlies’. Skyline deeply underestimated Makoto and the interconnectivity of the modern age, and now he’s got no choice but to toe the line according to what she tells him- and he’s got nobody but himself to blame for it.

12) “Goddammit Koichi, was the power of boners so strong that it made you forget the one thing that you always carry with you? I mean, pop has a good point, its not like they’d be able to do something with the police here, but that still doesn’t excuse your mistake, young man.”- On the other hand, if he had had the hoodie on him, CC would have Yoicked him straight to Makoto in full costume, pretty much confirming her suspicions, so perhaps it could be seen as a blessing in disguise. Koichi sure is getting lucky with all these near misses with Makoto, which is good, because he’s pretty much shit out of luck everywhere else.

13) “Flipper’s reign of terror is over, Captain Blackmailed ended him in the blink of an eye, making even madder over the fact that he’s powerful enough to do all of this… then decides not to. Not even over a “I’m too tired of carrying the weight of the world in my shoulders” or some other deep reason, no, its just “lol not my fucking problem, even if I’m literally paid to do it””- I mean, that’s true but the relative ease at which Flipper was detained indicates that the threat level he posed wasn’t that high overall, compared to, say, the mini-kaiju CC recently fought. It’s just him, alone, with a single gun-in a room full of hostages, certainly, but he doesn’t have any explosives or such wired up to a Deadman’s switch to increase the difficulty of his attempted robbery.  

Sure, CC’s certainly taking the view that he doesn’t have to stop every crime that happens around him even if he’s literally paid to stop crimes, because that would cut into his personal time, but on the other hand, this is during the period where there’s a surplus of heroes saturating the industry, and if Flipper’s not an especially hard problem to deal with he probably feels he can leave the issue to some other heroes who could do with the fame and credit instead of him- almost like a magnanimous gesture from his perspective. This does highly how lacking he is as a hero compared to workaholics like Izuku and All Might, but at the same time it might also indicates that he’s got good threat evaluation skills that he feels he can leave ‘minor’ issues like that to people who can handle the threat- maybe not as safety or securely as he can, but still, resolving the problem is simply a hurdle for then, not an impossibility. 

I’m still a little uncertain if he has super-senses or not, but something about his actions thus far makes me think he has a basis to be so flippant about picking and choosing which crimes he heroes-up for, such as being able to identify and assess threats at a distance, not to mention his uncanny ability to seek Koichi out if he’s in the nearby vicinity. The other option is that he’s just that self-absorbed and willing fully endangers lives through apathy and inaction, and I don’t think CC is quite that bad- not far off it, but still, not as worse as he could be.

14) “Gonna take him for the lunch and say its just a friendly get-together? Yeah, I suppose you will… Now, this would be even funnier if he didn’t recognized Koichi from earlier, and just grabbed the first motherfucker he saw as a way to save face.”- I mean, he probably would have, if he didn’t recognise Koichi in the crowd. Man needed fresh faces for a photo op shoot asap, and he just latched onto the first ‘friendly’ face he saw, especially since he can technically claim to Pamela that he’s only met this Koichi kid working as a hero, and has been showing him exactly how a ‘real American hero’ operates in the field for his ‘fan’, which he even has grounds to claim Koichi is, because they keep running into each other so often, that clearly Koichi must be following him around to see more of his heroics in action! 

Personally, I find it funnier to think that he was specifically searching for Koichi with his theoretical super senses and happened to run close enough to the bank robbery that he had to detour and defeat flipper before he could swiftly escort his ‘fan’ back to Makoto, before she chatted further to his wife and said something that landed him in hot water with her. Amazing what a little motivation will do for your work ethic, isn’t it?

15) “Oh right, just what I imagined… Oh you can see how much he’s hating this, and I’m grinning so much over it.”- I can’t tell if you’re referring to Koichi or Skyline. All I know is that both of them are deeply uncomfortable with the current situation, and neither of them can actually argue back against it, because if they don’t dance to Makoto’s tune, then that could result in secrets they don’t want told accidently reaching the ears of the women in their lives. For once, Koichi and Skyline are 100% on the same page here, and all it took was a little blackmail and coercion to get them seeing eye-to-eye.

