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magicalgirlsirin · 3 months

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the elysian realm: well written, poorly directed

NOTE: this post is an elysian realm critical look by a relative newcomer to hi3, i dont really have the grace of having played it as it came out. i enjoy the elysian realm, but in my opinion, its absolutely a mess with regards to storytelling.

Part 1: so no theme?

When I titled this post, I meant it quite literally. There's plenty of stuff within Elysian Realm that is well written, I'm not here to argue that it isn't (with some small caveats). Most characters are interesting and engaging, and have a wealth of available text to further their depth. The real problem here is that all that detail and work isn't in service of anything. There is no theme to the Elysian Realm, no point of narrative, no common through line. Elysia introduces us to the realm, implies there's a point, that the 'unfinished lives' of these 13 trailblazers is going to go somewhere, and then waffles the plot all the way from the initial game mode through Elysium Everlasting, with a final cinematic which I will get to later for my thoughts on why it doesn't work.

The initial game mode that kicks off the story is just oddly paced. The first chapter is relatively fine, just serving as an introduction to the realm and its mechanics both in and out of universe. One of the first questions I had was just "why does kevin have a weird basement paradise with ai copies of his mostly dead friends and then also a version of himself and hua who are still very much alive" and I'm loathe to report that the realm never bothers answering this question or elaborating on why it exists. At risk of sounding like HoC, it really is a meaningless diversion with pointless people existing redundantly.

The second and third chapters, however, are unforgivably bad. I realized upon reflection they were probably heavy focus on Mobius and Aponia respectively because their suits were debuting at the time (or something to that effect) but it feels like such an agonizing detour to focus on them with seemingly no other motive. Learning about the two furthers my understanding of the Flame Chasers as a unit, I Guess, but doesn't illuminate anything about the realm or even Elysia.

I will get back to Elysia.

Part 2: No really, why is Mei here?

Another major problem with the Elysian Realm is that Mei pretty much ceases to be a character. Even though she's the point of view, she barely expresses any of her own opinions, thoughts, or even basic input outside of rebuffing Elysia's attempts to flirt with her. Sure, she still has some snark and sass to her, especially when interacting with Kevin, but outside of that I can barely remember anything important she does. Which is crazy! I could easily describe any other contribution she's made to various chapter sets/arcs within the game, but the Elysian Realm is absolutely dead air.

This ties into the fact that the realm has no theme, there's not a point, so Mei isn't going on a character journey. You could argue that Elysia is influential to Mei's arc for gifting her the power of origin, but that's not really... character growth. Mei becomes origin because she accepts the blessings* and ideals of the Flame Chasers, but because she didn't learn dick or shit in the actual realm, everything kind of just rings hollow. Mei functionally is meant to be a stand in for you, the viewer, to self insert into the realm and imagine that you're the one interacting with everyone, which is such a disservice to Mei.

*I want to briefly sidebar to curb the misconception that Mei was given the power of origin because she collected all the signets, or that the point of the realm was to find someone to collect them all to have that power passed along to them. Mei getting the power is unrelated to the realm's existence as far as I'm concerned, given that Hua says this:

I trust that Hua is telling the truth here, mostly because she has no reason to lie to us. What this does leave us with is, unsurprisingly, still no answer on the purpose of the realm. Vague handwaving of Kevin saying that Mei has earned the right to "seek answers" only for the narrative to do a weird slight of hand where Aponia goes "now you get to know Elysia's secret because you defeated me kyaaaaa" is not the point. I doubt Kevin allows people into his basement for the possibility of finding out some dead chick from 50,000 years ago that no one outside of WS would actually know by name was secretly a herrscher.

Speaking of which.

Part 3: The Elysia was always a herrscher reveal is dumb

I know this is the most contentious part of the discourse™ when it comes to Elysia, but I cannot understate how stupid it is. I can accept retcons of herrscher order, begrudgingly but yes I will concede if the game wants to commit to it. What I cannot concede to is the game saying that Elysia was born a herrscher.

All the Flame Chasers got MANTIS surgery. This is a fact. Elysia received it as well. Don't you think like, I don't know, literally anyone involved in the procedure would have noticed she has honkai radiation off her like a nuclear bomb? This is such a basic hole in logic and it feels like the game almost wants you to forget that this is a thing, but I didn't, I've spent the past 2 months digging through all the realm game mode text to come to this conclusion.

I also have grift with the fact that she was a previous era herrscher with sapience, since a lot of the tragedy of the previous era is because of the loss of humanity. Kevin was fucking devastated by the HoF emergence, because he hesitated. He saw Murata's face and thought she was still in there. But she wasn't. Kalpas lost Emile to the HoD. Mobius lost Klein, not only to her own over-ambition, but to HoL. Sakura lost Rin to HoC. All of these are essential to their stories, and it's because those herrschers were just mindless tools, godproxy emanators of destruction with no higher order thinking skills. Only a will to subjugate humanity.

Oh but actually Elysia is a sweet and special perfect girl who never did anything wrong, she didn't betray anyone, she was always the bestest girl who loved humanity and was a friend to everyone because she's so lovable and you should love her too ❤️❤️❤️

Yeah no I'm not doing that. I want to make it clear that I actually really like Elysia, and it doesn't take much to fix the parts of her story that have no logic or retcon themselves in the span of a chapter. She's very close to being well written, which makes it all the more frustrating that the narrative continually bends around her to make her have less flaws. Elysia is pushy! She's overbearing, and tends to needle at people whenever she notices something. She forces Mobius to try on clothes she likes but Mobi doesn't, she constantly flirts with Mei and calls their hangouts dates even if Mei doesn't seem interested, she's a little selfish and plays pranks, all of this stuff is very endearing! I just can't deal with the other things the game does to try and make me like Ely more.

Part 4: Even if I try to fix it, the realm is broken

I could sit down and outline ways to fix Elysia's writing, the way the realm's story is structured, and it would be fine and dandy in service of smoothing over the stuff I didn't like about it, but you know what it wouldn't fix?

Mei.

Yeah I think we all just keep forgetting about Mei being in here. The thing is that because the Elysian Realm is such a dead weight in canon, you almost can't make Mei go through character development because it wouldn't flow into Transcending Finality in a comprehensible way, and this post isn't about the problems with the final chapter set of Part 1 (although I do promise I have some complaints about the writing choices in there too).

The realm treating Mei as a self insert, and not really serving her arc either, is seen most obviously in "Because of You", the ending cinematic. One that famously doesn't feature Mei at all in the fighting. The ender for this arc is Elysia, because all things start with Elysia. It's Elysia Impact all the way down, except for the part where it has literally no bearing on the main plot.

And that's the problem, isn't it? The only thing the realm really does is augment our understanding of Kevin, and only barely so if you want to split hairs about how Sim!Kevin isn't our Kevin, given that there's a few stray dialogue moments that actually go against Sim!Kevin and most other characters insistence that Kevin is an immovable rock of a man.

So at the end of it all, what do I even say? I love the realm, obsessed to death with it, all the characters are my favorites, well written, absolutely dogshit in terms of story direction. I find this contradiction to be reflective of Elysia, a character who exists only as a vessel for whatever the writer/story director thought would be cool, instead of making it mean anything.

#dazzling nova #honkai impact 3rd #raiden mei #kevin kaslana #fu hua #sorry to beat a dead horse but consider i casted revive #elysian realm

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mickstart · 6 months

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so as an outsider to uk politics, did Cameron ACTUALLY f.ck the pig?

there was an annecdote from the book of someone who went to university (school?) with him claiming that as a hazing ritual for initiation into an Elite Club, cameron had to put his dick in the mouth of a dead pig. Being an annecdote it's not like there's photo evidence or a video or anything like that, but the tory party's response was NOT, somehow, "of course he didn't do this don't be absurd" but a waffling sort of statement about how everyone does wacky things in their youth. So a vast majority of us have come to the conclusion that yes, he did do it, and somehow there are enough people out there who could prove that he did that he didn't feel safe going on record calling it a lie.

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witchofthesouls · 1 year

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Miko and smokescreen?....do you have any hc at the moment?

Oh, I actually wrote a one-shot about these two on AO3. The username is the same. I used to go by TheMidniteOwl on it but decided to synch my Tumblr and AO3 accounts up.

Okay, so these two dumbasses have so much chaotic energy, that they're bound to gravitate to one another. Like calls to like.

They're both virgins.

Miko comes from a very competitive, stringent society, so she has a lot of pressure to do absolutely excellent and thought Jasper would have been a great place to have a summer romance with a foreigner before hitting the entrance exams back home. Too bad Jasper is ridiculously tiny.

Smokescreen was a raw recruit during the last stages of the siege of Iacon before getting assigned to Alpha Trion that's immensely busy shuttling artifacts into deep space. So no action for him.

Miko is far more forward compared to Smokescreen and far more willing to explore and initiate things.

Between her curiosity and his lack of restraint got the mech a handy after some desert racing and some talk about their homes.

It's not that Smokescreen is shy, he's just very aware of the size differences, has no experience with a partner, let alone an organic one, and has some ingrained cultural practices and taboos as well.

Miko is far more perceptive than people think she is. (She figured out Arcee is something else, hunted down an Insecticon, and utilized the Apex Armor against far more experienced foes.) She can tell when Smokescreen is uncertain or confused (waffling his hands over her clothes), has no idea what to do (playing with her belt), or is deadset against (Do NOT tap the middle of his chestplate).

Plus, Bulkhead will kick his aft straight into a volcano to melt him down and use his reforged corpse to slit Megatron's throat.

If she ever finds out about his valve, she will scream and explore every single nook and cranny of his array just to watch him light up and keen.

Smokescreen will return the favor. He's going to be confused with the lack of biolights and nodes, but he's an enthusiastic sort and wants to figure out Miko.

When Miko found out that Cybertronian dicks are called spikes. She had an absolute field day with that information because her foster family has a dog named Spike.

Of course, she takes the dog to the base.

This girl stares straight into these mechs' optics and introduces her Spike.

