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simul16 · 10 months

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My 2023 Gen Con

If you want to have the most successful GenCon ever, I’m going to reveal the single most valuable thing you can do before you even start packing for your trip. After you found a successful podcast and get booted off by your co-creator over creative differences, whereafter he steals the show, erases you from its history, and runs it into the ground; spitefully start your own gaming blog and Twitter feed. Over the course of several years, build both up and become very successful. Network within the community, befriending other creators, doing guest appearances on podcasts and writing occasional pieces for other blogs. Maybe even do a little freelance work. Once you’re done with that, go to GenCon. It will be awesome. - Scott "The Angry GM" Rehm, "How to Even GenCon: The Complete Noob Guide"

After ripping off the Angry GM's guide to Gen Con and updating it for 2023, I figured I should share my own Gen Con experience, which is very different from the above description. (Note as well that since I discovered that the official spelling of Gen Con is as two words, not one, I will continue to use that spelling throughout this essay.)

Wednesday, August 2

Typically, the Wednesday of Gen Con is a travel day, and 2023 was no different. The biggest difference was that in past years, when I'd go with my friend Senior, we had a deal where he'd arrange the airfare and I'd arrange the hotel accommodations, and whoever got the more expensive option would collect the difference from the other. After a couple of health-related scares, one of which put him into hospital and left him in a coma for two weeks, he's been a lot more conscious of large gatherings, so he hasn't been back to Gen Con since COVID.

That meant that this year, my wife and I were traveling as a party of two, and given how expensive airfare looked to us back in January/February when we were looking into booking the travel, we decided to change up our plan and drive from the Twin Cities of Minnesota to Indianapolis. The most memorable stop we made on the way down was an emergency restroom stop at a gas station in Normal while we were driving through town to avoid freeway construction, but we ended up arriving and getting settled into the hotel in the early evening, leaving us time to pick up our badges and then visit the food court/beer garden to try the official Sun King beer of Gen Con. (We both liked it.)

This would be the appropriate time to reveal that I did not stand in the giant registration pick-up line that ran from nearly one end of the convention center to the other, but have been a VIG for over ten years, and thus was able to collect my badge and tickets in a far smaller line in the VIG Lounge. To me, the benefit of VIG is to remove as many irritations from my Gen Con as possible, and it's still worth the somewhat heavy price tag in order to do that.

Thursday, August 3

The official first day of Gen Con had me itching to visit the Consignment Store, where folks go to get rid of older games and game supplies. The store had moved from its spot across from the Dealer Hall to a designated area within the Indy Downtown Marriott ballrooms, which improved space to the point where they could let 60 people at a time into the room, but I hadn't considered the line to get in would be quite as long as it was -- the store opened at 10am, but with an event scheduled for 11am, I spent as long as I could in line (eventually getting to about 15th or so) before leaving tor the next event.

The next event was trying out the Funko-produced Avatar: the Last Airbender Crossroads of Destiny game. It proved more interesting than I'd anticipated, being a campaign-style game that modeled all of the different encounters in the entire animated series, and though we only played one scenario, we found the gameplay and the idea of stringing together multiple rounds of play into a longer story to be compelling enough to be worth the price tag.

After a lunch break, we headed to the second floor of the ICC for a session of Tales of Xadia: the Dragon Prince RPG. Using the Cortex Prime system, the game was compelling enough when I'd tried it out in 2021 to have picked up the rulebook, but hadn't yet managed to run a session for my wife, so we sat down to play together and had an entertaining time. I found myself pondering adventure structure, and decided that an ideal convention RPG scenario should contain a number of different scenes/encounters that can be connected narratively in whatever way the players prefer -- this lets you as the GM focus on the scene/encounter mechanics, which is where most new players are going to need the most help, while allowing the players to guide/shape the narrative experience to something they're going to enjoy. This is also useful when handing your adventure to multiple GMs in a convention setting, as it allows them to focus their prep-time on mechanics rather than plot -- a significant benefit in a world where some portion of GMs will volunteer to run your games not because they know and understand your game, but because you're the vendor who still has badges and/or hotel rooms to offer in exchange for the help.

We then checked out an area that is definitely not a high-traffic event at Gen Con: the Retro Video Game Arcade. You can buy an hour pass or a day pass and play at a number of refurbished stand-up video game consoles from the coin-op era, or sit down at one of a number of consoles (I believe they were all emulators, but couldn't confirm) complete with a screen with literally dozens of games for each console. We ended up playing Super Mario World on the SNES and our hour flew by. The console games were, of course, hit-and-miss, since the group is a charity that specializes in training students in technical skills by showing them how to refurbish donated consoles (if you want to learn more, check out their website: Video Game Palooza). So they're not going to have every classic stand-up console ever made. Still, it's a worthwhile way to spend an hour or two if you've got the time in your schedule and need something interesting to do but something you can still walk away from to get to the next event.

Originally, I thought I had scheduled our annual True Dungeon run for late morning, but to my chagrin, my wife pointed out that our schedule had our True Dungeon session starting at 11:14pm, not 11:14am. Though it worked out (we slotted in the Crossroads of Destiny event instead), we still needed something to do to kill time before True Dungeon, and we found a nearly ideal event: a session of Disney Villainous also being held in the Lucas Oil Stadium. We had fun, and then moved on to our True Dungeon event.

If you've heard of True Dungeon, nothing I can say will make you more curious about the event. However, given the experiences we've had with True Dungeon in the past, I can say we deliberately targeted the 'intro' event, Barb Beard's Treasure, for a few reasons. Mainly, because it's a bit shorter, and the longer, more involved sessions can get a bit stressful and/or overwhelming, especially if you're in a 'pick up' group with people you don't know. The other main benefit was that we didn't need to bring our own tokens -- in fact, the only tokens allowed in the intro event were the single bag of tokens you receive as part of your entrance fee. This made for a much more entertaining setup phase where even uncommon items can seem very cool if they fit someone's character or build idea. (Oddly, we did have a few more veteran players who were apparently hoping to either acquire or trade for more powerful tokens, but it didn't completely derail our experience.) We made it to the end, collected the treasure, and departed True Dungeon as victorious adventurers before heading back to the hotel to turn in for the night.

Friday, August 4

One thing I was looking forward to at this year's Gen Con were a couple of products being released by Modiphius for their Star Trek Adventures RPG line: specifically the Lower Decks campaign setting and the Captains Log solo play/GM-less play rulebook. Along with those purchases, which we made on Thursday, we ended up signing up for a Star Trek RPG adventure called 'The Fall of the Way', where six different allied ships at the end of the Dominion War seek to root out and apprehend the leaders of The Way, an organization trying to restore the Cardassian military government to power. This might be the one area where my advice above that the ideal convention adventure is a series of mechanical encounters or scenes linked together narratively in whatever way the players like, because in this case, since it's Star Trek, I was expecting to have a few scenes where we could talk about the folly of seeking glory in an imagined fascist past, but they never came. It was still an entertaining scenario, on the whole, not least because I got to command the bulgiest ship in the scenario, a Federation Sovereign-class command cruiser. My main regret is that the only person who might have been more excited to be there than I was (she was even cosplaying as an Orion) ended up getting 'stuck' with the role of Chief Medical Officer, and though I tried to give her some spotlight time by making her the lead officer on the away team in scene 2 of the scenario (and staying back with the ship to ensure I couldn't step on her authority while on the planet's surface), it didn't end up leading to any combat so her character's medical skills were barely called upon in any scene (since scenes 1 and 3 were ship encounters which left the poor medical chief with extremely little to do). In this case, though the 'six tables playing the same scenario' is usually a winning formula, I think this scenario would have been improved by being more crafted for each individual ship and provided crew, even if this didn't let the ships cooperate or coordinate in resolving the mission being played.

Next up, an experiment. I didn't get to experience True Dungeon when it was just starting out, but at this Gen Con, a new event was offered that suggested it would combine something of a True Dungeon adventuring experience with miniature golf. 'Critical Putt' proved to be a bit too ambitious to be really good -- though there were a few interesting encounters/rooms, on the whole there weren't enough support characters to help the players figure out what they were supposed to do in each room, and most frustratingly, there were some rooms where the mini-golf was key to the mechanical 'solution' to the room's encounter and others where the mini-golf was just a distraction or an afterthought. Probably the most jarring inclusion was an occasional 'room' which was just the party facing a computer screen which narrated an encounter -- it wasn't until the last such encounter that we realized that, instead of responding as our characters would and crafting a narrative experience, these were puzzles that were intended to be 'solved' with each character making a specific choice; as such, we didn't really do well in any of them. This is something I'll keep an eye on to see how the event changes, assuming it gets offered again, but I won't feel the need to jump in and grab tickets unless things do change for the better. New events are hard, though, so full props for the attempt -- Gen Con wouldn't be the same without groups like this taking chances and trying new things.

We'd hooked up with a couple of my wife's friends to play Critical Putt, and hung out with them afterward until our next events. Mine was going to be a Hackmaster session -- I'd played though my first ever Hackmaster experience at Gen Con 2021 and was interested enough to want to try more -- but by the time I'd gotten back to my room to wait for the event I realized I was exhausted from the 12-hour drive and two days of events and ended up just heading to bed early that night.

Saturday, August 5

Saturday was our D&D day. Though I've been involved in D&D Adventurer's League in various capacities since the beginning, changes over the past few years have convinced me to step away from the organization, and now Gen Con is just about the only time I (and my wife) get to play 'organized' D&D. Since Baldman Games (the group who runs the D&D Adventurer's League content at Gen Con) has been doing this for a while, we generally feel pretty confident that we'll have a good experience -- we played though the first two sessions of a pre-existing arc, the 'Dreams of the Red Wizards' arc. Our first session was fairly disappointing, though -- we had tickets and were seated with a GM, but my wife and I and our 5th level characters were the only ones at the table. One of the admins fished up another player from another table for us, but he ended up being an optimized 10th level character who used the opportunity to basically steamroll the adventure, robbing it of most of its interest. Our second session, though, continued a curious trend where I've been seated at a table with an Adventurer's League Admin: in 2022, our last session on Saturday night was with Greg Marks, one of the Content Managers for the program, while this year we were seated at a table with Claire Hoffman, veteran designer and admin who has been involved with Organized Play since back in the days of the RPGA with over 25 years of experience. Though we couldn't find tickets for the third session, we were confident we would be able to get in with generic tickets. Sadly, that proved to not be the case, since Baldman simply did not have enough GMs to accommodate us and we ended up spending our generic tickets on another hour in the Retro Video Game Arcade and then having calzones delivered to our hotel. Still a relaxing and rewarding evening.

Sunday, August 6

Our main Sunday event was the Epic related to the Dreams of the Red Wizards adventures we had played (and tried to play) the previous day -- the epic-style adventure setting is still fun, but I've played enough of them at this point to feel as though this particular implementation, with Baldman still short of personnel and the underlying story being less inspiring than in previous years, was merely adequate rather than a true capstone on our Gen Con experience.

We made one final pass though the Dealer Hall, spent way more money than we'd anticipated, including $120 on a copy of D&D Onslaught, a game I'd heard would be a spiritual successor to the old D&D Miniatures Skirmish game that connected me to my current gaming group. We then made one final pass through the food court before packing into the car and heading back home. One advantage of driving rather than flying home: we were able to break up the road trip and make a few more stops on the way back, including at a cheese shop in the Wisconsin Dells that allowed us to set up our dinner for our next Saturday night gaming session very nicely.

So that was Gen Con 2023 -- on the whole a ton of fun and something my wife and I are looking forward to doing again next year!

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lady-wren-of-tella · 1 year

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Okie so one of my current interests is a game called five nights at Freddy’s(fnaf)!! I’ve liked this game series for a long time, it’s honestly one of the longest fandoms that I’ve been in!! Plus fnaf has also been a thing that I’ve liked for so long, I honestly don’t think that I’ll ever stop loving it cause it’s basically apart of my childhood and it’s still something that I love. But anyways, recently a teaser trailer for the movie came out and oh my godddd!!! It looks so good, I’m so bloody excited for the movie!! It’s been in the works for so long and now that we got a teaser trailer AND it’s coming out this year?! AAAHHHHHHH I’m kicking and screaming!!! And and, today a gameplay trailer was released for the new fnaf security breach dlc called ruin and ohhhhhhhh it looks so good as well!!! The design and atmosphere of the game is great, I can’t wait when it comes out so that I can watch gameplay of it!!! And and, I might be able to play it too since my older brother is gonna buy it when it comes out so yayyyyy!!

Okie okie, so my next interest is another video which is Resident Evil 4 remake(re4 remake) and ohhhhhhhh it’s such a bloody pretty game!! The graphics and gameplay is amazingggg!! And and the characters are so pretty too!! My favorite characters from the game are Leon, Ashely, and Luis- and you can call me a simp but I would gladly marry those three because god damn do they look so so pretty and beautiful!! I’m not too far into the game since I’m only watching two friends stream and play it but I’m currently rewatching their stream vods to refresh my memory. But ahhhhhhh the game is so gorgeous and everything about it is so great!! Asmskachkasjkwchajl and and the merchant in re4 remake, aaahhhhhhhh- I like wanna be his friend so bad!! I wanna give him a big ol’ hug each time I see him!! Currently I can’t play it since it’s on the newer gen consoles but whenever I can I’ll definitely 100% play it!!