16) “Oh my god, she’s going to change his image now? Oh my god, why do I feel she’s going to amuse herself quite a lot with this? Not that she won’t help him, but I’m sure she’ll play with this new toy in her list for a little while…”- Better get used to it Skyline, you just handed the keys over to Makoto, and she’s driving the show, and your image- now. All things considered, this was a 100% successful outcome for a ‘business meeting’ since now CC’s got no choice but to let somebody who isn’t himself have a say on how his ‘heroism’ is run going forward for the foreseeable future- and I foresee this state of affairs continuing for a very long time…

17) “You know what, Makoto is probably having WAY too much fun with this one, she even got those two X-Jojos assholes to join in what the hell why are those guys everywhere”- She probably put up a sign for auditions –‘manly dudes wanted, must be bursting with fiery passion and a man’s true grit’- and since Knuckleduster doesn’t give a toss about some womaniser’s attempted reboot of his image, those two stepped in to fulfil the vigilante’s representation on CCs team, since they’re basically unofficial partners with this playboy hero, thanks to his bad habits, and higher-than-usual tolerance for their vigilantism.

18) “Oh good, they at least remembered Pop’s existence before the chapter ended, and it seems Koichi didn’t even told her what was discussed on the lunch she was excluded from, goddammit Koichi.”- Since the blackmail is pretty much the only thing keeping CC in line and somewhat more tolerable and controllable than he was before, it’s actually beneficial for Koichi to keep the details between the three of them, lest CC get into hot water and a more competent and less tolerant hero gets assigned to patrol their neck of the woods. It’s not pretty, but sometimes the job takes you to dark places to get the right result in the end.

19) “Also Bullshit, his quirk isn’t only “flight”, not after everything he did.”- Probably not, but if they’re keeping mum about the full breadth and scope of his powers, then odds are that the exact details of how his quirk works will become important at some point. That said, if he’s allowed to get away with listing just ‘flight’ as his powers and then demonstrate additional abilities on top of that, then that means there’s hopefully a lot of leeway for Izuku to develop and utilise his own additional abilities without arousing too much suspicion that he actually possesses multiple powers I one, rather than one power with multiple uses.

@thelreads

#bnha vigilantes #bnha #thelreads #chapter replies #my hero academia #vigilantes 15

[kainissoable]

A comparison of SH2 to SH4, in particular the openings and character storytelling choices. (contains spoilers)

I’ll preface this by saying that this is more a collection of comparisons and observations than a structured essay, and I have been informed by more knowledgable people that SH4 had time constraint issues and suffered for them. I’ve also only seen one playthrough, and given Silent Hill games often need a couple of goes to fully “get”, so these probably don’t represent my final thoughts on it.

First, a quick runthrough of the first half hour or so of each game, because I think when broken down they are illustrative of the sort of issues SH4 has with being what it wants to be.

SH2 starts with a reasonably long voiceover where you find out why James is there in the first place, and we have our long-term goal as a player set out for us – find Mary. We then have a walk through creepy forest before meeting with Angela in the cemetery. The conversation is stilted to say the least, but it immediately gives us a good feel for both characters. It establishes that there’s something wrong about the town, and that James has something of a self-destructive streak to him, or at least values his search for Mary over his own safety. This will be a driving factor in the rest of the game. James then walks on to town and through a series of short cutscenes sees and follows a figure in the fog. He finds the creature, and the player’s first introduction to monsters is having to fight one in a small space so they can escape. After this, similar monsters will be found wandering the streets for the rest of the first part of the game.