The Autobot mechs are dying inside. Smokescreen is straight-up terrified. And Arcee is living it up with double entendres and innuendos. Miko knows exactly what she's doing and does the exact thing.

Smokescreen knows he's in trouble when he starts daydreaming of soft, pretty hands, and spends more time in the shower rack since it's loud enough to drown out his vents and vocalizer.

Since he's Praxian, the others don't side-eye his behavior since Seekerkin tend to be very meticulous with their frames.

Vosians are known for their vanity and Praxians dislike dust and gravel in their seams and joints and cables, especially in their sensory panels.

Nevada is purely sand and dust, so it doesn't strike them as odd or out-of-character.

Because Miko is a menace and an absolute fiend, she finds ways to tease her space-boy.

Deliberating eating strawberry icicles and ice cream pops in front of him.

Giving his frame a car wash as she introduces her 'classmate' to her foster family. She finds out that a holomatter can be very realistic, including sweating.

Her crowning achievement, however unintentional it was, is finding a Hot Wheels toy similar enough to him to repaint and show it to him.

"I guess you're my favorite Hot Wheels, space-boy."

Smokescreen slammed his brakes so hard, he gave her a minor concussion over his stuttering fuel pump and spasming spark, vents hiccuping steam as his AC systems are completely shot.

Definitely, in the top ten awkward moments in his life when he drove her to Jasper Hospital and had to explain why...

It competes with the explanation he needs to give at the base when Mrs. Darby fusses over Miko.

'Hot Wheels' is an extremely provocative expression to ground-frames. It's beyond flirtation and has connotations of sinful debauchery and vice: The absolutely filthy things I shall do to you that will set your very tires on fire.

#ask #transfomers #transformers prime #tfp #smokescreen #miko nakadai #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #valveplug #the menace that is Miko Nakadai #maccadam #my writing #spike the dog #I have no idea what to call this pairing

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fandoms2ask · 8 months

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“Eclipse game”

“Eclipse Games” are like “Hunger Games”, but different. The “games” themselves last a year, starting on june 1 and lasting exactly a year. The games take place every four years. The game is divided into four stages: summer, fall, winter, and spring. In the fall and winter, new participants are added, but fewer and fewer. All the events of the game are broadcasted.

There is a Capitolia, the capital itself, and different districts responsible for different sectors of labor. We have Roma, Nikon and Dave. Roma is from the 8th, district of lumberjacks, Dave from the 10th, district of fishermen and Nikon from the 6th, district of seamstresses.

At the beginning of the game, Dave and Roma are 17 y.o. and Nikon is 18 y.o.

Small fact about Roma:they are talkative. kid is a fucking asshole. shortie talks very much. He kills and pretentiously tell something into the camera. that's his point. He knows where the cameras are and tries to make everything look good for the public, interesting and cinematic. And they are still pretentiously loquacious.

Initially in the game is Nikon and Roma. Roma's weapon is an axe and Nikon's weapon is a knife.

On the first day, Nikon's leg was shot and she lay somewhere in the bushes for several days unable to walk. During this time they killed two people. Then Roma found them and took them to his place, having previously bandaged her knee with tape. Why did Roma take Nikon? From the very beginning, Roma's plan was to get to the top of the rankings in order to win. Therefore, he needed two people to do this. One of them was nikon. They "made a deal" about the community. Roma gets food and builds a place to live, Nikon just does something useful.

The summer was calm and without any interesting events.

Also, there are Kate, Neil and Penny in the cast of characters. Kate is like the face of the revolution and she is for everything good, against everything bad. She and Roma have a nemesis. But the fandom thinks otherwise and ship them (kismesis). It's fun. Neil and Penny are Kate's love interests and they fight about it.

Also, at higher rankings, the player can ask sponsors for different things. So, at the end of the summer, Nikon asked for a phone. And now they know everything that's going on in the map and in the fandom, too.

Also, at the end of the summer, Roma ran around the map naked one night and killed several people. It's ridiculous.

Autumn begins calmly.

At the beginning of autumn, Roma asked his sponsors for a walnut artek(waffles), but it didn't taste right, And he cried.

Nikon makes traps and different stuff with his big dick brain. A week or two before Halloween, Dave falls into the bunny trap. Now he's second in Roma's plan.

Dave appeared in the game during the second, fall phase, respectively.

His knees were broken by Roma almost right after they get him out of the trap. Now he can't walk, sucker

Dave also became a target for bullying from Nikon, because who would do anything to her? She is also quite famous because she makes jokes. Most of them are cruel.

The fall was also calm and quiet.

Winter. There are fewer people, it's cold, people are dying like flies even more. Because Roma are killing them. Roma have been killing a lot. they have been first in the ranking for a long time, almost from the very beginning.

One small group asked sponsors for a large mattress. Roma learned about it from Nikon. So he stole it and spent a lot of time trying to drag it home in the snow. On the hill. And it always fall away.

A Lake.

In winter, there was an event for the top 10, but Nikon (3rd place) was replaced by 11 because she walks badly. So, a field. At the end there is a box with a lot of necessary things. Whoever is first gets these things. But it was not a field, it was a lake and it was all bullshit. But Roma won and now they had that box.

In the winter before the new year, Dave got sick (not caused by Nikon, for sure /sarc). They healed him, but it was difficult.

And then, because of a joke by Nikon, his legs were cut off. Like, he can't use then anyway. He suffered from phantom pain for a long time.

For now Dave is light enough, so sometimes Roma takes him out to pick up stuff.

End of winter. Spring. The last three months.

More murders happen. Dave does something useful too, like fishing. Nikon keeps mocking him because he's a wimp (and he really is).

He has Stockholm syndrome towards the Roma.

The end of spring. The end of “Eclipse games” and the most interesting. The end of everything, but there are several.

Ending 1:Roma kills everyone, Dave and Nikon are left. Roma kills Dave right away and then starts to fuck him up he starts to talk a lot. And after that he calmly kills Nikon. Now Roma has money, fame and all this shit. And he bought Artek Company.

Ending 2:Everything is the same, but when Roma is going to kill Nikon, she kills them herself. Now Nikon won.

Ending 3:Everything is the same as in the first one, but Roma dies with Nikon. Now their souls are bound forever and they will never find piss peace

Ending 4:Everything is the same as in the second one, but Roma reacts in time and he and Nikon die together. The same as in the Ending 3, but Roma is also angry because of the betrayal.

Ending 5:Same as in the first one, but Roma fucks Dave too much was a loquacious shit too much and too long, so time runs out. Roma and Nikon are winners.

#mod nikon #dave #roma #nikon #eclipse game au

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abyssal-ali · 1 year

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Marinette "Valkyrie" Wayne

Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 ao3 link (completed) Valkyrie’s suit

Pairing: Marijon

Rating: G

WC: 1.3k

Jason was strictly confined to the couch the next day. Just when he was getting bored with spamming various family members with memes and Bat conspiracy articles/headlines, Marinette entered the living room with the book he was reading.

“How’d you know I wanted to read David Copperfield ?”

“I didn’t? It was on your bed, so I figured you were rereading it.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Mari and Steph were sitting in silence in the den on their phones. Suddenly Mari straightened. “Jon is going to be here in a second.”

“How do you know?”

“Uh, he called.”

“I didn't hear that.” Steph munched on a waffle suspiciously.

“It was earlier.”

“Oh, have fun.”

“Thanks.”

Her phone buzzed with a text.

Bruce: Can you come to my office, please?Mari: omw

She knocked and peered in. "Yes?”

“Come in. Your papers were delivered today. You are now officially a Wayne, Marinette. Do you want to keep Dupain-Cheng, or switch to Wayne? I’m not offended if you keep it. Dick kept his and the others added hyphens. I suppose you could, too, but Dupain-Cheng-Wayne is a bit of a mouthful.”

“I’ll keep MDC as my initials. I’ll be introduced as Marinette Wayne to new people, and to previous acquaintances, I’ll continue as Dupain-Cheng.”

“Alright. Welcome to the Wayne family, officially, Marinette.”

She gave Bruce a small smile. “Thank you.”

“When do you want your welcoming party to be?”

“You can’t escape; it’s tradition,” Dick walked in. “Congratulations!”

She hugged him happily. “Thanks!”

Mari turned back to Bruce. “How long does it take to plan?”

“Not long; we’ve got all the necessary contacts. But I am going to Paris in two weeks to see if I can track down Ladybug and visit Adrien.”

“Can we do it there? We can use Chloe’s father’s ballroom. Then I can see Adrien and my old friends can see I’m not lying.”

“Of course. The others can patrol Gotham and zeta over for the gala. They’ll have to fly with us though, to establish a presence first, then zeta back…that will work. Alright. I’m flying on the 19th.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Dad,” she added, smiling.

Bruce gave her a small smile back. “You’re welcome.”

Red Robin found Valkyrie that night discussing psychology with Harley Quinn. He rolled his eyes at Catwoman, who shrugged helplessly. What can you do?Eventually, they gave up and simply dragged their respective partners away.

Tim came up behind Mari, who was half awake, the next morning. “So we’re off to France, I see.”

She grunted in reply and a knife appeared out of nowhere in her hand.

He blinked, and it was gone. He blinked again and decided it was too early for no-coffee-induced hallucinations.