Finally, my last current interest is an anime called Trigun!! I only recently got into it but ohhhh myyyy godddd does that anime have a grip on me!! The only reason I got into it was because I kept seeing a bunch of TikTok edits of the reboot version of the show which is called Trigun Stampede(I’ll refer to it as TriStamp) so I caved in and I started to watch it and I don’t regret my decision. I was not disappointed!! I loved the characters, the animation, the story- I just loved everything about it!! Then after I finished watching TriStamp a few weeks later I decided why not and I watched the og Trigun. And ohhhhhh myyyyy goddddd, my love for the show grew ten times more!! It was the same show and the same characters but just something about it was so different!!! I just loved it so much!! And and I also watch the movie as well(called Trigun: Badlands Rumble) because I just needed more content!! I’m genuinely so hooked with this anime, the brain rot I have of it is unreal. I recently got two funko pops of my two favorite characters from the anime and I plan to get the rest of the characters but I like wanna get more merch lol xddd Last weekend I saw two figures of two characters from Trigun, I didn’t get them and I regret not buying them but hopefully this weekend me and my brothers will go to the same mall and hopefully, hopefully they’ll still be there that way I can buy them!! There’s also gonna be a TriStamp figure and I want it so baddddd, and and there’s a Trigun and Trigun Maximum deluxe edition manga!! Shubsjjcknskhwkmkfnrk I wanna buy that tooooo!! I’m hoping I’ll be able to get both of these things sometime in the future(maybe even for Christmas but I doubt it.) but ahhhhhh just- the brain rot I have is unbelievable and this show just lives rent free in my mind rn

i've heard about the fnaf movie!! one of my irls loves fnaf and was telling me all about how excited they were for the movie. I dont remember him mentioning anything about the new game being released, but he was super excited about the movie.

ive seen so much abt resident evil (specifically about that one guy named leon) . it actually looks really interesting tbh

IVE SEEN REALLY COOL ART FOR TRIGUN ON TWITTER!!! the one guy with the yellow glasses has such cool character design and its so cool to see how different artists put their own spin on it

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juicywithjustin · 2 years

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I will never recover after reading The Shadow of Kyoshi

“She didn't have the right to lose herself in her rage and let it take her to oblivion. No matter what she'd been through. She wouldn't allow herself to become a human scar, a compendium of personal loss. She had the obligation to be more than the sum of her grievances with the world.” ― F.C. Yee

If The Rise of Kyoshi was a good book then The Shadow of Kyoshi was a great one. In this book we receive a very complex reminder that Kyoshi and Yun are two sides of the same coin and we see how their paths divulge after the (SPOILER) death of Jianzhu. I think Kyoshi seeing how blinded he was with revenge added to her desperation to prove him innocent. Their relationship serves as a beautiful backbone to the story and that is the reason why it is so good.

We also see Kyoshi dealing with the aftermath of the world finding out she’s the Avatar and her constant feeling of unworthiness towards the title. Every Avatar deals with adapting to being the Avatar as a part of themselves but Kyoshi has to deal with living her life believing herself to be nothing but an orphan. It is important to realize this and I think her ongoing battle with herself is the reason for these conflicts within herself and the mistakes she makes in diplomacy. At the core of Kyoshi’s character though is a strong sense of justice which is so breathtaking to see.

I also have to say that I loved seeing Kuruk guide her through his life and gain a better understanding of his life as an Avatar. I think it’s really easy to just look at any avatar surface level and take them for what you see but it is true that Kuruk spent his whole life protecting the world like an Avatar is supposed to do, dealing with the mistakes Yanchen left behind. Adding these complex elements and showing how each Avatar leaves an imprint on their next incarnation is so incredibly interesting. Seeing how Kuruk’s relationship with his friends blends in which Kyoshi’s relationships with a lot of her mentors and seeing how his ongoing battle with spirits created that connection with Kyoshi was so amazing. I think it’s incredible that we see these consequences Kyoshi has to deal with despite them never being hers and how blinded she is through her idolization for Yanchen. Aang’s quote at the end of the first season of the Legend of Korra seems really relevant here. It was only at her lowest moment where she found herself being able to connect with Kuruk and create that relationship she refused to have earlier on. I can go on and on about Kuruk and Kyoshi and how they are direct parallels to one another, with Kyoshi not making the same mistake he made his whole life by fighting all his battles alone but I won’t.

It is time to move onto the gays. Rangi and Kyoshi Rangi and Kyoshi Rangi and Kyoshi. Thank you Raava for your undying love for women, you eat every single time. Rangi and Kyoshi’s love is something I hope to achieve. I love them and I love how no matter how far Kyoshi falls, Rangi will always be there to pick her up. I also loved the deeper insight into Hei Ran and Rangi’s relationship because they’re truly just a mother and daughter who love each other deeply and seeing Kyoshi build such an emotional relationship with them both is a beautiful development.

Overall these two books are some of the best things I have ever experienced. I love Kyoshi and I loved being able to gain more insight into her story. I love that I was able to find new characters to love and I am so sad that it is over. I probably missed out on a lot but this is just me writing down my stream of thoughts about the book. I wish I had someone to talk about this with irl. I can’t wait for the Yanchen installment coming out this year but I want you to know that for me it’s Kyoshi and Korra 4ever. When am I getting my Kyoshi funko pop btw Funko I hope you’re listening. Anyways I’m crying and I’m so sad and I love Kyoshi and I loved this book and I loved Rise of Kyoshi and that quote I entered in the beginning is some of my favorite writing I’ve ever read. Thank you F.C. Yee for thinking I was worthy enough to own this. So sad so mopey so listening to avatar soundtrack with rain. #lifeisunfair I think my first review was a lot more cohesive than this but idc gn ily sweet dreams someone pls talk to me about avatar. ALSO ROKU I HATE YOU YOU ARE SO DUMB DO BETTER

#kyoshi #im cryign #Rangi #gay #kyoshi x rangi #slay #the girls who get it get it #the rise of kyoshi #too good #never recovering #hashtag #tumblr get it together #astrologygirlsgetit #deserves better #yass moment #pride #youate #the slayage

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yourfandomfriend · 2 years

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Be Good to Yourself || FNAF Meta

Long Post, Buckle Up!

I don't think I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I've really enjoyed the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise these past seven years. I don't quite think teddy bears and chickens and bunny rabbits are scary, nor animatronics and mannequins, nor analog technology, so I'm not quite the main demo for the games.

But growing up, I sure did enjoy the Goosebumps books, Are You Afraid of the Dark, all that YA horror jazz, and I actually did visit a Showbiz Pizza Place for my birthday a time or two. I appreciate the nostalgia.

And now the long-awaited Security Breach is out, the first new FNAF title since the pandemic started. And I've unfortunately gone and jumped to a silly conclusion right out of the gate.

Submitted for the approval of my fellow Tumblr lore addicts: a half-baked meta.

**SPOILERS** For The Entire FNAF Franchise (including Security Breach) **SPOILERS**

I just wanna say up top for the uninitiated, content from this point on will get extremely disturbing (in a cheap, creepypasta kind of way) and be taken very lightly, too. So trigger warning: murdered children and reanimated corpses. If you want meta about that as far from you as possible, this is not the post for you.

I'll put the backstory of the first half-dozen or more games in a "read more" at the bottom so you can catch up if you like, but I'm about to spoil Security Breach, so seriously, spoiler warning. (It's gonna be full of annotations so you can get what I'm referencing and where.)

In the new game, we play as a boy named Gregory who gets locked inside a massive entertainment complex (Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex) overnight. With the help of a new animatronic, Glamrock Freddy, we try to escape the building while avoiding capture by the nighttime security guard, (Vanessa) the other glamrock animatronics, (Chica, Roxy, and Monty) an army of STAFF bots, and a crazy lady in a bunny costume (Vanny).**

Let's Players immediately jumped to the conclusion that the player character, Gregory, is an animatronic. This is an assumption based on only one piece of hard evidence, but it's a doozy: Gregory's vision glitches out. When Vanny's around, he sees scanlines. Say what you will about creative license, but it's not a stretch by theorists to assume a character whose POV behaves more like cameras than eyes isn't human, especially in a series like this.

In addition to the hard stuff, there's a lot of soft clues. Taken on their own, they don't prove anything and I won't count them as evidence but taken together, they give us strong suspicions.

Like how there's no record of Gregory in the Mega Plex's customer database.

How did an ordinary child with no access passes of any kind get by so many layers of security to find Freddy after he pooched his last show, only to immediately get trapped at the end of the day? Why not just leave the way he got in?

Edit: It occurred to me after posting that Gregory being an animatronic would also explain why Roxy can’t see him when he’s hiding or find his scent. (He was cheating! Someone tell her that, before she goes any crazier.)

There's also been a theory for months now that Gregory is somehow, in some way, The Crying Child. Why? Well, because the Funko leak revealed a game mechanic, that you hide from enemies in Glamrock Freddy's stomach cavity. You know, 'cause the Crying Child was inside Golden Freddy? Yeah,... that's not a lot to go on. But even I'll admit Gregory looks a hellava lot like the 8-bit bite victim.

But Crying Child died on life support back in 1983 after getting chomped by Golden Freddy. So how could Gregory be back in the flesh?

Well... there are more soft clues and I'm about to get into it. My hunch, (like many other fans, I'm sure) is that Gregory is an animatronic recreation of the Crying Child,*** built by his father many years ago to house his soul and "put him back together"... only, unbeknownst to Afton, his soul got trapped in the Golden Freddy spring lock suit that killed him.

And now? I think his soul might’ve latched onto Glamrock Freddy.

Here are my soft clues.

1.) Human Feeling

Of all the characters in the new game, you'd think little Gregory would be the moral center, right? Because the only other human being in the story is a lady possessed by the spirit of a murderer, and everyone else is a robot programmed to turn him over to said lady. So how come Freddy seems like a better human than Gregory?

I know, Gregory is just a kid and kids can be selfish, heartless little monsters. Not to mention, he's running for his life, it makes sense he'd feel justified in defending himself. Plus, robots can be programmed to behave better than we do -- if they're built to be kind and fair, they have no choice in it. But Freddy's not as robotic as he seems, and the other animatronics aren't acting like Freddy.

In fact, the other animatronics are acting in lots of ways they shouldn't, ways that Freddy doesn't understand and can hardly believe. Something's up with everyone.

2.) Skills

a.) Anyone else noticed that Gregory -- despite his trepidation -- is very handy with all things mechanical? He knows how to use jumper cables and has only as much trouble upgrading Freddy as the player does. Also, when seeing evidence (that most adults might've missed and most kids wouldn't understand) that the other Glamrocks have special parts, his first thought is to steal those parts and upgrade Freddy.

Not only does this thought not occur to Freddy, but he seems horrified that Gregory would suggest stealing from his friends. Gregory needs to defeat each animatronic on his own to steal their parts, proving he's perfectly capable of defeating them without Freddy, let alone an improved version.

So what does he want Freddy upgraded for?

b.) Also, in light of Gregory casually lying to Freddy about the upgrades, can we really trust him that it was Vanessa who cut Freddy off from the main network? And if so, how would he even know she did that, let alone be so confident? Most normal children wouldn't understand any of it. While I don't think he's "secretly the villain" as many have half-heartedly theorized, I do believe he's capable of messing with Freddy to stop him from calling the main office.

In fact, he's clearly done something impressive, since he was able to get into Freddy's room without a photo pass. Either that kid has been skittering through the vents like so much Die Hard, or he got inside Freddy before he was moved into the room. Possibly before he even glitched out.

Is his name even Gregory? Or did he make that up on the spot? And if so, why lie?

3.) The Villains [?]

a.) Gregory's fear of Vanessa predates his first Vanny sighting in the game. At least as far as we're shown, Vanessa's just acting like a security guard. He can't explain why he thinks she's is out to get him. He just knows it. But Freddy trusts her.

One constant in the early games is that the spirits in the animatronics assume the night guards are bad and feel justified in attacking them. But all Golden Freddy has to say to them is, "It's me." The prevailing theory is that he recognizes his brother, Michael, in the role of the night guard.

b.) As mentioned above, Vanny's proximity to Gregory glitches out his vision. Even if he's not looking at her, she's scrambling with him. But why? He's never seen her before, doesn't know who she is or what she wants. And if the assumption many have is correct -- that Vanny and Vanessa are the same person -- why would his vision glitch out with one and not the other?

It might not be her that's doing it.

It might be the entity controlling her -- not because he's dangerous, but because he's a glitch in and of himself. A glitch that would definitely affect an animatronic boy.

4.) You're Different

Freddy doesn't know why he wants to help Gregory hide when everyone else in the pizzaplex is out to find him. And Gregory can't explain why he trusted Freddy from the jump, either. If he thinks the animatronics are out to get him, what on earth would possess him to climb inside one? To think he'll be safe inside the cramped piñata-hole of a giant, metal monster?