SH4 starts with some on-screen text giving a little bit of background about the PC, Henry, and establishes the major problem he has to overcome – he’s trapped in his flat and suffering recurring nightmares. Play starts in the room with general Silent Hill Yuck over everything and objects the PC doesn’t remember owning. After a bit of exploration, we get a cutscene where the room goes more to hell and a ghost pulls itself through the wall of the apartment. It seems we’re going to get thrown right into it this time – oh, no, it was the aforementioned recurring dream. We can then explore an un-Silent Hilled apartment, then crawl through a hole in the wall to a distinctly concerning kind of freedom. Original goal completed, I guess. Immediately, we meet Sexy Latina Stereotype Cynthia, who believes this to be her dream, “a pretty terrible one”, and wants to find the exit. Then she vanishes into the bathroom, and we get our first in-game enemies – fucked up dogs! Now Cynthia has apparently vanished into the ether, there’s a hole leading back to Henry’s apartment in the ladies’ loos. Henry wakes up back in his room, but the hole in his wall is still there and leads back to the bathroom he came from. This mechanic continues for the rest of the game.

The first difference between these styles of opening I want to draw attention to is that SH2 tells you what’s going on pretty much straight away. There are questions which want answering, and the questions are clearly stated. SH4 goes more with the mind screw angle and does a good job of making the player go “what the heck’s happening now?” Where it fails is explaining why Henry is doing what he’s doing. Objective: escape room. Done. New objective: Help Cynthia get out the messed up station. Oh, Cynthia’s vanished. Is Henry concerned for her and going to look for her? Does he just want to find the way out? Does he just want to know what’s going? I don’t think we ever actually find out.

The second change is the monster vs NPC introductions. In SH2, you get a vague warning that Some Shit is happening, then run into two types of common monster and the big bad Pyramid Head himself before meeting Maria, who resembles James’ late wife Mary to an uncanny degree. By the time you meet her, you know a) what the danger is and b) why James would feel protective towards her. Regardless of your feelings about Maria, James’ actions make sense in-universe.

In SH4, Cynthia turns up before any monsters in the subway world, so at that point neither the player nor Henry knows why she doesn’t want to be there except it’s dull and a bit creepy. So not only do you not get the same sense of urgency, but the emotional drive for Henry could be as shallow as getting laid. The lack of clear danger to her and apparent NPC immortality for the bits she’s with you for do serve to make it more of a shock when she dies within the first hour of gameplay, but the lack of time with her or defining character traits means her death doesn’t have the punch it should. “It’s okay… it’s just a dream” finally gives Henry some discernable character and it’s a pity nothing has been built up between these two characters before that.

Later character deaths suffer from it even more because they don’t even have the shock value after Cynthia dying at the end of the subway world. It doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen to the NPC you meet near the start of every subsequent world. After Disposable Person #2, I started to develop a pretty Walter Sullivan attitude that obviously these people need to die to get to the next bit, so there was no point in expending effort trying to find something about them to make me care.

Compare and contrast the 2-7 deaths in SH2, depending on ending and how you count Maria. They never feel cheap, even though each one could be seen coming if you read the signs, and some were obviously coming. Angela was a tragic figure, damned from the start. Eddie was pushed too far and turned to wrath. James had to kill him to survive. Maria existed purely to die and make James suffer, and yet there’s a tragedy to her as well. She was James’ futile attempts to bring back Mary, his guilt and desires. And in the ending where James took his own life, he succumbed to everything the others did. Deaths were many things in SH2, but they were never plot coupons.

#long post #ro rambles about silent hill #discussion of character death and suicide #my rambles #i really like sh2 characters but i know not everyone does. regardless they all serve their own undeniable thematic purpose #it's such a pity sh4 didn't because you almost got that with the last couple of men to die were cruel to kid walter #as opposed to eileen who previously showed him kindness and was saved by him. and who can survive the whole thing depending on ending #leaning further into that would have given the disposable characters a proper thematic narrative purpose #even if they still didn't have much characterisation or emotional weight to them

[darkshadow90]

Do you think Arthur/Joker could be a sociopath?