He poured a gigantic mug of coffee and lifted it to his mouth in unconscious unison with Mari. They chugged their mugs while the others eyed them in horror.

~~~~~

It was Christmas break, so Jon flew over to Paris with the Waynes, and Marinette showed him the sights, avoiding Bruce in his hunt for Ladybug, until Jon’s break was over and he had to return for school.

Chloe had flown over earlier to visit her father, having already graduated.

The Waynes stayed at the Grand Paris, Mari with Chloe, and the others in their own rooms.

On the first day back at school (for the others), Marinette slipped in early to visit her ex-classmates. They were scattered into various classes, so she met them on their way to class. They were all surprised to see her back.

"I came to prove my innocence. Tomorrow night I’m having a party at the Grand Paris, in the ballroom. Y’all can come or not, I really don’t care. But if you do, I promise a show.”

“Y’all?” asked Alya*.

“I picked it up from my boyfriend; he has country roots. You’ll meet him tomorrow if you come. Au revoir!” With a wave, she slipped past them and headed out to the car where the others were waiting for her.

(*we're pretending they're speaking English, not French, here because I like the idea of Mari picking up Midwest slang from Jon and the Kents.)

The next night, her classmates showed up to the ballroom, dressed in their best, which was still less than the others'.

Several JL members were there as civilians– Diana Prince, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jon Kent, Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance with Roy and Lian Harper, Rachel Roth, and all the Waynes, of course.Adrien and Chloe were there, Clara, Jagged, Penny, Luka and Juleka too.

Alya almost screamed when she saw the Kents, and Lila began talking about how she was dating Damian Wayne.

Rachel came up, dressed in a black and aubergine MDC dress. “Hi, I’m Rachel, Damian’s girlfriend. Who are you?”

“Lila Rossi. Since when was Damian dating anyone?”

“We’ve been dating for over a year but kept it quiet. Do you know him? Damian!” Rachel called him over with a false niceness.

“Oh, no, I was telling my friends about a different Damian Wayne. It’s a quite common name, actually!” Lila laughed nervously.

Marinette entered with her hair in a lovely updo, dressed in a red MDC, and flawlessly made up. She immediately headed for the Kents and hugged Jon, then moved on to the Waynes – specifically Damian and Rachel. (Of course, they weren’t plotting anything, Mari, don’t be silly.)

Chloe and Adrien joined a minute later, quite comfortable with the billionaires.

After a while, Jon and Mari broke away to mingle and approached the class. “Hey, you came. Guys, this is my boyfriend, Jon Kent. Jon, my old classmates…”

After introductions, Alya turned to Marinette. “How are you dating Jon Kent?! How did you meet in France?!”

“Oh, you didn’t know?”

Marinette feigned shock when Jason came up behind the others.

“Mari here was fostered in the States. She met Jon there – he’s her brother’s best friend. That’s what the party’s for, to celebrate her adoption.”

“You got adopted? Who was that stupid?” asked Lila.

Bruce came over, putting a hand on Mari’s shoulder and smiling politely. “Did someone say something about me?”

“No, sir. I was just talking about Marinette's adoptive parents. Why would they adopt her? She’s a bully, liar, coward, and runaway; they obviously made a big mistake.” She would have continued, but Bruce interrupted.

“I don’t make big mistakes, Miss Rossi. In my business, I literally can’t afford to – thousands of people’s livelihoods are on the line. And I would appreciate it if you would refrain from demeaning and slandering my daughter and our family.”

He spoke politely yet chillingly, sending shivers down the backs of those around him as they realized just how badly Lila had messed up.

“Y-you adopted Marinette?!”

“Yes, I did. I found it quite disturbing how no one in France wanted Mari because of the slander against her name. I hate it when someone lies about my family. Filing lawsuits is a hassle for everyone,” he not-so-subtly warned.

“Hey, Marinette! Come talk with Dinah here about psychology,” interrupted Oliver.

“Mr. Queen, I’m studying to get my doctorate in psychiatry. Though we both help with mental health, there is a difference.”

“Apologies, Miss Wayne.”

“Marinette is fine. I’ll come to entertain Di, though, she may have some advice.”

“It’s amazing how much you can grow as a person when you're removed from a toxic environment,” Jason said cuttingly, following her to the Queens to talk to Roy and Lian.

The class watched as everyone complimented Marinette and the Waynes on their clothing, and she blushed and thanked them. Diana even commissioned her.

Marinette was a celebrity, too? How had they pegged her so wrong?

Alya died a little inside when Lois Lane complimented Marinette on Effortless Style’s writing.

#ali writes #Fic #Marijon week 2023 #marijon #M“V”W #Dcxmlb #Mlbxdc

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qwuilty · 1 year

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I wanna hear more about what u think happened to dude between p2 and p4!!!

And I wanna be annoying and ask how he reacted to him realizing he’s aging 💀 (finding his gray hairs and whatnot)

I think that initial post-paradise lost drive out was kind of awkward for him, mainly getting used to the absence of his wife around. She had "divorced" him in Apocalypse Weekend, but it doesn't seem like he had gotten far before getting sent into a coma.

He probably doesn't sleep in the bed for a while even though it's empty, he's gotten used to sleeping on the couch and still goes out there when he's unable to go to bed. Sure, he hated her, good riddance, but getting used to the sudden absence of a person, even one you hate, can be a weird adjustment. Probably starts enjoying being in that trailer more, makes a real home for himself. It's a disgusting mess, but now it's just HIS disgusting mess.

I think the gap is when he starts to get really close to Champ, before due to how fried out he was he was kind of a dick to him even though he loved the dog, but without the big stressors he could learn to appreciate him. And all his new, fire breathing tendencies. He starts to mellow out a little himself, he's still short tempered and a little bitter, but he's fizzled out with age and learned to laugh at least.

Maybe a bit of a cop-out but i think he was already greying in Postal 2 due to stress, but he hid it under his hair since it was more just bits of white hiding inside his hair. He probably saw it while brushing it back and groaned, he already looked and felt like shit, so getting grey already was just another thing on top of the shit pile.

Maybe between 2 and 4 he tries dying his hair a little, claim back his 'bachelor' years, he definitely sleeps around more, discovers some things about himself (cough cough bisexual), drives around in the trailer and checks out shit just for the hell of it. A random town on the road. Some shitty little tourist trap. A waffle house or two. The landmark the shitty map he has tells him "is a great view on your way around Arizona", just cause he CAN.

By 4 he's essentially speedran a mid-life crisis, he's on his roadtrip with Champ and gotten more used to being a single man out there. Sure parts of it suck, mainly his trailer being old and run down and still having to take up odd jobs, but now he's at least used to it. He's not entirely feeling like The Shit or whatever, but he's learned to like himself more with some help. He picks out clothes mostly for the comfort now, lets his natural greying hair out, being 'divorced' (via explosion) has made him be able to cope better with life.

I'm not suuuper sure what goes with P3, especially cause i don't wanna be like an armchair psychologist for disorders that aren't mine SDHFSJDFH But i like to think after Paradise Lost he went back into Dude's subconcious and calmed down too, enjoying a bit of a relaxation period, but he's still up there. He mainly manifests as visual hallucinations or a voice in his head, if this makes sense, kind of like Hobbes does?

He doesn't purposefully sabotage or fuck with Dude (as much), he's just a bit mischievous and joking. If he noticed his grey hairs after showing up in his head, he'd probably make a snarky comment about it at first, something akin to "Wow, getting grey already, old man? Try not to blow your back out pushing them back!" cause yknow, they have a pretty bicker-ing teasing relationship in-game. By 4 i think he'd more turn to appreciative teasing, like "Try not to woo em too hard, Silver Fox, save some of the rest of us."

It may not make a lot of sense but i also like to imagine P3 ages as well, being tied to P2/P4 dude so he even gets his own grey hairs, but not as many. He may be in his old Postal 3 clothes, but if he also updates his wardrobe i like to imagine him kind of adopting like the "cool uncle" look.

Or having one of those stupidly specific shirts they advertise on Facebook, yknow the kind like "DON'T FUCK WITH A SAGITTARIUS BORN IN DECEMBER WHO LOVES WATCHING DAYTIME TV AND OWNS A SHOTGUN"

#This was a lot longer than i thought it was gonna be. but fuck it #its not super concrete but i think this follows a good general idea i have for his gap period there

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crimsun-n-clover · 1 year

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last night my guitarist and i went to waffle house after our miserable practice. we put a five in the jukebox and basically held it hostage for more than an hour. i guess heart of glass by blondie is our song now. the employees have gotten attached to us and our server straight up asked me for a ride home. i love waffle house so goddamn much.

we had our gigs today. the punk band sounded kinda shitty but that’s alright. it’s all on the new guitarist, but he’s a decent kid. i met his dad today and suddenly i’m feeling protective over the bastard now that i know what his parent is like. he wrote a riffs for an original song that we played, and i put lyrics about identity to it.

apparently our drummer lied to us and is actually on vacation. man i fucking trusted her. she said she had a family emergency and we did everything to cover for her, and i even had to play fucking drums on one of the songs because our fill in drummer didn’t know how to play it and i did. i sang while playing drums and let me just say, never again. jesus. christ. it definitely sounded like shit and i have blisters.

at least the band has a bunch of followers on insta purely because of the outrageous name.

OH AND the hot bassist from the prog rock band we share the stage with is interested in joining our metal band. fucking SCORE. she’s so insanely talented and i actually met her on tumblr before i met her in person and she started talking and i was like waiiit a minute. are you?? that one person i know on tumblr???? and she was so shocked but she WAS. fucking wild. now i can sing without playing bass for that band, because i can’t stand still in front of a mic while singing metal shit. it’s fucking impossible. “stevie you gotta eat the mic” FUCK OFF im jamming around and don’t have a hand free to keep the mic directly by my mouth.

i guess we gotta initiate her. which means watching rocky horror together, going to waffle house, and putting a dollar in the jukebox to play heart of glass.

my favorite kiddo showed up at the show. she isn’t even in the band anymore and she still wanted to see it. she’s welcome to come back whenever, she’s the randy to my ozzy. scrawny little blonde guitar god who writes solos that don’t make much musical sense but sound AMAZING and i’m very attached to her. you know that shit ozzy said about “either he’s the best fucking thing i’ve ever heard in my life or these drugs are really good”?? yeah.