Unless... he was programmed with the memories of a boy who once loved his Freddy doll? Maaaybe so. Or maybe I'm reaching.

5.) Now I Have a Choice

This was the part that made it all come together. Near the end of Security Breach, when Gregory and Freddy head down to the subterranean level through the old pizzeria, Freddy says this:

"I know what this is. I have been here before. She brought me here. I found myself for the first time when I cleared the path. I did not want to, but I had no choice. Now, I have a choice. I have changed. My friends are here. They're so angry... confused... but I can protect you. I... AM NOT... ME."

This is self-awareness. Autonomy, agency. Glamrock Freddy can choose now. He has free will. Could it be because he has a soul inside?

"It's Me" has practically been Golden Freddy's/Crying Child's catchphrase throughout the games, the line that let us know he had a connection to the player character in game one.

Not only does the ability to recognize a friendly face reveal that the Crying Child has a level of awareness, (something rare among these tortured spirits, btw) but the very phrase "it's me" suggests self-awareness. Even without a body or context or adult understanding, Crying Child is aware of himself.

My assumption here -- my big, ole leap in logic -- is that Vanny brought Freddy down with her to the subterranean levels merely to clear a path to where she needed to set up, but Glamrock Freddy came across the old Golden Boy at some point. Using the Afton tech's ability to transfer consciousness (introduced in the Fazbear Frights books****) the Crying Child passed from one body -- broken, helpless -- to another -- new and strong, with a full range of motion.

In the pizzeria ruins, Freddy claims his friends are there. Up until now, he's used that word to describe the Glamrocks, but there aren't any down there. Only the old animatronics.

6.) But Why the Breach?

At the end of the game, if you make it to the exit in one piece, Freddy informs us that he can't follow us out and Gregory is disappointed, but not just because his new friend can't come with him.

Gregory: "If I leave now, nothing will change, will it? There will be more disappearances." Freddy: "Yes. I am afraid that is correct."

It's up to you whether he stays or goes, but there's nothing obvious in the gameplay that would cause this change in Gregory, this newfound altruism and courage that would set him against Afton for the sake of future victims. Perhaps the close proximity to Freddy was enough to inspire the change? It's hard to say.

Oh, well. If I’m wrong, actual human boy Gregory and Glamrock Freddy have each found a friend. And that’s great! But if I’m right? The Bite of ‘83 victim might’ve finally found a way to put himself back together at last, and maybe even end the cycle of violence for everyone.

youtube

Here are the promised games summaries and annotations:

*The Gameplay

Stressful resource management games with amusingly startling jumpscares and a dark sense of humor. Keep your character alive for six game-hours by blocking off exits while conserving power and occasionally distracting or stunning enemies. Everything you do costs power and if you run out, you lose. Five levels, all progressively harder, followed by additional and custom levels.

The Surface Plot

You work as the night guard at a dilapidated, Chuck E. Cheese-style pizzeria where the animatronics roam free at night and will kill you if you don't stop them (Why? Who knows!). You can't leave and you really can't defend yourself. Your only weapons are energy efficiency and lightning reflexes.

The Lore

Through repeated gameplay and pooling resources with internet communities, it becomes apparent to the lore keepers that the above premise is mostly hogwash.

The real story of FNAF is an exploration of the negative space around serial child murderer William Afton, co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment, a company renown for its family restaurants, advanced technology, cheap merch, and suss police record. To make a very long story short(er), Afton spent years destroying and perverting countless lives in ways both impossible and all too real. Disguising himself in a mascot costume (a golden bunny called "Spring Bonnie") and as a security guard to cover his tracks, he lured children into the back room of the pizzeria. Something-something birthday party, something-something dead kids.

(Be thankful they never elaborate on that.)

Afton ended up a victim of his own monstrosity, meeting a gruesome, ironic "end" inside a version of the Spring Bonnie animatronic, one that doubles as a suit via the internal framework being suspended by sensitive "spring locks". But that didn't stop him for long.

There's a thing in this franchise called "remnant," wherein an inanimate object can be infused with intense emotions, especially agony, and if the object has a thinking brain -- as a robot might -- it can gain a life of its own, maybe even sentience. (It's basically a technobabble explanation for haunted puppets.)

The tale of Afton's family slowly unfolds in the background of these games:

William's neglected, unnamed wife, only hinted at in the figure of Ballora.

His daughter Elizabeth, whose curiosity led her to be the victim of a new animatronic named Baby.

His well-meaning eldest son, Michael, who set out to atone for his past mistakes by helping his father's victims find peace (we play as him in the first three games).

And the youngest, unnamed son, known only as "The Crying Child" by lore keepers (though there are numerous hints in the games and books that his name may turn out to be Evan). He loved the Faz characters and even had a cherished Golden Freddy doll, but he saw something at the pizzeria that made him scared out of his mind. Scared of the security guard, and of the golden animatronics.

Thanks to a misguided prank by Michael, the boy's skull was broken by the Golden Freddy animatronic, and he eventually died. Unlike the others, he died in a bed, perhaps in his own home, safe, but tormented in his dreams. Someone -- presumed by many to be Afton -- promised to put the boy back together, but his soul latched onto Golden Freddy, regardless, and nothing more came of that.

Then there's the secondary tale of Afton's partner, Henry, the genius roboticist who created most of the animatronics and advanced tech for Fazbear Entertainment. Little is known about him, save that he had a daughter named Charlie. She was one of Afton's earliest victims and in his grief, Henry built her new animatronic bodies so she could have the life that was stolen from her.

***(The books elaborate on Charlie and introduce the concept of life-like, human animatronics that don't know they're animatronic.) Unfortunately, Charlie's soul had latched onto a security puppet instead and continued to suffer. She did what she could to help the future victims of William Afton, but little could be done to stop him.

In the end, Henry decided to end everyone's misery by gathering all the animatronics together inside an abandoned pizzeria and burning it down, to release their spirits from the remnant inside. This could've been the end of the story. It should've been. It was supposed to be. But it didn't end. And Afton always finds a way to come back.

**** a.) In FNAF's VR games, we learn that some part of Afton's consciousness latched onto the circuitry of the pizzeria's computers that later got scanned to recreate the show performances for the VR game, thus manifesting in the game as a dude in a golden bunny suit, ("Glitchtrap"). All of this was at the behest of someone in the upper echelons of Fazbear Entertainment, which is still, somehow, a corporate entity.

During the beta testing phase, Glitchtrap merged with and dominated the minds of some of the dev team, including a man named Jeremy, who seems to have cut his own face off as a result, and an unnamed young beta tester. She goes on to make a bunny suit of her own.

b.) The book series ("Fazbear Frights") fills in all sorts of gaps in the lore and covers a lot of ground, but one constant theme in the stories is of animatronics swapping places with regular people in all kinds of ways. This is similar to the consciousness-swapping in the VR game when Glitchtrap tries to escape the program through the player. This establishes the idea that Afton Robotics has developed the technology to transfer consciousness.

In the Alternate Reality Game, "Special Delivery," you find emails between game developers hinting that a woman called "Nessa" is being manipulated /bullied /svengali'd into helping Glitchtrap.

And now you're finally up to date with Security Breach.

** We collect all kinds of messages from duffels over the course of the game, some revealing Vanessa was hired as night guard despite having no experience because her recommendation came from the very top. There are hidden CDs in the game you can listen to in a secret room, recordings of Vanessa's therapy sessions with employee councilors, revealing that her father's name is "Bill," that he manipulated her as a child to make false allegations against her mother in the midst of a custody battle, and it's implied her mother was thought to have committed suicide as a result of those allegations.

At the end of the game, we also find out Vanny's been living in a corner of the basement of the complex and has been tasked by Glitchtrap with resurrecting his broken old body. He also seems to have her building a giant mega-zord out of what's left of the old possessed animatronics. One of the endings you get suggests that Vanny and Vanessa are separate people, while other lore suggests they're one and the same. So what's the truth? Only time will tell.

#fnaf #security breach #spoilers #fnaf spoilers #meta #long post

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luxshine · 2 years

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Random musings about Moon Knight 5

PLEASE do me a favor everyone and read the Lemire's run.

Like, seriously. This episode? PRETTY much Lemire's run with a twist and the man DESERVES the royalties that I am sure Disney is not paying him.

I loved Taweret. She is perfect, she is great, and I want her in the comics and as a plushie and as a funko and yes. I stan the goddess of the cue cards.

Also, someone give Oscar Isaac ALL the awards. This episode? PERFECTION. Chef Kiss. The interaction with himself? PEFECT. And that last two scenes? CRYING MY EYES OUT.

I was a BIT worried when I saw they gave Marc a younger brother, but then, I understand why his original reason for the did wouldn't quite fly for Disney +. YEs, the abusive mother was horrifying -in the comics, their mother is a lot nicer. It's their father, who happens to be a rabbi, the one who can't quite deal with the knowledge that now he has two sons in one body when Steven first appears. Then again, in the comics, when Steven first appears, he does so as Marc's Imaginary friend, and it's not until much later when they... uhmm.. merge/unmerge? This is complicated. - but it's a LOT better than "neighbor is a hidden nazi who abuses children and Marc's father knew so Marc created a friend to protect him from that knowledge after he was a victim of said abuse" for the platform in question.

Dr. Harrow was PERFECT. And I kind of like him being completely clueless, even if I know he's just a figment of Marc/Steven's imagination right now.

I missed Khonshu's voice! But yeah, Steven is right. Khonshu is a manipulative prick!

Last scenes had me crying. Especially as the roles changed and Steven became the protector -and, as he accepted he was the alter and not the original- sacrificed himself in a way to save Marc. Not that I think Marc will stand for it. I mean, it's Moon Knight, and Moon Knight is not Moon Knight without the three alters, current run of the comics AND lack of Jake in the TV series nonwithstanding.

Which is the ONLY thing I am really angry/worried about. We have ONE episode left (And Oh, they BETTER give us a second season. We all deserve more amazing Oscar Isaac in our screens), and we have YET to see Jake. I am FAR more worried about that than about Ammit because I KNOW Steven/Marc/Khonshu will defeat Ammit in time for Multiverse of Madness/Loki season 2, but if JAKE doesn't appear for episode 6 AND we don't get a season 2? then Jake doesn't officially exist in the MCU and I don't like that. Sure, I am loving how much we're getting of Steven/Marc and their dynamic... but Jake is also part of the Moon System and he shouldn't be left out.

Plus, they hinted at him WAY back in episode 2 and THIS would've been a perfect time to introduce him just showing a room with a memory neither Steven nor Marc recognized!

OTOH... well, yeah, I admit, this episode was REALLY heavy, and adding JAke to the mix would've made it either less impactful or more complicated and why the hell do we don't have 12 episodes instead of six?!

(Oh, also, WHERE the hell is Frenchie? The second unbalanced soul kinda sorta looked like him in the comics, but I doubt it was him. Marvel doesn't do Jimmy Olsen in Snydercut idiocy with well known side characters. I mean, we got CROWLEY as a character here!)

#Moon knight #Steven Grant #Marc Spector #Khonshu #Taweret #Great writing #Dr. Harrow #Steven Grant is my husbando #And they better rescue him from the Duat

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robbyswayzekeenes · 3 years

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fuck up our friendship━ eli moskowitz imagine

eli moskowitz x fem!reader

set after the party in 2x09, pretty wholesome with admitting feelings but also angst bc the reader is tryna be friends with both eli and demetri and it is NOT going well

Once the police busted the party, Y/N knew she had to find Eli. The girl was a Miyagi-Do student, and she knew full well that Sam and Robby would not appreciate her going to find her oldest friend and Cobra Kai’s number one asshole, but the pair were having their own issues, so it was unlikely they would find out. Y/N and Eli had been friends since the girl moved to the Valley at the start of freshman year. She wasn’t exactly a loser as someone like Yasmine or Kyler would word it, and many people never understood why she signed away her high school popularity to be friends with the two biggest dorks in school-- Demetri and Eli-- but she wouldn’t have wanted anybody else. Demetri and Eli had been best friends since kindergarten, and the h/c slotted into the group perfectly. They may have had it pretty bad at school, but they had each other.

Then, two years later, at the start of their junior year, karate came back to the Valley. Whilst Y/N and Demetri had always been seemingly content with living their lives as losers, apparently Eli didn’t feel the same. It wasn’t the mohawk or the new name they particularly had a problem with, or his newfound popularity that bothered them. It was the way he went about getting it. Hawk was becoming the very person he had always hated. Both of his best friends knew this wasn’t the person he really was, but when Demetri had addressed this, Eli declared an all out war against him. So now Y/N was left as the middle-man, trying to care for both of her best friends and bring them back together without choosing a side. And neither of them made it easy.

Tonight, at Moon’s party, Y/N had been so hopeful. The two sat talking about Doctor Who whilst the girl stood beside Robby and Sam, sipping her drink and pretending she wasn’t listening in to what Demetri and Eli were talking about. She allowed herself to get distracted for one moment to talk with Robby about skateboarding and suddenly, Eli was pouring his drink all over Demetri’s head. With a shameful sigh, Y/N walked over to the two, handing paper towels to the dark haired boy and raising her eyebrows at Eli. The red haired boy gave her a sheepish, apologetic smile before wandering off to join the other Cobras.