So here’s a thought that popped into my head. I notice a lot of times people use the terms psychopath and sociopath interchangeably and so people think they’re the same. They aren’t the same. Both are forms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, but they’re different. I’m not a psychiatrist or psychologist. I’m no expert in any of this. I just want to share what I’ve read about them and if Arthur /Joker could be a sociopath based on it. I thought this would be fun to do. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about anything. I want to talk about the differences between them and which one Arthur/Joker could fit into.

Both psychopaths and sociopaths have trouble with emotional vulnerability,  distorted identities, and have a lot of pathological traits, but they’re aren’t entirely the same. Psychopathy is something that starts at birth. A psychopath is born with some kind of genetic or neurological deformity. Psychopaths have have an easier time blending into society. They have an easier time keeping their desire for power under wraps. They’re also more careful and measured  in their actions. They can’t form emotional attachments or connections with other people. They don’t stay in relationships because they care about the people they’re with. They do it because it benefits them personally. They don’t care about love or compassion.

Sociopaths are a product of their environment. Sociopathy is learned behavior from childhood. Sometimes it’s learned from a traumatic event in childhood like abuse. Sociopaths can form emotional attachments and connections with other people, and can show empathy for some people but not others. They’re more impulsive in their actions. They don’t mind taking risks to get what they want or need. They have a hard time blending into society. They’re more likely to make a scene to get attention. While their ability to form emotional attachments, connections, and having empathy for others is limited, the people they have empathy for and have emotional attachments or connections with are genuine. They’re in those relationships because they have a personal connection with them.

Arthur/Joker doesn’t seem like a psychopath. We know he was horribly abused as a child. He never had his emotional needs met, which could explain why he wanted to be loved and noticed by others. He never got that love as a child. The people he has emotional attachments to are genuine. He loves his mom and takes care of her. And while the relationship with Sophie wasn’t real, he does seem to care about her. In one of the scripts for the movie, Arthur was on his way to the Murray Franklin Show. He goes by Sophie’s apartment and leaves her a note with money. He knows she’s a single mom and struggling, so he left her the money to help her out. He’s also warm towards Gary after he kills Randall. Arthur has no remorse for killing Randall, but he does seem to feel bad that Gary is upset. He never tried to hurt Gary. He let Gary go. Gary is upset about what Arthur did and Arthur says “Don’t look. Just go.” Then as Gary is leaving Arthur jumps out and scares him. I don’t think it was meant as a mean thing. I think Arthur scared Gary because he didn’t want Gary to see Randall’s body, and he knew Gary would be even more upset if he saw It. He was able to consider Gary’s feelings because he liked him and considered him a friend. He wouldn’t hurt the people he’s connected with. At least, not intentionally.

Arthur/Joker is impulsive in his actions. He doesn’t spend days or weeks carefully planning things. Every time he kills someone, it’s usually on impulse. It’s not planned out. He’s reactive in his killings. With the exception of his mom, he didn’t actively plan on killing any of those people. And he never has any empathy for the people he kills. I think that’s why he can kill them without any remorse or emotion. They aren’t people he could form emotional attachments or connections with them, so he has no empathy for them. 