i found out that she got a LEAD ROLE in a musical, talented little brat. she also gave me a birthday gift which i TOLD HER not to, but it’s candy, little squishy toy dinosaurs (which are getting their own shelf in the trailer but i’m not telling her. her ego is big enough), and a note that she wouldn’t let me read. i did the same shit with her gift so i don’t blame her. after the gig, i read it in the parking lot and fucking cried. i love her so goddamn much. she wrote about how she’s so glad i stayed with her even though she left the band, how we have been through some crazy shit but she didn’t mind because we were together, and how we have a bunch of adventures and mini cupcakes in our future. when i picked her up last time, we bought a dozen cupcakes from target and fucking devoured them in the parking lot. she ended it with “i love you man. from your little brat, ____” and when i tell you i had to turn off my dio cd?? to catch my fucking breath?????

god.

my catholic grandparents came to see it which i wasn’t very happy about. i intended to pull a bunch of stunts to piss off the guy who manages the school / studio we practice in, but my nervous ass completely skipped over it all trying to rush to get the set done. i only got in like two jabs when i’ve composed original music about how much of a dick he is. disappointing. i had SO MUCH blackmail AND mocking material.

i’m gonna put our shit on instagram. goodnight tumblr.

#stop #asking #me #to #tag #this

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asp1990 · 2 years

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Day 14: Wednesday July 6th, 2022 [REYKJAVIK]

Breakfast: Toast and a coffee Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad Dinner: Lamb rump with sauteed cauliflower and roast carrots

Steps: 11,788 (at least 2000 of these were me on a scooter going over bumps haha)

We were up and out the door at 9am this morning. We got to the University in time for coffee and morning tea before going to our first, and only, workshop for the day. Zac and I signed up for a workshop run by a university tutor from Ontario and Amara and Tim were going to one about dramatic play, but the presented didn’t show up, so they came in to join us. The presenter, Claire Holland, was a great speaker and very engaging. We went through the start of a Process Drama based on the storybook The Island by Armin Greder. Everyone was very focussed, even a support person who was in assisting a woman in a wheelchair. He was adorable.

Things I learned from Claire about how she teaches pre-service teachers: ⁃ If you come from a place of privilege, you have to cater to those in your class - don’t teach what you know. What will they see themselves being represented in so that they invest? ⁃ Design your course around interests/areas of expertise among your students ⁃ Leave a week free to follow up with what students want when planning lessons ⁃ Students run warm ups as a gradual release of responsibility and helps them to have agency in the classroom ⁃ Students need descriptive and actionable feedback from teachers and students. Co-construct the criteria and what this can look like. ⁃ Do the task yourself to see what you want the students to know and design lesson around that. This will help you design assessments and rubrics that will allow the students to find more success

Our session finished at 11:45am and we went down to lunch. There were 3 salads to choose from - I chose Caesar. After that, Zac, Andrew, Tim, Amara and I scooted down to the Icelandic Phallic Museum (I’ve been mentioning this to anyone who would listen - been excited all trip!). It was heaps of fun and way fancier than I was expecting. The gift shop was excellent and we saw over 280 different penises.

Things I learned at the Icelandic Phallic Museum: ⁃ seals have the most impressive penis bones on the planet ⁃ Kangaroo penises are surprisingly small ⁃ Jimi Hendrix had a cast of his penis made and submitted to the museum ⁃ Sperm whale penis is almost as tall as Amara ⁃ There was a room of fantasy creature penises who all had their own story. My favourite was “The Hidden Man” who’s jar was empty. Very funny.

We sat in the cafe afterwards and enjoyed a Moby Dick ‘Pale Whale’ and Zac and Amara shared some dick waffles. Zac and Amara then went home to nap while Andrew, Tim and I scooted back to the uni for the afternoon SIG (special interest groups) to discuss what secondary drama looked like around the world. We’d skipped the first session so had to play catch up on what they’d been discussing with the two Finnish women who were leading it. We played some warm up games (warm indeed - everyone was sweating at the end and we had to open the door. There were no ceiling fans because it never gets that hot here!)

After that we discussed the main skills that we inadvertently teach in our classrooms and how. Our group discussed collaboration, communication, problem solving, empathy and leadership. The initial instructions were a bit confusing, but we still had a juicy conversation. We then had a whole group discussion about what we found most important and the leaders got a bit frustrated when Andrew, Jane, Tim and I were passionate and side-tracked the conversation.

The session finished at 4pm, so we scooted back to the apartment and relaxed at home until dinner at 8pm. Amara and I did a load of washing in the basement laundry room and had to use Translate to make sure we didn’t ruin our clothes.

We walked to Apotek restaurant at 7:45pm. Zac had made a booking for 8 of us to eat at a traditional Icelandic restaurant - Tim was going to try Puffin! Andrew and I had the rack of lamb, Zac had chicken, Danni had a prawn salad and Amara, Tim & Jane had a platters with puffin, minky whale, lamb and artic char. They said it was delicious, but I’m happy to live my life not eating puffin. The lamb was divine - it came with a lovely green sauce, sautéed cauliflower and a green sauce. We also shared some truffle fries, hummus and some wine.

Post dinner, we headed back to our apartment for more drinks and chats. We were getting a bit rowdy and at 10:30pm the neighbours lingered outside our window and asked us to tone it down.

Tomorrow is the last full day of conference - we’re meant to start at 8am, but we’ll see how we go :)

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incorrectbatfam · 3 years

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Stepmom!Selina?

She sees what she's getting into from a mile away, but she welcomes it because Bruce's kids are a part of him, and she loves all of Bruce.

The kids all see it coming too, and while some (Damian) take longer to warm up to her, she's welcomed into the fold with open arms.

Selina's got a heart as big as her partner and while she's not always perfect, you can see how much she cares.

As a former foster child herself, Selina understands Duke's unique experiences and traumas from the foster care system, so whenever he needs to talk, she's the first one he goes to. Sometimes he doesn't want to (or need to) talk, so they'll watch boxing matches or she'll teach him little bits of Mandarin. If the kitchen isn't busy, they'll try their hand at new TikTok recipes, and film themselves either succeeding or debunking the original poster.

Being raised in isolation to be a human weapon meant Cass missed out on a lot of the things daughters typically learn as children/teens. The evening of Cass's first gala, she didn't know the first thing about doing her own hair and makeup. She's braved assassin armies, but her self-made disaster of bobby pins and eyeshadow nearly drives her to tears. Selina swoops in, wipes Cass's face with gentle reassurances, and walks her through step-by-step.

Selina considers it a privilege to have watched Dick grow from the spunky little Robin to the man he is today. Even though he's taller than her, she still ruffled his hair when he does a good job. She also keeps the first ever birthday card he gave her, which includes a pop-up bat signal and scented stickers, and remembers all of his favorite radio stations. Also, when Bruce does something, Dick goes tattling to Selina.

For a while, Carrie mooched off of her siblings' Netflix profiles, but everyone got tired of her messing up their algorithm and she was forced to make her own. She soon realized how much freedom she had because no one could see what she was watching. Selina caught on to the power trip and started researching and watching snippets whenever a new show comes out. That's how she stopped a bunch of preteen girls from watching Squid Game.

Tim often gets overlooked as not just the middle child, but the child who appears put-together and regularly takes on adult responsibilities. Selina, however, remembers that he's still a teenager. She regularly checks in and gradually teaches him that it's okay to let go and act his age. Selina encourages him to call his Young Justice friends outside of missions and take small acts of rebellion against Bruce. When Tim and his boyfriend snuck out to a famous lover's lookout, Selina gave them the car keys and covered for them.

She noticed that Jason really enjoys hanging out with Harley Quinn, bonding over not just Joker trauma but other shared interests like music taste. After Harley turns to the antihero side, Selina discusses with Bruce and they start inviting Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy to dinner. The first time they do that, Harley is so excited that she baked a three-layer cake just for Jason. Literally, in strawberry frosting, it said, "THIS CAKE IS FOR JASON ONLY." Finding someone that Jason can relate to remains one of Selina's proudest accomplishments.

She's trying her best, but she makes mistakes too. For instance, although Wayne Manor has plenty of kitchen space, Selina does her cooking at Harley and Ivy's because Ivy can offer her fresh plant-based ingredients that suited Damian's needs. When Alfred's not available, she sends Damian to school with healthy, flavorful vegan lunches shaped into Cheese Viking characters. One time, she was tasked with bringing brownies to a PTA meeting. Incidentally, Harley was simultaneously baking a... different kind of brownie for a block party (you can see where this is heading). When an angry superintendent demanded to know who was responsible, Selina wisely kept her mouth shut and thankfully, so did Damian.

Cullen loves concerts, but he's a huge introvert who gets anxiety when he's left alone in a crowd. Selina becomes his concert buddy, and she'll go as all-out as he does. Sometimes that's showing up to a garage band dressed-down in hoodies and sunglasses. Other times it's painting their faces and looking like they just came out of a Hot Topic blowout sale. She even listens to the discography beforehand so she can blend in. Selina learns a lot about Cullen through this, because nothing says more about a person than the music they listen to.

Harper, though looking rough around the edges, turns into a giddy little kid at interactive science museums. During one of these trips, Harper got distracted by the giant Newton's Cradle so she didn't notice a fourth grade field trip sweeping up Selina. When they reunited at the gift shop, a chaperone had given Selina a school t-shirt and she was put in charge of grading ten kids' assignments. Harper laughed so hard that she spewed lemonade on the museum owner. Neither of them will let the other live that day down.

Selina and Barbara openly talk about guy stuff, and Selina is more than happy to offer advice in times of need. They're both pretty liberal talking about that stuff, and one time they did a tier ranking of all the Gotham Rogues based on how effective their gimmick is (Joker was the only S-tier). They then proceeded to get into a debate on whether or not Man-Bat and Killer Croc should qualify for the list, which led to them staring each other down at dinner while the other family members sat around them confused.