In all fairness, Hawk had it coming when Demetri stood up on that stage with the mic in his hand, but the brown eyed boy didn’t need to take it that far. Watching from where she stood with the other Miyagi-Dos, her e/c eyes flitted between Eli and Demetri. It pained the girl to watch her two best friends fight, but it hurt more knowing she was watching her best friend and the boy she was in love with attempt to tear each other’s heads off. Y/N had developed the biggest crush on Eli in their sophomore year, and everybody knew it except the boy in question. Demetri knew it, too, which was why initially he was so hesitant to launch an attack against his best friend, no matter how much he deserved it. But that night, he hadn’t held back.

Once the cops pulled up outside, everything descended into chaos. Her eyes met with Demetri’s, which were filled with remorse, and he nodded at her. “Go find him. Make sure he’s okay.” Y/N offered the boy a small smile in return. She knew Demetri still cared for Eli, and Eli still cared for Demetri. It was just Hawk who appeared not to. Rushing out the house so as not to get caught by the police, the h/c found Eli walking out the back of the house alone. The rest of the Cobras weren’t around, which reassured Y/N, but only slightly. “Eli!” She called, causing his head to swing around, his blue eyes catching hers. “What do you want? Come to humiliate me even more?” “Eli,’ The girl breathed in response, sounding exasperated as she caught up to him. “You know I wouldn’t do that.” “I didn’t think Demetri would, either,” He responded, allowing Y/N to see how hurt he really was. “And I didn’t think you would attack him when we were at the mall the other day. Or pour beer on his head.” Eli let out a sigh-- he was Eli now he was around Y/N. She was the only person he trusted enough to let his newfound guard down around.

“I’ve told you this before, Y/N,” The red haired boy said with a sigh. “Demetri chose his side. He went against us. Against Cobra Kai.” “I don’t need to hear it again, Eli,” The h/c haired girl huffed. “I’m just here to make sure you’re okay. Cobra Kai or not, you’re my best friend. I care about you, and so does Demetri.” “Whatever,” The boy exhaled, but he still allowed Y/N to walk the rest of the way home with him, and even come in when he opened the door and headed inside. “Mom isn’t home,” Eli spoke, closing the door and flicking off his shoes, “She’s on night shift tonight.” “Good job I’m here then,” Y/N nodded, knowing how much the blue eyed boy hated being alone. Eli didn’t say anything in response, just smiled smally.

Any alcohol consumed at the party that evening had begun to wear off, as Eli and Y/N sat on the couch in the front room. The silence was awkward for the first few moments; it always was now that there was a clear divide pushing the two apart, but both of them more than anything wanted to stay close. As much as Y/N’s crush on Eli was clear as day (to everyone other than him), the boy’s reciprocated feelings were much better hidden, especially with his new Hawk facade. However, Cobra Kai had thrown in the spanner in the works, and any chance the boy may have had with his best friend was seemingly gone. Yet, every few nights the girl would still come over and spend time with Eli, alternating the time she used to spend with both her best friends.

Eventually, the awkwardness faded, and the two would begin to speak about anything and everything they hadn’t caught up on, considering they had spent most of the summer apart at their separate dojos. An hour or so past, taking the time up to midnight, before Eli invited Y/N to stay the night like she had many times before. The h/c hastily agreed, and followed Eli upstairs to his bedroom, yawning quietly due to exhaustion. Once they made it up, her e/c eyes widened. “What the fuck happened in here?” The once blue walls, littered with posters, were now red and bare. A punching bag stood where a fake TARDIS used to be, and there wasn’t a funko pop in sight, which was not at all like Eli Moskowitz. The bedsheets were just plain black, rather than Star Wars themed, but when the h/c craned her neck, there were still small, glow-in-the-dark stars littered across the ceiling. “I redecorated,” Was all Eli said, flopping down on his bed.

Y/N flopped down beside him. “I think I preferred the Doctor Who merch,” The girl admitted honestly, causing Eli to look at her with wide eyes. “Did you know the new Doctor was female?” “Of course,” The h/c smiled, “Me and Demetri still watch every Friday night.” At the mention of this, Eli’s face fell, causing Y/N to frown. “You know he didn’t really want to hurt you tonight,” The girl sighed, attempting to lock eyes with Eli who was staring down at his fidgeting fingers. “It was a shitty thing to do, but you’ve both done shitty things to each other.” She continued her speech, becoming more and more passionate as she spilled her frustration out to Eli: “Do you know how hard it is for me to watch my two best friends fight with each other? Over something as petty as a fucking karate dojo! I know that I can’t stop you two fighting and the best I can do is try and maintain the middle ground, because the last thing I want to do is choose between my best friend and the others at Miyagi-Do, and the boy I’ve had feelings for since forever.”

Y/N’s voice began to fade out as she calmed down, but Eli was still staring at her, seemingly in shock. Noticing how panicked the boy looked, the girl’s face softened. “I’m sorry for yelling, Eli, I-” “You said you had feelings for me.” His voice was deadpan, showing no emotions as his blue eyes bore into Y/N. The girl’s mouth opened and closed in shock. “I- Maybe I said that. Accidentally. Maybe-” “You have feelings for me?” Eli spoke again, and for a second, he sounded like Eli, like the person he was before all this karate shit took over. With a sigh, the girl nodded. “Congratulations. You’re officially the last person to know.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” The boy asked, his eyes wide. “I don’t know,” The girl shrugged. “Guess I didn’t wanna fuck up our friendship, but I guess karate’s doing that for us.” Y/N’s e/c eyes chose to rest on the bed sheets beneath her instead of on Eli as he responded. “Well, what if I want to fuck up our friendship?” At this comment, however, the girl’s eyes shot up, just in time for Eli to place his hand on her chin and placed his lips against hers.

She was shocked at first, but Y/N soon kissed back, placing her hands on the boy’s face to pull him closer. The girl felt him smile into the kiss as he rolled himself closer, wrapping a hand round her waist to draw her in. “I’ll fuck up our friendship a hundred times over if it means I can do that again,” Y/N smiled, resting her forehead against his. Eli kissed her once again, softly, before saying: “For the record, I like you, too. I’m surprised Demetri didn’t tell you.” “That rat!” Y/N exclaimed, though she wasn’t really annoyed. “I’m going to kill him!” “Right now?” Eli asked, quirking his eyebrow with a cocky smirk. “Hm, maybe not,” The girl grinned, biting her lip and pulling the boy closer. “I think I’ll just stay here and kiss you.”

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wondersofdreaming · 3 years

Text

Show Night

Characters: Henry Cavill x female reader

Word count: 1.446

Warnings: Pure fluff. Competitiveness. Blurting. Hidden relationship. A little teasing. Embarassment.

Author’s note: This is a prequel to Game Night

Thank you @radaofrivia for your inspiration, motivation and for guiding me <3

Go read her stories here: Rada’s Masterlist

Divider by @firefly-graphics

I do not own any characters in this short story, except the reader who is a figment of my imagination.

MASTERLIST

Feedback is appreciated.

“Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special treat for all of you. We have the entire Justice League here with us. Please give a warm welcome to Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher and Ezra Miller.”

The entire audience clapped. There were whistling, some were screaming at the top of their lungs. You were cheering just as loud. Watching your handsome boyfriend walk out and wave to everyone. A relaxed smile spread on his lips when his eyes landed on you.

You were at the Graham Norton show. Sitting on the front row. No one knew who you were except the man who owned your body, heart, and soul, and now also Graham Norton and his crew. The producers had wanted you to stay backstage, but you had been adamant on wanting to sit in the audience and watching the show live. They had relented in the end if you promised not to cause a ruckus, which you had sworn.

Graham starts asking questions about the Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and at some point the engagement ring for Amy Adams’ character ‘Lois Lane’ comes into the conversation.

“Did you in fact choose that ring yourself, Henry?” Graham asked and motioned to the monitor behind him, showing a closeup of the ring.

“I didn’t. I actually have no clue where it comes from,” Henry chuckled, his eyes searching for you. You could see he was a little nervous, as he was fiddling with the hem of his suit jacket. You put your hand on your chest and crossed your fingers.

It was your secret sign for him. A sign of your devotion to him, as you had promised to always be there for him. The idea came to you while watching your favourite anime show ‘Fairy Tail’.

“If you ever become nervous or need a reminder, then look towards me or the camera if I am not there. I will you show you this sign,” you had crossed your fingers over your heart, “Even if you can’t see me, no matter how far away you may be, I will always be watching over you.”(1)

It had been a day where Henry had had a long day filled with interviews right at the beginning of your relationship. He hadn’t wanted to ask you to come, which was the reason why you hadn’t attended, thinking he wanted to work in peace. He proceeded to come home and went directly for your lap, falling asleep in 0.2 seconds, and you had asked him to bring you with him to work, as you, an author, could work anywhere.

“… I think it is about time he finds himself a girlfriend, a woman to spend his life with,” Jason’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. You looked up to see Henry squirming more than before. His jaw was tense as he was forcing a laugh. You felt his pain and wished you could sit next to him and squeeze his hand in yours.

“I have a lot of single friends, Supes. Say the word and I’ll introduce you,” Jason smacked Henry’s thighs with the biggest grin on his bearded face. It may have sounded like a joke to the audience but Henry knew that Jason wasn’t teasing.

“I don’t think my girlfriend will like that you’re playing matchmaker, brother,” Henry smiled. All the actors’ faces fell, even Jason was gobsmacked as his jaw dropped to the floor.

Then Henry noticed what he had just said. His head turned towards you with a look of utter shock. He had just blurted out that he wasn’t single anymore, without having consulted you. Your heart was racing, your secret had been revealed. In some way, it felt like a heavy stone having been lifted from your shoulders.

You didn’t know whether to scold him for not asking you to make your relationship public or to laugh at the horror he was sporting on that handsome face of his. You opted for the second choice, the people around you followed suit and started laughing and cheering.

“Well, you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen, Henry Cavill is officially off the market,” Graham announced to the camera. “Now, Henry, you have to tell us how you two met.”

“We… eh… met through mutual friends. They were having a game night, and we ended up being paired together for charades,” Henry smiled at the memory. Looking at you, making you fall even more in love with him. Jason and the others noticed where Henry was looking and started shouting for you to join the group.

“Oh yes, please she must join us for the next part of the fun,” Graham pleaded.

Ray and Ezra both stood and went to stand at the edge of the stage. Each man gallantly offered a hand, which you took and was led towards the sofa. Jason moved to make space for you and was wearing a big grin, his eyes shining with glee.

After the rounds of introduction and you told what your occupation was, Graham went to introduce the little quiz game he had conjured. You were each given a button that made a sound. Yours sounded like a pig snorting, while Henry’s was a howling wolf.

“So, the winner gets to take home whatever is underneath this piece of cloth,” Graham said after he had told you the rules. He motioned to the covered box next to him.

“Everyone ready?” he asked. All the actors and yourself said yes. Henry was leaning a little forward, to be ready to push his button.

“First question: Who are the original members of the Justice League?”

You pushed your button faster than anyone, while Henry pushed his so hard it nearly flew off the table.

“Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Superman and Green Lantern,” you told Graham. (2)

“Go girly,” Gal cheered for you. She leaned forward and raised her hand for a high five, which you returned.

“Correct! Question number two: What is the Green Lantern oath?”

*Oink oink*

Again you were the fastest. Everyone watched as Henry let out an annoyed huff, but his face showed nothing but absolute happiness.

“In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil’s might Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light. (3)” You quoted.

You felt the other actors starring at you. Jason gave you a side hug and told you that Henry had found not only a beautiful woman but also an impressive one and that he was damn lucky to have you. You had smiled back and felt yourself being pulled back towards Henry’s side. He held a protective arm around you the remaining of the show.

“Seriously, Cavill. Don’t want to compete with your girl?” Jason asked teasingly.

“I’ll gladly just lean back and let her have her time in the light. Besides, I’m already winning because she’s with me,” Henry smiled proudly at you. You heard the entire audience all go ‘awwwwwwwww’, so did the actors and Jason went between you and Henry to hug both of you.

“Third question: In what year was the first Justice League comic book published?”

Again you were quick to push the button.

“Depending on whether you’re talking about the first time they appeared all together which was in The Brave and the Bold #28 (4) and published in 1959, while their very first own comic book series was published in late 1960.” (5)

Henry raised his eyebrows, clearly dazzled by your vast knowledge.

“Correct again. Seems you know more about the Justice League than the Justice League itself,” Graham joked.

“I didn’t expect anything less from Superman’s girlfriend,” Ben said with an appreciative grin.

You felt Henry moving closer to you, hugging you tighter to his chest. It was the safest you had ever felt, and even though Henry hadn’t gotten one single point, he was still oozing happiness. Happy to have you by his side forever and ever.

“Here is what you’ve won,” Graham handed you the box and removed the cloth. Inside was Funko Pop figurines of every Justice League member.

After the show, you made sure that every single actor signed their respective figure, and you had pictures taken with them to remember the evening.