Arthur/Joker does seem to have some narcissism in him, too. The entire movie is only from his perspective. We aren’t seeing it from anyone else’s point of view. He expects to be treated a certain way. When he imagines himself on the Murray Franklin show, he tells Murray and the audience that he takes good care of his mom. The audience is touched and Murray tells him he’d give up his show, his career to have a son like Arthur. So Arthur expects Murray to give up his career because he’s a good son to his mom, or he’s formed his own interpretation of what Murray would be like if he met him in real life. There are similar things in his imagined relationship with Sophie. He only saw Sophie for a bit when she was in the elevator. They don’t know much about each other outside of being neighbors. But in his imagined relationship with her, Arthur has his own ideas of how Sophie would behave and react in certain situations. When Sophie asks him if she was following him he says yes. After she says she was hoping Arthur would come rob her, Arthur tells her he has a gun and he’ll come by the next day. She laughs and tells him he’s funny. Then we see them on a date. They seem to be having a good time. When they’re walking in the city, Sophie isn’t holding his hand. And when the killer clown story about the Wall Street guys is on the newspaper, she’s happy they were killed. I think the reason Sophie wasn’t holding his hand is because Arthur is shy, and he’s projecting some of himself onto her. Arthur would be too shy to hold her hand, so he wouldn’t expect her to hold his hand. And she supports the Wall Street guys being killed because Arthur would want her to. Arthur doesn’t know her. She says, behaves, and reacts the way he thinks she would. Of course he would want her to think he’s funny, not creepy, and he would want her to support him, even if it involves murder. We don’t know what the real Sophie would be like or what she would think about the murders, or Arthur stalking her. I think it’s likely she wouldn’t react the way Arthur would want her to.  We are only meant to see things from Arthur’s/Jokers perspective and not really consider the perspective of other people. When Arthur meets Bruce, he’s trying to establish a connection with him. He does magic tricks for Bruce and tries to make him smile. Then he puts his fingers in Bruce’s mouth to make him smile. We know that Arthur wouldn’t hurt Bruce because he likes kids, and he was trying to make him happy. But to an outsider looking in like Alfred, it might look like something more sinister was going on. It’s Alfred’s job to protect Bruce, so I can’t blame him for being hostile towards Arthur...at first. Then there’s the scene where Arthur confesses to killing the Wall Street guys. We know what happened and why Arthur did it. But Murray and the people in the studio don’t know what happened. They don’t know the context of the situation, so of course they’re going to be disgusted because they just see a killer. And if we didn’t see what happened and only heard about him killing three guys, we might not be as sympathetic toward him.  I think Arthur/Joker is more of a sociopath than a psychopath. A psychopath wouldn’t have let Gary go. If Arthur was a psychopath, he would be less impulsive and more calculating in his actions. He would have an easier time fitting into society and likely would’ve had a successful career. There’s a phrase that says sociopaths are made by the environmental factors and society they’re raised in, and Arthur/Joker is definitely a product of his environment and society. He was made by the trauma and abuse and neglect he suffered in his childhood and a lot of his life. I think Todd Phillips at one point referred to Joker as a narcissistic sociopath. However, if you were to ask me about Arthur/Joker in Arkham, I don’t know. He’s so different from the rest of the movie. I noticed the psychiatrist sitting across from him didn’t refer to him by name, like the social worker did. So Arthur might not be his real name. It’s like he’s not the same person. I get the impression he’s capable of doing things that Arthur would never do. He seemed a lot more evil. Let’s just say if he killed someone and Gary was there with him, I don’t think he would let Gary go. I hate thinking he’s just a bad guy and he was lying to us. But there’s no way to know for sure. What do you think?

#arthur fleck #joker fandom #joker movie #joker 2019

[whitleyschn33]

RWBY7 Soundtrack

Should I be reviewing/giving my thoughts on the OST when I have plenty of asks in my inbox to answer and have no musical authority at all? No, probably not. Am I doing it anyway? Yes.

This is just going to be in what (I assume) is the track order. Let me know if I miss any; I’m going off a YouTube playlist.

1. Trust Love

Initial thoughts: Eh.

It’s okay. It’s not my favorite opening, that honor goes to When It Falls, but it’s competent. Very optimistic, which is a trend for this volume’s soundtrack despite how dire the tone of the latter half is, so I don’t think it fully fits the volume it opens for, but it’s by no means a bad song. It’s easy to sing along and bop to, just doesn’t seem as impressive as the other opening songs. It feels like a different sort of sound than what RWBY songs have been in the past, which is also a running theme for the OST this volume - new artists singing, a lot of experimentation in the style. That’s not a bad thing; the tracks I like the most on this album are the different sounding ones, but it’s very.... noticeable, and didn’t go in the direction you would think for Atlas. 