Steph's school offered a Mother's Day breakfast. Although Crystal Brown was doing her best and wanted to make it, she was scheduled a double-shift that the breakfast fell right in the middle of. Selina reached out to Crystal and with permission, went in her place. Afraid that Steph would publicly reject her, Selina sat in the parking lot for ten minutes as Bruce amped her up over the phone. Steph, thinking that no one would no up, was ecstatic and said that she couldn't have thought of anyone better. They enjoyed stacking up waffles and making the girls who bully Steph envious.

Long before she and Bruce got married, Selina made it clear that she would not be relegated to the gender-typical role of a homemaker, and Bruce happily concurred because it's 2021. They knew that to give Alfred a break, they'd have to take on some chores themselves. Instead of dividing up a boring old chore chart, they find ways to make cleaning fun and collaborative. They'll dance around the halls in mop slippers, play "guess the stain", and race their roombas. The kids see this and start modeling the behavior in their own ways—Dick swings from high places to dust them, Damian trains his pets to pick up garbage, and Cass and Duke compete to see who can clean the most bathtubs.

Some parts of the Manor are due for redecorating, so Selina and Alfred make a day trip out of interior design sketches, flipping through furniture catalogues, and looking at paint swatches. It sounds boring at first, but the menial tasks meant they had plenty of time for conversation, and she finally understood why everyone respects him. They also made room in the afternoon for a stroll through the park and afternoon tea, where he told her and her only the secret to a perfect scone.

The other Justice League partners welcome her into the group too. Whenever Selina's in Metropolis, she joins Lois and Ma and Pa for Sunday brunch where they share what their kids have been up to. Iris shows her life hacks to cooking large batches of food in a short time. Selina and Dinah discover an online store dedicated to selling vigilante gear and go on a Cyber Monday spree for their whole families. Steve Trevor, Diana's partner, teaches Selina how to fly with the invisible jet so she can surprise Bruce with the batplane.

After overcoming their initial conflicts, Selina and Talia hold a high amount of respect for each other. Talia sees Selina as not just a capable combatant, but a worthy partner to her former beloved and stepmother to her son. Selina, after spending all that time with the kids, understands the motherly love that Talia holds for Damian and makes it abundantly clear that she would never try to replace Talia in the boy's life. Regardless, looking after all those kids is hard, so they are very much open to the idea of co-parenting.

(Selina doesn't know it, but all this makes Bruce fall in love with her all over again.)

#ask #anonymous #selina kyle #catwoman #gotham city sirens #gotham rogues #batfamily #batfam #batkids #batsibings #batclan #batman family #dc comics #headcanon #tw food mention #tw mental health mention #tw drug mention

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anna-no-emma · 3 years

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What do various members of the batfam smell like?

Bruce: very expensive cologne that he uses to cover up the faint smell of leather that never really disappears.

Dick: Axe body spray and bubblegum. He started using Axe when all the other boys at school did and he just never got around to stopping.

Jason: Cigarettes. When he stops smoking he smells like cheap shampoo and the same laundry detergent that Alfred uses at the manor.

Tim: fresh coffee and cinnamon body butter. He initially borrowed the cinnamon body butter a few times from Steph while they were dating, and just kind of kept using it. Steph said the smell reminded her of waffles. To Tim, it just smells like Steph.

Damian: Overpriced toiletries that don’t quite cover up that faint sweaty smell all young teenage boys seem to have.

Alfred: Earl Grey tea and freshly baked cookies. He smells like home.

#batfam #batfamily #batboys #bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #damian wayne #damian al ghul #robin #alfred pennyworth

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sunjaesol · 3 years

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my sweet romantic teenage nights

juke | high school + diner au | title: scenes from an italian restaurant // billy joel

Magenta’s Palace was an artefact from the glorious American Dream; a fluorescent gem wrapped in that 60s architecture and old-fashioned uniforms. It was also the hang-out spot of most LF Arts students, right in the heart of Los Feliz and on most kids’ path.

Luke used to roll his eyes at the place, thinking it was corny and certainly not the place a punk-rocker like him would go… until he tasted their gnarly waffles. And burgers. And milkshakes. His love for good food trumped his desire for street cred and ended up like the rest of his peers: a regular at MP.

Alex and Reggie never had qualms with it. The former was rather happy Luke got over himself and Reggie was simply pleased to spend more time with his friends. It became tradition to eat there every Friday after school. Sometimes they stayed until the early hours of the night talking, sometimes it was to fuel up before a gig.

Settling in their booth (theirs - Luke has made sure to carve the underside of the table with their names), Luke sighed contently. “Boys, this gig is gonna be fire.”

“I still don’t know how you convinced the guys at Raven’s Nest,” Alex mused, glancing around for a waitress in a candycane-coloured uniform.

Reggie nodded gravely. “Yeah, they’re scary.”

“Used my charm,” he smirked. “Dialled it up like I always do.”

The blonde snorted. “Sure.”

Luke’s face crashed. “Fine. I used our fake’s when he didn’t believe we were eighteen.”

His friends grinned, Alex snapping his fingers. “There it is.”

The chipper Nora glided towards them, slaloming between tables with her notebook. Alex’ remark didn’t bother him, crossing his arms with a shrug. “Does it matter? I got us in. They’re gonna love us. Nay! They’re gonna eat this set up!”

“You better be right - hi, Nora - cause it’s a bar for bikers. Real ass bikers,” Alex replied, shooting Nora a smile.

“Hello, boys,” she greeted, her signature red hair tied in a messy bun. Reg used to have a crush on her when they first visited, until they realised she was twenty-three and in a committed relationship with a guy from USC studying medicine. Yeah, he had no shot. Luke had to console him by buying five chocolate shakes and blasting Elvis Presley in the car.

Despite this, Reggie still had a soft spot for her, smiling kindly at the waitress. “Our usual, please.”

The notebook got tucked in her apron with a bright nod. “Coming right up!”

As Nora swiftly returned behind the glossy bartop, parlaying the order to the kitchen, the entrance opened. The bell above chimed, three girls appearing beneath it.

Oh, shit.

When Luke enrolled into LF Arts as a green fourteen year old, he had planned to only focus on music and nothing else. He’d blaze through his classes and become the best in music and then, with his obsessive nature at a peak, would launch the band into the next stratosphere. That was the plan. Music, music, music. (And food from Magenta’s.)

Fourteen year old Luke wasn’t aware girls like Julie Molina existed though. That changed on the first day. She came to the front of the class, blew everyone away with a Taylor Swift cover and shot a toothy smile when she finished - like it was nothing. Like she didn’t have the voice of the century. (Like she wouldn’t mess with Luke’s plans of becoming the best, damn it!) Though his initial reaction was envy, he quickly realised it was rather a disgruntled crush than actual dismay.

She was cute. Still cute. After every summer break, he expected her to be less pretty so that his nerves could calm down for once. Nope. Julie Molina was pretty as hell.

He has never seen her here on Friday’s. Why now? Why now when they were mentally preparing themselves for a gig that could get them their asses kicked if they didn’t perform well? Luke needed to focus! Not think about where she’d sit and what she’d talk about and what she was going to eat.

His eyes tracked as Julie, Flynn and Kayla were in busy conversation, barely aware of their surroundings. Her head rolled back in a laugh at something Flynn said, eyes shut in glee. Luke flushed red, averting his gaze to the scratched up table. His friends were snickering, Alex muttering a ‘Jesus…’ under his breath.

Luke snapped his arm. “Stop being a dick.”

“Why don’t you just ask her out?”, Reggie pondered, absentmindedly making origami with the thin napkins.

“I think he needs to talk to her first to do that,” Alex teased before Luke could respond, earning another glare.

It wasn’t like he and Julie never spoke. They were seniors, they had multiple classes together and spent many hours cooped in the same music classroom. He was even part of her group project in junior year! They’ve talked! But it never lead to anything, his lingering stares falling for her oblivious profile, her never once looking back at him.

The connection Luke always craved hasn’t been there, though he always felt like they could have that. Musical spirits were alike, right? At least his crush wasn’t as hopeless as Reggie’s on Nora.

The girls chose a booth right next to theirs, Julie in his direct line of sight. Alex was buzzing in his seat from stifled laughter, visibly trying to not turn his head and address them. The guitarist felt like dying, not even the steaming plates of burgers set in front of them enough to lift his mood.

Luke leaned forward, voice a hiss. “I can talk to her. I just… haven’t felt the need to.”

Reggie patted his shoulder sympathetically. “It’s okay, buddy. You don’t have to lie to us.”

Frustration began simmering his skin, the scowl deepening. He wasn’t lying! Maybe a little! He’s been waiting for the right time to approach her, say and do the right thing to sweep her off her feet like the fucking rockstar he was. Had he been preparing his lines since he was fourteen? Also maybe. They were being revised.

Alex often told him he shouldn’t put Julie on a pedestal. That she was just a girl. It made him wonder if he was the only one that first day of high school that felt it. That awestruck whooping in his chest from seeing her curls dance around her almond eyes and hear how each lyric was laced with a passionate smile. Even at fourteen was he aware of how special that was. Julie wasn’t just a girl. She was the coolest girl he’s ever met and he didn’t even know her that well. He couldn’t imagine actually becoming friends with her, uncovering all facets of her personality and not get overwhelmed by her Julie-ness.

Huh. His crush went deeper than he thought. Yikes.

At the end of the day, Luke could admit that he was simply a teenage boy nervous to talk to a girl. ‘Nervous’ was like a curse word to him though, that admission a secret he’d take with him to the grave.

“Eh,” Alex quipped, egging him on. “Luke’s a terrible liar. He doesn’t have to tell us for us to know it’s true.”

His hands slammed down on the table, words spouting from his lips. “Girls! Can we get your napkin dispenser?!”

Fucking fantastic, Luke.

All three perked up in surprise, Flynn twisting in her booth to curl her nose and tilt her head. “Why?”

“It’s empty,” he bluffed.

Kayla craned her neck and instantly caught Reggie’s handiwork scattered across the table. “No, it’s not.”

Julie sat next to her, blinking in confusion. “Why do you need our napkins?”

Her smooth voice directed right at him caused a thrill up his spine, a grin involuntarily tugging on his lips. “Cause Reggie needs them for his crafts.” Playing along, the bassist lifted a janky frog with a wink. “I’m very dedicated.”