At home, you arranged the figures with how they look on the poster you had hung on the wall of your office.

“Another win for the team,” you said out loud. Henry walked in and hugged you from behind. He wrapped those big arms around your middle and whispered seductively in your ear:

“I’m the real winner here.”

1. This is a line from Fairy Tail episode 48 by Makarov Dreyar. I changed it a bit to fit the context.

2. Source https://ew.com/books/brief-history-of-the-justice-league-in-all-its-incarnations/

3. Source https://greenlantern.fandom.com/wiki/Lantern_Oaths_(Disambiguation)

4. Source https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/The_Brave_and_the_Bold_Vol_1_28

5. Source https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Justice_League_of_America_Vol_1_1

#Henry Cavill #This man #I need a drink #Jason Momoa #That man #Justice League #Gal Gadot #Ben Affleck #Ray Fisher #Ezra Miller #Graham Norton #Game Night #Show Night #My story #Fanfiction #henry cavill fanfic

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

Talespin: Plunder and Lightning Review: Spin It! (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people! SPIN IT, HO HO HO HO LET’S BEGIN IT, as it’s FINALLY time to talk about TaleSpin, what I consider to be the best of the Disney Afternoon’s funny animal stuff (Gargoyles is in a class by itself and thus I feel it’s unfair to judge what i’ve seen of that against everything else) I still love me some Darkwing Duck and to a point the original DuckTales and I haven’t tried Chip N Dale yet but out of the three TaleSpin just alwasy spoke to me. While as I admitted in a recent house of mouse review i’ve never been all that attached to the Jungle Book, it’s weird AU spinoff where Baloo is a devil may care seaplane pilot, has a loveable kid sidekick, works for the bear version of Rebecca from Cheers, takes care of her adorable kid, goofs around at Louie’s bar and deals with wacky air pirates and a badass buisness version of shre kahn whose funko sits lovingly between my ones for kingpin and ash williams? Sign me the fuck up.

I admit i’ve only watched a handful of the show, but it’s always a delight to enjoy and I kick myself for not having watched more. So getting paid by Kev to revisit the pilot was a treat and paid for my nieces birthday present. It’s a two fer. Thanks Kev! If you’d like to comission your own reviews please hit up my ask box or patreon.

Plugs now out of the way there’s another special reason i’m spinning into this show besides sheer love for it: see Kev has, for almost the entire time he’s been comissoining stuff, wanted me to review the Disney Adventures 5 part comic “Legend of the Chaos God”, which took all 5 of the main Disney Afternoon Shows, Talespin, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Ducktales and Darkwing Duck, and crossed the mover.. sadly not all at once , as far as I know no one from any of the shows crosses into the others, but all facing the same deadly foe. The catch was he also wanted me to wait till i’d reviewed the pilots of each show since I was accidently slowly doing that: I did darkwing duck last year, and ducktales and goof troop this year for a patreon stretch goal. So he graciously agreed to comission the last two and then chaos god since I had some space between his weekly reviews before his next paid retrospective in october... if your curious.

So be ready for that. Point is it’s time to delve into the last two bits of the Disney Afternoon before we get to one of it’s most famous magnum opuses so join me under the cut as I spin it, begin it and bear and grin it because you can only win it when you spin it spin it spin it and take a look at the four part pilot of talespin!

Behind the Scenes:

I don’t have as much making of stuff as I did for Goof Troop but the story of Talespin is still engagingly nuts.

See series creators Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove were tasked with coming up with a new show for The Disney Afternoon. As the deadline approached though they had nothing.... so Magon, thinking about how the Jungle Book had been recently re-released, thought “hey what about something with Baloo since kids like him and he’s a good character’. This quickly escalated as, since aeiral hyjinks and cargo delivery had done well when it copped up on ducktales, why not have a whole series about pilots, base it in an area much like the then recent adventure show tales of the gold monkey, a 30′s and 40′s archapelgo full of adventure, and the rest is history.

They built up from there giving him an impressionable kid to be a half-assed parent too in Kit, a foil in Rebecca (who they modelded after Rebecca from Cheers), added in a cutsey little girl because network, and wildcat based on a drunk pilot from a film i’ve never heard of. Shere Kahn was later added as a buisnessman, Louie as the propeiter of a neutral zone bar, and Kaa and bashera were told to fuck off they don’t need them. I actually don’t know why the two never showed up in Talespin, they may of just not had room I don’t know, though a pilot resembling the latter does show up in the first episode.

So with that out of the way let’s take off

Part One:

Part one opens with a daring raid on a Pilot working for Shere Kahn by the ruthless Sky Pirates lead by the fearsome Don Karnage

Close.. it’s the ORIGINAL Don Karnage, father of this one. Yeah Tailspin is one of two cases in DuckTales 2017 where instead of rebooting the concept from the ground up, they just outright say “the original show happened in some form”. So much like Goof Troop ALL of this is likely canon to DuckTales 2017 at most simply being updated here and there to account for being set 25-7 years in the past of present day, meaning it took place in the mid90s instead of the 30s.

Karnage was after a small box and successfully takes it.. only to loose it to a young member of his crew, one Kit Cloudkicker who sasses him before running off and then cloudkicking his way out of the ship, i.e. using a custom board to navigate the clouds.

He ends up at Louie’s. As mentioned Louie’s is a neutral zone for the various forces of the Tailspin Universe, where pilots can come to relax, have some TOTALLY NOT ALCHOHLIC JUICE, and party down with Louie, based on King Louie but no longer wanting to conquer the world in a sea of fire. That we know of, for all I know he’s buildling a massive flamethrower in the back and it backfiring is why he didn’t show up in Ducktales 2017. We don’t know Louie’s life. Point is it’s here we meet our other hero, Baloo, who honestly hasn’t changed mcuh: he’s still about havin ga good time, avoiding responsiblity and what not, ik’ts just here instead of being understandable because bear, he comes off as a slacker 30 something year old man who needs to grow up slightly. Basically the Jake Peralta of the skies.

So naturally here comes a little 10 year old moppet to warm his heart and change his life.. instead of an elderly gay black man who becomes his new dad. Look everyone has their path in life, I can’t help if Baloo got the short end of the stick.

Baloo however not only takes to the kid interupting his groove well, but protects him from a random asshole and instantly adopts the kid> That is the second fastest adoption i’ve seen in animation history. The first well...

Look no one beats donald at rage, self pity, sucking at life or adopting children. It just can’t be done.

Baloo gladly takes the kid with him even when the pirates come, with Kit stashing the loot and making a daring escape. .as you do. Our heroes escape, and Baloo takes Kit back home with him.

What I like about this episode is that it shows off BOTH sides of baloo easily: it shows how carefree he is at first, but also shows how, kind, warm and loving he is with his rescue of kit.. and then shows what a mess of a person he is by showing his messy home. Just like you could see what a mess of a person I am just by looking at my room. It’s just how life works. But Baloo’s got bigger issues than clutter as he has tons of unpaid bills and notices of said bills.. which comes to roost when a weird little man tells him he has till the end of the day to pay said bills, which he’s ignored by not going home for several weeks a solid strategem, or they’ll take his plane, aka the only thing he’s cared about in life up to an hour ago.

So to save Baloo’s plane wife he needs to take a job, as he’s a work for hire seaplane pilot. And to get the money needed to not loose his baby, he needs to take the worst and most lucative job avaliable: transporting gorilla birds, noisy super loud birds that don’t shut up. So imagine a plane full of the Three Cablleros version of Daisy, and you understand the hell our heroes are dealing with.

But the pirates attack, and have been attacking with baloo finally putting two and two together....

Oh and that their clearly after Kit for some reason. Still that’s tabled as Kit gets sore that Baloo cares so much about his plane getting damaged and runs off.

I mean it’s just kinda there to create conflict. It’s not the most guilty of it in this pilot but still.

So Baloo goes after him, lettnig the birds get loose and loosing his job if it means saving his buddy, a father and son relationship is forged and our heroes escaped. Baloo finally confronts kit about his treasure and after some incredulity finds out it’s a jewel.. and thus he could buy a whole FLEET of planes with that kind of money.

Before we move on i’m saving the voice actor introductions for the end of the first two episodes, both for time’s sakes.. and because I forgot to thread them throughout the first episode.

So Baloo is played by Ed Gilbert. They tried to get Baloo’s original voice actor, but the man’s age had affected his timing and it would be hard to get him out where they were recording so they let him enjoy retirement and brought in Gilbert. Gilbert is a minor voice actor having done some supporting rolls but is best known for this one... and for his work in etemology in which he descovered a new form of Beetle. I’m entirely serious, and find it a very notable and noble persuit good for you dude.

Kit is voiced by RJ Williams, who was a child actor but went on to be more of a mogul owning a bunch of media companies. Again good for him , but a genuine suprise.

Don Karnage and Louie are voiced by the one the only Jim Cummings who had it in his contract back then to show up in every disney series at the time: He voiced El Capitain in DuckTales, Montery Jack in Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers for the pilot i’ll be covering later this week and seasons 2 and 3 replacing Peter Cullen, Darkwing Duck as his breakout role and of course Pete in every disney production from Goof Troop until the day he dies. He also did some smaller work for gargoyles just in case you thought he missed one of the big ones. I frankly miss the days when he showed up in every disney show that came out and hope he appears in owl house or amphibia before both shows end this year.

Part 2:

So naturally having an instant solution to his problems... Baloo instead naps all day and wakes up to the new owner barging into his house. I’d mock him more but I also sleep all the damn time so glass houses, throw stones, you get it.

The new owner is Rebecca Cunningham, a naive go getting young woman whose trying to make something of the buisness and thus sunk all her money into a plane and the shop, so she also owns baloo’s house/office. She brings along with her her adorable as a button daughter Molly, who instantly endears herself to Baloo. Baloo also introduces Becky and the audience to his mechanic to get her goat, Wildcat, a scatterbrained cat who nonetheless is a mechanical genius and proves himself despite Becky’s skpeticisim. He was based on an alcholic pilot from some film i’ve never heard of, and knowing that puts Wild cat in a whole other light.

While Baloo is getting a rude awakening, we cut breifly to Kahn industries where we meet the best part of this already great show, Shere Fucking Kahn. In the movie if I undrestand right he was a powerful, cunning, nightmarish villian. Here he’s still every bit as pants crappingly intimidating and using an heir of class to mask it slightly, some things never change.. but is now instad of king of the jungle, king of cape suzette, owning countless companies, being richer than god himself, and being far from helpless in a fight.. he just rarely has to get his hands dirty. He’s a wild card: sometimes he’ll be the obstacle our heroes need to overcome, other times he’ll be their client, sometimes he’ll be int he middle like he is here, not HELPING them but not actively against them neither, just a force of nature that helps move the plot along and looks damn fine in a suit.

So while we wait to find out what it is, our heroes first have to go get it, bullshitting rebecca by agreeing to tow the line and what not, while really planning on darting to louies during thei rnext job to fetch the gem, have Louie apraise it, cash it in somehow, then come back with a succesful job done AND the money to buy the plane back. This does miss some steps such as “what if rebecca dosen’t WANT to sell the plane” and “how will they sell it” and “what if she gets supecious with the time”, but if planning ahead was something Baloo could do well, he wouldn’t have to buy his plane back in the first place.

They soon find an unexpected complication, Molly who not only stowed away on the Sea Duck but also threateans to rat them out if they go back right away. Not having a choice and with Louie’s being safe enough as it’s not happy hour nor baloo’s week to get blackout drunk, our heroes head back. There they have Louie appraise it. And let’s face it this isn’t the weirdest thing he’s appraised.

He finds out it’s artifical which should be an issue.. except the box says Kahn Industries so they can make a tidy sum giving it back to the guy.

After the fact their persued by the pirates who haven’t given up just yet. A scuffle insues, and Baloo cleverly uses their cargo, a bunch of fruit as child friendly ammo since sadly you coudln’t flame thrower a wolf to death back then. Now though stabbin a child, aging a guy to death, showing glomgold shirtless i’ts the thunderdome, they’d let Baloo put a grenade in one of the pirates mouth and pull the pin out. It’s awesome.

So with that Baloo returns home and naturally gets dressed down by Rebecca, but Molly covers for them, botha dmitting to stowing away and that baloo saved her, bonding the group. So they settle in for the night and it’s all wholesome but Baloo and Kit sneak awya, leaving the gem in molly’s doll.

Shere Khan.. is a man of honor and reason and thus isn’t put off by them not having the jewel on them, as he gets negotiations, and is willing to pull a dumptruck of money up to baloos house for his services. Baloo is naturally exastic goes back.. and finds the place ransacked. See this is why you take the jewel with you and just hide it under the boy’s hat or something. Less kidnappings that way.

Okay quick voice actor breakdown

Rebecca is played by Sally Struthers , best known by me as Babette from the Gilmore Girls, but also known for all in the family and dinosaurs. The fact I coudln’t recognize it was her speaks to her talent as an actress and voice actress, though weirdly this and Dinosaurs are her only starring voice works.

Molly was voiced by Janna Micheals, a child actor whose since retired and hasn’t done a lot of note outside of this. She was in Bushwacked so.. that’s something.