2. Touch the Sky

Initial Thoughts: Why is the best part of this song the ending?

No, but seriously, that outro is a very different sound to the proceeding song and it’s so good. Other than that, I’ve got questions. Like, whose song is this? I’m leaning towards Team RWBY as a whole, but I’ve seen people suggest it’s Weiss’s, it’s Blake’s, I could see an argument for Yang - it’s very unclear. Also, why is the POV character(s) so happy? Their situation isn’t all that much better in terms of Salem and the Relic and all that; they should still be weighed down with that knowledge, shouldn’t they? They don’t trust Ironwood to help make things all better, they still have to carry the Relic (for plot reasons), the only thing that’s changed is that they’re going out on missions. Well, fresh clothes and a distraction are always nice, and it is a chance to put all that stuff on the back burner. I’ll give them that, then.

3. Brand New Day

Initial Thoughts: From the writers that make every Blake song a duet, here’s her volume 7 song; a duet with.... Qrow?

Have Blake and Qrow ever even spoken to each other? And, is there actually no solo Blake song, or am I beating on a dead meme? Actually, to be completely serious, these two actually work well in a song together. Their character directions compliment each other in this volume - both trying to reinvent themselves some and become better (Blake with her new hair and outfits, Qrow with a new outfit and a resolve to recover from alcoholism), it’s just a shame that, you know, this kind of talk or relationship never happens in the show. At all.

Someone in the YouTube comment section said this song sounds like a 90′s sitcom opening, and I have to agree. It really does, mixed with a bit of 50′s doo-wap. It’s not bad, I actually like the doo-wap, but it also has bits of the usual RWBY style rock, and they don’t mix as coherently as I would like in some places. The guitar bridge after Qrow’s verse is pretty nice, though.

Overall, it’s another good song to bop along to, but like the songs before it, I’m not sure it’s one I’ll be listening to over and over.

4. Let’s Get Real

Initial Thoughts: So, even the song thinks they should talk - why didn’t they?

Here’s something you may not know about me. I don’t romantically ship Renora. I’ve always preferred them as a brother/sister pair - probably in part because I’m a sucker for found family. I’ve never really had anything against romantic Renora, though... but this volume definitely made me go from neutral to dislike. Ren’s confused, he’s worried, he’s having doubts about their relationship that he’s not sure how to vocalize. He admits as much. And instead of, I don’t know, respecting that and letting it be for the moment, or pulling him aside to try and help him talk it through, she... kisses him. Instead of stopping to let them work through where their relationship is at the present (which would be nice, to clue the audience in on what exactly their status is), she pushes their relationship to the next level, presumably. It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, that Ren’s emotions about his relationship with Nora are just shoved aside and aren’t brought up again. Hopefully it does in the next volume (Nora and Ren are notably split for, like, the first time ever in the Volume 8 preview), but still - I thought Tumblr had decided that “guy shuts a girl up by kissing her” trope was sexist or something - shouldn’t this be similarly scrutinized?

Putting that aside, I actually really really like this. It’s very reminiscent of Shine, but a Renora version; it’s got a great beat, the lyrics do a great job in character insight (something I love from RWBY songs, which are probably why Touch the Sky doesn’t do a lot for me), and it’s just a very fun, peppy song. It also feels very at home in Atlas with it’s more techno-leanings. The ending chorus chant of “Is it love?” is also a nice touch.

5. Celebrate

Initial Thoughts: The better Brand New Day (musically speaking).

And by that I mean, it leans all the way into this different style than the half/half approach Brand New Day did, and it’s all the better for it. Once again, another good dancing song, easy to listen and bop to, but it feels... oddly generic. For one thing, there’s no character tied to it, no character insight - I guess you could make an argument for Robin or the Happy Huntresses, but... not really? For another, while as a song I really enjoy the genre of music, it also makes it feel very much not like a RWBY song (something not helped by name-dropping Vegas). It’s fun, but it doesn’t feel like it adds much to the show.