She matched Luke’s smile, amused. It was the most interaction he has had with her in months, the utter euphoria of it all bursting at the seams. Propelled by her smile, he slid out the booth and into Alex’ side, throwing his arms over the seat right next to Flynn’s head. The girl remained deeply unimpressed by him, gaze flicking past his physique. Damn. If he ever wanted to get anywhere with Julie, he had to get in Flynn’s good grazes. Kayla seemed chill though.

“What’s with the frown, Felicity?”, he joked.

Kayla giggled at the mention of Flynn’s actual name, the girl in question rolling her eyes. “All I’m wondering is why you have to bother us about napkins, Lukas.”

“Flynn,” Julie shook her head with an exasperated grin, “maybe wait for your strawberry shake? I think you’re being hangry.”

Her friend loosened up, sinking back in her seat with a playful pout and mumbling a resigned ‘fine.’

Luke took that as his sign to continue. His gaze fell back on Julie, hoping he wouldn’t sound too eager. “You guys come here a lot? I haven’t seen you here on Friday’s.”

“Who’re you asking?”, Julie asked, looking between her and Kayla. Oh, man. Small talk really wasn’t his forte. He couldn’t charm himself out of this one with music jargon or fake IDs.

His smile turned stressed, flailing his hand around. “Uh, all of you.”

“Sure,” Flynn snorted.

Alex slapped a hand on his mouth at her retort, almost in pain of not laughing his ass off. The prize of ‘Worst Friends Ever’ went to Luke’s - for fuck’s sake, couldn’t the drummer at least try and help him out?!

“Just wanted to celebrate Kayla’s good mark on her new song,” Julie continued, wilfully ignoring the other’s behaviour. Slinging an arm around her friend, she shot her a bright smile. “Her bridge was amazing, right?”

All three boys nodded fervently as Kayla ducked her head bashfully, murmuring a ‘thank you’ and then relieved from all the attention when Nora walked up to them. Luke’s body didn’t twist to sit normally again, too invested in finally speaking to them, finally having that contact, that he didn’t even care if he seemed like a weirdo. Julie and him! Conversing!

“Speaking of music,” he casually uttered when Nora was off again. His signature smirk crawled on his lips. “We’re playing a gig tonight.”

This peaked Flynn’s interest. Perhaps the prospect of food made her more amicable. “Where?”

“Raven’s Nest,” Reggie proudly proclaimed.

Kayla frowned, worried. “Isn’t that the bar with all the bikes outside?”

“Thank you!”, Alex exclaimed with a sigh. “It’s insane!”

“It’s not,” Luke bit back. If Sunset Curve wanted to make it big, they had to play big! Gigs like these would get them on the stages they dreamed of. Soon, it was goodbye, Raven’s Nest and hello, The Orpheum! “Real Californians go there to hear real fucking music.”

To his surprise, Julie hummed in agreement. “My dad says it used to be where the subculture kids hung out before MP got cool.”

“Yes!” His grin was huge now, overflowing with joy. This was enough adrenaline to get him through three gigs at once! His finger pressed into the cracked leather. “Exactly! And we’re gonna slay it. You should come watch!”

The latter blurted out without wanting to, his eyes growing wide in panic as Reggie and Alex stilled in their seats and Flynn peered up at him with laser-focus. Shit. Was he telling on himself? Did she pierce through the charisma that this was just a poor attempt at flirting? God, he really should’ve prepared his speech for impulsive moments like these.

Luke still needed to endure some growing pains before he got good at flirting.

Julie chuckled, a hint of red appearing on her cheekbones. It enthralled him. Was she embarrassed or flattered? “Uh,” she bit her lip, “I don’t know if I can get in. Don’t you have to be eighteen?”

He raised his brow. “C’mon, you don’t have a fake?” At those words, Alex dropped his head on the table with a thud. Luke had enough of his own shit too. ‘Mortified’ didn’t even come close to how he felt about his blabbering mouth.

Levelling his challenged look, however, he realised he wasn’t lost quite yet. Julie’s eyes glittered with mischief. “I do, actually.”

Breath caught in his throat. Yup. Coolest fucking girl in the universe. Julie Molina had a killer voice and a fake ID and probably did a whole lot of other dope stuff he hadn’t found out yet.

“Julie,” Flynn but in. “It’s a biker bar.”

“Where our classmates are playing,” she argued. “I can always try.”

“You’ll die.”

“I think I’ll be fine. Like Luke said-” No. She could not say his name and expect him to keep his cool. His fingers gripped the conjoined couch tighter. “-everyone’s there for the music.”

A careful smile slowly grew on Kayla. “We can tell your dad you’re with us.”

Flynn gaped at her. “We-?! I- okay.” Lifting her hands in surrender, she added: “Fine, we’ll tell Ray you’re at the movies with us.”

Wait, was Julie turning down a movie night with her friends to see him play? Did that mean something? Has he been so focused on trying to find or create a ‘vibe’ that he forgot to actually look for signs of her own? Damn. Now he really couldn’t screw this set up. Sunset Curve was gonna play until their hands bled, hopefully impressing her just a little bit.

It was settled then. After both groups had eaten, Julie separated from hers and joined them on their trek to Raven’s Nest. She was mostly talking to Reggie behind Alex and Luke, animatedly recounting a story about Carlos nearly crashing his drone in her keyboard. Jitters began to tingle his skin, that building excitement right before a gig mixing with Julie’s presence. It felt like one of his dreams materialised out of thin air.

How many times has he dreamt about catching her eye in the crowd as he crooned love songs he never dared to write? Granted, those dreams were centered in a hazier setting, Raven’s Nest quite unromantic opposed to that, but he would take what he got.

(And after, they’d worm their way through the masses of people, meeting halfway, and she’d sling her arms around his neck and he’d pull her into a kiss and it’d be electric. She’d kiss like she sang. It was a recurring dream that left him in a good mood for hours.)

Without much hesitance, the bouncer let Julie in. Luke, unable to keep his giddiness at bay, squeezed her shoulder as a dazzling beam was glued to his cheeks. Julie got in! Julie was going to see him play!

Raven’s Nest was expectedly filled with bearded, burly men. It reeked of beer and strong liquor, raucous chatter spilling from ever corner. They all probably looked like babies in comparison to these dudes, but he supposed his unfaltering confidence made up for it. Luke would get his boys (and Julie) through this. The stage was already prepared for them, amps and mics set up, Alex’ drums waiting in Reggie’s van behind the establishment.

“I’ve seen you play before, you know,” Julie mumbled beside him.

His heart soared without trying, its rate going a mile a minute as his jaw fell slack. All his nerves intensified till a blush crept on his cheeks. “You- you have?”

Her curious eyes flitted from the people to him, sheepish. “Yeah. At Ecliptica. You guys were good.”

A clammy hand raked the ends of his hair. Holy fucking shit. “You sounded like you never heard us before.”

“I didn’t want to seem like a fangirl, or something.” A secretive smile formed on her lips as she leaned into his side. “You know how school is. Everyone trying to be the best, but then act super casual about it?” Her eyes sparked in the yellow lighting, too close for him to think straight. “I didn’t want it to inflate you guys’ egos.”

Luke sputtered out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re doing it right now, Julie.”

“Then you better kill it,” she teased, nodding at Alex and Reggie hauling the drums onstage from the back door. “I think that’s your cue.”

There were two things he thought of right as he ascended the stage.

One, Julie was fat better at this whole back and forth than he was.

Two, he had to direct at least one song to her from their thirty minute set. Just one. Just so that his feelings might come across. Where words ended, music bled from his soul instead.

And so, the band exploded into what they knew best: burning the fucking house down.

So we’re taking the long way home 'Cause I don’t wanna be wasting my time alone I wanna get lost and drive forever with you Talking 'bout nothing, yeah, whatever, baby So we’re taking the long way home tonight We're taking the long way home

The giggly teenagers ended back in the diner after the incredible gig, shouting from the adrenaline and jostling arms to get points across. Even Julie joined in, much to his delight, tucked between him and the wall as she had a heated debate with an excited Reggie - harmonies versus basslines. Lemonades filled in condensed glasses gave them sticky fingers, hers once pushing his chin away when he told a particularly dumb joke and leaving an imprint. Luke was on fucking cloud nine.

Taking the upper hand in the debate, Julie sang a bit of one of their songs (“Let's seize the day, let's run away, don't let the colours fade to grey!”) with all the tricks in the book, silencing Reggie just like that. Alex high fived Julie, the bassist admitting she won this time. Deeply relishing the sound of her singing voice, Luke barely caught what she was saying after.

“This time?”, she laughed. “There’s another time?”

“Why not?” Reggie wiggled his brows, unsubtle as hell when he shot Luke a wink. “Diner Friendship Memories Still To Be Made!”

Alex blinked. “What?”

Her eyes tracked past the boys, the smile turning more timid. It settled on Luke, the boy unable and unwilling to look away. He wanted this night to never end. Clasping her lemonade, she nodded firmly, as if signing Reggie’s silly Friendship Contract.

“Yeah… why not.”

Magenta’s Palace became Luke favourite place in the entire world. Every Friday, Julie joined the boys at their booth, sometimes Kayla and Flynn too. Huddled in those red leather seats with mountains of fries, they shared the first slivers of newfound friendship. Luke has always been very cautious about who he let in his circle (Sunset Curve against The World), but six people in a booth felt cosy rather than suffocating. Like it was always to be like this.

Reggie found an equally enthusiastic jazz lover in Kayla. Alex confided with Flynn that he followed her playlists on Spotify and was obsessed with her DJ skills.

Luke and Julie created their own bubble without trying to.

It was weird. Maybe Alex was right and Luke did put her on a pedestal for so long. Julie was genuinely chill and easy to talk to, probably turned off by him before cause he had been acting like a blubbering idiot. Simply being himself was, surprisingly, more than enough for her. It lit a fire inside of him. Snarky banter about music that challenged him to keep up, overt flirting from him that kept her blushing, sudden ideas about lyrics that threw either for a loop. He wouldn’t admit it at first, but she made him a better songwriter.

Who knew his best songs would be found on stained paper napkins?

One Friday night, long past midnight, the group stood outside as they bid each other a good weekend. Bathed in the pink glow of the LED lights, Luke felt it in his gut. He had to tell her. These past weeks his feelings had only grown tenfold, this incessant buzz rippling every atom of his body whenever she was close. Whenever she smiled, talked, sang. Stealing his beanie, eating his fries, sharing AirPods. Luke loved it all.

It was a lot more than a simple crush.

After Julie hugged Alex, Luke grabbed her into a tight hug. She instantly responded, wrapping her arms around his waist and burrowing herself in his red hoodie. His infatuated smile was hidden by her curls, so fucking happy he’d been impulsive enough to ask for a dispenser that day.

“Hey, Julie,” he whispered.

She looked up, eyes alight with an emotion that left his shivering. “Yeah?”