Wildcat was voiced by Pat Fraley, a va i’m less familiar with than most storied va’s but he’s got a hell of a career. Just looking at wikipdiea he has a giant list of credits, most for “additonal voice” and smaller parts but his vocal flair is notable. His biggest and most recontlizable role is as the TMNT 87 versions of Krang, Baxter Stockman and Casey Jones and he’s got my full respect. Anyone whose played Beta Ray Bill gets that automatically of course but Fraley gets it for being a workhorse in the buisness and a damn nice guy.

Finally we have a compete and utter legend in Tony Jay. If you grew up in the 80′s, 90′s or 2000′s, you know this voice. Even after you probably have. In addition to Kahn he’s the voice of Frollo, Megabyte, Galactus, Lord Dregg, Chairface Chippendale, The Magic Mirror, Dr. Lipschitz, Spiderus, Rex Smythe Higgens, and Lickboot. He’s also done live action work but my point is the man is the voice of my childhood and is sorely missed. No one could play a villian or narrate something quite like Tony.

Part 3:

Now back to our reguarlly scheduled pirates. So Baloo and Kit get to work trying to find their friends, with Kit’s past giving them an advantage as he knows something all of Cape Suzette dosen’t: where the pirates lair is. And it makes sense: if their lair were a known secret Kahn would’ve sent a battalion over to wipe them out by now. The show’s also clever in having it be under a waterfall so even know the heroes KNOW where it is, it’s not somewhere that can easily be bombarded: easy to exit, not so easy to enter, perfect hideout

We also get a great emotional scene with Kit as he explains his past: He was an orphan, left to fend for himself and joined the pirates because he had no where else to go, being utterly ashamed of being part of them. Baloo comforts the boy which is both heartwarming.. and makes what’s about to happen immensley frustrating.

So our heroes sneak in, rob some pirates for their clothes and disguise themselves, going in to save becky.. just as Becky flirts with a guard, takes him out, get shis keys and frees herself, because despite being a bit naive.. she’s still every bit as badass as her employee.

The two sneak around and find out the pirates big plan and plan for the jewel: the jewel as it turns out is a super battery, something that holds enough energy to power all of Kahn’s many buisnesses for free. The reason there’s only one is simple: it was expensive and harrowing enough to make ONE, the scientests reasonably feel, as they told kahn in an earlier scnee i glossed over, they can’t produce another.

Don Karnage plans to use it like any resonable man would: to make a giant LIGHTNING GUN and use it to fry the formidable defenses of Cape Suzette, a bunch of turrents kahn keeps staffed every hour that can blast apart any plane that isn’t welcome, as demonstrated in an earlier scene I genuinely forgot to mention because my memory is a styigian bog sometimes.

Cue a big musical number, which Cummings naturally nails with Desi Arnez flair, but sadly our heroes can’t escape the rythum or the pirates and get captured. Which brings us to the dumbest part of this 4 parter and the only real story cul de sac: With Karnage threatning Baloo and Rebecca, Kit makes a sacrifice: He puts on an act claming the other three mean nothing to them, he was just playing them the whole time and rips the head off molly’s doll to give it to karnage, givnig him the jewel back. This itself isn’t bad: Kit is forced to stay behind in a place he hates to save the people he loves and I buy that Karnage would buy it as Kit feeds into his own ego and frankly it gives hi mthe gem back so what does he care. Kit pushes away the people he loves.. to save them from his past and it’s heartrending.

See.. that’s not the dumb part. The dumb part is baloo FULLY buys the act. Hok line and sinker. Thinks Kit betrayed him and washes his hand of the boy depsite Rebecca INSTANTLY figuring kit didn’t betray them. And Kit.. just didn’t do enough to really sell it. if he’d really said something hurtful to baloo or done something bad but at most he called him a sucker and again, given context, it should be easy to figure out that you know, he was faking it to save their collective bearskin. Baloo is smarter than this and the pilot didn’t bother setting up any emotional baggage to make this credible.

It also spoils what SHOULD be the emotinal cliffhanger of the episode: Baloo buys the plane back, having both swiped the deed earlier and making sure to give becky some treasure as compensation showing he’s a good soul before flying off into the unknown. But instead of Baloo abandoning his future to embrace his carefree ways it comes off as an ass basically stealing a plane in the nicest way possible, abandoning a woman who wants to help him and her young child, and leaving a child in a cave because he bought a fucking 9 year olds ploy to save his fucking life.

Part 4: So we’re finally to the finale of this four part as the Air Pirates begin their assualt with the LIGHTNING GUN and decimate cape suzette, taking out the guns (the gunners flee for their lives because disney again wasn’t willing to get blood on it’s hands yet and deer blood didn’t count), and threatning to destroy the city.

In said city Rebecca is trying to find another pilot and comfort her child but finds herselft stuck in the storm instead. Kit’s no better off, stealing the gun’s gem the first chance he gets.. and getting caught meaning he’s on borrowed time till they catch him and skin him. And Baloo?

Burying his depression in a party hole the same way I do in a nintendo switch hole. Did you hear we got a castlevania advance collection today? Maybe once I can afford that it’ll help fill the void inside!

Anyways, kit sends a distress signal to whoever and Baloo FINALLY pull shis finger out of his ass, realizies “gasp” the child was lying to him to save his life and goes to save him with a daring aerial rescue and a heartwarming reunion.

Thankfully with that nonsense done we can get into the thick of it so Baloo can.... try to convince everyone to run away and let Cape Suzette burn to the ground.

It takes everyone else deciding no Baloo we won’t let people die and the city we all live in burn to a crisp to save our own asses, let’s save them. Rebecca being the only one of the team with a brain cell has a plan thoug: rubber! Since they have a bunch of tires from a cargo she was going to deliver, they can coat the Sea Duck in rubber, thus making it lightning proof, with everyone riding along

This being a cartoon that science does check out and our heroes are thus resitatn to Karnage’s best weapon, forcing him to rely on fighters which can’t outbadass a bear and thus crash. Still the heavy resitatnce forces Baloo to take drastic measures and our hero has the others bail out.. so he can dive bomb the lightning gun himself. As Shere Kahn elquonetly puts it, “Now that.. was a pilot”. Side note I want to fuck a tiger man.

So we get yoru standard death fakeout and while Baloo surivived, his common law wife didn’t and the sea duck is dead... until the next day where it’s been resotred, Becky having used the money and the druken cat what sleeps under baloo’s house to fix it... and kept ownership again. So Baloo agrees to stick around till he can buy it back, though even he dosen’t seem to buy that, and our heroes head off into the blue to have wild adventures for another 60 or so epsiodes till Kit eventuallyg rows up and this story repeats all over again only with more john caprentery-body horror and a bunch of ducks. But that’s a story for.. earlier this year.

Final Thoughts: Plunder and Lightning is an excellent pilot that fully sold me on the series both times. It’s adventerous, has some good slapstick, and sells just how great the cast is and introduces all of them perfectly and with good rythum, only taking two episodes to bring everyone in, much faster than both other 4-5 part piots and then letting them bond naturally enough to have an emotional connection. The anmation is fucking breathtaking, taking a page from the the Myazaki manga that would become the wonderful film Porto Rosco, seriously check it out it’s amazing and I will be covering it some day, and holds up shockingly well, the voice acting is top notch. Everything just comes together for a perfect storm of adventure, fun and awesome in the classic disney manor. The best of the pilots i’ve seen thus far. We’ll see with Gargoyles some day. Probably next year. Next time, some crimes slip through the crack, but these two, gumshoes, have your back. It’s c-c-hip n dale baby! If you enjoyed this review consider commisioning your own or checking out my patreon. It’s been a pleasure

#talespin #baloo #kit cloudkicker #rebecca cunningham #molly cunningham #danger woman #don karnage #don karnage sr #shere kahn #louie #king louie #the jungle book #disney plus #the disney afternoon #ducktales #furry

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maggyoutthere · 2 years

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FNaF Security Breach wasn't worth the wait and here's why

(analysis - spoiler free)

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[looks to the left]

[looks to the right]

Hi hello

I don't usually do this shit, but as I'm finally learning how to manage projects and have actual education on projects of this caliber, I feel confident enough to put my thoughts out there.

Again please remember this is someone's opinion on the internet and you don't need to go at eachother's throats on my notes 💕 so let us begin

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So I suppose after the massive success that was FNaF VR: Help Wanted, Scott kept his eye on this little indie studio that'd made it come true for later projects. After God knows how many books and little to no developments on an +5 year old movie announcement, and the cliffhanger of the Curse of Dreadbear DLC, the drop of a teaser image was the thing needed to get the fandom hyped again.

And oh boy did that work too well for its own good.

As per usual, the fnaf fandom torn apart everything they could get their hands on; from leaks coming from questionable accounts, to the source code inside now dead sites made to release teaser images. From the game growing out of proportion, passing through Scott getting canceled on Twitter.com and a literal global pandemic, the game had its announcements on Playstation Lives and reputable gaming networks, gathering more attention as it became more mainstream, more ambitious, more in general.

Two years of hype, too high expectations and poor leak control led to too much being known about the game. I will not blame this on the studios or Scott himself since almost 90% of the leaked content was done almost exclusively by Funko and their employees. Scott had been working with them for years at that point and nothing of this size had happened before. Thing is; he'd never done something of this size before either, and neither had Steel Wool Studios. A quick look at their gaming catalog reveals how SW had only worked on small indie titles that hadn't had as much coverage or fandom support as FNaF had. I suspect the success that was their first game with the franchise (FNaF VR) was an absolute ego -and possibly monetary- boost for the company. The pressure to outdo themselves was enormous, but I suspect so was the will of the staff to build upon what they'd created.

So, after 2 years of delays, the game was released

The first thing art teachers will tell you is to not bite more than you can chew when it comes to your work. Not to disregard your passion and drive for creating stories, but to measure what you're capable of regarding your assigned work.

Apparently people at Steel Wool had either forgot about this or were forced working more than what was planned. Was it the studio itself trying to outdo expectations, or Scott pushing the game too far? Probably a mix of both, but we won't be sure unless someone comes forward.

Like previously mentioned by Scott and the team themselves, the game turned out almost 10× bigger than what it was supposed to be. Presuming they're not talking about lines of code for the brand new systems and Nvidia's Ray Tracing technology, Security Breach went from an indie game to a Triple A project. That is incredibly concerning, as it does not only ramp up the studio itself, but every other facet of the big conglomerate of companies involved in the making of a single game. You'll have certain patrons and funders who did not agree to be part of such a big project dropping out, immense new standards being dropped on the marketing team, somany changes outside of the casual "only on Steam" passion project.

For the marketing side, I believe it went surprisingly well. Some veteran fans of the franchise might say that it was painful in the first year of production since so little was shown of the game. Truth be told, it was painful, but that's only because this game was still being treated as a FNaF game back then. While previously we had almost a game coming out every year with a single web page for teasers, FNAF SB was now a massive project, so it was treated as one. This was no longer a FNaF game; it was a BIG game. Marketing for both games and movies is usually started in the 3-4 months previous to the release date, even if one isn't available to the public yet. It gives time for merchandise to be sent out and displayed in stores preferably without being leaked first, for stores both online and physical to set up everything they need and list said games, etc. This would be the normal for a game made for a much bigger audience than just the fnaf fandom.

Unfortunately the game falls incredibly flat on its most important aspect: the gameplay itself. If you played or saw playthroughs of the game, I'm sure I don't need to tell you how incredibly broken this game is. These issues include but are not limited to: textures and lighting not loading, subtitles not matching with voice lines, characters and objects clipping or straight up disappearing through walls or other objects in the map, unfair AI, broken game mechanics, unfair and badly put together hitboxes, the game crashing out of nowhere, loopholes to get save files when you're not supposed to, etc. Of course, this falls back on the issue of Steel Wool biting more than what they could chew. And yes, they're cuttently working on patching it up with multiple updates fixing said bugs. However, I believe that if you're paying 30$ for a game, you're expecting it to work without having to wait for 5 patch updates in the next 2 months.

Funnily enough for those who are up with ⭐the lore,⭐ this game appears to not have been beta-tested at all.

TL;DR: FNaF Security Breach was clearly supposed to be smaller, was pushed to be 10 times bigger than what it was meant to be and because of that, it came out as an half-baked experience that wasn't worth 2 years of delays and 30 bucks

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#fnaf #five nights at freddys #five nights at freddy's #fnaf sb #fnaf security breach #security breach #scott cawthon #review #analysis #game #gaming #2021 #maggy moment #tw opinion #for the people in the back who'll want to tear my throat open

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ptw30 · 3 years

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Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event

Figured I’d pop back into Tumblr for a bit to give you my two and a half cents about the current Funko Pop! Blitz Voltron Event.

TL;DR: Totally a lot of fun. Loved the game...until parts of Seasons 3-8 dribbled into it.

Full rundown:

As you know, I’m all in for anything that has Black Paladin Shiro. So when I noticed the Voltron Event on Funko Pop! Blitz and saw Shiro from Seasons 1 and 2 was on it, I immediately downloaded the game.

I was not disappointed.