6. War

Initial Thoughts: Wow, I didn’t think you could make me hate the AceOps fight more, but look at that.

Probably the first RWBY song I just flat out hate, and that’s a crying shame considering the excellent music and vocal performances. Those lyrics, though.  Just - I hate them. I hate them so damn much. I refuse to give this song more than that.

7. Hero

Initial thoughts: Hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah HELL YEAH - 

Best song on the album probably. It has all the usual RWBY flare, gives us a great insight into Ironwood’s thoughts and motivations, and is a fantastic performance by Caleb Hyles. The operatic section at the beginning is wonderfully chilling, and the rock section is very epic. 10/10 song even though I’m not rating these.

8. Until the End

Initial thoughts: Time to play “Who does this gorgeous song belong to?”

Actually, I really, really enjoy this song. It’s creepy in its melancholy, but I love it for that. The piano and subtle strings are beautiful, and the way Casey’s voice echoes gives the illusion of solitude in an empty place, perfect for the tone this song conveys.

Now, the matter of whose song it is. The consensus seems to be Ruby and/or Summer, and that’s pretty likely (and letting Ruby actually have a song would be nice). However, I heard a rumor before the album dropped that this was an Ozpin song, and going through it with that lens makes a whole lot of sense - the repeated “I’ll be here until the end”, the constant use of “we”, “our” and other plurals, the lines “ In waves of shame, we’re desperate to make amends / But through a simple soul, we lie complacent” could refer to him lying dormant in Oscar or other souls in the past instead of actively working to defeat Salem, and in the lines “ As light fills my eyes / I’ll picture me beside her / And pray that I’ll inspire”, it could be him thinking of Salem when he dies, and then praying that he’ll be able to inspire others to fight for humanity, for the light. 

I could see it either way, honestly, but no matter which it is, I love this song.

9. Fear

Initial thoughts: Fire whoever was in charge of sound mixing, otherwise, not as preachy as I was fearing.

This is actually the first time I’ve listened to this. I was pretty pissed at the ending of the finale so I didn’t stick around for the credits, and hearing that it was called “Fear”, I was not in the mood for more Ironwood bashing or “You’re just as bad as she is if you act in fear” or whatever BS Oscar said. So, yeah, wasn’t looking forward to this track.

Thankfully, though, it was not another War. I actually enjoyed the lyrics, and the music was top-notch. Don’t really have much more to say about it other than it was difficult to hear the lyrics over the music in some places, but that could be a factor of the video I was listening to. All in all, pleasantly surprised.

10. I May Fall (Acoustic)

Initial Thoughts: Can someone tell the Williams that “acoustic” doesn’t always mean “depressing?”

Like, acoustic doesn’t have to be a super slow, piano/strings, somber rendition, right? It’s just the instruments and the singer without any added computer editing/layering/whatever, if I’m not mistaken. That style of acoustic works alright with songs like Time to Say Goodbye, but not so well with more upbeat songs. This version isn’t bad, per se, but I’d like to see an acoustic version more in line with the original. 

That aside - the original I May Fall is my favorite RWBY song, bar none. This rendition was always going to be something I liked, and I do appreciate a lot about it. The strings are absolutely beautiful, particularly the cello(? I think, again, I’m not much of a music person, just have a sister that plays violin), and I love the way the violin/viola picks up for the second verse and gives the song a second wind, implying more strength and resolve. I love the music cutting out completely to let Casey sing, with the instruments slowly coming in to join as she gets louder and stronger, as if standing with her - beautiful, it’s all insanely beautiful, and this is one I will probably buy.

Closing Thoughts

This album was... average, to me. Only a couple songs really jumped out at me, while most were good, but not something I was dying to listen to again, or were dragged down by the context.

What’re your thoughts on this volume’s songs? I’d love to hear them! Until then, have a good evening, and stay safe!

#rwby7 #rwby #rwby7 soundtrack #rwby soundtrack