“Uh…” A smile trembled on his lips, unsure whether he wanted to drown in the pretty brown of her irises or continue talking. Now or never. “You wanna get breakfast tomorrow? With me?”

He didn’t have to live in the fear for long, a smile stretching across her cheeks as she shyly nodded. It was the first time he’d ever seen her this flustered, their hold on each other securing with quiet glee. Had he not been so mesmerised, the awestruck Luke would run a mile from the adrenaline rush.

“Yeah,” she grinned, nose scrunched. “Sounds fun.”

They found themselves in the same spot the next day, the taste of syrupy pancakes melting with his as he kissed her on the parking lot of Magenta’s Palace. Julie’s lips curled into a smile and Luke figured there was no better feeling in the world then that.

(Yeah, he could get used to this.)

Saturday’s mornings had never been sweeter.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

@blush-and-books @willexx @bluefirewrites @unsaid-emily @ourstarscollided

#juke #jatp fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #otp: i think we make each other better

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imissjoongsmullet · 4 years

Text

Something Better (1/2)

Pairing: Bang Chan x reader

Genre: fluff/angst (will lead to smut eventually because hi hello it’s me writing about Chan)

Summary: You and Chan have been best friends since before you can remember but now that you’re in college, things start to feel strange, especially with the way he acts when it comes to your boyfriend.

Read part 2

Warnings: part 1 of 2 (probably), cutesy friendship stuff, lots of stupid banter, bit of suggestive conversations, a good dash of angst, Changbin as your boyfriend (do you need a warning for that lol), oh and though this one is pretty clean, there will be smut in later chapters.

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Ok so I’m going to try to keep this to 2 chapters but I can’t promise anything. Anyone who follows me knows I tend to get carried away it’s a thing... Also, yes, this is such a cliché trope but BOY DO I LOVE IT! Thanks again for the request. I had a great time writing this!

►

Five minutes to four. Almost there. The old man at the front of the auditorium had been droning on about the history of bleebidiblah wherever for the past two hours and you were very much ready for it all to end and for the weekend to begin. You heard a pencil drop beside you and turned to see your friend pick it back up and place it between his upper lip and nose.

“Looking great,” you whispered, fighting back a smile.

“I know,” he snickered, making the thing drop into his lap for the dozenth time that class.

Chan was kind of an idiot. But he was also kind of your best friend. You’d grown up in the same neighborhood and had been inseparable since kindergarten. He was the first person you’d went to when you’d found out Santa wasn’t real, the first person you’d ever sneaked out of the house to go to a party with and the first person you’d ever gotten blackout drunk with; not to mention he was the only one who knew about your irrational fear of oven toasters. He knew everything about you and you knew everything about him. You were a team, tied together so much so, that you’d even decided to follow each other to the same college.

“Hey,” he nudged your shoulder, “how about we go downtown tonight and celebrate the weekend? I heard it’s prolonged happy hour at GB’s.”

The twinkle in his eyes made you want to say yes; it was a very tempting offer. “Can’t,” you replied eventually, scrunching up your nose at him.

“Come on, why not?” said Chan, leaning in and shaking your thigh, “we can go to karaoke after and you can crash at my place. I bought so many Doritos and they’re not gonna eat themselves.”

You bit your lip. “I kind of promised Changbin I’d go over tonight.” You already knew what was coming.

“Again?” he exclaimed a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of some of the other students, “you stayed over like three times this week already.” He sagged in his chair, rolling his eyes at you.

“Don’t be a child,” you retorted shoving him lightly.

That put some of his smile back in place. “You know, I think this Changbin guy isn’t the one for you,” said Chan, pretending to look pensive, “he’s got shifty looking eyes… and his nose is too big.”

You couldn’t keep from chuckling. Dipping down in your chair out of sight of your teacher, you turned to your friend. “You’re so full of shit, what does that even mean?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “maybe he’s having evil, shifty, big-nosed plans and you don’t even know it.”

“Your nose is big too, you know?” you said, pinching his nose.

He slapped your hand away and pinched you back, which made you cry out so loud the teacher went silent, eyes in your direction. Your cheeks flushed hot but just as you were about to apologize to the entire auditorium, the bell rang, pushing everyone around you into motion.

“Oops,” said Chan, eyes full of mischief as he rose from his chair along with everyone else.

You packed your things and followed him, kicking at his heels pettily.

“Seriously though, all the staying over,” Chan went on once you were out in the packed hallway, “sure he isn’t tiring you out?” The wicked grin on his face told you exactly what he meant.

“Chan, I swear if you don’t shut up,” you started but he interrupted fast.

“I just mean, you’re a studious girl,” he explained, grabbing your shoulders and rubbing them, “you can’t have a shifty-eyed boy like him distract you from your super important studies with sexy times.”

“And you taking me out to GB’s is helping me with my studies how exactly?”

“At least I’m not trying to put my dick in you every single night.”

“Chan!” you yelled out, looking around frantically at all the other students within earshot of your conversation.

“Aww,” Chan chuckled, hugging you closer, putting his lips near your ear, “you’re so cute when you’re all flustered.”

You were extremely happy he was behind you and couldn’t see the look on your face because you were even redder than before, staring eyes-wide into space. For as close and you and Chan were, you couldn’t help but feel shy whenever he mentioned sexual stuff around you. Not that you weren’t a sexual person; you just didn’t really know how to act around him when it came to those things. It didn’t help that you felt him all over you now, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand right up.

“Listen,” you said, shrugging out of his grip and trying to compose yourself, “how about we hang out tomorrow night? I’m sure the drinks will be just as toxic and delicious then.”

He came up next to you. “Fine, but you’re buying,” he said, “you’ve been leaving me lonely far too much. I demand compensation.”

You smiled and shook your head. “Fine.”

[I’ll be there in 10]

You hurriedly typed as you left Changbin’s place. You were meeting Chan for coffee. You were supposed to work on an assignment together that afternoon but you felt more than a little distracted after the previous night hadn’t ended up as fun as you’d hoped. You didn’t even really remember how it had started but you and Changbin had gotten into an argument that had lasted for most of the night. It wasn’t anything heartbreaking; it was just frustrating that your relationship wasn’t going the way you’d imagined it. And now you’d have to face Chan and pretend everything was okay because you were far too prideful to give him the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’.

He was waiting at your typical spot in the back of the café, his notebook ready on the table. You were happily surprised to find him jotting things down as you walked up. When you sat down, however, you realized he’d just been doodling obscenities in the margins of his book.

“Good afternoon,” you said, closing his book and grabbing the coffee he’d ordered for you.

You felt his eyes on you as you sipped the burning hot drink. You were just waiting for it at this point.

“So,” he started, amusement dripping down his face, “how was last night?”

“Shut up,” you countered, opening up your own book and looking anywhere but at him.

You and Chan were used to working together. Chan always had problems focusing and you were always there to give him the kick in the ass he needed to get the work done. On the other hand, Chan was the one coming up with the most creative ideas for your projects so, despite your differences, you worked quite well off of each other.

For a while, things were fine: Chan was on his second coffee and the ideas flowed generously; you just had to write them down and turn them into usable content. Things were nice and light as they should be. You took a break and ordered waffles, enjoying them without any mention of Changbin; it was great. You talked about concerts you were excited to go to together in the coming months, showed each other movie trailers of stuff you really wanted to watch together and you laughed at the absolute dumbest things. You thought perhaps it was the caffeine that was making you both so silly.

Unfortunately, after that initial boost of energy, came the inevitable crash.

By the time Chan was picking at the ice at the bottom of his empty third coffee, things were started to shift. You were trying to finish up the assignment but it was clear Chan was starting to get burnt out. Gradually, conversation trickled away from the project at hand and into less productive territory.

“What is it you like about him?” he asked, staring zombie-like into his cup.

“Not now, Chan,” you sighed, eyes on your laptop screen. You felt his fingers at your side, poking lazily.

“No, come on,” he said, voice sleepy, “I wanna know.”

You stopped typing and took a deep breath.

“He’s—” you started, trying to think of something while your head replayed how you’d argued the night before.

Chan let out a chuckle. “Yeah, he sounds great.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you groaned, a little harsher than you’d meant it, “let’s just get this done.”

But Chan didn’t let up. Your inability to define your love for Changbin had apparently made him very eager to tease you and it was getting harder and harder to ignore him.

“I bet he sleeps with his socks on,” he said, sipping his empty drink loudly, “weirdo.”

“Chan please.”

“Tell me he doesn’t.”

“Chan.”

“He totally does, doesn’t he!”

“Chan I swear if you don’t shut up I’m gonna kick you where it really hurts!”

“Fine,” he said, still laughing, putting up his hands in defense, “jeez, I was just having fun.” Then he came closer and, entirely oblivious, wrapped his arms around you tight. “No more coffee for you, it makes you mean.” He gave your temple a quick kiss and, chuckling, got up from his seat.

“Gotta pee, this coffee is going right through me, be right back.”

It occurred to you, as you watched him walk off, how odd your relationship with Chan was. Or maybe Chan was just an odd person? Or maybe he was simply acting oddly recently? You tried to shrug off the confusing thoughts and instead opened up your phone. The last text from Changbin was right at the top. You clicked it and smiled, rereading the sweet message he’d sent you the day before. You should probably make up with him soon, you decided.

After another half hour of half-assed adjustments, you and Chan finally called it a day.

“If you could input your slides right after mine, I’ll do the touch ups and bring it all to class,” you said, staring at your laptop screen, “we should probably go over it together the day before though.”

Chan’s face was in his arms on the table, looking drowsy. “Yeah, sounds good,” he mumbled, “I’ll type them out by Monday, we’ve got most of the stuff down already, it shouldn’t be hard.”

“Good,” you nodded, finally letting yourself sit back and relax. You closed your eyes in a long yawn as you stretched out your arms. When you opened them again Chan was looking at you.

“Tired huh?” he said, his lips curling up into a knowing smirk.