The game is a Bejeweled type game, which I’ve played on many a roadtrip. You get Pidge automatically, and then it’s the luck of the draw for who else you get - except Shiro.

Despite the fact that we only have Shiro for half the VLD series, of course we have to fight for him in this game, too. But I was able to put that behind me (though I was sad I couldn’t immediately play as my favorite character) because I assume he was set the exclusive reward to the event due to his popularity.

After about $30 in coins, I was able to get Pidge, Keith, and two Lances. I’ve played them all, and Lance was by far the most fun (before Shiro)!

Once Shiro shows up - about six hours of playing time for me - the game was almost perfect! I got see Shiro kick ass in Season 1-2 style, and it really brought back all the wonderful feelings I had for the early VLD seasons.

I really cannot express just how much fun this game is to play.

There’s a lot of hoops to learn, but once you get a handle on it, you fly through the levels. To get Shiro - you need to collect a lot of quintessence tubes, and to get more tubes, you can use coins to help you “buy” more characters or some enhancements in the game, like more time.

One of the best parts (and worst parts) is that you get to collect items that mean something to each character. Helmets, lions, bayards, including...

Shiro having the Black Baryard. YESSSS! I have been waiting more than five years for this!

The only part I had real issue with the game was, also, those paladin items. I was playing the second star items for Lance (before getting Shiro), and Season 3-8 content started to enter the game. On top of Lance’s Blue Bayard, one also collects his Red Bayard Sword - and that’s where I almost turned it off.

But I hadn’t won Shiro yet, so I continued. (And it really is so much fun playing as Shiro!)

For Kuron fans, Shiro’s power is...well, making clones.

I didn’t get that little tidbit originally, which...I’m not sure if I like that or not. Considering how the Clone dies and how the clones were never explained...it just drudged up a lot of negative emotions about that part of the series.

Overall - I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the game, especially once Shiro joined it, but I think I’ll stop before Shiro loses his lion and the game makes you collect Atlases for him or Black Lions for Keith. I had to watch my favorite character be cast aside once.

I really don’t want to go through that again.

#voltron #vld #shiro #black paladin shiro #funkopop #funkpop blitz #voltron salt #ptw30 rambles

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not-your-damsel · 3 years

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♥️💜♥️💜My Loves💜♥️💜♥️

These are some of the things I’ve accumulated so far of my all time fave babies from MHA. Yes, it’s mostly Shinsou. No, I cannot help myself. 🥺👉🏽👈🏽

*Click for higher res. I had to brighten up the pics because my cam was being an ass with the flash on for the more shinier acrylic charms and stand.

1. Currently the rubber charm dangling off my cellphone.

2. Will put the circular pin in my Ita bag when I buy one but the ones below it are dust plug charms I made to hang off my Nintendo Switch!

3. Showing you guys that the center charm is double sided (I adore that one… I adore ALL of them!)

4. Is what the back of my Nintendo Switch Lite looks like after I made it Shinsou themed a few months back. I plan on making all of them themed at some point.

5. Ok, I’ve seen that photo of Toshi e v e r y w h e r e. Never knew where I could get it, where to start, nothing. I was browsing AliExpress and it literally popped up out of the blue and I never purchased something so fast in my life and I want to get the others as well.

6.my first ever MHA Funko! Toshi stays on the entertainment center with Rick and Morty and my two favorite twin assassins from Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate’s Jacob and Evie Frye & lastly but never least, Ramona Flowers from my all time favorite movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (as well as the 6 volume comic series of it & the steel tin DVD case! My babies 🥺)

7. The very first official non Funko Hitoshi Shinsou figure to be released by Ichiban Kuji in Japan for the Go and Go lottery. I picked him up with the swiftness💨 cause you KNOW I had to have him, and even though he took forever getting here, baby’s home and also on the entertainment center with all my other characters and goth decor 🖤

8. The latest addition to the figure family… the sexiest yet most annoying daddy birb, Hawks. I got him… was it this month? 🤔 Yes, yes it was. I got him off Amazon for only $25 and I… ugh I loooove him too!! 😩 it’s so unfair! Funny story, when he got to me the box was pretty compact and I was like, “Huh? How big is this figure supposed to be?” Turns out, Keigo was basically dismembered in there 🤣 every part of his body - his head, torso, legs, wings, the feather blade he’s wielding, even the stand (not pictured), were all in separate baggies. I was dying with laughter while I put him together. This poor man has been through enough, they didn’t have to do him like that! 😂 Hell, it’s bad enough the damned stand has to be pushed into his ass for his holding pose. I- leave this poor pretty birdie alone please 🥺

I’m still deciding which figure to buy next month. Maybe Dabi? I also want the Dabi Funko as well with the flames out. I want all the MHA Funkos, all the Banpresto figures too. I’m gonna need a full on bookcase for that though 😯 uh oh.

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overthepopp · 2 years

Text

The Anticipation of a New Drop

Hey Funko fam!! I hope everyone has had a fantastic week… because I have not 🙃. Homework is piling up, work has been busy and life has just been hectic all around.

Usually when I am feeling stressed or upset, I try to cure myself with new Funko POPs. But there’s one thing that holds me back from just buying new POPs whenever I see them.

I like to buy all the POPs for a collection at once, if at all possible. That way instead of making a ton of purchases, I feel better because I’m only making one. (Even if that one is a lot of money…) Plus when I’m buying off a website like Funko.com, buying everything in one fell swoop means I am usually guaranteed free shipping.

Currently, I’m waiting on a new POP for this exact reason and the anticipation is KILLING me.

These are the newest POPs that are a part of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary collection. It features different iconic Disney characters riding in Tomorrowland’s People Mover train. It also includes Mickey Mouse in his outfit from the PhilharMagic attraction along with Captain Hook riding on a cart from the Peter Pan’s Flight attraction.

On the official Funko website, all of these POPs are available for purchase except for Mickey Mouse on the People Mover.

I want to buy them all sooo bad!

Getting that package at the door would bring a little joy into my life at a time where I might be more stressed than ever. Since Mickey isn’t available yet though, I just can’t bring myself to purchase any of them.

I can promise you though, as soon as I get notified that Mickey is available, I will be buying all of them. The anticipation up until that point though?

Pure. Torture.

I check the Funko site daily, just WAITING to see if I see that beautiful “Add to Cart” button. I feel like I check so often that it becomes obsessive, but I know I’m not the only one that does this.

I know there are plenty of other collectors out there that wait for a whole new set to drop before they buy. Which is why I need to stay on top of it, or else the figures I want might sell out before I even get a chance to purchase them.

This just happened to me yesterday, actually. Funko announced a new line of POPs from the anime, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and released them on their site right after the announcement.

The characters featured in this set are Cho-Cho (far left), Inojin (bottom left), the titular Boruto (top middle), Shikadai (bottom right) and my personal favorite Kawaki (far right).

Obviously knowing that they were all released right away, I raced to Funko.com to place my order for all five of them.

BUT ALAS…

When I got to the site, Kawaki (let me reiterate… MY FAVORITE) was already sold out. It had been mere hours since the POP was even revealed, and it was already out of stock.

I wanted to cry.

The Funko POP collecting world can be a cruel, cruel place. So now I am keeping my eye on not one collection, but two of them. And the anticipation of waiting is killing me (I’ve repeated this like three times now. That’s how much pain this is causing me.)

Will I be able to snag these collections that I am seeking? I guess you’ll have to stick around for future posts & find out:)

Thanks for reading & until next time,

Johnny

*photos courtesy of Funko

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readyplayerhobi · 4 years

Text

Flower | 09

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Word Count: 4.2k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: A Christmas present for you all! This has been my favourite chapter of Flower so far so I hope you all enjoy it too! Please reblog if you enjoyed and let me know what you think in a comment or ask!

; Flower Masterpost

The knock on your front door causes you to pause, clothes in your hand as you put them into your washing machine. You’d been frantically cleaning for the last hour, tidying up your already clean apartment to make sure that it all looked good. When you’d run out of stuff to clean, you’d resorted to washing your clothes early.

Just for something to do while you waited.

But now he’s here. Hoseok is here. At your apartment, for the first time. You’d been to his a few times now but he’d never been to yours. That had been your fault because you simply just hadn’t invited him. It hadn’t entered your head to do that. Not until Chungha got exasperated and pointed out that perhaps he’d like to see where you lived too.

She must have been right because Hoseok had eagerly accepted and so here you were. You’d finished work an hour and a half ago, the time spent since waiting for him to finish and head home to grab his stuff before coming to yours had given you plenty of time to fulminate.

Not only was Hoseok coming over to yours for the first time...but he was going to spend the night. He’d come up with a plan to drive you both to an amusement park a few hours away tomorrow, but it required getting up pretty early. As a result, you’d just blurted out that he could stay with you.

You could tell that he’d been a little shocked at your proposition, not because you were suggesting he stay but because it was you who was suggesting it. He probably hadn’t expected you to propose that for a while yet.

Especially not when you had plans to let him sleep in bed with you too. You’d discussed it with Chungha and Soyeon in depth, wondering whether you should make him sleep out on the couch for the night. They’d been adamant that you couldn’t do that given you were dating, and you’d been together for two months so why not just let him sleep next to you?

If he remained as polite as he’d been, he wouldn’t be putting any moves on you.

The easy way you’d said yes to it and suggested it to him told you, and everyone else who knew you, that you really wanted him to stay over. To sleep next to you. Honestly, it had one of your fantasies. Alongside the sexual ones, sometimes you just thought about him holding you in bed, cuddling with him.

Tonight you were going to get to experience that.

Quickly putting the rest of your clothes into the machine, you pause for a moment as you wonder if it’s stupid of you to be washing your clothes. But you push the thought of the way as you add powder and detergent before turning it on. A final glance around your small apartment lets you see that everything is as clean as it’s going to get and you take in a deep breath, smoothing down your shirt.

Opening the door slowly, you smile at Hoseok as he stands there waiting, a backpack over his shoulder and a bright smile on his own face. “Hi...err...sorry, I was putting my washing on. For some reason. Err...come in.”

He laughs softly as he enters, toeing off his shoes and carefully placing them on the rack you have set up next to the door without even being asked to. Moving forward through the tiny hall, you gesture to the living room and attached kitchen with a nervous movement.

“Errm so...this is the living room, obviously. And the kitchen. The door you just passed is the bathroom and the other door is my bedroom. It’s not very big,” You feel yourself heat up in embarrassment as your hands twist together. “I mean...I can still barely afford it but it’s home at least.”

Hoseok looks around slowly, eyes darting everywhere as he takes in the decor of the place. You weren’t allowed to put things on the wall so the only decorations were on the bookcase in the corner, your television stand, your couch, the coffee table and the drawers next to the bookcase. Looking around, you take it in the same way he does.

A fluffy throw in slate grey is draped over the couch, covering both the back and the seat cushions while an array of interesting cushions and plushies cover it. Your Pusheen plush sits in pride of place but there’s also a bao bun with a smiley face, an overly cartoony calico cat stretched out along the back and a Jack Skellington face on the couch as well.

Other plushies dot the room as well, from the set of Pokémon on the bookcase which included all the Eeveelutions you’d carefully collected over the years and various Pokéball’s to random cute ones and even a Pac-Man. Amongst all of that, was other stuff you’d collected; a range of animal shaped hand creams, a bunch of tiny Harry Potter chibi snow globes, some Funko POP figures featuring Disney characters along with a Totoro clock.

Random lights were currently turned on around the room including the PlayStation logo light, the Mario Mushroom light and a Yoshi egg. Part of you cringed as you took in how...colourful and pretty everything was compared to Hoseok. It looked so...delicate next to him.

He was stood there in black ripped jeans with a Guns n Roses shirt on, his tattoos the only thing that matched the room really. And yet he didn’t look disgusted by it, instead he just looked fascinated. Moving forward, he looked over the various books, Blu-Ray’s and video games you’d collected over the years along with the tiny Totoro figures that almost made up a little set.

“Oh my god...this is literally you in a room.” He marvelled, eyes wide as he took in the light shade that covered the light bulb hanging in the room. It was simple, just a curved circle but it was navy blue with tiny circles cut into little rockets and planets. When you turned it on, which was rarely, it made the room light up with a space theme.

“Err...yeah...I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot.” You apologise, rubbing at your forearm as you feel the swirl of negative feelings within you start to bubble. Already you’re regretting letting him into your home, into your safe space. This was where you felt most comfortable, where you felt happy. You only let people in that you trusted, and after two months you were pretty sure you could.

But it was still overwhelming, letting someone into the very private part of you and letting them see what made you happy.

“Don’t apologise, this is great. You’ve seen my place, it’s barren compared to this. I like it. It’s nice. Feels...cosy.” Hoseok said with a bright grin, white teeth flashing as you glanced at you before looking into your kitchen with eager curiosity.

The cuteness extends into there too, sweet woodland themed animal print oven gloves draped over the oven handle while a whole array of cute magnets cover the fridge along with pictures and important notices. A Totoro egg timer sits next to a little polka dot flower pot on the window sill while a cat themed calendar is propped up on the microwave.