You stared back at your friend blankly. “You know what? Yes, I am actually. I stayed up most of the night.”

His eyebrows rose up in surprise but he didn’t speak.

“And that’s all I’m gonna say on the matter so can we please wrap this up now?” you added, “I think I should go see Changbin later tonight cause— well, we just have some things to discuss.”

“Wait, hold up,” said Chan, straightening up beside you and, finally, all laughter was wiped from his face, “I thought we were going out tonight.”

The memory of your promise hit you, throwing a small dose of guilt over your head. “I’m sorry, Chan, really. I just got some things to do—”

“Some things to do?” he interrupted, now definitely irritated, “you’re gonna ditch your best friend for some mediocre sex?”

“Chan that’s not what this is,” you started but you knew you’d set him off and there was no going back.

“Whatever,” he snapped, “it’s fine I’ll call some people who actually wanna hang out—”

“Chan—” you tried, shocked at the rapidity with which his mood had switched.

“—instead of someone who’ll leave me for the first boy to give her the least bit of attention—”

“Hey!” you said, getting up from your seat, heating up from the sting of his words.

Chan got up as well, the look in his eyes pained. “I said it’s fine,” he repeated, placing some money on the table and walking out.

(part 2)

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wolfhowlingdragonflyingsirensong · 3 years

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spoilers

Since I recently played Life is Strange, which whoah, is totally an experience that I recommend to everyone, I’ve come to appreciate how well the game handles choices. It’s interesting how choices can seem meaningless good acts, like helping Alyssa avoid being hit, translates to her trusting Max enough for Max to save her. But, the game also points out how we can’t control consequences, since good deeds are done with nothing but good intentions can have fatal consequences, such as warning Victoria (and her believing you) leads to her murder, or the biggest good deed of them all, saving Chloe, leads to a storm that (can) kill lots of people. And ultimately, what’s cool is that every choice is canon, since Max it’s not a blank slate, meaning every choice the player makes is something Max considered. What do I mean with Max not being a blank slate? I mean regardless of your choices, Max likes waffles AND bacon and eggs. This is a minor example, but it serves for many things. Max can comfort Victoria or not, and later when they talk at the party regardless of your choice, Max at first is pretty angry, so she’s completely capable of standing up for herself and others. Max loves Chloe regardless of the player's feelings towards her. Max can be pretty uncaring or a literal angel, by Kate. And all of this is canon because even nice people contemplate not being nice all the time, even if it’s only a thought. This brings me to the ships topics. First of all, I’m glad that this game has non-ambiguous, non-sexualized, soft wlw romance (actually two counting BTS!) without the canon protagonist being turned evil or something, and I think that’s incredibly important. If the game had only Chloe as a love interest, I would totally get it and have no problem, because the game is pretty much focused on their bond. Not that it matters to those who do, I personally don't ship it because I self-project (and I totally recognize it) on friendships I had in my youth that were a bit like Chloe and Max's friendship in the first episodes, and they were toxic. Don't get me wrong, I loved my friends and they were (are) good people. I like Chloe a lot, and there's no denying that there are strong feelings on Max's part for Chloe that are romantic, and it's up to the player to determine if Max is going to pursue Chloe. Denying it means that is both not reading Max's diary and erasing her sexuality. I write this because I don't want to seem like I don't ship them because I like Grahamfield, it's not that, I could very well be into both, and I think Chloe develops so much at the end of episode 5 that, while before I thought she was only in love with Rachel, at that point is totally understandable for me. If you ship Pricefield then that's awesome! You have all the canon content to back you up and a beautiful story of love with the childhood friends-to-lovers trope, can't get much better. Plus, the whole game is about their bond. It's incredibly well developed at the end mostly when you see Chloe growing out of her initial angry phase, and maturing in a beautiful way. So, shipping Grahamfield in this fandom sometimes feels like hey, you are a giant dick. I don't like hate on any ship or character (especially dunking on Chloe, because she's a representation of how trauma is not nice while actually being cool and kind, as well as being one of the few wlw canon protagonists), because both choices are completely canon, it's entirely up to the player. Again, if Chloe was the only canon love interest then that would be totally cool. Buuuut Max can choose to go on a date with Warren, write on his slate that he is cute, raise his grade (which can be done as a friendship thing only), help him in his experiment, kiss him, and if she does, she writes in his diary "I wanted one kiss from a boy I cared about", that to me, reads as having a canon interest in him too. And since Max is bisexual from what I understand, erasing that part doesn't sit well with me. Both Chloe and Warren have flaws, which hey is what happens with characters. Can you imagine having perfect characters? That would be so boring. He is a realistic 16-year-old boy to Max's 18 and Chloe's 19 years. He is extremely awkward, dorky, a little cringy, a boy with a harmless boy with a crush and that's normal at that age. He's helpful almost to a fault, and while some argue that's because he feels entitled, let me tell you, no niceGuy I've ever met has been so helpful if you don't give in, they don't back out after someone lets them down nicely, and he states his interest in Max clearly, and niceGuys don't tend to do that because they like to pine away and be angry that a girl didn't read his mind and magically fell in love with him. He believes Max from the get-go and helps her all the time, regardless of his feelings, which is like, basic decency, so if you want to call him a piece of shit I think that's going a little too far. If you want to take the words of others, Kate says he's a smart and silly cutie-pie with a good heart, suggests they take him with them to their tea-shop tour of Portland after everything and supports their date (besides them being friends, he brings her homework and is shown worried about her). I don't remember that part well, but I think Alyssa and Dana also support Grahamfield (and Brooke is very jealous!) so I think if he was an asshole they wouldn't be so supportive and Brooke wouldn't be into him, or Stella in another reality. My only point is that hey if you don't like him that's fine, but to call him a pervert or entitled or assholery is kinda uncalled for, to be honest, and using the nightmare sequence, in which EVERYONE is out of character (except Jeffershit) and shown being assholes, as a canon that he is bad seems to me like going out of your way. It's a nightmare for a reason, do you really think Kate would have said those things to Max if you save her? She's incredibly grateful. Or do you think Chloe would have done those things??? She would NEVER. Then why is Warren being treated as someone who would do those things for a nightmare? I don't get it. There are two myths regarding him: that he spies on Max and that he photoshopped a photo with them. First one, you can verify with mods that he can't see SHIT, he is merely waiting for her outside. Second, the photo is developed, not photoshopped, Max doesn't say hey we never took that photo, she merely is surprised he kept it. Now, he's a bit pushy when it comes to the drive-in (he acknowledges he's a pain in the booty), says like a stupid joke (a 16-year-old making stupid jokes, what a crime), and has that photo, which for some is crossing boundaries, and hey, that's fine. I, personally, just think a 16-year-old having a photo with his friend and crush is not creepy or bad. So, now that I'm over the ship discourse, which I hate but had to write to explain, I'm so glad this game brought so many interesting characters. My only complaint is that it felt a little too short when it came to other characters, I guess it's because the literal theme of the game is about abandoning youth and growing up as well, so that's because it's very focused on Chloe and Max's relationship, besides the romance. I adore Kate! I’m so happy we were able to save her, it was seriously one of the best moments I’ve ever seen in a game, I would have liked to see her future children’s book with Max’s photos, their tea sessions, and her coming back to school. I would love to have seen more of Stella, (a POC I think) that according to her words, faced an abusive home and poverty to end up studying in a prestigious school like Blackwell, busting her ass to work and yet being super cool and kind! I would have loved to see more of Daniel, how he faced bullying, how his home life is, his budding romance with Brooke, his future drawings. I would have loved to see more of Dana! How she dealt with abortion, a heavy topic, and yet she's super happy, nice, and in a loving relationship apparently. I would have liked to see more of Juliet's reporting skills, I feel like she could have been more important to the plot, or at least more exposés on bullying and the Prescotts. I would have loved to see more of Alyssa, what she likes, her relationships, etc. I would have loved to see more of Taylor! How her mom was doing, what steps was she going to take in not falling with the Vortex Club bullshit, her love for fashion, like Courtney. We didn't get to know Courtney at all I feel and I would have liked to! I would have liked to see more of Victoria, her insecurities, her relationship with her parents, her inner thoughts (she's totally bi too I bet), even her friendship with Nathan seemed deeper. I would have liked to see more of cool hipster Evan, or good skater boy Luke. In short, I would have LOVED to have them all hanging more with Max. The ending, oh man, what an ending. It's incredibly hard, and I hate that saving Arcadia Bay seems to go into "bury your gays" trope, because if there was a way to save them both I would. The writing is very powerful, ending the way it began. This leads me to my initial topic, choices. I love that the game gives us choices, and considering there are other alternative realities, maybe both choices are canon in different universes. If I was in Chloe's shoes I couldn't choose to sacrifice my mom, and Joyce dies if Chloe is saved, as well as many other innocents, so I can't choose that ending, I just can't (and I understand that's totally personal for everyone). A really tough choice, at least for me, and hey, if it wasn't specified that practically everyone died, I would have saved Chloe no questions asked. I do love, however, how Chloe matures so much in the course of 5 days and her bond with Max. She sacrifices for Arcadia Bay, and a lot of it is because of Max, because she doesn't want her to make that choice. So now if you excuse me, I'm still playing the funeral scene in my mind and the bathroom scene (totally broken) and had to write this as cathartic, so feel free to disagree with me or whatever you prefer, each one of us experiences a different game because of our different experiences in life. Next step: BTS and LIS2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9uy4V8SvPk

#Life is Strange #Max Caulfield #Chloe Price #Warren Graham #Kate Marsh #Stella Hill #Daniel DaCosta #Dana Ward #Juliet Watson #Evan Harris #Luke Parker #Taylor Christensen #Victoria Chase

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