A soft meow combined with pressure on his lower legs causes Hoseok to jump slightly, looking down before he grins even bigger. “Oh hello there! You must be Kasumi! Your mommy has told me so much about you.” He croons in a high pitched voice, the kind people only use on babies or animals.

But you can see the delight in his eyes as she sits in front of him, her cream fluffy coat combining with her dark paws and ears alongside astonishingly azure eyes to make her look like the prettiest cat ever. You were pretty sure that she was a ragdoll cat, which meant it was even more shocking that you’d found her in a shelter as a kitten.

She observes Hoseok for a moment longer before meowing sweetly at him, pushing up to butt his hand with her head and he coos as he crouches down, stroking and talking absolute nonsense to her. You get the sense that he’s just fallen in love at first sight with your cat, the smile on his face bigger than anything you’d seen as she flops to the floor, belly presented and batting at his hand playfully.

“I’m gonna steal your cat.” He teases, looking up at you with playful eyes and you snort, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Over my dead body. She loves me anyway, right Kasumi?” At her name, her ears twitch and she looks at you upside down, letting out a soft mewl as her loud purrs reach you. You grin and crouch down, arms open as you make kissing noises to her and she immediately jumps up, rushing over to you. Standing back up with her in your arms, you smile smugly at Hoseok and wonder why on earth you’re suddenly competing with him over the affection of your own cat.

It looks like the thought runs through his head as well as he shakes it before walking over to you, dropping his backpack past you onto the couch before he places his hands on your waist. Leaning close, you feel your shoulders rising at his attention and he chuckles quietly.

“I guess I’ve got some competition then, huh?” He murmurs before kissing you, the gesture ever so gentle. It’s nothing intense, yet it fires you up in ways you’d never really considered before. Here, in your home, with your cat in your arms and your boyfriend kissing you, you feel happier than you can remember in recent memory. It feels...almost normal.

Hoseok pulls away quickly, smiling as he looks you up and down with a raised brow. “Can I go change if you’re in your pyjamas already?”

His tone is ever so slightly teasing and you look away, pressing your face into Kasumi’s soft fur to avoid the embarrassment.

“Yeah...sorry. I don’t...I don’t see the point in wasting clothes when I’m at home. Pyjamas or die you know?” He snorts in response, kissing your cheek before grabbing his backpack again.

“I get it, I’ll be back in a minute.”

It turns out that Hoseok’s pyjamas are just...his normal lounge clothes apparently. A pair of plain black sweatpants is combined with an overly large Star Wars shirt, a few holes in both items that cause you to raise a brow in amusement. A far cry from the matching set of pyjamas you’re wearing; a set of Marauder's Map leggings combined with a black shirt and a gold Hogwarts crest.

“You can tell our personalities just from what we’re wearing.” He looks up from his phone, brows raised before looking between you both with a lopsided smile. Without a word, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you to him tightly.

Body stiffening automatically without you even meaning, you force yourself to relax in his embrace. You still weren’t used to the open affection Hoseok lavished on you, the casual touches of his not normal enough for you to accept openly like you did with your friends and family. But you were getting there.

You just wished that you could extend the open affection to him in the same way. It was hard though, you weren’t naturally open to physical gestures like that. Normally you just accepted them, but you wanted to discover to be open with him.

Because as you melted into his arms, you realised that you really liked this.

“What are you trying to say, huh? That I’m ratty and old while you’re young and put together?” He teases, squeezing tightly while rocking you from side to side, putting just enough pressure that you have to stagger back as you giggle against his chest.

“No! I mean...you are older than me…”

“Excuse you! I’m only two years older than you! Hardly Hugh Hefner here.” Hoseok protests, his voice loud but you can hear the playfulness in it. It makes you happy to hear that, knowing that he’s going along with you.

“You’re right...you don’t have as much money as him. I’m missing out.” At that, he leans back enough for you to see his face, his jaw dropped while he tries to stop a smile from spreading. It causes you to grin in response, squeezing him tightly in response before you press your face back to his chest. “It’s okay though, you’re pretty.”

“Wow...okay. Does that make me the Playboy Bunny in this situation?” You snort, hands lowering without even meaning to and making him jerk in surprise as you squeeze his ass without even thinking. The very ass that your friends had teased you about weeks ago.

“How do you look with bunny ears and a tail?”

He moves away at that, eyeing you suspiciously as he bites his lower lip, the flesh disappearing between his teeth. “Let’s never find out, shall we?”

“Awww. There’s people who find that kinky. They get dressed up as animals and stuff. Sometimes it’s just...they just wanna dress up but sometimes they dress up and it’s like...they wanna have sex in those suits.” Hoseok just stares at you in disgust, looking away before nodding slowly.

“Sounds great. I’m never doing that. Just want you to know,” he pauses, looking up at the ceiling before cringing and shrugging. You’re suddenly reminded of that woman trying alcohol meme as he makes a considering face. “Okay maybe I’d try it once if you were into it but I don’t think it’s for me.”

You steadfastly avoid his face at that, body heating rapidly at the thought of him thinking about having sex with you knew he probably had. If you were thinking that way about him, then there was no one way someone like him wasn’t thinking that way too. And it was a very strange sensation to know that he wanted you like that.

So you just gestured to the couch, watching as he sits down and scoops Kasumi into his lap. A quick phone call gets you food ordered from your favourite Chinese place, Hoseok stating his preferences to you as he flicks through Netflix and strokes the fluff ball he’s holding.

The next few hours pass by in a food coma bliss of delicious food combined with both of you starting a show on Amazon instead called The Boys. It had surprised you both with how violent and gory it was yet you enjoyed it thoroughly, much to Hoseok’s amusement. Maybe he thought your love of cute things meant that you didn’t like that kind of stuff but you enjoyed it just as much.

You both made it through three episodes before you found yourself getting tired, it was nearing 11pm and as lame as it made you sound...you were someone who went to sleep a bit earlier than that. It amused Hoseok when your head started to loll onto his shoulder, the pleasant warmth and comfort of his body as you cuddled up together lulling you into drowsiness.

Which was why when the episode finally ended, he stood up and gently pulled you up as well. “Come on sleepy, I think it’s time for bed. Sometime’s tired.” He was using that voice that he’d used on Kasumi earlier, and part of you wanted to protest it but you were too drowsy to bother. So instead, you went around the room after shaking his hands off to turn off all the lights.

Hoseok went to the bathroom while you did that, telling you that he was just going to go to the toilet and brush his teeth. By the time you had finished cleaning everything up and throwing the empty Chinese cartons away, he was standing a little awkwardly outside your bedroom.

Smiling, you opened the door and let him in. “You can go in.”

He gave a little smile before heading in and pausing as he looked around once more. Your room was barely big enough for the double bed in it, one side pressed up against the wall while a bedside table rested next to it. A wardrobe was next to that and a chest of drawers along with a mirror.

“Err...sorry...it’s a little cramped.” You say quietly, rubbing your arms nervously once more and he just shakes his head at you with a small sigh that sounds more amused than you’d expected.

“You need to stop apologising for everything. It’s fine, honestly. Don’t stress yourself over it.” He heads over to the bed and looked down at it, teeth clanking against his lip ring as it looked down. “I’m gonna guess that you sleep on this side?”

Pointing at the side closest to the bedside table, you go to nod before realise he’s being rhetorical. It was blatantly obvious which side you slept on, given the other side was covered in a large array of plushies. From more Pokémon to a Star Wars teddy, Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, a cute cat face, a fluffy llama and so much more.

The side Hoseok would be sleeping on was covered in them and you cover your face in dual embarrassment and horror, realising that you’d blatantly forgotten to clean it off for him. “Err...yeah. You can just...put them on the floor or something. Sorry, I mean…”

You cut yourself off from apologising again at his look but he just smiles and shrugs. “It’s okay, I’ll sort it out.”

Quickly, you leave the room to prevent any further embarrassment for you. Sometimes you really wondered why Hoseok stayed with you given how different you both obviously were. The thought made your chest hurt and you pressed as it, frowning as you did your own nightly routine. It took a little longer than Hoseok’s as you had a whole skincare routine to go through and so ten minutes later you walked back in with a face mask on.

He was lying on his back, pillows propped up behind him as he looked through his phone and you noted with amusement the little ice cream plush that was still situated next to him. In fact...he made the most bizarre image laid there.

Your bedding was white, with tiny rainbows ending in clouds interspersed with yellow stars and little cartoons unicorns and pegasus that jumped and frolicked. You liked your bedding to look as cute as everything else, only it looked childish with him in it now.

His tattoos look at complete odds with it all, dark hair pushed back and making him look even hotter than ever with it all messed up. He looked dark and brooding in your bed, anathema to your bedding and it was both adorable and bizarrely attractive.

A sudden thought rushes through your head that one day, if everything goes right, you’ll be having sex with him in that bed. Cheeks heating, you quickly rush forward and sit on the bed carefully, plugging your phone into the charger before looking back over at him.

“Do you need your phone charging too? I have another cable and plug.” You offer and he lets out a noise, head turning towards you before his eyes finally pull away. When he finally notices your face, he jerks away in shock before his face contorts and he squints at you.

“The fuck is on your face? Are you cosplaying Michael Myers or something?” Hoseok mutters, leaning forward a bit and looking you over. You try not to laugh, not wanting the face mask to move and you push at his face lightly.

“Don’t make me laugh, you’ll ruin it. It’s just a face mask, my night routine.” Laying back on the bed, he pulls a face at you.

“You do that every night? Isn’t it tiring?” You shake your head, checking in your Twitter feed as you wait for the time to pass until you can take it off again. “Is that why your skin always looks so pretty? Or is that makeup?”

“Hoseok! I haven’t worn makeup the last three times we’ve met up. You haven’t noticed between that and makeup?” He just stares at you for a moment before shrugging, his hand suddenly running along your back in slow and steady movements. It feels like electricity moves through your body as he does so, but you can’t tell any sexual intention behind it.

“I feel like no matter what I say here...I’m going to get myself in trouble. So...I will be smart and say that you look beautiful with and without makeup.” His smile is boylike then, making his entire face look far younger than he actually is and you sighed softly in defeat, shaking your head before checking the clock on your bedside table. “Why does your clock look like that?”

You pull off the face mask and throw it into the small trash can underneath the table, gently patting at your face to get the excess moisture to absorb. Glancing at the clock, you note it’s unusual shape and size while the orange numbers glow.

“It’s one of those clocks that simulate sunrise to help make it easier to wake up in the morning. I struggle with feeling tired and in winter I never want to get up. Err...I tend to get a little...or a lot...depressed with it. So I got this because daylight is meant to make you happier so ten minutes before my alarm goes off, it starts to light up and simulate a sunrise. It works pretty well in fairness.” You finish, rubbing your cheeks before grabbing the next step of your routine.

“Really? Huh. Cool.” He hands you his phone once you’ve finished, turning onto his side watching you intently. The attention makes you feel warm inside and finally you’re ready to go to bed, lifting the covers and cautiously sliding in next to him. It feels warm and comfortable as usual, your pillow and bedding maximised for comfort.

Reaching over, you turn off the lamp, leaving you both in darkness. The room feels oppressively silent at that moment before you realise that you can hear his breathing next to you. Suddenly, you feel hyper aware of his every movement and sound, your own body stiff beneath the covers.

A few minutes pass by like that, you unsure what to do now and too tense to sleep even after feeling so drowsy earlier. And then suddenly Hoseok reaches out, his hand resting on your stomach tentatively before stroking gently when you don’t react.

“You’re so tense.” He laughs softly and you feel the need to apologise again. But you hold it back, knowing that you have no reason to apologise. Hoseok knows by now what you’re like, he’s aware of your shy and awkward nature and he must know how out of your comfort zone you’re feeling right now.

Which is why you appreciate how slow he moves, his hand spreading heat through your stomach as his slow movements lead you to relaxing ever so slightly. He keeps doing it, his breathing just as hypnotising and you find your eyelids fluttering shut as the earlier drowsiness comes back.

“Can you turn over? On your side?” Hoseok asks softly, hand pausing and it takes a few seconds for you to acknowledge what he’d said. But you do so, shifting lazily until your back is facing him and your head is pressed comfortably into the pillow with your hand slotted beneath both pillows.

And then carefully shuffles up behind you, a warm and heavy weight sliding around your waist as he wraps an arm around you. Pulling slightly, he tugs you into a more comfortable position and you’re suddenly wide awake again. Even though you’ve been cuddled up with him before on a couch, it’s somehow completely different now that you’re lying together in bed.

Every bit of his front presses to your back and you’ve never been so aware of someone else. He feels like a furnace behind you, though you’re not sure if that’s because he actually is warm or if it’s because your body is burning hot. But you like it, as nervous as it makes you feel.

Your limbs feel like you could go outside and run a marathon yet the idea of leaving the bed is so far beyond you. His warm breath gently puffs against your neck as he settles a little more and you swallow hard, forcing your body to relax as you get used to the feeling. It’s been a long time since you’ve slept next to someone, and you’d never felt comfortable with them.

But you do with him. You do with Hoseok.

And without even realising it, your wandering mind begins to drift off as you lay there comfortably, feeling safe and content about everything.

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